The Survivor Thread

[RPS]

10 minutes ago, Azazel said:

While I love the fact that Francesca got voted off first twice... why the hell was she even brought back?  Who is going to be on the next Fans vs Favorites?  Cowboy Rick?

They saw potential in her/she had connections (both on air and off) to others who were cast. 

[Alex.]

I think they knew the outcome when her and phil would be on the same tribe again. 

Don't get how Corinne was a favorite either tbh. She belongs in a villain tribe.

[RPS]

15 minutes ago, Alex. said:

I think they knew the outcome when her and phil would be on the same tribe again. 

I mean, to be  honest, Franny was actually set up pretty good. Franny, Andrea and Cochran had some semblance of a pre-game alliance going into the show given they all were from New York and were chummy with each other. I am pretty sure the pre-game alliance was supposed to be Fran, Phillip, Andrea, Cochran and Dawn. Fran ended up hitting the beach and was playing too hard (against Phillip) and that is ultimately what led to her going home. It was never really explained on the show why Brenda, Brandon and Erik were on the outs from day 1, but it was because of the pre-game alliance. 

[GoGo Yubari]

Corinne was presumably on that season mostly because she was supposed to be on Heroes vs .Villains and her job wouldn't let her, and they didn't really have a season concept that would fit her. And I guess maybe they felt that Fairplay gave them a precedent to cast an outright villain?

I think you could do FvF 3 now and actually have the Favorites lineup not be that awful, but doing that at the tail end of one of the most loathed periods of Survivor ever (and during a period where they seemed to cast a bare minimum of actual fans) was... rough.

[Alex.]

Maybe after S36 they will have enough names to pool together so it wont be like "why the hell are they back?"

Id think someone like Dave or Jay from MvGx would be on it

[RPS]

10 minutes ago, GoGo Yubari said:

I think you could do FvF 3 now and actually have the Favorites lineup not be that awful, but doing that at the tail end of one of the most loathed periods of Survivor ever (and during a period where they seemed to cast a bare minimum of actual fans) was... rough.

I think the issue is that we have had so many returning player seasons as of late, it would be difficult to cast the season with one time returning players who were actual fan favorites who did not win. I mean, I guess you could open it up to third or fourth time returning players, but I am of the opinion that fans versus favorites is already inherently unfair and that casting players who would come back for a third or fourth time just makes it MORE unfair. 

[Azazel]

Heroes vs Villans - Allstar Season
Nicaragua - New People
Redemption Island - Rob/Russell Return
South Pacific - Ozzy/Coach Return
One World - New People
Phillipines - Michael, Russell and Penner return
Caramoan - Fans vs Favorites
Blood vs Water - Returning Players

Two out of the 8 season chunk I am in have all new casts, but it looks like the next three might all be new people.  Hopefully this string of returning people slows down.

[RPS]

28-30 and 32-33 are all newbies. 

27, 31, and 34 feature returning players. 

[GoGo Yubari]

4 hours ago, RPS said:

I think the issue is that we have had so many returning player seasons as of late, it would be difficult to cast the season with one time returning players who were actual fan favorites who did not win. I mean, I guess you could open it up to third or fourth time returning players, but I am of the opinion that fans versus favorites is already inherently unfair and that casting players who would come back for a third or fourth time just makes it MORE unfair. 

Yeah, I don't think you could do a lineup as good as the first one, especially since this current season and Cambodia last year took a lot of the better names off the board. Though even in that FvF1 lineup you had Parvati who wasn't a favorite so much as a "we know they could be a huge deal but they didn't show it in their first season" pick.

This is probably what I'd settle on given the criterion.

Spoiler

1. David Wright (MvGX)

2. Jay Starrett (MvGX)

3. Hayden Moss (Blood vs. Water)

4. Cliff Robinson (Cagayan, if he's healthy)

5. Eddie Fox (Caramoan, entirely because I like the idea of bringing someone from the previous FvF back for the next one, kind of like a "sorry you were in a season you couldn't possibly hope to win" present)

6. Cydney Gillon (Kaoh Rong)

7. Julia Sokolowski (Kaoh Rong)

8. Jenn Brown (Worlds Apart)

9. Jessica Lewis (MvGX)

10. Lisa Whelchel (Philippines)

Assuming 35 and 36 have at least four good casting options between them to replace some of the names on this board then that's alright if they wanted to go that route. I'd be more than fine with them not doing that, though; I don't think you're ever going to really recreate what Micronesia had going for it.

[Azazel]

I was a little unsure about FvF2 until the last episode I watched, where Malcolm, Eddie and Reynolds all ended up with immunity and used it to save my life from having to watch Phillip fucking Shepherd try to be Boston Rob.  It was one of those moments where you get to see someone you hate go down in flames hard.  Not in a self destructive way like Silas or John in Marqueses, but in a way where he could literally do nothing.  I feel if I was in that situation I would have said one vote each was going to Cochran, Phillip and Dawn (then all 3 vote Phillip) so it could potentially destroy the alliance since Dawn and Cochran are paranoid as hell. 

[RPS]

15 hours ago, Azazel said:

I was a little unsure about FvF2 until the last episode I watched, where Malcolm, Eddie and Reynolds all ended up with immunity and used it to save my life from having to watch Phillip fucking Shepherd try to be Boston Rob.  It was one of those moments where you get to see someone you hate go down in flames hard.  Not in a self destructive way like Silas or John in Marqueses, but in a way where he could literally do nothing.  I feel if I was in that situation I would have said one vote each was going to Cochran, Phillip and Dawn (then all 3 vote Phillip) so it could potentially destroy the alliance since Dawn and Cochran are paranoid as hell. 

Malcolm completely misused the idol, in my opinion. It made for a great moment, but he certainly could have leveraged that so much better. 

[Alex.]

Yeah didn't he get voted out directly right after? It made for one great moment in that season and that was it I think? I don't know I never got to finish that season. As someone who didn't care for Cochran, I think I will just choose to not finish that one.

[Azazel]

Cochran comes across like a pathetic loser, and anytime he accomplishes anything he instantly becomes an insufferable asshole about it.  I hope he loses.

[Azazel]

Okay, I'll take that last sentence back, but to be fair that was probably the only time I didn't really care who won out of the final 3.

What the hell was with the reunion show though?  No pre jury people on stage was odd, and even then they didn't even talk to like 1/3rd of the people.  I don't think Mike, Erick, Eddie or Sherry got to say a word, despite three of them being 3rd-5th.  I hope they don't continue like that because I like the reunion shows.

[RPS]

8 hours ago, Azazel said:

Okay, I'll take that last sentence back, but to be fair that was probably the only time I didn't really care who won out of the final 3.

What the hell was with the reunion show though?  No pre jury people on stage was odd, and even then they didn't even talk to like 1/3rd of the people.  I don't think Mike, Erick, Eddie or Sherry got to say a word, despite three of them being 3rd-5th.  I hope they don't continue like that because I like the reunion shows.

Yeah it is widely considered the worst reunion show. The pre-jury players not being on the stage was there way around Brandon not being there and because they thought it would make for a more entertaining show by streamlining the reunion show. It does not stay this way, but there is still some more awkward reunion moments to come, but Caramoan is the low point for the series. 

[Azazel]

It was the only time I've thought a reunion show sucked.  Overall FvF2 was mind of a nothing season, some more Phillip being annoying and Dawn almost becoming the second coming of Lillian with the amount of crying.  The Tribal with the three amigo immunity was fun, and the Final Tribal was probably one of the more entertaining ones just because it seemed a foregone conclusion who would win and people were having more fun screwing around than being bitter about losing.

Started episode one of Blood vs Water, I kind of like the concept but the opening game twist was terrible and Redemption Island is not something I really want to see again either.  I do however have to give props to Gervase being back for two reasons.  One, he was the absolute worst in the challenge and still threw winning in the other tribes face like he actually accomplished something.  Second, the fact he said he THINKS he had the longest break between seasons ever... you know the guy who was only in the 1st season and the current one, who could have possibly had a longer breaker?

[RPS]

38 minutes ago, Azazel said:

Started episode one of Blood vs Water, I kind of like the concept but the opening game twist was terrible and Redemption Island is not something I really want to see again either.  I do however have to give props to Gervase being back for two reasons.  One, he was the absolute worst in the challenge and still threw winning in the other tribes face like he actually accomplished something.  Second, the fact he said he THINKS he had the longest break between seasons ever... you know the guy who was only in the 1st season and the current one, who could have possibly had a longer breaker?

I will say - Redemption Island sucks and I do not enjoy it very much. HOWEVER - it works in this season because of the loved one twist. It add emotional weight when you watch somebody have to watch their loved one leave the show right in front of you like that. You wouldn't have that same emotional weight if they were split up. 

BvW, in my opinion, does the best at maintaining the legacy of each player. You don't walk away from the season thinking "oh my gosh, J.T was so good in Tocantins but in Heroes vs. Villains HE WAS AWFUL" for any of the players. Everyone either maintains or improves their characters. Tina is really good this season. The loved ones are also fine, but the stand out for me was watching Monica, Tina, Aras (I know you hate him, but I really enjoyed him both seasons) and Tyson and how their characters grow. 

[Azazel]

I'm willing to rethink my hate for Aras.  I think he mostly got it because of how Exile Island played out.  He was kind of the straight man to the biggest bunch of misfits ever (Bruce, Courtney, Shane, Cirie, Danielle and Bobdawg) and his little feud with Terry was pretty stupid a lot of the time.  He did do a couple of pretty shitty things but I'm not going to put him on my most hated list or anything.  Colton however, is going to be much harder to stomach.

I also really like how Brenda basically put Dawn in a lose/lose situation, even though it didn't seem to matter.

[RPS]

10 minutes ago, Azazel said:

 He was kind of the straight man to the biggest bunch of misfits ever (Bruce, Courtney, Shane, Cirie, Danielle and Bobdawg) and his little feud with Terry was pretty stupid a lot of the time.  He did do a couple of pretty shitty things but I'm not going to put him on my most hated list or anything.  Colton however, is going to be much harder to stomach.

I actually never watched Exile Island as it happened, because I didn't love the string of seasons of Palau and Guatemala. I rewatched it probably around the time of Heroes vs. Villains when I got back into the show. I always liked Aras because he understands the core game of Survivor very well - get into a tight alliance of 5-6, manage the relations of the tribe and make sure you are near of the top of the alliance and hope for good luck at the end. Aras 100% benefitted from Terry sticking around as long as he did - if Terry never gets the idol and goes home earlier, Aras is 100% taken out by Danielle, Shane and Courtney because he is so obviously the biggest threat on his tribe. But with Terry sticking around, it allowed Aras to create the common enemy of his alliance and he leveraged it perfectly. Aras is the type of player who always makes the merge, but should immediately be taken out by his alliance because he is going to win if he gets near the final 5-6. 

[GoGo Yubari]

16 hours ago, Azazel said:

Okay, I'll take that last sentence back, but to be fair that was probably the only time I didn't really care who won out of the final 3.

What the hell was with the reunion show though?  No pre jury people on stage was odd, and even then they didn't even talk to like 1/3rd of the people.  I don't think Mike, Erick, Eddie or Sherry got to say a word, despite three of them being 3rd-5th.  I hope they don't continue like that because I like the reunion shows.

Here's Allie's summary of that reunion. I remembered that whole situation being bad, and that she and Corinne called out Jeff about how bad it was, but I didn't remember how bad until I reread it.