So I was going to include a Blood vs. Water Preview when the cast was revealed, but I don't want to wait that long, so I'll just give my thoughts of the latest season of Survivor and share another dream cast for a season of Survivor I thought about. :D
Survivor: Caramoan[]
The Favorites[]
Before the season started, I wrote a blog giving my thoughts on each of the returning players. What I thought about them then is pretty much what I still think about them now, but with some changes:
- My love for Malcolm and Corinne grew exponentially. I liked seeing them work together and were my favorite pair in the awfully named Stealth R Us alliance.
- I grew a little respect for Phillip as a player. He still annoyed the heck out of me, but he did manage to make an alliance that dominated the game so I give him props for that. I still don't want to see him play again.
- Brandon should have never been casted. I would hardly call him a "Favorite" and I don't think he was mentally able to play again. The way production exploited his meltdowns is just disgusting and his biggest one was uncomfortable to watch. If Jeff thinks that stuff like that makes for good tv, then I weep for the future of Survivor.
Anyways, I wish that Brenda Lowe and Erik Reichenbach got more screen time. They made it very far in the game, yet we barely got any insights into their strategies.
Cochran is a deserving winner, but I feel like his win was so obvious. At the final six, he and Dawn were the only people who weren't given invisible edits and once Brenda was voted off, all hope for Dawn was gone.
The Fans[]
I think it's kind of sad that only about half of the fans were real fans. In a season called Fans vs. Favorites, I thought that casting would have done a much better job. But anyways, there were some fans that stood out to me:
- Reynold Toepfer - Even before the game started, I knew I'd like this guy and I absolutely did. He wasn't the smartest player, but I liked watching him find idols, dominate in the challenges, going (relatively) far despite having his back against the wall since the beginning of the game. I heard that he was one of the recruits (not sure if it's true or not), but I still like him and would like to see him play again.
- Sherri - I didn't necessarily like her, but I liked how she was able to gain control of her tribe at the start of the game. It really sucks how she faded into the background at the merge after playing a really good first half.
- Laura = She was a really promising contestant and could have done very well had her tribe not lost that many challenges.
- Matt and Michael - This pair could have done very well had they not been put on a season which favored the returning players.
During the pre-swap phase of the game, I was actually rooting for the Cool Kids Alliance. I would have preferred Shamar going earlier than when he actually did because he annoyed me so much. But yeah, post-swap it was really sad watching the fans get voted out but at least two of them made the final four.
The Reunion[]
I feel like this was a pretty awesome Reunion. Lol jk! :D
That was the poorest excuse for a "Reunion" I have ever seen. From start to finish, it was just horrible. First off, none of the pre-Jury contestants got to sit on stage and were never given the opportunity to speak or were even referenced to. Like what kind of reunion is that? CBS or whatever claims that there wasn't enough room to fit all the contestants on stage, but I think that it was extremely obvious that they were just trying to hide the fact that Brandon got banned from attending.
They pull that, and then Jeff goes to talk to people who weren't even in the season! Like what the heck! It's nice to see that Rudy is doing well, but there was absolutely no need to talk to him. And after that, he goes to talk to the guy who probably got more airtime than Erik and Brenda combined, Boston Rob. I already hated the fact that he was mentioned almost every single episode, but then he comes up to promote his book which just states basic Survivor do' and don'ts. And to add insult to injury, Jeff even goes to talk to this little kid who's too nervous to even form a sentence. Seriously Probst?
But yeah, this was a really bad Reunion show. And I don't even think Michael, Erik, Eddie, and Sherri got a chance to speak either.
Sorry for my anger and bitterness, but these are my honest feelings about it and I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who feels the same way.
At least one good thing came out of it:
<3
Dream Cast[]
Now that that's over with, I just wanted to share my idea of what I think it would be a really cool concept. If two Survivors from the same season who didn't get along or didn't like each other were brought back and were forced to work with each other to win the game.
The rules would be like this:
- Five pairs would make up each tribe.
- The pairs are allowed to vote each other off, but they get more prize money the longer they stay in the game together
These would be my picks.
| sookjai|Tribe 1}} | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sookjai|File:S25 abimaria t.jpg}} | sookjai|File:S25 rc t.jpg}} | sookjai|File:S3 brandon t.jpg}} | sookjai|File:S3 frank t.jpg}} | sookjai|File:S15 courtney t.jpg}} | sookjai|File:S15 jeanrobert t.jpg}} | sookjai|File:S24 kim t.jpg}} | sookjai|File:S24 troyzan t.jpg}} | sookjai|File:S18 sierra t.jpg}} | sookjai|File:S18 tyson t.jpg}} |
| sookjai|Abi-Maria & RC}} | sookjai|Brandon & Frank}} | sookjai|Courtney & Jean-Robert}} | sookjai|Kim & Troyzan}} | sookjai|Sierra & Tyson}} | |||||
| Tribe 2 | |||||||||
| File:S2 alicia t.jpg | File:S2 kimmi t.jpg | File:S12 aras t.jpg | File:S12 terry t.jpg | File:S11 bobbyjon t.jpg | File:S11 jamie t.jpg | File:S19 laura t.jpg | File:S19 shambo t.jpg | File:S26 reynold t.jpg | File:S26 sherri t.jpg |
| Alicia & Kimmi | Aras & Terry | Bobby Jon & Jamie | Laura & Shambo | Reynold & Sherri | |||||
- Other pairs included: Kelly & Sue (Borneo), Kelly & Lex (Africa), Jud & Margaret (Guatemala), Courtney & Shane (Panama), Dreamz & Yau-Man (Fiji), Joel & Mikey B (Micronesia), David & Sarita (Redemption Island), and Alicia & Christina (One World).
I don't necessarily want this to happen (I want all-newbie seasons), but just who I would pick if it did.
And just to let you know, I didn't pick people who have played three or more times. People shouldn't need a fourth try to try to win the game.
So yeah, these are my picks, who would you pick? Comment! :D