Day 19: Most Underrated Season
Survivor 39-Day Challenge
In 20 years of Survivor, there are a lot of underrated seasons. There are many to choose from really. For me, one of the two most criminally underrated seasons is Survivor: Fiji (2007).
I think the reason Fiji’s an underrated season for most people is the fact that it has a quiet demeanor. It didn’t have the explosion when the racial wars of Cook Islands (2006) was announced, although the casting was pretty much similar. It didn’t help as well that a castaway withdrew the night before the game started, which most probably threw the production in a disarray and was forced to scramble and think of ways to make the odd number of castaways work for the marooning.
Couple that with the fact that the initial twist of Haves vs. Have-Nots was a bust. Of course, the Haves tribe would dominate because the Have-Nots tribe was not eating anything. It’s so obvious so the storyline was flat. The twist pretty much dominated the narrative of the pre-merge and, calling a spade a spade, it was boring.
The casting in general was not that bad. I mean, there were definitely breakout stars in Earl and Yau-Man, fan favorites in Michelle, Alex, and Edgardo, colorful characters like Dreamz, Boo, Stacey, and Cassandra, and the villains in Rocky and Lisi, albeit almost pathetic. That’s pretty much everyone who made the merge, because Fiji’s strong selling point was its merge dynamics.
Two of the most memorable Fiji moments happened in the merge.
Edgardo’s blindside is one of the most devastating and satisfying of the entire series. Yet, it’s also the most underrated, in terms of unpredictability and strategy.
We saw Cao Boi suggest the Plan Voodoo first from the previous season. Plan Voodoo is splitting the vote of the majority alliance between members (most often two) of the opposing alliance to flush out an immunity idol. The idea of such game-changing strategy is to deflect the power of the idol (which primarily is to help a castaway who’s at the bottom and takeout one of those in the majority) while the bigger alliance gets away unscathed. The problem, however, was that the idol Cao Boi was dealing with on Cook Islands was much more powerful — the idol could be used after the votes were cast and read. It was only in Fiji when the idol was recalibrated to its current state.
In Fiji (and in the succeeding seasons for that matter), a hidden immunity idol could be played after the votes were cast but before the votes are read. It shifted the strategy of an idol user from just waiting for his or her name to come up at tribal council to reading the room as accurately as possible and predict if his or her name would actually be on the ballot.
Stacey banked on such play. While everyone on her alliance was thinking of splitting the vote between two people, Alex and Mookie who had been giving the idol back and forth between themselves, Stacey suggested to switch the vote instead and target the third person from that alliance, Edgardo. No one from the opposing alliance would expect such. And, although I think this is already just a bonus, if there’s ever a mole (which there almost was in Dreamz), it would not be a problem for them at all. Admit it or not, Stacey is a game-changer. And the fact that no one would ever recognize her as such solidifies the fact that Fiji is an underrated season.
The plan worked perfectly. Alex played the idol, Dreamz thought Mookie was going home, everyone on the majority voted for Edgardo. This strategic move sets precedent for future idol maneuvers, especially on how to split the votes.
For the fans out there like myself, who would ever forget about the infamous Car Deal™? It was between Yau-Man and Dreamz in the Final 6 reward challenge. Yau-Man won the 2008 Ford Super Duty truck at the time but used it to strike a deal with Dreamz. The deal was should Dreams win the Final 4 immunity challenge, he had to give up immunity to Yau-Man, leaving him vulnerable and Yau guaranteed of a Final 3 seat. The latter, being in the position he’s in in real life, took the deal.
It was pretty much controversial at the time. Dreamz was a wild card all season long. He’d say he’d do something and then would do the exact opposite. It was interesting, however, because Jeff pretty much clarified things right there and then that Yau-Man couldn’t enforce the deal, it’s only Dreamz’s words, and nothing’s truly a guarantee. Yau-Man recognized that Dreamz indeed could reneg if he wanted to, but it’s so much more than that from a game’s perspective. Yau was aware of that; Dreamz wasn’t.
Of course, the Survivor gods let it happen: Yau-Man and Dreamz were in the Final 4 where the latter won the final immunity challenge. It was all in Dreamz’s hands but unsurprisingly yet tearfully reneged on the deal, which ultimately got Yau-Man voted out. The Car Curse™ lived on as Yau-Man and Dreamz lost the season to Earl, who almost played a perfect game. Car reward challenges was discontinued after this season. Is it because of this deal, how the car can be used as a strategic asset within the confines of the game? We’ll never know.
To think, Earl was one of the 19 recruits for this season, who almost was not on the season (got the call two days prior to flying to Fiji), but he played almost an immaculate game from the start to finish. For someone who had no prior knowledge about the game, it’s impressive. Survivor aficionados recognize this much by ranking Earl high on their quality of winners lists.
High caliber winner, superb strategists, amazing characters, memorable moments — these are the reasons it’s baffling that Fiji gets low satisfaction ratings from the most casual viewers to even the super duper fans. Earl, Cassandra, and Dreamz — all African American castaways — comprised the season’s Final 3. Has Fiji being underrated something to do with systemic racism, too? Oh dear goodness, I hope not.
And the fact the no one outside of Yau-Man has ever returned for another season is a travesty. Give us Michelle and Boo, now.
Runner-up: Survivor: Guatemala – The Maya Empire (2005)
