‘Survivor: Worlds Apart’ castaway spotlight: Will Max Dawson’s studies lead to a win?
Max Dawson is an interesting “Survivor” contestant to profile. We’ve certainly heard of many celebrities prior to them being on the game, but he is one of the few within the fan community that we’d heard of prior to him going on “Survivor: Worlds Apart.” We never communicated with him personally or anything, but he has a name that many diehard fans are familiar with, even if they don’t know that he used to teach a college class about the show.
We know that Max cares about the game deeply and wants to do well. What we do now know is whether or not this is an asset with this particular cast, or a detriment. It seems to in many ways vary depending on what season you are talking about.
Name – Max Dawson
Age – 37
Location – Topanga, California
Job – Media consultant
Tribe – Masaya a.k.a. White Collar (this name is a little too reminiscent of Casaya, probably one of our favorite tribes, post-swap, in the history of the show)
Strengths – Obviously, he knows the game extremely well, he understands strategy, and he will probably not be surprised by anything that anyone does. Yet, he doesn’t come across superficially as a superfan that you need to be immediately terrified of. He actually looks like Kenny from “Big Brother Canada 2,” who also was able to hide his threat status well at first behind a giant beard and caring eyes. He’ll probably be competent in challenges, and a guy you really want doing the puzzles at the end of them.
Weaknesses – He talks specifically in his video about pressure, and how he feels almost like the entire fan community is waiting for him to fall on his face so that they can laugh at him. With a nod to Jeff Probst and Boston Rob, it feels like Max feels like he is carrying much more than his family on his back; he’s carrying an entire community! We worry that he may be taking this almost too seriously based on the video, to the point where he doesn’t have a whole lot of fun.
Past “Survivor” comparison – He says Jonathan Penner, and we see that, even though we don’t know if he is quite as aloof. We’d also go with Richard Hatch, based on the reverence he has for the game and the way that he speaks about it.
Prediction – We want to see Max do well, mostly because we will never root against a longtime fan of the show unless they turn out to be a complete heel. Our concern is mostly that he is pressuring himself too much, and he’ll over-think most of his early moves. We wouldn’t pick him to win, and we see him either going one of two ways; being one of the first people out, or surviving the first couple of days, calming down, and getting to around fifth or fourth place and getting himself an All-Star bid. With how much he knows about the game, there’s no chance anyone wants to take him to the final tribal council.
As always, let us know what you think about Max’s chances in the poll below, and head over here to get some other updates related to our current spotlight series! Also, sign up now to score some more TV news via email courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)
[ot-video][/ot-video]