Who Survived?

Don't wanna spoil the Survivor finale for anybody who didn't watch yet, so click the "Read More" link for my thoughts. For what it's worth, I was rooting for Amanda going into this episode.

One thing that irked me, though, was Cirie's rant. It just came across as very, well, ridiculous. It's absolutely idiotic how Cirie could go on and on about how nobody has ever said "I can't put Cirie's name down" well SHE HAS NEVER RECEIVED A SINGLE VOTE AGAINST HER! Along with that, she's talking about how she feels like she's at the bottom of her alliance, bringing up how Amanda had something going on with Ozzy while Parvati had something going on with James. Cirie, how on earth can you consider yourself BELOW Ozzy and James when OZZY AND JAMES HAVE BOTH BEEN VOTED OFF! And you're still here. Personally, I sided with Amanda on that argument.

Speaking of Amanda, when she whipped out the dough eyes -- the very look that single handedly lost her last season's competition -- when Natalie got voted off, I shook my head in disappointment. When she made the face AGAIN after she won the final immunity challenge, I wanted to throw something at the TV. "Woe is me" is NOT an endearing attitude when you're trying to win a million dollars.

While I haven't much liked Cirie this season, I think her one comment regarding the final two twist was very poignant. These women spent the entire competition blindsiding others, and now they're on the receiving end.

I don't mind the "honor your fallen brethren" routine that they do every year. Actually, I got a kick out of Parvati's "and you liiiiike him" line to Amanda, regarding Ozzy. Which was supplemented by the "I'll let you hold his torch" comment.

To me, Amanda is an amazingly complex player. She manages to play an absolutely phenomenal game up until the final couple tribal councils, when she just completely falls apart. I mean, the fact that she's made it to the finals two years in a row is pretty incredible when you think about. But like I said earlier, when people are trying to decide whether or not to give you ONE MILLION DOLLARS, they don't feel sorry for you. So don't put on a pouty face and act like you're in the worst position in the world. On top of that, considering how many people you've backstabbed this season, they absolutely don't want to hear how terribly you feel about voting somebody off and hurting their feelings. Just like last year, this was Amanda's game to lose. And just like last time, she did. And she really, really shouldn't have.

Regarding the final tribal council, what in the blue hell was the deal with Natalie's comments? Wow, strange. And how stupid and one sided was Cirie's question. I mean, she asked Amanda to tell her why Parvati deserved to be there more than herself. She then asked Parvati to explain why she (Cirie) deserves to be there more than her (Parvati).

Along those same lines, Ozzy's rant was complete bullcrap. Sorry Oz-man, but people compete in this game to win money, not to make friends. So for him to go off on Parvati for "putting a price on our friendship" is such a ridiculous, unfair load.

That said, how could your heart NOT melt when he professed his love for Amanda? I mean, hell, I still don't have my hetero card back from my 90210 entry, so I might as well admit that I totally loved that moment.

And as a final note, does anybody else miss those absolutely, ridiculously overly elaborate "Jeff arrives at the live taping" scenes?