Over the past couple of weeks, as Survivor: Caramoan has been wrapping up, there has been a lot of speculation over who the returning players were for the next season. Andy Denhart from Reality Blurred first reported a little over a month ago that the next season is expected to be a tribe of returning players against a tribe of their family members. When I first heard about this, I thought this was the worst idea ever. Then, I thought about it a little bit and thought about how it might not be such a bad thing. The thought of ten more returning players had me secretly a little excited. I figured they wanted another tribe of ten returning players after seeing how well this Fans vs. Favorites season worked. While I was very skeptical over the first part of the most recent season, it turned out to be a very good season. I figured, with the right cast, season 27 could be another good one.
So anyway, the rumors for this season had been heating up over the past week or so. When I saw all of the people that were in the mix, I started thinking that a few casting decisions could ultimately determine whether or not this could actually be an interesting season. What had me the most intrigued is the possibility of one of my favorite contestants, and someone I've talked about having an influence on my writing (through his writing and podcast), Rob Cesternino. Rob C is one of the best to ever play. Jeff Probst called him "the smartest player to never win". Rob C played a great game his first time out on Survivor: The Amazon (the sixth season of the show), just barely missing out on the final two. It still remains a mystery if he would have won if he was in the final two with either Jenna Morasca (winner) or Matt von Ertfelda (runner-up). Rob wasn't just a great player, he was also hilarious. He has some of the funniest confessionals ever. He was casting gold. He got asked back for Survivor: All-Stars and was one of the first people voted out, falling victim to a blindside by Boston Rob Mariano. Boston Rob knew that eventually Cesternino would betray him and he was too smart to let BR take him out later in the game. So BR got rid of him as soon as he could. Even before Rob C started his website and podcast, fans cried out for him to get another chance. Jeff Probst even hinted at a possible return in the future when he made a guest appearance on Rob Has a Podcast. Anyway, there were many rumors flying around that he would get to go on this season, but the other night he announced that his wife Nicole is pregnant and has since been posting timely content on his website, making it appear that once again he will not be returning.
This was a big disappointment for pretty much anyone that's a hardcore Survivor fan. Was he actually in the mix to return this season? We don't know. But we can only hope that he gets asked back to play again in the near future. What we do know is that Andy Denhart from Reality Blurred posted this (before revealing the cast list):
"The returning cast members I’ve been able to confirm, via someone with knowledge of the cast, are as follows, though it’s possible one or more of these are either alternates (or decoys?) The cast is sequestered in L.A. and are leaving for the Philippines soon, and include the following returnees paired with someone they know."
-Tyson Apostol (Season 18 Tocantins, 20 Heroes vs. Villains)
-Aras Baskauskas (Season 12 Panama)
-Rupert Boneham (Season 7 Pearl Islands, 8 All-Stars, 20 Heroes vs. Villains)
-Monica Culpepper (Season 24 One World)
-Colton Cumbie (Season 24 One World)
-Kat Edorsson (Season 24 One World)
-Laura Morett (Season 19 Samoa)
-Gervase Peterson (Season 1 Borneo)
-RC Saint-Amour (Season 25 Philippines)
-Tina Wesson (Season 2 Australia)
This is as random a cast as you can find. Now I'll talk share my reaction to each of these returning players. The most excited player I am to see back is Gervase. Gervase was a good guy and was very entertaining on the original season of Survivor. I LOVE the original seasons. It was awesome to finally see Mike Skupin get his second chance last fall, so to see Gervase get another chance to win this game, is something I am happy about. If I got to choose a cast of nine other returning players to play with Gervase, none of the people that are on would get a call from me. There are a couple that I'm a little interested in seeing again, but other than that, the cast gets pretty uninteresting pretty quickly. I like Tina and like I said, I like seeing people from the beginning of the show come back. Does she have a shot to win again? I'm not sure. While she might not be the funniest or craziest player, she still is a good one, and it will be interesting to see if she can bring anything from her old school playbook to new school Survivor.
So yeah, now let me rip on the people I'm not excited to see back.
Colton should NOT be back. Colton was an ignorant, racist bigot when he was on the show. He gave the Republican Party a terrible reputation, and only increased the stereotyping people have against conservatives. He probably also gave the gay community a bad rep too. He said some terrible stuff and it was painful watching him. Anyone that makes an argument that he is a good player, doesn't know Survivor. After winning a hard-earned Immunity Challenge, which would give his tribe a two person advantage over the tribe of women, he convinced his tribe to walk over and give Immunity to the other tribe so that they could go to Tribal Council to vote out Bill Posley, one of the nicest guys on the tribe, who Colton couldn't stand because he was "black and poor". He's a poor of example of the upper class and this kind of behavior is unacceptable and should not be encouraged on Survivor. I would rather see Brandon Hantz on again than this idiot. His gay partner is expected to be on with him, which could encourage his disgusting racist behavior. If he's going to be on, I'd like to see his mother on there with him. Wouldn't be something if she gave him a spanking for acting badly on Survivor? The only thing that would be good about him returning is he gets the Russell Hantz treatment from Survivor: Redemption Island from his tribe. It'd be awesome if he was sent home first and that spared us from another annoying season of Colton, who happens to be my least favorite Survivor player ever.
Also from One World are Kat and Monica. Monica looked like she could have been a decent player, but wasn't dealt a good hand of cards. It's expected that her husband, former NFL player Brad Culpepper is going to be her loved one on the show. I can't say it's not interesting when former professional athletes are on the show, because it is. I just don't know how many people will remember Monica. Kat is expected to be on with her boyfriend Hayden Moss, who is a former winner of the show Big Brother. Both of these players might be being brought back only because of their loved-one. And that's frustrating. If you told me I got to bring back three players from One World, two females and one male, I would easily tell you I'd have Kim, Chelsea, and Troyzan back. Easy. All three deserve a call back. Instead they go with these three. Kat is also not one of the brightest bulbs and I don't think she can win this game.
Who's next? How about RC. When RC was on the show, I didn't mind her. She annoyed me at first, but then I felt bad for her over the way her tribe was treating her. Since her exit from the show, the word on the street is that no one from her cast likes her except for Skupin (all-time nice guy). Players from the season have said that she thinks very highly of herself and thinks she's better than everyone else and she's not very nice to anyone. Then she was on Rob Has a Podcast and the Miss Survivor debates. She annoyed me immensely, and I realized there was a reason why she was treated the way she was by her tribe. I'm not interested in seeing RC play again, but at the same time we don't know a lot about her. She could end up being an interesting or strong player. But again, I wouldn't have chosen her.
I can't believe that Rupert is playing again. Rupert was voted fan favorite and awarded a million dollars after Survivor: All-Stars. He was a great character his first time out there, and he's a good guy. He follows all of his fans back on Twitter that follow him. But seriously, it's time to let the Rupert thing go. This is his fourth time playing, and he's not going to be somebody that will win. It gets a little old. I like him as a person, but I would have SO much rather seen Terry Deitz on this season (who was rumored to be in consideration against Rupert).
Also from Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains is Tyson. Tyson's a funny guy, and he's very entertaining. He made in my eyes the dumbest move in Survivor history, which completely changed the outlook of his second season. I hope he doesn't do something half that stupid again. Not just in Survivor, but in life. Tyson's someone I don't mind seeing again, but he's someone that would be my near-bottom of people on the season. Instead, he's at the top, and he will be very valuable to whether or not the show is interesting or funny.
Perhaps the most random casting choice was Laura. When I heard Laura was back, I thought it was Laura from this past season. Then I read that she was from Samoa, and I had to think back and try to remember her. All I can remember about Laura is her being uninteresting and Shambo oddly being mean to her. I would rather see Laura than Shambo on the show, but come on. There are better options from Samoa. What about Monica Padilla? John Fincher? Erik Cardona? Dave Ball? Maybe even Brett? I still can't picture what Laura looks like in my head. This is another weird choice.
Last person to talk about is Aras. Aras seems to be a nice guy, but he isn't the most interesting winner the show has seen. He would be better suited for a full all-stars season than a season of half returning players. He's a wild card as to how interesting he will be.
So yeah, I'm not thrilled about this cast at all. There were so many better options. I guess this means that I will have to continue my series on which returning players should be brought back for future seasons. The reason I'm upset about this is because when you can bring back ten people to play Survivor again, and this is the cast you go with, it's just frustrating. Only so many people can get the opportunity to play once and there are good characters that would be good to see again but probably won't get to play again. So here's to Gervase. Gervase, I hope you win this season and make me proud! I hope Colton's gone first. Whether or not the returning players are on a separate tribe from their loved-ones is unclear. I really hope it isn't a style of Survivor meets The Amazing Race. I'm not ruling out this season, but I guess I won't miss Survivor as much as I normally do in the summer, as I know I have this probable snoozefest to look forward to.
This was a big disappointment for pretty much anyone that's a hardcore Survivor fan. Was he actually in the mix to return this season? We don't know. But we can only hope that he gets asked back to play again in the near future. What we do know is that Andy Denhart from Reality Blurred posted this (before revealing the cast list):
"The returning cast members I’ve been able to confirm, via someone with knowledge of the cast, are as follows, though it’s possible one or more of these are either alternates (or decoys?) The cast is sequestered in L.A. and are leaving for the Philippines soon, and include the following returnees paired with someone they know."
-Tyson Apostol (Season 18 Tocantins, 20 Heroes vs. Villains)
-Aras Baskauskas (Season 12 Panama)
-Rupert Boneham (Season 7 Pearl Islands, 8 All-Stars, 20 Heroes vs. Villains)
-Monica Culpepper (Season 24 One World)
-Colton Cumbie (Season 24 One World)
-Kat Edorsson (Season 24 One World)
-Laura Morett (Season 19 Samoa)
-Gervase Peterson (Season 1 Borneo)
-RC Saint-Amour (Season 25 Philippines)
-Tina Wesson (Season 2 Australia)
This is as random a cast as you can find. Now I'll talk share my reaction to each of these returning players. The most excited player I am to see back is Gervase. Gervase was a good guy and was very entertaining on the original season of Survivor. I LOVE the original seasons. It was awesome to finally see Mike Skupin get his second chance last fall, so to see Gervase get another chance to win this game, is something I am happy about. If I got to choose a cast of nine other returning players to play with Gervase, none of the people that are on would get a call from me. There are a couple that I'm a little interested in seeing again, but other than that, the cast gets pretty uninteresting pretty quickly. I like Tina and like I said, I like seeing people from the beginning of the show come back. Does she have a shot to win again? I'm not sure. While she might not be the funniest or craziest player, she still is a good one, and it will be interesting to see if she can bring anything from her old school playbook to new school Survivor.
So yeah, now let me rip on the people I'm not excited to see back.
Colton should NOT be back. Colton was an ignorant, racist bigot when he was on the show. He gave the Republican Party a terrible reputation, and only increased the stereotyping people have against conservatives. He probably also gave the gay community a bad rep too. He said some terrible stuff and it was painful watching him. Anyone that makes an argument that he is a good player, doesn't know Survivor. After winning a hard-earned Immunity Challenge, which would give his tribe a two person advantage over the tribe of women, he convinced his tribe to walk over and give Immunity to the other tribe so that they could go to Tribal Council to vote out Bill Posley, one of the nicest guys on the tribe, who Colton couldn't stand because he was "black and poor". He's a poor of example of the upper class and this kind of behavior is unacceptable and should not be encouraged on Survivor. I would rather see Brandon Hantz on again than this idiot. His gay partner is expected to be on with him, which could encourage his disgusting racist behavior. If he's going to be on, I'd like to see his mother on there with him. Wouldn't be something if she gave him a spanking for acting badly on Survivor? The only thing that would be good about him returning is he gets the Russell Hantz treatment from Survivor: Redemption Island from his tribe. It'd be awesome if he was sent home first and that spared us from another annoying season of Colton, who happens to be my least favorite Survivor player ever.
Also from One World are Kat and Monica. Monica looked like she could have been a decent player, but wasn't dealt a good hand of cards. It's expected that her husband, former NFL player Brad Culpepper is going to be her loved one on the show. I can't say it's not interesting when former professional athletes are on the show, because it is. I just don't know how many people will remember Monica. Kat is expected to be on with her boyfriend Hayden Moss, who is a former winner of the show Big Brother. Both of these players might be being brought back only because of their loved-one. And that's frustrating. If you told me I got to bring back three players from One World, two females and one male, I would easily tell you I'd have Kim, Chelsea, and Troyzan back. Easy. All three deserve a call back. Instead they go with these three. Kat is also not one of the brightest bulbs and I don't think she can win this game.
Who's next? How about RC. When RC was on the show, I didn't mind her. She annoyed me at first, but then I felt bad for her over the way her tribe was treating her. Since her exit from the show, the word on the street is that no one from her cast likes her except for Skupin (all-time nice guy). Players from the season have said that she thinks very highly of herself and thinks she's better than everyone else and she's not very nice to anyone. Then she was on Rob Has a Podcast and the Miss Survivor debates. She annoyed me immensely, and I realized there was a reason why she was treated the way she was by her tribe. I'm not interested in seeing RC play again, but at the same time we don't know a lot about her. She could end up being an interesting or strong player. But again, I wouldn't have chosen her.
I can't believe that Rupert is playing again. Rupert was voted fan favorite and awarded a million dollars after Survivor: All-Stars. He was a great character his first time out there, and he's a good guy. He follows all of his fans back on Twitter that follow him. But seriously, it's time to let the Rupert thing go. This is his fourth time playing, and he's not going to be somebody that will win. It gets a little old. I like him as a person, but I would have SO much rather seen Terry Deitz on this season (who was rumored to be in consideration against Rupert).
Also from Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains is Tyson. Tyson's a funny guy, and he's very entertaining. He made in my eyes the dumbest move in Survivor history, which completely changed the outlook of his second season. I hope he doesn't do something half that stupid again. Not just in Survivor, but in life. Tyson's someone I don't mind seeing again, but he's someone that would be my near-bottom of people on the season. Instead, he's at the top, and he will be very valuable to whether or not the show is interesting or funny.
Perhaps the most random casting choice was Laura. When I heard Laura was back, I thought it was Laura from this past season. Then I read that she was from Samoa, and I had to think back and try to remember her. All I can remember about Laura is her being uninteresting and Shambo oddly being mean to her. I would rather see Laura than Shambo on the show, but come on. There are better options from Samoa. What about Monica Padilla? John Fincher? Erik Cardona? Dave Ball? Maybe even Brett? I still can't picture what Laura looks like in my head. This is another weird choice.
Last person to talk about is Aras. Aras seems to be a nice guy, but he isn't the most interesting winner the show has seen. He would be better suited for a full all-stars season than a season of half returning players. He's a wild card as to how interesting he will be.
So yeah, I'm not thrilled about this cast at all. There were so many better options. I guess this means that I will have to continue my series on which returning players should be brought back for future seasons. The reason I'm upset about this is because when you can bring back ten people to play Survivor again, and this is the cast you go with, it's just frustrating. Only so many people can get the opportunity to play once and there are good characters that would be good to see again but probably won't get to play again. So here's to Gervase. Gervase, I hope you win this season and make me proud! I hope Colton's gone first. Whether or not the returning players are on a separate tribe from their loved-ones is unclear. I really hope it isn't a style of Survivor meets The Amazing Race. I'm not ruling out this season, but I guess I won't miss Survivor as much as I normally do in the summer, as I know I have this probable snoozefest to look forward to.
How can you not remember Laura from Samoa? She was quite memorable, after Russell was voted off the purple tribe she was basically placed in what seemed to be the leader role (except in erik, shambo and maybe John's eyes). She was very outspoken, and was the prime target of Russell Hantz when merge happened, she only escaped vote off because she managed to win two immunities in a row (from memory?). Aras and RobC are probably the only others worth considering for place in new season.
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