Survivor Philippines (Season 25)

[BaileyCatts]

What a jerk-off Penner is!! But loved Lisa's classy comeback. Because true .... did anyone else talk about what they did when there were 12-21 years old and does it the eff matter?! Nope. The girl hasn't been an actor since 1989ish, she told them what her life was the last 20+ years, which is all that matters. But I wonder if anyone was set to vote for Lisa, then changed their mind when Penner claimed she was a TV star, which yes she WAS, 20+ years ago. And I'm sure she wasn't getting the kind of money that TV stars make today so if they thought she was mega-wealthy then changed their vote. I wish Jeff would have asked them that. I doubt she even has any of that TV money left.

I'm also really surprised it wasn't Abi who was the Bitter Pill and that it was Penner more than a girl! Abi was actually kinda mature in her questions. I wonder if she voted for Denise because of Denise's apology.

Was hoping for Lisa to win, but Denise really did deserve it so I'm okay with her winning too. So glad Skupin didn't win!

[genevieve]

Wheeee! what a great end to a great season! I'll be honest, I expected Lisa to run away with it - I thought Denise's frank way to talking in TC had alienated too many and thought Lisa really did do a phenomenal job. But I'm SO HAPPY that 1) Lisa got Skupin to see that they needed to get rid of Denise Malcolm (mistyped!) and 2) Denise won!

Random:
Gotta love the editors. During Fallen Comrades, we hear a voiceover telling us that Angie is a "well rounded" girl and they toss up a shot of her in the bright blue bikini that highlights her artificially circular boobs The shots of Abi-Maria also let us know what they think of her

Lisa: "That's not Tree Mail, that's Tree MEAL!!!" cute

Not a fan of giving an advantage to anyone going into the final immunity challenge. It didn't make a difference here, but the final challenge should be a level playing field. Has there been that kind of advantage for final challenge before?

I will always remember that final challenge as being the one that did Cirie in . I was really hoping Lisa could hang in there. Big props to Skupin, though, he did a great job.

Malcolm's reaction is exactly why I have wanted him gone. I think he was somewhat lovable on this season precisely because he started on a losing tribe. He lost me when he bitched about how he's accustomed to winning and having to be stuck with losers Start him off on one of the other tribes and he's just like Pete - decent game, but too full of himself. Incredibly sore loser. Not thrilled he'll be (almost guaranteed) back, I think we've seen all there is to see from him.

Jury questioning: This time we had a lot of people who just wanted to talk, especially to verbally smack the F3 around, and not that many questions. Denise got the fewest questions, which is why I thought she would be lucky to get any votes. I don't think she did well with the questions she did get - particularly Malcolm's bitchy tirade about her "appeasement". She should have pointed out that, if anything, she was willing to say things that would not make her likeable (in regards to comments to Abi in TC). Skupin did ok, but instead of going on about the target on his back, he could have mentioned having changed the game when he voted with the Kalabauw+Malcolm alliance, and perhaps pointed to his 3 immunity wins when up against younger players. Lisa overall did quite well, but had a major misstep when she allowed herself to get pulled into the "Plan B" discussion. Really, her style of play, airing EVERYTHING out in TC, was definitely new for the game and kept things off-balance. It won't work again, but in some ways she was a driver (who didn't always know where she was going) because of it.

Penner was a surprise - I think he was trying to make "good television" by going hard at everyone...didn't really work, he overdid it. Lisa's answer about her past was fantastic, but I wish she'd mentioned that Jeff Kent also knew who she was.

Abi was wearing the same dress in reunion that she was in the jury questions. It was a relief that most people looked very similar at reunion as they did on the show. Penner looked the most different - like he had a perm!

ok, WHEN does the next season start?

ETA: ok, I watched Malcolm's 2 Ponderosa vids and they're pretty funny. Especially around getting cleaned up. I do see why people find him so likeable

[MarieM]

I so love that end. That has to be one of my fav 3 season. Don't ask me to rank the others, but that one really was brilliant.
The final four was awsome.

And Denise won !!
I thought Lisa would so I am really happy both got something. Denise for having been the most level headed player I've ever seen, and Lisa for beeing ....well for the way she played in TC.

I am so happy, I can't think of anything to say about Malcolm going back. I'm sure he'll play dirty this time around

[Susan1]

Random:
Gotta love the editors. During Fallen Comrades, we hear a voiceover telling us that Angie is a "well rounded" girl and they toss up a shot of her in the bright blue bikini that highlights her artificially circular boobs The shots of Abi-Maria also let us know what they think of her

OMG, I thought I was the only one who laughed out loud at the "well rounded" shot!

[Jenny]

Wheeee! what a great end to a great season! I'll be honest, I expected Lisa to run away with it - I thought Denise's frank way to talking in TC had alienated too many and thought Lisa really did do a phenomenal job. But I'm SO HAPPY that 1) Lisa got Skupin to see that they needed to get rid of Denise and 2) Denise won!

I thought it was Skupin who wanted to keep Malcolm (fight man to man and all that), and Lisa who wanted to get rid of Malcolm as she has long thought he was the biggest threat and they had a better chance against Denise?

Interesting that the jury would have still given it to Denise if Malcolm was there - I think it was only Lisa and Jeff who said they would have voted for Malcolm.

Not a fan of giving an advantage to anyone going into the final immunity challenge. It didn't make a difference here, but the final challenge should be a level playing field. Has there been that kind of advantage for final challenge before?

No they haven't, and I don't like it. It's fun midgame when there's always someone who really needs it then but it won't affect the end game, as it played it beautifully when Abi got the advantage and then won the challenge after having barely participated previously.

I didn't like it at the last hour - seemed really unfair actually, and if whoever had won it won the challenge because of it, and I think there would have been a lot of people complaining about it this morning.

On another note, interesting choice for a final challenge when it seems that Malcolm's issue with shaking hands has been on the table for the whole season - in one of his early confessionals he mentioned it, and surely the producers would have noticed it too?

Malcolm's reaction is exactly why I have wanted him gone. I think he was somewhat lovable on this season precisely because he started on a losing tribe. He lost me when he bitched about how he's accustomed to winning and having to be stuck with losers Start him off on one of the other tribes and he's just like Pete - decent game, but too full of himself. Incredibly sore loser. Not thrilled he'll be (almost guaranteed) back, I think we've seen all there is to see from him.

Yeah he was certainly bitter boy - which I was willing to let slide as he was only 24 hours from getting booted (whereas the perky giggly RC had plenty of time to get over it, and even Jeff seemed much mellower). BUT, his attitude at the finale was not great either. I don't think he feels like he was ripped off or mad at the others - I think he's really, really mad at himself. Maybe this is also where being just 24 shows.

I know everyone's loving Denise this morning, but after she made it to final 3, I thought she was patting herself on the back just a bit too hard. She kept saying she outwitted everyone - but I really think that Lisa and Skupin kept her because they thought she was a lesser player than Malcolm, and that she had ridden his coattails. I was waiting for a jury member to ask her to 'splain herself on that front, but since it turns out they were all rooting for Denise anyway, I guess that's why they didn't. It's also likely why she didn't get a lot of questions - they had already decided to vote for her.

Penner was a surprise - I think he was trying to make "good television" by going hard at everyone...didn't really work, he overdid it. Lisa's answer about her past was fantastic, but I wish she'd mentioned that Jeff Kent also knew who she was.

I thought Prancer told us that Denise knew and was the one who had told Penner in the first place (and yet she looked surprised when it came out), and I don't recall any evidence that Jeff knew. Skupin knew.

But yes, he was a surprise. When he called Denise a bitch and then voted for her - especially after the big speech about the winner that everyone will cheer for was the one driving the chariot, so this wasn't a "I have no other choice" vote at all - I was totally confused. In his fatherly fashion, was he actually trying to compliment her? Get her to be a bit tougher and lay off the appeasement and not treat everyone like they are a patient?

Ditto Lisa - was he trying to give her credit in some bizarre way? Because in some ways, her keeping that from everyone made her a bit more strategic, no? Her response to him was excellent, but I think she could have taken it further - "I'm used to people equating me to the character I played, so it was my strategy to start with a clean slate rather than have everyone make assumptions about me."

I thought Penner, Carter and Pete and maybe Malcolm all seemed like they were either slightly drunk or delerious from the heat at TC.

Lisa is doing a much better job than I would have guessed of making her case. I'd give it to her I were voting, but I don't really know which way the jury will go.

Given that Lisa has had to present herself publicly since she was a child, and that she has experience leading services in church, I assumed she'd do a great job at TC, and she did.

Re next season - I don't want any spoilers about how the season rolls out, boot order, who lasts etc, but I would love to know two things if anyone has the info and either wants to post with spoiler tags or pm me:

* When was the season filmed?
* Who are the returning players?

[Catherine M]

* When was the season filmed?
* Who are the returning players?

Of course no spoilers. Would never say anything without tags but Survivor 26 was filmed May 21 to June 28 so it will be like a year before the winner is revealed!



The returnees are:

Spoiler

Andrea
Brenda
Corinne
Dawn
Francesca, which is a surprise since she only lasted like what one episode in Redemption Island

Brandon Hantz
Erik, the only "fan vs fav" contestant asked
John Cochran
Malcolm, only had like 2 weeks to recover
Philip, how he will do without Boston Rob dragging him to the end will be interesting

[Jenny]

Thanks Catherine - although I'm not sure everyone else wanted to know the names, so you might want to add spoiler tags

Spoiler

Can't recall Andrea, Brenda or Dawn. Assume Corinne was the nasty from Gabon, or is there another one?

Surprised that this isn't a more likeable or admired cast as they did with the first F vs F. Will be very easy to get rid of many of these people.

Now I'm also looking back at Malcolm's demeanor last night - was he laying it on too thick because he did well the second time? When Jeff asked him if he would do it again (perhaps trying to get crowd reaction?), did he say maybe because he was hiding that he already did, or because it went even better this time and that makes him want to do it again? Was he so bitter because he had just watched the final 2 hours and it all came back to him? Obviously I am overthinking this

[Catherine M]

Thanks Catherine - although I'm not sure everyone else wanted to know the names, so you might want to add spoiler tags

Spoiler

Can't recall Andrea, Brenda or Dawn. Assume Corinne was the nasty from Gabon, or is there another one?

Surprised that this isn't a more likeable or admired cast as they did with the first F vs F. Will be very easy to get rid of many of these people.

Now I'm also looking back at Malcolm's demeanor last night - was he laying it on too thick because he did well the second time? When Jeff asked him if he would do it again (perhaps trying to get crowd reaction?), did he say maybe because he was hiding that he already did, or because it went even better this time and that makes him want to do it again? Was he so bitter because he had just watched the final 2 hours and it all came back to him? Obviously I am overthinking this

Ok, I fixed the post.

Spoiler

Andrea was on Rob's tribe for RI; she had her showmance going with Matt the bible guy and the proceeded to beat him in the final duel to get back in the game where Rob sent her right back out of it.

Corinne is the only Gabon player.

Dawn was the older lady from Utah that cried the whole time she was playing the game.

Have no idea who Brenda is.

Francesca did indeed leave first on RI. She butted heads with Philip.


There are rumors on how Malcolm did his second time so I can't comment on that without giving it away.

[Jenny]

Thanks Catherine. I'm already rooting for the Fans on this one (if they are true fans who have watched every show etc), because these "Favourites" - and I used the term loosely - are as a whole fairly bottom of the barrel IMO.

[MarieM]

I want the rumors about Malcolm pleaaaaaase

[genevieve]

I thought it was Skupin who wanted to keep Malcolm (fight man to man and all that), and Lisa who wanted to get rid of Malcolm as she has long thought he was the biggest threat and they had a better chance against Denise?

I mistyped, meant to say Malcolm

I know everyone's loving Denise this morning, but after she made it to final 3, I thought she was patting herself on the back just a bit too hard. She kept saying she outwitted everyone - but I really think that Lisa and Skupin kept her because they thought she was a lesser player than Malcolm, and that she had ridden his coattails. I was waiting for a jury member to ask her to 'splain herself on that front, but since it turns out they were all rooting for Denise anyway, I guess that's why they didn't. It's also likely why she didn't get a lot of questions - they had already decided to vote for her.

Since the beginning, I've likened her to Tina, one of my favorite winners. Tina didn't need to win challenges herself because she was in control of her alliance, without drawing too much attention to herself. Now, Denise drew a lot more attention to herself than Tina did (she was incredibly physical and certainly didn't shy away from mouthing off in TC), but all season, haven't we been saying "where's Denise is all this?", because often she just wasn't shown in the pre-TC scramble, but later there would be references to things she knew. I wonder if editors were trying to weave a Malcolm story, or at least not make it look like final TC would be the runaway vote that it was. In any case, Denise never seemed to be riding coattails to me.

I thought Prancer told us that Denise knew and was the one who had told Penner in the first place (and yet she looked surprised when it came out), and I don't recall any evidence that Jeff knew. Skupin knew.

I mixed up Skupin and Jeff K

But yes, he was a surprise. When he called Denise a bitch and then voted for her - especially after the big speech about the winner that everyone will cheer for was the one driving the chariot, so this wasn't a "I have no other choice" vote at all - I was totally confused. In his fatherly fashion, was he actually trying to compliment her? Get her to be a bit tougher and lay off the appeasement and not treat everyone like they are a patient?

Like I said, I think he was just going for a big angry splash for "good television" and overdid it. I do think the "you were most concerned that you would come across as a bitch - congratulations, you did" was some sort of backhanded compliment, or maybe prepping her for how editing would show her or something. It was weird. I wasn't surprised that Penner voted for her, though - I expected him to vote for best game even if he was mad at the person.

I thought Penner, Carter and Pete and maybe Malcolm all seemed like they were either slightly drunk or delerious from the heat at TC.

oh, was Carter there?

As for Fans v Faves...

Spoiler

I'm happy to see Dawn and Francesca again - Francesca wuzrobbed! - and Erik. Hopefully John Cochrane can redeem himself a bit. But ANOTHER season of a Hantz?!?! And PHILLIP?!? scream: I'm tempted to say they loaded this tribe to give Malcolm a win as obviously as they gave Saint Rob his inevitable coronation

[Jenny]

Since the beginning, I've likened her to Tina, one of my favorite winners. Tina didn't need to win challenges herself because she was in control of her alliance, without drawing too much attention to herself. Now, Denise drew a lot more attention to herself than Tina did (she was incredibly physical and certainly didn't shy away from mouthing off in TC), but all season, haven't we been saying "where's Denise is all this?", because often she just wasn't shown in the pre-TC scramble, but later there would be references to things she knew. I wonder if editors were trying to weave a Malcolm story, or at least not make it look like final TC would be the runaway vote that it was. In any case, Denise never seemed to be riding coattails to me.

Indeed, they might have been trying hide what they believed was an obvious win to create some dramz. But in the process, although they certainly presented Denise as smart, physical and likable, they should have done more to build her case for the win by showing us more of those strategy sessions, important conversations, and how she was working it with everyone, including those we might not have expected to vote for her. They did a better job of that last season with Kim's win - by the time she won, I think most viewers knew exactly how she did it, and appreciated what she had achieved. Much as I like Denise and see a lot of good Survivor qualities, I don't think I saw enough of how exactly she did it. The fact that she took it in a landslide means that there's stuff that happened that we didn't see. IMO of course

[genevieve]

geez, I don't even remember who Kim is, or anything about last season

[Catherine M]

I want the rumors about Malcolm pleaaaaaase

Ok, here's what is rumored about Malcolm's second chance at the million:

Spoiler

he makes the jury but doesn't make the final 6.

This is all from the same guy on Survivor Sucks whose source correctly spoiled this past season so most on Sucks believe him again.

I guess time will tell if this source got things right again.

[Jenny]

geez, I don't even remember who Kim is, or anything about last season

I had to look up her name

I've watched every episode of this show, but after 25 seasons and approximately 400 players, I think we can be forgiven for forgetting some of them. For the same reason, there's no excuse for bringing back some of the players they've chosen this time - if they couldn't get better ones, they should have gone with a fresh season of all new players.

[Erin]

Given that Lisa has had to present herself publicly since she was a child, and that she has experience leading services in church, I assumed she'd do a great job at TC, and she did.

I agree that her experience in presenting herself was a huge asset during the TC. That aspect was not a huge surprise. The part that was unexpected to me was the way she owned her moves and was unapologetic about it - given how she was always a bit wishy-washy and emotional during the game, I thought it would seep over into final tribal, but it didn't. I guess when her brother's visit set her priorities in the game straight, it had a lasting effect. Nice to see.

I was glad that Lisa won Fan Favourite, although I was also pulling for Malcolm. You could just see her eyes bug out like "they really do like me"...it obviously meant a lot to have that love and support for someone who has spent her lifetime craving it.

[Jenny]

Ah, I see what you meant

Winning Fan Favourite certainly meant a lot to Lisa - and I'm thinking it will mean something to those I have no doubt she's working with now. Her kids are grown, she's said quietly that she might want to try acting again (it's on her website in the FAQ), she's already guest hosted on The Talk twice, not to mention that she has a full schedule of speaking engagements lined up for 2013. I'm thinking talk show, or perhaps a sitcom for next fall - she fits the current job description for tv moms to a t.

[Habs]

About next season's format:

Spoiler

I read that it isn't a fans vs. favourites like last time, but a fans AND favourites. They're mixing the tribes.

[Catherine M]

IFor the same reason, there's no excuse for bringing back some of the players they've chosen this time - if they couldn't get better ones, they should have gone with a fresh season of all new players.

I think this group is being touted as not "favs" but as "returnees with a history" or some nonsense.

There's been some chatter on the net that people have been asking for an all winners season for awhile but Jeff/TPTB has been reluctant to do so due to the lack of good female winners, that they would have trouble finding 8/10 female winners that (1) would do it again and (2) are compelling.

I guess we'll see if the all winners season ever does get done.

[Jenny]

This list is from Wiki - amazing how many I don't remember at all

Season 1, 2000: Richard Hatch
Season 2, 2001: Tina Wesson
Season 3, 2001-2002: Ethan Zohn
Season 4, 2002: Vecepia Towery
Season 5, 2002: Brian Heidik
Season 6, 2003: Jenna Morasca
Season 7, 2003: Sandra Diaz-Twine
Season 8, 2004: Amber Brkich
Season 9, 2004: Chris Daugherty
Season 10, 2005: Tom Westman
Season 11, 2005: Danni Boatwright
Season 12, 2006: Aras Baskauskas
Season 13, 2006: Yul Kwon
Season 14, 2007: Earl Cole
Season 15, 2007: Todd Herzog
Season 16, 2008: Parvati Shallow
Season 17, 2008: Robert "Bob" Crowley
Season 18, 2009: James "J.T." Thomas Jr.
Season 19, 2009: Natalie White
Season 20, 2010: Sandra Diaz-Twine
Season 21, 2010: Jud "Fabio" Birza
Season 22, 2011: Rob Mariano
Season 23, 2011: Sophie Clarke
Season 24, 2012: Kim Spradlin
Season 25, 2012: Denise Stapley