Board Thread:Season Rankings/@comment-24584422-20181005034947/@comment-27391152-20190116112738

CUT - DAN FOLEY

If none of you are going to get rid of this scum, then I. CERTAINLY. WILL.

Having just finished my rewatch of Worlds Apart, I can confidently say that Dan is my third least favourite iteration of a castaway in the history of Survivor (which FYI is lower than all Russells, Phillips and Coltons!) I think what makes Dan so unbearable to watch is not that he's the worst at any one thing. Instead, he somehow manages to be awful at a whole array of things. Let's break down.

1 - Dan is a terrible person

I think the fact that even his defenders seem to acknowledge that he's a terrible person speaks volumes to just how much he sucks as a human being. First of all, he's sexist. That confessional of his where he explains the difference between "listening like a girl" and "listening like a guy" is probably in contention for the worst confessional of all time. On top of that, he was condescending to almost every woman he ever spoke to (Lindsey, Sierra and Shirin come to mind), yet didn't do the same to the men. Interesting. However, somehow his sexist ways aren't even the worst thing about him, no, it's his treatment of Shirin. Picture this: Shirin just got verbally abused by Will and broke down at Tribal Council about it brought back memories of her childhood when she suffered domestic abuse. Back at camp, in an attempt to comfort her, Dan approaches her and says that he's sorry for what happened. This might sound like a good thing until you realise that 5 minutes later he's off in a confessional saying that Shirin brought the whole thing on herself and was just playing the victim. Not only that, but at the very next Tribal Council, he tries to liken Shirin's experience of violence tearing her family apart to being adopted. WHO'S PLAYING THE VICTIM NOW, HUH?

2 - Dan is delusional

While usually, I love delusional characters (Debbie <3 Coach <3 Sherri <3), they only seem to work for me under two conditions. 1) their delusions don't cause them to be horrible to others (aka not Phillip) and 2) their delusions are not justified by the edit (aka not Russell). Somehow, Dan manages to fail on both accounts. Dan's self-awareness was so low it was honestly ludicrous. It felt like an endless cycle of "Dan tells us he's really good at something > reality is he sucks > his delusions are justified somehow". AND IT GOT OLD. REAL FAST.

Exhibit A:

>Dan says he knows SO MUCH more about women than Mike does

>Dan gives the WORST apology ever to Sierra

>Sierra votes with Dan at Tribal Council, giving him the impression that his apology was successful.

Exhibit B:

>Dan tells Shirin that's she's a terrible superfan for siding with the minority at the first TC after the merge.

>Dan actually sucks at the game and is on the bottom of his alliance

>Dan outlasts Shirin and thinks he was voted out because he's a threat

Like, MAYBE I could SOMEWHAT appreciate him if everything he said blew up in his face. But no, that didn't happen, so we're stuck with him forever believing that he is some gift to the human world.

3 - Dan is painfully not funny

Remember that time Dan "lost" his underwear so he fashioned his shirt into a diaper and paraded around camp for laughs?

Remember when Dan imitated Mike and looked like a complete idiot?

Remember how Dan would constantly call himself a fat guy?

Not funny, Jan.

4 - Dan was a brainless sheep who enabled the worst people

Everyone gives Laurel a hard time for following Domendell to the end, but I feel like nobody mentions someone like Dan in the same vein despite his situation being verrry similar. Despite being told time and time again that he was in the minority of his alliance, who btw, voted against him once because they were afraid of an idol destroying their plans, Dan absolutely REFUSED to listen to anyone. In fact, he got MAD at people when they would try to burst his bubble and tell him he's not in the amazing position he thinks he's in. "I can't believe Mike had the AUDACITY to tell me I'm going home tonight. Who does he think he is?" -- paraphrasing something Dan actually said the night he went home. The only reason he was ever bumped up the pecking order was because, firstly Carolyn voted Tyler out because he knew about her idol, and then Carolyn pissed Rodney off by not taking him on reward so he replaced her with Dan. Nothing that Dan did actually got him off the bottom, yet, of course, he was rewarded for it.

All in all, Dan does NOT deserve to return whatsoever and I hope you enjoyed this essay of a write-up. :)