Survivor: South Pacific

[Russ]

The first episode of Survivor 23 aired tonight, wooo. Anyone else here watch it?

 

I liked it a lot in comparison to last season... Survivor 22 was an utter catastrophe and I could write and have written literally entire essays online about why it was so horrible and had so much ruined potential. May it never be remembered.

 

Survivor 23 is off to a decent start, though. The editing was much more balanced than we got last season, it was a lot of people getting some air time instead of three or four people getting all the confessionals, and it was a legitimately unpredictable outcome as opposed to last season where it was obvious Francesca or Kristina would go. I'm liking the cast a lot so far, there's nobody besides Ozzy who stands out as particularly unlikable. Redemption Island is still an awful twist, of course, but at least all the duels will be 2-person duels this season.. 4-person "duels" in which you just need to place in the top 3 to move on? That was awful.

 

Anyone here have any favorites? I'm a big fan of Cochran and Jim thus far, and definitely prefer Savaii to Upolu.

 

(Please don't post spoilers or boot lists if any have been leaked yet.)

[hrtbrk]

YAY! People to talk about the show with!

 

So far I liked Albert, Jim, Papa Bear, Mikayla and Whitney. It would be nice if Brandon could stop mentioning that he is Russell Hantz' nephew. Did you know that he has all these neck tattoos and has to keep his shirt on because he is Russell Hantz' nephew. YES WE KNOW, CBS. IT'S ALL HE'S SAID SO FAR.

 

I mean really, it's annoying.

 

One thing that I appreciated was the tribal council layout. The vote off wasn't so predictable. It probably had most viewers believing that she was safe. Another thing that I liked was that Jim caught on to Ozzy's plan to keep the women and evict the guys. Glad that was foiled.

 

Redemption Island is more interesting that Exile Island, no matter how many flaws it has. There's nothing interesting about someone sitting on an island by themselves for a few days. I guess it's a welcomed challenge on my part.

 

Hopefully one of the challenges rewards Ozzy with a trip to the barbershop. lol That is a giant WIN in everyone's column.

[Megan Roxanne]

Hopefully one of the challenges rewards Ozzy with a trip to the barbershop. lol That is a giant WIN in everyone's column.

 

Bahahaha! I couldn't agree more hrtbrk. Although secretly, I've always been a big Ozzy fan (eleven years watching Survivor and counting!! Woot!).. he still needs a hair cut. And perhaps a mental adjustment, for thinking it was a good idea to keep Samhar.

 

The editing is much better this season, and the cast in general is just more likable. I couldn't even watch last season, it irritated me so. I love Papa Bear and Cochran. I have a feeling they will be quite entertaining in future episodes.

I cannot wait for Christine to go home... She's super cocky and kind of just bitter.. all the time. I don't like watching people like this. Same with Coach, I couldn't stand him the first time I saw him, and I still can't.

[Russ]

Albert's an odd choice as a favorite. He didn't really make any strong impression on me from the cast videos and I don't think he got a confessional in the premiere. Yeah, Brandon's whole "OMG I'M RELATED TO HANTZ" thing is annoying but I'm sure it's going to be a big part of his storyline when he's inevitably caught, distrusted and voted out. Trying to hide his tattoos was such a stupid decision; he should have just said "Yeah, I'm related to Hantz but I hate the guy and our relationship is non-existant". You can't keep a shirt on for 39 days on Survivor.

 

The editing definitelty did make the outcome less predictable this time, it was incredibly obvious just a few minutes into the last premiere that Fran or Kristina would be out. I think Redemption Island is an absolutely awful twist that completely spits on what Survivor is supposed to be about - integrating one's self into a group of people as best as one can. If you're voted out, then you've failed at the game, you've lost, and that should be the end of it. Even the Outcasts twist was better because had Morgan and Drake beaten the Outcasts tribe in the race, nobody would have returned, but with Redemption Island you're guaranteed to get somebody coming back in. It also screws with the boot order in weird ways. Like, Matt Elrod officially came in 7th place last season instead of 12th and Grant got 8th instead of 5th.

 

Lolol Ozzy's hair is awful. I guess I liked him in Cook Islands but he had virtually no personality, I thought he was okay in Micronesia. I think he gets way too much hatred from the community - casual fans overrate him and think he's like a god which is stupid, but hardcore fans usually hate him and think he's a major d-bag. (Can I say that here? I hope so. If not then just replace it with "tool.") He seems like he has a great sense of humor and is a really likable guy in person. I loved his mocking of Denise at the S16 reunion.

 

Yeah, pre-show I was into Christine, I thought she'd be like Amy O'Hara from season 11 - rough around the edges but good-hearted and really funny - but she's not. She's making literally the exact same mistakes Kristina made last season. No way Christine is making the merge, looking for the Idol without a clue that early was incredibly stupid.

 

I'm a huge Coach fan. I know that this season he'll probably get way overdone and his shtick won't be funny anymore, but I love his character and I consider S18 Coach to be right up there with Rudy, Judd and Chris as one of the funniest Survivors ever, if not the funniest.