So, are you happy with the result? I think most of us are pretty pleased that Cochran won it, yes? It makes for a great story - guy watches show since he's 13... writes a thesis on Survivor for Harvard Law School.... plays Survivor once and gets the boot early... gets to play again and wins the whole thing. Plus, he's a huge, but totally likable nerd whose skin is translucent and was afraid to take off his shirt in front of girls the first time he played. Right? It's TV! You can't write this stuff. Oh, wait....
Anyway, poor Erik made a quick exit as he got med-evaced out. Poor dude was so hungry he started getting dizzy spells. The medics decided that some rest, food and IV fluids would be better for him than going back to camp, so off he went. You gotta feel sorry for the guy. He'd played a good game. He made it as far as he did last time. It's just his thing. And he wins for the character who most resembles a muppet... that hair! (Not sure which muppet, though. Maybe more of a Fraggle...) Anyway, it was also the only time in the game where non-stupid Eddie showed up. Eddie, who's a firefighter/EMT in real life, kicked into gear and helped explain to Erik what was going on and what the medics where doing. It was like a smart person took over his brain.
Which brings me to my absolute favourite part of the show.... Where Eddie tells us that if he wins, he's planning to start a bar with a penned in area for dogs... so you can take your dogs to the bar. Why? Because he loves dogs... and he loves going to the bar. Geez, why haven't they thought of that yet for kids?
So it all shook out that Cochran, the challenge monster, won the reward challenge (which was anyone's game... it was building a house of cards while balancing the whole thing with one hand... everyone sucked at it and had to start over about 7 times.) so won a reward of an advantage in the final challenge. For the final challenge, the players had to race up steps and untie bags of puzzle pieces, only Cochran's didn't need to be untied. However, it took him so long to start the puzzle, he almost wasted the advantage entirely. But then, 'cause he's a smarty pants, he flew through the puzzle and won final immunity.
Who to pick? Dawn or Eddie? He ended up picking Dawn to go to the final three with him and Sherri... a no-brainer. Literally. And we were all a bit worried, right? Well, he knew better than we did. Dawn was the right choice. She got eviscerated by the jury for all her emotional outbursts, her paranoia, and her moves like voting out Brenda. Cochran gave an amazing opening statement - pretty much said that yeah, he made moves to vote people out, but it wasn't about who he liked or didn't like, it was about making moves at the right time in the game. He kept it on an intellectual, not emotional level. Sherri, on the other hand, started off by stating what as successful business owner she was....pretty much making everyone on the jury laugh... which was a little mean, but really Sherri, how do you not know you got brought along?
This became a theme. People either ignored Sherri completely, or else laid into her for not understanding that she was brought along just for her vote. It's a bit disappointing in the end because she started off with a lot of promise I thought, but once she moved over to Stealth R Us, she never was able to make any moves to solidify her as a player. And if you're going to play the game of being brought along for the ride - which is a legit strategy in its own right - then you have to own it and be able to defend it. Sherri wasn't even aware. Erik especially tore her a new one.
Which brings me to this observation: you never really know how the jury members are going to act, which is part of what makes this show so delightful. It's always the ones who were so nice all along that end up going off. This time it was Erik and Brenda. Last season, remember Malcolm being a jerk to Denise? Yup, true story.
Brenda - for good reason - lost it on Dawn. We've gone through this before. Dawn broke the girl code. I think Jeff put it well when he said that when Brenda found Dawn's teeth, it was like saying, "I've got your back no matter what." Then, she got backstabbed in a way that seemed extra mean, even for this show. So yeah, I can understand why she was pissed. However, asking Dawn to take out her teeth to prove to her that she would have stayed in the game even had she not found the teeth... a bit over the line maybe? (Dawn did comply, by the way.) It was weird. And good. And uncomfortable. Everything a good Survivor jury moment should be.
Otherwise... some other good moments include Phillip telling Cochran he's proud of him and that he's a class act, Andrea being super nice and gracious to everyone, and Reynold (or was it Eddie? See, I still can't separate them) wondering if Cochran would go out for a beer with the 3 amigos. (And their dogs?) Cochran gave the right answer - of course I'd go for beer, and I'll have a woman on each side of me, just like I do right now. Yup, it was perfect. He played a perfect game. Even better, I'd say, than Boston Rob.
Which brings us to the vote and the Reunion Show. Jeff walked out of the jungle and into CBS studios and the vote was unanimous for Cochran. Then the reunion. Weird, right? They didn't talk to the pre-jury Survivors AT ALL. They were all there in the audience sitting together, but they didn't get to be on stage and they didn't get asked any questions. Which is odd. Did anyone notice whether Baby Hantz was there? I didn't notice... may have to research. My theory is that the producers didn't want to talk to Baby because we all know how that would go. All of a sudden you've got a 2-hour show. Or a fist fight. So maybe they just said, you know, we're not going to talk to ANY of the pre-jury people. Makes sense. But it's a bit odd to ignore two major storylines of the season.... Shamar and Baby. And even Fransquestra, who was voted out first for the second time. Normally that would warrant at least a quick question. But no... instead we had to hear from Boston Rob (kind of funny as he presented Philip with an actual book called the Boston Rob Handbook) and Rudy (from season ONE!) and Richard Hatch, who is apparently out of jail. That ended with Rudy (who is 85 I think) saying, "Awww, I didn't even get to call him a queer..." which seemed pretty... ummm... awkward for Jeff. Oh, and then we get to interview some 12 year-old kid in the audience... instead of TALKING TO THE ACTUAL CAST OF THE SHOW!!! Annoying, CBS. The person who wasn't there was Brenda, because she revealed she's super pregnant and due any moment (now there's some good live TV). Via satellite, she sort of accepted Dawn's sort of apology. Yay?
At any rate, the season was great, the reunion show, not so much. Next season, they're calling it Blood vs. Water and not telling us much more about it. What do you think? Obviously it's something to do with family members. Is it family of previous Survivors? Is it where one family member is on one tribe and the other is on another tribe? I'm glad they're trying something new again and keeping it fresh. I'm glad Jeff is coming back for a 27th season (seriously.) and I'm glad you all take the time to read this nonsense that I write. Thanks again for hanging out with me for another season. I will miss you.
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