Survivor megathread

[SnowLabrador]

I met Jonny Fairplay, Figgy, Taj, and Keith & Whitney at a watch party in Nashville for tonight's episode.

Dude, that's awesome!

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Another episode discussing the role of race on Survivor last week, with Drea and Maryanne playing their idols together so as to avoid three black contestants going home in a row. Raised quite a bit of controversy from the usual folks (Russell Hantz, etc), but what Drea and Maryanne did was both good gameplay (since they were the targets) and important to bring up.

[7,052,770]

Yeah, this season is really good. Depending on how it ends, potentially top 5 (!)

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Tonight was surprising for me.  I really thought that the person voted out was going to win!

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

MARYANNE WINNER EDIT

like Fabio but smart

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

Blast from the past: Survivor: Palau castaway Jolanda Jones is running for the Texas State House of Representatives, and looks to be in a strong position to win the primary runoff (she got 41% in the primary, ahead of the second place finisher who got 20%) and likely win the general in this safe Democratic seat in Houston.

Ah, Palau -- that was a fantastic season.  I don't think there's ever been such lopsided domination by one tribe before or since.  It really was a remarkable thing. 

[MasterJedi]

MARYANNE WINNER EDIT

like Fabio but smart

Unlike Fabio she’s incredibly annoying.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Blast from the past: Survivor: Palau castaway Jolanda Jones is running for the Texas State House of Representatives, and looks to be in a strong position to win the primary runoff (she got 41% in the primary, ahead of the second place finisher who got 20%) and likely win the general in this safe Democratic seat in Houston.

Ah, Palau -- that was a fantastic season.  I don't think there's ever been such lopsided domination by one tribe before or since.  It really was a remarkable thing. 

I’ve been thinking about watching Palau and Guatemala back to back to get the full Stephanie LaGrossa experience. What a rise and fall.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

Blast from the past: Survivor: Palau castaway Jolanda Jones is running for the Texas State House of Representatives, and looks to be in a strong position to win the primary runoff (she got 41% in the primary, ahead of the second place finisher who got 20%) and likely win the general in this safe Democratic seat in Houston.

Ah, Palau -- that was a fantastic season.  I don't think there's ever been such lopsided domination by one tribe before or since.  It really was a remarkable thing. 

I’ve been thinking about watching Palau and Guatemala back to back to get the full Stephanie LaGrossa experience. What a rise and fall.

Those were two fantastic seasons of Survivor back-to-back and the last of what I consider "classic Survivor" (before exile island, before immunity idols, etc. etc.).  Not to say that those were bad additions to the game, but Palau and Guatemala signal the end to Survivor's original chapter. 

[7,052,770]

Blast from the past: Survivor: Palau castaway Jolanda Jones is running for the Texas State House of Representatives, and looks to be in a strong position to win the primary runoff (she got 41% in the primary, ahead of the second place finisher who got 20%) and likely win the general in this safe Democratic seat in Houston.

Ah, Palau -- that was a fantastic season.  I don't think there's ever been such lopsided domination by one tribe before or since.  It really was a remarkable thing. 

I’ve been thinking about watching Palau and Guatemala back to back to get the full Stephanie LaGrossa experience. What a rise and fall.

Don't forget the first 2 episodes of Heroes vs. Villains

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Blast from the past: Survivor: Palau castaway Jolanda Jones is running for the Texas State House of Representatives, and looks to be in a strong position to win the primary runoff (she got 41% in the primary, ahead of the second place finisher who got 20%) and likely win the general in this safe Democratic seat in Houston.

Ah, Palau -- that was a fantastic season.  I don't think there's ever been such lopsided domination by one tribe before or since.  It really was a remarkable thing. 

I’ve been thinking about watching Palau and Guatemala back to back to get the full Stephanie LaGrossa experience. What a rise and fall.

Don't forget the first 2 episodes of Heroes vs. Villains

I already saw HvV when I was 12 so I’m basically an expert.

[7,052,770]

Here's my ranking of the remaining contestants by how I see their probability of winning:

• Maryanne - I think she beats anyone in a jury vote, with the move to take out Omar being the missing piece of her story. And she has an idol to get her to the F4. So she can either win by winning the F4 immunity (not very likely), convincing the winner to save her at F4 (I can't imagine why anyone would do it, but we did see that mistake made in 41), or else by winning the firemaking challenge (basically a lucky coinflip).
• Mike - I think he would probably lose to Lindsay and definitely to Maryanne. After spending the whole season talking about loyalty, he has betrayed a lot of people on the jury. But, I think he's pretty likely to get to the F3 thanks to his idol, and he does have a combo (Jonathan and Romeo) he can probably beat.
• Lindsay - I think she has a tough road to even get to the F3. I think she's a lock to go at F5 if she doesn't win immunity (though she has a pretty good shot at it). I don't think she can beat Maryanne, but she'll probably win against any other F3 combo.
• Jonathan - He needed to get another goat to the end (Rocksroy? Tori?) to have a real shot. I think it's possible he could draw some votes against Mike and Romeo, but i'll be pretty suprised if he pulls out the win. If Lindsay wins F5 immunity, he's toast, but otherwise I think he has a pretty good chance to get to the F3.
• Romeo - I can't see him getting a single jury vote. I think he's pretty likely to make the Final 3 for that reason.

Prediction: Jonathan wins F5 immunity, Lindsay voted out.
Jonathan wins F4 immunity. Puts Maryanne vs. Mike in fire. Maryanne wins.
Maryanne wins the jury vote 7-1-0, with Mike voting for Jonathan.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Jonathan's dad is currently in last place in the early returns of the GOP primary for Governor of Alabama

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

SHE DID IT FOLKS

HERE’S MARYANNE!!!!!

[7,052,770]

Alright, here are my best guesses of everyone's political leanings, based mostly on what I've seen from the show and picked up on here and on Reddit. I didn't do any personal research on anyone, so these could be wildly inaccurate.

In order from right to left:

• Tori - Oklahoma and apparently a strong Christian. And possibly an anti-vaxxer, although I'm pretty sure all contestants were required to be vaccinated for COVID and other diseases to go to Fiji in the first place.
• Jonathan - Alabama and the son of a Republican politician (wannabe politician, more accurately?). Although he (and Tori) both seem largely fine with LGBT people and minorities, so neither is your stereotypical religious right/"values voter." I doubt they would cast someone who would object to gay or trans people in modern Survivor anyway.
• Daniel - I could see him as a Biden 2020 voter, the type of person that was a Republican until Trump and hopes to return to the party one day. EDIT: moving him to Daniel
• Marya - No vibe either way. Not sure what her ethnic background is, but I would put her a couple of tiers down if she is black. EDIT: moving her to Marya
• Mike - Could go either way, but I suspect he's more likely to be Democratic, given his background and eagerness to learn about others' religion.
• Lindsay - Another that think is more likely to be Democratic than not, but wouldn't shock me if she were Republican. I don't remember if she ever said what denomination of Judaism she's a part of. EDIT: moving her to Lindsay
• Jenny - If you told me there was 1 person on the cast that would surprisingly be a Trump supporter, I'd probably pick her. Not she gave me that vibe, per say, but I wouldn't totally rule it out. Alternatively, it wouldn't surprise me if she is extremely liberal.
• Zach - No real indication, but I just assume Democratic.
• Lydia - No real indication, but I just assume Democratic.
• Rocksroy - I could've believed centrist early on, but he seemed to strongly support the BLM discussion.
• Omar - Although he lives a very conservative lifestyle personally, I would assume he supports Democrats 100%.
• Romeo - I would have put him in the grey tier until I knew for sure that he is gay. Seems to be feminist as well. On the other hand, he also seems to come from a conservative family.
• Jackson - Transman who was previously rejected by his family. Never said anything about politics, but I just can't imagine him being a Republican or Trump supporter.
• Swati - Gives super liberal vibes, but I ranked her here because everyone below her on the list explicitly said so.
• Maryanne - Strong feminist and BLM supporter.
• Drea - Strong feminist and BLM supporter.
• Chanelle - Strong feminist and BLM supporter and also LGBT I believe?
• Hai - Gay ethnic minority who wore a shirt that said "FEMINIST." Was a little harsh in accusing others of misogyny, which no female contestant did (at least not in a comment that aired).

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Lindsay openly called Jonathan a misogynist in her exit interviews, FWIW. And Daniel is a clerk for Raymond Kethledge, who was the runner-up for Brett Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS seat.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Alright, here are my best guesses of everyone's political leanings, based mostly on what I've seen from the show and picked up on here and on Reddit. I didn't do any personal research on anyone, so these could be wildly inaccurate.

In order from right to left:

• Tori - Oklahoma and apparently a strong Christian. And possibly an anti-vaxxer, although I'm pretty sure all contestants were required to be vaccinated for COVID and other diseases to go to Fiji in the first place.
• Jonathan - Alabama and the son of a Republican politician (wannabe politician, more accurately?). Although he (and Tori) both seem largely fine with LGBT people and minorities, so neither is your stereotypical religious right/"values voter." I doubt they would cast someone who would object to gay or trans people in modern Survivor anyway.
• Daniel - I could see him as a Biden 2020 voter, the type of person that was a Republican until Trump and hopes to return to the party one day.
• Marya - No vibe either way. Not sure what her ethnic background is, but I would put her a couple of tiers down if she is black.
• Mike - Could go either way, but I suspect he's more likely to be Democratic, given his background and eagerness to learn about others' religion.
• Lindsay - Another that think is more likely to be Democratic than not, but wouldn't shock me if she were Republican. I don't remember if she ever said what denomination of Judaism she's a part of.
• Jenny - If you told me there was 1 person on the cast that would surprisingly be a Trump supporter, I'd probably pick her. Not she gave me that vibe, per say, but I wouldn't totally rule it out. Alternatively, it wouldn't surprise me if she is extremely liberal.
• Zach - No real indication, but I just assume Democratic.
• Lydia - No real indication, but I just assume Democratic.
• Rocksroy - I could've believed centrist early on, but he seemed to strongly support the BLM discussion.
• Omar - Although he lives a very conservative lifestyle personally, I would assume he supports Democrats 100%.
• Romeo - I would have put him in the grey tier until I knew for sure that he is gay. Seems to be feminist as well. On the other hand, he also seems to come from a conservative family.
• Jackson - Transman who was previously rejected by his family. Never said anything about politics, but I just can't imagine him being a Republican or Trump supporter.
• Swati - Gives super liberal vibes, but I ranked her here because everyone below her on the list explicitly said so.
• Maryanne - Strong feminist and BLM supporter.
• Drea - Strong feminist and BLM supporter.
• Chanelle - Strong feminist and BLM supporter and also LGBT I believe?
• Hai - Gay ethnic minority who wore a shirt that said "FEMINIST." Was a little harsh in accusing others of misogyny, which no female contestant did (at least not in a comment that aired).

I think you did a decent job, but I'd make a few changes.

-Jonathan and Tori (relative to interactions with non-straight people)- It's possible that they could disagree with homosexuality but treat the individual with respect and love.

-Daniel is definitely a Republican and has worked on a lot of Republican campaigns.  His pregame interview ("signed pocket constitutions") reeks of a sort of intellectual, but somewhat cringy, conservatism.

-Lindsay is highly likely to be a Democrat.  She heavily implied that she was very secular in the religious conversation and seemed to have very liberal views on gender roles.  And, she seemed to heavily push back on Jonathan's views in the racial conversation.

-Omar is Canadian, and I have no idea how devout Muslims in Canada vote.  For what it's worth, I have a friend from college who is a super devout Muslim and seems broadly uncomfortable with both American parties.  It wouldn't surprise me if it's similar for Omar in Canada.

-Rocksroy didn't really give off that political of vibes, even in that one tribal council.

-Mike comes across as a conservative (with his firefighting background) and personality.  That he's interested in having conversations with others doesn't seem to negate that for me.

If I were to make a list from right to left:

1. Jonathan
2. Daniel
3. Tori
4. Mike
5. Marya (really don't know where to put her)
6. Omar
7. Rocksroy
8. Zach
9. Jenny
---------everyone below here is without question generally on the left-------
10. Lindsay (seems way more establishment than a lot below her)
11. Maryanne (is a seminary student, so maybe she's a little less progressive in some areas)
12. Romeo
13-17. Everyone else, except for #18
18. Hai (unquestionably gives off the most left-wing vibe of everyone on this cast)

[7,052,770]

-Jonathan and Tori (relative to interactions with non-straight people)- It's possible that they could disagree with homosexuality but treat the individual with respect and love.

Fair point and I didn't mean to imply that a conservative person isn't capable of being polite and respectful to an LGBT person. But Jonathan (and Maryanne and Omar for that matter) had a very "wow, that's pretty neat!" reaction to Jackson telling the tribe he's trans (that's how it struck me at least).

-Daniel is definitely a Republican and has worked on a lot of Republican campaigns.  His pregame interview ("signed pocket constitutions") reeks of a sort of intellectual, but somewhat cringy, conservatism.

Yeah, I will move him to the same tier as Tori, and retract the speculation about him voting for Biden.

-Lindsay is highly likely to be a Democrat.  She heavily implied that she was very secular in the religious conversation and seemed to have very liberal views on gender roles.  And, she seemed to heavily push back on Jonathan's views in the racial conversation.

Yeah, I could see her in a darker red tier.

-Omar is Canadian, and I have no idea how devout Muslims in Canada vote.  For what it's worth, I have a friend from college who is a super devout Muslim and seems broadly uncomfortable with both American parties.  It wouldn't surprise me if it's similar for Omar in Canada.

This is wild, but I somehow totally missed the fact that he's Canadian, and that's despite me ... (nerd alert) taking notes while I watch the show. (I don't do that for any other show, just Survivor, so I can get to know the cast quickly.) I even used the cast collage from InsideSurvivor that clearly labels him as being from Guelph, Ontario, and still it never stuck in my mind that he's Canadian. With that in mind, I would assume he is very anti-Trump, but otherwise doesn't care about American politics at all.

-Rocksroy didn't really give off that political of vibes, even in that one tribal council.

As I recall, he didn't nod and gesticulate from the jury bench like Chanelle did (though he was probably kinda pissed to have been voted off), but did say his final words how proud he was of Drea and Maryanne. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's just not a very political person.

-Mike comes across as a conservative (with his firefighting background) and personality.  That he's interested in having conversations with others doesn't seem to negate that for me.

Interesting. In my mind, firefighters are a Democratic-leaning subgroup (I'm remembering Trump going on some kind of Twitter rant about how the idea that firefighters back Biden over him is false and ridiculous), but I think Mike would have comes across to me as  "could go either way but I'm guessing Democratic" anyway.

5. Marya (really don't know where to put her)

She's from the Indianapolis suburbs, which probably slightly implies Republican. After looking at Google, I actually don't think she's black. I will move her to the lightest blue shade.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

On our first full day in the Dominican Republic, our team took a boat cruise to an island off the coast of the DR before the mission trip part of the trip began.  And, while we were on our boat, we saw what was unmistakably (a foreign version of) Survivor filming.  We saw numerous challenge sets (one of which had tons of cameras and had people at the start, as if it was about to be used) and two tribal camps.

It was an incredibly beautiful setting for Survivor, but wouldn't be that remote.  While it is part of a national park, there were boats passing by not far from where it was filming.

[7,052,770]

On our first full day in the Dominican Republic, our team took a boat cruise to an island off the coast of the DR before the mission trip part of the trip began.  And, while we were on our boat, we saw what was unmistakably (a foreign version of) Survivor filming.  We saw numerous challenge sets (one of which had tons of cameras and had people at the start, as if it was about to be used) and two tribal camps.

It was an incredibly beautiful setting for Survivor, but wouldn't be that remote.  While it is part of a national park, there were boats passing by not far from where it was filming.

That's pretty cool, I think a lot of European versions film there.

[7,052,770]

Is anyone else watching The Challenge: USA, which includes 8 former Survivors on the cast, along with people from Big Brother, The Amazing Race, and Love Island?

They really cast some heavyweights on the Survivor side, with Ben, Tyson, Sarah, and Domenick.

[7,052,770]

Survivor South Africa finishes yet another fantastic season. It's absolutely worth a watch if you like the American version.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Apparently, Survivor 37 winner Nick Wilson (R) ran unopposed for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives this week.

[7,052,770]

Apparently, Survivor 37 winner Nick Wilson (R) ran unopposed for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives this week.

Well that's some final confirmation of where to put him on the season 40 chart.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Apparently, Survivor 37 winner Nick Wilson (R) ran unopposed for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives this week.

Mike White should have won.