A number of readers have emailed to ask about my thoughts on the Survivor finale. I'm touched.
Steph screwed herself 6 ways to Sunday by betraying three people she had an alliance with. THREE! That's 3 of the 4 votes her opponent needed to win. Add to that the sure knowledge that members of Danni's old alliance would vote for Danni, and that gave Steph no path to victory.
Rafe was an idiot for letting Danni out of her promise. Had he gone to the finals, he would have won. And he's also an idiot for believing that both Steph and Danni were better choices to take to the final three than Lydia. I don't care what promises you've made-- when you get to that point in the game, it's time to put on your "I want to win a million dollars" hat.
This was also the first Survivor final challenge that I thought was poorly designed. Danni's height gave her a clear advantage. I can't recall a past endurance challenge that gave someone an inherent advantage because of their size or weight. Strength and physical condition, sure. But the essence of the final challenge has always been, "Who wants it more?" This one was just "Whose body is best constructed to lean most easily?" Once it devolved to that, Danni was a shoo-in.
It'd be easy to say, as Judd did, that Danni skated below the radar. But she didn't. In fact, she brilliantly orchestrated the fracture of the opposing alliance, managing not only to get Judd voted out but to get Stephanie to take the fall for it! She played Rafe like a Steinway, using his moral conflict to keep both herself and her weakest opposition in the game. The final five players to be voted out (including Steph) have only themselves to blame for not bidding on the immunity challenge advantage and letting Danni get it. They should have pooled their money to give it to someone-- anyone-- from their own alliance rather than letting Danni pick it up. Had she not gotten that advantage, she'd have been voted out that very night. Instead, she won the game.
Much though I'd have liked to have seen Stephanie win, Danni was the better player.
Posted by Peter at December 15, 2005 3:10 PM | TrackBackI also wondered about that final challenge. Surely they test them out on prisoners beforehand, right?
I had assumed using two hands to hold the rope was against the rules, but through the miracle of Tivo I rewound and found that not to be the case at all. Hmm. Did the producers expect it to turn into a leaning game? I can't imagine that's what they were shooting for.
I miss Lydia. I dig short women.
Posted by: Stephen Glenn on December 15, 2005 4:52 PMIt's about time.
For the record, I first checked sz at 3:30 am monday morning (woke up for another reason - I'm not that sick of a fan) and instead of the tidy little rap up I expected got another couple of sleepless hours pissed off at the birthday thief.
Alas.
Posted by: Michael on December 15, 2005 5:30 PMnice to see a winner that won because they outwitted and outplayed rather than just outlasted. all of the final three were wrong not to take lydia. she was a free pass to the final two. rafe is at least as tall as danni. if he hadn't touched the pole that challenge would have lasted a lot longer. that being said, a lot of challenges favor certain players due to height or weight or gender. it's just part of the game.
Posted by: dana on December 15, 2005 7:16 PMI gotta think that they totally didn't expect that challenge to turn into a leanfest. They all three got AWFULLY lucky to scamper around like that and then manage - incredibly - to wind up in that leaning position.
Posted by: Chris Lemon on December 15, 2005 10:45 PMI noticed that height advantage aspect too. At the end, it looked to me as if Danni could have lounged there another hour if she needed to.
Rafe is this season's Ian, letting his scruples get the best of him when it came to another player. He was hoping that she would have chosen him out of sentiment, but she was too hardcore to have done so.
Posted by: RichM on December 16, 2005 4:49 PM