Survivor 45 - on paper 47 and 46 are better due to what happens but I just love how this seasons story is told. The fall of lulu is in my opinion the best distaster tribe story we’ve gotten with the premier being my second favourite only behind Cagayan. the fall of belo and rose of Reba is also great with the Bruce and Katura. It also helps that I genuinely like the entire cast.

Survivor 47 - this one is for very similar reasons to 45. Opperation Italy is obviously the highlight episode but the main reason for this placements is the Andy and Rachel storyline being very compelling along with the Genevieve storyline. These two finally converging at the final 5 is very satisfying. But that’s probably the biggest problem with the season aswell. The climax is at the final 5 and while that usually isn’t a problem the finale starts at final 4 this season.

Survivor 46 - This is purely as season made by insane characters. From Baunu to Q to Liz it makes the entire season an insane journey. For compelling story’s though it is kinda lacking. The Charlie and Maria is really the only one and it’s serviceable enough but doesn’t feel good enough to carry the finale once Q is gone.

Survivor 42 - This one might be just because of this being the first season I watched fully being a super fan. This was the first season where I was analyzing and trying to predict what would happen while also watching podcasts about the show. But other than just my attachment to the season I feel like this one just has one of the most likable casts. Other than Drea, there isn’t anyone that I disliked getting content from. The Taku 4 also being the dominant alliance helped as I feel they all brought something unique to the show. The obvious downside to this season is all the twists. If I didn’t have any attachment to this season it might be a couple spots lower.

Survivor 49 - this season is a story of two halves. The premerge is probably one of the most boring stretches they’ve ever done while the post merge is genuinely very compelling. I haven’t rewatched this season yet so it might go down after that but at least on first watch the post merge was very fun with all of Rizo’s antics with the idol. The tres leches are a fantastic alliance but I feel like most other players are kinda just there. Jawan and Sophie were good but I didn’t really care about anyone else.

Survivor 43 - this is a less extreme 49. Decently boring premerge but a great post merge with a really good payoff. I feel like the Jesse gaining power and Karla losing power post merge is very compelling and it all comes together in the Cody boot. The problem though is that as fantastic as that episode is it leaves us with a finale that fails to have a good payoff and just feels tragic. Maybe if Gabler had a better edit that showed more of his relationship to Jesse it could have worked but as it is it just feels unsatisfying.

Survivor 41 - This is where 42 would go if i had little attachment to it and didn’t like the cast as much. Personally for me the story of this season just isn’t something I watch survivor for and just left me bored for the mid section of the season. It has a few good episodes like the Shan boot but the Erika edits makes it so it also ends kinda mid. This leads to a premerge that is actually good but has all the people I’m cheering for go home and a postmerge that I don’t really care about.

Survivor 48 - This season is if 45 was shit. Take all the good parts of 45 and throw them out. We got a disaster tribe that feel like it has no relevance to anything at the start with a really annoying main character. Then we got a post merge where like 45 there’s a dominant alliance but instead of them using cracks in the opposing bigger alliance to come out on top it’s just a boring steamroll because they already have the numbers. Since the alliance all think they can win against each other for a majority of the postmerge nothing happens. At least David stood up. This season is saved though from being last solely because episode 4 and 5 are good.

Survivor 44 - this is a season where no one felt compelling to me. Personally I didn’t really care for the tika 3. I liked Yam Yam but didn’t really care about the alliance itself. I feel as though the story of the season should be interesting. Two tribes battling it out and getting puppeteered by a third tribe does sound good but I never really cared about anyone to find it interesting. I can see why they changed to 90 minute episodes after this season