Malcolm realizes he has some tap dancing to do after Abi threw him under the bus with the compliment of saying he's a favorite to win. It doesn't matter that both Skupin and Lisa's game is done at this point. They made a fatal error by getting rid of Abi. She was their only hope. Neither one has a snowball's chance in hell of beating Malcolm or Denise. I'm not even sure they could of beat Abi.
The next morning the tribe is surprised to get tree mail because they have two more days left. Since there's only four players left the final immunity challenge shouldn't be until tomorrow. Unless it's going to be a final two this season, like I've been predicting for several weeks now. The tribe wonders if it could be a reward challenge. This seems impossible because it's the finale and they never have a reward challenge during the finale right? Wrong!
It is indeed a reward challenge and I instantly realize I've been fooled again by this unpredictable season. Unless they have an unprecedented two challenges in one day it's going to be a final three. Probst quickly clears this up by revealing that tomorrow is the final immunity challenge and this reward is for an advantage in that challenge. I thinking they're going to pull an exile island and give the winner a high protein meal, but that will remain a mystery for now.
The challenge consists of going through an obstacle course and getting puzzle pieces to form a dragon. Denise jumps out to a lead but Malcolm is hot on her trail. I'm thinking Denise is going to win since it's a forgone conclusion that since Malcolm is returning next season, he won't win the game, so he won't be in the final three, so he won't win the final immunity. Malcolm shockingly wins though. It seems improbable that Malcolm could lose a challenge with an advantage. As Lisa says he was already a huge threat to win on his own but we know that's what's going to happen. It also feels like Lisa is leaning towards going to the end with Denise. She obviously thinks she still has a chance at winning this game and Malcolm is the only one who realizes that Denise will be the toughest to beat.
Knowing she doesn't have much chance at the next immunity, Denise begins to work on Malcolm. In an effort to preserve her vote Malcolm doesn't commit to anything, much to Denise's dismay. So she plays the only card she has left and hatches a plot with Skupin and Lisa. Unlike Malcolm, Lisa misleads Denise into believing she's in but in an interview she admit she's keeping her options open, as she's been doing throughout the entire game. Lisa comments to Denise that Malcolm is the type of guy who will look you in the eye, stab you in the back, then visit you in the hospital the next day, which is exactly what Lisa has been trying to do to Malcolm for quite some time.
It's clear that Lisa still wants to get rid of Malcolm but Skupin appears to be unsure. He does however, think that he can beat Malcolm. Lisa on the other hand suggests they try to let Denise win so she can be the bad guy. She also thinks Denise is no threat in the finals.
Before the immunity challenge the final four does the fallen comrades walk. I'm really glad they include that this season so I can get a shot of Angie in her bikini, but we start off with Zane who says it was stupid for his tribe to vote him out. Maybe that's right, but it's wasn't nearly as stupid as him telling them to vote him out!
The challenge is one from Micronesia where you must balance a small ball on a horizontal cylinder. We find out that Malcolm's advantage is getting a second chance if he drops his ball. Incredibly Malcolm has trouble immediately. While everyone else is pretty still he struggles and even with his advantage he's the first one out.
We later learn that Malcolm told his mom before he came out to the Philippines that that was the one challenge he didn't want to see because he's so clumsy with his hands, which is odd, considering that he's a bartender who must be quick and efficient with their hands. Denise is the next to go, which gives Malcolm a little bit of hope. Malcolm makes another mistake in my opinion by rooting for Skupin albeit somewhat lazily, but by doing so he gives Lisa another reason to get rid of him. Of course Denise comes close to doing the same thing by congratulating Lisa for making it through a tough round. Never take sides in a final immunity until it's over. Lisa and Skupin battle for a while but in the end super klutz Skupin prevails. Lisa, who never stops playing the game, hugs Micheal, and says how they made it together. Lisa may very well be the most manipulative player in Survivor history.
The next segment is classic Survivor. Malcolm and Denise each work on Lisa and Skupin, who tell both of them they're safe. Neither one makes a very good argument though. If I were Malcolm I would of conceded to them that he was the favorite to win against them, but that they have NO chance against Denise, but at least against him they have an outside chance. We see Skupin contemplating how great it would be to go against Malcolm in the end. If history is any indicator we know that Malcolm is toast because he said the same thing to Pete, Penner, Carter, and Abi.
Any doubt of this is alleviated at tribal council when Probst asks Lisa if there's a good reason to take Malcolm and she is honest for once and says "no" much to Malcolm's shock. I guess the fact that she gave her word to Malcolm isn't a good reason to take him to the end. We can see by the look on Malcolm's face that he knows he's toast and Denise seems a lock to win the game at this point. Malcolm even acknowledges this by congratulating her in an effort to admonish Skupin and Lisa.
Will Denise actually win though? She had a hand in voting off her former Kalabaw members, although she didn't vote for Jeff, but she also refused to vote with him against Pete in the first vote after the merge, which was never seen. Will Malcolm really hold Lisa and Skupin more accountable then Denise for his exit? Who will Abi vote for? She told Skupin and Lisa they can't beat Denise but she also hates Denise. So maybe Lisa or Skupin still have a slim chance at winning. Not to mention the fact that Denise is sounding very arrogant when she gets back to camp.
Meanwhile Skupin admits that "some people might not want to vote for either one of us". Some people? Try the entire Jury. Well maybe not, quite all of them, but probably most.
The final tribal council begins with Denise wishing Skupin "good luck". If that doesn't prove what a big phoney she is, I don't know what will. Unless she's a complete moron she wishes Skupin and Lisa the worst luck possible. Luckily the two people she's sitting next to aren't exactly pillars of the Survivor community.
The jury comes in. Most have pretty intense looks upon their faces but no two are more different then RC and Abi. RC is relishing the moment with a bigger smile then anyone else, while Abi looks like she's about to go postal. Hopefully there's some kind of metal detector she had to go through to get to tribal council.
Denise remarkably continues to be very patronizing, practically rubbing it in the jury's faces when she says "I outlasted you, I outplayed you, and I outwitted you." Her stature as a favorite continues to diminish with each passing moment.
Lisa on the other hand does a pretty good job kissing up to the jury, especially Malcolm. She calls him the heavy weight champion of the season and credits her self with knocking him out. I can see the jury is wondering the same thing as me, which is how the hell did she stumble her way to the end?
Skupin kisses up to himself in his opening statement. He continually pats himself on the back during his statement and it's easy to see that no one in the jury is too anxious to join him.
The jury is pretty fair compared to past seasons. Carter comes up looking like he just got a prescription from one of the Philippines street pharmacists. Artis doesn't ask any questions he just vents. Skupin lies to RC saying he thought Penner was going home when she got voted out. Of course he told her he was voting for Pete when she went home. I would of loved for RC to bring that up. She does find the whole thing pretty amusing and can't stop giggling during her entire speech as well as the finalists responses. Malcolm scolds Denise and she continues to give hope to Lisa and Skupin by telling him "I'm sitting here, and you're standing there".
In true Abi fashion she acts like a huge drama queen during her turn but no one is more harsh then Penner. Penner calls Denise a bitch and exposes Lisa's secret, which doesn't get that big of a reaction. He also calls Skupin on his argument that he was always a target. As Penner points out Skupin has never had his name written down while Jonathan had his name written down 15 times. Penner suggests this could be a record. As I reported a few weeks ago Penner did break Ozzy's record of most votes cast against a single Survivor with a total of 29 over three seasons. Penner also suggests that Skupin will probably see his name written down that night as many times tonight as it was in the game. In a way he's correct. Skupin get's one vote from Carter although Carter doesn't write "Skupin" but instead writes "SKOOPIN".
Back in America before we get to hear who the winner is, like we don't know, Probst ask for a moment of silence for the tragedy which occurred on my birthday last Friday. We already know that RC voted for Lisa and it's no surprise to find out the she and Carter are the only ones not to vote for Denise. Even Abi voted for Denise! So for the SIXTH time out of seven seasons to feature returning players the winner turns out to be a female.
The reunion starts off pretty ordinary. Probst asks Malcolm if he would consider coming back. This is a blatant effort to plant doubts in peoples minds that Malcolm is returning next season. Malcolm nonchalantly says he would consider it. Yeah right. Like isn't dying to come back a third time.
I really would of liked Probst to ask Lisa and Skupin why they thought they could beat Denise. I was expecting him to say, "Abi and Malcolm both told you, you don't have a chance against her." Along those lines Skupin and Lisa do admit they were pretty oblivious to their poor jury management skills.
The most exciting moment of any reunion does occur towards the end. Jeff is quickly trying to get updates from early victims of the game and when he gets to Dawson he begins to bring up the kiss she planted on his cheek. Before he can finish his sentence he gets this surprised looked on his face, says "oh my god" and we see Dawson rushing him and planting another kiss on him, but this time right on the lips! This moment is so outrageous I wonder if it was setup. We later see Probst talking to Dawson but can't hear anything he's saying. Was he scolding her, or thanking her, or trying to arrange a booty call? We'll probably never know.
When the player of the season is announced we find out it was the closest one in Survivor history. It came down to Malcolm and Lisa. Lisa edged out Malcolm by less then 1%. I was a little disappointed in Lisa's game play but seeing one of my childhood crushes come on my favorite show, and not only make it to the end but also win player of the season was extremely thrilling. Even though, I voted for Malcolm.
And so another season ends. A pretty good one all things considered. See you in February for Fans Vs Favorites 2, unless the Mayans are correct, in which case, I'll be seeing you all next week in the afterlife!
No comments:
Post a Comment