When I first heard American-based global phenomenon Survivor was to grace the New Zealand stage, I nearly peed myself. Not so much with excitement, but rather for fear of TVNZ ruining my favorite show with its poor editing and cringe-worthy hosts. I was pleasantly surprised and was looking forward to tune in each week, but I felt the show deteriorate (like a turd that just won't flush) over time.Redemption Island - though an interesting flair, distracted from the core of the game and seemed like a time-filler to fill up the excessive air-time they were given. They should have stuck to the natural core of the game - immunity idols, blindsides and betrayal after betrayal. I felt as if each survivor was too timid to make any big moves (with the exception of Shannon who was bullied by virtually everyone after flipping) in case somebody comes back and shakes things up - which would never happen because they're all too 'nice'. Dee was the only character with any kind of gears and she was the first one voted out, and the most vanilla survivors made it to the end? It was all way too pathetic for my liking, and survivor needs to get on board with casting participants who are in it to win it, or it won't last longer than the train wreck that was Treasure Island (circa 2001).Shay: Disliked her from the start. How did she get so far after flipping on her alliance in the FIRST TWO VOTES???? And targeting Tom for no reason. Seemed like a dodgy character to me and I can't fathom how people still trusted her.Sala: Liked him right up until the finale when it was revealed that he called Barb a turd that won't flush as well as swearing at her on national TV. How much of a nice guy can you be if you're treating anyone with the same disrespect you're bludgeoning them for?Mike: Sure, he was a huge physical threat but it clearly lacked when he needed it most at the final 5. His social strategy was weak, if not non- existent. After being maneuvered into an alliance by his rose tinted glasses for Georgia for the first few days, he was split from his alliance and drowned almost instantly. He only stayed in the game so long by his safety exile and couldn't even save himself when he finally made it back in. Weak.Barb: Surprisingly, I think she played a fantastic game. Yes, she was a wet mop at the beginning - however when she played, she played hard! It would've been nice if she wasn't soo condescending... but she made some great strategic moves and that goes hand in hand with social tactics too - not to mention she even won an immunity. Verdict? More of a sole-survivor than any other player in my opinion. But that retro jumpsuit from the finale has got. To. Go.Host: To be fair, I didn't even know who he was and it looked as if he was fresh out of Whitireia with his first on-stage gig. Yes, our Kiwi accent is always cringe-worthy but he lacked charisma and choked when it came to presenting live. Dip into What Now's retired hosts and get someone with a bit of spunk for next season and we may be doing alright.All in all, I always have and always will love Survivor. But, if you're going to recreate a classic you have to do it justice. I don't feel like this season was it.

I've watched all 34 seasons of US survivor plus the recently aired Australian season. Now the Survivor NZ finale has just aired, it is time to do a review. Firstly, congrats to NZ for having the balls to invest in Survivor in the first place. The UK version finished back in 2002 after just two seasons.Right, back to NZ. Firstly, the contestants in my view were uniformly too nice and level headed. A few villains and/or mildly unstable 'characters' would have stirred things up nicely. I can see why the producers went for the two episodes on consecutive days but frankly there was not enough interesting material to fill almost two hours airtime every week. I never liked the Redemption Island feature in the US version and hated it here. It disrupts the flow of the game and when a contestant is voted out at the Tribal council, that should be them gone for good. Scrap it and consider having hidden immunity idols etc to find which would have given them something to do other than sitting about looking bored for most of the time. Finally, far far too many lingering camera shots of birds, spiders, monkeys, forests and so on every few minutes. The overall editing needs to be a lot tighter but there needs to be decent material to work with first. Incidentally, l did not agree with the choice of winner. Too bland and lightweight. The street wise, razor sharp west coast Americans would have chewed up him/her up and spat him/her out within a few weeks. The presenter did an OK job but anyone compares badly against 'the daddy' Jeff Probst because he is so good at it. The controversy raised at the finale has an air of desperation about it. It concerned things said by several of the jury members to one of the final three contestants. A bit shabby to raise it at the finale and thankfully the contestant concerned chose to rise above it. Overall, for a first season produced by a relatively small country (no offence) then, not bad. I hope they do a second season and will watch it subject to some improvements. For a first timer new to Survivor, i think you may find it boring at times and i suggest the last two seasons of the US version as being a better place to start.

This is a poor mans Survivor, nothing like the Amercan version , I'm sorry to say that Matt Chisholm is the worst presenter i've seen if he say's how do feel now one more time , it should be the Shannon show either up the tree or on the rocks is there not anyone else in the show, sorry NZ not good , buy the way reward challenge what a joke 4 Pizza's or a single chocolate cake !!! and the prize 100,000 dollars weak as.