Day 1: Favorite Survivor
Survivor 39-Day Challenge
My most favorite Survivor is Ian Rosenberger from Survivor: Palau.
Ian is one of the most memorable castaways from Survivor’s tenth season, at least for me. He reminded me so much of Daddy Long Legs from the cartoon series Judy Abbott.
He’s also charming in a way that wasn’t too intimidating or too off-putting; just the right amount to cruise in the game and show us his ability to make strong connections and strategic maneuvers in a classic Survivor season.
Moreover, what drawn me to Ian as a Survivor castaway was his physical abilities in challenges. Despite being somewhat lanky, he still got great challenge skills — water, puzzles, obstacle course, endurance. He’s part of one of the most dominant tribes in Survivor history, being able to win every single tribal immunity challenge in Palau. He’s also part of the 11-hour endurance challenge, the final immunity challenge of the season, which he gracefully gave up for Tom.
Speaking of which, by the tail-end of the season, Ian had some kind of a downward spiral in terms of his social assets. When there was nowhere to hide, it’s bound to happen. And unfortunately, Ian was dealt the shorter end of the stick. I always describe what happened to Ian as the ‘Eric Reichenbach maneuver even before Erik Reichenbach’. It’s a similar narrative of a young man wanting to make amends with the people he’s surrounded with — the people who were telling him he’s done something wrong. A mistake from him which was ground up from nothing to something, through manipulation of perception. This is Survivor, after all. And because of such “wrong deed”, he needed to do something to make up for it. Erik and Ian, on separate occasions, did, but it went the opposite ways for them.
After all the emotional manipulations from Katie and mental games from Tom, Ian decidedly had to step down a half-day long endurance challenge and was promptly voted out. “To save our friendship,” he told Tom (which I believe he did? Are they still friends today?). Anyway, the way I read it, the emotional and mental exhaustion really took its toll on Ian.
I am telling you, Tom, while I love him as well, was more vicious than anyone has given him credit for. Katie, on the other hand, was equally as cunning as the Black Widow Brigade; maybe even more cunning, as she singlehandedly did manipulate Ian. Amazing.
Ian’s got physical strength for challenges, and good strategic and social acumen in his season. In short, he’s a triple threat to win the whole thing. No wonder he’s made it 38 out of the 39 days in the game.
It may be a stretch but dare I say Ian most probably wins that season if he’s in the finals, especially against Katie. I love Tom, don’t get me wrong, but I was really rooting for Ian that year.
Too bad, he has not returned for another season. I would really love to watch him play again. But according to him, unless it’s the ultimate final season and the stakes are up to $5M, he’s good. And I respect that.
Runner-up: Brian Heidik, Winner, Survivor: Thailand
