Survivor: South Pacific

[GoGo Yubari]

CBS has announced the cast of Suvivor: South Pacific. Well, all but two, that being the mysteeeeerious returning players who, if you're a big Survivor fan and you haven't been avoiding spoilers like the plague, probably know are almost 100% confirmed to be

Ozzy and Coach.

Anyway. Redemption Island is back and hopefully it'll be less useless in a season where you don't have someone like Boston Rob with an iron grip on the game. I'll start watching the cast bio videos soonish, but at first glance it at least doesn't look quite as model/actor-y as Redemption Island?

EDIT: Oh Jesus, they really did cast Russell Hantz's nephew. That is ridiculous.

EDIT II: Officially rooting for John. If he's not useless in challenges he could be a serious player. Plus he namedropped Rob Cesternino.

[sahyder1]

I really need to step my game with the rewatch. I need to watch the season(s) with one of those individuals. I like that Redemption Island is back. A lot of people ended up hating because Rob had such a big grip on the game but it really is something that changes the game. It changes voting strategies because you have to account for possibly needing that person later in the game.

Edited August 22, 2011 by sahyder1

[GoGo Yubari]

Watch Micronesia for Ozzy if you need to pick between his two seasons. I imagine he's going to play much more like he did in Micronesia rather than the game he did in Cook Islands.

[RPS]

Hm, I'm actually stoked for this season's cast. There are some actually really interesting people who seem to be unique characters - Edna, John, Semhar, Mark Anthony, Stacey all seem like unique, well casted people. John and Mark Anthony seem to be really unique people who we haven't seen before. Not a fan of including people from other reality shows (the pageant queen and the country star), but I'm not overly miffed. Looks like a great cast.

[GoGo Yubari]

I love that Brandon Hantz is all "I'm going to redeem the Hantz name, we're not all villains" and then in his list of Survivor players who he's most like he includes Jonny Fairplay.

[sahyder1]

I like that all duels will be win or go home. That was the only thing that needed to be tweaked about Redemption Island. If Russell's nephew is really different from Russell as Probst claims on EW's preview he could be a good character. He's already shown he's smarter then Russell by deciding to not pick him as his "family member" should he get that far.

[The Quasi Juice]

I have a feeling they casted Brandon, hoping he would do well so they can have Russell and Brandon on an all star season together. I really don't like this obsession with Russell by the Survivor producers though. The cast looks a bit meh, hope I'm wrong. A more "aggressive" Coach should be hilarious. I can see Ozzy doing well. His tribe will need to decide whether to keep him around to own in challenges or get him out ASAP so he doesn't go on an immunity binge.

[GoGo Yubari]

Oh good, they've finally officially announced it! Love that Ozzy's hair is now even more ridiculous than it was in Cook Islands.

[Pleatherface]

I know he's balanced like monkey, but is Ozzy really going to be the same challenge monster? I mean this is several years later, and unless the producers build him a pool he's not going to be able to swim.

I may be in the minority, but I'm really rooting for Brandon. I kinda hope he wins if ass hattery isn't in the blood line. Though I'm not sure Coach will give him an opportunity.

[GoGo Yubari]

I imagine they'll find a way to shoehorn at least one or two water challenges in, but Ozzy's skillset is going to have to skew way more towards his balance and agility this season.

And my big question is how long Coach even lasts. Unless they want to make him run the Redemption Island gauntlet early I think Ozzy is going to stick around to nearly the end of pre-merge or early post-merge. Coach, to me, is the big question mark because while he upped his challenge game big-time for HvV he certainly doesn't seem crucial and doesn't exactly inspire respect from his tribemates. But his claims that he doesn't really care about being liked this season make me think that no matter how long he lasts he'll make for entertaining TV.

[The Quasi Juice]

I do see a way that Coach could get far. He's not Russell, in that he destroys alliances and is a super villain. He's not a Rob, in that he's an extremely smart player and has the potential to win the game if he makes it to the end 'cause he's so likable. He's fucking Coach. He was good in the challenges in HvV, 'cause he bulked up, so that won't be a factor either. Why NOT take Coach with you far into the game? He's annoying, thus perfect, like Philip. Ozzy though, is just a threat all around.

[RPS]

I kinda understand why returnees won't get booted right away, especially male returnees. If 18 people all came together and instantly took part in individuals challenges, for sure dump the strong males. However, you split two tribes into 9 people and force them to compete? Sure, Coach and Ozzy are "threats", but not before people who are weak or who fracture tribe harmony. That's exactly why Russell got the boot - he was bound to fracture tribe unity and he wasn't extraordinary in challenges. Looking at those cast this season, it's clear the producers knew putting too many alpha dudes would get Ozzy and Coach booted fast, so they casted a guy with a pacemaker, a 48 year old "daddy bear", a skinny Woody Allen type Harvard grad, a 19 year old hick related to Russell, and some skinny cowboy dude who doesn't seem like much of a challenge threat. Really, only Albert looks to be a alpha dude type guy.

[Pleatherface]

I don't care if it would leave my tribe saddeled with daddy bear and cochran as the physical anchors, I'd still vote Ozzy off before the helicopter landed.

He's popular, he's a physical threat, and in his previous seasons he's shown to not be super rational, so unless you're in control of him like Yul was he's dangerous.

[RPS]

I don't even really feel like Yul was in control of him. Ozzy just won Immunities, so he didn't really give a shit. I mean, who else would be STUPID enough to take Yul to the finals? Why not try and get him voted off at final 4?

EDIT: Nevermind, because the producers of the show were stupid and made the Hidden Immunity Idol valid until the final 4.

Edited August 30, 2011 by RockPaperScissors

[GoGo Yubari]

The thing is I think Survivor has started to skew more to players feeling like they need to play an individual game right from the start. If you're a weak physical player like, say, John Cochran probably will be, and you're on a tribe with either a guy who outright threw a fucking challenge to get rid of the weakest member of his tribe or a guy who has in both of his seasons made a big deal out of getting rid of the weakest challenge players first, it's not really a bad impulse to try and find a way to get rid of them ASAP.

[The Quasi Juice]

I tried to find news about S24 players (no spoilers, just names), but they don't seem to have been leaked yet, which is surprising. Didn't they tape it directly after South Pacific, like last year and the year before? I have a feeling S25 will be another all stars then, or FvF season, and S24 a regular season. This gives the producers a larger group to pick players from for another All Stars. Kenny and Philip please.

[RPS]

Season 24 is still filming, I think. Spoilers generally come out know due to Facebook and Twitter followings, so if one person on the cast is known, easy to figure out everybody else.

Edited September 2, 2011 by RockPaperScissors

[GoGo Yubari]

I think it's probably just about finished, or if it hasn't it will within the week. Like Quasi I think they'll avoid doing an All-Star season for 24 and save it for 25. Plus, there are certain people who've been active on Twitter for the past month who I would think Survivor would be jumping at the chance to bring back ASAP (such as Philip, who has instead been busy with what appears to be an original story based on his character, "The Specialist," and making Stealth-R-Us shirts for Ashley, Andrea, and Natalie).

[Pizza]

Watching season 13, only two episodes in, but not happy Ozzy's back after throwing that challenge.

What other seasons do Ozzy and Coach show up in? No way I'll be able to catch up entirely until Survivor 24, but if I focus on Ozzy and Coach, I might be able to finish their seasons in a month or so and get in on this one around the merge.

[GoGo Yubari]

Ozzy plays again in Micronesia (season 16), Coach's two seasons are Tocantins (18) and Heroes vs. Villains (20).

And yeah, throwing the challenge was both a huge dick move and completely unnecessary unless Billy was seriously that big a detriment to camp life.