A predictable finale, but many of them are.
I rolled my eyes at Mitch a bit when he said now is the time to vote out Joe... buddy, that was like the last 4 votes for you, but you chose not to. And no regrets? I can think of one or two.
Kamilla played a great game that would have been highlighted a lot more had she won. I would love to see her come back, as I think she was on the wrong season. She did well, but I'd like to see what she could accomplish if she had other strategists around her. The way she lost in fire wasn't ideal, and she definitely panicked.
I was really shocked that Joe came in third. I've never had my jaw drop for a 3rd place finalist before... I wasn't even paying attention to the winner because I was so surprised. Rob has a theory that they glorified him because they're bringing him back for 50. He's a likable guy, but outside of challenges doesn't bring much to the season. He's the Colby/Ozzy type, but with worse confessionals.
Going hand in hand with Joe getting third, I was surprised Eva got second. The super fans were convinced she was a zero vote finalist, which I'm glad we didn't get one of those this season. But Eva had a really good final tribal council, and I think she swayed the couple that voted for her. When they showed her second vote, I thought that maybe she was going to win. Ultimately, she didn't have enough going for her, other than her argument that she would be a unique winner.
Kyle definitely deserved the win, and I'm going to be honest... I felt like this was a strong possibility for a long time. I probably had more eyes on him because he was my preseason winner pick (woo, go me!), but it felt like he was a winner. He was a very well-rounded player, and I think he could do well in almost any season. He's strong enough, social enough, and strategic enough, without being too much of any of them. He reminds me of a more interesting Tommy, which funnily enough is another preseason winner pick of mine.
I think my favorite moment from this entire season was Kamilla and Kyle communicating at the final Tribal, where Kamilla says, "I got you." I loved that so much. I loved their relationship. Kamilla viewed herself in Kyle, and she really wanted him to win because she wanted to credit their game, which was really good. We've never seen such a hidden relationship before, and they played it beautifully.
Overall, this season was pretty slow. It may be better on a rewatch, as many of the lesser ones are, but it's definitely landing at the bottom of the New Era rankings. I felt like the editing was off in some way, but I can't quite pinpoint it.
I do think there are some fun players this season, but overall it felt like a bore. There aren't many I'm dying to see back. My top probably being Kamilla. Her confessionals were great, when she actually got one.
Outside of Kamilla, Thomas is probably my next biggest want. I wouldn't mind Shauhin, either. From the premerge, I'd like to see Kevin, because I felt like he got a raw deal and would've been really fun. I wouldn't oppose Kyle, but don't need to see it again. Outside of that, not too many.
I'll put my rankings together in the next post.
