The Survivor Thread

[Azazel]

To be fair, after Season 2 I know literally nothing about Survivor, so saying Jerri is a modest villain compared to now might be true, I just don't have anyone else to compare her to yet.  I didn't like her personality and I didn't know anything about what Tina did, but voting Mitchell off basically got them to where they were since otherwise Jerri/Amber/Mitchell would have had the power post merge the final 2 would have probably been Colby and Amber or Mitchell (since he won everything anyway).  I'm sure the production changed after certain things happened that they didn't expect but from a complete newbie point of view, I didn't like Jerri.

My opinion might change once I see other seasons.

[Katsuya]

Jerri's not a very good villain, because she's so incompetent at the game. From the "THESE PEOPLE ARE MY VERY CLOSE FRIENDS" speech onwards, she really doesn't do well at it. She gets completely blinded by Colby and if anything, my favourite Jerri storyline from the season is her being so clueless about Colby. I've no idea if she then came out later and said she knew he was leading her on etc., but it really looked like she thought she had a chance with him. Or at the very least, thought that he was really on her side.

Also, doesn't Australia have the most people who end up returning to the show or something crazy like that? They really were a great cast. In retrospect, having now seen Marquesas, nobody in Africa (bar a couple people) stand out as being that memorable, but the Australians do.

[Azazel]

Started Africa and I'm not sure how I feel about this season.  Most of the cast (mostly Samburu) is detestable.  The lazy trio that would die if left alone, Silas is an idiot and Linda is a lunatic.  Boran was fine outside of the first episode shenanigans with Clarence.  I'm not sure how I feel about the swap, since it spiced the game up and destroyed the Samburu team completely, which was probably good for the long term of the show since they were not fun to watch, and they probably would have died.  I'm not at the merge yet but I almost feel like Jeff put doubt in their mind about it because Ethan threw the immunity challenge (which was brilliant strategy).  Almost as if the show runners are reacting to the game and tossing twists to make it less predictable.

I'm going to guess a final 4 of Ethan, Lex, Tom and Kelly (maybe Kim).  Right now I am hoping Lex or Ethan wins.

[Azazel]

Well Lex kind of fell apart post merge, so it's probably going to go to Ethan or Tom in the end.  I would bet more on Ethan since I don't think Tom will win the last immunity challenge and nobody would be smart to bring him to the final 2.  I don't think their attempt to destroy the early tribal alliances worked all too well this season.

[Alex.]

I remember Borneo and Australia as a kid but Africa I barely remember. I only remember Lex, Ethan and Big Tom. Marquesas I don't even remember at all lol

[Azazel]

Finished Africa, the right person won for sure.  The seasons started a little rocky but post merger it was a lot more enjoyable, although this one seemed less about survival and getting food than the first two.  Gonna start Season 4 tonight and I have no idea what I am getting into.

My own persona rankings.

Favorite Season:
1. Outback (Season 2)
2. Borneo (Season 1)
3. Africa (Season 3)
 

Favorite Castaways:
1. Colby (Outback)
2. Richard (Borneo)
3. Michael (Outback)
4. Elizabeth (Outback)
5. Kim P (Africa)
6. Ethan (Africa)
7. Rodger (Outback)
9. Big Tom (Africa)

 

Least Favorite Castaways:
1. Jerri (Outback)
2. B.B. (Borneo)
3. Mitchell (Outback)
4. Kelly (Borneo)
5. Kelly (Africa)
6. Kimmy (Outback)

[Alex.]

I forget which was on S4, either Marquesas or Thailand, I think? Thailand is a pretty bad season, Marquesas as I said I could not remember really anything..but Amazon, which is the 6th season if memory serves right, that was a fun season.

[GoGo Yubari]

I'm trying to avoid sharing my opinions on future seasons, personally. Or, uh, future stuff involving contestants, but...

Spoiler

... yeah, Thailand is not good. It and One World are my two least favorite.

 

[Azazel]

Started Season 4 (Marquesas), but didn't get very far yet.  Hunter seems like the best pick to win early on, but I don't enough of the cast to even remotely predict who will make it to the end yet.  I bet the showrunner were shitting their pants when people were voting for Sarah, they probably want her to stick around for a long time.

[Azazel]

Finishes Marquesas and that was probably my least favorite season so far.  I do appreciate how the game wasn't just make an alliance and ride it out to the end, but I didn't like most of the people.  Hunter, Gina and Tammy were probably my favorite three while Sean EASILY makes my list for least liked castaway so far.  Boston Rob was a manipulative bastard, but he TRIED something new and it just didn't work out.  Sean was a loud mouth idiot and I wished he got voted off a lot sooner.  Also probably the least deserving of all the winners so far.  Tammy gets my Season 4 MVP for calling the final 2 out, because the game is about lying, manipulating and screwing people over, but they acted like they didn't do it at all.

My own persona rankings.

Favorite Season:
1. Outback (Season 2)
2. Borneo (Season 1)
3. Africa (Season 3)
4. Marqueses (Season 4)

Favorite Castaways:
1. Colby (Outback)
2. Richard (Borneo)
3. Michael (Outback)
4. Elizabeth (Outback)
5. Kim P (Africa)
6. Ethan (Africa)
7. Rodger (Outback)
9. Big Tom (Africa)
10. Tammy (Marqueses)

Least Favorite Castaways:
1. Sean (Marqueses)
2. Jerri (Outback)
3. B.B. (Borneo)
4. Kathy (Marqueses)
5. Mitchell (Outback)
6. Kelly (Borneo)
7. Kelly (Africa)
8. Kimmy (Outback)

[Alex.]

Sean your least favorite eh? I predict he will get dethroned from your #1 spot of least liked castaways when you watch Thailand.

[Azazel]

9 minutes ago, Alex. said:

Sean your least favorite eh? I predict he will get dethroned from your #1 spot of least liked castaways when you watch Thailand.

He just annoyed me to no end, he would just try to argue over people to get his point across and I couldn't stand listening to him.  I have no idea what is up next, I don't even know where Survivor 5 is going to be.  I'm all for being people being manipulative bastards like Rob was, its when they come across like someone I would hate in real life is when they make the list, and Sean's personality so far has topped that over the 64 castaways I've seen.

[Alex.]

2 hours ago, Azazel said:

He just annoyed me to no end, he would just try to argue over people to get his point across and I couldn't stand listening to him.  I have no idea what is up next, I don't even know where Survivor 5 is going to be.  I'm all for being people being manipulative bastards like Rob was, its when they come across like someone I would hate in real life is when they make the list, and Sean's personality so far has topped that over the 64 castaways I've seen.

That is a fair point. IIRC, Thailand is next, then Amazon, Pearl Islands, and All-Stars. Don't quote me on that though because i havent seen some of those seasons since they had aired.

But if it is Thailand, I send you my regards.

[Azazel]

I've started Thailand... and I hope I've already gotten passed the worst part with Ghandia... god that was a terrible thing to have to watch.  Helen (that's Neleh backwards, Mike) was almost as bad during it with the "I believe her story" crap which Ted never denied in the first place.

I would venture to guess the cop dude will be in the final 2 at least.

[Alex.]

I vaguely remember Ghandia yelling and throwing a rock into the water. I think it was due to something Ted(?) did. 

The only people i remember from that season were clay, robb, shi-ann, ted, ghandia, brian and jan

[Azazel]

10 hours ago, Alex. said:

I vaguely remember Ghandia yelling and throwing a rock into the water. I think it was due to something Ted(?) did. 

The only people i remember from that season were clay, robb, shi-ann, ted, ghandia, brian and jan

Ted grinded her in his sleep or something, she told him and he apologized.  Ghandia then told Helen about it and through the worst game of telephone ever Helen went back to Ghandia and basically said "Ted denies the entire thing happened. Purple Monkey Dishwasher."  Ghandia flipped out, especially over the Purple Monkey Dishwasher part.

I'm not sure how I feel about the fake merge trick, I get that they are trying to change it up to prevent it from being an alliance war, but this was just odd.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Azazel

[Alex.]

Yeah Survivor is very hit and miss with twists and sometimes even concepts. You'll see as the seasons go on.

[Azazel]

Finished Thailand and.... well I mean it wasn't completely awful?  The real problem was that nobody on the cast was really likable and the final 2 was a case of "which one of you sucks less".  Brian played smart mostly because Ted/Jan/Helen couldn't get their shit together and dragged Clay along with him because anybody would beat him in the Final 2, and Brian still almost lost.  The best part of the entire season was how most of the jury completely shit on them during their questions.  I've been keeping a tally of my favorite/least favorite players and I don't think anyone from Thailand would even make the top 20 likable.

My own personal rankings.

Favorite Season:
1. Outback (Season 2)
2. Borneo (Season 1)
3. Africa (Season 3)
4. Marqueses (Season 4)
5. Thailand (Season 5)

Favorite Castaways:
1. Colby (Outback)
2. Richard (Borneo)
3. Michael (Outback)
4. Elizabeth (Outback)
5. Kim P (Africa)
6. Ethan (Africa)
7. Rodger (Outback)
9. Big Tom (Africa)
10. Tammy (Marqueses)
I would also rank Greg, Rudy, Alicia, Marilynn, Jeff, Lex, Theresa, Gina, Hunter and The General over anybody from Thailand.

Least Favorite Castaways:
1. Ghandia (Thailand)
2. Sean (Marqueses)
3. Clay (Thailand)
4. Jerri (Outback)
5. B.B. (Borneo)
6. Kathy (Marqueses)
7. Mitchell (Outback)
8. Kelly (Borneo)
9. Kelly (Africa)
10. Kimmy (Outback)

[RPS]

I posted this on reddit a while back, but what was so awful about Brian at the time was how cold he was in the game and how shameless he was about it. In the future, we'll have seasons with players focused solely on winning and not caring about the repercussion, but Brian just showed no remorse for anything he did and it was unlike any other contestant before. He just did not give a shit, it was just a job to fuck everyone else over. I think in the early days of Survivor, Brian was tailor made to succeed because there was an innocence and shame about the game that just isn't there anymore. But Brian past the first 10 seasons? The people would smell him out as a wolf and get rid of him. 

Seasons 6 and 7 are fantastic and probably what saved my viewership in Survivor. I was waning back when it first aired after the end of Marquesas and how nasty Thailand got. But 6 and 7 are just great fun. 

[Azazel]

1 hour ago, RPS said:

I posted this on reddit a while back, but what was so awful about Brian at the time was how cold he was in the game and how shameless he was about it. In the future, we'll have seasons with players focused solely on winning and not caring about the repercussion, but Brian just showed no remorse for anything he did and it was unlike any other contestant before. He just did not give a shit, it was just a job to fuck everyone else over. I think in the early days of Survivor, Brian was tailor made to succeed because there was an innocence and shame about the game that just isn't there anymore. But Brian past the first 10 seasons? The people would smell him out as a wolf and get rid of him. 

Seasons 6 and 7 are fantastic and probably what saved my viewership in Survivor. I was waning back when it first aired after the end of Marquesas and how nasty Thailand got. But 6 and 7 are just great fun. 

Hopefully this is true, I wouldn't say my interest is waning, I enjoy it because I can watch an entire season in 3 days and I'm usually working out while I do it so it has become kind of the perfect show for me to watch for a while.  The last two seasons were the bottom of the barrel so far and while I wasn't huge on Brian, he did what he needed to do in order to win the game, and that included bringing Clay along because as bad as he was, he wasn't as bad as Clay.

One of the most interesting things about this is the evolution of the game so far.  Mostly with the game runners trying to break the alliance based meta with switching tribe members.  It hasn't worked yet, it has only completely screwed some people out of the game earlier and saved others.  I think they really want the merge to be a free for all instead of tribe vs tribe so I'm interested to see if they ever figure out how to do that.