There are several criterion to consider every time I rank another season of Survivor. Was the season overall exciting? Was there at least one big, surprising move? Were there blindsides? Were there cool challenges? Was the finale exciting? And was the winner satisfying? Not all of these carry the same weight, and the rankings are entirely objective. I encourage you to share your own in the comments, because I’m sure they’ll be different than mine.

Survivor: One World was a pretty dull season. Kim faced very little competition, if any, throughout the season. Some would argue that the next best player this season was Troy, and that says very little of the players this season – after all, just look at how easy it was for Kim to convince Troy to vote out so many guys?

This cast was not one of the better ones we’ve seen. Egos got in the way of good game play – I found Colton, Troy and Alicia all to be painfully delusional in overstating their abilities as Survivor players. Other people were just boring and didn’t put much into the game – after all, can you really say Sabrina or Chelsea did very much at all this season?

However, there have been many seasons where I was disgusted that the bitter jury voted for an undeserving player instead of rewarding the person who outplayed them and deserved the million bucks. That didn’t happen here. Socially, strategically, physically, Kim hands down won this season and all but two jury members acknowledged that. So that influences how I feel about the season over all.

When I look at how I ranked last season, I found the cast more dynamic but hated the structure of the season. This season had the exact opposite problem – I was happy to see Redemption Island go, I liked the One World living situation twist, but the players weren’t as dynamic. People get angry if they think I’m comparing Kim to Boston Rob and I’m not, but I think this season played out very similarly to Survivor: Redemption Island. Both Rob and Kim created alliances that were so loyal to them, they were never really in danger of going home even though they always should have been. Both Rob and Kim made for predictable winners, but were the only satisfying victors in their seasons. They both pulled all the strings in their seasons and rather easily took home the prize.

So check out the list, and let me know in the comments what your best and worst seasons are, and where Survivor: One World would fit in for you.

1. Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites
Season Sixteen, Winner: Parvati Shallow
Pros: Some of the best blindsides the show has ever seen, the first successful all-female alliance, Eliza’s facial expressions while on the jury and the best player winning. The right player won, and I’m not sure this season will ever be topped for me.
Cons: Many of the “fans” turned out to be less than memorable and pretty dopey, and things didn’t start to really heat up until around the time of the merge.

2. Survivor: Borneo
Season One, Winner: Richard Hatch
Pros: Originally I had this first season at number one, but after thinking it over I think I was more captivated by Fans vs. Favorites. However, this first season was unlike anything I’d ever seen and introduced me to my all-time favorite reality TV show. It was all my 14-year-old self could talk about.
Cons: The castaways were brand new and not everyone caught on to how to play the game as quickly as Richard Hatch. Remember the guy who cast his vote in alphabetical order?

3. Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Season Twenty, Winner: Sandra Diaz-Twine
Pros: Every. Single. Episode. Seriously, every episode this season had me completely captivated. The twists! The turns! The Boston Rob and Russell showdown; The Heroes’ embarrassing themselves, coming back, and then embarrassing themselves again; stupid moves from Tyson and J.T.; Amanda giving the clue back; Parvati kicking challenge butt.
Cons: Some favorite players getting voted out early in the season (Cirie, Boston Rob), Russell having the advantage of anonymity in a season based on reputation and too many immunity idols that were too easy to find. The season lands in third place because the best all-around player (Parvati) didn’t win.

4. Survivor: Cook Islands
Season Thirteen, Winner: Yul Kwon
Pros: Some of the most exciting and memorable players we’ve ever seen. Parvati! Ozzy! Jonathan Penner! And Yul was a very strong winner – social, strategic and physical. And then there was Billy declaring his love for Candice after about 20 seconds. The tribes segregated by race was controversial, but also resulted in one of the most diverse casts we’ve seen.
Cons: I wasn’t a huge fan of the mutiny, and it was the first time we saw my least favorite Survivor move – the final three.

5. Survivor: Amazon
Season Six, Winner: Jenna Morasca
Pros: Rob Cesternino. Also, the tribes were separated by gender which was pretty interesting. It was an unpredictable season and the final two really showed that social skills are more important than survival skills in the game. And for the guys, there was the whole “I’ll take my clothes off for peanut butter” thing.
Cons: Rob Cesternino not making it to the finals. Jenna Morasca isn’t my favorite Survivor winner since she seemed rather whiny while she was out there. Had only Rob won that final challenge…

6. Survivor: Australia
Season Two, Winner: Tina Wesson
Pros: An exciting cast – forget about the Colby we knew in Heroes vs. Villains and All-Stars and think back to his original season. The guy was a rock star, dominating challenges and flashing that pearly smile. We had America’s sweetheart Elisabeth (forget her on The View – on Survivor she was adorable) and “the black widow” Jerri Manthey. They were also starving – I’ll never forget when Tina jumped into the river to save the tribe’s last canister of rice. Then we had Mike Skupin falling into the fire and confrontations between Kimmi and Alicia.
Cons: The eliminations were a little predictable – no one wanted to take Rodger or Elisabeth to the finals because they were too likable. And Colby made a million dollar mistake in taking Tina to the finals over Keith.

7. Survivor: China
Season Fifteen, Winner: Todd Herzog
Pros: A fantastic cast. Todd, a gay Morman flight attendant, was funny and strategic. Some of the best commentary Survivor has ever seen came from Courtney Yates. We met James, one of the biggest and strongest guys to ever play, who got voted out with two immunity idols in his pocket. And don’t forget Amanda “second place” Kimmell, Denise the lunch lady, Peih-Gee and Jean-Robert.
Cons: Todd easily won when Amanda failed to defend herself well and Courtney decided she didn’t care about winning. It also wasn’t my favorite location.

8. Survivor: All-Stars
Season Eight, Winner: Amber Brkich
Pros: This season has a bad reputation, but I loved it. We saw the true Boston Rob – after all, on his first season he didn’t even make the jury. We saw people with huge egos, lots of betrayals and blindsides, a couple of people quit the game and the creation of reality TV royalty – did anyone really think Boston Rob and Amber were for real? Two seasons of The Amazing Race and a baby later, they’re still together.
Cons: Boston Rob should have won, but the jury was full of bitter people with hurting egos. I also hated the “America’s Tribal Council” after the finale where Rupert was handed a million dollars thanks to a few tie-dyed shirts and a couple very flattering edits.

9. Survivor: Palau
Season Ten, Winner: Tom Westman
Pros: A team of one! It was unbelievable watching a tribe lose every single immunity challenge. We also saw one of the stupidest moves in Survivor history when Ian told Tom he would step out of a challenge if Tom promised him NOT to take him to the final two. What?
Cons: As shocking as it was to watch one tribe decimate another, it also got a little dull. And Tom’s not my favorite winner.

10. Survivor: Tocantins
Season Eighteen, Winner: James “J.T.” Thomas Jr.
Pros: Some of the most entertaining, though sometimes unlikable, characters we’ve seen. Coach and his ridiculous stories – every time he comes on screen, I quote Erinn Lobdell and say “Who is this jackass?” Then there was Tyson and his constant berating of Sierra, and the city-mouse meets country-mouse relationship between Stephan and J.T. And although J.T. ruined his rep in Heroes vs. Villains, the fact that he won unanimously and never had a vote cast against him in Tocantins was pretty freakin’ impressive.
Cons: Two people being fake-voted-out and then sent to camp before the rest of their tribes arrived. Not a lot of blindsides.

11. Survivor: Pearl Islands
Season Seven, Winner: Sandra Diaz-Twine
Pros: This season is a favorite for a lot of people, but I wasn’t a huge fan. It gets points for introducing us to Johnny Fairplay and his “dead” Grandma, though. And thanks to this season, we got Sandra back to make Heroes vs. Villains interesting.
Cons: The “Outcasts” twist. I hated it, and it ruined the season for me.

12. Survivor: Redemption Island
Season Twenty-Two, Winner: ‘Boston’ Rob Mariano
Pros: I know, I’m putting it a lot higher than many people would. But I think this season has a lot going for it. Rob played the best game of Survivor I’ve ever seen. His competition may not have been fierce, but not everyone has what it takes to keep people in line like Rob did. Matt got blindsided TWICE. The challenges leading up to the merge were exciting – it looked like Russell’s team was dominating until they threw a challenge to oust him and seemingly lost momentum. Plus we had crazy moments from Phillip, and the right person won when almost everyone voted for Boston Rob.
Cons: It was predictable. Rob kept his alliance together and took out everyone from the opposing tribe, and they never seemed to work hard enough to sway anyone onto their team. Grant, Natalie and Ashley never seemed to once question if they were going to the finals, making Rob’s blindsides rather easy.

13. Survivor: Marquesas
Season Four, Winner: Vecepia Towery
Pros: “Boston Rob” Mariano. Kathy Vavrick-O’Brien urinating on someone’s hand. A lot of power shake-ups.
Cons: A weak and forgettable final two. And one of the most angering things in the history of Survivor – the purple rock. How can you send home a man who’s never had a vote cast against him? It still gets my blood boiling.

14. Survivor: Fiji
Season Fourteen, Winner: Earl Cole
Pros: Everything involving Yau-Man Chan, like his fake immunity idol and failed pact with Dreamz trading a vote for a car. Earl was also a solid winner and received every vote to win, despite being in a three-person finals.
Cons: With the exception of Yau-Man, it proved that recruited cast members are duds (Wikipedia says all but one of the cast members were recruits, not applicants). Also, the haves vs. have-nots twist was lame.

15. Survivor: Gabon
Season Seventeen, Winner: Bob Crowley
Pros: Some memorable villains, like Randy and Corrine (her final words to Sugar were cruel and unforgivable), saved it from being a snooze. Sugar became an unlikely hero after being constantly sent to exile island and Bob was a likable winner. They get extra points for voting out Randy with a fake immunity idol.
Cons: Too many weak, boring or unlikable players made it too far thanks to the tribal switch. I couldn’t bring myself to root for Randy, Corrine, Kenny or Susie.

16. Survivor: Panama
Season Twelve, Winner: Aras Baskauskas
Pros: The introduction of Cirie Fields, one of my all-time favorite players. The self-proclaimed couch potato killed ‘em with kindness and, along with Shane Powers and his fake BlackBerry, saved the cast from being too boring.
Cons: Starting off with four teams (divided by age and gender) was annoying and lame, and the final two was forgettable.

17. Survivor: South Pacific
Season Twenty-three, Winner: Sophie Clarke
Pros: A deserving winner, several interesting personalities (both likable and not so likable) and two exciting final episodes land this season above a few others.
Cons: Predictability. An alliance made on Day One survived to the end, which meant we almost always knew who was going home. Only one guy (Cochran) shook up the game, and it ended up backfiring. Redemption Island meant Ozzy never had to pay for his terrible strategic game and early weak social game.

18. Survivor: Guatemala
Season Eleven, Winner: Danni Boatwright
Pros: A cool location and an interesting final three. Rafe telling Danni that she didn’t need to stay true to their final two agreement was on a par with Ian’s guilt-ridden decision to tell Tom not to take him to the finals. Also, Stephenie and Danni were two tough, athletic women.
Cons: This is when Stephenie LaGrossa became really unlikable. I didn’t like the decision to bring back her and Bobby Jon, and in general disliked most of the cast.

19. Survivor: One World
Season Twenty-four, Winner: Kim Spradlin
Pros: Kim was a deserving winner who played a fantastic game, and luckily the jury wasn’t too bitter to recognize that. The original twist of both tribes living on the same beach was cool, and I’d like to see it done again. Because Kim was so good at maintaining more than one alliance, there were a few Tribal Councils where I wasn’t sure who would go home.
Cons: An unlikable cast led to a situation where the most predictable winner would also be the only satisfying winner. An alliance shake-up would have resulted in someone really unlikable winning, and no one even came close to outsmarting Kim and sending her home.

20. Survivor: Vanuatu
Season Nine, Winner: Chris Daugherty
Pros: Watching the women dominate, only to lose to a guy. And not a particularly likable or athletic one at that. Eliza Orlins and Ami Cusack were interesting players who returned for Fans vs. Favorites.
Cons:A disappointing final three – Scout, Twila and Chris? Please.

21. Survivor: Nicaragua
Season Twenty-one, Winner: Judson “Fabio” Birza
Pros: It ended strong. The last two episodes were exciting and unpredictable (after the penultimate episode, I thought it was anyone’s game, and I didn’t expect Fabio to be able to win his way to the end) and I thought the right person won. Plus the challenges weren’t bad either. That, for me, made it a more compelling season than
Cons: Everything else about the season.

22. Survivor: Samoa
Season Nineteen, Winner: Natalie White
Pros: I know, I know, a lot of people love this season. Russell’s sock-burning, lie-telling antics saved it from last place. A few funny Coach-like moments from Shambo and the Russell Swann medical scare also perked it up a bit.
Cons: One tribe gets decimated, and then the “strong” tribe self-destructs after the merge. An incredibly dull cast (Jaison was too whiny, Mick was too bland, Natalie was too sweet) and a bitter, bitter jury (Russell did get robbed this season) made the season even worse than Nicaragua, in my book.

23. Survivor: Thailand
Season Five, Winner: Brian Heidik
Pros: Some really awesome challenges, including one where Robb tried to choke Clay and the final challenge where the final three had to hold coins between their fingers in an insanely-uncomfortable pose (something I have a feeling Parvati Shallow would have rocked).
Cons: A fake merge and a really unlikable, weird cast.

24. Survivor: Africa
Season Three, Winner: Ethan Zohn
Pros: Again, great challenges. The cast was way more likable than in Thailand, Samoa or Nicaraguawith Ethan, “Old” Kim, “Big” Tom and Lex, but…
Cons: …the season was very predictable, and Kim pulled a Colby by choosing to take likable Ethan to the finals over boorish Big Tom. What made the season the worst was that the location was a total snooze. Africa should have been awesome, but threats from wildlife made it incredibly limiting. No one wants to watch people “survive” inside a pen protecting them from their environment. I know a lot of people disagree with this placement, but after LOVING the first two seasons of Survivor I found this season to be an incredible disappointment. Luckily, I kept watching anyway. (A lot of people disagree with this choice for worst, but it continues to stick out in my mind as a disappointment.)

 

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