Survivor Gabon: Week 12 - Finale

Congrats to Ty (my Dad) winning Survivor: Gabon! I taught him everything I know. Ha ha... Actually, here's a bit of trivia for you, my parents introduced me to Survivor after college when I started to watch Survivor: Vanuatu with them. So, you can blame them for all these emails!

So we return to camp with Kenny still fuming over the fact that Bob wouldn't give him the necklace even though he was going to take him out if he did. Yeah, sounds fair to me. Then Sugar makes a huge move by immediately going to Kenny, before the challenge, and talking to him as if he's the leader and Bob is the next to go, not Kenny. Kenny felt secure from that point and all was undone. The challenge was quite elaborate, as the next-to-last ones usually are. Although it didn't seem quite as tough to me. And once again Bob won it! It was a bit closer this time, but still, pretty amazing that he tied the record for the most consecutive wins.

You knew something was going to happen with Susie getting so much air time, but the producers fooled me when tribal council came around. I thought they really were going to vote Susie off because I think we saw more of Kenny's strategy on interviews than his real persona around camp. Don't get me wrong here, I was really glad to see him go! I'm all for strategic players to win the game, but when they are cocky and refer to themselves in the third person, I can't stand it. I thought he once again unraveled at tribal council by calling Bob again. He really didn't need to do that, plus Bob exposed his plan! He was really dead then. My hate almost dissolved as he graciously left the game and seemed like a good sport in his confessional. Then I turned again at the last tribal council and then turned again during the reunion (more on that later).

So then there was a final four that I would have never, ever predicted. And as Susie got more and more interview time, you knew something was going to happen. I thought this was a great challenge. I personally like to see them sweat it out, but I think they assumed Matty would win quickly. I thought Susie was brilliant for just stopping while the others panicked. She played it very, very well. We finally got to see more air time of her as they headed back to camp, and trust me, I'm glad they didn't focus on her the whole season. They showed Bob getting real upset, and I was just as annoyed as he was, and we only saw 5 minutes of it! I'm totally with Susie that it was a huge shock, but honestly, ease it down a bit.

Then Sugar once again throws her wits up in the air and sees where it lands and basically gives Bob a million dollars. Now, if I was her and I wanted to win a million dollars, it would be a predicament of who to vote for as well, so I thought her choice would've been noble if she hadn't told Bob about it. Basically blindsiding Matty. How relieved was Bob? He knew he had it, and how smart of him to go practice. So we had to say goodbye to Matty. His game this season was... interesting... I would like to say he made some power moves, but he really didn't. He did great of not getting voted out, but he lacked a solid friendship and alliance with anybody, except Susie (which we never really saw). But it looks like that if he had won that fire challenge, he would have won a million. Now that would have been something.

Which then led to the final tribal council where Bob pretty much dominated by answering straight and letting the other two girls bury themselves. I'm sorry Susie, just trying to prove something to your family isn't going to do it. Why didn't she mention turning the game on its heels by voting Marcus out? Winning two immunity challenges, especially the last one! I know I don't have any children, but I think there are better ways to prove to them that trying is valuable asset than going on Survivor. If I'm going on Survivor, I want to win a million dollars! If I wanted to prove to people that I can try or do something, I'm going to do a marathon or go on a diet. Not go across the world away from all my close ones!

And as far as Sugar goes... this is why I couldn't take her as a viable strong player. You can't make all those moves and then just not even try to get a million dollars. Her moves were totally to just do what Sugar wanted to do, not to win a game. As I mentioned earlier, she basically gave Bob a million dollars. The last two votes I was really gaining respect for her and then she flushed all down in the toilet. It boggles my mind that there's been 17 seasons of Survivor and people still blow it at these tribal councils. I'm sure it is really stressful, but I think the key is to just be upfront and honest about your game, whether you have been the nicest guy ever or malicious. Bob obviously has watched Survivor before and I loved is answer to Matty's question, "Why do these girls deserve a million dollars?" Bob: "They don't."

This was a relatively boring last council save Corinne's comments. I just don't understand when people consciously decide to be that mean. I think Corinne just loves to have attention on her and I think she was on the show to become a famous actress. Why else would you act like that? And the way she referred to "the edit" at the reunion show was just a gesture to all the producers out there in L.A.

I thought it was funny that nobody answered Randy the way he wanted to. Matty did not need to wear that tank-top. Kenny once again pouted way too much and was a drama king with his pacing. Marcus didn't look too smart with his boring questions. I completely forgot what Crystal asked. And Charlie is as nice as ever.

Which thankfully led to a victory by Bob! Such a deserved win. And Susie with three votes? Can you imagined if she had won? Bob probably could've been a bit more aggressive in his answers at the last tribal council and gotten one more vote or so, but thankfully he won. He did great at staying in the middle and playing hard when it counted. I think he made some wrong moves here and there, but he never lingered on them. You always like it when these type of people win Survivor. He played a pretty honest game and at the end, I think everybody still likes him, even Randy.

The reunion show really just kind of reflected the season. It was good, but not great. Way too much attention on Corinne for my taste. Randy came off a bit odd, but he does have a biting humor. I loved his response about cheating in school. I was really glad to see Kenny admit that he got way too cocky. This is where I forgave him once again. You could tell he was in a totally different mode out there, just like we are between our homes and work. He saw it as work, which he should have, but it actually seems that he's going to take away a life lesson from this game.

Oh, and Michelle is really one weird girl. Termites beware!

I have to admit, the past couple of episodes have been really good. They really saved this season. It didn't stay predictable and I guess that's what happens when an strong alliance of four gets broken up. Somebody won that totally deserved to win, and I'm usually always happy at that. But if you like this show as much as me, I'm really wanting to see something fresh this coming season in Brazil. This was the first time I really started to get bogged down by the cliches of the show. I mean, I know it's going to be there after 8 years of being on T.V., but I think that this season proved that by having too many contestants that are generally mean-natured doesn't necessarily mean a compelling season. Nastiness doesn't always collide with strategy. This season went a step back towards it's usual formula, so we'll see if Brazil has some new tricks up its sleeve.

What changes would you like to see? Do you think there are way too many hidden immunity idols? Should Exile Island be done away with?

Were you happy that Bob won? How would you rank the show?

As always, it's been fun and we'll gear up for next season! We can't let Ty enjoy that trophy too much!

Survivor Gabon: Week 8

The tribes have merged which to me is always the official, "Game on!" Fang was of course shocked to see Marcus gone, which they should have been and it was quite funny to see Matty try to repress a smile. I know I keep saying this, but I've really liked the challenges this year. That 3-course slingshot golf course was pretty dang impressive. How long did that take to make and how much money did they spend on it? Well, it was well worth it to see Randy and Matty go nuts. Something tells me that feud isn't quite over yet, if Randy doesn't get voted out of the next tribal council. The reward was the thing we always come to except from Survivor except nobody got drunk this time. Bob's fake immunity idol actually looked really convincing and I think he could really fake out a lot of people with that thing. I kinda predict a big move because of that thing.

Which then led to the individual immunity challenge where Sugar and Susie were the front runners! They haven't shown it much, but it does seem like Susie is a incredible hard worker at camp. I'm glad that the spotlight shone on the fact that women can indeed start a fire without men and it was funny to see Matty and Randy cringe at that fact. This then led to the always fun "who is going to go" scramble. It's so funny to see people pretend that they aren't leaving the base camp to strategize, but what else are they doing? You know which people were voting for who, but once again it came to Sugar who has somehow managed to still not make an alliance, but will probably be in the top four due to the immunity idol. Did everybody forget that she had it? Are they even going to try to snuff it out?

So far, the way they are building the show this season, all signs are pointing to Kenny to win it. I will admit he is making some strong moves and obviously he is the leader of his alliance (is it funny to anyone else that the former Olympic champion and a videogamer are such strong friends? Only in Survivor...) The thing with Kenny is that I don't hate him nor love him. He's made the right moves at the right time, but I don't think he will be put up there in the all time greatest strategic Survivor players. Too many of his moves come out of malicious intent. Do you guys feel the same way?

So Charlie was blindsided, which was kinda sad because I liked Charlie. He brought a lot of niceness to a game that is filled with ill intent. I personally would have gone after the other three because they have been bigger threats to win challenges and I think Corinne and Randy strategize just as much as Charlie did. At least Marcus and him are buddies though!

So, who do you think has the best chance of winning right now? Will Bob, Corinne and Randy be able to survive against the other 5, and most importantly, do you think the other 5 will stick together? What do you think of Kenny?

Call me if you want to go sling-shot golfing anytime soon!

Survivor Gabon: Week 6

Well, I must be loosing my touch. Once again, I'm out of the game early. Early as in before the merge! I guess writing these updates aren't helping my luck too much.

I think that this is officially the worst Survivor season that I have watched so far. Whitney and I were talking a bit about it and we just don't have any connections to the players. There just isn't anybody I can really get behind. Is it that I just have been plagued by the Survivor cliches? I sure hope not... I mean, there really isn't a James or a Yao Man from this season. I guess Bob would be one, but he's really not given much screen time. By the way, Bob looks like a cartoon turned into a human person. And what was up with his little squeals of delight? Now, if you know me at all you know that I can't criticize somebody tearing up, but that was just weird, ha ha.

I've said it many time so far this season, it just stinks to see a team lose and lose and lose and lose and lose. This season has actually had some great challenges, but they fall by the wayside when one team is so weak. The reward challenge was a great set up, but was over just as quick as it started. I wonder if Crystal will ever get a second breath of fresh air. Her tribe chose Sugar over her to participate in that challenge... I like Crystal a lot, but she is a candid proof of how much this game can wear on somebody physically and mentally. She looked as if she could really control things, but all this loosing is really getting to her.

By the way, did Randy not get any letters from the reward challenge? Do people in real life dislike him as much I do? Ha ha. Randy has really proved to be a strong competitor in this game. I don't think he is nearly as nasty as his testimonials. I'm not saying that the sarcasm isn't there, but I think it's a lot of show. For him to ease into that alliance over Bob shows that he must have some redeeming qualities. I wonder if he'll stick with those 4 because if it doesn't benefit him, I could easily see him turning things upside down.

It was a good idea to do a double elimination and the log roll was a great competition to have. It was entertaining to see everybody participate and of course there were some surprises of who advanced. Kudos to Marcus for giving the necklace to Sugar. Very strategic without coming across as mean-spirited. He's a bright guy... you just wonder when that target will form on his back.

The good thing about this challenge is that it finally made Kota scramble, but the bad thing is that it may have taken two of the more entertaining players out of the game. I didn't hate Ace nor really, really like him, but he was pretty entertaining. I was just interested to see if he would do anything in the merge. Yes, Dan was a bit annoying, but how exciting would've Kota been without him? You could tell he was a really nice guy, but just wore the game a little too much on his sleeve. I think it was very smart for the tribe to split their votes. Now they know for sure that Sugar must have the necklace and if Dan had played it... great, Susie's gone! They lost somebody who could have helped in challenges, but honestly, how many were they going to lose against Fang, especially with Ace gone now.

I'm a little confused by Sugar's move to blind-side Ace. On one hand, she really didn't need Ace. All he constantly did was ask for her immunity necklace and she had to know that Matty wasn't necessarily really keen on her. How many scenes were there of those two strategizing? Not many... But on the other hand, Ace really was the only person she was connected to. I think she knew what she was doing and although Kenny's lies planted the seed, I don't think she believed him and decided to do it on her own. I'm not sure what she is going to do now. Nobody on Kota likes her and Kenny and Crystal will just like her for some votes, so she either goes far just because everybody knows she has the necklace, or she uses it wisely to form some alliance when the merge happens.

Any thoughts? Good move by Sugar? Does Randy have a chance to win this game? Will a merge ever happen?

Have a great week and be careful not to spill your rice!

Survivor: Week 4

The thing that I hate most about Survivor is the episode we now get at least once in a season, the obligatory, "I miss home and I want to leave the game. It's tougher than I thought it was." It just puts a downer on the episode. You knew this was going to happen sooner than later with G.C., I'm just glad that their tribe had the right mind to vote him out. They were giving him a lot of air time, which usually signals a quick departure (Anthony from Fiji Islands comes to mind). This kind of makes me worry about Ace a bit. He was about as productive as Kelly on those challenges. I'm sorry Jan about your quick departure. Usually everybody usually seems to have at least one going into the merge. You can blame Kelly for picking the names, ha ha.

I thought the challenges were really good this episode. You have to give credit to the producers for really utilizing the hills of the Gabon terrain. I really liked the immunity challenge. I don't like Randy, but he is really stepping up on these challenges. His call out to Ace to freeze was pretty classic and smart. We'll see what he does in the immunity challenges. The reward challenge was a really good one, although I was a little surprised that Kota pulled out with Charlie striking out more than Babe Ruth (did you enjoy my sports knowledge being thrown in there?)

Dan really should record himself and hear himself speak. His little ra ra speech wasn't really fooling anybody and Susie better speak up before a leopard mistakes her for a dead carcass. Also, I decided to never get on Crystal's bad side and that I don't care how cool that elephant looked, I wouldn't have paddled close to it. Did you see that elephant's evil eye? (What great alliteration!)

Beside the little drama of finding Sugar's hidden immunity idol (does anybody else think that she looks like the girl from Can't Hardly Wait and Six Feet Under?), it was a so so episode, but this season is getting all the uninteresting people out early, so hopefully it'll get really good when the merge happens.

That's all for me, and be careful for those pineapples and shields in this world, they really can hurt your head!