Oh man, Cirie had it. She had it. Considering all of the puppeteering she did behind the scenes, among the final three I believe she was the most worthy one for the win. A big flaw in her game was that she played so stealthily that it’s possible no one would have recognized her as the mastermind. I really wish I could have seen her duke it out answering things from the jury, but that’s the way the game goes. She was my pick to win.

General Survivor history suggests that when it comes to the final, women don’t get much respect for playing a straight game with “integrity.” To get to the final, inevitably people have to be cast aside and people will not be happy with those remaining. If, by the end, a woman plays that integrity card, she’ll just be considered fake, or a lying bitch. That’s one good reason why Amanda lost. As much as I think she was a strong competitor, I don’t think she made enough power plays or went outside of her alliances enough to be a considered stronger social player.

Now Parvati, wow…at the start of the season I wasn’t sure how I should have felt about her. Immediately, I thought she was playing the same game as she did in Cook Islands: I didn’t really like her for playing the flirt card. She claimed that she’d try a different approach, but it didn’t come out immediately. I don’t think I ever did really like her character on the show–I still don’t, but I started to admire her game play. In the end, she owned up to playing the aggressive game all while playing an awesome social game and that’s what got her the win. Good job, I guess.

ETA: More I think about it…most of her game play was really a result of seeds planted by Cirie, so…boo!

Eh, all in all, the season was building to this huge climax, but it went out with a bit of a whimper. Kind of a pity. ETA: Not a feel good ending at all.