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One final blindside
Like James at the final Tribal Council, I thought Amanda had it in the bag. Even after listening to the jury, I’m still not sure why Parvati won Survivor: Micronesia. Apparently most of the jurors thought Amanda was superficial, not genuine, and disloyal. Maybe I should be surprised she got even three votes (and thanks, Erik, for keeping it close by voting for her).

That was some of the weirdest jury questioning in Survivor history (and that’s saying something). Natalie, besides calling Amanda a zombie, wanted to know how Parvati’s flirtatiousness resonated in the bedroom. And I’m still not sure what it was James was trying to get Parvati to say. Ozzy didn’t want to hear from anybody, which is his right, especially since his mind was made up already. What stands out to me at the final Tribal Council is Parvati taking credit for moves initiated by Cirie and carried out by Natalie.

The fact that the last two Immunity Challenges weren’t as physically demanding as they might have been should have favored Cirie, and I’ll admit I was disappointed when she dropped the ball on the final challenge. I don’t know why the producers bothered to try to make it seem as if Amanda might take her to the final two, because it was obviously going to be Parvati all the way. I think of Survivor as a game of social connection and manipulation, more than the physical demands, and to my mind, Cirie was the all-around champion.

I guess it’s still possible to call this the greatest season ever, even if the ending was a disappointment. The game as it’s played was invented by Richard Hatch, and this season had about a dozen Hatches playing their hardest. And most of them were women, which proves my theory that physical strength is not the key (or not the only key) to winning Survivor.

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