I have just binge watched S1-S4 and wanted to post a few thoughts.

First off, it was really hard to not like the winner of S1 Alan Kay. I mean, I feel like that guy fell into the honey pot. Then, when he returned in successive seasons as the "voice of Alone" I felt even more this way. It seems he was the right guy in the right place at the right time.

Second, (and you might see a pattern here!) I really liked the winner of Season 2 David McIntyre. I wasn't sure if I was going to like him, but one thing that happened was that I got intrigued when I heard he was a missionary/pastor who had lost everything so I immediately (dumb!) Googled his name. Yep, you guessed it, almost every result said "Season 2 winner!" so it was spoiled for me. As the season wore on there were times where I was not sympathetic to his cause, but by the end I was really encouraged by his conviction to do something for his kids. After watching the show I read up on him a little more and became even more impressed. Seems like a good dude.

Third, Pata-mother-f'ing-gonia! I was surprised by the change of scenery and it felt good to get off that island. That said, although the scenery change was great it disrupted the continuity for comparing one season to another. Of course that also worked against players who may have assumed they were going to the island only to find out (on 4 weeks notice it seems) that they were heading to South America. All in all, I liked it and am glad to hear S5 is also going to be somewhere new.

And on the note of S3, my favorite player of that season (and really perhaps favorite of all in the first four seasons), was Callie North. I now know I was not the only one to see this, but her attitude--while at first not convincing me despite her history of homesteading--was simply amazing. She clearly had a lot of knowledge, but she demonstrated such a calm, unhurried and symbiotic relationship with the land (and in the end even the experience) that I was amazed. Again, I didn't start out on the Callie bandwagon, but I can tell you when she got me: when she fake-tapped-out (or fake-tap-outed? What is proper hyphenation English anyway?). I was so shocked and bummed when she quit. Of course, since then I've looked more into her as well and I must say it makes more sense now that I understand her lifestyle.

Well, I guess I gotta say something about S4...meh? Is that too much? I didn't love the team thing, but as I have said elsewhere I did like the hiking portion...I thought that was an interesting challenge. Maybe they could have folks hike to a resupply point or something? I don't know, but I'll probably keep watching!

WHEW! Can you tell I binge watched it? Anyway, what about you? Who were your favorite players so far and why? Did you binge watch or week-to-week it?