Sizing Up the Fan Favorites of Survivor: Micronesia

Is Parvati really a Fan Favorite? Eliza? Ami? I personally like them all, but I am not convinced viewers did during their respective seasons. Parvati was put on the Favorites team purely because of her physical attributes, Eliza for her scheming expressions and Ami for her "power to the women" mentality and leadership. Yau-Man and Cirie are certifiable Fan Favorites and justifiably so. Cirie defied all the odds in her season by starting off as a "couch potato" and ending it as one of the most dominant "social players" Survivor has ever seen, in addition to her newfound hunting/survival tools she acquired. Yau-Man dominated many physical and mental challenges, overcoming his unimpressive physical stature. He was always playing the game and never lost sight of the reason he was out there.
I predict that, although the Fans have studied all the previous Favorites and their game-playing abilities, the Favorites will come around, win challenges when they need to, and manipulate like never seen before. Kathy, on the Fan team, and potentially other members will fall prey to the "star" mentality they appreciate from the Favorites. I can envision a scenario of Ami mentoring, upon a tribal switch or merge, a woman and then cutting her throat to move her alliance ahead. I can see Yau-Man sharing his wisdom and lifelong stories to fellow new tribemates and then voting them out. They have the experience in the game, rather than watching from the sidelines. The first loss by the Favorites, I believe, will not continue for long as, with no previous winners in Micronesia, the Favorites are out for blood and in some cases, revenge (Parvati-Jonathan, etc).

Some interesting pairs and backstories abound in Micronesia. James seems to have forgiven Amanda for backstabbing him last season in China, but will he turn on her when she least expects it? Parvati and Ozzy were on different sides in their season, with Jonathan flickering between both alliances. Now, Parvati and Ozzy have teamed up against Jonathan, but only time will tell if that lasts. Ami and Eliza had an alliance in Vanuatu until Eliza bit off Ami's core alliance when they tried to get rid of her. It will be very interesting to see if a "season-loyalty" mentality over a "tribal/alliance loyalty" emerges.

Jon "Fairplay" Dalton showed emotion, agony, and more personality when deciding to leave the game to be a family man. I wish I could believe it, but I just can't get past the mistrust I feel over a man who once defecated on a cast member's bed during production on the reality thriller "The Scorned." To make such a drastic turnaround seems implausible. I think he just couldn't hack it and wanted to somehow either redeem his image with America or just try to get a rise out of people like me who enjoy writing about his machinations as the 2nd greatest villain in Survivor history (Richard Hatch).

Here's to the upcoming season of Micronesia, that the Favorites fly back from an early defeat, work together and then destroy the competition. (No, I am not bitter even though I also have never missed an episode and believe I could play with the best of the best in the game.) Here's hoping for an Ami, Yau-Man, Cirie final 3, with an Ami win. Here's also hoping for some more moments as memorable as the one where Yau-man catapulted "Fairplay" into the boat en route to the first Immunity Idol up for grabs.