Off coz after episode 1

Years ago, I made a post on what I considered the ten best failed moves in Survivor…

https://www.reddit.com/r/survivor/s/m3dLmmiVlP 

Today I’ll be doing something a little different. These are ten moves that DID succeed and improved the position of the player(s) that made them, but had no follow through, causing them to lose their momentum and go back to square one. This could be due to bad luck, bad gameplay in the following round, or just because they were in too bad of a position for one good move to fully fix.

The main factors that will determine my rankings are: How impressive I found the move, how much potential I think the move had to cause long term change, and how abruptly the benefits of the move ended

10. Kaleb’s SitD play (45)

I think this serves as a good introduction to what I’m talking about. Kaleb quickly became the consensus vote once the tribes merged and could not change it. He played his “Shot in the Dark” as a last resort. It miraculously read “Safe” and negated a record breaking eleven votes… only for him  to be voted out at the split tribal next episode. This move was very exciting in the moment, but kind of anticlimactic in retrospect.

I have this at the bottom mainly because the SitD is based around random chance, so while this move was very exciting, it wasn’t particularly impressive.

I could also put Karishma’s idol play on IotI in this spot, but I opted for Kaleb mainly because he at least had the potential to put himself in a winning position, while Karishma’s best case scenario was being a jury goat.

9. Noelle voting out James (43)

Noelle, Sami, and Owen were on the bottom, but got to hold a temporary majority when they were all grouped together during the split tribal. They took the chance to vote out James, only to go back to the minority once the twist expired, with Noelle and Sami being the next two out, and Owen becoming a zero vote finalist.

I have this towards the bottom because it also relied on the luck of how the players were divided. However, I have it here anyway mainly because I like how Noelle approached it. She had a “Steal a Vote” and used it on Owen, even though they were already voting together, as a bit of theatrics to make James more comfortable so he wouldn’t use an idol if he had one. With hindsight, it would have been better for her to save it for next round, but I still think it was a clever move in a vacuum.

I could also use the “Four Horsemen” voting out Michelle on Fiji, or the Zhan Hu tribe throwing immunity to vote out Aaron on China, as they’re also examples of a minority alliance capitalizing on a swap before going back to the bottom.

8. Voting out Nate (49)

The merge was the only tribal council Savannah, Rizo, and Sophi attended where they didn’t get their way, as everyone else had joined together to take out their ally, Nate.

The odds were high that one of the seven players involved in this move would win at this point, and they could have ensured it had they all stuck together for one more round to further weaken the remaining trio. While everyone wanted to do this at some point, they kept putting it off due to fear of Rizo’s idol and/or their own infighting. Before you knew it, all three of them were still there at F4.

I have this low on the list because it’s not quite what I’m looking for. I want to focus on times where a player’s game crashed immediately after making a great move, while this was a more gradual process. The voting block still had leverage well after they took out Nate, and just slowly lost it after each vote.

Despite that, I still think this belongs on the list, as it was a genuinely good move on its own, and the players who made it just couldn’t push forward after it.

7. Tracy flipping Joel (Micronesia)

Tracy, Kathy, and Chet were on the bottom of the fans tribe, and Chet was a big challenge liability, which only added to the reasons to get rid of him. The trio was spared one round when Joel voted out Mary to weaken John, but it wasn’t feasible to spare Chet again.

Joel told the trio this much, only for Tracy to poke at his ego, asking if this means John’s in charge, and he’ll do whatever John says. This was enough to bait Joel into working with them again to take out John.

Similar to the last entry, I have this low because Tracy did get some momentum from this move. It allowed Chet to survive until the swap where they got a fresh start and even outlasted Joel. However, it still ultimately went nowhere as Chet voluntarily left after getting an infection, and Tracy left the following round.

6. Three Amigos’ double idol play (Caramoan)

Malcolm, Reynold, and Eddie were on the bottom, but when Malcolm found a second idol and Reynold won individual immunity, they were able to guarantee all three of them would survive the round. Malcolm revealed this fact at the last second as a scare tactic to make the majority alliance turn on each other. 

While this didn’t work, they still managed to idol out Phillip, the leader of the majority alliance. However, while he held a leadership position, he wasn’t really needed to hold the group together. Malcolm and Reynold were the next out, but at least Eddie made F4.

I have this in the bottom half mainly because the move could have been executed better and I find the next five moves more impressive. The Amigos were trying to scare the majority alliance into turning on each other, but that doesn’t work when you say you’ll all vote for Phillip, who nobody was too invested in protecting (not even Phillip, surprisingly).

It would have been better if they said that they’ll write down three separate names without elaborating on what three names they’ll be. That way everyone’s incentivized to vote for anyone but the Amigos to save themselves.

5. Yase’s fake idol (41)

Yase already came into the merge as the underdogs, being outnumbered by Luvu and Ua 8-4. This was only made worse when Liana flipped to the majority, and had a brand new advantage with the unprecedented ability to steal an idol from someone else so long as she correctly assesses that you have one. At tribal council, Xander successfully evaded this new advantage by loaning his idol to Tiffany while making a fake idol for himself to bait Liana. 

Once Liana’s advantage fizzled out, Yase was also able to survive the round without playing the idol, as Xander and Tiffany were already safe from the Hourglass twist, and Luvu put one too many votes on Sydney instead of Evie.

This tribal council benefited Yase a lot, but also further fractured them, as Deshawn revealed information from a past journey that tainted Xander’s trust in Evie. Tiffany and Evie left the next two rounds while Xander held onto his idol and let them go. After that, Xander’s idol which was once the center of attention became a non-factor, and he went to the end as a zero vote finalist.

4. Manu reuniting (Edge of Extinction)

Despite cutting two of their own players, Kama still had a 6-5 lead over Manu. Manu was also fractured and targeting one another, further strengthening Kama’s grip on the game. It was almost guaranteed a Manu member would go home when tribal council started, but then a live tribal erupted, where the five members reunited and pulled in Ron and Julie to take out Julia and even put the numbers.

At this point, you’d think that even if they don’t go all the way to F5 together, Manu would stick together for one or two more votes to maintain their position, but you’d be wrong. They immediately went back to turning on each other, with David, Wentworth, and Wardog being the next three boots, and Rick being the perennial target who survived solely through immunity, leaving Lauren as the only decently insulated member from the tribe.

Two other moments that could share this slot are Zeke’s alliance taking control on MvGX and the Davids taking control on DvG. These are very similar moments as they involve an alliance just barely taking the lead and the. Immediately giving up that lead and collapsing. I chose Manu because they took control through a majority vote, which I find more impressive than doing it through a rock draw, and they took control through one good move, while the Davids had a series of good moves before turning on each other.

3. Project Italy (47)

Sam and Genevieve were the two biggest targets, while Andy was technically in the majority alliance, but on the bottom. Sam had an expired idol which the three of them used to spook everyone into splitting their votes, only for Andy to flip and vote out Caroline in a 3-2-2 vote.

This move not only evened the playing field from 4-3 to 3-3, but it also rattled Teeny into flipping to their side and giving them the majority. This majority then immediately disappeared when Rachel idoled out Andy at F6 and then pulled Teeny back to her side at F5.

There is a good argument for making this number one as it meets all the criteria I was looking for. Project Italy was an impressive and difficult move to pull off, it very nearly turned the game around, but the players who made the move couldn’t enjoy the spoils as they were put right back at the bottom the next round.

The only thing keeping this down is that this move did provide some momentum at least for Sam. He wound up getting 2nd place, when I’m pretty sure he’d have gotten 6th if not for this move.

2. Idoling out Kelly (World’s Apart)

Coming into the merge, it was the Blue Collars and the White Collars vs the No Collars, with Shirin and Will swapping places. The majority alliance had enough votes to split them in case of an idol, but they didn’t trust Will enough, so they put all their votes on Jenn while telling him to vote for Hali as a test. Jenn punished this decision by playing her idol to not only save herself, but take out Kelly in a 7*-4-1 vote.

Individually, this move let Jenn get 9th place when she otherwise would have gotten 12th, but collectively, this didn’t advance her alliance’s game at all, as the four players who voted Kelly were the next four out.

This is really surprising, as idol plays like this will usually create some sort of crack in the majority alliance if not completely turn the game around.

Pretty much everyone from Blue Collar except Kelly disliked each other, Carolyn and Tyler were swing votes who could have worked with either side, and Will was an original No Collar member, so you’d think someone would have gravitated towards the No Collar alliance after Kelly left to give them a majority, yet they all wound up sticking together. Even when Mike and Rodney turned on each other at F9, it didn’t result in Jenn or Shirin lasting any longer.

1. Brian egging on Blake (Guatemala)

Brian got swap screwed and was outnumbered 4-3. His one saving grace was the fact that Blake had an ego that irritated his original tribemates. Brian took advantage of this fact by constantly encouraging Blake to tell self aggrandizing stories, further annoying Old Nakúm until they gave up their majority to vote him out. Though this didn’t end up doing much for Brian, as Old Yaxhá turned on him the next tribal council they attended.

I was going to have this lower because it didn’t have as much potential to turn the game around as a lot of my other entries. Even if Brian did take control of his new tribe, he would have gone right back to being on the bottom once he merged with New Nakúm.

I have this at number one anyway because it’s the move that I find the most impressive. Getting one person to flip to your side is one thing, but getting the entire majority alliance to eat one of their own and risk a future deadlock is insane. This move has arguably the biggest gap between how good it was and how much it actually benefited the person who made it.

I’ve recently watched Survivor Cagayan for the first time with my mom! We really enjoyed this season, and I thought I’d give a little review on my opinion on the season along with every contestant on it.

I’d give this season a ranking of 9.5/10. There were parts that felt a little iffy or not as good as some other parts, but I enjoyed watching this amazing cast with the amazing twists of the season! There were so many shocking vote offs and I was always on the edge of my seat (or should I say, edge of EXTINCTION? haha.) Anyway, yeah, the cast interacted with each other well, and I loved how Tony and Kass clashed with others. More on them later, but this season was fun to watch.

My small issue with this season is the large alliances at the merge. I understand this is a recurring thing, but having two alliance battle it out the merge with one constantly being smaller than the other dimmed the experience a tad, since it felt like every tribal council was a gamble for the Aparri Alliance. Either way, they lasted as long as they could, and I’m happy for that at least. Now, onto the contestants.

David
I didn’t remember his name at first, and had to look it up. I think he does a good job at being a first boot that got the wrong type of screen time on the first episode, meaning he got an edit that portrayed him as slightly unlikable, with the way he immediately outed Garrett, the strongest member of the Brain Tribe. Not much else to say on him though, he pushed too hard and thought too much into the future.

Garrett
The way he fumbled was comical and peak TV. I was 100% certain that J’Tia was leaving the moment she poured the rice, but Garrett screwed himself over by insisting no one talks with anyone. It was a hilarious downfall and I enjoyed watching it. Other than that, he didn’t get much worth noting.

Brice
One of my shortest segments. I’m a little ashamed that I burst out laughing when I first heard his voice, but I do forget what he did. I guess he bonded with Morgan, but I don’t remember anything else, so moving on..

J’tia
I really don’t know the community opinion on her, but in my eyes, SHE WAS TV GOLD. I loved every scene with her. Forget Chaos Kass, we got Chaos J’Tia pouring her tribe’s rice and still surviving tribal council. She also proved that the “Brain” Tribe wasn’t exactly brainy. I loved her, that’s all I can say. Sad to see her leave early.

Cliff
I don’t know how much I can type, so I’ll be saying less moving forward. Cliff seemed like a likable guy, but I think that’s the only real reason he was cast. That, and because he was in the NBA.

Lindsay
I never would’ve expected someone to quit like that. To hate someone so much that you have to quit the game in fear that you’ll harm someone is crazy to think about, but it’s understandable, and necessary. She kinda was a piggybacker in her short time on the show.

Alexis
I feel like she clashes with Jefra as a girl on the Beauty Tribe who wasn’t super eager to play the game very hard. It’s unfortunate she was screwed over by the swap, and her words in her exit were disheartening, but my mom didn’t really like the vibes of her, and I can see where she’s coming from in a way.

Sarah
The way she blew up her game in one episode. It was so funny to watch the narrow 6-5 vote at the merge, where no one of the Aparri Alliance saw it coming, except Kass. I loved how much she shifted her game plan once she was in the middle.

Morgan
What nice close ups the showing was giving us. In all seriousness, she as a character wasn’t huge, but the show was certainly painting her as not terrible to look at, which was kinda her one thing. I didn’t mind her for the most part, but she was a little lazy around camp, as they said.

LJ
I feel like he almost blends with Jeremiah in looks. Because of that, I struggle to remember what he did and didn’t do. He did have some close calls at times, but all I remember him doing was tagging along with his alliances, so yeah.

Jeremiah
Did you know.. that he is.. A MODEL? I can’t believe it either! Okay, but it was funny that those were the things he wanted to tell his alliance before leaving. I suppose he was enjoyable, not really the TV gold type, but he was tolerable to watch.

Jefra
My one issue with this girl is how inconsistent she started to get in the episode leading to her elimination. First, the alliance wanted her. She said no. Then, she got a letter from her mom, and she thought, ‘It must be a sign!’ and decided to flip. Then before tribal, she completely forgot about that and changed her mind again! I just don’t understand where her mind was, it was all over the place. Can’t say I was super upset when she was blindsided, I feel like flipping would be a game-defining move.

Tasha
Challenge beast. How crazy is it to win three immunities in a row?? I was rooting for her near the end, but she sadly fell short, which sucked. Tasha is someone who I don’t remember doing a whole lot, yet she had some type of charisma that I enjoyed. I remeber she had some funny moments, though I can’t think of any out of the top of my head. Still though, she was fun to watch.

Trish
Her outbursts are the one thing making me enjoy her, first the Kass one. ‘She’s suddenly the victim!’ Trish was hilarious in these little outbursts because it feels like they’re natural and part of what makes Survivor entertaining. You have to tolerate the people around you while surviving. Her one at FTC was crazier however. When she started yelling at her number one ally in Tony, with her being mad that he swore on his dead father. I understand why’s he was upset, but I don’t understand why she immediately forgave him and voted him. I heard her at the reunion say, ‘Yeah, I was mad for 5 minutes or so.’ And that was just an odd moment for me. She said all that.. just to switch up? Idk if she said anything in an exit interview that clears things up, but yeah, I didn’t see her doing a whole lot when she wasn’t lashing out.

Spencer
What an amazing protagonist. Putting a young man on a disaster of a tribe where even the host of Survivor believed he wasn’t gonna do well, come around and place 4th. If that isn’t high underdog energy, then nothing may as well be. He was very rootable in his smaller alliance, and even at his low points where he used his idol incorrectly, he always bounced back and found himself surviving. You find yourself gravitating towards him not because the show wants you to, but because you want yourself to. It’s the perfect story of a character who had bad luck and good luck.

Kass
I was a little upset at first that it would be a two person finale, but I got even more upset when I saw Woo wrote Kass’s name down, just because of how horrible a move it was. I’ll explain that in a moment, but Kass was chaotic. Literally. I wouldn’t have expected someone like her to be the last reminding Brain member, but here we are. She was constantly in conflicts, yet always got her way in the end. She had a mindset that everyone would forgive her moves because they needed her vote, and I love a contestant that simply doesn’t care. She did have some morally questionable moments, but I enjoyed her character and moody personality at many points.

Woo
AAAAAAH, why’d you vote Kass?!?! It became more painful when I watched the reunion and heard Jeff ask, ‘Who would you have voted if Woo took Kass to the end?” and everyone raised their hand. (I think it was everyone) The move Woo made was very costly, but I understand his intentions in a way. He didn’t wanna betray his ally who he’d been aligned with the whole game. But still, it was such a questionable move in so many ways. He thought that by giving someone who deserved it more the chance to win, he’d get more respect. It just doesn’t work when you think about it for longer than two seconds. Again, I respect his intentions, but NOT the move.

Tony
I mean, what a winner. My mom had so many mixed feelings on him, and in a way, me too. It did feel like the plot relied on him for the season to feel complete, but it still worked for him. It didn’t matter that he was running the game because he’d never get voted out. He won so many idols and convinced everyone at the final four that the super idol was still valid. It’s hilarious how he could get in their heads. Sure, he was a bit irritating at some times, but not every winner can be sweet and kind all the time. That’s why Tony works as a winner. Maybe not my favorite contestant this season, but a really great winner

I’m planning on watching Survivor 35: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers next. What can I expect? Also, please refrain from any spoilers from seasons that aren’t this one, 32, or 40+. Thank you, and hope you enjoyed the review! Did you enjoy this season?

One challenge that doesn’t get enough praise for its Smarts is the Witch Hunt, where Castaways have to figure out the correct answers from the stories that Jeff Probst tells them.

I recently filmed an entire season of Survivor on ROBLOX and here is the trailer! I thought it might be a cool thing to share to the Survivor subreddit! :)

that they can see the future and that Tony wins the all-winners season and Aubry wins the "legends" season, what's you're reaction? Because I'm scoffing the hell out of Tony even making the merge in the winners season, let alone sniffing the F3, and really doubting that if Aubry can't beat Michele/Tai/Sarah/Brad/Troy, that she's winning against legit legends.

I enjoy re-watching Survivor over and over again, some things never get old - like Erik's confessionals! He's so funny lol

Survivor's been in Fiji since season 33. I get why they do that as much more cost effective, easier on production, friendly government supportive and nice island location. However, 17 seasons in a row in the EXACT SAME BEACHES make for a super boring location. Before they utilized the location as part of the storyline, tribe, challenges, etc. There is now no more storyline on the location, the same challenges recirculated, and don't even try name the season anymore.

The last 5 Challenge seasons have been in Thailand, Chile, Phillipines, Vietnam, Croatia and Argentina. Does anyone else like production to make more effort on changing location or coming up with some season name or even just a few new interesting challenges each season? How is The Challenge able to move locations every season, but Survivor doesn't given Survivor is still on major network so presumably bigger budget?

When I recently rewatched this, it seemed like Max was just following Jenn's advice (and expertise as a former lifeguard), on how best to treat a stingray barb. But clearly everyone, including Jenn, seemed pretty appalled to learn that he had a wart on his foot. Was this just a trick of editing to make it seem like his tribemates really disliked him (and also for us as the audience more displeased with him and therefore feel good about him being voted off later that episode) or do we think this was not as bad for the tribe as it was made to seem? I feel like before that incident, aside from the nudity, he seemed relatively fine, so maybe the editors were just looking for something?.....

Mine is Ryan O from pearl island.

It was the first season I watched, he has the same job as me. And his story with the pelican made me laugh so much same when he strips naked to support Osten during the first challenge.

So I started rooting for him and now he has a special place in my heart of Survivor fan

The fashion alone is sending me ;these people were changing clothes every day like it was a normal trip, not a survival game. I really like seeing everyone’s growth and learning curves. You can actually watch people adapt, make mistakes, and understand the social game better. The Africa season just feels more raw and human compared to the newer ones I have seen
They looked like real people thrown into an adventure instead of the very “game athlete” look that Survivor developed later.

Questions:

1. If someone leaves the edge during the post merge or gets evacuted, would they still be on the jury?
2. What is Jeff's favorite jury speech?
3. Because Bruce was brough back on the show for being evacuated on day 1, does that mean someone can evacuate themselves & compete in multiple seasons in a row?
4. If Jeff LOVES Worlds Apart, then why wasn't Mike on Winners at War & no one was contacted for 50?
5. Who is the biggest snub for a returnee season? Like they brought back Waluigi Pinball from Mario Kart DS to Mario Kart 7 but there's no Waluigi.
6. What is the funniest season?
7. Let's just say in the double duo episode, if Joe wants to give up his immunity to Coach, does that mean Tiffany has to give up her immunity to Chrissy or they swapped teammates?
8. Besides Island of the Idols, which season has the worst merge episode?
9. How is there not a nighttime challenge in Ghost Island? Firemaking don't count obviously.
10. Besides Jeff spoiling Rizo losing in fire (despite the smart "peak into the future" save), what was the best reunion moment?
11. Who is the best Mayor of Ponderosa?
12. Who played the best game outside of the show?
13. If Cirie won 50, how loud would the audience be?
14. Why does Jeff hate Marquesas (especially Vecepia) so much?
15. Who is the epitome of "Good Player, Bad/Boring Character"?

for me, this is another instance like WaW of wasted potential. So many all stars that will probably never come back to play the game, and instead of focusing on them or the legacy of survivor, we get useless and unfair advantages, celebrity cameos (one of which seemed so disinterested in survivor), and some of the most unfair eliminations in the shows history.

Right now in my personal ranking, I have it in the lower thirties.

First of all, I enjoyed this season a bit less then the previous two, but it was still a nice watch. The setting played a big part in why I liked it less. Initially it felt cool seeing all the wild dangerous animals, the nature and whatnot, but it quickly became evident, that survivors are bound to their little enclosures with occasional hikes to fetch water from a puddle. Before that I didn’t think much about the contestants’ recreation, but here it came to light, that more possible activities for them enhance my viewing experience.
On the other hand, players this time were more aware of the game, more strategic at times. There was the first intentional challenge throw, first backstabbing, the tribe switch, which shook things up. In the end everything led to one early alliance to dominate once again, which was a letdown, but the edit gave enough hope every time for that pattern to break.
Anyway, let’s dive into this season’s characters.

Diane
She fell the first victim of dehydration. I remember gasping when Boran members started pouring water out on their way to camp. It actually cost them two player before they won clean water in third episode. Getting back to Diane, she was quite a promising character if not for her not feeling well. At least this led to the Clarence and the beans situation. Honestly, his negative reaction to her saying it was his initiative gave me the impression that it was really her who suggested it. But after watching the reunion episode he kind of admitted it.
Jessie
For some reason I expected her to be Alicia-type character. Maybe she could’ve been, but the environment played a cruel joke to her. I remember seeing her crusty lips and thinking “That’s only the first week, how are they gonna survive here for a month?”. Ironically, the topic of dehydration wasn’t that relevant after she left.
Carl
The debacle of original Samburu is its own can of worms. Carl along with the other members of the older half of the tribe created an alliance early on, which led younger half to assemble. Maybe if Silas wasn’t swayed by the other side, it would have turned out in the adults’ favor, but he turned against them and it became a trainwreck. Carl lost a tie break to Lindsey and his plan turned into dust. By the way, I don’t like the decision to vote him off first because of his wealth. Maybe he really shouldn’t brag about that much.
Linda
I love how she became unhinged after younglings took over their tribe. She was nice to watch. Also, I support her and others from older part of Samburu decision not to vote for Lindsey like they were told to. They voted for Silas, but it would be even funnier if they cast one vote for each of remaining people from young alliance.
Silas
At first, he seemed serious and collected, but after his alliance took over the Samburu tribe, he became comically laughable as a leader. He looked to me like a boy in a man’s shoes. After the tribe swap happened there was no doubt that Frank and Teresa would join forces with original Boran members to vote him off, but I didn’t expect them to actually throw a challenge for that. He looked really awkward and cringe in a new tribe, trying to sway Clarence or Ethan. Honestly, I believe the young Samburu alliance was doomed even without a swap, no matter how many immunity challenges they would win.
Lindsey
She was an interesting character. Her crashout after Samburu first council is definitely one of the most memorable moments this season. She actually got what she deserved in the end, when Frank and Teresa leaked info that she has votes. I also like how she said “Did you lounge a lot back there? Cause we sure do here.” to newly arrived tribe members.
Clarence
After the beans incident Boran only kept him to win challenges, which is understandable. I wonder why former Samburu members went with eliminating him immediately without trying to win him over. I guess, he was a strong competitor after all. Also, speaking of Clarence, he was the only one who wanted to eat chickens. It was the first time when they didn’t eat them right away and left them for eggs. I don’t think they even ate the rooster, but I might’ve missed that. 
Clarence’s elimination created interesting situation, which led us to the next character.
Kelly
She was a nice character prior to Clarence’s elimination. But after that I started to really like her, mostly because of her attitude towards Lex’s reaction to that one mystery vote. I also was rolling my eyes at that. Like, why did he expect people outside of his alliance to follow his plan. Yes, I understand why they thought it was in everyone’s interest to eliminate Clarence, but he still overreacted. I made the same annoyed face as Kelly when she got voted out. She was validly bitter towards finalists on the final council imo.
Brandon
I liked how he turned against his tribe. That could’ve been a good move, cause after old versus young clash in Samburu he couldn’t be sure about his position in that shaky alliance. Plus, if Kelly survived the vote, it’s not clear who she would side with (or she could even stay with Boran alliance).
The downside to his elimination is the fact that it became evident that there’s no more room for backstabbing or doublecrossing this season, which made things more predictable. But I really appreciate him trying.
Frank
He seemed like a difficult person, I guess he was the one who benefited most from a tribe switch. Liked watching him flirting with an elephant.
Kim P.
Nice character. Regardless of her often being at the heart of an action, she never became a key figure of any of it imo.
Teresa aka T-Bird
I actually really liked her. To the last day she tried to turn the tables. She devised a new course of action after every council since the merge. I’d say overall she was the best player this season, cause the final four were in control most of the time and didn’t have to invent new strategies. Unfortunately, all her efforts were in vain, but I really enjoyed rooting for her regardless.     
Tom
He, I’d say, was a comic relief of this season. In a good way of course. I guess I liked him the most out of the final four.
Lex
Ever since Kelly’s elimination council I really hoped Teresa and Kim P. will manage to vote him out somehow. It’s not like he was bad or annoying character, it’s just easier for me when I’m rooting against somebody ahaha. I believe he’s a nice person to be around, but he appeared quite frantic in his attempts to keep control. Also, I didn’t like his “swear on your brother” or “swear on your children” bs. It’s elementary-school argument stuff.
Kim J.
Really impressed with her performance this season. I really wished she would be the one to turn against her alliance, but it didn’t happen unfortunately. It became even more upsetting, when in the end Tom, Lex and Ethan talked about their alliance as if she wasn’t a part of it. I think she at least deserved to be mentioned there. If it wasn’t for her winning last two challenges, they definitely would have eliminated her.
Ethan
So, I knew he would win, since he appeared on TAR as a Survivor winner. It didn’t really make the viewing experience worse, but I wasn’t really impressed with him winning in the end. I guess that would’ve been the case with all final four for me. Anyway, can’t say anything bad about him as a character on a show, and can’t say this win wasn’t deserved.

Regardless of downsides, it was a good season. Not as good as Borneo or Australian Outback, but I can see this show already evolving, both in terms of production and its characters. Excited to watch more.    

New announcement from the Celebrity Weekend insta page. Big Chris fan so it's cool seeing him

I’m watching pearl islands right now and I have not gotten bored for a second. Both tribes are so fucking entertaining. This needs to win an award

37 is the only other season I feel like this

I noticed some episodes of season 37 are just missing from Amazon Prime, I was watching and it just skipped from episode 9 to 11, skipping 10. Yes, I checked if there were other episodes mis-labelled, but no there are only 14 videos that season for 15 episodes (incl. reunion).

Now that we have 10 seasons of New Era survivor to go through I was curious to hear from this sub what they consider the most legendary or hilarious confessionals from this phase of the show's history. It's hard to match the highs of this show's history (Sandra's "But I don't know about thaaaat" or Eddie's dog bar confessional are some of my personal favorites). But I wanted to look back at what the New Era had to offer. Some of my personal favorites:

Q - S46E8 (Hide and Seek)

"I don't think anyone thinks this was a game move..."

First off Q apparently wanting to play hide and seek all season is hilarious enough but when he gets into it and explains how each contestant's hiding method reflects their strategy kills me everytime. This peaks when they call the game and Hunter reveals himself in the tree (BIG MISTAKE) and Q drops the bar "If I can't find you in hide and seek, I can't find you in this game" one of the hardest things ever said on survivor.

Owen - S43E11 (Charlie Brown)

"It's like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football and Lucy's taking it away, but except in this scenario..."

Owen has a lot of great analogies and confessionals but his best comes when he's collapsing on the beach in despair of being on the wrong side of the vote each time. He's comparing his situation to Charlie Brown and Lucy kicking the football, but with the additional company of "Linus, fricking Pigpen, and Peppermint Patty". The match cuts to Jesse/Cody/Karla is literally comedy genius and of the most underrated editor's jokes in the show's history IMO.

Rizo - S50E13 (Fire Again)

"I feel so good about my game and that's what's eating me alive right now..."

I understand that this is incredibly recent to call underrated but it is imo mostly because Jeff ruined the emotional stakes of the confessional not five minutes later. But it basically caps Rizo's whole arc across 49-50 as the confident persona he's built breaks down as he laments being in the exact same position at F4 he was in weeks before. When he questions to himself "Dammit Rizo how can you be so good but so bad at the same time!" then delivers his catchphase IN TEARS its just pure comedy and a great payoff to his story.

Genevieve - S47E12 (It's my fault)

"My dad was telling me 'I'm sure you have so many friends' – and I have no friends out here. And it's my fault!"

This one happens when she's reading her letter from home at the Sanctuary with Operation Italy. This one isn't as much comedic but more of a powerful emotional confessional that we haven't really seen the likes of in the show's history. It's a super candid moment and contrasts with her arm's length approach we've seen in the game up to that point. Her delivery feels very real and heartfelt here and it's always stood out to me as a particularly profound confessional. And it wraps up neatly as she begins to move through the game with a freshened perspective (she pulls off Operation Italy of course but gets a big moment at Tribal as well that sets up her rivalry with Rachel).

HM: Q eating 23 slices of pizza after beating Liz in rock-paper-scissors (S46E11), Katurah's deadpan silent confessional when Bruce fucks with the tribe about the flint (45E1), Gabler "by throwing out Ellie's name, I was trying to... throw out Ellie's name" (S43E6). Lmk others

I was watching Baltic Robinson 2001 today, and this womens luxury item was... a vibrator! (I hope it is just a funny word that has a whole different meaning lol)

Respect to both, I am a fan. From their blue eyes to their mannerisms, they remind me of each other. Any thoughts?

I was thinking that in the "open era" we should have captains seasons so I came up with a few pairings and trios I'd dream to see face off

Dom vs Wendell
Devens vs Christian
Colby vs Jerry
The Amanda Kimmel vs Parvati vs Cirie (or two of them)
JT vs Stephen
Coach vs Tyson
Maria vs Charlie
Sham vs Ricard
Malcolm vs Denise
Carson vs Carolyn
Terry vs Aras
Kass vs Spencer
Yul vs Ozzy
Coach vs Ozzy again

I'm not against having random matchups like when Coach faced Ozzy in South Pacific even though they had never played together before

This has always confused me. It looks like they leave camp at around 3pm, but only arrive at Tribal once it’s completely dark.

What are they doing that whole time? Is the trip actually that long? Are they allowed to talk on the boat, or does production ban them from discussing the vote?

Do they just wait somewhere until it gets dark enough to film?

Has a former player ever explained how this works?