Yuku free message boards

After 18 seasons, here is my updated list.

1: Pearl Islands: Coming off Amazon, this season had a lot to prove and it did. It was by far one of the best seasons of reality television, not just Survivor. It had a feel and energy to it that just bounced off the screen, the location, the colours, the atmosphere, it all came together. The strategy was superior to any Survivor season, the Rupert blindside, the girls teaming together at F5, Fairplay manipulating pretty much everyone and of course Sandra "as long as it aint me" cultivating a come from behind win. Pearl Islands was almost like cartoonish with its characters, the heroes against the villains and I've never been more invested in a season of television than I was for this season. An amazing season that will permeate time. Awesome!

2: Micronesia: After the dismal All-Stars, people weren't expecting much of this season. We were wrong! Once some of the boring and INV Fans were booted pre-merge we were left with great characters, Cirie, Ozzy, James, Amanda, Parv dominated this section of the game and Natalie came out of the blue towards the end. The focus was put back on the HII during this time and we got 4 or 5 episodes where people had no idea who was in power, who had the idol and who was voting for who. The Ozzy, Jason, Alexis, Erik boots all in a row were EPIC, great tribal councils. Just wish in the end that Cirie made it to the end. The location was reused but we didn't care, it was a scrambling, bumbling, exciting, intense season of the show.

3: Outback: One of the best locations the show has ever been to, coming from Australia I might be a little biased. Strong characters (Jerri, Elisabeth, Rodger, Tina, Alicia, Colby), strong focus on the elements and I liked the move toward more strategy within the game. The Michael incident was epic as was the flood episode. I don't really have much negatives to say about the Outback season, only that it spawned the first appearance of Amber Brkich.

4: The Amazon: I loved this season. The location was great and the battle of the sexes brought life to the pre-merge. But it was the Amazon's post-merge where it really picked up. This season started a change in Survivor, people were sneakier, alliances flipped at an instant, blindsides were a plenty in Roger then Deena, Alex and Christy. Rob was a genius at the game and he added something brilliant to the season. Yes, Jenna winning was a bit underwhelming but the season as a whole outweighs her win.

5: China: This season sparked a change in Survivor. We moved back to 16 players and had an original and interesting location in China which was beautiful to look at. You really got a sense we were getting back to that original Survivor concept with strangers stranded in the bush and we got some really good character development and relationships. Fei Long dominating pre-merge was alright which lead to Peih-Gee and Erik falling to the bottom of the pack come post-merge. Amanda and Todd instrumenting the blindside of James was a boost for the season and they took that all the way to the finals. Amanda bombed in the F3 which was disappointing and lead Todd to victory over Courtney. After time, this season does lose a little compared to others (maybe it was because it was on the heels of Fiji) but a definite good step in the right direction. Good season.

6: Borneo: Some would say the original and the best. I would say it is the original but not really the best. If you go back and watch Borneo, it's really a different show to the more recent seasons. The alliance was born, we had diverse characters that were likeable and the authenticity of 16 strangers in "the bush" was felt. The elements were there for a great season and don't get me wrong it was a GREAT season but after nearly 9 years of hindsight, it comes up a bit short. Sue, Rudy, Sean, Greg, Colleen, Rich, Kelly were insanely good characters but maybe they were cast 3-4 years a little too soon.

7: Tocantins: A solid season overall. I think it was nice to see 16 people back (after heavy loaded Micro-Gabon), Tocantins had an original feel about it with the characters of Timbira spliced together with those of Jalapao and the challenges were original. Standout characters were Coach, Tyson, Sierra and Taj (earlier part of the season) but they couldn't pull it through to the end. There was no real strategy the whole way through though, we got the Exile alliance that fizzled, Erinn jumped ship and JT and Stephen just waited for Timbira to implode, and the result was a couple of blindsides? The editing and the finale really brought this season down on the grand scale of Survivor, with a predictable and boring winner in JT.

8: Guatemala: Probably one of the most underrated seasons we have had post-ASS. The location and theme were just alright, some characters were missed due to editing and the Bobby Jon and Stephenie return but it just seemed to all come together. The Nu-Nakum tribe imploding and the Jamie and Judd boots were epic, challenges were original and the season just had a good feel to it. The nice girl won over the mean girl in the end which tops off a nice and solid season.

9: Gabon: The move to HD was refreshing and the location was a stand-out. Again with 18 people, some became completely INV and I wouldn't be able to remember the first 4 boots. Jeff's narration was overbearing to say the very least and I'm glad that has stopped, for now. The storyline of Fang coming back over Kota as the underdogs was epic with the fall of Marcus, Charlie, Randy and Corrine. Randy's boot Tribal Council will go down as one of the best, but again the ending left a bitter taste in your mouth with INV Susie and Bob comprising the Final 2, Sugar giving up and a bitter jury.

10: Vanuatu: Anything would look pretty good coming out of All-Stars and this season wasn't bad and it wasn't good either. The location and theme were good and we had the battle of the sexes again which lacked a little punch that we saw in the Amazon. Strategy wise, the women dominated up until Twila flipped things at F7, and this really was a blunder because it opened the door for Chris to manipulate the women and turn them against one another. Eliza was a stand out character and earned her spot on FVF. The season was a little flat was a really a middle of the road season in comparison.

11: Palau: The war theme was epic! Probably the second best theme to Pearl's pirates and it added something new to the show. Location stunning, characters alright. Koror's dominance of the first half of the season was tedious toward the end and the focus was all on Ulong. That meant by the time we made it to Koror at the end, we didn't really know a lot about their characters or really cared about them. Tom winning was a bit boring, his strategy was to use the women and their greed against one another. The girls clearly needed to take him out before the F4 but they didn't and it was only that Ian fell on his sword at F3 that lead Katie to the Final 2. Starting out with 20 people was a mistake I think and the season was a bit underwhelming compared to others.

12: Exile Island: The move back to 16 players was correct, I felt we got to see every one of those 16 characters to begin with. We also get the start of Exile, which doesn't really work this season because Terry didn't need it. The four tribe thing was alright, challenges were reused as was the location. Casaya was like Timbira, only Casaya knew how to hold things together a bit better and dominated everyone except the challenge whore Terry. We did get a jewel out of this season though, her name was Cirie.

13: Cook Islands: Too many people, too many things going on at once. The location was just a re-work of the Pearls and you didn't actually care for the characters until post-merge where the Aitu 4 were outnumbered. Once they used Jonathan, the strategy went out the door and they took it to the end. The Final 3 started which was a fail. I bought this season on DVD, and I wish I hadn't.

14: All-Stars: The premise was good, the execution wasn't. For people who had played this game once before, they stuffed things up pretty bad. It was a reused location but that didn't matter, the strategy was terrible. Kathy and Lex taking out Colby, Ethan and especially Jerri was huge and it lead to Romber dominating the post-merge. All in all, a pretty disappointing season after such a wonderful season in Pearl Islands.

15: Thailand: This season had good intentions, the location and theme was good and the idea of having a younger versus older tribe (albeit not Burnett's intention) was interesting. Ghandia provided entertainment at Chuay Gahn as did Ted, the youngins at Sook Jai were alright but no real big personalities came to the fore front. Shii-Ann got shafted because of a failed twist and the older, and unlikeable tribe took the control of the game and Pagonged Sook Jai. Like Gabon, this season leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth with Helen and Jan trusting Brian and Clay way, way too much and letting them get to the Final 2. The ending was like watching paint dry, but the paint was the worse colour you'd ever seen and it took 28 hours to dry. Bad season Burnett.

16: Africa: Again the location was insane, but that was about it for this season. The characters were just bland and nothing really happened except for the switch, Lex's rouge vote and Clarence eating an extra piece of food. Other than that, this season just blends all together really and Boran taking control at the F8 all the way to the end was boring and predictable. Ethan winning was again predictable.

17: Fiji: Have and have nots in Survivor? I don't think so! Everyone is supposed to be have nots Burnett. This season started off terrible and it didn't get much better. Casting was terrible, no likeable characters and the location was bland. That is all I have to say.

6luttony wrote:

---

18. Outback