Well I wasn't far off with my predictions. Especially since I said Mike and Jonathan could flip spots.
We've never had a winner like Maryanne. Her endgame and performance and the final Tribal Council totally did it or her, and Mike proved his flawed game with a rather weak performance.
I don't think Maryanne is the best winner of all-time, but she definitely has done more than some. After Lindsay was voted out, and Maryanne didn't play her idol on her, I was a little let down by whoever the winner would be. But Maryanne articulated her endgame strategy so well, and she did a great job explaining why she couldn't play her idol for Lindsay. Based on the FTC and the reaction to Lindsay's vote out, it seems like she would have won hands-down over anyone else in the final 5. I was really bummed when she left. She was my favorite this season. I hope she comes back some day. She seems like she's someone who will do pretty well no matter what season she's placed on. I think she's probably the most level player from this season when you factor strategy, social, and physical games. It is sad that had she not dropped her board in the challenge, she'd possibly have won. But she has a great attitude.
I LOVED seeing the juror confessionals. It's so much more interesting than hearing the final 3 say how they played their games, or reflect on how much they grew.
I am so over the Simmotion challenge. Go back to the hand on the idol for the final challenge. Or be creative and come up with something new. It's really boring to watch anymore.
I'm sure I'll have a lot more developed thoughts as we get further out from the season. It's always hard to rank players and seasons fresh off of the finale, but I tried anyway.
I currently have Maryanne ranked as the 26th best winner. She is behind Tommy, and oddly enough just ahead of Erika. Although I just dropped Erika 5 or 6 spots, as the recency bias took over when I ranked her. It's possible the same happened for Maryanne, so her ranking could change in the future. However, she did have a pretty strong endgame.
I currently have Survivor 42 ranked as the 7th best season of all time, just behind The Amazon and just ahead of Winners at War.
This is the part I have the hardest time with... ranking players overall. It's just so hard with all the different factors. But for right now my highest rankings players from the season are (all of these are out of every Survivor player ever)...
Omar at #23
Lindsay at #30
Drea at #99
Maryanne at #100
Mike at #108
Hai at #131
Jonathan at #198
Romeo at #262
I'm very happy with this season overall, and I'm already wishing Survivor 43 was on. It's going to be a long offseason.