My last recorded thoughts on Survivor Palau were jotted down several weeks ago. They were a mess. Cleverly assimilated, some say, they became: "The Rigged Manipulation Of Janu.” A tumultuous screed that drained me completely. My own peeves about that somewhat distant, turbulent Tribal Council have not changed much since that dark torch-laying compact was born, though passing time has a habit of making starkly black memories a bit grayer... a bit less heavy on my soul. And, indeed, things on Palau have evolved quite nicely since then. This may be of even greater importance than fretting over as burdensome a footnote as Janu's malodorously crafted epiphany. Glory be: Tom won!

By David W. Taylor (Email Me)
Reality Reel Media
05.20.05

Janu, though, still remained — long after her dropped torch and long into the Finale and long thereafter — in an exalted position of her own choosing: on the jury; exerting full political power (amid negotiations with Jeff, we came to learn, who powwowed with producers) which I still resent as undeserved and abjectly unfair to contestants who decided to stick with the program. My opinion on this is steadfast: if one opts, of their own volition, to leave the game of Survivor they should go home immediately. No deals, no Jury, no hotels, no parties... adios. Bye bye, right now. Their torch burnt into white ash.

The Finale certainly didn't wipe away any of my distrust of that bizarre Janu episode. The fact remains, and will never change, that Janu entered that Tribal Council blissfully ignorant of any whim of hers to depart from the show prematurely, adamant that Koror would be the sole judge of her fate. By the end of that Tribal she had been convinced of (or rather pummeled by) options and scenarios she had previously not entertained. Her ultimate decision was a calculation of these offers. She was like a criminal in police custody who is, at first, ready and willing to confess her misdeeds but then changes her mind after consulting with a lawyer for five minutes.

And with these new catalysts burrowed into her reeling mind, Janu made a gauged decision that was convenient only for Janu. And at the time, supposedly, for Stephenie (and maybe for Survivor producers), though, if the fanned rumors are to be assumed true — that Stephenie was on her way out — her impact on Koror's proceedings were negligible. A momentary gasp. Oddly, it might have even made Stephenie's outlook more dicey. And it subverted the sole purpose for Koror going to Tribal Council in the first place... to collectively vote out a tribe member.

The ensuing gross injustice of this spectacle — of having someone of Janu's disposition and stature (once she abandoned her solemn responsibilities) — was to now observe Janu stand in judgement of fellow contestants who remained loyal to their Tribe, the game, their honor and to their own survival instincts. I say she was capable of standing in judgment of no one, except herself.