9livescat wrote:
survivorjordancontestant wrote:
yeah the 'survival' aspect was what made the first 7 seasons interesting, all the strategy and challenges were just icing on the cake.
I think since All-Stars, the show itself started to focus too much on the "game" aspect and forgot about the whole social experiment part (and no, Cook islands was not a social experiment, it was gimmick), the stuff we remember from the early seasons were the cast, never the twists or challenges or the gameplay, but the characters. Nowadays it's all about the various twists they throw at the generic set-up of people they have. We remember people now for being players, not characters, which is kinda sad.
I also agree with whoever said there's a direct correlation between the quality of a season and the number HII's and 18+ casts. The hidden immunity idol, while it makes for interesting gameplay is just another added twist that over complicates the game letting us spend less time with the cast, same with having a cast of 18 and beyond, too many people, too crowded, none standing out until they merge.
China, with its restored 16-Castaway set-up and the elimination of Exile Island and the institution of inter-tribal relationships via the kidnapping was a step in the right direction, however Micronesia's Half-ASS gimmick and overblown cast was step back to the dark ages of Cook Islands/Fiji
NI!
