Development of Borneo Contestants

Well, we’ve come to another installment of “which season a contestant did better in” blog posts. I started this shortly after Caramoan was finished to show how the contestants had changed from one season to another. So, for this blog post, I am comparing the first season players who have returned a second time to their other game. I hope that this makes sense. Basically, I’m wondering when they played the better game since even if you are the same type of player each time you play, there’s always a difference between your two games. So, let’s get started.

Jenna played the first season and then returned to the game in the All-Stars season. In her first game, she played well, even though she butted heads with Greg. Ultimately, the alphabet is what got her voted out when she could have lasted much longer if her name was something like Zelda. Of course, she probably would have been a victim of Pagonging either way. She may not have been the most wanted person for a future season, but she returned anyways. I’m not sure if I believe the rumors that she was only cast in All-Stars because someone else they wanted declined because there really is no proof of that that I know of. But, her game improved in All-Stars a lot. This was mostly due to her alliance with Rupert and other members of Chapera. She even joined Rupert in spending a record number of days in the game without having to go to tribal council. But, there came a point in All-Stars where she could no longer win and she helped ruin her chances at it. Ultimately, after losing the last immunity challenge, she was the last one voted out of the game. Even though she messed up at the end, she did better in All-Stars and was the only player from both this season and that season to improve on her game. Main transition: From a random player to a better player.

Gervase first played in the first season and after the longest gap in Survivor history, he played again in Blood versus Water with his niece Marissa. Now that I’ve actually seen the first season, this post may be different than what I originally said when I compared his two games in Blood versus Water versus previous season. Just to show the difference, you’ll see the original section of what I posted about him after this paragraph is done. In the first season, he did a respectable job in the game and earned the nickname, Gervase never nervous. (Okay, that might not be a nickname and it may not be as common as I think it might be.) Ultimately, he made the merge but fell short of winning the game when people decided to get rid of him next. He then returned to play in Blood versus Water where his over-the-top playing once again got rid of someone he liked in the game. But, without his loved one, he got to be part of a good alliance that ended up getting him all the way to the end of the game. But, he didn’t do much on his own and thus, got no votes to win. He did better when he made it farther, even though he was more interesting the first time he played. Main transition: From an interesting jury member to a not so interesting finalist.

Original thoughts on Gervase from immediately after Blood versus Water aired and when I had yet to see the first season: Gervase played the original Survivor in the very first season in Borneo. Since I have not seen the first season, I’m not sure how to describe how well he did that season. I know that he said a comment about women and someone else thought it was funny, thus getting blamed for the comment and voted out instead of Gervase. Gervase made it to the merge, but like the rest of his dumb tribe, did not realize until it was too late that people were voting him out. Thus, he became a member of the jury. He would then set a record that could eventually be broken of longest gap between seasons that he played Survivor. He played as far as he could this next season and became a finalist. But since he was mostly following Tyson’s commands throughout the game, he did not get any votes to win the game. Since I haven’t seen his first season, I don’t know which one I state as better, although you’d think that it would be this season. Main transition: From an obscure, early contestant to a boring finalist.

Sue would become quite infamous in her two seasons, provided that I’m not using the word infamous correctly since people from Wikia where I get some of my information from don’t seem to know what the word means. Don’t ask me why I would want to use it incorrectly, but I figure that I might as well stick with what they are doing. Anyways, while Sue could never spell right when she voted, she did know that joining the right voting bloc would get her far in the game. But, all good things come to an end and she lost all her power at the final four. She would become the first victim of a tie vote thanks to her best freminy’s not wanting to compete against her anymore. This would lead on to a great jury speech in favor of Rich that ironically almost gave Kelly the win. Sue would return to play in All-Stars and the game was much different for her the second time around. Any other game she played the second time around was overshadowed by the way she left. Richard, the same player she adored in Borneo, got too close for her comfort when he was naked during a challenge. She didn’t like what happened at all. This lead her to leave in the most explosive quit we have ever seen in the game. So, it comes as kind of obvious that she would be much better the first time around. Main transition: From a memorable jury member to an angry quitter.

Rudy remains the oldest contestant to have ever played the game of Survivor. He would beat his own record when he did All-Stars. The first time he played, he was a bit reluctant to join an alliance, but he did and helped improve his game by doing that. He also said many funny things that may not have always been intentional. He proved such a good part of the game that production said that once he fell out of the final immunity challenge, that Survivor would be a one season show. They really wanted him to win and they cite the fact that he didn’t win as proof that the show isn’t rigged in any way. I think that they are right. But, I hope to never believe this show is fake because that would mean that it is. Regardless of that, Rudy was the last person voted out of the game the first time he played. He did return to play All-Stars. His age was considered a liability this time around and he got voted out at the second tribal council. Main transition: From a great player to an unfortunately short-lived player.

Richard will only be judged for his time playing Survivor and not whatever he might have done or not done outside of the game. The IRS is normally dumb anyways. Of course, I have nothing against the IRS myself, but I just find them to be problematic for other people and it’s mostly the company’s fault for these problems. Now that I’m probably getting audited, I might as well explain just how well Richard played the first time around. He thought of a great idea by creating an alliance and choosing (mostly good) people to be in it. Alliances proved such a great part of the game that they have appeared in virtually every season of the game (although, if I’m wrong about it, let me know). His jury skills could have used some work, but they helped him enough to win the game. He owned up to what he did to get to the end and he won the game because of it. He returned to play in All-Stars where he was targeted for being a previous winner. This ultimately got him to be the first player voted out of his tribe. Main transition: From a wonderful winner to an unfortunate premerge boot.

Contestant’s Name	Borneo	Second Season
Jenna	Decent	Best
Gervase	Good	Better
Sue	Memorable	Whiner
Rudy	Funny	Gone too soon
Richard	Best	Still good, but worse

I hope that you enjoyed this comparison. This is how I thought people from this season have changed on other seasons. I also hope that you enjoyed the obligatory column that in no way was required. I just hope that it gets a reader in good time. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.