Survivor megathread

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Not sure if there's any interest in this or if there are any Survivor fans here, but season 38 premieres tomorrow night.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Actually, 'Survivor' is a guilty pleasure of mine still. I'm looking forward to the new season but I don't really understand this season's gimmick. Honestly, a lot of their gimmicks, especially the ones where they arbitrarily classify people, seem to be falling short of engrossing me lately.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Actually, 'Survivor' is a guilty pleasure of mine still. I'm looking forward to the new season but I don't really understand this season's gimmick. Honestly, a lot of their gimmicks, especially the ones where they arbitrarily classify people, seem to be falling short of engrossing me lately.

I'd agree with that, but David vs. Goliath was the best season in years.  After numerous years as a fan, I had lost interest and didn't watch seasons 35 or 36.  I got back into it big-time last season and have even been binge watching old seasons, both re-watches of ones from when I was a kid and a few of the ones I missed because I was really young.

[Boobs]

Actually, 'Survivor' is a guilty pleasure of mine still. I'm looking forward to the new season but I don't really understand this season's gimmick. Honestly, a lot of their gimmicks, especially the ones where they arbitrarily classify people, seem to be falling short of engrossing me lately.

Gimmicks are really what has made Survivor subpar. In my opinion, it's lost its charm – the survival aspect – that really defined the early seasons. My opinion has always been that there's no need for season gimmicks beyond like, men vs women or fans vs favorites, although Heroes vs Villains is great too.

I'd like to see the producers try to do a season like in the old days, less starting supplies, more difficult challenges, maybe an idol or exile island or something, really try to get that magic back. Doubt it'll happen though.


Also a personal qualm of mine is that they stopped recording a unique Ancient Voices for each season.

[tmthforu94]

I will be watching, of course. Also not a fan of the gimmicks, but will admit that last season was one of the best in years! There wasn't much dirty play but a lot of great gameplay and blindsides!!!

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Since this is a political forum, here are my guesses of the politics of the castaways:

MOST CONSERVATIVE:
Gavin
Lauren
Chris
Rick
Joe
Wardog
Wentworth
Ron
Reem (although I think she could be either extreme)
David
Eric
Keith
Julie
Julia
Aubry
Victoria
Wendy
Aurora
MOST LIBERAL

[SWE]

Haven't started watching yet but Mike was robbed last season

[tmthforu94]

Haven't started watching yet but Mike was robbed last season

Yeah he was most deserving but I wonder if people thought Nick needed the money more. I'm always a proponent that the best player wins no matter what, that is how the game should be played.

As for last night - it was an OK premiere. Didn't see a lot of big personalities or villains emerge. Reem could have been fun - we'll see if she makes it back in.

[MasterJedi]

Actually, 'Survivor' is a guilty pleasure of mine still. I'm looking forward to the new season but I don't really understand this season's gimmick. Honestly, a lot of their gimmicks, especially the ones where they arbitrarily classify people, seem to be falling short of engrossing me lately.

Gimmicks are really what has made Survivor subpar. In my opinion, it's lost its charm – the survival aspect – that really defined the early seasons. My opinion has always been that there's no need for season gimmicks beyond like, men vs women or fans vs favorites, although Heroes vs Villains is great too.

I'd like to see the producers try to do a season like in the old days, less starting supplies, more difficult challenges, maybe an idol or exile island or something, really try to get that magic back. Doubt it'll happen though.


Also a personal qualm of mine is that they stopped recording a unique Ancient Voices for each season.

After the first 5 seasons they realized that seeing people starve and sit in one spot doing nothin wasn't good television.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I finally saw the premiere, and while I'm still not sure about the gimmick this season (mostly because they seem to be building up suspense for it), this cast looks interesting, even beyond the returning players. When the cast looks fun to watch or have interesting or unique personalities with 'Survivor' I can typically look past any other flaws with a season or its setup. We'll see where it goes from here, but I am more intrigued by this premiere episode more than any other in recent years.

[The Ex-Factor]

This gimmick is a shameless attempt to keep returning players in the game longer (much like Redemption Island for Boston Rob, Russell, Coach, and Ozzy back in the day).

I'm never a fan of mixing returning players and new players. Looking forward to see Joe, Kelley, David, and Aubry run the game

[100% pro-life no matter what]

This gimmick is a shameless attempt to keep returning players in the game longer (much like Redemption Island for Boston Rob, Russell, Coach, and Ozzy back in the day).

I'm never a fan of mixing returning players and new players. Looking forward to see Joe, Kelley, David, and Aubry run the game

Although RI did little for any of them (except Ozzy).  Russell was eliminated in his first duel and Rob and Coach never were sent to RI.  With this twist, my worry is that there will be the whole cast still technically in the game in the finale, making the jury and jury management really weird.

I thought the premiere was very good though.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Given that they are filming in Fiji and having to make new twists (since they can't differentiate seasons on location anymore), do y'all think a Republicans vs. Democrats season could work?

[Progressive Pessimist]

Given that they are filming in Fiji and having to make new twists (since they can't differentiate seasons on location anymore), do y'all think a Republicans vs. Democrats season could work?

That sounds like a really bad idea in our current political environment.

[Lachi]

Given that they are filming in Fiji and having to make new twists (since they can't differentiate seasons on location anymore), do y'all think a Republicans vs. Democrats season could work?

So... You want the show to be killed off?

[Farmlands]

Thanks to this thread, I started watching Survivor's supposed best seasons (Borneo, Pearl Islands, China) and I am addicted to the show. I tried watching one of the most recent seasons, Cagayan, but I found it too gimmicky and with the #hashtags splashed all over the screen, it just was not for me.

[SnowLabrador]

VERY late to the party, but I'm a major Survivor fan. I even have 36 buffs. This season sucks, though.

[Progressive Pessimist]

VERY late to the party, but I'm a major Survivor fan. I even have 36 buffs. This season sucks, though.

I don't mind it so far but I will say that I am not digging the edge of extinction gimmick. It's basically just redemption island 2.0. I mean, is this season not going to feature anyone leaving unless it's voluntary? How is that going to work?

[SnowLabrador]

So the season has concluded, and I didn't really like it that much. I'm hesitant to say that anyone was robbed, since getting the jury to vote for you is the bread and butter of Survivor, but it was as close to a "wrong" decision as I think there has ever been..

[100% pro-life no matter what]

So the season has concluded, and I didn't really like it that much. I'm hesitant to say that anyone was robbed, since getting the jury to vote for you is the bread and butter of Survivor, but it was as close to a "wrong" decision as I think there has ever been..

It's the least satisfied I have been in the ending in many years (since being angry that Russell lost HvV, but that may have had something to do with being 14 back then).  Gavin would not have been an elite winner by any means, but he (while under-edited) actually did play a solid game and should have beaten Chris.

I actually thought this was a pretty solid season until the finale.  The finale was really exciting, but rendered much of the rest of the season irrelevant, especially since they barely showed Chris both during his time on EoE and in the first three episodes before he was voted out.

[SWE]

Someone who got voted out shouldn't win. Terrible outcome.

[7,052,770]

Someone who got voted out shouldn't win. Terrible outcome.

I'm not sure if I agree 100%, but Chris had a month on the "Edge of Extinction" to bond with the jury outside of the context of the game. It's no surprise that the few votes he didn't get were from people voted out relatively late and didn't have as much time with him there.

I wouldn't particularly object to a Redemption Island/Edge of Extinction that just happened once, at the merge and then no more (kinda like the Outcasts twist from way back in the day), but the idea that a guy can get voted out on Day 8, sit around for a month hanging out with the jury, and then jump back in and win is crazy.

Also, does anyone actually like the mandatory firemaking challenge at F4? Surely not, right?

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Someone who got voted out shouldn't win. Terrible outcome.

I'm not sure if I agree 100%, but Chris had a month on the "Edge of Extinction" to bond with the jury outside of the context of the game. It's no surprise that the few votes he didn't get were from people voted out relatively late and didn't have as much time with him there.

I wouldn't particularly object to a Redemption Island/Edge of Extinction that just happened once, at the merge and then no more (kinda like the Outcasts twist from way back in the day), but the idea that a guy can get voted out on Day 8, sit around for a month hanging out with the jury, and then jump back in and win is crazy.

Also, does anyone actually like the mandatory firemaking challenge at F4? Surely not, right?

Not a huge fan of the firemaking, but it wouldn't be as bad if they made the last chance to play an idol at F6 so you couldn't count on idoling your way to making fire to a jury vote.  I would have voted for Gavin at FTC out of principle, but I understand why the jury was wanting to give it to Chris (to validate their EoE experience of sorts).  I also wouldn't have had a problem with someone like Devens winning after playing the whole post-merge, but it's just different for someone like Chris who didn't play from the end of the third episode to the beginning of the finale.

David vs. Goliath was a good season, and EoE was really fun until the finale, but it still feels like the producers need to find what works.  Just like China finally figured out the proper formula after experimental seasons like Cook Islands and Fiji (sparking the "Golden Age" of seasons 15-20) and the show returned to form in Philippines after the "Dark Ages" of Nicaragua-One World, Survivor needs to figure out what works.  Given the season 40 twist confirmed by Inside Survivor, I'm hopeful that it can act as a reset (and be an absolutely epic season in its own right).

[Huey Long is a Republican]

I was bamboozled into thinking it was about the Book Series by Erin Hunter and thought I had another fan of Warriors and other EH books with me.

[Sol]

Just saw this lol.

Jeff Probst should be canned.