Lurker > bwburke94

Mewtwo59 posted...

Doesn't 3-2 take place in September in the Japanese version? I think they changed it in the localization so it wouldn't take place on 9/11.

You're correct, it takes place in September in Japanese... but your other claim is rather questionable.

Evidence is everything in a court of law. What evidence do you have supporting the 9/11 theory?
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It's not like there's any need to avoid spoilers. The game's 14 years old.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

i mean, hard to blame her - ema's a cop after all

OBJECTION! She's a forensic scientist!
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After thinking it over, I've come to an interesting conclusion about Inga.

I don't think he had prosopagnosia. His disorder was something else.
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Speaking of all this prosopagnosia stuff, I just finished a certain other visual novel. Namely Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - which handled it a lot better than SoJ did.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Nah, I don't count flashback lines, but yeah, SoJ is bad about overusing flashbacks.

Speaking of which, how will the Maya/Dhurke flashback be counted?
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Are you listing every single line that's vaguely foreshadowing the reveal?
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LeonhartFour posted...

Man, they really sell the showdown between Apollo and Phoenix at the end here. What a great twist at the end. I think it's the only time an Announce the Truth theme plays outside of court in the main series.

Can the same be said for the use of the "Won the Case" theme outside court in 6-5?
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LeonhartFour posted...

SoJ's Core theme is so good

The Khura'inese Core theme isn't quite as good, but it's still good.
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LeonhartFour posted...

anyway I love in 6-3 how the fact that the Plumed Punisher is a Steel Samurai ripoff is actually a case-making plot point

I have my own theory about that, but I'll wait until you're done with SoJ.
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LeonhartFour posted...

you know I feel like this Magatama of Parting would have been a useful thing to have back in 3-5

or that Spirit Severing Technique Morgan talked about (that may have been a blatant lie but who knows)

I believe they are one and the same.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Misty Fey

She has major relevance in the backstory of 1-4 despite not actually appearing, so I'm not sure she'd qualify.
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We could try to get Edgeworth in again.
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Season rankdown topic 2:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76865708
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With 500 coming up, I'll wait for the next topic before posting #18.
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eaed: 27 - My dislike for this season, unfortunately, comes down to the success of characters that I absolutely cannot stand in Hannah and Adam. Their confessionals are cringeworthy. Their arrogance is somehow under the radar and over the top at the same time and I am just absolutely annoyed when they are on screen. I know how bad that sounds with everything going on with Adams story. And of all of the other seasons of Survivor, this is the one time where I wish that the new final four twist existed because then Adam wouldnt still be pretending that all of his blunders were on purpose and we would have an amazing winner in David. (And even in his final 3, I dont think Adam is the most deserving. He just pissed more people off than Hannah did). This season I dont have the best logic on. Its mostly gut.

Inviso: 29 - This one is really tough to rank because on paper, its not the worst season ever, and its DEFINITELY been outshone in its badness by several other seasons in the thirties. But its still so emblematic of everything wrong with modern Survivor that its hard for me not to be biased against it. The cast fucking SUCKS. Id say that one of the two tribes has a SINGLE compelling personality on it. The other tribe is BETTER, but its still average when compared to better seasons. This leads to a pre-merge that absolutely drags on until three of my four favorite characters for the entire season all get voted out before the even reaching single-digit placements. In fact, Id say the season starts to go to shit right before the merge, because thats right around the time we get a long string of episodes, from the final fourteen right up until the finale, where the players start their engines and begin making #BigMoves for the sake of big moves. And this backfires almost EVERY single time, yet it keeps fucking happening, and its not even interesting because the show makes no effort to develop relationships that might give weight to the various betrayals. I WILL give credit for the endgame however, because at least the editors built up a strong set of finalists that left me surprised (if not happy) with the winner. Oh, and one other thing that really bugs me about MvGX: everyone was so fucking NICE about everything. Youre playing for a million dollars, and people are flipping back and forth and backstabbing one another almost every episode, yet the only real emotional reaction we see comes PRE-MERGE. I know people hate bitter juries and whatnot, but I want players that are human beings. If Im out on an island, starving for over a month, and you vote me out of a game for a million dollarsbeing so cordial at the end is NOT NORMAL. It makes these people feel, again, like chess pieces rather than actual people. Thats just not fun to watch.

YoRyan: 31 - the fact that this season is somehow the internet's champion is just further proof this show isn't for me anymore
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#19: Millennials vs. Gen X
Average Ranking: 19.00

BCT: 8 - A group of hardcore players that never stopped playing the game on a high level for newbies. Theyre an interesting bunch. The only downside is how the theme was shoved down our throats unnecessarily in lieu of developing many of the cast, which tainted the enjoyability of the narrative. The Million Dollar Gamble and one of the most intimately personal winners ever are among the seasons highlights.

GTM: 14 - (spoilers?) can't wait to see hannah on this next season. good luck, buddy!

Naye745: 14 - a season loaded with great characters and storylines - i'm baffled by the insinuation that this was nothing but gamebots. Good drama sometimes came from poor gameplay, but the drama surrounding the winner was heartfelt and genuine. perhaps not the season for everyone, but i loved it.

Mana Sword: 15 - No writeup

darkx: 15 - No writeup

Illuminatus: 17 - No writeup

FBike: 18 - For the third time in Survivor history, the tribes were divided according to age. Had a season like this run early in Survivor's run, the Gen-Xers would have been in the role the Millennials played here.

DoctorBlind: 21 - The editing was pretty solid for the most part, and the cast had its bright spots. Still, Im not sure I can summon much more than a meh here.

(continued in next post)
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#20: Guatemala
Average Ranking: 19.09

darkx: 9 - THE most underrated season. That cast, holy shit.

DoctorBlind: 12 - I dont think I can exactly pinpoint what I love about this season, but its criminally underrated. Great cast (seriously why have there not been more returnees?), location, winner and I loved the juxtaposition between this Stephanie and the Americas sweetheart version we got in her first appearance.

Inviso: 13 - Guatemala is a great example of what happens when the final outcome of the season is one the producers arent entirely hoping will transpire. It makes the editors have to get off their ass and do their goddamn jobs, rather than going for the easy storyline. I will admit that Guatemala has a bunch of duds, but most of them are gone early in the process, leaving a cast that, from the swap onward pretty much, is fun and exciting. The returning player twist, while it DOES impact the season, doesnt feel overwhelming, and allows the returnees to shine while giving plenty of screen time to the newbies. And the endgame is exciting and unpredictable in such a way that it really highlights the skill of the eventual winner. That being said, while I admit the endgame itself is exciting, the players making UP that endgame are not necessarily up to snuff, so ultimately, I bump Guatemala down just a bit.

FBike: 17 - Around this point was when the cast really began to start metagaming and trying to outpredict the producers. It was also around this point when people started being irrationally afraid of pissing off a jury and sitting on their asses because of it, usually eating a blindside to the face for their trouble.

BCT: 19 - A season underrated by production in some ways, but unfortunately a lot of the best people were gone before the merge Brian Corridan and Amy OHara in particular and we were left with the bully queen being a bully and becoming a jury goat because of it. Oh, and Jamie Newton losing his mind, Cindy Hall falling in love with her car, and Judd hopin people get eaten by crocodiles, man. A lot of little things make this one worth a rewatch.

YoRyan: 19 - still waving the flag for most meh season

Mana Sword: 20 - No writeup

eaed: 20 - Guatemala is one of those season that I feel like is a lot of fun but it doesnt get enough respect in its own right but at the same time I feel like it is almost like Palau 2 and therefore almost a not complete season and thats why I have it ranked her.

Naye745: 24 - a brutal season, from the start. both the physical intensity and the intense characters (hey Jamie and Judd) were a lot. but the drama felt like it fizzled out as things went along, and it seemed like after Stephenie and Rafe controlled the game Danni somehow snuck in and won.

Illuminatus: 25 - No writeup

GTM: 32 - yes I have it this low I dont need to see stephenie again. or like 90% of this cast
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LeonhartFour posted...

I guess trying to figure out how to deal with Bonny and Betty's combo testimony will give me good practice for Layton/AA.

Unlike those we've talked about before, Bonny and Betty are clearly separate characters.
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#21: Marquesas
Average Ranking: 19.64

Inviso: 8 - The first few seasons of Survivor followed a very specific formula with one a few bumps along an otherwise smooth road. Marquesas is the first season to really shake up that formula in a fun way, with the pre-merge boot list actually featuring some major characters, as opposed to JUST the last pre-merge boot or so. But there are some shake-ups strategically as well, and that leads to an endgame of players most people wouldnt expect to reach the endgame in the first place. I think Survivor is at its best when the winner isnt someone the editors can just lazily craft a story around, so Marquesas winds up being a reasonably well-edited and exciting season, especially in comparison to a lot of the other seasons around it.

darkx: 10 - An underrated gem with a lot of funny moments and an amazing underdog alliance upsetting the cocky overdogs.

eaed: 14 - On the first watch, I didnt care for Marquesas but on the rewatch Marquesas was actually quite fantastic. The people are pretty great, the symbolism in the water fall. The fall of the Rotu four. Boston Rob is pretty great in confessional in his debut. Sean Rector is a fantastic character. Kathy VO is still one of my favorite survivor players of all time. The finish is what takes the wind out of this seasons sails for me.

YoRyan: 16 - classic that i don't love as much as everybody else

BCT: 20 - A good cast with strategic gameplay new to the time and a few good instances of drama, but a fatigued final six due to the state of deprivation, too many bug bites, and underwhelming winner ultimately undermine the eventual outcome.

Naye745: 22 - had one of the first successful reversals of a majority alliance when the 4 rotus got blindsided by the other 5 players. but struggles to stand out to me aside from that dramatic turnaround. admittedly i havent watched this since it aired in 2002.

Illuminatus: 23 - No writeup

Mana Sword: 24 - No writeup

FBike: 24 - The cast was miserable this season, and it wasn't just because of the sandflies driving them crazy.

DoctorBlind: 27 - I just finished re-watching this with the fiance and am a bit surprised I ranked it this low. Fun characters in the beginning, but over time the show gets a bit stale. Underwhelming winner, but hey at least we avoided a traditional pagoning.

GTM: 28 - what even happened on this season
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Inviso posted...

Ugh...that is the most depressing fire-making tiebreaker in Survivor history. Not only does a massive fan favorite go out, but it's also like, the only time where the losing player actually had a decent flame on several occasions and COULD have won.

Ben's win may be more depressing, but I'm not sure it would count as a tiebreaker.
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Bump so this doesn't purge before this morning's update. Yes, I'm still doing updates, despite what people on Discord may claim.
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I just replayed 6-5, and I have two questions about the line count in SoJ. Spoilering the relevant names, even though I probably don't need to.

1. Two SoJ characters have, in a sense, "alternate personalities" with consecutive lines credited to separate names. How will Uendo/Patches/Kisegawa/Owen and Sarge/Armie be treated?
2. Can we conclude without a doubt that the person in Phoenix's credits scene is Thalassa?
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Time to bless the rains with our next update.

#22: Africa
Average Ranking: 21.36

eaed: 8 - This is one of those seasons that is ranked a lot more because of my personal feelings for it. It also falls under that list of one of those seasons that will screw up my outlier setting but nevertheless, it was the first season that I truly remember and I was a huge fan of Lex. Finally, with some more old school survivor and then the first swap made it really over the top. And thats why it is here for me.

Mana Sword: 16 - No writeup

YoRyan: 18 - enjoyable but dull in many parts

Illuminatus: 20 - No writeup

BCT: 22 - As far as early seasons go, Africa has nothing its predecessors didnt (except the swap and Lexs witch hunt) and a less memorable cast. The Samburu trainwreck is stained by Silas being arrogant, though the swap bamboozling him was precious, and the conditions and strict rules on wandering outside the circle made everyone feel less inspired. The exotic location was a nice change of pace, but made it clear the beach was where Survivor belonged.

darkx: 22 - No writeup

FBike: 23 - Although not a very good season overall, this season brought a very important change to Survivor: the tribe switch. No longer could a tribe simply sit back with a majority after the merge or so we thought.

Inviso: 24 - Its a toss-up for me as to which of Australia or Africa I prefer more, and ultimately, I have to rank Africa just SLIGHTLY higher, because its just slightly less predictable. Both seasons have similar problems though: very harsh conditions lead to a level of grunginess that adds up to an unpleasant viewing experience towards the end-game. The boot order isnt that great either, as a lot of fun, interesting characters go out right around the merge (similar to Australia), but at least the methods in which this happens are somewhat interesting. Plus the endgame is a LITTLE more surprising given the final few immunity wins. Ultimately though, I think ones enjoyment of Africa depends on just how much one can tolerate a certain player who becomes the focal point of the season from the merge onward. I dont care for this player, so Africa is a bit of a slog for me to watch.

GTM: 27 - what even happened on this season

Naye745: 27 - i just don't remember this season having nearly the excitement or fun as Borneo or Australia, and maybe it suffers a bit by comparison. Ethan winning was good, and this gave us our first major tribe-swap twist, but still fails to stand out as anything great.

DoctorBlind: 28 - Africa probably fell lower in my ranking upon a rewatch than any other season. Boring cast, stupid strategies and an underwhelming performance from the winner.
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#23: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers
Average Ranking: 21.73

GTM: 17 - ben winning by bullshit burying people with his sledgehammer

YoRyan: 17 - the ending and f4 are, obviously, terrible. But the rest of the season is filled with terrible players who make really petty moves. Ben and Chrissy are hilarious mirror images of each other

Inviso: 18 - Stupid season name aside, HHH is actually a lot better than people give it credit for. Dont get me wrong, the final twist is unforgivable and managed to turn a potential top ten season into more of a mid-tier season, but just as much as I hate people claiming Ghost Island is suddenly not that bad because of ITS ending, its not right for me to dock TOO many points for how HHH ended. I think HHH has a strong cast with only a few duds, most of which are eliminated pre-merge. The pre-merge isnt amazing, but its passable enough, especially since the lack of real blindsides leads to a lot more personalization of the characters, which makes me more invested come the merge. Admittedly, HHH goes overboard with the idols (I think only two post-merge tribal councils go by without an idol being played), but for the most part, they only really become relevant at the endgame, and again, I value the character development of the endgame players. Seriously, Im normally happy when a season gives me a final SIX thats filled with stars, but Id say HHH goes back as far as the final NINE before you hit a dud. Its a real shame that the producers couldnt just let the game play out once we reached the final two episodes. Much like Game Changers, the shift from the players decisions to productions choices hurts the narrative. But its still a strong season up to that point, and honestly, Im okay with everything up until the final four tribal council, so yeah. Its a decent season.

darkx: 19 - A very solid season until near the end, but holy shit those last two episodes and reunion were painful and really ruined the ride.

BCT: 21 - A bad ending ruined what was a fun buildup. The clear favoritism by production, badly executed F4 twist (the cast should have known in advance), worst challenge in Survivor history (a rock draw for loved ones? REALLY?), abundance of idols, and overall lack of joy taint what could have been an awesome season. Still has some good moments, mostly in the episode after the Epic Blindside, and an edit that was only unfair to one person that made merge.

Mana Sword: 21 - No writeup

Naye745: 21 - this had all the makings of a really great season: an excellent cast, great pre-merge drama, and players willing to shake things up and fight to win the game. sadly ben found like 6 idols at endgame and got saved at f4 by a random twist that screwed Devon. it's a shame, because if Devon goes with Chrissy and Ryan to f3, i think he wins and it's remembered as one of the best recent seasons. instead it goes down as a reminder of the biggest problems of present-day survivor.

FBike: 22 - Stupid title and dumb twists aside, at least there was a social game of some kind being played. You can't say that about most of our bottom entries.

DoctorBlind: 23 - This wouldve been ranked a lot higher if not for the terribly stupid twist at the end that was never communicated with the players beforehand. I actually enjoyed the cast, as many were distinct players with their own individual gameplays. That finale just left such a bad taste in my mouth.

eaed: 26 - I know. The final 4 twist. I know. There are people out there that think it was rigged. I know. Strategy, strategy, strategy. But the players in this season are just so dynamic and we are very fortunate that the players that arent particularly good on screen happened to go earlier (outside of JP) but it is only those players and some of the real positive moments that makes this better than the season below it.

Illuminatus: 34 - No writeup
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Moving to a new computer, so no update today. (As if the delays weren't already bad enough...)
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#24: Cook Islands
Average Ranking: 23.09

Illuminatus: 12 - No writeup

GTM: 15 - becky is underrated

Naye745: 17 - a good winner and a good finish; possibly lucky that a mixed-race, non-white coalition ended up taking control in the very controversial (and thoroughly unnecessary) race-themed season. Penner is just great. That said, a lot of the cast were duds, and a lot of the people involved had their best seasons as returnees after CI.

BCT: 24 - A season I had better memories of than it would produce upon a rewatch, Cook has too many filler cast members (edits fault?), too racy of a theme, and an overpowered idol. Sure, Yul is a great strategic winner, but too much of his win is due to his Hidden Invulnerability Idol. Highs include Penners color commentary, a jerk getting an early comeuppance (J.P.), an awe-inspiring Tribal Council set, and a legend emerging from a hot tub.

eaed: 24 - I think this is a season that ridiculously overlooked by its opening theme and it accusations of being fixed. This season tended to drag at times but I really dont think it is that bad and the challenges that the 4 overcame to win really are fun to watch but at the end of the day. It was really only okay with a large group of players that just mean nothing to me. I dont know if I could come up with them on a sporcle quiz.

Mana Sword: 25 - No writeup

DoctorBlind: 25 - Pretty bad opening concept and a worse overpowered idol, but I do love starting with four smaller tribes. Enjoyable seeing the underdog story play out as well.

FBike: 26 - I'm not complaining about the whole "tribes divided by race" thing. It is far from the biggest problem with this season. The Final 3 was actually a good thing, but it in combination with the super-idol broke the game.

Inviso: 28 - Cook Islands big drawing point was the fact that it was going to be all about race. The casting department found the most diverse cast ever up to that point, and divided them up into a tribe of white people, a tribe of black people, a tribe of Hispanic people, and a tribe of Asian people. On paper, this sounds interesting. In practice, it was not. The problem is that this cast (compared to the equally-diverse cast of Fiji one season later) was very calm. I dont know if people were just trying to play nice to better represent their race, but there just isnt a lot of personality in this group of players. Throw in some producer manipulation to benefit one alliance over the other, and you have a very bland season in which the underdogs dominate and were just supposed to be happy because theyre underdogs. No thanks.

darkx: 28 - Like with Ghost Island, I respect the producers for trying an idea that was taboo even back then, and flat-out wouldn't get past the network today, even if it was just a ratings stunt. Unfortunately, it led to one of the most boring casts ever, with the defining moment being a telegraphed underdog story that to this day many fans believe was rigged. I'll give it this - the Cook Islands are without a doubt the most beautiful location Survivor has ever visited.

YoRyan: 30 - if survivor ever jumped the shark, it'd be with this
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#25: Game Changers
Average Ranking: 23.82

darkx: 18 - No writeup

FBike: 19 - All-Star seasons very rarely live up to the hype. We're now digging right into the "BIG MOVES" era, with way too many twists and very little meaningful socializing being shown on screen.

Inviso: 20 - I will fully admit that this is a less-than-impressive season. In fact, the final two episodes single-handedly tank Game Changers far lower than it wouldve been at the final nine. Honestly, Game Changers is outright GOOD in EVERY episode where there isnt some twist taking up a fuckton of screen time. So every episode except four, six, twelve, and the finale. Are some of the remaining episodes weaker than others? Yeah. The premiere, episode three, the merge, and episode eleven are all kinda basic, but theyre inoffensive at worst. Meanwhile, this season has all-star character performances from most of the pre-merge boots, a bunch of players giving their best performance ever, and honestly? I think there is only one player who actually made me like them LESS this season than I already felt towards them (and no, its not the instigator of a certain incident that most people hate.) Theres just a lot of craziness and plenty of strategy coming from players that actually have the personalities to carry it off properly. Do I wish the producers laid off the twists and let the game play out a little more organically? Obviously. But Game Changers winds up as an extremely interesting season, even if its extremely flawed as well.

GTM: 20 - remember when sandra somehow survived like 4 tribal councils and proved she was the best. and then michaela drank tea at tribal. everything after that was a blur.

Illuminatus: 21 - No writeup

eaed: 22 - If for nothing else, this season had all of the potential to be an absolutely amazing season. What this season lacks is the natural shake ups that occur in other seasons. It becoming a natural stand still, the overwhelming amount of advantages and idols, and then of course advantagegeddon. That being said I was living for this season from week to week when it aired and thats why it is higher than the episodes below it but this is as high as I can allow it to go.

YoRyan: 24 - proved that even Cirie can't carry a season on her own

Naye745: 25 - feels like the editing and bad luck made this one feel a lot worse than it actually was. Cirie got screwed, Malcolm got screwed, and Sandra was by far the star of the season in only 6 episodes. Varner's boot episode is still deeply unpleasant and stains the season. And i feel like the show spent so much time desperately making sure we knew Sarah deserved to win that we missed so much of everyone else. this might be too high.

BCT: 26 - This season is an overproduced mess of twists that taint the gameplay of an all-star cast, and it features more redundant challenges, an obvious winners edit, and one of the worst Tribal Council shockers in the history of the show. The level of play was high and the personalities were highlighted well, but theres just too much on the negative side from a production standpoint that punished those playing the hardest for no reason at all. This is the start of the Second Dark Age.

DoctorBlind: 32 - As someone who tends to develop an intense rooting interest in my favorites, reverse the pecking order of the actual season here and Id like it a whole lot more. Very unlikable group to finish out the season.

Mana Sword: 35 - No writeup
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Xuxon posted...

so i just caught up with the topic. imo it's still backdooring even if the target plays in the veto and loses.

I see it as a possible backdoor attempt if the target could potentially not play in the veto, even if randomly drawn.
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Double update! #26 now, #25 in about two hours.

#26: Samoa
Average Ranking: 24.18

darkx: 17 - Hear me out. If you ignore Russell's insanely oversaturated edit, there's actually a lot to love about this season - Erik's nutty adventures, crazy Shambo, the king of one-liners Dave Ball, a dramatic medivac, and a surprising but deserving winner. Even Russell himself was at least an entertaining villain, leading me to believe that had the editors done their fucking job and not just made this a season-long preview for HvV, this could have been a near-elite season.

Mana Sword: 18 - No writeup

DoctorBlind: 18 - Now Im not the biggest Russell Hantz fan out there, but I cant deny his presence improved the season. First time I can really remember idols being abused (which sort of spawned a trend I dont enjoy), but it did make tribal councils thoroughly enjoyable. Pretty lame cast overall though.

Inviso: 22 - Samoa is a lot like Africa in that the season ends up revolving around one REALLY strong personality, and I feel like ones enjoyment of the season is dependent on whether or not you can tolerate that personality. In my case, I cannot, but Im also willing to admit that the season would have been dull without said player. Granted, without said player, maybe the editors do a better job of balancing the edit so that one person doesnt get nearly triple the next-highest player in terms of confessional count. But whatever. Its hard to truly judge Samoa because for every positive, there is an equal and opposite negative, and they balance out to a rather bland season. The post-merge ispretty dull and drawn out, but at the same time, theres a little bit of life, and the ending salvages the season a LITTLE bit with some unpredictability. Its still very much below average though.

GTM: 22 - CGI Brett the silent assassin

Illuminatus: 26 - No writeup

BCT: 27 - The worst edited season to date. If I have to hear AHM RUSSELL HANTZ one more time just shoot me. The challenges were bad, the weather beat too much personality out of people (Jaison, anyone?), and the edit just made everything terrible.

YoRyan: 27 - top 10 season turned into a bottom 10 season because of editing

FBike: 28 - The only thing saving Samoa for being considered as one of the bottom 5 is Russell. We might not like him, but most first-time viewers did.

eaed: 30 - In my rewatch, I think I liked Samoa a lot more than I thought I would. The arrogance that screamed off of the members of the Galu tribe made the Foa-Foas seem almost likeable. Also, while dominating in the amount of confessionals, Russell 1.0 isnt that overwhelming. I found him almost rootable at times. However, once Foa-Foa turns Shambo it really gets one-sided and dark and then the boringness takes over.

Naye745: 31 - the purple tribe actually had a lot of good characters - Dave Ball, Laura, Erik, even Shambo, but the Russell show consumed everything and the season hurts for it. gets minor brownie points for building up the entire season's plot to show why Russell lost (and Natalie won).
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#27: Fiji
Average Ranking: 24.27

Inviso: 16 - Fiji is a negative season. I wont deny that. There is a lot of nastiness involved, and the final tribal council is gross on many fronts. But Fiji is also one of those instances where a nasty season can also be an interesting season. Once you get through the pre-swap portion of the season, which weeds out a bunch of bland fodder, Fijis cast really shines. Theres a ton of drama pre-merge with big characters taking potshots at one another, and this season introduces the modern variant of the hidden immunity idol, which actually leads to two amazing moments (including one of the greatest tribal councils the show has ever had.) And despite all the negativity, the winner actually leaves the viewer feeling satisfied, unlike some other negative seasons. So while Im not gonna praise it as one of the best seasons ever, its still a strong addition to the series.

Mana Sword: 17 - No writeup

eaed: 19 - This is another one of my candidates for screwing up my outlier score. I have more fun than I should watching Survivor Fiji. It is overshadowed as a season for a twist that doesnt work out it terms of fairness (but works pretty good for TV) and then the Truck thing but I enjoy it nevertheless.

Naye745: 20 - another one i'd imagine will be seen as too high by most people. i loved the Earl and Yau-Man alliance and thought their success around the nitwits and jerks of the season was a blast to watch. Michelle got screwed, and Dreamz was an idiot, but you can't deny how great the Edgargo blindside tribal (and the immediate smug-to-shocked reactions) holds up, even 22 seasons later.

YoRyan: 23 - not so great pre merge is saved by an exciting and dramatic post merge

Illuminatus: 24 - no writeup

darkx: 26 - A cast that mostly ranged from varying levels of boring to downright detestable with a couple of gems. The Haves vs. Have Nots twist was one of the worst in Survivor history and I can't believe the producers thought it was going to go any way other than the way it went. I will admit that it improved toward the end with one of the greatest blindsides of all time and one of the most controversial deals ever made on the show.

BCT: 29 - The first five episodes are among the series worst, largely since the Moto tribe is among the least likable ever (exacerbated by the horrific twist). On the good side, theres an epic blindside in one of the best episodes ever makes things temporarily interesting, a car deal that leads to a fascinating ending, and a deserving winner. Its not terrible by any means, but one amazing episode doesnt stand up to entire amazing seasons. Also, Yau-Man.

FBike: 29 - This season is too unbalanced to be watchable. Production had to scramble to make this season, and it shows.

GTM: 31 - haves vs have nots is stupid. bottle was stupid. life is stupid

DoctorBlind: 33 - I think Im still turned off by Dreamz and his lack of character to rank this season any higher.
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#28: Nicaragua
Average Ranking: 24.45

YoRyan: 10 - i'm done trying to defend this season from people

Inviso: 12 - A lot of the best Survivor seasons are ones where the game gets chaotic and a bunch of power players take each other out to give the season a surprising winner. This formula isnt perfect, but it definitely works in Nicaragua. The majority of the cast is made up of interesting personalities, whether you like them or hate them, and the power shifts just enough to keep things interesting, without going overboard and forcing everyone to change alliances on an episode-by-episode basis. There is, admittedly, a moment in the mid-merge that casts an unfortunate shadow over the rest of the season, but Id still argue that by the time the endgame rolls around, the majority of the final six are fun and interesting characters that are enjoy to watch duke it out. In the end, the only real dull portion of the game is the post-swap pre-merge, but even that has its moments. Nicaraguas just a very solid season that gets over-hated for dumb reasons.

DoctorBlind: 20 - This season is all over the place. Great assortment of characters, but marred by controversy.

darkx: 20 - I'm done defending this season. I used to rank it higher and defend it as a character-focused season as opposed to a strategy-focused season, but upon rewatch, it actually IS a more strategy-focused season. Just really, really terrible strategy. Also one of the most God-awful self-righteous alliances in Survivor history dominated until the last second. I'm so glad this kid who may as well have been stoned the whole time snatched it from them.

GTM: 25 - alina :3

FBike: 25 - Seriously, why was the Medallion a thing? It barely lasted long enough to matter.

Illuminatus: 28 - No writeup.

Naye745: 29 - a season defined by the biggest players getting blindsided early merge, and the people responsible immediately quitting. Fabio was a fun (but not strong) winner, and uh...Jimmy Johnson was in this season?!? yikes.

BCT: 33 - Defined by a most memorable moment of two immature bleeps quitting and a second most memorable moment of the castaways learning that fire burns wood, this season has absolutely nothing good going for it except for Hollys story arc and the Marty-Jane rivalry. And even then, thats not enough. This cast is just too hard to like.

Mana Sword: 33 - No writeup

eaed: 34 - To share the same bullet points I used for my bottom ranked season. This season only hit two of them. I didnt enjoy the characters. The fan favorites from this season I didnt like (especially Jane and Brenda) then lets not forget NaOnka is an overwhelmingly dark presence on the entire season and then unlike other dark presences, she never does get her comeuppance. The season has some bright moments but not enough to make me like it more than other seasons.
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Mewtwo59 posted...

Regarding S38:

So did Redmond confirm that S38 has an 18 person cast with that?

Could hypothetically have miscounted.
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Underleveled posted...

bwburke94 posted...

Inviso posted...

Yay! Game Changers avoided the bottom tier! It's probably coming up, but still.

We have a clump of near-tied seasons coming up this weekend. Game Changers is indeed one of those seasons.

Damnit you're not supposed to spoil that stuff host.

It's pretty damn obvious, so I didn't feel like dragging it out. Same as with RI.
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Inviso posted...

Yay! Game Changers avoided the bottom tier! It's probably coming up, but still.

We have a clump of near-tied seasons coming up this weekend. Game Changers is indeed one of those seasons.
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_SecretSquirrel posted...

LeonhartFour posted...

Nah, he does say in the prologue of 6-1 that he came to Khura'in early because he was worried about Maya. He doesn't elaborate on why though.

But isn't it a part of Retinz's plan in 6-2 that he timed his scheme when Phoenix was out of the country?

Phoenix left for Khura'in during the weekend of April 22-23. Mistree died the following Thursday, April 27.

If Retinz was planning to do it while Phoenix was away, he'd only have four days of prep time for the plan... yet Bonny and Betty could conceivably have been brought in as late as Wednesday.

(In true Ace Attorney fashion, I left a deliberate contradiction here. Let's see if you can figure it out.)
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Technically speaking, it could start two months from now and still be a "summer" contest.
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The last of the bottom tier is here. Big gap between #30 and #29, and a bigger gap between #29 and #28.

This is the first entry for which only 8 people gave writeups instead of the usual 9, something that will become more common as the list goes on.

#29: All-Stars
Average ranking: 27.27

DoctorBlind: 13 - What can I say? I enjoy me some Boston Rob and seasons including returning favorites. Im a little turned off with how bitter the jury was considering the amount of hypocrisy involved, but the level of hype I remember watching this season for the first time still looms strong in my mind upon retrospection.

FBike: 20 - The one major problem with All-Stars is that no one soomed to actually know how they wanted to play the game until well after the merge.

darkx: 21 - No writeup

BCT: 23 - Started off incredibly, but once some of the most colorful personalities and best players were gone, it quickly became predictable, personal, and bland all at the same time, and dont get me started on Lexs hypocrisy, thanks.

GTM: 26 - people were mean on this season

YoRyan: 32 - ugly ass season where almost nobody walks away from it looking better

Mana Sword: 32 - no writeup

eaed: 32 - Survivor All-Stars does have its moments when it is a lot of fun but unfortunately they are just so few and far between to keep this season from becoming bottom tier. Between grind gate 2.0, Robs betrayal with Lex, Jennas mom, targeting winners, and then everything with the reunion this season is top heavy with negativity. It really comes down to rooting for a non-strategic entity in Rupert and the lesser of three evils in Jenna Lewis for me and thats just not the best boat to be in.

Naye745: 32 - managed to make me hate a lot of characters i liked the first time. the rob and amber show took over and dominated too much of the narrative. really showed off the ways an all-returnee season can fail.

Inviso: 34 - People love to bitch about Game Changers and compare it to All-Stars, but thats REALLY not a fair comparison. At least Game Changers had some fun moments and a strong winner. All-Stars brought back a bunch of genuine Survivor legends and a few wild cards, and wouldnt you know itevery single questionable casting choice made a deep run. Now, this isnt necessarily terrible. I watch these seasons and individual entities, so if someone appears a second time, Im willing to judge them based solely on that second appearance. Unfortunately, its a VERY straight-forward season, dominated by a single player. And what makes it worse is that the season never really moves beyond its boring pacing. There are a handful of EXTREMELY uncomfortable episodes, and its just s sour season overall with almost nothing positive to look forward to in it.

Illuminatus: 35 - No writeup
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I'm about to replay 4-3. This is gonna suck.
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We're almost out of the bottom tier... which honestly has taken me far too long to post.

#30: Worlds Apart
Average Ranking: 29.27

eaed: 21 - So this season is one where I felt like it was only okay most of the way through. Which, unlike the season below it, it never really hit that drop dead boring episode. Also, unlike people I know on this board, I was a fan of the Mike show so I was able to enjoy the end of the season.

YoRyan: 25 - ups the entry for ugliness and beyond that, is rather dull.

FBike: 27 - Do not watch Worlds Apart.

Naye745: 28 - some really great characters, which i want to give the season more credit for, but damn was there just so much unpleasantness. it's hard to argue, in retrospect, that Mike was a deserving winner relative to say Carolyn or Rodney.

GTM: 30 - people were mean on this season

DoctorBlind: 31 - Too many idols and a bad cast with little to root for results in yet another recent season ruined by production.

Illuminatus: 31 - No writeup

darkx: 31 - This season had a lot of dramatic moments, and, for better or worse, almost everyone in the cast brought something to the table with, I'll say maybe one dud. But, like South Pacific, the whole thing had a very nasty vibe to it, with a few people taking things to a whole new level of "too far," including one particular episode that got way too real. Oh, and this one also had a very predictable winner. That's always nice. Even if he WAS more electric and interesting than most such winners.

BCT: 32 - Unfortunately stained by an ass berating others for no reason and a bully trying to be funnier than he actually is, Worlds Apart brought us Rodneys amusing monologues, Jenns snark, and one of the most epic immunity runs weve ever seen. Even so, this season is memorable for the wrong reasons.

Inviso: 32 - Worlds Apart is such a shame to me, because its probably the ONE season where I can honestly say that the winner ruined the season. I dont mean that Im some sort of bitter betty who hates that someone I didnt like won and the season was totally ruined you guys. No. I mean that the person who won, and the manner in which they won, led to the editors crafting one of the most unpleasant and nasty seasons ever. There is an entire alliance made up of irredeemable characters, and after a full month (four straight episodes) of watching that alliance eliminate every single player the editors bother painting as good guys, the viewers are forced to root for the last underdog. This underdog is secretly kind of an asshole as well, so the editors double down on their efforts to paint the dominant alliance as villains. It leaves you either rooting for an underdog who caused their own predicament, or just hating the season as a whole. Im in the latter group. Its just a shame, because I think the cast was actually pretty good. If Worlds Apart had a different winner, the editors cant just half-ass the edit like they did, and the season couldve at least been mid-tier.

Mana Sword: 34 - No writeup
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GTM posted...

I guess lol can apply to both morgans

What about Morgan from Guatemala? Or the Morgan tribe from Pearl Islands?
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LeonhartFour posted...

it's also based on the pun of her Japanese name

A lot of names from the fan translation do that, but as I personally haven't played through most of GK2 I feel there's not much else I can say.
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LeonhartFour posted...

although one thing they're rehashing is names that pun on the word "patrol"

Obligatory reminder that Patricia Roland is a fan name
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Peridiam posted...

As a non-Aussie, I can tell everyone that S2 of Survivor AUS is fantastic and worth watching.

That's the one that aired last year, IIRC?
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I thought we were talking about Morgan from the beauty tribe. My mistake.
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GTM posted...

lol morgan

There are two really big reasons to like her.
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LeonhartFour posted...

it's kinda weird how three different intro cases have a power outage as a key aspect of the case

Almost like they've run out of plots and started recycling. But all of them feel unique regardless.
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As a non-Kiwi, I don't believe I can pass judgment on their seasons.
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On the Survivor NZ side of things, is the yellow tribe called Khangkhaw or Khang Khaw? There's a bit of a debate going on about that.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Payne's new design and animations are fantastic

He's now a royal Payne.
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