Probst does his usual “get excited for the reunion” bullshit
and then they dive into introductions of the remaining players. Dr. Mike and
Ben seem to get realistic introductions but then they get to Devon & Ryan.
Devon is portrayed as a game-long mastermind and Ryan as a social genius. Hmmm, that feels off the mark to me.
Why does Stupid Alliance keep telling themselves that there’s no way Ben
can find another idol? Or that there won’t be another idol out there? All
evidence to the contrary. Just another indicator of why this is a weak season.
Mad props to Ben for searching for an idol literally all
night. That dude is committed. I’m happy that all the hard work was rewarded
with a pre-dawn idol find. And it totally serves the others right too.
The challenge is both for immunity & reward, and the “puzzle”
feels like something everyone should be good at, but I guess we’ll see.
Ultimately Chrissy wins. Again. And earns a whopping 10 points for the combo
immunity/reward. Then Ryan is laughably referred to as Ben’s babysitter and it’s
basically the same as calling that goat from Jurassic Park the T-Rex’s
babysitter.
To be fair, Chrissy’s old super idol is way better looking
than Ben’s legit idol. But it couldn’t be more apparent that they were faking
it EVEN if he hadn’t already found the idol! I mean really, if they are all
saying that they are 100% gunning for him then why on earth would they flash
that shit around in front of him? Ben would have figured that out if he'd needed to.
Tribal council is another perfectly played moment for Ben,
giving Stupid Alliance no reason to feel the impulse to use their brains. And
then the jury has a field day right alongside him when he pulls out his boot
idol.
Smarty Pants Devon gets props for voting for Dr. Mike and it pays off huge with a big save and also a nice resume-building moment. Dr. Mike,
you will not be missed.
Now, for the first time ever if they claim that Ben can’t
find an idol it will actually be true. Instead we have to listen to Ryan talk
about his game was being ruined by Ben. Dude, you have NO game. That’s not Ben’s
fault.
Secret advantage has to be something to do with the jury,
right?
Immunity challenge is on! Ben is one upside-down letter away
from winning, but he chokes, and what follows is a
hilarious montage of letters falling off of everyone’s boards. Chrissy wins.
Again.
And the secret advantage turns out not be an advantage at
all! It’s basically the producers doing whatever they can to get Ben into the
Final Three. Cheap shot & it makes me hates this season even more.
Devon weirdly is excited to suddenly be at risk of going
home. Kudos to him for the positive attitude. I guess it can be seen as another
resume boost, and if he’s well-spoken I’d be hard pressed not to vote for him
at final. But man I’d be pissed at Ryan if I was him because that dude is so
incompetent. He does not deserve to be in the Final Three and I’d be furious
that he was just given a free ride to get there.
Final Tribal starts off with a congrats to Chrissy on her
immunity challenge prowess. You may be one cocky beotch & aren’t nearly as
smart as you think you are, but damn if you aren’t a challenge beast.
And now we’re on to the “you gotta earn it” fire challenge.
Everyone’s thrilled over there in Fiji, but I’m just steaming on the couch
here. Probst looks like he’s commentating in a semi-comatose state, almost as if the outcome is already known. Rigged?
Hard to believe that Devon didn’t even have a spark going by the time Ben won….
And seriously, I’d expect Probst to have been way more excited about a tribal council fire challenge.
At Final Tribal, the jury
is having a solid conversation about who did what and what makes a person
deserving of winning Survivor. Along the way Blog Crush #1 gives some reaffirming statements to everyone while
looking like a movie star on a red carpet. And then Blog Crush #2 says “umm,
okay, can we move on?” and then probably throws a softball 100 yards into a
trash can. I love you both so much!
New jury format is a really successful change to the show. Remember when each jury member was just allowed to ask one question, rather than have a solid debate? Chrissy is working it, and somehow Ben is fading into the shadows. Joe actually
calls him out on that, which is awesome sauce. Joe = jury MVP, and may have turned the tide Ben's way.
Ben wins in the end & while I think he's a deserving winner, it feels really cheap. I like the
guy, don’t get me wrong, but his game should have had him voted out 4th.
There’s
even a section in Wikipedia about that stupid fire challenge.
Next season is Survivor: Ghost Island. According
to this page, “Season 36, officially called Survivor: Ghost Island,
premiering Feb. 28 on CBS, features 20 new castaways forced to confront old
mistakes from seasons past.” New castaways are never as good as all-star seasons, but I will admit that my curiosity is piqued by the theme.
The Teams:
Doug & Bri "Cowboys & Estrogen" - 228 points
- Ben (84 pts)
- Ali (2 pts)
- Chrissy (76 pts)
- Desi (25 pts)
- Ashley (41 pts)
- Ben (84 pts)
- Lauren (39 pts)
- JP (26 pts)
- Lauren (39 pts)
- Alan (1 pt)
- Ryan (31 pts)
- Cole (37 pts)
- Joe (38 pts)
- Joe (38 pts)
- Ashley (41 pts)
Phil "Scrub Island Featuring Superscrub Roark" - 166 points
- Mike (37 pts)
- Chrissy (76 pts)
- Roark (2 pts)
- JP (26 pts)
- Desi (25 pts)
Michal & Ben "The Candlestick Makers" - 115 points
- Ryan (31 pts)
- Cole (37 pts)
- Devon (30 pts)
- Jessica (15 pts)
- Roark (2 pts)
Bagdrea "Surfing with Chick Hicks" - 85 points
- Devon (30 pts)
- Mike (37 pts)
- Ali (2 pts)
- Jessica (15 pts)
- Alan (1 pt)
To the Victors Go the Spoils
And this time around that comes in the form of a new trophy! Congrats to Doug & Bri for crushing it all season long with their picks. A well deserved win for the Cowboys, and a solid showing from our n00bs to the pool. If you hadn't each essentially doubled Bag's score, we would have scorned you.
A note: I didn't include DoW points in this season because 1) I'm lazy, and 2) it woud'nt have mattered anyway. Joe probably would have won it, which would have bumped Cuppa into 2nd place, but no one really cares about that.
Other Thoughts
Share your thoughts on next season! Also I'm going to be out of the country starting in mid-March, so maybe we draft after just 1 episode?
7 comments:
I had the same thoughts re: riggedness. It was a frustrating twist. I'll begin work on two additions to the trophy.
I think Ben is a worthy champ but felt like the producers screwed the spirit of the game to get him to the end. It was already hard to believe he found idol after idol every week down the homestretch but OK, whatever. Then he loses the final challenge and I felt like they should have honored that and he doesn't get to be in the final. Instead, they give poor Chrissy an 'advantage' that turns out to be a giant disadvantage. I felt like it cheapened the win as Michal said and I also heard they are bringing it back next season and think that's crap.
It was an exciting final challenge and I thought the jury made some good points and had a decent discussion overall. Chrissy didn't do herself any favors with her what did you learn about yourself answer...Oh, well, I learned I'm a huge badass! That's not a good play to the jury. I thought her legacy argument - that she was a good rep for the season had a better shot at swaying them. 50 year old woman with solid strategy and tied for most immunity wins is a solid argument. She just couldn't get the hubris in check. Ultimately, don't think it mattered and Ben was going to take it either way.
Congrats to Doug and Bri. They have dragged themselves out of the 'Overall Season Wins' cellar and left Bag there, alone.
A lot of sass in this last post!
I didn't realize Bag was playing. I guess I never scrolled down far enough. My bad.
Lauren as the #4 point scorer!
Didn't anyone tell Ryan that you actually had to do something to win?
I enjoyed this season because of Ben. He had the drive to search for an idol through the night. I guess a million dollars wasn't a meaningful incentive for the other three. Ryan especially needed his sleep so he could get up the next day and have plenty of energy to do NOTHING.
Chrissy played a good game other than the fact she was the least endearing of the remaining 4.
Bachelor starts in 6 days!
How about Chris Harrison and Probst switch up hosting gigs for a season? That would definitely create the most f'ing dramatic Survivor season ever! Probst could throw up two arms every time someone got a rose.
Thanks for having us this season! Hopefully we can come back next year.
'Probst could throw up two arms every time someone got a rose' - hahahaha! Love it.
Many disagreements here Pickle!
I thought this was a strong season. It was a solid cast and most of the charismatic players lasted deep into the game. It would have been nice to see Blog Crush #1 in there deep but they wisely ousted her before it was too late. Ryan wasn't a juggernaut, but he was an above-average third-place finisher both in terms of game play and entertainment value. Chrissy was a strong all-around competitor and Ben a worthy champion who followed in the venerable tradition of relentless effort champions like Jeremy and the Dude With The Texas Shorts.
If the final twist was conceived on the spot, it sets a sad and unacceptable precedent. Our enjoyment of Survivor depends on our belief that it is not rigged, that it's a fair shake for everyone. Like any good game there is luck involved, but it can't be weighted to benefit certain players. I don't believe we'll ever know if this twist was conceived to benefit Ben; if it was, it will devastate my appreciation for the show.
The suggestion that Probst could be improved upon is blasphemous. He's incredible and essential. A Survivor without Probst wouldn't be as good. Having said that, I wouldn't mind a one-season swap with Chris Harrison (mostly cause Bachelor would be more entertaining).
I wouldn't mind dropping DoW altogether.
I'm curious to see what Ghost Island entails. Per usual, it will probably end up being relatively inconsequential.
I enjoyed pwning the n00bs and wouldn't mind them back. I didn't mind the new scoring system. I'm not passionate about it but feel like we should have at least four players on our teams. I don't see why we can't draft after one episode in March, or even pre-season if needed. Will you need some guest-blogging next season, Pickle? We have a lot of talented writers in the pool who could fill in. It's nice to have a blog every week.
Yes I absolutely need guest bloggers!
I thought I won last year. I guess that was just foreshadowing.
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