Are you kidding me?! We’re already nine episodes deep into the season and I still have no idea who’s going to be top three. It seems it’s anyone’s ballgame at this point, but deep down I believe that only 6 of the final 8 have a chance to make Final Tribal. Sorry, Jeremiah and Jefra, but it appears your ships have sailed. Who knows what evil lurks in the minds of Survivor players, and with all the blindsides and big moves this season, there’s no reason that ANY of the remaining 8 couldn’t make top 3.
However, first there are a few things to go over prior to the recap…
-Most importantly, we’re revealing the next group of names in my Rankings of All Survivor Players. We’re up to #135-185, so you’ll see we’re revealing a lot more popular players from seasons’ past. Players like: Filarski, Benry, Cha, Matty, Tarzan, Elrod, Hayden, Hogeboom, Whitney, Colleen, and Frosti. You remember all of them, don’t you…? Please jump to the last page if you simply cannot wait, and I hope you enjoy some of my snarky and unrated comments. I apologize if anyone’s offended by some of them, just trying to have a little fun or produce a chuckle. No disrespect to the players, of course… We’re going back and forth on whether to include everyone’s comments each time, it just seems a little overkill perhaps? I haven’t come to a final decision with Steve, but rest assured that one day we’ll be there. As the weeks’ reveal the crème de la crème, comments might become even longer, or unnecessary, or more uncalled for, depending on how much vodka is consumed prior to sitting down at the keyboard. Let’s hope we don’t cross any lines…
-Not sure if my Season 30 theme reached anyone on the show, but I was pleasantly surprised to receive a couple tweets from none other than – dun-Dun-DUNNNN! – Russell Hantz via Twitter. Perhaps he threw me a drunken tweet thinking there was some viability to my theme, but nevertheless, it was cool to get a response from another legit player. Also, kudos to Mike Skupin for staying on the Fish Train! Let’s hope there’s a future season for both of these guys…
-Speaking of Season 30, perhaps my suggested theme was a bit premature for Season 30. I’m reading a lot of tweets from former players about Season 30 being an All-Stars season (wouldn’t be surprising since they need a BIG theme to promote) so maybe Survivor: Sabotage could find a home in Season 31…or beyond? Just hoping there’s a continued conversation about the suggestion or that we’ll see some aspects of it on a future season…
-Now that I’ve motivated and began Following many former players on Twitter, I’m seeing A LOT of tweets in support of LJ being on an All-Stars season. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him on Season 30 as it seems he has the support of many ex-castaways. Or maybe they’d put him on Season 29 since they’d want to cash in on his popularity while he’s still hot. Reality show contestants’ stars seem to fade the longer they’re out of the spotlight, so it may make more sense to put him on next season rather than wait another year. Let’s see how that plays out…
-One of the slips that Morgan let out when she was on Parvati’s show last week is that she thinks Trish has a good chance of going deep into the season. I don’t know why she would say that now – considering she was on the jury – unless it was true. And, if so, it kind of sucks that she would spill that bean, or it kind of sucks that someone from Survivor didn’t tell her to keep her yap shut about how the rest of the season plays out. Or…someone from Survivor didn’t instruct the editors of Parvati’s show to eliminate Morgan’s prediction, since she was actually ON THE JURY and knows a little about how the rest of the season will play out. OR…it’s all a big misdirect and Trish is gone next week…
-On a personal note, I had to complete jury duty a couple week’s ago and while that’s not news, I happened to hear one name called out that seemed familiar to me for some reason. Sean Rector (#172 on my list). On the day, I couldn’t remember who that was, instead thinking it was someone from high school, or a previous job or show I had worked on, but when I got home and was reviewing some old seasons, I saw that he was on Season 4 (Survivor: Marquesas). Sean made it all the way to top 5 and was in an alliance with Vecepia, so he might have been an interesting cat to speak with. Too bad I didn’t make the connection till days later. Assuming it was him, of course…
-Finally, a big shout out to Reality Steve for supporting this column with his tweets and input. I couldn’t be doing this without Steve’s help and support, and with all that’s going on in the world of the Bachelorette, I know he’s a very busy guy. Steve, throw $20 on #35 at the roulette table the next time you’re in Vegas for me. I’ll owe you!
I thought I’d include a condensed version of my “Sabotage” theme, just in case some readers are just now finding this column:
The show will revolve around the theme of sabotaging the other tribe. This may include some of the following:
1. The “leaders” are selected to choose tribes (schoolyard pick) for the other leader.
2. At any challenge where players have to sit out, the other tribe will choose who sits.
3. During challenges, tribes may select to hinder (sabotage) the other tribe or continue to help their own during certain stages.
4. After a reward challenge, the winning tribe will select 1 or 2 players to raid the other camp.
5. Exile Island will provide clues to finding hidden immunity idols at the other tribe’s camp.
6. At Final Tribal, players can choose 1 or 2 jury members whose votes won’t count for the opposing player(s).
Once again, any input from you guys is welcomed. And now that the idea is out there, here’s a short list of names that could be considered “saboteurs.” Some may never have the opportunity (or desire) to play again, but it’s fun to think how a season of “villains” would play with each other:
Russell Hantz, Vytas, Pete Yurkowski, Tyson, Jerri, Eliza, Lex, Ami Cusack, Corinne, Alicia, Rob Cesternino, Sash, Troyzan, Alicia Rosa, Ciera, Shane Powers, Jean-Robert, Erik Cardona, Marty Piombo, Ace Gordon, Mikey B, Brad Culpepper, Shannon Elkins…
There are so many others who could be considered villains. For the record, I left off a bunch of names who most would label “villains” (you know who those people are!) because I just don’t want to see them on my TV anymore (hey, it’s my column!). And as mentioned, I think Survivor would be crazy to just have a bunch of “bad guys” on the show. There needs to be some redeeming qualities in the sabotaging too, so there’s much to be debated. Alas, I don’t get to make the call, so I leave it up to them, and to you, for your feelings. I’d love to hear what y’all have to think. Enough with my crazy Survivor Fantasy League, let’s get to some Paranoid Brawns, S**t for Brains, and Dirty-necked Beauties…