'Survivor' Winner 'Boston' Rob Mariano Wins 'Survivor

For "Boston" Rob Mariano, fourth time's a charm.

The longtime "Survivor" veteran took home the crown of the series' 22nd season on Sunday, beating out 17 other contestants in "Survivor: Redemption Island." He won a resounding victory, finishing on top of an 8-0-1 vote against co-finalists Phillip Sheppard and Natalie Tenerelli.

Filmed in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, the show's main attraction was the returns of rivals Mariano and Russell Hantz, who was also a previously well-known player. Things didn't go as smoothly for Hantz, as he was the third player voted out. Mariano, once the leader of the Villains tribe in "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains," made friends quickly and catapulted himself to the top.

As the winner, Mariano takes home $1 million in prize money and, finally, the ultimate prize in his illustrious reality show career, which also includes multiple appearances (with his wife Amber) on CBS' "The Amazing Race."

"You don't know for sure until the votes are read, but I had a pretty good feeling," Mariano told the Associated Press. "I played my heart out. I love this game, but you've got to get lucky along the way, too. I know what it takes. It's really, really difficult. I'm really, really happy things happened the way they did this time."

For more on the finale, click over to Clicker, Entertainment Weekly and Survivor.com.

 SOURCE
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/16/survivor-winner-boston-rob-mariano-survivor-redemption-island_n_862303.html

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Survivor Redemption Island Cast Is Boston Rob finally victorious

As much as we could spend this entire article talking about each of the cast members involved in the "Survivor: Redemption Island" finale, we have to quote Boston Rob in saying "let's be real" -- it really is all about the resident mastermind.

How badly did Rob deserve to win this season? Let us count the ways:

    * Even though he didn't need it, Rob decided to play the idol after Andrea returned to the game. Letting his pride get to him would have been the biggest mistake since JT decided to write Russell a letter.
    * Also, Rob managed to be smart enough to not listen to Natalie, and cut Ashley loose at the final four. This was the biggest threat left in the game. (Unfortunately, the time constraints in this episode meant we had no "tribute to the fallen" -- which is a tradition that has gone back since the beginning.)
    * Of course, we also have the fact that he has dominated since the beginning, making strong alliances and winning challenges along the way.

At the end of all this, there was one question left -- would the jury actually vote for a guy who has been responsible for pretty much every vote in the game? This was Rob's problem in "All-Stars," but he received some immediately help right out of the gate thanks to both Phillip and Natalie -- who both pretty much admitted that the only reason they are even around is because of him.

Then ... we had the jury. What a bitter jury this was! Almost as if these people have not ever seen this game before, the majority of them blabbered on about "loyalty" and "being respected" and whatnot. This is a game! There have been people to win and play honorably, but they are few and far between. Finally, David tried to shake some sense into these people by reminding them that Rob played the best strategy in history. (Okay, that could be disputed -- but he's certainly played an incredible game.) Natalie at least did a decent job explaining herself during the process -- meanwhile, Phillip completely wasted a chance to say that his craziness was a ruse and that it was some kind of twisted strategy to make it to the end. Instead, he wore a cape, a feather, and acted defiant.
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So would these God-loving, honestly-embracing people actually vote for the mastermind to win? It was a shock first of all to see Ralph vote for Phillip, but then things went back to normal and Rob finally took home the victory he should have received back on "All-Stars" so long ago. Is he the best winner ever? Stay tuned -- we'll have our ranking soon.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: 'Survivor: Redemption Island': Is Boston Rob finally victorious? - National TV | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/tv-in-national/survivor-redemption-island#ixzz1MV1at7ez

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