SOPHIE! The New Dragon Slayer!

Gah!  Sophie!!! 

OK, so I'll start with the fact that I called it wrong.  I'll admit it.  Well, who knew that the lone girl would be the one to beat Ozzy in a challenge.  Had Ozzy won that challenge, and he had a sizable lead, he would have won for sure.  But, Sophie kicked some serious butt both physically (and it was a tough looking challenge!) and in the puzzle portion.  Seriously, has anyone beaten Ozzy at a challenge?  And what made it sweeter - for Sophie anyway - was the fact that in the Tribal Council before, Ozzy had called her a spoiled brat and made her cry.  Now, Sophie doesn't seem the type to cry easily, but it's that kind of game, right?  It must take a toll on you eventually.  You have no one really to talk to that you can trust, and anyone can just say anything about you.  It would suck.  I think I'd cry too. 

Right... so I'm ahead of myself a little, but I'm not giving you the play by play.  Suffice it to say that Cowboy got the boot (and boy, was he pissed!  More on that in a bit.) then Ozzy, then it was down to Albert, Sophie and Coach. 

I think it was a toss-up for Coach and Sophie whether to keep Albert or Rick.  I think at the end of the day, Rick is more likable so they got rid of him.  I'm not really sure why they didn't tell him that in the final tribal council because he was MAD.  I mean, for a guy who was mute for the entire season, it was great to see him have a little personality.  I loved watching him give Coach the cut-eye. 

It always blows my mind, though, how the jury just comes off for the most part as sore losers.  Right?  I mean, have you watched the show?  How do you not know that you just look like a sore loser when you go up there and just insult the final 3 or lecture them on "morals" or whatever it may be?  My absolute favourite was Edna last night - she gets up there and lectures the JURY - telling them that hey, you got beaten fair & square.  "We signed up for this.  It's a game where you get duped, and we all got duped."  Love Edna!  She's totally right.... and if you read this blog, you know where I stand on the whole "playing with integrity" nonsense....

.... Which is why I so loved watching Coach play the game this season.  For one, he has changed how he's behaving and how he's approaching others, which we've discussed before.  But the other thing is that he's still trying to play the game "with honour and integrity".... And, it's why he made it to the finals but also why he lost, ultimately.  He got to the finals by keeping his alliance loyal and by staying loyal to them.  But, by going on and on about it all the time - the loyalty, the honour, the integrity.... and then also tying it to religion.... he painted himself into a corner.  Up until the final 5, he played an almost perfect game.  But at 5, you've got to start cutting your team - which is why I predicted a while back that he wouldn't win.  The Ozzy tribe doesn't "get" him and the people on his own tribe will feel betrayed.  There's not really a way to play and be entirely 'honest' about it.  You'll get yourself voted off.  That's the "Outwitting" part of the game - it's not real life, it's OK to deceive people in order to get yourself further in the game.  But, because of the social nature of the game, it's ridiculously hard to do that and still have their vote at the end.  That's the beauty of the show - it's what Boston Rob did well and what Russell did not (and clearly still doesn't) understand.  And it was really great to watch Coach struggle with it.  He truly meant well, but he recognized that he couldn't be honest to everybody all the time... and his own mouthing off about honesty & integrity came back to bite him in the ass.

Now, the thing is, Coach also did himself no favours in the final tribal council.  Sophie had the better pitch and was more consistent in her message. 

Sophie's message:  I won a lot of challenges. I played very strategically.  I didn't like voting some of you out, but I did what I had to do to get where I am.  I realize and take to heart what Ozzy said & I think I'm difficult to get to know, and sorry if that came off as being aloof or pretentious.  It's made me think hard about how I come across to people and I'm going to try to change that.

Coach's message:  I played with honour and integrity as much as I could.  (Then after getting slammed by the jury....) Yeah, I'm pretty much a terrible person and did not have a very strategic game at all.

Whaaaaaat?  Coach totally should have stuck to the first message, right?  Had he said, look, I played with as much honour as I could knowing that I'd have to vote against people I didn't want to vote against.  I did the best I could to be as honest as possible and never meant anything personally, but it's impossible to be completely honest in this game.  I had hard decisions to make and I made them.  The strategy to get here was all mine (or at least should say that he came up with the strategy WITH Sophie).  

And, when it looked like Coach was gaining  a little ground at one point, Sophie threw him under the bus in a way that didn't really look like she was a jerk.  When the hidden immunity idol came up (someone asked Coach why he never played it), she just said, "Oh, and FYI, we found the idol and didn't tell anyone.  It wasn't until Brandon was gung ho to find it did we pretend to find it and share it with the tribe.)  Baby's face DROPPED.  Heh heh.  Well played, Sophie!! 

Albert.... well, there's always a third, right?  No one was voting for Albert, it was clear.  He's way too smarmy.  I think it was Jim who asked him why he thought he deserved to win over the other two and then said "And if you start by paying them a compliment, you lose my vote."  Well, he started by paying JIM a compliment.... "I really liked how you played the game..."  Ugh.... Sophie called it - he's a used car salesman.

Sophie won it.  I was glad.  As much as part of me wanted Coach to win it, I thought her game was as good if not better.  I liked that she managed it you know, in her first time playing vs. her third.... and I liked that she is the new dragon slayer.... the only one who could compete against Ozzy. 

As for the Reunion show.... I wanted to punch Ozzy in the face.  OK, that's a bit drastic, but ummmmm.... shut UP.  Dude was allowed to go on and on and on about how he found God in nature and how you have to learn to get up after you fall down, and kids, you can do whatever you want in life... and blah, blah, blah. I mean really, we get it.  He'd have kept going too, if my ex-boyfriend Jeff hadn't intervened.  And then we don't get to hear at all from some of the former Survivors.  Remember when they would get around to everyone?  That was fun - even if they only got a one-liner, it's still a bit of respect to acknowledge them.  I mean, I'm glad that Semhar didn't start in with a poem, as I'm sure she had one lined up.... but Papa Bear?  He'd have had something to say.  And was Mikayla even there?  I didn't see her. 

I liked that Christine and Stacey are new BFFs and "call each other every day."  That's pretty cool.  And I love that Whitney and Keith said that yes, they're still dating even though as Jeff put it, Whitney was "in another relationship" when the show started. Uh, yeah, she was married!  (And uh, Whitney started off her jury questioning by telling the three finalists that they were... what was it?  Dishonest?  Disloyal?  Something like that.  Right, cheater.)  I liked that Jim was still a jerk to Cochran, if only to show the world that yes, even off the island, Jim is a bully and a total jerk.  Cochran was, of course, charming.

And then there was Baby Hantz.  Can we all agree that we felt bad for Baby.  For all the loco... and really, really awful game-play, you've got to admit that Baby meant well.  He struggled to play Survivor because he struggles in life between what's good and what's not, what's right and what's wrong.  He was clearly playing his own game and I think probably came out the better person for it, if not the richer.  But when Jeff asked how it was when he got home & he said that his family wasn't proud of him and that no one even came to support him.... it was sad, non?  His wife and kids (Kids? Plural?) love him, so that's good, but the rest of his family... not so much.  Which explains a lot, right?  I mean, we've seen the line of bullies he comes from.  It explains why he probably was looking for other forms of approval in gangs.... And you could see watching the show that what the kid desperately wants is some real friends.  Then, Jeff interviews Russell, who I'm sure is contractually obligated to be there - and is clearly not there to support his nephew.  He goes on about how great HE was at Survivor (uh, do we have to remind him again about how he hasn't won ever?) and how his nephew did NOTHING right.  Yep,  he said nothing nice at all about Baby.  Russell is a Class-A turd.  Baby Hantz is a bit loco, and yeah he's not a great Survivor player, but I really want to give him a hug. Then my ex-boyfriend Jeff said, "We should have another season with Russell on one team and Brandon on another."  For the love of puppies and candy, NO!  Enough Hantzes.  Move on, Jeff.  Move on.

Bringing us to next season, where the idea is that there will be two tribes who have to live together on one island.  Fun, right?  It doesn't sound at this point that there will be any returning cast members (thankfully!) though I'm sure that could change.  I do like that they're changing it up again a little.

So, let me know what you think...about Sophie, Coach, Ozzy, the Hantzes, this blog, the next season, fighting in hockey...whatever.  I'd love to hear from you.  Many thanks to all of you who read regularly.  It is always a highlight of my week.