Stephenie Disappoints

By Rich Glanzer

It was probably the most disappointing Survivor moment in the history of the show. Stephenie, truly the last Ulong member still standing, standing no more, as she dove into the ocean, choosing slices of pizza over glory.

When Stephenie flew off her perch into the ocean, she wasn’t just giving up immunity, she gave up a chance to show Koror, that they can take her tribemates, but they can never take away her competitiveness, or her pride. But it appears the Koror tribe did just that.

Make no mistake about it, before last nights episode, Stephenie was the strongest woman ever to play the game. She was fiercely competitive, and though her team almost always lost, it was rarely her fault. She normally not only held her own, but excelled. That’s why it was so disappointing to see that she would choose pizza over fight.

However that wasn’t the only time she failed during the show. Ulong got their collective butts kicked. Stephenie knew that. But when that note was read, claiming how Koror vanquished Ulong, where was her embarrassment? She was a key member of the worst tribe in Survivor history, and all she could do is smile and put on a Koror headband? Of course you have to be political there, but you don’t when you’re doing your private interviews. And all she did in that interview was smile and say how glad she was to be rid of Ulong. This was clearly the case of if you can’t beat them, join them.

And Ulong never beat Koror when it counted. Yet Stephenie, who claims to be a fierce athlete, committed one of the biggest athletic sins of all time. In hockey, you don’t touch the Stanley Cup if you never won it. It’s not yours to touch. You didn’t earn it. And Stephenie didn’t earn the right to touch the team immunity idol. But when she put her hands on it, it only made sense that pizza would become her first priority.

A real competitor would have still been on that log. Had Stephenie been a real competitor, she would have wanted to show Koror, that she could beat her new tribemates, all by herself. Everyone at Koror has tasted victory. Stephenie had that chance. Instead, she tasted pizza.

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I complain a lot in these articles, and I’m normally very hard on Jeff Probst. But the reason I’m so hard on him, is because of how good he could be. And last night, the best game show host ever (though Donald Trump is quickly catching up) reminded us why he has that title. He sat down in that lounging chair, and said this could be awhile. Afterall, wasn’t it around 10 hours when Tina, Keith, and Alicia were up in Survivor 2? But he made sure to mention that when everyone but Tom chose food over immunity, that it would be the last meal for someone.

Then the way he handled Stephanie was brilliant. He knew Stephanie was a competitor. He knew Stephanie had a fire in her belly. And probably much like the viewing audience, he couldn’t understand why she chose pizza over immunity. And he grilled her on it, and she gave a great answer. That it would be one of her biggest regrets in her life, if she had been eliminated.

Back to the complaining. What happened to Coby? He was great. He fought every stereotype of a gay man. He battled, and won almost every challenge he was in. I thought he was the favorite going into the merge. But after three weeks, it appeared he had too much. He accomplished what he wanted to accomplish. Too bad he didn’t want to win like Tom wants to win. Because if he had, he wouldn’t have given up his chance of winning, for two donuts.

I’ll end with this. There have been many different types of players to play Survivor. But my favorite will always be the guy or girl that stands on that pole the longest. Because it shows they want it the most. Go Tom Go. You deserve it.

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