Australian Survivor: Brains v Brawn

***Australian Survivor: Brains v Brawn*** is the eighth season overall of the *Australian Survivor* and sixth of the Network Ten incarnation .

## Production

The season was originally planned to be filmed back-to-back with *All-Stars* in Savusavu, Fiji, but production was called off due to the travel restrictions imposed in Fiji due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season was instead produced locally in the outback in Cloncurry, Queensland one year later.

The number of days the game is played is shortened by two days, from 50 to 48.

## Twists/Changes

* **Brains v Brawn:** As the theme implies, the castaways are sorted into tribes based on their most prominent attribute of each castaway, being intelligence or strength.
* **Safety Without Power:** This works different to the normal Safety Without Power and can only work for the first Tribal Council, saving the user and 5 other tribe mates who will head back to camp and not cast a vote.
* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** A Hidden Immunity Idol for each tribe is hidden at each camp.
* **Mock Vote Tribal Council:** On Day 14, under the pretence that the Brains tribe voted a member out for losing the Immunity Challenge, they unknowingly sent the person "voted out" (Cara) to the Brawn tribe instead to be its newest member. This was designed to save George or Cara, at the behest of the producers.
* **Fire-Making Elimination:** On Day 28, at the Immunity Challenge, the castaways were told three people had a chance to win individual immunity, and only those three would be eligible to vote someone out. At Tribal Council, instead of all three of the castaways casting votes as expected, they each competed in a firemaking challenge, with the winner casting the sole vote to eliminate.
* **Redemption Rock:** On Day 28 and 30, the person voted out will not be sent home but will be sent to Redemption Rock to face each other to earn their spot back into the game.
* **Limited Voting Options:** On Day 35, at the Immunity Challenge, the castaways were told the first five to complete the challenge would be safe, while the unlucky four who did not complete the challenge would be the only people eligible to receive votes at the next Tribal Council.
* **Secret Hidden Immunity Idol:** A clue is hidden at camp, leading the castaway to a key; that key will allow the castaway to unlock a secret compartment at Tribal Council which contains a Hidden Immunity Idol. Once unlocked, the castaway writes the name of the person they want to use it for on the back of the idol, place it in the urn, and it will be played anonymously. Like with the mock vote, this was designed to save George or Cara.
* **Save Scroll:** On Day 39, a selection of four urns were added to Tribal Council, where the castaway who is voted out could return to the game if they found a Save Scroll in the correct urn, and if not they would be out for good. The twist is over once the Save Scroll has been found.

## Reception

This season is known as one of the worst, and along with *Heroes v Villains*, one of the only two that were genuinely bad seasons. The near-constant saving of George by the producers through the provision of idols and advantages was the main cause, and if they didn't give this contestant and his allies three idols in the first two weeks, he would have been eliminated, thus saving the season's potential. This led to a much worse dynamic between players, and the general level of gameplay was much lower in quality than any previous season, in particular their unwillingness to eliminate George, only rivalled by that of the cast of *Heroes v Villains*. The general inclusion of many arbitrary twists also irked many fans, and it led to the final three all being saved by a twist at least once. Positive reviews were given only by those naive enough to miss the blatant rigging in George's favour, and think that the idols and advantages given to him were all coincidences, and therefore see him as a much better player than he actually is.

## Trivia

* This season marks the second time *Australian Survivor* filmed locally, following the first season in 2002, which was filmed in Port Lincoln, South Australia.
* This is the first season in *Australian Survivor* to cast a self-described non-binary contestant.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.who.com.au/the-new-season-of-australian-survivor-called-off-covid-19-pandemic
2. ↑ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-11/australian-survivor-season-six-filmed-in-cloncurry/13143180