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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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Deeee

Deeee

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All of these blindsides! I feel like I am in Micronesia! LOL.

 

Shambo being upset with Dave over the chickens and then having a prophetic dream about his elimination. What a great television star. LOL. 

 

This former Galu bunch are seriously horrible players. 

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Solaris

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5 minutes ago, Deeee said:

I really, really want to like Samoa. But Russell sucking the air out of every room really was a wet blanket on this season.

 

 

The same reason as everyone else who dislikes it.  Just gotta get through it to get to probably the best season ever.

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21 minutes ago, Alex95 said:

Erik was wasted for FTC :wub: (and gave one of my favorite speeches everrrrrrrrr). Legit up there with Sue and Trish as an all-timer.

 

It was hilarious. LOL. That moment alone earns him a higher cast ranking. I feel like I might be controversial with my cast ranking, but it is what it is. Samoa sucks.

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THOUGHTS ON SURVIVOR: SAMOA

 

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This season could have been incredible! The cast had so much potential! Everything about this season felt like untapped energy. UGH. As much as I wish I could blame Russell Hantz, I have to blame production for editing this season to focus on him and solely him. The season is truly weird because you are constantly torn between seeing the intense potential of the cast + format (Tribe Leaders + Observer) and realizing that you are essentially watching a one-person show with zero regard for storytelling, character arcs, complexity, etc. The season is super, super stagnant because you know that you are pretty much guaranteed an entire season full of Hantz. Nothing but Hantz. A sprinkle of other individuals. But mostly Hantz.

 

I think the only thing that even makes this season watchable is the wonderful Shambo + the awesome gameplay of the Foa Foa Four, spearheaded by none other than...Hantz. LOL. The dismantling of Galu is pretty epic and delivers us three or four consecutive blindsides that are all pretty exciting to watch unfold! 

 

A massive disappointment overall though. A really poor winner edit/story, a one-note villain, and zero screen time for 95% of the cast. 

 

CAST RANKING

 

1. Shannon "Shambo" Waters - A masterpiece of insanity, delusion, chaos, villainy, underdog likability all wrapped up into one 45 year-old former U.S. Marine with a killer mullet. An entertainment force of nature. She provided so many brilliant moments of television I do not even know where to start with her. Not knowing who Erik was, despite living with him for the entire experience. Fighting with Dave over how to cook chickens. Deeply befriending the chickens. Her bizarre prophetic dream about Dave that reassured that she should vote him out. The hilarious feud with Laura, which saw her openly laugh when her rival would fail in challenges. The amount of quotable moments she delivered on the show is outstanding. And who would have ever thought that she would survive so long and find herself in a serious power position?! Just love everything about her obnoxious ass. 🤎

 

2. Russell Hantz - The guy is slimy and aggressive and obnoxious and self-aggrandizing and self-absorbed and ugly and overpowering and upsetting and repetitive and mean-spirited...the list goes on and on and on. But I cannot blame him for the faults of the production team and editors! I could absolutely imagine being an avid and active Survivor fan and hating everything about Hantz as a character. He dominated the screen time of the season and his character is not necessarily the most complex or multidimensional. Hantz frequently says the same thing over and over and over and over. Though he is very self-aware of his villainy, Russell has a pretty one-note journey as the antagonist of the season. Delusional entitled, sickeningly overconfident, singing his own praises, constant talks of strategy, posits himself as the greatest thing ever, backstabs anybody that challenges him. Lather, rinse, repeat. Hantz is not enthralling, but he does carry the season on his back. If I am being completely honest, Russell was far less toxic than I had initially thought he was going to be. Annoying af? Absolutely. He just never struck me as particularly vile outside of the moment when he referred to the women alliance as a "dumb ass one." I have to give him credit for playing a pretty masterful game. Despite being awful and slimy, he somehow managed to drag himself and his alliance to the end of the game against all imaginable odds. The way he constantly found Idols without clues. The way he played the game with a really obvious bravado, but was never chopped down a peg. The way he manipulated everybody into doing his bidding. The way he purposely upset everybody so that he could better control their actions in the game. Russell definitely invigorated the show with his "unique" style of gameplay. Do I like him as a person? Absolutely not. But I can appreciate him for being an incredibly polarizing character that at least does provide entertainment. Hantz is a talking point, which is what you need to be on reality television. The edit that let him control the narrative and gave him every single bit of screen time? Yeah that is not forgivable.

 

3. Yasmin Giles - "The hood is not the woods." A philosopher. An icon. Such an amazing character. She read Ben his rights during her visit to the Foa Foa camp. She wore high heels to her elimination at Tribal Council. Everything about her was beyond fun! Such an amazing early boot. 🤎

 

4. Jaison Robinson - Maybe not the most visible character ever, but I really, really liked Jaison and appreciated him. He was always spot-on in his assessment of people and very righteous in reading people for filth. He took Ben to task, he took Erik to task, he took Russell to task. I just enjoyed him as a person! I also really enjoyed his personal journey, watching him absolutely suffering in this environment and frequently regretting his decision to join the show, yet sticking it out because of his commitment and power position. I think he was at least given some level of respect as a person in the edit, and we were able to appreciate that this physical specimen + highly intelligent individual did not acclimate to the game like we would naturally expect. But he still formed a solid alliance that he smartly played with until the Final Five!

 

5. Erik Cardona - So he is kind of a d*uche, but I at least have proof of a personality! Some of the fun I had with Samoa is watching him absolutely overreact to everything while sitting on the jury! Erik is a super solid merge boot, which usually means that he had some semblance of a strategy and seemed to be positioned well in the game. Only to be blindsided. Erik fits this mold very well. Pre-merge you could tell that Erik was only second to Russell in terms of leadership, which is a great position to be in imo. Respected, but far enough a way from the actual role of the leader to protect yourself. Erik found himself clotheslined by a tree branch when running after the chicken. I loved how he found a hole in the tree, and only ever gave confessionals or had conversations from that exact spot. He was also hardcore about tribal alliance, pledging some sort of undying love for Galu. I think Erik was as compelling of a side character as one could be on this season. But his most fun moments are obviously his elimination and his drunken melodrama during Final Tribal Council! Such an overconfident, elitist assh*le! WOW. He tried to control all twelve votes, he tried to turn the tide against Monica like a traitor, he tried to come for Jaison and Russell, and he never suspected that making different plans with absolutely everybody would backfire! He had so much confidence it was almost sick! LOL. His tirade at Tribal Council was so cringeworthy, but so entertaining. I was screaming at how terrible he was the entire time. And the look of absolute horror on his face when he was blindsided. What a guy! He then spends the rest of the season eagerly celebrating the dismantling of Galu by Foa Foa from the sidelines, until his shining moment. Final Tribal Council. Erik delivers this drunken melodramatic soliloquy where he denounces Russell as a piece of sh*t, claims his gameplay is no better than Natalie's, and pretty much provides all the necessary logic for his fellow jury members to support the unorthodox gameplay of Natalie in the end. Super interesting take coming from the alpha male strategist. But this at least offers his character layers! An iconic Final Tribal Council speech earns him this high ranking!

 

6. Monica Padilla - Another character that deserved better! A lot of unexplored potential, since she had a collection of fun random moments. But she also is uninteresting until it becomes time to set the story up for her downfall at the hands of Hantz. After losing her core alliance, Monica sees the writing on the wall and decides to leave the game with a bang. Her entire final episode is spent f*cking with Russell in the most glorious way! She actually manages to rile him up in such glorious fashion. We deserved more of her, but alas she is not in the edit. LOL. 

 

7. Natalie White - Poor thing. The winner received....almost no screen time? YIKES. Natalie is the perfect example of why Samoa sucks. You are constantly having to reconcile the potential of a contestant and the reality of the edit. The potential for Natalie is there. There is her killing the rat, the random prayer warrior stuff, the fact that everybody likes her, the Erik blindside. But when you take a global look at the season, she just does not exist. LOL. The producers do not set the season up for the Natalie win at all, which is really disappointing! While I do think Russell far outplayed her, I hate that you are forced into feeling ambivalent towards Natalie because she just is never shown. There is clearly a bit more to Natalie than just riding on the coattails of Russell, and she pretty eloquently laid out her logic during FTC. Natalie clearly integrated with Galu post-merge than any of her other Foa Foa members. Natalie clearly had to have discussions with Russell about game decisions, but nothing is ever shown! She seems likable, but there is just no way to really like her! All super unfortunate. At least she has more moments to shine at the reunion? Except Russell still dominates then, so not really. A really underwhelming winner. 

 

8. Laura Morett - Another missed opportunity! The show clearly wanted her to be this like badass, cutthroat, hardcore, amazing, deceptive grandmother, but the reality of the edit is far different from the fantasy of the show. Laura might as well have been non-existent until the merge, when she randomly became important because the show needed her to be a plot point in The Saga of Hantz. After being pretty non-existent up until right before the merge when we find out that she has a feud with Shambo, she randomly takes center stage for like two episodes? LOL. We suddenly get a rush of info on Laura. She thinks she is leading Galu, has Kelly and Monica in her pocket, hates Shambo, wins two consecutive immunity challenges. Like WTF. Where was this character the entire time?!?! SO. FRUSTRATING. Her feud with Shambo and Hantz could have been even more interesting, if not for the fact that the other two received all of the airplay and she was paid dust. The makings of a fun character are there, but clearly the editors only cared about her momentarily to build up to her pretty entertaining elimination. 

 

9. Dave Ball - He had some fun moments. Like when he called himself Danger Dave and said his favorite sport was love making, but does not do it often enough. LOL. I think Dave is the perfect case of a contestant that was done a disservice by the edit. Instead of being a complex character or having peaks/valleys, he just ends the season as a collection of funny quotes. A lot of his reactions to situations and a lot of what he said during his interactions clearly showed him as this out-there, bizarre person. But we never got to explore any of that! I mean, he fought with Shambo over the chickens? But barely? I think he might be the biggest missed opportunity in terms of the edit.

 

10. Elizabeth "Liz" Kim - I liked Liz! I think on any other season we would see more of her, but it was what it was. Liz definitely was not within the majority alliance on Foa Foa mainly because she did not just back down to Russell. She clearly realized his gameplay, which made her his enemy. Though solid in the challenges, I mainly liked her for her hilarious reactions to people around camp. "YOGGGAAAAA?! THEY WERE DOING YOGA?!?!?!?" "THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB AND PICKING THEIR TOES WHILE I AM MAKING A FIRE." At least she made me laugh, which is better than being invisible?

 

11. John Fincher - Bonus points for at least vocalizing how stupid Galu was in all of their analytical thinking. But I also forgot that John was a person for the majority of the competition. I do not think he became relevant until the merge, nd even then he only became important when the prospect of eliminating Laura became a reality for Foa Foa. John thought Galu was stupid for quickly throwing Erik out of the game, but then turned around and handed the numbers over to Russell? After already having realized that Russell does not mean a single word he says? LOL. An idiot. I loved how shocked he was at his elimination, but he did seem self-absorbed in what little we saw of him. 

 

12. Mick Trimming - Really good looking doctor. Except a really, really boring Survivor contestant. I think by virtue of him being part of the Foa Foa Four, he at least had a more visible edit. And yet I still do not know anything about him? I cannot tell if that is because of the editing issues of the season or because he is just such a boring individual. At least I know the amount of student debt he accrued after med school! What a piss poor performance at Final Tribal Council, and he made not a single move of his own. Hard to care about him.

 

13. Brett Clouser - LOL @ him making the Final Four and us knowing approximately zero things about him. Except for the fact that he is hella religious, which does not make for a fun character. His three consecutive immunity wins + status as the last remaining member of Galu mean nothing when we have never even heard him speak. Sorry not sorry, but he ranks low for being a borewhore.

 

14. Betsy Bolan - Another fun early boot and an interesting side-character that has an important place in the dynamics of Foa Foa. Betsy quickly realized the toxicity that is Ben and Russell, and tried to come for them both in her short stay on the island. Likable underdog with a painful send-off!

 

15. Marisa Calihan - A pretty solid first boot honestly. I feel like there was untapped potential here, but she was kicked out so early since she quickly realized who Russell was as a person/player. Her voice grated, but I wish we could have seen more of her.

 

16. Ashley Trainer - WHO? I just remember her being really pathetic in the challenges, so much so that Russell actually turned his back on the alliance with her and blindsiding her. She was friends with Natalie. IDK. Not much to say here.

 

17. Kelly Sharbaugh - White people need to stop thinking that it is okay to wear dreadlocks as a hairstyle. Very culturally inappropriate, plus hers looked like sh*t. We know absolutely nothing about her, other than the fact that she was a very sore loser. I loved her saying that "[Russell] ruined everything" as she was blindsided. LOL. Nothing more than a blind Laura follower, which I could appreciate more if she received any screen time.

 

18. Russell Swan - I really, really disliked Russell Swan. I cannot even tell you why exactly, but I found him to be an undercover assh*le. As the leader of his tribe, he had zero issue ostracizing Shambo and forcing her to be punished for accidentally losing the chicken? YUCK. I also found him way too confident in his abilities to basically steamroll the competition and easily make it to the endgame, which is why his evacuation (though scary af) feels very karmic in nature. Props to him for helping lead Galu to major dominance in the competition, but yeah. I found the guy unlikable.

 

19. Mike Borassi - His evacuation suits him well, considering his very racist comment about Jaison. 

 

20. Ben Browning - Racist, disgusting piece of sh*t. Nothing good to say about this human.

 

MY FAVORITE MOMENT

 

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SEASON RANKING

 

1. Pearl Islands 

2. Borneo

3. Panama - Exile Island

4. China

5. Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites

6. The Amazon

7. Palau

8. Vanuatu

9. Gabon

10. Guatemala

11. Africa

12. Tocantins

13. Samoa

14. The Australian Outback

15. Cook Islands

16. Marquesas

17. Fiji

18. All-Stars

19. Thailand


WINNER RANKING

 

1. Sandra Diaz-Twine 

2. Todd Herzog

3. Yul Kwon

4. Parvati Shallow

5. Aras Baskauskas

6. Tom Westman

7. Tina Wesson

8. Danni Boatwright

9. Jenna Morasca

10. James "JT" Thomas Jr.

11. Vecepia Towery

12. Ethan Zohn

13. Chris Daugherty

14. Natalie White

15. Earl Cole

16. Amber Brkich-Mariano

17. Brian Heidik

18. Richard Hatch

19. Robert "Bob" Crowley

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Elliott

Elliott

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1 minute ago, Deeee said:

I know, I know. But I still think there is far too little of her for her to be a favorite.

To be fair, I kind of just made her my favourite ironically because of how invisible she was early on, and then once more stuff came out about how great of a player she actually was from her castmates in the years since, I had no choice but to stan. :haha:

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3 minutes ago, Elliott said:

To be fair, I kind of just made her my favourite ironically because of how invisible she was early on, and then once more stuff came out about how great of a player she actually was from her castmates in the years since, I had no choice but to stan. :haha:


I always hate hearing how much great content ends up on the cutting room floor. I am glad that you told me what you did about her, so I could at least have something to appreciate about her. Since the show clearly gave zero f*cks about her.

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50 minutes ago, QueenKalie said:

This Russell love is gross.

 

26 minutes ago, Alex95 said:

Yeah between here and the rankdown there's a Russell renaissance happening and I DON'T WANT IT!


LOL! I mean I do not like Russell, as stated in my ranking. There is just no way to rank him any lower given the circumstances of the season.

 

He is just not as horrible as I imagined? 

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