Idol Speculation: “Survivor Cagayan” Episode 5: Smart and Stupid, in One Convenient Pill

Ok, episode, I know you were technically full of letdown, but you had a lot of excitement and good misdirection later on (with one exception), and so I shall spare you from total critical evisceration. However, this is your one warning. Cross me again, and you’ll be WISHING you were “Survivor Fiji”.

The main order of business for the episode, as in absolutely everything that was advertised, comes in right in the first five minutes. Yes, before even our lack of opening credits, we’ve seen absolutely EVERY scene that was advertised, apart from the “Challenge Preview” on CBS.com, which I really don’t count because I’m convinced I’m the only one who watches those, though please feel free to correct me on that point. Well, after that tangent, Trish and Lindsey waste no time in going at it. It was a bit chaotic, but as near as I can parse out, Trish started out by trying to explain to the group in general, but Lindsey in particular, why she voted how she voted. There was a bit of chatter over this (whether it was all Lindsey, and whether it was malicious, I couldn’t tell), and Trish got upset that she was interrupted. This is understandable, if a bit uncalled for, due to emotions running high in this high-stress situation. Still, when Lindsey, probably bitter and already having expressed poor control over her words previously, says some fairly snarky things to Trish, Trish can’t help but pay in kind by lacerating Lindsey with exactly how she feels about her. This causes Lindsey to respond even more aggressively, and so on and so forth. It was your pretty typical “Survivor” fight, albeit a bit more intense than some, though not as bad as others, but it just wasn’t pleasant. I have no love for either person, and I have a mild dislike of both, so while not unpleasant like other fights, it just was boring to watch, especially since we’d seen most of it in previews.

It all culminates with Lindsey going off by herself to let go of her feelings. That I can support, it prevents the situation getting worse, it helps get your head back in the game, and it saves face, to a degree. What I CAN’T get behind is Lindsey’s ultimate response to the situation, but first, I must set the stage.

Out of the mists of the jungle, a wild Jeff Probst appears. He is said to only appear to castaways in pain or need, and Lindsey evidently meets the qualifications. Probst harboring hopes of becoming a therapist, asks Lindsey what’s wrong. Lindsey badmouths Trish some more, but then comes the blow. Lindsey says that she can’t trust herself not to strike Trish at this point, and doesn’t want to have her kids see her do that. Therefore, she’s taking herself out of the game. Probst seems in disbelief, and after confirming that Lindsey is indeed serious, asks if she wants tolet her tribe know herself. Lindsey says she REALLY doesn’t trust herself, and so Probst goes alone to let the new Solana know.

Now, I’ve gone on record before saying I’m not a fan of quitters as a whole, but even I admit that there are a few situations where I understand a quit. This is not one of them. Personally, I doubt Lindsey’s claim that she couldn’t control herself. I think that yeah, she was fed up with Trish, but also she was depressed about losing her main ally in Cliff, and not happy with her prospects about the game. Rather than work through it and fight, she chose to let it get the best of her and quit. Yes, I understand that the game is hard, and the elements wear on you, but even then, if you’re a well-adjusted human being, you shouldn’t find it hard to control your physical aggression after what really weren’t that bad slights. One person doesn’t like you, get over it! In my mind, this was a quit of weakness, and therefore it falls under the “Purple Kelly and Na’Onka (‘Survivor Nicaragua’) Clause”, and that she should have her prize money revoked. I doubt she will, as CBS is editing this to be an honorable quit, and I won’t lose sleep over the fact that Lindsey is getting money. I don’t buy that Lindsey quit for the reason the show says she quit, but that’s just me. And, for my part, I’m not sorry to see Lindsey go. While not the worst that “Survivor” has ever had to offer, she really didn’t bring anything to the table but cattiness and unpleasantness. More of that, we do not need.

Positively, the show accurately misdirected me into thinking she wouldn’t quit. Good on them for NOT advertising it pre-season, thus fooling me into believing there would be no non-game eliminations. Though really, THIS is the advertised “first of the episode: a person “quitting to prevent themselves from getting violent”? You’re really stretching it there, Probst.

Solana, to their credit, at least puts up the PRETENSE of not being happy that Lindsey’s gone. Actually, the person I believe the most is Trish, because for all that she can be very narcissistic and uncompromising, I don’t think she’s a “mean” person, and genuinely didn’t want to see Lindsey go. Tony puts up a decent effort, but shows far too much happiness at Lindsey’s exit later on. No, it does not endear me to him, and Tony’s going to do a LOT of things that make me look badly on him. Worst of the lot, though for once for a good reason, is Woo, who talks about how this will make a more unified tribe. What Woo MEANS is that this gives him a chance to get back in the tribes good graces. By showing a dislike of Lindsey, he can distance himself from her, and hopefully get back in the game. I have to give Woo credit where due: for all that he’s a surfer boy and a bit naïve, he does know a thing or two about the game, and is playing a bit more subtly than anyone gives him credit for. That’s actually somewhat impressive.

Yes folks, believe it or not that was all just the first five minutes. The episode then feels the need to rush things by sending us straight to the reward challenge. Now, I’ve been lenient on the challenges this season. They’ve had a lot of good, original challenges this season, and this generally pleases me. That, combined with the fact that the reused challenges tend to be less common ones, means that I’ve cut this season a lot of slack with regards to reused challenges. But I’m putting my foot down here, not out of irritation for the challenge itself, as it’s a good one to reuse, but due to the fact that I’m disappointed. You were developing such a precedent for creative NEW challenges this season, and between this episode and the last one, you’ve lost it. Ok, the immunity challenge for this episode is actually quite good, but that’s beside the point. I REALLY wish we could have ONE season with NO reused challenges. I know it sounds like fanboy griping, and that’s because it is. The fact remains, though, that this season was on a roll with original challenges, or at least new combinations of old challenges, and now all that’s just lost. It’s a shame.

Still, the challenge itself is cool. It’s actually the first reuse of the challenge from “Survivor Philippines”. One member of each tribe will hold a small disk with a wooden idol on top, and attempt to knock their opponent’s idol onto the sand, the first person to do so scoring a point, the first to four wins. One aspect I particularly like is that the emphasis is more on technique and size rather than strength, which makes for a unique physical challenge. This also means that Solana collective kicks themselves for kicking off Cliff, as he would have RULED this challenge. As challenges to reuse go, this is still a good one. It’s exciting, it hasn’t been reused to death, it’s simple but a lot of fun. I just wish it was an original challenge instead, but I’ll live.

What I can REALLY get behind is the reward, which is also reused, but in my mind falls under the category of “Survivor” Staples. It’s a good old fashioned camp raid for the winner, last seen on “Survivor Tocantins”. Apart from giving the tribes a chance to interact, it’s really high stakes, which we really need to see at this later phase of the pre-merge game.

First, though, we have to get over-the-top reactions to seeing both Cliff and Lindsey go. Spencer quips that he’s happy there are fewer people in the way of his victory, but is rightfully mad that anyone would quit when the old Luzon had been fighting to stay in it. Alicia, for her part, is just happy that her old Solana tribemates are still in the game, as she thought them dead. Way to show the majority that you’re on their side, Alicia. There’s absolutely no way this would make the old Luzon of Aparri suspicious, now is there?

Spencer and Woo are the first to square off, and while a gender mismatch might make the winner of an individual round obvious, overall there’s no one person on either tribe who seems to have the advantage. The exception to this is Woo, who’s martial arts training I imagine would give him an edge in blocking and balancing, both useful skills in this challenge. Spencer, however, learns from the past, and employs the “Mike Skupin (‘Survivor The Australian Outback’) Strategy” of Chuck-Your-Idol-In-The-Air-And-Push-The-Other-Guy’s-To-The-Ground, to great effect. Solana ties it up after Trish’s reach trumps Tasha’s strategy. Sarah puts the new Aparri back in the lead after a lopsided match against Jefra. Next up, old allies Jeremiah and LJ square off in what is probably the most even match of the contest. LJ beats Jeremiah by a hair, and then we come to the most lopsided match, Morgan and Tony. The new Solana calls out for Tony to “avoid her eyes”, which they explain to Probst means that if Tony looks into Morgan’s eyes, he’ll become distracted and entranced by the beauty. They must think she’s a vampire or something. Still, Solana, you don’t have to worry. I can tell you, with confidence, that most men will not focus on Morgan’s eyes when looking at her. As expected, Tony beats Morgan, giving Solana the lead. A rematch between Woo and Spencer would seem set to tie up for Aparri, but Woo has learned from his past defeat. Spencer, for his part, tries to change up his strategy, but that backfires, as that was the only way he beat Woo to begin with was that strategy. So the new Solana wins, and selects Woo and Tony to go raid the new Aparri, as both know the camp the best. Probst hands them a note with their instructions.

Woo and Tony go off and read the note by themselves, and it really neuters the camp raid. It’s basically a “Pick Two Items” list, rather than an actual raid. I know that’s basically how it worked on “Survivor Tocantins”, but there, they had the run of what they could pick. Here, with the items preselected, it loses some of its edge. Oh, for the days of “Survivor Marquesas”, when a camp raid meant all-out pandemonium, and desolation for one tribe. Yeah, it was unfair, but since when has “Survivor” ever been about fair. For the record, Tony and Woo choose to take all of the comfort reward (pillows, blankets, and mosquito net) and the fishing gear (a net and some traps).

What’s more interesting is a clue to the Solana immunity idol hidden with the note. Tony and Woo read it, with Tony quickly realizing that it’s to the Solana idol, as the rock cliff described does not appear at Aparri. Thus, Tony comes up with a plan to say that the note said that they must give the idol clue to someone. They’ll give it to Jeremiah to arouse suspicion around him and hopefully get him voted off, thereby depriving the new Aparri their strongest member, and getting rid of LJ’s biggest ally on the other side. Not a bad strategic move, with one gaping problem: it is INCREDIBLY easy to be caught out in it. Ok, I buy that people would guess that you’ve got an idol clue to give, this sort of thing has happened before, but if you’re giving it to him so publicly, Jeremiah would have no choice but to read it out loud… Oh, wait, he took it off by himself. Well, no matter, Jeremiah should realize the clue is a fake since he also lived at the Solana camp, all he has to do is show the clue to everyone else to prove it’s a fake… Oh, wait, Tony just realized the same thing and ran back for the clue. Ok, that’s GOT to look suspicious to everyone else, and it’d just be stupid for someone to be given the clue in so public a manner, only for them to have the clue revoked. Surely, Jeremiah would ask to SEE the note as proof before… Oh, wait, he just handed over the clue to Tony.

Ok, let me stop being funny for a minute here, and state that this plan SHOULD NOT WORK! It’s a very good idea, if it goes off perfectly, but there are SO many points where Jeremiah could blow up the plan. Instead, it works perfectly. I’m particularly incensed that nobody realized that Tony’s frantic run back to the camp meant that something was up. Come on, guys, that was figgin’ obvious!

You want to know something even more stupid, though? When Tony gets back to the new Solana, he brags about the plan, and how they’re going to be the final five. Fair enough, that promotes tribal unity. But then, he goes on and on about how he loved lying to Jeremiah, and confesses being a cop to them. Um, Tony, I know it worked with Sarah for some dumb reason, but telling people that you lied in the past is NOT a good way to gain their trust. LJ even says as much, making me like him all the more (he REALLY should have been my male pick to win it all), but still DUMB, dumb move Tony.

Back in the land where Tony’s crazy plan is working, Alicia has become super paranoid about Jeremiah, she thus ramps up her scheming with the old Luzon, which makes Spencer suspicious, as she’s coming off as very fake, a sign that she perhaps isn’t with them. However, that doesn’t mean he buys Jeremiah’s story either. Jeremiah is going around spreading the truth about the clue, telling people to not be paranoid. Um, Jeremiah, I hate to repeat myself, but wouldn’t your evidence that the clue was a fake be more compelling if you had some physical proof. Like say, for example, the CLUE? Seriously man, by telling people to not be paranoid, you only make them more paranoid. This is NOT a good way to stay in the game.

CHALLENGE TIME! And while this is an obstacle course with some reused elements, I still like it for the unique bits. First off, in a return from “Survivor Africa”, the tribes have to put posts in ascending order of height. They must then run through a multi-level jungle gym, untie a knot at the end, then slide down a bamboo slide. Once everyone is down, one tribe member maneuvers a key through a rope maze in a tough nut. Once through, they use the key to unlock a machete to chop through wood to a rope to release a bunch of puzzle pieces. Once the pieces are released, everyone goes through the tough nut, before two tribe members solve a vertical puzzle to reveal three numbers, which undo a combination lock releasing a flag. First tribe to release their flag wins immunity. Yeah, I know I don’t like obstacle courses, but this has a good set of team and individual obstacles, a good integration of physical and mental challenges, and a really great puzzle at the end. I also like the stepping poles at the start, and wish they’d come back more often.

Well, I wonder which tribe is going to win today, the tribe that’s paranoid and at each other’s throats, or the one that’s currently happy-go-lucky? To be fair, though, they give us a fun show before the end. Solana starts out at a disadvantage, as they’re unable to put posts that are all clearly different heights in the proper order. They make up time on the jungle gym, but Aparri’s teamwork keeps them neck and neck. Tony and Jeremiah race through the tough nut for their tribes, and stay fairly even until they come across Tony’s arch nemesis: a simple lock. Jeremiah gets a lead for Aparri again, and here I have to ask: is it explicitly forbidden to pry up the block of wood hiding the rope, and if not, why not just do that? Seems like it’d be faster.

Aparri fails, however, by not putting Kass on the puzzle (Tasha had to sit out). I understand Spencer, but Kass has PROVEN herself to be good at puzzles, and while I’m sure Sarah is fine, Kass could do better. Hell, Kass is the one who NOTICED the mistake in the puzzle, she should have been on from the get-go.

Tony’s final bit of stupidity comes after the challenge, when he hugs the new Solana, and loudly proclaims them to be the “Final five, baby!” First of all, Tony, have you forgotten about Sarah? You know, that woman on the other tribe who should logically have mistrusted you after you bold-facedly lied to her, yet inexplicably trusted you? Yeah, you might not want to alienate her, just saying. I know he’s said that Trish is his only real ally before in the episode, but even if he DOESN’T want to stay true to that alliance, it would be best not to alienate her. Furthermore, based on the numbers, it makes sense not to brag about your advantage. After Lindsey’s quit, Solana currently has five members. This means that, barring a merge at nine people or fewer (which, I should point out, hasn’t happened since “Survivor Gabon”, five and a half years ago), you are going to be at best tied, at worst, at a disadvantage. It would be good to not come off as a solidified whole, thus turning the other tribe into a solidified whole, which outnumbers you. Tony, as stupid as he is smart. Yes, it’s true that the new Solana controls the Hidden Immunity Cookies at the moment, but that’s a pretty big gamble, if you don’t know how to play them, which I’m not sure they do.

Sarah FINALLY puts her brain back in, realizes that Tony has ditched her, and swears allegiance to the new Aparri. Not that that matters much, as everyone else does as well, given that the “new Aparri” seems to be the “old Luzon”. Our choices for the evening are quickly parsed out to Alexis and Jeremiah targeting each other, which the old Luzon making the decision. The producers realize that this is not very dramatic, nor are there any third options to throw into the mix, so things are kept mercifully short. The targets are set up ( I particularly like Alexis’ line about how Jeremiah has lied “a hundred times” when Alexis is about the only person on the new Aparri that Jeremiah has been honest with) and the old Luzon make their decision, via quips. I particularly liked Kass’ line about the Brains now finding a body to control (“We have out Zombies”, she says), as it was not only funny, but I think apt to the old problem of the Brains. They wanted power and control of the game, and so were very eager to betray. Having no one to betray but themselves, they self-destructed. Now, however, they can turn their energies to getting others to self-destruct, which in this group isn’t very hard.

Tribal is a very chaotic affair tonight. It starts out with actually some good misdirection towards Probst from Kass, who claims a Brains-Beauty split with Sarah in the middle. Eventually, though, it’s given up on in favor of the old squabbles of Beauty. With the targets re-established (and some good politicking from Alexis and Morgan), it’s time to vote, and once again, this season has me. Logic dictates Jeremiah would go home, in my mind, which screen time dictates Alexis would go home.

In the end, screen time wins out over logic, as Alexis goes home crying. I’m sorry to see her cry, but I’m not sorry to see her go. She wasn’t a BAD character per say, but she was pretty boring and stupid. I didn’t find her strategy compelling, and while Jeremiah’s not much better, I don’t say she’ll be missed. I DO, however, say that while this was something of a 50-50 choice, and is probably not the end of the world, I would have gone for Jeremiah. It gets rid of the idol scare (I still can’t believe that worked), and while Jeremiah is better to keep around challenge-wise, as I said before the new Solana is on the defensive. The new Aparri could lose a challenge and still be better off. For my money, I just think Jeremiah would be more likely to flip back to LJ and Jefra than would Alexis, given Alexis’ paranoia, and Jeremiah’s ties and likeability. Still, I don’t think it’s a make-or-break decision.

Good episode overall. Nice misdirection, some improbable events, and strategy both good and bad. “Survivor” Bread-and-Butter. Another solid episode to what has so far been a fantastic season.

Next episode is sadly the merge, and I say sadly because this means a merge at eleven. I’ve stated before that I don’t like merges before ten, it just feels like too many people. What’s worse is that it’s uneven, giving one tribe (in this case the new Aparri) an automatic advantage. I know the same thing happens with a merge at nine, but somehow that feels more “twisty” than eleven. Either way, I’m not a fan.

Oh, and I don’t buy Sarah’s supposed “flipping” either. She made it very clear this episode: Tony burned her, and she’s no longer with him. Still, stranger things have happened, and I’ve been wrong a lot this season, so we’ll see.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Cagayan” Episode 4: Post-Twerk Stress Disorder

While I’m not AGAINST pop culture references on “Survivor”, I find they usually don’t work very well.  Cheesy though the show might be, somehow these sorts of things are a different SORT of cheesy, and just don’t fit, and this is coming from the guy who makes as many references as possible each day!  However, they usually don’t ruin an episode, and can be ignored in general.  But I draw the line at not ONE, but TWO twerking references in one episode.  I despise twerking, despise that it has become a thing, and do NOT need it associated with my favorite tv show!  Other than that, though, it was a SPECTACULAR episode, such that even the references to twerking can be ignored.  But, as is the norm here at “Idol Speculation”, we start from the beginning.

Despite having just gone through a very stressful Tribal Council, Luzon seems to be in very good spirits.  Kass makes her usual quip about how the tribe supposedly made up of “Brains” has absolutely no brains at all, and Spencer just celebrates the fact that he made it through Tribal Council, once again swearing his loyalty to Tasha and Kass, and jokingly saying that this could be the Final Three, all they have to do is eliminate two other tribes.  Everyone laughs, as it’s a well-set-up joke, but ironically, it could actually come true, in my opinion.  More on that a bit later.

Morning brings out Tasha’s good side, as she pep-talks Luzon into believing that they’re the strongest possible tribe before cheerfully bringing them tree mail, which promises food after a physical brawl.  Personally, if I was on Luzon, I’d be concerned about the whole “brawn focus” that tree mail seems to indicate, but I suppose a positive attitude is good as well.

Fortunately for Luzon, they don’t have to worry about being the sole physical contributors to the challenge, as it’s time for a mix-up.  For once, it’s not one tribe being absorbed into the other two, but all three tribes getting remixed into two new tribes with seven members each, which makes a nice change from what we’ve gotten on the past 3-tribe seasons, not to mention potentially making things less lopsided for the tribes in the majority (rather than just having one or two members join a tribe of original 5, say). The mix-up method this time around is pulling covered buffs out of a bowl, and all opening them at once to reorganize.  Is this boring and conventional?  Yes, but it’s not the damn eggs again, so I’m happy.

Things shake out in a fairly lopsided manner for everyone but the old Luzon.  They (meaning Kass, Tasha, and Spencer) head over to Aparri, joining Sarah, the only original Aparri member, along with Jeremiah, Alexis, and Morgan from Solana.  This means that the remaining five members of Aparri, these being Tony, Cliff, Woo, Trish, and Lindsey, head over to Solana, joining old hands LJ and Jefra.  When I say these are lopsided, I mean it in every sense of the word.  Apart from the old Aparri having a majority on the new Solana, and Sarah being in the prime position of swing vote between the old Luzon and Solana at the new Aparri (though we’ll see in a bit why the old Luzon is in arguably the best position of them all), there’s a lot of physical disparity between the tribes.  While it’s better off than Luzon on its own, all of the large brawny guys, save Jeremiah, are over at Solana, and even then, Jeremiah is on the weaker end of the strong guys, I would say.  Spencer was able to hold his own pretty well when it was three tribes, but he’s no powerhouse, if it comes to that.  When it comes to purely physical challenges, Solana has the clear advantage.  I also find it interesting that this is the way the camps were divided.  I suppose it was done because Luzon had lost the most, but it seems a bit unfair to me.  Aparri has a tarp from winning a challenge, which is a huge advantage, while Solana does not.  I suppose Solana has the chickens, but those are a finite resource, while the tarp does not wear out.  For my money, I’d have gotten rid of Solana, as being the only tribe without a tarp, but perhaps that’s why I’m not a producer.  My final note is that I hope Tony remembered to pack his Hidden Immunity Cookie for this challenge, because if he left it back at Aparri, that would suck.

Speaking of cookies, they’re the reward for today’s challenge, along with a plethora of other baked goods.  Getting them will require a bit of nostalgia, though.  For this challenge, tribes will run in teams of two to remove members of the other tribe from posts, and drag them over a line.  The first tribe to do so scores a point, the first tribe to two wins.  This is a repeat challenge from “Survivor Cook Islands”, while its most recent repetition was on “Survivor Gabon”, and man, am I happy to see it back.  While I would prefer a new challenge to a reused one, it’s fun every now and then to see a knock-down, drag-out brawl between tribes, and this one provides for that in every sense.  It also helps that it isn’t too overdone.

Shock of all shocks, Solana wins, though to be fair, Aparri did score the first point, when it was all women.  Between Tasha’s determination, and Sarah’s presumable skills at manhandling people (since she’s a cop and all), they have a fairly easy victory in the first round.  That doesn’t stop Solana, but to be fair, they had a huge advantage in being able to put Cliff up on the pole the latter two times, and while I’m sure that Jeremiah and Spencer are more than competent wrestlers, that’s a LOT of muscly guy to get off of a pole, which is not an easy feat.  To add insult to injury, ALEXIS is one of the people they put on the pole, and she basically walks to the end with Solana.  No surprise, but it does trigger a short “I hate losing.” rant from Spencer.  SEEN IT!

What we haven’t seen is more interesting, though we must get past the aforementioned twerking reference, as Solana gets to know its new members by discussing booty-shaking techniques amongst the former Solana.  Fortunately, we get strategy talk afterwards, and this is helpful therapy for PTSD: Post-Twerk Stress Disorder.  Cliff goes on about how the old Aparri needs to stick together now, despite whatever LJ and Jefra might bring to the table.  Pretty much everyone else seems to be on board.  Everyone, that is, except for Trish, who bonds with LJ over their mutual Bostonian roots.  This extends to much complimenting of LJ’s looks on Trish’s part, as well as a lot of requests about his body.  LJ, for his part, is a little freaked out, and not as into the whole “Boston” thing as Trish is, but since Trish is on the outs, and LJ is desperate to not be on the bottom of this Solana, he goes along with it.

Then, Lindsey goes and chastises Trish to the camera for flirting with an older man.  Because that’s, like, totally GROSS and stuff!  Seriously, the more of Lindsey I see, the less I like.  She seems whiny, catty, and very close-minded.  I suppose she serves a role as Cliff’s strategic half, encouraging him on his mission to watch Trish closely for signs of disloyalty, but still, I’d rather she be gone.

We head over to Aparri, where we see the last of Sarah as she gives the newbies a tour of Aparri camp, and says that she’s going to lie back and see where she fits in with the new tribe.  Beforehand, though, she inquires as to whether the other tribe members who were “voted off” in the first twist of the game took the rice or the clue to immunity.  The former Luzon happily admits that Garrett took the Cookie, but since he isn’t here, it doesn’t matter.  In hotter water is Morgan, who had lied about having any sort of choice, and so had to come clean that she searched for the cookie instead, though she swears up and down that she did not find it.

The old Solana that came to Aparri was definitely not going to be the most united front.  Morgan was on the outs to begin with, and while Alexis and Jeremiah WERE aligned, you’ll recall that Morgan’s spin doctoring after their Tribal Council had led Alexis to mistrust Jeremiah.  Bottom line, with the exception of Jeremiah, nobody trusts anyone from the old Solana.  And, with only one former Aparri member on the tribe, that leaves but one unified bunch on the new Aparri to align with: the old Luzon.

This is where Luzon really has the advantage, and why I think they could realistically be the final three.  While going to Tribal Council a lot early on is not exactly a good thing, as it puts you personally in danger of going home, it does mean that your alliances have been tested, and sort of forces you to form a tight unit, as otherwise you’ll get picked off at the merge by the bigger tribes.  In short, internal backstabbing is not something minority tribes can afford.  Bigger tribes do have that luxury, though, and in a lot of cases after shakeups, the smaller tribe can exploit the rift in the bigger tribe (or in this case tribes), and pull off a major comeback.  Add to that the fact that I believe that Kass, Tasha, and Spencer are all excellent strategists, and I’d say they’re in a good position for the future, particularly given the outcome of this tribal council.

In an interesting twist, Kass, Tasha, and Spencer don’t even HAVE to try and exploit rifts in the old Solana (exploiting rifts in the old Aparri being kind of a moot point now), as the old Solana is more than keen to exploit rifts among themselves.  I would have expected Morgan to do as much, but surprisingly it’s ALEXIS who gets in on the action first, spurred by mistrust in Morgan after the whole Hidden Immunity Cookie lie comes out.  Morgan also strategizes with Luzon, and even Jeremiah gets in on the action, trying to sell himself as a lone wolf.  Spencer comments that this is great for the old Luzon, and I can’t contradict him.  This is bad for the old Solana, since as I explained above, it hands the old Luzon a lot of power, while simultaneously weakening your old tribe, making your post-merge chances a lot worse.

There is a downside, though.  A lot of the backstabbing from the old Solana takes the form of gossiping in front of each other, including negative allusions toward Alexis, given her propensity toward… TWERKING!  AAH!  GET IT AWAY!  GET IT AWAY!  DEATH TO THE TWERK!

Fortunately, Solana is there to provide us with a distraction.  Trish, having decided to fully jump ship, tells Jefra of her plan to draw in her ally Tony, and along with Jefra and LJ, vote off Cliff, while managing to avoid a following Cliff, leaving him clueless.  A good bit of strategy talk, and nice stealth, but I’m not sure it’s the best strategy.  More on that later.

Challenge Time!  And despite being yet another repeat (evidently we can’t get amazing strategy without challenge originality suffering), I quite like this one.  It’s a challenge called “Gate Crashers”, used only once before, on “Survivor China”.  This challenge requires the tribes to pick up a large battering ram, smash through a few walls, and then solve a maze inscribed on said battering ram.  I’ll admit the challenge felt more appropriate for Chinese culture than Indonesian (although this season is in the Philippines, they’re drawing from Indonesian culture for some reason), but the battering ram thing is still awesome, and a sort of puzzle at the end is a great equalizer, as LJ is the only real puzzle guy on the new Solana.

You would expect, from the editing, that Aparri is toast, despite the inclusion of a puzzle.  Each tribe has to sit out one person, and while Solana quickly sits out Trish (an odd choice, given that while she’s old, she’s fairly strong, and Jefra is next to useless), but Aparri can’t decide between Morgan or Alexis.  Um, I like Kass, but why not sit her out?  She’s not that strong, at least no more so than Morgan or Alexis, and while I could see her being useful on the puzzle, Spencer and presumably Tasha are also very good at puzzles, so that won’t be in short supply.  Then, they do Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who sits out, with Morgan ultimately losing.  This is an incredibly STUPID way to decide who sits out a challenge, as it really does need to be merit based to maximize success.  As if this wasn’t enough of dumb move, they then put Spencer and Jeremiah, clearly the strongest members of the tribe, at the back.  I suppose the logic is that then more force goes behind the ram, but really, you need a lot of force at the tip to get it up, and you just don’t have that.  Admittedly, they do quickly correct this, but by them Solana has a commanding lead.

The editing lies, however, as Aparri makes up time, and after a tight race on the maze, pulls out a narrow victory, which makes me very happy, and presumably gives Spencer, Kass, and Tasha a lot of brownie points.  As Probst hands them immunity, I can’t help but notice that Tasha jumps out from the tribe to receive it.  I would have no issue with this, as she was a major factor in Aparri winning the challenge, except that she did it on the other challenge that Luzon won, where she did NOT contribute to the win very much.  This makes me believe that Tasha, as a superfan, just loves getting the immunity idol, and it annoys me personally.  Let the top contributor take the idol, or at least spread it around.  I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but someone always jumping for the idol seems like it would be very annoying.  You know, the rest of us may want a go at the idol as well.

Oh well, our ending comment is from Tony, who says that losing is no big deal.  LJ is a threat, and therefore he will go, thus ensuring that LJ will not go.

To be fair, though, the episode does a damn impressive job with the misdirection.  While the evidence would seem to indicate that LJ will not go home, as he thinks he has an alliance, and if not, has the Hidden Immunity Cookie as a backup, but he’s also had a lot more screentime than Cliff, and Tony is very adamant about sticking with the tribe.  I’m really not sure just which way he’s going to go, which makes for an exciting episode.  Which way should he go?  Like with the old Solana on the new Aparri, I believe the best strategy for the old Aparri on the new Solana is to stick together.  Like Tony says, you know Cliff a lot better than you know LJ, so there’s no guarantee you can trust LJ.  Additionally, while Trish and Tony may have a tight alliance, the longer that alliance can be kept a secret, the better off you are, so if you can have a vote that does not clue in the rest of the old Aparri to your plot, the better.

For all that I praise Tony for his misdirection, his game is turning into something of a disappointment.  He’s something of an inconsistent player, which is not a good strategy.  One episode he’ll never reveal that he’s a cop, the next he’ll spill the beans.  In this case, in one episode Trish is his tightest ally, this episode she’s a raving lunatic for wanting to get rid of Cliff.

Tribal Council is a thoroughly enjoyable affair, due to the excellent misdirection and good banter.  I particularly enjoyed Trish’s boldfaced lie that the old Aparri needed to stick together.  At the last minute, needing to predict some sort of firm outcome for the episode, I put my money on LJ getting the boot.  I seem to be proven right when he does what I perceive to be a stupid move and not play his Hidden Immunity Cookie.  While I understand it’s a tricky situation, the alliance with Trish and Tony is fairly flimsy where Tony is concerned, and so I would be very skeptical.  I, however, would be out one idol at no gain, as Tony ends up flipping, and Cliff goes home.  While this is a stupid move, I admit the more boring character went home, as while Cliff did give us more strategy than I expected, there wasn’t very much special about him.  LJ, on the other hand, is a great strategist, so I’m happy he’s still in.

Like I said at the start, this was a PHENOMENAL episode, apart from those bits about dance moves that shall not be named.  The misdirection was great, the strategy talk was excellent, the challenges were enjoyable for repeats, all-in-all, the best episode of the season so far.  Sadly, I do not believe that the next episode will continue that streak, as I believe we’re in for a letdown.  They usually advertise a quit before the season begins, so I doubt Lindsey will actually pull the trigger and quit.  Still, she annoys me, and I’ve been wrong before, so here’s hoping!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Cagayan” Episode 3: Raising the Buoy

Psychology tells us that streaks are all in our minds.  It’s simple probability.  The actions of one stimulus (in this case an episode) do not indicate patterns for later repetitions of that stimulus.  I knew this going into the season.  So why, oh why, am I so disappointed in a lackluster episode following two spectacular ones?

Not to say the episode did not have its good points.  The challenges, while nothing special, were fun, and there was a certain amount of unpredictability as to who would win.  But it felt like nothing was accomplished, the boot this time was predictable, and parts of it were just painful to watch.  But I should back up a bit, the episode started out ok.  Specifically, it started in the usual place, with the losing tribe from the previous episode, Solana.  There are the usual “That was awful.”, “I don’t want to go through that again.” statements, but we do get a bit of strategy.  Morgan, realizing she’s on the outs with her tribe, decides that action must be taken to ensure her survival.  Her actions, in this case, are to throw Jeremiah under the bus.  Taking a leaf out of the Jim Rice (“Survivor South Pacific”) school of insults, she calls Jeremiah a “coward”, and asks why he went back on his own idea of getting rid of LJ.  Now while this is decent strategy on Morgan’s part, and I certainly admire the fact that she’s not just rolling over now that her alliance is gone, I doubt this strategy will work.  All Jeremiah has to do is say that he was playing you, and since he’s clearly in the majority, and you’re not, your word will mean almost nothing, and you will be easily dismissed.  Jeremiah, however, makes things worse for himself, albeit only slightly.  He instead goes on the route that, after weighing the options, he didn’t want to go against his first alliance.  Frankly, I think this is probably an HONEST assessment of what happened, but not one that makes you look the best, Jeremiah.  Granted, you did ultimately side with the majority, so most will brush it off, but coming off as two-faced this early is not a good thing.  Case in point, although not overly paranoid, Alexis is now a little suspicious of Jeremiah.  Way to limit your room to maneuver, man.

Tree Mail arrives after commercial, and Luzon quickly figures out that it’s a blindfold challenge.  Hey Kass, perhaps THAT’S how you were all selected for the “Brains” tribe: You all got a fake tree mail to read in casting.  Those who figured it out quickly were deemed “Brains”, those who figured it out somewhat less quickly were the “Brawn”, and those who thought it predicted the sinking of the “Titanic” were the “Beauty”.  Oh, well, anyway, Luzon practices, J’Tia in particular highlighting the need to win so they can have food (it’s a reward challenge).

Challenge Time!  As mentioned above, today is the blindfolded challenge, which, while technically a reused challenge (it dates back to “Survivor The Australian Outback”), it’s one that falls into the category of “Survivor” Staples, and one that I enjoy watching if only for the physical comedy.  This one is a bit on the disappointing level at first: there’s only one pair of people to direct, the objects are pretty much unrelated, and there are surprisingly few collisions.  We at least get a few shots to the groin with LJ, but even then, the hilarity is somewhat limited by empathy.  However, there is one aspect of this challenge that makes it a lot better: the lift.  For once, tribes do not just have to reach the general vicinity of a mat to dump their objects.  Said objects must be placed on a lift, and then, with two ropes operated by blindfolded people, pulled up synchronously, no easy feat.  This new edition makes the challenge a lot more exciting, and has a large impact on the outcome of the challenge.

To go into more detail, Cliff, the caller for Aparri, sends Lindsey and Tony far out into the field to grab their first item, a move that puts them pretty far behind.  For most of the time, it’s a race between Solana, being directed by Alexis, and Luzon, being directed by Tasha.  Give Tasha some credit, even if she does get overexcited and panicky sometimes, she has a very loud voice.  Solana ends up taking a slight lead as Luzon cannot seem to get the act of synchronous pulling down.  Things come to a head when Solana hoists up their flag (the last item) with no trouble, while Luzon (pardon the pun) loses it.  Now, while I admit that getting an awkward flag to fit on a platform that is far too small for it is no easy task blindfolded, you would believe that anyone with a modicum of sense would be able to do it eventually, particularly given how much of a deficit Aparri is currently at.

Then you remember that J’Tia is working with Luzon, and J’Tia destroys every challenge she touches.

While Aparri makes off with the consolation prize of a dozen eggs, Solana gets sent home with the usual three egg-laying chickens and a rooster.  I miss the days when Probst asked them to name the chickens, though I suppose nothing will ever top Jenna Lewis’ (“Survivor Borneo”) names of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.  We then get the standard debate of every season where chickens are a reward, in which EVERYONE becomes an instant chicken expert, when pretty much NO ONE has a clue.  I’ll admit this scene was MILDLY entertaining, but mostly it just made me feel even more disgusted at the Solana women.  Could they BE more shallow, girly, and stupid?  We do have Jeremiah proving his “Manliness” by pulling off a chicken’s head, and Morgan continuing to insult him in confessionals, but this just comes off as repetitive and pointless.

LJ thankfully provides us with slightly more strategic talk, by giving an interview when an idol clue is found in the reward.  Jeremiah finds it, and since we’ve established that Jeremiah couldn’t pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel, he reads it out for the entire tribe, though to be fair, since they all saw it, he had little choice.  LJ rightly congratulates himself on having the wherewithal to look for the idol BEFORE the clue was found, so that the idol would not be a communal idol, a move that I must praise.  Only one person can have the idol, and even if you swear up and down that you’ll use it for the tribe, the fact is that suspicion is now on you.  Plus, from a viewer standpoint, communal idols are less fun to watch.

Aparri continues to disintegrate under the machinations of Tony, though Cliff and Lindsey in this case are helping him along, the pair blatantly making an alliance right in front of Sarah, followed by… Lindsey calling Cliff emotionless?  Ok, not sure how that makes an alliance, but Cliff seems to buy it.  Still, Sarah is a strong, independent woman, albeit one taking the word of a sleazy man, and recruits Woo to the Anti-Cliff campaign.  Of course, Woo has an alliance with Cliff, and since he wants to play like Challenge Jesus (“Survivor Cook Islands”), will obviously do the stupid thing of sticking tight with Cliff, and telling Sarah to her face that he’s not with her.

Actually no.  Woo does the smart thing, which I would not have believed of him, and does what he has to to stay in the majority.  Woo, you’re no genius, but you may win my respect yet.  And you certainly have more brains than J’Tia.

Once again, we get Tree Mail that is more vague than previous ones this season, but still seems to indicate some sort of basketball challenge at sunset.  This is right up Cliff’s ally, being a former NBA player and all that, but Sarah is now very suspicious of him, and doesn’t want to risk him hitting any sort of switch-up.  Therefore, despite their literal large advantage in Cliff, Sarah proposes throwing the challenge, which I have to say, despite her reasoning, is a STUPID IDEA!  Ignoring the fact that Tony is blatantly lying to her, and she should not trust him, Sarah is making an assumption that a mix-up is coming any day now.  Admittedly, we find out she’s correct in the “Next Time On…” segment, but my point is as a player, go with what you know.  You do NOT know when a mix-up is going to be, or even if there will be one.  You DO know that if there ISN’T a mix-up, and you throw a challenge, you will have lost crucial momentum.  I get the paranoia, but unless you have a situation like with Brandon Hantz on “Survivor Caramoan”, where the person is literally sabotaging your tribe, or if you have a situation like Boran on “Survivor Africa” in which losing a challenge ensures the exit of an enemy member, throwing a challenge is NOT a good idea.

Woo, of all people, turns out to be the voice of reason in this discussion.  Trish and Tony seem on board, and Lindsey will be sitting out, but Woo, like me, voices concern, and says that while he wants to stick with the majority, he’s not sure if he can go along with throwing a challenge.

Challenge Time!  Sure enough, there’s a basketball element to the challenge, but in the latter half.  For the first part, tribe members dive down in 3-foot increments to retrieve buoys tied to a rope.  Once all five buoys are back, two tribe members (the other two serving as a ball-return system) will attempt to shoot the buoys into a basket, the first two tribes to sink all five buoys winning immunity.  This challenge is very small, and combines a few elements we’ve seen before, and also has a significantly lowered difficulty level.  Give me the days of “Survivor Vanuatu”, when the things to be retrieved were 30 feet down, damn the consequences.  Still, it’s challenging enough, I enjoy diving challenges, and the other challenges this season have been excellent, so I can give this one a pass.

Aparri tries valiantly to throw the challenge, but Woo refuses to go along, and Luzon really messes up. I’m coming to the conclusion that part of Luzon’s problem is that none of them are particularly strong swimmers in a season where the ability to swim is highly valuable.  J’Tia has her usual epic fail by being unable to untie a buoy 3 feet beneath the water, but in fairness, Kass and Tasha do little better, and Tasha in particular is at least SOMEWHAT athletic.  Perhaps getting rid of Garrett and David instead of J’Tia was NOT a smart idea, huh?

Yes, even with Aparri actively throwing the challenge, Luzon still loses, though in defense of Spencer, he was up against an NBA player, the odds were against him in the throwing department.  It should be a funny scene, but it just leaves me cold, perhaps because I like Luzon so much, but I think more because after “Survivor Philippines” watching a tribe get decimated just isn’t as much fun anymore for some reason.

Spencer seems to be in trouble, so he makes the logical play of pointing out the obvious, namely that J’Tia sucks in challenges.  In private conference, Kass and Tasha agree on this point, and agree to vote J’Tia out.  In an instance of learning from their mistakes, they decide NOT to tell J’Tia, lest J’Tia throw out the remaining 5% the rice, and instead tell her that they’re voting for Spencer, which she has no choice but to believe.  Tasha then starts having second thoughts, along the lines of Sarah’s.  She’s worried that if there’s a mix-up, Spencer will be less loyal than J’Tia, and since you never know what’s coming, it’s best to get rid of Spencer.  Kass meanwhile, berates Tasha for being too wishy-washy, thinking that they should just make a plan and stick with it.  Again, I disagree with this philosophy of voting out people based on what you THINK will happen, see my comments with Sarah above.  I also don’t buy this misdirection one bit.  Both J’Tia and Spencer have had adequate screentime, but Spencer has been hyped to no end this season, and there’s no way they’d hype him so much for him to go early.  Also, as I’ve stated, getting rid of J’Tia is a MUCH more logical decision.

But, I’m sure you all want me to comment on the philosophies of Kass and Tasha.  Which is better, to make a plan and never deviate from it, or to flip-flop back and forth considering all possibilities.  Well, the answer is: NEITHER!  While I think Kass makes logical decisions on the whole, and therefore holding fast to them is not a TERRIBLE idea, you need to keep an open mind and be flexible on “Survivor”.  But that doesn’t mean you should overthink things like Tasha does, that will only make you unreliable, and cause you to be voted off.  The truth lies somewhere in the middle, and there’s no easy answer.  I really want to sympathize with Kass, and hope that the upcoming swap next week works out well for her, but I just can’t condone her strategy any more than Tasha’s.

An obvious Tribal Council outcome is at least somewhat offset by the hilarity of Tasha and Kass discussing things right in front of Spencer and J’Tia who can do no more than sit, watch, pray, and try to answer Jeff’s questions.  Sure enough, J’Tia goes home, and I am not sorry at all!  J’Tia was mildly fascinating in how she could screw up so badly, and yet still stay, but her attitude was aggravating, and to see competent people go in her stead was just too much to tolerate.  J’Tia, you will not be missed.

Yeah, I really don’t have much positive to say about this episode.  The challenges were ok and suspenseful, I suppose, but a lot of scenes seemed like filler, the outcome was obvious, and nothing really got done.  A step down for what has so far been an exemplary season, but hopefully a tribe swap will make things more interesting.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Cagayan” Episode 2: Connecting the Dot-Dot-Dots

Frankly, I’m surprised we made it all the way through this episode.  Not because it was boring, not by a long shot!  Aside from perhaps a fairly low-stakes Tribal Council, this episode once again kept me engaged, fooled me a few times, and had a lot of fun things to watch.  No, I’m just surprised that as soon as Tony made his “Cops ‘R Us” quip that Phillip “Special Agent?” Sheppard of “Survivor Redemption Island” did not come charging onscreen to beat Tony to a pulp for stealing his alliance naming theme, knocking over several cameramen in the process and thereby forcing the episode to a halt.  You may logically ask “Well, how could Phillip have known in real time, and even if he did, how could he get out to the island that quickly?”  To which I answer “It’s Phillip ‘Special Agent?’ Sheppard, since when has logic entered into ANYTHING he does?”

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Here at “Idol Speculation, my knee-jerk opinion that everyone is entitled to”, we start at the beginning.  The same cannot be said for this episode’s “Previously On..” segment, though, as it decides to start in media res with regards to the first episode.  I’m aware that it was basically two episodes crammed into one, but that’s no excuse for ignoring the first half of the episode.  In my mind, the “Previously On…” segments serve two purposes: To catch people who missed an episode up on what happened, and to highlight the important parts to keep things fresh in the minds of regular viewers.  Skipping half an episode means you do no successfully accomplish the former, and makes phrases like “Luzon continued their losing streak.” make no sense.  Just a bit of an odd choice, to me.

So, NOW is it time to get into the episode?  Well, not quite.  I know it’s a long wait, but bear with me.  Before the episode proper can begin, it’s time for another edition of:

MATT’S MESS-UP!

Yes, only one episode in, and I’ve already missed a few important points.  Truly an auspicious start.  In fairness, though, the first part is less a point than a joke.  Over at Aparri, I made mention of Cliff and Woo forming an alliance, but I was so focused on strategy talk, that I forgot to describe my thought process when I first saw the two of them head out.  It was something along the lines of “You’re taking the close to seven feet tall guy out in the boat that is mainly based on balance?  You’re asking for a capsize.”  I was therefore very vindicated to see that Cliff did indeed capsize their boat.  I laugh about it now because no harm came of it, and the boat was fine, so it’s just funny rather than tragic.

My other missing point is somewhat more serious.  Speaking as a Psychology Major, I’m well aware of the dangers of drawing conclusions from a small sample size, but after three seasons with three tribes of six members each, I can’t help but notice that in every case, the tribe that loses the first challenge loses the second one as well, and I’m starting to think that this isn’t a coincidence.  As many people on the show have said, momentum is a huge part of “Survivor”.  When you have it, everything is easier, and when you don’t, everything is harder.  Now, some tribes have cracked under the pressure, regardless of size, but most 8, 9, or 10-person tribes seem to largely be able to come back from an initial loss.  However, most 6-person tribes seem to crumble, and I’m not sure that’s a coincidence.  I would hypothesize that while any tribe, regardless of size, feels a certain amount of hopelessness after an initial challenge loss, amongst tribes larger than 6 people, that hopelessness is spread around, allowing individuals to perform better.  Amongst 6-person tribes, however, there’s pretty much nowhere to hide after a single Tribal Council.  This wears on you, destroys tribe performance, and makes it very likely that you’ll receive a one-two punch (in the case of Matsing from “Survivor Philippines”, a one-two-three-four punch).  Naturally there’s no way for me to prove this hypothesis, and it’s pretty much just guess work on my end, but it’s something to think about, particularly with regards to whether this makes 6-person tribes “fair”.  Despite my earlier claims, I’ll go out on a limb and say they aren’t, partly because I agree that smaller tribes lead to more shifting alliances, which I enjoy, and partly because my hypothesis is untested.  If true, however, it’s something to consider.  Oh, and as to any potential critics who say that 4-person tribes have never had back-to-back immunity losses, I would point out that there were extenuating circumstances in each case.  “Survivor Exile Island” recombined the tribes after one immunity challenge, meaning Casaya had no chance to prove itself later on.  As for “Survivor Cook Islands”, I would point out that in the second immunity challenge, Hiki came in third overall, meaning they likely would have lost had it not been for Aitu throwing the challenge, given that Aitu was shown to be a fairly competitive tribe.

With over a page of blog out of the way, we FINALLY get to start the episode.  It’s a pretty standard start, with everyone commiserating after the ouster of Garrett.  Spencer sums it up best, by saying that Garrett gave a Tribal Council performance so poor that the tribe would keep what amounts to a domestic terrorist over him.  Tasha points out that had Garrett not insisted on a group council, J’Tia would have been gone, causing many a “Survivor” fan to groan in dismay, as we might have been rid of the scourge of J’Tia were it not for Garrett.  Kass, meanwhile, gives us some insight into her voting strategy.  Apparently she came in undecided, but Garrett’s muscles and abysmal Tribal Council performance put him over the edge.  The segment is rounded out by J’Tia, who’s happy to be here, and while she admits Luzon is in trouble, she also describes it as “fun to watch”.  Fun for whom, J’Tia?  True, we viewers are enjoying this dismantling, but if I was on Luzon (and I should be), I’d be freaking terrified about your prospects.  Perhaps J’Tia is just feeling secure in the women’s alliance Tasha has put together.

Before we can head to a day segment, however, we have to see what’s happening at the brawny Aparri.  Tony is feeling insecure, despite his idol, since he seems to have no alliance at the moment.  Kind of weird, it seemed like he had Trish on board last episode, but this episode he seems to want nothing to do with her.  Not a very consistent player, our Tony.  Case in point, in a desperate attempt to scrounge up an alliance, Tony once AGAIN flip-flops on the whole “Cop Lie”, and comes clean to Sarah when she sidles up to him by the fire.  Look, Tony, I tried to defend your decision there, but if you were just going to come clean a bit later, telling the lie initially could only hurt you, as Sarah will now out you as a sneaky liar, right?  Right?

No, actually, after a lame “Cops ‘R Us” quip, Sarah seems to be won over.  This is very odd, as I thought that someone outing themselves as a liar would make them public enemy number one, but apparently in the world of Sarah, it earns them an alliance.  Kind of a shame, really, Sarah was growing on me, but this is a real strategic blunder.  Here’s an idea: if people have openly lied to you, don’t keep them around!  It makes the game easier, and gives you more solid allies.

Alliance building will have to wait, however, for our lack of opening credits.  I bring this up because, while we got the shortened version, there was one particularly significant point of note: it used the “Survivor Micronesia” music.  I hadn’t wanted to bring it up last blog, as I had no confirmed source for the information, but if this episode is to be believed, it’s true.  Russ Landau, the man behind all the great “Survivor” themes, is no longer with the show.  Whether by his own decision or CBS’, I don’t know, but the point is we will not be getting original themes to the show any more, which I feel is a great shame.  The man made a lot of good music, gave the show such a memorable start, and if his leaving was CBS’ doing, then they’ve made a big mistake.  While I enjoy the intros as a whole, and love seeing the editing done for the credits, with Russ Landau gone, I’m not sure I want to see them anymore.  I keep going back to “Survivor Nicaragua”, and how weird it was to hear the “Survivor Borneo” music coming up for something that wasn’t “Survivor Borneo”.  It just doesn’t feel right.  I’ve spent enough time already on this blog with things that aren’t the actual episode, so I won’t go into any more detail, but don’t be surprised if you find me doing a “Top 5 and Bottom 5” for the show’s themes later in the season.

Back to the actual episode, it’s time for our seasonly reminder that the game is not a pushover.  In the most traditional of reminders, the tribes get poured on.  We surprisingly don’t look in on Luzon at this point (I’m curious to see if, after all that trouble, J’Tia’s shelter was really worth it), but that’s ok because we get a great scene at Aparri.  I’m always a big fan of whenever the editing team doesn’t add music or an interview over a storm, or just a bad situation, but instead lets the whole thing just play out on its own.  It makes for a beautiful contrast that really lets the gravity of the situation sink in, and I welcome it with open arms.

The silence is broken by Woo, who does it purely to show us that there are still people on this Earth who use the term “Gnarly”.  Lame though the word is, I can’t deny that I enjoy the guy’s upbeat attitude.  The same cannot be said for Trish and Lindsey, the former of whom gives us the generic “This sucks.” interview, while the latter is our complainer and potential quitter for the season, threatening to leave if the weather keeps up.  This WOULD be a compelling storyline, but Probst loves to tease us with medivacs and quits in the pre-season, and since neither came up, it’s clear that if and when Lindsey leaves the game, it will be of other’s volition.

Even a little rain can’t stop the strategizing at Aparri, though, as Sarah and Tony take leave to elaborate on their conversation from the night before.  Tony tells Sarah that Cliff and Lindsey are her biggest threats, as both were talking about voting her off (Cliff in particular was strongarming the move, according to Tony).  Again, kind of weird, given that Cliff, Woo, Lindsey, and Sarah appeared to be in an alliance at the outset of the game.  Sarah really must be under some sort of spell, as she doesn’t question Tony at all, and just assumes that he’s telling the truth.  I suppose she must think that since he’s a cop, he’s utterly trustworthy, but Sarah, there’s GOOD cops, and BAD cops, so that’s really not a safe assumption.

Rainy day blues abound at Solana as well, with Jefra being our wannabe quittee this time.  Gee, because I couldn’t like the women of Solana even less.  You just HAD to prove me wrong, “Survivor”.  Still, a little rain won’t stop LJ from pursuing his goals.  Correctly deducing that Morgan was probably looking for a cookie out by the rocks, LJ decides to walk out, in full view of his tribe I might add, and look around for any cookies.  Sure enough, he finds one very quickly, meaning that most likely, Morgan is just stupid.  How the rest of Solana doesn’t notice LJ bending down and getting the cookie, I don’t know, but he seems to get away with the caper unnoticed, and plans to keep the cookie a secret from the rest of his tribe.  I’ve always said that 9/10 times, keeping the cookie secret from the rest of your tribe is a good idea, so I’ve got nothing but praise for LJ’s skills this episode.

Luzon does get some more screentime, but not related to the rain.  No, after checking a FREAKING AWESOME Tree Mail (say what you will about the season, the production design is top-notch!), we see that production design aside, Tree Mail has gone downhill.  It starts out looking like the usual tree mail poetry, but quickly dissolves into telling the tribes “You’re going to be tossing buckets of water to each other.”  Call me nostalgic, but I preferred the old days when Tree Mail just hinted at what the challenge was, like with the “A-mazed” pun made earlier in the Tree Mail that hinted at the maze portion.  Somehow, just telling the tribe what will happen takes some of the mystery and fun out of it.  We get a slight comedy bit where Tasha suggests that everyone practice throwing water, while others suggest drinking a lot of water, or boiling some rice.  While I understand Tasha’s thinking, I have to agree with Spencer on this one.  You need to be well-fed and hydrated to perform optimally in the challenges, and while practicing isn’t a bad idea, you can’t ignore everything else.  Still, they do get in some practice.  Whether or not it will help remains to be seen.

CHALLENGE TIME!  And despite it being a partially rehashed challenge, it’s awesome enough and has enough original content to merit full Caps Lock and an exclamation mark.  Tossing a bucket of water to each other (at one point tossing water between buckets) Tribes attempt to fill a pitcher with water.  When the pitcher is full enough a lever will get pulled, and a ball will drop down.  Once the ball is free, two tribe members must use ropes to navigate the ball through a circular vertical maze.  The first two tribes to get it through win immunity and a certain degree of comfort, shelter-wise (first tribe gets a tarp, pillows, and blankets, second tribe gets a tarp).  The tossing of water buckets is reused from an oft-forgotten challenge from “Survivor Vanuatu”, but as it’s oft-forgotten it also hasn’t been rehashed to death, and is a fairly exciting challenge concept, so I’m fine with its use here.  On top of that, the vertical circular maze, while arguably combining elements from previous mazes, I would say has not been seen before on the show, and was an exciting concept that made for a thrilling climax to the challenge.  It makes a nice change from last season, loving all the challenges instead of hating them.

Going in, I’m not sure who will win, given that both Aparri and Luzon had some strategic talk on their tribes.  My money would be on Aparri, for all the screentime they had, but I’m not sure.  The one thing I am certain of is that Solana is going to avoid Tribal tonight.  We’ve had almost no strategy talk from them, and they’ve been seen the least this episode.  When Luzon falls behind early on, and Aparri finishes the maze first, I’m dead certain that Luzon is heading to Tribal Council for the third straight time.  I’m pleasantly surprised, then, to see that Luzon pulls out a narrow second place finish, sending Solana to Tribal Council.  “Survivor” got me again, they pulled the wool over my eyes on this one.  Admittedly, part of their loss was due to Jeremiah and LJ getting stuck on one particularly tricky maneuver, but Luzon still deserves a lot of credit, they came back from a major deficit on the maze, and  it was a good brainy feat.  Take note, Luzon: when you put KASS and SPENCER on the puzzle, you do well.  Remember that for the future.  Also, I find it kind of funny that the colors on the idols now match the colors of the tribes their on.

Happy music greets us after the challenge, meaning we’ll be seeing either Aparri or Luzon first.  Sure enough, we get to see Aparri, where Tony is once again rifling through the reward looking for clues, and finds one, hiding it from the rest of his tribe.  Say what you will, the man’s proactive in his game, which you have to admire.  We also see that Lindsey apparently ALSO wants Troy’s lie to succeed, as she wishes ill on Sarah as she sets up the reward hammock.  Good going there, Lindsey.  What’s ironic is that the hammock really DOES fall under Sarah’s weight, meaning she is likely channeling the legacy of “Boo” from “Survivor Fiji”.

So, now we get to see what Solana’s thought process is.  LJ, thinking ahead, is wanting to take out Brice, as he doesn’t contribute too much physically, and LJ is worried that, due to Brice’s strategizing, he might be a threat down the road.  I personally want him gone because I find his mannerisms annoying, but that’s just me.  Brice, meanwhile, wants to take out Alexis, as he believes her to be an ally of LJ’s who doesn’t contribute much.  Also, it will help him sway potentially ally Jefra over if she suddenly doesn’t have an alliance mate in Alexis.  I have to give Solana this, they have a tough choice.  No one on Solana has been seen as the “weak link”, so there’s no obvious boot, but they’re also not playing too hard too fast by trying to backstab a major player this early.  However the vote comes out, one alliance will be dominant, but the losing alliance won’t be completely blindsided.  There is some brief talk of going for LJ from Jefra’s end, but it really doesn’t amount to anything, which is a shame, because it could have made this episode more exciting.  While I think the choices from both alliances are sound and fair, that doesn’t make them exciting.  Strategically logical, but not exciting.

Jeremiah is the swing vote this time around, having let Brice know that he’s the target.  Like I said before, it’s a tough choice for him.  If you go with Brice, you weaken LJ, your biggest competition, but if you go with LJ, you can hide behind him come merge time.  Beyond that, there’s not much separating the two choices.  If I was Jeremiah, I’d probably stick with the LJ alliance, on the theory that Morgan will feel less betrayed that LJ will, since Brice and Morgan at least have some prior warning that their names are on the chopping block.  Also, come the merge time, if you are with Brice and Morgan, you are clearly the biggest threat, whereas if you are with LJ, you have a little more room to maneuver.  Of course this is also contingent on Jefra joining up as well, but as Jefra’s conversation with Morgan about “talking to Jeremiah about it” shows, Jefra really isn’t using her own brain cells, and has to borrow some of Jeremiah’s.  Boy, you’re really hurting if you’re that desperate for Brain cells.

Times are easier for Jeremiah, though, when Alexis comes up and suggests splitting the vote between Morgan and Brice, in case one of them has the idol.  Normally I’d deride this as being needless paranoia that will only serve to make a simple vote more difficult (and a majority easier to obtain), but since there’s reasonable doubt that Morgan might have the idol, in this case it’s justified.  For Jeremiah, it also has the benefit of allowing himself, Brice, and Morgan to get a majority with just the three of them.

Tribal is a fairly standard affair, with a low stakes boot in terms of overall tribal unity (though admittedly big in determining the dominant alliance), and mostly just with the standard Probst questions about how they’re getting on, and what they think of the tribal divisions.  However, special mention must be given to Brice’s comment about “Voting out the weakest, dot, dot, dot.” I like this answer because not only is it witty (so there is a good side to Brice), but it also signals to your alliance the answer, but doesn’t offend anybody, because that blank could be filled with anything.  The highlight of the Tribal Council for sure.

Solana may be saner than thought, as they vote out Brice with little fanfare.  While he wasn’t as annoying as I thought he’d be, I do have to say I won’t miss him.  The ironic thing is that if he hadn’t been trying so hard early on, he might have lasted longer.  My take was Solana voted him out for over strategizing.  Had he been a bit slower/quieter about it, Morgan probably would have gone first.  So, even though LJ’s alliance has gained dominance, things aren’t too chaotic at Solana.  Yet.

This season started strong, and continues to be strong.  A lot of funny moments, some good strategic moments, less appearances by the annoying characters, a good challenge, and some decent misdirection.  I’ll admit, going into that Tribal Council, I had no idea who was going.  Brice had more screentime overall, but Alexis had been getting a lot this episode, making her an equally likely candidate for elimination.  Two great episodes make for a great season so far, let’s see if they can keep it up!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.