Ten years ago, Survivor aired its twenty-eighth season, and changed the course of the CBS reality series as we know it. Survivor: Cagayan had eighteen dynamic characters stranded in the wilderness for the ultimate game of social strategy, divided into tribes that represented “brains,” “brawn,” and “beauty.” And from its first episode–with the start of the Brains tribe’s destruction–to its last–including one of the worst moves in Survivor history–it was non-stop entertainment.
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Survivor: Cagayan has been an absolute game-changer for the series (not to be confused with the season of the same name from three years later). It served as the origin story for huge characters like Spencer Bledsoe, Kass McQuillen, and future winner Sarah Lacina. Tony Vlachos, Cagayan‘s winner and one of the biggest personalities to ever take home the million-dollar check, became the show’s second-ever two-time victor in 2020, cementing him as a legend. In 2021, two Survivor seasons appeared on Netflix, helping spark a massive renaissance in the show, creating new fans and even inspiring some to become contestants themselves. Cagayan was one of those entry point seasons available to those fresh set of eyes, showing how much it still looms large even a decade later.
A season as big as Cagayan deserves a big celebration. That’s what “Rob Has a Podcast,” one of Survivor‘s primary media empires, hopes to achieve with I Stan Cagayan. The new documentary, coming to YouTube on Tuesday, Oct. 29 following a live screening on Oct. 28, explores all of the major moments of Season 28. From shocking blindsides to comical conflicts to surprising zoology lessons, a group of Survivor podcasters and players–including many Cagayan castaways–break it all down.
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In the exclusive sneak peek above, you can see the talking heads (including one particularly intrepid Survivor reporter) get into the legacy of Cagayan over the past ten years. Though nearly 20 seasons have followed, it still holds a fond place in the Survivor community, regarded by the vast majority of fans as one of the greatest seasons of all time. And it’s easy to see why.
“From start to finish, Cagayan was just giving and serving in every way possible that you could want,” says premerge standout J’Tia Taylor. “If you want a villain, if you want heroes, if you want strong females, if you want your nerdy guy, it had everything.”
“A lot of people really consider it to be the best all-new player season,” responds two-time player Stephen Fishbach. “Everybody was playing hard. It had so many unique and fun characters. It had Tony, who played this chaotic, unexpected, wild strategy and ended up winning the whole game. And it had a lot of players who have come back and had a significant impact on the whole franchise.”
Christian Hubicki, a fan-favorite character from Survivor: David vs. Goliath, offers a more historical take. “Cagayan, to me, will always be on the Mount Rushmore of Survivor seasons, no matter what comes later. It came at a time in the twenties of Survivor when they were playing around with lots of different formats, and they weren’t necessarily sure as to where they were going to go with the show. And it just takes one phenomenal cast and a couple of phenomenal production decisions to make the show amazing.”
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“In 2014, Survivor: Cagayan catapulted the show into ‘The Big Moves Era,'” Rob Cesternino, a two-time player and host of “Rob Has a Podcast,” tells Parade. “After ten years, we wanted to celebrate this iconic season. Not only did Cagayan forever alter the trajectory of the franchise, it was monumental in building a worldwide community of people who wanted to connect around Survivor.”
Indeed, Cesternino has his own emotional connection to Season 28 that partially helped him create a worldwide community of his own. Cagayan served as the first time he had struck out on his own as a full-time podcaster, and he spent that spring starting one of the earliest podcast patron programs. The stars seemed to align perfectly in 2014, and as a community on-screen gradually tore itself apart in the pursuit of a million dollars, another was coming together off-screen over the incredible reality TV they were watching.
Check out a sneak peek of I Stan Cagayan above. A special live screening of the documentary will happen on Monday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Landmark’s Ritz Five in Philadelphia. The documentary will then premiere worldwide on YouTube on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Next, Here’s 50 Players Who Should Be on Survivor 50.