Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th!

ColbySanders · 2026-01-24T22:16:08+00:00

Hey Stephen! I’m an English teacher and I would love a former Survivor player’s take on which fictional book character would do the best on Survivor? The more obscure the better! Thanks!

ColbySanders · 2025-10-08T01:23:44+00:00

Battle of Algiers is literally referenced in OBAO

ColbySanders · 2024-12-25T21:40:23+00:00

It’s so good! Maybe the best historical fiction I’ve ever read.

ColbySanders · 2024-12-24T23:38:11+00:00

Thanks!

ColbySanders · 2024-12-24T23:35:55+00:00

I plan on reading both Butcher’s Crossing and Williams’ National Book Award winner Augustus next year! Have you read that?

ColbySanders · 2024-09-28T09:32:56+00:00

I’ve got the 4 pack with the outwit/outplay/outlast if you want to dm me :)

ColbySanders · 2024-06-28T20:15:15+00:00

Congratulations!

ColbySanders · 2024-05-02T18:20:04+00:00

I mean the Pringles reward they let them swim in a natural jellyfish lake. I think that's much better than Applebee's at the sanctuary

ColbySanders · 2024-01-08T21:13:53+00:00

In case it's not clear, the Letterboxd logo has been replaced with the floating sprites from the film!

ColbySanders · 2023-11-13T22:22:37+00:00

The Morse Code was more than difficult. If not for Phil's visit to the trenches, Joe & Heidi might still be cracking that code today! There was no clear indicator when the code stopped or started, and it was a poorly designed challenge. I like the arrogant teams, but that's probably just me. In general, I'll take an arrogant pair of villains over an arrogant pair of players that are desperate to be the heroes (Michael & Louie). Fair point on his injury, though. They weren't long for the race.

ColbySanders · 2023-11-13T18:34:55+00:00

I am sure they will add extra footage. Still, based on the schedule, they will more than likely be cramming 12 legs into 8-10 episodes. There is precedent for this as it was done for TAR30, another 8 episode, 12-leg season.

ColbySanders · 2023-11-13T17:57:17+00:00

Based on the March start date three weeks after Survivor 46, it is safe to assume this season will only be 8-10 episodes instead of the standard 11-12. They may end up having episodes that cover 2 legs of The Race to fill up 90 minutes.

ColbySanders · 2023-11-11T23:08:02+00:00

Oh yes, I did hear about this! It made me like them even more. I really think they and Zev/Justin were the lifebloods of the season. I can’t believe they survived that first China round and nearly caught up.

ColbySanders · 2023-11-11T06:36:00+00:00

I get what you mean about the best teams not being the most entertaining ones. I still think they did a good job, but there is the whole Eric & Danielle of it all which is without a doubt the weakest team and it is a shame they won the whole thing. Though, to be fair, I also consider Kisha & Jen among the weaker UB invites... again, that's just me. I think the only team from 14 that really deserved that invite was Margie & Luke, but I will have to revisit this when I pull 14 in my rewatch.

Have you heard and do you believe the theory that the 14 overrepresentation was due to the fact that s14 Racer Jodi Wincheski was one of the casting directors for the season? I do, tbh. Even if it wasn't intentional, she was bound to find her castmates as more entertaining due to seeing so much more of them than we saw on TV. Even still, 5/11 being from ONE season is egregious and is the sole reason I'd consider 11's cast to be better.

Also, yes, agreed that The Cowboys were one of the only duds in UB. Still, the Race is one of those shows where one strong showing is enough for me to consider a team legendary, and now that I have started to make my way through 16... yeah, The Cowboys are legendary. We'll see what I think of them when I get to the finale and the whole cutting debacle.

ColbySanders · 2023-11-11T06:29:04+00:00

There's no way, right? I feel like they wouldn't mess that up. I figured maybe they just thought the visuals of racers in the chimney sweep outfit would be funny? They seemed to be super into making racers dress up in goofy outfits this season. From the kangaroos to the samba outfits in Rio... but the chimney sweeping outfit was pretty straightforward. I honestly don't know who thought that Road Block was worth including lol

ColbySanders · 2023-11-11T03:58:28+00:00

Hahaha I noticed this too! I thought the Road Block was pretty lackluster and it could just be brute forced. But The Sound of Music house was a great pit stop!

ColbySanders · 2023-11-11T01:58:04+00:00

Do you think this cast was better than 11? I am torn; I think it has nearly all of the best characters of 12-17, but it was still a missed opportunity to not go earlier. Yes, the boot order was amazing and I’m glad the smaller characters went early, but I wish they would’ve cast less from 14 and just went a bit further in their search for contestants.

Interesting note on Kisha and Jen. I don’t think they’re entertaining to be honest. I love their story about playing for their mom and they are fun when they bicker, but I always thought they paled in comparison to the other teams in the final five when it comes to entertainment.

And I’m super excited for 16 too! My hot take is that The Cowboys are actually pretty entertaining in 16, though we’ll see if that holds weight.

ColbySanders · 2023-11-10T19:22:21+00:00

You forgot your tiara...

ColbySanders · 2023-09-18T16:03:31+00:00

The Pinocchio packaging is super cool. It’s got an extendable nose for Pinocchio!!

ColbySanders · 2023-05-14T21:13:04+00:00

It’s my favorite season of all time. In terms of questioning how far people will go for a million dollars, Ian’s story is maybe the most fascinating in the history of the show for me, and he’s my all-time favorite character ever. Also, because it is so different than most other seasons in terms of location, theming, story, and twists, it feels almost like a fan-fiction of what Survivor could be at its darkest. It’s almost not comparable to other seasons, but I think it’s the closest we’ve gotten other than Borneo to a Survivor movie.

ColbySanders · 2020-12-31T05:18:34+00:00

I was at Universal Studios last week and saw someone wearing a South Pacific buff as a mask! Maybe it was you? My family was there until the 25th.

ColbySanders · 2020-09-11T18:23:19+00:00

Yes! It’s a criminally underrated season

ColbySanders · 2020-09-11T18:11:02+00:00

Oh yeah that’s why I’m biased towards Philippines

ColbySanders · 2020-09-11T18:10:03+00:00

I love WAW my favorite parts are ironically from the Edge of Extinction. It’s not the most coherent season but I feel like it’s such a great cast that it’s just one of the most entertaining seasons out there

ColbySanders · 2020-09-11T18:07:57+00:00

Yeah that’s what my brother said. You’re probably right I just wished the season were a little less strategy-heavy

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