So I haven’t been blogging for quite a long time but no fret. Here I am, typing out some long-held thoughts so I that my mind won’t have to wonder so much.

The US reality series Survivor has been on the air for 14 years and have aired 27 seasons thus far. Three of the most recent seasons have been held here in the Philippines, two seasons shot in the Caramoan Islands in Bicol and the one currently airing was filmed on-location in Palaui Island off the coast of Cagayan Province.

I have long been familiar with Survivor as I used to be an avid viewer during the first two seasons, Borneo and The Australian Outback. However, halfway through Australia, personal events interfered and I had to discontinue watching a show I would tune in religiously on both AXN and Studio 23 (both of which no longer carry the show anymore today). Afterwards, season after season came and went, I tried my best to bring myself back into the Survivor experience, but I ended up not being able to go through even 1 episode because I was increasingly becoming very busy with school and my TV attention span expanded out of watching from a few channels (basically soaps on network TV and cartoons and KPOP shows on cable). Simply put, I couldn’t get myself back into it because the momentum built from Borneo was cut off so prematurely.

The least that I could do was knowing broadcast details on when they were to air locally through Studio 23 (and Solar/Jack TV taking over sometime after Cook Islands) as well knowing the name of all the seasons that has aired thus far and some info on particular twists (ethnic divide in Cook Islands, and Redemption Island). The last time that I actually watched an episode of Survivor was from an encore season of either Guatemala or Cook Islands that aired again on Studio 23, just as Solar was making the series exclusively theirs to broadcast, and the only vivid memory I can recall was some guy doing something by the beach and talking about it in his confessionals. Pathetic right?

I think it got to a point that I’m getting spoiler details and discussions coming from some of my online friends and I couldn’t totally relate to what they’re talking about.

So once I heard news of Survivor taking place in the Philippines last year (and for a good three seasons at the moment), I thought this is going to be my chance of successfully reigniting the love I have lost in watching the show religiously. Unfortunately, work got in the way from making me watch Survivor 25 (Philippines) and 26 (Caramoan). Kinda funny to think though that I was working for a TV network that aired a terrestrial broadcast of Philippines but I couldn’t make the time to watch it, even during my breaks so I had to let it go for now until I could finally find a way to watch the show again.

Then it was only until I found myself in the job market again that the skies have opened up for me with the opportunity to catch the show’s fall cycle, the third consecutive Philippine season (Blood Vs. Water). It took me a while to really get myself familiar again on how the game there is played (and the changes made over the past 27 seasons), and in the process, discovered how much of a frustratingly annoying host Jeff Probst turned out to be 14 years later.

I’m loving this cycle so far so good. It wasn’t much of a game-shock for me as Survivor shares some similarities with Big Brother USA, a show I’ve been following only last year. The plus side is I can finally talk Survivor stuff with a lot of people in the interwebs: to rant, debate and argue with other fans on equal grounds.

The game of Survivor is more cutthroat and every player has the pleasure of making strategies in places where no one could eaves drop on you, nor would you even suspect that at anytime, you can be blindsided at the last minute, not to mention unintentionally blabbed out stuff you shouldn’t say when under question by Probst. Social game, physical strength and over-all individual strategy are key elements to win it all after 39 or so days, with the winner decided by a jury of half a dozen or so eliminated players on the basis of gameplay, loyalty/allegiances and personal vendetta (bitterness for some). Of course, those are elements that Big Brother US adopted in its second season but both shows are different enough to be considered distinct competition programs that happen to air on the same network.

I’m hoping that not only would I feel fulfilled myself in finishing a season of Survivor but also continue to be a loyal viewer of the show in seasons to come.

Side note: Doesn’t hurt to say that the show’s theme tune, Russ Landau’s “Ancient Voices” is what eventually won me over into watching the show again this year.