From reality blurred.com
Stephen, Tyson, Erinn were the most engaging Survivor Tocantins cast members; Sandy, Sierra were more annoying
The cast of Survivor Tocantins is a strong group, and one with fewer extremes. I have no doubt some will appall us and others will make us love them based upon their behavior during the show, but in person, they were pretty much all likable, engaging people—a nice change from Gabon.
Thus, it was very hard for me to rank the 16 new cast members this season from likable to unlikable, which I did last season. In Brazil, I found Sandy to be downright annoying but incredibly fun to talk to (hell, she was wearing a dehydrated animal penis as a necklace); Brendan was reserved and skeptical but smart and friendly; Spencer was in hyper superfan mode but was a great Survivor conversationalist.
Because no one was really hateful, and are instead just more annoying or less interesting than the others, this list ranks them from engaging to less engaging. And literally every one of them could be switched with the person before or after them in the list; it’s very arbitrary, since, again, no one left me with an overwhelmingly negative vibe.
Because of that, I’ve included two adjectives for each to identify what I recall as their most memorable personality traits. Starting next week, look for an interview a day with more details you won’t find anywhere else, including information about who was recruited (a lot of them), plus my analysis of their potential in the game and their strategies.
1. Stephen Fishbach: intellectual, aware
2. Tyson Apostol: witty, unassumingly smart
3. Erinn Lobdell: fun, charming
4. Candace Smith: amusing, assertive
5. Spencer Duhm: young, cutely enthusiastic
6. Tamara “Taj” Johnson-George: charming, well-rounded
7. Brendan Synnott: cautious, attentive
8. Benjamin “Coach” Wade: impossibly arrogant, self-aware
9. Carolina Eastwood: worldly, perky
10. Jerry Sims: resourceful, friendly
11. Debra “Debbie” Beebee: considerate, inviting
12. Sydney Wheeler: interesting, average
13. Joe Dowdle: resolute, agreeable
14. James “JT” Thomas Jr.: nice, flat
15. Sandy Burgin: super-crazy-enthusiastic, annoying
16. Sierra Reed: prepared, brash