Survivor Micronesia: Stir the Pot (season finale)

(S16E14) "May the best woman win." - Amanda

Well, this surely was a season of blindsides on Survivor Micronesia, wasn't it? Down to the finale, it just went on and on. After the excitement we had all season due to the strategical game play, I felt tonight's finale was a bit lackluster and full of filler. No, I'm not fussing just because my favorite didn't win. Heck, if that were the case, I would have been gone when Yau-Man hit the dust! Read on past the jump for my full review of the finale.

Now, there were definitely parts of tonight's show which I truly enjoyed. And, some of the material I didn't care that much for they do in each finale show. In the beginning of the show we had to endure a recap bit on the whole season. I don't know about you, but I know you know I've watched every show this season. Either that or I fake writing about them well, huh?

But in addition to the lengthy season recap, then there was the usual Rites of Passage segment which also touched on each previous contestant. Okay, I know that's expected to be in there. Tonight's little trip to Exile Island to collect the torches of the folks banished from the Magic Kingdom just seemed so posed and scripted for the cameras that I got annoyed. Maybe they should combine the two recaps of previous contestants. As it is, although the content differs, I find it redundant. Fix that, please!

I also think the show (and following reunion show) spent too much time on:

• Amanda crying and not being able to make up her mind.
• Erik's incredibly foolish and naive blunder in trusting the women and giving away his immunity. I didn't count how many times it was brought up in the three hours, but it had to be more than ten times.
• Amanda crying and being indecisive.
• Did I mention Amanda going all emo?

One of the great things about this season is that it was such a hard game to predict. Sure, it was probably harder for the contestants than for mere viewers. It's the first season in ages in which the castaways took the "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast" tag line to task and that's why the season was such a hit. While I'm not so smug in my thinking to believe that women can always out-think guys, the women on this show definitely out-schemed their male competitors. I personally think it was Cirie rather than Parvati behind all of it. However, we might have more insight to that as viewers than the contestants had during the filming. Since Parvati was more brazen and louder, they obviously though it was her ruling the roost.


Parvati had one of the best lines about the situation, though -- "We bamboozled everybody out of the game!" That's exactly what they did. Cirie, Parvati, and Amanda had it all working like well-oiled machinery when the Blindside Wrench was thrown into the works. It would be a final two, not a final three. In a season of surprises, that was yet another one for both them and me.

After they completed the first immunity challenge with an Amanda win, they thought they had it made in the shade. Natalie had grown on them, but it's been Amanda, Parvati, and Cirie from early on. Even though the editing looked like Natalie might have a chance, I knew she was doomed. But then, horror of horrors, there would be another immunity challenge and another tribal council. Amanda won again (and then went emo forever). In the end she chose Parvati to go with her. In view of the final results of the jury vote, if Parvati won against her, chances are that Cirie would have also won against her. I guess it isn't in the cards for Amanda to win anything other than Ozzy's heart. (Yeah, I went all mushy there for a moment. Excuse me, I'm back now.)

I always find the jury questioning entertaining. No true fan of the show can forget Sue Hawk's "snake, rat, dying in the desert and I won't give you water" speech to Kelly Wiglesworth and Richard Hatch. So, I settled in for some good stuff during that segment. Huh? What the heck was with Natalie's flirting comments? I know I'm not as naive as Erik and I had trouble understanding her goal with that line of questioning. Did she want Parvati to say she'd sleep with someone to get ahead or what?

Other than that bit of bizarreness, I thought the jury was a bit off for the caliber of the season. Both Eliza and Erik came across as pouting children with Eliza telling Amanda she's a mean person and Erik still hurt. Ozzy was so personally hurt by Parvati mainly because she stole 14 days he could have had with his beloved Amanda. Alexis asked about role models for young girls? Silly fan, this is Survivor.

When the votes came it, it was me who was blindsided. I surely thought along the same lines as James -- that Amanda had it in the bag. Instead, they voted for Parvati to win 5-3. Go figure. She was one of my last personal choices for a win throughout the whole season, but kudos to her. James won $100,000 voted on by show fans as the Sprint Player of the Season. Yay for him! James always came up with the most entertaining lines all season before his injury caused him to leave. Plus, that body!

It was one fantastic season of the show and now I'm already excited about next season. There will be lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Er, make that crocodiles and hippos and leopards, oh my! As more news comes out about Survivor Gabon: Earth's Final Eden (filmed in HD), I'll let you know.