"Survivor" Finale: Parvati wins and kills my grin | Leslie Gray Streeter

Cirie wuz robbed!

I agree with Jeff Probst - and I never do that - that the just-ended Survivor “Fans Versus Favorites” round was maybe the most chockfull o’ stunners season since Richard Hatch first wowed ‘em with his nakedness. It had all the elements of a good action movie — crazy challenges, several magically delicious blindsides, one ridiculously stupid relinquishment of immunity (Erik, I can’t even look at you) and some shocking exits due to fatigue (Kathy), injury (James and Jonathan, my fave Survivor of all time) and pre-emptive weasling (Jonny Fairplay, who quickly surmised that his snakey ways would not go over with this particular bunch of folks and quit to “see his pregnant girlfriend” before he could get booted.)

The power behind a lot of the shadier shenanigans was Cirie, the “Favorites” nurse who, as some bloggers pointed out, played a stealth game of Lady MacBeth proportions - she did a lot of whispering in people’s ears and planting of devious plots that other people took the blame and the hit for. Unfortunately, she was so stealth that the show, even after running the scenes of her pulling the strings, seemed to forget about her, and gave credit for some of her better ideas, like the booting of challenge monster and resident cutie Ozzy, to Parvati. Parvati always seemed to think she was responsible for everything anyway, so when it got down to Amanda, Cirie and Parv, nobody seemed to get how essential Cirie had been. Had she survived the surprise immunity challenge that no one expected, she likely would have won, because Amanda, as cute as she is, is a lousy arguer. Cirie did all the work and got nothing for it.

Parvati did play a good game, in that she was always close to the decisions, and that even after all the knives she plunged into people’s backs she still managed to get the stab-ees to vote a million bucks her way. That takes skill. What bugs me about her winning is how she conducted herself in moments that were less about strategy and more about being a mean, rotten person. As Eliza, the first member of the jury, pointed out, Parv spent a lot of time whispering about how funny-looking Eliza was and how nobody liked her, and isn’t that so funny ha ha ha. What, are we in grade school? Grow up.

Then again, Richard Hatch proved that you don’t have to be nice to play this well. Actually, being nice gets you booted -They smile in your face, but all the while, they’re trying to take your place, the Survivors (Survivors!). So I guess the right rat got the cheese in the end. But I’m still annoyed.

Read the entire article at "Survivor" Finale: Parvati wins and kills my grin | Leslie Gray Streeter.