Anybody Else Want to Reveal That They Have an Idol?

I really hate when Survivor brings back two or three returning players. It gives the players a huge advantage because they have already played the game and it is an extreme advantage to keep around the guy (kind of sexist that it is always guys) who knows how to make a fire, camp and the ins and outs of the game. Of all the players they have brought back all but two has made it to the merge. And one of them was Russell Hantz so of course they got rid of the snake as soon as they could and even sabotaged their own tribe to get him out.

With that said I did not mind who they brought back for Survivor: Philippines. In fact when they first announced Redemption Island I thought the people they should have brought back were those that had to be removed from the game medically. If anyone deserved redemption it would be those players. Why exactly did Russell and Boston Rob need redemption? Michael Skupin, needed some redemption after falling into the fire. And finally after a decade, he gets some. And we got to see that him falling into the fire was not a freak accident, the guy is a legitimate klutz.

Also brought back was Jonathan Penner who had to leave the game the second time he played (his claim to fame from the first time was when he stupidly Mutinied and was promptly voted off). Then there was the other Russell from Samoa who’s near death experience was one of the many freak occurrences that allowed Hantz to take control of the game, and for that I will never forgive him for almost dying. Russell did not have much luck this time around because he was put with maybe the most inept ever (the hillbilly smoker, the paranoid chick, the airhead pageant queen)

But maybe it was not Russell that was cursed because right after getting voted out, his tribemate Denise got shipped off to another tribe who then lost two straight challenges (and a third went home due to, of course, medical reasons; see you in ten years Dana). Amazingly Denise survived both tribes, made it the merge, went to every tribal council (the first time ever) and still ended up winning by a landslide. It may take time to digest the season as a whole, but eventually she is in the discussion of greatest Survivor ever.

The season was also notable for have two “celebrities” on it. Celebrities in that that had a certain amount of fame, but Blair Warner pretty much has not been heard from since leaving The Facts of Life while Jeff Kent played baseball in a time when a whole generation decided not to watch. The guy played last decade and only one person recognized him (or at least told the cameras). Surprisingly the former teen star outlasted the baseball all-star. But the star of the season was the volatile Brazilian Abi-Maria who had to be the center of attention so much that after Malcolm announced he had an Immunity Idol and Probst asked if anyone else wanted to reveal theirs, she went ahead and whipped hers out in the single most memorable Tribal Council ever. I really how some wise television producers recruits Abi and Camilla from The Challenge for some sort of hot headed Brazilian reality show. I know I would watch.

Survivor: Philippines gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.