Survivor: Island of the Idols

[DigificWriter]

In case anybody isn't completely sure, the pool of previous winners selected to return for Season 40 encompasses the following seasons:

Spoiler

* Season 3 (Africa) (Ethan)
* Seasons 7 (Pearl Islands) and 20 (Heroes and Villains) (Sandra)
* Season 8 (All-Stars) (Amber)
* Season 11 (Guatemala) (Danni)
* Season 13 (Cook Islands) (Yul)
* Season 16 (Micronesia: Fans vs Favorites) (Parvati)
* Season 22 (Redemption island) (Boston Rob)
* Season 23 (South Pacific) (Sophie)
* Season 24 (One World) (Kim)
* Season 25 (Philippines) (Denise)
* Season 27 (Blood vs Water) (Tyson)
* Season 28 (Cagayan) (Tony)
* Season 29 (San Juan Del Sur: Blood vs Water) (Natalie)
* Season 31 (Cambodia: Second Chance) (Jeremy)
* Season 32 (Kaoh Rong) (Michelle)
* Season 33 (Millenials vs Gen X) (Adam)
* Season 34 (Game Changers: Mamanuca Islands) (Sarah)
* Season 35 (Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers) (Ben)
* Season 36 (Ghost Island) (Wendall)
* Season 37 (David vs Goliath) (Nick)

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It's hard to guess who's going to win. Everyone has such a strong reputation, people who would normally be seen as a threat will not be seen as one. Rob and Parvati have reputation as extreme manipulators, Ben has reputation as the challenge threat, Sandra is the two time winner, anyone else I think is equally seen as a threat.

A few people I'm glad they did NOT cast: Jenna M, Fabio, the other Natalie who got the spite vote, Chris who won after being out of the game for 3/4 of it. Though it would have been nice for Vecepia and Brian to finally get another chance.

Danni I think is a good sleeper. There were a lot of strong players in Guatemala (One of my favorite seasons) and she won. Tyson I think has a good shot, so does Yul, they know how to manage trust. Denise and Kim have a combination of good social and strategic games, so does Wendell. Also I think if Rob gets knocked out early, Amber will have a great shot, but if Rob does well she's screwed.

Ethan, unfortunately, I think his cancer survival story screws him in terms of jury fear. And I think Tony and Natalie benefited from being the best in a softer season, so I don't rate their chances that high.

Interesting, between seasons 22 and 37 everyone is there except Cochrane and (Googles) some guy name Mike I have no memory of whatsoever.

Edit: And I JUST remembered who Sophie was. She was the one who said "Guys like to bring a lot of young girls with them they can control. I'm a girl so I can't do that. So Coach was my young girl". Yeah, she rocks, she has a good chance.

 

[DigificWriter]

I know I've never seen Africa, One World, or Millennials vs Gen X and am unsure if I watched Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers, so I'm thinking about trying to see if I can speed-binge all of those seasons before February 12th.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Africa was a fun season. Back when there were no hidden immunity idols, the tiebreaker was previous votes, and it was the first season ever with a tribe swap. Also it's the first and last season where dangerous predators were roaming around just outside the shelter. (CBS must have thought, ok, if we hold this a place with lions every year, eventually someone's going to get eaten.)

I would not recommend One World, just because Colton is there, who you may remember from Blood vs Water. Or if you do watch it, skip to the episode after he faked appendicitis. Troyzan is also there, who came in 2nd in Game Changers. But it's also a season with a boring endgame.

Colton is just as awful in that season as he is in his second appearance. To give you an idea, there was a black comedian he called 'Ghetto' and attacked him for not having a lucrative profession by saying "I don't believe in handouts!"

 

[Danny99]

I haven't watched a Survivor season from beginning to end since Guatemala and bits and pieces of seasons from other years, which means I'll know a handful of these people. Should I really be excited about this?

 

[Spot's Meow]

I know I've never seen Africa, One World, or Millennials vs Gen X and am unsure if I watched Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers, so I'm thinking about trying to see if I can speed-binge all of those seasons before February 12th.

I suggest seeing at least Africa and Millennials vs. Gen X. Both great seasons. I don't particularly enjoy One World or HHH, though HHH does have some interesting characters.

I haven't watched a Survivor season from beginning to end since Guatemala and bits and pieces of seasons from other years, which means I'll know a handful of these people. Should I really be excited about this?

I think so! I don't really like when they mix new and previous players, but I think that seasons with only new people or only previous players always have the potential to be great. I think that a season of all winners will be especially entertaining because you probably won't see them making the same rookie mistakes that newbies make every season. They've got more experience and strategy than the average player, and they have the added incentive of wanting to protect their title. It should be interesting!

 

[DigificWriter]

I've sped through Africa so quickly that I've decided to see if I can't watch or rewatch all 21 seasons that spawned Season 40's contestant list.

 

[DigificWriter]

Sorry for the double post and the following off-topic comment, but I love Pearl Islands' Outcast twist and feel saddened that it ended up, with the benefit of 32 seasons to compare it to, exposing a big double standard in gameplay because if the season was played today, there's a very good chance that Sandra doesn't win - or wins by a far closer vote - because the game that Outcast Lillian ends up playing post-return and post-Merge is absolutely a valid winning strategy.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think she still wins that vote all other things being equal. But with idols and advantages over the place, players like Burton have more of a shot and she might not get as much credit for her game.

I’m personally not in favor of bringing back players voted out. Or if they do it, it should be known by all players at the start. Not fair that some players get a chance to come back and not others because they got voted out one week earlier or later.

 

[DigificWriter]

What I was envisioning was a scenario where Pearl Islands is played pretty much as it was, except with the benefit of the modern strategic gameplay improvements, meaning no hidden Idols or advantages, but also no "bitter Jury" because I feel like most of the Pearl Islands jury would recognize the value in Lillian's gameplay based on the way Survivor has evolved up to the present day and therefore be more open to rewarding her for it.

Ryno would probably still vote against her, but I don't think the other votes would be as clear-cut.

 

[Danny99]

Lil was super annoying to her original tribe, so she wouldn't have votes from any of them (Ryan, Darrah, Tijuana) and Christa and Rupert were always going to vote for Sandra.

They weren't the brightest bulbs that season though because Sandra and Christa showed Darrah and Tijuana that Burton and Jon weren't trustworthy (sneaking up and listening in the dark if I remember correctly) and could've voted either one of them out that episode and still voted out Tijuana.

 

[DigificWriter]

Ti gave Lillian her vote originally and I don't think that would change, but I think that if Rupert, Christa, Darrah, and Burton came into the game with a modern/current understanding of strategic gameplay, they'd be more open to voting for her based on how she played even if there were still hard feelings towards her on their part, especially if she fixed the one flaw in her gameplay and confidently owned her decisions, which is where I think a modern understanding of strategic play would have come to bear for her.

For example, I don't see her regretting her decision to keep her part of the Fishing trip reward, nor do I see her fretting about the image her Scout uniform sent.

Jon having a modern understanding of strategic gameplay would probably make him a true wildcard, so his vote is harder to predict.

I'm not saying that Lillian would definitely beat Sandra nowadays, but I do think she'd be seen as more of a viable option to award the prize to than she was back in 2003.