‘Survivor: Kaoh Rong’ finale: Who are the All-Star candidates?
The big finale of “Survivor: Kaoh Rong” is coming to CBS on Wednesday night, and with that, we do think that the time is nigh to bring back the seasonal tradition of naming All-Star candidates. This was a character-heavy season, and with that there are a number of different ways that the show could go. (Potential hot take: We’d say that this is a better character season than a strategy season, mostly because Aubry and Cydney are really the only two people we’ve seen consistently playing the game hard in that aspect. Maybe also Michele to a certain extent.)
For those wondering, there are rumors out there about an All-Star season coming up in the near future; however, this list is a personal assessment, so don’t read into this as any sign that X person or Y person is going to be coming back in the near future.
Virtual locks to return (provided they want to)
Tai Trang – One of the biggest characters the show has seen in ages. While imperfect strategically, he is up there with the likes of Coach and Rupert of one of the great castings the show has ever done.
Debbie Wanner – Debbie confirmed herself to Coach (“period”) in her CBS bio before the season, and we cannot imagine them doing another season without sending her an invite.
Caleb Reynolds – Maybe you save him for a season similar to “Survivor: Philippines,” but you don’t put the card up about him “wanting to return” unless you are legitimately planning to bring him back.
Possible candidates
Cydney Gillon – A soundbite machine, a great player, a challenge competitor, and the possible winner of the season. The only thing that may hurt her is if there is another “Second Chance” season coming and she is the winner.
Aubry Bracco – While we wouldn’t say she’s as great entertainment-wise as Cydney, she has brought us references to “Oregon Trail” and John Cochran. We’d love to see her back; she’s a very good strategist, but she may be an even better social player.
Kyle Jason – Sure, he’s classified as a villain, but they have had a “Heroes vs. Villains” season in the past. We would be curious to see if he learns from some of his mistakes. (We do think his “psychological warfare” may have helped him for one week in getting Debbie out, but it really hurt him when it came to Tai’s loyalty.)
Remote possiblities
Anna Khait – If they do another fan-voted season, maybe she gets off in the Kelley Wentworth spot as a person with potential screwed over by a twist.
Alecia Holden – She was really popular when she exited the game, so who knows?
Scot Pollard – You could look at the “Heroes vs. Villains” concept again, or if they ever decide to do an All-Star version of Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty. Away from Jason, we actually think he was a pretty solid player.
Neal Gottlieb – Similar to Caleb, we can see him getting a nod in an medivac season … but it still seems like a stretch since he didn’t get a lot of airtime.
Michele Fitzgerald – If she wins, she could be on a winner’s season.
Yep, we’ve now mentioned eleven people in an eighteen-person cast. Of course, we don’t think all of these people are going to come back, but the fact that there are this many possibilities in our head is a real testament to casting this season for giving us big personalities who can come back. We think “Survivor: Cagayan” was a better season, but this may be the stronger overall cast to use this concept.
To get some other news on “Survivor” leading up to the finale, head over to the link here right now! Also, sign up over here to score some other TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)