How do I do it? How can I be expected to review “Survivor Guatemala”? It’s a season near and dear to my heart, the first season I saw that I realized what the show was, the season that got me hooked, my version of “Survivor Borneo”. Without Guatemala, my life would be drastically different. How can I review it with any sense of fairness?
Well, with no new “Survivor Philippines” cast to save me this time, I have no choice but to look back on the season that started this 8-year obsession, and decide whether or not it still holds up today. Go figure, my first real “Survivor” blog back from Australia, and I get one of the toughest retrospectives I’ll have to do. No sense beating about the bush, I suppose, except to remind everyone, due to the long absence, that “Survivor Retrospectives” will contain spoilers. Those wanting to know my general take on the season and its watchability, without knowing the outcome, can scroll to the bottom of the page, where I will have an “Abstract” section, that will be spoiler-free. I will also remind everyone that this type of blog works by my scoring each season out of 10 on its cast, challenges, twists, and overall effect, leading to a total score of 40 given at the end of the “Overall” section. With all that kerfluffle out of the way, let’s take a critical look at “Survivor Guatemala”.
CAST
On paper, you could say this is objectively the worst cast that “Survivor” has ever produced, and back up that argument reasonably well. This is one of only TWO seasons that were not at least half-returnee that have never had a returnee originally from their season (and if the rumored “Survivor Blood vs. Water” cast is correct, Guatemala will soon be the ONLY season with this distinction). Another distinction of this cast is that it’s the first to have the “2 returnees, one for each tribe” twist that has become so reviled recently. I’ll be discussing the implications of this twist in the “Twist” section, as well as a mention in the “Overall” section, but the bulk of it really needs to be addressed here, as the returnees are some of the better-remembered people from this season. In this case, the returnees were from the previous season, “Survivor Palau”, and were two members of the ill-fated Ulong tribe, specifically Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard. Both were well-remembered, at least, Stephenie for being America’s sweetheart, the last woman standing, and Bobby Jon for having the work-ethic that wouldn’t quit. Stephenie got a good portion of screen-time, and I’ll talk about the impact of that screen-time in the “Overall” section, but suffice to say her character was not as well-received this time around. Determined to make up for her mistakes from Palau, Stephenie was much more cutthroat, much more sarcastic, and overall just much more unpleasant to watch than previously, and is remembered as something of the villain of the season. Bobby Jon, in contrast, kept his character pretty well from Palau, though he did bring a better social game, and was much more humble than he had been previously. He’s less well-remembered, but was received about the same as he was on Palau.
And then we come to the original characters, one of whom was defined by his interactions with the returnees. I’m speaking of the hotheaded Jamie Newton, who made a big deal of the fact that he was from Georgia, whereas Bobby Jon was from Alabama, and therefore the two HAD to rivals. It didn’t help that they were on opposing teams until the merge, and therefore had many chances to butt heads (literally, in one case) and take potshots at each other verbally. Jamie’s also well known for being excessively paranoid, even by “Survivor” standards, and accordingly got a very early comeuppance. Combine this with the fact that he wasn’t a fan of Stephenie from the beginning, and you have a character the audience found really unpleasant. Sure, I’ll admit that his interactions with Bobby Jon were a bit unpleasant, but they were intense enough to hold my interest. He dropped the “Stephenie must go.” strategy very quickly, and the paranoia was quite fascinating to watch. Now the person who ORGANIZED the realization of Jamie’s paranoia was a fan and personal favorite: young gay Mormon Rafe Judkins, this season’s moral compass. Rafe played a very quiet strategic game early on, and seemed to come into a good alliance with Stephenie later in the game, but Rafe did make good moves on his own, breaking away from Stephenie at times, and almost always finding favor with the jury, such that had he made the finals, he probably would have won (but that’ll get a bit of talk in the “Twist” section). Rafe, though, also struggled with his role in the game, famously asking later on if he was a part of the “Axis of Evil”. The crowds loved his moral compass and his quirky nature, as well as his seeming lack of caring about the game as a whole. Not that he wasn’t invested in doing well, of course, just that he didn’t care as much if he won or not, and was happy wherever he landed. As Rafe is one of the people who got me interested in “Survivor”, I have to say, I agree with the crowd.
But of course, for every person the crowd loves, there has to be someone the crowd hates, and that someone is Judd Sergeant, the very New York Doorman who CLAIMED to be the moral guardian of the season. Looking at Judd, just based on size you’d guess he’d be something of a big, forceful personality, and even this wouldn’t begin to show just the extent of Judd’s personality. The man did pretty much whatever he wanted, got very loud and defensive, played favorites, and all while spitting out a few good one-liners (upon being voted out, he wished every remaining member of the tribe had their heads bitten off by a crocodile, before muttering “Scumbags.”). People just thought he was rude as all-get-out, and couldn’t wait to see him go, making his continued time in the game (Judd finished in 6th overall) a real eyesore to some people, but again, I have to disagree. While Judd was not the most pleasant character to be around, we’d had some people who were worse (Brian Heidik of “Survivor Thailand” come to mind, and to use a more recent example, Russell Hantz of “Survivor Samoa”), and Judd at least brought a bit of humor to the season. I’ll admit the hypocrisy of claiming to be a “moral guardian” of “Survivor” wore thin very quickly, but on the other hand, as a student of psychology, I quite enjoyed seeing how self-centered our perceptions could be. Judd wasn’t full of himself, he was just interpreting events in such a way that they made him out to be better than he was. Nothing criminal about that. I suggested he be brought back for “Survivor Caramoan” as I recall, so obviously I find him to be a better character than most do.
Now, Judd argued with a lot of people, but probably one of the most famous was the “Hidden Immunity Idol” argument (which will be discussed in the “Twist” section) with ex-NFL Quarterback Gary Hogeboom. Gary is best known for pioneering the “Lie about your profession” strategy (even though Willard of “Survivor Palau” had done it before), as he thought that being a former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys (most famously) might work against him, due to the perception that he’d have a lot of money. Gary’s hidden job was the subject of many early episodes, as it was quite elaborate. Gary even went so far as to create a fake identity for himself (as Gary Hawkins), and claimed to own a landscaping business. Not a bad lie, I must say, and while many, including myself, decried it as unnecessary at the time, it was still good fodder for some interesting storylines, and looking back at the season, Gary actually wasn’t a half-bad strategist, all things considered. I wouldn’t mind seeing him come back either.
Another somewhat controversial character would be Lydia Morales. Not that she was particularly dynamic, far from it. She was, if anything, a PG version of Sandra Diaz-Twine of “Survivor Pearl Islands”. However, like Sandra before her, she was able to get by one what few skills she had (in this case being nice and fishing ability) to make it well beyond what her physically weak body should have been able to handle. A good underdog story, but I’ll admit it wasn’t played very well, to the point that I’m ashamed to say even I don’t think about her amongst the greats, which is too bad, as she does have potential.
Surprisingly, three of the most talked about people from this season did not even make the merge, usually a requirement for “Survivor” greatness. Those people would be Margaret Bobonich, the nurse who was essential to the Nakum tribe in the early days, Amy O’Hara, the cop with the twisted ankle, and probably most well-remembered today, my fellow “Survivor” nerd Brian Corridan. I’ll admit, I came in late to the season, and so I missed all three of these people on my first viewing, but even in re-viewings, I still managed to like them a lot. Margaret won her way into the hearts of viewers and contestants alike (save for Judd) by using her nursing skills to nurse the Nakum tribe back to health after nearly killing themselves on the first challenge, and for having a generally sunny disposition. Now, I don’t normally go in for such people, but with a number of sour attitudes due to the harsh environment (the worst “Survivor” has ever done, in my opinion), it was a refreshing breeze. Amy O’Hara is one that I’m surprised has never come back. She’s best remembered for having a mouth on her (always a small treat), and for injuring her ankle fairly seriously in the 3rd episode, yet still carrying on for quite some time, even doing excessively well in the challenges in a few cases. There’s something about that fighting spirit that I and the viewing public both seem to like, and even though she wasn’t top notch at strategy, I still couldn’t help but root for her. The one TRUE strategist of the season, you might say, was Brian, who, despite his short time in the game, made a few important moves, notably leading a drive to save Lydia, a close ally of his, and even more impressively, saving his own skin from elimination when in the minority on the flipped Yaxha (might I also add, these are some of the coolest tribe names EVER) via the game of “Bait Blake” he enacted against “Golden Boy” Blake Towsley. Besides this, he’s alos one of the more active former contestants on the internet from ANY season, which may help keep him in the minds of the fan community. Although I found him a bit annoying at first, I grew to like and respect him for his moves, and I was sad to see him go. Maybe the season would have been better in the eyes of the public if this guy had been the major strategic force of the season, instead of Stephenie.
While these are all very good characters, and the start to a solid season, sadly most of the others, particularly the early boots were duds, just overall uninteresting characters. While those who made it late into the game were generally better characters, the few who did sneak through really dragged the season down. Hell, eventual winner Danni Boatwright is not talked about today at all in either a good or a bad capacity, and you KNOW that’s a bad sign when your WINNER doesn’t elicit strong emotions from the fanbase. Still, for reasons I’ll get into in the “Overall” section, I think people give this season a hard time, and it’s cast, while not stellar, is still remarkably solid, with many gems in there.
Score: 8 out of 10
CHALLENGES
The challenges of Guatemala are a bit of an odd duck. Aside from the first challenge (an 11 mile trek through the jungle, which is commonly considered the hardest challenge ever on the show, which I would agree with), not many of them every really get talked about. None became staples of the series, but 11 seasons in, I admit that becomes harder. What I will give the challenges is that they were epic in scale. I’ll talk more about it in the “Twist” section, but they really pulled out all the stops with the size and artwork on this season. There were a lot of large courses and big objects in these challenges, which made things look very impressive and fun. Hell, one of my favorite challenges ever, the mine cart pull, comes from this season. Sadly, a lot of what I’m talking about comes from the pre-merge challenges. While this season had a thing for ropes, even pre-merge, a lot of the challenges post-merge felt repetitive and weak, particularly in terms of scale. So yeah, a very mixed bag on this one, and while I’m not a huge fan of the post-merge challenges (aside from aesthetically), the pre-merge makes up for it pretty well. Not a stellar season for challenges, but still quite impressive.
Score: 6 out of 10
TWISTS
Of course, one can’t talk about the twists of “Survivor Guatemala” without talking about the elephant in the room, that being the return of Stephenie and Bobby Jon from “Survivor Palau”. Due to its overuse in recent seasons, a lot of people have complained about this twist, but I think maybe a bit overmuch. True, I, like most others, think it is not a perfect twist, and certainly much overused since “Survivor Redemption Island”. Still, I think this iteration of it was ok. While Stephenie did hog the screentime a little bit, she also was a major player this season, so it’s understandable. You’ll note that Bobby Jon, who was also a returnee, got considerably less screentime than many of the new players, because he didn’t do as much. So yeah, I let this twist slide because of that, because it was the first time this twist was done, and because, well, Stephenie and Bobby Jon kind of DID deserve to come back after the performance of the Ulong tribe.
Also of note is another “immediate challenge” twist. This would be the aforementioned 11-mile hike at the beginning of the season, the toughest challenge ever given. The reward, which was kind of a twist, was bragging rights and a slightly better campsite (though not much better, THAT twist wouldn’t come until “Survivor Fiji”). Not bad stakes, and helped by the tribes having to decide what to carry to camp, a la “Survivor Africa”. Pretty good way to start the season.
Things then calmed down until episode 4. During a very unique challenge in which tribes had to vote on which members of their own tribes got rewards (everything from a shower to a picnic lunch), the tribes were divided in a new, albeit perhaps unfair, way. Brian put it best at the reunion show: “Who has the most tribe pride? Oh, it’s you? Well SCREW YOU, you’re in the minority!” While I can see why some might see this twist as unfair, I look on it as a new and interesting way of divvying up the tribes, and give kudos to the production team.
Once again, things settled into an equilibrium for several episodes, the only real twists being the former Nakum flipping a vote to eliminate Blake, and Judd flipping sides on the new Nakum to take out Brooke Struck. There was also a double-elimination with a challenge for individual immunity, but still, pretty standard stuff for “Survivor” Rafe was allowed to give individual immunity to someone on the other tribe as a result of winning the challenge, but the person he gave it to (Gary) was in no danger, and so nothing really came of that twist.
No, the flurry of twists did not start happening until the merge, beginning with the first immunity challenge, which introduced the “choose between food and competing twist”. This is probably the one enduring legacy of Guatemala, and I quite like it. It’s a twist that can upset alliances and reveal the pecking order, as well as just give insight into the contestant’s psychology. In the next episode, it also introduced the hidden immunity idol, another staple of the series these days. In this case, the idol was not on Exile Island, but out in the jungle just waiting to be found. While it’s become standard and a bit boring these days, back then it was crazy, and opened up lots of new drama at camp.
Next came the flipping. Oh dear GOD, the flipping. First Jamie’s alliance boots him out. then Judd gets booted, then Cindy, then Lydia. All in all, surprise votes everywhere. Certainly made the game exciting. In the middle of it all, we get the introduction of the immunity advantage, adding an exciting NEW layer to the game, just making things all the more intriguing. Not to mention the possibility for the winner of the car challenge (Cindy Hall) to give up the car so everyone else could have one, which probably cemented her doom, given that she didn’t give it up.
I’ll give this season credit, even up to the final episode it kept the twists coming. Rafe and Danni, in an earlier episode had allied to the end, and promised to take each other to the finals should the other one win immunity. However, Stephenie, the third member of the final 3, was so heartbroken that Rafe, having fallen out early, released Danni from her promise unexpectedly. This cemented Rafe’s place in the public’s heart, as well as his place on the jury, as Danni, for all her sweet southern personality, was hungry for the win, and was going to take the easy victory.
I can’t quite give this season a 10 for twists due to a few dry spots early on, but overall a lot of really good, influential twists that keep one engaged.
Score: 9 out of 10
OVERALL
Aesthetically, this season combines the best of “Survivor Africa” and “Survivor Palau”. A very distinctive theme that hasn’t been repeated since, that can be put on a grand scale. Since this season was subtitled “The Maya Empire”, it had to be big and epic, and I have to say, the art department really rose to the occasion.
If the aesthetic aspect of the “Overall” section was a strong point, everything coming together is, in my opinion, what did this season in. While it was fairly twist-heavy, that aspect of the season was received pretty well, save for the “main” twist of the return of Stephenie and Bobby Jon. I speak particularly of Stephenie, because she is the main criticism I hear about the season. Stephenie, as I said, played a more cutthroat game this season. True, she was also more whiny, but she was a lot more aggressive, and we got to see her strategic side, which I enjoyed. However, the reason the PUBLIC generally liked her was her underdog story on “Survivor Palau”, and how she overcame adversity to win. When that was taken away, and Stephenie was no longer the poor picked on Ulong Survivor, suddenly she seemed a lot worse. My thought was “Get over it, these aspects were hinted at on ‘Survivor Palau’.”, but most people disagreed, and were devastated that Stephenie wasn’t what she’d been made out to be.
This speaks, to me, to the main reason Guatemala was poorly received: timing, once again. While it did some things really well, it was following “Survivor Palau” the series marked by firsts and over the top, memorable characters. It would be hard for any season to stand up to it, and when a decent number of characters are unpleasant, it just makes the problem worse. It didn’t help that a lot of the characters, like with “Survivor Africa”, could be seen as rehashes of earlier characters. I’ve already made the Lydia/Sandra comparison, and Rafe was often seen as a more neutral version of Ian Rosenberger from “Survivor Palau”. All these combined to make a pretty solid season seem much worse. Still, looking at it out of context, while it’s not an AMAZING season, I’d say it holds up pretty well.
Score: 31 out of 40.
ABSTRACT
Guatemala is not a bad starter season, though I would recommend seeing “Survivor Palau” first. The characters are not the best the series has ever had, but the challenges and aesthetic are good, the twists are phenomenal, and there’s just a lot to like in this solid season.
idolspeculation 