Series Finale - A game WELL played

The end of another series of Survivor has come. But for me, this was not just another regular-edition of the Survivor TV show - this season featured Rafe Judkins - a first cousin on my mother's side and Survivor player extraordinaire. I always expected that Rafe would make it far in this game, and I was not disappointed.

Now - some of you may be disappointed not to have seen Rafe in the final two, as was I. But I propose to you that under the circumstances of A) Rafe, Steph and Danni in the final three and B) the unique requirements of this balancing challenge - it would NOT have turned out any differently.

I think Danni was absolutely the shoe-in for this particular challenge. She had two things going for her - height and weight, a lot of the former and a little of the latter. There was no possible way for Steph to win this challenge. She was just too short and her legs were not long enough to keep her propped up against that pole. So let's go back in time and pretend that Rafe didn't touch the pole. What would have happened?

Danni and Rae would have been competing together. Now, they had an agreement to take each other to the final two. But I don't believe that they would have done what past survivors have done, which is agree on taking each other and then ended the challenge. I think both Rafe and Danni, and particularly Danni, would have wanted to play the challenge out to the end.

So, it would have been Danni and Rafe up there struggling through the challenge. Now - I love Rafe and he is my first cousin, but he would have started to struggle before Danni and here's why: he was just as tall as Danni and was able to wedge himself pretty good against the pole, but Danni had one advantage over Rafe - she was skin and bones. Her leg muscles didn't need to support more than 50 pounds of body weight during the challenge. You could see this as the challenge progressed because she was rock-solid leaning against that pole. Her body wasn't slipping an inch, nor did I see any degree of discomfort in her posture or voice. Rafe's discomfort seemed to manifest itself as he attempted to reposition his body higher on the pole (which is what lost him the challenge). But even if he would have been able to keep his hands off the pole, in the passing of time, I believe he would have slowly slipped and lost to the 5'11", 100 lb. Danni. She just had too good of an advantage in this challenge. She would have won against both Stephanie and Rafe in this challenge, regardless of the mistakes made or time spent.

So what would Danni have done under these circumstances? Even without Rafe releasing her from the promise she made to him? We already learned from the finale that Danni would have committed one more act of betrayal in order to have a guarantee of winning the million dollars. There is no way she would have made good on her promise to Rafe and risk losing the final reward. She is a good religious girl and was the best of friends with Rafe through parts of this game, but I do not believe for a second that she would have taken Rafe to the final two.

Now - if Stephanie would have played a bit smarter and would not have put herself in a position to be such an enemy to the jury, then perhaps Danni would have kept her promise to Rafe. But going up against Steph in the final two was just like cashing a check for a million dollars - practically guaranteed.

So, although I'm disappointed that Rafe was not the Ultimate Survivor in Guatemala, I am extremely pleased that he made it to the highest levels of this game. What an amazing accomplishment! This, by far, was the most entertaining edition of Survivor yet. No subsequent series will be able to hold a candle to Guatemala.

Congratulations Rafe on a game well played! And best of luck to you on leveraging this experience in your next challenge.