Redemption Island: Episode 14

I loved the finale this season! Not because the ending was surprising in any way, but the suspense of the Survivor Pool had me squirming on the edge of my seat, spreadsheet open in my lap. As the contestants were eliminated one-by-one, and the points were added up, I knew: this really was coming down to fan favorite.


In the end those 5 points made a huge difference. Who won this season's pool? Well... for the first time in Survivor Pool History, we ended with a TIE!!

The Standings 

Team #Winning!: Moon - 141 pts
1. Boston Rob (105 pts)
2. David (23 pts)
3. Krista (13 pts)


Team Saggy Bottom Panties: Me - 141 pts
1. Phillip (48 pts)
2. Ashley (46 pts)
3. Natalie (47 pts)


Team Cockydoodlebug: Doug/Bri - 117 pts
1. Grant (46 pts)

2. Rooster (29 pts)

3. Andrea (42 pts)

Team Fabioesque: Dachui - 67 pts1. Mike (29 pts)

2. Matt (23 pts)

3. Stephanie (15 pts)

Team Evil Crushell: Courtney - 46 pts
1. Evil Russell (10 pts)
2. Sarita (11 pts)
3. Julie (25 pts)

Team Haterz Gonna Hate: Bag - 33 pts
1. Francesca (0 pts)

2. Kristina (10 pts)
2. Steve (23 pts)

Reflections:

After speaking to other Poolers, we decided it was best to split the victory, rather than try to come up with some kind of tiebreaker. ALTHOUGH, I'd be very willing to have some sort of Survivor trivia lightning round duel to decide it, a la Friends Season 4, Episode 12 "The One with the Embryos." Beware Moon, I majored in lightning rounds.

Splitting the victory means that Doug still retains his record for most Survivor Pool wins, but this is not a runaway. Bag & I are in close contention! Courtney is 0-2 so far, but I have no doubt that there will be many seasons in which she'll have a chance to win The Pool. Hang in there... and maybe don't pick Evil Russell for once. :)

Even with this shared victory, Moon still has a large asterisk hanging over his head. His only solo victory is the controversial Yul season, and with a shared victory this season I think that Moon needs another solo victory before he can consider himself a top Pool competitor.

Dachui picked what I considered to be the strongest team at the outset of this season. We picked blindly (which is why Phillip went in the first round) and considering that they had little to no information on the players, their team was a tough one to beat. Unfortunately the game got the best of them, and they underperformed this season. However, Dachui is a real threat in the long run of this game.

I have mixed feelings about picking players blindly at the start of the season. While I enjoyed both cheering for & rooting against my team, our picks had more to do with luck than skill this season. Next season I would prefer to pick a couple episodes in, and then have dregs to buy later, although ultimately this is up to the group. Interestingly, if this had happened this year, Phillip probably wouldn't have been drafted until mid-season!

Thoughts on the Season:

Overall it was a decent season, but it was really saved by Phillip's antics. I appreciated watching Rob pwn his tribemates - he's clearly a master of his craft - but it got boring after a while. He had no competition at all! I'd rather see him and Parvati battle it out in an even match of wits. What I'll remember more fondly were moments like this:

Phillip: I wanna say that I was never proud to wear plum-colored underwear.... However -
Rob: Are you getting rid of those things?

Phillip: Yes.
Rob: I am SO glad. Look at how saggy those things are!
Phillip: I knew that my manhood was not reflected in the briefs that I wear, but rather the character that I bring to the game. And so, with happiness and joy as I approach my destiny, I bid you ado [sic].
(Underwear are tossed in the fire.)
Natalie: Thank God.
Rob: Now go wash your hands.

Thoughts from the Reunion Show:

-  Grant looks HOT in suspenders! Also, I liked that he didn't forgive Rob. If I were in his shoes & saw the way that Rob screwed around with me with hidden idol clues I don't think I'd forgive him either.

-  I'm pretty sure Dave got dumped later that night. That proposal was the most horrible thing ever aired on television.

-  CBS's attempt at verifying Phillip's "federal agent?" status was purposefully weak. They found someone who got trained when he did 25+ years ago? Seriously? If CBS really wanted to clear Phillip's name, they could have found someone far more legit to back him up. 

Thoughts on Next Season:

I'm happy they're bringing back Redemption Island; I think RI has a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing a more empowered, less religious version of it next season! Probst also mentioned that two former castaways would return. I didn't find any spoilers on who these castaways might be, just a lot of speculation. My fingers are crossed that Ben's Fools v. Freaks dream will be realized with a Phillip v. Coach, or maybe a Shambo v. NaOnka. Expect the next season to air sometime in September with 18 castaways starting the show.

Rule Changes?

-  I think we made some great rule changes for this last season - everything really clicked IMO. Have we perfected our scoring system? No, but we're getting closer :)

-  Having a pool where the overall winner is averaging about 140 points makes ties an unlikely occurrence. But obviously they can happen! Should we consider adding a tie-break rule?

-  Moon mentioned having those who make it to final tribal council earn their points based on the number of votes they receive.

-  Any other suggestions should be mentioned in the Comments here! I can promise you that they will NOT make The Draft: Agenda for next season if you don't!