NOTE: This is NOT a ranking of the CBS Survivor seasons it is a ranking of the 1st Generation Suitman's Survivor seasons, a groupgame which began in August 2011 and ended in November 2012.
#4: Thailand- Past vs Present (Season 23, September-October 2012)
Winner: AdamBongo (8-1-0)
Wiki page: http://bit.ly/SXJU2P
Thailand is a season which is regularly overlooked. Mainly because when people ask what the best seasons of Suitman's Survivor are, the reply is usually "Oh China, HvV and BotB are the all time greats". So what is actually a great season with a great cast and a decent twist (and typically a season Joeker didn't screw up pre-merge in) is just forgotten. Thailand is actually a season with some classic blindsides and a cast that isn't your usual top stars, but the ones just below - the B graders you might say (excluding Joeker of course).
This season the two tribes were divided by WHEN people played the game - The Pasts (returnees from Seasons 1-11) were Sook Jai in purple, and the Presents (returnees from Seasons 12-22) were Chuay Gahn in orange. Pre-merge, the two tribes were one of the most evenly matched combinations ever, with both tribes struggling to get more than a one man lead on the other tribe. The merge hit with even numbers, and although they had the combined name of Chuay Jai and fresh new gold buffs, it was still Pasts vs Present. Some of the Pasts however thought that tribal lines were no more, and some cross-tribe alliances were made. But the Pasts were blinded by a united Chuay Gahn, who used these fake alliances to gain a lead over Sook Jai, voting out their players one after another. It wasn't until a few days into the merge that the Pasts realised what was happening, but by then it was too late. They managed to get a member of Chuay, PeaceOut14, to flip, but the pagonging had already begun. When four members of Sook Jai had been taken out and only two remained, things hit a roadbump when one of the two remaining Sooks had Immunity, and the other had an idol. To avoid being voted out due to the idol, Chuay Gahn decided to break their unity and stab their thought leader Manipulation in the back in a shocking blindside. After that crack in Chauy had formed, the last two Sooks plus the Chuay flipper attempted to smash Chuay to peices, but it didn't work. Joeker was voted out, and Sook were reduced to one man - Kikorus. At the next vote, Kikorus plus the Chuay flipper rallied once again to widen the crack. This time, they were successful, resulting in the entire tribe blindsiding Zeero from the game. He didn't have a clue what was coming, and the last Sook Jai lived another day. At the Final Five, Peace won his first Immunity, giving the tribe the perfect oppertunity to take out Adam, but they didn't take it. Instead, last Sook Jai Kikorus was cut short and sent to the Jury, snuffing the last bit of life still standing for the Pasts. The final four Chuay Gahns then battled it out in Endurance for Final Immunity, in which AdamBongo won his sixth challenge. With Adam Immune, they finally turned on flipper Peace, making her the ninth and final member of the Jury. At Final Tribal Council, Daniel and Max were deamed as followers of Adam. Daniel put forward a case to try and convince them that he had a good stretegy, but the Jury recognised that Adam had the best physical, strategic and social game of the lot, and Adam was crowed the Sole Survivor in an 8-1-0 vote.
Thailand needs more recognition that it deserves. It is probably one of my fave pre-merges of my seasons, next to China, HvV and BOTB (the top 3 obvs). Big names were blindsided pre-merge as both tribes had power conflictions on-par with that of the real Timbira tribe. The blindside of Zeero was of course the high point. He was on track to win the game, but his blindside was necissary, expecially for Adam, who had played middle-ball this season as apposed to the previous season One World, when he was the guy leading the pack. Adam did a GREAT job getting to the end and winning, because just the season before he had made the FINAL 3. And he did it AGAIN. So what IS this season remembered for? Ah yes, it's controversy with Alaadin, the WINNER of the previous season. Someone who i thought I could trust but obviously not. I could write a document on my personal feelings towards Alaadin (inc the problems in the new gen era), but I wont because as a gameplayer I have to admit, he can play well. This stupid case taints Adam's win and this season in a bad light, which is stupid because it was classic Survivor - Just ask the people who played. Luckily Adam makes up for that in his superb BOTB game.. but that is still to come..
Fave Castaway on Season = Kikorus for the lolz, because this is when we learnt he can actually play Survivor :o (all jokes aside, plz see new gen Great Britain kthnx-and yes this was an advertisement ploy-*subtle link to group* http://www.tengaged.com/group/3095 )
NOTE: This is NOT a ranking of the CBS Survivor seasons it is a ranking of the 1st Generation Suitman's Survivor seasons, a groupgame which began in August 2011 and ended in November 2012.
#3 will be up tomorrow.