Finally moved into my new apartment, and what better way to celebrate than a new “Survivor” Blog? This week, we tackle The Australian Outback, arguably the most popular and recognizable season after Borneo. Certainly, the objective information about the season holds that to be true, but is the reputation really deserved?
Once again, I will warn people that this blog will contain spoliers. If you have not seen the season/are considering seeing the season, go to the bottom of the page and read the section labled “Abstract”. Now, to the analysis.
CAST
Many consider The Australian Outback’s cast to be the best, after possibly Borneo. Again, it’s certainly one of the most recognizable out there, with a lot of famous (or in some cases infamous) “Survivor” names. Colby Donaldson, the Challenge-winning Texan, immediately springs to mind as a fan favorite, along with, to a lesser degree, his would-be girlfriend and prototype “Survivor” villainess, Jerri Manthey. Winner Tina Wesson is also fairly well-liked and remembered, although I can’t say why, save that she was a nice alternative to the polazing winner that is Richard Hatch (“Survivor Borneo”). Elizabeth Hasselbeck (then Filarski) is, of course, still in the public conciousness due to her job as conservative commentator on “The View”. Accordingly, her compatriate, the lovable Kentucky schoolteacher Rodger Bingham, is also quite fondly remembered. Jeff Varner has a reputation for being a prototype for the mindset that future castaways would take (as well as one of the first people screwed over by a twist, but we’ll get to that in the “Twist” section). One of the most physical women on the show at the time, Alicia Calaway is also well remembered, though more for her actions on “Survivor All-Stars” than anything, which we’ll get to in the analysis of that season. And, of course, let us not forget crazy Mike Skupin, the pig hunter made doubly famous by falling into the fire, burning his hands, and being the first (and, for the next 10 seasons, ONLY) “Survivor” medevac.
Once again, CBS does a fairly good job with casting this season. There’s a nice variety in personality types and strategies, although I notice that a lot of good old Southerners made the merge this season, and there appears to be a somewhat higher percentage of them this season (on Borneo, for instance, the only people around who could be considered Southerners would be B.B and Susan, and in the later case, it’s more the redneck stereotype than actually being Southern, as Sue was from Wisconsin). Still, a good polarization of the purely physical and the purely mental, as well as occupational and economic class variety.
There are only two “drawbacks” to the cast of The Australian Outback, and one of them is arguable. The first is that, overall, this cast was “nicer” than that of Borneo, for better or worse. This might seem paradoxical, as unlike Borneo, no one went on a rant about the immorality of alliances (well, ok, one or two did, but on Borneo, the only ones who didn’t rant against it were those in the Tagi alliance, making the number of ranters much larger). However, rather than vote straight down tribal lines, these people kept around some of the good, likeable people, rather than some despicable people for the sake of alliances. Also, people just genuinely found it easier to identify with the cast of The Australian Outback than it did with Borneo. Now, this came at the expense of strategic gameplay, to a degree, and thus The Australian Outback was not nearly as cutthroat as it’s predecessor. This can be either a good thing or a bad thing in people’s eyes. For me, however, while I prefer more cutthroat seasons, this one was also more unpredictable in it’s boot order (which I’ll talk about in the “Overall” section), and that, for me, makes it enjoyable.
The other drawback is that, while Borneo’s cast, even the early boots, were all memorable in some way, The Australian Outback’s was not, unfortunately. Sure, it had a lot of highly memorable people, especially when compared to later seasons, but it had a few flops as well, particularly the early boots, who tended to have one (weak) defining characteristic. Debb Eaton, the first boot, is remembered only because of an overblown scandal that came as a result of her being on the show. Taking only what was on the show, she was actually quite a boring first boot. I can’t really count her as unmemorable (given that I called Alicia memorable even though it was mainly for her actions in a later season) but if I’m really technical, she qualifies. Kel Gleason is only remembered for being involved in the infamous “beef jerky” debacle, which really had less to do with him and more to do with Jerri than anyone. Mitchell Olsen was tall, but otherwise turned in a very dull performance. Kimmi Kappenberg is somewhat remembered for her refusal to eat cow brain at a challenge (due to her being a vegetarian), but beyond that, nothing. These in and of themselves would be excusable, but a few flops made it through to the merge. Amber Brkitch did nothing either of her seasons (and is only famous for winning “Survivor All-Stars”, which I’ll argue she shouldn’t have been on when we get there, and marrying Boston Rob [“Survivor Marquesas”]), Nick Brown really did nothing of note, and although I remember him fondly, Keith Famie is also remembered for almost nothing, save possibly being a bad chef.
Now, as I say, these are only a few people, and overall excusable. However, compared to Borneo’s home run cast, they seem a little lackluster.
Score: 8 out of 10
CHALLENGES
This is where the true strength of The Australian Outback shows. I mentioned in my earlier retrospective that although Borneo’s challenges were good, they were lacking in the epic quality of furture challenges. This is not true of The Australian Outback. Admittedly, some of this has to do with the location, which provides a fantastic backdrop for the challenges, the jumping off the cliff reward challenge in the second episode being a prime example. Even so, though, the challenges have been increased in size, scale, and difficulty, again with a good mix of physical and mental challenges. Now, many of these challenges did not become classics, as with most of the challenges of Borneo, but you’ll still find the genesis of some challenges here. For instance, this is the origin of the food auction. The one minor drawback of this season is the lack of Probst narration on this season. Now, I know a lot of people find it annoying and distracting, but I think it’s funny, and without the narration, it was sometimes a little hard to tell who was ahead, such as on a sliding puzzle reward challenge. Still, overall a very strong season on challenges.
Score: 9 out of 10
TWISTS
If challenges are The Australian Outback’s strength, then it’s twists are it’s weakness. This was still before the concept of producer induced twists came about, so the only thing that could really be considered a “twist” in that sense is the fact that game time was increased to 42, and I’m not particularly fond of that twist. It just felt like things were dragging, and just seemed wrong somehow.
Still, this season did give us a few people/nature related twists. Although it was around since Borneo, this was the first time that the “previous votes” procedure for breaking deadlocked votes was implemented, and I did like it. It seemed appropriate, and fit in with the theme of past actions coming back to haunt a person. However, I can see why they got rid of it, as it made for predictable gamplay in the event of deadlocked merges, and could lead to the inadvertent and untimely ousting of good characters, Jeff Varner of this season ing a prime example. Also of note, this season was the first time that a blindsided vote went down pre-merge, when Colby, Keith, and Tina banded together to oust Mitchell.
Nature also played a part in twisting the game. Mike Skupin falling in the fire is, of course, the ime example of this, and while it was dramatic, and interesting in and of that it had never happened before, it was painful for me, and wasn’t really a happy memory, as good twists should be. Of course, one should not discount the equally infamous camp flooding. I like this one a little more. It was nice and dramatic, but still ended on a happy note, with Keith and Tina recovering the lost rice.
Probably the biggest twist, however, was that the game did not go down tribal lines post-merge. Bear in mind, this season was heavilly influenced by Borneo. Nearly everyone had seen it, and most people expected it to go down in a similar way. This time, however, it was not a straight “Pagonging” as Borneo had been, but instead some nicer people were kept around at the expense of more annoying alliance mates. This was shocking, and, to a degree, made for a less predictable boot order than Borneo, which is a major positive for me.
So, The Australian Outback had some good cast imposed twists. On the whole, however, there were no producer twists, and a lot of the cast twists were painful to watch.
Score: 6 out of 10
OVERALL
I mentioned in my intro that objectively, this was the best season, and I should explain that. First off, this is the season that produced the most all-star castways of any season (5 in all), even though I’d argue that Amber didn’t deserve to be a part of that, and many would argue that Alicia didn’t either. Also, although Borneo produced the single most watched “Survivor” episode, The Australian Outback overall had higher viewer ratings. The explanation for this is the same as for why the season is so fondly remembered. The fact is that, although Borneo was enourmously influential and successful, it was a new show. Word of mouth takes time to build up. By the time it had, Borneo was pretty much over, and so The Australian Outback got the spillover, and managed to keep the viewership by being a fairly entertaining season.
Also, whereas Borneo voted along tribal lines, The Australian Outback changed it up a little, which, for me, made it more entertaining.
This nostalgia, however, paints it in a better light than it deserves, as The Australian Outback does have a couple of weak elements. What ties it together is nostalgia of “classic” “Survivor” seasons, and the location, which is probably one of “Survivor”‘s best. So does the season work? Kind of, but you have to view it in the right light.
Score: 30 out of 40
ABSTRACT
If you watched and liked Borneo, you’ll probably like The Australian Outback. If not, you should probably watch it anyway, as it is also one of the most talked about seasons of “Survivor”, and although it’s not the strongest in terms of gameplay, it’s a visual delight that will keep one entertained.
idolspeculation 