Through my rewatch (and for some seasons re-rewatch) of seasons, I started ranking seasons based on keeping points of how much I hated (-3) or loved (+3) episodes and the cast of each episode, Thailand was the first season I decided to rewatch, wanting to get it out of the way early. After each season, I ranked the cast from hated to loved.
16th - Brian (Hated) Now I get that people like him as a villain in the 'he's a literal psychopath' kinda way, but he is just too disgusting as a person for me to enjoy him in the slightest. From the continuous sexist comments, to how he/Helen handled the Ghandia situation, and his just overall arrogance despite hardly winning the season against the biggest goat to that point in survivor, I just hated Brian the entire way through.
15th - Clay (Hated) Basically the same that I said for Brian goes for Clay, added in with Clay's admitting to whooping his kid (I think he said it for a joke, but it still seemed as though he really did it.) He did have some good one-liners but when you really hate someone, it's hard to find the humor in what they are saying.
14th - Ted (Really Dislike) Grindgate really ruined the season for me. The men all looked horrible, even Helen had a bad look, and these are the people who would then run the game. I think Ted handled grindgate badly, but honestly not as horribly as Helen/Brian by spreading rumors of a serious action. I believe Ted was honestly shocked by what was being said, and although I was against him dismissing Ghandia's claims, at least I could understand it. Plus I did like drunk Ted.
13th - Stephanie (Dislike) She was useless, and not even in the villain fun way, she just didn't add anything and complained a lot.
12th - Jed (Dislike) Basically the same as Steph, just had to deal with him 2 less episodes.
11th - John (Neutral) Now if I factored in post-game, he would be in the running for the lowest but he didn't really do anything bad in the game. I did like the lulzy making people swim then being like 'lolz we don't know where the water is!!!' Despite that, he was just a standard first boot.
10th - Erin (Neutral) Made it really far yet was a non-factor, she had some good moments when her tribe started getting destroyed post-fake-merge though. However, she was part of isolating Shii-Ann which wasn't a great look.
9th - Penny (Neutral) I guess in another season I would appreciate her as a villain, but this season had too many already. She just tried to throw Jake under the bus despite him being her only ally, and didn't really get that much development.
8th - Tanya (Neutral) Felt bad for her, but was just there and sick.
7th - Ken (Liked) Boring but was part of the less-awful tribe and at least was part of the excellent Robb moment and was the one person who didn't seem to isolate Shii-Ann other than Jake.
6th - Ghandia (Really Liked) Ghandia, Ghandia, Ghandia, grindgate was uncomfy af, but it's not her fault ofc. She had every right to feel violated as a rape victim in the past, unfortunately the tribe handled it horribly and it really just ruined the entire season for me. She was fun regardless, and I felt bad for her throughout.
5th - Jake (Really Liked) The strategic underdog of the season, Jake actually had some fun moments, and was probably the nicest person out there. He was boring, but I'd much rather see him than a good portion of the cast I despised.
4th - Jan (Really Liked) Jan was a fun character, but I was surprised how little airtime she got. Probably a good thing because she was the only one not involved in grindgate in her tribe, but she had some great moments nonetheless.
3rd - Robb (Loved) Robb was the most entertaining character the first 4 episodes, and his conflict with Shii-Ann, although ugly at times, didn't look as bad thanks to grindgate. I really didn't like him when he hated on Shii-Ann and was sexist at times, but then his final episode was probably the best episode of Thailand. His development was the highlight of the season, and really made him one of the few complete characters of the season.
2nd - Shii-Ann (Loved) It really sucks that the first Asian was completely outcasted, but her story was the best underdog story of the season. She got screwed by the fake merge (although she was probably done for had it not happened either way) and she was unapologetically herself. One of the few unproblematic characters, while still being entertaining, it makes a lot more sense to me why they brought her back for All-Stars with a ton of stupid, stupid players.
1st - Helen (Loved) To get it out of the way, she was one of the main issues with grindgate. She said she was familiar with rape victims, yet resided to playing telephone with Brian about the whole mess. She contributed, in my eyes, the most to why it was so miscommunicated and turned into such an ordeal. That being said, I don't think that reflects on her as a person, and she ended up taking Ghandia's side. Plus, she had the most one-liners of the season. It was hard to tell if she was joking at times or unintentionally funny, but she was a great confessional giver nonetheless.
Overall wasn't a fan of Thailand, it even ended up with a negative score in my scoring system.
Ranked rewatched seasons
1.) MvGX ( 2.71 avg score per ep, 37.97 total score)
2.) Thailand (-.44 avg score per ep, -5.74 total score)
So around the time of MvGX was airing I decided to try and do a full rewatch of survivor, while keeping a system where I would rank castaways every ep from a scale of Hate (-3) to Love (+3) so I could see if I could rank all the castaways of survivor. Plus, I ranked episodes similarly and tracked the average score of each episode and cast of the episode to 'score' each season. Recently I rewatched MvGX and just felt like ranking them here.
20th - Paul (Dislike) - I felt like Paul had potential pre-game, this random try-to-be-cool-dad who thinks he can relate to the youths, he looked like Rupert on like meth. Unfortunately he sucked as a character, his one-liners weren't funny, and he just seemed like a cringey villain.
19th - Zeke (Dislike) - I actually liked Zeke for the majority of MvGX, but then near the end he became a complete gamebot and his confessionals just seemed too much like he was a try hard, a lot of my issue with his GC character. He ended up just being cringey, like Paul, and his BIG MOVEZ outlook on the game really changed the narrative into way too much gamebottyness for me.
18th - CeCe (Neutral) What can I say about CeCe? No really, I have no idea. She was severally undereditted and was just a number for David and Ken but David clearly didn't care about her that much considering he just let her go.
17th - Mari (Neutral) I feel like a lot of people hated that Mari left when she did but I was #TeamFigtails, but other than the fact that she plays video games ONLINE for a living idk anything about her. Although that 'Hannah is probably talking about unicorns or butts or something' line got her above CeCe, so there's that.
16th - Rachel (Neutral) Felt bad for her going, and her exit press was extremely depressing as she clearly cared about the game. But I am only factoring what I saw on TV and she was just kind of annoying but not in a fun way to the rest of the tribe so eh.
15th - Chris (Neutral) If I factored in ponderosa, he'd be higher, because we saw his actual personality in that. Instead on the show, all we got was this gamebot narrator who didn't really contribute much outside of a few good lines.
14th - Sunday (Neutral) Post game I like Sunday, but on the show there was nothing besides her being a neat lady, and not even in a Monica Culpepper way. She was just kind of there because of her purple edit, and if they gave her a proper one I feel like she'd be much higher.
13th - Lucy (Neutral/Mixed) Those first 3 episodes we saw no Lucy whatsoever. Then she had her breakout (and boot) episode! I kind of liked the randomness of dictator Lucy but I think she gets a bit overhyped, if anything that was a Ken breakout episode for me.
12th - Jessica (Like) Another gamebot, but we at least got to see the social aspect of her game and getting tight with Ken/David, and I liked her in Post Swap Takali. I also felt bad for her drawing that rock but she really didn't add too much.
11th - Will (Like) The first 10 episodes we saw more of Mari talking about playing video games online for a living than we saw Will. Then we saw #BIGMOVEZ Will who I appreciated because of how delusional he was, he had this entitlement all the sudden that I just loved. The reason I prefer this over Lucy is because I feel like with Lucy, she just offended Ken but didn't even mean to. Ep 11/12 Will just had this hatred for Ken, and such a random arc that I loved. However, he can't be higher because he was basically on the show for an episode and a half.
10th - Michelle (Like) God if I judged things by secret scenes and ponderosa Michelle would be higher. Instead we saw this amazing move by her at her first tribal, and then... She didn't like how the guys in her tribe burped? She kinda faded away, which sucks because we never got to see Michelle talking about dragons on the show or being as quirky as she is. Michelle is probably the most interesting person on this cast yet they just let so much out.
9th - Figgy (Really Like) Everyone talked her up like she'd be the next Parvati, but instead we got a #FigTails trainwreck. I much prefer Taylor, and this is probably the only time that I can think of when I prefer the guy in a showmance, but Figgy just kinda had the 'straight man' role with Taylor while also having a really fun energy and being somewhat socially unaware, but not enough for her to be higher.
8th - Adam (Really Like) Adam goes back and forth between my fav character and gamebot throughout MvGX. Personally, I lost my mom a few months before this season aired so I feel like I never really connected with a story on survivor more than Adam's. I really loved that, and his random 2 episode merge arc when everyone just says how stupid he is and he randomly creates an alliance with Taylor then they just throw each other under the bus. Other than those moments, which are really huge, I don't love him because he was just kind of there for so long and didn't add too much, plus I'm bitter that he won over really anyone in the final 6.
7th - Bret (Really Like) Aw Bret, another underedited character, but he still got tons of moments. From him opening up about being gay, to him being frustrated over Trust Clusters, to him being drunk at every opportunity, Bret was the funniest guy of the cast. If he just got more of an edit, he could really be my favorite from this season, and if he didn't go after David for his social anxiety during that one tribal.
6th - David (Really Like) David's growth storyline was amazing when we saw it, but during the end of the pre-merge to early merge David was just a gamebot. During the early and late portions of the game, he was an amazing character, plus he is a great player. I also connected with his social anxiety storyline as I have extreme social anxiety, so it was fun to see that growth arc.
5th - Ken (Really Like) Ken was such a throwback to early survivor contestants. He was fairly well developed, and had so many sides to him. On one hand he is extremely attractive and seems like he would be a douche (which he kinda is, but just a bit) on the other, he has anxiety just like, well, 90% of this cast. Ken had so many quirky moments that my friends and I just loved, because he is such an enigma. He could be arrogant randomly ('testing' Will) while also really seeming to care (like every other moment), and he was such an amazing character, plus he played old school in the most new school newbie season, it was refreshing. However, he just like disappeared near the end of the pre-merge and I feel like they missed out, yet again.
4th - Michaela (Love) Michaela has such a unique way of giving confessionals, idk what it is, but I just love them. She may have went early, but she was such a great character. From the #ChallengeBeast to her getting on everyone's nerves, to her amazing confessionals and staredown at tribal, I'm so glad she got to return for GC and has had some great moments in there too.
3rd - Taylor (Love) Idk how Taylor is perceived by others, but I just loved him. He was such a fuckboi but in the fun way, and had great moments pre-merge. Then after Figgy goes, we see the best of Taylor. Wanting revenge for Figgy, and stashing food, then being completely unaware of how he is perceived by the rest of the cast, plus going after Adam at tribal despite his secret being much more damning than Adam's, so unaware he was amazing. Plus those eyes tho.
2nd - Hannah (Love) While David went back and forth between gamebot and growth arc, I felt like with Hannah we got to see the best of both. She has so many quirky moments, from medical checking on her while she was sitting out, asking how Adam's idol search is going after he just orgasmed over finding the idol, having Jeff check on her when she voted, her relationship with Ken, and then becoming the kingpin at the very end of the game. Although I never think there is really a 'wrong' winner because the game is about swaying the jury, I do get annoyed that they gave her (and also Ken, but mainly her) no credit in the end. I felt like she played a really great game but just couldn't beat the perceptions of others and that sucked.
1st - Jay (LOVE) Jay is just so fun. He is one of those people who give such unique confessionals, and if other people said the things he said, I probably wouldn't find it funny. However, he has an amazing delivery and just seemed like a fun guy. It also helps that he was an underdog the entire merge (the only person he voted for that went home was his #1 ally, Taylor). He had a really fun attitude, and him during the Michaela boot and his own boot are excellent examples of why he's amazing. The staredown with Michaela, then the cockiness of the idol play until he realizes he is fake and just has a really commendable exit is why he is a great character.
Some of these are probably odd placements, but I feel like this was a season with a solid cast that had some great moments, but also focused a bit too much on BIG MOVEZ, although it was a huge step up from Cambodia doing that 24/7.
33.) Redemption Island
32.) Thailand
31.) One World
30.) Caramoan
29.) Palau
28.) Cook Islands
27.) Africa
26.) Guatemala
25.) Australian Outback
24.) Vanuatu
23.) Fiji
22.) Samoa
21.) South Pacific
20.) All Stars
19.) Borneo
18.) Marquesas
17.) Nicaragua
16.) Blood v Water
15.) Worlds Apart
14.) Panama
13.) Amazon
12.) Micronesia
11.) China
10.) Cambodia
9.) San Juan Del Sur
8.) Tocantins
7.) Philippines
6.) Gabon
5.) Koah Rong
4.) Heroes v Villains
3.) Cagayan
2.) Millennials v Gen X
1.) Pearl Islands
Probably some recency bias towards MvG, maybe still some for Koah Rong but I really loved this season. It had a perfect mix of strategy and actually getting to know the players. I didn't think a modern season could be as emotional as that was, and although I wasn't completely satisfied with Adam as a winner, it wasn't as bad as Aubry losing to Michele.
Also I can now see why Jeff wants to switch up how the jury works next season with 2 seasons in a row being a complete 10-0-0 blowout.
