An "Insider" Look at Survivor: Vanuatu, Episode 7: All in the Family

I am amazed - I was overwhelmed with responses about last week's Survivor: Second Chance idea. If anyone from CBS is reading - and you know you are - you might want to take note. It's a popular concept. Unfortunately, it was so popular that there was no way I could respond personally to everyone. So a huge thank you to everyone who responded, I sincerely appreciate the support!

I have taken all the responses and tabulated the votes. Odd, as I am writing this on election day. In any case, there are no exit polls or projections here, these are straight votes. I will admit, I added my own votes to the pool, and it resulted in one person breaking into the cast that would not have made it otherwise, but more on that later. More often, my votes matched the will of the people. My votes counted as one, no more or less than anyone else's. My rules would have been that all eight people voted out first would automatically earn a spot, and no one who made the merge was eligible, but as you'll see, the voting didn't actually go that way.

Here are the 18 suggested castaways for Survivor: Second Chance, as voted by the readers of RNO (or at least, this column):

Survivor: Pulau Tiga:

Joel: Voted out before the merge for supposedly making sexist comments and treating the women badly. I always thought he got a raw deal there because it was actually Gervase making the comments, but Joel played along. Many women voted for Joel, so they've apparently forgiven him.

Gretchen: She was voted out after the merge. She tied for second place in the voting, with many people saying that she was a victim of the Tagi Alliance. In reality, remember that she refused to participate in a Pagong alliance (claiming that it was unethical, if I recall), so I believe she has no one to blame but herself. However, I agree that it would be interesting to see how she handles alliances this time.

Survivor: Outback:

Mike: Overwhelmingly the favorite, getting over half the votes and far outdistancing the four in second place. Many people echoed the sentiment that, had it not been for the fire incident, he would have won, a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree. The other popular sentiment is that he should have been on All-Stars, and probably was invited.

Maralyn: The "Mad Dog," who many believed to be the second coming of Rudy before she was unceremoniously dumped by Ogakor, presumably for stumbling in the immunity challenge. Many (like me) looked forward to her "no B.S." attitude and were disappointed with her quick exit - exactly the sort of circumstance that should be rewarded with a Second Chance.

Kel: I can't say it any better than one emailer did - WMD:Iraq::Jerky:Kel. More than just about any other Survivor contestant, Kel was screwed and screwed hard. Not only that, but he was screwed by perhaps the most hated contestant ever, Jerri. On top of it, all indications show that he's a great guy. Add it all up, and that makes a very popular contestant.

Jeff: Continuing on a running theme in the choosing of these contestants, Jeff was given a raw deal at the merge, when Kimmi mentioned to the other tribe that Jeff had a previous vote against him. That was the tiebreaker in this season, so Jeff was sent packing. He was a very popular contestant, which I never really understood but I have it on good authority that he's a great guy in real life, so more power to him. In any case, he was a s**t-disturber in his time in the Outback, so he'd be fun to watch.

Survivor: Africa:

Jessie: As we'll see later on, people had sympathy for those who were voted out for being sick. Jessie was the first, and many blamed it on "the worst water supply in Survivor history." Plus, she was good looking AND a cop, both of which attracted votes.

Carl: Full disclosure: without my vote, Carl would not have made it in the cast. However, he was tied with four others, so someone would have gotten the nod this way. Carl was one of my favorites right off the bat, with a friendly face and Italian heritage, he looked like a favorite uncle. Well, if you're Italian, anyway. He also got sick early, but it didn't factor into his ouster. Instead, he lost a tiebreaker vote against the young, lazy alliance and is a footnote in Survivor history.

Silas: This one surprised me more than any other, but the general idea seemed to be that he would play the ideal villain, a role each season desperately needs. And, as one voter put it, "it'd be worth it just to see him get voted off again." Hear, hear.