We're only a month away from the season premiere, and it can't come soon enough! I absolutely can't wait, and I think this could be one of the best seasons yet! Check out all of the player's bios in my recap here. I have some thoughts about what this season might hold, so read and see if you agree/disagree. Be sure to check out the links to video hi-lights from past seasons...it's so much fun to look back at some of the awesome history that is the game of Survivor!
Andrea, Brenda, Francesca
I'm not thoroughly excited about some of these 3 returning players, but I'm sure the other Favorites will more than make up for these 3 duds.
I mean seriously, Andrea and Brenda? I don't really remember them that much. That means they didn't do much of anything memorable or exciting. And Francesca? She was the first voted out on her season. What makes her worth seeing again? She did have a few funny comments, so maybe we'll see some more of that. But based on her limited time the first time, I don't really think that is enough to give her the title of "Favorite."
The one thing about Francesca that I am kind of excited to see is what happens between her and Phillip. Remember back to Redemption Island, at the very first Tribal Council when Phillip couldn't say her name? "Fransesqua", "Francisca" haha! Not only that, but they totally blew up at each other. In case you forget, or want to relive the awesomeness, watch it here.
Phillip
Phillip, love him or hate him, he makes for good TV. I love the unpredictability he brings. He's a man of mystery: one minute he seems calm and level-headed (doesn't happen very often) and the next he blows up for no reason, and then he starts talking about crazy things like being visited by his dead grandfather and refers to himself as "The Specialist". And how can anyone forget the famous pink underwear? But, all in all he loves himself, and in his own words "that's ok."
In his intro video, he seems as delusional as ever. He said nothing of how he will play the game, he just said how much the fans at home are going to enjoy watching him. He thinks he's entertaining and love him or hate him, you'll at least be entertained. That's great, but if you expect to win, you're going to have to do more than worry about what the audience thinks. He is also going to come up with a better reason for winning than "I was the runner-up last time."
I think that Brandon will be the one who he will definitely have a problem with. They both have a diarrhea of the mouth...meaning their mouth is always running. This will most definitely cause problems with them, I'm sure. They both also have tempers, so at the first hint of a problem, they will go at it like cats and dogs until only one of them is left standing.
Brandon
I'm excited to see how Brandon plays the game this time. I think he really had a good shot to do well the last time he played, but he was a mess emotionally and spiritually. Every time he was in a good position, he opened his mouth and everything fell apart. Not to mention, being dumb enough to give up his immunity. Everyone knows you get voted out when you do that! I was sure that after losing and his family being so upset with him for how he played, that that would be it for him. He must love punishment or so desperately wants their approval to put himself through all of this again. Will he be more at ease now that everyone knows that he's a Hantz? Maybe that will let him have his head in the game. Who will he align with? He stuck up for Cochran a lot on their season, so will they buddy up? He and Dawn got into it at a Tribal Council, so if he holds a grudge, he may stay away from her.
After watching his intro video, it's pretty clear that he thinks he knows exactly what he did wrong the last time and that he knows how to fix it. He seemed pretty sure of himself, but it remains to be seen if he can walk the walk...right now it's a lot of big talk.
Cochran
Has Cochran learned from his mistake? He still may not have won the game by sticking with his tribe/alliance, but obviously being taken under Coach's wing did him no good. It got him far enough to see the rest of his original tribe picked off one by one, but in the end, he was on the bottom of his new alliance and was the first to go. Will he and Dawn form an early alliance since they played together? Either way, I sincerely hope that in the time that has passed since he last played the game, I hope for the following:
1. He tanned prior to the filming.
2. He has taken the initiative to start working out and building some muscle.
It looks like I lose on both wishes, judging by his intro video. He seems to be the same old Cochran. He knows he's going into the game with nothing to bring to the table and knows that he's going to have a hard time blending in. But this time, he says he's going to play more aggressive and wants to secure 1 or more alliances within the first 3 days. Sorry to tell you Cochran, but pretty much everyone else will have their first alliance(s) set up in the first few hours at camp...you might be too late!
Corinne
I remember Corinne being the second coming of Jerri Manthey: strong, opinionated and a total bitch (and she's proud of it). Remember her speech to Sugar at the final Tribal Council? She said that she thinks she played a near perfect game the last time, so she's going to play exactly the same way. I see her getting very annoyed by Andrea and Brenda, so I look for her to gravitate toward an alliance with some of the stronger guys. I also see Phillip and Brandon rubbing her the wrong way too. Since there aren't too many people she likes, that doesn't leave her many options. Malcolm seems like the most obvious choice.
Dawn
She's strong and she's likable, that makes her a threat. She was Season 23's Denise before Denise was Denise in Season 25. She proved her strength in the weight challenge where she outlasted Stacey and held 140 lb! If she can stay strong mentally and make a good, solid alliance, she will go far. The last time she played, she started to break down, so we'll see if she can keep it together this season. She's fairly quiet, so she will probably float under the radar for awhile and let some of the more outspoken players draw attention to themselves.
Erik
If anyone needed to learn a lesson from their first time around, it was this guy. I loved watching him play. He was dubbed "The Next Ozzy". He was a great physical player and he played a pretty good social game, until...the events that led up to that fateful Tribal Council where he let his guard down. He was the lone male amongst 4 very tough women. He had made some mistakes and they were all questioning his word and his loyalties. He began to feel bad and very insecure and was looking for any way to fix what he'd done. His problem was that he picked the WRONG time to do it. He had immunity, he was SAFE. Do the vote and go back to camp, and THEN figure out a way to save yourself! But no, in the spur of the moment, he decides to make a bold move, and he decided to give up his immunity to Natalie. What makes this move even more stupid was that he did this BEFORE they voted. As soon as Natalie had the necklace, you could see everyone in complete shock. I loved watching Ozzy, Jason, and James on the Jury. They knew he was toast. James was right...Erik's move was probably worse than him going home with 2 idols in his pocket. So, in the end, because he was now vulnerable, and a threat, they turned on HIM and voted HIM out. He was young. He was naive. Lesson learned the hard way (hopefully). I'm sure he won't make that mistake again (at least we can hope). This time, you can be sure he wants to redeem himself. Let's watch that incredibly stupid move--Erik gives up immunity. If it's even possible, it was even worse watching it all unfold the second time around.
Malcolm
Last, but certainly not least, for the Favorites, is MY favorite, Malcolm. Fresh off 2 weeks rest from Survivor: Phillipines, he was ready to do it all again. I couldn't be happier to get to see this gorgeous man compete for a second time. Last season had a very disappointing end for him, and his competitive spirit jumped for a chance to make a second run for the $1 million.He has the benefit of going into this competition as a clean slate because no one has seen his season. No one knows who he is or how well he finished. The downside is that he is a wildcard with no one else from his season competing. Certainly, there is a big chance of those that already know each other to form an early alliance. Who will Malcolm go to? In his bio, he said he would love to make an alliance with Corinne, so look for that to be his early go-to. But who else? I can see him maybe going to Dawn because she is a very similar competitor to Denise, who was his ally in the Phillipines. I hope he stays away from the young girls (Brenda and Andrea). He doesn't need any distractions. When he had his shomance with Angie, he wasn't making the greatest decisions. He was much more focused after she was voted out. Who will be the equivalent to Abi for Malcolm this season? My guess is Phillip and Cochran. I imagine he will have some great quotes from his interviews about the stupid things that those two do. I can't wait!
So what does Malcolm need to do this season? For the most part, I think he played a near-perfect game last season. He made the right alliances, he was likable and he won challenges when he needed to (except for the one that counted the most, but there really wasn't anything he could have done to win that one, it just wasn't his thing). Leading to his downfall was just a tad too much confidence/cockiness and a little too much trust. From his interviews, it sounds like he's learned his lesson, so we'll see if he can follow through. Fortunately for him, he was so well-prepared for last season (he made Survivor-like challenges at home and practiced them over and over), that with only a couple weeks off, he should be sharp. Unfortunately, two weeks is probably not long enough for him to practice balancing things to make his hands steadier, just in case the producers play some horrible trick and throw in a similar challenge this time around.
Fans
I'm really horrible at predicting how things will play out with people who have never played before, but I'll take a stab at it...
I'm guessing that the first break in the alliance will fall along the age barrier and then the gender barrier. That's usually what happens. The young stick with the young, and the old-er stick with the older. It's just like out in the real world, you stick to people you have the most in common with.
The gray area is for those that are in the middle, in this case Reynold (30) and Shamar (27). They could swing with the younger crowd or the older crowd. Just based on their bios, it seems that Reynold would probably fit in more with the younger ones and Shamar with the older, but who knows. Shamar's personal "claim to fame" was a YouTube video where he yelled and screamed at NY police officers due to police brutality to civilians during the Occupy Wall Street movement. Seems like he could be a bit of a loose cannon. Watch out, don't get on his bad side! However, he does say that he is the most like Rupert, who was pretty mild-mannered, so we'll see. I think he might along well with Matt...they might bond over their tatoos!
Julia, being a racecar driver, which is a predominantly male sport, I see her hanging around the guys more than the other young girls. But, I could be wrong. At first glance, Allie, Laura and Hope seem to be just prissy girls, but in each of their videos I was impressed with their talk of strategy, and willing-to-do-anything attitudes. Each of them have more life experiences than some of the young girls in the past who are just students (*cough* Kat *cough*).
Sherri, the oldest woman on the Fans team, has been training for 3 months and, like Malcolm, has been practicing Survivor-like challenges at home. It will be interesting to see if it pays off for her. In her video, she seemed pretty timid, so we'll see if she actually has what it takes to last. I'm not so sure.
Look for Shamar to stir things up and create drama. He said in his video that he wants to make people miserable and want to leave. He doesn't want anyone to leave saying that they had a good time playing Survivor. Couple that with the fact that he has a military background, and is a self-proclaimed Army brat, and had a rather hostile video against the NYPD, it looks like this guy is just a time bomb waiting to go off. The funny thing is, that with all of this negativity, he seemed like such a happy person! So which is it?
Eddie and Reynold seem like your typical good-looking, smart, fun, competitive guys. They seem like they might really get along well and could make a good alliance...but what do I know. It's just usually just wishful thinking wanting the hot guys to stick together instead of letting their egos get in the way and try to take each other out.
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