yau-man is the man

So I watched last night's finale of Survivor: Fiji, and dammit, I'm really sad that Yau-Man got kicked off, narrowly missing a spot on the final three and a chance at the million dollar prize. The 54-year-old computer engineer from Martinez, CA was easily this season's fan favorite contestant, exceeding all expectations and making it way farther in the game than anyone ever thought. All the while playing a solid, fair game. He easily could've been winner, if it hadn't been for this season's biggest cheating, lying, double-crossing sucka, a fellow named Dreamz. The guy who pretty much screwed everyone on the island. For those who didn't watch and don't care, I won't bore you with details. But let's just say in the end, Yau-Man's integrity and faith in his fellow castaway's character came back to bite him in the ass. Gaaah what could've been. It would've been so sweet—we were this close to having Asian Americans winning two seasons of Survivor in a row! You suck, Dreamz.

I gotta say, after initially coming down pretty hard on Survivor's race war premise last season, after that dissolved, I'm pretty impressed with how diverse the show has become. See, CBS? People of color can make interesting television, and America will watch. Let's hope this trend continues, though I'm a little scared for next season, when the show goes to China. (The last line of this article is the kind of thing that worries me.)