That was not a fun rewatch at all... and I am so glad it's over. I went in expecting to get some enjoyment out of it... at least in the pre merge, but the entire season just felt so weird and not fun at all. For about 5 minutes it was cool to see everyone back, and then it was very very difficult to watch. Favorites all got voted out first, and we were left with a very unlikeable merge... and very predictable at that. Everything about this season was just wrong... and it had a very dark feel to it, and some of the most negative events in Survivor history.
Player of the Season: Boston Rob
Hero of the Season: Rupert
Villain of the Season: Boston Rob
Rankings:
18. Lex van den Berghe
I understand him being hurt over what happened... but when you literally just did the same thing to Ethan two tribals before, and then try and justify it as not the same thing. And then you're still bitter about it by the final tribal council? He was a big baby. And the fact that I already didn't like him after Africa, this brought him down even farther.
17. Susan Hawk
I sympathize with her a little bit... but completely uncalled for. Made for one of the most uncomfortable moments in Survivor history, and apparently this moment caused Jeff to almost not host the show anymore.
16. Amber Brkich
There's really not much to say about her, which is sad considering she won the whole thing. The girl had no personality, and hid behind Rob the entire season. She was so boring, and ruined this season. She should have never been brought back, and it's extremely sad that this is the first All Star winner. What a terrible, terrible representative of what is an All Star.
15. Shii Ann Huang
I liked her during the pre merge and felt like we were dealing with Thailand Shii Ann... but then as soon as the merge hits she became unbearable. Like... seriously... what a brat. Temper tantrums, annoying, screaming after her immunity win. She was terrible. The only thing after the merge that makes her semi likeable is the fact that she wasn't at all bitter and congratulated the final 2 for playing the game properly. But still, she made the merge hard to watch.
14. Rob Mariano
I will 100% say the Rob was the mastermind behind this entire season and pretty much controlled the whole game. Strategically he played amazing. What really shined through this season though, and became a pathway to future seasons is jury management. And Rob failed so hard at that. I loved Rob in Marquesas because he was never in control, so he came off more as entertaining. But here, Rob was really never in a minority or ever at risk, so he was just this obnoxious power player who had basically everything go his way.
13. Tom Buchanan
I understand why people like him, and that's fine. I don't find him funny. I never liked him and I never will like him.
12. Alicia Calaway
She was pretty boring. She fought with Rob in the first episode and basically didn't do much of anything else until the final tribal council. Huge disappointment compared to Australia.
11. Rob Cesternino
Such a disappointment. From playing such a strong game the first time, to basically being invisible up until his boot... and even then he wasn't interesting. I'm sure he was still a big player and they just didn't bother showing him since he was an early boot, but still.
10. Rupert Boneham
This guy was nowhere near as fun as he was the first time around. It's like he took everything from last season, and let the popularity get to his head. He seemed arrogant, self entitled (which let's be honesty, he sort of showed hints of that in Pearl Islands). The whole shelter thing was so satisfying to watch him fail so hard.
9. Rudy Boesch
Not as fun as he was in Borneo, but he still brought it with his drinking the well water without boiling it. Also his final words saying something like "They better watch out, because I've got a lot of friends back home". Yeah, not as fun... but it's also because he only really had 2 episodes.
8. Richard Hatch
Definitely not as good as he was in Borneo. Honestly at times I was questioning how he did so well in Borneo, because he sort of came off as a mess of a strategist here in my opinion... actually he more so just had a lack of a strategy this time it seemed. I don't know, his shark moment was kind of good... but yeah, not the same Richard we saw the first time around.
7. Tina Wesson
Poor Tina, such a sweet lady. Due to being the first boot, she really didn't get much screentime. All I remember is her saying the only reason she was back was for life experience. Shame she didn't last longer... so weird to see a winner be a first boot.
6. Jenna Morasca
I felt so bad for Jenna this season. At first she got edited in a way where it looked like she couldn't handle the game, and then we realize that no... she actually has something important going on back home. The moment where she quits the game always tugs on my emotions, and Jenna was a lot more likeable this season than she was in Amazon.
5. Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien
I honestly don't remember Kathy doing much this season, but it was still so nice to see a sweet lady mixed into this jumbled mess that was All Stars. Her alliance with Shii Ann was fun to watch, and I mean it sucks that she was a little bitter... but it was nowhere near the extent of Lex's bitterness, and she was way more genuine about it.
4. Colby Donaldson
Okay, so Colby definitely took more of a backseat in the game than he did in Australia I feel. But he had more personality this time around. The rivalry with Jerri is always fun to watch, and he also had a rivalry with Shii Ann this season. Like yeah, Colby wasn't THAT interesting, but he wasn't a total dud.
3. Ethan Zohn
Talk about a huge upgrade from Africa Ethan. He still wasn't a huge character, but he definitely had more personality and turned into a really likeable character in my eyes. I guess one of the major things was that he wasn't being edited as a winner, and that allowed them to show more personality from him. His wanting to be provider was cool.
2. Jenna Lewis
I've always been a Jenna Lewis fan, and continue to be after this rewatch. She's always a joy to watch for me, and she seems to have such a positive personality. Yeah, she talks a lot and is always called annoying by the people she plays with, but I think it's a bit endearing. And in my opinion she played a very, very good game this time around and had she won this season, I don't think I would have hated the season as much.
1. Jerri Manthey
Another person who I think improved from their first season. This season I felt like she had a lot more relationships and connections with people and it made her a much more interesting person to watch. We got to see rivalries with Rupert and ShiiAnn/Kathy, as well as friendships with Lex. It was also interesting to see her really struggle with the elements. I don't know, I just really think she was entertaining (not that she wasn't the first time around).
Who Should Come Back:
There's a few people... Jenna Lewis I feel would play a very good strategic game again if she game back. Kathy would be interesting to see in a modern season. Ethan would be fun considering we now know he has personality. Rob C. because I feel like he didn't get any chance to shine this time around, and we KNOW he can play the game.
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. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands)Personally she would be my favorite winner because of personality. But in terms of playing the game I can't really rank her higher. I'm not docking her on her game, she played good for the strategy she wanted to play with. No one had won with the "As long as it isn't be" strategy, so I respect her for that a lot. And to be fair, she almost became the perfect winner to play a perfect game if it wasn't for Tijuana's vote. Also, to be as loud and outspoken as her and still be able to get to the final 2 without a single vote against you, you had to be doing something right. But yeah, can't rank her any higher due to her not really having much control on the game.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8.Amber BrkichI have no respect for her gameplay. To come into an All Star season and basically hide behind someone else the entire season and not really playing much of a strategic game. Like, ok... if you do that on a normal season than I might be a bit more forgiving. But come on, you're an "All Star". Not to mention she was literally the most boring person on the cast, and then ended up winning. Like, I can't think of any game move she did other than allying with Rob. Terrible 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. Pearl IslandsKind of controversial to not have this ranked first, and don't get me wrong I totally love this season. I feel like the cast was slightly weaker than Marquesas, and this season was very reliant on a controversial twist (outcasts), whereas if that twist never happened I feel like this season would not have been nearly as good as it was. I feel like this season always left a good memory for me, but I just feel like Marquesas outshines it for some reason. Still, this season had a great cast and I feel like the little twists it had (like the treasure chest, looting, and kidnapping) brought it up so well and I definitely understand why people say this is the absolute best season of Survivor...
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. All StarsI really wasn't expecting it to be lower than Thailand, but I couldn't help it. This season was so difficult to rewatch. The cast was better than Thailand, but everything that happened really proved to me that it's a terrible season. At least Thailand had a good winner to support the crappy season. All Stars was a crappy season, with a terrible winner. And this season had so many negative moments in it, and very very few positive moments. I honestly don't think I'll ever be rewatching this one again.