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Dee Watches Survivor (Currently On Kaoh Rong)

Deeee

By Deeee
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Alex95
Alex95

I completely unironically agree with this. For the show's first visit to Asia, the music department and art department really honored the culture in a stunning way. I love the looks and sounds of the

Deeee
Deeee

Ciera taking them to rocks was such a f*cking boss move.

Elliott
Elliott

I don’t know if you knew, but Sabrina had someone close to her get murdered during the voting for Cambodia, so she stopped her campaign

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Elliott

Elliott

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Just now, Deeee said:

Can you explain why you dislike the season without becoming too spoiler-ish?

I’m not a fan of the winner, but that’s a hindsight thing lol.

 

idk, I just couldn’t really get into it when it was airing. I found it hard to sit through and really only cared about two people in the cast.

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Just now, Alex95 said:

Spencer was supposed to go, but Probst pretty much filibustered TC till Tasha and Kass flipped to boot J'Tia.

 

The way Probst dramatically talked about how Kass and Tasha were just looking at each other for answers because they were so torn...LOL. He definitely was sick of J'Tia.

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THOUGHTS ON SURVIVOR: BLOOD VS. WATER

 

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Given the opening of the episode consisted of that garbage vote-off and Redemption Island return, I really expected this season to be absolute sh*t. What resulted is an absolutely fun season that actually managed to make really great use of RI. Blood vs. Water actually worked out way better than I expected and added a nice level of complexity to the gameplay that helped to invigorate the show a bit. Not only because a level of dimension was injected into the gameplay, but the familial theme sort of forced character development and compelling story arcs to emerge. 

 

Ciera + Laura M. as an amazing storyline. Tina fully embracing her cutthroat. Monica delivering one of the most complex storylines ever surrounding her need for love, acceptance, and worthiness separate from her husband. Laura B. as an outsider trying to shake bad circumstances and the relation to her husband in order to fit in with people far more equipped to play the game than her. Brad Culpepper as one of the best pre-merge characters ever. Katie as a totally fun background character. 

 

Probably the strongest collection of Tribal Councils that I have ever seen in one season. Perfectly timed blindsides. Redemption Island being the perfect source of drama and actually affecting the strategic decisions of the game. Everything about this season just worked so well. 

 

My complaint is the obviousness of pre-game alliances and the way that it led to the somewhat predictable victory of Tyson. Hurts an otherwise unpredictable season, but wow. What a strong cast of characters. Great rivalries. Hilarious moments. Just super, super happy with this season.

 

CAST RANKING

 

1. Ciera Eastin - An absolute star. Personal evolution and growth. Cutthroat gameplay. Constantly active. Incredibly complex relationship with her mother. Well-spoken. Witty. Intelligent. Strategically adept. What a fantastic character. A clutch immunity win. A desire to both save her mother and eliminate her mother to be free of stress. The balls to take the game to the rock drawing ceremony. The way she outed Katie not having the Idol. The way she outed Gervase and Tyson for everything they had said about Monica and how they had played the game. There was a philosophical and emotional depth to her that most younger players often lack. Maybe being a young mother gives her more insight, maybe it gives her more motivation to play the best game possible. IDK what it was, but Ciera delivered gold at every single moment that you wanted her to. Just an absolute badass. From start to finish. The weak, young outsider that flopped at challenges and was set to be eliminated very early always managed to find a way. Whether voting her mom out, whether forming an alliance with the Individual's alliance, whether putting her game in the hands of luck. Ciera played this game so hard and made us laugh and even cry as we watched her. Ciera is the character that makes you love watching this show, and I absolutely loved watching her slay the game until her final moment.

 

2. Tina Wesson - The way the legend jumped out! Her faking having an Idol and laughing as she reveals that she truly does not. The way she came for blood once she lost the numbers and had to fight for her spot! The way she refused to give up her spot for Laura M. or her own daughter. The way she mocked Katie for lacking the same competitive spirit that she herself possesses. Tina emerged as god-tier this season. Honestly. The sweet, older Southern woman is just a deceptive facade hiding a cunning, dastardly strategic beast! Laura M. helping Tina at RI because she thinks she is an easy win, only for Tina to openly refuse to give her spot up to a begging Laura M. is pretty iconic. Tina f*cking with Monica's head and planting seeds of doubt in order to swing the game her direction is epic. She cuts like a knife tbh. Her reading Monica and Tyson for filth after the Aras blindside is of course epic. Her advancing through RI against all odds and coming back and working Monica so hard. Wow. Tina Wesson's legend can never be denied! Somehow this winner and third-time player came back better than ever. She played hard. She played until the very bitter end. Despite being a major threat and a former winner, she somehow snuck her way into the Final Four. What a queen. We do not deserve her! 

 

3. Monica Culpepper - So much to say. Let me just being with saying that Monica Culpepper has one of my favorite personal journeys ever. With zero reason to return to the show other than needing an excuse to drag Brad Culpepper onto Survivor, she emerges as one of the most complex characters ever. Without her husband, might I add. An absolute star. Monica came on the show with the intention of being loved, honored, accepted, and respected as her own individual with her own identity. Not as the wife of an NFL superstar. Not as the glue to her household. Not as the woman who made Brad into the man that he is. But as her own, awesome person. To feel of worth. To feel of value. That is some pretty deep sh*t. To say that Monica achieved this with her peers would be a lie. To say that she achieved this in the eyes of the viewers might be the truth. Monica quickly emerged as somebody unsure of how to approach this game - she wanted to play with Colbie, but could not trust him fully. Monica wanted to be accepted by the majority alliance, which she was, but only as a fifth member needed to control the votes. She was paranoid. She talked way too much. She rubbed most people the wrong way. But for the first part of the game, Monica was safe. Until the John blindside led to the pretty epic fight at Redemption Island. At this point, the target was on her because of her husband Brad's actions in the game. This was pretty poetic. Monica is not even on the same tribe as her husband, yet is on the receiving end of the wrath of those he wronged in the game. Every HII clue was handed over to her in an attempt to point a target on her back. Aras voted out Laura M. in order to remove Brad from the game and gain the loyalty of Monica. She was being used as a pawn majorly, all because of her husband. It really was hard to watch her being beat-up so consistently. Even after Brad lost at RI, she continued to be the target of John. Her continuous paranoia and overplaying of the game caused Kat to turn on her and attempt to out her. But it's at this point that Monica became way more assertive in her gameplay. Monica outed Kat for the attempted blindside. Monica outed Laura B. for acting without consulting the alliance first. Or so she thought. Monica quickly found out from Tina that she was really at the bottom of the totem pole and was sixth in the pecking order. She thought she was calling the shots. She thought she was safe. But in reality, she had zero hold on the reigns of the game. I really felt like in this moment that the hurt that Monica displayed was super real. What makes her really compelling is that despite all of the obvious signs pointing to her being at the bottom with few people tolerating her, Monica never really flipped the script like she should have. I feel like Monica was searching so hard for approval that she refused to make waves in an effort to avoid being seen in such a "negative" light. Little did she know, her decision to coast and ride coattails despite being at the bottom would actually earn even more frustration from her competitors. She was castigated for blindsiding Aras and telling Tyson the idea to out him. Her position in the game was used against her by Vytas in a real d*ckhead move. She became so angry with Vytas that she voted against him, which made Gervase hate her even more than he already did. Poor Monica could do nothing right! She spent too much time worried about doing whatever she could to make it to the end, she lost sight of her initial goal - being appreciated for being her own person. But Monica could not detach herself from others. Her paranoia made her cling to people that offered her security, even if that meant she was sixth-in-line. I thought it was fascinating that she could not shed this image of the woman attached to the man in charge. That her intense desire to achieve love and respect and worthiness through winning made her inherently unlikable to her competitors. Despite her actually being extremely likable! She was a woman searching too hard for acceptance and too scared to really make a leap of faith. That is why she toyed with the idea of flipping so often, proclaiming how she would make a move for herself, but then just following the plans developed by Tyson. Unfortunately this did nothing for her, since Tina reminded her that she was going home soon and attempted to have her voted out. Ciera and Hayden pretty bluntly told Monica the perception of her as a person and what has been said about her behind her back. All of it was so hard to watch, but quite fascinating as a character study tbh. Because as much as the truth was staring her in the face, Monica could not force herself to change course. Though somehow, she emerges from the season a star in my eyes. I think everything she said at FTC really solidified my love for her. A true full circle moment where she finally vocalized what she was searching for this entire time. When she finally broke down and went off on the jury for refusing to accept her for who she really is stands out as such a powerful moment. While also realizing that her own desires for victory as a means of achieving acceptance and love apart from her husband blinded people from seeing that there was reason for her the paranoia, the over-strategizing, etc. This badass comp beast was a complex character to say the least. What a star. Sorry I wrote so much, but rarely do we get such a complex character. 

 

4. Laura Morett - Her kicking ass on Redemption Island for the majority of the competition was a sight to see. Her storyline with Ciera was beyond entertaining. First of all, I really, really did not expect Laura to be a returnee. Secondly, I did not expect such an amazing story arc from her! Color me surprised! Really enjoyed this idea that Laura took a backseat to her daughter and actually became a detriment to her own daughter's game. I loved her completely supporting Ciera playing her own game and doing what would be best for her, rather than forcing her daughter to stick closely to the Blood pairing. Just a really evolved character from her first showing! An awesome underdog that highlighted the best aspects of this theme: a complex relationship with her family member that actually impacts the progression of the game. I know she is probably not somebody I would like in real life, but I really loved her on the show. Loved all of her moments with Ciera. Loved all of her moments on RI. Loved her helping Tina advance in RI. Loved her sticking it to Aras after the betrayal. Just solid gameplay. 

 

5. Brad Culpepper - What an amazing pre-merge character. A perfect love-to-hate villain! But even more fun, he is a completely incompetent love-to-hate villain! Brad existed as an agent of chaos and left destruction in his wake. He quickly formed this massive guy alliance and turned on John at the first given opportunity. Brad voted out Marissa because of Gervase, which did not earn him favor. Brad voted out Rachel to tempt Tyson. He blindsided John and earned the ire of both John and Candice, which lead to some iconic, iconic moments at RI between the Codys and the Culpeppers. He openly forced Monica to torch the HII clue, which became commonplace for the majority of the season. Brad played an absolutely messy f*cking game and it was insanely entertaining to watch. So messy that his power position was quickly lost and he was swiftly blindsided in one of the most fun TCs I can think of. Brad kickstarted this season into high gear and you gotta love him for it. Despite being a messy icon, Brad showed himself to be a good person and a supportive, loving husband. We like to see it.

 

6. Katie Collins - I STAN KATIE. The way she did not give a f*ck about putting on a fake personality for this game. Katie came on this show and was absolutely herself 100% of the time. Katie did not give a single f*ck and it was such a breath of fresh air. Katie was definitely a background character, but what we saw of her was so hilarious. Quirky. Awkward. The opposite of competitive. Dry. But undoubtedly real. Katie made me laugh on more than one occasion. Her facial reactions were always hilarious - particularly the reaction she had to Laura B. on the beach. The way her head was attacked the entire game. The way she failed to react when Tina would become emotional. The way she dryly accepted her Immunity Win. The way she dryly accepted her fate after the rock draw resulted in her elimination. The face she made after Tyson said what he said to her. The way she coldly told Tina that she did not care about losing to her at RI. She was a constant source of humor, even if she did not have the largest personal storyline. But there was a silent predator in Katie. Her clutch elimination win is a season highlight. Honestly, Katie stood a chance if she survived the rock draw because Hayden and Ciera were definitely larger targets. She could have snuck her way to the final and won! What could have been! I really enjoyed her. The end.

 

7. Candice Cody - Where was this interesting person on her two previous seasons? LOL. Her entire performance at RI made her one of the best characters of the season! Gotta love her coming for Brad Culpepper so hard despite not being in the game for a single moment! Gotta love her telling Monica she just listens to her husband when she forced John to give the Idol clue to Monica! Candice never really had a chance to make some huge impact on the season, but she definitely delivered as much as she could. After being cast for a third time for absolutely no reason, Candice delivers on her shortest season to date! It was glorious.

 

8. Gervase Peterson - "HAY-DONE!" Gervase coming back after so many years and making the finals really should be applauded. What should really be applauded is how he made it to the finals after displaying approximately zero good things about himself! LOL. grease was over-confident, over-the-top, dramatic, rude, a sh*t-talker, completely unaware of how he treated people. His behavior got his own niece voted out of the game first! Most notably, his hate-hate relationship with close alliance member with Monica sticks out as proof that Gervase is a pretty unlikable person in the competition. So unlikable that he could not even garner himself one vote at FTC! Even Monica received a vote! But that just goes to show how incapable Gervase was of being introspective and maybe admitting that Tyson made all the calls and he just road the coattails. I loved how hard he tried to convince everybody that he was actually the mastermind behind everything and that he considered voting out Tyson and let Tyson think he was the leader. Absolutely nobody believed him! But that is what made Gervase good television this season - his delusions got him into a ton of drama and that is exactly what I am watching for! Like maybe calling the entire jury "stupid" is not how you win this game sis!

 

9. Laura Boneham - Maybe I should not be ranking her here, but I found her story really endearing. The way she was immediately sacked because of her marriage to Rupert felt so sh*tty. But then immediately having to be thrown onto Galang must have felt even more sh*tty. Laura B. truly was an odd duck, just sitting around waiting for her elimination. But that is why her story is so interesting. Laura B. is not one of winning the game, since circumstances set her up to lose no matter what. Her story instead is about how to navigate a game as an outsider. A deer among wolves. How to find her fitting among people not like her. Laura B. is incapable of lying. Laura B. is incapable of providing in the same way that Rupert provides. Laura B. is incapable of hiding her idiosyncrasies. She is so like Rupert, but also so different. There just seemed to be this internal struggle within Laura B. to prove that she is not Rupert's wife and make a space for herself. Yet her inability to shed who she is sealed her fate in the game, just like what happened previously to Rupert. Very interesting stuff. Really enjoyed her. 

 

10. Tyson Apostol - After hating him on Tocantins and feeling ambivalent towards him on HvV, there seemed like a possibility that I could like him this time. Tyson seemed more subdued. There was still hints of his terrible sense of humor, but he seemed calmer. Then Rachel left the game early and Tyson became a gamebot. Apparently he was doing this for Rachel but who cares? Tyson stole coconuts with Gervase and pretended to not know why coconuts had no water. He hurt his arm and really milked that injury for all it was worth. Tyson did subtle things that showed that his gameplay was pretty stellar. He clearly relied on a ton of pre-game alliances, but his gameplay was solid. His annoying tendencies felt less on display this season. I really just appreciated how great his gameplay was for the majority of the season. He ran the game. He held on to his HII brilliantly. He made the right alliances. He always shifted negative attention off of himself. I just appreciated his gameplay. Then the rock draw happened. Tyson made that unnecessarily disgusting comment to Katie and lost just about all the good will I had gained for him. In a heartbeat. Pretty solid gameplay. Very deserving winner. But he got lucky that Katie drew the rock. And he got lucky that Monica and Gervase were castigated far more for their behavior than the rude comment he made towards Katie. Unlikable all-around. 

 

11. Marissa Peterson - LOL at her looking at her tribe after she was eliminated like she wanted to murder them. A ton of untapped potential because of course the Black woman that speaks the truth is voted out first. Screwed over by Gervase. "F*ck you Brad Culpepper" was a moment. Her going off at RI was amazing. Gone too soon!

 

12. John Cody - Very, very attractive and a seemingly great husband and person. He cried over not taking the place of his wife at the beginning. He toyed with his loyalties to the guy alliance because he did not want to jeopardize Candice's chances of winning at RI. John seemed like a legitimately good person. He had the feud with The Culpeppers, which was definitely fun while it lasted. We got some cutesy stuff with him and Candice at RI. He spent 11 days there. IDK. Seemingly solid player that was taken out quickly. John definitely contributed to the season, but nothing major.

 

13. Aras Baskauskas - Really trying to remember what Aras did on this season? He was so boring in comparison to his time on Panama! He clearly had a ton of pre-game alliances, which got him pegged by Tyson early as a threat to remove before it's too late to do so. He betrayed Laura M. and sent her to RI for the first time. He told Colton what needed to be said. He was viewed as the Golden Boy. He of course had the brother feud, but he received significantly less attention than Vytas. Not much more to say about Aras, other than he was practically non-existent. 

 

14. Rupert Boneham - A perfect end to his Survivor story imo. Why do people dislike him? I do not understand. A true legend. I think it worked brilliantly that the man, the myth, the legend himself immediately booted himself from the game in an effort to give his wife the same experience he had thrice experienced already. People obviously think Rupert is staged and putting on a character, but he ended his legacy the way he began many years ago: with his genuine heart on his sleeve. 

 

15. Vytas Baskauskas - Really, really, really unlikable. Do people like him? There is an obviously stark contrast between the goodness of his brother and the darkness of him that I found very interesting. Listen, Vytas definitely delivered what the producers wanted. Majorly dark drama between him and his brother. I started the season really enjoying him and his willingness to play this game hard and one-up his brother. Except the calm yogi quickly disappeared and a dark, slimy assh*le emerged. Yes, he is definitely a character. The sober addict trying to shed a dark past and step out of the shadows of his perfect brother that he most definitely resents for so many reasons. IDK. I really, really want to appreciate his character and the way he played the game! But he just f*cking sucked the entire time. Like he started the season the quiet member of the guy alliance, but he also seemed self-aware about how this would appear and was willing to flip at any moment. But the way he acted after the tribe swap. YEESH. The way he treated Laura B. was pretty deplorable. The way he reacted to Tina and Laura M. after losing at RI? YIKES. Clearly he has issues with women and it was just a bad look. His issues with Aras ended up feeling forced upon us more than anything. Yeah. Disappointed.

 

16. Caleb Bankston - RIP. Really interested to see how Caleb ended up with the spawn of Satan. Clearly his taste in men should be questioned. I wish I could rank him higher since he seemed nice and the way he could care less about Colton quitting, but still comforted him showed that he had a good heart. But the edit pretty much ignored him. Caleb had pretty great moments, like flipping during TC and getting Brad eliminated from the game. Pretty awesome blindside. But there was just not enough of him to justify a higher ranking. 

 

17. Kat Edorsson - From being a major character to a nobody, just like that. I want to rank her higher for her reactions to being voted out and losing RI because that was some funny sh*t. Besides the moment where Colton decided to go off on her + "who wants to date somebody that couldn't even make the merge," was she even there this season?

 

18. Rachel Foulger - WHO IS SHE? Quiet. Perfectly normal. Nice. Boring. The season progresses like it does because she refuses to let Tyson step in for her at RI. 

 

19. Hayden Moss - Really was not expecting to see Hayden on this season. Nor was I expecting to see Hayden in a relationship with Kat. LOL. Pretty sure the Twitterverse exposed Hayden for being an absolute piece of sh*t, which does not surprise me at all. Hayden was pretty much a non-factor up until the last few episodes when he really found himself in a tough spot in the game. Hayden definitely made some awesome stuff happen at the end of the game, which made me appreciate him after a season of just existing as a number in the majority alliances and not really doing much to advance his own game or stand out. Too bad he sucks because he could have earned a higher ranking for his final three episodes!

 

20. Colton Cumbie - LOL at Probst being so upset that he cast him for a second season. That made me feel very good tbh. Anyways. I am sure I do not need to say much. A failed attempt at a redemption story. 

 

MY FAVORITE MOMENT

 

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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. Philippines

10. Gabon

11. Blood vs. Water

12. South Pacific

13. Vanuatu

14. Guatemala

15. Africa

16. Tocantins

17. Samoa

18. The Australian Outback

19. Cook Islands

20. Marquesas

21. Nicaragua

22. Fiji

23. One World

24. Caramoan

25. All-Stars

26. Thailand

27. 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. Denise Stapley

11. Jenna Morasca

12. James "JT" Thomas Jr.

13. Danni Boatwright

14. Tyson Apostol

15. Vecepia Towery

16. Ethan Zohn

17. Earl Cole

18. Natalie White

19. John Cochran

20. Chris Daugherty

21. Kim Spradlin

22. Rob Mariano

23. Amber Brkich-Mariano
24. Jud "Fabio" Birza

25. Brian Heidik

26. Richard Hatch

27. Robert "Bob" Crowley

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