Survivor: Philipines, Post-Mortem

It has been my observation that the more returning players there are in the game, the crankier the jury seems to be.  I think returning players carry higher expectations.  They are also more likely to feel betrayed by the actions of other returning players who they might have had a previous relationship with.

Last season was a cast of all newbies, and the jury had been lied to like no other. But, because the Deceiver (Kim) was so dosh-garn nice about it, the jury couldn't find the will to punish her by voting for a more honest player. 

Sunday's jury was not nearly as accommodating for arguably much less deceitful players.  What exactly had Lisa or Skupin done that was so horrific?  Lisa was reasonably loyal to her tribe.  Skupin - less so, but they didn't even pretend to be loyal to him.  One could argue the worst betrayal in the game was Kent's attempt to backstab Penner.  Either way, Lisa and Skupin were much more honorable than Kim was last season.  They burned Malcolm in advancing to the final 3, but Kim burned EVERYONE except the people who made it to the final 3.

The one other jury member who had a legitimate gripe this go-around was Abi.  I thought Denise had been way too tough on her a few weeks ago.  Nevertheless, Abi wound up voting for her tormentor, while Skupin was being mocked by the likes of Kent and Penner.  It was the first time in Survivor history where a player was mocked for NOT getting any votes.

 Any jury with Artis and Kent on it is going to be cranky, so maybe the returning players had nothing to do with it - but that jury seemed unduly agitated.  And, don't forget that the most unruly jury in Survivor history was the one for All-Stars (ALL returning players).  Returning players are generally more entertaining, but they often become rotten apples, spoiling the barrel.  Anyway, Denise got a lot more support than I thought she would.  I'm not saying I didn't think she could win.  I just didn't think she would win so handily (6-1-1).  She did hide behind Malcolm and his idol.  I get the feeling Kent, Penner and Malcolm lobbied hard for Denise on Ponderosa - and it worked.

 

Bottom Line: that final 3 was much more ethical than an average final 3, but the jury seemed a tad more disagreeable than usual.  

Other Thoughts:

1.  Denise's opening statement was a bit arrogant.  I though it noteworthy, though, that she said she would make no apologies, and then apologized to Abi in the Q&A.  It might have gotten her another vote.

2.  I thought Penner had a good season and a bad tribal council.  You can make your points without resorting to name-calling (he called Denise a b*tch) or ridicule (he mocked Skupin that he wouldn't get any votes).  None of this was on par with Susan's infamous Snakes and Rats Speech from Season One or the temper tantrums Lex and Big Tom threw in All-Stars (I thought they were going to burn the set down, they were so ticked), nevertheless, Penner's antics came across as classless.  He recovered a bit in the Reunion Show.

3.  In the Reunion Show, Kent was asked about his Penner obsession and played dumb (unlike Abi, who showed a lot of humility, and acknowledged she had room to improve).  Instead, Kent decided to weasel out of the question.  What a creep.

4.  I'm glad Probst addressed the fact that he might have picked on Katie a little too much.  That was one of my pet peeves this season.

5.  I'm also glad Dawson was able to get one last (cringe-inducing) kiss in.

6.  Next season is another Fans vs. Favorites.  For those of you who never saw the first Fans vs. Favorites five years ago, the returning players absolutely dominated.  At times it was humiliating (Globetrotters vs. Generals-type humiliation).  I think part of the problem is the returning players were particularly capable, and the fans included two of the dumbest people ever to appear on American television (Erik and Jason).

7.  I get the feeling that Malcolm will be returning to Fans vs. Favorites.  The producers really sold him this season, even though he lost.  My instincts tell me he is not nearly as nice of a guy, or as good of a player, as the cut he got.  They have really sold players twice in the past (Rupert as superhero and Russell as supervillain), and both had been invited to return the very next season.  The producers were making sure they stood out to the audience in their own ways.  Furthermore, Jeff asked Malcolm if he would play again.  Jeff does that when he knows something.  One other point: Fans vs. Favorites has already been filmed, which means no one would know who Malcolm is.  I bet he did poorly.  When he was on stage in the Reunion Show, he looked like a guy who had lost twice.

8.  I hope the Favorites they bring back are all players who have appeared only once before.  I don't need to see multiple retreads.  I also hope they pull people from early seasons.  For example, I've always wanted to see Ian or Greg (from Palau) play again.  Heck, if you want to go old school, Greg from season 1 is one of my all-time faves.  But, they will probably rely on recent seasons (they've played 5 seasons since Heroes vs. Villains) so they should have a decent supply of one-timers from that player pool.  From last season, alone, they could take: Colton, Kim, Kat, Sabrina, Tarzan or Troyzan.  From the season before, they could take Russell's nephew (Brandon) and Woody Allen (Cochran).  From Redemption Island: Philip and Matt.  From Nicaragua: Marty, Fabio and Holly.  It looks like in the coming season it will be 10 Fans vs. 10 Favorites.  I hope they think outside the box when bringing back former players.  I don't need to see the kooks again (Phillip and Tarzan).  I'd much rather see the competent ones get another chance.

Overall, I thought it was an above-average season that ran out of steam towards the end.  Six on a scale of 1-10.