Rating: 8.5/10
After the beleaguered boredom of Marquesas and the dreary chauvinism of Thailand, Mark Burnett & co. had to inject something to change the course of the franchise. Their answer was sex.
The Amazon pitted tribes of eight men and women against each other. This time, they'd been filtered by production for watchability. Unlike Thailand and Marquesas, most of these people were interesting. Most were intelligent. They were almost all white. An inflated percentage of them were very attractive. And most appeared to be single.
Early moments of The Amazon suggested a Bachelor takeoff, with groups of singles selected for their attractiveness and competitiveness disconnected from the other sex, then suddenly and unexpectedly mingled. The castaways, particularly the worst players among the men, seemed to view Survivor as some sort of dating contest. Talk of who was going to get with who seemed to overwhelm the men, blurring their focus on early challenges and tribal councils. Who was the hottest girl? Was it enhanced blonde Heidi? Swimsuit model Jenna? Or was it actually Shawna? The guys couldn't stop talking about their favorite-looking women and body parts, not with each other, not in confessionals, not even at Tribal.
And Jeff Probst was happy to egg them on, asking leading questions before admonishing them. It was all wildly inappropriate, strikingly obscene viewed in 2020. While previous seasons had quietly courted and exploited sexual drama, The Amazon overtly encouraged it. The season was cast to inspire sexual thoughts, it was structured to inspire sexual thoughts and it was edited to inspire sexual thoughts. Any claim Survivor does not seek to exploit sex is fallacious on account of The Amazon.
The players who best understood gender dynamics from the beginning gained control of those who didn't and those who couldn't contain themselves. Jenna immediately identified the gendered tribes as a setback, as her ability to manipulate men was her greatest strength. Heidi, Jenna and Shawna constructed a Cute Girl Alliance - largely in self-protection from women they feared would ostracize them for their looks. After a tribal swap, Heidi backstabbed her female tribemates and laddered up a male alliance. Jenna concurrently turned the game by flipping a numbers disadvantage into an ultra-satisfying blindside of the Token Bigot, Roger. Heidi and Jenna tantalized the men with encouragement of threesomes. In the season's most famously bombastic moment, they got naked for peanut butter and chocolate.
Others played the sexual game less explicitly. Perceptive Deena refrained from the drama while observing and manipulating it, combining a surprise attachment to the Cute Girl Alliance with secret male emissaries. Charming Alex patiently abided the men before his preferred opportunity arrived alongside the Cute Girls.
The most instantly chauvinistic men were the first to go, with Bachelorette rejects Ryan and Dan quickly sent back to the gym. The Token Bigot received his blindside homicide, throat cut by those he'd dismissed Walder Frey-style. Delightfully, the game consolidated to its best and most entertaining players. Where previous seasons had stagnated from predictable post-merge voting blocks, The Amazon's intrigue steadily accelerated to Final Tribal. Sexuality quietly receded to a non-factor, replaced by strategy and deception. Most importantly, though, these people compelled you to care about them.
There was Dave, a literal rocket scientist. He was attractive and virtuous too, though not virtuous enough to avoid a dooming alliance with the Token Bigot. Deena's pithy observations endeared her to the audience and eventually her captivating, clandestine alliance. Alex was the Bachelorette contestant who might actually win the Final Rose. Deaf Christy battled her disability and those who made her feel unwelcome. Heidi entered the game's pantheon of legendary babes, overcoming the "disability of sexiness" she and Jenna controversially alleged. Celebrated for her looks, Heidi persisted in the game thanks to intellect and determination. Most of the castaways thought runner-up Matthew was a creep, but his confessionals mostly revealed eccentricity and thoughtfulness. Jenna was pretty and she knew it, but her 6-1 Final Tribal win came on the shoulders of a commendable social game and four individual immunity challenge wins.
Each of these players made The Amazon entertaining in ways the previous two seasons hadn't been. But one player superceded them all, elevating The Amazon to the top tier of classic Survivor seasons. That player was "probably the smartest player the game of Survivor has ever seen - that didn't win" according to Jeff Probst. He dominated the strategic sphere of the game like no player before, not even Richard Hatch. With four left, it appeared he was going to win in the most dominating fashion in Survivor history.
Every great spectacle is enhanced by a knowledgeable and articulate tour guide. The Amazon's was Rob Cesternino. Rob arrived in Brazil ready to play and ready to talk. He had plenty to say to his tribemates, but saved the best for confessionals. Rob possessed all the cunning of his Beantown namesake, but replaced Boston's Corleoneish shell with Sandleresque wisecracking. Rob garnered great social capital among his compatriots, male and female, but secretly viewed them all as chess pieces. He found glory in a covert alliance with Deena, but dispatched her the moment her guile matched his own. He preemptively turned on Alex when the latter confided he might write Rob's name down later. Rob gushed over Heidi, but had no problem voting her out in fifth.
Rob's championship coronation was dismantled by an unlikely source. With four players left, 21 year-old Jenna was exhausted, sick, and forsaken. Her primary ally Heidi had just been eliminated; her former allies had busted out (Alex) or betrayed her (Rob). Jenna actually asked the tribe to vote her out before Heidi on account of her health, but they KO'd the blonde because they thought she was more of a challenge threat.
Jenna pulled out a blindfolded maze immunity challenge in the middle of a rainstorm to get down to three, then won the climactic balancing endurance challenge to lock up her spot at Final Tribal. She slit Rob's throat, then trounced unpopular Matthew in the final vote. Jenna never distinguished herself as a special player, but impressively persevered in the three trademark phases of the game. She won four of eight individual immunity challenges, expunged all of her greatest enemies and even got one of them (Christy) to vote for her after vowing to "make sure that evil stepsister doesn't win the million" in her exit interview.
The Amazon was far from a perfect season. It escalated Survivor's cringing affiliation with sexual harassment. It included just two racial minority players and dismissed both before the bigoted and the lazy. It contained a slew of snoozer reward challenges, including one that was played merely for Coca-Colas. It featured perhaps the most terrible of all the terrible "looking back at the fallen" day 39 sequences. It came years before the show converted to HD cameras. But The Amazon's scintillating cast and climactic voting catapulted the season into Survivor's top tier. It was the most indispensable season since the first, and even more entertaining.
The Amazon pitted tribes of eight men and women against each other. This time, they'd been filtered by production for watchability. Unlike Thailand and Marquesas, most of these people were interesting. Most were intelligent. They were almost all white. An inflated percentage of them were very attractive. And most appeared to be single.
Early moments of The Amazon suggested a Bachelor takeoff, with groups of singles selected for their attractiveness and competitiveness disconnected from the other sex, then suddenly and unexpectedly mingled. The castaways, particularly the worst players among the men, seemed to view Survivor as some sort of dating contest. Talk of who was going to get with who seemed to overwhelm the men, blurring their focus on early challenges and tribal councils. Who was the hottest girl? Was it enhanced blonde Heidi? Swimsuit model Jenna? Or was it actually Shawna? The guys couldn't stop talking about their favorite-looking women and body parts, not with each other, not in confessionals, not even at Tribal.
And Jeff Probst was happy to egg them on, asking leading questions before admonishing them. It was all wildly inappropriate, strikingly obscene viewed in 2020. While previous seasons had quietly courted and exploited sexual drama, The Amazon overtly encouraged it. The season was cast to inspire sexual thoughts, it was structured to inspire sexual thoughts and it was edited to inspire sexual thoughts. Any claim Survivor does not seek to exploit sex is fallacious on account of The Amazon.
The players who best understood gender dynamics from the beginning gained control of those who didn't and those who couldn't contain themselves. Jenna immediately identified the gendered tribes as a setback, as her ability to manipulate men was her greatest strength. Heidi, Jenna and Shawna constructed a Cute Girl Alliance - largely in self-protection from women they feared would ostracize them for their looks. After a tribal swap, Heidi backstabbed her female tribemates and laddered up a male alliance. Jenna concurrently turned the game by flipping a numbers disadvantage into an ultra-satisfying blindside of the Token Bigot, Roger. Heidi and Jenna tantalized the men with encouragement of threesomes. In the season's most famously bombastic moment, they got naked for peanut butter and chocolate.
Others played the sexual game less explicitly. Perceptive Deena refrained from the drama while observing and manipulating it, combining a surprise attachment to the Cute Girl Alliance with secret male emissaries. Charming Alex patiently abided the men before his preferred opportunity arrived alongside the Cute Girls.
The most instantly chauvinistic men were the first to go, with Bachelorette rejects Ryan and Dan quickly sent back to the gym. The Token Bigot received his blindside homicide, throat cut by those he'd dismissed Walder Frey-style. Delightfully, the game consolidated to its best and most entertaining players. Where previous seasons had stagnated from predictable post-merge voting blocks, The Amazon's intrigue steadily accelerated to Final Tribal. Sexuality quietly receded to a non-factor, replaced by strategy and deception. Most importantly, though, these people compelled you to care about them.
There was Dave, a literal rocket scientist. He was attractive and virtuous too, though not virtuous enough to avoid a dooming alliance with the Token Bigot. Deena's pithy observations endeared her to the audience and eventually her captivating, clandestine alliance. Alex was the Bachelorette contestant who might actually win the Final Rose. Deaf Christy battled her disability and those who made her feel unwelcome. Heidi entered the game's pantheon of legendary babes, overcoming the "disability of sexiness" she and Jenna controversially alleged. Celebrated for her looks, Heidi persisted in the game thanks to intellect and determination. Most of the castaways thought runner-up Matthew was a creep, but his confessionals mostly revealed eccentricity and thoughtfulness. Jenna was pretty and she knew it, but her 6-1 Final Tribal win came on the shoulders of a commendable social game and four individual immunity challenge wins.
Each of these players made The Amazon entertaining in ways the previous two seasons hadn't been. But one player superceded them all, elevating The Amazon to the top tier of classic Survivor seasons. That player was "probably the smartest player the game of Survivor has ever seen - that didn't win" according to Jeff Probst. He dominated the strategic sphere of the game like no player before, not even Richard Hatch. With four left, it appeared he was going to win in the most dominating fashion in Survivor history.
Every great spectacle is enhanced by a knowledgeable and articulate tour guide. The Amazon's was Rob Cesternino. Rob arrived in Brazil ready to play and ready to talk. He had plenty to say to his tribemates, but saved the best for confessionals. Rob possessed all the cunning of his Beantown namesake, but replaced Boston's Corleoneish shell with Sandleresque wisecracking. Rob garnered great social capital among his compatriots, male and female, but secretly viewed them all as chess pieces. He found glory in a covert alliance with Deena, but dispatched her the moment her guile matched his own. He preemptively turned on Alex when the latter confided he might write Rob's name down later. Rob gushed over Heidi, but had no problem voting her out in fifth.
Rob's championship coronation was dismantled by an unlikely source. With four players left, 21 year-old Jenna was exhausted, sick, and forsaken. Her primary ally Heidi had just been eliminated; her former allies had busted out (Alex) or betrayed her (Rob). Jenna actually asked the tribe to vote her out before Heidi on account of her health, but they KO'd the blonde because they thought she was more of a challenge threat.
Jenna pulled out a blindfolded maze immunity challenge in the middle of a rainstorm to get down to three, then won the climactic balancing endurance challenge to lock up her spot at Final Tribal. She slit Rob's throat, then trounced unpopular Matthew in the final vote. Jenna never distinguished herself as a special player, but impressively persevered in the three trademark phases of the game. She won four of eight individual immunity challenges, expunged all of her greatest enemies and even got one of them (Christy) to vote for her after vowing to "make sure that evil stepsister doesn't win the million" in her exit interview.
The Amazon was far from a perfect season. It escalated Survivor's cringing affiliation with sexual harassment. It included just two racial minority players and dismissed both before the bigoted and the lazy. It contained a slew of snoozer reward challenges, including one that was played merely for Coca-Colas. It featured perhaps the most terrible of all the terrible "looking back at the fallen" day 39 sequences. It came years before the show converted to HD cameras. But The Amazon's scintillating cast and climactic voting catapulted the season into Survivor's top tier. It was the most indispensable season since the first, and even more entertaining.
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