This show has gradually been declining since S24 even with a few strong seasons sprinkled in since (S25, S29, S30).
Which is weird because I liked the route for S26, highly-enjoyed the route and cast for S28, thought the only fault of S30 was the scheduling, and thought S32 was an amazing season that harkened back to the old days of the show. It's declining from the purely subjective take of some people but not all.
There's been little drama as of late in these past few seasons
Ignoring the outrage of the drama brought on by S32 that soured the online community's opinion of five front-running teams and the alliances in S30 and S31, I guess. It's literally just S33 that was drama-free. Are we asserting that COVID is a reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater? I'm not sure what people expect. One minute it's "air the show", the next it's "oh no, not like that." One minute it's "add in 'real people', and the next is "oh no they're not playing like I want them to. Make the rules tighter." S32 literally had zero influencers and zero CBS reality stars (ie. BB/Survivor) and people lost their minds over how much they disliked them.
No game changing elements have affected the game in a negative way
Like the U-Turn vote in S31, the return of the Yield in S32, or COVID in S33 and S34. Big nothing-burgers. No one talked about those.
Like I've said a few times now, I don't think this is about expecting the show to "sacrifice quality for the sake of keeping the show going for as long as possible". I think this is about people coming in with an expectation that CBS will make the show exactly as they, the viewer posting comments, wants it to be and no different, and unless it meets that expectation, it's bad. Drama but not this drama. The teams I want, doing the things I want them to do. And people are immediately forgetful. TV goes by in the blink of an eye and people generally only remember the most inflammatory parts, and only if they're reminded. Seasons that people hated 10 years ago are revisited and lauded (and vice versa). When S31 aired, everyone online watching the show had an immensely positive reaction to Colin and Christie winning-- now people regard it as lame (the word used in the previous messages).
I genuinely think people don't know what they really want, and what they think they want is a worse idea. I would recommend that people who don't like it take a look at their viewing habits and stop themselves from going down the black hole of feeling bad about something they seem to consistently not enjoy. Wait until it airs and see what people say about it and base your watching habits on that instead because this stuff here doesn't seem to be working.
