^^^
Well, now he's gone...
Anyway, this is the first disappointing season of Survivor for me, I must say. I haven't seen all the prior seasons, but most of them, and I always got hooked and enjoyed them right up to the end, no matter how the voting went. But there have been some real problems this time:
1. The thing about them having to wear the clothes on their backs, and then a lot of them selling that, was dumb. I did not find it entertaining to see these people having to wear boxers, or Rupert wearing part of a skirt, or any of that crap. It was just an annoyance.
2. The place has too much food. Is it just me, or is this the first time the survivors (at least one tribe) pretty much had ALL they wanted to eat for the duration? Sure, they're probably sick of fish, but they aren't starving or living off of rice like other episodes.
3. Bringing 2 cast offs back onto the show was a really stupid idea. I mean, apart from the fact that they LOST the game by being voted off once, they then got to STAY out of the game until the 7th week or whenever they had the episode where they returned. How many votes did Lil and Burton avoid during those intervening days? Yes, I know the show SAYS that they kept these people on low calorie diets to prevent them from having an unfair advantage when they returned, but I bet they still got a better balanced meal than the other survivors, got to sleep in beds, didn't get attacked by bugs, etc., etc. So I'm sure they WERE more replenished than the existing survivors they competed against. Anyway, whatever mileage the show's producers got out of this gimmick in terms of gaining interest, they lost way more with just the bare unfairness (to me, and people like me) of having one of these 2 returning cast offs win.
4. THE FUCKING CHALLENGES SUCK!!! I always admired the way they came up with interesting and unique challenges for the shows. But this season, I think they must have given the job to some one new because these challenges are fucking BORING. First, too many rely on physical ability. In the past they did a better job mixing up challenges that required merely will power or mental ability. Second, these challenges are way too complicated. I get lost whenever the host is explaining what they have to do. Three keys, four bells, a puzzle and an obstacle course, working in pairs, or whatever. In past seasons, I could mostly understand what the challenge was from the explanation, but now they've gone into this mode where half the challenges are some kind of multi-tasking obstacle course. Maybe they thought these challenges were more interesting, but in fact they lose me when it gets to complicated like that. I'd rather see them find creative and simple challenges. Like the season where they had the kite building challenge. And they are stealing a lot of these challenges from past episodes. They had that "escape from the cages" challenge, just like a season or two ago, only this time I think they made it have more stages so it became another of those absurdly long obstacle course things.
Anyway, they better fire the guy thinking up the challenges this season and get back the guy they had before, or whatever they need to do to make the challenges better next season.
5. The rewards SUCK! Bacon and eggs on a table on a beach? Pizza and beer on the back of a sailboat? What the hell happened to being wisked away to some local native feast, or activity like scuba diving or something original? Surprise me! The only thing surprising about a bacon and egg breakfast reward is how lame it is.
Well, I may stick out the rest of this season and try the premiere next season to see if they fixed these problems. But I'm really close to cutting this show loose.
As to the person who said the show is not about survival because the people are not surviving, you are missing the point. The show is about seeing raw and powerful and REAL human emotion. Even though it is manufactured by putting these people in a situation where they are deprived of family, friends, outside contact, food, sleep, comfort, etc., and putting them under constant mental stress (similar I guess to breaking some one down through brainwashing) the fact remains that the emotions evoked through this method are REAL. Those episodes where after weeks of isolation, the remaining survivors got to get a letter from a family member, or see a family member, and they'd all break down crying -- no matter how much of a jerk or snake they had seemed -- are so moving because they show you that EVERYONE has their own circle of love. No one is so cold and mean that they are alone in this world. And when after all this deprivation, the people go nuts for a piece of chocolate or something, you can see it is REAL that amazing pleasure they are getting from something so simple.
I mean, what is worse, to manufacture REAL emotion with something like Survivor, or to have actors ACT emotions they are not feeling by reading a script? Well, my point is not to say Surivor is better, only that it is no worse than anything else on TV. The point was NOT to see who really would be best able to survive in the wild for 39 days. That was made clear right from season 1. It is a game about who can be (1) come under the radar as not so bad they should be voted off because of animosity, not so good they are a clear threat to win it, and (2) maneuver into enough friendships / alliances to avoid being voted off just because you are the odd man out, and (3) avoid being part of an alliance that is too obvious and strong so that the others must band together to get rid of you (which is the mistake Rupert, Cassandra and Krista made this season, since they should have KNOWN when they allied with Burton and Lil to get to the final 5, that Burton and Lil would wonder, "What then?" and could easily see that they were the odd 2 out and would be outnumbered by those 3 being too tight together. So they were idiots not to consider that Burton would be looking to avoid that fate. If they had, then they should have seen tonight's vote coming.)
Well, I'm just pissed because Survivor is sucking this season AND Rupert was voted off (who was one of the last interesting things about the show) and really only has himself to blame for it.
And stupid Cassandra voting for John instead of Darra just because she was so cocky she thought her vote was unnecessary and she wanted to make a pointless and useless gesture to show she disliked John. WE GET IT, MORON!! Geez, if Rupert had guilted Lil into staying with him, it would have been a 4 - 4 tie and Rupert might have survived BUT because of Cassandra's stupid and pointless vindictiveness, it would not have been a tie even if Lil had voted with Rupert. That fucking stupid, smug bitch. Whose smiling now?!! Yeah, I know in the end her vote made no difference; I'm pissed at her because she had no way of knowing that and since there was a slight chance some scheming had gone on she didn't know of, she should have voted the way she'd agreed to. Goddammit!
Anyway, if they really want me to watch next time, they should put the next Survivor in Afghanistan.
~psychoblast~
p.s. No, I have nothing better to do.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
