Escaping Reality

So, Island of the Idols. We know it's a controversial one in the Survivor community and because of that we actually broke up our break down into two parts. You get two episodes of your fave 4 Survivor fans chatting in one week. We pulled our conversation about the more poignant moments of the season into its own episode, so come back tomorrow for that. *TW: sexual assault/sexual harassment/inappro...

As the wise angel Lady Gaga once said: 'I'm on the Edge!' - and then Survivor said 'same, bro.'  We're out here on the Edge of Extinction and we have some very mixed feelings. We're working through our wide range of opinions on Survivor's 38th season and having a hoot along the way.  Not only are we talking extensively about the theme and the adjustments we would have made, but we're also touching...

What's good Escaping Reality Fam? Better late than never, right? Season 37: David vs. Goliath. Wow. I feel like we, as a podcast, are the David that have almost defeated the 40-season Goliath that is Survivor. But, here we are -- delving into Season 37, a Survivor darling, and one that we were a bit split on tbh. A hot take for sure. This season is a master class in casting and editing, which make...

It's time for Survivor: Spooky Island! wait... no ... that's Scooby Doo. Survivor: Ghost Island! We're talking all things Survivor Season 36 in this episode and we have soooo many feelings on the theme. We've been eagerly awaiting another good theme, and we finally got it. But, does it make for a good season overall? You'll have to listen to find out. We're talking tie breakers, alliance play, and...

We're coming at you with another episode of Escaping Reality featuring our pal & fellow podcaster -- Lara from Idol Chatter: A Survivor Podcast! Lara is here to share about her pod, how she's been Escaping Reality, and gab with us about all things Survivor S35: HHH (and there is lots she brought to the table). We're mulling over our thoughts on the 'theme,' if that's what we're calling it; our ido...

Happy Wednesday Escaping Reality Fam! Can you believe we've made it to Survivor Season 34: Game Changers? And, for their 34th season, Jeff Probst and the Survivor producers concocted a special brand of joy for us all to watch by bringing back players who changed the game or knew when an opportunity to change the game was upon them.  We're discussing how you get the title of "game changer," the str...

It's time for another new episode of Escaping Reality & today we're welcoming a special guest and fellow Survivor podcaster -- Ashley from Idol Chatter: A Survivor Podcast! Ashley joins us to catch up and chat all things Season 33: Millennials vs GenX. We're breaking down the twists & firsts, our thoughts on the theme, and some of our favorite castaways. PLUS were follow-up our discussion of S31 S...

What would Wednesday be without a new episode of Escaping Reality? And, it's a juicy one! This time, we're discussing Season 32: Kaôh Röng, or Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty 2. Wowee wowza, we have a lot to unpack in this season from a debate about how to pronounce the location to our first iteration of our *NEW* segment: "The Fans Have Spoken." Shoutout to listener Ian for sharing his thoughts with...

Oh boy, do we have an episode for you! In what was collectively one of our favorite seasons of Survivor so far, almost too much went down. We're unpacking Second Chance + doing our best to cover it all, but, guys, this season had EVERYTHING.  We're diving into discussions of casting, theming, and the implications of calling it a 'second chance.' Talking about every new height this season took us t...

The Escaping Reality team wanted to celebrate making it officially three-quarters of the way through all 40 seasons of Survivor. So, we decided to give our "hot takes" on Survivor after watching 30 seasons and debate them with favorite friend of the pod Tom from Dumpster Dive!  Taking a nod from the "Unpopular Opinions" subreddit on Survivor Reddit, we decided to figure out what our unpopular opin...

Next up on the pod, we're discussing Season 30: Worlds Apart, or White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar if you like to run out of breath when naming a season. We, as a collective, had a hard time nailing down our feelings about this season so get ready for a nice, healthy debate. It's a wild ride across the entire season, but we're here to break it down with you.  We bring out the big guns to...

Welcome back to another episode of Escaping Reality, where we're diving into our impressions of Survivor Season 29: San Juan del Sur aka Blood vs Water II. This episode we're joined by fellow podcaster and pal, Cix Hamlett from Dumpster Dive: a reality tv trash recap.  We're chatting all about Blood v Water as a returning theme (and arguing over which iteration is superior), the return and revamp...

It's an extra special interview episode with Survivor alum & all around wonderful human: Brice Izyah !  Brice was a castaway on Survivor S28: Cagayan and made a splash as a member of the Beauty tribe. In his time since being on the show, Brice has continued to make an impact as an advocate & catalyst for increased diversity in the show's production, and as the outspoken host of the Purple Pants Po...

Today, we're talking Season 28: Cagayan, a season that we believe anyone can enjoy, even a Survivor newbie. So, grab your bestie who refuses to watch and bring them on this journey that is currently available on Netflix. We're talking about what made this season so enjoyable: from terrific all-around casting to one of the strongest wins (and winners) we've encountered thus far.  We also discuss th...

Today, we're talking Season 27: Blood vs. Water - or maybe more appropriately, Season 27: Tyson Finally Wins. FAIR WARNING: This episode is a long one because we had some differing opinions and we had to figure it out on air. We debate the difference between 'old school' and 'new school' Survivor (and where we think that distinction comes from) AND the overarching pros and cons of our illustrious...

Welcome back to Escaping Reality -- in this episode, we're diving into Survivor Season 26: Caramoan aka Fans Vs Favorites the sequel! Would we call these castaways 'favorites'? listen to find out!  This season had so much to unpack. We spend equal parts getting silly talking about the returning players & more seriously analyzing the places where casting (once again) fell short -- the negative impa...

We're so excited to be back with another episode! We hope you enjoyed our interview with Missy last episode, we can't wait to have more Survivor alums join us!  Today, though, we're talking Season 25: Philippines. There's a lot going on in a season where one tribe gets annihilated (much like Anna's favorite season, Palau). We discuss bringing back returning players with purpose, i.e. because they...

We're so excited to welcome our first Survivor Alumni to Escaping Reality!  Season 39's Missy Byrd joined us to talk through Season 24 (because it's incredible, and she had great taste) - plus, she's shared all about her experiences before, on, and since the show, as well as a peek behind the production curtain.  We spent most of our time talking about this season's players in our deep dive, since...

Happy New Year Escaping Reality Fam! We have a special surprise for you on this lovely first day of 2021! We have our first crossover season episode with our friend Tom (@thetomhamlett) from Dumpster Dive with Tom Hamlett (@dumpsterdivepod). He comes to us with a ton of reality competition love and an allegiance to Dawn!    We're unpacking Survivor Season 23: South Pacific.  Honestly, it's less of...

It's Redemption Island and redemption is certainly called for. We're unpacking Survivor Season 22: Redemption Island, but, honestly, it's less of an unpack and more of a narrow exploration into the one and only Boston Rob.  We're spending a big portion of the episode talking about the man of the hour -- how he won, if it was impressive, why bring him back in the first place? But in a season that d...

We’re back at it! And, first season after Heroes vs. Villains, we’re not really feeling the high-on-Survivor vibes anymore. We still found plenty to talk about, though probably some tangents will be a surprise! In this episode, we're jumping in to discuss the success (or not) of casting post and All Stars season and why we should (or should not) rely on a tribe split based on age.    We couldn't t...

It's been 20 seasons and 20 episodes to discuss them ! Which means: it's time to close ranks. We're sharing how we each rank the first 20 seasons of Survivor & having some friendly discussion about why we each think our list is the right one.  In ranking the seasons, we're also shedding some light on what factors affected the orders -- re-watchability, diverse casting, likable winners, etc. It's d...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to us all! We have almost made it to the end of 2020 and we are halfway through our deep dive into @survivorcbs. We’re almost as shocked as you are that we’ve come this far!   We're diving deep into our feels on what it means to be a hero or a villain and which strategy works better in the game. Plus, we're digging into what it is about this cast that makes us sa...

It's been 19 seasons and we're a little pooped. It took us a little while to warm up to Survivor: Samoa, but, once we did, we found plenty to talk about. In this episode, we're jumping RIGHT in to discuss the evolution of hidden idols, the importance of having a tribe leader, and the differences between winning the game and being considered the best player.  We couldn't get into this season withou...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Escaping Reality Fam! We're back with another holiday bonus episode all about The Great Festive/Christmas Bake Off.  We're getting into the holiday spirit by talking about the 3 seasons of Great Festive/Christmas Bake Off. We have a friend and fellow baker, Mel, joining us on the pod this week and she's here to share with us all her feels about the baker...