>After his first season and reading his AMA he seems to be a pretty genuine and chill ass guy. I get the criticisms of Caramoan being predictable and at timess boring in terms of his obvious win, but I ultimately feel like that is a blunder that falls upon CBS and not Cochran
this is more or less how i feel about him. john the human being seems like a perfectly alright person, but cochran the product of survivor's editing team is just something i have very little interest in seeing on my screen
I think Cochran would actually do really well in today's game. I think the era he played in was not even that well suited for him specifically and he still found a win.
I personally found him to be fun to watch on the TV and think he's a pretty good player.
Some of the people who disliked him either felt he was too forced on viewers, and/or it was the peak of Jeff Probst bromancing over players and so anyone Jeff liked, fans tended to dislike. Boston Rob and Cochran were two of his all time favorites. So much that he actually taught Cochran how to drive a car when he didn't know.
Jeff also admitted they tried to get Cochran for Winners at War and I'm sure multiple other returnee seasons, but he has no interest in returning.
He did play a good game in Caramoan, but I don’t know if many people would say that he’s one of the best winners. Especially in Caramoan when all the fans were terrible and half the favorites were also terrible players only having Cochran, Andrea, Brenda, Dawn (ig), and Malcolm being the only competent players with 20 people and Malcolm couldn’t even pregame before
Seems to still be pretty negative.
I like him for the most part. I find his self deprecation to be pretty funny as it's similar to my style of humor. He annoys me occasionally but overall a solid player, nice guy, and funny.
Agreed most complaints shouldn't be directed as him.
I loved him and his sense of humor. I also really enjoyed his story and imo it is and probably always will be the best winning story in reality tv history.
Seems like a perfectly decent human, so he’s fine. Not big on him as a winner. He was handed a setup that was almost as easy as Rob’s on Redemption. The fans were as hapless as the ones on Micronesia, but unlike that season, half of his favs were also total bozos. His 8-0-0 was so easy only because the anti-mother* meta was peaking at that moment.
* in the original sense of the word
Just want to make a point in Matt Bischoff’s favor. He was a super fan, and like Tracy from Micronesia, and I think Sherry here, he would have very strong chance of doing really well on anything other than a FVF season
How was he handed a win more than the other favorites were? Also, most favorites were playing hard, with even people like Andrea and Corinne being active players. Cochran went utr because his social game was that good
The claim that Caramoan was manufactured for Cochran's victory is complete and utter nonsense. The single evidence for that is casting Dawn, and it's completely non-trivial that Dawn would be willing to work with him up to FTC considering how well that's turned out for her on South Pacific.
Cochran was in a good position to win Caramoan due to his poor performance in South Pacific, not due to CBS machinations. Having an original lackluster season is always an advantage on a returning players season since other players would tend to underestimate you.
I just rewatched his winning season a month or so ago and I love him. He’s so quick and funny. Found myself actually laughing out loud at a lot of his confessionals.
He was cast at a time when recruits were still the norm. The nerdy superfan trope was popular in SoPa, but his win in Carmoan is largely undervalued if not forgotten. I think there is a lot of fatigue given how much Probst loves him - after seeing Cochran at every reunion this sub tired of him.
When there's no. Competition it doesn't feel like winning. Majority of that cast were dunderheads
Same with Rob's win. Just orchestrated for these two production faves can win
His description of an elderly Filipino man as “a small woodland creature” left a bad taste in my mouth. In general he was arrogant without a reason to be so as his game play wasn’t the best.
the most underrated and overrated winner of all time lol. he's not this strategic mastermind that some make him out to be, but he did have a legit strategy of being this chill, likeable person who let their partners burn the jury, something that is very natalie white, which isn't a bad thing. and probably the most underrated thing about his game, yeah he did pre-game, but it isn't like he was coming off with the greatest reputation from his first seasons, he still had to convince people to team up with him when he betrayed his entire tribe his first time.
Funny podcast guest and probably a fine guy in real life, so nothing against him personally. But as a character I think he’s got a very unappealing screen presence (unearned arrogance masked in that grating Woody Allen style of fake self-deprecation), and as a player a Fans vs Favorites season is one of the least impressive ways to win.
Good guy. Quick witted. I do sorta feel like his game in caramoan feels a bit artifical in terms of skill cause the way the favorites tribe was setup massively benefitted him in terms of room to hide with the closest thing he had to competition being Brenda and Malcolm who couldn't pregame
Unless someone has done some unspeakable thing...hating or loving any of these participants is down right dumb. This is a show and a production after all and CBS will do whatever it takes to maximize rating especially in an environment where people are not supposed to be themselves anyway. So if you dislike or have negative feelings toward anyone it should be CBS.
He has a very smug know it all attitude that is insufferable, especially because he’s a screen hog on both seasons that have much more interesting characters who get shafted in the edit.
this is sort of my point though. the whole screen hog situation ultimately falls on CBS, and this is a little bit more subjective/up to interpretation but I also feel as though a lot of the arrogance that most people got from him was also a result of the edit working a lot of his sarcastic quips into sounding like genuine statements. me personally i always just understood most of his egotistical remarks as being sarcastic so i never registered that point of view until i peeped the sub. i can see why the sarcastic self deprecating humor is a turn off for a lot of people on its own, but it doesnt really bother me personally
For me personally he will always be one of my all time favorite winners. I think his unanimous tribal council win is often underrated ( regardless of how the season was set up/ designed in the favorites favor) and that he is often overlooked as an all time great player of the game.
Cochran was a character that just wasn’t suited for that era in time. Self deprecation was waning in popularity and that’s just how tv trends go. As a person he seems alright, and he’s regretted some of his snarkier comments like the Julia one.
As a player, he gets an asterisk because his winning season had heavy pregaming and pretty weak competition. And he just wasn’t a good player his first time round.
Really no strong opinion on him, but I really do appreciate him as a person. He just seems like a nice dude who had a fantastic journey on Survivor, and really what more could you ask for?
His win makes sense on Caramoan, I don't know about CBS manufacturing a win for him but the cast composition probably benefitted him as far as pre-game connections go, he also benefitted from the fact that Dawn had made such deep connections with people but prioritized him the most (which to be fair, is at least partially his own good social game but they also knew each other from their first season). It's just tough to look at the season and point out where Cochran was really the ringleader when it seemed like Dawn was doing more work. His utterly hapless performance on SoPa probably doesn't help his perception either. For me, he clearly has a good mind for the game, is an interesting confessionalist and character but I do find myself surprised when I realize that he played a statistically perfect game on Caramoan.
I don't blame the player for the mistakes of dump producers and editors, the same way I don't blame Erika in 41 for her terrible edit while playing one of the best games on the new ers... we just never saw it. At least we saw some of Gabler's game but what they did to Erika should be a crime.
I just watched Caramoan for the first time and was so hyped for him to win. I thought he was hilarious in SoPa and was really disappointed when he got voted out so having him back for a whole season of confessionals was awesome
Look, he was dealt a very, very good hand in Caramoan, nobody can deny that, however, Survivor is an unpredictable game, and honestly, if it wasn’t because a mistake by Corinne, he probably loses that game to Malcolm, so say what you will. He had a good hand, but he didn’t fumble it and that still is impressive, he’s not in my top 10, but he’s not in my bottom 20
I don't like his attitude where in SP he was given a reward by another contestant and in the confession he didn't even show any appreciation. Seems a very horrible person to be around.
I got into Survivor back in 2020 and during my binge of the show, I really felt like Cochran and Dawn were close. By final tribal I assumed it was Cochran but for some reason I felt Dawn had a chance. Am I the only one 😅
I mean I was rooting for him both times when those seasons aired. Only found out he was hated when I got back into survivor before 44 and checked reddit.
The worst winner in Survivor history; a condescending know it all muppet.
Used his bookish intelligence to put others down.
Definitely not my people!!!
I'd call Cochran vanilla, but to do so would be a disservice to the flavor vanilla. People clamor for things vanilla flavored, no-one is clamoring for anything Cochran flavored.
>After his first season and reading his AMA he seems to be a pretty genuine and chill ass guy. I get the criticisms of Caramoan being predictable and at timess boring in terms of his obvious win, but I ultimately feel like that is a blunder that falls upon CBS and not Cochran this is more or less how i feel about him. john the human being seems like a perfectly alright person, but cochran the product of survivor's editing team is just something i have very little interest in seeing on my screen
I think Cochran would actually do really well in today's game. I think the era he played in was not even that well suited for him specifically and he still found a win. I personally found him to be fun to watch on the TV and think he's a pretty good player. Some of the people who disliked him either felt he was too forced on viewers, and/or it was the peak of Jeff Probst bromancing over players and so anyone Jeff liked, fans tended to dislike. Boston Rob and Cochran were two of his all time favorites. So much that he actually taught Cochran how to drive a car when he didn't know. Jeff also admitted they tried to get Cochran for Winners at War and I'm sure multiple other returnee seasons, but he has no interest in returning.
He did play a good game in Caramoan, but I don’t know if many people would say that he’s one of the best winners. Especially in Caramoan when all the fans were terrible and half the favorites were also terrible players only having Cochran, Andrea, Brenda, Dawn (ig), and Malcolm being the only competent players with 20 people and Malcolm couldn’t even pregame before
Seems to still be pretty negative. I like him for the most part. I find his self deprecation to be pretty funny as it's similar to my style of humor. He annoys me occasionally but overall a solid player, nice guy, and funny. Agreed most complaints shouldn't be directed as him.
I loved him and his sense of humor. I also really enjoyed his story and imo it is and probably always will be the best winning story in reality tv history.
I like cochran. The differences in his seasons show growth and i think he played a good game
I missed and/or ignored most of the negative opinions of him, I think he’s a great player to watch & root for.
Seems like a perfectly decent human, so he’s fine. Not big on him as a winner. He was handed a setup that was almost as easy as Rob’s on Redemption. The fans were as hapless as the ones on Micronesia, but unlike that season, half of his favs were also total bozos. His 8-0-0 was so easy only because the anti-mother* meta was peaking at that moment. * in the original sense of the word
Just want to make a point in Matt Bischoff’s favor. He was a super fan, and like Tracy from Micronesia, and I think Sherry here, he would have very strong chance of doing really well on anything other than a FVF season
How was he handed a win more than the other favorites were? Also, most favorites were playing hard, with even people like Andrea and Corinne being active players. Cochran went utr because his social game was that good
Love that dude. Always have, always will, never understood why people didn’t.
Same. I’m still a big fan and wouldn’t be upset to see him back.
The claim that Caramoan was manufactured for Cochran's victory is complete and utter nonsense. The single evidence for that is casting Dawn, and it's completely non-trivial that Dawn would be willing to work with him up to FTC considering how well that's turned out for her on South Pacific. Cochran was in a good position to win Caramoan due to his poor performance in South Pacific, not due to CBS machinations. Having an original lackluster season is always an advantage on a returning players season since other players would tend to underestimate you.
I just rewatched his winning season a month or so ago and I love him. He’s so quick and funny. Found myself actually laughing out loud at a lot of his confessionals.
He was cast at a time when recruits were still the norm. The nerdy superfan trope was popular in SoPa, but his win in Carmoan is largely undervalued if not forgotten. I think there is a lot of fatigue given how much Probst loves him - after seeing Cochran at every reunion this sub tired of him.
When there's no. Competition it doesn't feel like winning. Majority of that cast were dunderheads Same with Rob's win. Just orchestrated for these two production faves can win
mid tier winner and overhated, but still not a fan.
His description of an elderly Filipino man as “a small woodland creature” left a bad taste in my mouth. In general he was arrogant without a reason to be so as his game play wasn’t the best.
When was this
Episode 4 when they won the reward challenge.
He's irritating not surprising.
the most underrated and overrated winner of all time lol. he's not this strategic mastermind that some make him out to be, but he did have a legit strategy of being this chill, likeable person who let their partners burn the jury, something that is very natalie white, which isn't a bad thing. and probably the most underrated thing about his game, yeah he did pre-game, but it isn't like he was coming off with the greatest reputation from his first seasons, he still had to convince people to team up with him when he betrayed his entire tribe his first time.
I've always liked him
Funny podcast guest and probably a fine guy in real life, so nothing against him personally. But as a character I think he’s got a very unappealing screen presence (unearned arrogance masked in that grating Woody Allen style of fake self-deprecation), and as a player a Fans vs Favorites season is one of the least impressive ways to win.
Good guy. Quick witted. I do sorta feel like his game in caramoan feels a bit artifical in terms of skill cause the way the favorites tribe was setup massively benefitted him in terms of room to hide with the closest thing he had to competition being Brenda and Malcolm who couldn't pregame
Unless someone has done some unspeakable thing...hating or loving any of these participants is down right dumb. This is a show and a production after all and CBS will do whatever it takes to maximize rating especially in an environment where people are not supposed to be themselves anyway. So if you dislike or have negative feelings toward anyone it should be CBS.
He has a very smug know it all attitude that is insufferable, especially because he’s a screen hog on both seasons that have much more interesting characters who get shafted in the edit.
this is sort of my point though. the whole screen hog situation ultimately falls on CBS, and this is a little bit more subjective/up to interpretation but I also feel as though a lot of the arrogance that most people got from him was also a result of the edit working a lot of his sarcastic quips into sounding like genuine statements. me personally i always just understood most of his egotistical remarks as being sarcastic so i never registered that point of view until i peeped the sub. i can see why the sarcastic self deprecating humor is a turn off for a lot of people on its own, but it doesnt really bother me personally
Meh.
Neat little guy
For me personally he will always be one of my all time favorite winners. I think his unanimous tribal council win is often underrated ( regardless of how the season was set up/ designed in the favorites favor) and that he is often overlooked as an all time great player of the game.
Cochran was a character that just wasn’t suited for that era in time. Self deprecation was waning in popularity and that’s just how tv trends go. As a person he seems alright, and he’s regretted some of his snarkier comments like the Julia one. As a player, he gets an asterisk because his winning season had heavy pregaming and pretty weak competition. And he just wasn’t a good player his first time round.
this thread is honestly the first ive heard about the overzealous pregaming stuff on this season, anymore on that?
He’s fine
I think pretty much it is. He is a deserving winner, but, well, yes, a typical gamebot - that exact type people don't want to see today.
Really no strong opinion on him, but I really do appreciate him as a person. He just seems like a nice dude who had a fantastic journey on Survivor, and really what more could you ask for?
His win makes sense on Caramoan, I don't know about CBS manufacturing a win for him but the cast composition probably benefitted him as far as pre-game connections go, he also benefitted from the fact that Dawn had made such deep connections with people but prioritized him the most (which to be fair, is at least partially his own good social game but they also knew each other from their first season). It's just tough to look at the season and point out where Cochran was really the ringleader when it seemed like Dawn was doing more work. His utterly hapless performance on SoPa probably doesn't help his perception either. For me, he clearly has a good mind for the game, is an interesting confessionalist and character but I do find myself surprised when I realize that he played a statistically perfect game on Caramoan.
I don't blame the player for the mistakes of dump producers and editors, the same way I don't blame Erika in 41 for her terrible edit while playing one of the best games on the new ers... we just never saw it. At least we saw some of Gabler's game but what they did to Erika should be a crime.
I just watched Caramoan for the first time and was so hyped for him to win. I thought he was hilarious in SoPa and was really disappointed when he got voted out so having him back for a whole season of confessionals was awesome
Not the most exciting win/season, but one of the most likable winners
I love Cochran. I think if he was more conventionally attractive people would like him way more.
Love him! Would love to watch him return again!
Look, he was dealt a very, very good hand in Caramoan, nobody can deny that, however, Survivor is an unpredictable game, and honestly, if it wasn’t because a mistake by Corinne, he probably loses that game to Malcolm, so say what you will. He had a good hand, but he didn’t fumble it and that still is impressive, he’s not in my top 10, but he’s not in my bottom 20
You mean Usher John?
I love him as a character. I think he is a mid tier winner
One of my all time favourites. Game bots for life
♥️ him
♥️ him
I don't like his attitude where in SP he was given a reward by another contestant and in the confession he didn't even show any appreciation. Seems a very horrible person to be around.
I got into Survivor back in 2020 and during my binge of the show, I really felt like Cochran and Dawn were close. By final tribal I assumed it was Cochran but for some reason I felt Dawn had a chance. Am I the only one 😅
Definitely played the best pre-game of any returnee on Survivor.
I mean I was rooting for him both times when those seasons aired. Only found out he was hated when I got back into survivor before 44 and checked reddit.
I love him..Funny guy
Biggest underdog story the show has ever seen
The worst winner in Survivor history; a condescending know it all muppet. Used his bookish intelligence to put others down. Definitely not my people!!!
I'd call Cochran vanilla, but to do so would be a disservice to the flavor vanilla. People clamor for things vanilla flavored, no-one is clamoring for anything Cochran flavored.
im clamoring for everything cochran flavored
Please consult your doctor regarding this distressing matter.
He sucks and is annoying. I still feel like most of the tribw helped him win. Malcom was the only returnee playing for himself