I watched Survive the Raft expecting a social experiment, but it quickly felt like a platform for conflict-particularly political and racial conflict-rather than cooperation.
From the beginning, I felt CJ was unfairly targeted, especially by Lashanna, who came off as loud, aggressive, and immediately confrontational. CJ's calm response-"I was just attacked in a group for how I look... based on my appearance..."-was a standout moment. He called out the hypocrisy in how assumptions were made about him based on his being a white male. And the silence that followed said a lot.
The show seems to lean into the same divisive narratives we see all too often in media: constant focus on race and identity over character and individual merit. Many of us are tired of being told what to think about each other based on skin color. Most Americans, I believe, care far more about someone's integrity, work ethic, and how they treat others than what box they check on a census.
Things really took a turn for the worse when Jimmy joined the raft. Almost immediately, he started sabotaging CJ's standing with the group, spreading lies and twisting CJ's words to stir up gossip-especially among the women. This snowballed quickly and led to a poorly timed comment about Russell, which gave the group an excuse to vote CJ off. It was frustrating to watch, because without Jimmy's meddling, CJ-a skilled spear fisher, level-headed presence, and strong competitor-would have likely made it to the end. His exit felt orchestrated, not earned.
Finally, in the last bounty mission, players were given the option to cross off names from the list-eliminating others from sharing in the final cash prize. Not one of them did it. Not even Jimmy, who had proven himself to be manipulative and money-driven. That moment felt too clean, too perfect. Are we really supposed to believe that no one tried to cut anyone out for a bigger payday? It came across as scripted, or at least heavily influenced behind the scenes, which undercut the entire social experiment premise.
