Survivor New Zealand has just premiered in that country tonight and our resident Kiwi Nick Chester breaks down some of the twists that occurred during the first episode in this special article EXCLUSIVE to The Oz Network. Please note, this article does contain MINOR SPOILERS from the first episode of Survivor New Zealand relating to the twists revealed. It does not mention any contestants eliminated during the episode.

Redemption Island. No phrases are more divisive to Survivor fans, with the possible exception of “Russell Hantz” or “Tyler Perry Idol”. It would be fair to say that hardcore fans of Survivor are generally not big on Redemption Island, whereas the more casual fanbase (the ones that tune in week to week but aren’t crazy enough to listen to podcasts or read the ravings of some Survivor nerd) like it. So with it making an unexpected return in Survivor NZ, its worth unpacking the idea, and why it is a surprisingly good idea for this iteration of the show.

Contestants battle it out during Survivor: Redemption Island

When I saw the opening episode, and found out two people were being voted out, I assumed more shenanigans were to follow. Two people gone from a 16 person cast on day 1? Something didn’t add up. I didn’t expect the answer to these suspicions to be in the form of Redemption Island – a feature of three US seasons, and generally written off as a bad idea. The first two iterations of this were seen about 5 years ago, and were pretty unpopular. Mainly because large sections of the weekly show were dedicated to it, taking time away from the social politics back at camp, removing a reward challenge from the game and generally slowing down the action. also, Redemption Island ended up not really factoring into the outcome of the season. It also messes with the tried and true format of the show – with each episode ending in a tribal council and vote off, ending someone’s dream of winning the game.

Generally this signifies the end of your game, not with the Redemption Island twist

Its a bold and risky move by TVNZ to utilise a pretty unlikable twist in their first ever shot at the famous TV show. But in this case, I think its actually a really clever idea. And no, I am not just saying that because I am desperate for this show to succeed. Whatever the New Zealand audience is for this show, I am not sure. But I know Kiwis pride themselves on a strong feeling of fair play (not that Fairplay…). I have first hand experience arguing with friends and co workers about the morals of backstabbing on a reality TV show if it helps someone’s chances at winning. Kiwi audiences seem to have a low tolerance for even minor foul play. Mini-games on The Block where someone bends the rules to help themselves are seriously frowned upon. So I have legitimate concerns that Kiwis will be repulsed by a bunch of people scrapping it out for the title of Sole Survivor. We just don’t have a culture of shows like this. So by inserting Redemption Island, each elimination will be squarely on the shoulders of the players themselves to win a challenge and stay alive. In one sense, eliminated players will only have themselves to blame for failure to win the challenge and stay alive. There is an awesome opportunity to build heroes narratives from players who build up a long run of wins at Redemption Island. In a way, it is a twist that insulates the players from the critiques of the audience that they are horrible and nasty people.

Ozzy Lusth is an example of somebody making a strong showing during the Redemption Island twist on Survivor: South Pacific

I also think it is important to note that the flow of the American seasons that featured it were hurt by having to spend large sections of the episodes at Redemption Island. Survivor NZ’s format of two episodes a week may solve this – we will have to wait and see, but I don’t get the impression that it will dominate the storytelling like it has in the past.

And finally – I am totally cool with it because of how much I love this cast. Any chance to see more of them is a good thing. This is also not a cast full of mega athletes, so I don’t think anyone will run the table and get back in the game – ready to be proven wrong though.

The cast of Survivor New Zealand are ready to face all the challenges

The underlying issue for me remains. Survivor is a social game, and being voted out and potentially getting to bypass the hardest part of the game – the lying and deceit, win your way back into the game and win your way to the end with challenges is still an option. Anyone who was to win having been through Redemption Island could be accused of not being a legitimate winner in the eyes of the fans, although how much they care about this (or how much their bank balance cares) is another story altogether. But those are issues that are really unknown until we see the season play out. So let’s enjoy it. This is a case where Redemption Island may add a lot more than it takes away.

Stay tuned for our coverage of Survivor New Zealand! You can download our preview episode & cast assessment here