To get things started, we have to get rid of the really forgettable merges. There are a handful of really bad merge episodes but I believe this is the worst of them all. This season is:
THAILAND!
As we all know, Thailand may be the most forgettable survivor season of all-time. Commonly regarded as a bottom 5 season, the merge episode was no different. The set-up going into this has to start with the fake merge picnic 2 episodes prior. The tribes gathered and were paired up to bond which I thought was an interesting way to introduce the sides to each other. Going into this 5-5, I thought these social interactions were an interesting set-up for a potential flip. But then Jeff reveals that he never said they were merging and that they would still be competing as tribes. Chuay Gahn takes advantage of this extra time and wins the next 2 immunity challenges almost solely because of Brian to gain a 5-3 majority going into the real merge.
This meant the 3 remaining Sook Jai members were screwed going into this. It was basically inevitable one of them was going to be picked off. Jake, Penny and Ken were all fighting to try to get a Chuay to flip and/or get in good favor with them. The only small hole that opened was that Clay openly said he didn't like Ted. Jake tried to take advantage of this but in the end, there wasn't much drama for who was going home and Chuay Gahn got rid of the physical threat in Ken.
What makes this worse is that Ken may be the most forgettable merge boot in survivor history. Seriously I had to go look on Wikipedia to see which Sook Jai got voted out in this episode. From someone that has watched every episode, that's when you know it's bad. Not only was he not memorable, his boot didn't really have a huge impact on what went on next. It was just the finishing of the pagonging of Sook Jai with Penny and Jake getting voted out the next 2 tribals. The one thing this episode set up was the battle between Clay and Ted for Brian's partner in the end.
This is not the only merge boot that meant nothing but I just didn't like the fact a pagonging was starting so late and I found Ken to be an extra forgettable merge boot on what is widely regarded as the most forgettable season of survivor overall.
Stay tuned for #28! Hint- this merge episode had a tribe in the minority going in
Borneo
Australian Outback
Africa
Marquesas
Amazon
Pearl Islands
All Stars
Vanuatu
Palau
Guatemala
Exile Island
Cook Islands
Fiji
China
Micronesia
Gabon
Tocantins
Samoa
Heroes vs. Villains
Nicaragua
Redemption Island
South Pacific
One World
Philippines
Caramoan
Blood vs. Water
Cagayan
San Juan Del Sur
