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Hello ImANewUser! Thank you very much for your comments on the finale! As always, I enjoyed reading what you had to say and I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts! You bring up some very good points! :)

Not as satisfied as I'd have liked to be, but MUCH better than other endings that could've happened. :P Overall, story was great, the challenges were fun & I actually got to see some sort of drama during Final TC without it getting ugly (Randy/Crystal actually somewhat reminded me of a less dramatic Dave/Sherea In fact, Randy/GC = Dave/Erik IMO, except this time, the "good" guy won). The character development was great as well, seeing as it's the end. And once again, thank you SO much for sending. :D

Thanks. Glad you were satisfied with the ending, though sorry that it wasn't your most ideal result. I'm happy that you liked the story though, and I agree with you about the Final Tribal Council. I only realized this recently, but yes, this Final Four was extremely similar too China's - perhaps too similar. Paloma = Frosti, they were the least visible of the Final Four, similar MOR(M)ish edits overall; Dan = Leslie, the CPP edit that you were supposed to be rooting for for a lot of the story; Randy = Dave, the CPN "villain" type; G.C. = Erik, the MORP guy who worked hard, was strong and was well-liked. As you said, this time the "good" guy won instead. I didn't plan this as another Dave/Erik, but I definitely agree with you that it worked out that way. Thank you for the comment about the character development, and you're welcome for sending.

China, Micronesia & All-Stars: Belize are somewhat tied.

Thank you. Good to know. Almost everybody has said one of the last four seasons. Too bad Gabon didn't get into that top three for you.

Jury questioning, of course. ;)

Thanks. I actually thought the questioning was weaker than usual this time due to no outright harsh speeches or extreme negativity towards the finalists.

9.65

Thank you very much for this! It's higher than I expected, so I'm very happy with that! :)

Finally, thanks for filling out the Popularity Poll! Nice to see a variety of high and low numbers once again.

Thanks again for your comments, ImANewUser, and for being a loyal reader for so many seasons now. I will send you the Reunion when it is finished and I will continue emailing you the next season as well. Hope you have a great day! :)

Hello survivormarc14! Thanks a lot for your comments on the finale! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts! :)

Great finale episode, I'm glad GC won over the other 3

Thank you. Good to know you were happy with the winner! :)

The onl wons I read were China, Micronesia and Gabon
I'd rank them :
1. Micronesia for sure
2.China
3.Gabon

Hmm, interesting. It's the same top three as me but I know you've only read these ones. Glad that you liked Micronesia so much. I recently reread the recap for it and thought it was better than I remembered.

Jury questions, theyre always the best part of any finale

Thank you. I'm surprised by this, as I thought they might have been a little weaker than usual.

Thanks for the 9! I appreciate that! :)

Randy-for being a villian
Charlie-for being a strategist
Jacquie-for being a hot & strong female
Crystal-for being so funny

others:Paloma,Dan,Ace

That is a good list. I agree with most of those choices and could easily see picking a few of them if there was another All-Stars.

Thank you for filling out the Popularity Poll! Great to see a variety of high and low numbers there!

Thanks for the great series and I cant wait for the next one.

You are very welcome. Thanks so much for reading it!!! :D

Thanks again for all of your comments! I appreciate it! Hope you will enjoy the next season, and have a great night! :)

Hello Cory The Spoiler Slayer! Thanks so much for that awesome post and for being so detailed and thorough with everything! Your post was a pleasure to read, and you definitely bring up some excellent points!

I liked it - I think there was a small period where I didn't think G.C. would win, but after the first 2-3 episodes, I had him pegged (similarly to how I thought Dave would win China after his edit in the first two episodes).

Thanks. I'm glad you liked it, and congratulations to you for picking up on him so early on. That is very impressive!

I like how you finally had a winner that WASN'T a strategy-bot or any type of mastermind player. They all seem to have this great understanding of alliance jumping and how to play the game, but G.C. was really, really clueless. He just sort of adapted to it as it went on.

I definitely agree with this. I can't have the winner be the "best strategist" or the "most strategic player" every time because then every season would be extremely boring and predictable, so that's why I have to vary it up a bit from season to season and have winners winning for different reasons and with different strategies. I've never thought of G.C. as being that strategic ever, and I even recall in my notes mentioning a few times when I would comment on him making a good move I would say "I'm sure he didn't think of it strategically like that."

I would never call G.C. a "great player," but I wouldn't call Bob Crowley (on the real show) a strategic mastermind either. I just like how G.C. is very different from the past two winners in that he doesn't really get the game in the same way. He understood what it takes to play, but he went round by round and just cast votes in the way that he thought was the most logical. So good on him for that.

I might not say he was a "great player" but I think he played a great game without realizing it. I think he did a lot of things right without pre-planning it that way. The best example is probably aligning with Crystal. It helped keep a target off of his back immensely, but he didn't say "I'm gonna to align with Crystal and use her as a shield." They just happened to bond. So I think he had maybe the beginnings of good strategy in his mind but wasn't able to fully make those connections. Yet he did very well and was never vulnerable.

This season reminded me more of Fiji, in that the better strategic thinker lost at the F2 (except Stacy DID have a strategic mind). Nice to finally just see a normal guy get dealt a nice hand of cards and run into some luck at the finish line, particularly with the final two challenge wins.

I would actually prefer to have more seasons like this so that the Final Two will always be more up in the air. I really don't think he would have been in serious danger even at F4 because at worst, there would have been a tie and he would have beat Paloma in the fire-making challenge. F3 was the first time in the game that he was ever legitimately at risk of going home, so that is pretty impressive. That win was important obviously.

Grats on an amazing season! Definitely one of my very favourites. My only criticism is that some of these seasons seem like they have real, intensive strategy-bots. I feel like Randy is the first character to make moves for revenge and out of petty anger. I was shocked to see him ever be willing to vote with Crystal and G.C. at the F8 though... they had JUST stabbed him in the back and realistically, they should have been dead to him from that second on - particularly when Ken was ousted. I'm shocked Randy didn't accuse them of being in on it, actually.

Thank you very much, and I'm glad to hear that it was one of your favorites. I definitely understand what you mean about the "strategy bots" which is why I intentionally had some characters make blunders or "dumber" moves than they would in other seasons, particularly towards the end. Even the biggest strategy bot, Charlie, messed up by telling Dan about his blindside. So I was aware of that going into Gabon and tried to correct it, without making the contestants more stupid than they should be.

As for Randy, he was furious with Crystal and G.C. after Ace's blindside and he cussed them out immediately after Tribal Council, saying they could go to hell. It was only because of Ken that Randy even stayed in an alliance with them, because Ken worked so hard to get all of the people against the Powerhouse and he knew it would hurt Ken's game otherwise. If course he was hurting his own by treating them harshly after the blindside, but he just didn't want to hinder Ken's chances. So that's why he stayed with them at that point. After Ken was gone though, he became more upset at C/D/P but also at the hidden Immunity Idol, which he hated to begin with because if not for the idol, Dan would have been gone. So he directed his anger towards that, and he was angry for a while but then he related to Dan after the next Tribal Council where they had the "therapy session" and when Paloma made the comment about his dog, he despised her and became hellbent on revenge against her. He voted for her at the next Tribal Council, she was immune at the next one or else she would have been voted off again, and he voted her at the F4 even though strategically he SHOULD have taken out Dan probably. So I think Crystal and G.C., especially G.C. after a while, ended up being "less hated" because that betrayal was early on and he had more reason to hate the others after a while.

So with future seasons, just consider that sometimes these people playing this game are just making moves out of anger and bitterness - think Brandon and Kim P. in Survivor: Africa. Brandon goes home at F8 only because Kim is too mad at him to understand the logistics of playing the game. Or Caryn in Palau, who doesn't like Katie enough to vote with her. Even if it will get her to the Final Four. She'd rather come in sixth. Sugar in Gabon comes to mind too. This is just my issue with all of the stories - characters ALWAYS conveniently jump ship when it makes the most sense. They never accept their fate in the game, but not all Survivor players are ambitious and intelligent. Some are just idiots and some just expect the game to work out in their favour.

I think I addressed this with what I said above. I did have this in mind for Gabon and that's why there were some strategic errors made, such as Crystal/GC blindsiding Ace when they did (they should have done it at F8 or F7 and it would have been better), Crystal taking GC on the Reward and leaving Jacquie at camp to be swayed, Charlie telling Dan about the blindside, etc. I felt I had sortof improved the "characters always conveniently jumping ship" but maybe not as much as I thought. I've always known my characters were smarter and I tried to remedy that. I think, though, I have a fear of having a boring season if I don't have some shakeups, which means that there has to be more jumping ship.

That's a toughie - I'll probably have to go with China. Other than the needless power shifts that occurred (I think this season would have been best as basically a straight Pagonging, but I'll save that argument for another day) in the middle with James and Sherea, I thought this season had fantastic characters that were all so very defined. Couple that with a great character winner and this is easily as great as any real season on the show.

Thank you. I appreciate this comment, and that is why it remains my favorite season too, although I think Gabon had just as many All-Star worthy players as China, but I'll address that below...

I actually loved Dan winning the F4 fire-making challenge. I really wanted Dan to win (although I would have been personally satisfied with Randy OR G.C. winning and Edgically, I was the most thrilled to see G.C. come out on top), but something about him making fire when he couldn't at a previous point in the story just clicked with me. And I loved the ending of his "personal growth" storyline. Nice touch.

Thank you. This was very nice to read, and Dan was one of my very favorite characters of this whole season. I liked his story and the edit that he got and I think everything fit together nicely...

9.5/10. I loved it through and through.

Thanks very much! I'm very happy with that, and a little surprised at it being that high but I'm definitely glad you liked it! :)

I'm going to ask of you that, if the time ever comes when you want another All-Star season, you pick characters that you can give real character arcs too. I hated seeing Sherea go down the toilet in Micronesia and I hated seeing repeat stories from Michelle and Cirie (which basically picked-up as arc extensions that had already been wrapped up previously). The storylines that worked the best in Belize were Candice and Jamie, who both had NEW storylines crafted for them or had their old storylines continue, but with new interactions and really bringing them to interesting places.

This is a very good point and I'm glad you raised it. It's actually one of the reasons why I don't usually like All-Stars seasons and it's why I have difficult writing them. I think it just happens to be what that character's role ends up being in the new story. For instance, Sherea wasn't all that important to Micronesia. She had her story with Dave in Episode 1, a bit of conflict with Terry/Aras and then had basically nothing until becoming sidekicks with Brooke/Ami and getting blindsided by Eliza. But this isn't exclusive to my stories either and again it just depends on what happens in the All-Stars season. Huge characters like Rob C. and Yau-Man ended up being absolutely nothing in their All-Stars versions. Cirie was basically the same in F v. F as in Exile Island too, and so were Amanda and James (aside from being way more UTR, but strategically he wasn't good either time).

And the other thing is, with an All-Stars, all 18 or 20 characters were the huge personalities and best players of their original seasons, but when they're all put together in one season, you need to have some who go early, some who fade out, some who stand out, some who end up being more UTR because not everyone can be the star anymore like they were in their first season. So even though I agree with you, I'm not sure there's a way to fix it. The reason Candice and Jamie got those stories is because they were the Final Two (I still love ASS-Jamie, BTW). Had the Final Two been Michelle and Austin, or whoever, they would have probably gotten different stories too.

So, with respect to characters like Randy, Crystal and Corinne, while I think they'd make great additions to the cast and they'd certainly be wanted there, you should think of where you can take their characters because nothing will make the fans more angry than seeing their favourite characters transformed into people they don't like.

I would have to say that Randy has a lot of potential for an All-Stars character. Basically, did he learn anything from the way he treated people from Gabon and seeing the reactions to his behavior on there? Would he still be the villain who doesn't have a lot of friends or would he be able to improve his social skills?

The other problem is, as you said, sometimes there's a high demand for a character and I'll use Sherea as an example. She was (along with Leslie) the most popular for that season, so do I not include her as a favorite? A lot of people would have been upset for her to not be there. Based on the way the story ended up, it happened she wasn't essential to the story, but she still deserved to be a Favorite.

I think you should consider the storyline possibilities for Dan, Randy, Crystal and Ace.

I wasn't quite sure why you had Randy and Crystal in both lists (unless I misunderstood what you were trying to say). Did you mean to list different names for one of these? I definitely agree, though, that Dan and Ace could be good potentials.

I would just liek to know why Marcus took a rock for Dan, who he had NO allegience to whatsoever. Realistically, why did Jacquie when she wanted him out at the previous TC and should have seen that Fang would cannibalize itself and she just needed to keep herself and Marcus in the game?

Thanks for this. I will definitely ask it at the Reunion.

Finally, thanks for filling out the Popularity Poll and for your Edgic ratings. Excellent job on them too - based on submitted votes, it looks like those will be the "official" ratings with Paloma maybe getting a P.

Thanks again for all of your great comments! Glad to still have you reading these stories after so many seasons, and I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. I remember you posting something about my season with new characters last year (possibly about wanting pictures of the cast), but I hope you will at least maybe check out the bios and see if you're able to get into the season. Hope you have a great day! :)

Hello CirieFieldsofDreams! Thank you so much for your comments on the finale! I'm glad to see you liked the episode so much, and I enjoyed reading what you had to say! :)

I was definitely pleased with the episode. I wasn't ecstatic to see G.C. in the Final Two at first, but I think he made a decent case for himself at FTC. Hell, in Randy's answers when Charlie says something like, "How does that mean G.C. did nothing" definitely gave me a new perspective on G.C. as a player that I had not seen before. Thrilled to see Randy make the Final Two and not break character with his answers to Crystal's question and in saying he wouldn't give any portions of his winnings to a charity. Hell, maybe I'm a bad person, but I found myself agreeing with him. One thing I found interesting was his claim that he wasn't a villain, as he had never betrayed a juror. I definitely disagreed with that. He was an antagonist the whole season, for sure.

Thank you. Good to hear this. I'm glad you were okay with G.C. winning, and it's nice to know that you picked up on that comment from Charlie. As I've said before, I definitely don't think G.C. was a huge strategist or the best player, but he was always underestimated by everyone and made the right moves when it counted. Randy was definitely the antagonist, but he was right in saying he didn't betray anyone. That doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't the villain though.

I remember loving both Belize and Fiji. And I loved Micronesia. And China. Hell, haha all of your seasons are excellent and I always enjoy reading!

Okay, lol. That's nice to hear! Thank you! :D

Final Tribal Council leading to the 4-3 vote. Very suspenseful and very well written!

Thanks. I think after last season having an obvious unanimous winner, it needed to be more suspenseful again. We'll see what happens next time.

10. A great finale

Thank you very much! I'm (obviously) very happy with that, and it's a pleasant surprise to get another 10! :)

First, let me say that I would totally support another All-Star season. Corinne for entertainment value, Charlie, GC, Randy

Thanks for that list. Randy is definitely the one that people have picked the most so far.

Finally, thanks for filling out the Popularity Poll. It is good to see a lot of numbers there on the high side.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on the finale, and throughout the season! I appreciate it, and I'm glad to have you reading. Hope you will enjoy the next season and have a great day! :)

Hi menelaus! I agree with pretty much all of your reasoning here, and I think these would all be solid choices.

2) This is sort of repetitive with Dan, but Charlie. He was undeniably the best strategic player of the season, and he also has a lot of room for development as a character, since he was just a gamebot with a bit of added personality, which means that he has a bunch of directions in which to take his character (an interesting one would be to have his mistake this time turn him into a CPN/OTTN villain, with the reasoning being that this time he is here to win, and he won't let friendships get in the way of it again)

I think you're right about that and I've thought about it, but I'd probably much rather have Todd for this "spot".

3) I would actually say Jacquie here, although a lot of people would disagree with this one (and the Charlie pick too, probably). She was really underutilized for a large portion of the season, but when she was used it made for some interesting dynamics. She is a bit boring and would likely slide into UTRland again, but if you plan a type B winner, she would fit nicely.

I might need to have an Amber, after all...

4) Crystal. Big personality, challenge threat, big game. Definitely a good pick.

There'd definitely be a high demand for her. I'm not sure she'd be much different than her Gabon character, which would be the biggest problem...

I would definitely say not Corinne, since the Corinne you wrote would never play survivor again.

I definitely agree with you on this, and plus she said she won't change as a person because of playing the game, so there would be no way to even make her dynamic either.

Thanks again for sharing these thoughts! Very interesting indeed! :)