Board Thread:Season Rankings/@comment-24899664-20141222121159/@comment-25629305-20160628215718

17) Survivor: Africa

It pains me to put Africa this low, it really does, but if I'm putting Australia this low Africa has to be this low as well, because these two are this low on the list for basically the same reason.

Africa has one of the best pre-merges the show has ever seen. The mess that is Samburu is consistently entertaining to watch, with the crazy but lovable older tribe members being on the bottom while the Mall Rats are in control, and it seems that the cocky Silindsey duo would end up winning the game... but then, the tribe swap comes, and poetic justice is served, with the Silindsey duo getting their comeuppance and going home. It really was amazing to watch and the downfall of Silindsey was the centerpiece of the Africa pre-merge, and really was what made Africa what it was.

The early post-merge of Africa is also pretty entertaining, with Boran originally imploding because of Lex's paranoia over a single vote. Unfortunately, this lead to the elimination of Queen Kelly Goldsmith, which was sad but still a good end to her story arc. Brandon was then righteously eliminated afterwards. However, from the final 7 onwards, the season got boring, because once again, Boran had 4 and Samburu had 3, and the original Boran tribe picked off original Samburu one by one, leading to a deserving, yet predictable, Ethan victory. Even though Africa was consistently entertaining up until the final 7, the fact that it devolved into a boring pagonging by the Boran members lowers it down on this list.

16) Survivor: Palau

The thing that puts Survivor: Palau so low on this list, for me, is that I went into Palau knowing that Ulong was going to lose every single challenge. Knowing about the plight of Ulong takes a lot of uniqueness out of the season and makes the entire pre-merge a long slog until you get to the final 8. The other issue with the Ulonging of Ulong is that we don't get to know any of the Korors other than Tom until the endgame, as all the focus is on Ulong, and much of the characterizations of the Korors came later during the endgame. So, the first two-thirds of Palau were pretty boring, mainly focusing on the bland Ulong tribe, as one by one, the mactors were eliminated. However, the episodes from the final 8 and onwards were all DYNAMITE and helped push Palau this far up the list. Watching the ever-changing sub alliances of Koror was very interesting for me, Stephanie was at her very best here, and Janu was a STAR and solidified herself as a Survivor legend in one episode <3. Once Steph and Janu were out, the alliances of Koror were always changing and it was very interesting to me, especially watching Ian's relationships with both Katie and Tom become strained over the course of the endgame, leading up to his quit at the final 3. You just don't see storylines like that anymore on Survivor and it's a shame. Also Jenn Lyon was an underrated player and someone that the season really needed (RIP :', Caryn's blowup at the final 5 was ICONIC ("YOU ARE SUCH A LIAR!", "I've had it up to here!" <3) and Gregg was the straightman that the season needed, who left at the perfect time. Overall, Palau's pre-merge was very weak and drags on for a long time, but the season's epic endgame helps it make it this high up on the list, even though it's not top 15-worthy.

15) Survivor: Cagayan

Cagayan is kind of the opposite of Palau. The pre-merge of Cagayan was DYNAMITE; the pre-swap mostly focused on the hapless Luzon tribe, which is one of the best tribes in Survivor history, despite being one of the worst tribes in Survivor history. It really was a hilarious mess, with nobody being able to get along in the slightest and everybody flip-flopping back and forth. After the swap, Trish blindsided Cliff which was just an incredible moment, and then Lindsey quit cuz Trish was too good for her lmao. The Alexis boot episode wasn't great but it was alright and had some good moments... and then came President Lacina's blindside. That moment was just amazing, one of the best tribals in the history of Survivor, there's no need to explain that one. However, after Sarah's boot, the game took a turn for the worse. The string of episodes from the top 10 through the final 6 were all fairly boring for me, as it pretty much became "The Spencer vs. Tony Show", and when compared to the fantastic editing of the pre-merge, it didn't hold up. The final two episodes were both amazing, however, and breathed the life into the endgame that the season had needed. So, despite Cagayan's shortcomings (unbalanced editing during the post-merge that made it fairly boring), the pre-merge and the last couple of episodes more than make up for it, and push the season into the top 15.

14) Survivor: Micronesia

This is going to be YET ANOTHER controversial cut! :O Micronesia is often called the best season in Survivor history, which is way overrating it. It is most definitely a fantastic season, otherwise it wouldn't be in the top 14, but it doesn't stand up to the top 13 seasons. I'll go over Micro's good spots first: the gameplay. The Micronesia pre-merge has alright gameplay but the post-merge is where it really picks up; the game never slows down. Eliza and the stick is a hilarious moment, Ozzy's blindside is one of the best blindsides in the show's history (THE best, potentially?) and everything after that (Jason's blindside, Alexis being idol'd out, Erik giving up immunity) is just fantastic. Also, watching the Black Widow Brigade constantly pulling one over on the gullible men was just hilarious. Micronesia really is an innovative and exciting season gameplay-wise, which is really what pushes it so far up onto the list. However, a couple of things lower it down. For one, the pre-merge really drags on for quite a while, a 20-person season with only 10 making the merge? That's 8 episodes without a merge, and that's just WAY too long for me. Also, we never really get to know the contestants as PEOPLE during the game, and that makes the blindsides a lot less fun to watch than they would be, though this isn't quite as bad as it is in Cambodia because at least in Micronesia the contestants are shown to have a personality, and not just be complete gamebots. Also, the Fans vs. Favorites format basically just caused the favorites to push aside the fans and run the game and that imbalance bothers me. While Micro is a fantastic season, it's definitely not the best of all time, and its flaws push it down to #14 on the list.