Like pretty well half the planet, I tuned into Survivor last night. What a let-down. I was rooting for Tina all along and at the end, Colby's surprising vote against Keith (to keep Tina in the game) really changed my mind about him. Colby was a real gentleman and a straight-shooter. And he really was the more deserving one of the final two, having won a slew of immunity challenges that were physical, mental and emotional tests of character. I think people voted for the nicest person, but not the most deserving one. But Tina's surprising victory really says a lot about the power of interpersonal intelligence. I mean, here's a person who won no challenges (except, possibly, for the one she gave to Keith) but who managed to stay out there and visible and contribute to the group through positive leadership and unwavering teammanship. And she made it through that incredibly gruelling Darwinian process without managing to offend anybody. That's quite an achievement. Call it the victory of the nice, I guess. Almost seemed too nice to be true at times.

But the real disappointment was the way they waited to announce the results until people got back. They built up all that momentum only to ruin it with the change of scenery for the final results and with the Sears catalogue-type makeover they gave to the final two. Both looked infinitely more interesting and attractive when they were all scruffy and smelly in the Outback. Add that to the cheap'n cheezy styrofoam Tribal Council set and it was just so contrived, it bugged me to no end.

End of rant.