Updated: Aug. 18, 2023
In 2021, Rob Has A Podcast embarked on a massive project to rank all 40 Survivor seasons, leading up to the eventual premiere of Survivor's 41st season. As someone who loves rankings and has seen many, but nowhere near all Survivor seasons, I thought this would be a great opportunity to watch more seasons & create my own ranking alongside Rob. This post is the hub of that.
As someone who loves grand ideas and struggles with the follow-through, I gave a valiant effort, but fell off the wagon just past the halfway point of the ranking. As I write this now in August, 2023, this ranking has not been updated in over two years. I haven't even watched a new Survivor season since then, new or old. But, I'm getting back into that mood, and thought it would be fun to update this list -- add in seasons I'd already seen that ranked in the top half of RHAP's rankings (aka AFTER I stopped keeping up), and continue to update it whenever I do watch a season, regardless of how long in the future I watch it.
Below, you will find my rankings of all the seasons I have watched, with brief discussions of each one. Each time I finish a season, I will update this post and slot it into my rankings. And probably fiddle around with everything's placement, too. I'd like to also have slightly longer individual posts about each season, but I'm not sure I'll have enough to say about every season. So... we'll see.
HERE, you'll find RHAP's ranking (made by the RHAP listeners), if you'd like to compare it with my own. Rob also has his own personal ranking that he updated at the end of the podcast each week.
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
Similar to Thailand, this is at the bottom due to Dan's inappropriate touching throughout the season and the way the show mishandled him. Plus the way other contestants used Kellee's accusations to their own advantage strategically. It was not as egregious as in Thailand (aka not treated as a joke) but it still put a damper on a season that otherwise could have been decent thanks to interesting social commentary, players, and gameplay. But overlooking the way Kellee was treated simply is not acceptable to me.
this was my first watch!
The more seasons I watch, the more lackluster this season feels. Kim is an amazing winner who displayed massive control over the game and is one of the most strategically dominant winners ever. However, winners like that tend to play games that aren't as interesting to watch. In the end, the majority of the cast was made up of incompetent players, and the standout characters stood out thanks to being utterly unlikable. On the positive side, at least if we were going to have a battle of the sexes, the men were the bumbling idiots of the cast.
this was my first watch!
Originally, I had this and One World swapped, but with a bit of distance from both, this one grew on me. Like other low-ranked seasons, this season had a good deal of nastiness. Rodney, Will, and Dan all had so many disgusting, sexist, cruel moments, and I cannot overlook that. I can't believe Rodney isn't more disliked. Even disregarding them, there aren't really many rootable/likable characters, and on top of that, this isn't a very strategy-heavy season. Mike is certainly the rootable, likable standout, but he's also not a very strategic winner, and I'll always rank strategy above challenge wins and idol plays.
this was my first watch!
I think there are a lot of reasons that this was ranked near the bottom of the cumulative rankings. Fabio is one of the least-strategic Survivor winners ever, the cast is full of recruits, most of the players have little, no, or bad strategy, and finally-- the quits. On top of that, the old/young tribe division and the medallion of power are both pretty dumb twists. And I agree with all of those complaints. I think the quits bother me less than other people (if you don't want to be there, don't make me waste my time watching you), but they're certainly not a good thing for the season. That said, I think there's some entertainment to be had. Brenda and NaOnka are both compelling characters, even if NaOnka has her problematic moments. And I found myself rooting for people like Marty and Holly, even if they weren't great strategists.
watched previously, did a partial rewatch for this ranking
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
this was my first watch!
If you're just in the mood to watch an absolute train wreck, all aboard the Hot Mess Express, destination: Gabon! This season is a comedy of errors. If you're here for the strategy, you're out of luck in Gabon. The players are aggressively non-strategic and make moves based largely on personal vendettas. But if you're here for the chaos, drama, and absolute messiness, Gabon could be a top-tier season for you. Fang is one of the worst tribes in Survivor history. Bob is possibly the least strategic winner in Survivor history. The cast is largely unlikable, the gameplay is an absolute mess, but that messiness can be thoroughly entertaining for some people. That can only take it so high for me, as someone who's here for the strategy, but it did certainly keep me entertained. Also, Gabon is one of the most beautiful locations IMO, and definitely the location I'd want to play Survivor at!
From top to bottom, this is the Russell show. This is his world, the other players just exist in it. Or they don't, because many of them are horribly under-edited to give Russell every millisecond of screen time they can squeeze in. Even the winner gets a pretty meager edit. The first few episodes of the season were hard to get through because of Ben's racism, and the pre-merge is a bit of a slog thanks to one tribe's total domination. Russell's idol finds and strategic gameplay make big waves in future seasons, but he was messy and ultimately turned most of the jury against him and lost himself the win. There are some decently high highs, but some lows that truly just scrape the bottom of the barrel with how terrible they are.
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
this was my first watch!
Before watching this season, I'd seen 2 Ozzy seasons (Cook Islands & Game Changers) and had a mildly positive opinion on him, while this was my first Coach season. I came out of this season disliking both of them. This is a case of high highs and low lows for me. There are few players I've disliked more than Brandon and few things I've disliked watching more than Coach & his tribe's cult-like environment he cultivated. While it's decent strategy and fascinating psychologically, it's never something I enjoy watching in my media. However-- Cochran. This was my first introduction to him and he's just. so. relatable. He's nerdy, but personable and charming, and although his strategy isn't perfect, he's a strategic player, which I always gravitate toward. I'm still not sure how I feel about him flipping at the merge but I am sure that I'm now very hype to watch Caramoan to finally watch his winning game.
this was my first watch!
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
Of all of my rankings, this is the one I feel least confident in. I watched this season as it aired, and I don't have super positive memories of it. However, Rob felt the same way and said it was much better than he remembered. So on an off week, I might return to this just in case! But this cast is very top-heavy, and there were several people who were under-edited or got a full-on purple edit. There are a lot of forgettable characters here for me, despite my love of Dom and Wendell. The twist also isn't my fave, nor do I like that sometimes people just go to Ghost Island and don't play a game at all.
watched half previously, half for the first time
I gave up on this season as it was airing. It's not uncommon late in a season-- I start to get bored-- but I abandoned this one pretty quickly. None of the characters really compelled me, and I hated the twist. But I agree with Rob 100%- this season is great to binge. Although I don't love the Edge, it felt a lot less pervasive this time through. And also, I like Devens, and he's a large part of the reason this season is ranked so highly. So I'll forgive it a bit. I think the biggest stain on the season is Chris's win, given that he was on the Edge for most of the season. The jury might have been judging the player, not the twist, but I'm judging the whole thing and I really don't like that someone can waltz back in after being out of the game a month and then win the game. It doesn't make for a good game or a good viewing experience. But what this season does give us is entertainment. Strategy, blindsides... Devens. The gameplay this season is really compelling, in spite of the twists.
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
While the pre-All-Stars era is one tight era of Survivor, I often see 1-5 as a subsection, before the universally adored seasons 6&7. The game had not yet evolved to be as strategic as it would become. And it seems like everyone has one season from this era that they love despite the minimal strategy. For most people, it seems to be Australia, Borneo, or Marquesas. For me, it's Africa. I'm not sure I could really tell you why, apart from the unique landscape and my love of Lex as a character.
this was my first watch!
I'm still not 100% certain of this placement, and toyed with placing this below EoE, because the much higher level of gameplay in EoE might outweigh my enjoyment of Fiji. The haves/have-nots twist is horrible. The have-not tribe doesn't stand a chance when going up against well-fed, well-rested competitors. Despite some forgettable people, I enjoy this cast, and think that there were several interesting characters and a handful of capable players. I really enjoyed both Earl and Yau, and think Earl is a very competent winner. The incident with Dreamz and the truck is certainly a bit of a stain on the season, but doesn't impact my personal enjoyment too much. Overall, it's not an amazing season of Survivor, but certainly a breath of fresh air after watching a bunch of modern seasons.
watched previously, rewatched for this ranking
watched previously, rewatched for this ranking
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
watched previously, did a partial rewatch for this ranking
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
watched previously, did not rewatch for this ranking
