.. 54. CARYN GROEDEL ..
What a cranky witch <3 Caryn is probably the most cantankerous, opinionated, shrill beast of a woman this show has ever seen. At every turn she was bitching about something. She was bitching about Tom being the leader, she was bitching about Katie bitching about her, she was bitching about not being heard, etc. Caryn was just a perpetually sour, pissed off woman, and I loved her for it. The only thing that holds Caryn back in this ranking and in my ~heart~ is that her apparent adoration of Tom stopped the formation of an EPIC Palau women's alliance, and I think we all know how much I love me some women's alliances. Caryn was like obsessed with Tom or something. Her face lit up when she was finally needed at the F6 to force Katie's hand and betray Gregg and Jenn. Caryn realized far too late that she was just another vote to Tom as she was quickly discarded soon afterward. So tragic
Caryn also stands out to me as one of the
few older women to pull off the buff tube-top and buff skirt looks. Unfortunately Caryn miscalculated yet again as she tried to do both simultaenously and
wound up with far too much print. Sad.
On Caryn's personality: Caryn's perpetual bitchface and dissatisfied smirks kept me loling all through Palau. It's a testament to the greatness of that female cast that she's only the third woman to be eliminated from it. Anyway, Caryn was a bitter betty. Even when they were winning every challenge for the first 23 days or something, Caryn was still constantly put out by having to deal with her other tribe mates. She was semi-allied with Coby and Janu but I think the only person besides Tom that Caryn liked was Willard, and only because he was as vaguely angry as she was.
On Caryn's gameplay: Palau is so difficult to talk about because of how odd the premerge situation was. I want to say Caryn lasted a long time for being an older woman but she really didn't have to face the premerge slaughter that most women do. She was always on the bottom, even when she was the swing vote she was just barely tolerated by her tribemates. idk.
On Caryn's placement: Ultimately one of my least favorite women from one of my favorite women casts, Caryn was grating, bitchtastic force to be reckoned with. Her feud with Katie and her outspoken nature meant she was always going to be someone that I appreciate, and I originally imagined her higher but I just couldn't swing it.
