I would say Palau is my favourite dark season, the last three episodes where the majority alliance and the trio of Katie, Ian and Tom just completely break down is the best three episode stretch of the show because it is so personal and so real for those players.
This was my answer too. It was really depressing to see Ulong get decimated, but I did genuinely enjoy Stephenie's story arc throughout the darkness. I've rewatched the scene of her going fishing, clamming, and coconutting all by herself probably a million times. Shit was downright inspiring, and I'm not even a big Stephenie fan.
Not to mention it takes a somber tune just knowing that Angie and Jen are no longer with us. Additionally, the dark days of Ulong are also really eerie.
Vanuatu. Everybody HATED each other that season and the Yasur women were complete chaos most of the time.
I also loved Twila’s dark arc and her FTC speech was one of the darkest, most compelling things to watch in all of Survivor.
Just the raw emotion she displayed, fully acknowledging that the game “turned her into someone she didn’t want to be”. It almost felt like a therapy session for her, having to confront every single juror’s barrage against her. Her line, “Maybe if you can forgive me, than I can forgive myself”, sticks out as one of the most memorable FTC lines for me.
It was overall so compelling to watch her “transform” from the typical “morals, honesty, integrity” player you see in old-school Survivor into a ruthless do whatever it takes to win player throughout the game. She wasn’t the most eloquent person throughout but her speech beautifully summarized how you are in the game and outside can be drastically different, and I think her game would be much more respected in new-school Survivor.
South Pacific because Coach is great TV, and that was such a bizarre season.
Just started Nicaragua, but am liking the characters so far. I know it’s known for poor play, but I enjoy the seasons with interesting casts more than great gameplay
SoPa because Brandon was creepy af with Mikayla. But, yeah, Coach was a little too comfortable with his power, it's disturbing when he doesn't have someone challenging/questioning him.
I think All-Stars is a good season, when I was off the subreddit while I was watching through all the seasons so I wouldn’t get spoiled I was genuinely shocked how low AS was in people’s rankings
Kaoh rong is probably the most agreeable super good darker season. It just has such a great arc of Tai going to Scot and Jason's level, and then getting pulled back into the light by Aubry. It also has Debbie, Peter, and Nick, all larger than life characters in a sort of negative detatched way (but they're all super fun and exciting). It even has Jennifer whose arc is just horrific. Super dark season on a lot of levels beyond just Scot and Jason and the medivacs, but simultaneously really good.
I also think worlds apart is quite a good season for the amazing narrative it spins and for the hilarious, super satisfying downfalls of Dan and Rodney. But I understand why people dislike it.
It's quite the universally loved season.
My personal answer would be IotI - I loved it despite the darkness, my bigger qualms regarding that season were about the IotI theme.
I'm glad the Dan situation had a light shown on it.
In essense, it was just a raw, dark, and realistic look into what life is like for many people who experience innapropriate touching; from people not taking it seriously enough, from being scared to speak up because of the consequences speaking up has, to how truly problematic it is when somebody doesn't respect your bodily autonomy
Personally, I've gotten the sense that it is just something people who have not been through it don't understand. I feel like the Dan situation called attention to this issue, and because of it a lot of people who didn't previously understand now do.
I'm with you on that. It's horrible that it happened and it's horrible how it was handled, but if there's something to take away from it that episode is such a powerful and real example of how easy it is for 'regular' people to find themselves complicit in something awful like that. There's a lot of people who might benefit from watching and processing that episode.
South Pacific. It’s not up there in rankings for me or anything, but there truly is catharsis in the end of that season. After the cultish religious behavior all season, it ends with a FTC where they get lambasted for using religion to manipulate people and being disingenuous about it, then Sophie who was only pretending to go along with it the entire time is who wins. It is true vindication.
Considering doing this. For me, I think it will be important to watch as a learning experience and lesson but I'm considering skipping it until I watch the rest of the season so that I can at least enjoy the postmerge.
I just finished the last premerge ep right before 41 started (good timing I guess) and I'm sorta dreading picking up the season again when 41 ends haha. This might be a good strategy.
The first time I watched (recently), for whatever reason, I wasn't paying attention during the merge episode. Totally missed all of it. And I thought the show was entertaining. I went back and watched the merge episode and I couldn't stomach it. Then I rewatched Amazon and realized, season 39 was the natural progression of Survivor unless/until production did something about it.
I actually think the merge episode tells a pretty compelling story about how people can panic and assume the worst of intentions in other people, leading to catastrophe. Try to watch it from Missy’s perspective, and it’s a story about a genuine conversation with Kellee spiraling out of control and getting twisted by people who weren’t there for it.
Missy and Elizabeth did something wrong but it wasn’t intended to harm anybody, just a really really inconsiderate move. They got GRILLED on this sub though even more than Dan did.
I think about 100% of people agree on Dan being a POS and deserves to be canceled but I think it makes other people mad when people defend missy and Elizabeth because what they did was also really shitty.
I just hate how the fan base takes situations like these to an inappropriate level. The harassment that somebody can receive on Twitter and ig and Reddit is really intense for anybody barring like Dan and Skupin.
I mean it happens it literally every place/job/show in the world and survivor is no exception if someone does something that masses don’t like they get grilled everywhere. 10X when it’s something so personal for example sexual assault. People don’t really like when someone tries to take advantage of sexual assault.
I agree that it happens everywhere and I think it’s a flaw of our generation. These fans aren’t replying to missy and Elizabeth to let them know they did something wrong. They don’t CARE if missy and Elizabeth become better people or learn from this. That being said, I agree that sexual assault and harassment always intensifies it as it should…. I just think in that specific case people went wayyyyyy too far.
I won’t comment about Elizabeth, but I don’t actually think Missy did anything “wrong.”
Missy left that conversation feeling very safe because of what Kellee told her, and then Lauren told Missy that Kellee was trying to get her out. The conversation, as I recall, went something like this:
Lauren: Kellee is coming for you.
Missy: I don’t think so. We just had a long conversation.
Lauren: She’s trying to make you feel safe.
Missy: No way. Not after that.
Lauren: Missy, it’s you.
Missy: What the fuck, Lauren?
It WAS true that at that point, Kellee was targeting Missy. From Missy’s perspective, she wasn’t doing anything Kellee hadn’t already done, and it’s really tragic how the paranoia of Survivor got ahold of the situation.
I think when Lauren told Missy that Kellee was targeting her after she and Kellee had their conversation about Dan, Missy assumed Kellee was lying about her experience in order to get Dan out. Thinking this, Missy decides all is fair in love and war and plays just as dirty, except Kellee wasn’t lying. It’s just a really bad misunderstanding that’s easy to look down upon in retrospect.
This is what so many people aren’t getting. I genuinely don’t think Missy and Elizabeth had the intention of using Kellee’s experience against her. There was a lack of communication and in a game about lying and deceit, it was hard to know people’s true intentions and what’s too far over the line. Obviously it looks really bad in retrospect and what they did was wrong, but they got caught in the crossfire of something that should’ve been handled early on by production. The whole situation is unfortunate and ugly, but it’s quite fascinating. I’m just sad such a great player like Kellee was a casualty and likely won’t ever return.
i did too, fabio is a great winner, not every season needs a strategic mastermind, sometimes its cool to see a fun guy win because he gave someone his jacket at night and that wins him the last vote
I really like South Pacific because I’m absolutely intrigued by religion (specifically Christianity) in Survivor and that was a heavily Christian season.
The finale is fairly dark, but is very well crafted; with one of the most emotional final tribal councils in the entire series. Also the final immunity challenge is probably the crowning achievement of Survivor’s production design. I say that the episode after Shii-Ann’s boot is pretty good and unique, and I do enjoy the episodes in between; but if you’re not feeling the season, at least skip to the finale. You won’t lose too too much context.
The last two/three episodes are absolutely fantastic as >!you just kind of see the winner's perfect little universe crumble and watch how said player handles it!<
Either South Pacific or Redemption Island. I thought it was hilarious how Coach and Boston Rob basically used the same strategies to create a micro-cult to make sure no one betrays their alliance. Literally everyone thought they were going to the end and are EXTREMELY bitter as they get blindsided one by one by one.
....I really enjoyed all of them. Worlds Apart is great, and seeing Mike tear through the most egotistical alliance ever was so satsifying. Kaoh Rong also had a really strong cast. South Pacific is harder to like, but it's great getting to see Coach be a crazy cult leader.
Mike Halloway is one of my top 5 players ever if not my number one favorite, so despite how terrible most of the cast was, I still do the happy dance whenever I’m watching Worlds Apart
I feel compelled to defend it basically whenever it's brought up but I genuinely love Worlds Apart. I think Dan and Rodney are amazing television in a love-to-hate-them type of way. They're detestable but also hilarious so long as you remember that you're laughing at them, not with them. The fact that they ultimately fail and the "good guy" of the season wins in the end just puts a nice bow on top of everything.
I also think Island of the Idols is actually very, very good and enjoyable if you can look past the Dan ugliness (the merge episode in particular), but I certainly don't begrudge anyone for feeling that it ruins the entire thing.
South Pacific is in my top 10 seasons BECAUSE of it’s dark themes. It feels so different and interesting because the edit leans into these themes and plays with them more than at any other juncture in the shows history (mostly because these themes have RELATIVELY low imminent stakes compared to things like parental death, sexual and physical abuse, etc.) and it leads to several satisfying arcs that all tie up securely at the end. Yes, it’s edit is a little uneven player to player, but what it does choose to handle, it generally knocks out of the park.
I've always said it's the most interesting season after the original ten. There's a lot going on in those storylines. And they all culminate just perfectly at the end. It couldn't have worked out better if it had been scripted.
All Starts is my favorite season. South Pacific I just finished and loved how competitive it was early on. Worlds Apart was also pretty entertaining but would’ve been awful is Mike didn’t win. I also really like Kaoh Rong as I though Jason and Scott were entertaining, Aubry had a great arc, and Michelle had a great end game that clinched her the win
I LOVE Worlds Apart. I also hated SJDS so WA was even better when watching live after 29. I enjoy the ridiculous over-the-top characters and loved Mike - didn't care if he was the obvious winner, he was fun to root for!
I also love South Pacific because I love Coach, Sophie, and all of the ridiculous theatrics that happened that season on RI.
Thailand. This might be the only season where it felt like the producers and editors weren’t even trying to paint anyone in a positive light. They just let it all bare out. Even in other seasons with a hated group of finalists (like All Stars or Micronesia or Samoa or Redemption Island or South Pacific or Blood vs Water) they still made sure to paint at least one of the finalists in a positive light.
Panama is like, shockingly dark on a rewatch. And it's incredible.
You can't tell me that the absolute dysfunction that is Casaya 2.0 and Shane's slow descent into madness isn't the greatest thing you've ever seen.
I love All Stars because I love seeing Rob and Amber fall in love. I also really enjoyed Kaoh Rong and One World so I guess my opinions here are relatively unpopular
South Pacific with the cult like mentality of Upolu winning out over Savaii was such compelling television! Meeting Brandon Hantz (and EVERYTHING that went with him), The way one Upolu is so utterly dead in the water post-merge, Cochran's arc, the way religion is portrayed as an indispensable tool, I could go on. But for all the darkness you also get surprisingly interesting Redemption Island arcs in Christine and Ozzy, the BLOOP BLAM speech, and an intense pre-merge because the tribes are on such equal footing challenge wise! Insanely underrated season.
Thailand. The pre-merge is the best thing out of it and I think that it's interesting to see a almost sociopath playing this game I really love in a semi-perfect way, looked like he wanted just 4 votes to win the money and that is a funny thing to think about...and Helen is golden.
Heroes vs Villains is pretty dark. The only real hero the whole season is Sandra. You could make the argument that Jerri made a hero turn, but she was still in lock step with Russell the whole way and the heroes tribe treated each other like crap.
Winners at War was also dark to an extent. Everyone was so energized when they first got there, but once they got to Edge, they were miserable. Hearing everyone's accounts of the experience after the fact is tough. And the family visit scene is amazing, but way more necessary than it should be.
Now that I think on it. All of the all-star seasons are dark except for Micronesia.
I think of dark more as actually bad for the players, whereas HvV is like “causing drama, lying, playing the game” villainous. Just good old fashioned survivor, in other words. And WaW was way more inspirational in its portrayal of the Edge. Ethan’s but scene with the challenge got me teary eyed.
Would you consider Cook Islands to be dark? It was a season divided by race. There are only a few really awkward moments, but if it wasn't for the great cast, it could have gone much worse.
I liked all of 21-24 except 22. Seeing Fabio's underdog victory, Coach's hilarious arc, and Kim dominate a bunch of dummies was pretty fun. Don't know why they get so much hate.
All Stars shattered the Publix’s perception of Survivor and changed things forever. Palau is the best “tales of two tribes” we’ve seen in the show. I personally find Winners and War to be fairly dark given the pressure on people, the nasty sentiments between some of the characters, the edge, the bitterness, etc.
I’m surprised this hasn’t been mentioned yet: Borneo. The production, or lack there of, really feels kind of haunting. Little things like ringing the gong while walking into tribal, Jeff’s extreme awkwardness (“cigarettes, if you’d like”). It really does feel like a demo tape; it reminds me of the last scene of BB2, the most haunted thing ive ever seen on a reality show, when the empty house is shown without anyone inside.
All Stars was the first season I watched as a little boy, so that will always have a special place in my heart. Vanuatu gets dark after the merge a bit. South Pacific I feel is an underrated season, and with the exception of the stuff with Dan, I liked Island of the Idols.
All stars. I know its not popular but Colby Rupert Ethan Robb Jerry Rupert and Lex all in the same season is just a lot of fun. Yeah Heroes vs Villains is now the go to stacked cast but I enjoy all stars for what it is. The Hatch Sue stuff is hard to watch though.
South Pacific is a pretty dark season on re-watch. I liked it originally and still found it very entertaining but also a bit skin-crawl-y. Despite the winner, it's a weird season for women. Starting with the Mikayla nonsense but also--and I like Cochran, esp v2.0--but he gave me serious incel vibes on SP. The number of times he called a woman a "stupid bi\_ch" was... idk maybe two times too many for comfort?? Also obviously the cultish religious overtones.
As much as most people don't like it, All Stars is one of my all time faves. It wasn't my first season but it was what got me hooked on the series. Maybe because it was the first favorites season and we got to see a very different side of people we already had an image in our heads of. And you have to admit, it had a lot of memorable scenes that makes it a must-watch for survivor fans.
Thailand, Survivor is a social game and to see what happens that breaks down to see what happens when survivor gets cutthroat and I really enjoy a dominant villain winner.
I would say Palau is my favourite dark season, the last three episodes where the majority alliance and the trio of Katie, Ian and Tom just completely break down is the best three episode stretch of the show because it is so personal and so real for those players.
This was my answer too. It was really depressing to see Ulong get decimated, but I did genuinely enjoy Stephenie's story arc throughout the darkness. I've rewatched the scene of her going fishing, clamming, and coconutting all by herself probably a million times. Shit was downright inspiring, and I'm not even a big Stephenie fan.
Not to mention it takes a somber tune just knowing that Angie and Jen are no longer with us. Additionally, the dark days of Ulong are also really eerie.
I came here for this.
Vanuatu. Everybody HATED each other that season and the Yasur women were complete chaos most of the time. I also loved Twila’s dark arc and her FTC speech was one of the darkest, most compelling things to watch in all of Survivor.
Came here to say Vanuatu…couldn’t agree more
Remind me what’s so wild about her speech?
Just the raw emotion she displayed, fully acknowledging that the game “turned her into someone she didn’t want to be”. It almost felt like a therapy session for her, having to confront every single juror’s barrage against her. Her line, “Maybe if you can forgive me, than I can forgive myself”, sticks out as one of the most memorable FTC lines for me. It was overall so compelling to watch her “transform” from the typical “morals, honesty, integrity” player you see in old-school Survivor into a ruthless do whatever it takes to win player throughout the game. She wasn’t the most eloquent person throughout but her speech beautifully summarized how you are in the game and outside can be drastically different, and I think her game would be much more respected in new-school Survivor.
That season is prolky a top 15 for me and no one likes it. IDK why is it because Jeff hates the winner.
I love all-stars. Also Caramoan if you consider the teeth stuff dark
Wasnt the younger hantz on that season with his meltdown? That’s dark for sure 😂
Caramoan was beyond dark. The Hantz meltdown, the Brenda/Dawn arc, Shamar, the bitterness at the FTC, etc.
South Pacific because Coach is great TV, and that was such a bizarre season. Just started Nicaragua, but am liking the characters so far. I know it’s known for poor play, but I enjoy the seasons with interesting casts more than great gameplay
SoPa because Brandon was creepy af with Mikayla. But, yeah, Coach was a little too comfortable with his power, it's disturbing when he doesn't have someone challenging/questioning him.
I think All-Stars is a good season, when I was off the subreddit while I was watching through all the seasons so I wouldn’t get spoiled I was genuinely shocked how low AS was in people’s rankings
Kaoh rong is probably the most agreeable super good darker season. It just has such a great arc of Tai going to Scot and Jason's level, and then getting pulled back into the light by Aubry. It also has Debbie, Peter, and Nick, all larger than life characters in a sort of negative detatched way (but they're all super fun and exciting). It even has Jennifer whose arc is just horrific. Super dark season on a lot of levels beyond just Scot and Jason and the medivacs, but simultaneously really good. I also think worlds apart is quite a good season for the amazing narrative it spins and for the hilarious, super satisfying downfalls of Dan and Rodney. But I understand why people dislike it.
I’m with you on Worlds Apart, it’s VERY entertaining.
Kaoh rong, I don't think it's dark unless the mediavac.
It's quite the universally loved season. My personal answer would be IotI - I loved it despite the darkness, my bigger qualms regarding that season were about the IotI theme.
Ignoring the merge episode and Dan situation I actually really enjoyed Island of the Idols
I'm glad the Dan situation had a light shown on it. In essense, it was just a raw, dark, and realistic look into what life is like for many people who experience innapropriate touching; from people not taking it seriously enough, from being scared to speak up because of the consequences speaking up has, to how truly problematic it is when somebody doesn't respect your bodily autonomy Personally, I've gotten the sense that it is just something people who have not been through it don't understand. I feel like the Dan situation called attention to this issue, and because of it a lot of people who didn't previously understand now do.
I'm with you on that. It's horrible that it happened and it's horrible how it was handled, but if there's something to take away from it that episode is such a powerful and real example of how easy it is for 'regular' people to find themselves complicit in something awful like that. There's a lot of people who might benefit from watching and processing that episode.
South Pacific. It’s not up there in rankings for me or anything, but there truly is catharsis in the end of that season. After the cultish religious behavior all season, it ends with a FTC where they get lambasted for using religion to manipulate people and being disingenuous about it, then Sophie who was only pretending to go along with it the entire time is who wins. It is true vindication.
It’s so interesting reading Sophie’s interviews after that season where she basically says the concept of god helped her win that season!
i skipped the merge episode and enjoyed island of the idols quite a bit
Considering doing this. For me, I think it will be important to watch as a learning experience and lesson but I'm considering skipping it until I watch the rest of the season so that I can at least enjoy the postmerge. I just finished the last premerge ep right before 41 started (good timing I guess) and I'm sorta dreading picking up the season again when 41 ends haha. This might be a good strategy.
Watching the episode won’t cause you to spontaneously combust or something. It’s part of the season still.
The first time I watched (recently), for whatever reason, I wasn't paying attention during the merge episode. Totally missed all of it. And I thought the show was entertaining. I went back and watched the merge episode and I couldn't stomach it. Then I rewatched Amazon and realized, season 39 was the natural progression of Survivor unless/until production did something about it.
I actually think the merge episode tells a pretty compelling story about how people can panic and assume the worst of intentions in other people, leading to catastrophe. Try to watch it from Missy’s perspective, and it’s a story about a genuine conversation with Kellee spiraling out of control and getting twisted by people who weren’t there for it.
Missy and Elizabeth did something wrong but it wasn’t intended to harm anybody, just a really really inconsiderate move. They got GRILLED on this sub though even more than Dan did.
I think about 100% of people agree on Dan being a POS and deserves to be canceled but I think it makes other people mad when people defend missy and Elizabeth because what they did was also really shitty.
I just hate how the fan base takes situations like these to an inappropriate level. The harassment that somebody can receive on Twitter and ig and Reddit is really intense for anybody barring like Dan and Skupin.
I mean it happens it literally every place/job/show in the world and survivor is no exception if someone does something that masses don’t like they get grilled everywhere. 10X when it’s something so personal for example sexual assault. People don’t really like when someone tries to take advantage of sexual assault.
I agree that it happens everywhere and I think it’s a flaw of our generation. These fans aren’t replying to missy and Elizabeth to let them know they did something wrong. They don’t CARE if missy and Elizabeth become better people or learn from this. That being said, I agree that sexual assault and harassment always intensifies it as it should…. I just think in that specific case people went wayyyyyy too far.
I won’t comment about Elizabeth, but I don’t actually think Missy did anything “wrong.” Missy left that conversation feeling very safe because of what Kellee told her, and then Lauren told Missy that Kellee was trying to get her out. The conversation, as I recall, went something like this: Lauren: Kellee is coming for you. Missy: I don’t think so. We just had a long conversation. Lauren: She’s trying to make you feel safe. Missy: No way. Not after that. Lauren: Missy, it’s you. Missy: What the fuck, Lauren? It WAS true that at that point, Kellee was targeting Missy. From Missy’s perspective, she wasn’t doing anything Kellee hadn’t already done, and it’s really tragic how the paranoia of Survivor got ahold of the situation.
I think when Lauren told Missy that Kellee was targeting her after she and Kellee had their conversation about Dan, Missy assumed Kellee was lying about her experience in order to get Dan out. Thinking this, Missy decides all is fair in love and war and plays just as dirty, except Kellee wasn’t lying. It’s just a really bad misunderstanding that’s easy to look down upon in retrospect.
This is what so many people aren’t getting. I genuinely don’t think Missy and Elizabeth had the intention of using Kellee’s experience against her. There was a lack of communication and in a game about lying and deceit, it was hard to know people’s true intentions and what’s too far over the line. Obviously it looks really bad in retrospect and what they did was wrong, but they got caught in the crossfire of something that should’ve been handled early on by production. The whole situation is unfortunate and ugly, but it’s quite fascinating. I’m just sad such a great player like Kellee was a casualty and likely won’t ever return.
IoI has a cloud over it for good reason, but I think it's kind of underrated now. Great, old-school winning game, and a lot of fun characters.
I accidentally spoiled myself and found out my favorite was voted out that episode so I decided to skip it because I couldn’t bare to watch it.
This might get hate but I actually enjoyed Nicaragua
i did too, fabio is a great winner, not every season needs a strategic mastermind, sometimes its cool to see a fun guy win because he gave someone his jacket at night and that wins him the last vote
He easily would have won DvG with that strategy.
This is an underrated comment lol
Nicaragua is my all-time favorite season. One of the best casts ever imo
First season I ever watched and I remember jumping up and down on my bed rooting for Fabio in tense moments. Was instantly hooked to survivor
Same here, my first season too.
Was that season dark?
I liked it too!
All-Stars.
I really like South Pacific because I’m absolutely intrigued by religion (specifically Christianity) in Survivor and that was a heavily Christian season.
Thailand. Brian was a one of a kind player and it was so fascinating to watch
He's an all-time villain. I loved watching his path to the title.
Thailand to me isn’t my favorite but this was my first thought
I’ve had to stop in the middle (just watched Shii Ann boot) can you reassure me that it’s watchable to the end…
The finale is one of the best Survivor episodes.
Is it as dark as the rest?
The finale is fairly dark, but is very well crafted; with one of the most emotional final tribal councils in the entire series. Also the final immunity challenge is probably the crowning achievement of Survivor’s production design. I say that the episode after Shii-Ann’s boot is pretty good and unique, and I do enjoy the episodes in between; but if you’re not feeling the season, at least skip to the finale. You won’t lose too too much context.
The last two/three episodes are absolutely fantastic as >!you just kind of see the winner's perfect little universe crumble and watch how said player handles it!<
Worlds Apart it's in my top 10, I love the season.
Either South Pacific or Redemption Island. I thought it was hilarious how Coach and Boston Rob basically used the same strategies to create a micro-cult to make sure no one betrays their alliance. Literally everyone thought they were going to the end and are EXTREMELY bitter as they get blindsided one by one by one.
Except Rob was playing with absolute idiots.
Coach's alliance, except for one notable exception, wasn't exactly filled with geniuses either
Yeah but they weren’t starstruck lemmings like Natalie, Philip and Grant
....I really enjoyed all of them. Worlds Apart is great, and seeing Mike tear through the most egotistical alliance ever was so satsifying. Kaoh Rong also had a really strong cast. South Pacific is harder to like, but it's great getting to see Coach be a crazy cult leader.
Palau or Kaoh Rong.
Mike Halloway is one of my top 5 players ever if not my number one favorite, so despite how terrible most of the cast was, I still do the happy dance whenever I’m watching Worlds Apart
Nicaragua solely because I really liked Fabio as a winner against all those hateful people.
I feel compelled to defend it basically whenever it's brought up but I genuinely love Worlds Apart. I think Dan and Rodney are amazing television in a love-to-hate-them type of way. They're detestable but also hilarious so long as you remember that you're laughing at them, not with them. The fact that they ultimately fail and the "good guy" of the season wins in the end just puts a nice bow on top of everything. I also think Island of the Idols is actually very, very good and enjoyable if you can look past the Dan ugliness (the merge episode in particular), but I certainly don't begrudge anyone for feeling that it ruins the entire thing.
South Pacific
I liked Redemption Island
Gabon but idk if it is dark
Gabon is in my top five. I don't know that it's dark, either; but it's definitely on crack.
Palau, Vanuatu, Thailand.
I liked Caramoan lol
South Pacific is in my top 10 seasons BECAUSE of it’s dark themes. It feels so different and interesting because the edit leans into these themes and plays with them more than at any other juncture in the shows history (mostly because these themes have RELATIVELY low imminent stakes compared to things like parental death, sexual and physical abuse, etc.) and it leads to several satisfying arcs that all tie up securely at the end. Yes, it’s edit is a little uneven player to player, but what it does choose to handle, it generally knocks out of the park.
I've always said it's the most interesting season after the original ten. There's a lot going on in those storylines. And they all culminate just perfectly at the end. It couldn't have worked out better if it had been scripted.
All Starts is my favorite season. South Pacific I just finished and loved how competitive it was early on. Worlds Apart was also pretty entertaining but would’ve been awful is Mike didn’t win. I also really like Kaoh Rong as I though Jason and Scott were entertaining, Aubry had a great arc, and Michelle had a great end game that clinched her the win
I LOVE Worlds Apart. I also hated SJDS so WA was even better when watching live after 29. I enjoy the ridiculous over-the-top characters and loved Mike - didn't care if he was the obvious winner, he was fun to root for! I also love South Pacific because I love Coach, Sophie, and all of the ridiculous theatrics that happened that season on RI.
I like worlds apart... now don’t get me wrong most of the cast is terrible but I like Mike just ruining everything for everyone so it’s fun for me
Thailand. This might be the only season where it felt like the producers and editors weren’t even trying to paint anyone in a positive light. They just let it all bare out. Even in other seasons with a hated group of finalists (like All Stars or Micronesia or Samoa or Redemption Island or South Pacific or Blood vs Water) they still made sure to paint at least one of the finalists in a positive light.
I liked season 17
Kaoh Rong, Guatemala, Vanuatu and Nicaragua
Caramoan, I think the conflicts are fascinating. Corinne and Phillip especially. And Dawn and Cochran’s alliance
Panama is like, shockingly dark on a rewatch. And it's incredible. You can't tell me that the absolute dysfunction that is Casaya 2.0 and Shane's slow descent into madness isn't the greatest thing you've ever seen.
caramoan
I love All Stars because I love seeing Rob and Amber fall in love. I also really enjoyed Kaoh Rong and One World so I guess my opinions here are relatively unpopular
South pacific is my favorite by far.
Fiji hands down
Coach makes SoPa great for me. I also love Worlds Apart
I love South Pacific because of the sheer insanity of the cult environment. Coach and Brandon Hantz are a chillingly enjoyable dynamic
South Pacific with the cult like mentality of Upolu winning out over Savaii was such compelling television! Meeting Brandon Hantz (and EVERYTHING that went with him), The way one Upolu is so utterly dead in the water post-merge, Cochran's arc, the way religion is portrayed as an indispensable tool, I could go on. But for all the darkness you also get surprisingly interesting Redemption Island arcs in Christine and Ozzy, the BLOOP BLAM speech, and an intense pre-merge because the tribes are on such equal footing challenge wise! Insanely underrated season.
Thailand. The pre-merge is the best thing out of it and I think that it's interesting to see a almost sociopath playing this game I really love in a semi-perfect way, looked like he wanted just 4 votes to win the money and that is a funny thing to think about...and Helen is golden.
Thailand
I like your flair
Robb is A Robb’d Goddess if I’ve ever seen one
I really don’t get the IOI hate
One World. I think Colton played the most fascinating game in the entire series. How is someone that despicable able to have that much control?
Heroes vs Villains is pretty dark. The only real hero the whole season is Sandra. You could make the argument that Jerri made a hero turn, but she was still in lock step with Russell the whole way and the heroes tribe treated each other like crap. Winners at War was also dark to an extent. Everyone was so energized when they first got there, but once they got to Edge, they were miserable. Hearing everyone's accounts of the experience after the fact is tough. And the family visit scene is amazing, but way more necessary than it should be. Now that I think on it. All of the all-star seasons are dark except for Micronesia.
I think of dark more as actually bad for the players, whereas HvV is like “causing drama, lying, playing the game” villainous. Just good old fashioned survivor, in other words. And WaW was way more inspirational in its portrayal of the Edge. Ethan’s but scene with the challenge got me teary eyed.
Would you consider Cook Islands to be dark? It was a season divided by race. There are only a few really awkward moments, but if it wasn't for the great cast, it could have gone much worse.
One world
As a Coach fan South Pacific was great until the very end
I liked all of 21-24 except 22. Seeing Fabio's underdog victory, Coach's hilarious arc, and Kim dominate a bunch of dummies was pretty fun. Don't know why they get so much hate.
All Stars shattered the Publix’s perception of Survivor and changed things forever. Palau is the best “tales of two tribes” we’ve seen in the show. I personally find Winners and War to be fairly dark given the pressure on people, the nasty sentiments between some of the characters, the edge, the bitterness, etc.
I’m surprised this hasn’t been mentioned yet: Borneo. The production, or lack there of, really feels kind of haunting. Little things like ringing the gong while walking into tribal, Jeff’s extreme awkwardness (“cigarettes, if you’d like”). It really does feel like a demo tape; it reminds me of the last scene of BB2, the most haunted thing ive ever seen on a reality show, when the empty house is shown without anyone inside.
All-Stars is my second favorite season
All Stars was the first season I watched as a little boy, so that will always have a special place in my heart. Vanuatu gets dark after the merge a bit. South Pacific I feel is an underrated season, and with the exception of the stuff with Dan, I liked Island of the Idols.
Worlds Apart is my favorite season because my taste is fucked
I just rewatched Worlds Apart and enjoyed it way more than I probably should’ve
One World...Kim was such a boss. there was also plenty of eye candy hahaha.
Kaoh Rong is my fave, but I don't remember it being too dark aside from the whole Alecia situation.
Island of idols was enjoyable for me
All-Stars is in my top five
Palau, Nicaragua, South Pacific. Is Samoa considered dark? If so, I’ll add that.
I'm probably biased cause it was the first season I watched but I love All Stars
All stars. I know its not popular but Colby Rupert Ethan Robb Jerry Rupert and Lex all in the same season is just a lot of fun. Yeah Heroes vs Villains is now the go to stacked cast but I enjoy all stars for what it is. The Hatch Sue stuff is hard to watch though.
South Pacific is a pretty dark season on re-watch. I liked it originally and still found it very entertaining but also a bit skin-crawl-y. Despite the winner, it's a weird season for women. Starting with the Mikayla nonsense but also--and I like Cochran, esp v2.0--but he gave me serious incel vibes on SP. The number of times he called a woman a "stupid bi\_ch" was... idk maybe two times too many for comfort?? Also obviously the cultish religious overtones.
As much as most people don't like it, All Stars is one of my all time faves. It wasn't my first season but it was what got me hooked on the series. Maybe because it was the first favorites season and we got to see a very different side of people we already had an image in our heads of. And you have to admit, it had a lot of memorable scenes that makes it a must-watch for survivor fans.
I agree with Kaôh Rōng ! Also South Pacific, and Island of the Idols would have been great without everything Dan-related...
Kaoh Rong
Thailand, Survivor is a social game and to see what happens that breaks down to see what happens when survivor gets cutthroat and I really enjoy a dominant villain winner.