** 44. SCOUT CLOUD-LEE **
A lot of people around here seem to hate Scout but I'm not one of them. I understand the distaste but at the same time I appreciate Scout for being a complete original. Never before has there been a scheming hippie lesbian den mother on the show, and there never will be again is my guess. What I always found impressive about Scout is that she was basically a crippled old woman and yet she was never under serious consideration to be voted out. She couldn't even make it to camp without a rest because she had a bionic hip or whatever. I would immediately consider her a liability and vote her off but apparently she was like tribe elder and had all the respect something like that entails. Scout's alpha status kind of faded towards the middle of the game when HBIC Ami Cusack emerged to take her place on the throne but Scout quickly nipped that shit in the bud and took Ami smooth off the set. Damn Chris for winning that final immunity because a Scout/Twila F2 would have been glorious. I most cherish Scout for three things: 1) her hilariously bitchy and rehearsed nature-themed voting confessionals (including the EPIC "Queens get dethroned, and lightning will strike a lone tree on top of a mountain faster than anything." for Ami) 2) her pathetic hobbling around in every challenge and her bitterness over the fact that she was always hobbling around and 3) the endlessly wordy Survivors Strike Back blogs, in which she always bitches about how the women don't get any airtime JUST LIKE ME. 3000 word dissertations on Survivor eternal love <33333
On Scout's personality: Scout's main attribute was WISDOM. Everything she said had this very serious almost hushed tone of the ancients. I'm not sure if she takes herself very seriously in real life but on tv she carried herself in a very specific "knowing" way, like she was the tribes priestess, trickling out information to the youngins as she deemed fit. She clearly values experience over youth, which of course coincidentally made her the most valuable. So WISE <3
On Scout's gameplay: Scout had Vanuatu all locked up. If it wasn't for her serious physical limitations she may have won the whole show. Instead she got third but that's pretty impressive given her complete inability to help her tribe or herself in any challenge. It was Scout who woke the men up all cloak and dagger style and proposed a plan to take down HBIC Ami Cusack and co. Truly a turning point in the game. Her main non-physical weakness was her lack of respect for the younger women in the tribe and the condescending manner in which she dealt with them. Of course Chris was a total jackass to the younger women and he still won so wtf, maybe it didn't matter.
On Scout's placement: Scout is easily one of the most epic older women on Survivor evah. I think she probably has one of the most underrated games but no one really ever gives her credit for anything because no one really cares. I think she would be a great person to invite back if there were any possible way she would survive another 39 days. Anyway, Scout was cool and a great castmember but never one of my favs so this is high enough.
