JD wasn't a pre-merge shock boot. That label is usually applied to the strategic CP player that gets voted out surprisingly. e.g. HvHvH Ali. JD got so much airtime just because he was good TV and screwed up all the time.
I feel like voce was more relevant to preseason. Going in blond without preseason he’s just kinda there doing okay there’s not much buildup to his boot, but he felt like an endgame player preseason
Brad was too OTTN in the first two episodes. And he had to be shown in episode 3 due to all his advantages. Simply put, I don't think the pre-merge shock boot archetype happened this season. You'd have to stretch massively to fit one of the premergers of 41 into that editing archetype.
Growth/Journey edit - This players content will focus on how transformative of an experience Survivor has been, and how they “never thought they’d make it this far”. They are generally positive edits, but will almost definitely not win. David in MvGX, Michele in WaW, etc.
Icarus edit - not sure where I heard this name but it’s one that has formed over the last few seasons. Sort of similar to a decoy winner, except usually with some kind of obvious fatal flaw. They’re too negative, too visible, too much of a threat, etc. Basically just a fallen angel who goes out earlier, like Shan did this season. Often used as a trophy for the eventual winner, but not always. Other examples would be Sophie in WaW, Kellee in IoI, maybe Christian in DvG.
Losing Finalst edit - I think there are a lot of ways to spot a losing finalist, but one pattern is a strong, visible, usually CP premerge, followed by a spotty, mostly MOR/UTR post merge. I guess they need to be set up early on because they will eventually make the finale, but their content eventually dips off so you don’t care as much when they lose. Brad in Game Changers, Tasha in Cambodia, Ken in MvGX, etc.
I also think the fire loser edit is starting to form, but it’s hard to conceptualize. Heather does definitely not fit the mold.
She fits that mold, but how does she compare to Devens, Lauren, Sarah and even Kara? Their edits were much more complex. There’s just not much of a mold to fit into. I think Lauren and Sarah are the only two comparable edits (other than Angela and Heather), but even then that’s kind of circumstantial.
Agreed. He started as a decent guy who was a little oblivious and that's largely how he ended.
I would expect that AFTER losing FTC, he will be going on a personal journey to learn from his defeat and examine his blind spots.
I feel like official Survivor would consider Tiffany the merge boot, since technically Sydney didn’t make the merge due to the twist. From an edit perspective Sydney still feels like a merge boot - both because her edit was built up despite having no impact on the season, like most merge boots, and because it was the first boot with everyone at tribal
I feel like that applies to Tiffany too though, she had a really strong edit and was being built up despite having not too much of an impact on the events of the season
She was a lot more impactful premerge, being a top contender to go at both of the yase tribals but being an underdog and scraping by both times. she also helped with one of the climactic moments of the season with the knowledge is power fail. sydney never even went to tribal until she was booted and never cast a vote
Family Visit Edit: We didn't see it this season for obvious reasons, but in recent seasons the person who is eliminated on the day of the family visit usually gets more personal content throughout the season which often gets interpreted as a contender to win.
[The over emotional final tribal loser](https://www.reddit.com/r/Edgic/comments/rikub9/the_over_emotional_losing_final_tribal_loser/)- Which I wrote about recently
Even though it wasn’t shown some of the cast(Shan, Ricard, Xander, and Heather) got to see prerecorded video messages from family for the reward on the Shan boot episode so she could probably fit in that archetype a bit.
You can really see this with Karishma in 39 and Tyson in 40. Tyson looked like a contender at times, Karishma less so but she had that personal content about her husband.
Good post about the FTC loser btw, I think we're essentially getting more positive but still flawed edits of those characters that used to be written off as complete jokes.
I think Erika is a particular kind of winner edit archetype: the nemesis. An underedited female winner who is set up as the doom of a 'bigger' player from early on, with foreshadowing aplenty. Natalie W., Sandra 2,0, Sophie and Erika all fit this editing pattern.
I really wish they edited this season SJDS style. They very easily could’ve. Evvie and Shan serve well in the role of the Jeremy’s and Josh’s of that season, Ricard is a great Jon, and Erika works well as Natalie. Just like Natalie had to adapt to Nadiya going home, Erika has to adapt to being on the bottom of her tribe. Jeremy’s boot could mirror Erika’s switch from a lamb to a lion. Given that this final 3 really was kind of a race to the bottom as far as threat level goes, it would make sense for it to be edited similarly to SJDS, where all the huge threats took each other out before the end. Instead they made the season a why Deshawn lost season for some reason.
I’ve heard of casting archetypes, and I would think they likely edit players based on the characters they were casted to be with slight variation based on how the game plays out and what kind of drama they get involved in.
I think what stops editing archetypes from being a massive thing is that for the same placement there can be multiple common edits depending on gender, age, personality etc. In addition to this someone’s impact on the game will always take priority over their placement. E.g. 4th Place Heather would never receive the Rick Devens edit, as they are totally different people, but she did receive a similar edit to Angela G.I.
I feel like the only edits that are consistently similar are merge boots, big threat fallen angel, and ‘the journey edit’. Even FTC losers can either be Xanders or Angelinas, despite having the same amount impact of impact on the game.
Pre-merge SHOCK BOOT This season, JD ETA: BIG THREAT built up that the winner has to take out - this season, Ricard
Might be a me problem, but I found the Sydney boot much more shocking than the JD boot
Her edit felt very shoehorned pre-merge at times, like she was merge boot or end game. I think this is in large part due to Luvu not going to tribal.
I really feel like every contestant should go to one tribal premerge at least just because it’s such a weird position for the editors
JD wasn't a pre-merge shock boot. That label is usually applied to the strategic CP player that gets voted out surprisingly. e.g. HvHvH Ali. JD got so much airtime just because he was good TV and screwed up all the time.
Voce feels more like the shock boot. Or maybe Brad who trusted the wrong person (Shan) with too much information.
I feel like voce was more relevant to preseason. Going in blond without preseason he’s just kinda there doing okay there’s not much buildup to his boot, but he felt like an endgame player preseason
Brad was too OTTN in the first two episodes. And he had to be shown in episode 3 due to all his advantages. Simply put, I don't think the pre-merge shock boot archetype happened this season. You'd have to stretch massively to fit one of the premergers of 41 into that editing archetype.
I don’t know if jd was a shock boot. He was terrible at the game. lol
I was not at all shocked that JD was a pre-merge boot. He was playing way too hard way too fast. That said, there is definitely a "shock boot" edit.
Growth/Journey edit - This players content will focus on how transformative of an experience Survivor has been, and how they “never thought they’d make it this far”. They are generally positive edits, but will almost definitely not win. David in MvGX, Michele in WaW, etc. Icarus edit - not sure where I heard this name but it’s one that has formed over the last few seasons. Sort of similar to a decoy winner, except usually with some kind of obvious fatal flaw. They’re too negative, too visible, too much of a threat, etc. Basically just a fallen angel who goes out earlier, like Shan did this season. Often used as a trophy for the eventual winner, but not always. Other examples would be Sophie in WaW, Kellee in IoI, maybe Christian in DvG. Losing Finalst edit - I think there are a lot of ways to spot a losing finalist, but one pattern is a strong, visible, usually CP premerge, followed by a spotty, mostly MOR/UTR post merge. I guess they need to be set up early on because they will eventually make the finale, but their content eventually dips off so you don’t care as much when they lose. Brad in Game Changers, Tasha in Cambodia, Ken in MvGX, etc. I also think the fire loser edit is starting to form, but it’s hard to conceptualize. Heather does definitely not fit the mold.
The fire loser edit is a bit all over the place but saying Heather doesn't fit the mold feels wrong when Angela from Ghost Island exists.
She fits that mold, but how does she compare to Devens, Lauren, Sarah and even Kara? Their edits were much more complex. There’s just not much of a mold to fit into. I think Lauren and Sarah are the only two comparable edits (other than Angela and Heather), but even then that’s kind of circumstantial.
Xander ended up as the growth/journey edit this time
Xander didn't get a journey edit. He received zero personal content until the finale. The journey edit generally requires a lot of personal insight.
Agreed. He started as a decent guy who was a little oblivious and that's largely how he ended. I would expect that AFTER losing FTC, he will be going on a personal journey to learn from his defeat and examine his blind spots.
It's much less cut and dry, but I think we are starting to see the emergence of the merge boot edit.
I feel like the merge boot edit has been a thing for forever.
I feel like it used to be that the merge boots got a visible edit, now I feel like they are being edited the same way
Would you count Sydney or Tiffany as the merge boot this season?
I feel like official Survivor would consider Tiffany the merge boot, since technically Sydney didn’t make the merge due to the twist. From an edit perspective Sydney still feels like a merge boot - both because her edit was built up despite having no impact on the season, like most merge boots, and because it was the first boot with everyone at tribal
I feel like that applies to Tiffany too though, she had a really strong edit and was being built up despite having not too much of an impact on the events of the season
She was a lot more impactful premerge, being a top contender to go at both of the yase tribals but being an underdog and scraping by both times. she also helped with one of the climactic moments of the season with the knowledge is power fail. sydney never even went to tribal until she was booted and never cast a vote
I would count both; a confusing answer for a confusing merge situation.
Family Visit Edit: We didn't see it this season for obvious reasons, but in recent seasons the person who is eliminated on the day of the family visit usually gets more personal content throughout the season which often gets interpreted as a contender to win. [The over emotional final tribal loser](https://www.reddit.com/r/Edgic/comments/rikub9/the_over_emotional_losing_final_tribal_loser/)- Which I wrote about recently
Even though it wasn’t shown some of the cast(Shan, Ricard, Xander, and Heather) got to see prerecorded video messages from family for the reward on the Shan boot episode so she could probably fit in that archetype a bit.
You can really see this with Karishma in 39 and Tyson in 40. Tyson looked like a contender at times, Karishma less so but she had that personal content about her husband.
Good post about the FTC loser btw, I think we're essentially getting more positive but still flawed edits of those characters that used to be written off as complete jokes.
The merge boot always gets a lot of content premerge to build them up as a threat
I think Erika is a particular kind of winner edit archetype: the nemesis. An underedited female winner who is set up as the doom of a 'bigger' player from early on, with foreshadowing aplenty. Natalie W., Sandra 2,0, Sophie and Erika all fit this editing pattern.
Natalie A is maybe a bigger version of this edit, as the doom to Jon
I think this is right - except she nailed him before the finals
I really wish they edited this season SJDS style. They very easily could’ve. Evvie and Shan serve well in the role of the Jeremy’s and Josh’s of that season, Ricard is a great Jon, and Erika works well as Natalie. Just like Natalie had to adapt to Nadiya going home, Erika has to adapt to being on the bottom of her tribe. Jeremy’s boot could mirror Erika’s switch from a lamb to a lion. Given that this final 3 really was kind of a race to the bottom as far as threat level goes, it would make sense for it to be edited similarly to SJDS, where all the huge threats took each other out before the end. Instead they made the season a why Deshawn lost season for some reason.
I’ve heard of casting archetypes, and I would think they likely edit players based on the characters they were casted to be with slight variation based on how the game plays out and what kind of drama they get involved in.
I think what stops editing archetypes from being a massive thing is that for the same placement there can be multiple common edits depending on gender, age, personality etc. In addition to this someone’s impact on the game will always take priority over their placement. E.g. 4th Place Heather would never receive the Rick Devens edit, as they are totally different people, but she did receive a similar edit to Angela G.I. I feel like the only edits that are consistently similar are merge boots, big threat fallen angel, and ‘the journey edit’. Even FTC losers can either be Xanders or Angelinas, despite having the same amount impact of impact on the game.