Survivor: Blood vs. Water - Finale + Reunion

And the winner is...

This is it! I can't believe it's over... but this season of Survivor has come to a close, and for the second time in a row, my favorite and clear pick from the beginning has won with a landslide. I'm so excited!!!

I have a TON to say about what went down tonight, from Redemption Island returns to emotional manipulation, and of course Final Tribal council, the crowned winner and Reunion episode ridiculousness. I encourage you to watch my video below, but in a nutshell, here are my main points:

• Redemption Island returnee was not my pick.... but I don't think it really affected the outcome
• Tyson just continued to play a flawless game towards the end, from challenges to his Final Tribal performance
• I was very surprised to see how people continued to give Monica such a hard time at Final Tribal. To me, she was an open book (hence the thumbnail in my last blog post!)
• Who disappointed me with their Final Tribal questions and attitude
• How Final arguments either lacked in delivery or didn't
• Who stood out the most at the Reunion
• Next season

That's all for this season, folks! Thanks for following, and be sure to let me know how excited you are (or not) for the winner, and how you feel about next season! Brawn vs. Brain vs. Beauty. 

Survivor: Philippines - Finale + Reunion in 455 seconds

This is it... the end of an epic season -- and one of my new top three favorites. I'd even say it might have snuck its way up to #2, but I know that's because it just ended and it was so welcomingly amazing, so I'm going to say it's snug at #3 now, topped only by Heroes vs. Villains at #2 and Micronesia: Fans vs. Favorites at #1.

But let's talk about the finale! They made us wait, oh boy... and they made us speculate going into it with a final four rather than a final five. In fact Rob Cesternino and Parvati Shallow even stumbled across an exciting prediction that there might be a tie in the final vote. But there was no such twist, and the reading of the winner went by really swiftly actually, so we just got treated to more of what went down in those final three days.

In this final video of the season are some of my thoughts, including my feelings about Malcolm (definitely one of the 'older girls' that's totally backing him!) and Denise of course, as well as some of the things that went down at the reunion (you fans all know what I'm talking about)!

One thing I didn't mention is my feelings about the winner for Fan Fave, and I was totally surprised to see Lisa sweep it from under Malcolm's feet! In fact, if anything, I thought it'd be a toss up between Penner and Malcolm, with Malcolm for the win. It sucks to be Malcolm at this point, with both the victory for sole Survivor and fan fave escaping him so closely. I certainly hope/look forward to seeing him again! [wink wink nudge nudge]

Until February fellow Survivor fans!

Survivor: One World - FINALE in 15 seconds

Final 5 Girls

That's it! The season's over and Kim was crowned victor and Sole Survivor. I can't say I was surprised or particularly excited, but I do think it was deserved. She owned the game, both physically and strategically, and I go to sleep feeling a bit better about the whole thing because she didn't totally blindside and backstab everyone and actually stuck to some values and alliances by choosing to go to the end with Chelsea and Sabrina. Do I think she would have still won beside Alicia and Christina? Definitely. But I wouldn't have felt as good about it.

I also think the Final Tribal Council was very self-absorbed. Any respect Alicia might have earned in last week's episode in my mind was totally stalled in her completely self-promoting and somewhat delusional speech at Tribal. There were very few poignant and enlightening questions, and as much as I love Troyzan as one of the contestants this season, his question to Kim was just weird. I don't think there's any right or wrong answer to "when Kim's strategy to take him out began," and he certainly can't be the judge of it. Anyway, the right person won this season, and that's that.

As for the Reunion Show, Colton's chance at apologizing and eventually redeeming himself was wasted, and he just comes across as an even more ignorant and socially inept person. I completely agree with Jeff's comment that he's actually a contestant people hate, versus a villain people love to hate like Russell or Fairplay. All I can say, and I hope the Survivor gods hear me, is that I never want to see or hear of Colton again. The End.

Before moving on to thoughts about the season up ahead, here are my 15s on the Finale!!



So... Do you think the right person won? What are your thoughts about the three returning players twist for next season? Who do you hope to see? Who don't you hope to see? [Hope: Jonathan Penner / Dread: Colton] Let me know your thoughts!

Love and cuddles until next season... and maybe a few posts between now and then... :)