Introducing The Survivor Time Trip

[00:00:08] Hey everybody, what's going on? Rob Cesternino back here talking a little Survivor Off-Season and I'm back here with my Survivor Off-Season partner in crime. Give it up for Mike Bloom! Great Scott Pollard, Rob! Okay, yes, we have to go back! We've got a DeLorean on hand, I did not realize the propaganda.

[00:00:31] It's a Lego DeLorean and it was gifted to me by my children who love building Legos for Father's Day. And here's, got a Doc Brown and Marty McFly are in the Lego DeLorean and we're going through time and we're doing a new off-season podcast that Mike and I have been talking. We're calling it The Survivor Time Trip.

[00:00:59] Yes, because certain terms and themes are not copyrighted. But listen, it's also within the CBS family. Look, for the uninitiated, we know at this moment at least one Survivor alum is playing Big Brother this summer. I think at the point that this is out, we'll know too. Yes, so we're taking it back, you know? Survivor is going to be a central point of Big Brother, but we're going to be talking some Survivor as well. We'll be doing our own time trip, especially Rob, in celebration of a completed 50 seasons.

[00:01:28] Milestone for the show you and I love so dearly. I think much like we were able to do briefly at the beginning of the year, there's plenty more Survivor episodes that we can explore alongside some special guests. Yeah, I mean, actually, we're closing in. We're 26 years. We're not that far off from the actual amount of time that Marty McFly went back to go visit his dad in high school. That's true.

[00:01:53] It would actually be, you could do a Back to the Future from like, we're only four years away from if you went back to the Survivor Borneo. That would be a full-on Back to the Future. Adam, what's your, that's your name, right? Adam Klein. It's on your underwear. Yeah. So here's the premise for what we want to do. And we just finished the Survivor co-wrong rewatch.

[00:02:17] And if you didn't, co-effing wrong, if you didn't catch any of that, we had a really great podcast, Chappell and I, at the end of it, where Julia Sokolowski joined us to talk about the Survivor co-wrong finale. And so it was a really fun format to be rewatching an episode of a show and have somebody involved with it. So we thought it might be fun. And in this time trip season on CBS reality, where Jeff Probst himself is showing up on Big Brother and Survivor's are on Big Brother.

[00:02:44] What if we did our own time trip where we go back, we take your suggestions. What would be some fun episodes of Survivor to go back and watch and bring back somebody who was involved in that episode? We've watched old episodes of Survivor before. But what if we rewatched a fun episode of Survivor and talked with a person who was there for it?

[00:03:09] I think that's the key difference here, because, look, I can imagine people feeling like, didn't y'all just do this six years ago? And in a manner of speaking, yes. But I think the key thing to point out here, Rob, is that we're going with some eyewitness testimony as well. We're speaking with the historical figures as they were living through those moments in Survivor history.

[00:03:31] Yeah, when you talk about six years ago, we did a wand off through time after season 40 where we invited people to send in wand offs after famous episodes from Survivor history. And that was fun. But I think it might be really fun to get some stories from people who were there for certain moments. And so I really want this to be something that the audience helps us with.

[00:03:55] And that's why we are making this podcast introducing, because what we would love to have people do is in the comment section, tell us whether it's on Patreon or YouTube comments, write in and tell us what episode you would like to hear us talk about. And if you're so interested, then tell us some people that you might want to hear from and we'll do our best.

[00:04:22] Yeah, I think some of the best pitches we can receive, right, Rob, are like the package deals of like, here's the episode I'm suggesting and here's someone, whether it be pie in the sky or more of a grounded suggestion that you can bring in to talk about that episode. But I think if you just tell us, tell us the episode, then we'll try to see with our vast Rolodex between Mike and myself and the entire Rob has a podcast machine.

[00:04:47] We'll reach out and we'll see who we might be able to get to talk about your favorite episodes of Survivor. And look, there have been over 725 episodes as I've been able to count as the Pelican Peep flies. And so there's a lot to choose from. I think we had said beforehand that like a lot of things are fair game.

[00:05:09] I think really the only exception is something like Eric giving up the necklace, which has been talked about by so many different people until the cows, not the Pagong women, come home. And so that's something that I don't think we necessarily want to revisit.

[00:05:24] But basically everything else is fair game. I guess if you're looking for like general criteria, I think, you know, we're looking at some fun dips into nostalgia, maybe some looks at some iconic moves or maybe some of like your favorite B-side Survivor episodes, right? These like niche episodes that don't get talked about a lot in terms of the annals of Survivor history or, you know, iconic moments that we want to pay some homage to.

[00:05:49] Yeah. So I think that we are very much open to hearing your suggestions and we think it could be things that are whatever would be the most fun to talk about. Ideally, yeah, probably maybe not things like from the last year. Also, I think we want to go back a little into the archive, but listen, shoot your shot. Let us know what you think. If you want to make a pitch of like, can you relitigate the hourglass episode of 41? If you're able to present an argument, we may bring it to the court of appeals.

[00:06:19] Yeah. OK, so that's what we are going to be doing. And so let us know what you think and we'll then get to work on our end of putting together some fun episodes of the podcast. I think we're open to maybe even more than one guest if we found some people that were willing. So let's see. Yeah, I mean, I think you're, you know, Tiffany and Hunter episode that you did for a recap back then, even Hunter and Tevin.

[00:06:42] And these like double, double dipping in terms of guests sometimes can be a lot of fun having them interact with one another. So, again, this is a very open concept as we're designing this podcast. It was just an opportunity for Rob and I to have some fun talking about many, many different versions, seasons, players across Survivor, hopefully with said players as well. OK, Mike, we also just got done with the five part series talking about the group. Who's the GOAT?

[00:07:12] Who's the greatest of all time when it comes to Survivors? We we had a vote. We allowed the listeners to weigh in. In the hands of the fans. In the hands of the fans. And we did get some conclusive results. Fairly conclusive, I would say. Definitively so. Yes. OK. So at at press time, we had over 800 people voted for who is the GOAT. Now, that's nearly the amount of Survivor episodes that have ever in existence so far. Yes.

[00:07:43] OK. We could tell you. With six point zero six percent of the vote. Casey Kasem, you want to count us down? But number five in terms of your voting was none other than Boston Rob. The vote voting audience did not think Boston Rob was the GOAT. The lower case G GOAT of the uppercase G GOATs.

[00:08:07] I was surprised that this person came in fourth place with eight point seven nine percent of the vote. Sandra Diaz Twine. Yeah, that is interesting. You know, I certainly if we're sort of going in order here, full disclosure, I think that I might put Sandra at four in my own personal rankings. But obviously she is not only a two time winner, but the first two time winner.

[00:08:32] I thought you put forward some really great arguments as to how her play style is one of the most replicable across really any Survivor season. But I do think that some of the the drawbacks of weaknesses that I brought up, as well as people in the comments, may have won out at the end of the day. In third place, this. I don't know. I guess that may be a surprise to me. Sari, 10.15 percent of the vote. Well, how much was Sandra again? Eight point seven nine. Oh, boy.

[00:09:02] Don't tell Sandra. Yeah, I mean, I am both surprised and not surprised by this. Again, I probably would have a Sari ranked number two, number three in my book, because even though she's the only person here to not win, let alone not make a final tribal council. I think, again, you made some really great arguments about how just the general body of work is so incredibly impressive, especially for someone who has played six times. I mean, compared to someone like Boston Rob, who has played five times and has much more up and down placements.

[00:09:32] It's sensational. And look, you also have to imagine the fact that as depending on the criteria that anyone utilizes, this is a largely popular vote at the end of the day. And as Sari has one hundred thousand dollars to prove as of late, she is quite the popular player. Popular player. OK, then in second place with 15.84 percent of the vote is Tony Flachos. Yeah, I mean, I had a feeling these were going to be the top two.

[00:09:59] I think going into Australia versus the world, there was a lot of consensus talk that they felt like Tony was the goat. And then I've seen a large amount of people say like, but then poverty came into Australia versus the world and took that title back. And so the results do not surprise me in the least. Maybe the percentage of votes allocated surprised me, considering that it seemed like at least in the comments in these podcasts, a little bit more of a back and forth. But it was quite the runaway, quite the runaway.

[00:10:28] And so I was not surprised at the outcome. I think I was a little surprised by the margin of victory, because as you should be able to know by now that the survivor goat as voted by you in the hands of the fans is poverty shallow with 59.16 percent of the vote. So that's not even a plurality. That's an outright majority of a pool of five different people. Yeah. Add everybody else together and they don't even beat out poverty. So a real consensus winner of who is the goat?

[00:10:57] And the answer is poverty. I mean, listen, people certainly have their sticking points with the Australian survivor of it all. Should it count? Should it not count? But perhaps, again, the appeal of what poverty was able to bring to especially her second and third season overwhelms that. Or, again, it comes could come from the fact that she is mother. She has had this big resurgence onto the scene that I don't think anyone except for Sari has had in the 2020s. And so she's very much been in the public eye as well.

[00:11:27] I'm intrigued to hear from you, Rob. Do you doing this series of the needle move for you at all? I know you had said, especially on the poverty episode, that she was your goat going through all these different points with all these players. Did your list change at all? No, but I think that my logic around it, I think, has become a little bit more solidified. Just in terms of, like, the other folks, I think that you can find a hole in their game.

[00:11:54] Sari and Sandra, they can't win a challenge when they need to. Tony, you know, he is likable but can be, like, a little rough around the edges. And Boston Rob, it's sort of like his way or the highway. I think that Parvati is the one that when we look at the three facets of the game in terms of having the strategic wherewithal, being able to win challenges, and then having this incredible social game,

[00:12:21] I think that Parvati is the one that is rather unimpeachable on all three. And so while you could say, like, okay, maybe that there might have been times where she didn't play perfectly, I just think that she's the most well-rounded of the three. She has two championships. She has three finals appearances. And I think that she is just the person that the total body of work just supports the argument of being the GOAT more so than anybody else.

[00:12:47] Yeah, she is, oddly enough, the Jill of all trades, but kind of the master of all of them at the same time. You know, she is, as you mentioned, skilled in so many different areas. Social, strategic, physical, even like the idols and advantages category, too. I mean, after the Tony podcast, I'll admit, I was thinking about putting him number one, just because maybe I was sort of high on my own supply of, like, talking up his game, that I think what he has been able to do, especially in Winners at War.

[00:13:16] Like, Winners at War might be, I think, the single most impressive performance out of all five of these players across all the seasons that they did. But, again, I talked about how my logic was always valuing consistency in both performance and skill set, and that leaves Parvati as number one. I think the math changed for me the most in switching Sandra and Sarai. I think I had just gone with, like, the bottom line. All right, two-time winners are ranked one, two, and three, and maybe it's a little bit of a spicy take.

[00:13:44] I guess not, considering that the audience agreed as well. But I personally think, and I love Sandra, and I love what she brings to the show, and I think her gameplay is excellent. But I think I find myself more impressed with what Sarai has been able to consistently bring in terms of next-level gameplay, and also simultaneously as well.

[00:14:04] Again, this is not criteria that everyone's going to utilize, but I think the points that you made last time about her legacy and the narrative that she's been able to bring to a lot of people and resonate as, in my opinion, perhaps the most popular Survivor player of all time. Spirit of Survivor. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I think that Sandra and Sarai are just very interesting because they have many things that are similar.

[00:14:26] I think that one of the things that I think I was really also taken from was that Sarai just gets what she wants more than Sandra does, which is interesting. And I think that, I do think that Sandra has evolved to be a little bit more in that mold of Sarai.

[00:14:46] Like, I really feel like that she was cooking in a way in Winners at War, where it just, like, that one thing with Denise ended up not going, but I think that she has really ended up becoming more Sarai-like in her gameplay style over the years. But I think that Sarai just has this track record of just, like, more often than not, what Sarai wants happens.

[00:15:09] Yeah. And I think that's actually a really fun point that I didn't even realize, that I think luck has not worked out in Sandra's favor over the course of her last three seasons. Again, you could take or leave how much her boot in Winners at War was her fault, but, like, getting swap-screwed essentially twice in her last three seasons. We talk about, you know, if the hammer's ever going to swing back in Sarai's direction, you know, from the survivor gods, but that hammers back towards Sandra as well in her last few times out.

[00:15:37] Do you have, like, a number six through ten at all, Rob, that you have handy? So I think that Kim Spradlin is somebody who I think that we probably, you know, should have maybe considered more. I think that the problem is that she has the one really deep run. I think she comes in eighth place in Winners at War, but I would love to see Kim play a third time.

[00:16:01] I think that Kim is somebody who I think is on that poverty level of being able to be so talented in all three facets of the game. I think that she did have weaker competition in Survivor One World, and she did a pretty good job in Winners at War, but I think that people were very worried about Kim, so I do think that she's somebody worth revisiting. I think that Tyson is also such a talented player in the game.

[00:16:29] He is somebody who you would never want to bet against and somebody who is also just, like, such a triple threat. Yeah, I mean, I think—maybe this is a little bit of a hot take—my number six would be Sarah Lucina. Oh, interesting. Because I think that—I mean, I still say to this day that I think her performance in Game Changers is one of the most impressive post-merge performances I have ever seen.

[00:16:55] I mean, again, you go back and forth in terms of weaker competition, but, like, what she was able to do and what she was able to showcase in terms of having, like, firsthand power, making these relationships and weaponizing them into cutthroat strategic maneuvers and still winning for it, I think is sublime. And also, let's bring up the fact that, like, she arguably was a fire-making win away from being a two-time winner in her own right as well.

[00:17:19] And she also ran into, you know, a low-probability outcome, I think, in Kageyan, even in her first season, where she was probably—she overplayed her hand, ultimately, and, you know, was maybe in a favorable position at the time that she ends up going out there. So, I do think that the Game Changers one is interesting. I had been lobbying for Game Changers to be the one that we did re-watch.

[00:17:48] I know, obviously, there's an elephant in the room with everything with Zeke and Varner, but I do think that it would be an interesting season to go back and watch. And maybe for the 10-year anniversary of Game Changers, maybe there's, like, a little bit more. I know—it's just, like, that people—it's such a bummer, the Zeke and Varner. But I do think that there's so many things from that season that I would love to really go back and do a deep dive on.

[00:18:12] Well, yeah, I think, you know, it's interesting, too—and I speak about this as a survivor historian—about the idea of, like, going back to the seasons that people kind of cumulatively write off as, like, because of these one or two bad moments happening. Like, throw it all out. It's a trash season. But, like, Game Changers, I think at the time, obviously, before that episode hits, there was a lot of talk about how much they loved that pre-merge as much as it might have led to a devastating outcome. And the post-merge, again, was very frenetic and all over the place.

[00:18:42] But I also wonder now, in, like, the modern-day mindset, if it's easier to keep track of it. Because I remember, like, the logic at the time was, like, we don't know who's in an alliance with who. But I remember sort of thinking through Game Changers for the Saree podcast. I think there was more of a straightforward narrative than we might remember, especially compared to even something like Survivor 50, where it seems like we truly had no idea what was going on. Yeah, so we'll see. Maybe that's one to revisit along the way.

[00:19:06] Probably not in this series, but maybe if there's an episode from Game Changers here, it might be actually a good way to do it, to bring it all back around. Can we get Malcolm on for the infamous double boot? Maybe. Maybe, you know, maybe if not Malcolm, maybe somebody else that was there. Yeah, I mean, I'd love to hear Ty Trang talk about him playing that idol at Sierra Don Thomas. But yeah, I think that if we're going to some other 6 through 10 players, I think Jeremy is an interesting one.

[00:19:31] Because I think that Jeremy had, I think, obviously, Cambodia was an incredibly impressive performance for him. But even, like, winners at war, I think he had a very atypical game for him in playing from the bottom and what he was able to show. I think there's a case to be made for Michelle Fitzgerald. Sure. Considering what she's been able to do, go two for two in final tribal councils and do it almost like Sandra style from a position where she doesn't really hold any power, I think is incredibly impressive as well. Yeah. All right.

[00:20:01] Well, you all have your marching orders. Let us know in the comments. Where do you want to see us go as we go on our Survivor time trip and find out who's coming with us to go in the time machine? Yes, I am thrilled. Do we have enough plutonium, Rob? Do we have to go to the- I think we're in the Mr. Fusion, you know, this Lego set. So it was actually, my kid had asked me, Dad, do you want it to be a hovercraft and have Mr. Fusion on the back or old school?

[00:20:29] I told them, give me the wheels, give me the wheels and the plutonium on the Lego set. Listen, we don't have to rob the Libyans or the Libys from Ghost Island. I think we have plenty of the tank here. All right, Mike, what else are you working on these days? Big brother, big brother, big brother. I mean, again, if you're a Survivor fan or if you're not and you somehow made it through that premiere of big brother, we are all along for that ride.

[00:20:52] So, of course, you can check out everything I've got going on with Parade, usually Exit Press, but maybe some miscellaneous stuff here and there talking with the people on screen and behind the scenes of what is sure going to be an absolute whirlwind this summer. And I'm thrilled, Rob, to have a little bit of like a Survivor sidecar going on here as well. All right. Thank you so much for joining us here for this introduction to the Survivor time trip. Congratulations to Parvati, the greatest of all time, and we look forward to going on a fun ride with you.

[00:21:21] Take care of a good one. Bye.