Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Should Fans Cast an All New Player Season?

After Cambodia brought in the idea of fans casting a season, one has to wonder if they will ever do that with an all new player season. Now I may not have much to say on this topic, but I will mention what I think about this idea. What I’ll make sure to do is point out the pros and cons of doing this.

Pros: We are probably less likely to hate players that we had a hand in casting. We’ve done this once; we can do it again. Since we did this with returning players, we might as well do it once with new players. The people we choose to cast are probably all Survivor fans and we don’t have to worry about recruits who haven’t seen the game they are playing being on this season.

Cons: The fans don’t know what they want. Certain great people are certain not to get cast and bad people will get cast in their place. While you say that might happen in every season regardless of if the fans cast it or not, it does make sense given my first point. People will complain about the season no matter what happens.


Well, those are my brief thoughts on the subject at hand. I would say more, but I’m not really sure what else I would say. I guess that’s all for now. Do you think that we should cast an all new player season like we casted Cambodia? I say that we shouldn’t simply because what production does now typically works for the most part. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Development of Cambodia Players

When players come back for another season, the type of players that they were typically changes in different ways. While we can always just watch one season on its own to see them in just one way, our perspectives of them will probably be different. So now I will go through the cast of Cambodia and compare how they have changed from their previous season to this one.

Vytas was pretty much stuck to associations with his brother the first time around. They fought against each other and after the merge when they could finally play with each other, they were both targeted and voted out. During this time, he wound up on a tribe of all women besides himself. The second time he played the game, he came off poorly towards the other women and became the first person voted out because of it. His first game was clearly better. Main transition: From being hard to play on his own to being hard to play with others.

Shirin has her fans, as evident by the fact that they voted her into this season. The first time she played, she was mostly remember for contestants hating her and her getting upset because she has an abusive past. This time around, we didn’t get much from her due to her early exit from the game. This season portrayed her as more annoying although her main reason for being voted out was not being in the main alliance on her tribe. In my mind, her good reputation is still intact, although it took a bit of a hit this season. Main transition: From an unfortunate vote out to a bit of an annoying person.

Peih-Gee is someone that I remember from her first season simply due to how much a tribe member named Denise constantly mistreated her. This season, she had Abi mistreating her causing a much earlier elimination this time around. Clearly, she did better the first time around, although it is hard to say what exactly changed for her the second time around. Main transition: From a good player who made it far to a good player who didn’t make it far.

Jeff Varner definitely took a hit this season. He was remembered fondly in Australia where a strange rule at the time got the opposing tribe to vote him out. This time around, he came off as a bit dumb and slightly arrogant when we saw him in the game. All the airtime he got basically pointed to the reasons why he got such an early elimination this time around. If he’s back a third time, hopefully he can do better. Main transition: From a victim of a twist to a victim of himself.

Monica to me failed to stand out much in either season of hers. I do wonder how an unknown like her got her cast. I mean, that certainly didn’t help Jim Rice get casted by the fans. I can’t remember how she stuck out on Samoa, but since nearly the entire cast got an invisible edit that season, that might not be her fault. She obviously lasted longer the first time around, but it’s hard to say what the differences are between her seasons. Did she stand out better in either one? Not really. Main transition: From an obscure jury member to an obscure premerge boot.

Terry had a sudden and unexpected end to his story the second time around in an exit never before seen, although Jenna Moresca’s exit from All-Stars was kinda close to it. He left without a real resolution to his story. One wonders if he would have actually been blindsided had he stayed in the game. Were producers trying to do him a favor by pulling him from the game? Normally I’m against the idea that production ever interferes, but sometimes it just seems like nothing else makes sense. It probably was just a weird elimination. Regardless of what happened, it’s hard to really tell a difference between his game the first time against the second time around. The first time he lucked out getting a super powered idol that ultimately didn’t help him. He proved himself to be a challenge beast as well the first time around. This time we never saw much of a story arc from him this time around. We might have had he stayed in the game longer. Main transition: From a person who fought hard in the game to a person who fought hard for his son.

Woo certainly had a lot that could have gone differently for him the second time around. But he was the one finalist picked off before the surprise early merge. He was too lenient the first time around and took a much better player than him to the end of the game. This time, he failed to stand out for long although he was a big enough target to get voted out. Main transition: From a dumb runner-up to a forgettable vote out this season.

Kass tried to unembrace the nickname chaos Kass. She certainly was remembered in Cagayan for flipping on her tribe. Unlike most flippers, she actually made it very far in the game. This time around, it’s hard to say much of which she did in the long run. She was clearly on the bottom after the merge and she was voted out. But it’s hard to tell much of a difference for her. Main transition: From a cause of chaos to a person who couldn’t control other people’s chaos.

Andrew probably took a hit this time around in his edit, in my mind at least. Where he came off coming heroic the first time around leading the mostly struggling Morgan tribe until getting blindsided right after the merge, this time he came off as more of a villain and kind of condescending. I wouldn’t say that it was that bad an edit, but he was certainly seen worse this time around. Main transition: From a heroic leader to an annoying blindside.

Kelly Wiglesworth went from having a huge edit the first time to being widely ignored the second time. Whatever she did the second time must not have been good enough to show. She had what could quite possibly be the lowest confessional count of all time, or at least any jury member. One of the most notable parts about her game was her jury question. It made her seem bitter about her loss the first time. Did she really hold onto that for 15 years? She might hold onto it even longer. That’s weird and kind of pathetic in a way. Of course, she could have just been doing a call back to the very first season and it actually didn’t affect her vote in any way. Still, she just wasn’t in this season that much. Main transition: From a great competitor to an invisible competitor.

Ciera may not have gotten that good an edit either of the seasons that she played. At least she was playing the game and trying to make moves. They may not have worked out as well as they could have. As to which season she did better in, she did make it farther in her first season and probably got a better edit that time around as well. Main transition: From a risk taker to a bit of an annoying person.

Stephen is someone that I don’t remember as well from his first time around. Clearly there are people who like him. I might have to listen more to the podcast at www.robhasawebsite.com to hear more of him on it. I don’t really like the fact that they keep butchering a name of a contributor to the podcast, so it’s not something that I stayed interested in. Meanwhile, one does have to wonder how much the challenge designers wanted him to be at the final immunity challenge as it was the same final immunity challenge from Tocantins. Speaking of Tocantins, I missed a lot of that season as it was airing so I don’t have that much of an impression on it. For a while, I could not remember who this contestant was. He turned out well on this season, even though he couldn’t make it to the end. I feel that I’ve lost the point of this paragraph. Anyways, he lasted longer the first time around, but had a better edit (to me, at least), the second time around. Main transition: From a sidekick to his own player.

Joe probably learned nothing from his game the first time since he won too many challenges the second time around and thus stood out as a threat. He’s still well loved both of his seasons. He is pretty likable. It’s hard to tell a difference between his two games. There is seemingly no difference between them. Main transition: From a strong player to a still strong player.

Abi-Maria remains the person whom I’m most surprised come back. Why did fans want her back? She didn’t prove herself to be that good a player either time. Both times she played, people were so offended by her, they wouldn’t even let her be a goat at the final tribal council and they got rid of her before it. In fact, she probably came off worse this time. Main transition: From an annoying player, to an even more annoying player.

Kimmi probably could have had a much better edit than she did. I mean, she went from being the fifth person voted out of the game all the way to sixth place. In fact, it was only do to strangeness that she was voted out. At least she tried to make a big move. Meanwhile, she was the highest ranking person that I didn’t vote for to be in the game. The first time she played she may not have stood out as much. This time, she didn’t once again, which was weird. I will say that it’s clear that she did better this second time around, even though we never saw why. Main transition: From a boring premerge boot to a slightly more interesting jury member.

Keith is a likable person whose dimwittedness may prevent him from doing well at the game. It is a bit of a surprise that he made it so far either time he played. In fact, he’s the first person since Cirie Fields to be voted out in two different finale episodes. Nobody besides those two people can claim that. I’m not sure what, if anything, changed better his two games. Main transition: From a strong player to pretty much the same player.

Kelley Wentworth is a player that I personally have liked both times she played. There are some people who thought that she should have even won the game. Of course, I only found out about that discussion on facebook by getting notifications about a post that I never even commented on. (If anyone knows how to stop that from happening, let me know. It is kind of annoying for them to send me to a place I had no interest in. Do I have to unfollow groups? I only want notifications of things that I’ve commented on in groups.) I forget if she actually has the most improved game out of any of the players. Did she beat Monica Culpepper’s record? Anyways, she clearly did better the second time around, even though it meant that we saw more of her villainess side. Main transition: From an early exit to a power player.

Tasha probably took a bit of a hit this season despite doing better the second time around. Why did nobody vote for her to win? It seems sad in a way. She played a great game, but not good enough for any of the jurors to vote for her. The first time around, she basically made it far despite a bad starting position. She thus became a threat and was voted out. The second time around, she was good at the game, but not good enough to get a single jury vote. I guess that there wasn’t much to it. Main transition: From a strong competitor to one who lets the game pass her by.

Spencer is a great player who just couldn’t get rid of an even greater player from the game and lost the game because of it. (I just lost the game, a different one.) He came off as more and more arrogant, even though cast interviews have showed us that what editors showed us barely scratched the surface. He burned bridges, especially towards the end. I still like him in a way. What’s interesting is that he’s the first contestant voted out in one finale to become a finalist in a future season. If only he had played better. Main transition: From a hero who lost to a villain to a hero who lost to another hero.

Jeremy won this season and he could have won his last season if he weren’t such a power player. For some odd reason, nobody saw him as a threat and he coasted clear to the end. He’s the first winner whose only immunity challenge win was the last one. I do wonder if he played a perfect game, but I don’t think that he did. But I’m not sure what the difference is between his two seasons. I mean, he came off great in both seasons; he just only won this one. So I’ll have to say that he did better this season. Main transition: From a great player who didn’t win to a great player who did win.

I’m going to have a table now where I compare the games of players from this season. I will list their names and then compare their first season to Cambodia. Some did better and some did worse. Obviously, perspectives change.

Contestant’s Name
Original Season
Cambodia
Vytas
Best
Worst
Shirin
Good
Worst
Peih-Gee
Best
Worst
Jeff Varner
Best
Worst
Monica
Better
Not as good
Terry
Strong
Heroic exit
Woo
Loyal
Forgettable
Kass
Memorable
Better edit
Andrew
Better
Worse
Kelly Wiglesworth
Best
Worst
Ciera
Best
Not as good
Stephen
Longer
Better
Joe
Same
Same
Abi-Maria
Bad
Worse
Kimmi
Worst
Best
Keith
Same
Same
Kelley Wentworth
Worst
Best
Tasha
Better
Not as good
Spencer
Good edit
Further, but worse edit
Jeremy
Great
Better


Well, that’s all I can think of for this blog post, except for this paragraph. I’ll probably do this again with other returning player seasons as they happen. If they ever do a second chance theme again, I do hope that all the players fit with it and they aren’t just putting whoever on that season. I mean, around half of the cast (possibly more) doesn’t fit with the second chance theme for this season. But I guess that we’ll find out what happens with it in the future. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Survivor Second Chances Version 2

Now that a second chance season is behind us, I might as well get to another cast of mine. I’ll be casting a list for a different second chance season. Out of all the people that have played the game, who would I feel best needs a second chance at it? Well, this post will go through an updated list of mine from the last time that I told you who my picks were.

Before I do that, of course, here are the rules: 1- No winners allowed. This is a pretty clear rule as winners would not make sense in a second chance season. 2- You can only pick one time players. This rule is pretty clear as picking someone who has played more than one wouldn’t fit the theme of a second chance season. 3- Their return must make sense. Was something unfortunate the reason that they need a second chance? Was it a twist or dumb decision? You can’t just pick whoever. They have to fit with a second chance theme. 4- For my version, at least, you’d need ten men and ten women. I will list alternates for various choices. More on that later. I should get to the actual list of people that I would choose.

Starting with the men, there are different people that I would choose. My first choice would be someone who is on mostly everyone’s list for a second chance season. Paschal from Marquesas had to draw a purple rock and production even admitted that rock drawing shouldn’t have been the tie-breaker in that scenario anyways. My next pick is someone affected negatively from a tribe swap. While a whole score of people from various seasons were, I’m picking Travis from Vanuatu because his dumb choice to try to signal the other tribe about the upcoming merge is what got him voted out. The next person that I’m choosing is someone who basically didn’t even get to play the game due to a twist. That person is Jonathan from Palau. The next person made a dumb mistake towards the end of the game and was voted out because of it. That person is Ian from Palau. The next person also made a dumb mistake towards the end of the game that got him voted out. That person was Rafe from Guatemala.

Continuing my list of men, we have a man who made a bunch of dumb choices that ultimately got him voted out. That person was Jason from Micronesia. Then there was a man who had a lot going for him in the game until he threw it into the sea with the rest of the cast. That person was Marcus from Gabon. Also, there was a man who made pretty dumb choices by trying to get someone to give up immunity. I’m thinking about Ken from Gabon. The next person that I’m choosing lost Survivor by only one vote. While that normally doesn’t mean much, when two quitters are on the jury and they both vote for the winner, then it doesn’t seem as fair for you. While I like the person that won Nicaragua, I’ll have to say that Chase deserves a second chance due to this unusualness. And my last pick is someone who was picked off by his alliance and fought hard to stay in the game before falling short at the duel where he would have reentered the game. That person is John from Blood versus Water.

Now, here are the women that I would choose. A thread with some of them are immunity twists that cost people the game. Imagine a tribal council where people could work together and win immunity as a group despite them all being voted out of the game. That is how Darrah got voted out of Pearl Islands and why she’s on my list. Next is Wanda from Palau who is on here for the same reason Jonathan from the same season is. Neither player got to play the game due to a terrible twist. Speaking of terrible twists, later that season, the opposing tribe voted to give a person immunity who would have otherwise been voted out of the game that night. That caused Angie from Palau to get voted out. Then there was a time when a well known curse could be thwarted by giving a car to everyone else on the tribe by giving yours up. Thus, you are put in a no one situation and voted out once you keep your car. That’s why Cindy from Guatemala is on my list. While I’ll probably never hate the rich versus poor twist enough, there was a contestant who was doomed to be on the poor tribe regardless of what happened. That person left the game pretty early. I’m talking about Sylvia from Fiji.

Now when it comes to those screwed by immunity twists, there was only one person who was voted out despite being on a tribe that won every challenge up until this person’s elimination. A twist had them giving up immunity after winning it. That is how Liliana from Fiji was voted out of the game. I’m surprised that nobody mentions her on lists like these. Then there was a person who was an outcast on her tribe after a terrible twist. This negativity affected her for the rest of the game. I’m talking about Sierra from Tocantins. Next is a person who didn’t make the cast of the first second chance season. Her game was screwed by a terrible person. I’m talking about Mikayla from South Pacific. Next, I have a contestant who almost made it back into the game, but didn’t. That person is Christine from South Pacific. The last person in my cast is someone whose loved one helped get her voted out. That person is Marissa from Blood versus Water.

Here’s my cast for version 2 of Second Chance: Men- Paschal (Marquesas), Travis (Vanuatu), Jonathan (Palau), Ian (Palau), Rafe (Guatemala), Jason (Micronesia), Marcus (Gabon), Ken (Gabon), Chase (Nicaragua), John (Blood versus Water). Women- Darrah (Pearl Islands), Wanda (Palau), Angie (Palau), Cindy (Guatemala), Sylvia (Fiji), Liliana (Fiji), Sierra (Tocantins), Mikayla (South Pacific), Christine (South Pacific), Marissa (Blood versus Water).

Note about alternates: Okay, before I get to the alternates, I thought that I would make notes about them. First off, I decided that every season (except those that lacked new players) should get an alternate of each gender. That includes the seasons that have people on the main list. Also, I’m putting anyone that I think would fit with the second chance theme on the list of alternates. Well, maybe not everyone, but everyone that I could think of at least. I may not actually be able to defend all of them, but these are my picks for alternates.

Alternate Men- Dirk, Joel, Sean (Borneo), Mitchell (Australia), Carl, Silas, Brandon (Africa), Gabriel, John, (Marquesas), Jake (Thailand), Roger (Amazon), Shawn, Burton (Pearl Islands), Brook, Rory (Vanuatu), Willard, James, Coby, (Palau), Jim, Blake, (Guatemala), Dan, Bruce, Shane (Panama), Billy, JP, Anh-Tuan, Brad, Nate (Cook Islands), Gary, Mookie (Fiji), Aaron (China), Joel (Micronesia), Dan, Matty (Gabon), Jerry, Joe, Brandon (Tocantins), Mike, Erik, John, Brett (Samoa), Shannon (Nicaragua), Grant, Matt, Mike (Redemption Island), Keith (South Pacific), Bill, Jonas (One World), Zane, Jeff, Pete (Philippines), Shamar, Matt, Eddie (Caramoan), Brad (Blood versus Water), Garrett, Brice (Cagayan), John Rocker, Drew, Dale, Josh, Wes, Jon Misch (San Juan del Sur), Vince, Max, Joaquin, Dan, Rodney (Worlds Apart).

Alternate Women- Sonja, Ramona, Gretchen, Colleen (Borneo), Debb, Elisabeth (Australia), Lindsey, Kelly (Africa), Sarah, Gina (Marquesas), Ghandia, Erin (Thailand), Joanna, Jeanne, Deena, Christy (Amazon), Lillian (Pearl Islands), Lisa, Leann (Vanuatu), Caryn (Palau), Brooke (Guatemala), Melinda, Misty (Panama), Cecilia, Jenny, Sundra (Cook Islands), Lisette, Michelle, Stacy (Fiji), Sherea, Jamie (China), Mary, Tracy, Alexis (Micronesia), Michelle, Jacquie (Gabon), Sandy (Tocantins), Betsy, Elizabeth, Kelly (Samoa), Kelly Bruno, Alina (Nicaragua), Kristina, Stephanie, Natalie (Redemption Island), Elyse, (South Pacific), Kourtney, Nina, Christina (One World), Roxy, Dana, Sarah, RC (Philippines), Hope, Laura (Caramoan), Rachel, Laura Boneham, Katie (Blood versus Water), J’Tia, Sarah (Cagayan), Val (San Juan del Sur), So, Nina, Lindsey, Kelly (Worlds Apart).


I hope that you like my choices. If you don’t, you can look back through my posts to see who I picked the first time. I did change who some of the picks were and would probably change them again whenever returning player seasons affect my picks. That’s all that I can think of for my picks this time around. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Survivor: Blood versus Water- Hero or Villain

For now, this is the last installment of me assessing whether someone is a hero or villain from a certain Survivor cast. There will probably be more of this in the future, but I don’t know when or what seasons it could be. Here I go listing the cast of Blood versus Water and I’ll let you know if I think that they are a hero, villain, or neither.

Rupert was put on the heroes tribes for the twentieth season. Is he still the same type of player this season? His biggest move this time was basically falling on his sword so that another person could play the game. While it wasn’t a smart move, it was definitely heroic and he remains a hero in this season like all the others he was in.

Colton is someone that not a lot of people like. That typically makes one a villain. Now he certainly was a villain the first time he played the game. But, his status as a villain deserves to be revoked. That won’t make him a hero, but that will make the category easy this time. Why’d he quit anyways?

Rachel may not seem to have a category at first. But then, you may notice that she was sacrificed by her tribe in an effort to shake up the game. And while this ultimately didn’t work in her or her tribe’s favor, it made her seem like a hero to me.

Marissa is another player that was sacrificed by her tribe in order to possibly better their own games. She then won a lot of the early Redemption Island duels before she fell short at one and was eliminated from the game. Like Rachel, I see her as being a hero.

Candice may be a pick that I could potentially get backlash with. But, let’s face it, things can change. For instance, the first time she played may have been villainous and then production wrongly places her on the heroes tribe for her second season where she ends up betraying them. Then, a stupid twist and possibly her negative reputation or the fact that she’s a last minute replacement in the game gets her voted out of the game before it even starts basically. She wins a lot of duels to stay in the game before barely falling short at one that she could have potentially won given better ways of doing them. Suddenly, the status of hero finally fits Candice, the way she fought hard to stay in the game.

Brad may have fumbled his way through the game as he tried to control the alliance he was in and at the bottom of. To me, everything about him screamed villain. He may not have been as good a villain as others, but he helped screw enough people out of the game before he was blindsided himself.

Kat could be a hero, possibly. But, that might only work if you were to grasp at straws. She’s not a villain for sure. So, while some may argue for her status as a hero, I think that it’s clear that she was in neither category. What one would fit anyways?

John, for me, is another one that’s easy to classify. Why do I say that? Well, once again we have a player get sacrificed for other people’s own game while the person sacrificed then has to go fight for their lives in the game. He fought tooth and nail through the duels once he made it there before failing short when he would have reentered the game. So, once again, we have a hero in this game.

Laura Boneham may be hard to classify at first. But then you realize that she never did anything to fit either category. She tried to cause chaos, but was too bad at it to mean anything. Plus, there was never anything heroic that fit her either.

Aras could be fairly easy to identify. He is in my mind at least. Now sometimes leading a tribe is heroic. But it depends on how you do it. The way he controlled it, for a while at least, was very villainous. His game might have ended sooner than he wanted to, but he was certainly a villain this time around.

Vytas may not have had much of an edit outside of his brother’s shadow. But he stood out in different ways. While he was a good player, in my mind, he was certainly not a hero. There are many different ways this is clear to me. He’s a villain to me.

Caleb might not fit into either category. He made a move that was villainous when he helped blindside Brad. Other than that, he might be considered heroic the way he fought through the game. His death would certainly make people think better of him, if they didn’t think good of him already. Meanwhile, I’m still not sure if he fits into a category.

Katie, to me, can be considered a hero. There are not actually a lot to say to support that, but I think that there are in the end. She stay loyal to her alliance, even when it got her a rock drawn and eliminated (to Redemption Island) from the game. Also, she was pretty nice and kind to people from what we saw so it makes sense that she’s a hero.

Hayden is someone that different people might have an opinion on. There could be some evidence that he’s a villain since he abandoned the singles alliance for his own. But, I still see him as a hero the way he lead his alliance to fight against the villains of the season.

Laura Morett fought hard to stay in the game. She came back from Redemption Island and spent a record amount of time back in the game before being voted out again. I’m not sure what she might have been in her first season, but she’s undoubtedly a hero in this one.

Ciera is called a hero by some. I don’t know why they call her that. She flipped on the only two alliances in the game and helped vote out her own mother. I don’t see anything heroic in her. But I do like her as a villain. When I was revoking Colton’s villain status, I even put Ciera as a placeholder for greatest Survivor villain briefly, but I have since given that to Tony from Cagayan. The point is, she’s a great villain, but certainly not a hero.

Tina fits as a hero from her previous seasons and it seems that nothing in this season would change that. She still seems to fit the heroic name that she has. She may not have stood out as much this season as she would have wanted to, but a hero she remains.

Gervase was covered in my post regarding hero/villain status from Borneo. I didn’t see anything that put him in either category that season. But his next season of Blood versus Water is what made him find a category, this one being that of a villain. Why is he a villain? Well, that’s quite simple. He teamed up with another well known villain and they fought their way to the end together. They did a bunch of villainous things together.

Monica has the most improved finish of any two time player going from premerge boot in One World to second place this season. Of course, that doesn’t mean that she’s a hero. Everything about the way she played through the game seemed like that of a villain to me and I don’t think that many people would disagree with me about this.

Tyson was put on the villains tribe during heroes versus villains. While he might not have been that good a villain in previous seasons, his win this time proves that he is a good villain. I don’t see any evidence that he’s a hero and he certainly fits the villain persona. The villains were pretty successful as a tribe as they have produced three winners (Sandra, Boston Rob, and Tyson).

The cast: Rupert- hero, Colton- neither, Rachel- hero, Marissa- hero, Candice- hero, Brad- villain, Kat- neither, John- hero, Laura Boneham- neither, Aras- villain, Vytas- villain, Caleb- neither, Katie- hero, Hayden- hero, Laura Morett- hero, Ciera- villain, Tina- hero, Gervase- villain, Monica- villain, Tyson- villain.


Well, those are my thoughts regarding the cast of Blood versus Water and whether or not they were a hero or villain. I hope that I did well in picking them to whoever read this. Can you provide evidence to support Ciera being a hero should you believe that? Or do you agree with me that she’s a villain? Is there anyone else that you think that I got wrong? What all did I get right? I don’t know when or even if I’ll go through the cast of any other seasons to see if they were heroes or villains. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.