Top 10 Personal Favorite/Underrated Survivor Winners

 Not long ago, YouTuber Peridiam did a Top 10 Survivor winners list, and I wanted to do the same.  Just like him, these are not who I consider the 10 greatest winners or winning games, but 10 personal favorites.  These are 10 winning games that I really enjoy watching, and I think that most of them are underrated.  This will include the new era and I'll do my best to explain why each person is on this list.  Keep in mind, there are winners like Kim, Yul, Earl, JT, and Boston Rob, who are generally considered some of the greatest winners of all time, so they are not here.  Here's my Top 10 Personal Favorite Winners:

10. Chris Daugherty, Vanuatu
I would love to play a game similar to Chris if I were to ever go on Survivor.  Although, would his game work in the modern era?  Hard to say.  I love Chris's game, and the fact that Jeff has hated on it so much makes me like it even more.  He was the last man standing at Final 7, and weaseled his way to to the title of Sole Survivor.  

9. Natalie White, Samoa
One potential strategy for a winning game is to latch onto a dominant strategic force that isn't playing a great social game.  This is the perfect example of that.  Natalie smartly did not play too aggressive at first, because otherwise, she'd be a pre-merge boot.  Then, she warmed up to the former Galu tribe members after the merge, earning their respect.  Unfortunately, her game is vastly overshadowed by Russell's massive edit, still the largest ever for one player in one season. 

8. Erika Casupanan, 41
Not a fan of this season, although I'll need to rewatch it someday.  Erika's game was a lot like Gabler's two seasons later, but she had a much better pre-merge and she didn't have to rely upon the threats turning on each other--she took care of it herself.  She also convinced Xander to take her to the end.  She kept her threat level low and struck when the time was right, and sat at the end against two guys that weren't as likable as her.  That's all it takes.

7. Mike Holloway, Worlds Apart
I love Mike's game.  He made one fatal flaw, but he did what he had to do to overcome it.  He was still a good social player, just made one huge social mistake, trying to go back on paying for the letter from home at the auction so he could get the advantage.  But from that point on, he did what he needed to survive.  That's the name of the game.  I don't fault a player for immunity streaks, because there's still no guarantee they get voted out if they lose immunity.  Crazy things can happen. 

6. Dee Valladares, 45
Yes, the most recent winner (as of the time of writing this) is on this list.  Dee played such a great game, and I think it's going to be viewed even more positively over time.  She insulated herself with two #1's, both of whom were aware she had a second #1, and neither of whom was willing to vote her out.  She controlled many votes, getting out who she wanted, such as Kendra and Kaleb.  Her winning move of telling Julie about her being the target is one of the most underrated moves, maybe ever.  Dee's a top 5 female winner of all time.  

5. Amber Brkich, All Stars
It sucks for Amber how people view All Stars as "Rob and Amber's season" rather than just her season.  Similar to Natalie White, she latched onto a strategic mastermind (although in a different way) and banked on playing a good enough social game to beat him at the end.  My one fault in her game is Rob basically saving her after the swap with his empty promise to Lex, but I also look at that as rotten luck in her getting swap-screwed, but playing a good enough social game to have someone vouch for her.  Amber was still looked a bit down upon for being Rob's right hand, but she managed to get less blood on her hands, which was enough.

4. Sophie Clarke, South Pacific
Yet another instance of a female latching on to a male who doesn't play the best social game--this time being Coach.  Sophie did what she needed to survive, whether it was appeasing Coach and the cult-like alliance, or that final clutch immunity win.  I need to rewatch this season to get the specifics, but Sophie is an incredibly intelligent player who employed the Natalie/Amber strategy and won, just like them.

3. Todd Herzog, China
Just like Peridiam, I have to give some respect to Todd.  A lot of Survivor fans do regard Todd's game highly, but I believe they don't regard it highly enough.  He expertly navigated the game, at times employing two meat shields in Jean-Robert and James.  He got two girls under his wing in Amanda and Courtney, neither of whom were willing to turn on him.  And then he ends up having one of the best final tribal council performances of all time.  He didn't win individual challenges or use idols, but Todd's social and strategic game makes his game one of the best ever.

2. Aras Baskauskas, Panama Exile Island
My guy, Aras!  I just love this season, and Aras plays a very underrated game.  His tribe easily could've lost numbers or collapsed post-merge, but Aras helped keep them together (along with Cirie and Danielle).  He went toe to toe with Terry and built a solid bond with Cirie that I think was the best thing he did in the game.  And with the fire-making at 4, he had no blood on his hands regarding Cirie's boot.  I just wish Aras had flashier moves, but if he had, others would regard him higher and he might not even be on this list for me.

1. Tina Wesson, Australian Outback
I remember when I first watched AO, I so wanted Colby to win.  But after watching it as a more intelligent adult, I realized how great Tina's game was.  So many moms and older women have tried to replicate her game and have failed.  She was someone who no one wanted to vote out, not even Colby at Final 3 when it was the obvious move.  It's unfortunate her pre-merge game was largely absent from the televised broadcast, but I still believe she played one of, if not the best social games of all time.  She got Colby to take her to the end and then at Final Tribal, not even fight hard to beat her.  You can tell by his reaction to Tina winning that he wanted her to win.  

Rating New Era Survivor Twists and Changes

Something I still need to do, being a big fan of Survivor, is rating the new ERA twists and changes.  I'm gonna recall from memory each twist added or change made to the game since the start of 41, and then give it a rating out of 10.  A 10/10 is a perfect idea, and I honestly don't know if I'd give that to any twist in Survivor history, including the hidden immunity idol, so you won't be seeing that here.  A 0/10 would be an idea that is so asinine, whoever came up with it should be fired.  

There may be the occasional advantage that I have forgotten, but if I forget it, it's because it had such little impact on the game, and therefore isn't worth rating.

26 Day Format: 3/10
I don't think I'll ever fully come around on this.  Leave it to Survivor to stick with the 26-day format after COVID restrictions end since it's cheaper.  The bad thing about it is that it doesn't allow for close bonds to form or for people to struggle out there.  There's no time for the game to breathe, in a sense.  It feels like when Survivor reduced its quantity, it also reduced its quality.

No food/losing flint if immunity is lost: 5/10
I'm okay with teams suffering a penalty if they lose, although going to tribal council should be penalty enough.  But taking away flint doesn't have the impact it used to, since they are given access to clean drinking water, and the pre-merge lasts no more than 2 weeks.  Meanwhile, odds are each player will eventually get access to food via some sort of reward.  It seems like taking away flint is just for show, and honestly shouldn't even be mentioned anymore.  It's not an awful idea, just an unnecessary one that adds nothing to the show.  Also, I might add, taking away flint from the losers only increases the chance that they'll lose again, thus creating a "disaster" tribe that enters the merge with only 3 or even 2 members.  

Hourglass Twist: 1/10
The hourglass twist is easily one of the dumbest things Survivor producers have implemented.  The worst part is that people who rightfully won immunity had it stripped away from them.  If anything, the hourglass twist should have made them replay the challenge, and see if we get the same result--although that wouldn't have made for as good of TV: seeing the same challenge done twice.  Maybe they could've used a different challenge.  But heaven forbid Survivor pay for another challenge set.  

Knowledge is Power: 5/10
This is an advantage that has yet to work, other than causing people to swap their idols and advantages.  That effect really made it confusing to track who had what.  It did create some good moments, such as Dwight going home with Jeanine's idol in 43 and her shock at finding out, even though the KiP wasn't shown on that season.  I wouldn't hate it if they brought it back, but I'd rather it be tweaked a little.  My suggestion is that if the owner of the KiP can correctly name who has an idol or advantage, you get an extra vote.  I don't think people's idols/advantages should be able to be stolen.  

Reunion not live/held right away: 2/10
I understand not being able to do it in the early stages of the new era due to COVID, but just like with 26 days, again Survivor sticks with it since it's a cost-cutting measure.  I really hate it because players are not given the chance to think about and digest their games.  I also love hearing the audience's reaction to the votes being read, and without it, the result always feels subdued.  It's like seeing the final out of the World Series but no one in the stands to cheer on.  Also, I hate how anyone who doesn't make the jury doesn't get to reflect back on their season.  Bring back the live reunion!  

Most idols being beware advantages: 6/10
I can live with this.  The reason I kind of like this is that it doesn't allow players to keep finding idols easily and playing them one after the other, like Ben in HHH.  It makes players work for it.  Idols were getting too easy to find, so adding steps to "activate" or find their idols made it more difficult.  I wish players didn't lose their votes until they fully found or activated their idol, but there's got to be some "punishment" to it, I guess.  I was not a fan of having to wait for a certain phrase to be said at the immunity challenge mat chat like we saw in 41 and 42.  I much prefer having to accomplish something, like getting beads in 43 or the cage twist in 44, and not having to rely upon someone from another tribe.  

Amulet(s): 4/10
Again, another idea that just falls flat.  We've seen this now in 42 and 45, and each time it just seems to put a target on people's backs.  I think if the showrunners try it a third time and the players are given the option, I think they'll choose not to have it.  I get that they're trying to create cross-tribal alliances, but all they're doing is making them targets for one another.  They should change it so that the combined amulets become more powerful so long as all owners are still in the game at certain points.  All three make it to the merge?  Extra vote.  Final 10?  Steal a vote.  Final 6?  Full-blown idol.  But they haven't really laid out who gets control of the advantage once it gets those points, so that'd be interesting to see...

Shot in the Dark: 7/10
The "SitD" as I call it, is one of the better new era ideas.  It creates drama when there likely is none.  Obvious boot?  Well, there's still the shot in the dark, which could save them!  It also adds a layer of strategy, because you have to decide if losing your vote is worth it.  For example, in 41, if Sydney hadn't played her shot in the dark and instead had voted, she likely survives.  I just can't rate it higher than 7/10, because, to me, it overcomplicates the game a bit.  With SitD's being transferrable and only able to be played once, I now have to keep track of who currently has their SitD?  There comes a point where there's just too much to keep track of.  

"Merge-atory": 4/10
Jeff says that you have to "earn the merge".  You know what, Jeff?  They earned the merge by getting that far in the game, you dick.  Fortunately, it's a lot better without the hourglass twist, but I'm still very against the idea of likely only 6/13 people being eligible to be voted for.  I also do not like when they add a layer of luck to the game, because some good players can get unlucky and have to leave the game, and a layer of luck is added when they randomly divide them into two teams.  

Split Tribal at Final 12 or 10: 2/10
Just... stop this.  Please.  I get having to have two people be voted out in one episode.  But instead of dividing them into two teams of 5 or 6, just have two tribal councils with all 10 or 12 people.  We've lost some decent players because of this awful twist, such as Matt in 44.  It adds another layer of luck that I am not a fan of.  And I think they've done this in seasons before 41 (Ghost Island, for one), but since it's been used every season since the start of the new era, I consider this a "New Era" twist.  

Three tribe format: 4/10
The worst part of this three-tribe format is that they never swap into two tribes.  I'm okay watching three-team immunity challenges, because there's usually some drama, either between 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd.  But only having 6 players per tribe is getting very tiresome.  There's not much room to maneuver as a player, and if you are put on a struggling tribe, you will likely not make the merge.  Also, if there is one tribe having a lot of success that never goes to tribal council, the whole tribe could end up getting purpled, like we saw with the Coco tribe in 41.  If we had a regular two-tribe format, we likely see J.D. in 41 at the merge.  But because his tribe struggled so much pre-merge, he was voted out.  

Do or Die: 1/10
I almost gave this a 0/10, because it was that bad.  What saves it from that 0 mark is the fact you can opt out of the challenge, therefore not risking elimination via a game of chance.  I wish everyone had opted out of one of these, just to spite the showrunners.  Fortunately, each time the Do or Die did not work, saving Deshawn and Lindsay.  Thank goodness they stopped it after 42.  But much like with the hourglass twist, it breaks a Survivor cardinal sin.  This time, you can get eliminated from the game without a single vote against you.  You could be playing a perfect game, but because you wanted to compete in a challenge, you get eliminated from the game.  If it had eliminated someone, I wonder if Jeff was going to say, "The tribe has spoken".  Probably not.  

Choose Your Champion: 7/10
We've only seen this once, in 43, and unfortunately, we might not see it again.  Essentially, you choose who you think will win an immunity challenge, and if they do, you win immunity as well.  I wish the reveal was done sooner, rather than at tribal council.  I think people should know if they can vote for you or not.  But I guess it's like an idol, which a lot of people don't get to know about.  But I liked the element of how well people know their tribemates.  I think they should incorporate these for reward as well.

Sweat or Savvy/Earning Supplies: 4/10
I'm just not a big fan of having to "earn" your supplies.  As viewers, what do we care if someone has their supplies or not... honestly?  They kept tweaking the sweat vs. savvy challenges.  At first, they were too easy, then they were too hard, then they just got rid of it.  They clearly couldn't design sweat vs. savvy to be the right difficulty.  For 47, they made a "captain" from each of the losing tribes compete in a kind of scavenger hunt, which is slightly more fun to watch.  But again... why do we care?

Journeys: 3/10
My biggest gripe with journeys isn't how they often result in a player or two losing their vote(s), although that is a close second.  No, my biggest gripe is how they used these journeys to replace tribe reward challenges.  It was a Survivor staple for the longest time: reward challenge, immunity challenge, tribal council, rinse and repeat.  Then, as we got into the 20s and 30s of the seasons, the tribal reward challenge slowly started to get phased out.  Sometimes they would have something to replace it with (Redemption Island duel, for example), sometimes they would just incorporate more camp life.  But once the new era hit, they fully did away with tribal reward challenges for these journeys.  I know it's a lot cheaper to make a set for a journey than it is a full tribal reward challenge, but come on, Survivor.  One of my biggest issues with it is that it takes away a chance for a struggling tribe to win something.  Now, on top of losing immunity, they lose reward to, since the pre-merge rewards are combined with immunity.    

Average: 3.6/10
The twists and changes in the new era have largely been disappointing.  Survivor's at its best when its a slowly evolving game, and I felt like in the new era, they did too much too fast.  I like how bad ideas were phased out, such as the hourglass or "Do or Die".  I wish they'd go back to two tribes or 39 days, but we can't always get what we want, can we?  Anyway, that's all I have for now, but if there are any others, I'll add them to the list and give my thoughts.

Top 10 Things We Have Yet to See on Survivor (But May Someday)

 I do a lot of blog posts on one of my favorite TV shows ever, Survivor.  I enjoy how the game has evolved over the years, and new things are happening all the time with its evolution.  We had a fan-favorite player get eliminated by default with Cirie in Game Changers.  We had a tribal in Second Chance where idols negated every vote.  But some instances or occurrences have never happened in Survivor history.  With all the new advantages and the numerous idols put into play by the showrunners, not only are some of these things likely to happen, but I think they (Jeff included) want them to happen.

10. A "No Vote" Tribal Council
One thing I'm not a fan of in recent seasons is how easy it is to lose your vote.  In fact, in Season 44, just going to the summit meant you lost your vote, unless you got lucky and succeeded in that 1/3 shot of getting an advantage.  It's so dumb.  Anyway, with how easy it is to lose your vote, and with shots in the dark, and with how small tribes can get, I feel like a "no vote" tribal council may happen someday.  I'm sure they have a plan in place for this, but this "dramatic moment" would feel so contrived, as do a lot of them in recent seasons.  And by a "no vote" tribal council, I do not mean a tribal council where all votes are negated.  That's happened before.  I mean a tribal council where everyone present has lost their vote or chooses to lose their vote.  Very unlikely, but it's theoretically possible.

9. A plurality tie at Final Tribal Council
I have a feeling this could happen in 44 (Spoiler alert: It does not).  But given three finalists, a tie with a plurality vote is certainly possible.  With 8 jurors like 44 has, we could see a 3-3-2 final vote.  Or if they had 9 jurors, a 4-4-1, or do I even say a 3-3-3?  We've seen a tie before in Ghost Island, but in that case, Laurel did not receive a vote and ended up casting the tie-breaking vote.  So if there's a 3-3-2 tie, how is it broken?  Do the 2 people who voted for the 3rd place person and the 3rd place person themself break the tie?  We may get that answer someday.

8. "Everyone's Safe" Tribal Council
This is what I think Jeff and the producers want most.  A tribal council where everyone is safe via immunity, idol, advantage, or shot in the dark.  We were close to it with the Cirie elimination in Game Changers.  But what would happen here?  They just vote out two people next time?  Everyone's safety cancels out and gets removed?  Draw rocks?  They fight for it?

7. Someone puts themselves into final 4 fire making and loses
We've seen it only once before where the player who won final immunity put themselves into fire: Chris in Edge of Extinction.  He won his fire-making duel with Rick Devens and then won the game.  A few others have considered attempting it, some of them regretting not doing so.  I think we will see (and likely soon) someone put themselves into fire, but lose.  It's become a running trend that winning fire-making looks a lot better to the jury.  This would happen when someone needs a boost to their resumé and knows they have no shot at winning without it.

Update: Heidi in 44 put herself into fire making, but won the fire making over Carson.  However, she still did not win the game, the first to put themselves into fire making but lose the game.

6. Multiple fake idols played at one tribal council
Hard as it may seem, we've never seen multiple fake idols be attempted to be played at the same tribal council.  For the first time in 44, producers made and introduced fake idols into the game.  In the past, players always had to make them themselves.  I think we may soon see a tribal council where someone attempts to play an idol but it turns out to be fake, and someone else attempts the same, feeling like there is no way theirs could be fake as well.

5. A player gets all the way to the end without ever having been vulnerable at a tribal council
I'm sure there have been a few players who have been somewhat close.  But this may never happen.  However, it theoretically is possible that a player gets all the way to the end without having been eligible to be voted for.  Their starting tribe would have to win every immunity, and they'd have to win individual immunity or be separated into a group that doesn't go to tribal every vote until the Final 3.  This person would have to be godlike at challenges.  They'd have to be smart with puzzles and athletic for endurance challenges.  I wonder if this ever happened, would this make a jury want to vote for them or not?  

4. A rock draw on a plurality tie
We've seen some rock draws in Survivor history, from Marquesas to Blood vs. Water to Millennials vs. Gen X.  But we've never seen one when there's been a three-way tie (or more).  I believe Survivor has had a three-way tie before, but it's always been resolved on the revote.  You'd think perhaps there'd be a tribe of 6 people with three twosomes, the twosomes all targeting three different people.  But generally, two pairs of twosomes get together to target one of the two odd people out.  Or, if a tribe has three people, each one targeting someone else.  I thought we might've seen that on Tika in 44 when they had just Caroline, Joshua, and Yam-Yam.

3. Someone gives someone their immunity necklace who then in turn plays an idol for them
I just think this would be a cute moment if it ever happened.  Two players close in the game, both of whom would be vulnerable.  One has individual immunity, but they decide to see if they can throw off the opposition and they give their immunity to their ally.  Said ally then plays an idol they happen to have on the first player.  This has never happened before, since the second player could just play their idol, but I'd still love to see it for the drama and fireworks.  Plus, it's something players would have to come up with, not the producers.

2. A player votes out someone with their idol
Let me explain.  In 44, we saw the introduction of the "Control a Vote" where Heidi got to control Lauren's vote.  Also, players loan idols all the time, namely in recent years to avoid the Knowledge is Power advantage.  This could mean someone is forced to vote out someone who has their idol.  That would just be such a kick in the nuts.  

1. A rock draw for $1 million?!
Even with a final three, a deadlock tribal council is possible.  I believe, for this reason, the show tries to avoid a jury size that is a multiple of 3 (namely 9).  I don't believe they've had a jury where the final 3 could've each gotten the same number of votes.  But I could be wrong.  But surely they must have something in place for this in case it happens.  For example, in Winners at War, what if one more person had left the Edge (joining Sandra in doing so), and the 15 jurors split their votes 5-5-5 between Tony, Natalie, and Michele?  Surely they wouldn't do a rock draw for $1 million, right?  I guess they'd have the jury talk it over until they came to a consensus.  Or possibly re-vote until someone gets the majority.  

BONUS (Unlikely): A juror that never casts a vote
We saw in 44 how Matt got to the jury, despite the only time he ever cast a vote being the time he got voted out.  Well, with how much the producers love taking people's votes away in mind (and the Shot in the Dark), we could see a juror on Survivor who never casts a vote, not even for a winner.  This could only happen if they re-introduced the "Remove a Juror" advantage, as seen in Kaoh Rong.  That was only introduced because of the med-evacs and needing an extra challenge, but I feel like we potentially could see it again.  Imagine, you get on the jury, but you don't get to cast a vote all game.  We will probably see a juror at some point that the first time they put pen to paper is for the winner.

Ten Survivor Season Ideas

With Survivor 44 just around the corner, I thought it'd be fun to do another Survivor blog post.  I know Survivor is in a new era, and so far, it seems like they're solely focusing on newbie casts only with no themes.  I think they're going to have to return to either returnee or themed seasons (or both) again someday, just to increase intrigue for seasons.  Constantly continuing with newbie casts and numbered seasons is not going to keep Survivor fresh, and fans are going to tire of it quickly.  So, here are five returnee player seasons and five themed casts for newbie seasons that I'd suggest they use.  I won't do any "sequels" to a returnee player season, such as "Second Chances 2", because that would be too easy.


Returnee Player Seasons

1. Old School vs. New School
It would be interesting to see a New School vs. Old School season.  The Old School Survivors wouldn't have to all be from older seasons, because we've had some Old School type players in fairly recent seasons.  Same applies for some New School players from some older seasons.  Or alternatively, they could have this be players from seasons before Season 40 vs. players from seasons after Season 40.

2. One Last Chance
All of these players playing this season would verbally commit to saying this is their final season, whether it be their 2nd time playing or their 3rd or 4th.  Like Winners at War, it would give a lot of legends (Cirie?  Ozzy?  Russell Hantz?) a chance to bid farewell to the show.  I'd much prefer this over a season simply titled "Legends".  At least with this, we can get some closure on some Survivor legends for sure.

3. Pre-Merge vs. Post-Merge
If they want to stick to picking returning players from just the 40s, one idea they could do is to have a tribe of pre-merge boots against a tribe of post-merge boots.  Just two seasons into this new format and we already have a handful of possible pre-merge boot returnee players such as Brad, JD, Daniel, Jenny, and Zach.  Two more seasons, and we'll have enough for an entire tribe.  Also, this would be titled something else (such as Second Chance 2), but the tribes would be divided based on where people got voted out their first time playing.

4. Social vs. Strategy
This is kind of a lame idea and needs some help with regards to marketing, but my idea is to put one tribe of players that relied on social games--Michele Fitzgerald, Cirie, Tommy, etc. against a tribe of players that focused on advantages and strategy, such as Drea, Jesse, and Devens.  It would be interesting to see the strategy tribe fight for advantages and see how well the social tribe gets along.  And of course, it would be interesting which "strategy" would come out on top.

5. Rivals
This has been talked about for a long time, but a rivals season is definitely a possibility.  Rather than split the rivals up on separate tribes, I think you put them on the same tribe.  Putting them on separate tribes only increases the chance that we won't have many rival pairs left come the merge.  Also, these rivalries would have to have some sort of requirement, such as one player had to have voted out the other.  Think Chris and Dom, Jay and Michaela, etc.  It would be interesting to see if the rival pairs would set aside their differences and work together or if they would target each other immediately. 


Themed Cast for Newbie Seasons

1. Teachers vs. Students
Survivor loves it's "_____ vs. ____" type-seasons, such as "David vs. Goliath" and "Millennials vs. Gen X".  Those two have been two of their more successful seasons in the past 10 years.  I'd suggest a Teachers vs. Students season.  The Teachers tribe wouldn't have to be fully comprised of people that are in a teaching profession (Although I'd recommend about half).  They could also be comprised of people that train others for a living (managers, bosses, etc.).  The Students tribe also wouldn't be fully comprised of actual students currently enrolled in school, but it could be people learning a profession or people who are apprentices or new to their occupation.  Yes, the Teachers tribe would generally be older, but I'm sure they could find some older students and younger teachers to help even things out.

2. Salute to Armed Forces
Survivor should do a season comprised entirely of veterans from various branches of the military.  I think it would add some intrigue, and maybe some alliances of people from the same branch.  They've cast many veterans throughout the years.  My one concern is whether they would have enough female veteran applicants.  They might have to do a bit of recruiting.  One idea I had is this could be a captain-type season, with maybe Ben Driebergen leading one tribe, and Angela from Ghost Island leading the other tribe.

3. Celebrity Edition
I've wanted a Celebrity Edition of Survivor for so long.  I'd be okay if they were given a decent amount of food and habitable living conditions, especially if each celebrity was playing for charity.  Who wouldn't want to see celebrities lie, scheme, and betray each other?  I know they did "Beyond the Edge," which had celebrities, but that wasn't Survivor.  There are plenty of celebrity Survivor fans that would be willing to do this.

4. Kids vs. Parents
I know Survivor loves to lean into the Blood vs. Water storylines, so why not fully?  Why not have a season where one tribe is a tribe of parents and the other tribe is their kids?  This could maybe even be where they lower the age restriction a bit (to 16 or 17).  But the kids' tribe would have to have some older "kids". Otherwise, they would struggle to build a camp and get food.

5. Connections to the Past
Think Blood vs. Water, but without returning players.  Each player cast is someone related to a former Survivor player.  I would love it if they did this but then didn't tell the players that anyone else is related to a Survivor player.  The hard part would be getting 16-20 players who don't recognize each other, as former players often hang out, share photos, etc.  But imagine someone letting slip they're related to a former Survivor player, and then someone else confessing to them, etc.  Bonds or rivalries could form over this.  It would be very interesting to see how and when players would reveal their connections.  

Well, those are the 10 theme suggestions I have for Survivor; hopefully they use one of these someday!  I might come back and comment on it if they do.  

Top 10 Survivors Who Never Got a Second Chance

Survivor has been played by over 600 players.  Some have come back to play a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 5th time!  But then some never played again.  In fact, a large majority of players only play once.  But there are ten I can pick out that I wish had played again.  These ten players Survivor really missed out on by not casting them again while their seasons were still fairly recent.  These ten will likely never play again, so there's no one past season 30 on here.  So this is my tribute to them.  My ten favorite one-time players who will likely never play again.  Here they are:

10. Carolyn Rivera ("Mama C") - Worlds Apart
Mama C was a very good player, and she was fairly likable.  I wasn't a huge fan of who she aligned with, but she played a good game, nonetheless.  A part of me feels she deserved the win over Mike, since Mike had to immunity and idol his way to the end.  She voiced on the Top 100 players of all time video on Russell Hantz's YouTube channel that she wants to play again, but I feel like it's too late, as she was already in her early 50's when her season aired.  

9. Ian Rosenberger - Palau
How can we not want to see a guy who voluntarily stepped down from the longest challenge ever back?  And he did so to save face and have a decent relationship with Tom and Katie after the show.  But I believe he has been approached about playing again, but he turned down producers.  I'm sure if they gave him enough of an appearance fee, he would've played again.  Oh well.

8. Taj George - Tocantins
Being a minor celebrity, Taj probably doesn't want to play again.  But she was like a second Cirie Fields.  She was likable, and if not for JT and Stephen, she might have won.  Well, she would've needed to outlast the Timbira members.  Anyway, I wish she had maybe played Blood vs. Water with her husband, former NFL running back Eddie George.  That would've been cool.

7. Hayden Moss - Blood vs. Water
Hayden clearly showed he was a gamer, and his skills from Big Brother translated fairly well to the game of Survivor.  I wish we had seen Hayden on Second Chance or Game Changers.  He would've been a more interesting player on GC than Caleb.  I loved his ability to convince Ciera to force a rock draw with Tyson.  

6. Cao Boi - Cook Islands
The man that came up with the splitting the votes tactic!  Plan Voodoo!  How could we not have seen Cao Boi back?  I honestly think I would've preferred him on Micronesia over Yau Man (especially considering how early of a boot Yau Man was).  Maybe they didn't bring him back because of his racial insensitivity (to his own race, mind you), and also maybe the fact he didn't make the merge.  

5. Earl Cole - Fiji
Earl is the one winner on this list, and man, I would've liked to have seen him back.  He was such a likable guy on a season that isn't particularly likable.  He would've made a good Hero on HvV or probably a more interesting player on Blood vs. Water (with his wife?) than Aras, and he certainly would've been a welcome addition on Winners at War.  Unfortunately, he had to turn it down due to his wife recently giving birth.  

4. Theresa "T-Bird" Cooper - Africa
Each time I watch Season 3, Africa, I like T-Bird more and more.  I like how she wasn't intimidated by Lex at all.  I like her southern accent.  And she's just a sweet, southern lady.  I would've much preferred her on All-Stars over Tina or Jenna Lewis.  They could've had four from Africa on All-Stars as they had four from Australian Outback (Tina, Colby, Amber, Jerri).

3. Marty Piombo - Nicaragua
Marty was a gamer.  He was incredibly smart and was voted out way too soon.  He was maybe (even at the time) ahead of his time.  He should've come back to show his full potential.  But by this point, it's probably too late.  If he was originally cast on a more memorable season, we might've seen him back.

2. Heidi Strobel/Hamels - Amazon
When you think of Survivor Amazon, who are the first players that come to mind?  For me, it's Rob C, Jenna, and Heidi.  And let me also ask you this.  What Survivor player in history best fulfills the dumb blonde stereotype?  You probably think Heidi.  Yet she has never played again.  Such a shame.  Again, she easily could've replaced her friend Jenna on All-Stars, and should've, given Jenna's mom's health at the time.  

1. Shane Powers - Panama/Exile Island
Such a shame that a character like Shane never played again.  And he was willing to, too.  He was on the HvV cast until he was cut for Russell Hantz at the last minute.  He was on the ballot for Cambodia: Second Chance, but somehow missed the cut (come on, people!).  By this point, it's probably too late.  He's probably also given up on reappearing as well.  Shane's just a unique, fun character to watch, and one that you hardly ever see on Survivor.  Again, such a shame.

My Dream Survivor Returnee Season

Being such a huge fan of the TV series, Survivor, I have developed a certain liking for some players.  One of the things I love most about Survivor is that they have returning player seasons.  There's been All-Stars, Fans vs. Favorites (twice), Heroes vs. Villains, Game Changers, and Second Chance.  

I'm just going to compile a list of 20 Survivors I most want to see play again.  I am sort of taking into consideration the likeliness of them ever playing again, but not entirely.  This is my dream cast, and I know a majority of these players will never play again.  There's some on this list that literally have either said they'll never play again or that production just would never bring back.  But hey, it's my dream cast, so I'll put in here who I want.

Anyway, I cast 10 men and 10 women, and divided them up into two tribes.  Some have played the game only once, some have played two or even three times.  I did my best to divide up the tribes evenly and so that players from the same season were not on the same tribe.  Here they are, in the order of their first season:

Tribe 1
Theresa "T-Bird" Cooper, Africa
It's a huge shame T-Bird has not been back yet.  She was on the Second Chance ballot but just missed out.  Is she still young enough to play?  I'd like to think so.  She's still active in the Survivor community.  Bring T-Bird back!

Heidi Hamels, Amazon
Formerly Heidi Strobel, Heidi Hamels would be a very interesting returnee, I think.  She's married (to former MLB pitcher Cole Hamels) with kids, but she keeps in good shape, as can be seen in her social media posts.  I'd love to see how much she's grown from her first season.  

Terry Dietz, Panama/Exile Island and Second Chance
Terry did get his second chance, but it was cut short.  It's such a shame.  It seemed like he was adjusting fairly well to the modern game.  I would love to see Dietz get a legit second chance.  But it would have to be soon, before he gets too old.

Earl Cole, Fiji
I decided to cast two total winners, one for each tribe.  I wish Earl had been on Winners at War, but I think he had just had a kid.  He's one of the most well-liked winners of all time, and is one throwaway vote away from playing a perfect game.  How can they not ever bring someone like that back?

Ciera Eastin, Blood vs. Water, Second Chance, Game Changers
But she voted out her mom!  Haha, jokes aside, I'd love to see Ciera get one more chance.  She's unfortunately got the combination of manipulative and not great at challenges, so she's a possible early boot every time (as we saw on Game Changers).  But perhaps she'd ingratiate herself better a fourth time.

Baylor Wilson, San Juan Del Sur
I'd really like to see how Baylor does without her mom.  We've seen Ciera without her mom.  Would Baylor be anywhere near as ruthless?  Not likely, but you never know.  

Carolyn Rivera, Worlds Apart
"Mama C" as she is affectionately called, should definitely return.  She definitely wants to, as heard on the YouTube series Top 100 Survivors of all time.  She could be an early boot, but I think she'd make a fairly quick connection and avoid that.

Jay Byars, Millennials vs. Gen X
Jay made one of the boldest moves (maybe ever) when he blindsided Michaela.  He's willing to take risks, that's for sure.  I'd love to see Jay again.  He's also great for content, as he got fooled with a fake immunity idol.  

Christian Hubicki, David vs. Goliath
Christian is an almost lock to return if he wants to (really doesn't matter the type of returnee season).  He's a fan favorite and his quirkiness and intelligence is great for TV.  

Rick Devens, Edge of Extinction
Yet another lock to return if he wants is Rick Devens.  He makes for such good TV.  Him and Christian possibly interacting would just be *chefs kiss*.  

Tribe 2
Rob Cesternino, Amazon and All-Stars
We unfortunately didn't get to see much of Rob in All-Stars, as he could never gain traction with his original tribe and was an early boot.  I know he'll more than likely never play again, but imagine if he did, and imagine if he and Heidi made the merge or got swapped to the same tribe.  That would certainly be interesting to see.

Ian Rosenberger, Palau
I believe Ian has said he will not play again, but man I'd love to see him back.  He would've been a great addition to Micronesia or Heroes vs. Villains (as a Hero, duh).  Ian's one of my favorite players of all time and seeing him step down from that pole at the Final 3 Immunity of Palau breaks my heart every time.

Michael "Frosti" Zernow, China
Sure, he's not the absolute best character, even from his season, but Frosti is definitely still young enough to play, and I'd love to see how he adapts to the modern game.  He unfortunately got put on the worse "Zhan Hu" tribe in China and could never recover from his tribe's awful challenge performances.

Natalie White, Samoa
Unfortunately, as far as social media presences go for Survivor winners, Natalie's basically vanished and become invisible.  Apparently she's married and settled down, but there's not really any recent pictures of her online anywhere.  I would love to see her play again, outside of Russell Hantz's shadow, to prove she can legitimately play this game.

Marty Piombo, Nicaragua
It's a shame Marty hasn't been brought back yet, and it might be too late.  He should have been for Caramoan, Second Chance, or even Game Changers.  No male cast member from Nicaragua has come back, and it should have been him.  Would love to see him interact with other masterminds in this game.

Kelley Wentworth, San Juan Del Sur, Second Chance, Edge of Extinction
Have we seen the last of Wentworth?  Hmm... hard to say.  But I'd love to see her play one more time.  She's only had a legit shot one time in Second Chance, and she was playing from the bottom.  I think she'd do well on another all-returnee season.  

Michaela Bradshaw, Millennials vs. Gen X and Game Changers
I would love to see Michaela one more time, especially if she were to play on the same season as Jay and possibly get her revenge.  She gives great confessionals and she's great at challenges, too.  

Dominic Abbate, Ghost Island
Dominic is an almost lock to return if he wants to.  His storyline of being one tiebreaking vote away from winning is just too good to pass up.  He might be an early boot for being a strategic threat, but it certainly would be interesting to see.

Gabby Pascuzzi, David vs. Goliath
The Yin to Christian's Yang (or vice versa), Gabby would be an interesting returnee, especially to see her play against Christian, at least at first.  I think she has the ability to be cutthroat if need be, and possibly partner with a Marty or Dominic and do some damage.

Janet Carbin, Island of the Idols
Janet surprised me on IotI by how athletic she is.  She also played a great social game, but perhaps too great.  I could see her sliding by and making tons of connections.  I just would love to see her play again.

Well, there you have it.  My dream cast Survivor season.  I may update this someday if I ever lost interest in someone, or if someone new comes along that I have to see again.  

Survivor Best Players by Season

This is part 3 of 3 of my Survivor posts.

Throughout my rewatch of every season of Survivor, I am picking out who I think played the best overall game that season.  This player isn’t always the person who ended up winning that season, but they often are.  For me, my best player is (if not the best) one of the best at strategizing and doing their best to make sure they were never a target of a vote.  I am looking for solid, all-around players with very few weak spots in their game, so people who were a liability in challenges won’t be on here much, and I considered players more if they were great at challenges.  Basically, based on what I saw, these are the people who I think most deserved the million dollars because I felt they exemplified a true survivor best.  Sometimes that person did not even make it to Day 39 and the Final Tribal Council, due to bad luck, losing the final immunity challenge, a betrayal, or a matter out of their control.  Here they are:

Borneo: Richard Hatch
Survivor was a lot different in its first season, and from what they showed, Rich was the only one who schemed or seemed to plan anything.  Heck, Sean even had his “alphabet strategy” because he didn’t know how else to vote.  Anyway, the producers didn't want Richard to win (instead they wanted Rudy) as Rudy was more likable.  Rich courageously and smartly knew he did not have to win Final 3 immunity as either Kelly or Rudy would take him to the end, so he stepped down and saved his energy.  That’s a ballsy move and one that I have not seen matched since.

Australian Outback: Tina Wesson
I would love to have given this to Colby, but at the final tribal council, it did not sound like Colby wanted to win.  He didn't fight for himself much at all.  I don’t know why he did this, but not having a killer instinct or a strong desire to win will make me not choose someone, and in this case that is Colby.  He was just too honorable to try to make Tina look bad, I guess.  Tina, meanwhile, didn't really get on anyone's bad side, and in a season without a true scheming player, she was able to be the first "nice" player to win.  Keith was close, but he didn’t do enough to justify me picking him over the actual winner, Tina.  Tina was always on the right side of the vote, and once they got Jeff Varner out via a tiebreaker of past votes, they had the numbers advantage and it was smooth sailing for Tina.

Africa: Lex van den Berghe
The first non-winner that was the best player was Lex.  He was easily the biggest challenge threat of the season.  He was such a force in the game that there was a rumor that Kelly had thrown a vote his way (when in fact it was Theresa), and he was able to get Kelly voted out as a result.  His only downfall was the final immunity challenge in which he had a stomach bug that kept him up all night the previous night, costing him immunity, because he physically could not go on further.  But if he had somehow gone to the Final 2 against either Kim or Ethan, he definitely would have won.  Kim knew she had a better shot against Ethan in the Final 2, despite Ethan’s likability.  She knew the jury would’ve respected Lex’s gameplay too much. 

Marquesas: Kathy Vavrick O'Brien
Kathy was definitely the most well-respected player in Marquesas.  Neleh always had Paschal to protect her and Vecepia just scooted by without drawing too much attention to herself or even doing much.  Kathy also was the challenge "beast" of the season, because everyone else was only mediocre.  Just like with Lex, the final immunity challenge cost her.  In this case, it was wearing a low cut top.  We know she would've beaten Vecepia or Neleh if she made Final 2.  Vecepia and Neleh had made a deal behind Kathy’s back to take the other if either won immunity (because each knew they couldn’t have beaten Kathy), so Kathy had to have won that challenge to win the game.

Thailand: Brian Heidik
Brian straight-up lied to people's faces, most notably Ted and Helen.  He told them they weren't going at the next vote, yet they did.  He also was the challenge beast of the season.  This season wasn't known for its great players; in fact, only one player (Shii-Ann) returned to play again that was from this season, and she didn't even make the jury this season.  But Brian was in control pretty much the entire game and was never in danger of being voted out.  Much like with Richard Hatch in Borneo, Brian seemed to be the only real strategist of the season.

Amazon: Rob Cesternino
So far, the best players have either been 1st or 3rd.  Trust me, that will change.  Rob was the one true hard player this season.  Unfortunately for him, turning on Jenna and Heidi (and voting out Alex) cost him.  Also, not winning final three immunity just like Lex and Kathy couldn't, either.  But he basically controlled Matthew in the game and was the first true mastermind of the game.  What would've happened had he stuck with Jenna, Heidi, and Alex?  We'll never know.  But I don't blame him for picking Matthew and Butch; they were much more easily manipulated, and Rob had a VERY good shot at beating either of them in the Final 2. 

Pearl Islands: Sandra Diaz-Twine
Up until this season, no one had played the "as long as it's not me" game better than Sandra.  She always made sure was on the right side of the vote, and it helped that the opposite tribe struggled to win challenges.  However, she did not excel in challenges herself (at all).  In fact, she is still to this date the only Survivor winner not to win a single individual challenge, reward or immunity.  And she did it twice!  She excelled at the final tribal council, giving excellent answers to each of the juror's questions.  My favorite moment of hers was giving Burton and Jon a false sense of security by moping at camp.  She told Jon that she and the other two women did not form a pact to vote one of the guys out, when in fact they did, and she got the biggest threat left in the game in Burton voted out.  She also survived the horrible “outcasts” twist which saw Burton and Lil reintroduced into the game.

All-Stars: Amber Brkich
Now, I so badly wanted to go with Rob on this one.  Rob was the most manipulative player this season by far.  But I have to penalize players who backstab and betray people to the extent that it hurts their chances in the end.  Amber knew what she was doing.  She knew Rob would take all the bullets for her while still making all the decisions together.  She won the Final 4 immunity and I think would've won Final 3 immunity if not for a brain fart in hers in touching the idol with her other hand.  Rob betrayed Lex, Kathy, and Tom, and in some instances, such as with Lex, Rob did not handle it well at all and made Lex look like a fool.  You have to know where to draw the line, and Rob went too far.  Amber did not.  Sometimes the best move is to align with a bad guy, so you look better by comparison.

Vanuatu: Chris Daugherty
Yet again I pick the winner.  Chris went from challenge goat in the very first episode to winning the game.  He formed the "Fat Five" alliance, but once they picked off too many guys, the guys themselves started getting picked off by the women.  Chris then scraped and clawed and lied and deceived his way to the final two.  After that first vote where a woman finally got voted out (Leigh Ann), he was confident the rest of the way.  Sure, he betrayed Julie and Eliza, but they understood it was part of the game and voted for him to win anyway.  He also won the final two immunity challenges.  I think Ami was more of a challenge beast, but towards the end Chris really was in every single one of them, so he greatly improved his game in challenges.  Chris's game reminded me a bit of Brian Heidik's, in that once they got kinda near the end, they were confident in every vote and won the immunity challenges they needed to. 

Palau: Tom Westman
I'm sorry, but we're just in a stretch where the best player wins all the time.  This season wasn't known for its strategists.  Ian seemed to be the one doing the most talking and move-making, but he got caught in too many deals and lies, and ultimately to save face, he had to bow out of the Final 3 Immunity challenge.  Tom, meanwhile, was a beast at challenges, and I bet he set a record for the amount of times he was safe during an episode, whether it be tribal or individual immunity.  He did of course make moves and said things people didn't like, most notably Caryn and Coby, but he won by a margin of 6 votes to 1.  Many will describe him as one of the game's most deserving and likable winners.  Hard to go against that.

Guatemala: Rafe Judkins
I like to pick the challenge beasts, but not just because they do well at challenges.  Rafe had the most immunity wins, but he also did the best to set himself up to win the game.  He and Steph blindsided Jamie, Judd, Lydia and Cindy, yet Steph got all the blame.  Rafe was able to use her as a shield (Like how Amber used Rob).  In a final act of trying to win a jury vote (Steph), he told Danni she didn't HAVE to keep her word and take him to the end.  He did this because he felt bad for Stephanie and the way she fell out of the final immunity challenge.  He also did this in hopes Danni still would take him to the end.  She did not.  Had she taken him to the end, I think Rafe wins 5-2 or even 6-1.  He was well-liked and played the best all-around game, and Danni knew Rafe would have beaten her in the end.

Panama/Exile Island: Cirie Fields
I surprised even myself with this one.  Cirie, to me, played the best strategic and social game.  She engineered getting Courtney and Shane out.  That to me proved she deserved my choice for best of the season.  Aras, the eventual winner, didn't do too much, as I saw Cirie doing more game-planning than him.  It's just a shame she lost the Final 4 firemaking challenge to Danielle.  Had she won that, Cirie probably would have gone to the end and won the whole game.  Aras and Terry had a heated rivalry, and as Aras won the final three immunity he probably would've taken Cirie as he was in an alliance with her as well.  And I honestly think she would've beaten him, not just because of her better strategizing, but because she was more well-liked by everyone, even the people she engineered in voting out.

Cook Islands: Yul Kwon
Was there any question?  Yul found the idol and was able to sway Jonathan over to his side in the most crucial vote of the game.  He went from a tribe down in numbers (just four people) and got them to the Final 4.  He played a very diplomatic and calculated game.  He almost always knew exactly what to say to make the person he's talking to happiest, or in other words, the least upset.  He always talked very politically you might say.  Before the change where the idol could be played after the votes, it was extremely powerful and nobody in two seasons even attempted to flush the idol out, and so they never got played.  He used that to his advantage perfectly. 

Fiji: Yau-Man Chan
It was a close call between Yau-Man and Earl.  What made me choose Yau-Man as best player of the season was that Jeff polled the jury at the reunion show, asking them who they would've voted for if both Earl and Yau-Man were in the final.  Yau-Man got at least 6 of the votes.  Besides that, he was actually better in challenges than Earl and found the idol first.  He was the first person in Survivor history to play an idol successfully, and nobody else this season nor the next played an idol successfully, either.  Yau-Man's downfall was trusting Dreamz, but he was smart to make that deal.  Dreamz should have realized by reneging on that deal he wouldn't get much love from the jury, and Yau-Man was banking on Dreamz realizing that. 

China: Todd Herzog
Todd was in control from the get-go.  It helped to be on the tribe that won more challenges, because if he was on Zhan Hu, he might've been an early boot.  Todd made alliances with almost everyone on his tribe and they all believed he was genuine.  He wasn't particularly good at challenges, with Amanda winning the bulk of the late challenges.  But he was a target from Final 7 on, and he never had an idol in his possession, yet made it by.  He somehow was able to convince Courtney and Amanda and Denise to go to the end with him even though they didn't have a shot against him.  I think he was able to convince the girls they had a shot against him, when actually, they didn’t.

Micronesia/Fans vs. Favorites: Parvati Shallow
Parvati smartly got a lot of people on her side, and she was never pointed out as a threat.  She made alliances with her fellow female Favorites in Cirie and Amanda as well as two female Fans Natalie and Alexis.  She got Ozzy out before he could use the Idol.  She was willing to betray James, but didn't have to because he was medically evacuated.  She spearheaded the Black Widow Alliance and led it all the way to the title of Sole Survivor.  Cirie may have been my first two time pick as best player in a season, but she lost the final immunity challenge.  Also, had this been a Final 3, Cirie may have won, but I still don't think she played the absolute best game.  Parvati did.

Gabon: Kenny Hoang
This is the player who (so far) has placed the worst of all my best players of their season, which is 5th.  In watching the Final Tribal Council, it's evident that none of the best players in the game got to the end.  Sugar didn't get any votes, Susie flip-flopped and did very little strategizing, usually relying on other players to tell her what to do.  And then there's Bob.  Bob was very good in challenges and very good around camp, but did almost no strategizing.  His moves of giving fake idols were other people's ideas.  So to me, Kenny was the best player.  He strategized as well as anyone, executing multiple blindsides, most notably Marcus.  To be able to do that despite Kota dominating in challenges was impressive, although the tribe switches helped.  Kenny's one bad move was getting sure of himself and not realizing he was as big of a threat as he was, but also trying to make Bob out to be the bad guy at the tribal council before he got voted out.  He made a deal with Bob to get his immunity necklace, but Bob reneged on that deal. 

Tocantins: J.T. Thomas
Hard to pick against a guy who played a perfect game, which is to say, never receiving any votes against and receiving every vote at the final tribal council.  He was in danger shortly after the merge, but he made “allies” with Coach and Tyson and Debbie and exploited the fractured Timbira tribe.  It’s amazing that while he was definitely considered a threat to win challenges and the game his entire time there, he never received a single vote against him.  And it’s not like he never went to tribal council vulnerable; his Jalapao tribe lost more than Timbira and he went into the merge down in numbers, and he didn’t win that many immunity challenges (at least not until late in the game).  It’s more impressive to win a game down in numbers after the merge than it is up in numbers.  If it was a close vote at the final TC, I might consider Stephen for this, but Stephen was the Robin to J.T.’s Batman.  Sometimes, just being a really likable person is all it takes to win the game.

Samoa: Russell Hantz
Survivor is a game where it benefits you to lie and deceive people and try to manipulate them, and perhaps no one in the game’s history has done it better than Russell Hantz.  From day one, Russell worked all the women on his tribe and was able to convince the rest of his tribe (Mick, Jaison, Natalie) to vote anyone out that borderline threatened him.  He also was the first person in Survivor history to find a Hidden Immunity Idol without a single clue, and he did it twice.  Nowadays, that’s a common occurrence, but Russell started it.  He entered the merge with a target on his back and greatly down in numbers, but thanks to idols and his manipulating and getting Shambo on his side, he was able to get all the way to the end.  The jury should have swallowed their pride and recognized Russell’s dominating game and voted for him.  His game was a bit like Rob’s from All-Stars, except Russell wasn’t really working with anybody closely.  And Russell didn’t “betray” people quite like Rob did.

Heroes vs. Villains: Parvati Shallow
I couldn’t pick Russell again, because I don’t think he played as good of a game as he did in Samoa, and I can’t pick someone who gets ZERO votes at the final tribal council (if they make it that far).  He played a game that not one person on the jury could respect.  As for Sandra, I just don’t think she did enough in the game.  Sure, she tried exposing Russell for who he is, but she basically lucked herself into the win.  Had the Villains gone to another tribal before the merge, she would’ve been gone.  As for Parvati, she made one of the biggest moves in Survivor history by giving Jerri and Sandra her idols to swing the numbers in the Villains’ favor.  Had she not done that, none of the three of them make the final 3.  And she was challenge beast throughout the season, being in every individual challenge and winning two of the last three.  She should’ve won, but too many of the jury members didn’t like how close she was to Russell.  But like she said, she did what she had to to survive, which at the beginning of the game was aligning with Russell.  All of the Heroes on the jury voted for Sandra because they felt she was the closest thing to a Hero in the Final 3, not because she played the best game.  The only villain to vote for Sandra to win was Courtney who was close to her in the game.  We also can’t forget how Parvati was a target almost all game long, from early on in the game to late in the game, and never got voted out.  To me, Parvati should have been the first two-time winner and not Sandra.

Nicaragua: Holly Hoffman
This was a hard one.  The best strategists of the season, Brenda and Marty, were picked off early.  Chase and Sash both lost to Fabio, but Fabio was just “along for the ride” and was in the finals thanks to some timely immunity challenge wins.  Holly, however, I believe played the very best social game.  She was betrayed by Chase big time and paid the price.  There is no doubt Holly would have won if she had just made it one vote further.  Her story was very inspiring: she went from thinking of quitting to having the desire to win, and she almost did. 

Redemption Island: Rob Mariano
I don’t think one player has ever had this much control for this long in one season.  Boston Rob’s only “lack of control” came early on when his tribe lost some challenges and they had to vote out a few tribe mates.  But the other Zapatera tribe foolishly decided to throw a challenge to get out Russell Hantz, and Rob gained control from there by getting the numbers and controlling his tribe.  He almost treated it like some sort of dictatorship, where Rob did not allow his alliance members  to eat the other tribe’s portions of food or even talk to them alone.  Rob received votes, but only ever from the former Zapatera tribe members.  He even found an Idol that he never needed, and won immunities at crucial times, especially the Final 4 challenge in which I’ve never seen someone so relieved.  I would have to say that you really can’t play a better game of Survivor than Rob did in Redemption Island. 

South Pacific: Sophie Clarke
I seem to be always picking the winner now, but I think the jury got it right this season.  When I first watched this season, I thought the members of the jury were morons.  Now,  I think they chose correctly.  Obviously I had to choose someone in the five alliance as the best.  Rick did no strategizing and was generally poor in challenges.  Brandon was just off his rocker, but he should have gotten more respect from his family.  Albert was too wishy-washy and didn’t play a good social game.  Coach was my next choice, but he made the fatal move of making too many final three deals with people.  I look at Sophie’s game as a cross between Natalie’s of Samoa and Amber’s in All-Stars.  Her intelligence was vastly underrated, and she used a male player as a shield.  You get all the benefit of making the same moves without any of the blame.  And I didn’t even mention Sophie being the best at individual challenges, most notably defeating Ozzy at the Final Four immunity challenge. 

One World: Kim Spradlin
Kim dominated this game, and I think she played one of the best games we have ever seen.  She always put herself in a good position, and then won immunities when it mattered.  Her game was so dominant that she found an idol fairly early on and never came that close to playing it.  Troyzan was the only one who tried to take her out, but she took him out first.  And the biggest thing she did was convincing the other women that she wasn’t a threat to take out.  I would even argue Kim’s game was the most dominant game by a female in the history of Survivor. 

Philippines: Malcolm Freberg
Malcolm was often talked about being the biggest threat or the best player, and rightfully so.  He survived one of the worst tribes of all time, he integrated himself into the Tandang tribe with ease, and he formed a final four alliance with Skupin, Lisa, and Denise, that carried him to the final four.  Unfortunately, he got a F4 challenge that did him in.  I always think if one can find an idol, but they’re always so safe that they never need to play it, that they played a tremendous game, and that was the case for Malcolm.  He played a great social and strategic game, and came one challenge away from winning the million dollars. 

Caramoan: John Cochran
Cochran was never not in control.  Sure, he ceded “actual” control to Philip while Philip was in the game, but that was also a strategy of Cochran’s so that Philip would be the target before he was.  Who knows if or when Cochran would have taken Philip out if the “Three Amigos” didn’t idol him out of the game.  Just when Cochran was starting to be in danger, he won a couple immunities to help guide him to the end.  Cochran also played a perfect game, meaning he didn’t receive any votes against him, and he received all the votes at the Final Tribal Council.  Hard to go against that. 

Blood vs. Water: Tyson Apostol
Tyson was really in control most of the game.  He found two idols before other people, despite them having the same or more clues than him.  He always made sure he had at least two other people with him, usually Gervase and Monica.  He turned on Aras, Vytas, Tina, and Katie at the exact right time.  And then, just when he needed to most, he won individual immunities.  I think I would still have picked him for best player here had he drawn the white rock or if Monica had turned on him.  But it takes a bit of luck to win Survivor as well.

Cagayan: Tony Vlachos
I really could not go with anyone else.  Spencer would be 2nd best, if it’s any consolation.  Tony found a total of three (!) idols throughout his time there.  The funny thing is that he never had to use one to negate votes and save himself.  It was the way Tony talked them up and his “bag of tricks” which scared the other players into not voting for him.  Tony never won an individual immunity challenge, so he was eligible to get votes at every tribal council after the merge.  Yet, he never got the majority of votes.  I don’t like how he broke promises he made on his wife, child, and dead father, but that’s the way he plays, I guess, and it works.  But we have not, and probably will never see again, someone using Idols as a scare tactic better than Tony. 

San Juan Del Sur: Natalie Anderson
I hate always going with the actual winner, but I do think Survivor got better about the best player actually winning.  I was very tempted to award this to Jon, but he got too comfortable in his alliance and also got voted out with an idol in his pocket.  Natalie pulled off several brilliant moves, from “mistakenly” writing Alec’s name down, to blindsiding Baylor with her idol, to convincing Jacqueline that Missy and Keith were the threats she had to choose from.  She won a timely immunity challenge and of course, found an idol.  I was also surprised to learn she didn’t get a single vote against her all game, which is very tough to do.  She didn’t particularly get a winner’s edit, but she was the one player that kept on gaming and strategizing until the end. 

Worlds Apart: Carolyn Rivera
The fact that “Mama C” had to share 2nd place with Will is a travesty.  She smartly used Tyler as a shield until she could not any longer.  She found an idol on Day 1, despite not having the clue.  She knew Joaquin and So were looking for it and followed their footsteps.  She then joined the “Axis of Evil” alliance with the blue collars (minus Mike) and Will.  She won immunities when she needed it, and she played her idol perfectly, negating votes against her which included Dan’s extra vote.  She wasn’t overly impressive at the firemaking challenge against Rodney, which probably hurt her chances.  But she played a superior game to Mike, who made a horrible move to put himself on the outs and had to rely upon winning immunities to stay alive.  Carolyn never seemed to have to scramble, she always seemed like she was in control, and the one time we saw her in trouble, she remained calm.

Cambodia (Second Chance): Jeremy Collins
It’s hard to pick against someone who won unanimously at the final tribal council.  Jeremy played a very smart game.  One smart thing he did was not tell everyone his wife was expecting, as he may have been seen as a jury threat.  He also found two idols.  What always impresses me is when people are so sure of themselves in the game that they can play their idols for other players, and Jeremy did that for Stephen Fischbach.  Jeremy also smartly played his final idol at the “null votes” tribal council, and then won final immunity.  I’d say there was a chance he might have been turned on by Spencer and Tasha if he didn’t win that challenge, but he assured himself a spot at the final tribal council, where he gave some of the best answers I’ve seen there.  Somehow, Jeremy was never seen as a huge threat to win until it was too late, mostly because he aligned himself with people he knew wouldn’t turn on him (at least until it was too late).   

Kaoh Rong: Michele Fitzgerald
This was a very tough one to choose.  The one who outplayed the best was Tai, as he found an idol, won an advantage, and won multiple challenges.  But I went with the actual winner Michele.  I would argue she played one of the best social games in Survivor history.  She was never the backstabber of a vote.  She perfectly skirted between alliances.  The one time she was a target of someone (Tai), no one else wanted to vote for her because she had integrated herself so well.  She was talked about being a social threat late in the game, but she won the final four immunity to ensure her safety.  She then won the advantage to vote out a jury member.  She won challenges when it mattered, and she topped it off with a great final tribal council.  She deserved to win Kaoh Rong. 

Millennials vs. Gen X: Adam Klein
I was so tempted to pick David, but Adam won, and David didn’t.  David played too hard too soon and established himself as a threat.  Adam had about the same level of “outplay” as David, but Adam successfully used people as shields and took them out at the exact right times.  He also smartly didn’t tell anyone (except for Jay) about his mom’s cancer, which would have labeled him as a threat to win.  I mean, Adam did get every single jury vote, and it’s so hard to pick against that. 

Game Changers: Sarah Lacina
Yet again I chose the winner, but I just had to.  Sarah played a very sound strategic and social game.  She had a surprisingly little amount of blood on her hands by the end.  Her best move was getting the legacy advantage from Sierra even after she voted Sierra out.  She went into the game wanting to play like a criminal and not a cop, and boy did she.  She outed Tai, and she made Cirie look like a fool when Cirie tried to play Sarah’s advantage she had given Cirie to hold on to.  Very savvy and impressive game. 

Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers: Devon Pinto
Boy, this was a tough one.  I feel like the final four each had their strengths.  Ben relied too much on idols and that last minute twist, because without it, he was a goner.  Chrissy relied too much on winning immunity.  Ryan couldn’t keep a dang secret, and I think he only made one good move all game, finding the idol advantage and giving it to Chrissy.  But Devon did a good job of ingratiating himself into alliances.  He formed bonds with Healers, Ryan, Chrissy, and Ashley.  Ben saw him as a target, and at Final 5, Devon would have been gone had he not cast his vote for Dr. Mike.  Devon had the best social game, and I’m almost positive if he made it to the end, he would have won. 

Ghost Island: Wendell Holland
I had to go back to picking the winner again.  Wendell played a great social game, used Dominick as a shield, found an important idol, and won timely immunity challenges.  Wendell won the final 6 and 5 immunities.  Little did he know then, that him giving his idol to Laurel at final 5 probably ensured she voted for him in the tie-breaking vote.  That was huge.  He didn’t win the final 4 immunity, but he knew how to make fire so he didn’t have to win it.  Wendell didn’t really piss anyone off, and helped build shelters to help build a very strong social game. 

David vs. Goliath: Nick Wilson
Nick earned this win.  He flew under the radar for the most part, although he had to rely on Pat’s injury (possibly) to survive the first vote.  But after that, he smartly made little alliances with people, even giving them nicknames, like Mason-Dixon with Christian and the Rockstar Alliance with Mike.  What I always think makes a great player late is their ability to come in clutch and win a lot of the final immunity challenges, and Nick did just that.  But perhaps the best thing Nick did was boding with Angelina and Mike, making it very hard for them to turn on him. 

Edge of Extinction: Rick Devens
It’s too bad that everyone saw Devens as the huge threat he was to win.  He was like the Ben Driebergen of his season, finding idols and having a huge target on his back post-merge.  Unfortunately for him, unlike Ben, he did not win the fire-making challenge.  Chris took the opportunity to take him out, and he did just that.  Sure, Rick did get voted out, but he wasn’t out of the game too long.  I also want to add he wouldn’t have been voted out the first time if his tribe wasn’t so awful at challenges.

Island of the Idols: Janet Corbin
I’m not going to go into much detail, because I stopped rewatching at IOI, so  I’m going off my memory of what I remember watching over a year ago.  Janet was extremely likable and did surprisingly well in challenges, I remember.  It’s just unfortunate that in the game of Survivor, if you’re likable, you’re a target.  If Janet gets to the end, I think she beats anyone who finished ahead of her. 

Winners at War: Tony Vlachos
It would have been a travesty if Tony didn’t win.  He won numerous immunity challenges, especially when he needed them most.  He made a core alliance that he stuck with, and he eliminated anyone that opposed him (Kim) or anyone that was flaky (Jeremy, Nick).  He was given so little help in the game that, as he stated at the Final Tribal Council, he got more hurt by advantages than helped by them.  He found an idol, which he didn’t have to play, but after Natalie played hers at Final 6, he realized he better play it safe.  To top it off, he didn’t receive a single vote against him, and he won in a 12-4-0 landslide victory.  Tony is the king of Survivor.
To finish this off, some stats about the players I picked as the best player their season:

- 25 out of 40 times, I conceded that the winner was the best player that season.
- Three of these players received an amount of votes in the double digits: Lex, Carolyn, and Devens (who led the way with 12). Both Devens and Carolyn negated some votes with an Idol. Lex played when there were no idols. - Malcolm and Devens tied for seven individual challenge wins - Of the 40 players, so far 28 have gone on to play after the season I picked them as the best. That's largely thanks to Winners at War. - The lowest my best player ranked is 5th, shared by Kenny (Gabon) and Janet (Island of the Idols).