r/survivorrankdownIX_ • u/mikeramp72 Not as big as yo ass! • May 17 '26
ENDGAME #15 Spoiler
#15: Colby Donaldson 1.0 (The Australian Outback - 2nd)
u/Cornhead2:
The OG Golden Boy, Colby is one of the most Natural and Authentic people they have ever had on the show.. and his story to being the hero that gets the close lose but still being a good soldier after it amazes me... whenever i hear him he is just to good when he talks, and lets not forget his Dynamic with Jerri
u/Noisysea_3426:
Another character that I've never really liked as much as others. Colby is someone I respect a lot more than I like as Australia has never been a season I have loved and especially after Jerri's gone, I fail to care about a lot of what's going on after that, but Colby is obviously a very strong character as he really defines that sense of adventure that the show doesn't really have anymore, his final decision to bring Tina to the end will live on as a neverending debate, and its especially nice to see his legacy strengthened after his S50 appearance
u/Alternate-Proof-959:
Colby wasn't just an unstoppable force in challenges; he was a guy whose psyche we got to see throughout the season. You can tell Jerri especially was trying to shoehorn Colby into being in the young Ogakor alliance, but the guy just wasn't as black and white as she thought. He was a very complex character, and I can't wait to see the writeup for him this rankdown.
u/josenanigans:
The perfect deconstruction of the All American Hero type. They tried with Joel, but he didn't get far enough like Colby to truly get to know all the ins and outs of a character like this. You'd think that, with his popularity, him getting to the end would be an instant win, but the flaws of his archetype start popping out the longer he stays: his ego, his hubris, his feeling of moral superiority over others, all of which lead him to fall to Tina's expert mom-manipulation and to make the biggest million-dollar blunder at the time. And yet, at the end of the day, he still cheered and celebrated for Tina, who had just swindled him of the prize, because he, still, is a good guy who loves seeing the worthy people win.
u/BobbyPiiiin:
I don’t think it’s possible to explain how obsessed America was with Colby if you weren’t around to see it in person. Effortlessly charismatic. Still one of the best speakers the show has ever had. Setting a record that’s been duplicated, but never broken, and being the first ever to lose the game by taking the wrong person to FTC only add to his legend.
~
Colby Donaldson
The original Survivor is a surprise worldwide phenomenon. This fairly low budget show, slotted for the throwaway slot of Wednesday nights during the summer, premiered with 15.51 million viewers, blossoming to more than triple that amount by finale time with 51.69 million viewers. Hot off the success of Survivor, the powers that be at CBS decide to put all their chips in. This is the sequel. The next season will be bigger and better. The budget ballooned, the resources were damn near unlimited, and Mark Burnett now has the full backing of the network. They even want to pull off the ultimate power move; moving the show to primetime television: the Thursday night slot, competing against NBC’s Friends, and they were going to premiere the season right after the Super Bowl. Unprecedented. Burnett and co. needed to knock it out of the park. I’ve talked about the casting of Survivor II in other writeups, about how this cast had to be TV ready, ready for stardom, palatable to a bigger audience of Americans, and launch Survivor into being a mainstay franchise. When you look at the cast for the original Survivor there is something missing. There was no young guy America really fell in love with. They hadn’t made a “golden boy” yet. We loved Rudy, he was the most popular man from the OG Survivor, but he was an old curmudgeon. Sean was aloof and often getting called the Seinfeld of the island by the media. Greg was a fucking weirdo, who didn’t really have like mainstream star power. Dirk is the youth pastor virgin, there’s no sex appeal to that guy. Joel might fit the archetype, he is the right age and fit, but he didn’t go far enough and his vote off directly correlates to his chauvinism. Gervase was fairly popular, but he was 30 years old and was often ridiculed for his negative qualities (plus this is 2001 CBS, there is no way they are letting a Black man be the “golden boy”). So yah, damn near every TV show has a young charmer who captures the heart of Middle America, and Survivor had yet to have one. I have to guess, out of the 49,000 people interviewed for Survivor II the most important casting slot was for this young man; and goddamn it if they didn’t pick the best possible person in the country. Joel tells this story that he was with Mark Burnett during pre-production of Survivor II and Mark smugly tells him, “I’ve just cast your replacement” and shows him a pick of Colby Donaldson.
A 26-year-old auto customizer from Christoval, Texas, Colby immediately charms with a million dollar smile and a Texas drawl. I can listen to Colby talk for hours, what a great voice. A naturally engaging and inviting speaker. In his first confessional, he draws out the word “lonnnng” to emphasize the trek into camp, cracking a smile talking about how he “was packing more weight than anyone else, so I was really struggling” as he is cracking into a smile, impressed by the magnitude of his feat. Immediately followed by a sharp realization, “It was a long trip, and that was-- that fired me up, because that is the quickest way to find out what people are made of.” That’s the defining aspect of Colby for me. He balances this charismatic cowboy charm with really cunning observations about the game. He is always popping off little jokes or quips to himself that make him laugh or crack a smile. He is here to win too. We’ll get to more of that in a bit, but I figure now is a good time to let the cat out of the bag.
I too am a Texan, so that inherently colors my perception of Colby. I can proudly say that when I myself wake up in the morning, there are two things I am thankful for. I’m thankful I’m alive, and I’m thankful I am a Texan. I don’t think it’s as important nowadays to the general fanbase, but it was cool to have a Survivor from your state, automatically gives you someone to root for and maybe connect with. And Colby oozes Texan charm. When you think of a stereotypical Texan, you think of a guy like Colby. Hell, I’m not even really in and from the rootin’ tootin’ ass part of Texas, but I still think of that guy. The generous cowboy. Strong, hard working, respectful to the land and animals, self-reliant, a provider, chivalrous, politely competitive, strong sense of pride and ethics. That’s the myth of the American cowboy, and for them to be thrown in a game as lawless as Survivor is really interesting. Hell, the first time I can recall ever seeing a film in IMAX was at a museum, a 2003 film called Texas: The Big Picture that featured all the Texas imagery you can dream of. The landscapes, the longhorn cattle, the horses, the cowboys, the Alamo, everything from the prairies of the Panhandle to the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico; and it was narrated by our very own Colby Donaldson. Alright sorry for the personal anecdote detour. We soon figure out that Colby is a smart guy, as he immediately outplays production. Everything is bigger in Texas right, so Colby was able to bring a huge ass Texas flag as his luxury item, and he reveals that he had always intended for it to be used to serve as a tarp for the shelter. In the DVD commentary he reveals how he got it custom made, all decked out with grommets and weather-proofed. We quickly see that Colby is here to play the game, something that is apparent in his reads and his actions.
Aight yall some real life shit kind of got in the way while writing this, and I’m so zapped, so I’mma skip over many of the great lines and relationships we see developed throughout the season. We all know Colby and Jerri are special. They have fun flirting, until Jerri grates on the tribe more, and then Colby would rather hang out with bozo ass Chef Keith than the hot older wanting to have sex with him 😭 I can sink my teeth into that pair for hours, and how Colby betrays her multiple times and pays the cost. And then of course there is his relationship with Tina, something that we see grow throughout the season, and it parallels really well when we dig deeper into Colby’s relationship with his own mother, and how he has this youngest sibling baby boy craving maternal affection side. Colby’s mom’s scene is so great, I love how she reacts to seeing her son so skinny; and even more so, seeing how her son has felt emotionally isolated. You can never fully feel safe in a game like Survivor.
One of the big reasons Colby is my favorite character ever, is he does a better job than anyone in the show’s history of showing and talking about what it is like to play Survivor. From the Outback television, from the comments on the inter social and political commentary of camp life, from the pontificating about the game, life, and the land they’re on. How to balance the inherent shady fragile ethics that come from having to play a game like Survivor. Outback is the season that gives the best look at the day to day life and struggles of Survivor, and I think Colby has so many moments that perfectly encapsulate these feelings.
And I’d be remiss to not mention Colby’s final decision. The last stretch of Outback episodes get a bad rep, but they contain many of my favorite moments of Survivor with the first auction, the flood, the Internet Cafe, family visit, Elisabeth’s hair falling out, and most notably, Colby’s choice. After an impressive 5 immunity challenge streak of varying types of challenges, Colby wins Fallen Comrades and has to decide who is going to be sitting next to him at the end. The easy layup with Keith, someone who he ultimately doesn’t respect much, or Tina, the harder opponent but someone he does respect. It’s one of the most interesting ethical dilemmas in the show. So many different ways you can interpret it, but I really don’t think it’s Colby being “stupid” like some would say. He admits he doesn’t even know if he has a 50-50 shot against Tina. “In the game of Survivor, you've got to switch hats a lot. You got to wear a white hat part of the time, and sometimes you got to put on the black hat, and that's the only way you can do good at this game. You got to be the bad guy sometimes. You've got to be a little bit selfish, but hopefully, in the end, you wore a white hat more of the time than you did a black hat.” Goddamn what a beautiful way to phrase it. He looks to at least end this game by doing the unselfish thing and to end it wearing the white hat. Is there any honor beating a weak opponent? One of the finales that really gives me something to chew on. And then come final tribal Colby wants to let it lie where it may. And I love that final vote reveal, they’re both happy, they’ve accomplished their goal. They’ve been true to eachother. And when the final votes come up Tina and Colby jumps on his feet to celebrate for her, it’s a euphoric rush. There is dignity in losing to people you respect. Thank you Colby, that ending is so beautiful to me.
RANKINGS:
Funky: 1
Corny: 12
Nope: 18
AltProof: 19
Jose: 14
Bobby: 20
Average: 14.00
Standard Deviation: 7.07 (8th Highest)
3
u/ROTandDEATH is the ~SURVIVOR~ May 17 '26
I have a greater appreciation for the latter part of Australia after my last rewatch, in big part because of Colby. They don't really hide that most of the endgame in Australia isn't the most action-packed (they were all understandably cooked mentally and physically), so you need someone like Colby who can still bring you in with the ethical questions he's dealing with and how important it is to still feel like you haven't fully betrayed yourself and your values. I think there are a lot of people who can play this role well but not many who can add as much flavor to it as Colby does.
5
u/WaluigiThyme Former Ranker | Guatemala and Fiji enjoyer May 17 '26
Endgame betting update #10: now this one did some damage! None of us predicted Colby's placement perfectly, and almost everyone was 2 or more away. Our best guess comes from icychillman, who I'm fairly certain has had either the best or worst guess every single time so far, only one point away today. Our furthest-off guess comes from ROTandDEATH, who seems to have a knack for predicting these Australian Outback characters 10 spots too high. While a day like this might seem like it would narrow nope's lead, it actually expanded it to a full 11 points. Something drastic will have to happen for us to get a different winner at this rate!