We're getting deep into the 50th season of Survivor, which is arguably one of the best reality shows of all time. The season, which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, is full of returning players, and has been a wild ride so far. Two-time player and Survivor know-it-all Rob Cesternino has been speaking with me weekly about each new episode, and went in an A+ rant about one "pet peeve" he has about the game.
The cast of Survivor 50 has been duking it out in Fiji, and numbers are finally dwindling in the merge. Cesternino, who is the founder of the Rob Has A Podcast network, was talking to me about Episode 9 when he revealed one thing he never enjoys even in the best Survivor seasons: the naming of the merge tribe. As he put it:
The tribe names at the Merge is one of my biggest pet peeves of Survivor. That they're never memorable. They're always some nonsense thing. We don't ever call them by this, that Jeff doesn't say like, 'Here's the Manulevu tribe, here they come into this.' He just will always will refer to the tribes when they come in at the post merge. He's like 'Warriors. Here they come.' They'll just always be the Warriors tribe. I don't know if we're allowed to call the tribe that, but that's what Jeff calls them. It's just a nonsense name that we just throw out there. It's just a bunch of random letters to like rearrange and make a different word maybe. So I hate the merge tribe names and they're never going to be interesting.
He's not wrong. While there has historically been a ton of discourse about what to name the merged tribe, host Jeff Probst doesn't actually refer to them by that name. Instead it's usually just "merged tribe." It's only when there are two or more tribes that the Emmy-winner uses their names in order to provide thoughtful commentary during challenges and Tribal Council.
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Survivor 50 skipped over the naming of the merge tribe, which is Manulevu. Instead that title unceremoniously appeared in the chyron during Season 8. I have to say that I disagree with Rob's assessment. I personally like the name being chosen (and flag being painted)... mostly because it so often results in argument. I'm thinking about Worlds Apart naming their tribe "Merica", Gabon calling it "Nobag", and Philippines calling theirs "Dangrayne". While I love this opportunity for conflict, Rob Cesternino seems to think it's a bit of a waste of time. The Traitors Season 4 cast member went on to say:
Who is this for? What is it? It's nothing. And we never call them by this. Jeff never refers to them. Just like this is the Merge Tribe. That's it.
Points were made. Although since this scene was cut out of Season 50, fans are left wondering how the cast landed on their merge name. And aside from how much money Survivor contestants make, that might be one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the current season. Luckily for Rob, his biggest pet peeve was sidestepped this time around.
New episodes of Survivor 50 air Wednesdays on CBS as part of the 2026 movie release list. Rob Cesternino is releasing a book called The Tribe and I Have Spoken on May 6th, and is doing a book tour as well. Visit robhasawebsite.com/events for more information!
