credit: http://photobucket.com/images/rob+mariano/
I was definitely glad that the show's final episode aired before the apocalypse got people’s panicked attention. Had the finale been scheduled to air on May 22nd, the Sunday after the good people were supposed to have been raptured into heaven, Survivor fanatics would have fretted for days from the likelihood that they might never know how far Boston Rob would go in the game, or even if he would get the jury votes and the money.
Although the snuffing of Rob’s flame was the goal to achieve among the members of the Zapatera tribe (Rob’s Ometepe tribe competition), in the end this ten-year Survivor veteran won all, but one, jury votes. Three previous seasons of the Survivor game have obviously equipped him with the ways of mastering the art of outwitting the competition.
Jeff Probst’s assessment that Rob Mariano, who competed in the past three Survivors (Marquesas in 2002, All-Stars in 2004 and Heroes vs. Villains in 2010) “played as close to a perfect game as anyone’s played” in all 22 seasons of the series was right on target. Clearly, as the episodes unfolded, it was Rob’s game to win. For me it was like watching the jungle version of the Mafia Godfather calling the shots, and his subservient subjects obeying him like loyal puppies. Rob even suggested the name for the merged tribes (Murlonio) which he told the members meant "from the sea, united." The truth: It was the name of his wife's stuffed animal and the name meant nothing. His Ometepe alliances were loyal to him, even those he strategically blindsided at the tribal councils. At the final Tribal Council where the last three survivors pleaded their cases, Phillip and Natalie both gave Rob credit for how far they went in the game. It almost sounded like both were conceding defeat to the Robfather! Or quite possibly, the better half of Survivor: All-Stars winner (Amber Brkich Mariano) had charmed his Top Two competitors and they couldn’t help but already crown him at that point.
Boston Rob may not have outplayed his competition in most of the Immunity challenges, but he won the final one when it counted most. Even before the merge, he found an Immunity Idol and didn’t have a reason to play it until the tribal council where for the second time, Andrea was voted out after getting back in the game when she outplayed the male outcasts in Redemption Island. Rob, the Murlonio Godfather, really didn’t have to play the Idol, but decided to give it up (no matter how much he wanted to take it home as a souvenir), heeding his wise grandmother's advice, “better safe than sorry.”
For a job well done in outwitting everyone, Rob deserves the $1 million Sole Survivor take-home pay. Add to that Sprint’s $100,000 Player of the Season award. Really, in the Mariano household when it rains, it pours! There’s no denying the fact that in Survivor: Redemption Island, Rob lied and cheated, but that’s how this game has been typically played. No one can argue that he also played a shrewd social and strategic mind game, A poker mask was his asset and Rob wore it until the end. He knew that, just like his All-Stars peer Russell Hantz, he had a huge target on his back from the get-go. At the outset, he had to dodge invisible bullets to avoid the Redemption Island solo mio retreat and stay in strong (though malnourished) competitive mode.
After playing four seasons of Survivor and spending a total of 117 days in the jungle in different parts of the world, winning the $1 million reward calculates to a take-home pay of $8,547 per diem (or $356.13 per hour). Not a bad chunk of change for many long, hard and hungry days in the jungle!
credit: http://www.buddytv.com
