Board Thread:Season Rankings/@comment-24899664-20141222121159/@comment-27391152-20170313024019

Now, these three seasons are very weird seasons for me. They all hold a personal attachment to my Survivor experience and at the time, I did consider each of these seasons some of the best, but after looking back, I feel these are the best places for them.

#18- Survivor: Samoa

The reason I loved this season is perhaps why many people love Borneo; it was my first season and completely drew me into the show. If it weren't for Russell completely OWNING everyone strategically, I probably wouldn't be watching the show today. Heck, I was so confused why Russell didn't win that my seven-year-old self thought the jury didn't realise they were voting for a winner and were actually trying to vote Natalie off XD.

So while the winner may have been a disappointment, I was still captivated by the way Russell was able to dismantle the Galu tribe and even to this day, I still think the story of the Foa Foa Four is the best underdog story in the history of Survivor (FAR better than the boring Aitu Four) and I genuinely think that while the editing was HORRENDOUS, the one character they did focus on (Russell) was good television at the very least.

However, while Russell took me by storm back when I was only seven, as I've grown older I've realised that the editing this season really made this season a lot less interesting than it could have been. Yes, I love Russell as a character (#controversial) but that cannot excuse the fact that the editors made Samoa a one-man show and ignored almost everybody else except for like Shambo (who is a goddess <3). In short, this season couldn't be placed any lower since it is the reason I'm watching today but not any higher because the editing ruined what could've been a fantastic season.

With that we have reached the half-way point!

#17- Survivor: Cambodia

It would be a lot easier to switch this and number sixteen around to help explain this a little better, but I feel Cambodia is in its rightful spot right in the middle. Now, I feel I am very biased towards this season because it has my favourite player of all time (Queen Ciera Eastin) in it. I know it's a pretty shitty reason but nevertheless, Ciera saved my Survivor watching experience for me, so I kinda feel in debt to her a little bit XD.

Other than Ciera's presence, I still really liked this season. I feel it was quite similar to Millennials vs. Gen X in the sense that the producers went with the boring STRATEGY > CHARACTER approach but I didn't mind so much this time considering we already knew a lot of these characters so well and I was able to find people to root for (unlike MvGX). The pre-merge was undeniably great, with plenty of drama between Abi, Varner, Peih-Gee, Shirin, Tasha, Savage, Stephen, Monica and Kimmi in one way or another and there were still some great blindsides like Creepy Vytas, Robbed Goddess Peih-Gee and Monica's facial expression when she got voted out was to die for <3.

Post-merge is where this season kind of went downhill for me, but still not as much as other seasons like Australia or MvGX. There were multiple Tribal Councils that had me on edge (I was completely shocked by the Fishbach vote out which is quite rare) and Kelley slaying Savage will forever remain a classic. But even so, the editing post-merge was god awful and there was so much gamebottyness to make my brain explode. Plus, Spencer's cringeworthy forced storyline was enough to keep season out of the top half, even though I do feel some people underrate it.

#16- Survivor: Blood vs. Water

Here it is, the season that saved Survivor, or at least for me. After half watching seasons 23-26, I was just about done with the show altogether believe it or not. It wasn't until very late in the season where Hayden was able to convince Ciera to draw that rock when I jumped right back onto the Survivor train. Seeing it all happen, with Gervase being so fucking condescending only to have his plan fail was absolute GOLD. Ciera's grin when she cast her vote for Monica was iconic and seeing Tyson's game almost come crashing down got me so hyped. That moment right there is why I continued watching the show, and for that reason, I couldn't leave it out of the top half.

HOWEVER, up until the point, the season was nothing special. The early pre-merge was actually great with Cieratie (Ciera and Katie) despite being on the bottom were able to convince the guys to take out two men back to back <3. Redemption Island actually worked this season, and instead of just exhausting screentime, there were SO many interesting moments, from Candice and Marissa cussing out Brad to Tina having to eliminate her own daughter to Monica burning the idol clue to even Colton's overdramatic quit, RI was AWESOME this season.

Unfortunately, from the post-swap onwards, it was all pretty straight-forward. Kat and Laura were unexcitedly picked off and then Singles alliance just picked off the couples until the Final 8 when Tyson's alliance just takes over. So even thought the rock draw was AMAZING, the rest of the season simply didn't hold up, which is why it falls to the middle-of-the-pack.