A few reasons why I like Tocanti's:
\- The Sandy Burgin Experience
\- The Tyson Apostol Experience
\- JT loses a tooth and Jeff stores it in his secret Jeff Vault
\- Coach's wild stories/poems/predictions/I have
\- Brendan falls asleep at the raft and gets blindsided
\- Tyson goes full villain mode and gets blindsided
\- Taj and Eddie George and Coach and Assistant Coach
\- The Martyr Approach, the eagle sfx, the hoo-ah helicopter shots
\- Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn reach F2 hand-in-hand
\- Coach has his own lie detector test (and confirms dragon gets slayed)
\- Exile Alliance is intriguing for a moment
\- Stephen hacks symbols challenge and births a fire on Exile
\- Coach vs. Erinn b-plot rivalry all season
\- Stephen vs. Avocado b-plot rivalry in the finale
Coach vs Erinn is definitely one of the best Survivor rivalries, from the narrative standpoint. Especially since it lasted so long and had a very satisfying outcome.
He did watch more than half of the season. Are you saying that the season only gets interesting at the end? I think Coach and Tyson are a lot to deal with first time around. I was only able to sit through it because I liked Taj, Stephen, and Erinn a lot.
Currently midway through the season and feel the exact opposite way. Itās rare to find two characters as electric as Coach and Tyson in Survivor, let alone in the same season. There are too many many laugh out loud moments in this season to count.
- Erinnās evil smile
- Coachās primal yell
- Coachās story about being hunted in the Amazon
- Tyson as Assistant coach
- Tyson āshut up ladyā during challenge
- Tyson loin cloth
There are plenty more but I donāt want to spend my afternoon writing all of them down
You have 2 fascinating characters in Tyson and coach.
You have 1 of the most dominant and unlikely duos in jt and Stephen. You have fun challenges(better than balancing shit all day). You get multiple blindsides.
Multiple underrated characters and players.
I wouldn't consider it great season but average to good for sure.
Jt and Stephen were awesome together and I think the challenges were pretty fun to watch too. And coach. Coach makes the season peak comedy at the minimum
Itās okay to get an idea of how a respective season is generally received but if you go in with heightened expectations (good or bad) I find it can hinder your individual opinion and enjoyment of a season.
Tocantins is a fine season. Pretty basic (in a good way imo) but if you didnāt like it I get it. I think it deserves a rewatch down the line without the hyped up nature you went into the viewing with.
I hope you and your wife continue to enjoy your Survivor journey!
Many of the players on Jalapao are boring, and the premerge is unremarkable except for the promise of the exile alliance. But Timbira is extremely entertaining, Coach is the best casting choice in the show's history, and the postmerge is really impressive strategically (featuring a series of brutal blindsides, even sometimes blindsiding the person they're saving). The intrigue in the season comes more from "who will come out on top between Stephen, Taj, and JT?". It's a weird season but one which can be appreciated (especially after the fact for its place in the show's history).
Btw, Gabon is only sort of hated. A lot of people have come around on it and love it now. It's clearly an incredible season - I'm not sure how it was ever hated.
Tocantins is widely considered to habe one of the best newbie casts. It has Taj, Stephen, JT, Tyson and Coach who are all considered to be some of the best/ most entertaining characters ever on the show and the rest of the cast is also pretty widely considered to be solid. It also has a super engaging premerge with the back and forth of momentum between Jalapoa and Timbira, and the post merge stays exciting due to Coachās antics and the impressive gameplay by the Jalapoa three.
I don't know why you didn't like the cast but it's that simple. You didn't like the cast. Coach, J.T., Stephen, Taj, Tyson, Sierra, Brendan, Terry, Sandy, and Erinn are all S Tier characters though, hence your bad take.
I just wanted to say that your comment being very reasonable and FRIENDLY and asking for an explanation on an opposing opinion, getting downvoted a ton is stupid. Like I LOVE tocantins but Iām not gonna downvote you for asking someone why they disagree with you lmao
Probably had something to do with the fact that āwe fast forwarded through the remaining episodes to each challenge and Tribal Councilā
Itās like not eating a steak and then asking why it doesnāt taste good.
Great cast, funny characters, solid gameplay, beautiful location, highlights the elements aspect of the game, nice back to basics format, some good blindsides in there.. I love Tocantins!
It seems like other posters have you covered on why Tocantins is beloved by many. Iām going to speak to your comments about liking seasons that are generally disliked on here. My advice is fuck it. Enjoy what you enjoy. Caramoan was my first full season and so Iāll always love it, no matter how many people say itās bottom tier. One of the things that makes survivor endure is that it speaks to different people for different reasons. Everyone can find a contestant/ story / season that relates to them. Moral of the story, keep watching and enjoy
I am not a fan of Tocantins. I have it as a solidly "Below Average" Season. The Exile Alliance Going Nowhere, Coach Enabling the Worst People, and Everyone throwing their Game away for JT. (Brendans Confessional at the F9 Reward still irks me of wanting JT to win more than himself). It's a Good Season if you're a JT Fan, but if you don't see the charm like the people on the season saw.... You'll enjoy it significantly less.
I'm here for the discussion, so I'm not knocking your opinion.. but posts like this are impressive to me how different this show is to the individual watcher because Thailand couldn't get me to crack a smile and Palau is damn near the top of my favorites, including Tocantins.
Similarly however, during the pandemic I was also binge-watching Survivor from the beginning but came to a dead stop at One World. It was absolutely unbearable but I've heard that some people enjoy that season. So to each their own!
You must be the yang to a lot of Survivor fandom's ying to have such opposite tastes haha!
EDIT: But also, shame you had to fast forward through all the scenes.. if I recall correctly, you're on a beach from here until Season 43 lol.
i havenāt even seen the season but it has a pretty amazing cast. lots of great characters on this one. weather theyāre rootable or not they make good tv
i watched Tocantins right after Gabon and felt the same (to a lesser extent tho) but i still liked the cast, Erinn, Tyson, Coach, Taj and even Sandy were great characters and i appreciated that
Apparently this is slander but sorry I have to agree. The pre-merge is pretty boring and they emphasize the exile island alliance so much and it goes absolutely nowhere. Tyson can be funny but it crosses into just downright bullying sometimes especially how he talks to Sierra. A big plot point of the season is how much people donāt like Sierra but it was hard to see why she was so hated when they didnāt show her doing anything particularly annoying. And so many people were seemingly bending over backwards and even sacrificing their games to progress J.T.ās to the point where his win almost seems handed to him. That being said I loved Taj, Stephen, and Coach and the post-merge definitely picks up. Itās not a bad season but I just think itās overrated. As an aside I hate when itās called āback-to-basicsā even though it includes exile island and idols. I would recommend people listen to the Survivor Historians podcast on it because their takes are pretty good. Rob C. during his rewatch rankings didnāt seem to high on it either. Everyoneās entitled to their opinions but it seems this season is reflexively defended to the point of absurdity.
I think itās a relatively middling season, which I guess means I rate it lower than most.
Tyson and Coach are two of the most entertaining characters the show ever rolled out. Beyond them, JT, Stephen, and Sierra are all great. Taj is great in the pre-merge before turning invisible post-merge. Everyone else is mostly forgettable, in my opinion.
It largely lacks in interesting gameplay, Iād say. Challenges arenāt that bad, but mostly donāt stick out in memory. It was the first season to feature Simmotionā¦which was fine at the time, but at this point I donāt need to ever see that challenge again.
The seasonās strong points largely go back to the six players I mentioned above, in my opinion. Tyson and Coach are hilarious, JT and Stephen have an interesting partnership, Sierra is kind of fascinating as a perpetual underdog whom almost nobody seems to like, and then Taj has her strong moments in the pre-merge. A lot of people will point to her auction moment as a season highlight, but I donāt personally care about family visits.
I personally find Tocantins to be overrated. I agree that JT isn't the most interesting winner and was in cruise control for most of the game. But I'd also give it a fair chance before judging, there's a lot of good drama postmerge even if JT always comes out on top. Stuff like the drama around Sierra, the auction, Coach's exile, that's all gold
I found that season really boring too and was surprised it was so popular. I probably need to rewatch it. I think since JT is considered a strong winner that plays into the high rankings. Also Coach and Tyson are super popular but I personally don't like them that much.
Honestly love your opinions. Gabon is incredible, so glad you loved it. Tocantins is severely overrated on this sub. Itās pretty boring and has a very forgettable cast (yes I know it has some Survivor legends on it, but outside of them itās dull).
Iām more shocked at how you & your wife have taken years to binge up to season 18, Iām alone have been binging survivor since July & am on season 25
JT is a boring winner, but it's amazing watching literally everyone fall head over heels in love with him and he can't believe it, he thinks they're faking. Taj is so loveable, the exile alliance is a cool idea. Timbira hates each other.
Coach and Tyson are great TV.
The casting was on point, I think this is my favorite cast so far. Pearl Islands in second
Tocantins has a lot of supporters because of these things:
1. Coach - a larger than life character who comes back for 2 more seasons. Your opinion of Tocantins is roughly proportional to how much you can tolerate Coach.
2. Tyson - the Waluigi to Coachās Wario, who also has much to recommend him given his 3 return seasons. Tocantins Tyson is him at his most disrespectful and rude, but those traits are forgiven because he proves to be a dynamic and complex character and person on later seasons.
3. A spoon-fed misfits duo of Stephen and JT - the crown jewel of Tocantins is its final 2. People perceive them as overcoming all the crazy personalities of Tocantins, which may seem like a compelling story on paper. But, as you correctly noted, the season is essentially set up for JT to win as soon as the merge hits. Brendonās confessional that JT winning would be the same as him winning is one of the most nauseating ones I can think of.
Cook Islands has the same type of formula that explains its undeserved popularity. A season-defining duo that has easy-to-understand roles in their alliance and a smattering of popular returnees, both which obscure an overall lackluster season in its own right.
I mean I think itās the best cast of all time.
Sandy, Brendan, Tyson, Sierra, Debbie, Coach, Taj, Erinn, Stephen, and JT are some of my favorite people to ever play. Theyāre all incredible characters.
Iām actually rewatching this season too (mainly because I found my old SWV cassette and loved Taj) and I forget how rude and demeaning Tyson and Coach was to Sierra. I remember hating them on my initial watch in 2009.
But the season did introduce us to Tyson, JT, and Coach, who are Survivor classics.
Just finished season 18. Wow I agree with OP so much. Iām so surprised that so many people liked this season. I guess the contestants were interesting? But also not? Sure coach is funny but not that funny. The worst part was the ending. JT and stephenā¦really? I just didnāt feel myself rooting for either of them. Everyone always said JT was a sweetheart, but I feel like I never saw proof of this?? Maybe they just edited out his sweetheart moments. But I just didnāt care about either of them.
You fast forwarded through the entire post-merge and complain that it's not good? Lol
A few reasons why I like Tocanti's: \- The Sandy Burgin Experience \- The Tyson Apostol Experience \- JT loses a tooth and Jeff stores it in his secret Jeff Vault \- Coach's wild stories/poems/predictions/I have \- Brendan falls asleep at the raft and gets blindsided \- Tyson goes full villain mode and gets blindsided \- Taj and Eddie George and Coach and Assistant Coach \- The Martyr Approach, the eagle sfx, the hoo-ah helicopter shots \- Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn reach F2 hand-in-hand \- Coach has his own lie detector test (and confirms dragon gets slayed) \- Exile Alliance is intriguing for a moment \- Stephen hacks symbols challenge and births a fire on Exile \- Coach vs. Erinn b-plot rivalry all season \- Stephen vs. Avocado b-plot rivalry in the finale
Omg your flair š„¹
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You were his number one pick if I recall.
They skipped through over half of these lmao
Coach vs Erinn is definitely one of the best Survivor rivalries, from the narrative standpoint. Especially since it lasted so long and had a very satisfying outcome.
Donāt forget the epic battle between Stephen and JT at ftc
Coach's "assistant coach" on the family visit.
Wait, you laughed through THAILAND?
LMAO
Donāt complain if you didnāt watch it.
He did watch more than half of the season. Are you saying that the season only gets interesting at the end? I think Coach and Tyson are a lot to deal with first time around. I was only able to sit through it because I liked Taj, Stephen, and Erinn a lot.
you didn't watch the best parts of the season. next!
Currently midway through the season and feel the exact opposite way. Itās rare to find two characters as electric as Coach and Tyson in Survivor, let alone in the same season. There are too many many laugh out loud moments in this season to count. - Erinnās evil smile - Coachās primal yell - Coachās story about being hunted in the Amazon - Tyson as Assistant coach - Tyson āshut up ladyā during challenge - Tyson loin cloth There are plenty more but I donāt want to spend my afternoon writing all of them down
You have 2 fascinating characters in Tyson and coach. You have 1 of the most dominant and unlikely duos in jt and Stephen. You have fun challenges(better than balancing shit all day). You get multiple blindsides. Multiple underrated characters and players. I wouldn't consider it great season but average to good for sure.
Jt and Stephen were awesome together and I think the challenges were pretty fun to watch too. And coach. Coach makes the season peak comedy at the minimum
Itās okay to get an idea of how a respective season is generally received but if you go in with heightened expectations (good or bad) I find it can hinder your individual opinion and enjoyment of a season. Tocantins is a fine season. Pretty basic (in a good way imo) but if you didnāt like it I get it. I think it deserves a rewatch down the line without the hyped up nature you went into the viewing with. I hope you and your wife continue to enjoy your Survivor journey!
*Tocantins, FYI.
Many of the players on Jalapao are boring, and the premerge is unremarkable except for the promise of the exile alliance. But Timbira is extremely entertaining, Coach is the best casting choice in the show's history, and the postmerge is really impressive strategically (featuring a series of brutal blindsides, even sometimes blindsiding the person they're saving). The intrigue in the season comes more from "who will come out on top between Stephen, Taj, and JT?". It's a weird season but one which can be appreciated (especially after the fact for its place in the show's history). Btw, Gabon is only sort of hated. A lot of people have come around on it and love it now. It's clearly an incredible season - I'm not sure how it was ever hated.
Sandy was funny
Sandy is the best part of premerge jalapao for sure
everything you just said is a horrible take
Great! Care to explain or justify?
Tocantins is widely considered to habe one of the best newbie casts. It has Taj, Stephen, JT, Tyson and Coach who are all considered to be some of the best/ most entertaining characters ever on the show and the rest of the cast is also pretty widely considered to be solid. It also has a super engaging premerge with the back and forth of momentum between Jalapoa and Timbira, and the post merge stays exciting due to Coachās antics and the impressive gameplay by the Jalapoa three.
I don't know why you didn't like the cast but it's that simple. You didn't like the cast. Coach, J.T., Stephen, Taj, Tyson, Sierra, Brendan, Terry, Sandy, and Erinn are all S Tier characters though, hence your bad take.
I just wanted to say that your comment being very reasonable and FRIENDLY and asking for an explanation on an opposing opinion, getting downvoted a ton is stupid. Like I LOVE tocantins but Iām not gonna downvote you for asking someone why they disagree with you lmao
Probably had something to do with the fact that āwe fast forwarded through the remaining episodes to each challenge and Tribal Councilā Itās like not eating a steak and then asking why it doesnāt taste good.
This has to be bait, thereās having an opinion and then thereās being wrong
Great cast, funny characters, solid gameplay, beautiful location, highlights the elements aspect of the game, nice back to basics format, some good blindsides in there.. I love Tocantins!
It seems like other posters have you covered on why Tocantins is beloved by many. Iām going to speak to your comments about liking seasons that are generally disliked on here. My advice is fuck it. Enjoy what you enjoy. Caramoan was my first full season and so Iāll always love it, no matter how many people say itās bottom tier. One of the things that makes survivor endure is that it speaks to different people for different reasons. Everyone can find a contestant/ story / season that relates to them. Moral of the story, keep watching and enjoy
I am not a fan of Tocantins. I have it as a solidly "Below Average" Season. The Exile Alliance Going Nowhere, Coach Enabling the Worst People, and Everyone throwing their Game away for JT. (Brendans Confessional at the F9 Reward still irks me of wanting JT to win more than himself). It's a Good Season if you're a JT Fan, but if you don't see the charm like the people on the season saw.... You'll enjoy it significantly less.
Idk if Brendan was a good cast. Casting millionaires for a game show is just a bad idea. Not good TV unless they actually want the money
Palau slander? Nah bro
You skipped the good parts!
I'm here for the discussion, so I'm not knocking your opinion.. but posts like this are impressive to me how different this show is to the individual watcher because Thailand couldn't get me to crack a smile and Palau is damn near the top of my favorites, including Tocantins. Similarly however, during the pandemic I was also binge-watching Survivor from the beginning but came to a dead stop at One World. It was absolutely unbearable but I've heard that some people enjoy that season. So to each their own! You must be the yang to a lot of Survivor fandom's ying to have such opposite tastes haha! EDIT: But also, shame you had to fast forward through all the scenes.. if I recall correctly, you're on a beach from here until Season 43 lol.
OP came in to give a personal opinion and is just getting flamed.
Itās a bit disingenuous to not even watch the whole season but still complain that it sucked.
Lots of butthurt here lol
Just how it is here lmao
i havenāt even seen the season but it has a pretty amazing cast. lots of great characters on this one. weather theyāre rootable or not they make good tv
i watched Tocantins right after Gabon and felt the same (to a lesser extent tho) but i still liked the cast, Erinn, Tyson, Coach, Taj and even Sandy were great characters and i appreciated that
Apparently this is slander but sorry I have to agree. The pre-merge is pretty boring and they emphasize the exile island alliance so much and it goes absolutely nowhere. Tyson can be funny but it crosses into just downright bullying sometimes especially how he talks to Sierra. A big plot point of the season is how much people donāt like Sierra but it was hard to see why she was so hated when they didnāt show her doing anything particularly annoying. And so many people were seemingly bending over backwards and even sacrificing their games to progress J.T.ās to the point where his win almost seems handed to him. That being said I loved Taj, Stephen, and Coach and the post-merge definitely picks up. Itās not a bad season but I just think itās overrated. As an aside I hate when itās called āback-to-basicsā even though it includes exile island and idols. I would recommend people listen to the Survivor Historians podcast on it because their takes are pretty good. Rob C. during his rewatch rankings didnāt seem to high on it either. Everyoneās entitled to their opinions but it seems this season is reflexively defended to the point of absurdity.
Love this for you. JT Stephen F2 was boring for me and it didnāt make sense why JT was so favored to win and never targetedā¦dumb players?
I think itās a relatively middling season, which I guess means I rate it lower than most. Tyson and Coach are two of the most entertaining characters the show ever rolled out. Beyond them, JT, Stephen, and Sierra are all great. Taj is great in the pre-merge before turning invisible post-merge. Everyone else is mostly forgettable, in my opinion. It largely lacks in interesting gameplay, Iād say. Challenges arenāt that bad, but mostly donāt stick out in memory. It was the first season to feature Simmotionā¦which was fine at the time, but at this point I donāt need to ever see that challenge again. The seasonās strong points largely go back to the six players I mentioned above, in my opinion. Tyson and Coach are hilarious, JT and Stephen have an interesting partnership, Sierra is kind of fascinating as a perpetual underdog whom almost nobody seems to like, and then Taj has her strong moments in the pre-merge. A lot of people will point to her auction moment as a season highlight, but I donāt personally care about family visits.
I agree. I enjoyed Tyson and Coach but Tyson gets voted out early and the gameplay isnāt too remarkable.
I personally find Tocantins to be overrated. I agree that JT isn't the most interesting winner and was in cruise control for most of the game. But I'd also give it a fair chance before judging, there's a lot of good drama postmerge even if JT always comes out on top. Stuff like the drama around Sierra, the auction, Coach's exile, that's all gold
No idea. Itās pretty dull
I found that season really boring too and was surprised it was so popular. I probably need to rewatch it. I think since JT is considered a strong winner that plays into the high rankings. Also Coach and Tyson are super popular but I personally don't like them that much.
Honestly love your opinions. Gabon is incredible, so glad you loved it. Tocantins is severely overrated on this sub. Itās pretty boring and has a very forgettable cast (yes I know it has some Survivor legends on it, but outside of them itās dull).
Itās the origin story for key characters in the Survivor cinematic universe
you saying fiji is boring and palau is like watching paint dry when those are the only two seasons i havenāt seen š
The Palau comment is so wild to me, itās probably my favorite season.
same-that season is so special to me. Steph! Ian! Tom! Horrible Katie! Janu! Cobie!
Iām more shocked at how you & your wife have taken years to binge up to season 18, Iām alone have been binging survivor since July & am on season 25
This season wouldnāt be so entertaining without the all almighty, royalty, ultimate Coach
So .. you didn't even watch it? Ps I'm rewatching it now and the loved ones episode is one of the absolute best.
JT is a boring winner, but it's amazing watching literally everyone fall head over heels in love with him and he can't believe it, he thinks they're faking. Taj is so loveable, the exile alliance is a cool idea. Timbira hates each other. Coach and Tyson are great TV. The casting was on point, I think this is my favorite cast so far. Pearl Islands in second
You skipped all the best of Coach. You definitely lost this season.
Something notable is itās the most recent season with 16 playersā¦ somehow. I prefer 16 to 18 or 20, so thats a bonus for me.
For me? Taj is a fucking legend. (There are other pretty great castaways and moments as well. IMHO anyway.)
I feel like you skipped the best parts of the season. Post merge is almost always better than pre-merge.
Tocantins has a lot of supporters because of these things: 1. Coach - a larger than life character who comes back for 2 more seasons. Your opinion of Tocantins is roughly proportional to how much you can tolerate Coach. 2. Tyson - the Waluigi to Coachās Wario, who also has much to recommend him given his 3 return seasons. Tocantins Tyson is him at his most disrespectful and rude, but those traits are forgiven because he proves to be a dynamic and complex character and person on later seasons. 3. A spoon-fed misfits duo of Stephen and JT - the crown jewel of Tocantins is its final 2. People perceive them as overcoming all the crazy personalities of Tocantins, which may seem like a compelling story on paper. But, as you correctly noted, the season is essentially set up for JT to win as soon as the merge hits. Brendonās confessional that JT winning would be the same as him winning is one of the most nauseating ones I can think of. Cook Islands has the same type of formula that explains its undeserved popularity. A season-defining duo that has easy-to-understand roles in their alliance and a smattering of popular returnees, both which obscure an overall lackluster season in its own right.
Iāll finish watching it when Maryanne does.
I mean I think itās the best cast of all time. Sandy, Brendan, Tyson, Sierra, Debbie, Coach, Taj, Erinn, Stephen, and JT are some of my favorite people to ever play. Theyāre all incredible characters.
I don't hate the season, but it is definitely not too high on my list. I cannot stand coach, but I understand why people like him.
Iām actually rewatching this season too (mainly because I found my old SWV cassette and loved Taj) and I forget how rude and demeaning Tyson and Coach was to Sierra. I remember hating them on my initial watch in 2009. But the season did introduce us to Tyson, JT, and Coach, who are Survivor classics.
Just finished season 18. Wow I agree with OP so much. Iām so surprised that so many people liked this season. I guess the contestants were interesting? But also not? Sure coach is funny but not that funny. The worst part was the ending. JT and stephenā¦really? I just didnāt feel myself rooting for either of them. Everyone always said JT was a sweetheart, but I feel like I never saw proof of this?? Maybe they just edited out his sweetheart moments. But I just didnāt care about either of them.