Survivor: A Satisfying Winner

I’d like to start out by saying that it really should have been Bob, Sugar, and Matty in the final three, but for whatever reason, Susie actually won the last immunity challenge.  It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who thought the last challenge should have been an endurance one, standing in the hot sun while balancing a pole on your head- endurance.  Building a house of cards was interesting to watch, but should not have been the final immunity challenge.  Maybe building a house of cards could have been a component of the final challenge, but it should not have been for all the marbles.  Despite the fact that the final challenge was not an endurance challenge, I expected Bob, the physics teacher (!!) to walk away victorious.  Who better to build a house of cards than a physics teacher?  I never expected Susie to win, with Matty a close second.   Speaking of Matty, his house of cards was looking extremely sturdy.  If only he could have figured it out sooner; he would be a million dollars richer.

During the last episode, Sugar really showed off her ability to think quickly and influence people’s decisions.  Also, she showed her allegiance to Matty by giving him her immunity idol (even if it was unnecessary).   So why would she vote for Matty last night to force a tie with Bob?  I’m not entirely sure.  I suppose it had something to do with feeling that Bob deserved to win more than Matty?  I wonder if it had anything to do with ensuring that Susie would not win (because she viewed Bob as a shoo-in for the million dollars). If she truly didn’t want the million dollars (which seemed to be the case, judging by how she answered those questions from the jury), why didn’t she sacrifice herself so that Bob and Matty would both have a chance at winning?  Sugar has been all over the place strategically, and just when I think she knows what she’s doing, she does something so completely puzzling.

I didn’t get a chance to watch the live reunion show beyond the reveal of the votes because it was so late, but I am interested to hear what everyone had to say, if there were any apologies going around (especially Corinne to Sugar), and who the fan favorite winner was.

Speaking of how late Survivor started….CBS really needs to do something about their football schedule.  It’s probably the biggest reason why I didn’t watch the Amazing Race this season because I never knew when it would finally come on.  On a larger scale, can someone please explain to me why it isn’t possible to finish a football game in 3 hours when the actual playing time is only 60 minutes?  There is something seriously wrong with that.  I flipped to CBS around 6:45 hoping that CBS was on schedule to air Survivor at 8PM as advertised, but I was annoyed to find more than 2 minutes remaining on the game clock.  Experience told me that it would take another 15 minutes for the game to end and at least 15-30 minutes for the post-game show before 60 minutes would air.  As the title suggests, 60 minutes takes up an entire hour, after which Survivor was schedule to air.  Survivor didn’t start until after 8:30PM making it impossible for me to watch the entire reunion show as planned (I would never have made it to work if I stayed up past 11PM).  I could go on and on about the stupidity of football, but I’m sure no one would want to read that.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but if I had all the money in the world, I would buy the NFL and run it into the ground.  Screw global warming, world hunger, poverty, etc. etc.  My first order of business would be putting an end to the NFL.  Ok, I’m done now.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on Survivor’s newest winner?  Were you surprised by the close vote?

R.I.P.

I know it’s late, but better late than never.

Survivor: Finally, Crystal is gone!

“You can’t outwit Crystal Cox, baby.”  ~ Crystal Cox, aka newest member of the jury

Apparently, you can outwit Crystal Cox.  It’s so easy that even a pin-up model, who goes by the name Sugar, can outwit her.  I should be nice about Sugar because she’s really not as stupid as she looks.  In fact, I don’t think she’s stupid at all.  In Jeff Probst’s Survivor recap blog, he alludes to the fact the person who scored the second highest on the IQ test, right behind Marcus, will surprise us.  Could it be Sugar?  I think the biggest surprise is that they make the contestants take an IQ test.  What else do they make them do, and when will the audience get a peak at the results?  I’d be interested to see if the “smartest” person at least makes it to the merge.

Anyway, the finale is Sunday, and I’m hoping that it’s a Bob, Matty, Sugar final three.  As long as Bob keeps winning immunity, we should not see Ken in the final three.

We didn’t start the fire….

I am sure that everyone but Susie and Sugar (oddly enough) was singing that old tune after the latest immunity challenge that required the survivors to make a fire, from flint, a knife, and their pile of fire making materials (straw and some pieces of wood), high enough to burn through a piece of string.  Before the challenge started, I immediately thought that Bob (physics teacher) would win hands down.  I never in a million years thought that Sugar or Susie would give him a run for his money, let alone be the only ones able to start a fire.  You can bet that this is the last immunity challenge Susie will win.  I should be impressed that she can actually do something, but the initial shock just won’t go away!

Speaking of being impressed, how GOOD did Bob’s fake immunity idol look?  He fashioned it out of odds and ends from around exile island and  resin, which is something none of the other fake immunity idol manufacturers (Yau Man and Ozzy) had ever thought to do.  This idol looks better than Sugar’s idol, and I am sure that he could probably convince her that she has the fake one. 

Those were probably the only two highlights of yesterday’s show.  I didn’t find the tribal council spat between Randy and Crystal to be that interesting because quite frankly, it happens every week.  If it’s not Randy, it’s someone else with Crystal.  When you have issues with that many people, there comes a point where you have to start to wonder, “Maybe it’s me???”  Whatever the case, Crystal remains completely clueless about how annoying she is (and how her personality is sheer poison to the tribe dynamic).  I’m hoping she goes out next week, but with my luck she’ll probably manage to pull herself together and win an immunity challenge.  How is it that an Olympic gold medalist has performed so poorly in every challenge (most of them quite physical)?

Different Aunt Robin? Come on, who’s with me?!

I know it’s not possible for this to be true, but we can all keep hoping, right?  After reading the latest scoop on HIMYM, it appears that Ted and Robin are not over.

Greta in Los Angeles: Any news on my How I Met Your Mother faves?
Ted and Robin are getting back together! According to Barney, Ted and Robin are not only roommates, they totally back to having sex, and that means Barney is freakin’ out. He starts buying home appliances just so he can smash them on the sidewalk. If he doesn’t get his anger out that way, he might start crackin’ skulls, so he decides crackin’ TVs and microwaves is the way to go…

Is there an explanation out there that makes sense for Robin to be the titular mother?  There has to be, and I want to hear them!

Survivor: Swearing on people’s lives is serious business

This season of Survivor has been rather dull.  We know the Fang tribe entirely too well, and I probably can’t name more than two people on the Kota tribe.  However, last night’s episode had some interesting and funny moments courtesy of Matty, the surfer dude/personal trainer from California.  I have never been one to succumb to the allure of surfer dudes.  In fact, on most reality shows, I find the obligatory surfer dude to be extremely annoying and vapid.  Matty, on the other hand, is different.  If you can overlook the fact that he wants to be called “Matty” instead of Matt, then you will see what I mean.  His innocence in the game isn’t annoyingly naive, but rather it’s refreshing and quite humorous.  Take, for instance, the fact that he considers his deal with Ace to be “very serious” because they have both sworn on the lives of loved ones (Ace swore on the life of his mother; Matty swore on the life of his girlfriend) to not vote each other out until the merge.  Matty also promised that he wouldn’t betray his promise for a million dollars or five million dollars.  It would have been more convincing to say “any amount of money could not make him betray his promise,” but we get the message.  Matty is intent on playing a clean game, and this will probably be his downfall come the merger.  And if it’s not his clean game that will do him in, then it will be that he can’t keep a secret to save his life (in the game).

Bones: Andy Richter to guest, but not as Bones’ assistant

I read today that Andy Richter will be guest starring on Bones as a circus ringmaster.  The theme of the show sounds a little far-fetched, and I would have much rather had Andy Richter play one of Bones’ assistants.  It’d be more of a stretch for Andy Richter to play a lab assistant than a circus ringmaster.  Still, it’s always good for the show to get well known (if not necessarily high profile) guest stars to draw in more viewers.

Project Runway: Does this look complementary to you?

The designers were supposed to create complementary bridesmaid dresses for the wedding dresses they were asked to create as part of their final collection.  This last challenge would decide which three of the four designers left standing would go on to Bryant Park (even though in reality the last 6 designers standing get to do a show at Fashion Week–they just don’t get to win a Saturn, $$$, and of course, the coveted title of winner).  I know that Jerell definitely deserved to go home, but how is it that Kenley did not get one bad critique from the judges on her supposedly complementary bridesmaid dress?  Sure, both dresses had the same silhouette, but what about the poor choice of color?  What about the fact that the dresses were constructed from completely opposite fabrics?

Wouldn’t they make a great couple?? #1

I saw this on EW.com this morning, and I instantly thought to myself, “Wouldn’t they make a cute couple?”

Jared Booth?

I heard that Brendan Fehr is going to be playing Jared Booth, Seely Booth’s brother, on Bones.  This is interesting news, and somewhat annoying because I know that he and Bones will start dating.  Of course, (Seely) Booth will realize his affection for Bones just in time for the season finale.  It’s bad enough that Bones and Booth still give each other that obvious look (presumably to “subtly” clue the audience into a significant event in the episode).  We don’t need the storylines to be predictable on top of that, do we?