Sandra ending the first decade of Survivor with her second win while Tony ends the second decade of it with his is sooo representative of how much Survivor has changed over the past 20 seasons in terms of what gameplay is respected or even “required” in order to win. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Tony, as THE pioneer of post-modern Survivor’s prevailing mindset of BIG MOVES/RÉSUMÉ BUILDING/FLUID GAMEPLAY, managed to win the season of Survivor that is the culmination of this era. Meanwhile you have Michele getting 0 votes at this FTC when her underdog story, optimism, and fight against the domineering force of the season most likely would’ve resulted in a win similarly to Sandra in HvV. Not saying Michele ~should have~ here, but it’s undeniable that Survivor’s current state simply doesn’t allow WOMEN to play passive games and win when there’s an active male-counterpart present

There are obviously some winners post-s20 with a more “old school approach” – mostly found in the s21-25 stretch, plus michele and tommy – but I’m looking forward to whatever Survivor morphs into next as long as this era of male-centric storytelling AND gameplay is left in the past