And finished Vanuatu! It was definitely a fun watch, and I do enjoy this season every time I watch it... but for some reason I'm always very mixed on it when it comes to an end. I completely agree with Nate, the editing this season is amazing, and the interpersonal relationships with everyone is on point. But the fact that by the end of the season, I can't really think of anything to say for any of the pre merge boots kind of drops it a bit for me. Don't get me wrong, the people that made the merge were amazing... but I don't want to judge the season just on that. The winner story this season was pretty amazing too. A true underdog story. Yeah, I don't know... I'm very mixed. Mostly feel good about the season, but I don't think I love it as much as Nate does.
Player of the Season:Ami
Hero of the Season: Eliza
Villain of the Season: Twila
Rankings:
18. Brady Finta
I got nothing... I don't remember anything he did except climb the pole in the first episode.
17. John Kenney
Hello to the good looking lazy guy that I talk about every season. It's getting old at this point.
16. Rory Freeman
I appreciate this guy as a character and for what he brought... but honestly I couldn't stand him. Every single time he was shown, it seemed like he was whining about something or just being a complete idiot. The rivalry with Sarge was fun, but I couldn't take the whining. I understand why people have him ranked much higher, but he's just not for me.
15. Scout Cloud Lee
I used to love Scout. This rewatch however I couldn't stand her. She was extremely mean spirited for no reason, and she honestly just seemed like a terrible person. Patronizing to Eliza... it honestly seemed like mean girls, with the two older women picking on the younger. She also sucked at challenges (which I understand she had a bad knee). Kind of a waste of space if you ask me.
14. Brook Geraghty
Really forgettable first boot. The only thing this guy has going for him... is that he is a first boot. So if you look back at the season, at least he has the "Oh yeah, he was the first boot" thing going for him. But really, he didn't do anything in his one episode.
13. Travis "Bubba" Sampson
Entertaining for the fact that he caused his own elimination. Stupid blunder trying to strategize with Chris during that challenge. Other than that, forgettable.
12. Dolly Neely
She seemed sweet. Didn't do much though. I remember she has a mini breakdown. And apparently she went crazy after the show.
11. Chad Crittenden
Really nice guy, and first amputee... but really he didn't add much to the show. I remember him getting drunk off of Kava and that's about it.
10. John Palyok
I try not to let other shows impact my rankings, but JP only gets this high due to his Solitary appearance. Plus his crazy eyes. But yeah, once again didn't do much on the show.
9. Julie Berry
She was nice, but didn't get shown too much. I felt bad for her at the final tribal council, but I do think it was little bit too much haha.
8. Mia Galeotalanza
Probably the most memorable one of the pre merge boots. She had that one fight with Twila that was entertaining. Other than that, meh.
7. Lea "Sarge" Masters
He was kind of enjoyable in the fact that he was such a macho dude, and was loud and spoke his mind. His rivalry with Rory definitely puts him higher, especially during the blindfold challenge where Rory is cheering the team on, and Sarge flips out on him and tells him to shut up.
6. Lisa Keiffer
I thought she was fun to watch, even though she wasn't a big character. The whole thing with Ami was a really good scene, and she also seemed a little bit nuts and overly excited.
5. Leann Slaby
I don't even know why I like her so much. She just seemed like an out there sort of character. My favorite Leann moment is during that challenge where they had to fill up the glasses with coconut water, and she's running back with the glass and literally trips on nothing and almost loses the water. Her face was hilarious. I like her for some reason. Apparently she was also the leader of the women's alliance? Funny because I think other than Julie she was one of the ones least shown from the womens alliance.
4. Twila Tanner
The reason I rank Scout so low and Twila so high... is Twila actually had reason to be the way she was. She actually did have a legit feud with the younger girls saying that she works too hard, and stuff like that. She was more justified I find, rather than Scout who comes out of nowhere to say sh*t. Twila is a really, really good character and I don't feel like we've really had anyone like her since Vanuatu. She had relationships with everybody whether they be good or bad, and she brought a lot to the season to make it what it was. Without her I feel like everything would be a lot different.
3. Chris Daugherty
A perfect underdog story. I do agree that he is underrated as a character. So many good confessionals given by him. It was nice to see someone who isn't the strongest guy out there, outlast all the other guys and then destroy a female alliance on his own.
2. Ami Cusack
I love Ami. She was a bit of a b*tch in a way, but it was in a good sort of way. She definitely spoke her mind and didn't hold back, and she was very straightforward. She played a very good game as well, and if it weren't for Twila and Scout I'm sure she would have won this season. She had a lot of good moments too (as Bryan has mentioned).
1. Eliza Orlins
Such a good character. If Chris is the male underdog this season, Eliza is definitely the female underdog. She was always on the bottom of the girls alliance, was always close to having the girls flip on her. I feel like Eliza has the best relationships with people out of any Survivor ever. So many rivalries, so many friendships, and just so much going on with her that it made her a really good character. Outspoken, and not afraid to stand up for herself. I used to always view Eliza as a villain... and I'm sure if she had been on Heroes VS Villains she would've been classified as a villain, but I really do think she's a hero in the sense that she was always just standing up for herself, and had to deal with the old b*tches Twila and Scout. I don't see her as a villain at all anymore.
Who Should Come Back:
Chris for an All Winners season would be a lot of fun to watch, and Twila on a Heroes VS Villains season (especially if Eliza comes back).
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.Chris DaughertyI think he played a good game with what he had to work with, but I do feel like a lot of his game relied on luck. Not docking him on outlasting the women, but I feel like he was very lucky that the alliance already had cracks way before the merge even happened. I don't feel like he had much to do with the women's alliance falling apart at the Leann vote. It was more like he went along for the ride and lucked out. But I do give him credit, he had a lot of relationships that got him to the end, and eventually the win. For him to outlast the women is impressive no matter what.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9.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. VanuatuIt's a fun season to watch, and I enjoy it every time. But I feel like the season just never ends up holding up well for me. After doing my rankings, more than half the cast I struggled to say anything about. But the editing, and relationships this season sort of do make up for a weaker cast. But yeah, like I said I don't have this as high as others because it's not going to hold up well for me. I feel like a lot of the stuff that happened will be forgotten by the time I'm at Micronesia.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.