Survivor Redemption Island Hate & Discussion Thread

[Kiyle_Whitley]

this season sucks so much.
NOW DISCUSS

[Taro_Yuan]

Do u guys think Boston Rob made the right move in taking out Steve, or should he have turned on Andrea then and there?

[Kiyle_Whitley]

Unless he wanted to take Steve to the F3 (lol at that) he did make the right move. If he booted Andrea she would have been pissed and going up against Matt, Mike & Ralph would not be good for her

[Taro_Yuan]

Unless he wanted to take Steve to the F3 (lol at that) he did make the right move. If he booted Andrea she would have been pissed and going up against Matt, Mike & Ralph would not be good for her

I don't understand your logic. Thats precisely why Andrea going would be in his interest, Andrea has a charismatic personality and if anyone is going to rally "troops" against Boston Rob I think its going to be her, is Ashley capable of it, maybe, Natalie wont, Phil wont, and Grant, well I sure hope he's smarter then he leads on or else Rob will just cut him off at the knees when the time is right.

[Kiyle_Whitley]

He didn't plan on taking Steve to the F3 so by keeping him over other people Rob just would've pissed them.
Keep Steve over Andrea she's pissed. Keep Steve over Ashley she's pissed. Rob is trying not to piss anyone off.
And yes Andrea does have the personality to rally the troops the problem is those troops are not budging. Natalie, Phillip, and Grant are 100% on Rob's side so thats 4 of 6 bam right there they control the game. I thought Ashley was independent but nope she just runs right back to Rob, he's got complete control over all of them. He controls Andrea too because she is absolutely oblivious to the things people are saying about her and she thinks Rob is taking her to the end.

[Taro_Yuan]

To slightly deflect from our discussion, this is the RI HATE thread after all. I'm really not a fan of RI post-merge, pre-merge it was ok, but now its just to much. But in all fairness to this season, I like it more then then the Nicaragua season. Sure Boston Rob exhibits some psychopathic tendencies but at least it keeps the season somewhat entertaining, Phillips antics r fun to watch, and I find the people more likable in general. Nicaragua had very little going for it. Any thoughts?

[Taro_Yuan]

He didn't plan on taking Steve to the F3 so by keeping him over other people Rob just would've pissed them.
Keep Steve over Andrea she's pissed. Keep Steve over Ashley she's pissed. Rob is trying not to piss anyone off.
And yes Andrea does have the personality to rally the troops the problem is those troops are not budging. Natalie, Phillip, and Grant are 100% on Rob's side so thats 4 of 6 bam right there they control the game. I thought Ashley was independent but nope she just runs right back to Rob, he's got complete control over all of them. He controls Andrea too because she is absolutely oblivious to the things people are saying about her and she thinks Rob is taking her to the end.

I hear what you're saying its a 50-50 call in my opinion, I just hope Andrea has the courage mount an attack against Rob, and that she's not completely controlled by Rob as the edit seems to lead on. I think Rob is smart enough to identify a threat when he sees it. I feel This may come back to haunt hi m though. As far as keeping the jury happy, Rob isn't really concerned with that, he wants to take disliked people along with him so that he's perceived as the lesser of "evils/crazies". Who do u think would win in a final 3 of Rob/Phil/Natalie?

[Kiyle_Whitley]

I honestly think Rob has gotten his alliance to ostracize the others so good he can win no matter who he's up against
Who would have thought Rob would be a jury threat?
And Nicaragua >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> RI so much

[Zayden_Jones]

This season is revolting. So many people kissing Rob's ass 24/7....

[Admin]

Redemption Island is worse than Thailand or Fiji or Cook Islands. Flat-out truth right there. In those seasons, at least you knew half the cast and people tried playing the game for themselves. They might as well have stranded Boston Rob with Kristina, Fran, Steph, Russell, and twelve infant toddlers.

[Taro_Yuan]

Redemption Island is worse than Thailand or Fiji or Cook Islands. Flat-out truth right there. In those seasons, at least you knew half the cast and people tried playing the game for themselves. They might as well have stranded Boston Rob with Kristina, Fran, Steph, Russell, and twelve infant toddlers.

I really don't get why all the hate for the Cook Islands, I loved it. As far as RI goes, last nights edit was a pretty good one for once, I was really torn about whether Andrea or Steve would get the boot. Even Ralph's boot was well edited, when Grant said something to the effect of "Steve played in the NFL, he never gives up" caused some doubt as to whether he were to go before Ralph did. I still prefer this RI over Nicaragua, the people from that season were mostly dislikeable, I mean c'mon Dan? no one comes off nearly as bad as Dan was, what an utterly useless contestant.

You have to give Rob his credit though, yeah he's playing with group of moron but he's played it to perfection and adjusted his game accordingly, whereas Russell's game play was a complete failure due to a failure to adjust to his surroundings.

[Kiyle_Whitley]

Cook Islands is ANOTHER horrible season but at least it gave us Yul, who is a good winner even though I can't stand him, Ozzy, best competitor this show ever had, and Parvati who's arguably the most dominant strategic female this show has ever had.
RI has given us nothing. How sucky is it for the jurors who have no idea what's going on? If Matt comes back @ like F4 he will be absolutely clueless on what happened since F11. How can he make decisions if he was literally just tossed into the game? This doesn't even feel like Survivor, like this show is a far cry from the amazingness known as Australian Outback or Amazon.

[Roger_Hahn]

This season is so bad. There are no reedeming qualities. I don't consider it a Survivor season. It's a bad Survivor spin-off.

[Admin]

Nicaragua sucked. I hated it. However it was at least well edited and gave us the Immunity that was Na'Onka. Plus it gave us a few hot chicks who attempted strategy(nothing against women, but most of them never get to this point) in Brenda and Alina.

However, when Alina/Marty/Brenda/Na'Onka happened all sequentially. Bam. End of the season right there.

Cook Islands was awful Taro. The Hiki tribe is the sorriest excuse for a tribe ever. Ulong would have kicked their ass. The Asians were all invisible(minus Yul who was boring as hell) and the white people were all douche's.

The only interesting things of the season were Ozzy's looks, Candice's extended stay at Exile, and Jonathan Penner. Yul may have been a good player, but he holds to this day that a lot of his strategy was Becky. She was invisible so we will never know how much. Plus he had an idol nobody could blindside so his win can never be justified.

Awful Awful seasons. Both of em.

[Taro_Yuan]

Nicaragua sucked. (...) when Alina/Marty/Brenda/Na'Onka happened all sequentially. Bam. End of the season right there.

Agreed the lose of Alina, Marty and Brenda in sequence killed the season, and then for the queen villain to just quit was just ridiculous.

Cook Islands was awful Taro. The Hiki tribe is the sorriest excuse for a tribe ever. Ulong would have kicked their ass. The Asians were all invisible(minus Yul who was boring as hell) and the white people were all douche's.

I find that's a very critical analysis you just gave, I found the entire cast quite enjoyable. A very nice blend of diversified personalities, and everyone was given face time regardless of how long they stayed in the game. I mean the average survivor non-addict may even remember who Billy Garcia was, even though he was booted second.

The only interesting things of the season were Ozzy's looks, Candice's extended stay at Exile, and Jonathan Penner. Yul may have been a good player, but he holds to this day that a lot of his strategy was Becky. She was invisible so we will never know how much. Plus he had an idol nobody could blindside so his win can never be justified.

In fairness to Yul, no one successfully ever planned to take him out, they were always short one vote. I think the criticism that "his idol was too powerful and thats the only reason he won" is unfounded. I admire this season because their foursome was able to overcome numerical disadvantage, and when tempted to flip stuck together because of the bond they had, thats rare in the world in survivor, heck trust and loyalty like that is hard to find in the real world.

As for the Becky-Yul relationship, they were both smart people and I'm sure they talked everything decision over with eachother, again its that trust and loyalty between people that makes me admire this season. At final 5 Sundra and Ozzy could of easily voted for Yul along with Adam to force the idol out of play, giving them an equal chance at the remaining final four. But no, they developed true friendship and didn't turn on their ally. And then in the final 4, the idol wasn't given to Becky despite Yul's bond with her, for the sake of "fairness". in a game where the concept of "ethics" is highly distorted, I respect what they did.

But then again I'm just sucker who tries to develop meaningful relationships with people just to get my throat slit. "Sure lets take Russell to final, its easy to win that way" I don't agree with that reasoning, I'd rather see the loyal and good people face off in the finals.Yeah, Gabon was a sucky season, I didn't like Sugar all that much but what she did by bringing the "good people" to the end is admirable.

the only interesting things of the season were Ozzy's looks ... (Nicaragua) it gave us a few hot chicks who attempted strategy(nothing against women, but most of them never get to this point) in Brenda and Alina.

I'm confused, don't want to go all Shannon on you but are u gay or not? first u mention "Ozzy's looks", then the "hot chicks from Nicaragua"?

I'm used to be the only who defends the Cooks as a top season of survivor, but yeah this RI season sucks pretty bad. Its pretty pitiful that they go cast people who have hardly even seen the show, the integrity of the show has been severily compromised ever since the mass influx of "recruits".

[Admin]

It doesn't matter if I am gay or if I am straight. Either way I would be able to comfortably decide whether or not a human being of any gender was attractive or not.

BTW, Cooks was heavily recruited. Another thing. Everyone knew Yul had the idol. Nobody with two brain cells (so I give Erik, and the cast of Ometepe props for being likely to try this were they in these shoes) would ever attempt to dethrone Yul's idol if they were the other target that night. Final five. Ozzy, Sundra, and Adam vote out Yul. Waste of time for Adam since he'll be heading out anyway. Find out the others are planning it and Yul can just turn the tides on Sundra and save his idol another round. Unbeatable is the only word to describe Yul after his stay at Exile Island.

[Taro_Yuan]

It doesn't matter if I am gay or if I am straight. Either way I would be able to comfortably decide whether or not a human being of any gender was attractive or not.

Very good answer, it takes a person who is secure with themselves to acknowledge the "attractiveness" of gender they may not necessarily be sexually attracted to. I wanted to see if you would take the bait but you didn't, good job.

Agreed, I guess Ozzy is an "attractive looking man", he just came off as a little too cocky in Micronesia.

BTW, Cooks was heavily recruited. Another thing. Everyone knew Yul had the idol. Nobody with two brain cells (so I give Erik, and the cast of Ometepe props for being likely to try this were they in these shoes) would ever attempt to dethrone Yul's idol if they were the other target that night. Final five. Ozzy, Sundra, and Adam vote out Yul. Waste of time for Adam since he'll be heading out anyway. Find out the others are planning it and Yul can just turn the tides on Sundra and save his idol another round. Unbeatable is the only word to describe Yul after his stay at Exile Island.

I don't see it that way about the idol situation but whatever. I mean if Jonathan would have voted against Yul at the merge, Nate goes home but the numbers are 4-4, which could of lead to some interesting dynamics. But Yul's brilliant persuasive skills didn't permit that to happen.

As far as recruiting goes, there is a difference between recruiting people like Purple Kelly for instance and most of the Cook Islands cast. But yeah in general heavily recruited casts tend to suck, especially when its done to rig the game in favor certain people like on RI. I mean its so obvious that production went seek out people that know very little of survivor so that Russell and Rob had the chance to stay longer in the game.

[Taro_Yuan]

I just feel like ever since the Cooks Islands the show has entered into a slump. With good season only appearing here and there. China & Tocantins (classic survivor, 16 contestants, no HIIs were ever played), Micronesia had its memorable moments, even Samoa was good to an extent despite the heavily biased edit.

Regarding the Cook Islands, the whole season just played out like a beautiful story from a novel. I remember watching it week after week just hoping that their foursome would pull it off, the excitement and tension was thrilling. And it was nice to see the "good guys" pull it off in the end. I guess I'm just a sucker for good "romance story". Like Jeff Probst said at its finale, for once I actually felt bad that the other finalist had lost the season, but still happy for the winner. I think in survivor when the final vote comes down to a single deciding one, its generally a good sing of a good season.

No need to agree with me , I know I'm quite alone with this thinking. Just wanted to let you guys know what my reasoning was.

And yes since this is the Redemption Island hate thread after all, it really doesn't even feel like survivor anymore. Four (4) people on RI, wtf? I really hope Phillip would beat Rob in the finale, that would be hilarious to CBS's plan backfire like that. Even though I think Grant and Andrea are the two most likable people left in the game. And yes I called them "likable", I didn't call them "smart". But I sure do hope they pick up their game, it would be nice to see both of them blindside Rob, though highly unlikely at this point.

[Admin]

I enjoyed the Cooks the first time I saw the season. The hugest problem is that once the suspense of who will go home is gone, it is the worst of all of them via re-watch. I truly can't even get through the third episode. I would rank the seasons as such.

22. Redemption Island
21. Nicaragua
20. Thailand
19. Cooks Islands
18. Fiji
17. Australia
16. Africa
15. Palau
14. All-Stars
13. Tocantins
12. Samoa
11. Amazon
10. Marquesas
9. Panama
8. Guatemala
7. China
6. Vanuatu
5. Gabon
4. Borneo
3. Pearl Islands
2. Micronesia
1. Heroes Vs. Villains

Note: A lot of people keep Borneo high due to nostalgia factor. I got into Survivor just two years ago and the only season I had seen before Samoa was the Australian Outback and China(and only a few episodes of each.) Borneo is just awesome.

Note2: Imagine the disappointment of remembering Australia and thinking it is some epic season and then feeling like you are forcing yourself to get through it. Whenever someone lists Australia high on a ranking, I know it is only because they saw it during its original run. It is so boring.

Note3: All of these rankings adjust themselves all of the time. The top 5 however, never changes...Well unless you count the inclusion of HvV. Which is, without a doubt, the most rewatchable season of all time. Ever.

Note4: Wondering how I caught up on all of this Survivor if I started during Samoa? I watched the original seasons for all of the players cast in HvV for prep. I figured I wouldn't understand an All-Star season if I didn't even know who these people were.

[Kiyle_Whitley]

I just finished AO like a month ago and I found it to be amazing, I also got into Survivor during Nicaragua and I've watched every season except Borneo & Fiji. But idk I just thought AO was extremely good, I'm a sucker for cast interaction over strategy.

Here's my ranking of the seasons I've seen so far

1 - Pearl Islands
2 - Palau
3 - Micronesia
4 - Amazon
5 - Marquesas
6 - Australian Outback
7 - Africa
8 - Heroes vs Villains
9 - Guatemala
10 - China
11 - Nicaragua
12 - Vanuatu
13 - Exile Island
14 - All Stars
15 - Thailand
16 - Samoa
17 - Tocantins
18 - Gabon
19 - Cook Islands

[Admin]

I should be packing my dorm right now but I am a very good procrastinator. I just felt like Jerri was the only redeeming factor of Australia. Challenges aside and all. When you see Borneo though maybe you'll understand the following stance I take.

I feel like Australia is a no-fun version of Borneo. You like relationships? You will LOVE Borneo.

As for my Africa disdain, the most enjoyable characters were: Lindsay, Silas, Brandon, Kelly G. They were all gone by 8th place. It just got so dreadfully boring after that. Even after Silas and Lindsay were gone, it had potential. Brandon just ruined it with the Kelly G vote which made Sarah distrust him so much she didn't go for voting Big Tom the tribal after. A Teresa/Brandon win would have been so much more fun than boring, dry, lame Ethan.

[Admin]

So I have time to rant and rave about the diff seasons for a second. My parents are at the hotel about to pick me up. Guess who will be rejoining EST tonight?!

Ok.

Heroes Vs Villains: I feel like the only two reasons this season gets favored ill is because of the huge spoiler leak(screw russell) and the Russell air-time(screw russell). Here is what I see as the REAL cons of the season.

1. Tyson/Candice/Courtney/Sandra/Jerri/Danielle edits. While Russell ACTUALLY DESERVED a lot of the airtime he got, in the early episodes we could have seen a little more of the above. I understand some people may not want to see Candice, Jerri, or Danielle. However let me tell you something.

The STAR of HvV is Jerri. She got screwed. Every week she had the best f-ing secret scenes and the most hilarious confessionals. Nothing just made it to the final cut. I suppose that is why every time she was on screen it was great. (Quotes about bottling up what Parv has, her Coach showmance, "swimming in yay," Sandra saying that Jerri was right about Colby having no personality...).

I feel like the viewer got screwed by Sandra winning. Only because if she had lost in the final three, you can bet there would have been a lot more negative scenes of her. You better believe she was just as sassy as PI, its just that with the current editing staff, they like to pretend people are something different than they are.

2. The Heroes tribe. While every single one of them belonged there(Sans Sugar, def a Villain), they lost most of the first challenges. They were B-O-R-I-N-G. With the exception of Tom/Ciries boots, they all sucked. The sad part about that is, Tom and Cirie are the only ones on the Heroes I liked! Although I did become enamored with Amanda during the show; an impressive feat since I couldn't stand her from China/Micro.

That is really it. There is so much background knowledge coming in, and SO many small nuances in every little scene that I seriously cannot watch an episode and not enjoy it. Seriously! I reviewed Amanda's boot episode this morning and was laughing the WHOLE episode. This season is gold.

Moments:

~Coach climbs the tree while Boston/Sandra place bets
~Courtneys Russell impressions
~Tyson's Colby should be a woman
~Tyson comforting a sobbing Coach
~Jerri/Coach showmance
~Parvati telling Russ she wanted her 2nd idol to be "A surprise"
~Parv gives away 2 idols
~The awkward Amanda/Parv reunion after their huge falling out post-micro
~Sandra tripping and falling into the mud
~Courtney competing in more immunity challenges in the season then Steph
~Courtney on the jury
~Sandra's sad story
~Jerri gets to pick an extra family member and doesn't pick Russ!
~Amanda/Danielle cat fight
~Colby just wants to watch the movie
~Jerri is "swimming in yay"
~Coach bosses Colby
~Boston Rob Vs. Russell(should've never been the RI twist though)
~Tyson screws himself over
~Russ gives Parv the idol
~Vote changes to Danielle AT TRIBAL!
~Candice flips(again), and is immediately blindsided
~Colby the challenge king...becomes a worse competitor than Sandra
~How perfectly matched the Immunity Challenge right before the merge was
~JT's letter
~Sandra gets Coach eliminated
~The Villains think there is a merge and there isn't
~Steph fights James at tribal and after she is snuffed
~Tom announces his whole alliance to defend Steph
~Cirie the master of blindsides is blindsided
~Cirie announces she wants Amanda gone because of Micro screw over
~Tom finds the idol at Heroes camp
~James tries all season to eliminate weaklings. He leaves and Heroes win.
~Amanda's run
~Rupert. The man is hilarious.
~Final tribal council. Although this is generally hilarious every time.
~Angry Ponderosa when Candice arrives. Yet happy when Danielle arrives.
~ Jeff fawns over Colby pre-game
~Coach makes an alliance with Courtney in his boot episode to oust Russ(secret scene)

There are plenty more. It just really is the best. Rewatch it sometime.

[Kiyle_Whitley]

Eh Heroes vs Villains is ok but the constant ~STRATEGY, MANIPULATION, IDOL, BLINDSIDE~ just got so annoying seeing it episode after episode. I do wish we saw more of Parvandra's alliance, Amanda leading the heroes until her demise, Colby & Jerri's new friendship and I wish the first dominant alliance (Rob, Russell, Sandra, Courtney, Danielle, Parvati) was given airtime and the edit showed hey they split up

[Roger_Hahn]

One thing we all agree on is that Redemption Island sucks. Never have I seen such a bad Survivor season.

But I'm surprised some of you don't like Nicaragua! It was so great. I liked it a lot. Big characters, interesting strategy, balanced (except Purple Kelly) edit, and not too many twists that change the game.

And about Australia, I watched it for the first time a year or two ago, and I totally loved it. Even more than Borneo. I liked the storyarcs, the challenges and the cast. It was Borneo but bigger and better!

My ranking:
22- Redemption Island
21- Samoa
20- Fiji
19- Cook Islands
18- All-Stars
17- Palau
16- Africa
15- Gabon
14- Vanuatu
13- Tocantins
12- Thailand
11- Marquesas
10- Nicaragua
9- Guatemala
8- Heroes vs Villains
7- Borneo
6- Exile Island
5- Australian Outback
4- Micronesia
3- China
2- Amazon
1- Pearl Islands

PI is literally perfect. There will never be any better season. And it is the most rewatchable. You have an AMAZING cast, AMAZING moments, AMAZING strategy, AMAZING editing, and AMAZING outcome. It's so awesome!

[Zayden_Jones]

My personal ranking is:


22- Redemption Island
21- Samoa
20- Fiji
19- Thailand
18- All-Stars
17- Cook Islands
16- Heroes vs Villains
15- Tocantins
14- Nicaragua
13- Africa
12- The Australian Outback
11- Borneo
10- Gabon
9- Palau
8- Guatemala
7- Vanuatu
6- Exile Island (Panama)
5- Marquesas
4- China
3- Micronesia
2- Pearl Islands
1- Amazon

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