Obviously, the person that should win Best Game Player should be the one who also won the game. That is always not the case. Take a look at previous seasons such as Marquesas and Amazon where great players were snubbed like Kathy and Rob C. However, in the case of Palau, the best player also won the game. Tom has been a physical threat from the very beginning and helped his tribe to several (all) immunity wins. After the merge, he dodged getting votes even when he didn't win immunity and in the end, impressed the tribe enough to hand him the million dollars 6 votes to 1. The runner-up race was much closer though. Despite Ian making an odd move at the Final 3, he managed to squeeze out a few more votes than Stephenie who has been credited for being the last Ulong member standing.

Physical challenges are great and a nice breath of fresh air from the standard puzzles. In a season that saw a number of incredibly physical challenge, one in particular resonates in your mind: Sumo at Sea. The premise is simple, carry a large bag and try to knock your opponent off with it. In season's past, we have seen few physical challenges that pit members of the opposite tribes against one another. Perhaps the most memorable face off was between James - the self proclaimed redneck and Coby - the gay hairstylist. The stark contrast was interesting for TV and made even more memorably by Coby knocking off James. What made this probably the most memorable? The fact that Ulong had immunity within their reach and lost it at the end. The runner-up involved a lot of running and endurance and stands as another memorable challenge. Who thought a tribe running in circles trying to catch the other would be so interesting.

Coby provided animated and vivid confessionals this season and clued us in on the tribal dynamics of Koror. He wasn't afraid to say whatever he wanted in the confessional and that is a large part as to why we enjoyed them. He's mentioned wanting to push people into the fire, throwing shark heads away in addition to rolling his eyes and looking disgusted at the mere mention of someone's name. Stephenie trails this category (Coby has a huge margin over all the others) and it could be attributed to the fact she had a 'I will not give up, I am strong' quote every episode.

Who better to win this category than the person that had the most confrontations in the season? It all started out when Katie made a comment and Caryn had just about had it. The two bicker in the beach only for Katie to have the last work in a confessional and said that she completely lost it. A few episodes later, she is overhead by Janu who she says looks like a scary jack-o-latern. Janu confronts Katie about being so junior high. Then, Ian betrays her by not taking her on the reward. The two go at it on the beach and both are in tears. Then, in the finale, she joins forces with Tom who are both upset by the way Ian has been playing. The jury obviously takes out their resentment on Katie at the Final Tribal Council. Ian surprisingly gained a substantial amount of votes, which has to do with the rest of the tribe attacking him in the last few episodes, namely, Caryn, Katie and Tom.

This season's Tribal Councils have been the most exciting. It marks a record in terms of the most ties (a quick recap: Angie vs. Bobby Jon, Ibrehem vs. James, Ian vs. Jenn). Twice this season, two members of the game have left without being voted out (not counting injuries/quitting), Bobby Jon vs. Stephenie and Ian vs. Jenn. We also saw a double Tribal Council where the other tribe was feasting in front of the other and granted immunity to the opposing side. Janu laid down her torch at Tribal Council. But, what eventually won out of all of those irregularities was a normal Tribal Council fare, where no one quit, and no one forced a tie vote. Instead, Caryn opened her mouth and tried to reveal as much as she could before her inevitable boot and to most fans, those are the best Tribal Councils.

There were variations on how people decided to vote for this category: Ulong loses all immunity challenges, Koror wins all immunity challenges, Stephenie is last member of Ulong to survive, etc. In the end, this will go down in Survivor history as the biggest losing margin for any tribe. Sure Ulong managed to win a total of 2? challenges but neither of them were for immunity. What ended up happening was each Ulong member was voted out until Stephenie was left to live all by herself. This made for interesting television. The schoolyard pick 'em was a new twist on how to form the tribes at the start of the game, and while it created a lot of issues regarding fairness, everyone didn't seem to pay attention to this event so much as the fact Ulong 'sucked.'

On this season of Survivor, Stephenie brought a whole new meaning to underdog. She outlasted the rest of her tribe of 9, managed to make the merge, avoid two votes before being voted out. Seeing someone live all by themselves was something quite new, and something repeated a few episodes later with Janu when she was exiled. But Stephenie's journey in the game has left the biggest impression on fans. Far away in the number of votes was Gregg's untimely boot before Caryn. The alliance of five turned into three and pulled in Caryn to take out the physical threat. Fans weren't expecting the betrayal to happen that episode.

He started out as the good guy, sidetracked a bit near the end and then tried to redeem himself by letting his two friends make it to the Final 2. He most recently jumped to our #1 spot in the Popularity Poll and we have received several emails requesting contact information on this particular Survivor. Ian may be the loser that actually won.

She was on a tribe of misfits, kept losing and losing but managed to have a positive attitude afterwards (maybe we will win the next one). Eventually, it got down to just her and she had to live on her own for the first time in history. She merged with Koror, survived as many Tribal Councils as possible until she was finally voted out.

Best challenges, great people, but wrong winner and overall boot order.

A fantastic season, fun challenges, mildly interesting people and solid game play.

No forced twists which made the season enjoyable, the castaways are responsible on what happens to them. Best mix of people since the Outback.

They were pampered with treats more than other seasons.

It was pretty bland overall. I felt the challenges were geared more toward strength which put women in general at a disadvantage.

Good; would have liked to see more of Koror in the beginning of the season. We didn't get to know them until the "merge". But it was nice to see a deserving player win the game! We miss the seeing the personal conversations among the tribes where we learn about them and their families, etc.

One of the best because the most deserving player won and while several duds lasted longer than they deserved eg. Caryn, Katie, Jenn. They didn't have the smarts to influence the result, they were outplayed.

Good season but lets hope next time we get less models and more players, less Kims and more Stephanies.

Good season up until the end. I think the finale killed it for me with Tom's brutal treatment of Ian and Ian's decision to take himself out of the game.

The best season ever! Tom is one of the most deserving winners ever. This season had so many memorable characters (Angie, James, Bobby Jon, Coby, Steph, Ian, Katie, Tom), the challenges were the best ever, and unlike Vanuatu where good people like Brady & John K got voted out prejury, most of the people who got voted out pre-jury deserved it (Jolanda, Jeff, Kim, Angie, Willard). Had Ian won, this season would have been absolutely flawless, but I am still unbelievably happy Tom won. I was spiritually moved when Ian gave up the money to save his honor, and Ian will go down as one of my all time favorite survivors. Absolutely phenomenal and unforgettable season. Guatemala has some mighty big shoes to fill.

This was the best season, but I didn't want Tom to win originally. I also wish Ulong wouldn't have got decimated. They should have kept Jolanda. She would have led them to some Immunity victories.