This next season had a shocking twist in the very first episode. This season is:
PALAU!
Palau from start to finish was one of the most unique seasons survivor has ever had. It got off to a crazy twist in the very first episode to have 2 people go home before tribes were even made. I felt really bad for Wanda and Jonathon as it's not fair to have that experience taken away from you like that but it added nice shock value to start the season. People were mixed about the collapse of Ulong but I enjoyed watching it again for shock value. To actually see a tribe be bad enough not to win a single immunity challenge and go down to just 1 person was unbelievable. It made Ulong very entertaining to watch in the pre-merge because for me it felt somewhat like we got to see 2 merge-like gameplay scenes in 1 season. Love or hate Stephenie, you have to give her credit for being the last person standing on Ulong. It's never easy to be the sole survivor of your tribe. Another positive to this season was the battle between Tom and Ian. It's not often we see 2 physical juggernauts like these 2 basically be the top contenders to win a season and go head to head in the final immunity challenge to decide who's going to win a million dollars. The way these 2 battled it out was also great. 12 hour challenge just to see Ian go down for pride and forgiveness with Tom voting him out right then and there. Also Katie might've been a bitch but she kept the post-merge somewhat exciting. She was at least trying to make things happen with setting up the girls alliance and tying the vote in the final 4.
Of course, this season has to have negatives to be #18. While the pre-merge was exciting, the post-merge suffered because of it. Koror was up 8-1 and Steph instantly became one of the first targets. It was clear Tom, Ian, Caryn and Katie were a f4 alliance and that barely changed the rest of the game. This post-merge was far from the worst but there was a little more predictability in there. Also because of all the losses Ulong had, we really didn't get to see much of Koror. I think this showed in the post-merge when we were just getting to know half the tribe. I personally don't think the depth of the cast was as good as other seasons either. Also not as much strategical gameplay was required this season by the majority since they only had to go to 1 tribal council before the merge and just voted out by far their weakest link. This resulted in having a set majority that was never really tested.
All in all I think we're getting to the point where there's not many strong negatives in seasons anymore but this season doesn't quite have the positives the remaining seasons do.
Stay tuned for #17! Hint- this season had a controversial next to last tribal council
28. Nicaragua
27. Redemption Island
26. South Pacific
25. One World
24. Thailand
23. Caramoan
22. All Stars
21. China
20. Cook Islands
19. Blood vs. Water
18. Palau
Borneo
Australian Outback
Africa
Marquesas
Amazon
Pearl Islands
Vanuatu
Guatemala
Exile Island
Fiji
Micronesia
Gabon
Tocantins
Samoa
Heroes vs. Villains
Phillipines
Cagayan
Also, I have a lot to say about Guatemala when it comes down to it.
Palau was incredible.
I don't really get why you constantly say there is little character development. Did you not see Coby, Ian, Tom, Katie. Also, Caryn was not in with anyone but Willard and Coby until Final 7, where Katie has her famous Caryn sucks quote. Then she suckers up to Tom and they blindside Gregg, then Caryn is out next.
Dinosauro27 I mentioned Tom and Ian having character development and Katie majorly contributing to the season. I just didn't think there was as much outside of those 3. I always felt like Caryn leaned toward Tom even if they weren't an official thing. Same goes with Tom towards her.
Also I really like every season in the top 20 so when I write my negatives it's really just me trying my best to explain why I didn't rank it higher. Post-merge play is very important to me with a strong cast overall. I just felt there were seasons that did both better than Palau.
To respond to your BvW comment in my last post I think we were watching 2 different premieres. I can't consider BvW close to a top 5 season when it had RI post-merge, had weak character development after Vytas, Laura and Ciera plus had a pretty predictable winner in Tyson.
I understand why people like it so much for the positives, but I just simply prefer other seasons.
BigBrotherFan132 I consider FTC to be the last one when the finalists plead their case to the jury so next to last would be F3/F4 to determine who gets there.
