Season finale: Survivor

Posted by Dan December 17th, 2007 at 11:37am In Survivor

Survivor ended last night.

I watched every episode this season. That’s because I watch every episode of every season because I love this damn show. And, because of the you-know-what, the next season will be coming up sooner rather than later.

In any case, just to prevent any spoilage, I’ll post my reactions behind the jump.

Alright — so in the end it’s Todd, Courtney and Amanda. By a vote of 4-2-1, Todd comes up as the winner.

To that, I say, he was clearly the best player of the season. He was, perhaps, the best player this show has had in years. Todd orchestrated this game from start to finish due, I’m sure, in no small part to his supa-fan status.

When you watch a competitive show as religiously as I watch Survivor, you tend to become an armchair strategist, poking holes in peoples’ strategies. It all seems really easy when you’re experiencing it on the couch. But Todd played in real life like he was on the couch, reading everyone’s personalities pretty flawlessly and helping everyone’s strategies align with his own. It was all pretty masterful — he did what Richard Hatch did in season one without being a bully (not that someone of his stature can really be an effective bully).

Todd didn’t get votes based on likability — he didn’t necessarily earn the unbridled hatred of some more notorious finalists — but he could definitely get nasty like the worst of them. However, one thing he did that I really respect was emphasizing the importance of strategic game play versus personal feelings. While not much lip service was paid to the concept of “integrity,” Todd drove home the fact that his lies were part of a game and not a reflection of his character. I wish more finalists would do this — thereby taking the wind out of the sails of self-righteous and bitter jurors.

As for the other finalists, I have to admit I was disappointed in Amanda’s performance at tribal council. Like Peih-Gee said, she seemed so apologetic. That translates to weakness — the antithesis of what you want in a winner. As for Courtney, she did what she could with an uphill battle and I’m kind of surprised she made it to the top three (by the way — when are they going to stop doing a final three? Switch it back to two). Courtney is wildly unfiltered — a trait that earned her at least one vote at the final tribal council. By her own admission, she can be a total bitch, but she made me laugh. When you do that you can do almost anything and I’ll love you forever. Furthermore, she wins a place in my heart for yelling at Jeff Probst in the middle of a challenge to tell him to shut up with his inane commentating during a challenge.

On that note, Jeff Probst seemed to be a slightly bigger dick than he usually is this season. Everyone’s favorite be-dimpled host, at moments seemed nearly abusive in his treatment of players he perceived as possessing qualities he didn’t like — namely stupidity and weakness. Specifically, I’m referring to Jaime’s attempt to use what she thought was an immunity idol at the tribal council she was eventually eliminated at. Miss Alli over at Television Without Pity has articulated it better than I can about what made the moment so awful (read the last three pages of her recap here), but suffice it to say that Probst’s smugness (highlighted by his haikus of pseudo-wisdom at the end of every tribal council) is all the more annoying because of the fact that he risks nothing by calling people out and never having been a contestant.

Next season, it’s Survivor obsessives versus returning all-stars. I’d comment on whether this sounds interesting or not, but you know I’m going to watch every minute.