Past Seasons Talk: The Tribe Has Spoken

[Lady Calypso]

9 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

If you want to really hate them, you have to watch this secret scene where they're mocking Christina behind her back in a racist way.

 

Urg, and if I didn't already hate them both, I just have more reasons to hate them. 

10 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

I don't think they all hated Christina, but Kim, Chelsea, and Sabrina were in an alliance with Alicia, Alicia hated Christina and, as you'll see in a few episodes, Stockholm Syndromed the poor woman. It worked to the alliance's benefit to allow Alicia to beat Christina down so badly that she'd just be like a stray dog looking for approval (so they could control her vote), which is why I will never have any time for any of those four. Even when the season was airing, when there were scenes of Colton and Alicia bullying Christina, Chelsea would tweet at them that they were hilarious and virtually high-five them. This was the first season where I felt like so many of the players were just bone-deep despicable human beings.

Wow. Just wow. I can't believe it gets WORSE. Yet it sounds like it does. Yep, I am definitely looking forward to my glass(es) of wine in half an hour.

11 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

Colton, I have no idea what his deal was, although he just seems like the kind of person who enjoys a good pile-on bullying.

We kind of saw what it was with Colton. He just didn't like anyone for no good reason, other than him judging them based off of very little information. He basically ignored all of the guys, he sauntered over to the girls, but only seemed to bond with Alicia because both were similar. But yeah, I can't figure out what Christina did to get Colton to hate her. He called her annoying many times over, but he's the type to hate people based on any small incident. She could have accidentally bumped into him and not said sorry, and Colton would have held a grudge. I think Colton only liked people who were like him, who would trash talk people with him. That's my genuine impression. He's so bitter about things that he takes pleasure in hurting people's feelings. 

Like I've said, Colton and Alicia are bullies, and I don't use that word lightly. I don't like calling people bullies because that word can be thrown around so casually, even when people aren't bullies. But Colton and Alicia really are. 

Also....I have to say that I do NOT like Tarzan. He's a weird guy in general, but he's also not nice at all. Neither is Jonas. I really dislike all of the guys, even Troyzan, who has said some really questionable stuff that I can't forget about.

The other women seem to be alright, for the most part. I like Kim, I like Chelsea, and I like Christina by default, because Alicia hates her.

But really, this season is not really that good, even with Colton gone. I almost want to just skip ahead to the finale and then move on from this season, to be honest.

[SVNBob]

16 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I can't figure out what Christina did to get Colton to hate her.

She dared to be Asian in his presence.

[Lady Calypso]

So, I'm on the finale right now. Yep, I need a great season to cleanse myself of this season once I'm done. One World has been a frustrating journey. I've disliked so many of these people, especially the guys. I cannot name one guy who I've actually liked. Genuinely, I think I hated 8 out of 9 of them. The only one who I didn't really hate was Jay, but he was also just so bland and didn't play a good game.

The women have been more tolerable but the only solid player was Kim...MAYBE Sabrina? I like Sabrina. I like Kat a lot. 

As for Kim and her winning, it was well deserved...but what docks some points is that she was playing the game with a weak cast. I need to see her be able to play with actual players who can challenge her. I don't think it completely undermines her win, but it does make me want to see her play with good players. 

This cast of One World has been so, so weak. There's only a couple, besides Kim, who I'd label as "ok players" but nothing special and nothing to make me want to see them in future seasons (I know a few of them do make future appearances).

 

[simplyme]

17 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Also....I have to say that I do NOT like Tarzan. He's a weird guy in general, but he's also not nice at all.

He also used words like he learned them from a Word a Day calendar instead of in context. How he used them was slightly wrong. It drove me nuts since Jeff acted like Tarzan was brilliant for knowing words some other people didn't. 

I'm going back and watching the very early Survivors with my parents. Previously I've watched seasons 3, parts of 6, and 7 on. My parents have seen 12 on. So we watched Africa (3) together and my father found it much more interesting than current Survivor. He likes seeing the survival aspect and the challenges. He gets bored with what he calls "all the talking" (which he means strategy talk).

And last night we started season 1, which I had previously been unable to get through on multiple tries. It's a lot more fun watching with them. 😊 So three episodes down...

[Lady Calypso]

So...just finished the reunion for One World...skipped through most of the segments, not gonna lie. I couldn't handle seeing the Poor Colton and Crying Alicia stuff, nor could I sit through the weird Tarzan segment.

I am surprised with how many people liked Troyzan. I need to ask a genuine question: why did people like Troyzan? Because I'm not really sure why. I know that I haven't been able to stand Troyzan for various reasons, and I get why some people liked him, but...I guess I'm not fully understanding. 

Also, I have a month and a week to get through as many more seasons as I can, so I need to be a bit picky with the 30s. 

I'm disappointed that I won't be able to get through all of the winners' seasons before season 40 starts. I wish I had this planned out during season 39, so I could have been much farther in my binge watch.

So, I think I HAVE to set both BvW and Game Changers for another time, just so I can get to the other newer seasons with winners appearing in season 40. Don't worry; I'll get to them, but it'll just be a bit later. The question is if I should also set aside Cambodia because that season is a Second Chances season. I think I might have to (again, just due to time constraints to see a season of the winners participating in season 40). 

I'm just starting on Cagayan now, so let's see how that goes!

Edited January 1, 2020 by Lady Calypso

[Lady Calypso]

Ok, so I am on episode 2 of Cagayan, and...honestly? I really, really like it. This is such a palate cleanser for One World. I'm really enjoying it and feel myself getting excited. There's quite a few players who I like right off the bat. 

 

[Lady Calypso]

So, I got a pretty good plan on which seasons to watch next on my Primary List:

San Juan --> Kaoh Rong ---> Milennials vs Gen X --> HvHvH ---> Ghost Island ---> DvG

All of those, if I can before season 40 starts, because I know all of those winners are on season 40. I know the 30s aren't popular in this case, but I feel like I have to watch these seasons if I want to be fully invested in season 40. 

However, as for my secondary list, if I can get to these ones before season 40 starts (and these are the ones where I'm fine with mixing up the order and not needing to go in order of which aired first), this is my current order: 

Africa ---> Guatemala or South Pacific ----> South Pacific or Guatemala (I believe, at this point, I've caught up to all of the winners participating in season 40, at least in terms of winners who I've never seen before in a season) ----> BvW ------> Game Changers ---> Cambodia ----> Borneo ---> All Stars -----> Redemption Island ----> Palau ----> Samoa

Granted, both of these lists will take me some time to watch. Between all of my shows coming back to air and going back to work, it could take me to April before I finish both lists. And this is only if I watch a season every weekend. 

 

[meatball77]

Watching China right now.  James is a tank.

Episode three which I'm watching now is all kinds of problematic.  We have a guy who decides he's going to do the challenge naked again.  A guy who is deciding that he wants to cuddle the young girls while they are saying get away from me and he ignores them.

So far there have been two challenges that are wrestling while they're all wearing clothes that barely stay on. 

[fishcakes]

6 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I am surprised with how many people liked Troyzan. I need to ask a genuine question: why did people like Troyzan? Because I'm not really sure why. I know that I haven't been able to stand Troyzan for various reasons, and I get why some people liked him, but...I guess I'm not fully understanding. 

I didn't like One World Troyzan much, and I barely remember why. I didn't actively dislike him (there were too many other heinous people that season to put any effort into hating Troyzan), but he did have a whiff of entitlement about him. Then he played on Game Changers where he was delightful. I loved him in Game Changers. He was in an alliance with Fuck You Brad Culpepper, who also came across as surprisingly lovable early on in that season, but then reverted to the Fuck You Brad Culpepper that we all knew and hated from BvW, and Troyzan being genuinely puzzled by why Fuck You Brad Culpepper was being such a bag of dicks about Tai was very endearing. So I think the affection people have for Troyzan is because of his second season and not One World. And because it can't be said enough, Fuck You Brad Culpepper.

[Lady Calypso]

3 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

I didn't like One World Troyzan much, and I barely remember why. I didn't actively dislike him (there were too many other heinous people that season to put any effort into hating Troyzan), but he did have a whiff of entitlement about him. Then he played on Game Changers where he was delightful. I loved him in Game Changers. He was in an alliance with Fuck You Brad Culpepper, who also came across as surprisingly lovable early on in that season, but then reverted to the Fuck You Brad Culpepper that we all knew and hated from BvW, and Troyzan being genuinely puzzled by why Fuck You Brad Culpepper was being such a bag of dicks about Tai was very endearing. So I think the affection people have for Troyzan is because of his second season and not One World. And because it can't be said enough, Fuck You Brad Culpepper.

Heh. I can't wait to get to Game Changers (unfortunately, I have to wait a bit longer)...but it IS odd. I think my confusion comes from the fact that Troyzan was also top two in votes for that season's Fan Favourite. And he was considered for Cambodia. So that obviously came before Game Changers was even a thing, so something made people like him during One World. Is it just because there were too many unlikeable people and because he was the underdog at one point? I guess it would have to be. 

I typically root for the underdogs, and strategically, Troyzan wasn't that bad...but his behaviour rubbed me the wrong way (he did have an entitlement issue; at the very least, he had some sort of arrogance thing going). So, like I said, I can kind of understand why people liked him...but not enough to understand why people liked him enough to be considered for one season and then put on another. 

[ByaNose]

It’s funny that from One World Troyzan (and, ugh Colton) are the only men who made impression on the men side. With all the young studs that cast they fell to the way side. Also, he became the foil for Kim, her alliance & CBS which the season needed. I didn’t hate him. He played well on his second season and made the Finals but got no airtime. In fact, I just watched his interview on the Survivor Specialist podcast and he was funny and informative. 

[Lady Calypso]

So, I'm halfway through Cagayan now. It really is a good season. I'm really enjoying a lot of these players and how they're playing. Kass is an interesting villain-type player, at least in terms of a more modern Survivor. I also find myself really liking Tony, Spencer, and Trish. I also like Tash. 

[meatball77]

Still watching China.  Courtney is one of the most pathetic players ever to have been on the show.  Her whole personality is I'm tiny and small and can't do anything, everyone hates me. 

The location is beautiful and the challenges all look awesome.  Snakes and dragons and fireworks.

[Lady Calypso]

I'm just starting on the finale for Cagayan. I told you I'm trying to power through as many seasons as possible before February! 

Cagayan is truly a great season. I think this season had a lot of solid players and a few unpredictable moments. Nobody was truly downright nasty, which is a major plus in my book, and I also liked the theme. 

Tony still played his ass off to get to the end. And somehow, so few people actively tried to get him out. Plus, I did like some of Tony's move. I LOL'd at the Spy Shack.

A few things I didn't love, such as Tony's luck in finding so many damn idols, especially the Super Idol, but since I liked the Yul idol stuff, can I REALLY complain about Tony's Super Idol?

Tonight, I'll be moving on to San Juan! One step closer!

I also think I might just watch the finales for HvHvH and Ghost Island, to save some time and move backward to Philippines (I missed that season and didn't realize until last night that that season has a winner for season 40) or Africa once I finish Kaoh Rong, DvG, and Milennials vs Gen X (also so I can get to BvW, Cambodia, and Game Changers faster).

[Lantern7]

12 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

So, I'm halfway through Cagayan now. It really is a good season. I'm really enjoying a lot of these players and how they're playing. Kass is an interesting villain-type player, at least in terms of a more modern Survivor.

Here's her Funny115 entry. Looking at my old posts, I did not like her . . . but I can appreciate her now. Wouldn't we all try to break Spencer if we had had to live with him?

4 hours ago, meatball77 said:

Still watching China.  Courtney is one of the most pathetic players ever to have been on the show.  Her whole personality is I'm tiny and small and can't do anything, everyone hates me.

And here's her entry. Maybe she just needed a partner in snark like Sandra.

And speaking of Funny115, Mario's latest entry is just an excuse to show pictures of Alec with his mouth open.

[Lamb18]

Lady Calypso, I was going to ask you about season 25 since the winner is on season 40. I'm glad to see you are watching it. There is a contestant on that season who shows up in, I think, 3 additional seasons and you'll probably see him in other seasons you're watching along the way. There are also 3 returning players on that season, 2 of whom you should have already seen, not sure about the third.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Lamb18

[Lady Calypso]

13 minutes ago, Lamb18 said:

Lady Calypso, I was going to ask you about season 25 since the winner is on season 40. I'm glad to see you are watching it. There is a contestant on that season who shows up in, I think, 3 additional seasons and you'll probably see him in other seasons you're watching along the way. There are also 3 returning players on that season, 2 of whom you should have already seen, not sure about the third.

Yeah, Philippines is one that I didn't realize was an important one to watch until after I already started Cagayan, so I have to work my way back to it, but it's on my list to watch before season 40 as well, hence my plan to skip a few of the 30s seasons and just watch the finales for those (and then watch their full seasons later). I'm skipping Cambodia and Game Changers at the moment; although I know Cambodia is popular, and Game Changers is a good one to watch (and both have winners appearing in season 40), I know I've seen both seasons' winners in other seasons so I at least have seen these winners play before, even though they didn't win in those seasons I've watched. 

I started on San Juan Del Sur last night, but fell asleep before the first episode was done so I'll be continuing tonight, and then moving on to Kaoh Rong. After that, it's Milennials vs Gen X, I think David and Goliath, and then I'll watch Philippines, Africa, and if I have time, South Pacific, and Guatemala. I don't think I'll have time to watch any other seasons before season 40 starts, not unless I drive myself crazy with all Survivor all the time when I'm not at work or sleeping. 

[Rachel RSL]

I can't wait until you get to M vs GenX and David vs Goliath.  Those were my 2 most favourite recent seasons so I'm geekily excited to re-live them again through you. 

Edited January 3, 2020 by Rachel RSL

[RescueMom]

1 hour ago, Rachel RSL said:

I can't wait until you get to M vs GenX and David vs Goliath.  Those were my 2 most favourite recent seasons so I'm geekily excited to re-live them again through you. 

Mine, too. This is really fun reading along with someone watching for the first time. 

[Nashville]

On 1/2/2020 at 10:02 AM, Lady Calypso said:

So, I'm halfway through Cagayan now. It really is a good season. I'm really enjoying a lot of these players and how they're playing. Kass is an interesting villain-type player, at least in terms of a more modern Survivor.

 

20 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Here's her Funny115 entry. Looking at my old posts, I did not like her . . . but I can appreciate her now. Wouldn't we all try to break Spencer if we had had to live with him?

And here we touch upon one of my most cherished unpopular opinions, which is that I (a) love Kass and (b) don’t necessarily consider her a villain.  I consider Kass to be an agent of pure anarchy, which in and of itself is neither positive nor negative.  PURE anarchy is absolutely neutral, but to such an exaggerated degree that most cannot accept it as such.  In much the same way people describe distilled water as “tasting bad”; the truth is, though, that distilled water has absolutely zero taste of any kind - but many frequently cannot accept that degree of pure absoluteness, and instead attribute to it characteristics which in truth it does not have.  Same with Kass. 😉 

[Lady Calypso]

So, I'm six episodes into San Juan Del Sur and I'm really enjoying it so far. I really like Natalie, Keith, Jeremy, Jon, and Jaclyn. I also kind of like Josh. I'm enjoying the gameplay a lot. Since this is my first Blood vs Water season, I'm curious to see which one I'll like more. With this BvW having new players, I'm interested in seeing the contrasts when I get around to BvW. 

I didn't like John for obvious reasons, and the brothers have both been obnoxious. I'm glad older brother Drew left, but Alec isn't much better. 

Plus, we got the bartering from Hunahpu....THREE TIMES. Two of them worked, obviously, but I haven't seen any barters since Australian Outback. At least it's interesting and reminds me of the survival aspect, so that's a huge plus. 

Maybe, once I finish this season tomorrow, I'll do a ranking on all the seasons I've seen so far.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Cagayan is the best.

I think in real time I watched S1, S2….. maybe S3…..  saw a bit of S6….. randomly saw some of S9.

Then I decided to watch Cagayan as it premiered and I kind of went psycho and went back and watched 20 seasons of the show over a summer.  I usually bailed on seasons after the merge, or around top 6 though.  Now I'm a superfan.  It is all Cagayan's fault.  

The worst was when I bailed on Panama around Top 6 or something and read who won on Wikipedia.  The person I was cheering for (Aras) ended up winning which never, ever, ever, ever seemed to happen, so I never thought it would.  LOL.  

Edited January 4, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 12/31/2019 at 12:42 PM, fishcakes said:

Colleen was always pretty clear that she wasn't interested in becoming famous. I remember an interview she did with the now-defunct Mademoiselle magazine saying that she was open to whatever opportunities came her way, but she wasn't chasing anything. She said something like, "maybe I'll do a movie, maybe I'll get married, I'm young, I don't have to be just one thing." She's now married to musician Alan Hampton and they have two kids. Here's a picture of her and their daughters on his instagram. She had a twitter account that had only about a dozen followers where she tweeted about her kid and crafting and never Survivor, then someone linked to it on Sucks, she got hundreds of new followers and basically stopped tweeting.

Ugh.  She's like, the most beautiful woman on Earth.

[Lady Calypso]

I'm on episode eight now, so very nearly done with San Juan, and I gotta say how much I love Jon and Jaclyn, both separately and together. I really like their relationship together and they both seem very sweet, and they're good gameplayers. I love that they both listen to each other and work together. I would love to see either of them back for a future season.

[Lady Calypso]

And...finished San Juan del Sur. I honestly really enjoyed it. The ending was especially fun to watch. It's a really solid season. I genuinely am questioning where it places on my rankings because it was really fun, and Natalie is an amazing winner. I have to say, this season impressed me, since I had low expectations going in and the pre-merge stuff was fairly lackluster.

I found myself liking Natalie, Jon, and Jaclyn. I enjoyed Jeremy and Keith. I liked Baylor...Missy was a hit or miss. Reed was an interesting antagonist for his last couple of episodes. He did bring the chaos on his way out, so that was fun. But really, a stronger season than I anticipated it would be. I liked the feeling that the survival aspect was back in play. And the blindsides were fantastic.

I'll compile my rankings of the seasons I've watched so far and post it later tonight. But also, finally getting started on the 30s! Kaoh Rong, here I come! 

[Lady Calypso]

So, all the seasons I've seen so far: Australian Outback, Amazon, Pearl Islands, Cook Islands, Micronesia, Heroes vs Villains, One World, Cagayan, and San Juan Del Sur. Oh, and I guess I should include Island of the Idols as well.

It was a struggle to place some of them, such as Pearl Islands. That one was genuinely hard to place because I enjoyed Pearl Islands so much. The 3-6 placements are a lot closer together and could be interchangeable, depending on how I feel when I rewatch them. But, at the moment, this is how I feel. That's open to change by next month, though. Seriously, I had a really hard time ranking Cook, Pearl, San Juan, and Cagayan properly. 

This list isn't necessarily saying that the bottom tier is bad (except for the obvious at the very bottom); just that I have watched all of the more popular seasons so I had to place them somewhere. 

1. Micronesia - I guess this might be a little surprising, since I know HvV is highly regarded over Micronesia, but honestly, I found myself totally invested in Micronesia. I found myself completely invested in the gameplay. The players were all solid. There were a lot of blindsides, and also a few dumb moves, but by decent players. I know the pre-merge stuff was slow, but once we hit the merge, we hit the merge running. Plus, it solidified Parvati as my favourite player, and I have a totally underrated player as one of my favourites: Tracy. Plus, having an all female alliance dominate the game helped a lot. We had a lot of strong women playing this season, and I was really impressed with how things played out.  
2. Heroes vs Villains - I really loved this season. A lot of great gameplay from players who have played the game before. It really did have a lot of great moments. But...I mean, Russell makes this number 2 instead of number 1. I can respect him playing the game, but I can't respect HOW he played the game. And the fact that a few players from Micronesia seemed to be worse this season than in that one (James and Amanda, to be specific), and it's a shame that it has to be placed number 2 for me. Plus, I found myself really rooting for Parvati since she was doing a great job running the game. But Sandra's win was good in terms of her jury management, and Parvati's connection with Russell lowered her chances in winning. I'm not married to HvV in the number two spot, though. I was tempted to lower this to number three but honestly, it had a lot of great moments that can't be beat.
3. Cagayan -I had debated between this and Cook Islands in this third spot, but Cagayan just edges Cook Islands out. A lot more likeable people in Cagayan, as I didn't hate a single person in Cagayan. I was annoyed with some, but I don't think I disliked anyone. For an all newbie season, it was really strong. I liked the theme a lot, and with it being technically in Modern Survivor Era, it could have been a lot worse. But it had some solid gameplay and some really solid players. Plus, maybe unpopular opinion, but this season also introduced my favourite male player: Spencer. I found myself loving Spencer, even if I understand that he can be intense. Maybe it's because I relate to him, but I did not find myself annoyed at him at any point. He played hard, and he got to where he was through good gameplay. Not perfect gameplay, but good enough, even when he was on the bottom. 
4. Cook Islands - A lot has changed in my view of Cook Islands since I first watched it a couple of weeks ago, especially in terms of Cagayan. I liked Yul as a winner more than Tony, but there were many other players that...just weren't really playing, upon reflection. Sundra and Becky, though nice people and got Aitu 4 to final 4, weren't really pivotal in the game. Becky was more than Sundra, but their abysmal fire making tie breaker was hard to watch. And the theme of this season really lowered it in points. However, the Aitu 4 is one of my favourite alliances, if not my absolute favourite. The fact that I remember their tribe name weeks later does say a lot. And it introduced me to a lot of iconic players (Penner, Parvati, Ozzy, just to name a few). Just a lot of solid gameplay and a lot of solid players for me. But I also could move it down a few numbers, as I continue with my binge watch. 
5. San Juan del Sur - Ok, truth time. I genuinely thought that I wouldn't like this season before starting it. Although I didn't have much knowledge, as this is a season I haven't heard much about, I thought it would be a boring season, at best. I even thought about skipping it completely. But honestly, it did turn out better than I expected. I did end up enjoying quite a few of the players, especially Natalie, Jeremy, Jon, and Jaclyn, and found myself intrigued with the twists and turns of the season. Honestly, at the end of it all, I'm pretty sure this season, at least, will stick in the top 15 for me, once I get through all 39 seasons. And I've really opened up to moving this season UP in the ranking at some point. That's not something I expected to say before this season...or even during pre-merge! Really, the last few episodes for this season really, really changed my view on the season. And that's why it JUST edged out Pearl Islands for me. And by JUST, I really mean it.
6. Pearl Islands - This was so, so tight between this season and San Juan for me, and it was such a tough decision on whether this would place above or below San Juan. I even had this above San Juan until the very last minute. This season truly had some fantastic moments. Again, it introduced us to Sandra, Rupert and Jonny Fairplay. The players were all playing hard. But really, what puts this below San Juan is the last few episodes and the finale. I liked Sandra, but I wasn't rooting for her in the way that I was rooting for Natalie. I thought that Sandra and Natalie had different styles of play and, although I did like Sandra's win because it meant that Lil lost, I just liked Natalie's gameplay better. I liked a lot more players in San Juan. For Pearl Islands, I enjoyed the players, but I wasn't necessarily rooting for anyone specific, except for MAYBE Rupert. This was a tough decision, though. But really, similarly to why HvV is below Micronesia, the villain of the season getting to third place really lowered points for me. 
7. Australian Outback - As this was my second official season (after season 39, as I can't remember which season I did watch years ago as a kid so I can't count those as official seasons), I feel bad for it being placed lower on my list right now, because I did really like it. It had a lot of players that I grew to like, or grew to dislike. And I loved the survival aspect. I liked Tina as a winner. I liked Colby as a player, and respected his move to take Tina because he wanted to sit next to someone he respected, even if that meant he lost. And he was genuinely excited for her when she won (he seemed more excited than her in the moment!) And, yes, it had some excellent challenges, especially the one that lasted 10 hours. 
8. Amazon - Now, I have a love-hate relationship with Amazon. Hated the pre-merge, but loved the post-merge. The theme was what really lowered this season for me. Back when this first aired, of course things were different so both sides being incredibly sexist isn't surprising, but it is disappointing. But what makes Amazon better than One World is that the season does have a couple of great players (hello, Rob!) and Jenna as a winner was not a bad one, upon reflection. 
9. Island of the Idols - Now, this one, I wasn't sure whether to place it above or below Amazon. But I think that, while IotI wasn't awful, it didn't have as many great gameplayers as Amazon. I think Island of the Idols had some solid moments, but the controversies surrounding Dan, Missy, and Elizabeth were worse than the sexist comments in Amazon. I did like some of the players in this season (Janet, Elaine, Kellee, Noura, and I even ended up liking Karishma...and ended up rooting for Dean somehow) but I didn't like the editing of the season. Tommy was edited BADLY. For a winner's edit, he technically got one, but he also got shafted in terms of seeing what moves he actually made. He was shown to be a friendly guy and...that's about it. And, like I said, I root for gameplay and strategy first. I didn't need Tommy to win any comps, but I needed him to make some sort of memorable move. He didn't really do that for me. However, I think this is a season I have to rewatch now that I've gotten through a lot of previous seasons, so my opinion may change once I rewatch. But Rob and Sandra were pluses, especially as someone who didn't really know either legend (I knew of Rob through his reputation, but I didn't know much about Sandra). 
10. One World - Yeah...this isn't surprising, given my passionate rant about how much I dislike this season. Sure, Kim is a solid winner, but 90% of the players were so, so weak that it's hard to say if Kim is a GREAT player or if she was just the best of the weak. But so. many. unlikable. people. I didn't mind Kim, she was one of the least offensive players. But everyone else either sucked or didn't make enough of an impression for me to remember if I liked them right now...and I JUST watched the season a few days ago! 

So...that was a hard decision, and these are still very flexible until I finish my binge watch. I think the top two are still going to be top two, but everything else could be shuffled.

[meatball77]

I just started Gabon and I don't remember any of these people.  Some seasons have lots of great players then there are others where I don't remember anyone.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I didn't love HvV like everyone else.   Maybe the players were all too cynical or something.  No naiveté.  It's too "dark" or something.  There's so many other seasons I liked better.

It's been ages since I've watched it.  There WERE clearly naive players (JT - LOL).  But, I don't know.  I just don't remember loving it.  I do want to watch it again though.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[SVNBob]

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

And the theme of this season [Cook Islands] really lowered it in points.

Another data point that lends credence to a theory I've held since I rewatched this season a little while ago: the season/game itself is overall one of the better ones; it's the theme/starting divide that brings the season down in viewers' minds.

[Lady Calypso]

11 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I didn't love HvV like everyone else.   Maybe the players were all too cynical or something.  No naiveté.  It's too "dark" or something.  There's so many other seasons I liked better.

It's been ages since I've watched it.  There WERE clearly naive players (JT - LOL).  But, I don't know.  I just don't remember loving it.  I do want to watch it again though.

For me, what really makes it great is Parvati's game, the blindsides, and even the stupid moves made that are simply more memorable to me. Again, I say this as a Parvati fan, but this was definitely a fantastic season for her and I enjoyed watching her play and manipulate Russell, while he also manipulated her back and sought revenge through Danielle. But I'm also willing to drop it. I'm not as in love with it as others, hence why it's not number one and why I'm willing to knock it down some ranks, but I also think it's still at least in the top 10, potentially in the top 5. It's still a great season for various reasons, and not because of who won, imo. I like Sandra but I've felt underwhelmed by her wins. For me, personally, her way of winning isn't necessarily what I root for. I root for people like Parvati or Yul, who are very strategic in their moves. 

8 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Another data point that lends credence to a theory I've held since I rewatched this season a little while ago: the season/game itself is overall one of the better ones; it's the theme/starting divide that brings the season down in viewers' minds.

This is so true. Look at The Amazon; horrible theme, but it got better once they actually stopped the ridiculous men vs women tribes. 

The cast also makes the difference. See: One World and even bringing them together didn't make the season any better. 

Cook Islands is one that I notice some people having lower on their list and I can see why....but Cook Islands brought us a lot of memorable players and it really DID have some fantastic gameplay. C'mon, who didn't love the Aitu 4 dominating the game, even when being down in numbers? Ok, I get most people don't like that (I found out the term for that is Pagonging? Guess I should get to Borneo at some point!) but I think it's one of those times that it was fascinating to watch. Because, realistically, the Aitu 4 shouldn't have gotten to final 4 at all, but they did. Even when they merged, you'd think that at least one of them would have been eliminated but they weren't.

I finished episode 1 of Kaoh Rong and...man, I can tell I might be yelling at my laptop a lot. I was frustrated with the first boot. Alecia should have gone first, point blank. What was the Brawn Tribe thinking?! Also, that Jason guy who couldn't be bothered to call Alecia by her name? I HATE people like that. You can be bothered to learn Darnell's name, but you can't be bothered to call Alecia by hers? And to think, I started off the episode liking the guy. No, he's just an asshole. Same with Scot, it looks like. And these fools decided to still get rid of Darnell, over a mistake that he made. Yes, it was a crucial one, but the tribe seemed to like him over Alecia anyway.

It's not that I think Alecia should be bullied by these men, but she should have been the first boot because of her equal poor performance and they even said that she does nothing around the camp. Of course that's not going to change! I don't know how far Alecia makes it but...man, I felt bad for Darnell. I still don't understand why Darnell left over Alecia. 

Meanwhile, with the other tribes, I don't have a great feel of them yet. I know Caleb from Big Brother and have semi-followed what he's been up to these last few years, and I'm aware of his outcome this season. I really like Tai. I kind of like Aubry and am also annoyed with her at the same time. I think I like Michele? I don't really like Peter. Otherwise...I need another couple of episodes to figure out who's who. It sounds like the environment and the weather is going to cause problems (because, duh, the triple medical emergency episode is coming up).

[fishcakes]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

It's not that I think Alecia should be bullied by these men, but she should have been the first boot because of her equal poor performance and they even said that she does nothing around the camp. Of course that's not going to change! I don't know how far Alecia makes it but...man, I felt bad for Darnell. I still don't understand why Darnell left over Alecia. 

I felt bad for Darnell too, but later I was glad Alecia stayed because she made Jason and Scot insane. The bullying of her gets worse, and it seems like there was something that happened that was never shown because Jason's wife put up a preemptive tweet before a later episode where she says what looks like bullying is just editing, but then we didn't see the actual incident in the show, just Scot saying Jason lost control and felt bad. His wife also tweeted at Probst to ask him to get people to stop bullying her husband on social media because apparently Jeff controls the internet? Heh. Dumbshit. Alecia handled it well and didn't let those idiots get to her, and it was fun to watch how frustrated they got over how little she cared about their opinion of her. That whole Brawn tribe is a mess.

Edited January 5, 2020 by fishcakes

[Lady Calypso]

19 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

I felt bad for Darnell too, but later I was glad Alecia stayed because she made Jason and Scot insane. The bullying of her gets worse, and it seems like there was something that happened that was never shown because Jason's wife put up a preemptive tweet before a later episode where she says what looks like bullying is just editing, but then we didn't see the actual incident in the show, just Scot saying Jason lost control and felt bad. His wife also tweeted at Probst to ask him to get people to stop bullying her husband on social media because apparently Jeff controls the internet? Heh. Dumbshit. Alecia handled it well and didn't let those idiots get to her, and it was fun to watch how frustrated they got over how little she cared about their opinion of her. That whole Brawn tribe is a mess.

Man....am I really looking forward to the bullying? Not particularly. So it sounds like she stays for a while (as do Scot and Jason...urg). 

[LadyChatts]

58 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

I felt bad for Darnell too, but later I was glad Alecia stayed because she made Jason and Scot insane. The bullying of her gets worse, and it seems like there was something that happened that was never shown because Jason's wife put up a preemptive tweet before a later episode where she says what looks like bullying is just editing, but then we didn't see the actual incident in the show, just Scot saying Jason lost control and felt bad. His wife also tweeted at Probst to ask him to get people to stop bullying her husband on social media because apparently Jeff controls the internet? Heh. Dumbshit. Alecia handled it well and didn't let those idiots get to her, and it was fun to watch how frustrated they got over how little she cared about their opinion of her. That whole Brawn tribe is a mess.

Yeah, I remember that with his wife.  I think what makes Jason being a bully worse is that he has a daughter with special needs-so you'd think he of all people would think twice before acting like a jerk to someone else.  Especially for no reason.  I agree that I was glad Alecia stuck around, if only to antagonize those two, but at the same time, I'm sorry they made her miserable.  I also remember where Alecia's father stepped in, and talked about two grown men treating his daughter that way, and Scot saying he wanted to meet him at the reunion and shake his hand and apologize.  I wonder if that had something to do with what was edited it out.  Jason's wife seemed to put the blame solely on Alecia.  I actually think Scot may have been more tolerable, had it not been for Jason. 

The tribe designations made little sense this season, with the exception of the Brain tribe.  But then there was Debbie, who may be nuts, or have such a high IQ that she looks nuts to the rest of us as a result.  I still haven't decided lol 

@Lady Calypso, I'm really glad you enjoyed SJDS!  That season ranks low for a lot of people.  I don't consider it the strongest season, but I found it more enjoyable than most.  I loved how petty Reed was that he gave Jaclyn a vote only so Missy would have to finish third, and not tie for second.     

[Lady Calypso]

13 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

Yeah, I remember that with his wife.  I think what makes Jason being a bully worse is that he has a daughter with special needs-so you'd think he of all people would think twice before acting like a jerk to someone else.  Especially for no reason.  I agree that I was glad Alecia stuck around, if only to antagonize those two, but at the same time, I'm sorry they made her miserable.  I also remember where Alecia's father stepped in, and talked about two grown men treating his daughter that way, and Scot saying he wanted to meet him at the reunion and shake his hand and apologize.  I wonder if that had something to do with what was edited it out.  Jason's wife seemed to put the blame solely on Alecia.  I actually think Scot may have been more tolerable, had it not been for Jason. 

This is interesting information. I just loathe how Jason literally can't stop calling Alecia "Blondie". I can't imagine what issue he actually had with her because, whatever DID happen, if something even did happen that was Alecia's fault, it happened in the first couple of days of the game. 

I don't find either Jason or Scot to be entertaining villains. Talking down on Alecia and insulting her and not calling her by her name half the time is not entertaining for me. It's making these first couple of episodes really hard to watch. Jason/Scot are absolutely on par for me with Alicia/Colton from One World in terms of disgusting gross bullies who I cannot stand to watch. I don't see any difference between either pair right now. 

I also am struggling to like Cydney because she's aligned with these two bullies. The Brawn Tribe really seem to loathe Alecia and I can't figure it out, especially since Alecia was the one to start their fire, right? Yet they keep calling her useless...

13 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

@Lady Calypso, I'm really glad you enjoyed SJDS!  That season ranks low for a lot of people.  I don't consider it the strongest season, but I found it more enjoyable than most.  I loved how petty Reed was that he gave Jaclyn a vote only so Missy would have to finish third, and not tie for second.     

Yeah, I see a lot of criticisms for the season coming from the angle that the cast is not interesting besides Natalie and Jeremy...but honestly, I really liked half the cast. Unlike some, I actually loved Jon and Jaclyn. I enjoyed Reed after Josh was voted out. I actually liked Josh. Keith was a hit or miss, especially in the middle half when he was part of the group isolating some of the women, like Jaclyn. But I also liked Missy and Baylor, although I can kind of see why Reed didn't like Missy...maybe not to the extent that he belittled her and humiliated her and Baylor at that FTC. That was over the top and gave me sketchy vibes about Reed in general. I also just learned that Reed seemed to cheat on Josh, which caused their breakup.

But yeah, honestly, I loved the Natalie Revenge Tour on Jon. Seeing as Natalie and Jon became my two favourite players, I loved how that turned out. So I think, with me liking half the cast unlike others, that makes it a potential top 10 season for me. 

[LadyChatts]

1 minute ago, Lady Calypso said:

This is interesting information. I just loathe how Jason literally can't stop calling Alecia "Blondie". I can't imagine what issue he actually had with her because, whatever DID happen, if something even did happen that was Alecia's fault, it happened in the first couple of days of the game. 

I don't find either Jason or Scot to be entertaining villains. Talking down on Alecia and insulting her and not calling her by her name half the time is not entertaining for me. It's making these first couple of episodes really hard to watch. Jason/Scot are absolutely on par for me with Alicia/Colton from One World in terms of disgusting gross bullies who I cannot stand to watch. I don't see any difference between either pair right now. 

Yeah, I see a lot of criticisms for the season coming from the angle that the cast is not interesting besides Natalie and Jeremy...but honestly, I really liked half the cast. Unlike some, I actually loved Jon and Jaclyn. I enjoyed Reed after Josh was voted out. I actually liked Josh. Keith was a hit or miss, especially in the middle half when he was part of the group isolating some of the women, like Jaclyn. But I also liked Missy and Baylor, although I can kind of see why Reed didn't like Missy...maybe not to the extent that he belittled her and humiliated her and Baylor at that FTC. That was over the top and gave me sketchy vibes about Reed in general. I also just learned that Reed seemed to cheat on Josh, which caused their breakup.

But yeah, honestly, I loved the Natalie Revenge Tour on Jon. Seeing as Natalie and Jon became my two favourite players, I loved how that turned out. So I think, with me liking half the cast unlike others, that makes it a potential top 10 season for me. 

I don't know if you know much about Koah Rong, but Jason/Scot do get a delicious dose of karma down the road.  So there's that.  From what I remember hearing, there were rumors that Jason just thought Alecia didn't belong on their tribe and thought she was too weak to be a brawn, and he wanted someone on the outside.  I don't know if she did anything specific other than he just wanted to be a villain and found a target to bully.  As you said, he and Scot aren't even really villains.  They are just bullies.  There's a moment down the road, too, when you get there that solidifies it.  

I loved Jon/Jaclyn.  They are both high on my wish list of people I'd love to see return some day.  Something I don't say very often, but I was kind of happy with the post-merge group for once.  No one voted out early I cared too much about.  I was happy when John, Julie, and Alec were voted off (or quit, in Julie's case).  I didn't like Josh, Reed, or Missy but I thought there was some good game play post merge, and even though I didn't like Missy, she wasn't the worst in the world.  Natalie didn't have much of an edit pre-merge, but it seems like she knew just when to strike down the road.  She's definitely one of my favorite winners, and I think one of the stronger ones overall.

[Lady Calypso]

1 minute ago, LadyChatts said:

I don't know if you know much about Koah Rong, but Jason/Scot do get a delicious dose of karma down the road.  So there's that.  From what I remember hearing, there were rumors that Jason just thought Alecia didn't belong on their tribe and thought she was too weak to be a brawn, and he wanted someone on the outside.  I don't know if she did anything specific other than he just wanted to be a villain and found a target to bully.  As you said, he and Scot aren't even really villains.  They are just bullies.  There's a moment down the road, too, when you get there that solidifies it.  

I'm trying to stay as unspoiled as possible, but I do know who the final 3 are (oops, curse me and my inability to stay unspoiled because I keep looking things up for the season to figure out names and faces, which causes me to become spoiled). 

I'm glad to hear that, though! I cannot wait for karma to get them. I'm tempted to ask if anyone from the season knows that they're being bullies or they are electing to ignore it/not say anything. Because, right now, Cydney seems to not give a shit about how the boys are treating Alecia, and I hear that Cydney's a fairly likeable player. I just haven't quite gotten that feeling for myself yet. But I hope that it's only because she's around the bullies and once a swap or merge happens, she becomes more likeable for me.

4 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I loved Jon/Jaclyn.  They are both high on my wish list of people I'd love to see return some day.  Something I don't say very often, but I was kind of happy with the post-merge group for once.  No one voted out early I cared too much about.  I was happy when John, Julie, and Alec were voted off (or quit, in Julie's case).  I didn't like Josh, Reed, or Missy but I thought there was some good game play post merge, and even though I didn't like Missy, she wasn't the worst in the world.  Natalie didn't have much of an edit pre-merge, but it seems like she knew just when to strike down the road.  She's definitely one of my favorite winners, and I think one of the stronger ones overall.

I would love to see either Jon or Jaclyn for a future season. They were both such great players. I really, really grew to love Jaclyn, especially when she won the final immunity challenge. Seeing how hard she pushed her body to the point of almost collapsing near the end (really, she DID collapse but kept going) really sold me to seeing her again. But I know that her and Jon are finally starting their family (I had to look up their social media) so they probably won't be back to Survivor for a while, if they ARE interested in a return. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

5 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Cook Islands is one that I notice some people having lower on their list and I can see why....but Cook Islands brought us a lot of memorable players and it really DID have some fantastic gameplay. C'mon, who didn't love the Aitu 4 dominating the game, even when being down in numbers? Ok, I get most people don't like that (I found out the term for that is Pagonging? Guess I should get to Borneo at some point!) but I think it's one of those times that it was fascinating to watch. Because, realistically, the Aitu 4 shouldn't have gotten to final 4 at all, but they did. Even when they merged, you'd think that at least one of them would have been eliminated but they weren't.

Cook is definitely in my top 5, but so is Samoa for this exact reason.  The Foa Foa 4 were INCREDIBLE in the same way.  People don't like to give them any credit, because Russell's part of it, but I thought the story was amazing.  They beat out the other alliance, which was like 100 people (okay maybe 8-10?) and included an ACTUAL rocket scientist.  The Foa Foa 4 were the only people in the game that showed any loyalty to each other and they took that all the way to the end.  And I don't remember them being good at challenges either.  I'm sure many would disagree, but I remember Russell manipulating all those other people to keep letting the Foa Foa 4 through.  

SJDS is weird.  I remember really enjoying it when it was happening?  And the win seemed amazing?  But then after it I just forget everything.  I don't know.  Something about that season is not memorable! 

I remember really really liking Cydney, Tai, and Aubrey but man I do *not* remember all this bullying of Alecia stuff.  It sounds awful. 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Lady Calypso]

12 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I remember really really liking Cydney, Tai, and Aubrey but man I do *not* remember all this bullying of Alecia stuff.  It sounds awful. 

I don't know if it was bullying, exactly, but Jason and Scot were NOT nice to Alecia in any way. I get that she was annoying and not very helpful, and I get that she pushed their buttons, both intentionally and unintentionally, but how they treated her from day 1 really rubbed me the wrong way. From Jason calling her "Blondie" for days to Scot taunting her several times about "what team have YOU been on ever IN YOUR LIFE? You're just a cheerleader!", it was just over the top and a bit too personal, for my tastes. 

Alecia wasn't some golden girl or whatever. I didn't like her at all, but the men didn't treat her like a human being sometimes. And, right now, Cydney has basically enabled the behaviour, which hasn't endeared me too much to her, although I'm hoping for better from her. As I just got to the moment where they had the tribe swap, I hope for the best for her.

Meanwhile, poor Julia. She just drew the red buff.

[Josh371982]

On 4/29/2015 at 10:37 PM, ratgirlagogo said:

Thank you!  I don't hate Brandon at all - I think he was a tragically troubled person who should NEVER have been cast at all, let alone TWICE.  

 

My other horribleness scenario so far unmentioned is Rocky vs. Anthony in Fiji.  What a nightmare.  

I hated Brandon. His insane need to have Morgan eliminated just cause she was hot and turned him on was a factor. What a fucking creep 

[Lady Calypso]

And...I FINALLY got to the Scot blindside episode, and it was glorious. The bragging about the Super Idol was infuriating, so I was so glad to see that downfall. 

I loved seeing Tai betray Scot and Jason. I think the issue with Jason/Scot asking for him to use the Super Idol is that, if he had, Tai would have been gone, since everyone else would have voted for Tai instead of Aubry. So it was good for Tai to not combine the idols anyway. 

So, let's say Tai didn't go along with Aubry's plan. Tai would have voted for Aubry, causing a 3-3 tie, Scot/Tai would have combined the idols, sending Aubry out. But the Super Idol would have been flushed out....but that would have left Scot, Jason, and Julia in power. So it's a good thing that Tai voted Scot out. Essentially, Tai could have thrown a vote onto Julia and Scot still would have left. But really, Aubry's plan hinged on Tai not voting her out and luckily, he was sketched out by the men and decided to join up with Aubry. So it all worked out.

Either way, it was really good. Scot and Jason expected Tai to be an idiot and continue following them like a puppy, but Tai proved himself to be smarter. Scot and Jason called Alecia dumb, but both of them didn't see the blindside from their alliance member coming, all because their egos were too big to realize that they were blatantly proving to Tai that he was at the bottom. 

Ah... I am just completely satisfied with that ending. Plus, I'm getting closer to finish Kaoh Rong! I should be finished by tomorrow after work and then it's onto Milennials vs Gen X! And then, after that, David vs Goliath, and then moving backwards to Philippines or Africa! 

[simplyme]

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I don't find either Jason or Scot to be entertaining villains.

You were not alone. I'm not sure who coined the phrase, but they sometimes get called the Brotherhood of Ugly Tattoos on these boards. I'll let you work out why on your own. 

[meatball77]

Ok, when I started Survivor Gabon I thought it might be a stinker (and the first couple episodes suck) but I'm actually really enjoying it.  It's like the parade of weirdos that made it past the merge (and really a parade of interesting contestants from the start).  The challenges are so different and cool because of the location.  There's this giant hill that they used to make all sorts of things for challenges like a giant water slide and a slingshot golf course.  The alliances are interesting because of the tribe swaps and because of some weird decisions by a couple people.  The tribal when the annoying white dude was voted out was just amazing, from the fake (and great looking, better than some of the real idols now) idol that they gave him just for laughs to further humilate him after the cookie incident to the hysterical confessionals that two of the players gave as they voted him out (one yelling so loud everyone could hear her).  I've been watching the seasons in order and this one is by far one of the most different, from the location (there was an elephant behind one of the guys as he was giving a confessional).  Oh, and the olympic athlete, she's horrible at challenges.  Hysterically bad.

[simplyme]

On 1/4/2020 at 10:08 PM, meatball77 said:

I just started Gabon and I don't remember any of these people.  Some seasons have lots of great players then there are others where I don't remember anyone.

I'm really glad you're enjoying Gabon. For me, it was one of those seasons where I wish I could forget most of the people, though Crystal shouting out Randy's name while voting will always be funny. Always.

As for Crystal sucking at challenges, in 2012 she was stripped of her gold medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics for using anabolic steroids. (Her teammates were allowed to keep their medals, presumably because she only ran the preliminary heat and not the final heat in the women's 4 x 400 m relay.) She admitted to using them from 2001-2004 and forfeited all results from that time period.

I intensely disliked Corinne the first time I watched Gabon. For some reason I liked her slightly better in Caramoan (S26), though she was still a flat-out bitch and highly offensive. I think I just identified with her talking head saying, "I just want to throat punch Philip." I expect I would have felt the same way at times.

[RescueMom]

9 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I should be finished by tomorrow after work and then it's onto Milennials vs Gen X! And then, after that, David vs Goliath, and then moving backwards to Philippines or Africa! 

The first three are three of my favorite seasons, and I really do like Africa as well! This series of seasons will be your reward for slogging through One World!!

[meatball77]

Gabon is fun because it's different, but they're all terrible players and it's obvious why I don't remember any of them.  It's fun because they are all terrible players so it makes it interesting.  It's like the opposite of the fans vs favorites season before when all the players were thinking logically because the Gabon players are playing so absurdly.  Voting off their allies right and left.

[Lady Calypso]

So, I just finished the finale. Honestly, I did enjoy Kaoh Rong quite a bit. There were some very interesting cast of characters. Tai and Aubry, in particular, fascinated me. I really enjoyed Michele but my biggest disappointment was that the show forgot her edit halfway through, or chose to put her in the background in favour of bigger characters, such as Scot and Jason. And, unfortunately, that does lessen the season a bit for me. For her being a winner, we should have been able to see more of her social gameplay. We saw some of it, but they definitely dropped the ball on Michele at some point just before the merge and then seemed to remember once Scot was gone. The entire season seems so focused on Tai, Jason, Scot, and Aubry that some other players got left out until it was a little too late. 

Even though I've been rooting for Aubry, I understand that the win for Michele was deserving. I think that I am completely content with a Michele win. I'm not sure exactly where this places for me. It's a really good season, but there are so many moments that has it lower on my list so far. Maybe in between Island of the Idols and Amazon? Maybe between Amazon and Australian Outback? I haven't decided yet.

[LadyChatts]

20 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

And...I FINALLY got to the Scot blindside episode, and it was glorious. The bragging about the Super Idol was infuriating, so I was so glad to see that downfall. 

 

The second best part of that, was when Scot was voted out, he took Jason's idol with him.  Which left Jason without that to fall back on.  One of the best blindsides ever!  Also, the other moment I was talking about that solidified them as jerks wasn't on the show, but happened at Ponderosa when Cydney was voted out.  Scot, Jason, and Julia ignored her when she showed up, and made it quite obvious.  At least there were other people there to welcome her.  That's the third time I remember that happening-everyone ignored Kass when she arrived at Ponderosa, and it also happened during Gabon.

Worth noting, too, that Probst hated the outcome of Koah Rong, and still dwells on it.  He claims that's the reason they changed the jury format to what it is now (our current jury format started during Game Changers).  He said it shouldn't be just a popularity contest, and singled out Scot and Jason specifically in working the jury towards a Michele vote.  I can't really see how the current format changed anything, but Probst has to have an excuse for everything.

[Lady Calypso]

2 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

Worth noting, too, that Probst hated the outcome of Koah Rong, and still dwells on it.  He claims that's the reason they changed the jury format to what it is now (our current jury format started during Game Changers).  He said it shouldn't be just a popularity contest, and singled out Scot and Jason specifically in working the jury towards a Michele vote.  I can't really see how the current format changed anything, but Probst has to have an excuse for everything.

Yeah, I was going to ask how the jury format has changed because it doesn't seem like it has. But I did look up the differences so I understand why it's a little different. 

I finished the first episode of Millennials vs Gen X and it's not bad so far. I am going to be going through this season a little bit slower this week, so I probably won't end up finishing until the weekend. I don't really know who I like and who I don't like yet. Oh wait, I'm annoyed by David. Yeah, that's where I'm at. 

[LadyChatts]

On 1/1/2020 at 10:40 PM, meatball77 said:

Watching China right now.  James is a tank.

Episode three which I'm watching now is all kinds of problematic.  We have a guy who decides he's going to do the challenge naked again.  A guy who is deciding that he wants to cuddle the young girls while they are saying get away from me and he ignores them.

So far there have been two challenges that are wrestling while they're all wearing clothes that barely stay on. 

I'm flipping between Fiji and China, and just finished episode 3 of China.  I forgot how much I enjoyed this season, and recommend it highly.  That said, after this past season of Survivor, some of the moments so far have been kind of cringe worthy.  This was one of those 'only the clothes on their backs' seasons, and in the first episode Jaime commented to Probst she wasn't wearing a bra-to which he said might make her very popular.  Then the second RC, Probst kept commenting about all the tops coming off the women.  Finally, we saw Dave get naked in the third RC for no good reason.  I largely enjoyed this cast, but couldn't stand Dave, Leslie grated, and Jean-Roberte was a tool, but at least he was enjoyable in his own hype.  Poker players aren't terribly observant on this show.  

They need to bring Courtney back merely to give one liners all season.  Some of my favorites so far: "Jean-Roberte is the D student of our tribe.  He does nothing."  "(Jean-Roberte) says I need Amanda and Courtney by my side, to keep me warm.  Like I'm gonna keep anyone warm?  I weigh 7 pounds."  I felt sorry for Courtney in the ep 3 IC, where she had to chop down those puzzle pieces.  That machete probably weighed more than her.  I don't know why they had her do the chopping part, and not the puzzle.  

This season makes me really miss when they traveled to different locations and incorporated the cultural elements into the season.  I loved that the HII were right there in plain sight, but didn't look like an idol that had been used before.  And idols were still such a new concept, that no one was out idol hunting constantly.   

Edited January 7, 2020 by LadyChatts

[meatball77]

There's a few seasons after China that really make you wish we could have different locations again (as long as the contestants have access to food).  I do love the current location they use and I understand why it's so much easier for everyone to stay in the same place but the different locations and the visuals of the challenges that they can do with different topography and cultures really was great.