Development of Cambodia Players

When players come back for another season, the type of players that they were typically changes in different ways. While we can always just watch one season on its own to see them in just one way, our perspectives of them will probably be different. So now I will go through the cast of Cambodia and compare how they have changed from their previous season to this one.

Vytas was pretty much stuck to associations with his brother the first time around. They fought against each other and after the merge when they could finally play with each other, they were both targeted and voted out. During this time, he wound up on a tribe of all women besides himself. The second time he played the game, he came off poorly towards the other women and became the first person voted out because of it. His first game was clearly better. Main transition: From being hard to play on his own to being hard to play with others.

Shirin has her fans, as evident by the fact that they voted her into this season. The first time she played, she was mostly remember for contestants hating her and her getting upset because she has an abusive past. This time around, we didn’t get much from her due to her early exit from the game. This season portrayed her as more annoying although her main reason for being voted out was not being in the main alliance on her tribe. In my mind, her good reputation is still intact, although it took a bit of a hit this season. Main transition: From an unfortunate vote out to a bit of an annoying person.

Peih-Gee is someone that I remember from her first season simply due to how much a tribe member named Denise constantly mistreated her. This season, she had Abi mistreating her causing a much earlier elimination this time around. Clearly, she did better the first time around, although it is hard to say what exactly changed for her the second time around. Main transition: From a good player who made it far to a good player who didn’t make it far.

Jeff Varner definitely took a hit this season. He was remembered fondly in Australia where a strange rule at the time got the opposing tribe to vote him out. This time around, he came off as a bit dumb and slightly arrogant when we saw him in the game. All the airtime he got basically pointed to the reasons why he got such an early elimination this time around. If he’s back a third time, hopefully he can do better. Main transition: From a victim of a twist to a victim of himself.

Monica to me failed to stand out much in either season of hers. I do wonder how an unknown like her got her cast. I mean, that certainly didn’t help Jim Rice get casted by the fans. I can’t remember how she stuck out on Samoa, but since nearly the entire cast got an invisible edit that season, that might not be her fault. She obviously lasted longer the first time around, but it’s hard to say what the differences are between her seasons. Did she stand out better in either one? Not really. Main transition: From an obscure jury member to an obscure premerge boot.

Terry had a sudden and unexpected end to his story the second time around in an exit never before seen, although Jenna Moresca’s exit from All-Stars was kinda close to it. He left without a real resolution to his story. One wonders if he would have actually been blindsided had he stayed in the game. Were producers trying to do him a favor by pulling him from the game? Normally I’m against the idea that production ever interferes, but sometimes it just seems like nothing else makes sense. It probably was just a weird elimination. Regardless of what happened, it’s hard to really tell a difference between his game the first time against the second time around. The first time he lucked out getting a super powered idol that ultimately didn’t help him. He proved himself to be a challenge beast as well the first time around. This time we never saw much of a story arc from him this time around. We might have had he stayed in the game longer. Main transition: From a person who fought hard in the game to a person who fought hard for his son.

Woo certainly had a lot that could have gone differently for him the second time around. But he was the one finalist picked off before the surprise early merge. He was too lenient the first time around and took a much better player than him to the end of the game. This time, he failed to stand out for long although he was a big enough target to get voted out. Main transition: From a dumb runner-up to a forgettable vote out this season.

Kass tried to unembrace the nickname chaos Kass. She certainly was remembered in Cagayan for flipping on her tribe. Unlike most flippers, she actually made it very far in the game. This time around, it’s hard to say much of which she did in the long run. She was clearly on the bottom after the merge and she was voted out. But it’s hard to tell much of a difference for her. Main transition: From a cause of chaos to a person who couldn’t control other people’s chaos.

Andrew probably took a hit this time around in his edit, in my mind at least. Where he came off coming heroic the first time around leading the mostly struggling Morgan tribe until getting blindsided right after the merge, this time he came off as more of a villain and kind of condescending. I wouldn’t say that it was that bad an edit, but he was certainly seen worse this time around. Main transition: From a heroic leader to an annoying blindside.

Kelly Wiglesworth went from having a huge edit the first time to being widely ignored the second time. Whatever she did the second time must not have been good enough to show. She had what could quite possibly be the lowest confessional count of all time, or at least any jury member. One of the most notable parts about her game was her jury question. It made her seem bitter about her loss the first time. Did she really hold onto that for 15 years? She might hold onto it even longer. That’s weird and kind of pathetic in a way. Of course, she could have just been doing a call back to the very first season and it actually didn’t affect her vote in any way. Still, she just wasn’t in this season that much. Main transition: From a great competitor to an invisible competitor.

Ciera may not have gotten that good an edit either of the seasons that she played. At least she was playing the game and trying to make moves. They may not have worked out as well as they could have. As to which season she did better in, she did make it farther in her first season and probably got a better edit that time around as well. Main transition: From a risk taker to a bit of an annoying person.

Stephen is someone that I don’t remember as well from his first time around. Clearly there are people who like him. I might have to listen more to the podcast at www.robhasawebsite.com to hear more of him on it. I don’t really like the fact that they keep butchering a name of a contributor to the podcast, so it’s not something that I stayed interested in. Meanwhile, one does have to wonder how much the challenge designers wanted him to be at the final immunity challenge as it was the same final immunity challenge from Tocantins. Speaking of Tocantins, I missed a lot of that season as it was airing so I don’t have that much of an impression on it. For a while, I could not remember who this contestant was. He turned out well on this season, even though he couldn’t make it to the end. I feel that I’ve lost the point of this paragraph. Anyways, he lasted longer the first time around, but had a better edit (to me, at least), the second time around. Main transition: From a sidekick to his own player.

Joe probably learned nothing from his game the first time since he won too many challenges the second time around and thus stood out as a threat. He’s still well loved both of his seasons. He is pretty likable. It’s hard to tell a difference between his two games. There is seemingly no difference between them. Main transition: From a strong player to a still strong player.

Abi-Maria remains the person whom I’m most surprised come back. Why did fans want her back? She didn’t prove herself to be that good a player either time. Both times she played, people were so offended by her, they wouldn’t even let her be a goat at the final tribal council and they got rid of her before it. In fact, she probably came off worse this time. Main transition: From an annoying player, to an even more annoying player.

Kimmi probably could have had a much better edit than she did. I mean, she went from being the fifth person voted out of the game all the way to sixth place. In fact, it was only do to strangeness that she was voted out. At least she tried to make a big move. Meanwhile, she was the highest ranking person that I didn’t vote for to be in the game. The first time she played she may not have stood out as much. This time, she didn’t once again, which was weird. I will say that it’s clear that she did better this second time around, even though we never saw why. Main transition: From a boring premerge boot to a slightly more interesting jury member.

Keith is a likable person whose dimwittedness may prevent him from doing well at the game. It is a bit of a surprise that he made it so far either time he played. In fact, he’s the first person since Cirie Fields to be voted out in two different finale episodes. Nobody besides those two people can claim that. I’m not sure what, if anything, changed better his two games. Main transition: From a strong player to pretty much the same player.

Kelley Wentworth is a player that I personally have liked both times she played. There are some people who thought that she should have even won the game. Of course, I only found out about that discussion on facebook by getting notifications about a post that I never even commented on. (If anyone knows how to stop that from happening, let me know. It is kind of annoying for them to send me to a place I had no interest in. Do I have to unfollow groups? I only want notifications of things that I’ve commented on in groups.) I forget if she actually has the most improved game out of any of the players. Did she beat Monica Culpepper’s record? Anyways, she clearly did better the second time around, even though it meant that we saw more of her villainess side. Main transition: From an early exit to a power player.

Tasha probably took a bit of a hit this season despite doing better the second time around. Why did nobody vote for her to win? It seems sad in a way. She played a great game, but not good enough for any of the jurors to vote for her. The first time around, she basically made it far despite a bad starting position. She thus became a threat and was voted out. The second time around, she was good at the game, but not good enough to get a single jury vote. I guess that there wasn’t much to it. Main transition: From a strong competitor to one who lets the game pass her by.

Spencer is a great player who just couldn’t get rid of an even greater player from the game and lost the game because of it. (I just lost the game, a different one.) He came off as more and more arrogant, even though cast interviews have showed us that what editors showed us barely scratched the surface. He burned bridges, especially towards the end. I still like him in a way. What’s interesting is that he’s the first contestant voted out in one finale to become a finalist in a future season. If only he had played better. Main transition: From a hero who lost to a villain to a hero who lost to another hero.

Jeremy won this season and he could have won his last season if he weren’t such a power player. For some odd reason, nobody saw him as a threat and he coasted clear to the end. He’s the first winner whose only immunity challenge win was the last one. I do wonder if he played a perfect game, but I don’t think that he did. But I’m not sure what the difference is between his two seasons. I mean, he came off great in both seasons; he just only won this one. So I’ll have to say that he did better this season. Main transition: From a great player who didn’t win to a great player who did win.

I’m going to have a table now where I compare the games of players from this season. I will list their names and then compare their first season to Cambodia. Some did better and some did worse. Obviously, perspectives change.

Contestant’s Name	Original Season	Cambodia
Vytas	Best	Worst
Shirin	Good	Worst
Peih-Gee	Best	Worst
Jeff Varner	Best	Worst
Monica	Better	Not as good
Terry	Strong	Heroic exit
Woo	Loyal	Forgettable
Kass	Memorable	Better edit
Andrew	Better	Worse
Kelly Wiglesworth	Best	Worst
Ciera	Best	Not as good
Stephen	Longer	Better
Joe	Same	Same
Abi-Maria	Bad	Worse
Kimmi	Worst	Best
Keith	Same	Same
Kelley Wentworth	Worst	Best
Tasha	Better	Not as good
Spencer	Good edit	Further, but worse edit
Jeremy	Great	Better

Well, that’s all I can think of for this blog post, except for this paragraph. I’ll probably do this again with other returning player seasons as they happen. If they ever do a second chance theme again, I do hope that all the players fit with it and they aren’t just putting whoever on that season. I mean, around half of the cast (possibly more) doesn’t fit with the second chance theme for this season. But I guess that we’ll find out what happens with it in the future. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.