Worth Playing For: Our Favorite Players

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16 Responses

  1. Sarah says:

    There is no way to have a Survivor podcast that is spoiler free. Don’t even attempt it.

  2. Barbara says:

    The list of consecutive players is actually a lot deeper than one would suspect. They are:
    Rupert (Pearl Islands and All Stars)
    Bobby Jon Drinkard (Palau and Guatemala)
    Stephenie La Grossa (Palau and Guatemala)
    Amanda Kimmel (China and Micronesia)
    James Clement (China and Micronesia)
    Russell Hantz (Samoa and HvV)
    Malcolm Freberg (Philippines and Caramoan)
    Joe Anglim (Worlds Apart and Cambodia)
    Shirin Oskooi (Worlds Apart and Cambodia)

    And, if I remember correctly, with the exception of Bobby Jon and Stephenie/Joe and Shirin, no one from their second season had watched their complete first season.

    • Battleship Pretension says:

      Yeah, I was thinking about this yesterday, and realized I had forgotten about James and Amanda. Stephanie and Bobby Jon are blind spots for me, because I haven’t seen season 10 or 11.

      • Barbara says:

        Yeah, Guatemala is an interesting season at the very least.

      • Matthew says:

        Oh, you definitely need to see Palau. Admittedly I haven’t seen it since it aired, but it’s a season I remember with great affection. I’m (slowly) working my way through a rewatch of the show’s run, getting close to Palau, and I’m seriously excited to revisit it.

  3. Scott M says:

    I didn’t watch 30 seasons in 30 days, but I started watching Rob Cesternino’s season back in late May, then went back and started at season 1 and watched the other 29 seasons, just finishing up last night. I’ve started having thoughts about how my relationships with other people have to be kept secret or it might put me in trouble….I might need help.

    I also say “all the fixins” a lot more than I ever have in my entire life.

  4. Scott M says:

    My top 10 characters (in no particular order, based on some mix of strategy/entertainment factor):
    – Cesternino
    – Cochran
    – Boston Rob
    – Russell
    – Parvati
    – Jeff Varner (definitely my favorite character who was only in half a season, excited for him to come back)
    – Spencer
    – Hatch
    – Tyson
    – Penner

    #11 just missing out is Wanda

  5. Nicola says:

    I’m so glad not to be the only one who thought Russel was robbed in his first season! I was so mad. Can’t wait for the new season and thoroughly enjoying your podcast.

    • Ryan says:

      I don’t think anyone who has ever lost has “deserved” to win. That’s just the way the game goes. Part of the game is social and Russell had an absolutely terrible social game. That’s why he was allowed to go to the Final Three in the first place. If he had been a better social player, they would’ve voted him out at the Final Five.

  6. Ryan says:

    If I were doing a Mount Rushmore, it would be Hatch, Rob C, Boston Rob, and Cirie.
    Sandra would be a close runner up. I’m surprised you guys didn’t like her at all. I don’t think she lucked into a win twice. I think she’s a damn good player, just not a particularly flashy one.

    • Barbara says:

      Agreed about Sandra! After all, she invented her own strategy that worked for her twice.
      A lot of people have said that Parvati gloated a bit too much after JT’s boot and even read and laughed about JT’s letter in front of the remaining heroes (aka the bulk of that season’s jury). For someone who has a strong social game, this was a pretty terrible move.

  7. Bob says:

    First off, I’m enjoying the show. Always enjoy hearing different takes on Survivor. It’s kind of amazing how subjective and speculative the show can be with such little runtime comparatively.

    You gotta forget spoilers. Just have to take the reigns off otherwise you’re stifling a lot of interesting conversations.

    Good lists, I agreed with a lot of them. Kim is the best winner ever IMO but she was kind of boring. I understand the error of Russell’s ways but he’s still probably my favorite player to watch. Tony is Russell with a good social game, he has to come back.

    Really excited for the new season!

  8. Matthew says:

    Really enjoyed the episode, even if I found myself disagreeing with you both strongly towards the end.

    I am very firmly in the anti-Russell camp. I understand your views, especially since Russell brought you to the show, but to me he’s just this toxic presence on the show, and his sole entertainment value is as someone to root against. I know people talk about Natalie winning as an unjustified result, but I’ve read a number of interviews with cast members who talked about various moves made by Natalie to protect Russell, that he would have been gone much earlier had he not have Natalie stepping in. Admittedly that could just be a bitter jury justifying their decision, but I remember one interview where someone said they were surprised by how invisible Natalie was on the show because she made a number of decisive moves.

    I also don’t care for the way Russell seems to feel like he’s entitled to win. His insistence that the game is flawed simply because his gameplay doesn’t take into account the need for a social aspect to the game is something I find incredibly offputting. You need only look at Tony, who played a vaguely Russell-ish game, but who was able to win because he put the effort into his social game so that people felt good voting for him. It’s no accident that Russell is the only person to do worse every time he played. You talk about people evolving into the players they became; well, Russell devolved.

    And I also do not understand the strength of the dislike of Sandra. I realise it’s not the most obvious or showoffy of games, but it’s almost like she sees a different game to us. We look at the fact that 20 people are cut to one and see that as almost impossible to win; she looks at the game and sees that at every point in the game you’re statistically unlikely to go home, so all you need to do is to avoid elimination every time, which is the most likely outcome at each point anyway. It’s like she’s dancing between raindrops and avoiding getting wet, and I find it fascinating to watch. It would never work for her a third time; after two wins she’s marked herself as a real threat. But it is a strategy that could certainly be successfully adopted by others.

  9. Ryan says:

    Very well said, Matthew. After the second time Hantz lost, he said “it’s not me, it’s the game!”, which was so whiny and ridiculous.

  10. Barbara Jean says:

    Listening to this episode has made me want to go back and re watch all of the previous seasons; I think I saw all but one when they originally aired but I don’t remember a lot of details. I don’t think you should be concerned about spoilers; specifics about players make the conversation far more interesting than if you were constantly censoring yourselves.

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