Survivor 44

CBS renewed Survivor for its forty-third and forty-fourth seasons on March 9, 2022. As with every season since season 41, Survivor 44 features 26 days of gameplay, pitting eighteen contestants against one another in three initial tribes. Filming began in June 5, 2022, and concluded on June 30, 2022. ==Contestants==

The cast was announced on January 31, 2023, and consists of 18 new players divided into three tribes: Ratu, Soka, and Tika. The name of the merged tribe is Va Va, a name coined by contestant and eventual season winner Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho from the Fijian term va, meaning "four" (Va Va being 4-4, as is Survivor 44). The cast included former Seattle Seahawks fullback Brandon Cottom. Future appearances Bruce Perreault returned for the following season, Survivor 45. Outside of Survivor, Carolyn Wiger competed on the third season of The Traitors in 2025. In 2026, Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho competed on the fourth season of The Traitors. ==Season summary==

of Fiji. Eighteen new castaways were divided into three tribes of six: Ratu, Soka, and Tika. Tika became the underdogs after losing most of the immunity challenges, but a core alliance of Carolyn, Carson, and Yam Yam outlasted their tribemates. Their position became powerful at the merge when the Ratu and Soka alliances went to war, as they navigated between the two sides to eliminate threats from each. Former Soka Heidi, the last non-Tika left, won the final immunity challenge and chose to face Carson herself in the fire-making challenge. The gamble paid off as she joined Carolyn and Yam Yam in the final three with a record-breaking firemaking performance. However, it was not enough to win over the jury as Yam Yam's social game and taking strategic credit for Tika's decisions won him the title of Sole Survivor. ==Episodes==

Survivor 44 received positive reviews; praise was directed toward the cast, their camaraderie and the level of strategic play, while some criticism was directed toward the abundance of twists and advantages in the pre-merge portion of the season as well as the predictability of the post-merge portion. Entertainment Weeklys Dalton Ross ranked this season 20th out of 44, praising the cast, particularly Carolyn and Yam Yam for being "an all-time great character" and "one of the most delightfully funny narrators in the show's history" respectively, but criticized the season for lacking "jaw-dropping moves or moments along the way that stood out." The "Purple Rock Podcast" ranked this season 11th out of 44, stating that the season's cast "came to play" and that the season has "a little something for many different types of Survivor fans: strategy, comedy, romance, and satisfying narrative arcs." Although Andy Dehnart of Reality Blurred criticized the season for having "some lamentable decisions and frustrating episodes", he praised the cast and their gameplay, which he states is "the best we can ask for in this new era." Martin Holmes of Inside Survivor had mixed feelings towards the season. Although he praised the Tika three and their arc throughout the season, he also criticized that said alliance's overexposure "resulted in gaps in the narrative and took away the emotional impact and investment when it came to those players' eliminations." He also viewed the finale as predictable, stating that it went "pretty much as expected, with very little in the way of surprises." In 2024, Nick Caruso of TVLine ranked this season 20th out of 47. ==References==