my fav survivor seasons!

Ok I am hyperfixating on Survivor rn so here are my favorite seasons in detail, with favorite players, moments, etc. WARNING! HEAVY SPOILERS!

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Here it is, in chronological order:

Survivor 1: Borneo - I'd be a fool to not consider the first season as it set the pace for the rest of the game. Obviously Richard, Susan, Rudy, and Kelly were legendary players, but I also love Greg and Colleen just for their vibes. Susan's "Snake and Rat" speech was one of the most iconic and amazing moments ever. Nothing else needs to be said, it was just a great start to the show.

Survivor 7: Pearl Islands - I don't really have to say much for this if you have seen the season. It was Sandra's first win, Rupert was our little hippie pirate, and Jonny Fairplay lied about his grandmother dying. Iconic.

Survivor 12: Panama - Okay, gonna go on record and say this, seasons prior to this just weren't all that great, sorry. Panama had the introduction of age vs age theme, which was controversial because Melinda and Bobby, each 32 years old, were placed on the older tribes. Luckily, the personalities of the season overshadowed this controversy. Courtney is low-key a nutcase, Shane is a complete nutcase. Cirie is our favorite former couch potato, and Terry and Aras are just two lovable guys. Off camera, Shane also allegedly (but almost entirely proven) found a washed up brick of not Coca-Cola, touched it, felt "tingly", and had it taken away by production. This is even more hilarious when it is considered that this was right before the beginning of Shane's meltdowns. And again, Cirie. Enough said.

Survivor 13: Cook Islands - Another bad start with what was basically a race war, but with it came the most diversity seen thus far in the game. Cao-Boi marking everyone's heads and also inventing the split-vote. Candice was loved for reasons I do not understand. The infamous Becky vs Sundra fire-making challenge that really showed that neither of them could ever win the million dollars. And the season gave us some of the best Survivor players: Parvati, Jonathan Penner, Ozzy, and Yul. Couple unpopular(?) opinions: Ozzy is annoying and Yul is one of the best winners (and also kinda hot). The Aitu Four was one of the most insane alliances ever and it truly changed alliances in the game forever.

Survivor 15: China - Oh Poor James, Superman gravedigger, goes home with two idols. Holy. Crap. We also got some amazing players in Todd, Amanda, Courtney, and Denise (I refuse to acknowledge Peih-Gee as a good player)(Frosti can also be debated to be on this list). Courtney and Jean-Roberts feud was also epic. It must be mentioned, however, that this season had an abysmal reunion show and Jeff was being kinda weird and asking bad questions. Mr. Probst, I do not care about Courtney's weight or Erik's virginity, jeez.

Survivor 16: Micronesia/Fans vs Favorites - Widely considered one the best seasons ever, and for good reasons. It has some of my favorite moments such as "It's just a f-ing stick", Jonathan's medevac (let me go cry in a corner omg), the entirety of the Cat and Mouse challenge but mainly just Chet and Joel not getting along, the black widow alliance, and of course "I'm giving my immunity to Nat." There is so much that I'm even going to start talking about because I will never stop.

Survivor 18: Tocatins - I like this season for 5 simple reasons, Tyson, JT, Stephen, Coach, and "See you back at the camp!!"

Survivor 19: Samoa - Russell Hantz. RUSSELL HANTZ. The Survivor villain. Also we love Danger Dave and Shambo. But back to Russell, holy crap was this guy insane. He looks like a pitbull and acts like a gremlin and he’s awesome. Also I gotta touch on Russell Swan looking like he died, that was actually terrifying.

Survivor 20: Heroes vs Villains - Omg I love this season. There is not a single cast member who I didn’t enjoy watching, except Sugar. I love Courtney mocking Russell, it is actually hilarious. And the feuds!! Rob vs Russell, Sandra vs Russell, Everyone vs Russell. And I gotta mention how heart-breaking Coach’s little “am I the bad guy” moment was. No matter how delusional he is, he’s still human.

Survivor 22: Redemption Island - Rob vs Russell is back! And it brought Phillip and “Fransesqua, Franceswa, Francessa” (EDIT: tbh this season sucked, I just really like Rob and Russell. Also Stephanie's chaotic-evil nature was hilarious)

Survivor 32: Kaoh Rong - Jumping forward a bit, holy heck this season was awesome. I first must talk about episode 4, the episode with 3 medical emergencies. Debbie, Cydney, and Caleb all collectively got heat stroke due to one of the most exhausting challenges ever. Obviously I love Tai because he’s just a little nature dude. I actually really didn’t like Debbie because she’s annoying. And Michelle’s win… I’m not going to say it wasn’t deserved because she did deserve it. The “Eliminate a Juror” twist was probably the worst twist ever. It actually boils my blood, it’s so bad. Neil should have stayed on the jury and laid into Michelle for her gameplay and it would have been potentially equally iconic as the “Snake and Rat” speech.

Survivor 34: Game Changer - “I'm out. I’m looking for the idol woohohooohooo!!!” This season was so good but I’m biased because it’s the first season I ever watched. The coffee sugar feud between Michaela and JT was hilarious. Then we obviously have Zeke being outed as trans by Jeff Varner. Debbie officially lost her marbles. That challenge where everyone helped Cirie get across that balance beam. Cirie later got voted out by default because everyone else had immunity and you literally vote for only Cirie. Also the final tribal council had the first jury discussion rather than the jury taking turns. That tribal was hilarious because the entire jury collectively forgot Troyzan existed most of the time.

Survivor 37: David vs Goliath - “Natalie can I have your jacket?” This season is one of my favorites because it's just so funny. I love Christian Hubicki with all of my heart. From that 5-hour challenge that he turned into a 20-questions, to playing in the sand with Gabby, to being an honorary Brochacho, I love everything he does. Pat’s medevac was devastating. Gabby was a mess and I loved her for it. Mike has all of my respect, less for his gameplay and more for being the wine-stepmom of the group (and for writing School of Rock). Also, as an avid wrestling fan, I loved seeing John Morrison, Mayor of Slamtown, take on Survivor. 

Survivor 40: Winners at War - We waited so long for this but it was so worth it. The cast was amazing! Natalie is actually a beast, idk how she does it. Rob and Amber were so cute and I loved seeing all their girls on the loved ones visit. Ethan made me cry so many times. Yul also managed to make me cry with his story about Jonathan Penner’s wife (RIP Stacy Title). Seeing Parvati grow into that role of being a mom was so cool. Seeing Sandra retire Survivor actually killed me. Wendell made me want to gouge out my eyes, he’s probably the only cast-member I didn’t like this season. I was so happy to see Cops R’ Us back together, and Tony deserved that win completely.