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Having gladly sat on the sidelines for the kerfluffles of the last week in edgic, it looks to me as if things have quieted down somewhat.

So I ask: whither edgic?

This season is a bust for edgic already, regardless of who wins. Here's what I mean: The editing is something that has never happened before, so much so that edgic rules are broken by every player remaining. I don't even know if it's a matter of "who broke the rules the least" (IMO Jaison) or "what makes most sense this season" (for which it's RH or Nat) or some other godforsaken what-if that justifies someone else winning.

(Oh. I picked Mick beginning ep 3, and assumed we had to make our choice before the merge, and at that point Mick was slightly stronger than Jaison in classic edgic... and then his editing goes to hell...hey, not the first time I regretted my choice 1 ep after the merge... ah, well, it's just a game, and if I'm wrong la de da. But the concept of edgic is still fun to dissect.)

So why is edgic a virtual non-starter this season? Well, it didn't help matters that a ton of players were, edit-wise, non-starters as well. We can put the blame for much of this (or the credit, if you're so inclined) on RH's shoulders. This was true OTT editing (as opposed to OTT ratings). He said and did outrageous things and backed them up with reasonably good - albeit not continuously brilliant - game play. His edit was overwhelming. By edgic standards he should have been deleted from winner's lists long ago. But he maintained his through-the-roof visibilities virtually every week. No one has ever done anything remotely close before.

Natalie's first three episodes were dreadful. No winner was remotely close to this in the past. She made one good move this season (getting the Erik bug in Galu going) but is for the most part a patsy to RH in the edit.

Mick's ratings were consistently bland. But forget Marcus or whomever. No one with this long-term bland MOR3-ish edit has lasted this long. He is marginally P (probably because he has never done anything remotely N, so that distinct lack of editing N seems rather pleasant on the whole). Post-merge ratings aren't technically part of the edgic guidelines, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to review past winners' season-long edits and see that he has essentially disappeared when most winners are making some modest noise. Yes, UTR2's aren't INV "disappeared," but just being second fiddle in a conversation and some modest stuff in the recap about being under-the-radar isn't any sort of sophisticated play. His edit is not brilliant, but in terms of edgic "guidelines" he is marginally better than RH or Natalie.

Jaison has had OTTN moments, but they seem to have passed. His edit is about personal growth, conquesting personal demons, and the like. It is all a Quest of sorts. His confessionals are subtle, intelligent, and personal. Rarely were they about the game itself as an independent event. Everything relates to his life. No, there is nothing about redemption arcs in edgic guidelines, since the guidelines are all about figuring out the winner. And since we all seem to concede that redemption arcs - whatever they are! - are associated with people who get far, make great leaps in personal growth... but do not win. So in some sense there is no point to them being in the guidelines, except perhaps as a negative ("the winner will not be shown to have personal growth as a key factor in winning.") The thing about redemption arcs, though, is that we often don't know what they truly are until the person is booted. Jaison has now said he wants to win. Regardless of the motivation (money, satisfaction, personal demons, etc.) we now know that winning is his reason to be out there. Is that enough?

I cannot imagine anyone else winning. Part of me hopes that someone like Brett will show to be a completely ethical, decent human being who wins, just to put the exclamation point on the fact that this season is truly anti-edgic. But the Galus are simply not part of any rational calculation, edgic or otherwise. We are left with foafoa.

Here is why edgic really doesn't seem to apply: I've always viewed edgic as a matter of determining which player is closest to the guidelines. That is not what most of us are arguing this season. Instead, we are debating which violations of edgic guidelines are least objectionable. I have no idea how to define that. Is a pitiful start bad? Well, yes. Is a constantly bland edit bad? Well, yeah. Is hyper visibility, constant N and OTT bad? uh-huh. And saying that survivor is the worst decision you've ever made bad? Yup.

So we are left with arguing which "bad" is baddest. This is all sheer IMO-speculation, but RH's nasty-boy edit would leave a bad taste in a lot of viewer's minds. TPTB didn't like Brian H's win, because he was a jerk about it, and I simply cannot believe that SEG et al would even at this late date pummel us with RH's dislikability. I'm basing this not only on what he's been shown, but on SEG/JP's own comments about past winners. (Basing choices on prior editing decisions IS a key to edgic, ain't it?) Yes, he might win, but if he does I will be quite interested in the general demeanor of the reunion.

Natalie? Forget the three first eps, the INV debate. She would win because she isn't RH. That is feasible, but in reality I am still not sure (like in the recap) if I was looking at Kelly or Natalie sometimes. There have been long stretches where she simply hasn't been a huge factor. It's one thing for someone like Vee to say she is hiding because there's "too much drama" because in that case we know why she's hiding. Natalie is essentially riding coattails, and coattails of someone she seems to want to win. the recap was not good to her.

Mick? Sure, there is still time for him to do stuff, but just a pleasant yet bland presence does little for me. Yes, we sort of understand why he was UTR, and he at least has that Vee comparison. But we don't know much about his actual strategy for winning, or even the fact that he wants to win. I can see him winning, getting polite applause, yet being instantly forgettable.

Jaison? It's all personal, which is both good and bad. Playing is personal, but wanting to win is personal too. Regarding the bad points in his edit, it seems to be swept under the rug. They didn't tell us in the recap that his mind was ever on matters other than winning. They kept that N-ness in his background away from us in the recap. If he wins I can see a lot of people applauding him for the victory in his personal quest.

and sorry, but no one else is even close to this group. Forget Shambo.

Let's face it - none of these guys do edgic much good. Sure, RH has probably more stuff than the next three or four people combined, and the logic behind picking him is basically: why else show him so much? That's not unreasonable, but can just as easily be answered with a late-game boot that gets people cheering as it does a win. And Natalie's edit is far worse than any other type-2 winner, and that was clearly and painfully obvious in the recap. Mick is still vanilla-velveeta-cottage cheese beige and bland, and his winning shot is that he would be a respite from the nastiness of RH, plus the fact that he doesn't have the baggage natalie has of being totally smitten with RH. Jaison's OTT was a huge warning sign to us, and was repeated in different forms several times. Yet now he suddenly says his goal is to win. About time.

Hey, my pick was Mick, and right now I could see any of them winning this. I simply am not all that emotionally wedded to any of them, although to me the most satisfying would be Jaison. Natalie was my favorite for quite a while, but that has diminished somewhat. And it's too bad that such interesting people as Brett and John emerged so late in the game. So go Brett! He is the anti-edgic, and if this season is the anti-edgic season, why not him? :)