Best Survivor Season Tournament (Finally Updated)

[pablito]

1. HvV - Sandra redux plus an intense pre-merge makes for a strong season. Plus love letters <3. Redemption Island is one of the few seasons that I gave up and didn't watch all of the episodes.

2. Marquesas - Kathy was an amazing character and knew how to create a minority alliance to success in a game where minority alliances never had yet succeeded. Samoa had great moments, and had a strong potential arc with the alliance of few toppling the large tribe but the overall narratives were overshadowed by people taking the game so personally (but for logical reasons).

3. Cambodia - Caramoan I liked and it had some strong moments with strong characters. This created a lot of distractions from the overall game so that the pre-merge was still interesting for those pre-merge boots. I think the vitriol in this season came from truly evil people and some behind the scenes gaming that the overall public was not wary to. For me, though, Cambodia was a great concept with great characters and great narratives with a strong winner.

4. Amazon - Rob C took this game, but even moreso, Deena thought strategically and set the scene for a dynamic game where for the first time it was not a simple us vs. them narrative. People were seen as individuals, strategically, and emotionally. This season changed the overall theme for future survivors. I liked Africa quite a bit for the young vs. old dichotomy because I somehow really enjoyed Brandon and Linda as characters. The casting had strong diversity, and the location should have better than it was. If Africa had the same cast, but was filmed about five years later, it has the potential to be a top notch season. What kills this season is the context. Back then switches were new and now they're commonplace. The stories in that season were great, but the strategic gameplay was so weak because there was no comparison to be seen yet.

[pablito]

Micronesia

because Nicaragua was filled with such disappointing potential. Nicaragua had medallion, age battles, and great characters, but it all devolved into such a bitter jury. And the jury was also filled with some undeserving players. Micronesia on the other hand had great moments throughout and one of the most satisfying late jury games ever.

Guatemala

for having beautiful vengeance on an evil cast and the first attempt at a 3-2-1 vote also probably because I was travelling in Guatemala shortly after taping. The finale with the feast and the storm was a great narrative. There were great characters in there that were despicable, but their comeuppance was very fun to watch. I very much liked Tocantins, especially with the exile alliance, and I really liked the dominant alliance a lot, as well as quite a few of the pre-jury boots. I just wasn't a huge fan of the location and some of the stories didn't feel so fresh to me. Perhaps on a rewatch this vote would flip, but I remember feeling more passionate about Guatemala's characters more than Tocantins'.

South Pacific

I liked Sophie and other characters in this season, and Borneo, while iconic, I'm not sure I remember much of the middle. Borneo felt like it was all about the end game and final tribal council. South Pacific instead, I remember more of the pre-jury and jury phase, and I have a weird affinity for Edna Ma too. Upon writing this, I find my vote unsure, but I stick with South Pacific.

Palau

while strategy was deficient the narrative of Ulong is damn fascinating and the challenges were breath taking. The location was amazing and the characters stood out from the beginning to the end. Very satisfying ending too. It felt like a huge refreshing season. Vanuatu felt recycled and I was not a huge fan of the cast aside from some key characters like Eliza and Ami. Wasn't a fan of the winner either.

Edited to add more rationale - votes remained the same.

[pablito]

Cagayan - the story of various characters was good - Spencer and jtia really stand out. I didn't like the winner too much but the narrative was iconic. But really I just did not like Thailand at all.

Panama - while race war turned out to be a better season than its preceding media coverage Panama had truly iconic players. Shane cirie aras was a trifecta of greatness. Yul redeemed cook islands and it was a fun session to watch but Panama had the best chemistry with a well cast season.

Philippines - Lisa was a great choice in cast and Abi is tv gold. A great winner overall earns my vote. Worlds apart was a great concept but Colton marred a season that should be rated better.

Gabon - without Aubry and debbie the season wouldn't rate for me. Gabon in retrospect seems forgettable because I couldn't root for anyone but there were plenty of characters I could love love to root against. Such a disappointing season with the finale but iconic moments all around.

[pablito]

You're right. My bad that's why these crap titles amuse me. Worlds apart was still disappointing for me because the villains I wanted didn't become villains instead they were hateful despicable unaware people. Actually I think I like Colton better than Dan or will.

Worlds apart easily rates in my bottom 10. Vote stands and now it's even easier to decide.

[pablito]

Pearl Islands

- I already said my bit on One World. Take out Colton and the season is actually quite decent. Christina is an underdog, Sabrina and Chelsea were good to root for - Kim rocked the game when she black-widowed Jay and Troyzan. And having both camps nearby was actually a strong concept. Nonetheless, Pearl Islands reinvigorated the game when pirating went a bit too far and players played quite strategically even when abandoning emotions. This game changed the meta.

San Juan del Sur

- Natalie rocked the game, point blank. She played like a true social game/ORG player - of which isn't always seen on the show. She effortlessly flitted between alliances while keeping only the audience afloat to her steely game. She harnessed her anger and desire for revenge by taking advantage of several pairings, and she recognized the importance of breaking up said pairings in the late jury game. There were some great characters that didn't get the chance to blossom (and later killed it on Cambodia) and there were some great characters that did blossom. The narratives excelled here. Australia feels overrated for me because the jury phase somewhat changed the game up, but it mostly stayed the same. Tina and Colby taking on everyone is a great story, Elisabeth and Rodger gave the sweetness to the edge that Varner and Alicia brought. I think Australia is a story of people rather than a story of the game.

China

- PG throwing the challenge is enough of an image for me for China to win. Fiji is my absolute second-last on my list because of such hateful actions by some bullies in the game - and the have/have-not twist was not fun as was the "screw over the person on exile because they join a tribe so late" twist. If it weren't for the fall of Edgardo and the most deserving person winning - I think Fiji may have ended up as my least favorite season.

All-Stars

- I liked Blood vs. Water - nothing against it. I really loved Ciera's game and I think Caleb played a strong UTR game. I really liked Aras and Vytas for their sibling rivalry. And unfortunately Colton was there. Then I looked at All-Stars. I remember enjoying Rob's game greatly, even though it was mostly could've been a coronation season. I remember the unfortunate controversies in the game itself. But I remember it being the first time having three tribes (which ended up being mostly a bust in this game), and it became a strong strategic game early on and late in the game too. They brought back some of the greatest players and characters I remember from early seasons. It got to be an emotional game, but I think back in the day when I watched All-Stars originally, I was more excited to watch episodes than how I felt when I was watching Blood vs. Water.

[pablito]

Heroes vs. Villains

- I like being a cheerleader for Marquesas, because Kathy toppling John and Zoe is such a satisfying move, even if I really liked the dominant alliance of 4. But I just don't know if Marquesas with is lovely location, strong challenges, great narratives and fun characters can stand up to the behemoth of Heroes vs. Villains. I feel like HvV has the right mix of people with a great winner, lovely narratives throughout, one of the best ponderosas ever, and there was nary a lull throughout - so I give the nod to HvV for having more complexity and more players I like.

Amazon

- Both were amazing seasons. I have to give it up to Amazon for being such a #gamechanger and really allowing strategy to dictate moves for once. Cambodia's voting blawks probably owes itself to Amazon's faux voting blocs. Voting in Cambodia sure made it all the worthwhile of a game though.

[pablito]

I disagree with you on every one of your choices.

Micronesia

- Satisfying winner for a half-allstar game. It helped create a new format that didn't feel recycled. Pre-merge was good, but post-merge just killed it with the blindsides. Can't argue with the winner, but I also felt bad for it being a F2 instead of F3 as expected.

Palau

- Palau is one of my top seasons. Ulong is the trainwreck you never want to take your eyes off of. It was a season where reward challenge picks made a difference. The scrappiness of Angie was great to watch, and it's sad she's never returned. Jeff and Kim were an early showmance that got killed by injury. Jolanda was kick-ass and still got thrown off episode 1. It felt like the editing here was stellar as the stories peaked at the right time despite knowing that one tribe was going to be decimated. Felt like a complete, comprehensive season despite it really being two mini-seasons in 1.

[pablito]

Oh I missed the last one:

Panama

- Cirie's 3-2-1 still is one of the best episodes I remember. I don't remember rooting for anyone in either season as someone I wanted to win, moreso people I wanted to root against. And since I didn't like Tony, I didn't have options aside from Spencer (who was still young) - and therefore don't remember the season being that great. Panama I did like Aras for some reason, even though he had his snippets of whining - but Cirie came from being pegged as an early boot to a strategic/social genius.

Philippines

- Gabon had great moments but it got nasty. Abi was a gem in Philippines and for that the season gets my vote.

[pablito]

sjds

mainly because Natalie rocked the strategy and most of the detestable parts of the season happened early. Pearl islands was a good season but I think I liked the characters more in sjds. Blake Rupert i think.

China

I started writing out my vote for bvw being a great concept that brought back some people I enjoyed and was glad they returned but then I thought about how much I hated some people in this season so I changed my vote. I don't remember china fondly because i think there was a lot of untapped potential but the winner was good. I think my thoughts of the season are marred by memories of some players in their future seasons. I guess I got real tired of James and Amanda but in china I wasn't yet.