1. Borneo - the first and still the best. A cast full of huge characters, great gameplay, awesome blindsides, and a fantastic final TC. Richard's win set
the tone for the entire series.
2. Africa - this season gets a lot of flack because of the setting and slightly predictable ending, but it can't be forgotten that it had probably the funniest Survivor of all time in Big Tom, plus a series of epic meltdowns, paranoia, and betrayal where Lex was concerned. The all-time best Survivor auction, the first Survivor twist, and some really great blindsides.
3. Palau - Sure, the winner was obvious from day one, but any season where one tribe loses EVERY SINGLE CHALLENGE until they are literally down to one and there's no need for a merge is awesome. A bunch of bass-ackwards players screwing up their shot at the million. In addition, this edition had a great setting, an incredible opening episode, and some great new challenges which persist to this day.
4. Gabon - Some of the most ruthless gameplay ever seen in the game of Survivor. Huge characters, most of whom were trying to out-asshole the others. It was satisfying to see the onions get taken out, and even more satisfying to see Crystal and Kenny get blindsided when they got too confident. It had the most unlikely immunity streak in the history of the game, and the biggest underdog winner. This was almost a very bad season, but had a great ending to cap it. The only negative is the horrible twist that cost Marcus the game.
5. Pearl Islands - Rupert is no Big Tom. Outcasts suck. Let's get that out of the way. But this season had some of the most colorful characters ever, fantastic blindsides of Andrew and Rupert, and the single best pwning in Survivor history when Fairplay got booted. And Fairplay's antics made it one of the funniest Survivor seasons hands down. Sandra's win was satisfying given the alternatives.
6. Vanuatu - By far the most loathsome cast and uncomfortable season ever. The pieces of work who dominated this game were pretty shocking. But that just made it all the more satisfying to watch the game crumble around Ami in the end. Chris may not have been a good player, but he was a blast to watch. Also, one of the most evenly matched final twos ever. On individual episodes, it wasn't great, but as an ongoing storyarc, it was awesome.
7. Tocantins - Except for the HII and Exile Island, this game was played classic style. 16 contestants, no swaps, merge at ten, final two. That was a very interesting decision, and it paid off. The game felt pure like it hasn't in a while. The game was also cast very well, with lots of great blindsides, real suspense in the final episode, and a great final two.
8. Fiji - This one will be controversial, because Fiji's opening twist was one of the worst things to ever happen to this game. But the haves vs. have-nots twist, while shit, doesn't take away from the fact that this season made the best use of the HII of any season, with not one but two epic blindsides. Yau-Man is one of the best survivor characters ever, Dreamz is possibly its best villain, and Earl one of its best overall players.
9. Amazon - The first season where the modern style of blindsiding and alliance-swapping really came into being. Very entertaining, although with a terrible final two and an unpleasant undercurrent of high school politics running throughout. Men vs. women twist didn't really affect much, unlike the vicious gender war in Amazon.
10. China - this one should rank MUCH higher. Fantastic cast, with one of the best winners ever. Todd was the first beta male to truly mastermind the game, and he talked his way into a huge tribal council upset. Great setting, great challenges, and two awesome HII pwnings. BUT at the end of the day, I still consider the game fatally flawed because of the obscene F12 twist. No one knows how this game would have played out if Aaron didn't have his fate taken out of his hands. Shame.
11. Australia - Possibly the blandest Survivor ever. This entire game was sort of an overreaction to Richard winning the first game. Once Mike was medivacced, the only interesting character was Jerri. Otherwise, it was just nice people trying to pretend not to be ruthless as they eliminated each other. Tina had some impressive moves, but overall pretty weak.
12. Marquesas - Very good cast, good twists, and an enjoyable premerge. The first power shift in Survivor history. And then it was all thrown away with THE worst F2 in Survivor history. A shame. This could have been one of the classics, but Neleh vs. Vecepia was one of the only times I didn't want to watch the finale. This set the standard of "drag the weak to the end".
13. Cook Islands - One of the best F2s ever (I mean F3, but really, it was an F2), but the problem is, this game is even more illegitimate than China, because the winner was never in danger a day in the game. Yul got an HII that basically guaranteed him a free pass to the finals on day four, and that was it. Very little suspense, and the race based twist really fizzled out. Most of the most interesting players, like Cao Boi, went early.
14. Thailand - Very close to Borneo, only with less interesting characters and more predictable. Robb's storyarc was entertaining as all hell, but the fake merge was the first twist that really fell flat, and Jake's words went unheeded, leading to a spectacularly predictable finish. Brian was a douche, and watching him win was very unsatisfying, good player or not.
15. Exile Island - the introduction of the shitty early HII, which was essentially a free pass. A good opening twist that was wasted after only one episode. An overall terrible cast, with one of the blandest post-merge crews ever. It was all about Shane, Cirie, and Terry - none of whom made the end. Aras was probably the biggest non-entity of a winner yet.
16. Guatemala - The first of three All-Star type seasons to land directly in the bottom. Overall a shitty cast, dominated by the insufferable Stephanie. One of the only seasons where the winner was a complete afterthought. When a bland whiner like Rafe is the closest thing the game has to a fan favorite, you're in trouble.
17. All-Stars - The first clue that All-Stars just doesn't work. The inside politics just made this uncomfortable. This was still when there was a "culture of Survivor". These people all saw themselves as celebrities, and a lot of them seemed like they were playing characters rather than a game. The final two was a pathetic show, and it's one of the only finals where the winner won solely out of spite. Horrible.
18. Micronesia - Take all the problems of All-Stars. Now add ten of the most useless, incompetent losers to have ever played the game. The "fans" were jokes, every one. Not one but two of the best players had to be medivacced because Survivor doesn't have appropriate medical treatment around. And as a shitty cap on this awful season, production screwed the rightful, popular winner out of the victory via a last minute production change, and ended up with one of the most unpopular winners ever. Good job.
2. Africa - this season gets a lot of flack because of the setting and slightly predictable ending, but it can't be forgotten that it had probably the funniest Survivor of all time in Big Tom, plus a series of epic meltdowns, paranoia, and betrayal where Lex was concerned. The all-time best Survivor auction, the first Survivor twist, and some really great blindsides.
3. Palau - Sure, the winner was obvious from day one, but any season where one tribe loses EVERY SINGLE CHALLENGE until they are literally down to one and there's no need for a merge is awesome. A bunch of bass-ackwards players screwing up their shot at the million. In addition, this edition had a great setting, an incredible opening episode, and some great new challenges which persist to this day.
4. Gabon - Some of the most ruthless gameplay ever seen in the game of Survivor. Huge characters, most of whom were trying to out-asshole the others. It was satisfying to see the onions get taken out, and even more satisfying to see Crystal and Kenny get blindsided when they got too confident. It had the most unlikely immunity streak in the history of the game, and the biggest underdog winner. This was almost a very bad season, but had a great ending to cap it. The only negative is the horrible twist that cost Marcus the game.
5. Pearl Islands - Rupert is no Big Tom. Outcasts suck. Let's get that out of the way. But this season had some of the most colorful characters ever, fantastic blindsides of Andrew and Rupert, and the single best pwning in Survivor history when Fairplay got booted. And Fairplay's antics made it one of the funniest Survivor seasons hands down. Sandra's win was satisfying given the alternatives.
6. Vanuatu - By far the most loathsome cast and uncomfortable season ever. The pieces of work who dominated this game were pretty shocking. But that just made it all the more satisfying to watch the game crumble around Ami in the end. Chris may not have been a good player, but he was a blast to watch. Also, one of the most evenly matched final twos ever. On individual episodes, it wasn't great, but as an ongoing storyarc, it was awesome.
7. Tocantins - Except for the HII and Exile Island, this game was played classic style. 16 contestants, no swaps, merge at ten, final two. That was a very interesting decision, and it paid off. The game felt pure like it hasn't in a while. The game was also cast very well, with lots of great blindsides, real suspense in the final episode, and a great final two.
8. Fiji - This one will be controversial, because Fiji's opening twist was one of the worst things to ever happen to this game. But the haves vs. have-nots twist, while shit, doesn't take away from the fact that this season made the best use of the HII of any season, with not one but two epic blindsides. Yau-Man is one of the best survivor characters ever, Dreamz is possibly its best villain, and Earl one of its best overall players.
9. Amazon - The first season where the modern style of blindsiding and alliance-swapping really came into being. Very entertaining, although with a terrible final two and an unpleasant undercurrent of high school politics running throughout. Men vs. women twist didn't really affect much, unlike the vicious gender war in Amazon.
10. China - this one should rank MUCH higher. Fantastic cast, with one of the best winners ever. Todd was the first beta male to truly mastermind the game, and he talked his way into a huge tribal council upset. Great setting, great challenges, and two awesome HII pwnings. BUT at the end of the day, I still consider the game fatally flawed because of the obscene F12 twist. No one knows how this game would have played out if Aaron didn't have his fate taken out of his hands. Shame.
11. Australia - Possibly the blandest Survivor ever. This entire game was sort of an overreaction to Richard winning the first game. Once Mike was medivacced, the only interesting character was Jerri. Otherwise, it was just nice people trying to pretend not to be ruthless as they eliminated each other. Tina had some impressive moves, but overall pretty weak.
12. Marquesas - Very good cast, good twists, and an enjoyable premerge. The first power shift in Survivor history. And then it was all thrown away with THE worst F2 in Survivor history. A shame. This could have been one of the classics, but Neleh vs. Vecepia was one of the only times I didn't want to watch the finale. This set the standard of "drag the weak to the end".
13. Cook Islands - One of the best F2s ever (I mean F3, but really, it was an F2), but the problem is, this game is even more illegitimate than China, because the winner was never in danger a day in the game. Yul got an HII that basically guaranteed him a free pass to the finals on day four, and that was it. Very little suspense, and the race based twist really fizzled out. Most of the most interesting players, like Cao Boi, went early.
14. Thailand - Very close to Borneo, only with less interesting characters and more predictable. Robb's storyarc was entertaining as all hell, but the fake merge was the first twist that really fell flat, and Jake's words went unheeded, leading to a spectacularly predictable finish. Brian was a douche, and watching him win was very unsatisfying, good player or not.
15. Exile Island - the introduction of the shitty early HII, which was essentially a free pass. A good opening twist that was wasted after only one episode. An overall terrible cast, with one of the blandest post-merge crews ever. It was all about Shane, Cirie, and Terry - none of whom made the end. Aras was probably the biggest non-entity of a winner yet.
16. Guatemala - The first of three All-Star type seasons to land directly in the bottom. Overall a shitty cast, dominated by the insufferable Stephanie. One of the only seasons where the winner was a complete afterthought. When a bland whiner like Rafe is the closest thing the game has to a fan favorite, you're in trouble.
17. All-Stars - The first clue that All-Stars just doesn't work. The inside politics just made this uncomfortable. This was still when there was a "culture of Survivor". These people all saw themselves as celebrities, and a lot of them seemed like they were playing characters rather than a game. The final two was a pathetic show, and it's one of the only finals where the winner won solely out of spite. Horrible.
18. Micronesia - Take all the problems of All-Stars. Now add ten of the most useless, incompetent losers to have ever played the game. The "fans" were jokes, every one. Not one but two of the best players had to be medivacced because Survivor doesn't have appropriate medical treatment around. And as a shitty cap on this awful season, production screwed the rightful, popular winner out of the victory via a last minute production change, and ended up with one of the most unpopular winners ever. Good job.
