Episode Report Card Sara M: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Fans vs. Favorites vs. Probst
By Sara M | Season 16 | Episode 15 | Aired on 05.11.2008
Probst says they also need to talk about one of his personal favorite Survivor couples ever: Joel and Chet. They take this in stride with a manly handshake. Oh, Joel got himself a haircut! It's a buzz cut and it still looks bad, but is a definite improvement. Then we have to watch the challenge where Joel almost killed Chet and didn't care. Probst asks Joel what was worse to go back to the guys in the firehouse with: Getting blindsided or being outlasted by Chet. Joel just shakes his head and shrugs before saying it was a "very good edit." Edit, schmedit, Probst says; Chet is clearly sitting to Joel's left, which means he lasted longer than Joel. Joel says he had a great time on the show and no one from the firehouse has made fun of him. In fact, that's their favorite scene on the show. Oh, great. If you're a "weak" person in Phoenix, Arizona, you'd better make sure you don't get caught in a fire, because Joel and his cronies will let you burn to death and probably laugh as you do!
Fortunately, Probst takes leave of Joel so we never have to deal with him again and turns to Chet, saying that he may have given Chet a hard time at tribal council, but Chet outlasted a lot of players. Chet says Probst never let a tribal council go by without reminding everyone that Chet was the oldest and weakest person there and that athletic agility was the most awesome thing ever. Oh ho ho! Raking Probst over the coals, and deservedly so! Chet says he must have read the Survivor manuals a little bit better than everyone else. Probst doesn't deny any of Chet's accusations at all, so maybe he saw the show and realized he was a dick to Chet and this is his way of making amends? I've never seen a sort-of-humble Probst before. Perhaps with long hair comes self-awareness.
Probst turns to Tracy and says he thinks she was underrated. This is also "the word on the street." He says she was a victim of the way the numbers fell and asks her if she has any advice for future players who find themselves in a similar situation. Tracy says she doesn't think she could've done anything differently; she even begged Cirie not to vote for her at the end but Cirie wouldn't budge. Tracy says her advice is to own your time on Survivor, no matter what happens. You can't complain about what you should've done or what could've happened. Just "suck it up and take it," she says. I remember what a good player Tracy was and the respect I had for Chet for telling Probst off disappears as I remember that if Chet hadn't told everyone to vote him off so he could tend to his grevious heel wound, she might have gone a lot further.