On set with ‘Survivor: Tocantins’

Contestants need to beat the heat to beat the competition

 “Survivor” returns to Brazil for its 18th season, but it’s not the tropical Brazil from “Survivor Amazon.”

Instead, “Survivor Tocantins” takes place in brutal high desert conditions that make equatorial African Gabon, which hosted last season, seem even more like Eden.

On the morning production began last fall, temperatures were around 110 degrees, and it was brutally hot — even for those of us standing under a tent, waiting to watch the 16 contestants be marooned and have their surprising first vote based only upon their first impressions of one another. After that, contestants had to hike for hours to their camps as the heat only got more intense. But at least they’ll have torrential downpours to cool them off, along with a river. The Rio Novo will host many of the challenges and flows past both tribes’ camps.

The cast includes the show’s youngest-ever contestant, Spencer Duhm, a 19-year-old “Survivor” super-fan who almost didn’t make the cast, as he was subbed in at the last minute. SWV singer Tamara “Taj” Johnson-George and Bear Naked granola founder Brendan Synnott are also competing, and could have their pre-existing fame or fortune held against them.

Unlike Gabon’s cast of good and evil players, nearly all of them are likable; I found only a few to be annoying, like bus driver Sandy Burgin, who told me she’s “a hyper-in-my-diaper, unmedicated ADHD adult.” There’s also Benjamin “Coach” Wade, who compared himself to Jesus during our conversation. But even Jesus might have difficulty adapting to Brazil’s environment, from the heat to the bugs, never mind the even more challenging situations that the producers construct. Those are what really make it difficult to survive “Survivor.”

— Andy Dehnart is a TV critic and editor of RealityBlurred.com.