Warning: What you're about to see includes spoilers for Season 45 of Survivor so please don't continue reading if you don't want to know who won, who lusted after who, or who lied.
I've been on a spiritual mission to catch-up on Survivor over the past few months. The backlog happened suddenly - one moment I was up to date and the next I was
three seasons behind.
That's changing fast and this week I finished Season 45, which I loved because it felt old skool, as if the production wasn't dialling it in.
I felt it lost creativity in the early 40s seasons, probably because of the lockdown and the extreme restrictions we were all forced into.
But Season 45 was different. Episodes were longer than in previous seasons, there were hardcore new challenges and the twists surrounding idols were imaginative and fresh.
Also, Jeff had his sadistic streak back - the way he spliced that bag of rice with a knife when they needed it most was the bomb.
I wasn't mad about Dee's winning of the season when it happened though. For two reasons:
1. I'd been rooting for Katura because she was funny and extremely likeable. It was crushing to see how that letter from her estranged mother impacted on her psychologically.
One moment she was a dynamo who was able to do anything and the next she was having a panic attack.
She also gave into her fear when she didn't vote with Jake, which proved to be her ultimate mistake because she would have won if Dee's torch had been snuffed then. I'm convinced this wouldn't have happened if she hadn't received that letter.
Her experience emphasised just how destructive a toxic influence can be.
2. I didn't like the way Dee played Austin. He was waaaaaaaay more into her than she was into him. She used him to protect herself and I didn't like it because he's clearly a romantic who had very genuine feelings for her. He was also a lot more loyal.
I was iffy about Dee's win for approximately 12 hours because of this and then I changed my mind. I felt differently the morning after because I kept replaying her description of her strategic mindset.
When she said she'd pictured herself winning and believed she was going to do it but didn't keep focusing on the end throughout the game. Instead she stayed present.
This is inspiring and something anyone can do - a cool and useful tip on how to achieve success.
Once I realised this I stopped worrying about Austin and decided that Dee did the right thing.
She made him believe they were Rob and Amber when they totally weren't and that's okay because she has the million and Austin seems to have found the love of his life because he didn't win.
Turns out him and Dee didn't last - obvs! - but he found someone who seems to like him a lot more than she did and the new one's definitely not after his money because he doesn't have the million and she has a rich uncle.
Uncle Jeff Probst. Austin's dating Jeff's niece, ha!
Amanda Probst. And they're living it up on speedboats, under waterfalls and in small enclosed spaces. A broken heart mended. Shem.
They've been together for a year: