the end of the road! :(

I liked watching this season of Survivor, especially because I never would have found the time to watch the season on my own. Prior to this year I never followed an entire season of Survivor, so I don't know if it was the best yet or not. I liked it though.
Watching this show I learned the people of all ages are allowed the shot at a million dollars, but similar to Darwin's theory of "survival of the fittest," the prize is likely to go to a person who excels at the various challenges. I also realized that EQ played a role in competing on Survivor, more so than book smarts. The contestants live a primitive lifestyle for 39 days and have to depend mainly on their bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal and even intrapersonal intelligences.
This show is valuable to Psychology class because we applied our knowledge of psychology to describe the behaviors and personalities of the different contestants.
I liked the reunion show because it was nice to see everyone together again, and most of them forgave one another for events that occurred while they were on the show. It seems like many of them will be friends for a very long time.

Finale!!

1. I think Mick presented himself well, and he made it almost convincing that he had been more passionate about the game than it seemed throughout the season. Natalie was honest and charming with her speech; Russell's was honest as well, and he tried to appeal to the jury's logic by saying that Mick or Natalie should deserve the votes only if they had outwitted or outplayed him. I think his would have been more effective if the people on the jury were not so against him.

2. I loved what Eric had to say about Natalie. He gave her credit for the way she played and stated that her way was no less valuable than Russell's. I also found it interesting that Jaison suggested that the jury look to other criteria than monetary need when they were voting for the winner. Also, Kellie doubted that Russell could be a good person in real life when he lied, cheated and stole throughout the game. I see where she is coming from and I think it is a valid point to bring up, but I believe that Russell has a good heart in real life.

3. I feel that Russell would have deserved to win. However, Natalie deserved the win as well, for although she played with a completely different strategy than Russell, she made the right decisions along the way. She was more humble than Russell throughout, and was always a positive person for the others to be around. One of the biggest moves made by Foa Foa was to get rid of Erik, and that could not have been done without Natalie. Had Natalie not talked the Galu girls into voting off Erik, Foa Foa probably would not have prevailed.

4. I would have voted for Russell because I would hate to see him fail after he worked so hard to win the game. From the start he was completely focused on winning and even when the others wanted to give up or were just relaxing, he was always thinking of his next move.

Final Five

I think it would be a little challenging to separate emotions from the game because they could change the way you think.  However, it seems like she is going to be rational and still focus on winning rather than love.  Real friendships can definitely build in this environment, even though sometimes alliances have to be broken.  Once the game is over, the contestants will still have the memories they made and some of the friends they met over the 39 days, regardless of who won or did better.

As for what Shambo had to say, I am not sure if she was being serious or sarcastic.  Either way, she is not one to talk about being loyal to one's tribe because she clearly preferred the Foa Foa tribe members to her own tribe mates, and often voted with Russell.  In general, I don't think it really matters if you stay loyal to your tribe because there can be only one winner; you just have to do whatever it takes to win.

Moral dilemma

I think it is possible to form friendships with the other Survivor players, but that doesn't mean they can always trust each other on the show.  There can only be one winner, so ultimately it comes down to every person for themselves.  Once they have been voted off, they can forget about the competitive nature of the game and focus on the relationships they made; in Ponderosa they all seem to be better friends because there is little tension among them now that it is over for them.  

The nature of this game is to do whatever it takes to make yourself come out on top.  A promise is a promise, but it's a sign of weakness on Survivor to give away a secret that could later hurt you in the game.  You should be loyal to a certain extent so that other people will not resent you, but if you're in trouble and breaking that promise is the only way to save yourself, it's justifiable.  After all, this isn't real life... it's a game show.  You just have to do what it takes to win the game.

Going once.... going twice! ...... SOLD to the man wearing a chicken hat

I would have bought food (but only if I could see what it was) but if I felt that there was a chance that I would be the next one voted off, my priority would have been to buy immunity.  I feel really bad for Shambo because she spent a lot of money to get something that nobody would have actually wanted.  She's a trooper though so I think she could get over it.  John, on the other hand, was pretty selfish.  He had a choice of either getting a piece of apple pie for himself, or letting four other players have a piece instead.  Even though he spent his own money on it, there are multiple reasons why he should have chosen to share, such as: 1. to be nice, and 2. so that other people don't harbor resentment against him.

I'm pretty sure I would have bid on a shower because I can't even imagine how it would feel for going that long without being clean.  By getting refreshed and feeling clean, I would probably feel better about myself and be even more energized for the next challenge.  

Intelligence

Laura is very intelligent in the bodily/kinesthetic and interpersonal departments. In challenges she is agile and quick, probably the strongest girl where athletic ability is concerned. For example, in this episode she moved quickly and was very well-coordinated when putting the pieces into the puzzle.
Laura is helpful at the camp and does well in challenges, which make her get along well with her tribemates. She gets along so well with Kelly and Monica that she actually seems to have power over them, which helps her in the game. These traits demonstrate her interpersonal intelligence.
I think the most important intelligence in this game is interpersonal. You have to do your best in challenges and when working around the camp, but mostly you have to make good relationships with the other contestants so they are less likely to want you voted off. Russell has succeeded so far in the game because of his interpersonal intelligence, since it allows him to secretly control some of the people. Now that the tribes are pretty much equal (if Shambo is on Foa Foa's side) I don't think Galu is as strong. If Laura gets voted off, Galu will definitely be at a disadvantage in the future. However, I can kind of see her making it to the final round. I think Mick is perfectly capable of winning, as long as he stays focused and builds up his motivation to win it all.

The Merge!!!

I think now there will be a little less comeradery among the former tribes and each person will have more of an "every man for himself" attitude. Even though they are all one tribe, there are no teams anymore so each contestant has to compete against everyone else. When they vote people off, they will no longer be thinking in the best interest of the tribe and voting off the weakest; instead they will probably want to vote off the strongest in order to give themselves a better chance at winning Survivor.

After watching this episode, I think that for the most part, the Galu tribe has fully accepted the Foa Foa members into their tribe and are willing to take their opinions when it comes to voting people off. Erik was probably the exception, because he felt that the Foa Foa members had nothing to offer Galu; he was still competing against them even though everyone was one tribe now. When the other Galu members agreed to vote off Erik though, I think it showed that the other Galu members are not all out to get Foa Foa. I think some of the Foa Foa members still have a chance at getting far in this game, even though they are outnumbered right now. I guess we'll see....!