Episode 14: Let the curses stay unreversed

Published: May 25, 2018

Dan praises the nail-biter Survivor: Ghost Island jury vote and the final three, while taking to task lingering problems with the Final 4 firemaking, the Ghost Island format, and next season's theme.

Pre-Episode 14: Jury Jeopardy - S36

Published: May 21, 2018

The True Dork Times writers assemble once more to project the jury votes, while doing battle with scribes from other Survivor sites: InsideSurvivor, A Tribe of One, Purple Rock Podcast, and the RHAP bloggers. Who can boast the most votes noted for Ghost Island?

Episode 12: If it ain't broke...

Published: May 13, 2018

In perhaps his final Ghost Island column, Dan laments Chelsea's near-invisible exit and the sluggish post-merge gameplay, and makes a modest proposal to avert Pagongings by... well, read and find out.

Episode 11: Bad luck is boring

Published: May 5, 2018

One bad decision may haunt you forever, but Dan decries the outsized role one bad random draw (or two, or three) has been having on the outcome of the season. Plus an attempt to decipher the curious decisions in the two Tribals.

Episode 10: Mistakes were made

Published: April 29, 2018

While Desiree clearly didn't have a perfect run in Episode 10 of Ghost Island, Dan argues that almost every other player also made long-term strategic mistakes this week, mainly by failing to take advantage of a golden opportunity to change the game.

Episode 9: Hiding in plain sight

Published: April 20, 2018

Dan compares the relative strengths of bold, aggressive play with passive, hiding in plain sight, under-the-radar play, praises the new, more visible Angela, the new, less-visible Domenick, and hopes for more age-related diversity going forward.

Episode 8: The Un-Noble One

Published: April 13, 2018

Following the Ghost Island merge, Dan reviews Chris's role in the season as a whole, proposes an alternate edit possibility, praises time-limited idols, and presents his power rankings for the remaining 12 players.

Episode 7: Fast takes from an airport in Newark

Published: April 7, 2018

In an abbreviated Story, Dan dispatches a few swift thoughts on Episode 7 of Ghost Island, ranging from the sudden flood of idols to the changes in the gameplay with the merge approaching.

Episode 6: Parallels past

Published: March 29, 2018

As Survivor: Ghost Island swaps from two up to three tribes, Dan looks back at how both the gameplay and editing compares to recent seasons where that happened, and projects the success of the main characters going forward.

Episode 5: An internal moral dilemma

Published: March 23, 2018

Dan wrestles with happiness over the relative dearth of idols and advantages at Ghost Island, and sadness that Stephanie had no shot at one. Then delves deeper into the role of idols in modern winning games, and looks ahead to the swap.

Episode 4: False priming

Published: March 15, 2018

As Dan bids farewell to his winner pick, he examines the many lines of narrative deception in Episode 4 of Ghost Island, both in the player's actions, and the editing of the show itself. Plus Kellyn, Bradley, and a ranking of the seasons.

Episode 3: Never trust the cute blondes

Published: March 8, 2018

As the tribes change up their membership, Dan tracks which players' narratives also changed. The departing Morgan, obviously, and her trusted Libby, but also Chris, Domenick, and others. Plus, what fate has Libby foretold?

Episodes 1-2: That's how you start a season

Published: March 2, 2018

Dan laments the first two exits, praises the novel first IC, foresees looming doom for one player, a potential new winner pick, and talks alpha males, Domenick and Chris, and gives a tentative initial mixed grade for the Ghost Island twist.

Pre-season: TDT Ghost Island contestant draft

Published: February 22, 2018

The True Dork Times writers (Andy Baker, Ben Martell, Dan Otsuki, Pat Ferrucci, Ryan Kaiser, and Jeff Pitman) assemble to draft fantasy teams of Ghost Island contestants, in an attempt to seize eternal* glory by having the team containing the winner. Unless one of the two undrafted players (Team Ghost) win, in which case everyone loses. (*Or until Fall of 2018, whichever comes first.)

Pre-season: Who will reach the top?

Published: February 6, 2018

Dan makes his pre-season contestant assessments for Survivor 36: Ghost Island, and finds large numbers of superfans make it more difficult to predict which ones will be successful.