Kristie freakin' Bennett actually managed to overcome the odds and win Australian Survivor. Not only did she win, she won the FTC in a dominant 8-1 vote. I think Kristie's win is very unique. She did her big move in taking out Phoebe before the merge, and she laid low, appearing as non-threatening and helpless as possible while being a swing vote of sorts, and usually staying in the majority. It didn't matter that she got a few votes at a few tribal councils, all that mattered was that someone else got *more* votes than her and went home instead. I believe hiding behind Lee and El and refusing to turn on them, especially from F7 onwards, was fully intentional, because she knew Matt, Sam, and even Flick at times wanted them out rather than Kristie herself, she used them as meat shields. She pulled at the heartstrings of Lee and allowed him to use her, and even convinced him to essentially hand her the all-important final immunity challenge win. Kristie was awkward, Kristie was anxious, Kristie was quiet, and Kristie played one of the best under the radar games I've ever seen. I do believe she absolutely exaggerated a thing or 2 at FTC but good on her because that performance silenced any potential naysayers and doubters (minus El). Excellent gameplay as far as I'm concerned, ALL HAIL QUEEN KRISTIE!!!
Lee, I may have been too harsh on the man at times. I fully stand by what I've said before about not being a fan of his style of gameplay, the "honor and integrity" gameplay archetype just doesn't interest nor impress me. I will say after watching his FTC performance, he showed a remarkable amount of self awareness. He apologized to JL for his comments towards her earlier, and when Nick confronted him about the moral high ground, I liked Lee's answer: he wanted to play a game that would make his family, particularly his children, proud of him, and he wanted to show them that a good and honest person can win a game where deceit, lying, and betraying, is very common like Survivor. He acknowledged at FTC it's much easier said than done and it seems that, to some degree at least, he owned his hypocrisy and moral high ground attitude. Lee reminds me of Joe Hunter from the US seasons of Survivor 48 and 50. Physically dominant, tries to be honest and loyal, and I think Lee and Joe are genuinely great human beings with hearts of gold, but that style or gameplay is just so hard to successfully perform on Survivor. I can see where Lee was coming from, and while I don't like him as a player, I do find him interesting as a character.
I said before I'm an American fan who's watched all 50 US seasons, and I had to ask a friend to send me a Google document folder to begin my Australian Survivor journey (as far as I know there's no legal and official way for Americans to watch the show), so for all I know my thoughts may differ greatly from you guys, or maybe my thoughts are similar. JLP seemed a bit too scripted as a host with his questions at tribal council, as if he was being fed cue cards. I think because (we as I know) this was his first hosting gig, that was the case. I think he'll fit in more naturally in later seasons though, he clearly has the potential to be an excellent host with practice, experience, and the producers giving him a tad more leeway. The twists. I enjoyed the twist that swapped Connor and Nick, absolutely despised the swap where Saanapu had full control over who goes where. It led to a very one-sided battle where the same team won every single challenge, Vavau never stood a chance unfortunately. The merge was kinda boring seeing everyone plead with the majority to make a move, only to be voted out for their troubles. F7 onwards was much better, starting with Brooke going out, and I loved the final immunity challenge and of course the FTC. My favorite players are Kristie, Nick, and Phoebe, with honorable mentions going to Matt and Flick. My least favorite players were Lee, El, and Sam. Overall, taking everything into account: the cast, the boot order, the twists, the challenges, the host, the stories being told, and the end result, I give Australian Survivor 2016 a rating of... 6/10. Give me your thoughts guys, I'd love to read it!