Lunch Lady Land

As I mentioned a few months ago, I started watched Survivor about half-way through its season after getting into it during my parents' visit at the end of October. Last night was its two-hour finale followed by a one-hour live reunion show.

About half-way through the show, I was hit with a memory of one of the most brilliant songs of all time: "Lunch Lady" by Adam Sandler. Why did I think of this song? Because of Woe-Is-Me Denise, one of the final four contestants on Survivor who is (was) a lunch lady in real life. If you want a great blast from the past (1996!), check out the video below. Don't be afraid to sing along, either. My dog was treated to "Sloppy Joe, Slop-Sloppy Joe!" mere moments ago and I'm sure he really enjoyed it.



OK, back to Survivor. If you don't want to be spoiled, stop reading now!

So I have to say that I was really annoyed by how everything went down in the finale. Amanda, who I honestly thought would win (up until her dismal performance at the final Tribal Council), was a complete IDIOT for voting off Denise rather than Todd. Todd is perhaps the smoothest talker in the show's history, and as soon as he was safe in the final three, his fate was sealed to win the million. Because he said all of the right things to the jury (including the hilarious faux-compliment to Jean Robert which achieved its purpose), whereas Amanda looked utterly defeated and was too apologetic and wishy-washy. People don't want to vote for someone who already acts like they've lost!

Which is exactly why Amanda should have kept Denise by her side. Whereas DENISE was confident that she would've won the million had she made it to the final three, I honestly don't think she would have--she would NOT have done well during the final tribal council against the quick-witted members of the jury, who never bonded with her in the first place. The game is about strategy... and simply assuming that people will vote for you because you have kids and only make $7 an hour is the WRONG approach. That's like going in to ask for a raise and telling your boss that you are maxed out on your credit cards so you really need the money, rather than telling him about all you've accomplished and why you're worth the extra bump in salary. I think if Amanda was sitting next to Denise during the final vote, she would've had more confidence in herself, made a better argument to plead her case, and would have won. Denise would have turned everyone off with her sob story, and Courtney was, as she admitted, just a tag-a-long. Courtney was also completely unrecognizable at the live finale--SO glad to see that girlfriend gained some weight! I could barely stand to look at her at only 86 pounds... that's just not right.

So when it was all over, I was really disappointed in the women of the final four. I wish that Peih Gee would have been in the final three, because Todd versus Peih Gee would've been awesome.

As for Todd, well, he deserved to win. Even though he looked like an evil elf, his foresight and strategery were incredible.

It was no surprise that James won the $100k "fan's favorite competitor" prize during the reunion hour, and I also knew that after Denise essentially blamed the show on live TV for causing her to lose her lunch lady job (she's now a janitor), that Mark Burnett would cough up some sympathy money ($50k) on the spot for her just to avoid protests by all of the Denise Sympathizers out there.

I dare say I will be tuning in for Season 16 in February. This time it's going to be "Super Fans vs. Favorites," which I think will be quite interesting. Since I haven't watched it in so long I probably won't know any of the "favorites" from the more recent seasons, but in the last few months I have been reminded of just what a good show Survivor can be when it has the right mix of people.

But since Lost is now going to be on Thursdays starting at the end of January, rest assured that that will still be my priority!

- e