What’s up, Inside Survivor readers! My name is Ian, you may remember me from the 50 Best Episodes feature posted on this very website a couple of years ago. Well, I’m back, this time with a weekly feature, and I’m very excited as a new season is set to begin! A little about me, as far as my Survivor fandom goes: I’m a near-Day 1 fan (been watching since Amazon), Cirie is my favorite player of all time, and I consider Fiji a Top 10 season. That last one is non-negotiable.
What am I going to be doing week to week? Well, I like to think of each season of Survivor as is its own separate journey, with each group of castaways navigating the treacherous landscape of blindsides and betrayals. Each given vote is its own inflection point, as players make decisions that could push them further along on their path to the next choice. Or they could meet their demise and continuously replay that crucial last decision that led them to this point, as they take the cold and lonely trek to Ponderosa.
With this column, I’m going to be walking with the players, stopping at each fork in the road and examining the different paths in front of them, determining whether they’re journeying towards Survivor glory or Survivor oblivion. Since this upcoming season is based on the ghosts of Survivor past, think of me as a friendly apparition who could have been on the island in spirit, guiding the players along and making sure they avoid the graveyard that is Ghost Island.
Not only do I plan on assessing the individual game decisions made by the players, but I will also call attention to any significant decisions the show at large is making. The last couple of seasons have shown that Survivor is still willing to try different things, injecting new advantages and endgame twists to shake up the status quo. I’m excited to see if this season can do anything to change the polarizing nature of these twists or if they will continue to haunt the audience, just like the relics on Ghost Island.
Since this column is all about decisions, it seems fitting that I should make a couple of my own. Below are a couple of pre-season superlatives that will almost certainly be wrong when Ghost Island wraps up.
Most Confessionals: Jacob. Gotta go with the Inside Survivor guy for something! Hopefully he will be the next great version in the long line of witty superfans.
Most Likely to Play an Idol Correctly: Laurel. She’s gonna be looking, and I feel like she’s smart enough to discern when she could be in trouble.
Most Likely to Get Voted Out with an Idol: Chris. He screams alpha male dudebro to me and I could see him having a Drew Christy-like downfall, except his time he has a way to protect himself.
Most Gif-able contestant: Stephanie J. Anybody who has that bright an outfit is going to do something goofy in the background that will blow up Survivor twitter.
Most Likely to Coin a New Ubiquitous Survivor Phrase: Domenick. The next guy in the Tony Vlachos/Joe Mena mold, we can only hope this guy will have the motormouth those guys had.
Most Individual Immunity Challenge Wins: Sebastian. This seems like a no-brainer, but the guy looks like he was cloned from Ozzy’s DNA.
Most Likely to Win: Kellyn. Yep, Kellyn is my winner pick. I think she’s sweet and non-threatening enough to get in with a group early and not be targeted and has enough game smarts to navigate her way to the Final Tribal Council.
Can’t wait to get his journey started!
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So glad to see Ian back!
Most Confessionals: Bradly – He gives me Ryan vibes with a little more skill
Most Likely to Play an Idol Correctly: Sabastian. Like you said he will be a threat and I think he’ll find and use an idol correctly if only once
Most Likely to Get Voted Out with an Idol: Donathan. He gives me the vibe that he thinks he is very social and won’t realize he is rubbing people the wrong way
Most Gif-able contestant: Chelsea – She just scream doing crazy stuff to me
Most Likely to Coin a New Ubiquitous Survivor Phrase: Domenick. Got to agree with you there
Most Individual Immunity Challenge Wins: Chris – I think he is athletic and smart so would be good at different kinds of challenges
Most Likely to Win: Brendon- I think he is the most well rounded player. Oddly enough I think your winner pick will be first boot
I don’t think that Jacob will be first boot, and here’s why (please here me out).
For Jacob to be the first boot, Malolo would have to lose the first immunity challenge, which could happen, but here’s the kicker. I fthey do Ghost Island in the format of Exile Island, then the winning team would get to choose who from the other team goes to Ghost Island.
Should Naviti win the first immunity challenge, it would wise to send who they believe could be a hindrance to Malolo in immunity challenges (based on challenge strength) or who they think Malolo might want to vote out.
By that logic, Jacob might be the most likely candidate as Naviti might see him as eligible for both criteria.
I don’t think Jacob will be first boot either.
He said Kallyn is his winner pick. I think Kellyn will be the first boot
[…] to the first, official Fork in the Road column everybody! Overall, I thought this was a great two-hour premiere. This cast seems hungry and […]