Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X 1x1 "May the Best Generation Win" live blogging thoughts

The 33rd season of Survivor begins with Jeff Probst's introduction to Fiji (where we've definitely been before).  This latest visit is also the show's latest "culture war." 

Taylor calls himself a Peter Pan type.

Mari plays video games.

Zeke hates technology (but is still on Twitter).

Charles is an attorney, says the older generation knows how to get back up.

Sunday says the younger folk are slackers.

David is a TV writer, thinks younger people are more apt to merely look for a new dream when confronted with adversity...

Cue the credits!

Jeff splits up the tribes!  Takali (purple buffs) is Gen X, Vanua (orange buffs) is Millennials.

Will newsflash: war between generations!  Holy crap!  He's also 18 years old, still in high school.  You now officially feel old: he was born in 1997.

Paul was born in 1963, the oldest player this season.  "Only the winners got a trophy."

CeCe: "[Millennials] don't work for anything."

Tribes must now decide to scavenge for long-term versus short-term items...Two minutes!  People grabbing stuff like mad!  "The Millennials: half of their tribe making one decision!"  (Jeff.)  Jessica finds a secret envelope.  Gen X grabs fishing gear, but not chickens.  (Better than counting them, anyway.)  Millennials do exactly the opposite.  (Hopefully don't count them.)  Jeff reviews.  Apparently chickens lay eggs.  Jeff ominously suggests bad weather ahead...

"This is the best generation ever."

Adam: "Everyone was so excited."  Millennials will be vindicated!  Introductions all around.  Shelter begins!  Taylor: "I've got an awesome tribe."  Indicates a potential alliance with Jay, Figgy, and Michelle.  Zeke has a mustache.  "I'm an eighty-year-old-man.  I'm on a tribe of children."  Etc.  (Will be lots of fun around camp...)

Paul expects everyone to be like him.  "Strong opinions...sound decision-making."  He believes the odds will be ever in Gen X's favor.  Others think otherwise.  Ken is that other.  Might be setting himself up for trouble.  Jessica discusses her mystery envelope.  "The Legacy Advantage."  She can give it to someone else if voted out.  On Day 36 she would be given an advantage.

Don't name the chickens!  Figgy is a flirty girl!  She's kind of going for the Amber strategy?  "The Triforce" is already extremely cocky.  Newsflash!  Hot girls are hot.  Babies sleep like crap.  Hannah is feeling like an outcast already.  Michelle should not give a Bible to Rudy. 

"How far down is not that far?"  "...Six inches."  "Rachel is definitely overeager."  (And probably in trouble.)  David is probably going to be miserable, except as a player.  Might be a lot of fun to watch, anyway.  Has someone found a hidden immunity idol?  David thinks so: Ken and Paul.  (It could be jerky, David.)  "He's trying way too hard."  Translation: he's trying way too hard.  And is on the wrong tribe.

Adam worries about the Millennials camp.  "Are we going naked?"  Talk about Gen X versus Millennials philosophy.  Will talks about the shelter not actually being built yet, at night.  He thinks it could be the worst shelter in the history of Survivor.  (Rupert's tribemates would disagree.)  "We're so screwed."  Hannah talks about a long night.  Sounds like Survivor to me! 

Gen X didn't have a great night, either.  It rained and rained.  "It never stopped!"  Treemail!  And a package!  A tarp!  (A temporary gift.)  Chris doesn't remember any tribe ever getting a tarp.  (Pretty sure it never happened, Chris.)

The Millennials get one, too.  They know the tarp is an ominous gift, too.  Zeke rates camp at "pig pen level."  He doesn't know a tsunami is literally going to evacuate everyone in the near future.  Jeff visits!  He tells them the storm has been upgraded to a cyclone.  Then tells them about the evacuation.  Apparently they realize has never been done before.  Adam talks very loud, in sound bytes.  Should be fun to listen to this season!

Jeff next visits Gen X.  Then: the filming crew!  He lets them know what he just told the Millennials: that he has to remain impartial.  Also, that they're evacuating.  Rachel is not surprised about devastating weather.  (A witch!)

And now we're on the Weather Channel.

And now we return to our regularly scheduled panicking about how the camps did during the cyclone.  Gen X kind of freaks out.  They get back to work.  David admits he's terrible at...physical things.  He says he's neurotic.  Really???  Walking stick attacks him!!!  He still believes in himself!  Starts looking for a hidden immunity idol.  People notice.  They suggest he may be the target if they end up at tribal council.

Millennials camp is still a mess.  Zeke leads building of second shelter.  He admits he doesn't know anything.  Declares himself leader!  Doesn't seem to be domineering about it.  He helps make fire.  Editing makes him sound like an ideal person to root for.  So far.  (This is the first episode.)  More talk about the Triforce.  (What is this, Big Brother???)  Hannah feels threatened by the Triforce.  (Who also make a dorky triangle hand gesture, by the way.  Captain Planet!)  The others are bonding over the threat of the Triforce.  (Which has...four members.)

Already at Day 4!  Challenge time!  Both tribes brought their tarps back.  Jeff is pleased.  He talks about the challenge, which involves a war club.  More challenges should involve war clubs.  It ends with a puzzle.  Taking shortcuts means adding pieces to the puzzle.  He suggests people good at challenges should not worry about such things.  Easy for him to say!  (As a rule, I do not recap challenges.  These babies need to be seen for yourself.) 

Gen X takes a shortcut.  Millennials don't.  Jeff calls Gen X's choice wise, "given the size of the bodies."  He's so nice!  Gen X takes another shortcut.  He observes that the Millennials should maybe take shortcuts.  Which they do, with the second one.  So now they work on puzzles, and Gen X has more pieces.  David & Rachel, Michelle & Figgy work on the puzzles.  Jeff observes that David & Rachel blew the advantage.  Gen X switches out.  (This is not good for David.)  Triforce represents!  Millennials win first immunity challenge!  (Hannah does not particularly look like an outcast anymore.)

Gen X will probably target David.  Or Rachel.

Gen X shocked they lost to Millennials.  Fixate on Rachel.  They think they were right there in the physical aspects of the challenge (overlooking the two shortcuts).  David fears for his life in the tribe.  Gives up his vote.  Admits he doesn't have a hidden immunity idol.  People think he has one.  But he's talking with people.  A big clot of this tribe is aligned.  For now.  CeCe and Rachel may form a tiny clot. 

On to tribal council...Jeff calls on Jessica to represent.  Bret is called on.  David.  "Oh crap."  He's scared of everything!  CeCe.  Sunday.  They talk about David.  Chris talks.  He talks about paranoia.  They haven't even mentioned the Millennials!  Rachel fears for her life in the tribe. Jeff asks Jessica about idols.  (Does he know she has that advantage?)  David's idol thoughts...

Time to vote!  Bret looks at David when Jeff asks about having a hidden immunity idol.  Sunday and David get votes, but CeCe and Rachel are the big vote-getters.  Rachel is voted out.  Clearly David's strategy of making his insecurities known has worked so far.  Jeff talks about Gen X.  End of episode!

Live blogging of Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X begins tomorrow!

Starting tomorrow I'll be live blogging the new season of Survivor, meaning if you want you'll be able to check in with my thoughts throughout the episode.  I've done this once before (leading a few people to remember how Malcolm helped name a merged tribe) (after his mother), and I'm happy to be in a position to do it again.  Millennials vs. Gen X ought to be another classic social experiment, providing a lot of tedious comments from each tribe about how they typify their group, and why the other one sucks because they are the other one.  Not that this has happened before or anything...

It'll be fun!

Survivor: Kaoh Rong

originally aired February 17, 2016 to May 18, 2016

The order in which players left the game and the impact they left behind:

• Darnell (To Tang/Brawn) His ineptness with the diving mask made him an easy first vote out.
• Jennifer (To Tang/Brawn) The instigator of Cyndey's earliest attempt at an all-girls alliance ended up becoming her first victim, too.
• Liz (Chan Loh/Brains) Peter's one ally ended up being the first victim of the Brains' early inability to trust each other and somewhat extreme splintering.
• Caleb (Gondol/Beauty) The earliest most likable player in this season, and the first of three evacuations.  He set the tone for how to handle Tai.
• Alecia (To Tang/Brawn) Was an early indicator of the reaction to the kind of tough style Scot exhibited, and how hard it was to play with and/or against.
• Anna (Gondol/Beauty) The early tribe-swapping idea had everyone thinking to eliminate Beauties because of the Julia variable, and thusly the early strength of the Beauties was seemingly eliminated by voting Anna (part of the Beauty girls alliance) out.  (But everyone then forgot to eliminate the rest of them.)
• Peter (Chan Loh/Brains) Peter suffered in a season filled with people who were convinced they were in control.  This was especially tricky because two of his Brains teammates, Aubry and Debbie, were leading that charge.  And so he was the one who had the toughest time of the three, because he couldn't get along, ultimately, with either of them.  It's funny that they kept claiming he was done in by his ego, because that's kind of what leads a lot of players to the finals...
• Neal (Chan Loh/Brains) Neal's such a hard one to evaluate.  He kept showing flashes of brilliance (finding the hidden immunity from his camp, for instance), but his gameplay consisted entirely of unquestioningly following others, and his tirade after being eliminated from the jury was a poor way to go after gaining so much sympathy from explaining how Survivor changed his life, when he was evacuated.  For such a fan of the game, his gameplay rarely reflected it.  Either he was hugely thrown off by actually playing it, or Neal really was as ultimately pointless as the editing made him seem as a personality, but I find it hard to think too much of him, in the end.
• Nick (Gondol/Beauty) His overconfidence did him in, and is the player from the jury pool who first demonstrated how tough the rest of the game would be for players like that.  From his beginnings in the Beauty tribe, unknowingly on the outs from the girls alliance, to his later scheming, Nick could have been better, if he'd just stopped to think things through a little more.
• Debbie (Chan Loh/Brains) Aubry's relationship with this alleged character defined her whole season.  The nutcase who ended up in a position of power once the Brains solidified post-Peter, Debbie's overconfidence mirrored so many other players, and she never saw it coming.  Aubry wasn't her biggest fan to start with, and ended up deciding that Debbie really was the liability she initially seemed, and so she ended up blindsided.  Hard to root for.  My sister kept comparing her to Phillip ("the Specialist") as someone completely oblivious to the effect they have on people, but Phillip's game was intentionally driven by his odd character, whereas Debbie's wasn't.  She literally had no clue. 
• Scot (To Tang/Brawn) This guy and his buddy Jason were ultimately in the same boat as Debbie, because they became ludicrously overconfident to the point of alienating their would-be allies.  Ultimately, I think Scot was more responsible for Jason's downfall, so their Russell-like antics reflect more poorly on the former NBA champion (won in his last season, with the Celtics, by the way).
• Julia (Gondol/Beauty) If only she had exhibited more confidence, Julia could have gone further, but ultimately her gameplay was so similar to Michele's that one of them had to go, and just as inevitably, one of them was going to win.  So that's good for someone who rarely received much help from the edit.
• Jason (To Tang/Brawn) Such a tough case to analyze, like a lot of other players this season.  Like a better version of Dan (Worlds Apart) or the infamous Russell, Jason serves as a villain first and foremost, but a smarter one than either of them, as possibly because of the extremes his odds went through throughout the season.  He needed Scot to make this work just as much as he suffered because of Scot.  The mastermind of an alliance that never went anywhere, thanks to key defections by Cydney and Tai, Jason still ended up a viable contender to reach the finals, against all odds, because he was smarter than Dan or Russell.  But now we know what it looks like when you take that kind of player and add someone who stokes the mischief.
• Joe (Chan Loh/Brains) Almost a better comparison to Phillip ("the Specialist") than Debbie was this guy, a retired FBI agent who displayed no cleverness whatsoever, went along for the ride others provided him, and still liked to reference his ability to read people.  To what end, Joe?  I don't know if it was his age that got in the way, but his evacuation became morbidly hilarious when Cydney literally sat there predicting it, and then it happened just as she said it would.
• Cydney (To Tang/Brawn) Few players have frustrated me as much as Cydney, who was almost as clever as Kim (One World) in flipping from one seemingly sure thing to another, but could never quite seal the deal.  Ditching an alliance she reluctantly came to (Scot and Jason) for another attempt at an all girls block put her, uncomfortably, into the editing for the first time, but it also put her, rightfully so, into the finals.  Her only problem?  She started playing way too late in the game.
• Tai (Gondol/Beauty) This apparent second coming of Yau-Man turned out to be something else entirely, a game-changer with every decision he made, an emotional player who still ended up playing smartly, once he realized who he should stick with (Aubry) in the game's final stages.  It didn't earn him any votes in the finals, but Tai absolutely deserved to be there.  Better than Yau-Man, ultimately.  Plus, Mark the Chicken!  Sia as his biggest fan!  Memorable for all the right reasons, even if he blew all the advantages he picked up along the way, including knowingly passing up the opportunity to use the Super Idol.
• Aubry (Chan Loh/Brains) Such an intelligent player, who kept turning disadvantages into advantages, including working her way through the wreckage of the Brains tribe (which was smarter on the whole than the last Brains tribe by, oh, about a thousand percent, although it didn't look like it most of the time), losing her two biggest, unquestioning allies to evacuation, and still making it to the finals.  She called Cochran her "spirit animal."  It showed.
• Michele (Gondol/Beauty) Despite my vehement disagreement with the season's biggest twist (the ability to vote out a jury member, which goes against the whole point of the jury, where the finalists no longer have the game in their hands), Michele, as she did the rest of the season, played it wisely, and eliminated Neal, who instantly proved her right, even though the voting made it a moot point, with five of seven remaining jurors voting in her favor.  A true underdog story, the proverbial spoiler being left in long enough to, y'know, spoil.  But she absolutely earned this one.  As with the rest of the finalists, Michele had to scramble basically the whole game, but she never got her hands dirty, incredibly.  That's how you win a season like this.  Hard to predict the winner for most of the season, but the minute this girl made it to the end, it was academic from there.

Survivor: Cambodia - Second Chance

originally aired September 23, 2015 to December 16, 2015

The order in which players left the game and the impact they left behind:

• Vytas (Ta Keo/Blood vs. Water) Exhibiting far less savvy than the last time he played, Vytas unwittingly began the season's "new school" vibe of trying way too hard with too little gameplay to show for it.  Also, apparently the latest Survivor chauvinist pig...
• Shirin (Ta Keo/Worlds Apart) Didn't have nearly the opportunity to annoy me (and every other sane person watching).  Just anotha victim of voting strategies this time.
• Peih-Gee (Ta Keo/China) Another victim of Ta Keo's general implosion.  This whole tribe was a preview for the season to come, and it just got uglier and uglier...She deserved better.
• Jeff Varner (Ta Keo/Australian Outback) All these years hoping to see him come back, and...Varner turns out to be absolutely terrible at strategizing, so desperate to stay in the game that he constantly sabotages himself.  The first would-be power player to shoot himself in the foot this season.
• Monica (Bayon/Samoa) A necessary victim in Jeremy's path to victory.  Especially this early in the game, you want to be reliable.
• Terry (Ta Keo/Panama) And so a good one goes home early through no fault of his own, to be there for his son.  We'll never know where he could've gone, or further impacted the game.
• Woo (Ta Keo/Cagayan) A great player with no real sense of strategy, alas.
• Kass (Bayon/Cagayan) Convinced herself that she had changed.  But quickly reverted to nonsensical "Chaos Kass" mode...
• Andrew Savage (Bayon/Pearl Islands) Too seldom do players come with actual dignity in this game, and still manage to control their fate, for at least a little while.  Savage remains one of the great players to not win.
• Kelly Wigglesworth (Ta Keo/Borneo) Didn't learn a thing about taking her position for granted, alas.  But had one of the great final tribal council moments when she evoked Sean's voting, er, strategy...
• Ciera (Bayon/Blood vs. Water) More mature this time, but still needs seasoning in order to think clearly, which is something she always seems to realize too late.
• Stephen Fishbach (Bayon/Tocantins) The would-be conqueror who would have epitomized that role this season, if he hadn't had such an obnoxious competitor in Spencer...
• Joe (Bayon/Worlds Apart) Tremendous competitor, probably the main victim of someone like Terry's departure, which tipped the scales toward seedier gameplay.
• Abi-Maria (Ta Keo/Philippines) So spectacularly delusional it's almost funny.
• Kimmi (Bayon/Australian Outback) The comparatively withdrawn Kimmi who showed up this time was far less interesting to watch, but she found herself in a comfortable position...which she inexplicably obliterated with a misguided attempt to maneuver herself into a more favorable position.  Big moves only count for something if they count for something other than timid desperation...
• Keith Nale (Bayon/San Juan del Sur) If only he were as surprising a strategist as he is a challenge threat...
• Kelley Wentworth (Ta Keo/San Juan del Sur) One of the best players in one of the worst positions imaginable, having as her greatest allies at one point the unpredictable Abi and the overly ambitious Ciera.  Very easy to root for despite knowing she had no shot at making the finals.
• Spencer (Ta Keo/Cagayan) So convinced he'd gotten his ego under control he had no idea all his desperate maneuvering was easy to follow, and the only reason he made it as far as he did was because he finally aligned with Jeremy and Tasha...He quickly became thoroughly unlikable...
• Tasha (Bayon/Cagayan) Surprising how much she faded into the background after solidifying an alliance with Jeremy.  Classic coattail rider whose only chances to make it without such a strategy she didn't take, and wouldn't have helped her anyway despite the ensuing chaos...
• Jeremy (Bayon/San Juan del Sur) Easily one of the feel-good stories of winners in Survivor history, making it out of a very messy season with his dignity intact and making good on the promise he exhibited in his first season.  Never mind the gooey emotions he evoked in the final tribal council, Jeremy absolutely deserved his unanimous win (which speaks well for the jury, too), and probably the winner of such distinction to have most earned it, against the toughest odds (Earl in Fiji and J.T. in Tocantins being the others).

Survivor: Worlds Apart

originally aired February 25, 2015 to May 20, 2015

The order in which players left the game and the impact they left behind:

• So (White Collar) Why Carolyn did not win is because of moves like siding with someone like Shirin rather than So or Joaquin, who were the first players to actually consider strategy this season.
• Vince (No Collar) Next time, ah, try and spend a little less time on jealous obsession (concerning Joe) and a little more on the, oh, game...
• Nina (No Collar) Right, the deaf one.  Who unfortunately made it an issue perhaps a little bigger than it needed to be.  Although weirdly, her No Collar tribemates weren't particularly cool about it, either.
• Lindsey (Blue Collar) The one time Rodney was effective all season was in getting her eliminated.
• Max (White Collar) The only White Collar nearly as weird as Shirin, and the other one who walked around naked.  Also, hipster beard included.  Thankfully was not given a second chance by fans for the thirty-first season.
• Joaquin (White Collar) As indicated above, Joaquin was an early favorite of mine because he was, y'know, playing the game.  
• Kelly (Blue Collar) Survived getting busted open in the blindfold challenge.  This surprisingly won her very few points.  It's always odd when the players take the blindfold challenges in stride, because as a viewer it always seems like such an important moment in the game.  Either way, on that score alone I'd love to see what else she could accomplish.
• Hali (No Collar) Most of the season I identified Hali and Jenn as the No Collar ditzes.  Eventually, Jenn redeemed herself.  Hali?  Not so much.
• Joe (No Collar) More often than you'd think but less often than you'd wish, Survivor casts someone who seems totally at home playing the game, not so much strategy-wise but people who just get how to exist within it.  It figures that at least one of them is clearly identified as a No Collar.
• Jenn (No Collar) Until the final tribal council and she went the full Spencer, explaining to the jury (it's surprising how seldom this occurs) why Mike should be declared the winner, I didn't think much of her.  But she totally got it.  Finally.  If there's such a thing as someone you want on a jury, she's it.  
• Shirin (White Collar) Until she popped up in the Second Chance vote and I found out how much sympathy she garnered from fans, I honestly had no clue.  She looked like a lunatic throughout the game.  I'm sorry she had a rough early life, but I'm equally sorry that she's never moved past it, no matter what kind of success she's had in life.  In her mind, she's very much the victim she used to be.  This is true of many people.  But hopefully most of them would not confuse their past with something someone says to them in a game, based solely on experiences within the game, and mount a crusade that's every bit as silly as how Rodney behaved.  I mean, people weren't throwing themselves all over Brandon his second time around, when it was clear that the sins of Hanz before him had drastically affected his thought process.  It's no different, and as silly to me as heaping praise on Cirie for "getting off the couch."  I understand it's important to champion people and send messages, but...c'mon.  If you must exaggerate, at least be honest.  I'm not at all saying Shirin and her mother asked for whatever it was that happened to them, but at a certain point, and because of all the success she's had in business, you'd think she'd stop considering herself only a victim.  But all the behavior she exhibited this season...It paints a very unstable portrait.  At best, I'd say Survivor did a poor psych test.  Wouldn't be the first time.  It didn't make for good viewing, and as far as I'm concerned, she made a poor argument, and never looked good the whole season, for any number of reasons.  So no, I'm not happy she's returning, and I fully expect she'll be voted out early next season.  I'm sorry for what happened to her.  But she needs to make peace with herself.  Not with Will.  With herself.  That much is hugely obvious.
• Tyler (White Collar) Started playing hard, but way too late in the game.  If he ever plays again, I would expect a much better result.
• Dan (Blue Collar) Dan, Dan the Lunatic Man...If he could just get out of his own way, he could easily have this game thoroughly in hand.  Tried to play the Kim (One World) plan of ousting his main ally (Mike) and still coasting to victory.  Found out lightning rarely strikes twice.
• Sierra (Blue Collar) I liked her (I mean, she's one of the better-looking players all-time), but wanted to see some more actual gameplay.  At times it looked like she would oblige.  Then again, she was the only one to vote for Carolyn in the finals.  So I don't know.
• Rodney (Blue Collar) Boston Rob this guy was not.  Not quite the full Jamie (Guatemala), but somewhat very close.  Like Dan, but more so, got in his own way.  And could not figure out how to get out.
• Will (No Collar) I don't know how he made it to the finals except by way of attrition, his one notable moment was rather one of infamy, picking on the surprisingly fragile Shirin...
• Carolyn (White Collar) If this is how she behaves in the business world, I don't know...And to think it looked like she was this close to convincing the jury she deserved the win...Someone who very much needed a good player to make it all the way, because otherwise she was all over the place.  At times looked like she knew what she was doing, and actually somewhat decent in comparison to others...But honestly, Survivor stacks the deck with bad players every season.  She nearly cost a good player a much-deserved win because, well, she is definitely White Collar...
• Mike (Blue Collar) Another well-deserved winner!  I love it when this happens (far too infrequently, alas), and I'm happy to say I nailed it early, the second time in thirty seasons to do so (the last time...Richard Hatch!).  Like Tom in Palau, had to sweat the final few weeks, but this guy showed everyone up, he really did, and it made a lot of people resentful, until someone (Jenn) pointed out that he did exactly what you're supposed to do in this game, which is to play to win.  Mike was a master of tribal council, which is a true art form, and for a season like this, the part of the episode packed with the best moments.  And he accomplished all of that without a single stable alliance (thanks for everything, Dan and Carolyn!), which is even more striking. 

Season 31 - Second Chance voting recommendations

Last night during the latest episode of Survivor: Worlds Apart (which took a dramatic turn toward highly interesting a few weeks back thanks to everyone finally starting to play, and play hard, including poor Tyler, who barely existed previously back who now looks like he should be brought back at some point), here came Jeff Probst with an exciting announcement about the next season:

Returning players, but with an awesome new twist.  From a selection of people who agreed to return, fans get to vote on who will actually make an all-important second shot at winning Survivor.  None of these players have returned before, and there are a handful of wonderful surprises (much like Gervase finally showing up again for Blood vs. Water).

So out of all the options (I won't bore you with a complete rundown, because honestly some of the options I still don't care that much about just like I didn't think they were all that significant the first time they played), I will give you my picks and explain why:

Women

1. Kelly Wigglesworth (Season 1, Borneo) Honestly, she's a legend, as much as anyone else from the first season.  It's great to see her interested again.  Will she still be a rat???  Stay tuned!
2. Kimmi Kappenberg (Season 2, Australian Outback) Kimmi is more infamous than famous (my sister and I love "I can eat a worm! I can eat a worm!"), but probably one of the most famous players to have attempted a dramatic overhaul of their gameplay while playing their first time around.  Give her another chance?  Absolutely.  And you're guaranteed to be amused.
3. Peih-Gee Law (Season 15, China) I honestly don't remember how good she was, but I do remember her.  That's a good thing, right?
4. Mikayla Wingle (Season 23, South Pacific) Unfortunately, Brandon Hantz have something in common: we both think she's hot.  (Although this is probably something many people share with him, and hopefully one of the few).  And she absolutely got a raw deal because of Brandon's fixation.  So let's see if she can actually play!
5. Abi-Maria Gomes (Season 25, Philippines) One of the greatest villains in Survivor history?  Heck ya!
6. Monica Padilla (Season 19, Samoa) You'll notice the chronological break.  I had a hard time reaching ten for the women.  Monica describes herself as having figured out Russell before anyone else.  Didn't help her, but that's certainly a mark in her favor.
7. Natalie Tenerelli (Season 22, Redemption Island)
8. Stephanie Valencia (Season 22, Redemption Island) Both are veterans of the Season Boston Rob Finally Won, and so they have every right to prove they do deserve to be remembered for something other than helping him win (everyone did that season).
9. Tasha Fox (Season 28, Cagayan)
10. Kass McQuillen (Season 28, Cagayan) Both from the Brains/Beauty/Brawn experiment that helped make Tony look so good.  I'm including Tasha for that reason alone, even though my memory of her had faded after just a few seasons.  But "Chaos Kass," even though she was, in fact, a lunatic, should be brought back just to see if she goes the full lunatic again...

Men

1. Jeff Varner (Season 2, Australian Outback) I've been expecting to see him return for years.  Hopefully this is a slam dunk for any true fan of the game.
2. Andrew Savage (Season 7, Pearl Islands) See above.  Rupert ended up stealing Andrew's thunder (along with almost everything else).  Now's his chance for redemption.  Bring the sport coat!
3. Shane Powers (Season 12, Panama) Lunatic genius in the best possible sense.  
4. Terry Dietz (Season 12, Panama) My sister and I thought he could have been the second coming of Palau's Tom.  Who, y'know, decisively won that season.
5. Troyzan Robertson (Season 24, One World) Was on his way to making a terrific case for winning when Kim decided she could go to the end without him.  Her brilliant move, his easy case for a second chance.
6. Vytas Baskauskas (Season 27, Blood vs. Water) Proved Aras was not the only Survivor genius in the family.
7. Woo Hwang (Season 28, Cagayan)
8. Spencer Bledsoe (Season 28, Cagayan) If Tony hadn't been Tony, either of these guys would have been more than acceptable as winners that season.
9. Joe Anglim (Season 30, Worlds Apart)
10. Mike Holloway (Season 30, Worlds Apart) Both were and/or have been favorites of mine to win the current season.  Mike still might, but if he doesn't, he certainly has another get-out-of-jail card to stay in the game of Survivor.

Survivor: Worlds Apart...and my crazy early prediction

The thirtieth and latest season just premiered last Wednesday, so it's kind of ridiculous, sans any spoilers, to be placing bets on a winner.

But my choice as of right now is Mike.  His scorpion moment should already be considered an all-time classic.  Where else can you go from there?  All the way to victory!