I think there’s a disservice in the “Survivor” finales – moving them to Sunday nights, piling up the immunity challenges and tribal councils over two hours before awarding the winner in an awkward third hour — the players all beyond their emaciated states, prettied up and with hairdos that haven’t had such luster for months.
It was tougher still with a finale in which one alliance had tied everything up so tightly — a three person team that was, in the end, unbudgable though Monica made a lot of noise about turning against Gervase and the alliance leader Tyson.
Just considering the idea of going against them was supposed to make her seem like a woman with an independent agenda, though in the end she wasn’t (just as the notion of her turning against them was supposed to supply some suspense to a finale that had little; it didn’t, just as it didn’t the two weeks previous).
And during the reunion there was more talk about “the edit” of the show — how it played as opposed to how it was lived. On the screen, Tyson was the bad guy – hoarding coconut juice, keeping his hidden immunity idol to himself, having no lack of jerky comments to make. But as he was seen as the inevitable winner, there were some softer moments all of the sudden, both of them having to do with doing this for his girlfriend, who he got roped into doing “Blood vs. Water” with him only to have her being cut early-on because of her Tyson connection.
At the final three of course Tyson was the only one to vote for; everyone else only followed though Gervase insisted he was only making it look like Tyson was making the decision because it took the heat off of him. Sure.
The next “Survivor” seems vaguely interesting, a twist on the “Brains vs. Brawn” they’ve tried before. This one will be brains vs. brawn vs. beauty.