The new season kicks off on Wednesday, September 18th 2013.

The fall edition of SURVIVOR, themed "Blood vs. Water," will feature former players competing with - and ultimately against - their loved ones who share the same goal: to outwit, outplay, outlast and ultimately be crowned Sole Survivor.

I like the idea of bringing two people who are friends or family together into the game, but I wish they'd just ditch the former players. I get that it's easier for the producers to go with a known entity - there's a lot less of a risk bringing on a former player who you know versus an unknown new applicant - but it's getting a bit old now. It's no longer a "once in a lifetime" thing to be on Survivor. It's becoming more of a "get my character out there so I can come back next seasons" which tarnishes the reality TV angle of the show in my opinion.

Redemption Island Returns... The twist this season, however, is loved ones will be forced to choose whether to "save" their partner on Redemption Island and switch places with them, thus allowing their loved one to immediately re-enter the game, or leave them in exile to survive on their own.

Redemption Island is what helped save the series for me a few seasons back when contestants would go on a run of victories trying to win their way back into the actual game. We'll see if this extra twist on what is already a gimmick in the game will make it interesting or just more unnecessary drama.

The Cast

You can check out bios and photos of the cast. At first glance you might think they picked people based on the swimsuit competition part of the show. Aside from Rupert I suppose. Can't have real people on reality TV can we?