So, it has been two weeks since Chris Underwood won Survivor after playing for only 13 days. I had to gather my thoughts on this season since his win changes the whole context of the season.

I am going to go over what I thought the season did right, wrong and what I’m conflicted on.

The Good

Art Design

This is something that Survivor consistantly does well. I loved the look of the season. The boat at tribal and the voting booth big enough to hold a fire making challenge. The Edge was visually interesting despite being barren.

The Cast

I like this cast. We got some great characters this season. Wendy was a firecracker in the premerge and Wardog was fun to watch. Reem is a top tier character and the best first boot of all time. Julie provided some great quotes. almost everyone delivered when they were on screen. If we are talking characters, I have to mention Rick Devens. I hated him during the season but he grew on me with the double fake idol play in the finale. I even like the winner as a person and wish we got more of him.

Editors on Extinction

The editing on just Extinction was good. They did some good effects like Eric’s time stop and the up close confessionals. It gave it a different feel than the actual game. Chris should have gotten more focus but then it would be obvious he was going back. While I will get to Extinction as twist in the bad section, I did like the editing style.

The Bad

Advantages and Twists

this goes without saying that too many advantages ruin a season of Survivor. The amount of idols was too damn much. Due to advantages, all social play stopped after Wardog was voted out. It became Rick vs Everyone and became boring. I am still against fire making even if it gave us the badass moment of Chris taking Rick down after giving up immunity. I pray that Survivor scales back but you know that they won’t

The Theme

I hope to never see this theme again. Thank God Chris winning might have turned production off from the idea. The EOE returnee had the advantage of talking to the jury and not backstabbing anyone. The Edge should have either purged the premerge contestants or stopped at the merge. Final 6 is too late to enter with an idol. The upside is Reem but the downside is a hot mess of a season. The theme is actually on trial.

Challenges

The challenges were so boring. You either balance something or run an obstacle course then do a puzzle that negates the course. David vs Goliath at least had more variety like the sandbag challenge. I get that it is hard to do challenges with 13 people but why not do more mental challenges. I want the memory challenge back! Overall, the challenges need an update or go back to the earlier season challenges.

Editing

The font is larger because this is the main complaint. I get that the winner played 13 days and that they had to edit around that but I barely know some people in the cast. I praised the cast but I don’t know Julia or Aurora for the first half. The Edge could have developed some people but we did not see it enough. Victoria and Eric were fun personalities in Ponderosa but we saw none of that in the game because David and Kelley needed more airtime even though they were not that relevant in the grand scheme of things. at the Merge, Wendy had more confessionals than half the cast. Kama was invisible in the first half so why should I care about a tribe that has two of the final three on it. I hope we get more David vs Goliath for season 39 and 40 than Edge of Extinction.

The Mixed

The Winner

I like Chris as a person but I am conflicted on his win. On one hand, He was saved by the twist and played only a third of the game but he played the hell out of those last days. He played Lauren for that idol, got Rick’s trust, won immunity then gives it up to take out the number one threat in the game. I feel better about this win than Ben due to Chris showing more potential than Ben as a good player. Overall, Chris will be a bottom tier winner but not my bottom winner.

The Verdict

This is a season that will get better with time. Similar to Gabon, if you view it as a fun trainwreck then it becomes a fun season but, as a normal Survivor season it is a bottom tier season. I rank it above other infamous seasons like, redemple temple or one world but it is definitely it the 30s range. I rate the season a 5.5 out of ten making it slightly better than Ghost Island because I was not bored till the end unlike that season.

My off season plan is to start looking into the winners coming back in season 40 games. I have not seen all the winners seasons so I will start with the ones I know then do the unknown. I will start reverse chronology starting with Nick and ending on Ethan. So look forward to that in the upcoming weeks.

I will be back for Island of The Idols in the Fall.

Thank you guys for another season and here’s to more seasons to come including all winners.

Grab your stuff and head back to camp!