Survivor South Africa: Panama

 Well what do you know? My buddy was able to recover the first 3 seasons of Survivor South Africa that he couldn't find earlier!

So here I go again reviewing all 3 of these seasons I've never seen before!

It's too bad I couldn't watch these first. Because at this point (2006) the show is fairly new, and not as exciting as future seasons would eventually become. 

That being said...this season did have some good moments. 

There was arguments between tribe members and tempers flaring which surprised me because in Season 4 EVERYONE was very concerned about how they'd look in front of the cameras and were all on good behavior.  

The production was super cheap. Few sets for challenges, with a lot of them being physical. But I knew that, seeing other seasons. It's always been a little less budget spent in South Africa. 

Mark, the Host, is flat. I know he was replaced after Season 2 but I can clearly see why. His delivery is extremely lackluster through the show. 

In South Africa, if someone quits....you still vote. But instead of that person going home, they're given a +1 vote at the next tribal. I thought the rule was weird but they had to repeat that several times since a lot of people talked about quitting during tribal council instead of being voted off. 

The contestants also referred to Tribal Council as TC which I thought was weird. 

One guy got injured and was taken out of the game but in a wild twist, he showed up at tribal, giving his torch to the person who'd just been voted off, sending them to his tribe. I kind of liked that twist. Never seen it before. 

There were NO exit interviews in the season. It started with 14 people and went 29 days. It felt weird because tribes started off smaller then usual. They even held tribal during the day once, which I didn't understand but found unique. 

After the merge, those voted off were sent to another island and given a chance to get back in the game. Nothing new, but bold to implement in the first season of their show. 

During the final four, things got really interesting as there were no more tribals but back to back contests where the first one out was eliminated from the game. Wild!! Don't know how I felt about that but then again, I can appreciate the change in direction away from the normal. 

The final 2 were a HUGE disappointment however. One NEVER had control over the game and the other one threatened to quit the game several times during the show. She was the biggest whiner I've ever seen. When things didn't go her way. 

In the end, the winner was the quitter. Such a letdown.