Survivor Season 25 - 2012

Another season with a sprinkling of returning players, which is a very good way to get some in-depth character studies on top of the base game. Results are mixed this time around.

Featuring contestants that were previously medevac’d, we have the less-common three tribe setup, and this leads to one of my favorite mechanical outcomes: one tribe loses every challenge and is completely destroyed before merge. This has only happened once before, and this time the tribe is ostensibly led by Russell (not that Russell, though they did debut on the same season). He was pulled from the game previously for appearing to drop dead during a challenge, and his reputation before then was that of an affable and motivating leader. Would that he would have left that reputation intact. Here, he is a desperate and insecure control freak, and is dropped by his tribe after realizing that despite being built like a brick shithouse, he wasn’t actually that great in challenges.

The final two people from the “decimated” tribe, a sex worker named Denise and a strong guy named Malcolm are split between the remaining tribes. Denise ends up on Jonathan Penner’s tribe, and (through no fault of her own that I can tell) the constant immunity losses follow her. Penner is putting on a better show here than he did as the Rat Boy of Cook Islands. You can tell that he’s so charming that Jeff and the producers are all his friends, and he scrapes his way far longer in the game than he should have been able to. Alas, everyone on the island is aware of his persuasiveness, so he is snipped before he can reach the Final Tribal.

After the tribes merge, Michael Skupin’s tribe is dominant, but they are still untouched after 3 weeks and thus have not been able to use Tribal to cull unhelpful members. Skupin was maybe the most dramatic medevac in series history, having fallen into a fire in season 2 and severely burning his arms. Here he is charming, grateful for the second chance, and blasé about strategy. He would have been rootable had I not looked him up on wikipedia and learned of his horrible crimes.

Abi, a Brazilian “business student,” is the villain of the season, and she sticks around long enough to really get in everyone’s craw. She would have been one-note fare (extremely judgmental and hotheaded, inexplicably hostile to everyone) were it not for a brutal tribal when everyone aired their grievances and she broke down, apparently unaware that everyone thought she was so mean. Mayhaps some future personal growth?

Anyway, Skupin and former Facts of Life star Lisa make it to the end with Denise, who holds the distinction so far as the only contestant to ever attend every single Tribal Council in a season, and she wins.

This was not the most riveting season ever, but I appreciated the mechanical novelty, the nuanced and emotional social game, and the grace that everyone (not you, Abi) showed each other as they played a competitive game. Good vibes suit this show.