#20: Mongolia (Season 1, January 2013)
Winner: Ty F./Flamelord (6-1)
Wiki page: http://bit.ly/1pmPRMP
A first season is supposed to set the benchmark for what is to come. Set up something for each season to aspire towards being as good as. But this one.... was a dull as dishwater. And it has not aged well.
After the First Gen ended in November 2012, it was revealed that the series was to be rebooted in January with everyone getting a clean slate. This obviously opened up the casting process to a LOT of people. There was tonnes of interest to get on the cast for the first season, however, looking back, few of the players from the first season have had any impact at all, as opposed to the first season of the First Gen which spawned BENLINUS, Gaiaphange, Hudspith and more. The cast now looks poor despite the fact literally ANYONE could play.
The season itself had a Back to Basics theme which was appealing and nice in the way that it was cool to finally have the raw format, but detrimental overall because there was northing to change things up. Pre-merge was mostly the same for both tribes - a majority of five people on each tribe dominating. An interesting tribal on Kerait lead to the heated pre-merge boot of AJ, and probably the defining pre-merge moment was the last Tribal before merge or the Tatar tribe, where Stephen shifted the vote to blindside Ethan instead of Sam - a move that would cause his own downfall at the merge.
The two tribes merged equally 5-5 (similarly to Great Britain actually - two equal merges as the bottom two seasons). The first merge Tribal was tense, with both tribes fighting hard to try and gain the majority. The Kerait tribe's main men - Logan and Tyler - were both trying to rally Sam over to their side. Sam wasn't immediately convinced, and the vote tied 5-5 between Mike and Logan. However the re-vote changed everything as Sam did decide to flip giving Kerait the majority. Then, just like in Great Britain, Kerait just kept control. For the next two votes nothing changed. Stephen, the main glue of the remaining Tatar members, was gone next, followed by Sam who subsequently exclaimed that he had "done a Cochran". Tate was down to just two members - Josh and Ty - to Kerait's five. THAT is where Tyler came in.
All season long Tyler had been sending confessionals about how much of a villain he was and how he wanted to take Logan out so badly. The problem is, he NEVER delivered on this, and just stuck with him on the votes. That is until the Final Seven. Knowing he couldn't beat Logan, he and Cory, who felt he was outside the loop on Kerait, both flipped and joined the last two Tatars to blindside Ashley, someone Tyler just disliked. WHY he went personal and got rid of Ashley over the strategically better option of Logan is still bewildering. Possibly his ego got in the way and he wanted to just move it in Ashley's face idk. But whatever happened he still had control, and, after Logan won Immunity, he was forced to get rid of the other Kerait member who didn't flip, Tom. When Logan won Immunity AGAIN at the next challenge, the majority had to vote out one of their own (wait.. that's even MORE like Great Boretrain O_o). Tyler and Cory got Ty on board and, instead of joining Josh and Logan for a possible 2-1 majority, went with Tyler and Cory with the hope that everyone would hate them more for their flip. Then Logan finally lost a challenge and the Viewers all groaned as the cocky Russell Hantz shit-head Tyler got what he wanted (at the final fucking five jesus - you wanted him gone Day 1!). At the Final Challenge Tyler wins Immunity and makes a bonehead decision only someone with the stupidity of Russell would do and vote out his ally Cory, taking Ty, A MEMBER OF TATAR - the alliance they put in the minority - to the Final Two. The Final Two of Ty and Tyler (yeah I know of that happened) put their case to the Jury for why they should win and, to put it lightly, Tyler was berated for bring a shit bag., and so all the Tatars voted for their former tribemate Ty while all the Keraits were so pissed at their own tribemate Tyler screwing them they voted for Ty too (accept for Ashley actually... oh).
Suffice to say it was a lesson in how a bad social game screws you over - something Nick clearly didn't learn in the following season (Luv you Manalord XD). This season is very similar to Great Britain, with the difference that there was actually a majority change AND that the Final Two was one from each tribe which was OK. Still what a shoddy ending.
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LEVEL OF STRATEGY: 2 out of 5.
This season gets one more strategy point than GB because this time there was more than one person thinking on their feet. Logan, Tyler and Stephen were vocal forces this season, and Mike, Ashley, Josh and pre-merger Ethan showed potential. But strategically the plan was either "Let's stick to the five of us" or "I want to flip because I can". People had voices but didn't use them, and let Tyler pull off a basic flip to screw over the few likeable people.
ENTERTAINING/LIKEABLE PLAYERS: 2 out of 5
On that note, once gain that was a lack of people that you could like. Tyler was someone doing things but his arrogance and plain stupidity bade him so unlikeable. Logan was kind of gamebotish and only became truly liable when he was an underdog. Stephen was a likeable strategic threat... but he went early. Ashley and Tom were both characters but they still didn't give too much in way of confessionals (the whole confessional thing wasn't huge then).
BLINDSIDES/DRAMA/SHOCKS: 2 out of 5
Things were a little more dramatic this time, partially because people had someone they could hate which caused a bit of tension. And Tyler picking Ty over Cory was a shock. But once again there were a number of obvious votes where it was clear who would go next. Only a few votes that could have gone either way.
SATISFYING CONCLUSION: 0 out of 5
This was the biggest issue with this season I think. The Final Two consisted of a floater who did NOTHING, and a guy NO ONE wanted to get to the end. Logan was the last line for everyone to cling on to for a satisfying conclusion but he got 4th. He was the only true one out of the Kerait Fivesome people liked and it was crushing that he didn't make it. They were left with a F2 that no one really cared who won and who lost. It was shit either way.
VIEWER RECEPTION: 1 out of 5
People hated this season. Tyler was unbearable. No one could tell if Ty was bearable or not, he was a mute. Logan was the most likeable person and he was a gamebot. When you really hate someone so much that you want to see their face when they get voted out and then they DON'T.... there is NO WAY you are going to like the season.
TOTAL SCORE: 7 out of 25 (Grade: RUSSELL IS SHIT STOP TRYING TO BE HIM)
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SEASON HIGHLIGHT:
Tyler losing 6-1 and wiping the smug grim off his damn face. If not that, then the tie vote at the merge.
STANDOUT PLAYER:
Logan. He had a grasp on the game until Tyler screwed it up, and then he fought hard in the challenges to try and survive, however it was too little too late.
SUM-UP:
A season that had a meh cast with a meh pre-merge with a meh post-merge lading to a shitty ending. The world always groans when the equivalent of South Pacific's Rick wins a season.
HINT FOR NEXT POSITION:
That one season you can skip because nothing actually happens in it.
#StillInTheRunning
Saint Lucia
Brazil
Jordan
All-Stars
Venezuela
Caicos Islands
East Timor
Seychelles
Brunei
Friends vs. Favourites
Vietnam
Occultus Island
Moral vs. Merciless
Cursed Hand
Reclamation
Second Chances
Jan Mayen
Bingo vs. Suitman
Allies vs. Adversaries
#20: Mongolia (Season 1, January 2013)