If there was anything that could get me back into writing articles consistently, it would be Survivor. Granted, it did take me until the day before Episode 2 to write about the premiere. That will change after this article.

Reading articles from Entertainment Weekly and other sources were part of my inspiration to begin writing in general, let alone provide my own analysis on one of my favorite shows. Since Survivor 41 is considered the dawn of a new era, I am excited to try a different format. Rather than going chronologically from start to finish of an episode, I’ll cover some of the highlights and biggest topics, and then provide a brief player-by-player analysis. Lastly, I will give three players gold, silver, and bronze medals to acknowledge their gameplay. So without further ado, “come on in”!

Evolving an Iconic Phrase

This comes up not just in the initial marooning, but ahead of the immunity challenge as well. Jeff Probst asks the cast if the phrase “Come on in guys” should be retired? The premise of this being, that the term “guys” can be seen by some as exclusive against anyone who is not male. While guys has been used as a gender neutral term in some spaces, it is a question worth asking.

However, the way the show went about this felt like they were making a spectacle out of it. I understand many people who watch Survivor don’t realize the potential harm in using the word “guys”, and there certainly is a place for this conversation on this show. This is a social experiment with 20 years worth of important conversations that have shown society’s growth.

The way this was handled left the audience in a haze, with one side thinking this was a positive change but executed poorly, and another side that is completely dismissive or even offended by this notion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but where I stand is language evolves and I am ok with it taking this evolution and becoming a three word phrase instead of four.

As for how the contestants felt about it, we got feedback from two of the cast’s Queer contestants. In the initial conversation, Evvie felt content with the use of “Come on in guys”. Later, Ricard admits that he wasn’t in the right headspace to weigh in on that topic initially. He does admit though that he would prefer “guys” to be dropped. This is a situation where majority rules isn’t…