And the Hero is…

A villain!!!

So congratulations to Sandra for winning Survivor TWICE! At the start of the show I was a bit perplexed why she was cast a villain. Then again I was also quite confused by some of the other castaways’ tribe assignment. I can get behind the “villainness” of Rob, Randy, Jerri, Parvati, Tyson, Russell, and Courtney; the “heroness” of Colby, JT, Stephenie, Tom, and James. I wasn’t sure Sandra was cast right. Sure she was quite a loudmouth in Pearl Islands but a loudmouth does not necessarily a villain make.

I caught the Survivor bug late and only started watching the show on its 8th run (Pearl Islands). But I’ve seen every season since and Sandra remains one of my favorite winners ever. Heh, of the 13 times I’ve watched the show, it’s only been three seasons that my favorite player took the prize, Sandra’s seasons being two of them (the other one being Survivor: Guatemala). This season I was on the Heroes’s side but Sandra’s been a personal favorite ever since that it didn’t really matter which tribe/alliance she was gonna be in.

Truthfully though, I would have never expected Sandra to win again, let alone make it to the final three! When I started with this season I imagined she would be voted out early on due to her poor performances in challenges. Also, I would have never believed Sandra, Parvati, and Russell would constitute the final three if you told me before the show aired. (Yeah there was that leaked boot list prior to the season which turned out to be pretty accurate.) At some point I figured one of the final five/six castaways would make a bold move and vote out Russell (because Parvati won back-to-back immunity challenges). But alas, just like Survivor: All-Stars, the two puppet masters made it to the end. The only difference was, there was a third finalist (Sandra) that made it almost impossible for either mastermind to win.

The final tribal council was, of course, much-anticipated but I was expecting A HELL LOT MORE from an all-star jury! Come on people where was the fire??? The lawyer-like bravado (and a good serving of legalese)? The vile attacks? The inane and insane demands for explanations? I certainly thought they could do much better than feign expressionless faces or roll their eyes:

Yeah.

I know many fans will argue that Sandra was less deserving of the win because she didn’t exactly “play the game” like her co-finalists did. Right after literally being crowned sole survivor, Jeff asked her if she thought she was the best player ever and Sandra was all, hell yeah! Parvati didn’t exactly agree, saying it was she who played the game the longest (114 days), won once, made the finals twice, etc. Russell was clearly (and again!) a sourpuss this reunion show. Of course he wasn’t gonna agree that Sandra was the best Survivor player of all time. He said that, from a physical, strategic, and social standpoint, Sandra just wasn’t up to par and then he kept yakking about how his game was better. Thankfully, Jeff Probst gave him time limits to air his grievances and controlled the flow of the discussion, thus preventing the episode from turning into The Russell Show.

For Russell, I don’t think winning fan favorite in his two seasons will ever compensate for losing but Jeff was right to debunk his “solution” to a certain flaw of the show. Russell suggested that America also have a vote on who gets the title sole survivor. But this isn’t American Idol! To be perfectly fair, I do think Russell should have won Survivor: Samoa and I could at least understand why he was crestfallen after losing to the sweet, slightly naive blonde Natalie. But he just came across as a sore loser in this reunion show.

Now going back to Sandra, I thought she totally deserved this second win. You simply don’t rely on (lady) luck to get you the million dollars the two times you play this game. To use Russell’s criteria, sure Sandra didn’t play a strong physical game and she would be the first to admit that. She sucked in the challenges in Pearl Islands and did as poorly this time round. And yet she is up there with other Survivor winners (e.g., Tina, Yul, Earl, Todd, Natalie) who never once won individual immunity in their season.

In terms of strategy it could be argued that she didn’t really play a big move or take major risks (unlike her co-finalists). But… did she need to? I’ve always seen her strategy to be “as long as it ain’t me” which is a pretty valid game plan to stay in the running.

I thought she played a decent social game too. In a game where deceit and dishonesty are the norm, Sandra managed to get by lying and scheming and still earn the final vote (if not the respect) of 6/9 of the jury members. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t beat around the bush and isn’t fearful to speak her mind (“tell it like it is,” she said in her first season). While everyone was getting fooled by Russell and pledging his/her allegiance to him, here was Sandra who outright told him, “I’m against you.”

And that’s where Russell failed at: the social aspect of the game. Rob hit the nail on the head he said that Russell “plays a good game to get to the end” but his wasn’t a good strategy to get him the win. So it kind of begs the question, if it didn’t work out for him once, what made him think it would work for him a second time?

Overall, I was excited to see these former castaways back in the game (especially Sandra, Amanda, Parvati, Courtney, Sugar, Rob, Russell, Jerri). But I was also perplexed at some of the chosen returnees, particularly Candice (Heroes’s tribe) and Danielle (Villains’s tribe). When I saw the opening credits the first time I had to rack my brains to remember who Candice was, what season she was on, and what she did exactly to be a “hero” of the show. (You never forget heroes but it took me a while to recall this former contestant!) Danielle I remembered but she didn’t really strike me as a memorable contestant on Exile Island so I was also surprised she was asked to come back. (Side comment: I was on Team Amanda when she and Danielle were battling it out for the clue to the hidden immunity idol. Of course Danielle had to exaggerate the story when she recounted the EPIC FIGHT!!! to her co-villains.)

If I had it my way, I wouldn’t have cast former winners on another all-stars show. So no, I would not have invited Sandra (even though I like her), JT, Parvati, and Tom back. From the pool of contestants from season 8 up, fans might have wanted to see: Twila (Vanuatu), Ian (Palau), Bobby Jon (Palau/Guatemala), Rafe (Guatemala), Shane (Exile Island), Yau Man (Fiji), Rocky (Fiji), Corinne (Gabon), Crystal (Gabon), Taj (Tocantins), and Shambo (Samoa). But this was such an overall great season that, in the end, you couldn’t really complain about how the producers cast the characters.

The sad thing is, unless the producers pull a new trick out of the bag, next season’s Survivor: Nicaragua is going to be yet another typical edition of Survivor. I hear they’re gonna make it more difficult to locate the hidden immunity idol (thanks Russell) so that’s something to look forward to. But I can’t help but think it’s gonna be more of the same old same old.

A suggestion: Why not cast a global edition of Survivor? Think World Idol. CBS can surely round up a group of Survivor winners from Bulgaria to the Philippines to Serbia. Now that would truly make for an interesting season! Imagine TOTAL strangers from different walks of life (such a cliché!), barely understanding one another, and battling it out to be the sole global survivor. It’s Outwit, Outplay, Outlast at its finest!

Till next season!