shoeless rye wrote:
This show was rigged. You cast unabashed man-haters/feminists Parvati, Alexis, Natalie and Alexis along with Amanda(teamed with Todd and Courtney) and Cirie (will go with the numbers) and a bunch of moron guys - Erik, Jason, Joel, James, Fairplay, and Chet (and some would argue Ozzy here as well). We don't know enough about Mikey B, so basically you had two male strategists in Penner and Yao.

It's always rigged in one sense - the casting is trying to put together a group they think will work well and provide entertaining television. There is NO way the producers imagined things would turn out the way they did.

Parvati DID change her game - I think that's what is key here. Without her influence, the game goes completely differently, even given the injuries and quits being the same. She earned the win and for fucking once we were shown the moves she made. I'm not saying she's the only one who made moves, but she was the linchpin of the women's alliance. Without her, would Amanda have hooked up with Cirie? Would Natalie & Alexis have been brought onboard? No way. It was also refreshing to see an alliance work together to blindside someone, even if it was only Erik. Without each woman playing her part, the plan would not have worked.

It's been a long time, if ever, since we truly saw how a female winner earned the win on her own merits instead of mostly seeing the story of how the other person fucked up. And yes, Amanda did fuck up a bit, but that's her usual stagefright it would appear. She falls apart at the key moment, when she needs to be able to stand up for what she did and be unapologetic. Perhaps Amanda's main problem, however, is that she didn't have much of a game TO stand up for.

With all that said, there were subtle bits to show Amber's contribution to their win. Yes, their win. It was the effort of an alliance of herself & Boston Rob. He alienated people left & right, but I think Amber did her share to help get herself to the end. Why didn't Rupert, Jenna and Big Tom form a new alliance and boot one of Amber/Rob out??? I think it was due to Amber smoothing things along, helping to keep the larger alliance happy and feeling "in the know."

Some of the parts that make up the win land on the cutting room floor. The main story takes precedence, unfortunately. And it can be harder to convey something subtle like being cheerful and keeping allies onboard, which is also a boring activity TO show, than a big bold move like having a fight and causing someone to vow to vote for anyone but that guy.