im a big fan of survivor but I struggle watching the seasons past about 35 (not a very unpopular take) but im just laying in bed rn and wishing i could go back to the days when i was grinding prime survivor. Id do anything to go back and watch all the seasons again. Just meeting all these great characters along the way. FUCK SAKE I WOULD DO FUCKING ANYTHING

From an entertainment standpoint, she was surely underedited post-merge which was probably in large part due to her losing that fire challenge. But strategically I would argue she was a solid player and had potential to garner some votes if she made it over Mike! Throughout the post-merge she was usually voting with the majority, several times we saw people come to her to get her vote whenever needed and she was pretty solid in challenges. Besides Nick I think she was genuinely the strongest player in that final four from a deserving of a win standpoint. Would have loved to see her on 50 but hope she can get a return on a future season!

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One of the most authentic displays of guilt I remember in the history of Survivor starred Twila Tanner. Right in the middle of Tribal Council, the contestant labeled as the "villain" demonstrated genuine suffering after having failed Sarge and having used her son's life in a false oath; her anguish was evident and her guilt undeniable. On the opposite side stands Tony Vlachos, who when asked if it weighed on him to have put his daughter's life on the line in his promises, admitted without reservations that he felt no guilt whatsoever and that the sacrifice had been worth it. Although Twila failed to claim the show's grand prize, her time on the reality show left a valuable lesson by showcasing the capacity to recognize and own up to one's mistakes

Got some late bday gifts from my mother after delving deep into the lore of our beloved game this past year

And I am curious whether their performance on the show was surprising to you, based on what you previously knew of them, or if it was what you expected?

Also curious if you have met any players (after their season has aired), which would likely be more common than knowing them before their appearance.

Thanks!

Does anyone else feel low-key proud that most survivor contestants who branch out to other competitive gaming shows seem to do really well.

For Traitors - Weve had Cirie win, Sandra reach top 5, Carolyn, Steph and Natalie get 7th and 8th places, with Rob and Parv being enetertaining traitors and resching further than they shouldve.

In Big Brother - Weve had Cirie reach top 5, and Dee and Devens cleaning up the house in current season, Luke Toki also won Big Brother AU after playing on Survivor

Million Dollar Island - Weve had Golden god David win with Parv and Rob both getting 4th place

The Challenge - Weve had Chris Underwood, Sarah Lacina, Danny McCray and Desi Williams take out a win with people like Michele, Domenick, Tyson all reaching final episodes

Amazing Race - Rob and Amber came in 2nd

Im probably being biased lol but just let me be

First off, I did try searching, but understandably searching WAR brings up Winners At War, and searching wins is kind of meaningless.

So if you don't know, WAR can mean wins above replacement. Basically measures how good a player is against a league average player.

I just finished season 25, and Abi got me thinking about this. Whatever you think about her as a character, I think it's pretty clear that she would have a low WAR score. Had no chance of winning, and actually hurt the chances of people she was aligned with. Basically, she hurts her chances and YOUR chances of you align with her.

Is there a generally accepted metric for this I'm survivor? Players who you don't want to play with strategically, because you have better chances with basically a cardboard cutoff who's just average at the game?

(I only saw her on session 25, I read she came back, if her other season changes the conversation, I'm only referring to her game in 25)

Rizo trying to prepare for a possible fire showdown with Jonathan…

Meanwhile Joe: “What the hell is this guy doing?”

You don’t even need dialogue. That face says it all 😂

I’ve watched the seasons in an odd order, starting with 49 as my first season, bouncing around a few OG seasons of the 50 cast before it aired, then eventually starting back from the beginning in order. We just finished South Pacific, and I was excited to see where Coach and Ozzy’s beef came from that they alluded to on 50. Specifically, Coach made it seem like Ozzy was the reason he lost. Is that just Coach being delusional, shifting the reason he (rightfully) lost off of himself? Or did something actually happen?

In yesterday's Survivor Finland Season 10 premiere, Vivi Wahlström was the first to be eliminated in consecutive seasons (Season 9 BvW and Season 10 Redemption). Could this be worse than Francesca Hogi?

Talked a lil season 50, got my favorite haiku signed. Coach is everthing I expected and more. His presence on stage just elevated the whole experience for me.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I havnt watched every season yet, people sometimes big them selves up and claim they did more then they actually did but is their any rule about flat out lying?
If no one from your original tribe was on the jury could you not claim you blindsided every time and played a fantastic game

Thats always bothered me. You KNEW Malcolm was voting for Denise, so Johnathans vote made it obvious there would be at least two votes for Denise. Its like they sort of unintentionally spoiled the winner.

But then again who tf thought Abi was gonna vote for Denise.

Fun video and series!

My girlfriend and I remember at least one season had this “chant” that would play alongside the tribal music during dramatic moments. A male with a guttural voice would yell something like “Ayyyy Yabada” and sometimes a quieter “yabada” would be chanted again after.

We’re struggling to find the season. It’s probably before season 25 which is where we fell off watching.

Rachel, Kamilla and Steven all recently appeared on an episode of Tarvould's Quest, a Youtube show where contestants test out their videogame music knowledge.

https://youtu.be/qcENj29nzR8?si=keZC5kt-9UKRx1U0

Note that Tarvould has been wearing that Survivor buff since he started making videos, and not just for this occasion.

Attached image shows the scoring system we’ll use for this league, plus there will be weekly opportunities to earn points by correctly predicting who goes home before each episode. I ran this league for Survivor 50 too, and it worked pretty well but there were def some balance issues - first place had about 3x last place’s points

I’m curious if anyone has thoughts about ways to make it balanced in general or specifically about my current format, as I’ve changed quite a few things since 50.

We’re also still down some players, so if you’re interested in joining the league feel free to comment or message me for the invite (everything’s hosted on Discord)

There’s a $15 buy-in with a $100 prize for 1st place ($30 for 2nd; $15 for 3rd). I know it sounds sketchy doing stuff w money online lol but all money is paid through and handled by a trusted 3rd party fantasy league platform called LeagueSafe which requires majority approval at the end of the season to release $ for winnings

the general format will be 10 teams of 2 unique players that score points doing different things each episode. You can also earn points by predicting each episode’s vote off(s) and the winner. This is all hosted through Discord, more detailed information in the discord server if you’re interested

I’ve decided to do a series where I analyse each returnee season cast and give a score on how well it was cast.

I’m judging based on how satisfying the cast feels, and whether each individual player deserves to return based on being a good player, entertainment value, popular, suits the theme etc.

The theme will play a part, for example a player on Second Chances may feel satisfying but would not feel as satisfying on Game Changes or All Stars.

I will also judge based on whether there were many better choices so S50 (with hundreds of options) might be judged harsher than S27 or S31 with themes that limited their options.

Also timing and nostalgia will make a difference. Players like Gervase and Jenna from S1 may not be top choices for All Stars, but years later will be more satisfying for nostalgic value.

A few players are also largely cast to be the “attractive bikini girl”. I don’t think this should be a priority and new era has hardly any bikini girls, so I don’t think it was ever necessary. I will rank negatively if they cast a bikini girl who is boring over an older woman who would bring more entertainment.

And finally I’m judging based on NOT knowing how the season turns out. Players like Sue and Rudy from S1 were “disappointing” in All Stars but they’d be top choices to return based on their original seasons. And then Rob, Parvati and Wentworth are the opposite, but I’ll still judge them as poor choices.

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So next is S31 - SECOND CHANCES

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Good = should definitely be on, no better choices.

Okay = I can see the reason why they’re on, but some better choices.

Bad = should definitely NOT be on, many better choices.

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(I am also including those who weren’t voted in)

Kelly (S1) - GOOD - I’ve mentioned her every season, fits the theme perfectly as the original runner-up story, very fascinating seeing S1 players, she ended up being disappointing but still a fantastic pick!

Jeff (S2) - OKAY - I wouldn’t pick him for any other returnee season but an okay nostalgic pick, decent character and fascinating to see return many years later!

Kimmi (S2) - OKAY - same as Jeff (a decent character who I wouldn’t pick for any other theme), fascinating and nostalgic to see return, an early boot but memorable with the vegetarian dramas on a popular season.

Teresa (S3) - GOOD - and another nostalgic pick that fans would want to see return! Likeable and an underrated player! Wish she made it on!

Andrew (S7) - GOOD - same as Jeff (a merge boot who had potential but Andrew was better), great character and redemption story, also would only pick him for this theme!

Terry (S12) - GOOD - should have returned previously, popular and challenge beast, fantastic pick!

Shane (S12) - GOOD - also should have returned previously, wacky and memorable, wish he made it on!

Peih-Gee (S15) - GOOD - decent character and player, interesting to see return!

Stephen (S18) - GOOD - popular runner-up, great character! Not a top tier to return on previous seasons but fits this theme well.

Monica (S19) - BAD - people are going to say I hate the “bikini girl” again but she made such little impact on her season, made it far but very unremarkable.

Stephanie V (S22) - OKAY - feisty enough personality, second chance story of being a failed Russell girl, but an early boot with some better choices. But if you have Kimmi, it feels like you need to have at least 1 more early boot.

Natalie T (S22) - OKAY - one of the most boring games ever but would be a little fascinating to see a more mature version who’s willing to play a more strategic game.

Mikayla (S23) - BAD - I get the second chance story with the Brandon Hantz situation but didn’t find her that interesting!

Jim (S23) - OKAY - a decent player and had potential as a character, maybe not as memorable though with some more iconic choices.

Sabrina (S24) - OKAY - also had some okay moments, but like Jim not the most memorable and some better choices.

Troyzan (S24) - GOOD - a decent character and memorable enough!

Brad (S24) - OKAY - a decent character and made enough of an impact, being an early boot is the only negative.

Abi Maria (S25) - GOOD - fantastic and wacky character, will always create good drama and moments!

Ciera (S27) - GOOD - willing to make big moves, pretty memorable, the “voted off her mom” moment (although overhyped).

Vytas (S27) - GOOD - pretty popular and interesting to see him play without Aras to make them a threatening pair.

Woo (S28) - GOOD - popular and good runner-up story with taking Tony over Kass.

Kass (S28) - GOOD - fantastic character and villain, willing to make big and crazy moves!

Spencer (S28) - GOOD - one of the more popular players of this era, great character!

Tasha (S28) - GOOD - pretty popular, and a few challenge wins.

Keith (S29) - GOOD - great character, popular, underrated at challenges, unique!

Jeremy (S29) - GOOD - good player, second chance story for being eliminated as a threat.

Kelley (S29) - BAD - yeah she proved us wrong but she made such little impact in her season, didn’t understand why she was cast at the time (besides the second chance story of her father hurting her game).

Mike (S30) - GOOD- great character, challenge beast, was ineligible because he won…but needed to be on here to hide the result of that season.

Carolyn (S30) - GOOD - decent player, runner-up of the season before it.

Shirin (S30) - GOOD - good character, wacky superfan, unique enough, deserves a second chance after being mistreated last season.

Joe (S30) - GOOD - popular, challenge beast, potential to be the next Colby/Ozzy/James, has to be on!

Max (S30) - BAD - an okay character from the previous season…but an early boot, mostly seen as annoying, many better male choices, and too many from S30.

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Main Snubs

Neleh (S4) - a nostalgic pick who seems willing to return and one of the younger old school players, not a “must have” but better than a few early boots on the cast.

Sean R (S4) - another nostalgic pick, great character, and fans want to see him return. Would prefer him over Jeff but not a huge difference between the 2 (plus Jeff’s season was more iconic).

Twila (S9) - and another nostalgic pick, great character and memorable runner-up, I mention her every returnee season haha Would pick her over half of the females honestly.

Rafe (S11) - a good player and it would be nice to have a S11 returnee outside of Stephenie, not sure if interested but would be nice to see return.

Dreamz (S14) - also not sure if he’s interested but would be fascinating to see again, a forgotten villain and a big moment with the car deal.

Ken (S17) - same as Rafe and Dreamz (a forgotten player) and a decent player who’d be fascinating to see again, especially over Max, Brad, and maybe even Jim and Troyzan.

Crystal (S17) - also forgotten but a fun and feisty personality, great character, better than many of the female choices. I understand not picking her because she was stripped of her medal, but I think the doping actually makes her legacy funnier haha

Marcus (S17) - similar to Savage and maybe Jeff in that he was a leader/dominating but became the merge boot (or whatever that weird tribe swap was). Better than Max or Brad at least.

Holly (S21) - another underrated player who made it far but hasn’t had a 2nd chance yet. A more interesting choice than the early boots.

Jane (S21) - not sure if interested but a fan favorite and tough older woman who hasn’t returned yet. Would be a top pick if she’s able to return!

Reynold (S26) - not the most memorable ever but it would have been nice to have a returnee from S26. Would pick him over Max or Brad at least.

Hayden (S27) - he’s mentioned a bit but I never found him that interesting in either Survivor or Big Brother. I’d probably pick him over Max but he isn’t a “must have”.

Sarah (S28) - a big merge-boot player, the main negative is that there’s too many from S28 and the other 4 make more sense. I would’ve preferred her on this season though over S34, especially with Kass.

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Declined

Greg B (S1) - would have been a great nostalgic pick.

Ian (S10) - another interesting nostalgic pick.

Natalie B (S16) - a forgotten villain and interesting choice to return.

Shambo (S19) - unique character and would definitely be on or would have returned by now if she wanted to.

RC (S25) - not “top tier” but would have picked her over some of the early boots

Josh (S29) - a decent player and better than the early boots

Reed (S29) - same as Josh, a decent character and better than the early boots.

Jon M (S29) - and same as Josh and Reed, a decent player and threat, and better than the early boots.

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Final assessment - 7/10

The theme was Second Chances and includes 32 players that have never returned, with the audience voting to have 20 out of the 32 compete in the season. Excluding winners and multi-time players means the star power is down but it felt satisfying with everyone on a level playing field. It had some old school players who I guess feel like “rejects from previous returnee seasons” but it felt satisfying enough seeing most of them.

Many choices would be considered “bad” on previous returnee seasons but feel “right” here. Jeff, Kimmi, Teresa and Andrew would not have made my list for All Stars (or any other theme) but feel good here. Likewise some of the “bad” choices from S26 (eg. Andrea, Dawn, maybe even Brandon) would have at least felt “okay” here. I do wish they didn’t have returnees in S26 because many of them would have fit here much better.

Kelley Wentworth feels like the worst choice in the cast. In hindsight she was fantastic, but feels like a terrible pick based on S29. Mikayla and Max were also not great early boots, and Monica was pretty forgettable. I’d replace Wentworth, Mikayla and Monica with either Kelly G, Neleh, Christa, Twila, Katie, Crystal, Erinn, Holly, Jane, Christine, Sarah or Baylor. And I’d replace Max (and maybe even Brad) with Sean R, Matt (S6), Burton, Sarge, Rory, Rafe, Dreamz, Ken, Marcus or Reynold.

Jeff and Kimmi were pretty average choices but good for nostalgic value. I also think you need BOTH of them (and it’s a shame they never got to play together). I would’ve preferred Sean R and Neleh, but it was fine seeing them again. Brad and Stephanie were also okay for early boots, but a few better choices.

Most of the top characters from the later seasons (S27-S30) are here plus a few decent choices throughout the years, and together it feels satisfying enough. It’s also not a terrible idea to have “bad” choices who are unlikely to be voted into the cast anyway - It’s sad seeing popular players miss out because of the public vote. The casts of All Stars, Fans vs Favorites 1 and Heroes vs Villains feel more iconic…but this one feels good enough so I’m ranking it just behind them.

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What are your thoughts on the casting for S31 Second Chances?

How many past survivor players have previously been on other reality tv shows? I’ve been watching the newest season of big brother with Dee and Rick Devens on it. I know lots of survivor players have gone on to compete on other shows like the traitors and the challenge. Does survivor ever take in players from other shows? The only two I can think of are Hayden and Caleb who came from big brother first. I’m curious if there are any others!

Hey fellow fans,

It is probably the most thought about off season question, but I genuinely want to know what your favourite 10 seasons of Survivor are.

It’s a topic I’ve spent hours and hours obsessing over and recently (pre 50) I made an attempt at recording my thoughts and rankings of my favourite seasons, given it took a lot of effort I thought I’d share it in here.

If you have some time or are curious it would be cool if you could check it out and even leave your thoughts (be nice please I’m a rookie at content), more importantly though I would love to know what your top 10 looks like as well? It’s always so fun seeing the variance in what everybody likes!