FTA-TV Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers

[squashface]

I’ll admit that the season started off very average and I thought we had a s**t cast this season, but later on in the game post merge it delivered imo.

I’ve said before that Ben is a worthy winner and I still believe this and don’t buy into the whole “the producers manufactured his win” but I do think he wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t for Joe probing him to give more in his final address.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Mmm. I would be okay with that if it was a 4-4-0 vote, but what about if it was a 3-3-2 vote with say Ryan getting the 2? It’s not fair then having him cast a deciding vote when the 2 that voted for him can’t revote.

And to then do it a few months later in front of a live studio audience instead of the pressure cooker of final tribal council isn’t a level playing field either.

In that 3-3-2 situation, the first course of action might be to get the 2 Ryan voters to re-vote but only for one of Ben or Chrissy. I say "might" because I'm pretty sure Jeff only talked about it in terms of that third finalist getting zero votes.

But I very much doubt they'd wait until the live show to do it. A few producer types count the jury votes behind the scenes straight after they're cast (although apparently, amazingly, once upon a time they didn't), and I assume they would then break any deadlock while out on the island.

 

[Lefthanded]

Wow just caught up with it today. What a great season! That final episode.... brilliant. Ben was a deserving winner. IMO the best player this season (in a season filled with some extremely good players). Ryan was considered the weak link in the final 3 but he still had some good gameplay in him. I did not like Ben at all when he was the dictator and controlling the game after the merge. Seems arrogant and the didn't make him likeable. But his back to the wall play, weaseling out of situations- he literally was the controlling factor of the season. He was a step ahead of everyone, right from the start to the season to the end where he found idol after idol. IMO he has a legitimate shot at being considered as one of the greatest players to have played the game. He was that good. He did however get saved by the twist at the end- I didn't like it and it reaked of the producers trying to get him the win. Still, he needed to deliver and he beat Devon fair and square (after not even knowing about it, while Devon could mentally prepare and practice).

Chrissy- great player. I thought she might have pulled the win out- Ben's final tribal council showed his weakness, he's not great with his words. Chrissy is a brilliant talker and her spiel I thought was one of the great final tribal council spiels EVER. She had me convinced that I should give her 1 million dollars. Add to that 4 immunity challenges and being extremely good at being a social player without seeming over controlling... top player. Would love to see her get another shot. Bit of a know it all but couldn't fault her game tbh.

Devon- he'll get a 2nd chance. Good looking dude with brains. That instinctive move was genius to save himself by voting Mike at 5. He was running the show for a while towards the end of the season too, Ben's idols killed his game the most.

Joe- extremely entertaining player who again should get a 2nd chance. Will never win the game but will contribute greatly towards a season with his constant needling of his tribemates causing them to explode.

Could ramble on about more players but they're the ones that stood out to me this season.

Generally agree but wanted to point out some things with the bolded:
1. Ben was great at finding idols and great at knowing when to play them. Also had a good read on how to get rid of physical threats like Cole and when Lauren, Devon & Ashley were throwing his name around. He was not, IMO, strong enough at challenges or socially to be considered one of the greatest players of the game. The really strong social players are able to get enough people to vote a certain way - think Sandra who was able to do it twice (that second time when she was already a previous winner speaks volumes to me).

2. Whilst I don't think Ben is as strong with words as Chrissy we must remember that the producers edit what happens so that we don't see everything and the ending is more dramatic. Its their job to make us think it's a very even contest so they are showing more of Chrissy's strengths and less of Ben's. Someone who only sees FTC might think Chrissy is going to win but the votes are best indication and Ben dominated. (not as much as some winners who could also be thrown up as some of the greatest ever who they talk about having played a perfect game eg http://survivor.wikia.com/wiki/Perfect_Game