Every year between new seasons of Survivor, you can find me rewatching my favorite old seasons. And even though Survivor 50 was epic and my girl Aubry Bracco came out on top like I wanted her to, my Wednesdays are starting to feel empty without my 8 p.m. tune in waiting for me.
Thankfully, every season ever is avaiable on Parmount+ and I have a list of the seasons that always get my blood pumping, ready to dive into a new season in a couple of months. But now with the announcement of an "open era" of Survivor, I feel like it's important for me to revisit every season to prepare myself for what's to come.
Of course, I'm only human and even I—a very dedicated Super Fan—can admit that there are some seasons that aren't super high up on my rewatch list...or on my rewatch list at all (in no particular order).
Survivor: Island of the Islands (season 39)
If I'm being honest, the most exciting things to come out of this season were Lauren Ashley Beck's career and the Boston Rob Mariano/Sandra Diaz-Twine drama that bled into Survivor: Winners at War. While the starting cast was actually a really great group of players that I would love to give a second chance to, the real-world misconduct that bled into some players' game strategies just makes this season so off-putting.
While you'd think this would be an exciting, historic season (as it was meant to be in the lead up to the 20th anniversary celebration of Winners at War) worth watching, it unfortunately exists as a black spot on the Survivor history books and I'm sure I'm not the only fan who skips this season during a rewatch.
Survivor: Thailand (season 5)
I truly could not name a single person from this season—and there was at least one person who returned to play again. But universally, I feel like this season featured some of the most un-watchable cast not just in Survivor history, but in the history of reality television. From day 1 to day 39, there was not a single person fans were rooting for to win.
Plus, it featured the early series strategy of the majority tribe voting off every member of the other tribe once they got to the merge, which just isn't fun.
Survivor: Nicaragua (season 21)
Season 21 and 41 are the sole reasons I've nervous about Survivor 51 (though I promised myself I'd keep an open mind going into it). But after such epic anniversary seasons such as Heroes vs. Villains and Winners at War, they both fell a little flat—especially Survivor: Nicaragua. The big twist of the season was the "Medallion of Power" which was poorly executed by the players and never revisited again.
This season is also the reason why the rule that quitters can't serve on the jury was implemented. The fact that two players quit back-to-back (literally within five seconds of each other at Tribal Council) and then got to have their torches snuffed and sit on the jury to pick a winner feels so wrong. It's a moment I absolutely hated to see and will actively stop watching compilations if it shows up in the mix.
Survivor: Redemption Island (season 22)
Sorry Boston Rob, but one of your seasons is on the list again not because of unpredictable circumstances, but because it just felt too staged. I might be one of the few fans who actually enjoys Redemption Island and the idea that a player can fight their way back into the game, but overall this season felt like a setup to give Boston Rob his long-deserved win.
He's an incredible Survivor player and I was stoked to see him take home the title of Sole Survivor, but the fact that he was put on a tribe of fans that adored him and basically did everything he said feels like an error in production. But I do love the dynamic of Rob and Phillip Sheppard in this season, plus we were introduced to fan favorite Andrea Boehlke.
Survivor: One World (season 24)
Again, a twist I didn't hate, it was just executed with the wrong players who misused it. Starting all players on the same beach despite being in two tribes was an incredible idea, but the fact that they were then divided by men and women with a particularly nasty bunch of men continuously being misogynists, it just didn't land.
And while winner Kim Spradlin played one of the best games in the history of the show, it will forever be unappreciated because of the lackluster players surrounding her. In the end—not unlike Boston Rob on Redemption Island—her win felt inevitble and not like an exciting end to a season that kept us on our toes.
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