Plus, the annual season-by-season ranking
I had a babysitter once.
I mean, I had a babysitter a lot of times when I was a little kid.
So I had a lot of babysitters.
Credit: CBS
But there was this one babysitter who was the best.
It was all mind-numbing garbage.
And I loved it.
However, she was nowhere near as bad as the members of the Solewa tribe were at babysitting Ben.
And you would think they would know better!
If there areSurvivorgods, then that was a move by theSurvivordevil because that was messed up, said Devon.
They knew whom they were dealing with.
And yet that is exactly what they then permitted him to do.
Look, I understand it is impossible to follow a person 100 percent of the time out there.
Contestants are often pulled for confessional interviews and can spend some time on the way back searching.
Same thing on bathroom runs and no, that was not an intentional pun with bathroom runs.
Its positively crazy how much time they left Ben alone on multiple days to search for his safety.
What this tribe needed to do was go full Boehlke.
Remember back inCaramoanwhen Andrea basically babysat Malcolm to see to it he didnt find another idol?
Chrissy finally woke up and realized what he was doing, but did she do anything to stop it?
Did she wake everyone else up to go find him?
Did she go out searching on her own?
According to what we saw: No, no, and no.
And then after Ben did not win immunity, did anyone make any attempt to shadow him?
AND THEY ALL SAID NO!!!!
Even Ben himself said it was loony tunes that nobody was following him as he went idol hunting.
But the other five players seemed bizarrely confident that Ben would not find an idol.
But I dont blame Ashley.
So how did we end up with a unanimous vote on Ashley?
One word: Chrissy.
Where willHeroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlersfall?
Read on to find out after the recap!
You all ranked everySurvivorwinner from first to worst and now you could see where your favorites landed.
(Dont yell at me if you dont agree.
For once, this is not my doing!)
All right, on to the rest of the recap.
Anyway, the teams were Ben & Ashley, Chrissy & Devon, and Ryan & Mike.
Ashleys AngerAnd then came the big brouhaha after Probst told the winners they could bring one person with them.
Chrissy immediately lobbied for her biggest ally in Ryan, and Devon folded like an omelet.
Ashley made no effort whatsoever to hide her displeasure at being passed over.
So its interesting who makes the decisions.
Why had Devon acquiesced so easily?
But perhaps there is a method to his madness.
You could actually say that about a lot of players this season.
I never really knew how folks felt about Lauren.
And other than some short-term frustration with the Coconuts, whats the word on Mike out there?
Maybe Chrissy and Ryan are the easiest to beat, but you wouldnt necessarily know that by the edit.
Immunity Is Up for GrabsThe second challenge of the evening featured more obstacles.
Her mathematical, mechanical brain was perfect for this throw in of contest.
But would she let the power get to her head?
The answer was…absolutely 100 percent!
And Chrissys excuse that theres two more Tribals before we get to final three.
Hes not going to win both [challenges] is pretty flimsy.
Rightfully or not, Ben is the one who has continually been labeled as a great and dangerous player.
Hell, Joe has been literally applauding his moves from the jury!
How do you not take that guy out?!?
As the Sex Doctor so eloquently stated, We have an opportunity to get this guy out.
Get him the f out!
(Incidentally, anywhere but New York City is the wrong answer.)
And he wasnt done!
Who knows, maybe it was a combination of the three.
(Recap continues on next page)
Whatever the reason, Ashley is gone.
So whos the favorite to win among those left?
My guess is that it would come down to Ben or Devon.
Ben has been seen as the biggest threat going all the way back to the merge.
If he makes it to the end, you have to feel that the jury would respect that.
Archnemesis Joe certainly seems to.
But Ashley brush-off aside, Devon is probably the most universally liked by the jury.
But thats only if he makes it to the end.
And I dont know what to make of Mike, at least in terms of how others view him.
Again, it just looks and feels like a Ben or Devon victory which means it probably wont be.
SURVIVOR SEASON-BY SEASON RANKINGS(From best to worst)1.
(Tie)Survivor: Borneo(Winner: Richard Hatch)
andSurvivor: Micronesia Fans vs.
Favorites(Winner: Parvati Shallow)Ive gone back and forth with these two over the years.
AfterMicronesiaaired, I named it the bestSurvivorseason ever.
So then I returned that to the No.
If I wanted to watch one season again, it would beMicronesia.
If you ask me which is the most important season, well, obviously itsBorneo.
And the greatness just kept on coming.
Filled with huge memorable moments like Tyson voting himself off, J.T.
giving Russell his immunity idol, and Parvati handing outtwoimmunity idols at one Tribal Council.
I know many people would consider this No.
1, but its all returnees.
For me, the fresh blood ofMicronesiakeeps that season higher.
(Maybe not well at all times, but at least they were playing.)
moment to a truly intoxicating season.
Letting fans vote in the cast?
Hiding idols at challenges?
I think you all know how I feel about that.
Tempting people to quit an immunity challenge for a mystery vote steal advantage?
All the tribe switcheroos?
They played out to perfection.
TheSurvivorproducers always throw a bunch of twists out there.
Usually some work and some dont.
This season, they all paid dividends.
I also appreciated how hard the bulk of the cast was playing.
Usually you get a small handful of big-time gamers.
Another plus: The votes were completely unpredictable from week to week, leading to some truly crazy Tribals.
Sure, the challenges were a bit blah, but still, a rousing and triumphant success.
Some people hate on Jenna as a winner, but she won challenges and played an effective social game.
Survivor: Pearl Islands(Winner: Sandra Diaz-Twine)Rupert stealing shoes.
Fairplay getting drunk at Tribal Council.
Osten sucking at everything.
It was all delicious.
And the challenges may have beenSurvivors best ever.
(Recap continues on next page)9.
WhenMillennials vs. Gen Xstarted, most us of were like, Yeah, its fine.
Not amazing, but not terrible either.
But then things kept happening.
And everyone kept flipping on one another.
And everyone kept getting blindsided.
And everyone kept futilely using their idols for other people.
It was madness and chaos in the best way possible.
And what was so fascinating was that (with the exception of Michaela) nobody took their ouster personally.
This was a season remarkably free of any sort of fighting whatsoever.
None of the ugliness ofWorlds ApartorKaoh Rongpermeated the proceedings, even amongst all the lying and backstabbing.
Even Hannah was entertaining with her neurosis.
Even Ken was entertaining with his late-game cluelessness.
Bret gave us a touching moment where he came out as gay to Zeke.
Sunday outsmarted Adam and Hannah with a ruse at Tribal Council.
(However, I still cant figure out why they went with three-person duels a.k.a.
truels and they definitely should have stopped RI at the merge.)
So why is it so high?
And the fact thatPhilippineshad such a strong final four also doesnt hurt.
Survivor: Caramoan Fans vs.
But hear me out first before you Russell any feathers.
It was flat-out grating.
But everything post-merge was spectacular.
There were so many moves and countermoves galore down the homestretch.
Also, dont overlook how great the bevy of water challenges was.
Should I push it down in the rankings due to the lackluster Reunion show that followed?
He was robbed in the end, though, in the most controversial jury decision ever.
Plus: purple rock!!!
Survivor: China(Winner: Todd Herzog)Ive always loved this season.
It featured a really good cast stuck in a really bad location.
Todd completely owned that final Tribal Council.
Thats how you win a million dollars.
Survivor: Cook Islands(Winner: Yul Kwon)What a difference a mutiny makes.
It was listless until that fateful moment when Candice and Penner stepped off the mat.
Then we finally had underdogs to root for.
Plus, just look at all the great first-time contestants (Parvati, Penner, Ozzy, Yul).
17.Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers(Winner: ?
)Here it is.
LikeGame Changersbelow it, Triple H comes in right in the middle.
(At least we hope it finishes strong with Wednesdays finale.)
And, outside of one mind-bogglingly boring loved ones reward contest, the challenges were strong.
This may just be me, but I am totally fine with any of the final five winning.
On one hand, thats great!
And could continue to do depending on what happens in the finale.
We were treated to two titans of the game (Tony and Sandra) going toe to toe.
But something was missing.
Said events were all exciting, but they failed to form a cohesive unit.
all gone before the merge.
As despite the gameplay and unpredictability down the stretch, that is kind of what happened.
And then there is what happened to Cirie in the finale.
(The fact that it happened to a true legend in Cirie made it even harder to swallow.)
Thats a great example of natural show evolution that worked and the producers deserve to be commended for it.
Im just explaining what kept it from being a trulygreatone in my book.
Its not in my book, but it is a perfectly fine one.
Survivor: Australian Outback(Winner: Tina Wesson)An overrated season in my book.
Pretty predictable boot order as well.
Dude did burn his hands off, though.
Working against this season is the fact that there simply were not enough transcendent players in the cast.
)(Recap continues on next page)
22.
Survivor: Tocantins(Winner: J.T.
Thomas)Okay, you may roll your eyes at Coach 1.0.
But imagine for a second this season without him.
His unintentional comedy single-handedly lifted this into the middle of the pack.
Seriously, other than Tyson getting blindsided, were there any memorable moments that didnt involve the Dragonslayer?
(Remember Jerri getting literally booed off the stage?)
Terry was robbed on a final challenge that may or may not have been completely fair.
Another unmemorable final two.
Shane Powers should have been brought back forHeroes vs. Villains.
And theSecond Chanceseason, for that matter.
The fact that so many unworthy players went so far is simply too damning.
Survivor: Africa(Winner: Ethan Zohn)Some great challenges.
Not that much else was great.
Survivor: Guatemala(Winner: Danni Boatwright)One of the more unlikable casts so far.
Stephenies evil twin?)
Rafe was good for a few laughs, though.
Especially on rope obstacles.
That counts for something.
Survivor: One World(Winner: Kim Spradlin)Look, I have total respect for Kims game.
Like Tom inPalauand Rob inRedemption Island, she excelled strategically, socially, and physically.
Unfortunately, that is really the only good thing I can say about this season.
And thats too bad, because I do think the One World concept was a solid one.
But, man, what a thoroughly uninspiring cast.
Speaking of awful creative decisions…
35.
Survivor: Nicaragua(Winner: Jud Fabio Birza)Its at the bottom for a few reasons.
(1) Splitting the tribes up by age and the Medallion of Power were both enormous flops.
(2) LikeOne World,Thailand,andFiji,Nicaraguahad just too many unlikable players.
(3) Two people quitting with only 11 days left.
(4) No big memorable moments.
EvenThailandhad the fake merge andFijihad the big Yau-Man/Dreamz free car deal gone bad, but what wasNicaraguas signature moment?
Unfortunately, it was people quitting, and that was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Who do you think is gong to winSurvivor, and whom do you want to win?
Plus, where does this season rank for you overall?
