The Survivor Thread

[gmillerdrake]

3 (2+1) hour finale tonight!

I need Culpepper to finish in final three in order to get a payday in the office pool.

And I'm glad this season is ending. Haven't been impressed at all, more annoyed than anything.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Yeah, I'm not usually this annoyed with Survivor, but I guess when you have an All-Stars season, it becomes more likely than not that you'll end up annoyed somehow.

[gmillerdrake]

Yeah, I'm not usually this annoyed with Survivor, but I guess when you have an All-Stars season, it becomes more likely than not that you'll end up annoyed somehow.

I was more annoyed with how 'orchestrated' it felt/feels. Probst and the producers went above and beyond to suck all the spontaneity out of the show with the non stop 'game changing' twists.

That couples with a few 'less than reality' moments in the show that felt very scripted...it really put me off this season.

[BlobVanDam]

Yeah, I'm not usually this annoyed with Survivor, but I guess when you have an All-Stars season, it becomes more likely than not that you'll end up annoyed somehow.

I was more annoyed with how 'orchestrated' it felt/feels. Probst and the producers went above and beyond to suck all the spontaneity out of the show with the non stop 'game changing' twists.

That couples with a few 'less than reality' moments in the show that felt very scripted...it really put me off this season.

I'm with you. Too many forced and contrived moments this season. I like it when they mix things up for a season, but not when it's seemingly random from week to week for the sake of it. And having returning players has added little.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

The complete randomness, under the guise of "ZOMGGAMECHANGER" it what has really screwed it up this season.

In other news, despite having a separate and unused thread for it, I've really enjoyed this current season of Amazing Race.  Complete strangers picking each other for teams.  It's been interesting to see the dynamic between people who have to learn how to work with someone they've never even met.

[gmillerdrake]

Used to watch that show all the time. Somewhere along the line i stopped, don't remember why....just did.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I was bummed that it was NOT in the fall lineup and very happy to see that it returned for the spring.  It's on Friday nights, but we DVR it and watch it on Sunday night after dinner.  I only started watching it probably half way through the history of the series (same with Survivor), so I missed a lot of the early seasons, when they were still figuring out how to conduct the show and what worked and didn't.

[BlobVanDam]

I started to lose interest in the Amazing Race, then they had a season of nothing but generic couples, and then I was out for good. Haven't bothered since.

[hefdaddy42]

HOLY CRAP AT THAT FIRST TRIBAL

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Un-fucking-believable first TC.

[gmillerdrake]

That's a horseshit win. Fn Sarah? Reallly? Joke of a season ends in a joke of a win.

[hefdaddy42]

I disagree, she played her ass off. I would have been OK with her or Culpeper, but he definitely screwed himself by getting Tai voted out.

[gmillerdrake]

I disagree, she played her ass off. I would have been OK with her or Culpeper, but he definitely screwed himself by getting Tai voted out.

Totally get that....especially the part where Brad was an idiot for taking Sarah in the first place....literally the only person left that could beat him.

I may have been a tad emotional in my post because I missed a chance to win some $$ in the office pool....got my money back but could have had another $160 on top of it.

But, I don't think she 'played her ass off'. I don't consider Sarah's game a 'playing your ass off' type of game. The lying and double crossing, backstabbing flip flop game that she and countless other players have played does not impress me AT ALL. I've never liked that 'style' of play....if it is even a style.

Her in particular spent 3/4 of the game on the bottom of whichever alliance she thought she was in....she was repeatedly surprised and dumbfounded at who was getting voted off because she was never clued in....all in all....she got as lucky as the Nashville Predators the entire game to end up in the third position.

I personally consider the way Culpepper, Ozzy, Fighter pilot Terry, Malcolm...etc....play a more 'honorable' way to play. Dominate challenges, work with an alliance...sure there will be some level of lying and deceit but it's not on the level of desperation like Sarah, Tai and others play it. For Culpepper to rip off FIVE immunity challenges basically in a row because he knew if he didn't win he was going home was WAY more impressive to me than Sarah being lucky about getting some legacy advantage and accidentally finding herself still there in the final days.

But whatever....like I said....this season basically was a season of disappointment and annoyance anyway so why not top it off with someone who shouldn't even have made it that far winning it all.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Yeah, that whole TC with Cirie going out was unreal.  And, I think, it's only going to make things worse as far as Immunity Idols go.  Andy at Reality Blurred speculates that this is what's going to happen with immunity idol distribution on the upcoming season, after having seen the drama that a 5-idol TC created:



I can't say I disagree.  Probst is going to run with this.  As someone ends up on the shit list, there's literally going to be a big neon sign put up, in big bold colors that says "THERE IS AN IMMUNITY IDOL RIGHT HERE BEHIND THIS TREE, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS KICK A ROCK OUT OF THE WAY AND IT IS YOURS, NOW FOLLOW THE TRAIL OF POPCORN TO THE NEXT NEON SIGN FOR ANOTHER IDOL".

I'm bummed that you missed out on the pool money, but I was perfectly happy to see Sarah win.  I was okay with Brad up until he starting pushing Tai around and coming off like an asshole.  Good on him for making that right at the finale last night.

[gmillerdrake]

I'm bummed that you missed out on the pool money, but I was perfectly happy to see Sarah win.  I was okay with Brad up until he starting pushing Tai around and coming off like an asshole.  Good on him for making that right at the finale last night.
[/quote]

Yeah...Sarah wasn't the worst example of someone who shouldn't have won. My initial post after it all last night was a bit harsh. She's a cop...so I'm glad she got some $$ being that they don't typically make a ton of dough. Brad didn't need or want the money....he just wanted to win. I don't know if you've noticed or not but I tend to get a tad emotional about things    so I was all fired up and on 'team Culpepper' to win it all....

I agree that his attitude towards the end started to get annoying. His competitive nature coupled with no sleep and no food probably contributed to it....but if I had to speculate I'd guess he's probably a 'rough' personality in real life already.

I still ended up 'winning' $10 after getting paid out today...so it wasn't all that bad. Typically we have enough for (2) separate pools....$10 a player and I usually buy (2) players for each pool. So I was 'all in' for $40.... "won" $50...so, I got my money back plus a bit extra.

[BlobVanDam]

I disagree, she played her ass off. I would have been OK with her or Culpeper, but he definitely screwed himself by getting Tai voted out.

I agree. Culpepper played a great game, especially towards the end when he won those immunity challenges, but Tai was the safe option to beat. And his social game towards the end was kind of sucky, and I didn't want him to win with how badly he was treating Tai (even though I disliked Tai too). But huge credit to him for winning so many challenges, and I recall at least 3 of them he dominated at the puzzle section, not just physical strength as you'd expect. He definitely would have been a worthy winner. The only one who didn't really deserve it was Troyzan, and I think he kind of knew it. Every final 3 has that one person who never had a chance, and he was it.
Also, this is the first time in a while where the winner didn't feel clear cut. Usually it's plainly obvious who was going to win in a landslide. This time, I genuinely didn't know whether they'd go with Culpepper or Sarah, because both had their strengths.

That first tribal where Cirie got voted out was crazy. 5 people safe, and someone voted out by default? Damn. Although it kind of makes me sus about all of those times when Tai should have played one of his idols and he didn't. The perfect storm just kind of felt a bit too perfect, with all of these things that had to be played by that point.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Hence the "Trouble with Tribbles" gif, referencing how many immunity idols will show up next season. 

Yeah, I think by the end of final TC, Troyzan was like "Look, I know you guys aren't gonna vote for me, it's cool, I'm just glad to be here".

[gmillerdrake]

The level at which the producers are influencing the winners of the past few seasons with ‘fortunate’ twists and idols and advantages in the game is getting real annoying.

Ben played a good game but the last two idols and especially the last ‘advantage’ were specifically implemented to make sure he didn’t get voted out or go home.