Top 10 Most Controversial Survivor Winners - Part 2
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- "Monday, December 21st, 2009 - Survivor: Samoa concluded Sunday night on CBS with its victor, Natalie White, winning in the final jury vote by a result of 7-2-0, declaring her the Sole Survivor of the 19th season, defeating runner-up Russell Hantz and third place finalist Michael "Mick" "McDreamy" Trimming.
An outcry of fans has risen in response to the result, with online petitions being created... Viewers were shocked to see Hantz lose in the end, with many left confused and dissatisfied at the outcome, some having turned to creating websites calling for a recount of the final vote - in an effort to soothe the upset public, host Jeff Probst has been replaying the promo trailer for the next season hoping the distraction will heal the massive wound left in the wake of Russell’s unfathomable loss."
Part 1: • Top 10 Most Controvers...
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I think one of the biggest controversies never mentioned about the Edge of Extinction format is the large jury. The fact that in the end Reem's vote counts as much as the everyone who made the merge who would be on a traditional jury. Survivor is about voting people out and having them vote for the winner. Reem never played a second with Gavin or Julie, but she's supposed to judge their game?
That’s such a great point, this should be a topic of conversation as well.
They are over there not facing tribal council / not participating in outwitting anyone. It’s a lame idea. Maybe as a punishment for the losing team to go to the edge of extinction and earn back their camp or something like that ?
When Chris won I went bonkers. Smh he did have his own game to play. His game was largely a solo game with no chance of being voted out because they done voted him out. People should not come back into the game.
If they wanted to have a winner of the losers and have a separate contests occur among vote offs then fine. Give ‘em a steak and let’s get back to the real game 😂😂😂
I always felt like EOE should’ve worked a lot like Redemption Island where there’s a premerge group and a merge group.
I was only okay with the large EOE jury in Winners at War
yeah and it’s one thing when the first juror is the only case of this. But when you could in theory have the whole premerge there who may have never met finalists, all vote. Makes no sense
@@israelizzyyarrashamiaak766 Returning players should not be a thing, but if they insist on returning players, the should do it once - at the merge. I'm okay with the Outcasts because it fit with the pirates' theme and felt relatively fair. Players returning to the merge miss out on two or three tribal councils at worst. Returning players AGAIN to the finale is just dumb and unfair. Fortunately, Andrea, Ozzy and Tina had very little effect on the finale. However, EoE upped the BS and both returnees went on to the FTC.
Rob and Michele's talk in WaW was so wholesome. I can imagine he's said that exact same thing to Amber after All-Stars many times, and even himself after Redemption Island.
I will always love Natalie's win as an ending to Samoa, mostly because before the finale aired, my parents sat me and my siblings down and gave us this talk about how its all just a show and sometimes the 'bad guys' win, not wanting us to be upset when Russel won. Then we got the biggest 'I told you so' ever when the hero (at least in our kid brains) ended up winning.
This is a very cute story! Your parents sound like they were doing a good job
Natalie really deserved a better edit but you could see from her edit how well liked she was among the group. Seeing her win really highlighted the importance of jury management and how winning is about appealing to the jury, something that may require different strategies season to season! People can claim Russell was robbed but the truth is unlike other villain winners, Russel’s jury management sucked. We have seen that it is possible to be sly and cunning while also maintaining the respect of the jury, and Russell believed he was entitled to the jury’s votes regardless of their feelings toward him! In the end, while I can’t stand Russell as a person, I do love that you can put that to the side when discussing how and why he lost his first two seasons!
Well you had the dreamy doc who didnt need the money, the mean ogre who everybody hated and the sweet angel princess with the aura of rainbows and unicorns. Her win was broadcast from the beginning. I still love Ratalie. She did play the game and she outplayed Russell. There. I said it!
lol I wanted russel to win as a kid 🧍🏻♀️
lol 8 year old me was rooting for russell XD
I’m glad you mentioned that watching survivor and playing survivor are two totally different things. We don’t see everything the jury does. We only get the edited version. I’m not saying that some people aren’t bitter, but overall, the jury knows better than we do on who deserves to win.
Every time I hear that phrase I’m reminded of Probst reading Colton to filth :)
With the exception of the Edge twist, I generally agree with you. I think the jury (and in many ways, the producers) wanted an Edge player to win because it would justify the twist, but IMO no one who gets voted out and has their torch snuffed really deserves it that season, at least not at that point, even with the flashy comeback.
but at the same time, the jury can be wrong, even if we got the edited version, we can still see who played the better game, if you get rid of the wrong people at the wrong time, you can get a bitter jury that votes to spite you
@@HeyLetsDoAThing I have mixed feelings. While I do hate the edge twist, I can’t really blame or be mad at Chris for using it to his advantage. Plus, I wasn’t really impressed with Gavin or Julie so I actually didn’t mind Chris winning.
@@sabergater174 I disagree about the jury being wrong. I don’t think they are wrong in the decision they make even if I don’t agree with it. If the jury spites you so much that they don’t vote for you, then that shows a flaw in your game. What may be a better game to you, may not be what is a better game to the jury.
Ben's one really stems from the fact that it was a twist that they should've told everyone the rule change at the beginning of the season, or at least the merge.
Tbh, if they had then I don’t think there would be as much backlash.
Players are never and have never been told exactly how the end of the game will play out.
@@cxzact9204 and that has lead to many players being screwed over by twists and changes unexpected. Makes a man think.
@@cxzact9204 yeah but at least with Chris' win, all the players knew of EoE that you could get back into the game and win, whereas it definitely seemed like production came up with that twist to give Ben another chance to save himself. I bet Jeff wish he (production) didn't fuck with the previous F3 to a F2 that cost Cirie in Micronesia whereas Ben got a free run to the million due to the twist
Ben's season was the worst season of survivor BECAUSE OF PRODUCTION.
ben's win was the only time i really felt that production stepped in to sway the result a certain way. Hearing jeff talk about how good of a winer he thought ben was later on, just made me question his judgement completely
It was really obvious to me that he was going to win long before he actually won. I remember thinking there's no way this wasn't set up for him, and I never felt that way about any other winner.
Agree with all of this. Even if I disagreed with the winner in the past I could at least respect that that's the way the jury voted and that's the game. But with Ben it was definitely the first time I felt like production had a specific story they wanted to tell and needed to interfere with the game itself in order to do so. Which just left me and many others with a sour taste toward the show as a whole.
@A Nigerian ninja Because this was the first time a twist I think really ended up determining the winner. If the players had known ahead of time that this was coming it wouldn't have been such a big deal. But because it was like oh look another way for Ben to somehow save himself when so many other amazing players were dumped at the final 3/4. Why do this now? It was the timing and sudden convenience that made it seem like production wanted to tell his sob story and have him win. Idc idc sorry not sorry
@@aaronw7602 yup totally agree
@anigerianninja4577past contestants have said that some cameramen will point their cameras at the idol and that helps the idol to be found...
My issue with Chris was the fact that he had an unfair advantage building rapport with the jury, not having to come up with the endgame plan himself (the extinction players all made a list for the returning player to use as a plan yo win), and unfair knowledge got from the jury. The entire Victoria vote was based on knowledge no other player would’ve had of her that was still in the game (only people voted out knew how big of a threat she was, especially Aubry). Extinction would’ve been a lot more of a fair twist if all extinction players were isolated from each other somehow so they weren’t oversharing all their information that they wouldn’t share if they were still in the game (like Lauren having an idol as well) :/
Credit to Chris for actually being able to pull off the plan beat for beat tho, he played with the cards he was dealt
@@jordanhrndz yeah, I actually would've liked to see him on WaW, as he seems to be a decent player. The Edge twist just sucks all the joy from his gameplay for me
I honestly was a Chris fan watching that season for whatever reason and was happy when he won so I guess I was one of very few. The thing is extinction completely changed the game survivor. It’s not survivor. It’s survivor edge of extinction; season 38 and WaW season 40 both played different games. EoE changes survivor completely. I think it takes a lot of mental willpower to sit on that island of extinction for as long as he did or anyone in the shows history has. Mental fatigue and exhaustion would likely send you or me home, we take for granted so many things we have in our lives. Try being alone on a island, a beautiful one, but with nothing to do, and are starving and just waiting. I wouldn’t say it’s like jail, because you have the freedom to do things, just not the materials and likely not the energy. I thought it was crazy for Chris to stand on that island for so long, and then finally when he had his chance, every gamble he took he won. It’s like being at a craps table and hitting your numbers consecutively, throw after throw, just printing money. The reality is every true craps player knows that these days happen once in a lifetime maybe twice, so the fact that Chris was able to do it and win every gamble he took shows that it’s an incredible feat and that he should be in the conversation of winning. I think that Rick played a phenomenal game, truly a game deserving of winning survivor, because similar to Chris, he was voted out, came back from the edge, and then played a longer “game of Survivor” than chris, because chris was sitting on the edge of extinction island, instead Rick pulled off almost all the stops, he was so close, just like Chris he was hitting all of his numbers. It was all in ricks hands literally. His fire took the early lead and then dropped down, he almost had it by inches. Then he crapped out and lost. Someone’s always gotta lose, and the house rarely loses in gambling. But here Rick lost the game of survivor edge of extinction after almost playing it flawlessly.
At least Chris pulled these off pretty well with the knowledge of EOE. Natalie had this exact handbook to copy yet she played as TERRIBLY as POSSIBLE upon returning. Worst winner? I’d say so. I mean he was voted out third and relied heavily on a profound momentum killing twist but he did have more impressive moves than some winners (say Bob for ex.)
@@kharihammon9784 I feel like Natalie played like that intentionally to avoid the hate Chris got from EoE. She seemed to just want to see Sarah and Tony duke it out and not really win herself but I could be wrong
I don’t know if I believe in the whole “only lost because of a bitter jury” argument. What makes Survivor such a tough game is that it’s built around having to screw over pretty much every other person on that island while making sure that they still like/respect you enough to give you the win. If you have a bitter jury then that means that you failed at the biggest part of the game.
Agreed. Bitterness and resentment are kind of inevitable based on the nature of the game, which makes the actual strategy to navigate through those feeling. Whether that is having a lightning rod sitting next to you to draw all the resentment, being such a presence that the respect outweighs any bitterness, or just being the person the jury hates the least, getting the votes is all that matters. So if you instilled so much bitterness and resentment such that no amount of respect could earn a vote, then yeah you deserved to lose.
Plus I always remember how compromised everyone is, being away from home, living with strangers, starving, and dehydrated. It’s easy to forget that when you’re home on the couch and watching the confessionals
I feel like often the social game is overlooked with some of the controversial winners such as Natalie White or Michelle. Yes, people might be “bitter” but at the end of the day if you overplay or go too far in certain ways your cast mates don’t approve, that is a fault you have in the game. Someone like Russel treats the game like chess, when he is playing with people whose respect he needs to garner which he actively went against. Not as extreme a divide in Koah Rong but clearly Michelle got people to like her more than Aubrey did so she deserves to win for that.
As someone who hated the fact that Michele won over Aubry, I have to say I agree. I didn't really understand the game as much back then, but I think Jeff puts it best at the beginning of Borneo; "The ultimate SOCIAL experiment." Who cares if you controlled the game if you weren't liked by the jury? Or who cares if you won every single challenge or played all the advantages and idols correct? You'll lose if you didn't get the jury to like you better than the people sitting next to you. And yeah, it kinda sucks sometimes for us viewers, but that's the name of the game, to vote people out and get them to like you and for you to win a million dollars. It's also luck-based, too, so not everything can be in your control. At the end of the day, I'm just happy to be entertained by Survivor (Not as much now, they should go back to 39 days but they won't because money) At the end of the day, every person who won deserved to win because they achieved the main goal of the game; to get the people voted out to give you the million dollar vote over the person or 2 people sitting next to you.
The edit didn't show Michelle's social game, which is the real problem. Michelle's boring monotone voice + boring personality in confessionals made it extremely hard to see why she had an "excellent social game" as her stans claim
I can’t be mad at the individuals who won - like Peridiam said, Chris (and to a similar extent, Ben) was just playing with the tools he had. Tbh my least favourite part about the EoE season win is that the jury was made up of mostly edge people who ended up spending waaay more time with Chris than any of the other players, and not having to have a strategic relationship with him at that.
Not to mention half the jurors didn’t even know Gavin or Julie. Like at all. Reem literally never met them.
I feel like the best thing might have been to eliminate all the people who lost the 1st reentry challenge and then start sending people to EOE the merge onwards and then after the 2nd reentry challenge all losers go to the jury. That would've lessened the number of jurors and also made certain players play in different ways
I’m not mad at…Chip? :) it’s not his fault. Im mad at the twist and how it was handled.
Chris played the game as it was structured that season, so I don’t think he was undeserving. But I do think Edge of Extinction should’ve only been to come back after maybe the first or second post-merge vote but with a hidden advantage. Not to come back basically at the very end
Yes Edge of Extinction should either stop at the merge OR send everyone home who loses the first return challenge and start Edge again.
If you watched the video it say he was controversial because of him. It was controversial because of it’s structure itself
@@EzraDair I'm aware, I wasn't trying to imply that he said it was because of Chris. I was just trying to offer an adjustment to the EoE twist because I think it does have some merit but was too overpowered. Much like the Cook Islands idol, which then got tweaked to not be so overpowered.
This video really made me realize just how hostile the jury has become to people who play the underdog in the game. A decent number of the controversies in the top 10 boil down at least in part to "the season long underdog player deserved to win over them". Ben, with his super controversial win due to a horrible format change, is the last real underdog to win. Modern underdogs like Xander, Owen, and Laurel never stood a chance and didn't get any votes. In earlier seasons it would have been unthinkable for someone to be an underdog the whole merge, make it to the F2/3, and get zero votes. If you were from the underdog pagonged tribe against members of the majority tribe in the F2/3 it was virtually impossible to lose a jury vote in the first 30 seasons, even when you had an absolutely dreadful jury performance like Bob.
It's also super difficult to win as the favorite. For every Tom Westman, you get two or three Ozzies. There's a certain level of gamer you have to be to win a Survivor game nowadays, and much of that is navigating the middle of the threat levels only truly exposing yourself to the top of the threat tables at the end of the game.
That’s an interesting point! I wonder if this ties in to the growing ‘anti-big moves’ era, where even having too big a target on you too long can be seen as bad gameplay. I feel like the current ideal is to thread the needle between wallflower goat status, and blowing up the game from the bottom/top every round status.
Hell I’m not even sure this is a concious thing being thought about by the players, but I think it’s worth considering.
I think you have to be willing to make the big play, but doing it in a calculated way that doesn't expose yourself until you absolutely have to do that. I'm talking you're doing your big move at the final 5 or 6, instead of the pre merge or the in the immediate aftermath of the post merge. There's a kind of middle ground between underdog and favorite that you have to tread carefully in order to win in the modern game. You can't reveal yourself to be a real player until it's late enough in the game to be a bit too late to be picked off, while also not playing up the underdog story line so much as to be uninteresting in that way.
First 19, then 38. Season 57 is gonna be good
So true
When it’s Winners at War 2 and the final 2 are Natalie White who just got her first confessional of the season and Chris Underwood who just got back from the edge for the 5th time
@@tenleeso10 and for whatever reason the producers have edited out their alliance which includes the two of them plus Bob Crowley (now a cyborg) and Fabio that was made on day 1
@@kingofthorns203 They used this alliance to take out Sandra
@@techngamin on day 16!
I think you under sold how beloved Sugar was during and immediately after Gabon aired. Her getting 0 votes was considered highway robbery. She was Russell Hantz before Russell.
It's less remembered now because she went out first in HvV and people have been able to rewatch Gabon with a different perspective. But from Marcus losing and blowing up EDGIC and then the obvious fan favorite losing despite dictating a lot of votes, I think Bob's win deserved a spot in the top 10.
Interviews after the season ended there were interviews from the players saying that they may have voted for sugar
I recall Charlie Herschel explaining at the reunion for Gabon that watching Sugar on tv and living with her were two very different things, which I imagine would effect the votes in any season.
@kingofthorns203 Oh definitely, I fully understand why she lost. But for this list, it's not about who deserved it or not. It's about the controversy surrounding the win at the time. And at the time of Gabon's finale, Sugar losing to Bob was easily one of, if not the most controversial finish in the history of the show. Fans loved Sugar and really didn't understand why the jury disliked her.
@@kk_33 There are also those of us who couldn't stand her and saw how annoying she was. Some seasons are a pick of a bad bunch.
@@kk_33 I love Sugar in Gabon but some ppl don’t
Th Rob/Michele chat on WAW is one of my favorites
It was an excellent summation of the first 39 seasons of controversial winners on survivor. I’m not the biggest fan of Rob but he’s certainly charismatic and has a way with words.
Funny Boston Rob saying those lines to Michelle when he himself opened up to Sandra about people looking at his unsatisfying win of playing with newbies scared to get him out and bringing 2 goats to the end to win.
@@mattmurdox3946 I feel like his wife Amber also had some of the same backlash that Michele had so Rob could definitely relate and sympathize with that. He probably had some of the same talks with Amber about her win
Sometimes after a season airs, I wish they would release a "winner's cut", just to really show you more of the behind the scenes. It could be a one or two episode special. Granted, it could be boring because some winners were just really good social players, so the winners edit may just show campfire talks and not real strategy, gameplay, etc. But it would still show the perspective of how some under the radar winners won their seasons.
Thank you for mentioning Danni vs Stephenie. At the time it was a fairly controversial win given how massively popular Stephenie was at the time. I am wondering where you rank her now, given how her edit on WaW somewhat reignited controversy over her initial win.
The rehashing of the Guatamala controversy is so dumb tbh. Danni’s win and her playing again 20 years later under completely different circumstances have practically no connection outside of her being on the season due to her win. Her doing poorly on WaW should in no way discredit her winning game on Guatamala, which was fairly strong imo.
@@handsoaphandsoap i agree, Danni is one of my favorite winners ever. It was just disappointing; both her edit on WaW, which was quite deceptive, and the nonsense questioning her win popping up again after so many years!
@@kingofthorns203 Also Danni getting done dirty by WaW edit and also new-school outnumbering old school makes me so angry.
They didn't show this, I don't know why, but Jeremy spread a rumor that Danni looked though his bag, making her seem shady. It ended up saving him and eliminating her, so she was unfortunately a victim of circumstance.
@@AGJ117 i heard all of this too. Justice for Danni!
The last 6 days of Chris Underwood's game *were* impressive, but there is a giant asterisk next to that, and I'm not just talking about EoE.
Multiple post-season interviews have confirmed that the Edgers would sit around and talk about the person who would get back into the game at 6, and what they would have to do for the jury to vote for them to win if they made it to the end. All of the Edgers said "If whoever makes it back in just wins every immunity or uses idols to get to the final 3, we won't vote for you to win. You have to make strategic moves, you have to not win the final 6 immunity challenge and survive that vote, etc."
Basically the Edgers made up a list of what that person would have to do, from getting back into the game at final 6 right up until the final-4 fire making challenge. And while all of the Edgers contributed to this discussion, it was dominated by Aubrey, David Wright, and Kelley Wentworth.
Don't get me wrong - Chris played those final 6 days great. But he had a script, a list - written by the jury - step-by-step instructions of what he had to do in order for them to vote for him to win. And he did all of those things.
So let's give Chris credit for doing all those things well, but let's not give him all of the credit for coming up with those moves. He was basically handed a "do these things and you'll win the game" checklist by the jury.
It does seem like that because he gets voted out being stupid. However he comes back as this sage from edge that knows everything. Before he got voted out he was just a dude but when he comes back they are freaking out saying ",this guy knows everything"
@@zeaferjones1404 Yeah, he gets voted out very early, and then returns and has this master plan and plays a flawless "last 6 days" game. Even without post-season interviews spilling the tea, it feels from just watching it that he must have gotten a crash course in strategy while on the Edge - specifically what the jury wanted to see from whoever returned to the game.
Chris should have nonchalantly been #3 on the list with little explanation then be the #1 spot afterwards 😂
The sus bit about Ben finding idols for me was in one of his last confessions where he says "I went to the spot I always go to to think about my wife. I've being going there since the merge. And then I looked around and there was an idol."
An idol? In the spot YOU always go to? How convenient
More love for this comment. LOL!
Maybe the thought process was, "okay, we know Ben's going to find this idol anyway, maybe we should just make it easy on him this time? At least he's the only one who cares enough to look for them."
It was so freaking ridiculous that Chris got a free idol AFTER GETTING VOTED OUT. Why is he being rewarded?
That clip of Rich and Russell is GOLD 😂
Peridiam, you are peerless in your covering of all things Survivor. Love your videos!!!
Crucial Michele detail: the removal of a jury member challenge was brutal for Aubrey
Got straight up Gabler’d unbelievable
Jenna being on here is a good thing. I have been having parents watch all of the old school seasons after only getting into it starting around season 30. Jenna is the first player they have been legitimately upset that won.
It was a really confusing win at the time. It took a hell of a lot of back and forth to make sense of that win, but we made peace with it.
For me, the thing with Ben was less the final four fire making (which does suck; most agree on that) and more that final hidden immunity idol. Everyone, including production, knew that Ben always slept on the raft instead of at camp, Then you hide that last idol under the raft? Come on. No one can look at that and not think it was done purposefully so that he'd be the one to find it. On top of that, I've always hated how our country fetishized the military. That's not to diminish Ben's service, but the fact that we can always lessen the blow and make someone seem more deserving simply by waving the flag and shouting "USA! USA! USA!" is sickening.
Not to mention playing the idol pre-vote in F6 was just a WTF moment as well. Basically every round post F7 was just what is even is happening in this game.
Additionally being able to idol then twist your way from f6 to f3 was hard to watch. Idol 3 was definitely suspicious, compounded by the fact he had two challenges to win immunity at f4, it felt very slanted that the majority alliance felt more like the underdogs than the lone player for the last several votes
Maybe the thought process was, "okay, we know Ben's going to find this idol anyway, maybe we should just make it easy on him this time? At least he's the only one who cares enough to look for them."
@@rokeYouuer He literally wasn't the only one. They all looked, the edit just focused more on Ben looking.
@@funkycrawler619 1. That was a joke, son. 2. While I'm sure everyone else was looking for idols, I think Ben put more hours in than most of them put together.
Chris Underwood's win was super frustrating for me. You get voted out on day 8, live out on the edge, come back at the end where most of the players are desperate for numbers because the game is dwindling down and they have most likely lost an ally or two. It felt like the perfect set up for him to win.
You can only win the game of survivor that is being handed to you it's not like he himself requested this gimmick
What I thought was funny is he gets voted out early because he is trying to make a big move. Then he comes back as this sage from edge of extinction.
Out of the honorable mentions I feel like Vecepia was actually the most deserving. As controversial as people may see it, she played a straight forward game of survivor. The fans want people to win based on a character arc, but I always look at gameplay. Vecepia essentially created the strategy of flipping to the side that benefits you. She never made long term deals with anyway. She made short term deals that would get her to the next round or even some jury votes.
You know for as much as I agree with the edge of extinction being a dumb twist, I also think it would be far less disliked if it was just used in WAW. In that season I can understand the edge basically served as a way to keep everyone relevant in the game, which was fine and made it cool to see that even players voted off early were able to be relevant in the game whether they made it back to the game or not! Maybe there were other ways they could have kept everyone more relevant like having everyone be part of the jury including those booted pre merge, but I get why they made the edge instead!
What was the twist with edge of extinction? I don’t know it so I couldn’t understand why he was a controversial winner.
@@zachorletzkiy the edge was basically like redemption Island from previous seasons, but there were three key differences:
1. All players made the jury even if they went out pre merge
2. Instead of players having to win duels to get back in the game there were two challenges for players to get back in the game, one at the merge, and one when there are 5 players left!
3. The edge got a lot of screen time so you had a good view of what was happening with the jury even though their involvement in the game was limited!
Chris wound up coming back into the game at the final 6, and was pretty much locked to make the final 4 because he wasn’t a target at the final 6 and he had an idol when he was the target at the final 5! Despite being the third player voted out and barely being in he wound up winning the game! Had he had to win duels to make it this far it would be one thing, but since he only had to win one challenge, many take issue with his win. I like Chris, but I agree the edge is a problematic twist at worst and a questionable twist at best 😅
Thanks for the explanation! :-D
I think that is one reason why Lil was so reviled in Pearl Islands b/c she was brought back in the Outcast twist. It would be pretty funny to have a player voted out of the game multiple times only to be saved from "absurd" twists and then win.
@@kimcapri9178 but what’s nuts about that is that while I can understand being annoyed that Lil coming back out of her group was due to a vote, the backlash toward her makes the least sense since I personally think the twist of bringing players back was arguably used better here than with redemption island. I didn’t watch Survivor until recently so I can’t comment on the reaction at the time, but I give credit to Lil that her presence in the final 2 felt pretty deserved. She had to win a challenge to have a shot at returning, her social connections gave her the votes she needed to then return, and there was still a lot of game left when she did return. Much like Chris and Natalie A, Lil came back through one challenge, but unlike those two she had to play a lot harder to have a chance at making FTC because of when she returned, and she didn’t have any advantages like an idol that would help her progress either. Much like Ozzy in South Pacific, her success in the game was due to a lot of effort on her part, and for that I think she should be commended.
Assuming all the footage still exists we should petition CBS to re-mix Survivor: Samoa to give us a more balanced/accurate portrayal of the season so we can decide for ourselves. I think CBS cut Samoa to hype Russell in advance of his appearance on HvV and I believe they took footage of Natalie doing work we never saw on the show as presented.
Confession time: I used to be a Russell fan as he made the game exciting and interesting to watch. I thought Natalie shouldn't have won. Then I got into watching Survivor fan content, such as this, and came to understand the game better. Now I have a better understanding of the game, Russell is not a good or great player IMO, and Natalie should not be a controversial winner. She understood that Russell was burning bridges, so she followed the goat to the slaughterhouse and sold him for a million dollars. I wish we could see a re-edit of this season to see more of what other players were doing.
Agree Natalie knew Russell wasn't going to win. She stayed with him letting him do all the nasty stuff. Natalie built a relationship with the other tribe and got them to vote each other out She got them to the end not Russell
I totally agree!
Would you watch Survivor if there was a cast with 20 Natalies? Because I certainly wouldn't.
@@andrewreaney Survivor: Wifey material, yeah I’d watch that!
@Andrew Reaney, nope, I certainly wouldn't. As I said, Russ was entertaining, but he's not a great player and he doesn't know how to win on the social level
what made Chris’ win even more controversial is the fact that he was 3rd out. If it was someone voted out closer to the end it could have been seen as just a second chance. Same went for if Natalie A won Winners at War. Everyone was ready to riot if she won because she was first out and basically got as many advantages as possible to get back in.
I liked Natalie as a winner! Russell has no idea how to talk to people like they are people. Natalie built personal relationships with the jury and that's why she deserved to win!
Most undeserving winner in Survivor history. Road Russell's coattails all the way to the end. She only won because the jury hated Russell.
@@jbond.007 This comment is so contradictory 😭 Who do you think deserved it then? Surely couldn't be Russell since getting the jury to respect you to give you the win is a key aspect to being the winner, which he failed miserably at, which you just admitted yourself, so... He doesn't deserve it.
@@bradleyjames800 It's funny how no one ever talk about how Mick also coattailed Russell. Like they can't see that Nat actually played a good social game, meanwhile Mick was there and got no vote cause he didn't really get to know the others.
@@jbond.007 And she was fully aware of that. Want some Prep H for your butthurt?
@@bradleyjames800 Right? I'll never understand why so many people believe Russel's loud and obnoxious gameplay was pinnacle. The guy's lack of self-awareness was staggering. He was one of the most interesting players to watch, but for all the wrong reasons.
My thing about Gabler is this. When you really look at the season and how it played out, did Cassidy or Owen genuinely deserve it over him? I don't really think so. The only one who did "deserve" it more was Jesse. But Gabler took Jesse out in fire making. I think Gabler winning is very well deserved
Honorable mention to Parvati too. Had James not cut his finger there would have been no last minute switch to a final 2 and Cirie would have won Micronesia.
I didn't know that. Is that the reason? but now with a final 3, they just have the 3rd place finisher casting the final vote. So they could have done that
@@cambed71 they had a final 2 because so many people quit or were pulled.
Do you think Gabler would have been as controversial if the season finale was a separate episode from final 4? I feel like a large part of Gabler being controversial was not fully being recovered from the Jesse vote out.
This was a truly outstanding look at controversial wins. You didn't just put up a list, you thought through every one of them and gave some solid backing evidence for each one. I love the effort that you put into your content.
Natalie White's win still has me gutted all of these years later. I know there's something to be said for keeping the jury happy, but their inability to appreciate Russell's game still amazes me. Bitter Jury Syndrome is a real thing, and I think Samoa really brought that to light.
I also appreciate that you don't blame Chris himself for the circumstances around his controversial win. He played the cards that were dealt to him, and played them well. Dropping into the fire making challenge to take out Devens was pretty epic!
"Bitter jury" only really began with that season.
The mechanics of the game he is fine with. It is the core that trips him up.
Ben should be number 1,they didn't show him finding Idols but he magically had them at the vote,it was clearly an orchestrated victory,the other tribe members watched him,followed him cause they were trying to get him out,but somehow he still was able to find Idols 🙄🙄🙄 and the stuff concerning him is besides the point IMO,it should not keep him from his rightful place at number 1. That being said it's your choice of course. 🙂
The one part that makes me know Natalie deserved the one was that confessional at the beginning of the season where she says something along the lines of: “Russell is trying to align with me because he thinks I’m a weak little girl who will do whatever he says, when actually he’s going to be my little girl. He’ll take all the criticism and I’ll make it to the end.”
Not everyone would have gotten that little nugget. Indeed, in the following season, it took Sandra a good long while to figure out what Natalie caught pretty much right away.
If Natalie had been on the Galu, the Foa Foa would have achieved their absolute consensus and Russell would have been out in place of Marisa. That's pretty much what happened to him in Redemption Island, when there wasn't any Natalie equivalent.
I think it’s also interesting to look at the discrepancies between how male winners are received vs female. Most of these controversial winners are women, and I think Sarah said it really well when she won; that women who use a lot of strategy are seen as sneaky and deceitful whereas men who do the same are smart and cunning and clever. The immense nuances survivor provides!
Honestly wild how aside from Tony, there hasn’t been someone on Sarah’s level of a winning game
I still remember watching the Samoa and HvV finales as a kid and my mom was upset that Russell lost and as they were reading the votes I said no one’s going to vote for him because he’s mean mommy
You could play on 20 season and get 20 different results. You'll always have different people to play with and different strategies to employ. There's a really good chance you win and get voted out first. Every game is different and every cast is different. I love Rob and Michele's talk on WaW, if you win then you won. And I agree, Rob is a good player who people say is overrated and had his season set up for him to win. I disagree, he still played a really good game and stomped a team that completely opposed him with an alliance he took to the end. Michele won immunity and played the game when she needed to. Ben played great despite yes it felt like that last idol at least was handed to him.
Russel was more deserving to win than Natalie. And Devans was way more deserving to win than Chris. But we're not there, the jury votes the way the jury votes. You have to get to the end, then be judged by the people you survived.
Being the most deserving is not a requirement for winning. It just isn't.
@@cxzact9204 Never said it was. If you win, then you won. That's the bottom line.
Don't hate the player, hate the game
“…but this isn’t Big Brother, it’s Survivor. We do things differently. You’re about to get a lesson at how to play the game.”
The only people who were shocked that Gabler won were Cassidy stans, who couldn’t fathom why she lost to him. They reminded me of the Russell stans of yesteryear.
I feel like the edit could have done Gabler a little better by showing his alliance a bit more. Gabler brought up that he had the Cody-Jesse-Gabler alliance but the edit only showed a few scenes of it.
This is a completely wrong take though. Russell stans did exist, Cassidy stans nowhere near as much. The shock at Gabler's win is pretty universal, it's even on the Wikipedia page and several neutral Survivor podcasts/ review sites.
Ironically your arguments reeks of a Gabler stan
@@rulerandstaplerif the edit showed that, there would be more Gabler fans for sure. I was a Jesse/Cody fan and when they got booted it was like... "wait who is there left to root for lol"
@honeychicken I was rooting for Cassidy but her FTC performance wasn't great, whereas Gabler was making everyone laugh
To all those Rick Devens fans who were mad at Chris' win: Rick also returned from the edge of extinction
he didn't return w 5 days left, that's why people have an issue w it lol
I think there is a very meaningful difference though. This being that Rick spent 7 days on the edge and 31 in the game and Chris spent 12 days in the game and 27 on the edge. The problem is less getting voted out and more getting to spend so much time able to bond with the jury and not having to worry about backstabbing each other.
@@aidanmillow566 yeah I think that the eoe would've been less controversial had the pre-merge boots been eliminated after the first challenge
I can't understand how Rick Devens has so many fans, the guy was truly insufferable and a camera-whore
Let’s not forget than Rick also kept getting advantages from the edge after his return
That last clip lmao you have the best outros on youtube
I expected Gabler to be on the list, but I think you’re right. He was a very surprising winner, but surprising is not the same as controversial.
I knew he wasn't on the list after he didn't make it in the previous list. He's definitely not in the top 5 controversial.
But I think the Cassidy/Gabler debate, along with everyone being convinced Jesse would win going into the finale and that very few people thought Gabler had any shot before the vote reveal, would absolutely make him a candidate for this list.
And gablers win was both, if u didn’t see Twitter around that time u might not know how controversial it was
You gotta feel bad for Natalie. If the editors didn’t go out of their way to make Russell Hantz the next greatest player to never win, Natalie’s victory might’ve been more warmly received.
Also, Chris Underwood *did* play 39 days of Survivor. He just did it in an unconventional way. The Edge of Extinction twist worked as intended.
@nathandaniels20 ur not talking about Chris r u
@nathandaniels20 ok u had me worried lol😂
Shocked you did not mention Yul. Had the Cook Islands been a final 2, Ozzy would most likely have won final immunity and taken Becky to the end over Yul. And then Ozzy would have won. I guess the general public just forgot how lucky Yul was that the season was a final three
I think it's cause Yul overtly ran the game strategically where a bit of luck thrown his way was just eh, about time he got lucky
This feels like an argument that Ozzie deserved to win and yet he and Yul were in the finale together and he lost ... so.
Once Yul got the super idol he just ran anway with the game. He had all the power and everyone knew it. The other players only real option would have been to flush it and hope they werent the ones targeted with the leftover votes.
I think Boston Rob's win was most controversial. The casting/production basically gave him a win with critical casting choices who would easily "form" an alliance with him. If you read the bios from that season (Rob vs. Russell), you will see how biased the cast was in favor of Boston Rob.
See I would agree with that except even with all the rightful flack that season gets, I think Rob’s win was ultimately due to him playing the best game in his 5 attempts, and I think comparing him to Russell incapsulates just why his game was so strong even with him having the benefit of players wanting to work with him! Russell was an egomaniac and it came back to bite him, especially when he already had a big target on him for the first time. Rob focused on charming his team and forming real social connections with them, while also making an example of those who faltered to make sure his alliance would never turn on him, on top of making sure everyone felt safe as long as possible! Yes the cast being so loyal to him before the game helped, especially given how much Natalie and Philip blew up their own games at the FTC, but Rob still played a strong game and that’s why he is such an icon even after needing 4 tries to finally get that win!
I really believe the producers were determined to get a big strategic player with a good story like Ben to win his season, and he fit the bill perfectly. I think the producers decided they liked Ben and started to see that he would soon get voted out, so they started scrambling and throwing idols and “advantages” that are really curses just to make it more likely that Ben would get to the end and win. And it worked. His path to the FTC was unprecedented in that he should have been voted out but there was a bar stopping him from being directly voted out at the final four. His path up until that point was sketchy but legitimate, but I think that final “advantage” was just a way for the producers to make sure Ben still had a decent shot at making it to the end and winning.
If they had given Natalie a decent edit, then they could've had a great story underdog story with her and Russell, leading to her win over him in the end because she could do the one thing he couldn't: Manage a jury.
As someone who fell out of watching fairly early (like 10ish seasons) I was surprised Brian wasn't even an honorable mention - personally I had much more issue with him than Jenna, for example. Having said that, I don't know most of the later ones, so I can only really compare him to a handful of these. I'd still have had him on here though, over the ones I do know.
Ben: I'm about to get voted out.
Production: Have an idol.
Ben: I'm about to get voted out AGAIN!
Production: Have another idol.
Ben: I lost the challenge and can't use an idol now. I'm going home for good.
Production: Hey Chrissy, sorry we didn't tell you all this from the start, but final 4 is now a fire challenge. The person you all want to send home now has the chance to stay by making fire.
Chrissy: Ben is the best fire maker. How is this an advantage?
Production: :)
Ben: I'm about to get voted out.
Ben: Found an idol.
Ben: I'm about to get voted out AGAIN!
Ben: Found another idol.
Jeff: (Snuffs Dr. Mike's torch) Just a heads up, there's a twist.
Production: It's a twist that impacts the final 4, and we can't tell anyone at the beginning of the game because then it wouldn't be a twist anymore.
Jeff: Chrissy, you receive the final advantage of the game in the form of knowledge. This will give you early notice about this upcoming twist so you can prepare for it. You can share it with however you wish, but ultimately, this is for you eyes only.
hope you like these little edits i made to make it more accurate. it's certainly more accurate then that nonsense you typed ;)
I agree with your #1 and If it wasn’t for the twist, I’m pretty sure Victoria would have won Edge of Extinction
Rick Devens would have had a clean sweep if not for the edge of extinction existing
@@rianmoran1649 the irony
@@rianmoran1649 Not sure about that, he already had a huge target on his back, she just got it because Chris told everyone that she was a jury threat so realistically I think there were much higher chances for her to get to the final tribal council
@@Garbino99 I think Devens would either be voted out at final 5, or someone else would do the exact same as Chris and eliminate him at fire. If he uses his idol at 5, Gavin is out and then one of the girls takes Devens on fire. Otherwise, he's out at five and it doesn't matter. Vic and Lauren would get votes.
Except that Rick also came back from EoE, so he also was a benefactor of the twist
(Though yeah, he was basically the only redeeming character in the season)
I love Michelle bring her back for every season
Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room here?
Here's the list of "most controversial winners":
1. *_Chris Underwood_* / _Edge of Extinction_ / Season 38
2. *Natalie White* / _Samoa_ / Season 19
3. *Jenna Morasca* / _Amazon_ / Season 6
4. *_Ben Driebergen_* / _Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers_ / Season 35
5. *Michelle Fitzgerald* / _Koâh Rong_ / Season 32
6. *_Richard Hatch_* / _Borneo_ / Season 1 and *Tina Wesson* / _The Australian Outback_ / Season 2
7. *Amber Brkich* / _All Stars_ / Season 8
8. *Sandra Diaz-Twine* / _Heroes vs. Villains_ / Season 20
9. *Sophie Clarke* / _South Pacific_ / Season 23
10. *Erika Casupanan* / Season 41
Honorable Mentions:
*Vecepia Towery* / _Marquesas_ / Season 4
*_Bob Crowley_* / _Gabon_ / Season 17
*_Jud "Fabio" Birza_* / _Nicaragua_ / Season 21
*_Mike Gabler_* / Season 43
Here’s the breakdown of the top ten (eleven) “controversial” winners:
Eight women, most of whom are controversial because they played too subtle or because some more dominant player "deserved" it more.
Three men, one of whom is gay. The two cisgender, heterosexual male winners are controversial not for their gameplay, but because of “twists”.
*GEE, WHAT COULD BE A MAJOR FACTOR HERE?* 🤨
Yeah I definitely got that vibe. I can't say I'm surprised but it is funny to see it laid so bare.
The M stands for Misogyny
Galber not being top 10 is so...oi
I think this ties in with the longstanding issues Survivor has when it comes to editing women in particular. There's a document floating around where someone compiled the confessional amounts of all winners and found that most of the female winners have a below-average amount of confessionals while most of the men have above average. Natalie literally only got *fifteen* confessionals to Russell's 105. No wonder people didn't think she was deserving, the show never let us see her play! The editing underplays the more subtle game of female winners vs their louder male challengers and then the fanbase starts complaining the female winners 'didn't deserve it' because the show spent so long fawning over the guys (and then you can also tie this in to how women often *have* to play a more subtle game because what's seen as dominant behavior in a male player is often considered bitchy or overbearing when a woman tries it, so you have a situation where it's harder for women to play the same game style as men while the show itself also downplays the type of game they often have to play to be successful).
This is so true
Regardless of the twist, Chris did everything he could to win Sole Survivor. Convincing Lauren to play her idol for him, taking on Devens in the fire-making challenge, and developing bonds on Extinction. Thus, I will shift the blame from him to the twist which was and still is bad. In WAW, if Natalie takes on Tony in the fire-making challenge and beats him, she could very well be a 2 time Sole Survivor. And she was voted off FIRST. Extinction is just everything opposite of what Survivor is about. Yes, there is a survival aspect, but there is no pressure and intensity. It's not like the short Extinction segments in each episode are interesting anyway. BOO EXTINCTION! GREAT CONTENT PERIDIAM!
If you won you deserved to win that’s my take when it comes to these kind of shows even when I would prefer another winner which is often the case.
Gabler was another Michelle situation IMO, cause like her, he did NOTHING to really warrant the win other than make it to the end
BRob coming in with the quote some people really need to hear at the 5:00 mark. Love it.
Hi peridiam just wanna say I’m a HUGE fan of yours and I enjoy your videos. So yeah 😅hi
I actually thought Michelle deserved her win tbh
I loved Chrissy. I think Ben was more loved IN AMERICA because you guys have this big culture about patriotism, veterans, pro-military etc. From what I've seen, he wasn't as big a deal outside of the USA.
That's probably why Gabler also sat better in the USA. Y'all are obsessed with your military
@@geckohecko not everyone here.
You should do videos on the best pre/post merges and the worst
Agree with the TOP 2. I'd have put Gabler on the list tho.
We all know who really won EoE.. Devans definitely had a lot more people tuning into his news casts after that performance 😂
Its not the fact that Chris won. He made a baddass choice to make fire... BUT its more the fact that Devens LOST that way. Devens was running circles around all of them, very superior player just like Rob C.
Was surprise Adam wasn’t in this video
Why?
idc what anyone says, i love rob c. with all my heart but jenna deserved her win!! her and dana were in charge of the women’s alliance and as soon as she pissed jenna off, she got booted. not to mention she won the manority of the immunity that entire season…jenna m. was one of the stronger old school winners and i will ALWAYS ride for her
I think this is just about the ONLY reality competition show where the winner is, by definition, uncontroversial. The only rules are, make it to the end and get enough of your tribe to vote for you for a million bucks. That strategy is different literally every time, and sometimes even the winners might not KNOW they're doing exactly what needs to be done to win it, but they are. If you win, you win.
Bro Gabler is only an honorable mention??? What the fuck
I definitely agree with Chris being at number one. Honestly, I’m on the side of Edge of Extinction being the worst gimmick ever created. I think that seasons 30-40 especially were such a weird time for survivor, where the show was struggling with the identity crisis it was facing as it threw gimmick after gimmick at the wall and so little was sticking. Edge of Extinction was simply Redemption island, but worse. I think Redemption Island could at least have been reworked to be better, but there was never any hope for the EoE gimmick. Season 41 and onward being a soft reboot was nice, even if I still don’t care for all the twists they’ve added, though they are better than many of the seasons before them
Jerri Should Come Back n Play Again n Actually FINALLY WIN
Part of the game is jury management. The right person always wins because if the jury is bitter then there’s a lack of jury management. Jeff always says at the final, x amount of people who you had a hand in voting out
I can’t believe Gabler didn’t make this list
Natalie's win was the biggest mistake of Survivor history.
Honestly for me it’s not even the fact Chris was voted out. I don’t care about that really. But it’s the fact that Gavin just straight up deserved the win. He simply played the better game
Imma be honest, Gavin did absolutely nothing except not have anyone write his name down.
@@olivermensinger6022 so being in the majority, having everyone trust you and keep you around, blindsiding Ron with three votes from 2 people, being in control of his alliance, and just generally not being perceived as a big threat is “nothing” now? Big moves era you will always be trash
@@Srcruser I’m not saying making big moves means you’re a good player. Look at Devens, he was big, flashy, and all over the place, but he was actually a really bad player.
I didnt mind Chris' victory. The Edge wasnt just a twist, it was the whole theme. No different from Terry having an idol from Exile Island.
Trust me there’s nothing controversial about Fabios win like his win regardless of the votes he got - which were totally legal btw regardless of what u think- was much well received that the other people on the list he was so beloved so ppl didn’t care how did he win it
Its very possible that if 41 and 43 were swapped, Gabler would be seen as more controversial than Erika. Combination of recency bias and setting the precedent.
i will always be a chris underwood defender bc it’s not his fault the edge exists. that being said, i’m not a huge fan of the edge myself, but i’ve never had a burning hatred for it like other fans that i’ve seen. i just think it was a twist that didn’t make for a particularly good game.
I kind of like, or at least get, the idea behind the edge. In theory. It's like Survivor in hardcore mode, all 1v1s, no social politics, just actual wilderness survival (and occasional minigames). Probably closer to what the original concept was. I think its the kind of twist that could have been more accepted if it was introduced 30 seasons earlier, but the game has changed so much since the beginning that it's just not what a lot of the fans are looking for. The social politics IS the game as far as most are concerned, and the actual survival part is mostly set-dressing to increase stress levels.
It’s not his fault.
I have wondered whether the show should include conversations from Ponderosa on the show. Maybe during the Reunion show? Could be interesting.
Aubrey SHOULD HAVE WON HER SEASON
Natalie’s win was okay to me, other than the hypocrisy from some of the jurors (mainly Eric), because she at least had some gameplay. She’s definitely preferable to Chris U, who wasn’t even in the game for more than half the time. At least Natalie didn’t get voted out, and she never got any unfair advantage.
I still will never understand the people that say Rick Devins should of beaten Chris because of the edge twist. Do they not realize that Devins benefitted from the same twist a few episodes prior. Gavin or Julie winning would’ve been even more controversial. I liked the edge of extinction season and am satisfied with the winner. I guess I’m part of the 10%. All the people who were in the game the whole time didn’t make a big enough impact and that’s why Chris won. He played a better game in a 1/3 of the time.
Ding dong your opinion's wrong
@@entertainer_ev2747 way to show what little maturity you have
What happened with Ben happened in Hell's Kitchen, now I'm going off he'd be eliminated final 4. In season 17 All-stars (One of the most hated seasons in HK, you see the cast of the red team, you'll see why, especially after doing research into a specific one), final 4's been done, we're down to the final 3, Michelle from Season 14, Nick from Season 14 and Ben, from Season 7, backstory on all 3, Michelle finished 3rd in a great cast, Nick finished 5th, and Ben finished 3rd in a season which had a terrible red team (In Dinner services which tend to define who goes home), the red team beat the blue team 0 times, 2 joint wins though. So, the 1st finalist has been announced, and it's Ben, so it's down to either Nick or Michelle to be in the final 2, and it's revealed to be Nick. But then comes the twist, despite having a terrible time on the line, Gordon decides that it should be a final 3, so they all have to cook and it'd be judged, blah blah blah, Ben and Michelle goes through, and Michelle wins, now it might be a coincidence there, but I'm calling bull, the winner was going to finish 3rd? Nah mate, that season was made for Michelle to win because 3 seasons ago (Which probably isn't even 3 years prior), Michelle was "too young to win", we've had 2 23 year old win it, and she was 24 at the time
with gabler, i feel like his win is less controversial and more confusing/surprising for viewers. like i understand why the jurors voted for him (i don’t necessarily agree) but i had no clue it was coming and hadn’t really picked up his winner potential in the edit
Natalie deserved to win. Russell would never have got to the final without her. She didn't need him to get to final tribal. Her social game was Awesome. She got the majority tribe to vote themselves out. Russell was nasty unliked and She knew that just why She stayed with him. She should be in top 10 winners. Social game always wins
Can I just predict your next video, part 3 of this will include yam yam winning over Carolyn
Jeff didn't seem happy reading Jenna's name
I never underestimated Natalie and Jenna. With Natalie, she did a lot to flip the merge vote and therefore has strategic ability. She just let Russell be the villain. She wasn’t dragged. And with Jenna, I remembered that very early on, Jenna was included in a lot of final deals. Say what you want about why, but the fact that she almost always had a path to at least the final 4 showed me she wasn’t just the whiny baby everyone thought she was.
But I know from having made these points for years, very many Pepe disagree with me, and therefore their placements here make sense.
As the viewer we are at the mercy of the edit. They tell the story they want to tell to fill a type b/c they just want good tv. We end up filling in our own blanks, arguing over shadow puppets when we dont know what is on the cutting room floor. That is the magic in itself b/c Survivor is still being talked about.
And with Jenna the fact that she got screwed by Rob flipping on her, Alex and Heidi, she was not targeted by Rob initially and then between her and Heidi, they chose Heidi and by that stage, all she had to do was win two challenges which she did to make F2 so it's not like Rob and co didn't have the chance to take her out, he/they just saw her as less of a challenge threat but she proved them wrong so she was a worthy winner in my eyes
I agree with your list. I began watching around Survivor 15 and stopped watching live after HvV. I've watched Winners at War and all the new seasons live. I've watched all other seasons after airing now. Looking back..Chris Underwood with EoE and Ben's season with new F4 twist are my real legitimate concerns but I've come to understand. It's not Ben's fault that twist was introduced in his season so it is what it is but I understand the concern of how it felt but any season it was done in for the first time with a player on the outs that ended up making fire and winning the game would've felt that way. Chris played within the rules of the game even though it felt wrong to me. He played his side of the game with the jury, ect. Those wins were more of the production's choices for the season. Russell in Samoa seemed like a real player while Natalie's edit should have been better. Russell was rude but he played great. I understand why he lost with the jury but the editors did not do Nat any "justice" for reason to really win Vs why Russell lost.
Feels good to be early
On a scale of 0-10, with 0 being not controversial, and 10 being absurdly controversial, 30 seasons fall in the 0-0.5 range, 11 seasons are in the 0.5-1.0 range. S19 Samoa is at solid 5, and S38 EoE is at 14,003,472,317
Feel like Boston Rob could have been an honorable mention - not because he didn't play a dominant game, but because of the prevailing opinion the season was set up specifically *for* him (or Russell) to win.
Survivor Amazon was one of the first seasons I ever watched and i was actually really happy to see Jenna win. She’s actually one of my favourite winners of all time ❤
I will never understand how chrissy didn’t win bruh
I hated Ben's win but at least he found and played game pieces for himself rather than being dragged to the end like Michelle