Re: [BigBrother_Survivor] 'Survivor: Edge of Extinction' recap: Devens puts on a show

I love Devens and would love to see him win! Can't wait for the big finale! Next up Big Brother!!!
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On Thu, 5/9/19, SHARON ceegee2006@yahoo.com [BigBrother_Survivor] <BigBrother_Survivor@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: [BigBrother_Survivor] 'Survivor: Edge of Extinction' recap: Devens puts on a show
To:
Date: Thursday, May 9, 2019, 9:38 AM

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E'Survivor:
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'Survivor:
Edge of Extinction' recap: Devens puts on a show
I have some boxes
that I have not unpacked since I moved into my house in
Montclair, N.J. That may…

I
have some boxes that I have not unpacked since I moved into
my house in Montclair, N.J. That may not seem like a big
deal, but I moved into my house in
2002. They're still sitting there. I think
they're filled with books, but I'm not really sure. I
don't even know why I still have them. I have never reread
a single book in my entire life. Keeping them is pointless.
But maybe they're not books at all. Maybe the boxes are
filled with old VHS tapes, or maybe that's where my
General Public concert t-shirt went, or maybe the boxes have
now been taken over by squirrels. I have no idea.The
point is, I've been too lazy to ever go through them. Now,
if someone paid me a
million dollars to go through them, I certainly would.
Which brings us to Survivor: Edge of
Extinction. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE
PEOPLE?!? Now, I recognize that I am relying on the edit as
my narrator, and the edit can be an unreliable narrator at
that, but if what we have seen on these last two episodes is
to be believed, then Rick Devens has become the second
coming of Ben Driebergen, and everyone else still in the
game has become all the people from season 35 that sat around and got
their limbs blown off by Ben Bombs.Sure,
we saw Gavin, Lauren, Aurora, and Victoria give a
half-hearted attempt to follow Rick around the beach… after
he had already found the idol! All the scenes before
that seemed to consist of the others sitting around camp
talking about how Rick was idol hunting… and then
proceeding to remain sitting there while he continued
searching. So odd. And so lazy. Maybe not as odd and lazy as
sticking boxes in your attic and forgetting about them for
17 years, but odd and lazy nonetheless.And
here's the problem: Producers and viewers may disagree
with me, but I don't think it makes good television.
It's fun to watch someone find an idol while everyone else
sleeps or mopes around or complains how the person is always
out looking for idols. But when it happens every week, like
in Heroes
vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, or is starting to happen too
often here, it becomes very samey-samey. This isn't me
complaining about how Survivor
has become more about good foraging skills than actual
strategy (although I certainly could
complain about that if you so desire). It's more about how
the narrative starts to feel a bit one-note when it relies
too much on one person continually finding idols. Even when
it is a player you are rooting for, it starts to lack
excitement.I
like Rick a lot. Judging by the lovey-dovey eyes he gets
from the jury and how worried the folks still on the tribe
are about him, he has clearly played a masterful social
game. It is amazing how someone who has consistently been on
the wrong side of so many votes could be seen as such an
unbeatable force should he make it to the end. But I'd
like to see him have to stretch a bit strategically to save
himself beyond challenge wins and idol finds. That is the
mark of a truly great player. Can you save yourself when you
have no get-out-of-jail-free cards? I would love to see
Devens try. Luckily for him, he hasn't had to.Anyway,
back to the others. Again, we can only go by what we see,
and what we have seen is them being massively out-hustled.
If the edit is accurate and Rick Devens wins this game, that
should haunt everyone else who slept in that extra hour, or
didn't bother leaving the shelter, or talked about how
much Rick was searching without coming close to matching it.
Honestly, it is somewhat infuriating to watch. There are
times — usually early in the game when you don't want to
stick out — where it is not advisable to be blatantly
searching for an idol. This is not one of those times. And
if folks like Gavin, Victoria, and Lauren don't win,
they'll have nobody to blame but themselves. "I'm
gonna win this game. I am working harder than everybody
else," said Rick at one point. He's definitely right on
one count, and maybe both.Okay,
I'll try to jam through the rest of the episode quickly
because it is time for our updated Survivor
season rankings. For those new here, I always do the
rankings after the penultimate episode because the finale
recap is already such a monster. So I rank the new season
here with the option to adjust after the finale if need be.
Where will Edge
of Extinction fall? Read on after the recap to find
out..But
one other programming note. This being May 8, it is the
11-year-anniversary of the greatest moment in Survivor
history. In celebration of that, I wrote and compiled an
epic 14,000+ word oral history of said
moment and I think it's pretty rad. You'll get inside
perspective from all the major parties involved and learn
some things that never made it onto the air. I hope you will
read, enjoy, and share with friends. I put a lot of work
into it so thanks for checking it out. But, yeah, anyway,
the recap. Let's get to it!A
Curious Choice
God,
I love watching people fall on their face. I don't mean
metaphorically. I mean literally falling on their face. So
naturally, I was all about the first new stage of the reward
challenge, where players had to toss a ball into an overhead
track and then race through some leg level ropes and catch
the ball on the other side.Watching
Julie repeatedly face-plant in the dirt was like pulling up
an America's
Funniest Home Videos greatest hits compilation… minus
the crotch shots. Nothing is as good as crotch shots.
Nothing. But this was pretty close. Poor Julie. Last week
she couldn't even walk after the challenge. Now she
finally gets off all fours and is rewarded for her efforts
by crashing down like Gulliver on Lilliput. (Thankfully,
this was not a challenge to win a private advanced screening
of Jack Black's Gulliver's
Travels because Survivor
would never
subject its contestants to such a horrible film as a
"reward." Never.)So,
anyway, that stage of the challenge was masterful. The rest
was basically the land the balls on the overhead perch
competition we first saw on Millennials
vs. Gen X, and it was won this time by Gavin.. That
meant the southern newlywed had to pick two people to go
with him on a helicopter tour of the Fijian islands ending
in a resort feast. He first picked Victoria, noting that she
had not been on many rewards and was struggling. Fine. Makes
sense. But then he took that criteria and aqua-dumped all
over it by selecting Lauren as his second choice, completely
ignoring the person who had gone the longest without food in
Aurora.It's
not often that a group openly questions a winner's
decision about someone else
that should have gone, but that's exactly what Rick and
Julie did here. Was it gamesmanship on their part and trying
maneuver Aurora away from a Gavin alliance, or was it
genuine shock? Perhaps a bit from column A and a bit from
column B. However, even Victoria appeared on the verge of
tears over the decision and was apologizing to Aurora. But
it didn't cost Gavin like it cost Ron last week because
Aurora is easier to control (as Victoria did immediately
after returning from reward). It's not that Aurora is
unwilling to play this game. I'm just not sure she knows
how.Blast
from the Past
I
wrote myself a letter before taking on this latest adventure
of a recap, and here's what I wrote to myself.Dear
Dalton,Well,
here you are again. Writing another Survivor
recap. Something you have done over 450 times before over
the past 20 years. Think of everything you could have
accomplished in your life had you not wasted so much time
obsessing over a reality TV show. Think of the books that
could have been written. Think of the important volunteer
work that could have made a difference in the lives of the
less fortunate. Think of all the time you could have devoted
to your wife and children. Think of the…You
know what? This is way too depressing. Jesus Christ,
self-reflection freakin' sucks. Never, ever, ever
let me do that again. Allow me to wallow in my cocoon of
ignorance, continuing to be plugged into the matrix of
illusion that somehow the millions of hours I have spent
covering this television show have somehow been worth it
lest I fall into an existential crisis that will put me into
an emotional fetal position for the rest of my life. Allow
me not to ponder the fact that I now spend my time
interviewing half my age nobodys from nowhere who probably
look at me and think "Doesn't
he have anything better to do? Like, at least I'm going to
be on television but what's his excuse?" Damn, this
whole thing is totally bumming me out. WHERE IS A
MILWAUKEE'S BEST WHEN YOU REALLY NEED IT?!?But
it seems I wasn't the only person to unnecessarily write
myself a letter before the season. So did all the
contestants. And the losers over on Edge of Extinction got
to read their letters as a pep-talk to get them over that
final hurdle in their fight to get back in the game. Of
course, they weren't allowed to just open and read them
next to each other back at camp. No, instead they had to
position themselves in super dramatic locations and
pensively contemplate their wise musings on paper while soft
piano music played underneath. Did you see that rock out in
the middle of the lagoon that Chris selected (or, more
likely, was selected for him by producers)? Sure, he may
have torn his feet up on coral walking out there, but did
you see that aerial shot from above? So worth it.Anyway,
it was a splendid opportunity to make the contestants cry.
Even Reem got a bit introspective… dude.When
to Listen to Jeff Probst
Jeff
Probst does a lot of talking during challenges. It's his
job. And, as I've written many times before, he does a
damn good job of it. People watching at home think it's
easy to entertainingly and dramatically narrate a challenge.
It's not. His play by play totally amps up the energy. I
love it. If I was a contestant, however, I would block it
out, especially on endurance or balance contests where it
can be a distraction when your entire focus should be on the
competition at hand.But
there is one glaring exception to that rule, and it is on
word puzzles. This is the one instance in which you should
always listen to every word Jeff says, because he has a
policy that if a word puzzle goes on too long, he will start
to drop little hints to help people along. There's no
fairness issue here because he's not walking over and
whispering to it to one person and not another. It's
available to everyone. The question is, who will pick up on
it?And
it was when Probst dropped a verbal hint to the six-word
phrase "Not living on the edge tonight" by telling the
contestants during the puzzle this week that "One phrase,
potentially worth a million bucks if you survive TONIGHT!"
With that slight extra emphasis on the last word, Jeff was
sending a message, and the message was received by Aurora,
Lauren, and Rick as all three started immediately focusing
on that word. Rick then solved it, giving him the double
whammy of both immunity and the immunity idol. Why he did
not bust out a Kool-Aid man "OH YEAH!" at this point is
beyond me. But the lesson here is clear: Always listen to
Probst when he is narrating a word puzzle
competition.Also
of note in this challenge is the fact that they actually put
partitions up between the contestants — a rarity on a show
that usually encourages copying because it leads to more
dramatic comebacks. But not this time. You all know my
position on copying in puzzle challenges: I don't like
that it is allowed, but also encourage players to do it
since it is within the rules and you would therefore be
silly not to take advantage of it. Remember: It's not
cheating if it's legal.The
Greatest Showman
There
were three very interesting things that happened at Tribal
Council that I want to get into. The first is the fact that
either the jury members were slightly
less showy and competing for camera time this week (or
editors just decided to cut back on showing it). But the
other two things are more noteworthy in context of the game
than how many times Aubry Bracco is going to open her mouth
and grab other jury members' knees.The
first is how poorly all the players not named Rick Devens
performed at this Tribal Council. Especially Aurora. Aurora
just went on and on and on about how incredible Rick is. The
woman wouldn't stop! And other people then chimed in as
well. But my question is: Why? Why would you sit there at
Tribal Council pointing out TO THE JURY why another person
is so much better than you? That is asinine. Now, there are
certain circumstances where it may be appropriate. If you
were the one about to be taken out and you were trying to
convince everyone else to vote out another person instead,
then it would make sense. If you were getting frustrated
because other players refused to see the threat sitting
right in front of them, then sure, call it out. I would
allow that. BUT THIS MADE NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!!!!Rick
was safe. Doubly safe. Could not be taken out. There was no
strategic purpose to continually praising him. Praise yourself!
Or point out how Rick had been fooled on tons of different
votes, undercutting his strategic credentials. Slide in a
reference as to how he had already been voted out, thereby
pointing out the contrast that nobody else's torch had
been snuffed (which should
signal the end of someone's game). STOP TALKING UP THE
COMPETITION! I mean, we already know Devens owns the jury.
You see it on their faces every single week. So at least
make an attempt to counter that. Frustrating.Speaking
of Devens owning the jury, it's no wonder why. With
apologies to both Hugh Jackman and
P.T. Barnum, he truly is the greatest showman. Let's go
back to last week. Remember when Rick made a huge show in
transitioning from Ron's fake idol to his own? It was
brilliant theater and only someone who works on camera for a
living could have pulled it off. The jury was lapping it up
and afterwards all everyone could talk about was Rick
Devens. And with good reason. He found the idol. He saved
himself when he otherwise would have been gone. And he did
it all in super-dramatic fashion.But
lost in all of that was the fact that Victoria (and, to a
lesser extent, Lauren) orchestrated Ron's demise, not
Devens. By extension of his big song & dance routine,
Rick ended up usurping the credit from the ladies in the
process. I can't help but wonder if something similar
happened again this week.Once
again, Devens put on a big show, this time taking out his
hidden immunity idol for Julie and threatening to play it to
save her since he noted that she was clearly the one going
home. Anyone with half a brain would have realized there was
no way he would do this, but then again anyone with half a
brain would also refrain from tossing bouquets of
compliments at the biggest threat sitting at Tribal Council
and yet here we are. And when the votes came back, it was
Aurora, not Julie, who was unanimously voted out. HOLY
SMOKES, RICK DEVENS DID IT AGAIN! WHAT A GENIUS! PUT THIS
GUY ON THE SURVIVOR
MT. RUSHMORE ALREADY!But
wait a minute. Did
Rick Devens do it? Because I'm not so sure. Before Tribal
Council, we saw Lauren attempt to switch the vote from Julie
to Aurora, correctly pointing out that Julie was easier to
beat in challenges and thus easier to get rid of later.
Gavin seemed fine either way, but Victoria was annoyed that
Lauren said she wanted to do the move with or without
Vic's help. But the thing is, we never saw whom those
three ultimately settled on. Who's to say Lauren didn't
convince them taking out Aurora was the better move? If she
did, and the group was planning to take her out anyway even
before
all of Rick's histrionics, then that would mark the second
straight Tribal Council where Devens had likely stolen both
the spotlight and the credit for moves engineered by other
people.It
sounds like I'm being critical of Rick, but it's
actually just the opposite. It's brilliant. Perception is
reality in this game, so if the perception is that Rick is a
huge gamer even though he hasn't really moved any votes,
then that's all that matters. I've written at length in
the past on how juries respect hidden immunity idols much
more than immunity challenge wins because the drama of an
idol plays out in front of them and it is irresistible (as
opposed to the challenge wins which they do not even see and
only look at a necklace around someone's neck). As a TV
anchorman, Rick knows the power of putting on a show, and it
is that power that will win him a million dollars if he
makes it to the end.Okay,
we're about to get to the updated season rankings to see
where Edge
of Extinction falls, but a few other programming notes.
If you read one more Survivor
article this year, I humbly submit that you check out my oral history on the greatest Survivor moment ever. It's pretty
fascinating thanks to the candor of those who tell the
story. I also have a fun gallery of the new EOE
players the day before the game began saying which former
players they would like to play with and against. (Some of
the answers may surprise you.) Of course, we also have our
weekly Jeff Probst Q&A as
well as an exclusive deleted scene, so make sure to give
those a gander.Oh,
and I'm finally giving away the original embarrassing
moment confessions from the contestants. Want to win them?
Just follow me on Instagram @thedaltonross and you'll find
out in the next few days. (Also feel free to follow me on
Twitter @DaltonRoss if you're a
tweeter.) Okay, rankings time, and remember that Edge's
position could move up or down a bit depending on what
happens in the finale. Let's get to it!SURVIVOR
SEASON-BY SEASON RANKINGS

(From best to worst)1.
(Tie) Survivor:
Borneo
(Winner:
Richard Hatch)and Survivor:
Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites
(Winner:
Parvati Shallow)

I've gone back and forth with these
two over the years. After Micronesia aired,
I named it the best Survivor season
ever. Upon reflection, while I still considered it the most
enjoyable, I also worried I was understating the impact of
the first season, which became a national phenomenon.
(Yes, Borneo now
seems dated and tame by comparison, but it's the biggest
game changer in the past 20 years of television and you have
to do your best to judge these seasons on the era in which
they aired.) So then I returned that to the #1 spot. If I
wanted to watch one season again, it would be Micronesia.
If you ask me which is the most important
season, well, obviously it's Borneo.
So instead of constantly flipping them, they can simply
share the top spot… until I change my mind
again.3.
Survivor:
Heroes vs. Villains
(Winner:
Sandra Diaz-Twine)

The Russell vs. Boston Rob feud made for
the best pre-merge run of episodes ever. And the greatness
just kept on coming. Filled with huge memorable moments like
Tyson voting himself off, J.T. giving Russell his immunity
idol, and Parvati handing out two
immunity idols at one Tribal Council. Loses a few
points for having so many three-timers, though, including a
few (Amanda, James) we simply didn't need to see again. I
know many people would consider this No. 1, but it's all
returnees. For me, the fresh blood of Micronesia keeps
that season higher.4.
Survivor:
Cagayan

(Winner: Tony Vlachos)

Quite simply, the best Survivor season
ever with all new players since the very first one (which is
only better by the fact that it was the very first one). It
was an intoxicating mix of terrific and terrible gameplay in
which the big personalities (Tony, Spencer, Kass) weren't
just personalities — they actually were there to
play the game. (Maybe not well at all times, but at
least they were playing.) The casting was killer, the
challenges were solid, the boot order was completely
unpredictable, and the creative twists worked (although I
was not a fan of the return of the post-votes read idol;
thankfully that never came into play). The fact that Woo
inexplicably brought Tony to the end with him added one last
great "WHAT THE HELL?!?" moment to a truly exhilarating
season.5.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
(Winner:
Nick Wilson)

The theme was goofy, and the challenges
weren't particularly mind-blowing, so how does this
current season sneak all the way into the top 5? Casting.
Casting. Casting. That's what it all comes down to. And
it's not just Christian, who was one of the most
universally loved contestants of all-time. Just look at this
slew of other players and personalities that created great
TV: Angelina, Nick, Davie, Gabby, Mike, Elizabeth, Natalie
Napalm, even wacky Jeremy.. That is an amazing 9 out of 20
that I would easily welcome back on another
season.Often,
that's all a season needs. And that really is first and
foremost the reason David
vs. Goliath became an all-time great. But there were
other trophies to hand out as well. The editing job done by
producers was perhaps the show's best ever. They
experimented with new techniques which served to freshen up
the franchise in its 37th season. They added comedic
flourishes that were totally unnecessary yet improved the
episodes nonetheless. They cut back and forth between
players and stories in ways they never had before. They had
a contestant (Dan) talk about the idol he found and then
showed how it happened after instead of the other way
around. This wasn't reinventing the wheel by any means,
but it presented the story in ways we hadn't seen before
— and it worked. We always talk about the show taking
risks in terms of creating the story via twists, but now it
was taking risks in how it presented that story as well. The
result? A top 5 finish.6.
Survivor: Cambodia—Second Chance
(Winner:
Jeremy Collins)

The first thing to note about Cambodia
is how well all the production twists turned out. Letting
fans vote in the cast? Brilliant. Hiding idols at
challenges? I think you all know how I feel about that.
Tempting people to quit an immunity challenge for a mystery
vote steal advantage? Loved it. All the tribe switcheroos?
They played out to perfection. The Survivor
producers always throw a bunch of twists out there. Usually,
some work and some don't. This season, they all paid
dividends.I
also appreciated how hard the bulk of the cast was playing.
Usually, you get a small handful of big-time gamers. This
season you only had a handful that weren't
going hard (which granted, is somewhat a function of
returning player seasons in general). Another plus: The
votes were completely unpredictable from week to week,
leading to some truly crazy Tribals. Sure, the challenges
were a bit blah, but still, a rousing and triumphant
success.7.
Survivor: Amazon
(Winner:
Jenna Morasca)

Probably the first truly unpredictable
season ever from week to week. Some people hate on Jenna as
a winner, but she won challenges and played an effective
social game.8.
Survivor: Pearl Islands
(Winner:
Sandra Diaz-Twine)

Rupert stealing shoes. Fairplay getting
drunk at Tribal Council. Osten sucking at everything. It was
all delicious. Loses points, though, for the awful Outcasts
twist, which also led to a disappointing final two. (Lil?
Seriously?)9.
Survivor: Palau
(Winner:
Tom Westman)

I loved watching one tribe decimate the
other, culminating with Stephenie becoming a tribe of one.
And the challenges may have been Survivor's
best ever.. What's interesting about Palau
is that we basically all knew Tom would win from episode 1,
but it was still gripping nonetheless.10.
Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X
(Winner:
Adam Klein)
With
the exception of Caramoan,
I've never had a season rise so much through the rankings
from week to week. When Millennials
vs. Gen X started, most of us were like, "Yeah,
it's fine. Not amazing, but not terrible either." But
then things kept happening. And everyone kept flipping on
one another. And everyone kept getting blindsided. And
everyone kept futilely using their idols for other
people.It
was madness and chaos in the best way possible. And what was
so fascinating was that (with the exception of Michaela)
nobody took their ouster personally. This was a season
remarkably free of any sort of fighting whatsoever. None of
the ugliness of Worlds
Apart or Kaoh
Rong permeated the proceedings, even amongst all the
lying and backstabbing. Everyone seemed to legitimately
appreciate and respect the competition they were going up
against, and, as a result, so did we.What
seemed like a so-so cast at first ended up giving us a fair
number of breakouts: Michaela, Zeke, David, Adam, Jay. Even
Hannah was entertaining with her neurosis. Even Ken was
entertaining with his late-game cluelessness. Bret gave us a
touching moment where he came out as gay to Zeke. Sunday
outsmarted Adam and Hannah with a ruse at Tribal Council.
Everyone contributed something.11.
Survivor: Blood vs. Water
(Winner:
Tyson Apostol)

The returning contestants playing
with/against their loved ones twist added new dimensions and
forced players — and us — to think about the strategic
elements of the game in an entirely new way. And for
strategy nerds like myself, it was like opening a brand new
Christmas present each and every week as new layers were
revealed.And
although I am certainly no fan of the Redemption Island
twist due to the fact that it neuters the show's most
dramatic moment (the vote-off), it is undeniable that the RI
element is what led to many of the intriguing strategic
decisions of whom to vote out and why. (However, I still
can't figure out why they went with three-person
duels—a.k.a. truels—and they definitely should have
stopped RI at the merge.) Yes, there was a bit of a lull
just after the merge, but all in all, this was a super solid
season from top to bottom and a nice change of
pace.12.
Survivor: Philippines
(Winner:
Denise Stapley)

When you look back on Survivor:
Philippines,
there were a lot of shake-ups with the voting, but not many
jaw-on-the-floor shocking moments. So why is it so high?
Because the casting and storylines that developed gave us
people to root for and against — something every
great Survivor
season needs.13.
Survivor: Caramoan — Fans vs. Favorites
(Winner:
John Cochran)

A tale of two seasons this was, and I
can already hear people yelling that I am putting it too
high. But hear me out first before you Russell any feathers.
If I was grading this solely on pre-merge episodes, this
would be waaaay
down the list due to the emphasis on big personalities
(Shamar, Brandon, Phillip) as opposed to big gameplay. It
was flat-out grating. But everything post-merge was
spectacular. There were moves and countermoves galore down
the homestretch. The same way it is more important for a
sports team to play well in the second half of a game as
opposed to the first, a great season needs to build
momentum, and Caramoan definitely
did that with six fantastic episodes in a row.It's
much more important to finish strong than to start strong,
so I definitely put more weight and emphasis on post-merge
episodes when doing the rankings, and this season made a
remarkable comeback. Also, don't overlook how great the
bevy of water challenges was. Should I push it down in the
rankings due to the lackluster Reunion show that followed?
Perhaps. Kind of not sure how much I should take that live
show into consideration when ranking what happened out on
the island.14.
Survivor: Samoa
(Winner:
Natalie White)

I like this season a lot more than most
people, but Russell's controlling of the game (especially
post-merge when his side was down 8-4) was truly a work of
art. Evil genius art. He was robbed in the end, though, in
the most controversial jury decision ever.15.
Survivor: China
(Winner:
Todd Herzog)

I've always loved this season. It
featured a really good cast stuck in a really bad location.
Todd completely owned that final Tribal Council. That's
how you win a million dollars.16.
Survivor: Marquesas
(Winner:
Vecepia Towery)

An underrated season that saw the first
totem pole shake-up: where people on the bottom got together
to overthrow those on the top. Yes, it was a weak final two,
but it also had a woman peeing on a guy's hand. Plus:
Purple rock!!!17.
Survivor: Cook Islands
(Winner:
Yul Kwon)

What a difference a mutiny makes. It was
listless until that fateful moment when Candice and Penner
stepped off the mat. Then we finally had underdogs to root
for. The Tribal Council fire-making tiebreaker between
Sundra and Becky may be the funniest thing I've ever seen
in my life. Plus, just look at all the great first-time
contestants (Parvati, Penner, Ozzy, Yul). Mutineers must
die!18..
Survivor: Ghost Island
(Winner:
Wendell Holland)

This was such a hard season to rank. I
generally really liked this cast — but I do feel all the
early tribe swaps made it difficult for viewers to connect
with many of them. I also really liked the Ghost Island
concept but felt there could have been more drama
surrounding how someone was sent to GI and the games they
played once they got there. ("Guess that Bamboo" was
about as riveting as watching an Adam Sandler movie as part
of a South
Pacific reward. My suggestion was to have contestants
have to win mini challenges — like, say, solving a
puzzle before all the sand poured out of a bottle rather
than just picking right or left.)And
then there is the ending, which also has plusses and
minuses. I still do not like the fire-making final 4 twist
because it is an arbitrary out-of-format rules change
specifically designed to get perceived better players to the
end. But without it, we don't get that epic showdown
between Dom and Wendell, which resulted in the first-ever
tie vote for the million dollars — with third-place
finisher Laurel breaking it for Wendell. So again, both good
and bad. Like I said, a hard season to rank.But
the ending was fantastic, and I was engaged throughout, even
with the noted weaknesses. I liked watching Kellyn act like
a super-spaz. I was fascinated with the Laurel and Donathan
strategic push-and-pull. Wendell and Domenick were as great
as we in the press thought they would be when we met them
pre-game, and that merge war between Dom and Chris Noble
made for one of my favorite Survivor
episodes ever. Throw that all together and you end up in the
middle of the pack.19.
Survivor: Game Changers
(Winner:
Sarah Lacina)
What
a weird season this was. On one hand, there were a bevy of
huge, crazy Tribal Councils with last-second whispering and
maneuvering leading to jaw-dropping exits. We were treated
to two titans of the game (Tony and Sandra) going toe to
toe. We saw one of the ugliest moments ever (Jeff Varner
outing Zeke) turn into a shining instructive example of how
to handle insensitive bullying via the reactions from Zeke
and his tribemates. But something was missing. It's hard
to put your finger right on it, but it felt like this season
lacked a consistent flow. Instead of a gradually building
arc, we were instead presented with what could be best
described as a random series of events. Said events were all
exciting, but they failed to form a cohesive unit.It
didn't help that most of the big players and personalities
went out so early: Tony, Malcolm, Sandra, J.T. — all
gone before the merge. Then Ozzy went home in the merge
double-episode and we hardly saw Cirie until
the merge because she never went to Tribal Council. That
means we did not get a lot of bang for our buck when it came
to the biggest players in the cast. No offense to someone
like Sarah — who played a very strong game and
deserves to be applauded for it — but she and most of
the others we were left with at the end were simply not as
dynamic as the personalities we lost early on.That
was always my big fear about this season — that as
exciting as the early episodes were, those high-profile
exits were diluting the cast and leaving us with players
that we, as viewers, were not fully invested in. And despite
the gameplay and unpredictability down the stretch, that is
kind of what happened. And then there is what happened to
Cirie in the finale. Some may have loved the insane drama of
having five out of six people immune due to idols and
advantages — but I found watching someone be "voted
out" even when zero votes were cast against her to be a
case of a season run amok by simply too many bells and
whistles. (The fact that it happened to a true legend in
Cirie made it even harder to swallow.)And
while I was prepared to drop the season ranking down a spot
or two due to that Tribal, it held steady at the end thanks
to the new final Tribal Council format in which there was
more of a conversation than regimented Q&A, which had
grown predictable and stale over the years. That's a great
example of natural show evolution that worked and the
producers deserve to be commended for it.20.
Survivor: Australian Outback
(Winner:
Tina Wesson)

An overrated season in my book. Probst
loves it. I didn't. Solid but unspectacular. Pretty
predictable boot order as well. Dude did burn his hands off,
though.21.
Survivor: South Pacific
(Winner:
Sophie Clarke)

Here's another one that I like more
than most people, which is curious considering how much it
has in common with the season that aired directly before it,
which I didn't
like: the same twist of two returning players,
Redemption Island, the predictable vote-offs, no real water
challenges, etc… But there is one thing I really did
dig about this season, and that is the cast. I was invested
in the players and their fates — the ones I wanted to do
well, and not so well. Plus, this season gave us three
signature moments: Ozzy volunteering to go to Redemption,
Cochran flipping, and Brandon giving away his
immunity.22.
Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers
(Winner:
Ben Driebergen)
The
good news is the season built momentum as it went, with a
strong run of post-merge episodes after a truly
underwhelming start to the season. Of course, I struggle
with the fact that much of the drama came out of there being
an overabundance of idols and advantages, but producers did
something very smart with those advantages to make sure
nobody else got Ciried: They limited most of them to a
specific single Tribal Council. They also forced contestants
to make decisions on those advantages — like whom to
help or hurt from another tribe — that played dramatic
dividends. And, outside of one mind-bogglingly boring loved
ones reward contest, the challenges were strong.But
now comes the bad news. Like the majority of Survivor
nation, I was not a fan of the new final four fire-making
twist.. While I do not believe it was a cheat put in place
to specifically get Ben to the finals, Probst has openly
admitted it was engineered to get a strong player like
Ben there. To me, even though there was not any funny
business at play to help Ben out, it still was not in the
spirit of a game in which players are supposedly given the
power to vote each other out. That was a bummer. Although,
in the producers' defense, we can't ignore that it did
pay huge dramatic dividends later on Ghost
Island.23.
Survivor: Tocantins
(Winner:
J.T. Thomas)

Okay, you may roll your eyes at Coach
1.0. But imagine for a second this season without him. His
unintentional comedy single-handedly lifts this into
respectable territory for me. Seriously, other than Tyson
getting blindsided, were there any memorable moments that
didn't involve the Dragonslayer? But the unlikely alliance
between bookish northerner Fishbach and country boy J.T.
made for a compelling thread throughout the
season.24.
Survivor: Kaôh Rōng
(Winner:
Michelle Fitzgerald)
Not
one of the best seasons ever; not one of the worst. Working
in this season's favor was the sheer unpredictability from
week to week in terms of who was aligned with whom and what
would happen at Tribal Council. That's always exciting.
Working against this season is the fact that there simply
were not enough transcendent players in the cast. Talking to
fellow fans of the show, I did not find a lot of passion or
hardcore rooting interest for any of the folks that made it
far in the game (especially after Tai sabotaged the tribe by
putting out the fire). That's a problem. Another problem
(for me) was the unsurprisingly bitter jury, whose egos
simply couldn't handle being bested by Aubry.While
the reward challenge that caused three
players to collapse was certainly riveting (and scary as
hell) to watch, it also robbed us of Beast Mode Cowboy,
which was a shame. The other medical evacuations (Neal and
Joe) meant we were denied chances to see how those pivotal
votes would have gone down, and the challenges, in general,
were at times too heavily reliant on balancing.All
that said, there were legitimate moments of glory — like
when Tai turned on Scot and Jason — that elevated the
proceedings and turned this season into a solid, if
unspectacular, entry.25.
Survivor: All-Stars
(Winner:
Amber Brkich)

Overall, a bit of a letdown, but man,
were there some hate-fueled fireworks at those final few
Tribal Councils. Plus: Best. Reunion Show. Ever. (Remember
Jerri getting literally booed off the stage?)26.
Survivor: Panama — Exile Island
(Winner:
Aras Baskauskas)

Ah, just writing the word Panama gets me
daydreaming about Survivor Sally and her intoxicating knee
socks. Terry was robbed on a final challenge that may or may
not have been completely fair. Another unmemorable final
two. Shane Powers should have been brought back for Heroes
vs. Villains. And the Second
Chance season, for that matter.27.
Survivor: Edge of Extinction
(Winner:
???)

Flat. That's the best word I can think
of to describe the season. There's nothing that was
terrible about it. There just wasn't a whole lot to really
gush over either. Rick Devens was the only true breakout
from the cast (unless you include Reem bitching everyone out
at Extinction Island), but that may also be because so much
of the attention early was spent on the four returning
players. I'm not a fan of folks sticking around after
being voted out, so clearly, the Edge of Extinction twist
was not up my alley, especially since it mostly consisted of
people just kind of staring off into the distance pensively
for no apparent reason. It's just hard to muster a lot of
passion for this one. That happens. Just last season we had
a top 5 ever entry in David
vs. Goliath. Let's not get greedy. Not every outing
can be an all-timer. Sometimes all cylinders are firing.
Sometimes not. This season trends more towards
not.28.
Survivor: Worlds Apart
(Winner:
Mike Holloway)

The main problem, of course, was that
there were not enough people to root for. Worlds
Apart got somewhat hijacked by an assault of offensive
comments to and about women by some of the male characters.
It's too bad because there was actually some interesting
gameplay — mostly thanks to Mike. And there were some big
moments at the last few Tribal Councils as well. This season
moved around a bunch for me. It started off
middle-of-the-pack, went WAY down during all that Dan and
Will ugliness, but slowly crept back up after
that.29.
Survivor: Gabon
(Winner:
Bob Crowley)

It got better near the end, but it was
still a case of too little, too late. The fact that so many
unworthy players went so far is simply too
damning.30.
Survivor: Redemption Island
(Winner:
Boston Rob Mariano)

The first three episodes were dynamite,
but then the fuse blew out. It certainly was entertaining at
times watching Rob strategize (the most dominant showing
ever) and Phillip philosophize (the craziest showing ever),
just not very dramatic. Most of the vote-offs were clearly
telegraphed and the Redemption Island twist sucked the life
out of Survivor's
signature moment — the vote-off.31.
Survivor: Africa
(Winner:
Ethan Zohn)

Some great challenges. Not that much
else was great.32.
Survivor: Guatemala
(Winner:
Danni Boatwright)

One of the more unlikable casts so far.
(Remember Judd? Jamie? Stephenie's evil twin?) Rafe was
good for a few laughs, though. Especially on rope
obstacles.33..
Survivor: Vanuatu
(Winner:
Chris Daugherty)

I don't blame producers: The battle of
the sexes worked well the first time around.34.
Survivor: San Juan del Sur

(Winner: Natalie Anderson)

The cast was for the most part boring if
not boorish, and when you look back on this season, does any
one big moment even stand out? Anything? Anyone? Bueller?
Bueller? I will say there were a few strong post-merge
episodes, and it definitely got better over the last few
weeks thanks to Natalie's strong play. That counts for
something. This is not a season that inspires anger or rage,
just apathy, which is maybe the worst indictment of
all.35.
Survivor: One World
(Winner:
Kim Spradlin)

Look, I have total respect for Kim's
game. Like Tom in Palau
and Rob in Redemption
Island, she excelled strategically, socially, and
physically. Unfortunately, that is really the only good
thing I can say about this season. And that's too bad
because I do think the "One World" concept was a solid
one. But, man, what a thoroughly uninspiring cast. Colton
was more a horrible human being than a classic villain, and
the rest of the players were mostly either completely
forgettable or people you wish you could forget.
I worry I am being generous by putting it even this high,
but out of respect for Kim, it goes here.36.
Survivor: Thailand
(Winner:
Brian Heidik)

The fake merge and brutal last challenge
— where the final three had to hold coins between their
fingers in a crazy painful pose — keep this dud out of the
bottom spot. Barely.37.
Survivor: Fiji
(Winner:
Earl Cole)

With the exception of Yau-Man and Earl,
a true bummer of a cast, and the "Haves Vs. Have-Nots"
twist was one of the worst creative decisions in Survivor history.
Speaking of awful creative decisions…38.
Survivor: Nicaragua
(Winner:
Jud "Fabio" Birza)

It's at the bottom for a few reasons.
1) Splitting the tribes up by age and the Medallion of Power
were both enormous flops. 2.) Like One
World, Thailand, and Fiji,
Nicaragua had
just too many unlikable players. 3) Two people quitting with
only 11 days left. 4) No big memorable moments.
Even Thailand had
the fake merge and Fiji had
the big Yau-Man/Dreamz free car deal gone bad, but what was
Nicaragua's
signature moment? Unfortunately, it was people quitting, and
that was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Interestingly
enough, Survivor
viewers recently picked Fabio as the worst Survivor
winner ever in our fan poll, so I'm apparently not
alone in my lack of enthusiasm.Okay, that's gonna about do it. Now that
you've read over 7,000 words here, why not double it and
read another 14,000 on the greatest Survivor moment ever? Also, check out this week's Jeff Probst Q&A
as well as the new players revealing the
returnees they wanted
to play with and against. But, of course, you can't do any
of that until you weigh in on the message boards with your
season rankings. Where does Edge
of Extinction fall for you? And whom are you rooting
for to take home the million dollars next week? Hit the
boards to let us know and I'll be back next week with a
huge finale-sized scoop of the crispy.

__._,_.___

Posted by: "Donna M." <crow_donna2002@yahoo.com>

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