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Thanks. I loved Crystal's story. It would have been epic if she had won, but then again, if she'd won, they probably would have edited some different story for her, one that wouldn't have been nearly so cool. The winners never seem to get stories as complex as some of the losers get.

I know you were joking about Janu, but actually, I did consider listing her story as one of my faves! It's really sort of a mini-arc, though - it all takes place in one episode. To me, though, it's one of the few redeeming things about the Palau season. I loved the story of the physically ailing social outcast who transforms a sentence of exile into an opportunity for self-empowerment, and then returns with enough new-found personal strength to buck social pressure and insist on determining her own destiny. I know that people around here hate quitters, but to me, Janu's quit was an awesome expression of self-determination (as well as a great big well-earned FU to those awful Korors), and I loved her for it.

I also found that story really cool for the way that it paralleled Stephenie's. Stephenie, left alone on her beach, manages to survive but is miserable; she cries tears of joy when she learns that she will finally be joining Koror. Janu is miserable in the company of Koror, and only finds joy when she is forced to live alone on exile. Stephenie's sense of ego is other-focused. She constantly talks about wanting to compete, wanting to win; these are forms of validation that can only come about in a social context. Janu's sense of ego is self-focused; her validation comes from within and does not require the participation of others.

You don't see many self-focused people like Janu on Survivor, and a good thing, too, because they're not really well-suited to competitive games. In a lot of ways, I think that Janu was a casting error. But it was one that I personally found quite refreshing.