Survivor: Lie, Cheat, And Steal

December 16, 2015 11:49 PM - Season 31, Episode 14

Six castaways battle it out for a shot in the final three, and a shocking tribal council delivers a Survivor first. Later, the final three castaways plead their cases for the $1 million prize, on the two-hour season finale.
posted by The Gooch (6 comments total)

Jeremy Collins wins Survivor Second Chance in a shutout against Spencer and Tasha. I thought the ending was perhaps a bit anti-climatic in that it was rather obvious Jeremy had it in the bag as soon as he won the final immunity challenge. I was rooting for a Kelley Wentworth win, but obviously Jeremy made the right choice in sticking with the safe choice and getting rid of her when he had the chance. I figured it was going to be a lopsided win, but thought Spencer might get at least a vote or two. Spencer and Tasha both played decent games except for not realizing they had aligned with someone neither had a chance to beat at the end.

Overall, this season surpassed my already high expectations.Having a season with nothing but balls to the wall players definitely made for a more interesting week to week show than a typical Survivor season. I would definitely put this in my personal Top 10 Survivor seasons, probably even Top 5. The "all votes are nullified" Final 6 Tribal Council was one for the ages.

Jeremy revealing his wife's pregnancy at the absolute most ideal moment strategically was perhaps one of the best "MIC DROP" moments in a Final Tribal Council ever (though I think he would have won regardless).
posted by The Gooch at 12:13 AM on December 17, 2015 [2 favorites]

Ugh. I thought Spencer played a better (albeit imperfect) game than Jeremy. It bugs me when someone manages only one immunity win - and it's the last one. Just makes it more a "luck of the draw" win than something earned. And as for the pregnancy thing... seriously? You should win Survivor for your gameplay, not your family story.

But that's all that I found disappointing. I'm not at all disappointed in Jeremy winning. There have been several winners I felt were undeserving or only won to punish the runner-up, but that's not the case here. You could make a solid argument for either Jeremy or Spencer (and maybe a tougher one for Tasha) as winner.

I do think the amount of attention to Joe in the reunion was a bit much, though.

Anyone else play "Spot the Vytas" during the show?
posted by GhostintheMachine at 6:15 AM on December 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

I thought Spencer made a few blunders. The obvious one was having the public temper tantrum at the Final 4 Tribal Council where be basically strong armed Jeremy into taking him to the Finals, which was a terrible look in front of the jury. Second, as a supposedly smart strategic player who is a student of the game, not realizing that he had little chance to beat Jeremy at the end was a glaring hole in his gameplay. Rather than burning Kelley and Keith by hinting he was willing to vote with them and then sticking with his core alliance, instead he should have actually voted with them last week, which would have given him a number of more favorable options when he got to the end. By not doing so, he pissed off future jury members ("This is the last time I'll be writing your name down") and became a goat.

999 times out of 1000 I would agree that Jeremy's family situation should be a non-issue when determining a winner, but in this case, him witholding that information was indeed a strategic move on his part (consciously not making himself look like too much of a threat by appearing too sympathetic) and revealing that information was a totally legitimate answer to the question he was asked ("What is your Second Chance story?") so I thought it was fair game.

Vytas was apparently not invited to the finale.
posted by The Gooch at 8:04 AM on December 17, 2015 [2 favorites]

No question it was a strategic move. A cynical, calculated strategic move. It was a very good move on Jeremy's part. And in combination with Spencer's miscalculated arrogance at the previous tribal gave him the win.

But I don't think anyone can suggest Jeremy deserved a sweep of the votes. He simply was not a dominating player, strategically, socially, or in competitions. He was never the central figure of the season, and I doubt anyone watched a single episode wondering what he was going to do or what stratagem he planned next.

Up until the mic drop, I had Spencer to win, or at least lose a close fight. But a shutout? Never. So his wife is expecting again... big deal. Every player has a family, and any vote that switched because of that reveal suggests they could just skip the 39 days and award the money to the biggest sob story.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 11:36 AM on December 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

Ghostinthemacine, you could well say that about Sandra, but she won twice; the social game i incredibly important. The fact Jeremy never really had to hustle is a testimony to how well he set himself up.

Having a season with nothing but balls to the wall players definitely made for a more interesting week to week show than a typical Survivor season

I couldn't agree more. Hopefully producers will realise that this is what fans want, not Brandon Hantz/Colton style fireworks, or those chauvinist pigs from last season.
posted by smoke at 7:06 PM on December 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

My biggest problem wasn't Spencer's arrogance. It was his arrogance while constantly talking about how much he had changed and was a completely different person. You can't tell people you have a good social game. You either have those relationships or you don't. Own the fact that you played a cutthroat game and as long as you aren't a complete Hantz to people they might vote for you.
posted by Gary at 1:43 AM on December 20, 2015