LogFAQs > #931541844

CoolCly posted...

Long post.

So I think this is a good season, and that Survivor Production has done a good job trying to navigate a really difficult and real issue.

I agree that it's not easy for production to make a decision concerning Dan and how to act on it. As awful as it sounds, I would absolutely never put it past a contestant with particularly broken morals to lie about harassment when there's precedent that it can lead to a cumbersome competitor being eliminated. People do it outside the show and people could do it for a prize. Production had to take this and legal considerations in mind before performing any actions, and they were evidently not prepared. There's a lot of talk about CBS being sued over this as well, and it's something they had to discuss. The decision couldn't be immediate, and it's a first. They are so very lucky the Sue Hawk situation happened when it did, or that the claims against Bob from Gabon could be so easily swept under the rug, just as an example. But this is a different time and women are not afraid to speak up, and I seriously understand why this is a very complicated issue from a production standpoint. I do.

But... as a viewer of a show, should I care about the behind the scenes difficulties? If I hear a certain product has had a difficult development period, do I care? Should I look at something with different lens because of its history and the context of its production? Maybe you care, but I just don't care. All I saw was this stank-ass feely older guy existing in a season while we watched a woman break down on camera for it, and then surviving for several episodes and being a fun-suck every minute of screentime he got and becoming one of the least likable people on the show's history. Don't get me wrong either, as dark/controversial as the merge episode was, I posted about it here before and I found it absolutely fascinating as a representation of something that is really important. Survivor had never been such a strong microcosm of society as it was in that double episode following the aftermath of Kellee's claims. I found it great television, uncomfortable as the topic is. Some people had a less positive overview and that's totally valid, too. Not everyone wants to tune into Survivor to watch these things.

My biggest personal gripe is not this, however. I feel like the last few episodes have just been really disappointing. I actually love Dean as a character; he's layered enough as a player and entertaining enough as a personality that I can get behind him.

My personal issues (especially with the merge, since I do like the pre-merge) are:
a. The season's theme, on principle, is a bad idea that takes up too much time that could be devoted to literally anything else. The "lessons" have for the most part being hollow, and the "challenges" pretty silly. We've been lucky that Rob/Sandra have tried their best, but they are still just pointlessly long scenes for characters to get advantages.
b. Tommy's by-the-books winner's edit has been irritating; whether he wins or not is irrevelant, really. He's one of the most boring, one dimensional major characters I've ever seen on this show, which was fine pre-merge when he wasn't getting as much attention, but as we approached the finale, it's gotten worse and more blatant. As a viewer, it's always a bit frustrating to watch everyone throw their games for one player, and when that player isn't even good, then oof.
c. Rather unexciting gameplay that tends to benefit a stale power alliance. I feel like Karishma did her best to keep it more interesting with her idol play and booting Missy, but even Karishma ended up just being cut off unceremoniously. The most exciting move of the game was Kellee taking out Jack and saving Dean, but it is hurt in hindsight by Kellee following him out the door. Karishma's idol play could have been much more entertaining if Elizabeth's boot hadn't been so telegraphed.
d. Very bland solo immunity challenges. This is common in Survivor these days with the creativity level being pretty low, but I can only watch so many endurance challenges with Jeff's generic filler voiceover.
e. Yeah, Dan sucks, and his presence on the show was actively detrimental to it. Remember how they just stashed Will away in World's Apart once he became completely unlikable? I honestly would've preferred this. He contributed nothing that wasn't the equivalent to the buzzing of a fly.
f. Lauren's inconsistent edit leading up to her being built as the biggest threat. She's quickly falling into production's "will she ever flip on the guy who will beat her at the end?" go-to narrative which is never a pleasant story to watch unfold when the answer is no. Janet was similarly irrelevant before merge, although she would pop up from time to time, but it makes her difficult to see as a contender unless she's just being underedited like other female winners before her. I expect production wouldn't really know how to edit her as a winner anyway, since she's very little of a strategybot and very much someone who plays by her instincts (see: Kelly Wiglesworth in Cambodia), so I'm more forgiving here.
g. I love Noura and Dean as characters, but they're just there to provide some levity and are not very serious contenders, which is disappointing heading into a five-person finale. Dean's delusion can easily rub others off and I totally get it as well. Noura's constant need to suck up to the power alliances by fessing up by throwing her allies under the bus can be frustrating too.
h. There's way too many idols and advantages. Production has to stop hiding idols in plain sight the second they're played at tribal. I appreciate that idol hunt scenes have been cut down in length since I always found them really boring, especially since we used to get a main narrator that makes it clear who will find the idol way ahead of time, but in their place they've been replaced by ubiquitous, constant idol find scenes. Stop. I don't want a second coming of Ben, even if Ben is replaced by someone like Janet who doesn't tend to benefit from idols. An idol used to be so much more important than it is now. People are much less likely to want to save their idols for key moments, and it undermines the importance of being capable of reading the room.
i. Also, why is Jack a juror, again? lol
j. The season having such a strong pro-women narrative pre-merge that set certain expectations, just to then become increasingly clear that it's more about covering production's ass concerning Dan.
k. Probably many more reasons; these are just what came to mind first and not some in-depth analysis.

My biggest positive takeaway from this season will be the pre-merge edit, because I think they got a lot o