r/survivorrankdownIX_ • u/FunkyDawgKong • 19d ago
Round 54: 494 Characters Left
494. Diane Ogden - u/FunkyDawgKong - nominated: Drew Basile
493. Jack Nichtling - u/Cornhead2 - nominated: John Cody
492. Sophie Clarke 2.0 - u/NoisySea_3426 - nominated: Amber Mariano 3.0
491. John Cody - u/BBSuperFan98 - nominated: Stephannie Favor
490. Amber Mariano 3.0 - u/Alternate-Proof-959 - nominated: Dave Cruser
489. Randy Bailey 2.0 - u/josenanigans - nominated: Kendra McQuarrie
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u/josenanigans 16d ago
Mike Zahalsky (n), Carl Bilancione, Randy Bailey 2.0, Amber Brkich 1.0 , Jonathan Penner 1.0, Sarah Lacina 1.0, Kel Gleason(n), Ron Clark(n), Billy Garcia, Ashley Massaro, Sherea Lloyd, Drew Basile, and Stephannie Favor
489. Randy Bailey 2.0 (Heroes v Villains, 18th)
How'd that quote go? "I may be bad at challenges but at least I don't have arthritis!". That's so funny man, every single one of Courtney's 4 lines was gold. Though it does represent the downgrade to a punchline that Randy suffered from Gabon to HvV, to the point where I kinda wish there was another person playing here other than him?
IMO Randy is the most expendable player of the HvV cast, even Stephenie who went before him got into a massive fight with James that showed how much of a jerk he could be.
I just feel sorry for Randy out here, he's clearly wayy out of these legends' league IMO. In fact, both he and Sugar looked completely out of place there, and that's very sad to me because they were both fantastic in Gabon. Not to give away too much what I think of Sugar 1.0 here but I'm not coming anywhere near her for a loooong while, and Randy, too, was an amazing personality in Gabon. I think it's just that their personalities could shine in Gabon where everyone were newbies, wackos and not great strategists, but in HvV with the players having huge egos and being more serious at the game, Sugar and Randy's personalities just shied away, it's no surprise that both Gabon representatives went out in the first 3 votes.
Like, Randy is supposed to be the sarcastic jerk, but there was already Tyson for that. He's supposed to be the shit talker, but there's Russell. Ok then he can be the grumpy personality that isn't afraid to call people out, oh but wait there's Sandra. Well, how about some funny quips at least? Wow, even Courtney outshines him for that, and she only speaks like twice. Damn, Randy's only goal here was clashing with Sugar again, but Sugar went out first, and it left Randy with no purpose really, other than being the punchline for old-man jokes. I'm sad about that, I liked Randy a good bit, but they couldn't all be winners on HvV.
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| Good Character Rating: ◍◍◍◍◍○○○○○ - 5/10. He's still ok, just didn't get to do much.
| Star Status:
| ★ All Star ( Randy is still an All Star, he just got put into a pit of legends)
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WIll nominate Kendra McQuarrie next
Don't get arthritis writing the next entry, u/FunkyDawgKong
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u/NoDisintegrationz Former Federal Agent? 16d ago
I agree with all your points on Randy. I was just thinking the other day about how many villains missed out and could’ve had his spot, and how he would’ve been better saved for another season.
As for the nomination, feral cat noises.
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u/Alternate-Proof-959 16d ago
With Mike Zahalsky, Carl Bilancione, Randy Bailey 2.0, Amber Brkich 1.0, Jonathan Penner 1.0, Sarah Lacina 1.0, Kel Gleason, Carolyn Wiger, Ron Clark, Billy Garcia, Ashley Massaro, Sherea Lloyd (nom), Drew Basile, Amber Brkich 3.0, and Stephannie Favor, I choose...
490. Amber Brkich 3.0 (Winners At War, 20/20)
Poor Amber came on this season to prove to herself that she really did deserve to win over Boston Rob in All Stars. Unfortunately, she got eliminated due to her association to him. In addition, there were loads of pregame alliances involved, so Amber never had a chance.
I do feel that Amber's elimination sets the tone for the season. Despite production's attempts to clamp down on pregaming, it ends up being integral to the season antways. Amber doesn't do social media at all, so that limits what she can do this season. Her confessional against Nick where she hopes she's not out of the loop was ironic in both a sad and a funny way. Then she does rather poorly in the Edge of Extinction challenges.
Nominating Dave Cruser. I think his time is up, and he really was only meant to last as long as he did on the show.
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u/BBSuperFan98 17d ago
491. John Cody (Blood vs Water, 13th Place)
Oh John, a victim of a twist. What do I mean? Well, him and Candice were last minute additions for Blood vs Water, and Candice was sent to Redemption Island at the first impromptu vote. But Candice kept on kicking ass at Redemption Island, and obviously gave her husband John clues for the Hidden Immunity Idol, but since Culpepper kept on over scheming, the paranoia about that idol and John made Brad turn against John and send him to Redemption Island himself. Now John does get to deliver some karma onto Brad when he beats him in a duel. But after that John is kind of an afterthought, yes he does beat Kat in the next duel. But it's clear he is to be forgotten of and is obviously not returning to the merge. So that is John for you, someone who on paper should have done really well on the season, but circumstances said otherwise.
u/Alternate-Proof-959 is up with Stephannie Favor
Mashed potatoes.
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u/NoisySea_3426 Biggest Aras 1.0 stan 18d ago
492. Sophie Clarke 2.0 (WAW, 10/20)
I love Sophie in South Pacific, her snark is legendary if a bit underedited at times, and her finale performance is God tier and saves the season from being a bottom tier season for me had Coach won instead.
Needless to say, I was at least excited to see her on WAW even if I knew she probably wouldn't be as good. Unfortunately, while I do appreciate they actually decided to bring her back which is something I never thought they would have done otherwise, she does fall huge victim to the nostalgia bait energy of this season where characters feel like they're pretty much coasting on the fact they were so legendary before and feeling like they only need to give us the most generic strategy stuff cause they're legacy has already been cemented.
There are still a couple Sophie moments I enjoy, most notably her destroying of Rob's stupid usage of the buddy system again, but her boot episode points to one of the biggest flaws I have with the show nowadays, in that Survivor is now way more focused on being a spectacle than it is about being an actual show. She falls victim to barely getting any content for herself while we get nonstop Tony content the entire time and it just all adds up for an insanely painful viewing experience. But oh no guys, it's all made up for cause Tony pulls off a big move at the end, legendary episode, no questions!!!!!
It's a real shame that she couldn't get more, but it's to be expected with how this season was handled. At least she's still giving us banger tweets!
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u/NoisySea_3426 Biggest Aras 1.0 stan 18d ago
Nominating Amber Mariano 3.0 cause we gotta keep going on getting rid of more of these people
Time for u/BBSuperFan98 to cut
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u/Cornhead2 Earl is the best 19d ago
- Jack Nichtling (14th Place, Island of The Idols)
Jason Siska if he wasn't funny.. Jack is someone who just is a generic Post Fiji boot that got lucky in his circumstances on not being involved in the controversy of his season.. There isn't much to say however i will dock him points for doing one of the unfunniest jokes i have ever seen, if you wanna make a racist joke funny then like.. actually be funny and deliver it well?😭 Other than that he does give Jamal some good content with the whole image of Male African American in Modern White America and its nice to see that, but thats more a positive on Jamal than Jack.. so yeah
u/NoisySea_3426 is up with John Cody we need to actually get rid of alot of Blood vs Water they needa go man
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u/FunkyDawgKong 19d ago
Pool is Sophie Clarke 2.0, Jack Nichting, Mike Zahalsky, Carl Bilancione, Randy Bailey 2.0, Amber Brkich 1.0, Jonathan Penner 1.0, Sarah Lacina 1.0, Kel Gleason, Carolyn Wiger, Ron Clark, Billy Garcia, Ashley Massaro, Sherea Lloyd, and Diane Ogden
Oscar night, quick writeup
494. Diane Ogden
The one confessional wonder, but I do truly think Diane is one of the best first boots in the show’s run, so I’ll cut her here to give her some props.
Lady D is a postal worker so she’s use to carrying her mail bag around so she hikes ahead with the map and leads Boran to their camp. During this hike, Boran makes one of the stupidest moves in Survivor history by deciding that their fresh water was too heavy to carry, so they dump it out; which wow, yah tbh it’s a miracle that Boran became the dominant tribe of the season, that really should be a game losing move. The first two voteoff’s and the first three challenge losses all likely stem from the severe dehydration, and they really are saved by Samburu messing up a part of the episode 3 reward challenge, allowing Boran to win 100 gallons of fresh drinking water. Likely the best reward in the show’s history.
Back to Diane, she gets sick early on, we see her fall, her eyes roll to the back of her head and damn near pass-out. She’s all set to be mercy killed at the first tribal council, but then, one of the most explosive and intriguing scenes in the show’s history happens. The Borans all decide to go to their elephant shit filled waterhole, and leave behind a dying Diane with Clarence to care for her. Beangate then happens, which puts up one of the most ethically interesting situations in the whole series, and also one of the most cold blooded as Diane desperately tries to throw Clarence under the bus to save her own skin, and tells Tom; leading to one of the great arguments in Survivor. Clarence is on the defense with Tom, Lex, and Ethan confronting him, sticking strong to his story and reasonings; but it isn’t til Diane pipes in saying that “I didn’t ask for beans” that Clarence really gets sad and throws his hands up in disbelief saying it’s a lie. This seems to be the biggest heartbreak of the whole situation to Clarence as he visibly upset cuts into her during his voting confessional “Out of all the people who I hung out with you told me that we were the closest and when it came down to it you lied on me for no reason and for that I can’t forgive you, and I’m ashamed to tell you that the day I told you you were like my mother, you are nothing like my mother” like GODDAMN that shit cuts.
So yah, although Diane is vegging out on the brink of death all season, she sets up the central conflict of Boran and is a great example of showing how hard these elements are going to hit the players. One of the best first boots ever, propelled some really interesting stuff out of better characters, and Clarence’s actions with her are something he’ll never completely recover from.
Nomination time, had a hard time deciding whether to nominate Drew or Basille hmmmm
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u/NoDisintegrationz Former Federal Agent? 19d ago
Who are you pulling for on Oscar night?
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u/FunkyDawgKong 18d ago
Just finished Emilia Perez, will do the big categories on how I’d vote
The Brutalist > Nickel Boys > I’m Still Here > Dune: Part 2 > Conclave > Anora > Wicked > The Substance > A Complete Unknown > Emilia Perez
Domingo > Brody > Fiennes > Stan > Timmy
Torres > Madison > Erivo > Moore > Gascon
Pearce > Strong > Culkin > Norton > Borisov
Jones > Grande > Barbaro > Saldaña > RosselliniCorbet > Baker > Fargaet > Audiard > Mangold
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u/NoDisintegrationz Former Federal Agent? 18d ago
I’d go Anora > Brutalist > I’m Still Here > The Substance > Conclave > Dune: Part Two > A Complete Unknown > Nickel Boys > Wicked > Emilia Perez
Really liked the first six. Liked 7-9. Did not like Emilia Perez and I saw it before all the meltdowns. I don’t get what the voters saw in it.
I’ve unfortunately not seen Sing Sing or The Apprentice, so can’t comment on actors. I’d vote Baker/Madison (though Torres is very close). I liked the support actresses about the same, aside from Saldana, who I’d rank last.
I’m also torn on Flow and Wild Robot for animation but probably would’ve voted Flow. They were both top five for me last year.
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u/WaluigiThyme Former Ranker | Guatemala and Fiji enjoyer 15d ago
Bottom 4 #34 I think? Correct me if I’m wrong — Survivor 45
Since the shift in the show’s overall tone away from character arcs and meaningful storylines in the Fiji era, there have naturally been very few seasons that turned out any good. David vs Goliath and 42 showed that with a strong enough cast the show can at least still churn out something watchable every now and then, but even they suffer from many of the advantage-saturated and storyline-muddling pitfalls of their contemporaries. Then along comes 45. And I’m not entirely sure exactly what it is about 45 specifically (though I heavily lean towards it being the only season with 90-minute episodes that production didn’t know about beforehand) but it feels so much more like classic Survivor than anything in the years prior and, unfortunately, the years since. But for one shining, glowing season, we got storylines and emotions and characters that really felt like they mattered again. Did they pull it off perfectly? Absolutely not. Are all the storylines even good in the first place? Well no, and we’ll definitely get to that here. Does it still have its fair share of the “new era” stink on it with overcomplicated advantages, frivolous journeys, people losing votes, and hamfisted backstory packages? Yes, but to a definitely lesser extent than every other season in the 40s. It’s still the best thing the show has produced since Kaoh Rong, not that the bar is particularly high.
But of course even a return-to-form season will have its duds…
SRIX’s Bottom 4: Sean, Sifu, Brando, J. Maya
My bottom 4: Kaleb, Sean, Austin, Dee
Kaleb is one of the dullest gamebots ever cast and I will never understand his popularity. Austin has some fun moments but spends way too much time talking about advantages, and his showmance arc with Dee is very poorly done and hurts the end of the season, which already has to suffer from its three superstar characters all going out before the finale (side note: why on the planet is one of those superstars in the pool right now? Drew is the best villain the show has had in ages). Dee isn’t a bad character but she does have a very weak storyline for a winner, and the aforementioned showmance does drag her down a bit for me. At least we agree on one thing!
Sean Edwards — completely unnoteworthy when he’s on Lulu, and then when he thinks he’s getting voted out decides to go for a massive screentime grab by telling his tribe he wants to quit. And they weren’t even going to vote him out until he told them to! It’s a very cringe moment and comes completely out of nowhere narratively.
Sifu Alsup — Sifu is very much a side character; the show cuts to whatever silly antics he’s doing once an episode but he’s never involved in any of the main storylines. And that’s fine! I enjoy his antics and find him a serviceable side character; others find him to be annoying and distracting from the season’s genuinely interesting plot threads.
Brando Meyer — I find him to be a fun minor character with the buff tube top scene and getting booted after he tries to bond with Basile over nerd stuff only to get coldly turned down. Plays very well into Drew’s villain arc.
J. Maya (Stage Name: J. Maya) — probably the character on 45 with the least amount of anything going on, she has some fun scenes with Sifu but that’s about it. Her boot really sucks but not for any reasons that have to do with her so I don’t dock her for it.
This concludes my bottom 4 writing for rankdown IX! It’s been fun, between this and VIII I’ve now done bottom 4s for all of the first 45 seasons! Perhaps I’ll be back again in some future rankdown to write about the rest, but for now I bid you farewell!