Sunday, May 11, 2008

The Last Shall Be First: Daren Wins Survivor Micronesia

Credit Where Credit is Due
So, it is all over. Congratulations to Daren Blomquist for winning our second Survivor Pick 'em. Parvati stuck around and then pulled off the final vote (more on that later). Daren picked Parvati dead last. Daren actually was supposed to pick 12th, but he did not get his pick in, so he got bounced back. In the end, only Kathy and Parvati remained. Daren's wife Sarah emailed me that Daren's pick would be Kathy. I then posted all of the picks and gave my comments on them. I commented that I thought Daren should have picked Parvati instead of Kathy. Sarah then emailed me and said that she forgot how crazy Kathy was and asked if she could change the pick. We changed the pick and the rest is history.
So, the winner almost ended up being the only contestant not to be picked.
Just goes to show that you don't have to have a high pick to win this.
So, yes, I will take my lumps now. For many, many weeks I have been proclaiming that neither Parvati or Natalie could win the game. I was wrong. Parvati pulled it off. Now, let me say that I don't know if she would have pulled it off had it been a final 3 instead of a final 2 (more on this later also).

Runner-up. . .again
And Parvati won against the number 1 overall pick, Amanda (Andrea Moffat, who also picked Amanda last season). I really thought that not even Amanda could blow this one. She had Ozzy and James in her pocket, and she still found a way to lose it. Amazing. Amanda must be the worst closer in Survivor history. Let me say this, though. Last season she was awful at Final Tribal, but Todd was amazing. That combo resulted in Todd taking it. This time Parvati was not all that great. She kept asking, "Is that good enough?" after her answers. She was far from stellar at Final Tribal, but Amanda was bad. Not as bad as last season, but still bad. I feel kind of bad for her, making it so far twice and having nothing to show for it. Maybe she will win next season.

Third Place
Ah. So bummed. I don't know if she would have been able to pull it out, but I really wanted to see Cirie work it at Final Tribal. I can't believe they blindsided us with a Final Two. So bummed. I loved watching Cirie again. It makes me want to see her original season again. I was so stoked when she made it past the Natalie vote. I thought I was home-free. Then it became obvious that they were going to pull out one more challenge. Darn! Still proud of my girl.

Rounding it out
Congrats to Eric Wood for his fourth place finish with Natalie.
Okay, so what was with Natalie's question at Final Tribal. That had to be the strangest question in the history of Survivor. Did you see the look on Jeff's face? Classic.

What I Liked
1. The aforementioned look on Jeff's face when Natalie asked Parvati that awkward question.
2. James winning that special award again.
3. Erik being a good sport (brutal).
4. Alexis grabbing James' arm every chance she got.
5. Jeff blasting Fairplay for quitting.
6. Eliza saying that listening to Amanda made her want to kill herself.

What I Didn't Like
1. Of course, I didn't like my girl Cirie becoming the victim of the final twist. It was a really good surprise, though.
2. Amanda crying all the time.
3. Ozzy's ridiculous rant. I totally disliked him afterwards. I don't know if the "I hate Parvati" or the "I love Amanda" rant was worse. Both were pretty bad. It was all about him. He is lobbying for more fame. He wants to be the next Boston Rob. Maybe Ozzy and Amanda will show up on The Amazing Race now.

It's 11:15pm Pacific time. Somewhere in the world right now Amanda is crying.

So, this was fun. Thank you to each one of you. If anyone wants to volunteer to host next season, I am up for that. I don't know that I will host it again (although it was a lot of fun). So, I guess I am saying that anyone who thinks it would be fun to do what I did this season, it is fair game. You will not be stepping on my toes or anything.

Congrats to all.
Daren Blomquist: Winner (Parvati)
Andrea Moffat: Runner-up (Amanda, aka "choker")
Dan Franklin: Third Place (Cirie, aka "so close")
Eric Wood: Fourth Place (Natalie, aka "multi-layered")
Megan Wood: Fifth Place (Erik, aka "dunce cap")
Alison Gentry: Sixth Place (Alexis, aka "popular pick")
Kelly McAllister: Seventh Place (James, aka "analogy king")
Mirranda Meacham: Eighth Place (Jason, aka "not the brightest light bulb")
Angela Stump: Ninth Place (Ozzy, aka "dork")
Dan Stump: Tenth Place (Eliza, aka "wide-eyes")
Karina Franklin: Eleventh Place (Amy, aka "machete massacre")
Curtis Lillie: Twelfth Place (Tracy, aka "she got game")
Kathy (unpicked)
Greg Moffat: Fourteenth Place (Chet, aka "my foot hurts")
Dave McAllister: Fifteenth Place (Jonathan, aka "what could have been?")
Rich Stafford: Sixteenth Place (Joel, aka "still can't believe Chet beat me")
Sarah Blomquist: Seventeenth Place (Mikey, aka "overplayed his game")
Ruth King: Eighteenth Place (Yau Man, aka "can't fly under the radar again")
Ami McNay: Ninteenth Place (Mary, aka "guilt by association")

Great season. Thanks to all.

4 comments:

Dave, Ami, Hadleigh Claire, Annelise, and True said...

Fab. I just knew that Parv was going to win if she made it all the way. She really played this game. I don't like her character, but I liked her more than Amanda. I thought A might do better at the final tribal, but when she was crying about voting off Cirie I knew it was over mentally for her. I agree, she is a bad closer, but this time I don't think being a good closer would have helped her. Parv just played a better game, though must agree with Eliza she is just not a nice person.

Looking forward to Gabon...Dan I don't think you can give up the status of host...you are like Probst...besides who else knows how to do the over/under thing I still do not have any idea what that means.

Sarah said...

So, yay for Big D! We could not figure out why Amanda did't point out that she was a better physical competitor. She won the last two challenges! I thought that would have helped her, but she just played the loyal card.

What a weird final tribal. I was surprised about Eric voting for Amanda. Oh well. Very fun!

Megan said...

What a great season. I agree that the deal was sealed for Parv once she made it to final two. Being confident in your game, both the good and the bad parts of it is key. It's interesting how in both seasons Amanda played the "game" until the end where she got all emotional and weepy and such. I'm not sure how Amanda could have pulled off a win, maybe if she would have teamed up with Nat and Cerie, voted off Parv, then brought Nat to the finals. Oh well, at least she found true love, and she and Ozzy will easily win the Amazing Race next season :)

Daren said...

Well, all I can say is that I never gave up hope, even when Dan was pooh-poohing Parvati. She was my girl. In fact, I think if we have another girl (or boy for that matter) we will probably name her Parvati.