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An apology for the late show.
Rafe! Noooooooo!: Rafe slips up on Stephanie's tears. It may not have changed the outcome, because Danni may well have taken Stephanie anyway, but it was a pity he had to go out on such a boneheaded note.
Stephanie lost the challenge because she was shorter than Danni, and she could tell she was going to lose but kept fighting as long as she possibly could.
Probably, Stephanie would have lost against Danni, Rafe or Lydia in the final two.
Christiana mentions that she thought Danni looked promising way back in her
pre-episode 1 post. Of course, she also said she liked Morgan and Brianna.
The first season in a long time where all three of the final three deserved to win.
Lydia deserves credit for making it as far as she did, but we prefer players to be more proactive.
Strategically, should Rafe have voted out Danni and kept Lydia? Why didn't he? Honor versus strategy.
Stephanie stated that she thought she would have had a better chance of winning against Rafe rather than Lydia. Was she right?
Stephanie actually handled the final tribal council better than Danni did, but it wasn't enough to overcome past mistakes, plus Danni managing to overcome the numbers game was pretty impressive.
Skating through versus riding coattails: Not the same thing, and we prefer sliding through.
The return of Goofy Lydia with her "celebration" tree-mail.
The Mayan ritual was interesting in terms of respecting the spirituality involved even if you don't believe in the Mayan Gods.
Would you have eaten the chicken? We respect and even admire Rafe's convictions... but we still would have probably eaten the chicken.
From a Christian perspective, (Rafe is Mormon), is it okay to eat meat leftover from sacrifices to "idols"? According to
1 Corinthians, Chapter 8, yes it is, but you have to be careful not to lead others, who think it IS bad, into temptation.
Did Lydia seriously believe that eating the chicken caused the thunderstorm? I was rolling my eyes right along with Judd.
The maze challenge was awesome, though Mike felt a little frustrated by not getting to see more of them actually running through it and finding their way.
Once it came down to the puzzle, Rafe's victory was pretty much a given. (Though actually, the preview for the finale spoiled this if you were watching closely. A shot of the final four tribal council showed Rafe wearing the immunity necklace.)
The maze challenge had echoes of the one in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Stephanie wanted to get rid of Danni in the final four, but she really had no choice as long as Rafe stayed loyal to her. It was either vote out Lydia or create a two-two tie.
Rafe seemed to be trying to produce a final three where either of the other two would take him to the final two. Clearly, he was not successful, but it might have worked if he hadn't pulled his punch in the final hour.
He seemed genuinely surprised that Danni didn't take him, but really, he shouldn't have been.
Kevin made a good point in his comment on the last post that Rafe didn't really have much justification for being mad at Danni, given that he did release her from her promise after all, but I don't know that he was ever going to vote for Danni anyway. It's not that he switched his vote out of retribution necessarily, just that he had always been allies with Stephanie, and she never betrayed him.
Interesting that the final endurance challenge was designed to run shorter than the one with Palau. That one went 12 hours, this one was more like 2. All three having to hang onto the rope and scramble for a sustainable position was very exciting.
Had she been there, Lydia would not have even been able to seriously compete.
Refreshing to be genuinely torn between who I wanted to win in the final two, and we recall how, midway through the season, Mike and I saw Stephanie and Danni as opponents to one another.
More on the tribal council: Were you surprised that the vote was so lopsided?
Though many of the votes seemed to be "against Stephanie", Danni sure played a really great game.
Two elements to winning: 1) Make it to the final two, 2) Do it without pissing everybody off. Danny managed both, Stephanie didn't.
If Stephanie had played differently, not betraying her alliances, etc., would she have still made the final two?
Christiana is still not over Rafe's blunder.
Stephanie versus Rafe in the final two would have been a GREAT tribal council!
Lydia the weather-vane, turns whichever way the wind is blowing. (Though she almost lost it with Gary, yet she still recovered!)
Cindy's animosity toward Gary in the episode where he left is probably due to her being told by Stephanie and Judd what he had said about her not deserving to be in the game.
Christiana and Mike reflect on the folly of their assumption way back in
Podcast 15(sorry, that isn't online anymore)that Lydia and Rafe were similar players.
Rafe turned into this season's Ian. Lovable and playing a good game, only to completely botch everything at the last moment.
Next season: Exile Island, could be really interesting, and Christiana and Mike discuss how it could work.
Panama versus Guatemala, too similar geographically?
Jeff Probst is coming back! Huzzah!
NBC to move My Name is Earl and The Office to Thursdays against Survivor!
Has The Apprentice bumped from Thursday?
Yes, it has!
Mike softens on getting a DVR?
Good new shows on iTunes: The Office, Battlestar Galactica
Name:Christiana Ellis
Name:Mike Meitín
