No doubt that casting is the number one thing that a good season needs. Which might be why they try to ensure that by bringing back people they think will deliver the goods.

Interesting. I was thinking that having three players could change the current trend where having the winner means you win. I bet I'd have turned a third pick into Monica. Because I'm that good.

I'm surprised there are this many unique commenters/lurkers.

Maybe Tina, given the recent horrible news.

I'm not convinced that he wouldn't have.

"Do they really think you need returning players and/or a massive format change to attract viewers?"

You could tell that's been bothering Hayden for days.

I think the flaw this season was with the combined reward/immunity, which overvalued single challenge wins (but not Tyson's interestingly, since they weren't combined). I imagine we won't be doing that again. But otherwise, I'm fine with Tyson having so many more points. We're just currently in a period of…

It's true because it rhymes.

Well, percentage-wise it's probably about the same as the others.

That would be the primary reason, yes. That said, I would not be opposed if each reunion checked in with the previous' seasons winner. That seems like a good bit of fan service.

I think the key is for the show to switch things up enough (even back and forth) that it keeps strategy from stagnating. Like it has with final 3.

And I should add that I don't say that to diminish Tyson's victory. Not every returning player comes back as a master of the game (see: Monica, Gervase, Russell - either one) having learned from their mistakes. And the benefit Tyson received is at least partially offset by the fact that he had to deal with being an…

I'd take three Parades of Losers over one more segment of Monica saying that "perhaps now its time for Monica to make a big move".

My answer is that yes, there probably has been. But the show chose not to highlight the fact that the tribe through challenges because they don't want to encourage that sort of behaviour.

I actually enjoyed Gervase quite a bit as a narrator. As a player, he wasn't that memorable, but I imagine that's an extension of his resulting power in the game (i.e., he didn't end up mattering, so no focus was put on that part). But I thought he was a fairly astute observer of the game and I am now looking forward…

The big question is what does a Beautiful male that is also not a Brawny one look like for this show? Do they wear skinny jeans or something?

They went to three tribes in Philippines to combat a lot of recent seasons where alliances were formed on the way to the beach on Day One, and never broken. The idea is that its harder to do that on a smaller tribe, especially when castoffs from a third tribe are eventually thrown into the mix.

Correct. So the revote would be 2 votes Ciera, 1 vote Monica.

In relation to this, Gervase had a couple of options: 1) would have been to not cut out Aras so early. It seems like it was a necessary move to take control of the game and eliminate a threat (and certainly was for Tyson), but it did end up cutting off a bunch of potential avenues for Gervase. Once he made the move,…