S37.E13: Finale

[willco]

6 minutes ago, willco said:

I won both of my bets tonight, in regards to the Final Vote -- I bet that Angelina wouldn't get any votes and that Nick would win ! I was fairly certain of the 1st one, not quite as sure on the 2nd, but I am glad Nick won. He played a better game, IMO, and also Mike has already had so much success in life. That sounds kind of petty, but it's how I look at it.

[After7Only]

43 minutes ago, LanceM said:

Just an observation. When Angelina doesn't get her way and she gets upset, she has been called whiny, pouty, throwing a tantrum, etc.  Nick gets blindsided tonight and gets upset and nary a word of criticism.  And this is not the first time with Nick either.

Just sayin.

They all called him a big baby.  Seems on par with the language used towards Angelina.

14 minutes ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

 

Shut up, Gabby.  Did she really start crying as she approached her vote?

 

Yes.  While I agree aggressive women are often portrayed differently than aggressive men on this show, I can’t rock with Gabby wen she complains about her “emotional” edit.  The girl was emotional and she needs to own it.  Just as Natalie needs to own that she was bossy ad stubborn.  

[LanceM]

Just now, After7Only said:

They all called him a big baby.  Seems on par with the language used towards Angelina.

Yes.  While I agree aggressive women are often portrayed differently than aggressive men on this show, I can’t rock with Gabby wen she complains about her “emotional” edit.  The girl was emotional and she needs to own it.  Just as Natalie needs to own that she was bossy ad stubborn.  

The people in the game called him a big baby. I am talking about the viewers where we heard nothing but crickets.

[MissEwa]

4 minutes ago, After7Only said:

While I agree aggressive women are often portrayed differently than aggressive men on this show, I can’t rock with Gabby wen she complains about her “emotional” edit.  The girl was emotional and she needs to own it.  Just as Natalie needs to own that she was bossy ad stubborn.  

Gabby has never not owned being emotional, and I don't think she's even complained about getting edited that way (although I may have missed something). What she's questioned is the criticism she gets for that - and I agree. Also, Natalie owned being bossy at the reunion. 

[Eolivet]

Can someone explain to me like I'm stupid what on earth Mike's final speech was about and why everyone was crying? I felt like I'd zoned out and missed something -- it made no sense to me, but it seemed to really move some people.

Hooray for #TeamDavid. I always never believed in you. And tipping my hat to the editors -- well-played, sirs. Hammering in the underdog theme at the beginning, and then just when it all seems hopeless ... one David defeats four remaining Goliaths. Couldn't have scripted it better.

(I'd also like to tip my hat to the odd foreshadowing in episode 1, when both Alison and Angelina were talking about how women never find idols, and then that played a major role in the finale. Chekov's Idol Conversation!)

[Ms Blue Jay]

Well @LanceM the episode just happened.  Maybe some people still have to react and watch.

I thought it was fascinating that everyone but Natalie was happy with their edit.  Just...... wow.  I want to kiss every single one of those damn editors this season.

I also wanted to throw in that I got EXACTLY what I wanted last season (Wendell winning) so it would have been a bit ridiculous if I got what I wanted AGAIN (Davie winning).  I got the 2nd or 3rd or 4th best thing, so that's pretty good.  Mike winning would have made me feel a bit sick.  And I think Mike DID control a lot in the game.  If you notice, the only David he seemed interested in working with, was Nick. He said as much at the reunion.  The rest, he was basically like - "fuck 'em."

Also, I'm glad that what that what I read earlier in the season was just speculation and it was totally wrong.  That made me feel a lot better.  

I think Angelina suffered from people's desire for storytellers to "Show, not tell".  She loves to tell.  She loves to manufacture things to tell about.  She doesn't really do much to show.  She didn't really have confidence in her game speaking for itself so she tried to manufacture too many fake things to use later.  It was too transparent.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Ms Blue Jay

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Angelina's spelling skills are about as strong as her negotiating skills. 

[LanceM]

1 minute ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Well @LanceM the episode just happened.  Maybe some people still have to react and watch.

I thought it was fascinating that everyone but Natalie was happy with their edit.  Just...... wow.  I want to kiss every single one of those damn editors this season.

I also wanted to throw in that I got EXACTLY what I wanted last season (Wendell winning) so it would have been a bit ridiculous if I got what I wanted AGAIN (Davie winning).  I got the 2nd or 3rd or 4th best thing, so that's pretty good.  Mike winning would have made me feel a bit sick.

Also, I'm glad that what that what I read earlier in the season was just speculation and it was totally wrong.  That made me feel a lot better.  

Well there was a live chat during the show. But point taken but I have to say I am not holding my breath.

[LadyChatts]

Angelina is trending on Twitter, and here was one of my favorites:

Quote

 

Domenick Wissel‏ @DomWissel 4h4 hours ago

More

On Survivor Ghost Island 2 (god help us all...) Castaway, reading clue: “Congratulations, you have found Angelina’s ladder. You may use this ladder to retrieve an idol AND Angelina from the rock wall behind the well.” #Survivor #SurvivorFinale

 

[thejuicer]

Congratulations Nick! Sorry it wasn’t Davie but he was my next choice. 

Angelina is just totally lacking in self awareness. Her whole idol plan was absurd and laughable. Her final tribal council performance was pathetic and so were all the comments about her taking heat because she’s a woman. No she’s just an asshole. And before anyone comes for me my favourite Survivor players of all time are Parvati and Sandra. 

I thought Christian’s vote for Mike to win was bittercakes.  Too bad. 

[Neveragain]

Pardon me if this has been mentioned, because it’s late and I’ve only read some of the comments...but I’m confused.  How is Angelina making a stand for women finding the idol when she actually needed the help of not one but two men to find it?  Ok she found the clue herself but botched the whole rest of it, and without them she would not have had the idol.  And then she brags about how amazing she is because only 15% of idols have been found by women.  I’m a woman, so is my daughter, mother, sister, sisters in law, nieces, etc.  I’m pro woman!  But come on. 

[princelina]

32 minutes ago, LanceM said:

The people in the game called him a big baby. I am talking about the viewers where we heard nothing but crickets.

I'm going with - Nick is a likable guy and Angelina is a goof.

[leocadia]

If someone told me that the theme of the season was David vs Goliath and showed me a picture of the final two, I would definitely assume that Nick was a G and Mike was a D.  I'm not suggesting that the casting was off, but it's interesting that if you take away their backstory, it becomes a totally different (more conventional) narrative.  

. 

[30 Helens]

From the start of the episode, I was certain that Mike was going to win because his interviews were driving the narrative. And when he made his final speech about playing for the love of the game and brought everyone to tears, I thought that clinched it. So when the votes came back for Nick, I was 1. surprised and 2. thrilled. For a long time, Nick was my #1 choice, eventually moving to a #2 choice behind Davie. (Who, incidentally, made as fun and classy an exit as I would have expected. I’ll be pissed if he doesn’t get invited back at some point.)

I’m also baffled about what made Mike’s play so “transformative”. Please explain, Christian, and make it good, because I lost a lot of love for you with that comment. Also: hypothesis and algorithm are not such strange words.

Angelina’s final jury responses were as entertaining and clueless as I expected. Yes, you got rice! But no, you did not find an idol! (Mike found it for you.) Jeff’s comments about how we would all respect Angelina’s game if she were a man were ridiculous. I’m a woman, and I would have laughed at any man who acted the way Angelina did.

Gabby crying as she voted= priceless. The editors clearly could not resist.

Who are the two returning players next round, aside from Joe and Aubrey? Didn’t recognize them.

[ByaNose]

4 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

From the start of the episode, I was certain that Mike was going to win because his interviews were driving the narrative. And when he made his final speech about playing for the love of the game and brought everyone to tears, I thought that clinched it. So when the votes came back for Nick, I was 1. surprised and 2. thrilled. For a long time, Nick was my #1 choice, eventually moving to a #2 choice behind Davie. (Who, incidentally, made as fun and classy an exit as I would have expected. I’ll be pissed if he doesn’t get invited back at some point.)

I’m also baffled about what made Mike’s play so “transformative”. Please explain, Christian, and make it good, because I lost a lot of love for you with that comment. Also: hypothesis and algorithm are not such strange words.

Angelina’s final jury responses were as entertaining and clueless as I expected. Yes, you got rice! But no, you did not find an idol! (Mike found it for you.) Jeff’s comments about how we would all respect Angelina’s game if she were a man were ridiculous. I’m a woman, and I would have laughed at any man who acted the way Angelina did.

Gabby crying as she voted= priceless. The editors clearly could not resist.

Who are the two returning players next round, aside from Joe and Aubrey? Didn’t recognize them.

David Wright & Kelly Wenthworth.

[kikaha]

41 minutes ago, MissEwa said:

Gabby has never not owned being emotional, and I don't think she's even complained about getting edited that way (although I may have missed something). What she's questioned is the criticism she gets for that - and I agree. Also, Natalie owned being bossy at the reunion. 

Natalie sort of owned being bossy, but then proceeded to prove she behaves in the real world the same way she was shown on Survivor. 

Gabby's breakdowns hurt her game personally, and also the short-lived six-person alliance she, Christian and Nick made with some of the Goliaths.  I believe the Goliaths backed out when they saw Gabby's histrionics at tribal that night. 

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, TaraS1 said:

We went nuts at my house every time Nick won another immunity! 

I kept startling the dog.  :)

 

1 hour ago, treeofdreams said:

Christian said Mike's play was "transformative" and would change the way the game is played.

Anyone have any idea what he meant?  Because I don't see it.

I’m sure if Mike had won, they’d have come up with something....  ;>

[millennium]

I was gratified to see Angelina received all the votes she deserved.

[pwdrpuff]

I know Mike didn't need the money, but he did outwit.  So yes, I was just a little disappointed when kentucky won.  With Angelina, I just can't.  I can't believe she called herself a woman of color during the final tribal.  Does she understand that means black?   I wanted to reach through my tube and slap her multiple times this season.  She's so bad and lacks social awareness that I probably go road-rage on her if I saw her IRL.    And yes, I'm a minority race woman, but not of color, sorry.  If I had to pick a winner favorite, it would be Christian.  Hopefully they are still doing fan favorite.  And can Jeff stop with the safari shirts in LA. Where do you get these shirts?  I'm a REI customer, and I haven't seen them.  

Edited December 20, 2018 by pwdrpuff

[violet and green]

I am so pleased Nick won. Every time he won another Immunity Necklace I was shouting, Yes!!! It was so unexpected, and yet so right for him to make it to the final tribal; I just didn't think it would be possible with Mike gunning for him (and the terrible threat that is Alison, also).

Nick was my favorite in the first episodes, and he was the initial choice of David first boot - so it is amazing he managed to duck and dive his way to win the whole thing. I loved his answers. Just a really satisfying end to a fantastic season.

1 hour ago, 30 Helens said:

From the start of the episode, I was certain that Mike was going to win because his interviews were driving the narrative. And when he made his final speech about playing for the love of the game and brought everyone to tears, I thought that clinched it. So when the votes came back for Nick, I was 1. surprised and 2. thrilled. For a long time, Nick was my #1 choice, eventually moving to a #2 choice behind Davie. (Who, incidentally, made as fun and classy an exit as I would have expected. I’ll be pissed if he doesn’t get invited back at some point.)

I’m also baffled about what made Mike’s play so “transformative”. Please explain, Christian, and make it good, because I lost a lot of love for you with that comment. Also: hypothesis and algorithm are not such strange words.

Angelina’s final jury responses were as entertaining and clueless as I expected. Yes, you got rice! But no, you did not find an idol! (Mike found it for you.) Jeff’s comments about how we would all respect Angelina’s game if she were a man were ridiculous. I’m a woman, and I would have laughed at any man who acted the way Angelina did.

Gabby crying as she voted= priceless. The editors clearly could not resist.

Who are the two returning players next round, aside from Joe and Aubrey? Didn’t recognize them.

Thank you for that translation/explanation - because I thought I'd passed out for a moment and missed something! It just seemed like his final speech was a really lame, big confused misremembered planned speech that turned into a load of word salad, and suddenly Christian's welling up?!

Bizarre.

I lost respect for Christian crapping on like that and then giving Mike his vote.

Angelina was a joy to watch! So funny. And I enjoyed drunk Mike at the well reward lunch, too.

I think whatsername used way too much of the coconut husk (?) stuff and smothered her flames' chances, but it was good Mike got to the final tribal as it gave the ending some suspense. I was really worried he was going to win for a moment there as Jeff read out the votes. Off to watch the reunion now. Go Nick! Excellent winner.

[Brookside]

Sorry, but for me Nick = milque toast.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

What remains my favorite moment of this entire season:

Gabby: "Do you want to play with me?"
Christian: "What, in the sand?"

[threebluestars]

I am not a fan of final 3 because it's really a final 2. Has a final three ever had votes for all three people? It feels like only 2 ever get any votes. I prefer final 2s.

[Mambo Queen]

2 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

So I looked it up, and Google says that Mike White's net worth is $4 million.  Not sure how accurate those estimates are.  Sure, that's a lot to us but DAMN!  I thought it would be much more.  He was only the writer of "School of Rock", not director like I once thought, but that movie made almost $100 million OVER budget!  Writers do not get paid well!!  He also had "Enlightened" on HBO and we KNOW HBO has loads and loads of money.  He needs a better agent/lawyer/financial person.  He needs to get some work with Netflix next.  They throw money around like candy.

That seems about right to me. He's the writer, not the bankable A-list star. Sure he acted in it too, but in a small role. I liked what Nick said about the prize money, that it would allow him to follow his calling and work (presumably for much lower pay) in the area he's interested in helping...500k or so should help him do exactly that; it's not really enough to give up working forever, but it would be enough to get a sweet house in Kentucky with no payments and take a lower paying legal job. 

[Mambo Queen]

2 hours ago, Eolivet said:

Can someone explain to me like I'm stupid what on earth Mike's final speech was about and why everyone was crying? I felt like I'd zoned out and missed something -- it made no sense to me, but it seemed to really move some people.

Hooray for #TeamDavid. I always never believed in you. And tipping my hat to the editors -- well-played, sirs. Hammering in the underdog theme at the beginning, and then just when it all seems hopeless ... one David defeats four remaining Goliaths. Couldn't have scripted it better.

(I'd also like to tip my hat to the odd foreshadowing in episode 1, when both Alison and Angelina were talking about how women never find idols, and then that played a major role in the finale. Chekov's Idol Conversation!)

I like your style, referencing Crazy Ex-Girlfriend! (always never believed in you)

[mertensia]

My favorite part:

Alison: What was the point of the false idol, Angelina? It was so mean-spirited.

Angelina: It wasn't mean-spirited at all-

Entire jury, interrupting: Yes it was.

My second favorite? Davie's scorn at Angelina and her climbing the ladder.

[millennium]

1 hour ago, pwdrpuff said:

I know Mike didn't need the money, but he did outwit.  So yes, I was just a little disappointed when kentucky won.  With Angelina, I just can't.  I can't believe she called herself a woman of color during the final tribal.  Does she understand that means black?  

That's not the only box she tried to check.   "Military wife" made it in there too, with some rhubarb about "deployments."

Angelina's voice and manner of speaking bear an uncanny resemblance to Christina El Moussa's from "Flip Or Flop."

[GaT]

So happy that Angelina didn't get a single vote. Other than that, I wanted Christian to win which he obviously wasn't going to, so I don't care who won.

[millennium]

Did Christian borrow his Reunion outfit from Bill Nye the Science Guy?

Kara was much prettier with no makeup and braids than she was all dolled up.

Edited December 20, 2018 by millennium

[MisterBluxom]

My Final Thoughts

I always thought that I hated Probst. But after watching the 2.5 hours of the Finale and the 20 minutes of the Reunion, I am forced to admit ..... I never knew what hate really was.

Every single word out of his mouth is nothing but promotion for this show. "It's the greatest social experiment ever". "Nothing else is as difficult as Survivor". "Nothing else is as rewarding as Survivor". After a time, he just makes me sick.

Blah. Blah. Blah. It never stops. I was struggling with my remote all the way through to mute the sound every time he started talking. I am completely convinced there is never any need to listen to what he says. It gives me a headache and anything I need to know is always repeated one way or another.

I also have some feelings about Aggravina. But decency and the mods and admins of this board would not favor me if I told you how I really felt.

I know there is more to say. But I think I'll just quit before the FBI comes to my door and arrests me for threatening to do some harm to someone. I'm definitely not going to harm anyone. I just don't want to listen to Probst any more.

P.S. Did anyone else notice the editing whenever the jury came in and just before they would show Alec, they cut away real quick so it was as if Alec never existed - not in the finale and not in the reunion. I don't think they ever showed Alec's face during the finale. That must have been a little difficult.

Edited December 23, 2018 by MisterBluxom

[ProfCrash]

On Mike being transformative: Christian has said that Mike played a brilliant and quiet social game. Everyone went to Mike with information which gave Mike power. Mike was smart with how he did it as well. He and Christian would meet in the middle of the night so no one knew they were talking. We saw how that played out tonight, when push came to shove, Mike controlled the final three votes. 

That being said, Mike controlled the votes after Nick and Davie did the harder work of taking out the stronger players. Mike was a top tier floater who played under the radr perfectly but he was also Goliath strong. Remember the “We can’t be bitches” scene? In the end, Mike was able to control the Goliath’s perfectly and he totally snowed Nick. I think Nick saw Mikeand Angelna as goats so he stayed strong with them and then got every worried at the end.

Angelina and military deployments: I am not an Angelina fan but deployments are very hard for a military family, even without kids. If her husband has been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria since they have been married then they are that much harder because you are worried that your spouse has stepped on an IED and lost a body part or died. I rolled my eyes at he list of why she is special but I won’t mock the strength it takes for families of military personal who are deployed. The Marines have a number of places where families cannot accompany the Marine that are not in combat zones. That seperation is hard on the family. The Marines have actually floated not allowing younger Marines to be married because of the distractions caused by family when deployed and away from the family. I will mock Angelina for being an attention seeking, entitled, self-absorbed individual but not the hardships that come with deployment.

Nick played a great game. He was far more emotional then Davie, who played a very clinical game, but I can respect that. I never had a problem with Gabby, well until tonight with the Angelina support, and I don’t really have a problem with Nick. I don’t have a problem with emotion in Survivor, I think that it is a natural part of the game. Nick allowed emotion to drive several votes and Nick most definatly got upset when things didn’t go his way. But Nick also picked himself up and returned to playing. I have no clue why Nick was surprised by Mike’s vote swaps, Mike had done it before but I get the frustration. In the end, Nick wanted to trust Mike and he couldn’t. Kind of like Gabby wanted to trust her alliance and she couldn’t. The good news for Nick is that he was playing against the C squad in competitions and he went on a immunity roll. 

I just wish that Jeff and the Producers had called out some of the solid game play that may have failed but was good for other female players. Angelina is the wrong person to highlight the plight of women based on her edit. If that is how they edit a strong women who is playing well then we are in trouble. Bust seriously, there were plenty of strong women and I think Natalie was one of them and her edit was kind of awful. But Probst thought that it was great. So I give up. 

[RescueMom]

6 hours ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

So I'm no conspiracy theorist with this show as a rule but I didn't like them assigning Mike and Kara fire-making stations.  I feel like they should've flipped a coin or rock-paper-scissored for the choice of which station they occupied.  Kara was kicking ass at her practice fire-making--I wonder why she had so much trouble making a flame catch when it counted?

She talks about it in her Ponderosa - one thing she said was she was using the wrong side of the knife a good part of the time. But getting the cursed orange seat couldn’t have helped...

[SuburbanHangSuite]

23 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

I just wish that Jeff and the Producers had called out some of the solid game play that may have failed but was good for other female players. Angelina is the wrong person to highlight the plight of women based on her edit. If that is how they edit a strong women who is playing well then we are in trouble. But seriously, there were plenty of strong women and I think Natalie was one of them and her edit was kind of awful.

 

I totally agree.  For some reason, they seemed to love making Alison appear to be some kind of Amazon woman but I was never impressed by her.  Was it really mean of me to hope she fell off of her perch into the ocean before the challenge even began?  Because that's what I was doing.   Seriously for this season, Kara was a poster child for strong women.  She was consistently competetive in every challenge, especially that one where the teams had to keep the weight elevated over their heads.  Kara also had a strong social game.   I think Natalie's edit was likely exactly who she is IRL.  

Angelina's gender had nothing to do with how she was receieved both in the game and by the viewing audience.  Honestly, this finale was Angelina gold.  All those "mob boss" antics with Alison, making a fake idol, wanting theatrics at Tribal for her benefit (and expecting the others to go along with it!)---she was a bumbling, entitled, mean player with zero self-awareness and it wasn't editing that gave us that.  

[PokerNerd]

This has been the first season of Survivor I've watched in years. While I personally like Nick the best of the final three, I think Mike deserved the win and played the best game. He flew under the radar while the physical threats were picked off and then seemed to control all the votes in the end. Nobody ever cast a vote against him yet he only won immunity once.  I'm shocked they chose Alison to leave before him in a season where many players seemed to respect maneuvering and strategy over physical prowess. I'm happy Nick won, and in the end it's a tautology that whoever wins deserves to win because he convinced the jury he deserved to win. That said, if I were on the jury I would have begrudgingly voted for Mike.

[KimberStormer]

I don't know about you guys, but I am ready to pretend that the fire-making challenge wasn't a transparent bit of bullshit to hand Ben the win if they'll just stop it already and we can go back to the game of Survivor, instead of the game of flip-a-coin.  At least this time it didn't actually matter because the winner was certain after the final immunity challenge.  (Actually, that challenge seems to be a real case of the Survivor Gods picking their winner -- it was also 100% certain who was winning when JT and Jeremy won it on their respective seasons.  Has it been in any others?) I thought I had been accidentally Instagram spoiled tonight that Kara won, so I was surprised when that last immunity happened.  I remember thinking, aha, they're explaining why Mike lost, because they don't have anything to show as to why Kara won....  But no!  And I was happy, because I've liked Nick all season. 

Kind of an anticlimax, nevertheless -- I guess it almost always is, final tribal.  I was rooting for Angelina by the end, because that would have been the most hilarious ending ever.  In my book, she is absolutely going down in history as a Survivor legend.  Every time you think you've seen peak Angelina, she goes further.  She goes above.  She transcends.  She becomes even more Angelina than you thought she could possibly be.  AND: even though her fake idol thing was clearly meant to humiliate Alison, nevertheless I don't believe there is a mean bone in that girl's body, not really.  In a way it's symbolic of this season, where they just all seemed to be nice and really like each other, that this is the most villainous thing any of them could come up with.  Like, Sugar and Bob were meaner than that, and they were the heroes of Gabon.  You know?  It seems that Angelina's getting a lot of hate, but I literally can't understand that.  I can't understand how you could not love her.  I've even forgiven her for being IRL friends with Adam Klein, my ultimate Survivor nemesis.  And frankly yes, she's right about a lot of the things she said.  I don't really have the energy to get into a political argument about it.  But she did find that clue and that's exactly as much as Dan did to find his idols, etc, so I think we can give her that one, can't we, guys?

I share everyone's befuddlement with Christian's evaluation of Mike's game: but I guess it makes sense, because Christian never showed himself to be much of anything when it comes to Survivor strategy.  I guess a boring play-the-middle game might well seem innovative if you don't really know how to play.  Nobody's jury questions were very interesting, though I found I still adore the Mayor of Slamtown.  (I wonder if I should look for some of his wrestling highlights on YouTube or will it decrease my love for him?)  Alas, my predictions were right: Kara's jury hair was very disappointing compared to her island hair, and she looked awful in all the makeup as they always do when you're used to them dirty and islandy.  I did however appreciate her posing as fiercely as the most cutthroat drag queen on the bench, though.

 

6 hours ago, MissEwa said:

Overall I feel like this season had a mediocre beginning, a stellar middle and then petered out of steam towards the end.

I agree it sort of lost some steam, but I thought the beginning was amazing too, one of the best pre-merges I can remember.  If nothing else, we had Natalie! 

4 hours ago, threebluestars said:

I am not a fan of final 3 because it's really a final 2. Has a final three ever had votes for all three people?

A couple of times, but not often.  I feel as though it's just as likely to be a blow-out with a F3 or F2, so I don't really get the logic behind them.  I was surprised Mike got as many votes as he did, tbh.  Most of all, this F4 fire horseshit needs to go.

2 hours ago, MisterBluxom said:

I always thought that I hated Probst. But after watching the 2.5 hours of the Finale and the 20 minutes of the Reunion, I am forced to admit ..... I never knew what hate was.

OMG I was screeeeaming at him to shut the fuck up when he went on and on and on and on before the FTC began.  Nobody wants to hear you pontificate, Probst!  We want to see the jury pontificate!  On the other hand, I really appreciated his mini-interview with Davie when Davie went out -- he seemed totally sincere about his love for Davie, and since I share that love, it made me happy.  I'm glad he got a big send-off that way, and I hope we see him again (after a few seasons go by, so he has time to think and improve his game.)

Overall: amazing season.  But weak final five, which made it less exciting.  Mike and Alison were even less likeable than they had been the rest of the season, Kara was even more blah, and Angelina, god love her, just made winning more and more impossible for herself.  The key reason for the weak ending is where I think everyone would point the finger: the Carl vote.  Carl's not-unreasonable idea not to tell Gabby what was happening, Christian's not-unreasonable decision to tell her anyway, and Gabby's not-unreasonable decision to flip the script on this was a perfect storm of making the season worse for the audience.  Not because I wanted, in any way, the David Strong ending that a lot of people here seemed to want, but because it saved the incredibly mediocre Alison, and made it so that Mike and Kara, who both I think would have been very interesting players if forced to scramble and scheme to survive, instead were incentivized to play extremely boring Survivor.  And I think the Davids (who were the interesting and dynamic players) turning on each other would have been much more interesting if they had numbers and power and were battling it out to get ahold of the minority Goliath votes.  Too bad!  Fascinating how these little things can change a season, though!

[amazingracefan]

The two recent changes on Survivor that I still haven't got used to are fire making at final 4 and the messy final tribal questions that are done now. It just seems strange that someone will definitely not get voted out and that someone is given the power to decide who automatically goes to the final alongside themselves when there are still 4 in the game. And the final tribal was more interesting when each person had a question or statement, it just feels like we are hearing more of the producer's questions now than those of the jury. The questions feel more forced to fit into particular concepts.

I wouldn't have minded Mike winning but Nick wasn't bad, though his bringing up his mother's death from drugs in the final tribal made me less happy.  Survivor is meant to be about the game and not someone's life outside.

I still don't like Davie that much, going on about representing a race and then in his vote calling on God.  Just irks me.

[green]

6 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

From the start of the episode, I was certain that Mike was going to win because his interviews were driving the narrative. And when he made his final speech about playing for the love of the game and brought everyone to tears, I thought that clinched it. So when the votes came back for Nick, I was 1. surprised and 2. thrilled. For a long time, Nick was my #1 choice, eventually moving to a #2 choice behind Davie. (Who, incidentally, made as fun and classy an exit as I would have expected. I’ll be pissed if he doesn’t get invited back at some point.)

I’m also baffled about what made Mike’s play so “transformative”. Please explain, Christian, and make it good, because I lost a lot of love for you with that comment. Also: hypothesis and algorithm are not such strange words.

Angelina’s final jury responses were as entertaining and clueless as I expected. Yes, you got rice! But no, you did not find an idol! (Mike found it for you.) Jeff’s comments about how we would all respect Angelina’s game if she were a man were ridiculous. I’m a woman, and I would have laughed at any man who acted the way Angelina did.

Gabby crying as she voted= priceless. The editors clearly could not resist.

Who are the two returning players next round, aside from Joe and Aubrey? Didn’t recognize them.

You pretty much said it all for me.  Thanks, great post!

I liked both Christian and Nick pretty equally from the start and when I finally saw more of Davie added him in to the mix and would have loved to see him win.  (Christian, don't mess with your legend and call Mike's play transformative ever again, okay).  Angelina was a great villain as in not a mean creep but a funny, clueless villain you loved to root against.  I couldn't stand Mike at all but his drunken comment about always having to go to work at the last reward was at least funny.  And having Nick beat him directly in the vote added to Nick's "biblical" triumph as opposed to non-player Kara had she won and not choked making fire.

 

4 hours ago, Figster said:

It was so painfully obvious that the producer were going to make sure Nick was in the finals (last D left) come hell or high water, hence the 3 back-to-back immunity "wins."  This show is fake as fuck.

Prove it otherwise it sounds like sour grapes.  His wins were totally legit.  He wasn't some uncoordinated loser like Alison.  Eight people won challenges Probst said.   When it came down to Nick's wins he was up against weaker players in those challenges and it showed.

This was one of the best seasons ever.  And so NON mean-spirited.  So NON bitter jurors.  More of these seasons and less of the crappy bitter juror and mean villain seasons please.

Love to see Nick back when other winners are invited back.  Regards the others I'm all in on Davie and Christian and Angelina (great villain for this season) and Wrestler John.  John would be the type I'd usually forget but he was such a nice, funny guy with such a big heart and happy demeanor I'd love him back too.  The others will be forgotten by me by next week.  Well other than Mike that I don't want to see again ever and that endlessly crying person whose name I've already forgotten who screwed up the Davids.

Looking forward to "Survivor 40: Angelina's Ladder" where instead of going to Exile Island one person each week has to climb 100 feet into the air and sit on a rock without access to rice or jackets.

[Ellee]

Yeah I know but .... am I the only one that thought Davie to the rescue ... find that idol clue after Angelina lost it .... get that idol. 😁

Angelina would get her ... umm ... ‘due’ for finding the idol clue at tribal ... and I’d get to cheer Davie on for making it to another day. 

And, yeah, I read the spoilers. ... but ... just saying.   ☺️

[Kenzie]

7 hours ago, LanceM said:

Just an observation. When Angelina doesn't get her way and she gets upset, she has been called whiny, pouty, throwing a tantrum, etc.  Nick gets blindsided tonight and gets upset and nary a word of criticism.  And this is not the first time with Nick either.

Just sayin.

Angelina would deny it of course but in her mind the world and everything in it revolves around her, her, her. Her ego knows no limits. When Mike was asked a question during the final tribal she just couldn't handle the tension one more second and interrupted to get her spiel in. Doesn't she see the eyes rolling, the heads shaking and laughter from the jury? She actually thought she had a chance.

[amazingracefan]

7 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Mike IS whiny!  If anyone is whiny, it's Mike, not Angelina.  That's like Mike's whole thing.  Yes, Angelina talks up what she does a lot, and I thought her idol idea was beyond i d i o t i c but I don't view her as a whiny person who throws tantrums, at all.

Nick was whining a lot about not getting his way with votes.  Maybe some just don't like how Mike's voice sounds, but I didn't think he played a bad game and he was reasonably popular there too.  Interesting there's so much talk here about what he's 'worth' (meaning money).  What he's worth to the show for me was someone who played the social game well and absolutely deserved to get to the end.  Stuff outside the show is irrelevant to me, same with Nick. 

[LizBug]

I lost a lot of respect for Christian after he was voted out.   At his Ponderosa, he was pontificating about the game ... he sat in the jury box making faces as if he was the only one astute enough to understand what was going on ... and, finally, he voted for Mike.  

If he's never invited back, fine with me.

[ProfCrash]

28 minutes ago, KimberStormer said:

Kind of an anticlimax, nevertheless -- I guess it almost always is, final tribal.  I was rooting for Angelina by the end, because that would have been the most hilarious ending ever.  In my book, she is absolutely going down in history as a Survivor legend.  Every time you think you've seen peak Angelina, she goes further.  She goes above.  She transcends.  She becomes even more Angelina than you thought she could possibly be.  AND: even though her fake idol thing was clearly meant to humiliate Alison, nevertheless I don't believe there is a mean bone in that girl's body, not really.  In a way it's symbolic of this season, where they just all seemed to be nice and really like each other, that this is the most villainous thing any of them could come up with.  Like, Sugar and Bob were meaner than that, and they were the heroes of Gabon.  You know?  It seems that Angelina's getting a lot of hate, but I literally can't understand that.  I can't understand how you could not love her.  I've even forgiven her for being IRL friends with Adam Klein, my ultimate Survivor nemesis.  And frankly yes, she's right about a lot of the things she said.  I don't really have the energy to get into a political argument about it.  But she did find that clue and that's exactly as much as Dan did to find his idols, etc, so I think we can give her that one, can't we, guys?

If Angelina would own up to the fact that her behavior on the show was over the top and self-centered and end this "powerful woman who is ignored" shtick I would enjoy her more. I don't think it is hate as much as a high level of annoyance that she is so damn clueless.

All of her big moments are simply ridiculous, look at me, give me stuff moments and not strong women stuff. And she has become this ridiculous symbol for how women are screwed over when she wasn't screwed over. Her game play was poor.

Chrissy is in Angelina's corner on Rob Has a Podcast. And I fully buy that women are treated differently in the game, Chrissy is my number one example, I just don't think Angelina played a good game and falls into that category. I think if a man played Angelina's game we would laugh at him and maybe even deride him more because the play was just that whiny and self centered.

For me it is less Angelina hate and annoyance that she is some how the spokeswoman for strong women treated badly because I don't think she played a good enough game to win and should not be cast in that light.

[KimberStormer]

I never watch the finales anymore so I don't know if Angelina talked about being a strong ignored woman there but I just mean I don't think she should get crap about finding the idol or about being a military spouse, and I don't think she's really especially a mean girl or entitled or whatever, just clueless, awkward, and silly. She is of course a hilarious disaster at a lot of the game and nobody, man or woman, who acted like she did (e.g. with the trying to choreograph a Big Idol Moment) would be taken seriously. 

[ProfCrash]

Angelina had an entire segment in the finale about how if a man had played her game we would be applauding him and women are treated differently. Jeff is selling the same story. And she mentioned being a military spouse twice in the FTC.

I fully agree that she is a hilarious disaster but she insists on being treated seriously and Jeff and others seem to agree with her and that irks.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

30 minutes ago, green said:

Prove it otherwise it sounds like sour grapes.  His wins were totally legit.  He wasn't some uncoordinated loser like Alison.

BWAHAHAHAHA!  And damn.  

But totally accurate.  Her wobbling on that perch was everything.  And she was more than a little insufferable whenever she found herself to be in the voting majority.  

[Kenzie]

5 hours ago, mertensia said:

My favorite part:

Alison: What was the point of the false idol, Angelina? It was so mean-spirited.

Angelina: It wasn't mean-spirited at all-

Entire jury, interrupting: Yes it was.

My second favorite? Davie's scorn at Angelina and her climbing the ladder.

I loved how Davy using wide eyes and raised eyebrows mocked Angelina's heroic story of how she fearlessly scaled Mount Figi (all 8' feet of it), risking life and limb and the rending of her pants in her quest for the idol.

[Ellee]

IMO Angelina just got in her own head too much and ‘wrote’ her storyline of how things were going to go and what would make her the great storyline.  Forgetting the most important thing ... the other players and that they would actually live in the moment thereby creating the storyline.  

Does that make sense?  I’m a horrible poster. 

[JudyObscure]

Angelina plays so many cards I'm surprised she didn't fumble and drop the whole deck.  

We had the rice card, so worn at the corners it's become a joke.

Then the  "person of color," add on.  Please. As if she has ever spent one day of her life being followed in a department store, pulled over by police, denied a loan, or had to watch people leave a pool because she got in.  She just has no idea and it infuriates me that she thinks she can borrow some of that experience and sympathy for herself the way you might borrow a jacket.

The "marine wife," card. I'm a military wife of 22 years and I'm not ready to give a whole bunch of extra points to the wives.  Yes, we have to move a lot (as do people in lots of jobs) and our spouses travel a lot (ditto) and we worry about the safety of our husbands ( just like wives of police, fireman and farmers.)   At every "dining out" there are speeches giving credit to the wives and it really gets  overblown sometimes.  While most of us look at each other and grin sheepishly, there are always a few like Angelina who visibly puff up and glow.  They are the ones who start to think they are their husbands and say things like "we got a promotion."

The "strong woman" card.  I hated that so much it ruined my happiness over the Nick win.  She and Gabby saying that if a man acted like them he would be praised for it was just ridiculous.  I tried to think of a man who sobbed and needed comforting at every turn, and was not called a cry baby, and couldn't find one.  Then I tried to think of a man who used people, deliberately plotted to humiliate his enemies, bragged, interrupted  and flailed and I could think of plenty of them but they were not called good players, they were  called assholes.

Edited December 20, 2018 by JudyObscure

[Eolivet]

To #TeamDavid, Nick, and the three Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fans in this forum:

I've always never believed in you, I never gave up giving up on you

Deep inside, I always knew that you'd eventually never come through

I never once doubted doubting you

With every opportunity that you blew, all my worst fears just kept coming true

I held out no hope for so long, but now I admit I got you all wrong

It feels strange to say it, but it's true: I weirdly, shockingly, completely believe in you

[MisterBluxom]

There is something that has been bothering me all season long and I could never quite put my finger on it. There was one player this season who strongly reminded me of a player from a previous season. But no matter how much I pondered,  I could never seem to remember just who it was.  I guess the reasons were many. They were of different genders, different backgrounds, entirely different temperaments. But their approach to the game was almost identical and so were their results. I'll bet that some of you are close to figuring out just who I'm talking about.

There was once a player who took a completely unique approach to this game. I'll call them "Player A". They just stormed through their season finding all kinds of ways to get rid of their competitors. No one had ever seen someone play such a dirty game before. They did anything and everything they could to win. Starting to sound familiar? People could not believe their eyes. They could not believe that anyone could stoop to such atrocious behaviors to win. But it was hard to deny the truth. Player A just blew away the competition got to the Final Tribal Council and then ... Do you know the two players I'm thinking of?

Player A is Russel Hantz and Player B is Aggravina.  They both managed to claw their way into the FTC by any means possible. They both got zero votes. Player A made FTC twice and both times if I recall, he got exactly zero votes - which was several more than deserved.

Player B got to the FTC as well and also got zero votes. But that was many more votes than she deserved. Many more than Hantz deserved.

I figure they both must have studied at the very same Survivor School of Strategy and Tactics.  They both are complete Maroons!

Aggravina?  For once in your life, please STFU! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by MisterBluxom