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.
idolspeculation 