You may want to spoiler-tag that, even though it is speculation.
Re: one of the rumored returning “favorites”
Brenda was a pretty good player (and a real hottie as well) who impressed me with her strategic thinking and gameplay. She made it far enough to be on the jury, but she was torpedoed by forming an early alliance with NaOnka, one of the craziest, most unpredictable [del]bitches[/del] Survivor players ever.
What’s still puzzling me is Penner’s hostility at the final tribal council. In his private interviews, he mocks Lisa and talks about manipulating and using her. THEN when it turns out SHE was using HIM, he goes all ballistic.
Why is that puzzling? It’s Survivor Bittercakes Jury Theory 101 at its most basic. Malcolm did it, too…he was planning on getting rid of Denise just as much as Denise was planning on getting rid of him, but he was upset that Denise got rid of him.
I slowed down the preview for Fans vs. Favorites, and picked out the faces of Russel Hanz, Coach, Johnny Fairplay, Rupert Boneham, Cerie, J.T. and Tyson Apostol.
While probably not the real cast it would be …err… interesting.
That was Fan v. Favorites 1, no?
I, too, was surprised at both Malcolm and Penner’s bitterness. I think that they both damaged their reputation way late in the game.
I was also surprised that only 2 people said that they’d vote for Malcolm over Denise had he remained in the game. I guess either he was less popular at camp that we believed, or Denise was more liked. Either way, I’m glad to see an alliance staying true to their word to not reward people for being unlikeable.
I like Lisa fine. Her winning the $100k is nicer than having the winner win it in addition to the million bucks.
Other comments:
Whelchel’s brother is a babe. I can foresee him getting a spot on a future show.
Abi didn’t even look like herself after she got cleaned up.
I get the impression that Jeff didn’t appreciate being outsmarted by a bunch of girls.
RJ was completely right that whathisname’s boneheaded move might have amused him, but it destroyed the alliance which assured them all a bottom place finish.
Artis needs to start smiling like a ninny because he just looks like a grumpy person. And by that I mean he’d make a great assassin.
Thought Scupin played a great game.
It does suck for Malcolm that he won all those challenges and ended up with nothing. Maybe next time he’ll start paying more attention to his alliances to make sure he’s not outliked.
I like that Denise put Malcolm in his place in the end. Note to Malcolm: Nodding is her thing. Get over it.
Super mad that Grant didn’t make the Fan v. Favorite cut. He was a major babe.
This is the typical winner that did nothing but to ride on the coatails of someone else and thanks to it zipped to the finish and wins the big prize.
Denise did absolutely nothing the entire game so of course everyone voted for her. She didnt have to do anything, Malcolm was the bad guy.
Imo Anyone else deserved more to win than Denise because they played the game.
I disagree and think Denise played the game perfectly in order to win.
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You need to be a useful member of your tribe. Check - and did well enough to survive despite her tribe being whittled down from 6 to 2 in the first four votes. She immediately became the strongest woman on her new tribe, which further helped her survive.
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You need to fly under the radar because otherwise you get eliminated in the individual stage as soon as you don’t win immunity (see Malcolm, Penner).
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You need to be able to form multiple alliances and break them at the proper moments. Her alliance with Malcolm definitely aided her as both someone she could trust and someone to take the heat, and she also made the alliance with Skupin/Lisa that Penner missed out on (leading to his demise). And she chose the right time to dump Malcolm and convince Skupin and Lisa to take her to the final 3, where she then clobbered them.
Yes, the thing about Survivor is that the “strongest” or “best” player often doesn’t win - usually because the other people are smart enough to vote them off. The exceptions are huge challenge monsters (and more often than not they lose, like Colby or Ozzie), or hero worship (Boston Rob). It’s a fine line to walk to be respected as a good player but manage to never seriously be in trouble of having votes against you - but she managed it, just like Earl Cole, Tom Westman and Kim Spradlin.
I don’t think you can lump her in with other “undeserving” winners like Natalie or Sandra (Heroes vs Villains), both of whom basically just won because they weren’t Russell Hantz.
I disagree. Denise was a very strong player, plus she was noted for her work ethic around camp.
Actually, all 3 finalists were strong contributors to their tribes and alliances.
it is actually a remarkable Final 3 since it did not include Abi. good for them.
RJ has only herself to blame for not having a backup Plan B. And once she realized Abi was a kook, what stopped her from switching allegiances? She could have made it far if she buddied up to Lisa and Scoopin’.
RC, not RJ.
RC was an interesting character. She presented herself as an intelligent player yet managed to play as a stupid one, which was a shame because in a bikini her body was ever so sizzling, and she thus completely missed her calling by being encumbered by her superficial alliance with a psychotic fat-ass, then turned many of her drooling following against her with that obnoxious, nervous cackle at the reunioin.
Apparently, if you watched the Ponderosa videos, RJ was extremely disliked by her teammates. And remember that her own tribe turned against her. They tend not to do this unless someone is a real threat or supremely unlikeable.
So drool over her smoking body if you’d like, but apparently she was a real whiner.
I watched this later in the week, so I’m still catching up, but did anyone else think Denise had blown it with her speech at tribal? When Malcomb got voted out, I thought Denise was a shoe in, but then she gave her “I’m here because I’m better than you at this game speech” and my jaw hit the floor. But she’s right, she was better than them.
Also, I loved Penner’s speech at tribal. That was just an awesome bit of crazy.