Nice to see a discussion sparked by my late night comment ...

To be clear, I brought in Boston Rob because of the remark that Kim could be in the league of greatest Survivor winner ever if she wins. If that's the league, then it doesn't matter how many times anyone has played; we are simply comparing the winners in their seasons ... so it is fair.

That said, I really hate making comparisons to prior seasons. No two seasons or characters or situations are alike.

My starting point is:
I don't LIKE Kim at this point, and I'm not rooting for her. That's the fact, and I have every right to feel that way, as no one can tell us what to like. Liking someone's play is not the same as agreeing they are successful. Liking is an emotional response.

So then what I was reaching for was an explanation of why I feel that way. Is it Kim, or is it the editing? I'm not sure.

What I do know is that I was rooting for her prey to wake up, get wise to her, escape. I suppose I felt that way with Rob in S22 as well, but at the same time I found Rob very likable. I watched the 80 Ways show he filled with Dennis last summer, and Rob is hyper-competitive but he's also endearing and flat out funny. He anchored an entire short series with his personality.

Back to Kim, she's not exactly prevailing over a Survivor brain trust here. We're not being shown anyone else who is clever in a strategic way. The whole rest of the group seems to be defined by those who get that 6 is more than 5 and one should work towards achieving that ("the smart ones"), vs. the ones who are floating along thinking they have some sort of alliance that means they won't be on the chopping block.

I really don't care for seasons where they divide by gender. It's such a fundamental division that it draws lines that are hard to break, and it binds people together who might not work together in a mixed group.

I am enjoying the season though, lots of characters being themselves and doing and saying dumb things instead of being in perfect control of themselves. I guess I don't care for Kim because she is the exception. She seems robotic to me. Oh great, food, I was actually getting tired, oh good, that problem solved.

I prefer Chelsea on the losing side who very humanly tells the crowing winners to "shut the F up." Not politic, but real.