On 12/19/2024 3:42 PM, Zeppo wrote:

On Dec 18, 2024, Brian Smith wrote
(in article <vk05t4$2n1ro$1@dont-email.me>):

This was an exciting finale. I expected Rachel to win but didn’t think
it would play out the way it did.

IMO, Rachel won S47 when Genevieve left the game. Everything
beyond that point was just her “victory lap”. :-)

Gen was the only person who might have beat her but she could have been
taken out by the wind as we saw with Teeny.

Lots of momentum changes in this challenge.

I really wish that Production would return to the “old school”
tradition of the final immunity challenge being a test of
endurance. Instead, we saw yet another relay/puzzle which
was better suited to Sam and Rachel’s skill sets, then it was
to Leatherface and Manhater’s.

Didn't Jeff say years ago they got rid of endurance at F4 due to tie
(read $$$$$)?

The firemaking challenge this season will go down as a classic and kind
of sketchy as far as I’m concerned.

So, are you saying that Production did something that gave Sam an
advantage?

Or Teeny a huge disadvantage.

Sam took forever to get a flame going
but when he did his fire grew quickly. Then a burst of wind took Teeny’s >> fire away from her rope and somehow lifted Sam’s straight up. Sam won
and Teeny was heartbroken.

Sam kept some of his coconut husk in reserve, and, at just the right
moment, threw it on top of his burning sticks. That’s what made his
fire suddenly flare.

Teeny had fire touching her rope for what felt like an hour. She sucked
at challenges all season but not this time and deserved to win. Maybe
Jeff will ask her back for S50.

The jury had some very good questions at FTC. It might have been the
edit, but I thought not much was directed at Sue.

But really, what could they ask her about?

If she had a plan and what it was because it appeared she did nothing
other than mother Caroline.

They seemed to be
giving Rachel a lot of opportunities to confirm she was the best player
this season. Sam was very impressive.

Well, he didn’t end up looking like an ass, so I’ll give him credit
for that. But he really didn’t have much game. He was not good
in challenges, found only one hidden advantage (which he didn’t
play), and didn’t drive any of the votes after the merge. IMO, he
relied on a succession of “meat shields”, and Andy’s strategic brilliance, to get him into F4.

I agree. I meant he was impressive answering the jury's questions.

FYI, Day 26 was Sue’s 59th birthday which she revealed to the jury. I
didn’t sense that any of them were too surprised to find out she’s not 45.

Sam certainly looked surprised.

I didn't catch that.

To me it felt like Kyle would never vote for a woman unless he
had to.

Heh! You may be right about that.

Look at how defensive he got when Sue said she could have outlasted him
in that endurance challenge where the men and women fought seperately
for immunity.

I wish this had been longer. Mostly because I really enjoyed this group.

I did too. I think that this was the best cast of the “new era”. There were
a variety of different “types”, and only one real dick who was, fortunately,
dismissed fairly early in the game.

Other than Rome, it seemed like these guys were really good at
separating game from personal stuff. I doubt Rome would have ever done
what did Teeny did at F4 TC.

--
Brian

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8.4 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (3:633/280.2@fidonet)