The Survivor Thread

[Blehschmidt]

How the fuck does Kelley Wentworth not get brought back, yet we have to see fucking Sandra....again. Ugggh

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Spoiler

Honestly, I'm not that jazzed about that cast. It must be some sort of winners versus runner up versus whatever. I guess there is just enough there to be potentially fun (Jeff, Caleb, Debbie, Aubry, Ciera, Tai, Tony. We'll see, I guess.

 

[RPS]

On 5/31/2016 at 17:52, Blehschmidt said:

 

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How the fuck does Kelley Wentworth not get brought back, yet we have to see fucking Sandra....again. Ugggh

 

Apparently she turned it down.

 

[Katsuya]

So hey, bumping this back up because I *finally* got round to finishing Australia and now have watched Africa, too.

Australia - Knowing that Amber gets brought back is bizarre, because why the hell would you bring her back for anything based off this performance. Anyway, I probably wanted Elisabeth to win. I also LITERALLY JUST NOW discovered she's Elisabeth Hasselbeck and now I feel kind of dirty for wanting that. Jerri is great as the villain and I probably would have had her going much further, but she kind of screwed herself over ultimately. Everything I've seen too suggests Tina is amazing as a character and deserved winner, but...eh? She's good and certainly plays her strategy pretty well, but I don't really see what makes her better than Hatch, for example. She's very bland apart from the fact she plays the strategy well too. I suppose it helps she's against Colby, whose personality is "dislikes Jerri" and "jock"? But, yeah.

Africa - Okay, so two things:

1. Lex is awesome
2. WHY THE HELL DID KIM TAKE ETHAN TO THE FINAL TWO!?

I mean, how stupid do you have to be? If Kim took Lex to the jury, then guaranteed she'd have had Kelly, Kim and Teresa's vote. Then it would have just been Frank and I get the feeling he'd have leaned more towards Kim than he would have Lex. Anyway, Ethan's just Colby but less good at challenges and more bland (I mean, he literally rides in to victory on Lex and Tom's back, pretty much). This is easily my favourite season of the 3, though. Pre-merge is great, with Clarence's cherries, crazy Linda, Silas' downfall in the swap episode, Lindsay failing to make it past merge thanks to the "L" sign, Brandon being an absolute dick and also getting his comeuppance, Lex's meltdown over the "other" vote for him (also, I love T-Bird)...just great. Really, really enjoyable and probably more so because I honestly wasn't 100% sure who was going to win.

So, yeah. On to Marquesas. I hear that there's a guy from Boston in it. Sure he'll never come up again.

(Also, yeah, people need to talk to me about Australia / Africa plz).

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I was thinking about at least doing a re-watch of all the originals seasons of next season's contestants (my brother is planning on doing it too). 

The early seasons were so fun to go back and re-watch. There is something so innocent about them. Elisabeth was adorable in Australia. Her and Rodger were so cute. There is a really great write-up of Jerri & Colby's relationship throughout their time playing together that is worth the read. I was also just super into Colby and would probably still rank as one of my favourites of all time.

I don't remember much about Africa but there are some fantastic characters. Ethan, Lex, T-Bird, Tom, Clarence all spring to mind. Frank & Brandon's relationship is great too and the early stuff of the older crew versus the younger crew was interesting at the time. 

[Alex.]

What I enjoy about the older seasons is that they were not solely strategy focused as they are now. Back then you saw much more of the living conditions, you know the surivival aspect of it. I miss little things like tree mail for example. Africa I really don't remember, I only remember Big Tom, Lex and Ethan and Australia I enjoyed. I was rooting so hard for Elisabeth and Roger. 

Marquesas I don't even remember the winner lol. I remember Boston Rob, Hunter Ellis, and Sean. And I think Kathy is from that season? Not 100% sure

 

On Hulu they have the first season, and then Seasons 12 to present day. I started Exile Island again, and wow. Shane was so entertaining LOL. The dude was insane on Day 2 because he didn't have a cigarette to smoke! I voted for him in Second Chances and disappointed he did not get on. 

Edited January 10, 2017 by Alex.

[RPS]

On 05/01/2017 at 17:47, Katsuya loves Oslo said:

Australia - Knowing that Amber gets brought back is bizarre, because why the hell would you bring her back for anything based off this performance. Anyway, I probably wanted Elisabeth to win. I also LITERALLY JUST NOW discovered she's Elisabeth Hasselbeck and now I feel kind of dirty for wanting that. Jerri is great as the villain and I probably would have had her going much further, but she kind of screwed herself over ultimately. Everything I've seen too suggests Tina is amazing as a character and deserved winner, but...eh? She's good and certainly plays her strategy pretty well, but I don't really see what makes her better than Hatch, for example. She's very bland apart from the fact she plays the strategy well too. I suppose it helps she's against Colby, whose personality is "dislikes Jerri" and "jock"? But, yeah

Africa - Okay, so two things:

1. Lex is awesome
2. WHY THE HELL DID KIM TAKE ETHAN TO THE FINAL TWO!?

I mean, how stupid do you have to be? If Kim took Lex to the jury, then guaranteed she'd have had Kelly, Kim and Teresa's vote. Then it would have just been Frank and I get the feeling he'd have leaned more towards Kim than he would have Lex. Anyway, Ethan's just Colby but less good at challenges and more bland (I mean, he literally rides in to victory on Lex and Tom's back, pretty much). This is easily my favourite season of the 3, though. Pre-merge is great, with Clarence's cherries, crazy Linda, Silas' downfall in the swap episode, Lindsay failing to make it past merge thanks to the "L" sign, Brandon being an absolute dick and also getting his comeuppance, Lex's meltdown over the "other" vote for him (also, I love T-Bird)...just great. Really, really enjoyable and probably more so because I honestly wasn't 100% sure who was going to win.

So, yeah. On to Marquesas. I hear that there's a guy from Boston in it. Sure he'll never come up again.

(Also, yeah, people need to talk to me about Australia / Africa plz).

Australia: 

Amber came back because so many other females turned it down. Elizabeth and Colleen said no and a notable winner in a future season was sick. They could have cast a female from later seasons, but Australia was huge in America. Like 50 million viewership for certain episodes huge. They wanted a girl who looked great in a bikini and she did and was seen by more Survivor fans.

Tina was purposefully hidden as the winner because they felt Hatch was too obvious in his edit. Tina was front and center for every big move but they didn't want to attribute it to her and make it obvious.

Africa 

Kim J had no chance of winning and she knew it. Sometimes in Survivor the chips fall and you are dead in the water. That's what happened to Kim. The game had not evolved into what it is today. Betrayal and lying was seem as really bad and a lot of people were watching the show - people were concerned with their reputations as humans. Today people want to go on the show and don't care how they come across as humans and are more concerned with being game saavy.

[Azazel]

After seeing this threat I decided to check Survivor out since I wanted something to sort of watch while I did other things.  I only remember parts of season 1 and 2 from when I was young so most of it will be completely new to me and I can see it evolve quickly over time.  I'm halfway through the first season and I now realized 14 year old me was dumb and Richard is easily the best.

[GoGo Yubari]

Seeing it evolve quickly over time was basically the reason I was like "fuck it, I'm gonna watch all the old Survivors" a few years ago. It's fun seeing the wrinkles get thrown in, whether by production (Africa!) or by players (Amazon!).

[Azazel]

I'm excited for Season 3 and on since I don't know a single thing about any of them.  Season 2 I remember the final 2 and might remember some more players once I see it, but that's about it.

The opening has some spoilers in it though, like Rudy with a beard even though its half way in and he doesn't have one yet.... though I assume he has the ability to shave because its been 27 days and even I would have more facial hair then all of them and I can't grow a beard at all.

[Katsuya]

Just finishes Marquesas. Jesus, that season blows the other three so far out of the water it's insane. So many great characters, I legit had no idea who would win until the end. So much more game playing, two proper villains, I guess...and probably the right person, from a strategy standpoint, won.

[Azazel]

I have 2 episodes to go on Season 1, and I remember how it goes down so I'm not in for any surprises.  Rudy is a very interesting character.  He doesn't care for homosexuals or having children out of wedlock, which I can understand coming from someone born in the 1920's. However, he never makes anything out of it and just accepts it despite not agreeing with it.

It's easy to saw knowing more about how the game works now, so it's understandable not everyone would be playing smart the first season, but some of them are pretty awful at it.  Sean doesn't want to vote for everyone, and even though they all suspect an alliance between Rich, Rudy and Sue, nobody every tries to do anything about it.

[GoGo Yubari]

3 hours ago, Katsuya loves Oslo said:

Just finishes Marquesas. Jesus, that season blows the other three so far out of the water it's insane. So many great characters, I legit had no idea who would win until the end. So much more game playing, two proper villains, I guess...and probably the right person, from a strategy standpoint, won.

Marquesas is absolutely a milestone season, and I wish they'd brought more players from that back for all-star seasons.

Spoiler

The fall of the Rotu alliance is a brilliant example of the show setting up a trap and the players walking straight into it. It's so, so, so fucking satisfying watching them be the first majority alliance to get toppled post-merge, even though I actually did like Tammy. Sean's "bet on black" voting confessional is just the icing on the cake.

The only reason it's not treated like an all-time great season, I think, is because Vecepia won instead of Kathy. Which sucks, because I've always liked Vee. That whole Rob/Vee/Sean alliance is probably one of the funniest collections of first-time players ever.

And yeah, Azazel, Rudy's interesting. I think he and Richard are the two people most ahead of the curve in season one; Richard in spearheading the alliance/alliance management, and Rudy in going "well, I'm the minority here so I better fit in with them instead of them fitting in with me," in contrast to B.B.'s stubbornness.

[Azazel]

I'm going to finish Season 1 tonight and start on Outback, I want to see how much I remember about that.  I know Tina, Colby, Michael and Jerri (though I could be wrong).  I'll probably recognize some other faces once I see it because I think I actually watched that one when it aired and was 100% behind Michael winning.  I don't think I have a clue who won season 3 or who is even on it and everything after that I have no idea.  The only other thing I know is Johnny Fairplay due to his ties to wrestling and Danny Bonaduce breaking his face, but I have no idea what season he was on, if he won or even if he was hated while on the island.  Basically I have a ton of completely new material to watch.

[RPS]

I always reflect back on Season 1 and realize how wise Richard Hatch (and Stacey). It is kind of comparable to when you first play a board game. You explain the rules to a group of people and they understand how things work. For example, in a game like Settlers of Catan, when you roll the seven, you put it on someone else's space and take a resource from them. It takes someone who is really game savvy to start thinking how to manipulate and game the pre-set rules so that you optimize your chance to win. Using Catan - the robber exists, but you can manipulate and use that rule in ways which were not necessarily intended. 

That is basically what the Tagi alliance did and it is crazy to think about. At the time the show aired, the alliance was completely shit upon by the audience. I'll be completely honest and say I from day 1 completely loved the Tagi alliance, but everyone else was so shocked by them because it was cheating! It was literally seen as unethical by the Pagong alliance to play the game that way. Richard and the Tagi alliance did not care though. 

Marquesas was the next step in the game. The rules in the first three seasons were - find your alliance, stick in the alliance, pray you can weasel to the end. In season 4, the alliance was still key, but you were given permission to break it if you realized you were going to lose. Much like how Borneo was so key (because it taught us about alliances), Marquesas is just as key because it showed you that sometimes you need to turn on that alliance when your number is up. 

 

[GoGo Yubari]

11 minutes ago, Azazel said:

I'm going to finish Season 1 tonight and start on Outback, I want to see how much I remember about that.  I know Tina, Colby, Michael and Jerri (though I could be wrong).

Those are indeed four of the biggest characters from that season! Maybe, in terms of the story of the season itself, the four biggest, though one of the cast is more famous than any of them now.

The Outback cast is basically the cast that has come back the most. As of like a month from now there's representation from that set of players in six seasons, though I won't say who in case you're like me and like being surprised by who they pick to come back for which seasons.

[Azazel]

I somehow managed to binge through all of Outback over the weekend.

Season 1 was good, but didn't have the most likable cast.  I liked Richard, but a lot of the other players I wasn't big on (though I won't blame Rudy for some of his opinions since he was born in the 20's).  Outback had a way more likable cast outside of a few people.  I did remember more about it than I thought once I saw it and enjoyed it a lot more.  Africa is next.  I looked up a spoiler free cast and I don't recognize a single person so this will be my first time going in blind.

Overall the favorite players are slim for season 1 and would probably just be Richard.  Season 2 has a lot more likable and hateable people.  With Jerri, Mitchell and Kel being high on my did not like list (Jerri is obvious, Mitchell was just a follower and Kel looked like a tool at the reunion).  Where as Mad Dog, Michael, Elizabeth, Rodger, Colby, Tina, Nick, Jeff, Amber and Alicia were all likable people.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Azazel

[RPS]

It's interesting you did not like Jerri. Most people who rewatch the season these days are like "why is Jerri such a huge villain?" I remember at the time watching not understanding why everyone hated Jerri and thinking Colby was a total asshole. 

[Azazel]

Jerri was a bitch and she had Amber and Mitchell as her minions.  Colby was smart, he broke up that trio early on to give himself, Keith and Tina all the power but never came off like an asshole where as Jerri basically pissed everyone off.  I think its like of "Jerri the Villain" and more that she would be someone I would hate if I had to spend 20 minutes with.

[RPS]

Very interesting. As I said, the revisionist history has been to look back at Jerri and say "what the heck was all the raging about her?" because she is a pretty modest villain for the earlier seasons. Especially when you get to All Stars (no spoilers), Jerri is really given a raw deal by the audience. There have been so many more over the top villains that have come since Jerri and reality television has shifted so drastically. 

The move to take out Mitchell pre-merge was all Tina. She actually blitzed everyone on the way to tribal to get Mitchell out when the cameras were not rolling and when the players were not supposed to be talking to each other. Tina realized that if she blitzed at the last second, there was no chance that the plans would change. It's actually a huge production no-no these days, as when you are being transported to and from locations you cannot talk because there is no cameras on. The show notoriously has staged events that were not caught on camera in later seasons. Tina did not give a fuck and realized it was the perfect time to flip the table on Jerri, Amber and Mitchell.