‘Survivor’ reveals final fan voting category for season 50

Filming on Survivor 50 will begin in just a few weeks, but filming on the landmark season cannot commence until producers know exactly what they are filming.

Over the past few months, viewers of the CBS reality competition show have been voting on elements that will impact the look of the show, the game contestants are playing, and even what happens after the million-dollar winner is crowned. Hence the title of the season — Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.

But there is one final category left for viewers to vote on, and that voting will commence during tonight’s episode of Survivor 48. The subject of the last category? Immunity idols.

Host and showrunner Jeff Probst will give a fuller explanation in a clip that will run as part of a commercial break on the episode, but here is the actual wording of the question being put to fans: “Your last big decision regarding game play! Idols are a big part of today’s game and responsible for some of the most dramatic moves in Survivor history — but for Survivor 50, YOU get to decide: IDOLS or NO IDOLS.”

While deciding whether there are idols or not on season 50 could be the most impactful decision viewers will make, it seems highly unlikely that fans will vote to completely abolish idols from the game. You would have to go all the way back to season 10, Survivor: Pulau, for an installment that featured no immunity idols put into the game. While fans have often argued about whether there are too many idols and if those idols are too easy to find, you would be hard pressed to find many folks who would advocate for no idols whatsoever.

In fact, many of the game’s top moments have revolved around idols — whether it was J.T. giving Russell his idol wrapped in a love letter on Heroes vs. Villains or Parvati playing that idol as one of two back against J.T. a few days later.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

But while any idol elimination seems dubious — especially for what figures to be the franchise’s biggest season yet — the decision now officially rests in the hands of the fans! Can some mischief makers rally enough forces to do away with idols completely? Voting will open during tonight’s episode of Survivor 48, when folks can go to survivor50cbs.votenow.tv to register their decision.