S31: Spoilers

[Apocalypse Cow]

Redmond posted a new image with all the names/seasons listed here.

 

 

Hide and Seek champ??? Any idea?

 

I'm intrigued by the list. A few big/weird personalities, some that were voted out early/screwed by their tribes, some are definite WTFs or Hell Nos.  

 

My hopes:

 

Women-- Kelly, Kimmi, Teresa, PG, Natalie, Tasha, Chelsea.  Maybe Ciera and Abi. Definitely Jenn if she's one of this season's choices.

 

Men--- Greg, Jeff, Andrew, Shane, Stephen, Spencer. Maybe Terry, Hayden, Vytas. Definitely Joe if he's one of this season's choices. And maybe Mike from this season.  

[choclatechip45]

I don't have any inside info, but I wonder if Lydia from S11 is the last female. I know it was rumored that she was asked for Micronesia and that she declined or they couldn't track her down. Plus she went off the grid after her son died.

[NutMeg]

If TPTB are reading this I second the person above who "nominated" Stacy (rather that Michelle) from Fiji and Ashley from Redemption Island. Both had game and spunk.

 

Please remember that without Stacy correctly chosing which of the Amigo to vote for in order to flush an idol, the end result could have been a whole other ball game. Granted, she was mean to Dreamz, but I'm not sure I would have been able to stay nice to hinm either :-) Michelle was nice and cute, but we saw nothing indicating she had "game".

 

Same reasoning for Ashley over Natalie. 

[Lantern7]

David Jacoby brings up the fan vote in his column. Basically, he's ready to campaign for Woo. He also figures Portland would come out in force for Cliff.

[blackwing]

I seem to have skipped the seasons sometime between after China Season 15 and until the first Blood vs. Water, so I don't know who many of these people are.  But I'd love to see some of the early early contestants, like Jeff Varner and Kimmi Kappenburg.

 

I couldn't stand Dim Bulb Woo and I hope never to see him again.  Why would they consider bringing someone back whose entire game consisted of riding someone else's coattails?  They already did that once before, and we ended up with Ambuh, Survivor winner.  Ugh.

[kaygeeret]

I haven't watched since Hantz One was schooled by "THE GIRLS"!!!!!!!

My most joyous moment in 'modern survivor' was the two of them laughing at him in the final 3.

As you can tell I am terrible at remembering the names of the seasons, the number identifying the season and the actual players.

And I apologize for that as it makes the post less recognizable!

None the less, you all know what I mean - - -Pavarti (I remembered!) schooled him and HE LOST - and there was joy in the land.

I check in here, but it seems to be more like a BB on an island - same screwy people, but they have more delusions of grandeur, e.g. the are not actually on BB, they have to solve a few puzzles in a foreign land!!!!!

I cannot rekindle my interest in the show given the tricks, stunt casting and overall ickyness....or words to that effect.

[omophagia]

Maybe it means that I'm just a fanboy of Max and Shirin proportions, but... I don't think that list is terrible. In fact, I'd say that a pretty interesting and diverse cast could be culled from it. Granted, I have a very different view of what makes for an interesting  player and season than do Probst and the producers, but still. I'm cautiously optimistic here.

 

There are still a handful of players, excluding the obvious crop of winners who haven't returned, I would have liked to see in contention for this season:

Colleen (Borneo): Still as charming as anyone who has played.

Kelly (Africa): Smart and wily, and the first person screwed over by Lex and his gut.

Hunter (Marquesas): The first victim of Boston Rob's machinations.

Ian (Palau): As TDT said, "A 6'8 Max Fischer."

Brian (Guatemala): Sharp game analyst who should have gone farther.

Bob-Dawg (Panama): A surefire comedy goldmine.

Becky (Cook Islands): Gameplay was overshadowed by the show's focus on alpha males.

Michelle (Fiji): No one has ever been more screwed over by a production twist.

Stacy (Fiji): Instrumental in pulling off the all-time greatest blindside.

Tracy (Micronesia): Managed to emerge as a strong strategist, despite being saddled with Kathy and Chet.

Erinn (Tocantins): Second only to Courtney Yates when it comes to snark.

Dave Ball (Samoa): Did you know there were people other than Russell on this season?

Bill (One World): Because a miserable bigot hobgoblin bullied his tribe into voting him out for absolutely no reason other than spite.

 

From who's actually on the list? I'd be on board with a cast that includes:

Kelley (Borneo)

Peih-Gee (China)

Mikayla (South Pacific): For being targeted by an unstable man-child who never should have been cast once, let alone a second time...

Sabrina or Chelsea (One World): 2nd and 3rd fiddles to Kim is nothing to sneeze at.

Ciera (BvW)

Tasha (Cagyan)

 

Greg (Borneo)

Jeff (Australian Outback): Maybe he won't throw away his tribe's game for some peanut butter this time.

Andrew (Pearl Islands)

Shane (Panama)

Stephen (Tocantins)

Spencer (Cagyan)

Jeremy (San Juan Del Sur)

 

I'd prefer not to see Kass ever again. I didn't find her in any way an entertaining villain, and her strategy of treating people like garbage for 38 days then making ad hominem attacks on the feminist bona fides of anyone who questioned said strategy was spectacularly gross. But she seems like a good bet to return...

[ProfCrash]

I like your list.

[choclatechip45]

To be fair to the producers they tried  to get Colleen for the original All-Stars. I remember Jeff saying in an interview before HvV he would love to see Colleen play again, but she made it very clear she doesn't want anything to do with Survivor.

[cooksdelight]

Didn't Colleen get eaten alive by bugs, to the point that she had permanent scars on her legs and arms? I sort of vaguely remember that being one reason she really had no fond memories of the experience.

[LadyChatts]

I adored Colleen.  The original America's sweetheart with just enough snark added in to her commentary.  Given that the majority of castoffs that very first season were looking for fame and fortune following their run, Colleen seemed to be the most successful in the entertainment biz, however brief it was.  I don't know what Colleen's reasoning is for not wanting to return, other than she had reportedly said once was enough.  She did have really horrible bug bites and I do believe she thought there would be permanent scarring from them.  She's forever on my wish list of past Survivors that I hope will have a change of heart and return, and if it's true that Kelly W. and Greg are included for season 31, I guess never say never.  In regards to Michelle from Fiji; while I agree she got a raw deal at tribal that night, the same thing more or less happened to Jenny from Cook Islands the season before.  They voted off Rebecca, had a message in a bottle, read it after the vote (they assumed it was telling them they were merging), but it told them they had to vote off a second person.  Jenny didn't get a ton of time to try and save herself.  I liked Michelle, and wouldn't object to having her back, but there are others I'd probably include before her.  

 

A couple of others that I thought got a raw deal and have always wanted to see get a second chance are Brandon from Guatemala, and Aaron from China.  Brandon was quite the pleasant surprise for me during his run, as I didn't expect much from him.  He was enjoyable to watch, and one moment that always stuck out to me was that RC where he left Jamie in the dust and gave his tribe a huge lead that ultimately won the challenge for them.  He simply got screwed like many others have before him, by not having the numbers on his side at the start of the merge.  Similarly, Aaron had the misfortune of being on the wrong end of a tribe swap.  While Peih-Gee and Jaime attempted to do a smart thing by throwing the challenge and eliminating a big threat, I would have much rather seen him stick around over James.  Never was a fan of James that much, and by the time HvsV rolled around I was ready for his Survivor days to be over.  James was asking to get voted out at that TC, but they targeted Aaron instead.  Not a bad move, but given that Zhan Hu was eventually Pagonged at the merge, it didn't really matter who the bigger threat was for them to eliminate.  I would have liked to have seen what he could have done once the game reached the individual stage.

Edited April 13, 2015 by LadyChatts

[NutMeg]

Oh gosh yes to Brandon from Guatemala (a very pleasant surprise indeed, but at this stage I'd take anyone from Guatemala!). And if someone deserves a second chance, I'd second China's Aaron before Michelle who, though very nice, seemed to be playing second fiddle rather than lead while Aaron at one stage looked like he was a strong contender for lead. [Granted, editing, etc. men vs women editing etc]

[omophagia]

Brandon from Guatemala would be a great choice; Brian's gameplay was a bit flashier, but Brandon was definitely one of the standouts from that season. I know it isn't the most popular among the show's long-time fans, but I still prefer Guatemala to many of the more recent seasons.

 

Michelle wouldn't necessarily be at the top of my list of players to return, but I would have liked to have seen her in contention for this season. She's more deserving of another shot than some of the players on the long-list. Or Francesca. Or Corinne. That's a very good point about Jenny from Cook Islands, too. And also a good case for Aaron from China, who would be a comparable pre-jury boot to players like Andrew Savage and Jeff Varner. So that's three more total that I would gladly add to the mix.

 

I remember reading some of Colleen's remarks around the time of the first All-Star season. I'd be curious if her view on returning has changed over the past decade. I mean, I never thought we'd see Greg doing anything connected to the show again, and he's the one player from the long-list that I most want to see on this season.

[SnideAsides]

What exactly do TPTB have against the Guatemala season?  I enjoyed that one, and yet I think that's the only one not to have any reps in any AS/half AS season that they've had since.  I don't count Stephenie, since she was originally Palau.

It makes sense to me - Stephanie and Bobby Jon are more associated with Palau, Danni's strategy was to deliberately give the show nothing to work with, Rafe currently works for ABC (he's a producer on Agents of Shield, and worked on NBC's Chuck before that), Lydia lost her son shortly after the season and wouldn't want to go through the reminders, Cindy is hardly memorable enough to come back, why bring back Judd when we just had Tony, Hogeboom wouldn't do it again, so then you're basically left with Jamie (who they've apparently tried to get for Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains, and Blood vs. Water), Brandon (who is good but not great enough to justify an invite), and a bunch of pre-merge boots from a decade ago.

 

I think for BB All Stars they had the audience pick half and then Production picked half and I suspect that's how this season will go, too. Because, like with BB, I imagine most of the audience picks will be from the recent seasons and Production will definitely want people from farther back in the mix.

Then perhaps they probably shouldn't have stacked the deck with so many people from the more recent seasons in the potential cast.

[choclatechip45]

I remember reading that production hated Judd so that's probably why he hasn't been asked back.

Re Greg- a few years back he did an interview with Survivor Oz and they asked him what made him decide do the interview since he hasn't done many interviews since Borneo and he said I saw your email and thought it would be fun. I remember being surprised how well he came off. I remember before BvW there was a Facebook status by him saying him and his sister were asked I think people thought it was fake.

eta I'm surprised they asked Varner because he pissed off a lot of people when he spoiled All-stars.

Edited April 14, 2015 by choclatechip45

[peachmangosteen]

Then perhaps they probably shouldn't have stacked the deck with so many people from the more recent seasons in the potential cast.

 

Well, yea. But I'll give them a little bit of slack because I could easily imagine a lot of the people from seasons like 1-10 not wanting to come back.

[ProfCrash]

I would imagine that a decent number of folks from the first 20 seasons do not want to come back. They are also limiting it to people who have not returned, which reduced the number of people by a good amount, and they are not allowing for winner, which removes 30 people from the pool. And remove the people who quit, which is getting to be a decent size pool in and of itself. So that leads to a pretty small pool to choose from which is probably more skewed to people who played recently who are sure that they could win if they played again.

[BK1978]

I forgot about Twila.how could she not be on that list.  She was a great player who really made that season watchable for me.

[peachmangosteen]

Redmond is now saying that John Cody (S27) is not 100% confirmed.

 

There's also a rumor out there that Mike is one of the contenders from this season and that they might have brought the winner from this season in as a decoy.

 

I'm figuring they have many contenders and they just haven't made the final list yet and won't until very close to the reveal.

[peachmangosteen]

Kass tweeted and it seems like she's out of contention and now Redmond is saying Natalie Bolton will replace her on the list. I was so hoping to see Natalie on the list so I'm super happy about it. She was straight-up nuts in the most entertaining way.

[NutMeg]

I think Joe's in now.

[ProfCrash]

Thank god Kass is out. I didn't like her in her first season and I don't think that she would make any changes to her game play.

[peachmangosteen]

I think Joe's in now.

 

No doubt. I'll be shocked if he isn't one of the men from this season.

[LanceM]

Very glad to see Natalie on the list. I am surprised she wasn't on their originally as she was an alternate on HvV so they have wanted her back for a long time.

[LadyChatts]

I would be very happy if Natalie were included on that list.  I was somewhat surprised her name wasn't on there originally.  She seems to be enough of both a fan and production favorite to qualify.  Her and Tracy are the only two "fans" that I would want to see back from Micronesia, and I would like to see what each could do in the game on their own.  I had wondered if some of those names were simply red herrings to prevent the real list from being leaked.  I would be disappointed if John Cody wasn't on there, but not entirely surprised.  So since we had no concrete spoilers this season, I wonder if we'll get a full pre and post merge boot list since it's all returnees.  Those seem to be the seasons that are completely spoiled, start to finish.

 

I would be stunned if Joe wasn't one of the males from S30.  I'm guessing Jenn, Shirin, and maybe Hali would be among the 2 females.  For the men, I guess I would say Mike if he doesn't win and Rodney.  I don't really know that I see them picking a pre-merge boot as had been speculated.

[choclatechip45]

I saw Kass's tweet and survivor sucks post I wouldn't believe she's out. I'm sure CBS isn't happy the cast list is out and Kass is a lawyer she might not want to break her contract. This reminds me of Big Brother All-Stars everyone was speculating months in advance and one of the players Danielle Reyes told all of the websites that it was a bad experience and she was planning to go to Spain for the summer with her family. When she made it on BB All-stars another cast member asked her on the feeds why did she come up with an elaborate lie she said she signed a contract which said not to tell anyone you're one of then top 20 house guests and she takes her contracts very seriously. I can see Kass being the same way. I wouldn't be surprised If Natalie Bolton is opt he missing female since she was Courtney Yates replacement on HvV plus I don't think she has a big social media prescence.

Edited April 17, 2015 by choclatechip45

[LadyChatts]

According to Redmond, voting will begin the first week of May.  I thought they'd wait until the finale to announce it.  I wonder how long voting will last and when filming begins for next season.  Can't wait to see whose a part of it!  With Jenn voted off I wonder if she'll be one of the WA females.

[peachmangosteen]

Some more info from Redmond and other not-as-reliable sources:

 

• Natalie Bolton may not actually be on the list.
• There are rumors that Mike and Shirin are on the list and that Rodney is not.
• The final list will be cut down from 40 to 34 (Redmond's guess) and those people will be announced in the first week of May and voting will begin.
• The people on the finale voting list will all attend the World's Apart finale and will find out there who the 20 cast members will be.

Edited April 24, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[sadiegirl1999]

Who "votes"? I've never seen anything about voting for these people except in here

[peachmangosteen]

It's a viewer vote.

[ProfCrash]

Rumor has it voting will open in May

[LadyChatts]

 

Some more info from Redmond and other not-as-reliable sources:

 

• Natalie Bolton may not actually be on the list.
• There are rumors that Mike and Shirin are on the list and that Rodney is not.
• The final list will be cut down from 40 to 34 (Redmond's guess) and those people will be announced in the first week of May and voting will begin.
• The people on the finale voting list will all attend the World's Apart finale and will find out there who the 20 cast members will be.

 

 

Well that might explain why Mike is schmoozing so many past Survivors on twitter and reaching out to them.  He's probably trying to form pre-show alliances.  Mike seems a little too desperate to fit into the Survivor Cool Kids Crowd, so it would actually nauseate me a little to see him back out there among his idols.  And, I don't want him to screw Joe over again (who I fully expect to be on the list and voted through).  Equally nauseating might be how the Survivors go about getting people to vote for them.  I wonder if there will be accusations of stuffing the ballot box.  That doesn't leave a heck of a lot of time for voting.  Most Survivor fans I know are casual fans, and wouldn't know or pay attention to this until it was announced on a bigger stage, like the finale.  I guess they're going to potentially follow SJDS filming schedule and start filming in June?  Since this season was such a flop, casting wise, I wonder if the producers intent is if this cast or season is horrible, they can blame it on the fans this time lol

 

Somewhat satisfying that Shirin would be on the list.

 

I am excited to see who makes it!  I hope this AS season is more in line with HvsV and less like the original AS.  I need something good after Worlds Apart.

Edited April 24, 2015 by LadyChatts

[henripootel]

Woo was an open-mouthed follower who didn't seem to be all there, all of the time. I'm not sure why he's being brought back into consideration either.

Not for nothing, but I guessed that we'd not seen the last of Woo.  If you'll recall, back in his season Woo was in control of whom would go to final 2, and even said in a TH that taking Tony the cop would be the stupidest thing ever done in Survivor.  The problem was that Tony seemed to be beloved by the producers, and in the end Woo did pick Tony the cop, and got creamed.  I quote myself here (from the Tinfoil Hat thread):

And about that 'dumbest move in Survivor history' - either Wu did something that he knew perfectly well was game suicide when he had absolutely no reason to do so or ... Wu was incentivized to do something he knew to be absolutely stupid.  Who would be in a position to offer such an inducement?  I'm now making book on Wu getting a return invite for a future season, and his edit being all about 'redeeming himself' for his 'stupid move'.  This is one of those things that makes no sense at all unless you consider 'producer manipulation', then it makes a great deal of sense. 

 

I guess we'll see.  Couldn't agree more that Woo was way too boring to even get short-listed for a return invite on his own merits.  

Edited April 25, 2015 by henripootel

[loki567]

I don't buy a conspiracy theory that he was bought off to take Tony. I think it was more of a case that he thought he could beat Tony and made up an "integrity of the game," excuse later when he got creamed. 

 

Woo had a very favorable Fabio-like edit and because of it, has a decent sized fanbase. They're only have three minority males listed and Woo's the most realistic of those three unless the producers are going to pick a couple. In which case, we're probably getting Cliff again. 

[Lantern7]

Bummer about Shirin. While it's nice to have a fan playing the game (again), that also means that 1. She lost S30, and 2. There's a good chance she'll be surrounded by jackasses that make those from S30 look like pikers. This is assuming she has enough fan support.

[LadyChatts]

Bummer about Shirin. While it's nice to have a fan playing the game (again), that also means that 1. She lost S30, and 2. There's a good chance she'll be surrounded by jackasses that make those from S30 look like pikers. This is assuming she has enough fan support.

 

I had heard that they were potentially going to include the S30 winner, to throw people off and so they could get the voting going.  So it's possible that Shirin does win, or Mike.  Whether they are allowed to compete on S31 or end up getting bumped because they won, I don't know.  

 

I'm disappointed about no Natalie, although I'm sure a lot of names on the list are false or who were possibilities and wind up getting cut.  I do hope the old school Survivors make it on.  Just to shake it up.

 

In regards to Woo-I actually liked him but as a player I thought he was crap.  Taking Tony to the end was the equivalent of Colby taking Tina or Ian giving up immunity to Tom and asking to get voted off in favor of Katie.  I can see the possibility that he thought he could beat Tony.  Quite honestly I thought there was a small chance, but Tony was like a Richard Hatch type.  He did a lot of scheming, lying, backstabbing, and made enemies, but it was all in the name of the game and never became overly personal.  Kass was just plain unlikable.  I can see him getting voted back on, as he was on a more recent season and was a likable guy.

Edited April 25, 2015 by LadyChatts

[henripootel]

I don't buy a conspiracy theory that he was bought off to take Tony. I think it was more of a case that he thought he could beat Tony and made up an "integrity of the game," excuse later when he got creamed.

This was puzzling in light of his previous remark that he thought he had no chance to beat Tony, which turned out to be absolutely right.  I wasn't convinced until I saw the back end of an apparent deal.  Now I'm more convinced. 

Woo had a very favorable Fabio-like edit and because of it, has a decent sized fanbase.

If you mean to imply that Woo has enough of a following to warrant a return invite on his own, I'd remind that the same folks who decide on return invites also decide on the edit.

 

Not saying this is proof of anything, but it would explain why a fairly bland also-ran rated a second shot when they literally have hundreds to choose from. 

[loki567]

Here's a quote about Woo's F2 move from an AMA Spencer did at Reddit:

 

Unfortunately, more stupid. While the narrative in the show was that Woo made that decision based on honor and loyalty, I think he bought into a lot of the BS Tony was feeding him. Tony lied and told him that a lot of people (including myself) would have voted for Kass over him. I think Woo got duped.

 

 

And considering Kass compared Tony to Russell at one point, Tony and Woo's close relationship, I don't think Woo needed to be paid off to take him. He screwed up. 

 

And beyond that, I'd classify Woo as a "bigger" name than about half of the guys on the possible returning players list. Especially over most of the modern guys like Cliff, Jeremy, Keith, Culpepper, etc. 

[henripootel]

Here's a quote about Woo's F2 move from an AMA Spencer did at Reddit:

Not to be pedantic, but isn't this the AMA Spencer did with Tony the Cop? And he credits Tony with (as far as he knows) hoodwinking Woo?  So Woo didn't just make a mistake or suddenly get all 'honorable warrior', Tony beat him.  As far as Spencer knows.  How very flattering for Tony.  Just sayin'.

 

Full disclosure - while I'm meh on Woo, I liked watching Spencer.  Would't mind seeing him again.  I even liked Tony although I thought his antics were way OTT and meant to make the producers love him.  His 'spy shack' was probably the stupidest thing I've seen on any season.

Edited April 26, 2015 by henripootel

[pamplemousse]

They are also limiting it to people who have not returned, which reduced the number of people by a good amount, and they are not allowing for winner, which removes 30 people from the pool. And remove the people who quit, which is getting to be a decent size pool in and of itself.

 

Thank goodness, I never want to see the likes of Colton back on my screen again.

 

But I am sad that under those rules, Malcolm can't return. My dream is for a season with both Malcolm and Joe so that we can have a walk off, er, I mean hair off.

[peachmangosteen]

Redmond said that the players have been asked to wear the same (or similar) clothes to the first time they played. LOL.

[LadyChatts]

Redmond said that the players have been asked to wear the same (or similar) clothes to the first time they played. LOL.

 

Not sure what the logic is there, but I did love Spencer's green shirt and shorts combo, and Joe's red socks and blue sneakers.  I'm assuming it's a given those 2 have punched their tickets and are secretly planning strategy behind the scenes.  Although Joe's clothes at the end looked like they had seen better days.

 

But I am sad that under those rules, Malcolm can't return. My dream is for a season with both Malcolm and Joe so that we can have a walk off, er, I mean hair off

 

 

I didn't necessarily have a problem with returnees, as long as they were in the camp that had only returned one additional time.  And I didn't have an issue with winners returning as long as they met that same criteria.  Then I was realizing just how much of those AS or half AS seasons had 3+ time returnees, and I think 'no wonder they aren't having anyone that's played the game more than once'.  And then I think of winners, and the only ones who I would be interested in playing the game again have already returned more than once or are likely too boring for TPTB.  I do love me some Malcolm, and I'd love seeing him and Joe on a season together.

Edited April 27, 2015 by LadyChatts

[ProfCrash]

The returnees thing had gotten ridiculous. I like that this format is not allowing for past returnees because there are a lot of really good players out there that maybe Jeff does not appreciate but that the fans did. Let some other folks have a chance instead of beating us over the head with Jeff's favorites who we are all burned out on.

 

The only exception I would have to that is Francesca. I think she should be invited back to play until she makes it past the first vote.

[pamplemousse]

 I do love me some Malcolm, and I'd love seeing him and Joe on a season together.

 

Yes, and I feel as though this is necessary to solving the age-old question: Joe -- the rich man's Malcolm or the poor man's Malcolm?

 

I've seen him called both on these boards.

[enlightenedbum]

Poor man's Fabio is more like it.

[LadyChatts]

Yes, and I feel as though this is necessary to solving the age-old question: Joe -- the rich man's Malcolm or the poor man's Malcolm?

 

I've seen him called both on these boards.

 

I'd call it an even draw.  Socially Malcolm had a slightly better game, but his season dynamics also probably helped him out more than Joe's did.  It seemed to be the get Joe out/anti NC/anti anyone under a certain age winning mentality.

 

The returnees thing had gotten ridiculous. I like that this format is not allowing for past returnees because there are a lot of really good players out there that maybe Jeff does not appreciate but that the fans did. Let some other folks have a chance instead of beating us over the head with Jeff's favorites who we are all burned out on.

The only exception I would have to that is Francesca. I think she should be invited back to play until she makes it past the first vote.

 

 

One of the reasons I both loved and loathed HvsV was the fact that there were more first time returnees that we got to see play again.  On the flip side, seeing James, Amanda, Cirie, Rupert, and Colby who all added absolutely nothing was one of the downsides to the season for me.  And frankly, all were disappointments.  James and Amanda never did a heck of a lot in their respective seasons, and how Amanda especially was asked back for a 3rd time I'll never know.  Jiffy apparently thinks he knows best; after Nicaragua, and we were subjected to 5 straight seasons of returning players (in some form) he said that the reason they kept bringing back players was because the last cast they had of all new players was a disaster.  Well, Thailand and Fiji were crap too, but ultimately not every cast is going to be gold.  Follow that up with Cagayan and an all new cast and that was one of the best ever.  He likes what he likes, and as we've discussed, it usually is vastly different from what the fans like.  I'm skeptical of this new AS season, but as long as I have favorites in for the long run, I'm in.  I just don't want a re-hash of AS where threats and people who made it far the first time are targets, and there's a bunch of hurt feelings and bone headed Lex moves over friendship.

[enlightenedbum]

Amanda was the dominant force in China, as much as the edit and Todd wanted you to think Todd was. She cleaned up a lot of his incredibly dumb mistakes (many involving James), but he is a tremendous bullshit artist and she kind of sucks socially so she lost.

 

Plus she is very, very pretty and that's a good way to get invited back as a woman.  Better than actually being a good player, most of the time.

[ProfCrash]

James was good to look at. He was hot, not a great player but my word did I ilke looking at him.

[blackwing]

James was good to look at. He was hot, not a great player but my word did I ilke looking at him.

Probably not as much as Jeff did.  I bet when James got voted out each time, Jeff cried enough tears to end the California drought.

[Nutjob]

I'm really glad they're not allowing 3rd (or more) timers this go-round. Otherwise we might have more Rupert, B-Rob, Coach, or Parvati, and I'm frankly done with most of the ones that have already repeated. Except Sandra. I could watch Sandra play every season.