Rating: 7/10
Entertaining and satisfying from its first moment to its last, Philippines splendidly busted the franchise out of its post-Heroes vs Villains doldrums. Philippines righted the ship with a simple fix: trading in some dumb youngsters for a few older players with brain cells.
Philippines used two gimmicks as a launchpad, one all its contestants were aware of and one that was only advertised to the audience. Three players who'd been med-evaced in the midst of strong performances - The Australian Outback's Michael Skupin, Samoa's Russell Swan and Jonathan Penner of Cook Islands and Micronesia - returned to battle. Meanwhile, producers implanted two celebrities not quite famous enough to pretend they weren't: Facts of Life childhood star Lisa Whelchel and former Major League Baseball stud Jeff Kent. Both elected to keep their celebrity hidden, a major source of intrigue for the season's opening episodes. Skupin and Penner immediately recognized Lisa - Skupin almost called her "Blair", her Facts of Life character - but told no one but her. Jeff Kent was quickly identified by a young player named Sarah Dawson, who elected to keep the secret in her back pocket for a strategic moment that never arrived. Dawson toyed with Jeff, often bringing up baseball in tribe conversations. He helped orchestrate a blindside of Dawson, who kissed Jeff Probst on her way out and kept Jeff Kent's secret. Kent turned out to be quite a strategist, while Lisa developed into one over the course of the season. Both would have been strong castaways without their secret fame, and Lisa even won the fan favorite award.
Philippines unusually started with three tribes, each including a returning player. Russell Swan's Matsing tribe floundered and lost the first four challenges. Their struggles allowed for plenty of character development for the two allies who'd survive the bloodletting: Denise and Malcolm. The latter immediately announced he'd lived in Micronesia for a year, helped start a fire, solidified his standing in the team challenges and revealed a calculating strategic facet in confessionals. He was one of the best players of the show's first twenty-five seasons, though he failed to bring home the bacon from the Philippines or either of his next two attempts. Denise kept a lower profile but may have been an even better player. She was a sneakily effective physical, mental and social player imbued with resilience, self-reliance and toughness. When Matsing dwindled to two, Denise and Malcolm were distributed to other tribes instead of being forced into a Bobby Jon/Stephenie scenario. Both quickly ascended their tribes' pecking orders.
On the Kalabaw tribe, Jeff Kent initially targeted Penner but decided to ally with him and Carter eight days in, splitting the tribe into male and female alliances. The females lost the battle after Dana's exit, which was somewhere between a med-evac and a quit. Penner was set to be ousted first after the merge, but he successfully played an idol and triumphed in a must-win immunity challenge. Though Philippines was probably Penner's finest effort, he ultimately sabotaged himself by wasting his vote in a wild Tribal Council that ended with Jeff Kent's elimination and later failing to commit to Lisa and Skupin at the critical moment. Penner brought plenty to the Survivor table - articulation and a rugged brand of integrity in particular - but never managed to merge the three core aspects of the game.
The Tandang tribe should have controlled the game and emerged with its champion, as they avoided Tribal before the Merge and arrived there with a majority. But Tandang's house crumbled on its rotten foundation. Loathsome Abi-Maria told savvy, cold Pete about an idol clue she and RC found together. Then Pete moved the clue so others would find it, framing RC and deepening Abi's mistrust of her. Abi arranged RC's exit upon the merge. Eventually Skupin and then Lisa had enough of the meanies and bailed on Tandang.
Down the stretch, Penner implored Lisa and Skupin to side with him, noting they couldn't beat Denise and Malcolm. "Going to the end with Malcolm and Denise is not a great strategy," Lisa admitted. "But betraying that trust opposes who I am." Lisa and Skupin did prepare to blindside Malcolm with six players left, but he eked out immunity. They offed good-natured, honorable Carter instead. "They're playing with their heads, not their hearts," he said in his exit interview. Malcolm won immunity again with five left and kept the idol for his mother so Lisa and Skupin wouldn't believe his alliance with Denise was binding. Lisa and Skupin considered ousting Denise at that point, but elected to keep her over Abi in hopes Denise could defeat Malcolm in final immunity. She didn't, but Skupin did, and they all reneged on previously-established alliances with Malcolm. On his way out, he sarcastically congratulated Denise on her victory to antagonize Lisa and Skupin. The teacher and bartender remains one of the best players never to win Survivor.
Malcolm was right: Denise got six votes at Final Tribal while Lisa and Skupin each garnered only one. Malcolm almost surely would have defeated Lisa and Skupin as well, though the Jury indicated in the Reunion they would have gone with Denise over Malcolm. While the Edit glamorized Malcolm, Denise quietly submitted a masterful performance. She attended and survived every Tribal Council. She tapped into her profession as a therapist, listening to each castaway and tracking their proclivities. She handled the elemental rigors - including a prolonged stretch of torrential rain to begin the season - without complaint and performed well in challenges.
Though Denise trounced Lisa and Skupin at Final Tribal, it's not as if they were goats. Both developed into robust players as the season progressed, overcoming a number of strong competitors to get to the end. Jeff Kent was as fierce a competitor as they come, Penner played his best game and Carter was universally liked. Even Abi-Maria displayed some gumption, pretending in front of Jeff Probst and everyone else an advantage she bought at the auction had multiple features and winning a must-win immunity. The heightened acumen of its cast made Philippines an all-around excellent season.
