The Survivor Thread

[Azazel]

Also, here is something that blew my mind.  The most challenge wins in a single season is 17, by Tom Westman....and Boo Bernis.

Also, Sandra Diaz-Twine is also the only Sole Survivor to never win an individual challenge... which she did in both Pearl Islands and Heroes vs Villians.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Azazel

[Azazel]

I really enjoy Africa for some reason, I think I just like the grouping of Lex, Tom and Ethan as players.  Frank Garrison is absolutely the castaway that becomes infinitely better on a rewatch.  I also have such a crush on Kim Powers, I would put her probably top 3 most attractive Survivor Players ever.

[RPS]

Africa is really helped out that it was won by a really likable guy. My mom is a casual fan of Survivor and I would guess that Ethan is probably one of the people she could probably identify and know who he was. Ethan winning was probably one of the greatest things for the show, because after Richard and Tina, the show was probably wondering "when is one of the really popular players going to win?" It is sort of funny how the first 8 winners really encapsulate the different archetypes of winners - there is Richard the obvious strategist, Tina the hidden strategist, Ethan the popular good guy, Vee the producer's nightmare, Brian the sociopath, Jenna the hot social one, and Amber the low key returning player. The only one who does not really have a casting archetype is Sandra - she is pretty singular in terms of a winner. 

[Azazel]

In terms of storylines, Brandon vs Frank is one of the most ridiculous season long angles.  From the Elders vs Mallrats in the first 4 episodes, the swap happens and Brandon tells people that Frank hates women despite his closest friend being Teresa.  Then come the merge Samburu has a chance to actually take over with Kelly flipping but Brandon won't do it just because he doesn't want to vote with Frank.  To be fair, he was probably in the same position either way, maybe slightly better with Samburu because of Kim P.  The cherry on top is him using his jury questions to try and take a dig at Frank after they were both voted out and I have no idea why he expected Ethan to answer how he wanted.

[Azazel]

I just realized, Teresa Cooper may have accidentally made one of the best moves in early Survivor by voting for Lex.  Lex went insane which I'm sure she couldn't have planned and it completely flipped Kelly.  Frank, T-Bird, Kim P, Brandon and Kelly could have taken over the game if Brandon was smart.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I am bummed T-Bird never got to come back. She was so excited to come back for Second Chances and didn't get voted back in.

[Azazel]

Started Marquesas again, I'm still not sure why this is supposed to be considered a good season.  Rob and Sean both really make me dislike this season.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

At the time, Boston Rob was really one of the first people to insult the other players in confessionals. But in retrospect, it's super cringe-worthy to watch, especially some of his comments about John. 

[Azazel]

Its not just that he insults people, he also plays one of the worst games possible.  He tries to stir up shit so everyone just votes him out.  At least he caused his own downfall.  The Rotu 4 were going to vote for Kathy until Rob told her and caused a shit storm, and scared Kathy enough that she bossed a challenge to win immunity.  Which is weird because Boston Rob basically votes himself out here and his ally Tyson does the same in HvV.

[RPS]

17 minutes ago, Azazel said:

Started Marquesas again, I'm still not sure why this is supposed to be considered a good season.  Rob and Sean both really make me dislike this season.

Marquesas was great at the time, because it completely up ended the power structure of how Survivor was played. It was the first time someone on the bottom of the alliance really up-ended the dominate power structure. It was enthralling at the time. However, once you have gone through all of the seasons, it is difficult to really find it captivating TV. 

[GoGo Yubari]

I mean, I don't think players should have to be expected to play a good game to be worthwhile or interesting. I think part of what made Rob compelling was that his game was unbelievably aggro and he himself was the biggest shit-talker they'd ever cast up to that point. He fucking blindsided Hunter in premerge, which would still be a "huh, really?" move now, let alone in season 4 when keeping strong people in premerge was like a set in stone rule. I loved him in a "Christ, what's this guy going to do next, this is in no way sustainable" way, though some of his insults were pretty vile in retrospect. I also don't think it's a coincidence that the two seasons where I enjoyed Boston Rob were the ones where he didn't make the jury (though he has some good confessionals in Redemption Island here and there).

Sean I just find really funny. The Morning Show, "bet on black," the reward challenge win with Paschal where he had to ride a horse for the first time and fucking hated it. Sean and Paschal at that dinner is, like Frank and Brandon at the movies in Africa, one of those great "Survivor is a social experiment" scenes that you almost never see anymore (though Zeke's scenes with Chris and Brett in MvGX brought back some of that feeling for me). I think he also just resonates with me because as a biracial kid, in the early seasons I usually felt an affinity for the token black guy, particularly because those seasons were really, really, really white, and Sean, ultimately to his detriment, is by far the most vocal of those early characters cast about that stuff.

I should rewatch Marquesas, because it's been a few years. But I think my overall feeling on it is that it's in no way a season I'd immediately go to and say "this is one of the best seasons of Survivor," but it is a season I'd go to and say "if you just want to see how the game's evolved from 2000 to 2017, this is one of the seasons you have to watch." The Rotu 4's downfall is perfect, and that doesn't happen without the Rob/Sean/Vee alliance.

[Azazel]

Rob just tries to stir shit up, it can be somewhat entertaining but he just comes off as unlikable.  Also, considering the Varner/Zeke thing was such a big deal, Rob basically does the same thing to John in this season.  John doesn't care but it was interesting to see that it kind of happened way back at the beginning.

Sean on the other hand, I just don't like.  He complains so much and says even more uncomfortable things than Rob.  Like saying Hunter is treating him like a slave because he was asked to get water.  Although I think the absolute funniest thing in this season so far is Sean and Vee on beach.  The other 5 Rotu are in the water and Sean is talking about how they are minorities and how everyone is going to just assume they are in an alliance.  This is happening while they are away from the rest of the tribe talking which is probably a bigger indicator of an alliance.  Secondly, they absolutely should be making an alliance at that moment.

[GoGo Yubari]

18 minutes ago, Azazel said:

Rob just tries to stir shit up, it can be somewhat entertaining but he just comes off as unlikable.  Also, considering the Varner/Zeke thing was such a big deal, Rob basically does the same thing to John in this season.  John doesn't care but it was interesting to see that it kind of happened way back at the beginning.

I haven't seen Marquesas in a while, but I don't remember Rob outing John (I think John was already out by that point, and talked about it in at least one confessional), or trying to use that as a tactic against him. I just remember him saying some dumb shit about him being gay in a confessional, which he would definitely have gotten eaten alive for now.

[Azazel]

In a confessional he calls him "a big time queer" but a while later when they are having a heated discussion about voting together or not, Rob ends it with a "by the way, you're gay, right?" and John just sighs and says "thanks for outing me".  He does say in a confessional he has been out for a while though so he may have meant that he hadn't told his tribemates or something.

[Azazel]

For whatever reason (laziness) I watched the recap episode to see if they were worth it.  It at least showed Sean/Vee/Kathy/Paschal/Neleh making the alliance to take down the Rotu 4.  Also it showed more personality for the General then the rest of the season combined... in that his luxury item was a voodoo doll which is kind of hilarious.  It also makes me wish luxury items were still a thing, they just need to say no to flags, pain and notebooks.  It tells you a lot about the people like Robb bringing a god damn skateboard to the beach or Brandon bringing chapstick.

[Azazel]

Oh wow, the villains of Marquesas are Paschal and Neleh.

They spend the entire first half about how they want to play fair and not use alliances or manipulate people... but they are in an alliance the entire time.  They then form a 5 person alliance to take out the Rotu 4 for being arrogant, then brag in front of them about how they only want people who deserve it to win.  They are straight up saying people shouldn't be in alliances, so lets form an alliance and vote them all out.  They aren't bad or mean people by any means, but they go on a power trip and are very holier than thou about the entire thing.

This is a weird season.

Edited July 28, 2017 by Azazel

[Azazel]

I take back any bad thing I said about Thailand, this season is amazing.

[Azazel]

I really wish Robb had lasted just one more Tribal Council in Thailand.  I would have loved to see the reformed Robb interact with Clay and try to apologize for the whole strangling him thing... and just seeing him try to deal with Jan would have been great.  He's one person I'm really sad didn't make the merge... or in this case when both tribes lived together.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Azazel

[RPS]

Sophie Clarke... what is your favorite Survivor memory? 

Quote

“My favorite moment on Survivor was when my tribe won the Jack and Jill challenge. The animosity between Upolu and Savaii before the challenge was palpable. We Upolans, egged on by Coach, saw our season as a showdown between good and evil— the nerds vs the jocks! The 'Dragon Slayer' vs the jungle man! 90210 vs 9021zero! And the J&J challenge was the culmination of this war. We all knew; the winner would gain the numbers and the loser would be Pagonged. Not only did our underdog ragtag family — adorned with paint-on bras and six packs — beat the actual bikini-clad hotties, but we got to kick back and catch an Adam Sandler classic as we celebrated our momentous, game changing victory!”

 

[GoGo Yubari]

Speaking of South Pacific, the Funny 115 v3 with a reminder that Stacey Powell is an all-time great premerge character.