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The Inky's blog

Posts 113 posts

WINNER #44 - NATHAN & TYLER (THE AMAZING RACE AUSTRALIA) Feb 23, 2013
imageI will admit that most of the Australian winners got a slight boost more than they should have mostly in part due to jingoism on my part, so these technically should have been out ages ago. However, I'll just power onwards and let my writeup do the talking.

The season overall had its problems, mainly its ridiculously lopsided boot order. The biggest pulls of the season went home in 10th place, the villains went home in 9th, the funniest team went home in 8th, and the most dramatic teams went home in 7th/6th. The final five was all sorts of weird. I liked Paul and Kelly, but they were a bit subdued by their final episodes. Matt and Tom were basically Jet and Cord but Australian, so I wasn't rooting for them on principle even though they had the best chance of winning. Luke and Jeff are the very definition of devoid of entertainment (and the son didn't even take his shirt off that often, making him a complete waste of space), while Sam & Renae were basically one of my favourite female teams ever. They played the underdog angle so well, and even though they could have easily won the finale had they known their flags, I'm still moderately okay with Nathan and Tyler winning.

Nathan and Tyler are basically your average alpha male team that ran a good race with only a few hiccups here and there, and went on to win almost uncontested in the finale. I never exactly rooted for them, but I never rooted against them either, since they weren't douchey or cliquey or anything like that. They were just a bit boring. Not much to say about them really,

...this writeup feels shorter than it should. Here, take some pictures:

http://cdn.trendhunterstatic.com/thumbs/philosophical-fashion.jpeg
http://www.i.thefashionisto.com/2011/4/platos-muse4.jpg
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4mxcgsR5k1qlt4aco1_500.jpg
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6dkk24eSw1qk4yt1o2_1280.jpg
http://data.whicdn.com/images/45464653/tumblr_lzlfqmdfbg1qcqaabo1_500_large.jpg

Does that make up for it?

#44. Nathan & Tyler (The Amazing Race Australia 1)
#45. Kimberly Spradlin (Survivor: One World)
#46. Steven Cowles (The Mole US 1)
#47. Chris & Alex (The Amazing Race 2)
#48. Brian Heidik (Survivor: Thailand)
#49. Nick & Starr (The Amazing Race 13)
#50. Dan & Jordan (The Amazing Race 16)
#51. Heather (Total Drama World Tour)
#52. Jenna Morasca (Survivor: The Amazon)
#53. Tammy & Victor (The Amazing Race 14)
#54. Jamie Brooksby (Big Brother Australia 2006)
#55. Amber Mariano (Survivor: All-Stars)
#56. Casey Donovan (Australian Idol 2)
#57. Guy Sebastian (Australian Idol 1)
#58. Tyler & James (The Amazing Race 10)
#59. Meghan & Cheyne (The Amazing Race 15)
#60. Yul Kwon (Survivor: Cook Islands)
#61. Owen (Total Drama Island)
#62. Eric & Danielle (The Amazing Race All-Stars)
#63. Freddy & Kendra (The Amazing Race 6)

Next winner are statistically the best in their series.
Points: 26 6 comments
WINNER #45 - KIMBERLY SPRADLIN (SURVIVOR) Feb 23, 2013
imageI contemplated putting her higher as a sign of diplomacy, since Kim is a still such a divisive subject and I'm afraid I'd get lynched on here, but then I realized she's as far away from Brian Heidik as she needs to be.

Kim's victory, as the show was airing, became a black hole of extremism from which nobody could ever escape no matter how much of an opinion on Kim they DIDN'T have. People were finally happy to see a younger woman who not only didn't have to rely on her looks and beauty to get by in the game, but also got a good edit. Never mind Danni and Sophie had done the same thing before her, this time a woman got screentime! Kim was that person, and at the time she did win fan favourite for a reason - people loved her.

But as time went on, her win amongst the more intelligent and less vapid of the fanbase sort of just...well, plummeted from extreme adoration to extreme apathy. Nobody was cheering for her anymore, so nobody had a reason to like her.

What's my stance on Kim Spradlin? It is, and will always be, complete and utter neutrality. She's basically a female Brian Heidik, who controlled the game so freaking eerily well, had everything go her way all the time every time. She got people to play against each other. She got people to go against their own best interests SIMPLY BECAUSE SHE WANTED THEM TOO. She managed to vote out every single member of her alliance with only one of them being bitter about it to her (and Troyzan was destined to always be bitter, honestly). This woman played an extremely dominant game, and at the time deserved all the overhype she got, because as a player she was amazing.

...but as a character, non-existant. She was boring, let's be honest. The people who like her and think she's interesting as a character probably also think Yul is interesting, and those people I really don't care for. Going into the finale, I knew she was going to win, but I had hoped that Christina or Sabrina could randomly pull out a win (even though Christina had no shot because she inspires the most bitter forms of hate in everybody for no particular reason, whilst Sabrina was basically a narrator). I was pretty satisfied at her winning only because I did like at the time seeing someone so amazingly competant at Survivor, though.

(Speaking of One World, you know what else is weird? I remember people explicitly putting this season in their Top 10, even Top 5 in some cases, yet when I bring it up to these people or mention it in public, nobody remembers doing so. I know I'm not going crazy - this just must be the power of the hype backlash).

#45. Kimberly Spradlin (Survivor: One World)
#46. Steven Cowles (The Mole US 1)
#47. Chris & Alex (The Amazing Race 2)
#48. Brian Heidik (Survivor: Thailand)
#49. Nick & Starr (The Amazing Race 13)
#50. Dan & Jordan (The Amazing Race 16)
#51. Heather (Total Drama World Tour)
#52. Jenna Morasca (Survivor: The Amazon)
#53. Tammy & Victor (The Amazing Race 14)
#54. Jamie Brooksby (Big Brother Australia 2006)
#55. Amber Mariano (Survivor: All-Stars)
#56. Casey Donovan (Australian Idol 2)
#57. Guy Sebastian (Australian Idol 1)
#58. Tyler & James (The Amazing Race 10)
#59. Meghan & Cheyne (The Amazing Race 15)
#60. Yul Kwon (Survivor: Cook Islands)
#61. Owen (Total Drama Island)
#62. Eric & Danielle (The Amazing Race All-Stars)
#63. Freddy & Kendra (The Amazing Race 6)

Next winner is from an Australian adaptation of an American show.
Points: 23 3 comments
WINNER #46 - STEVEN COWLES (THE MOLE) Feb 23, 2013
imageI love The Mole. It's such an ingenius show, and I'm so glad that it's being rebooted in Australia, because it's such a simple game at first but so complicated once you understand simple human psychology. This is perhaps the only series I've ever purposefully avoided spoilers on for both the winner and the mole, since it's one of those experiences I need to fully live out - looking up who wins and who the mole is spoils everything for me.

That being said, I was accidentally told who The Mole was before the season aired, so the whole game for me was figuring out who was going to win. Obviously, I was rooting for Jim, because I was basically in love with him. He was funny, good looking, gay, basically almost everything I look for in a Survivor contestant. The whole time I was cheering for him to win, and the finale was one of those experiences where I felt so into wanting him to win that Stephen snatching the win out from under him was extremely devastating. I almost felt how I did when David was eliminated in Big Brother Australia 2006.

Steven, on the other hand? Well, he was pretty good at the game. His friendship with Jim mostly pushed him up, because it was basically the second time in an American reality show where a straight guy was friends with a gay guy and no big deal was made out of it in-universe. They had such a genuine bromance, and it's good to see that they both made the final two. Steven's finale performance was pretty cool, as he blatantly sabotaged one of the final tasks to throw confusion into the mix, and even though I wasn't cheering for him to win, I'm glad he won.

The question remains though - will The Mole 2 be as epic as this season was? I'll let you know what I think of it when I watch it.

#46. Steven Cowles (The Mole US 1)
#47. Chris & Alex (The Amazing Race 2)
#48. Brian Heidik (Survivor: Thailand)
#49. Nick & Starr (The Amazing Race 13)
#50. Dan & Jordan (The Amazing Race 16)
#51. Heather (Total Drama World Tour)
#52. Jenna Morasca (Survivor: The Amazon)
#53. Tammy & Victor (The Amazing Race 14)
#54. Jamie Brooksby (Big Brother Australia 2006)
#55. Amber Mariano (Survivor: All-Stars)
#56. Casey Donovan (Australian Idol 2)
#57. Guy Sebastian (Australian Idol 1)
#58. Tyler & James (The Amazing Race 10)
#59. Meghan & Cheyne (The Amazing Race 15)
#60. Yul Kwon (Survivor: Cook Islands)
#61. Owen (Total Drama Island)
#62. Eric & Danielle (The Amazing Race All-Stars)
#63. Freddy & Kendra (The Amazing Race 6)

Next winner is basically a distaff counterpart of one of the earlier entries.
Points: 15 3 comments
WINNER #47 - CHRIS & ALEX (THE AMAZING RACE) Feb 23, 2013
imageThe TAR winners are going to die down eventually, but the fact that there's more of them on this list than Survivor winners will probably mean there'll be more of them represented.

Anyway, these guys. Some people look at them and declare them the same as previous season winners Rob/Brennan, mainly because they're two young athletic guys who ended up winning over an older somewhat villainous couple. In all actuality, they're not that much the same.

The second season of The Amazing Race is an interesting thing to watch, mainly due to the fact that seeing them all recoil from the first season and try and shape their strategies after it is a show unto itself. There were a bunch of teams to root for this season, all with different stories and tactics, but...well, unfortunately, Chris and Alex weren't one of them.

Their most defining characteristics were the fact that they were dumb muscleheads with thick Boston accents who survived several close shaves over the course of the race. That, and the fact that they were dragged to the end by an alliance with Tara/Wil, aka the first real villains of the show. They were incredibly horrible people, not just to each other but to other teams as well. They don't look that bad in hindsight, hell they just look like plain ugly Americans comparatively, but at the time I watched I could tell nobody was rooting for them.

In the finale, they managed to get to San Fransisco, ie ANOTHER CITY WHERE THE OLDER COUPLE FINALISTS HAD AN ADVANTAGE ahead of them, but by the time they got to the finish line Chris and Alex had caught up, and in the most memorable finish in the entire series (or even second to TAR7) Chris and Alex ran by an ailing Tara and a desperate Will to finish the race in first place, winning the one million dollars...while the team everybody was cheering for finished a few minutes later in 3rd place, and the other team people loved were eliminated two legs earlier in 4th place.

It's not that they're a bad unlikeable team, since I'm a sucker for a Boston accent (Amy O'Hara < 3), but I wasn't exactly cheering for them to win most of the season. Them winning over Tara/Will was the better of two evils though, and of course without them winning the second season the next season, one of the best seasons ever, would never be the same.

#47. Chris & Alex (The Amazing Race 2)
#48. Brian Heidik (Survivor: Thailand)
#49. Nick & Starr (The Amazing Race 13)
#50. Dan & Jordan (The Amazing Race 16)
#51. Heather (Total Drama World Tour)
#52. Jenna Morasca (Survivor: The Amazon)
#53. Tammy & Victor (The Amazing Race 14)
#54. Jamie Brooksby (Big Brother Australia 2006)
#55. Amber Mariano (Survivor: All-Stars)
#56. Casey Donovan (Australian Idol 2)
#57. Guy Sebastian (Australian Idol 1)
#58. Tyler & James (The Amazing Race 10)
#59. Meghan & Cheyne (The Amazing Race 15)
#60. Yul Kwon (Survivor: Cook Islands)
#61. Owen (Total Drama Island)
#62. Eric & Danielle (The Amazing Race All-Stars)
#63. Freddy & Kendra (The Amazing Race 6)

Next winner is from a series that hasn't been on this list yet.
Points: 26 3 comments
WINNER #48 - BRIAN HEIDIK (SURVIVOR) Feb 23, 2013
imageThailand used to be hated, but it's received a lot of nostalgic love recently. I myself could never really get into it, since I found it a bit hard to get into. However, there are certain characters within Thailand that usually define what you think of it. Robb Zbacnik. Shii-Ann Huang. Helen Glover. Clay Jordan. And the lord and master of playing Survivor himself, Mister Brian Heidik.

I think it's probably no coincidence that they've never recruited or cast another used car salesman for Survivor again, since Brian proved that they can and will play Survivor to the best of their ability and they WILL own every single person out there, regardless of age, gender, socio-economic status or political views. Brian Heidik controlled the game better than any winner up to that point, and I'd dare say he remains one of the best in-control winners up to this point in the series.

...but then again, I found it really hard to enjoy that last time I watched because he was so freaking slimey. It was pretty damn uncomfortable to watch someone play so good, because not only was all suspense sucked out of the season, but he played it /too/ good. Watching people be unknowingly lead to the slaughter was unnerving on a number of levels, especially with Helen because she's such a badass. There were a bunch of comments he made all season that were like "Uh, did he really just say that?" that I caught onto, and it sort of dragged his stock down a bit.

I'm just gonna say this - Brian Heidik truly is a lord and master of Survivor, and if he was ever invited back (which lol he won't be because porn/puppies) he would win it effortlessly a second time. However, does the fact that he played a fantastic game fully exclude the fact that he's a pretty slimy guy who sucked a bit of suspense out of the season thanks to being so competant? I don't think so.

#48. Brian Heidik (Survivor: Thailand)
#49. Nick & Starr (The Amazing Race 13)
#50. Dan & Jordan (The Amazing Race 16)
#51. Heather (Total Drama World Tour)
#52. Jenna Morasca (Survivor: The Amazon)
#53. Tammy & Victor (The Amazing Race 14)
#54. Jamie Brooksby (Big Brother Australia 2006)
#55. Amber Mariano (Survivor: All-Stars)
#56. Casey Donovan (Australian Idol 2)
#57. Guy Sebastian (Australian Idol 1)
#58. Tyler & James (The Amazing Race 10)
#59. Meghan & Cheyne (The Amazing Race 15)
#60. Yul Kwon (Survivor: Cook Islands)
#61. Owen (Total Drama Island)
#62. Eric & Danielle (The Amazing Race All-Stars)
#63. Freddy & Kendra (The Amazing Race 6)

Next winner won in the closest finish in the series.
Points: 25 1 comments
pop perfection Feb 19, 2013
while I work on my next winner thingy, let us all bask in the glory of what is perhaps an almost perfect song:

Points: 12 0 comments