Survivor

Watching Survivor: Micronesia this season, something feels a little off. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s one of the best and most interesting seasons in quite some time. Perhaps it’s the way CBS tried to pitch it to me, though. Fans vs. Favorites. Really? We’ve already established that a good half of the favorites aren’t favorites at all. They’re semi-memorable players from seasons past. In fact, probably only 3 (maybe 4) of them are technically favorites.

The show has done a phenomenal job of focusing on them as opposed to the fans. Now that the tribes have been mixed up for a few episodes, they can’t hide them as secondary storylines anymore. All of this has left me wondering: Are these people really the superfans that CBS says they are?

First, there’s the fact that we had not one, but two quitters this season that were fans. Chet obviously couldn’t hack it and had no idea what he was getting into but Kathleen claims that she has watched every season. She also has been trying out since Vanuatu and always made it on that season. Didn’t these people know what they were getting into?

Next, we’ve got the fact that they seem to have never watched an episode in their lives. They built their shelter too close to the water, washing away a barbecue that they won after a reward challenge. Joel was easily manipulated into voting out strong players like Mary and Mikey B only to be sent home immediately afterwards. Jason, perhaps the most dense of them all, took a fake idol that Ozzy made at face value without question. He held it up to the camera and proudly stated, “Well, I found the idol,” and I laughed for about 10 minutes straight.

Here’s my assessment. I think they like the show but I think they’re more people who really wanted to be on Survivor as opposed to the biggest fans of all time. They’re currently outnumbered, 4 to 7, and I don’t see any of them being the last one standing at the end. Next time Survivor says they’re going to give us a season of Fans vs. Favorites, they should mean it.


- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)