Talking About Stuff, with Mike and Christiana

Ian, Ian, Ian.

Once again, demonstration that even "little" slip-ups are killer in this game. He'd gotten lucky before, what with his "interesting" comment to Gregg and his utter failure to reassure Caryn on the beach.

Here's the thing with Ian, as I see it anyway. He tried to play the game the way he was "supposed to" with the lying and backstabbing etc., but in doing so, discovered he's just plain not a good liar. Further, he felt bad about doing things that, in the context of the game, are really not that bad at all. His plan for Tom was the right move, strategically speaking, and both Jen and Katie agreed. Only problem, he's not a good liar, and he felt bad about lying, which made him a worse liar.

Once again, he made the final three out of the strength of his relationship to Katie, but once there he was stuck. He had lied, but didn't like that he had lied. Being called a liar really hurt, especially because he knew it was true, so he just kept digging himself deeper, and hating himself worse and worse the deeper he got. As much as I liked him, I didn't like the way he was handling things. It was a departure from that sweet honorable guy that I liked.

So doing what he did in that last immunity challenge really redeemed him. It was an irrefutable demonstration that he was more concerned with integrity than with the money. (Now, it might be suggested that the only reason he made the deal was because he was about to fall anyway, but Tom had already made him an offer that if he stepped down, he'd make the final two. He could have taken that deal, or at least tried to take it. Instead, he specifically made a deal that did not include him. To me that says that the deal was sincere and genuine, even if the timing was spurred by fatigue.)

So while I was a little disappointed that Ian wouldn't be able to win, I really couldn't be happier for him because he regained what he had lost and the truth is, that if he was the sort of person who was a good liar, and who wasn't bothered by lying to people, he wouldn't be the person that I liked so much. He achieved redemption, and the way he put it in the finale really drove that home for me. Where he said: "I wasn't ready to sacrifice what I'd be taking back to my family and friends for a million bucks."

Brief Side Note: Am I nuts, or is that Chevy SSR thing one of the ugliest cars you've ever seen? It's like, New Coke + Slip'n'Slide + an El Dorado. Bleagh.

So, Ian steps down, and we have Tom and Katie. I'm not really a big fan of Katie. A few of the comments she made here and there really made me think that, for all the talk about her "sense of humor", that she was a little bit mean-spirited. In my mind, the best thing she has going for her is her friendship with Ian. That said, she had a really good point about the way she played, in the sense that she played the cards she had. She wasn't an athlete, she wasn't strong, so playing the game that way just wasn't an option. So she chose a strategy based on what she could do, and the fact of the matter is that it worked!

That said, there was no way I wanted her to win.

Tom I'd liked from the beginning (though there were a couple points where I didn't like the way he handled things). The truth is that he did just about as much "dishonest" things as Ian did, but they didn't gnaw at him the way they did for Ian, and I think that he was actually able to convince himself that he really didn't do anything, but the truth is that he did use Caryn, whether he "promised" her anything or not. I'm reminded of the Biblical verse about "Let your yes be yes". Basically, it says that you shouldn't have a double-standard for honesty, making "promises" that you have to keep, but "non-promises" that you don't have to keep.

Now, it's a game! So a fair amount of dishonesty is just plain NECESSARY in order to play. In that sense, Survivor is kind of an interesting game, because it's virtually impossible to win without compromising your principles at least a little. So in many ways, it reveals character. Ian, for example, trying compromising his principles and discovered that not only was he not very good at it, but that it really bothered him, and so he stepped out of the game in order to take his honor back. Tom, and maybe this is that maturity factor coming in, was able to be a little more flexible. Not that that makes him a bad person or anything, but I don't know, I just have a weak spot for idealistic hero-types, like Ian. Tom is just a little more jaded and pragmatic.

But boy, Tom played the game hard and he played to win, and he deserved to win.

Not that there was much doubt, after that tribal council. Katie basically gave him the game. Case-in-point, maybe Janu's mind was already made up, so maybe Katie answering her question wouldn't have gotten the vote anyway. BUT THE OTHER JURY MEMBERS WERE F$&*ING LISTENING TOO! Deciding to not answer the question like that was a big sign of disrespect that almost certainly made the other jury members less likely to vote for her.

I haven't seen confirmation of it yet, but I'm pretty sure that Coby's vote was the only one she got, and she only got that because Coby apparently still had that borderline-irrational emnity thing going on with Tom. Truth is, I think that if she had handled tribal council better, the vote might have been much closer.

As it was though, Tom showed that he was able to come across as a class-act even when it's only mostly true. (And that is, of course, under the extremely high-stress environment of the game. In normal life, I'm certain he's a great guy.) So he really pulled it off and earned that million bucks. Way to go, Tom!

Awesome season!

Also, I can't recall if they've had a season in Central America before. That Mayan theme could be really cool!

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How much do I love Ian? Even more, despite tonight's complete blunder with the reward challenge!

Given the promos showing his blow-up with Katie, and his early conversation with Tom on who they should each pick, I was convinced that Ian would win and that he would cave to Tom and choose Caryn. As a result, I was actually a little bored during that challenge.

Boy, just goes to show you that you never know what's coming on this show, because people are just plain unpredictable. My take on his inexplicable bonehead choice of Tom? He panicked. Torn between his loyalty to Katie and Tom's suggestion of Caryn, he realized at the last second that he didn't know what to do, he panicked, and picked Tom thinking they needed to talk some more. Dumb, dumb, dumb. That could EASILY have been a game-ending mistake, and very nearly was.

But you know what? It wasn't just luck that allowed him to recover from it. It was the relationship he had cultivated with Katie and his earnestness. Clearly, her trust in him was very damaged, but it must have been pretty damn strong to begin with, because she decided to stick with him.

I've not been that impressed by Katie recently, not since the episode where Janu left when a few of her comments left a bad taste in my mouth. And while I think she does care for Ian, I still think she would have gone against him if she really thought it was in her best interests. I don't think she's playing him, but I do think she's playing the game. Clearly, she decided that she could still trust him, and that her best shot of getting to the final two was with him, which I think is plainly the case. So I think her vote tonight was the smart move for her in the game. That said, I'm also just a little happier about her because she kept my boy Ian in the game!

Point of interest, did anybody else notice that Jennifer voted for Caryn too? I think she's actually a pretty smart cookie and going into the vote, she knew which way the wind was blowing.

Then there's Tom. I still like him mostly, but frankly I'm beginning to sour on him just a little. Maybe it's just that I've started worrying that he's going to turn on Ian. I was terrified all hour long that he was going to realize how close Ian and Katie are, then side with Jen and Caryn. I still think that would have been his best move.

Still, I think tonight was the episode where it all broke down. "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold."

I think Ian and Katie's damaged bond may well be the only intact alliance left.

God, I love this show!

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