Saturday, April 22, 2017

Most Improved Survivor Players

With Survivor Game Changers currently airing, I've been thinking about previous Survivor players that improved their game play on their 2nd time around. I am only limiting it to a player's 2nd season and the emphasis is on game play and not position. Therefore a player can do better than their first season, however their game play may not have been better, at least from a viewer's perspective.

  • Boston Rob-Survivor All- Stars. If you re-watch Survivor Marquesas Rob tries to rally his troops to vote along with him, much like he did in All-Stars. The key difference between the two seasons is not only the effectiveness, but the ruthlessness that he showed. Players were willing to go to end with him and Amber, with nothing really being shown of people trying to take either one out. This is a credit to his strategy and game play of convincing people to do what he wanted, see Jerri's vote out, and keep himself out of the cross-hairs. I firmly believe that All-Stars made Rob's Survivor and reality show career. Without this season, Rob and Amber potentially don't fall in love and I don't think Rob comes back for future seasons of Survivor. Rob should count his blessings that All-Stars was filmed when it was, or there is a good chance he is not on the cast list.
  • Amber- Survivor All-Stars. Amber is in a similar situation as Boston Rob. She appeared to play a similar game as her first season, however her partner, Boston Rob, was much better at navigating the other players. Jerri was Amber's partner in Australian Outback and the other players didn't seem to like her. These players also had power and were willing to vote her out at the right time. While some people might not have like Rob, players never had enough power to vote Rob out. Some tried to get rid of Amber, however that was not successful. 
  • Parvati-Micronesia. Parvati, herself says that her only role in Cook Islands was being a flirt. In Micronesia, she pulled together a women's alliance and got credit for getting Ozzy out. It is debatable who actually put together the move, her or Cirie, but she got the credit. Parvati had a similar game surface level, however she turned her devious nature up and worked every angle she could. She might have tried this in Cook Islands, however as viewers, we were not able to see it. Parvati's story is similar to Boston Rob's without a returning season close to her original, I don't know if she is brought back. 
  • Stephenie-Guatemala. Stephenie's whole play in Palau was being physical. Guatemala allowed her to show off her strategic skills. She did receive a villainous edit in Guatemala, however that was just a foil to her over the top heroic edit in Palau. Being strong in challenges is a strategy one that relies a lot on some luck in order to work. While Stephenie was still strong in challenges in Guatemala, her main focus was on strategy and using to her alliance to move forward. 
  • Kelley Wentworth-Second Chances. Kelley wasn't shown too much on San Juan Del Sur, therefore getting a chance to return would only help her game reputation. Kelley played from the bottom of the tribe a lot during her returning season, however she was always playing. Kelley kept trying to make things work and trying to get things going. She had strategy and some physical game play, which helped her be considered as a winner contender in the finale. 
  • Andrea- Caramoan. Andrea had the unfortunate luck to play with Boston Rob and his cult tribe the first time around. Being apart of the cult tribe, she saw that they all listened to Rob and didn't want to get rid of him. These blinders ensured that Rob would win Redemption Island. In Caramoan, Andrea didn't try to play Rob's game and instead tried to play her own game. While it ultimately wasn't successful, she did show that she was willing to play and wanted to make moves. She wanted to be aggressive her second time, she just couldn't she where the aggression was going to get her.  
  • Jeremy- Send Chances. Jeremy was shown a lot in San Juan Del Sur and he corrected the mistakes that he made in that game. He name his strategy of using meat shields. I won't say that he started it, since I know it's been used before. He did however use the strategy on a larger scale, using both physical and mental meat shields. Jeremy used this chance to change his game and not just make small adjustments based on his previous experience. 
  • Sierra-Worlds Apart. Sierra was a cast member on Game Changers that made me scratch my head. While I am still not convinced that she was the best choice for the theme, she is playing. She is considered to be in a power position and appears to be running the show a little. While I am not completely convinced that she will win, I think she will make a strong showing. Keep in mind, that her strong showing is in comparison to a very poor showing in Worlds Apart. 
There are so many other people that I want to put on this list, but I feel like these players truly changed their games. What do you think?