39. Survivor Kadavu (S49)
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This part of the ranking will start the slew of third-generation seasons that just didn't make the cut. Unsurprisingly, I'll start with Survivor Kadavu the most recent season in the BigBen Survivor franchise. Kadavu, I believe had one of the more interesting casting processes as there was a vast amount of individuals who never really played group games along with some loyalists to the series. While the premerge and a ton of the game could be truly viewed as a snooze fest and the merge started off as a pagonging. What saves this season is the back half of the merge. It was entertaining to watch several duos in action that included Ali ( tokio) & Charl ( THEChanelOberlin), Brady ( CoachWade) & Keith ( keefe), Ikah ( ZforZombie) and James ( kingjames13). Not to mention, Brady coming away with the win after being in the minority most of the merge was a satisfying end result which help barely edges out Sri Lanka. I think this season had a lot more to give on a game front but still likely lacks in entertainment value.
38. Survivor Azores (S42)
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Azores is just an extremely weird season. However, what keeps this season ahead over a few of the other seasons is the dominance of one of the more successful trios in the series between Eric ( awwsum11), Skyler ( Sweez), and Tyler ( TMac_Elite). On Day 1, the final three assembled and on Day 39 they're all sitting at the end (despite strong efforts to knock them out from a resistance)! Honestly, I think this was one of the few jury votes that I didn't have a clear picture of where the cards would fall despite my opinion that Eric should probably be the favorite. Outside of that, I think another weird aspect to this season is everyone playing idols in the premerge so they'd be exhausted out along with vote stealers. There were some interesting votes as well like ( Spark_) getting out Erik ( YoundAndReckless) with a vote stealer and Erik deciding to idol out Kolby ( ThePug) because he was sketchy to save a near inactive in Alf ( Electric). Alf made it all the way to the final five and nearly won the game which is still sort of crazy as most individuals who start the game he did would've just been out next. We also had two quits really deep into the game which was frustrating. Weird season and a fair ranking in my eyes.
37. Survivor Suriname (S44)
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I'll say this... Suriname is another one that falls under the title of a weird season. I believe it was two minutes before the start of the season someone decides to quit two minutes before the game starts and not having enough time to find a replacement the cast was stuck at seventeen. What did I like about the season? First, I think Jan ( DarkTyphoon23) is arguably one of the best winners and overall players in the series so that helps a lot. However, I think another aspect was the merge was actually chaotic in a good/predictable way as we saw a few different powershifts after Shadi ( Chastain) quitting the game at the final nine. This merge was definitely not a snooze fest and I was likely a bit too critical in saying this season would remain at the bottom of the third generation. However, I won't lie and say something was definitely missing it's just something that I'm not recalling at this time. Also, this was a breakout moment for newer group game players like Travis ( Johns4250).
36. Survivor Cyprus - Dynamic Duos (S47)
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On paper, I think this season possessed one of the most stacked casts that I've had in an extremely long time. The duos were all relatively unique and consisted of individuals that either played together in a past season or were new to the series as a whole. Also, with this cast being so stacked there was also a returnee fast game where two individuals would reenter the game, and in this case, it was the duo of Darrius ( Darriusdabest) and Deshon ( deshonBANNEDISBACK) very iconic. Honestly, I do fault myself a bit for why the season is this low as I went on an unexpected vacation for a few days so that took away the pace of the game. Not to mention, I think Tylor ( bamold1999) was the central figure in this cast so I felt his will was being properly inserted into the players for the longest time. However, the emergence of someone that I didn't think would be a contender to win in Pietro ( _Ravenclaw_) really turned up a notch during the merge and will be remembered as one of the "flippiest flippers" of all time along with Billy ( Sealrfun23). Reckon, he definitely made the correct moves for his made game but I didn't think he built enough social capital to be considered as the actual winner of the season. Also, I think the dynamic was also interesting in that you can make the argument that the entirety of the jury likely played better overall games than the final three (that's why Pietro in my eyes is a good winner). Also, Stoner ( Gaiaphagee) received the first boot and Yung ( Yunggunzkeep18) was a nice addition as a player and casual viewer to the series.
35. Survivor Thailand (S10)
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This season will be forever known as... Jera Land! Jera ( XxHeroxX) for the longest time and still might be the best winner of the BigBen Survivor franchise. She was dynamic socially and strategically to the point she truly ran the game from start to finish. Her most memorable move is likely convincing Sean ( Caliboy) to take her to the end over Victoria ( VictoriaW) in the sense of essentially pulling a Woo. Also, the original Sook Jai tribe which originally entered the merge (6-4) in the minority all made it to the final five thanks largely to Jera at this time (credit definitely goes to the tribe as a whole). Renny ( TheRenny) was also one of the original underdogs in the series going on a consecutive immunity run and making it all the way to the final four and it's safe to say he likely wins if he makes it to the end. Overall, Jera vs. Renny compared a lot to Spencer vs. Tony from Survivor Cagayan. I think from a historical perspective this is a good spot for the season as it was the first true season of utter dominance by one individual but the cast was relatively invested (just not great TV). Also, Jera never wore the immunity necklace all season is another impressive fleet despite being the biggest threat all season.
Current Rankings
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35. Survivor: Thailand (S10)
36. Survivor: Cyprus - Dynamic Duos (S47)
37. Survivor: Suriname (S44)
38. Survivor: Azores (S42)
39. Survivor: Kadavu (S49)
40. Survivor: Sri Lanka (S12)
41. Survivor: Myanmar (S7)
42. Survivor: Palau (S8)
43. Survivor: Nicaragua (S29)
44. Survivor: Peru (S16)
45. Survivor: Jordan (S4)
46. Survivor: Israel (S38)
47. Survivor: Comoros (S25)
48. Survivor: South Africa (S30)
49. Survivor: Vietnam (S35)
