Cousin Larry

I bet Cydney is really second-guessing tipping off the douche-bros when Alecia found the idol clue, huh?

If Tyler had fudged a bit or omitted info when blabbing about the clue to Mike, he might have ended up with the million dollars.

I'm glad that this finale was last night because I really don't want to do my work this afternoon! I haven't watched a ton of the seasons, so I don't think I've seen a deadlock during the course of the game (the "regular season")--just during the finals, as with Carolyn/Rodney, Becky/Sundra. If there's still a tie after a revote earlier in the game, they don't make fire, do they?

Penner Tweeted something last night about how the jury is often blitzed. With a fun-loving trio like Jenn, Hali, and Joe, I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe it's a little shady handing or denying someone $1M when you're wasted, but if you've made up your mind beforehand, it probably won't make a difference.

I completely forgot about that!! At the time, I was just annoyed on Joe's behalf because I didn't care for Mike...but how different the game would have been if Tyler hadn't shared that detail!

To me, a sincere apology is when the person in error feels pain for having caused pain to another person. I don't like much about Dan, but in that moment, I think he did feel pain and empathy for Shirin.

I liked Shane the first time I saw him, when he was called Lex.

I laughed in delight at Jenn's jury speech. Shine on, you crazy diamond. A lot of people having pointed out pictures on social media that make it seem like Jenn and Joe are dating, and they had a cute-awkward giggle when Jeff asked if he was single. I imagine that even if the dating rumors had been true, they would table it for Joe to go on Second Chances.

I agree. I think a lot of people here were put off by Lindsay ragging on Mike's "God" earlier in the season, for example. I'm not religious in the slightest, but I was not a fan. Unless we missed something important in context, that kind of insult had nothing to do with the game being played.

I think an All-Stat cast is less likely to be bothered by someone's financial success. Most of these people are successes in in way or another, and they're more likely to be in it for the competitive factor than a windfall.

Anyone else really creeped out by Rodney Sr.'s lack of affect when Rod Jr. got emotional about his sister's death?

I'm sure Mike would annoy me in real life, but I did kind of swoon at 1) his challenge prowess 2) his besting of the "6 strong" asshole gang 3) how he stepped up for Shirin. MOST of these people would annoy me in real life--Shirin certainly--but that's fine with me. Being irritating is not a fatal character flaw. I thought that my girl crush for Jenn could not grow any larger, until that jury speech. I laughed with delight. Please bring her back for another season! (And go get Michelle Yi while you're at it, TPTB!)

Shirin isn't white. Actually, the fact that she's Middle Eastern makes me rankle even more at Will's comments. I feel like it was implied that he thinks she has no soul because of religious reasons. Even if I'm wrong about that, he's a nasty, nasty person. Yes, Survivor is totally classist. So classist that they made Mike the blue-collar hero look like a total loser.

The "class warfare" theme for the season was bullshit, but it is satisfying to see that someone so prototypically blue collar (Mike) is succeeding, not just by being physically superior--something that his fellow blue collars Dan and Rodney couldn't hope to be--but also whip-smart. I don't think you could argue that Mike isn't a clever person. I'm a big-city liberal who tends towards slight, nerdy guys, but even I see the attractiveness in conservative Christian redneck Mike. Competence goes a long, long way.

My favorite thing about Jenn's sense of humor is that it's the kind of humor that seems based in keeping herself entertained, more than anything. People who try too hard to be funny and seem to be "workshopping" jokes to see what gets an effect can be tiresome and are overrepresented on reality TV. Jenn just seems like she's constantly amused by what's going on around her and is going to laugh about it, even if nobody else is on the same wavelength.