I haven’t watched every season of any Survivor franchise, but I’m willing to bet that Survivor Australia vs. The World is an all time great. The cast is exceptional. Players are going hard, but the show isn’t taking itself too seriously. There are great character moments. The storylines are satisfying both within the season and in the greater context of many of the players’ original seasons. It really kind of has it all.

Here’s how it went on my slap dash chart. Episode 7 is gray’d out because due to availability issues, I watched it after Episode 8. It’s okay though because that allowed me to just fully enjoy what was probably the craziest episode of the season.

Parvati was crowned the winner of Survivor Australia vs. The World on Sunday. To me, she played the most dominant game among the final four, and appeared to be the main character of the season from start to finish. I felt in the beginning that she was overexposed, and that these players certainly would not let this woman make it to the end; each passing episode it became more and more clear that she was this season’s heroine and she’s just got an affinity for the camera. How can you not show her?

Throughout the season, Luke emerged as Parvati’s greatest competition for the title as potential dark horses like Kass and Kirby were struck down. From a gameplay standpoint, it felt like Luke probably played the weakest game of the final four, however, he was always portrayed as a lovable underdog playing with heart and soul. 

However, in the finale, Luke let slip from his lips the line “win, lose, doesn’t matter,” while Parvati had been given winners quote after winners quote. There was no denying a Parvati win was on the way.

It felt like Janine’s rise through the latter half of the season was simply too little too late. In reality she probably deserved more of a mixed tone in the finale, but I’m too lazy to change it. During Final Tribal Council it became clear just how bitter former Australia Tribe members Kirby and Sarah were about ceding the majority to the World Tribe. It also felt like Cirie’s overall visibility throughout the season, while constant, just seemed like it was too low, or secondary, if she were to be the winner.

Despite sensing a Parvati win early on, I loved this season so much. It was insanely fun. It was great to see Parvati’s overall Survivor story get wrapped up in a satisfying way. I can only pray that Cirie will achieve the same on Survivor 50, but that may be too much to ask of the Survivor Gods. Before that, though, we have Survivor 49 coming up in a couple of weeks.