Survivor Heroes Vs. Villains - Introduction

In Survivor's Heroes vs. Villains, popular contestants from prior seasons have been brought back to compete against one another. So these players should be the cream of the crop and should be bringing their A-games to the South Pacific. Instead of the usual "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast" Survivor motto, the slogan for Heroes vs. Villains is "Return, Revenge, Redemption."

Being a Survivor fan, I should know all of these contestants. But I am a little baffled by a couple of the choices. For example, Danielle??? I know that I watched the Panama season, but I do not remember this woman whatsoever, even though I discovered from my research that she was the runner up for that season. What an utterly forgettable "villain"!

And Candice? Again, I am pretty sure that I watched the Cook Island season, and I have only the vaguest of recollections of her. I can't imagine what she did to become a Survivor "hero."

I am also amazed by the choice of Tyson as a villain. This guy I actually remember, but I don't think he is memorable enough to merit Villain with a capital-V status.

Surely, there are some more recognizable heroes and villains that could have been a part of this season. What about Sue Hawk as a villain, or better yet, slimy soft-core porn star Brian Heidick? And how about Ozzy Lusth as a hero or Yau-Man Chan? Richard Hatch really would have been the ultimate villain, but he was not permitted to leave the United States due to his crazy legal problems.

Maybe I am being a bit nit-picky here. Many of the choices for this season are great. Boston Rob, Colby, Rupert, Russell, and Cirie are just a few of the contestants that truly merit the titles that have been bestowed upon them. All in all, it's a decent cast of characters.

The members of the Heroes tribe are:

Rupert Boneham, Pearl Islands and All-Stars

James Clement, China and Micronesia

Colby Donaldson, The Australian Outback and All-Stars

Cirie Fields, Panama and Micronesia

Amanda Kimmel, China and Micronesia

Jessica "Sugar" Kiper, Gabon

Stephenie LaGrossa, Palau and Guatemala

James "J.T." Thomas, Tocantins

Tom Westman , Palau

Candice Woodcock, Cook Islands

The members of the Villains tribe are:

Tyson Apostol, Tocantins

Randy Bailey, Gabon

Sandra Diaz-Twine, Pearl Islands

Danielle DiLorenzo, Panama

Russell Hantz, Samoa

Jerri Manthey, The Australian Outback and All-Stars

Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano, Marquesas and All-Stars

Parvati Shallow, Cook Islands and Micronesia

Benjamin "Coach"Wade, Tocantins

Courtney Yates, China

Sources: Personal experience, the official Survivor website, Wikipedia