The On Fire podcast is back for Survivor 48, with Survivor host Jeff Probst, producer Jeff Wolfe, and Survivor 47 winner Rachel LaMont. In the latest episode, the trio discusses the emotional depth a game like Survivor can have, even when a million dollars is at risk, as well as what constitutes coconut etiquette and the “out-loyal” concept.
When talking about emotional bonds in Survivor, Probst says the social connections players form essentially drive the game itself, which is why betrayals are devastating as actual feelings are involved. He adds, “It’s not just a strategic move; it’s an emotional shock. It breaks the very foundation of trust that players have worked so hard to build.”
To add how intricate social bonds become in Survivor, Rachel says it’s not so simple when outsiders comment on how easy it would be to betray people when there’s a million dollars on the line. “You build a new community. You have a new father figure, a new best friend, like, our brains kind of crave that sort of structure. It’s hard to fathom, but the lines start to blur.”
Later, Rachel succinctly states what exactly ‘coconut etiquette’ is, as it was another factor that got Mary into trouble in the last episode. “Coconut etiquette is simply, making every choice around food a democratic one. The group decides when you eat and how much you eat.” In her defence, Rachel concedes that Mary was the hungriest person out there as she hadn’t won nor gone in any reward challenges, while also stating Mary’s eating the communal food didn’t give her any special points to being kept in the game.
To Rachel’s point, she brings up the ‘The Coconut Bandits’ alliance between Tyson Apostol and Gervase Peterson from Survivor: Blood vs Water, where both guys secretly consumed more coconuts behind everyone’s back to fuel themselves, emphasis on secretly, whereas Mary did it in front of the whole tribe.
When mentioning Tyson, Probst intercedes, “Tyson is a player that still doesn’t get enough love.” As Rachel and Jeff comment that they agree and that Tyson is great, Probst continues, “I think that in terms of being such a unique human, clearly a great Survivor player, but he has that ability to do that ‘coconut bandit’ in a way that you find it so charming.”
Afterwards, the concept of “out-loyal” is brought up, and Probst jokes the Survivor logo should now be changed to “Outwit, Outplay, Outloyal, and Outlast,” to which Rachel heartily retorts that it doesn’t have the right ring to it. Rachel then says this notion shouldn’t be brought to the Survivor vernacular as it’s more of a marketing campaign, as it mainly only empowers the people at the top of an alliance.
Lastly, Rachel admits she was disappointed that Kyle didn’t take a shot at Joe and theorises that Joe’s mist might be more powerful than the audience thinks. Probst then answers some fan questions and admits he can’t recall it ever happening when asked if an advantage has been found without being filmed. However, if it did, Probst recognises it probably was in an older season when everyone was still learning how everything properly worked and assures listeners that production has recorded 99.99% of everything that happens on the island.
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