Re: Obveeus thoughts on Micronesia finale

On Mon, 12 May 2008 08:21:49 -0400, "Obveeus" <Obveeus@xxxxxxx> wrote:

After 16 seasons it is good to see that the powers that be on Survivor can
still keep enough twists coming to keep this game interesting. This has
been a great season and much of that has had to do with quality design work
by the creators. The fact that Survivor has dropped so much in the TV
ratings is a reflection of the audience seeking out something different
(people opening suitcases or singing karaoke for example), not a reflection
that Survivor has lost its way. The show is still great.


Definitely still better than watching karaoke singers and people
dancing. Without the gimmicks, Survivor could have retained their
audience. Every season, viewers pick their early choices, winners to
root for and losers to root against. When the gimmicks start coming,
a lot of people will see their winner choices get "screwed" and/or
their loser choices benefit "unfairly" and many of those viewers will
be lost for the season, if not forever.


Amanda: She approached this final the same way as the last one. I don't
think her 'breakdown' over Cirie's comments was fake at all. I think Amanda
still believes she is in no way a 'bad girl' and cannot accept that things
like 'picking favorites' or betraying 'lesser friends' is an inherent part
of who she is. As a result, she came into the finale this season with the
same mindset as last season: 'I am good and innocent, I deserve the money'.


And she got two more votes than she deserved.


Parvati: She approached this season right from the start as a person that
understood this was a game, understood that people had to be backstabbed,
and understood that the game and real life are different. Her choice to
stick by Amanda was very much a conscious belief on Parvati's part that
'gameplay' is worth more in front of the jury than 'nicety'. She deserved
to win the finale as it was set up. My only disappointment is that we
didn't get to see her face 'an equal' because this season turned into an F2
rather than an F3 where Cirie would have been there as a gameplayer as well.
I don't think Parvati did a particularly good job at the final TC questions,
so I think Cirie would have had a good shot to beat her.


Totally agreed.


Cirie: She played a good game and I feel bad for her that she wasn't taken
to the final. I firmly believe that she would have beaten Amanda at an F2.
The final IC was certainly not in her favor as it favored wingspan and arm
strength, but she deserves some credit for not dropping out early on. She
certainly put in a worthy effort.


Armspan certainly was a factor. Amanda's decision to hold the pieces
underhanded for one round definitely helped her as well. I was
surprised Parvati dropped out so quickly AND that Cirie last so long.

Side note - this was (finally) a challenge that James could have
possibly won. And a male in the challenge would almost surely have
prevailed.


Natalie: Odd final comments make me wonder if she didn't feel romantically
scorned by Parvati. Aside from Alexis, I don't think Natalie could have
gotten any final votes, so I'm glad she wasn't there at the end to give away
the game in a landslide.


Well... I did not see Parvati RETURN the butt-squeeze. I also did
not see Parvati OBJECT to it.


Erik: Still hasn't learned much of anything, it seems. His mindset is
actually not much different than Amanda's. The only difference between them
is that Amanda is better at manipulating people, even if she doesn't
recognize that she is doing it.


And at the reunion, Erik stated he was morally superior because he
just could not bring himself to be so "wicked". And when he said it,
Amanda and Parvati were laughing "whatever, loser".


Alexis and Ami: both came off as selling themselves for post Survivor
careers in 'charity'.


Nothing wrong with that.


Ozzy: his final TC 'question' was nothing more than a propaganda campaign
on Amanda's behalf. I don't think he actually has gotten over his hateful
feelings towards Parvati at all, but if he wants to stick with Amanda, he
has to at least pretend that he has.


Just imagine the marketing campaign that occurred at Ponderosa.


James: came off as smiling, yet bitter/petty at the last TC and at this one
as well. No surprise he won the viewer call in vote given how deep he made
it into the game and the fact that he got removed through an injury. I was
surprised that Ozzy and Amanda were the other players at the top of that
voting. The American public is so disappointing.


Ain't THAT the truth... it makes you wonder which of the three lousy
choices will be selected in November...


Jason: unmemorable.


I remember him vaguely - He beat Ozzy in a challenge and was a total
idiot.


Eliza: I was glad to see that she has learned since her last final TC vote.
Last time, she let petty personal conflicts with the better player cloud her
voting judgment. This time, she saw past the personal differences and
rewarded the better player. It would be interesting to know what her final
question was to Amanda and Parvati, but I guess it got tossed to the cutting
room floor like their closing arguments.


Yes. It could have been such a lively Final TC if they had not
chopped it so much to make room for an extra IC. They should have
just announced the F-2 twist earlier (maybe at the merge) and gone an
extra week. Instead, MB chose to wait until finale night to spring
the big surprise on us. For someone with a really great original
idea, he sure seems to make really terrible decisions. Or perhaps his
name is just on the product and he sips cocktails and soaks his balls
koala bear juice while others do all the thinking.


The rest of the crowd: Joel is an embarrassment to firefighters everywhere.


Agreed. I want to hear Denis Leary's perceptions of Joel.


The quitters (Fairplay, Kathleen, and Chet) were let off the hook. Yau Man
and Jonathan came off as 'good people' deserving of a longer stay in the
game than they got. Mary's marriage sounds like a play for a reality
show...but then again, so does Fairplay's relationship.


JFP - almost certainly some sort of fatherhood reality show is being
pitched.


All in all, this has been one of Survivor's better seasons. The only
weakness was the large number of quitters dropouts. Hopefully, Burnett will
keep that in mind for next season's return to Africa and cast the game for
emotional strength.


Agreed. again.

.

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