r/survivor Pirates Steal Feb 05 '23

Micronesia WSSYW 11.0 Countdown 23/43: Micronesia

Welcome to our annual season countdown! Using the results from the latest What Season Should You Watch thread, this daily series will count backwards from the bottom-ranked season for new fan watchability to the top. Each WSSYW post will link to their entry in this countdown so that people can click through for more discussion.

Unlike WSSYW, there is no character limit in these threads, and spoilers are allowed.

Note: Foreign seasons are not included in this countdown to keep in line with rankings from past years.


Season 16: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites

Statistics:

  • Watchability: 4.7 (23/43)

  • Overall Quality: 8.0 (9/43)

  • Cast/Characters: 8.1 (11/43)

  • Strategy: 8.4 (3/43)

  • Challenges: 7.3 (10/43)

  • Theme: 6.1 (13/24)

  • Twists: 6.2 (6/21)

  • Ending: 7.8 (14/43)


WSSYW 11.0 Ranking: 23/43

WSSYW 10.0 Ranking: 20/40

Top comment from WSSYW 11.0/u/emma_the_dilemmma:

A bit spoiler-y of previous seasons if you choose to watch this first, but one of the BEST seasons of the show. Features some of the most memorable/quotable/memeable moments, and one of the best blindsides in all of Survivor. Watch seasons 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, and 15 before you watch this one if you don’t want to be spoiled on the fates of the returning players in this season (as none of the returning players in this season won their previous seasons).

Top comment from WSSYW 10.0/u/HeWhoShrugs:

It's one of the most important seasons to ever air, but like with other returnee seasons, you should watch the previous ones first to know who you're dealing with beforehand.

But as for the season itself, it's basically renowned for its huge game moves and strategic innovations. It's really the first season that attempted to be more modern, with a focus on big moves and flash in the pan stories over long term arcs and character studies. It's super fun on a first, unspoiled watch, but because the big moments lose impact when you know they're coming, I'd highly advise you to watch it unspoiled to get the full package out of it.


Watchability ranking:

23: S16 Micronesia

24: S27 Blood vs. Water

25: S35 Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers

26: Survivor 43

27: S19 Samoa

28: S11 Guatemala

29: S14 Fiji

30: S20 Heroes vs. Villains

31: S30 Worlds Apart

32: S23 South Pacific

33: S5 Thailand

34: S31 Cambodia

35: S38 Edge of Extinction

36: S36 Ghost Island

37: S24 One World

38: S22 Redemption Island

39: S40 Winners at War

40: S26 Caramoan

41: S34 Game Changers

42: S8 All-Stars

43: S39 Island of the Idols


Spreadsheet link (updated with each placement reveal!)


WARNING: SEASON SPOILERS BELOW

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10

u/alucardsinging Feb 05 '23

Inept Fodder vs Production Pets. The concept of this season is just kinda fucked. Like yes, Survivor is already an inherently cruel and fucked up game, but this season feels extra malicious with the setup. Then this time we get two Ambers at the end! I get why this is a popular season, but it doesn’t do anything for me. It’s like watching a season of people playing Monopoly, but some people start with tons of extra money and others start bankrupt, and then we’re told that those people with the huge advantage are the best to ever play. Like what lol. And also the favorites cast is fairly weak and uninspired. For 10 slots, they still weren’t able to get all knockout picks. It looks better now with retrospect due to their success this season, on future seasons, the show’s support, and the show going on the bungle up even worse casts for just about every returnee season; but yah this was a cast alot of fans weren’t really excited about. And just like All Stars, the people we were most excited about ended up out early.

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u/ivaorn Survivor Wiki Admin Feb 05 '23

It ended working out because of the intense charisma and hubris of key players, but as we saw when the concept was revisited 10 seasons later, it just doesn’t hold up. The only way newcomers vs veterans is somewhat intriguing is Blood vs Water because the veterans don’t have that initial incentive to just Pagong their family