I have mentioned before that Survivor is one of my guilty pleasures... actually it's just a pleasure. I'm not guilty about it at all. I have watched every season "live". I still love the damn show even though it drives me crazy from time to time. Throw in the fact that my daughter will actually watch it with me and you have a recipe for destination viewing on Wednesday nights.
This is a very special season. It is the 50th season of Survivor. Because they do two seasons a year, this means I've been addicted to this show for 25 years. Zoinks! I am old. The producers of Survivor are trying to make this season HUGE. They started with 24 players which is the largest number they have ever started with. But these aren't just any players. They are all returning players who represent the multiple generations of the show. They have a player from the first season, two players from the most recent season... and players from everywhere in between. Although they are missing my favorite player ever, Boston Rob, they managed to put together a pretty compelling cast of characters.
When I saw previews for the show and they only showed a few players here and there, I wasn't that excited. But when I finally got to se all 24 players on the beach last night, I was immediately pumped. The show brought back some of my favorite players including Christian (a socially awkward genius who made himself so lovable to everyone that he actually formed an alliance with the buffest guys on the beach in his first season), Cirie (who is one of the most brilliant strategists and social players ever... she'll slit your throat and you'll still hug her on the way out), Ozzy (one of the most dominant physical players ever), Jonathan ( a gentle giant who is as lovable as he is massive), Joe (who showed what class truly looks like by supporting a contestant on the autism spectrum), and Stephanie. Holy Shit is Stephanie a badass. I truly think she is the best female physical player to ever play the game. She is the only contestant to ever be in a tribe that was whittled down to one sole player... and she never wilted. In fact, she got stronger.
There is also a middle group of players who are just amusing. Mike, Devins and Coach will never win the game... but they will entertain me along the way. It will be interesting to see a 50 something year old Colby try to dominate challenges against much younger competition. Rizz-god is a character of himself... but he makes me laugh. There are also some players who are just meh for me. I'm not even going to bother listing them.
Perhaps the only problem with casting is that there aren't any true villains. There are only two contestants that even annoy me but they aren't truly villainous. I laughed out loud when they showed Angelina begging for a jacket from a fellow player she had just stabbed in the back. She did quite a bit of whining on her season so I hope she is gone quickly.
But by far my least favorite choice is Savannah who is the winner form the previous season. First, i could not stand her arrogance. There was not a single episode that went by last season without her telling everyone how hot she was. Spoiler... she's not. And then on top of that, last season was so predictable and logical that the producers clearly rigged a challenge in order for her to win. It was blatantly obvious she would have been voted out of the game about 3 or 4 episodes before the finally. Miraculously the challenge that day was one that being short was a HUGE advantage. It involved using your legs to keep something up in the air. Because of her height, Savannah was able to lock her knees in place so she could sit forever while everyone else's quads were burning from being flexed. It was teh most blatant producer interference I can remember on Survivor. She did win some challenges after that, but she should not have been in the game to win them. So needless to say, i hope she is voted off the island... and more importantly my TV ASAP.
Any other Survivor fans out there? Who are you rooting for?