Survivor Live, The Finale
Survivor: Fiji - Survivor Live, The Finale by Brian Towers -- 05/18/2007 It's a super-sized show, as hosts Jenna and Dalton talk with all five finalists over three segments! And hey, did you hear about Dreamz? He lied to Yau-Man, you know. In case you didn't, you'll hear all about it here, along with lots more stuff, even some tidbits that haven't been driven into the ground yet! Survivor: Live is CBS’s webcast phone-in show which features interviews with players from Survivor: Fiji. It is hosted by Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly and the sole survivor of Survivor: Amazon, Jenna Morasca. In an extended version, this week’s guests are Kenward “Boo” Bernis, Yau-Man Chan, Cassandra Franklin, Andria “Dreamz” Herd, and the sole survivor, Earl Cole. Beginning as usual with some trivia, I think we should end with a couple of easy ones. First up, noting Earl got every jury vote for the first time ever, how many previous winners got all the votes but one? Drag your cursor between the square brackets to see the answer. < The answer is four. In Survivor: Amazon, Jenna got all the votes but Butch’s, and in Survivor: Pearl Islands, only Tijuana did not vote for Sandra. Then, Tom Westman in Survivor: Palau got every vote except Coby’s, and Danni repeated the feat in Survivor: Guatemala, with Rafe the sole dissenter. Of course, all these people faced smaller juries with seven members than Earl’s gang of nine. > Here’s the bonus question: No one ever voted AGAINST Earl either. How many other winners have the same record? Again, drag your cursor between the square brackets to see the answer. < The answer is five. There was Tina, Ethan, and Brian Hediuk, plus Sandra and Tom again. > Bored yet? Here’s a third one! Earl never won a challenge once the tribes merged. What previous winner also lost every individual challenge? Again, drag your cursor between the square brackets to see the answer. < Just one, this time, and for the third time, the answer is Survivor: Pearl Islands’ Sandra! > All right, that’s enough trivia; let’s get on with the show! The show opens with Dalton admitting he never made it to Jenna’s Survivor party last night. I must say that Jenna appears to be fairly alert, given the probability of her being rather hung over. Dalton asks Jenna her impressions of the show. She liked it, including the Final Tribal Council, but isn’t sure if they might have been a little too bitter. My opinion is that when it comes to people who cost you your shot at a million dollars, there is no such thing as “too bitter.” Dalton takes a moment to lord it over Jenna that his pick of Earl won the game. Jenna reiterates (and I can confirm) that she picked Dreamz for final three only, and not as a winner. But we should let Dalton have his moment… OK, that’s enough Dalton-stroking, because it’s time to bring in Boo and Yau-Man. Both of them cleaned up nicely. Dalton starts right in with Yau-Man and his deal with Dreamz. His first question is to ask Yau-Man if he thought to come up to Dreamz at a late moment (so he doesn’t have time to flop yet again) and say, “Dreamz, you’re a man of your word, and I appreciate that. You told me you’re going to give me the idol, so after that, I’m not going to vote you out. You’re safe and we’re going to take Cassandra out.” Yau-Man says it occurred to him at Tribal Council, but not during the heat of discussion. He adds that, “As the Tribal Council went on and on, I became more arrogant with myself” and he was sure Dreamz was going to give him the idol. Knowing that so much of Tribal Council gets edited out, Dalton follows up by asking for confirmation that he didn’t try and make a new offer to Dreamz. Yau-Man replies, “I wish I did.” Jenna asks Yau-Man about the final immunity challenge (called “Hanging by a Thread”). She wonders if, when Dreamz held on when they were the only two left, did he think Dreamz was about to back out of his deal? Yau-Man says that beforehand, Dreamz was quite adamant that he was going to win the challenge for Yau-Man. Yau-Man remembers his exact words, which were, “I’m a man of my words, I’m going to win this, I’m going to give it to you.” So no, he was not suspicious. Dalton refers to something Stacy said last time, relating that the deal included everyone. Yau-Man says that’s true to an extent, because he wanted Dreamz to help convince the others to vote his (Yau-Man’s) way. It became a non-issue when Dreamz didn’t honor the primary part of the deal. Jenna says Yau-Man was playing to win. She asks him if he was angry with Dreamz, knowing that if Dreamz gave up his immunity Dreamz was gone. Yau-Man says he’d have honored the deal, but then tried to make another deal so he could stay. He never expected Dreamz not to honor the deal. Staying with the theme, Dalton asks Boo about his reaction to Dreamz not giving the idol away. Boo says, “It blew me away, I didn’t see that coming at all. I thought Dreamz was a man of his word.” He reminds us that Dreamz wanted his son to see that he was honorable and adds, “I believed him.” Dalton notes that the deal also screwed Boo, by moving him to the top of the target list. Boo says it wasn’t shown, but he wasn’t happy with the Yau-Man/Dreamz deal and was the last one to agree to accept it. The hosts ask Boo why anyone but Dreamz would agree to that deal. Boo hoped the others would still take him farther in the game. Yau-Man admits he was surprised everyone agreed to the deal. Boo adds that he wished Yau-Man had made the offer to him instead. Once again, it’s Jerry in California. Dalton tries to speed him up, but that’s not going to happen. His eventual question is to ask if they would play the game had they known what was ahead of them. Yes. Dalton asks if they would play in a second All-Stars edition of the game, which both hosts expect to come about in Survivor 16 next spring. Yau-Man has some reservations, because he will no longer be able to surprise anyone and will need a new strategy. Dalton says Yau-Man would do well in an All-Stars, because he’s not a previous winner and wasn’t duplicitous. I don’t know, I think Rob Cesternino would say that a reputation as a clever player also puts the target on one’s back. Dalton has the clip run of Yau-Man winning the “Fiji Braille Maze” immunity challenge. This was a great challenge. Jenna reminds us she won a similar challenge in her first season. Dalton asks Yau-Man if he surprised himself by doing so well in the challenges. He was indeed surprised, and never expected to win any physical ones. However, he started to string some successes together and realized he could compete every time out. Dreamz is the next caller. Yes, that Dreamz; he’s in the Green Room. Don’t you think Yau-Man has had enough of this guy for a while? He asks, did Yau-Man give the truck up because it was strategy, or an attempt to help a person out? Yau-Man says, “That truck is not my lifestyle,” and he intended to use it as a bargaining chip. However, he knew Dreamz needed it the most. So the answer is, it was a bit of both. Thomas from Atlanta wonders if Dreamz might have gotten some votes by admitting he changed his mind about trading immunity for the truck. Boo says if Dreamz hadn’t cried at the Tribal Council, it would be more believable to him. Jenna asks if it was an easy decision for them to vote for Earl. Yau-Man admits there was a fleeting moment where he considered voting for Dreamz because he outplayed him. Boo wanted to vote for Cassandra, emotionally, but then she abandoned him in the game. He says she was his number one but he was just her number four. He did feel Earl played the best game, though. Boo confirms he was never going to vote for Dreamz. Fernando in California asks about Boo’s knee. He has torn his ACL, but he hasn’t had it fixed it yet as it’s about $10,000 and many months to recover. He says it didn’t hurt a lot in the rest of the game, but it did bother him during the meat challenge. He had to be real careful on the uneven terrain over the rest of the game, too. He never entertained thoughts of quitting over it, though. Jenna asks Boo if he played under the radar. Boo says he tried to play the game as it unfolded. Boo says Alex found out he couldn’t control him when Alex wanted to eliminate Cassandra at one point, and Boo wouldn’t agree to it. When Mookie came on board with Alex’s alliance, Boo was out. At that point, “I had to seek refuge under another tent.” The next segment is called “Probst’s Thoughts,” where a message is played that Jeff Probst recorded for the departing contestant. Jeff says, “Boo, I said going in, could win the game. What I didn’t know was that Boo would be so clumsy.” Probst calls him one of the strongest and most fit guys, a charmer who played with a lot of integrity, and says that Boo played the game hard. Another “Probst’s Thoughts” segment is aired, this time for Yau-Man. He says, “Yau-Man, one of my favorite all-time people on the show,” and, “I really enjoy just who you are.” Boo says Jeff liked Dreamz too initially, but it faded over time. He also relates that Jeff had trouble comprehending Boo’s accent. Jenna asks Boo if his being chatty was over-played. Boo says it was, and tells us he was really excited about the helicopter ride in particular. Dalton asks both guests if they have one big regret in the game. Yau-Man wishes he’d offered Dreamz a different deal to either pass immunity to him or at least, to get a tie vote. Boo wishes he’d sought out his own alliance instead of waiting to be asked. It would have excluded Dreamz. He didn’t get along with Stacy much either, but would have been willing to ally with her again. Aaron in Michigan asks Yau-Man about the impact of his sudden popularity. Yau-Man admits it is a surprise that he’s still digesting. Discussion drifts to how the vote might have gone if Yau-Man was in the final three. Boo is confident that Yau-Man would have won unanimously, and Yau-Man nods in agreement. I’m not so sure about unanimous, but I’m sure he’d have won. Amanda in New Jersey has a crush on Boo. She wants to know why Yau-Man didn’t offer Boo the car. Boo nods heartily in agreement. Yau-Man admits he didn’t know Boo very well on the island and wishes he did, as he might well have made the offer to Boo instead of Dreamz. At that point in the game, Yau-Man was unwilling to switch his alliances from what had worked so well beforehand. The hosts congratulate both players and the segment winds down with their “Time Capsules.” In this feature, Dalton plays back a message each player recorded to themselves before the game began. Boo had said, “I’m going to try and make it to the jury so I can stay involved with the game.” If he won million he would buy a car for his mom and some horses for his father… and maybe some “toys” for himself. On his video Yau-Man said, “I hope you did very well and went all the way.” He advises himself to play it safe and don’t stick his head up too high. He ends by admonishing himself to “think, think, think, about everything you’re going to do. And don’t be impulsive!” Thus ends the first segment. The second segment features Cassandra and Dreamz. I’m going to do my best here, but often two, three or all four were talking at once and some of it gets lost. Dalton’s first order of business is to confirm that both of them will receive second-place money. Dalton starts out on Dreamz right away. He doesn’t believe Dreamz was playing Yau-Man from the first minute of the deal, based on his confessionals. Dreamz stands behind it, saying, why do you believe my confessionals? That’s an interesting approach, using his frequent lying as a support of his version of the truth. Jenna says most players would break the deal rather than be voted out. Dalton agrees. Cassandra agrees with Dalton, saying that when Dreamz talked to her about his decision, she believed that at that time, he hadn’t decided for sure what he was going to do. Jenna asks Cassandra about how the jury laid into her at Final Tribal Council. Knowing the jury was mostly former-Moto, she expected a rough ride and few votes. She tells us Alex is not practicing law right now. Dalton says he didn’t understand why Lisi was so upset, as these two didn’t even influence her ouster from the game. Yup, that’s one confused woman, because basically, she ousted herself. Dreamz is proud that except for Stacy, he was part of the demise of every jury member. I suggest his role in Lisi’s dismissal was fairly minor. Dreamz says he knew he and Cassandra couldn’t win and he’s happy with second place. He didn’t understand the purpose of Lisi’s “shoes” question that was directed at Cassandra, either. If Lisi was trying to make them look foolish, it boomeranged. The clip is run of the end of the immunity challenge and Dreamz’ fatal choice. Cassandra is sure Dreamz was not acting as he announced his decision. Dreamz tries to say the deal meant something different when they learned there was a final-three and not a final two. Dalton is having none of it, though. Cassandra says they knew one of the two of them was going home if the deal was honored. Greg in Maryland tells Dreamz he had to know that he wasn’t getting any jury votes after dumping on the most beloved character on the show. He suggests Dreamz looked greedy and should have offered to return the truck if he wasn’t about to honor the deal. Dreamz says he’s fine with being called greedy, because everyone in the game was greedy and playing for big money. Dreamz says he’s giving the truck to charity to raise money to help the homeless. He challenges Ford to match his contribution. If he does it, that’s fine, but the truck ought to be going to a charity of Yau-man’s choice. Cassandra was unaware of the “car curse,” so Dalton explains that no one who has won the car has also won the game. Mike in NYC has a question for “Broken Dreamz,” saying he thinks Dreamz might have had a chance in a final three with Earl and Yau-Man. In which parallel universe would that be? Dreamz reiterates that he knew he wasn’t going to win in any scenario, and he didn’t want to get rid of either Earl or Cassandra. Dalton asks about “Coffee-gate.” Jenna asks if Dreamz called Stacy “a white woman.” He says he said that later on. He adds that he called her “a cheerleader” and “a white girl,” but the timing of these comments is undefined. Cassandra says the three of them (her, Dreamz and Gary) were being treated poorly by the power group, and gives the example of them expecting her to wash their dishes. Dalton calls that “very, very short-sighted.” It’s time for more “Thoughts” from Jeff Probst. About Dreamz, he starts with a sigh and says, “Oh, man. What do you say to Dreamz? Because no matter what you say, he’s going to say something back. He’s going to tell you that you’re wrong, or you don’t understand.” He goes on to say he’s probably talked more about Dreamz this season than any previous Survivor. He calls Dreams compelling and fun, and knows he’s smiling right now. About Cassandra, he also comments favorably on her “killer smile and her lethal game play” and calls her “very under-rated.” He adds, “I did not know what to make of you when you first came on the show,” and, “I hope you had fun, because I’m not sure at times if you did or not.” Jenna asks Cassandra about her strategy in challenges. Cassandra says she was steering clear of water-based challenge, because she can’t swim. When she was digging so half-heartedly a couple of episodes ago, it was because she didn’t want to go into the water and climb the pole. Vicci in Denver asks Jenna her opinion of Dreamz strategy, and what would she do if Dreamz were in the game when she played? Jenna says she’d have voted him off – you have to, to win. She likes his cutthroat game, though. Dreamz claims he was not naïve in the early stages of the game, that was all an act. Yeah, okay. Dalton says Dreamz enjoyed lying. Lisa from NYC asks the difference between third- and fourth-place money. The answer is an unspecific “few thousands.” Andrea in Atlanta wants to know how his sons reacted to the confessional where Dreamz talked of the importance in keeping his word. He says his son is only two, but one day he’ll tell him it was just a game, separate from real life. The difference between actions in the game and actions in real life is discussed. An example is the searching of other people’s bags, done first by Yau-Man, and then Mookie and Alex. Dreamz says this is something these people wouldn’t do in real life. Jenna agrees. Does no one see the difference between that and taking a $60,000 truck back into the real world on false pretenses? I say, break the deal if you must, but for sure, return the truck! Actions in the game DO affect real life, and there are prior examples. These two are shuffled out as their Time Capsules are run. Dreamz said simply, “Dre, remember your purpose – go for the gold.” Cassandra said, “I want to remind myself, it is a game.” The final segment features Earl, and Dalton starts it off with his Time Capsule. Earl said, “Hopefully I won the whole game. What to do with the million dollars? Let me give myself some advice now. Take care of your mom and your family.” He adds, “I initially took on this task to challenge myself mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. I risked losing my job, everything, for this moment.” Dalton brags again over picking Earl to win. Dalton asks if the turning point was Dreamz’ decision to keep the immunity necklace. As his options were to vote for Cassandra and force a two-two tie, or flip on Yau-Man and all but guarantee himself victory, Earl says, “I go with the smart choice!” Jenna asks Earl when he knew he had won. Earl says he was hopeful, “but you can be blindsided, too.” He adds that doubt increases when you watch the show and see how some parts were edited and other things happened that you didn’t know about. He later adds that there was always the chance Dreamz might get sympathy votes. Jenna asks if the impact of his victory has sunk in yet. Earl responds, not yet, he’s still “on edge” over it. Dalton asks Earl if voting off Yau-Man caused him concern about how that might look to the jurors? Dalton poses that Yau-Man is more rational than some others, like Alex, and might be able to understand the rational behind the move. Jenna suspects that Dreamz took a big slice of the responsibility for that vote, so Earl’s impact would be somewhat deflected. Earl agrees with that, and figures that if the situation were reversed, Yau-Man would have voted him off. Dalton suspects Earl was preparing his speech for a Final Tribal Council including Yau-Man. He inquires of Earl, how would your opening speech have gone? Earl says, “My plan was just to talk about the things I did. No offence against Yau, but it’s war in that Final Tribal Council. It might not work, but I’d give it a try. I’d have talked about all the strategies I had. I never had to win a challenge, and I formed all the alliances, and Yau-Man had one alliance – with me.” He adds that he would remind them that although Yau found the hidden idol, Earl helped by misdirecting the rest of the tribe. Our next caller is Ken from Jersey, who asks Earl hypothetically, if it was old-style Survivor and he won the final immunity, whom would he take to the final two? Earl says, “I’d take the person who backstabbed a lot of people – Dreamz.” Dalton asks Earl, was he surprised about how fiery the Final Tribal Council was? Earl responds that the randomness of Lisi’s questions surprised him the most. Earl says he never even met her. However, he adds that he didn’t mind them being fiery because it made him step his game up. The clip of Earl’s opening statement is run. Jenna says that although the money is important, the exclusive title of “sole Survivor” is important too. Michael in Queens asks Earl about going up against Yau-Man in the final. Earl reiterates what he said before, adding that he would have had to get a little dirty, but would have said that Yau-Man was there only because of Earl. Angel from Tennessee advises Earl to pay his taxes and asks what he’s doing with the money. He says he intends to invest it and is not ready to make any emotional decisions yet. He corrects himself to admit he did give half the money to his mom, though she might not have heard him in all the noise of the concluding Reunion Show. He tells us his mom has always been a driving force in his life. Also, Earl still has his job and intends to keep it. Earl reveals that he once held two idols! After he was sent to Exile Island Boo was searching hard for the hidden immunity idol. So, Earl borrowed Yau-Man’s idol to show Boo, saying he had found the last idol. This was to trick Boo so he would stop his search for it. Earl actually had Cassandra tell Boo that he had the idol, because Boo trusted her more. This also helped Boo believe Cassandra would not flip on him, which was good for Cassandra’s position. A possible confirmation for Boo came up. Earl had put the idol in his bag and after cutting his foot, he had Boo fetch him his bag. He is not sure if Boo searched the bag and found the idol or not, but if he did, Yau-Man’s idol was there to be found. At any rate, it was after that when Earl really found the final idol himself, and later still before he returned Yau-Man’s to him. Brilliant! Earl puns, “I had “turtle” power in my hands.” Over a clip of his Fijian dancing, Jean from San Francisco asks what the hardest challenge was for him. He says, “Being on the old Ravu was a challenge!” Dalton asks about when his early ally Erica was voted off. Earl says as long as it wasn’t affecting him, he was ready to stay under the radar and let Rocky and Mookie run the show. When Erica was suddenly gone while he was at Exile Island, Earl knew he had to step it up a lot sooner than he really wanted to. Dalton next asks about getting together for the Reunion. Earl says all nineteen of them watched the first two hours together in the Green Room, and some of the brutal moments were a little uncomfortable. Jenna says that in her season, jury members were separated from the rest. Earl reiterates that this time, they were all together. Jenna says that everyone seemed chilled out at her post-show party, though. Earl says that after the initial greeting period, people were slipping back into “game mode.” Nicole from Canada asks if his impression of Dreamz changed after he told them about Mookie’s idol. Earl says that was a big, pivotal moment in the game. Dalton asks about the first time Earl went to Moto beach and saw the camp. Jenna remembers Stacy telling Earl not to put his dirty feet on the bed. Earl says his internal response to her was, “You don’t OWN the bed!” The benefits of regular sleep and food are rehashed. For me, this stupid “haves/nots” twist was one of the worst ideas they ever had and rated right up (down?) there with the Outcast Tribe. It’s time to play Jeff Probst’s thoughts for Earl. He says, “Earl, last-minute Earl,” and confirms that he first talked to Earl just three days before he left to be on location. His advice to Earl was, “You will not be the same, your life will change.” Jeff adds, “You knew when to step out of the fray and let others duke it out, yet stay involved enough that you were in the know. And that’s one of the big keys to playing this game, being able to adapt moment by moment.” Dalton agrees with that assessment and likes the way Earl adapted. Earl confirms he didn’t watch the show since the first season and was no student of the game. Earl admits he started “blind,” but watched and learned as he went along. Jenna recalls that Tina Wesson was an alternate in Survivor: Outback, and had not watched the first season, yet she also won. Earl jokes that a strategy of being totally unprepared may be the way to win the game. Earl says to participate in the game he first wanted to convince his boss to give him two months time off. However, he was willing to quit if need be. Reflecting on Tribal Council, caller Ian in Ottawa asks Earl if he still respects Lisi and Alex after their attacks on Dreamz and Cassandra. Earl says he was most surprised by Boo’s attack on Dreamz. Todd calls from Indiana to ask how hard it is to stay focused on the game. Earl says you have to; he was constantly strategizing and even went without sleep at times. Dalton asks Earl, even though you won, is there a time you look back on that he’d want to change? Earl is aware there was a lot of luck involved in the game. When the tribes were scrambled, Edgardo could have grabbed the other buff and instead of moving into new-Moto, Earl would have ended up back at Ravu. Dalton asks if when they voted out Edgardo, did they try to mask or shield their intentions? Earl says there wasn’t much time to do so, as the decision was only made right before they left for Tribal Council. The one thing they did plan was, “Don’t tell Dreamz.” Dalton jokes, “Don’t tell Dreamz,” that was the motto of the season. Jenna puts forward a couple of different voting ideas. One is to look at the other votes in the urn. Another is to write a message to the next player on the parchment. Dalton doubts either move is legal but Jenna doesn’t know how they’d stop you, and further, tells us it there were no rules against it. Dalton reacts like Jenna’s insane. I think both scenarios would be hilarious, myself, and send the Production team scrambling. Tammy from Alabama asks whom he might stay in touch with, and who not. The latter one, Lisi, who he calls “quirky.” To the former question, it’s Yau-Man of course, Dreamz too, and Cassandra, and actually most all of the rest. All-Stars 2 is discussed again. Earl thinks he’ll be the first one knocked out. I’d say it would be Yul, or Dreamz. Jenna feels there will be no winners asked to participate in All-Stars 2. Dalton firmly disagrees and they bet fifty dollars over it. We’ll see, but I say it shouldn’t be called “All Stars” without any former winners participating. The network promo of the next season in China is run. Probst calls it, “Something completely different.” Everyone likes the new logo. Dalton asks Earl for “the money shot” and has Earl hold up the big check that gave him earlier. He’s going to give the actual check to his mom. Nice touch! And, we’re done! In Conclusion: It was an odd season to be sure. The “haves/nots” twist was terrible, as bad as The Outcasts, because an early reward challenge should never dictate that much of the results. Then, after the season is almost saved by the ultimate underdog performance from Yau-Man, we see it drowned in the end by one move too many and the ultimate betrayal.
Survivor: Fiji - Survivor Live, The Finale by Brian Towers -- 05/18/2007 It's a super-sized show, as hosts Jenna and Dalton talk with all five finalists over three segments! And hey, did you hear about Dreamz? He lied to Yau-Man, you know. In case you didn't, you'll hear all about it here, along with lots more stuff, even some tidbits that haven't been driven into the ground yet! Survivor: Live is CBS’s webcast phone-in show which features interviews with players from Survivor: Fiji. It is hosted by Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly and the sole survivor of Survivor: Amazon, Jenna Morasca. In an extended version, this week’s guests are Kenward “Boo” Bernis, Yau-Man Chan, Cassandra Franklin, Andria “Dreamz” Herd, and the sole survivor, Earl Cole. Beginning as usual with some trivia, I think we should end with a couple of easy ones. First up, noting Earl got every jury vote for the first time ever, how many previous winners got all the votes but one? Drag your cursor between the square brackets to see the answer. < The answer is four. In Survivor: Amazon, Jenna got all the votes but Butch’s, and in Survivor: Pearl Islands, only Tijuana did not vote for Sandra. Then, Tom Westman in Survivor: Palau got every vote except Coby’s, and Danni repeated the feat in Survivor: Guatemala, with Rafe the sole dissenter. Of course, all these people faced smaller juries with seven members than Earl’s gang of nine. > Here’s the bonus question: No one ever voted AGAINST Earl either. How many other winners have the same record? Again, drag your cursor between the square brackets to see the answer. < The answer is five. There was Tina, Ethan, and Brian Hediuk, plus Sandra and Tom again. > Bored yet? Here’s a third one! Earl never won a challenge once the tribes merged. What previous winner also lost every individual challenge? Again, drag your cursor between the square brackets to see the answer. < Just one, this time, and for the third time, the answer is Survivor: Pearl Islands’ Sandra! > All right, that’s enough trivia; let’s get on with the show! The show opens with Dalton admitting he never made it to Jenna’s Survivor party last night. I must say that Jenna appears to be fairly alert, given the probability of her being rather hung over. Dalton asks Jenna her impressions of the show. She liked it, including the Final Tribal Council, but isn’t sure if they might have been a little too bitter. My opinion is that when it comes to people who cost you your shot at a million dollars, there is no such thing as “too bitter.” Dalton takes a moment to lord it over Jenna that his pick of Earl won the game. Jenna reiterates (and I can confirm) that she picked Dreamz for final three only, and not as a winner. But we should let Dalton have his moment… OK, that’s enough Dalton-stroking, because it’s time to bring in Boo and Yau-Man. Both of them cleaned up nicely. Dalton starts right in with Yau-Man and his deal with Dreamz. His first question is to ask Yau-Man if he thought to come up to Dreamz at a late moment (so he doesn’t have time to flop yet again) and say, “Dreamz, you’re a man of your word, and I appreciate that. You told me you’re going to give me the idol, so after that, I’m not going to vote you out. You’re safe and we’re going to take Cassandra out.” Yau-Man says it occurred to him at Tribal Council, but not during the heat of discussion. He adds that, “As the Tribal Council went on and on, I became more arrogant with myself” and he was sure Dreamz was going to give him the idol. Knowing that so much of Tribal Council gets edited out, Dalton follows up by asking for confirmation that he didn’t try and make a new offer to Dreamz. Yau-Man replies, “I wish I did.” Jenna asks Yau-Man about the final immunity challenge (called “Hanging by a Thread”). She wonders if, when Dreamz held on when they were the only two left, did he think Dreamz was about to back out of his deal? Yau-Man says that beforehand, Dreamz was quite adamant that he was going to win the challenge for Yau-Man. Yau-Man remembers his exact words, which were, “I’m a man of my words, I’m going to win this, I’m going to give it to you.” So no, he was not suspicious. Dalton refers to something Stacy said last time, relating that the deal included everyone. Yau-Man says that’s true to an extent, because he wanted Dreamz to help convince the others to vote his (Yau-Man’s) way. It became a non-issue when Dreamz didn’t honor the primary part of the deal. Jenna says Yau-Man was playing to win. She asks him if he was angry with Dreamz, knowing that if Dreamz gave up his immunity Dreamz was gone. Yau-Man says he’d have honored the deal, but then tried to make another deal so he could stay. He never expected Dreamz not to honor the deal. Staying with the theme, Dalton asks Boo about his reaction to Dreamz not giving the idol away. Boo says, “It blew me away, I didn’t see that coming at all. I thought Dreamz was a man of his word.” He reminds us that Dreamz wanted his son to see that he was honorable and adds, “I believed him.” Dalton notes that the deal also screwed Boo, by moving him to the top of the target list. Boo says it wasn’t shown, but he wasn’t happy with the Yau-Man/Dreamz deal and was the last one to agree to accept it. The hosts ask Boo why anyone but Dreamz would agree to that deal. Boo hoped the others would still take him farther in the game. Yau-Man admits he was surprised everyone agreed to the deal. Boo adds that he wished Yau-Man had made the offer to him instead. Once again, it’s Jerry in California. Dalton tries to speed him up, but that’s not going to happen. His eventual question is to ask if they would play the game had they known what was ahead of them. Yes. Dalton asks if they would play in a second All-Stars edition of the game, which both hosts expect to come about in Survivor 16 next spring. Yau-Man has some reservations, because he will no longer be able to surprise anyone and will need a new strategy. Dalton says Yau-Man would do well in an All-Stars, because he’s not a previous winner and wasn’t duplicitous. I don’t know, I think Rob Cesternino would say that a reputation as a clever player also puts the target on one’s back. Dalton has the clip run of Yau-Man winning the “Fiji Braille Maze” immunity challenge. This was a great challenge. Jenna reminds us she won a similar challenge in her first season. Dalton asks Yau-Man if he surprised himself by doing so well in the challenges. He was indeed surprised, and never expected to win any physical ones. However, he started to string some successes together and realized he could compete every time out. Dreamz is the next caller. Yes, that Dreamz; he’s in the Green Room. Don’t you think Yau-Man has had enough of this guy for a while? He asks, did Yau-Man give the truck up because it was strategy, or an attempt to help a person out? Yau-Man says, “That truck is not my lifestyle,” and he intended to use it as a bargaining chip. However, he knew Dreamz needed it the most. So the answer is, it was a bit of both. Thomas from Atlanta wonders if Dreamz might have gotten some votes by admitting he changed his mind about trading immunity for the truck. Boo says if Dreamz hadn’t cried at the Tribal Council, it would be more believable to him. Jenna asks if it was an easy decision for them to vote for Earl. Yau-Man admits there was a fleeting moment where he considered voting for Dreamz because he outplayed him. Boo wanted to vote for Cassandra, emotionally, but then she abandoned him in the game. He says she was his number one but he was just her number four. He did feel Earl played the best game, though. Boo confirms he was never going to vote for Dreamz. Fernando in California asks about Boo’s knee. He has torn his ACL, but he hasn’t had it fixed it yet as it’s about $10,000 and many months to recover. He says it didn’t hurt a lot in the rest of the game, but it did bother him during the meat challenge. He had to be real careful on the uneven terrain over the rest of the game, too. He never entertained thoughts of quitting over it, though. Jenna asks Boo if he played under the radar. Boo says he tried to play the game as it unfolded. Boo says Alex found out he couldn’t control him when Alex wanted to eliminate Cassandra at one point, and Boo wouldn’t agree to it. When Mookie came on board with Alex’s alliance, Boo was out. At that point, “I had to seek refuge under another tent.” The next segment is called “Probst’s Thoughts,” where a message is played that Jeff Probst recorded for the departing contestant. Jeff says, “Boo, I said going in, could win the game. What I didn’t know was that Boo would be so clumsy.” Probst calls him one of the strongest and most fit guys, a charmer who played with a lot of integrity, and says that Boo played the game hard. Another “Probst’s Thoughts” segment is aired, this time for Yau-Man. He says, “Yau-Man, one of my favorite all-time people on the show,” and, “I really enjoy just who you are.” Boo says Jeff liked Dreamz too initially, but it faded over time. He also relates that Jeff had trouble comprehending Boo’s accent. Jenna asks Boo if his being chatty was over-played. Boo says it was, and tells us he was really excited about the helicopter ride in particular. Dalton asks both guests if they have one big regret in the game. Yau-Man wishes he’d offered Dreamz a different deal to either pass immunity to him or at least, to get a tie vote. Boo wishes he’d sought out his own alliance instead of waiting to be asked. It would have excluded Dreamz. He didn’t get along with Stacy much either, but would have been willing to ally with her again. Aaron in Michigan asks Yau-Man about the impact of his sudden popularity. Yau-Man admits it is a surprise that he’s still digesting. Discussion drifts to how the vote might have gone if Yau-Man was in the final three. Boo is confident that Yau-Man would have won unanimously, and Yau-Man nods in agreement. I’m not so sure about unanimous, but I’m sure he’d have won. Amanda in New Jersey has a crush on Boo. She wants to know why Yau-Man didn’t offer Boo the car. Boo nods heartily in agreement. Yau-Man admits he didn’t know Boo very well on the island and wishes he did, as he might well have made the offer to Boo instead of Dreamz. At that point in the game, Yau-Man was unwilling to switch his alliances from what had worked so well beforehand. The hosts congratulate both players and the segment winds down with their “Time Capsules.” In this feature, Dalton plays back a message each player recorded to themselves before the game began. Boo had said, “I’m going to try and make it to the jury so I can stay involved with the game.” If he won million he would buy a car for his mom and some horses for his father… and maybe some “toys” for himself. On his video Yau-Man said, “I hope you did very well and went all the way.” He advises himself to play it safe and don’t stick his head up too high. He ends by admonishing himself to “think, think, think, about everything you’re going to do. And don’t be impulsive!” Thus ends the first segment. The second segment features Cassandra and Dreamz. I’m going to do my best here, but often two, three or all four were talking at once and some of it gets lost. Dalton’s first order of business is to confirm that both of them will receive second-place money. Dalton starts out on Dreamz right away. He doesn’t believe Dreamz was playing Yau-Man from the first minute of the deal, based on his confessionals. Dreamz stands behind it, saying, why do you believe my confessionals? That’s an interesting approach, using his frequent lying as a support of his version of the truth. Jenna says most players would break the deal rather than be voted out. Dalton agrees. Cassandra agrees with Dalton, saying that when Dreamz talked to her about his decision, she believed that at that time, he hadn’t decided for sure what he was going to do. Jenna asks Cassandra about how the jury laid into her at Final Tribal Council. Knowing the jury was mostly former-Moto, she expected a rough ride and few votes. She tells us Alex is not practicing law right now. Dalton says he didn’t understand why Lisi was so upset, as these two didn’t even influence her ouster from the game. Yup, that’s one confused woman, because basically, she ousted herself. Dreamz is proud that except for Stacy, he was part of the demise of every jury member. I suggest his role in Lisi’s dismissal was fairly minor. Dreamz says he knew he and Cassandra couldn’t win and he’s happy with second place. He didn’t understand the purpose of Lisi’s “shoes” question that was directed at Cassandra, either. If Lisi was trying to make them look foolish, it boomeranged. The clip is run of the end of the immunity challenge and Dreamz’ fatal choice. Cassandra is sure Dreamz was not acting as he announced his decision. Dreamz tries to say the deal meant something different when they learned there was a final-three and not a final two. Dalton is having none of it, though. Cassandra says they knew one of the two of them was going home if the deal was honored. Greg in Maryland tells Dreamz he had to know that he wasn’t getting any jury votes after dumping on the most beloved character on the show. He suggests Dreamz looked greedy and should have offered to return the truck if he wasn’t about to honor the deal. Dreamz says he’s fine with being called greedy, because everyone in the game was greedy and playing for big money. Dreamz says he’s giving the truck to charity to raise money to help the homeless. He challenges Ford to match his contribution. If he does it, that’s fine, but the truck ought to be going to a charity of Yau-man’s choice. Cassandra was unaware of the “car curse,” so Dalton explains that no one who has won the car has also won the game. Mike in NYC has a question for “Broken Dreamz,” saying he thinks Dreamz might have had a chance in a final three with Earl and Yau-Man. In which parallel universe would that be? Dreamz reiterates that he knew he wasn’t going to win in any scenario, and he didn’t want to get rid of either Earl or Cassandra. Dalton asks about “Coffee-gate.” Jenna asks if Dreamz called Stacy “a white woman.” He says he said that later on. He adds that he called her “a cheerleader” and “a white girl,” but the timing of these comments is undefined. Cassandra says the three of them (her, Dreamz and Gary) were being treated poorly by the power group, and gives the example of them expecting her to wash their dishes. Dalton calls that “very, very short-sighted.” It’s time for more “Thoughts” from Jeff Probst. About Dreamz, he starts with a sigh and says, “Oh, man. What do you say to Dreamz? Because no matter what you say, he’s going to say something back. He’s going to tell you that you’re wrong, or you don’t understand.” He goes on to say he’s probably talked more about Dreamz this season than any previous Survivor. He calls Dreams compelling and fun, and knows he’s smiling right now. About Cassandra, he also comments favorably on her “killer smile and her lethal game play” and calls her “very under-rated.” He adds, “I did not know what to make of you when you first came on the show,” and, “I hope you had fun, because I’m not sure at times if you did or not.” Jenna asks Cassandra about her strategy in challenges. Cassandra says she was steering clear of water-based challenge, because she can’t swim. When she was digging so half-heartedly a couple of episodes ago, it was because she didn’t want to go into the water and climb the pole. Vicci in Denver asks Jenna her opinion of Dreamz strategy, and what would she do if Dreamz were in the game when she played? Jenna says she’d have voted him off – you have to, to win. She likes his cutthroat game, though. Dreamz claims he was not naïve in the early stages of the game, that was all an act. Yeah, okay. Dalton says Dreamz enjoyed lying. Lisa from NYC asks the difference between third- and fourth-place money. The answer is an unspecific “few thousands.” Andrea in Atlanta wants to know how his sons reacted to the confessional where Dreamz talked of the importance in keeping his word. He says his son is only two, but one day he’ll tell him it was just a game, separate from real life. The difference between actions in the game and actions in real life is discussed. An example is the searching of other people’s bags, done first by Yau-Man, and then Mookie and Alex. Dreamz says this is something these people wouldn’t do in real life. Jenna agrees. Does no one see the difference between that and taking a $60,000 truck back into the real world on false pretenses? I say, break the deal if you must, but for sure, return the truck! Actions in the game DO affect real life, and there are prior examples. These two are shuffled out as their Time Capsules are run. Dreamz said simply, “Dre, remember your purpose – go for the gold.” Cassandra said, “I want to remind myself, it is a game.” The final segment features Earl, and Dalton starts it off with his Time Capsule. Earl said, “Hopefully I won the whole game. What to do with the million dollars? Let me give myself some advice now. Take care of your mom and your family.” He adds, “I initially took on this task to challenge myself mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. I risked losing my job, everything, for this moment.” Dalton brags again over picking Earl to win. Dalton asks if the turning point was Dreamz’ decision to keep the immunity necklace. As his options were to vote for Cassandra and force a two-two tie, or flip on Yau-Man and all but guarantee himself victory, Earl says, “I go with the smart choice!” Jenna asks Earl when he knew he had won. Earl says he was hopeful, “but you can be blindsided, too.” He adds that doubt increases when you watch the show and see how some parts were edited and other things happened that you didn’t know about. He later adds that there was always the chance Dreamz might get sympathy votes. Jenna asks if the impact of his victory has sunk in yet. Earl responds, not yet, he’s still “on edge” over it. Dalton asks Earl if voting off Yau-Man caused him concern about how that might look to the jurors? Dalton poses that Yau-Man is more rational than some others, like Alex, and might be able to understand the rational behind the move. Jenna suspects that Dreamz took a big slice of the responsibility for that vote, so Earl’s impact would be somewhat deflected. Earl agrees with that, and figures that if the situation were reversed, Yau-Man would have voted him off. Dalton suspects Earl was preparing his speech for a Final Tribal Council including Yau-Man. He inquires of Earl, how would your opening speech have gone? Earl says, “My plan was just to talk about the things I did. No offence against Yau, but it’s war in that Final Tribal Council. It might not work, but I’d give it a try. I’d have talked about all the strategies I had. I never had to win a challenge, and I formed all the alliances, and Yau-Man had one alliance – with me.” He adds that he would remind them that although Yau found the hidden idol, Earl helped by misdirecting the rest of the tribe. Our next caller is Ken from Jersey, who asks Earl hypothetically, if it was old-style Survivor and he won the final immunity, whom would he take to the final two? Earl says, “I’d take the person who backstabbed a lot of people – Dreamz.” Dalton asks Earl, was he surprised about how fiery the Final Tribal Council was? Earl responds that the randomness of Lisi’s questions surprised him the most. Earl says he never even met her. However, he adds that he didn’t mind them being fiery because it made him step his game up. The clip of Earl’s opening statement is run. Jenna says that although the money is important, the exclusive title of “sole Survivor” is important too. Michael in Queens asks Earl about going up against Yau-Man in the final. Earl reiterates what he said before, adding that he would have had to get a little dirty, but would have said that Yau-Man was there only because of Earl. Angel from Tennessee advises Earl to pay his taxes and asks what he’s doing with the money. He says he intends to invest it and is not ready to make any emotional decisions yet. He corrects himself to admit he did give half the money to his mom, though she might not have heard him in all the noise of the concluding Reunion Show. He tells us his mom has always been a driving force in his life. Also, Earl still has his job and intends to keep it. Earl reveals that he once held two idols! After he was sent to Exile Island Boo was searching hard for the hidden immunity idol. So, Earl borrowed Yau-Man’s idol to show Boo, saying he had found the last idol. This was to trick Boo so he would stop his search for it. Earl actually had Cassandra tell Boo that he had the idol, because Boo trusted her more. This also helped Boo believe Cassandra would not flip on him, which was good for Cassandra’s position. A possible confirmation for Boo came up. Earl had put the idol in his bag and after cutting his foot, he had Boo fetch him his bag. He is not sure if Boo searched the bag and found the idol or not, but if he did, Yau-Man’s idol was there to be found. At any rate, it was after that when Earl really found the final idol himself, and later still before he returned Yau-Man’s to him. Brilliant! Earl puns, “I had “turtle” power in my hands.” Over a clip of his Fijian dancing, Jean from San Francisco asks what the hardest challenge was for him. He says, “Being on the old Ravu was a challenge!” Dalton asks about when his early ally Erica was voted off. Earl says as long as it wasn’t affecting him, he was ready to stay under the radar and let Rocky and Mookie run the show. When Erica was suddenly gone while he was at Exile Island, Earl knew he had to step it up a lot sooner than he really wanted to. Dalton next asks about getting together for the Reunion. Earl says all nineteen of them watched the first two hours together in the Green Room, and some of the brutal moments were a little uncomfortable. Jenna says that in her season, jury members were separated from the rest. Earl reiterates that this time, they were all together. Jenna says that everyone seemed chilled out at her post-show party, though. Earl says that after the initial greeting period, people were slipping back into “game mode.” Nicole from Canada asks if his impression of Dreamz changed after he told them about Mookie’s idol. Earl says that was a big, pivotal moment in the game. Dalton asks about the first time Earl went to Moto beach and saw the camp. Jenna remembers Stacy telling Earl not to put his dirty feet on the bed. Earl says his internal response to her was, “You don’t OWN the bed!” The benefits of regular sleep and food are rehashed. For me, this stupid “haves/nots” twist was one of the worst ideas they ever had and rated right up (down?) there with the Outcast Tribe. It’s time to play Jeff Probst’s thoughts for Earl. He says, “Earl, last-minute Earl,” and confirms that he first talked to Earl just three days before he left to be on location. His advice to Earl was, “You will not be the same, your life will change.” Jeff adds, “You knew when to step out of the fray and let others duke it out, yet stay involved enough that you were in the know. And that’s one of the big keys to playing this game, being able to adapt moment by moment.” Dalton agrees with that assessment and likes the way Earl adapted. Earl confirms he didn’t watch the show since the first season and was no student of the game. Earl admits he started “blind,” but watched and learned as he went along. Jenna recalls that Tina Wesson was an alternate in Survivor: Outback, and had not watched the first season, yet she also won. Earl jokes that a strategy of being totally unprepared may be the way to win the game. Earl says to participate in the game he first wanted to convince his boss to give him two months time off. However, he was willing to quit if need be. Reflecting on Tribal Council, caller Ian in Ottawa asks Earl if he still respects Lisi and Alex after their attacks on Dreamz and Cassandra. Earl says he was most surprised by Boo’s attack on Dreamz. Todd calls from Indiana to ask how hard it is to stay focused on the game. Earl says you have to; he was constantly strategizing and even went without sleep at times. Dalton asks Earl, even though you won, is there a time you look back on that he’d want to change? Earl is aware there was a lot of luck involved in the game. When the tribes were scrambled, Edgardo could have grabbed the other buff and instead of moving into new-Moto, Earl would have ended up back at Ravu. Dalton asks if when they voted out Edgardo, did they try to mask or shield their intentions? Earl says there wasn’t much time to do so, as the decision was only made right before they left for Tribal Council. The one thing they did plan was, “Don’t tell Dreamz.” Dalton jokes, “Don’t tell Dreamz,” that was the motto of the season. Jenna puts forward a couple of different voting ideas. One is to look at the other votes in the urn. Another is to write a message to the next player on the parchment. Dalton doubts either move is legal but Jenna doesn’t know how they’d stop you, and further, tells us it there were no rules against it. Dalton reacts like Jenna’s insane. I think both scenarios would be hilarious, myself, and send the Production team scrambling. Tammy from Alabama asks whom he might stay in touch with, and who not. The latter one, Lisi, who he calls “quirky.” To the former question, it’s Yau-Man of course, Dreamz too, and Cassandra, and actually most all of the rest. All-Stars 2 is discussed again. Earl thinks he’ll be the first one knocked out. I’d say it would be Yul, or Dreamz. Jenna feels there will be no winners asked to participate in All-Stars 2. Dalton firmly disagrees and they bet fifty dollars over it. We’ll see, but I say it shouldn’t be called “All Stars” without any former winners participating. The network promo of the next season in China is run. Probst calls it, “Something completely different.” Everyone likes the new logo. Dalton asks Earl for “the money shot” and has Earl hold up the big check that gave him earlier. He’s going to give the actual check to his mom. Nice touch! And, we’re done! In Conclusion: It was an odd season to be sure. The “haves/nots” twist was terrible, as bad as The Outcasts, because an early reward challenge should never dictate that much of the results. Then, after the season is almost saved by the ultimate underdog performance from Yau-Man, we see it drowned in the end by one move too many and the ultimate betrayal.