This was the first time in YEARS that I was truly happy when I saw the winner's name on the parchment! Up till the end, it was still a suspense for me as I thought that Coach could still win the game. My heart was thumping when Jeff was reading the final votes and when Sophie was declared the winner, boy was I ecstatic!
I did think Sophie could win but this episode seemed to portray her in quite a negative light. First it was her "brat factor" asking Albert to stop building his house of cards and instead help her pick up her pieces. Then Ozzy cashed in on that during Tribal Council, leading to her breakdown. I thought that the jury wouldn't be very impressed with that. And during the final Tribal Council, the jury didn't really have much good to say to her, criticising her social game. I thought that didn't look good on her and that Coach could have won the million after all.
It was an interesting final Tribal Council I must say. As viewers, I dare say a number of us were rooting for Sophie to win. But she seemed so unlikeable to the other contestants. Coach was insulted for his hypocritical gameplay, and Albert was just... Totally out of the running. With Coach and Sophie both shown rather negatively, I felt that either of them could win, leaning towards Coach a little.
Sophie winning really salvaged the season for me. She was the one I rooted for since the beginning, and the only one I rooted for after Dawn was eliminated. While I felt that the edit was setting up Coach to win, I THANK GOD that he didn't win in the end. I mean, I actually like him this season and I respect his gameplay. IMO, he really did redeem himself this season. But I still wouldn't want him to win. THANK GOD for Sophie winning. It made this a good season (minus some episodes of predictability), just because a favourite won. Yeah!