Survivor Future Returning Players Part 2:

Two weeks ago I posted a blog entitled Survivor Blog: Future Returning Players, in which I talked about who we could be seeing on Survivor in the future, and who I would like to see back. The post was the start of a series I plan to continue, going over a couple of seasons in each post and talking about who from those seasons should be brought back and I think will be. For more background information, go to the link provided above.

Requirements: Someone that hasn't played a second time yet, hasn't won yet, and played in between seasons 16 and 25. 

When I last left-off I talked about the last two seasons of the show, Survivor: Philippines and Survivor: One World. So what's next? Why don't we continue to look back by starting with the more recent seasons?

Survivor: South Pacific

This was yet another underwhelming season. The production team brought back Ozzy Lusth and Benjamin "Coach" Wade, each playing for their third times. This one of the most random pairings in the history of the show. Originally Michael Skupin from Survivor: The Australian Outback was asked back to compete against Coach, but Skupin had to decline. Eventually Skupin would make his return on Survivor: Philippines, but why they brought back Ozzy? We still have no idea. While this season was poor, the production team still brought back three people to play from this season to play in Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites. John Cochran deserved his spot with all of his funny confessionals and by making the move that ultimately shaped the outlook of this season. The other spots were given to Dawn Meehan and Brandon Hantz. As I talked about in my last blog, the producers should have NEVER brought Brandon back. I wasn't sure how I felt about Dawn coming back, however they do need an older woman and it made sense. Dawn has proven to be a strong strategic player on this current season, proving that she was a great choice to come back. So is there anyone in addition to the ones that were chosen that should come back? I don't think we'll see Ozzy or Coach on again. Both have now played three times. Ozzy is perhaps the greatest challenge performer ever but he's also one of the worst strategic and social players ever. I'm tired of seeing him. I love how Cochran described him as "the middle-aged Ozzy." Coach has improved a lot as a player and if he had just taken ownership at the last Tribal Council, fellow castaways say he would have won. Which leads me to another observation. You know how in my last blog I said just about any winner should be able to come back? Sophie Clarke is the exception to this. Sophie played a weak game, and while riding coattails can be a good strategy, she did nothing. Albert Destrade would come to her with ideas for big moves that would make them the favorites to win, and she would just decline them. She is one the least likable and least deserving winners this game has ever seen. Let's say the producers came up to me and told me they wanted me to pick another contestant from this season instead of Brandon, for Survivor: Caramoan. Who would I pick?

Jim Rice- Jim was a big strategic player. He talked a big game and backed it up when he orchestrated the blindside of Ozzy's crush Elyse. Jim had high hopes and brought his poker playing style to the game, making big risks and gambles. I feel like we could use another one of these kind of players on Caramoan. Not only was Jim risky and strategic, he also was one of the best narrators of the season. His confessionals were great. He said some really funny stuff like when he was talking about Ozzy's love for Semhar, saying "her body's mesmerizing but it's not hypnotizing." He better get that patented before Chris Brown steals it for lyrics in a song. He totally was that funny fat kid you knew growing up. Jim brought drama to the show as well, as he was very hard on Cochran for flipping. Since the show he and Cochran have become good friends and it would be interesting how their friendship would affect their interactions on the show. Would they work together or would one turn on the other? Caramoan needs another strategist that would stick it to Phillip, and Jim would do just that.

Is there anyone else from this season I could see being brought back? Albert's the only other person that comes to mind as they did show him a lot and he did play a solid strategic game, although he did become rather unliked at the end of the show and he didn't manage to get a single jury vote. I don't we'll ever see Albert, as well as anyone else from this season on again. I wouldn't mind seeing Coach on again but I don't anticipate him being on again. Jim is really the only one we could possibly see back, but at the same time they did pick Brandon Hantz instead of him. Only time will tell if we see Jim on again.

Survivor: Redemption Island

This is a season that I believe is often overlooked and deserves less hate. Yes, Boston Rob played a great game and it was a rather predictable season. People say that Rob was lucky because he was on a tribe of "zombies" and people that were easy for him to control. What people fail to recognize is the fact that their tribe was significantly weaker than the other. Zapatera had five strong males, while Ometepe only had four men. Rob had to take to the weaker team and make sure they had the majority at the merge. He did a great job of leading his tribe and by keeping them all together. I could keep defending Rob but there's more to talk about. A lot of people hate the redemption island twist, I liked it. It changed things up and kept characters around longer in the show, it also made for better challenges and provided more drama at the beginning of the episode, with the duels. I think this season had a lot of good, likable characters. The producers brought back Phillip Sheppard, Andrea Boehlke, and Francesca Hogi for Caramoan. Francesca was someone I was called undeserving of playing again, and her early exit only confirmed that her casting was a waste of a spot. I loved that they brought back the other two. So who else do I think would have been good? Let's start with the Ometepe tribe.

Matt Elrod- Matt Elrod is one of the nicest guys to ever play the game, but he made his decisions based on what he thought the right thing was to do. Instead of betraying the Ometepe tribe when he had a final three deal offered to him Mike, he told Rob the truth and said he was going to stick to the plan. Rob and his alliance looked at him as wishy-washy and not trustworthy. Matt put his Christian faith first in the game and it got him blindsided twice. You really felt for Matt and how he spent so many lonely days at Redemption Island. Matt is a true hero in this game and while he may not value strategic moves as much as most players, I think Matt should be welcomed back for a second try. There are some rumors that he was asked back for Caramoan and he declined. That wouldn't be surprising to me in the least bit. I don't think we will see Matt Elrod on the show again unless he is asked back several times and he eventually changes his mind. This could maybe be like the Mike Skupin situation, where it took him twelve years to come back. So if they want him back, he could be back, but I wouldn't count on it.

Ashley Underwood- Ashley wasn't your typical pageant girl that played Survivor. No, Ashley also had a full-ride scholarship to play college basketball at the University of Maine. After college, she played professionally in Europe. Ashley had good athleticism, when her head was on the chopping block she won two straight Immunities. She didn't win them against anyone though. She won them against Boston Rob and Grant Mattos, two of the best challenge competitors in the history of the show. Ashley also entertained the idea of an all-female alliance with Andrea and Natalie Tenerelli, which might have won her the game if the other girls went along with it. Ashley was good strategically and physically. Again, like I talked about with Chelsea in my last article, I think tough girls are good to bring back, and Ashley would be great to see again. Could we see her again? Maybe. But considering they picked Francessqua over her I also wouldn't count on it.

Grant Mattos- Grant was a challenge dominator. One challenge that comes to mind is when he dominated Mike Chiesl from the Zapatera tribe in a pre-merge challenge where one person was launching balls in a slingshot to their tribemates. Grant kept burning the former Iraqi war veteran. Guess he learned a thing or two about that when he played receiver for future #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft Carson Palmer. Grant was great in challenges and wasn't a bad strategic player. He was also very likable and a fan favorite by some. When Boston Rob voted him off, you saw Rob break character. Rob has always been a cold-blooded killer, voting out Matt Elrod twice. But he was hurting by betraying Grant. According to Rob, Grant still won't respond to his texts or calls, quite the opposite of Phillip. If there were no returning players on this season, Grant would have had a good shot at winning this game. Can we see Grant again? I think it's possible but unlikely.


Who from the Zapatera tribe could we see again? Zapatera was playing hard from the start, throwing a challenge to rid themselves of Russell Hantz. I think there are at least a couple to think about.

Mike Chiesl- Mike is another person that was hurt by the fact that this season had returning players. Mike was the guy who wasn't afraid to go toe-to-toe with Boston Rob at the merge. If Matt Elrod had decided to sway over to his side and brought Andrea along with him, I think Mike wins this season. Mike was also great in challenges, sticking around a while on Redemption Island. Mike was a very likable guy and a good strategic player. I think Mike has the best shot of any of the people from this list to return. In a returning season, he would pose a strong threat to win the game. I really hope we see Mike on again and as long as Survivor stays on the air, there is a possibility that he could return.

Steve Wright- Steve could be the most chill guy to ever play on the show. The former NFL player was so relaxed. Even when Phillip flipped out at him, he kept his cool. He also was a good narrator and great in confessionals. He was very funny. I don't think we'll see Steve Wright on again but he is definitely someone that is worthy of mentioning.

David Murphy- Forget about his awkward proposal to former Survivor player Carolina Eastwood. That shouldn't be the way David is remembered. David is one of the smarter people to ever put on a buff. He played a good game until his tribe got Pagong-ed. Given another season, he could be the next Rob Cesternino or Cirie Fields. David showed flashes of Survivor brilliance at Tribal Councils and confessionals. But what sold me on David was his incredible jury speech in the finale. David delivered one of the greatest jury speeches in the history of the show, and he had great respect for the game Boston Rob was playing. David's someone with a lot of potential moving forward. Sadly, I don't think we will see him again. But I hope I am wrong.


So that's Survivor: Redemption Island. Next up I will be talking about who I'd like to see back from a couple more seasons. Sorry to keep everyone waiting on this, but I hope you enjoyed what I had to say!