Who should return for Survivor 50?

Season: SamoaNatalie White didn’t return for Winners At War, making her still just a one-time player. But I hope that all changes when it comes time to film season 50. Natalie’s victory in Season 19 is often considered an undeserved one, as many believed that runner-up Russell Hantz was robbed by a 7-2 jury vote. And while, yes, that’s likely true (Hantz played one of the greatest villain games ever), let’s not act like he didn’t completely fumble his jury management. You know who didn’t fumble such a consequential moment? Natalie White. While she’s tied with Chris Underwood for the least number of challenge wins as a victor (three), she holds the record for most to-win jury votes cast for a woman (seven) with four other players. I think Natalie ought to return to Survivor and try to show everyone else why her social game was good enough to warrant the million bucks over Hantz. Obviously, she doesn’t have anything to really prove, given that her 7-2 win happened 15 years ago, but it would be cool to see her come back as an old-school player and show us what she can do in a season not maligned by a cartoonish dolt. [Matt Mitchell]

Seasons: Cagayan, CambodiaSpencer really has it all, which is probably why he managed to make it almost until the final day on both of his (very tough!) seasons. He’s incredibly cunning and strategic; his ingenious idea to from the season prior on the off chance it would be recycled for Cagayan is one of my favorite challenge hacks of all time. He’s also, in the most complimentary way possible, a huge mess. You can talk about how you want to bring a chess board to the island in your all you want, but it doesn’t matter if you occasionally fly off the handle and mutter “” when one of your allies flips at tribal. (That moment, by the way, cost him at least Kass’ vote and maybe the game three whole seasons later in .) He’s such a fun player and it would be so interesting to see what he makes of the new era’s shortened format. Unfortunately, it probably won’t happen. In 2020, he thought Survivor needed to be “radically re-invented,” as in, “a season where there is no voting for the first few weeks, or where tribes have to actually create their own structures and/or mechanisms for voting, elect[ing] leaders and form[ing] worlds.” There’s no way that happens, but I honestly can’t say I disagree with the point he’s making. [Emma Keates]

Seasons: David Vs. GoliathI love Jeff, but I love it more when people mess with him. Christian’s five-and-a-half-hour rambling to Jeff as his captive audience remains one of my favorite Survivor moments and is exactly something I would do. However, my ramblings would be about much less impressive topics than Christian’s scientific experiments or fun facts. Christian was a great social player, managing multiple close-knit alliances throughout the game, including an unlikely team-up with The Mayor Of Slamtown, John Hennigan, and Dan Rengering. He also became a challenge threat in the first challenge of the season when he dominated the puzzle and was adept at finding hidden immunity idols. I won’t even lie. I mostly just want him back on my screen to learn more robotics facts and see if he will torture Jeff again. [Olivia Abercrombie]

Season: David Vs. GoliathIn the fall of 2018, we were blessed with Mike White’s presence on Survivor. The filmmaker (of Enlightened and School of Rock fame) began the season skittish, skirting around others in a semi-neurotic, writerly fashion. But as the nerd archetype on Survivor often does, he came into his own—but with a balance of acerbic wit, humane compassion, and social acumen, the latter of which made him one of the strongest players. There are many silly scenes that would probably play on a highlight reel of Mike’s stint on the show, but few live on in my head as much as Mike’s reactions to helping Angelina Keeley (another great) find an immunity idol in the season finale. “It’s like a job; I always have to do something,” Mike says as he gets up to help Angelina, red wine in hand. “You know, I really could use the manpower to find my idol,” Angelina says in a voiceover—all while Mike comically takes a (yet another) large swig of his glass of wine, bumps into a tree, and mutters the word bitch under his breath. What makes Mike so special is that he’s essentially an amalgamation of the greats, with dashes of Courtney Yates’ caustic humor (though no one quite reaches Courtney’s bite) and something like Aubry Bracco’s unlikely social acumen. Also, he inspired Jeff Probst to get rid of the stupid fire twist. Survivor 50 would be lucky to have him. [Hafsah Abbasi]

Season: Edge Of ExtinctionNo player in Survivor history has charmed me more than Rick Devens, the newscaster who nearly played a perfect underdog game during Edge Of Extinction. After getting voted out from a truly laughable tribe pre-merge (and after forming a beautiful bond with returning player and fan-favorite David Wright), Devens went to the Edge Of Extinction and fought his way back into the game. He won individual immunity four times and found (and played) four hidden immunity idols, vetoing eight total votes in the process (one of the most successful individual runs in the show’s history). Few players have had such a pronounced impact on a season, and had Devens not lost the fire-making challenge to Chris Underwood (who’d been voted out one episode before Devens and didn’t re-enter the game until final six) at the Final Four tribal, Edge Of Extinction might not be marred as one of the show’s worst seasons ever. But “likable” would be an understatement when applied to Devens. He’s quite possibly one of the most charismatic players to ever touch down in Fiji, and he’s certainly the only player from Edge Of Extinction worth bringing back. The only returnees since season 38 have either been winners or Bruce Perreault, so Devens is a prime suspect for a season 50 return. In fact, I’d wager he’s probably one of the first names on the call sheet. [Matt Mitchell]

Season: 41I don’t know if there is a world where you bring back Ricard Foyé without also bringing back Shan Smith, but I’d love to see the two of them team up again—or, at the very least, have Ricard come back and try to make a run without a pre-existing alliance putting a target on his back. During his season, Ricard was a huge physical threat and was inevitably sent home the moment he didn’t have any kind of immunity. To me, he’s one of the most likable anti-heroes of the new era. And he had the awareness and gusto to cut ties with Shan when he did. Few players on post-Winners At War seasons have been willing to make those kinds of big moves. Ricard played on season 41, when Survivor was still finding its groove with the new 26-day format, so I’d like to see him come back now that the show has its footing (though it would be great if we could go back to 39 days for a season with returning players). Above all, I need more confessionals with my favorite gay flight attendant. CBS, make it happen! [Matt Mitchell]