Appalachia on ‘Survivor: Ghost Island’

Season 36 of Survivor, which I vowed but two weeks ago to watch casually, has pulled me back into geeky super-fandom.

The reason is twenty-six year old Donathan Hurley from Phelps, Kentucky. Donathan was one of the stand-outs for me on night one of Ghost Island, and I was thrilled to see the self-described “gay hillbilly nerd” narrowly ‘survive’ the first two vote offs.

What’s always drawn me to watching Survivor is the ‘social experiment’ of it all. Sure, the repeated casting of young, fit dudes and bikini babes is hardly staying true to the show’s original premise of gathering people from “all walks of life.”

Still though, each season we do see castaways from various cultures and backgrounds — ones we tend not to fully know or understand. Think season 33 and 34’s Zeke Smith, Survivor’s first transgender contestant.

Enter Donathan Hurley

As mentioned above, Donathan — on his CBS cast bio—shows awareness of how people are likely to perceive him on the island, which he must often overcome if he’s to hack it on the island…