What Reality Does Best: Great Moments In ‘Survivor’ Comeuppance

[This post contains spoilers for last night's episode of Survivor, as well as for past seasons. Do not assume that means a titular moment did or did not take place last night; I could be either noting such a moment or pining for one and lamenting its absence.]

Some people like byzantine plotting, some people like challenges and some people like watching bartenders eat rice. (There’s no accounting for taste.)

For me, the No. 1 reason to watch Survivor is comeuppance for bullies, whether in the form of traditional big bully types or teeny, mean women. If you’ve ever wondered how people can possibly be devoted to this show, which is now in its 18th season, I’m telling you: This is why.

Nowhere on television have so many utter jerks been vanquished, even as — admittedly — other jerks escape punishment. It is, at its best, a visceral moment of figurative sucker-punching in a way that bothers the bully but does not harm him or her, so you can enjoy it fully without guilt. As a viewer, you don’t actually want any harm to come to anyone, but you don’t mind seeing good triumph over evil, just for this brief moment.

via NPR: What Reality Does Best: Great Moments In ‘Survivor’ Comeuppance. by Linda Holmes

I have to admit, Miss Alli (aka Linda Holmes, aka The Best Recapper of Survivor Ever!) summed things up pretty well for me.  I’ve been an off and on Survivor fan over the past 18 seasons — if I start watching a season, I really have to see how it ends. But, if I’m able to escape the first couple of episodes, then I usually don’t feel the need to pick it up.

I don’t really care about the elements of the actual game (the lame competitions and typically idiodic plotting), but I do like “people watching” and see how people will react in different situations.  The first couple of seasons, people are really just getting used to the idea of how the game is supposed to be played based on watching it on TV.  However, by Season 3 or 4, you’d expect that hopeful contestants would get a clue as to how to properly strategize.

Always there appears to be at least two jerks on every season.  So, I usually watch the show with knots in my stomach while I hope and I pray that the jerks will NOT ever win.  So far, they’ve always been taken out of commission, but it’s never truly satisfying without a punch in the gut to send them on their way.  Hence, the most recent episode of Survivor where “Professional Cyclist” Tyson got the boot.  The charming thing about this vote was that pretty much all the cocky ass “power players” (read: Tyson and the man who calls himself “Coach” – which, as a point of preference I prefer recapper Kim’s designation of him as “Douche”) spent several days beating down the self-worth of the unfortunate Sierra.  She didn’t even know that others were going to vote him out, so this was doubly satisfying.

It was like the little nerd who goes to school only to get beat up every day by the school yard bully.  However, the rest of the class finally beats up the bully but never warned the nerd this was going to happen.  Whether Sierra will make it any futher, she at least gets to enjoy 1) being stood up for – even if it was in the self interest of the others, and 2) the ability to crow about it to the remaining skanks that felt compelled to beat down her sense of self.  Talk about a happy day for her and me!