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10. MARISA CALIHAN, 26, Student, Cincinnati, OH.



Overall Finish: 20th Place

Casting Story:
Was recruited at a Kinkos store after meeting a Casting producer and striking up a conversation that turned to Survivor. At first, she declined but was later called back again and decided to go for it.

Commentary:
I don't have much to say about Marisa. There's been a lot of discussion about her in this thread already and it seems that some of you think she should have been out already and others really liked her. I think having her essentially right in the middle of the pack is a fair place to have her ranked. She's somewhat memorable as the first boot and as someone who went against Russell, but I also think she's been inflated a lot because of that. Russell saying that Marisa would have "won any other season" (making it appear like he got rid of some huge threat first) and Marisa saying she would have gotten rid of Russell right away (because it makes her look better to say she would have made short work of "the best player in history") are things that were just simply not true. She is definitely overrated by the people who hate Russell and feel she was robbed by him, but she was a good addition to the cast, overall.

Personality/Character: Marisa was a character different than most of the young women that Survivor recruits. She grew up in a large family in the Appalachians and had lived abroad in third world countries, which made her very worldly and aware of social justice issues. She was also somewhat of a feminist who wanted the women to have a strong showing. I must say, I really liked her prior to the season airing. I thought she had a great personality and, unlike most young women on this show, I didn't think she'd be someone who would get the INV edit or just fade out. She really had potential to be a decent character - not one of the strongest this season, but certainly up there enough to be at #10 in this list.

Strategy: Strategically, it's difficult to rate Marisa because we saw so little of her. I give her credit for being one of the few people to be wary of Russell so early in the game, but it was very stupid of her to openly tell him that when she didn't have to. Also, she apparently had some kind of argument with Ben and the two of them had bad blood, which isn't smart very early on in the game, so she did something that annoyed some people. What I liked about her pre-game was that she seemed willing to play strategically and make some big moves. The only thing she said she wouldn't do was compromise herself sexually. But she didn't really seem to have any other set strategy other than using the cliche line that she'd do "whatever it takes" to win, whether it be lying, cheating, stealing, backstabbing, etc. Still, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say that I do believe she would have been *somewhat* strategic if she had lasted. And compared to some of the people who lasted by doing virtually nothing, it might have been a breath of fresh air.

#9: (Tomorrow)