In Defense of Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers

A Few Reasons Why Season 35 is Underrated

I recently rewatched Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers, and it was, well, better than I remembered.

When the season ended, in the Fall of 2016, it was not received particularly well by fans. Because of that, it seemed to almost immediately fall to the second half of season rankings — in fact, I’ve seen Survivor HHH place as low as bottom 10 in recent season rankings.

Both then and now, the post-finale criticisms of season 35 were understandable.

In particular, the introduction of the final four fire making twist — a major and controversial evolution to the game — unquestionably altered the outcome of the entire season, allowing Ben Driebergen to reach final tribal council, and go on to win the game, when he otherwise would have been voted out as the final juror.

And that was on top of this season’s barrage of idol finds…also known as “Ben bombs,” which likely had even the most casual of fans wondering if production had set Ben up to win.

Is this what Survivor has become?

I remember asking myself that question over and over after Survivor HHH ended. This game and this show I grew up with seemed to be changing so drastically…