I don’t have a problem with two of the returnees, but one doesn’t belong at all.
Skupin was on season two, when everything was still new and the game strategies and institutional knowledge were still in early development. Being ousted early, well before the merge, really gives him no more advantage than a brand new player.
Swan was also ousted in episode six, with no first-hand knowledge of the endgame or the place of the jury. He was a strong player who got sick. He deserves a second chance.
Penner, on the other hand, has no business on this show again. He’s already had a second chance, did OK by making the merge and sitting on the jury. He has tons of inside knowledge that no one else on the current show will have. In addition to that knowledge, he also played during his non-injury season with Yul, Ozzie, and Parvati, three of the best players in game history. He has a huge advantage going in.
What is it with Penner anyway? To me he is as forgettable as 90% of the contestants to ever play survivor. He’s never done anything memorable, good or bad, in the game. I see by his Wiki that he has done some network TV - does he have a new show coming out this fall?
He does seem to have quite a fan club, as unfathomable as that is to me.
Was he the guy who was in absolute agony and his tribemate offered to sing to him and he said no, but then she started to sing anyway and he said “please stop?” Because that if my favorite Survivor moment of all time.
Yep, that was Bruce & Courtney was the singer. Earlier in that episode she was shocked that everyone thought she was the most annoying person in the game in one of those “Guess how everyone else answered these questions” challenges.
He made a rather important move (or heel turn, depending on how you look at it) in his first season which pretty much locked up the game for the Yul/Ozzie faction (and screwed the Parvati faction). It was a thoroughly enjoyed move since most fans were rooting for the completely screwed over Yul/Becky/Ozzie group after the “mutinee” led by Candice and their subsequent string of challenge wins.
He was pretty solid in his second attempt as well, as I recall, but nothing really stands out until the injury.
Edit: He can also actually talk a bit, which can be refreshing compared to the parade of dumb beefcakes. And he was one of the few to tell Probst to shove it more than once.
Yeah, and so was Nicaragua (season 21). And both had some of the dumbest casts I’ve ever seen on Survivor. While returning players can be somewhat lame/unfair/meta-changing, at least they do have some brains.