I don't know why they are reusing fans versus favorites. I thought that the first time they did it the fans were doomed from the very beginning. I will mention the cast as soon as I learn who they are. For simplicity's sake, I will only talk about the returning players at first. I will do a quick recap of their first time in the game. I understand why Jeff Probst would like the twist to be used again considering how the first time he did it, it became one of his favorite seasons. I do wish that they would stop bringing back returning players. I like seasons where every contestant is new. I guess that since recently, seasons with no returning player has been considered lame by some. In fact, every season which had returning players mixed with new ones, a returning player has always made it to the final tribal council. This season was filmed in the exact same location as the last one and not a single episode of the 25 season had yet aired when this season was filmed. And the supposed winner for this season has been leaked. It has been leaked by the same person who thought that Michael would win last season. I'm not going to mention who this person Survivor sucks says wins is in this blog. I will be surprised if it is that person and will mention in the blog if the prediction is right or not as soon as this person wins or gets voted out. There's a 5% chance that the prediction is right. And I don't buy it. I won't mention it here as I'm not into potential spoilers, although I will say if any are true or untrue when the time comes. And to the commenter who wanted to know where I heard the possible location for seasons 27 and 28: I can't find that information again. I wanted to find it the same way I did the first time (google search), but I can't find it again. Now the location for those two seasons is thought to be Tasmania, although the source that says that's where it is also says it could be a hoax. So I guess we'll have to wait until the reunion show this season until we find out the location for those two seasons. Besides, I think I heard about a storm that hit the Solomon Islands so I'm not sure if that would be the location if they can't even use it. Besides, the show hasn't even been officially renewed yet. Although, if it is, I'll be sure to tell all of you about it.
The returning players who were medically evacuated in previous seasons was a good twist for last season. I hope that they do it again. What's interesting is how far those three players had made it in the season when they were pulled from the game. All of them had been taken out of the game around the same time. Based on that, they could bring back Bruce, Joe, James, and Colton who had made it far the first time or they could bring back Dana, Kourtney, Mike (from Samoa), or Gary (Mike is the only one that got a torch, voted, and went to tribal council of the four) who didn't make it as far when they were pulled. If they do have to keep bringing back returning players, maybe it should be a valid rematch like it was in Redemption Island. Apparently the worse a season is, the less likely contestants from that season are of playing a second time. I don't think that's far, but I understand why a season with no interesting contestants would not return another time. They could always do returnees from the tenth season to lead a tribe or compete against one or two other tribes. I hope that they do three tribes again since that was interesting last season. Let's just hope that one doesn't lose every challenge again. If they bring back players from season ten, it could be these players for these reasons: Jonathan (didn't get a chance), Wanda (didn't get a chance), Jolanda (first voted out), Ashlee (could have done better), Jeff (injury hurt his chances in the game), Kim (chosen by wrong tribe), Willard (first voted out his tribe), Angie (sort of screwed during opening twist), James (strong competitor who helps add entertainment), Ibrehem (unlucky the first time), Coby (keeps gays happy), Gregg (since his girlfriend that season can't, he might as well), Caryn (she did well the first time and could do well the second), Ian (his move at the end cost him the game and a second chance wouldn't hurt), or Katie (runner-up could do well again). Wanda and Jonathan never voted, went to tribal council, or got a torch. Only three other people have done that and they all got medically evacuated. Besides, there's an argument over whether Dana quit or was evacuated. I think that she didn't quit, but I don't know for sure.
You know, I only own one season of Survivor and I'd probably want to own more if I could. The only problem is that I have no idea which season I would buy. I could go with the first one since I've never really seen it. Some could even wonder why one would rewatch a season that has already aired. The only reason that I ever got the tenth season on DVD is because a contestant from that season had died. So it would sound cruel if that's what would have to happen for me to buy that season and blog about it here, but I'm afraid that it's true. After 26 seasons, it is a surprise that only one of them has died, but I guess others will happen at some point. I had a dream that three time contestant James died and CBS aired a special about his time on Survivor. Besides, I don't think that he'll play again so maybe that would be the next time we hear from him on television. He probably would think that getting kicked in the balls or buried alive would be more pleasant than playing Survivor again.
I hope that they use Redemption Island again. Jeff has said that they haven't ruled out using it again while wikipedia thinks that it is too controversial to ever be used again. It's no more controversial than having returning players in every freaking new season. I don't think that they'll ever do a "normal" season of Survivor again (if such a term exists) considering how the first normal season after All Stars was China and the first normal season after Heroes Versus Villains has yet to happen. Although the returning players that unofficially lead a tribe is an interesting twist, it is kind of boring. Plus, there isn't any reason that they are bring back certain players anyways. At least every contestant gets money for being on the show. The further you get in the game, the more money you win in the game. They even give you money just for appearing on the reunion show, even if you aren't focused on that much during that hour.
I'm going to talk about the favorites tribe and how they fared on their previous seasons. I know that they are trying to be nice with the returning players, but I have the feeling that not all of them are technically favorites to the viewers. This is the first time that Survivor has reused a season twist like this a second time, I think. So the ten returning players are as follows. Malcolm, the ever popular contestant from the previous season, is a player. John Cochran, who prefers to be called by his last name but I will refer to as John. On his first season, he was known for betraying his tribe that ultimately didn't help him when he was voted out when his usefulness ran out. Erik, who was a fan on the first fans versus favorites returns as a favorite for this season. That makes him the first original contestant from Micronesia to return a second time as many favorites from that season have played a third time. He is known for falling for a woman's alliance and giving his immunity necklace away at a tribal council before getting voted out that night. Phillip, the most entertaining person to ever play the game (in my opinion at least, although I have never played and do not know if I'd be an entertaining player) is back for a second round. Will the federal agent from Redemption Island do well again? Will his craziness get the better of him? I see why they brought him back, considering how entertaining he was the first time. Although, just because I thought he was entertaining doesn't mean he's my favorite player. Rupert Boneham is. I'll never understand why people don't like him, but I do understand why he didn't win the Indiana election for governor. If he can't win Survivor, he can't win a general election. And he definitely can't win as a third party candidate. But I don't live in Indiana so I don't care about that state's politics. And Rupert, if you're reading this, I hope that you aren't offended by anything that I say. Brandon Hantz, the dumbest player ever is back which proves that the favorites label is used very loosely. Brenda, the Asian woman from Nicaragua, is back a second time. She was a crazy schemer whose ways got the better of her and ultimately got her voted out, although the reunion show that season implied that the reason she was voted out was lost somewhere in editing. Francesca from Redemption Island is also a returning player. She was the first one out her season which is the first time in Survivor history when someone who made it that short in the game got to play a second time. Corinne from Gabon is another contestant, but I don't remember who she is. She and Erik are the only favorites from before Heroes Versus Villains. None of these people have played a second time before. Andrea from Redemption Island is returning, although I don't know who she is either. Dawn from South Pacific is the last returning player. It's a bit surprising that no one from One World is returning. It's rumored that Troyzan was set to return and then was replaced by Malcolm. Some consider One World to be a lame season. I thought it was so interesting, I started this blog because of it. In fact, One World was the last season that aired before this current season was filmed. Survivor 25 was generally unknown by most people.
Something interesting to note is those people who play back to back seasons and how they fare well the second time. They normally seem to have an unfair advantage the second time as no one knows who they are. They also normally have the disadvantage of not being able to watch their first season to learn from it in preparation for the second one. Here's a quick rundown of those players and the seasons that they were on. It's also interesting that although they don't always do better the second time, they normally do. Pearl Islands had started airing when Rupert was filming All Stars. He did better the second time, making it to the jury on both occasions. Palau (by the way, I finally listened to all the commentaries that season and they were nothing special) had aired in its entirety (I think) when Bobby Jon and Stephenie did Guatemala While Bobby Jon didn't do that much better, he did make it to the jury and was voted out (instead of losing at a tiebreaker challenge with no votes against him). Stephenie had a great improvement in her game making it all the way to the final tribal council. Those two contestants were the first of only two people who had outlasted the rest of their tribe that wasn't a merged tribe. I doubt that they'd do that with Malcolm and Denise since they both made it to the final four, one of the won, and that other already playing again. Besides, they weren't the first contestants considered to be the two returnees that season. After China had starting airing, both James and Amanda, while still virtually unknown to the rest of their tribe, did improve on their game in Micronesia. James was on the jury both times and might have made it farther if he didn't have an injury that forced him out of the game. It was quite possibly the lamest life threatening injury in the game of Survivor. (In case you are wondering, an injury normally has to be that serious in order to be pulled from the game). He did place relatively the same both times. Amanda, on the other hand, made it to the final tribal council on both seasons while affectively choosing who would win both times. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't her either time. Russell Hantz had the advantage of being unknown to all the other players in Heroes Versus Villains as his time on Samoa had not even aired. This got him to ruthlessly get to the final tribal council both times. He technically did worse the second time, the only back to back player to do so. What's interesting to note is how often the back to back players replace other potential returning players. The reason I brought this up is because of Malcolm. Malcolm played a great game the first time. He had to reveal the fact that he had an idol due to circumstances beyond his control. In the end, his popularity was his downfall and he got voted out at the penultimate tribal council because everyone knew that he would win if he was in the finals. Since he's a player this season, no one on his tribe or the other tribe would have any idea who he is or what happened with him last season. What he would tell them about it is up to him but he could truthfully tell him that there's no way he won the last season. Malcolm is my favorite of the returning players and I hope that he wins. Unfortunately, the odds are against him doing better the second time. I also hope that Francesca is not the first voted out again, even though she was in the third episode of Redemption Island when she finally left.
I've already mentioned that I'm @IamAdamDecker on twitter. I'm following a lot of former Survivor contestants on that site. Every time I follow one they suggest even more that I have to start following as well. I don't know why, but Rupert Boneham is now following me on twitter. (Poor Rupert won't get much from me on twitter until the end of Lent. That's one of the three things I'm giving up for Lent.) That is the most awesome thing that has happened to a Survivor fan like me. Although, Jeff Probst and Russell Swan both replied to tweets of mine, I've never actually got one of them to follow me before. Besides, I know there are probably ways to get someone to follow you by hacking their accounts, but I don't know how to do that and I wouldn't want to anyways. Hacking is a bad thing. I also don't know how many accounts of Survivor contestants are actually real or not. I have no idea why someone would impersonate one, but twitter is a strange place. I'm sure that some of them could tell me more about the season than aired on television. What annoys me are all these contestants they want me to follow that I can't remember. Not only do I have to like the contestant, but I have to know who they are too. My apologies for the delayed blog posts, but until the end of Lent, I will have to record the episode and watch it later before I can blog about it. But enough of my ramblings.
After watching the episode, I'm not sure what to say. I guess I see why those that are voted out first aren't typically invited back again since they apparently don't do well the second time. The favorites won the first reward, but the fans won the first immunity challenge. Poor Francesca. Apparently she was scheming too much in the game or was otherwise unworthy of lasting longer in the game. I hope that she didn't eat that rock like she said she would. She now wants a fan to win and not a favorite. If returning players works like it has in the past, there will be at least one at the final tribal council. But Phillip successfully screwed Francesca out of the game again. What Sandra did for the winners, Francesca did for the losers. Nobody even voted for Phillip yet. But he sure is annoying this season and I hope he doesn't make it that far. Last season he was on, he got a record number of votes cast against him. I'm kind of disappointed with how obvious the vote went. I don't know why they thought she was such a schemer the first time or this time. But it's apparently enough to get her voted out. The episode wasn't as good as others have been, so it looks like my sister may not have to buy this season on DVD when/if it comes out. I do feel sorry for her because she can't watch this season or the next three (should more be made). I wish that she could watch the version of Survivor that the country she lives in makes, but I don't think she has a TV anyways and that country's version may be defunct (no longer making new seasons). She could still read this blog and learn a lot about this season. It is pretty lame with this first episode, but I'm sure that it won't fail to entertain us. Even the worst seasons have interesting aspects and I doubt that this will be a bad one. So, sorry Francesca on your second chance in the game. Maybe you should do a different reality show and you'd do better there. As for the fan tribe, I don't particularly like or hate anyone just yet. We are at 9 favorites to 10 fans. John got a terrible sunburn and seems to carry his loser persona from his first season. I'd be surprised if he does well this season. I'm not sure any Survivor contestant got a sunburn before. I think that they give the contestants unlimited lotion to prevent that. Looks like in the next episode, Brandon will be going crazy. What else is new? For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.
