Jeff Probst called an end to ladder challenge after contestants struggled for 22 minutes; Credits: TV Insider
Survivor is a series that does not take even the most dangerous of threats seriously. However, the show made history when Jeff Probst called an immediate end to a task for the first time ever.
Survivor has always been a scary show with the extreme stunts performed by the contestants in the series. Yet the show reached an extreme level of danger last Wednesday when a new task was introduced into the game.
It was the 7th day on the Survivor 42 show when three groups were made to compete against each other in an immunity challenge. The task demanded that the tribe jump off a platform into the water, swim the area, and bring back a ladder from the ocean's depths.
The ladder would allow them access to use a key to find sandbags. These were then to be thrown at the five targets that were seated on the beach. However, the task was so complicated and lengthy that it had to be stopped midway.
Taku tribe's Jonathan Young was entirely unbeatable as he took the entire matter into his hands and managed to complete the challenge. He even went after to save the tribe members who were caught in the tide.
Yet, the other two tribes were kept down by the waves for far too long. Ika and Vati tried their best to fight off the tide but with the current being against them, they couldn't do much in the challenge.
After they struggled for a long time to break the surface of the water, host Jeff Probst decided that it was enough danger to let the contestants continue that way. The producers called a stop to the competition when they were still trying to bring out their ladders.
The tribes were allowed to rest and were then allowed to pick up the challenge where they were required to make the 5 targets on the beach. Ika finally managed to stand second in the competition. However, Vati's third position set them up for a meetup with the Tribal Council.
While the audience can already guess that the competition was not for the faint-hearted, was the task really that unmanageable. The host of the show Survivor, Jeff Probst, recently explained why it was so difficult for the contestants to raise the ladder and finish the task.
The host revealed that the tide swells on a particular day were so strong that they could feel the turbulence in the ocean on the air itself. It was strong enough to form a tornado and felt the same.
Needless to say, the producers had not actually intended the challenge to be this difficult. They had already given the task a test run, but being performed in calm waters, there was not much challenge given on the waterfront and the Dream Team completed it with no difficulty.
However, the real challenge was made hard with the shift in the wind and the tornado-like conditions. Visibility was already suffering as the blowing wind gathered steam around the beach.
The task-setters knew that it would be difficult, and they were excited as the real challenge would be proven difficult. On the other hand, the Survivor challenge team and the marine department urged for haste so that the task could be completed before the weather turned really bad.
However, the winds picked up pace faster than they could imagine and even the initial jump off the platform was soon followed by a giant tidal wave that scattered the players. The conditions only worsened thenceforth. The waves were relentless and the players couldn't catch their breath.
The effort for the players was heightened to an extreme degree with the panic setting in and the waves coming faster and faster. Though the players were not in real danger as there were safety swimmers watching their every move, it was important for the show to let its audience know that they take the safety of the challengers seriously.
And even if there are safe swimmers, the players have to go through a lot. Hence, it was extremely important to call off the challenge and bring back the players to safety. But before that, the players had already struggled in the turbulent ocean for 22 long minutes.
