Survivor Blog: Future Returning Players

Ever since the cast list for this Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites season was leaked, I have been thinking about how Brandon Hantz should not have been cast for this season, and his actions and behavior on the show were only further evidence supporting my case. With that said, I have also put to thought about who should have been in his spot. What were the requirements for the spot? Well obviously they needed a man, to balance the tribe equally to five men and five women. In interviews, Jeff Probst has said that he feels that they've used up a lot of their past stars, and that they are trying to create new stars. And so it appears the requirements for a returning player are someone that played in between seasons 16-25, hasn't played a second time yet, and didn't win in their season. So instead of listing off my top five candidates, I thought it'd be a better idea to go through each season and talk about who would have been a good choice to return. Also, I thought Francesca Hogi was undeserving of her spot as a Favorite as well. So I thought why not talk about other deserving returning players for future seasons (not counting winners)? This will be a series of articles, and I will break down a season or two in each one.

So where should I start?

Survivor: Phillipines- Why not start with last season? Last season was one of the best in a while. There are a lot of people that we could see brought back from this season in the future. Malcolm is already back from this season and this season hadn't aired until after Caramoan was shot, so I could see why the producers wouldn't want to put more than one person on this season. To some, Pete is a very attractive option as a returning player. I wouldn't be significantly opposed to it, but I don't think there's anything special about him. I feel like every season we have a young guy that thinks he'll reinvent the game and become the next great winner. Pete was just a talker. He couldn't keep his tribe together to take out the other tribe and keep himself at the top of the food chain. If Pete ever comes back, he'll be out early. Another person many will talk about is Abi-Maria Gomes, who Jeff Probst described as being "perhaps the next great villain of the show." She was equally as bad a player as Pete, if not worse. This season brought back former medivacs Russell Swan, Jonathan Penner, and Mike Skupin. After Russell's sub-par performance, and pre-jury boot, I don't think we will see him again on the show. Penner is one of the most entertaining players ever and I would love to see him on again but since this was the third time he played, I don't expect him to be on again soon. Skupin emerged in this season as a strong player and I think he could have one more season in him if the producers want him. But I wouldn't bank on it. The producers brought Malcolm Freberg back for this season and the current season started shooting shortly after Philippines was complete, so really there was only one open spot and I think they made the right pick choosing Malcolm. So who from this season should play on future seasons?

Jeff Kent- Former National League MVP and five-time All-Star second baseman Jeff Kent came to play. I expected him to be out before the merge and I didn't think he would be a strong player in the least bit. I was wrong. Jeff Kent proved to be a big fan of the show, and what I liked most about him was how much of an ordinary guy he is. He never complained about the conditions and he obviously doesn't need this money, but he came out to play Survivor to play the game. With that said, he was no brilliant mastermind by any means, and he did end his own game by making his number one goal taking out the returning players. Nevertheless he was a strong personality that was great entertainment. He even gave us one of the best closing confessionals in the history of the show. Jeff was fun to watch, and I think he can learn from his mistakes and develop into a great Survivor player. The one thing that could hurt him is the fact that people will know who he really is after his first time out there and he could be voted out early the way Jimmy Johnson was. If he wants to and if the show stays on the air, I think we will see Jeff Kent on Survivor again.

Lisa Whelchel- The former teen star turned Survivor player was a controversial topic of discussion on the Philippines season. Some found her irritating to watch as she bounced back and forth when it came to making difficult decisions. She was frustrating to watch earlier on but I think at the end of the game she finally figured out how the game works. She and Skupin abandoned their final three pact with Malcolm and I think if given another full season, she could be a very good player. Based on the amount of airtime CBS gave her and the fact that she won the Sprint Fan Favorite Award, I think they will ask her back in the future. Also, it's harder for the show to find strong female personalities, so she doesn't have much competition. Like Jeff Kent, she'll have to overcome the fact that people know who she is, but several of her tribe mates knew who she was on Philippines and yet she still made it to the final three. I think it will be interesting in the coming seasons of the show if there will be more celebrities that play the show like Jeff Kent and Lisa. Could we be seeing Dave Coulier on the show? What about Fonzie?

Survivor: One World
This season has a reputation as being one of the worst in Survivor history and I don't disagree with that. With that said, I don't anticipate a ton of All-Stars coming from this season, however there were a few that I think deserve to play again. I actually wrote on Chelsea Meissner's Facebook fan page saying that I thought she should have been back and she responded saying "Thanks Jack! No one from our season was able to make it on because they started filming during our finale." So basically no one from One World could be on Caramoan, which truly is a shame because the person I think that would have been best for this season in that number five spot for the men was on this one. And no, I never want to see Colton Cumbie on the show again. As forthe winner, Kim Spradlin would be great to play again, and I think we will see her on again. For the most part I think every winner should get a chance to return at some point. But here are my picks as for those that would meet the qualifications for this season.

Troy "Troyzan" Robertson- Troyzan was a challenge beast and really stirred things up on an otherwise very bland season. Surprisingly, many fans despised Troyzan, perhaps it was because of his trash-talking. Troyzan was a smart strategic player that begged other players to join forces with him to overthrow the all-female alliance and he had no takers. Troy was super-frustrated and tried to win his way to the end, which he couldn't do. Troyzan deserves another crack at it. He would have been perfect for Caramoan. I would love to see his interactions with Phillip. Hopefully we will see him on the next returning players season.

Chelsea Meissner- Chelsea came out of the gate playing the game strong, catching a chicken with her bare hands on day one. Chelsea was a good challenge competitor and in my opinion the most likable woman in the all-female alliance. She and Kim played strong games that got them both in the final three and I was surprised that Chelsea didn't manage a single vote. They executed a near-perfect Pagong-ing. Chelsea is often overlooked. She's one of the toughest chicks to ever play the game and I think she would a good choice for a female player in future seasons. I think tough girls are good for returnees. Think Stephenie LaGrossa. I thought Chelsea would have been a better choice as a Favorite instead of Fransessqua. Hopefully we will be seeing Chelsea back soon. Maybe a Kim vs. Chelsea season? It would be interesting to see how things would be if the two returning players for a season were both women for once.

Jay Byars- Jay was playing a good game until he got to the merge. He started out in the rooster alliance or whatever fellow castaway Matt Quinlan called it, and the second he realized he was in the minority he walks over and joins the opposite alliance in strategizing. At the time I didn't think I had seen anything like this, but it was smart. Make yourself a part of the majority at the beginning and hope to work your way in, rather than have yourself targeted as an outsider. He and Troyzan put themselves in a good position before the merge, where they were betrayed and at that point Jay made some weak choices, trying to target Troyzan before him, rather than creating a new alliance to try to take out the people at the top. I think Jay was a good character and a good competitor that I'd like to see again. Do I think I'll see him again? Nope. Probst is really sour on this season and he seemed to be mad at what Jay did at the merge. I would be happy though if he is brought back.

Why don't I want to see Colton on again? Colton certainly did stir things up but he was annoying. He was irritating. He's a huge fan of the show and claimed to be a strategic mastermind and yet he gave up immunity to the other tribe after they had already won the challenge just to vote off a guy he didn't like because the guy was black and poor. That's something you never do in this game. Whether or not he actually is racist, I don't know because I haven't followed him since he was on the show. But he did a lot of stuff to just get attention and he wasn't there to play the game. People that are brought back should be people that want to win and not people that want to hog camera time and use Survivor as a launching pad for fame and their life after the game.

This concludes who I want to see on future seasons of Survivor from One World and Philippines. I will continue this series soon, and talk about other seasons in future posts. Thank you to everyone for reading and let me know what you think! Comment below or let me hear your thoughts on Twitter @vellvita7.