Survivor, a season in review

This season of Survivor was one of the most pleasantly surprising that I've watched. I don't think it was as good as last season's ethnic division theme, with dominating performances by Yul and Ozzie, possibly two of the best players Survivor has ever seen. But I went into this season not expecting much. After watching the finale last night, I have to say that it's now among my favorites.

To me there are three reasons why this season is great: 1) the twists the producers put in, 2) Yau-Man, and 3) Dreamz. The twists were all amazing, particularly the adding of two immunity idols, and the fact that if you wanted to play it you had to do so after the votes but before them being read. This change in rules was the catalyst for the greatest single episode of Survivor that's been aired (if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's too bad, it would take way too long to explain).

However, none of these twists would have stood for much if it weren't for Yau-Man, the wise and clever elder, and Dreamz, the young buck with a very skewed sense of reality. Yau's scheming, alliances, and surprising challenge victories made it look like he was a shoe-in to win this season. But Dreamz-- who rattled on and on about integrity and being a good role model for his son-- betrayed him (as Yau thought he might, which is why he made the truck deal in the first place) at the very end, snatching his victory away.

Without the Disneyland-ish tribal council and all the challenges, this season could be the basis for a fantastic, classic book. Earl would be the main character, the young grasshopper with talent who is taken in my his wise mentor Yau. But the villified Dreamz comes in and kills his master so Earl has to go on by himself and get vengeance and the booty. You get the idea.

The big question for me though is, is Dreamz really a bad guy? Yau seems to think he's a smart young man who needs to get some discipline and priorities. The show depicts him as across the boards unpredictable, unreliable, and untrustworthy. Jeff Probst seems to like him. In the made-up book, Dreamz would be a sympathetic bad guy. He has a rough history and personality that endear people but everything is does is wrong. My guess is that Dreamz could be a good guy, but he doesn't have a good sense of ethics. He also doesn't seem to have a grasp of the consequences of his actions. Which, in the end, make him a bad guy. He may be charming, but he's not the kind of person that I'd want to be friends with. I'd never trust him. Maybe some day he'll figure all this out, but for now, I do think he's the villain.