Top 100 Survivors of the Decade: The Honorable Mentions
Here’s to 10 more years of Survivor
Starting this week, there are 10 weeks left to the year 2019. That means there are 10 weeks left in the 2010s. It’s a decade that has seen us go through dramatic changes in almost every facet of our lives. Through it all, one show has remained constantly by our side: Survivor.
The 2010s saw Survivor in its second decade of life. It began with a little old season known as Heroes vs Villains and will conclude with this year’s Island of the Idols. Much like life, Survivor can come full circle. The decade started with Boston Rob and Sandra coming back to the show and so too will it end.
Over the course of these last 10 years, Survivor has changed. Immunity idols begat new advantages which begat even bigger changes in the game’s construct. We’ve seen voting blocs and trust clusters. The winner’s edit has shifted towards a more complicated, nuanced edit that does not absolve a season’s winner from taking some negative hits.
Seasons have varied in quality. The beginning of the decade saw us going through the Survivor Dark Ages. It seemed like the show might be reaching its natural conclusion. During the middle part of the 20s, Survivor suddenly bounced back. That carried through the 30s at which point, the seasons started varying greatly in quality.
Through it all, one thing has remained the same: Survivor’s main appeal, its cast. No season of Survivor, no matter how great the theme or twist, could ever be successful without the castaways. They are the heart and soul of the show. For that, they deserve some recognition.
And so, I am launching into an initiative to lead us into this new Survivor decade: A Tribe of One’s 100 Survivors of the 2010s. I will be giving you my list for the top 100 Survivor players from the last ten years.
Before I begin, here is my criteria:
The most important thing to note is that this is all subjective and done by myself. No doubt many readers will see people miss the top 100 and will feel like I have slighted a character. These are simply my opinions on who the top 100 are, it’s my personal list that I’ve been curating for well over 4 months, and I completely understand that you can disagree. I look forward to healthy disagreement as I reveal this list.
A player’s entire history is considered in their rankings. For example, I won’t be looking solely at Malcolm Freberg’s Philippines appearance, his Caramoan and Game Changers games are part of the whole product.
This list will only include Survivors who debuted between 2010 and 2019. That means players who have played prior to that won’t be included even if they participated in a season that fits out parameters (IE: the entire cast of HvV).
Sadly, as it is still playing out, I can’t fairly incorporate out Island of the Idols cast into my rankings. That means I will have to leave them out entirely. With that said, there’s no doubt that Noura would have cracked the top 20 (probably the top 10) if she sustains this run she has been on. Likewise, players like Missy, Jason, Elaine and even Dean would also have had a shot at making the top 100. I sadly don’t have the time to put this thing together if it means having to wait for this season to end.
I am ranking these Survivors as characters. Not as strategists or game players. I am solely trying to determine who I believe were the most entertaining characters of the last decade.
With that established, we can get to the list. Well, actually that’s a lie. We will get to the list later on this week. To whet your appetite, let me give you the first 10 out, as a way to see the impressive stable of players we’ve had in the last decade. Check back later this week on a Tribe of One for the official start of top 100.
The Honorable Mentions
Jeff Kent, Survivor: Philippines: A refreshing character in the professional athlete archetype. His competitive side was visible from the minute Penner joined his tribe. Jeff wanted to win above all else and was not going to let returning players dash his chances. Known in the baseball world as kind of an asshole, Jeff certainly didn’t make his critics change their mind, but he was an asshole of the lovable persuasion. His final words remain the stuff of legends many years down the road.
Kellyn Bechtold, Survivor Ghost Island: She got a bad rap for being the face of “Naviti strong”. Kellyn was also kind of screwed in the editing process because of how the game played out. Domenick and Wendell end up coming out on top so production sort of sees it like we have to be in their corner. As such, Kellyn is made to be the “bad guy” when she doesn’t fit that mould. It makes her characterization feel off because Kellyn is actually a very nice and entertaining person. Ghost Island as a whole is a mess when it comes to editing. Despite this, Kellyn’s personality shines through because she is one of the more memorable players from the season.
Chase Rice, Survivor: Nicaragua: Some recruits are boring because they don’t understand the game. Some recruits are great for the exact same reasons. Chase didn’t understand Survivor on a fundamental level. It was like he was trying to play baseball without a bat. Chase is an interesting case because despite his flaws, he fell into some good positioning by choosing good allies. His dominance in reward challenges helped doom him at the end because Chase kept picking the worst possible options to share rewards with. I’ve never seen a player anger so many different contestants over the course of a season with his reward choices. His cast saw him as sort of dumb, the audience saw him as sort of dumb and Chase probably felt sort of dumb during his Survivor experience, but we are all the better for it.
Laurel Johnson, Survivor: Ghost Island: Another player who got a really bad rap. If anybody is to blame for Domenick and Wendell’s dominance during Ghost Island, it’s Laurel. She never drew the trigger on flipping and by the time she realized it, there was nothing she could do. She was dragged to the end as a goat for the slaughter so that two juggernauts could duke it out. In the end, the lamb became the one to decide the game because of a deadlocked jury. Her choice was one that drew more attention than ever on the social aspects of the game. I also find myself intrigued by her experience on Survivor. Laurel was a super fan who understood the game. It didn’t stop her from being unable to shake her closest allies when she logically understood the moves she needed to make. Laurel’s inability to flip is something I enjoyed if only because it was further proof of how real this game is to the players and how emotions can’t help but become tied into the strategy.
Alan Ball Survivor: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers: If there’s one thing you’re going to figure out through the next 10 weeks, it’s that I love me a Survivor train wreck. I have something of an affinity for HHH in general, as it was the first season I covered live on A Tribe of One. Going into the game, I felt like Alan might be a front runner. He came into the preseason giving some good interviews and while he was obviously recruited, he seemed to understand the game. I felt like his background as a pro-NFLer would help him find his footing on Survivor and send him on a nice journey. The actual Alan Ball experience ended up being much shorter than I expected but much more explosive. From the moment he made J.P. strip to confirm he didn’t have an idol, I knew Alan would be one of my beloved wackos. His time in the game was short and yet I hold nothing but fond memories for Alan Ball.
Ali Elliott, Survivor: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers: For the first third of HHH, I was convinced Ali was our winner. She was shown as a key part of the Hustlers’ social dynamics. She came into the game with a pre-existing bond with Patrick Bolton. A bond that was never highlighted on the show, but that Ali managed to balance perfectly, even when it came time to cut Patrick loose. She was level-headed, competent in challenges and well composed. Then suddenly, Ryan betrayed her at the swap by cutting Roark and subsequently letting Ali go before the merge. It’s her boot episode that remains my favorite for her. The vitriol she feels towards Ryan is not something that should be displayed in the game, but Ali can’t help herself and she lets Ryan hear it. It’s a very humanizing look at Ali, whose dreams are about to be crushed without her being able to stop it. Her exit was so shocking to many, including myself, that her edit has become one that is referred as the pre-merge decoy winner’s edit (like the edit I believe Missy is currently receiving on IoI). Also, she wore her sneakers in the water, something I’ve never gotten over.
Neal Gottlieb, Survivor: Kaoh Rong: Kaoh Rong is a master class in modern Survivor. The strategy content was good, but its cast of characters was even better. I wouldn’t say that Neal is part of that class, but I do think he became an important part of the season. His bond with Aubry is what pushed her towards becoming the player she would eventually be remembered as. His medevac from the game, in which he leaves with an idol and doesn’t hand it over to Aubry is the catalyst for Aubry flipping the switch permanently into game mode. It’s also the inspiration for Aubry’s “sometimes you get dysentery and die” confessional that would rank among the top 25 confessionals of the decade. So, Neal isn’t an outright fantastic character, but his presence does help create an outright fantastic season. Thus, I feel his position near the top 100 is merited.
Semhar Tadesse, Survivor: South Pacific: Semhar can be an example for the virtues of redemption island. If that wasn’t in place on her season, we would barely remember her. Semhar would be known as the person who volunteered herself in the hero position of the first immunity challenge only to fail. She would also be remembered as the person that allowed Cochran a chance to survive that first tribal council. Instead, she went to redemption island and shared her poetry with the world, immediately becoming one of my favorite first boots of all-time.
Val Collins, Survivor: San Juan del Sur: Remember how I like those train wreck early boots? Well, toss Val Collins into the fray too. San Juan del Sur has plenty of memorable characters and Val fits the bill. Her dual with Jeremy to kick off the season is iconic. It helps build not only Jeremy’s two season arc but Keith’s too. Then she tries to pretend she has two idols when she doesn’t even have one. The logic behind this move still escapes me to this day but it sure sticks in my head. Then you have John Rocker trying to find a way to save her, to honor his promise to Jeremy. Only for him to fail, have Val go home and make Jeremy angry at him, turning Rocker into the villain he fought so desperately to avoid becoming. All of this can’t happen without Val’s presence on the season.
Eddie Fox, Survivor: Caramoan: As a character, Eddie is a little flat. He’s not the smartest player ever. He doesn’t pop out in confessionals (minus the dog bar, everyone loves the dog bar). His presence on Caramoan is mostly subdued. He’s the less visible part of the 3 Amigos and when they go, he snuggles up to Andrea for an episode. Then he’s most just the guy the rest of the players keep around for his cluelessness. He votes correctly twice in the post-merge, once for Phillip at that tribal council and the other on a revote for Malcolm that ends up being unanimous. He wins 0 individual immunity challenges. Despite all of this, Eddie is but one immunity win away from becoming a winner of Survivor. If he can win that final immunity challenge, he can get to the end with Dawn and Sherri and reap the benefits of the jury hating both. Instead, Eddie hopelessly tries to put together a flame puzzle as Cochran breezes by him and secures his victory. But the mere fact that Eddie of all people was a potential Survivor winner makes him memorable and worthy of his near-miss on this list.
