Dee Watches Survivor (Currently On Kaoh Rong)

[Deeee]

This cult is making me laugh lol. Genuine weirdos.

[Deeee]

I genuinely am enjoying South Pacific.

[Deeee]

Cochran is such a slimy individual, I truly dislike everything about him. 

[Deeee]

THOUGHTS ON SURVIVOR: SOUTH PACIFIC

 

 

 

 

This season is far better than I had expected it to be. Way better. Honestly, South Pacific was entertaining from start to finish. My guess is that the season received a lot of hate for directly following Redemption Island and essentially playing like Redemption Island 2.0. Same cast sizes. Same "twist" of two returning legends. Another member of the Hantz family on the cast. The terrible Redemption Island twist. Trust me, there is a LOT to critique about this season. Particularly the very sh*tty edit. The completely unlikable cast. Playing like Redemption Island 2.0.

 

That all being said, South Pacific is pretty interesting from a sociological standpoint. I think had there been distance between South Pacific and Redemption Island, the season would definitely be thought of more fondly. Here are a list of reasons why this season is infinitely better than its predecessor:

 

1) The season was not designed for either Coach and/or Ozzy to win with ease, and both of them added to the season greatly in quite interesting ways. Though neither of them are likable in any single way, Coach literally created a cult. A cult. COME ON. The way the cult slowly developed, functioned as a unit, prayed together before wins/after wins/before functioning, the way Coach stood as the figurehead and manipulated the f*ck out of these people, the constantly lingering threat of Brandon's character, the pain felt by the group when they had to turn on one another. The way that Cochran almost had to dance and perform like a monkey for acceptance into the group. It was all so crazy. I am not religious in the slightest. Too much religion is part of why I hated Marquesas. But Marquesas just felt really pro-religion, whereas South Pacific's gameplay really does exist in this religious, cult-like framework. It's dark as hell, but that is what makes this season such a unique viewing experience.

 

2) Sophie is a pretty complex winner, despite the terrible, terrible edit she was given. She is inherently unlikable and kind of knew this about herself deep down. Watching her grapple with that fact while still seemingly standing amongst the group as the strongest contender to win...very interesting. Especially considering how she was the strategist for Coach, yet also seemed like she was on the periphery enough of the cult to assess that these people were weirdos. There is always this feeling that she could jump ship, but then does not. I really wish she was not such a non-entity until the very end of the season because I think there was a lot to flesh out there about her character.

 

3) There are numerous iconic early boot characters - Semhar, Stacey, Christine, and Mikayla. I often feel like you can discern whether or not a season is good or bad based on how fun the early boots are as characters.

 

There were multiple good physical competitors this season and that made watching the competitions actually exciting. Christine had a fun run on Redemption Island. Ozzy had a fun run on Redemption Island. Sophie randomly excelled at the physical game. Albert was a comp beast. Keith, Whitney, and Dawn all proved to be varying levels of good in the competition. 

 

All things considered, South Pacific is not a perfect season. In many ways, it is a trainwreck. Questionable editing choices considering they focused only on Coach, Ozzy, Cochran, and Brandon. Pre-merge is pretty horrible. But there is so much that is also good about it, so it will find itself in the top half of my rankings.

 

CAST RANKING

 

1. Stacey Powell - BOOM. BLAW. POW. Her reaction to Brandon revealing he is a Hantz. Her rant at Redemption Island. Her going off at Tribal because Brandon was lying and exposing him. Refusing to call Coach anything besides Benjamin. Over-the-top. Dramatic. Hilarious. Real as hell. Easily the best part of the season.

 

2. Sophie Clarke - What a fantastic winner. What a f*cked up edit she was given. But a fantastic winner. I don't even know where to start with her. It's hard to fault her for her obscurity, when the editors clearly had four men to cream their pants over. I think the best place to start is that Sophie was playing this game to win. That might sound stupid to say, but not everybody is playing to win. Sophie is so damn intelligent though that you could tell every decision was calculated. She clearly knew each and every person's MO like the back of her hand. She knew to blend in with the zealots despite clearly not being about that life. She knew to let Coach feel like the leader and appear to be the leader, despite making all of the strategic moved that helped Upolu dominate the game. She kept all of her astute observations to herself and for confessionals, except when it came to Albert. Who she sh*t all over at every turn and used as a punching bag and loyal pawn. LOL. The one-sided antagonistic relationship between Sophie and Albert is iconic. There was this random comp beast in her that super impressed me and allowed her to keep a seat of power, winning in multiple clutch moments. She took out her biggest competition in Ozzy and ended his reign. She was pivotal in flipping Cochran to Upolu and gaining the upper hand at the merge. Her performance at Final Tribal Council is one of the most brilliant, if not the most brilliant that I have ever seen. There is a phenomenal player here and I hate that the editors did not accurate portray her winning performance for the entire season. More interestingly, Sophie is an interesting character than contestant. Sophie is flat-out unlikable. There is something off-putting about her. She knows this too. So her entire breakdown at Tribal Council upon recognizing that she is maybe not the most sociable individual is pretty great stuff. Like she actively recognized this experience was not teaching her new, positive things about herself, but maybe pointing out everything she knew she did not like instead. But there was a drive that forced her to find innovative ways to make the game work in her favor. And I think despite recognizing her faults, Sophie also did not care how she came across. She wanted the win. And she got the win. Top-tier contestant for sure.

 

3. Albert Destrade - Though he started out pretty invisible, his emergence as a gamebot strategist with zero skills as a gamebot strategist is possibly one of the funniest parts of this season. Facts are facts, Albert is like f*cking ridiculously attractive. But there were no brains effectively working for 39 days up in that pretty head of his lol. Not one of his strategic plans ever worked. Ever. In fact, he really thought he was doing something when it was plain to see that Sophie and Coach were playing circles around this man! Albert was incapable of coherently constructing any type of smart plan, which is why the juxtaposition of him against Sophie is so damn hilarious. Sophie and Albert talked a lot of strategy, but Sophie clearly understood the level of stupidity she was dealing with when speaking to Albert. She could easily decipher his plans, but Albert was incapable of doing the same with Sophie. The way she read him for filth all the time was hilarious. In all honestly, Albert is pretty worthless as a character until the eventual demise of Savaii is completed. He is definitely super entangled in the God stuff with Brandon and Coach, coming across many times as the most religious of the group. He frustrates Edna. He frustrates Sophie. He frustrates Rick. He always thinks about making some big game move and flipping, but never does because he sucks and Sophie shoots him down with ease. But when Savaii is out, Albert quickly realizes that he is screwed. Why is he screwed? Because he has played with the idea of taking Sophie out one too many times. At least he was intelligent enough to know that Sophie was winning the game. The entire sequence of events that lead up to the elimination of Brandon: Albert scrambling, Albert begging for the Immunity necklace and using God to manipulate the situation, Albert refusing to give the immunity necklace back to Brandon once the latter realizes he is screwed, the immunity necklace falling off. GREAT TELEVISION. Luckily for Albert, Ozzy returns to the game and Sophie decides to use him as a pawn to help her remove Ozzy. She screams at Albert during challenges. Albert tries to act like he does not need her, but we all know this is a lie. Coach and Sophie drag him to the end, only for him to get eviscerated to hell and back by the jury + Sophie. He looked so bad! UGH. What an iconic mess of a character. 

 

4. Benjamin "Coach" Wade - What do I even say about Coach? Maybe one of the most complex Survivor runs ever. Coach was very icky this season. He created a cult. He put out the religious overtones into the season. He was disgustingly personally manipulative. He displayed hypocrisy on such a grand scale. Coach is responsible for some of the most genuinely terrifying moments I have ever seen on television. Coach was not fun to watch this season. Quite the opposite. A genuinely frightening zealot that was okay going out like any zealot does - lying, manipulating, ostracizing, controlling, puppeteering, denying, etc. Coach was not the Dragonslayer, but a cult leader. It's hard to talk about his time on South Pacific, but he led his cult to the very end. Except he could not clench the win because he played the game like a bastard. UGH. I hate him. But I am compelled by him.

 

5. Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth - Ozzy might just be the worst Survivor player ever. I am comfortable saying that without even having seen the rest of the seasons. His gameplay this season was so erratic, haphazard, chaotic, and senseless. Like by what logic do you think being eliminated three times in one season is okay?!?! I do not care for him, but Ozzy has a great downfall this season that makes for great television. Ozzy very quickly appointed himself above all others on his tribe. Ozzy formed a majority alliance, pinpointed the weaker members of the tribe, cozied up to Elyse, and thought he had the game made. Except Savaii quickly realized his plan and decided to knock him down a peg by eliminating Elyse. The way he moped and moped was hilarious, especially considering he came running back a day later with his tail between his legs because he had nowhere else to go. Then he conjures up a grandiose plan to have Savaii eliminate him, leaves his Immunity Idol with Cochran, and plans to comp beast his way back into the competition. Obnoxious, but smart. And mostly obnoxious because somehow Ozzy ends up with the most camera time of the season despite spending over two weeks on Redemption Island! WHY DID WE NEED TO SEE HIM CLIMB TREES AND SPEAK IN A MONOTONE VOICE DURING CONFESSIONALS?! But I love how after his first return back from RI he thinks he has the game in the bag until karma bites him in the ass in the form of Cochran making a stupid move. Hilarious. Then back to RI. More comp beast stuff. More fishing. You gotta love Sophie being the person to send his ass home for good. Listen, Ozzy is obnoxious and cannot play this game for sh*t. But that is kind of why this season is so interesting? His take on being a 3x returnee is far more interesting than Rob or Russell. LOL.

 

6. Edna Ma - I do not know that there is anyway to justify ranking Edna this high. Take that back, Iconic Jury Speech is usually a quick way to earn a high ranking. There is a really, really interesting character in Edna. Quickly written off for her physical weaknesses, Edna was not even included in the Upolu majority alliance. She was onboarded by Coach because she was catering to him and doing his laundry, etc. She was given a massive under-the-radar edit, only referred to by others when they were annoyed by her presence. Literally a non-factor. Until her elimination episode that is. Edna offered to eat Coach's feces. LOL. Her refusing to participate in group prayer because she realized that she was sixth on the totem pole and the way she decided to act so desperately to stay. Her betrayal was telegraphed from miles away, but I really found it so compelling how hurt she was by the entire situation. There were also so many little moments that I enjoyed with Edna: Cluehat, the cupcake scene with Rick, her wanting to kill Albert after he ruined the laundry, nearly beating Ozzy at Redemption Island. Maybe this is far too high for her, but she had an interesting role in the events that made the end of this season pretty riveting.

 

7. Christine Shields Markoski - An awesome pre-merge boot. I adore her calling out Ozzy and Coach for being "temporary" players. Though she was incorrect, neither won. So she gets the last laugh. She kept her foot pressed on Coach's neck for her short stay with Upolu. I hate that she was way too obsessed with finding the Idol and was the victim of a lie from Brandon, but that at least allowed her to have a two-week run at Redemption Island that was far more interesting than Matt's from RI. Adore her friendship with Stacey. Adore her taking no sh*t. So much untapped potential here!

 

8. Dawn Meehan - Dawn is far more tolerable on her first season. Still way too emotional for me to fully appreciate, but a sweet character that was clearly invested in this experience for more than one reason. I thought her trying to reconcile her age and religion with the experience of Survivor was interesting and added to the salient theme of religion. Gotta recognize that she was an underrated comp beast too. Also found her being torn between her adoration for Cochran and her eventual recognition that he was dooming their game. 

 

9. John Cochran - Cochran really, really, really sucks. But he really leaned WAY too far into the victim role. The whiny dork that was accurately called out as the weak-link on the tribe and not mistreated in the way he said he was...just far too much. I really wish he had just stuck to being a super-fan and writing papers on the game instead of playing. Cochran is no chore, so I hate the innocent fawn act. Gotta love that the self-proclaimed "biggest fan" also made the worse game move of the season and sent home his only allies and found himself eliminated as soon as Savaii was wiped out. For a Harvard grad, there is no common sense there. At least this first time around. The way he acted like a puppet for Upolu and donned the Coach blazer and low-key became embraced in the cult...all make him a pretty interesting character overall. Just an extremely unlikable one. Though there is something interesting to be said of how he came out of his shell and decided to play the game his own way, even if poorly. But he was putting on a character. Nothing about him or his quirky actions or his attempt at witty confessionals felt genuine. 

 

10. Jim Rice - Jim gave me really smug, slimy vibes. But I really appreciated his character. He quickly realized that Ozzy needed to be stripped of his power and successfully accomplished that. Was he a poker champion? A marijuana dealer? LOL. Gotta love him eviscerating Cochran like a sore loser because I believe Cochran deserves whatever is coming his way. Just a fun, in-your-face character.

 

11. Whitney Duncan - "YOU. DISGUST. ME." Whitney was a fun underdog for a moment, since she was the last remaining member of Savaii. I like that she read anybody and everybody their rights, and I feel like she was spot-on in her assessment of most people. Except she was pretty under-edited until post-merge when her fate was practically sealed already. Interesting to find out that she was a somewhat established country singer and had a husband at home waiting for her! Not that any of that matters to me. I definitely found myself slightly rooting for her after her breakdown at Tribal. But not super exciting as a personality overall.

 

12. Semhar Tadesse - I adore first-boot Semhar. Constantly performing spoken word to get her through the experience. Her taking things WAY too personally for a first boot and acting like this was a reflection of her life experience was actually interesting. Super LULZY. Love!

 

13. Mikayla Wingle - Mikayla was super obnoxious and whiny and way too obsessed with the fact that Brandon was the nephew of Russell. Like that automatically meant they were the same person or something? However, I do think she was particularly vilified because Brandon is a disgusting individual that was upset because she gave him a boner and was way out of his league. Mikayla definitely had a tough experience because of Brandon, which sucked. But she just went with the tribe and did nothing to escape her situation. I thought that she had a chance when she converted Sophie and Albert for a week, but that was definitely not something done to help her.

 

14. Elyse Umemoto - First of all, she is gorgeous. Secondly, I loved that she represented Native American ancestry and wanted to find some of that spirit in her. Too bad she did not amount to much more than a close ally with Ozzy that found herself too easily blindsided. 

 

15. Mark "Papa Bear" Caruso - Sweet old gay bear. He had a moment with finding the Idol, but yeah. Too much of an early boot to rank any higher. I loved how much the experience meant to him though.

 

16. Keith Tollefson - Another who? I don't remember much of anything he said or did. He disliked Cochran. Had an affair with Whitney. Irrelevant and unimportant.

 

17. Rick Nelson - Who? Honestly. Who? LOL. He hardly spoke! He hardly did anything! A member of the cult, sure. But with zero personality. I mean he had some lulzy moments when criticizing Albert and calling him a Princess. Getting mad at him snoring. He was obviously super upset at FTC. But he was an actual nobody the entire season. I could not believe how far he advanced with zero camera time.

 

18. Brandon Hantz - This is tricky. Considering that I ranked Russell quite highly on his first two seasons despite being beyond hard to watch, I should probably extend the same consideration to Brandon. Except Russell is not a vile human being. Annoying? Yes. Overbearing? Yes. Too much camera time? Yes. Brandon was a special kind of vile to me though. The season does not work without Brandon, which I admit fully. However, he is FAR beyond a psychotic Christian and I cannot stomach that type of person. On television or in real life. While Coach definitely acted as the figurehead, Brandon is the person that really turned the whole situation dark with his religious pondering and his desire to do everything for his God and his vicious judgment and hairpin trigger anger. Brandon had enough meltdowns for one season. I also love the juxtaposition of his lying and judgment next to his over-the-top religiosity. I will say that his vote out episode is the best of the season. The season functions because of him, but I hate him. 

 

 

MY FAVORITE MOMENT

 

 

SEASON RANKING

 

1. Pearl Islands 

2. Borneo

3. Heroes vs. Villains

4. Panama - Exile Island

5. China

6. Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites

7. The Amazon

8. Palau

9. Vanuatu

10. Gabon

11. South Pacific

12. Guatemala

13. Africa

14. Tocantins

15. Samoa

16. The Australian Outback

17. Cook Islands

18. Marquesas

19. Nicaragua

20. Fiji

21. All-Stars

22. Thailand

23. Redemption Island

WINNER RANKING

 

1. Sandra Diaz-Twine (PI)

2. Sandra Diaz-Twine (HvV) 

3. Todd Herzog

4. Yul Kwon

5. Parvati Shallow

6. Aras Baskauskas

7. Tom Westman

8. Tina Wesson

9. Sophie Clarke

10. Jenna Morasca

11. James "JT" Thomas Jr.

12. Danni Boatwright

13. Vecepia Towery

14. Ethan Zohn

15. Chris Daugherty

16. Natalie White

17. Earl Cole

18. Rob Mariano

19. Amber Brkich-Mariano
20. Jud "Fabio" Birza

21. Brian Heidik

22. Richard Hatch

23. Robert "Bob" Crowley

[Deeee]

@Elliott @#jeah @Alex95 okay I know you three were interested in my thoughts on South Pacific, here they are!

[Deeee]

Currently two episodes into One World. I am enjoying this a lot.

 

Alicia vs. Christina was hilarious.

 

Colton is taking me on a f*cking ride and he has had like three character arcs already. 

 

Sabrina is amazing. 

 

Kat not knowing what "ambiance" means or being able to scoot beyond Monica's boobs. LOL. 

[Deeee]

Kat jumping in the water multiple times omg

[QueenKalie]

Wow you ranked SP a lot higher than I was expecting!

[Solaris]

My favorite part of Sophie's game when she said she turned Coach into her whiny little girl. Or whatever terminology she used.  

[Deeee]

24 minutes ago, QueenKalie said:

Wow you ranked SP a lot higher than I was expecting!

 

Same. It started off horribly, ended perfectly. There is a lot to hate, but a lot to love.

[Deeee]

2 minutes ago, Solaris said:

My favorite part of Sophie's game when she said she turned Coach into her whiny little girl. Or whatever terminology she used.  

 

Sophie was frequently hilarious.

[QueenKalie]

2 minutes ago, Deeee said:

 

Same. It started off horribly, ended perfectly. There is a lot to hate, but a lot to love.

Sophie beating Coach was great. And there were a couple of moments here and there that were fun but over all it was a low season rank for me.

[Deeee]

Colton really showing out as a whole piece of sh*t that needs to gtfo my screen

[Deeee]

Omg cancel this season please it’s bad lol. These people are f*cking awful.

Edited September 5, 2020 by Deeee

[Elliott]

Me seeing you rank Sophie at #2 despite being underedited after you slept on Natalie White despite her edit:

[#jeah]

Glad you're in the Love SoPa camp.  I would have Sophie as my #1, with Coach (his best iteration), Christine, Albert, Brandon, and Stacey high as well. 

 

Sophie screaming at Albert to help her win immunity near the end of the game is the best part of the season  

[Deeee]

11 hours ago, Elliott said:

Me seeing you rank Sophie at #2 despite being underedited after you slept on Natalie White despite her edit:

 

Sophie is way out of Natalie's league imo.

[Deeee]

7 hours ago, #jeah said:

Coach (his best iteration)

 

Sophie screaming at Albert to help her win immunity near the end of the game is the best part of the season  

 

Definitely his most interesting iteration. I find it hard to use the term "best" because he kind of revolted me the entire season. 

 

I screamed lol. Sophie is ballsy. 

[Deeee]

Not me coming in here looking for approval from @Alex95 on my SoPa thoughts and him still saying nothing!!!

[#jeah]

On 9/5/2020 at 5:21 PM, Deeee said:

 

Definitely his most interesting iteration. I find it hard to use the term "best" because he kind of revolted me the entire season. 

 

I screamed lol. Sophie is ballsy. 

“Best” should be “most interesting,” I agree  

[Deeee]

The way I would have to kill Tarzan if I were on that island...

[Deeee]

2 hours ago, Deeee said:

The way I would have to kill Tarzan if I were on that island...

+ Troyzan 

[.Rei]

@Deeee do you know who the winner is? And how is so that you haven’t praised that person’s gameplay? Smh 

[Alex95]

Well Sophie below anyone is a Choice that doesn't deserve my comments .

 

But slayyy at that top three still. It's interesting that you have Coach as the #problematicfave of the season but couldn't stand Brandon. I feel the exact opposite way. Coach was wayyyyy too much for me this time around. He knew exactly what he was doing the entire time and how he was manipulating Brandon using religion. Brandon was totally the victim in that relationship. I find Brandon so troubled (he never should've been on the show once let alone twice). I can't help but want him to do the right way and defeat his demons he's so desperate to destroy, while knowing full well the whole time it's totally in vain.

[Deeee]

2 hours ago, Alex95 said:

Well Sophie below anyone is a Choice that doesn't deserve my comments .

 

But slayyy at that top three still. It's interesting that you have Coach as the #problematicfave of the season but couldn't stand Brandon. I feel the exact opposite way. Coach was wayyyyy too much for me this time around. He knew exactly what he was doing the entire time and how he was manipulating Brandon using religion. Brandon was totally the victim in that relationship. I find Brandon so troubled (he never should've been on the show once let alone twice). I can't help but want him to do the right way and defeat his demons he's so desperate to destroy, while knowing full well the whole time it's totally in vain.

 

Stacey is exactly the type of reality television contestant I live for. I had to rank her first, but totally understand that Sophie is first objectively.

 

I think my issue is that before the cult became a cult, Brandon was already showing his ass. The stuff with Mikayla made me squirm in a bad way. Not saying that Coach is any better, but at least I understood exactly what his intentions were. I think knowing that Coach was being manipulative to his own advantage made this all an easier pill to swallow. Brandon is clearly beyond trouble and should never have been placed in a situation like this. At all. But it's clear to me that there is a disgusting side to him that does not require Coach to be activated. If that makes sense?