How exciting was the Survivor finale, and the season as a whole? It started off like it was a sure thing, but twist after swerve after blindside left me feeling like an adrenaline junkie. Whereas the first two seasons offered more dramatic gravitas (comparatively) like vintage West Wing, Pearl Islands was the Alias of Survivor. Enough of the analogies and on to the postgame.

I have to give props to Jon for his various strategies and contingencies, and if the context were different -- say, in a wrestling ring -- I'd root for the jerk. But while he was probably the best player out of the total 16, he wasn't the playa he thought he was, else he would have made the final two. I was surprised at how inoffensive his jury question turned out to be -- heading into the final vote, he said that he'd ask a doozy and there would be much blood-letting. In fact, he let both Sandra and Lil off easy. Do I smell the hand of the producers?

Lil didn't deserve the lambasting she got from the jury (and from Savage and Ryano at the reunion) just because she wore something that would suggest that she'd always be forthcoming. They eventually got burnt by someone who was (finally) playing the game, and if you're naive and short-sighted enough to think that someone will be a pushover just because of her uniform, then you deserve to get voted off. (Case in point: Jon never complained about Lil's uniform in conjunction with her lying.) If anything, Lil should have played up the Scouts angle; then again, this is Lil we're talking about.

Sandra! I thought she was a little weird and childish for being behind Fishgate and the ultimately aborted Hidethetoolsgate, but seeing how competently she handled the jury won me over. I'm damn happy/satisfied she won.

Darrah is as smart as she is exciting. She had her chance to make it into the final three: Lil asks her if Darrah would take her, Darrah says yes, putting out that potential fire. Meanwhile, D goes to Sandra to make as strong a pact as possible that those two will be final two. The official decision among the three women would be to boot Jon that night. On to the endurance challenge, be the first to drop out, putting the onus on the remaining two to win the immunity. If Sandra wins, she'd honor the agreement and pick D since in her mind, Lil was as good as unbeatable. If Lil wins, she'd pick D because she'd feel obliged to. In either case, whoever ends up in the jury would more likely to vote for Darrah. Jury Lil would to continue honoring the final two agreement that didn't pan out; actually, I don't know about Sandra, it'd be a jury-time decision. Still, a fairly good plan.

Shawn's head looks like a fat banana.

I was right about Rupert still smarting about Lil's betrayal, which isn't too surprising given his admission that he's still the little fat kid who got picked on. Having built a seemingly solid relationship with Lil then getting outmaneuvered by the bloc she voted with sent Rupert into that bad place again, and it was clear he wasn't going to get over that betrayal soon.

Christa is still cool. I loved how her jury question was just giving Sandra an opportunity to brag. What favoritism?

Savage came off as self-important bore in the reunion who, despite being an attorney, failed to come off as articulate or that sharp -- unless the latter was an act to save face for his disappointing finish.

RyanO's double-standard made me glad he was gone (ditto Savage).

Tijuana's rational for voting for Lil actually made sense to me (after she explained it at the reunion). Unlike Savage, she came off much better in the reunion.

The rest of the rest: whatever.

As for the All-Star edition, assuming that it's 16 contestants and that a minimum of one from each season will be on it, but none who eventually won, here are the peeps I'd love most to see (no way I'm picking a full 16 though):

Pulau Tiga
Rudy -- Absolute no-brainer, if he's not on, I will cry foul.
Greg -- I like savvy weirdness. I doubt Mark Burnett & Co. agree with me though. Same goes with the two other cuties, Jenna and Colleen.

Australia
"Mad Dog" Maralyn -- see Rudy.
Elisabeth -- All time cutiest cutie, but since she's currently gigging on The View while the shooting for All Stars is going on, a total pipe dream. Colby would be my realistic pick, though if I'm in a villainous mood, Jerri.

Africa
Kelly -- The second worst season. Local boy Lex got power mad, and so Kelly is the default winner. Unfortunately, they'll probably go with Big Tom.

Marquesas
Gabriel -- Most apathy-inducing of all Survivors. By the time I started watching this season, he was already on the outs, so I'd like to see in full his radical utopian ideas.
Kathy -- She was a player who just barely missed winning it all.
Sarah -- For purely prurient interests.

Thailand
Helen -- see Kathy, though not as strategically sound. And mostly humorous.
Erin -- see Sarah, except she was actually a good, hard worker.

Amazon
Dave -- the guy version of Kathy and Helen whose physical presence was a lot more threatening, which led to his ouster.