Survivor 41 turned out pretty good, despite focusing more on its overwhelming number of twists at the expense of its contestants

The Ringer

"Let’s start with why Survivor introduced so many changes this season," says Riley McAtee. "Twists and advantages can be important to the show, especially if they are designed to put players in tough situations in which they must make dramatic decisions. This is something (Jeff) Probst understands well. 'Survivor is not about the twists and the advantages. Survivor is about the players. The game design is necessary only in that it forces behavior from those players,” Probst told Parade earlier this week. 'Every twist is designed with one simple goal: to force the players to respond. Regardless of how they respond, it will impact the game in one way or another. That’s what is fun about playing and watching a season of Survivor: their behavior. And strategically, twists always test your social stability in the game.' But the cacophony of twists and advantages can leave episodes little room for real character development, and that was often the case this season. As longtime Survivor writer Dalton Ross noted in early October, Episode 3 of this season was so consumed by twists and advantages that 19 of its 43 minutes—44 percent of the episode!—were used just to explain the various idols and advantages floating in the game. Add in all the time for challenges and tribal council, and there were only a few minutes left for any real discussion." ALSO: Survivor did winner Erika Casupanan a disservice by featuring her in so few confessionals.