A Very Colorful Final Six - Survivor Panama is Ending With a Great Mix  4/26/06

By Donald Hart

Some of the best fictional character and plot creations often involve very different people thrown together by chance in an unfamiliar environment. John Huston's classic film "Stagecoach" comes to mind. Similarly, we couldn't have hoped for much of a better group than Survivor Panama, Exile Island's Final 6.

Terry, "The 47-year old beast", as Shane so aptly and amusingly called him, or "The one not to trust with your back", as voted by his Casaya opponents, has been shorn of all his La Mina allies and continues to intimidate the others with his immunity idol plus his immunity challenge strength. His lack of game playing prowess and perceived arrogance make him a flawed Titan. Many would like to see him take a big fall. Others are rooting for the jet pilot Alpha male to survive a Casaya breakup.

Courtney and Shane are non-stop irritants at the center of Casaya and could be the best game-playing options for the others to take to Final 2. Shane's mood swings and pronouncements such as "Danielle doesn't deserve to win because she does nothing" or "Cirie is staying below the radar" are so vocal that he doesn't have to talk to the camera. His thoughts are out in the open for all to hear. His series of conflicts and makeups make one wonder if a good part of his behavior is all an act. Could he be playing Johnny Fairchild into the Final Two?

Courtney the Fire Dancer won the votes for "The biggest poser", "The most easily succumbing to intimidation", "The one who never shuts up", and the biggest slam, "The most annoying". She's a polar opposite to Cirie. Cirie is affable, and by the way she giggles and smiles at all the goings-on, she really seems to enjoy the drama. Courtney, meanwhile, whines at the outcomes of her humorless words and actions. One would expect the popular Cirie to outlast the unpopular Courtney, but Cirie has now been outed as a behind-the scenes player. She has been forming alliances with all the four remaining Casayas, and it could come back to haunt her.

Aras and Danielle are in positions we've seen before in Survivor. Aras is the leader of the Casaya pack. The post-merge Pagonging of La Mina was to a great degree a result of his taking charge of the Casaya immunity challenge victories that set up the Casaya numbers advantage. Not flawless (remember his blowups with Bruce), Aras is constantly under Terry's gun and, by nature of this leader's strength, he is in everyone's target zone. Jeff Probst described Danielle before the current series as very vocal before Survivor, but quieter when settling into her alliances. Her successful persuasion to boot Bobby was far superior to all the La Mina Tribal Council missteps. If one were to bet on game playing prowess, she and Cirie were destined to survive.

It's amazing the way the disparate Cassayas have stuck together. We grant them that. They're an interesting group, not a one of them colorless. TV Guide in its March 27, 2006 issue highlighted their picks for the "4 standouts, Colorful Castaways": Terry, Cirie, Courtney & Shane. Lo and behold-they've all made the Final 6. We couldn't have hoped for a better denouement. Drama is intriguing, as are the dramatic possibilities of this group of six as they maneuver their way to the end of the game.