Welcome to the final post of the 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: Davie Rickenbacker
Age: 37
Season: David vs. Goliath, 2018
Finish: 6th Place
HIGHLIGHTS
True to his name, Davie began his Survivor journey on the David tribe on David vs. Goliath. Despite an initial shaky start with Pat Cusack’s medical evacuation and being left out of Jessica Peet’s blindside, he was able to form solid alliances with the likes of Nick Wilson, Christian Hubicki, and Carl Bordeaux. He was even able to find the David’s immunity idol at this early stage of the game. This led to him being in a fairly safe position on the David tribe, with a plan brewing to turn the tides on Gabby Pascuzzi, who took the blame for Jessica’s blindside.
Of course, in classic Survivor fashion, a tribe swap pulled the rug out from under Davie and Elizabeth Olson, who were swapped onto the minority of the new Vuku tribe, along with former Goliaths Alec Merino, Kara Kay, and Natalia Azoqa. While he initially decided to turn on Elizabeth to save himself from the Goliaths, Davie was impressively able to convince Alec at the last minute to turn on Natalia. Despite them voting out a clear physical asset from the tribe, Vuku would go on to win the remaining pre-merge immunity challenges, thereby securing its members a spot in the merge.
Once Davie made the merge, it became Davids vs. Goliaths all over again. The Goliaths got their way in the unanimous vote against Elizabeth, but the Davids were not going down without a fight, and what a fight Davie gave. He played his idol at the next tribal council and contributed to the blindside of John Hennigan. He was able to keep a low profile moving forward as he helped to vote out Goliaths Dan Rengering and Alec back-to-back.
Along the way to finale night, Davie found another idol, this one only being good for one tribal council unless he was willing to risk his vote, which Davie chose not to. From there on, Davie would lose his allies Carl, Gabby, and Christian consecutively, leaving just him and Nick as the only remaining Davids. Unfortunately, his Survivor resume finally caught up to him in the final six, when Mike White orchestrated his blindside due to him being the biggest threat to win. Davie was voted out in a 4-2 vote, but not without receiving many praises from fans and Jeff Probst himself at the live reunion (remember when we still had those?).
WHY HE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
It cannot be denied that being a fan favorite on any Survivor season is a special experience, but to be a fan favorite on a season as beloved as David vs. Goliath? That’s how you know a player is truly one-of-a-kind. There’s no doubt that Davie is certainly one such contestant. Davie’s game was filled with twists and turns throughout the season, but perhaps the most shocking thing to me is that we haven’t seen him return to reality competition shows yet. Key word: yet.
Survivor 50 would be the perfect opportunity to see him again, especially since production seems committed to casting players who will treat the experience as a celebration for the series as a whole. A fan favorite from a universally beloved season that has only had one player return to the game? This moment was practically made to mark Davie’s second chance at the title for Sole Survivor.
Davie has many qualities that make him such a lovable player. He is a self-proclaimed nerd who lived out his dream as a Survivor superfan. Looking back on his gameplay and confessionals, it’s clear that he made the most of every minute on the show. He helped to orchestrate blindsides, played from the bottom of the pecking order, found two immunity idols, and won an individual immunity challenge. Even when it seemed like his game was a dead end, Davie fought tooth and nail to keep himself around for another day. This grit and determination led to him placing sixth on a season full of heavy hitters.
From a last-minute alternate to the favorite to win the whole game, Davie’s time on Survivor meant a lot of things to a lot of people, but my reasoning for including him in this list goes beyond him just being likable.
Since his time on the show, Davie has been an outspoken advocate for implementing diversity initiatives, often using his own experiences to highlight why having a racially diverse cast is important. He also made it a point to advocate for players who do not often have their stories heard as one of the main spokespersons for the Survivor Diversity Campaign in 2020. Davie is not only a game changer within the Survivor universe but also outside the game. He is a wonderful player and an even more wonderful person; it is an honor to include him in the 50-for 50 list.
Written by
No this is one of you worst choosing and some have seen bad
Here’s my wish list for season 50:
3 teams of 8 then swapped to 2 teams of 10 until merge (Gold buff) at 13.
*I have the players listed by season number then divided into tribes.
1- Greg
3- Teresa
4- Sean
9- Twila
10- Ian
14- Michelle
18- Taj
27- Hayden
29- Reed
32- Cydney
33- Jay
35- Chrissy
36- Dom
37- Christian, Angelina
38- Devens, Reem
39- Janet
42- Jonathan
43- Jesse
44- Frannie
45- Kellie
46- Q
47- Genevieve
Pink- Teresa, Ian, Chrissy, Dom, Frannie, Reed, Michelle, Hayden
Black- Janet, Sean, Taj, Jesse, Genevieve, Devens, Angelina, Jay
Teal- Twila, Greg, Reem, Q, Kellie, Christian, Cydney, Jonathan