Survivor: Gabon, Finale Recap

Rock on Bob.

Bob is a superman. Slow, steady, and competent. Matty and Kenny started out with a good lead over him in the first challenge, but he came on strong, but both of them faltered, and Bob edged out Sugar for the win. I love that.

Not much to say about Kenny getting voted out. He had a really good run there for a while, but his successes clearly went to his head. His obsession with Bob not giving him the idol was totally psychotic. I was totally giving him the benefit of the doubt that he knew it was stupid, but was trying to use it as a weapon to sully Bob with the jury. The problem was that the jury totally didn't buy it (Bob was too smart and deflected the criticism handily), but worse, after he was voted off it seems Kenny had bought his own stupid reasoning. Disappointing coming from someone who seemed to be smarter than that. He was classy when he left, but the anger still got to him for final tribal.

The final challenge was a real surprise. Suzie? I was shocked at how poorly Bob did, I mean, I expected him to be right in it. I knew Bob was gone if he didn't win. Suzie, after winning, revealed again just how in over her head she was. I totally understand that she wanted to celebrate her win. I mean, we see that kind of behavior every season when someone finds a hidden immunity idol and immediately rushes to tell someone. Stupid move, always, but people can't resist the temptation to brag. Suzie was no different, and given how the move saved her life, she was excited about it. But just had no clue of how insensitive she was being. Also, she was, for the first time in weeks, feeling powerful, and wanted to explore flexing her muscles. So in her head she came up with this plan to vote off Sugar, but instead of telling Bob that, she tried to, well I don't know what she was trying to do. But no one understood her "subtext", and again she just ended up coming off stupid. The riding of the coattails can definitely get people to the end, we see it over and over again. The problem is that often the players that do that aren't really doing it as a real strategy, they are doing it because they aren't insightful enough to do anything else. I'm sure she is a perfectly nice mother and wife, but with a few very notable exceptions, she wasn't a very good Survivor.

Sugar is totally crazy. She is sweet, she is mean, she makes dumb moves, she makes interesting moves, she was just totally all over the map. But she saved this season from utter boringness, orchestrating just about every interesting twist the show has seen. Her choice to force Matty and Bob into a tie-breaker was awesome. Like everyone else in America, I had hoped to see Suzie go, just for the delight at seeing a final three with three worthy competitors. But while I totally liked Matty, he played a very boring game, just with a lot of heart, so Bob had the edge for me. Plus, BOB PRACTICED. Holy cow. I do not understand how you can go on Survivor and not know how to start a fire blindfolded and underwater. Jeff made a similar comment at the reunion show. The challenge is not a surprise. And it cost Matty a million dollars.

I usually don't really like the final tribal council. The jury members, salivating for one last moment in the spotlight, are tempted to either be an idiot or to take their silly questions way too seriously. That is one reason I will always love James, because he always kept it real at tribal and did not try to amp up the drama. Even Charlie showed how much he has been hanging out with Corrine back at Ponderosa and was just a little rude. I was shocked at Marcus, whom up until now I'd thought seemed like a cool guy. But, as boring as Suzie was, what exactly makes him think she is a bad role model for her son? Yeah, she beat you big guy, I don't see what is so evil about that. Very disappointed in him, that was totally ridiculous. Kenny was still obsessed with Bob not giving him the idol, which is laughable. Matty was a little weird, but you always expect the last person voted off to still be pretty emotional about it.

Randy and Corrine were a joke. In fact I have to say I've been defending Corrine all season because I thought she was funny, but wow, that was over the line by a mile. But you know what kept it ok? In a twist, none of the final three took their questions seriously. Usually when the jury acts up, the final contestants do their best to give the jury the answers they want to hear, or at least to do as little damage as possible. Bob though, is actually an honorable man, and was simply not going to stop giving Sugar and Suzie a little respect no matter how much the jury prodded him to do so. And Sugar was a total hoot, clearly completely unconcerned with actually winning. She came to Survivor with her own goals, and actually winning was not one of them. She knew people weren't going to vote for her, and rather than groveling for a spare vote or two (and I think she had the arguments to deserve the win) she just brushed it aside. I kinda love that. I mean, I think she gave up way too early and way too easily, but what else was she supposed to do in the face of Randy and Corrine? But she totally had the last laugh on both of them. Randy was a total ass, as expected, and once again Sugar put him in his place, calling him a jerk or something, leaving him to stand there spluttering. He didn't expect that, and it was awesome. Her flip-off of Corrine was also satisfying. Bob and Suzie, while not nearly as confrontational, also openly laughed at the ridiculousness of some of the questions. Good on them.

I wish I knew who the three people were that voted for Suzie. Matty, well, he was in an alliance with her I guess. But give me a break. When it was clear Sugar wasn't even trying, for a moment I wondered if Bob would win unanimously. It must have been Kenny and Crystal, also voting for their original tribemate. But were I in that jury, it would take more than blind loyalty to get my vote.

The reunion show was pretty unremarkable. Marcus again came across poorly, and Randy and Corrine came off as truly sad. Crystal had no excuse for her poor performances, but at least she was a good sport about it. Kenny was a little weird, but that is because Kenny is a little weird. Count me as one who thought Ace had a fake accent, so that was surprising. More of the girls actually looked attractive rather than looking like cheap hookers though, which was nice. And then there's Sugar. Holy cow she looked amazing, in a class all of her own! I had a similar love for Kenley on Project Runway last season, I just love that 1940's glamour.

Overall, this was not a great season, but it had plenty of great moments. Now I just have to wait patiently for Brazil.