The cast of Survivor: Caramoan
When Jeff Probst announced that the next season of Survivor would be in the style of “Fans vs. Favorites”, I got excited.
After all, Survivor: Micronesia, the original Fans vs. Faves, was what I consider to be the best season of Survivor ever. It featured a great cast, with fantastic strategic players like Parvati, Yao-Man, Cirie and Penner, as well as physical threats like James, Ozzy and, well, Parvati. These new favorites? They don’t quite live up to those standards.
In fact, so many of the returning players made boneheaded mistakes or exited the game early that John Cochran actually told EW.com that he worried the theme of the season would be “Dunce Island”. I do in fact like some of these players, but I wouldn’tnecessarily call them “favorites”. Let’s run through the list of who’s coming back.
Andrea Boehlke
Survivor: Redemption Island – 13th castaway voted out
I enjoyed Andrea on Redemption Island, and she was clearly the smartest of that pack of young girls who played in the shadow of Boston Rob. In fact, her biggest downfall was Matt, so it will be interesting to see her play again. She could do very well. I just hope she doesn’t fall for Malcolm – do you think she has a thing for guys with long hair?
Brandon Hantz
Survivor: South Pacific – 15th castaway voted out
This is one of the players I was less excited to see return. I don’t need to see anyone from the Hantz family on TV again, and there was nothing about Brandon’s manic, bizarre style of play that I could appreciate. I hope the other players realize what a loose cannon he is and vote him out quickly.
Brenda Lowe
Survivor: Nicaragua – 11th castaway voted out
I was surprised to read that Brenda is 30 years old, because she looks very young. She doesn’t act young, though – Brenda had a cunning, strategic mind when she played. I always felt her greatest flaw was ego, and if she can keep that in check this season she has a chance of going far.
Corinne Kaplan
Survivor: Gabon – 12th castaway voted out
Oh, Corinne. There are reality TV show villains, and then there are downright horrible people. I don’t know Corinne, but if I had to guess I’d say she’s the latter. I love a girl with a snarky edge, but her cruel words to Sugar during the final tribal council of Gabon were just plain despicable. If she can tone down the meanness and stay funny, she might not be so awful to watch. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the bully to Cochran’s nerd.
Dawn Meehan
Survivor: South Pacific – 11th castaway voted off
I’m thrilled to see Dawn back. She was someone who really improved during her first time out there, and I hope she can stay tough this season. I can see her aligning with some other underdogs like Cochran, Francesca, Brandon and Phillip.
Erik Reichenbach
Survivor: Micronesia – 13th castaway voted out/6th Jury Member
This one is very interesting. Erik was a big fan of the show, and then from what I understand he stopped watching Survivor after he finally got to play. I don’t know if it was bitterness over being fooled and publicly humiliated, that being on the show eliminated any intrigue or glamor it had, or that he just has a life to live. Probably a combination of all those things. I do wonder why he’s agreed to play again, though. If it’s for fame or a career boost (he’s a comic book artist), then he’ll fizzle like Colby did. But if he still loves the game and has learned from his boyish mistake (he is older now) he could do really well.
Francesca Hogi
Survivor: Redemption Island – 1st castaway voted out
Is Francesca the first player to return after being voted out first? I’m actually really on board with this casting choice. Francesca had a great personality in her pre-game interviews last time she played, she was funny in the three days she was on the island, and I enjoy her online presence. She’s a fan of the game who never got to live up to her potential. Hopefully she’s learned from making a bad first-day alliance.
John Cochran
Survivor: South Pacific – 13th castaway voted out
Cochran made a few mistakes when he played last time, but you can’t deny that the kid is smart. If he’s learned anything from his mistakes, this will go better for him. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if he were the first person voted off his tribe.
Malcolm Freberg
Survivor: Philippines – 15th castaway voted off
Malcolm is a dark horse. He’s young and fit, and his tribe will need him. Only Erik, if he’s as athletic and fit as he was last time, will be able to perform as well in challenges. (Since Malcolm filmed these back to back, hopefully he wasn’t too exhausted and starved to still play well.) But no one has seen him play, which means he’s both a threat and lacks the friendships other players bring into he game. I think his likable personality and physical fitness will get him to the merge, but after that he’ll have an uphill battle.
Phillip Sheppard
Survivor: Redemption Island – Placed second (receiving one vote) in the final three
I mean, really? Must we? I don’t need to see Phillip play again, unless he returns with an entirely different persona. But he won’t.
I haven’t watched any videos from the new players yet, so my opinions on them are limited. Considering these people are “fans”, I noticed a lot of recent players mentioned when they were asked to name a former player they’re most like. That’s not always the best sign. But I’m reserving judgment until I know more.
What do you guys think of the cast of returning players? Any early favorites?
Ugh I’m really hoping the casting of Phillip and Brandon only happened so that there were obvious choices to vote out first.
I’m not excited to see Malcolm back already, and I was surprised to see anyone back from Redemption Island or South Pacific, although I am intrigued by Francesca, since I liked her during her short stay last time. I’m excited by the casting of Brenda and Corinne, but everyone else is just eh to me. Although Probst did say he thought this season was better than the Philippines, so I’m still hopeful, even though I wouldn’t call many of these people favourites…
Even though the favourites are already known is there any chance of a fantasy-casting blog post? I’d love to hear your thoughts
Hi Jill. As before, I agree with your assessment and think your criticisms are…let’s say, more polite than mine. I mean, these people are the favorites?? Brandon? “Benedict Arnold” Cochran?? The nasty bully Phillip??? These are definitely some of my least favorite players ever. And, I’m still upset at Malcolm for turning against Denise and bashing her at tribal. Thankfully, the female contigent is much better, and though to be honest I usually lean towards my fellow men, I may be hoping to see a strong female alliance in this one. My early favorites are Dawn and Andrea.
I mean, a big part of why the post Heroes vs. Villains sucked was the cast, so from the beginning I wasn’t expecting to see any prodigies return. However, it could have been so much worse. Remember the racist, spoiled, annoying gay dude from the One World season? I was legitimately worried they would ask him to return.
I’m most excited to see Francesca and Malcolm return. I was absolutely devastated when Francesca was voted out first because, like you said, she seemed to have an awesome personality. And Malcolm… well, I still think the only flaw Survivor: Philippines had was that Malcolm and Denise weren’t both awarded the title.
I’m also rather excited to see Corrine return. I agree 100% about her comments towards Sugar, but I think (well, hope) she won’t go to those lengths again.
As for Brandon and Phillip… ugh. I’m so very annoyed with those two. It’s just so blatantly obvious that the producers are in love with Russell and since they couldn’t bring him back they went with the next ‘best’ thing. There CANNOT be only five or six of us who can’t stand these 2 guys, so it’s frustrating they brought him back in spite of that, just for the ratings. As for Phillip… if he’ll be evacuated during the first five minutes, it wouldn’t be too soon.
Oh, also. Speaking of the new players and who they identified with, Michael picked Cirie and Rob Cesternino. I think that’s a good enough reason to pick him as an early favorite.
You can bet that I’m excited for Survivor: Caramoan! I don’t really care about who the returning players are, I just can’t wait to watch another season of this wonderful show – this time from the beginning!
Speaking about returning players, I’ll do a little analysis of the names, as far as I can. I don’t really know Corinne or Brenda, because I never got fully involved with the seasons they were in. Erik, I think he got into because he wants to prove he’s not as dumb as we might think after the whole “giving immunity to the women’s alliance” thing. I’m going to agree with you when you say that you’re happy to see Francesca again, because I think she was a little screwed in her season. It will be interesting to see how Andrea and Phillip will play, now that they don’t have the cover of Boston Rob. It will be interesting to see if Phillip would be saner than the last time he played, too – sadly he probably won’t.
Cochran is an interesting character. He made the dumb choice of jumping alliance last time – but in my opinion he really hadn’t another choice. He is very smart and I think if he manage to survive the first few Tribal Councils then he could pull off a great game. Dawn is another interesting character who I want to last. Malcolm…well, we probably know everything about his gameplay – his tribemates, however, don’t know him and probably won’t trust him after what happened with Russell Hantz during Heroes vs Villains.
I’m quite curious about Brandon Hantz. Yes, he’s a time bomb on the brink of exploding; yes, he’s a kind-of Christian fondamentalist who listed Jesus Christ (twice!) as his inspiration in life (nothing bad about that, I am Christian as well, but still…); but I am curious to see if he learned from his mistakes during South Pacific. I read an interview where he said that he’s quite changed after playing Survivor – his divorce (yes, he divorced) made him realize some things about his relationship with God and his behaviour in life, with his sons and with other people. I want to believe him and I hope his tribemates will give her a chance.
Very underwhelming cast. Looks like it was put together for entertainment/drama purposes rather than gameplay purposes. A large number of these contestants could blow up at any minute and there is also a redemption aspect for many characters – Brandon, Erik, Francesca. Look for Malcolm to go far again. Definitely potential for the Fans to control the pre-tribe switch challenges.
I think Phillip and Brandon are interesting choices and certainly worth bringing back. It will be interesting to see how Brandon can survive when he’s not being carried around by Coach, and I’m sorry, but Phillip was fantastic! Even if they weren’t great players, they were great characters that evoked a reaction.
Francesca though…that’s an interesting choice. Both because she was voted out first, and because I want to see if Phillip can get her name right this time.
PHILLIP IS GOING TO WIN IT BABY!!!!!!
People should look back at the last Fans vs. Favorites. How many of you seriously were jumping hoops that Parvati was brought back for that season? She was attractive in Cook Islands, and that was it because all she did was flirt. Now she’s considered one of the best players ever.
You had other players like James who was voted out with two idols and Cirie who really didn’t do a whole lot in Panama. The cast of Micronesia was definitely more glamorous than this cast, but there wasn’t any knock the ball out of the park picks. A lot of that cast made a name for themselves in Micronesia. So give these favorites a chance.
Have let this sink in for a couple weeks. I think I’d be a lot more enthused about this cast if they hadn’t called this season “Fans vs Favourites”. In what way are the majority of these people “favourites”? Like seriously. Brandon? Francesca? Philip? Corrine? Though I do enjoy Corrine and Francesca from a hilarity stand point, but in no way would I call them favourites. Barring us hard core fans, who even knows who they are? But anyhow, if they’d just left it random returning players that gobbled up airtime in their seasons but put it more eloquently, I think it would sit a lot better with me. The only one that makes me particularly rage-y is Brandon. Why? Just… why? Why are they doing this to us? What does he bring to the table at all? If he had a different last name, he’d be long forgotten.
On the plus, excited to see Erik R (not going to attempt to spell his last name) again. He was pretty lovable in his original season and I always thought it was a travesty he wasn’t brought back sooner. Ditto his fellow season-mate Natalie Bolton. Vast oversight never bringing her back too.
Trying to reserve judgement until we get into the season though. I will still actively hate Brandon and wish him ill will, and cringe at Philip because he grates on my nerves to no possible end, but trying to be positive. Amazing season, COME AT ME.
Probst has said that they are trying to breed a new crop of All Stars. They chose people from recent seasons (though Micronesia and Gabon are not really recent) who have not won. But if you look back at recent seasons, who was really memorable? One World had no one as did Samoa. Redemption Island had a ton of zombies and Philippines, as good as that season was, really didn’t have a terrible amount of “stand out” characters, especially from females.
I wonder why they did not bring back Stephen from Tocantins or Kenny from Gabon. Even Natalie — she wasn’t made for TV but she was a part of that power alliance. Those are the only few I can think about who stood out that we have not seen come back.
I really do think the Favorites will give us good TV. A lot of them know each other in real life and you have the feud between Francesca and Phillip (which should be amazing seeing them together again). Probst has said this season is better than Philippines, so I’m excited for it.
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