What the ‘Survivor 50’ Casting Hints About the Rest of Season 49

There Are Spoilers for This Season of Survivor

On this week’s episode of Survivor, the merge finally arrived and with it, the first member of the jury: the Marvel executive, Nate. He was my pick to go all the way early on because he had good dad energy. Still, that shine wore off a few episodes ago when, during a grueling and frustrating immunity challenge, he snapped at Rizo to “shut up.” Heat of the moment and all that, but when you’re the dad figure, those kinds of things tend to stick with me.

In the end, once Sage and Jawan flipped alliances, Nate’s exit wasn’t that surprising this week. He was the safe choice, and Survivor, especially at this stage, almost always goes with the safe elimination.

What his departure did, however, was clarify where the tribal lines currently stand. Sophie, Nate, Rizo, and Savannah thought they had the numbers, but once Nate was eliminated, it became clear that Sophie, Rizo, and Savannah were suddenly on the outside looking in.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Jeff Probst rather unwisely mentioned during the episode that there were still two open slots for next season’s Survivor 50 and that producers hadn’t decided who would fill them. That revelation all but guarantees some performative gameplay as contestants start thinking less about winning this season and more about earning a spot in the next one.

Also, spoiler: while it hasn’t been officially confirmed, there have been multiple unverified reports circulating since before Survivor 49 even aired, that the two chosen contestants are Rizo and Savannah. From a personality standpoint, that makes sense. Rizo can be a little irritating, but fits the exact archetype Jeff Probst tends to love, and Savannah is outspoken and has been playing hard since day one.

What’s fascinating is that both are currently on the outs. If this were a predictable season of Survivor, we’d expect them (and Sophie) to be the next to go. But the likelihood of Rizo and Savannah returning for Survivor 50 suggests they’ll find a way to flip the alliances. The cast for Survivor 50 reportedly isn’t made up entirely of former winners, but nearly all are players who’ve finished in the top five before. And while Rizo and Savannah have the kind of big personalities casting directors adore, it’ll take more than charisma to earn a spot in the show’s milestone season.

In other words, as Jeff Probst promised before this season began, the game is about to get much more interesting post-merge. “The merge hits, the weather cools down, and the gameplay ignites. The back half of the season is bonkers.” I believe him. He didn’t say the front half was bonkers because it wasn’t. It was dull as hell. But if Rizo and Savannah really do make it to the top five, we’re in for a chaotic, unpredictable back half of the season. We could use the drama.