Oholibamah

This is what I find very satisfying about how she was portrayed this season. The scene where Ozzy, Andrea and Sarah are mesmerized by Sandra perfectly encapsulates why she won twice: her people skills are amazing. Yet, editing was never able to succinctly show just how good Sandra is with people. This likely has to do with Sandra being underestimated, hence no footage of people talking about falling under her spell. But now people see it, and it makes the edit. The difficulty of showing a strong social game on television is mentioned often, which I think is what happened on HvV. Yet, the list of Sandra mentions that you posted kinda proves it: she consistently opposed the most powerful people in the game, but was always able to talk herself back in with them. Parvati knew Sandra would be a threat at FTC, but Sandra played into Russell's ego perfectly.

They could do a Day 0 type twist where everyone gets a super easy clue to a location which would seem random, but any idiot would figure out. Which would make it even better if somebody still didn't find it! Yeah but TBH I've always kind of felt that idols shouldn't prevent one from drawing rocks. But I've never said so because I <3 Wentworth and Jeremy.

Rocks!

For me the arrogance is in deeming someone else's opinion unjustifiable. Sandra sold the Michaela boot like a boss. Had JT played his idol and Michaela got the boot, I'm sure I'd be seeing a chorus line of "that idiot wasted his idol!" instead. I don't think he played well this season, but he made high-risk high-reward moves based on the information he had and they didn't pan out. I frankly don't get the pearl-clutching about it.

In the original lore, Hares who make an endgame play for the win are said to have turned "Rat". Kelly Wiglesworth would be the OG Rat, which makes Sue's FTC speech even more appropriate.

This is a pretty iron-clad cost/benefit analysis of JT's options, but I'll add that he had to make these decisions in real-time with no chance to reflect on how the Tribal conversations were actually being taken. At the very worst, I hardly think it's desperation to absolve a favorite player of a bad move considering the bounceback eliminated another of Kimber's favorites.

Eh. I agree with the overall point: my issue with Brad was never that he was some awful tyrant. But as you mentioned, the article self-servingly downplays a lot of Brad's less than pleasant moments. Like, the first four people he met just HAPPENED to all be guys? And that's considered normal? That was my first issue with him, and why it was believable when Candice said he "shushed the women". And Brad's defense was to ask John? Why not Katie or Ciera? I think Brad's far from a sexist asshole, but he definitely showed a little casual misogyny that made it hard for me to root for him. Ultimately Brad's gameplay can be summarized as "wanting to have his cake and eat it too": he wanted to run an alliance and dictate the boots (or at least have influence over them, much as Mario tries to downplay it), but couldn't handle the backlash that went along with it. The onslaught from Marissa/Candice was perhaps over the top, but it was at pace with the intensity of Brad's gameplay, so I call that one a draw. I've never really "hated" Culpepper, but I didn't particularly need to see him return, nor would I be pleased to see him win. In fact, the article's pathetic urgency to cleanse Culpepper of everything is more annoying than he himself ever was. At the end it urges the reader to "Go back and find one mean thing he said. It simply didn't happen" despite blatantly admitting to his mean comments about Gervase. Heh. Lastly, insurance fraud. Totally swept under the rug. Sure, that is beyond the game, but pretty damning evidence.

You're completely missing (and thus proving) the point. People exist in a variety of sizes, and Ashley being seen as attractive/desirable gives people a different and much needed outlook on beauty. People look up to Ashley because she is confident and successful, which is something people with large bodies are told they cannot be. Although aspiring to Ashley's body type really isn't the point, I take issue with the idea she shouldn't be seen as a fitness inspiration. Ashley could represent an attainable goal for women trying to lose weight, or a positive image of larger beauty for women who mistreat themselves to try and remain thin. We aren't Ashley's doctor or fitness coach, so let's not cast judgements on people's health: big doesn't mean unhealthy.

Sarcasm duly noted, but I maintain that he played well from the majority until the women realigned at the merge. His explosive gameplay after his standing was revealed wasn't how I would have played it (which, to be fair, I already addressed) but spotlighting Kim's dominance could have shaken the bottom of the women's alliance. She was just too good. Again, I don't think he's any sort of strategic brain trust, but I'd take him over Sarah and Brad any day.

It's interesting that Sarah is the preferred candidate of this admittedly gruesome Final 3. I think her first outing featured some atrocious gameplay, and I'm not a fan of her personality, especially on her boot-episode and post-show. Troyzan, OTOH, played fairly solidly and was a scrapper. Sure, he cast a rogue vote against Kim and had the "this is my island" tirade, but I'm fine with him even at least being brought back, which is more than I can say for the other 2.

I've never found Malcolm particularly attractive before, but he's starting to look good a bit older. JT looks really good, too.

It's possible you're thinking of the Mitchell vote. Colby was supposed to side with Jerri and vote out Keith, but Tina swayed him (reportedly on the way to Tribal, which is why they've gotten stricter on off-camera communication. But I may not be recalling that correctly).

To this day my boyfriend only knows her as "The Girl".

Kelly mentioned on a podcast that she was cast for the season, quit her job, bought supplies... Only to be told no the day before they left. Apparently the producers were 99% sure either Jenna (because of her mother) or Shii Ann (issues with the contract) would drop out. But both of them stayed. They hired Kelly as a casting director for the following season, so they obviously felt bad. They've also offered for her to return on both HvV and BvW, but she wasn't available for either. Fingers crossed for a future season!

Random factlet: Jenna M and Shii Ann were likely on a tribe with Lex because Kelly Goldsmith was expected to replace one of them. And obviously production wanted to milk that feud.

I've always found Jenna impressively ready-to-play and get her hands dirty in both appearances. Regardless of the outcome, at least she went for it. She'd be an interesting player to bring back from Borneo with the added additions to the game.

Those are also my 3 favorites from Tocantins! I hated Coach while watching live, but loved him on the rewatch when already knowing he won't win. Coach is also a fascinating case of playing differently with each appearance. The only other 3-timer who can boast that is Jerri. Both of them are fascinating each of their 3 appearances in completely different ways, and among the very few I wouldn't mind seeing a 4th time.

Erinn is one of my top 5 players of all time. Her Coach comments are obviously gold, but I also loved her journey toward remembering how to interact with people again. She's an outcast at Timbira, finally finds her "people" at the merge, but by the final episode, you can see she still has work to do in relating to people again. A very subtle and human character growth. Also, it's never addressed directly through exposition, but Erinn is an absolute beast at puzzles. I'd say she's easily up there with Penner and Boston Rob as one of the best. She's a big reason Timbira won some of the early challenges (notice, she's always assigned to the puzzle tasks, and seems to have figured out the giant block puzzle for her tribe). But the biggest show was the F4 spider puzzle where she tanks the physical part but catches up to everybody within minutes, finishing one piece behind JT. Very exciting Immunity challenge! Finally, she's one of the most successful flippers in the game's history. Had Stephen won the final Immunity, Erinn had a strong shot at the win: sure, her tribe hated her, but Stephen would have made a lot of enemies from betraying JT, and Erinn had another unmentioned skill: she was a boss at defending herself. At F3, she speaks so convincingly that she actually made JT's job to vote her out even easier. She made Stephen look like an idiot, and I would have loved to see a Final Tribal battle between the two of them. Needless to say, I would die of happiness if she returned, but she played long enough ago that it probably won't happen. But I can dream.

Yeah, Tyson sucks. I didn't mind him for most of BvW until the Tribal where Katie went home. His truly nasty colours couldn't be hidden by the editing there. You're my spirit animal for watching the seasons so quickly. You have my kinda stamina for binge watching!

Interesting how so many people are rewatching this one at the same time! As of next season, Gabon will be in the older half of seasons. I remarked once how Gabon's cast was my least favourite (based on all contestants ranked and casts averaged), but I think South Pacific and Caramoan have since surpassed it.

With a (rumored) Season 6 lurking in the shadows and a Season 5 with far too many WTF casting decisions, I've taken it upon myself to draft the Season 6 list myself. No need to thank me, Lifetime. Just doing my part. The rules: I made an effort to keep it realistic, knowing they never bring back more than a handful of Bravo contestants and tend toward recency bias. I also tried to imagine who would actually agree to come back (i.e. I sadly doubt Laura Bennett would come back). I'm also sick to death of bringing back former winners, especially after the results of the last 3 seasons. Yawn. I also limited it to 2-per-season, because otherwise we might get a Rolaskatox situ- oh, sorry. Wrong show. Without further ado, your Season 6 Dream cast: -Laurence Basse (Season 15): I mean, obviously. Right? She's basically the coolest person ever. She's my pick to take it all, as I think the All Stars format of weekly challenges and a concentrated 4-day is right up her alley. -Roberi Parra (Season 15): I probably would've slotted Rik pre-finale, but Roberi's final collection was solid, and I think he makes better TV. And as we know, casting an "All Stars" season is about TV as much as the fah-shun. Rik can come back for Season 7. -Kelly Dempsey (Season 14): A chance for redemption after being robbed in Season 14! I looked back at her weekly designs recently and I forgot how damn consistent she was: her only off week was the horrific Mean Girls team challenge. Sadly, she'll likely end up Always-the-Bridesmaid to Laurence. -Kristine Guico (Season 13): All Stars is as much an opportunity for a "second chance" as it is bringing back the best designers. Kristine was cut after a string of strong designs in an unnecessary double elimination, sparing a far worse dress. She deserves another shot! -Bradon McDonald (Season 12): Like Laurence, he was the one to beat after strong showing during the competition weeks, but ultimately delivered a less-than-stellar collection at Fashion Week. I suspect he'll start strong, survive a a few trips to the bottom mid-competition and exit later in the game. -Joseph Aaron Segal (Season 11): We need an odd-ball choice in the mix, don't we? I found Joseph adorable and genuinely quirky (sorry, Erin!), and thought the flower sweater-dress that got him eliminated was fabulous. That week really should have been a non-elimination. I don't suspect he'll fare much better on All Stars, but I am hopeful to get a few weeks of his quirky designs. -Kimberly Goldson (Season 9): She's one of the designers I'm surprised hasn't been invited back for All Stars! Her performance was inconsistent during Season 9, but had a few wow moments (the Nina challenge, the Bird challenge, etc.), and I thought her final collection was the strongest of the non-decoy collections. She also had an awesome personality, and brought the drama with her time management issues. -Bert Keeter (Season 9): I don't usually enjoy the crotchety-old-dude types, but I liked that Bert took risks (his Teletubby jumpsuit was hilarious), and produced two of my favorite looks of Season 9 (the pyjama dress and his gold/white 70s dress). His final collection remains one of the best ever on Project Runway and I'd love to see how he'd fare with the All Stars format. Amy Sarabi (Season 7): During Season 7 Amy went from producing solid, beautiful work (Burlap challenge, Campbell's, Hardware), to taking some very bizarre risks (hair-bowl dress, fish scale pants, etc.); that said, at least she tried to push the envelope! Her decoy collection was fantastic and her personality a breath of fresh air. I think she'd be one to watch in All Stars. Jonathan Peters (Season 7): Another Season 7 designer that I found underrated. Although I didn't dig Jonathan's decoy collection, he had some wow pieces during the season, and I loved his dry witty personality. Carol Hannah Whitfield (Season 6): Another I'm surprised hasn't been back! She was quiet in the beginning of the competition, but after the Bob Mackay challenge she was on fire. Her final collection featured some stunning pieces, and her genuine sweetness was a nice counterpoint to Meana-Irina. Ra'mon Lawrence (Season 6): After being eligible to return for Season 13, it's strange that Ra'mon hasn't been back for Allstars. He was an early boot in Season 6, but I actually liked the design that got him aufed, and thought he had interesting ideas. Doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes and seems like a nice guy. Jillian Lewis (Season 4): And topping my wishlist...! For some reason I doubt she'd come back, but seeing another whole season of fabulous Jillian coats is worth the price of admission. Santino Rice (Season 2): Now that he's finished his stint on RuPaul's Drag Race, maybe he'd be interested in another shot? His designs are inconsistent, but his quips and dramatic personality make for good television. Wildcards: None of these people will probably ever come back after their respective experiences with the show, but it'd be fascinating to see how they'd operate with another shot. -Swapnil Shinde (Season 14): Loved him on Season 14, fantastic final collection, and just might function better with the All Stars format. -Korina Emmerich (Season 13): FWIW, I still think her meltdown was totally justified, and there's no way Char deserved to outlast her. Her jewelry look remains one of my favorites from all 15 seasons, and it'd be interesting to see if she's mellowed a bit. -Kooan Kosuke (Season 10): In just his brief time on the show, I thought his designs were awesome. I don't fully blame him for choosing to leave: obviously his aesthetic wasn't what the judges were looking for, so why stick around? But I would love to watch a season where the judges actually appreciate his work, and after awarding "kooky Erin" the win this season, maybe the show's ready for him? Maya Luz (Season 7): Her departure from Season 7 made sense to me, but now that she's matured as a designer, maybe she would be interested in another shot? Her work throughout the season was consistently fantastic, and I'd love to see more from her. I'm surprised the well of solid casting decisions still hasn't dried up, but I guess 5 seasons of casting bizarre choices has left a lot of wiggle room. Anybody I missed? Totally disagree? I'm interested in seeing other people's dream casts!

IIRC, she found it and knew she didn't need to use it so it was never edited into the show.

"Screw you, I'm going to the top 3 then!" is one of my favorite Survivor quotes ever. I expend a lot of energy defending Jaclyn to my boyfriend (who loathes her despite refusing to watch the second half of what he terms San Juan Del Suck), but maybe I should have you give it a try instead. Agreed re: strongest Final 3, although I would throw Philippines, China and Kaoh Rong into that hat. If making FTC isn't a prerequisite then my vote goes to Tocantins. Oddly, the closest we've gotten to an "unaligned, by the power of their own steam" F3 would be Nicaragua. Which, ew.

Tracy FTW.

I remember reading Mario's Survivor FanFic when I was 13 or 14, and I actually really loved it. Not sure how I'd feel about it now (considering I am with KimberStormer on not finding the funny115 particularly enjoyable), but I don't have a problem with fanfic. My friend did her master's thesis on fan subculture, and would argue what we're doing right now is just another offshoot of Fanfic.