Survivor: Nicaragua Episode 12 Thoughts

I was going to do a power ranking of the remaining players. I'm glad I didn't because this week would have thrown everything for a loop.

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This was the most frustrating tribal council this season (and possibly ever), where two people both quit. NaOnka made good on previous threats to quit, and while Purple Kelly's first move of the season was to, well, quit. Throughout the entire tribal council, it was clear that nobody had any sympathy for NaOnka or Purple Kelly, especially those in the jury. Jeff did his damnest to make them change their minds, but in the end they did not.

It's fair to say that Survivor quitters are looked down upon. Even somebody like Jenna Morasca, who left All-Stars to be with her mom who ended up dying shortly after she quit, faced some derision from her fellow Survivors when she announced her decision. As well, all quitters were never given a proper torch snuffing. Instead they were left to lay down their torches.

And yet here, in this tribal council, Jeff asked what NaOnka and Purple Kelly wanted them to do with their torches. Both felt that snuffing them would be appropriate and Jeff obliged. But to punish them, Jeff said the torches would remain standing at tribal council to remind NaOnka and Purple Kelly of what they did.

I'm sorry, but what the fuck? They know they quit. I doubt seeing those torches sitting there are going to make them feel shame (in NaOnka's case, I guarantee it won't.) So why give them special treatment and snuff out their torches? Make them lie them down like every other quitter that has quit at tribal council! If not for the viewing public who feels angry about what happened, then for Marty, Alina and Brenda, who all wanted to be there more than possibly any of the players that are still remaining and yet are on the jury and have to watch two fucktards get all whiny and VOLUNTARILY GIVE UP THEIR OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY THIS GAME.

(Caveat: I write this as somebody who has never played Survivor and will likely never play Survivor, and thus have no experience with what it feels like to play the game and live in those conditions. However, the Survivors that I follow on Twitter seem to be unanimous in their hatred of quitters.)

I will say that I'm not offended by the quitters being on the jury; that ship sailed when Janu was allowed to be on the jury in Palau. As well, them being on the jury leaves open the possibility of a 3-3-3 vote in a Final 3 final tribal council, which I want to see more than anything else in Survivor.

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One quick thought on the product placement for Gulliver's Travels on this episode: From the challenge specifically set up to promote the movie, to the reward of getting movie snacks, being able to see the movie and the scenes of them watching and "laughing" at the movies, this was essentially the yearly Big Brother movie tie in.