The Winner of Survivor: Pearl Islands...

[Gustav 6,166]

One guilty pleasure of mine that you might not necessarily expect from me is Survivor--it's cheesy, it's stupid, it's often super predictable, people act in very fake ways, and there's often quite a bit that comes down to luck rather than actually being good at the game. But damn it if it isn't cheap entertainment at its finest. I don't need to pay close attention to anything and something about the stupidity of it is exactly the sort of thing I need in my life. I just wrapped up season 7 (one of the three I have currently available to me on Netflix--they make a huge deal out of things like giving away a brand-new 2003 GMC Envoy, and if that's not bad enough, they do it twice), and the overly personal finale brought in a player from earlier on in the season that got me thinking a bit.

 

In the highly unlikely situation that anyone would get mad at me for talking about what happens, I'll spoiler-tag it:

Spoiler

This guy's name was Osten (pronounced Austin) and he was RIPPED. The type of unrealistic body standard ripped that makes guys like me feel insecure. 

 

But get this--he was constantly exhausted, lost battles of strength with other, less obviously ripped players in challenges, and in the end allegedly got an infection and had being pulled out of the game covered up by some writers was simply too beat-up to keep going and quit the game instead of being voted out like the rest.

 

Quite the contrast between appearances and all else, isn't it?

 

Something about that reminds me of Vandelay's career in a weird way. He couldn't have been more hyped up going into the VHL, as the VHLM's MVP in S83 and the first overall choice in S84. I'd promised to stick it out with any team that was making a serious effort to compete and ended up making it a career with the Stars. And while it's not like I've done nothing, I can't help but think about how 20 seasons from now, many people will have no clue who he was and not many of those will ever care. I'm not saying that he was enough of a bust to warrant a direct comparison to my weird 20-year-old TV example, but the fact that one thought triggered another still says something. At his best, Vandelay has been a good goaler, and if I'm being honest, I really think that the best thing about him has just been that LA hasn't had to worry about finding someone in net. The most memorable thing about him, too, will just be the amount of times I commented his full name under things (and the amount of times some of you did as well; thank you for that).

 

Overall, I'm not disappointed by Vandelay's career because I know the position is unpredictable and I also know that we have the misfortune of playing at a time where great numbers don't mean much because everyone else is putting them up too. It's just tough to put in a career's worth of effort and not have anything to show for it beyond a line on some spreadsheet with your career numbers on it. But I've done it before--and I suppose that there's still room left in the season to make up the difference and win something for once.

[CowboyinAmerica 2,738]

Survivor might legit be my favorite show, it's so much fun. The seasons on Netflix are great (somebody I knew from college is on 33!) but if you don't mind paying for another streaming service Paramount+ has them all. 45 seasons to binge, I've done most of them.

 

(I'm actually watching The Traitors on Peacock right now too which the current season 2 features the winner of Pearl Islands - but also spoils how they did on returning Survivor seasons so beware.)

Edited January 24 by CowboyinAmerica

[Gustav 6,166]

13 minutes ago, CowboyinAmerica said:

Survivor might legit be my favorite show, it's so much fun. The seasons on Netflix are great (somebody I knew from college is on 33!) but if you don't mind paying for another streaming service Paramount+ has them all. 45 seasons to binge, I've done most of them.

 

(I'm actually watching The Traitors on Peacock right now too which the current season 2 features the winner of Pearl Islands - but also spoils how she did on returning Survivor seasons so beware.)

 

Maybe I'll get on all the streaming services when I make enough to do it. Right now I'm in the "being completely against the idea of having to subscribe to everything but also having that opinion conveniently supported by the fact that I shouldn't" phase.

 

I understand the appeal of having people back on the show (gotta love Rupert) but I'm also a bit weirded out by the idea of there being...game show contestant celebrities. Maybe that's just because Netflix doesn't exactly show things chronologically--I've learned about a lot of people from watching their second or third times around and that always wrecked it a bit for me.

 

But it is a lot of fun overall and you bet I'll be making my way through whatever they drop next whenever they make that happen. Something about most people on the show just being normal people makes me feel like I could be out there (as much as I'm sure I'd be terrible at it).

[Daniel Janser 2,009]

ART VANDELAY FOR THE HALL OF NOT BAD

[CowboyinAmerica 2,738]

9 hours ago, Gustav said:

I understand the appeal of having people back on the show (gotta love Rupert) but I'm also a bit weirded out by the idea of there being...game show contestant celebrities. Maybe that's just because Netflix doesn't exactly show things chronologically--I've learned about a lot of people from watching their second or third times around and that always wrecked it a bit for me.

 

Yeah I think that's why most recommend that if you're going to binge, starting from the top is the way to go. Because you get to see the evolution of the show itself (one of the early seasons a reward was getting to talk to loved ones from a newfangled "Internet Cafe"), but also the returning players is more palatable because it's more like a storyline. Like seasons 20 (Heroes v. Villains) and 31 (Second Chances) are two of my favorites, but it's definitely aided because I was able to get deeper meaning into the motivations for why people did what they did.

[STZ 5,303]

I used to watch a lot. Talked about it a lot. Yearbook had me most likely to be in Survivor.

 

i have no survival skills.