I'm Going for a Million Bucks
Okay everybody, it was three hours and it was good so I'm going to try and make this as painless as possible for myself ;). We go into this finale marathon with six people still in the game:
Adam: Millennial, playing for dying mother - Pool: Sharon R. and Cindy M.
Hannah: Millennial, neurotic mess has blossomed into strategic player: Pool: Trish W. and Jeff T.
Jay: Millennial, surfer dude, physical threat - Pool: Gillian H. and Melissa G.
Bret: Gen X - lied about being a cop, came out on TV, just taking up space in my opinion - Pool: Lee B. and Lindsay J.
Ken: Gen X - prides himself on playing honourably, not the sharpest tool in the shed - Pool: Shira C. and Roxanne S.
David: Gen X - Millennial, neurotic mess given credit as most strategic player because he's male - Pool: Cara & Alex L. and Cindi C.
Vinaka - Night 35
-They returned to camp after flushing Jay's idol and voting out Sunday. Jay if fuming that he flinched and played the idol when he didn't have to - now he's naked and vulnerable in the jungle... and he's going to have to go looking for another idol.
-Bret is Debbie-downer as usual and feels like everyone is stupid for voting out Sunday instead of David - he wanted to cut off the head of the snake, instead, Hannah took out Bret's shield. Bret likened this vote to walking into Osama bin Laden's compound with guns drawn, then deciding to come back the next day instead. (That is a tad dramatic but we see where Bret's head is at.)
-Hannah does not agree with is opinion and therefore she is a moron in Bret's opinion - and he continues along those lines, saying they are all crazy so he can't predict how they'll vote. (No, they are just trying to win for themselves, not for you.)
-Middle of the night - David, knowing that Jay will likely start looking for another hidden immunity idol, makes one out of a shell and beads and paint that he has pilfered throughout the game - he even hides it in a coconut and paints a symbol on it so Jay will find it.
-Next day, Jay is out searching and hearing David & Ken coming picks up some coconuts to pretend he was foraging, Ken & David join him and David basically steers him right past the fake idol. Jay spots it and plays it cool (David grins a big grinchy grin) but he is back like a shot and doing a jubilant happy dance because he thinks he is not going home.
-And we've reached day 36 so Ken gets to open the legacy advantage... which tells him this legacy advantage guarantees him immunity at the next tribal council. He's going to be smart about it and not tell anyone until he pulls it out at Tribal. (yeah, I said pulls it out.)
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #1
They have to race through a series of obstacles to retrieve a bag of tiles. The tiles in the bag give them numbers to open a combination lock and retrieve a key, once they open the lock there is a cover to put over the combo so no one else can see it which becomes critical later on. Once they have the key they go under a net, up a wall and use the key to unlock puzzle pieces which they have to assemble into a hanging bat puzzle. First person to complete the puzzle wins immunity and reward of a big steak dinner back at camp (Ohhh, I bet they threw a reward in there just so Jay could steal it because last week there were no rewards.)
So off we go and Jay is the first person to find the combination to the lock and he forgets to cover the combo when he moves on - the others take advantage of this mistake and everyone is pretty much on his heels to start the bat puzzle. DAVID is able to beat Jay by completing the puzzle BUT Jay does play the Reward steal advantage and takes over the Steak dinner portion of the win. Jay gets to choose two people to eat with him and he chooses David because he actually won it and he chooses Adam because he honourably gave the advantage to him for taking him along on the loved one win. (I gotta say that Jay is a pretty decent guy, but that's why they want him gone.)
Reward
-Jay uses the opportunity to work David and Adam, guaranteeing them - if they keep him and he wins the next immunity - that he will take them to the final three. David and Adam listen but they're not keeping Jay around.
Back at camp - Bret, Ken & Hannah are having their meager meal of coconut and Bret tells them it doesn't matter, just write Jay's name down. Ken has his legacy advantage so he's not worried - Hannah floats the idea that he could have an idol but Bret shoots down splitting votes because they'll probably split with him - so no.
-David, Jay and Adam come back to camp and David and Adam talk to Hannah - David is okay voting Bret tonight but Adam wants to take Jay out now because Jay could conceivably win the remaining immunity challenges and he doesn't think Bret will. Hannah & David think that Bret has a lot of friends on the jury and is liked so he could be a threat but Adam puts his foot down - It's Jay.
-Bret thinks this should be a no-brainer slam dunk vote Jay out - but he's dealing with crazy here.
-Hannah comes and gets Jay to talk to her and David - they tell him that David is willing to keep Jay, Hannah is a maybe and Adam is a definite no - So Jay has to talk to Adam. Jay begs Adam to give him a chance, keep him tonight and even if he wins the next two immunities he guarantees he'll take Adam to the final with him (and Jay would do it too.) They share this strange Brother/Hate relationship and Adam agrees he'll give him the shot.
TRIBAL COUNCIL #1
-Reward was a working lunch - Jay is never going to give up and took the opportunity to pitch David and Adam to keep him around.
-Bret was hoping they weren't buying what he was selling because if it wasn't him going it was me.
They babble on for a while longer but the action happened with the reading of the votes.
Tallying the Votes: Anyone have a hidden idol they'd like to play, now would be the time.
-Jay stands up and does a Suck It, I'm not going home, Suckers! - He gives Jeff the idol and Jeff says, "This is.... NOT a hidden immunity idol." And he throws it in the fire! David hides a little smile, Adam thinks it's fantastic and Jay is flummoxed! What? How? "Oh my god, you freakin' got me you bastards!" (but he was smiling because he's a fan and it was pretty awesome.) Jeff says any votes for Jay will count. And then Ken stands up, "Jeff, can I give something to you?" And he presents the legacy advantage which says he has immunity and Jessica about loses her mind on the jury because it was hers and the rock pull took her down. Jeff tells them that any votes cast for Ken tonight will not count. (Yeah, it was fantastic.)
Votes:
Ken - does not count
Jay - 1, 2, 3... and JAY is the 8th member of the jury. He says, "You got me you guys, I hate all of you! You're all warriors, it was mad fun. Go ahead Jeffery, snuff my torch." His final thought were Much love to everyone. And that took Gillian H. and Melissa G. out of the game.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #2
David feels like his Jay shield is gone and he has to win immunity or he's going home - unfortunately it's a swimming challenge.
They start out in the water and have to manoeuver a buoy through a series of obstacles until they get it up on the beach where they have to open a bag of puzzle pieces and then use two handles to carry a stack a puzzle pieces pressed between them, across a teeter-totter balance beam, over a log and up a ramp to the puzzle board. Once they've gotten all the tiles to the board they have to figure out the word puzzle: Not A Participation Trophy.
David does pretty well to start but there are some hiccups for all of them carrying the puzzle tiles pressed between the handles, if they dropped any they had to go back to the beginning and start again. Finally they were all working on the word puzzle and it was (surprisingly to me) KEN that figured out the phrase first and won Immunity. (Have I been to hard on Ken?)
Vinaka - Day 37
They get back to camp and Adam is on it - he needs Dave to go home tonight and he tells Bret to vote David (he's on board of course) and he asks Bret to run interference for him as he goes searching for a hidden immunity idol - Bret says, "You have stomach trouble, I got it." (Why doesn't Bret go looking? Me thinks he's a little lazy this one.) Adam says he knows Bret & Hannah are on his side but an idol can screw everything up (if David had one.)
-But Adam need not worry because he finds it himself - I know! Another hidden immunity idol - (it's getting a little silly, remember when those weren't a thing? I almost miss those days.)
-David, meanwhile, has floated the idea of voted Adam out tonight to Ken & Hannah. She was surprised but since they have agreed that they are the final three and both Bret & Adam have to go, the order doesn't matter - they can take Adam out tonight.
-David and Ken tell Bret they are going to vote out Adam tonight and he's okay with that as well - he thought for sure he was going after that challenge but his name isn't even in there. Bret tells Adam they are voting for him but Adam flashes the idol and tells him it doesn't matter.
-Adam can't help himself, he's got to brag to Hannah as well that he found a hidden idol and she celebrates along with him but then tells the camera she can't believe his arrogance (I can, they see Hannah as a pawn, don't give her any credit and definitely don't think of her trying to win for herself.) Hannah says the men don't have the power at this tribal, she could vote David out or tell them to change the vote to Bret. Her choice is about who she wants with her at the end and who she can trust to get her to the end. The boys aren't thinking about her at all.
TRIBAL COUNCIL #2
-They talked about searching for hidden idols. The game is a marathon of sprints. They are all thinking about the final three but also about how best to get there.
-They all agree that David would be hard to sit next to in the final tribal. David thinks Bret would be... and David is pretty confident that Ken and Hannah will be keeping him there.
-Adam thinks he's the biggest threat because he's had such an amazing story out there.
Blah Blah Blah. Time to Vote.
Tallying the Votes: Anybody have a hidden immunity idol they want to play? Adam says he'd really really really like to get to the final four - and he hands over his actual hidden immunity idol. Any votes for Adam will not count.
Votes:
David - 1
Bret - 1
David - 2
Bret - 2... one vote left and it's for BRET! He says, "The flipper flips again." (Oh poor put upon Bret, this guy is such a macho bully sometimes it drives me.) Adam was the one blindsided here because he could not fathom that Hannah would not vote with him (Wake up call? Nope, he still doesn't understand that she's not just there to win him a million dollars.)
Oh and with Bret leaving that takes Lee B. and Lindsay J. out of the running. Bret's parting words are congratulations to David, "The rest of ya just lost a million dollars." And his final thought were predictably negative - If they had half a brain they'd realize that David is going to eat them alive.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #3
They have to use a long pole to manoeuver bowls through a channel made of rebar which is balanced on a spring. Once they get the bowl through the channel they have to stack them on top of the whole structure - if they knock the channel while moving through it, they could topple the whole thing and have to start over. They have 13 bowls - first person to 13 or whoever has the most bowls after 30 minutes wins immunity.
Off they go and it's pretty neck and neck until the wind comes up and knocks everyone down. They start stacking again and Adam sits back with a stack of 8 banking that the others will lose it all again but Hannah & Ken reach 30 minutes with 10 bowls. So they have a tie-breaker 5 minute round - most bowls after 5 minutes... and it ends up that KEN was able to beat out Hannah by one bowl. (Argghh! I wanted her to win at least one. I'm rooting for Hannah to win now, can you tell? Oh well, she'll make it to the final anyway because the guys don't consider her a threat.)
Vinaka - Day 38
-Again, they're only talking about David or Adam tonight. David has such complete faith in Ken that he thinks it's likely there will be a tie and David & Adam will have to make fire.
-Meanwhile, Adam tells Hannah they have to get Ken to vote out David. She tells him to let her handle Ken and Adam listens to her - probably because David has been making fire the whole time and Adam has not.
-Hannah works Ken subtly, playing to his perception of himself as loyal but not stupid - she knows that David has been his closest ally but if they take David to the end he's going to win. Ken asks her to have faith in him - he has played this game with honour and friendship but she needs to try to trust that he's smart enough to make the right move. (I'd be terrified.)
-David tries to tell Adam, on the strength of Ken's commitment to their friendship, it would be smarter for Adam and Hannah to turn on each other rather than vote for him (David.)
Adam is not taking that bait. He tells David that it doesn't matter if he goes home tonight if David is staying. Third or fourth place doesn't matter to him, he knows he's got to take David out to have any chance to win. And if Hannah cannot convince Ken to vote out David, Adam starts working on plan B - trying to make fire... and it does not go well. David says basically the same thing Bret did earlier, "This vote should be a no-brainer. But not with these people."
-David tells Ken that he trusts him. Ken says to the camera, he can vote out David or he can vote against Adam and have them fight like men (building fire) to see who comes out on top. (Oh, sounds like a fire making challenge coming up.)
TRIBAL COUNCIL #3
Penultimate tribal council...and Jeff Probst thinks he's giving Hannah a compliment by pointing out that she took so long on the first vote he thought she got lost and she had a panic attack watching a challenge (gee, thanks for refreshing their memories Jeff) but now she almost took out the most physical player in the final immunity challenge.
-It was crushing for her to be defeated but she's proud how she fought it out.
-Adam tells Jeff that he took himself out of the challenge today to make sure that David didn't win it (Riiighhht. Here's Adam taking credit for the wind, nice.)
-David knows Adam is a very strategic player but he knows I've played a better game than he has.
-Adam is glad David admits it and David is cocky about how much better he is than the rest of them.
-David's pitch is basically Ken is the most loyal player ever and he's in my pocket. "I'm not worried."
-Adam's pitch - there comes a time you've done all you can do to bring your allies to the end and now he's got to make a choice that's based on more than just loyalty. Who are the people that I can take to the end so that I can win this game for my family.
-Hannah tries to make herself relevant, saying that any of the three of us (David, Adam or Hannah) could be going tonight - but they even put in a sound effect like, isn't she a silly girl, thinking she has a chance. (grr.)
-Ken says he likes them all, they've all played well, but he has to figure out what is most important and how will that affect his decisions.
Time to Vote:
Adam and David wish each other luck.
Votes:
David - 1
Adam - 1
David - 2... 3 OHH HO HO! Ken actually made a move - he doesn't win the Colby Donaldson award after all. DAVID is the last member of the jury and he says playing Survivor was the biggest dream he ever had and he is thankful he got to play it with these people. Vinaka!
Wow - so that somewhat surprising turn takes Cara & Alex L. and Cindi C. out of the running.
Vinaka - Day 39
Ken sits quietly trying to enjoy the sunrise while Hannah natters away to Adam - Ken, "There is something about that generation - they cannot just sit and enjoy without talking the whole time." (Oh no, they'd be taking selfies and posting about it if they could.)
-Ken played an old-school game of loyalty and integrity but at the end of the day, his one motivating factor is his daughter.
Then they get food.
-Hannah has grown from the neurotic girl to learning to hold her own and be a strong woman. She thinks she's played a better game than both the guys left.
-Adam has played a hard game and he's going to pull out the dying mother so does it really matter what the others say?
FINAL TRIBAL - Night 39
David comes in all clean shaven and we see that he's got a hugely swollen face/jaw on one side - what? He must have an abscessed tooth or something but he's smiling from ear to ear so maybe not?
Taylor starts with the questions by not really asking one - he tells them to pitch why he should vote for them (lame.)
Hannah - she knows some of her moves were not as flashy and may have felt sporadic but she played a very strategic, cut-throat game and put every single member on the jury in the order they got there.
She started the game scared and a mess but she's ready to explain herself, bring it on.
Ken - he showed there are two sides to the game. You are also a human being within the game making moves building loyalty allowed him to move forward in this game and he thinks that deserves some credit.
Adam - He believes he played the best game out of the three of them left. He put himself in the position to keep himself there and to keep the people he wanted to go to the end with there as well.
Sunday - How were you adaptable in this game and did you play more like a Millennial or a Gen-Xer?
Ken - I'm very old-school. He admits he's more inflexible but there is a word for being very adaptable and that's a flipper. (Hannah gives him a, Are you kidding me, look.)
Adam - Points out that Ken represents a good player in the first season of Survivor and Hannah was too unpredictable - he thinks that he was a good mix of both.
Hannah pipes up with a point of clarification - you say I'm all over the place but for instance, the vote to take you (Sunday) out happened because Hannah wanted to break up Bret & Sunday, that was her being adaptable to a game that was constantly moving but to you and Bret it appeared unpredictable - and Adam, as usual, went along with what my move was.
Adam counters that there were two times that Hannah went rogue - She said she made the right decisions for her at those points and he said they were bad strategic decision and she disagrees (way to stand up for yourself, but I think it's falling on deaf ears.)
Jessica - addresses Ken saying he put himself on a pedestal playing with integrity and loyalty but then she was shocked when he voted out David, his closest friend, on day 38.
Ken - said it was the hardest thing he's ever had to do and he started choking up - directed at David he said, "You are my number 2 alliance, number 1 is my daughter. Only reason." He choked through tears (Pull it together dude, they're watching.)
Will - He tells Ken he respected him more for voting David out than he did for all his talk of respect an loyalty for the first 38 days.
He asks Adam what were the reasons that he was on the wrong side of the numbers on a couple votes - why couldn't he make those votes work?
Adam - He says it was when Hannah went rogue and kept David in which could have been a million dollar mistake.
Hannah defends herself that she wanted to vote out Bret before David because they both had to go but if she voted out David first, she would have lost Ken's trust and trust was a big thing for Ken (she was making moves that were good for her game and they all seem clueless that she wasn't trying to help Adam win a million dollars.)
Zeke (is my favourite) "Heartiest congratulations gang." (It was so cute.)
He thinks they are in the midst of the evolution of Survivor strategy and winner should have contributed to that. Ken, played old-school, he's out of the running on this question - Zeke wants to know how Adam and Hannah contributed to the strategic evolution of the world's greatest game?
Adam - One thing we've seen in recent seasons and this was no different, is when people take control they feel like they have to stay in control and it makes it easy to take them out. When he got to the final six he made sure there were three people in front of him that were bigger threats than him and one of his allies was a challenge beast that could help me take them out. (Human shields)
Hannah - She brings up the idea of trust clusters where you build relationships and work in partnerships until you don't anymore (she just gave it a new name, voting blocks/trust clusters) but she also jumped on Adam's threat shield concept and said she was the one who decided when those threats would go, not Adam. Adam is very good at taking credit for moves but she is responsible for most of the jury.
Michelle - asks Hannah how many votes she was on the wrong side of? Hannah says none. Michelle points out the Michaela vote - oh yeah, one. (I can't decide if Michelle's 'good job' was sarcastic or not.)
Michelle asked Adam why his victories overshadow the blunders. He said he was able to correct from the blunders and that some of those blunders were those of his alliance as well.
Hannah defends herself again that they were not blunders, they were her choices and they were strategic moves that succeeded.
Adam says voting Bret out first was a blunder because that put David one win away from a million dollars.
Hannah says that was a risk she took because Bret wanted to go to the end with Adam not her and she owns that. Day 2 her would have let Adam tell her this was silly but day 39 her is not going to take it and she made the decisions she wanted to make.
Bret - Ken, at what point do you believe you started playing this game?
Ken - says from day 1 he went to Jess and made her feel safe with David and him and Ceecee and when he tried to continue Bret cut him off. (Someone is not getting Bret's vote.)
He asked Adam the breakdown of how long it took to vote out Dave starting from the Sunday vote and how it went wrong.
Adam said when Hannah came to him with the idea to vote out Sunday.... oh and it was a huge blunder to vote you out because he had these allies, (referring to Ken) one who would never do what needed to be done...
Ken - looks him in the eye and says, "Thanks, but I did actually."
Adam, "Never at the final five is what a mean." (Right.) I made that blunder that we would take out David at the final five.
Jay - only addresses Adam - At one point we said we were like brothers and I'd take you to the end. Why did you not use me to take out David?
Adam - we had such a crazy relationship where we were bitter rivals but I do genuinely love you like a brother (and he chokes up) and you know why. Jay says he doesn't have to talk about it (oh, he's saving the big gun, don't you worry.) Through tears he continues: You know why I'm playing this game and why it's so important to me, and you were in the way. (Hannah's looking nervous, cause she's smart enough to know he's about to blow them all out of the water.)
Chris - Admits he's not a coach, he's a trial lawyer and he decides he's going to advocate for one of them. Chris starts the story with one skinny little guy lurching in the corners and planning all of their demises - that guy was David. But Adam was able to go to David's most loyal supporter in Ken and get him to turn on David - that makes Adam the best player. (Hold the phone - Hannah was the one that talked to Ken, not Adam... but it's like Adam's crying took the fight out of her.)
Ken does pipe up that Adam did not convince him of anything, voting out David was his choice. And Chris just winks and nods condescendingly. (Ugh. I hate all these guys.)
David - How did this experience change your life for the better - what evolution did you undergo?
Hannah - the person she was on day one is not the person she is today. She was not built for this game she came in afraid of everything but she learned to push through that is hoping to take that strength through to her life.
Ken - he was very socially awkward as a youth and manifested ticks and twitches. Now he's putting himself in a position where he has to interact with 19 strangers closely everyday and he was terrified, just wanting to close his eyes and not do it anymore - but the driving force for his being out there is his daughter and he did this for her.
Adam - BOOM goes the dynamite - He originally applied for the blood vs water season with is mom, they are both huge fans but seven months ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer (crying, crying) she's my best friend in the whole world. Even if I don't win, I feel like I was supposed to come out here because every time I found an idol or I won immunity or I got the loved ones visit - I felt like we were winning together. So that's what this journey was about for me. (Yes, he had people crying on the jury too, just hand him the cheque Jeff. It's over.)
Alright time to vote:
They didn't show how anyone voted but Jay did say, "love you buddy" as he put his vote in the urn.
When Jeff went to get the votes Hannah whispered to Adam, "I'm sorry about your Mom." (You total asshole that just blew up my game.) If you ask me, that's one of the ugliest evolutions of the game, holding back some huge personal heart grabber for the final tribal. Like____ not telling anyone about his wife's pregnancy until the finale, won him the game. It's smart and shows huge gameplay if you are able to keep a huge secret for the whole time you're out there, but I don't like it.
Jeff walked off with the votes until he reappears in the CBS studios for the reading of the votes live:
Reading the votes:
Adam - 1, 2, 3 (he must have all of them or they'd show someone else) 4, 5, 6... and ADAM won for his Mom. He went to hug what looked like his brother and Dad... I guess we'll find out about Mom.
But with Adam winning, that means that Sharon R. and Cindy M. have also won the Pool! Congratulations ladies!
And they tortured us watching poor Adam cry and his family cry as he tells us that he took the first flight home that he could to see his mother and she died an hour after he got home. (Holy carp.) He said he told her that he won, he's not sure if she could have heard him but it didn't matter - I couldn't imagine having to talk about this on live TV... so sad and yet so... Millennial, right?
Jeff tells us that Adam has partnered with Stand Up to Cancer specifically to fund lung cancer research (so is he donating his million dollars?) Bristol Meyers Squib will match donations made through Adam's efforts up to $100K so if you are inspired to give... and then Adam said he is going to donate $100K of his winnings to the cause.
Finally we hear from some of the other players:
-David's transformation from being the scared mouse to someone that everyone liked ironically put a target on his back.
-Zeke was the millennial nerd who transformed as well into a self assured man who could rise to his potential. You don't get a lot of chances to test yourself and if you don't test yourself you never know what you're capable of. Zeke feels like he's undervalued himself for most of his life and Survivor allowed him to discover that he's much stronger than he could have ever possibly imagined. And David and Hannah also felt the same way.
-Jeff then wanted to talk about Bret confiding to Zeke about his sexuality - because that was a huge moment on the show. Bret said he had started telling people close to him and family a few years before so it was not a total blindsided coming out but it's been good for him.
-They showed the Hannah and Ken watching the sunrise and her awkwardly admitting to the camera that she could see them together. Back in the studio she was a little embarrassed but she said if her showing her insecurity and vulnerability on TV helps other people with anxiety go for the job they want or go on a date with a good looking guy then it was worth it. She is definitely more self assured and bolder than before and she and Ken do seem pretty familiar, they are kind of cute together actually. Text that came in: Hannah's ability to flirt with a hotty is every goal I've ever had.
-Survivor also helped Ken overcome some social anxiety... and he wouldn't comment on if he's single or not - it's complicated.
-Michaela said she didn't realize how much of a detriment the seashell thing was to her game until she saw it on TV, she thought they'd realize she was thinking ahead for all of them an want to work with her, "But this isn't a loyal crew." (I bet she would go all the way if she got to play again.)
-Jessica said she had no other choice in the rock thing. She made the right choice she just picked the wrong rock. If she had changed her vote not to have to draw rocks she would have betrayed enough people that she was never going to win anyway.
-Will has a better haircut, he represented well as the first high schooler to play the game.
-Sunday - She twanged something about finding yourself not just being a mom but I tuned out that voice, still so grating.
-Taylor & Figgy - what's the status of the relationship? It is no more. Figgy regrets that she didn't play as the strong independent woman she is now, but that was her choice at the time. Taylor is actually a father of a child with someone else since then. (Oh yeah, this season was actually filmed before the last season, I forgot about that. Maybe the death of Adam's mom pushed it back?)
Next Season: GAME CHANGERS
And there are some familiar faces coming back to play again. Michaela from this season, Tony and his spy shack, Tai little Vietnamese guy, Caleb the med-evac'd vet, Ciera this will be her third time around, Cerie convinced ice cream scooper to give up immunity and voted him out, Sandra has played and Won twice before, Ozzy the perennial favourite. The footage they showed also looks like Malcolm with the hair will also be there. Coming in March 2017.
Final thought from Michelle (who was wearing a dress with a snakelike bird wrapped around and on her shoulder - what was that?) said that there was no bitterness among this crew, that speaks to the evolution of the game as well. (That is true, no grudges, it's a game, they all came to play, no room for hurt feelings.)
Alright, I have to go to bed now. Have a great Christmas everyone and I'll talk to you in March :)
Coleen
Okay everybody, it was three hours and it was good so I'm going to try and make this as painless as possible for myself ;). We go into this finale marathon with six people still in the game:
Adam: Millennial, playing for dying mother - Pool: Sharon R. and Cindy M.
Hannah: Millennial, neurotic mess has blossomed into strategic player: Pool: Trish W. and Jeff T.
Jay: Millennial, surfer dude, physical threat - Pool: Gillian H. and Melissa G.
Bret: Gen X - lied about being a cop, came out on TV, just taking up space in my opinion - Pool: Lee B. and Lindsay J.
Ken: Gen X - prides himself on playing honourably, not the sharpest tool in the shed - Pool: Shira C. and Roxanne S.
David: Gen X - Millennial, neurotic mess given credit as most strategic player because he's male - Pool: Cara & Alex L. and Cindi C.
Vinaka - Night 35
-They returned to camp after flushing Jay's idol and voting out Sunday. Jay if fuming that he flinched and played the idol when he didn't have to - now he's naked and vulnerable in the jungle... and he's going to have to go looking for another idol.
-Bret is Debbie-downer as usual and feels like everyone is stupid for voting out Sunday instead of David - he wanted to cut off the head of the snake, instead, Hannah took out Bret's shield. Bret likened this vote to walking into Osama bin Laden's compound with guns drawn, then deciding to come back the next day instead. (That is a tad dramatic but we see where Bret's head is at.)
-Hannah does not agree with is opinion and therefore she is a moron in Bret's opinion - and he continues along those lines, saying they are all crazy so he can't predict how they'll vote. (No, they are just trying to win for themselves, not for you.)
-Middle of the night - David, knowing that Jay will likely start looking for another hidden immunity idol, makes one out of a shell and beads and paint that he has pilfered throughout the game - he even hides it in a coconut and paints a symbol on it so Jay will find it.
-Next day, Jay is out searching and hearing David & Ken coming picks up some coconuts to pretend he was foraging, Ken & David join him and David basically steers him right past the fake idol. Jay spots it and plays it cool (David grins a big grinchy grin) but he is back like a shot and doing a jubilant happy dance because he thinks he is not going home.
-And we've reached day 36 so Ken gets to open the legacy advantage... which tells him this legacy advantage guarantees him immunity at the next tribal council. He's going to be smart about it and not tell anyone until he pulls it out at Tribal. (yeah, I said pulls it out.)
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #1
They have to race through a series of obstacles to retrieve a bag of tiles. The tiles in the bag give them numbers to open a combination lock and retrieve a key, once they open the lock there is a cover to put over the combo so no one else can see it which becomes critical later on. Once they have the key they go under a net, up a wall and use the key to unlock puzzle pieces which they have to assemble into a hanging bat puzzle. First person to complete the puzzle wins immunity and reward of a big steak dinner back at camp (Ohhh, I bet they threw a reward in there just so Jay could steal it because last week there were no rewards.)
So off we go and Jay is the first person to find the combination to the lock and he forgets to cover the combo when he moves on - the others take advantage of this mistake and everyone is pretty much on his heels to start the bat puzzle. DAVID is able to beat Jay by completing the puzzle BUT Jay does play the Reward steal advantage and takes over the Steak dinner portion of the win. Jay gets to choose two people to eat with him and he chooses David because he actually won it and he chooses Adam because he honourably gave the advantage to him for taking him along on the loved one win. (I gotta say that Jay is a pretty decent guy, but that's why they want him gone.)
Reward
-Jay uses the opportunity to work David and Adam, guaranteeing them - if they keep him and he wins the next immunity - that he will take them to the final three. David and Adam listen but they're not keeping Jay around.
Back at camp - Bret, Ken & Hannah are having their meager meal of coconut and Bret tells them it doesn't matter, just write Jay's name down. Ken has his legacy advantage so he's not worried - Hannah floats the idea that he could have an idol but Bret shoots down splitting votes because they'll probably split with him - so no.
-David, Jay and Adam come back to camp and David and Adam talk to Hannah - David is okay voting Bret tonight but Adam wants to take Jay out now because Jay could conceivably win the remaining immunity challenges and he doesn't think Bret will. Hannah & David think that Bret has a lot of friends on the jury and is liked so he could be a threat but Adam puts his foot down - It's Jay.
-Bret thinks this should be a no-brainer slam dunk vote Jay out - but he's dealing with crazy here.
-Hannah comes and gets Jay to talk to her and David - they tell him that David is willing to keep Jay, Hannah is a maybe and Adam is a definite no - So Jay has to talk to Adam. Jay begs Adam to give him a chance, keep him tonight and even if he wins the next two immunities he guarantees he'll take Adam to the final with him (and Jay would do it too.) They share this strange Brother/Hate relationship and Adam agrees he'll give him the shot.
TRIBAL COUNCIL #1
-Reward was a working lunch - Jay is never going to give up and took the opportunity to pitch David and Adam to keep him around.
-Bret was hoping they weren't buying what he was selling because if it wasn't him going it was me.
They babble on for a while longer but the action happened with the reading of the votes.
Tallying the Votes: Anyone have a hidden idol they'd like to play, now would be the time.
-Jay stands up and does a Suck It, I'm not going home, Suckers! - He gives Jeff the idol and Jeff says, "This is.... NOT a hidden immunity idol." And he throws it in the fire! David hides a little smile, Adam thinks it's fantastic and Jay is flummoxed! What? How? "Oh my god, you freakin' got me you bastards!" (but he was smiling because he's a fan and it was pretty awesome.) Jeff says any votes for Jay will count. And then Ken stands up, "Jeff, can I give something to you?" And he presents the legacy advantage which says he has immunity and Jessica about loses her mind on the jury because it was hers and the rock pull took her down. Jeff tells them that any votes cast for Ken tonight will not count. (Yeah, it was fantastic.)
Votes:
Ken - does not count
Jay - 1, 2, 3... and JAY is the 8th member of the jury. He says, "You got me you guys, I hate all of you! You're all warriors, it was mad fun. Go ahead Jeffery, snuff my torch." His final thought were Much love to everyone. And that took Gillian H. and Melissa G. out of the game.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #2
David feels like his Jay shield is gone and he has to win immunity or he's going home - unfortunately it's a swimming challenge.
They start out in the water and have to manoeuver a buoy through a series of obstacles until they get it up on the beach where they have to open a bag of puzzle pieces and then use two handles to carry a stack a puzzle pieces pressed between them, across a teeter-totter balance beam, over a log and up a ramp to the puzzle board. Once they've gotten all the tiles to the board they have to figure out the word puzzle: Not A Participation Trophy.
David does pretty well to start but there are some hiccups for all of them carrying the puzzle tiles pressed between the handles, if they dropped any they had to go back to the beginning and start again. Finally they were all working on the word puzzle and it was (surprisingly to me) KEN that figured out the phrase first and won Immunity. (Have I been to hard on Ken?)
Vinaka - Day 37
They get back to camp and Adam is on it - he needs Dave to go home tonight and he tells Bret to vote David (he's on board of course) and he asks Bret to run interference for him as he goes searching for a hidden immunity idol - Bret says, "You have stomach trouble, I got it." (Why doesn't Bret go looking? Me thinks he's a little lazy this one.) Adam says he knows Bret & Hannah are on his side but an idol can screw everything up (if David had one.)
-But Adam need not worry because he finds it himself - I know! Another hidden immunity idol - (it's getting a little silly, remember when those weren't a thing? I almost miss those days.)
-David, meanwhile, has floated the idea of voted Adam out tonight to Ken & Hannah. She was surprised but since they have agreed that they are the final three and both Bret & Adam have to go, the order doesn't matter - they can take Adam out tonight.
-David and Ken tell Bret they are going to vote out Adam tonight and he's okay with that as well - he thought for sure he was going after that challenge but his name isn't even in there. Bret tells Adam they are voting for him but Adam flashes the idol and tells him it doesn't matter.
-Adam can't help himself, he's got to brag to Hannah as well that he found a hidden idol and she celebrates along with him but then tells the camera she can't believe his arrogance (I can, they see Hannah as a pawn, don't give her any credit and definitely don't think of her trying to win for herself.) Hannah says the men don't have the power at this tribal, she could vote David out or tell them to change the vote to Bret. Her choice is about who she wants with her at the end and who she can trust to get her to the end. The boys aren't thinking about her at all.
TRIBAL COUNCIL #2
-They talked about searching for hidden idols. The game is a marathon of sprints. They are all thinking about the final three but also about how best to get there.
-They all agree that David would be hard to sit next to in the final tribal. David thinks Bret would be... and David is pretty confident that Ken and Hannah will be keeping him there.
-Adam thinks he's the biggest threat because he's had such an amazing story out there.
Blah Blah Blah. Time to Vote.
Tallying the Votes: Anybody have a hidden immunity idol they want to play? Adam says he'd really really really like to get to the final four - and he hands over his actual hidden immunity idol. Any votes for Adam will not count.
Votes:
David - 1
Bret - 1
David - 2
Bret - 2... one vote left and it's for BRET! He says, "The flipper flips again." (Oh poor put upon Bret, this guy is such a macho bully sometimes it drives me.) Adam was the one blindsided here because he could not fathom that Hannah would not vote with him (Wake up call? Nope, he still doesn't understand that she's not just there to win him a million dollars.)
Oh and with Bret leaving that takes Lee B. and Lindsay J. out of the running. Bret's parting words are congratulations to David, "The rest of ya just lost a million dollars." And his final thought were predictably negative - If they had half a brain they'd realize that David is going to eat them alive.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #3
They have to use a long pole to manoeuver bowls through a channel made of rebar which is balanced on a spring. Once they get the bowl through the channel they have to stack them on top of the whole structure - if they knock the channel while moving through it, they could topple the whole thing and have to start over. They have 13 bowls - first person to 13 or whoever has the most bowls after 30 minutes wins immunity.
Off they go and it's pretty neck and neck until the wind comes up and knocks everyone down. They start stacking again and Adam sits back with a stack of 8 banking that the others will lose it all again but Hannah & Ken reach 30 minutes with 10 bowls. So they have a tie-breaker 5 minute round - most bowls after 5 minutes... and it ends up that KEN was able to beat out Hannah by one bowl. (Argghh! I wanted her to win at least one. I'm rooting for Hannah to win now, can you tell? Oh well, she'll make it to the final anyway because the guys don't consider her a threat.)
Vinaka - Day 38
-Again, they're only talking about David or Adam tonight. David has such complete faith in Ken that he thinks it's likely there will be a tie and David & Adam will have to make fire.
-Meanwhile, Adam tells Hannah they have to get Ken to vote out David. She tells him to let her handle Ken and Adam listens to her - probably because David has been making fire the whole time and Adam has not.
-Hannah works Ken subtly, playing to his perception of himself as loyal but not stupid - she knows that David has been his closest ally but if they take David to the end he's going to win. Ken asks her to have faith in him - he has played this game with honour and friendship but she needs to try to trust that he's smart enough to make the right move. (I'd be terrified.)
-David tries to tell Adam, on the strength of Ken's commitment to their friendship, it would be smarter for Adam and Hannah to turn on each other rather than vote for him (David.)
Adam is not taking that bait. He tells David that it doesn't matter if he goes home tonight if David is staying. Third or fourth place doesn't matter to him, he knows he's got to take David out to have any chance to win. And if Hannah cannot convince Ken to vote out David, Adam starts working on plan B - trying to make fire... and it does not go well. David says basically the same thing Bret did earlier, "This vote should be a no-brainer. But not with these people."
-David tells Ken that he trusts him. Ken says to the camera, he can vote out David or he can vote against Adam and have them fight like men (building fire) to see who comes out on top. (Oh, sounds like a fire making challenge coming up.)
TRIBAL COUNCIL #3
Penultimate tribal council...and Jeff Probst thinks he's giving Hannah a compliment by pointing out that she took so long on the first vote he thought she got lost and she had a panic attack watching a challenge (gee, thanks for refreshing their memories Jeff) but now she almost took out the most physical player in the final immunity challenge.
-It was crushing for her to be defeated but she's proud how she fought it out.
-Adam tells Jeff that he took himself out of the challenge today to make sure that David didn't win it (Riiighhht. Here's Adam taking credit for the wind, nice.)
-David knows Adam is a very strategic player but he knows I've played a better game than he has.
-Adam is glad David admits it and David is cocky about how much better he is than the rest of them.
-David's pitch is basically Ken is the most loyal player ever and he's in my pocket. "I'm not worried."
-Adam's pitch - there comes a time you've done all you can do to bring your allies to the end and now he's got to make a choice that's based on more than just loyalty. Who are the people that I can take to the end so that I can win this game for my family.
-Hannah tries to make herself relevant, saying that any of the three of us (David, Adam or Hannah) could be going tonight - but they even put in a sound effect like, isn't she a silly girl, thinking she has a chance. (grr.)
-Ken says he likes them all, they've all played well, but he has to figure out what is most important and how will that affect his decisions.
Time to Vote:
Adam and David wish each other luck.
Votes:
David - 1
Adam - 1
David - 2... 3 OHH HO HO! Ken actually made a move - he doesn't win the Colby Donaldson award after all. DAVID is the last member of the jury and he says playing Survivor was the biggest dream he ever had and he is thankful he got to play it with these people. Vinaka!
Wow - so that somewhat surprising turn takes Cara & Alex L. and Cindi C. out of the running.
Vinaka - Day 39
Ken sits quietly trying to enjoy the sunrise while Hannah natters away to Adam - Ken, "There is something about that generation - they cannot just sit and enjoy without talking the whole time." (Oh no, they'd be taking selfies and posting about it if they could.)
-Ken played an old-school game of loyalty and integrity but at the end of the day, his one motivating factor is his daughter.
Then they get food.
-Hannah has grown from the neurotic girl to learning to hold her own and be a strong woman. She thinks she's played a better game than both the guys left.
-Adam has played a hard game and he's going to pull out the dying mother so does it really matter what the others say?
FINAL TRIBAL - Night 39
David comes in all clean shaven and we see that he's got a hugely swollen face/jaw on one side - what? He must have an abscessed tooth or something but he's smiling from ear to ear so maybe not?
Taylor starts with the questions by not really asking one - he tells them to pitch why he should vote for them (lame.)
Hannah - she knows some of her moves were not as flashy and may have felt sporadic but she played a very strategic, cut-throat game and put every single member on the jury in the order they got there.
She started the game scared and a mess but she's ready to explain herself, bring it on.
Ken - he showed there are two sides to the game. You are also a human being within the game making moves building loyalty allowed him to move forward in this game and he thinks that deserves some credit.
Adam - He believes he played the best game out of the three of them left. He put himself in the position to keep himself there and to keep the people he wanted to go to the end with there as well.
Sunday - How were you adaptable in this game and did you play more like a Millennial or a Gen-Xer?
Ken - I'm very old-school. He admits he's more inflexible but there is a word for being very adaptable and that's a flipper. (Hannah gives him a, Are you kidding me, look.)
Adam - Points out that Ken represents a good player in the first season of Survivor and Hannah was too unpredictable - he thinks that he was a good mix of both.
Hannah pipes up with a point of clarification - you say I'm all over the place but for instance, the vote to take you (Sunday) out happened because Hannah wanted to break up Bret & Sunday, that was her being adaptable to a game that was constantly moving but to you and Bret it appeared unpredictable - and Adam, as usual, went along with what my move was.
Adam counters that there were two times that Hannah went rogue - She said she made the right decisions for her at those points and he said they were bad strategic decision and she disagrees (way to stand up for yourself, but I think it's falling on deaf ears.)
Jessica - addresses Ken saying he put himself on a pedestal playing with integrity and loyalty but then she was shocked when he voted out David, his closest friend, on day 38.
Ken - said it was the hardest thing he's ever had to do and he started choking up - directed at David he said, "You are my number 2 alliance, number 1 is my daughter. Only reason." He choked through tears (Pull it together dude, they're watching.)
Will - He tells Ken he respected him more for voting David out than he did for all his talk of respect an loyalty for the first 38 days.
He asks Adam what were the reasons that he was on the wrong side of the numbers on a couple votes - why couldn't he make those votes work?
Adam - He says it was when Hannah went rogue and kept David in which could have been a million dollar mistake.
Hannah defends herself that she wanted to vote out Bret before David because they both had to go but if she voted out David first, she would have lost Ken's trust and trust was a big thing for Ken (she was making moves that were good for her game and they all seem clueless that she wasn't trying to help Adam win a million dollars.)
Zeke (is my favourite) "Heartiest congratulations gang." (It was so cute.)
He thinks they are in the midst of the evolution of Survivor strategy and winner should have contributed to that. Ken, played old-school, he's out of the running on this question - Zeke wants to know how Adam and Hannah contributed to the strategic evolution of the world's greatest game?
Adam - One thing we've seen in recent seasons and this was no different, is when people take control they feel like they have to stay in control and it makes it easy to take them out. When he got to the final six he made sure there were three people in front of him that were bigger threats than him and one of his allies was a challenge beast that could help me take them out. (Human shields)
Hannah - She brings up the idea of trust clusters where you build relationships and work in partnerships until you don't anymore (she just gave it a new name, voting blocks/trust clusters) but she also jumped on Adam's threat shield concept and said she was the one who decided when those threats would go, not Adam. Adam is very good at taking credit for moves but she is responsible for most of the jury.
Michelle - asks Hannah how many votes she was on the wrong side of? Hannah says none. Michelle points out the Michaela vote - oh yeah, one. (I can't decide if Michelle's 'good job' was sarcastic or not.)
Michelle asked Adam why his victories overshadow the blunders. He said he was able to correct from the blunders and that some of those blunders were those of his alliance as well.
Hannah defends herself again that they were not blunders, they were her choices and they were strategic moves that succeeded.
Adam says voting Bret out first was a blunder because that put David one win away from a million dollars.
Hannah says that was a risk she took because Bret wanted to go to the end with Adam not her and she owns that. Day 2 her would have let Adam tell her this was silly but day 39 her is not going to take it and she made the decisions she wanted to make.
Bret - Ken, at what point do you believe you started playing this game?
Ken - says from day 1 he went to Jess and made her feel safe with David and him and Ceecee and when he tried to continue Bret cut him off. (Someone is not getting Bret's vote.)
He asked Adam the breakdown of how long it took to vote out Dave starting from the Sunday vote and how it went wrong.
Adam said when Hannah came to him with the idea to vote out Sunday.... oh and it was a huge blunder to vote you out because he had these allies, (referring to Ken) one who would never do what needed to be done...
Ken - looks him in the eye and says, "Thanks, but I did actually."
Adam, "Never at the final five is what a mean." (Right.) I made that blunder that we would take out David at the final five.
Jay - only addresses Adam - At one point we said we were like brothers and I'd take you to the end. Why did you not use me to take out David?
Adam - we had such a crazy relationship where we were bitter rivals but I do genuinely love you like a brother (and he chokes up) and you know why. Jay says he doesn't have to talk about it (oh, he's saving the big gun, don't you worry.) Through tears he continues: You know why I'm playing this game and why it's so important to me, and you were in the way. (Hannah's looking nervous, cause she's smart enough to know he's about to blow them all out of the water.)
Chris - Admits he's not a coach, he's a trial lawyer and he decides he's going to advocate for one of them. Chris starts the story with one skinny little guy lurching in the corners and planning all of their demises - that guy was David. But Adam was able to go to David's most loyal supporter in Ken and get him to turn on David - that makes Adam the best player. (Hold the phone - Hannah was the one that talked to Ken, not Adam... but it's like Adam's crying took the fight out of her.)
Ken does pipe up that Adam did not convince him of anything, voting out David was his choice. And Chris just winks and nods condescendingly. (Ugh. I hate all these guys.)
David - How did this experience change your life for the better - what evolution did you undergo?
Hannah - the person she was on day one is not the person she is today. She was not built for this game she came in afraid of everything but she learned to push through that is hoping to take that strength through to her life.
Ken - he was very socially awkward as a youth and manifested ticks and twitches. Now he's putting himself in a position where he has to interact with 19 strangers closely everyday and he was terrified, just wanting to close his eyes and not do it anymore - but the driving force for his being out there is his daughter and he did this for her.
Adam - BOOM goes the dynamite - He originally applied for the blood vs water season with is mom, they are both huge fans but seven months ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer (crying, crying) she's my best friend in the whole world. Even if I don't win, I feel like I was supposed to come out here because every time I found an idol or I won immunity or I got the loved ones visit - I felt like we were winning together. So that's what this journey was about for me. (Yes, he had people crying on the jury too, just hand him the cheque Jeff. It's over.)
Alright time to vote:
They didn't show how anyone voted but Jay did say, "love you buddy" as he put his vote in the urn.
When Jeff went to get the votes Hannah whispered to Adam, "I'm sorry about your Mom." (You total asshole that just blew up my game.) If you ask me, that's one of the ugliest evolutions of the game, holding back some huge personal heart grabber for the final tribal. Like____ not telling anyone about his wife's pregnancy until the finale, won him the game. It's smart and shows huge gameplay if you are able to keep a huge secret for the whole time you're out there, but I don't like it.
Jeff walked off with the votes until he reappears in the CBS studios for the reading of the votes live:
Reading the votes:
Adam - 1, 2, 3 (he must have all of them or they'd show someone else) 4, 5, 6... and ADAM won for his Mom. He went to hug what looked like his brother and Dad... I guess we'll find out about Mom.
But with Adam winning, that means that Sharon R. and Cindy M. have also won the Pool! Congratulations ladies!
And they tortured us watching poor Adam cry and his family cry as he tells us that he took the first flight home that he could to see his mother and she died an hour after he got home. (Holy carp.) He said he told her that he won, he's not sure if she could have heard him but it didn't matter - I couldn't imagine having to talk about this on live TV... so sad and yet so... Millennial, right?
Jeff tells us that Adam has partnered with Stand Up to Cancer specifically to fund lung cancer research (so is he donating his million dollars?) Bristol Meyers Squib will match donations made through Adam's efforts up to $100K so if you are inspired to give... and then Adam said he is going to donate $100K of his winnings to the cause.
Finally we hear from some of the other players:
-David's transformation from being the scared mouse to someone that everyone liked ironically put a target on his back.
-Zeke was the millennial nerd who transformed as well into a self assured man who could rise to his potential. You don't get a lot of chances to test yourself and if you don't test yourself you never know what you're capable of. Zeke feels like he's undervalued himself for most of his life and Survivor allowed him to discover that he's much stronger than he could have ever possibly imagined. And David and Hannah also felt the same way.
-Jeff then wanted to talk about Bret confiding to Zeke about his sexuality - because that was a huge moment on the show. Bret said he had started telling people close to him and family a few years before so it was not a total blindsided coming out but it's been good for him.
-They showed the Hannah and Ken watching the sunrise and her awkwardly admitting to the camera that she could see them together. Back in the studio she was a little embarrassed but she said if her showing her insecurity and vulnerability on TV helps other people with anxiety go for the job they want or go on a date with a good looking guy then it was worth it. She is definitely more self assured and bolder than before and she and Ken do seem pretty familiar, they are kind of cute together actually. Text that came in: Hannah's ability to flirt with a hotty is every goal I've ever had.
-Survivor also helped Ken overcome some social anxiety... and he wouldn't comment on if he's single or not - it's complicated.
-Michaela said she didn't realize how much of a detriment the seashell thing was to her game until she saw it on TV, she thought they'd realize she was thinking ahead for all of them an want to work with her, "But this isn't a loyal crew." (I bet she would go all the way if she got to play again.)
-Jessica said she had no other choice in the rock thing. She made the right choice she just picked the wrong rock. If she had changed her vote not to have to draw rocks she would have betrayed enough people that she was never going to win anyway.
-Will has a better haircut, he represented well as the first high schooler to play the game.
-Sunday - She twanged something about finding yourself not just being a mom but I tuned out that voice, still so grating.
-Taylor & Figgy - what's the status of the relationship? It is no more. Figgy regrets that she didn't play as the strong independent woman she is now, but that was her choice at the time. Taylor is actually a father of a child with someone else since then. (Oh yeah, this season was actually filmed before the last season, I forgot about that. Maybe the death of Adam's mom pushed it back?)
Next Season: GAME CHANGERS
And there are some familiar faces coming back to play again. Michaela from this season, Tony and his spy shack, Tai little Vietnamese guy, Caleb the med-evac'd vet, Ciera this will be her third time around, Cerie convinced ice cream scooper to give up immunity and voted him out, Sandra has played and Won twice before, Ozzy the perennial favourite. The footage they showed also looks like Malcolm with the hair will also be there. Coming in March 2017.
Final thought from Michelle (who was wearing a dress with a snakelike bird wrapped around and on her shoulder - what was that?) said that there was no bitterness among this crew, that speaks to the evolution of the game as well. (That is true, no grudges, it's a game, they all came to play, no room for hurt feelings.)
Alright, I have to go to bed now. Have a great Christmas everyone and I'll talk to you in March :)
Coleen
