I ask for seasons without idols all the time, and I do know what I'm asking for. I rewatch Survivor seasons pretty regularly. Seasons without idols and seasons where idols are completely irrelevant to the story are my favorites in general. Amazon, Pearl Islands, Vanuatu, China, Gabon, Nicaragua, Kaoh Rong. I do love Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains, San Juan Del Sur, and David vs. Goliath too. (Although SJDS's idols were largely irrelevant for 99% of the season).
But I don't watch Survivor to see big moves and people building their resumes. The appeal of Survivor to me is (or was, rather, seeing as it's pretty rare to find this in modern Survivor) watching people building relationships with one another and having those relationships dictate how the game is played. Seasons that are a lot more character heavy instead of strategy heavy are my favorites. Watching Twila and Eliza feud all season long, culminating in the final four tribal council where Chris finally has to pick between the two is infinitely more entertaining to me than watching 6 different idol hunting scenes in one season.
Idolless seasons and seasons where they're irrelevant also produce more impressive players to me. You can have great underdog stories without idols. Going back to Vanuatu, watching Chris find himself in the final 7 with all of his allies on the jury, but managing to use his relationships to make Ami and Leann think "You know what, I'd rather spend 3 more days with Chris than Eliza,", making Eliza turn on Ami and Leann is more impressive and entertaining than Chris finding an idol. Aubry in Kaoh Rong using her relationship with Tai to convince Tai not to save Scot is more impressive and entertaining than Aubry finding an idol.
Even in seasons where the underdogs get completely wiped out, watching Casaya in Panama barely managing to function as a group is more entertaining to me than watching the La Mina alliance find idols. Watching all of Fang's antics in Gabon is more entertaining than one of the Onions idoling their way to the end. In Palau, watching Janu basically give up while Stephanie was in tears, desperately wanting to stay in the game is a lot more entertaining than Stephanie finding an idol to last one more round.
Seasons with idols (or rather, seasons with a lot of idols) tend to push character development to the side in favor of people hunting for idols, idol paranoia, people trying to plan votes around idols, and people talking about whether or not they should play their idol. To me it's like, why should I care if that person with no allies plays an idol if most of what they've talked about is idol this, idol that, and the only thing other players say about them is "do they have an idol? We should split the votes. They're dangerous. They might have an idol."
Seasons without idols don't have that problem obviously. They spend a lot more time developing the players and their relationships. So even if the underdog is gone right after the merge and an alliance streamrolls their way to the end, I still find enjoyment because I've come to know the characters inside and out.
Edit: I should add that one of my favorite moments in 38 seasons is Eliza staring down Chris at the final 4 of Vanuatu after getting voted out, followed by her jury question to him later on in the finale. "While I knew that Twila was a deceptive, lying bitch I did not know that you were a deceptive, lying bitch too. You stabbed me in the back with the Julie thing and then you stabbed me and the back and rubbed salt in the wound. UN.NECESSARY." And watching Chris's (feigned) shame. It was the culmination of 14 episodes of watching Eliza, not as a player, but as a person building genuine relationships over 37 days of Survivor.