This season ofSurvivorstarted in the very first episode with a man making a woman uncomfortable with inappropriate touching.
Heres part of what I wrote in my season premiere recap about that: Good for her.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be just talk when it came to Dan adapting his behavior.
“Just Go for It” – Janet Carbin, Dean Kowalski, Elaine Stott , Dan Spilo, Tommy Sheehan, Noura Salman and Lauren Beck on the Thirteenth episode of SURVIVOR: Island of Idols airing Wednesday, Dec. 11th (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Screen Grab/CBS Entertainment ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.CBS
And we saw the video evidence of him continuing to touch Kellee after being asked to stop.
Or did…something.
What, exactly, remains unclear.
So I just spoke privately with Dan and I want to update you guys.
A decision has been made and Dan will not be returning to the game.
He will not be coming back to camp.
He wont be on the jury.
And that was it.
They were not told what precisely the decision was.
They were not told who made the decision.
They were not told why the decision was made.
For all they knew, Dan may have decided to leave because of a personal situation back home.
ADR happens all the time onSurvivorand every other show.
The one thing I do know is that you never want to assume too much in situations like this.
I get sad for Kellee Kim, who saw this all coming 34 days prior.
I get sad for any crew member who may have been on the receiving end of anything inappropriate.
This just sucks, plain and simple.
Silver lining number one: Dan will not winSurvivor.
That would have been a nightmare of unimaginable proportions.
It was difficult enough watching him receivezero total votesin the five Tribal Councils after Kellee was eliminated.
(Think about that for a moment.)
Had he then been awarded by the jury?
I cant even contemplate it.
(To be fair, I dont think the jury would have contemplated it either.)
And heres the second silver lining: Its almost over.
Because isnt that what we all want right about now?
And therein lies the remarkable formula that has proven to beSurvivors greatest strength over two decades on the air.
And that strength is this: There is a reset button waiting around every corner.
Or, at least, every season.
You dont like an installment?
Because theres another one right about to start up.
So Im really sad right now about the way things have gone down this season.
And you may be sad with me.
Okay, its the penultimate recap of the season, which means its time for my updated season rankings.
Thats thanks to her finding a hidden immunity idol when the whole tribe was out searching.
Boston Rob and Sandra?
What are YOU TWO doing out here?moment.
And if thats the case, Im actually fine with it.
I am totally cool with a one visit to IOTI limit per player.
He then told them how he made a fake copy of the fake Legacy Advantage.
He then told them how he may tell everyone to vote for him to look crafty.
They were considerably less impressed with that idea.
Perhaps we will find out next week.
But then Dean got his test on Jury Management.
It involves no skill whatsoever and is completely random.
But Ill admit it: From a dramatic standpoint, it kinda worked!
I was sitting there totally on edge waiting for the Robfather to reveal the result.
But now that Dan has been pulled from the game, who fills that spot?
Essentially, when you get down to the final four, it doesnt really matter.
Yet another reason why the final four fire-making needs to go.
So Close, Yet So FarFinally, an immunity challenge where people are actually moving!
(Not to mention, your morals.)
She did, however, manage to make it to the puzzle first.
We all knew it was Elaine going after that.
Elaine was impossible not to like and root for… which, ultimately, was her undoing.
Okay, its time to update our season rankings.
So where willIsland of the Idolsfall?
Well, read on (and on, and on and on…) to find out.
SURVIVOR SEASON-BY SEASON RANKINGS(From best to worst)
1.
(Tie)Survivor: Borneo(Winner: Richard Hatch)andSurvivor: Micronesia Fans vs.
Favorites(Winner: Parvati Shallow)Ive gone back and forth with these two over the years.
AfterMicronesiaaired, I named it the bestSurvivorseason ever.
So then I returned that to the No.
If I wanted to watch one season again, it would beMicronesia.
If you ask me which is the mostimportantseason, well, obviously itsBorneo.
And the greatness just kept on coming.
Filled with huge memorable moments like Tyson voting himself off, J.T.
giving Russell his immunity idol, and Parvati handing outtwoimmunity idols at one Tribal Council.
I know many people would consider this No.
1, but its all returnees.
For me, the fresh blood ofMicronesiakeeps that season higher.
(Maybe not well at all times, but at least they were playing.)
moment to a truly exhilarating season.
Thats what it all comes down to.
And its not just Christian, who was one of the most universally loved contestants of all-time.
That is an amazing 9 out of 20 that I would easily welcome back on another season.
Often, thats all a season needs.
And that really is first and foremost the reason Davidvs.
Goliathbecame an all-time great.
But there were other trophies to hand out as well.
The editing job done by producers was perhaps the shows best ever.
They experimented with new techniques that served to freshen up the franchise in its 37th season.
They added comedic flourishes that were totally unnecessary yet improved the episodes nonetheless.
They cut back and forth between players and stories in ways they never had before.
A top 5 finish.
Letting fans vote in the cast?
Hiding idols at challenges?
I think you all know how I feel about that.
Tempting people to quit an immunity challenge for a mystery vote steal advantage?
All the tribe switcheroos?
They played out to perfection.
TheSurvivorproducers always throw a bunch of twists out there.
Usually, some work and some dont.
This season, they all paid dividends.
I also appreciated how hard the bulk of the cast was playing.
Usually, you get a small handful of big-time gamers.
Another plus: The votes were completely unpredictable from week to week, leading to some truly crazy Tribals.
Sure, the challenges were a bit blah, but still, a rousing and triumphant success.
Some people hate on Jenna as a winner, but she won challenges and played an effective social game.
Survivor: Pearl Islands(Winner: Sandra Diaz-Twine)Rupert stealing shoes.
Fairplay getting drunk at Tribal Council.
Osten sucking at everything.
It was all delicious.
Loses points, though, for the awful Outcasts twist, which also led to a disappointing final two.
And the challenges may have beenSurvivors best ever.
WhenMillennials vs. Gen Xstarted, most of us were like, Yeah, its fine.
Not amazing, but not terrible either.
But then things kept happening.
And everyone kept flipping on one another.
And everyone kept getting blindsided.
And everyone kept futilely using their idols for other people.
It was madness and chaos in the best way possible.
And what was so fascinating was that (with the exception of Michaela) nobody took their ouster personally.
This was a season remarkably free of any sort of fighting whatsoever.
None of the ugliness ofWorlds ApartorKaoh Rongpermeated the proceedings, even amongst all the lying and backstabbing.
Even Hannah was entertaining with her neurosis.
Even Ken was entertaining with his late-game cluelessness.
Bret gave us a touching moment where he came out as gay to Zeke.
Sunday outsmarted Adam and Hannah with a ruse at Tribal Council.
(However, I still cant figure out why they went with three-person duels a.k.a.
truels and they definitely should have stopped RI at the merge.)
So why is it so high?
Because the casting and storylines that developed gave us people to root for and against something every greatSurvivorseason needs.
13.Survivor: Caramoan Fans vs.
But hear me out first before you Russell any feathers.
It was flat-out grating.
But everything post-merge was spectacular.
There were moves and countermoves galore down the homestretch.
Also, dont overlook how great the bevy of water challenges was.
Should I push it down in the rankings due to the lackluster Reunion show that followed?
He was denied in the end, though, in the most controversial jury decision ever.
Survivor: China(Winner: Todd Herzog)Ive always loved this season.
It featured a really good cast stuck in a really bad location.
Todd completely owned that final Tribal Council.
Thats how you win a million dollars.
Plus: Purple rock!!!
Survivor: Cook Islands(Winner: Yul Kwon)What a difference a mutiny makes.
It was listless until that fateful moment when Candice and Penner stepped off the mat.
Then we finally had underdogs to root for.
Plus, just look at all the great first-time contestants (Parvati, Penner, Ozzy, Yul).
Survivor: Ghost Island(Winner: Wendell Holland)This was such a hard season to rank.
(Guess the Bamboo was about as riveting as watching an Adam Sandler movie as part of aSouth Pacificreward.
And then there is the ending, which also has plusses and minuses.
So again, both good and bad.
Like I said, a hard season to rank.
But the ending was fantastic, and I was engaged throughout, even with the noted weaknesses.
I liked watching Kellyn act like a super-spaz.
I was fascinated with the Laurel and Donathan strategic push-and-pull.
Throw that all together and you end up in the middle of the pack.
Survivor: Game Changers(Winner: Sarah Lacina)What a weird season this was.
We were treated to two titans of the game (Tony and Sandra) going toe to toe.
But something was missing.
Said events were all exciting, but they failed to form a cohesive unit.
all gone before the merge.
And despite the gameplay and unpredictability down the stretch, that is kind of what happened.
And then there is what happened to Cirie in the finale.
(The fact that it happened to a true legend in Cirie made it even harder to swallow.)
Thats a great example of natural show evolution that worked and the producers deserve to be commended for it.
Survivor: Australian Outback(Winner: Tina Wesson)An overrated season in my book.
Pretty predictable boot order as well.
Dude did burn his hands off, though.
But there is one thing I reallydiddig about this season, and that is the cast.
And, outside of one mind-bogglingly boring loved ones reward contest, the challenges were strong.
But now comes the bad news.
Like the majority ofSurvivornation, I was not a fan of the new final four fire-making twist.
That was a bummer.
Survivor: Tocantins(Winner: J.T.
Thomas)Okay, you may roll your eyes at Coach 1.0.
But imagine for a second this season without him.
His unintentional comedy single-handedly lifts this into respectable territory for me.
Seriously, other than Tyson getting blindsided, were there any memorable moments that didnt involve the Dragonslayer?
But the unlikely alliance between bookish northerner Fishbach and country boy J.T.
made for a compelling thread throughout the season.
Working against this season is the fact that there simply were not enough transcendent players in the cast.
(Remember Jerri getting literally booed off the stage?)
Terry was robbed on a final challenge that may or may not have been completely fair.
Another unmemorable final two.
Shane Powers should have been brought back forHeroes vs. Villains.
And theSecond Chanceseason, for that matter.
The fact that so many unworthy players went so far is simply too damning.
Survivor: Edge of Extinction(Winner: Chris Underwood)Flat.
Thats the best word I can think of to describe the season.
Survivor: Africa(Winner: Ethan Zohn)Some great challenges.
Not that much else was great.
Survivor: Guatemala(Winner: Danni Boatwright)One of the more unlikeable casts so far.
Stephenies evil twin?)
Rafe was good for a few laughs, though.
Especially on rope obstacles.
That counts for something.
Survivor: One World(Winner: Kim Spradlin)Look, I have total respect for Kims game.
Like Tom inPalauand Rob inRedemption Island, she excelled strategically, socially, and physically.
Unfortunately, that is really the only good thing I can say about this season.
And thats too bad because I do think the One World concept was a solid one.
But, man, what a thoroughly uninspiring cast.
Speaking of awful creative decisions…
38.
Survivor: Nicaragua(Winner: Jud Fabio Birza)Its way down here for a few reasons.
- Splitting the tribes up by age and the Medallion of Power were both enormous flops.
LikeOne World,Thailand,andFiji,Nicaraguahad just too many unlikable players.
Two people quitting with only 11 days left.
No big memorable moments.
EvenThailandhad the fake merge andFijihad the big Yau-Man/Dreamz free car deal gone bad, but what wasNicaraguas signature moment?
Unfortunately, it was people quitting, and that was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Survivor: Island of the Idols(Winner: ?
)Im a guy who tends to be pretty analytical.
But even I recognize that when it comes to rankingSurvivorseasons, it ultimately comes down to a feeling.
Quite simply: It made the rest of the season impossible to enjoy.
And so here it sits.
Okay, another reminder that we have that exclusive deleted scene from the episode for you.
How do you feel about Dans dismissal from the game?
Whom are you rooting for to win?
