Winners at War: Knowing the Returning Players

Sorry that there wasn't a post of this blog on Sunday. I haven't been able to watch any new episodes of Survivor: Gabon just yet. I would have liked to and might have been able to on Saturday were it not for different issues and problems getting in the way. I never had the chance before to tell you about some of what I would do during the next hiatus of Survivor specifically relating to what I would do with the blog in terms of when it would be updated if I wasn't able to do all Sunday posts like I was wanting to should the blog not be able to be updated then. If any of this is making sense, know that I will do random posts of this blog like I normally do while on hiatus and you will see that instead of posts about the seventeenth season in the meantime. Watch out for both days of the week as potential times I update this blog. Now, let's get to the post in question.

With a new season of Survivor starting next month, I might as well mention what you might need to know about the returning players from this season. While it is easy to look up information about them yourselves, I figure that I might as well do it since I like to every season I can in advance of returning players coming back into the game again. Well, let’s get started.

Ethan first appeared in the third season, Africa. He was a popular player among fans and others in the game that season as he won with five votes compared to the normal four that often happened in the previous times in the game. He returned for the eighth season, All-Stars. He made it the farthest of the four winners that were on that season, but he was still out before the merge since I guess people had worried that he could win again, even if he found that unlikely.

Sandra first appeared in the eighth season, Pearl Islands. One of the most popular seasons of the show, she ended up being the winner of that season. When she played a second time in Heroes versus Villains, she ended up winning the game again. She returned for the thirty-fourth season, Game Changers. She made it the farthest of the three winners, but was finally voted out this time. In Island of the Idols, she was a mentor to the new players, but not seen as much as the other mentor. She said that she was not wanting to play Survivor again supposedly so maybe she was only picked since no other winners who were female agreed to play again. It could have also been a lie or she changed her mind since them.

Amber first appeared in the second season, Australia. She was on the jury, having gotten voted out of the game after her alliance turned on her. She appeared later in All-Stars where she wound up aligning in more than one way with Rob Mariano. They are now married with four kids. After making it to the end of the game with her showmance, she ended up winning it the second time around.

Danni first appeared in the eleventh season, Guatemala. Finally, after all this time, an original player from that season is playing the game again. That has not yet happened before. A lot of fans like her as she overcame a lot of difficulties with the majority of people against her at one point. I might have some issues with her as winner, even if I fully understood why the person I wanted to win who had sat against her didn’t win the game. Maybe this season will give me better appreciation of her.

Yul first appeared in the thirteenth season, Cook Islands. He got a super powered idol that helped keep him immune for pretty much the rest of the game. He was still able to overcome a lot in the game with his alliance making it all the way to the final four. His win, like a few others, also came against a player that many felt should have won instead. I hope he wasn’t just put on this season to make it more of a diverse one since he is an Asian-American.

Parvati also first appeared in Cook Islands. She made it to the jury, being voted out of the game. She then returned to the sixteenth season, Micronesia, where she formed a great alliance with others and wound up winning the game. She played again in the twentieth season, Heroes versus Villains. She made it to the end again and wound up coming in second place this time around.

Rob first appeared in the fourth season, Marquesas. He made it to the merge, but was voted out before the jury started forming. He appeared again on All-Stars where he came in second place. Some fans felt that he was, well, robbed of the win that time around. He returned for Heroes versus Villains and wound up with his shortest time in the game yet as he was out due to Russell’s ways. He wound up in a rematch against Russell in the twenty-second season, Redemption Island. Russell was quickly voted out by the others while Rob easily skated to the end where he won. He also appeared as a mentor in Island of the Idols and, like Sandra, said the reason why was because he didn’t want to play the game again. Now here he is playing the game again as spoilers said he would.

Sophie first appeared in the twenty-third season, South Pacific. I don’t think that my sister liked her as a player, at least at first. That might have been the reason why I didn’t like her much either. Despite being obnoxious, she wound up somehow winning the game that season which, in my mind, had perhaps the most unlikeable people playing in the finale.

Kim first appeared in the twenty-fourth season, One World. She wound up in a strong alliance and she ended up going far in the game because of it. Quite popular at the end against one of the last bitter juries in Survivor history, her win was almost a given by the time the finale started.

Denise first appeared in the twenty-fifth season, Philippines. On one of the worst tribes ever, she ended up going to every tribal council in the season she appeared in and became the only person besides the host of the show (and any potential crew members) to be present for the elimination of every player in a single season. After winning just one immunity challenge, she wound up turning on her ally when it was clear he had the best chances of winning besides her. And that’s how she won that time.

Tyson first appeared in the eighteenth season, Tocantins. He didn’t seem to make much of a mark on me that time as he wound up on the jury. He played in Heroes versus Villains where he made a famous dumb move that resulted in his own elimination because of voting the wrong way on the split vote. When he returned for the twenty-seventh season, he wound up winning it for the first time.

Tony first appeared in the twenty-eighth season, Cagayan. A huge villain, he would up dominating the game in many ways which got him a well deserved win. He returned for the thirty-fourth season, Game Changers. He was quite terrible this time around as he was voted out second.

Natalie from San Juan del Sur is not the only Natalie to win the game as a Natalie won Samoa. This one might not have seemed to some that she could win as the game wound down, but she did turn out to be the one who came out on top in the end after calculated gambles that paid off.

Michele first played Kaoh Rong. She might have the most to prove among fans as many felt that she did not deserve to win or was a bad winner or something like that. I quite liked her path to the win as we saw her outlast all the other players who had too many flaws in the game.

Jeremy first played the twenty-ninth season, San Juan del Sur. He did well for a while until others turned on him and he became part of the jury. He returned for Cambodia where he played quite a great game and wound up making it to the end where he won.

Adam first played the thirty-third season, Millennials versus Gen X. He played on behalf of his mother who was dying and had since passed. He got ten jury votes against two different players who both got none. Was it a sob story alone? I find that to be unlikely in my mind.

Sarah first appeared in Cagayan. While she made it to the merge, she was almost instantly put on the jury, never making it past many tribal councils. She returned for Game Changers where she developed quite a ruthless game and even conned someone out of their advantage where it went to her. She did manage to pull off a win this time around. She is the most recent woman to have won.

Ben first appeared in the thirty-fifth season, Heroes versus Healers versus Hustlers. He was known for his big and bold moves towards the end of the game, including playing an idol before votes were cast, the first person to do this since Guatemala when the rules were different and idols had to be played then. He was the target to be voted out for quite a while, but kept surviving with idols. He also ended up benefiting from a twist that changed how the final four worked. His win seems tainted to many so he might have more to prove than other winners do.

Wendell first appeared in the thirty-sixth season, Ghost Island. A strong player, it largely came down to him and his main ally that season as to who would win. He also survived the new final four by making fire in the end. When the vote for a winner turned out to be a tie, he ended up winning when Yanni gave him that vote in the end.

Nick first appeared in the thirty-seventh season, David versus Goliath. Placed on the David tribe, he wound up avoiding the first elimination when it was effectively cancelled when other player was pulled from the game instead. While having a bit of a villainous side, he did manage to pull off the win as he was the first person not to win the forced fire making challenge when it was introduced to still win the game as a result.

Well, hopefully that catches you up on what these players were like in previous seasons. I hope that you liked this post. Either random posts of this blog will be on Wednesdays in the future or you will see more posts on Survivor: Gabon on Sundays. I will have to take at least one Sunday during the hiatus off so keep that in mind as future posts are made. I also hope that I can write more posts about this upcoming season of Survivor like this one in the future if I’m not able to do more of Gabon posts. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.