Ranking the best new player casts in Survivor history

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Denise Stapley is the winner of CBS’ “Survivor: Philippines” Finale & Reunion Red Carpet at CBS Television City on December 16, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) /

Best Survivor Casts – Number 8: Philippines (Season 25)

After giving us four straight seasons with horrible casts, Survivor got back in the win column with the group they casted for Survivor: Philippines, which aired in the fall of 2012.

The season brought back three former players to serve as captains (one of them being Skupin from season two), but the newbies that season were very memorable, which isn’t usually the case in a captains season. Here were some of the first-time players in Survivor: Philippines:

Denise (Winner)
Lisa (Runner-Up)
Malcolm
Abi-Maria
R.C.
Pete
Jeff Kent

These were the more memorable names, but even early boots Zane and Angie have gone down in Survivor history with their antics (Zane with wanting to quit and then pretending it was strategy and Angie with her cookies comment).

Denise, Malcolm, and Abi-Maria have all returned to play again (Malcolm has played three times total) and it’d be nice to see anyone from this season return again (except for Skupin).

This was a season where the cast would have been perfectly fine without returning players, but the three who did return added to the kookiness of this cast and fit right in.

In the dark ages of Survivor, Philippines certainly stood above the rest and the cast played a big part in that.

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