JabbaJabba
Registered User
Yeah I had heard that Nicaragua was bad. I think my fiancee had watched like 3 other seasons and I just happened to get into watching it while she was about halfway through Nicaragua.
I'm really blown away by how intense the gameplay is. We're nearing the end of Gabon right now (just got to final 5) and it just seems like every move is so big. The past few tribals have been mega intense. Especially Bob's plays with the fake idols.
I had a misconception that Big Brother and Survivor were a LOT more similar, boy was I wrong.
I can imagine that Survivor feels new and refreshing. The first 10 seasons probably feel less intense gameplay-wise as the focus was more on outdoor surviving and less on idols etc. They are entertaining in their own way and there are still some good players and twists and moments. Nicaragua felt poor because it was after Heroes vs Villains, which was extraordinary season. Gabon also suffers from having to follow a great season Micronesia.
Cagyan is a great season. I would recommend Panama and Cook Islands out of those early teen seasons. I haven't seen those earliest seasons in years, but Pearl Islands has some legendary moments. Tocantins and Samoa, which were filmed after Gabon are also great. All of these seasons have new players. Gameplay-wise I have to say that most of the best ones are those with returning players, but you should get more familiar with the players before jumping into those in my opinion.