I love the setup of the show - find a bunch of people and throw them into the wilderness, only giving them the basic essentials to survive. The show started out really basic: you have a "Reward Challenge" (you play for rewards), you have an "Immunity Challenge" (you play for immunity), then you have "Tribal Council" (you vote somebody out), then there's the "Final Tribal Council" (the "Jury", a handful of previously voted out contestants, votes for the winner). Like I said, it started out pretty basic.
Over the course of 26 seasons, or 13 years (the show premiered on May 31, 2000), we've seen a numerous amount of additions to the show. You've got tribe switchups ("Gabon" had two of them), "Exile Island", "Redemption Island", hidden immunity idols, the "Medallion of Power", former players returning... just to name a few.
When talking about last night's finale to my parents, I said, "This is the first really good season of Survivor since... well, last season was good, but before that, it's been a long time since there's been a good season of Survivor!" I'll admit, there have been a few seasons of Survivor that I haven't really cared about. I've always watched the show, but I know I haven't seen every episode. I'm not a "super-fan" (like this season's winner, John Cochran), but I'm more than a casual fan.
[spoilers ahead]
This season was the second "Fans vs Favorites", taking place, again, in the Caramoan region of the Philippines. Ten seasons ago (early 2008), the first "Fans vs Favorites" ("Micronesia") premiered. That season has been among my top favorite seasons of Survivor. I am ecstatic that the second "Fans vs Favorites" did not let me down, but might have even surpassed my liking of the first edition. (I haven't seen Survivor 16 since it aired, so of course I'm still reeling off the high I have from this season.)
The contestants weren't the favorites we were used to seeing. No, we've seen those people way too much by this point. I'm sure even the superfans would have rolled their eyes if they saw Boston Robb or Russell Hantz or Ozzy one more time. These are favorites from the past five or six seasons. In true Survivor spirit, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of these people in the future. (Just check out the rumors for next season, which begins filming this week. I can already tell you that myself and people I know on Twitter are not excited about what we've read.)
Yes, everyone is usually there to win the $1,000,000. Who wouldn't want to win that money? Of course you have those who might be disappointed by not winning, but they're humble and they cherish the experience they had on the show. I like how everyone this season was truly driven to win. The Fans wanted to beat the Favorites, and the Favorites wanted to dominate to achieve what they couldn't the last time they competed. The Favorites, namely "Stealth R Us" dominated the first four Immunity Challenges, quickly sending the Favorites home.
This season was filled with many great moments, and as much as I would love to talk about all of them,
Perhaps one of the first great moments of the season came when Brandon Hantz was sent home. Just like his Uncle, Brandon is crazy. Don't get me wrong, Russell Hantz is one of my favorite Survivor players ever. Yes, he's mean and manipulative and rude and crazy, but he's an amazing Survivor player. I don't think anyone can beat his record of finding Hidden Immunity Idols. It's literally like they're drawn to him! Getting back on-track here, Russell aside, his nephew, Brandon, went crazy this season. He wanted everyone to vote him out because he felt bad for leaving his family at home, but changed his mind due to now deciding he was to fight for his family. I'm sure he was still homesick, but he was truly getting tired of Phillip's leadership. At the Immunity Challenge, not only did the Favorites forfeit the challenge before it began, Jeff called an impromptu Tribal Council where, unanymously, the team sent Brandon home. Brandon's last day was very intense, from his argument with Phillip (that lead to him dumping the team's rice and beans) to the sudden Tribal Council, which became very heated, very quickly.
Another great moment, which became one of the best, if not the best, Tribal Council ever, was when "The Three Amigos" (Malcolm, Eddie, and Reynold) went from being outnumbered to taking full control of Tribal Council. Reynold was safe that night, due to him winning Immunity. The tribe knew that Malcolm had one Hidden Immunity Idol, so they decided they were going to vote for Eddie that night. After the tribe brought up Malcolm finding the Hidden Idol, he revealed that he actually had two Hidden Idols, and that he would be giving one of them to Eddie. Then, he proceeds to announce the person that the three of them were going to vote for - Phillip!
I haven't gone this crazy over television in a while. (That's probably a lie. I'm easily excited, and I love blindsides and twists and turns.) I was screaming. The whole tribe was freaking out, while The Three Amigos sat there safe. Not during a Tribal has something like that caused an entire tribe to double-think their actions. Malcolm had been talking about wanting to play his "big move", and this was definitely a big move. I love a good Survivor blindside, and boy was this a great blindside! Of course, Jeff brought up that there was a chance Malcolm and Eddie wouldn't play their Idols, so most of the tribe still voted for Malcolm or Eddie. The two of them did play their Idols, so all votes for them didn't count and Phillip was sent home.
Another big moment was...well, the Family Reunion episode. Being an emotional person, these episodes always bring a tear or two more out of me. Brenda's reunion with her Dad sent a stream of tears out everyone, including my stoic sister (she's not stoic, but she certainly doesn't react to movies or TV much) or Jeff, who shed a tear for the first time in 26 seasons. The advice Brenda's Dad gave her is something I think we can all use: just be humble. Brenda ending up winning the Reward Challenge, and chose Dawn and her husband to go onto a boat ride with her. Though, when presented the opportunity to give up that and send the other four contestants and their family on the boat, she let the other four members have that opportunity.
What I hated the most about this was Dawn's reaction. She did not win, and I don't remember her being even close to winning. Yes, I'd be sad if I suddenly couldn't see my family either, but I wouldn't be screaming and sobbing. Unfortunately, due to the reward challenge and Brenda not giving up against Dawn to win the Immunity Challenge, Dawn decided to blindside Brenda. Brenda's departure was very sad, because you could hear her crying as she left.
Ah, final tribal. I always enjoy the Final Tribal because everyone lets out all of their emotions. The Jury can be quite mad at the remaining contestants and can have quite a grudge against them.
Nobody was really mad at Cochran. I don't remember any mean words thrown at him. It was Dawn and Sherri everyone was mad at. Anyone who talked to Sherri told her how the only reason she was there was because she was carried there, and that no one would be voting for her. (I'm glad she was laughing about it at the Finale.) A lot of the Jury commented on Dawn's bipolar behavior, and how they felt she didn't play a really good game.
Now bring in Brenda. She's still upset from when her ally, her closest friend in the game, Dawn, decided to blindside her. Brenda reminded Dawn that if she had not found her dentures, Dawn would have quit the game. Dawn stated she really would not have quit, so Brenda challenged her to take out her dentures. They kept going back and forth, with Dawn saying "of course I'll take them out" and Brenda and saying "Well then do it!", and finally, Dawn took out her dentures. I was expecting her to take out a whole row of teeth, instead she only took out three or four. They were from the bottom row, too. It was definitely one of the weirdest Final Tribal moments, ever.
The Reunion was...a bit boring. Everyone pre-Jury was in the audience, so we didn't talk to them or acknowledge their presence. We didn't even talk to some of the Jury! (I don't remember Jeff speaking to Reynold, Erik, Eddie, or Michael.) Hopefully next season's Reunion will be better, and the producers will learn from the mistakes of this season's. I wasn't paying attention to Rudy, but people online were throwing fits because he said "queer". Was the Finale not on a 7 second delay? I don't like that word, I certainly don't use that word, and I feel like CBS should have edited it out somehow.
CBS uploaded the teaser to Survivor 27, "Blood vs Water". (My sister thought that title meant something along the lines of "The Hunger Games" before I revealed to her the rumors I read. I won't say on here what I read, just Google it if you're curious.)
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