Her? Really? Well, OK.

The finale! I loved it. I loved the whole season. I loved the whole good vs. evil thing. Sigh... and now it's over for another season. Sigh again.

So. am interested to hear your thoughts on Sandra's win. None of us saw it coming (well, until maybe the final three, right?) and all of us asked ourselves why the heck she was back in the first place. Who was she again? She won? Really? Her? So how did she get to the end again?

If you missed it - here's the short version. The first immunity challenge was won by Parvati. Colby fought hard, but couldn't quite do it - the story of his whole, sad season. Did you feel just a little sorry for him? Don't lie. Everyone wants Colby to win just a little. But he can't. And so his fate was sealed. He threw in a last-ditch effort for Russell to keep him over Sandra, but to no avail. Colby was gone.

Then there was a huge time-suck where they walk past the extinguished torches of their fallen Survivors. It's painful to watch, but it's the only way they can make the show into 2 hours. It started to get annoying to hear Jerri say each person's name the same way.... like this: "Sugaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr".... "Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaames".... "Courtneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey"

Anyways... time suck over, we move onto the final immunity challenge. A maze where they have to go through all blindfolded and find necklaces and then find their way out again. It was pretty exciting. Russell won, but both Jerri and Parvati were RIGHT behind him. Gah! Could have been anyone's game. Except poor Sandra, who couldn't get it together.

Wasn't sure who was going to go this time. Would Russell stick to his original alliance? Who did he think he could beat in the final? (Turns out, it didn't matter. He wouldn't have beaten any of them.) Jerri got the boot. I really liked Jerri in the end. She was much more likeable, more of a Hero really and I liked how she said in the reunion show that she has gone from being one of the most hated Survivors to one of the most liked. And you can tell she's really happy about it and really happy and thankful to have played and to have gotten as far as she did.

Then the jury. It was good, but it made me crazy. You all know how I feel about the whole "good vs. evil" thing and how you have to play with "integrity" as long as that integrity fits the mould of what other people think "playing with integrity" should be. I also know not all of you agree with me, but that's the beauty of it. I didn't actually think anyone would change, and yes, all of these types of comments made me crazy. They just come off sounding bitter. Let's have some interesting questions for the finalists! Let's ask about what they'll do with the money. No mention at all about the fact that Sandra & Parvati had already won it... No real interesting questions at all. More comments and crabbiness. And Coach, talking about who he thought was the biggest warrior (he liked Parvati)... which is expected and funny. He wouldn't want to ask a question as it would take the focus away from him. Hee.

So, where were we? Right. I'm not defending Russell....exactly. I don't think he should have won. He played a perfect game to get himself to the end ONLY. Not to win it. To win it, he needed to make some friends and play nice a little. The jury votes for you and he doesn't get it that they need to like him at least a little in order to respect his game play. And they don't. To win Survivor you need to have some kind of social game at the end. You need to at least pretend to want to be people's friends and show some form of loyalty to someone. He could have played on his loyalty to Parvati more, but instead he came off petty when she insisted that they protected each other instead of how it is in his mind - that he protected her only. Now, while I don't think the game is entirely about making friends and being social, there's definitely that aspect to it, right? The winner is always the one who can strike the fine balance between being cunning and strategic, lying to the right people, being truthful to the right people, keeping certain loyalties, and building relationships. You need to cut people out without making them FEEL like you backstabbed them because you hate them or are ambivalent towards them. And like the Silver Fox Tom Westman said, it's also a combination of social play, physical play and luck. Russell said luck had nothing to do with him getting to the end - but it always does. Do you agree? He just didn't get it - even when Jeff straight out asked him if he understands that the jury's opinion matters. Nope. America should vote, says Russell (and they did - they gave him the 'fan favorite' award for $100,000). Jeff basically said, but that's not how this show works, Russell. We're not American Idol. The rules say the jury votes for you, so why don't you get it that that's the only way you can win? Nope. Like talking to a tree.

Anyways, the jury was fairly split between Parvati (4 votes) and Sandra (5 votes). Russell got nothing. No surprise. Here's where I'm not sure Sandra should have beat Parvati. I think Parvati - as much as I couldn't stand her in the beginning - played a great game. Plus she was fierce in the challenges, where Sandra has never won anything. However, Parvati was tied to Russell which may have cost her a few votes.

Do you think Sandra deserves to win? Like Parvati, I liked Sandra a lot more at the end. In Jeff Probst's blog, he mentioned a while ago that Sandra is strong because she knows when to say stuff and make moves and when to shut up and go along with others. I think this is true. She could be abrasive, but she also knew when to follow along and fall into the background. She made people think that she was "riding coattails" or playing "under the radar" but she also had to hustle quite a bit to save her butt on a number of occasions. She tried to get Russell out, but when she couldn't get anyone else on board, she knew that she should keep to the original alliance and vote WITH Russell to stay in the game. And at the end, she made a way better case for herself for the jury. She distanced herself from Parvati & Russell, saying she had to look after herself and got there on her own. She talked about her loyalty to her alliance and what she had to do to stay around once that alliance was gone. And in the end, she had made some friends and people liked her devotion to her family etc. etc.

Final, random thoughts:

- Sandra burning Russell's hat at the end. So funny. And at the reunion show saying, "Well, it was funky and it had to go, but I did feel bad after for a bit."
- Poolster Lori wonders why there are 3 finalists and 9 jury votes - couldn't it be a 3-way tie? Hmm...
- Candace made me hate her at the final Tribal Council. Her comments were stupid.
- Rupert... oh Rupert. His comments were expected - about how bad Russell is, blah, blah, blah. But then at the reunion, when asked about the good vs evil thing, he says how it IS difficult. How the lines are "blurred" and how even he had to sometimes lie, steal, whatever, on the show. So how does he figure his lying is better than Russell's lying. Is it better when you don't MEAN to lie and you're called a Hero? What? And how does it make you a good person to call someone else a "disgusting human being" on national television. I'm pretty sure that even if you don't like someone, it's not a nice thing to say. Also, for the love of puppies and candy and everything good in the world, lose the damn tie-dye already. Does he have a whole closet of tie-dyed tank tops? It's awful. And the beard. Trim it. Seriously. It's gross. There. (Hey, I never said I was a hero. I agree with Russell. Rupert is a dumbass.) And oh yeah. TWO toes were broken! Oh dear, said Eeyore.
- JT won a dumbest Survivor move ever award. Cute.
- They didn't talk about the Coach/Jerri romance at all!
- They did show the Survivor baby - Boston Rob and Amber's new addition. Rob has some serious hotness these days all of a sudden, non? Huh. And he wouldn't shake Russell's hand. Said he'd go back any time and kick his ass. Jeff: Maybe we'll have a whole season of just Rob vs. Russell. Hee. I also liked the way Rob said (in the time suck part) that the new generation of players is smarter and that the game has changed. Interesting then that Sandra won and not a "newer" player.
- Jeff asked both James and Colby if they weren't having any fun this season. James skirted the issue but did admit that even his mom didn't like him this season on the show. Colby talked about how the adventure wasn't there, that there was nowhere to explore, etc. which was what he liked on previous seasons. Also that he was sucking at the challenges, so yeah, he didn't have as much fun. Thought it was a good, honest answer.
- Candace got married after the show. Who cares? Right.
- Next Survivor is going to be in Nicaragua. Yay! Back to scary animals roaring!

And that's it. It's great every single season because it's unpredictable. They're keeping the challenges clever, Jeff somehow never ages, and there are a couple of twists to keep us on our toes. It's fun. Every time. And I enjoy ranting about it (clearly) and that you keep reading. Thanks, and see you back here sometime in September?