Welcome to The Challenges of Survivor, where I will, over time, take a look at every challenge to have appeared on the show, and share some thoughts about them! To be more specific, I will go through each season and give each challenge a score between 1 and 5, based on how "good" of a challenge it was. This is, of course, entirely subjective, but hopefully my opinions will line up reasonably closely with all of yours. I am very excited about doing this, as I feel like challenges are an underreported aspect of the show, and personally, I love obsessing over them. Which season will have the best challenges overall? The worst overall? I can't wait to find out! This project is a love letter to Survivor challenges.
What makes a Survivor challenge "good?" I feel like it's a combination of many different things. Some challenges are just classics, and their appearance alone is enough to make you excited. Some challenges are admirable simply because of how creative they are. Some challenges are fun to watch because of how difficult they seem to be. Some challenges are awesome because of how big and epic they are. Some challenges are exciting because a really awesome comeback occurs, or its endurance and contestants last an incredible amount of time. And some challenges simply stand out as being great because of how different they are, offering a nice bit of variety into the season. Regardless of what makes them so good, they all invoke similar feelings of joy, and they will all be given a simple score from 1 to 5. Bear in mind, even "1" challenges can still be intersting, because that's just how good of a show Survivor is. I am simply scoring the challenges relative to one another.
1- Pretty forgettable challenge; could feel out of place or redundant.
2- Alright challenge; entertaining enough, but pretty typical.
3- Super solid challenge; definitely enjoyable to watch.
4- Fantastic challenge; often very creative and delightfully memorable.
5- Incredible challenge; the most elite tier. They are the ones you get excited about seeing before you even start the season.
Season Ranking Based on Final Challenge Score (best to worst)
1. Palau (4.12)
2. China (4.04)*
3. Cook Islands (4.04)*
4. All-Stars (4.00)
5. Micronesia (3.88)
6. Gabon (3.74)
7. Tocantins (3.65)
8. Africa (3.63)
9. Guatemala (3.62)
10. The Amazon (3.61)
11. Fiji (3.58)
12. Heroes vs Villains (3.54)
13. Panama (3.48)
14. Vanuatu (3.46)
15. Marquesas (3.35)
16. Samoa (3.29)
17. Borneo (3.17)
18. Thailand (3.13)
19. The Australian Outback (3.125)
20. Pearl Islands (3.12)
21. One World (3.00)
22. Philippines (2.91)
23. Nicaragua (2.86)
24. South Pacific (2.79)
25. Redemption Island (2.54)
*score was tied, ultimate placement came down to final judgement on my end.
If you have any comments, questions, feedback, or just want to reach out to me, send an email to cadebw2@gmail.com!