Two Midwest road-construction workers faced off in the final vote on Survivor, with the jury engaging in the usual round of self-righteous whining about betrayal, deception, and unfairness. Survivor Vanuatu is the ninth season of the television series. You'd think the contestants would have bothered to watch an episode or two before they sent in their video applications.

A Survivor contestant complaining about a fellow competitor lying to her is a like a boxer complaining about his opponent punching him. Boxers punch, survivors lie. Outside of the contexts of these games, deceiving or clocking someone is generally wrong. But on Survivor, the proper response to someone manipulating you to get to the finals is to congratulate rather than berate. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Survivor Vanuatu wasn't a particularly memorable season. But it is the only time in the history of the game that a season's two best players made it to the final two. Chris survived despite being the sole male among the last seven survivors. Twila survived despite altogether lacking in tact. Neither Twila nor Chris flew under the radar. They were active players who altered the course of the game on several occassions.

Ironically, as juror Eliza complained about Twila's brutal honesty, juror Julie complained about Chris's brutal dishonesty. Twila told Eliza she didn't deserve her spot in the final four, while Chris lied to his "little sister" Julie's face before breaking their alliance and sending her packing. Both moves--slick lying and cold bluntness--not only symbolized the finalists' styles of play, but their answers to jury questions. Lying Chris bested blunt Twila five votes to two. Unsurprisingly, the mob chose flattering lies to painful truths.

Listen to the crickets.......

Daniel the fact that you still watch that show scares me a bit I think?

Why would that scare you? Last week, Survivor was the 3rd most watched television show in America. Twenty million people watched. This week, because of the finale, it will likely be #1. The Survivor finale is an important event in U.S. pop culture.

I'm with Morris, you're starting to make me nervous with some of these pop culture blogs. Will you be reviewing the new Lindsey Lohan CD?

Mr. Flynn, I have only seen one episode of survivor. This was due to the fact that one does not tell one's mother "no". This is why you watch this program, right?

Hey, what's happening on The Real Gilligan's Island?

The only way I watch Survivor, is when they do and all nude episode.