Top Ten One-Time Players that Should Reappear: Part 2- Females

As promised, this is part 2 of my lists of one-time players that should reappear. Everything that I told you about the first list is pretty much true in this list. I’m just doing females now instead of males. You might be wondering why I do males before females in lists of mine like these. Well, as a Christian, I believe that God created men before he created women. There are many different theories as to why this happened. I firmly believe that women were created second because they are the better gender. I mean, if God waited until the sixth day to create humans themselves, then obviously the best things are created towards the very end. Besides, women are the better gender. Anyone who says otherwise is probably sexist. Well, maybe not. But I think that women are the better gender. Anyways, while the rules of the first list are in place in this one, I thought that I would add a quick note that just because a season was mentioned with a man I’d want back doesn’t mean that I can’t mention that same season again for the woman’s list. The rule is in place for this post that once I mention someone from a single season, then I won’t mention anyone else from that season. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t have alternates from the same season.

#10 Christy (Amazon): Remembered as being deaf, Christy was a great player. She played a good game until indecision cost her a shot at making it further. Why hasn’t she played again? It’s a shame that she hasn’t been considered back, in my mind and I feel that she should play the game again.

#9 Kim (One World): This is one of the few winners who could take the honorable players with her to the end and still get the jury votes needed to win. She played a great game and could return to play again. I think that she should and she probably will at some point.

#8 Kelly (Worlds Apart): She took an injury to the head and still kept on fighting. Kelly is an awesome player and could have potentially won were it not for a hidden immunity idol. I liked her a lot and think that she should play again.

#7 Natalie (Micronesia): The highest ranking member of the fans tribe from Micronesia, Natalie is a player that I think should be back again to play. She’s interesting and wonderful. She helped convince Erik to make a dumb move under the guise of redeeming himself. There’s a reason that she outlasted all the other new players that season: she’s a great one herself. Will she be back? I really hope so.

#6 Ashley (Redemption Island): She was a wonderfully great player from her season. The fact that she was such a huge threat to win is what got her voted out last. It’s hard to believe that she was such a good player, but she deserves to come back and hopefully will at some point.

#5 Teresa (Africa): This player is wonderfully awesome. From making Lex go crazy without even trying to, she made the game more interesting when she played. Since she wasn’t chosen to be on Cambodia, I figured mentioning her on this list of mine is a good choice.

#4 Jane (Nicaragua): While being a motherly figure is typically a hindrance to a person’s game in today’s Survivor, Jane would have certainly won if she could have made it to the end. Her biggest rival in the game said he’d probably vote for her to win. She was loved by everyone her season, which is why she was voted out late in the game. She even took measures to ensure that she could survive in the harsh environment that Survivor has. I think that she should return to play again.

#3 Darrah (Pearl Islands): I was a fan of Darrah when she played Pearl Islands. I hated how she was screwed by an immunity twist at the final four. She was a strong competitor when she played and it’s an abomination that she hasn’t been asked back.

#2 Edna (South Pacific): How do I explain how I like Edna without bashing the season she played? Well, I’m not sure that I can. But I can definitely say that she was a bright spot in a pretty terrible season. From her treemail visors to just general likability, she should return to play Survivor at some point especially since her first experience was so negative.

#1 Denise (Philippines): If you are constantly going to tribal council, you wouldn’t think that you’d always survive each and every visit, would you? Well Denise survived every tribal council the season that she was on and got the jury vote needed to win the game. How is that possible? Well, one would have to play a very good game like Denise did. She is a very good winner and she should definitely play again, if only to hopefully know what happens when one doesn’t have to go to tribal council.

Honorable mentions/alternates: Gretchen from Borneo, Kelly from Africa, Gina, Sarah, & Vecepia from Marquesas, Penny, Helen, & Jan from Thailand, Heidi from Amazon, Lillian from Pearl Islands, Leann, Scout, Twila, & Lisa from Vanuatu, Angie, Wanda, & Jolanda from Palau, Cindy from Guatemala, Misty & Sally from Panama, Becky from Cook Islands, Liliana, Stacy, Michelle, & Sylvia from Fiji, Jamie & Sherea from China, Alexis & Natalie from Micronesia, Gillian from Gabon, Sandy & Sierra from Tocantins, Natalie & Kelly from Samoa, Alina & Holly from Nicaragua, Kristina from Redemption Island, Christine, Mikayla, & Elyse from South Pacific, Kourtney, Nina, Sabrina, Christina from One World, Dana, Sarah, Lisa, & RC from Philippines, Marissa, Laura Boneham, & Katie from Blood versus Water, Sarah & Trish from Cagayan, and Nadiya, Natalie, & Baylor from San Juan del Sur.

Well, those are the women that I think should return even though they’ve only played the game once. Even if they aren’t on the list, they are still probably good players. I couldn’t include everyone. But that’s my top ten for women. So, if I combined the list of men and the list of women, you’d have the cast that I’d choose for a Survivor season.

The cast: Teresa (Africa), Christy (Amazon), Burton (Pearl Islands), Darrah (Pearl Islands), Chris (Vanuatu), Coby (Palau), Shane (Panama), Natalie (Micronesia), Matty (Gabon), Brett (Samoa), Fabio (Nicaragua), Jane (Nicaragua), Ashley (Redemption Island), Edna (South Pacific), Kim (One World), Denise (Philippines), John (Blood versus Water), Tony (Cagayan), Mike (Worlds Apart), Kelly (Worlds Apart).

I hope that you liked this blog post of mine. Now I had a bunch of posts written before the second chance season (Cambodia) was announced. Hopefully, the rest of the posts this summer can be about the upcoming season before it airs. Well, not the rest of the posts, but it will be just those posts until I’m done with them, hopefully at least. I could easily insert one or more blog posts about other stuff, but I need to finish writing about that season before it airs. Hopefully, I don’t run out of time, but I don’t think that I will. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Top Ten One-Time Players that Should Reappear: Part 1- Males

Okay, before I get to the actual blog post that starts in the next paragraph, I thought that I would update you on Survivor news. Today is day 39 in Survivor: Cambodia. I would like to congratulate whoever won. I'm not done posting about that season before it airs. I still don't know if I'll do a cast assessment or not, but I will have something close to it in the near future. I just hope that I have enough of these posts to write before the next season starts.

The title of this blog post should be self-explanatory. But, in the event that it is not, I’ll be sure to explain as the post continues. I was thinking to myself, “I should do a top ten of players that only played once and should return to play the game again.” But then I thought that it might be better to create a cast for a potential season like that. In the end, I decided to do both. Men will have one list of ten contestants and women will have a second list later. Now there are some things that I would like to note about the list going into it.

1- If a great contestant is believed to never return to the game again, such a Greg Buis, then they won’t be considered for this list. I should have more than enough people by just considering those who would actually play again and ignoring anybody who probably won’t return to the game. 2- Obviously, if someone has played more than once, they won’t be on the list. 3- I will consider people for this list regardless of if they’ve ever been considered to be a returning player. That’s because, it’s unknown if we have records of everyone that has been asked back. 4- This wasn’t originally going to be a rule, but I decided that any one season can only be represented once. So if there are a bunch of great contestants from a single season, I went with who I thought was the best among them. I will probably mention alternates at the end of this post. 5- Women will get their own list later. I promise to get to them, hopefully next week. 6- This list may have been different before the announcement of the players on Survivor: Cambodia. I am excluding everyone from that cast so that’s why you might not see a great player from it on this list.

I have considered a bunch of great men throughout the history of Survivor and have come up with my list of ten men that have only played the game once that I feel should return to play Survivor again. I’ll talk about them and explain my choices. Without further ado, here’s the list:

#10 Shane (Panama): While some may find him annoying and arrogant, he’s a likable player by many people and has already been snubbed from returning before. He’s entertaining and likable to the point that many people have wanted him to play that game again. Why hasn’t he? Well, the reasons vary, but it’s terrible that we have yet to see him again.

#9 Burton (Pearl Islands): This person was very strong until his foolishness made his the first person voted out of his tribe. But a highly underrated twist brought him back into the game. He then went on an immunity streak and even lasted for a while without immunity. His foolishness, however, got him voted out of the game again. But I still like him as a player and think that he would make a great returnee. Why hasn’t he come back?

#8 Fabio (Nicaragua): I really like this winner. He had a pretty good game, even if he was a bit dimwitted. He would probably make a great player if he came back. I think that he is one of many winners that I’d want to see in the game again. While I like a lot of the winners, he was one of my favorites in quite a long time which is why I’m glad he did win. A lot of people like him and I think that he would do well a second time playing the game.

#7 Matty (Gabon): This player was pretty good at the game. He could have even won, if only he could have made fire. He was a pretty strong player and I’m not going to take away from the game of the person who did win. But Matty was a wonderful player and he’d make a great returnee.

#6 John (Blood versus Water): A Redemption Island king, John was a tough opponent in the game. Even though he fell short of reentry into the game, he was definitely a force to be reckoned with. He was even forced to beat his wife in a duel at one point and people can’t do that easily. Or, you’d think that such a thing wouldn’t easily be done. But he’s a strong player and that’s why he should reappear.

#5 Coby (Palau): Who doesn’t love Coby? He’s one of the most likable players that I can remember. He’s been considered to return to play the game again, but has yet to return a second time. He was entertaining and wonderful to watch when he played in Palau. The fact that he hasn’t already returned is a disgrace.

#4 Mike (Worlds Apart): This player would have been in a second season had he not won his first season. He’s actually a good player and possibly underrated winner. He may have made dumb choices every so often, but that didn’t prevent him from actually winning the game. He’s a great player and would make a great returnee when the time comes.

#3 Chris (Vanuatu): After outlasting the women on his tribe, Chris ended up winning the game itself. That was a very cool event to witness and one of the times when a person you didn’t expect to win actually pulled it off. He’s a great player getting the women to turn on each other and it’s very odd that he’s never been asked back to play the game again. But I’m sure that he would be a wonderful person to play the game again, so I put him on this list.

#2 Brett (Samoa): This man is a notable returning player snub. Has he seriously never been considered to play the game again? Regardless, his winning streak in Samoa had him fall short of the finals once he failed to win the final immunity challenge. He could have easily won the game too. Him as a winner would have been very satisfying. But, they can always bring him back and hopefully, he would play another great game.

#1 Tony (Cagayan): Why do I have this person as number one? Well, some people would say that if Richard Hatch had never played again, then that would have been a travesty. Well, only one other player besides Richard turned general cockiness and extreme game play into a win and that was Tony. Tony is a great winner and one of the most awesome players in the history of Survivor. He’s wonderful and interesting and if doesn’t return, then that would be a travesty.

Honorable mentions/alternates: Dirk & Sean from Borneo, Rodger from Australia, Silas from Africa, Gabriel, John, & Paschal from Marquesas, Jake from Thailand, Shawn from Pearl Islands, Rory & Travis from Vanuatu, Gregg, Ian, & James from Palau, Gary & Rafe from Guatemala, Bruce from Panama, Nate, Billy, & Adam from Cook Islands, Gary, Earl, Mookie, & Anthony from Fiji, Aaron from China, Jason from Micronesia, Ken & Bob from Gabon, Joe & Brendan from Tocantins, Mike from Samoa, Marty & Chase from Nicaragua, Grant & Mike from Redemption Island, Tarzan, Jonas, Leif, & Troyzan from One World, Eddie & Reynold from Caramoan, Hayden from Blood versus Water, Jeremy & Garrett from Cagayan, Wes, Dale, Josh, Reed, & Jon Misch from San Juan del Sur, and Tyler from Worlds Apart

Those are my thoughts on the one-time male players that I think should reappear. Stay tuned to this blog and you should soon see the list of females from previous seasons that I think should play a second time again. I thought that I’d do the males first and then the females second. I hope that you don’t mind that order. Anyways, I hope that you liked my thoughts on which one-time players should return to play the game again. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Survivor Second Chance: Notable Snubs not Eligible for Voting

Okay, I should probably get straight to the point: Survivor was wrong to exclude a lot of people from voting in the second chance poll. So I will mention various different players that I think should have been considered. Before I do that, I’ll get to people that were known to decline an offer for next season based on information that I had as of the posting of this blog post. Information about the alternates comes from Wikipedia and http://insidesurvivor.com/2015/06/survivor-second-chance-missed-opportunities/ a hopefully accurate site.

Greg from Borneo didn’t want to do this season. RC from Philippines also declined this season. Jon Misch from San Juan del Sur didn’t reply to producers on time to be considered. Josh from San Juan del Sur declined to do some sort of stage production. Shambo from Samoa wasn’t interested and neither was Ian from Palau. Natalie from Micronesia turned down the offer as well. Chelsea from One World was considered in the early stages, but wasn’t considered when time for the vote. Angie from Philippines was also considered and she was eliminated into the early process. John and Hayden from Blood versus Water were first considered and then cut for reasons unknown. Cliff and J’Tia from Cagayan wasn’t chosen, possibly due to too many Cagayan players in the mix. Those are the only people who were considered that weren’t an option that we know of. There may have been more.

Now that I’ve mentioned them, I might as well mention who I think should have been choices from various seasons and why I think that they could have been mentioned. I will stick to those who I feel should be on a specific second chance season and avoid others that I either think could be good returning players or those that I’m not sure I’d want to return anyways. All-star contestants would be avoided in my mind and I’ll only stick with those who I think would actually fit on a second chance season. Hopefully, it doesn’t sound too judgmental in any way.

We start with players from Borneo. People who would fit in a second chance season are Sean, Colleen, Gretchen, Sonja, Dirk, and Ramona. Then in Australia, a player that would fit a second chance season is Mitchell. From Africa, players that would work are Silas, Kelly, Carl, and Lindsey. From Marquesas, players that would work are Sarah, Paschal, John, and Gabriel. Nobody from Marquesas, Thailand, or Amazon could be voted for. To be fair, though, I can’t think of anyone from Thailand that would work. From Amazon, I can think of Christy, Joanna, Roger, and Ryan all working. From Pearl Islands, players that would work are Lillian, Burton, Shawn, Ryan Opray, and Darrah.

Vanuatu, Palau, and Guatemala had no players that we could vote for. You’d think that Travis, Rory, and Leann from Vanuatu would work on a second chance season. From Palau, players that would work are Gregg, Coby, Caryn, Jonathan, Wanda, Jolanda, Angie, and James. From Guatemala, players that would work are Cindy and Rafe. From Panama, players that would work are Misty, Shane, Dan, and Bruce. Cook Islands and Fiji had nobody we could vote for. Billy, Sundra, Sekou, Anh-Tuan, and Jenny are all players from Cook Islands that would all work on a second chance season. From Fiji, players that would work are Stacy, Michelle, Gary, Liliana, and Sylvia. From China, players that would work are Aaron and Sherea. Micronesia and Gabon had no players that we could vote for.

From Micronesia, Alexis, Jason, Tracy, and Mary are all players that would work on a second chance season. From Gabon, players that would work are Matty and Marcus. From Tocantins, players that would work are Joe, Taj, Sandy, Sierra, Jerry, and Brendan. From Samoa, players that would work are Mike, Betsy, John, Erik, Elizabeth, and Kelly.

Nicaragua didn’t have anyone that we could vote for. Kelly Bruno, Chase, Holly, and Shannon are all players from that season that would work on a second chance season. From Redemption Island, players that would work are Matt, Mike, Kristina, and Grant. From South Pacific, players that would work are Christine, Elyse, and Keith. From One World, players that would work are Tarzan, Jonas, and Kourtney. From Philippines, players that would work are Pete, Dana, Jeff, and Sarah. Caramoan didn’t have anyone eligible for voting. Players from that season that would work in a second chance season are Allie, Shamar, Laura, Matt, and Hope.

From Blood versus Water, players that would work are Katie, Laura Boneham, and Marissa. From Cagayan, players that would work are Brice, Garrett, and Sarah. From San Juan del Sur, players that would work are Nadiya, John Rocker, Drew, Baylor, Wes, and maybe others that I can’t think of at the moment. From Worlds Apart, players that would work are Kelly, Dan, So, Tyler, and maybe more that I can’t think of.

I’m sure that there are some players that I forgot to mention. Maybe I just didn’t remember enough about certain players to include them on this list. I may have intentionally not mentioned someone in the event that I figured that they wouldn’t be allowed to play again. I also tried to stick with only second chance players instead of just anyone. Anyways, that’s all that I’m mentioning in this blog post. I may have to create my own list of second chance players again. We’ll see. For now, this is Adam Decker signing off.

Interesting Potential Survivor Events that Haven’t Happened Yet

A lot of people think about Survivor and wonder if it would be interesting if different events happened. But there are plenty of great Survivor events that haven’t happened but could. I think that it would be interesting for me to go through a whole list of them. These will of course only mention ones that I can think of, although I’m sure that there are other great ones that I can’t think of. Some of these may just be personal things that I think of that actually don’t matter that much to anyone else. And some of these, I don’t want to see happen. I decided to number this page, so I hope that the copy and paste turns out well when I move this from my Word document to my blog. Without further ado, besides this sentence, let me get to this list.

1.     Two people flipping at once. While there have always been flippers in Survivor, one would wonder how funny it would be to see something like this. Imagine two alliances trying to control the game and they have fairly even number. Both sides have worked a member of the other to potentially flip. The first tribal council vote is a tie. Then, you have two people flipping on the alliances and you are suddenly left with another tie and no idea to most people that flipping had even happened in the first place.

2.     Null vote. Let’s say that people get votes against them at tribal council but everyone who had a vote against them played a hidden immunity idol. You are suddenly left with none of the votes cast counting against anyone at the tribal council in question. While it is believed to be known what will happen in terms of voting, we have yet to see this actually happen.

3.      Hung jury. That’s my best way of describing a tie for the win. What would happen next? How would the tie be resolved? There are many different theories and we may never know what happens regarding this because there may never be a tie. We just know that there has to be some sort of tie-breaker in place.

4.     Unanimous vote prevented and caused. Okay, a lot of these things in this list will relate to questions regarding hidden immunity idols. This is another one of them. Typically, when a hidden immunity idol is played and prevented someone from being eliminated, somebody voted with the person who played the idol. Now imagine this time, the vote against the person who played the idol would have been unanimous, thus making the person who played the idol cast the only vote that still counted. Wouldn’t that be interesting?

5.    Expulsion. This is one that I’m hoping never happens. But a contestant could break rules or get violent enough that he or she is expelled from the game. In foreign Survivor seasons when this has happened, it has also been known as ejected from game or even disqualified from the game. What could be serious enough for someone to leave this way? Would this type of thing ever happen? I really hope that it doesn’t.

6.   Idol wasted and idol holder voted out. This would be a cruel and ironic moment should it ever happen. Let’s say that people convince someone with a hidden immunity idol that an alliance member of theirs is in danger of getting voted out. So at tribal council, this player gives his idol to his ally to play. Only the ally isn’t the one who gets votes. The person who first had the idol and then proceeded to waste it on another player gets voted out instead. Wouldn’t that be interesting? It would go down as a huge dumb moment. That poor person would probably never live it down. But I’d love to see a blindside like that.

7.    Idol given at auction. Remember Survivor auctions? They seem like a fun event in Survivor. And in recent seasons, they tend to give clues to hidden immunity idols at them. Now think if they did something even more dramatic: giving away an idol itself. They could do this openly, in front of the other contestants so they’d all know who just bought and now has the idol. I don’t think that they’d ever do this, but it would be cool if they did.

8.   Double tribal council in three tribe season. For some odd reason, the great twist of double tribal councils hasn’t been used in a long time. An interesting way that they could do it that they haven’t yet is in a three tribe season. Think about it. One of the three tribes would be immune as usual. The other two tribes would then have to go to tribal council and vote somebody out. For the first time in a three tribe portion of the game, second place would get you nothing in an immunity challenge. It would keep people on their toes to suddenly throw this into the game at some random point, while there are still three tribes, at least.

9.   Medical evacuation in a Redemption Island season. Redemption Island is something that I have always liked in the game. Also, I’ve always found medical evacuations to be interesting even though they are unfortunate things to happen. But one would also have to wonder how medical evacuations would affect a Redemption Island season. Imagine that in a season where you would normally get a second chance if you are voted out of the game and you wouldn’t even get that since you would be pulled from the game before you were even sent there. But that might not be as bad as what else could happen. Let’s say that you are rejected by your tribe in the form of getting voted out of the game. Then you are on Redemption Island and fighting for your life in the game. After that, a Russell Swan like event happens to you, pulling you from the game. The other contestants or contestant on Redemption Island would probably like it in a way that without having to finish the challenge, they would still stay in the game and someone would be eliminated.  But that poor person wouldn’t know if they could have stayed in the game or not since a medical situation would have changed it all.

There might be other things in Survivor, cool or otherwise, that I can’t think of that hasn’t happened yet, but would be interesting if it did. I could mention stuff regarding foreign twists that could appear in the American version of Survivor, but that might be a different blog post. There’s at least one other thing that I would mention, but I’d like to keep it secret for now. I know that a lot of cool things could happen that I haven’t mentioned yet. Maybe I’m keeping it a secret or maybe I just didn’t know of it until it happened. We’ll see what they are as time goes by. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Survivor Second Chance Contestants: Is a Second Chance Justified?

Now when the upcoming Survivor season was announced, I did have to wonder why certain players were chosen over others for the voting that us fans could do. I mean, think about it: for a season called second chance, there’s a lot of potential players missing. No players that we could vote on were medically evacuated. None of them were idoled out. None of them were first boots. None of them were voted out while in possession of an idol. A lot of seasons had no eligible contestants for voting. I think that second chance might have been the wrong name. But some of the rumored contestants could work in a second chance season. This list will include my thoughts on all the contestants that we could vote for and not just the ones that made the cast. And in case I don’t mention it enough throughout the rest of this article, I’m not saying that none of these people who don’t belong on a second chance season shouldn’t be returning players at all. I’m just saying that a second chance season is the wrong fit for them. That’s why I think that Second Chance is the wrong name for Cambodia, but that’s just my thoughts on the matter.

Joe from Worlds Apart was one of many great contestants who never had a chance at making it to the end without always having to win immunity. But how does that deserve a second chance? That doesn’t make much sense to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that he’s on the next season. Keep that in mind as you read the rest of this blog post. But he seems like he isn’t fit for a second chances season. Then we have Vytas. A lot of people think that since he played a Redemption Island season, then that means that he already had a second chance. I disagree since he only played the game once at the time. He also lost a duel, and thus the game, by a single second, thus making me think that he does deserve a second chance.

Spencer is one of many players who was a distraction from the real winner. Spencer could have easily won, but he wasn’t able to prevent himself getting voted out. To me, second chance doesn’t seem right for him as there weren’t really any moments that caused him to lose. Some may argue the idol clue that he left out that was stolen from him might count, and maybe it should. Jeremy seems like a better fit on a jury threats season than a second chance season. What happened to him that would make a second chance for him justified? Nothing, in my mind, qualifies him for that although him being a returning player is still a good idea.

Next we get to Teresa. She is remembered for casting an extra vote against Lex and making him go crazy. She became the highest ranking member of the original Samburu tribe. Is that what qualifies her for a second chance season? I’m not sure if she belongs in a true second chance season. Brad probably would work for a second chance season. Why do I think that? Well, his all men’s alliance turned on him due to mistakes that he made. So it seems like he was worthy of a second chance to me.

When you are a student of the game, like Max, telling everyone about what all you know isn’t exactly the best idea. So him being in a second chance season actually makes sense to me. Terry is the Survivor contestant that I have the most mixed feelings towards. He could have done so much more with his ultra powerful idol than he did. But he’s such a strong player and the fact that he didn’t win his season is an overall disappointment. A second chance for him could possibly fit.

Ciera is an interesting villain who outranked all the other new players in her season. She was criticized by many for switching sides too early. That ultimately ruined the game for the new players. I can see a second chance for her being justified. Stephen is a player that many people list on a second chance season. Why they include him there completely baffles me. In my mind, he stuck with his ally to the very end and lost fair and square. He did nothing and nothing happened to him that would justify him for a second chance.

Tasha was a part of the brains tribe in her season starting out. While that tribe was dumb at the beginning, she was one of the smarter people on it. After becoming a challenge threat, like many people, she was voted out the first time she wasn’t immune anymore. To me, she didn’t do much that would qualify her for a second chance season, although she’s a great player and I’m glad that she’s playing again. Abi-Maria was annoying to many people on her tribe. Other players in the game ignored the fact that she was a perfect goat towards the end and voted her out anyways. What qualifies her for a second chance season? Nothing, in my mind does that.

In the most recent season, Mike made enough questionable moves that he would have fit perfectly on a second chance season had he not still won the season that he played. You do have to wonder if a person who won Survivor has made as many dumb moves as Mike has. But, of course, a winner shouldn’t be part of a true second chance season. That’s why the votes for him didn’t count. But, it does make you wonder why he was a choice for the season in the first place. Woo did make a really dumb mistake by taking his ally Tony to the end who he promptly lost to. It makes sense that he would get a second chance.

Kimmi seems like a random person to be included in the choices. While I do remember her, saying that she should be in a second chance season seems pretty strange. Maybe it would work since she had trouble adapting to the game and got voted out because of it. You don’t see that as much anymore. I wonder why that is. Peih-Gee is a contestant that I liked. She was poorly treated by Denise in the season she was in. I don’t know why second chance would fit with her, but I am glad that she’s returning to play the game again.

Kass is remembered mostly for flipping. Unlikely a lot of other flippers, she actually made it very far even though she flipped. What I find most memorable is that she lost the final immunity challenge by an even closer margin than Vytas lost Redemption Island. Vytas lost by a second and Kass somehow lost by less than that. In my mind, she would make a good person for a second chance season. Keith could have probably won the game if things had gone differently at the final immunity challenge. That failure to avoid becoming the last person voted out seems to happen every season. Keith may be a player that I like, but I don’t see justification in a second chance season.

Shirin, like many players, wasn’t liked by the people she was playing the game with and ultimately got voted out because of it. I’m not sure how that justifies a second chance, but it’s good that she will play again. Monica was part of the Galu tribe and she made the merge. When the Foa Foa four was able to take control of the game, she outlasted other people before getting voted out herself. To me, she doesn’t seem that different from others that season so I may see a justification for a second chance, but I do not see why she was chosen to compete. But, Laura Morett was a questionable returning player choice and she proved many of us wrong. So maybe Monica will be like that.

While some people don’t like him, Shane is a pretty interesting player and certainly is entertaining. At one point in the season he was on, he was a swing vote. Now being a swing vote can be dangerous thing. Voting against them doesn’t always work, but Shane threw away his chance at being saved and was voted out as a result. I can see a second chance applying to him. Jim was an ally of Ozzy in South Pacific and even considered giving up his immunity necklace to save him in an example of an interesting event that went unaired. He was quickly disposed of shortly after the merge. I’m not sure what makes him a standout player, but I know that he does not belong on a second chance season.

Carolyn is a very good and interesting player. I’m not sure if she made any notable mistakes or not. I don’t know what happened to her that would justify a second chance. I would like to see her play again, but a second chance season doesn’t seem like the right fit. Troyzan was an entertaining player who was on the bottom after the merge. A second chance season would sort of fit and work, but I don’t think that it’s exactly the right fit.

Andrew was thought by many to have been ruined by the outcasts twist in Pearl Islands. I liked the outcasts twist, but I totally see a second chance being justified for him. Natalie from Redemption Island wasn’t that much of a stand-out player in my mind. Her blind loyalty to Boston Rob earned her zero jury votes. She was a young player, which is notable. But a second chance season doesn’t seem to be the right fit for her.

Sabrina may not have stood out that much over other players in her season. I’m not sure why a second chance season would fit her. Stephanie was the highest ranking player of Russell’s Zaptera alliance. Joining a well known villain is a good reason in my mind to get her a second chance.

Jeff Varner is a well known player who only lost because of previous votes against him. That’s how ties were resolved at the time at his tribe knew nothing of the rules before he was eliminated. His tribe might have even entered the merge with higher numbers were it not for an unfortunate event that pulled a player from the game. A second chance totally qualifies for him. Kelley Wentworth is another random choice for the list, in my mind. I’m not sure what, if anything, qualifies her for a second chance season, although seeing her return isn’t a bad thing.

Kelly Wiglesworth made a bad choice by leaving the Tagi alliance. One can sort of see her reasoning behind it. If she could get all the Pagong members to vote for her to win, then she’ll have the number of votes that she needed. However, she didn’t end up getting them. I can see a second chance applying to her. Mikayla is the only other person to mention. Brandon Hantz ruined the game for her by getting her voted out. It’s always sad when he gets his way. So a second chance would fit her.

Well, I hope this blog post didn’t offend anyone. As I’ve stated many times in this post: they can all become returning players, but a second chance season may not be the right fit for them. That’s my thoughts on the matter at least. I do hope that some, if not all, of them that weren’t chosen become returning players at some point. I just hope that they are given correct labels for the season that they wind up on. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Team from Blood versus Water

I need a better title for this blog post, but I can’t think of one. I’ll just stick with the one you see. You’ve probably seen this before in my blog. I come up with a list of players from a season for a strange twist. You’d see: there’d be three tribes on a potential season like this. Two would be randomly comprised of new players and one would have all returning players from the same season. You have to wonder if that would put that tribe ahead of the other tribes, since they all played the same season originally. Then, you have to wonder if we are just supposed to do two random tribes of new people. They could do a twist, in the vein of blood versus water, where a blood relative is on one tribe, a water relative is on the other tribe, and you have a tribe of returning players. But I don’t think that it will. Since this is just a hypothetical blog post anyways, then I won’t have to worry about any damage being done by creating this post since it might not be done anyways. So I’m thinking of players from the twenty-seventh season that should return to play this game again in a twist like this. I’ll get to more details later. Also, you may wonder what location this hypothetical season would be filmed at. While they could return to the Philippines, since it has been used too much, I would go to a new location. Which location? Papua New Guinea would be the location that I choose.

I originally had a different plan for this post, but then the cast of Survivor 31 was announced. So I decided to change who would be on the team. I once considered putting Vytas and Ciera on the team for this twist in question. Since they are both now returning players, their places will be replaced by other people in question. I changed some things, but most of this post will be the same as it was, such as the first paragraph.

First off, this is the first time I have to worry about how returning players will affect casting a season like this. Would I want to include anyone who was a returning player from Blood versus Water? I could, but I won’t. And here’s why: While anyone from this season would be someone I want to return (although Caleb obviously can’t and they won’t bring back quitter Colton), I feel that only new players would make sense as returning to this game. They are already going to be returning players and them just playing the second time would be enough of an advantage. While I could include the Galang tribe members in their own twist, it also wouldn’t work. You have a four time player (Rupert) with nobody to pair him with. Then you have the three players that all played for the third time (Candice, Tyson, and Tina) that could only make half of a tribe and not a whole one. And while six two-timers are left, one of them quit (Colton), ruining the twist for the other five left (Laura Morett, Gervase, Kat, Monica, and Aras). While I could mix and match them, I won’t. If I wanted a team y, they would be the five two-timers who didn’t quit and Tyson, discrediting those who have played the most. But is that fair? I don’t think so.

Now we are left with the new players from Blood versus Water. There were ten of them. Obviously, Caleb can’t play again since he’s dead. So we are then left with nine choices and I have to get rid of three of them to leave myself with the six that I need. Normally, when I do this twist, I’d want to get every tribe represented. Until a switch happened, that wouldn’t have been possible, but it kind of is. Now that the cast for season 31 is announced, I’m not choosing Ciera or Vytas since they have played the game again already. I would want players from this season who have not yet returned. So that automatically leaves me with the three men that I have to choose. Then there are four women for me to choose from. I decided that the player that I’d leave out is Rachel. Rachel didn’t seem to add much to the season and she’s the only contestant from this season to have never won a challenge. I would want her to return, just not on this season I’m planning. So I now have the players that I want for team x on this season. I’ll get to why in just a moment. The team: Laura Boneham, Marissa, Katie, John, Hayden, and Brad. Why them? Well, I’ll explain.

You see, Laura Boneham is on the team because she wasn’t really on Tadhana that much. Her being on a different tribe throughout most of the season would make her a more valuable choice. Plus, she could use a second chance at the game after what had happened that got her voted out. Marissa was chosen because she was pretty well on Redemption Island, even though she wasn’t there that long. Plus, with the way she was voted out, she probably should return to the game again. Then we have Katie. She switched to Galang at the tribe swap and played with her mother, the first contestant to play with her loved one. Never getting more than a single vote at tribal council, when her alliance foolishly drew for rocks (foolish, due to the odds against them), she was the one eliminated. She was a pretty good player, even if she got a lopsided edit.

Then we get to the men that I’ve chosen. Please note that the men are an automatic list as the rules I created don’t have any alternates to these three men. I’ve chosen John because he was pretty good at the game. He got blindsided by his alliance, but was able to prove himself at Redemption Island only to fall short when he would have gotten back in the game. Hayden was a pretty good player, despite not doing as well with Survivor challenges as he did with Big Brother challenges. I think that he’s a better choice than Brad, for reasons stated above. Even if he has played more than one reality show, he would still probably be a good returning player in a season like this. Last, we have Brad. He created the men’s alliance his season. It didn’t work all that well and he ultimately got turned on by his old allies. So that could be a good enough reason to bring him back.

Now that I’ve mentioned the team, I will get to why everyone from this season should return to play the game again. Well, Caleb cannot play again and they probably won’t want Colton back. But I will make my case for all the other players from this season. Rupert is a great player who gets unnecessary hatred for no good reason. He is a staple of Survivor and deserves to keep coming back. Rachel deserves to come back since she was only voted out to try to get her boyfriend out of the game. Marissa deserves to come back since she was unfairly voted out first and a better player than some people realize. Candice deserves to come back since she was mostly screwed in the first impression twist and proved herself a good player on Redemption Island. Plus, math dictates that she will be back for the 34^th season of Survivor (since she has done the 13^th, 20^th, and 27^th seasons). Brad deserves to come back since he was in control of his tribe until the tables turned on him. Kat deserves to come back since she’s better than some people realize and always seems to be booted over the last man on her tribe. John deserves to come back due to his skill in challenges and overall likability. Laura Boneham deserves to come back since she made bad choices and could thus get redemption by playing again.

Aras deserves to come back since he was in control of the game and lost his place when other people knew it. Vytas deserves to come back due to the way he was screwed in Redemption Island by a single second. Katie deserves to come back since she was very likable and only eliminated due to a rock. Hayden deserves to come back since he was a great social player and could use another chance to prove himself at this game. Laura Morett deserves to come back due to how great she was at Redemption Island, how she avoided returning there immediately without immunity, and how she played the rest of the game so well. Ciera deserves to come back since she lasted the longest out of the new players this season and played a very good game, even at the cost of all her allies. Tina deserves to come back since she proved that she was still a huge threat, even after her pitiful finish in All-Stars. Gervase deserves to come back since he proved that even after a long time playing the game, he could still do quite well at it. Monica deserves to come back since she has proven that she can reserve her previous bad game into the most improved finished that a returning player has had so far. Tyson deserves to come back since he is a funny person who is very good at the game, even if he’s messed up in the past.

We then get to the list of how I see these contestants returning for the future. Well, before I get to that, I’ll explain some stuff about it. I will only include new players from in the second chances season. Others could qualify for that, but I don’t think that will happen. I am skipping a blood versus water section, although any of them could return again that way, with a different partner of course. They probably wouldn’t have players that were partners each return in a new blood versus water season, but they could have one of the two return. Despite the fact that half of this season was returning players, I will still mention some of them in returning player ways. But I will not include any repeats based on things that have already happened. For example, you won’t see Tyson mentioned as a villain as he has already done that. Also, I should note that the addicted to Survivor group on facebook is where I got the ideas for who would be on what collar tribe. Now, on to the list.

Heroes: Laura Morett, Tina, Hayden, John, Katie, Marissa. Villains: Aras, Monica, Brad, Ciera, Vytas. Second Chances: Brad, John, Katie, Laura Boneham, Marissa, Rachel, Vytas. All-Stars: Gervase, Aras, Candice, Laura Morett, Monica, Tyson, Brad, Ciera, Hayden, John, Katie, Vytas. Favorites: Aras, Candice, Kat, Laura Morett, Monica, Rupert, Tina, Tyson, Brad, Ciera, Hayden, John, Katie, Marissa, Vytas. Brains: Gervase, Aras, Tina, Hayden, Vytas. Brawn: Candice, Laura Morett, Monica, Rupert, Tyson, John. Beauty: Kat, Brad, Ciera, Katie, Marissa. White collar: John, Candice, Monica, Brad, Katie. Blue collar: Ciera, Laura Morett, Tina. No collar: Aras, Vytas, Tyson, Gervase, Hayden, Kat, Rupert, Laura Boneham. One returnee per tribe seasons: Tyson and Aras (due to their rivalry), Marissa, Candice, and Rachel (due to all being on Redemption Island when Colton quit and not getting anything good out of it), Kat and Laura Boneham (for both being voted out of their mostly women tribe), Hayden and Laura Morett (since they faced the worst challenge and lost the game because of it), Katie and Vytas (since they were both eliminated from the game over dumb situations). I would add John to the list, if he can be paired with Christine from South Pacific. Those are different seasons, but I think it would work. Or, we could pair him with his rival Brad. Brad might actually work better…

Well, I’m not sure what else there is to say regarding all that. I’ve probably rambled on far too much about a twist that will more than likely never happen. It could, but probably won’t. The point of this blog post was mostly about why the players from Blood versus Water should return, instead of how this twist could work. But we’ll see what happens. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Survivor Second Chance Vote: Who I Would Choose

When they announced the idea for Survivor Second Chance, there was probably a bunch of people who wanted a particular cast from the people mentioned. Why they wanted it instead of any others is probably just a matter of personal choice and opinion. I know that there were some people that I would have enjoyed seeing back, even if a second chance season may not be the best fit for them. Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t name the season something else, but that’s probably a different post as there are a lot of posts that I’d want to do about the upcoming season before it airs. The point is, from all the candidates to choose from, you might be wondering what ten men and what ten women I would have chosen if the power of picking them was all in my hands. I’ll explain that, as well as why I wouldn’t have chosen other players. There are some cases where I really wish that I had an extra vote for each gender. But when the choices are tough, I still think that I’d go with these people.

The men that I would have chosen are Joe, Vytas, Spencer, Jeremy, Max, Terry, Keith, Troyzan, Andrew, and Jeff Varner. Joe was a pretty cool player who was a serious contender in the game. Vytas may have gotten a second chance already due to Redemption Island, but it’s hard to count that when he loses a duel by one second. That sounds like he needs a second chance to me. In fact, one can wonder if Redemption Island would belong in a second chance season or not. I would actually like it there, but I’d be okay without it. Anyways, I liked Spencer a lot as a player since he could have won it and he was pretty good at playing the game. Jeremy was a likable player and ruled the game until the smart players in the game got rid of him. Max was a student of the game whose knowledge of it ultimately got him voted out of it.

Continuing the men, Terry is a wonderful player and person. I am not going to complain that it took him this long to return, I’m just glad that he’s finally back. Some people think that he’s the reason they got rid of final twos. Keith may have been a bit on the dumber sides of things, but I liked him as a player and I thought that he would have possibly win the game at one point. Troyzan was an entertaining player and seems like he would be good at the game a second time. Andrew was voted out right after the outcasts twist and even though I liked the outcasts twist, I thought that he needed a second chance after it. And Jeff Varner, who had previous votes against him and thus lost a tie vote in a strategic move, is probably one of the most sought after second chance contestants. I’m glad that he’s returning.

You might wonder: why wouldn’t I have chosen Mike, Woo, Shane, Jim, Stephen, or Brad? Well Mike I was sure was going to win and voting for him would be a waste. It turns out that I was right about that. Woo wasn’t on my list because I liked Tony in Cagayan better, but that’s just my taste. Shane probably would have been a vote of mine if I could vote for another person, but I ultimately decided that I didn’t want him on the season that much. Jim seems like a completely random person. Who is he? If I don’t know who you are, then I’m not going to vote for you to return. To this day, I still feel to see why Stephen would need a second chance at the game. He had a strong alliance that took him to the end only his ally got all the votes and he didn’t. While I don’t hate him, I fail to see why he gets the love that he does. Brad seems like mostly a random choice and I didn’t really like him that much so I didn’t vote for him. Interestingly, he was the lowest ranking player of all the choices.

The women that I would have chosen are Teresa, Ciera, Tasha, Peih-Gee, Kass, Shirin, Sabrina, Kelley Wentworth, Mikayla, and Kelly Wiglesworth. I thought that Teresa was a wonderful player when she was on the show. Ciera, I like a lot as a villain. Now there are some people who think that she’s a hero. How can she possibly be a hero? She flipped on the only two alliances in the game and helped vote out her own mother. That’s a villain in my mind. Tasha was an interesting player when she first played. I even had a dream where I asked her on a date. It was a strange dream, but I still like her. I wouldn’t date her, but that’s mostly due to age difference. Peih-Gee is a wonderful person and I hated how Denise treated her on China. Likewise, all her online campaigning probably helped support her chances. She is very likable. Kass lost the final immunity challenge by a incredibly close margin and seems like she would be best for a second chance season like this one. Plus, I do like her as a player in the way. Shirin I felt was one of the many players who was screwed by contestants that didn’t like her. That’s always worth another chance to me.

Sabrina is a random choice and maybe I shouldn’t have voted for her (sorry, Sabrina). But she’s an interesting player and great finalist. Kelley Wentworth was a wonderful player and I would vote for any player that I like. Mikayla I voted for because I hated what happened to her in South Pacific because Brandon Hantz screwed her over. It’s always sad when Brandon Hantz gets his way. My last vote was for Kelly Wiglesworth who I feel is a Survivor great who would finally get a chance to play again. While I am glad that Richard won the first season, I do like Kelly as a player and I think that she should return to the game again.

You might wonder: why wouldn’t I have chosen Carolyn, Kimmi, Stephanie, Natalie, Abi-Maria, or Monica? Carolyn, I probably should have chosen. I regret not choosing her when I picked for people. But I thought that she could wind up winning or that other people would vote for her. Hopefully she’ll be back in some other season in the future. Here’s hoping! Kimmi, I thought was a random player and we could use a more interesting person. Stephanie was basically known as the highest ranking player of Russell Hantz’s Zaptera alliance on Redemption Island. Why would we want someone like that on a future season? Natalie, I have only two words for: Rob zombie. There was a reason that she didn’t get any jury votes against her ally Boston Rob. Abi-Maria is the kind of player that I didn’t really care for and thought didn’t belong on a future season. Meanwhile, I probably wouldn’t have anything wrong with Monica if I could remember who she is. She’s one of those random players that I felt that I would have supported if I knew more about her.

Well, now you have the players that I would have wanted and why I wanted them. Now I know that I didn’t get my wish with all of the players that I wanted, but I don’t think that any Survivor fan accomplished that fact. I wish I knew what other people’s dream lists are. I just went with the people that I liked. That’s not to discredit anyone on the season that wasn’t on my list. This is just my own personal choice. That’s all that I can think of for this post. For now, this is Adam Decker signing off.