RHAP Cast Wishlist for Survivor 50: Millennials vs. Gen X, Game Changers, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, Ghost Island, David vs. Goliath.
Summary: Welcome back to another week of Wishlist recaps. Here, we enter into the middle and later portions of the 30s era, and the discussions really did highlight the very sinewave-esque nature of these seasons. You have well-regarded casts and reasons in Millenials vs. Gen X and Gavid vs. Goliath, the less well-received Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers and Ghost Island, and one of the odder returnee seasons in Game Changers.
A new rule for the Wishlist is also implemented in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, the first season to play after Game Changers. Since there have been no non-winner returnee seasons since Game Changers, there is a bigger pool of potential people who have never played, and due to some meta discussions as well (see the Game Changers portion of the summary), the feeling is that another returnee season will probably pull heavily from the last ten seasons. In light of that, after Game Changers, the Wishlist slots for folks are opened to five per episode.
As always, Mike points out that if a particular person isn't put on the wishlist, if they can generate some excitement or buzz from the fans, he will consider adding them to a wildcard round later on.
Here are the links to previous summaries:
Borneo, The Australian Outback, Africa
The Amazon, Pearl Island, All-Stars, Vanuatu and Palau
Guatemala, Panama, Cook Islands, Fiji
China, Micronesia, Gabon, Tocantins, Samoa
Heroes vs. Villians, Nicaragua, Redemption Island
South Pacific, One World, Philippines, Caramoan, Blood vs. Water
Cagayan, San Juan del Sur, Worlds Apart, Cambodia, Kaôh Rōng
Episode 33: Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X
Summary: The battle of the generations, Millennials vs Gen X, was a relatively well-received season that pitted tribed based on the generation age brackets of the contestants. It was also the season when the show made its (for now) permanent home in Fiji, although this was the season when a cyclone forced an evacuation. As Ali noted, this cast ended up being reasonably strong, and compared to other casts (with 46 being cited a few times), this cast has remained exceptionally close with one another throughout not only their time in the game but also after the game.
Hannah Shapiro: One of the two zero-vote finalists for the season, Hannah's pre-merge game was a little rocky, though after losing her ally in Michaela, she turned around and began to play as hard as she could to make it to the end, which she managed to do, undercutting parts of her alliance in the process. Mike and Ali noted that she has the appeal of being a zero-vote finalist in that she can say she made it all the way and didn't win, and she should get another shot to try.
Jay Starrett: Flammed out in the later part of the game due to an idol play from Adam, Jay has since gone on to play in multiple seasons of The Challenge where he played in multiple seasons, knocking out a returning favorite in his first appearance and incrementally improving until his most recent appearance, where he alienated some of the players from his cast, but concluded with a strong finish positionally.
Jessica Lewis: Famously went out at the last rock draw in U.S. Survivor history, she was saved from early elimination thanks to another player's idol play and found a legacy advantage going into the merge, only to go out at the final ten due to that aforementioned rock draw. She has since become a podcaster and a regular Rob Has a Podcast community member, co-hosting the Why _ Lost podcast with David Bloomberg. Mike and Ali noted that because of Jessica's way of going out and the podcast, she's managed to cultivate many relationships with other players; her returning might present her with some unique social and strategic advantages in a returnee season.
Michaela Bradshaw: A strong personality and powerhouse in the pre-merge, Michaela was a strong player physically, socially, and strategically and was, therefore, blindsided just before the merge. She returned for Game Changers and made the jury before then going to play multiple seasons of The Challenge, like Jay.
Considered but not selected:
David Wright: The T.V. writer who fell just short of the final three, like a few others in the cast, had a rough start at the beginning of the game, but as he got more comfortable on the island, he began to plan and execute some exciting moves and idol plays. He returned for Edge of Extinction, and with the Millennials vs Gen X cast being so stacked, Mike and Ali decided to leave him off for this vote, with the option for him to migrate onto the ballot on the Edge of Extinction episode.
Will Wahl: Will was the youngest person to play Survivor, a high school student during his time on the show. He's since gone to college and recently graduated from law school. Ali and Mike pointed out that while several very young contestants have played, it would be interesting to see how much someone like that has changed in some returnee season.
Bret LaBelle and Chris Hammons: Combining the two here since they had their show bromance and raced together on Amazing Race 31 (performing the best of the three Survivor teams on that season). Brett and Chris are both eager to play and have fun personalities to see on the show, but compared to some of the others from this season, Mike and Ali were more keen to see others. Like Will, they noted that in some regular returnee seasons, one or both of them would be fun to have back.
Production might not want back:
Adam Klein: The winner of the season, Adam's underdog story from the season and his family's personal tragedy back home with his mother dying of cancer made him a compelling winner. His recent wedding also saw almost all the cast come together to celebrate. While Adam may want to play again, as Mike and Ali discuss, his current business venture, working as a casting coach for players trying to get on Survivor, has apparently wrinkled a few feathers on the production side of the house.
Would not return:
Zeke Smith: In multiple interviews, he said he would not like to play Survivor again, feeling that his Survivor itch was scratched after playing back-to-back. He is currently engaged to actor Nico Santos from Superstore.
Episode 34: Survivor: Game Changers
Summary: Rob C reps some Jelinsky merch and returns to talk with Mike about Survivor Game Changers, the show's second to last all-returnee season. As with all the other returnee seasons,. A lot of focus is on the format of the season, who was cast, why, and what Production might have been thinking. Starting off, Rob C feels that Game Changers was probably his last realistic chance to play; he got an interest call from Production but turned them down as, at the time, his youngest son had just been born, and the timing wouldn't have worked out. During the casting process, the theme wasn't announced. Mike points out that at the time, it wasn't unreasonable to assume that Production was going to do multiple returnee seasons; the 20s had multiple partial or all returnee casts, and coming right off the heels of Cambodia, which was immensely popular, they seemed eager to tap that again.
The two noted that this season seemed to be cast first, then the theme was decided later. Rob remarked that he and several others thought the season should have been called something like "Legends vs. Losers."
Mike broke the cast up into groups for discussion purposes:
Pre-Heros vs. Villains: Sandra Diaz-Twine, Cire Fields, Ozzy Lusth and JT Thomas.
The two discussed how Sandra's game evolved for Game Changers since her earlier playing tended to be more passive with her "anyone but me" strategy. Sandra, a bonafide legend as the first two-time winner of the show, meant that from Heros vs. Villains onward, she has to be more active any time she plays since she has a target. Cire was noted to be someone whom many would think of as a game-changer due to her performances in Panama and Micronesia. Mike and Rob both thought she played a great game this season but went down due to the advantages, but it is a good sport about it.
Ozzy was noted to have probably played his most subdued game this season. Reportedly, Jeff Probst didn't want him to play again, but the rest of Production overrode him, which he agrees, in retrospect, was a good move. J.T. was noted to be fun to see, but he does seem to have a rate of diminishing returns each time he plays.
Post-Heroes vs. Villains/ Pre-Cambodia (had not returned to play yet): Andrea Boehlke, Malcolm Freberg, Tony Vlachos, Sarah Lacina, Sierra Dawn Thomas, Hali Ford
Rob talked about when he heard that Andrea would play on Game Changers; after he ran into her at an event, he tried to talk her out of playing again. At the time, she had a hosting gig and was doing well for herself, so Rob was worried about going out to play again; having already done so twice, she was painting a Target on her back. At the time, he didn't know how passionate she was about the game or how big it was for her and her family, and he was happy to see her on the returnee ballot.
Mike reflected on a funny story at a watch party where a clip of him circulated around the internet of him cracking up during Malcolm's surprise elimination. Mike explained that he was reacting more to people around him, who were shocked and embracing the chaos. For Tony, Mike hypothesized that his blowout loss in Game Changers might have been a key enabler for his win in Winners at War as it allowed him to show that he isn't a flawless winner or player, so despite his antics, he could get more breathing room.
Sarah was a player who managed to turn around an early jury boot performance from Cagayan to become the winner of the season. Mike and Rob agreed she played a great game this season and did well in Winners at War. At the time, Sarah isn't on the ballot, Mike's general vibe is that her story is mostly complete, and considering she almost didn't come out for Winners at War and is doing The Challenge, she might not want to return. Also, a fun fact is that she and Tony have always been together on the same seasons of Survivor.
Many saw Sierra Dawn Thomas and Hali as a kind of WTF casting choice. Mike explained that Sierra came on because Natalie Anderson had to drop out at the last minute due to a concussion and not getting medically cleared in time to play. Rob also pointed out that because of the spat for returnee seasons in the late 20s, the well for memorable one-time players who had not played yet was a little tapped at this time.
Cambodia (Players and Candidates): Jeff Varner, Troyza Robertson, Ciera Eastin, Brad Culpepper.
As Mike and Rob note, Production and folks in general really liked Jeff Varner; he was seen as a kind of mischief-maker who could bring good T.V. Obviously, his actions with Zeke this season have since colored that significantly. Rob did note that coming out of Cambodia, Varnner's exit press, especially from folks who didn't get along with him, should have raised some red flags, but at the time, it wasn't seen as a potential worry spot.
Troyzan was someone Rob and Mike weren't the most excited to see; as Mike pointed out, One World came out at a perfect time to create a mine to draw from for players. They observed he had a softer edit than his more hostile play in One World. They think the Troyzan story in Survivor is mainly played out. Brad Culpepper was someone they were surprised with how well he did on his second outing and how much he had changed from his first season; both think it would be fun to see him and Monica on something like The Amazing Race.
Kaoh Rong and Millennials vs. Gen X. (Auby Bracco, Tai Trang, Debbie Wanner, Caleb Reynolds, Zeke Smith, Michaela Bradshaw)
Mike and Rob noted that at the time, Aubry definitely had a target on her back since she had the robbed narrative coming out of her season, but she still managed to do an excellent job to finish in 5th this season. Rob and Mike weren't surprised Tai came back for this season since he was super popular coming out of Koah Rong, and considering he was the first recipient of the Sia award, he was a game-changer. As the two pointed out, Debbie was, in many ways, the archetype for the wackadoodle chargers who came after her.
Mike and Rob completely understood why Caleb was cast, given that he almost died in his season. As they noted, Michaela performed a bit worse than last season, but it might have been because she was a stranger to the cast of returnees. Rob said that when he first met Zeke in person, he was looking at writing blogs potentially for RHAP.
In closing, the two noted that the season drew heavily from the previous few seasons and that the game-changers title was affixed to it afterward.
Considered, but not cast for the season:
Cut:
Alexis Maxwell
Mama C
Chelsea Meissner
Danny Boatwright
John Cody
John Misch
John Penner
LJ (Cagayan)
Marty Piambo
Mike Halloway
Monica Culpepper
Natalie Bolton
Peter Baginstos (Kaoh Rong)
Sabrina (Worlds Apart)
Sophie Clarke
Declined:
Cydney (Kaoh Rong)
Earl Cole
Greg Buis
Joey Amazing
Kelly Wentworth
Colleen Haskell
Considered:
Abi-Maria
So Kim
Episode 35: Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers
Summary: The season that really stretched the whole theming idea, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers (calling it HHH for ease of posting), saw Ben Driebergen, the marine, pull off what some on the community considered a controversial win, given him finding multiple hidden immunities which allowed him to play them back to back in tribal councils, and the other controversial twist of introducing the final four fire-making Challenge which has been….mixed to say the least. Mike and Lindsay admitted that the season's pre-merge was rough, but they said the season picks up steam once the merge hits and becomes enjoyable. Like some poorly received seasons, the pair agreed that it made it a little easier to watch and enjoy without the week-to-week wait for episodes.
Starting this season, Mike has implemented some new sub-rules for the Wishlist. Given that we are now in the post-Game Changer era, except for four players in Edge of Extinction and the winners for Winners at War, there have been no returnee seasons in Survivor. In light of that, and with the recent meta discussions about how Production will likely be pulling more from recent seasons, he's decided to expand the Wishlist slow for guests for the remaining seasons to five, given that none of these players have returned for other games.
Chrissy Hofbeck: The runner-up for the season and a heroic actuary. Like other characters, she struggled in the early game. Still, she managed to build strong social alliances and strategy to carry her into the merge, where she then went on to become a challenge beast, winning four individual immunities. Mike and Lindsay both agreed that out of any non-winner for the cast of HHH, she would be the most likely to be invited back, given her skills in multiple facets of the game, her narrative of a skilled player who was "robbed," and even from her personal life, where she recently underwent a preventative vasectomy after she discovered he has a gene that greatly increased her cancer risks. Both agreed that she had some gaps in her gameplay, so having time to reflect leaves them thinking she might be able to come back and make a great run.
Devon Pinto: The surf instructor and first person to be eliminated at the new final four fire making Challenge, Devon, despite his lackadaisical attitude, did have some surprising social and strategic chops, including correctly reading a situation to play his idol, which resulted in Dr. Mike's elimination.
Dr. Mike Zahalsky: One of the bigger characters of the season, Dr. Mike played a little chaotically in the season, such as throwing half an immunity idol in the fire for the heck of it and other whacky antics and phrases from the season. Mike pointed out that if he does come back, he'd be very much like Debbie on Game Chancgers, someone who saw their gameplay but decided to still stick to being their goofy selves.
*Editors note* As part of my writeups for the players in these recaps, I look over their profiles on places like the Survivor Wiki to help fill out notes on them. For Dr. Mike, I saw something that didn't come up in the episode but was something I think is worth sharing. While Dr. Mike is a urologist and urological surgeon, in 2018, he was a medical responder to the tragic Parkland school shooting. His clinic was three blocks from the school, so when he heard the news, he went to the hospital where victims were being triaged and assisted at the E.R.
Lauren Rimmer: A breakout character from the season, Lauren the fisherwoman initially looked a little out of place on the Hustler tribe but quickly became a central nucleus for her tribe. She was the first person to be idol'd out with a single vote in her elimination episode. Mike and Lindsay noted that while she did seem like a fun, folksy character in her season, she did have a surprising amount of strategic chops and gameplay, and if not for Ben idoling her out, she could have gone further.
Ali Elliott: A big player in the pre-merge, Ali was a celebrity assistant at the time of the show. She was central in the Hustler tribe and was poised to run with them into the game before she was swap screwed, which saw a couple key allies depart, and when she lost another at the next tribal, she was picked off at the next vote. Mike and Lindsay agreed that she had a lot of potential; if circumstances changed, she could have gone further.
Considered but not selected
Ben Driebergen: The season's winner, Ben, returned for Winners at War, where he went deep, ultimately opting to bow out near the end of the game at final five. As discussed in the overall episode summary, Ben's win was controversial for this season. Still, he did have a reasonably well-explored personal story in his journey in dealing with PTSD from his military service. Mike and Lindsay felt his personal story in the game was well-explored and that there wasn't much to explore since he had already returned for an all-winner season. Additionally, given some of his unique challenges with being on the island, the pair felt that his shift towards other reality shows like The Challenge was more his speed.
Ryan Urlich: The bellhop and superfan of the show, Ryan with Devon were at the center of many tribal councils in the game, but unfortunately, the poor management of his social relationships doomed his chances at the FTC for the season, where he was flatly dismissed by the jury, only taking home Devon's vote. Mike and Lindsay feel that his archetype of the young, nerdy, super fan has had multiple other folks of that type appear since HHH, who would likely have a better chance of returning than him.
Joe Mena: A brash, outspoken player, Mike, and Lindsay noted that had a returnee season happened later in the 30s, he might have been a shoo-in given his antics and some of his moves, including throwing attention on himself at a Tribal Council, so he could play an idol on himself to eliminate another player. However, as more time went on, the two felt that his Tony-esque playstyle had been emulated by others more successfully, and they opted to leave him off the ballot instead.
Desi Williams: The first jury member of the season, Desi was a little under-edited this season despite being fairly tough at challenges. She did have some choice words at the FTC, though. Mike and Linsday discussed how Desi has gotten a second wind on reality T.V., being on multiple seasons and an eventual winner of The Challenge USA. Her personality has shone through more on that show. However, Mike did note in interviews that she said the thing she struggled with on the Challenge was forming alliances and backstabbing people, which is essential for many people on Survivor.
Episode 36: Survivor: Ghost Island
Summary: The season with a new twist on the exile island twist. Ghost Island was a season that wasn't as well received by some fans, despite its core conceit being about remembering past players and their actions in the game. Reading some discussion threads on Reddit about the season, the general criticism of the season was the dominance of the edit for Wendell and Dom and how, after the pre-merge, particularly after Chris Noble's boot, the season slowed down. Mike and Brice, in parsing out which characters might be fun to have come back on, have a little bit of inside baseball on who might be fun to see, as Brice is good friends with Wendell and, by proxy, has met with and interacted with some of the season's cast extensively. Brice did say that ideally, for a season 50, he would be looking to not have winners cast and instead have the season be old school vs. new school vs. new era or a pre-merge vs. post-merge style.
Wendell Holland: The winner of the season, Wendell and Dom practically ran the entire game merge, working a one-two punch of strategy and social game, with Wendell being more focused on the social side. Brice pointed out that Laurel's tie-breaking vote went his way precisely because of the relationship they built on the island. While he said he didn't want winners, Brice pointed out that Wendell crashed and burned hard in Winners at War and humbled him. His return to play is based on his poor performance and improvement.
Domenick Abbate: Wendell's partner in crime for the season. Brice felt that Dom had a combination of social, strategic, and physical shops to cut a deep swath in a game of Survivor, especially considering his strategic use of advantages accumulated throughout the season and his cutthroat willingness to turn on potential allies, with Brice noting that he shared some similarities with Jesse for 43. He has also recently played on The Challenge.
Donathan Hurley: The Sia award recipient of the season (the first time she handed out an award since Kaoh Rong), Donathan, a Mike noted was a fairly unique archetype, being an incredibly kind young LGBTQ+ man from the deep south who was playing to help support his family, in particular is ailing grandmother and his mother. Brice noted that despite his kindness, Donathan was willing to play strategically and be as cutthroat as needed to get ahead and stay in the game.
Kellyn Bechtold: She was willing to try and take a shot at Wendell and almost managed to eliminate him. Brice noted that knowing Kellyn personally, he sees a lot of Aubry from Kaoh Rong in her willingness to play strategically and make deep cuts to try and pull ahead.
Chris Noble: One of the season's most prominent characters, Chris was the male model who formed an early rivalry with Domenick and was eliminated at the merge with an idol in his pocket and his strong, coky personality (with some softer moments). He is also known for his interesting Ponderosa videos, such as rapping with the staff as backups. Mike noted that somehow, someway, Chris and Q from 46 need to somehow end up on a tribe together in the show to manifest some hilarious insanity.
Considered but not selected:
Laurel Johnson: The first (and only so far) third-place contestant to cast a tie-breaking vote. Mike and Brice went to bat for Laurel, noting that while her strategy of following Dom and Wendell might have seemed passive to the audience, it was a choice on her part, in particular with her idea that the two might split votes and allow her to pull a plurality. Brice, in particular, noted that in the season, while she did have an alliance with Dom and Wendell, she was also working other partnerships throughout the game to position herself where she needed to and that her biggest problem was doing what he considers an error a lot of first-time players make: wanting to make it to the end and not knowing the right time to cut an alliance.
Michael Yerger: Brice noted that Micheal played a fairly solid game, especially for being someone so young. Mike said that he was one of the more breakout characters from the season, and if season 40 had been a non-winner returnee, he probably would have had some cache to play again. However, the two noted that since a bit more time has passed, and other younger people like Xander, Sami, and others have also played and gone deep, their thought was that his archetype probably has more and newer interesting people to pick from.
Bradley Kleihege: Brice pointed out that Bradley was willing to be sneaky and cutthroat and was also willing to run against the odds to make things happen. Both agreed that his somewhat dour attitude at camp was entertaining to watch on TV.
Brenden Shapiro: Brice noted that Brenden had not only the physical attributes to play but also had some good gameplay knowledge and early strategy, but went out due to a combination of luck and making a couple mistakes newer players tend to make, but that he has a hilarious personality, especially from hearing him on other podcasts. Brice thinks he should return for a Blood vs. Water season with his son, who is apparently a spitting image of him.
Jacob Derwin: Mike and Brice noted that Jacob was the archetype for some of the later season's superfan flameouts like Daniel Strunk, Brandon Donlon, or Jelinsky with all his whacky, over-the-top moves. While Jacob had a bad time with his early boot, the latter guys have been making the most of it and having a great time with the community.
Peter Venkman: Despite being the face for his tribe early on while trying to hunt for some titular ghosts, the psychology professor from New York has been fairly quite as of late.
Episode 37: Survivor: David vs. Goliath
Summary: A well-received season, David vs. Goliath, was the season that deliberately pitted a team of perceived underdogs against a group of folks who have done well or were leaders of some kind. As Jenny noted, this season was particularly rich in characters, many of whom both she and Mike agreed would be fun to see play again in any returnee season. This episode's discussion was interesting in that four of the five picked were established relatively early on, while a fairly solid back and forth happened regarding whether Mike or Natalie should be added to the list for the fifth slot.
Mike White: The writer, actor, runner-up for the season, and game guru who helped spare us from having fire tokens returned after Jeff called him. Miek played a solid social game, building cross-tribal alliances in the game, and performed well up to the final tribal council where while he credited his social game, he did encourage people to vote for Nick since Mike was already successful. Jenny and Mike credit Mike as reasonably entertaining to watch on and off the screen and his moves as a reason to include him on the ballot.
Angelina Keely: The zero-vote finalist of the season, Mike joked that her trying to negotiate for rice brought that twist into the New Era. Angelina had a confident persona, which caused her to make moves and swings, whose effectiveness was somewhat of a miss gameplay-wise, but it made her entertaining to watch, and she is someone both fans and Production like. Some say she's still waiting for a jacket.
Davie Rickenbacker: A Sia award winner, Davie was initially supposed to be on Edge of Extinction, but he was brought on at the last minute and made the most of his time during the season. Jenny and Mike noted his bright personality and energy make him fun to watch, and as viewers, we know he's going to do what he can to make the most of his time on the show. He was reportedly supposed to be on season 3 of The Traitors but was cut at the last minute.
Christian Hubicki: The robotics scientist Christian brought a sense of controlled chaos to his gameplay and strategy while also using his math skills to help him in challenges. He was also one of the top confessionals of the season, with all his commentary and observations, and was also one of the biggest threats of the merge where the other kept trying to target him, with him escaping by the skin of his teeth. As Mike and Jenny note, he has an incredible mind for the game regarding mechanics and interactions.
Gabby Pascuzzi: Christian's one-time ally before turning on him. Gabby, as Jenny noted, is someone willing to play by taking swings. While it didn't work for her in this season, she is willing to work behind the scenes socially to try and make moves. Mike pointed out that when she played, she was relatively young and had since changed careers, locations, and other big things in her life, so she might come back with a more solid strategic mindset.
Considered but not selected:
Carl Boudreaux: Carl, the truck-driving godfather, was another individual Mike and Jenny agreed was highly entertaining to watch on screen, especially when he got drunk both on power and at rewards. Jenny noted that he would be fun to see in another season, even though only five people are on this ballot.
Dan Rengering: Dan, the SWAT officer, was a recruit for the season, who, by his own admission, didn't watch the show or know how it played. Nevertheless, Jenny and Mike noted that he was a bit of an entertaining mess to watch on the season and was the first person to be voted out due to being smacked with the idol nullifier.
Natalie Cole: One of the bigger personalities of the pre-merge, Natalie pushed her tribe hard. While this caused some personality conflicts, which resulted in her elimination, it did show her to be a more unique and fun personality to watch. Some say Angelina is still begging for that jacket.
Would not return:
Nick Wilson: Because he is currently serving as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives and has already returned to play on Winners at War, Mike and Jenny agreed he probably won't be coming back anytime soon.
Production would not want back:
Alec Merlino & Kara Kay: Alec was barred from the reunion, fined a hefty amount of money, and had his season's appearance fees withheld when he violated his NDA by posting a picture of him and Kara Kay dating after the season finished filming. Kara's NDA violating punishment (if any) was never disclosed. Jenny pointed out that Kara had a solid social game, and if she had not gone out at firemaking, she might have taken the whole thing home at FTC.
The link to the spread sheet once again.
See you all next week!
Posted Jul 26, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC