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My mom really got into Survivor recently, so I've spent the past month or so watching it with her. This show is wayyyyyyy more interesting than I thought. It's basically Realpolitik: the Game. Caramoan was where I jumped in, so Cochran is my favorite winner so far just because I will never forget the moment when I realized 'wait, he's controlling this entire game and nobody is calling him out on it. Do they not see what is happening?' No, no they did not, and it was kind of amazing to watch. Dude played so well in what was apparently his second season that I kind of want to go back and watch the season where everybody dumped on him just so I can appreciate his ascendance even more. Anyway, I have some thoughts on some of the other winners: Sarah - She played Tony's game better than he did, because Tony's game is a cop's game. It is literally their job to get in with you, get you to drop your guard and think they're your friend so you confide in them against your own self-interest. She did her job, and she did it well, without any of the insanity and flashiness of Tony, and it more or less let her control the game. How many times did she stand between two alliances and cast the deciding vote this season? Because I feel like it was a lot. By the time anyone realized what she was doing, it was too late to stop her; she had the legacy immunity and immediately thereafter got herself a big dumb challenge-winning guard dog (and that guard dog's other dog) to protect her right up to FTC, where she summarily smoked them both. Adam - In the scheme of things, Adam is probably one of the weaker winners, but he definitely deserved the win over the two he was with. He played hard, hosed up, recovered, built trust, broke trust, built it again, found idols and advantages, and used them... reasonably well. The F5 idol saved his life even if he blabbed about it to Hannah, the only thing that changed was losing the chance to get David out one vote earlier. And playing his advantage by publicly not playing it was, honestly, loving brilliant. Giving it to Jay to further their love-hate bromance was also a great move. He made great relationships where it counted, and it got him the million dollars. And that's not even getting into his storyline, which is insane in that it sounds like the plot of a sappy Lifetime movie but it actually happened to a real person right in front of us. People say they're worried about people trying to sway the jury with sob stories but if anything, I think Adam has effectively killed that strategy because every future jury will know his story and no one will ever come close to it. Jeremy -  This dude. It is amazing to me that nobody came for him until the end of the game, because he's... well, look at him. He's ripped to shreds. He's handsome and likable and athletic. That's not even getting into his family stuff; that's just looking at him as a person. The fact that he was able to hide in plain loving sight for an entire game against people who should have known better is loving hilarious to me. By the time people realized what he was doing, it was too late. An idol, an immunity challenge, and a final three deal carried him to an easy win.Tony - *llama noises* Anyway, that's all for now.
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Sep 18, 2017 16:56
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ApplesandOranges posted:David and Ken are pretty much like Yul and Ozzy from Cook Islands. David's more paranoid and far less athletic, but otherwise they form the 'smart nerd and not so strategic jock duo'. If this wasn't a season where everyone was pressured to make big moves you might have seen them in the F3 and Ken would have a realistic chance of winning because the jury wouldn't be all about strategy. That's the thing though; Survivor is, ultimately, about whatever the jury wants it to be about. If they want to reward loyalty, they can. If they want to reward smarts and Machiavellian scheming, they can. If they want to reward athleticism, friendship, or literally just not being as big an rear end in a top hat as the other finalists, they can. It's completely subjective, so the winner of reach season has to not only make it to the final 3, but know their fellow castaways well enough to give them what they want as jury members, and Ken didn't do that. You can watch the jury speaks videos; Ken was one person everybody wanted to take to the end because A. they knew their group as a whole valued gameplay, B. they knew Ken didn't know them that well, therefore C. Ken had no chance with any configuration of jury members against anyone who actually played the game. It wasn't just about loyalty; Ken didn't really bother to build relationships with anybody outside his core group. Sure, he got them fish, but he didn't really bother to get to know them. So he actually fails on two criteria; giving the money to the best schemer, and giving the money to my friend who I like. Plus, the whole jury agrees that if David had made the final three, he wins in a landslide against anyone. That fake idol was a  even if it didn't actually affect the game that much.(Incidentally, the jury speaks videos for Millie v Gex are hilarious, because you can tell that most of them are struggling valiantly to even pretend that Hannah or Ken has a chance of getting their vote, and the ones that aren't struggling basically flat-out say they're voting Adam and nothing will change their minds.)
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Sep 19, 2017 13:13
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ApplesandOranges posted:Oh, yeah, the deck was stacked against Ken. It's a shame since he was doing very well pre-merge, but once he showed how inflexible he was he was pretty much the goat. How could you leave out Jay? Jay is one of the most memorable characters Survivor has produced in a long time. He's positive and funny, a legitimate challenge threat, and was loved by everyone on the island to the point where David thinks that if it were he and Jay in the final three, they would've had to have the first-ever Sole Survivor tie-breaker. Plus he had one of the most  eliminations in Survivor history, and still managed to be a good sport about it.EDIT: Now I'm watching Samoa for the first time. It's weird going from a season like MvGX where there are a bunch of protagonists with compelling stories you can root for to a season structured almost entirely around a single villain you root against. Spergatory fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Sep 20, 2017 |
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Sep 20, 2017 13:17
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Apparently the producers keep trying to go for an All-Winners season but they can't get enough female winners who actually want to come back. They're perfectly happy with their families, financial security, and easy access to food and hygiene products, thanks. Which is hilarious because basically all the dudes are ready and raring to go for another round (except Cochran, who has his perfect game in the bag and knows good and drat well he's not getting another one). Personally, I'd love to see SURVIVOR: Goats and Cutthroats. A season of contestants who made it to final tribal council but lost because they either did nothing or everyone hated them. Basically I just want to see goats turn into over-the-top assholes who are trying to do too much, and cutthroats awkwardly try to be nice. (Though most of them will probably play exactly the same game they did the first time).
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Sep 21, 2017 13:55
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One of the things I've heard listening to various podcasts is that if Jeff tries to throw something at you, be it the forced theme, or a particularly probing question, you might as well give him something he can use, because Jeff is fed and well-rested and prepared to force this point all night. Are you prepared to resist him? No, no you are not.
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Sep 22, 2017 00:43
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