Survivor: San Juan Del Sur

I'd be happy with Natalie, Keith or Baylor winning.

I agree it's not a great season, but I don't think it's one of the worst either. They went through a stretch over a couple years that was pretty freaking awful. I think it was the Russell and Heroes vs. Villains seasons that got things back on track.

 

Natalie is the player that deserves to win. She made it through Exile Island, came back to win the immunity challenge and got rid of a strong player with an immunity idol. Love her patience in setting up Jon for the blindside. Hope her idol gets her to the final.

 

Agree - I think she was the first to lose a loved one as well. So the only player with a loved one left is Baylor and we know she won't make the final four.

 

I didn't like Baylor or Natalie at first, but they've grown on me.
Natalie is the best player, and now I'm rooting for her because she engineered Jon's ouster.
Jon was the type of player that crops up every once in a while whom I really dislike - the dum-dum who thinks he's smart. The game dynamics break his way for a while, and he thinks he's causing things to happen. And then he can't stop braying about how much he is control.
Good riiddance.

Natalie has an idol, so she should be clear through the next vote, which is the last chance to play it.
But the remaining players should know they can't take her to the end. She has to win the last immunity challenge.

Jaclyn should get carried to the final.

 

I can't imagine any scenatio where Jaclyn wins. The best possible scenario for Natalie will be if Missy has to quit and then she uses her idol to get to the Final Four. I don't think she can use it beyond that. Keith may still be a bigger target than Natalie because he's won the most challenges.

 

Unless Missy and Baylor both make it to the Final 3, Natalie will be the only one who won't have a loved one on the jury.

 

Voting out Jon may have won Natalie $1 million.

It must take a long time to set up contestants in challenges. Medics were just starting to wrap Missy's ankle as Jeff explained the immunity challenge and it was fully casted by the time they started.

 

I will be pretty surprised if Natalie or Keith don't win.

 

Finally caught up last night and I have to agree, Natalie is the clear winner if she makes it to the final tribal. While I normally subscribe to the strategy of breaking up pairs, Natalie might be better off taking Missy and Baylor to the final three. Let them have their "mother/daughter moment" because it would keep one more vote in your pocket (Missy and Baylor would obviously vote for the other if one of them is on the jury. If they're both in the final, that's one less vote they have on the jury).

I would not want to bring Jaclyn or Keith to the final three. Keith has been on the outs since day 1, but has managed to, against all odds, stay alive. He's been a threat in challenges, even at his age, and he found and skillfully played an idol. He's at least got an argument. Jaclyn can also make an argument in that she and Jon made pivotal decisions that affected the game the whole way through. I agree that they were more reactive than proactive in many of those moments, but they still guided the game. She can also point to the times where she made the correct call and Jon did not, most notably when she (and Natalie) told him to play the idol and when she told him to beware of a blindside and he ignored her.

But Missy and Baylor hadn't done anything of note until the most recent tribal. I don't think anyone on the jury particularly likes them (except maybe Jon for Missy) and a few, actively dislike them (Josh, Reed, Jeremy, Alec - kinda sorta, but he'd totally date her back in the real world).

The tease for tonight shows Jaclyn going off on Natalie, which just isn't smart at this point in the game. Natalie, as pissed as she was about Jeremy getting blindsided, downplayed that emotion when they returned to camp and, ultimately, it allowed her to blindside Jon when the time was right.

 

I loved Reed's "you're the wicked stepmother" speech directed to self-proclaimed "camp mother" Missy. Brought back fond memories of Sue Hawk's "rat & snake" tirade in season one's final tribal council. Also was impressed that Reed held to his stance and didn't issue an "apology" to Missy on the reunion show as Probst seemed to be wishing for him to do.

 

Loved his speech and agree it was the best since Sue's. I wondered whether he had prepared it and got lucky with Missy's "I'm the mom" speech or whether he was able to put that together on the fly. Did Missy truly believe she was at the center pulling stings or was she grasping at something to say for herself?
What was with Alec? He looked like he'd had a lobotomy every time he was on screen.

The end was way better than I expected. I thought Natalie's move to vote out Baylor, while great to watch, was going to be her downfall, along with her statement before the last vote that she believed she could win. I expected them to keep Keith nor was I sure Natalie could beat Jaclyn at the end. Good for the jury for voting for a terrific player.

Hated the breaks with the live audience.

 

A great ending to a so-so season.