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Survivor Season 35

The reunion was a disappointment as they didn't bother talking with the cast, and that should be the whole point of it.

The final tribal was interesting as they had the jury discussing things more loosely with the finalists than normal.
 
I didn't see Ben as an underdog, more someone who dug themselves into a hole by being so unlikable, like a Russell Hantz. That, combined with his manic edit (where every time he needed an idol or clue, it would somehow fall into his lap) and his over the top theatrics (playing idols early, miming explosions) made him one of the least appealing finalists ever.
I do get the PTSD thing, and that it has made him socially awkward, but I don't see it as justification for unnecessary arrogance.
He betrayed his main ally (Lauren), and alienated himself. Having said that, she still voted for him to win.

Speaking of the jury votes... I feel that was another flaw in this season. Only eight jurors, and the 5 votes for Ben were from Lauren, Cole, Desi, Joe and JP - the latter three being what I would term nobodies in the game, especially Desi who bizarrely had more to say in this episode than she ever did before she was voted out.
The people who were there the longest definitely didn't want Ben to win - Devon voted for Ryan, Mike and Ashley voted for Chrissie, and Ryan and Chrissie would have voted for each other. Maybe that comes to bad jury management, so Ben can't be blamed for that at least.
 
Chrissy was probably less popular than Ben though, for all the loyalty she professes she took the game too personally.

As for the jury, well I never really like the losers deciding who wins anyway, some will be evenhanded but others will just stick by their friends.

I wasn't unhappy with the result though, Chrissy and Ben as the top 2 made sense this season.
 
I'm not even that annoyed at Ben, who just did what he had to do. What bugs me more is the blatant rigging. The "twist" seemed designed solely to benefit Ben, and no one else. He couldn't possibly have made it to the end without it.
 
Tuttle said:
The "Reunion" show was a complete waste, mainly adverts, promoting the new season.
And in the end, didn't really give a shit who won. LOL
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When is it not garbage? Jeff Probst is such a tool. I can’t stand him.
 
The final tribal council lacked oomph too. I don't know if it was the way the questions were framed, or just that this lot didn't have anything interesting to say, but it wasn't satisfying in the way many previous seasons' have been, and especially the last season of Australian Survivor, which was greater than this season in every possible way.

Ben's final speech was particularly weak. I deserve to win because I find idols, everyone hates me, I'm doing it for my family and I'm a military hero, and this talking stuff is hard. Yup, that's all I've got.

Ryan disappointed too. As a "superfan" he was positioned as a sort of Cochran, but he hadn't bothered to think out a gameplan beyond "I'm the weakest physically yet I somehow survived". Jeff was very disparaging of him though, with his "tiny chest" not meeting Probst standards of big burly Survivor heroes.
 
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I didn't think the final tribal was in a speech format it was more like a discussion among jury and finalists.
 
The final tribal apparently went on for three and a half hours! I liked that Ben had to have Joe of all people coax out of him a bit of heart-string pulling, to make his case for the win better. And I was super stoked Ben got to the end at all! Wish they'd talked to a few more people at the reunion instead of those gushing audience plants. Ghost Island logo is very nice. I like the idea of the dud moves of previous seasons being 'celebrated' or referenced, too. (Poor Lauren!) How are they going to work in the "it's a stick!" fake idol....
 
Meglos said:
I'm not even that annoyed at Ben, who just did what he had to do. What bugs me more is the blatant rigging. The "twist" seemed designed solely to benefit Ben, and no one else. He couldn't possibly have made it to the end without it.
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But that suggests they'd have to have run off and printed up that advantage on the spot. If Ben had not got his U upside down, he'd have won that challenge, and the advantage of knowing in advance how to play the final tribal would have been in his hands. That would have been more interesting to see how it played out in some ways. But I loved being on the edge of my seat the whole final ep, etc, thinking there is no way Chrissy doesn't win this, there is no way Ben's getting the cheque, etc.
 
Melore said:
But that suggests they'd have to have run off and printed up that advantage on the spot. If Ben had not got his U upside down, he'd have won that challenge, and the advantage of knowing in advance how to play the final tribal would have been in his hands. That would have been more interesting to see how it played out in some ways. But I loved being on the edge of my seat the whole final ep, etc, thinking there is no way Chrissy doesn't win this, there is no way Ben's getting the cheque, etc.
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Yeah, I see your point that they couldn't have changed the rules on the spot to suit Ben... but to me it did seem like a contingency plan to guarantee he wasn't voted out if he happened to not win immunity.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I couldn't get in to it and wasn't on the edge of my seat at any stage during the season. I wouldn't have been excited if Chrissy had won either, I couldn't get attached to anyone in the entire cast. And that's a first, I have dozens of favourites spanning every other season.
 
Meglos said:
Yeah, I see your point that they couldn't have changed the rules on the spot to suit Ben... but to me it did seem like a contingency plan to guarantee he wasn't voted out if he happened to not win immunity.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I couldn't get in to it and wasn't on the edge of my seat at any stage during the season. I wouldn't have been excited if Chrissy had won either, I couldn't get attached to anyone in the entire cast. And that's a first, I have dozens of favourites spanning every other season.
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Yeah, overall I hated the season. But I got into it once Lauren, Ben, Devon and Ashley teamed up. And then I really enjoyed the finale. But you couldn't pay me to rewatch that season!
 
Meglos said:
it did seem like a contingency plan to guarantee he wasn't voted out if he happened to not win immunity
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Exactly. And Probst's reason for introducing it backs that theory up. And then announcing that they would do it again in the next season seems like a weak arse way to make it seem like it was always planned.
 
It's quite conceivable it was planned like that from the start and the following season has probably already been filmed anyway for all I know (it airs in 2 months according to Probst).

When the Australian season was brought up I racked my brains trying to remember the cast and I wasn't that successful, it took me a while to remember who won. Jericho was very low key, and I do like the US reality shows where they have big characters, they can have big egos too but it's just something I got used to.
 
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