As a whole, the season wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. I think going into it with low expectations ultimately made the whole thing a bit more satisfying. There were moments I would rather forget, like the whole Richard/Sue situation, and the boot order isn't as desirable as it could have been. But generally I kinda liked it, dare I say.
The Chapera tribe is what ruined the All-Star experience for me. Saboga wasn't that enjoyable either, but the elitism and continuous success of Chapera is potentially the downfall of this season. Mogo Mogo was my favourite tribe in terms of interest (especially because of Richard :love:)
In terms of ranking the cast, I would say
Shii Ann
Richard
Jerri
Jenna. L
Ethan
Jenna. M
Rob. M
Amber
Rudy
Colby
Kathy
Sue
Rob. C
Tina
Lex
Alicia
Rupert
Tom
I actually grew to like Amber & Rob during the merge, but wasn't so fond of them at the beginning of the game which explains my mixed feelings towards them. In a way I'm glad it was those two in the final tribal council, only because it brought a really entertaining one. Like, I dislike Tom & Alicia but these moments were stellar:
Alicia: How would you describe your game in one word?
Rob: *mumbles* competitively *mumbles*
Alicia: 'scuse me?!
Rob: COM-petitively
-Tom goes to shake Rob's hand-
-Rob holds out his hand-
-Tom backs away-
Tom: Don't be stupid, stupid!!
Like, I h8!! really h8 Tom! But I've been saying that line all day :joker: and it probably makes it even more amusing that Rob got back at him at the reunion :love:
Jenna Lewis was amazing to start off with, definitely the shining star of Saboga imho. But then fell slightly when she joined Chapera. She was still a nice presence to watch, but I swear the Chapera tribe could kill anybody's likability. Her disdain for Shii Ann was also slightly off-putting, but their utr feud was quite enjoyable to watch.
Rupert was really dissapointing after his Pearl Island appearance, probably the biggest dissapointment of them all. His righteousness did not come across well this season at all, and when he wasn't being annoyingly arrogant he was just a mere background character with nothing to him. Not impressed.
Tom is awful, and nothing really needs to be added to that. Apart from the fact that his son is just as awful, and his name is literally 'body odour'.
Shii Ann is a goddess, plain and simple. Her immunity win at f7 is probably my favourite moment of the entire season. And the quote "*scoffs*Stupid people*scoffs* STUPID people, lemme say that again. Stupid players!" is amazing :love: + I think she loved Richard Hatch just as much as I did, and her hatemances with Alicia/Jerri/Jenna.L were all brilliant.
Alicia sucks in All-Stars, like I feel as if I could ironically like her, but she is just so unlikeable it's hard to do that. I kinda appreciate her hothead moments, but they rarely happen and she just makes herself look stupid with them. And then 3/4 of the time she's just a background character with nothing to her at all.
Kathy was a let down this season. I LOVED Marquesas Kathy, so it was sad to not like her as much this time around. Although I have to say, her jury speech did ~touch~ me.
Lex is an idiot, and I'm glad he called out at the reunion.
Jerri was okay to begin with, but it was sad to see her so bottled up. I was happy to see the really Jerri return when Saboga was disbanded :flutter: I just love that she has the ability to run people up the wrong way so easily, even though she's literally harmless :laugh: & her reunion speech was on point :flutter:
Ethan was really, really likeable, and I know that's like his thing but I actually like CP/scheming Ethan mixed with his likeable personality.
Colby redeemed himself from his initial season, where I wasn't fond of him at all. But then ruined things by going against Hatch :( and then in his boot episode went totally bitchy against the females.
Sue :( I actually loved her awkwardness within the Chapera tribe. She was the only redeeming factor to making Chapera somewhat bearable. But then it turned dark :( & it's sad that Sue went through what she did, but it's just soooo set apart from the game I just was happy that she was able to get away from it.
Richard :flutter: he is the epitome of all-star, and I am so glad his appearance on All-Stars did not hinder my opinion of him (apart from the Sue incident, which was an inexcusable action), his second appearance made me love/appreciate him even more. It's so rare that someone's arrogance can translate to charm, butmRichard does it so easily. And I love that he's a 'gay stud' & 'The Provider', he really is my all-time favourite Survivor thus far. + he was amazing even in his last few minutes of the game..."I've been bamboozled!", "good on y'all -whacks Colby on the back-", "Food, food, food:dance::dance:" :joker:
Rob. C was a non-factor this time around, which is a shame because I like him as a character. But he was already getting wind blown up his ass for the way he played first time around...he didn't need a successful all-star position to make his head even bigger.
Jenna. M :( her All-Star story is so sad, and I do not think she made a mistake by coming out to play. I can't imagine all of the thoughts running through her head. On one hand her mother is dying at home, but on the other she's received a big compliment by being invited to play a game that provided so much...and a game that her mother was happy to see her play.
Rudy's two-episode arc was good. And I have respect for him to come out and play at the age he did.
Tina is meh.
