‘Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X’: Who are the worthy All-Star candidates?

Given that we are only a matter of days away now from the “Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X” finale, we’re back with what has become a semi-annual tradition at the site: Pinpointing some of the likely returning players! We often don’t think the events of a finale heavily influence this except for a potential all-winners season, so leading up to the finale (before much of the craziness hits) often is the right time to do them.

For those wondering, yes we’ve heard the reports that next season features returning players, but we’re not going to talk about the cast until CBS confirms it. Therefore, indulge us here as we pretend that none of the cast members from this season have been cast for any other edition of the show yet.

Locks to return

Jay Starrett – Absolutely we’re seeing him again, given that he’s almost a perfect combination of Joey Anglim and Fabio from “Survivor: Nicaragua.” Sure, we know that Ozzy was even referenced on the show as a comparison, but we think Ozzy showed a little more of a mean streak at times in his seasons. Jay is inherently likable, a challenge beast, and an underdog. These are three things fans love to have in returning players.

Zeke Smith – He’s extremely strategic and that’s always welcome, but more than that, we think that he is a heck of an entertaining personality who gives great confessional and is open in sharing his insight about the game. If we’re going to keep the “Survivor” comparisons going, we feel like he’s almost akin to Jeremy Collins meets Todd Herzog. Both of those guys won the game, so doesn’t that bode well?

Adam Klein – We don’t know how you avoid bringing Adam back at some point, though we’re not sure you’d bring him and Zeke back on the same season. The two are both really strategic players, and in some ways they occupy the same space — the one difference is that Adam managed to survive the period of time where he was an obvious target, and he may have actually been helped by making some obvious mistakes. He’s a fantastic narrator and extremely likable — and yes, we’re aware that you can say that about most of the cast. Also, we’re always curious to see how a player like him fares when they aren’t keeping an enormous secret the second time around like he was this past time with his mother’s condition.

Possible contenders

David Wright – The only reason we don’t have David higher is just because you’ve already got so many super-strategic people like Adam and Zeke on this season, and we think that the two are probably bigger and bolder characters. Still, David’s had a fantastic story arc this season, and if an all-star season needs this particular archetype, we can easily seem him being asked.

Michaela Bradshaw – She was gone early, but she was GOLD in every single episode she was a part of. Tremendously entertaining, an incredible challenge performer, and someone with a strategic mind. She could do really well in an All-Star season just because she’ll be surrounded by more threats.

Mari Takahashi – The majority of the women this season went home early, and that’s unfortunately why it’s hard to proclaim any of them as a lock in theory to appear down the road. Mari may even be a risky choice here given that she was gone in episode 2. Yet, remember that this is a show that brought back Francesca twice, and Kelley Wentworth only lasted a few weeks longer the first time. Mari had tremendous upside both as a player and a personality, and we’d love to see her out there when she can embrace even more of her true self than she was able to this season. (Having Will know who she was ended up throwing a wrench into her gameplan.) We can easily see her having a Kelley sort of run the second time around.

Longshots

Hannah Shapiro – If it’s an all-winners season and she wins, we can see it. Otherwise, we think that Aubry and Sophie are probably going to take her place in this archetype. (Speaking of which, can we have Sophie return please — and can we give her more airtime?)

Ken McNickle – While Ken has been surprisingly entertaining this season, it’s hard to imagine many scenarios where he is producers’ first choice for a buff, good-looking guy, especially with so many other candidates this season. Still, never say never.

Jessica “Figgy” Figueroa – Casting young women for returning-player seasons is one of the things “Survivor” sometimes struggles with, and for us, we’d much rather see again a big personality like Figgy, even if she made plenty of game mistakes, over someone who made it pretty far but was fairly boring along the way.

Who do you want to see play again from “Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X”? Share in the comments, and head over here to get some additional news right now in regards to “Survivor”! We’ll have more news, including rankings, over the coming days. (Photo: CBS.)