Survivor Season 37 - 2018

I haven’t heard much from the seasons that led up to the Great Reset, so I guess I was assuming they were all kind of meh. Imagine my surprise, then, to discover maybe my favorite season of all time in the upper thirties. I tend to appreciate Tribal Gimmicks, as giving me a collective character helps me make sense of the intra-tribal dynamics, and “David vs Goliath” is a very strong set of archetypes to play with.

You root for David, of course, and we have some very rootable players on the loser side. Gabby is shrewd and big-hearted, Nick is a simple country lawyer with a heart of steel, Davie distracts castmates by doing a weird sword dance. But the casting revelation here is Christian, a præternatural puzzle expert who also has a keen eye for human dynamics. Christian’s unabashed nerdery is delightful when contrasted to Cochran’s insecure self-effacing schtick during his first season. This is a guy who knows who he is and what he wants. Possessing the appearance, vocal timbre, and physical demeanor of Last Jedi-era Mark Hamill, Christian tore up every tribal, beat down school bully Alec in an epic endurance challenge partially by talking nonstop for several hours, and correctly sniffed a blindside to play his idol perfectly. Christian flew a bit too close to the sun to make it to the end, but he’s one of my favorite to ever do it.

The Goliath tribe, aka the kids from Camp Goldmountain across the lake, are all killers. Angelina has incredible “went to Yale” energy, John is a literal pro wrestler, Dan’s day job is “SWAT Team”. But Survivor found one of its best villains in Natalie, a publishing CEO that acts like one would expect a small-time business tyrant to act if you stranded one on a desert island. Natalie has not talked to someone else without implicit hierarchies playing a role in some time, and clearly has forgotten what egalitarian conversation even sounds like. Natalie was so unpleasant her tribemates incurred a numbers disadvantage just to avoid dealing with her anymore. This move was masterminded by Mike “Ned Schneebly” White, who went on to White Lotus all over the place and who wisely played up an aw shucks persona while executing a fantastic social game from the shadows.

There are some great idol/advantage plays in this season, made possible through sheer cunning on the David side and sheer predictability on the Goliath side. The latter season got interesting as tribal lines gave way to an all-out shankfest at the finish line. In the end, the last remaining David claimed the prize, but we all made a lot of friends along the way. More like this, please.