This next season started a legacy. There have been a few guesses about what legacy and one of the main 3 guessed is the correct one. This season is:
SAMOA!
Samoa started the infamous legacy of Russell Hantz: the most polarizing player in survivor history. The main positive of this season was the excitement and entertainment Russell mostly brought to us. He's one of the few players ever that can successfully carry a season by himself. Think about it. Russell gets over 100 confessionals and the season mostly revolves around him and it results in one of the most popular recent seasons to date. But there's a reason for this. He took the term aggressive strategist to a whole new level and the edit LARGELY played into that probably more than anybody else. I mean he burned socks and poured water to mess with his tribe mentally. He took the lead in his tribe, had one of the most exciting HII plays ever, got Shambo to flip and won the clutch final immunity challenge to take down Brett. But while Russell played a big part, he wasn't the only factor in this season. This season had one of the biggest comebacks in survivor history with Foa Foa trailing 8-4 going into the merge. Before that one of the biggest downfalls due to medical evacuation happened with Russell Swan. Not to mention this cast rolled deep. Galu was one of the biggest clusterfucks in survivor history with everybody on that tribe being gold for television. Even Foa Foa had its share of entertainment in pre-merge boots from Marisa to Ben to Liz. Ben was such an ass that even Russell Hantz looked good next to him. To top this season off, we saw probably the most shocking win in survivor history from Natalie. I don't know about most of you but for me, once Russell beat Brett, I was expecting him to have the game wrapped up. I honestly would have a hard time believing most people thought Natalie would win watching that season live. Nevertheless, it made the season a hell of a lot more memorable watching Russell's treatment of the other players coming back to haunt him.
So why is a season that has everything exciting about one you want to see in survivor only #11? On paper, this should be a top 5 season. But we play the seasons out not only on the island but on TV. I don't like assuming that producers interfered with this season but there are legitimate claims that Russell was given a HII. Not saying it's definitely true but something I can't ignore either. The other big negative from this season is the editing. I mean really, you have a season with a deep set of characters especially on Galu, who might've been as legendary as Casaya with the right edit, basically got ignored. The edit focused on Russell and Shambo when at least 15/20 players out there had something to offer. I think most people feel we missed out on having a more balanced edit make this season a better version of Cagayan. It also caused Natalie's win to be a lot more questionable. Looking back on the season, it's harder to see just how good of a game she played than it should be. With the proper edit, this season had everything set to make it nearly perfect, it just wasn't done right.
Stay tuned for the top 10! Hint for #10- this season has a cast that has never had a returning player come from this season
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
17. Gabon
16. Borneo
15. Australian Outback
14. Africa
13. Fiji
12. Tocantins
11. Samoa
Marquesas
Amazon
Pearl Islands
Vanuatu
Guatemala
Exile Island
Micronesia
Heroes vs. Villains
Phillipines
Cagayan
I agree with you though. People give Samoa a bad wrap. Russell had an overwhelming edit and there were a few ugly characters (personality-wise, not looks lol) but I thought Natalie's win made it a satisfying end. It could've been a lot better had they evened out the editing though. I wish we saw more of Brett because I'm sure he had a lot to give
Personally I'm not a Russell Hantz fan, I'm all for strategy, but a lot of Russell's game was based on luck, and he wasn't really as in control as he thought he was, which really bothers me because he as a character is so falsely manufactured, that it became incredibly overbearing.
tiafrsn4 yeah the first time I read the hint i took it as nobody from the cast returned... but after I reread it i took it as no new players from that season have returned
