Survivor Awards 2017: Favorite player duo of the year
Some say two can be as bad as one but for our Survivor Awards 2017 list, our favorite player duo of the year highlights players who complement each other.
While we looked at our favorite player of the year earlier this week, the criteria looked at was a lot more insular to the type of season each respective player. When looking at possible alliances that were our favorites this year, a pattern of dynamic gameplay made it hard to nail down a certain alliance for more than a few votes in both seasons from the past year.
That’s why I thought it would be neat for the Survivor Awards 2017 to look at player duos through a number of different lenses. One of these duos were bitter against each other from the beginning but brought forth a hearty amount of great television moments to heighten the two as characters. Another show another duo that started out as rivals but became friends down the line. The final duo showcases a great bond through and through.
Lauren Rimmer and Patrick Bolton may not have played well together, but their early rivalry defined the Hustler mentality of the tribe. Lauren was hustling to make her way into the middle of the tribe, looking to break in as the only person in her 30s. Patrick looked to be the class clown of the tribe, always acting up and trying to be the hero that led them to victory.
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Unfortunately for Patrick, his name got thrown under the bus for becoming a disturbance in the tribe, mostly due to just how much he would drive Lauren bananas. Their back and forth banter in confessionals and Tribal Council was the stuff of legends, as we saw Lauren open up as a confident character capable of sassy clap backs, while Patrick started to slowly unravel from confident to crazy.
Both players made for great characters in their position (pre-merge and jury), and their early rivalry helped embolden them as memorable Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers tribemates.
Mike Zahalky and Joe Mena shared a similar origin story to their fellow Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers duo, but the magic of their partnership is that it grew through adversity. From Day 1, Joe threw Mike under the bus, projecting his insecurity for searching for an idol onto him. From what we could tell, Mike was on the bottom of the tribe, but even as Joe obtained power through the Hidden Immunity Idol, he still admitted he liked Mike.
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Come to the merge, and the Healers found themselves the biggest tribe on campus. Joe was the proudest member of the “Healers only” mantra, going so far as to play idols to take out the majority two separate times. However, as Joe and Mike became the two remaining Healers, they became the court jesters to the Round Table alliance, playing up their arrogance and having a big laugh about their situation.
Joe and Mike, in the end, felt closest to each other as the only players really trying to shake things up post-merge before Ben’s elimination of Lauren. The Coco-Nuts offered up moments of levity in a dull period of Survivor season 35, and their willingness to be the source of laughter in a ho-hum season played up to their strengths as a duo.
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That said, there wasn’t a stronger duo in Survivor this past year than Michaela Bradshaw and Cirie Fields. Representing the first of 34 seasons to have two black women make it to the merge, Michaela needed a game mentor heading into an individual game where her unknown factor coming two weeks after Millennials vs. Gen X made it hard for seasoned returnees to appreciate her sense of personality.
Cirie Fields, having one of the most illustrious Survivor careers of a player who has never won, took her under her wing at the merge, showing a sense of warmth and comradery that emboldened the strengths of both players. While Cirie was plotting and scheming, Michaela managed to navigate herself to the Final Seven despite the target on her back.
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In a season with many great players leaving early, Michaela and Cirie’s familial friendship brought a sense of humanity to a season filled with cutthroat dynamic play in its back half. That’s why they win the Survivor 2017 award for our Favorite Duo of the Year!