Survivor - South Pacific - Discussion - Spoilers

Yup, Sophie won. Coach did OK too. Nothing for Al? Although nobody was roasted any more than the other at final tribal.

JBF wrote:Yup, Sophie won. Coach did OK too. Nothing for Al? Although nobody was roasted any more than the other at final tribal.

Thanks JBF! I appreciate everything you and Dee did to help us stay on top of things this season.

After an epic season 22, this season was a major letdown. And man, did Sophie come off as a huge b during the house of cards challenge. I think Coach deserved it of the final 3. He made the one of the top 2 biggest moves of the season and that was getting Cochran on his side to give Upolu the edge. That set up the perfect scenario to pick off the Savaii members one by one. Ozzy made the other big move in wanting himself voted out to try to give his tribe a fair shot at the merge. I'm just bummed. Sophie and Albert just clung to Coach, and I don't view either of them as strong players. I'm happy that Ozzy won the 100k, and I hope he comes back for another season.

Love_Me wrote:Stephen Fishbach Sizes Up Survivor: South Pacific Finale
If Albert does make the finals, will his jury management strategy of pretending to be everybody's friend work? Hint: that strategy never works.

Bingo! He did the EXACT same thing Stephen did... AND Mathew "Sash". All three tried too hard to please future jury members. However, the jury never remembers what you did weeks ago. They only judge you by your final tribal performance. All three got zero votes in the end because they were judged "sleezy", which wasn't exactly true (and all three are well liked by others POST-show) but they also didn't come off very "sincere" either at that particular time. You can't view this game like a chess board.

If Albert was this season's Sash/Stephen, then Sophie was a hybrid of former winners Sandra and Judd "Fabio" (from Sash's season last year) and won the same way. They had NO GAME AT ALL!!!!!!!!!! They rode on others' coat-tails and succeeded by others' failures. Cochran felt he was owed something for his big move (which obviously increased Sophie's chances) and all she said on screen "screw you!". Both Fabio and Sandra were equally critical of others, chewing them out behind their back... BUT also proving correct in the end, since those they badmouthed did make huge blunders. Sophie and Fabio both lucked out on the most important immunity challenge of the season, scoring their final three shot. Both also cried in front of the jury and, surprisingly, that DOES work if you are in the final part of the race... less so if it happens earlier, like with Whitney.

This is the current trend in the last few seasons. Except for Boston Rob, the last four winners won BY DEFAULT, not because they actually played a game. It now appears that the ONLY way to win is to stay out of trouble and under the radar. Ozzy might have been the one who "deserved to win" (and he did get fan favorite) but winning challenges does NOTHING to your final chances if you are The Minority in the final four/five. See Matt last season.

I am done with this show for a couple reasons:

The seasons are too much the same in their end result... and too exhausting to figure out when the winner is usually the "least strategic player". The problem is, quite simply, Survivor is too fixed in its set-up. Fleiss at least started Bachelor Pad as something different than Bachelor(ette), which can also be pretty predictable in their set-ups.

Worse: many winners are not too likable. Sophie has many wonderful qualities, like a sense of humor. We saw NONE of that on screen. Just a "B" with a nasty disposition. Yes, she was unhappy on the show and not in her best emotional state, but I thought it was downright stupid that they showed Albert as "the lazy one" when Ozzy revealed point-blank that she was even more so, refusing to help out at camp. Of course, the winner has to be shown in a more favorable light, but why throw others under the bus to improve her image on screen?

I saw a side of Jeff Probst this season I did not like. His attitude toward others online and the way he attacked people on screen (pushing buttons at tribals) bothered me. It is obvious that he no longer likes this show and wants to move on to other things. Even worse, ALL of his focus was on the Drama Queens: Coach, Brandon and Cochran. He hardly ever mentioned Sophie in his EW interviews or twitter. I'm guessing he really disliked but tolerated her because she was the winner. Jeff has strong likes and dislikes (like a great many who post on messageboards... ha ha!), but is that really worthy of a host? He says bad stuff about contestants he isn't as much of a fan of, disregarding their feelings.

The final scoreboard is up and recap will follow later today or tomorrow morning.

JBF I agree with you that Jeff has been developing a very condescending attitude to some players while promoting others. He is taking a much more active role in steering/manipulating things at tribal councils instead of just hosting.

We disagree on how we preceive Sophie though. I don't see her as doing nothing and riding on coat tails. Although she didn't make any major big moves I think she chose an alliance, saw that it was working and held true to it throughout. She won challenges when she needed to for both her own sake and the teams sake. Although she didn't come across as very warm and fuzzy I didn't find her particularly bitchy as far as the bitchy scale goes on this show. As for crying at the end....she did pretty well considering most of the other ladies were in tears long before 39 days out there.

I like Ozzy but I think esentially he defeated himself. I think his biggest mistakes were in not recognizing Cochran's desire to stay in the season for as long as he could and coddling him a bit more to retain his loyalty and in the final challenge losing his focus. He had such a big lead but once Sophie started to catch up he became kind of like a deer caught in the head lights and couldn't focus enough to pull off the win for himself. All he had to do was win that last challenge and the game would have been his. He was 80% there and dropped the ball.

It was interesting to see that Cochran was second in the fan fave (though not even close to Ozzy).

JBF, I hope by next season you will change you mind and give Survivor another chance...things may be a little different with the new format of everyone living together on the same island altough still aligned in two teams. It will be interesting to see if they share or pool any of their resources. And game strategy should be a whole other ball game with being able to influence members of the opposite team before merge. I enjoy your commentary and will miss it greatly if you are not here for next season. It has been great sharing this thread with you this season.

My comments about Sophie all have to do with her Edit, not her as a person. OK... maybe that above video I posted with her chewing out the competition did not show her in her best light. Yet, why present her that way on cbs.com? Does Jeff really dislike her? The only reason I brought up the crying was because Fabio did it too... ha ha! You know THAT always wins the jury... and that was the moment I was 100% certain she had it in the bag.

You do kinda have to "read between the lines" in my posts, however. I am not bitter as, let's say, Rick was in his "performance". Like I hinted, three out four past winners have ridden coat-tails, so to speak. You know I am NOT saying they didn't do anything... its is just that others did so much more. In any case, as many have stated before, there is no "bad" winner. You win, you deserved it since THE JURY felt you did.

In any case, so many LOVE Sophie... so it is all good.

I disagree with Russell's comment when he lost to Sandra (who really sat on her butt her season and didn't win at least three challenges like Sophie), there should NOT by a "Let the viewers decide the winner". The jury has to judge the finalists by how well they present themselves. Al and Coach blew their chances at the final jam session, despite Cochran and one or two others (I guess) being impressed by the latter. The viewers would be picking the winner based on an EDITED show that can sway them one way or another.

I love Survivor, and have watched every single episode of every single seaason, and will continue to do so despite my escalating disappointment with the direction it's taking.

I fully expect, that in a season or two, the two tribes will occupy separate floors of a Sheraton in Los Angeles, centrally and conveniently located between CBS Television City and Jeff Probst' Malibu mansion. Challenges will include deciphering a room service menu, bidding on tips for the maitre d', and retreiving the Matador from the valet parking area (old commercial reference, sorry).

Cast REAL people... put them on an island with a water source... make them EARN flint, rudimentary fishing gear (hand line and hook), and compete for a SMALL tarp!

I'm tired of seeing contestants looking chubbier at the last tribal council than when they stepped off the helicopter... and by the way, park a boat 500 yards offshore, let them jump overboard and SWIM for the island dammit!

Ahhhhh... feeling much better now...

Oh Richie Rich, THAT show would be so much better!

I skipped the reunion show after Jeff announced the winner (do this a lot lately), but from what I gather (online comments) it left a bad taste on many mouths. At least six contestants were completely ignored on screen and Sophie only got to say a few lines. Then it was mostly the Coach-Ozzy-Cochran-Double Hantz show.

There is a popular rumor circulating that Jeff (that little imp) was upset that Sophie beat Ozzy and prevented him from making final 3. I have to believe this one IS true on account of the way she was edited in the finale (i.e. barking orders in that one challenge… Jeffie Pee don’t like ladies barking orders). Editing manipulation always bothers me and if this is what was happening, I feel bad for Sophie simply because she wanted to win the show rather than give Probst his Ultimate "Cream Dream" (little Ben Flajnik plug here). How many secret "meetings" were we shown between Ozzy and Coach? I also found it funny how all three actual finalists received equal roasting at tribal, with the bulk of Coach’s edited down a lot to bring it to "equal or lesser importance" with the other two. Coachie can't be any more "evil" than Al and Sophierce. Oh, I’m sure Jeffie was in the editing room with his own scissors.

Probst is a piece of work. I’ve given up trying to psychoanalyze him.

JBF wrote:My comments about Sophie all have to do with her Edit, not her as a person. OK... maybe that above video I posted with her chewing out the competition did not show her in her best light. Yet, why present her that way on cbs.com? Does Jeff really dislike her? The only reason I brought up the crying was because Fabio did it too... ha ha! You know THAT always wins the jury... and that was the moment I was 100% certain she had it in the bag.

You do kinda have to "read between the lines" in my posts, however. I am not bitter as, let's say, Rick was in his "performance". Like I hinted, three out four past winners have ridden coat-tails, so to speak. You know I am NOT saying they didn't do anything... its is just that others did so much more. In any case, as many have stated before, there is no "bad" winner. You win, you deserved it since THE JURY felt you did.

In any case, so many LOVE Sophie... so it is all good.

I disagree with Russell's comment when he lost to Sandra (who really sat on her butt her season and didn't win at least three challenges like Sophie), there should NOT by a "Let the viewers decide the winner". The jury has to judge the finalists by how well they present themselves. Al and Coach blew their chances at the final jam session, despite Cochran and one or two others (I guess) being impressed by the latter. The viewers would be picking the winner based on an EDITED show that can sway them one way or another.

Ditto, ditto and ditto.
It seems each season it is getting more watered down. or stale?
They really need to change things up.
Maybe send them to Antarctica with the Kardashians, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson and Paula Abdul and let them fight it out without booze, spas or designer comforts. I bet the survivors will be eager to kill themselves(seppuku comes to mind) rather than vote each other off.

Kashathediva wrote:

JBF wrote:My comments about Sophie all have to do with her Edit, not her as a person. OK... maybe that above video I posted with her chewing out the competition did not show her in her best light. Yet, why present her that way on cbs.com? Does Jeff really dislike her? The only reason I brought up the crying was because Fabio did it too... ha ha! You know THAT always wins the jury... and that was the moment I was 100% certain she had it in the bag.

You do kinda have to "read between the lines" in my posts, however. I am not bitter as, let's say, Rick was in his "performance". Like I hinted, three out four past winners have ridden coat-tails, so to speak. You know I am NOT saying they didn't do anything... its is just that others did so much more. In any case, as many have stated before, there is no "bad" winner. You win, you deserved it since THE JURY felt you did.

In any case, so many LOVE Sophie... so it is all good.

I disagree with Russell's comment when he lost to Sandra (who really sat on her butt her season and didn't win at least three challenges like Sophie), there should NOT by a "Let the viewers decide the winner". The jury has to judge the finalists by how well they present themselves. Al and Coach blew their chances at the final jam session, despite Cochran and one or two others (I guess) being impressed by the latter. The viewers would be picking the winner based on an EDITED show that can sway them one way or another.

Ditto, ditto and ditto.
It seems each season it is getting more watered down. or stale?
They really need to change things up.
Maybe send them to Antarctica with the Kardashians, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson and Paula Abdul and let them fight it out without booze, spas or designer comforts. I bet the survivors will be eager to kill themselves(seppuku comes to mind) rather than vote each other off.

Oh lordy, Sophierce? Please spare me. JBF, I really hope you do not leave. I think you are a great fan of the show. Maybe just take a backseat and don't read into the cbs.com videos or Jeff Probst's tweets. Although, I read his twitter each week and saw his touts, I didn't pick up on what you said in that he was disrespectful to any of the contestants. Sure, he has his favorites, but I believe those were his favorites because they provided good television. He's obviously not going to like an Albert or Sophie because they are extremely forgettable.
I am with you in that I, too, hated those seasons where someone like a Fabio or a Sandra won. It's just like this season; there were far better players. I hate it when players win by default of others. I think that's why Season 22 ranks so high for me because Rob completely dominated, and he should've been one of the first to go. This is another reason I believe Coach deserved credit as he came in with his tribe mates being disappointed that he was with them and not Ozzy. If I were on Survivor, I would be gunning for the veterans because of the valuable experiences they have.
Survivor is still one of my top shows and I wouldn't miss it. I can't wait for February. But the show is much more fun for me when I'm not spoiled so I probably won't be posting here during the season.

... as if any spoilers carried weight this season.

And I don't think we will get Survivor Antarctica anytime soon, since we need a quota of bikini shots.

Also the word "disrespectful" is too strong, since he never cursed individuals. It was the sarcasm, the way he questions people at tribal or during challenges, comments on EW (where he was pretty critical of Rick and Al, among others) and many other "little things". I chuckled when Jim barked back at him during that one challenge he lost, while Ubolu was feasting. He hasn't been too supportive of Jim on twitter. Of course, we don't know about any troubles that happened among contestants that he would know about.

BUT... it is all over with. We all got it out of our system and can move on...

Actually, our conversations here are so much milder than on That Other Big Forum, so I doubt his ears are burning that brightly from here.

Here's an idea: instead of final 3, how about final 5 going before the jury?