Because the final episode went pretty much as planned, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mark Burnett for finally making the right decision. Thank you for allowing Jeff Probst to do the end of game interrogations. Jeff has developed a relationship with each of the Survivors that allows him to draw out more sincerity and honesty. Jeff actually made the reunion special more entertaining than the 2-hour finale. Jeff is the anchor to your show - and if he hasn't made $1 million off the show yet - give the dude his due. Oh yeah - Robb, the band Orgy stopped being cool two years ago - so at least give them the dignity of giving them their haircuts back. *zoinks*

Well, what can I say... after winding up as the only person on the panel to pick Clay over Brian, I was going to wind up either looking like a total fool or a genius. And you saw how that turned out.

Nevertheless, the better player did win Survivor: Thailand. Lord Brian truly did have dominion over his kingdom... his sheep... and he completely dictated the course of this game. His end game gambles almost caught up with him in the end... enough so that I hope some of you worried about your picks for Brian JUST a little bit... but he slipped through the fingers of the other contestants and into the lap of million dollar luxury and Survivor fame.

Note that I said better 'player' and NOT better man. In the process of winning the game, Brian cost himself the respect of pretty much everyone in the game. He appeared downright miserable for a guy who just won a million bucks during the reunion show. For all of the comparisons to Richard that he's received, one can't dispute that Rich was a gracious winner. Brian, on the other hand, still appears to be playing the role of Lord Brian... during the reunion show, the Early Show, his online chat. There's no fault in admiring Brian's gamesmanship in which he was masterful at executing his plan to fruition... but Brian 'The Person'? He's not someone I'd wanna get to know.

This past season has been avidly trashed by both the mainstream media and the devout Survivor fans at large... but it did have some positives which stand out in my mind.

CBS was willing to try new things to shake up the ruts in the show (optional tribal defections, delayed merge, mixing up Survivor challenge traditions). That shows an interest in keeping the franchise fresh even if many of the changes didn't fly or backfired.

The finale episode was an absolute joy to watch in spite of the leak of the game's Final 2 contestants earlier this month. The jury took their role seriously and Jeff didn't hesitate to involve himself in the game and truly delivered as the reunion show MC (which is a spot he should have had all along). The orchestral scoring for this season was the best yet. I loved Jeff Probst, Shii Ann, the 'merge swerve', Helen's singing, Magilla, the family gross food challenge (which was ingenious in concept) and Lord Brian's ALMOST comeuppance at the end of the show. And at least we could feel partially justified when Helen said she'd have voted for Clay in an instant after seeing how Brian had her duped the entire game.

What needs to be improved for Survivor: The Amazon?

Better casting: Poor casting almost crippled the show this go around as Burnett decided to choose contestants on the basis of what would make good television and wacky personalities as opposed to who wanted to actually PLAY the game and win the cash. I am sick of seeing people get selected for this show who want an adventure and who don't care about money. They never make good television and wind up as easy early boots. I can count the # of people who took risks in S5 to play the game and win on one hand: Brian, Clay, Jake and Shii Ann. Everyone else was either an under the radar spiteful sore loser, one of Brian's sacrificial loyal sheep or Robb.

Sook Jai may go down in Survivor history as the stupidest tribe the game has seen, however the Chewies were no prizes in the mental department, either. Ted was gullible. Ghandia was a nutjob. Helen was played like a violin. And Granny Janny didn't even seem to want to finish higher than 4th... no wonder Brian kept her around. Far far too many sheep for my liking.

Less formula: The show took bold strides this year to shake things up and it would have led to a much more engaging season had the casting not been so poor. Even so, it sounds like Burnett and company have more surprises in store for the cast of S6 and I think we really need an element of surprise in this game again. Screwing around with the conventional merge is a step in the right direction. Just try not to leak these twists in the game beforehand... which brings me to my next point.

Plug the leaks: Survivor's mystique and credibility have been tarnished the last two years due to outright revelations about the Final 2 contestants before the final episode airs. Spoilers and analysis have always thrived in the online Survivor fan community, however genuine LEAKS stick out like a sore thumb, undermine the fun in speculating a Survivor end game scenario in advance and totally derail fair competition in office pools and online games. Sure you can play ignorant and turn a blind eye to informative resources like The Trades to avoid being spoiled... and at least we've gotta get our picks in early so 11th hour leaks seldom influence our guesswork... however, that's part of the fun of following this series online and it would be NICE to know that you're just as much in the dark as anyone else out there before staking your name to a boot every week.

More inventive and engaging challenges: No more of these recycled puzzle themes, please. Time to go back to the drawing board to come up with challenges that both challenge the contestants as well as make for good television. Tonight's Thai endurance IC was actually pretty cool despite it being obvious who would win... however, most of this season's crop have been downright forgetable.

Okay, that's it. I've gotta say that it's been an absolute rush contributing to the S-Ratings this season and while I won't ever promise to be right, I WILL try to be entertaining with each and every column. See you in February!

Firstly, I'd like to add my voice to those who appreciated Jeff Probst hosting the reunion show. It was better than having Rosie O'Donnell host because she did little more than fawn over these contestants and it was certainly better than having someone like Bryant Gumble host, who probably didn't even know the contestant's names until he read them off a cue card. Probst was in a unique position to have known and understood what happened on the island and was able to ask the questions we all wanted answered.

I was happy to see Ghandia take responsibility for what happened between her and Ted. I was happy to see how good Ted looked (totally different person!). I was stunned by Stephanie's audition tape. I was even more stunned to see Brian's wife (soon to be ex?) in the audience. But most of all, I wanted to know how it is that it came to be that Brian won. How could Helen have left victory so easily slip from her grasp? And the reunion show explained it all.

Clay, much to my surprise, essentially sunk himself in the jury. He expected to count on Jake's vote but Jake was never made to feel welcome at the Chuay Chan camp and the main reason for this was Clay. It made me feel for sad for the man, a stranger having to sleep in a cave with people who didn't want him there. No way Clay should have counted on Jake. He *should* have counted on Helen's vote, though. But Brian sweet-talked her in the jury and Clay essentially passed up her vote when he chose not to address Helen's question directly.

I'm confident that, knowing then what they know now, fewer people would have voted for Brian. Helen said as much. But that was all part of Brian's game. He played these people and this game maybe better than anyone else has ever played Survivor. Maybe even better than Richard Hatch. More than any other contestant before him, Brian was able to disassociate himself from the other players, form no authentic bonds, and continue to manipulate them like pawns. But he was also able to constantly disguise all this, and do it expertly.

In the end, Helen dropped the ball and failed to ally herself - first with Jake and then with Ted. Brian picked up the fumble and ran with it. Brian deserved to win.