Thought it best to leave the finale thread to the finale and just share my general views here.
This is the first Survivor series I've watched in full since the UK ended it's two series run back in 2002, although of course it's not a format any reality TV fan is completely unfamilar with, so I wasn't going in completely cold. The US version has never really appealed though - partly because of Jeff Probst, partly because they're Americans, but I knew the Aussies would be far more watchable. I didn't realise just how great a show it would be though.
On the whole it's been a great cast - it's fantastic they weren't afraid to cast the superfans as sometimes it's tempting to go for a cast who don't really know the format in an effort to recreate the purity of earlier seasons, but I think they got the mix spot on. The beauty of Survivor, compared to a popularity contest like Big Brother, is you can appreciate those you don't like when they make moves that you respect - I think many of us changed our opinion of Flick when she flipped on Brooke. Similarly though those doing well can lose viewer support - Lee was probably quite popular for the first half of the series but as he dominated I think we all (except loyal sweepstake supporters of course) wanted him to go. I'm glad though that he made it to the end and the winner had to beat one of the best physical players at least to take the title.
I think we're all in agreement pretty much on the show falling a bit in the middle with Vavals losing streak, whilst I still think the problems there all began with the fake tribal council double swap. Both are somewhat linked to Ten needing to get as many episodes out of the format as possible, but I think they just about got away with it, and airing 2-3 episodes a week was the right strategy. In the end a 55 day series aired over 65 days so it was almost real time, compared to the US version which airs 39 days over 91 days.
Really happy that Ten have recommissioned it and I think the few problems there were with this series are actually a good thing - it really does give them something to work on moving forward. Address them and there is every potential for the next series to be better.
P.S. One last thing, and probably the most important, is how this series has given new life to this place. It's been an absolute pleasure discussing the episodes with you, even if for me that just means joining in about 10 hours after the event.
This is the first Survivor series I've watched in full since the UK ended it's two series run back in 2002, although of course it's not a format any reality TV fan is completely unfamilar with, so I wasn't going in completely cold. The US version has never really appealed though - partly because of Jeff Probst, partly because they're Americans, but I knew the Aussies would be far more watchable. I didn't realise just how great a show it would be though.
On the whole it's been a great cast - it's fantastic they weren't afraid to cast the superfans as sometimes it's tempting to go for a cast who don't really know the format in an effort to recreate the purity of earlier seasons, but I think they got the mix spot on. The beauty of Survivor, compared to a popularity contest like Big Brother, is you can appreciate those you don't like when they make moves that you respect - I think many of us changed our opinion of Flick when she flipped on Brooke. Similarly though those doing well can lose viewer support - Lee was probably quite popular for the first half of the series but as he dominated I think we all (except loyal sweepstake supporters of course) wanted him to go. I'm glad though that he made it to the end and the winner had to beat one of the best physical players at least to take the title.
I think we're all in agreement pretty much on the show falling a bit in the middle with Vavals losing streak, whilst I still think the problems there all began with the fake tribal council double swap. Both are somewhat linked to Ten needing to get as many episodes out of the format as possible, but I think they just about got away with it, and airing 2-3 episodes a week was the right strategy. In the end a 55 day series aired over 65 days so it was almost real time, compared to the US version which airs 39 days over 91 days.
Really happy that Ten have recommissioned it and I think the few problems there were with this series are actually a good thing - it really does give them something to work on moving forward. Address them and there is every potential for the next series to be better.
P.S. One last thing, and probably the most important, is how this series has given new life to this place. It's been an absolute pleasure discussing the episodes with you, even if for me that just means joining in about 10 hours after the event.