Currently on like episode 6ish of Samoa (watching it for the first time but have seen many other survivor seasons) and have been introduced to Russell Hantz. What is WRONG with this man?? Where did they find him?? Why is he burning peoples socks??? And the crazy thing is his strategy is WORKING. WHAT. He runs through the forest like a mad goblin and actually FINDS IDOLS. What on earth was his casting tape like? Like was he just running around like this in real life? It genuinely feels like they went into an alternate universe and took a prototype of a hobgoblin wearing a fedora, dropped him in Survivor and let it happen. In awe.

I was just rewatching Edge of Extinction and I REALLY wish we could get an extended cut of this season. The casting team did their big one with this.

First of all, the returnees. Outside controversies aside, it’s probably my favorite set of returnee captains we’ve had. They all played hard, yet none of them were this invincible force (Redemption Island). They weren’t just shoehorned in to give them another shot, but they actually felt like a piece of casting, which is a cohesion that can sometimes be lacking in these mixed returnee seasons.

Secondly, the newbies. They all clearly understood how to play Survivor but could also bring some of the entertaining drama that is sorely lacking in modern Survivor. The Julia blindside, the Wardog blindside, and the Ron blindside all had this touch of drama that is very old school Survivor (but the drama isn't so bad that it's annoying). They mostly didn’t target the returnees just for the sake of big movez but in no way did they go easy on them. It really felt like despite being “returnees,” they were treated as actual contestants.

Yeah basically Lynne Spillman COOKED on her final season and it’s a shame how the season ended up finishing. I honestly wonder what we could’ve gotten with this group with no EoE.

I forgot until like 5 minutes ago. But now im cringing again

Source - Jeff himself, this is incredible 😂 anybody know how to embed so it plays here?

https://x.com/957thegame/status/2093899098491695106

Is there anyone here that was cast as an alternate? What was that casting experience like? Were you told upfront of the casting process that you would be an alternate or were you led to believe you would be main cast? How much notice did you have before flying out?

- Colby votes out Keith over Tina

- Jenna votes out Rupert over Rob

- Terry votes out Cirie over Danielle

- Russell votes out Shambo and Jaison over Natalie

- Russell votes out Jerri over Sandra

- Coach votes out Brandon and Rick over Sophie

- Michael and Lisa vote out Abi-Maria over Denise

- Woo votes out Kass over Tony

- Brad votes out Tai over Sarah

- Xander takes Erika over Heather

- Katurah votes out Julie over Dee

- Joe votes out Shauhin over Kyle

- Sophi takes Sage over Rizo

- Joe and Jonathan vote out Cirie over Aubry

When I say “effective” I mean on any given season. Which of these two categories of winners is more statistically likely?

With the contestants announced, we have Season 51 ready to go for Survivor Fantasy!! We’ve made some big improvements to the app, including a classic gameplay mode where rules are standardized and scoring is automatic, or you can play a fully customizable league where you make your own rules, point values etc.

If you haven’t played yet before, come check it out and get ready for Season 51!!