Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Ben Show (formerly Survivor)!
Worst reunion show ever. First they changed the rules at the very end to hand Ben the win, then spent most of the (very short) remaining time treating him like the greatest player ever. Makes me wonder if he had some help finding all those idols.
And I still think he’s kind of a dick.
Slow start, but a good season all and all I think, especially once they got to the merge and jury stage. I had Devon pegged as the winner, and both Ben or Chrissy would’ve been acceptable winners, so I’m not too miffed over Ben’s win. He certainly had a lot of the most entertaining moments of this season too.
And hey, even a bit of controversy. I know a lot of people are upset about it I can certainly see why… even with the HIIs, I think there was something sacrosanct about it only working to final four, and then needing to either 1) win immunity or 2) convince the others to let you stay in the game. That’s what makes immunity important, is that as soon as you don’t win your ass is on the chopping block. Ben had backed himself into the corner of needing to win out, but then got saved by the twist and won despite losing final immunity. Devon arguably got screwed (I think he wins final 3 in place of Ben, because I got the impression from all the interviews that Chrissy wasn’t well-liked) and Chrissy got screwed too (losing a chance to help choose who didn’t make it to the end).
At least next season, the twist will (hopefully) be known in advance so the Survivors can plan around it. Maybe they’ll vote out Season 36’s Ben at 7 instead of saying “well we can always just get him 4.”
So, they were stupid enough to let Ben search for an HII!
I’ve been a Ben booster for some time, but damn if Chrissy did not give a helluva speech! I still though Ben should win, but I thought the jury would go for Chrissy. I can’t believe Devon voted for Ryan. But I think the thing that swung the jury, if not the whole Vet/PTSD thing, was that they didn’t get off their asses to prevent Ben from getting those idols. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I still like Survivor and even though this got off to good start, as usual it picked up nicely after the merge.
Maybe not, though. That time a player went directly from one season to the next (was that Hantz?) they made a point of telling us that the other players hadn’t had a chance to see any of his first season broadcast.
And given that this twist was only revealed last night, and the next season will be shown starting in February, I’d bet that set of players will be surprised by it, too.
Did Jeff say something like “For the first time the final three will be determined by firemaking.” Did he forget the 2 or 3 times that’s already happened because of a tie?
I wonder what the result would’ve been if Devon beat Ben there. I think he and Chrissy both had an equal shot at the million.
I was wondering, too. I think Chrissy would’ve won if only because her “mom” story would trump any story Devon could tell. Devon’s move to vote out Mike was huuuuuuuge, but Chrissy had all those II wins.
Yeah, production would need to tell them, rather than them knowing from seeing season 35. Which is why I said “hopefully.” I think it would also lose something if the audience knows its coming but the players don’t… not much of a “twist” in that regard.
Looking at the Survivor wiki, it’s happened 6 times, so it’s not even very rare (that’s what, 1 out of 6 times?)
two thoughts:
the “reunion show” was pretty lame, with no real re-cap or insights… did they ever mention the final vote (which I assume was 5-2-1)
next season’s “theme” makes no sense…they bill it as “the graveyard for bad Survivor decisions” and the players will have the chance to “reverse the curse of some of the worst decisions in Survivor history”, but all they will be doing is giving the players access to an island that “will be populated with advantages from past seasons”… how can anyone “reverse the curse” of a poorly played immunity idol other than by giving it to someone else?
They did a “recap” of Ben’s experience.
I’m pretty sure that has happened several times. Hasn’t it?
It has been lame for years. I liked it better when they made the effort to talk to every contestant at least briefly, when they didn’t bother with lame segments in the audience, and when they spent less time pimping the next season. But this one had even less strategy talk than most, although it did also have fewer really cringe-inducing segments. (I did find it amusingly absurd when Jeff pretended to take the votes from the island, via helicopter, jet-ski, etc., straight to the live stage.)
It’s fuzzy now, but I think the best one might have been the one hosted by Rosie O’Donnell.
That’s true–that was actually helpful/informative, as I had forgotten some of the early season stuff.
Due to SWMBO’s dislike of Survivor, I can’t watch the shows in a timely enough manner to read the Survivor threads without spoilers. So I haven’t read this one.
Question: Do I remember correctly that they had more than one opportunity to oust Ben, when he either didn’t have an idol, or felt so safe he would not have played it?
I might be in the minority, but I’m fine with Jeff not talking to every contestant. It’s always awkward when he’s talking to the second person out who no one remembers. I do feel like he restricted it too much now. I don’t think he really talked to anyone outside the final five.
Did anyone watch Ponderosa this year? I liked it a lot the first few years, but have found it increasingly boring. If it picked up this year, to where I should go back and watch, I’d love to know.
Hantz, Malcolm, Michaela and Zeke went back to back seasons, without an “extended” break between seasons.
None of contestants in the “2nd season” had seen those players on TV. Zeke and Michaela had obviously seen each other player.
Like most things, I watch Survivor after it’s been recorded on my DVR, and especially on the final episode there are skippable moments. At least they didn’t do the “parade past memorials to those voted out” this time. Blehh!
That was always the worst. I think it’s gone for good. What has it been, three in a row at least without it?
I didn’t stay up to see the reunion, I just watched the final vote. I agree about the final “advantage.” I thought it sucked all around. I felt bad for Devon, too. He wasn’t going to win, but he was one of my favorites through the season. I think he should’ve made it to final 3.
I wish they would just play survivor. No hidden immunity idols, no extra advantages, nothing. The tribe has spoken, you’re out of here. I’ve been saying that for years. I admit the idols, when played well can add to the complexity and strategy of the game, but I’m tired of them, honestly. I really think having them in the game once the tribe is down to five people is insane. At that point, if you can’t move forward by winning immunity or through your game play, you probably shouldn’t be there.
Probst has been emphatic in interviews that the longtime fans who want to go back to plain vanilla Survivor can basically suck it. I hold out a slight hope that at some point (like the 20th anniversary of the first season, maybe?) they might be willing to do a “Survivor: Old School” game just for one season. But I’m not holding my breath.
I hated the twist and so did my daughter. No vote at the end ruins the game IMHO. If they do it again I’ll probably give up on the show.