Idol Speculation: “Survivor HvHvH” Episode 13: Je Ne Se Quoi

No, I swear the French title is not due to the fact that my current reading material concerns the Marquis de Lafayette (though the book in question is excellent). “Je ne se quoi”, literally “I don’t know what.”, is usually used to mean that “certain something”. An undefinable quality that just improves whatever it’s in. And it’s relevant to bring that up this season, because that’s really the only way to describe what went wrong here. This was by no means a bad season. Sure, it had a couple of bad decisions (the big one of which we’ll get to later this blog), but it had some good decisions and good characters to act as a counterbalance. Everyone was trying their hardest, cast and crew alike, and it’s hard to find a negative thing to say about the season. But, for whatever reason, the whole thing missed that magical “Survivor” quality to truly get us invested. Instead of a 13-episode epic we were involved in and dissected at home, we had an experience we watched, enjoyed, and moved on from. Hell, even the show seemed to want to move on from this season. The “Reunion Show” now holds the record for fewest cast talked to (four), and lasted all of a half hour, most of that taken up with commercials, and what remains mainly devoted to the upcoming season. Where did things go wrong? Well, as I’ve mentioned, I can’t really give you a firm answer, but let’s try and figure it out from this episode anyway, shall we?

Actually, our episode starts with what I like to call “The Better Reunion Show”. Probst shows off some fans and some challenges being played before going in and highlighting the cast. At the time, I was thrilled. People voted off early tend to get the shaft in more recent reunion shows (at least, more than they did at the old reunion shows), so it was nice to see them acknowledged. Now I’m just pissed that that’s ALL we got to hear from anyone not named Ben, Chrissy, Ryan, or Lauren. Sadly, this is NOT just kept to the intro, and instead we must get Probst constantly interrupting the action with annoying, seemingly staged fans or awkward interviews where we either suck up to Devon or diss Dr. Mike for not being “BIG MOVES” enough for Probst’s taste. The little girl casting her own fake jury vote was nice, but the rest was cringe-worthy and unnecessary.

Dr. Mike is, understandably, grateful for everyone not ditching him at the last Tribal Council, which leads into a big celebration of the supposed “Final Four”. You’d think, of course, that the celebration would be cut short when Ben wanders off to look for another idol. And yet, once again NO ONE DOES ANYTHING! Ok, I know Ben is a workhorse when it comes to idols, but surely you’ve learned your lesson by now! His idol at the final seven, I can forgive. He wasn’t a target when he looked for the idol, of COURSE people wouldn’t tail him. His idol at the final six, I can understand. While being overly confident is a mistake in the game, it’s one that’s easy to make. But neglecting to take this treat seriously at the final five, RIGHT AFTER Ben just schooled you for not tailing him on his idol hunt, is just insane.

Sure enough, Ben finds an idol, thereby bumping him to the top of the heap for winning against this jury. Look, I know I put Ben in third behind Devon and Dr. Mike, but this pattern of Ben’s just makes these people look like idiots! There’s no way Ben doesn’t play that idol tonight, and with how showboaty he can be, it will just humiliate these supposed “strategists” still further.

Oh, and fulfilling the prophecy of Joe, the idol is, in fact, buried under the raft. Nice touch.

Also, hello full-length intro! Sure have missed you the entire season!

Not to say that no further strategizing goes on, of course. Chrissy, in her infinite wisdom, decides that MAYBE working on her social game a bit could help prevent future blindsides. She makes nice with Ben, and we see exactly WHY Chrissy hasn’t been making nice with people: SHE’S BAD AT IT! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen far worse on this show before, but it comes across as transparent and fake. Sure enough, Ben doesn’t buy it, stating that he will use his idol to eliminate Chrissy at the next Tribal Council.

In case it wasn’t clear that this meant that Chrissy would win this immunity challenge, we then find out that this challenge is another obstacle course with a puzzle at the end. A particularly creative puzzle in this case, involving maneuvering balls into slots around a spinning wheel one at a time. Colorful and creative, this is all that makes this challenge fun, but it also guarantees a Chrissy win. Probst congratulates her, noting that she’s close to tying the record for female immunity wins. I can’t get AS mad at Probst for bringing up the “female record”, since with only one challenge left Chrissy has no chance to tie the overall record of five wins, but I STILL don’t get why this is gender separated. In sports, you can at least argue that the men and women play separate events. On “Survivor”, however, different genders don’t run different challenges. Everyone competes in the same challenge, let everyone compete for the same record.

Chrissy’s win also earns her the right to a feast at camp, taking two people with her. She picks Dr. Mike and Devon. Devon I can understand, since you want to keep a potential ally close, but Dr. Mike? I get that maybe you want to keep your “Final Three” deal secret from Ben, but even if he and Dr. Mike know, what are you going to do? Better to placate Ryan, rather than regulate him to babysitting duty.

Showing that, perhaps, not EVERY mistake is ignored, Dr. Mike insists everyone check for an idol clue at the feast before chowing down. A new plan is hatched over the meal, however. Remember WAY back in the first episode where Chrissy held onto that one-use super idol? Yeah, that comes into play now. To keep Ben from searching for any more possible idols, Chrissy will pretend this was the new idol in the game, found at the feast. To be fair, if they don’t know Ben has the idol, that’s not a bad plan, since it can keep him from looking for a potential actual idol. Everyone does a pretty good acting job as well, Devon in particular being good at feigning surprise when Chrissy shows it off around camp. Unfortunately, we all know that Ben HAS found a idol, meaning that apart from getting Chrissy and Ryan as a pair, the super idol did NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

At least we have some mystery from Ben to keep us going. With Chrissy immune, Ben now has to decide which member of the tribe to kick off. Ben says he’s going for challenge ability, meaning that Ryan is out of the running. Between Devon and Dr. Mike, Devon is probably stronger, but Dr. Mike good at puzzles, so it’s kind of a toss-up. In that situation, I say fall back on who has any possibility of beating you. In Ben’s case at this point, the answer is no one, but Dr. Mike comes the closest, due to having the most friends on the jury, and being inoffensive, so he’s the choice to eliminate.

Still, we’re kept in the dark, meaning Tribal Council can be exciting. At least until DEVON has to screw things up. He actually has an astute observation, noting that something seems off with Ben. This makes Devon paranoid, and talks about wanting to throw a vote Dr. Mike’s way, just in case. Not a bad plan, but since the misdirection of why he WOULDN’T do it is weak (it would offend Dr. Mike, but he’s one vote, and Devon’s got enough surplus that it won’t matter too much), and we haven’t heard a definitive answer from Ben, we can be assured that the smart move will be made, and Dr. Mike will leave.

Much like this episode, the name of this Tribal Council is “Hubris”. Everyone, Chrissy in particular is so cocky about their chances, and it all gets dashed when Ben pulls out the idol, wisely waiting until the votes were CAST this time to give himself more control. Indeed, Dr. Mike does go home, though not quite in the way one might expect. Ben in fact votes for Devon, but Devon’s paranoia won out, and he voted for Dr. Mike, causing a tie. On the revote, of course, we all know what’s coming. Even though Ben sticks to his proverbial guns, Chrissy and Ryan are too close to Devon (and have a final three deal) to vote him out at this point, and so Dr. Mike goes home. I’ve seen the guy get a lot of hate online, but I kind of like the guy, and am sorry to see him go. I think the problem is the hype. He was supposed to be one of the big strategists this season, a guy Probst in particular built up big time. Ultimately, though, Dr. Mike had a few questionable accomplishments at best. Yet there’s something about the guy I find endearing. It think it’s just the fact that no matter what happens, the guy was a fan. He was upbeat and happy to be there, trying his best even when it kept hitting him in the face. Dr. Mike, I salute you, good sir.

Before leaving Tribal Council, Probst hints at a mystery twist. Remember this. It will earn my ire later.

Production can only give Ben so many idols, so prior to our immunity challenge, they celebrate around the fire, with Ben noting that he’s still on the outs and needs to win. Unfortunately for him, Chrissy has been built up about her challenge prowess, particularly her potentially tying the aforementioned sexist record, so he’s probably going to lose.

Our final challenge itself is basically a variation on the “Block stack spelling” challenge that has now unfortunately become a “Survivor” staple. Not that it’s a HORRIBLE challenge, but at this point, I’m tired of seeing it. In this case, however, things are made more difficult. Everyone has to spell out “Heroes, Healers, Hustlers” on three connected platforms, making spills all the more likely and all the more fun. Ultimately a decent enough final immunity challenge. I’ve seen better, but I’ve also seen worse.

Surprisingly, Chrissy seems to fall out early on, as it’s RYAN who is Ben’s main competition. While I was convinced the entire time that Chrissy would win immunity, I admit I was kind of hoping for Ryan to win, just so that Ben’s comment about Ryan not being a challenge threat would be doubly ironic. But no, Ryan falls, but Ben, of course, must also fail. He gets everything up with no falls initially, BUT accidentally puts the “U” in “Hustlers” upside-down, and in his haste to correct this, knocks everything off. Thus, Chrissy does win as the editing suggests. For all that it was incredibly predictable, it is pretty cool that Chrissy joins this elite group. Good for her.

Ben is, of course, somewhat put out about the fact that his chances of making to the end are all but shot. Production has no more idols in play; what else can they do to save their favorite? Why, a twist of course! Yes, Chrissy finds out that she simultaneously has the most power and no power. You see, rather than the usual vote of the night, she instead picks one other person to effectively be immune. The other two then square off in a fire-making challenge to determine who gets spot number three.

I want to make sure my point is clear, so I’m giving it it’s own paragraph: I HATE THIS TWIST! Look, I’m usually the first one to defend production shaking up the game. Hell, I’m one of the few people online who doesn’t seem to mind “Advantagegeddon” all that much. And while there are few things in the game that are sacrosanct, I feel like the end game is one of them. I wasn’t super happy when they moved to a final three, and I’m even less happy about this. While it does give the final immunity more power, it also takes away one’s ability to strategically control the game in the long run, since apart from guessing a fire-making ability, it’s now a crap-shoot as to who ends up against you in the finals. Now, I get why they’re doing this from a production standpoint. Nothing ruins a season like a predictable finale, but since the smartest players will ensure that they ally with two goats to the end, they’re hard to avoid. This makes it more likely that two good players will end up in the end. And for this season, and probably next season, it works, because no one suspects it. But let me tell you what happens once people KNOW this twist may come: they now take THREE goats to the end, so that no matter what, they win. This means the best players will be gotten rid of sooner, and I ask you, how is THAT good tv? I know production doesn’t want an obvious victor in the finals, but the fact is that whatever you do, you just can’t guarantee that the players who were the most exciting and make for the best debate will get to the end. It’s a necessary evil of the show, but if it keeps things more in the hands of strategy, I’m all for it. Plus, we survived the obvious outcome of the finals of “Survivor Fiji”. I think we’ll live.

Utilizing the one bit of strategy she DOES have, Chrissy informs Ryan and Devon of the twist, since both need to know to keep up the act, and are unlikely to tell Ben. Since we’ve established that Ryan sucks in challenges, Chrissy is naturally going to keep him safe. sending Devon to make fire since he has the best chance of beating Ben. Ryan, ever the funny man, gets in one last good line about his LACK of fire-making skills technically saving him.

Devon initially seems like he’ll do the smart thing and practice, practice, practice, but when his flint “breaks” (maybe I just don’t know flint, but it looked good to me), he decides to just leave it in fate’s hands. Given how Ben has been built up as the great American Hero, you can guess where this foreshadowing is going. Man, for all that this finale did have reasons pretty much everyone (save Ryan), could win, they are doing a HORRIBLE job at hiding the outcome of everything tonight.

Sadly, we do not get an over-the-top reaction from Ben this time when Chrissy reveals the twist, and nothing of value happens prior to the challenge. Of course, since we’re aware that hubris is coming for Devon, while we watch the two try to make fire, I devote my thoughts to more lucrative areas. Namely, what’s stopping either of them from grabbing some coconut husk, quickly dipping it in the Tribal Council fire, and getting fire that way. Sure, Probst says they’ll make fire “using flint and steel”, but he never says they HAVE to do it that way. What, is production going to tackle someone making a beeline for the communal fire. If it’s not explicitly banned, go for it! You can rules-lawyer your way out of it! Worst case scenario, you have to start the challenge over, which works fine for you. No reason not to.

Evidently Devon should have gone for it, as he goes home, which makes me somewhat sorry. The guy really proved me wrong. He was a “surfer-dude” type who actually had substance and strategy to him. Had he beaten Ben, I think he would have had a shot at winning. Hell, he was good enough I’d even be down for seeing him again, something I don’t usually say for his character type.

Day 39 naturally means everyone trots out their arguments for winning over a big breakfast. Ryan has the weakest argument, but notes that he does have some accomplishments from the early game to fall back on, and can blow those up to seem more important than he is. Not a bad strategy, all things considered, but one that rarely works. The trouble with early-game dominance is that it’s less visible to the jury, and thus harder to use as an argument for a win. Look at the case of Sherri Beithman from “Survivor Caramoan”. True, she had arguably the worst Final Tribal Council performance in the history of the show, but she DID do a good job controlling the early game. However, very few people who knew that were left, those that were were predisposed to dislike Sherri, and so any arguments she had fell flat. The same is true for Ryan here, though since he HAS more of an argument than Troyzan on “Survivor Game Changers”, I admire his willingness to do anything and everything he can. Chrissy has more of an argument, controlling most things post-game, and striking a blow to the “mom stereotype” with both her gameplay and her challenge wins. Ben, meanwhile, was the underdog a lot of the time, and has the whole “American Hero” bit for sympathy. Tough call between those two, but I give the edge to Ben, at least for me. The whole “Not tailing him at Final Five” thing REALLY rubbed me the wrong way on everyone else, and on top of that, I’ve figured out what Ben’s game has that other’s this season did not: Uncomfortableness.

Hear me out: While everyone this season had different flaws, the most common was was getting comfortable in their position. Every time someone thought they were on top, BAM! Something slid out from under them. Of everyone left, Ben was the only one who never let his position delude him into thinking he was safe, and that is what gives him his edge.

Unfortunately, it seem the “Fire-Making Final Four” is not the ONLY annoying twist to be carried over, as Tribal Council is once again a “round table format” rather than the traditional questions. I’m not AS mad about it as I am some other twists, but it deprives us of a lot of stand-out moments, and inserts Probst into the conversation too much. That said, I have to give kudos to the final three for all giving good performances. Chrissy’s speech was clear and strong. Ben did a good job dodging the sticky points, particularly when it was pointed out that Ben “Steamroller” Driebergen MIGHT have annoyed a few people on the jury. He naturally segued that into talking about his service and what it meant. And Ryan came out SWINGING! He went the Adam Klein (“Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X”) route of countering most everyone else’s argument, but spun a coherent narrative about controlling people socially and using Devon, a good enough argument that he deserved the vote he got.

In the vein of things being predictable, though, Ben wins, a decision broadcast by Probst when Ben was ahead three votes to two, with two votes left, and Probst said “Last Vote”. As I’ve stated, with this final three, it was the right decision. Everyone had flaws in their game that were clearly shown (one of the strengths of the season, I’d say), but Ben had the least, and I just can’t get over how STUPID people were for not tailing him after he demonstrated that he could find idols out from under them. Good for him. Hope he raised the awareness that he wanted.

As mentioned previously, this so-called “reunion show” was a travesty, surpassed in horribleness only by the one from “Survivor Caramoan”, and then only because the latter was actually offensive in it’s treatment of the pre-mergers, not just disrespectful. Since all it was focussed on was the upcoming season, let’s talk about it. “Survivor Ghost Island”. I must admit, I am intrigued. The idea of bringing up past failures to a group of newbies is an intriguing idea that pays off superfans like myself, and means that we’ll get a season of newbies NOT DIVIDED BY ANY SORT OF FORCED THEME! HUZZAH! Really, my only gripe is that the references to past seasons may overshadow the new players, and will definitely make it hard for anyone new picking up the show, but as a superfan, it’s my cup of tea.

And yes, I’m aware that the name “Ghost Island” and the fake-looking Easter Islands Heads are corny. Guess what? “Survivor” is corny! But this is corny in just the right way. I’d normally make fun of the name “Ghost Island” as well, but after seasons that don’t roll off the tongue like “Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X” and “Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers”, or names inappropriate to the season like “Survivor Game Changers”, I’ll take a name that’s merely mildly corny in all the right way.

Well, with all that out of the way, time to see how my pre-season predictions fared with how people actually did in the game, starting with…

Alan-While he wasn’t crazy in exactly the way I thought, and made it SLIGHTLY farther than I predicted, I did say he would make waves and be out early. I’ll give myself this one, if only to make myself feel better. Brace yourselves; I’m wrong a LOT this season.

Chrissy-Wrong. She was quite the contender, and took more charge than I expected. Made it farther as well.

JP-Yep he typified the inoffensive merge boot, all right.

Katrina-Yeah, this is now tied for the most wrong I’ve been in a pre-season prediction. In my defense, I though the “Heroes” would avoid Tribal Council, giving Katrina more time to integrate. Had I known the order of going to Tribal Council, I probably would have changed my ranking. That said, I didn’t know, and was horribly wrong because of it.

Ashley-I’m half and half on her. Her personality was calmer than I thought, but she made it almost exactly as far as I expected.

Jessica-Wrong. She lasted longer than expected, and was more of a driving force. Wish we could have seen more of her.

Cole-He was slightly more short-lived than I expected, but otherwise I was right.

Desi-Wrong. She held up much better than I expected, and all the better for us.

Joe-Yeah, he was my closer winner pick this season, but he had MUCH less emotional intelligence than I gave him credit for.

Roark-Out earlier than I predicted, but I did ok on personality.

Mike-Wrong. Less strategic and more long-lived than I would have guessed.

Ryan-Right on personality, but he made it slightly farther than I guessed, since most people didn’t seem to respect his game.

Simone-Wrong. I thought she would hold up much better, and paid the price for not doing so.

Devon-Wrong. For once, someone seemingly shallow but claiming to have hidden depths actually HAD those hidden depths.

Ali-I feel like I was right, since most people had her far higher than I did, so my guess of first boot was ultimately closer, but she did do better than I anticipated.

Patrick-He was dumber and more short-lived than I expected. Another one for the “Wrong” column.

Lauren-Wrong, thankfully. Her dry wit and surprising strategic mind were a gem in this otherwise average season. Hopefully she comes back soon!

Ben-He had more strategy than I thought, and that made him longer-lasting to a win. Good for him.

Normally this is where I’d do a “Top 5 and Bottom 5”, but given that topics are scarce, this season just doesn’t seem worth the effort. Like I said at the top, this is a hard season to pin down. Short of the Final Four twist and maybe one idol too many, you can’t say this season did anything wrong, and it did some things right. I liked how most everyone was showed as flawed in some way. There were no master, infallible strategists this season. And most episodes were entertaining. But things felt disjointed, with most of the pre-merge easily written off. Admittedly a win from Ben connects things a BIT better, since we saw those early bonds that helped him win in the end, but overall, it felt more like a chore than a show. I’d probably put this one just under “Survivor Exile Island” in my rankings. Good enough, but with little to stand out. Let’s hope next season lives up to its hype.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor HvHvH” Episode 12: Unremarkable Episode

Unremarkable episode is unremarkable. What? This episode can’t be bothered to come up with creative challenges, so why should I bother to come up with creative introductions?

Things will get shaken up a bit, though, as it’s time for another…

MATT’S MESS-UP!

For all my pontificating about the right and wrong moves last episode, I forgot to actually note the right move for one particular person at one particular point: Ashley. I mentioned that Chrissy brought her on the family visit in part to approach her about flipping on Ben. What I neglected to mention was whether or not this was a smart idea for her. In short, at that time, it was not. Ashley needs some moves to her name, and Ben is definitely a threat, but as it seems at this point in the game, the trio of Chrissy, Ryan, and Dr. Mike are too tight to keep around. Get rid of one more of them before turning on yourselves. Of course, this opinion changes once Ben goes all paranoid, but at the moment, it makes sense.

Confession time: My cable went on the fritz again. Fortunately, I was able to get it fixed, but not quite in the time frame I was hoping for. I missed the first couple of minutes of the episode, coming in right as the “Night after Tribal Council” scene ends, with Ben expressing how he needs to do something to keep himself around. Thus, I’m going to assume nothing of note happened, and move on to the next day.

The next day, Ben gets up before everyone else to stoke the fire. Realizing that no one else is up, Ben hunts for the idol while also getting more firewood, which frankly SHOULD BE the way everyone hunts for the idol. You have a built-in excuse, and arouse much less suspicion. Chrissy and Dr. Mike aren’t idiots, though, and correctly guess what Ben is doing. However, both also scoff at the idea that yet another idol would be hidden, or that Ben would find it, thereby ensuring that Ben will either A, find the idol, or B, not go home. Way to spoil the outcome before even our lack of opening titles, show!

And now we come to the WORST aspect of today’s episode: the challenges. Yes, I know it would seem from the editing that the misdirection would be the worst aspect of this episode, but for one thing, the ending of the episode kind of redeems it SLIGHTLY, at least to the point where it’s not the ABSOLUTE worst. And second of all, even if they didn’t, the sheer AWFULNESS of the challenges would outweigh that factor. Does the phrase “Generic Obstacle Course” sound fun to you? I hope so, because that’s the only thing you’re getting this episode! We get three teams of two for our reward challenge, and find that the one saving grace in all this is that challenge sinks Ryan and Dr. Mike are on a team together, so there’s at least competition between the others. In fairness, all teams actually stay relatively even, with the team that doesn’t have large Ben on it (Devon and Chrissy) ultimately and unsurprisingly claiming victory. They win a night at a resort with good food, and the right to bring one person with them. After conferring, the pair agree to bring Ryan, which is unsurprising for Chrissy, and at least somewhat makes sense for Devon. Is it the smartest choice they could make? No. And no, Ashley, contrary to how put-out you seem, you are not the smartest choice they could make either. Hell, Ashley’s actually the WORST choice they could make, since she’s least likely to talk strategy to Ben out of the three remaining. Once Ashley has it in her head that she doesn’t like someone, she’ll stick to voting them out as long as she can. Ben right now is on Ashley’s shit list, and while Devon might be next on that list depending on how pissed off Ashley truly is about this choice, Ben will still be target A-1 for her. No, Dr. Mike was the wisest choice. Of everyone left, he would have the least loyalty to either Devon or Chrissy, and assuming he’s the swing vote between two pairs, both would have a reason to court him. However, Ryan, while seemingly more loyal, is also a strategist who needs to be kept happy, and as both have some sort of relationship with him, I could see both picking him as a neutral option.

As mentioned, however, Ashley is pissed at the decision. Actually, Dr. Mike is as well, with both of them heartily complaining about it back at camp. Ben, of course, salivates at the opportunity. The alliance getting pissed at itself is just what he needs. Now, all he has to do is let this fester, and he might be able to pull something off. But no! Ben instead tries to force strategy where none is needed, leading to everyone pointing out that Ben is too big a threat to keep around, and Dr. Mike storming off. Ben then tries encouraging Ashley to take out Dr. Mike for being the swing vote. Not a bad pitch, but Ashley, for all my complaining, is not an idiot. She recognizes that, while Ben is telling the truth, he’s still a bigger threat overall (perhaps not as likable as Dr. Mike, but more of a challenge threat), and is saying what he needs to say. As such, she rightly does not buy it, meaning Ben has to fall back on more so-far fruitless idol hunting.

Meanwhile on reward, strategy talk is also present. Devon, Ryan, and Chrissy make a final three pact, which is smart for all involved. Relying on Dr. Mike as a swing vote is always going to be a high-risk, high-reward strategy, and as Ryan FINALLY points out, Dr. Mike has friends on the jury. Pretty much three people (Desi, Cole, and Joe) are guaranteed to vote for Dr. Mike in the end, meaning that someone would have to swing the other five votes (or hope for a 4-3-1 split) to gain victory. Not good odds, especially when you consider that Dr. Mike has a good underdog story and has ruffled no feathers this season (save perhaps Chrissy’s). Thus, not relying on him is a good thing. Chrissy and Ryan therefore need a third, and although they should have learned their lesson from the vote out of JP, can see Devon as a laid-back surfer guy they can out-talk in the end. Devon, meanwhile, increases his options to get to the end, and here goes with arguably the two least likely to beat him left (not counting Ashley). A win for all involved.

Chrissy’s paranoia crops up once again, though. Ashley’s comments following the challenge did not go unnoticed, and even though it was HEAVILY implied that they were directed towards Devon, Chrissy seems to think they’re about her, and thus ponders the idea of getting Ashley out over Ben. To be clear, this would be a TERRIBLE idea. Ashley has arguably the weakest case at Final Tribal Council, and has very predictable moves, since she just goes against her most hated person left. The ONLY person Ashley is more of a threat than is Ryan. As the talk back at camp demonstrates, most left don’t have much respect for Ryan, seeing him as a weak tag-along. Ashley could probably beat him, but no one else. Better to take out bigger threat Ben.

Our immunity challenge is, of course, a generic obstacle course. Since this particular obstacle course has a puzzle at the end, Chrissy wins, though Ben pulls in a close second. In order for us to have our misdirection, Chrissy, drunk with power, now decides to go after Ashley. She broaches the subject with the other allies, who all rightly point out that this is a TERRIBLE idea, for the reasons explained above, and the idea seems dropped. But since we know Ben survives, somehow, if Ashley’s not the target, he must find an idol. Yup, there’s the clue in the tree, explaining to Ben that he must do his best Kelley Wentworth (“Survivor San Juan del Sur”), and search under the shelter for it. Unfortunately, the sun’s going down, and people just won’t leave. In one of the few areas I will give this episode praise for, we actually don’t see Ben find the idol. Granted, with how the episode is edited, it’s highly unlikely that he WON’T be able to grab it before Tribal Council, but at least the possibility is there.

The sparring at tonight’s Tribal Council is at first decent, with everybody but Ben noting they “Have” a Final Three, Ryan even busting out the classic “Is the Pope Catholic?” line, but let’s be real, the showboating that so annoys Chrissy is the highlight here. Ben, in a desperate attempt to move SOMEONE encourages Devon and Ashley to flip, to strengthen their resumes. Devon scoffs at this, saying he has a resume, which to be fair, his IS one of the strongest ones left. Where Devon falters is in not telling Ben about it. Not that Devon should have spilled his entire strategy to Ben, but he basically goads Ben into revealing that yes, he found the idol. Now don’t get me wrong, I saw it coming. I’m pretty sure we all did. But what I’m surprised at is that NO ONE called an obvious play: that the idol was fake. It’s just a bunch of seashells on a rope, something easy enough to do on one’s own. Ben’s desperate enough to try anything here. Yet NO ONE calls this out. Oh, Devon calls out that Ben might not PLAY the idol, which is totally fair, but why did no once scream “Fake”? Any doubts about the veracity of the idol are tossed out when Ben plays it early on himself, which since it is indeed real, I can’t fault too much, since I don’t think Ben would have held onto it tonight. This does at least have the intended effect of getting people scrambling. Ashley talks with Ben. Dr. Mike talks with Ashley. And through it all, there’s a sense of doom for Dr. Mike. With people recognizing his threat at the end, and Devon being unwilling to go against Ashley at this time, his fate is sealed.

In one nice twist, though, this doesn’t happen, and Ashley goes home. She seems really hurt by this, and in terms of move, I agree. Dr. Mike, in terms of the jury, is the BIGGEST threat right now, and as I hope I’ve made clear, Ashley is not that. Why they came to this conclusion, I don’t know, but it’s the wrong one. Granted, this would put Ben in the proverbial swing position were Dr. Mike to go, but with Devon, Chrissy, and Ryan’s final three deal, I don’t see the swing position as being that powerful. As a viewer, I’m not all that sorry to see Ashley go. I’m sure she’s lovely in real life, but she didn’t have much of an impact as a strategist or a character, so ultimately we lost the least by her exit.

Don’t get me wrong, the ending of this episode is exciting, but that’s only enough to elevate it from “Awful” to “Kind of dull.” After two interesting and exciting episodes, this one was relatively predictable, and just seemed to be kind of going through the motions. Kind of like this whole season has been. Going through the motions. Not being bad, just underwhelming, with a few bright spots (the previous two episodes) scattered here and there. Even so, some are more likely to win than others, so let’s rank who is the best of the best.

DR. MIKE-As with every season, there’s one person pretty much guaranteed to win in the end. Dr. Mike is that person. As previously stated, he has three guaranteed votes, has pissed no one off, and has a good underdog story that could net him a victory against anybody. His game hasn’t been flawless, but it might be just what this jury needs. Unfortunately for Dr. Mike, other people are finally starting to recognize this now, so his path to the end is less clear, but if he can make it there, I say he wins.

DEVON-I never thought I’d be saying this, but DEVON of all people is actually a major threat. Devon is in the perfect position to pull what I like to call an “Intentional Fabio”, wherein he actually WAS playing up his dumb, surfer-guy persona the whole time (and not just going along with that strategy due to circumstance, as I feel Fabio did on “Survivor Nicaragua”). Devon is well-liked (save by Ashley at this point), has some victories too his name, and if he call pull out those oratory skills, could snag a win no one expects.

BEN-Close on Devon’s heals is Ben. Ben’s moves have been flashy, and the jury as a whole seems to respect him. For all that he’s third on this list, I feel he’s a real threat to win in the end. That said, I do have to put Ben lower than Devon simply because of those “Steamroller” comments, which presumably rub some people the wrong way. Put simply, Devon has no enemies (save Ashley). Ben does. Therefore, Be needs to be lower, though his game is still strong enough to win.

CHRISSY-Despite being fourth on this list, I don’t think Chrissy is out of the running, though she does have an uphill battle. Chrissy’s troubles are twofold: she’s playing the “mom” archetype which always has trouble winning in the end, since people don’t see you as strategic/get hurt by your voting them out. Secondly, as we’ve seen, Chrissy tends to argue when voted against, and seems to have rubbed some people the wrong way. A strong Final Tribal Council argument/someone else goofing up could net her a victory, since she does have coherent strategic victories to her name, but the stars are going to have to align just right for Chrissy to win this.

RYAN-Probably the only person left with no shot at winning. Tonight demonstrated that Ryan has no respect from anyone, and is just seen as a follower of Chrissy. He seems like a nice enough guy, but the winner of the season, he is not.

A dip before the finale, but perhaps it’s like dress rehearsals in theatre: A bad one means a good showing. Fingers crossed!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor HvHvH” Episode 11: Not-So-Loved Ones

You know, for all that I love it on a personal level when people realize that “Survivor” is a game and don’t take the moves TOO personally, a bitter vendetta can still make for good tv. This season has definitely found its legs, and is all the better for it.

Before we can talk about the good, though, it’s time for yet another edition of…

MATT’S MESS-UP!

Yes, we had a twofer episode last time, so it seems only fitting that we have twofer missed talking points this time. First off, while I was quick to focus on the annoying aspects of Joe and Dr. Mike last episode, I failed to mention what was actually their shining moment. You see, Chrissy had kind of a bad day in there. Pretty standard stuff for being on “Survivor” for almost a month, but for once she’s not derided for emotion and left in the (figurative) cold. Instead, Dr. Mike and Joe go over to comfort her. They’re not annoying or pushy; they just genuinely seem to want to make her more comfortable in a time of need. That’s a lot of what makes me forgive them some of their annoyingness: it’s clear that it’s a put-on for the game. When push comes to shove, they live up to the “Healers” label, and actually try to do a good thing because it’s a good thing to do. It warms the cockles of my heart.

On a more mundane note, I forgot to mention that Ryan played his hidden immunity idol for himself at the second Tribal Council. Without the benefit of hindsight, there’s no way you can criticize this move. Ryan was clearly on the bottom, and people knew he had an idol, likely making him a target. Better to play things safe, since you’re not in on the “Boot Joe” plan.

Speaking of Tribal Council, this is where our episode begins. With a rendition of “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”. I’m talking, of course, about the reaction of the blindsided people. Dr. Mike is the good, congratulating the majority while asking a few questions about what happened. In confessional, Dr. Mike admits that this isn’t too good for him in the game, but remains optimistic that he can pull something off. I have to admit, for all that Dr. Mike doesn’t REALLY live up to his pre-season hype in my opinion, I still quite like the guy. True his self-deprecating humor is more cringe-worthy than anything (personally, I prefer Ryan’s humor, and think people greatly exaggerate how bad it is), but there’s an enthusiasm and optimism about him that I enjoy. No matter now bad things get, Dr. Mike doesn’t dissolve into despair, depression, and other words that begin with “d”. Instead, eh comes back doing what he can and swinging for the fences. Plus, as mentioned earlier, he seems like a genuinely nice guy when not playing the game.

In fairness to Ryan, his reaction isn’t really “Bad”, per se, and was mostly labeled that way to make the reference work. His reaction to people’s faces is similar to Dr. Mike’s and pulled off about as well. Where he falters is in confessional, as he’s more pessimistic about his and Chrissy’s chances. Can’t say I blame the guy, but still, I prefer Dr. Mike’s reaction.

What can be agreed on is that Chrissy really drops the ball here. As demonstrated after the first half of last episode, she REALLY doesn’t take being blindsided well, becoming confrontational and demanding answers from the representative of the majority. In this case that representative is Ben, who, I would just like to remind you, does NOT steamroller people. Instead, he just POLITELY interrupts Chrissy, calls her on her behavior, and effectively shuts down the conversation. Yeah, nothing steamroller-y about that whatsoever. And again, with Ben, the irony here is that he’s RIGHT. From what we’ve seen of Chrissy, she DOES get overly confrontational when she loses the vote, and can be a bit grouchy as a result. But that doesn’t make the way Ben brings it up good. Both of them swear vengeance, with Chrissy in particular noting that if there’s a chance to make Ben suffer, she’ll do it.

Shock of all shocks, such an opportunity immediately presents itself. Yes, it’s the loved one’s challenge, always a nice moment. We even get a couple of stand-outs here, which we haven’t in the past couple family visits. There’s the one’s you expect to be touching. Dr. Mike reunites with his wife, and they share a nice moment, and of course Ben gets to talk again about how his wife pulled him back from the brink post-tour-of-duty. But there’s a couple that, while not perhaps touching, are funny/sweet in their own way. Ryan gets a good moment with his dad, but it’s not the one you’d expect. True, it’s cute how both are big “Survivor” fans getting to share an experience, but at the end, when they go in for one last hug, Ryan plants a kiss on his dad’s cheek. In a society where guys are often picked on for showing affection via a HUG, let alone a kiss, it’s nice to see that Ryan is brave enough to go for it in a very public forum. A small moment, but one that really speaks to me. Stealing the show, though, is Lauren’s sister Sonny (apologies if I’m spelling that wrong, but we never actually get to see it spelled out), who comes out, arms spread wide for a hug… and walks right over to Probst, giving him the big squeeze before her sister. Making Probst uncomfortable? Check. Totally what I would do if I were a loved one on the show? Check. The story of how Lauren only applied at the urging of her sister is a nice one as well, but nothing beats that hug. Sonny is probably the most engaging loved one we’ve had in a while, and like her sister, I’m very glad she’s been put on this show.

Sadly, said touching moments are ruined by what I can only describe as THE WORST CHALLENGE IN THE HISTORY OF THE SHOW! Yes, I thought “Survivor” Bowling couldn’t be topped for its lameness, but evidently no, they found something even lazier. So there’s no obvious superstructure in the aerial view of the challenge. Ok, no big deal, maybe it’s just something they can’t see, like a jungle obstacle course. No, wait, they’re staying on the beach. Ok, a smaller scale challenge can work, if you make it something clever, like the “Get to know you” game from “Survivor The Amazon”. Oh, wait, they’re just trying to match marbles out of bags with their loved ones. But that’s so LAME! Sigh, ok, ok, they can still salvage this. Eliminate verbal communication, just have it be a “How well do you know what your partner will pick?” challenge, that can lead to some drama. No, wait, it’s entirely RANDOM! It eliminates any strategy, and skill, basically anything that would make the challenge fun to watch. Really, even calling this a “challenge” is a stretch. All this amounts to is which pair can get the equivalent of matching coin flips most often. La de FREAKING da. There’s no suspense, no fun, and most everyone is eliminated IN ONE GO! Where’s the good stuff.

Literally the ONLY redeeming factor in this is the payoff to Chrissy’s declaration from earlier. Only Chrissy and Ben survive the first round of elimination, with Chrissy and her husband winning, thereby depriving Ben of the chance to be with his wife more. Of course, we have to cut again and again to Ben’s tear-filled eyes just to drive home this point. Not that I don’t understand where Chrissy is coming from, and grudge aside, Ben’s wife would still not be a good person to let come on the reward, but it gets a bit heavy-handed, and is too easily noticed. As to whom Chrissy picks to take on the picnic with her, she first brings along Ryan and his father. Logical choice. Ryan’s her only close ally at this point, can help you talk strategy, and it would look suspicious not to take him. Her second pick goes to Dr. Mike and his wife, which again makes sense. True, Dr. Mike and Ryan kind of mutually burned their bridges, but you need allies, and in this case, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. But Probst has to give her one more, and of course Chrissy doesn’t want to give it to any one of them. Ultimately, she picks Ashley, which again, I can’t really fault as a choice. As Chrissy will note shortly, Ashley has the weakest resume of the new core four, and so is the most likely to want to flip for herself, and therefore the best to bring along strategy-wise. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more of Sonny and Lauren, and so wish they were picked, but I can hardly fault Chrissy for making the strategic move here.

It isn’t long before the subject of ousting Ben is brought up to Ashley, who seems at least open to the idea, as well she should be. While I don’t push the idea of “resume building” quite as hard as some on the show, I can’t argue that you need SOMETHING to argue at the end. That something can be as simple as an immunity win, but something nonetheless. Plus, for all the talk that Ben’s steamrolling people, he is a bit of a charmer (yes, I have a theory on that. It will come up later in the blog), and as Chrissy points out, has the sort of story a jury will eat up, thanks to his years in the armed forces. He’s definitely a worthy target for elimination.

Ben won’t make it that easy, though. Realizing that with Ryan’s idol played, a new one is likely to come out, Ben sets about making a fake one. This is actually a good plan, helped by the fact that Ben makes a mean fake-idol. Not quite Bob Crowley (“Survivor Gabon”) levels, but damn close. Planting a fake idol serves two purposes. Should Ben and his allies find the real idol, planting a fake will hide the fact that they have the idol, therefore making its play harder to predict. It will also stop the minority from idol hunting without anything to fear, thus making the game stress free. Being the polite, sportsman like sort he is, Ben states that he hopes that Chrissy finds it and plays it, so that she can be humiliated upon leaving, a la Randy Bailey (also “Survivor Gabon”). Lauren chastises him in confessional for putting emotion ahead of strategy, and this vendetta doesn’t leave Ben looking too good, but there is strategy behind it, so I say Lauren’s selling him short here.

Speaking of Lauren, she finds an idol under a log. Or, at least, half an idol. Combining your traditional hidden immunity idol with your challenge idol, Lauren finds an OFFICIAL “Hidden Immunity Idol String” (trademark), but has to combine it with the OFFICIAL “Hidden Immunity Idol Sea Shell” (trademark), or else it’s worthless. This is actually a good twist on an idea I’ve heard kicked around for quite a while: Have an idol split in half, so that you need both halves for one idol. The flaw in this idea, which I completely agree with, is that one person could just basically force there to be no idols in the game by refusing to proverbially play ball. While some might find it a relief, it would also, I feel, make the game more predictable, and thus worse. Here, however, we have a good spin on the twist. Rather than two people having half an idol, one half is a camp, while the other half is at the next immunity challenge, and so Lauren will have to surreptitiously pick it up to have an idol. Hiding idols at challenges has worked well in the past, and while not earth-shattering, this is an intriguing take on this old twist that I can get behind.

You may remember our immunity challenge today from “Survivor Kaoh Rong”. It was the challenge where Aubry Bracco proved how much of a badass she was (yes, the Aubry Lobby is still alive and well). No, it was not a spitting competition with Kyle Jason. Instead, people hold up disks with their fingertips against other disks. Last person left standing wins. This is your pretty standard endurance challenge, and while I cracked fun at the pots in the original iteration, I have to admit they were better than wind chimes. Even Probst’s commentary here doesn’t make sense, talking about how you WANT to hear them chime. Um, Probst, wouldn’t them crashing to the ground produce quite a LOUD chime?

Also, Lauren’s seashell is there in front of her. In case picking up a seashell from a beach was too suspicious, Lauren’s station happens to be at the far end of the line, with the shell on the opposite side of Lauren from everyone else. But just in case even THAT was too difficult for Lauren, Ben sets a precedent where you sit at your station after dropping, thus giving Lauren ample opportunity to pick up the shell. Way to kill the tension, there, show. We don’t even get all that interesting a showdown in the challenge itself. It at first looks like Dr. Mike might get his immunity win, but out of seemingly nowhere, he drops, leaving it down to Devon and Ashley. The pair are cocky enough to make a deal in front of everyone, since all their targets are out, and Devon lets Ashley win in exchange for a massage. And from this display of cockiness alone, one can now safely bet that Chrissy, Ryan, and Dr. Mike are safe.

The show does at least give a token effort of convincing us otherwise, though. The core four initially agree that Chrissy should go, which makes perfect sense. Of those left, she’s the biggest challenge threat, and I’d argue the smartest strategically. But given that the threesome on the outs are all superfans, they’re not about to go down that easily. Playing on their earlier conversation with Ashley, Ben’s name is again floated out, and again given consideration. It seems like it’s not being taken as too serious of an option, but Devon, Ashley, and Lauren are at least weighing out the pros and cons. Unfortunately for them, a very paranoid Ben happens upon them at the well at this moment, and rightly freaks out. Hey, if a conversation suddenly stops when you enter on “Survivor”, you’ve every right to be suspicious. Unfortunately for Ben, this is where steamrolling comes back to bite him in the ass. He talks up Lauren’s idol and advantage as threats, and tries to swing the other three against Lauren. As a side note, see how GREAT of an idea it was to share the knowledge of your advantage, Lauren? Granted, Dr. Mike at least would have known about it because of your lie last episode, but still, information you didn’t need to share is now being used against you. I rest my case. As to Ben’s pitch, Dr. Mike and Ryan seem up for it. Not that they’ve exactly got options, but they’re enthused nonetheless. Chrissy, however, is a harder sell, initially not even wanting to TALK with Ben, at the same time talking about voting out Ben with Devon. A heartfelt apology from Ben does seem to soften her up a bit, but ultimately the grudge seems to run too deep.

Now, this puts the three in a tricky spot. Ben’s running scared and likely to play his idol, but if Ashley, Devon, and Lauren go for Chrissy they’re still likely sunk. This is where Dr. Mike gets his brilliant move of the evening. Rather than just try to pitch Ben as a jury threat, he notes to Lauren all the dirt Ben spilled on her, and how he’s targeting her. Not only does this show Dr. Mike’s earlier alliance with Lauren bearing fruit, but it’s also a good bit of strategy. Time and again, Lauren has demonstrated that she’s motivated by self-preservation. Sure enough, she swings the vote around so that now it’s a mystery as where it will be Lauren going 4-3, or Ben going 6-1. Both have an idol, and Lauren has her advantage, making things all the more exciting. Certainly better than anyone vs. Chrissy for the boot, in terms of mystery. And, just like that, the minority have the power. A few simple words to the right people, and everything changes. Man, I love this show.

As to which person should go home from a strategic point of view, the correct answer is Ben, for being more of a social jury threat. Now, given that Ben, as has been mentioned, proverbially steamrollers people, and Lauren is a darling of the fans with a solid resume, this seems counter-intuitive, but hear me out on this. Yes, Ben is rubbing a couple of people (Chrissy and Ashley in particular) the wrong way, but he’s still got a lot of friends. Note the jury members tonight complimenting his moves at Tribal Council. Also note their alliance narratives. Time and again, Ben has found himself the swing vote in the middle, the mark of someone who, while occasionally abrasive, can get along with a lot of people. Contrast with Lauren’s narrative, which so often centers around how she doesn’t fit in. True, the fact that she’s a great strategic player DESPITE this is a fantastic narrative, but it implies that Lauren has difficulty making the connections needed to win over a jury. Thus, Ben is the more worrisome, and should probably be the target tonight. Plus, to help cement her trust, Lauren lets Dr. Mike hold onto one half of her idol. I’m sure this move will be criticized somewhat, as Lauren makes herself vulnerable this way, but when you’ve got sides as a toss-up, and Dr. Mike looking for any solid ally, it could be the relatively meaningless gesture needed to win people over.

As one would expect, Tribal Council is a wonderful hectic mess. When you’ve got steamroller Ben against straight-talk Lauren, there’s going to be fireworks. The two go at it right out of the gate, with things quickly devolving into chaos. For once the term “Live Tribal” is aptly used, as Ryan, Dr. Mike, and Chrissy use the cover of chaos to debate who to vote for. Unfortunately, this does ruin the mystery a little bit, as Ryan and Dr. Mike initially agree to “stick with” Lauren, an idea further cemented when Dr. Mike takes the trust Lauren put in him earlier, and literally throws it in the fire, in the form of one half of the idol. Not sure why Lauren didn’t pick it out with a couple of sticks or something, but maybe Probst wouldn’t have it. Point being, you don’t screw someone over like that if you want to ally with them. Thankfully, Devon comes over to strategize as well (which I have to say was brave of him, since he was on the complete opposite side of Tribal Council from them), advocating for the ouster of Ben. With Lauren’s advantages all out in the open, and cited as the major reason for not trusting her, she seems doomed. However, this DOES lead to a hilarious situation wherein Lauren tries DESPERATELY to divest herself of all advantages, leading to an equally hilarious moment where Chrissy, Ryan, and Dr. Mike all volunteer to take them off her hands. Probst comments on how people almost seem to not want advantages this season, which kind of makes sense. After all, advantages complicate the game, making it harder for the strategists to win, since more luck becomes involved, and there are more variables to factor in. However, while unmentioned, it also leads to a prisoner’s dilemma situation. After all, while it might be OVERALL beneficial to have a simpler game, if you have an advantage and your opponents don’t, it’s, well, an advantage, one that’s hard to overlook. Ultimately, this leads to EVERYONE wanting advantages, thereby making things harder.

In the end, thankfully, everyone plays as smartly as possible, save for Lauren not using her extra vote to remove the stigma for some reason. Ben does get the votes, but also plays his idol (having worn his fake around his neck), which negates six votes. Not quite the Kelley Wentworth record from “Survivor Cambodia”, but impressive nonetheless. This means Lauren goes home, and you can bet I’m disappointed. Deadpan snark coupled with a good strategic mind. I really like Lauren, and hope she comes back in the future. Being down about her departure won’t stop me from celebrating, though. You see, it’s time for another…

TOP 5 and… TOP 5?

Yes, it’s time to talk about the good of “Survivor” again, but given today’s subject matter, I can’t really talk about the bad. I’ve talked about family visits in the past, but haven’t actually commented on the family themselves. We only get a brief glimpse (usually) of the loved ones of our favorite players, but even in that short time they can make an impact. I’d like to talk about my favorite ones today, and I will. However, since the worst ones are boring and generic with nothing to distinguish them (apart from, you know, their names), I won’t be doing a “Bottom 5” list, effectively making this a list of the top 10 loved ones from “Survivor” with no honorable mention. A couple of rules. First, the person has to have come out to location. They do not have to have come on a reward trip with their loved one, but they need to physically show up. Appearing via video does not count. And second, this has to be a special visit. The loved one being a second on a “Blood vs. Water” season DOES NOT COUNT. With that said, let’s get started.

10. Cochran’s Dad (“Survivor Caramoan”): Ok, my PLAN was to look up the names of the couple of people whose names I couldn’t remember, but the internet as failed me on the very first one, so screw it, if I don’t know their name, I’m describing their relationship to the contestant. Cochran’s dad is one of the more talked about loved ones in recent history, due to grilling with shades on, hilariously narrated by Cochran. This one’s already been given a thorough analysis, so I feel no need to dwell on it too much, just to note his presence as being rather funny.
9. Eliza’s Mom (“Survivor Vanuatu”): A more underplayed example of a one-scene wonder, but Eliza’s mom really speaks to me. Not as much as her daughter speaks to everyone (by her own admission, she talks too much), but enough. Eliza’s mom at first seems like your average, soft-spoken mother, but has a nice edge, giving her daughter the literal shirt off of her back to wear on cold nights, meaning she leaves in nothing but her bra. For some reason, that scene just really resonates with me, moving Eliza’s mom from your average mother type to someone to get behind and hang around with.

8. Laura Boneham (“Survivor All-Stars”): You’d expect this one to be on here for the humor of how over the top Rupert goes in kissing her hello in her first appearance. And you’d be right, to a degree. But I also find this one really heartwarming, if slightly gross. After all, that’s bold, unconditional love right there on screen. It’s a powerful thing. Brings a tear to my eye.

7. Adam’s Brother (“Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X”): Yeah, you all knew this was coming. Apart from the theme in the title, a lot of this season centered around the tragedy of Adam’s mother’s health, and rarely was it more emphasized than with a visit from someone from the front lines. Tears abound, and I may have snarked about it at the time, but it really was nice for Adam to get the chance to hear the news from home, and see the brothers comforting each other in a time of mutual need. Another heartwarming moment for the list, marred only by the fact that everyone could tell it was coming.

6. Mr. Kass (“Survivor Cagayan”): As an avowed fan of Kass, there’s no way I don’t put the man who married her on this list. Mr. Kass seems like a great guy through and through, loving and supportive of a… let’s say controversial character on the season. What puts him on the list, though, is his contribution to one of the all-time great “Survivor” moments. His constant cheering for his wife, despite her falling INCREDIBLY behind in the immunity challenge, helped lead to a comeback victory from her. That victory alone is still one of my all-time favorite moments on the show, and for him to play such a big part in it, he DESERVES his spot on this list.

5. Sonny Rimmer (“Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers”): Yeah, she’s won me over. While we’ve kind of moved into the “heartfelt” section of the list, her humor has won me over. Just her understated joy at being there, coupled with the fake-out Probst hug, makes her a classic, much like her sister.

4. Courtney’s Dad (“Survivor China”): I’m normally not a big fan of anything to do with Courtney Yates, but I feel like her dad is an underrated gem of a contestant. For one thing, he’s got a thick British accent. That alone makes him stand out from your usual loved ones, but he takes it a step further. Everyone gives him a hard time for wearing “trousers” in sweltering heat. Not only does he take this humor in stride, he turns it back on everyone, playing up his Britishness and how he “can’t do shorts.” Something about that quintessentially British humor just appeals to me, and as something not often seen on the show, is distinctive and memorable, thus earning his spot on this list.

3. James’ Dad (“Survivor Micronesia”): Sometimes all it takes is one line to make a legend, but James’ dad manages to do just that. Like James, he says very little, but what he comes up with is usually quite biting. Case in point, he’s watching his son compete in a challenge where getting questions right allows you to whack a rope with a person’s name. Once all the ropes are whacked, an effigy of you gets smashed. However, when James takes at hit, his dad doesn’t let it slide. That one muttered line “Wait until we get home. We’ll talk about her.”, said completely seriously, is just about the height of comedy, and why James’ dad is arguably thought of more fondly these days than James.

2. Patrick Vavrick-O’Brien (“Survivor Marquesas”): With rare exception, while a visit from loved ones can be fun, they don’t impact the game very much. Patrick is one of those rare exceptions. Not for any sort of twist or anything, but for highlighting an ongoing plot of the season. One of the best features of “Survivor Marquesas”) is seeing Kathy grow and change as a player. This growth is highlighted a couple of times throughout the season, but Patrick having not seen his mom gradually change, throws this change into the light, and makes for an impactful visit.

1. H.B. (“Survivor Exile Island”): Most entries on this list are either really funny or really heartwarming. H.B. combines the best of both. Like Patrick, he highlights the growth of a contestant, in this case Cirie, by his contrast in being there. What puts H.B. over Patrick, though, is just how funny the guy is. Patricks good, don’t get me wrong, but H.B.’s confessional complaining about being made to do chores, especially from such a strong-looking guy, is comedy gold! For being the best of both worlds, H.B. is clearly the man.

As I said at the top of this blog, this season seems to be finally finding its legs. Great drama, smart playing from all concerned, it was just a fun episode. It still may be too little too late, but the momentum is picking up, at least.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.