It’s bad.  Not terrible.  But bad.  There’s always been a bit of craziness with this show, but what we are watching this season is unlike any others that came before it.  Not your typical craziness (drunken fights, screaming, etc.), though there is that too.  No, this is something different.  Episode structure was thrown out the window the very first night, and it never recovered.  We are now six episodes in, and we’ve had TWO eliminations in the “jungle.”  But what stands out to me the most is the crazy amount of atypical departures.  We’ve had one team quit, another team that also technically quit but was almost forced to for family medical reasons (similar to Terry leaving Survivor Cambodia), and one team forced to leave due to injuries.  The thing is, I can live with that stuff.  But we’ve also had two replacement teams (one that is mentioned below).  What I can’t seem to get past is the ridiculous decision making by the producers when dealing with all of these unexpected events.  The reason I can’t is because the decisions being made are making the playing field as uneven as ever.  The game has always been slightly unfair to rookie teams, but that was more due to social reasons (pre existing alliances).  But unfair advantages shouldn’t be added by the production team when dealing with weird situations.  When you look at the entire season as a whole, this season has been the most unfair to certain teams in favor of the rest of the cast.  I’ve listed several pieces of evidence below:

Exhibit A – Vince and Jenna are the first team to win and have to choose a team to go into the Jungle, as TJ explained earlier. Oh but wait, then they have to pick a SECOND team right on the spot without being given any time to think about their strategy here. Even though every winner going forward will have that ability.

Exhibit B – Devin and Cheyenne get eliminated from the game, but then get to come back into the game just because another team quit. But wait, instead of doing the logical thing by making them earn their spot again in an elimination, some other team (Johnny and Jess) loses and has to go home instead. On top of that, the ones responsible for sending Devin and Cheyenne in originally now have to face possible future repercussions because these two are now back in the game. Something that otherwise wouldn’t exist.

Exhibit C – Vince and Jenna get caught accidentally grabbing someone else’s mattress to carry up the hill. They then have to go back and carry their own up the hill. They aren’t DQ’d even though they interfered with another team’s task (Dario and Nicole may or may not have been forced to choose the tires instead of a mattress). Meanwhile, Camila accidentally grabs another team’s token, realizes it shortly after, then tosses it aside (but still in play). That team can’t find their token even though one of the several cameramen could have easily resolved that issue. For this, Camila and Tony are DQ’d. I’m all for that resolution but I feel that Vince and Jenna should have been DQ’d then as well.

Exhibit D – Thomas and Simone have to exit the game, which is cool cuz they were up for elimination anyway. Wes and Nany are safe then right? No, they still have to draw two of the four skulls to see if they too have to face possible elimination. Huh? What kind of made up rule change is this now?

This season has been bonkers from the very beginning and it’s been very hard to watch/enjoy.  I understand this is a reality show for our entertainment, but it’s also a reality competition.  These people are competing for, as Sarah puts it, lifechanging amounts of money.  That alone should require the creators of it to make sure the game stays balanced and fair to all competitors.