To start, Ephraim writes in and says:

After watching the Finale last night I feel truly let down. My wife, Julie, believes that the fact nothing can be presumed in this show now adds to the enjoyment factor. On the other hand, I feel that the bizarre final voting just shows that this game will defy logic and provide no real sense of strategy for us to follow at home.

It's a very good question. Lorisa agrees with you and thinks Survivor 7's ratings will suffer because of the disappointing ending to this season. While that may be true, I agree with Julie that Jenna's win only adds to Survivor's intriguing legacy. Am I still upset about it? Sure. But some of the most memorable moments have been when the "bad guys" succeeded. I immediately recall the shock when lazy Rob and Sean voted out hard-working Hunter in the Marqueses. I'll take that over an obvious ending any day.

Crazy?

And remember, Survivor's popularity has its roots in this sort of thing. In the very first season, we had the ultimate bad guy, Richard Hatch, winning it all. I started watching the show about halfway through the season and I rooted for and expected Rich to get voted off every week after that. Was I disappointed when he won? Very much so. But I couldn't wait for Survivor 2 to start. And I'm just as excited about Survivor 7.

Let's get through this. Jeff starts by rattling off Jenna's stats. She was the youngest Survivor ever, making her easily the youngest winner (by six years). She won four of the eight Immunity Challenges which is the most since Colby made like Jesse Owens in the Outback. That's pretty dang impressive even if Matthew did throw the last one.

Jeff asks Christy how she could change her mind and vote for one of her "freaking evil step-sisters." She says Jenna outplayed her, and they lived together from the start. Not much of an answer there.

Jenna then becomes the target of some much-needed insulting. Jeff asks her about acting like a spoiled brat before the whole country. Jenna says, "I got to watch myself and I said, 'Boy, I am spoiled sometimes, and I am annoying!'" She says it was a learning and growing experience for her. Great, she's not going to go and actually appear mature on us, is she?

By the way, why is she clinging to Matt's arm the whole time? Guess she's impressed with his new image too.

Jenna says all the talk about wanting to take the most deserving person into the final was just a show for the jury. She says she knew she had to avoid facing Rob or she would've lost badly. Great, she's not going to go and appear like she actually had a strategy, is she?

Matt says his craziness was just an act to deflect attention from his threatening strength. Alex doesn't believe it one bit. Next we get into the Alex/Shawna thing. We're hearing way too much from Alex. Get to the real players!

Rob is one of said players. He says he has good news and bad news. "The good news is that I do have a girlfriend and she's great, but the bad news is that she doesn't believe a word I say." Funniest Survivor ever.

Sexy?

Jeff asks Jeanne about the young girls going off together and she takes a jab at them saying, "I didn't even know that was going on because I was working so hard." One of these seasons I'd like to see the hard workers just let the lazy ones starve. The ants shouldn't always bail out the grasshopper.

We see a clip of some tornado victims saying they set up a generator and, "We got that TV on so we can watch Survivor." These are my people. They are in the audience which is a cool gesture.

Ah, we're in Dave's theater because it's been raining in New York so live from Central Park wouldn't work. I still say it's a shameless plug.

Jeff turns his attention back to Christy and busts her for her lack of decision-making when they were down to six. "You didn't have a plan is what it looked like to me," he says. He's right, and it was really a turning point for Jenna. If one of the girly girls goes before Christy, they probably both do and we have a different (and more likeable) champion.

Rob says in order to succeed in Survivor, "You need to have a working relationship with every person…. And knowing where each person stands and where they think they stand is really the key." He says you constantly have to know where "the bigger group" is and make sure you're in it.

I absolutely agree. Ideally you can find your majority early and stick with it so you don't have to whip out the rusty blade later in the game (like Ethan in S3). But if the alliances change, you have to change with them. Rob did exactly what he had to do, but the sands shifted one too many times for him. Still a very well-played game.

Jeff's mom is in the audience and he wishes her a happy Mother's Day. Such a good boy.

The locale for Survivor 7 is unveiled…and we're going to Panama. The area's history with pirates will be a theme in the game and each tribe will be separated on one of the Pearl Islands. Plus, "the marooning will be unlike anything experienced by previous Survivors." I'm guessing it's something a little tougher than Jeff dropping them off with his jet ski.

Cool.

We learn Matt lost 31 pounds during the game. That's like 80% of Jenna, right? We're also told Heidi, Alex and Roger have the highest IQ's of the cast. Jeff asks, "But Heidi, it didn't come out on the show. Why?" She claims she played dumb so she wouldn't be a threat. Riiiight. And I'm just playing skeptic and sarcastic so the world doesn't fall in love with me.

Part two of Ephraim's email says:

Did you notice that Jeff never did get to his questioning of the votes? Perhaps we got an answer out of Christy, but that's it! I want to know the rationale behind Deena's and Dave's votes in particular.

I couldn't agree more. As great as I thought Jeff did in the S5 reunion, he was equally disappointing this time around. I don't know how much direction he got, but he spent way too much time on the tabloid type stuff--who is in love, who got naked, who's holding a grudge--and not nearly enough time on the gamesmanship. We didn't even hear from Butch, and he finished fourth! Alas.

So I'm going to have to give you some big news to cheer you up. As you may have heard, we already have info on Survivor 8. Yes indeed, Mr. Burnett has announced that the long-rumored all-star edition of Survivor will take place. Start the speculation now. I know you have your list of favorite past players and I'll share mine with you in the near future.

Remember, Survivor might not always have a happy ending, but it's always Dang Fun.

Awoooo,
Scott

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