Survivor Kaoh Rong – the end is nigh

I can’t believe the Survivor finale is here already. It seems like just like week Jeremy was winning Second Chances and I was worried Kaoh Rong would be a letdown, following hot on the heels of such a fun season.
So, due to the unexpected evacuation of Joe last week, due to his inability to – ahem – evacuate – we’re down to Aubry, Cydney, Tai and Michele. I really want Aubry to win but Cydney and Michelle know she’s such a threat, so surely they’ll make a move. And if Tai makes the finale, will he get many jury votes? And is it a three or a two?

Michelle is getting a tonne of beach confessionals lately. Winner edit?

Michele – sorry it look me so long to realise you spell your name with one L.


Aubry, if you don't win you are a dead cert for the next Second Chance.

Aubry, if you don’t win you are a dead cert for the next Second Chance.


Tai, we'll be seeing you again, too.

Tai, we’ll be seeing you again, too.


Why couldn't we see hilarious Cyd at the start of this season?

Cydney, you could take out the whole shebang.

I want Aubry to win but I think Cydney could take home the $1 million. Who do you want to win – and who do you think will actually win? And no votes for Mark the Chicken – he’s in the running to replace Jeff as host is Probst ever steps down.
By the way, it’s rumoured the next two seasons of Survivor will soon be filmed in Fiji, in the Mamanuca Islands. I’ve been there twice (and was meant to be there this month, but the cyclone changed our plans) and it’s a gorgeous part of the world. Check out http://insidesurvivor.com/survivor-season-33-and-34-rumors-11168 for more info – no real spoilers there.
When’s it on?
The two-hours finale screens on Go! at 10am Thursday (yes, AM – good on you, Go! for rushing it) and is followed by the one-hour reunion show at noon. The finale is repeated at 8.30pm with the reunion at 10.30pm.

RECAP

Here's Jeffy

Here’s Jeffy


Jeff wanders out through CBS’s fake Cambodian village but you know he’s not in the jungle because he’s not wearing one of his wilderness shirts with a tribal-looking necklace. I love that he mentioned Mark the Chicken in his opening monologue! If only he’d followed it up with: “Mark the Chicken, this is your life!”
He recaps the season so far … medevacs … toughest … idols … enemies … blindsides … alliances … yadda yadda.
Then, we’re back to Cambodia and it’s Day 36. It’s not even dawn and Mark is already pissing everyone off by crowing while they’re trying to sleep.
Tai’s worried people will vote him off in retaliation, so he takes Mark down the beach.
Lucky you weren't so annoying earlier in the season Mark, when no-one knew your name.

Lucky you weren’t so annoying earlier in the season Mark, when no-one knew your name.

Surely Tai would be smarter to keep Mark at camp as cranky, tired people (I’m thinking Cydney) do not perform as well at challenges. He’s confident in his alliance with Aubry but thinks it’s them versus Cydney and Michele. Aubry is worried about Mich’s social abilities as she has no jury enemies.
Cydney is happy Joe was medevaced because everyone wants to be her buddy now.
Come on in, guys …
It’s reward challenge time and it’s one of those long, multi-step challenges where speed, balance and puzzle abilities are key.
Jeff’s in his spiffy blue cap. The winner gets, surprise, surprise, food, including steak which, based on poor Joe’s satay beef experience, they’d best just nibble.
Jeff is openly barracking for Tai and Cyd in the challenge and poor Mich is getting all the negative comments. Aubry is killing it in the balance component of the challenge, as sleep and food deprivation take their toll. Surely Aubry will smash the puzzle task? But no, the first combination she picks fails. The camera helpfully zooms in on the bit she’s stuffed up. She’s going to kick herself when she watches it back but – yay – she gets there in the end and even steals a hug from Jeff.
Aubry's dream of touching the great Survivor God Probst becomes a reality.

Aubry’s dream of touching the great Survivor God Probst becomes a reality.

And he tops it off with a back slap and “good job”. Man, he lurrrves Aubs. She can take another person on the reward with her if she wants, and she picks Cyd, which was the only smart choice for her. She needs to build their bond and she knows Cyd gets hangry.
Again, they get to eat a stone’s throw from camp (just as they did with the Chinese food reward) – hard on the other contestants.
At the camp, Mich tries to convince Tai they need to team up as they are both on the bottom. “I think Aubry’s the bigger target,” she says. Tai says he likes it but he doesn’t look her in the eye. Still, he wants the million.

Day 37 and it’s immunity challenge time already
It’s one of those massive running up and down stairs type ones with a puzzle at the end that they’ve favoured lately at the pointy end of the competition.
The winner is guaranteed a spot in the final three.
Aubry is in the lead pretty much the whole challenge but no-one is doing dreadfully as is usual in these challenges. I’d like to know how hot it was that day. I wish they’d let them drink water while they do the puzzle.
Tai does really well in the puzzle section and Mich is not far behind.

She won the memory challenge previously, so will this be No. 2 for Mich?

She won the memory challenge previously, so will this be No. 2 for Mich?

Yep – Mich wins and then does a karate yelp in celebration and kicks her puzzle over. kick
“Wow – nobody saw that coming,” Jeff tells her in his tactful manner.

Back at camp, Mich is feeling powerful – as she should. Aub and Tai go off to “get water”, which cutely involves holding hands as they strategise.

Awww. But what will Mark the Chicken think? Or Scot? Or Caleb?

Awww. But what will Mark the Chicken think? Or Scot? Or Caleb?

Aub needs Tai to stick with her so they can force a tie and go to the fire-making challenge – which we at home would love to see. But will Tai flip to Mich instead?
“Tai and I have been like a zipper that doesn’t zip the whole game … he switches on a dime,” Aub tells confessional. She reckons she’s not very good at making fire, though.
Cyd is playing it cool, tell Mich she’ll vote for whoever she wants. Mich wants to keep Aubry but she thinks she’ll be too good at talking to the jury.
Cyd feels bad as they have been “ride or die homies” (I love Cyd’s confessionals) for ages, but “my loyalty is to my mother. I’m trying to change her life”. This is the first we’ve heard about her mum, I believe.
Do it anyway, Cyd.

Do it anyway, Cyd.

Mich is confident Tai will vote with them to save himself.
Mich tells Tai he’s safe because Aubry is a threat. Aubry senses change in the air and knows she’s in trouble.

Tribal council
“The person who goes to the jury tonight has a lot of information about what’s happened in this game,” Aubry tells Jeff,referencing Pandora’s box, trying to make everyone scared about her poisoning the jury.
“Michelle, she looked right at you,” says Jeff, stirring the pot.
Cyd: “It’s a me game, not a we game.” Tai just wants the mill and says alliances are out the window.
They move through things quickly and I think my girl Aubry is going home.
Aubry, Cyd, Aubry, Cyd. It’s a tie! The jury is surprised – and delighted.

Scot is trying really hard to work out what happens next.

Scot is trying really hard to work out what happens next.


Jeff asks if they should revote and Mich gives Tai the stare but he doesn’t crack. So, a fire-making challenge it is. Awesome! I know we won’t end up with a Cook Islands-like disaster where neither woman could make a fire. And that was even after they gave them matches. Yes, really (great pic recap of that excruciating 90-minute failure here http://funny115.com/v2/27.htm)
Cyd gets some good sparks early but they both struggle to keep the flame going. They need to build it up enough to burn through the string.
Great TV.

Great TV.


Aubry gets a great blaze going but unluckily for her the wind is blowing sideways and it doesn’t quite reach the rope. Nooo – she’s back to the ashes. aubblaze
aubblaze
Aubry is building up her fire again and most people on the jury seem to be willing her to succeed.
Good to see you looking better, Joe.

Good to see you looking better, Joe.


Yes!! Aubry wins! It’s possible I’m more excited by this than if she takes out the whole shebang.
Fire BFFs.

Fire BFFs.


Cyd’s crying. Aub’s crying. Tai’s crying. The producers are crying with happiness that they got great footage.
Poor Cyd tells Jeff she wanted the prize to pay her mum’s mortgage and get her health insurance. Yep, that’s Murica for you – crap health care for the poor. Well, that put a bit of a downer on things.
Now we cut back to the studio and Jeff is cuddling Cyd’s crying mum, who is as ripped as her “baby” – and dad is massive!
The family who bodybuilds together ...

The family who bodybuilds together …

Back at camp Mich says she knew Cyd wound’t win as she’d never made fire with flint, but she’s surprised Tai stuck with Aubry.
“I think you’ve literally just handed Aubry a million dollars,” Mich tells Tai.
Still they are happy to be the final three and to face the jury. Or are they? Tai has picked up on what there’s been a lot of internet speculation about: That it could be a final two this season. He is obviously a huge fan of the show as he even knows Jeff’s usual wording. This is the kind of Survivor nerdiness I’d expect from Aubry but I guess she was on a high from making fire. The girls assure him there’s no more challenge but next morning he’s proved right. This will have to be one of those standing on a pole forever type challenges.

Final immunity challenge – for real
They walk in and it looks like there is some kind of ball and puzzle challenge awaiting them. Jeff, in his black cap, tells them: “Today immunity is (pause) not up for grabs. It was a fake out!

Aubry is trying to process what Jeff just said.

Aubry is trying to process what Jeff just said.

They ARE the final three after all. I hope that challenge set didn’t go to waste – maybe they used it for Second Chances, which was filmed straight after Kaoh Rong even though it screened first.
And then Jeff says something unprecedented. They get to do the challenge after all but it’s for reward, and the winner will vote out someone tonight but it’s not one of them: it’s a jury member. Wowsers – that’s a good twist. Aubry’s reaction has to be bleeped out.
Turns out the challenge was an option in the very first challenge of the season but none of the teams picked it. It’s a tricky one, involving stacking balls and wooden stands on an unstable surface using a long prong to grab everything. Joey Amazing and Keith Nale would be great at this challenge. Mich and Aubry are pretty even but Mich takes it out. Good one, Mich. So, she’ll vote out Joe, right, as he’s a dead cert to vote for Aubry? Plus, since it’s Joe he’ll forgive her in real life that he never get to have the experience of casting a Survivor vote.

Back at camp Mich trots out the “it could be a million dollar decision”. She tells Tai she’s thinking Joe but Tai says she should also consider Neal – he wants Neal gone because he knows he wont get Neal’s vote.
Mich then talks through her strategy with Aub, who tries to steer her in the direction of Scot and Jason because they can stir the pot at final tribal and possibly sway others. The problem with this line of thinking is that every Survivor fan knows most jury members have already made up their minds befor final tribal.
The jury comes in and Nick notices straight away that no-one is wearing an immunity necklace. Mich gets to read out the jury vote out rules and the jury is suitable shocked.

That's Debbie that Julia is whispering to behind Sooky Lah Lah's head.

That’s Debbie that Julia is whispering to behind Sooky Lah Lah’s head.

Then Jeff gets them to talk to the alternate strategy of voting out someone who’ll be throwing bombs at the tribal.
jasonme scotanswer
Mich says she’s picking someone who would never have voted for her and who can be persuasive to others. So, not Joe, then. Must be a Sooky.
Jeff reads the vote and … neilvte
Poor Neal. First he’s pulled from the game with a weird knee infection and now he doesn’t even get to make the jury for final tribal. I bet he’s been working on his jury speech for ages back at Ponderosa. He takes it in good spirits: “It’s an honour to finally have my name written down.” And then as he saunters past Mich he tells her what sounds like part of his speech: “You came into this game thinking you were a bad-ass bitch but you are more like a cute little puppy, still suckling at the teat, and I don’t think you stand a chance.” Ouchies! Off he goes, to be sequestered.
“It sounds like you might have made the right choice,” Jeff tells Michele.
Afterwards, Neal tells confessional Mich was smart to vote him off as he would have advocated for Aub. But he thinks it won’t help Mich’s chances.

Back in the studio, Jeff says the producers first raised the jury vote twist seven years ago. And then he drops the news there will be an unexpected guest at tribal. Surely it’s Mark the Chicken?

Back at camp, Aubry is sad Neal is lost to her (again). Little does she know she’s going to win this thing. Then Survivor does something they haven’t done for ages: gives the contestants a mirror and scales. I used to love this bit.

Time for self reflection.

Time for self reflection.


Tai is worried his hardships will be all for nothing but, hey, runner up still gets $100,000, right?
Mich has to convince them she’s not a goat and Aubry thinks she has to explain her uneven play.

The jury
Yes, the surprise guest was in fact Mark. Please can someone say: “Tai, if you kill that chook right now I will give you my vote.”
With Neal voted out, Nick doesn’t have a rival for jury spokesperson. He tells Michelle she needs to display intelligence; Tai, awareness; and Aubry confidence. It’s like the Wizard of Oz.
Debbie questions Tai about his vote switching but he defends himself as having been loyal to Aubry – all while a mesmerised Mark sits in his lap.
Debbie says she liked watching Aubry’s change from neurotic nerd to geek warrior. And Aubry manages to compliment Debbie with her responses, which always goes down well.
Mich’s BFF Julia is next and starts off listing her weaknesses but then turns it around by saying how she upped her game by voting her BFF off. She thinks Tai has the opposite game, starting strongly then tapering off. Again he says it’s not a weakness that he was loyal to Aub at the end.
Joe tells Mich in more polite terms that he’s going to ignore her. He tells Tai he likes him but wonders why he should vote for him and not his fave girl (as if he’s really considering Tai). Tai lists off finding the idol, winning an advantage and voting off Scot. Then Joe gives Aubry the easy “why should I vote for you” question and she adeptly lists off many reasons, including how she had her finger on the pulse of the game, despite her lack of idols.
Jason reckons he doesn’t know who he’s voting for, which is rubbish. I thin he’ll vote Aubry for her strategic and physical play. He asks Mich a question and she’s glad to finally get one as she gets to give a “I did make moves” speech. Jason asks Tai to explain why he flipped and we again here the “I got scared” answer, with an added bit about their “savage” man talk being isolating for him. Mark gets in a flap at this point. Man, I’d love to see Jeff come over and grab him for a cuddle.
It’s Cydney’s turn and Aub does the smart “I had to vote you out because I knew that’s what you would do”. Cyd appreciates that Mich gave her the chance to make fire by tying the vote but Aubry makes it clear Mich didn’t know that they were both voting Cyd.
Scot’s turn and he starts with a lame joke to which Aubry instantly fires off the punchline. He tells Tai he had all these advantages in the game and either didn’t use them or squandered them. Aubry says Scot should vote for her because he’s a competitor and he should respect competitive play. Then Scot tells Mich he’s surprised to see her there but well done, and I can’t tell if he’s being serious or not.
The questions are over and Jeff gives them a chance for a final plea.
Aubry fires up and gets really passionate: “I played my heart out.”
Tai talks about how hard the back stabbing nature of the game is: “I believe in goodness in humanity.” He talks about a Vietnamese proverb and starts crying about friendships being torn apart. Scot nods at one point. Mich tears up as she fought her way up from the bottom, even if they think she’s a goat.

Time to vote
Julia votes for Michele. Joe votes for Aubry.
We don’t see anyone else’s vote.
Before everyone heads off to Ponderosa, Jeff tells Tai it’s time to let Mark go, after 39 days together. “It’s up to fate now,” says Tai. Vote urn in hand, Jeff strides past the chook with a nonchalant: “See you, Mark.”
I love it when Jeff shows he has a sense of humour – it doesn’t happen often. At least we know Tai would have been reunited with his boyfriend, the human Mark, a few days afterward.
Back in the studio it’s time to read the votes and we get to see how fat everyone looks compared to their Survivor starvation appearance. Jason is wearing the most hideous floral jacket. OMG – Michele beat Aubry 5-2! What the hell. I know there was a lot of talk about Michele having a winner edit, but really!
Those bloody Sookies! I can’t watch all of the reunion now but that was an anticlimax.



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58 Comments

  1. I’m hoping for an Aubry win too. But I’m worried that Michele will take it out, or even worse, Tai. Boo! I won’t mind so much if Cydney pulls it out, although I can’t quite forgive her for the way she treated silly little Alecia.

  2. Considering some of the bastards who have won, I won’t cry real tears if Tai wins. I think Aubs played best, and had more to overcome with her allies getting pulled out and her orher ally, Deb, going troppo on her and blabbing to Julia. But I think Cyd also played hard without being too horrible. Michelle seemed to have done less to deserve the win, but who knows if that isn’t a strategy in itself.
    No matter what the outcome, this has been an exciting and satisfying season. I have whooped like Brick (whispers…brick) at many tribals this year.

  3. Typing this without reading any of the above comments …my recorder missed the finale today (got the reunion but that’s no use!) so now waiting til later tonight so I can watch. aaaargh

  4. Waaaaaaaaaaah! 😭😭😭😭

    I thought I could handle it, but after she overcame every obstacle to make it to final 3, I was disappointed that Aubrey didn’t win. And in the final two hours, Michelle did seem myeh. I would have preferred Cidney over Michelle. I do think Michelle coasted quite a bit.

    PS, anyone else think Survivors always look better on the island? I don’t like seeing them glammed. I think they always look better rough.

  5. It looked like Michelle just got voted because Survivors liked her, as in popularity contest. Is that really playing a social game, or just life inside the pretty bubble?
    I didn’t know her name until a few weeks ago.

  6. I think the jury couldn’t forgive Aubrey because she was in the group that voted most of them out. That is all it comes done to – pay back.

    I also think Aubrey made a mistake when she didn’t highlight how she had to scramble twice when two members of her alliance had to be medically evacuated at different times. No one else had to do that – certainly not Michelle with her squeaky voice and sudden sage pronouncements at tribal.

    It’s bloody Colby Donaldson all over again.

    Agree with you Daisy, I would have rather Cydney win if Aubrey couldnt.

    • It was amazing how often Aubrey picked herself and got back in the game. I count 4: losing Neil, losing Joe, having to ditch Deb when she went jungly and trusted Julia then having Michelle with all the power wanting her out. She was also a key influence in smashing the three-headed monster; Tascoson. I think even the producers recognized her contribution to the show. Oh well, I just hope she and Cyd get more work from this.

  7. It makes you wonder what was said at tribal that we did not see. Surely the whole losing Neal and Joe from her alliance would have come up.

  8. That was a crap. crap show. But far from a crap recap, Juz, in fact it was grand, so thank you, matey!

    I think that was a classic bitter jury, and as such reflects poorly on them, and on the whole season. No wonder they put it back one!

    The reunion show was just hideous, so feel free not to bother, Juz. Less than half an hour! and some of that was taken up by a network ad involving Drew Carey, and we also had an allegedly “unscripted”, but Jeff magically knew all about it, interruption by some (it pains me to say she was an Aussie) “look at me! look at me!” creature, who is some sort of singer who must have a new show coming up soon. Just ugh.

    I am so, so sorry that Aubry didn’t win. But I am also glad that Tai didn’t get a single vote. Ha!

    • Oh that Sia just seemed ridiculous. It makes you wonder if she is butt ugly.

      I thought Jeff hid his thoughts about Michelle winning, or was that my imagination. I still think it was the beautiful looks bubble. Scott and Jason would have been spite votes because we have already seen clearly that is how they operate.

    • That has to be the bitterest jury in many seasons. Or more correctly the sookiest jury. At least we know that Aubry and Cydney will almost certainly be back in the future.

  9. Thanks for the great recap Juz.
    Well I did not see that coming. I thought it would be between Aubrey & Tai with Michelle getting zero votes. Was shocked that not only Michelle won, but that Tai received not one vote. What the fuck? And sorry Tai, but Cambodia is a poor third world country & that chicken was probably some poor Cambodian family’s dinner. I don’t think it would have lasted long.
    I was rooting for Aubrey doing that challenge. They kept showing those two tiles & it took her a while to finally pick them. By then the other’s had caught up but lucky she finally got the right combination.
    Loved Michelle’s karate kick when she won that challenge
    Wow, what a twist. I was with Tai & thought there would be a final 2. Since there was another hour to go & there would have to be another challenge. Well there was, but not for immunity. I hope this is a regular thing. But this was filmed before the last season & they didn’t do it then.
    Wow, Neal was rather nasty towards Michelle when he left. Who would have thought he had it in him. Never came across that way.
    Would have liked the reunion to address Scott & Jason’s nastiness towards Ashley I think her name was & their sabotage of the camp.
    So next season is Gen X v Millenials. Should be interesting.

  10. Yes agree the reunion show is always a Cluster F – it’s an hour long show where the ad breaks are longer than the actual show content. Plus you never get to hear most of the survivors speak at all – or follow up on some of the stuff they did or said onthe show. I always feel cheated ..

    • Yeah the reunion seems to get smaller every year as the finale takes more time. They should still let it go an hour.

  11. I was surprised to see Michele win as well, she seemed to come from nowhere.
    The final show was a bit boring, they didn’t do the bit where the final 3 walk around talking about previous contestants and burning the camp etc.
    The Sia bit was silly, but at least Tai got something out of it, the other contestants did not seem happy about it.
    Was Neil even there at the end as I didn’t see him on stage, mind you half of them are always ignored.
    Roll on next season, looks interesting, and there’s always the Australian version happening soon, and The Bachelorette next Tuesday on Go, yay!

  12. Arrrgghhhh! That was a kinda meh episode to me too.
    I’m sick of “coasters” winning because of a bitter jury.
    I did like the vote out a member of the jury twist. I wonder if they will use that again.
    Thought Scot’s questioning to Tai was weird – accused him of squandering the advantages (to me it seemed he was whinging to him about not using the Super Idol on him) I would have thought it would look better for Tai to have got that far without having to using any advantages.
    Don’t get me started on the reunion show… felt like the Jeff Probst show! And sometimes i think Jeff is the wrong person to host the reunion, he asks a question, they get halfway thru the answer and he’s on to the next thing so the fans never end up with any more info than they had in the first place!! If someone else hosted (who didn’t have so much inside knowledge already) they might ask better questions and all the survivors to actually answer.

    • Le t’s face it, this was all of our faces when Michelle was announced as the winner:

      The jury got this one wrong. Michelle coasted through the game for more than three weeks without facing a tribal- she got lucky. Sure, she won a few things in the dying days, but where’s her big moves in the game? In past seasons juries admired but plays and Michelle was hopeless in that respect. I was #teamtai all the way, but now I think it really should have been Aubry. She overcame everything and crawled her way from th bottom to be a really tough girl that deserved to win. Tai did not articulate his big moves enough but I assumed Jason or Scot would appreciate his moves in the game. Let’s hope Aubry returns for the next second chance season

  13. Well – Jeffy tells us he was given to a local family, so I reckon he was dinner by the time the survivor brigade had left Cambodia. Sorry to bust any illusions…

    • Just to be clear, it was Mark the chicken, not Jeff the host, who was given to the local family to be either kept as a pet (unlikely, considering their general poverty) or devoured as dinner. Jeff might have been a bit too tough, come to think.

  14. Good interview. So basically there was a bunch of bitter idiots on the Jury. That was the beauty of Second Chances – everyone respected the gameplay and realised it was a game. And again thank you to Rosie for pitching in with recap duty this season. Much appreciated.

    • Cheers, Juz, my pleasure.

      I’ve just finished watching Cydney’s Ponderosa video (which I can’t link here for some reason. My computer ineptitude never ceases to astound me)
      Anyway, as we all know, once they reach Ponderosa, the game is over, the chucked out player is welcomed with hugs, and given dinner and so on. But not Cyd. The two Ugly Hulks and their Simpering Wee Hanger On decided to ignore her. Well, the tatty idiots would have decided and little giggly girl would have gone along with whatever the big boys said. Great example to their children. So when Cyd got there, they simply ignored her. Went on eating their dinner without so much as looking at her. Petty childish behaviour.

      Debbie joined her in her room to give her an extra hug, but Cydney, being a big, grown-up girl up seemed able to brush it off to a remarkable degree. And good on her.

      And Jeff continued it by not offering her so much as a single word at the reunion. Onya, Jeff.

      • Yeah I just watched it back. What childish idiots. Julia is very young & has a lot of growing up to do. But the others are grown men & should know better. Not showing a very good example to their children.

    • Wow, but not surprising. It is consistent with how they all behaved on the island. Julia really gave off a meally mouth vibe I didn’t like and the guys were horrible.

      It’s pretty obvious that spite would have been their reason for not voting Aubrey at the end. Michelle just sail on coat tails so they had less reason to be resentful of her.

      • Am I alone in never wanting to hear Nick ‘analyse’ a situation again? I’ve met housebricks who were better at understanding game play.

        • Even though I don’t agree he qualified for the beauty tribe, he certainly wasn’t a brains, but in the end I didn’t mind Nick. He should come back when they have an American Eagle tribe.

          • I don’t mind him, just don’t think he has a clue about the game. Production and to keep turning to him as a jury voice because the alternatives were:

            The Sookie La Las: Wah! We wuz robbed! Bullies is supposed to win!

            Julia: Wah! They wuz robbed! Bullies is supposed to win!

            Delusional Debbie: When I was the chief political adviser to the Dalai Lama…

  15. Are there enough sulky cry-babies from previous survivor seasons to have a cry-babies or tantrum team who could play against grown-ups and decent human beings.

    • Gawd, I hope not. And should such a hideous thing ever happen, I certainly wouldn’t be watching! 😀

  16. OMG, I just stumbled upon anothe r Debbie clone besides Sue Heck. If you can watch some old Frazier with Lilitth you will see it. She has the SAME voice and the SAME manner. It’s like it’s her. She doesn’t look the same but her voice and manner are identical.

    • You are so right! I knew her voice reminded me of someone , but since I have no idea who Sue Heck is, that wasn’t the one. 😉 But Lilith, oh yes. Well spotted, Daisy!

      • It was an accident. I was on my stepper in the shed watching Frazier when
        Lilith came on. There was NO mistaking the voice and delivery. It was like Deb with another face.
        Sue Heck is from The Middle. If you put Sue Hecks face and gung ho diversity with Lilith’s cockiness, voice and manner, body posture etc, you have Deb.

  17. Just watched the Finale after a four-day weekend away with no TV!

    And the main thing to say, Most Undeserved Winner ever. Bearing in mind that I’ve only watched a few seasons, that is. The final vote has nearly ruined a really good season.

    I was astounded by Michele’s analysis at the reunion of why she won. She basically said, I didn’t do anything but not be nasty to anyone, and she is totally right. And yet, she was delusional enough to think that that game play deserved the win. She had no concept of the fact that she was a puppet, and Aubry was the Grand Puppeteer, not only of Michele, but of nearly everyone. Aubry’s genius was controlling every move of the game, without anyone really realising, even at Finale. The brighter ones in the jury will realise once they see the show and hear her confessionals. Aubry was past mistress at planting ideas, which the “plantee’ then thought was their own.

    I was constantly amazed by her ability to think through an apparently impossible roadblock, and then come up with an alternative tack that convinced people who had already made up their mind, to change it. Evidenced beautifully by coming up with the “maybe you should think about voting out a jury member who can influence the others, rather than the obvious vote.” Unfortunately that only saved Joe, but Neal fitted both tacks. It very nearly eliminated Scot.

    Normally I enjoy the reunion, but this one was terrible. Starting with Michele’s bleating voice, clearly outlining exactly why she shouldn’t have won, to the ridiculous Sia segment, the Drew Carey ad, and then tiny responses from some of the contestants, totally ignoring others such as Cydney who was probably the second most influential.

    Gen X vs Millenials ought to be interesting, although it will again play to stereotypes. I don’t know how they are using Millenials though, as the oldest Millenial turns 16 this year! Presumably they mean Gen x vs Gen Y.

    • To be fair, she never stopped trying to form new alliances, or turn others around, but she never once succeeded. Whereas Aubry succeeded in her every attempt to turn the feeling in the group around.

      I presume that Michele’s never say die attitude fooled the sookies etc into thinking she was finally doing something.

  18. Yay to Caleb, Malcom, Aubrey and even Debbie, but Ciera again? Really?
    And was that the horrible cops r us Tony? Why would they bring him back? He already won.

  19. Thanks, Alan.

    Seriously, they’d bring Sandra back again? I mean, I liked her well enough, but the girl has won 2 million already!

    And yes, Tony and BG, GT or whatever his name is have won already, so should stay home too, as far as I’m concerned. JT!

    • Sandra could well make it to the end again – people will no doubt underestimate her yet again, despite her success. I hope she and Tony team up.

  20. I agree Rosie. No repeat winners. They wouldn’t win again anyway, but how about including some fresh faces. Or at least some celebs from non rtv. Raymond might not be busy. 😆 Or what about a doppleganger series? Sue Heck and Sue Heck (Debbie).
    A doppleganger series is a good idea, don’t you think?

  21. I actually like JT. He played a brilliant social game, didn’t knife anyone too badly, and was a beast at challenges. But then I kinda like Tony Vlachos (runs and hides immediately).

    Some of the returnees are stab yourself in the eye with a fork material, notably Ciera and Sierra. Ciera is going to totter into Survivor 180 in her walking frame for her hundredth appearance and she still will believe she knows the game while actually knowing nothing.

    Debbie will tell us all about that time she taught the Dalai Lama how to meditate.

    There are some seriously devious people on this cast and it’s going to be a fun season. Tony and Cirie will either strangle each other or elope by the time it’s over.

  22. I like Tony, too. Yeah, he made me yell at my TV every Thursday night, but dammit he was entertaining. And his Spy Shack was brilliant. Brad Culpepper – urgh. Guess they needed a villain. Ciera has had enough goes and has yet to demonstrate she’s a savvy player. Glad Jeff Varner is back after his foot injury caused an early exit in Second Chances. Is Cirie the new Boston Rob? Four time’s the charm? Ozzy – get a life, your social game lets you down every time. Sierra is a waste of space. Guess they wanted someone from that season and most of the memorable players were sexist pigs. Interesting no Kelley Wentworth – did she turn them down?

  23. I was a bit surprsied when she blindsided her closest ally in Gabon because her enemies told her he was plotting to blindside her. What really got me was in Heroes v Villains when she started chasing Colby round the sleeping platform and thought this was good Survivor play.

    • In heroes and Villains she decided she needed ‘a male protector’.

      The way to achieve this happy object was to sleep next to Colby and snuggle into his body. Colby woke up and moved away. Sugar hurried after and thrust her attractions against him. Colby moved away. This went on for a very long time and luckily she was voted out the next day. If she hadn’t been voted out, who knows if Colby would have escaped the series with his virtue intact?

      Colby had a confessional where he looked deeply confused about the whole thing, but then Colby looked deeply confused for most of Heroes and Villains.

      Lastly, I am not going to link to stuff that should never have been published, but googling Sugar will fairly quickly lead you to a series of interviews where she claimed that another Survivor, among other things, planned to murder her.

      It’s hard to escape the conclusion Corrine’s famous rant was basically right, if not very nice or very kind.

  24. No Carolyn from the Murica season? And yet Sierra is there. I will be in interested to see what the theme is, as it’s an odd mix.

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