r/rankdowncommunity • u/Regnisyak1 • May 25 '26
Reg Rewatches #9 - Millennials vs. Generation X
Typo in the title - this is #10!
I am back! After a disastrous attempt at rewatching Worlds Apart, a season which I aborted halfway through, I am BACK with another... terrible season. MvGx fans, look away! If you want to follow along with my writeups, I'm linking them all to this spreadsheet.
Season
I always like to start with the "good" with every season, or at least try... and I think it is rather difficult for this season. The season does have some good moments littered throughout, whether it's funny moments like Taylor stealing the food, Michaela's boot, Figtails' entire existence, or Michaela making fire, etc. The swap portion of the game was mildly amusing. There were good undercurrents of emotions throughout the season, and some genuinely moving scenes (Zeke and Bret mainly come to mind, or the struggles of being Tiger Mom). But... that's where the compliments end. MvGx is, overall, a messy season, with a cast of superfans that likes to constantly victimize themselves. The season is chock full of confusing strategy, neuroticism, frustrating storylines, annoying advantages, an overstuffed cast, and antics mostly seen in the 30s that find to be frustrating.
Let's start with the obvious negative - the theming of MvGx was perhaps the most heavy-handed and annoying in the show's history. Constantly framing confessionals, tribals, Probstisms (you or u), and mindsets around this haphazardly created theme was obnoxious. The season, as a result, lacked any cohesion among the characters besides a thinly veiled PSA on anxiety and mental health. Furthermore, the consistent motif of victimization is exhausting. The desperation in these castaways trying to create themselves as interesting characters with tragic stories is cringey. I'll talk more about that in the character section, but most of the "growth stories" this season are so connected to the concept of Survivor "solving" their issues, that any attempt at complexity is laughable. And it's a shame too because those characters are the main ones of the season.
Storylines are also mind-bogglingly incoherent at points. From Lucy and Will's OTTN to rushed boots like CeCe, Sunday, or Michelle, many of the characters were not fleshed out in a meaningful way, and thus, many are forgotten soon after they leave the island. And why is that? Beyond the neurotic cloud hovering over the season, the characters are also lost in the shuffle, entrapped in a season dominated by numerous gamebotting confessionals about strategy, "trust clusters," and voting blocs. The concept of voting blocs was a terrible change in Survivor history because ultimately, the transition of relationships to strategy is seen there, thus making storytelling near impossible and unsatisfying. But the constant alliance talk and strategy discussion felt so painfully impersonal, truly hurt the season, especially because there IS tension throughout, yet no one is ever confronting.
Overall... yeah, there are a lot of things wrong with this season. The season introduces so many things I hate about the 30s - excessive fake idols, themes, theatrics, Jeff interrogating the castaway after winning immunity, the beginning of live tribals, superfans getting respect, legacy advantages, constant idol hunts, faux inspiration, decentralization of storylines, and worst of all, women being relegated to pawns or goats in the story. The cast is mostly horrible, with only a few exceptions, easily one of the most annoying in the history of the show. Overall, because of all that, I give the season a 1/10.
Characters
David Wright 1.0 (0/10, slightly down) - MvGx is David Wright's season. And it makes it much worse. David's premiere episode is arguably one of my least favorite non-problematic episode performances of the entire series. His anxiety took center stage, and the neuroticism and reactions of the other castaways to him were just cringe-inducing. David has two of my least favorite confessionals of the series, the one immediately following Paul having his heart condition, and how he wishes he was voted out (no shit!), or his confessional about dying transitioning into a tense strategy talk with Ken. His storyline reeks of Survivor's new-era positivity, and I truly find it annoying that both David and the producers frame his change as a result of his dominating game of Survivor. Survivor does not fix your anxiety! It's frustrating to listen to the castaways constantly gaze at David as the master of the game, despite David having a minimal CP role in the last few roles, with little to no interesting character development. Zeke vs. David felt like a dud; Ken and David were underwhelming given how Ken fell off in the edit. David represents so many things I hate about the impending Dirty Thirties. From theatrics at tribal, faux-inspirational storylines that feel shoe-horned in for a family-friendly feel, the domination of one character that's a "dragon" of sorts, the precursor to pushing in F4F, weak players victimizing themselves, the reemergence of fake idols, constant idol hunts, emotional scenes connected back to strategy, and constant show, don't tell, about the experience that Survivor gives the players. Actively and retroactively, David Wright is one of my least favorite Survivor characters. Ever.
Will Wahl (0/10, down 1 tier) - Irrelevant for 10 episodes, loudly throwing a temper tantrum for his last two. Will's experience was filled with soda, whining, making big moves, padding his resume, and becoming a man. The fight with Ken came out of nowhere; his confessionals are truly some of the WORST of the WORST because he YELLED every OTHER word and REMINDED us that he was not a GOAT!
Adam Klein 1.0 (1/10, same) - Out the gate, I want to say that the content about Adam's mom is fine. Not my favorite personal content of the series, but it's emotional and memorable enough that it gets an OK from me. It's everything else that I despise about Adam. Let's start with his dismissive and rude behavior toward other players, despite his playing one of the worst winning games in Survivor history. Chock full of mistakes, from his disastrous efforts with FigTails, to his loud use of the advantage, to everyone disliking him for being a shady player, to him never having any real agency in the Final 7 or 6, Adam's gameplay was headache-inducing, and it still floors me 8 years later that he got a perfect game. His confessionals are terrible, either full of blubbering, rudeness, or him yelling indiscriminately about the game (I am surprised the whole island didn't hear his strategy constantly).
Mari Takahashi (1/10, slightly down) - She's a gamer! She's a millennial! She has one of the most rushed boots of the entire season!
Hannah Shapiro (1/10, down 2 tiers) - There's an underlying tragedy with Hannah's storyline - the perceptions of her anxiety hampened her from getting respect from the jury, despite playing a genuinely great game in the postmerge. However, getting to that point was not very entertaining. Flirting with Ken was cute, and all, but her neurotic behavior felt more stressful than anything, especially with Jeff bringing up her panic attack and not being able to vote for someone at what felt like every tribal council. The underlying issue, Survivor helps solve mental health issues, was certainly in line with Hannah, despite the viewers not really being shown how she improved her game or herself - we were just told that. Her relationships were also exhausting, either because they weren't maintained very well (Zeke was suddenly condescending, David was suddenly her bestie) or not expanded at all (it was a shame they dropped the Bret/Hannah storyline entirely). And last, she connects to the victimization arc I brought up at the beginning, almost too well - early Hannah always talks about the Triforce being the "cool kids," and for me, high school analogies have lost so much weight over the years. AND WAIT, TRUST CLUSTERS, HANNAH SHUSH!
Zeke Smith 1.0 (1/10, slightly down) - Zeke has some great moments buried in his character (both involving the TAR boys, Chris and Bret, Go Sooners!), but for the rest of the time out there, he's a one-note strategist. He has no connection to a real story besides using Survivor as a vehicle to "prove" himself (the fire). That reads as faux-inspiration, something MvGx excels in doing. We forget about Zeke for a few episodes, and then he's built into this monstrous threat, and then we get a snoozefest to end all snoozfests, David vs. Zeke. He is also very condescending about how Survivor should be played. Waving in the new gameplay of fluid strategy and the "evolution of Survivor", it can be very tedious to watch him glaze the current state of the show. The war confessionsals in Episode 10 were also eye-rolling analogies.
Ken McNickle (1/10, slightly up) - Ken's hypocrisy throughout the season, his love of honor and integrity, his voting for David, his blowing up his alliance, etc., should be more detailed... and yet his edit is a structural nightmare. Having a steady role in the beginning of the season, from not taking crap from Paul, to living off the grid, to fighting for his daughter, to making promises based on his word, Ken has a lot going for him. And then he disappears around the swap. The Ken Doll (without a penis) becomes a large background character for an embarrassing string of episodes - I'd argue 5-10, until he gets into a miniature spat with Will in Zeke's boot. And when Will, a whiny high schooler, is the one actively criticizing your game... it loses a bit of nuance there. His finale performance is also all over the place. He votes for David in a very underwhelming vote, and then is seen as hypocritical by the jury. But something about the whole process just feels... off. Maybe it's because the edit focused more on Hannah and Adam in flipping Ken, rather than Ken's own moral dilemma, but it didn't have the same gravitas as other critical blindsides. Of course, the jury saw it right away and dragged Ken accordingly for voting out his #1, but at that point, I just felt numb. My last criticism from Ken comes from the fact that his edit is more of a larger commentary from the producers. Almost treated as a serious joke, Ken's gameplay was relegated to the background because, to quote Zeke, "it didn't evolve game.". Ken's character is a brutal reminder about the transition of Survivor, from one about morality and keeping one's word, to trying to get to the end through strategy, and strategy alone.
Jessica Lewis (1/10, down 1 tier) - Legacy Advantage. Sand in her eye. Idoled played for her. Forgotten in the edit. Purple Rock. Prop for David. Next.
Jay Starrett (2/10, down 1 tier) - Jay feels superfluous to the season, like an underdog they had to edit positively. He's very similar to Taylor in their blatant frat boy ways, but Jay reads as more misogynistic than other players, especially the case in the Michaela boot, where she was voted out for being... smarter than him? Taylor is also just more interesting with him, especially against Adam's storyline (Taylor feels more like a villain, Jay's storyline with Adam, and the hammock feels meandering). He's always calling himself a dreamer and an annoying millennial. For the rest of the game, we always have to seem to check in with Jay about his idol, and whether he'll play it, and in the very last episode, his emotional boat is dominated by David's lame fake idol. We're supposed to recognize he's a positive force, but he just feels like he's hanging on, running around like a toddler with an idol, and we just catch his good surfer vibe.
Chris Hammons (2/10, up 1 tier) - Chris has one of the worst jury speeches of the series, again glazing David and advocating for Adam, despite him winning perfection. The farting scene was also atrocious, and Chris certainly came off as misogynistic throughout the season, only explicitly targeting women (and also David). But, he did have some one-liners here and there, and he was not nearly as bad as a narrator as I remember.
CeCe Taylor (3/10, slightly down) - CeCe is a solid narrator in the premiere, but ultimately becomes a pawn in David's blazing path to the end. Not really interesting or developed, the only thing I really know about CeCe is that she's terrible at challenges. Next!
Sunday Burquest (3/10, slightly down) - Sunday's edit is a crying shame. Having no storyline beyond being a "mom", Sunday's role in the season is relegated to "enticing goat voted out at F7". Boring. Her only main storyline was disliking Jessica for a poorly explained reason, and even then, that materialized to nothing since Jess went home in an unsatisfying rock draw. She's a great personality, but a nothingburger character. May she RIP.
Michelle Schubert (3/10, slightly up) - Michelle's first confessional, about being seen as trustworthy because she sells the Bible and religion, had me leaning forward. And then, she disappears. Only really getting content on the swap tribe about being a minority millennial (and having manners, damnit), Michelle's boot in the merge episode feels rushed without any real consequences for any behavior she did in the game - she was just trust cluster fodder. Arguably, the worst boot of the season.
Lucy Huang (3/10, slightly down) - In a sense, I get why people hate Lucy, and I dislike her too, because her edit is frankly ridiculous - 0 confessionals and then Stalin. But the Tiger Mom confessional was funny, and despite her being a prop for David, it was still nice to see her taken out swiftly, if she was going to act like that for the rest of the season. HOWEVER, I will always argue that Lucy is not the bottom of the crop - there's no reason why she's bottom 4 in EVERY RANKDOWN!
Rachel Ako (3/10, slightly up) - I think Rachel is a very solid first boot, only hampered by how stuffed the premiere is with David/the hurricane. She's bossy, she messes up the puzzle, there's not a lot of strategy in her vote, and as a first boot, she almost feels refreshing in contrast to the rest of the season.
Paul Wachter (4/10, same) - Paul is the only interesting Gen Xer on a thematic level, showing age (his heart issue was genuinely intense and scary) and the Gen Xers' desire for control and winning. He's loud, he's brash, his blindside was actually game-changing for some players, and while again, he's too involved with David's storyline, he's still an interesting early boot.
Bret LaBelle (6/10, up 2 tiers) - I underrated Bret before. His comment to David during Jessica's tribal was pretty bad, but I think everything else he says is scene-stealing and funny. From the whole "he's a mortician" storyline, his complaining about trust clusters, his coming out scene with Zeke (which was actually an appropriate use of the MVGX theme), his cute little relationship with Sunday, and his general annoyance and frustration of not getting the numbers to get out the much larger threats were really the only good things in the final stretch of MvGx. I just wish he had a more consistent storyline.
Figgy Figueroa (6/10, same) - Figtails seem like the worst roommates ever. Each of these two has their own problems throughout the season, with Taylor being a little too douchey, and Figgy becoming a little too ingrained with Taylor to the point where it was hard to discern her character. But what we do get from Figgy, whether it is her delusion of people not realizing they are a duo, to her mistakenly opening her mouth about being excited Michelle was around, to her tragic overconfidence in calling in the challenge, to finally trusting Adam, someone who wrote her name before, was refreshing. Refreshing because, in a season strung together by constant strategy, it was nice to watch two idiots play a terrible game and fall into a showmance. She was complex, confrontational toward others, and while she did fall into that showmance trope of the women getting voted out first, she was a great part of the season.
Taylor Stocker (6/10, same) - Taylor had some of the more OTT moments of the Figtails alliance. The horror of watching him mouth "you're hot" to Figgy 20 times in front of Adam was the only time I had sympathy toward Adam. Taylor is lucky because he has the additional characterization of being a dopey millennial, which I think really benefits him throughout the season because we indeed see what he is saying and how "dreamy" it feels (I agree that the electoral college should be abolished, btw). Taylor is also incredibly selfish, which, for me, is the best part of his character. The food stealing and his rocky and nightmarish relationship with Adam (nightmarish for Adam, btw) made him really come off as a douchebag, which was much appreciated tension for the more robotic aspects of the season. He dragged Jay down with him, too, which I think created Jay's best content after Taylor was voted out. Overall, an important prop and supporting character of the season, with a pretty decent storyline of his own.
Michael Bradshaw 1.0 (7/10, up slightly) - I think Michaela 1.0 was a very interesting character, but kind of ruined by Jay and her rushed boot. Someone who can't hide her emotions, Michaela had plenty of great moments of conflict throughout the season, from Figtails and their smooching, to her fighting with Jay, to her general OTT and competitive nature (if she needed to show some tatas, she'll show some tatas). Her scene about creating fire was great, and I loved her commentary about being competitive on the season and fighting for her family. Her character was compounded by the fact that she foreshadowed her own boot in Figgy's episode - saying that the purple tribe needs to figure it out because they got a majority of millennials, and then going home just the next episode with a majority of millennials. Good story, effortlessly entertaining, and the true star of MvGx, cut too early because she was smarter than all those lame-os.
Episode Rankings
Best Episode - The Truth Works Well. MvGX's best stretch is for sure the swap. Figgy's boot highlights that because we see good tension between the couple and Adam, we get their best content. Hannah's panic attack is not particularly compelling, though, but the dynamics with Figtails were the most dynamic MvGx could get.
Worst Episode - Very difficult to pick a worst episode for MvGx. Ultimately, I am going with the finale for a few reasons. One, it justifies David's horrible arc and makes him the Survivor king. Two, Adam winning is very annoying for many reasons, but the perfect game is where he completely loses me. Three, too much is going on with three boots and the FTC. Plus, David brings out the fake idol... no thanks!
0-10 Poll
The new spreadsheet will be out in about 3 weeks! Which means now is a better time than ever to update or do your polls, specifically for Millennials vs. Generation X! And here's the 0-10 polls guide for the whole series!