Connecticut Is Part of Survivor’s Wild New 50-State Challenge

Connecticut Is Part of Survivor’s Wild New 50-State Challenge

According to Entertainment Weekly, Survivor is about to let fans play along in real life—minus the starvation, the sleeping on bamboo, and the constant plotting against your closest allies. Starting at the end of January, the long-running reality show is launching something called the “Survivor 50 Challenge,” and yes, Connecticut is part of it.

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The idea is pretty simple on paper and absolutely unhinged in execution. To celebrate both the show’s 50th season and its 50-state footprint, Survivor is hiding Immunity Idols across the country—one in every state. Beginning January 31, clues will start popping up online, and fans will be encouraged to track down their state’s idol before the challenge wraps up on February 25, right around the season premiere.

Here’s the part that makes this feel slightly less Hunger Games: you don’t actually have to be the first person to find Connecticut’s idol. Anyone who finds it and snaps a photo as proof gets entered into a drawing. One winner from each state will score a free trip to Los Angeles for a Survivor-related event. There’s also a 51st prize tied to some kind of virtual hunt, though details on that are still pretty vague.

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Now, let’s talk about the Connecticut angle for a second. On one hand, this is kind of awesome. We have mountains, woods, city centers, random scenic overlooks, and just enough weird corners where hiding an idol actually makes sense. On the other hand,… have we learned nothing?

I don’t know if this is a good idea. Remember when Pokémon Go came out? Connecticut could barely handle that. Now we’re supposed to trust that two people won’t arrive at the same Immunity Idol location at the same time and absolutely lose their minds? No way. Especially if they hide this thing in Naugatuck. They’ll be beating each other with baseball bats over Survivor.