Survivor season rankings: All Survivor seasons, ranked

43. Thailand (Season 5)

Starting on a positive note, the fake merge on Day 19 of Survivor: Thailand is one of the most brilliant twists that the show has ever introduced. Not only was it executed to perfection by having both tribes live on the same beach before revealing they’d not yet merged, but it also changed the course of the game entirely.

Shii Ann Huang bought the fake and tried to form an alliance outside of her original tribe, but was left even more on the outskirts when Probst revealed that there was no merge happening just yet. She was then voted out after her Sook Jai tribe didn’t win Immunity, which sent the tribe as a whole into a downward spiral that ended with Jake Billingsley ultimately being the last to go, finishing just sixth.

Outside of that twist, though, Thailand is another season that’s largely forgettable. It doesn’t help that Final Tribal Council came down to Brian Heidik and Clay Jordan, two largely unlikable players—though for vastly different reasons. Heidik ultimately edged out Jordan, but all anyone remembers truthfully is the fake merge, thus presenting the biggest issue with the season.