Spoilers ahaead for the most recent episode of Survivor.
CBS’ long-running competition series Survivor changed the TV world forever when it debuted in 2000, and its showing no signs of slowing down. Season 45 is on the air now, and has already had two different original Lulu castaways quit. And the show’s host/showrunner Jeff Probst revealed his “frustrated” reaction to Survivor 45’s second disappointing Tribal Council.
The most recent episode of Survivor featured a tribe swap, where the three remaining Lulus were split up among 3 new tribes. Sean went to the new Reba tribe, but they lost Immunity and were sent to Tribal. But while members of the group planne a possible Sifu blindside, he ended up asking to be voted off because he missed his family. In the official podcast On Fire, Jeff Probst shared his take on this move. And he actually thinks that asking Sean about his Survivor journey might have accidentally influenced his decision to leave the game. As Jeff put it,
With Sean, I think we thought it was a giveaway. I think he thought ‘Oh man, it is me. They’re blindsiding me.’ So he starts talking about these powerful lessons that come with failure. And that’s when I knew ‘Oh he’s quitting.’... There was no failure happening. Sean had been playing a very clever game, he’s a very clever guy. I’m going to be super clear: this was another engineered quit. And I gotta be honest I think Sean tried to craft a narrative that worked for him.
Touche. Jeff is someone who knows Survivor intimately well, and has a unique perspective on why certain castaways quit. And he thinks that Sean thought he was going home, and wanted to spin the narrative of being voted out so early in the game.
Sean’s decision to quit shocked everyone (see how to stream Survivor 45 here), including the audience and his fellow castaways. It certainly seemed like some of the Reba tribe was willing to work with the school principal, despite him being such an easy target in the 5-person tribe. Jeff Probst further spoke about his perspective on Season 45’s second drop out, saying:
Sean wasn’t exhausted, he wasn’t worried about food or bad sleeping. This was a sudden discovery, as in that moment at tribal council he realized ‘Oh, hang on! I think I got what I needed. I’m good. Thanks so much.’ No disrespect to him, I realize he’s missing his family. But it’s not like you’re out there for another six months. It’s barely two more weeks.
Fair point. Survivor has shorter seasons now, so Sean didn’t have all that many days to make it through before quitting the game. What’s more, quitting the game didn’t actually result in him seeing his partner any sooner. Typically the pre-merge boots are taken on a vacation after filming, which allows everyone on the cast to arrive home at the same time without the elimination order being spoiled.
As previously mentioned, Survivor 45’s first boot Hannah also quit the game when Lulu went to Tribal. This was a gift for struggling castaway Brandon Donlon, but the fact that we’ve already had a second quitter from that original group isn’t great. Noted Zaddy Jeff Probst compared these two situation on the podcast, saying:
The reason Sean frustrated me was I don’t think he owned it. Hannah, equally frustrating, but she owned it. She said ‘Look, I hate everything about Survivor.’ Sean romanticized it. And I’m happy that Sean’s in love, everybody knows I love love… I miss my family so much when I’m gone. I’m just saying that romanticizing it felt to me like maybe a way to soften the idea of being voted out fourth in a game you imagined living.
Well, that was honest. We’ll see if we get any more information about Sean’s headspace as he does exit press, but Jeff certainly has his own opinion about the castaway’s decision to quit. It’s definitely disappointing that it’s happened twice, especially given how many people would kill to be on Survivor. There’s also presumably an alternate who was flown to Fiji and could have been swapped out easily if Hannah or Sean dropped out before the game started.
Survivor airs new episodes Wednesdays on CBS. Be sure to check out the TV premiere list to plan your next binge watch.
