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WEEK OF 5.10.04
Thoughts on the last week of reality television.....
-So once again, remember when I told you back in Week 2 I had heard who the Final four, two, and winner of "Survivor" were? Well, it played out as expected, and that was exactly what I had heard. Now, if you go back into past "Reality Roundups", you can kinda see how I leaned toward knowing Rob and Amber were the final two. And there was also a reason I kept insuating that Rob couldn't win - because I knew that he hadn't. Not rocket science, but I didn't want to blatantly give it away.
-Did anyone really think that Rob would even consider taking Jenna to the finals, even knowing if he did, he would've won? You better not have. They tried to sneak it in there, maybe thinking that Rob was flip-flopping....uh, no. There wasn't a chance in hell he'd take her. Amber would've dumped him if he did.
-I thought though that Rob's proposal was the surprise, I will admit that. But the proposal BEFORE the announcement of the winner made the final vote rather anti-climactic. I mean, we've never had this before, and the final two were never lovers, so it was really interesting to see who won. With Rob and Amber, it's like they were one. If either of them one, it just wasn't nearly exciting as past finals because they were a couple. I think it would've been different if he proposed later in the show.
-As for the actual finale, I thought it was one of the better ones. That last Tribal Council was brutal. I have two trains of thought on this. #1 - Lex needs to calm down. I had read that Rob and Lex were VERY good friends outside of the show. So maybe that's why his feelings were hurt more than just anyone else who got backstabbed by somebody they just met two weeks ago. But to carry the grudge almost six months after the filming, that was bizarre. I can fully understand Lex being upset while they were still out there, but not in May. #2 - I think the fact it was an All-Star show and all these players knew each other before the game started, made me think that the feelings hurt were a lot more serious than in season's past. I mean, if I were Lex, I would've been pissed at Rob too. Maybe for even a couple months. But not to bury the hatchet and say you can never trust him again is a bit much.
-As fired up as I was for this season to start, I'm glad it's over. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy this season, but I don't think they should do it again. I think the whole reason people love the "Survivor" dynamic is because they take 16 strangers, throw them onto an island, and ask them to co-exist. You get to see relationships develop, crumble, etc. But these weren't strangers. So in that aspect, it was a different concept, but a different concept that should only be done once. Even Probst boy doesn't want to see an All-Star season again. And whatever Probst boy wants, he'll get. Dammit.
-Now obviously the best part of the reunion was Jerri leaving because people were booing her. What a PR nightmare for her. What the hell was she thinking? This is someone whose taken off her clothes for Playboy to reveal her A-cup breasts, yet she leaves the stage crying when people boo her? Huh? Am I missing something? Good luck on trying to get any other sort of acting gig, Jerri.
-No need to even ask if I've voted for who I think should win the million. Of course I did. Rob Cesternino. Plus, I threw a couple votes in for Boston Rob even though he has no chance whatsoever. If we're going for "Best Player In the History of the Game", Boston Rob would win. But since it's a popularity and pity contest, people are probably going to vote for "The Guy I Feel Most Sorry For Even Though He's Fooled America Into Thinking He's a Good Guy". Which of course is Rupert. Don't be fooled by him. I haven't heard one fellow castaway come back and say what a great guy he was, and he's just as friendly in person as he is on TV. In fact, it's quite the opposite. But I digress. He's gonna win. You know he is.
-If you voted online, you also had to vote for "Best Fight", "Best Villain", "Hottest Guy", "Hottest Girl", and "Best Moment". Best fight was easily when that crazy Rob guy choked Clay during the Reward Challenge on those logs. Best Villain was Johnny Fairplay. Hottest Girl was tough. Too many to choose from. So I voted once for each of them. "Best Moment" I thought was when Johnny Fairplay told the lie about Grandma. That was nuts. As for "Hottest Guy", uhhhhhhh.......
-So Jenna and Ethan finally came out of the closet with their relationship we already knew about. Awwwww.....how cute. Jenna must feel real special knowing she's Ethan's 3rd choice. Or is it foruth? Jenna L., Amber (briefly), and Jerri. Yep. Fourth. Once again, she must feel so special.
-Speaking of Jenna L., how hot did she look at the reunion. No wonder someone locked her up and put a rock on that finger. Good for him. But why does it seem like the tip of her nose is always being pinched? She might want to do something about that.
-Is it "just a game" like most of the contestants say, or is it "real people with real feelings" like Lex, Kathy, and Jerri say? I say it's still a game. When everything is said and done, Boston Rob did what he needed to do to win a million dollars. If that meant selling his friends down the river, if that meant backstabbing everyone on the jury, so be it. He almost got away with it. Even after all that, Kathy still ended up voting for him. The guy felt bad for what he did, but he was only trying to win. Who's never lied and deceived people in this game and did well? No one, that's who. I'm on Boston Rob's side, I hope he invites me to his wedding, and I hope he and Amber have tons of kids. Yea, Rob.
-I think if you go back to when the final twelve “American Idol” contestants were named, I picked Jasmine to win, and Diana Digarmo was my darkhorse. Damn. You gotta admit it. I am good. I know talent when I see it. And their singing’s not bad either. Yes, Jasmine probably shouldn’t be around, even she knows it, but she is. I don’t think Jasmine is that bad of a singer at all like some people do. She’s just not as good as the other two. We’re looking at a Fantasia/Diana final, and I think Diana is gonna end up winning this thing.
-Pretty amazing when you think after one of her performances quite a while back, Simon just threw up his hands and said nothing, which basically was saying, “That was absolutely horrible”. Rumor has it that, even though they only show who finished in the bottom two or three in the voting, that Diana has been the leading vote getter for the last 3 weeks. And considering she was safe this week and delivered the best performance of the night, she probably made it four weeks in a row.
-Diana is basically Kelly Clarkson minus a couple years and a few extra pounds. You watch. The minute Diana wins this thing, by the time they put out her first single, you can rest assured she’ll be a minimum of 15 to 20 pounds lighter. Which isn’t a bad thing for her. I don’t think she’s ugly or anything, but you just know they’ll convince her to drop a few. Hey, if Kimberly Locke can drop a half a bill, Diana can certainly shed a few.
-I know this isn’t a reality show, but the “Friends” really was much ado about nothing. If any of you die hards didn’t think Ross and Rachel were gonna end up together, you were living in fantasy land. The only surprise was Monica and Chandler’s twins. But it’s pretty amazing how 24 million watched that show weekly, then the last episode brings in 51 million. So 27 million people could afford to watch last Thursday, yet could never bring themselves to watch on regular basis before that? I don’t get it.
-The other funny thing is the big deal made out of finales, especially big ones like this and “Seinfeld”. It’s like people are expecting some giant earth shattering television show, when it’s just a bunch of overhype. “Seinfeld’s” finale was O.K. at best, as was “Friends”. Nothing major happens in these finales because nobody can possibly keep a secret that long. It’ll eventually get out, so it’s usually just a nice, sweet, don’t-ruffle-anyone’s-feathers ending that makes everyone warm and fuzzy inside.
-Long gone are the days where “St. Elsewhere” finale was all just an autistic kid’s dream, or “Alf” where he surrounded by the cops, it said “to be continued” and we never saw another episode, or “BH 90210” where David and Donna tie the knot. Just doesn’t happen like that anymore because of the internet. Every finale ties up loose ends, brings back running jokes or a commonly used themes, maybe someone will die, but all in all, they’re always going to have a happy ending that has you say, “That’s the way it should’ve ended.” Not if I were writing. I want people pissed at the finales that I write. If I ever do.
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