Survivor returns with its newest cycle, following a well-received and highly enjoyable season in the Philippines. This season (Caramoan) will be another Fans vs. Favorites edition like the cycle that took place in Micronesia. So, a bunch of "fans" (although the first time they did this, most of the fans seemed like they had never seen the show before) will square off against selected returning players. It premieres Wednesday, February 13 at 8 PM EST on CBS.

Allie (25) 2nd Voted Out on February 20
Andrea (23) 13th Voted Out on May 1 (Jury)
Brandon (21) 5th Voted Out on March 13
Brenda (30) 14th Voted Out on May 8 (Jury)
Cochran (25) Winner, May 12 (received 8/8 jury votes)
Corinne (33) 8th Voted Out on April 3
Dawn (42) Runner-Up, May 12 (received 0/8 jury votes)
Eddie (23) 15th Voted Out on May 12 (Jury)
Erik (27) Removed Due to Illness on May 12 (Jury)
Francesca (38) 1st Voted Out on February 13
Hope (23) 3rd Voted Out on February 27
Julia (21) 7th Voted Out on March 27
Laura (23) 4th Voted Out on March 6
Malcolm (25) 11th Voted Out on April 24 (Jury)
Matt (38) 6th Voted Out on March 20
Michael (44) 9th Voted Out on April 10 (Jury)
Phillip (54) 10th Voted Out on April 17 (Jury)
Reynold (30) 12th Voted Out on May 1 (Jury)
Shamar (27) Removed Due to Injury on March 6
Sherri (41) Runner-Up, May 12 (received 0/8 jury votes)

http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/

The returning players are:

Andrea Boehlke (5th place in Redemption Island)
Brandon Hantz (6th place in South Pacific)
Brenda Lowe (10th place in Nicaragua)
Corinne Kaplan (7th place in Gabon)
Dawn Meehan (10th place in South Pacific)
Erik Reichenbach (5th place in Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites)
Francesca Hogi (18th place/first voted out in Redemption Island)
John Cochran (8th place in South Pacific)
Malcolm Freberg (4th place in Philippines)
Phillip Sheppard (2nd place in Redemption Island)

Most of the returning "favorites" are annoying old bunch. Cochran? Brandon? Erik? Ugh... Don't really remember others besides bland Francesca and Andrea. Only Dawn is great.

OMG! 3 black players lol an all time high for the show

Aren't they scraping the barrel if they're asking someone that placed 17th to return? I don't recall her being a major game player to warrant a return.

I remember her seeming really cool, she just got screwed by the circumstances she was in.

The returning women are mostly better than the men. I liked Dawn and Andrea a lot, and Brenda was an interesting player. Corinne is one of my most hated people to ever play this game, but I guess that makes her a good villain.

Cochran, Lil Hantz and the hilariously awful Phillip? Egad. Erik's not known for much other than his huge blunder giving up immunity in Micronesia. At least we have Malcolm returning to be all charming and sexy again.

Of the new players, I think Shamar, Sherri and Reynolds are the ones to watch. Sherri seems like a Denise type and Reynolds could be a Malcolm. Shamar is a army vet so apparently he's confident about his survival skills but he may be a bit bossy. We'll see.

That kind of applies to almost every early vote-off.

A part of me feels like they asked her back entirely so Phillip could keep pronouncing her name wrong like he did the first time.

CBS had a clip of that on youtube. FunnE

Don't forget this premieres tonight. Yay. Hope it's a good season.

Oh MY. I don't know whether to find it terribly sad or terribly hilarious Francesca got voted out first...AGAIN. That woman is just not meant for this. Stick with your day job, honey.

On the plus side, Andrea was spared. I liked her a lot in her original season and am hoping she goes far this season. She's athletic and relatively spunky.

The Crazy Train seems to be in full effect on the favorites' side with the insanity of Special Agent Phillip and Lil Hantz. Was anyone else (not) surprised Lil Hantz targeted Andrea as a sexy evil temptress just like he did that one girl the first time he was on?

Corinne seems like she's calmed down from being the vile sucubus she was in Gabon, but that could've been editing. Cochran and Dawn being tight seems sort of surprising considering how bad he screwed her over before.

Also, possibly the only person more excited about Malcolm's shorts falling off in the reward challenge than Jeff Probst was myself.

The fans seem like a less pathetic bunch than the crop in the first Fans vs. Favorites. The sexy guys and their female companions giggling about how popular and awesome they were was a bit silly, though.

That was a comical tribal council. Nothing against the girl who got voted out (Allie), really, but I can't believe The Pretty People's Alliance really thought they were on top with an alliance of 4 on a tribe of 10. I guess you guys, like, can't do math.

Also, Reynold's idol immediately being sussed out because of a bulge in his pants. Hilarity.

Laura, Sherri, Michael and Matt all seem like pretty perceptive people and like they will be interesting players. Shamar seems like a loud nutbag so he'll probably be around the entire season. That other girl (Julia?) is this season's Invisible Player, still with no confessional to her name.

Not much to report on the Favorites tribe this week, I guess, other than both Phillip and Brandon being freaking insane as usual. The amount of crazy just between the two of them is sky high.

There's definitely a good group of strategic players hidden among the crazies. Brandon is seemingly more insane than his first appearance, with his attacking of Dawn of all people.

Erik, Corinne, and Brenda have been pretty quiet so far, most likely to due to editing in favor of contestants that are more recent in the audience's memory.

Corinne's edit is strange so far. She's well known for being one of the most vicious people ever on this show, but she's barely done anything yet.

I hope Cochran wins.

Cochran is indeed much more likable this time out and seems to have learned from his previous errors a bit. He also handled the crazy well talking to Pink Undies and Lil Hantz.

I think he and Dawn might make it very far into the game this time.

Kind of a lame episode. It's going to be a pretty long season if it just consists of Shamar being loud and abrasive while Phillip and Brandon do auditions for a psychiatric ward on the other tribe.

Hope, unlike Allie last week, actually had an opportunity to save herself. I get that the pitch Shamar gave her was...meh...considering what a nutbag Shamar is. But if she had just voted for Eddie like he told her to, she would've been saved.

The players to watch on the fans side still seem to be Sherri (who looks disconcertingly like Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side) and Laura.

"Favorites" this week? Whatever. I get that Phillip and Brandon are their characters, but people like Brenda and Erik have been totally invisible this season due to the editing. I'm also not sure how I feel about Malcolm aligning with she-devil Corinne, although she seems less evil this season.

Also, Andrea is overcompensating from her last season and is playing too hard this time around.

I miss Allie. She was hot.

NO! LAURA!

I really liked Laura too, that's too bad. She got the short end of the stick there.

At least Shamar is gone so we can stop hearing about him every 5 seconds.

Also: the preview for next week is so melodramatic. Can they vote Brandon and Phillip's crazy asses out so the real players can get going?

Another thing: A tribe swap is inevitably going to happen. It almost always does. Laura was totally right and Sherri/Julia/Michael/Matt might be screwed when Reynold and Eddie turn on them in new tribes. But we'll see.

The episode itself was kind of...dreadful. Wasn't Probst claiming this was one of the best seasons ever? Unless things change soon, I'm skeptical.

I'm surprised Laura didn't fight harder - she had the more logical argument for keeping her.

I feel like every single preview the past weeks has been Brandon going crazy. Though I have to say this one looks pretty insane.

This season is a drag so far. It is just not coming together. The wrong personalities are at the fore. The dynamics and tensions are not overly interesting.

Brandon's meltdown wasn't entertaining, it was very uncomfortable. I hope whatever casting "genius" decided to put this nutcase back on a second time is reprimanded.