10 Thoughts On… Survivor: One World – Episode 14 Season Finale Review

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

1. I am not sure where Survivor One World ranks in the overall grand ranking of the series. While I thought that the show was marginal at best, it did produce one of the best singular games ever played by winner Kim Spradlin. I actually find a distinct similarity between the show’s 24th season and its fifth, Survivor Thailand which remains one of my favorite series to date. In that game, Brian Heidik was victorious and didn’t really face any competition as each episode served only as a warm-up to his inevitable coronation. The same can be said for Kim, who most fans predicted as the winner after the first episode. While she faced no real competition during her ascent to victory, that can’t take away from the perfect game she played combining tasteful deceit with athletic domination. While both season had their share of characters (Clay, Robb, Shii Ann and Jan for Thailand and Colton, Alicia, Kat, Tarzan and Troyzan for One World), there weren’t many strategists out there. Where do you think One World ranks? I have it above Guatemala (obviously), Australia and South Pacific, but I am not sure beyond that.

2. Just as I complained about the overemotion during the family visit, the final tribal council was a little too sappy for me. I longed for the brilliance of David Murphy’s question/statement. Asking to define a blindside? Hmm. With that being said, I am sure there were a lot more to the questions than we actually saw.

3. I have to say that the most shocking aspect of the final episode to me was Sabrina getting two votes. I believe that they were from Troyzan and Leif and Troyzan’s vote specifically surprised me as I thought that he would be voting for the game’s top strategist. I certainly thought that Chelsea would finish as the runner-up and it’s clear that Sabrina’s brilliant oratory skills swung some votes her way.

4. In general, although they only faced softball questions from the jury, I thought that the final three all did a really good job with their final remarks and answers. I liked Chelsea basically assuming the stance of her and Kim both betraying the others but that she didn’t invest as much into forging relationships with them to make the sting less painful. Sabrina saying that she threw the challenges was also a good move. Unfortunately, they were facing an uphill battle against Kim.

5. After meeting the cast at the finale, I can completely see how Kim was able to woo and win her fellow castaways over. She certainly has a way of being able to connect with people immediately. One specific instance of this is when she immediately walked over to the fans and knew most of them by name. Not just first name, but full name. She was also a very gracious winner. And in all honesty, that might have been the hottest live reunion outfit from a winner of all time.

6. Christina went much farther than I thought and while people can say she was dragged, you don’t get to the Final 4 without some degree of strategy. I think her game was underestimated. A controversial opinion, I know. I just believe she downplayed herself intentionally.

7. I wasn’t a big fan of Jeff’s reunion hosting. He made a plethora of mistakes. And who was that one guy he interviewed in the audience?

8. Love that Blossom is a Survivor fan.

9. I am incredibly excited for the next season. I am a big fan of Survivor, righting wrongs. We all know Boston Rob should have won All-Stars but the terrible jury didn’t give it to him so when he was finally victorious on Redemption Island, it was like everything became cyclical again. Kind of like when that kid on Touch delivers a number. One of the returning players next season is someone who should have been given the chance to play again years ago. I am just glad he will finally have the opportunity.

10. Boston Rob > Brian Heidik > Kim Spradlin

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.