Who should win the game was a no-brainer, but the comments were more straightforward, which I like when the players have it coming, than the sugar-coated ones. While Dawn may have been the more openly strategic player to her inner circle, Cochran revealed his strategic thinking only to the tv audience, which protected his social game. Cochran's humility, self-effacing, & self-deprecating personality was more appreciated than Dawn's social game.
It was satisfying to hear many of the jurors' comments about Dawn's crying jags. And if a player places too much emphasis in conversations throughout the game on the fact that she's adopted six children, it's best not to present herself as a best buddy or mother figure to those she plans to eventually blindside. Nor is it the best idea to vote off someone out of spite when she led to that player to believe they were joined at the hip until the final three. As Brenda pointed out, Dawn was ready to leave the game when she lost her retainer; it was Brenda's tenaciousness in finding it for her that Dawn was able to feel presentable again. That extremely good deed alone would have placed my rock-solid allegiance to Brenda over that of anyone else. In the end, Cochran was ready to cut Dawn loose if Eddie had won the final immunity challenge.
Sherri's belief that her "good play" led her to the end was funny, but I understand where she was coming from. Early on, she did engineer the exits of a number of players during the existence of the "fans" tribe. The problem for her is that all the work she had produced was under the bridge & inconsequential by the time it mattered. The exits of each player doing the voting were the result of Dawn's/Cochran's strategic maneuvering; each was unaware of Sherri's earlier work.
I was always a fan of Cochran's. From his first season, I immediately liked his bookish, Woody Allen personality. I liked him even more this season & couldn't be happier that he won (& unanimously!).
Great season & I'm looking forward to the blood vs. water season.
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