“Survivor” What-Ifs?: Heroes vs. Villains

Way, way back when I started this series, one of my initial ideas for a “What-If” to do was to have Candice not do a dumb and flip on the Heroes post-merge. I was really excited about the idea, and all the implications it could have. Then I did my research, realized Russell had an idol at that time, and so the point was most likely moot. Heroes don’t have a way to come back, and the post-merge regrettably remains “The Russell Hantz Show”. Still, I wanted to find some way to make it work. After all “Survivor Heroes vs Villains” is one of, if not the, most beloved season of all time by most of the fanbase. I disagree with quite how good it is, mainly because I find the post-merge so frustrating. If I can fix that, then I can get on the hype train with all other fans. So, can one small change to the timeline do that? Let’s find out.

First, though, a quick reminder that I can’t really discuss changes to the timeline without discussing, at least in abstract, how things played out in OUR timeline. In other words, there will be SPOILERS ahead, both for this season, and seasons that came afterward. Read ahead at your own risk. For those still here, let’s take a look at the change, starting with the change itself.

THE IMPACT

Unfortunately, between Russell’s idol and Candice’s dumb move to flip, it takes us quite a while post-merge to get to a point where we can make an actual change. Indeed, if you just looked at what we were shown in the show, this wouldn’t even seem like a plausible change. However, if one examines post-show interviews, it’s revealed that Sandra did try and get out Russell at the final six, using her idol. She went to Rupert and tried to convince him to vote with her, so she could play her idol on him, getting Russell sent home 2-1 (Sandra didn’t want to include Colby on the plan, so he presumably still votes for Sandra). Regrettably, her pitch was basically “Trust me and we can take this game just the two of us.” Not a particularly strong pitch, and Rupert not exactly being great in the strategy department meant he didn’t trust it, and the deal fell through. So, in our timeline, Sandra realizes that Rupert was less dismissing her idea and more just not getting it, and spells out for him what she plans. She tells him about the idol, if not shows it to him, and despite Rupert probably wanting to tell Colby about the plan, explains why it’s too big a risk. Rupert, wanting Russell out, agrees to trust Sandra, and thus, as detailed above, gets Russell eliminated 2-1. This sets things up for a very interesting finale, which we’ll discuss below.

THE FALLOUT

Colby is, of course, a little upset about being left out of the vote, but some reassurances from Rupert, coupled with relief over Russell being gone, smoothes things over between the two. Thus, with themselves and Sandra, they now form the new power trio of the finale, putting Parvati and Jerri on the backfoot. Parvati, however, is lucky, in and of that the next immunity challenge favors her. She won even in our timeline, and I doubt trading out Russell for Rupert changes that fact. Thus, Jerri probably goes home at final five, to her frustration. Final Four is a bit trickier to predict. After all, of the four remaining, only two (Parvati and Sandra) were there in our timeline, and neither was particularly close to winning. I think it’s safe to say that Sandra still doesn’t win the challenge, but that’s not saying much. There are arguments to be made for any of the other three winning, but if we want to stick with the most plausible outcome, I think Parvati is the most likely winner. Rupert and Colby are no slouches, but both were clearly past their prime this season, while we know Parvati still did decently well, even if she was behind both Russell and Jerri in our timeline. So, with Parvati immune, the three turn on each other, with Rupert as the swing vote, since he has ties with both Sandra and Colby. In the end, I’d say Rupert’s loyalty to his original tribe (even if not his original alliance) outweighs his previous bond with Sandra, and between that and Parvati wanting revenge, Sandra goes. Thus, rather than being a sweep for the Villains Tribe, we now have Rupert, Colby, and Parvati as our final three. This, of course, shakes up the votes considerably, so much so that I feel inclined to go through each juror individually, and talk about how their vote would go before moving on to the “Legacy” portion of this blog.

Coach: It’s tempting to say that Coach’s vote doesn’t change, since Parvati is present in the finals in both timelines we’re talking about. Recall, though, that Coach voted for her as “The Least Bad Option” rather than particularly liking or respecting her game. In his mind, she was still tied to Russell, but did more than Sandra. As such, if Coach has any option to vote for someone who opposed Russell, he would do so. Therefore, I think Coach is a Rupert vote in this timeline. Having never interacted with either of them outside of challenges, Coach has basically only their challenge performance to go off of. Also recall that Coach respects people who win out in honorable combat, and wouldn’t you know it, but both Colby and Rupert battled against Coach in challenges this season (Colby in the first reward challenge, Rupert on the sumo immunity challenge). Rupert beat him. Colby did not. Ergo, in Coach’s mind, voting for Rupert is the right thing to do. Plus, Rupert cast a vote against Russell, while in this timeline, Colby did not.

Courtney: Contrasting to Coach, Courtney doesn’t respect anyone. We probably get a fiery speech from her about how seriously all three take themselves. As to her vote, I can’t see it going to anyone but Parvati. While I doubt Courtney has any love for any of the finalists in this timeline, Rupert and Colby buy too much into their own narrative, and Courtney only spent time with Parvati, so Parvati probably gets her vote.

J.T.: Because we need some variety, it turns out J.T. votes for the only option not voted for at this point in time: Colby. J.T. had no respect for Parvati or her game, as demonstrated throughout the season. As for choosing between Rupert and Colby, while Rupert and J.T. were aligned, we saw that J.T. did not respect Rupert’s gameplay, talking about leading him along. Colby might have been outside the dominant alliance, but made it to the finals nonetheless, and J.T. was able to work with him. Thus, Colby gets J.T.’s vote.

Amanda: Similar to J.T., Amanda is another person who, on the surface, should vote for Rupert. Parvati betrayed her this season, and even in our timeline, Parvati didn’t get Amanda’s vote, so that’s out. Conversely, Rupert was her ally the entire time, and succeeded in voting out Russell. However, like J.T., Amanda also didn’t respect Rupert in terms of strategy, and while she didn’t work with Colby, I’d guess she’d be impressed with him making it to the end in spite of this. Unless she REALLY holds a grudge from the “Treasure Island” reward, Amanda’s another Colby vote.

Candice: In keeping with the Heroes on the jury being a relatively united front, I’d say Candice votes for Colby. While I don’t think she particularly likes or respects any of the finalists, Parvati is tied too closely to Russell, and again, Rupert just has no game any fan of strategy can respect. Hence, Colby is the least-bad option for Candice.

Danielle: For once, a pretty straightforward result. Danielle and Parvati were aligned in the game. Danielle voted for Parvati even in our timeline. No reason to suspect Danielle would not vote for Parvati is this one as well.

Russell: Even though we’ve never seen Russell on the jury, we can have a very solid idea of how he would vote. Even in our timeline, he respected Parvati post-game, and is probably nursing a grudge against Rupert and Colby for getting him voted out (in his mind), and thus is a solid vote in the Parvati corner.

Jerri: Little respect for Colby’s game this season. DEFINITELY no respect for Rupert. Allied with Parvati. Voted for Parvati in our timeline. Another solid Parvati vote.

Sandra: Sandra is hands-down a Rupert vote. The pair had a bond. He was the only one initially willing to listen to her about Russell. And he helped vote Russell out of the game, which was Sandra’s only goal for most of the post-merge. No way she doesn’t reward that loyalty.

THE LEGACY

Doing the math, this leads to a Parvati victory on the season, winning 4-3-2 over Colby and Rupert. Oddly, this does mean that “Heroes vs. Villains” gets to keep the distinction of giving us our first two-time winner, while adding on the distinction of being the second season ever with a final three where all three finalists get votes. That said, there’s also probably a bigger backlash than this season imagined before. Yes, Parvati might have played a fantastic game. That doesn’t mean the fanbase likes it. To not only have an ally of Russell win (again), but to have her beat out Rupert and Colby, arguably the two most popular players in “Survivor” history? Yeah, don’t be surprised if more than a couple of people separate themselves from the community for a bit. Parvati probably gets some hate for beating out the favorites, but I’d imagine the most hate is reserved for Coach and Sandra. After all, if they had voted with the Heroes for Colby, he wins this season, which most of the fanbase in this timeline sees as the more desirable outcome. Yeah, fair to say they probably take a break from the fandom for a while.

What does this mean for future seasons? Unfortunately, Boston Rob and Russell still argue at the finale, thus giving us the impetus for “Survivor Redemption Island”, so we regrettably still put up with that trash fire of a season. “Survivor South Pacific” changes a little, though, as Coach probably doesn’t want to come back quite so soon on the heels of “Heroes vs. Villains”. Actually, given that Rupert is considered “The Man Who Took Down Russell Hantz” in this timeline (even though Sandra did the legwork), he probably takes Coach’s spot on that season, meaning it’s unlikely that Upolu dominates the post-merge quite like they do in our timeline. Moving forward a bit, the cast of “Survivor Game Changers” probably doesn’t change that much, since Sandra is now considered a “game changer” for being the woman who cost a hero the game, though it is possible we get Coach back in as well, probably in Troyzan’s spot. This is even possibly where Sandra gets a second win. After all, in our timeline she still dominated until the numbers just weren’t in her favor, and that was WITH the handicap of being the only two-time winner. Without that handicap? She could become the second two-time winner. Even so, Parvati is still considered the “queen” of “Survivor”, and so it’s probably her who gets a giant head on “Island of the Idols”. Finally, the cast of “Winners at War” doesn’t change, though who’s an early threat probably does (with Parvati being an even bigger target, and Sandra possibly a smaller one).

I asked at the beginning if making this change could get me on the hype train for “Heroes vs. Villains”. Could this change actually make it, for me, the greatest season of all time? Sorry, but no. Don’t get me wrong, the season does move up in my rankings somewhat in this timeline. We still have the excitement of most of the game, our first two-time winner, and Russell does get, in my opinion, a more satisfactory comeuppance than in our timeline. While the hubris is nice, I was tired of what I saw as no one successfully standing up to a bully, whereas here they do. That said, the season is still too Russell Hantz-heavy for me to be fully on board with it being the best ever. The fact that a Villain still wins, while appropriate given the show, is also disappointing. So, overall an improvement, but not by much. Perhaps our next season will shed some different light?

As to what that next season will be, you all have some input! In the comments below, feel free to suggest changes to the timeline you think would be fun to read about and analyze. I will give credit for any ideas that I use. Be aware, though, that there are some guidelines for what changes will and won’t be considered. They are as follows:

1. One Change Only: This can’t be a whole bunch of things or multiple things going another way to alter the course of a season. This must be one singular event that alters the season in some way. Cascade effects, where one change naturally leads to another, are ok, but they have to be natural and logical. As an example, Shii-Ann not flipping and Chuay Gahn losing the final 10 immunity challenge on “Survivor Thailand” would definitely change things, but those are two independent changes that need to happen, and therefore not for this blog. I should also mention that the change has to be an EVENT, not a play style. Yes, “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” probably goes much differently if Russell Hantz (“Survivor Samoa”) isn’t an asshole to everyone, but apart from that never happening, it’s a change in overall play style, not a single moment. It’s also, as I say, implausible, which leads to my next ground rule…

2. The Change Must Be Realistic: An unlikely change is ok, but it has to be something that COULD have happened, or it’s not worth writing about. Yes, Fang winning the first challenge on “Survivor Gabon” would drastically change the season. Would it ever happen? No. So there’s no point in writing about it.

3. The Change Must Have An Impact: By this, I mean the change has to actually alter the season in some significant way. Simply changing up the boot order is not enough. Someone new has to win, the perception of the season has to change, or both. As an example, I originally planned to do a blog on “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”, with a timeline where Candice didn’t flip at the final 9. I thought this could lead to a Heroes Victory. Then I remembered that Russell Hantz plays his idol in that same episode, meaning the flip likely doesn’t matter, and apart from a slight boot order change, the season as a whole remains untouched. Uninteresting, and therefore not worth talking about.

These rules are hand and fast, but the next two are flexible, and subject to change should circumstances dictate that it makes sense to do so. They are as follows:

4. US Seasons Only: This is nothing against international seasons of “Survivor”. From what I’ve heard through the grapevine, they can be quite good. The trouble is, as a citizen on the US, the US version of “Survivor” is the one I’m most familiar with, know the most about, and have seen the most of. I haven’t even seen a full international season of “Survivor”, just the occasional clip. Nothing knocking them, of course. I just haven’t gotten around to viewing them. So, while I won’t outright ban the suggesting of changes from non-US seasons of “Survivor”, bear in mind that I’m unlikely to pick them due to a lack of knowledge and lack of time to catch up on the seasons.

5. I Will Not Do Brandon Flipping At The Africa Final 9: A flip by Brandon Quinton at the Final 9 of “Survivor Africa”, voting out Lex instead of Kelly, would indeed fit all the criteria mentioned above. I’m refusing this particular scenario, not because it isn’t interesting or worth talking about, but because it was already covered by Mario Lanza in his book “When it Was Worth Playing For”. He covered it so well and so thoroughly that I don’t think I would have anything to add. I’m willing to consider this scenario if someone can give me a compelling reason that Mario is wrong, or there’s some aspect he didn’t consider, but until that time, this scenario is out. Other “Survivor Africa” scenarios are ok, though.

And there you have it. Looking forward to time-traveling with you all next time!

-Matt

“Survivor” What-Ifs: Exile Island

Well, so far on “‘Survivor’ What-If’s”, we’ve explored changing the timeline right after the merge, and near the end of the game. With such nebulous groups, there’s only one place left to go: The very end of the game, of course! Recapping how an entire season changes based on a change in the first boot is, to be frank, too unpredictable to be interesting. Some might argue that a small change at the end also makes things uninteresting, but given that this also examines how future seasons are impacted, it can be fun to see how things will fall out with a different overall outcome, even if little else changes. Ironically, for the first season where we’re looking late in the timeline, we actually have to go back fairly early in the overall “Survivor” timeline. Yes, it’s time to talk about what’s arguably the first season of “Survivor” I watched, “Survivor Exile Island”.

Before we dive into discussion, though, a quick reminder that this blog contains the dreaded SPOILERS! It’s hard to talk about an alternate way a season goes down without comparing it to how it went down in our time, so if you haven’t seen “Survivor Exile Island” or any subsequent seasons, make sure you’re prepared for any lack of enjoyment you may experience as a result of this blog. For the rest of us, let us begin with…

THE IMPACT: When I say we’re making a change at the end, I mean that about as late as can possibly be. Danielle, as you’ll recall, won the Final Immunity Challenge on Day 38, and agonized over who to take to the end between Terry and Aras. In our timeline, she chooses Aras, which I’d personally say was probably her safer bet, but let’s say Danielle thought differently at the time. Terry previously giving her his hidden immunity idol would violate my “Two Independant Changes” Rule (and also be a really dumb move for Terry), so let’s instead say that Danielle calculated out potential votes, and figured that with the ex La Mina all voting for Aras, following Terry’s lead, plus Shane hating her guts, there’s no way she could win against Aras. With Terry, however, she can hope that old Casaya loyalty, and not wanting to see a former La Mina win the game, wins her the votes of a majority-Casaya jury. Thus, Danielle votes Terry off.

THE FALLOUT: Danielle is incorrect. She was losing no matter what, and Terry wins by a 5-2 vote. Oddly, this is exactly the same ratio that Danielle loses by in our own timeline, though who votes for her differ slightly. Bringing Terry to the end gains her Cirie’s vote, but loses her Shane’s. Since we’re so near the end, that really does it for this section. Timeline changes so near the end really don’t have much impact on the season proper. On subsequent seasons, though? Hoo boy, this is a doozy!

THE LEGACY: Now, on the surface, this change actually doesn’t seem to do much. Most of the breakout characters remain breakout characters. A Terry win does not erase the impact of Cirie, nor the comedy gold of Shane. Aras might fade into the background a bit more than he does in our timeline, but I’d argue he’s not one of the more well-remembered winners to begin with, and given how random the casting for “Survivor Blood vs. Water” was, I think we still get him and Vytas later on. That season perhaps sees a slightly more aggressive Aras, hungry for a win, and we’re more likely to see Aras later on as a result, but ultimately, not much changes with any of the Casaya people.

What does change is Terry. Now, saying that Terry was not a major character of the season does a disservice even in our own timeline. The only reason Terry wasn’t the breakout star of the season was an unlucky combination of being on the same season as Cirie, and Ozzy coming along one season later to do what Terry did with more success, thus supplanting his spot in returnee seasons. In a timeline where Terry WINS? You can bet he’s not fading into the background. Cirie may be the breakout star of the season, but Terry comes in a close second. He’s fairly likable for the general public, he’s basically the first guy to immunity his way to the end, and most importantly, he breaks the car curse. Yeah, for those of you who are late-comers too “Survivor”, let me fill you in on a bit of history: Starting with “Survivor The Australian Outback”, and going fairly steady through “Survivor Fiji”, one reward challenge would have the winner take home a car. However, as the seasons passed, people started to notice that whoever won the car did not go on to win “Survivor”. There were some close run things, like Colby nearly winning “Survivor The Australian Outback”, but ultimately, no victors also won a car on the show (unless the car was part of the prize for winning, along with the million dollars). A victory by Terry changes that, and he’s forever immortalized as “The Guy Who Broke the Car Curse”. The subsequent elimination of the car reward also posthumously makes more sense as a result, its death throes on “Survivor Fiji” notwithstanding.

So Terry’s a bigger deal, now. What’s the big deal about that? Initially, not much. “Survivor Micronesia” is the next returnee season, and while Terry is definitely given serious consideration for it, the halving of returnees for new contestants, and the rise of Ozzy screws him (along with, I would argue, the returnee potential of “Survivor Guatemala”) out of a spot there, with the final nail in the coffin being the lack of winners being invited for that season. “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” is another matter. “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” is the 10th anniversary season. It’s about milestones. It’s about icons of “Survivor”. If someone broke the car curse, you can bet they’d be considered an icon. I see no way, in this timeline, that Terry doesn’t get the invite back for “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”. Presumably, he’s on the “Heroes” tribe, taking up Tom Westman’s spot. Tom was iffy about coming back to begin with, and while “Survivor Palau” probably remains the more iconic season overall, in this timeline, Terry is the bigger winner, dominating challenges like Tom, being the good guy, like Tom, but coming from an underdog position, rather than the tribe that just steamrolled the other. I don’t think Terry does much better than Tom in this scenario, though I do think Terry’s a bit quicker to abandon Colby to his fate once it becomes clear he’s in the minority. This MAYBE gets him to the merge, but I’d be a bit surprised, and ultimately, it doesn’t change much about “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”.

Moving on, the next change as a result of this comes from “Survivor Cambodia”. In our timeline, Terry was on that season. With him as a former winner, plus a two-time contestant, he’s now disqualified from the vote. Thus, someone else goes on that season in his stead. Based on the reports of who was considered, I’m inclined to say Hayden from “Survivor Blood vs. Water” probably isn’t cut from the vote, and is eligible as an option. Possibly he gets on instead, but I’m more inclined to say that Shane ends up taking the spot ultimately filled by Terry. Regardless of who gets on, though, what does change is the merge of “Survivor Cambodia”. Without the gut-wrenching illness of Danny, Terry’s son, there’s no need for someone to leave the game unexpectedly, thus meaning that “Survivor Cambodia” merges at the final fourteen contestants, and assuming the jury was always meant to start at 13, means Kass likely doesn’t make the jury. Overall, I prefer our timeline on this one. Apart from being a big fan of Kass, merges at 13 are chaotic enough. Opening up the door to 14 is just too much for me.

Now, this could be where Terry’s story ends. Having won, he might not feel the need to play a third time. Plus, ending things here would be easier on my writing. However, I feel duty bound to point out that, having made such an impact on the show in this timeline, Terry is probably up for consideration for “Survivor Game Changers”. My guess would be that he probably takes Brad Culpepper’s spot, since both fit the archetype of the older leader, but JT’s spot is also a possibility. Either way, I don’t think it has as much impact on the season as we might hope, but it’s an interesting possibility.

This has been a weird one for me to write, in that the timeline does change, but only because of and around one person. When we hit the point where the ripples are too chaotic to see what would happen, we’ve already got ourselves a possible 3-time returnee, an early merge, and a “Survivor” legacy with really no equivalent in this timeline. Which one is better? I leave that up to you. I also leave the possibility of future timelines up to you! Feel free to suggest new timelines for me to examine in the comments below/on social media. Anything goes, but please bear in mind my three ground rules for timeline alteration suggestions:

One Change Only: This can’t be a whole bunch of things or multiple things going another way to alter the course of a season. This must be one singular event that alters the season in some way. Cascade effects, where one change naturally leads to another, are ok, but they have to be natural and logical. As an example, Shii-Ann not flipping and Chuay Gahn losing the final 10 immunity challenge on “Survivor Thailand” would definitely change things, but those are two independent changes that need to happen, and therefore not for this blog. I should also mention that the change has to be an EVENT, not a play style. Yes, “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” probably goes much differently if Russell Hantz (“Survivor Samoa”) isn’t an asshole to everyone, but apart from that never happening, it’s a change in overall play style, not a single moment. It’s also, as I say, implausible, which leads to my next ground rule…
The Change Must Be Realistic: An unlikely change is ok, but it has to be something that COULD have happened, or it’s not worth writing about. Yes, Fang winning the first challenge on “Survivor Gabon” would drastically change the season. Would it ever happen? No. So there’s no point in talking about it.
The Change Must Have An Impact: By this, I mean the change has to actually alter the season in some significant way. Simply changing up the boot order is not enough. Someone new has to win, the perception of the season has to change, or both. As an example, I originally planned to do a blog on “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”, with a timeline where Candice didn’t flip at the final 9. I thought this could lead to a Heroes Victory. Then I remembered that Russell Hantz plays his idol for himself in that same episode, meaning the flip doesn’t matter, and apart from a slight boot order change, the season as a whole remains untouched. Uninteresting, and therefore not worth talking about.

Well, we’ve got through the three types of timeline changes I wanted to try out. Now onto randomly doing whatever I find interesting! As always, your feedback is appreciated, and remember to be kind to each other!

-Matt

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Game Changers” Episode 6: Losing Varnish

You just couldn’t resist the siren song of “Survivor”, could you Varner? In the world of “Survivor”, you were the proverbial rock star. Not to say that you rocked the game or anything, but in the “Die young and leave a beautiful corpse.” sense. Sure, you never made it all that far, but you were remembered as smart and witty. Many people liked you. After tonight, I’m not sure you can say that.

But let’s take this from the top, shall we, since Varner’s arrival back at camp is actually handled pretty well. As you’d expect, after Tai calling out Ozzy like that at the last Tribal Council, there’s some fallout. Ozzy is nervous, and everyone’s on edge. Except for Debbie, because she didn’t really have to participate. She says that that Tribal Council was more stressful than all of her time on Exile Island, which I can’t really disagree with her on, given how luxurious that Exile Island was. Not that her castmates know, of course. Debbie goes on and lies about how horrible Exile Island was, a move that I can’t fault TOO much. While a hard time on Exile Island, and potentially overcoming that “obstacle” might win you some brownie points, and do some resume building for the jury, it’s probably not a make-or-break thing. Plus, it’s a hard lie to get caught in. Debbie, as a fan of the show, should have seen enough of Exile Island to describe it accurately enough to make it all believable, and so long as no one ELSE gets sent to Exile Island, you can’t be contradicted. But therein lies why, were I in Debbie’s position, I would NOT lie about Exile Island. Downplay it, sure. Definitely don’t mention the extra vote advantage. But the gain from saying you survived a hardship is minimal at best, and SHOULD the show throw a curveball and send someone else to Exile Island, you’re screwed. Better to cover most of your bases. As I say, I’m not sure there’s a “wrong” choice here, and I can’t fault Debbie for the move very much. Probably not what I would have done, though.

On to Varner, though. If Aubry had a textbook example of how to handle being on the losing side of the vote last episode, then Varner has studied that textbook thoroughly. He plays things up well, taking it on the chin, and strategizing calmly with Zeke, betraying only the slightest hint of annoyance at the outcome, which is understandable. For his part, Zeke folds like the proverbial house of cards, stating that there will be no more secrets between himself and Varner, and that he’d like to take Varner as far as he could, a move that makes sense for both of them. It’s clear that the merge is going to come down to which faction of the original Nuku can gather more members, including the now pretty much adrift Mana members. While such a close bond between Zeke and Varner makes them targets, at a time in the game where one or two loyal votes can be the difference between salvation and destruction, Varner’s a good guy to have. As for Varner? With his one really close ally gone, ANY alliance is a good alliance for him.

Moving on to our average reward challenge, we find that contestants first untangle ropes from around a maypole to release a key. Then tribe members untie a series of boards to use to build a ladder up to a bag of balls. After releasing said bag of balls, the whole tribe goes up and over the ladder and through a net crawl to the end of the course, where a catapult awaits to launch said balls (with help from a tribe member) into nets on a wall, with the first tribe to land five balls in separate nets wins a reward of pizza and soda. This is yet another derivative obstacle course, drawing mainly from “Survivor South Pacific” and “Survivor San Juan del Sur”. Clearly, we’re drawing from the winner’s pool here. But actually, I’m kind of ok with this challenge, since it combines elements we don’t often see together, and does a couple of things uniquely that makes it cool. The two big selling points are the ladder and the catapult. Puzzle ladders are nothing new on “Survivor”, but they’re usually based on size or shape of the rungs. Here, any piece could fit anywhere, but the trick is finding that anywhere. Rather than having the rungs be parallel to the ground, as they usually are, this one has them go at odd angles, making things seem trickier than originally intended, and giving the ladder a cool look. The catapult, in contrast, is not changed in mechanism, but in size. Rather than being a one-leg stomp, like the “Survivor San Juan del Sur” version, this one all but requires the shooting tribe member to jump wholly onto it. And if you have to scale one way or the other, scaling UP is always a plus. I doubt this will go down as one of the great challenges of all time, but it’s not bad as challenges go.

Also, Probst, no beer? You do realize Will Wahl (“Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X”) isn’t on this season, right? All these people are over age.

Well, as this challenge has no puzzle, the team with Ozzy wins, what a shock. With no Sandra dragging them down, they actually do pretty well. They walk away with pizza, while Mana walks away dejected. This leads to the preview-promised emotional moment at Mana, which would be very easy to decry as them being “weak”. After all, pizza is pizza. Yeah, it’s nice (even if this particular pizza did look to be of poor quality), but it’s not the be-all end-all. However, as Cirie rightly points out, “Survivor” is not an easy game to play. It wears you down, and despite everyone on Mana still being in a relatively good position, right now it’s just too much. Now, it would be easy to dismiss some people (say, for example, Aubry) as just being an overly-emotional, but could you describe Cirie as overly emotional? Sierra? Brad “Fuck You” Culpepper? No, this is clearly a real emotional moment for the tribe, ruined only slightly by Brad YET AGAIN bringing it around to Monica.

For all my snark, though, it is appropriate to bring up Monica in this scenario. As Aubry frames it, a lot of the emotion was just finally having a shared experience with some people. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but “Survivor” is STRESSFUL! Apart from the physical toll, there’s the fact that you really can’t trust anyone, at least until you’re voted out. While I can’t give a firm clinical diagnosis, a lot of it looks like PTSD in terms of symptoms, particularly with everyone describing how their friends said they’ve changed. Thus, since Monica went on “Survivor” before Brad, it would get emotional for him to talk about that temporary disconnect. Despite the fact that Mana (spoiler alert) doesn’t go to Tribal Council, I would call this the highlight of the episode. It all felt so raw and real, and did a great job of humanizing just about everyone on the tribe.

Of course, this is all emotional connection, and as you’ll recall this is where Aubry shines. Sure enough, in a confessional she turns things back around to strategy, going down the beach with Brad to talk about their connection. Cirie does a similar maneuver (though with less strategic overtones, although they were definitely there), and it seems like Brad has found his group to bond with himself, Troyzan, and Sierra. I’d be a bit concerned for him, bringing along Cirie and Aubry, since they’re arguably the two best strategists left in the game at this point, and therefore a threat, but at this point, Brad needs to take what he can get. Plus, he, Troyzan, and Sierra outnumber Cirie and Aubry, so that’s a plus. Or, you know, maybe I’m just excited that Aubry seems to FINALLY be getting some traction in this game.

Nuku, meanwhile, is living it up fat and happy, cutting up pizza’s with a machete. Not sure why, but that thought just makes me laugh. Beneath the veneer of niceness, though, Varner knows that there’s still a target on him, and he makes “Get Ozzy out” overtures to a number of people, thus setting the stage for our immunity challenge.

Our immunity challenge is sadly nothing special. Four tribe members pull a raft to a series of markers, untying buoys at each marker. Once all the buoys are retrieved, the three remaining tribe members put the buoys on a pole in order to spell a word (“metamorphosis”) to win immunity. A small-scale, standard challenge that I really can’t get behind, made only slightly better by the puzzle solution being a really difficult word. And while I do applaud that difficulty, I have to ask: “metamorphosis”. Really? I mean, I know you want these things to be difficult, but you want them to at least relate in SOME WAY to the show. Yes, I know they tried to do that at Tribal Council, but it was retroactive and forced, so it doesn’t count. Still, it at least makes the challenge stand out a little, which it desperately needed.

I’ve been a proponent of the misdirection on this season, but man, they REALLY dropped the ball on this one. Leaving out the “scenes at Nuku not in the preview means Nuku looses” angle, we’ve had nebulous strategy at best from Mana, while Nuku’s dynamics have got in-depth analysis. Even an early lead by Nuku can’t really make things interesting, since with a puzzle this complicated, we KNOW that Mana can easily catch up.

Both tribes do a good job thinking outside the box. They try all sorts of different shipwreck-themed words. Rodney from “Survivor Worlds Apart” even shows up to suggest “A Reward that will Fix Wishin’”. The game is over, though, when Hali comes up with the idea for the “Meta” part, and the rest just falls into place for Mana. So, naturally, Varner starts to scramble. Taking a leaf from Colby Donaldson’s playbook from “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”, he states what everyone is thinking, and then leaves them to strategize. Debbie, of course, is the most vocal proponent of getting rid of Varner. Frankly, if I were Debbie, I’d be keeping my mouth shut and thanking my lucky stars I didn’t become a target, but of course, I’m not Debbie. Sarah and Andrea aren’t so keen on the idea, since they sense an impending merge and therefore want Ozzy gone, but Zeke of all people says they need to keep Ozzy around, explaining in confessional that Ozzy is a shield. As to which school of thought is correct, as per usual, it depends on who you are. For the tribe as a whole, the answer is clearly Ozzy. His loyalty, though not tested very much, is more tested than Varner’s. Plus, you’re only ASSUMING there’s a merge. Should there not be, and you vote out Ozzy, you’re screwed. The kicker here is that Zeke, one of the main advocates for keeping Ozzy, is one of the few people for whom it would make SENSE to vote out Ozzy. Clearly he and Ozzy have a close alliance, and Zeke does say he wants Ozzy as a meat shield, but what Zeke fails to realize is that he needs STRATEGIC meat shields not PHYSICAL meat shields. No one is praising Zeke’s challenge ability beyond normal measures, but EVERYONE recognizes him as at least a decent strategist. Varner, while no genius, fits the “strategic meat shield” mold far better than Ozzy, and is just overall more likely to be a loyal ally to Zeke.

Zeke may have to turn in his genius card, though, as his fondness for Varner has him inform Varner that it’s pretty much a done deal. Not bad in and of itself, but Zeke then mentions that the girls will lie to him to make him feel comfortable. I STILL can’t fathom the reason why Zeke would do this, since there’s nothing to be gained by it, and as we see, Varner uses it as ammunition.

Varner brings this information to the girls, specifically Andrea and Sarah, pointing out how Zeke is calling them out for lying, making him look like the good guy int he process. Realizing that sometimes less is more, Varner leads the girls to stew, and BOY are they angry. Their actions based on that anger, though, vary. Andrea, while definitely pissed, generally keeps a level head and suggests sticking to the plan, while Sarah is annoyed and wants to flip the script. Whether to Ozzy or Zeke is unclear, since no name is said, since Zeke is the implication. This is MUCH better misdirection than I thought we were going to get tonight. Ozzy vs. Varner? Yeah we’ve seen some of Ozzy, but not enough for me to really buy him as an option. But Zeke vs. Varner? Both are equally viable options, particularly after Zeke’s gaffe. I’m still of the belief that Varner goes home at this point, but there’s enough ambiguity there that Tribal Council should still be entertaining.

And entertaining it is. At least at first. Varner expresses confidence in his exit, which naturally makes Debbie nervous that he has something up his sleeve. Determined to prove her right, Varner explains what he’s been doing all day, and cleverly reiterates his point about Zeke being untrustworthy by throwing Andrea and Sarah under the bus.

You know, had Varner left it at that, he might have had a shot. He seemed to be getting in people’s heads, and his argument was well made. Win or lose, had he left it at that, and potentially saved himself tonight, Varner might have had a shot. But alas, Varner could not leave his reputation untarnished. He goes for the low blow.

In order to prove that Zeke is untrustworthy, Varner asks why Zeke hasn’t told anyone else he’s transgender.

As the show rightly did, I’m going to let that sink in for a moment.

Now, before we get into talking about the move itself, let me back up here a little bit, and talk about the whole “Zeke is transgender” thing in it’s entirety. If you’re a “Survivor” fan who frequents the fan websites, you’d probably think this is nothing new. Sometime around the merge of “Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X”, word started circling around the internet that Zeke was actually transgender. I found these rumors myself, but didn’t comment on them for a few reasons. Initially, my reason for not doing so is that within the “Survivor” community, I’m sad to say, saying “thus-and-so is actually transgender” is often treated as a joke, speculation by assholes based on little more than physical appearance. People like Danielle DiLorenzo (“Survivor Exile Island”) and Trish Hegarty (“Survivor Cagayan”) have been suggested to be transgender based on their physical appearance, a practice I both find deplorable and irrelevant to the show. In the case of Zeke, however, there was a little more corroborating evidence, including an article about his transition from his time at Harvard. Still, with “Smith” a common last name, I wasn’t willing to talk about it on the blog, particularly since Zeke’s confessionals about his life centered more around his being gay and not his gender identity, so it seemed irrelevant to talk about. Plus, my thought process was that if he IS transgender, then either he hasn’t told CBS, or he’s asked CBS to not exploit that fact, and either way, it means he didn’t want that fact public knowledge, and so I would not talk about what I considered to be little better than a rumor.

That being said, Zeke is now officially declared transgender to the entire “Survivor” community, and so this milestone bears mentioning. Again, while I can’t say definitively that Zeke is the first transgender person to ever appear on “Survivor”, he is at least the first one where this fact was brought up in some meaningful way. And, I’ve got to say, I’m happy. “Survivor” so often stereotypes people in an effort to make the narrative of the season easier to follow, that I’m glad that Zeke’s gender identity is given a healthy, adult discussion, rather than played up as a big selling point of the season. Bear in mind that this is the show that thought that dividing tribes by RACE was a smart idea, so for them to not play this up as a gimmick/selling point of the season makes me very happy. Plus, more positive representation of an oft-neglected group of individuals. Yes, Zeke has had his dark moments, what with the taunting of David on “Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X”, but in general, and this season in particular, he’s been shown to be witty, fun, and strategically competent. Just your average good “Survivor” player who happens to be transgender. Overall, the sort of positive portrayal we need more of in the media.

Probst is no stranger to handling tough situations, and he handles this one with such grace as to remind you why HE’S the host of this show. At first, he just lets things play out. There’s the few seconds of silence, then the protests start breaking in. Pretty much everyone thinks this move was a low-blow by Varner, with Tai and Andrea in particular being the most vocal critics, point out that Varner had no right to “out” Zeke in this way. Varner tries to defend himself, slowly realizing what he’s done, and manages to make a hypocrite of himself in the process. While I sincerely believe Varner hadn’t thought through the implications of his move, and was truly mortified by it, his attempt at a defense is to say “I thought everybody already knew.” As Sarah rightly points out, though, if Varner thought everyone knew, then pointing out this fact about Zeke wouldn’t support his “Zeke is untrustworthy point.” Once Varner feels sufficiently guilty, Probst goes around asking other people their opinions of this. The consensus seems to be that Verner isn’t a TOTAL scumbag, but that this was a dick move, bringing something personal and non-strategic into the game. I am behind this 100%. Even if it was NECESSARY to get people to not trust Zeke (which I would argue it wasn’t), Varner does not have the right to disclose aspects of Zeke’s history for him. HE is the one who decides who he tells what to, not Varner. For that matter, given how scummy it makes Varner look, it’s a MAJOR strategic blunder. Through it all, though Probst handles everything with dignity and respect, throwing away over-the-top theatrics for a logical discussion of a serious issue. We even get some good emotion out of it, with Sarah breaking down about how little variety there is in the middle-of-Iowa town where she’s from, and how this is an eye-opener.

On that somewhat more cheerful note, we acknowledge that Varner is obviously the one to go, with Varner himself even seeming to accept it, breaking down about his actions in the after confessional. As I say, the smart move, both morally and strategically, for everyone present. I wouldn’t have been too sad to see Varner go, since I felt we got enough of his snark for the season to entertain us, but after his actions at this Tribal Council, I’m REALLY not sorry. Again I don’t want to consider him a COMPLETE scumbag, since his remorse does seem genuine, but after that move, I can’t really have too much sympathy.

While parts of the episode were handled well, and it’s nowhere NEAR as bad as the Malcolm boot episode, this one is still pretty bad. Horrible misdirection, challenges that were ok at best, and a cringe-worthy Tribal Council. There’s definitely some redemptive value here. The scene at Mana was nice. We got some good, genuine emotion. And I want to again give props to the “Survivor” team as a whole, and Probst in particular, for handling that Tribal Council with maturity and grace. On the whole, though, this episode falls into the category of Brandon Hantz’s “I FEED MYSELF!” rant from “Survivor Caramoan”: memorable, but uncomfortable for all the wrong reasons.

See you at the merge.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

“Survivor” Retrospectives: Heroes vs. Villains

Falling second in the era of “Mediocre ‘Survivor’” comes Heroes vs. Villains, the 10th anniversary season. Now, many would argue that describing Heroes vs. Villains as “mediocre” is a mockery and a travesty, as lots of people consider it one of the greatest seasons of all time. It’s true, I’ll concede that it solves a lot of the problems of “Survivor Samoa”, but the absence of bad does not guarantee the presence of good. So, where does that leave what was meant to be “Survivor”’s magnum opus? Is it a brilliant, original season that can leave both critics and fans satisfied, or simply a retread of “Survivor All-Stars”? Read on, dear internet-user, and discover for yourself.
Before you get any further, though, I should warn you that this review of the season will contain spoilers. If you want to know my general thoughts on the season, as well as if it’s at all watchable, but don’t want to know details on the outcome of the season, I would heavily advise you to scroll to the bottom of the page. There you will find a section labeled “Abstract”, which has my general thoughts on the season in a spoiler-free manner. And now, for those of you who don’t care about spoilers, I present my detailed analysis.

CAST
As you might have gathered from that introduction, this was another season, like “Survivor All-Stars”, that featured nothing but returning castaways. I said of “Survivor All-Stars” that the cast was by and large plucked from the greats from the past seasons, with only one or two flops due to people having to turn down the opportunity. Heroes vs. Villains continues this pattern: mostly great choices, honoring both the legacy and history of “Survivor” and the more recent greats who deserved another shot. Virtually everyone delivered, so I’ll simply list off the most notable names from every era. From the pre-“Survivor All-Stars”, we had everyone’s favorite rival (along with arguable the original hero and villainess) Colby Donaldson and Jerri Manthey (“Survivor The Australian Outback”), archetypal “Survivor” good-guy Rupert Boneham, as well as his villainous cohort Sandra Diaz-Twine (“Survivor Pearl Islands”), and the Robfather himself (as an aside, I hate that title for him, but it made for a good intro) “Boston Rob” Mariano (“Survivor Marquesas”). From the era between “Survivor All-Stars” and “Survivor Micronesia”, we had a bit of a dry spell, but we still got some good people out of it. All-American Heroes Stephenie LaGrossa and Tom Westman got to return from “Survivor Palau”, Cirie Fields (“Survivor Exile Island”) was too popular not to get brought back, and known mutineer Candice Woodcock got to come back from “Survivor Cook Islands”. Joining her, but more for her black widow performance on “Survivor Micronesia” came Parvati Shallow (“Survivor Cook Islands”). And rounding out the era came fan favorites James Clement and Amanda Kimmel, both of “Survivor China”. Finally, the last 3 seasons before this one brought us Jessica “Sugar” Kiper, the well-known “nice girl” of “Survivor Gabon”, along with her antagonist Randy Bailey. “Survivor Tocantins” hit the home run, giving us the more heroic J.T., and the somewhat more villainous Benjamin “Coach” Wade and Tyson Apostol. And finally, we had Russell Hantz, because clearly we didn’t have enough of him on “Survivor Samoa”.
Like I said before, all the people listed here delivered in some capacity. Even Sugar, who ended up being voted out first, is still somewhat remembered for filling the same role Tina Wesson (“Survivor The Australian Outback”) filled on “Survivor All-Stars”, being the quiet, emotional first boot who seemed to take it in stride. A few of the earlier boots, like Randy, kind of faded into the background, and despite the hype and some good early gameplay, Cirie left with very little fanfare. Surprisingly, even Colby, one of the original heroes who made it to the finale, made almost no impact. Still, if you want to discuss who was the most impactful on this season, the two big names would have to be Boston Rob and Russell. Rivals on the Villains tribe, the two battled it out for dominance, and once again, Russell was hyped to insanity. His gameplay this time around was ALSO pretty insane, due mostly to fatigue. Russell is one of the few people who’s played “back-to-back” seasons, and the strain, along with his ego, really took a toll. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find him annoying again this season, particularly due to his lasting the entire game, but overall he was more tolerable, due to having a stronger cast beside him, and actually getting stood up to a few times. This is where Boston Rob really shone, as the antithesis to Russell. Rob was one of the people who tried to change their image this season, playing a lot more heroically at the start. It became a battle of someone who embraced their villain image versus someone who tried to change. Embracing won out, ultimately, which was unfortunate, but it still made for interesting character drama. On the Heroes side of things, Rupert maintained his role as the big good of “Survivor” and made it decently far in the game as a result. In contrast, J.T. and James both changed up their games to be more villainous and mean, and their reputations suffered for it. J.T. in particular lost a lot of stock in the audience, for reasons that will be discussed in the “Twist” section. Tyson met a similar fate to J.T. for the villains, though unlike J.T., Tyson stayed fairly true to what was seen on “Survivor Tocantins”. Back with the villains, the other big names were Parvati and Sandra, who gave the audience a better look at their strategic game, and got a well-deserved increase in fans for it, Sandra in particular. While these might have been the major players, nearly everyone else brought at least a small something to the table (even if it was what we had seen before), that is, except for two.
Now don’t get me wrong, Danielle DiLorenzo (“Survivor Exile Island”) is nowhere NEAR as bad a choice for an All-Star season as Amber Brkich (“Survivor The Australian Outback”). Unlike Amber, I DO normally remember Danielle, and although she wasn’t the biggest name the season produced, she did make an impact. But good god, you’ve got fan favorites and the biggest names ever in “Survivor” back to play (save Richard Hatch, who was still under house arrest for tax evasion at this point), and THIS is the best you could come up with? Did you REALLY need one more hot chick in a bikini, CBS? Now don’t get me wrong, Danielle was certainly a player this season, and actually had a lot of underrated strategic moments, but compared to everyone else, she just didn’t leave much of an impression. Not saying she’s the WORST choice, but they could have done better. Also, they brought back Courtney Yates (“Survivor China”), and again, I get that a lot of people liked her, but I just didn’t, and she didn’t bring a whole lot to the season. Certainly less than Danielle. Again, not the worst, but there could have been a lot better choices.
Like with “Survivor All-Stars”, my score for this won’t make much sense, due to my only hating on Danielle at all, and even then not as much as with “Survivor All-Stars”. Once again, you’re going to have to wait for the “Overall” section to understand why I don’t think the cast is quite as strong as it would initially seem.
Score: 7 out of 10.

CHALLENGES
There’s not much to talk about with the challenges, honestly. Like with “Survivor All-Stars” these were redone versions of previous challenges, and once again, they succeed where they need to. They fit pretty well with the season, most of the choices are good ones, and while we don’t see some of the bigger epic challenges (give me the rolling of giant boulders, dammit!), we still got a lot of grand-scale, knock-down, drag out brawls that we wanted to see. Unfortunately, some of the choices REALLY rub me the wrong way. These challenges are supposed to be the greats, the best of the best, and you bring back BOWLING? This is a really personal one for me, but the inclusion of bowling, as well as building a house of cards, amongst the greats is such an INSULT to the great challenges that I can’t help but dock the challenges several points. Plus, the final challenge wasn’t endurance. On a season supposedly honoring the legacy of a decade of “Survivor”. You people sicken me.
Score: 7 out of 10.

TWISTS
You’d expect an anniversary season to pull out the stops on gameplay twists. You’d not be wrong to assume that with Heroes vs. Villains, but it would surprise you that in terms of twist, the start of the season was actually fairly tame. Apart from the cast being made up entirely of returning players, virtually nothing happened in the first four episodes. The show tried to run entirely on that one gimmick for a while. Surprisingly, though, it worked. This was before the days when returning castaways on a season were exception, rather than the rule, so we weren’t bored or frustrated with them at this point. On top of this, it was the 10th anniversary of “Survivor”. They even had a pre-season retrospective just to look back on the show, that’s pretty awesome! Long story short, returning castaways was an old twist, but for once, a welcome and appropriate one. Plus, as I mentioned when discussing the cast, most of the returnees didn’t disappoint. But other than this, and brief visit of the medical team to check on an unconscious Boston Rob (of which nothing came, I would add), the first four episodes were pretty dull.
This changed with the immunity idol. With neither Exile Island nor kidnapping around, clues were instead hidden in the rewards obtained by each tribe, a first for the series. Apart from this being a clever new way to inject idols into the game, the almost simultaneous finding of the clues on each tribe gave us our first bit of conflict. For the Villains, it started to escalate the Boston Rob vs. Russell conflict, which had been present, but up until this point had been simmering beneath the surface to preserve tribe harmony. The trouble was that Rob, at that point the leader of the tribe, decreed that the idol would not be found, and that anyone who searched for it was asking to be voted off. Russell, whose game relied heavily on the idols, could not resist temptation and went looking for it, getting expertly spotted by Sandra, and thus enflaming the conflict. The Heroes, meanwhile, had become a splintered group. While I would hesitate to say they had any blindsides, there was a dominant alliance consisting of James, Amanda, Rupert, J.T., Candice, and Cirie, leaving Tom and Colby in the minority (Sugar had never really found an alliance, and Stephenie had been voted off by this point). This lead to a frantic individual search for the idol, in which Tom came up the victor. This in turn lead to the first blindside of the game, in which Tom, using his idol, managed to knock Cirie out of the game. This was a great unexpected play that in my opinion kept the more interesting players in the game (Cirie really wasn’t bringing anything new), and also marked the first time that a hidden idol was used in the tribal portion of the game.
This brought us around to episode 5, which saw the first real injury of the game (I don’t count Rob’s crybabyitis). During a rematch of Schmergenbrawl from “Survivor Samoa”, James managed to damage his leg. In another twist, he was left in the game, but severely limited in his mobility. Yet, when the Heroes lost yet ANOTHER immunity challenge, James stayed over the physically fit Tom. But even this would not mark the turning point at which the game really got interesting. No, that would be next episode.
Here we got the expected “Double Tribal Council” for the season, but it played out slightly differently than before. Usually the tribe competed as a whole for reward, and then immunity was added later, usually in such a way that both tribes had one person immune. This time, everyone competed individually so that one Hero and one Villain got immunity first, and then those winners competed for their tribes to win reward. Not ground-breaking, by any standards, but a nice way to shake things up.
But what really wowed people was the move that happened next for the Villains. While the Heroes had a fairly standard Tribal Council, in which James was voted off for his injury, the Villains were a bit more exciting. Basically, even though Russell had the idol (it was common knowledge at this point), Boston Rob’s alliance was still up 6-3 (Randy having been voted out in an earlier Tribal Council), meaning they could split the votes between Parvati and Russell, guaranteeing one of them would be going. However, in what is, admittedly a pretty good bit of persuasion on Russell’s part, he convinced Tyson that Parvati would be going regardless, and so rather than vote for Russell like he was told, Tyson should vote for Parvati. This he did, making the distribution four votes for Parvati, and two for Russell. Russell then played his idol for Parvati, rather than for himself as was usually done, and nullified her votes, meaning his alliance’s three votes for Tyson (Rob was immune) kicked Tyson off. Then, Russell was able to convince Jerri and Coach that he was the true master of the game, and insodoing got himself the majority. Rob left shortly afterward.
The next twist barely counts as a twist, but as it was so heavily advertised it bears mentioning. This season attempted a fake merge… kind of. All it amounted to was a vaguely-worded tree mail and Probst saying “Everybody drop your… expectations.” Frankly, this fell fairly flat in my book, and is one of the few missteps of the season. It was lame and pointless. Still, we did get the Villains foolishly dismantling their whole camp, only to have to rebuild it, so I guess it wasn’t a total loss. Additionally, this episode also gave us another great Sandra twist. She and Courtney were alliance mates, and after the defection of Coach and Jerri, were on the outs. To save their skins, Sandra whispered to Russell that Coach had been talking about getting him out. One little lie sent Russell into a paranoid tailspin (and people say he’s a great strategist), that split his alliance and sent home one of his allies. Excellent strategizing on Sandra’s part, great to see Russell be gotten the better of, and it’s one of the reasons why both I and the audience love Sandra to this day.
Sadly, there was no saving of her alliance the next episode. No, instead we had TERMINAL stupidity on that one. You see, up until this point, only men had been voted off of the Villains Tribe. While Randy and Tyson were considered flukes, the fact that Boston Rob was gone made the Heroes suspicious. They became convinced that the only way this could happen was that there was a women’s alliance controlling the game. This was not true, but one could understand how they’d come to that conclusion. Now this in and of itself would not be that devastating to the Heroes’ chances come the merge. True, they’d be telling Russell everything, but worst case scenario, they’d still be 5-5, and J.T. had found a new hidden immunity idol as a safety net. That it, it WOULD have been fine if not for this next twist. J.T. decided to give Russell his idol, slipping it to him after they won the next immunity challenge. I’ll admit, it was a masterful bit of handiwork, and had the Heroes been right about the Villains, it would have been brilliant. As it stands, though, THIS is why J.T. lost so much respect strategically. This had too many unknowns, and ultimately was a STUPID move that cost the Heroes the game. Even so, it cannot be denied that it was a LOT of fun to watch.
Come the merge, we saw everything unravel. Despite attempts by Sandra to tell the Heroes the truth, and the protestations of Rupert (yes, you people who say Rupert is an idiot with no strategic game, HE was the one who had the sense to say “Don’t trust Russell immediately”), the Villains used J.T.’s idol to give them a majority. Not to say that the Heroes didn’t consider this possibility, of course. Just to be safe, they switched from Parvati to Jerri as the target, hoping Russell would vote for Parvati and thus give them a majority with 5 people. However, Parvati actually had TWO idols (one she found, the other given J.T.’s idol given to her by Russell), and gave them to Sandra and Jerri, on the grounds that Danielle was immune, Russell not likely to be voted for, and Parvati believing herself safe after Amanda did a bad job of lying to her. The plan worked, and J.T. was voted off. And, in a roundabout sort of way, it was his own fault. Yeah, there were a LOT of stupid moves this season. On the one hand, it was very fun to watch, particularly given how far-fetched some of these plans were, but on the other hand, it was incredibly frustrating, at least for me, given that I wanted the plans to succeed. Bear that in mind when I give my score for this section.
The next few episodes were filled with a lot of the same. The Heroes TRIED to regain the majority, using Sandra, but now Candice was convinced to flip over, keeping the Villains in control, and voting out Amanda. This wasn’t a blindside, but the flip counts as a twist, and a frustrating one at that. This was followed by another post-merge double Tribal Council, returning from “Survivor Samoa”, and it actually gave us two blindsides. After a scared Russell played a useless idol at the last Tribal Council, a new clue to the idol was read aloud at the first immunity challenge. Sandra found it, but Rupert, who was next in line to go, got the bright idea to put a rock in his pocket to make it look like he had an idol. This fooled the paranoid Russell, causing the Villains to split their votes between Candice and Rupert, as Candice had become untrustworthy in the eyes of the women. Rupert and Colby then voted for Candice, sending her packing. After THAT Russell, of his own free will, became paranoid about Danielle, blindsiding her. A great episode, that one, but kept frustrating by the fact that the Heroes STILL could not find a majority.
After that, things were pretty much downhill, apart from Sandra burning Russell’s favorite hat on Day 39, which was hilarious. But here we see the big problem with this season’s twists: while a lot of them were actually really great, they were also frustrating due to the outcome they produced. Not that I mind Sandra’s victory at all, (the first two time winner, I would add), far from it. I think this season showcased her strategic talents much better than on “Survivor Pearl Islands”, but I’d have preferred to see her win WITHOUT Russell Hantz making it to the end of the game. On top of this, while the twists came thick and fast in the middle of the game, there was a great dry spell at either end. This wasn’t the WORST thing ever, but for a season of returnees, you’d expect more. Additionally, while the cast themselves made a great season full of twists, apart from returning contestants, the producers didn’t do much. They changed up a few things, like how the clues to idols were distributed, but other than that, their only contribution was the fake merge, which, as I’ve said, was half-assed and not all that fun. Still, one should give the good twists their due, and this season did have above average twists, by that rubric.

Score: 6 out of 10.

OVERALL
Again, like with “Survivor All-Stars”, the location of this one didn’t really matter. A large part of the theme was honoring the legacy of “Survivor”, and this season succeeded in that regard. From the challenges to the little trivia bits that Probst put out for the season, it really felt like a tribute to old seasons. With that said, it needed to separate itself from “Survivor All-Stars” which did the same thing. From that perspective, marketing this season as Heroes vs. Villains was a genius move. It created a more adversarial, battle-like feel compared to the more copasetic (though still fairly adversarial) “Survivor All-Stars”. Put it this way: “Survivor All-Stars”, had a lot of inter-tribal cooperation and camaraderie. Heroes vs. Villains had everyone out for blood. Ironically, I’d say the cast of Heroes vs. Villains had less personal baggage after their season, but that only made it more pleasant for me. And it’s good to distinguish the two, because it was the only way to disguise the fact that Heroes vs. Villains was just “All-Stars 2”. If you think about it, EVERY great character on the show can be divided into the category of Hero or Villain. This season just did it more explicitly. This really was an “All-Stars 2”. Still, they hid it fairly well, and you can’t fault them for that.
What you can fault them for, ironically enough, is how the season played out. As you might expect from a season titled Heroes vs. Villains, it was played as a battle of good vs. evil. The problem is that while we might enjoy evil, we want good to succeed, or at least do well. With the exception of maybe three episodes, the Heroes were just decimated, destroyed, and made to look like total morons. We don’t want to see that. We like these players. In many cases we respect their game. We don’t want them taken out by the most stereotypical villain of them all. In that sense, the season falls flat, but overall, it was a great new coat of paint on an old idea. As to the problem with the cast I alluded to earlier: well, a lot of the Heroes, particularly James, just came off as unpleasant. This made us actually like our old favorites LESS, which is not a good direction, and why this season isn’t QUITE perfect in the overall execution. Not a bad season, by any means, but with a fair number of things dragging it down. It was held up a lot because it beat the shit out of the season adjacent to it, and had an air of grandeur to it. Take that away, though, and you have at most an average season, with a few great surprises in there.
Score: 29 out of 30.

ABSTRACT
Heroes vs. Villains, as you might expect it to, thrives on being a tribute to all things “Survivor”. It is, after all, the 10th anniversary of the show. It’s worth a watch for that alone, and has a lot of great things to enjoy, but some unpleasantness in how the alliances ultimately fall out that make repeat viewings harder. Still, it beats the shit out of the seasons immediately around it.

Survivor Retrospectives: Exile Island

Sorry for the one-day delay on this particular blog, but perhaps that’s due to the nature of this season.  Most seasons of “Survivor” are either well-loved, well-hated, or are a polarizing force amongst the fan base.  Exile Island, however, falls into a similar category with “Survivor Marquesas”, about seasons that divide people, but not strongly.  Some say it’s a closeted great, others, say it’s just “meh.”  So, where do I stand?  Well, if I just told you outright, there’d be no point to this blog, now would there?

But just to drag out the dramatic tension still further, a quick reminder that this blog does contain spoilers, and therefore should not be read in full unless you have either seen all of the Exile Island season, or simply don’t care if you know who wins.  If, however, you wish to know how watchable the season is without any spoilers, you can scroll to the bottom of the page, where I have prepared an “Abstract” section, that will cover the season in just such a way.

 

CAST

This, for me, is probably one of the weaker points of Exile Island, though it is by no means the worst part of Exile Island.  After all, the cast did give us a few standouts that are still talked about today.  Going from the time it was aired, probably the two most talked about contestants are also two of the people who made the final episode.  Specifically, I’m talking about almost polar opposites Terry Deitz and Cirie Fields.  Seriously, the debate over who was better divided nations.  Terry was someone the show had seen before in other forms: an ex-Army (or, in this case, Air Force) guy who was unbelievably strong, a leader of his tribe, taken out by a majority who wanted power for themselves.  Think Hunter Ellis (“Survivor Marquesas”), but with more success. Terry managed to survive by a combination of good politics on the tribal level, a string of immunities at the individual level, and a certain twist that I’ll naturally be saving for the “Twist” section.  Suffice to say, he was the Big Good Guy, of the season, the underdog trying to claw his way up after the Pagonging of his old La Mina Tribe.  Seen as a real threat by many, disliked by only a select few (such as Cirie), who could dare challenge this paragon of might, this spiritual successor to Rupert?  Why, an overweight, highly strategic woman who was so afraid of the outdoors that she was actually “afraid of leaves” of course!  In all seriousness, Cirie was the ultimate “Underdog” story of the season, even including Terry.  She started out as probably the most visibly unfit contestant ever on the show, had absolutely ZERO outdoor training, and was widly considered by many to be likely to be evacuated.  Instead, with a few clever moves on her part (which will, again, be covered in the “Twist” section), Cirie survived week by week, until, thanks to many of her new Casaya Tribe being unbelievably annoying, she’d worked herself effectively into the tribe’s political structure, was probably the biggest threat to win should she make the finals (save Terry), and even acquired a few outdoor skills along the way, managing to start fire with no matches by the end, and even catching the biggest fish of anyone out there.

So, if these characters divide nations, naturally I need to stand somewhere myself, and I do. Sorry Cirie, if you’re reading this, but I’m firmly in the Terry camp.  While I respect Cirie’s growth and development throughout the season, and acknowledge that strategically and socially, she was the best player out there (she originated the idea of the 3-2-1 split vote, and decisively won a challenge based upon likeability), the “afraid of leaves” thing turned me off to her in the beginning, and by the time she was really developing, Terry was well into his underdog story, and I just couldn’t resist.  Besides, with the odds stacked against Terry, he was going to be much more interesting week by week than Cirie once the merge came.  The audience loves an underdog, and while Cirie was one in the beginning, she and Terry kind of switched places (underdog and top of the tribe) come merge time.  On top of that, I’ve always had a bit a problem with how Cirie talked about her fellow castmates.  While there have been snarky and rude people before, and Cirie was by no means the worst of the lot (at that point, Jonny Fairplay of “Survivor Pearl Islands” would get that distinction), I felt that Cirie, talking to the cameras, was far too mean to her fellow contestants.  Again, Terry was not the saint I made him out to be, but he had a good story, a relatively good attitude (at least up until the final 4), and with the odds stacked against him, he was the main thing I tuned in to watch.  Also bear in mind that this, for me, was an early season of “Survivor”, and so I didn’t fully understand the social game yet.  I thought it was still only for hardcore survivalists, and so I thought Terry would have had it in the bag.  In hindsight, I appreciate Cirie’s social game, but still, if only for nostalgia, my support stays with Terry.

While these two were the main characters to come out of the season, they were by no means the only ones.  Most memorable by far is Shane Powers, the young-at-heart smoker who somehow ended up on the original “Older Men’s” Tribe, who went very insane trying to quit cold turkey THE DAY THE GAME STARTED.  This led to a lot of funny confessionals and moments, notably the creation of “Shane’s Thinking Seat”, and “Shane’s Blackberry”, the former of which was a stump, and the latter of which was a small hunk of wood.  Any debate or discussion about such things would guarantee an eruption from Shane, and an over-the-top argument.  I didn’t much like Shane when I first saw him, I’ll be honest.  My general disdain for all smokers at the time just prevented it.  However, he’s since grown on me since I’ve widened my horizons, and now I find him funny.  Also of note is Shane’s arch-nemesis on the show, Danielle DiLorenzo, whom Shane chastised for doing no work, and Danielle chastised for being rude and insane.  Danielle started out filling the “hot chick in bikini” role for the season, but we found she actually had a few brains behind her, with some even going so far as to call her the “Female ‘Boston Rob’” (“Survivor Marquesas”).  Now try getting THAT image out of your head.  Personally, I always thought she was overrated, as while she was smarter than the average young, hot female contestant, she wasn’t brilliant, and really the only thing she did all game was to ally with Terry at a strategic time, and then break that alliance at the end, when it served her (not that it mattered, as she would have lost against either Terry or eventual winner Aras Baskauskas).

Other contestants of note would be Bruce Kenagai, an older gentleman best known for being a bit eccentric, anal about his things, and his manner of exit (which will be discussed in the “Twist” section), and his partner in crime, the rare famous early boot of Bobby “BobDawg” Mason.  The latter is a bit surprising, since he went out fifth, and got barely any screentime beforehand (and most of that was Danielle calling him “Not a gentleman”), but BobDawg is very hard to forget.  A big, bombastic personality that took to the internet very well, BobDawg has been one of the more vocal early boots, talking at length (and very crudely) about how early boots are portrayed on “Survivor”.  This has earned him a considerable following, but not from me, as I just find him a bit too crude.  Still, you have to admire the guy for speaking up at all.

There are a few other slightly remembered early boots, specifically Dan Barry (though more for being a former astronaut than his gameplay), and more unfortunately Tina Scheer, the first boot of the season.  apart from being the most capable survivalist on the “Older Women’s” Tribe, Tina’s remembered for having a tragic backstory.  Originally cast on “Survivor Guatemala”, Tina the Lumberjill withdrew when her son, Charlie, tragically died in a car crash.  Naturally, the production was devastated, but handed over Tina’s spot to Amy O’Hara, and told Tina should she ever want on the show again, all she had to do was ask.  Tina asked, and next thing you know, she’s voted out first, poor thing.  Her dream had turned into a nightmare, and unfairly so, though I’ll explain why in the “Twist” section.

One person I really liked initially was would-be author Austin Carty.  Part of the initial “Younger Men’s” tribe (or Viveros, to use the proper name), I felt that Austin was funny and a lot smarter than was given credit (he actually was the first to make a fake immunity idol, but it never made air or came into use), and only left as early as he did because his ego got in the way, to the point where no one could trust him.  Still, on a show that favors big, bombastic characters, I can understand why he didn’t stand out.

Now, this is a fair number of big characters for the show, so why should I dislike the cast?  Well, while they stand out compared to each other, compared to the pool of ALL “Survivor” contestants, none really stand out save Terry and Cirie (and Terry would even be overshadowed next season).  On top of that, a lot of the people at the merge were really just non-entities, and so it got quite boring at that point.  Hell, back in my blogs for “Survivor One World”, I named Aras one of my Bottom 5 winners ever, for good reason: he really did nothing!  At least, nothing big or of interest.  Still, one cannot deny that this cast had a few good, memorable characters, but when diluted, the cast doesn’t stand out too much.  It’s not bad, it just doesn’t stand out.

 

Score: 6 out of 10

 

CHALLENGES

Now for the REAL weakest category of Exile Island.  While I will consent that this season did have one of the best obstacle courses ever on the show, and while they tried to be clever and unique about the challenges, they REALLY fell flat for me.  They seemed to be hedging their bets, not going strongly in the puzzles direction or the strength direction.  They just kind of sat there, being average, not at all big or exciting.  There were exceptions, such as the aforementioned obstacle course challenge, and I’ll admit the season was limited by its theme (which we’ll discuss in the “Overall” section.  And you thought I would say “Twist” section!), but the challenges were just really lackluster this season.  When you got the rare good one, it was really, really good, but overall, they’re just “Blah!”

 

Score: 3 out of 10

 

TWISTS

Enough bashing of Exile Island, now we come to the best part: the twists!  Yet, what would a season called “Exile Island” be, if not for the “Exile Island” twist that was central to the season, and may I just say, what a great twist this was, even if not entirely original.  The name “Exile Island” actually came from a twist in “Survivor Palau”, where Janu, after losing a challenge, was sent to live on her own for a night.  This expanded it, by forcing a winning tribe to send someone from the losing tribe (or, once the merge happened, anyone in general) to Exile Island, to be on their own for a period of days, essentially turning the idea of “voting people off the island” on its head, as now you were voting people ONTO the island!  On top of that, it combined such a twist with the “Hidden Immunity Idol” twist from “Survivor Guatemala”, thus further complicating the game, though it did change up the way the idol was used.  On “Survivor Guatemala”, the idol had to be played before the vote.  This time, you could hold onto it, and play it after the vote, thus sparing yourself, and the person with the next highest number of votes would go.  This changed things up adequately, but was a bit too powerful, as once people found out who had the idol (Terry), they were too scared to try and vote him out, the few times he was vulnerable.  Note that the introduction of an idol played this way led to a string of alpha male victories.  Still, this one stumbling black aside, this was the biggest twist to the game since the introduction of switching tribes, and if I do say so myself, it came off quite well.  It added and manipulated the social dynamics in a big way, while still keeping the core game the same.

But the producers were not content with this, oh no.  They had to pile on more twists, specifically, starting out for the first time with 4 tribes, Older Men, Older Women, Younger Men, and Younger Women (Bayoneta).  Again, I like this twist, it lends the season a unique start, and forces hard gameplay from the beginning (only 4 to a tribe).  However, it is what led, indirectly, to the ousting of Tina.  While she did want to go on the show, she was still mourning her son, and understandably so, but this meant she was of on her own a fair amount.  Cirie, who was on the outs by this point, seized her opportunity and banded the other women of her tribe together to vote out Tina, on the basis that Tina was less like them, and therefore couldn’t be trusted.  Good bit of strategy, I’ll admit, but I felt sorry for Tina for being treated this way, and many other people did as well.  By the way, interesting side note: on the DVD for the season, there’s a feature where a bunch of critics, before the season, give their personal picks to make the final 4, and their personal picks to win.  The most common answer for a winner?  Tina.  Boy, that REALLY bites the big one.

If I have one complaint about the “4 Tribes” twist, its’ that it DIDN’T LAST LONG ENOUGH!  By this, I mean that literally in the second episode, they did a schoolyard pick of new tribes (La Mina and Casaya).  I admit this was a fair way of doing things, but it was just too soon in my opinion.  Let the original tribe dynamic develop a bit before you mix it up.  It did have a unique element, though.  Bruce was not picked, due to the odd number of people left, and so was sent to Exile Island, but also avoided the second vote, getting absorbed into whatever tribe lost the next immunity challenge (Casaya).  Again, a good way of shaking things up, and making the season unique.  It also helped Casaya a lot, as Bruce had many survival skills, and let to their eventual domination.

Terry found the immunity idol hidden on Exile Island on Day 9, which is not bad, and would become a major force later in the game.  Things continued on normally, for a while, until a combination Reward/Immunity challenge, the first that was not a first challenge since “Survivor All-Stars”.  This was another ok way to change things, up, nothing too special.  The only way this impacted the game is an early merge.  It also, however, led to the odd ousting of Dan.  Up until this point, Dan had hidden his astronaut history from everyone (save Terry), but came out after the challenge, believing himself to be going home for his poor performance.  He did go home, but it was one of the soberest, most personal tribal councils ever, that’s a standout for the season.

Following the ouster of Dan was the merge, with Casaya having a large advantage over La Mina.  Terry tried to work things (he was a halfway decent strategist), but Casaya simply blocked him at every turn, and the Pagonging of La Mina continued.  They did change things up with Exile Island once, sending two people (Austin and Danielle) there after a challenge involving 3 teams of 3, and it was good to know that Exile Island Wouldn’t be predictable.  This season also had a “Eat or Compete” twist, but it has no major difference from the one in “Survivor Guatemala”.

The next major twist came after the Pagonging of La Mina, save Terry.  Bruce, unfortunately, had a blocked colon, and needed to be evacuated, the first since Michael Skupin of “Survivor The Australian Outback”.  This was an unfortunate and somber turn, but as the game had been in a bit of a rut, it was not an entirely unwelcome twist (once it became clear that Bruce would be ok).  It also won Bruce a lot of sympathy and fame with the viewers, and I was sorry he didn’t come back for the “medevacs” twist of “Survivor Philippines”.

Then came the family challenge.  In and of itself, the challenge was nothing special, just another obstacle course, but the way things worked was one of the most unique family rewards ever.  Rather than the winner getting (or being offered to give up) love for himself and one other person, the winner got to advocate who got how much love.  Terry gave himself and Shane a night away from camp with their loved ones, Cirie a night with her husband, Aras a hug from his mom, and poor Danielle (who had recently betrayed him) nothing.  This was an excellent way to do the loved one’s twist, staying true to the roots of the twist, but adding a new political dynamic that incited debate amongst contestant and viewer alike.  Just a great way for it to go off, making this probably my favorite loved one’s episode ever!

Terry by and large remained pleasant throughout the ordeal of being on the bottom of his tribe, but once the final four rolled around, and he was STILL unable to control his fate, he lost his cool and snapped at Cirie.  I think how the others ganged up on him after this was mean, but it’s no excuse for what Terry did, and one of the few low points of the season for me.

The final twist, such as it is, was due to the early merge and previous combined reward/immunity challenge.  Prduction was a few days ahead of schedule, and so Cirie was voted out a day early, and there was an extra reward challenge at the final 3 (something not done before).  While it made the game unique, it still wasn’t anything to write home about, and the season finished very blandly, with Aras predictably winning once Terry was gone.

Lots of good twists this season, and what few bad ones there were didn’t hut things too much.  They still existed, but they don’t drag the season down.

 

Score: 9 out of 10

 

OVERALL

As you can probably tell, this season had a lot of “blah” elements, and what good one existed were dragged down somewhat by the bad ones.  If the season had had a good theme to tie it all together, things might have worked out better, but given that the show was going to Panama for the THIRD time, they went with Vodou for the theme, which just didn’t lend itself well to “Survivor”.  The tribal council set looked kick-ass, but the season as a whole revolved around a lot of skulls, and just didn’t get much in the way of good challenges or design.  Note that this season gave us Jeff saying “Place the zombie head on the zombie body”.  Still, the season should be noted for what it did well: namely Exile Island.  It gave us a great, game-changing twist that would influence the show for years to come, and tied in well with the dynamics of isolation present in the cast (particularly how Terry was isolated from the Casaya Tribe), so it wasn’t all bad.  Even so, not one of the stronger seasons, in my opinion.

 

Score: 25 out of 40

 

ABSTRACT

While not the greatest season in the world, “Survivor Exile Island” is certainly one of the more influential seasons you’ll find.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it was the genesis for “Modern Survivor”.  While the cast and challenges are not the best, the twists are phenomenal, and a few good cast members keep you invested.  Not the GREATEST season in the world, and it CAN be skipped if you’re pressed for time, but if you’ve got a free bit, I’d say give it a watch.