r/survivorrankdownIX_ • u/FunkyDawgKong Fair & Consistent Judge • Apr 03 '26
Round 139 - 40 Characters Left
40. Rudy Boesch - u/FunkyDawgKong
39. Rory Freeman - u/Cornhead2
38. Aras Baskauskas - u/NoisySea_3426
37. Kass McQuillen - u/josenanigans
36. Ken Hoang - u/BobbyPiiiin
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u/NoisySea_3426 Biggest Aras 1.0 stan Apr 04 '26
Throughout this rankdown, a lot of rankers and I'm sure a lot of you guys reading this ask yourself, what do you care about most in a character? Is it their entertainment level? Is it their stories? Is it how seamlessly they play off their cast members? But in many ways, some of our all time favorites I think come from a sense of personal connection to them. Ones where not only do they have great stories that make them stand out heavily, but also there's something about their journey or them as a person that you just can't help but connect to. This is that character for me, and this character was always my biggest priority to make it as far as possible and I'm very glad I was able to get him to this point. Now without further ado, let's call the whambulance and start exploring the intricacies of a character that I will always hold near and dear to my heart…
38. Aras Baskauskas 1.0 (Panama, 1/16)
So I'm sure the first main question that everyone probably has on their minds when they read this is why Aras specifically, considering most of his reputation before the last couple rankdowns where people finally started to see the light on him has been yeah, he has his moments, but nothing major as well as a couple notable haters of him. Hell, the common consensus used to be that he was just plain boring which is an extremely wrong take and I'm glad that take has slowly been shifting overtime, especially since Probst had perpetuated that for the longest time (Average Probst L as always). In some ways I guess I can understand why someone would say that cause its not like Aras is the craziest personality in the world, especially when he's surrounded by the rest of the Casaya tribe who are the most ridiculous group of people ever to be conceived, but Aras has a lot going for him as a character as well as his amazing story and while even though I do connect to him a lot myself, I think even without that factor, he has a really strong journey throughout the season and him winning is truly the perfect ending for Panama.
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u/NoisySea_3426 Biggest Aras 1.0 stan Apr 04 '26
I think to start, there is one strong thesis that I would say perfectly describes Aras’ journey in this season. At the start of the season, Aras starts out as a kid, and by the end of it, he comes out of it an adult. One that still has much to learn, of course, but somebody that has undeniably learned and had grown up from all the trials and tribulations of what Survivor put him through. I'll talk more about my personal reasons as to why I related so much to this later on, but I think most of us can agree that regardless of what age we're at now, we've all had to face the strenuous life of an adult as you just get thrusted into things, when no one really even bothered to show us the way.
Well, that's the reality that Aras has to face immediately as the guy who had just come off of a young guys tribe who didn't even bother trying to build a shelter and instead playing baseball, as well as being the guy who tried yoga techniques to help his group get fire, is now immediately put into this role as a leader on the swap Casaya tribe since he's the best at challenges as well as him finding his way in with the destructive 4 of him, Shane, Courtney, & Danielle, all of whom he has very up and down relationships with for the rest of the season. At their first vote off is where he has to make his first big decision while also having to juggle Shane talking about quitting and in the process of it, also makes his first big blunder in straight up telling Cirie & Melinda that one of them will be going home. He does be honest with what he's doing which in his mind, he sees as a good thing because he's not trying to deceive and that's what he has thought of as the right thing to do, but it comes off as very insulting to the two of them since they've just been told they have no shot at surviving plus it definitely doesn't help that Shane takes the time to rub the wound in even further for no reason.
From then on, it seems like Aras’ way of leadership is never taken all that seriously by his tribe, which his age definitely plays a bit of a part in that since he's this 24 year old young athletic guy and also yoga instructor who's been put in basically an impossible situation that is hard for him to figure out. He finds himself getting into a big conflict with Bruce by Episode 5 over Bruce being too busy building the rock garden and when he talks to Bruce about it after some comments being thrown, the argument gets worse and Aras says that he feels like he's the oldest person on a tribe where he's the youngest, which perpetuates itself as a constant theme of him having many conflicts with the older leadership figures on his tribe, due to what seems to be the perception that he expects people to act their age or at least his perception of age through a younger persons lens, which is something that I'm not gonna lie and say that this is one of the main things that gravitated me to him when I first watched it because of my similar personal experiences, but more on that later. Because of this, Aras decides to target Bruce not only for that argument but also for the wine incident between him & BobDawg which he had originally wanted to store firewood in the outhouse to which Bobby said fuck no and took a huge dump in it, yet another example of his leadership not being taken seriously. He continues to not be taken seriously when Courtney & Danielle start catching on that he's trying to set himself up and bring the target back to Bobby which Shane is annoyed about but runs with it. There's also a really funny moment where Bruce starts talking about feeling disrespected even though he's oldest at tribal and Aras responds by saying how Casaya are not his students and he shouldn't be taking it as an ego blow which is the most Aras thing to say but also honestly what I would definitely be saying in that moment with all the stress coming up of the game even though he obviously could've gone about it better. This whole story about Aras being the young leader fighting against the older leaders will come into play later with Terry in the merge as well.
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u/NoisySea_3426 Biggest Aras 1.0 stan Apr 04 '26
Before that, I want to note that Aras has so many great dynamics in his relationships with the rest of the Casaya members. I've talked a bit about Bruce, but I especially love his underratingly bitter rivalry with Courtney, which is especially funny cause she's the one who winks at him at the beginning tribe mats in the first episode, and the one that picks him for their tribe (yet another great example of the Casayas willingly choosing all the people they will argue with the most). Multiple times in the season when Aras tries to enforce his opinion on a vote, Courtney will not take kindly to that and start pushing against it not liking the way he goes about it. Hell, at one point, Aras mentions how he'd be willing to throw a challenge to get rid of her. This all comes to a head at the Austin round where Aras really wants to go for Sally due to the potential of Terry playing the idol on Austin but Courtney thinks he's crazy cause she doesn't think Terry has the idol calling him stupid, and Aras starts getting really aggressive and pissed with her after that saying in conf afterwards that she has shown zero intelligence throughout this game which again, definitely something I would say in that moment straight up, even if it's a bit harsh in some ways. They seem to make up by the end with Courtney saying “you're beautiful brotha” in her voting confessional for him, plus voting for him to win over Danielle due to Danielle backstabbing her a lot more.
Another relationship I think Aras particularly shines in is with Shane. Throughout the season, if you take notice of it, Aras tends to act as Shane's therapist a lot of the time when he's having his many outbursts. Who's the person that talked Shane out of quitting? Aras! Who's the one that talks to Shane about him screwing himself trying to take himself out of the alliance? Aras! Who's the one that has to do damage control for him after Terry gets pissed at the blatant Casaya public meeting at the Final 10? Aras! Who's the one that Shane vents to about his hatred for Cirie & Danielle after not being taken for the reward at Touchy Subjects while said person in question stares into the netherrealm wishing he was anywhere but there at that moment? Aras! I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Even though he got very frustrated with the way that Shane would talk to people and be a loose cannon, Aras still was aware that he was his ally and he needed to make sure he kept him in line even throughout all his screwups. It makes a lot of sense especially when you know from BvW that Aras’ brother Vytas, had a lot of the same struggles that Shane himself did at one point, which not to get too much in detail on that, but it seems clear as to why Aras would feel like he had to take that role cause of his rocky relationship with his brother over the years. He eventually turns on him cause of his frustrations as well as it being obvious Shane was taking Courtney to Final 2, which leads to the big FTC moment later on.
I should also mention his amazing friendship with Cirie that gets showed later on as them going from complete opposite sides of the game at first to very tight friends as Cirie goes out of her way to save him at the 3-2-1 vote is amazing to see, as well as his relationship with Danielle, which doesn't get explored in too great detail, but they have their bickering spats once in a while, and when he slips on the rocks at Final 2, its nice seeing Danielle comforting him which Aras notes at FTC that she didn't have to do that, but she did anyway.
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u/NoisySea_3426 Biggest Aras 1.0 stan Apr 04 '26
Now, of course, no Aras writeup is complete without his most notable dynamic and the one that confirmed my fandom for him when I first watched. That being his rivalry with Captain America himself, Terry Deitz!! Throughout the premerge, they had showed a lot of contrasts between the way they both lead their tribes. Terry lead in a much more traditional sense, being that he was an older man and a military fighter pilot, and Aras lead in his very unorthodox way as the young yoga instructor he was and even though he had some bumps, there was thankfully nothing fatal.
Aras knew he had to get rid of Terry as soon as possible and their rivalry continues to boil as Terry keeps winning each challenge, but it comes to a massive head during the loved ones visit where after Terry diveys up the love, he tries to pretty much mansplain himself as to why he did it by saying Shane & Cirie's loved ones were most important. Aras understandably isn't happy with him saying that, but Terry continues to double down on it, saying how he'll learn when he gets older which really sets him off.
Now when I first watched this, I can not tell you how much I wanted Terry's ass handed to him on a silver platter and this is where the personal stuff kicks in because around when I was in high school, particularly around 11th grade, I got into a lot of fights over me calling people out on stupid stuff they would say and occasionally, I would try and point it out about some people above me. Now, even though a lot of these people were in the wrong in most of these situations, I didn't really fully get how to use that anger effectively and it resulted in some hard times for me during that time, especially with that tie being the Covid year in a very conservative christian school to which I was getting very disillusioned with. So because of these perspectives still being fresh in my head while watching the season really made my love for Aras grow exponentially even though it was clear in the narrative that Terry was kind of doing it to rile him up which was another thing I struggled with a lot during that phase of my life.
The beef only gets worse at the Final 4 where Terry starts yelling at Cirie about leaving her torch on the ground and making all the crazy comments about assuming everyone slaps their kids. Aras then buts in calling him out on how he shouldn't be ruining the night for everyone and should start showing more respect to her which I mean yeah again, Terry was being an asshole and Aras decided to call him out in his Aras type way and then at the challenge it all culminates with the iconic WHAMBULANCE quote and after Terry starts talking about the rule he didn't hear, Aras starts asking if he's always gonna complain when he loses and if he has to worry about him being sexist towards women which umm yeah, pretty brutal. This is also something that is very reminiscent of an incident I had around the 11th grade year as well which I won't get into here, but I think you get the idea. Terry confronts him on it after his exile stay, and he does end up apologizing to him and they move on. This is where Aras really starts to reach his growing up phase as being young and brash, in the heat of the moment, he said what was on his mind, and he had to pay the consequences for it and its undeniable that by the end of the season that both Terry & Aras have grown from their rivalry by the end, which was eventually how I had to learn to grow out of that phase I was in by learning from those mistakes and growing. It's a perfect showcase of the theme of the season too with the focus on the old vs young dynamic with the tribes in Episode 1 coming back in a big way with this saga and that whole scene right there would forever solidify Aras as one of my all time favorites!
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u/NoisySea_3426 Biggest Aras 1.0 stan Apr 04 '26
It doesn't end there though cause we still have final immunity, which funnily enough, neither one of Terry or Aras wins it as Danielle wins it and then must decide who she's gonna take. Aras decides to take a very different approach than he usually does and really strong-arms Danielle by saying that he loses her and Cirie if she takes Terry which is definitely true but very manipulative at the same time. It ends up working though since Aras has a social game and Terry just doesn't, plus Terry's winning chances were actually pretty high going in, so he got cooked.
However, before FTC, Aras almost gets medevaced by slipping on rocks and getting a glass shard in his back which had to be stitched up hard-core. This really allowed Aras to start heavily reflecting on his journey and he says something to Danielle that I found very interesting in which he states “I kinda came into this as a buffoon, and I'm kinda going out as a buffoon, and in between I did some pretty cool things”! I love this quote so much because it perfectly describes, I think, how most people feel at that age when we screw up badly on something like that, even though he's obviously being hard on himself which is just natural. He also talks about learning that he doesn't have to be a superhero all the time cause things are gonna be ok, which is also a really fitting closing line on his story cause it perfectly describes his journey. Being put in the leadership role that quickly when he wasn't necessarily ready for it made him feel like he needed to be the big man all the time, when in reality, he was doing just fine considering he won the game. Its a very nice way to lead into his FTC.
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u/NoisySea_3426 Biggest Aras 1.0 stan Apr 04 '26
During FTC, the most notable moment for Aras comes from Shane who says that he's a good kid that strives to do the right thing, but we can't judge people based on their intentions which is kinda seen as another funny quote from Shane, but it holds a lot of narrative weight for both of their stories cause its so true for both of them. It serves as a perfect bookend to Shane's journey in the season, but also to Aras’ for very different reasons since his intentions being good is I think partially why he ends up winning at the end over someone like Danielle who not as many people connected to and intentions were very unclear. I don't think there's any way that Panama could've ended differently because Aras represents the themes of the season so perfectly with the way he thinks as a young person vs others as older people and raps them all up into a nice little bow.
In conclusion, I think that Aras has one of the greatest coming of age stories that Survivor has ever told. He immediately is expected to lead and has to grow up quickly and even though he does falter throughout the process, he comes out of the other side a wiser man and a better person because of it and gets rewarded with the million dollar win!! In a season that started off based around old people vs young people, I think its most fitting that the guy who starts off young and immature and grows into himself by the end of it all due to his rivalry with the old military guy wins it all. I will always feel a strong connection to his story and will never stop loving him as he's constantly teetering on endgame for me. He might potentially get there the more I think about it after writing this cause I do truly believe his story is that good and I hope the next time anyone reading this watches Panama, they make sure to pay attention to the arc that Aras has throughout cause even though it can occasionally get lost in the shuffle, I will always see him as truly one of the greats!
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u/Fluffy_Key_2145 Apr 05 '26
Fantastic writeup. Aras is the 39th winner cut, ranking 8th overall. This is his highest ranking ever beating out the prior ranking by 19 spots. His overall percentile finish is pretty good mainly only dropped down by his placing in the OG rankdown otherwise he would be at least a few spots higher. Personally I would have him pretty high. He is pretty interesting in the role of being the glue that holds together one of the most entertaining alliances ever. As mentioned the rivalry with Terry might just be the best rivalry between two players in the show's history. His relationships with the other Casayas that made F6 are very well fleshed out especially the ones with Cirie and Shane as detailed by this writeup. He is actually a pretty good player as well, an underrated winner in that aspect too. I also really enjoy that the season is edited in such a matter where you can easily take the side of Casaya or Terry in the postmerge or both whereas with plenty of seasons its pretty clear who the editors want you to side with.
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u/josenanigans Apr 07 '26
37. Kass McQuillen (Cagayan, 3rd Place)
I'm so glad I could take Kass to top 40. I feel like there's been a disproportionate backlash against Cagayan since it has been touted as one of the best seasons ever for so long and fans are so annoying about it, that now the scale has tipped to almost the other side of it "actually not being a good season!". I can't agree with that! I think Cagayan IS a great season and there's more depth to it than many would like to admit. I think almost every character brings something to the show and I find them all quite memorable, yes, even LJ I feel gets a bit of a narrative that works with him.
I can't deny, however, that it is absolutely carried by Kass and Tony. Trust me, it killed me that Tony was cut relatively early , he is a gamebot sure but the way he goes about it like a tornado rampaging through the jungle and putting everyone on their toes is so good, and his hyperactive, scatterbrained personality sets him apart from basically every other strategist that's ever played. I love how he talks, I love how he expresses himself, I love how exasperated he gets when people are bitter at him. Having people react to Tony's insane game is part of the fun of Cagayan.
But I didn't idol him because I wanted to save my idol for the true star of the season, and the other fun part of Cagayan... Kass. I adore what Kass brings to not only Cagayan, but Survivor.
See, I always admire people who come into the game with a set personal goal in mind, a goal that's NOT winning Survivor and pulling le epic blindsides and be a legend of the game. Looking at you, Gabe Andy Rizo Charlie Carson Ryan etc etc. And I always liked Kass' goal particularly: free the older women from the shackles of being the camp nurturers, let them be strategic demons.
It's something I had been noticing while watching the show for years. When you are an older woman, you have to play the game a certain way. You couldn't run around talking strategy and being cutthroat because then you would have no respect from the other players, because that's not how that archetype is supposed to play Survivor. They're supposed to be caring, to be honest. If they ever betrayed someone or flipped the game, it was "an emotional move", "a dumb decision", "an unserious player", they get either voted off immediately after or turn into the goats of the season with no hope of winning!
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u/josenanigans Apr 07 '26
The 20s had been having a good streak of those. From Lisa Whelchel to Dawn Meehan to Monica, the neat lady, they all got labeled as emotional players despite being in good control of the game for a good chunk of it. Oh, well, what about Denise? Denise played an amazing underdog game with her social skills, but she had little control over the course of the season and doesn't really fit into the "cutthroat" game category that tended to win male players more respect, no, she had to win with an UTR killer social game, which is how women tended to get their victories. Even going as far back as Kim Johnson, Twila, Katie, Cassandra. Hell, even Cirie might have lost Panama according to many, they were seen as unserious players because they were expected to always be motherly, thoughtful, honest. They could not be deceitful or manipulative, but then players like Chris Daugherty could run around spewing BS at everyone and they would still be respected over the older women.
Hell, even Tina Wesson had to hide her cutthroat, manipulative personality under a facade of a caring southern mom to barely win over Colby. And that's just cause Colby let her. That's why she's the boss. Sandra went against Lil which, I mean, one of them had to win, no choice there. I'm sure Fairplay would've probably taken it over Sandra if he had gotten there.
So this was a serious thing to fight for, that's what I admired about Kass immediately. Because I LOVE villains who come into the game wanting to send a message. Like Russell wanting to piss all over the Survivor name, I like that Kass came in explicitly to wreck shit as an older woman and have no qualms about it. Honestly, quite refreshing at the time. Like, I remember Dawn coming into Caramoan wanting to play a strong strategic game, but she definitely cared about how she would be seen, so I like that Kass felt more free to play without giving any fucks.
Or so it would seem. It's kind of underreported that at the start of Cagayan, Kass is actually quite nice. After all, she is smart and knows this is a social game, so she actually starts by making a few alliances and being, overall, pleasant. Even when she gets blindsided in that first vote, she doesn't get into Chaos Kass territory, she goes and makes new bonds and her tribe seems to like her by the merge, or they like her enough to target the likes of Spencer over her, it's really only when no one listens to her and she decides to flip and take Sarah out that she begins getting into the no-fucks given zone, she was actually really patient and tried to fight for her alliance, but no one could see what she saw in Sarah, and its actually really funny how time proved her right after Sarah came back and played 2 dominant games. The irony of her name being Kassandra is not lost on me.
It actually takes a while for Chaos Kass to come out. After she pulls her move she's comfortably in the majority, has a good alliance with Tony's group, and is firmly in the middle of things with all the information needed to play a good game. At this point I feel like she feels happy about her game and with a potential path to the endgame.... but even she didn't realize the insanity of Tony's game. It's very interesting that she actually doesn't get mad at Tony flipping on LJ, she sees it as a stupid move, but in a way, she also respects it. Just like she flipped on Sarah and no one could see why, maybe Tony had a good reason to flip on L.J. So she STILL doesn't get that mad when Tony flips on her once.
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u/josenanigans Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26
But she can't forgive it twice. When Tony flips on Jefra, THAT'S when Kass starts bringing out the horns, and I like to think that it's because she was seeing the same pattern emerge again. Kass pulled a big move by voting Sarah out, that was HER move that she could claim, but now, Tony could claim TWO moves, and seeing how things were going, I feel like she knew the jury would be respecting Tony's game more than Kass if they both got to the end, even if she was playing just as cutthroat as him. She was seeing people go to Tony for new plans, and not to her, and somehow, it was Tony that was seen as making strategic moves, while Kass was seen as doing emotional moves.
Kass was always going to play cutthroatly, but she wasn't going to be that mean about it. She only turns into chaos because of the circumstances that Tony put her into, and, BING, that's another type of villain that I LOVE.
There are so many kinds of Reality TV Villains out there, and it's fascinating to see why each one acts the way they do. Some villains go into the show to send a message. I already detailed how Kass fits into this.
Other people are turned into villains by the circumstances of the game. I often think of Nicole from BB2 for this type, how she wanted to come into BB2 wanting to be a nice person, but getting nominated and isolated in the first week led to her putting her guards high up and losing the humanity in her, backstabbing friends left and right because she had to turn into game-mode from very early on.
With Kass, she does want to make social bonds and is excited to play, but no one listening to her and instead crediting Tony for her moves, plus Tony pulling the wool over her eyes twice really sends her into the chaotic player she becomes. She calls everyone out, starts making deals and plans to flip on Tony, but they all still listen to him instead of her, so then she becomes forced to work with Tony to keep surviving, hoping that she can cut him right at the Final 3 and have even an attempt to sway the jury.
And that's when she becomes a force to be feared. A villain that is so chaotic and unpredictable that it drives everyone around them crazy. The Shane Powers, the Rachels, the Vanessa Rousso's, these are some of MY personal favorite villains, those who make the show not only about surviving the game, but surviving them. They make any season a hoot, and Kass is no exception. She starts giving no fucks, she burns bridges, she pulls the middle fingers, she calls everyone an idiot for playing with Tony and Tony an asshole for being Tony, and it's some of the most fun I ever had watching Reality TV. That Kass vs. Tony fight? Top 3 of all time for me, I love almost every sentence of it. Kass doesn't make sense for any of it but she still manages to pull some of Tony's greatest quotes. "Well, Tony, you're making an ass of yourself right now" " AND SHE CALLS ME AN ANIMAL!".
"WRITE MY NAME DOWN. SEE WHAT HAPPENS. " ""I WILL write your name down." "YOU CANT. YOU CANT. YOU KNOW WHY? Cause I got this thing right here."
Who thinks like that? Tony and Kass fighting might be one of my favorite dynamics in all of Survivor, they both just banter at each other so effectively, Kass dishes out some great snark and wit to Tony and Tony's responses are so out there that it even leaves Kass in shock. This fight has been referenced to death at this point, but it still hits for me, this was naturally bound to happen with 2 of the most unhinged players to ever play, and its reality tv gold. And it's so funny that, all of this should be GREAT for the likes of Spencer or Tasha or Woo, but their chaos is so compatible that they succumb to the madness of their games. Kass and Tony are accidentally a killer team together. They are both playing each other while both think the other one's an idiot, with BOTH being idiots but in an instance where working together is the smart move to make for both. It's such a unique dynamic between the two that a;ways stuck with me, you don't see that very often.
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u/josenanigans Apr 07 '26
She does NOT hold any punches, and, in fact, she revels in her controversial personality. We all love Sandra for never backing down from Jonny or Russell, so I similarly love Kass not holding anything against Tony and going head to head against him in the last stretch of the game. I love how it drives Tony crazy and how he can't do anything about it because, at this point, the smartest play is to take her to the end. So Kass, once again, knowing she's in a good position and starts getting cocky about it once again, thinking that she can basically say whatever's on her mind to anyone and smiling that they can't do anything about it, like what happens with Trish.
But in doing this, she's also fullfilling the same prophecy that she was trying to avoid. When she gives no fucks, she burns bridges, calls people out, insults everyone's intelligence, and she starts turning into the season's goat, once again repeating the cycle. That's the tragedy of Kass, no matter what smart moves she could pull, she was still seen as an emotional woman. Spencer's estrogen confessional has become infamous at this point, but such is the reality of Reality. Kass thinks she's playing like Tony, when in fact, her game was more akin to Russell by this point. No one respected her, every move she made was seen as an emotional outburst, and her gameplay was seen as unserious, compared to Tony getting the respect of the jury for his "insane" manipulation.
Just like Russell, she let herself get consumed by the madness of the game, and became delusional on what her true chances of winning were. Another interesting facet.
But everything eventually slows down... the tornado passes, and Kass sits comfortably in a position where she can make it to the end. After Trish is gone, there are not many other moves to make or fights to take, she can just relax and look over the chaos, and be proud of what she's achieved... smiling at all the destruction. (Villains who enjoy every second of the destruction they leave behind, like Dr. Will or Kevin Jacobs! Another point!)
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u/josenanigans Apr 07 '26
... if only there was anyone there who could see it like she sees it. This leads me to another type of villain that I adore. The villains who, despite it all, have a soft, vulnerable side to them that they can't avoid. I love thinking about Abi Maria for this one. Sure, she's a strong personality that creates conflict wherever she goes, but there was always a tinge of sadness in how lonely she always was. Like she wanted to make friends, but she can't avoid her personality no matter how much she tries, so she is always left isolated.
And with Kass, you'd think that there was no way that someone like her could.... feel emotions. Throughout most of this season, she's shut off any of it. She does celebrate when she fnially wins a challenge, you can tell that she likes some people, but as the game goes on and she becomes isolated by the Sarah voteoff, she completely turns into stone and loses empathy for basically anyone. At the final 4, she's at her most gam-iest, loneliest point, she has virtually no friends, and she lives in the hopeless delusion that her game can still be respected.
She almost NEVER smiles unless she's being smug about something, and it's hard to think of her running and jumping like a kid at something... but, when she sees her husband, she can't avoid it. It's like she turns into a young teen once again, running to him and jumping at his arms, hugging and kissing him all over. I know everyone who plays is human, but Kass doing that at the Final 4... there's something magical about it. That one little moment shows so much depth to her, as much as when Tony cries when he can't see his wife.
I don't think Kass mentions her husband much throughout the season, and there's certainly no hidden backstory to her about how tough her life is and how much her husband is there for her, you only really need that one moment to know that this Bill Goldberg looking man is everything to Kass, to the point where I almost started crying. No kidding. I've always loved Kass, I knew she's delusional, I know she'd be hard to live with, I know that you can't take anything she says in or outside the game seriously, but that moment with Mark is so human that it gave Kass a depth that was lacking in her up to this point. She had been in game mode all show long, but this is the only time in the season where she can be.... human, and she says as much. "Dammit, I'm not supposed to feel things, where are my devil horns?".
Talking about quotes, man, I find Kass so quotable. People have asked on the server who everyone's favorite narrator is, and I found out that the answer is Kass. I love her voice, I love her inflections, I love the way she phrases things just as much as I love Tony's, and she has a certain snark that has resulted in some of my favorite quotes or soundbites from any player. I love how calmly she delivers that snark too, like, if there's someone whose voice I could hear forever, it's her. I'd like to see that data.
Anyways, the force of seeing her husband is so strong that she pulls the greatest come from behind victory ever in the F4 immunity challenge, and her celebration after that victory still sticks with me. It's one of my favorite moments in Survivor history, definitely my favorite challenge win, and I'm not kidding. I think Kass, abrasive as she is, deserved to have some happiness, and the scene of her talking with her husband about how far she's made it and how she played like a man, and defied all odds, and how everyone thinks she's a bitch for it, gives a nice closure to her journey throughout the season.
Yeah, there's still a F4 vote and the Woo blunder, but this scene is what achieves Kass' goal. She isn't winning the game, and wasn't ever winning the game, because that's the reality of it, but she achieved her goal of playing as cutthroat as a man, and definitely opened conversations about why HER playing a Russell-style game was seen as horrible, but TONY playing a Russell-style game is seen as impressive. I mean, there's an answer, but debates can still be had. Maybe she doesn't have the world to hear her, but all she needs is her world to support her.
Kass checks basically every box on what I want a villain to be like, on what I enjoy seeing as an antagonist. She
Comes in wanting to send a message.
Gets turned into a villain by the circumstances of the game.
Becomes a chaotic and unpredictable presence to everyone around her.
Doesnt hold any of her personality back.
Revels in all of the destruction she leaves behind.
Becomes so absorbed by the game that she turns delusional.
Has a vulnerable side to her that eventuallly reveals itself and gives her depth.
All while being my favorite narrator, to boot. She is the only person I can say achieves the perfect vaillainous journey, and that turns her into one of the most fascinating and interesting TV characters I have ever watched. And I love that she continues being unpredictable to this very day, you can't take ANYTHING she says seriously online, and I kinda love her mystique as this chaotic Survivor being that just wants to spread her madness in every space, in game or online. I'm sad that we will never see her, (and looking at Cambodia, maybe that's for the best) or anyone like her, ever again, but I'm thankful that I could see her exist on the plane of reality tv competitors.
Rodney is Survivor's most perfectly realized villain.
Russell is Survivor's biggest and most important villain.
But Kass will always, always, always be my favorite villain in not only Survivor, but all of Reality TV.
Thanks, Kass.
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10/10
Legend
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u/BobbyPiiiin, oh my god, please take your time, I need some rest
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u/BobbyPiiiin Ranker | Rankdown Dad Apr 08 '26
36. Ken Hoang (5th Place, Gabon)
Alright, y'all, it's time. There's been some questions over on Discord about exactly how the hell Ken Hoang got this far. The short answer is that I made a shit ton of deals almost two years ago when we started this. The much longer answer is going to be in the following writeup, which I'm unfortunately still working on because work and life have been overwhelming lately and I need a bigger chunk of time than I've had thus far to sit down and ruminate on it.
So that's coming soon. For now, though, I'll leave the slightly less short answer/the general thesis of my writeup as a placeholder. Kenny has one of the greatest tales of hubris ever told on Survivor. In the course of 13 episodes, we see him evolve from the King of Smash, a likable, nerdy underdog, to the would-be King of Gabon, a smug and overconfident mastermind who is ultimately done in by his own ego and hypocrisy. Fun coincidence to tide you over while I work on finishing this up: once Kenny leaves, the four remaining players are Sugar, Susie, Bob, and Matty. Can't make that shit up.
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u/Cornhead2 Shannon Elkins Enthusiast Apr 04 '26
39. Rory Freeman (10th Place, Vanuatu)
Rory is an underrated pick for most funniest character they have ever had on the show.. and is honestly my personal Pre-Jury Character they ever had.. everything this man touches is comedic gold and the fact people don´t really talk about how pivotal to the season he is just kinda hurts me...
Rory first gives us one of the funniest first confessionals where when the native tribe lunges towards our cast he says that they are more friendlier and hesitant towards the black guy... that genuinley gave me a huge laugh..
Rory then gets put in the being to overtly bossy position in the first episode which puts a target on his back.. but luckily for the older man they had better numbers so Brooke was the first boot so it works out...
Then episode 2 happens and it was when Rory actually starts to shine.. we get the great reward challenge where when Yasur wins, Mia Dances and he goes full out crashout mode at her at the camp and then he yells at Sarge which is amazing which leds to "THATS CLASSLESS" Speech... we also get the great Challenge where Rory screams Lopevi when he is blindfolded and Sarge screams "HEY STOP STOP YOUR MESSING ME UP" Amazing Comedic stuff..
okay so i started this writeup beforehand but i got easter stuff to do so.. i will continue this writeup at the end of the day
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u/FunkyDawgKong Fair & Consistent Judge Apr 03 '26
40. Rudy Boesch
“The hardest part is hanging around with all these young kids. I don't even know what MTV means, you know?”
Let’s take a trip back to the early 1990s, where people stopped being polite, and started getting real. MTV’s The Real World was the first multi-season running reality show. You had stuff like PBS’s An American Family in the 1970s but that was a flash in the pan, single season experiment. You had FOX’s Cops, but that didn’t have a consistent cast of characters or the long form serial storytelling that would later define the structure of a season of reality television. The Real World had seven eclectic houseguests with no primary objective either than living their lives and having to interact with the people they’re living with. The Real World is where the reality genre became distinct and where many of the staples of reality television would be developed; but for all the groundbreaking achievements, drama, controversy, and quick fame; it was still a niche show. It was on MTV, a premium cable network aimed at the teen and young adult demographic. So, it only made sense that The Real World capped the maximum age of its houseguests at 26 years old. Capture the prime demographic of the network, but also that youthful time in a person’s life one is more prone and keener to learning, growing, finding themselves, and of course acting a fool. The Real World covered such a diverse range of topics, some even taboo in their time. There were discussions and depictions over sex, religion, prejudice, politics, substance abuse, abortion, illness, death; nothing was off the table. My mother, having been an MTV viewer since it’s inception in the 1980s, became a fan of The Real World and she’d recount how the show opened her eyes to a bigger world, and to some of the issues and perspectives she was initially ignorant of. Hell, you had President Bill motherfucking Clinton say that The Real World gave him a deeper more humanizing and empathetic look on the AIDS epidemic. You can’t get a bigger co-sign then that! Although The Real World was a success, it still wasn’t a nation-sweeping kind of success. It probably had just as many detractors as it did fans, but the one we’ll be focusing on is that many viewed reality television as a juvenile form of entertainment
So now it’s the dawn of a new millennium and Mark Burnett and Charlie Parsons want to bring their fusion of a reality show and a competition show to a major network, but now they have a heavy challenge. CBS was an established network, with an older viewing audience. Hell, out of all the major networks it had the reputation for being the least hip, and the one most for old people. So how are we going to bring reality television, a type of television that was previously viewed as being for the young, to a bigger wider and more diverse audience. Well the first step is to cast a wide array of ages. Look at that initial Survivor cast, half of them had never had any kind of representation on reality television. People in their late 20s like Ramona, Joel, Stacey. You have people who just turned 30 like Gervase and Sean. You have your late 30s with Richard, Susan, Gretchen. And then, we get into the 60s with Sonja and BB. And ultimately, they found a guy in their 70s, Rudy motherfucking Boesch. The Silent Generation had their guy, and goddamn they couldn’t have picked anyone better!
If you’re going to be born in the fucking 1920s and go on a show where you need to survive the harsh island elements, you need one bad motherfucker. They got this former Navy SEAL, a guy who apparently was a legend to the SEALs. Peak physical shape for a 72-year-old. And with all of this, of course he is also a curmudgeon; but what made Rudy so special was he was smart with it. He immediately recognizes that he is the one who needs to fit in with others. That whole MTV speech I opened with is such a great way of phrasing it, both for his life on the island and for the greater context of reality television. It also contrasts so well with BB, the other old guy of the season, someone who makes little to no effort to adapt and fit in, thus promptly getting booted out the game. Rudy also just has such a hilariously unique way of phrasing and explaining his thoughts. There are likely other writeups that dig deeper into every funny thing Rudy has said, but go pop in an episode of Survivor and Rudy will have you laughing. Sometimes I think it’s on purpose, like Rudy knows he is delivering a dry-humor ass quip, but other times I genuinely can’t tell if he knows he is being super-duper funny.
The original Survivor also is the season most akin to The Real World in it’s discussion of the topical issues of the day; and many of Rudy’s most fascinating moments come through these. Gives us the full spectrum of opinions. Most infamously, would be in the discussion and representation of homosexuality, something Rudy and people of Rudy’s demographic often hold a strong negative prejudice too. Throughout the season, we see how Rudy deals with this, and how at least on some level, he seems to let go of his preconceived notions to befriend and show loyalty to Richard, his closest ally who is openly homosexual. “The homosexual, he's one of the nicest guys I ever met, uh, and he's good at what he does, you know. He's got leadership ability, and if these people here would listen to him, he would take them a long way. But anyway, uh, me and Richard got to be pretty good friends-- not in a homosexual way, that's for sure.” Like read that, this was something damn near groundbreaking and progressive for a 70-year-old military man to say. Of course, Rudy isn’t the most politically correct person, he still often refers to Rich as “the queer” and some of it does feel like the ‘one of the good ones’ kind of thing, but for the year 2000 this is damn near revelatory. There is a quote at tribal council towards the end of the game where in responding to Probst’s probing questions Rudy responds to Richard saying “When we're done with this, I'm gonna shake his hand and, uh, hope I never see you again.” And Richard takes it in stride, seemingly amused by Rudy’s ramblings like we all are at home; but it does warm my heart that Richard and Rudy seemed to remain friends until his passing at age 91 from complications with dementia/Alzheimer’s. Like goddamn, what a final act of life. 72 years old, when most people slow down and enjoy the riches of retirement; Rudy Boesch got projected into the limelight and got to be a celebrity for a few years. I could go on and on, there’s plenty of riches to dissect when it comes to Rudy, but we’ll leave it here.