- This is the 38th season for CBS’s reality show.
- ‘Survivor’ was one of the early pioneers of the reality TV genre.
- ‘Survivor: Edge of Extinction’ Episode 7 airs March 27 at 8:00 PM Eastern.
The special two hour episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction is in the books and in something of a shock Aubry Bracco was voted off the island along with Wendy Diaz. This season the term ‘voted off’ has to be used very loosely due to the ‘Extinction Island’ plot device. Players that are ‘voted off’ aren’t actually gone. To the contrary, there’s every reason to expect that one or more of the current inhabitants of the island will be back in the game as soon as next week.
The Survivor cognoscenti doesn’t really like “seasons in which voted out players are not actually voted off”. Personally, I don’t care one way or the other though it makes it much harder to set odds. This is the fifth season where the producers have used some form of that plot device and apparently it’s not a random occurrence:
“…Redemption Island and Edge of Extinction have only been employed in seasons involving returning players as a safety net to ensure they stay on the season a few extra episodes in case they get voted out early.”
Why not just give Jeff Probst a gimmick like Vince McMahon’s ‘evil Mr. McMahon‘ persona? If he wants someone to stay around who has been voted off he could just decree it so. No reason to use a convoluted process to get contestants that were voted off back into the competition. Let’s face it, there’s no doubt a correlation between contestants that are entertaining and make for good television and ones that rub their peers the wrong way.
As I’ve repeatedly pointed out, this is a reality TV show. The goal of the producers is to create compelling television that encourages viewers to tune in. It’s not to facilitate a legitimate competition. Even when there’s a talent component involved like on Dancing With The Stars or Project Runway there’s no reason to expect that the most talented dancer or designer or whatever will be the one that emerges victorious. Were that the case, the winner would invariably be the most unassuming and industrious contestant who puts their head down and works hard while the rest of the field works to ‘put themselves over’ on television.
‘Extinction Island’ was getting crowded with a population of six though the impending tribal merge and the inference that at least one of the voted off contestants will rejoin the game could change that. The contestants are still complaining about the conditions on Extinction Island–Aubry Bracco is the latest calling the desolate purgatorio ‘a disaster’. It’s definitely not Sandals All Inclusive Jamaican Resort–there are no buffets or bars. The upside is that you don’t have to a deal with a bunch of greased up douchebags from New Jersey or swinging couples from flyover country. Here’s a still from Episode 5/6–figure out how to catch and cook some seafood and it looks like a place I’d be pretty content for at least a few weeks. That might be why I’m not suitable to be a reality TV show contestant:
The TV ratings for the double episode took a bit of a dive from 7.53 million to 7.05 million. Worth noting that this also happened in Weeks 1 and 2 when the viewership went from 7.75 million to 7.07 million but rebounded. Not sure if there’s a good reason for it.
With the impending merge and the return of at least some of the denizens of Extinction Island a foregone conclusion I’ve tweaked the odds markets somewhat. Effective immediately, I’m including everyone in the ‘To Win’ market including the folks on Extinction Island. When they really leave the show for good I’ll drop them from the list and refigure the odds but until then they’re definitely a factor. On the other hand, I’m only including the ‘main island’ contestants in the ‘Next to Be Voted Out’ odds. In theory, it’s definitely possible for a voted out contestant to return to the main competition and get voted out again but I don’t have a clue how to price it. To allow for this contingency the ‘No One Eliminated’ betting interest has been changed to ‘Any Other Result’. This is also the case in the immunity and reward winner props. Finally, the ‘next to be pixelated’ odds have been expanded to include both the main island residents and the inhabitants of Extinction Island. As with the ‘To Win’ odds, once someone is officially eliminated from the show I’ll drop them from the list.
Here’s the official SPORTS INSIDER odds for Episode 7 of Survivor: Edge of Extinction:
‘SURVIVOR: EDGE OF EXTINCTION’ BETTING ODDS
TO WIN ‘SURVIVOR: EDGE OF EXTINCTION’
Eric Hafemann +600
Victoria Baamonde +700
David Wright +700
Gavin Whitson +700
Aubry Bracco +1000
Kelley Wentworth +1250
Joe Anglim +1250
Lauren O’Connell +1250
Julia Carter +1500
Chris Underwood +1500
Aurora McCreary +2500
Ron Clark +2500
Dan Wardog Desilva +2500
Rick Devens +2500
Wendy Diaz +2500
Keith Sowell +2500
Julie Rosenberg +2500
Reem Daly +2500
‘SURVIVOR: EDGE OF EXTINCTION’ EPISODE 7 BETTING ODDS
TO BE VOTED OUT AT TRIBAL COUNCIL IN EPISODE 7?
Dan Wardog Desilva -115
Julia Carter +750
Lauren O’Connell +1000
Joe Anglim +1000
David Wright +1000
Aurora McCreary +1500
Kelley Wentworth +1500
Eric Hafemann +2500
Victoria Baamonde +2500
Ron Clark +2500
Gavin Whitson +2500
Julie Rosenberg +2500
Any Other Result +5000
WHO WILL WIN IMMUNITY IN EPISODE 7?
Joe Anglim -125
Eric Hafemann +350
Gavin Whitson +600
Julie Rosenberg +1500
Kelley Wentworth +1500
Lauren O’Connell +2500
Julia Carter +2500
Victoria Baamonde +2500
David Wright +5000
Aurora McCreary +5000
Ron Clark +5000
Dan Wardog Desilva +5000
Any Other Result +5000
WHO WILL WIN REWARD IN EPISODE 7?
Joe Anglim -125
Eric Hafemann +350
Gavin Whitson +600
Julie Rosenberg +1500
Kelley Wentworth +1500
Lauren O’Connell +2500
Julia Carter +2500
Victoria Baamonde +2500
David Wright +5000
Aurora McCreary +5000
Ron Clark +5000
Dan Wardog Desilva +5000
Any Other Result +5000
WILL A HIDDEN IDOL BE PLAYED IN EPISODE 7?
Yes +600
No -750
WILL ANY CONTESTANT QUIT/BE REMOVED FROM ISLAND DUE TO INJURY IN EPISODE 7?
Yes +1250
No -2500
WILL ANY CONTESTANT CRY ON CAMERA DURING EPISODE 7?
Yes -210
No +180
WILL THE EPISODE 7 VOTED OUT CASTAWAY ACCEPT THE EXTINCTION OFFER?
Yes +750
No -1500
WILL ANY CASTAWAY CATCH SEAFOOD IN EPISODE 7?
Yes +210
No -250
WILL A CONTESTANT BE ‘PIXELATED’ DUE TO NUDITY IN EPISODE 7?
Yes +150
No -170
GENDER IDENTITY OF NEXT CONTESTANT PIXELATED DUE TO NUDITY?
Female -350
Male +300
NEXT CONTESTANT TO BE PIXELATED DUE TO NUDITY?
Victoria Baamonde +450
Kelley Wentworth +450
Aurora McCreary +500
Eric Hafemann +750
Joe Anglim +750
Julie Rosenberg +1500
Lauren O’Connell +1500
Aubry Bracco +1500
Dan Wardog Desilva +2500
Gavin Whitson +2500
Chris Underwood +2500
Wendy Diaz +2500
Keith Sowell +2500
David Wright +2500
Rick Devens +5000
Reem Daly +5000
Ron Clark +5000
Julia Carter +5000
In the previous three propositions pixelation must be due to accidental or intentional nudity and not due to obscene gestures or any other reason. If there is no pixelation due to nudity this season the previous two propositions will be graded ‘no action’.
EPISODE 7 KEY DEMO (18-49) RATINGS
Over 1.35 -150
Under 1.35 +130
EPISODE 7 KEY DEMO (18-49) SHARE
Over 5.5 -600
Under 5.5 +450
EPISODE 7 TOTAL VIEWERSHIP
Over 7 Million -150
Under 7 Million +130
The previous three TV ratings propositions will be graded using data reported at TV By The Numbers.
