Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 46 Premiere
Survivor is back, baby! This was a fun premiere with a unusual first boot. Going in, I never would have correctly guessed who was going first. I loved the Andy Griffith alliance and the geckos used in the Immunity Challenge were adorable. I want one!
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45 Finale
Wow, what a roller coaster. I was honestly expecting a pretty straightforward finale without a ton of tension. While I ended up being right about the winner, there was actually a ton of tension in this episode. It was much closer strategically than I thought it would be as well as at the Final Tribal Council. I loved it and it's a great ending to an awesome season.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 12
Love is in the air, and so is some questionable gameplay. This was a fun, if pretty straightforward episode until we got to Tribal Council. I also think it made it pretty obvious who is going to win the season, but I could definitely be wrong.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 11
Wow, what an epic episode. It had everything! A wild and tragic backstory, a really fun Immunity Challenge, romance, tension, betrayal, and a very exciting Tribal Council.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 10
Okay, the Top Gun montage sequence in this episode might be my favorite Survivor moment since Tony won Winners at War. I don't know whose idea it was, but they deserve a raise. This episode was a blast even if the gameplay was questionable at times.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 9
This ended up being a pretty straightforward and uneventful episode despite the best efforts of production. I always like it when production tries to force something crazy and it just doesn't happen. Straightforward episodes are fine! Straightforward doesn't always mean boring.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 8
Wow, what a fun episode. It was great to have the auction back and I loved Kellie's reaction to getting voted out. Best of all was Jeff pulling out a knife and stabbing the bag of rice. More evil Jeff please!
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 7
I was concerned going into this episode, not gonna lie. I wasn't thrilled that we were getting a double boot immediately after the mergatory episode. I just wanted a normal episode to let the battle lines get drawn. However, the twist ended up working for me.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 6
Wow, that was an absolutely wild episode and a ton of fun. It was already shaping up to be a great episode with all of these personalities interacting for the first time, but that Tribal Council really took the cake.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 5
This was a bounce-back episode for Survivor 45. We got solid setup for the possible conflicts in all three tribes going into the Immunity Challenge, so I had no idea who was going to Tribal Council. We got some fun scheming and plotting and interesting character backstories.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 4
I was really enjoying this episode until I wasn't. The tribe swap was a breath of fresh air. I think seasons should generally have one, and not just a mini-swap like they had in 44.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 3
Wow, what a Tribal Council. I feel like that's going to be iconic. This was such a fun episode. It's crazy to me how hard these Idols are to get and making them weaker Idols is just brutal.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45, Episode 2
This was another really fun episode of Survivor. I'm really digging the vibe of the Reba tribe. It's a fun group and they got up to some really goofy moments that I don't think would have made the cut in a shorter episode.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 45 Premiere
I'm so excited to have Survivor back and it hit the ground running with an awesome premiere and what looks to be a disaster tribe. It's been a minute since we've had one of these. In the meantime, we have to figure out who played well and who sucked, so let's take a closer look.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 44 Finale
Now, that is more like it. Season 44 is my favorite of the post-Covid seasons. While there was a little bit of garbage from production around the merge, most of the post-merge was nice and clean, as was the finale, with the exception being the fire-making challenge.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 44, Episode 12
This was another really fun episode of Survivor. We got good gameplay, bad gameplay, and some absolute insanity from Carolyn. This episode also set up the potential conflict of the finale nicely and I'm very hyped to see how it plays out.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 44, Episode 11
The hits keep on coming in Survivor 44. This was another fun episode, even if some of the gameplay didn't make much sense. I'm starting to suspect Carolyn might win this game.
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 44, Episode 10
Man, this was another fun episode of Survivor. Going into Tribal Council, I had no idea who was going home and the only advantage that mattered was the ghost of a fake Idol. I loved it!
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 44, Episode 9
This was another fun episode of Survivor, even if I could do without the rice negotiation. I just loved the strategizing after the challenge and thinking about all of the different ways it could go. This is why I love Survivor. Take notes, Jeff!
Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 44, Episode 8
Finally, we got a regular-ass Tribal Council. What a breath of fresh air! We haven't had one of these since Sarah got voted out. That's actually insane. We spent too much time at the Challenge in this episode and not enough time with the pre-Tribal strategy, but I still enjoyed the episode.