Survivor is ruining itself in bringing back Edge of Extinction

The Ringer

"The Edge of Extinction was a clear failure—to bring it back for a season that doesn’t need any overwrought twist to generate interest defies belief," says Riley McAtee. "The rationale for the decision is hard to parse. Perhaps to get such an all-star cast together, CBS had to shell out far more than usual in appearance fees, and the Edge of Extinction twist guarantees that most of these returnees will get at least some screen time for the majority of the season. There’s no concern over fan favorites getting voted out early—the show will always be able to cut back to their adventures on Extinction Island. But this creates more problems for the storytelling: Extinction Island is boring, and cutting to it in Season 38 took away time from the contestants who were in the thick of the action. It thinned out the plot, and in Season 40 the Edge of Extinction will take away from Survivor legends that are still in the game."