Survivor – Recap & Review – Reunion

photo: cbs

Survivor
Reunion

Original Air Date: May 15, 2011

Ryan O – Two Cents Senior Reviewer
ryano@thetwocentscorp.com

Welcome to the finale! Where we’ll spend more time with the second player to be voted out than the player who came in third! Where most of the questions you want answered won’t even get asked! Where we find out that the next season will feature Redemption Island! And it will have two returning players and 16 new players! Because that worked out so well this season! Yes, I am using exclamation marks ironically!

Rob knew from the beginning that if he could get people to play with him instead of against him that he had a good shot. (This is exactly what Russell didn’t understand and probably can’t understand.) He says that Kristina looking for the idol put a target on her back and took some of the focus off of him. He chose his alliance based on loyalty. He knew since Natalie was so young, she would need someone to help her make her way through the game. He says the alliance was actually cult-like. I think that misses the mark and that fascistic is closer to what he means. He checked on everyone constantly and didn’t allow any individual thought.

Why didn’t anyone flip on Rob? Ashley says there was a pivotal point when Andrea came back from Redemption Island. She and Natalie knew that Rob had the hidden immunity idol, which is news to the viewers. I can’t decide if this is true but if it is true, the show should’ve told us. Ashley says that you felt scared to make a move. The worst that could happen was that you finished fourth.

At this point, Probst displays his own creepy relationship with Rob by saying, “Hey, can you hear Rob’s kids in the audience?” Way to acknowledge revelations about the most important point in the game. Good lord, what a tool.

Now, we’re going to ask Andrea about what she thought of how Rob played. She said he built individual relationships with each of them.

Rob says that Phillip came from a family of 12. He realized that if he showed him some love, he would be loyal.

Natalie says she would’ve considered turning on Rob if he didn’t have the idol. Lame. They could’ve tried something before the last vote with five.

Natalie says, in regards to Julie’s comments, to give just ignore and move on. Okay, that’s enough from people who almost won.

Julie says she regrets the comments a little bit but during the game she wanted them to wake up. What she means, of course, is she wanted them not to vote for her.

Rob apologizes to Grant for voting him out. Grant says there’s a direct reflection of who you are when you play the game. He says it’s a cop-out to call it a game. Rob says you can’t limit yourself when you play but the relationships you make are real.

Probst calls it the closest to a perfect game as he’s seen.

As we go to commercial, we get a great shot of Russell looking pissed and sad. Ha ha!

Matt learned that following your heart doesn’t mean ignoring logic and reason. You need to make an educated decision based on the facts around you. Matt had a lot of alone time. The simplest tasks became hard. There’s no current connection between Andrea and Matt.

Mike says Survivor transformed him as a person and he got closer to God.

We see the clip of Russell crying. Awesome.

Russell congratulates Rob.

Probst asks Russell if he thinks it was fair to throw a challenge to get rid of him. Russell says Probst isn’t asking the question everyone wants him to ask, “Do they regret throwing the challenge?” He continues on for a long time and that question he thought needed to be asked? NEVER GETS ASKED because he talked for so long. Crap, Probst asks if he would play again. He says he would. Blurg.

We get a clip of Phillip talking about being a former federal agent. He says on Day 6, he became the most villainous person so that Rob would see the focus was off of him and on Phillip. That’s a valid strategy but he need to lay that out for the jury to see.

Phillip says he wasn’t going to trade his integrity for the win.

Phillip says he made a mistake in regards to Steve. He apologizes to Steve, who accepts.

We see a photo of Phillip in the Army from 1984. He served as the Defense Investigative Services as a special agent and with the Naval Investigative Services as an adjudicator. Probst goes into the audience talks to a woman, who is a current federal agent. She says he was an excellent student in training. This is only a question because the producers made it a question by labeling him, “Former Federal Agent?” Screw them.

Rob wins Fan Favorite and wins another $100,000. Of course he does. I hope he can now adequately provide for his family.

David proposes to former Survivor contestant Carolina Eastwood from the Tocantins season (the one JT won and that featured Coach) and she says, “Yes.” You probably don’t remember her since she was the first player voted out that season.

Season 23. Redemption Island will be back. 16 new contestants. Two returning players. They’re headed back to the South Pacific. The season will be known as Survivor: South Pacific. Way to come up with a creative title.

They really need to have Probst stop doing these reunions. He never asks the right questions and always lets blowhards ramble on for too long.

What do you think about what was revealed in the reunion? Anything you wanted to know but Probst didn’t get around to asking? Let’s hear your Two Cents!