Hello everyone!

We are still looking for new applicants for r/survivorrankdownIX_! If you are interested in arguing about Survivor Characters, want to write about your favorite TV show, or just want to join our community, don't forget to sign up and apply! Applications do not take very long and we are looking for voices, new and old, to join the rankdown! Release of rankers will be released soon!

Here's the application! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeIMYhcJbW-c-4FquTFMNJbAMf_LwdQQ2TX6izy56-HcSUexQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

(also do the polls)

Hello everyone!

As we begin the very slow process of creating an application for rankdown, we just wanted to quickly advertise the new rankdown Reddit for IX! Join us at r/survivorrankdownIX_ ;).

More info on applications will be coming soon.

Who is ready for some POLLS!!!!!!! Several things to go over today, but let's get started!

Spreadsheet and Other Things

A new spreadsheet is coming out for this occasion! There are some new changes overall to the structure of the ranking, however, as well as new ways to view data, so let me go over those briefly here.

• The main change that affects rankings is that ties are now broken differently. Instead of the previous ATR rankings (from my weekly polls that happened so long ago), SDs will now be broken in the more traditional way of lower SD = higher placement. If a character got bonus points, they would be subtracted from the SD before evaluating their placement.
• We had over 300 take the polls, which means a lot of big changes! Keep an eye out for them : )
• Every season besides Redemption Island and One World has over 30 poll takes. That's incredible for the sample size, but we could always use more. Borneo is currently at the most with 38.
• Lots of new sheets to see on the spreadsheet!
  • In an effort to try to make it similar to the rankdown sheet, lots of new sheets were added pertaining to that:
    • Placements
    • Tribes
    • Seasons sheet, which was revamped
    • The returnees sheet was revamped
    • Comparison sheet (placement from version 1.0 to version 2.0)
  • Other sheets now exist that are specific to this project
    • Individual scores
    • List View
    • Incentives Sheet
    • Final/Bottom Fours (Thanks to u/Acktar for me taking his format)
    • Top 100/Bottom 100 (again, thanks to u/Zanthosus for the idea behind that format)
    • A sheet that quickly links the polls (please edit if you think someone is too high or you made a mistake!)
    • Poll Breakdown (lists # of respondents, as well as new poll, takes since the April Version)
• Fun, right? Here's the official link to the spreadsheet for your viewing pleasures - please let me know any stats I missed or mistakes, and if you find anything interesting, say it below!
• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v8DKCeqBTPCkjHqjRO5BiyY9JwWeSEzOhaXP6lkyoDg/edit?gid=371705942#gid=371705942

Survivor 46 - Stats, Screenshots and More!

The biggest change for the spreadsheet was the addition of 46 to the polls! We had thirty people take the polls, which is incredible and exceeding my expectations. The season, as per expected, led to some varied results that I will now reveal.

​

Overall placements

​

Individual Scores for each player

• Top 4 of the season was what many people predicted when I asked last: Q, Venus, Liz, and Jelinsky. All of them did quite well this time around, with two top 100 placements, and all four making top 200. Tiffany, Tevin, Hunter, and Jess also all made the top half, leading to eight total.
  • Q is the 3rd New Era player (Emily and Maryanne) to reach the top 50, and Venus & Q are the 9th and 10th overall to hit the top 100 (Shan, Maryanne, Mike Turner, Yam Yam, Carolyn, Emily, Bruce 2.0, and Jake).
• Bottom 3 should surprise no one if you were following the poll analysis for the episodes each week. Randen, Bhanu, and Moriah continue to find themselves at the bottom of the list. Charlie finishes it out, which is surprising for two reasons IMO - one is that up to the finale Charlie regularly did terribly in the polls so I expected him to be lower, and secondly, Maria is almost right behind him! Kind of funny all around, but I am surprised we didn't see more Siga at the bottom of the list. Shockingly though, no one made it to Bottom 100. That might change next though, we'll see.
• For the overall season stats, 46 is the THIRD season already to get every single overall ranking from 0-10. Yes, that's right 46 got at least one 0, one 1, one 2, etc. Only EOE and SoPa can also claim that "achievement"
• The season ended with one of the highest overall SDs coming in fourth overall (SJDS, Fiji, and Thailand are all ahead. Looks like no season will dethrone these three). This really shouldn't be surprising given the mixed reputation here.
• The season is currently ranked #25 overall.

Endgame!

• Endgame had some massive shake-ups this time around. Largely, the composition stayed the same with only one person entering the endgame, but many people fell out of top 10 and rose up to the top. I included the changes at the bottom. Plus, we currently have a NEW WINNER!
• Congratulations to MARYANNE OKETCH for being our new endgamer! After receiving several 10s (the New Era seasons by far had the largest # of takes this time all ranging from 9-10) and several incentive points, Maryanne not only entered endgame but also reached our TOP 10! Maryanne is our first endgamer from the New Era to reach the top.
  • Unfortunately Lill fans, that means she was bumped. Yau-Man's consistency was proved to be too much, but also Sue was almost kicked out for a couple of middling scores.
• For Ian fans, you might want to look away. After receiving a couple of 6s, the dolphin trainer fell from the top position and lost his perfect 10 score. With that being said, the new rankdown winner OAT is... CIRIE FIELDS 1.0! *giggles.*
• The current endgame looks like this:

1. Cirie Fields 1.0 (+2)
2. Ian Rosenberger (-1)
3. Sandra Diaz-Twine 1.0 (+1)
4. Sean Rector (-2)
5. Jonny Fairplay 1.0 (+1)
6. Courtney Yates 1.0 (+2)
7. Jerri Manthey 1.0 (+3)
8. Sandra Diaz-Twine 2.0 (+5)
9. Twila Tanner (+2)
10. Maryanne Oketch (+15)
11. Randy Bailey 1.0 (-2)
12. Rupert Boneham 1.0 (-5)
13. Coach Wade 1.0 (-8)
14. Natalie Anderson 1.0 (0)
15. Richard Hatch 1.0 (0)
16. Ami Cusack 1.0 (+2)
17. James Clement 1.0 (-1)
18. Dreamz Herd (-6)
19. Kass McQuillen 1.0 (+1)
20. Sue Hawk 1.0 (-3)
21. Yau-Man Chan 1.0 (0)

• Tai 1.0 and Kathy 1.0 are both incredibly close to making it, each being .01 away from ousting Yau-Man. Take that information as you will.

Other Seasons and General Stats for Characters

• With the great amount of poll takes a lot of characters either had massive improvements or fell hard. Let's start with the top 20 people who lost the amount of placements:

Most Amount of Loss

1. Michael Skupin 2.0 (-100)
2. Lex van den Berghe 2.0 (-82)
3. Carson Garrett (-77)
4. Troyzan Robertson 2.0 (-70)
5. Shannon Elkins (-70)
6. Hali Ford 2.0 (-67)
7. Jed Hildebrand (-65)
8. Erik Reichenbach 2.0 (-65)
9. Clay Jordan (-64)
10. Michael Skupin 1.0 (-62)
11. John Rocker (-62)
12. Rocky Reid (-61)
13. Alex Angarita (-60)
14. Mookie Lee (-59)
15. Danny Massa (-58)
16. Ryan Ulrich (-58)
17. Brady Finta (-58)
18. Kyle Jason (-56)
19. Chad Crittenden (-56)
20. Elyse Umemoto (-55)

• Oddly, only two women are seen here, while the rest are men.
• Fiji fans, come get your men - overall the season did terrible from the last ranking, with three people making it on this list. Rocky is also the 19/19 for the season, replacing Jessica.
• Sk*pin got slammed hard this time, with him being one of the few returnees to make it on the list twice.

Most Amount of Gain

1. Erika Casupanan (+87)
2. David Wright 1.0 (+72)
3. Karla Cruz Godoy (+69)
4. Omar Zaheer (+66)
5. Xander Hastings (+66)
6. Tony Vlachos 3.0 (+61)
7. Adam Klein 2.0 (+57)
8. Zeke Smith 2.0 (+52)
9. Ricard Foyé (+49)
10. Spencer Bledsoe 1.0 (+49)
11. Christian Hubicki (+47)
12. Cassidy Clark (+47)
13. Dee Valladares (+46)
14. Zach Wurtenberger (+46)
15. Sophie Clarke 2.0 (+44)
16. James Jones (+44)
17. Carl Boudreaux (+43)
18. Rodger Bingham (+41)
19. Jacob Derwin (+41)
20. Davie Rickenbacker (+40)

• Evidently, the 30s and New Era got the biggest increase with their stats - this is probably because the largest influx of the polls came from those eras, and when it was originally taken, those had the least. Data was much more influential with them, and in general they saw the largest bumps.
• Oddly again, only 5 women are free while the men mostly dominate.

Other Things

• Six changes were seen to the top 100 - Aras 1.0, Peih-Gee 1.0, Kyle Jason, Colby Donaldson 3.0, Rob Mariano 1.0, and Clarence Black have all fallen from the top 100. Taking their place are Christian Hubicki, Michele Fitzgerald 2.0, Michaela Bradshaw 1.0, Parvati Shallow 3.0, Q Burdette, and Venus Vafa. Do we think this is an improvement? Anyone you'd put back?
• Erica Durosseau, Heather Aldret, Helen Li, Jackson Fox, Julia Carter, Mari Takahashi, Morriah Young, Natalie Anderson 2.0, and Tasha Fox 2.0 have all fallen out of the bottom 100... slay? Taking their places are Brian Heidik, Brook Geraghty, Caleb Reynolds 2.0, Jenna Bowman, John Rocker, Matt Bischoff, Sarita White, Shannon Elkins, and Sierra Dawn Thomas 1.0. Again, any improvement? Do we think some of these people are worse? Not really? Maybe???

Where From Here?

Polls will never be over! As always, they will be continued, but instead of releasing them after one season cycle it will be two - so the next time an updated sheet will be out in June of next year, basically. I will hopefully have even more new features, and we will have crazier results. My goal between then and now is at least 600 new poll takes, which seems doable given the fact that we got so many this time! Let's hope for some fun seasons, even more shakeups, and more data to solidify our community's rankings.

Next time, however, I will wait about a month to release the poll between seasons. I didn't really consider recency bias, but I do think that definitely played a role in 46's rankings just because there was a lot of positive and negative responses between the takes, and I think that is problematic just because it engaged the extremes of the seasons. 46 itself has quickly gained a top 10 standard deviation among characters just due to the drastic nature of the results. Perhaps 46 is a unique case given the argumentation that we saw throughout the year. It's also what I did with 45, and I think that created more "stable" results. Recency bias will always play a role in these rankings, and I think both the excessive negativity and positivity with the season might have created differences in opinions that could have been exaggerated.

At this point, I do want to establish a new rule change for the polls. One big issue with the release of 46 is I noticed that people only came into to do that poll and no others. I am typically fairly lax about the # of polls you have to take, but I do think creating a minimum threshold for the polls could be a good idea. That way, more of your takes can be included in the data, and there will be no accusations of coming in boosting. It will also help you contribute to the community more! I am not asking for a lot, but the new "threshold rule" will ask people to do two conditions:

1. Take at least five polls, four of which do not matter which season.
2. Take at least one poll not in the New Era (i.e. 1-40).

I would never want a threshold to be problematic for people, and I think this small rule change can engage people more, while not lopsiding specific results. Once you take 5, I don't really care how many you take after that. If both of those conditions are not met though by the end of 48, I have no choice but to remove your information from the polls. If you have any criticisms or worries about that, just let me know, I want this to be a conversation.

So with that all being said, I would love to thank everyone who has taken the polls again, and encourage anyone to take them before the next time we have the new season results coming in June 2025! I was really happy with how many new people took them and would love to see more people contributing to the community. This has been a lot of fun for me, and I hope to continue through it during Rankdown IX.

And lastly for old time's sake - here are some quick links if you are disappointed with a result or want to add your voice and/or edit previous responses:

• Masterlist containing all the polls
• Incentive Instructions
• Previous 1.0 spreadsheet
• Respondents Sheet- Remember to check to see if you did the polls - this page is completely up to date!

Rankdown has been a wonderful experience for me, and I really loved getting to know my rankers! I wanted to do this since I discovered VI because I love ranking things and I've always had a love of Survivor so it was a perfect blend. This activity was one of the last things I got to do before I began my future career, and I really had a blast doing it. I was going through a pretty rough time in college toward the end, and this took my mind off of a lot things and I'll always appreciate that. A long time ago with my Richard Hatch 2.0 cut (my first cut!) I mentioned that I wanted to do this for my writing abilities and reclaiming a love of doing just that. I've spent the last four years of my life arguing and writing about historical events, but this time I wanted to play with something more fun, like my favorite TV show ever. I hope I succeeded in doing some great writeup and made y'all realize that La Mina is underrated.

But who cares about me, who I really want to thank is YOU the spectators! Half the fun of this adventure (that took less than a year, good for all of us!) was getting to talk and meet many new people. Ultimately, the rankdown community, despite our differences of opinion is a community, and I really enjoyed interacting with all of you. No matter if you were an active commenter, a past ranker, or a lurker who never commented on here but read our writeups, you guys all are truly the bread and butter here, and I think I can speak on behalf of the rankers that we had a lot of fun interacting with y'all. Survivor Rankdown IX is looming around the corner, and I hope that some of you take a plunge for the next rankdown and do what we did and rank these characters and speak your truth and opinions - truly a unique experience!

Anywho, Reg out. Peace, love, and polls (yes I am shallow, what can I say).

That's right, pimps and players, we're back to honor the biggest and baddest things to come out of the eighth Survivor Rankdown, as voted by you, the people reading this.

(look ig you didn't vote that's on you y'all had three weeks to vote)

As a quick reminder, when Endgame was locked in, I opened up a thread to nominate Things and Stuff, and then voting ran concurrently to Endgame. And now we have results, so let's go through them!

We had 16 voters, and said voters voted in nearly every category. I will cast a tie-breaking vote for first place if there is a tie; I did not vote so that I could break ties fairly.

We ready? Good. Let's do this. I'm going to list the winner and runner-up in each category, as well as the percentage of votes for them.

Best Write-Up

Runner-up: Brandon Hantz 1.0 (Regnisyak1, Round 91, #224) [26.7%]

Winner: Chris Underwood (DryBonsKing, Round 81, #288) [33.3%]

Funniest Write-Up

Runner-Up: JT Thomas 2.0 (DryBonesKing, Round 109, #128) [26.7%]

Winner: Ryan Opray (ninjedi1, Round 36, #566) [46.7%]

Most Unique Write-Up

Runner-up: Ryan Opray (ninjedi1, Round 36, #566) [31.3%]

Winner: Amanda Kimmel 1.0 & 3.0 (DryBonesKing and Zanthosus, Round 78, #306 & #305) [50.0%]

Hottest Take on a Character

Runner-up: DryBonesKing, on Rick Nelson [12.5%]

Winner; Ninjedi1, on Phillip Sheppard 2.0 [75.0%]

Best Cut Response

This was tied for first, so you know what that means.

Runner-up: CarbonKrishna's response to Robert DeCanio's cut (Round 60) [31.3%]

Winner: KororSurvivor's response to Chris Noble's cut (Round 41) [31.3%; won tiebreaker]

Best Comment Not Responding to a Cut

Runner-up: AMeanMotorScooter commenting on the Black Alliance's downfall in 41 (in Round 38) [25.0%]

Winner: CarbonKrishna going off about Robert DeCanio [43.8%]

Best Power Use

There was a tie for second, so I'll list both of them and their vote share and not break the tie.

Runners-up: Regnisyak1's Stephanie Valencia Idol (Round 9) and SMC0269's Jake Billingsley Vote Steal (Round 40) [25.0% each]

Winner: DryBonesKing's Erik Reichenbach 1.0 Idol (Round 111) [37.5%]

Best Rankdown Storyline

Runner-up: The People vs. CarbonKrishna [31.3%]

Winner: The Ongoing Saga of Phillip Sheppard 2.0 [43.8%]

Favorite Ranker

I will mention that every listed ranker received votes.

Runner-up: Zanthosus [25.0%]

Winer: DryBonesKing [31.3%]

Favorite Spectator

Runner-up: Mia123445 [31.3%]

Winner: CarbonKrishna [43.8%]

The EatonEaton/JAniston8393 Memorial Award for Best Bamboozle

So, fun fact: the other three options were all tied for second. So I'm just going to list the winner.

Winner: Phillip Sheppard 2.0 getting top 100 [62.5%]

Character that got too high

Another tie for second.

Runners-up: Jane Bright (Endgame) and Rick Nelson (#86) [18.8% each]

Winner: Phillip Sheppard 2.0 (#94) [56.3%]

Character that was cut too early

Another tie for second.

Runners-up: Malcolm Freberg 1.0 (#206) and Jonny Fairplay 1.0 (#56) [25.0% each]

Winner: Rob Cesternino 1.0 (#688) [37.5%]

Favorite write-up from SMC0629

Runner-up: Benry Henry (Round 80, #296) [37.5%]

Winner: Sash Lenahan (Round 45, #516) [50.0%]

Favorite write-up from DryBonesKing

A tie for first this time. You know the drill.

Runner-up: Ken Hoang (Round 101, #172) [31.3%]

Winner: Chris Underwood (Round 81. #288) [31.3%; won tiebreaker]

Favorite write-up from Zanthosus

Runner-up: Matthew Grinstead-Mayle (Round 6, #766) [31.3%]

Winner: Stephannie Favor (Round 58, #430) [43.8%]

Favorite write-up from Tommyroxs45

A tie for second.

Runners-up: Ozzy Lusth 3.0 (Round 85, #261) and Lex van den Berghe 2.0 (Round 79, #298) [25.0% each]

Winner: Coach Wade 1.0 (Round 124, #46) [37.5%]

Favorite write-up from Regnisyak1

Runner-up: Melinda Hyder (Round 64, #390) [25.0%]

Winner: Brandon Hantz 1.0 (Round 91, #224) [50.0%]

Favorite write-up from DavidW1208

Gone but not forgotten.

Runner-up: JP Hilsabeck (Round 57, #434) [37.5%]

Winner: Rocky Reid (Round 4, #777) [50.0%]

Favorite write-up from ninjedi1

Runner-up: Ryan Opray (Round 36, #566) [31.3%]

Winner: Phillip Sheppard 2.0 (Round 115, #94) [62.5%]

Favorite Round of Survivor Rankdown VIII

Runner-up: Round 41 (Ghost Island is fully eliminated) [18.8%]

Winner: Round 8 (the Robdemption Island Gang Bang) [62.5%]

Most Aggressive Ranker

Runner-up: ninjedi1 [12.5%]

Winner: Regnisyak1 [87.5%]

Best Side Project

Runner-up: Final Fours (Noisysea_3426) [31.3%]

Winner: Historic Fours (acktar) [43.8%]

and the most important question of all

🍌?

Runner-up: 🍌 [18.8%]

Winner: :moth: [68.8%]

And that wraps it up! Thank you to everyone even CarbonKrishna; it's because of rankers (past and present) and commentariat members that make these so fun and this such a fun community overall.

I'll see y'all when I see y'all, and thank you for reading this far.

:moth:

WINNER: Twila Tanner (Vanuatu - 2nd)

and it wasnt even fucking close

u/SMC0629:

Twila is an excellent character, full-stop. Although I used to have her slightly character, I never stopped loving her. She's got an excellent personality, she doesn't take shit from anyone, and her dominant run in the post-merge is so entertaining. The true centerpiece of her character is when it all comes back to bite her in the end, as she's basically torn apart by the jury. It's honestly heartbreaking, even if she takes it well, but it's still a great downfall to her character.

~

u/DryBonesKing:

Which casting director found Twila? And which producer decided to go forward with her specifically on a gender divided season? I hope everyone involved in this decision is set for life! Twila is probably always guaranteed to be a perfect casting choice every time she’s cast, but in Vanuatu, she provides so much amazing content. Like, I don’t even know where to start on this; her relationship with Scout, her feud with Elizas, the dynamic between her and Ami, her friendship with Sarge that she promptly destroyed, everything about her relationship with Chris… I could go on. Honest to god, if I were doing her writeup, I’d be concerned it would not end. She might be one of the densest characters in Survivor history when it comes to meaningful content to discuss. 

For the sake of these little “condensed” write-ups, I suppose it’s mostly fitting to just focus in on the moral dilemmas she faced when it came to swearing on her son. Twila’s story could probably be best described as Faustian as she digs herself multiple holes for the bodies of the Vanuatu castaways she ruthlessly slaughters on her quest for a million dollars, only to realize she had actually been digging her own grave alongside it. Twila really helps sell the idea that the road to hell is paved in good intentions, as you truly leave the season understanding why she did everything she did for her son, but also completely understand why nearly the whole jury – from Sarge to Leann to Eliza – just want to watch her suffer. 

Vanuatu is actually my mother’s favorite season and the dynamic between both Twila and Scout is my Mom’s personal favorite. One of our favorite moments in Survivor history occurs right before Final Tribal Council when Chris and Twila are laying in the hammock and it just snaps on them. And then it cuts to Twila just belly-laughing the most genuine, sincerest laugh. After literally going through hell, and right before the hell gets worse, Twila is just shown smiling and laughing and relaxing, and it’s probably one of the single most endearing moments in the show’s history. Twila has a credible claim to the most tragic tale in the show’s history, and I will always love her forever for it. Even though she is only my number five of all time, I am fully expecting her to win this Rankdown, and I’ll be very very sad if she doesn’t. Cause goddammit, she deserves it. 

Overall Rank – 5/821

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

Twila is a huge badass and absolutely drives so much of the conflict that Vanuatu is known for. She’s is an incredibly entertaining character and never misses with her fights with people like Mia or Eliza, which also really culminate into a great story and a downfall for Twila.

~

u/Regnisyak1:

Twila, Twila, Twila. A beautiful story on Vanuatu, she quickly becomes the heart and soul of the season, with her attitude on the season and the complexity around her storyline in bonding with the women on the tribe. She was never able to fit in, so her flip felt powerful and tragic for the women on the tribe, creating a tense endgame. However, Twila and her status as a villain is centralized by the concept of her swearing on her son’s life and it affects her entire game. “I Swear” effectively ruined Twila’s game, but also her character and how people perceive her, and watching her realize she lost the million dollars over such a critical mistake leads to one of the most fascinating FTC performances. 

Personal Rank: 3/821. 10/10

~

u/ninjedi1:

The real queen of Survivor! Twila is clearly one of the best character's on Survivor, and is the best part of Vanautu. Her not really connecting with the women on her tribe which causes the divide, her bonding with the men at the swap only to jump ship at merge to vote with the women, and then burning them later down the line after swearing on her son, all iconic. Then her FTC is so good to watch as she has to come to terms with what she's done with the game. Twila's whole story that season is just a roller coaster I never want to get off of!

~~~~~

u/Zanthosus:

Twila is one of a kind in the best way possible. I absolutely adore everything about her. She’s one of very few “perfect” characters in the show’s history that I can really point to. There’s no part of her story that leaves me wanting or disappointed. It’s an excellently crafted narrative built around an endlessly intriguing person who is my favorite runner-up in the history of the show. And for me, the thing that really makes her stand out above so many others is the way she’s unabashedly and unapologetically herself the entire time. All too often on Survivor, you see people putting on a mask or an act. And that can be fun in its own right from time to time, but Twila is genuine through and through and she’s all the better for it in my opinion.

Twila’s personality really drives conflict throughout her Survivor journey. We see this early on in the way you’d expect. She’s a hard worker who wants to get everything done right away while most of the rest of her tribe would rather spend the first day or two resting. This isn’t anything groundbreaking. Even at this point in the show, this is pretty standard early game conflict. But it is indicative of the kind of person that Twila is, and it sets a good baseline for how she plans to play the game. That being to her own tune; she’s not playing for anyone but herself. And during these early episodes on Yasur, Twila ends up in many spats with her tribemates. Notable examples are Dolly, Mia, and of course Eliza. These “sorority girls” as she calls them get on her nerves like nothing else. These conflicts are, again, pretty standard Survivor faire. Don’t get me wrong, they’re entertaining. But it’s nothing revolutionary. In fact, that’s how I’d describe the pre-merge of Vanuatu as a whole. Good, but not particularly remarkable in any significant way. But once the merge hits, all hell breaks loose. And this is where Twila really steps into her own and becomes one of the best characters in the history of the show.

After the swap, Twila had gotten a chance to bond with a few of the guys, namely Chris and Sarge. They had bonded fairly deeply on Lopevi and had gotten close. So when the time comes for her to choose a side at Alinta inaugural tribal, she sides with the women and takes out Rory. It’s this decision that sends shockwaves through most of the cast. The men are distraught that the person they thought they could trust just betrayed them. Meanwhile many of the women are surprised that Twila is even still interested in working with them after the time she spent on Lopevi. In fact, aside from Scout and Ami, she shocks everyone with this decision. And it’s this choice that kick starts her journey through the post-merge.

The fallout from the Rory vote is incredibly TV. There’s really no other way to put it. Seeing Twila butting heads with the likes of Chris and Sarge, two people she got so close with before, is incredibly engaging. And it doesn’t bubble over into anger or rage, but rather disappointment. Seeing these two guys express sadness and wishing for what could have been with Twila as part of their numbers is a legitimately interesting thing to see unfold and it helps to add layers to both of these men that we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten the chance to see. And its in these moments that we get a bit of insight as to how Twila sees the game. She’s not letting her emotions get in the way of what she believes that she needs to do in order to make it further. In stark contrast to the older women archetype you’d expect like T-Bird or Trish Hegarty, she’s willing to make the tough decisions if it means she survives another day. Maybe the best comparison would be to Sandra and her “anyone but me” mentality, but even then Twila takes a comparatively much more hands-on and active role during the season.

Because even despite Sarge and her taking a moment to reconnect a bit, and him reiterating that he wants her as part of his and Chris’s final four alliance, Twila sticks to her guns and takes him out, continuing the Pagonging of the men. At this point, Chris has largely given up hope of repairing the bridge that Twila burned, and instead finds himself scrambling, doing whatever he can to just not be the next casualty. Whether that’s winning immunity for himself, or making another player seem like a juicier target. And initially, this isn’t too much of a tall task for him. Chad is a fairly obvious next choice for elimination. But after that, he’s the sitting duck as the final man on the island. He’s a prime candidate for an easy vote. But Twila sees an opportunity there where others don’t. You see, even despite working with the women during the post-merge, she still hasn’t been getting along all that well with either Ami or Eliza. As a result, she’s interested in making sure they’re the next two eliminated. After all, Chris is an easy vote down the line. He can just be taken out at any point that’s convenient. But Ami? She’s dangerous. She has power in the game and has started to catch wind of Twila’s distrust of her. So the solution? Ami needs to be taken down a peg. However instead of actually going all the way and taking out Ami herself, they decide to target her right-hand-woman, Leann. To Chris, this accomplishes the same thing. He’s still in the game. But for Twila, this really doesn’t accomplish what she had hoped it would.

The fallout from the Rory vote was impactful and a wake up call to much of the cast. The fallout from Leann’s elimination though is a whole other beast in and of itself. Immediately, of course, there’s the fight that occurs between Ami and Twila back at camp. But in a more broad perspective, this is showing to both the jury and her tribesmates that she’s not afraid to cut throats and burn bridges if it means getting her way. Her loyalty lasts for as long as it’s convenient for her, and that’s a scary proposition for those sitting beside her and an unflattering look to those on the jury. “You’ve been had. Get over it. Screw you.” is a quote that particularly sticks out to me, both as a hilarious quip out of context, but also in showing how Twila’s character has stayed congruent to how we saw her even at the start of the game. It’s astonishing how brazenly herself she is willing to be, even to the detriment of her own game. Maybe even more unbelievable though is how she fails to see how with every decision and statement like this, her already miniscule chances of winning dwindle more and more. Swearing on her son’s life in particular puts her in the bad graces of everyone once she breaks that promise, and that’s really just the tip of the iceberg.

And I know that this is where many detractors of Twila point to when explaining why she doesn’t work for them. “She’s way too mean-spirited and negative” is one that I hear most often as a point against her. And I do understand where that is coming from. One of my earliest writeups was talking about how Corinne’s ceaseless negativity in Gabon makes her insufferable to me. So I get why that would be a deal breaker in theory. But when it comes to Twila herself, there’s something so authentic about her that players like Corinne never manage to replicate. Twila is making these choices to further her game, and that is in line with not just her established motivations and personality, but it builds upon what we already know about her in ways that we’d otherwise be unlikely to see. Meanwhile with Corinne, it feels like she’s being cruel and nasty for the sake of it in a desperate attempt to get more screen time. So while I understand and can empathize to an extent with those who don’t find Twila to be as amazing a character as I do, I simply can’t agree. Because when all is said and done, Twila’s story is a masterpiece. And the magnum opus is the final five of Vanuatu.

Everything immediately after the Ami elimination is utter chaos. Twila and Eliza are constantly at each other’s throats, with Julie frequently joining Eliza in ridiculing and insulting Twila. Meanwhile, Chris is adamant on keeping the bond between himself, Scout, and Twila strong and steady, as that’s his only real option forward. Even if Eliza would be willing to work with him for one vote to take out Twila, he’s certain she'd immediately flip on him and take him out at four instead. After Eliza wins an important immunity, Chris decides that there’s value in letting chaos continue at camp and opts to vote for Julie, resulting in her elimination.

This final four is so fucking funny when you really think about it. You have Chris, the final guy who, realistically, should have been gone ages ago but has survived due to the women being at each other's' throats at every turn. Then there’s Eliza, the one who is seen as wholly undeserving of having even made it that far. Scout is perhaps the least intriguing of the bunch, though she herself isn’t very respected by most of the cast due to her general hands-off approach and seemingly apathetic attitude towards the game. And then there’s Twila. The one who nobody truly wants to win. Someone who has burned just about every bridge possible because she’s going to play the way she deems necessary. To those sitting on the jury, this is the worst case scenario. And it’s only going to get crazier. Because that beef between Eliza and Twila? It’s not stopping any time soon! The finale may be the crescendo of the rivalry between the two of them, but nothing truly gets resolved. By the end, they still hate each other's' guts, and that bitterness will carry into the FTC.

But before that, Twila has one last bridge to burn. You see, she wins the final immunity challenge and thus has the ability to choose whether she wants to take Scout, her constant ally throughout the game. Even if she couldn’t count on anyone else, she knew that Scout would have her back. Or, she could choose Chris. Someone that, if you asked any of the women, should have already been gone over a week ago. Someone who survived due to his ability to build relationships and keep in peoples’ good graces while Twila actively chose to do the opposite. It’s one of the starkest juxtapositions between two finalists we’ve maybe ever seen. Not just in how they got to the end, but in how their performances at FTC are so starkly different. Twila is still her same blunt self, not caring if what she says hurts feelings. She’s going to tell it as it is, and if you don’t like it, then that’s your problem. But with Chris, he’s willing to tell people exactly what they want to hear. He’ll lie to them and butter them up if it means it gives him a better chance to win. He uses those relationships he built, the very same ones that Twila refused to forge, to defeat her in a 5-2 vote. This FTC is a perfect encapsulation of Twila’s story this season. Vanuatu is a season that I have a lot of love for. The post-merge is damn near perfect, and Twila holds so much responsibility as for why that is. She’s one of few perfect characters, and is well deserving of a spot in endgame.

Well, there it is. My final writeup for Survivor Rankdown VIII. Not gonna lie, I’m kinda burnt out, but this was one hell of a fun ride. And what better way to cap off this incredible experience than one final love letter to one of my favorite characters of all time. Even through all the ups and downs of this rankdown, I had an absolute blast taking part in it. Thank you to everyone who has followed this experience and cheered us on throughout. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Love and cheers to you all! 

SMC0629: 2

DryBonesKing: 5

Zanthosus: 7

Tommyroxs45: 4

Regnisyak1: 3

DavidW1208: 3

ninjedi1: 4

Average Placement: 4.000

Total Points: 28

Standard Deviation: 1.633 (Lowest)

2nd: Ian Rosenberger (Palau - 3rd)

friends forever <3

u/DryBonesKing:

Claims to be a dolphin trainer. Yet, he shows us no dolphin tricks. Even worse, there aren’t even any dolphins showed with him. Literally unwatchable, zero out of ten. I’m sure a New Era Dolphin Trainer would have the decency to have a flashback scene with pictures of a dolphin…

I opt to meme about Ian instead of trying to do a writeup because what is there to fucking say? It’s Ian fucking Rosenberger! I think I know more people who have Ian as their number one favorite Survivor of all than any other Survivor. That’s the pull that this guy has! I currently have placed all my chips on Twila being the one who will end up winning this Rankdown, but I think Ian is just as likely and is just as equally deserving. And just like Twila, he also has the distinct pleasure of being one of the most tragic figures in Survivor history after a very complicated story of having his morals completely and utterly tested in the worst ways possible. 

The entire relationship between Ian, Tom, and Katie feels scripted. That’s how good of a story it is, because I almost refuse to believe that somehow reality can actually work the way that it did. Watching this goofy, smiley, joyful guy at the beginning and seeing him completely broken holding onto a buoy in the final immunity challenge – not even out of a desire to win but almost out of instinct and a desire to figure out who he is as a person – is some of the rawest shit I’ve ever seen. And somehow, despite all of the tragedy involved in his tale, seeing him finally make peace with himself at the very end of a brutal, neverending challenge and going out seemingly on his own terms just feels so much more personally satisfying than any other possible ending I could have imagined. Palau is a brutal, emotional watch and Ian is an incredible rollercoaster experience to observe as well, but goddamn, when it’s all said and over, it truly feels worth it by the end of it all.  

Overall Rank – 6/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

Ian is my favorite character in the history of the show. I adore everything about his story. I’m naturally drawn to people who let their emotions influence their decisions in the game over strategy and there’s really nobody else to exemplify why I adore that than Ian.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

Ian has one of the best stories in Survivor history, and I think to most, including me, that’s an object fact. His story is a testament to what Survivor does to you mentally and how important vital relationships are in Survivor, not because of the game, but for you. It’s told absolutely brilliantly and he makes the endgame of Palau probably the best endgame in the history of Survivor. He deserves his spot here, among the greats!

~

u/Regnisyak1:

Ian has one of the strongest, most emotional, incredible, captivating, enticing, exciting, craziest, and engaging stories ever on Survivor. That’s a lot of adjectives, but I think he is such a complex character and helps make Palau, Palau. Watching his breakdown at the end of the season is so rough, but such an important story and it encapsulates the power of friendship, how the island wears you down over time, the conflicting storylines involving leadership, and a subversion of gender roles of those traditionally expected in society. I love Ian, I love his relationships with other characters like Tom, Caryn, and Katie, and his place in Endgame, and eighth time overall, is completely deserved. 

Personal Rank: 2/821. 10/10.

~

u/ninjedi1:

Ian is an interesting guy on Palau. He's the one that ends up beginning the formation of the dominant Koror tribe, and is pretty much in the driver's seat with Tom the entire time in premerge. However, his relationships start to fall apart as the game progresses, to the point where he's a huge emotional, mess, and makes the big decision to throw himself on the sword to let his friends make it to the end of the game.

~~~~~

u/SMC0629:

Ian Rosenberger

I think I’m done with Survivor after this writeup. I’ve come to realize that the show just isn’t for me anymore. There’s many different things I’m interested in, and have become more interested in than Survivor. It’s been nine years, nine long, but amazing years of being a loving fan of the show. From elementary school, where I’d come home awaiting the newest episode, making tribes out of people in my classes. To middle school, where I discovered Survivor content on Youtube, interacting with the people in the comment sections (if you know who A.J Deets is you’re a real one), and discovering what the “edit” was. To high school, where I discovered rankdowns. That first rankdown from 2022, and this one, have made me consider who really is my favorite character in the show. For the longest time, my favorite character has been Jonny Fairplay 1.0, and I still hold to that. However, he was sadly cut before endgame, so I had to find a second option. I had to think, who is my favorite? More importantly, what character encapsulates why I keep coming back to this show, and what makes me love it so much? There were many options, a lot of them in this very endgame roster, but one stuck out to me. One character that I’ve adored since my first watch of their season back in 2017, one that stayed in my mind when scrolling through r/survivor in middle school, and one that has been ranked high for me in these rankdowns. Maybe one day, he’ll even find himself at the coveted top spot, and that character is Ian Rosenberger. 

Going back to that original state of mind I had, a casual Survivor fan in 2017, just now experiencing old-school Survivor (with the exception of All-Stars). Why did I like Ian right off the bat? Well, my dad’s name is Ian, I’m sure that had some part in it, along with his funny looking hair. His occupation was being a “dolphin trainer,” which I thought was really cool. On top of that though, he seemed like a chill guy, and back then I always rooted for the more physical competitors. After all, he just won the first “challenge” of the season, by racing back to shore and winning the immunity necklace. This would only continue throughout the first few episodes of the season, as Ian would be a dominant figure in the Koror tribe, being more nice than someone like Tom, but not as big in the picture. He even retrieved the reward Koror had lost at sea after their first immunity challenge. 

Skipping ahead to the later half of the premerge, and I suppose the early merge as well, Ian’s charisma really shines. This is something that’s really important, not just for his character, but why I enjoyed him so much too. Back in middle school, I referred to most of my favorite old school characters as just being ones that were likable. Obviously, this doesn’t hold up now, like most of my r/survivor era takes (along with great ones such as “Ghost Island is my 16th favorite season”), as I had a big preference towards the newer seasons with some exceptions. However, due to the nostalgia I had for Palau, that season was always one of my favorites, and Ian was always one of my favorite contestants. While he may never have been the center of attention until the very end, he was always there in the background, making a smart comment or something. His voting confessionals are a great example, like the one for Gregg: “Gregg, you’re the dark horse, so now it’s time for the dark horse to ride out into the sunset.” 

However, that background status plays into two different relationships perfectly, the two most important of the season, mind you: Katie and Tom. Katie represents his social game, the person who Ian has created the biggest bond with throughout the season, as seen through numerous moments. As for Tom, Ian’s other best friend, it plays into the factor of the game. See the thing is, Tom has always had his mind on the game, whether it’s questioning his threat level, using Steph’s target to his advantage, or thinking about his different alliances. Ian on the other hand, has floated in the background, letting Tom take the heat, intentionally or unintentionally. Either way, Tom is seen as the bigger player, and his first two immunity wins are nothing to scoff at either. It’s at the final six where both of these relationships begin to clash, and the downfall of Ian begins. At first, Gregg becomes too comfortable, making his ideal final three plan too clear, alarming Tom “it’s the cake, we didn’t come here for the icing.” With this, Tom brings in Ian to conspire against Gregg, working together with Caryn to blindside him. Once again, Tom is taking the reins, proving to be a smarter player overall than Ian, but something different happens this time. Instead, it’s Ian who takes the heat when he is forced to pull in Katie at the last minute. Katie agrees, breaking her word with Gregg and Jenn, basically sinking any chance she might have had at beating someone. Things go from dicey to outright bad for Ian quickly, as he wins the final five reward challenge, but brings Tom with him after agreeing to bring Katie beforehand. Katie is furious at Ian, and when he gets back from the reward, she lays into him, both of them shedding tears. It’s such an impactful and real moment, but the two’s friendship overcomes it, and they come together to vote out Caryn that night. 

By this point, Ian knows he needs to get Tom out. That’s all he needs actually. Him and Katie in the final two is an easy 1 mil for him, he just needs to eliminate his best friend. Unfortunately, Tom pulls out another immunity win. Despite that, Tom values his friendship with Ian, and is fine keeping him around to vote off Jenn. Ian however, is foaming at the mouth to get Tom out, so bad that he actually slips up in front of him, saying that it would have been a tough decision had Tom not won immunity. Immediately, Tom’s alarm bells ring, and he knows Ian is gunning for him. The mood at tribal council is dramatically different than at camp. What could have been a remorseful goodbye to Jenn has turned into a showdown between two friends. Tom scolds Ian for betraying their friendship, and no matter how much Ian denies it, the pieces have already fallen in place. Despite Ian saving himself in fire, he may as well be a ghost to his two best friends. Katie and Tom haven’t said a word to him since tribal, and Ian breaks down in a confessional. He didn’t want to be the bad guy, it shouldn’t have gone this way. This scene really struck a chord for me on my first watch, and has always stuck with me. Despite it all, Ian still has one last chance to score the big prize, the final immunity challenge. Pretty quickly, Katie drops out, leaving it down to the final showdown against Tom. Tom still doesn’t say much to Ian, with Ian trying to stay confident. During the whole challenge though, you can tell Ian’s masking his true feelings, he wants to say so many things to Tom and Katie but can’t. The two stay up on those poles for almost 12 hours, until finally, Ian’s mask comes off. Ian says he’ll step down, and Tom can take Katie to the final two, to show that he still cares about their friendship. And for the first time in this challenge, Tom gives him a genuine response, agreeing to his wishes. Ian immediately dives off, losing his chance at the million, but winning back his two best friends. Tom votes Ian off, not his competitor Ian, not his tribemate Ian, but “my buddy Ian.” That’s all you need to hear to show that everything’s gone back to normal. Ian is the final person voted out of the game, thus ending the story of one of my favorite characters the show has ever seen.

Ian’s in a pretty close race for my favorite character of all time, there’s a lot of contenders. Fairplay, Twila, Fabio, Chris D, Sandra, all very close together alongside Ian. However, if there was one character I could choose to take their story away from the show, it would be Ian’s. I would want to be like Ian, and I think his story is inspirational to people who might not have confidence, might not be sure of themselves or what they want. Ian’s values are what I aspire to have, and I couldn’t be more thankful that I connected so much with his story. If this is the final writeup I have on this show, I’m more than happy with that. Thank you all for supporting me throughout the rankdown, thank you to the rankers for being a great group of people, thank you Survivor, and most importantly, thank you Ian. 

SMC0629: 1

DryBonesKing: 6

Zanthosus: 1

Tommyroxs45: 3

Regnisyak1: 2

DavidW1208: 15

ninjedi1: 19

Average Placement: 6.714

Total Points: 47

Standard Deviation: 7.319 (7th Highest)

3rd: Sandra Diaz-Twine 1.0 (Pearl Islands - Winner)

we're not worthy.

u/SMC0629:

Sandra 1.0 is my favorite winner of the show, and while that could change (since her, Chris D, and Fabio are all super close), I still think she's flawless. Pearl Islands Sandra has this rawness in both her humor and emotional moments that I honestly don't think any other season with her can replicate. In her following seasons, you can tell she's slightly playing a character in the back of her mind, but in her first season, it's all fresh. Her rivalry with Jon is spectacular, her relationships with Lill, Burton, Rupert, and Christa are great, and her journey to the end is incredible. Such a fantastic character and as of now, my favorite winner.

~

u/Zanthosus:

Her rivalry with Fairplay is legendary. Add onto that the fact that she’s the undisputed star of every scene she’s in and you have the recipe for a bonafide icon. No matter if it’s her haggling in the village, stealing the tarp, dumping out the fish, or getting loud too, she’s just incredible to watch. I may have mixed feelings towards what her legacy has become following her second win, but there’s no denying that Sandra 1.0 is absolutely incredible.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

I CAN GET LOUD TOO, WHAT TH-. There’s a reason Sandra is the most quoted Survivor of all time, every time she is on screen she is an iconic queen and I will always love her for the entertainment she brought. Even though I would have Sandra 2.0 here over 1.0, I’m still glad at least one of them made it.

~

u/Regnisyak1:

Sandra is the ultimate subversion of a “hero” on Survivor, and I adore her for that. A quote machine (I CAN GET LOUD TOO, WHAT THE FUCK!), Sandra delivers the entertainment factor of the season and makes it an incredible time. While I do think Pearl Islands is a wee overrated, I can’t deny Sandra’s incredible role in the season, her bickering with Fairplay, her friendship with Rupert and Christa, and her absolute decimation of Burton led to some of the most entertaining parts of the season. She is the queen, and she will stay in that position until the end of Survivor. 

Personal Rank: 15/821. 10/10. 

~

u/ninjedi1:

Sandra is a really great winner, although not my favorite. She's an amazing personality and has great chemistry with Rupert, Christa, JF, and so many others. There are so many great lines that she says like "I CAN GET LOUD TO WHAT THE FUCK" and so many more, plus her able to overcome everything to make it to the finale and win is great. Also, love the most iconic opening confessional she has.

~~~~~

u/DryBonesKing:

This one… I've started this writeup over and over, trying to figure out precisely what I want to say. Because, honestly, what is there to say that hasn’t already been said? Sandra Diaz-goddamn-Twine (her full, government name, btw. Check it out) literally speaks for herself. She’s honestly probably the safest person to say is one of your favorite Survivors of all time because of just “how” much she can appeal to anybody! Are you a narrative person? Sandra’s got that in spades, with two back-to-back revenge narratives that feel genuinely fresh. Are you here for the funny? SHE CAN GET LOUD TOO, WHAT THE FUCK, and she’ll make you laugh as she does so! Are you a strategy fan? Well, the masterclass UTR gameplay and the two-time winner status sorta speaks for itself. Are you a Facebook-casual type of fan? Well, while you are the type to most likely dislike her, she is Rupert’s buddy so you can definitely root for her for that reason at the very least! Again, there’s something about her for everybody!

It becomes hell trying to think of what to actually say about her that hasn’t already been said about her in the past. A part of me is tempted to do a long-form essay on why specifically Pearl Islands Sandra is better than her HvV version - and that was my original plan - but I definitely am a little burnt out at the moment to do a super in-depth version of that writeup, and I worry that a “not fully perfect” write-up of that will just come across mean-spirited regarding my Heroes vs. Villains take. So, I’ll save those thoughts for a later date. As for what else to possibly write about… well, her narrative has been dissected to death in previous rankdowns. A lot of her best moments are just common knowledge to Survivor fans. Is there any unique perspective I can provide about Sandra? 

Well… yes. And quite frankly, it’s probably the most important one to me, as it is what keeps Sandra in my top five of all time and in rotation for occasionally being my favorite player of all time. And it’s specifically what her win means to me. 

Like, Sandra’s Pearl Islands win is just grand, okay? Her getting revenge for Rupert? Her outlasting and overcoming both Burton and Fairplay? Her playing a near perfect game and almost shutting-out Lil? Her being this personification of hero and villain and the perfect type of winner to best represent Pearl Islands? Like it’s all great on a superficial storytelling level. Pearl Islands would be a weaker season with literally any other winner, and that’s an incredible feat when you consider the caliber of that cast!

But like… to me, the thing that truly feels the most central about Sandra is just how unapologetically Latina she is. While Sandra’s opening confessional where she drops a “shit” to open the season is iconic, her first “moment” is that village scene where she shines as Drake’s hero completely setting up their tribe for success. And she does so with her Spanish. She hustles. She barters. She jokes about Trish being loved in a sexual way. She gets Fairplay to give her the only compliment he will ever give her in the entire season. And this energy is something she just continues with.

In her later seasons, there is definitely an aspect of Sandra that definitely feels “grander”. Like, she’s the two-time winner, “Queen Stays Queen” persona with much more of an ego and a general feeling that Sandra the character is there and being the best in any given scene. And, like, I’m not trying to shoot down on the authenticity of her in Heroes vs Villains, or Game Changers, or Winners at War, but it’s just objectively a fact that she now has an idea of who she is in Survivor lore and is presented to fit that viewpoint. 

But in Pearl Islands, she’s just a normal woman. She’s just “Changa”. There’s no filter, and it just feels so much more humane. And then when you put her up against these larger than life figures like Rupert “the pirate” and Jonny Fairplay “the scientifically-designed Survivor heel”, Sandra just feels even more powerful that she is able to scream and shout and scheme and keep her character on their level. And she’s doing this while also being such an amazing representation for the Latino communities!

Jessie Camacho may have been the first, but she essentially was a non-entity in Africa thanks to her sickness/early boot. To us Latino viewers, Sandra really was the very first prominent Latino representation. From the focus on her Spanish-speaking to the fact that in the loved one visit challenge that she said her favorite food was Arroz con Gandules to just her mannerisms and the way she carries herself… Again, I’ve talked about this multiple times already in my write-ups, but I felt so seen. 

Seeing her become as big of a character as she did was already amazing. And then seeing her ultimately end up winning… I’ve already mentioned this in my Yam Yam write-up, but I cried. Like, a lot. Because Sandra just felt unlike any other character on Survivor before. I truly felt like I could know her, that she was like a tia that I probably could have, a prima I’d have visited on the weekends… that’s the impact she had on me. And seeing this more relatable person end up being the winner of easily the best season of Survivor I had ever seen up to that point… my younger self could barely contain it. 

Does Sandra deserve a much longer, more story-focused write-up? Possibly. But honestly… my love for Changa is a lot more personal. So any attempt over the past almost-month of working on these final write-ups, nothing just felt right to me. I’m not sure how fitting of a read this will feel to someone else, but to me… it just seems right. Sandra is my third favorite of all time. She’s occasionally my favorite of all time depending on my mood. She was my favorite for the longest time ever. And ultimately why? Because when she won, I cried my eyes out because I was so happy. 

Literally, a perfect Survivor player. Thank you, Sandra Diaz-Twine. For making Survivor that much more important and transformative to me. 

SMC0629: 4

DryBonesKing: 3

Zanthosus: 11

Tommyroxs45: 16

Regnisyak1: 11

DavidW1208: 2

ninjedi1: 11

Average Placement: 8.286

Total Points: 58

Standard Deviation: 6.651 (9th Highest)

4th: Shane Powers (Panama - 5th)

i have an issue with my penis, im so sorry. the linsanity run ends here!

u/SMC0629:

Shane is a character who I don't think you can replicate. His focus on humor is something people can find overbearing, but most of it is just a joy to watch. He has some of the funniest moments the show has seen, whether intentional or unintentional. However, the main reason I love Shane is his moral and emotional stuff. From his nicotine withdrawls, to his relationship with Aras, to most imporantly, his bond with his son. It makes for to this day, the best family visit the show has ever seen. Shane is incredible, very deserving of endgame.

~

u/DryBonesKing:

So of all the people in this Endgame who are in my Personal Top 100, Shane ranks the lowest. I’ve actually lowered on him a little bit since this thing started and if I had no deals attached at all, I’d probably have him cut around the same time I tried to cut Lex. One of my 10/10s with minor criticism. But before I get into that, let’s talk up why Shane’s great: because he’s literally batshit. 

I cannot fathom how he passed the psyche test to get on the cast, because there’s so much going on with him to the point of it being overwhelming. Shane going cold turkey with his nicotine withdrawal is an amazing case study that doesn’t feel ethical, but goddammit was it entertaining! Shane slots perfectly into Casaya and his dynamic with literally everyone on that godforsaken tribe (but especially his relationship with Courtney) is perfect. Hell, he’s also got an underrated dynamic with Terry as well and I think gives the guy some very interesting characterization in the endgame. Shane’s batshit energy and “bad vibes” however does get offset by his relationship with his son, which I think is probably one of my favorite loved one visits of all time. Boston helps humanize him in a way that you normally don’t get to see for these “crazy” type of characters and their whole dynamic and the build-up to the loved one visit is probably one of the biggest reasons why Shane not only works, but works perfectly. 

The only criticism I think I can give Shane is that sometimes, his bullshit does come across a bit too much. Like, moments where he loses his shit on Courtney and threatens to kill her in her shitty apartment? Feels believable in terms of his loss of sanity. Him losing his shit about “his sitting spot”? Pushing it, but I kinda buy it. But that whole blackberry scene? Honestly, a bit too much, makes the whole character feel a little fake. Like I know he’s doing a bit, but he says it such crazed energy and the edit takes him serious enough that it just rubs me the wrong way. It’s admittedly only a single scene so it doesn’t irk me enough to bring him down from a 10/10, but like Lex and his relationship with Big Tom, it’s just a minor nitpick I have with this otherwise flawless character. 

Overall Rank – 87/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

Shane rides the line of being incredibly chaotic without it ever becoming concerning or worrisome. That’s not to say it never rides that line incredibly close, because there’s definitely points where he can bring a level of discomfort to the season that makes me hesitant to consider him truly great. Even despite that, though, he makes for incredible TV nine times out of ten, so I’m still glad he’s made it to endgame again.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

Shane is the soul of Casaya, all of the incredible moments quoted to this day basically all come from Shane. He works so well with the rest of the tribe and how he and the rest of them are somehow able to control the game is baffling but also comedic gold. 

~

u/Regnisyak1:

You better believe I am getting him to endgame in Survivor Rankdown: All-Stars to do his damn writeup

Personal Rank: 4/821. 10/10.

~~~~~

u/ninjedi1:

When I was a kid, my bedtime was 8pm. However, because I was a little shit I would usually get out of bed usually about 30 to 50 minutes later and see what my Mom was watching on TV. This would be my first way I would experience Survivor for a while. My first experience were these two guys sitting at this set and one of the guys looked really cool with his beard and funky rainbow shirt. The next key Survivor memory I have is a challenge where they had to swim out and then down to get rings, but one guy drops him to the ocean floor, but then another guy goes down and goes “It was so deep…and I got it!” and that was really cool. I finally got a chance to see more than a couple minutes of an episode where I got to see most of this one episode where one team only had two people left on it, and I thought that they must stink at the game, and I was right cause they lost both challenges. Then my Mom started letting me watch the first half of the episodes about the jury phase of Guatemala, where I was rooting for Rafe cause I thought his name was cool. But finally, I got to experience my first real season right from the start, Survivor Panama Exile Island. Naturally, I needed to pick my favorite to root for in the season, and when I saw this one guy right at the start with hair that I thought looked cool and saw his name, I decided “Him. He’s my favorite”.

Shane Powers (5th Place, Panama)

Shane powers is my favorite survivor player of all time ever since I first saw him as a kid. I was worried on rewatch that I only liked him because I had nostalgia goggles on, but on rewatches I love him even more. The first episode actually greatly sets up who Shane is and what his story is going to be, which is actually pretty incredible considering all screen time is split between 4 teams, and La Mina wins immunity so they aren’t nearly as important for the focus of the first episode. He complains about how all his tribe wants to do is work and wants to call people out for being moronic. He also talks about how he just stopped smoking the day before coming out to the island, so he can’t lash out at anyone while he’s on this detox.

The next episode is when Shane hits a low point in the game. The shelter La Mina has isn’t finished when a huge rainstorm comes in, so they’re soaked, and wonders why he’s even out here cause he doesn’t need the money and misses his son. We also get two iconic lines back to back from him. Most remember the “No more torrential downpours sir god, no more of those!” line, but my favorite as a kid was “I do not like you flea!”. Luckily though, a swap happens and Shane gets first as “the cool guy with the Boston tattoo” to be on the new Casaya tribe and chooses Courtney to be on it. He then immediately starts trashing the season theme by complaining about how didn’t belong in the older men tribe because he was 34 going on 12 and prefers this new tribe as he doesn’t feel like wanting to leave at all. He even gets himself in a great spot strategically as Shane instantly forms an alliance with Aras, Courtney, and Danielle, swearing in his son to stay true and tells everyone that if they screw him he’ll kill them and tells them he’s serious when they laugh. However, that grace period ends quickly after they lose immunity, saying that Casaya is in dire straits and were wrecked physically, and now he was once again done with the game and wants to be voted out, which annoys everyone including the alliance he just made. However, he gets convinced by Aras to stick it out and he just needs water, so he decides to stay and immediately tells Cirie and Melinda to their face that they’re going home. Such a huge emotional roller coaster with Shane, and it's only the second episode.

The next couple episodes do set up a rhythm of how Shane’s experience on Casaya goes. For starters, he starts developing a big hatred for his two biggest allies, Danielle and Courtney. With Danielle, he feels like she doesn’t do nearly as much work as him or Aras, and argues with her about her aversion to working. He also gets annoyed with Courtney simply by the fact that she annoys him, and they end up bickering over everything. Another big part of Shane’s character is his big outbursts, the big one from episode three is when he gets a big rock to sit on and calls it his thinking seat, tells everyone that no one can sit on it, and when everyone laughs he starts yelling about how he just wants to sit on this rock. 

These emotions boil over in episode 5 when Casaya loses immunity again, and originally he wants to vote out Bobby, but gets convinced by Aras to vote Bruce. So Shane makes a deal with Bobby, swearing on his son that he would keep Bobby around until final 6. But uh oh, the women of the tribe want to vote out Bobby now, which greatly annoys Shane cause he just promised Bobby that he would get Bobby to F6 and starts yelling at Courtney about it for some reason. He would throw his vote and Bobby went home, but he was so livid he yelled about how they made a bad decision due to Danielle’s emotions while everyone was trying to sleep. He basically wants out of the alliance but can’t because he swore on his son’s name. Luckily for him, all the women on the tribe want him out next, so when asked if he could take back his son’s name, they say yes immediately, and then he tells them that he can’t work with people who make their decisions emotionally and then tells them that they do nothing. At that point, even Aras was ready to vote Shane out. Luckily, they win immunity and go on a reward to a panamanian village. That’s where Shane manages to bum a cigarette off a local and gets an insane rush from it that somehow gives him the ability to make up everything with Danielle, allowing all to be forgiven.

Then the merge hits, and Shane ends up in a really good spot! Since Casaya are up in numbers when the merge hits, 6-4, and he quickly rallies all of Casaya to stick together, giving Shane an easy ride to final 7. That means we get a lot of great Shane moments! We get him asking Jeff to bring out a temptation during an immunity challenge, and when Jeff reveals he doesn’t have any, he just drops out. He complains about the people talking about the reward they won, saying “That’s a problem, I couldn’t finish my bacon cause there was too much”. We get Shane chowing Cirie his penis to check on a rash he’s getting and then him stuffing his face full of cheeseburger instead of doing the immunity challenge, and then says he overperformed at the immunity challenge cause he almost ate two cheeseburgers both in the same episode! 

The biggest episode for Shane though was the touchy subjects episode. We do get the funny Shane moments at that challenge where he gets voted as “person who thinks they’re in control of the game” and “most moodiest person”, which he then proves by complaining about Courtney cutting him twice, saying that her life in the game is changing, specifically her enjoyment around camp. He also gets on his hands and knees begging Cirie to take him on reward, which she doesn’t. We also get the iconic Bruce medevac scene, where Shane helps carry Bruce out on a stretcher buck naked. But in the morning, Shane begins strategizing with Courtney, seeing her as a dream person to take to the F2 to beat. They solidify a plan to work together in the game, and then Shane proceeds to threaten to kill her in her shitty apartment if she betrayed him, much to Cortney’s annoyance because her apartment isn’t shitty! This would lead into Shane’s strategic downfall, as Cirie figures out how useful Courtney would be to take to the end while Shane is too busy using a piece of wood as a blackberry to allow him to communicate to people not on the island, and she organizes a Courtney vote, leaving Shane out of it. This shocks Shane when it happens, but gets assured that he is still good for F4 by Aras. This calms Shane down and makes him confident that he’s safe, when in reality he would be next to go if Terry won immunity again. And sure enough, Terry won immunity again and Shane gets blindsided at the vote, and instead of a huge meltdown which everyone was probably expecting, Shane brags about how he’s going to have a chocolate ice cream bar in one minute (extra emphasis on the one minute) before finally getting his torch snuffed.

So all of the above is great. Shane is clearly a goofy crazy character with a lot of funny moments and outbursts, and that makes him a great character, but that isn’t what makes him number one for me. What makes Shane the best for me and elevates him from a great character to a perfect character, is the love he has for his son. We see Shane himself explain how much Boston means to him, as when watching a part of his video from home, he begins to  tear up and cry when seeing his son, calling him his son, his brother, his other half.It really resonates with me how much Shane clearly loves and cares for his son Boston out there, especially when you consider the status quo at the time was for men to keep their emotions under wraps. It's especially unique with Shane since usually people who are about their family play the game to win it for him, but for Shane it is what makes him want to leave. The first time he thinks about quitting is when he realizes how much he misses his son and questions why he’s even out there. He cares so much that when he uses his son’s name for promises, it ways on him deeply, like when he hated the people in his alliance but he was stuck with them due to using his son’s name and asking them to let him take it back instead of just outright betraying them, or being annoyed when the vote switches to Bobby cause he just promised on his son name to keep Bobby until F6. We were honestly robbed with that extra scene where Shane thinks he shouldn’t be there cause he’s missing his son’s birthday, so Courtney suggests the whole tribe sing happy birthday for him, and the whole tribe sits at the beach singing happy birthday while Shane just stares off into the night sky is just emotionally powerful. This all leads into the F5 reward challenge, where we learn that the reward for the challenge was the loved ones visit, where Boston shows up. But Terry already won, so it's up to him who gets love. It's generally tense because we know how much Shane hurts and misses his son, so when Terry lets Shane take Boston to the resort with him, it's just so emotionally powerful. In a way, after everything Shane had gone through, getting to finally see the son he missed the whole time he was there was probably better than winning the million dollars. That’s what makes Shane the perfect character to me, as even though he was crazy due to nicotine withdrawal and was high strung, at the end of the day, he was just a father who really missed his son, and I will always love that about him.

SMC0629: 15

DryBonesKing: 17

Zanthosus: 12

Tommyroxs45: 11

Regnisyak1: 4

DavidW1208: 1

ninjedi1: 1

Average Placement: 8.714

Total Points: 61

Standard Deviation: 6.651 (9th Highest)

5th: Sean Rector (Marquesas - 5th)

my glorious king

u/DryBonesKing:

Honestly, Sean feels almost scientifically designed to be a favorite of mine. Great narrator, confrontational, scrappy and willing to get involved in the game/narrative when necessary, prone to discussions on race and the way it impacts him, instrumental to some of the most iconic moments in the series as a whole, and just a genuinely hilarious guy in the most effortless way possible? Sign me the fuck up, print one thousand copies please! 

He/Tai/Sandra/Sophie are my top four favorites of all time, and the only reason I let Abi jump ahead of him in terms of priority is just because I felt like I had something really meaningful to say about her and wanted to celebrate her making endgame with a write-up she deserved. Meanwhile, Sean already got his flowers in Rankdown V. Do recommend reading the Rankdown-winning writeup u/CSteino did for him, because I probably don’t have a ton to add that wasn’t already said about him. 

It warms my heart to see the modern day Survivor fanbase generally look back at Marquesas and finally recognize Sean as the literal casting gold that he is. However, I do appreciate that his reputation has only shifted positive years after Marquesas. I do think a part of what makes Sean Rector feel so impactful is his complete willingness to be open about himself and who he is as a black man and that he willing to do so with complete disregard to how he might make the white people around him feel. I do think it is important that the audience did not take him to, at least in the immediate aftermath of Marquesas, because it sorta helps prove his point and make his feel more relevant. Like his entire relationship with Paschal is probably the biggest evidence of that Sean is not going to water himself down for the sake of making people like him more comfortable with him. And I think that’s an element to his character that is often not as neglected; that Sean is willing to make both the people around him and the audience uncomfortable so he can say the truth about how he perceives something. That’s the kind of shit I want to see more out of Survivor. One of the all time greats, glad that at the very least in this community, he gets the respect he deserves!

Overall Rank – 4/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

Sean is good. Like, really good. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that I love Sean so much considering how much I adore Marquesas to begin with after all. I’m not sure what I can add that hasn’t been said ad nauseam before. He’s simply incredible. Easily worthy of endgame, no questions asked.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

Sean’s role and impact on Survivor is unprecedented. On top of just being a really good and entertaining character, his discussions and moments about race changed millions of people’s perspectives in way’s people haven’t seen before Sean. He is truly an all-time character and there is a reason he has made endgame all the time.

~

u/Regnisyak1:

Sean is an important figure in Survivor history and helps make Marquesas one of the most important seasons in Survivor, in terms of understanding its roots from trying to create a society. Race is an intricate subject on the series, and one that often gets glossed over, but Sean (and Vecepia) help make it a more visible concept for viewers at home and explains the intricate nature of implicit bias that 100% exists on Survivor. I love Sean for his sociological addition to the series, and to boot, he is hilarious and helps foster one of the most important minority flips in the history of the show. Important for the series, and a great character overall. 

Personal Rank: 20/821. 10/10. 

~

u/ninjedi1:

Sean is such an important character on Survivor. Not only is he an interesting player and is a key part to the first and most successful takedown of a majority alliance, but also what he brings to the discussion of race on the show. Of course, you also have his classic scenes of him on the reward with Paschal, and his voting confessional "when in vegas, always bet on black". He has so much to give that it stinks we never really got to see him return for another season.

~~~~~

u/SMC0629:

Sean Rector

My introduction to Survivor rankdowns or lists came in the Summer of 2020. I was on vacation with my family friends, and one night I was reading through r/survivor’s WSSYW 9.0 series. Not sure why I was spending my night doing that, but that’s besides the point. I was scrolling through the seasons, not really caring much about what most were saying, but there was one person that stuck out to me. u/Csteino’s posts had him ranking every character in the seasons, as well as ranking the seasons, with blurbs attached to every character. I had never really seen survivor characters be called “characters,” so this was really all new for me. The season rankings in particular stuck out to me, one of which being his pick for the best season. His #1 season was Marquesas, and Sean Rector was his #1 character of the entire show. Not just the season, the entire show. I had never seen Marquesas before, only clips and vote-offs. I only knew who Kathy, Rob, and Vecepia were, and I only knew Vecepia because I watched those “every Survivor winner” videos. Flash forward to early 2022, I just discovered how to pirate Survivor seasons, and I had been binging a TON of seasons. Gabon, Panama, even a rewatch of HHH after hearing good stuff about it, but next on my plate, was Marquesas. I held my breath, expecting the very best, and was not disappointed. And as for Sean, he became one of my favorite characters in the entire show.

Starting at the beginning of the season, let’s look at Sean on Maraamu, and why it serves as an incredible introduction to his character. From the jump, Sean’s charisma shines, as his famous Sarah confessional is one of his best. Going beyond that, he jells with almost everyone on the tribe so well, hell, you could argue everyone. This goes to my next point, Sean is so real. Everything he says is real and you’re never gonna see him be fake. He thinks Sarah is useless, thinks Hunter is a know-it-all, thinks Gina is a kiss-ass, and Peter’s weird, obviously. It doesn’t come off like Sean’s just hating to hate though, or being phony, his charisma really sells it. And that’s not to say he doesn’t have good things to say about people. He vibes with Rob, and they have a pretty underrated connection, he likes Patricia and finds her to be a nice mother-figure for the tribe, and then there’s Vecepia. The two bond hard, and have such a great dynamic, almost like a brother-sister the way I see it. Sean is more out there, not afraid to stand out, but extremely calculated when he wants to be. Vecepia on the other hand, is more reserved, chill, willing to let the punches blow by her, but she supports the people she cares about. This comes into play later, but it's a great setup here. We end the Maraamu section with Hunter’s vote-out, which tips the scales for Sean and his partner Rob. The two are pretty much on top now, and nothing can stop them. You know what happens next.

The swap changes everything for Sean, as he, Vecepia, and Rob are now on the bottom with 5 other Rotu members. During these three episodes, Sean is honestly on the backburner, at least compared to Rob. Even Vecepia, as through Rob’s narration we learn Vee has been getting in good with the Rotu’s, due to her being more social. Rob and Sean on the other hand, are pretty much scraping to stay alive. Again, while Sean’s story is pretty much left on the side here, two important things happen. One, is that Gabe is eliminated when Rotu goes to tribal. While the three Maraamu’s were bonding with Gabe, which could make it a 4-4 vote, John decided to take matters into his own hands. A very deceptive move for sure, as John cuts Gabe for showing an unwillingness to play the game, which could ruin John’s plans and put him in the hot seat. To gain the others’ trust, John offers Sean and Rob a deal, and this is where the second important part kicks in. Sean is skeptical, not sure if John can be trusted, but he and Rob go along with it to save their own skin. By the time the merge kicks in, Sean seemingly is aligned with the Rotu 4, but he doesn’t know that Rob has his own plans. Rob wants to break up the alliance, cutting John first, and this all comes to a head in the merge.

As it seems after the first immunity challenge, Rob has stirred up enough panic between Kathy and her other Rotu tribemates that John feels it’s time to cut Rob loose. The two of them and Sean meet after the challenge, where a pretty big verbal fight happens, and it’s one of my favorite moments in the whole season. Especially once Sean overtakes the argument. Everything Sean says is valid, he calls out John’s hypocrisy to a tee, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. It’s a moment with a harsh reality, saying that no matter what connections some might form, the game is always lingering in the background, and for some people like John, it becomes their main drive. So Rob is voted off, and now Sean is pretty much stuck on the bottom. Everything before the challenge practically confirms this, from the night after tribal, to Sean’s “good luck Sean” confessional, and his immediate elimination in the challenge. However, we all know what happens next though. Due to the overconfidence of the Rotu 4, Neleh and Paschal decide to flip on their tribemates, taking out John. The moment after this all happens is amazing, with the “brand new day” scene just being so special. That waterfall looks beautiful by the way, I could never get that out of my mind.

Sean’s charm just continues to blossom throughout the next episodes. We have the iconic reward where Sean and Paschal take a beautiful trip with Marquesian men. Sean has a confessional here which not only encapsulates his charm, but just the spirit of old Survivor in general: “The only horses I’ve been on are the merry-go-rounds in central city.” It really just captures the premise of the show, taking people from different walks of life and throwing them in such a unique scenario. Of course, there’s also the great “my balls' ' moment, and also in the next episode, with his hilarious “piece of doodoo' ' confessional about Neleh’s candy. Also, his relationship with Vecepia continues to grow stronger, as the “happy birthday” moment is another really heartfelt one that always touched me.

To conclude this, we have the final five episode, Sean’s elimination. This episode is one of my favorites in the entire show, and it really makes you root for Sean. It’s not disingenuous at all though, as with the Rotu 4 alliance now eliminated, the dynamic among the tribe becomes very complex. Neleh and Paschal have a pact to not vote each other out, and while Sean and Vee have become very close friends, they haven’t made any sort of ride or die, to the end type agreement. Throughout the episode, Sean and Vee are constantly referred to as a duo, by all three of the others, and it clearly upsets Sean, as he shares at tribal council especially. However, with the context of the entire season in mind, and what we’ve learned about Sean and come to love about him, the show handles this perfectly. Given the much different time this season was made in comparison to the present, there was an easy way out. Sean could have been portrayed far more unfairly, but instead, we’re gifted every second of Sean’s wisdom regarding the situation, and by the end of the episode, you learn that he’s 100% right. Sean is outspoken, he can be head-strong, but in the end, Sean is one of the most knowledgeable and charismatic people to ever be on the show, and that’s why he’s one of my favorite characters of all time.

SMC0629: 3

DryBonesKing: 4

Zanthosus: 3

Tommyroxs45: 6

Regnisyak1: 13

DavidW1208: 20

ninjedi1: 13

Average Placement: 8.857

Total Points: 62

Standard Deviation: 6.651 (11th Highest)

6th: Tom Westman 1.0 (Palau - Winner)

tom n tom

u/DryBonesKing:

There is something magical when you rewatch Palau and get to the vote reveal after FTC. When Probst reveals that Tom has won the season and the audience literally loses their collective fucking mind. Survivor may have had one of its “good guys” win when Ethan won Africa, but Tom Westman is an example when the “favorite” wins the game. 

Tom’s a force of nature. There has never been such a dominant character before him and there never will. He’s the face of Koror and leads the tribe to utterly rout Ulong. He continues this domination into the individual game (because calling it a merge feels almost silly) as he wins almost every individual immunity, with his best buddy Ian being his only real competitor. He’s well connected socially and strategically and exerts a level of control that feels borderline impossible for someone to replicate. And not only is he able to maintain this level of control in a way that isn’t boring, he also plays a role in possibly one of the darkest storylines Survivor has ever had when it comes to his relationship with Ian. 

There are so many things I could mention when talking about Tom – his killing a shark with a goddamn machete, his amazing story, his underrated quotes and confessional game, his less-spoken about relationship with Janu – but I think it’s probably not my place to just incessantly gush. Still, what a phenomenal character. He’s the lowest person in this Endgame that happens to be in my personal Endgame, but he’s still in my fucking Endgame and probably will forever be so. 

Overall Rank – 16/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

The post-merge of Palau is some of the absolute best TV that Survivor has to offer, and it wouldn’t be half as good as it is without Tom’s winner story. His pure domination of the game is unlike anything we’ve ever seen on the show in how one-sided both his social and physical game is. Add onto that the infinitely fascinating final immunity challenge and you have the recipe for one of my favorite winners in the history of the show.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

Tom drives Koror and just makes Koror the amazing tribe we know it as today. His story with the tribe, especially Katie and Ian, is a story unparalleled in complexity and emotion, culminating in the best episode of all time, the finale. It’s such a fantastic episode, led by Tom and ending the season in a magnificent blast.

~

u/Regnisyak1:

I love Tom for his role in the leadership in the season. I’ve mentioned constantly throughout the rankdown how I am drawn to stories of how leadership encapsulates, and Koror and Tom are perfect representations of that issue. He used it as a way to get further in the game, and his leadership created the tension needed to make Koror an important tribe. However, his game expands greatly once merge hits and he is on the bottom, where we see the competitive side of Tom come out to play, in an intense way. Ultimately, while he played the game strongly with his leadership, it was all about him and his competitive nature, which culminated in Ian and Tom’s incredible relationship ending spectacularly. Stan Palau. 

Personal Rank: 8/821. 10/10

~

u/ninjedi1:

Tom is one of the few steamroll winners that's actually enjoyable to watch. He has great charisma and it's interesting to take the leadership role on the dominant Koror tribe. He also has great relationships with Ian, Stephanie, Katie, and so many more on the cast that really help elevate him up and show why he ends up the winner. Not as great as Fabio, but cool to see him here!

~~~~~

u/SMC0629:

Tom Westman 1.0

Survivor: Palau was my second every “old-school” season I watched. In the Summer of 2016, I watched All-Stars, which despite my initial love for it, has become one of my least favorite seasons. However, on Christmas of that same year, I got my second one, being Palau. This one was weird, I didn’t recognize anyone on the box, not even recognizing the name of the season, since it didn’t seem to be one referenced in Cambodia. One winter break later, and I had just finished the season, and it was truly something special. Palau has so many components that I had not only seen in the show before, but some that honestly haven’t been replicated since. Possibly the best challenges the show has ever seen, a dark tone that throws you through tons of emotional moments, and especially the theme of domination. Obviously, there’s the Ulong storyline. Koror annihilating Ulong is something that just can’t and will not happen again, and if it did, it would not be anywhere near as special. Seeing one tribe eliminate all but one person from the other tribe, only losing one person in the process, was something that seemed so insane to me as a kid. Almost impossible. Despite that, there’s one other part of domination that runs through the entire season. One factor that also seemed simply impossible for me, and that was Tom Westman, and his Survivor win.

Tom is picked to be on the Koror tribe, and it’s clear that he prides himself on being a strong, noble figure. Due to his job and physical strength, it’s not hard to see why, but Tom is also incredibly social. From the jump, he aligns himself with Ian, who bonds with Tom very quickly, along with Gregg and Katie. Tom’s immense physical strength I’d say is first shown in Episode 2’s immunity challenge, where Tom has one of my favorite performances of anyone in a challenge. Koror pretty much starts out behind on this underwater chest section, until Tom gives it a go. Each time, Tom spends an honestly insane amount of time underwater, the edit only further pushes this, where there’s these creepy sounds everytime Tom pulls the chest. However, it all pays off, as he makes up a ton of time for Koror, pretty much netting them the win. If Episode 2 established Tom’s physical strength, then Episode 3’s challenge cemented Tom’s strategic mind. When it comes down to a 3v3 (Koror being Tom, Ian, and Gregg), Tom begins to strategize and become a leader for the boys, making small increments of movement to catch up to Ulong. The strategy works perfectly, as Koror slowly but surely catches Ulong, winning their third immunity, once again, thanks to the leadership of Tom.

During the next couple episodes, where Koror continues their domination, Tom’s storyline gets even more interesting. First of all, Coby begins to point out the clique-ness of the tribe, and while someone like Katie might be more unaware of how present it is, Tom is definitely aware. However, he’s basically on the top of the tribe hierarchy. Getting rid of him would be idiotic, have you seen his challenge performances? This causes practically no opposition when Koror faces tribal council for the first and only time, and Willard unanimously bites the bullet. However, the most pressing matter would obviously be the shark hunt. Basically, Tom catches a great white shark, it sounds unbelievable, but he actually did it. This should be a great moment for Tom, which is for his ego, but Tom is always two steps ahead. In his head, he knows that trying to lay low is not gonna work, so he may as well win as much as he can to get to the end. 

Now we get to the merge, and the tensions from Koror pretty much reach a boiling point. Once again, while it’s not spear-headed by Tom, to Coby, he is the one leading the charge against Steph. Once again though, Tom’s perceptiveness comes in clutch, as he is able to weed out Coby as someone who might flip and try to align with Steph to get him out. Not only does Tom win the first immunity challenge to avoid being on the chopping block, Tom’s able to pull Steph back in and vote off Coby, but not without solidifying a crack between the two of them. Tom’s a complex character, and it’s not like they only show his heroic victories, he also has his nasty moments. On a fishing trip, Tom takes Gregg and Ian, leaving Coby out. This probably isn’t the first time Tom has chosen to take his alliance members with him on some sort of trip, and it’s clear that Coby is fed up with it. Despite Tom obviously not hating Coby or anything, he clearly believes he’s above him to decide who goes where, this angers Coby, and this forms his biggest mistake in the game. 

The next two episodes showcase another great part of Tom’s game: his positioning. In the final eight, the clique alliance is practically blown up by Janu, except not really. Katie is the one who takes all the heat, rightfully so, but Tom and Ian get absolutely no heat. For the rest of the game, this’ll pretty much stay true, as Tom perfectly positions Katie as a shield for his alliance, as people like Janu and Caryn can’t stand her. On the other hand, Tom and Caryn have always had a friendship, which would not only help Tom get another jury vote, but help sniff out a push against Tom. Basically, due to Caryn’s relationship and trust with Tom, she’d snitch on the girls for trying to plan a woman’s alliance against Tom, Ian, and Gregg. This COULD have been a debate at a crucial point in the game, but once again, Tom positioned himself perfectly to have Steph as a bigger target in front of him, even if he didn’t win immunity. This would cause Steph’s elimination at the final 7, leaving just Tom’s alliance, and Caryn. 

The final 6 would bring Tom’s biggest and most impressive move yet, being the blindside of one of his closest allies in Gregg. Tom’s perceptiveness is only further shown at the start of this episode, as Jenn picks Gregg and Katie to join her on the reward, leaving Tom and Ian feeling left on the bottom. The two of them are obviously the biggest physical threats, and Tom already knows that he’s viewed as a massive threat. With their time alone, Tom and Ian strategize to make a massive move, one that has to be so carefully executed to not alert Gregg or Jenn. Admittedly, I’d argue Ian is the one who makes this move work, as he pleads with Katie to join the two of them and Caryn in voting out Gregg, to avoid going to a rock draw. However, you could ALSO argue this puts Tom in a better position than Ian, as Ian is the one who spurs all of this onto Katie, almost not even giving her a choice. This would only further come into play, as Ian’s downfall begins in the final 5. Once again, Tom enjoys a reward given to him by Ian, one that would fuel him into winning his third immunity challenge, but Ian had promised Katie that he’d bring her on this reward. This meant Tom once again got to sit back and watch the others argue, because Tom knew he could beat everyone left in the game, he just had to keep winning. 

Come the finale (maybe the best finale in the whole show), and we have another interesting situation. At the final four, Tom pulls out another immunity win, leaving Jenn pretty clearly as the next vote. But as we all know, Ian would make a massive slip-up, one that immediately changes the game. Tom’s alarms of Ian skyrocket after this mistake, and he gets Ian to continue to dig himself into a hole, while also claiming Jenn’s jury vote. Now we reach the final immunity challenge, and I’m not sure what to say honestly. This masterpiece of a moment has been discussed so many times, but I’ll try to add something new to it. I’ve always questioned Tom's true intentions during this challenge. As a kid, watching Palau for the first time, I imagined he was just hurt by Ian’s betrayal, leading to his anger. Because of this, Ian wanted to step down to repair that friendship. This could all be true, and I think part of it is true. Tom really did have a bond with Ian, and it did sting for Tom. However, I think the part I didn’t realize as a kid, was how perceptive Tom was. Deep down, Tom knew this was a game, he knew Ian could have been planning to get him out. But at the final four, Ian proved to Tom that he wasn’t living off the foundation of the game, describing the vote as a “difficult decision” had Tom not won. Tom plays up a character of being more fed up with Ian’s betrayal, rather than one of understanding and frustration due to his game being on the line at all times. This, matched with Tom’s last effort of physical strength, causes him to pull out the win over Ian, and even bigger, pull off the most dominant win the show had seen to this day.

SMC0629: 9

DryBonesKing: 13

Zanthosus: 13

Tommyroxs45: 9

Regnisyak1: 8

DavidW1208: 8

ninjedi1: 9

Average Placement: 9.857

Total Points: 69

Standard Deviation: 2.193 (2nd Lowest)

7th: Ami Cusack 1.0 (Vanuatu - 6th)

queen shit

u/SMC0629:

Ami is easily one of the best villains the show has ever seen, and her time on Vanuatu is super important. From the swap to the final 8, she practically controls the entire game, seeming to be unstoppable. Her strategy and charm make her super entertaining to watch, but her downfall is just as good at the hands of Scout and Twila. Easily one of the best characters in Vanuatu, so happy she made endgame.

~

u/DryBonesKing:

I don’t think I can even do a small little short write-up like this on Ami and give her the justice she deserves. She is in contention for being the most complex character of all time, with her balancing out being probably one of the most empathetic people Survivor has ever cast while simultaneously playing one of the most ice-cold games the show has ever seen. Ami’s ability to turn off her heart and completely snow someone in the most ruthless way possible is second to nobody. 

There is something truly beautiful watching this force grow and develop into the de facto leader of the Yasur all women’s tribe and become essentially a Queen that ended up taking herself out of the game; her biggest mistake ended up being a brief, fleeting moment of empathy that she had never displayed prior, and it makes all the more impactful to see that of all things lead to her end. Combine that with the grandness of Leann’s blindside the round prior to her own and Scout’s voting confessional for her, and you essentially are left with possibly the most dynamic vote-out in Survivor history, bar none. 

My Dad is someone who barely remembers any Survivor seasons after they finish airing, but Vanuatu is one of the few he remembers. And while it probably helps that both my Mom and I are obsessed with the season, it probably also is mainly because of Ami, who just struck a real deep image in him as probably one of the most intimidating villains the show has ever produced. I think that’s probably my biggest takeaway regarding her and why she feels so important to me; if you watched Vanuatu, you should just simply know how amazing she is. God, how in the literal fuck is someone like her not even the best character on her season? Vanuatu truly is one of the most top-heavy, blessed seasons the show has ever produced. 

Overall Rank – 10/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

Ah yes, the ice queen and star of Vanuatu. She’s a spectacular addition to an already incredible cast and the season wouldn’t have half the soul and complexity without her.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

Ami’s the Ice Queen! Her leadership role on Vanuatu is just perfect, and her downfall at the hands of Chris, Twila, Eliza, and Scout is told so eloquently that you don’t hate Ami but you also understand why she’s being voted out. Now is Ami the most entertaining presence? No, but her role and story is just something not replicated by anybody else ever and it just makes it something so special. 

~

u/ninjedi1:

What can I say about Ami that isn't going to be said already? As much as I hate the term with how often it's used for almost every survivor woman, Ami really the mother of Yasur, as she cares about all the women on it, showing her more caring side, but she can also show her claws when the men show up, ready to take them out as well. However, it's that personality and clashes with the other women that lead to her downfall, and it's overall a more unique and interesting villain story compared to others.

~

u/Regnisyak1:

Ami Cusack (Vanuatu, 6/18)

One of my favorite pieces of symbolism that occurs in Vanuatu is the motif of Ami stabbing coconuts with a pike. How can a story get any more perfect than that? And just like Bubba, just like Lisa, just like Rory, just like Sarge, just like Chad… each person gets their coconut on the pike. One at a time, one is frozen, iced out, and taken to the curb. The ruthless gameplay of Ami instantly becomes a classic aspect of her character. But, it’s the contexts behind her character that lead her to be such an exquisite character. One is her abundant feminism on the season, and how she advocates so hard for women's power, only to be destroyed by the existing fractures of the Yasur tribe. One is her kind-hearted soul, as we see countless times throughout the season, perfectly contradicting her ruthless nature. One is her brother watching over her, which leads to her vitriolic reaction against Twila swearing on her son’s life. One is her being the first lesbian (tied only with Scout) in the series who makes it to the stage where she can have a loved one run out to see her. The culmination of these character traits leads to a character that quickly becomes a legend, with some of the most intense complexity the show has ever seen, and much-needed representation the show needed. 

Ami’s story on Vanuatu is a beautiful crescendo that depicts a rise to power and a fall from grace. Ami was in good on the tribe, had maintained a fantastic position, and was the mafia boss in the game, threatened by anyone who said her name, and eliminated thereby after. But the morality of Ami is what makes her so interesting. Ami is driven and determined, but her heart of gold shines through constantly. Her competitive streak came out on Survivor, but through her relationships, personal contexts, and incredible characterization, we get one of the most interesting villains in the history of the show and someone with a downfall that feels earned. It’s tragic, the way she’s eliminated, but the cockiness and arrogance she gets are incredible. 

Undeniably, Ami’s story is wrapped around the concept of gender in Survivor. Her most important confessional explaining this fact is also her first confessional. At the ceremony at the beginning of the season, the women are put aside while the men are celebrated. Ami then states that she is not used to being put behind a man. At this point, the switch in Ami is already turned, and when the tribes are confirmed to be separated, Ami becomes a leading voice for feminism and keeps them together until the end. Adamant to create and maintain the first stable all-girls alliance, Ami’s determination becomes clear.

Even at the beginning, Ami is understood to be the one around camp, celebrating their gender, rather than tearing it down. She’s the leading voice against the men and beating them at the challenges. She is expressive toward Twila’s behavior on camp and becomes defensive when Twila states that she does not respect women who go around camp and just play with their hair all day (ask for your hair to be French braided!). She’s the first person to run up to Dolly when she breaks down. At first, during the pre-swap, Ami’s behavior is streamlined to supporting the women in the tribe, even if the cracks are already formulating quickly in the Yasur tribe, whether it is the division of women from young (+ Lisa) vs. old, or Twila and Mia’s behaviors further separating the two groups. 

Preswap Ami shows her morals in the game - she deeply wants an all-women’s alliance to work, and there are clear good motivations for why she wants it to - it has never happened on Survivor from that point, and the culture expressed early by the Vanuatuans in the island made her volcano erupt and her determination set ablaze. 

However, Ami’s motivations quickly begin to change, and that’s the moment that she comes into contact with the men. Yasur 2.0 has some new additions to the tribe, seen with Rory and Bubba, and that’s when Ami’s vitriol and desire to keep the women together becomes more harsh and unwelcoming than previously. Let’s start with Bubba and his ousting. Throughout the game, Bubba has been described as someone who is a well-meaning man who is out there for one reason - his family. His character is proven constantly to be a positive attribute of the tribe, and Lopevi 2.0 would have been shocked if it was him over Rory. But the issue is that Bubba gave a signal to Chris, leading to his spiral in the game. 

Ami, at this point, is livid, and this is the most aggressive that we’ve seen her in the game. Immediately, the moniker “ice queen” becomes evident because after Bubba does that, there is 0 hope for him to reenter the good graces in Ami’s game. Ami doesn’t even need the extra 8 hours after the challenge to mull over the vote - it’s Bubba, full stop, and she doesn’t really have to do any more convincing. A man was going to go home anyway, so why even bother changing the vote around all day? Bubba’s boot represents the potential threat of the men making their leeway in the game, and the moment that signal goes off is when Ami gets lit up and she begins to play individually, in the best efforts to save the women’s tribe.

Or, so we think. It isn’t until the next episode, that we truly see Ami’s vision of the all-women tribe start to fall apart, with the leading domino - Lisa. I’ve mentioned before in this rankdown that I find Lisa to be an underrated character, just because of how integral she is to demonstrating Ami’s determination and no-nonsense attitude in the game. Lisa at the get-go was determined as untrustworthy because of her swing vote nature between the younger and older women on the tribe, and Ami’s loyalty and trust in her was already teetering on a thin line. It wasn’t until Lisa had a massive slip of the tongue, though, that her game imploded, and Ami again, iced out Lisa.

Lisa, asking Ami where the manioc is, in case something… happens to her, set off alarm bells within Ami, even if it was a clear slip, Freudian or not. With Lisa’s vote, we understand that the women’s alliance, while nice in concept, ultimately does not mean much down the line when Ami is threatened. Ami’s paranoia reaches an all-time high in this episode, and another switch is flipped when we see that she also understands that Survivor is an individualistic game at points, with the collectivist attitude allowing her to get to the end by helping her out when necessary. Lisa’s (and Bubba’s) vote also represents the beginning of the entitled Ami that we see and know throughout the season. She still talks about the women’s alliance with big eyes, but she comes cocky at this point, realizing that she is able to take people so easily out with her alliance and leadership role. The irony of Lisa’s vote, too, is that Lisa was a loyal soldier to Ami, even despite her previous behaviors before. We might never know what happened to the later portion of the game, but I can bet you that Lisa might have been more willing to keep Leann in the game and vote Eliza out. The shortsightedness with Lisa's vote is Ami’s game-losing move because her perception is changed, she loses a number, and the aura of Ami’s determination in the game becomes clear. 

However, one character sees right through the bullshit of Ami, and how her ego is taking over her brain. Rory, the gruff crabass on the side who is doing anything to survive the little world of women on his tribe immediately clocks Ami for her behavior, and her brutal honesty about her wanting to keep the women together until the end becomes evident. Rory’s understanding that Ami is leading the vote him because he is a man, pisses Rory off, and he goes ablaze with the camp and Ami. Several slingshots later, Yasur skirts by tribal, but the merge is when the Ami vs. Rory relationship shines. Rory, fearing for his life in the game, is completely iced out by Ami, yet again, because of his gender. She wants to vote out all the men in quick succession and believes that the process should be easy and done. 

But over Rory’s dead body will he go out without swinging. As soon as the other men come to the camp, Rory leaks Ami’s sour behavior toward him at the camp, and her complete cockiness and arrogance are evident as the women’s alliance becomes more and more true. Rory running around and throwing out that Ami is a massive threat in the game is important because it puts people on edge, and the other players begin to see what Ami is, even despite the misconstruals - she is a shrewd player who is potentially using the women’s alliance as protection for herself as the game goes on further. Scout, Twila, all the men, and Eliza at some point begin to see through Ami’s behavior in the game and realize that she is the kingpin in the tribe.

However, people continue to fall in line because Ami’s ice froze over the men at that point. Rory becomes the quick sacrificial lamb for their tribe, especially given Twila’s connection to the other men. Lea is a dead man walking following Twila’s fear against him lying to him. Chad… well Chad is a man, so sadly he needs to go. Ami (and Twila) are the leaders against the men, with Ami’s context being that she needs the men out as soon as possible and doing anything in her power to do anything for it.

This is why Ami’s next vote is so peculiar - she doesn’t go for Chris, she goes for Eliza. The moment Ami takes her eyes off the prize, she implodes and her closest ally, Leann, is immediately stabbed in the back by Twila, Scout, Eliza, and Chris. Her deviation seems peculiar when given how she played the game throughout the season - she wants the women to win, yet Eliza becomes so annoying it becomes obvious that Ami is a people pleaser at the end of the day. She wanted to help Twila and Scout by getting out Eliza, and yet they used that against her. Ami was ultimately never an ice queen, but she wanted to do what was best for the others around her, and ultimately her judgment in this moment was a negative.

Leann and Ami have an interesting relationship on the show too. I rewatched Vanuatu for this writeup, and Leann impressed me the most from the season. She has a tenderness quiet about her that I found to be really interesting because it actively went against Ami’s larger-than-life personality of being a freeing person. I loved Ami’s strategy in the season, where she was actively using a personal love language with being a touchy person with others around her, and the juxtaposition of the more reserved Leann leads to a power duo between them where one is based around their quietness and the other is drawing people in through comforting people with physical touch. 

Following Leann’s final tribal council, Ami’s shining moment was the following episode where we see the catty side of Ami fly out, as she expertly tries to maintain herself into the game. In this episode, we see Ami’s vulnerability at an all time high. Ami has never been on the bottom of the game at this point, and the position is terrifying for her because she is a control freak, for lack of a better term. We see Ami have a lot of emotions in the episode - anger and bitterness toward Twila and Scout. Love and admiration for Julie and Eliza. Desperation to maintain in the game, and her ambitions at an all time high. The performance in her boot is one of the episode, and the emotional climax of her ousting is devasting in a lot of senses, even when Ami was treated as a villain. It shows the complexities of her character and how, even though we are not rooting for her, she is still a tragic figure. 

Three important relationships exist within her boot episode, being Eliza, Scout, and Twila. With Eliza, we see her play her like a fiddle and attempt to get her to switch sides to keep Ami in the game. I love how Ami is brutally honest with Eliza because she was one of the leading voices to keep her in the game after awhile. Eliza is an annoying personality, but they always forged a big sister/little sister, and I think Ami’s constant working on Eliza at the reward was really important characterization that shows her personal nature in the game. But at the same time, Eliza is aware of her position in the game, and I think while she was portrayed as a swing vote but knew that Ami was the ultimate threat. Eliza talking about how much she loves Ami at the end of the episode however, and their tears at the end was beautiful. 

With Scout, we see her nasty side come out, which is especially strange given their initial perceptions of Scout and how she was seen as the wiser woman on the tribe. Ami was a person who perpetuated that belief with Scout, but as the episode went on she began to see through the ultimate bullshitter on the island, Scout. Ami yelling at Scout to put down her blanket was a great scene, but it was really their dualing voting confessionals. Ami basically saying that she was not apart of any rainbow she’s ever seen and Scout referring that Ami was arrogant with lightning striking the highest point was some beautiful characterization between the two. 

But the relationship with Twila is the centralizing moment for Ami. Something that I have glossed over during this writeup was the death of her younger brother. That was depicted during the incredible reward with coffee and Rory earlier in the season, but we learn that Ami is guided by her brother in sky, who is looking down on her from above. The characterization of that seems random at first, but we learn how it fits into the story the moment that Twila swore on her son’s life when she offered to stay in the group with Leann and Ami, and then turned around and voted her that not. Ami’s vitriol following that tribal felt earned because she was genuinely hurt by Twila swearing on something so serious. Twila was not proud of what she did, but she had to do it to stay in the game, at least by her ways of thinking. Twila is a great character because she seemingly overthinks aspects of the social strategy in the game, but this time, the consequences were severe. 

I loved their fight in the following episode because you can see Ami’s heartbreak. Ami blames Twila for getting pulled into their vacuum of nastiness, but also continually calls her a disgusting human being for swearing on her son and making that mistake. With Ami, it is a personal moment, and Twila’s flippancy with life and death actually has a severe negative consequence with her. It’s a great characterizing scene, one of the best fights of the season, and helps embellish both of them. 

Twila and Ami culminate to an incredible jury speech in a sea of fantastic moments from the final tribal council of Vanuatu. With Ami, she needs to know about the lying and why Chris and Twila relied on it so much during their time on the Fire Islands. She wants them to refute the lying, but she also needs to know why she didnt have what it takes to make it to the end. I love what Chris says here, saying that she has too soft of a heart (the ice queen was just the exterior), but it was Twila’s response where Twila was playing the game in anyway possible, and that meant doing anything, even those idea that are considered unsavory. Twila’s answer of “a little colder, a little meaner. I wear my emotions on my sleeve” was an incredible moment for both characters, and I think there was a massive sense of closure between the two characters. 

But it’s the fact that Ami respected Twila enough, and her answer, that we get her being the only other vote for Twila at this moment besides Scout. I think there are a lot of reasons for why Ami voted for her. It shows her kindness toward other characters and how ultimately the ice queen exterior can be melted. It demonstrates that she ultimately was pro feminism the entire time, and even with Twila, someone she detested at the end, she still supported that narrative, and her goals were not fake at all. And, at the end of the day, Ami’s narrative still supported that. I love that she ultimately reaffirmed her goals during the season, and it’s yet another layer in her complex character. 

Unarguably, Ami has one of the greatest stories in the history of Survivor. There was a conciseness with Ami, where she was not overexposed on the beach, but her downfall felt well-planned, and her relationships were defined inciredibly with a sense of nastiness, love, and anger that blended into a set of emotional and pecuilar relationships. Her emotional, kind attitude created a unique villain that might never be replicated on Survivor again and the complexities of her brother, relationships, ice queen and harsh strategy, created a character that was a rolling amount of fun, intensity, and someone with a downfall that had everyone seated. 

My last note on Ami is that she is a great confessionalist and can be quite funny at times. Vanuatu is filled with a lot of fantastic confessionals (and also ones where Chris belittles women again and again, ZING!), but Ami had a few that really stuck out to me. One was the great Michael Jordan one with Bubba, where she mentions that Michael Jordan would never talk to the other team. Another was about Scout in her slash and burn episode, mentioning that Scout put cayenne pepper down her pants and she is ready to DANCE! And lastly, one of my favorite quotes on Vanuatu was when Eliza matched the grapefruits in the memory challenges, and Ami so seductively yells “nice grapefruits!” No random moment makes me laugh harder than that one. 

I was a little nervous when I got Ami’s writeup (she was last picked, lol), but I really am glad that I was able to experience Vanuatu again and watch it more from Ami’s perspective. Previously, I did it from other people, like Chris the first time, and Twila the next, but with Ami, we understand her villain arc so well because it is rooted in her real life contexts. Before writing this, she was already top 10, but at this point I am even considering moving her higher. Slay Vanuatu tho! 

SMC0629: 8

DryBonesKing: 9

Zanthosus: 4

Tommyroxs45: 10

Regnisyak1: 9

DavidW1208: 19

ninjedi1: 10

Average Placement: 9.857

Total Points: 69

Standard Deviation: 4.525 (8th Lowest)

8th: Cirie Fields 1.0 (Panama - 4th)

big brother legends (i know jared was not great on bb25 but still he's a fields)

u/SMC0629:

What else is there to say about Cirie 1.0 that hasn't already been said? This is THE definitive Cirie and she's incredible. One of the best narrators in the show, having just amazing confessionals everytime 

The best part about Cirie though is her interactions with everyone on the cast. Whether she's just in the background, giggling her ass off, or in an actual argument by acting as the foil for Terry throughout the merge. 

Cirie 1.0 gems:

-"wait I'm on the wrong team"

the fear of leaves

-her cf in the middle of a rainstorm

-her catching a fish

-her argument with Terry in the F4

• many more

Amazing character, but I'm more of a Shane and Courtney person

~

u/DryBonesKing:

Okay, the coast is clear everyone! We are at Endgame, we’re free to be as rude about Panama as much as we like. Regnis won’t be able to stop us! So without further ado, time to talk shit about Cirie Fields! Cirie is… is… only an 11/10 character. Ha! Take that Regnis!!!

… In all seriousness, it is weird to be around him regarding Cirie because he does make me feel like I don’t love Cirie enough, and frankly, I love Cirie 1.0 quite a lot. Hell, even without the deal where I penciled an idol with her name on it, I would have strongly considered idoling her if she missed Endgame. Survivor has never had such an amazing underdog before and watching her grow from a person afraid of the outdoors into being one of the most cutthroat players who was extremely close to winning the game… it honestly is just so fucking good.

There probably isn’t a single thing I can praise Cirie about that Regnis won’t already say. So in an attempt to practice brevity for the first time in my life, all I’m going to say is that I’m proud she made it this far. I think she’ll probably have the highest percentage overall after this Rankdown and it will be well-deserved. 

Overall Rank – 12/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

Cirie might just be my favorite human being to have ever played the game of Survivor, and that personality that I just love so much translates so incredibly into the show. Watching her slowly grow from being scared of leaves to one of the best and most cunning masterminds the show has ever seen is such a gripping and engaging story that never gets old no matter how many times I rewatch Panama. She’s an all-time great and she’s one of my favorites of all time.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

The lady who got off the couch! Her story is unparalleled and this first iteration perfectly sets up her character while also being able to tell a killer story of her own. Not even mentioning her dynamics with the rest of Casaya are literal TV gold. She runs the game top to bottom but it never feels slow because she has such a charm that we see in no other character that she can be a gamebot without actually being a gamebot and I love that.

~

u/ninjedi1:

So...yeah...if you're wondering why Cirie isn't higher, it's most likely because of me. First of all, I understand why people really like Cirie. She is pretty funny and does have her moments (the fact that everyone talks about the 3-2-1 vote and not Cirie catching a fish is a CRIME), but that's really it for me. She talks too much about how she's on the bottom of swap Casaya throughout her time there even though that doesn't seem to be the case by the Bob Dawg boot episode. I also fell like other players in the season that outshine her, so I don't have her this high up. I'm now gonna let Regnis explain how my takes are bad and wrong now.

~~~~~

u/Regnisyak1:

Cirie Fields 1.0 (Panama, 4/16)

*giggles*

What makes Cirie so magical? A beloved character by all, she is one of the most important people to ever play the show. Is it her excellent narration style? Her view of Casaya and their lunatic behaviors? What about the classic growth arc? Her strategic play? A great social game? Is it because she has some of the greatest relationships on the show? Well, what about the fact that she created the 3-2-1 vote? Or maybe it’s because she contributed to all the themes of the season? And I mean… H.B. has to factor, right? The GOAT right there… 

Obviously, those are leading questions for this write-up because I truly believe that Cirie is undeniably the best character in the history of Survivor. She brings so much to the table, whether it is her charm, rootable nature, intelligence, social relationships, or that god damn giggle that makes the tectonic plates shift whenever it happens. Watching Cirie go from someone who was completely underestimated, due to her fear of leaves, to rising from the ashes and forcing votes for herself, and playing one of the best strategic games, all while laughing her ass off at the other lunatics she is forced to live with makes her one of the strongest characters the show I have ever seen. Cirie Fields is the moment, she is the star, she is everything. 

There are a million directions I want to go with this write-up, but I think I just want to talk about her story. We all know the meme of Cirie in the community, where she got off the couch to play the game of Survivor. Beaten to death by the community at large, I do think that is a fair assessment, but there’s more underlying complexity to it. Cirie’s main focus in the game of Survivor is her family, top and down. We see this several times throughout her iterations on the show, whether it was her tragic final words in Micronesia where she really thought she lost it for her kids, to her son Jared coming out on the beach, and having the full circle moment about the kid that we knew she was playing for. Cirie knows that she is out there, and is ready to play a game that will make her children proud, while also understanding that she is playing for more than just stardom. 

Cirie’s other prominent character trait throughout the series is her belief of maintaining a sense of loyalty with those she creates an alliance. Again, this is a common thread that we see throughout so many iterations of Cirie on Survivor. Cirie and the couples alliance, Cirie and Michaela, Cirie and the Micronesia peeps. Even on Big Brother, Cirie stated that she was loyal to Izzy and Felicia, and thus the alliance between them was born. Don’t cross Cirie, or she’ll come for you, and she knows that is true. We see her build alliances up with people in Micronesia that she trusts. She likes Aras, she knows Danielle because they are somehow the most down-to-earth members of the tribe, which Cirie exudes. Hell, even when it is Melinda, she still encourages Shane to quit because she was loyal to Melinda from the bat after she was kept from the first vote at Casaya. It’s clear she doesn’t love Shane from the start (JUST QUIT!) nor Courtney (Cirie’s reaction to Courtney’s fire dancing continues to be a favorite of mine). Her loyalty bridged a gap, and it is something that she prides herself in when discussing other characters. 

That’s why I’ve always been personally drawn to Cirie more than anything. I love characters who are down-to-earth, and Cirie is a rock, solid at the bottom of the ocean when it comes to her ego and gravitas in the game. There’s something so authentic about the way she is playing the game, and her cutthroat moves feel more real like her actually trying to struggle and make a step in the game, one person at a time. Her dismay with the Casaya tribe and their lunatic behaviors also emulates that because somehow the person was terrified to step foot on the beach. Her loyalty, devout to Aras especially, plays a role too where she is playing a more old-school game and creating relationships with those around her. It is her game awareness as well, where she knows that she is on the bottom, so she has to do anything to stay in the game, whether it is to stroke the egos of Casaya, know when to shut up or be forced to look at the crotch of a certain cigarette smoker. She’s out there because of her family, she’s not trying to play up her game, and she knows what she came out there for. 

Cirie has a certain sense of self-awareness where she knows that she is perceived as the weaker member of the tribe, but can create inroads easily to make people clamor around her. The most obvious example of that is Cirie and Tina, the first episode of Panama. Tina, actively being judgmental of Cirie and her like of outdoor experience (no shade on Tina either), Cirie knew that she had to flip the script because all eyes were on her. She made Tina seem like a bossy and controlling tribe member, and that the women on the tribe were able to fend for themselves because they can make fire and get fish - who needs survival when you have loyalty? 

She also knows how to stay out of the way to protect the loyalty that she created with other players. Touchy Subjects showcases this feat with Cirie because she does the coconut chop where she protects those she likes least more than the other way around. Further, at this point, the established relationships with Cirie, where she is beloved by the rest of the cast, is indicated by her being the last person chopped and winning the challenge. Her social game is strong, but it’s her reward picks (Aras and Danielle) that are telling for other people in the game, and it becomes clear that Cirie is out there to play. Shane and Courtney know they are on the outs, but Cirie decides to protect those she is closest with rather than people she would not enjoy going on a reward. Her loyalty is a force in the game, and through her established reactions to Shane and Courtney, the decision makes complete sense but there is a simmering back at camp as she awaits to come back. 

I also gravitate toward Cirie’s strategy because of her characterization as the “mom” of the tribe. It makes a lot of sense that Cirie is seen as the matriarchal figure in the tribe, and I think that relates heavily to the themes of Panama, and how age and gender play a role within the tribal dynamics of Casaya. At first, Cirie was seen as easy fodder for the tribe, but she knew to keep her head down, support others when they needed to be supported, and put herself into a role where she was the focal point of the tribe, and where people trusted her enough to feed her information and at least hear her out when discussing options with other players. The additional context of Cirie being an RN too, helps understand that her role with strategy was to play a more caring, nurturing role on the season while being willing to cutthroat at any cost. 

Cirie as the mother figure relates to the main theme of Panama I have been preaching this rankdown too - she knows that she is the “older” woman on the tribe (I am old? I thought I was young!), and her placement as that figure means that she has to start playing a game where she has to reaffirm those principles of what is expected of the women who are older on Survivor. She has to work hard around camp, be the comforting character for the kooks on Casaya, and understand that she will be a threat to win at the game because who would ever vote out their island mom? Her gender and age immediately force her into a box of nurturing, and I think it is interesting and a testament to Cirie’s game awareness of how she immediately jumps into this after Melinda’s early ouster. 

Cirie was prepared to come to the island, specifically for the social relationships that she had to build. Sure, she never has been camping in her entire life and probably accepted the fact that it would be difficult for her to win immunities, but she knew that she could do one thing, and that created the relationships needed to maintain her way in the game. Often, she gets the women who got off the couch to go on Survivor moniker, but I think her more important description is Oprah in a gangster suit. She comes out with a smile on her face and a knife behind her back. She is a welcoming, caring figure that people find themselves trusting, and then she squeezes the life out of them at the last minute. It’s great narratively because we begin to see Cirie have conflict about who to choose to go out and when, and further we see the heartbreak as mom votes them out of the game. 

Further, we know that Cirie acting as a mom or a caring individual for the egotistical Casayans is really hard for her to do with a straight face. Undeniably, Cirie’s largest strength is her ability to create a compelling narrative through her narration of the tribe, involving people that she is forced to like. But Cirie knowingly takes a sideline with the tribe, just doing the work around camp and staying out of the way as the new alliance of Aras, Courtney, Shane, and Danielle implodes. I love her little confessional about witnessing the drama on the tribe (I love it, love it, love it! *giggles*), but it’s in other situations too where we see how the mom role can both be incredibly taxing for her and also a benefit as she creates lifelong friendships on the island. 

Three relationships in particular highlight the mom strategy with Cirie - Terry, Shane, and Aras. Aras and his broad characterization in the show is “momma’s boy.” He quickly becomes entranced by Cirie’s calm ways, and they quickly form an alliance, where they take each other's rewards and such. I love Aras because he is such a child at this point, and the edit doesn’t shy away from showing that, I think Cirie brings out the best, most firm characterization in Aras. Basically, Cirie is his island mom, and we know that he respects his mom more than anything through the beef with Terry, so their relationship is telegraphed well and makes complete sense. 

Shane is another one of Cirie’s patients that she has to take care of on the island because in a lot of senses he’s a grown man who has no idea what is going on on the island, and lacks a lot of common sense. Cirie having to stare at Shane’s diaper rash on his crotch is probably one of the funniest scenes ever in the history of Survivor but it also demonstrates her importance on the tribe and the role that she was able to integrate herself into. She garnered enough trust from those around her on the beach, and people liked her so much they were comfortable showing some skin around her and asking for some medical advice. 

With Terry, we obviously have the scene where Terry insinuates that Cirie smacks her kids around after he tripped on her torch when she laid it down in the incorrect place. Cirie’s shock at Terry’s incendiary words is incredibly well-earned because we have characterized that Cirie loves her kids and would probably never do such a thing with them, in terms of punishment. But it’s how the rest of the people on the tribe come to her defense unabashedly because she has created that position for herself. Aras and Terry obviously beef for a while after, but Danielle is also disappointed and starts to yell back. It’s a really interesting dynamic there, and I think with Terry specifically, it also represents his pent-up anger at Cirie, especially with her turning down his constant attempts to strategize with her. 

With the culmination of these stories, with Cirie’s preserving loyalty, ability to transition into a caring and trustworthy member of the team, despite the conflicts she has to navigate around and her ultimate goal of being a supportive mother for her children and play to make her family proud makes Cirie a nuanced character that I think people often misrepresent because of the ease of being able to establish her as a figure of growth, rather than one of competence. 

However, I would be wrong to ignore the growth storyline completely with Cirie because it does have true elements of perfection. One key example of Cirie and her ability to become “one with nature” was her ability to find a fish for Shane on his birthday. I love that scene so much because it is easy to forget to watch Cirie as she so seamlessly becomes a fluid strategic player, that she is still dealing with the elements. Her catching a fish demonstrates that she has come a long way after flipping over leaves with bugs under them and running away, and I love the character development in the situation. 

H.B.’s appearance on the show also demonstrates that Cirie was completely authentic with her fears on the beach and that she really did come off her couch from New Jersey. Panama’s family visit is easily my favorite (surprise, surprise!) but I don’t think that’s even a stretch to say. Besides getting to see Boston, the famous fight between Deitz and Baskauskas, and Trish motherfucking Deitz, we also get to see H.B. navigate the island and more importantly, take pride in how far his wife came along on the beach. H.B. clearly also has no idea what’s going on the beach and is shocked that Cirie made it that far anyway, I just love their interactions with each other and how they interact on the beach and contrast how Cirie looks, being the jungle woman, versus H.B. being fresh out of water. 

Cirie’s growth arc is nice because it does not dominate her entire story. I would be much lower if it was about Cirie trying to survive the elements, but it really is not, and it’s more of her background story. The strength of Cirie is watching her survive the social game, and how she can push forth a 3-2-1 vote with ease, integrate herself into the tribe, and establish strong principles for how she plays as the game goes forth. She’s one of the most magical players in the history of the show, demonstrating how a strong social game can allow someone to get further into the game and I just adore her for that. 

Her final moments, in her fire-making challenge loss to Danielle and her suggestion to not get off the couch, I think truly came from a place of hurt and disappointment in herself. Cirie, when discussing her family, always gets emotional, and watching her get wrecked over losing the money for her family is really effective. I think people often judge her final words of staying on the couch to be a detractor from her character, but I see it as a place of immediate frustration and catharsis that she is done with the crazy people on the island that she was forced to live with for days. Someone she was loyal to (Danielle) ultimately stabbed her in the back and I think that was a really fascinating angle for her and Cirie. And it’s not the fact that Cirie lost the game of Survivor at that point; it’s incredible just the fact that she was able to navigate herself to the end with ease, get the opportunity to prove herself in fire and become one of the show’s largest tragic figures. 

Ultimately, I am not sure I have to say much more for Cirie at this point, except for the fact that she is my #1 of all time, and I am really happy that she was able to get to the endgame for her seventh time. It’s kind of weird how this is the last write-up I am writing for the rankdown (currently writing it at 6 AM on its due date YAY), but I am overjoyed I got to express my love for Cirie and some underrated parts of her character. Her growth is incredible, but it is her understanding of social relationships, recognition of her role as an “older woman on the tribe,” her underdetermined loyalty, and the fight for her family that creates such a complex character that is much more nuanced than one perceives.

SMC0629: 16

DryBonesKing: 11

Zanthosus: 2

Tommyroxs45: 7

Regnisyak1: 1

DavidW1208: 11

ninjedi1: 22

Average Placement: 10.000

Total Points: 70

Standard Deviation: 7.483 (4th Highest)

9th: Rupert Boneham 1.0 (Pearl Islands - 8th)

i see three legends. two and a half. russell counts as a half.

u/DryBonesKing:

No doubt I am the lowest one here on Rupert 1.0. Which is hilarious since I am also the highest on Rupert 4.0. The biggest fault with Pearl Islands Rupert is that Laura's appearance is reserved only for the reunion. 0/10, literally unwatchable until the very end.

Okay in all seriousness though, my take on the Pirate’s first season is more in-line with my Hatch take. I do get a lot of what makes Rupert great and there's no doubt he deserves the flowers he's given. He has one of the strongest opening episodes of all time with the “pirates steal” confessional preceding him taking Morgan's shoes and his bonding with the women on his tribe with the skirt scene. His boot is also iconic and is a literal bombshell moment that gives the post-merge of the season the sense of grandeur it possesses. Rupert's fight with Fairplay is also iconic, as his relationship with the snake, and he also might be one of my favorite fisherman providers Survifor has ever had. He's got a lot of things great about him and I will acknowledge there's enough there that I might personally be underrating him.

But like… I'm not a fan of his edit. Beyond just that I think his screentime could have been utilized better dividing it up with more of his tribe (Sandra and Fairplay could have gotten some more buildup premerge, Christa probably deserves to be a bigger character, let us see more of Shawn being an asshole, help give Michelle and Trish better stories), I also am not a fan of the editorialization of his hero status. I'm not gonna deny Rupert's own insecurities with bullies and I think it's great content he gets to discuss. However, Rupert is so much heavily the star of his tribe that I think it's a huge disservice to just try and water him down into being simply “the hero” role they gave him. He's a lot more nuanced. That scene with the fight between him and Fairplay post-Trish boot is evidence you need that there's a lot more grayness to Rupert and I think it's a mistake Pearl Islands went mostly all in on Rupert's hero image instead of letting us see a more complicated version.

It's not entirely the editors fault admittedly cause Rupert feeds into that himself with his melodramatic ass quotes, such as “So much for my dreams” final words. Personally, I'd prefer him just having more shades of grey in his characterization. I have him ranked twenty-three, but that's more so thanks to the realization I like this endgame quite a lot. Like a lot of them are in my Top 100. Meanwhile Rupert just misses mine.

Overall Rank – 152/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

Rupert is the best mascot Pearl Islands could have possibly had. Someone who whole-heartedly embraces the theme of the season and makes the most of it at every possible point. Even if I don’t love him quite as much as others do, he’s still well deserving of endgame.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

What an actual GOAT, he is just the very slightly worse version of Jane Bright, but he is still absolutely phenomenal. There’s a reason why he is the most iconic hero of all time, he paved the way for Survivor and even if his edit didn’t reflect everything, it was still insanely entertaining and told a perfect story!

~

u/Regnisyak1:

*growls.* Rupert is a fun, tie-dyed addition to Pearl Islands, and perhaps one of the most rootable figures of all time. It is awesome to watch him succeed on the season and play a hard game, which ultimately culminates into one of the most brutal blindsides in the history of the show. The background of Rupert, him being an insecure child, and seeing him stand up to the bullies on the season after they make fun of him is so satisfying to watch. And Rupert getting mad and asking who the fuck voted for him? Priceless. 

Personal Rank: 28/821. 10/10. 

~

u/ninjedi1:

Fun fact, Rupert was the first player I ever saw on survivor! Rupert really is iconic, and it's easy to see why. Just his look alone with the beard and the tie dye shirt makes him stand out from the rest. He has so many great moments, from stealing the shoes in the first episode to getting fish for everyone all the time. We even get a nice introspective of him during the storm. There is so much to enjoy with Rupert,  that I'm glad to see him make endgame again.

~~~~~

u/SMC0629:

Rupert Boneham 1.0

Getting into the Survivor rankdown community introduced me to a lot of things. To give some context, I had such a massively different outlook on the show from 2015-2020. Granted, I was a lot younger back then, but when I joined Survivor discussion online around 2021, I was stunned to see a lot of things. Wait…people dislike Cambodia?? I thought Cook Islands was great? What’s a “screenhog?” That was a big one, as I hadn’t really analyzed the editing of the show ever, and I didn’t know what that even meant. Thinking about it though, I did dislike Rick Devens even on my first watch of EoE, so could that be what it’s referring to? Skipping to the present day, I’m pretty torn on the screenhog characters. There’s some I hate like Russell Hantz 1.0 and Rick Devens like I mentioned before. However, there’s a few I enjoy a lot. Coach and Ozzy from SoPa are great, Marty, while definitely not to the same degree as others, is one that I love, and even Russell Hantz 2.0, who becomes a far better character despite still eating up a ton of time. There’s one “screenhog” that stands out among the rest though, one that will always be one of my favorite characters in the show. That character, is Rupert 1.0.

I wasn’t even alive when Pearl Islands aired, but from what I can tell, Rupert seemed to be almost a national hero when it was airing. Rupert was everything the average TV watcher wanted. A guy with good intentions, an underdog, a funny personality, a dominator in challenges, he had everything. That being said, why was Rupert seen like this? Well, I think a large chunk of that comes down to the editing. I’m not denying one bit that Rupert had the charisma and charm that the editing showed, but it was shown on full-throttle. Rupert had full one-episode story arcs, from the incident with Shawn with his fishing stick, to his story about overcoming the teasing of Shawn and Burton, to his growing rivalry with Jon, it seemed like Rupert had endless stories. You could make the argument that Rupert was a screenhog, because of how much he was shown, and how much the audience was meant to gain from Rupert’s stories. I’ve seen people (in old Youtube comment sections mainly) complain about Rupert being overbearing, annoying, and self-centered. Obviously, I don’t agree with any of those (mostly), so why does Rupert 1.0 work so well?

First, there’s something I mentioned before, and that’s the fact that everytime Rupert is on-screen, it’s genuine. You’re never gonna see a time where Rupert is playing it up for the camera, or trying to pull strings to get more screen time, he’s just being himself. I agree that he does start to do this in later seasons, with HvV and especially BvW, but here, this was his first time on TV. Rupert was just like everyone else, he was one of the 16 people stranded on the island. This wasn’t Rupert the all-star, Rupert the hero, or Rupert the returning player, it was just Rupert the Survivor contestant. To make a quick comparison, let’s look at one season before, with Rob Cesternino. Now I like Rob 1.0, but especially in the beginning of the season, he annoys me a bit. You can tell he plays his humor up to the camera, sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s not, and all the times it isn’t is during the premerge. It feels like the edit shows Rob playing up a character more than him actually being himself, so that always annoyed me with Amazon’s premerge. 

Going back to Rupert, let’s look at him during the premerge, and what builds him up to be THE main player by the start of the merge. Through the first three or so episodes, Rupert is practically an anomaly. He immediately sticks out on the Drake tribe, being a 39 year old man, but is immediately wrapped up in the show. “Pirates STEAL” is one of my all-time favorite Rupert moments, you can just tell he’s so into the theme of the season and it’s just a funny moment overall. You might think from this initial scene that Rupert might just be a dunce, but you’d be wrong! Rupert becomes a great leader for the Drake tribe, annihilating the challenges and becoming a key member of the tribe. He befriends Sandra and Christa, and is even seen by the other tribe as an incredible foe. This comes into play with the following two episodes, where Drake throws the challenge to get out Burton. Speaking of, Burton is a part of the opposite perception of Rupert, the one that sees him as a threat, or even a joke. Him and Shawn poke fun at his skirt, which reminds Rupert of being an outcast, giving some sympathy. Anyway, when Morgan wins their first challenge, and actually steals Rupert from Drake, leaving him out of the Burton vote. At the Morgan camp, Rupert is immediately praised for his work ethic and knowledge on how to improve their camp. Could this be a new beginning for Rupert? One where he won’t be seen as an outcast, right from the start? Well, right after Morgan wins the reward challenge with Rupert, he goes right back to Drake when Jeff gives him the chance to. This is super in-character for Rupert, but also shows one of his biggest flaws, maybe the first one to show up. Rupert is loyal to a tee. Remember, this was before something like this could be seen as a “bad strategy move,” it seemed to be a no-brainer for someone like Rupert, who prided himself on loyalty. But for someone else, it meant a different thing.

Enter Jonny Fairplay, the polar opposite of Rupert. While Rupert is well-mannered, respected, and loyal, Fairplay is deceitful, rude, and strategic. Towards this part of the season, Jon begins to recognize Rupert’s threat level in the game. After Drake votes out Michelle, they lose another challenge, which urges Fairplay to make his move. He attempts to recruit Trish and Shawn to force a tie, but his plan doesn’t work, and Trish is voted out. On one hand, at least it wasn’t Jon, but it may as well have been, because Rupert got two votes. This enrages him, as in one of the most hilarious scenes of the season, Rupert screams at Jon right as they return to camp. This reveals another flaw in Rupert, in that the guy is a loose cannon. If the mold is broken without his knowledge, he’ll go ballistic. We’ll come back to this very soon, but first, let’s talk about the merge.

After the outcasts of Burton and Lill return, Rupert is practically back at the top. He wins two consecutive immunity challenges, seemingly mends his relationship with Burton, and is able to coast with Drake in disposing of both Savage and Ryan. By this time, it could be argued that Rupert was becoming an overly biased screenhog, with his consistent content and seemingly unstoppable and inevitable win. That is…until he’s voted out at the final 8. Swimming for Sharks is one of my favorite episodes in the entire show because of how dramatic and climactic it is. You can’t believe it as you’re watching it for the first time, “wait, is Rupert ACTUALLY gonna get voted out?” It’s at the hands of his rival, Jon, and Burton, who he thought he had made amends with that cut his throat at the end of the day. They’re also helped by Lill, who Rupert believed had the same morals as him, only for her to prove him dead wrong. Tribal Council here is perfect, as maybe unintentionally, Jeff reads every single vote, when he didn’t have to. He could have stopped after the fourth Rupert vote, but he almost continues to have it sink in for everyone there, and the audience, that the most noble figure in the entire game has just been swiftly ended. And do I even have to mention his final words? “So much for my dreams'' is one of the most legendary quotes in the entire show, and caps off one of the best stories the show’s ever seen. 

SMC0629: 6

DryBonesKing: 22

Zanthosus: 16

Tommyroxs45: 2

Regnisyak1: 15

DavidW1208: 5

ninjedi1: 5

Average Placement: 10.143

Total Points: 71

Standard Deviation: 7.471 (5th Highest)

10th: Jessica “Sugar” Kiper 1.0 (Gabon - 3rd)

oh yeah, jessica kiper from gilmore girls

u/SMC0629:

Sugar has had such a weird history when it comes to her reception among the fandom. It feels like she either didn't get the respect she deserved, or was super misunderstood. I think she has one of the best journeys throughout the entire show, it's almost unparalleled. She goes from being a seemingly insignificant member of Kota, to becoming so much more scrappy on Fang, showing her truly entertaining personality and how she doesn't take shit from anyone. She's even pretty intelligent, and reads people well, something that is CRUCICAL throughout the season in terms of the strategy. I also really appreciate how the show doesn't shy away from showing her emotional moments, as someone who is the same way I think it's super relatable. She's also just got so many quotables, it's ridiculous, even more than Crystal if you ask me. All in all, a near-perfect character who goes toe to toe with Randy in terms of being my favorite on Gabon.

~

u/DryBonesKing:

Like with Shane, I really wonder how Sugar passed her psyche evaluation to make the cast, but I’m so grateful she did. Sugar is contention for having one of the best stories of all time, filled with religious metaphor, deep story moments, and just plain old simple “fucking hilarious scenes”. Sugar simultaneously gives too many fucks and not enough fucks at any given point, and she’s able to balance both mindsets at any point to a literal perfect degree. 

I’ve seen some takes that praise Sugar for single-handedly making the narrative of Gabon about herself, and while I do think the story does revolve around her, I do want to pushback just ever so slightly since I think there is sometimes a soft implication that Sugar might be acting. I think it sometimes is not acknowledged how fragile of a state Sugar really was in this game and how truly emotionally devastating the events of the game were. It’s especially notable in her relationships this game with Ace, Kenny, and Bob, and how tight she is with all three of them and how betrayed she ends up feeling by the first two. There is just a natural spontaneous energy within her as she wrestles with her actions and what she needs to do to make peace with herself and it’s just so engaging. 

u/Schroeswald had an amazing write-up that I recommend everyone read when you all get the chance. I’d love to add my own deeper thoughts on her as well, but I’ll just leave it at this for now. So glad she made it back to Endgame. 

Overall Rank - 11/821
~

u/Zanthosus:

I’m not the biggest fan of Gabon. I’ve made that clear throughout the rankdown. But one thing I will say about the season is that Sugar is absolutely incredible and singlehandedly saves the entire thing from being an overly negative and pessimistic slog. She wears her heart on her sleeve, plays with her emotions first, and creates a lot of fun chaos both intentionally and by accident. She’s spectacular. Simple as that.

~

u/Regnisyak1:

Sugar, Sugar! Sugar is a woman of many characters, but more importantly the main character of Gabon. Sugar’s emotional outbursts can be a lot, but I think they are tied very nicely to the story about her playing for her father, and it creates a variable season like Gabon that thrives off of its emotions and allows people to be themselves. Her relationships with Crystal, Bob, Matty, and Ace were incredible, and the pin-up model, one that would expect to be underestimated, eventually ran the season like the Marines, though in a chaotic way to the end. Love her, when I rewatched Gabon she flew to my endgame. 

Personal Rank: 13/821. 10/10.

~

u/ninjedi1:

Sugar is unique, as there is multiple ways to look at her story. She could be the girl out there dealing with her emotions and managed to grow as a person, someone who was dragged along and once had power abused it to get her way, or many others. No matter what way you choose to interpret Sugar, there's something interesting about each perspective of her and is another person that helps make Gabon as great of a season as it is.

~~~~~

/u/Tommyroxs45:

Sugar Kiper 1.0:

Sugar, a substance often known as sweet, good to the taste, bad for the health. Does sugar taste good in the moment? Yeah, but overtime it rots the teeth, becoming a negative presence on your life. Had good intentions and felt good but too much hurts.

You know exactly who this definition also applies to… Sugar Kiper.

Sugar has one of the top 3 best stories in the history of Survivor. Period. Paragraph. Her complete control of the game, while being a complete mess made for some of the most complex emotional gameplay ever seen on the show. Every single person she interacted with, had a relationship with her and usually was betrayed by her due to her emotions getting in the way of her gameplay, and I absolutely love it.

At the start, she's just seen as this pin-up girl, but as the game goes on, she becomes more and more wrecked with her emotions and doesn’t even play for herself. She wants to play the hero, by letting all of the good guys get to the end while blowing up her own game, but when she tries to play hero we get everyone else seeing her as “evil”. Becoming one of the most emotional and well told stories of the downfall of a person who was ultimately grieving and trying to play to help others. 

We almost never see a hero get a downfall arc, because what is there to give, they are the selfless ones they should always be on the rise. But the great thing about Gabon, is that when someone is a hero, everyone else sees them as a villain because everyone is the villain and they feed off each other.

She throws everything away, her relationships, her game, and even her morals to make sure that the bad guys don’t win and someone she likes does. She will do anything to let that happen. And what makes it so tragic is that she doesn’t get rewarded for it ultimately, she is panned and driven to breakdowns over the feelings everyone else has for her. She was trying to make everyone feel good but it doesn’t work out because of the way she does it, and it’s a dark story but it’s what makes her so amazing.

This is present all throughout her story allowing for her to build as she goes, making it so deep. With her idol find on Exile Island and then her relationship and eventual betrayal of Ace. The premerge does a great job of setting her up, while not having a particular breakout moment. We see how her emotions and grief are impacting her and how it just gets worse and worse as the game goes on. While her story and overall memorability ultimately ramps up a lot at the merge. The premerge sets up a really good tone for the post merge portion to follow.

You can tell she has such good intentions and a big heart but just doesn’t know how to show it and is struggling with grief at the same time. She wants to be loved, and give everyone else the best chance they can get and have an optimal outcome but she can’t do that without pissing everyone off. You know it’s not coming from a place of malice, while her comments towards people like Corinne, Randy, and Crystal were negative, they weren’t wrong, they were bullies, and she called them out on it and sent them home so the nice people like Susie, Bob, and Matty could all get to the end. 

That’s what makes her rivalries with these people so legendary, especially Randy obviously. While she has great dynamics with everyone on the season, and we see them explored to their fullest potential, by far her most notable ones are with 6 people, YES 6 PEOPLE! That’s how damn good her influence is that she single handedly in a key point in 6 peoples stories. (7 if you include Ace pre merge)…

Bob, Matty, Kenny, Crystal, Corinne, and Randy. So much of these people’s stories revolve around Sugar and her antics. Every single one of them is legendary, through either her grief, her quips, her heart, or her strategy she makes these stories what they are, none of these people would be the same without her.

Bob:

Bob and Sugar’s relationship is the seasons close. Her seeing him as her father, after her father had just passed before she came out, is such an impactful and honestly kind of beautiful storyline. It’s riddled with darkness but you see a light there, that she sees him in that light and throws away everything to pave the way for him to win and take control over his moves so he could win in the end. I’ll go into this moment later but one of my favorite scenes in the whole show is when Sugar is about to cry as her vote for Matty is read at the final four vote. It’s just perfect.

Matty:

Another one of the good guys just like Bob. They were close out there and you could see a family bond growing between them. Like brother and sister, and they dictated so much of the game together when Crystal and Kenny started to be too big for their britches. Her having to vote him out at the final four vote is tragic, powerful, beautiful, and symbolic of everything Sugar had done up to that point. You can feel her heart being cut in half after Matty loses, it’s like choosing between her father or her brother, and she completely breaks. The music in the background as Matty loses, knowing it was at the hands of Sugar, someone who he thought he could count on as a best friend and wouldn’t hurt him like that, it’s definitely in my top 10 favorite scenes of Survivor. It just sums up the season in a more impactful way than I have seen anything ever do prior or since.

Kenny:

Ah Kenny, what’s there to say about Kenny and Sugar. Their relationship is complicated, and that is probably an understatement, but damn is it good. Ken in a way, manipulates Sugar, often in her head about what to do and trying to play for the underdog. She knows what he is trying to do, but her heart won’t let her break away from it until the final 6 where she puts her foot down and flips on them. She realizes he’s a villain but doesn’t want to break his heart until he just gets too powerful to where he’s interrupting her journey, her path, her game to make the good guys win, and she can’t have that happen.

Her idol play was more of an act rather than a play. She wanted everyone to see that Kenny was evil and that she was doing this for the greater good. Now did everyone else see it like that, no, and that’s what makes it so great, she has great intentions, but it just doesn’t come off that way. Kenny is ultimately left heart broken and felt entitled to her heart, and for her to take that away from him left him pissed. To where we get a very funny one on one end but also a very telling jury speech from Kenny explaining his feelings for Sugar and how she took away his heart.

Crystal:

Sugar is the reason for Crystal’s downfall. Her relationship with Kenny just got too big for the game and were intruding on Sugar’s perfect story of getting the good guys to the end. Her jury speech to Sugar also represents Sugar’s mishandling of her emotions and calling out Crystal as a bully did not help that. Crystal was somebody on Sugar’s side and laughed with her at Randy’s misfortunes, being turned on definitely left a bad taste in her mouth, just crumbling Sugar’s mental state further and further. Showing how she’s pushing away everybody, even the ones who she aligned with and kept with, because of her motive and her grief.

Corinne:

Before I start I just want to say, fuck Corinne. Okay, now that is out of the way, Corinne is actually really good for Sugar’s story. Corinne is a bitch, a bully, and a terrible person, no bullshit, that’s who she is. However, she really plays up Sugar’s role on the season, being this opposition to her and everything she does. Someone who just has pure hate at the heart that owns it. She underestimates Sugar, until Sugar flips the game on its head for her and is all “woe is me!!” It’s really funny. She falls at the hands of Sugar and it is oh so satisfying.

Of course though what else could I bring up other than her jury speech. It’s awful towards Sugar, and one of the worst things ever said to somebody on the show. However, it really sums up Sugar’s story, with everyone’s opinions on her, her emotions, and her heart just trying to be full while being stomped on at every corner. I hate it as a moment for Corinne but as a moment for Sugar, it’s really works and is a dark way to bring Sugar’s story to a close but it was the only way that was gonna close.

Randy:

This is THE relationship of the season. Their rivalry is one of the most iconic of all time. It’s a lot like Jane and Marty where they just hate each other, do anything to bring out the worst in each other, and do not hold any personal punches back. Randy’s boot episode is in my top 10 favorite episodes of all time because of these two. The auction shenanigans where Randy gets pissed because of Sugar. Then, she tells Bob to give Randy the fake idol, and then laughs after Randy plays it. It is the funniest episode of all time and it’s not close.

They are so iconic together, it’s why Gabon is looked at the way it is today, because of these two and their relationship, or lack thereof. I mostly adore it for entertainment reasons but it also greatly lifts up both of their stories as well. Randy is a grumpy old man who has very little in his life and just spews his hatred out on others, and Sugar doesn’t see it as a lonely old man, she sees him as a complete asshole and someone who just has too much pure vile for no reason. He plays up her role of the “protector” and she plays up his role as “the old ass”. It works perfectly for the season both from a story perspective and especially an entertainment perspective, it’s T.V GOLD!

Sugar’s Final Tribal

I mentioned it previously, but her final tribal is the summation of her character and all the things she did during the game. She has a huge heart and is struggling so much with her emotions and breakdowns, to where this is just the huge snowball crashing into the tree. She is absolutely panned and it’s tragic, dark, but the perfect and most satisfying way to end her story. She is mentally broken at this point being out there for 39 days and just to be beaten down again and again for her chaos even if she had the heart behind it. It's sad but it’s serious and the way it should end. 

Final Thoughts

Sugar is an absolutely phenomenal character. Her struggle with grief vs emotions vs game is an iconic story that has never been done as well ever in the history of the show. She genuinely has no faults as a character and has so many of the iconic moments that make Gabon what it is. She has such a sweet soul but it became damaging overtime as too much of her antics intruded on others peoples games. 

In any other season, Sugar would be loved, and appreciated and supported, but in Gabon she’s hated and that’s why her dynamics are what make Sugar, Sugar! She works off everybody around her perfectly making some of the most iconic storylines ever seen. She’s such a deep and complex person that anybody that she interacts with is automatically made into a great story because she just has these relationships that feed into her emotions and her grief that are shown and told fantastically by the edit.

I adore Sugar, she is easily in my top 10 of all time and will always be there. She has a story unparalleled by anyone else and for that, I appreciate both her and the edit for being able to pull off one of the best stories of all time. Just like sugar, Sugar is a sweet character but one that has side effects but I still love her anyways. 

SMC0629: 12

DryBonesKing: 10

Zanthosus: 8

Tommyroxs45: 5

Regnisyak1: 10

DavidW1208: 17

ninjedi1: 14

Average Placement: 10.857

Total Points: 76

Standard Deviation: 3.394 (5th Lowest)

Won Tiebreaker

11th: Jerri Manthey 1.0 (The Australian Outback - 8th)

mother

u/SMC0629:

Despite how anyone feels about Outback, I think Jerri is the one character who transcends those opinions. She is a pioneer in terms of Survivor villains, literally the original, and for better or for worse, she had the entire fandom in a chokehold back when the show started. She's super complex and fun to watch, and EASILY my favorite character of the season.

~

u/DryBonesKing:

Survivor’s original villain. Man-eater Manthey, the original Black Widow, Survivor’s very first “mactor” casting, the asshole who said Keith couldn’t cook rice, the horrible person who accused Kel of smuggling beef jerky… Honestly, I think Jerri’s gotten underrated nowadays. There’s some meaningful discussion to be had about the extent of how much of a villain Jerri is based on modern day perspectives, but I have also seen it accompanied by takes about Jerri being neither a villain nor “that entertaining”, and honestly, I categorically reject both assertions. 

Jerri carves herself a truly unique role in Outback and serves as a fantastic foil to all of the main characters of the show. She’s narcissistic and vain and has very little filter on her thoughts (i.e. her complaints about Keith and her open flirting with Colby), and she’s also very cutthroat with some amazing one-liners. I think Jerri is the first person in the show’s history to make a reference to “making a deal with the devil” and god does she pull it off so well. Her relationship with Colby is genuinely iconic. Her relationship with Tina is also pretty damn amazing as well (especially as it starts with both of them being suspicious of Kel). Her hatred of Keith, her feud with Elisabeth, the forced politeness she and Rodger share… hell, she manages to do the genuine impossible task of actually making Amber Brkich seem entertaining on Survivor! Give this woman an Emmy for fuck’s sake! 

The beef jerky, her making tortillas to one-up Keith, her involvement in the Mitchell tribal council as one of his faithful allies, the “drizzle chocolate on a hot guy’s bod”, Colby splashing her with water after Ogakor lost reward, their late “date” at the Great Barrier Reef, her blindside, both Tina and Colby taking potshots at her in the FTC… there’s so much to say about Jerri. And despite all of these iconic moments and being such an iconic villain, she herself has a relatability to her that I think should not be ignored. Truly, one of the best of all time. Someone who should realistically make every Endgame. 

Overall Rank – 9/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

The original villainess of Survivor. She’s the star of her season, and she has one of the most perfect three season arcs in the show’s history. I adore her in every iteration, but here she’s basically perfect. A true 10/10 character through and through. It’s really telling that the quality of the season goes down considerably after her elimination.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

The original villainess of Survivor. Her dynamic with Colby is iconic for a reason they have some of the best moments in survivor history. And perfectly sets up Colby’s story as well as just being completely tv gold with her beef jerky gate, Hershey bars, whenever she is on screen you know you are gonna get the Manthey experience.

~

u/ninjedi1:

Jerri is definitely one of the most well known characters, originally one of the most hated people on the show, and nowadays is one of the most beloved (although not a fan of the revisionist take that she was the hero of the season). From the beef jerky debacle, to her relationship with Colby, with having the ability to tick off a number of people with her attitude without even knowing, she's pretty fun overall.

~~~~~

u/Regnisyak1:

Jerri Manthey (Australian Outback, 8/16)

Jerri, Jerri, Jerri. The maneater of the show has one of the most important roles in the series and is a necessary character, not just in the history of Survivor, but the history of Reality TV. She shows what happens when a personality clash happens on Survivor. She demonstrates the pride of strong women and how they are immediately ostracized on these TV shows as being a “bitch.” The double standard she expresses, where she is playing a clear strategic game, but is relegated to the position of the camp pariah because of her behavior is endlessly fascinating. But most importantly? She is the true first villainess, the first true flirt of the series, and she is the demonstration of perceived evil in society when in reality people desire scapegoats. She is a stellar character and one of the few characters whom I ultimately question where I have in my rankings - and perhaps one day could be my number one of all time. I love Jerri. 

There are about one million things I love about Jerri, so for this essay, I want to frame it in a certain manner that is easy to follow, both for myself and you all. Jerri’s strengths are mainly showcased in her relationships with other people on the island - namely, Keith, Colby, and Tina, and coincidentally, that is the order in which this paper will go. With Keith, we understand Jerri’s humor, bossiness, and personality best. Often, Jerri IS right whenever she complains about Keith - he is simply put, an idiot, and Jerri outshines him in everything. With Colby, we understand a newer facet of Survivor that hasn’t been shown - sexuality on Survivor, and how it's dealt with. With that, Jerri is also deemed as a villain, especially given the situation of Ogakor and their… conservatism. And lastly, Jerri is a free independent woman in the series - which means she is SATAN! A discussion of Tina will take over the last section of this write-up because she is the primary source of Jerri becoming the original villain that we all love and know her for.

I mentioned a long time ago in my Jerri 3.0 cut that I didn’t think that I was able to get her cut for endgame (because at that point, we all kind of agreed Jerri was making endgame), so the fact that I am in this position, to talk about one of my favorite characters of all time, is just an honor. Outback is a very underrated season when it comes to the theming of Survivor, and the fact that I get a chance to deep dive into it as extensively as I will right now is a lot of fun.

Part I: “He Should Keep His Day Job” - Jerri and Her Personality (featuring Keith and other Friends) 

Opening right away on the now iconic helicopter scene, Jerri almost immediately came out on the island guns blazing when she reached the camp… by arguing with Keith. Keith in general is a condescending dink, but right away, he begins to suggest things for camp, when in reality they would not work in the context of how they should live - in other words, his ideas are kind of lame. But this culminates in the second when the world-class chef continues to cook the rice horrifically. 

Jerri and her tortillas are unfortunately a bigger character than Amber 1.0, but they show so much about her character in such a short amount of time. One is that she is not afraid to speak her mind, both in confessionals and in the game. She complains about Keith not being able to cook something as simple as rice in the middle of the beach, while Jerri can do it with relative ease. She is not afraid to call his ass out on the issue either, because his rice sucked and she knew she could do it better. But it also shows Jerri’s bossy side, which seems to especially come out whenever she is hungry (or wakes up in a bad mood… or doesn’t get what she wants… or is annoyed… or… well you get the point). While Jerri is hilarious in the moment, and right because everyone hates Keith’s rice, people still see her as being negative because she has such a personality clash with the tribe, who tend to be people who follow, rather than lead like Jerri. People like her should be appreciative of what Keith is doing, but she breaks the mold and goes against the line. This culminates in Episode 3 when Jerri mocks Keith AGAIN because she is catching more fish than him without barely trying! Her overconfidence is further a key component in her character, and something that pushes people away. 

I’d be wrong to not bring up JerkyGate at this point, which happens in the same episode with Jerri and also shows her abrasive side. We might never know if Kel snuck beef jerky on the show, or was simply munching on grass, but one thing we do know is that Jerri was pissed and led the witchhunt against him. Ultimately, Jerri is not afraid to take the lead on anything, even if the facts are not clear, and while the tribe was pissed at Kel for potentially having food and not being prepared to share with 7 other starving people on the island, Jerri got more flak for the situations due to how harsh she was in the concept. It’s another staple of her character.

Episode 3 is also an interesting episode for Jerri because it showcases one positive trait of her and her game. At the end of the day, while she could get annoyed easily and maybe isn’t the nicest when she is hungry, she is loyal to the people that she is friends with. Mad Dog was one of the most difficult votes for her at that point of the game because she considered her a close friend, but ultimately that was where the chips lay. It further expands to Mitchell in the next episode, where Jerri specifically mentions friendship in the game, and how she is not as close with some on the island as others. This sets off red flags for a particular Tennesseean and something I will go into more detail earlier, but it shows that no matter how the show portrays her if she likes you, she will be loyal to you. What’s important about this scene, however, is that it is a classic example of Jerri speaking before thinking about the words that she is saying. Jerri’s immediate regret in the next episode showcases her fear of the game and shows that she has game awareness, despite not having social awareness. Ultimately, her loyalty takes a front view at the end of Episode 4, as she refuses to vote for Mitchell, which puts her on the outside of the tribe because of Tina’s last-second vote flip on their hike over to the tribal council. 

As time progresses, we begin to see more sides of Jerri, and it is up to us as the viewer to construe the positivity or negativity of Jerri. She is constantly complained about for her attitude on the show, whether it is her style of gameplay or her continued attitude on the beach. The gameplay portion of her game is rather important. As the game progresses we see Jerri become more and more paranoid. Jerri is a classic example of a player lacking self-awareness of how their behavior might affect people in the future, but what is notable is that she quickly understands that people do not like her in the game. I don’t think she is ever aware of the extent of the game and her behavior, (which I think explains her bitterness toward Tina in All-Stars) but she does know that people will never take her to the end, either because she is not deserving or because she is playing a good social game. But, that leads to Jerri becoming a paranoid mess, desperate to strategize with almost anything at this point. One notable moment is her strategizing with Colby in the middle night, which is something that he CLEARLY did not want to do. This was yet another strike, but showed that Jerri, while being bossy all the time, is also really game-oriented, but she doesn’t recognize what times she should - it reminds me of a lot of characters on the show, but Jerri is the true example of that, where she is actively seen as bossy AND overplaying.

But Jerri’s bossiness reaches a new height once the Kuchas come over to the tribe. Immediately, the Ogakors look like idiots because that dumbass Keith accidentally took the matches to the old Kucha tribe by accident, leading the women to have no ability to make fire, as their guests meander to their tribe. Further, we get Jerri being incredibly bossy about the rice and such, yet again, as the merge progresses. With this, we understand the entire characterization of Jerri with a simple Rodger voting confessional “Most days she gets up in a good mood, but oh baby, watch out if she gets up in a bad mood.” We get some classic Jerri personality clashes at this point in the post-merge, notably with her complaining about how Elisabeth cooks the food every morning, and how she has a specific way of cooking it. 

This scene is especially important because it is a rare time when we see Elisabeth, of all characters, break their character and lose the sweetheart facade for a moment because of Jerri’s sheer negativity around camp. Elisabeth tends to keep her composure throughout most of the season, but you can tell her annoyment in this situation, and it sparks a different side of her character that we did not get an opportunity to see - a more malicious side where she pushes a lot of the Jerri boot in the process. It was yet another personality clash with Jerri at this point, and something that caused another strike because of her abrasion. And what’s funnier is that Jerri came into the merge to hide that attitude. She was attempting to be nice and together with the Ogakors as the other two Kuchas meandered over to their tribe, and she was even going to stay loyal to the final 3, who she never really knew the extent they hated her, but her power on the tribe was just too great, and her attitude finally wore them down. She went home in that episode, for a mix of reasons. Her abrasion, her attitude, her differences from the “good” people on the tribe, and her strategic abilities. 

Jerri so effortlessly creates argumentation in the tribe, whether it is deserved conflict or perceived conflict because of her attitude. Her ability to be such a natural villain without over-hamming it up, and just merely due to her negative personality, is beyond impressive on the show, and something that I can’t overemphasize my appreciation for. Ultimately, Jerri is not really that bad, and I think many could even suggest that she is the right half of the time, but she ultimately cannot make that point clear because she just comes off too strongly. But is it her fault? Maybe not. At this point, we have to start looking at the other people in the tribe. Ultimately, Jerri is abrasive, the vitriol she got was just not deserved. It’s due to simple perceptions, initial first perceptions, and perhaps gender roles that created such an intense portion of the game with Jerri, and why she meets the themes of the season so well. But before that, let’s jump into the other character and their dissolution of a potential relationship, to a rivalry that last over a decade. He ain’t no Hershey bar, either. 

Part II: “I Am SUCH a Sucker for Cowboys” - Jerri and Sexuality/Gender Roles

The tumultuous roller coaster that occurs between Jerri and Colby is telegraphed so greatly during Australian Outback, and ultimately it is because of one thing, and one thing only. Avoiding the full Freudian comparison, Colby is a MAMA’S BOY! 

Jerri and Colby begin the show with having a mutual relationship and liking for each other, while also having their knives sharpened and ready to stab at the correct period. Probably one of my favorite and underrated scenes of Jerri was when she gave Colby the massage on the island. Both give immediate commentary in that they can see right through each other and know exactly what they are doing to each other. Jerri begins the massage but knows that at some point in the game, even though she is attracted to Colby, she will have to stab him in the back. On the other hand, Colby sees right through her sexualization of him and knows that Jerri will be in trouble down the line. 

Something that Jerri’s weaponizes is her flirtatious nature. I don’t think Jerri gets enough credit for using that as her strategy and being the first really to use it in such an obvious way, because she is actively using it to win people over, notably her potential boyfriend on the season, Colby. To me, I think Jerri very well knows how she is acting on camp, and using her powers of seduction as a way to convince Colby to move over to her side and be a strong ally for her character. I think she also just has a crush on Colby, but as we’ve seen from her being strategic and understanding game awareness, she knows exactly what she is doing. 

Probably, my favorite example of Jerri and her sexuality is the classic scene with her and the chocolate. Chocolate releases endorphins. Poor it over a hot bod. Hopefully, Colby is in her fantasies. I mentioned this casually in my Jerri 3.0 writeup, but her relationship with chocolate is one of my favorite side stories of Jerri because she mentions it consistently in all three seasons she appears. I don’t think it is overshadowed at all in Survivor, but with it appearing in the same episode as Trial by Fire, I do think its placement gets forgotten. She’s on the beach, lying next to a log (wait that’s AMBER?!?) and discussing just so blatantly how chocolate is an aphrodisiac near Colby, whom she admits pretty firmly that she is fantasizing about in her daydreams. Yes, we get the Hershey Bar scene here, but Jerri destroys this scene with how classic she is, just because it was so unique and different to hear a woman like her so blatantly talk about sex in that manner. Like for 2001, that’s SHOCKING. But it is reality, and I think Jerri being the leader in that role is pretty incredible.

But, silly goofy gender roles come into play, and it causes a riff between the tribe because it does make the rest of the tribe uncomfortable. Again, I will go into this more detail down below, but Colby and Tina don’t like how open she is about how she wants it, and I think that is really important contextualization for the tribe because they are a bunch of conservatives on the tribe. They don’t need to hear that, and Jerri, someone they’ve already had issues with, is already annoying as is, and this just adds insult to energy. 

But as they progress, we see their relationship continue to tumble down a hill, picking up speed as it rolls down faster and faster. Colby is getting irritated with Jerri at this point, and I think Tina is involved a lot in this position on the season. As I mentioned earlier, Colby is a total mama’s boy, and that is immediately confirmed when his mom comes strolling out on the island after he wins one of his ten million challenges. We question his motives throughout the season, but I think Tina clocked Colby immediately for being someone who respects elders in his life, and her power of acting as a motherly figure for his character begins the general dislike for Jerri because at first they did get along and created an alliance. But they continue to struggle, and whether it is Colby throwing the water at Jerri during the challenge, or his general apathy as the game progresses and lack of interest, their relationship is going down, and a lot of it is due to Tina and her negative attitude toward Jerri and her character.

Their awkwardness of their, for a lack of a better word, “situationship”, culminates into the classic honeymoon scene, as they go to the reefs and slowly ruin a national landmark in Australia (lol). They lounge on the chairs out there, but Colby first issues a rule with Jerri - no one is allowed to talk about strategy out on the reward. This is a time to relax, and he simply has no desire to hear it. It was hilarious how differently the two were on different pages, with Colby not giving any fucks about Jerri (he dragged her along the challenge but did not want to win), while Jerri somehow fell more in love on her honeymoon without sex. The dichotomy of their games, with Colby playing a better social game, but not so much one with game awareness, while Jerri having the exact opposite, became quite clear here. 

Jerri’s ultimate lack of understanding of how to use her strategy, and the divide of her negative attitude, something that is very difficult to change at the end of the day, creates a varied strategy that ultimately fails on cylinders. But the more important part is how a woman who has these feelings, basically being a love-sick puppy, gets ostracized by the entire country of America for her behavior. I think the perception of Jerri and her seductive nature is probably the most interesting about her character because it is highly lauded in seasons now, but when it happened then, she was the equivalent of the devil. It represents the double standards of women on Survivor because god forbid a woman shows that she has a strong sexuality. I love how Jerri embraced it, and while she did have issues making it actually… work, it still created some interesting tension among the much more conservative tribe members of Kucha and Ogakor. 

Ultimately, I think Jerri and Colby’s relationship ends with fire because he just straight up lies to her when he mentions who he is voting for her because she is so done with her attitude. Jerri isn’t shocked at tribal because early Survivor didn’t understand blindsides, so they likely told her beforehand, but I think you can see she is heartbroken by the decision because Jerri was a mouthy, but loyal soldier. Even at the end, I don’t think anyone expected Jerri’s game because she was trying to fish for answers with her jury questions, and I think there’s a certain tragedy that Jerri was playing a strategically forward game, but was ultimately ruined because of her boisterous personality. 

And again, I’d be wrong not to mention the sheer strength of Jerri and Colby, and how their relationship progresses throughout the seasons. From this, we get legendary moments in All-Stars that give the season some semblance of watchability, which leads to an incredible three-season arc for the duo. I wouldn’t go into too much detail because this write-up is already getting to be way too long, but it is pretty great, and watching Jerri get the final word on Colby twice is great. 

Part III: “She took the canoe!” - Jerri and The Themes of Australia

Lastly, Jerri symbolizes the themes I’ve talked about loving so much in Australian Outback - understanding what deserving means on the season, and how that turn has no relevance to the season. Once someone gets pegged as “undeserving” it is hard to fight against that reputation, even in a favorable way. The problem is that Jerri constantly gets dogpiled, to the point where she can never bounce back from what people thought of her with her initial perceptions.

Tina’s hatred of Jerri symbolizes that, as she was one of the leaders of the concept of good vs. evil. Throughout the premerge, Tina plays a hidden role, but eventually, we begin to understand the “good people” winning, or those who agree Tina initially perceives as those who are “good.” The entire perception comes from her. This means white people who don’t have an attitude problem. I think Australian Outback is beyond interesting because of that because it shows how the cast can change what people describe as deserving, and that it can be completely subjective depending on the season.

No one on Survivor is truly “deserving” to make it to the end or not. It’s almost entirely luck. But Australian Outback tries to establish that, which makes it unique against the other seasons of Survivor because deserving is never really as vocalized as it is in this season. Tina disguises what being “good” means, and it causes the endgame to work out the way it is. Jerri is only the first victim that Tina has with this march, but the good vs evil marking leads to an interesting dichotomy between the two groups. 

Besides that, their relationship reconfirms gender roles of the season, with someone who lives in a more conservative setting, versus one who didn’t and has broader strokes of liberalism with it. Tina is very conservative in her roles in society, as we see with her judgments of Jerri all season, which is described as negative when Jerri begins to talk about sexuality. Of course, there's a right and wrong place to talk about it, and Jerri often did do it at the wrong times, but it clouded Tina’s mind to the point where she couldn’t change her mind. 

The conceit of friendship and connections also comes into play with Jerri. Again, at Mad Dog’s tribal she accidentally leaks that friendships do exist on Survivor, and she has quite a few. This immediately paints a target on her back because she admits to having an alliance, but also likes other people more than others. It set off two people, with Tina who already began to dislike Jerri, but also Colby, who understood Jerri could be a loose cannon, and he didn’t like when people ostracized other people on the tribe. Jerri was considered rude in this situation, and this was yet another domino in Jerri’s villain arc. 

No one is right or wrong in this situation because putting people into schemas is natural. I don’t want to make a moral judgment about this story, but ultimately, Tina’s story did boil down to her only supporting people who have her views. And I love it. But Jerri as the main villain, when in reality, she was just an outspoken woman on a tribe that has more conservative views is an incredible contrast with one another. I don’t want to make this section about Tina any longer than it should be the ranker will do a great job speaking about her, but Jerri as a concept was through Tina’s perception, and she ultimately became a scapegoat for the tribe person that they can pile on easily. 

Whether Jerri deserved the vitriol is up for debate, but ultimately, it’s a reflection on society. Jerri was both right and wrong with her accusations, and most of the time, she was right with her perceptions. But once you get targeted for that negativity, it is hard to shake off what happens for the rest of the time. We naturally look for scapegoats, and when someone falls out of line, they get targeted next to society. Tina perfected this strategy to a T and deserved every penny. And Jerri? She was the first victim in that description.

It’s why Jerri’s common complaint about her game being “tame” in comparison is always a weird take to me. It’s not the point about Jerri. She’s a bitch, but it is not really because of her style of play or how she plays the game, it’s because of how people perceive her on the show. Symbolically, her role in Australian Outback represents such an important facet of society and how people can tend to pile on when first impressions are not met properly. She is supposed to be tame in comparison to the legendary characters because she is tame. She’s just extraordinarily bossy and clashes with other people. Ultimately, this is why I love Jerri. She goes against the grain and gets punished for it, when in reality, how much she deserves it is questionable, and should be up for debate. 

Her downfall is legendary from two different angles. One is if you support Tina’s narrative of getting out the negativity on the season. The other is tragic when you understand that Jerri was ostracized because of her personality, and given a chance to grow outside of it because the other tribe members were mum about their feelings. Having a character who has two completely different interpretations of how their boot occurred has a lot of implications for Jerri and showcases how stellar her character is. A lot of it is ambiguous, and while Tina’s side was much more supported in the narrative, I think both are valid takes to understand how Jerri went home. 

Part IV: “I don’t know who I am out here” - Concluding Thoughts

Ultimately, as Jerri knows she is going home, she learns that she does not recognize herself out there on the island. And I believe that. Jerri becomes a mess after a while and a lot of factors could have led to that. Whether she does have a bossy personality, hunger on the island, being around people who don’t like her, or being in the same place constantly, could lead to why Jerri became Jerri on the island. But ultimately, it’s the symbolism that surrounds her boot. First impressions mean everything on Survivor, and sometimes you can go down a rabbit hole that evolves into whether someone on the series was deserving or not. 

A good character for me is someone that you can spin easily. Spin their meaning into something that relates to society. And Jerri is probably the easiest character to do that for. She has so many implications about whether or not she is a villain, and how that can translate to the larger role of society. It’s a tragic blend of gender roles, personality clashes, good in society, and negativity overall and how that affects the mood. It leads to a beautiful blend of a character that is not only asking all these questions but incredibly entertaining to boot.

That’s something I’ve mostly been quiet about, but whenever Jerri has a personality clash, it’s almost gleeful to watch her be so blissfully unaware, with a top 5 laugh in reality TV (Cirie and Amy Crews from BB4 are also there). Jerri is someone who makes me consistently laugh because she is so detached at times from reality and truly doesn’t understand how these people feel about her. When she complains about tortillas, she is a magnetic narrator, and her annoyance is clear through her emotions. When she discusses sexuality, you can feel a certain emotion from her, as well as the mood shift around the camp. Ultimately, she is one of the most expressive, hilarious, funny narrators in the history of the show. 

When she leaves, you can tell the magic nearly disappears because she is a queen of conflict and drives all of it on the season. Jerri was the life and soul of the season, and while Tina dominated the strategy, Jerri dominated the character. She is one of those few characters that makes characters better than they should be. I am so happy that she had the opportunity to make the endgame again, and I am even more overjoyed that I had the opportunity to talk about her in more detail. 

Personal Rank: 6/821 <3.

SMC0629: 14

DryBonesKing: 8

Zanthosus: 10

Tommyroxs45: 14

Regnisyak1: 6

DavidW1208: 4

ninjedi1: 20

Average Placement: 10.857

Total Points: 76

Standard Deviation: 5.521 (10th Lowest)

12th: Sue Hawk 1.0 (Borneo - 4th)

water under the bridge perhaps?

u/SMC0629:

I actually don’t have much to say on Sue, but that’s not to say she isn’t deserving of making it this far. She’s super striking compared to most of the Borneo castaways, and that’s saying something when almost everyone is unique. She’s tough and doesn’t take shit from most people, but her role in the Tagi alliance is super important on an emotional level. Her relationship with Kelly is one of the best stories in the season, resulting in one of, if not, the best jury speech to this day, it will never be topped.

~

u/DryBonesKing:

I’m lower on Borneo than most, as I probably implied when I cut Hatch decades ago, but I do think the season itself is incredibly strong and that’s primarily the result of this woman right here. It is insane the level of stardom that Sue just casually exhibits through Borneo and how much she just helps sell the season. From the “Corporate world won’t work out in the bush” scene that Probst/Burnett love to talk about as the proof that Survivor was going to be hit, to Sue’s misspelling of “Souna” as the very first vote of all time, to her blunt insults at literally everyone, to her being the pioneer of the concept of alliances… there is literally just no end to the amount of “moments” one can attribute to Sue Hawk. 

My personal favorite though has got to be her entire relationship with Kelly. People tend to focus on Hatch, or Pagong, or the “documentary editing style” of the season as the highlights of Borneo, but for me, the relationship between these two is the thing that makes Borneo truly special. To me, that is what Survivor is all about. Watching the two form a genuine bond and watching it deteriorate over the course of the game and culminating in the FTC speech is just so fucking powerful. People always reference the “Snake will eat the rat” or the “I would not give you a drink of water” as the most important parts of the speech, but honestly, the most powerful moment is the build-up. When Sue breaks her speech to just go “You sucked on that game” and “That’s why you fail all the time”… that’s the best part of the speech. It’s amazing to see the genuine hurt in her eyes as she’s finally able to hold her former friend accountable for the shit she put her through with her wishy-washiness come merge time. 

Sue is the single-most important casting choice of all time. Survivor would have entirely failed without her. Absolutely deserves her spot here. 

Overall Rank – 13/821

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

While I do find Sue a little overrated around here, she is still obviously iconic. Her jury speech is the 2nd best of all time only to Trish’s and formed the path for Survivor in the future with having such a complex story with the Tagi 4. Her quips are also so good!!

~

u/Regnisyak1:

Sue has one of the most tragic stories in the series, ultimately falling victim to the first alliance on the show. Her relationships with Kelly and Hatch are some of the most important on the show. Notably with Kelly, we see her breakdown, and it’s a true explanation of her apprehension with speaking to others on the island, and how the alliance was inherently a difficult idea for her to accept. Of course, the emotional crux of the dissolution of that friendship culminates in the classic Snakes and Rats speech, which is arguably one of the most important scenes in RTV history, as well as TV history. 

Personal Rank: 7/821. 10/10

~

u/ninjedi1:

Sue's Snakes and Rats speech is so iconic it deserves her top 100 alone. Luckily for her, she's also pretty good in the rest of the season as well. She's a great foil to the eventual winner, Rich, and her bond with Kelly the whole game only to feel burned by her is interested to watch as the season progresses. What else is there really to say about Sue, she's just great.

~~~~~

u/Zanthosus:

Sue’s story on Borneo is incredibly special to me. I adore characters that play with their hearts and let their emotions guide their journey through the game. And Sue is one of the best examples of that in the early seasons of the show. It’s the way that she’s tough yet compassionate towards her tribemates. The way she balances the personal meaning of the experience to the possibility of winning a million dollars. The way she handles betrayal and heartbreak. All of it is just simply magnificent in a way that almost nobody else in the history of the show is able to exemplify to the same extent that Sue can.

She’s able to have meaningful heart-to-heart conversations with some players like Richard and Kelly, while ruthlessly roasting others like Sean and Stacey. She’s a personality that’s perfect for TV, and she’s a joy to watch the entire season. And it all culminates to a spectacular showing at the inaugural FTC with the Snakes and Rats speech. There’s undoubtedly other FTC performances that I enjoy more than Sue’s on Borneo, but hers is so special because of not just what it represents for her own personal story, but for the narrative of the season itself. It really helped to cement the kind of game that Survivor would go on to be for so many years to come. It’s a moment that’s lightning in a bottle. One that many, many people have tried to replicate since and most have failed to truly capture what made this one so special.

Sue truly is the heart and the soul that Borneo needed to become the smash hit that it was. Without her, the season wouldn’t be even a fraction as good as it is. I have so much respect for the role she plays and how she plays it, that I can’t imagine not having her in endgame.

~

Zanth will post the conclusion of the Sue writeup in the comments of this post at a later date.

SMC0629: 10

DryBonesKing: 12

Zanthosus: 6

Tommyroxs45: 18

Regnisyak1: 7

DavidW1208: 21

ninjedi1: 7

Average Placement: 11.571

Total Points: 81

Standard Deviation: 5.855 (11th Lowest)

13th: Tai Trang 1.0 (Kaoh Rong - 3rd)

tai might be the best person in the history of ever. happy early pride month to all my gay homies btw

u/SMC0629:

Tai is an absolutely one of a kind character, you’re never gonna get anyone like him. He’s got a super endearing personality, incredible relationships with so many people on the cast, and has one of the most enjoyable strategic stories too. Obviously 70% of Tai is his personal and character stuff but I was thoroughly entertained by his antics with his idol(s), advantages, and it leads to one of the best moments of the entire season, being Scot’s blindside. A near-perfect character, I adore Tai.

~

u/Zanthosus:

Tai is my favorite character on Kaoh Rong and it’s not even close. He’s the only character post-HvV to be in my top 10. He’s the emotional core of the entire season, and watching his journey from lovable goofball, to siding with the villains, to returning to good in what is indisputibly one of the best moments in the entire history of the show. Seriously, what’s there not to love about Tai?

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

He’s such a sweetheart oh my god, and he has such a great story too. His flip on Scot and Jason is an all-time moment for a good reason, he’s just so entertaining and works so well with everyone around him. How can you not love Tai?!?

~

u/Regnisyak1:

Tai is the purest soul on Survivor. Kaoh Rong in general doesn’t land for me fully, but Tai is not a reason for that, whatsoever. Watching him mold into a potential villain role, only for his morals to take over and lead against the ultimate blindside of the season makes him an incredibly complex character, and one that I am totally fine making our endgame. His wishy-washiness also made Kaoh Rong have a great endgame, and I really enjoyed his relationships with characters like the To Tang doofs and Aubry (also Caleb). I do rank Mark the Chicken higher, though. 

Personal Rank: 56/821. 9/10

~

u/ninjedi1:

Tai is the most emotional person in Kaoh Rong, which also makes him the one that has the most conflict between playing the game and playing with his heart. From being on the outs with his starting tribe, to his close and tragic relationship with Caleb, to his heel turn with Scot and Jason only to turn around and take out Scot. There's so much to enjoy with Tai and his messy journey, what's not to love?

~~~~~

u/DryBonesKing

… Ahem …

TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNGGGGGGGGGHIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can’t believe it’s finally time to talk about Tai at his peak. To quote what I had said in my write-up of his Game Changers iteration, Tai is my favorite character of all time. I’m grateful that he managed to get to Endgame in Rankdown VII, and now I’m even more grateful that I was able to help him repeat the feat. The Tai Renaissance is HERE.

While I do think there might be other characters who have better contribution to their individual seasons than him, I think that there is no one better than Tai in providing the “heart and soul” of their season. Kaoh Rong is a season that I think would fall apart without his presence. He’s integral in a lot of the larger moments of the season and the tone, and he’s able to accomplish this by just being one of the most genuinely authentic people the show has ever cast. 

One of the really fantastic aspects of Tai is how truly compelling he is at every point in the season and how each stage builds-up on him. I know that possibly sounds like a “no shit” take, as every character theoretically should get better as their story develops further, but I really wanted to highlight this aspect about Tai because it’s ESPECIALLY relevant to him. Like, you know how Vanuatu is one of those seasons that only gets better and better as each episode happens to the point of its momentum becoming genuinely unstoppable at the end of the season? Tai Trang is just like that, but in character format. He is Survivor Vanuatu, but made into a person. That’s how fucking great he is!

So with that in mind, I intend on keeping this write-up rather focus. I’m going to talk about about him straight up the very beginning - the pre-season and moment one, to the pre-swap episodes, then post-swap, the early merge, the “mid merge” moment (you all already know what I mean by that), the late-merge, and then finally ending on his finale. The ultimate goal with this transitioning approach will be to hopefully highlight just how strong Tai’s character ultimately ends up getting by the end of the season, to the point that he becomes the beating heart of the best season in the 30s/40s era!

Part 1: Pre-season - Tai as a casting choice 

So, when it got revealed that Kaoh Rong was going to repeat the “Brain vs. Brawn vs. Beauty” theme of Cagayan, I think I just sighed and expected the season to be mediocre at best. I definitely think Cagayan is a rather mid season saved by the Luzon pre-merge story arc and the strength of it’s Final Five (sans Spencer). It’s strengths are insanely strong, but it’s middle is a boring ass slog in a half and a good portion of that falls on the Beauty Tribe. Solana is possibly the most “mid” group of people ever assembled, and that perception is not helped at all by the tribe immediately ejecting its most unique character in Brice while the editors picking fucking LJ to be the main narrator. Solana is an extremely dull group of people with miniscule contribution to the plot, which (along with Spencer’s contrived underdog story) being a major reason for why the season ended up being so “average” despite the strong start and finish. 

So going into Kaoh Rong, which was seemingly trying to be a retread of Cagayan, I was already put on alert with it, and I was especially apprehensive when it comes to this new Beauty tribe, Gondol. And Ooooooh boy finding out Beast Mode Cowboy - a guy from the season of Big Brother that made me finally quit the show - did not help my nerves. But then as more of the cast got spoiled and then the official reveals happened, I became entranced by one of its casting choices. Namely, our hero of this writeup. 

Just conceptually alone, Tai is probably one of the most insanely amazing casting choices. A 51-year old gay Vietnamese refugee who is a practicing vegetarian works as a gardener and landscaper. Like, sign me the fuck up! He was already radiating amazing energy from the pre-season alone, and it only got better as the season started and he then began to joke about what he was doing there on the “Beauty Tribe”. Which is an ironic statement coming from him, since he truly feels like the person who best encapsulates what a “true beauty” really means.

In the two seasons of Survivor doing a “Brain/Brawn/Beauty”, Beauty really feels like the third-wheel that only exists for the season to have a three-tribe divide. Hell, in Kaoh Rong alone, Anna is casted as a Beauty despite being a Poker Player, a profession that Garrett also shared but was listed as a Brain. Similarly, Caleb was being listed on the show as an “Army Veteran”, which very easily could slot him into being a Brawn based off military stereotypes. The concept of what “Beauty” meant as tribe designator felt very arbitrary and was another annoyance I had with this casting theme in general, but then Kaoh Rong found Tai. A man whose profession is about making sure the environment around him looks beautiful. Who sees the true beauty in nature around him, to the point of him refusing to eat meat. And a man who is able to see the “true beauty” in others and treat EVERYONE - even aggressive assholes like Scot and Jason - with genuine care and love.

Tai single-handedly solved one of the biggest issues I had with Cagayan and Kaoh Rong’s theme. Sure, I might still have issues with the arbitrariness of some of the casting choices when it comes to who is/isn’t a Beauty, but he did make me understand why the idea of the Tribe itself exists and gave it value. So. Just that alone already puts Tai on great, great standing! Off to a great start with this one!!

Part 2: The Pre-swap - Tai’s early days 

The pre-swap does an amazing job in highlighting these core values of “Beauty”, as Tai becomes a sort of social butterfly that gels extremely well within the confines of Gondol. The all-women alliance that forms on the tribe initially picks him as the “guy” they want to approach with to have the numbers, only getting suspicious of him because he was looking for idols. But even despite creating that suspicion, he still wins over the hearts of his tribe members by just being a fun, likable presence. 

This is especially noticeable in his relationship with Caleb. The two just have great chemistry as they bond in a rather endearing manner that does remind me of Survivor’s initial pitch of strangers from different walks of life coexisting. Their bond feels very natural, to the point that I somehow have no issues mentally separating Caleb of Survivor from his godawful Big Brother counterpart. The scene of Caleb comforting Tai when they had to kill the chicken in episode three for the rest of the tribe to be nourished is actually genuinely touching, especially when you contrast it to other “chicken” dynamics such as Kimmi and Alicia. It’s such a good moment, and I think it helps highlight the bonds that Tai is able to make; that he naturally is able to win over the hearts of people around him who might seem surface-level against him. 

I mentioned Tai’s “idol searching” earlier, and while I definitely do not have the patience for idol hunts in most seasons, Tai’s is genuinely fun considering how it ties into his overall larger themes. Tai’s search involves him actually digging up small trees to look underneath them to find idols. He does this, though, apologizing to the trees and going through the effort of re-planting them when he’s done. His journey to find his idol does prove successful and extremely impactful moving forward, but I do think it’s important to note Tai’s willingness to dig up the trees. While it does come with his apology, it hints as a certain aggressiveness to him hiding underneath his charm and smile. 

Nature in general is just a huge theme with Tai. From the trees he dug up, to him always climbing trees and him being shown trying to climb the tree to obtain his hidden immunity idol at first, to the little scene of him and Caleb noticing the wasp. Nature is very important to Tai and it’s something he always makes a point to highlight or highlight to the people around him. 

And of course, it manifests the most strongly in the specific chicken he managed to save from the marooning - Mark the Chicken. The fact that Mark is later revealed to be named after Tai’s husband is so genuinely endearing and I think also helps to better highlight how precious this little bird was to him. I will talk more on Mark later, because I think it is extremely relevant in ways that people don’t often acknowledge, but I will get it off my chest real quick that, 1) it is HILARIOUS how the show jumped on Mark the Chicken and gave it an opening credits, like that’s so fucking good, and 2) it is a testament to Tai’s social game that he managed to get his whole tribe to just… allow Tai the Vegetarian to keep the chicken alive. Like, if you need more evidence of the amount of social capital our favorite gardener possessed, Mark is the walking, bawking proof!

Of course, not all is well for Tai. Nature helped provide him with his idol and nature in the form of Mark kept him company, but nature also takes away. And the biggest source of nature - the Sun - proves to be the biggest hater of all time as the high temperatures during episode four’s reward challenge leads to Caleb overworking himself and giving him so much dangerous heatstroke that he fucking collapses and gets medivac’d. Caleb’s medivac is genuinely terrifying, and it’s on the same tier of Skupin and Swan in terms of raw spectacle where the show really nails the “This guy very nearly fucking died” effect. And what really helps nail this feeling the most is Tai. 

Tai and Caleb are definitely the most developed relationship on the season up until that point, with only Scot and Jason being comparable in my opinion. We got to see their dynamic develop pretty heavily and it’s hammered in that, beyond just potential allies, these two were genuine friends. So to see Tai crying and freaking out that his friend was getting pulled from the game after very nearly dying feels extra more impactful than most other medivacs just from feeling his own emotional reaction. Like, maybe you don’t care about Caleb, but you should care about Tai in that moment, and Tai is devastated. And as such, we as the audience are devastated. It’s actually great use of all the relationship building the two had prior to really help sell the medivac in general as a moment and does a great job in assisting in building-up Kaoh Rong’s image as one of the most physically demanding/threatening seasons of the show. And as for Tai, the threatening aspect only gets worse and worse from here…

~

DBK will post the conclusion of the Tai writeup in the comments of this post at a later time.

SMC0629: 7

DryBonesKing: 1

Zanthosus: 9

Tommyroxs45: 17

Regnisyak1: 17

DavidW1208: 22

ninjedi1: 16

Average Placement: 12.714

Total Points: 89

Standard Deviation: 7.274 (8th Highest)

Won Tiebreaker

14th: Jud “Fabio” Birza (Nicaragua - Winner)

MOVIE STAR JUD \"FABIO\" BIRZA

u/SMC0629:

Fabio, my second favorite winner of the entire show, he’s just too much fun. He perfectly encapsulates the trainwreck that is Nicaragua, and is the best winner for it as well. He gets to the end by just being himself, a decent amount of luck, physical strength, and a tiny bit of strategy. I know there’s some who seem to think Fabio is brought down by this factor of the edit building him up to know what he was doing, apparently undermining everything before the endgame. If you ask me though, who’s to say he DIDN’T have a tiny strategic mind in there? It seemed perfectly reasonable and in character for me, and it only improved him for me. Love Fabio, so happy he made it this far.

~

u/DryBonesKing:

From the same editing program that watered down Mike Gabler from OTT weirdo to a CP-lite strategic player “hiding in plain sight”, we have his prototype - the OTT blond surfer-bro that the players literally changed his name from Jud to Fabio because of how he comes across that gets a watered down CP-lite strategic edit of “they don’t realize I’m actually really smart, y’all!” Quit being cowards CBS! Give us the Goofball Fabio winner edit! #LetFabioBeFuckingWeird

I stand by the Gabler-Fabio comparison, but despite how much I dislike how the CP-edit kills Gabler’s character potential, I think Nicaragua does somehow make it work with Fabio. I blame the cast itself; with people like NaOnka, Marty, Jimmy T, Jane, Shannon, Dan Lembo, and whatever the fuck a “Benry” is supposed to be, “Fabio” almost does come across sane in comparison. As such, he can get these confessionals about pretending to be dumb and it does almost work just because the people he is surrounded by just feel literally ripped from Loony Tunes. 

But despite it kinda working here, I do think Fabio is hilarious when he’s just allowed to be this weirdo that no one takes seriously, that ultimatley ends up winning because he’s surrounded by two people who have truly pissed off the jury. He’s a fun character with a truly unique winner’s story, and ultimately, I just REALLY dig his vibe. I wish I had him Top 100. But I also just wish we got a full season with the “real” Fabio as opposed to the occasional cuts to CBS trying to water him down to his most strategically-presentable version. #LetFabioBeFuckingWeird #ReleaseTheFabioOTTWinnerEdit

Overall Rank – 115/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

While I’ve never been as big on Nicaragua as many in the rankdown circle, I still appreciate a lot of what the season does and represents. And I think that Fabio’s win is the perfect ending for the clusterfuck of a season that preceded it.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

Fabio’s run on Nicaragua is simply iconic and is a great way for the season to end. Having this likable underdog beast his way to the end under all odds against him is so satisfying. I’m happy he made this endgame even if I personally don’t have him here.

u/Regnisyak1:

Fabio is cool. I have him probably lower than a lot of people comparatively, but he was a ray of sunshine on such a negative season, and his win coming out of nowhere was great. He played the surfer bro role correctly, and while I don’t think he necessarily had the greatest ability to lead a season, he is a necessary feature in making it thrive and giving it such a large cult following here. Glad he made it after a long gap. 

Personal Rank: 77/821. 9/10.

~

u/ninjedi1:

Jud “Fabio” Birza (1st Place, Nicaragua)

I love Fabio. He’s easily one of my favorite winners of all time. Every time I reevaluate my winners rankings, Fabio at worst will be the third best winner for me. Plus, as an added bonus, he also stars in my favorite B movie of all time, My Stepbrother is a Vampire!?!, which I won on DVD (I’m not joking, who do you think got the screenshot of Fabio for this writeup?). I mentioned in my Colby 3.0 writeup how I consider Nicaragua the last true old school season of Survivor, and that’s because it feels like a big fuck you to strategy, and Fabio plays a huge role in it. Enough of simply stating my love for Fabio’s character, it's time to describe why he’s so great.

The first episode properly sets Fabio up as who he is as a character this season. He gets the first confessional of the season, talking about how dangerous it really is out there and how it's not like the zoo cause it's all real (the first hint of the winner for being the first confessional of the season). He then gets put on the young people tribe, which he says are his people. One of Fabio’s main characteristics gets shown right at the start, where he basically says that they could use a snorkel flipper to collect rainwater, and when Chase said Fabio looked like he would be good in the water, Fabio instantly gets a woodchip in his foot, making him rescind the comment. Shannon then has a confessional where he calls Fabio a dumb blonde, and it instantly cuts to Fabio getting pinched by a crab claw. He then starts calling Fabio his titular nickname…uh…Fabio. This quickly catches on in the tribe, and even at the first challenge where Jeff tries to talk to “Jud”, the tribe corrects him, saying that they only know Fabio. This is Fabio’s first characterization, that he’s a goofball that isn’t taken seriously. While that’s a big characterization, it's not the most important one. The important one is shown in his confessional responding to his new nickname. He comes off surprised that everyone is calling him Fabio, calling the guy a cheeseball, but then says that he doesn’t care what people are going to call him cause he’s going to win the million dollars (in the weirdest audio edit ever) so people can call him Fabio. This highlights his second characterization, and the most important one, he is aware of what other people think of him.

Of course, just because he’s aware of his status doesn’t necessarily mean he has great strategic capabilities. This is shown in the first La Flor vote, where it's looking to be between either Shannon and Brenda, and Fabio was voting for Brenda with Shannon’s. However, Shannon has a huge meltdown at tribal, which clearly would be bad to stick with and would be better to switch sides. However, Fabio ends up sticking with Shannon anyways, voting for Brenda and going “I guess this is the vote?”, which put him on the outs. This would normally be an issue, but since everyone sees him as a goofball, he’s not near the bottom of the pecking order. It also helps that La flor will win every immunity from here on out until the swap happens, and while not happy at first that a swap was happening, he happy with the end result, as he ends up in the majority with the OG La Flor members, although some La Flor members aren’t too happy to work with Fabio strategically. Luckily though, Fabio would successfully make it to merge, where his true game would begin.

I would usually just talk about what Fabio did throughout the merge, but I would rather highlight his interactions with key people from the merge, as they all highlight Fabio’s main characteristics to varying degrees and also help add to his story.

Alina

Alina and Fabio don’t interact too much, as Alina would spend most of her time with Kelly B and then gets swapped onto Espada when the tribe swap happens, separating her from Fabio. But when they return at the merge, Alina ends up getting targeted for her involvement with the missing food fiasco. When she tries to pitch to Fabio to keep her around, he just flat out tells her that people want her out cause she’s dangerous and people think she always has a hidden motive. This does reflect back to earlier in the game, when they were both at the bottom but no one was worried about Fabio and wanted Alina and Kelly B out first. This would carry over all the way over to that moment now. Fabio has more on the pulse in the game than people think as shown here, and he’s able to avoid it due to how he plays up the perception of him.

Marty

On paper, it makes no sense for Marty to vote for Fabio as the winner. How could the most strategic guy on Espada vote for the least strategic person in the game? However, the relationship they develop over time is what really shines. When Marty gets swapped onto La Flor, everyone from OG La Flor either wants him out, or to use him for strategic gain. Fabio is really the only guy from OG La Flor that has his back. Fabio tells Marty about Naonka getting the clue, and when OG La Flor wants to split the vote and get Marty out, Fabio fights for Marty to stay. Even though Marty does trick Fabio by claiming he was a chess grandmaster, he does warm up to Fabio. They even work together at the merge, although that ends up being short-lived as Marty is taken out 

Naonka and Purple Kelly

I have to lump these two together since they both highlight the one issue with Fabio’s story. Unfortunately, since both of them quit, they both get slaughtered by the edit, which in turn ends up hurting Fabio’s story since they’re both key to it. With Naonka, she is Fabio’s biggest adversary. She finds his antics way more annoying than funny, and actively yells at him when he complains to her about something, and pretty much dislikes him all around. The feeling appears to be neutral while there on La Flor, but not all is what it seems. When merge comes around Fabio and Naonka reunite again, they actually hug and get along. Even if that ends up being short lived when Naonka steals food, but when she gets cornered and comes clean about it, Fabio is the only one to thank her for doing that. Eventually, all that kindness pays off when at the F9 reward, Naonka is the one to fill him in on the Brenda vote. When FTC comes around, Naonka, despite everything that they’ve been through, calls Fabio her hippy friend and asks about how seeing his Mom gave him the strength to keep going, and Fabio gives a heartfelt answer, telling her about how much he misses his Mom and that it was the fuel he needed to make it all the way to the end of the game. Despite their rocky relationship, Naonka ends up giving Fabio her vote to win.

Purple Kelly is another important aspect of Fabio’s story that unfortunately gets buried due to the assassination edit given to Purple Kelly. Everyone knows that Kelly was miserable due to being given very little clothes to keep her warm during Nicaragua’s monsoon season, which led to her quitting. The only real time it gets acknowledged is when Fabio mentions that now Purple Kelly can sleep when they win the tarp, which is barely heard because it happens the same time that Chase finds a hidden immunity idol clue in the tacklebox. But it's interesting that Fabio is the one to vocally acknowledge it, as he’s the one who’s most involved in it. It's never mentioned, but you do always see it. Multiple times throughout Nicaragua, you can see Kelly wearing Fabio’s yellow jacket. He allowed her to wear it sometimes when she was cold to help her stay warm. Just that kind of gesture along from Fabio helping her out the best he could, led to her voting for Fabio to win in the end.

Benry

I don’t have much to say about Fabio’s relationship with Benry, but there are two things I want to highlight from it. The first is during the Marty vote, where Benry says that the best plan is to lay low and play stupid, while Fabio says that he hated playing stupid but it was the smartest thing to do. Fast forward to the F7, and the vote is between Fabio and Benry. The main alliance of Chase, Sash, Holly, and Jane are deciding who should go between Fabio, who everyone on the jury loves and could win, or Benry, who could go on an immunity run to the end. While Fabio is in general clueless at the vote and is still “playing stupid”, Benry ends up playing really hard to get the vote onto Fabio, which freaks out Chase and leads to the alliance voting out Benry over Fabio. And guess who ends up going on an immunity run right after F6 and makes it to the end and wins?

Jane

At the first merge immunity, it's a double immunity where the last standing man and woman would win immunity. When it came down to the men, the last two guys standing were Fabio and Chase. Ultimately though, it would be Chase that drops first, giving Fabio immunity. The only person that Fabio really had to compete against was Jane. This is a great foreshadow to the end of Jane’s store as well as the continuation of Fabio’s. Both of their stories are kind of similar overall, both of them end up on the outs of their starting tribe, they get new life when the swap happens, they're both overall well liked, and they were both screwed over by Chase during the loved ones visit. Both of them had strong cases to win the game just with overall likability, but one of them would have to go to allow the other one to thrive, and when Fabio comes in clutch to win F6 immunity, the majority alliance decides to cut Jane as a threat, allowing Fabio to fully harness Jane’s power to get to the end.

Sash and Chase

Once again I’m going to lump these two together because they are the ones that end up sitting next to Fabio at the end. You have big strategy Sash and country boy Chase. On paper, it should be one of these two that should win the season instead of Fabio. They were both in control for most if not all of the game, and the only reason why Fabio was there was because he won a couple immunities at the end. But yet, Fabio is the one to clutch out the title of sole survivor. Why? In my opinion, it's because Fabio is always himself, so people see him as a genuine guy, while the other two come off as terrible or fake.

Sash's main game is strategy, doing whatever he needs to get ahead of the game and make it farther. Any bond he has with someone is only on a surface level which makes him come off as sleazy and slimy, while Fabio is always genuine with his feelings and relationships with people. No one highlights this better than Marty. Marty’s main relationships involving La Flor were mainly Fabio and Sash. While Fabio always liked Marty and gets to know Marty on a personal level, Sash only really talks to Marty for strategy and cons him out of his idol on the promise of keeping him around longer. And when Sash no longer needed to keep Marty around anymore, he burned him and voted him out. Everything Sash does comes off as slimy to everyone, even his allies, while Fabio remains pure and genuine.

With Chase, it's a bit of a different story. Chase wants to be the good guy, but gets caught up in the strategy, and keeps ending up being on both sides. He always gets flip floppy and wishy washy when it comes to voting someone out or for rewards, which ends up annoying people. It's not a problem at first, but it definitely is when he starts making promises to people that he can’t keep which upsets them more, hurting his image and makes people like him less. The biggest example to this is the loved ones visit where he promised to take Fanio on reward with him if he won. However, Chase ends up burning both Fabio and Jane, who expect Chase to pick her. This leads to both Fabio and Jane being upset, and even Fabio telling Jane about the promise Chase made, which also pissed off Dan who was there. Chase always wants to maintain being the good guy while he is playing the game but struggles because of his indecisions and breaking of promises, while Fabio is actually able to maintain that status all throughout.

This all pays off at FTC, where we finally get to see Fabio speak out against the two guys, talking about how he actually got to play the game that Chase wanted to play. He talks about how played hard by being himself and being an open book for everyone, and never backstabbed anyone in the game which Sash could never do and Chase wishes he could do. He laughs when Sash calls him a wingman, telling him to take a backseat and take some notes. He doesn’t even let jurors who put him down get in his way, as when Alina says that he wants to vote for a man to win, not a boy, Fabio said he deserved to win, and when Chase said that winning three immunities didn’t mean he outwit, outplay, or outlast hi, Fabio points out that that’s outplaying him and he chose to bring Chase to the end and then says that Sash didn’t outplay anyone. I know people usually say that Chase had the better FTC performance since he flipped votes to his side, but that doesn’t matter (and is also wrong) as Fabio will end up clenching a 5-4 victory in one of the best endings to a season I could ever ask for, and that’s awesome.

SMC0629: 5

DryBonesKing: 19

Zanthosus: 20

Tommyroxs45: 15

Regnisyak1: 21

DavidW1208: 7

ninjedi1: 2

Average Placement: 12.714

Total Points: 89

Standard Deviation: 7.889 (3rd Highest)

Hello everyone and welcome to the last post on 46!

We'll jump right in with the poll results for the finale episode

FINAL EPISODE STATS

• FINAL EPISODE, SLAY! This week we had 11 respondents take the polls this week, which is the all-time low. Skewed results ahead.

TOP 2

• Due to their only being 5 left, we are doing top 2 and bottom 2 for the week. And to literally no one's surprise, Liz got first (1.09). She got 10 ones, and 1 two. This is her 8th time at the top, and 5th first place overall.
• In second place by a much a larger margin is Ben (3). This is Ben's second time in the top.
• Finishing in 3rd and getting the elusive neutral spot is Charlie (3.27)

Bottom 2

• In last is Maria (4.09). This is her 5th time at the bottom and second last place overall.
• Kenzie (3.55) follows in fourth. She mainly got 3s this week, and got the most neutral, but no score above a 3 either. This is her 11th time at the bottom, and she holds the record for the season.

Boots

• Unsurprisingly, bottom 3 stays exactly the same again, with Randen (3.36), Moriah (3.62) and Bhanu (3.84). This is the first time Bhanu gets out of bottom 2.
• Q is our winner today, with an 8.09 average. This is his first time on the top (obvi). The other two are Venus (8) and Jelinsky (7.62)

Season/Other

• The finale is the third lowest score of the entire season, with Episode 2 (Jess' Boot) and Episode 6 (Mergatory) both being worse.
• Conversely, the season got the third highest score after this episode, with a 5.82.
• Order of boots by ranked average throughout the season, best to worst, bolded means above a 5
  • Q - Venus - Jelinsky - Tevin - Tiffany - Jess - Soda - Hunter - Tim - Jem - Moriah - Bhanu - Randen

​

Conditioned Averages - It's completed now, doesn't it look pretty?

​

Final Episode Count. Couple of things to note. First is that SFs for 1-18 (positive + negative feelings/respondents (positive/negative) is measured with top 2 and bottom 2, instead of 3. SFs for 0-10 are 7-10s/0-3s/respondents (7-10s/0-3s). And lastly, included on this sheet is the leaderboard with top 3 and bottom 3s.

Don't forget that you can access the spreadsheet with all the data and more here.

Final Thoughts

This post is for any last thoughts for 46 that you may have. We love hearing opinions here, and I think it's always fun to debate.

POLLS!

And duh, polls. With this post, I can officially announce the NEW and FINAL 46 poll, which will be included in the all time rankings that I run! We already have 14 respondents for that which is much better than I expected at this point, and I am hoping that I can get the new spreadsheet out in time right after VIII's final endgame (which should be in exactly two weeks at this point!).

I think the new spreadsheet is quite exciting (tho I am biased) because there are so many new features! I tried to standardize it like the rankdown sheets, so there is now a comparison, returnee, tribes, and placement tabs! Further, there are other sheets, the seasons page has been revamped, and most of it is automated now, and there will be several different ways to view the data. Plus there's even a new endgamer!

Official Date for spreadsheet - Barring any Calamity, I will aim for Tuesday, June 11th. Please get any and all edits, incentives changes, and new poll takes in by that date so that your data can be included in the newest poll.

Here's the official link to the new Survivor 46 poll - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdaxg6oyDaTtCx5Tu00zsM14LjM4Usm_kQ-3X31QPEOLsyqjQ/viewform

And like usual here are some other important links for the polls -

Masterlist containing links to all the seasons

Incentives instructions and list of tiers for how to get certain bonus points for characters - further I am allowing people to change who they give incentives to at this point - please DM me if you want to change, or if you want to add any incentives for any tiers that you do reach.

Respondents Sheet - Check this to make sure that you did all the polls!

While 14 is a great number for a poll to already have, more data is necessary to create a firm sample. Case in point, 44 only had 22 respondents for the last time a ranking occurred, and now that it has gotten 5 more, many characters have jumped up or down.

And lastly, thanks again to everyone that has or will take the polls in the future - this has become a genuine hobby of mine, and I get giddy whenever anyone does a poll, so thanks for the cheap thrills up to this point! Peace, love, and polls <3.

15th: Randy Bailey 1.0 (Gabon - 8th)

my pookie randy bailey

u/SMC0629:

I LOVE Randy 1.0. Gabon is a great season, and there's so many characters that you could argue for the top spot. For me though, it'd be Randy. The dude's hilarious, and he's a villain that you love to hate. However, similar to Scot, there's moments that really make you sympathize with him and make you even want to root for him. He's super compelling, but even more entertaining, love Randy, so happy he made endgame.

~

u/DryBonesKing:

Randy is a bitter, bitter old man, and that’s also why he’s one of the best casting choices Survivor has ever managed to find. It almost feels like a waste that Survivor had been sitting on this guy for years each time he applied, but it was definitely for the best that they ended up bringing him onto Gabon. Randy slots in so well to pretty much any narrative role he needs to be in. Whether it’s the borderline “only sane man” role he fills in pre-swap Fang, to being another cog in the Onion Alliance of Kota (and a much needed personality increase that alliance needed), to just a pedantic asshole in the second swap Fang, to just being a bitter fuckhead in his boot episode. He’s just a very versatile character able to fit whatever role he is needed for, but in a way that still feels consistent to who he is – a fucking asshole who hates everyone. 

He's crucial to liking Gabon, as he just embodies the spirit of the season in my opinion as this negative force that just has plenty of hate for everyone. Even his own friends aren’t safe from his wrath, like Matty when the two get into the pettiest argument of all time in the episode nine reward challenge. He has one of the most satisfying boot episodes of all time, as well as just one of the funniest. I’m also a huge fan of his jury voting confessional, where he just helps Gabon come together with seven simple words: “All three of you, kiss my ass!” He's hilarious and I do love his relationship with the majority of the cast, with his dynamic with Sugar, Susie, and Crystal deserving the most praise in my eyes, especially with how they outlast him. 

But I do think even beyond just the humor and negativity, he’s just a miserable human being in a way that feels very painful. He’s just a very lonely person and it does manifest in how he interacts with others, and I think it gives a certain sadness to the way he treats others and also the way he is treated. It really helps give him a unique tone that I think Survivor really hasn’t been able to accomplish with villains; a simultaneous feeling where you root for his downfall but also root for him. Root for him to find happiness, even though if Randy read that sentence, he’d probably tell me “He doesn’t want my pity” before telling me to go kill myself. And like… I don’t know, I really fuck with that energy. Randy’s a 10/10 for me and it’s a testament to the rest of the people who made Endgame I don’t have him higher than this. I really hope Survivor is one day able to find someone with even half of Randy’s energy.

Overall Rank – 58/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

I’m not as big on Randy as others if I’m being completely honest. One of my biggest issues with Gabon as a season is that so much of the cast is just so overly-negative constantly to the point that it puts me in a bad mood watching it and becomes a slog to get through. Randy, to his credit, at least has a lot of fun in his negativity that others like Corinne, Kenny, Charlie, Paloma, and various others don’t. I still do appreciate his role on the season, and even enjoy his presence to an extent, but I’ve never been able to fully get on board with him being endgame, and especially not better than Sugar.

~

u/Tommyroxs45:

Randy is probably my spirit animal of Survivor. Just a grumpy old man who hates everything and everyone, but there is such an amazing story there and such an amazing character that makes him a top 10 character for me. Also the fact that he literally has one of the best episodes of all time, his boot episode which is just *mwah* chefs kiss.

~

u/Regnisyak1:

One of my best-kept secrets this rankdown was I don’t like Randy very much. Objectively, Randy has a great story, but something about him never landed for me while watching Gabon. I think he helps make that season more negative than it should be, and I feel like even though Randy was a monstrous dick, no one deserves the downfall he got, and I think it was just unnecessarily cruel. That being said, Randy is a quote machine, and watching the cranky old man on the season did contribute, and he had great relationships throughout, especially with Sugar, Crystal, Bob, Marcus, and others. Plus his leaving Fang and getting his mohawk were all funny. 

Personal Rank: 100/821. 8/10.

~~~~~

u/ninjedi1:

Randy Bailey 1.0 (8th Place, Gabon)

Randy, in my humble opinion, might be the best Survivor villain of all time in terms of entertainment. He has a great story of slowly becoming a massive dick throughout the season before getting an ultimate downfall. Right at the start of the season he says his job is a videographer, and then cuts to a confessional of him saying how he edits wedding videos for a living, but isn’t a positive person, hates marriage, and will never get married. Randy ends up on Fang but isn’t entirely his full blown asshole self yet, at least with his tribe. In his confessionals he lets his tribemates have it, like saying how Gillian is annoying and hasn’t accomplished anything, or saying how the GC’s best decision as leader was resigning from the leadership position. However, when he interacts with his tribemates, he’s more reserved and friendly, like joking about being full when offered a grasshopper to eat, or him not really giving his opinion on the first vote when asked by Matty.

However, the reservness slowly goes away as time passes, as he gets more and more annoyed with the Fang tribe. When they start running low on rice and start to pitch that they need to eat less, which annoys GC and they get into an argument about it. This leads t oRandy to decide that his plan is to just sit and watch the team fall apart. That’s not even the end of the rice saga as Randy brings it up again that they’re low on rice and need to ration it better, but knows that Crystal, GC, and Kenny aren’t listening to him at all. The more dickish Randy slowly starts to make his appearance, and he ends up forming an alliance with Dan, Matty, and Susie, allowing him to be in control of Fang, but that quickly changes due to the swap.

The first tribe swap of the season happens where they have to vote on who the most important members of the tribe were and rank accordingly (and you can actually see Randy’s board where he ranks Susie above GC and Ken, based) and Randy actually scores pretty high, placing 3rd on Fang. He gets taken into Kota along with Dan and Susie, and knows that he needs to fit in or else he might get voted out. Luckily for Randy, most of the original Kota hates Fang, and since Randy is able to perform well in the challenges, he fits right in. He mocks Kelly and Ken when they ask for a bite of reward, straight up telling them no, and then mocking Crystal when she starts to cry since they’ve lost so much, going “wah wah wah”. Even after a different reward challenge, he mocks the entire Fang tribe by mentioning how they’re probably out of rice now while they were feasting. This even leads Randy to get pulled into the Onion alliance, replacing Bob. However, his first thing that the alliance does with him in it now is vote off his friend, Dan.

So while Randy’s main edit is watching this go become a villainous asshole, one of the smaller and more missable plots Randy has is his bond with Dan. When Dan returns from Exile, everyone thinks he has the idol except for Randy, who is the only one to defend Dan, saying that he’s just paranoid and tired, and they even end up in a short lived alliance together on Fang. During the tribe swap, both Randy and Dan tell Corinne not to pick GC, as they are both in sync and know what’s good for the tribe. A main moment that really shows how well they work together is in the big hill ball rolling challenge, where their teamwork is able to help clench the victory for Kota over the more dysfunctional Ace and Sugar on Fang. However, Dan has been annoying the rest of the tribe, and Randy tries to distance himself from him. But when Kota wants to vote out Dan over Susie due to fear of an idol, Randy tries to sway the vote to Susie instead, but Dan ends up going home instead. What really makes this impactful is after that tribal, when Randy was asked about it, Randy said that the other tribals were easy, and then got annoyed when everyone laughed as he told them he wasn’t trying to be funny. This is the one rare moment where Randy gets specifically mad at his alliance since he had to watch his friend get voted out.

But now it's F10 and it looks like the merge is finally here! And it's looking like the merge and Randy is on cloud 9. He enjoys the feast, and when the clue for the idol gets revealed, he finds it almost instantly and then he and Marcus convince everyone to throw it into the ocean, with an accompanying confessional where he calls himself the king of Gabon. This all comes crashing down as it's not a merge, it's a second tribe swap! While the Kota six are split evenly between both teams, giving them numerical advantage, Randy worries about Susie flipping and discusses throwing the challenge to vote out Matty. However, Matty ends up single handedly winning immunity for them, and in the next episode, Randy’s fears were confirmed and Susie flipped, voting out Marcus. Of course, it's not all bad news, as Fang ends up winning reward! Except for the fact they won after a five minute argument about the best way to make the easiest shot in the world. It's honestly hilarious to see after the old Kota members on Fang react to seeing Marcus go. 

After that it's the merge for real this time! This is where a lot of Karma catches up to Randy. You see, with Susie clearly sided with the Fang members, Sugar is now seen as the swing vote. However, all of Randy’s actions on picking on Fang during the reward challenges and his bad attitude at the recent golf challenge makes her really dislike him and want him out first. However, the Kotas don’t want to do that since Randy is in their alliance, so Sugar ends up siding with the original Fang members who also don’t like Randy and votes off Charlie, meaning Randy inadvertently screwed everything up. 

Randy’s boot episode is where Randy is at his worst, which also means he’s at his best since he’s about to go. Randy decides that he’s just going to keep being an asshole, and he lives up to that as the auction is the next reward challenge. He annoys everyone as he gets his hands on beer and nuts as well as a plate of spaghetti. He also buys cookies for the whole tribe and gives one to everyone except Sugar who doesn’t want one, and when he offers his cookie to her, she takes it and gives it to Matty, which annoys him. He then comes up with a genius strategy, basically making everyone miserable so that everyone will vote for him, and then he’ll use the idol that Bob found to make himself safe and take out Susie for personal reasons. It's foolproof! Except there’s one problem. Bob never found the idol because Sugar found it. That alone would be funny if that was that and Randy just got voted off, but there’s more. Bob made a fake and told Sugar about it, and she tells him to give it to Randy if he wants to make it farther. Bob complies, and Randy is none the wiser, super smug with the fact his plan is going to work. This tribal is great cause it gives us two iconic voting confessionals, with Sugar old bigot vote and Crystal’s shouting vote, and the cherry on top is Randy standing up and playing the idol all smug, only for it to be revealed to be fake while Sugar and Crystal laugh, and Randy is out of the game.

Of course, that’s not entirely the end, and Randy would get one last fuck you to the final three. He grills Sugar for laughing at him out the door, asking her if she didn’t realize he would be on the jury, yells at Bob for making a joke at his expense about the fake idol and screwing him over, and gets annoyed with Susie about her saying she feels sorry for him. He then delivers the iconic voting confessional “All three of you can kiss my ass!”. Randy’s villain journey from annoyed old man who’s keeping it to himself to overconfident dick rubbing in the other team's faces to massive downfall caused by his own auctions is a lot of fun, especially with how genuine he feels at all times. Without Randy, Gabon wouldn’t be nearly as great as it is.

~

SMC0629: 11

DryBonesKing: 16

Zanthosus: 19

Tommyroxs45: 8

Regnisyak1: 23

DavidW1208: 6

ninjedi1: 12

Average Placement: 13.571

Total Points: 95

Standard Deviation: 6.079 (12th Lowest)

16th: Sophie Clarke 1.0 (South Pacific - Winner)

i just casually remembered that sophie was randomly OP on Winners At War

writeup long again lol

u/DryBonesKing**:**

Theothanatology, sometimes also referred to as “The Death of God” movement, is the philosophical approach to the rise of secularism that, instead of focusing on whether or not God exists, chooses to question whether or not God has ceased to exist. That at one point a God perhaps was an all-powerful being governing the world as we know it until one day they vanished. It’s a fun little rabbit hole to explore if you find religion/philosophy fun to explore, but I’m sure a lot of you would rather me keep this write-up Survivor-centric. However, I do find some merit in at least introducing the concept since Survivor has a very proud history of discussing religion, to the point of it almost coming across like Judeo-Christian propaganda in the earlier seasons. We can all thank Mark Burnett for that! 

As someone who comes from a very traditional Catholic background who now no longer identifies as religious, I have loved seeing the way religion has been portrayed throughout Survivor and the way people have used it - and God - as a tool to advance through the game. From humble beginnings with Dirk’s private prayer times in Borneo to a more bombastic present with Bhanu outright crying to God about feeling forsaken in 46. To religion bonding Rodger and Elizabeth together in the Outback to Shan using her skillset as a pastor to foster bonds and manipulate in 41. Despite all the different ways it can be presented, however, Survivor at its core can still come across like the religious propaganda Burnett envisioned it to be. Even the more negative moments with Christianity tend to be filtered or presented in a way to make someone look bad rather than their faith. 

However, what if there was one season that actually explored religion the way it actually is used in society? A season that ripped away all of the layers and masks and presented it the way people in society actually used it? A season that did such a great job with it, it still gives certain people feelings of “ick” because of how close to home and real it presents certain people and religious ideas? A season that is the perfect response to all twenty-two seasons that came prior to it, that serves as the pinnacle for portrayals of religion on reality television. 

And… well… what if, for shits and giggles, and keeping in mind the importance of religion and God in mind throughout Survivor’s history… we just so happen to take this ever so important “mask off” season on religion… and let one of the most godless heathens to ever play the game win the season? Let her win the game while serving as the “moral compass” as her more godly competitors repeatedly fall to the sin they so often preach against? And, well… what if in addition to all this religious metaphor bullshit she’s able to accomplish, she also serve as one of the funniest, most unique, most badass, most compelling characters in Survivor’s entire history? 

Welcome back to Endgame, Sophie G Clarke. Survivor’s greatest winner. Survivor’s most underappreciated character. If you all thought I shilled for South Pacific before, you haven’t seen anything yet

Part 1: 

Now before I get into any deeper significance I want to talk about, let’s discuss why someone should initially just care about Sophie outside of all that! Probably the thing that jumps about Sophie that makes her feel truly distinct to other Survivor players is this aura of superiority that she gives off. When I say that, I don’t mean that she comes across as holier-than-thou or smug or anything, but rather that it is a cold, hard-to-swallow truth that she is better than you and that she is already aware of that fact. Sophie’s way of talking about herself and others, as well as the way she views the game, helps give this effect and it’s just makes all of her social interactions just feel great. The closest comparison I think I am able to give is to compare it to Jonathan Young’s presence in challenges throughout Survivor 42; that is the aura that Sophie when she deigns to speak with her competition. 

One of the better demonstrations of this effect is seen right in her introduction. She introduces herself as a Russian student and Coach immediately tries to talk with her in Russian. And after a very brief conversation, it cuts to Sophie undercutting him by saying that Coach was trying to sound overly formal and that he was trying to show off. The confessional then moves on-to a “compliment” where she acknowledges the actual Survival-skill value that he brings to the tribe, but she diminishes his contributions by dumbing down his two-seasons’ worth of experience as him knowing “some things”. 

This is the same energy she gives off to everyone. Brandon and Mikayla have issues related to his religious insecurities? Sophie simplifies it to Brandon having issues with strong women, and then she can’t just give a passive compliment to someone else, as she then has to note herself as a strong woman as well. Ozzy makes an attempt to try and trick the Upolu into thinking he’s pissed at his tribe? Sophie obviously didn’t buy it, and when actually addressed on the subject matter, she thinks it was over the top, but actively pathetic. Mind you, she is saying this to the entire Savaii Tribe at tribal council, questioning their collective intelligence for allowing Ozzy to try this. Albert’s trying to present himself to her as the strategic opposition to Coach in Upolu? Sophie asserts herself as the strategic force of Upolu while reducing Albert’s ideas about flipping at Final Ten to his “crazy plan”. She has an aptitude for taking someone’s energy and using it to simultaneously talk herself up and put the other person down in their place. 

Hell, she’s able to give this energy to Probst! When Jeff notes that information about Brandon being shared at the Final Seven tribal council was “eye-opening”, Sophie shakes her head and says no. When he directly addresses her to question her answer, she just repeats her answer. With no explanation for her take. With possibly one of the most bored expressions ever on her face while it would cut to Cochran looking absolutely dismayed that she hasn’t been swayed at all by the tribal. 

Now, “aura of superiority” probably sounds like either a boring or actively unfun character trait, but Sophie manages to not only make it work, but feel incredibly engaging, primarily as a result of the cast that surrounds her. Because the people she’s passively putting down are people like Brandon Hantz, and Jim Rice, and Cochran, and Coach, and Albert. And while I definitely have a large decent chunk of these people ranked highly, I have them ranked highly because they are either horrible people, deserve to get clowned on, or both. And a large part of why I do have a lot of these people ranked high (and higher than most of you all) is because of the joy and schadenfreude of watching someone like Sophie put them in their places repeatedly to their sheer misery. 

And it is to their misery, as a majority of these people end up complaining about her. Like Whitney doubting Sophie’s intelligence, or Jim just seeing her as a cultist, or Ozzy calling her out as a brat. These people get actively so pressed by her, which makes it all the more rewarding when she does end proving herself their better. Like possibly one of the most possibly satisfying moments in Survivor history is watching the final four tribal council and seeing the jury walk in, and seeing everyone’s faces (but most importantly Jim’s, as things are great when bad things happen to Jim) just completely drop as they see Sophie sitting there with the immunity necklace instead of Ozzy. 

Because that’s ultimately the feeling she’s able to give across in all of her screentime; that it’s not just that she thinks better than all of her competition around her, but that she is better than them. It is unquestionable. And these players hate that about her. And we as an audience love that about her. It just really helps sell this image of her as a true badass. And what also helps sell this point further is…

Part 2: 

Sophie’s just fucking funny. She’s underrated for her humor, in my opinion, as she really deserves to be recognized in the same echelon that characters like Sandra and Courtney Yates are. Because just like them, Sophie is just effortlessly funny, both intentionally and unintentionally.

What she’s most known for her is most her insults, as Sophie definitely is able to dish out on her competition that she so very clearly looks down upon. Looking at Cochran, back at the point where the two of them are cordial with one another and when Upolu is actively trying to “convert” him to join their alliance, she addresses him as a “dodgeball target” … which I’ll be frank, if that comment alone doesn’t warrant Sophie Top 150 minimum, we do not watch Survivor for the same reasons. Further digging into Cochran later, Sophie later confessionalizes that she understands why Savaii would have “bullied” Cochran and then tells him to screw off for feeling that his “bad move” entitled him to Upolu’s good graces.

Another fantastic barb from her is her outright calling Coach “a young girl” in relation to Survivor FTC stereotypes. It’s said so matter-of-factly that it forces him to be compared to someone like Natalie Tenerelli as opposed to the Boston Rob comparison he so obviously fancied and was emulating. It comes so out of left field that, when you go back and rewatch the scene, Coach is visibly taken aback by it and is just speechless. Coach. A guy who is willing to argue with Probst and anyone to “logic” away any perceived hypocrisies. He’s unable to talk back to Sophie emasculating him. Again, another immaculate comment and joke.

Her insults just have a very distinct feel to them that give off an impression that no one else but Sophie would be able to use snarky comments and pull them off. Like, when she starts trying to analyze Brandon’s thoughts on Mikayla and talks about how he thinks of her as “the whore of Babylon”. Like I talked religious metaphor about this comparison in my Mikayla write-up, I’m obviously going to talk more religious metaphor later in this write-up, but like… just how the fuck would someone even think to come to describe Brandon’s thoughts like this as a way to mock him? Like I do really feel like if someone else made that joke, even someone I like and might even think is funnier than her like Tyson or Courtney, I would also think there was some backhanded comment about Mikayla as well in it. This is really only a joke I think someone like Sophie could manage without it coming across as in poor taste, and I think that speaks volumes to her wit, delivery, and humor in general. 

Speaking of “delivery”, Sophie is a master of deadpan. Survivor has never cast someone who can no sell moments better than her. Her most iconic moment with this is obviously her watching the Jack and Jill Movie in Episode Seven. The shots of Sophie’s blank, dead stare set in-between or alongside images of the rest of Upolu fake-laughing and enjoying the movie (and cuts of Rick actually enjoying the movie, because Rick Nelson is an honest man at all times and never fakes anything) is just peak humor. In addition, there is also the aforementioned “No” response Sophie gave to Probst at tribal council that I previously talked about. Alongside it being a great character moment, it’s also just really fucking funny. 

But one of the funnier instances of this trait of Sophie comes in her observations to any extensive amount of religious bullshittery. Whether it’s Brandon going on about God, or Coach praying to God to help them find the idol, or Coach talking about praying to God for guidance in the vote, if Sophie is there in the scene at all, there will always be a transition to Sophie either rolling her eyes, shaking her head, or smirking. I do have important stuff I want to comment about this for narrative purposes later in the write-up since it is actually a very important point for me, but I wanted to first bring it up on this point because it is a remarkable feat for Sophie to be able to take dark, twisted moments and inject humor at all! For example, her laughing while noting that Jesus might be able to forgive Brandon but Edna sure as hell won’t is just amazing line delivery. And I think it is a credit to Sophie that she can take these moments and bring general lightness to them. 

Another great moment of Sophie’s unrelated to all of the above is the loved one visit and she meets her father. Amidst all the crying and the hugs, she immediately places her order: “I want a reese’s peanut butter cup at the airport. And fresh baked banana bread.” And then after her Dad just laughs in response, she continues: “Oh, and a hamburger.” One, that’s just charming as hell. Two, “fresh baked banana bread” is such a specific craving to want that it just adds extra character to this scene. Three, her adding on a hamburger as if she forgot to order something at a drive-thru is just literal perfect icing-on-the-cake, especially since it’s the actual “meal” of this order! Literally such an amazing, hilarious scene 

And even then, there’s still just so much more. The Russian scene with Coach I talked about in the first section is charming, especially as Sophie obviously has control of the conversation and is just debating if she wants to let Coach have his moment or embarrass him by going into a deeper conversation. The scene in episode one where she mocks Coach’s storytelling to his face by saying he could probably tell stories about the stars better than an astrologist is great and charming and even gets a laugh out of Coach himself! Her shit-talking with Rick about Christine potentially coming back in the game, and trying to match his energy as if she had never considered Christine would be a threat prior to him saying so is hilarious. Her beatdown on Ozzy’s shitty acting is hilarious. Her referring to Ozzy’s “Redemption Island” gameplay as “Ozzy’s pleasure dome” is genuinely one of the best sound-bites I’ve ever heard. The “taking turns flushing the toilet bowl” analogy about the Albert fight in the Final Five is one of the best confessionals of all time. And one of the most infamous moments with Sophie, where she commands Ozzy to “Pick up my stack” in the middle of the challenge. 

I really could go on. The point being is that Sophie has a lot more hilarious moments than people tend to realize. She’s definitely regarded as being witty and good with her insults, but I think that there are a lot more examples out there that people tend to not realize exist. There are just so many good moments with her. Which, mind you, is an absolute necessity considered how dark sometimes the season can get. Having one of the central characters involved in a lot of the darker moments of the season being able to bring the tone down is an absolute necessity as she’s also able to control the presentation of these moments. Which speaking of…

Part 3:

Now, I want to say before I get into this point that I’m not normally one of those people who tends to go “you watched it wrong” when it comes to the show. Like, I do say it ironically sometimes, but the only times I truly mean it are in cases where someone intentionally misreads a characterization that there is plain evidence that contradicts the take (i.e. the “Colton quit One World” revisionism Jeff tried to start) or are takes that are rooted in some type of prejudice (i.e. some people’s negative takes on Shirin in Worlds Apart. Not saying it’s impossible to hate Shirin, but I’m sure you all know exactly the kind of take on Shirin I’m talking about when I bring up this example).

With that in mind, I do think there is an optimal way to watch South Pacific that best strengthens the show and enhances its narrative. The season is best consumed if you watch the whole see through Sophie’s perspective. And when I say that, I don’t mean “Watch South Pacific but only the Sophie confessionals”, or “only watch the Sophie scenes”. Instead, I mean literally watch the entire season as if all of the events and circumstances are being told from the first-hand view (or third-hand, in case of the scenes she’s not in) of Sophie G Clarke.

This perspective isn’t born out of a specific fandom for Sophie, admittedly, as I think there is genuine narrative benefit to viewing it in this manner. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to view the season this way, since she is the winner of the season, and the bare minimum requirement of a good season of Survivor should be to retell their winner’s path to victory. South Pacific already does their little edgic tricks to guide that interpretation, such as the screen cutting to Sophie when Jeff gets to the point of his pre-season monologue where he goes “In the end, one will survive to claim the million dollar prize”. It doesn’t feel like a stretch at all to come to the conclusion that - at least on a rewatch - the season should be looked at through the eyes of Sophie. Again, this should be possible with almost every season of the show.

As an aside, a lot of the other cast’s characterization also makes sense if you view the season through Sophie’s eyes. Characters like Brandon get a very consistent negative/mixed edit based on how Sophie currently sees them at the moment. Someone like Cochran? He initially gets a mixed-tone edit consistent with Sophie giving him the benefit of the doubt per her own words that he might have been mistreated, but his edit also leans negative and only gets more N-toned as Sophie herself confirms that Cochran is just an uncomfortable person to be around. Someone like Edna? Presented as annoying at first until the point that Sophie begins to feel sympathetic towards her circumstances and feeling bad about how Brandon treats her. Albert? Presented neutral to downright pleasant as the two respect each other as equals, until Albert starts to disappoint her by coming across as a crazy overplayer only to get more-and-more negative as he reveals how smarmy he really is. Coincidentally, the person in the cast who is arguably the most consistently positively-toned character is Dawn, who is not only one of the nicest jurors to Sophie but also gives one of the most heartwarming voting confessionals for her at FTC.

There are only two outliers when it comes to this pattern – the returning players, Coach and Ozzy. I intend on discussing them both and Sophie’s relationship with both of them in greater detail, though, so we’ll put a pin on that. Regardless, when you go back and rewatch South Pacific, it is fun to actually notice how much overlap there is between the tone and relevance of the other players and Sophie’s general view of them.

Well beyond just a fun little fact about characters and tone, is there anything specific that watching the season through Sophie’s eyes exclusively does to the season’s benefit? Like is there an actual narrative reason I encourage you all to do so? ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY! Because I think it actually does a huge benefit to not only this season, but to the Survivor franchise as a whole and all that seasons that came before and after it!

… Let’s circle back to that opening paragraph. Let’s talk God.

Part 4:

As mentioned earlier, Survivor really can come across like religious propaganda, at the very least in the beginning of its inception. And often times, it can accomplish that even in spite of the religious beliefs of the contestants involved. Reminder that the “Follow the Star” theory that predicted the Jewish man Ethan as the winner of Africa is rooted in extensive Christian theology (including a lot of New Testament theology with no real overlap with Judaism). And Survivor has proven pretty adept at being able to use religion to easily spin a storyline in a way that paints the person as positive. Keep in mind in the premiere of Survivor China, Leslie Nease was so uncomfortable in the “presence” of another culture’s religion that she had to leave the temple and have a confessional where she spoke about only believing in God and Jesus Christ… and the show painted it as a positive scene! Like, I’m not trying to say anything about Leslie’s character, but to portray a scene like this as something inherently positive I think is a good simple scene to showcase the show’s general agenda on the subject matter.

Survivor definitely is careful with how it depicts religion (Christianity specifically) and are able to spring it into narratives where it might not even be relevant or necessary. And this was something they very EASILY could have done with South Pacific. The vast majority of this cast was deeply religious and there were definitely ways the show could have hidden a lot of its darker moments. They didn’t need to air that prayer circle where Upolu would later fake-find the idol. Mikayla, in the grand scheme of things, would go home because Coach felt he couldn’t work with her and Brandon didn’t even had a bad thing to say about her in that episode; all of Brandon’s issues related to his “faith” could have been cut. And this most surely would have happened if Coach had won the season! And even I would have decried this season as one of the worst of all time if it happened…

But it didn’t. Sophie Clarke won. And she had a different view of everything…

So based off the last time I looked this up, Sophie identifies as agnostic. Her specific religious beliefs don’t necessarily come up on the show. However, wherever her beliefs fall on the spectrum of belief does not matter; what matters are her words and actions and on the show.

“There’s a lot of tension between Brandon and Mikayla. In his biblical terms, he’d probably call her like, “The Whore of Babylon”. I think Brandon right now, is just really born between following whatever crazy religious beliefs he has.”

“You know, this whole prayer thing, for me, it doesn’t weigh as heavily on my mind because I’m not the one speaking the prayer. I find Coach to be more questionable when he actually is the one saying, you know, ‘Dear God, help us find the idol’, when he knows he has the idol in his pocket. I… It gives me a little bit of an icky feeling.”

“Brandon, I think, often thinks his apology absolves all sins, and maybe that’s true in church, but on Survivor, uh, people are not as forgiving as, you know, Jesus Christ is.”

Sophie outright calling out the religious bullshit around her is genuinely unheard of in this way. The two closest comparisons that come to mind are from Amazon, when Christy calls out Joanna in confessional during the Amazon and when Rob claims that God doesn’t have an invested interest in Survivor. But these examples don’t really compare since they directly calling Joanna’s characterization. Christy specifically is calling out Joanna for not behaving as “christ-like” as she tries to present herself and Rob is mocking Joanna saying that God favors Jaburu. On South Pacific, though, it is a whole different tale; the castaways on this season (not just one person) use religion as a tool to build culture. To be the foundation of alliances. To cement people’s trust with one another. As a tool to “guide the vote”.

And Sophie is drawing attention to it. And calling it out for being creepy. And icky. And acknowledging how it is being used as a tool.

And since the season is being told through Sophie’s eyes, we don’t just get to her say these thins and have her come across as just a miserable heathen looking down on the others. Instead, we get to see Coach come across as a hypocrite by discussing the importance of staging a “tribal find” of the Hidden Immunity Idol before he leads his prayer circle. We get to see scenes of Brandon just spying on Mikayla in the corner to hammer in a 100% what his issues with her were. We get to see an elaborate scene of Coach praying to guidance on if he should vote Brandon. And all the while, we get to see Sophie call all this shit out, either verbally or just through cuts to her rolling her eyes or shaking her head.

Sophie’s story functions borderline as an exposé on God. God’s always been talked about as this powerful, righteous force that’s always working to help out the “good” players on Survivor, whether it be to aid them in determination, fortitude, challenges, and even help swing votes. But here, we get to see God being, to quote Eliza Orlins, “a deceptive lying bitch” 

Caught in 4K. Thanks Sophie.

Part 5:

So, Sophie calls out the religious bullshit; why should it matter? After all, doesn’t that mean she’s just an enabler? Well, yes… but actually no. As I have mentioned multiple times in all my South Pacific write-ups, Upolu’s tribe manifests a collective group identity as a cult, and Sophie/Albert/Coach take up the mantle of cult-leaders. All three of them are perpetuating this group identity to their benefit, and it does prove profitable as all three make the Final Three, but when you compare the three, Sophie actually stands out exponentially from the others. Namely, in the sense that she is the only one who is honest about it all.

Both Coach and Albert, whether intentionally or unintentionally, give sweet nothings to the rest of the cast and lure them into a false sense of security. Coach, obviously, is more heavy-handed with religious metaphor and using it as a tool to get certain results from his cult. He’s the one who instigates the majority of the weaponization of Christianity. Albert is just as guilty as him, as he also uses it as a tool to strengthen his individual bonds with people like Brandon. More importantly for him, though, he presents himself as a knowledgeable “lifesaver” to those outside/on-the-edge of the cult as someone they can depend on when their life in the game is in trouble. But both characters and their actions are completely rooted in manipulation and gaslighting. And sure, Coach may believe some of his religious takes, and Albert may seriously have considered flipping every time like the compulsive dum-dum he is, but in the end, it’s too little too late. They burned too many bridges to have “the benefit of the doubt” be something they could claim.

In contrast, Sophie is always up-front about her stances. She’s honest and to-the-point, no matter how cold or distant she might come across. She’s not going to pretend to entertain the idea that Cochran could stay like Albert or Coach will, but rather she’ll stick to her guns, say she hates his guts and doesn’t find any information he’s shared at tribal noteworthy, and then vote his ass out. Coach is gonna talk about “praying if he should or shouldn’t vote Brandon” and Albert is going to talk about “His word as a Christian saying he’d give his idol if he thought Brandon isn’t in danger, and right now, he’s sure he’s not in danger”… and then Sophie’s just gonna be blunt about Brandon being a loose cannon and unpredictable, but somewhat rooted in his values and mention how he needs to go home.

Sophie is not above the actions of the other “cult leaders”, but never presents herself as anything but. And as a result of that, come end of the game, she’s able to genuinely present herself as the morally correct choice for the jury to reward. And it really shows when you see the jury questions. You see Rick get onto Albert for lying about God, Brandon get onto Albert about breaking his word as a Christian man, Brandon talking about how he hurt he is that Coach betrayed their bond based in their faith, and you see Whitney directly accuse Coach of using Christianity as a tool. And in all of this, Sophie never gets dragged. Sophie gets called out for her character, but she doesn’t get linked to the religious manipulation the others are tied into.

I think it’s pretty telling in Cochran’s jury question, when Coach tries to weasel out of being labeled a schemer, that Sophie immediately takes the credit from him and says she did his job for him while Albert just kinda mumbles a “Well actually it was me”. Coach is unable to drop his act and Albert tries too hard to sell himself; Sophie just states the facts as is, and she’s been shown correct enough on this matter throughout the season and FTC to be given the benefit of the doubt that she is correct.

That is what sets her apart from Coach and Albert. Well, that and a few other things. Namely…

Part 6:

So, Sophie’s growth arc. I have seen a little criticism on this subject, namely that the majority of the work occurs in the finale of the season. I don’t particularly find that reason sufficient enough to be a critique on her story, namely because her story arc doesn’t begin in the final episode. It begins much earlier than that, and the only the reason it feels like it begins in the finale episode is because Sophie uniquely goes the entire game without feeling any source of conflict.

Throughout the entirety of the season, Sophie is never in genuine danger in the slightest. She cements herself in the core alliance on Upolu, she’s physically/mentally strong enough in challenges that her status is never in danger, and her alliance is so committed to one another thanks to the religious-community-fostering techniques. And then come merge time, Savaii is basically handed to Upolu on a silver platter thanks to the tribe fumbling the bag regarding Cochran. Sophie doesn’t even have to feel any sort of anxiety on the matter, since she clocks Cochran’s flip and the reasoning behind it instantly in her “dodgeball target” confessional, and as such, she’s able to completely coast through easy-vote after easy-vote until the Final Five.

There isn’t a point at all where Sophie experiences any sort of conflict at all, and it really begins to show in her demeanor. Instead of growing as a character and a person, come merge time, Sophie begins to regress as a person. She never regresses morally speaking, stays genuinely honest and avoids any unnecessary God-related situations, but come merge time, Sophie does become noticeably more an asshole. Her criticisms start to get harsher and more open. She calls Savaii to their faces pathetic in the merge tribal council. She stops smiling whenever Cochran is with the group or telling jokes and tells him in confessional to screw off. In the Cochran tribal council, she outright calls out Brandon for being a jerk and unpredictable to the point that Brandon looks at her in hurt. And then there’s all the things she begins to say about Albert, as she starts to call him out for wanting to make a big move “for the sake of it” and whenever she toys with the idea of going along with an idea of his, she calls them “Albert’s crazy plans”.

Mind you, she’s right on all of her takes in general. Especially regarding Albert’s plans, as she realizes the path forward with Upolu is the smoothest path for her to victory. But the way she talks about everyone, including people like Albert who she was always positive on in her passive commentary, gets noticeably meaner in the merge episode and only gets worse-and-worse.

The pen-ultimate episode of South Pacific is the first time Sophie gets any form of “conflict” as Albert attempts a blindside on her, but he botches the situation so badly that while Sophie gets two votes at tribal council, the end result of that tribal council was always going to be either Brandon or Albert going – with the result being based on whether Albert gives away immunity – rather than her being in danger. And Sophie, now having her first taste of “conflict” and having it be such a weak attempt at it, only doubles down as she gets even harsher in her confessionals about Albert as she gloats about how pathetic he looks in his failed attempt and how gets to go out of the game looking stupid, and how Brandon ended up going out instead after making one of the dumbest mistakes in the history of the series.

Again, everything is set-up entirely for her success… except one little caveat: Oscar.

Sophie being concerned about Ozzy does actually show up in the build-up to the finale, such as her concerns about “Ozzy’s pleasure dome” and how they need to be ready to beat him should he come back into the game from Redemption Island. And when he does, he finally presents the first form of a genuine roadblock to her game. She played a borderline perfect, smooth game with zero risk… until Day 36, when a risk gets magically inserted in the game. A risk known for challenge aptitude. A risk who got to spend individual downtime with all the individual jurors. A risk who has a close relationship with all the former Savaii, who hate all the original Upolu.

This isn’t just a “risk”; this is genuinely a game-destroying factor introduced at the last second. And Sophie, after going the game with no conflict at all, is unable to process it properly and freaks out.

The scene in the Final Five immunity challenge where Sophie shouts at Albert to drop his stack and pick up her pieces is genuinely hilarious, but I do think there’s so much more to it than just being “funny”. Sophie was freaking the fuck out that Ozzy was going to win the game and he needed to be remove immediately; and the only way she could ensure he goes home immediately was by winning immunity. Sophie’s shouting at Albert is hilarious, but it’s also rooted in a major fear that Ozzy is going to ruin the game for her. And this fear helps explain why she absolutely loses her shit when Albert does his usually grandstanding-waffling about how good of a position he is in despite being, on average, behind her throughout the challenge. Because Albert has proven time-and-time again to be full of shit, and come in the end of the challenge when Ozzy wins, he proves he still is full of shit.

The reality of Ozzy challenge-winning his way to FTC feels more and more like an inevitability than it had prior and, as such, Sophie gets more and more stressed that this game she perceived as having on-lock was starting to fade. So she starts to genuinely buckle under the pressure. She quickly tosses Rick – someone who she does like and someone who she knows will have an issue with being lied to – out of desperation that Albert would do better in the Final Immunity Challenge against Ozzy. She then tries to undermine Ozzy directly at tribal council that night by trying to take a strike at his social game. Only, compared to everyone else she’s been up against, Ozzy actually pushes back.

I mentioned that Ozzy and Coach were the two sole exceptions when it came to every character being seen from the perspective of Sophie, and the case for “Ozzy” gets best illustrated in this moment. Ozzy is already a pre-established character from Survivor, is considered one of the best challenge assets Survivor has ever had, one of Survivor’s best providers, and (whether you like Cook Islands or not) a part of the most surface-level competitive FTC of all time with Yul only beating him by a single vote. Ozzy is not someone Sophie can just magically assume is going to be “beneath” her the way the rest of the cast naturally is. And the first time she actually tries to assert herself as such – by talking about Ozzy’s lack of respect to her and her game – Ozzy shoots back by calling her brat and going on the offensive in their tribal council argument to the point that she cries.

Dawn is subtitled from the jury noting that “She’s breaking down”, because that is the first time all game Sophie is truly facing an immovable object. And it makes Ozzy’s words – about how everyone can’t stand her and views her to be a spoiled brat – feel more impactful and truly shakes her. She had this image of self that never once was shaken throughout the entire game, only cementing to herself the truth that she was this brilliant, superior mastermind that she thought of herself, and it gets completely torn apart by the one person who’s word would carry the most weight to her. And now, she’s deathly concerned about how she’s been coming across and what that says about her.

 The breakdown she has at this tribal council is only as memorable as it is because of all the build-up of Sophie’s ego and self-esteem, and watching her get more comfortable and more self-assured only to get literally hammered as hard as possible. And this in turn, because of how close it happens to the Endgame, literally forces Sophie to do a lot of self-evaluation. This is why, in the end, she’s able to go into FTC and take Whitney’s criticism on herself and actually acknowledge how “condescending” she is and note that she needs to change.

I think the best part of this arc can really be summed up by one simple quote from Sophie herself on this matter and her sense of self: "I would think that when I came out here that I would have much tougher skin, so I don't think I'm building skin out here, I think I'm losing it.” I think that says all that really needs to be said on the matter and I think, given the build-up towards her own breakdown and the endgame in general, the arc hits out of the park.

Namely also because it is accompanied by…

17th: Terry Deitz 1.0 (Panama - 3rd)

cant let gang (regnis) know i fw this

THIS WRITEUP IS (AS EXPECTED) REALLY LONG AND I HAVE TO SPLIT THIS WRITEUP IN TWO AND SEPARATE BLURBS AND POINTS AGAIN LOL

u/Regnisyak1**:**

Terry Deitz 1.0 (Panama, 3/16)

Terry Deitz has one of the best deconstructions of a character on Survivor, full stop. I think people tend to think of me as crazy for having Terry in my top 5 of all time, but he checks so many boxes for characters that I tend to find great, and I find him to be transcendent. First is that he by all means should be the underdog of the season, and he is… but not without being described as both God and Satan in the same breath as a Casaya member. He represents the role of leadership so strongly in the season as well, which is a prevailing theme that exists throughout. So many principles are represented in his character too, like groupthink, the wearing down of someone, the effects of being a pariah, and his emotions boiling over. I am so glad that Terry was able to get this high in the rankdown, and I want to shout out to my rankers for letting me get away with murder in this situation. 

I firmly believe that Terry is an endgame level, though, and while I do think that is a rather hard sell for some people, I hope I can describe why I feel so strongly about this in the following write-up. So where to start? We’ll look at Terry broadly with his relationships, both with La Mina and Casaya. Something underrated with Terry is that he talks to almost everyone on the season, sans Tina, BobDawg, and Melinda, and with each person, we understand how deep their relationships are. I’ve talked about La Mina a lot this rankdown, but I just want to summarize them again in the following paragraphs so I can have them for y’all to quickly reference, and angle it more from Terry’s POV. What I have been neglecting however is Terry’s relationships with those in Gitanos, and how one by one, they knock down his spirit but he refuses to give up throughout the game. Casaya knows Terry’s strength, and at this point, he becomes the ultimate adversary. He gets sucked so beautifully in Casaya’s conflict in the season, and I think it is a great message on negativity and the cloud it can spread and the fear of first perceptions. Ultimately, Terry meets and exceeds several of the themes that I’ve talked about Panama throughout this rankdown, with his leadership, and the ever-prevailing age and gender themes. Within each relationship, I hope to explain his relationship in the context of that, along with the deconstruction of his underdog status. So let’s get this write-up on the road, shall we?

Part I: Terry & La Mina

Terry’s role in La Mina was quickly defined, even from his early days when the tribe was originally the older men - he knew that he was the strongest person in the tribe, and immediately put his head in the game. We quickly see his work ethic showcased to the other members, and Terry quickly gets complimented for how he is playing the game. He quickly comments on his pride in the Air Force, and that established relationship with the United States quickly sees him as a trusted leader of the tribe, and he gets legitimacy quickly. Quickly, the impact of Terry and his strong work ethic becomes necessary for those in La Mina. He’s the most active member of the tribe, they completely disintegrate whenever he disappears, and he becomes a God in the eyes of the tribe, specifically Austin and Nick, through his manners in the game, how well of a leader he is, and his gameplay. 

But, of course, there’s a minor issue - La Mina keeps getting destroyed by a physically weaker tribe, who undeniably have more chaotic tribe dynamics. Why? Well… you know where I am going with this - the concept of Age and Gender plays a dramatic role in the downfall of La Mina because of the strict lines on the tribe that Terry created. Terry, while putting on the aura of having the ability to lead the tribe, is ultimately the one screwing it up. Further, with his tribe, the consequences of having a groupthink mantra take over the tribe, leading to a false perception of strength. Terry’s strong leadership is ultimately the downfall of the tribe, and the contradiction is fascinating. Let’s deep dive into those themes though, shall we?

Part I.I: Age and Gender on La Mina

A classic theme that I have hope that I portrayed in this rankdown was how even though age and gender at first seemed like a frivolous manner of the season, the consequences of putting the teams in that theming for even just one vote had impacts on the season that rifled through. Often, I complain about theming on Survivor as being negative, when they are made-up titles (see HHH or my several 100 cuts on DvG). The made-up ones seem like they are performing to that title, rather than letting themselves flourish from the natural ones that society, fortunately or not, grants to people. Age and gender perception are two necessities that allow people to form heuristics in society and are integral for managing society. This unfortunately can turn into stereotypes, which is something we can often see on Survivor, but notably on La Mina. 

Almost immediately with the newly tribe-swapped La Mina, we see Terry thinking in the original tribal lines of the season. Instead of acting with the women, he immediately turns on them and creates his all-guys alliance, which consists of the astronaut, John Grisham, and the machete swinger. The strong men of the tribe come together, and in a sense create a patriarchial society within La Mina, almost instantly. We see this become evident when they take control of the camp with the basic attempts of survival, whether it is Nick and Austin becoming the lead hunters, Sally losing her spear almost immediately going into the episode, or Dan being seen as the wise sort on the tribe where people feel they can entrust information. 

Ultimately, the men in the tribe lead, which leads to discomfort from the women. It can come across as really subtle, but this is a special reason why I love Sally so much. She pushes that narrative across because we know that she doesn’t get along with really anyone in their tribe, besides Misty, and she was ousted almost immediately. Largely, it is due to Terry’s initial organization of the tribe, and the groupthink that surrounded it, that left Sally on the outs. However, there are two examples that most highlight Terry’s desires for the all-men alliance to stick together: Misty and RuMa

Part I.I.I: Misty

Misty is immediately deemed as a target, due to her promiscuous nature on the tribe. However, it’s not Austin, not Nick, not Sally, not Dan that wants her out - it’s Terry. Terry was so worried about the threat of women dominating and taking over the alliance that he took over at this point. This is the first real negative but also positive trait that we learn about Terry - he is determined to be right, determined to be in charge, and determined to be the leader of the tribe, at any cost. Misty is the first domino of Terry in this game, and how old-school he is playing with him desiring to keep a strong alliance of four to the end, one that includes strength.

The representation of Misty, arguably one of the most overt flirtatious people to play the game, and the contradiction to Terry’s more controlling and conservative nature is why I will always appreciate her character, even if I have her 16/16 for the cast. Misty showed strength by surviving exile, was a threat to the alliance with the potential of having the idol (which Terry had that point), but was more importantly deemed as dangerous for being a woman, and someone who could potentially break Terry’s ego and leadership style due to her unorthodox style of play. 

Part I.I.II: Ruth Marie

At first glance, I think there are some stark differences between Misty and Ruth-Marie and their eliminations on La Mina, and how they were fodder for the team. However, deep down, they were both voted for the same reason - women in the tribe who were deemed as weaker. The connection of the tribe and their desire for tribe strength became a full force for Ruth-Marie and her vote out. What’ 's more important here however is the dichotomy between Ruth Marie and her age, versus Terry and Dan staying around for longer. Terry and Dan are the old geezers of the tribe, with Dan being actively older, weaker, and more awkward in challenges (he is tall). But, the men stick together, and Ruth-Marie is an obvious boot for the tribe. Sally instigates most of this with her begging to stay, and Terry can’t deny that factor. The funny contradiction about Ruth-Marie, however, and something I pointed out in my original writeup, is that she was probably much more athletic than Sally (see the first challenge where she outsprinted some of the other women) and it was likely due to the initial perception of the tribe, and the condensing of groupthink that existed on La Mina. 

Ultimately, Ruth-Marie represents the next domino to fall on the tribe and Terry - loyalty or tribe strength. Yes, Ruth-Marie was never included in their vote, but something that she was playing was the firm vote for the men on the tribe, due to her close connection to Dan on the tribe, and how they were getting along. I think there are several reasons why Terry wanted to get Ruth-Marie out, whether it be to separate the duo of Dan and Ruth Marie to prevent a flip or the deep desire to win a challenge to get morale out, and seeing Ruth Marie. Whatever the reason, Terry was the instigator of the vote. Everyone was set on Sally, but then he pushed the spotlight onto Ruth-Marie and she was ousted. And the other important thing about them? Terry, at RuMa’s tribal, was seen as the hero, and that was one of the most evident examples of praise toward Terry because he was being showered with it, both from Jeff and La Mina. 

Ultimately, with both RuMa and Misty, Terry opted to go for the men and chose to eliminate those different from him. It seems more basic than that when at first glance, but understanding the context of Terry - someone who needs to have control, as someone who was a leader of troops in the Air Force, he needed to eliminate those that could fall out of line, or cause defection. 

Part I.II: Groupthink

For me, the most interesting aspect of Panama is the formation of the tribes, and how groups are selected with one another. I think the schoolyard pick in this season is one of the best examples of showing that phenomenon in Survivor. With Casaya, we immediately get their MO - they are just picking based completely on first perceptions, but with completely random criteria - Cirie seems like a mom, Boston tattoo, the free-spirited girl, etc., etc. They were selected more on the potential for archetypes. La Mina though? Ever notice something about them? The tribe was completely white. Besides going into formation with Terry’s beliefs and perhaps assumptions of people falling out of line, the picking La Mina showcases where they go wrong - they were picking people similar to each other, and more importantly, those who wouldn’t feel the need to dissent.

How humans pick groups by their own vices is probably one of the most interesting things about social psychology is one of the most interesting ideas for me, and I love how it transitions La Mina from a tribe that dominates, to one that has to face the consequences of what they need and understand the importance of conflict for the tribe. Ultimately, La Mina very deservingly gets credit for being a lackluster tribe due to the lack of conflict, but it is integral to their stories and the story of Panama because no dissent means the spiraling effect of the tribe, and how the survival aspect of the game almost takes over and effectively ruins and hampers their game. No one could speak up and it led to the toilet.

But the important thing about groupthink is contextualized with Terry and his desire to keep control. Terry doesn’t realize the groupthink because it is his thought that is getting pushed through with the tribe. He is always right, he is deemed as right, and he knows that the tribe would fail without him. Three characters properly showcase his efforts of groupthink, and unsurprisingly, they are the men of the tribe. Dan, Nick, and Austin showcase the failures of his groupthink, and how they are all in line with Terry, whether it benefits the tribe or not. 

Part I.II.I: Dan

One of the most fascinating aspects of Terry’s character is his friendship with Dan on the island. The two immediately get along due to sharing one common trait - they’ve been in the sky before! The dichotomy of Dan and Terry is really interesting because one person is more about life wisdom, while the other is about tribal strength. Further, Terry has the more dominant personality (I hate that I am saying this, but I guess “alpha” personality) in comparison to Dan, which makes him seem much weaker than the others, especially in challenges. Dan is a pretty bad challenge performer, even in puzzles, and it becomes notable. But, Terry continues to keep Dan around, even though he is notably weaker. This is to keep the alliance alive to have a semblance among the men and to show he is not wavering or thinking about his game anymore.

But it catches up to Dan, and it leads to the third domino in Terry’s story - the loss of an actual friend. I have gushed so far about how much I love Dan’s elimination episode, but I think the heartbreaking part about it is truly Terry’s decision to jump ship and vote out his closest ally. Sally, one of the luckiest Survivor players in the history of the show, is sent to Exile, and by that point, there are no options, and a solemn decision has to be made. And Terry isn’t fucking around either, not even offering to vote with Dan in a vote of solidarity to make it go to fire. Ultimately, Dan did lose that challenge for the tribe today, and I think at this point we can see his dissatisfaction with Dan finally come to the front. Merge has no signs of coming soon, and Terry’s main priority is tribal strength. Dan’s blinding faith and loyalty lead to his downfall, and Terry’s attitude toward the game dominates at this point. 

Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and Terry never knew that merge was coming the next day, but I think everyone was assuming it at some point, which is why I especially always found his decision to not even let it up to a fire-making challenge to be so harsh and cutthroat. Ultimately, Terry did preach a loyal game, and we saw him make the tighter connections with Dan, but tribe strength and youth, or at least the perception of it, came into play further.

Part I.II.II: Nick & Austin

And, speaking of youth and perception, it’s time to talk about Nick “follow your dreams” Stanbury and John Grisham. Their dynamic most pointed to a groupthink ideal because they were Terry’s lapdogs following the Misty vote. I can’t emphasize enough how important Misty’s vote for La Mina was for Terry because it finally got Austin and Nick completely on his side for the all-men alliance. 

Both men serve similar roles in Terry’s story, basically acting as Terry’s children. Terry acting as a parental figure is one of the most interesting things about his premerge because it is one of the leading ways he can get people on their side. Terry’s strength is being able to survive in the wilderness, with almost no effort at all, and making it seem easy at points. Terry’s eager “children” Austin and Nick follow behind him in that effort, and attempt to act like him, even when he is away from camp. Their relationship reminds me of a kid getting up early to get dressed with their dad and trying to put on their necktie and tie it the same way. 

Now granted, I am not trying to infantilize Austin and Nick because I think they were grown men out there and had their abilities to survive, but it is hard to ignore when they were just so starstruck with Terry and his amazing abilities to survive in the wild. But I think it is further reinforced when they flop so much considering the bean fiasco where they shit their brains out, as well as Nick letting the spear disappear and his clear mishandling of the machete, or Austin and his terrible gameplay following the merge. These are people who clearly needed to be online, and I always found that whenever they weren’t attached to the hip with Terry, they began to deviate from the norms and make failures. Terry was a needed Survivor figure for them, almost acting as their father who he fished with, and the leadership that he displayed for both men on the tribe was integral in keeping them alive, both physically and in the game of Survivor. 

La Mina is the perfect representation of groupthink on Survivor, and one of the most perfect representations in general. A clear enemy was created, both within the tribe (Misty, RuMa) and the opposing external threats of Casaya. The group followed a leader, rarely met any sort of dissension, and were ready to fall in line with Terry. The entire context of this given the many roles that Terry was playing in the season. The father, the veteran, is the underdog after the disintegration of the tribe. Much of La Mina is necessary in setting up the fact that Terry is a leader, but he has his failures with the tribe, and he cannot even recognize them. They rally around the preconceptions they had when choosing the group, and it leads to hit after hit after hit.

Why La Mina is such a trainwreck tribe is clearly one question that I find to be fun to answer on Survivor. They are a mess when on paper, they shouldn’t be. But sometimes, similarities can lead to short-sighted behavior and a lack of conversation about how the group should change. Their entitlement to being on the tribe is crazy, and I think the hope that they continue to force and maintain throughout the season is equally fascinating. 

However, with Terry, another big question comes up for his character… what happens? Terry begins the game as someone who is applauded by the tribe, but then the leader loses his role with Casaya, and his charm disappears. Only one thing can explain Terry’s downfall and disintegration of the war hero - a loss of control, the age and gender politics of Casaya, and his opposing leadership to the group of Casaya. 

Part II: Spiral - From Leader to Nuisance

Probably the time when Terry is the funniest is immediately following the merge. At that point, La Mina is fucked, up a creek, dead in the water. They have to find ways to wiggle into the game, and through that by the cracks on the seemingly fractured and messy Casaya. But to the surprise of everyone, from Casaya to La Mina, to the audience at home, Casaya is a brick wall. And Terry fucking tries EVERYTHING! From getting Bruce to meander over to finding out where Courtney lays, to trying to get the queen of not starting drama, Cirie, to flop over to their side. And nothing happens. Nothing. Nick, Austin, and Sally get picked off one by one, and at this point, Terry is a lone soldier. But before we get into the soldier portion I think we need to talk about three of Terry’s friends in the game, just to understand how the part of Terry being a leader to the annoying nuisance on Gitanos starts: Welcome to the show Bruce, Sally and the biggest character of the season, the God Idol. 

Part II.I: God Idol

Terry’s god idol is perhaps the biggest part of his game and character and I can completely understand others’ criticism of him in the game. The threat of his idol becomes a necessary conflict starter and fear stirrer as the game starts. At this point, his having the idol is known but unknown, and the question is when he plays it, and how they flush it. The split vote hasn’t existed at this point, so the strategy is rudimentary around the idol this season, and I think it’s interesting how it is used as a way to coast.

Now I know what you all are thinking at this point - “Reg you hate advantages like that. What makes Terry different?” You would be correct to make that assessment, given my takes, hatred of the 30s, and overall perceptions and negativities about Survivor and its unsuccessful evolutions. But I can excuse Terry’s idol for several reasons. One is that it doesn’t feel like a nuisance, in the sense that Terry himself is an incredibly engaging, charismatic narrator, unlike someone like Yul. There’s a genuine fear that Terry could have the potential to win the game, and I think the concept of that is really interesting. Terry has 0 power at this point in the game, unlike Yul or Tony, and the god idol creates that tension where the possibility of Terry winning seems more and more realistic. As we switch into postmerge, Terry winning seems more like a possibility as he becomes the unmovable boulder that Casaya has to find themselves working around. It’s a natural starter of conflict, and fear that he could pass it off to someone else. The other important distinction with the idol, and something I haven’t mentioned is that Terry is a beast at challenges. He destroyed all of them and continues to hold a record for having the most in the season. The God Idol doesn’t really have a role in the season, except for whenever Deitz doesn’t have immunity, which only happens a few times. And, we have to ask ourselves what is more entertaining - Casaya eating each other while Terry is coasting by, or them voting him out ceremoniously. It’s a rare time that I think an idol enhances the story and another time when an immunity challenge beast can do it so well.

Terry should not be a natural in creating conflict, besides some of his views falling along the lines of more traditional thoughts in society, but in reality, Terry is FORCED into a position of conflict when he is put in a place where he isn’t normally - the underdog. The idol makes him become detested by the tribe as he has the opportunity to coast to the end of the game, and it leads to the nasty side of Terry coming out. It puts him in the role of the social pariah, and his rise from zero to hero involves the negativities surrounding the idol, his controlling nature puts him out of the picture and leads to the increase of discontent on the island. 

Inherently, yes, the God Idol is a problematic advantage in Survivor, just due to the sheer overpowering of it in advantages and strategy, and I am very grateful that it changed in Fiji. But, I think given Panama and its strong, volatile personalities, role subversions, and desire for control in the game, the God Idol works in this situation as a looming threat that creates a potential for danger and intrigue. The mystery of it, the difficulties of working around it, and the nightmare that it creates for Casaya make it much more worth it in my eyes. 

Part II.II: Sally

Sally and Terry have a relationship that I would consider one of the most underrated in Survivor. They meet all the themes that I previously mentioned from La Mina, including gender, age, and groupthink. With gender, Sally is seen as a threat but continues to be someone who can coast by due to luck or strategy, and this leads Terry to be in conflicting positions on the La Mina tribe. With age, see Misty. Both are deemed as pariahs due to them using their sexuality, but with Sally, we can tell she is uncomfortable with Misty doing that, but Terry refuses to listen to that. And lastly, with groupthink, Sally was one of the few active voices against Terry in the tribe. She constantly criticized the all-men alliance, especially because she was on the outside of the group, and was one of the few people who saw through it and recognized the inner politics of La Mina, and how they were negatively discriminatory against her. 

But, how does Sally contribute to the spiral? Probably the most interesting concept about their relationship was how they reconciled after the merge occurred, due to being at the bottom almost immediately against the dominating Casaya tribe. I think they admitted that there was a father-daughter relationship between them, but something always seemed tense between the two because they both wanted each other mutually out. Sally represented the lack of tribe strength, while Terry represented the tribe's isolation. And as Terry saw, his two closest allies, Nick and Austin went out back to back. The only way to potentially save his side and get people to jump is with Sally, who could potentially pull in the two women on Casaya because we know their relationship with Shane. But, while the idol debate of whether or not Terry would be willing to give up the idol became null and void - he lets her go and attempts to rely on the social relationships he created, even if they weren’t successful.

This is important for one reason - Terry is 100% playing for himself at this point, and he always was. At that point at the merge, with his all his allies going home, why on earth would he save Sally? I think this was a cutthroat move in a lot of senses because he truly isolated himself at this point, but would have preferred himself over someone who could jump ship on him at that point in the game. Sally is the final domino for Terry, in terms of his downfall from loyalty and attempting to play a collecitivist game, to him going guns blazing and burning the camp down one by one. It’s a great moment for both of their character and while it probably does seem like a moment where false suspense is playing a role at tribal, the tensions that were already established between Terry and Sally finally take center stage, and watching him not play the idol for her game makes complete sense for him. 

Part II.III: Bruce

One relationship that I think represented the true “Terry is screwed with La Mina” is with Bruce, oddly enough. Bruce is a great fantastic supporting throughout the season, but I think one of his shining moments is with Terry, and how he stiffs him following the tribal. Casaya treated Bruce like crap, more often than not, with their entitlement toward him and judgment of him sitting on the sidelines, and Terry really thought he had an opportunity with Bruce, especially due to their previous connection on the 3-day tribe with La Mina earlier on in the game. 

Even though we understand Bruce and flipping could be a possible proposition, I think there is one key difference between the two men - how they value the themes of the season, and the “nurture” of their previous tribe, Casaya or La Mina. One thing that Casaya rarely does is outwardly discuss age or gender differences - along with race, most of their conflict is derived from a conflicting yet subtle set of differences in the tribe. Everyone more or less “gets along” (a better term might be “mutually hate”), but alliances are created without much care for gender or age differences - that comes with how they act in the tribe. With La Mina, those surface traits of age and gender affected how the tribe and each other perceived one another, and created conflict among each other. With Bruce, the original attachment of their initial tribes means nothing - he created a new home over here, and even though mutual conflict exists in so many different avenues on Casaya, ultimately he had been there longer, and the divisions of the early game are non-existent. 

The dichotomy of Bruce and Terry and how they are depicted with their similarities in age represents an important mirror between the two characters and how age is perceived differently between the two groups. Bruce is considered a wildcard more often than not, due to his lack of attention on the tribe. He uses it to his advantage as seen as more a wise soldier, such as Dan on La Mina, and it allows him to skate by, even as people get more disappointed in him as time rolls by. With Terry, we understand him coming onto strong, and I think that pride differed from Bruce and officially sealed the record that he lacks comfort to work with Terry, along with fear from the wrath of Casaya.

Overall, Terry’s spiral to the villain of the season begins innocently enough. He attempts to jump ship or try to convince people to join, having no recognition of just how deep the tribal lines are. Terry perceives that his smile, charm, wit, and charisma will lead him to success when that just isn’t how Survivor works sometimes. His dissolution from being the hero, strong leader, and tireless work of La Mina, to the villainized underdog on Gitanos begins innocently enough, but it’s his overconfidence in the situation that pushes him away. The dichotomy with how it scares off Casaya but encourages La Mina creates a natural internal conflict in Terry and has to encourage him to rethink the game. Which, of course, leads him to become a Casaya, and get overwhelmed with the negativity. 

INTERMISSION: Trish Deitz

Before I move on babbling about the other people Terry has involvement within Panama, I want to take a moment to give praise to Terry Deitz. So if you need a break… then take a break from reading after this! Trish Deitz was an awesome character, and her screen appearance was more influential than arguably at least 50 characters in other seasons. The main thing we learn about her is that she is clearly the brains of the operation, while Terry is the muscle. That becomes evident throughout the season as Terry constantly throws out his terrible ideas about how Casaya should jump ship to the La Minas, even though if they did they would be immediately on the bottom. 

Trish was the clear motivational factor with Terry, and we can see through this that he really does care about his family, I think in the depths of negativity that exists with Gitanos, this was a nice humanizing moment. But, even more importantly, it leads to one of the best arguments in the season with Terry and Aras and is the catalyst in their relationship devolving into baseless insults. Aras wanted to see his mother, and quite frankly, Terry found that silly, I just love how stupid that argument is. I’ll talk about it a little bit more when I get to Aras, but Trish is a very necessary catalyst. 

Also… he smelled like a campfire ;)

Part III: The Scrambling Continues

Terry is desperate. His La Minas are gone and he is the last person standing. His position from being the ruler of La Mina was ripped away from him and he begins to struggle with the endgame portion. He knows he has the god idol. He wields power, he threatens it, he frightens the other people. One slip-up at immunity and he is done. He needs to being securing something, anything for his endgame to even get a chance to make it to the final 2. Shane is out because he’s Casaya only. Cirie giggled when he told her his plan. Aras? No way. What does that mean for our underdog hero, then? 

*Enter an argumentative and lazy Boston woman and a free-spirited bird*

Terry, Danielle, and Courtney all share an interesting triangle situation. Terry knows that if he drags them to the end, he will 100% win. They’ve been ridiculed all season for their behavior, and it has been established time and time again that they are useless in the eyes of Casaya. But, why? 

Part III.I: Courtney

I never got around to Courtney’s write-up, but the brief argument is that I think she is awesome and was sad she missed the endgame. Effortlessly starting a conflict with her lack of self-awareness, flightiness, and her just crazy attitude toward Casaya, Courtney is one of the most important props of the season, and boosts Cirie, Shane, Aras, Danielle, and Bruce with just a few lines. But with Terry, I think he demonstrates an important character trait with Courtney, and one of my biggest arguments for her - she knows damn well what her character and behavior are coming off as, and definitely playing it up for the other players on the island. 

Terry approaches Courtney for being his goat because no one likes her. This was after touchy subjects (what’s a poser? You, Courtney), and at this point, Courtney is on the high edge and feels completely disrespected by her tribe. But she also knows her position at this point and knows that she has to play for the goat. Even though she thinks she even has a possibility to beat Terry (which, maybe? But that’s another discussion), she eagerly takes that position with Terry after her disappointment with her fellow Casayas and how she got obliterated at Touchy Subjects. 

But, everyone catches onto this and then realizes that Courtney IS a threat because she’s dead weight being dragged to the end. Watching Courtney, the person that everyone all season underestimated for her loony behavior make people worried and lead to one of the best strategic moves in the history of the show is incredible. 

With Terry and Courtney, I think their blossoming alliance, and thus prompt defeat is interesting for so many reasons. Contextualizing Terry’s story, I think it’s important to note that he went for the two young women on the tribe last, and it makes sense given his position on La Mina. The way he demotes the young women as non-threatening reaffirms the gender bias in the game and emphasizes the theme I’ve been harping on all season where the gender lines existed even going past the swap of the tribe's afterword. But with Courtney, I think it’s important for her to realize her goat status, have Terry reaffirm that for her, embrace it, and then get voted out for that reason. It’s a great story because we get a lot of build-up for Courtney being the most annoying person alive with her fire dancing and singing when Bruce has rocks in his stomach. Her transition to that arc is incredible.

But with Terry, it’s one of his last nails in the coffin, as the “Casaya Get Terry the FUCK out of the game train” takes another pawn from him. He’s disintegrating, and with each approaching step to the game, he runs out of options. Quickly Terry begins falling apart, and a large reason for that is Courtney. I’ll get to that a little bit more below with Cirie and Aras specifically, but his aggravation is coming in full force, and Courtney is an integral part where Terry becomes the underdog to the asshat ruined by Casaya. 

Part III.II: Danielle

At first, Terry and Danielle are almost exclusively defined through the eyes of Dani. And she hates him. Danielle is one of the best early voices for the opposition against Terry because she constantly complains about him and his behavior behind his back. She is tired of him winning all the time, his scheming constantly, and him ignoring her for the most part because he doesn’t find her useful. This culminates in an Exile Island adventure between them where, or moreso lack thereof when he sends her to Exile at the family visit. Danielle gets to spend the entire day stewing on the beach because Terry doing this to her, and it seems that he burnt another bridge.

But Danielle is smart. She knows her place in the game and also knows that she is not perceived well, like Terry. She begins to create a secret alliance with Terry and Courtney where they do the final 3 together because they are the least liked on the island. The next episode, Final Four with the group that ends on a cliffhanger, represents a new change in attitude when Aras wins reward and immunity, and sends Danielle to exile over Cirie. The decision hurts Danielle because it was her second night on the beach, and she thought that they were equals. This causes her to rethink her alliance with Cirie & Aras, and she begins to contemplate what it would mean to jump ship with Terry. He’s likely to win again, and she knows that it might possibly be a tie anyway. 

Danielle was always game-forward, and she herself said that she wasn’t there to make friends. It’s why she turned on Courtney so quickly and realigned herself with Terry. She wanted the money, and Terry saw through that and knew that people didn’t like her. It was his last attempt to be in the game and align with someone he would never associate in real life due to her lack of work ethic. I actually love their little odd couple relationship because they represent mirrors for other characters in the game which they didn’t like (Misty/Shane), and I think their ability to work together, so seamlessly, is incredible work and great additions to both of the characters. 

But… we know how this ends. Danielle wins the final immunity and she is forced between a rock and a hard place. Aras manipulates the hell out of her, which is great for his character, but Terry takes a more dignified approach. He leans back and lets the wind take them wherever. Terry is not a beggar, under any circumstances, and it shows at the end when he believes that Danielle will stick to her word and vote out Aras. It’s important for Terry’s character because even after the demonization of his character, he is still shown to be someone who sticks to his morals and goes with whatever the game is played. Alas, Aras is chosen to go to the end with Danielle, and at that point, his game is kaput, donezo, and no god idol to save him. His last piece, being an archetype that he underestimated all season, the young female, being his final death knell is delicious irony, and the process of watching Terry go from the primary leader of the tribe surrounded by men to being scorned by something he was scared of most was beautiful, and a satisfying end to his character.

Part IV: Someone Call the Whambulance…

So the issue with Terry, is that his character is being ruined by the people around him, which I think is unarguably the most fascinating part about his character. The Terry we begin to love and know at the beginning of the season, the Air Force veteran with a loving family and great leadership skills, is disintegrating around him as he is pushed aside due to the perceptions, both that he created and that are formed through Casaya. Terry becomes incredibly shady as time goes on, and with a tribe that already views him as the primary enemy of the other tribe, it’s incredible to watch his underdog fall from grace.

Implicitly, I think everyone is so scared of Terry that they begin to take it out negatively on him, dunking on his character constantly. I love Terry’s edit because I think the complexities in the tone of his character craft a stronger character whereas a traditional Golden Boy edit gets completely subverted and blown up by the final 3 episodes. He was a beloved figure in his previous tribe who just became a nuisance and menace, and in Terry’s real life, he’s never had to be in the bottom position. His underdog role is certainly meant for us to root for him, but there’s enough narrative there where it becomes evident that while Terry is objectively in a rootable position, there’s no reason for us to do so. 

Terry’s witch hunt becomes one of the most important parts of the season and defines why his character lands so much for me. Two characters excellently show this, Cirie and Aras. Both of them are relentless in their efforts to get Deitz out of the game, never wavering from their alliance with each other, and constantly slamming Terry for idoling his way to the end of the game.

18th: Tina Wesson 1.0 (The Australian Outback - Winner)

Tina HATES Ambuh

u/SMC0629:

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of any of Tina's iterations, but Tina 1.0 is easily my favorite. She's witty, got a lot of charm, and has a good mix of strategy and personality. I think her story could have been executed better and I believe there's better stories in AO but still, not mad at all that she made endgame.

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u/DryBonesKing:

As I have said a few times now, the very first season I watched live was Australian Outback. Naturally, Tina has a hold on my heart in a way that very few players do. At the time, I was definitely rooting for Colby over her, but even as a dumb kid, I realized the second he chose to vote out Keith over her, I knew he fucked up. Tina is so unapologetically badass – from her amazing confessional game (her voting confessional to Mitchell is so fucking good) to her amazing challenge game (she would probably still be up on that perch in Outback if it was not in her best interest to throw to Keith), to HER LITERALLY SWIMMING IN A FUCKING FLOODED RIVER FOR THE TRIBE’S RICE!!!!

I repeat – SHE RISKED HER LIFE IN A FLOODED RIVER! Like that’s so unquestionably badass and I cannot fathom the idea of not having her at least top 50 for that moment alone!

There’s so much to appreciate about Tina. From meta reasons (“The Dog that didn’t Bark” to her literally gaming the concept of being a “good person” and using the way Borneo played out as a tool to guarantee her the win), to narrative reasons (her relationships with Colby, Jerri, Rodger, Elisabeth, Keith, Mad Dog… everything is top notch), to humor reasons (her talking shit about Jerri to her face in Jerri’s FTC question is probably one of the most hilarious things any winner ever did), to just simply lore reasons (her being the first female winner is probably the best possible precedent for all future women Survivor winners to live up to). There really feels like there is something for every type of viewer of Survivor to appreciate about Tina. I’m annoyed that there isn’t as much Outback representation as I would have liked (Colby was cut way too soon), but I am very glad Tina managed to make it up here this time!

Overall Rank – 29/821

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u/Zanthosus:

Tina is the perfect winner for a season like Australia. She embodies the themes of the season so well, and she’s consistently entertaining throughout. She’s also an incredibly interesting character to think about with hindsight to see how ahead of her time she was in terms of the game at points. I’m beyond ecstatic she was able to make it into our endgame.

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u/Regnisyak1:

Tina is what makes Australian Outback so good. Her dichotomy against Jerri, specifically, creates an incredibly tense season where Survivor really deeps dive into the concept of “deserving.” Ultimately, my takeaway is that “deserving” really only applies to those who you like, and I think Tina, through her rallying of getting conservatives on her side to take those different from her, is the endlessly fascinating way that leads to a captivating story and shows that a woman is capable of winning Survivor through their social relationships. Also, she says Doritos is funny, and I love the way she gives confessionals - especially when she talks about the experience. While the finale of AO is… a finale, her final confessional about being in Australia is one of my favorites. 

Personal Rank. 18/821. 10/10

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u/ninjedi1:

Tina: Ahh...Tina...the original sweet lady...except for the fact that she flipped on her alliance when she realized she was on the bottom of it, or that she hated Jerri and dunked on her every opportunity, even at FTC at Jerri's jury question. Tina is so great cause she's able to do the sweet lady act while also actively cutting down anyone in her way in the name of good people winning. She's so good at it the even revisionists today mainly focus on Colby as the "true villain" of AO. She's also a badass, as whenever people talk about how hard new era is I'm always reminded of Tina swimming out in dangrous river rapd waters at night to retreive their rice tin that washed away. Epic.

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u/Tommyroxs45:

Tina Wesson 1.0:

The first female winner of Survivor, and man did she make a legacy. She will always be a legend and there’s a reason why there was so much outrage over her not coming back for WaW. She’s not simply just “mother” she is the first MOTHER. 

Tina is a very calculated person, and to some that is a turn off and she’s “boring” because of it. However, I really don’t think of it that way, her strategy greatly evolves Survivor as a franchise in ways that it never was going to without Tina and we benefited greatly from it. She completely crushes the game with Colby by her side while still having so much personality and pushing the narrative for a Survivor winner past so much.

It’s also the fact that she really isn’t a gamebot at all on top of having a really fun southern mama personality, she really doesn’t show that much strategy throughout her time in the Outback. Still taking her reins on vote outs, but giving a more personal approach to her decisions instead of “numbers” and “furthering her game”. She was still doing that but we got a much more personal and person to person feel from her gameplay than we would ever get today. I don’t get how her strategy could be boring as it accurately shows who she is as a character and doesn’t try to make her this mastermind game legend, no she’s someone who is thinking about herself but still has many personal reservations for others that she needs to push aside.

Another critique I sometimes see is that Tina is not relevant almost at all in the first two episodes, and yeah I almost agree with this one. However, I feel it does make a much larger impact when we see Tina’s rise into this power position in the season, where she went from nobody to the actual queen who was dictating vote after vote. Also, her introduction in episode 3 is done REALLY well. We get to see the coldness she is willing to provide while still being this mama you love. With Mad Dog ❤️❤️ being voted out but Tina loves Mad Dog but has to set her personal feelings aside to benefit her and her only. You really do see a connection between these two and it perfectly sets up Tina’s story as the lovable mother on the outside but someone who will push personal feelings aside to win.

Then we of course get the Mitchell boot just affirming what had happened last episode. She completely turns strategy on its head and sends Mitchell packing because of “challenge strength” but also because of personal opinion and herself. This is stuff we had never seen on Survivor beforehand all being expedited by an old lady who would be the last person you would think of doing this. Now this conversation of Mitchell going home isn’t shown on TV. We get the context clues and understanding of what happened to lead us to believe why Tina is now in this power position which I feel was a nice way to tell it. With a great voting confessional to explain her vote and her attitude upon playing the game, she will do anything and will openly be strategic.

Then after this, we get to see Queen Tina. The dominant force that completely controlled and decimated post merge Kucha ruthlessly. With her using Debb’s vote on Jeff to get Jeff out and taking control of the game. Then being able to flip and cut off Jerri in case of a potential flip of the power structure. So obviously this makes for stagnation right? Well gameplay wise, a little bit yeah, however character wise it is the reckoning of Tina and we really see a mastermind in the works that doesn’t feel gamebotty at all. She genuinely is just a great thinker and very articulate with her emotions and getting to see that play out so early in the show's run is very surreal and doesn’t make it feel boring like it could’ve been. We also get to see levels of deception that even a lot of the audience didn’t get at the time, where Tina would constantly use excuses to vote people out, just to push her own narrative and game plan and it works like a charm, which is ultimately why she voted off Jerri.

Then at the same time as this, we get Colby and Tina’s bond. They grew a lot out there and got close and it started to play with Colby’s mind and Tina knew it. While a lot of his motive to bring Tina was that she was more respected and that would make him in turn look more like a hero, there is absolutely no denying that his connection with Tina played a role in it. Tina had full knowledge of what Colby was thinking, and exploited it, in such her mother way to where it wasn’t villainous but it was huge. She severed Keith’s connection to Colby and in turn made herself look much more fond in Colby’s eyes. That’s when we get to see it, Colby makes what to many people was the dumbest move ever made until Erik gives up his immunity 14 seasons later, all due to the original Black Widow, Tina.

Although I find the finale to be incredibly dull because a lot of it is just reflecting and for lack of a better term pointless yapping. To say I wasn’t absolutely intrigued and enthralled with this moment of Colby bringing Tina would just be wrong. It’s the perfect culmination and reflection of not only Colby’s character but Tina’s too. Even her closest friend and connection out here since Ogakor, she was willing to exploit and take away with no reservation just to get her win at the end, just like she did with Mad Dog all the way back in Episode 3. It’s perfect storytelling for a legend of Survivor…

I often say that strategy is the least thing I care about in Survivor. However, strategy and story are not one off things, and Tina proves that. While a lot of what you think about her is strategy based, how she controlled the game, it’s directly tied to who she is and never comes off as just strategy for the sake of game. There is a lot of nuance behind it that greatly elevates every little thing she does throughout her time and perfectly tells how she won the game. 

And of course, she still has her small moments too. Throughout the season we get these fun moments where she brings out her southern mama side. That really rounds out her character and while those aren’t her stand out moments, they still just add for some fun which is always a bonus! 

All in all, Tina tells a great falsehood story of taking down first impressions of being this nice old southern lady (which she still is) but also being ruthless and cold, doing what’s best for her. Which I think throughout the season is shown not told in an amazing way. Survivor as we know it just simply wouldn’t be the same without her…

SMC0629: 24

DryBonesKing: 14

Zanthosus: 18

Tommyroxs45: 13

Regnisyak1: 12

DavidW1208: 12

ninjedi1: 15

Average Placement: 15.429

Total Points: 108

Standard Deviation: 4.315 (7th Lowest)

19th: Stephenie LaGrossa 2.0 (Guatemala - 2nd)

Traitors Legend

u/SMC0629:

I do slightly prefer Steph 1.0, but Steph 2.0 is a great heel turn on an already incredible character. It's really just a "what if Steph wasn't an underdog" and they play it off so well. Her relationships with different people whether likable or unlikable all show why she doesn't win, and it makes Guatemala have one of my favorite FTC's ever.

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u/DryBonesKing:

Honestly, I am surprised I agreed to this deal. And it is to Zan's credit that I actually raised on Steph 2.0 throughout this Rankdown, because I initially had her EXTREMELY low in my rankings. I do get the general argument though and I find the idea of Stephenie 2.0 to be very fascinating. Arguably the most sympathetic underdog in Survivor history coming back the immediate following season to be a self-important asshole who had a very smooth ride to FTC where she was promptly revealed to be a goat. That sounds fantastic on paper. Borderline Shakespearian. And there are genuine moments where the idea I feel works in practice, like her agreeing to help Bobby Jon make the jury only for her to say he's who she would remove. But most of the time, she falls flat. Hard.

Guatemala's got a pretty decent fandom in this community at large I think, but I really think it's just the definition of meh. Like of all the seasons of Survivor… this is one of them. And a large reason for that is Steph, who I just don't find very compelling outside of her circumstances. Like it's an amazing narrative, but I just don't great character vibes that she needs to carry her new role. It doesn't feel like I'm watching a beloved hero falling from grace, or like I'm watching a beloved hero reveal she wasn't actually a good person, but rather just a boring entitled person dominate screentime only to not get her way in the end and lose.

It also doesn't help that Danni Boatwright is her opposition. I don't dislike Danni, but she was actively playing in a way to generate bad storytelling. Meaning Steph had to carry this season's ending all on her own, which for me, she falls flat on since she's just not able to do so. Mad credit for Zan for getting me to agree to this deal and I hope he can make me raise further on her. The story potential is enough to have me rank near the Top 300, but literally, no further than that. Whenever I think too long on her, she lowers. Hell, by the time this writeup even gets posted, she might be only barely hanging on to a top half spot. But meh, that's how the cookie crumbles. 

Overall Rank – 307/821

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u/Tommyroxs45:

To be completely honest, I don’t have Stephenie anywhere near endgame. Is she a bad character? No not at all, but I just think she lacks at some parts but when she shines, she does shine and has a pretty good villain story on top of that, being a great contrast to her Palau hero arc.

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u/Regnisyak1:

While I would much rather have Steph 1.0 in the endgame, for Zan’s sake, I am happy that Stephenie 2.0 is here. Another character with a great two-season arc, her downfall in Guatemala makes it a season worth watching. She begins the previous season as the golden child, forced into that situation because of her role on Ulong, but this season we see the real colors of Stephenie. Watching her melt from the once-revered hero to a ruthless player ready to backstab anyone was great characterization. I don’t necessarily love Stephenie because I think she becomes the main character a little too often, but her demolishing a sacrificial chicken was excellent to watch.

Personal Rank: 91/100. 8/10.

~

u/ninjedi1:

Steph 2.0 I think is my favorite returnee ever. I love characters who's second game is a perfect continuation of their second season, and Steph 2.0 fits that so perfectly. Her story is wildly different than her Palau run, but is a perfect sequel to it. Steph being afraid of being on another Ulong tribe after losing the first challenge, but then they win the first immunity! The curse of Ulong is broken! Except not really, cause Yaxha proceeds to lose everything, much to Steph's annoyance, comparing the tribe to Ulong more. But she gets swapped the Nakhum, and ends up in the dominant alliance once merge hits! However, this power goes to her head and she ends up rubbing people the wrong way, which leads to the Ulong curse striking again at F2. Cause who does Steph lose to at F2? Just Danni, the last remaining member of Yaxha, the tribe that Steph kept comparing to Ulong. Such a perfect hero to villain downfall story.

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u/Zanthosus:

It’s basically impossible to talk about Stephenie in Guatemala without first acknowledging her time on Palau. I wrote at length about what I love about her story that season, and I stand by all of it. I think that she fills the role of underdog incredibly well. And leaving that season, she was a beloved character and one that definitely deserved another chance to play. So how about the very next season? Being brought back immediately alongside fellow Ulong member Bobby Jon, Stephenie comes into Guatemala with a lot to prove. Not just to the audience and the rest of the season’s cast, but to herself as well. Constantly losing time after time the season prior took an unmistakable toll on Steph. She became frustrated and angry. Not just at her situation, but with herself. She’s a competitive person and she wants to win. So, coming into this new season, she’s ready to prove all of the doubters wrong and win the title of Sole Survivor. She even has some immediate support from Lydia, with the girl telling her that she was a major inspiration for even applying to the show in the first place. So Yaxha sets out… and promptly loses the initial hiking challenge. It puts Steph back into that negative headspace she was in towards the end of her time on Palau. Before the despair can truly set in though, Yaxha is able to win the following immunity challenge due to the injuries that the members of Nakum had accumulated during their hike. For the first time in her Survivor career, Stephenie LaGrossa has managed to win an immunity challenge. However, this victory is short lived, as she proceeds to immediately go on yet another losing streak. The initial relief she felt having “broken her curse” is promptly replaced by more despair. After all, she only won that initial immunity challenge because the other tribe was so beaten up from the hike that it wasn’t a fair fight in the slightest. And I think that it’s this whiplash of elation to frustration that really jumpstarts Steph’s downward spiral into the villainous role she fills. 

I’ve said many times across this rankdown that Steph’s two season arc is my absolute favorite in the history of the show. And the thing that really helps it to reach that distinction for me is the way she so seamlessly transitions from hero to villain in a way that we’ve basically never seen before. This is an unprecedented fall from grace that really is only able to happen because of how dishonestly Steph was presented during Palau. Do I think that Steph is a bad person? Not at all. But I think she can be a lot nastier than the edit was willing to portray her as in Palau in order to let her fulfill the heroic underdog role she needed to play there. Even despite that, we still saw flashes of that meanness that she’s capable of. But now that she’s no longer needing to play the part of the hero, the show is more than willing to let her come into her own as the villain. And I do feel the need to get ahead of this by saying that nothing that Steph says or does this season crosses the line to being actually offensive in my eyes. Her usage of terms like “retarded” and “gay” in derogatory conotations certainly aren’t good looks for her, but as someone who is gay and on the spectrum, it’s very clear to me what she is trying to convey with these words. Are they poor choices of words? Certainly. But is there malice behind the usage? I don’t think so. That’s why when she begins to just say some of these surprising things here and there, it’s really helps to paint the picture of the type of person that Steph really is. Because what she’s really doing with all of this is complaining. She’s upset about the situation she’s in day to day, despite the fact that, comparatively at least, she’s doing pretty well for herself. Sure, she’s not the challenge threat winning every immunity. But she is able to go on a good number of food rewards, and is in a powerful position on her tribe. It’s a clear and stark juxtaposition from the underdog scraping by the previous season.

And that persona of the rootable underdog that so many people saw her as is slowly but surely shattered over the course of the season. These people who were excited to watch her come down those Mayan ruins and play alongside them are now getting sick of having to live with her. She’s able to ingratiate herself into the majority, but just by being herself, she’s incredibly unpopular within that group. Once the merge hits, Steph and Bobby Jon get to talking, and Steph very coldly says that she’s not going to keep him around. She’s willing to throw him a bone and allow him to make the jury, but she’s clear that he’s the first casualty immediately after that if he can’t win immunity for himself. And sure enough, that’s how it pans out. And while he’s initially thankful to her for being able to sit on the jury, his opinion on her quickly changes as he watches from that bench how she continues to treat the rest of the cast. And the same is true for everyone else that gets sent packing as well. Jamie is initially excited to be the target of a blindside, but his tune quickly changes once he sees more and more of the kind of person that Steph is and how she treats those around her. It becomes apparent before long that not many people have respect for her with how she acts. But at the same time, people don’t want to rock the boat and risk jeopardizing their own spot in the game. Better to just ride out the alliance and then cut her off as the first casualty after the Pagoning, right? Well, there’s one small hiccup in that plan.

In a different world where Steph was well-liked and a legitimate threat to win the game, her decision to keep Danni alive in the game and cannibalize her own alliance might be one of the most underratedly genius moves in the show. If she knew she would be the first one eliminated after the rival alliance was wiped out, why not keep one of them around as a little bit of insurance? Because this way, she can turn to Jamie, shake his hand, tell him that the votes are going to Danni and that he has nothing to worry about. Only to stab him in the back before turning to Judd, Cindy, and Lydia and promising them the exact same things. The big problem with this for Steph in this instance though is that she was already not in good standing with most of the cast, and this only worsens her image in everyone’s eyes. It really is telling that the only reason she got any votes at FTC at all is because Rafe was betrayed by Danni at the end instead of by Steph. And this unlikability reaches its peak at what might be the most controversial moment in Steph’s run this season: the chicken.

I think that Steph’s decision to eat the chicken is incredibly interesting and really does help to characterize her better than almost anything else we’ve seen this season. The tribe is told that it is a sacred gift to the temple. Steph immediately declares that she is starving and that she wants to eat it. And a lot of people really dislike this scene because it’s Steph casually disrespecting another culture for incredibly little gain. This is the final 4 after all. Steph’s going to be able to eat whatever she wants in less than a week, and she’s gone on so many different food rewards throughout the season up to this point that there’s no way she’s doing any worse than she was towards the end of her stay on Ulong. But the reason I think that this scene actually works for her characterization is that its providing the players with a moral question. What do you value more? Food or the culture and traditions of a group of people? And for Steph, the answer is clear and immediate. She doesn’t have to think twice about it. Rafe, Danni, and Lyida take part in the meal, sure, but it was Steph’s decision to ultimately eat it. It puts her short-sightedness and selfishness on full display in a way that is interesting and that continues her villainous fall. And to ultimately cap off this transition, there’s the spectacle that is the FTC of Guatemala.

Steph really does her best to paint herself as the embodiment of the “rags to riches” story, but nobody is buying it. One by one, the jury tears into Steph, expressing their disappointment, frustration, anger, or feelings of betrayal. It reminds me of watching Russell’s FTC performance of Heroes vs. Villains. Sure, they made it to the end, but at what cost? Any commendable strategic decisions are overwhelmed by the sheer unlikability of their personalities. It’s honestly incredible to watch, and while the level of sheer deconstruction at the hands of the jury never quite reaches the same level as finalists like Dreamz or Russell, it’s still very engaging to watch unfold all the same. She let the power consume her and get to her head, and she’s paying the price for it. In Palau, she left the game as a hero. In Guatemala, Steph survived long enough to become the villain. It’s my favorite multi-season arc in the show’s history and I’m so incredibly ecstatic I was able to get Steph 2.0 to her first endgame appearance.

SMC0629: 17

DryBonesKing: 24

Zanthosus: 5

Tommyroxs45: 24

Regnisyak1: 22

DavidW1208: 16

ninjedi1: 3

Average Placement: 15.857

Total Points: 111

Standard Deviation: 8.707 (HIGHEST)

20th: Abi-Maria Gomes 1.0 (Philippines - 5th)

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NOTE - THIS WRITEUP IS SO LONG THAT IT CAN'T EVEN FIT INTO A FULL POST. LAST PART AND BLURBS WILL BE IN THE COMMENTS.

u/DryBonesKing:

This feels surreal to me. After I got forced to cut Artis and Pete much sooner than I would have liked, I get the opportunity to actually talk about the Abi-Maria in the Endgame of all places? I feel like I’m going to cry. Abi does genuinely sit in my personal endgame as my number ten of all time, so it truly is an honor to finally give Abi her flowers in a forum that I feel truly suits her character. 

To revisit something I had said in my Artis write-up, I made a note that I consider his boot to be one of the most underrated in terms of how impactful it was for Survivor. I stand by that statement, but I wish to expand on that further now that we are finally discussing the true meat of my reasoning; Abi-Maria Gomes is the most important post-HvV character in Survivor history. Without her, I truly believe Survivor would have been canceled shortly after Caramoan. 

Part 1: History of Survivor, and Abi’s Role in It

Okay, that claim probably requires immediate justification, but before I can really discuss what I mean, I need to make sure you all are aware of the state of the Survivor fanbase at the time. I know it’s commonplace to occasionally call Seasons 21-26 as “Survivor’s Dark Age”, but I do think that if you were not actively involved in the community at the time, you don’t really know how bad it is. Nicaragua and South Pacific might have had changes in perceptions in recent years, but they were hated at the time, alongside Redemption Island. Three extremely negatively-received seasons, and then One World came right after. People actually assumed the season was going to put Survivor “back on track” to how it was pre-Nicaragua thanks to it being an all-newbie cast and its rather fresh twist, but then the season aired and it was… very much not. Even worse, the next two seasons were spoiled extremely quickly and one was Survivor Caramoan - a fans/favorites repeat with not only some of the worst received returning players being cast as “favorites”, but one of the most controversial of that bunch (Cochran) was already spoiled to win. 

Like, the Survivor fandom at the time was bleak. Four EXTREMELY negatively-received seasons and another one on the horizon. Discussion of the series moving forward was very dim and it really seemed like the show was going to die then and there. All that remained as an unknown was this twenty-fifth season - “Philippines”. The season had a lot of it already spoiled ahead of time (the final three was spoiled, a guy named “Malcolm” was supposed to do good and return to Caramoan, and the blue tribe was supposed to lose four pre-merge immunities), but there was still a lot of unknown surrounding it. Still though, this was the “Dark Age”. Everything before it was shit. And the season immediately following it was going to be shit. So why would this one be any different?

… No literally; why? Why was Phillipines different? Anyone who still calls this era the “Dark Age” still makes a point to note that this season was an exception. Was it Matsing? Well, as amazing as the story the tribe had, it would not have been uncommon for a Survivor season to have had an amazing pre-merge and a shit post-merge, so it can’t be that. Was it the fact that Denise came out on top as the ultimate underdog? Again, probably not; underdogs are not always guaranteed to be received positively at the time (i.e. Chris Daugherty) and Survivor has proven that it can also just naturally fuck-up an underdog winner. Well, was it maybe the returnee players? Well, while Skupin/Penner/Swan were definitely received well in comparison, this was again happening just after Redemption Island and South Pacific, so if the returnees were supposed to be the big draws of the season, then the season would have been doomed to have failed. So. What was it? 

“I am your friend, but if you fuck with me, you’re dead. Seriously you are done. Just letting you know.” 

On a tribe with Mike “Pig Slaughterer, Burn Victim” Skupin and “Actual Celebrity” Lisa Whelchel, Abi-Maria steals the attention and screentime for the majority of the time on Tandang. I don’t even mean that as a matter of preference, but rather she becomes the center of all the dynamics in Tandang and everything leads back to Abi. It’s hard not to see why; she has very little tact, says whatever is on her mind, is very irritable and prone to bursts of anger, paranoid, and a penchant for holding grudges and seeking revenge. And despite all of those negative-sounding traits, she presents herself as charming and bubbly and someone who is just excited to be there and fuck shit up. Needless to say, Abi won me over very quickly, and with each passing episode, her grip on her spot in my endgame grew tighter and tighter. 

What specifically works about Abi for the audience at large, though, is her role in Philippines as a villain. The villains of this post-HvV era were starting to alienate a good portion of the general fanbase at the time, either because of over-the-top Cartoonish behavior that felt unreal (Phillip and Naonka) or just general repulsive behavior (Colton and Alicia). But Abi was not quite like any of the ones before her so far. Yes she herself earned a hefty amount of OTTNs in her edgic, but a lot of her behavior was rooted in very natural, believable behavior while also never going too far that it past the moral event horizon. But probably most importantly, Abi’s brand of villainly wasn’t just something that enhanced her character, but rather strengthened the characters of all the cast members she interacted with. 

Part 2: Abi-Maria and Tandang

To just briefly start discussing her impact on Tandang…

RC: Abi and RC developed an incredibly tense dynamic based on their initial friendship and excitement to be there, which quickly morphed as Abi started to get paranoid and RC began to get annoyed. We got to watch each episode as the relationship becomes more and more disintegrated until finally RC “is dead to her”. This story continues as Tandang continues to keep winning immunities and causing RC to fall deeper and deeper into in-game depression culminating in her boot at the merge, the point where she supposedly should be able to “spread her wings” away from playing with just her old tribe. 

The arc itself is just rather fascinating in general. First, I think it is a very nice cautionary tale (for the audience and for anyone who is actually playing this game) to be mindful of who you end up aligning with. A lot of these early game “best friendships” like Rich and Rudy, Rodger and Elisabeth, Rupert/Sandra/Christa, Tom/Ian/Katie, Becky and Yul, JT and Stephen… the vast majority of time these early game dynamics are highlighted because they either will go deep into the game together and that their bond is going to be one of the main narrative focal points. Abi and RC serve as a great foil to literally ever “duo/trio” Survivor has ever cast with how quickly they align, how quickly they implode, and how it essentially serves as a warning to be careful of the people around you until you get to know them better, to make sure you’re compatible! 

Beyond just that, though, the whole battle gives RC a rather unique arc, where we start the season off meeting this excited, lively investment banker ready to play Survivor like Wallstreet and watch her slowly and surely unravel into a depressed mess reliving childhood traumas with bullying culminating in her getting voted out just as she is finally able to socially branch out. That’s compelling shit from a character who probably was on the trajectory to be a bland-CP gamebot, and it’s all thanks to Abi mucking around and seeing RC’s “gamebot” behavior and getting super sketched out. I think this community is neutral/leans negative on RC, but just imagine her without Abi; Abi was able to give her an actually fresh, unique storyline.

Artis: I don’t even need to explain how much I love Artis; I already did that in my write-up for him. Artis fills his role very nice as the quiet grouchy “reasonable one” of the alliance between him/Abi/Pete and helps further build-up the divide between them and the other members of Tandang, especially Skupin. Abi’s role helps enhance his passive negativity as RC will begin giving confessionals about how Abi, Pete and Artis are all horrible, evil people. Instead of feeling sort of like an UTR figure that just exists for the sake of existing like Carter (said with love to Carter, admittedly), Artis ends up helping making Abi just feel more imposing as a threat as she has multiple allies who will never break ties with her. This in turn also gives more ways for her story to be turned against, though, as a vote-out against Artis also functions as a vote-out against Abi!

In the earlier Artis write-up I did, I talked about how important his vote-out serves as the first genuine power-shift Survivor had in over three seasons, as the minority alliance at the time ended up toppling over the dominant, negative, “evil” alliance. Maybe in hindsight with knowing how seasons go nowadays this doesn’t mean much when you binge Philippines, but it would be an extreme disservice to not point-out how big of a deal this vote was at the time to see that it was still, indeed, possible for Survivor’s narrative to shift and turn like this. That would not have been possible without Abi being able to just passively add to Artis’s role and give him more of a negative-tone than he maybe normally would have. 

But in addition, Artis also serves as a “first strike” sort of role. Again, getting him voted out is able to flip the switch and put Abi out in the bottom. We actually get the chance to see her respond to the pressure of being on the out as opposed to just simply being blindsided, and help further establish a downfall for her. Both end up benefiting from one another as they help create one of the most underrated power shifts in the show’s history, and also helps just benefit the season as a whole

Pete: I also  don’t even need to explain how much I love Pete; I already did that in my write-up for him! For starters, I just love how their storyline starts with Abi talking how she wants to use her accent as a flirtatious tool in her opening confessional only for it to later cut to Pete just going “She keeps staring at me and is hot, I hope we can do damage together”. His arc with Abi is genuinely amazing as he just ends up fucking around and contributing to the break-up of Abi and RC for shits and giggles. He helps feed into Abi’s energy, which in turn helps inflate his own ego as a strategist thinking he has the perfect “goat” lined up for him. This ultimately ends up backfiring, though, as Abi (and the collective negativity of their alliance) leads to not only Skupin finally turning on Tandang at the Artis boot, but to his downfall before Abi.

The two compliment each other in such an amazing way; Pete gives precisely “zero fucks” when it comes to enabling Abi’s behavior and just seems. He is the perfect ally in just allowing Abi to sorta be completely unfiltered and Abi is the perfect ally for him because she enables him to feel like the “mastermind” he totally is. I joke a lot about Pete’s ego regarding his strategic game, but it does give their alliance and in-game presence some credibility that Pete could end up getting a winner’s edit, which in turn makes their expected steamroll in the pre-merge/early merge all the more terrifying and, therefore, all the more satisfying when it all comes crumbling down. Pete’s also just naturally a dick so he’s able to just add onto any little soundbite of Abi and just amplify it, making both feel more negative than they would be without the other. 

In addition, Pete making all these various confessionals about “how he was keeping Abi in control” and “how immature she is and that it will make her be the perfect to take to the end” makes her outlasting him feel truly satisfying! I always love when people make decisions in-game that explicitly blow up in his face. Him directly calling out Abi as selfish and immature, and then someone like Denise directly saying Abi’s selfishness is the explicit reason that both Artis and he were getting voted out before her (because “no one as selfish as Abi would play her idol on you” is just perfect). This is just such an amazing boot and end to his character, and it only would be possible because of Abi!

Skupin: Like RC, Abi doesn’t start out on bad terms with Skupin, but as more time passes and Skupin continues to fail to impress the rest of his tribe, Abi’s patience starts to wane thin for the man. She adds to Pete’s and Artis’s shit-talking of the guy and helps create the environment that justifies him jumping-ship at the final nine. In the aftermath of that boot, Abi gets genuinely upset with people like Lisa and Denise, but with Skupin, she almost doesn’t take offense because she already assumed he was just stupid. She continues to be dismissive of him up until her own boot tribal council, where she tells him (and Lisa) that they will both lose to Denise if they vote her out, which ultimately ends up coming to pass in the end. 

As I highlighted in my Artis entry, I love the complete lack of respect that Skupin ended up getting from Tandang as it feels completely opposite to how every single returnee player has ever been treated on these “captain” style of seasons. Skupin is so openly dismissed and disrespected by his tribe that it actually is noticeable to the idiot and leads to him jumping ship at final nine, making that plotline in the pre-merge feel extra poignant. Abi is a main contributor to Skupin’s feelings and this unique twist on treatment of a returnee player, so props to her for that alone!

When I describe Abi as “dismissive” of Skupin, I don’t mean it as if she simply ignores him here and there and the edit just focuses on other things, but it’s played up for laughter about how little Abi thinks of him. Of exactly how stupid she thinks he is. Of how little relevance he has to her. She ends up thinking so little of him that she ends up even accidentally hitting on the head with a coconut (which is a great contribution to that plot line of his as well!); that’s how little she actually truly notices or cares about Skupin! This all just builds-up to her vote-out tribal council where she gets to finally tell him to his face how dumb he really is and how fucked up he is about to be if he goes down the path he ends up going. Skupin as a losing, low-vote finalist feels extremely satisfying in a way that I would never have assumed possible and a huge chunk of that role goes to Abi-Maria, who helps truly encapsulate the feelings of the jury. 

Lisa: Lisa entered the season wanting to finally be free of he “celebrity status” and play the game “just as Lisa”, which is probably a terrible thing to have done as both Abi and RC (during their brief three day friendship) decided that Lisa sucked and should be the first one out. Lisa goes on a rough-start as she wrestles with being excluded and almost mocked by her tribe, with Abi being the face of this tribe and the mocking. Fortunately for her, Abi and RC break-up and Pete takes a liking to her, allowing her to jump up in the pecking order. Unfortunately, though, that was only circumstantial and Abi still doesn’t think much of Lisa at all, causing her to feel more alienated and like shit. She wrestles with the idea of voting Abi out and how it would go with her morals, but ultimately her choice gets taken from her as Skupin pulls the pin first without warning, leading to Lisa getting blamed by association. This (alongside her brother’s family visit a few rounds later) will help center Lisa’s game and convince her she’s ready to play the game as ruthlessly as Survivor demands. Ironically, this leads her to actually want to keep Abi in the game, setting up her own defeat when she fails to change Skupin’s mind about voting out Abi versus Malcolm/Denise. 

Lisa’s desire to “just be Lisa” needed immediate conflict, and Abi’s inability to really hide her thoughts and emotions regarding her proved to the perfect catalyst for that. It helped set up Lisa’s entire storyline throughout storyline regarding being herself and playing the game that was most comfortable for herself. Abi functions as a great test of morality for her, both regarding whether she will “accept/condone” Abi’s behavior by never voting her out and also whether Lisa will turn on her, meaning whether she would be going against her word. There is also a degree of tragedy to Lisa wrestling with the decision only to have the decision made for her and still receive the blame for it in Abi’s mind

So, yeah. That’s literally just Tandang alone. Abi-Maria has one of the rare abilities to naturally bring herself to the center of the story, but it is done in a way where it just enhances the story and character of everyone she’s involved with. And even though this write-up is just about her Philippines incarnation, this quality is also visible in Cambodia where she’s able to make all the characters she interacts with properly (i.e. Shirin, Terry, Woo, Peih-Gee, Varner, Savage, etc.) stronger characters as a result of their conflict or their general interactions with her. Like, I can’t emphasize how cool it was to see Abi somehow managing to earn Terry Deitz’s sympathy, and how much that retroactively makes Terry character feel more unique and distinct as a result. Again, this write-up isn’t meant to talk up her Cambodia version, but just to further highlight this strength of Abi-Maria. She is that strong of a main character to have for your narrative. 

Part 3: A highlight reel of Abi’s Greatest Hits

WHICH SPEAKING OF! Taking larger narrative out of the equations, Abi is just fucking hilarious on an individual level and I don’t thinks is given her flowers enough for just how funny she is. Like, to just a handful of her funnier moments.

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Immediately after Skupin is announced to be joining Tandang, she immediately asks “How are your hands? Let me see your hands!” It’s a smaller moment that highlights Abi’s bluntness and the reason behind Skupin’s medivac, but it’s also just rather a funny way to reference the moment and the way Abi forces the conversation is very fun. 

The journey of Abi’s knee and her repeatedly hurting herself and her limping her way through the game, building-up to her winning immunity in final seven.

There’s the aforementioned “If you fuck with me you’re dead to me” that’s already been referenced in the write-up. Like, the line delivery, the word choice, RC’s reaction to Abi just busting this out of nowhere… it’s all so fucking perfect. 

Her looking at the episode six reward challenge and just busting out that Kalabaw won by using psychology and tricking Skupin to give up the reward challenge and how it pissed her off. 

Her revealing her hidden immunity idol at final ten. Probst just asking casually if anyone else would like to reveal their idol as Malcolm shows his off as a threat, prompting Abi to just pull hers out as a nonchalantly as possible, “I have it right here. I have it with me to protect my allies, here please a look” as she just showed it off while everyone is staring dumbfounded and Penner is just mouthing “This is awesome”.

The “minority” alliance planning who to target at the final nine and noting Abi’s selfishness, and then it cuts to Abi shouting to said group that “I found a clam”, leading to both Malcolm and Denise no-selling her finding a clam. It’s a genuinely hilarious moment. 

Her comment in the aftermath of the Artis Boot about how she has a three-person alliance with Pete… and her hidden immunity idol. And how she takes it seriously about an alliance of six versus an alliance of three, as if the idol was not a tool, but an actual sentient person. 

Carter getting asked his thoughts about the reward in episode ten, only for Abi-Maria to just literally talk over him about how amazing she thought the spa was. Both an amazing subtle jab at Carter’s edit (seeing him get asked a question only to get talked over) while also just being an amazing, hilarious Abi moment!

Her announcing to the Dangrayne Tribe that she’s not going to help with the cooking or cleaning, since she’s going to get voted out soon anyway, but still expects for them to care for her is just… peak. It’s so fucking peak and passive-aggressive. 

Everything about Abi’s lie about her nonexistent idol in the final seven. From the very idea itself, from her acting about the idol - coming from the same school as Ozzy “For Revenge, Basically” Lusth, but only even better since she doesn’t drop it immediately after - to her confessional about “If you repeat a lie enough people will start to believe it. Even I am believing it!” 

Her vote for Denise in the final seven where, after giving a passive aggressive confessional with a smile before slamming her ballot closed, she folds her voting ballot incorrectly and is unable to fit it into the urn, forcing her to have to refold it and break the tension she created with her confessional. 

ABI AND HER MOTHER! Their entire dynamic in the family challenge can probably described as adorable and heartwarming rather than funny, but I definitely wanted to highlight it as seeing her mother attempt the challenge was genuinely hilarious.

Her sending a coconut flying into Skupin’s head, which I already mentioned above. Alongside the narrative commentary showcasing how little Abi gives a shit about Skupin, it also has the added bonus of being, “Literally the funniest moment of the season”. (EDITOR'S NOTE FROM MIKERAMP: and it aged BEAUTIFULLY too. Fuck Michael Skupin!)

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That’s just a small highlight reel of Abi’s moments alone. Again, every moment she has on screen is just literal fire. She’s just naturally charismatic and funny with an ability to make every scene she’s better, even the smaller narration moments… which actually is a decent transition into one of my genuinely least favorite critiques about her. 

Part 4: Abi: Illogical, chaotic caricature? Or, y’know, just a regular fucking human being? 

I’ve seen quite a few takes over the years where Abi-Maria is sometimes called a caricature. I’ve also seen takes where people criticize her for thinking “illogically” or being someone who is lacking in reasoning, looking at moments like her blow-up with RC being the result of Abi just deciding she didn’t like her. To put this as politely as I possibly can, I disagree with both takes. On a personal level. To the point that I find the idea that some people find Abi-Maria an “illogical person” to be borderline offensive. And it sorta stems from a lot of issues I discussed when I had cut Varner 2.0, where I complained about him viewing Abi as a source of entertainment before viewing her as a person. 

Watch Philippines and actually pay attention to Abi’s confessionals. Watch and actually listen to her when she’s talking. Abi is a lot more conscious of her word choices and her thoughts than you would believe based on a lot of the discourse around her. Again, her friendship with RC ending ends up getting explained very well by watching her more and more suspicious of RC’s relationship with Skupin, RC giving her dummy answers that don’t feel sincere, and then culminating in Pete actively sabotaging their relationship in a way that RC would not be able to argue back against. There is build-up that showcases that this destruction is not random or a moment of Abi being illogical; it’s natural based on how events happened on the island. And to reduce it down to a moment of her being a character is just a complete disservice and frankly infuriating. 

She should be allowed to get pissed off when she gets pissed off. Abi is not the kind of person who just drops swear words every five seconds or makes stupid catchphrases. She doesn’t just scream that “She’s pissed” because someone ignored her or said something mean to her. Everything involving her is just very believable moments of anger or indignation about something that happened to her or her allies, or something that relates to how she is being treated. How is her character not logical? Hell, she even has a confessional in the early merge about how she hates Skupin but knows that Tandang needs him and that they are sticking together and therefore she must vote out Penner; that is literally her acknowledging her personal opinion would not be the optimal thing to do and instead that she needs to go with what is logical? Again, how in the literal fuck is she not a logical person or character in the context of the story? 

Abi’s confessionals are actually very well composed and not OTT-in the slightest. Her in games are actually very real, to the point that it’s impressive how much she is right about everything. It gets hammered in especially with her completely accurate read in her boot tribal council about the threat Denise is. And it is delivered in a sort of “The Reason You Suck” speech to both Skupin and Lisa to highlight the need to keep her, but it doesn’t change the fact that everything she says is indeed correct.

I bring all of this up to highlight that Abi is not just some random caricature “Brazilian dragon” of chaos that I’ve seen discussed on reddit and Sucks and other places. I think it’s a huge disservice and borderline racist to just bring down her views and thoughts just to make her into some harbinger of chaos when everything she says, thinks, and does is rooted in logic that is very easy to see and follow when you watch the season. She’s a villain, yes, but a very believable one rooted in realism. Which… is also another great transition into another issue I know people have with her that I really want to tackle with her… Abi’s “Humanization”.

Part 5: Humanizing your main villain

There is a sentiment that some people tend to have with Survivor characters that a Survivor villain needs to be exclusively a “villain” at all times and that any moment to “humanize” them is a mistake as it lessens their impact as a villain. I blame Probst’s weird comments on villains as the main reason for that, but I know it’s something people do actually believe. And sometimes, I do think that is the case. Fairplay is the standout example of someone who would be a weaker character with more humanization, but that specific brand of villain is few and far between, in my opinion. The majority are improved by the edit’s attempts to better humanize them? 

Is John Carroll any less of a villain because the edit showcases him saying that he wants to play for his mother? Is Randy less of a villain because the edit lets him talk about what his dog means to him? Is Shane ruined because they showcase his relationship with his son? No! If anything, it’s those moments that make them better, and elevates both their overall character and villain status in the eyes of the fandom. And it’s the same way with Abi’s edit post-power shift. 

Abi reacts pretty badly to a lot of the things said about her in the final eight tribal council and beyond, as no one has properly told her to face exactly what issues they had with her. It comes as a lot and overwhelming, and it’s also accompanied with her being in a vulnerable place in-game as her closest allies are gone, and it just makes her miserable. She gets the opportunity to cry about it and self-reflect on her feelings and behavior and GOD IT’S SO GOOD!

It is genuinely fascinating to see Abi experience the same kind of treatment that she herself helped perpetuate for someone like Lisa or RC and for her to get emotional about it. It’s amazing that she gets to have someone like Denise who can essentially function as “her” Abi and be just an unnecessary jackass to her about every little thing she says and does. It’s an amazing role reversal that you never get to see on Survivor, since normally a “villain” tends to just get voted out as a result of the powershift. But getting to see Abi get passed over Pete, and then Matsing-Tandang Foursome choose to pick off the Kalabaw remnants before her, allows us to watch Abi react in real time to everything and see her slowly grow more disillusioned, more upset, and more pissed off. And I think it’s the kind of circumstance that helps make her feel truly human compared to other villains.

Like, keep in mind, she’s still very clearly a villain post-Artis boot. Abi openly declaring she wasn’t going to help with the cooking or cleaning in camp was not supposed to be something the audience was cheering on. Her underdog efforts to get Lisa and Skupin to flip on Malcolm/Denise in the final six and final five were not positive moments, as she regularly put down their intelligence and talked mad shit about Denise. And speaking of, her feud with Denise (which I will touch on in more detail in a moment) was mixed in tone at best, and at worst was a case of “everyone sucks here”. Viewers were never meant to take her side or suddenly start rooting fo her to win just because she was the underdog now and cried a few times. All we were supposed to do was better understand her, which is something I feel the show managed to do quite well in this time period. 

I’ve seen some critique about Jeff trying to say that the issues the tribe had with Abi were “cultural” and that the issues with her were just strictly personal, but I actually genuinely appreciated  and was pleasantly surprised by Probst’s care in the discussion. And I also think both takes can be very true; a chunk of Abi’s issues are probably culturally related and than others are issues with her. To just give an example, Abi noted herself that English is not her first language and therefore she can’t put the same level of thought or care she would if she were speaking Portuguese. This most likely worsened one of Abi’s personality traits regarding her lack of filter and bluntness, making her come across even harsher than she herself intended. Both cases are a hundred percent real and I think are important to keep in mind with discussing her, as there is just a lot more nuance than people tend to accept with her. Specifically one person, though…

Part 6: Abi-Maria and the worst therapy sessions of her life…

Abi-Maria Gomes and Denise Stapley - A match conceived in hell. I think they have one of the most truly fascinating relationships Survivor has ever showcased between a Survivor winner and their respective “villain”, since honestly, it feels almost exactly like the role-reversal that I mentioned earlier. 

Denise has such a very carefully crafted public image based on her understanding and patience, which is rooted in her profession. Her very first confessional is about literally wanting to get to know Zane and peer beneath his layers, as he comes across as very intimidating outwardly but seems to have a softer side to him. And this again is a courtesy she extends to every person she comes into contact with in game, at any given point or no matter how stressful the game currently is. Only a single exception exists: Abi-Maria. 

For some reason, Abi is the only Denise refuses to attempt to connect with. She attempts so with Roxie, despite the fact their world and religious views do not align at all. She does so with Angie, despite her having concerns about her strength, motivation, and her closeness with Malcolm. She does so with Russell, despite his toil and struggles with how the game is going. But she is completely unwilling to do so with Abi, even before the power shift that puts Abi on the bottom. 

The feud between Abi and Denise is so amazing because it feels deeply personal, because they make it as such. Denise makes multiple comments about Abi’s character that no one else would make: not even RC, who by the end of her time on the show definitely felt exactly like her. Denise regularly refutes that the issues with Abi aren’t cultural and are just rooted in Abi being a terrible person. Meanwhile Abi continues to just call out Denise’s words and just point out how rude she’s being only for Denise to just stonewall and shut-out her comments. Their pettiness is unmatched. Whether it’s Denise corrected Abi calling her a psychologist instead of a therapist to just completely undercut the point Abi was making about her manipulative behavior to Abi in the final six episode just giving Denise the most passive-aggressive congratulations for making the final four, they’re just regularly at each other’s throats. It even continues into their voting confessionals, where Denise just rattles on about Abi being “selfish” and how “There is something really wrong with this world” if Abi doesn’t go home, to Abi going on about how judgey Denise is and how much of a patronizing, horrible person she is. 

What I love about this particular relationship is just genuinely how truly messy it is for both parties and showcase different sides of the other. As I mentioned in the above section, Abi is given the chance to truly face someone who gives the same energy she always had. It is refreshing to see the humanity of her reacting to someone who is just so unnecessarily harsh, and it is equally refreshing to see the consistency in Abi when she just regularly fights back against her. Similarly, Denise is just so well composed and put-together and clinical with how she approaches other people that it is also refreshing to see that she does have a limit and to be able to see the person she is behind the therapist mask she tends to wear everyday. And it also serves as just another fun way to distinguish both Denise and Malcolm, as Denise losing her shit at Abi and talking with Skupin and Penner about what psychological issues Abi must have is juxtaposed with Malcolm just listening to her cry and comforting her with a “sorry darling”. Just showcasing the difference in how they end up treating Abi helps characterize the Denise/Malcolm relationship even more and just ends up feeling so, so engaging. 

But to end this section on their relationship, I think one of the really genuinely fascinating things about them though is that no matter how personal they end up taking their feud with one another, Abi and Denise do appear to have some modicum of respect for one another. Abi’s pitch to Skupin and Lisa about voting out Denise because either she or Malcolm will win was not born entirely out of self-preservation; all the compliments she gives her are genuinely true. Even in all of Abi’s comments about how hateful and horrible Denise was, she always did still circle around to the fact that Denise was great with words and was an expert manipulator. Likewise, come FTC, Denise is the only one of the three to actually apologize to Abi for how she made her feel. And while one could argue that was simply just juror pandering, Denise does directly responds to Abi’s specific issues with a care that shows she was actively listening to what Abi’s problems with her were that showcase sincerity. A sincerity, mind you, that she never once willingly exhibited in game when it would be considered “bad jury management”. 

Abi’s backhand compliments to Denise, Denise’s apology to Abi, and Abi’s vote for Denise, all circle around to highlighting one of the most dynamic relationships Survivor has ever showcased between their main hero winner and their rival villain. And how, in the end, no matter how personal it got, there was a degree of respect buried under the vitriol. And I think that speaks to both their characters in-game and out-of-game that helps make the end of the season feel particularly special. 

(WRITEUP FINISHED IN THE COMMENTS)

21st: Scot Pollard (Kaoh Rong - 8th)

NBA REP IN ENDGAME LMFAOOOO

u/SMC0629:

It’s insane how great of a villain Scot is especially as deep into the show Kaoh Rong is, but he really is. Scot is one of the most petty and selfish people to be on the show, and it’s glorious. At the same time, you find yourself rooting for him every once in a while, there’s a lot of depth that goes into his character. I think he’s so deserving of endgame, and I couldn’t be happier he made it.

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u/DryBonesKing:

The way my mouth dropped when Zan approached me for an Endgame deal that included Scot Pollard of all people. Like, based doesn’t even do the feeling justice when I described how hyped I felt about it. I love Scot and I think he has such a unique presence that I’m not sure if Survivor will ever truly replicate, especially as the show tries to carry itself as a more family friendly experience. But Scot is just so naturally intimidating and terrifying, and the scene of him dousing the fire in the middle of the day just to fuck with the tribe around him, might be one of the coldest scenes I have ever seen on Survivor. 

The combined impact both he and Kyle Jason (who I actually have ranked back-to-back with him in my personal rankings) is just truly something as they feel more like one of the most intimidating villain presences in the show’s history. And what really helps make them better is how they sorta piggy-back on each other. Scot adds more of a natural darkness to Jason that helps him feel even more “evil” than he probably is, while Jason has a way with words and “just enough” of a sympathetic angle in his edit that you can’t help but worry that he could be getting a winner’s edit, that the two actually feel like they could succeed. You don’t get that shit really ever in Survivor! You watch Pearl Islands and you know Fairplay’s gonna lose in the end. Philippines? Abi won’t win with her edit. Worlds Apart’s evil trio? Well thankfully not cause all three of them suck ass, but the edit definitely is giving it away they’re going to lose to Mike in the end. But Scot and Jason? I mean… shit… why are they editing Jason like this? Is… Are they going to win out? 

And because of that, it makes their downfall feel even more impactful. It makes Tai saying “No” at Scot’s boot one of the best moments of all time. 

Scot’s fantastic. Amazing presence. Amazing character dynamic. One of the best relationships of all time with Jason. A great role in Tai’s character arc and brief descent to darkness. So many amazing qualities I can just gush about. I wouldn’t have in my own Endgame, but I am thrilled that someone wanted this to happen and I can’t wait to read the write-up justifying it!

Overall Rank – 52/821

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u/Tommyroxs45:

Scot is such an awesome villain, yeah he’s a scumbag but who cares! We need someone who actively just doesn’t like anybody around him and he works so well with people like Tai and Aubry. You also can’t forget his bromance with Jason, just perfect, 2 villains who deserve to return!

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u/Regnisyak1:

Scot is a partial reason why Kaoh Rong doesn’t land for me. I think his villainy gets to be a little too OTT to his character, and his ruthless nature toward Alecia just never sat right with me. Objectively, he is a great character, but I just personally think he is a lot and someone I would never have in Endgame without a deal, lol. But happy for Zan! 

Personal Rank: 124/821. 8/10. 

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u/ninjedi1:

Scot is definitely one of the most unique villains on Survivor. You have the standard dickish villain role on the Brawn tribe, but then you do get to see his sweeter side with his bond with Tai when he gets swapped to another tribe. Then of course you have just absolute perfection at the merge with all the messy gameplay as well as beijng in one of my favorite alliances on the show with Tai and Jason, and then his blindside creating just the perfect Scot Sandwich, making it an absolute treat.

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u/Zanthosus:

What makes a good Survivor villain? The answer to that question is going to be different for everybody. Some people may think that a great villain needs to be exceptionally charismatic, toe the line between cruelty and comedy, or have sympathetic motives or backstory to justify their means of reaching the end. All of these are valid things to look for, and they are all hallmarks of some of the best villains in the show’s history. But Scot falls into a different kind of category from most of these kinds of villains. He’s from an extinct subcategory of villains: the bully. It’s been said before that Scot is the last true villain of Survivor. And while I don’t agree with that statement completely, I do believe that he is the last bully we have seen, and will likely ever see again with how the show has edited and portrayed its characters. We’ll still have antagonists to root against, sure. Jonathan Young and Drew Basile are some recent examples that show Survivor can still give us some pretty good antagonistic forces. But when it comes to the cruel bully archetype, Scot is the last of that kind of character.

And it’s honestly bizarre to me in many ways how I find Scot an incredibly fascinating character, and end up loving to hate him. Especially when you compare him to so many of the other characters of this archetype we’ve seen over the years. Rocky Reid, NaOnka Mixon, and Corinne Kaplan are some of the more notable names that belong to this group. While these characters do undoubtedly have their own defenders, I’d be willing to bet that they’re much more disliked than liked across this community. And of course Scot has his own detractors, but it’s always seemed to me that there’s been much less of an outspoken force against him than others like him. And I’m no different. I have Scot in my own personal endgame, while many other bullies are sitting in my bottom 100 of all time. So, what gives? Well, while I can’t speak for everyone, for me at least it really comes down to one thing. It’s how the people that he and Jason pick on through the season consistently stand up to them and refuse to just lay down and take it. Even if it’s not immediately, almost everyone they target stands up for themselves in one way or another. It also helps that none of their bullying is steeped in any kind of bigotry or hatefulness. They value strength and are doing whatever they can do in their power to make it just a bit further into the game.

Even from the very start of the game, they immediately single out Darnell and Alecia as being the weak links on their tribe. I mentioned before in the Alecia writeup that To Tang is one of my favorite tribes of all time. Literally everyone has something to offer entertainment wise. And while Darnell is swiftly eliminated as the first boot, Alecia manages to cockroach her way a bit further. Scot is not shy about making his feelings for her known, being that she has no place on the Brawn tribe and that she’s holding them back in challenges and ruining tribe morale. And this rivalry is just so much fun to watch. Alecia’s constant scrappiness continually digging her hole deeper and deeper as one by one everyone on To Tang around her either is firmly against her or gets eliminated. It even gets tto the point where Scot, Jason, and Cydney team up together to make sure that Alecia doesn’t get an immunity idol, and it only just barely works, with Jason wrestling her for it before coming out as the victor. And after their subsequent challenge loss, Scot gives Alecia the opportunity to give up right then and there, and just forgo the inevitable decision at tribal council. And yet, Alecia fights to the bitter end. She’s adamant in not rolling over and giving up without every bit of fight she can muster. And despite what Scot and Jason may say in the moment, I’d be surprised if they didn’t respect her for that, especially considering how they too would have to cockroach along through the rest of the game.

I like to talk alot about the juxtaposition of characters. How different personalities can both complement and be at odds with each other. And I’m not sure there’s any better example of this than the relationship between Scot and Tai on this season. Because from the moment he’s swapped onto  the new Gondol tribe, they get along pretty well and a genuine friendship seems to form. These episodes are especially interesting to me because this is the kindest light he’s shown in across the entire season. He’s just having fun and enjoying his time on a tribe that, despite continuing to lose, he’s seemingly happy in. The Anna vote is just a matter of fact decision. She’s the weakest link and is trying to stir things up, so she’s the one to go. The next vote though really does change the tune of the season, and of Scot’s attitude as a whole.

The Peter boot is interesting for Scot’s story. Not because of the episode itself, but because of the fallout that arises from it going into the merge. To him, Aubry’s indecisiveness and potential willingness to jump ship makes her someone that just cannot be trusted. And by the Nick vote, he’s pretty firmly on the bottom of the numbers. But just like Alecia wouldn’t simply roll over and give up, he’s not going to either. He’s going to hide the machete, dump water on the fire, and make everyone else’s lives miserable in the hopes of creating cracks. And the best part is that this isn’t a petty move for the sake of it. Just as Aubry herself says, “There’s no way Scot did this out of temper.” And his decision pays off. Debbie ostricizes herself from the group due to being riled up from Scot’s sabotages and gets sent home as a result. But all this time, despite Scot and Jason being on the bottom, they’ve still been working with Tai. They’re the devil on his shoulder to the angel that Aubry is being. And this all comes to a head in Scot’s boot episode.

At this point, Scot has not been shy about using dirty tactics if it means he can cockroach just that bit further and acquire just that little bit more power in the game. We of course see this in his actions around camp, but also in how he talks with others like Aubry, Cydney, Joe, and especially Tai. The interactions he has with Tai are particularly fascinating to me because at the end of the day, he’s trying to work with him. And he’s needing Tai to hold up his side of the super idol in order to keep him in the game. Even despite this, we see moment after moment of Scot talking down to Tai or quickly shooting down every one of his proposals. So from Tai’s perspective, he’s already setting aside his morals for the sake of the game by working with them, but then they’re belittling him despite needing his help. It, again, goes back to the point of Scot just being a bully. But with Alecia, she had no power. Her standing up to him affected nothing and simply didn’t matter other than prove her resolve. But with Tai, him standing up for himself is so much more impactful.

This tribal council is definitely up there for the greatest of all time, and that final “No” from Tai is an all time iconic moment in the show’s history. Not just for the moment in isolation, but moreso because of the buildup to it. Seeing Scot be the bad guy, then becoming friends with Tai, only to take advantage of Tai’s good nature too much, to the point that Tai feels his best option is to stand up to his bullies, and make a difference. He chooses to side with the heroes over the villains. One thing you should know about me is that I absolutely adore Tai and his story on this season. Tai 1.0 is easily top 10 of all time for me, and potentially a top 5 placement. And without Scot and his role on the season, Tai’s story wouldn’t have even half of the impact that it does. That is why I adore Scot. The season needed a villain like Scot, and without him and Jason, this season wouldn’t have a fraction of the life, soul, and complexity that it has. And that for me makes him more than worthy of a spot in endgame. 

SMC0629: 13

DryBonesKing: 15

Zanthosus: 17

Tommyroxs45: 19

Regnisyak1: 24

DavidW1208: 23

ninjedi1: 18

Average Placement: 18.429

Total Points: 129

Standard Deviation: 3.994 (6th Lowest)

Episode 13: Friends Going to War

HI! Welcome to the finale discussion for the last episode of Survivor 46! Are we excited to have the discourse be over? Because I know I am! Who do we think is winning Wednesday Night? Will Maria and Charlie beef over something? Who will go to fire? What will be the silly advantage at the beginning of the episode? Will Jelinsky come back from Edge of Extinction!?!?!

Once the episode airs, this will also be the place where you can talk about your own full-sized rankings for the season! Isn't that exciting!

With a new week and episodes, we also have poll results!

• This week, we had 12 respondents. Slay. Note that we are also at final 6, so by default, everyone did get maximum feelings.

Top 3

• This week, Liz takes her fifth time at the top (1.83). This is her 5th time overall.
• Q (2.33) and Ben (3.5) take second and third place respectively. This is Q's 6th time on the top and Ben's first.
• Ben's appearance marks the second time that a Siga member made Top 3 for the entire season, with Jem achieving that feat in episode 4.

Bottom 3

• Last place came out with a tie between Charlie and Kenzie (4.75). Charlie ultimately had the higher SD, so he is officially our last place, marking his seventh time at the bottom and 10th overall. This is also Kenzie's 10th time in bottom 3.
• Maria rounds out the Final 6 with a 3.83. This is her fourth time in bottom 3.

Boots

• Jelinsky has officially been dethroned, with Venus taking 1st place this week (7.08), even with some low scores in the mix!
• Jelinsky (6.92) and Tiffany (6.25) take the other spots of top 3. Jess & Tevin round out top 5.
• For the sixth week in a row, Bhanu, Randen (both with 2.75), and Moriah (3.08), took the bottom 3 spots. Bhanu had the lower SD which marks his second time in last for the season, since episode 5.

Other

• Episode & Season scores are very similar to each other as last week! Are opinions finally setting? Only time will tell, right?

​

Conditioned Averages

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STATS Stats for the week - remember that SFs for a player still in the game are ranked by top 3 + bottom 3/# of respondents (top 3/bottom 3) and players who aren't in the game are measured by 7-10 + 0-3/# of respondents (7-10s/0-3s). Note, I forgot to change the episode to \"episode 12\" but this is the correct info. Q's (3/9) should also be flipped to (9 positive, 3 negative).

EXIT POLL

Polls

For 46, I want to have an exit poll. Immediately following the episode, I will post a poll like normal, where the final 5 are ranked within each other, and the other castaways will be ranked on a separate scale. Next Tuesday, I will release the results of that poll, and then release the new season poll for the all-time rankings! I want to give us all a week to mull over the characters just a little bit, discuss them, read some rankings of other people, and solidify your opinions, at least as best as you can without a rewatch.

Beyond that, I will release more information about when the new results will be rolled out. There will be a new spreadsheet with a lot more tabs to look at (there will be a new comparison sheet, individual score counter, an advanced season ranking sheet, and so much more), but I need a fairly solid sample of people taking the 46 polls (around 19-25) before I feel comfortable sharing that data, so please consider taking it! I will eventually have a formal date for release, but please take it ASAP.

Further, I will continue to emphasize, especially with all the great comments we saw during the season, to make sure that you take the polls to add your much-needed voice! Lots of new people have joined us recently, and these always need data and y'all have some great takes. The polls are brief, and I updated them recently to get rid of the drop down menu, and instead do the linear scale, so they should not take that long. Additionally, you do not need to see all the seasons. These are fairly low-key, and all data is appreciated. Edit as you rewatch, take as you watch for the first time, or just take them in general, all respondents are appreciated!

All information is described in more detail on the widgets/community notes on Reddit mobile, but here are a couple of quick links for you all.

• The masterlist to all the polls - this is where all the polls are linked!
• The Respondents Sheet- Ever forget which polls you have taken? Interested in seeing who took other polls? Check out the respondent sheet!
• Incentives! - please read this if you haven't taken any of the polls. You get to add bonus points to any character you gave a 10 to, and they can make a serious difference depending on how you use them!

22nd: Aubry Bracco 1.0 (Kaoh Rong - 2nd)

Ah here, a person whose name is Aubry, or well, Aubrey specifically.

u/SMC0629:

I've already done a writeup on Aubry, but as I mentioned before, I think she has one of the best underdog stories in the entire series. I think her loss is honestly super well-executed and even if I don't have her endgame, I am totally fine with her being here. Great character on an amazing season.

~

u/DryBonesKing:

I joke about hating Aubry a lot just because it's fun. To the point that I regularly almost gaslight myself into hating her XD I do like her more than I pretend to. But the issue for me when it comes to discussing her is that I would consider her and Joe the weakest characters of the final eight. So to see a lot of the Kaoh Rong Endgame being built around her irks me a lot.

I don't have a lot of criticism to give of Kaoh Rong, but if I had to pick one big issue, it is that it should not have been edited from the perspective of Aubry. I don't actually like her confessional style a lot. I think she's a relatively exaggerated, theatrical confessionalist, and I actually have a pretty big hatred for the Oregon Trail confessional specifically. That's some Cochran-type shit, but because Aubry's the one who said it, it's all of a sudden an all time classic? Blah. It's a cringe analogy. But I just don't like the way she narrates and the more time passes into the season and it starts becoming the “Why Aubry” lost season, the more it becomes an issue. 

If she was more of a background character, I'd love her more. I do love her relationship with Tai quite a lot. I think her dynamic with Joe is actually kinda adorable. I'm also a big fan of the “coleslaw” scene and her anxiety attack at the beginning. But as it stands, I just really dislike her narration style and really wish she wasn’t the main character of the endgame. I consider Kaoh Rong a near perfect season and fluctuate between giving it a 10/10 or a 9/10. And while its cast is so strong I tend to usually keep it as a 10/10… Aubry is enough of a deterrent to me to keep it from being a guaranteed 10/10. Sorry, not sorry.

Overall Rank – 289/821

~

u/Zanthosus:

Aubry is pretty good, even if I wouldn’t have her in endgame. She’s a solid addition to an already incredible cast. I think her growth arc throughout the season is fairly compelling, and the way she interacts with and talks about people like Debbie and Peter will always get a chuckle out of me.

~

u/Regnisyak1:

Kaoh Rong is a good season, and I think a big reason for me personally is because of Aubry. Arguably one of the greatest confessionalists on the show, in terms of the way that she can so smoothly deliver the strategy of the season calmly, watching Aubry have her immediate panic attack to find her place in the game was enlightening. And watching it go down, one by one, person by person, was tragic and heartbreaking. While Michele 100% deserved the win, the season was truly about how Aubry lost and how the bonds she broke, led to her ultimate downfall.

Personal Rank: 54/821. 9/10.

~

u/ninjedi1:

While I'm not the biggest fan of a character that starts off poorly but learns that they can play the game of survivor good, Aubry is a bit of an exception to me as how her story is told. Where usually the story would normally show how they grew and then usually lose right before the F3, going "Oh, look how much they grew and they would've won if the y made it to the end", Aubrey does make it to the end and ends up losing, so her story perfectly shows off her growth while also setting up why she will end up losing which is pretty great and a unique twist to that kind of story.

~~~~~

u/Tommyroxs45:

Aubry Bracco 1.0:

Everything about me says “you hate Aubry, she’s a nerd” or “she’s so gamebotty”. However, honestly I absolutely adore Aubry and think she tells one of the best stories in the past decade of this show…

On first glance, she has your classic “fish out of water story” but there is so much more depth to it than that, and it would be a disservice just to boil her story down to that. She has such an amazing growth story supported by all of the cast, single-handedly lifting them up so much in the process. 

Before I get into the more objective part of Aubry’s story, I think it’s important to talk about why I have a connection with Aubry as a Survivor superfan. So as I’d said before, my first season was Kaôh Rōng. I didn’t know what I was expecting or about to see but what I saw in my first season was a great show and an amazing cast. However, one person stood out to me so much more than everyone else, Aubry. Even though I was inexperienced on the editing of Survivor and how characters were represented. I instantly fell in love with Aubry’s personality, she just seemed real and someone I could relate to a lot.

She was my first Survivor “Stan” if you will. From then on, Aubry had paved the way I looked at Survivor and why I still watch it today. Imagine if I had started with a season like MvGx, I almost definitely would not be doing this right now!

Anyway, now that that’s out of the way, why is Aubry so good when she’s a nerd? Well, it’s undeniably her story, her story is probably one of the best Survivor has seen. Someone who grows so much but then falls just short right at the end, while not being dissatisfying because we clearly see her flaws in the game to where Michele exceeds. It’s the perfect end to her story, because while she doesn’t win, we get to see her become herself and grow to her fullest potential.

In the premiere, she broke down and seemed like she wanted to quit. Then we see her battle through 2 terrible medevacs for her, Scot and Jason, Tai’s shenanigans. Through all of it, she came over it and grew as a person, none of it felt contrived or fake either, it was in her Aubry way. It really is an inspirational story that at the same time feels very realistic and somebody can relate to, and I did! This is because, it’s not instant, like we don’t just jump cut to her being all “Oh my anxiety’s cured and I’m such a cool person now”. No. Not at all, we see her step by step gaining confidence but also struggling as well. For example, when she crossed out her vote for Julia at the Peter boot, we see this anxiety come out of her, that she’s all alone and still she fights back against it even after a tirade from Scot.

She hits her lows, than fights to her highs and we see that with every confessional, where on the surface a lot of her confessionals seem very strategy-based and while some of that is true we get so much depth into her character through these confessionals. How she’s scared, angry, unsure, about to break down and none of it ever feels uncomfortable. You can tell she’s going through a hard time for a lot of it, and of course you get her analogies which she is most known for. Now, I don’t love analogies but the way Aubry is able to just roll them off her tongue so eloquently, while not being forced or just complete word vomit I’ll never understand how she does it. Her Oregon Trail confessional, The Pretty People and Jocks confessional, Gets Run Over confessional, all so iconic for such a good reason.

Then throughout the season even outside of her confessionals we see this deep character growth and the blossom of a Survivor legend. Some of the most heartfelt scenes of the season come from her talking with the people around her and interacting with not only herself but allowing for dynamics with her tribemates that just feel so real. Especially Aubry’s dynamic with Tai, they work off each other perfectly and share some of the defining features of this season. The way they both use their emotions to define their game and their stay on the island is beautiful to watch from both ends. She’s not doing this just for game, they feel a connection between eachother and it’s why Tai ultimately flips on the big bad guys of the season, to feel right and welcomed, against the people who had just bullied the entire tribe and made him feel excluded even if he was “working” with them. 

With relationships though, we also obviously have to talk about her relationship with Joe. Now to be completely honest, is Joe the most invigorating character, definitely not. However, he does bring out the best in Aubry and she just wouldn’t be the same without him. He influences her and her decisions throughout the season, for better or for worse, and we actually see him influence her in a way that had a helping hand in losing her the game because of how much she cared for Joe. Aubry with Jason and Tai (w/ an extra vote) were planning on flipping on Michele. However, Joe did not want to flip on Michele and because Aubry cares about Joe a lot and didn’t want to do that to him even though she could of, she put her heart first and let Tai take the fall and Jason goes home.

In a situation where she almost definitely wins if Michele goes home in F6, she put Joe first and actively lost the game because of it. This loss right before the end is a perfect Segway into understanding why she didn’t win. A lot of people say it’s undersold and not edited properly and while I agree barely I think they do show a lot to give you the idea that Aubry is gonna have to fight at the end to win. She isn’t perfect at the game, the show never tries to lull us into thinking that but they also don’t want to clown on Aubry either, and they shouldn’t have to. We see explicitly how Aubry lost the respect of the people on the jury due to her actions and even though she grew as a person she still has a long way to go.

The fact she lasted until day 39 against all odds, is a great closing for her, she didn’t have to win. It doesn’t impact her as a person that she didn't win as she still grew, all of that work she’d done to build herself into someone stronger wouldn’t be undone just because she didn’t win, and I loved that. She’s also not gonna get a free pass because of her growth, she’s human just like everyone else, and she never tries to be anything more than that, where it would come off as arrogant or annoying. She’s always just Aubry! I feel the problem with a lot of nerds on Survivor is one of two things. They are either not relatable at all or they are way too preachy and arrogant about their place in the game, or they are both like Cochran or Christian. 

Aubry while also being neither is able to redefine this and makes what otherwise would’ve been preachy confessionals, iconic because she learns from them and grows from them other than just whining about she’s always gonna be on the bottom and boo hoo I’m a nerd! No, we never get that, she does describe her situations sometimes but she’s never self-pitying and always tries her hardest to bounce back from it. She’s never preachy, she doesn’t get under your skin with what she says, which I don’t think we’ve actually seen from a nerd ever, if not then it’s been a very long time.

I think what Aubry excels at best for me is just being relatable, which is obviously a very personal thing and is probably why she ranks so high for me compared to many others. I was an Aubry, I really still am an Aubry, anxious, unsure, emotionally challenged at many points but I always keep pushing through the situation and I get so much inspiration from Aubry and her story throughout the season that I’ve never been able to get from anyone else. 

When someone is relatable, you see you in their shoes, and it ultimately just makes for a much better story that way and Aubry is the primary example of that for me. She still has her challenges, as do I, and I just feel a personal connection with Aubry and our challenges that I have not felt from anyone else on the show. So there obviously is some bias in how high I do have Aubry but I feel it’s important to discuss, as relatability is something that I struggle to find in Survivor.

Aubry will continue to be a legend in Survivor forever, she has insulated herself solidly in the book of the greats of all time, and while I hope someday she does come back, if this was it, her Kaoh Rong run will always live in greatness. It will always be an inspiring tale not just for me but I’m sure thousands of others, and I will always appreciate that. So on top of being an amazing character, Aubry is simply just queen!

SMC0629: 21

DryBonesKing: 23

Zanthosus: 22

Tommyroxs45: 12

Regnisyak1: 16

DavidW1208: 18

ninjedi1: 21

Average Placement: 19.000

Total Points: 133

Standard Deviation: 3.916 (4th Lowest)