I recently participated in Survivor New York which was my first chance to really meet a lot of other super fans of survivor. This post is not about that though. I found out that most super fans regard Cambodia as one of, if not the, top seasons in Survivor. I was shocked because I always found it to be a mediocre season. So I decided to give it a rewatch and see what I missed.
This will include spoilers to potentially any season of survivor or outside content, so be warned! I will be discussing future outcomes in the season!
Second Chance
One major difference of this season is the second chance voting. This makes it different from returnee seasons because you may have to pregame with a whole lot of people who might not make it on to the show. However, I think this was overhyped because it was actually pretty apparent a bunch of people would make the show. Somebody like Spencer was definitely making the cut! But I think it gets on your nerves right away as a player because you might not make it.
Ironically, this whole setup probably made there be more pregaming (at least with some types) because it was such a unique setup, people got nervous and wanted to be prepared.
This pregaming element also came into play with the first episode with new school vs old school. I found this not to be very enjoyable because I already don’t like pregaming, but it was hard to see what the split was because it seemed like it was somewhat split by pregame alliances. Who was “new” and who was “old” school seemed fairly fluid and unclear to me based on the episode
Abi vs PeiGeih
I remember this controversy and the whole thing seems pretty weird still. It doesn’t seem very entertaining to me compared to other survivor situations, just very strange and confusing what actually happened. It seems like PG just took the wrong bag, but Abi is correct also that she was pretty vocal about it, so why didn’t PG check her bag or realize she couldve taken Abi’s bag? And then why did Abi check her bag? It all is just full of holes but not that entertaining.
What is entertaining though is just Abi. Abi going crazy immediately like this and then contrasting with her confessionals about how she is trying to be calm is pretty hilarious. She was made for reality TV.
PG on the other hand, I liked her in China and think she is cool based on my readings and viewings of her online, but doesn’t seem like my type of character. She wants to avoid the Abi situation which is again just making the whole situation confusing but also not making it more entertaining.
Overall this was a wash and probably not a huge plus for the season since regardless of this happening, I’m sure Abi would have been hilarious.
Complex Strategy
The opener had a lot of fast strategy, but possibly due to the pregaming, it seemed like it was mostly just Varner saying things are moving fast, but not much showing of that. And then Abi being almost the vote out really does not show super high strategic play. Overall the strategy seemed to be more tell than show and made it somewhat underwhelming to me.
Challenge
OK, I have been ragging on the episode so far, but actually the cast is pretty cool, and the challenge was actually great for that and also a great setup for second chances – the first challenge ever run! I found it on point how Spencer went to try to save the day at the end when he had no chance. Overedited in Wentworth getting her idol a bit but overall a fun challenge to watch and back and forth of the two tribes and all the hard work they put in.
Idol
Idol right out of the gate? This is exciting on a rewatch because we know that Wentworth is all about the idol, but from the perspective of a new viewer, seems like it is spending a lot of time to set that up. Idols are always exciting though so its pretty good.
Conclusion
Overall a pretty weak start from my perspective but actually looking forward to the rest of the season because the cast and setups of the idol, etc. are pretty exciting.
This isn’t really fully written, so I might come back and write more later!