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AllMenAreIslands wrote:

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Well, if Parvati's little comments in even 1 or 2 of her UTR rated eps were actually wee game-related gems, then she should not have been rated UTR. I'm not saying all her UTRs were wrong, but the doubt that some folks had around here was tied in part to the string of them. And I don't recall her being that "fluffy."

Wrong! UTR doesn't mean "insignificant", it means "under-the-radar". A player can have a very significant moment without it actually playing much direct role in the current events of the episode. Think of it this way. If an episode is a scene from a play, the CP's are the protagonists for good or ill - we know their motivations. The OTT's are the foils and/or obstacles - they place the moral frame of reference. The MOR's are role players - they are involved in the plot and move the story along, but the story isn't really about them. The UTR's are the bit parts, who seem inconsequential to the plot, at least upon the surface, but even they can offer a line that holds greater significance to the work as a whole.

What's different about Survivor is that the roles change from episode to episode since the plot tends to take more twists than the average play. For instance, Amanda seemed a bit part early on, just another number in the dominant alliance. As Ozzy's role grew in importance after the switch, Amanda's position as his sweetheart pushed her into a more important role. She began to round into slightly more of a protagonist once she became the key vote on Tracy v. Erik and Ami v. Erik and had to deal with the implications of her ally Parvati's side deals. With Ozzy's blindside, she briefly takes on the "wronged woman" role, setting the moral compass on which the rest of the tribe is judged in the aftermath, culminating in her salvation in producing the hidden immunity idol. Her role becomes more ambiguous once more down the stretch with her fights with Erik and Cirie until it is understandable how she's erred and lost.

My disagreement doesn't mean that the winner only has significant UTR time either. The key with a winner's UTR time is that it is used to keep some attention on them even when the plot doesn't involve them. This can be done with a simple narrative turn, a "fluffy" confessional that doesn't really advance the game, or a confessional with a bit of foreshadowing suggesting significance down the road, but not in the present. The latter is more significant, but all of them serve the goal of keeping the winner from disappearing from the consciousness of the audience. Alexis actually got a lot of this early on, which is why she continued to be looked at despite the lack of any real story, but this kind of treatment alone is not enough (unless you are Danni).