Learning from Returnee First Boots

Who wants to analyze some small samples? I don’t, but I already talked about creepy Survivor moments last season and didn’t want to disparage my beloved Courtney Yates by making a list of castaways who can’t cut through objects.

So instead, let’s go through every returning player first boot to see if there’s anything the future returning players can learn:

Tina Wesson – Survivor: All Stars
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After Jenna Lewis made the smart move to rally everyone against the winners, Tina and Ethan became clear targets. Smaller tribes of six made challenge strength more valuable, making Tina the easy choice for Saboga to eliminate.

Jon “Jonny Fairplay” Dalton – Survivor: Micronesia

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Asking to be voted out on day 3 is a pretty easy way to get voted out.

Jessica “Sugar” Kiper – Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains

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You can survive despite being annoying, you can survive while being a challenge liability, but it’s pretty difficult to survive with both those traits. Especially when you’re on a tribe of people generally not known for their strategic acumen.

Francesca Hogi – Survivor: Caramoan

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It’s risky to bring up someone’s name as a target for the first vote in any season, much less one with returning players. Also, if it would be hilarious for you to be voted out first, it just might happen.

Candice Cody – Survivor: Blood Vs. Water

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Alternate + first impressions vote = I guess I’ll vote for you?
Note: I know Rupert was the first boot, but I’m concerned about the first person voted out.

Vytas Baskaukas – Survivor: Cambodia – Second Chance

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Reports of Vytas’s creepiness and annoying behavior may have been overblown. Not because Kelley and Shirin didn’t find him annoying, but because if you already made up your mind about targeting someone, you’re going to find them annoying. And having no time to scramble- Vytas’s primary Survivor skill- certainly didn’t help.

In conclusion, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But in all seriousness, the early part of a returnee season can be a crap shoot. Nobody wants to be the first boot, especially on an all-star season. People will find any excuse to throw the target on someone else, and the target has to land on someone. So chin up, first boots! It’s not always something you did.

Except Jonny Fairplay, of course.