LogFAQs > #901930701

Last season we got a winner that, for the first time in 35 seasons, I genuinely felt was undeserving of winning the game. It's not because I disliked Ben (though that's true too), but because he was actually a very bad Survivor player who was given more outs than any other player in history. I firmly believe that the F4 change was implemented solely to ensure that the person the producers wanted to win had the highest chance possible of being in the F3, and the fact that they had to change the format to make that happen proves that they knew all along that he was actually a shitty Survivor player. This season was much different. I was content with the winner. Though I would have preferred Domenick, Wendell played a smart game, he fought hard to get to the end, he worked hard for the jury vote, and ultimately made just the right amount of right decisions with the right people to win the money. Even though he did come across some twists that worked in his favor, they weren't to an absurd degree and he seems like someone who could still win on a purist season. I am satisfied seeing Wendell on the pantheon of Survivor winners.

But here's the kicker - his win still came at the expense of other good players who got knocked out early by the producers forcing twist upon twist upon them, while shitty players either slipped through the cracks or outright benefited from these twists. And I think that's what we're going to see from here on out. From the beginning, the game was about 20-30% luck, and I think that's about a good amount. But over the past few years it's been inching closer and closer to 50%, and that's bad. It's becoming less about your ability to outwit your opponents and more about your ability to outwit the producers and your foresight of tomorrow's new twist. It takes away from the spirit of the game and that makes it less fun for the players AND the audience.

It's really sad that it has come to this. Survivor has been a huge part of my life for almost two decades now. I have shirts, video games, all the DVDs, mugs, anything I can find to celebrate this show. There have been times in my life where this show was the closest thing to happiness I had, and I'm not kidding or exaggerating when I say that it may have truly saved my life at one point. For the past few years I have found myself increasingly disinterested, not just during the season, but during episodes themselves (ie frequently checking my phone). I know this was a very long rant, and many of you disagree with parts or even all of it, but that feeling this morning felt like rock bottom as far as my fandom goes, and I just had to get this all off my chest.
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darkx
Top hopefuls for Smash 5: Isaac, Shantae, Travis, Toad, Takamaru, Octolings, Ashley, Waluigi, Zael, Fleming, Stylist, Snip & Clip