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[00:00:59] Hi everybody and welcome to the Survivor 50 wishlist podcast, the offseason series where we are picking who could and should come back for a future season of Survivor 50's coming right around the corner. We're trying to find out who from the Pearl Islands
[00:01:34] especially will jump off that ship and land on the schooner that is Survivor 50. My name is Mike Bloom here to talk about one of my favorite seasons of the show, if not reality TV.
[00:01:46] One of the rare Survivor seasons on Netflix. A huge season for the history of the show. But who from it will represent Pearl Islands to make the council of Survivor 50 players?
[00:01:58] That is up for me and my guest today to decide who we both are cosplaying as sort of Rupert or Rupert adjacent topics. I am of course dressed up as so much rot and death in the form of this shirt. But this guy truly committed to the bit.
[00:02:11] So excited to welcome Survivor 43 finalist himself, Owen Knight. Hey there. What's up, Mike? Good to see you. And yeah, I wore my jorts as well because my denim was rubbing my thighs. But I won't show the YouTube viewers that. That's that's just for you.
[00:02:25] Is that a Chris Christie hasty original? Did she like, I'll tailor that for you. I was wondering how quick we'd get the voice. Amazing. Faster than I expected. I mean, yeah, we'll get more voice of Chris to hasty on this podcast
[00:02:38] and they will actually giving voice to Chris to hasty being on Survivor 50. If we're being honest. Probably so. Probably so. But yeah, I'm flattered you asked me to join the series. And this is definitely one of my personal favorites.
[00:02:50] It's one I always recommend to my friends when they're starting to watch Survivor for the first time. And obviously it coming on Netflix has been huge for the accessibility of that. I don't have to convince people to buy Paramount Plus anymore. So, yeah, it's a it's a fave.
[00:03:02] I rewatched the premiere the other day just to get back in the pirate spirit and excited to talk about this cast. I mean, I was going to say you could convince people to watch it on Paramount Plus or in the theming of the season.
[00:03:14] Perhaps they could seek out more illegal means. But yeah, Pearl Islands, I mean, especially when we're looking at this through the lens, especially you as a new era player of no themes here, we have maybe the most commitment to a theme in Survivor history
[00:03:28] and not even from like a game theme. This is surely aesthetic. It is all about pirates from the very beginning to them firing cannons at a ship, lighting the torches of their fallen comrades ablaze. So I think maybe 43 is the spiritual successor to season seven
[00:03:45] and that you did have that giant kraken on your logo. We sure did. We had that giant octopus, nice little nautical iconography there. But yeah, this theme is sick just from the jump. The tribe names, the immunity idol, the individual immunity. Necklace, the cutlass thing they had.
[00:04:02] Oh my God. It's just amazing. This killer across the board. And yeah, I mean, from the jump, I mean, the the original I'm not original, but yeah, the marooning in the style where, you know, they just had the clothes on their back.
[00:04:15] It was just such a an amazing premiere. One of my favorite premiere episodes ever, certainly. And then the scramble in the village, all this amazing stuff. And the edit of the premiere was way more balanced than I had remembered.
[00:04:27] It had been a couple of years since I watched that. And you do get to know a lot of the people. So I'm excited to talk through them. Well, I'm trying to remember because I do recall, was it an extended premiere or did they go 60 minutes?
[00:04:39] I can't remember. I watched it on the app, so I didn't take note of how long it took. But it did feel it did not feel rushed. I'll tell you that it felt like it was pretty fleshed out.
[00:04:49] I imagine it was probably extended just given how much they did just between getting off the boat, running through the village and all that. So, yeah, although the strategy was pretty quick, the scramble after was pretty quick. Yeah. So listen, people nowadays are talking about Drake versus Kendrick.
[00:05:07] I'm back here saying Drake versus Morgan. That's my original beef. There you go. There you go. So we're going to talk about this cast specifically through the lens, as per usual, of who would come back on a season at 50.
[00:05:20] But of course, you know, I have spoken with Rob, whose spoiler alert is on the ballot for this. But oh, and this is one of the only few times since then that I've talked with somebody who is a former survivor player.
[00:05:32] I'm just going to be a straight shooter here. Let me get you on the record. If you were to get an offer for Survivor 50, would you want to do it? Be serious, Mike. Come on. I just want your formal opinion on it, because like we might get
[00:05:45] some people who might not necessarily agree to that. Yeah, no, I 100% would. I mean, I'm not holding my breath. I'm certainly hopeful and would love. Well, no, you held your breath and that's how you won last gasp. I am good at holding my breath.
[00:05:59] So try not to get ahead of myself. And I understand like with the theme, whatever they do, if it's all new era, if it's a second chance, if it's old versus new, whatever. Like I know I was not I did not play an all star caliber
[00:06:10] kind of game in my first season. But, you know, I think I have something left in the tank. So holding out hope and not holding my breath. By the way, I did check the Survivor Proudly's premiere was indeed 90 minutes. So perhaps a precursor to what would come
[00:06:24] basically 20 years later from Survivor Pearl Island. And let us speak about this group that, to your point, was abandoned in the villages of Panama over 20 years ago, who captured our corazones all those years ago.
[00:06:38] And we're going to start as per usual with our top two and work our way down. And we're going to start with a big in here because Survivor Pearl Island cemented a few legacy characters in the history of Survivor.
[00:06:53] And we're going to start with someone that arguably is one of the biggest, the only two time female winner in the show's history for a brief period of time. The only two time winner. Some believe she's part of the Mount Rushmore of a survivor.
[00:07:06] And in fact, they built a giant ass statue of her at one point. We got to talk about Sandra. We could talk about Lil as well, because the pure concept of her playing Survivor again is amazing. But Sandra, it's Sandra.
[00:07:22] I mean, oh, and talk to me about this. What are the chances that Sandra ends up coming out to a Survivor 50? I think pretty slim if I had to venture a guess. I think they would kick the tires, but I don't know.
[00:07:35] I feel like I don't know if this is a hot take or not. I don't know. I just feel like she had her story has been told. I don't know. I feel like with her choosing to leave Edge of Extinction,
[00:07:46] I know she felt she had no chance of getting back into the game. But to me, at least the like arc of the story and the way it all went felt much like the closing of a book. And I mean, what a beautiful book it was.
[00:07:58] Like she's such a legend. And it kind of melts my brain that she and I were around the same age when we played the first time and just to see how masterfully she was able to do it and still win, even though she did get an argument.
[00:08:10] She was a villain, like incredible, incredible player. I've been fortunate enough to meet her a couple of times in real life. And she she just makes you feel like the most important person in the room.
[00:08:21] Like she really has something about her that is just magnetic and draws you to her. And of course, like it would be amazing to have her back. I'm not saying I don't want her back. Don't get me wrong on that.
[00:08:31] I just I and I haven't obviously asked her about this, but I just feel like to me it felt like, you know, a little bit of closure at the end of 40. Yeah, so that's a really interesting point.
[00:08:42] And we've talked about this with a couple of old school castaways as well that. Yeah. So Sandra wins Pearl Islands, wins Heroes versus Villains. And people might think she's like two and done after that going out on top. She does choose to come back for Game Changers,
[00:08:55] which is even wilder in retrospect, considering that winners of war would make sense. She's amongst all winners. Instead, she says, yeah, I am going to walk in as one of only two winners on Game Changers as the only two time winner in Survivor history.
[00:09:08] Then she does come back for I'm to the idols and then parlays that into winners that were where, like you said, she gets blindsided in this glorious fashion with her own idol, basically in the double tribal council and then just says, nope.
[00:09:21] To the edge, continuing her streak of no appearances on the jury. Then she takes a trip to Australia. She decides to play alongside her daughter or against against, I think her daughter Nina briefly alongside for a portion of time. She is voted out then.
[00:09:40] So when it comes to like what survivor of a stranger ever want to play a game of Survivor again, I wouldn't say it's necessarily out of the cards, because again, I think it's sort of the quote that Boston Roth has given as well
[00:09:51] of like, if you give me the right theme, I might do it to your point. She was obviously asked about this during her time on the traders, which is sort of what she parlayed into after hopping off of Survivor
[00:10:03] and did say that like she would have to think about it, which is surprising, considering that I think leading into and perhaps out of winners at war, I would say that the two questions Sandra Diaz
[00:10:15] Twine asked when asked to be on a reality show is a how much do I get paid? And B, yes. But I think that maybe it's the amount of times that she's done it. Perhaps it's this idea of like I have done everything.
[00:10:28] She did give it some pause. She didn't mention that she felt the Survivor challenges were getting harder. And look, Sandra was never particularly a challenge beast, even though she did argue with John that she swam better than him during the marooning.
[00:10:43] But I think that for her, she does fear a bit of the physical limitations of things that I do wonder if getting to get a taste of how the other half lives in a castle in Scotland where, yeah,
[00:10:54] maybe you are doing some ridiculous things, but by and large, you're just kind of kicking your feet up and relaxing for a few weeks at a time. Does that make the island experience pale in comparison? Yeah, you got to wonder if it would.
[00:11:08] The grass is greener over there. I got to imagine and a lot of respect. Yeah, very, very well kept that lawn. And yeah, that was a team of landscapers. Yeah, that that buffet was pretty swanky. Looked really comfortable. I don't know.
[00:11:21] I wouldn't want to speculate on how she feels, but I do wonder how much of going to Australian Survivor had to do with giving Nina the opportunity to play? You know, I wonder if they had asked her to appear alone like Russell did
[00:11:34] on on champions versus contenders, like if she would have done that. You know, you got to you got to imagine Nina's opportunity to do it was a huge part of the decision making there. But yeah, I mean, she's she's such a legend. We'd love to see her back.
[00:11:47] But fifth time would be I mean, it's not unheard of, obviously, but that would be that would be a lot. Yeah, I will. Obviously, we'll talk about this later on when we determine our shortlist. I don't know. Maybe it's wishful thinking.
[00:11:57] I'm not completely out of it because she also did mention in the same interview, which I believe was with Dalton that she like if it was a special theme for 50, right, sort of like how I would imagine the name Game Changers
[00:12:10] kind of brought her on board to the concept. If it was Survivor 50 Legends or Titans or et cetera. I don't know. I would imagine there's a part in Sandra's head that is like, are you really going to do a season called Legends and not have me on it?
[00:12:26] Mm hmm. That's a really good point. And I don't know how much you've gotten into this on the other episodes, but then that begs the question if they're calling it Legends, like how do you even distribute that or how do you determine a one time player
[00:12:38] is a legend already? You know, you got to think of the people like Jesse, obviously, or Omer obviously the winners in the new era. But, you know, it's it'll be interesting because there's there's a lot of people clamoring for
[00:12:51] I think a second chance would be and obviously I'm a little biased there because I don't I would never say I'm a legend. But, you know, you think of someone like Caleb or something like does he fit into the same kind of theme as a Sandra?
[00:13:04] I don't know. It's tough. All right. Well, let's talk about her final two partner here. Now there is a snowball's chance in hell that little enters the game for a second time, let alone wearing a scout uniform, which they'd force her into, I think, for for another time.
[00:13:19] But could you just imagine, Owen, like imagine her going to on a journey like a lot of Jelinski and being like, you told me you had the pen. Why didn't you? Are you lied to me? That was not very scowtly of you. Yeah, exactly.
[00:13:35] Remember when you told me ahead of time that you were going to play knowledge is power. Oh, my God. It writes itself. It's not going to happen. So it's purely fiction. We can dream, though. Oh, my God. This is this is killing me already.
[00:13:49] Just thinking about all the possibilities could go down. Oh, yeah. Imagine like they win the fishing kid after being starving for so long and like little immediately loses the hooks again and starts crying about it.
[00:14:00] Shoots the Hawaiian sling into the ocean and there's no Rupert to dig it back up. Exactly. Oh, it would be so incredible. But no, no, I think those legend maintains. Plus, you could argue if you're going with second chances, you already technically had one.
[00:14:15] Here's a question for you. Do you know if it's like canon that she was voted back in because the other prejurors didn't want to hang out with her? Or is that just kind of like an urban legend?
[00:14:24] Yeah, I believe that's like a very fun, if true, cheeky type of rumor that was spread probably around the era of Survivor Socks. I think if you look, if you look at the people that voted for her,
[00:14:35] like Skinny Ryan voted for her, I think like Michelle threw a vote on tour. I mean, it wasn't incredibly scattered of vote to bring back. Hardenburton got three, maybe four votes. Yeah, so it was three to three to two to two to one to one,
[00:14:49] which feels like a mergatory vote. So, yeah, yeah, little got votes from Trish Skinny Ryan and Nicole. So right. Skinny Ryan and Nicole, she was on a tribe with. So that makes sense. And then Trish, I don't know, maybe they bonded over being older women in the cast.
[00:15:02] I'm not entirely sure. So it wasn't like a resounding, oh my God, we all have to vote her on. It seemed like more so it was a select few people that are going to put her on and blaze a trail as a result here.
[00:15:15] She was, you know, I wouldn't say nearly the person to become the first returnee to win a season. Chris Underwood would obviously pick up that torch much, much later on, but still obviously plays an incredibly key role in this wild post-merge of a season.
[00:15:31] Oh my gosh. So many swings, so many blindsides. I all the power shifts were incredible. And this is why I love the season so much. Like it's certainly the furthest thing from a begonging. And so and the whole revenge arc with Savage. Oh my goodness.
[00:15:45] Like that must have been so, so sweet for her. But yeah, I mean, a survivor seems to have an aversion to casting people of a certain age bracket as well. So me thinks it's probably not going to happen.
[00:15:56] Yeah, she would be 72, which was the age Rudy was in Borneo. So, oh man, that makes you feel feel some way. Goodness gracious. This has been a very nice check of my own life signs over the course of these exploring these old seasons in particular.
[00:16:11] Well, let's keep going and talk about this jury. And there's a number of highlights here. I'm going to work our way from the bottom up in order of the with the order they were eliminated. We have, of course, Rino, the lover of animals.
[00:16:24] Rupert, we will certainly talk about him to want to what you talk about. That premiere certainly made her impact with Give Me My Money. Money. We have the aforementioned Krista. We have another two time player in a manner of speaking in Burton,
[00:16:39] the mortician Dara and the first and the and the person we need to start with in Johnny Fairplay. One of the most notorious villains in survivor history. Obviously, his reputation precedes itself. Dead grandma just celebrated its 20th birthday here.
[00:16:55] I do believe she may still be alive and kicking. Actually, Johnny Fairplay had a run in House of Villains recently and obviously came back from Micronesia. And there has been a lot of scuttlebutt since then over the years as to Johnny Fairplay is blacklisted from the show.
[00:17:14] Jeff, Jeff Probst hates Johnny Fairplay. He never wants to have him back. He quit Micronesia, so he hates him even more. And look, there are some true statements within these stories. Johnny Fairplay apparently did get into a very heated argument
[00:17:28] with Jeff Probst's brother at the Vanuatu finale, which caused Jeff Probst to say, like, if I had in my way, this man would never be back on the show. It is true that Jeff Probst was overruled in that casting for Micronesia to put Johnny Fairplay on.
[00:17:42] It is true. Johnny Fairplay chose to leave Micronesia, though it was not for the reason that was shown. It was because and this is a sentence that you can never imagine exists. But it is true because of the injury he sustained
[00:17:56] while trying to tackle Danny Bonaduce at the reality TV awards. He was in pain and apparently was like denying medication for it. And so decides to leave the game because he re aggravated it when Yao Man hit his head against the boat. Another chat GPT sentence.
[00:18:09] All that is to say for what it's worth and look, should I be taking Johnny Fairplay at his word? I'm not sure. But the quote Dara John lies, but sometimes he tells the truth, too. And as of three years ago, Johnny Fairplay has gone on the record
[00:18:25] multiple times to say that he was actually contacted for 40 when there was allegations of it being a rival scheme and that he says that him and Jeff and production are on good terms now. I mean, if they're they're smart, they should try to,
[00:18:43] you know, put that water under the bridge. I mean, he is such an electric character, just so over the top playing the role so incredibly well. And yeah, I mean, I'd be interested to see what he would do,
[00:18:55] although I think it's more likely we'll see him on an international version given how much he's been hanging out with George lately. That wouldn't surprise me that he has some relationships down under. But I mean, it's just so much time has passed.
[00:19:09] It would be interesting to see what he would be like. And I've had a couple of personal interactions with him online. Not as friendly in person, perfectly friendly. And I think there is obviously an element of him like playing the part and leaning into the villain persona,
[00:19:22] leaning into the fair play character. Like that's a big part of the stick. And it works. It's great TV. I mean, I remember the dead grandma lie happening, watching it live. And it was just like it was unbelievable, just like even as like a child.
[00:19:36] It was like and all anyone could talk about and just how like, you know, what a rapscallion he was. And it was it was perfect for the season. And I would have loved. I mean, it's weird to think like when you think of the history of the show
[00:19:47] that he wasn't on Heroes versus Villains, you know, as one of the most iconic villains ever. So depending on the theme, it could make a lot of sense. And yeah, I mean, honestly, that makes me happy to think that production
[00:19:58] him have had conversations over the years and have tried to patch things up. But yeah, who's who's to say? I would put it in the unlikely category, but you never know. Yeah. I mean, a couple of points on that first when it comes to that narrative
[00:20:10] appeal, I do agree with you that what's interesting about Johnny Fairplay is the reason why it was portrayed, at least why he left Micronesia, which is since he was on his last season, he has now had two daughters
[00:20:23] and he really has become someone who, you know, would fight for his family. It's really interesting that here comes this self-proclaimed sleazeball on Pearl Island willing to do it, anything he wanted to just to get his own paycheck and maybe make a name for himself.
[00:20:39] And if he would come back now, he's someone who is legitimately going to do anything that he wants. But now it's like to actually win money for other people, which is such an interesting narrative arc on paper.
[00:20:51] I will say, oh, and did you watch House of Villains at all? I did not. So I will say Johnny Fairplay was different in House of Villains. He was actually a bit emotional. I think Johnny Bananas actually said that Fairplay looked like he was having a
[00:21:07] reality TV villain midlife crisis where he was actually pretty emotional, you know, when he felt like he would make mistakes like he. Johnny Bananas, I believe, also said that it seemed like Fairplay's strategy as a villain was like to make everyone feel sorry for him,
[00:21:22] which I guess speaks to the dead grandma of it all, and that he was much more of someone that was trying to play to others emotions, but it never really came across as manipulative as much as it did like, oh, you're really in your feels right now.
[00:21:34] And then he delivered like this really angry speech to the final two in the end. So Fairplay kind of seemed all over the place and House of Villains that does make me wonder, and perhaps for not the best reasons how he would do in a survivor setting again.
[00:21:50] Yeah, that's interesting. I admit that that was a really good summary. That makes me wish I had watched. And that that kind of does seem in line with what I've picked up from him is that there actually is like a pretty nice person in there somewhere.
[00:22:03] And there's just like this, you know, the character he's playing. And it is it is kind of funny to me that there's two guys in their 40s named John, who have fake last names, who are just like going into like into battle against each other.
[00:22:14] It's like, what are we doing? But yeah, that's interesting to hear. And I wondered, though, if like you were saying, that takes off the shine a little bit to see is like, oh, like this isn't as fun.
[00:22:25] Like if he's not having as good of a time, like I wonder if that would translate as well on a current season and if like the viewers would like be conflicted or confused on how to like take it all in.
[00:22:37] Yeah, I guess the other thing that I would want to add to that is what you mentioned before, which is this large specter of the speculation of there being an Australian survivor versus U.S. season featuring returnees from both franchises. Now, Johnny Fairplay, big fan of Australian survivor.
[00:22:55] He like caught, I think, Heroes versus Villains, then started watching a couple of other seasons and then was holding a bunch of events with George. To your point for both the Australian survivor season and the recent season of Survivor 46.
[00:23:07] I mean, to your point, it's tough to get inside of this man's blonde Afro head. But what do you think if he was given the offer to do a U versus U.S. or Survivor 50? Which one do you think he would take?
[00:23:21] Hmm. I mean, logistically, probably 50, like the prize pools, probably much larger, maybe an appearance fee for someone like him and probably less time away from his kids as well. So that would seem like a more attractive option. But then you take into what he said about Australian survivor
[00:23:40] versus what he thinks of like new rinky dink, you know, junior's new era survivor. You know, I think personally he might enjoy Australian better. So that's that's tough to say. I could never proclaim to get into that man's psyche.
[00:23:53] Yeah, I mean, that's a very good point that, of course, you know, Fairplay has done his fair amount of coverage of the new era. He's become a podcaster as well in the interim. But also he's not a biggest fan of the new era now.
[00:24:03] That is to say maybe 50 would be like, don't worry, it's 39 days, etc., etc. But I do wonder if it would detract him a bit if he's like, is there still mergatory? Do we still have to, you know, are we doing the rice negotiation?
[00:24:17] I mean, John, Johnny Fairplay was never one to necessarily play ball with some of the artsy elements of Survivor back in Pearl Island. I don't know if he would play ball when it comes to some of the new era elements. Yeah, yeah, probably not.
[00:24:30] I struggle to envision that. So, yeah, we shall definitely put a pin on him right now. I really am going back and forth as to like, you know, would he be on this short list? Should he be on the short list versus to your point,
[00:24:43] the greater reality of he just signs up for AU versus US and then like maybe hopes that he gets cast for 50 as well, which I don't know, seems unlikely to me. I don't know how much they're double dipping here.
[00:24:55] Yeah, I don't know how the logistics of like contracts in the network and this and that work, but I got to imagine this would be rare for someone to do both. It would probably take someone like a like a Boston Rob or, you know,
[00:25:09] someone that Probst really loves. Sorry to try to like, you know, veto that or whatever. But yeah, I don't know. We are AudioStack.ai. Combining AI writing, the best synthetic voices with production and delivery. Be it ads, podcasts or VOs for video. Just like this ad.
[00:25:55] How would you utilize AI audio? For free. Go to AudioStack.ai. Give us just a few details and you could replace this spot and be heard by millions. See webpage for T's and C's. AudioStack.ai. Well, let's go from one of the biggest villains in Survivor history.
[00:26:16] The other side, the yin to the yang, if you will, because he was on that tribe to one of its biggest heroes. We got to talk about Rupert. I mean, one of the most beloved players in the show's history.
[00:26:32] And oh, and let me profess maybe one of my hottest Survivor takes. It won't be to you because of the way I'm talking. But it's one of the most beloved players in the show's history. And it won't be to you because of the way you're dressing right now.
[00:26:45] I am unabashedly, sincerely a Rupert Stan. I absolutely love him. I think he is a top tier Survivor character. And to be honest, it's because the less you take him seriously, the more you'll enjoy him. I think that people can understandably gripe with some of the moralizing
[00:27:08] he has around like, you know, I can betray you, but you can't betray me. You know how he can be a bit of a negative Nancy sometimes, really a lot of the time. But he just makes me giggle so much in the intensity
[00:27:22] of the delivery that he has. You know, of course, the infamous who the hell voted for me to him bellowing with ecstasy to your point when he found the spearhead that Sean lost in Da Ocean. And of course, him walking out of Survivor after being blindsided
[00:27:39] and telling the camera tears in his eyes. So much for my dreams. Incredible. It's an absolutely amazing piece of television that this man has brought really through all four seasons. Obviously, you know, not so much in All-Stars because that was more of a negative season,
[00:27:59] but while things are heroes versus villains where he I broke my toe, it looks like a J now to the broke. Yeah, to the rock in the pocket to he might even be worse than Johnny Fairplay.
[00:28:09] And then to blood versus water, where he bows out of his Survivor career for the time being by being like, no, Laura, it's your turn now. Don't you worry. This man is an absolute legend in every sense of the word. I completely agree.
[00:28:25] I don't know if that's a hot take. I mean, the the Rupert bod and the election and all that. Who knows how that's affected him? Yeah, yeah. He's the only kid person to be like in a debate with a future vice president, which is wild.
[00:28:39] Insane when you think about it. And I mean, I even loved him on Amazing Race riding an elephant being like, they're there. Like, come on. Oh, yeah. Pie pie. Well, because remember, elephants were his spirit animal and his spirit was crushed that day
[00:28:51] because the elephants were ruining him and arguably eliminated him and Laura. I know. So, so good. And like, he's like a cartoon character isn't even the right. It's like he's putting on such a performance and he doesn't even mean to. And there's something so like endearing about that.
[00:29:07] Like, like I the episode I just rewatched when he's catching fish and he's like, I got a saltwater catfish. I didn't even know they made such a creature like you said. I believe it's they I don't even know they made such an animal and such an animal.
[00:29:19] That's right. That's right. That's even better. Like just unreal. And yeah, I mean like what I was joking. Just the way he's describing his genes rubbing against him. Just the full commitment to everything. And what a great arc on the series and certainly a legend.
[00:29:35] But yeah, it's I completely agree. Yeah. I mean think about the very first thing he does. He barely touches the ground in Survivor and he steals the other tribes shoes pirates village pirate steel to the point where even Johnny Fairplay is like, oh dude,
[00:29:54] this guy's got it going on. Oh my God. Did he just steal the entire tribes other set of shoes? And then he goes on to become again like the biggest hero in Survivor history. So again, I know he sometimes gets memed and clowned upon but Rupert
[00:30:09] is such good television and he has been asked if he wants to play and he's up for it. He's up for time number five. You know, he does watch the modern seasons. I'm not sure if you saw Owen but somebody interviewed Rupert
[00:30:23] and he's like, I can't believe everyone's leaving with idols in their pocket. What are they doing? So it's clear that he's caught up with the new era, which listen with some of the people that we put through so far, we can't necessarily say that's the case. True, true.
[00:30:39] I mean, I can't even fathom to imagine like seeing Rupert on TV again after all this time, like playing Survivors specifically and I don't know, it all comes back down to the theme because yeah, he is a legend.
[00:30:54] Like he's one of the people if you ask a random person on the street like, oh, you know Survivor? They're like, oh, the beard guy with the tie-dye shirt? Like, you know, he's ingrained into people's brains. He was such a kid.
[00:31:04] He won a million dollars just because people loved him. Yeah, they literally. America loved him. Yeah, they basically did a fan favorite vote just for Rupert, basically. I mean, maybe a part of it was because they were like, all right, listen, the All-Stars ending wasn't exactly
[00:31:17] the thing people loved the most. So, hey, you can pick who you wanted to win. And of course, it was basically Rupert wins a million dollars the episode and he wins it there. He's also led this wildlife since being on Survivor, right?
[00:31:31] Where obviously he had kept doing Rupert's kids but he had run for governor of Indiana and also I believe had a bout of throat cancer as well in which he's doing incredibly well now. Did the amazing race, to your point. So Rupert has been doing so, so much
[00:31:49] since the only 10 years we have seen him on our screen. It's only, wow, it's only been 10 years. You've convinced me, Mike. Screw it, put him on. I listen. Yeah, I'm sorry my finger is on the scale right now, but that finger has a beard.
[00:32:02] I need if there's any justice in this world and it is a Legends theme, having Rupert play new era Survivor would just give me goosebumps. He would break Ryan Medrano's fish catching record with ease. He'd come back with 50 fish and just, yeah, it'd be incredible.
[00:32:19] Yeah, he would like barter every other word. Like I don't want to go to the sanctuary. I need more fishing gear. All right, well, let's dote upon anybody else from this jury stuff. I feel like if this was talk of a vote after like season 10,
[00:32:37] I think there could be a case for Burton. Burton, yeah, I think Burton is actually a pretty underrated member of the Pearl Island's cast. You say Darrow was the challenge beast, but Burton obviously no slouch here. He was a big force in the game alongside Johnny Fairplay.
[00:32:53] I think there's a fair chance if the two of them went to the final two together like they intended that Burton may end up winning. I know there's a certain stigma against voting against voted out players, but Johnny Fairplay certainly had made plenty of enemies in the process
[00:33:05] that Burton could be a winner. He was not like purely physical. He did have some strategy and some charm to him. So I feel like Burton goes largely forgotten because of the big three of this season.
[00:33:15] So I want to give him his flowers, even if he's not going to get a spot here. Yeah, no, me as well. He was a bigger part of the premiere than I had remembered. And actually random quick story.
[00:33:24] I met Burton through work before I got on the show. He is an executive producer of this show called The College Tour, which does 30 minute episodes about colleges. And it was started by this guy, Alex Boylan, who won season two of The Amazing Race.
[00:33:40] Oh, yeah. Chris, Chris and Alex. Yeah, yeah. Chris and Alex. Yeah. So Alex and Burton are buddies. They work with this woman, Lisa Hennessy, who used to work on Survivor as a producer when they first started. And yeah, we did an episode down here in Tulane.
[00:33:52] I got to meet the team and mostly worked with Lisa and Alex, who were great. But I did get to do a Zoom call with Burton. I was like, I'm sorry. I just got to say it. I'm a big Survivor fan. He was very cool about it.
[00:34:04] And I was trying to remember, did he go to the RHAP Austin event? I believe. Yeah, I believe it was him, Colby and Reynolds, I think, were the three amigos there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen that they're buddies online.
[00:34:15] And so that's I enjoyed seeing him there and seeing that he was like still part of the community and, you know, wanted to go to something like that. But yeah. Yeah. You got to think he'd be a long shot. Like like you said, maybe 10, 15 earlier on.
[00:34:28] But at this point, unfortunately, I don't know. He didn't exactly like pop off the screen and confessionals. And I think maybe I'll said this on the Pearl Islands on the countdown, but like, you know, not the most like charismatic narrator,
[00:34:42] but like a huge, huge part of this season for sure. All right. So let us move into our pre jury group. So we have working our way up again. We have Nicole Delma, not Rob's wife. The aforementioned Skinny Ryan.
[00:34:57] We've got Michelle from who did not drink the drink or did drink the drink. And that was the problem. Well, she didn't go. And we've got Trish, who did end up being one of the votes for Rupert that had him acting so incredulously.
[00:35:11] We got Sean who lost the spearhead. We have survivors first ever quitter in Austin. And we have a two time player, Andrew Savage. So let's start there. Oh, and do we think based on what happened in Cambodia, Andrew Savage would get a third season of Survivor?
[00:35:30] I think there's a small chance and I would be all for it. Honestly, I actually love Savage as a survivor character because there's something so interesting about this. Like, you know, he's such a leader, such an alpha type.
[00:35:42] But then he's got these like, I don't know, blind spots, maybe where it does come off a little like just so over the top and silly. And I mean, just I just cannot never laugh when I think about him like sobbing, talking about how hot his wife is.
[00:35:59] Yeah, that he's like breaking down over missing his family. But it's not over like any sort of sad story like you might expect from a new era season. It's just basically like, oh, my wife is so beautiful. I loved when I met her, etc.
[00:36:10] And like, yeah, feel the way you feel. But like, it is a little comical. I do agree, though. I think especially in retrospect, I think Andrew Savage is an essential part of Cambodia where maybe the accusations of it being too game body, I think are a little much.
[00:36:25] But I do think, listen, it was a rare season that didn't necessarily have that many antagonists in it. And I think Andrew Savage served nicely as a kind of dose of old school reality, especially when all the old schoolers
[00:36:35] were getting voted out of like, no, it's a fishback. So wimpy little non leader, we've got to get rid of him. Yeah, the sequence of him chopping down a tree with his shirt off while Stevens like struggling to break a branch in half with this whole body.
[00:36:49] Just so, so good. And yeah, it was it was a nice foil. And I think him being a part of one of the most iconic moves, idol plays and Wentworth's legacy as a player as well. I think that does increase his chances because he was like, you know,
[00:37:02] her most noteworthy victim in that sense. And like, as her legend grew, like his importance in the narrative of the show, I think rose as well. And then he's no slouch. Like, he's like, I remember the hero challenge in Cambodia watching him, Terry and Jeremy Duke it out.
[00:37:22] I mean, that's like for me, like that's the kind of challenge I like dreamed of doing when I was a kid. Just like and yeah, he's he's so funny, good and confessionals. And yeah, just this kind of weird character who seems like such
[00:37:34] a lovely person in real life as well. But then when he's on TV, you're like, is he a jerk? Like, I can't fully tell, but I like watching him. He sort of has that energy to him, I think, where he's like, OK, I'm in this position of power.
[00:37:48] And so everything I say kind of comes with authority. It's no coincidence that he becomes the leader of this Bayan tribe, just like he became the leader of the Morgan tribe. So yeah, I really go back and forth about this because I do think
[00:38:01] it would be fun to see him back for a third season. He believes that the show has passed him by, that like that second chance was his second chance. And I would be inclined to agree. I mean, his average finish is 11th because he finished 10th
[00:38:15] and then he finished 12th. I feel like if you were going with really any theme for a Survivor 50, I don't necessarily see a reason why he would be on there. And I go back and forth as well as to like, is there a narrative there?
[00:38:30] Because you could see on the one hand, OK, he got blindsided by an idol beforehand. He should get to come back and improve on his legacy. On the other hand, as we've been talking about, it's a pretty nice closed loop that like this guy who was so upfront
[00:38:43] and so out there as the head of this alliance does get blindsided by this minority. Yeah, yeah. He got his comeuppance and at least he made jury, as Abby said. It is kind of a beautiful closed loop there.
[00:38:56] Yeah, I think he would fit more on like a third times the charm kind of deal. But I feel like Survivor obviously would have a few new era people back at least. So that would obviously take that off the table there.
[00:39:08] But yeah, I'd be open to it for sure. The only other person I want to mention in this group, with no offense to the others, is Austin. But not because of putting him on the list. But it is so interesting, Owen, to think about again this fall
[00:39:21] we celebrated the 20 year anniversary of Survivor Pearl Islands and Jeff Probst's pure derision of Austin quitting was like very profound. Austin was the first player to like explicitly say, nope, I'm leaving the game. This wasn't a BB situation of vote me out or a Shawna situation
[00:39:38] of please vote me out. Oh wait, you're not going to vote me out. Like Austin went to tribal council and said, my intention is I am not leaving here tonight and going back to this beach. And so perhaps a bit unfairly due to some other medical stuff
[00:39:51] that was happening at the time. You know, Jeff Probst says, pure wishes, Austin, go home. He lays down his torch. It's not that the torches are not behind him of the fallen castaways. His is gone. Austin's torch is not included in the rites of passage. Brutal.
[00:40:06] And then over the years, you know, perhaps the attitude develops a bit differently. Jenna Maraska, the very most next quit on All-Stars has obviously looked at it quite differently because of everything that was going on back home and her reason. Even some other people, yes,
[00:40:21] we did have the like Nayaka Purpakelly double clip. Well now from now on, you're not going to make the jury if you do it. But otherwise, you know, a bit of a softer hand by comparison had been given to those
[00:40:32] who choose to leave the game until or ironically, 20 years later in Survivor 45, where the double quit of Hannah and Sean broke Jeff Probst. And he has now declared that anyone who is, who quits the game, you know, we will not snuff their torch. They won't be included.
[00:40:51] Essentially they're dead to me. And it's just so funny that basically he has now resorted back to Jeff Probst 1.0 in the way that he treated Austin. Yeah. Time is a flat circle in that sense.
[00:41:02] And it was shocking to see how he reacted to Sean and Hannah at the time. Like I would have expected him to be a little more pissed and really lay into them. And I mean, I don't know.
[00:41:13] I try to have some empathy for the folks who quit and you know, they're protecting their peace and all of that, but it is such a long road to get on. And it's like, especially in the new era, like it's pretty like 26 days you'll you'll, you'll be fine.
[00:41:26] But yeah. So you got to think that hurts Austin. But to your point, like from what I have read, he had a staph infection or something like that. Now, ironically enough, it was because he had gotten sick from selling all his clothes in the
[00:41:39] episode and being in his underwear the entire time. But yeah, he was not doing well physically as he said, his body was a temple and that temple was breaking down. Yeah. So you got to have a little like empathy for him there.
[00:41:50] But with Jeff's current stance on quitters, you got to think it's unlikely. Yeah. Unless we have like Jeff's nightmare, blunt rotation season where it's all the quitters back. All the quitters, all the quitters. Oops, all quitters.
[00:42:03] I want to just take a quick second shout out skinny Ryan just for a second. But the Dime Turks buff at the outcasts when they come back. Incredible. And he was actually a pretty good narrator in that premiere episode I
[00:42:15] watched the other day, just the way he's describing everything. And his relationship with Lil was sweet and just like watching him like, you know, try to, I don't want to say coddle her, but just like understand her.
[00:42:25] And I always think it would be interesting to see someone who is at such a totally different stage of their life. You know, I wasn't sure exactly how old he is, but you know, he's like what? Probably 24 tops when Pearl Islands came out.
[00:42:38] So seeing him now as like a grown adult in his forties, I would be intrigued by that, but obviously never going to happen. But I enjoyed him way more than, than I thought I would. And he was more like more fun to watch the other day than,
[00:42:51] than I had remembered and given him credit for over the years. Yeah, he's 44. So he was a young in back then and he was a produce clerk. Maybe he saw Carter at the grocery store. All right, well, let's get into it.
[00:43:03] Oh, and we reviewed the cast of Pearl Islands and I will admit this one seems probably the most up in the air when we've had so far, because I think as you discuss, like there are people that could be shoe
[00:43:13] ins, but I feel like every time there's a reason for them, there's a reason against them. So let's talk here. Who is on your list right now to bring back? So the short list, we've got Sandra, we've got Fair Play, we've got Rupert and we've got Savage really.
[00:43:31] So yeah, I think it's just a matter of figuring out what combo over those four should we put on here? Yeah, I mean, I guess a quick reaction to me, I would say Sandra, Rupert and Savage would be my three.
[00:43:45] I do think Johnny is more likely to go to Australia if I was a betting person, not that I have any basis for that, but just it seems like that would be my guess.
[00:43:55] So yeah, I think those would be my three that I would cast my votes for. Yeah, I'm debating even just from like the meta perspective, because yeah, this does break reality a bit of I agree that Johnny Fairplay
[00:44:07] would probably, I don't know, like if he found out somehow that it was a legend season before going out to Australia, then he might do Survivor 50. You know, like that's true. So I'm I'm I would definitely put Fairplay on.
[00:44:24] I could be swayed either way on Savage, but I might just for formality sake, because I was coming in before I did my research thinking, okay, yeah, Fairplay is blacklisted, etc, etc. But upon finding out that he's not and especially again, this up in the air
[00:44:38] aspect of we don't know if he'll be on Australia or not. Unlike a Richard Hatch, where like it's very clear he is not wanted by production. It leaves a lot more vagueness right now. Yeah, throws a big spanner in the works as they go. I'll show you.
[00:44:55] But I think regardless of which three of these four we put on the ballot here, it's so contingent on the theme here because, you know, if they're doing a more old school, new school, like trying to build new legends,
[00:45:10] you got to think the fifth time for Rupert or Sandra is pretty unlikely. But if it is a legend's theme and more of like a celebrating the history of the show, how can you ignore those two? And Johnny as well?
[00:45:23] Like there's such like pillars of of the Survivor series and just like such memorable characters. It would be weird to exclude them from that. But yeah, I don't think the three of them necessarily fit in into other themes quite as well. And yeah, it's really tough.
[00:45:40] I see what you're saying about Savage, though, like being kind of like a beautifully closed loop in that sense. So I could be convinced to take him off, but I would personally enjoy it.
[00:45:49] Yeah, I think that for Savage, for me, it's like there are some where the loop is closed, but like like Sandra or like we talk about with Jerry. But if they come back, like it's because of their name, you know, right.
[00:46:02] With no offense to Andrew Savage, I don't know if people are like, you know, the Savage garden out there, all the little fans and they're in their seed pods are like, all right, we got to bring him back.
[00:46:12] Something else to note, I guess we're not doing too much of the age game here, especially with these old school contestants. Savage is 60 and Fairplay is 50. Hmm. I didn't realize Savage was 60. Goodness, that man's in great shape. Yeah, he's in fantastic flowers.
[00:46:26] Yeah, I would I would have guessed he was in his 50s. But yeah, like that's that's that's tough. I yeah, he's I mean, he's obviously not nearly in the same stratosphere of like legend status as the other three.
[00:46:38] There aren't people clamoring for Savage to come back to the same degree as the other three. But I don't know. I just I feel like, man, like he would have a fire in his belly. Certainly just like with the way he went out only with what?
[00:46:52] Three votes against him at that. That infamous Wentworth will not count tribal. And so personally, I'd be invested in that. But yeah, it's a hard argument to get when you're going up against three bona fide legends of the whole show.
[00:47:07] Yeah. So are we going to are we going to turn our skeleton key in the treasure chest right now full of grody stuff? Are we are we lock it in arguably the big three of Pearl Island as our three here? Is that too on the nose, though?
[00:47:19] I mean, listen, Australia was Tina Colby and Jerry. I think we are on the nose is maybe what we should be doing with these exercises. Mm hmm. But then again, it is a wish list. Hmm. And I think I don't like here's the thing.
[00:47:35] Actually, I feel like Rupert would bring less new like experience watching him than Johnny or Savage would. Obviously, he is in like maybe not on the Mount Rushmore, but in the conversation of like most memorable survivor contestants of all time.
[00:47:54] But like what would he do all that differently? Like I do feel like Savage maybe would try to play a little bit differently.
[00:48:01] And from what you were saying about Johnny on House of Villains, there has been this like growth and perspective and just kind of a different like flavor of Johnny Fairplay now that I'm now I'm going to go look up some house of villains scenes.
[00:48:13] But that would be the one argument I might make to try to squeeze Savage on there just to shake it up a little bit. But I don't know. This is your show, Mike. I mean, what what I can do is, you know, I can listen.
[00:48:27] I'll be talking about Cambodia at some point and we're not necessarily going to consider it. But what I can do is I can make a deal with you where when I get to Cambodia, I can legitimately circle back corporate lingo and think about with another partner here.
[00:48:43] Would we want to put Andrew Savage on it? And if we're convinced in that moment, I would be happy to put him on. It's just at this moment.
[00:48:51] And I'm assuming once I get a myriad of comments being like, you idiot, put Andrew Savage on the ballot, then I'll be convinced. But in this moment right now, that's what I'm feeling. But I'm also I'm happy to compromise there.
[00:49:02] No, no, no. That sounds like a good plan. I don't think he'll make it on in the top three Cambodia either. But I just wanted to go to bat for him a little bit. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a podcast. We're supposed to argue a little bit.
[00:49:12] So I love it. Well, maybe he'll come into this next category because I'd like to finish off with like a little bit of a wild card situation where we have all these other all star reality shows that are not Survivor.
[00:49:23] If you could pick someone from this cast to be on it, who would it be? And I do think an Andrew Savage on something like the traitors could be very, very fun. That would. Yeah, because I'm going to what's his what's his name?
[00:49:39] Pilot Pete from the who I was not familiar with. But like, I could totally see Savage being like the ringleader of the Faithfuls and really like villainizing who he thinks are traitors and like going on these like ill informed like witch hunts against people.
[00:49:55] Like I could totally see him trying to like rally a posse and, you know, leading the charge there. So, yeah, that would make sense. I don't think the Peacock fans would be clamoring for Savage either, but that would be fun to watch.
[00:50:06] I think like just his style of leadership and the way he like presents in these kind of games would be kind of fun as as a faithful. Anyone else from this cast that you would like to see on another reality show, no matter what it might be?
[00:50:18] I mean, we got to put Austin on Naked and Afraid, right? Because he basically was. He basically was. No, I want Austin to host his own like Animal Planet show because as Daryl said, he was scared a little. Every little thing. Yeah, him and Pelican Pete.
[00:50:34] What do you say? Like, I'll chop its head right off. I don't even care. Yeah, he was swinging the machete as that thing was honking its way near the shelter. That's amazing. And that's the state bird of Louisiana. Thank you very much, Austin. So stay away. Stay away.
[00:50:47] What happens when he goes to pelican games? Yeah, exactly. The King Cake Baby will haunt him forever. The only other thing I would say, put Skinny Ryan on Guy's Grocery Games. There we go. The sidekick.
[00:50:58] Like the Andy Richter to Guy's Conan of just the guy on the side packing everything in. Amazing. Amazing. Sign him up. Well, Owen, this was such a great time. Even more joyous than the outcasts had when they got their revenge baby and voted Lillenburton into the game.
[00:51:15] Talk about an iconic season, vote some iconic people through with an iconic person. Tomorrow, I will be joined by Rob Sesternino once again. And we're doing something a little bit different because obviously we are at Survivor All-Stars.
[00:51:29] But we're going to try to instead take a peek behind the curtain. We're going to try to look at the casting behind Survivor All-Stars back in 2004 and figure out what was sort of the formula from it. Who were they pulling? Why were they doing so?
[00:51:43] And could that inform how Survivor casting looks at returning seasons in general? We're going to try to do this for all the returning seasons, including the aforementioned Cambodia. So it should be a good time.
[00:51:54] Look, I think some people say that maybe the best thing about Survivor All-Stars was a lot of the potential that came with that casting. And so we get to dive into that fully with someone who got to experience it firsthand in Rob.
[00:52:05] For a sadly too brief amount of time there. But yeah, that'll be I'm definitely tuning into that one. That sounds super interesting. And yeah, I mean, so much of our conversation today has been about like what is production going to do?
[00:52:17] Like so much of it is going to be theme dependent and that can change the whole chemistry of the cast. And then it makes leaves me torn. Like just simply as a fan, you know, you want to see these legends interact with some of the newer players.
[00:52:29] And that was what was so cool about Second Chance for me is seeing someone like Wigglesworth play with someone like Wu. But then, yeah, it's then the little part of my brain that goes like, oh, well, I did just play Survivor 2s.
[00:52:42] But like, you know, like I said, I'm trying to be realistic and I'm just I'm going to enjoy it no matter what. And this is such a fun idea. And I really appreciate you asking me to hop on. Of course. Thank you so much for doing so.
[00:52:54] I will not make you walk the plank like Fairplay's buddy, as Sandra called him. But Owen, anything you'd like to plug at the moment? Anything you'd like to shout out to anybody listening out there?
[00:53:04] No, no. Just as always, thank you to the R.J.P. community for always supporting me and tuning in. And just y'all are the best. Happy Pride Month to everybody. And yeah, if you feel like it, just on Instagram and Twitter, it's the young knight.
[00:53:19] It's got a zero on Twitter and one Instagram. And yeah, always, always a pleasure to talk to you, Mike. Zero on Twitter. Oh, on Instagram sounds like some sort of bio line for something, you know? That's maybe I need to update that does roll off the tongue.
[00:53:32] It feels like that meme of like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, et cetera, which shows like different forms of the person. Just do different versions of the O zero with that. There you go. I'll work on that. I'll start workshopping that when we hang up.
[00:53:44] All right. Well, don't make sure you don't miss a second of this wish list series. Again, Rob has a website dot com slash subscribe for the audio version. I'm sorry for the YouTube version of these, but you're dropping at 10 a.m.
[00:53:53] If you want a little bit early, the audio version, they're dropping at 6 a.m. every weekday. And Rob has a website dot com slash survivor feed tomorrow. At those aforementioned times, I'll be back with Rob's sister, you know, talking through the cast of Survivor All Stars,
[00:54:07] taking a walk down memory lane for Rob and maybe exploring if there is a secret formula to this survivor casting as we continue to look ahead to Survivor 50. Thank you all so much for listening until next time. Take care. Bye bye.