recently finished a very long process of rewatching every survivor season in order and will be doing writeups as i rank them from worst to first. after I finish these up I will be redoing my top 39 characters that I did a long time ago, and then i am leaving this site forever and ever
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just missing out on the top 10 is
11- Palau
Palau is an interesting season. It has perhaps the best postmerge of any Survivor season. Or at least from Gregg boot on, it totally delivers and just completely goes crazy, like Survivor on steroids.
After All Stars, a lot of people say that Survivor began to go downhill and that the golden age was over, but I really think Vanuatu/Palau deliver as much as the original seven seasons and keep the franchise alive at its peak. Just felt the need to say that.
But once Gregg goes, and the build up to Gregg’s boot, Palau is a complete fire bed of perfection. Tom/Katie/Ian are all fantastic and so are Gregg/Caryn/Jenn, though not as much. The fact that Koror was secretly such a giant mess of people waiting to turn on one another is a great dynamic that was left in the shadows for the most part, is a great storyline. Once the season gets down to the wire the characters like Ian and Tom really step it up, Ian in particular is a really deep, complex character and his quit is highlight of the season.
Palau’s main con is the fact that the premerge is pretty bland. Ulong is a really flat tribe lacking personality, so you have to go through what feels like an entirely different season, filled with meh characters other than people like James, Bobby Jon, and Jolanda (who lasts one episode). If you aren’t really a Steph fan, which I’m not, the premerge is pretty boring and difficult to swallow. Koror dominating is cool but not really interesting on a rewatch.
Either way Palau is a fantastic season, almost entirely based on the last several episodes which is one of the peaks of Survivor.
Favorite Character: Tom/Ian
Hint for 10: Season with a tribe swap/shuffle
Remaining Seasons:
Borneo, Australia, Africa, Marquesas, Amazon, Pearl Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Nicaragua, Blood vs. Water