Survivor: Palau - The Complete Season

This is at the bottom of the "quality" seasons of Survivor. The reason why - sheer dominance. Koror beats Ulong in almost every challenge pre-merge; and every immunity challenge. After merge, Tom and Ian take every immunity challenge. Never was such a show of dominance seen in Survivor.

On top of that, the season had the most deserving winner of any season. I won't spoil who it is, but you can probably guess from the DVD cover.

If "Survivor" seasons were novels, "Survivor: Palau" would be considered one of the finest volumes in the series. Why? Amazing, bigger-than-life characters wrapped in a suspenseful storyline that has a satisfying ending!

The first half tells the tale of a tribe who, through no obvious fault of their own, are seemingly cursed. All these years later, I still remember Bobby Jon as a heartbreaking tragic character. In mid-story, the heroine slips through the jaws of doom... we cheer! But, will she survive? I think that Stephanie is still, to this day, the most popular woman ever on "Survivor".

The "matter of the heart" as we near the climax is an unexpected twist, but totally works in context. And then, finally, FINALLY... the player who dominates the story wins in the end. Having found myself feeling cheated many times before by juries that could not rise above their own hurts and acknowledge the obvious (Colby in "Outback" and Boston Rob in "AllStars" come to mind) here credit is given where credit is due. Three cheers!

The producers are doing those who haven't seen "Survivor" a favor by releasing them in the order that they have: they've skipped over a number of seasons because, quite truthfully, they just aren't very good seasons. "Survivor: Palau" totally justifies its release. 4 stars only cuz I haven't seen the DVD release yet. Let's hope the technicals are as good as the superior storyline.

My Consecutive Survivor Streak was snapped during this season (I missed 3 survivors due to the CBS March Madness, and forget to set my vcr accordingly), so it would be nice to see the whole series in its entirety.

I liked this season. I loved Coby, Angie. Bobby Jon was someone to cheer for, and stephanie was an inspiration of never to give up. The winnner for the first time was someone who obviously dominated the game and deserved to be there (however; if the final three did not end the way it did; it would have been a much closer battle, with maybe a different winner. ahh, the shoulda coulda wouldas of Survivor).

This is the season where the first Ulonging took place. Ulonging is like Pagonging (affectionaly named after the first tribe in Survivor who got picked off one by one after the merge), but when an entire tribe gets eaten up BEFORE merging. Never before had this happened, and I doubt it will ever happen again. This is the season where for the first time there was no tribes at the beginning of the show.

It, like the 9 before it, and the 2 after is a classic season, and needs to be placed on the shelf next to Borneo, the Outback, Pearl Islands and Allstars. It will be enjoyed, and I can't wait for the commentaries and get the insider information.

What DOES irk me, is that Palau was only on t.v. 2 years ago. I can remember the drama very clearly, while Africa, Marqueases, Thailand & the Amazon are slowly fading away. At least do what was originally being done, Current-eqsue season (like Palau) with an older season. Rumours have it that Vanuatu is being released for Christmas, and with everyone in love with Cirie from Exile Island it wouldn't surprise me if they release that one next. Step away from the current; and bring on what started the road to excellence.