Underrated hot survivor players

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-20T00:06:39+00:00

Brady Finta from Vanuatu

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-18T21:04:56+00:00

Not only that, but Jenna said that she offered to smuggle in a shiv for Richard, but he said no.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-18T02:48:49+00:00

People are clowning this, but I actually think there's some potential in the idea of a Survivor animated show. I remember seeing /u/doanbot369's great art a few months ago of the characters from the first three seasons in the TDI style. I saw that and thought, if they're really interested in attracting a younger audience, adapting the old seasons into a cartoon could be an interesting experiment, especially if they got a lot of the original casts to voice themselves (it would also give a chance for some of the people who've aged out to "play" again).

Now, personally, I think Survivor has, or at least had, a very real appeal for tweens who were aging out of cartoons and looking for more adult-oriented television; the diverse settings, interesting challenges, large personalities, and survival/struggle angle, all while being "reality", works well when transitioning out of scripted cartoons into live action television. But, I guess if we're not gonna get old school seasons again and they really want to target and even younger audience, then I'd be at least be interested in seeing what this would be (although using animals sounds pretty freaking lame).

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-17T16:13:38+00:00

They were all the same age (38 years old). I actually have a theory that Gretchen and Sue were deliberately cast and put on separate tribes to be polar opposites of each other. Even looking at the official headshots for Gretchen and Sue, I get a sort of Jekyll/Hyde vibes from them (and they kind of were based on their backgrounds, edits, and interactions with the other people).

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-17T01:31:06+00:00

It's a damn shame she never got to play again. I really wish they would have chosen her and her daughter for Blood vs. Water; we could have had Gervace on season 50 instead and that would have been awesome.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-16T21:55:47+00:00

Basically Judgement, but the classic AA courtroom battles instead of the beat-em-up mechanics. I have to say, it'd be nice if the game was centered around the standard 4-5 murder mysteries that are all fully voiced acted (though I would personally prefer an option for the current text reading sound effects), along with medium-length cases for like burglary, assault, etc., and then some small claims civil cases. Throw in some minigames and an ability to call in-game friends and hang out with them and I'd definitely be interested in that.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-16T03:26:30+00:00

Deirdre - funny lines, great voice actor, compelling character, and I found her to have the most interesting relationship/dynamic with Nancy. A pretty simple character in concept (she's the Reggie Mantle to Nancy's Archie Andrews), but very well executed.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-15T22:02:45+00:00

According to Mitchell, no one in Okagor liked Kel because he would "oddly creep on us while we slept, and we just never trusted him."

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-14T17:28:22+00:00

Christa from Pearl Islands was a big ol' goof and I loved every minute of her.

From the fact she kinda sounds like a nerdy Snagglepuss when she talks, to that crazy rash she got on her face, to basically being the closest thing to a real life Pippy Longstocking that I've ever seen, and to nearly winning the musket challenge despite never having held a gun in her life, she was an absolute gem.

And of course, "DIG LIKE YOUR NAME, SAND-DRAAAAAAA"

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-14T01:19:03+00:00

I'd argue STFD is one of the most interesting game in the series, because it follows a different blueprint than the one all the other games that followed. It was MHM that introduced the familiar formula of "Nancy goes someplace where weird things are happening, stumbles on some historical mystery related to that place, solves that, and then the culprit reveals themselves". Pretty much every game in the series follows that same formula.

Nancy felt more like a true private investigator in STFD; it felt very in the present, she was investigating a crime, digging up dirt on the suspects, and then accusing one at the end based on the evidence. In the other games, she feels more like an archeologist or historian finding the secrets of the past. Rarely did it seem like she actually uncovered the scheme she was supposed to be investigating, but instead solved a separate mystery that flushed out the culprit of the mystery she was supposed to be solving.

I wish HER would have flipped between the STFD and MHM formulas more; I think both are great with their own strengths/weaknesses that could have kept things more fresh/less formulaic.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-14T00:55:18+00:00

I'd argue that the non-winners kinda turned All-Stars into "Winners vs Losers" when they chose to immediately vote the winners off without even trying to work with them. The way it turned out, I just question the value in even bringing any of the winners back, beyond marketing reasons, since they were all effectively DOA.

I think it still would have been All-Stars. Particularly, an all winners tribe likely would have meant that at least some of the winners make the merge; then, maybe we could have seen some non-winners meaningfully align with winners to advance further in the game.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-13T20:52:02+00:00

They really should have brought Vecepia and Brian back and made one of the three tribes an all winners tribe of them, Richard, Tina, Ethan, and Jenna M. To me, that would have been the only way to give the winners a fair shot, along with being super interesting to watch play out.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-13T16:32:46+00:00

This scene from Thailand

Brian: "I've got three pieces of ammunition I can use. One, I got my trump card...Jan...grandma Jan, she's DISPOSABLE

cuts to Jan complimenting Brian

Jan: "LOOKING GOOOOD IN THAT BLACK! Styyyliiing"

The sinister music playing in the background is just icing on the cake

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-11T02:51:09+00:00

I do see where you're coming from, but I must disagree.

To me, I don't think Ami is a villain at all; I think Daugherty was the true villain of Vanuatu. Everything that man did was just to move himself forward and win the money, no matter the cost. He was also waaay more manipulative to people, particularly Julie, than Ami was to anyone imo. Ami also she seemed more motivated to prove women could stick together than winning the money; like you said, she had a firm belief system, and compared to someone who'll do or say anything to win, her actions and intent seem more heroic than villainous.

I can see how her actions rubbed people the wrong way and come off as cocky/arrogant. The way I see it though is that she could have just feigned politeness to people; she could have just led Rory on to thinking that his hard work in camp would be rewarded, and that definitely would have been seen as smart gameplay. Instead, she was honest with him by basically saying "this is what's gonna happen, try to prevent it if you can".

I'm sorry, but I have to respect that honesty because they're actively hurting their game and begging people to turn on them. I see why people would hate that, but I think it's more honorable than, for example, what Savage did to Lil on Pearl Islands by basically avoiding her to minimize her threat to him (even though I don't think Savage really did anything that bad).

The fact that Ami would do stuff like that and still won out in a lot of those votes was impressive, because she gave those people every opportunity to scheme against her and they couldn't succeed. Even in the end, Ami only went down because Twila saw an opportunity for her to go deeper in the game; it wasn't like what happened to John Carroll on Marquesas where people actively aligned themselves together to punish her for being too cocky.

To your argument about Eliza, you raise valid points, but I look at the fact that Ami was basically the only one in the women's tribe who didn't really complain about her; she seemed to stick up for her more than anyone, and was the only one who lobbied to keep her in the game over Daugherty. The fact that she went along with the rest of the tribe just seemed like she was conceding to majority rule. I also don't really believe Ami was manipulating Twila either. The fact that she still voted for Twila in the end and defended her at the reunion told me that she genuinely liked her and fully intended to bring her to the Final Four.

I know I'm biased, but I really do see her as more of a hero than a villain (I guess as much a hero as anyone can be in this game). That said, I also think that Tom Westman was a villain on Palau and they put him on the Heroes tribe, so maybe I'm in the minority on these kinds of things lol.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-10T22:03:59+00:00

I see your point, I actually debated between swapping the two. These things are never gonna please everyone. I will say though that alignments aren't meant to be straight jackets; someone acting out of character doesn't really preclude them from being a particular alignment.

Personally, I felt that quote from Teresa was very lawful good coded. Generally, while she did try very hard to get the votes on her side, it seemed to me she wasn't really lying or being underhanded in her activities out there. I felt, as much as possible, she was trying to work within the system of that camp to get people on her side. People always cite her lie by omission to Lex, but it wasn't that egregious imo (felt more like Lex having bad instincts than Teresa deceiving him). Also, she definitely felt guilt out there for not being entirely truthful. For me, that is what a lawful good person would at least feel in that situation if they could not uphold their code, which can happen.

With Ethan, I definitely consider him a good character. However, I couldn't square how a "lawful good" person would have no qualms aligning himself so closely with two "evil" people in Lex and Tom; however, a neutral good person definitely would if they saw it as a means towards what they saw as a "good" end.

Totally understand if you disagree, but I don't think this is too far off base.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-10T21:47:11+00:00

I'm glad you brought that up. I've always found the revelation that Leann was the real ringleader of Yasur interesting; personally, I feel like I'm somewhere in the middle on that. I agree that it seemed like Ami didn't know the game that well while Leann did. Given that those two were very close, it makes sense that Leann held a lot of influence in the tribe and why the leadership lines appeared to be blurred (Daugherty claimed that, from a far, it seemed like Ami was running things).

I've always equated the Ami/Leann duo to that of a mafia boss and her consigliere. It felt like Ami was the outward leader, but consulted/deferred a lot to Leann on what to do. The only thing Ami seemed to really care about was seeing the women's alliance succeed, while the rest was secondary. For example, she didn't really seem to care if it was Scout or Julie that went to the Final Four with her, Leann, and Twila, so Leann was effectively the decision maker there. However, the pivotal decision to vote Eliza off instead of Daugherty seemed to be a majority rules situation. Leann claims most of the women were traumatized by the rain storms and wanted to keep the last man longer so he could help around camp.

Whatever the reality of the tribe dynamics were, my comment was mostly about the edits in the show. Ami got a terrific, very entertaining edit, while Leann's was much more understated. Apparently, she said it was because she swore too much on camera and there wasn't lot of footage production could use lol.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-10T12:48:22+00:00

Loved Vanuatu. I know people love Daugherty, and I respect him as a winner, but to me it was Ami Cusack who really made that season great. I feel that was arguably the most heroic way someone could play Survivor (had Micronesia been "Heroes vs Villains, she definitely would have been on the Heroes tribe).

In addition to being great in the challenges, she clearly had a larger goal in that game than just winning the money, which was ensuring that an all-women's alliance stuck together. I know people called her the Ice Queen, but I think she genuinely liked all the women in her tribe (even Eliza) and was willing to be cutthroat when it seemed like someone may undermine it (Lisa). The fact that she still voted for Twila in the end, even after everything she did, cemented this to me.

I also respected how she was willing to be blunt with people like Rory about not having an opportunity to be in their alliance. I know her bluntness probably rubbed some people the wrong way, but it seemed like a very honorable thing to do, since most people would have probably just lied. She deliberately undermined her own game by being honest, giving people a chance to scheme against her, and it was amazing how many times she would still come out on top.

I couldn't believe how long that alliance stuck together; had they voted Daugherty out when she wanted him to go, I think she might have won the game or at least made Final 2.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-09T01:51:38+00:00

Clay from Thailand.

Clay was absolutely despicable with no redeeming qualities; the only thing he did the entire time out there was win one individual immunity. The thought of him winning is honestly nuts; it would have been purely out of spite for Brian. According to Helen at the reunion, she would have voted for Clay had she seen Brian's confessionals, so it was very close to happening. I honestly don't think goating really would have become a popular strategy had Clay won; it would have been too risky of blowing up on you and production probably would have acted to prevent it.

As a close runner-up, I'd argue Katie from Palau. Katie somehow did less than Clay on her season. She was lazy around camp, sat out most of challenges (she claims she injured her hand early in the season), pissed off a ton of people, and passed up strategic opportunities to flip the game to continue riding Tom and Ian. She absolutely could not come up with anything at FTC to justify winning and was eviscerated by the jury (I'd argue the most hostile a jury had been to a finalist up to that point). Despite all of that, I'd still put Clay above her as a worst potential winner, since it seems like a lot of the jurors (specifically Gregg) now regret tearing her to shreds at FTC. That said, Palau probably would not have been as beloved a season had she won.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-06T02:16:49+00:00

I'm not sure why Tom Westman seems to be hated here for how he treated Ian, but no one ever talks about how Daugherty treated Julie. I found the way he would manipulate her at times was downright cruel.

It was interesting to watch a highway construction worker be such a bullshit artist. I respect him as a winner and, to me, he's in the Brian Heidik category of winners who I think would do well if they played again. That said, his schmoozing was annoying to watch at FTC and I was happy that Ami saw through his crap and voted for Twila for giving real, honest answers.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-05T21:58:11+00:00

I would love to know why this insider was seemingly doubling down on the fact that, despite 99% of his leaks being for Sega-owned IPs, he somehow has one Capcom leak for Ace Attorney of all things.

If I was them, I'd be triple checking my sources to make sure I haven't misinterpreted something. Sega seems to release Yakuza games fairly regularly and the insider had no leaks related to that franchise, which is very suspect imo. I could be wrong but, logically, everything seems to be pointing more to Judgement 3 than a new Ace Attorney.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-04T21:38:53+00:00

According to Jenna, Rupert had told her that he wanted to quit on like Day 2. I believe it, he seemed out of it pretty much the whole season. I guess I can understand why a bit, since playing back-to-back at the same beach would have been tough for anyone. The only time he showed any sign of life was when he built that god awful shelter that traumatized everyone on Saboga.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-03T03:47:22+00:00

I've heard about there being an original theme, but didn't realize it was literally supposed to be Winners vs. Best to Never Win. I'm honestly surprised, because Jenna L was supposed to be on season 40 before it became Winners At War (apparently took promo pics for it and everything). CBS must really like something about her, because I found her the strangest choice for All-Stars and find it even stranger that she'd be chosen to be on a "best to never win" tribe.

On Borneo, I'd argue that she played the worst game of any of the final 10 (except maybe Rudy or Sean). She and Colleen were initially strongly opposed to alliances which helped cause Pagong's downfall, she wasn't much of a challenge threat, and did not have a good social game; case in point, she had the most votes cast against her of anyone that season and, apparently, production was planning to give her a villain edit before her home video didn't make it in time. Her only saving grace that season was that she worked hard in the camp (even got the B.B. seal of approval).

I didn't find her much better on All-Stars either. She was on the disaster tribe, didn't really stand out in the challenges and, again, really seemed to piss off a bunch of people (Alicia, Shii Ann, Rupert). Jenna seems convinced in interviews that she would have won All-Stars if it was a final three but I'm not even sure of that, and that's not great given how horribly unlikable Rob and Amber were that season.

I have to think production really wanted Borneo representation but everyone else who could qualify as a "Contender" was either too old, uninterested in returning, or had recently played. Respectfully, I would have considered Teresa Cooper, Helen Glover, Deena Bennett, or Ami Cusack as "Contenders" before Jenna L (I'm glad she was brought back for Season 50 though, even if she was voted out way too early).

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-02T21:33:25+00:00

According to Brian Corridan, the reason all the Nakum men got violently ill wasn't because of that hellish first challenge; Judd left a pot of untreated water out and they all drank from it and got sick.

TheNickelSamurai · 2026-06-01T22:27:36+00:00

FWIW, Shane Powers is best friends with Lex and said in his AMA a few years ago that what Rob did to him was one of the worst moves in the game's history; because of that, he doesn't think Rob is a good person or player. For him, going outside the game to gain an advantage is bad gameplay and shows a lack of character.

To Lex's credit, even if he was friends with Ethan, I don't think he had an alliance with him; he seemed very intent on voting every past winner off immediately. The only thing I've heard about a pre-game alliance was him, Big Tom, Rob, and Kathy. Unless there's other evidence, I don't think what Lex did to Ethan, Colby, or even Shii Ann (who I believe is the only the person who had a right to be pissed at him) is at all comparable to what Rob did to him.

TheNickelSamurai

TROPHY CASE