This week, Beast Games premiered the Survivor-themed episode that brought half of the final competitors all the way to Fiji for a chance to win their own private island worth $1.8 million. But for Survivor fans, the most important moment of the episode didn’t come when the prize was awarded, but rather when a second-place twist came into play.
As soon as host Jeff Probst appeared on the beach to welcome MrBeast and the Beast Games contestants, to “Survivor: Beast Games-style” he started dropping comparisons between the two shows, specifically they’re both extreme social experiments. But then he heavily emphasized that Beast Games asks a very simple question: “what will you do for money?”
And while Survivor also asks that question—and goes as far as to remind the players how much is at stake frequently—it also often pushes the narrative that the game is more than just the prize at the end. It’s also the journey of self-discovery that comes with leaving the material world behind for a month. So the fact that Jeff brought it all back to the final prize amount had me wondering if maybe MrBeast’s involvement has to do with the prize money.
At the end of episode 4 of Beast Games, the winner didn’t walk away with $1 million, they won a private island while still moving forward in a competition for $5 million. But then the real twist of the episode came when MrBeast announced he had something for the runner-up.
Walking out with a wooden box, he claims that what he has is actually much more valuable than the island he just gave away. And when the box is opened, it reveals a gold coin he refers to as the $10 million coin. The twist is that the person in possession of this coin will be able to flip it if they make it to the Final 6 for the chance to double the final prize money. If doubled, whoever wins the game, wins all the money—not just the player who flipped the coin. But if the player who has it is eliminated before then, the coin goes too and there’s no change to the prize money.
As soon as this coin appeared on my screen it set off every single one of my Survivor fan theory alarms and had me rushing to re-watch the official trailer that came out during the finale of Survivor 49 to see where I recognized the coin from.
About 90 seconds into the official trailer for the season, there’s an unmistakable gold coin with the MrBeast logo flipping across the screen. It can’t be a coincidence that this imagery was prominently featured in the promotion for Survivor 50 and then so heavily emphasized in the tie-in episode.
In the trailer, we then see MrBeast himself, Jimmy Donaldson, appearing with a briefcase, which he sets on a wooden table not dissimilar in style to the platform Jeff usually has in front of him during Survivor Auctions. And considering it’s been a couple of seasons since we last saw an auction reward—and Survivor 50 is meant to be a celebration of the show’s history and its fans, which includes everyone’s love of the auction—I wouldn’t be surprised if this briefcase holds a twist our castaways will have the chance to bid on.
Specifically, I’d guess one castaway will place the winning bid on a coin that will grant them a 50/50 shot to increase the final prize, but only if that player makes it to the Final 6—the same rule as Beast Games and the historic deadline in Survivor for the last time most advantages can be played.
It would make sense if this is truly the twist MrBeast is bringing to the game. It adds a level of social strategy to an advantage—align with this player for a Final 6 for a chance to double your prize money—while also establishing a big Final Tribal Council red flag—did you only make it here because people wanted your advantage in play? Plus, considering we had a $2 million pot for the last anniversary season, it wouldn’t be surprising to up the ante for such a milestone in the show’s history.
What do you think? Could something as chaotic as a finale prize flip coin be joining the ranks of the Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol? Only a few more weeks until Survivor 50 premieres on CBS and Paramount+ (Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m.! See you there!) to find out exactly what’s in store this season.
