Butterfly85

Yeah, the aftershow was boring and the only part of the finale I didn't like. I liked the two hour finale by itself like I said though lol. It was always refreshing to see the F2 or 3 all cleaned up when they used to read the votes live (One of the rare things I don't miss) but I also liked the live reunion show cause everyone got to watch the season and could reflect on things over the past few months. It was also nice to see EVERYONE come back, now the people that leave before the jury don't even get a voice or a chance to reflect on things either.

Alexa

True. I just miss the old survivor in general lol.

B ē ｔｔ ⓨ

I miss a live audience after show when Sia would gift her favourite player money. And the public could vote on a secondary prize for something or other,

Butterfly85

I agree with you again, I've always said I just miss how Survivor was before the pandemic. With more days, not having 76537486574367 twists, no dumb F4 fire making challenge, and a live reunion show. I also miss Ponderosa, I don't get why they stopped showing that as well. I loved seeing someone from the jury get voted off and they went there to eat and see how people react when they get there. It sucks they're just being lazy and forcing these changes even though they are unpopular with most Survivor fans.

DigificWriter

The most likely reason for the cessation of Ponderosa videos is an incident involving the Survivor 42 Jury.

Not going to get more specific than that because the intimate details are no longer publicly accessible.

Edit: Speculation about the motive for details about the situation no longer being publicly available, and slight specifics about the nature of said situation, have been removed in the interest of sensitivity and discretion.

Butterfly85

What!!! I never heard that, I wonder what the hell happened involving that.

DigificWriter

There's no way to explicitly confirm the exact cause of CBS no longer releasing Ponderosa videos, but the incident I referred to is a suspected culprit.

Moving on to other things, I'm now in the post-merge portion of Survivor Thailand and still can't figure out, based solely on the edit, why received fan wisdom has labeled the season as bad and its cast as unlikable/horrible.

There hasn't been any real evident or obvious strategy* present, but that's to be expected because the strategic evolution of the game doesn't happen until subsequent seasons.

* I wouldn't personally consider 'pagonging' to be strategic in and of itself (due to the fact that it is encouraged by the inherent nature of the game of Survivor as structured), although it certainly has been - and continues to be - utilized strategically.

B ē ｔｔ ⓨ

There is some detail in this article about Ponderosa being nixed but again nothing is confirmed as fact.

Always & Forever

While I'm disappointed Carson didn't win, I'm not terribly upset about the winner. He was a very likeable person & was a better winner than last season...

While Heidi beating Carson at fire in record time was an awesome feat, wouldn't it have made it even more incredible if she had challenged herself to take out Yam Yam or Carolyn who were better at making fire? If it was a puzzle making challenge, put yourself up against Carson to try to beat the best? But putting herself up against someone who's not very good at it doesn't seem like a challenge...

That's disappointing about Ponderosa. Who knows what the real reasoning behind them not showing it is. Hopefully, one day, they'll bring it back again!

Speaking of things coming back...
Medevaced Survivor player Bruce Perreault returning for Survivor 45

And Carolyn's a little bitter. Can't say I blame her.
Carolyn Wiger was 'shocked as hell' and 'hurt' to not get any Survivor jury votes

Butterfly85

If that is the reason they stopped doing Ponderosa, I think it's wrong they completely stopped doing it for the other seasons when it was possibly that ONE incident. I hope they bring it back, I miss seeing the interactions after people are voted out. I felt so bad for Bruce this season, so I'm glad he will be brought back. I hope he lasts longer this time. I agree with Carolyn, like I said I think it's ridiculous she didn't at least get one vote after the excellent game she played SMH.

Always & Forever

I saw on Twitter while reading through the Survivor hashtag and someone pointed out that the last 4 seasons, all the votes were 7-1-0. I've been saying since they've done a final 3 that the 3rd person being there is so pointless.

DigificWriter

^ The Jury ultimately votes how they want, even when the game itself indicates that they should've made different decisions, as was the case with 44.

I finished Survivor Thailand earlier today and, for a first-time watch, I found it very enjoyable despite the prevailing opinion amongst the Survivor fan community that it's a horrible season with a bad cast and a bad winner..

I did spend much of the season having very little opinion on almost half the cast, but that may be because I gravitated almost immediately to players like Brian, Clay, Helen, Jan, Jake, Penny, and Shii Ann - whom I recognized from having previously seen her on Survivor All-Stars - and let my affinity for them blind me to the rest of the players.

I do need to retract a harsh comment that I believe I made here regarding Ghandia; I criticized her for causing her own exit from the game by overplaying her upset feelings towards Ted, but after now having watched the season in its entirety, my opinion on that has softened slightly due to the way she addressed the situation at the Reunion.

I also want to criticize Ted and Ken for their line of questioning at the FTC, which had nothing whatsoever to do with Brian and Clay's gameplay as shown and was furthermore based completely on hearsay, thereby making it unfair.

I also find it unfair that Jeff has apparently criticized Brian's gameplay as "sleazy" and used that criticism as justification for effectively blacklisting him while simultaneously fawning over the gameplay of people like Russell Hantz, whom I personally consider to be a far worse person, speaking strictly within the context of the game of Survivor itself, than Brian was,at any point during the 39 days he (Brian) spent on the show.

B ē ｔｔ ⓨ

I agree. I think there should be a final two and have that be it.

Alexa

a final 2 makes it more exciting imo and it makes it more of a battle and one vs the other. With three they have to like spread out the questions etc....

I wish they would do an old school survivor with the old rules and no hidden idols!

Butterfly85

Me too, I always wished for that but we all know it will never happen. Survivor was much better in the earlier years when it was more about the social game and surviving, not constant forced and crazy ass twists.