Survivor: Gabon Finale Thoughts

This is going to be a bit free flowing and not an official live blog, but I'll be doing it as I watch the finale (via PVR).

- Kenny is still bitter about Bob's "betrayal" of him. Look, I think that Kenny has played the best game up to the final 6, but he's being ridiculous right now. Let's review:

• Bob approaches Kenny and Crystal with a fake immunity idol, says that Corrine has it so let's all vote for Matty. Kenny and Crystal agree to vote out Kenny.


• Kenny then immediately switches things up and tells Crystal to vote for Corrine, so that the idol gets played.


• Corrine doesn't play the fake idol, and gets voted out 4-3, with Kenny's vote being obvious


• Kenny's angry that he was lied to and his game was "ruined", so Bob promises Kenny the immunity necklace.


• Kenny then decides to vote out Bob when he gives up the necklace.


• Bob wins immunity, and Sugar tells him of the backstabbing plan.


• From there, another alliance is formed and Crystal gets voted out. Bob says at tribal council that he would give over the necklace if he thought that Kenny had a chance of being voted out (after being called out by Kenny).

Kenny has absolutely no right to feel the way he does about Bob. Kenny screwed over his own game by trying to be too cute by a half. If he had just let Crystal vote out Matty as agreed, he'd still be running the show, and he wouldn't have had a group of angry people facing him. (I'm not sure if Sugar would have pulled her immunity idol stunt if Corrine was getting voted out at the final 6.) Even after that, if he had not even bothered trying to get Bob out, he could have taken Matty out next. Instead, his "I'm so smart" play of the last two episodes has put his $1 million chances very much in jeopardy.

- In a related note, Sugar's play in the final 6 was note pivotal, but it did show some brains in case Susie wasn't on board with the Get Crystal plan. It would have been a tie, but still, it was a head's up and creative play which served as a good backup.

- They are digging into Kenny's wounds.

- In an unrelated note, did anybody think of the unintentional comedy of calling their merged tribe "Nobag"?

- I think the actions of the last two weeks have made Kenny stupid. Kenny seems to think that Sugar is still on his side after a brief talk. Really? Come on now.

- Hey, they get to dress up and paint their faces like warriors! And uh, WTF is this contraption they have set up?

- Holy crap this immunity challenge had to take hours to complete. First they have to dig under a wall and get themselves through. Then they have to walk a series of balance beams which look suspiciously like a maze. Then they have to go into a separate maze with a bunch of huts. In three of the huts there are puzzle pieces. When they get a set of pieces, they have to go to the end of the maze, drop off the pieces and then go back in. I'm confused and I'm not doing a damn thing beyond watching.

- Wait, they didn't mention the gate to get into the hut maze.

- Suzie is doing a fantastic job of saving her butt.

- Bob is in trouble.

- As I say that, he gets his final bag of puzzle pieces.

- Holy crap Bob won again.

- "Where's Suzie?"

- This show is Bob's to lose now. He's in the simple position of either winning immunity in the final four, or getting the boot.

- Wait, Matty is messing things up by not telling Susie that Kenny is going. And he told Kenny that Susie is going. And now Sugar and Kenny have decided to vote out Susie. Sugar's erraticness is going to screw her over in the end.

- Randy's mohawk is ridiculous.

- Susie's basically saying "I'm a lemming", which can only mean that she can't win and she

- Kenny has killed himself. I mean, he just said "It's cool if I blindside Bob, but him blindsiding me ain't cool." Then Bob killed him with logic, and Jeff made sure to stomp on the corpse. The jury did not like Kenny's logic at all. Worst of all, I don't think that Kenny understands why what he was saying was so stupid.

- Unsurprisingly, Kenny gets the boot. He took it well, but I think his gamer background will end up making him ask an interesting question at final tribal (probably slanted against everybody who betrayed him).

- Susie is nervous. She seems to think that Sugar and Bob are confident. But she seems to put too much faith in Bob winning the final immunity challenge. It's going to be endurance, which should favour Matty based on the only endurance immunity challenge they had.

- Ah Fallen Comrades. Always a fun time.

- For example, I forgot that (a) Paloma, Jacquie and Kelly are cute and (b) the first 4 players and 5 of the first 6 voted out were women.

- Sugar is upset about Ace and I think she just accused Kenny of lying to her to get him voted out.

- Ace's comments were great. I think he's actually changed.

- Corrine' might have a need for therapy if she doesn't think people who are nice are interesting.

- Crystal was the "muscle behind the mastermind" according to Matty. Uh, that might have been the reasonf or the failure.

- A tribe greets the final four, and that is awesome.

- Wow, it's not endurance, it's building a house of cards. That sound you just heard is Bob breathing a sigh of relief.

- Last minue addition - after 30 minutes the talles house of cards wins.

- Sugar's tower looks incredibly unstable.

- Jeff looks like a genius for calling Sugar's tower's fall.

- How does Bob only have 2 layers of cards done?

- Bob is overthinking things. That's the only answer here.

- Susie's could fall. But she's smart in just waiting until the 30 minutes is up.

- Bob's done. So is Susie.

- Susie wins the opportunity to get no votes in the final three! Bob loses his chance at a million dollars! Well done!

- Everybody is emotional. Bob is certain he's going.

- Oh my god, Susie is trying to get Bob into the final 3. And now Sugar and Matty are digging themselves a hole to get Bob back in?

- And now Sugar is looking at setting up a tie to have Bob and Matty duel it out? HAS EVERYBODY TAKEN CRAZY PILLS HERE?

- Bob is practicing starting fires in preparation of a tie. Oh my god if this doesn't actually happen I will be angry (so to, will Mark Burnett be angry because a Matty/Susie/Sugar final 3 would be horrendous).

- Bob at least uses logic, while Sugar gets emotional.

- Corrine's reaction to Sugar's statement that she would lose to both Matty and Bob was not to surprising.

- And Bob brings the tears as well. Wow, this is easily the heaviest tribal council ever. Amanda's tears are nothing compared to this.

- Following Sugar's logic, she has to choose between a brother and a father. If she votes the father, then he's eliminated. If she votes the brother, then it comes down to a competition and somebody will earn their way into the final three. That could be it.

- HOLY CRAP IT'S A TIE WITH FIRE MAKING!

- Kenny's reaction to Bob not getting voted out was AWESOME! Kenny wanted his revenge, and it wasn't going to happen!

- Becky/Sundra this competition isn't. It's more like, well, the destruction of Matty.

- BOB WINS A MILLION DOLLARS! (Okay, premature, since Crystal looks incredibly anguished that Matty didn't win. Bitter much Kenny and Crystal?)

- How can you not vote for a guy who created a bow tie out of his buff?

- Okay, the counting of the day notches is silly. Hey, celebratory feast time!

- Bob's building his last gadget in Gabon.

- "This is why my mother wouldn't let me play with matches."

- "I still have one last thing to do here in Gabon, and that is convince a jury that I deserve a million dollars more than Susie and Sugar" (Paraphrased.) I don't think this is going to be that much of a problem.

- Wow, they worked the symbolism there. "That's how easy it can come and go."

- Kenny is still bitter about the deal thing.

- Randy is going to go after Bob. Really.

- Corrine is also promising some fun.

- Susie deserves it because she wanted to show that you have to try. Yup. She's confident to stand next to Bob (now, I'm guessing, because competing against the High School Physics teacher doesn't seem as bad as competing against the Olympic gold medalist).

- Bob is way too humble here, but that's his personality. He laid out his initial strategy well, but he needs to put in his plays later as well.

- Sugar thinks she plays the perfect social game. Nobody on the jury seems to be buying this. I don't think that she thought about what she was going to say to the jury, because it just seems like she's rambling.

- Sugar just admitted to making an alliance with Bob at the end of the game, and said it was her only alliance in the game? So, Corrine, Charlie, Marcus and Matty vote for Bob and the game is done.

- Ah, the jury questions!

- I just noticed that Charlie, Marcus and Corrine are wearing green. Why not yellow?

- Charlie asks why the jury should vote Sugar and Susie to the top of the pyramid after they were voted at the bottom previously. Susie says she never gave up which is what she was trying to show to her son and her students. Sugar says "I don't know, I don't think you necessarily have to vote for me but it would be nice" Charlie chuckles and silently scratches her off of his list of potential winners.

Bob gets asked about whether all of the intimate cuddling and spooning he did with Charlie was a bit more enjoyable than he was willing to admit. Bob calls him a wonderful person and says he was warm at night so he didn't give a hoot. Charlie gives a fist pump and goes back to the jury. (Note: this was much less awkward than the Natalie/Parvati exchange from last season.)

- Crystal up next. She calls Susie a coat tail rider. (I bet Bob is a lair and Sugar is a snake.) My bad, Bob was controlled by Sugar in terms of strategy. Bob agrees and says he rode coat tails because he didn't need to do anything differently to get where he was sitting. Crystal asks Sugar why Sugar voted Crystal out. Sugar says that honestly it's because of the way Crystal talks and treats people. She knows it would be better for her to be up in the final three than Bob, but Sugar knows that Crystal will forgive her.

- Kenny next up. Why does Susie deserve the money and Kenny's vote? She brings up the underdog point, which wasn't an answer. Sugar. Kenny then says something about his dating life and how Sugar was the first girl he opened his heart to and trusted. Why did Sugar backstab Kenny. She admits she thought that Kenny was a bigger threat than Susie (while crying). Kenny doesn't believe Sugar. Sugar it says the truth. Kenny asks Bob why he wouldn't give up the necklace and Bob again says he would have but once he found out that Kenny was going to vote him out, Kenny became the enemy. Kenny didn't want to hear that from Bob and he runs away like a little kid who didn't get his way. Bob reacts appropriately ("WTF? What am I supposed to say? I'm sorry I didn't bend my game so that you would be furthered and I would end up losing?")

- Corrine (and her boobs) are next. She tells Susie that if Susie can answer yes to this question, Corrine will vote for Susie. The question: "Will you agree to have your vocal cords removed?" Susie says no. Corrine wants Bob to get nasty and convince her that he doesn't like Sugar. Bob brings up the Randy fake immunity idol and how he didn't like doing it, but he really didn't like how Sugar threw it in Bob's face. He then starts to defend Sugar, but Corrine cuts him off and tells him to stay nasty. Bob says he's done. Corrine then turns to Sugar:

Sugar, you are an unemployed, uneducated leech on society. And the only thing I would vote to give you is a handful of anti-depressants so that nobody else would be subjected to your constant crying any more. And maybe if you got some, then it might seem a bit more sincere when you are crying about your dead father. (Sugar gives Corrine the finger.) You don't deserve the million. Thank you everyone.

Well, it's safe to say that Sue Hawk has been defeated in the most bitter final tribal council rant of all time. Marcus did not look comfortable during this. Randy's smirk was funny and sad all at once. "You go, girl" isn't exactly the right reaction to that.

- Marcus is up next to lighten the mood. He says something about being a physician then starts with Susie. He's shocked that all it would take is "It's just a game" to shed her responsibilities to be a good role model as a mother and a child educator "in the biggest game of all. And that's life." He moves to Sugar "Now Sugar, I'm assuming your father did pass away, I know you told a lot of lies" (HOLY CRAP! I didn't expect Marcus to be bitter.) He and Sugar have something in common as they both lost a close family member. He wants to know if Sugar will use a portion of the million to honour her father as he would have done if he won the million. She didn't even consider it, but would start something for lung cancer for children because that's her favourite cause. (I think something is missing in the translation there.) "We'll see if that's worth my vote." Bob is a parent. Marcus's dad taught him to take responsibility for his choices and actions. Bob gave ownership of his choices to Charlie, Corrine and Marcus. Marcus wants an example of when Bob chose to be responsible for his choices while he was out there (The answer here has to be either the Randy fake idol incident or just a general statement of how even though he followed the leader, he still had to choose to follow the leader.) Or it could be option three: The occasion never came. Everybody was making good decisions so he never had to stand up and say "No, let's do this instetad." Marcus calls it an interesting choice.

- Ah, Randy is up next. First, Susie. If somebody told him that Randy would be in the jury and Susie would be in the final three, he'd have told them they were crazy. Once Susie said she felt sorry for Randy. He wants her to elaborate on that comment. (And then he defines elaborate for Susie. Seriously.) She though he was sad and she wanted to know how to help him. She didn't mean to hurt him with the comment. "Okay, I'm done with you." (It's like he's rehearsed this or something.) Randy moves on to Sugar and her laughing when he got voted out. Did she not know he was going to the jury? Did she just want to make a jackass out of him "I don't think I needed to do that because you were able to do it yourself."
Randy wants some sort of defense from Bob. Bob apologizes but says that he was pissed at Sugar's reaction (which Sugar nods to agree with).

- Matty is the closer. Susie gets asked why the other two are less deserving of the million dollars. Susie starts bringing up her faults then says she was disgusted with some of Sugar's actions. Bob got angry at her and didn't feel happy enough for Susie. Matty wants Sugar to reveal something that she did which was just "evil". Voting for Kenny is her answer. Matty is not pleased. Bob gets asked why the other two are more deserving to win than Bob. Bob's response:

I don't think they are

Matty is stunned at the answer, but also kinda in agreement.

- The jury now contemplates their vote. My prediction is Bob wins 4-2 (Sugar)-1 (Susie)

Voting time:

- Matt votes for Susie
- Corrine votes for Bob
- We don't see Randy's vote, but we (and everybody else) hear Randy say "All three of you can kiss my (censored)"
- Kenny is troubled by his vote.

Jeff gets the votes and heads out to Los Angeles for the reading of the votes. He walks out then walks back in in the same clothes. Everybody else is cleaned up, of course. (Susie wears glasses? Sugar is dressed up like a, well, pin up girl.)

Vote 1 - Bob (Corrine's vote)
Vote 2 - Susie (Matty's vote)
Vote 3 - Susie (Ken's vote?)
Vote 4 - Susie
Vote 5 - Bob
Vote 6 - Bob
Vote 7 - Bob

Thank fucking god.

- Funniest moment thus far of the reunion: When asked how Bob got the rope to make the first fake immunity idol, Bob replied "I take things." He then explained that there was rope which held together the rolled up clues at Exile Island, which means that in Survivor 19, there won't be rope holding those clues together, it will be tape.

- Jeff does the old "if Matty won the firemaking challenge, how many people would have voted for him". 5 would have, meaning he would have won. (It's an aggrivating question, because Matty could have messed up at final tribal and changed that to a Susie victory, for example.)

- Randy voted for Bob! And why did Randy vote for Bob? Because Susie gave Randy a hard time over the cookie incident with Sugar! Wow!

- Sugar claims to have her own paparazzi. Um, I'm guessing not so much.

- Hey a replay of Corrine's comments. And we get boos. Did Corrine mean it? Does she regret it? Coming up next!

- Next is now. And another replay of the comments. Jeff blasts Corrine, and she can't really defend themselves. Though she is at least honest to admit that she would normally just not spend time with somebody she dislikes, but if forced to spend time with somebody she hates, she would react the same way.

- My god the Randy section killed. He's been funny, self-depreciating and kind (bringing strangers who are fans because they would appreciate coming more than his friends who have never seen the show before he was on it.) Mark Randy down for another run if they bring back the all-stars or fans vs. favourites format.

- A reason why Michelle might have been the first to go? "I've been having dreams that a giant termite is coming to eat me, wearing a Fang, what do you call those things? A buff." (Michelle cleans up weel, I'd add.)

- Um, Bob just won the extra $100,000 from the fans' text votes. On the bright side, we get Jeff doing a Bob impression.

- Your winner of the inspirational story: Paloma. And Kelly was the one in the red dress which I was admiring. (Jacqui, her doppleganger from a distance, is in purple.)

- Next season is at...the Brazilian Highlands! (Tocantins to be precise.) No specific hook this time (not even anything like "we're in HD now"). But the scenery looks like it's going to be stunning.

And...we're done!