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I haven't been around at all this season, and haven't read nearly as much as I'd like to have, so I have little to respond to, and since I haven't read much at all, this isn't directed at anyone. And I have insomnia. So...I'm just processing my edgic thoughts since I finally just got to watch the finale a couple days ago (I was travelling in areas where CBS blacks out internet viewings and so forth). If I understand the season right, Natalie had a very weak first few episodes, and the story revolved around Russell, who probably felt too OTT (I'm only guessing what people here might've thought) to be the winner. That's certainly how I saw it as the season progressed - but later I started to do my typical wavering and finally came to terms with the idea that Russell was probably the winner and this was just too juicy of a story to not tell in all of it's OTT shame/glory. I think early in the season I may have even posted something about "maybe Russell does win." But in my edgic heart I figured/hoped Russell was a classic first boot after the merge.

INV and low vis for opening episodes is a moot point of dogma, in my mind, and is certainly easier to swallow if the winner wins primarily because the loser actively lost it. I think in the absence of an anti-hero's fall (such as Russell's), I doubt that the editors would have any reason to hide the winner in episode 1.

I do though, just to stir up a little venom, still stand by the complex tribe theory (as I've interpreted it). The complex tribe always contains the winner (others reject my interpretation of CT, and therefore say it's been proven wrong by Vanuatu, which was the most balanced CT season in my analysis). Foa Foa always had the complex relationships, thanks mostly to Russell having alliances all over the place. Galu? We saw hints of a pecking order with Monica being targeted early, but nothing else. Even in all my wrong analysis of the winner, I always expected the winner to come out of Foa Foa, even in the craziness of them losing so heavily.

However, for me, more than picking through which edgic guidelines are still viable (I know, that's what I just did) what I'm feeling is that my past tendency and hope to quantify a winning edit is too narrow. Now, I'm not suggesting that edgic's dead or worthless, but for me, as I approach future editing, I think I'm going to be asking a different set of questions - the starting point being, "what story is being told?" It seems a lot more like what CL's approach was - the questions being asked are a bit more nuance and a bit less data driven. I was the data guy for so long, so you know it's a big personal shift for me to suggest this.

This season wasn't Brett's story, or Natalie's, or Mick's, but Russell's. That doesn't mean I'm saying something silly like Russell "should" have won (what a nonsense idea for a game built of sociological relativism - I think Jeff Probst's most myopic comments came on this topic this season after the finale), but simply that the path that got the winner to the winner's circle was critically tied to Russell's story. In this case, it's how Russell - for this jury - overwitted, overplayed, and overassumed his way to losing. Some could argue that the story could've been told in a different way, and in some senses it might've. The story probably would've been more coherent if we saw how Brett's deeply solidified jury ties came about - but on the other hand, we got the point without the backstory simply by the last few immunities until he lost - So it also might've been superfluous. And one rule that trumps anything in TV is if you have a valuable plot point that's somewhat dull versus a less critical plot point but that is morbid and shocking (like much of Russell's story), the producers are going to err for the poor storytelling (and manufacture a simplistic plot) in favor of the spectacular ratings boon of someone burning socks and intentionally sabotaging their potential by maniacally dehydrating them.

I'm all over the place...sorry to ramble on you. I can't watch Survivor without thinking about the editing and guessing who the winner is based on the editing. I'm an edgicer forever. <3 So not offense if you feel like I'm trashing any of the concepts, it's not my intention.

My memory's a bit fuzzy, but I feel like the episode where the EA tribe expanded to include JT and someone else (I forget) I posted that the EA was the complex tribe...and JT was in there, but he wasn't the focus of it, he was surrounded by the focus of it. Sounds like classic edgic principle to me.