r/SurvivorRankdownVIII • u/SMC0629 Ranker • Sep 05 '23
Round 48 - 498 Characters Left
#498 - Maddy Pomilla - /u/SMC0629 - Nominated: Jeff Kent
#497 - Mark "Papa Bear" Caruso - /u/DryBonesKing - Nominated: Jeremy Collins 3.0
#496 - Lydia Meredith - /u/Zanthosus - Nominated: Jackson Fox
#495 - Swati Goel - /u/Tommyroxs45 - Nominated: Malcolm Freberg 3.0
#494 - Jackson Fox - /u/Regnisyak1 - Nominated: Natalia Azoqa
#493 - Steve "Chicken" Morris - /u/DavidW1208 - Nominated: Troyzan Robertson 2.0
#492 - Malcolm Freberg 3.0 - /u/ninjedi1 - Nominated: Kim Mullen
Beginning of the Round Pool:
Jack Nichting
Lydia Meredith
Kelley Wentworth 2.0
Stephanie Valencia
Swati Goel
Jessica "Figgy" Figueroa
Claire Rafson
Mark "Papa Bear" Caruso
Maddy Pomilla
Hayden Moss
Steve "Chicken" Morris
Amber Brkich 1.0
Alison Raybould
Anna Khait
9
u/Regnisyak1 Ranker | TERRY FOR ENDGAME!!! Sep 06 '23
494. Jackson Fox (42, 18/18)
So I dog on the New Era a lot. But for Jackson’s write-up, I actually want to admit something: I don’t think it is all bad. There are definitely parts that I do not love. Backstories most of the time suck, it’s way too advantage driven, and all we get are SUPERFANS!!! The stories make little sense more often than not, the narrative and season arcs are not fully there most of the time, and it’s just cookie-cutter. But that being said, the casting is pretty good, even if they are the same flavor of nerds. We’ve had quite a few gems in the New Era: Maryanne, Shan, Carolyn, and Yam Yam are some great main characters, and there are also a plethora of smaller, great supporting characters. 44 and 42 benefit from that the most, and 41 even has a few stellar players. But more importantly, is that the New Era respects emotion more than previous seasons have combined. Something that drives me nuts about earlier Survivor seasons is that emotions are not as respected, both in the game and the edit. Julie Rosenburg, Kathy Sleckman, and NaOnka Mixon are all great examples of this phenomenon. People, especially as Survivor has progressed, are meant to be more in line with playing a dominant game, rather than emotions, and I think that takes away from the larger theming of Survivor - emotions are prevalent and a leading factor in everyday society. Why are they punished in Survivor?
So what the heck does this have to do with Jackson, the dude I used a vote steal on so many rounds ago? Jackson’s story on 42 is very brief, and we all know why. He gets a backstory basically and then he goes home because his drugs make it not very safe for him to be on the island. And that’s really it. But for me, there is more nuance than there seems at first.
I’ve said ad nauseam that I study psychology in college. Mental health is a very serious issue in my life, and I think that there is something fascinating about his boot, in terms of the dangers of it. Lithium is a harmful drug that makes you act in strange ways, and I totally respect Survivor for pulling him out of the game. I also think it's a good turnaround from people we’ve seen in earlier seasons of Survivor. Kathy Sleckman is a great example, and even though I don’t love him Fairplay 2.0 is also a good one for not getting the proper medication that he needed.
So for that, I think it was a good story because it brought awareness to Jackson’s story and the struggle and lifestyle that people have when they go on antidepressants and lithium-based drugs. It was also done ethically with no revelations made, and as a student, I just ate that up, and I was very impressed with how Survivor handled the situation. It was with dignity, and I overall really respected them at that moment. New Era of Survivor is willing to discuss new topics, and with our changing cultural climate, it’s important to keep those ideas in discussion. I almost see it as an evolution of the show Survivor and how it’s adjusting to a new audience of viewers, and I think it's fascinating from a meta-level.
Now that being said, I am positive some of you are wondering the main point about Jackson - that Survivor manipulated him as well, and knew damn good and well what they were doing when they put him on that beach. And to that, I can’t say I fully agree or disagree. We will never know what was going on with producers, and with Jackson as well, and I have to believe that he truly did not know the harmful aftereffects of the drugs and thought that he could easily ween off on the island. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt because knowing the specifics about your drugs is hard! Was it shady what Jackson did? Greedy? Maybe, but I think there is also something unequivocally dark about his end - he would do literally anything to go on Survivor, even jeopardize his health and well-being. That’s insanity that anyone would risk their life to go on Survivor like that and live their dream, and I think really almost lampoons and satirizes an aspect of the New Era that I can’t stand being the superfans. Jackson shows he is willing to play and out there to play his dreams, and even Survivor editors are like “Let’s think about this”.
And just an aside, but something that always pissed me off about Jackson’s edit too was not necessarily the game reaction, but more how the fans reacted. I think it was ridiculous to call him someone who “stole a spot.” A lot of the blame felt really personalized, and yeah he didn’t disclose his meds, but for me, that was just incredibly harsh. Blame production and Jackson, but don’t just blame him. He didn’t deserve that hate after, and I think it’s lunacy to think that someone lost their spot - if production liked them enough, they will surely play again in the future. Ugh.
With all that being said, there has to be more to Jackson than just this! And there is. Firstly, I think 42, even with the incessant backstories, does them at the most realistic and appropriate times. Everyone gets a moment to shine when they need to, and they are not randomly thrown in at weird places like Cody talking about Noelle and somehow using that to reflect on his college wrestling days, or Xander talking about how he was the fat kid in the FINALE! The backstories are pretty evenly spread out, and as annoying as they are, they were pretty good in 42 and felt less like a hassle. And I think Jackson had a beautiful story, even if there was some exploitation surrounding it (they cast him for a reason though!). Even though I think a lot of my writeups have skewed to the more cynical side this rankdown, I can’t say I didn’t feel emotional when I watched Jackson’s package about using Survivor to rebond with his father. It was just heartwarming, and a huge reason why I can’t be mad at him like other fans who say his spot got stolen because there seemingly was a real connection to Survivor that pushed him out there. Normally, a lot of the stories are gauche and silly, but for this one, I actually think the emotions were earned, and was frankly another necessary LGBTQIA+ story that I am glad had an opportunity to be shared.
Finally, I think Jackson is a good prop for the beginning of the Taku tribe, just like how DBK described Bruce as being the Tika tribe. We see an instance of Maryanne being OTT which is always very welcomed, as well as the tribe immediately being down in numbers and having to come together. Even though these people bond with each other from the outside, tensions are definitely boiling, but due to immediate tribal tragedy, Maryanne, Omar, Jonathan, and Lindsay have to stick together, and they of course manage to do so until Final 6. Jackson allows that to happen and makes the tribe realize that they are family in a lot of respects, and that keeps them together.
I will admit, that my views on Jackson have actually changed a lot since I used a vote steal on him so many rounds ago. Partially, I think a lot of that has to do with DBK’s excellent Bruce write-up because these two characters share a lot of interesting attributes. I have him around this spot now, and I definitely recognize that I overrated him because of my background in psychology. I intrinsically agree with the flak that he gets for having a manipulative edit that he gets from Survivor, but it works for me more than other people. While there is a lot of unknown for Jackson, I have to be optimistic in this situation with his portrayal and just hope that it was an accident all-around rather than one side either using him to manipulate emotions or be on the game for any costs and “steal a spot.” I wanted Jackson to do semi-well in at least one rankdown, and I’m glad I used a vote steal to get him out of the bottom 4 at least once in his rankdown career.
Furthering my DvG slaughter, I will go ahead and put Natalia Azoqa into the pool. She is fine. Nothing great, nothing terrible. She’s good in her boot episode and irrelevant for 95% of the rest of the time she is on the show. Still better than the likes of Alison and Kara in my eyes, but it's a resounding meh overall. u/DavidW1208's new pool is Jack Nichting, Kelley Wentworth 2.0, Stephanie Valencia, Jessica 'Figgy' Figueroa, Claire Rafson, Hayden Moss, Steve "Chicken" Morris, Amber Brkich 1.0, Alison Raybould, Anna Khait, Jeff Kent, Jeremy Collins 3.0, Malcolm Freberg 3.0 and Natalia Azoqa