Im not talking about the million dollars.
Wendell and Domenick remain the clear frontrunners for the title of Sole Survivor that will be bestowed next Wednesday.
(Its not like I see an Angela clean sweep of the jury coming anytime soon.)
Credit: CBS
But when it comes to this latest immunity challenge, Wendell didnt win it.
He may have finished first, but he didnt win.
He wasnt screwed over.
Lets backtrack a bit in case you stumbled across thisSurvivorrecap and have no idea what Im talking about.
Wendell went into this portion of the challenge with a huge lead.
(By the way, not a fan of recycling the same puzzle twice in one season.
Not sure the thinking behind that one.)
He paused, looked it over, and extended his arms to the side.
Then, out of nowhere, Yanny yelled Jeff!
He came over, looked at her puzzle and called her the winner.
I guess I had to scream your name, protested Wendell mildly.
Did you call me?
I didnt call you, admitted Wendell.
Well, you gotta call it, said Probst.
Wendell, you understand, right?
Because a puzzles not done until you tell me.
But Wendell wasnt having that.
100 percent I had it before you, he insisted.
But you called it first, so the ruling is you got it.
Its not like he was done, looked up, and simply forgot to call out Jeff.
His eyes are still down and hes checking to verify he indeed has it before calling Jeff over.
In that time, Yanny called the host and won the challenge totally fair and square.
Calling Jeff is theSurvivorequivalent of buzzing in.
Thats what Yanny did.
Because Wendell did not win immunity, he was now vulnerable.
Now was Yannys chance!
Not evenshecould pass up such a golden opportunity!
Lets take a listen…
He did finish first today and he could have won immunity.
It almost doesnt feel right to send him home.
That thumping sound you hear is a million palms simultaneously hitting a million foreheads in shock and despair.
Yanny may actually be correct.
This may not have been the time to take Wendell out because of the circumstances.
But not for the reason she says.
Hear me out on this before you come for me with your torches and pitchforks.
Because youre probably thinking:So what?!?
Who cares if it feels right?
Do you want to win or not?!?
But maybe she is on to something.
Lets dig a little deeper.
It doesnt matter how Yanny feels about it.
But how would thejuryfeel about it?
Because that is a different story altogether.
Lets go back toSurvivor: Caramoan.
You hateSurvivor: Caramoan.
But lets ignore all that and talk about Dawn and Brenda for a minute.
Remember when Dawn lost her false front teeth and Brenda found them?
And remember when Brenda then chose Dawn to join her on the Loved Ones reward?
And remember when Dawn then repaid those favors by voting her out, like, the next day?
I also argued against Dawns move then, but not because she crossed any sort of moral lines.
This isSurvivor,so get that nonsense out of my face.
I just knew that the jury would vote on emotional grounds against her if she did it.
But she did, and they did.
(Should folks that are religious be held to a different standard than atheists or agnostics in this game?
I say HELL TO THE NO!)
Dont get me wrong: She still should have voted his ass out.
Yanny may have been in the very definition of a no-win situation here.
Even though, as I started this recap off explaining, he didnt.
Because Wendell didnt win.
At least not this challenge.
(For those new to these parts.
I always do these after the penultimate episode because the finale recap is too unwieldy as it is.
ButGhost Islands ultimate ranking can drop or fall depending on what happens in the finale.
Last seasons certainly did.)
And who will be selecting the winner?
None other than Kellyn herself!
(it’s possible for you to alsosee the full collection right here.)
Okay, lets get to the recap and updated season rankings!
Weve been seeing this for weeks now.
Donathan wants to make a move while Yanny preaches patience and caution.
Will Donathan freak out even more now that he was so close to being voted out?
Im in the middle but the middle wont get me to the end, he said in the episode.
And if Yanny continues bouncing back and forth I might have to play this game by myself.
Im ready for that challenge.
We may find out if thats true.
Timing is EverythingI really dug this reward challenge.
Wendell and Domenick won SHOCKER!
and then had to pick one person to join them and one to go to Ghost Island.
Should they have brought Donathan instead?
Why not give stakes for the person sitting on the bench?
At the very least it might lead to some funny reaction shots.
Ghost with the MostIm sorry, did Sea Bass say Smash the Yern?
Because Im pretty sure instead of smash the urn, he said smash theyern.
Which would be weird because it says right in front of him Smash the Urn.
I dont know, between the yern and all this talk about suckerfish, I am very confused.
Naturally, Sea Bass won an advantage, and once again it was an advantage we had seen before.
But in this case I dont mean just seen before from another season.
I mean he won an advantage already seen and playedthisseason.
True, he was right there when it happened, but is Sea Bass ever truly right there?
I feel Sea Bass exists on a different mental plane.
Why dont you need the lenses, you ask?
BECAUSEYOUR MINDIS THE LENS!!!!!
(Recap continues on next page)
Donathan Goes RogueDonathan is frustrated.
I know hes frustrated because he told us he was frustrated.
So Im not exactly Sherlock Holmes in that regard.
But you’re able to see it.
Its eating him up.
The first head-scratcher came when Wendell assured Donathan that You know were solid.
Im not voting for you if its you and him sitting there.
Im voting for Dom.
First off, I know what Jonathan with a D was trying to do.
Many others have done it, and some have even been successful at it.
Donathan was trying to accomplish three things with this bold statement.
Get more camera time.
- Drive a wedge between the two best players in the game.
This ploy has worked before.
Lets say Wendell is deciding between bringing Yanny and Donathan to the end.
So that makes some sense.
But heres why Donathans move backfired.
Nobody wants an erratic alliance partner.
You want someone that is predictable and at least gives off the illusion of being easily controlled.
Donathan is imploding on himself, Dom said.
Thats never a good look.
This continued into Tribal Council, with Donathan complaining about not knowing everything that his alliance partners were doing.
After he and Wendell went at it, this happened:
Dom: Donathan, can I say something?
Speaking of which, is Sea Bass really a fisherman?
Domenick just threw that back in his face with the force of a Nolan Ryan fastball.
And Im not talking Nolan Ryan with the Mets, Angels, or Rangers.
He was that close.
Hes not the first to suffer that fate.
Its no secret: I like Kellyn.
She was the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, all rolled into the same package.
Lets face it: the woman is a spaz.
But I love spazzes!
I want you to be psyched when you win and I want you to be pissed when you lose.
The more animated the better, and if nothing else, Kellyn was animated.
She also proved to be a good sport on her way out of the game.
I wish you all the best of luck.
Ill admit it: I was disappointed.
The Final 6So here we are.
We have our final 6 heading into the finale.
I dont see it.
They both have idols.
They both seemingly have Sea Bass and Yanny on lockdown.
It feels like it has to be Domenick or Wendell.
So which of them has the inside track?
It is acting like Wendell.
Most people in the game or on the jury appear a bit closer to him than Domenick.
Juries seem to be more impressed with idols over necklaces and I think thats because of the theater involved.
The jury doesnt see the challenge.
They dont see the domination.
They dont see the big comeback.
They dont see the way someone almost passed out to will him or herself to victory.
All they see is someone walk in with a necklace.
Now compare that to playing an idol.
Its the height of drama!
Thats why the jury seems to lose its collective mind every time one is played.
Therefore the achievement seems heightened because it is happening right in front of their face.
They see someone saving themselves before their very eyes.
They see the other players still in the game with their open mouths and shocked looks.
They see it all.
And it therefore has far more impact, even if the achievement may not even be as great.
Anyway, thats what I wrote then.
All I know is F.U.
That is the epic showdown this entire season has been leading up to.
Lets hope it doesnt take a final four fire-making tiebreaker to make it happen.
SURVIVOR SEASON-BY SEASON RANKINGS(From best to worst)
1.
(Tie)Survivor: Borneo(Winner: Richard Hatch)andSurvivor: Micronesia Fans vs.
Favorites(Winner: Parvati Shallow)Ive gone back and forth with these two over the years.
AfterMicronesiaaired, I named it the bestSurvivorseason ever.
So then I returned that to the #1 spot.
If I wanted to watch one season again, it would beMicronesia.
If you ask me which is the mostimportantseason, well, obviously itsBorneo.
And the greatness just kept on coming.
Filled with huge memorable moments like Tyson voting himself off, J.T.
giving Russell his immunity idol, and Parvati handing outtwoimmunity idols at one Tribal Council.
I know many people would consider this #1, but its all returnees.
For me, the fresh blood ofMicronesiakeeps that season higher.
(Maybe not well at all times, but at least they were playing.)
moment to a truly intoxicating season.
Letting fans vote in the cast?
Hiding idols at challenges?
I think you all know how I feel about that.
Tempting people to quit an immunity challenge for a mystery vote steal advantage?
All the tribe switcheroos?
They played out to perfection.
TheSurvivorproducers always throw a bunch of twists out there.
Usually some work and some dont.
This season, they all paid dividends.
I also appreciated how hard the bulk of the cast was playing.
Usually you get a small handful of big time gamers.
Another plus: The votes were completely unpredictable from week to week, leading to some truly crazy Tribals.
Sure, the challenges were a bit blah, but still, a rousing and triumphant success.
Some people hate on Jenna as a winner, but she won challenges and played an effective social game.
Survivor: Pearl Islands(Winner: Sandra Diaz-Twine)Rupert stealing shoes.
Fairplay getting drunk at Tribal Council.
Osten sucking at everything.
It was all delicious.
Loses points, though, for the awful Outcasts twist, which also led to a disappointing final two.
And the challenges may have beenSurvivors best ever.
WhenMillennials vs. Gen Xstarted, most us of were like, Yeah, its fine.
Not amazing, but not terrible either.
But then things kept happening.
And everyone kept flipping on one another.
And everyone kept getting blindsided.
And everyone kept futilely using their idols for other people.
It was madness and chaos in the best way possible.
And what was so fascinating was that (with the exception of Michaela) nobody took their ouster personally.
This was a season remarkably free of any sort of fighting whatsoever.
None of the ugliness ofWorlds ApartorKaoh Rongpermeated the proceedings, even amongst all the lying and backstabbing.
Even Hannah was entertaining with her neurosis.
Even Ken was entertaining with his late game cluelessness.
Bret gave us a touching moment where he came out as gay to Zeke.
Sunday outsmarted Adam and Hannah with a ruse at Tribal Council.
(However, I still cant figure out why they went with three person duelsa.k.a.
truelsand they definitely should have stopped RI at the merge.)
So why is it so high?
Because the casting and storylines that developed gave us people to root for and againstsomething every greatSurvivorseason needs.
And the fact thatPhilippineshad such a strong final four also doesnt hurt.
(Recap continues on next page)12.
Survivor: Caramoan Fans vs.
But hear me out first before you Russell any feathers.
It was flat-out grating.
But everything post-merge was spectacular.There were so many moves and countermoves galore down the homestretch.
Also, dont overlook how great the bevy of water challenges was.
Should I push it down in the rankings due to the lackluster Reunion show that followed?
He was robbed in the end, though, in the most controversial jury decision ever.
Plus: Purple rock!!!
Survivor: China(Winner: Todd Herzog)Ive always loved this season.
It featured a really good cast stuck in a really bad location.
Todd completely owned that final Tribal Council.
Thats how you win a million dollars.
My only demerit is that I was not a big fan of the location.
Survivor: Cook Islands(Winner: Yul Kwon)What a difference a mutiny makes.
It was listless until that fateful moment when Candice and Penner stepped off the mat.
Then we finally had underdogs to root for.
Plus, just look at all the great first-time contestants (Parvati, Penner, Ozzy, Yul).
Survivor: Game Changers(Winner: Sarah Lacina)
What a weird season this was.
We were treated to two titans of the game (Tony and Sandra) going toe to toe.
But something was missing.
Said events were all exciting, but they failed to form a cohesive unit.
all gone before the merge.
As despite the gameplay and unpredictability down the stretch, that is kind of what happened.
And then there is what happened to Cirie in the finale.
(The fact that it happened to a true legend in Cirie made it even harder to swallow.)
Thats a great example of natural show evolution that worked and the producers deserve to be commended for it.
Im just explaining what kept it from being a trulygreatone in my book.
Its not in my book, but it is a perfectly fine one.
(Recap continues on next page)
18.
Survivor: Ghost Island(Winner: ?
This is such a hard season to rank.
And not just for me.
I have seen a lot of division aroundSurvivornation on this season.
(Then again, arent we divided about pretty much everything?)
Even my feelings about the cast and twist are mixed.
(Guess that Bamboo was about as riveting as watching an Adam Sandler movie as part of aSouth Pacificreward.
But I was engaged nonetheless.
I liked watching Kellyn act like a super-spaz.
I was fascinated with the Laurel and Donathan strategic push-and-pull.
Throw that all together and you end up smack dab in the middle at 18.
Survivor: Australian Outback(Winner: Tina Wesson)An overrated season in my book.
Pretty predictable boot order as well.
Dude did burn his hands off, though.
But there is one thing I reallydiddig about this season, and that is the cast.
And, outside of one mind-bogglingly boring loved ones reward contest, the challenges were strong.
But now comes the bad news.
Like the majority ofSurvivornation, I was not a fan of the new final four fire-making twist.
That was a bummer.
Survivor: Tocantins(Winner: J.T.
Thomas)Okay, you may roll your eyes at Coach 1.0.
But imagine for a second this season without him.
His unintentional comedy single-handedly lifts this into respectable territory for me.
Seriously, other than Tyson getting blindsided, were there any memorable moments that didnt involve the Dragonslayer?
But the unlikely alliance between bookish northerner Fishbach and country boy J.T.
made for a compelling thread throughout the season.
Working against this season is the fact that there simply were not enough transcendent players in the cast.
(Recap continues on next page)24.
(Remember Jerri getting literally booed off the stage?)
Terry was robbed on a final challenge that may or may not have been completely fair.
Another unmemorable final two.
Shane Powers should have been brought back forHeroes vs. Villains.
And theSecond Chanceseason, for that matter.
The fact that so many unworthy players went so far is simply too damning.
Survivor: Africa(Winner: Ethan Zohn)Some great challenges.
Not that much else was great.
Survivor: Guatemala(Winner: Danni Boatwright)One of the more unlikable casts so far.
Stephenies evil twin?)
Rafe was good for a few laughs, though.
Especially on rope obstacles.
That counts for something.
Survivor: One World(Winner: Kim Spradlin)Look, I have total respect for Kims game.
Like Tom inPalauand Rob inRedemption Island, she excelled strategically, socially, and physically.
Unfortunately, that is really the only good thing I can say about this season.
And thats too bad, because I do think the One World concept was a solid one.
But, man, what a thoroughly uninspiring cast.
Speaking of awful creative decisions…
36.
Survivor: Nicaragua(Winner: Jud Fabio Birza)Its at the bottom for a few reasons.
- Splitting the tribes up by age and the Medallion of Power were both enormous flops.
LikeOne World,Thailand,andFiji,Nicaraguahad just too many unlikable players.
Two people quitting with only 11 days left.
No big memorable moments.
EvenThailandhad the fake merge andFijihad the big Yau-Man/Dreamz free car deal gone bad, but what wasNicaraguas signature moment?
Unfortunately, it was people quitting, and that was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Who do you think is gong to winSurvivor, and whom do you want to win?
Plus, where does this season rank for you overall?
