Yeah, Probst said that the idea surfaced 7 seasons (or years) ago. I'd say the reason it took that long to implement was that it was a bad idea that should have stayed on the whiteboard.

it's not like it's the first time that a pretty girl that didn't do much won. It's certainly happened before. And while Michelle didn't make moves she didn't burn bridges either.

I also think that the jury will always struggle with giving the million to anyone that perceive to have money or is making good money. I think Aubrey was some sort of exec?

Overall, one the over the more "meh" seasons for certain.

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Yeah, Probst said that the idea surfaced 7 seasons (or years) ago. I'd say the reason it took that long to implement was that it was a bad idea that should have stayed on the whiteboard.

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I think they went for the "holy ****" shock factor that makes a good twist. I don't think it'll become a regular thing. IMO, it was a fun idea in that regard, but yeah, only as a one-off.

Im in the minority here. I enjoyed this season for the high levels of drama and things we have never seen before on Survivor.

I think overall the casting was very good. There are multiple people that I would like to see return.

I think Michele was deserving on the win. She won lots of individual comps and made the absolute right move when she had to. She didnt go to Tribal for 22 days because he tribe wasn't losing. Sure Aubry may have been more physical but she was bested in the mental parts of the challenge and she lost, multiple times.

Michele also didnt burn any bridges on the jury.

I'll be interested to hear what some of the podcasts have to say about the finale.

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Yeah, Probst said that the idea surfaced 7 seasons (or years) ago. I'd say the reason it took that long to implement was that it was a bad idea that should have stayed on the whiteboard.

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I think they went for the "holy ****" shock factor that makes a good twist. I don't think it'll become a regular thing. IMO, it was a fun idea in that regard, but yeah, only as a one-off.

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I think that they looked at the final four, or even the final three, and realized how bland and non-contentious it was shaping up to be and pulled it out. They have been doing this a long time. I have no doubt that contingency options are always available.

They were going to go to 2, then at the last minute decided to go for the jury removal.

I think Aubrey was more deserving, but she didn't do as well at the end. The fact that her two allies were Joe and the skeevy lady didn't help.

BUt, at the end, Michelle won immunity and won the last jury vote, and she didn't burn the bridges, well....

I'm just shocked Cyndy voted for her.

FINAL STANDINGS

And your new champion is...me. Thanks for not being able to start fire Cydney

txaggiefarmer05 78
jdgilberg 75
kpaggie05 75
Tom Hagens Wife 69.5

Moxie 68.5
The Sheik 66.5
BlackLab 65.5
tx1c 64.5
Ranger222 64
Rebel E91 63.5

Quinn 54.5
LHIOB 51
AcctAg11 45
Tony Franklins Shoe 45
Moore Trucker 44.5
Unthought Known 44.5

gravy97 43.5
Ronnie(Former Champion) 43.5
CheeseSndwch 38.5
aggietony2010 35.5
Bobcat06 35.5
hurleyag33

cwpaggie07 32
tallgrant 27
ChipFTAC01 18
Dan 07 18
zap 15

I don't think Michelle deserved to win it at all. She was carried pretty much until the last few episodes. The only move that she made was betraying her friend and voting out Julia who still voted for her. Both Tai and Aubrey made several moves throughout this season.

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Both Tai and Aubrey made several moves throughout this season.

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And thats the problem with making moves.... it builds a resume... but it also pisses people off

I was rooting for Michelle between those 3. I still think the edits leave a lot of the story out. My biggest impression is when people win late in the game when it's really on the line and Michelle did that in spades.

To add to the irony with Joe the Colon, if Aubrey doesn't take him on that reward, he doesn't stuff his face with beef and she would have had a golden path to the million. Plus, she's too young to know that much beef for a 71 year old starving man was a timebomb and she should have told him to mix in some veggies. Cydney sure knew it. So she only gets dinged one med-evac as far as I'm concerned.

I was rooting for Tai, but he was a moron to take Aubry to the Final 3 (or even give her a chance to make fire).

I guess in hindsight, with the way the Jury voted, maybe it wouldn't have mattered, but that was an idiotic move.

Still can't believe Michelle won. I thought Aubry had it in the bag.

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To add to the irony with Joe the Colon, if Aubrey doesn't take him on that reward, he doesn't stuff his face with beef and she would have had a golden path to the million.

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Didn't Joe win that one and bring the two girls?

You are correct. I tried to forget anything that Joe did since it was so little.

The problem this season is that Tai had too much power.

Tai would piss people off with his erratic betrayals. Normally his style gameplay would end up getting someone voted out but since he had an idol and an advantage, everyone was too afraid to challenge him. Tai made some big moves, but no one respected his gameplay. As Scott pointed out, he wasted both his idol and advantage on his foolish decisions.

Audrey has a reputation of being a strong strategic player, but what was her big move?

Tai and Cydney betrayed their alliance based on their paranoia, not because she made a strong case to them. Honestly, Audrey's biggest move was blindsiding Debbie who was in her own alliance. Her main selling point during the final tribal was "When I first got to the island I was afraid of nature...". That's the argument of someone who is lucky to be there, not someone who had been controlling the game. Add in her benefit of having Joe as her personal lapdog and extra vote, she did very little that was that noteworthy.

Say what you will about Michelle, but at least she got on a hot streak at the right time

I agree with this. Michelle deserved to win over Audrey and Tai.

It seems, and it would make sense, that when there is a season with a bunch of big moves, that the winner gets rewarded for those moves. There were a bunch of duds on the jury, and to them, making moves didn't matter as much to them. They basically said, "Eh, Michelle won the final two challenges, let's give her the million dollars."

I can think of many juries where if Aubrey were sitting in the final two/three, she would win. I can't say the same for Michelle.

Michelle won? Geez are you kidding? Tai started strong and Michelle finished strong but Aubrey was the best player.

1. Aubrey
2. Tai
3. Michelle

PS. Anybody know how much money 2nd and 3rd win??

I heard at one time, 2nd place got $100K, but I don't know if that's still the case.

One other thing: when so many us in TV audience believe someone else should've won or the winner shouldn't have won, it makes you wonder if the editing skewed the tv audience.

Perhaps they never really showed how social Michelle really was? Didn't seem that "social" to me. Heck, I didn't really think she was relevant until the very end and even then didn't think she was a player. Except for her immunity wins at the end,me he was riding coat tails.

Just goes to show that Tai was right when he used both his vote in her.

Kai was absolutely correct to vote her off before Jason. He just sucked at the social game.

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PS. Anybody know how much money 2nd and 3rd win??

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100k and 85k. This is based off of my memory of a people magazine survivor special issue I read in like 8th grade, and was for the Australian Outback season, so take it for what it's worth.

I agree Kelso, and don't have a problem with Michelle winning, but ever since Russell's first season the jury has done a good job of choosing people who have played the best game, or close too it.

Go check out Cydney's Ponderosa and tell me that Scot, Jason, and Julia aren't bitter. Scot and Jason were arrogant, used sabotage and slight bullying to get their way, meaning they didn't respect the social side of the game, but voted for the better social player.

Yeah, they were very bitter. Listening to some podcasts, the choices for Scot and Jason were Michelle or Tai. Aubry wasn't an option for them. If I'm in the jury, I think my vote would have gone to Aubry and I didn't even like her especially after the first episode. As for deserving to win, I think all three deserved to win for different reasons. Tai could've had a better chance at winning if English was his first language. It would've been easy to defend all of the points made in his final tribal council.

I was so tired of hearing the "flip flop" talk about Tai. Everyone flipped this season at some point except Joe. Everyone stayed true to their #1 ally. Once Tai went with Aubry, he stuck with her even when he shouldn't have.

After seeing Cydney's Ponderosa, I don't think Cydney would have done much better than Aubry in the final 3.

Survivor has become a game of drag the weakest and most worthless players to the end. So the good players get picked off along the way because they are a threat and we end up with a bunch of girls, an old man and a little gay guy.

this was one of the most meh seasons in recent memory

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this was one of the most meh seasons in recent memory

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I fully agree. My wife loved it though, although I haven't been able to get a good read on why.