Past Seasons Talk: The Tribe Has Spoken

[Steph Sometimes]

So Samoa's next chronologically for me, but there's no way in hell I'm subjecting myself to that season again. I'm torn about HvV. I love Sandra, Courtney and Jerri, but hate Hantz, Coach and some others this season. I think I might go back to Fiji which I skipped before. I know it's a lot of awful people with Earl and Yau-Man being great, but I hope that what I remember as awful becomes more entertaining on a second viewingthe way Gabon was. Then maybe I'll go back to HvV.

And then I don't know. Do I just skip to Philippines? 

 

[Guest]

I just got done rewatching Heroes vs Villains on Netflix (it's one of two seasons on there, Cagayan being the other). It was pretty enjoyable the second time around, knowing the outcome, but there were some surprises re: my recollections from years ago vs watching it now.

For one, Russell was not awful from second one, like he was in Samoa. For the first part of the premiere, he seemed fairly normal and even a little humble. It didn't take long for that to change, of course, but it still surprised me. Also, I had remembered Cirie as being sort of complacent and cocky, which led to her ouster, but she really wasn't. And I had forgotten just how much of a self-righteous dick Colby was about Candice (Rupert was just as bad in this regard as I had remembered XD). Finally, from a superficial standpoint, I was all about Amanda the first time out, but this time I was all "well hello there, Jerri." Indeed, Jerri overall is one of the best parts of the season, I think.

I would say, that if one doesn't want to relive the whole thing, maybe watch the first episode for the EPIC BEGINNING, then skip to after Rob's vote-out. I love me some Rob, but the first part of the season gets a little bogged down with the Rob/Russell feud (which Rob barely knew was happening), and the James/Tom conflict on the Heroes. After Rob's gone, Sandra goes from background character to major player, Parvati breaks away from Russell more and more, and the season improves immensely.

Edited February 7, 2021 by tracyscott76
To add Rupert comment

[LadyChatts]

On 2/5/2021 at 6:56 PM, Steph Sometimes said:

So Samoa's next chronologically for me, but there's no way in hell I'm subjecting myself to that season again. I'm torn about HvV. I love Sandra, Courtney and Jerri, but hate Hantz, Coach and some others this season. I think I might go back to Fiji which I skipped before. I know it's a lot of awful people with Earl and Yau-Man being great, but I hope that what I remember as awful becomes more entertaining on a second viewingthe way Gabon was. Then maybe I'll go back to HvV.

And then I don't know. Do I just skip to Philippines? 

 

I re-watched Samoa not too long ago, and I didn't mind it.  I mean, it certainly helps knowing what happens.  Watching the reunion show, where Russell is willing to pay to get the title of Sole Survivor (forgoing the million, just wanting the title) was funny the first time around, but now is just sad.  Seeing Russell sitting there and sulking in his hat made me almost pity the guy.  But I also think Russell is a good player, he just really underestimated the social part of the game.  Fiji is another season that was on my re-watch list awhile back, and while I don't know that it's aged well with time, I never had the problem with it most others do.  You are right, though, that there are a lot of awful people.  Actually some of the ones I remembered fondly, and vice versa, I had the opposite reaction of during my re-watch.  I think it gets better at the tribe swap when Rocky gets blindsided, and then the merge when the Have tribe isn't a thing anymore.  Lisi, Stacy, Rocky, Mookie, and to a lesser extent Alex and  Edgardo were the worst.  

Sometimes I wonder why they didn't just go ahead with their original idea of copying Cook Islands racially divided tribes, even though the Caucasian tribe would have been down a member.  They could have just had everyone sit a member of their tribe out at the first challenge to make it even.  And there likely would have been a tribe swap soon anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered.  Some of the cast was a reason why I didn't enjoy Fiji, but the haves/have not twist really ruined it.  I'm glad that has never made a return.   

Edited February 9, 2021 by LadyChatts

[OutOfTheQuestion]

On 1/24/2021 at 1:55 PM, tracyscott76 said:

With all the little Angelina bits Mario has managed to sneak in (she's the FU Brad Culpepper in this one, for example), it's a shame there probably won't be a Funny 115 Part 4. It seems like he views her as I do, as a humorous "villain" stand-in, as opposed to a horrible person, which seems to be some other people's take on her. I'd be curious to read his Angelina character entry.

It seemed like Mario was reaching for "funny" moments in the third version, so i would really be pushing it for a fourth version.  Angelina herself is worth a good 20 entries or so but I'm not sure if I could come up with 95 other truly amusing moments from seasons 31-40.

[Hera]

6 hours ago, OutOfTheQuestion said:

It seemed like Mario was reaching for "funny" moments in the third version, so i would really be pushing it for a fourth version.  Angelina herself is worth a good 20 entries or so but I'm not sure if I could come up with 95 other truly amusing moments from seasons 31-40.

Debbie Wanner was on seasons 32 and 34. There's no way that her purported wide-ranging job experiences and ever-changing chyrons wouldn't be worth at least one entry.

ETA: Adam trying to play Jeff's podium at Tribal Council as a hidden immunity idol in season 40 would also definitely be another.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Hera

[Lantern7]

On 2/10/2021 at 7:35 AM, OutOfTheQuestion said:

It seemed like Mario was reaching for "funny" moments in the third version, so i would really be pushing it for a fourth version.  Angelina herself is worth a good 20 entries or so but I'm not sure if I could come up with 95 other truly amusing moments from seasons 31-40.

I've been good with his picks. Also, he has stated that he's not doing a v4. I'm also good with that, especially with some seasons dragging themselves through the muck.

Right now, his analysis of Dan Foley has reached twelve parts (here's the latest), and it is worth reading. It's a great deconstruction on how a player can be an asshole and yet still get done dirty by the editors. We're not talking "Purple Kelly" bad, but there is a lot to think about. Sadly, I'm thinking the #1 slot will be a similar deconstruction of "Special Agent" Philip Shepherd. Let's face it, he's the closest to Coach we got from seasons 21-30, and Mario loved her some Philip.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I've been good with his picks. Also, he has stated that he's not doing a v4. I'm also good with that, especially with some seasons dragging themselves through the muck.

Right now, his analysis of Dan Foley has reached twelve parts (here's the latest), and it is worth reading. It's a great deconstruction on how a player can be an asshole and yet still get done dirty by the editors. We're not talking "Purple Kelly" bad, but there is a lot to think about. Sadly, I'm thinking the #1 slot will be a similar deconstruction of "Special Agent" Philip Shepherd. Let's face it, he's the closest to Coach we got from seasons 21-30, and Mario loved her some Philip.

I've been reading through the Dan entry with mixed feelings. I'm not totally sold on everything Mario's been saying, but it does make you think. To really see if I agree or not, I'd have to watch the season again and that's...just not happening.

I really hope you're wrong about Phillip. I would have said that I didn't think there was enough humorous Phillip content to justify an entire character entry, but I also wouldn't have thought there was enough Dan content for a 12-part entry. A Phillip write-up will probably suffer the same fate for me as his "Randy and Kass are funny!" write-ups - skipped.

[Lantern7]

Mario gets into Dan’s last episode as a player. It includes the reward challenge from hell, where everyone is supposed to figure out “fixin’s” is a word.

[Steph Sometimes]

Watching Fiji. The first several episodes are bleak. People who don't have anything lose challenges to people who are fed, hydrated and comfortable--who would've thunk it? And the treatment of several people (Stacy to Dreamz, Rocky to Anthony) is hard to watch. I'm not a fan of the Michelle gets screwed twist. But then it gets good. 

This may be a bold statement, but I will say I think that the famous Edgardo boot episode, from start to finish, may be one of the best episodes ever.

[Lantern7]

46 minutes ago, Steph Sometimes said:

Watching Fiji. The first several episodes are bleak. People who don't have anything lose challenges to people who are fed, hydrated and comfortable--who would've thunk it? And the treatment of several people (Stacy to Dreamz, Rocky to Anthony) is hard to watch. I'm not a fan of the Michelle gets screwed twist. But then it gets good. 

This may be a bold statement, but I will say I think that the famous Edgardo boot episode, from start to finish, may be one of the best episodes ever.

Mario had that at #4 on his list for seasons 12-20. I tend to forget a lot of stuff, especially since Television Without Pity went down, so I had no way of reading my thoughts on series of events that doomed Edgardo the night we saw it happen. The GIFs at the end are just pure gold.

Edited February 22, 2021 by Lantern7

[AncientNewbie]

On 2/21/2021 at 10:39 PM, Steph Sometimes said:

This may be a bold statement, but I will say I think that the famous Edgardo boot episode, from start to finish, may be one of the best episodes ever.

I'm usually not able to remember single eps and think more in terms of events (and am surprised when two things happened the same week or a month apart), but this one I have to agree. It was well edited and laid out.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 2/21/2021 at 10:39 PM, Steph Sometimes said:

This may be a bold statement, but I will say I think that the famous Edgardo boot episode, from start to finish, may be one of the best episodes ever.

I heard about the Legend of Edgardo often and loooooooooong before I saw the episode.  Even with the enormous buildup, it was still good.

I always thought Fiji was one of my top 5 seasons, but it was the only season I couldn't get through in my big rewatch of 2020 (I skipped a few other seasons, like 10 and 11).  I'd like to get through it again.

[Nashville]

On 2/21/2021 at 10:22 PM, Lantern7 said:

Mario had that at #4 on his list for seasons 12-20. I tend to forget a lot of stuff, especially since Television Without Pity went down, so I had no way of reading my thoughts on series of events that doomed Edgardo the night we saw it happen. The GIFs at the end are just pure gold.

The A #1 Best quote from Mario’s write-up:

An alliance with Dreamz is like a rape game without a safe word.

Man, I’m still dying.  🤣🤣🤣

[Lantern7]

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

The A #1 Best quote from Mario’s write-up:

An alliance with Dreamz is like a rape game without a safe word.

All this time, I was going with “Perfection board that can pop up before the timer runs out.” But who plays Perfection these days? I should defer to Mario on this.

ETA: Speaking of Mario, he’s almost done with his Dan entry. This covers his time as a jury member.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Lantern7

[Steph Sometimes]

On 2/25/2021 at 10:11 AM, Lantern7 said:

All this time, I was going with “Perfection board that can pop up before the timer runs out.” But who plays Perfection these days? I should defer to Mario on this.

I hated Perfection as a kid. I'm sure it probably contributed to some of my anxiety issues. I got to the point where I'd "play" it without the timer.

Finished Fiji. Earl and Yau-Man are one of my favorite duos, and they pretty much saved the season for me. The jury was so terrible though. I was cringing throughout.

I think I'm doing HvV next. I hate Russell, but I can fast forward or mute if I need to. It's so funny because I remember so much of the Villains interaction (and I love Sandra and Courtney and like Jerri a lot, and this is probably the most I liked Boston Rob), but I remember almost nothing about the Heroes other than JT's letter and Colby being checked out.

[Hera]

2 hours ago, Steph Sometimes said:

I think I'm doing HvV next. I hate Russell, but I can fast forward or mute if I need to. It's so funny because I remember so much of the Villains interaction (and I love Sandra and Courtney and like Jerri a lot, and this is probably the most I liked Boston Rob), but I remember almost nothing about the Heroes other than JT's letter and Colby being checked out.

This is basically what I remember, with some added sanctimony from Rupert as well.

[KlutzyCobbler]

Blackbeard: The Story of Rupert Boneham - Survivor: Pearl Islands

I was more or less fine with Rupert until about 22:55 when he reacts to the first vote against him.  And by 33:06, I was done with Rupert’s ego!

Subsequent seasons only confirmed for me that Rupert could simultaneously have a great work ethic while still being a sanctimonious ass.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Hera said:

7 hours ago, Steph Sometimes said:

I think I'm doing HvV next. I hate Russell, but I can fast forward or mute if I need to. It's so funny because I remember so much of the Villains interaction (and I love Sandra and Courtney and like Jerri a lot, and this is probably the most I liked Boston Rob), but I remember almost nothing about the Heroes other than JT's letter and Colby being checked out.

This is basically what I remember, with some added sanctimony from Rupert as well.

Sadly, Colby hits Rupert-level sanctimoniousness at one point.

Most of the Heroes' activity for the first half of the season involved conflict among players who were gone pretty early, mostly centered around James. Nothing really worth remembering in terms of game impact, aside from their misreading of the Villains' tribe dynamic, leading to JT's misadventures with the idol.

[LadyChatts]

On 2/28/2021 at 12:48 PM, Steph Sometimes said:

I hated Perfection as a kid. I'm sure it probably contributed to some of my anxiety issues. I got to the point where I'd "play" it without the timer.

Finished Fiji. Earl and Yau-Man are one of my favorite duos, and they pretty much saved the season for me. The jury was so terrible though. I was cringing throughout.

I think I'm doing HvV next. I hate Russell, but I can fast forward or mute if I need to. It's so funny because I remember so much of the Villains interaction (and I love Sandra and Courtney and like Jerri a lot, and this is probably the most I liked Boston Rob), but I remember almost nothing about the Heroes other than JT's letter and Colby being checked out.

Yeah, the Fiji jury was downright terrible (especially Lisi) and there seemed to be a lot of vitriol directed at Cassandra for some random reason.  When the tribes were still have/have nots (I seriously got remember their actual tribe names), I remember how Lisi and Stacy got all mean girl towards Dreamz and Cassandra for being the outcasts on the tribe.  Alex and Edgardo had some redeeming qualities in standing up for them.  I actually didn’t mind Alex and Edgardo in hindsight.  Bitter jurors but they actually weren’t terrible.  I started disliking them more when they had the tribe swap, but I’ll blame Rocky and Mookie for their change in behavior lol  It really was just a fairly ugly cast, and those that weren’t bad were boring, and then there was the few random bright spots thrown in.  But I still can’t say I dislike the season like most people do.

[Steph Sometimes]

On 3/2/2021 at 10:48 AM, LadyChatts said:

Yeah, the Fiji jury was downright terrible (especially Lisi) and there seemed to be a lot of vitriol directed at Cassandra for some random reason.  When the tribes were still have/have nots (I seriously got remember their actual tribe names), I remember how Lisi and Stacy got all mean girl towards Dreamz and Cassandra for being the outcasts on the tribe.  Alex and Edgardo had some redeeming qualities in standing up for them.  I actually didn’t mind Alex and Edgardo in hindsight.  Bitter jurors but they actually weren’t terrible.  I started disliking them more when they had the tribe swap, but I’ll blame Rocky and Mookie for their change in behavior lol  It really was just a fairly ugly cast, and those that weren’t bad were boring, and then there was the few random bright spots thrown in.  But I still can’t say I dislike the season like most people do.

I could not understand why Lisi was so terrible on the jury (other than being a terrible person and possibly racist). She got herself voted out by telling Alex and them that she was done and wanted to be voted out. She sort of had a last minute change of heart, but she was so wishy-washy about it that she really only has herself to blame. Cassandra and Dreamz had nothing to do with that. Alex was probably second with how terrible of a juror he was.

Stacy was more interesting in that she was total mean girl around Lisi and the others but the second she lost some power and integrated herself into the Earl group she completely changed her personality (and came up with the vote Edgardo). There was even one scene where they were strategizing and she said, "I'll do whatever Cassandra decides." She reminds me of an ex-roomie of mine who got meaner and meaner depending on who she was friendly with that week.

Boo was also kind of an interesting wild card, but I found out he has some kind of a criminal history post-show and was responsible for getting a bunch of terrible people cast (if you believe the internet) so I like him less.

I disliked parts of the season (the beginning with the stupid theme, the treatment of Cassandra, Dreamz, and Anthony, the twist that screwed Michelle), but I didn't hate it as a whole. The Edgardo episode is classic. Some good challenges. And I think knowing how good and decent the winner was helped as well.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Steph Sometimes

[Lantern7]

Mario’s Dan dissertation (Danneration?) just wrapped up. I wound up speeding through it because Probst taking the high ground is painful to recall, even if Dan didn’t see it coming. The large hinges on the comically big trap door should have been a giveaway. Or Probst furiously touching himself without Mike being involved.

I’m kinda dreading #1. Coach got that spot in v2. I mentioned Philip, but there’s the possibility Mario will do a “best of” with Colton. Or Brandon Hantz.

[Guest]

On 3/3/2021 at 9:36 PM, Steph Sometimes said:

I disliked parts of the season (the beginning with the stupid theme, the treatment of Cassandra, Dreamz, and Anthony, the twist that screwed Michelle), but I didn't hate it as a whole. The Edgardo episode is classic. Some good challenges. And I think knowing how good and decent the winner was helped as well.

The bolded parts are a great example of good coming out of bad. Watching Michelle get screwed was demoralizing and infuriating, but the Edgardo boot wouldn't have played out the same way without it.

22 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I’m kinda dreading #1. Coach got that spot in v2. I mentioned Philip, but there’s the possibility Mario will do a “best of” with Colton. Or Brandon Hantz.

Why are you putting these ideas into the universe? 😭

[LadyChatts]

Started re-watching the Philippines season tonight.  I realize I don't remember a heck of a lot about this season, other than Matsing became Ulong 2.0, there was drama with Abi/RC/Pete over the idol, and this was the season that introduced us to Malcolm *swoon*

I never liked Skupin, so seeing his face was not fun.  And he said he’s not accident prone?  I would have been hiding all sharp objects from him.  Heck, I would have hidden anything from him that could cause injury, put a fence around the fire, and still stayed back 20 feet.  Penner, on the other hand, can show up every season for the one liners alone.  If there was ever a contestant who took over for Probst as host, he would be at the top of my list.  And Russell "I'm not going to be the leader this time!" Swann, was soon bossing his tribe around-just like a leader.  Also Russell at the first IC-'I'm bad at puzzles, I'm a physical person.'  Angelia 'Me too.'  Russell 'Okay, your doing the puzzle.'  I'm shocked he didn't get booted first.  Zane was a really interesting character, although not very smart with his game play.  But I was kind of sorry to see him go first, however throwing yourself under the bus and basically saying you want to be voted out first, but then saying in a TH that was all strategy and your version of chess probably wasn't a smart move.  But then again, I know nothing about chess.  

I found it humorous that Jeff wanted to keep his past of being a pro baseball player a secret, even coming up with a story about being a motocross rider and into motorcycles, and Dawson recognized him.  Not nearly as funny as when Danni outed Gary during Guatemala, but still funny.  It made me feel old that more people didn't recognize Lisa right off the bat.  I was 4 years old when Facts of Life went off the air, but I caught up on it in reruns.   

I felt like the marooning off the boat was one of the slowest ever.  It seemed to lack the hustle and chaos of other seasons.  And I hate when they throw chickens overboard. 

And what is it with people who are all grouped together talking about the one person out there looking for the idol, calling it shady, saying they are worried that person will find it-yet they stay huddled together and don't do anything?  

Edited April 15, 2021 by LadyChatts

[Hera]

13 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

And what is it with people who are all grouped together talking about the one person out there looking for the idol, calling it shady, saying they are worried that person will find it-yet they stay huddled together and don't do anything?  

This would be paranoia fuel for me. The obvious thing to do to stop someone hunting for an idol (or at least to know when and if they've found it) is to follow them around as a group while the do their search. If no one is rushing out to do that, then I'd wonder why—has someone already found it? Does everyone else know it's been found (and by whom) except me? If I suggest following the idol hunter and we do, are the other people in the group just humoring me?

I would definitely lose my mind by Day 3 if I ever played Survivor. Fortunately, my hatred of camping already rules me out as a contestant.

[LadyChatts]

8 hours ago, Hera said:

This would be paranoia fuel for me. The obvious thing to do to stop someone hunting for an idol (or at least to know when and if they've found it) is to follow them around as a group while the do their search. If no one is rushing out to do that, then I'd wonder why—has someone already found it? Does everyone else know it's been found (and by whom) except me? If I suggest following the idol hunter and we do, are the other people in the group just humoring me?

I would definitely lose my mind by Day 3 if I ever played Survivor. Fortunately, my hatred of camping already rules me out as a contestant.

Same.  There are many, many reasons I would never play Survivor.  My idea of roughing it is staying at a motel that has locks broken on the door, and more bugs than guests.  Scary enough for me!

I know that watching people you want to vote off dig for idols while you stand there and do nothing is common nowadays, but why?  I agree that I would be all over that person, and not give them a minutes peace.  I'll give Abi credit she had the smart idea.  After RC shared the HII clue with her (and did she live to regret that), she went and searched, and found it.  Jonathan's tribe left him alone at camp to go hide in a cave from the rain, then were kicking their own asses when they realized he found the idol (of course he only confided in Jeff when he realized everyone knew that the missing piece from their rice crate was likely an idol).  

Made it a few more episodes to the tribe swap (aka the dissolving of Matsing before they literally became UIong 2.0).  On the subject of idols, kudos to TPTB for making the HII a challenge to find.  I know that this was still kind of an early season where it wasn't raining idols 24/7, but I liked that there was a clue, and that the HII was literally in plain sight, but still hard to find (it was a small piece of wood on top of a crate that the rice came in).  Now, everyone knows to go and look for something with a piece of string attached to it that's hidden in a tree somewhere. 

I'm remembering why I didn't like Abi.  Even though it was Pete who set RC up with the HII clue being found in her bag, Abi's logic at being mad at her made zero sense.    

Matsing was such a pathetic tribe that even their raft didn't want to be seen with them anymore, and let itself be dragged out to sea.  I can understand how hard it must be, to continually be losing, have low morale, and never giving anyone a chance to sit out at the IC, but that third IC was rough when even Russell gave up.  During the 3rd TC, when Angie was trying to save herself, Malcolm brought up the point that she never got a break like the other girls on the other tribes.  I do think it'd be an interesting twist if the tribe that is down in numbers gets to pick the people from the other tribe(s) that have to sit out the challenges.  Maybe that'd make a difference.  While I wasn't the biggest Russell fan, I did have to feel sorry for him that he came back for a second shot after being medevac'd, and this is how it went for him.  Also, way to foreshadow Denise's win.  

[Steph Sometimes]

I'm almost done with HVV. This one took me a while to get through just because I dislike to hate many of the players of this season. I don't love to hate Russell. I really hate Russell. I don't like Rupert. I don't especially like JT. James is really bad this season. This is probably my favorite of the multiple Boston Rob games just because he's aligned with Sandra and Courtney (who I love), against Russell, and out early (good one, Tyson).

The one person who I've somewhat changed my mind about is Parvati. She's always been someone who I can acknowledge is really good at the game, but she's never been someone I particularly liked. I like her more this time around. I don't know if it's because I know Sandra wins, but I'm definitely appreciating some of her moves more this time around. Also, I love it when she and Sandra team up late game to laugh at Russell.

But the episode I just watched was my favorite of the HVV season. Sandra telling Russell she's against him, Sandra whipping out her immunity idol and best of all, the greatest family episode of all time. "REED! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? DAMMIT!"

Edited April 21, 2021 by Steph Sometimes

[treeofdreams]

I have been re-watching a lot of Survivor seasons, most lately  Game Changers.  My all-time favorite Survivor player is Cirie, who had some bad breaks in a couple of the seasons.

How about everyone else?  Who is your  favorite Survivor player, and why?

[Steph Sometimes]

There are many I've loved over the years including Cirie, Malcolm, Sandra, Courtney, Yul, Yau-Man, Earl, Aubry, Natalie A. just to name a few. But right now, after rewatching two of his seasons (still have Philippines to go), I might have to say Penner. He's fun to watch, both smart and a smart ass, talks back to Jeff, kicked ass in a challenge while injured, and seems, despite the smart ass-ness, just a good guy. Plus he was on Arrested Development which is a plus in my book.

I'm rewatching Nicaragua now. What a completely bananas season. 

[LadyChatts]

Hear me out on this one, but I actually really liked Dean from IOTI.  Yeah, I couldn't stand the little booger in the beginning, but in hindsight, I think he deserves more credit for some of his game play that I originally passed off.  Blindsiding Kelly was smart, and I thought he played the fake advantage Jamal gave him pretty well.  That wasn't an original idea, granted, but I still thought he did a decent job passing it off and making people wonder (and he of course stayed slightly skeptical).  Out of the final 3 I thought he should have won.

Some of my other faves through the years: Neleh, Parvati, Sandra, Rob C., Jerri, Penner, Ozzy, Malcolm, Yul, Aubry, Kelly Goldsmith, Earl, Sean Rector...the list could really go on.      

[Guest]

I know he's considered to be over-exposed, but my favorite has to be Boston Rob. What can I say? He entertains me.

Sandra is also way up there, and I have a soft spot for Andrea Boehlke. I find her overall attitude toward the whole thing (plays the game hard but acknowledges the ridiculousness of it all) refreshing. And yes, she's cute.

Off the top of my head, another player I liked was Erinn from Tocantins. Snark everywhere, most of it directed at Coach.

But my first ever favorite was Stacey Stillman, so what do I know? XD

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 5/7/2021 at 8:59 PM, Steph Sometimes said:

There are many I've loved over the years including Cirie, Malcolm, Sandra, Courtney, Yul, Yau-Man, Earl, Aubry, Natalie A. just to name a few. But right now, after rewatching two of his seasons (still have Philippines to go), I might have to say Penner. He's fun to watch, both smart and a smart ass, talks back to Jeff, kicked ass in a challenge while injured, and seems, despite the smart ass-ness, just a good guy. Plus he was on Arrested Development which is a plus in my book.

I'm rewatching Nicaragua now. What a completely bananas season. 

Wow.  I've seen Jonathan Penner on Seinfeld and The Naked Truth, but I watched Arrested Development Season 1 dozens of times in the 2000s before I got into Cook Islands so I definitely didn't know about that one.

[fishcakes]

2 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Wow.  I've seen Jonathan Penner on Seinfeld and The Naked Truth, but I watched Arrested Development Season 1 dozens of times in the 2000s before I got into Cook Islands so I definitely didn't know about that one.

I just found out a couple of weeks ago that he was on the first episode of The Nanny, playing Danny Imperioli, the bridal shop owner/boyfriend who fired Fran and broke up with her. Check out his Tony Manero perm.

[Lamb18]

Penner is one of my favorites. If Jeff ever retires as host, I'd like Penner to get the job.

[LadyChatts]

Rodger Bingham gave us this tidbit about how the Survivors in his season were supposed to make their entrance.  I know it would have been one heck of an insurance nightmare if anything went wrong, but I'm kind of disappointed we didn't get this.  Kind of ironic, too, that they canned this idea for likely legal fallout, yet this was still the season a guy fell into the fire and had to be evacuated out of the game.

Quote

"Originally, we were going to skydive into the Australian Outback," says Rodger. "And we were all sent to skydiving school all over the U.S. and I had no idea who the other contestants were. We were going to exit the plane at 12,500 feet and then free-fall down to 5,000 feet before opening the chute and hopefully float on down to earth."

https://ew.com/tv/survivor-australian-outback-rodger-bingham-quarantine-questionnaire/

[fishcakes]

15 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

Rodger Bingham gave us this tidbit about how the Survivors in his season were supposed to make their entrance.  I know it would have been one heck of an insurance nightmare if anything went wrong, but I'm kind of disappointed we didn't get this.  Kind of ironic, too, that they canned this idea for likely legal fallout, yet this was still the season a guy fell into the fire and had to be evacuated out of the game.

https://ew.com/tv/survivor-australian-outback-rodger-bingham-quarantine-questionnaire/

They mentioned the skydiving at the reunion. One woman who was originally cast dropped out of the show at the last minute because she was too afraid to do the skydiving. Her replacement was Tina Wesson. I wonder how long it took that unknown woman to stop kicking herself.

Sort of interesting that Rodger still stays in touch with Skupin but not Elisabeth.

[LadyChatts]

4 hours ago, fishcakes said:

They mentioned the skydiving at the reunion. One woman who was originally cast dropped out of the show at the last minute because she was too afraid to do the skydiving. Her replacement was Tina Wesson. I wonder how long it took that unknown woman to stop kicking herself.

Sort of interesting that Rodger still stays in touch with Skupin but not Elisabeth.

Weird, I never remember them mentioning it (though I do know Tina was an alternate and filled in).  I've always wanted to try sky diving, but in a circumstance like this, I'd pass, too.  Kind of sucks for the person who dropped out that they didn't end up going through with this opening.  

I guess I'm less surprised Rodger doesn't stay in touch with Elisabeth, but more surprised he talks to Skupin.   

[ProfCrash]

I'm surprised anyone talks to Skupin, he is a slime ball. Dude ran a ponzi scheme and was found guilty of child pornography. 

[peachmangosteen]

Yea, if Rodger is still talking to Skupin, I find that really gross.

[seacliffsal]

I have no issue with Rodger talking with Skupin as sometimes one just wants/hopes to have a positive influence on someone else.  Redemption is a hope many people have.

I've been rewatching season 3-Africa.  It has always been one of my favorite seasons due to the challenges and environment that really are like no other season.  I also liked many of the survivors.  However, I have revised my opinion of Lex a bit.  Was reminded of the "infallibility" of his gut (except that it led him to so many wrong interpretations of events) and that he allowed his "gut" (i.e. in other words "ego") to dictate additional poor decisions in his season of All Stars.  Also, his disbelief that others wanted to win made me laugh several times.  I have also seen more indicators through the season of the winning strategies and moves that Ethan made.  I also have an appreciation that Tom was way more savvy than I originally thought.

Reading all of the other posts I realize there are many more seasons I want to rewatch!

As for favorite player-Boston Rob will always be at/near the top of my list.  

[Steph Sometimes]

This may or may not be embarrassing (it is), but Lex was my first Survivor crush. Africa Lex, not ASS Lex. I never really had a thing for tattoos either before or since (not against them, just neutral) so I don't know what it was. I thought he had really pretty eyes.

Nicaragua was bizarre. I know I mentioned one season where everyone talked about age, "As a 25-year-old...", this one was very location-specific. "I'm from North Carolina so..." "She has this South Dakota charm..." etc. It made me laugh how uneven the teams were to start. All 10 people on the younger tribe seemed reasonably athletic.  And then you had the older tribe with Dan who could barely walk and Jimmy Johnson. Jane and Holly (and Dr. Jill while she lasted) were pretty badass though. 

Skipped Redemption because it sucks and moved on to South Pacific. Baby Hantz is so cringey. Oh and I was treated to the first great "Previously on Survivor, we met Survivors from all walks of life..." and then shows quick scenes of a few different Survivors. All men of course. Because Survivor. Sophie who?

Edited June 10, 2021 by Steph Sometimes

[treeofdreams]

I'm just re-watching Heroes v Villains...

I have a general question.  When the survivors are at Ponderosa, are they allowed to talk about who they are voting for?  I thought I remembered someone saying that they aren't.  (I'm just imaging a conversation among the jury members - Are you voting for Russell?  Nope...nope...nope...)  But maybe they can't do that.  Anyone know?

[fishcakes]

1 hour ago, treeofdreams said:

I'm just re-watching Heroes v Villains...

I have a general question.  When the survivors are at Ponderosa, are they allowed to talk about who they are voting for?  I thought I remembered someone saying that they aren't.  (I'm just imaging a conversation among the jury members - Are you voting for Russell?  Nope...nope...nope...)  But maybe they can't do that.  Anyone know?

I remember that in the very early seasons, Jeff would say to the jury something like, "and you haven't discussed your vote with anyone else?" and they'd all say they hadn't. But I don't remember if she said that before they voted, or if it was at the reunion before he read the votes. I kind of think it was the latter because they didn't want spoilers getting out. I know that there have been unconfirmed stories about Ponderosa people lobbying for votes for someone in the F2 or F3, so it seems like they do talk about how they're going to vote. Probably the only rule is that they can't talk about it after the fact.

[LadyChatts]

Corinne has always claimed that the reason the S26 jury didn't start with her (the first merge boot, as it had for several seasons), and started instead with Michael was because she was 100% anti-Cochran, and claims she would have successfully lobbied for the jury to not give him the million.  Considering he was up against Dawn and Sherri in the end, I kind of would have liked to see what she could have pulled off, because that would have been impressive.  But she said TPTB were dead set on Cochran winning, and didn't want her potentially swaying the jury.  Make of that what you will.  In addition, in an unaired clip during her first run in Gabon, in the TC where she was voted out, Corinne was vocal that if she was voted out that the jury would vote with her and do what she said, and even asked Marcus, Charlie, and Randy if they were votes that she had in her pocket (needless to say she got in trouble for acknowledging the jury, especially since they raised their hands in agreement).  So I don't think the rules are as strict as they use to be.   

[Nashville]

9 hours ago, treeofdreams said:

I'm just re-watching Heroes v Villains...

I have a general question.  When the survivors are at Ponderosa, are they allowed to talk about who they are voting for?  I thought I remembered someone saying that they aren't.  (I'm just imaging a conversation among the jury members - Are you voting for Russell?  Nope...nope...nope...)  But maybe they can't do that.  Anyone know?

Technically the Ponderosans* aren’t supposed to discuss their votes with each other, and during daytime hours I believe they each have “handlers” attached at the hip to forestall any unseemly conversations - but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if some illuminating discussions didn’t take place after hours.

 

* If that’s not a thing, it is now.

Edited June 19, 2021 by Nashville
Typo

[Valerie]

I'm rewatching Cambodia and I will never, ever tire of Wentworth idolling out Savage. I could watch it on repeat and cure my depression.

[SVNBob]

4 hours ago, Nashville said:

Technically the Ponderosans* aren’t supposed to discuss their votes with each other, and during daytime hours I believe they each have “handlers” attached at the hip to forestall any unseemly conversations - but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if some illuminating discussions didn’t take place after hours.

 

* If that’s not a thing, it is now.

I'll add it (with credit) to the upcoming revised Lexicon. 

Should also probably add Ponderosa itself.

[treeofdreams]

I finished watching HvV last night - a satisfying vote at the end.  Ha Ha, Russell!

I'm curious - what do you all think of how Parvati played the game?

[LadyChatts]

2 hours ago, treeofdreams said:

I finished watching HvV last night - a satisfying vote at the end.  Ha Ha, Russell!

I'm curious - what do you all think of how Parvati played the game?

For me, I would have had Parvati win hands down over Sandra.  I think she played a better strategic game, along with having to go it alone at times without having anyone.  She also had more of a reputation to overcome than Sandra (we all know how JT gave up his idol to Russell-because the Heroes thought Parvati had a girls alliance going on and were eliminating the men one by one).  Ah, good times.  I do think tying herself to Russell  helped do her in. 

I also believe Sandra's friendship with Rupert, along with being willing to ditch the villains and side with the heroes, helped her with votes.  

[ozziemom]

19 hours ago, treeofdreams said:

I finished watching HvV last night - a satisfying vote at the end.  Ha Ha, Russell!

I'm curious - what do you all think of how Parvati played the game?

Parvati has a little bit of mean girl going on whereas Sandra was trying to work with the Heroes, so while I think Parv may be playing well, she misread the potential bitterness of the Heroes. 

[treeofdreams]

I have to confess, I did not respect the way Parvati played.  Giggling, flirting, playing up to Russell, and enabling him in the nasty way he played the game.  I was so glad Sandra won.