This is going to be a rare post for me because reviewing reality TV is like reporting high school gossip, the only people who care are the ones who watch it, or are involved with it. So why today? Why this episode? Well something happened Wednesday night that in 21 seasons has never happened before. Allow me to elaborate. Even if you don't watch survivor you should know that you are going to have to go through hell for the opportunity to win $1 million. You're going to have to starve yourself, push yourself to the limit mentally and physically, and be completely willing to backstab someone you have come to know and respect.
In the most recent episode of Survivor 2 cast members, Naonka and "Purple" Kelly quit the show. This has never happened before. Survivors quitting has happened, at least 4 or 5 times, but never 2 in one season, let alone one episode. Granted it was pouring rain, they had just burned their supply of food and their tarp (their fault, this season features some phenomenally dumb people) and they were miserable. But there were only 9 people and 11 days left, and both of the castaways who quit had a real chance to make it to the end because Naonka is insufferable (a somewhat positive trait in Survivor, you want to keep the people nobody likes around, so when you get to the end they vote for you and not them), and Purple Kelly who was helpless (also a positive trait, jury members are less likely to give someone who rode coat tails $1 million, making it easier to advance). I was floored, in the past when someone quit it was usually because there was a sick family member at home and they wanted to be with them. Never because they were tired and wet. Fellow castaway Benry said it best when he said "You signed up for Survivor, which is played in the rain forest. You didn't expect to be wet and cold?"
It was not nearly as easy as both of them just saying "oh, we quit, see you later". They told host Jeff Probst after a challenge of their intentions (two separate thought processes, these two didn't really talk much) and he actually yelled at them. In the shows humble beginnings Jeff was merely an observer. He would say who was winning, report important decisions etc etc. Some where around season 10 he became a motivator, trying to get everything he could out of participants. Now he pretty much just yells at them to "DIG DEEP! THIS COULD BE A $1 MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE!"So when these two said they wanted to quit, he scolded them for a good 5 minutes, and got everyone else to participate in ripping them to shreds, then he told them to wait on their decision until tribal council. At tribal council when they both actually did quit he completely infantilized them. "What should we do with your [symbolic] torch? I don't think we should put it out, because you quit. What do you do with a quitters torch?" He decided to not let them keep the torch, a memento every Survivor usually gets to keep. Let 'em have it Probst! Here's a link to Probst's blog where he talks about some Survivor precedent.
Another funny part was watching all the other cast members pretend to care that these two were quitting. Their odds immediately went from 1-9 to 1-7 in one evening, and the game is for $1 million, so would you care? Whenever Jeff asked them opinions about the quitters they always hemmed and hawwed "My mother didn't raise me to be a quitter" or "I tell my daughter to suck it up", instead of just saying I hope you quit so I can win easier. Side note, one member of the jury actually cried. Hilarious.
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