SURVIVOR (BLOOD V. WATER)

Robyn · November 03, 2017, 12:28:03 AM

what survivor season is the best? i watched the amazon one twice because I enjoyed the rob cesternino show so much, and now I want to see more.

polkablues · November 03, 2017, 01:38:22 AM

Season 16 - Micronesia: Fans vs. Favorites
Season 10 - Palau
Season 19 - Samoa
Season 20 - Heroes vs. Villains (watch 19 and 20 back-to-back)
Season 8 - All-Stars (the best Boston Rob season)
Season 22 - Redemption Island (I might be the only person who loves this season)

If you just want to see Boston Rob putting on a clinic in how to play the game, watch All-Stars. If you want to see the twistiest, most strategic season ever played: Micronesia. If you want some amazing characters and storylines, watch Palau. When this show is good it's so fucking good.

Robyn · November 03, 2017, 02:23:05 AM

Can I jump straight to Micronesia even though I don't know any of the players? I have only watched that one season, so I have no idea who Boston Rob is. I talked about this dude:

polkablues · November 03, 2017, 02:33:29 AM

Oh, I got my Robs mixed up. Fortunately for you, the All-Stars season has both of them.

Regarding Micronesia, dive right in. There isn't really anything crucial you'll be missing by not watching any of the contestants' prior seasons. The big thing is don't watch Heroes vs. Villains before watching All-Stars and Palau. I would pretty much recommend watching them in the order I listed them in the previous post, just slot All-Stars in before Samoa and HvsV.

Robyn · November 03, 2017, 02:54:53 AM

thanks. watching it right away.

Robyn · November 03, 2017, 04:52:08 AM

one episode in, and it's too bad that this johnny fairplay dude was the first to go. he seemed fun!

polkablues · November 03, 2017, 01:26:47 PM

I know I said you didn't need prior knowledge to enjoy this season, but for context it should be noted that Johnny Fairplay was a notorious jackass and liar who orchestrated a plan on his original season to earn sympathy by making the other contestants believe that his grandmother had just died. Also, Jeff Probst fucking HATES the guy and doesn't try to hide it.

Robyn · November 04, 2017, 03:35:56 AM

that's taking it a bit too far, but he seemed entertaining enough in the episode. maybe I would have hated him if they kept him around though. i'm five episode in now, and I really enjoy it so far. Tracy plays the game pretty good. she has pretty much "saved" Chet twice now, and taken out two strong contestants in Joel and that other dude (Mike maybe?), while doing it under the radar. I don't think that people see her as a threat yet, but she seems smart, and are in that middle ground where you want to be in the beginning. good and entertaining season so far. almost every tribal council has had some kind of twist.

e: and there she went. it's impossible to predict what's going to happen tbh

e2: i'm addicted to this now, Ami got voted out in the latest episode which is sad (she was my favorite), but i'm also enjoying the Erik and Ozzy romance so it's okay. there's so much good stuff going on. i'm really curious how the fake immunity thing will play out

e3: it played out pretty good

Robyn · November 04, 2017, 08:55:55 AM

1: jason must be the dumbest contestant i've seen
2. that girl group is brilliant
3. i'm pretty much binge-watching the whole season at this point

Robyn · November 04, 2017, 10:36:07 AM

Quote from: KJ on November 04, 2017, 08:55:55 AM
1: ~~jason~~ Erik must be the dumbest contestant i've seen

this is how I feel about this season:

polkablues · November 04, 2017, 12:38:19 PM

That tribal council was the best thing I've ever seen. I want it tattooed on the inside of my eyelids.

Robyn · November 04, 2017, 01:19:36 PM

all four of them are so good in it. Parvati manipulating him by saying "you have lost the respect from all the women here", and Amanda being really upset with him, making him REALLY believe that he has to "redeem" himself somehow. I didn't think they could top the previous tribal councils, and thought it was a done deal as soon as Erik won immunity, but they outdid themselves.

I was rooting for Amanda for a while, but changed my mind in the last couple of episodes. she came across as pretty false, and I think Parvati was more deserving of it in the end. she was the smarter of the two.

I almost watched the whole season today. I would have been ashamed if it wasn't so enjoyable.

polkablues · January 12, 2022, 05:14:32 PM

I paid for a month of Paramount+ to watch the latest season of Survivor (wild, chaotic, boring ending), but more importantly, I discovered that they've made available seasons 4-6 of the Australian version of Survivor, so I started watching season 4. It starts out good, beautifully shot, Jonathan LaPaglia (Anthony's little bro) is a surprisingly capable Probst stand-in. There are some interesting backstories, interesting tribe dynamics. But then you get through a few episodes and IT IS ONE OF THE BEST SEASONS OF SURVIVOR I'VE EVER SEEN. The quality of the overall cast is crazy high, there's actual strategy going on. It feels like a "purer" game than the American version has had in years; there are some cool twists, but not a constant barrage of them like the flagship show's been bombarding us with (especially in the most recent season, they were relentless).

I have no clue how the back half of this season will land, but I have high hopes based on what I've seen so far. Anyone who's a fan of the show owes it to themselves to check it out.

polkablues · January 26, 2022, 04:25:46 PM

Quote from: polkablues on January 12, 2022, 05:14:32 PM
I have no clue how the back half of this season will land, but I have high hopes based on what I've seen so far. Anyone who's a fan of the show owes it to themselves to check it out.

Top three all-time season of Survivor, full stop. A case could be made for best ever.