LexTalk

I officially finished Season 2 of Survivor: The Australian Outback, and after loving Season 1 so much, I was really curious to see how the show would change once people actually knew what Survivor was.

And I think that’s ultimately why I still prefer Season 1.

There was something incredibly genuine about that first group of contestants. Survivor was brand new. There wasn’t a blueprint yet. Nobody knew what kind of character they were going to become on television, what strategies would work or even exactly what they had signed themselves up for.

Season 2 already felt a little different.

Don’t get me wrong—I still really enjoyed it. There were people I loved, moments that made me laugh, moments that made me cry and one scene that genuinely had me wondering how in the world they were allowed to show it on television.

But Season 1 still has my heart.

Welcome to the Australian Outback

Season 2 dropped 16 new contestants into the Australian Outback and divided them into two tribes: Ogakor and Kucha.

Right away, the personalities were BIG.

And during those first few episodes, some of the conversations actually had my mouth hanging open.

A few of the women were incredibly open—and LOUD—about sex and which men they found attractive. Maybe it was partly the editing and partly just the personalities involved, but it didn’t land particularly well with me.

At times, it almost felt like a few people had arrived for a wild camping party rather than realizing, Oh yeah…we’re actually going to have to survive out here.

It wasn’t that I expected everyone to sit around being serious and miserable. Have fun! Flirt! Make friends!

But compared with Season 1, something about the early dynamics felt less genuine to me.

Thankfully, as the season went on, I started finding the people I really wanted to root for.

And one of them stole my heart almost immediately.

Mad Dog Made Me Think of My Mom

Maralyn “Mad Dog” Hershey was the 51-year-old retired police officer on the Ogakor tribe, and there was something about her that immediately reminded me of my mom.

I can’t even pinpoint exactly what it was.

Her appearance, her personality, her energy—maybe a combination of everything.

But I saw my mom in her.

And once that connection happened, that was it. I was rooting for Mad Dog.

That’s one of the things I’m already realizing I love about Survivor. Sometimes you don’t choose your favorite person because they’re playing the greatest strategic game. Sometimes someone just reminds you of a person you’ve loved, or they have an energy you connect with, and suddenly you’re emotionally invested in whether this stranger gets to stay in the Australian Outback.

Watching Mad Dog gave me goosebumps at times.

Unfortunately, my emotional attachment apparently wasn’t enough to keep her on the island.

But she was one of those early-season personalities who stuck with me even after she was gone.

Meanwhile, Michael Was Determined to Feed Everybody

Over on the Kucha tribe, there was Michael Skupin.

Michael was one of those people who seemed to rub his tribemates the wrong way in the beginning. He was intense about survival, particularly when it came to finding food.

He wanted to hunt.

He wanted meat.

And everyone else seemed increasingly annoyed with him.

Watching from home, I could understand both sides. I could see how Michael’s intensity might have been exhausting when you’re already hungry, dirty and living outside with a bunch of strangers.

But I also kept thinking…

Isn’t finding food kind of important here?

Then Michael went out and actually killed a wild pig.

I couldn’t believe it.

It was one of those Survivor moments where someone had been talking such a big game that I almost expected it to go nowhere—and then suddenly he came walking back having actually done what he said he wanted to do.

Whatever his tribemates thought of him before, the man proved his point.

Unfortunately, Michael’s story would later become memorable for a completely different reason.

And we’ll get to THAT.

Because I am still traumatized.

Then There Was Elisabeth

As the episodes continued, Elisabeth Filarski quickly became one of my absolute favorites.

Elisabeth was young—only 23 during filming—and there was something incredibly sweet about her.

She wasn’t the loudest person. She didn’t need to be overtly sexual or aggressive to get attention. She just seemed genuinely kind.

And yet she was tough.

That’s what I loved about watching her.

Elisabeth showed that being sweet doesn’t mean being weak.

She could struggle physically, get hungry, get dirty, compete and survive alongside everyone else without seemingly compromising who she was as a person.

There was something very classy about the way she carried herself, and the longer she stayed in the game, the more I rooted for her.

She genuinely seemed like one of the sweetest people on Earth.

Roger Was Another One Who Won Me Over

Roger Bingham was Elisabeth’s much older Kucha tribemate, and the relationship between those two became one of my favorite parts of the season.

Roger was a 53-year-old Kentucky farmer, and he came across as such an old-school gentleman.

There was something incredibly genuine about him.

He wasn’t trying to be the star of every scene. He wasn’t creating unnecessary drama. He was hardworking, caring and seemed to genuinely want to look after the people around him.

Especially Elisabeth.

Their friendship was adorable.

They were two completely different people from completely different generations, but they developed this sweet father-daughter type of bond that made both of them even more likable to me.

Roger was proof that you don’t necessarily have to be the loudest character to become memorable.

Sometimes being a good person is enough.

And Then We Have Jerri and Colby…

On the other tribe, a very different relationship was developing.

Jerri Manthey was bold, outspoken and very openly interested in fellow Ogakor member Colby Donaldson.

And Jerri was NOT subtle about it.

Colby was the handsome Texas guy, Jerri was clearly attracted to him, and for a while there was enough flirting happening that you could understand why she thought there might be something developing between them.

Then they went off together to check out the surrounding area, and Jerri was describing it like they had basically just experienced the most romantic first date in Australian Outback history.

Meanwhile, Colby was essentially like…

Yeah, no.

When he made it clear that the feelings weren’t exactly mutual, I lost it.

Poor Jerri was writing the beginning of their love story in her head while Colby apparently hadn’t realized he was starring in it.

Their dynamic definitely added some entertainment to the season.

And Then Survivor Got Very, Very Real

Remember Michael?

The guy who was determined to hunt and eventually killed the pig?

His entire Survivor story changed in seconds.

While tending the campfire, Michael inhaled smoke, became disoriented and fell into the fire.

What followed was one of the most horrifying things I have watched on reality television.

Michael stumbled into the water with severe burns on his hands.

And Survivor showed it.

Like…

SHOWED IT.

I was cringing.

You could see the skin hanging from his fingers. You could hear the pain in his voice. The other contestants realized very quickly that this wasn’t a normal Survivor injury.

This was an emergency.

I actually teared up listening to him in pain.

The game basically disappeared in that moment. Nobody was thinking about alliances or Tribal Council or who was going to win a million dollars.

A man was seriously hurt.

A helicopter eventually arrived, and Michael was medically evacuated from the game.

It was incredibly sad because, love him or find him annoying, Michael had actually been doing well. His tribe was doing well. He had become their provider.

And then, through a freak accident, his game was just…over.

I’m very glad he survived, but watching that scene more than 25 years after it originally aired still made me think:

HOW DID THEY SHOW THIS ON TV?!

Early-2000s television really was something else.

Then Came the Merge

Michael’s evacuation also changed the game because Kucha had been in a strong position before his accident.

When the remaining players eventually merged into one tribe, suddenly all of these personalities I’d been watching separately were living together.

This is where I started getting even more invested.

Elisabeth and Roger were still my sweet duo.

Jerri and Colby’s dynamic continued to entertain me.

And then there was Keith Famie.

I don’t know what it was about Keith.

He just wasn’t my person.

Keith was a chef, which you would THINK would be a fantastic person to have around when your diet consists largely of rice.

Except everyone kept complaining about his rice.

Imagine going on Survivor, telling everyone you’re a professional chef and then becoming known for apparently not being able to make the one food everyone eats every single day.

That’s rough.

Maybe hearing everyone complain about him influenced me, but he also seemed slightly standoffish at times, and I never developed the connection with him that I did with people like Elisabeth or Roger.

But then he went and proposed to his girlfriend on television.

And I cried.

Of course I did.

Apparently my brain can go directly from Keith annoys me to OH MY GOD, LOVE IS BEAUTIFUL in approximately three seconds.

I’m a sap. I accept this about myself.

But My Biggest Fight Was With Their Rice Management

Forget alliances.

Forget immunity.

Forget strategy.

I was personally invested in this group’s pantry management.

THE RICE.

These people were starving, living in the Australian Outback, with absolutely no grocery store around the corner…

and somehow nobody seemed particularly concerned about rationing their food until it was almost gone.

I was losing my mind.

WHY ARE WE EATING SO MUCH RICE?!

Eventually, their food situation became so bad that they had to make a deal with host Jeff Probst to get more rice.

They had to give up some of their shelter and supplies in exchange for it.

Watching that happen, I kept thinking about how much easier their lives could have been if they had rationed everything properly from the beginning.

But then I had to humble myself.

Because I’m saying all of this from my house.

I’ve never lived in the Australian Outback.

I’ve never competed in challenges while barely eating.

I’ve never had to determine the appropriate daily rice allowance for a group of starving adults.

So…maybe I’d be terrible at rationing too.

And Then the Australian Outback Tried to Take EVERYTHING

Just when you think these poor people have suffered enough, Mother Nature enters the game.

A massive storm caused the river near their camp to rise and flood everything.

Their camp was destroyed.

And at first, it looked like their precious rice—the rice they had ALREADY nearly run out of and had to barter with Jeff to replace—was gone too.

I couldn’t believe it.

I thought:

There is absolutely no way these people lost the rice AGAIN.

Tina and Keith went searching downstream through the flooded area for anything they could salvage.

And somehow, they spotted the rice container.

Not only had it survived being swept away in the flood…

THE LID WAS STILL ON.

The rice was safe.

Getting it back wasn’t exactly easy, either. The water was moving dangerously fast, but Tina and Keith managed to recover the container and bring their precious rice back to camp.

At this point, the rice had been through more than some of the contestants.

Honestly, that rice survived its own season of Survivor.

They got incredibly lucky.

By the End, I Knew Who I Was Rooting For

The farther we got into the season, the more attached I became to certain people.

Elisabeth remained one of my favorites all the way through.

Roger was another.

I would have been thrilled watching either of them make it all the way to the end.

And when we finally reached the finale, I definitely knew which of the remaining players I was rooting for.

Did I get the ending I personally wanted?

Well…

I’m not going to tell you.

Because here’s the thing: I’m watching Survivor from the beginning without knowing who wins these seasons, and I don’t want anyone ruining that experience for me. So I’m not going to turn around and ruin it for someone else.

If you’re watching along with me, you’ll have to find out for yourself.

But I WILL say that the ending gave me plenty to think about—and I definitely had a preference for who I wanted to see take home that million dollars.

Season 1 vs. Season 2

So after watching the first two seasons, Season 1 is still my favorite.

Season 2 was entertaining, and it definitely had some unforgettable moments. In some ways, the survival aspect was even more intense. These people dealt with hunger, fire, flooding and an environment that seemed determined to break them.

But Season 1 had something Season 2 couldn’t recreate for me:

Nobody knew what Survivor was yet.

It felt raw.

It felt weird.

It felt like an actual social experiment.

Season 2 still had that old-school Survivor feeling, but you could already sense the show beginning to evolve.

My favorite people from this season were probably Elisabeth, Roger and Mad Dog. Michael gave me one of the biggest emotional roller coasters of the season, and Colby and Jerri gave me some of the funniest moments.

And apparently the rice became a main character somewhere along the way.

So yes, I enjoyed Survivor: The Australian Outback.

But if you put Season 1 and Season 2 in front of me right now?

I’m going back to Borneo.

Two seasons down.

Next stop: Season 3.

And PLEASE don’t spoil anything for me.

I’m somehow watching a show that has existed for more than 25 years without knowing most of what happens, and I would like to keep living in my early-2000s Survivor bubble for as long as humanly possible.

And if you’re watching these old seasons for the first time too, don’t worry—I won’t spoil the winners for you either.

See you after Season 3.

I’m sure I’ll have thoughts.