The season is over and the winner has won. This has been a polarizing season as far as I’ve seen, especially on Reddit, but I’ve loved it. It’s been crazy, unpredictable at times (and predictable at others), had a great cast of emotionally-inspiring and kooky and weird and fun people, cool challenges, great music, and epic Tribal Councils. It was a season with high highs and low lows, but that’s what makes Survivor so great. Top cap off such a crazy season, I’m going to share my thoughts on each of the castaways now that it’s all over, in the order that they were eliminated. With that in mind….

SPOILERS AHEAD! If you haven’t seen this week’s FINALE and REUNION episode, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”, don’t scroll down! Go watch!

20. CIERA Ciera was somebody who I figured was going to go home early because she’d overplay. I was right! I think Ciera played two really sophisticated games her first two times, but her third was her undoing. Like many others, her past reputations played into her downfall. 19. TONY “You guys do nice-nice, I’m gonna go look for the Idol! LLAMA NOISES!!!“. Oh man. I love Tony so much, and I’m so sad we didn’t get to see more of him, but there was just no way anyone would let him get far. He’s just too good. Though, we can give Tony the credit for being a major inspiration for Sarah’s amazing game! 18. CALEB I wanted to see Caleb more… redeem himself from Big Brother 16 and Kaoh Rong… but, nope. And I guess that’s ok. Caleb was more of a small part in Tai’s story than having his own story in a way… which is disappointing, but at least he wasn’t a villain. 17. MALCOLM Our poor, sweet, prince of amazing hair! I was so excited to see the guy made me want to get off the couch and play Survivor (and I’ll get more into that with Cirie later), but he was cruelly (smartly) taken out early. Who knows? Would Malcolm have won? Or, would he fall just short again? One thing is for certain, though. Malcolm, for the few episodes he graced our TV screens, was a glorious narrator. 16. J.T. My favorite moment from J.T. this season was his plot to get everyone out fishing while he looked for the Idol. His plan almost worked because he didn’t find the Idol, but it was a smart idea nonetheless. He made some big mistakes, but although I wasn’t too keen on him coming back again he provided some good moments that were catalysts for driving the season forward. 15. SANDRA THE QUEEN STAYS QUEEN, ADIOS! Like Tony, there was no way Sandra would go far, but she was such a joy to watch. She had a lot of funny moments, but her best was during Sugargate where she had some funny interactions with the camera. Her standing ovation when she was eliminated was nice as well. 14. VARNER Without going into the controversial side of Varner this season, we saw a more emotional side that was missing a bit in Cambodia. It’s a bummer to go out three times for Survivor and not make the merge at all, but I think it chalked up to Varner trying maybe too hard to play too fast and making the wrong move at the wrong time. Varner has had some funny moments, and some not so funny moments, but overall I think Varner will come out of this experience as a stronger person. 13. HALI I was SO EXCITED to see Hali back and to see her play… but unfortunately given the confines of the game she couldn’t really get off of the ground. It was a huge bummer. That said, I think Hali is a super-interesting person and I’d love to see her back if they do another returning player season (but not until at least 4 more newbie-only seasons!). 12. OZZY We saw a more chill side to Ozzy this time, which I liked. However, he still couldn’t really break out of his mold and play more strategically, which was disappointing. I think Ozzy is an awesome dude. I wish we got to see a Ozzy/Malcolm/Caleb/Brad Immunity showdown… but oh well! 11. DEBBIE Debbie was every bit as crazy, wacky, delusional, hilarious, and annoying as I expected… and I LOVED IT. I think Debbie is so HER that it’s awesome. I wish she’d have gotten a bit more done strategically, but taking out Ozzy and a lot of her acting and antics were interesting. I think 11th is a good spot for Debbie, but I wish she would have gone just a bit further.

10. ZEKE Again, without talking too much about the controversy, I really think Zeke’s biggest mistake was not learning from his last season. Turning on Andrea and Cirie too quickly was a massive blunder, and unfortunately he couldn’t recover from that AND having a great story at the end as well. That said, Zeke had some small funny moments, such as during the first Immunity challenge, after doing the puzzle with Cirie and he was turning the giant wheel to raise the Immunity flag, his facial expression was so cartoony! I found it funny 🙂 I love Zeke as a character and seems like an AMAZING person who I aspire to be half as confident as he is when I get on Survivor! 9. SIERRA I was so happy to see Sierra PLAY HARD this season, but her biggest mistake was definitely giving Sarah the Legacy Advantage. It made sense at the time, but damn, did Sarah play Sierra like a fiddle or what? I was hoping we’d get to see some more physical action out of Sierra, but hopefully she’ll be back a third time. 8. ANDREA My fallen winner pick 😦 I was rooting for Andrea so hard, but she just couldn’t escape from the gigantic target on her back. For her to get 8th is a testament to her scrappy gameplay and Immunity challenge prowess. Andrea is another one of those castaways who seems like such a genuinely cool person to hang out with, and she did a great job with her interviews on the Finale Red Carpet and with the PEN Fan Forum that she did all season! 7. MICHAELA Michaela is one of the people I think we saw the most growth from. She was still abrasive and wore her heart on her sleeve, but she knew when to step back and was very eloquent with how she presented her line of thought. I think Michaela would do so well if she came back when she’s a bit older and wiser, and she got a lot of that from Cirie. That was such a great relationship to see! I also loved the crazy side of Michaela, from her antics at Tribal, to her reactions at losing challenges. Michaela is unforgettable for me and one of the most unique and interesting castaways we’ve had in a while! 6. CIRIE What a way to go out, huh? It was in such a way that befit the legendary Cirie Fields, and she is SO inspiring. I’m planning to make my audition video, and Cirie is one of the people who is really driving my inspiration. If she could get off the couch and play Survivor, and go from being afraid of leaves to being one of the best social strategists in Survivor history, than so can I (even though I’m not afraid of leaves)! 5. AUBRY Aubry just couldn’t get off the ground this time, which SUCKED. Man, I wanted to see Aubry kick butt. The fact that she came in 5th when she could have gone home at 16 is WILD. AND SHE WON THAT IMMUNITY!!! We didn’t get to see enough of Aubry this season (curse you, editors!!!) which was really sad, but overall I am happy that Aubry was a part of this season. 4. TAI Tai was SO CLOSE TO WINNING? Who knew?!?! I would have loved to see Tai win! From his nerves of steel not playing his Idols until the last minute and his crazy gameplay and adorable frustratingness… Tai is one of my faves. He might not be the greatest at Survivor, but he is a pleasure to watch! 3. TROYZAN Poor Troyzan. He got the most shafted by the edit. That’s a really big disservice. Like Brad he wasn’t picked to be on Second Chance, and to come back for GAME CHANGERS was huge. The fact that he made the Final 3 and barely had any confessionals or substantial story arcs or airtime was really disappointing, especially as someone who LOVED him in One World. Reading his post-game interviews, there was so much we missed. From his relationships with everyone the infamous Green Monster, there was so much more Troyzan that we could have seen. He handled being the third wheel to Brad and Sarah with grace and humility, which was really inspiring. Rock on, Troyzan! (oh… and sorry for you not being in the featured image. I liked this action shot, but it’s fitting since you were practically invisible the whole season ❤ ) 2. BRAD Brad… I’m kinda torn. I like Brad, and then I don’t like Brad. He has both good and bad qualities that come across on tv. I find it very funny how he and Monica both got the same places (14 on the first go and 2nd on the second go). I think Brad had such a good game going until the merge, where perception became reality and he was Sierra’s brute shield and then the dominator. I think that Brad was a great physical competitor, but misread the ending situation of the game (honestly he was in a no-win situation because it looks like Tai would have beaten him at the end), and tanked his social game at the end as well. 1. SARAH I will openly admit that I was spoiled on the Final 3 by a message on the blog. I didn’t put stock in it, but here we are. It happened. That said, I went into this season saying that I’d be ok with whoever won if they played a great game. And HOLY CRAP DID SARAH KICK BUTT. I know I had her at the bottom of my pre-game rankings… but she blew me away with her social game and her strategic prowess. How she used her relationships and cop experience to play the middle, read the situation (she only voted incorrectly ONCE this season), and win over the Jury? Exceptional. I think she played a Tony Vlachos game in a Sarah Lacina body, and it was awesome. I know her win was a bit predictable come the mid-merge when the editing was starting to focus on her, but let’s give her the credit- Sarah played a PHENOMENAL game, and she really won me over as the season progressed, even though I was always rooting against her because I wanted Andrea to win. Congrats, Officer Sarah!

And now, we are at the end. Survivor: Game Changers is over… and it’s been awesome. I’ve had so much fun watching this season, and it’s been an emotional one for me. Heartbreak, Joy, Anger, Confusion… we got the full spectrum. I think that a lot of the twists were cool, but there were missed opportunities. For hiding the Idols I liked the variety, but since there were three Idols held until the final 6 we didn’t get to see a wide variety of hiding spots. With the Legacy Advantage, I think that instead of an Immunity it should be a challenge advantage or something else. And finally, although I like the round table format of the Final Tribal, I think that it shouldn’t be limited to just Outwit/Outplay/Outlast in sections, and that Jeff Probst shouldn’t be allowed to moderate. It should be 100% the Jury who decides what criteria they look for in a winner and how they want to address the final 3. I just think it has too much of a possibility for production interference, which is a big no-no in Reality TV.

Anyways, I’m so glad that I’ve been able to share my Survivor-watching experience with all of you guys! To end, take a look at what Survivor is doing next! I am SO BEYOND PUMPED for this theme. I think that while it’s a bit of a mouthful it’s an interesting division, and the cast (which you can see here on Inside Survivor) looks like it’ll be awesome. Just based on the preview (see below!) alone, I’m really into Ashley, Mike, and Ryan. I can’t wait to see who will come out on top!

With that, I’ll see you in the Fall for Survivor: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers! It will be a crazy Fall for me because I’m going to be transferring to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor for my Junior and Senior years of college! I can’t wait!

Thanks so much for reading, and if you have questions or want to just talk Survivor, hit me up on Twitter/Instagram @nitasu987 !! I’ll be posting updates and stuff on Twitter also, so feel free to give me a follow!

-Austin