I'd said maybe this last season was the best, but
Tungster at TV and Treadmills says it was "Heroes and Villains" (from 2010). "Heroes and Villains" had all returning players, and this season's "Brains, Brawn, and Beauty" season had an all-new cast. In the comments at my post, -Peder guessed that this season was great
because of the absence of returning players:
It let all kinds of new players have room to breathe. Imagine if Tony had been on the same tribe as Russell or some previous alpha dog. It would have dominated the story line. Same [thing] with Kass, Spencer and Tasha. All of them were better because they were all new to the situation.
That made me comment:
Good point, but at the same time, I had the feeling that a lot of them were playing not just to win -- which is always a long shot -- but to get invited back as a return player.
I'd certainly like to see Spencer again, and Kass was auditioning for the female villain role that always seems to need to be filled.
Maybe another "Heroes and Villains" season is in the offing.
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17 comments:
What is this thing "Survivor"?
I like the show where the two people alone in the wilderness (with only a full camera crew and a producer) are nekkid.
We watched the finale last night. It was a pretty good season. I was, of course, rooting for the brains, even if Kass turned herself into the villian along the way. Was it the "best ever"? I don't know. What was remarkable about it was that, based on their editing, everyone was getting along -- usually, towards the end, when there's a clear minority and majority alliance, everybody's nasty to each other -- this time people weren't taking things personally as much.
As always, I find it astonishing that people aren't willing to make big moves -- when a clear "bottom of the alliance" player prefers to hang on and hope fortunes change rather than change their fate themselves.
And Spencer, while he was on the whole a good player, had some missed chances by not revealing his idol -- times when he was trying to recruit someone from the majority alliance, and could have said, "you tell me who's being voted out on our side, so that that person can play the idol."
Oh, and one thing that (based on the edited version that we see) players can't pin down: sometimes, the mastermind wins because the others deem them the best "player" (Boston Rob). Sometimes the mastermind loses (Russell, Dawn) because there are too many hurt feelings. Woo banked on Tony losing for being too much a Russell, when the players rewarded him for being a Boston Rob. And did Woo really keep him out of a feeling of personal loyalty?
This reminds me of the guy at work who thinks everything on the Discovery Channel is real. He will recount with slack jawed amazement that there really is a bigfoot.
It is indeed a wasteland.
"And did Woo really keep him out of a feeling of personal loyalty?"
It didn't come up during the edit of the jury, but Woo considered betraying Tony at one point, and I think he chose not to because it was a better strategy for him. I think he would have lost to Kass and chose Tony because at least with Tony, he could make the loyalty-and-honor argument. The reunion show had the jury vote and indicate they'd have voted for Woo against Kass, but I don't believe it. They never heard Kass's pitch for herself, which would have been based on gutsy moves and independence, while Woo rode passively along with Tony (and then cut him off in the end). That's why Woo went with Tony.
Survivor? Is that show still on?
Oh, and did I miss something? Is "goat" a standard Survivor term? A general expression that I've somehow not heard before?
"I think [Woo] would have lost to Kass"
I think he would have won with Kass. Tony won because others saw him as the better player (yes, this is a double-edged sword, and it doesn't always work out that people get over their resentment). Kass's argument for the strategy play wasn't nearly as strong. Did she make game-changing moves?
Blogger EDH said...
I like the show where the two people alone in the wilderness (with only a full camera crew and a producer) are nekkid.
5/23/14, 9:54 AM
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me too
Hey, big day, I was quoted on Althoue's blog!
While watching I found myself thinking about which players they should bring back. Which I hated because I think they've done too much of the returning player thing. But the vagaries of the show mean that some good players get stuck with a bad hand. I think it's natural to wonder how they'd do with a little better luck.
Maybe it would be better if they had a regular thing, where every fourth or fifth season would be some kind of All-Star show. That way the new folks could shine and we could still get that second (or third, fourth) view of a good player. It would also mean a steady supply of fresh blood.
If I was appointed Survivor commissioner, this would be my first ruling.
I wish that Woo had won. I think it would have been the biggest blindside ever if he had. Being likeable and loyal to the alpha player is a strategy--look how far it got Woo. If only Woo had turned on Tony at the final tribal council and owned what he did as a strategy and then a blind side, but he just owned up to the loyal follower part.
Best season of 'Survivor'?
Cody got voted off the show and Joe gets a new primitive skills partner. (Dual Survivor
Naked and Afraid (the ultimate 'Survivor' show) will be back in June.
I loathe that naked show. It bothers me to see the people exposed and humiliated.
"Being likeable and loyal to the alpha player is a strategy--look how far it got Woo."
It got him nothing. It's my impression that the go-along with the alpha strategy rarely wins in the end. Second place is worth $0.
They didn't have the fans vote for the $100,000 winner this season, did they?
Ann Althouse said...
I think he would have lost to Kass and chose Tony because at least with Tony, he could make the loyalty-and-honor argument.
I agree with this. Kass was very skilled verbally, she is a lawyer, and would have decimated Woo in front of the jury. Spectacularly unlikable, she is a lawyer, but I still think she would have won.
In the After-show the jury was asked how they would have voted a Kass/Woo final and Woo would have won 8 to 2.
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