But she did that all season long. Na'Onka is probably one of the most self-centered player we've ever seen. Why was quitting so upsetting? You must have known she wasn't going to win, probably even wished she would get what was coming to her. Seeing her quit should feel good because she did it all to herself.

Lots of people are self-centered. She's self-centered, clueless, arrogant, and perhaps borderline sociopathic - even when she stole the food, she didn't appear to have any remorse over it and had virtually no explanation for it other than "I wanted tortillas." At least when Russell did what he did, he had a strategy for it and acknowledged he was playing a character. For NaOnka to get what was coming to her would likely have taken her torch getting "smuffed" due to others overthrowing her or reaching F3 and getting blasted by the jury. She quits, and she avoids having to be accountable for her actions.

I have to ask which "people" you are talking about? The first "people" seems to be her allies while the second could be the viewers. Nay owed nothing to either group. Survivor is an individual game and her allies should have had plenty of warning that she wasn't to be relied upon. Maybe keeping Yve or Alina would have been smarter, now wouldn't it? If they chose to keep her despite her threats of quitting on day 14, worse, if they included her in their end game plans, that's their own fault.

The first "people" was ther group I was referring to - her allies, the ones who kept her in the game despite the fact that she wanted to quit on Day 13 and stole food. Especially to the one who did everything she could to help her. In that respect, she did owe them something. Just as Dream owed it to Yau-Man to give up the immunity necklace, Rob owed it to Lex to leep him around for at least a TC or two, and Erik owed it to himself to act like he had a brain and not fork over immunity to Natalie. Just because none of those things happened doesn't mean it wasn't owed.

Actually those were two of the 4 spots added in case people would give up! Jeff said he'd love to have only 16 castaways each season but they go to 20 because of possible quitters. Anyway, the two replacements that were sent back home before the season started (if there were any) are the only ones that should be angry for "their" spots being taken. Survivor likes to have quitters to show how hard it really is so, again, blame SEG

Having only 16 castaways means that the game is a bit more rigid and predictable - the only time a group of 16 ever deviated from the standard-issue "final two, jury of seven" format was China. Having 18 or 20 allows the producers to be a little more creative with the game format - not that they always are. Of course, by adding two or four more castaways, the people they picked 17-20 are hardly automatic quitters, medical disasters, or duds - injuries could just as easily happen in Exile Island or Tocantins, 16-player seasons, as in Fans vs. Favorites and Samoa, in which the islands practically needed MASH units to accommodate the medevacs and injuries.

I don't really know if Survivor likes to have quitters or just sees them as inevitable - it was season 7 before there was a quitter, and it looked as if the producers were absolutely disgusted. As far as a hard game, though, Survivor can't top the all-time record for forced quit - Boot Camp managed to get a surrender out of a cast member in about 20 minutes of screen time. Try topping that, SEG.

You are selling Osten and Kathleen short: I really cracked up at the whole Osten vs Pelican Pete storyline. Seeing him losing his underwear during the first challenge leading to Ryno and Savage dropping their pants in "support" was hilarious. It was also funny to see muscleman Osten being beaten by Christa in that physical challenge. Krazy Kathy was hilarious too often to note (Remember her "Mary?", her love for Yau Man and Cirie, etc...)

All I remember about Osten was that he was a big, muscle-headed wuss. The pelican was a great example of it, but even at that time, Osten was the only one failing to see any humor in it - or anything. He just acted like a self-righteous punk. I'd say he was worse than NaOnka, but comparisons between the two are not even worth the brain neurons firing to think of them. As for Kathleen, I do remember her being pretty entertaining early on, but she went downhill fast and crash-landed Osten-style - lots of potential for a total dud. The best memory I had of her was when she announced that she had never met a gay man or seen breast implants - which annoyed me to no end because I included the "I never met a gay person!" thing in one of my fanfics and the air date ended up being before I posted it. Still pretty hilarious, though, how clueless she made herself look.