Customer Reviews

Survivor Pearl Islands - The Complete Seventh Season

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

From the shocking beginning to the surprising penultimate tribal council decision, Survivor Pearl Islands was filled with twists and turns as well as memorable players, all of which helped to make it one of the best seasons of the venerable king of reality shows.

Pearl Islands, the seventh season of Survivor, featured some amazing twists, possibly the physically strongest and most popular Survivor of all time, a well-documented twist that most contestants (and many fans) despised, a Survivor opting out, a surprising final two and one of the biggest villains in the history of the game.

Welcome to Survivor the way it should be.

This season got off to a great start, with tribes being thrown overboard with nothing but the clothes on their back. Andrew Savage and Shawn Cohen were wearing suits. Nicole, Christa and Tijuana were wearing nice dresses. Lillian was wearing a Boy Scout uniform. Whatever these people were wearing when their boat anchored off the shore of a Panamanian fishing village is what they had to wear for the rest of their time on the island.

Then, they were told there was nothing at their camp and were given money to barter with and purchase stuff in the village they were anchored off of. From the very beginning, the Drake Tribe worked together, using Sandra's fluent Spanish to get great deals, while the Morgan Tribe split up and ended up with very little and money left over. Of course the Drake Tribe was helped by "Blackbeard" Rupert Boneham looting the unattended shoes of the Morgan Tribe and then using them to trade for goods.

That looting was the first introduction of Rupert, the troubled teens mentor from Indianapolis and from that moment, he became a fan favorite. His incredible strength won his tribe many a reward or immunity, while he also used his knowledge of the outdoors to constantly supply his tribe with food. His attitude and personality made him, quite possibly the most popular Survivor ever and his strength showed that he is up there as one of the toughest competitors of all time.

However, Rupert didn't play a strong mental game and that was obvious. He trusted the wrong people at the wrong time and got voted out much earlier than anyone expected. His All-Star appearance seemed to be a much better mental game for Rupert and it was there that he finally got his million dollars.

At the other end of the spectrum was John "Johnny Fairplay" Dalton, the art consultant and WWE wannabe from Virginia. If the fans loved Rupert, they hated John. He lied, backstabbed and manipulated his way to the final three. In all fairness, he never denied that that was what he was going to do.

But John became the biggest villain in Survivor history (Except for maybe Richard Hatch) when, during the family challenge, he concocted a lie with his best friend, convincing his fellow castaways and host Jeff Probst, that his grandmother had died. The rest of the Survivors let him win the challenge and he used the momentum to get further in the game. While the castaways didn't know he was lying, the fans did and that turned John into a very memorable Survivor character.

Additionally, Pearl Islands featured a twist that seemed to piss off most of the Survivors and many of the fans. I must say I didn't watch this season in first run, but I remember there being a lot of outcry against this twist. The two tribes were greeted by the six former members who had been voted out and when the Outcasts won a challenge, they got to elect two new members back into the game. Lillian and Burton, originally voted out of Morgan and Drake respectively, went back into the game with their original tribes and eventually made it to second and fifth place respectively.

This twist was certainly a new one and without it, the Pearl Islands season would have been much different, but I can't imagine anyone voting for an Outcast at final tribal council. It just wouldn't have been right.

Which, is what makes Lillian's decision to take Sandra Diaz-Twine, the outspoken mom from Washington State, with her to the final two. Lill had the choice of John or Sandra. Had she taken John, the player everyone basically despised, she would've won a million dollars. But she went with her heart, feeling Sandra was more deserving of the money, and in the end, Sandra got it.

Sandra was not the typical Survivor winner. She flew under the radar, riding her alliance with Christa and Rupert as long as it took her. But she was always quick to turn the attention away from her and onto someone else, keeping herself from ever receiving one vote against her at Tribal Council. She was sneaky, spying on tribe mates when she felt she was being double-crossed, and she did have a few yelling bouts on the island, but basically, she kept a low profile and in the end, she didn't piss off a lot of people and her counterparts gave her the big check.

Osten, the physically huge guy from Boston, opted to take himself out of the game when he felt his health was at risk and he would be a liability to his tribe, not a help. He was the first player in the history of the game to lay down his torch and actually seemed to start a trend, as two players quit during All-Stars, the next season and another quit down the road in Pulau.

This season's characters were memorable. In addition to Rupert, John, Osten, Lill and Sandra, there were some great castaways. As mentioned, Burton Roberts, voted back into the game, was a very strong player. He controlled the game after the merge, playing the good cop bad cop routine with John and getting to the final five. Beautiful mortician Darrah Johnson won three immunity challenges in a row in the final few days, giving herself a spot in the final four and joining with the women to vote out Burton. Andrew Savage stepped into a leadership role at Morgan and helped bring them to the merge with even numbers, a big accomplishment after losing constantly for the first few days on the island. Who can forget the site of Christa Hastie, the tall blond from California, crying after being accused of dumping the fish to sabotage the tribe? (Something she didn't do by the way).

As extras, this set has six commentaries, three from Rupert, Sandra and Christa and three from John, Burton, Andrew and Ryan Opray. These are very interesting and insightful into what was really going on in the game. As with other Survivor sets, these commentaries are what helps to make the set sell when you already know who wins. Additionally, there were pre-island interviews with all the castaways, as well as a feature on the season, from conception to completion.

All told, this set is worth it's weight in pirate's gold. A very solid season and a very solid release.

I didn't think the show would hold up well to repeat viewing but it does. Surprisingly it's better when you can watch the episodes back to back without the week delay. Like "24" this show is tailor made for dvd.

Although Australia Outback is probably my favorite season overall this one is very good. You had an interesting mix of personalities. Obviously Rupert was the most popular and he was very enjoyable to watch but I'm one of the few who also liked Johnny "Fairplay". Sure he was a snake but he never pretended to be anything else. He really knew who to manipulate people and move himself along each week. His strategy to save Burton was brilliant.

As for Lilly well her constant whining/crying really grated on my nerves after a while and that darn boyscout uniform seemed out of place for some reason.

The "outcast twist" was a great idea too and completely changed the dynamics of the game. It pretty much sealed the Morgan tribes fate once the merge took place.

*SPOILER ALERT" as for the eventual winner Sandra well she played the game well enough to get her to the final three. Even though she didn't win any challenges she stuck with her alliance with Christa and Rupert as long as she could then sided with others to move her along and letting poor Christa take the blame for the whole "who threw out the fish?" incident was priceless. In retrospect she didn't ruffle any feathers too much and let people Like Fairplay and Burton do most of the dirty work. Her luckiest break was Lilly taking her to the final two and the rest as they say is Survivor history.

In closing I think the shows shot by the water make for more compelling television because the challenges are generally more difficult and the scenery is breathtaking. As someone who's visited the ocean there's nothing more beautiful in the world imo.

PS: The Tribe has Spoken. Season 7 Pearl Islands is a winner on dvd!

Enjoy!!

Honestly, I was too busy ogling Burton doing his thing in the Pearl Islands ;) Good heavens, that man is an Adonis!

But I have to agree, this was one of the most entertaining Survivor seasons: among others, you had Blackbeard in a tie dyed shirt (and later, a skirt) who stole shoes... a Cub Scout from the 666th level of Hell...a 250 lbs., hugely muscle-bound crybaby who was afraid of pelicans, crabs, palm fronds and WATER... and a despicably brilliant wrestler wannabe with a not-quite-dead-yet grandma.

And, of course, the Outcast twist, which drove Survivor purists in the internet forums crazy for weeks. All in all, a great season, and a worthy addition to your DVD library :)

I loved this season - Rupert was great, and I loved to "hate" Jon. I thought Sandra played an excellent game as well. This season contained some Survivor twists that were new and unexpected. I believe that Lil was blamed just a bit too much, and the ones that pointed the finger at her are the SAME ONES that attempted to vote her out, so who stabbed who in the back????

WARNING: SPOILERS
Survivor was at its most popular during its first two seasons, but I think in terms of gameplay and general quality it peaked around season 7-8 (Amazon and Pearl Islands). In both seasons, there was one master manipulator. In Amazon, it was Rob Cesternino, a wiseass computer programmer who hopped from alliance to alliance every three days, until he eliminated all the power players. In Pearl Islands, Jon Dalton aka "Jonny Fairplay," managed to do the same thing despite being hated by the rest of the cast. As with Rob, Fairplay escaped the axe constantly due to a series of lies and manipulation. Perhaps his most famous lie was him claiming that his very-alive grandmother had passed away. After tearfully telling his tribemembers that his grandmother wasn't "with him" anymore, he confesss, "My grandmother is at home watching Jerry Springer." Love him or hate him, Jonny Fairplay is undoubtedly one of the greatest villains of reality tv history, and also one of the best Survivors to ever play the game. He didn't win, like so many Survivor puppetmasters, but still, he was an amazing strategist. In a revealing moment at the reunion, the other castmembers are asked what they think about the "great lie." Even Lill, arguably the most sanctimonious of all the castmembers, nods appreciatively at the scheming Jonny Fairplay.

Besides Fairplay, Pearl Islands had perhaps the best and most colorful cast of any Survivor season. There was Sandra, the "lippiest mom" and eventual winner of the season, Rupert, who became one of the most famous Survivors ever, Osten, the first Survivor to ever quite the game, and Lill, the Scoutmaster who moped and cried her way all the way to the end. There was also a strange twist: two "outcasts" who had been previously voted out of the game returned, much to the dismay of their former tribemembers. With so many funny/unforgettable moments of the season, I can't possibly list them all. Maybe one of the funniest was in the first episode, when the castmembers were allowed to go to a Panamanian village and barter for supplies. One Panamanian woman became very attached to a castmember, and Sandra says disbelievingly, "I think she liked her. In a *sexual* way." Osten's battle with the elements is another great storyline arc. I won't mention Rupert, who I think was actually rather irritating with his "I wanna be the biggest baddest pirate" schtick, but hey, the American public loved him, so much that they gave him a million dollars after the All-Star Survivor season in an "America votes" award.

Unfortunately, this great season is skimpy on the extras. There are two commentary tracks, one with Sandra, Christa, and Rupert, and the other with Fairplay, Burton (one returning "outcast"), RyanO, and Andrew Savage. The strange thing is that Fairplay, the villain, is much more enjoyable to listen to than Rupert, America's favorite pirate. Maybe it's because Fairplay was an excellent strategist, while Rupert and Christa were horrible strategically. On Survivor commentaries, it's always more fun to listen to people who understand the game. I know I'm going to hell, but the Savage/Burton/RyanO/Fairplay track has to be the funniest in Survivor dvd history. They were relentlessly mean, but they had me in stitches. There are some extra interviews with the cast members. Again, the dvd presentation is disappointing -- no deleted scenes, unlike the All-Star Survivor dvd's.

But Pearl Islands is probably the best season of Survivor, out of the 12 seasons.

I HAD TO RETURN AND REORDER THIS BOX SET TWICE AND THE SAME THING WAS WRONG WITH BOTH SETS. THEY WERE PACKAGED AND BRAND NEW, BUT BOTH HAD SMUDGES AND MARKS ON THE CD's THAT WOULD NOT COME OFF. ALL THE CD's SKIPPED AND SOME WOULD JUST CUT OFF COMPLETELY. I WILL NOT REORDER THIS SET FOR THE 3RD TIME. IF U GET THIS SEASON GET IT FROM SOMEONE OTHER THAN AMAZON!

I purchased this "New" dvd set in July to give as a gift for Christmas. We invited friends over to enjoy this with, last night, and it froze up and skipped quite a number of times. I took disc one out to look at it and it was filthy and scratched! I checked the other discs and they were in the same exact condition. This item was listed as new, but absolutely was not new at all. I hate being ripped off! If I buy something used, fine, I run the risk of it being dirty and scratched, for a cheaper price of course. But, if a pay for a new item, I want it in pristine condition. If I wanted dirty, scratched discs, I could have gone to our public library and gotten them for free. I also gave the Australia season as a gift, and it makes me wonder if that one is in the same condition, although I was led to believe that it was new as well. After this experience I will never buy another dvd through Amazon again!

This was my absolute favorite season of Survivor aside from Season 1. And no, it is not because of Rupert. For me, it was all about Sandra. At times, she made me laugh out loud and kept me watching. From her prison jumpsuit (bathing suit) to her bartering in the village in Spanish, she kept me entertained. Also, this season provided many firsts and twists which made the show interesting. I liked Rupert as well but to me, he wasn't the star of the show. I think the eclectic group of characters also made this season one of the best. This is definitely worth buying if you are building your Survivor DVD library.

This 7th season is captivating from the very beginning. The CBS producers have done a marvelous job of selecting castaways you love, hate and can't wait to see voted off one by one. I highly recommend this DVD to all Survivor junkies like myself.

Okay, so I'm kind of biased because this is the first one I ever saw. BUT, I've yet to see one that's better than this. This one has all the elements that make "Survivor": Great characters; an exotic location; alliances; deceit; incredible challenges; amazing rewards; the coolest Immunity Idol ever and a huge big fat load of STRATEGY!!!!!!!! I mean it: If you're in any way someone who enjoys watching the social politics of the game, BUY IT RIGHT NOW!

This season contains one of the most adept and consummate strategists ever to play the game: The infamous "Johnny Fairplay". He glides through the game, effortlessly deceiving his tribemates, and pulls off one of the most audacious deceptions of reality televison. The best Survivor "villain" since "The Outback's" Jerri Manthey.

Of course, to balance Jon's "villainy", we also have Survivor's most loved contestant of all time: Rupert Boneham. It's not hard to see why the shoe-stealing, skirt-wearing, Grisly Adams-esque, affable pirate is so likable. Although many have argued that this season was dedicated to Rupert, there's no doubt that he was a huge factor in this seventh season's success.
But that, of course, is only two of many greats. The determined Burton Roberts, the elegant Tijuana Bradley, the beautiful Darrah Johnson, and the opinionated Sandra Diaz-Twine also added their own personalities and influences to the game.

Producer Mark Burnett alters his proven formula for this season, with some controversial results. The decision to shipwreck the castaways with nothing but the clothes on their backs was inspiring, and the scenes following the premiere's opening titles showing the survivors bartering and bargaining at the Panamanian village are great.

The "Outcast" twist, of course, remains the most shocking of all Burnett's inventions. The return of the first six ousted survivors to form a third tribe wouldn't have had such an impact if they had not won that fateful challenge and secured the right to reinstate two of their numbers as castaways once more.
Panama itself is one of the most beautiful locations of all the seasons (with the producers having returned there for Survivor: 8 and 12) and the camera work does the stunning vistas and crystal beaches justice in every sense.

As for the box set, a lot of people complained that it didn't comply with the larger one-disk-per-box sets of Borneo, Austrailia and All-Stars. YAWN! WHO CARES?!?!?! This one's good enough. It contains the entire season, as well as several audio commentary features with Rupert, Sandra and Christa (Episodes 1 and 10), and "Fairplay", Burton, Ryan O. and Andrew (Episodes 7, 8 and 11). The first Rupert/Sandra/Christa combination is probably the best of all. The arrogant Fairplay refuses to comment on Episode 8, purely because he himself is not featured prominently in that particular one. JERK! They're all really insightful, though.

The aptly-named "Pirate's Tale" Documentary is really good, with all of the "audio" participants named above giving interviews about many of the memorable events of the show. It also includes a few words from producer Burnett and host Jeff Probst.
The "strategy" featurette is the only 'let-down' of the entire box set. It's pretty much made up of short, pre-game interviews mixed with clips of each survivor in Panama. Not that great (Watch out for Christa's "super" self-exagerations).

As a whole, "Survivor: Pearl Islands" lives up to everything that should be expected from an unforgetable season of the best show on television! From the thrilling marooning off the Panamanian coast, to the final tribal council and the penultimate vote, Pearl Islands delivers the BEST SEASON OF SURVIVOR EVER!!!