#16: Friends vs. Favorites (Season 12, November - December 2013)
Winner: Oliver L./Leli14 (5-4-1)
Wiki page: http://bitly.com/1pw33KZ
From the season other people like more than me, to the season I like more than other people. Friends vs. Favourites was my take on a Blood vs. Water-esque concept, with ten faves bundled up together, each joined by one friend which they picked themselves. I think this season gets a bit of a bad rep, as it is actually a decent, fun season. But it has been outdone by others I think.
Pre-merge was actually alright. Pre-swap the Friends dominated first for two days, before losing two challenges and having to go to Tribal themselves. This resulted in a tribe swap, which is when things got interesting with the inclusion of the duos. First came Tyler's (TylerKeith) blindside at the hands of duo Raphael (smiley20) and Oliver (Leli14), with the Odd Necklace twist saving newbie Ashley (Bootsi). This majorly pissed of Chris (Gaiaphage), and made Raphael and Oliver immediate targets. The next tribal was just as exciting, as fan fave Tim (Tipster), one of the most entertaining players I have ever had, was pre-merged when his rivalry with Chris came to a head, as Chris and Joe (flamingjoe) allied up took out their fellow Favorite Tim, by joining the Friends in voting him, while Tim and Jack (JETTE) went for Lynette (Lynette), who quickly followed after Tim. The pre-merge wrapped up with the Mandalay tribe taking out another Favorite, Anthony (Bones0227).They then merged, equal on Friends and Favourites 6-6 (YET ANOTHER equal merge).
The early merge is the part of the season where people's judgements on the season began to form, as mixed opinions arose when three out of the six merged Favorites exited back-to-back as the first three jurors, in an "all threats must go" purge. It began as Raphael and Oliver trying to defend themselves and build up a trustworthy alliance, as their bold moves had made their partnership clear to all. They were seen as a dangerous pairing. However they hoped that a four-person alliance with Will (SurvivorFan37) and Ryan (wangifold) would hold, with Will bringing his partner Renny (TheRenny) in too. However Will wasn't all for this. He decided he didn't want to be stuck with Raphael and Oliver, as they were too obviously going to use Ryan (a free agent whose Friend departed pre-merge) to take them out when necessary. Instead, a new deal arose between three pairs - Joe and Pepper, Jack and Ashley, plus Will and Renny, who saw this as a much better idea than bothering with Raphael, Oliver and Ryan. Wildcard individuals Josh (MrOrange890) and James (splozojames50) joined them, also viewing Raphael as a big threat. In the end, even Oliver saw the tide was turning away, and to protect himself, voted for his own ally, Raphael (it's our equivalent of Ciera voting out her mom - but our Ciera actually won!). With his ally gone, Oliver's best strategy at that moment was to fade out into the background for a while. Keep himself hidden in the majority, which he then joined after voting out his own friend. With this large group alliance, consisting of the three remaining pairs at the helm put their sights on Chris, taking him out next before he could do any more damage. Then the alliance became complicated, as Jack made himself puppeteer, wanting the other two pairs still in the game gone, so it was just him and his friend Ashley left. So, Jack lead the charge on removing the duos of Joe & Pepper, and Will & Renny, who became the next four to go. Jack had successfully used the less threatening wildcards with no partners (Oliver, Josh, James, Ryan) to make himself and Ashley the last pair in the game. They were well on the way to Final Three after Josh was voted out, with only two votes to go, until they were stopped dead in their tracks when their attempt to get challenge beast James out resulted in him playing an idol, and creating a 1-1 tie between the last pair, Jack and Ashley. Jack was set to go home, until Ashley asked them to spare his partner and vote him out in a shock move, resulting in Ashley departing in the re-vote.
Jack's final move was to take out James after he lost the final challenge, as revenge for his partners demise, leading to a Final Three of Jack, Oliver and Ryan. After ignoring Ryan completely, the Jury then bashed Jack for his villainous moves, in particular the betrayal of the alliance of three pairs. They instead praised Oliver for surviving, infiltrating and hiding in the shadows of the majority after Raphael's demise at the start of the merge. However, some couldn't give him votes as they felt he hadn't done enough to warrant it, so instead voted for Jack. The end result? A 4-4-1 tie between Jack and Oliver, solved by the 13th place tiebreaker vote by Anthony for... Oliver! Crowing him the winner.
Strategically I felt it was a decent season. The dynamics were fascinating and led to something unique, like the pairs alliance. However, the key problem everyone has, is in the likability of the characters. In particular the fact that the most likeable people left early, seen in the triple boot of Raphael, Chris and Joe at the start of the merge. Three very likeable people knocked off one after another, followed by Pepper and Renny - probably two of the best newbies on the season - and then Will. The six most likeable merged castaways were the first six people BOOTED at the merge. The Final Three wasn't the most likeable either. Ryan was not even relevant, a few but not enough people supported Oliver, and you either loved or hated Jack for his moves and at times cheesy/forced confessionals. That does not contribute to a season people are going to love, especially when, at the heart of it, the same group dominated the merge from beginning to end, with Jack using the wildcards to pull off the blindsides from the original group of big threat eliminators.
But for me, the concept of Friends vs. Favorites led to a different kind of season. It was something different and unique because of the pre-existing relationships, like Chris and Tyler's #StonerKeith. We saw Oliver betray his friend Raphael to get into the majority and come out the victor. We saw Ashley sacrifice his game to get Jack to the Final Three. THAT is why I like this season. But, for the majority, it's a meh season with some good moments, which lacks any truly rootable characters after the final seven.
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LEVEL OF STRATEGY: 3 out of 5.
Despite there being no true power shifts, this season gets middle of the road for me on strategy, due to the alliances and decisions made because of the unique Friends vs. Favorites idea. Key strategists who made the merge included Jack, James, Raphael, Chris and Renny.
ENTERTAINING/LIKEABLE PLAYERS: 3 out of 5
This season is also middle of the road on the likeable players aspect, because it HAD those likeable players. Will, Tim, Raphael, Chris, Anthony. They all made for a good laugh and good fun during the pre-merge and early merge until were all gone. If the finals would have been full of people mentioned above with a few others, this season would be much better respected by the viewing community.
BLINDSIDES/DRAMA/SHOCKS: 3 out of 5
This season could be considered the best so far in this ranking in terms of blindsides, Tyler's boot, Tim's boot, Joe's boot, Ashley's boot (one of the true shocks of the game). It had it's fair share of great votes. However, there is even more to come than that for blindsides and shocks, and the generally unshifting post-merge does keep this capped in the middle.
SATISFYING CONCLUSION: 2 out of 5
I can't give it higher than a two for the conclusion. The Final Three were not the most likeable in the game for a long shot, and it wasn't hard to have dislike to the whole finale group. It would have hit the three if Jack had become a strategic villain winner, however Oliver's social win was just about satisfying enough, if still disappointing (sorry Oliver!).
VIEWER RECEPTION: 3 out of 5
This season got an mixed reception from the viewers. A few people have a strong dislike for the season as the early exits of the most likeable characters made it, in their minds, uninteresting. Luckily I think most people respect it for what it is as a general different feel of season with interesting dynamics and some decent blindsides.
TOTAL SCORE: 14 out of 25 (Grade: Why wasn't Sackeshi in this?)
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SEASON HIGHLIGHT(S):
- Everyone gangs up on Raphael and takes him out, while Oliver betrays him too to infiltrate the majority.
- Ashley sacrifices her game for partner Jack after James' idol causes a 1-1 tie.
STANDOUT PLAYER:
Jack. A relatively compelling villain for most, who successfully squashed the other merged pairs to make it to the Final Three, only to lose by one vote.
SUM-UP:
This season and East Timor are those in-the-middle seasons where you either like it or you don't. You see the good or you see the bad. And I saw much good with this season, while others became uninterested. I liked the idea and thought it was a good Tengaged take on the Blood vs. Water theme, and the evidence of the concept is present throughout the season.
Who knows, maybe the Friends vs. Favorites concept will return?
Maybe soon.
Maybe very soon.
HINT FOR NEXT POSITION:
We are now heading into good season territory :o
A season (not) with sixteen castaways.
STILL IN THE RUNNING:
Saint Lucia
Brazil
Jordan
All-Stars
Caicos Islands
Brunei
Vietnam
Occultus Island
Moral vs. Merciless
Cursed Hand
Reclamation
Second Chances
Jan Mayen
Bingo vs. Suitman
Allies vs. Adversaries
I don't understand the love for pre-merge, the first four votes were just getting rid of inacts. Post-merge was pretty fun though. Jack is an underrated player.
I never really liked FvF.. I found it kind of boring :P. Overall im shocked a 16 person season is next. All the ones left where better then a few of the remaning ones
OMG I CRIED WHEN YOU CALLED ME ONE OF YOUR MOST ENTERTAINING PLAYERS EVER.
Ugh that's such a compliment. TY!!!
And lol @ "(Tipster)" oh and you forgot to mention I was blindsided with an IDOL IN MY POCKET. Ugh this was easily one of my most frustrating eliminations in the history of all group games i've ever played.
#16: Friends vs. Favorites (Season 12, November - December 2013)
The top twelve are all good seasons....
This will be intresting.