The One Thing I Want To See From Every Returning Survivor 50 Player

The goal for every Survivor player is to win. That’s clearly the highest upside outcome, both from a monetary standpoint and from a legacy standpoint. Every player out there for Survivor 50 is hoping to come home with the money and eternal bragging rights, but since 23 of the players are going to lose, I think it’s worth talking about what each player needs to do to live up to the fan expectations.

For a newbie season, the benchmarks for success are basically always the same: make the merge and get a strong edit from producers. Those generic goals will carry over here, but since all the Survivor 50 players are returning as part of one of the best casts in the history of the show, it’s a little easier to define what success might look like for each person. Some can grow their legacies by simply giving us more entertaining camp life content. Others really need to make a deep run or pull off a strong strategic move or do something wild in a challenge to grow their legacies.

I don’t pretend I speak for all fans, but as a superfan who has watched every season, I think my views are in line with most people, at least when it comes to what type of content we want to see from every returning castaway. So, I decided to put together a list of the one thing I’m hoping every castaway gives us that would make it a successful season for them, even if they don’t win.

The OGs

Jenna Lewis (Borneo & All-Stars): I want to see her adapt to the modern game. Survivor has fundamentally changed since Jenna first played. The concept of alliances was literally invented on her first season. During her return appearance, there was a lot more strategy, but nowhere near the twists and turns we get now. Many fans are hoping she continues her no winners strategy from All-Stars and leads the charge against Dee, Kyle and Savannah. For me, I mostly want her to show she fits and can navigate modern Survivor with all its boat trips, complicated advantages and wild scheming. I think the game is more the same than it is different, but we’ll see.

Colby Donaldson (Australian Outback, All-Stars, Heroes vs Villains): I want to see him play more aggressively. Colby made a deep run during his last appearance on Heroes vs Villains, but he’s widely remembered for seeming disengaged for much of the season. He was out of the loop on much of the strategizing, and other than a confrontation that went poorly with Coach in one of the challenges, the moment he’s best remembered for is probably him obliviously watching Treasure Island during a reward, while Amanda and Danielle literally fought for a clue inside a nearby popcorn bucket. He doesn’t need to pull off wild blindsides, but it would be nice to see him in the middle of the fray.

Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick (Palau, Guatemala, Heroes vs Villains): I want to see her remind everyone why she’s still being asked to do reality competition shows. Let’s be really direct about Stephenie here. During her first two seasons on Palau and Guatemala, she was a beloved fan favorite who gave us a ton of great moments. Unfortunately, her more recent appearances haven’t given the same energy. She was out almost immediately on Heroes vs Villains. She wasn’t memorable during her season on Traitors, and her appearance on Snake In The Grass wasn’t her finest hour either. We’ve seen her be a really fun personality before. I want to see her show that again, especially for the newer fans who weren’t there at the beginning.

Cirie Fields (Panama, Micronesia, Heroes vs Villains, Game Changers): I want to see her make Final Tribal or at least lose after a deep run in heartbreaking fashion. There are a couple other players who need to have big games from a personality standpoint in order to live up to fan expectations, but I think Cirie has the toughest battle from a placement standpoint. She just missed final tribal twice, was eliminated, despite not receiving a single vote against her, in one of the screwiest eliminations of all-time in the middle of another deep run and went home her other time in a pretty shocking pre-merge blindside. She’s probably the castaway the most fans are hoping will win the game, and because of all her prior success, the expectations are unfairly high, especially because this is probably her last attempt.

Ozzy Lusth (Cook Islands, Micronesia, South Pacific, Game Changers): I want to see more fishing, swimming, survival skills and challenge beasting. Most fans would tell you they want to see something different out of Ozzy. He’s made the jury in every single one of his seasons, but he hasn’t been able to successfully navigate the post-merge, apart from his first season. They’d like to see him prove he can do that on a returning season. I’d like to see that too, but as someone who really does enjoy the physical parts of Survivor, Ozzy is an all-time great to me because he’s fun to watch exist on the island. I want to see him catch a big fish or climb a tree or swim really fast in a challenge. I want him to show he’s still got that adventure and natural athleticism in him.

Coach Wade (Tocantins, Heroes vs Villains, South Pacific): I want to see as many moments of Coach being Coach as possible. No one was more excited than me when the Survivor 50 trailer opened with Coach dropping a voiceover quoting Magellan. I want to see Coach do great things this season, but mostly, I want to see him talk about himself doing those great things. I want to see him interact with New Era players. I want to see him last as long as possible and be as weird as possible (which was already happening during the pregame). Coach is a personality hire, and while a deep run would be nice, I would trade it all for one episode of television as great as “The Martyr Approach.”

Aubry Bracco (Kaoh Rong, Game Changers, Edge Of Extinction): I want to see her pull off one epic move. Aubry is widely considered one of the strongest Final Tribal Council losers in the history of the show. Her superfans would definitely love to see her finally get her redemption, but my goal is a little less lofty. I want her to be the driving force behind one fantastic move. I think she’s one of the strongest strategists in the history of the game, but she hasn’t shown that a ton during her more recent appearances. I need that Kaoh Rong Aubry to come out, and I need her to slit someone’s throat in a blindside they don’t see coming.

Chrissy Hofbeck (Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers): I want to see more immunity challenge wins. Chrissy is one of the best challenge performers in the history of the show, and she’s at or near the top among the women. I think she’s a threat to go deep in the game, but on a more basic level, I just want to see her make the merge so she can compete in some more immunity challenges. She’s in her mid-50s now; so many fans don’t think she’ll be super competitive. We’ll see. She wasn’t exactly young last time and still dominated.

Mike White (David vs Goliath): I want to see a terrific social game that involves relationships with many different players. I’m still big mad Mike didn’t win his season because I thought he played one of the all-time great middle games. He moved his votes around a lot, but he was able to do it in a way that kept his options open for later. I want to see that same kind of reach again. I’d love to see him form relationships with a ton of different castaways and use all that goodwill to manuever himself as far as possible in the game. I’m not sure he can really win on account of his fame, but I think he has the skills to make a deep run.

Angelina Keeley (David vs Goliath): I want more WTF moments. Like Coach, Q and a few others, Angelina is here to make good television. I’m not saying there’s not a set of circumstances that could end in her winning the game, but she’s not out there in Fiji because she’s a huge threat. She made it over many, many other contestants because she’s one of the more memorable characters in the history of the show. I don’t know that she has another moment in her as legendary as the infamous jacket, but if she does anything we’re laughing about ten years from now, she’ll have done her job.

Christian Hubicki (David vs Goliath): I want to see some really outside the box thinking. Christian is often cited as one of the smartest and most analytical players in the history of Survivor. He’s like a more modern version of Rob Cesternino. He’ll need to figure out how to manage his threat level to make a deep run, but on a more broad level than that, I just want to see him come up with at least one really interesting scheme. Maybe it’s a plan to flush an idol. Maybe it’s an interesting way to split votes. I just want to be impressed by how he thinks at least once.

Rick Devens (Edge Of Extinction): I want to see him find at least one idol. I’m sure he has bigger aspirations in the game than just idol hunting, but given he’s probably the second most famous idol finder in the history of the game after Survivor 50 snub Russell Hantz, I’d love to see him further that legacy. Given the amount of idols was something fans voted on prior to the game, we don’t really know how many will be out there, but at minimum, I need to see at least one really fun hunt.

The New Era

Jonathan Young (Survivor 42): I want to see him do something extraordinary in a challenge. It feels like the fans we hear the most from on social media are the game bots that only care about the strategy elements, but personally, I love watching the challenges too. There might not be anyone in the history of the show more fun to watch in challenges, especially those relying on physical strength, than Jonathan. The immunity challenge in the storm where he carried the ladder by himself is probably the most memorable of the entire New Era. At least one time, I just want to see this dude go to work and be mesmerized by his physical strength.

Emily Flippen (Survivor 45): I want to see her keep some of that aggressiveness. The reason so many of us really enjoyed Emily during 45 was because of the emotional journey we went through with her. It was so much fun to see her go from being really abrasive and unable to connect with her original tribemates to finding a softness and being able to build rapport later in the game. I don’t want her to go back to being as abrasive as she was during the first week, but I also don’t want to see her be really go with the flow either. Deep down, she seems to be an intense person, and I want to see some of that intensity when she's not surrounded by one of the worst disaster tribes in history.

Dee Valladares (Survivor 45): I want to see her navigate being one of the biggest targets on the island. Dee is widely considered to be the strongest winner of the New Era. She was a fantastic balance of strategic, social and physical with a willingness to keep secrets from and even betray her closest allies in order to better her own position in the game. Much of that success, however, was reliant on others taking awhile to fully realize she was the one in charge. Because of all that success, others are going to be gunning for her now, and I’d like to see her figure out how to thrive under those circumstances.

Q Burdette (Survivor 46): I want to see WTF camp life content. Like Coach and Angelina, the expectations for Q are about showing his personality, and if pregame interviews are any indication, we could be in for something special here. He’ll have a ton of larger than life castaways to bounce off of, and it should be fantastic to watch more cold and calculated players have to convince him to follow their plans on who to vote out. I want to see the other players frustrated over Q again. I want to see him be a regular source of conversation in other people’s confessionals. If he can do that, it’ll be a successful season.

Charlie Davis (Survivor 46): I want him to prove why some people consider him one of the best second place finishers ever. That’s the label Charlie often gets. The best loser of the New Era. He was a good strategist. He won multiple immunity challenges. He played a strong social game (at least outside of his closest ally not voting for him). Now is the time for him to come out and prove he’s as good as his fans say he is. I think he can do it, but he’s one of the few people on the season whose success really is correlated with how high he finishes (or at least how good he looks for a strong portion of the game).

Tiffany Ervin (Survivor 47): I want to see her show people why she’s on the cast. Tiffany is definitely a player a lot of fans wanted to see come back, but the general assumption was if we saw her again, it would be on a New Era returnee season or some kind of Second Chances. Instead, we’re getting her on Survivor 50. Even with the overabundance of New Era cast members, she’s still the one people most often removed in their fantasy castings to replace with Carolyn or Shan or someone else a bit more famous. I think Tiffany is a good player who is especially fun in her confessionals. I think she can show people she belongs on this cast. She just needs to go out and prove it.

Genevieve Mushaluk (Survivor 47): I want to see Genevieve find another frenemy. The best part about 47 was watching Genevieve and Rachel battle it out. The two were on opposing sides for much of the game, but they built an almost begrudging respect amidst their understanding that they each wanted to take the other down. They knew in another season, they may have gotten along well and worked together, but circumstances made that impossible within the one they were in. It was a really fun dynamic to watch, and I would love to see Genevieve find that with someone else in Survivor 47. If we’re talking about some multi-episode battle she had with someone, it’ll feel like a win.

Joe Hunter (Survivor 48): I want to see Joe play a more aggressive game. For most of the players on this season, I want to see them double down on the essence of why we fell in love ith them as viewers. Joe is one of the few who I really want to see do something differently. So much of his game was wrapped up in Eva and the loyal and tightknit bond they had. Without her, I want to see him play a game that’s a bit more cutthroat. That doesn’t mean he needs to completely abandon his loyalty and integrity, but a little more aggression and killer instinct would make him a more complicated and interesting character.

Kyle Fraser (Survivor 48): I want to see Kyle find more unexpected allies. People point to Kyle’s alliance with Kamilla as the reason he won 48. That certainly played a large part in it, but I think you could more broadly say he won because he was able to build bonds with a really large number of players. Yes, he had that secret alliance with Kamilla, but he much more openly had alliances with players with very different personalities than hers. He’s one of those people that seems to be able to find common ground and connect with almost anyone. He’s going to go into Survivor 50 with a huge target as one of only three winners. He’s going to need those social skills to go much further than the merge.

Kamilla Karthigesu (Survivor 48): I want to see Kamilla step into the spotlight. She coasted for much of her season because people really underestimated her. That’s not the case anymore. Because of all her really thoughtful and schemy confessionals, as well as her strong bond with Kyle, she’s walking into 50 with a target on her back. It’s not going to work for her to just plot in the background. I’d like to see her become a main character earlier in the season and wrangle votes in a pushier and more forward way.

Rizo Velovic (Survivor 49): I want to see Rizo become one of the all-time great Survivor characters. There are a lot of players who were really fun during a particular season and are warmly remembered, but far fewer make it to that next level where we’re still regularly talking about them a decade or more later. Think Coach, Randy Bailey and Angelina. Think Abi-Maria, Courtney Yates and Rudy from Borneo. Think Specialist Phillip Sheppard, Debbie Wanner and Keith Nale. I want that for Rizo. He’s obviously a better, more strategic player than some of those people, but unless he wins, I think his legacy is going to be more personality based. I think another breakout performance on this season could get him there.

Savannah Louie (Survivor 49): I want to see Savannah improve her social game. Yes, she built an all-time fun trio with Rizo and Sophi B and did a little bonding with some of the other players, but her biggest weakness was she was quite clearly perceived as being standoffish and mean girl-ish by many of the other players. If she didn’t win four immunity challenges, she almost certainly would have gone home much earlier. She said in post-game press that she wanted to improve that aspect of her game, and given the target on her head for being a former winner, she’s going to need to do that.