I thought that this was a pretty solid finale for an okay season (which may be exactly what I said for SJDS).
I liked that the finale was stacked with challenges, because that was Mike's path to the win. The strategy element was so minimal to this endgame that all I really cared about was whether Mike would win the…

This may be giving Dan way too much credit, but there is a teeny tiny possibility floating around in the back of my mind that he may have known that the extra vote wouldn't save him here, but he wanted to make sure to play it before he got voted out so that he could be a Survivor trivia factoid (first person to use…

I haven't read the rest of the comments yet, but here are my initial reactions to this episode:
-Funniest reward challenge debacle ever? After Probst explained the challenge, my husband and I were trying to figure out who left in the game had any puzzle chops at all. We eventually figured that Carolyn probably had the…

I was really surprised that they didn't include any scenes at all of Carolyn saying she missed her kids during that reward. I mean who knows, maybe she doesn't? But you'd think they would have pulled something out of her, and if she were the winner, you'd better believe they would have aired it.

Did anyone else think Tyler misinterpreted Jeff's question about keeping around people you can beat? I thought it was very representative of the game Tyler was playing that the furthest ahead he could think about was who he could beat out for immunity at "five or four." I'm almost positive Jeff was referring to who…

Yeah I thought the fact that he didn't let her hold the idol during/after voting was a pretty strong indicator that he wasn't actually letting her play it.

Your first paragraph sounds an awful lot like Cochran's first season (except he at least avoided the Pagonging). Maybe Shirin will come back and win someday?

I'm wondering (hoping?) that there were more attempts at persuasion from Mike to Sierra and Dan than we saw. When it got to Tribal Council and there had been no on-screen talk of using the idol or the extra vote to break the 4/4 tie (which is the best Mike's side could have done if they swayed Dan and Sierra) I pretty…

"I know what Shirin is going through because I was adopted. All I have in life is my birth mother, my adoptive parents, all my aunts, uncles and cousins, my wife, and my many wondeful friends."
Poor Dan.
But seriously, I think what annoys me most about him (besides the jerky stuff he says) is that he seems so aware of…

I agree! This episode in particular really illuminated the different ways that Survivor can craft an interesting and entertaining episode. I've been a huge Shirin fan all season, but if she had to go, I thought this was absolutely a worthy exit episode for her. This season in general may also just highlight the…

I actually think it's kind of fascinating that Mike may have caused his own downfall last week via the terrible timing of his Rodney confrontation. If you believe the editing (and what we heard in this episode) and Dan and Sierra really weren't aware that the Rodey/Will/Carolyn/Tyler foursome were plotting to take…

When I saw the sign that said "Trader Jeff's" I thought that's what the plan was this time and I got excited. Oh well.

I was hoping Shirin would make him apologize then and there in exchange for her approval. That would have at least put the ball back in his court. Of course, judging by his behavior at Tribal Council, he probably would have doubled down and still not gotten his letter.

I had never thought of it this way, but I think you're right. This actually strikes me as how a lot of bullying must happen. If Will (or anyone) had randomly picked Shirin out of a group of 10 people in normal life and started berating her the way he did in this episode, the group would have rallied around Shirin and…

Yes very true. I doubt it will affect the game much this season, but maybe if they try it again…

I think I'm actually okay with the extra vote twist, in theory. It's an idea I've heard floating around before, and it will be fun to see it play out. I think the best part is that nobody knows about it - they don't even suspect it's a possibility - so they can't strategize against it. It was about time to introduce…

Agreed on all points. Just for fun, I was trying to imagine how the Will/Shirin fight would have been edited in an alternate universe where Will ends up winning the game. I'm imagining something similar to the Trish/Lindsey fight from Cagayan (if we are to believe later claims that Trish's bad behavior was minimized…

This episode was stressful!

Maybe this season's fabled twist will be involved???

Yes: Is it officially time for the "I'll trade my [fake] immunity idol for safety from the vote tonight" gambit to die?