I was pleasantly surprised with my rewatch. Didn't remember originally liking this season on my first watch, but this time around it was pretty enjoyable. It had a lot of shocks (well if you didn't know the boot order going into it then it would've), and the cast for the most part was solid (with a few bores). It also had some big moments that I completely forgot about... like the Rob VS Jenna fight, and the shelter burning down. Yeah, overall a very good season.
Player of the Season: Rob
Hero of the Season: Christy? (mostly due to being an underdog)
Villain of the Season: Rob
Rankings:16. Roger Sexton
I hated this guy. Every time he was on my screen I found myself cringing. I'm probably going to get in some sh*t for saying this, but he reminds me of what a lot of people claim Donald Trump to be (not saying I agree about the Donald Trump thing). But Roger seemed sexist, and homophobic. Maybe not racist... but still. He was an a**hole, and he was also a leader which I hate on Survivor. Did not like this guy at all.
15. Joanna Ward
This girl was crazy in a bad way. I don't know, she was sort of creepy. And her fight with Christy was a little uncomfortable. Not saying Christy is immuned from being in fights because she's deaf, but Joanna just seemed extremely rude during the fight with hand covering her mouth and everything. Plus the immunity idol hatred was a little weird.
14. Butch Lockley
Like honestly probably one of the biggest who's of the season. He made it so far in the game without being shown at all... and when he was I thought he was just very unlikeable. And he's an idiot for burning down the shelter. Did not like him.
13. Daniel Lue
Pretty much just the typical lazy muscle guy. The relationship with Matthew was nice to watch, but other than that... meh.
12. Ryan Aiken
Once again not a very memorable boot. He was the lazy guy with Daniel. Basically all there is to note. Only reason he's higher than Daniel is because I feel like he fought more to stay in the game than Daniel.
11. Jenna Morasca
She came off as a b*tch the entire time to me. Like did she do anything the came off in a positive light(other than the situations with her mom)? Yeah okay, maybe you can blame the editing for it. But what else am I supposed to go off of? I think she's a pretty terrible winner, and she just didn't play a good game. She was lazy, and whiny and constantly separated herself with Shawna and Heidi just because they're "the good looking girls". I feel like it's a terrible strategy and it's kind of sad that this season is represented by a winner who purposely went out of her way to not really make friends with the girls that weren't similar to her.
10. Janet Koth
Seemed like a nice lady, but she was the one who got sick and that's about all her storyline was. Also the candy bar incident.
9. Jeanne Hebert
Yeah, by the end of the season the only thing I remember is the funny moment when she caught a fish, proceeded to cheer about it, and lost the fish. Small but funny moment. Other than that, very forgettable.
8. Shawna Mitchell
Okay, not a huge fan of her because she sort of seemed like a b*tch and a drama queen... but I do respect the massive turn around she had. She was basically dead girl walking around camp, and when the guys came her spirits got lifted and she actually tried. Of course too little too late for her.
7. Alex Bell
Seemed like a good guy who was in a good position, and screwed himself over by being an idiot. Why would you go up to Rob and say "When it's final 4, I'm voting for you". Stupid decision, but up until that point he seemed like he could've easily got himself to the end. And he seemed like a straight up guy from what we saw pre merge.
6. Dave Johnson
I understand why people say this guy is boring... and I can see it. But he just seemed so genuine to me, and humble. Like at the first immunity when the guys were all like "Oh yeah we got lots of fish and fire" and he goes back to camp and gives them sh*t for it. Seemed like a good guy, and it was also kind of interesting to watch somebody who should've been with Alex, Rob, and Matthew (basically just because he was young) go with the older guys.
5. Heidi Strobel
Not sure where all the Heidi love comes from... She came off pretty sweet for the most part, other than the fact that she constantly talked about how beautiful she was... but like, she didn't really do a whole lot. I feel like her whole storyline was being with Jenna, being in a good position so she could be lazy, and that's basically it. I don't hate her, but definitely don't love her as much as everyone else seems to.
4. Christy Smith
I can see why she's not liked by most, and I'm not disagreeing with what everybody says. She did seem to play the victim quite a bit, but I couldn't help but feel bad for her. It honestly did seem to me like she was trying to fit in and was having a hard time doing it on the female tribe. It was cute when she got on a tribe with the guys and they made her feel included and everything. I don't know, I liked her underdog story even though most would find it annoying.
3. Matthew von Ertfelda
I still think his craziness came out of nowhere. I saw no signs of him being crazy pre merge. And then the merge hits and everybody's talking about how they're scared he's going to kill them lol. He was fun to watch. I do think he should have won over Jenna and it would've been a better ending... but whatever. It was also kind of funny to see him be Rob's puppet in a way.
2. Deena Bennett
Here I am, the guy saying he hates leaders ranking Deena pretty high. She was a different type of leader in my opinion. She wasn't all up in everybody's face and trying to be a dictator which I liked. And she played a very strategic game from what we saw, strategizing with Rob constantly. She seemed like she was really playing the game and I like that from her.
1. Rob Cesternino
Changed the game of Survivor for good. Not only that... but this guy was a character. He was fun to watch, and he was the biggest strategist of these early seasons. He's actually an interesting player, I feel like he made relationships with people that were genuine... but also broke them when he know he needed to. He had some good confessionals as well, although some of them were a little cringeworthy. Would love to see this guy back... but not the sh*tty showing we get in All Stars.
Who Should Come Back:
Matthew would be fun to see back I think. Other than that, maybe Alex for the potential he has strategically?
Winner Rankings1. Richard HatchHe's iconic because he's the first winner, and to be fair he played a really, really good game considering it was the first season. He's strategic, and he was all around a really interesting character. I still rank him first because although he had some flaws, he did have a good mix of strategic and social game which the other winners either had a good social game (and terrible strategic game), or good strategic game (and terrible social game). Plus considering he had no other seasons to go off of I'd say it's a pretty impressive win.
2. Brian HeidikSome people will disagree with him being under Richard, and cool... I get it. The reason I place him her is because although Brian has a near perfect strategic game, and was able to have everyone do whatever he wanted... I feel his social game wasn't as strong. He pissed quite a few people off, and it really showed in the end. Not to knock him down at all, he played a very good game, and I understand why people have him ranked first... but for me there were flaws in the social game. And honestly, he just seems like a terrible person and I think his cast mates started to realize that.
3. Tina Wesson It's kind of nice to see the exact opposite from the first seasons winner. Richard was a strategic player, whereas Tina perfected the social aspect of the game. Sadly she wasn't as interesting, and honestly she wouldn't be as memorable as Richard.
4. Ethan ZohnHe's a very disappointing winner I think. He didn't really play that strong of a game and just seemed to be in the right alliance at the right time. He never really had any struggles, and pretty much just sailed right to the end. Also not much personality which drops him big time.
5. Vecepia ToweryAlways debate between her and Ethan. I feel like neither of them are very strong winners, but at least Ethan had a good alliance and in that sense he played a better game than Vecepia. Vecepia on the other hand lucked out a lot, and that's the only reason she made it to the end. There were so many moments where Vecepia was in trouble. One plus for Vecepia is she had personality. But yeah, the under the radar strategy just didn't do it for me.
6. Jenna MorascaLike I said in my season ranking, Jenna is a pretty terrible winner in my eyes. I understand she started playing an alright game at the merge, but before the merge she seemed to be doing everything wrong. Only hanging out with her other 2 beautiful girls, purposely making people feel like outsiders (not talking to Christy), and overall just being lazy. There's no moment in Jenna's game that I can honestly look at as a winning moment. She was a bit of a b*tch as well. I don't know, she just doesn't seem like she should've been a winner.
Season Rankings1. MarquesasLike I've said before, I feel like this was the most exciting season of the early era in Survivor. So much going on constantly, whether it be strategy, overthrowing of the main alliance, or just the cast having fun. There were tons of power shifts and it was (at points) unpredictable. For some reason it holds up highly for me, and I always remember it as a good season. Seasons before this just had a boring tone to it... and I don't know what it was, but Marquesas had a more fun tone to it that made it enjoyable to watch. Plus some good game players... which were hard to come by on early seasons.
2. AmazonWasn't expecting to rank it this high before I started the season, but after it was very solid. I think the cast might be the strongest of the early seasons, and it had an extremely good and exciting merge (which can't really be said for any of the other early seasons). One of the most strategic seasons in the early stages for sure. Pre Merge was a little lackluster, but as said, the merge more than makes up for that. Terrible winner though... but that's still not enough to ruin the season.
3. AfricaI really enjoyed this while rewatching it. I feel like everything was picked up a notch, and everyone was there to play the game. It felt a lot more real, and the danger of the survival element just seemed so much more threatening. The cast I also feel was a lot stronger than the first two seasons, and we get the first real twist in Survivor history which effected the game.
4. Australian OutbackI'm a little surprised by this, considering last round of rewatches I did, I definitely liked Borneo better. But this time, Borneo just felt really unbearable, and I actually got a little bit of enjoyment out of this season. Also a lot more memorable events happened in this season, and the survival element felt a lot more real. The strategic game I felt also really picked up this time around.
5. BorneoYeah, the cast was stronger in this season... but the editing, and the lack of strategy made it extremely difficult to watch. It had it's moments, but I feel like if I were to rank this one higher it would simply be due to it being the iconic first season. But yeah, I would much rather watch Australia than this one. The editing style also brings it down a bit.
6. ThailandDuring the rewatch I noticed that the season does have a few good moments, but that doesn't take away from how boring the season is as a whole. There were no outstanding moments in the season, no episode that really sticks out as "wow, this is good", and top it off with the most unlikeable cast in Survivor history. I think it deserves it's spot as ranked last on my list.