Survivor: Micronesia – My Favorites Mistake

On the day of the finale, as I was about to leave the gym, I noticed one of my tires was flat. Although I knew I might miss part of the finale, the spare eventually got put on, and I made my way home well in time to catch all the action. When all the dust had settled, one thing was abundantly clear: my prediction on who would win fell flatter than the tire. And unfortunately, no jack can assist me in that regard.

I honestly thought there was absolutely no way Parvati or Natalie would win this game, but just like the players themselves, you may think you have it all figured out, but you really have no idea what the jury members, or for that matter, the producers, are thinking. For my part, I greatly underestimated Parvati’s chances to win the million, hence the title of my article. Well, that and the fact that I wanted to follow in the vein of this season’s recaps, which have used old pop tunes as article titles. Okay, before you send your emails, I know it’s not the exact same title Sheryl Crow used, but close enough.

Anyway, I sent a few friends the following email after Parvati’s win was announced.

“I haven’t been this furious since Jenna won back in the Amazon. I thought there was no way Parvati could win this. If I had hair I’d be pulling it out right now! Now, excuse me while I go apologize to the neighbors that just heard me scream a string of profanities.”

Well, laugh and the world laughs with you. Whine and you whine alone. Apparently I was the only one who felt this strongly, as the others didn’t seem to have a problem with Parvati winning. And as someone pointed out, the players were there and we weren’t, so they must’ve had a reason for what they did. And now that I look back with a much clearer head, the less I have a problem with Parvati’s win, and the more I can respect her game play.

My biggest blunder in regards to Parvati has been an inability to separate my feelings about her personality from her game play. The first time she played, I took some shots at her, even titling one article, “Parvati, Poverty or Puberty?” This time, I did the same, asking the title question, “Hottie or Haughty?” No doubt some of that spilled into my predictions: not only did I not think she would win, I didn’t want her to win. But the jury had other ideas, and I have to trust they knew what they were doing. More on that later, but let’s start with a look back at the finale that was.

I was sure that with the game down to four of the biggest scammers in the history of the game (and I say that respectfully, believe it or not), we’d see a major catfight or two, and while there were some words exchanged, it was nothing like I thought it would be. I was sure whoever ended up in the jury among this foursome would go on some rant that would make Susan Hawk’s “snakes and rats” speech look like a plea for peace. But as Natalie noted, they all respected each other at this point, so that really didn’t materialize.

One thing that did materialize, for the second straight season, was the beginning of the unraveling of Amanda. You’d think she’d learn after last season’s debacle, but no. She had to challenge Cirie’s claim to being on the bottom of the alliance totem pole. This is where Amanda’s emotions started to get the best of her. Being that she had immunity, she had nothing to gain by arguing with Cirie publicly, and may have even cost herself some credibility in the eyes of the jury.

Now, let’s ask this question: was booting Natalie the right move? I didn’t think so, because I thought Parvati and Amanda had a better chance against her than Cirie. After all, there was no way Natalie was getting the votes of Erik or Jason after she duped them so blatantly, was she? Of course, that comes from the same school of thought that Parvati wouldn’t win because she’d made too many alliances and had to betray someone, and wouldn’t be getting the votes of Natalie or Alexis. We all know how well that worked out.

Now, while booting Natalie didn’t seem like the right move, it wasn’t too surprising either, as the others clearly wanted a Favorite to win. With that comes another question: what’s this obsession with keeping it “all this” or “all that,” i.e. all-female final four or all Favorites in the final three (or two)? Shouldn’t you be concerned with winning any way you can, and couldn’t this train of thought cost you the game?

Suppose Natalie had won the final four immunity, Cirie got the boot, and then Amanda or Parvati had won the final three. I have no doubt either would’ve taken each other, but it would be due to friendship more than strategy. Now, it might be the emotional decision is the strategically correct one as well, but I have serious issues keeping it “all women,” “all favorites,” or “all whatever,” just for the sake of doing it, at the possible expense of strategy.

We now return to our regularly scheduled article. When Amanda started in on Cirie after Tribal Council, it seemed, as the recapper noted, like a huge sense of déjà vu. She did the same thing to Todd in China, and it brings up this question: could it be Amanda is able to play well enough to get to the end of the game, and can even win a challenge when she needs to, but once it gets to the end, the physical and emotional toll of the game become too much for her, and it costs her the game? Or did winning immunity take its toll on her emotionally, to the point it would’ve been better for her to lose the final immunity, as strange as that may sound?

But the challenges weren’t over. Amanda went on to win the final three, and with that, we saw yet another thing we’d seen before: Cirie going as far as her social skills could take her, and then not being able to win a challenge. The first time, it was a fire-building contest; this time, it was more of a balancing act. And while it was noted that Cirie could talk anyone into anything, apparently there was no way she could talk Amanda into taking her into the final two.

But while taking Parvati was obviously the emotional decision for Amanda, it was also the strategic one: if she had taken Cirie along, the vote probably wouldn’t have been as close as it was. For that matter, if Parvati had won, it would’ve been to her benefit to take Amanda, as Cirie’s powers of persuasion no doubt would have come into play.