Welcome to Inside Survivor’s 50 For 50, a semi-regular feature highlighting 50 former castaways who we think should be considered for a spot on Survivor 50. In a snake draft, the Inside Survivor team selected ten players each, with the only rule being they couldn’t have played more than twice.
PROFILE
Name: Reem Daly
Age: 52
Season: Edge of Extinction, 2019
Finish: 18th Place
HIGHLIGHTS
Marked as an easy first boot on the doomed Manu tribe, Reem found herself as a tragic early out. She was a bit bossy, she messed with her tribemates’ clothes without permission, and she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. Great TV but bad gameplay. Thankfully, she was on a season with a broken second chance gimmick built into it, so her journey wasn’t over by a long shot.
As the first-ever player to go to the Edge of Extinction, Reem was the pioneer of the twist and redeemed it from being a total dumpster fire with her season-long journey. Well, “journey” is one way to put it. Instead of serious personal growth or finding herself out there, she used her role as Queen of the Edge to ruthlessly dunk on all her former Manu members as they joined her, even to the point of screaming at eventual winner Chris Underwood. Even if the season was a big blunder conceptually, you could always look forward to the part of each episode when Reem would wake up and dish out iconic quotes at the latest boot.
Though Reem would never be allowed to show her strategic chops, her trash talk and big personality made her the consistent fan favorite of the season. She would survive until the final day of the controversial twist, ultimately losing both returnee challenges and becoming the first member of the jury over a month after being voted out. It’s one of the strangest experiences of any player in 46 seasons, but it’s cemented Reem as a top-tier first boot whose legacy remains beloved by fans of all types.
WHY SHE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
Having a wacky first boot on Survivor 50 would be strange… unless it’s Reem. She’s the queen of first boots, with only Francesca Hogi in contention for that crown. But Reem had a full Survivor experience, at least in terms of the physical aspects. We know she can hack it out there for a month, and she knows it too. So the big question is whether Reem can make the most of a second chance and play the elements of the game she wasn’t allowed to the first go around. Can she plot strategic moves alongside some of the best to ever do it? Can she build strong bonds and integrate herself in a cast of high-profile names? She’d be starting on a different footing than the rest, but that’s the appeal of a Reem return.
She’s a modern legend, she’s due for a second chance, and she has that old-school flair about her despite playing in a relatively recent season. She fits basically any theme they could go for, even the hypothetical themeless season where they just pick a hodgepodge of entertaining casting choices and see what happens. And if they happen to do Edge of Extinction again (god forbid, but it’s not impossible), the story of Reem resuming her role as the resident trash talker out there would be an ironic yet fitting twist of fate.
But looking at the more positive prospects of a Reem return, she’s a darling in the community, with a lot of players from her season ultimately loving her outside the game despite the rough start. Her sense of humor, her fierce loyalty to her allies, and her compelling story would make her a great ally for any group willing to take her in and give her a more complete experience. And from there, it just comes down to how she plays it. I believe we’d see the rise of a deceptively competitive player as she cements a bigger legacy for herself and makes the most of a second chance. But there’s only one way to know for sure, and that’s putting the legendary Queen of the Edge on Survivor 50.
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Reem is hilarious and should be a lock for a returnee season!
DUDEEE SHE NEEDS TO BE ON