Survivor

lanx_sl said:

Thinking this season over, the crutch of the entire win by Michelle is b/c of

Constipation saved Michelle, she was gone if the old man took his One-A-Day fiber.

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On same the token if Tai doesn't pull a Woo, Aubry is gone. I couldn't believe he didn't vote her out. How many more people are going to pull this?

lanx_sl said:

Also new theme Millenials vs. Genx, just viewing that quick segment, seams like not a single piece of eye candy, like they went out of their way to get "television ugly" ppl.

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That was painful to watch. It had the extreme of each group and their views. My biggest complaint of Survivor is the manufactured drama and that promo was packed with it.

lanx_sl said:

Also new theme Millenials vs. Genx, just viewing that quick segment, seams like not a single piece of eye candy, like they went out of their way to get "television ugly" ppl.

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BvBvB had some smoking hot women (Anna & Liz) that were all gone in the first few votes. I don't think it matters anymore!

What a fucking disappointing ending to an otherwise fantastic season. I don't think I would've had a hard time putting this season in my top 10 (maybe even my top 5) if not for how it ended. I don't think I've ever been this disappointed in how a season turned out before. There have been plenty of seasons where who I've wanted to win didn't but I always at least felt like there was a good reason for it. Even when Russell Hantz lost, I could sort of understand why.

They couldn't even give Michelle a winner's edit she was that weak of a player.

Drakain_sl said:

That was painful to watch. It had the extreme of each group and their views. My biggest complaint of Survivor is the manufactured drama and that promo was packed with it.

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From the theme, next season looks like it's going to be blue/white collar vs. no collar, though even the Millennials they showed had a no collar vibe about them. I hope there are at least a handful of players I don't want to punch from the first episode.

This season really left a bitter taste in my mouth.

It started out strong. Pre-merge, Survivor always struggles to find decent storylines, but they did this time around. The BvBvB gimmick worked pretty well and strong players were being voted out (evac'd out), creating compelling episodes. The problem with that, we were left with a weaker, less interesting players to try and carry the show down the stretch.

Julia is very impressive for an 18 year old. Her final tribal speech to Tai and Michelle laid out their games so plainly and succinctly. Tai started strong and ended horribly. Michelle is the female Fabio. Largely seen as a joke player the first 30 days. Kept around as a swing vote. Not a threat to anyone's game because she sucked at everything. Then, once all the good players were removed from the game, she was just good enough to rattle-off a string of challenge victories.

So, you have Aubry. Clearly the best player of the season. She was smarter than everyone. She pushed herself past her abilities in challenges, purely with effort. She established relationships and alliances that were stronger than anyone else's. And, god damn could she give a great interview. Female Cochrane 2.0

So, what happened? I think Scott and Jason happened... They are two of the most despicable-chauvinist-assholes to ever play the game.

Tai didn't express himself well, but Scott and Jason were intimidating. They were bullies. They would have treated him like their bitch to the end of the game. So, when Aubry presented Tai the option to switch alliances, he jumped at it. Tai had to take the action, but Aubry made it possible. Neither Jason or Scott have it in them to admit that "ugly Aubry" might actually be better than them at something.

Nick and Cydney, meh. I don't know whether their were influenced by Scott and Jason, or if they just played their own "bitter-jury-card" and voted Michelle. Either way, they are just two examples of shitty players that should have never been cast in the first place.

Season 32 Player Rankings

Darnell Hamilton: D
-Darnell's time was short. He made the fatal error of stepping up to a challenge he had no business stepping up to. He failed and he put a target on his back immediately when he should have just laid low and established alliances.

Jennifer Lanzetti: F
-Bug ears. I think that little bug ate some of her brain, because she went full retard in tribal and got herself voted out by her own alliance.

Elisabeth "Liz" Markham: D+
-Played too hard, too fast. Turned her tribemates against her. Didn't establish an alliance with numbers.

Caleb Reynolds: B
-Needs another shot at the game. He was looking like a triple threat.

Alecia Holden: C-
-She is basically Michelle, but was inexplicably put on Brawn tribe, instead of the Beauty. She ran into the Scot/Jason buzz-saw and never had a realistic chance. She was scrappy and the fight she put up was commendable.

Anna Khait: C
-Hot as fuck. Smart. Potential triple threat, but she never got a chance to show much. Destroyed by an untimely re-shuffle.

Peter Baggenstos: F-
-The ego on this guy... He thought he was a shot caller, and everyone was rolling their eye's at him behind his back.

Neal Gottlieb: B
-Smart, good social game, moderate threat in challenges, and was resourceful enough to find an idol. Had similar potential to Caleb to make a run to the end game before he was pulled.

Nick Maiorano: C-
-He showed flashes of athletic and strategic prowess, but ultimately nobody really liked him or trusted him. Not a lot of substance here.

Debbie Wanner: C
-Annoying, crazy, hilarious, glamour model, old hag, chemist, homeless person, loyal, headstrong, over confident, tactless...Entertaining

Scot Pollard: C-
-On his own, Scot was a challenge monster that seemed half-way rational and could treat people respectably. Teamed up with Jason, they become a two headed monster, enabling the worst in each other.

Julia Sokolowski: B+
-The most impressive showing by an 18 year old in the history of the show. Wise beyond her years. Her tribe placement at the beginning probably started her down a path to ultimate failure. I think if she was on the Brains, she might have been sitting next to Aubry at the end.

Kyle Jason: C+
-Strong personality, strong in challenges... and a total asshole. If he cannot relate to someone on a physical or "bro" level, he will degrade them, and use them to the point he cannot use them anymore and throw them out with the trash. Too arrogant to see himself and anything other than the hero of his own story.

Joseph "Joe" Del Campo: D-
-One of the worst casting decisions they have made. Respect to the old geezer for lasting as long as he did, but he never earned his spot in the game. This game is more than just sitting on a log all day and poking at a fire. He wasn't just slow physically, but mentally he let Aubry do all the thinking for him. Shame on you Probst/Burnett, shame on you.

Cydney Gillon: B-
-Cydney was not like-able... but she did make some big moves, at key points in the game. She established strong alliances when she needed to, broke them, made new ones. She never had a realistic chance at winning, but she did play the game.

Tai Trang: B-
-Tai started at an A+ and continually undermined himself week after week, plunging down to a B- at the end. He is a sweet man, with a great story, quirky morals, and all together endearing... but he is not smart. He cannot communicate his ideas and was easily manipulated by his competitors.

Aubry Bracco: A-
-She was playing Chess and the rest of the cast was playing Checkers. From a physical standpoint, women don't have it easy on this show and she pushed her limits further than anyone. Aubry was able to masterfully orchestrate most of the vote outs, without ever getting blood on her own hands directly. Her downfall was a block stacking puzzle at the very end and not showing any emotion at the final jury. She failed to appeal to people's hearts. She was close, but not able to step up in the biggest moments.

Michele Fitzgerald: C+
-Worthless coattail rider, swing voter, crying girl "I'm proud of myself", to a bitter-jury vote getting winner. But, she proved her spot on the beauty tribe with her after-show performance. Damn girl, stunning.

Fight_sl said:

Nick and Cydney, meh. I don't know whether their were influenced by Scott and Jason, or if they just played their own "bitter-jury-card" and voted Michelle. Either way, they are just two examples of shitty players that should have never been cast in the first place.

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Nick was the other vote for Aubry which makes sense. He didn't get far enough in the game post-merge to become nearly as bitter as some of the rest of the players. He also didn't really seem to be the type to take things so personally, so I think he was one of the only ones that didn't vote purely based on emotion.

Cydney said she and Michelle were a lot closer than what was shown, so she was just voting for her buddy (ie emotion). I suppose the same could be said for Julia, though Ponderosa proved she had some bitterness (which is dumb considering she was the one to flip onheralliance).

Debbie? Who the hell knows? Nick told Aubry to be confident, but I wouldn't be surprised if that cost her Debbie's vote. She really seems like the type that could be easily swayed by Michelle's tears.

Kiroy_sl said:

Completely agree with this. Scott and Jason really fucked up the season thinking they were masterful game players.

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Their biggest downfall was really each other. They both wanted to play like Russell and reinforced each other's playstyle to the point where they were blind to how it was costing them - hence why their alliances kept flipping on them. You can't have two Russells in an alliance, not if that's going to make it evident to people exactly how you're playing the game. Russell also didn't act like a little bitch when things didn't go his way and was able to cause chaos without doing something so stupid as to put out the fire in front of everyone.

I wouldn't be against seeing Jason return if they ever do HvV2. He showed at least some intelligence with strategy, and I think he could've been a good player under better circumstances (like not starting off on such a horrible tribe). He also had somewhat of a sense of humor. Scot seemed like little more than an overgrown baby for most of the season, and I can't really see him bringing anything of value to another season.

Fight_sl said:

Joseph "Joe" Del Campo: D-
-One of the worst casting decisions they have made. Respect to the old geezer for lasting as long as he did, but he never earned his spot in the game. This game is more than just sitting on a log all day and poking at a fire. He wasn't just slow physically, but mentally he let Aubry do all the thinking for him. Shame on you Probst/Burnett, shame on you.

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When he first said he was a former FBI interrogator, I figured he was really going to be worth watching. Apparently "Getting it done at 71" means hobbling through challenges and not having a single original thought. I'd say he was one of the most inconsequential players to ever make it as far in the game if it wasn't for the fact that his inability to control his eating and defective colon didn't fuck Aubry over and, in all likelihood, cost her the game.