Jesse’s diabolical double-cross is exactly what this season needed.
We recap all the action and offer updated season rankings.
“Hello, 911?
Cody Assenmacher and Jesse Lopez on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
Yeah, I’d like to report a murder.
His name is Cody Assenmacher.
That tooisa real name!
Jesse Lopez on ‘Survivor 43’.Robert Voets/CBS
No, I’mnotgoing to spell it out.
Who committed the murder?
Oh, let me tell you, Jesse Lopez just murdered THE HELL out of Cody.
The cast of ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
No, I’m not going to repeat the victim’s last name again!
Well, that was a waste of time.
And it was exactly what this season ofSurvivorneeded.
Karla Cruz Godoy on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
And I loved it.
This season’s cast ofSurvivor 43has been likeable and friendly and nice.
But that’s exactly where Jesse has gone these past few weeks.
The cast of ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
It was a great move… for Cody.
How would Jesse counter that if they were both sitting together at the final Tribal Council?
It was then that Jesse had an idea.
Cody Assenmacher on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
Jesse went full Grinch and had a wonderful, awful idea.
But then Jesse, Owen, Gabler, and Cassidy would actually all vote for Cody.
It was a straight up vicious plan.
Cast members of ‘Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites’.CBS
God bless him, it worked.
Did you see how nervous Jesse was at Tribal Council when he played the idol?
God, I wish Cody had just said right then and right there “Okay, go ahead.
The cast of ‘Survivor: David vs. Goliath’.CBS
“YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT YOU WILL!”
But, of course, Jesse didn’t have to explainanything, because Cody was not returning to camp.
He was heading over to the jury.
The cast of ‘Survivor: Winners at War’.Robert Voets/CBS
And then… time stood still.
But he is too honorable a man to have done that.
But she didn’t have time.
The cast of ‘Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X’.Monty Brinton/CBS/Getty Images
And do you really want to risk it?
So she played it, and I don’t blame her.
That’s the interesting thing about this Jesse play.
The cast of ‘Survivor: Cook Islands’.ABC
No one comes out looking the fool.
The season as a whole has been a little bland.
All I’m saying is, watch your back, Fabio!
The cast of ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
Okay, we’ve got our updated season rankings to get to.
Having a Ball
I don’t do well with motion.
My personal hell is the spinning tea cup ride at Disney World.
The cast of ‘Survivor: Game Changers’.Timothy Kuratek/CBS/Getty Images
Well, that’s not necessarily true.
My personal hell is listening to 4 Non Blondes' “What’s up?”
on a continues loop, but the spinning tea cup ride is right behind it.
The cast of ‘Survivor: Worlds Apart’.CBS/Getty Images
And both make me vomit.
But while I may not want todoit, that doesn’t mean I don’t love toseeit.
Listen, I have said it a million times: When you blindfold contestants, good things happen.
Sandra Diaz-Twine and Boston Rob Mariano on ‘Survivor: Island of the Idols’.Robert Voets/CBS
Start spinning people senseless that also have to give directions, and that only adds to the fun.
I don’t exactly know what to make of those things Owen and Cassidy were strapped into.
They looked like a cross between some weird S&M contraption and the freakin' Thunderdome.
But both were impressive shouting out directions while simultaneously not hurling all over themselves.
What if Probst just started stopping challenges and declaring them all ties?
“Blue almost gets the ball in the hole!
Oh, but here comes the Red team!
They’re closing in!
It’s anyone’s game!
THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT ON SURVIVOR!
THIS IS WHY YOU’RE HERE!
Buuuuuuuuuuuut… you’ve both done really well so let’s just give everybody reward.
And, you know what, let’s throw in immunity as well.
Can I get some more necklaces over here, hey?”
Let me just say something: Karla did an abnormal amount of crying this episode.
Unfortunately, it was not of the Stephen Fishbach #SevereGastrointestinalDistress variety, but rather fake tears.
Then again, I’m not sure Cody was really in his right mind.
Exactly how much coffeedidhe drink at the Sanctuary?
Which kind of confused me.
Which is actually pretty entertaining, so maybe they shouldn’t listen to me after all.
He only has one more episode, so my guess would be… 17.
Movin' and Groovin'
GiveSurvivorproducers credit.
When fans complained about the Hourglass and Do or Die twists, they ditched them.
“Get them moving!”
I’ve been pleading.
“Get them in the water!”
I’ve been begging.
Well, they’ve done it, mixing up their immunity competitions this season.
And the results have been a more varied and exciting collection of contests.
And delighted to be wrong.
And Cody had no idea at the time how huge that loss would be for him.
Always Livin', Always Radical
I want to come clean on something.
This dude is gonna be hella annoying.”
I could not have been more wrong.
Cody was a freakin' blast.
Spelling skills aside, he was intelligent outsmarting producers on the very first immunity challenge.
I still don’t understand his accent to save my life Cajun?
No clue but had a blast watching him do his thing this season.
The Final Five
So here we are with our final five.
Could Owen be my second straight correct winner pick and third right call in the past five seasons?
Okay it’s time to get to updated season rankings and find out whereSurvivor 43lands.
Survivor Season-by-Season Rankings from best to worst
1.
AfterMicronesiaaired, I named it the bestSurvivorseason ever.
So then I returned that to the number one spot.
If I wanted to watch one season again, it would beMicronesia.
If you ask me which is the mostimportantseason, well, obviously it’sBorneo.
3.Survivor: Heroes vs. VillainsThe Russell vs. Boston Rob feud made for the best pre-merge run of episodes ever.
And the greatness just kept on coming.
Filled with huge memorable moments like Tyson voting himself off, J.T.
giving Russell his immunity idol, and Parvati handing outtwoimmunity idols at one Tribal Council.
I know many people would consider this No.
1, but it’s all returnees.
For me, the fresh blood ofMicronesiakeeps that season higher.
(Maybe not well at all times, but at least they were playing.)
moment to a truly exhilarating season.
That’s what it all comes down to.
And it’s not just Christian, who was one of the most universally loved contestants of all-time.
That is an amazing 9 out of 20 that I would easily welcome back on another season.
Often, that’s all a season needs.
And that really is first and foremost the reason Davidvs.
Goliathbecame an all-time great.
But there were other trophies to hand out as well.
The editing job done by producers was perhaps the show’s best ever.
They experimented with new techniques that served to freshen up the franchise in its 37th season.
They added comedic flourishes that were totally unnecessary yet improved the episodes nonetheless.
They cut back and forth between players and stories in ways they never had before.
A top 5 finish.
6.Survivor: Cambodia Second ChanceThe first thing to note aboutCambodiais how well all the production twists turned out.
Letting fans vote in the cast?
Hiding idols at challenges?
I think you all know how I feel about that.
Tempting people to quit an immunity challenge for a mystery vote steal advantage?
All the tribe switcheroos?
They played out to perfection.
TheSurvivorproducers always throw a bunch of twists out there.
Usually, some work and some don’t.
This season, they all paid dividends.
I also appreciated how hard the bulk of the cast was playing.
Usually, you get a small handful of big-time gamers.
Another plus: The votes were completely unpredictable from week to week, leading to some truly crazy Tribals.
Sure, the challenges were a bit blah, but still, a rousing and triumphant success.
(MaybePirate Masteris to blame for that?)
Obviously, there was a stellar cast with big personalities.
Fairplay not only pulling off the dead grandma lie but also getting drunk at Tribal Council.
Osten becoming the first person to lay down his torch.
Savage willing his tribe to win.
And Sandra getting in faces.
It was all delicious.
Some people, like Ben and Michele, had something to prove.
His return alone was one of the best reality TV stories ever.
Go back and watch it.
It’s amazing on both a technical and an emotional level.
And Tony Vlachos cemented his reputation as the most entertaining and dominant player of all time.
I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to have a great winner on such an important season.
And itdidfeel special, even with its flaws.
I wish the show would shake things up like that more at the outset to keep contestants off-balance.
One of the best creative decisionsSurvivorever made was not panicking and reshuffling the tribes once Koror started dominating.
Also, I’d bring back Jolanda, Coby, Katie, and Ian back in a heartbeat.
Every single person added something.
That’s how you win a million dollars.
Possibly the least scenic camps inSurvivorhistory.
It just looked absolutely miserable.
And I still jump when Chicken gets voted out.
WhenMillennials vs. Gen Xstarted, most of us were like, “Yeah, it’s fine.
Not amazing, but not terrible either.”
But then things kept happening.
And everyone kept flipping on one another.
And everyone kept getting blindsided.
And everyone kept futilely using their idols for other people.
It was madness and chaos in the best way possible.
And what was so fascinating was that (with the exception of Michaela) nobody took their ouster personally.
This was a season remarkably free of any sort of fighting whatsoever.
None of the ugliness ofWorlds ApartorKaoh Rongpermeated the proceedings, even amongst all the lying and backstabbing.
Even Hannah was entertaining with her neurosis.
Even Ken was entertaining with his late-game cluelessness.
Bret gave us a touching moment where he came out as gay to Zeke.
Sunday outsmarted Adam and Hannah with a ruse at Tribal Council.
(However, I still can’t figure out why they went with three-person duels a.k.a.
truels and they definitely should have stopped RI at the merge.)
So why is it so high?
Because the casting and storylines that developed gave us people to root for and against something every greatSurvivorseason needs.
And that’s not all.
Seriously, that guy was straight gold in every episode.
BRING HIM BACK!!!!
There were some other problems early on as well, but what a difference a mutiny makes.
Then we had clearly defined people to root for and against.
There are other things to love as well.
Plus, just look at all the great first-time contestants (Parvati, Penner, Ozzy, Yul).
I love you, Billy.
But hear me out first before you Russell any feathers.
It was flat-out grating.
But everything post-merge was spectacular.
There were moves and countermoves galore down the homestretch.
Also, don’t overlook how great the bevy of water challenges was.
Should I push it down in the rankings due to the lackluster Reunion show that followed?
He was denied in the end, though, in the most controversial jury decision ever.
19.Survivor: TocantinsOkay, you may roll your eyes at Coach 1.0.
But imagine for a second this season without him.
His unintentional comedy single-handedly lifts this into middle of the pack territory for me.
However, the unlikely alliance between bookish northerner Fishbach and country boy J.T.
certainly made for a compelling thread throughout the season.
The argument for ranking it lower would be the pure repetition factor.
Anytime you have a perpetual “been there, done that” feeling…that’s bad.
Especially when most of those twists and challenges were not great to begin with.
However, the producers did a much better job of editing and presenting that content.
Shane Powers should have been brought back forHeroes vs. Villains.
And theSecond Chanceseason, for that matter.
Seriously, what the hell?!?
Get that guy back on TV.
But I still can’t figure out how/why Bob Dawg didn’t get a bigger and better edit.
That guy is an absolute gas, whether in or outside of Casa de Charmin.
22.Survivor 41This may be the hardestSurvivorseason ever to rank.
Let’s get to the bad before the good.
That’s not good.
Which was a shame because when allowed to, this cast delivered in a huge way.
Early boots like Brad and J.D.
That’s a hell of a lineup right there.
Not that I thought all the changes were bad.
23.Survivor 43Seasons 41 and 42 featured really dynamic casts and some really wonky production wrinkles.Survivor 43flipped the script completely.
For the most part, the game flow either by design or sheer luck worked out really well.
But the cast, while extremely likable, were not super propulsive.
Where were the fireworks?
Outside of a mild argument between Owen and James, we didn’t see a whole lot of spark.
Instead, we got a lot more gauzy, reach-for-the-Kleenex backstory photo montages, but little sizzle.
Hopefully that leads to more finale drama.
And, if so, this ranking could rise.
24.Survivor: Ghost IslandThis was another hard season to rank.
This idea was used a few years later onSurvivor South Africa: Immunity Island.)
And then there is the ending, which also has plusses and minuses.
So again, both good and bad.
Like I said, a hard season to rank.
But the ending was fantastic, and I was engaged throughout, even with the noted weaknesses.
I liked watching Kellyn act like a super-spaz.
I was fascinated with the Laurel and Donathan strategic push-and-pull.
Throw that all together and you end up in the middle of the pack.
25.Survivor: Game ChangersWhat a weird season this was.
We were treated to two titans of the game (Tony and Sandra) going toe to toe.
But something was missing.
Said events were all exciting, but they failed to form a cohesive unit.
all gone before the merge.
And despite the gameplay and unpredictability down the stretch, that is kind of what happened.
And then there is what happened to Cirie in the finale.
(The fact that it happened to a true legend in Cirie made it even harder to swallow.)
But there is one thing I reallydiddig about this season, and that is the cast.
27.Survivor: The Australian OutbackAn overrated season in my book.
Pretty predictable boot order as well.
Dude didburn his hands off, though.
And, outside of one mind-bogglingly boring loved ones reward contest, the challenges were strong.
But now comes the bad news.
Like the majority ofSurvivornation, I was not a fan of the new final four fire-making twist.
That was a bummer.
29.Survivor: Kaoh RongNot one of the best seasons ever; not one of the worst.
That’s always exciting.
Working against this season is the fact that there simply were not enough transcendent players in the cast.
That’s a problem.
That said, man, were there some hate-fueled fireworks at those final few Tribal Councils.
The fact that so many unworthy players went so far is simply too damning.
33.Survivor: Redemption IslandThe first three episodes were dynamite, but then the fuse blew out.
34.Survivor: AfricaSome great challenges.
Not that much else was great.
35.Survivor: Edge of ExtinctionFlat.
That’s the best word I can think of to describe the season.
At least give them a place where they can go in the water!
Rafe was good for a few laughs, though.
Especially on rope obstacles.
37.Survivor: VanuatuI don’t blame producers: The battle of the sexes seemed like a fine enough concept.
This season just never took off.
That counts for something.
39.Survivor: One WorldLook, I have total respect for Kim’s game.
Like Tom inPalauand Rob inRedemption Island, she excelled strategically, socially, and physically.
Unfortunately, that is really the only good thing I can say about this season.
And that’s too bad because I do think the “One World” concept was a solid one.
But, man, what a thoroughly uninspiring cast.
Speaking of awful creative decisions…
42.Survivor: NicaraguaIt’s way down here for a few reasons.
- Splitting the tribes up by age and theMedallion of Powerwere both enormous flops.
)Nicaraguahad just too many unlikable players.
Two people quitting with only 11 days left.
No big memorable moments.
Unfortunately, it was people quitting, and that was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
43.Survivor: Island of the IdolsI’m a guy who tends to be pretty analytical.
But even I recognize that when it comes to rankingSurvivorseasons, it ultimately comes down to a feeling.
But nothing seemed fun in light of the far more serious issue that clearly outweighed the final game result.
Quite simply: It made the rest of the season impossible to enjoy.
And so here it sits.
Well, there it is.
At least until the finale.
