‘Survivor: Blood vs. Water’ castaway spotlight: Tyson Apostol
As we near the start of “Survivor: Blood vs. Water” on Wednesday, September 16, we’re bringing back our old castaway spotlight series again! The goal here is to take a look daily at each one of the players taking part in the season, and analyzing what their game could be. Granted, this is significantly easier to do with the returning players rather than their family members.
We are going in alphabetical order by last names, so we are just oh-so lucky to start off with someone who is a longtime favorite of ours ever since “Survivor: Tocantins” first graced our TV sets back in the spring of 2009: Tyson Apostol. He’s snarky, he’s a challenge threat, and regardless of whether or not people think he’s nice, he will make for very good television all season long. You really need a couple of these people each season.
Basic details – Tyson Apostol, 34 years old from Provo, Utah; here with girlfriend Rachel Foulger
Occupation – Former pro cyclist / shop manager
Claim to Fame – In appearing on “Survivor: Tocantins,” Tyson brought great entertainment and domination in competitions … until he lost one. Then, he was blindsided. On “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains,” he made what was one of the sillier moves in history, going against a plan that would have made him safe, and by that logic voting himself out of the game when he didn’t need to.
Strengths – Tyson is going to be a valuable guy to have around pre-merge. He’ll contribute to camp life as a worker and an entertainer, and that can be valuable during the dog days. He’s pretty smart, and capable of making big moves, but he also has that gift right now of low expectations, and we mean that in that we do not expect many of his fellow players to target him right away after what happened to him last time.
Weaknesses – It’s going to be the same things that it has always been for Tyson: His own ego, and his own strength. He will be a threat after the merge simply because the guy has stamina for days, and he’s also extremely fast and athletic. His personality can also be misread into thinking that he doesn’t care about anything, and there’s a certain point in the game where that personality goes from being an asset to a detriment.
Prediction – While we sadly don’t think that Tyson’s girlfriend will make the merge (mostly because everyone will be afraid of him), he will probably last for a couple of weeks, but, the same thing will probably happen to him that did in Tocantins: He’ll lose immunity after a win or two, and then be taken out. It’s very hard for an athletic guy to win this game, especially one that is already a target and is perceived by some people as a jerk. Personally, Tyson may be our favorite person on this cast, and with that we are hoping he wins.
If you want to read any more of our spotlight articles, or some other “Survivor” news, just be sure to visit the link here.
Photo: CBS