Survivor: Suggesting a season

Long-time reader Javier left this comment on my previous post:

Hey Matt, as you know, I've been a loyal reader of all your columns for years and have enjoyed them very much. To be completely honest, in 19 seasons, I had never seen one episode of Survivor. I know it's a good show but I was never able to watch it. While reading your comments on the latest season I decided to give Survivor a try and I was pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed the show. I've been catching up with this season and it's been a fun ride, so I want to thank you for introducing me to Survivor. I was gonna ask you, since I've missed years of this show, what past seasons would you recommend me to watch? What are your favorites? Thanks.

Survivor is a real interesting beast, making this question very tough to answer. I find myself getting extraordinarily into a particular season, yet a year or so later struggle to remember the names of anybody other than the final few competitors.

Incidentally, the ones that I've enjoyed in recent memory are ones you probably wouldn't appreciate without being a long-time fan -- All Stars and Fans vs. Favorites. Of course, there's the belief that the original is always the best, and a fair argument could be made for that. The show has become synonymous with the word "alliance" and the idea of a group of masterminds picking off the underdogs one by one, but in the first season this strategy was a novel and innovative concept.

I might also suggest Guatemala, as it was the first season to introduce Exile Island and the hidden immunity idol. I also thought China was pretty good. But does anybody else have any suggestions?