Survivor's Back!

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Not ONE single vote for Xander??? Did not see that coming. The guy had a great resume, great in challenges, made some huge moves, won the final immunity challenge, had a decent social game.

And not one vote? I don't get it at all.

[CaptainCrunch]

I don't mind Erika winning, I actually thought she played a decent game and the hour glass decision was huge. But yeah Xander getting no votes makes no sense, I'm not unhappy with the winner. But in their effort to make the game faster paced and exciting they actually crippled the best part of the game with the continal weird advantages. Instead of out think out last out play, it was about finding an advantage it was a game that literally protected the weaker players.


In the end, Xander should have found a final 3 of Deshawn and Heather and he wins walking away.

[brocoli]

I think that Xander struggles to win no matter what. He was unable to highlight any moves that he did and that’s what the jury looks for. He’s not a self promoter and that hurt him. That’s why you never want to take anyone who sells or is a promoter/defender to the end.

Here’s to the next season, but with them continuing on the current path, I have minimal hope for a season worth watching

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by brocoli

I think that Xander struggles to win no matter what. He was unable to highlight any moves that he did and that’s what the jury looks for. He’s not a self promoter and that hurt him. That’s why you never want to take anyone who sells or is a promoter/defender to the end.

Here’s to the next season, but with them continuing on the current path, I have minimal hope for a season worth watching

I think he literally lost on the misread of the jury in the final tribal. He came across as looking a bit dumb. That misread and bringing Erika in because he through that the jury didn't like her game which wasn't true really cost him.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

But CC he said he didn't want her doing the fire challenge because if she won it could tip the balance in her favor, and when he said that almost the entire jury nodded in agreement like 'yeah, good call'. That's when I thought he had it in the bag. Didn't see zero votes coming. I thought his biggest screw up was seeing how she couldn't build a fire and brought her anyways. Maybe he felt guilty or something, but that was a mistake.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

But CC he said he didn't want her doing the fire challenge because if she won it could tip the balance in her favor, and when he said that almost the entire jury nodded in agreement like 'yeah, good call'. That's when I thought he had it in the bag. Didn't see zero votes coming. I thought his biggest screw up was seeing how she couldn't build a fire and brought her anyways. Maybe he felt guilty or something, but that was a mistake.

I mean if you look at the final 4, Erika played a good game, had built a resume, but was also a strong communicator. Xander played a good game had a good resume and all that. Deshawn was awful throughout the game. Heather was dragged along. Bringing Erica in as a final two could have been perceived as a dumb move by the Jury because of his misread. It was his demise. If he had taken Deshawn and let Erika and Heather fight through fire. He's in the final 3 with Deshawn (bad player) and Heather (pretty much dragged to the end) and his biggest threat Erika is in the jury. He outright screwed up badly and his final three strategy didn't play well with the Jury.

[mile]

Xander getting less votes than Deshawn is criminal.

He did make a mistake at the final 4 tribal, when he put words in the jury's mouth and told them how they felt, then used it as an excuse to take Erika. He could've done a better job at final tribal talking about how he overcame the early handicap of the idol and came up with the fake idol. Still, I thought he was the clear cut winner from everything that was shown. It's nice a Canadian won, but it would've been also nice to see someone win after being at the bottom the whole game.

I'd be annoyed if I was Erika, the edit didn't do her any justice. She was invisible in a lot of episodes this season. The edit didn't do a good job showing her gameplay, I didn't see anything the jury saw.

Wanted Heather to win that firemaking challenge, would have been sweet redemption after struggling in every challenge. That was a great effort by her though, it was a really exciting firemaking challenge. The final immunity challenge was entertaining too. It was a good finale overall, but the ending didn't match the story being told.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I mean if you look at the final 4, Erika played a good game, had built a resume, but was also a strong communicator. Xander played a good game had a good resume and all that. Deshawn was awful throughout the game. Heather was dragged along. Bringing Erica in as a final two could have been perceived as a dumb move by the Jury because of his misread. It was his demise. If he had taken Deshawn and let Erika and Heather fight through fire. He's in the final 3 with Deshawn (bad player) and Heather (pretty much dragged to the end) and his biggest threat Erika is in the jury. He outright screwed up badly and his final three strategy didn't play well with the Jury.

Yes, but in his mind Erika can actually build a fire, and if she does that and gets in the final 3, he's screwed. He had no idea she was useless at building fires. In retrospect it's a bad move but he should have won either way. It's not like Erika played some great game that was head and shoulders above his. He got screwed over. No votes is ridiculous.

[WhiteTiger]

With Erika winning it all, that means transplant99 and myself split the imaginary million CP bucks!

This was an odd season from start to finish, and frankly...pretty damn boring overall. While I am shocked that DeShawn got a vote, that Xander didn't was quite surprising. It looked like he really lost the jury at the Final Four Tribal, as everyone there seemed very unimpressed with everything he was saying when he was talking about his read on them. He botched that hardcore, and just needed to shut up. I also have to wonder a bit if a lot of them were choked at getting played by a younger player. I also kind of wonder if Liana had any effect on the jury.

Kind of a shame overall. I liked Xander's game right up to the end, but he just seemed to botch the landing. I'm not unhappy that Erika won, and I'm glad that DeShawn didn't. But...eh, this whole season leaves a "who cares" kind of taste in the mouth.

Going into tonight's show, I was hoping that the Final 3 would end up being Ricard, Xander and Erika, with Ricard getting 4, Xander 3 and Erika 1 (based on my read of their gameplay). I agree with Mile in that the edit didn't do Erika much favor, either.

Additionally, and I can't quite put my finger on it, but Shan just seems like a really nasty person hiding under a very, very thin 'good' veneer.

The preview for next season didn't look all that interesting/impressive, either. I hope that we have a better cast than this time around, but...who knows.

Oh! I did actually like the 'reunion' show this time around. Much better than the last...10 years or so? Kind of a shame that they didn't have the entire cast though.

[corporatejay]

This is one of the worst seasons I can remember. Just a brutal cast.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Not ONE single vote for Xander??? Did not see that coming. The guy had a great resume, great in challenges, made some huge moves, won the final immunity challenge, had a decent social game.

And not one vote? I don't get it at all.

Straight white male in woke season

Erika was decent but to give Xander zero votes...seriously

Deshawn would have won if Xander took Heather

[jg13]

Is Xander the first player ever to get no votes casted throughout the entire season? No votes cast against him and no votes cast for him to win.

[chummer]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

With Erika winning it all, that means transplant99 and myself split the imaginary million CP bucks!

Fixed

csnarpy and I get the choke award for having 2 players in the final 5 and come away with nothing.

But seriously, thanks for doing this WhiteTiger, see you at 42!

[CaptainCrunch]

Watching the preview last night, it looks like they're doubling down on what they're doing this year with the advantages and twists and turns.



I would like to see a season called classic surviver. Bring back all of the most cut throaty people and play it by season 1 rules.



The only other way to make it interesting is if you vote someone off the Island they're ritualistically sacrificed to an ancient Mayan War God.

[brocoli]

I honestly think that this season was very bad editing as well. If you read Danny's exit interview he talks about how no one saw Xander as a threat which compared to how the editing went, that goes completely against what they lead us to believe. Between that and Erika basically getting invisible editing, I do put some blame there for how this season came across.

There were still weak players through and through where it was more about advantages vs. actually surviving as someone said above. But the editing has to take a major hit as well here.

[Weitz]

I wonder if they edited that way because in years past their edits have been real easy to pick the winner and there have been lots of complaints about it?

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by brocoli

I honestly think that this season was very bad editing as well. If you read Danny's exit interview he talks about how no one saw Xander as a threat which compared to how the editing went, that goes completely against what they lead us to believe. Between that and Erika basically getting invisible editing, I do put some blame there for how this season came across.

There were still weak players through and through where it was more about advantages vs. actually surviving as someone said above. But the editing has to take a major hit as well here.

Sounds like an excuse...cast is getting ripped over the final votes. Not a threat he just won multiple advantages and challenges including final immunity in a landslide.

Danny voted for Deshawn lol, he wasn't voting on merit. I said last week there is no way Xander wins. Multiple jury members said openly that they wanted a person of color and or a women to win this season.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

The one positive for me this season was having the reunion show right after the finale, loved it. It was so nice to have just the players sit there and eat pizza and drink beer or whatever and just talk about the show. One negative was only having the finalists and jury and not the entire cast, but otherwise I really enjoyed it. Probably the best part of the season.

Season 42 doesn't have me too pumped up, but hopefully my low expectations will be surpassed. The show needs a Johnny Fairplay or Russell or something to get it energized. Too many 'blah' players lately.

[GreenLantern]

Read all the comments, a lot that I wanted to say has already been said. But I am saying it again anyway because this was so bad I have to vent.

Weak season, with a weak finale. I can't believe that Xander doesn't get one vote. I truly think this was a bitter jury that was but hurt about getting out played by someone so much younger than them. I think that they put on a brave face at tribal council, but people like Shan that have just been spewing toxic venom this whole season don't stop after getting voted out.

This seemed like a jury to me that almost convinced themselves that Erika was the stronger player and voted for her purely out of resentment for Xander. By that I don't mean that Erika played a bad game, but it was not a better game than Xander, period. Not enough for 7 people to think so anyway. Either that or we got a very horrible, horrible edit. Erika was invisible for a good chunk of the season, she got dragged along on a tribe that always won. She would have been that 'easy vote' early on if her tribe lost as she was completely powerless and unable to do anything about that.

That isn't a strong player. She was able to hold on because she was never a threat and then gain some traction from the bottom, absolutely, but it was a classic case of striking while the lions were fighting each other. Does it deserve credit? Yes. Does it make you a better player than them? No.

Xander literally was in Erika's shoes, but on the losing tribe, and still managed to survive and find power in this game, seize it and use it for his own purpose THROUGH OUT THE ENTIRE GAME!!!! One of the best moves at Survivor tribal ever was Xander and his fake idol.

They want to say he wasn't socially aware? He actually was socially aware, he was aware that the jury was 'woke' and would value more than just Deshaun's gameplay at the final jury, so he chose to send him to fire to try and send him home. He knew he was a bad fire maker. He was aware enough to know that he couldn't hand Erika that 'hero' moment so he took her with him to try and stay ahead. Was he unable to read how powerful Erika's game was? OR was it really as weak as we saw and he was just the victim of a bitter angry jury? I would say more likely the latter.

His mistake was discovering how bad Erika was at fire making and not sending her up against Deshaun. I actually think to solidify his win, as the best fire maker on the tribe, he should have stepped in and sent Erika or Deshaun home himself. As we saw that other guy do who won seasons ago in what was also a bad season. If he pulled that move, and he could have confidently done so, there would have been no question.

Also Shan telling Deshaun he is emotionally immature was hilarious. Shan you are a control freak who loses her #### every time someone disagrees with her or doesn't do what she says. You are a horrible person. The end.

I really wish Ricard would have just won, then I could be happy with the result at least. I'm happy for Erika as a person, but as far as the game play and result goes this seems like a fitting end for what has been one of the worst seasons of Survivor ever.

[GreenLantern]

Quote from Xander in a recent interview that his the nail on the head:

XANDER HASTINGS: I was surprised at no votes. I wasn't surprised at the loss. I knew I lost the moment I stepped into final four, and I had the necklace on, and I give Ricard a big smile. Ricard's been the closest person out there. I've been telling him all the things I've been doing, letting him in on all the strategy that's going on in my head. And Ricard knows me inside and out. He knows the game I've been playing. We've talked to each other about it. And he's the person that I love. He's the biggest threat, so it makes sense to take him out. And in doing so, I could also put him [on to work the jury].

And when I saw him, I gave him a big smile because I'm like, "Oh, man, I miss you." And he just gives me the coldest glare. And I knew it was going to be an uphill battle from there on out. Because having one person as well-spoken as Ricard very against you, it's going to be a tough thing. When I saw his face, I was like, "Oh, okay. So he's going to be campaigning against me." And then with everybody else, it's like, it just takes one person to be like, "Oh yeah, no, he's completely ingenuine, doesn't deserve it." And then it's easy to justify everyone else's game by latching onto that narrative. Like, "Oh no, like he is just a bad person," or whatever it is. I wasn't at Ponderosa, so I don't know what the talk was.

The whole interview is actually really good. I feel like Xander got tongue tied at the final tribal, and to Erika's credit she sold herself really well. But it also appears that there was more going on behind the scenes, I initially though Shan would be the one campaigning against him but thinking back to comments made, it was actually Ricard, who was just legit bitter.

https://ew.com/tv/survivor-41-xander...ale-interview/

Edit: Oh wow go watch Ricard's Ponderosa lol. He puts himself in the top 4 players of all time.