My guess? He's a closed-minded soulless zombie. He decides who he likes episode one and doesn't change his mind. His enjoyment hinges on how well his early favorites do and nothing more; this is not how you watch reality TV. I don't understand, but to each his own.

I despise Shan, too, but I still enjoyed her as a character, especially her comeuppance being surprisingly early. That's good TV. This season is devoid of people who make good TV, and that is a fact. We can just continue laughing at him for saying something as factually incorrect as "this season is better than S42." We all knew he's wrong.

Could also be that he's a racist. I can't think of a valid reason to hate Maryanne - sure, she can be a little over-the-top with her enthusiasm at times, but that makes her endearing and real. She's a top 10 winner (not top 5) for how she played a strategy that was perfect for someone like her and her game-winner of taking Omar out was shades of Natalie Anderson. S42 had plenty of others with charisma, too - this season lacks that. I find myself rooting for nobody, which is an immediate criterion for bottom 5 consideration.

Frankly, as terrible as Edge of Extinction was due to the twist and editing, at least that had plenty of people who were fun personalities (even if Rick Devens overwhelmed them all in said poor edit). This is on par with Ghost Island, but unlike that season, the pre-merge was soulless instead of brutal and tragic. So that means bottom 3. I hope it turns around but my hopes are low.