Idol Speculation: “Survivor 44” Episode 5: Disarmed

Hoo boy.  This episode.  This is going to be one of the toughest to blog in long time, at least on my end.  While my own subjective opinion is obviously a lot of the focus of this blog, I do try and give an objective assessment of things, or as objective as I can be.  Yet here I find myself with an episode that’s near-impossible to do.  This, you see, is a rare breed of episode.  One that is technically at least proficient, if not perfect, that gives us both great character moments and great strategic moments… And yet is one that I absolutely do not like.  I’m sure you can guess why in general, though it goes a bit deeper than that.  I’ll explain more at the end.  

For now, we deal with the fallout from the last vote, and hoo boy, did people drop the ball on how to handle things.  Yam Yam’s obviously going to be upset, but has a hard time keeping a particularly civil tongue in his head.  Not that he’s going on an expletive-laden rant or anything, but he is talking loudly and harshly to Carolyn about her betrayal.  Carolyn, being who she is, returns the favor, noting that while she may have betrayed him, Yam Yam didn’t exactly make himself the best ally by dictating what would happen.  Both make valid points, but express them in a way that only serves to drive one apart from the other.  

The one person who can be happy about this is Josh.  While he did manage to survive the night, he did also burn his idol.  Luckily, he now finds himself in the swing position.  Carolyn informs us that, while Yam Yam did not treat her as she felt an ally should, she’s still closer with him personally than with Josh.  Her heart is telling her to side with Yam Yam against Josh, while her head says Josh is a more solid ally moving forward.  All reasonable conclusions.  Given that Carolyn has played at least a solid game thus far, possibly even a spectacular one, I’d say this gives her siding with Josh the edge, but time will tell.  

Over at Ratu, we quickly get our promised “Matthew talks about how in pain he is” sound bytes from the preview out of the way.  He talks with Kane about how much pain he’s in, before doing the same with Carson.  I’d normally be concerned that the thing still hasn’t healed up at this point.  True, Matthew did disregard the “Go easy on it” advice from the doctors early on, competing in several challenges, but most of the time he left it in the sling, so it still being a problem would seem concerning.  That said, from what my research turned up, these types of injuries can take up to 8 weeks to fully heal, and that’s in ideal conditions, which it’s safe to say “Survivor” is not.  

Not that this makes it any fun for Matthew.  He cries, both to Kane and to Carson, but a hug from the latter helps him keep moving forward.  We transition away then to Carson talking about his position in the game, and I’m sure that after that little inspirational bit, we’ll NEVER hear about Matthew’s arm again.  

Carson, for his part, is quite happy with his spot in the game, as well he should be.  Despite Matthew having worked with several other people on the tribe, if not every single one at at least some point, he says he’s more emotionally close with Carson than anyone else.  Carson says that people are giving him information, and while we haven’t seen that apart from Matthew’s conversation with him last episode (which was at least half false information anyway), we do see him having a variety of conversations.  Kane and he discuss their various overlapping nerd-doms, and if you happen to be someone who’s NOT a nerd yet is reading this blog, take note: This is like 90% of our conversations when we first meet.  Just listing off various franchises we like, and squealing over the ones we have in common.  

While we don’t see this as an alliance-building moment, it would actually be pretty good for both of them.  Kane just needs any ally he can get at this point, and with how fractured Tika has been, and will continue to be this episode, Carson needs backup plans.  Plus, the pair can act as “nerd shields” for one another.  I’d say Kane gets the better end of that deal, since Carson looks like a more obvious threat at this point, but still, not bad for Carson by any means.  

Ratu had better hope that they can get Carson at least partly in the fold, since we’ll soon see that they’re likely to lose an ally at this point.  Meditation is once again the order of the day for Soka, and we see Danny, rather than Jaime the yogi, leading things.  Danny gives good advice about breathing from the diaphragm, something he says he picked up not from firefighting, but from Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.  To add to the “hidden depths” part of the conversation, Danny talks about having to leave his relatively newborn daughter (4 months) for “Survivor”, which yeah, can’t deny, that takes a lot of determination.  

Getting back to Jaime, though, she tells us if she had to pick any tribe, it would be this one, and not just for their strength.  She says she vibes with them better, evidenced by the whole meditation thing.  Glad to see that work Matthew put into her mattered so much.  

As a result of this bond, Jaime offers to tell Matt everything, an offer that Matt… Says he needs to sit and think about for a while.  Look, I’ve had a lot of sympathy for Matt this season.  Dude gets bad luck after bad luck, most of which are not his fault, at least in part.  But there’s no excusing this, it’s squarely on him.  Dude, when someone offers you info, YOU SAY “YES”!  Even if it’s false, it at least gives you a vague idea of where their head’s at!  It’s not like you’re pushing her; she is literally offering a leg up in the game to you!  This isn’t quite as bad as Penner turning down Lisa’s deal in “Survivor Philippines”, but MAN does it have similar vibes.  

Jaime also can’t understand why Matt is the way he is, and so goes to talk to the expert on Matt on this tribe, Frannie.  Frannie tries to justify it as that just being how Matt interacts with people, which Jaime seems to buy.  Frannie looks of the bright side, however: Someone has finally not seen how close she and Matt are!  Speaking of which, we need to get confessionals about THAT again!  You know, the thing that’s brought up basically every episode?  

I kid, I kid.  This actually does articulate their dynamic in a bit more detail.  Both are clearly smitten with each other, though for now their affection is limited to long hugs rather the more open affection of, say, Amanda and Ozzy on “Survivor Micronesia”, or Boston Rob and Jeff Probst on “Survivor All-Stars”.  No little Ozzlets coming any time soon from these two.  But while Matt is open and blunt about it, Frannie is more circumspect.  She admits to some attraction, and a willingness to date Matt outside the show, but wants to leave it there for now.  And if you don’t think this is enough of a change to merit its own confessional, it at least adds some humor to the proceedings.  We hear from a producer again, this time calling out Frannie for blushing when she talks about Matt.  Touche, producers.  Touche.  

Back at Tika, Yam Yam tries to clear the air with Josh.  For his part, Josh indicates there’s nothing to clear.  The pair don’t trust each other, and that’s about it.  Again, what’s interesting here is that neither side is right.  One’s just playing more emotionally, and one’s playing more logic-based.  Yam Yam sees their disagreement as emotional as much as strategic, and thus wants that emotional air cleared so they can move forward.  Josh, meanwhile, doesn’t think that feelings were involved on either side, but also sees no reason, outside general diplomacy, to pretend they’re on the same side right now.  Again, equally valid ways to view the game, and it’s interesting to see them come into conflict like this.  

Even if the pair can’t get on the same page strategically, though, they can get on the same page emotionally.  Both gay men, Josh and Yam Yam share their stories about coming out, and form a real connection over it.  While Josh tells his story second, I’ll focus on his first because I have less to say about it.  Josh came out his sophomore year in college, explaining that he had trouble feeling safe to come out in his high school, and it seems like his family was pretty cool about it when he did.  Josh uses this to give us his medical backstory in a bit more detail, and while a BIT of a stretch to link the two, they’re still nice stories overall.  Yam Yam, meanwhile, says that while he’s out now, he never came out to his mother (presumably she unfortunately passed away before Yam Yam got married, or possibly I just missed what happened).  He was successful in this due to having no boyfriends before his husband.  And why was this?  It seems Yam Yam had some issues finding himself attractive for a good long time, which naturally made attracting other people difficult as well.  

I really like this story, because it’s something you don’t see a lot in media: Accepting your own body image.  Oh, don’t misunderstand, there’s a LOT of media out there about one’s body image.  However, for pretty much all of that media, the solution to poor body image is “Make yourself over!” or “Diet and exercise!”  Changing yourself to better fit the Western ideal of “beauty”, rather than accepting yourself as you are, and thereby presenting the best image of yourself that you can.  Now, it’s possible that Yam Yam DID do some or all of those things, which is perfectly valid.  But it needs to be stated that these are not the ONLY paths to a good self-image/attractiveness, and this is a message that, I feel, needs to be presented more in media.  There is nothing wrong with diet and exercise, but there is more than just that one path to a good positive image of oneself.  

The pair do bond over this, and we get a bit more strategy from Josh.  While he does see himself as the swing between Carolyn and Yam Yam, he doesn’t want to just leave it up to that.  Thus, he has lied to Yam Yam and claimed he has the birdcage idol from Soka.  His evidence for this is a fake idol he makes in this episode, and showing Yam Yam the parchment from his journey idol.  I’d point out that there should be text on that parchment indicating that it is NOT the birdcage idol, but to be fair, when Josh showed it to Yam Yam, it was dark, and so Yam Yam may not have read it thoroughly enough to catch that.  In addition, we see that while Yam Yam is factoring that possibility into his decision-making, he doesn’t fully believe Josh either, so we’ll see how this plays out.  

Off to our challenge, and if you were guessing it would be an obstacle course followed by a puzzle-like thing at the end, CONGRATULATIONS!  You’ve seen any tribal episode of “Survivor” in the modern era!  

Honestly, the only thing worth talking about here is that one of the obstacles is the rope-platform see-saw, aka the “Let’s Break Missy Payne’s Leg!” Obstacle first seen on “Survivor San Juan del Sur”.  For a show that’s lately been pretty good about taking out challenges with a high risk of injury, it AMAZES me that this obstacle, which actually DID injure someone, keeps getting brought back.  Maybe it’s because it was designed by a “Make-A-Wish” kid, but that challenge had other elements to it to honor the kid.  Why keep using the one known to cause injury?  What next, are we going to see Schmergenbrawl from “Survivor Samoa” come back?

The misdirection as to who will win and lose is not as good as it has been in previous episodes, since all we got from Ratu is “Matthew’s in pain, while Carson’s in a good spot”, or exactly zero strategy content.  That said, Jaime trying and failing to get in with Soka is JUST enough that, coupled with Yam Yam repeating Sarah’s “We need to win or I’m out” confessional, that I could see either Soka or Tika losing.  

Indeed, all three get to the “puzzle”, this time a table maze worked by two people, pretty much dead-even.  But while I call this a “puzzle”, it seems it is not “puzzle-y” enough.  Tika really blows it here, and that’s in SPITE of wisely having Carolyn as far away from the crucial part of the challenge as possible.  

Ratu pulls out a narrow victory here, which only matters because this challenge has another “Journey” to send people on, and Ratu has thus won the right to pick who goes by coming in first.  From themselves, it’s Brandon.  Wise choice.  Only Kane would seem to be strongly against him at this point, and if he DOES get some advantage, 10-1 he tells you all about it, so no real threat there.  From Tika, it’s Carolyn, who will return before Tribal Council.  Again, solid call.  She seems to be the weakest and most volatile overall, so giving her potentially more power can only lead to chaos on the enemy tribe, particularly useful in the (admittedly now unlikely) event of a later merge this season.  But the Soka pick, Danny, I’m still trying to parse out the logic of.  I suppose he would seem the most outwardly volatile of Soka, but then again, JAIME, someone from your own tribe, is RIGHT THERE!  Why not send her along, to help her potentially stay in the game longer?  Granted, they can’t KNOW she’s not vibing with them as much anymore, and may be able to guess that those swapped were given idols given Sarah’s elimination, but still, some signal that you’re looking out for her might be appreciated!  But no, just drive her further into the arms of the other tribe, I’m sure THAT won’t backfire down the line…

We come back NOT to the journey, but still at the challenge.  Matthew wisely sat this challenge out due to the arm-injury aggravation potential of the obstacles, but it’s enough that Probst wants medical to come and have a look at him anyway.  Medical’s assessment is slightly different from the one I researched, indicating this is a soft-tissue tear that’s likely to take a while to heal.  As it’s not life-threatening, Matthew isn’t being pulled, but all present agree that the pain is going to take a major toll if he stays in the game.  The choice is up to Matthew, and we cut away, surely meaning that while this needed to be addressed, it’s not important to the episode, and won’t make for a predictable ending whatsoever…

We STILL avoid the journey, instead coming to Tika, to get the riveting discussion between Josh and Yam Yam.  Shock of all shocks, they discuss voting out Carolyn, the one person who isn’t present!  Who could have seen this coming?  Yeah, I get why this needed to be shown, but it’s exactly the conversation we could have assumed was happening even if we hadn’t.  

More interesting, surprisingly enough, is the Journey.  Yeah, I know, but trust me, I haven’t been replaced by a pod person.  Brandon talks about needing to figure out how to play this.  He knows he probably has the chance to bring back something, but isn’t sure how he wants to play it to his tribe.  A decision rendered moot by the fact that production, for once, makes a very smart decision.  It seems they have a time machine, since they read my blog about the problems of modern “Survivor” and decided to implement one of my ideas.  Or rather, implement my suggestion to reuse a twist from “Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X”, and have the Journey just be, well, a journey.  There’s a bit of food, but no real “advantage” outside of the chance to talk to the other tribe and strategize.  

And oh, what strategizing there is!  Despite her talkative nature, Carolyn doesn’t really give Danny or Brandon much, basically just saying she’s on the outs.  Danny and Brandon give lip service to not wanting her to go, before pretty much completely ignoring her and talking to each other about the big physical guys being threats at the merge, and thus the pair needing to stick together.  Not a bad conversation to have eventually, but maybe, you know, NOT IN FRONT OF CAROLYN?  A WOMAN YOU LITERALLY CALL NOT A THREAT TO HER FACE?  Yeah, shock of all shocks, Carolyn’s not happy about this, and vows not to let the strong guys take over the game.  This consequently turns her away from Josh, seeing him as one of the “strong guys”, particularly when compared to Yam Yam.  A fair assessment, but given how thoroughly Yam Yam distrusts her, I might just cut her losses now and hope to make up some more allies at the merge.  

As an aside, I’m particularly surprised to see this behavior from Danny, who’s been playing a pretty solid game up until this point.  True, Brandon seemed to be driving the conversation, most of the verbal gaffes were his, and this sort of gameplay we’d expect from him, given his game smarts demonstrated so far.  But it’s not like we saw Danny do anything to mitigate the damage or bring Carolyn into the conversation.  He can do better, is what I’m saying.  

Carolyn is brought back to camp, and sets about mouthing her desire to get rid of Josh to Yam Yam whenever Josh’s back is turned.  She’s not subtle enough, however, so Josh pulls out his fake idol and note again to try and bluff his way through.  Granted, Josh is also somehow claiming his fake idol will save him at the merge, which if he’s saying he will play it tonight not sure how that works.  Chalk it up to a brain fart and move on.  Now everyone’s not sure who to trust, with Yam Yam in particular noting that he doesn’t really trust either person at this point.  It’s a mystery of a cluster, all leading up to an exciting Tribal where literally everyone seems at least somewhat vulnerable, a messy vote-off for the history books, and…

And there’s like three minutes left in the episode.  Yeah, much as I wanted to believe everything would be ok, the timing confirms it.  There’s not enough time for anything resembling a Tribal Council.  Matthew has decided to take himself out of the game.  That’s basically the episode.  Oh sure, we get some lip service to him from Tika, and some talk about how they’re all not sure where they stand with one another heading forward, but really, this is the emotional climax of the episode.  

So on the surface, you can see my problem.  We got great insight into the characters, fantastic editing (timing of the climax notwithstanding), and overall just a lot of good conversations and funny moment.  And yet, because of Matthew’s exit, I cannot, in good conscience, say I enjoyed this episode.  

To a certain extent, this is to be expected.  Your favorite goes out, you’re not happy.  But there’s a bit more to it than that for me.  Look, I’ve dealt with a lot of scenarios in my time.  I’ve had my favorites be voted out first.  I’ve had my favorites make dumb mistakes that cause me to slap my forehead.  I’ve had my favorites be absolutely vilified by the audience and players alike, making the season tough to watch.  I’ve had my favorites get medically evacuated.  I’ve learned to live with all that.  But I’ve never had my favorite player quit.  

And make no mistake, this is a quit.  Sure, it’s not PRESENTED that way.  The show is doing the Dana Lambert (“Survivor Philippines”) thing where they understand the reasons why, and don’t vilify that person as a result, as they do many other quitters.  But medical did not pull Matthew.  They explicitly say they are not doing so.  This was his decision, and while I can understand and respect it, it is still, technically a quit.  And that’s hard to reconcile for me.  

And the worst part is that you can’t even say it was bad luck.  The injury was 100% his own fault.  As he himself says in his final words, he shouldn’t have climbed the damn rock.  

But then there’s the other issue: Who do I pull for now?  Like it or not, “Survivor” is a lot more fun to watch when you’re pulling for someone.  The trouble is that the other person whose game I was really liking was Claire.  You may have noticed, she’s not around any more.  Yep, we’re heading into the merge, or possibly that stupid “Merge-Atory” thing the show keeps doing, and my favorites are all gone.  It’s not to say that I DISLIKE the people left.  Indeed, this is a very likable, very engaging cast I’m happy to see do well.  But I just kind of like them all equally, and they don’t GRAB me the same way people like Matthew and Claire did, and that just damages my overall investment.  

Are there any upsides to any of this?  Two, actually.  One, the chaos between the remaining Tika members and Josh is fun to watch, and it looks like that will continue to the next episode, so I suppose that’s a plus.  And like I said, it’s not like this remaining cast is unrootable, just all equally rootable for me.  I suppose Yam Yam I have the most fun watching of those remaining, and I think Heidi is playing an understatedly good game.  But, no offense to either of them, Matthew they ain’t.  Two, this does blow the field of who can win WIDE open.  Oh sure, there’s a few who are pretty much out of the running (Brandon springs to mind), and a few who will move up to frontrunners now (Carson and Carolyn come to mind), but Matthew was clearly the “winner edit” of the season up until now.  His exit will rapidly re-work everything about the meta of the game, and that, at least, is somewhat exciting.  

We’ll see how I feel next week, though.  Hopefully I can get some of the enthusiasm back with some distance.  

-Matt 

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  

Idol Speculation: “Survivor 44” Episode 4: Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Honestly, I feel bad for the guys of “Whose Line?” that I’m now associating them with this episode.  Corny as improv might be at times, these guys are professionals who pull it off well.  The acting talent this episode PALES in comparison to what they have.  Then again, the acting talent this episode pales in comparison to beige pants, so it’s not exactly a high bar.  

What is a high bar, it seems, is me getting through a blog unscathed.  Yes, it is time once again for me to pull out that old chestnut…

MATT’S MESS=UP!

Again, really minor one here, but when talking about Jaime last episode, I referred to her as “Plant Mommy”.  In actuality, she and her necklace both refer to her as “Plant Lady”.  I’m inclined to give myself a pass on this once, since they are very similar names, and I believe Matthew even calls her “Plant Mommy” at one point, but still technically incorrect on that one.  The best kind of incorrect.  

With a unified vote last episode, we skip any potential drama on Soka and move on to their morning routine, which seems to involve meditating at sunrise.  Somewhere, Coach (“Survivor Tocantins”) just got a huge grin, and doesn’t know why.  Meditation bring introspection, though.  Josh looks inside himself, and decides that he’s got it made.  He’s in between two twosomes as the swing vote on a strong tribe likely to go into the merge with some numbers.  I’m normally against such confidence on “Survivor”, but based on what we’ve seen up to this point, the man is correct in his assessment.  I’m sure this is in NO WAY setting up an ironic change of fortune for Josh.  

Actually, his turnaround happens in record time.  No sooner has Josh said that he’s the swing vote than we see a discussion between the remaining four about how they want Josh out next.  Danny thinks that strong twosomes are the way to go, and as he and Heidi are the closest pair outside of Matt and Frannie, is keen to ally with them.  I’ll admit I would more favor having a strong threesome to go to the end with, but it’s still relatively early days game-wise, and I’ve heard of worse strategies.  Not a good look for Josh that he’s unaware of this, though.  

Where we do get our drama for the evening is Tika.  You see, there is now a red “X” made of sticks stuck through the bars of the birdcage.  Everyone concludes this means something has been hidden related to the birdcage, with the red “X” being a clue to its location.  A logical conclusion, though Yam Yam is surprised, since the tribe had concluded, for some reason, that there was no way to open the birdcage.  Why he would think the show would put something on the island just to mess with people’s heads, when they could be adding ANOTHER advantage to the game, I don’t know.  

We quickly learn what we all suspected: Carolyn is the culprit of the red “X”.  Whenever anything random happens on this tribe, assume Carolyn is somehow responsible.  Carolyn does clue us in on the method to her madness this time, though.  She wants the fake idol found, so she hides it in their log bench near the fire, putting another pair of red sticks in an “X” beneath it to help indicate its location.  

What?  You’re expecting mockery here?  Look, Carolyn can be a LOT, to put it mildly, but credit where it’s due, this is a good plan on her part.  Feels like something the show would do, the hiding place is logical without being too obvious, and it can give someone a false sense of security despite the lack of real power.  Given the tools available to her, I’m not sure she could have done better.  About the only more skillful play is Sarah managing to pick it up along with her laundry while everyone else is around the fire, and given that Sarah has gotten basically nothing, I’m still giving the point to Carolyn overall.  

That said, we DO see there’s a note along with the fake idol, basically the instructions for the real idol.  This bothers me, and gives me the chance to talk about my feelings about the fake idol being included with a real one in the birdcage.  Let me state up front that I do like some aspects of this twist.  Specifically, I like that one tribe’s fake idol is another tribe’s real idol.  It’s something that could conceivably be figured out by the players, rewarding critical thinking, but could also lead to epic misreads if you think someone doesn’t have a real idol, which has the potential for hilarious tv.  

No, the issue that I have now I’ve had time to think about it is that there’s no real way for the second finder to find out that their fake idol ISN’T real without playing it.  When a fake idol is made by a player, even if hidden with a note, that player still has the possibility to notice that it’s a fake based on how it’s made.  Easier or harder to do, and often players will play it anyway on the off-chance it’s an idol no matter how fake (see Ozzy’s stick with a face on “Survivor Micronesia” for the most famous example of this), but there is at least a chance.  But when you get something made by production, with a note from production saying it’s an idol, what’s the difference between the fake idol and the real one?  Only an arbitrary distinction made by production, that’s way.  Maybe include a fake idol making KIT in the birdcage moving forward, if it sticks around, but not just a pre-made fake with no distinction between fakes and reals.  

Wait, what’s this?  A CHALLENGE!  Just for REWARD!  In the PRE-MERGE of the new era?  Surely you jest!

No, it’s real, and unfortunately for Tika, it involves zero puzzles.  Instead it’s the “Climb a large structure and shoot sandbags at a target; first team to hit five wins” challenge, most memorable for its appearance on “Survivor Cambodia”, where Stephen Fishbach managed to hit another tribe’s target on his go.  It is different enough from the usual “obstacle course/puzzle” combo we usually get these days that I don’t hate it, but again, would prefer original challenges period.  

Reward in this case is a tarp, with second place getting a smaller one.  The winning tribe will also get to select one member from each tribe including their own to go on a “Journey”.  Oh great, this again.  Kiss characterization and development goodbye, this episode is going to be advantage-focussed.  

As I hinted at earlier, Tika comes in last, largely again due to Carolyn.  The competition between Ratu and Soka is a bit more intense.  Soka comes out on top this time, which I find a bit odd considering who gets picked for the journey.  Carson from Tika and Jaime from Ratu are their choices from the other tribes, but these make some sense.  Both could be a decent guess for who’s on the outs from a given tribe (Carson for nerdiness, Jaime for quirkiness), and neither are the best challenge performers of their team, save when it comes to puzzles.  Yet, for some reason, Soka decides that JOSH should go on the journey.  You know, Josh, the guy they were JUST TALKING ABOUT VOTING OFF?!  Yeah, send him to get a potentially game-breaking advantage, I’m sure that has no chance whatsoever of backfiring!  The only things I can figure are either that they needed to send him to keep up the lie that he was a swing vote, or they were hoping he’d lose a vote.  Valid reasons if true, but still seems awfully risky when there were other options.  I doubt Josh would be too suspicious if Heidi was sent, since she seems fairly social with everyone, even if not the swing vote from Josh’s perspective.  

Jaime in particular is excited for this trip, both to get something for herself, but also because she “had her eye” on Josh and Carson as potential cross-tribe allies.  Ah good, the “people can talk” benefit of these “Journeys” is coming back, aka the best part of them.  Surely now we we get to see negotiation and strategizing between these three!  

Nope.  After Carson talks about needing some advantage of his own, the three just go on separate paths, never to talk again until a merge situation.  Why must you squander your best parts, show?

Actually what’s at the end of these paths is a bit different: A time-limited idol.  Expires at the merge.  Ok, decent enough reward, but without any randomness, you know there’s going to be a price.  And that price is that you’re getting sent to a different tribe at random (though presumably no the one you came from)!  Yes, for the first time in the new era, we’re having something akin to a tribe swap!  Granted I’d still prefer that it be a full-cast thing, either random or through schoolyard pick, but I’ll take what I can get.  Moreover, this now adds an element of danger to being sent on a “Journey”.  Yes, there’s always a risk of some sort to it, but it’s mostly stuff that can seem really abstract, like the vote loss potential.  Being swapped to another tribe is a fear as old as tribe swaps, however, and thus a bit more visceral.  Getting people to think twice about even GOING on the “Journey” is an element I’m happy we get to explore moving forward!  

The drawback, obviously, is that the people it first affects are screwed, with no real way to anticipate said screwing.  That said, both the way the show handles it, and the tribes themselves, help mitigate how swap-screwed these three players are.  On the show’s end of things, giving these players an idol that is specifically time-limited to only work in the Tribal phase is a genius idea.  Yes, it’s in many ways screwing over a player’s game, but also giving them a lifeline to maneuver and/or cause chaos.  They had the means to save themselves from at least one vote; if they go out immediately after said swap, that’s on them.  It could be disastrous for their game, or an opportunity to make bonds with another tribe as well as your original one.  How it pans out is up to the player, the show just provides adequate tools to do so.  

Regarding how the tribes themselves don’t swap-screw everybody, let’s start at Ratu, who come across as the least-united of the tribes.  By that, I mean they don’t openly talk about how united they are in confessional.  They get Carson, helping strengthen them for challenges while providing a prime puzzle-solver (not that Ratu was particularly weak in that area, but it was definitely not where their strengths primarily were, and losing Jaime is not that much of a loss challenge-wise).  Carson also plays the situation well, presenting himself as on the outs with Yam Yam as tribe leader, and not mentioning his idol.  Very plausible lies, at least to get him to the merge, and for once, it’s ok to say you didn’t get anything from the island, given how unprecedented the swap itself is in the new era.  

Our larger commentary on Carson’s arrival comes from Matthew.  Having set up that whole elaborate bonding moment with Jaime in the last episode, he’s naturally a bit upset that she’s now not on his tribe.  Undeterred, however, Matthew decides to set about bonding with Carson.  He tells us information is power in this game.  He’s correct in this assessment, which is why you should guard information closely, and use it strategically.  Then Matthew tells us that he’s going to share information with Carson, aka exactly the OPPOSITE of what you should do with power in this game!  

Ok, ok, in fairness, what Matthew is ACTUALLY talking about doing is much smarter.  The “information” he shares mostly isn’t real information.  He does tell of Brandon’s idol find and play, but then tells of Jaime’s finding of his fake, playing it off as the real idol.  This is a much more solid plan.  All the “information” he gives Carson is either so outdated as to be pretty much worthless, or patently false.  At the same time, he creates a bond with Carson, while also obfuscating his idol.  About the only negative of this strategy is the possibility that Carson throws Matthew under the bus, but given that Matthew seems to be the most socially-connected on the tribe, I doubt that’s a huge risk.  So yeah, good strategy on Matthew’s part, just described by him in probably the worst possible way.  

Tika, despite the Sarah rift, is much more united in their distaste for Josh.  Josh wisely doesn’t tell Tika about his idol, but also pulls the “Personal Trainer” card, claiming this as his occupation.  This is a lie that Tika does not buy, mostly because they overheard Josh saying he would do the snake maze two episodes due to his job requiring “steady hands”.  Somewhat plausible for a personal trainer, but not the most likely skill set.  This combined with his timeline of his life leaving a lot of room for medical school leads the tribe to the correct conclusion that Josh is a doctor, and given that he lied to them, untrustworthy.  Not since landscaper Gary Hawkins of “Survivor Guatemala” has a cross-tribe lie about one’s occupation been so impactful.  

To be fair, Josh probably would have been targeted even without getting caught in a lie.  In case you haven’t noticed, Tika is not doing too well in the numbers game.  They’re quickly becoming the disaster tribe of the season, and not wanting to leave or be grossly outnumbered come the merge, they need someone else to eliminate, and Josh is prime meat in that category.  Granted, if Tika lost AGAIN after eliminating Josh, they’d be forced to eliminate someone from Tika regardless, but still, some logic.  That said, Josh is a physical powerhouse, something Tika has been in DESPERATE need of challenge-wise this whole season.  Granted, their puzzle-solving prowess is lessened without Helen and Carson, but Yam Yam and Sarah are not slouches in this area either.  Add onto that an exploit of mistrust from Sarah, and if Josh plays this well, he might be safe even without his idol.  Though note that I say IF.  

Jaime is probably in the worst spot out of all those swapped.  Soka retroactively made a good decision sending Josh on the “Journey”, since the united four remain together, but I’m not giving them strategy points for doing so.  They had no way to predict that would happen; they just got lucky.  Soka, meanwhile, probably got the worst end of the trade in terms of challenge ability, and while they do still have Danny, challenges will likely be more even now, putting Jaime at more risk of going to Tribal Council moving forward.  That said, if Jaime plays well, she could exploit the fear of a couple to split the tribe, thereby saving herself without the idol.  Though again, note that I say IF.  

While Jaime also wisely does not say she has anything from the “Journey”, Soka is the only tribe we see to actively not believe this.  Danny searches her bag (though all but Jaime herself agreed to the plan).  He comes up with nothing, though as Matt correctly notes, Jaime could just be keeping her idols to herself.  I’d say Jaime is in the toughest situation of the three, but again, there’s some exploits here.  

Despite the good things the “Journey” has brought so far, it has also taken time away from us.  After those brief interludes with the new tribes, we cut straight to the immunity challenge.  We don’t even get commentary about the new tribes from them at the challenge.  The best thing to come out before Probst explains the challenge is Lauren’s epic pose with the sword on the ride in.  

As the presence of boats would indicate, we have a water challenge today.  One tribe member at a time swims out to a platform, jumps off to get a key, crosses a balance beam afterward, then swims to the end platform.  Once all four tribe members and keys are there, they must solve a manta-ray shaped puzzle, with the first two teams to do so winning immunity.  Say it with me now: Pretty bog-standard challenge, but at least the puzzle is slightly interesting.  

After Matthew FINALLY says “Hey, maybe I SHOULDN’T overtax my shoulder!” and sits out of a godforsaken challenge after the first one, we get off to the race.  This is the sort of challenge where you just don’t want to screw up, as evidenced by Soka cruising to an easy victory by just steadily running the course without any mistakes.  Ratu is shown to make the most mistakes, first with Lauren missing a key on her jump, but then continuing the course anyway.  She’s allowed to do so, but one other tribe member must then run the course AGAIN to make up for this.  Yam Yam helps even the field by sucking on the balance beam, only for it to turn out Kane ALSO sucks on the balance beam.  A for-once solid performance by Carolyn evens things back up, with Tika getting a slight head-start on the puzzle.  If you listen to Probst, however, you’d think Ratu was way behind in getting to the puzzle, when it was maybe 30 seconds at most based on the footage.  

Normally even this slight edge would be enough for a Tika win, but it seems they really did get rid of their puzzle prowess by voting out Helen and losing Carson.  It’s still pretty close, but Ratu edges out second place.  Josh, therefore, is in hot water.  While they don’t know for certain if he has anything, Tika wants to play it safe and lull Josh into a false sense of security.  Sarah summons her best acting chops to tell Josh that they want to work with him.  Unfortunately, she summons the acting chops of Ben Stein, and gives one of the least-convincing performances I’ve ever seen on this show.  No, Sarah, LESS emotion!  You don’t want to overdo it now!  

You would think that Josh would pick up on this, and based on how the episode ultimately plays out it’s possible he does, but we certainly never see it.  Instead, our misdirection comes courtesy of Wackiness Incarnate, Carolyn.  You see, they need a plausible alternate vote story for Josh, and given Carolyn’s weakness in challenges, coupled with her behavior at camp, she’s the obvious decoy boot.  All three agree to do this, and Josh, sure enough, tries to exploit what he sees as a crack.  He tells Carolyn about his idol, which I don’t object to.  Better to save it if you can, and if you can use that information as leverage, so much the better.  What I WILL knock Josh for is promising to use it on CAROLYN!  I don’t care how solid a plan seems: When you are the only person outside of a tribe that has been together this whole time, you DO NOT use your idol on anyone but yourself!  Threaten people that they may GO if you play your idol, but you would be one of the biggest idiots to be voted out after playing your idol for someone else.  

Josh may get clued in, however.  What I neglected to mention in the Carolyn bluff plan was that this was Yam Yam’s brain child.  Moreover, it wasn’t so much a discussion as a “Here’s how it has to be.”  This, naturally, has Carolyn upset, and considering telling Josh, feeling she can’t trust Yam Yam anymore.  I can see where she’s coming from, but for once this season, this is a clear-cut decision: Vote for Josh anyway.  Worst case scenario, he plays his idol on himself and Sarah goes home, since you proposed that as a possibility to him, and it’s the only really plausible one he has.  Best case scenario, you keep the numbers of your original tribe.  Yeah Yam Yam did not have the best diplomacy skills there, but are you really going to trust the guy you just met maybe a day ago over the guy you’ve been with from the start.  

It seems it wasn’t just Sarah who needed acting lessons: The whole of Tika needed them, as evidenced by this Tribal Council.  Sarah showed it before, and I’ll lump Josh in there for his “Personal Trainer” lie getting caught.  But after Josh gives the usual talk to Probst about the trouble he’s in due to the swap, Yam Yam and Carolyn get in a fight so fake, I was certain I’d accidentally switched to a wrestling show!  Yes, it know it proves semi-real later, but Yam Yam at least seemed like he was trying to fake it, and Carolyn not that different from him.  But in addition to bad acting, we get bad moves!  Fake as it is, this argument is a saving grace for Josh.  A crack he can exploit.  All he has to do is leave himself out of it, so naturally he interjects into the argument to talk about how he’s avoiding the spotlight and not in the argument.  Way to avoid drawing attention to yourself by drawing attention to yourself, my dude.  

Given Josh’s increased screen time this episode, it’s safe to say I thought he was really going to do a dumb and play his idol for Carolyn, possibly necessitating an update to the “Dumbest Player Ever” list.  Josh wouldn’t take the top spot by a long shot, but he might at least have made top 10, if not top 5.  Instead, Josh takes the safe route, and plays the idol on himself.  Whether Carolyn tipped him off we don’t yet know, but it’s possible, as she voted with him.  Sarah therefore ends up going, and sad as it is to say, I’m not overly sorry.  Again, nothing against Sarah.  She seems perfectly nice.  But compared to the rest of the players on this tribe, she was the least exciting character-wise (while we rarely hear from Josh, it’s at least decently memorable when we do), and probably out soon after him even if she succeeded.  Moreover, her exit means that the overpowered “Inheritance Advantage” was POINTLESS, and I’m very happy for that.  Unfortunately, I get the sneaking suspicion that the show is going to put it back in, if not on this season than a future one.  Hopefully it’s the latter, and the tweak how overpowered it is.  

Really, the one thing that majorly upsets me about Sarah’s exit is that it doesn’t feel narratively satisfying.  After the Helen vote, Sarah was clearly the underdog of Tika.  She had that great confessional last episode about the challenge needing to go perfectly for her to have a chance to save herself, only for exactly that to happen.  This episode, she stops being the main target due to Josh getting swapped to the tribe.  All this was setting up what looked to be a great “Underdog comes back to gain power against incredible odds” story.  An oldie but a goody.  So for her to just get a relatively unceremonious vote-out just feels wrong somehow.  Sorry Sarah, if you’re reading this.  

Can’t deny, this episode is a step down from the previous few.  Not bad, but a larger focus on twists rather than players left everything feeling rushed.  Then, we had bad gameplay built up, only to fizzle out into normal gameplay, which feels like a letdown.  And, to add insult to injury, yet ANOTHER woman voted out pre-merge!  Can we please fix that soon, though in a way that doesn’t involve the potential medical evacuation of Matthew?

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs. 

Idol Speculation: “Survivor 44” Episode 3: We Have Wormsign!

One of the common criticisms lobbied at new-era “Survivor” is that it’s “Too nice”.  Sometimes related to the lack of drama, sometimes in relation to the backstory segments being too touchy-feely.  This is a criticism that I personally don’t agree with, but after tonight, I think I can see where people are coming from.  Even by my standards, people were a bit too nice.  

Before we delve into the love-fest, though, it’s time for another edition off…

MATT’S MESS-UP!

Being honest, I nearly didn’t include this one, since I did touch on the event itself, and this is more of a missed joke opportunity than me neglecting part of the episode.  But I did love the joke, so I’m throwing it in a week late, timing be damned!  Long story short, while I discussed Danny opening the birdcage and getting his idol, and discussed the strategy related to it, I neglected to discuss Danny’s reaction to finding said idol.  The show really IS loosening up in references to past seasons, as Danny gives us the Mike Holloway trademark “Happy Dance” from “Survivor World’s Apart”.  Not that I strongly want that season in particular referenced, but hey, you do you, Danny.  

For all my snark earlier on, “Happiness” is probably too strong a word to describe Tika coming back from Tribal Council.  Yes, Yam Yam and Carolyn do celebrate, but they have the decency to wait until they’re in private, so I won’t hold that against them.  Publicly, they simply call for tribe unity, and state that the vote was not meant to exclude anyone in particular.  The sentiment is publicly echoed, but Sarah, being the person explicitly left out of that last vote, is not buying it.  Since Sarah possesses common sense, she rightly blames Carson, the swing vote, for her position.  Paradoxically, she states she trusts Carson the most, though she mainly uses this as evidence for how good he is at the game, and why she needs to watch out for him.  All conclusions I have to agree with on her end.  

Keeping the happy train going, we cut over to Ratu.  Here, we see that happiness and bad gameplay go hand-in-hand, as Kane, already on the outs, decides to dig himself deeper by singing “O Canada” for his tribe.  Not that he’s a bad singer or his tribe hates it or anything.  No, the problem is that in doing so, Kane outs himself as a Canadian.  This is a problem because, at the time this was filmed, the most two recent winners (that these players saw) were Canadian, meaning being Canadian now makes you a target.  And if you don’t believe players would be so petty as to target someone based on something like nationality, I refer you to the fear that remains to this day of women’s alliances that sprung to great prominence after only ONE successful one.  Unless you’ve got an accent, the only way one would be outed as a Canadian is if there happened to be a spelling challenge, which with the way challenges are being designed these days, seems unlikely.  Might as well minimize your threat level, and say you’re from Wisconsin or something.  

Kane is not just Canadian, though.  No, Kane is a Canadian NERD!  Because that demographic DEFINITELY doesn’t also get targeted on “Survivor”.  In this case, Kane’s nerddom tends towards the “Dungeons and Dragons” side of things, meaning he is very happy to have the sword part of the Immunity Aegislash.  Kane talks about wanting to be the hero of the game, and how it related to the sword.  He does a bit of play-fighting with it in front of the tribe.  Knowing a good opportunity when it drops in their laps, the editing team wisely cues up sound effects in keeping with the motions Kane makes.  I would mock this, but if I’m going to be honest, I would do the exact same thing were I in Kane’s shoes, so no faulting him there.  

Even switching the focus to Brandon does not get us off the happy train.  Brandon goes fishing, and while he’s not getting Rupert Boneham (“Survivor Pearl Islands”) amounts of fish, any food is good food.  He also uses the time to discuss how he doesn’t want to be seen as just a football player, and describes himself as a “Renaissance man”.  While I would dispute some of the things he uses as examples of why he is this way (while using different skill-sets, things like snowboarding and scuba diving are enough in the athletic realm that I would say they do not a Renaissance man make), I cannot deny that cooking and playing piano are pretty far out of the realm of what one would expect the skill set of a professional football player to do, so yeah, he’s got a fair point on this one.  

Soka is probably our least happy tribe out of the three, but I think that’s mostly because Frannie and Matt are monopolizing the happiness for themselves.  We see them going off and flirting with one another yet again.  We don’t dwell on it too long, though, as we instead cut back to camp, where the remaining four are having the obvious conversation of “Hey, shouldn’t we team up against the obvious pair who will never vote for each other?”  Claire in particular is gung-ho on this.  She’s the most pointed in how bad a strategy it is, and dismisses them talking about “Nerd Stuff” like “Star Wars” instead of playing the game.  Ok, I agree it’s bad strategy, but the nerd bashing is low.  In particular, it’s low coming from Claire, who mentioned in her bio that she listens to audiobooks of “The Hunger Games” to go to sleep, which I would say definitely falls into the category of “Nerdy”.  Pot.  Kettle.  Black.  

Danny, however, is going a step farther in the strategizing.  He has taken out the fake coin from the birdcage, presumably replacing it with rocks or something since it still looked full in the shots we saw.  He has wrapped the coin in paper and green string, the paper stating the traditional “Congratulations, you have found a Hidden Immunity Idol” message.  The latter seems odd to me, since from the messages we heard read aloud the ones this season DESCRIBE what the idol looks like, but I’m guessing they included a fake message in there to allow for plays such as this.  All this he has hidden in the roots of a significant-looking tree, because Danny has watched a season of “Survivor” that aired in the past 5 years.  

To top all this off, Danny then eats the part of the note detailing the coin is fake.  A bit over-the-top as a disposal method, and normally I’d say this is at least a foolproof way to prevent someone figuring out your scheme.  However, Carolyn is on this season, and we know from last episode that she’s willing to search that shit.  Danny better hope it passes through quickly.  And to those who ask how it might not pass through that quickly, I would remind you that it took Gervase two weeks on “Survivor Borneo” to have one bowel movement.  Fiber is not high in the diet of these people.  Stuff passes slowly.  

Speaking of stuff passing through, it seems Brandon’s fishing skills are not enough, as they have all collectively decided to eat worms.  Ok, so it’s presented more as a “Get the most out of your experience” event rather than “nourishment”, but still.  Jaime is the main instigator here, but pretty much everyone eats one.  Matthew is the only exception (that we see; he might have eaten one offscreen), making him instantly go up in my estimation.  

This, then segues into Jaime talking about the fun she’s trying to have here.  The earthworm eating is one thing, but it goes further than that.  She gives us what she calls the first “‘Survivor’ Houseplant” by putting some sand and a sapling in a half coconut shell.  Seems kind of pointless, but hey, it is clever and functional, and I suppose you need to do something to pass the time out there.  Props for giving us something we haven’t seen before.  

All this is very much in Jaime’s wheelhouse.  She’s the Plant Mommy, you see.  She even has a necklace to prove her bona fides in this area.  And, despite not eating a worm that we saw, it seems she even has a kinship with Matthew, owing to both of them loving the experience so much, talking with wonder about what they’re looking at as they hike together (Matthew’s arm wisely back in the sling.).  Even if he won’t partake of the worm himself, Matthew will help out Jaime in her worm-eating endeavors.  He points out a muddy patch by the water well where it seems like there might be some good worms.  But it is not worms Jaime finds, but a hidden immunity idol, specifically the one Brandon played in episode 1!  The pair agree to keep this between them, and Jaime talks about how strong this makes their bond, putting both of them in a good position.  

Good scene overall, but I want to give particular props to the producers on this one.  I rag out of love, but it HAS been getting annoying how predictable the “Significant Looking Tree” hiding place has been lately.  While not unheard-of, the water well is at least a variation, so kudos to them for…

KNOCK!  KNOCK!  KNOCK!

(Matt answers door)

MATT: Oh hey, Matthew.  I was wondering when you’d show up.  

MATTHEW: You knew I’d be coming?  

MATT: Eh, sooner or later, some contestant always improbably shows up at my house.  Given that we live in the same metropolitan area, you seemed most likely if I were a betting man.  No airfare to pay.  

MATTHEW: Ah, good deductive skills!  

MATT: So, what specifically brings you here?

MATTHEW: Well, I heard you giving production some credit for the idol hiding spot, so I just wanted to make sure it went where it was due.  

MATT: Meaning?

MATTHEW: That idol’s a fake.  I planted it myself, to help build a bond with Jaime.  I found the real one in…

MATT: Let me guess, a tree?

MATTHEW: Yup.  

MATT: Figures.  When the superfans are more creative than the production team…

MATTHEW: No doubt.  

MATT: Speaking of creative, any chance I could have a go on that backyard plywood snake maze?

MATTHEW: Sure thing, man!

(Several Hours Later)

Ok, well, this blog’s going to be late.  Talking a little more about Matthew’s move here, it is pretty standard in plan, but masterful in execution.  Dude realized there were similar looking beads on the tribe torches, and so chopped some off to use as the fake.  Given that he has the real note, he was able to use that as well.  His misdirection of Jaime seemed very natural, and he mainly used it as a way to secure an ally without giving that ally real power.  A bit cruel to lead her on?  Perhaps, but that’s the game, and given how much of a nice guy Matthew is, it’s nice to know that he CAN be cutthroat when he needs to be.  Certainly makes him go up as a game player in my estimation.  

For as impressive as Matthew’s move was, though, it pales in comparison to the editor’s here.  Based on what we saw, all this plotting and planning of Matthew’s was something that happened some time last episode.  Possibly it happened after the Tika Tribal Council from last episode, but we have no way of knowing for certain.  Either way, it would have been all too easy for them to play this exactly the same way they did Danny’s: Show us all this happening to make a payoff for later.  Now, while I’m the first to complain about the show not adequately foreshadowing stuff, here I’m ok with it.  Unlike the decision as to who gets voted off, this is not something we NEED to hear about ahead of time.  It wasn’t relevant until now, so it wasn’t shown until now.  On top of that, we get emotionally invested, since we were fooled right along with Jaime.  We need SOME foreshadowing for who gets the boot each episode, but for things like idol finds, more of the fooling of the audience, please!

Danny is having less luck with his fake idol.  Soka is doing a big group search for the thing, but no one is looking.  Danny even has to suggest that they check in the roots of significant looking trees, as opposed to just giving them a visual once-over.  I’m with him 100% when he complains about how these people don’t know how to look for idols.  They still aren’t even using sticks!  

Eventually, Matt finds the coin, and falls for it hook, line, and sinker.  He’s more subtle about hiding it than Brandon was in episode 1, but since Danny saw him nearby, he still figures it out.  Danny then proceeds to out Matt in front of everyone, because you know, the target just wasn’t big enough on Matt’s back.  He does use it to bond with Matt, which I can support.  His plan may have backfired, however.  Matt was a target already, as we saw, but with him having what most believe to be an idol, he’s now less safe to vote for.  The majority have enough votes to do a split, it’s true, but then the whole endeavor is largely pointless unless you go for Frannie on the re-vote.  Moreover, it might make people reconsider their allegiances.  Josh (yes, I’m sure there’s a Josh on this season) says that with Matt no longer being a safe vote, he might have to work with him instead of against him.  Brilliant play, Danny!  Take the target off of someone who wasn’t yourself, and leave it to an open field that includes yourself!

Also, can we just take a minute to be sorry for Matt?  Poor guy is on the outs of his tribe due to playing with his heart more than his head, loses his first two votes of the season (partially not his fault, as well), then gets his first piece of good luck in finding an idol, only for that idol to be a fake.  I know Spencer Bledsoe (“Survivor Cagayan”) is the show’s go-to Charlie Brown character, but I think Matt surpasses him as of this episode.  Unfortunately, unlike Spencer where it was kind of cathartic for him to get repeatedly denied given how arrogant he was at the start, I just feel back for Matt.  He did little to deserve this (the second vote loss was all him, though, and the pairing off with Frannie is 100% on him), and seems like a pretty nice, humble guy.  Just overall much less satisfying to see him get repeatedly screwed like this.  

I did say this was the happy episode, right?  Tika is here to bring us back to that vibe.  The tribe as a whole gets along, everyone says so!  When Yam Yam brings up a fear that his snoring will lead to him getting voted out, everyone (particularly Carolyn) emphatically denies this will happen.  Pretty much everyone gets a confessional about how well they gel; even Sarah gets in on the action.  She’s the only one who even mildly harshes the vibe, though.  She notes she’s still on the bottom, and while she is still trying to find an “in”, most of her hope rests on the tribe winning immunity.  A tall order, she tells us, unless the challenge is tailor-made for their tribe.  

Luckily for Sarah, this challenge ends in a puzzle, which seems to be Tika’s specialty.  Four tribe members start in the water, pushing a large hollow crate to the underside of two poles, where one tribe member releases a key from a spring by climbing on top of such a box.  Once ashore, they dig under a log and unlock a platform.  There, they must stack boxes with colored sides so that no side has a duplicate color.  The first teams to do so win immunity, varying amounts of fruit and tools (depending on if they get first or second place), and in the case of Tika, flint.   Losers have Tribal Council and the loss of flint awaiting them.  For all that this is the generic “Obstacle course followed by puzzle” we’ve come to know and loathe, this one at least has a cool new element in rolling the crate through the water.  It’s something we’ve not seen in a challenge on US “Survivor” at least (it may have come up on an international version; I don’t know), and helps make the challenge more memorable than your average outing.  

For all that I’ve praised Matthew this episode, I do have to ask: WHY ARE YOU THE ONE CLIMBING ON TOP OF THE CRATE?  Sitting out Lauren rather than yourself I get.  The shoulder seems to be healing, and Lauren has proven to be not so good in the water, which makes a significant portion of this challenge.  But what do you bring to crate climbing?  This is not a particularly skill-based part of the challenge.  All you need is height, where both Kane and Brandon have you beat.  Jaime may be shorter, but she’s also lighter, and therefore less likely to GRIEVOUSLY INJURE HERSELF IF SHE FALLS, UNLIKE YOU!  I’m willing to cut you some slack since your shoulder seems mostly better and you’re keeping it in the sling outside challenges (though you’ll note it does hurt again during the digging portion, though), but maybe DON’T do the riskiest portion of the challenge where you bring nothing particularly special to the table?  

Eh, I shouldn’t be worried, though.  There’s decent mystery as to who will lose between Soka and Tika, but Ratu has had basically no strategy talk outside the one scene between Matthew and Jaime.  Even that didn’t touch on targets, so it’s hard to count that.  And yep, Ratu comes in first place.  The race between Soka and Tika is tighter.  Soka, unsurprisingly given their challenge prowess, takes an early lead, helped by Tika’s box going off-course.  All are in it on the puzzle, though, and that’s where Tika shines.  When Ratu finishes first, both sides unabashedly go over to look.  This, combined with Tika’s general puzzle prowess, leads to them getting second place.  Probably the most obvious outcome (between Sarah’s comment about needing a miracle, and Soka having by far the most strategizing this episode, they were probably favored to lose), but also the most intriguing.  It’s always nice when there isn’t one dominant tribe and we get to see dynamics in all three.  Nicely reminiscent of “Survivor 42”, and given that I maintain at this point it’s the best season to come along since “Survivor David vs. Goliath”, I’m not going to complain.  

Having conspired to make Matt as big a target as possible, once they’re all back at camp, Danny sets about targeting… Claire, for sitting out every challenge so far, heavily implying that she’s the weakest tribe member they have.  Not that I don’t see the logic, but then what was the point of going so hard against Matt?  By making it look like he has an idol (since only Danny knows it’s a fake, and revealing it as such to everyone else would put suspicion on him), you now throw out an alternate target possibility, which means you are potentially another possibility!  Sure enough, Frannie is not 100% on board with this plan, and informs Claire that she’s being targeted.  And who does Claire get mad at for this?  Danny and Josh.  True, the alternate target ultimately settles on Josh rather than Danny, but this could EASILY have backfired.  Don’t get me wrong, he pulled the move itself off masterfully, but to what end?  Maybe he can turn this around to a long-term gain, but for now, it seems pointless at best.  

Why is Josh being targeted, you ask?  According to Heidi, our swing vote for tonight, he’s “shifty”.  Not that we’ve seen evidence of that, but again, there’s barely any evidence of Josh on this season.  More logically, Heidi notes that she’s closer with Claire than Josh, but Clair is more of a challenge hinderance.  With Danny saying he’ll go with whatever Heidi wants, Heidi now has the power.  Yes, someone we BARELY remember more than Josh, and that’s mostly because she’s the one who first started fire for the tribe.  

I kid, I kid.  Heidi is in a good position here.  Not targeted at all, and no matter the outcome, has the twosome of Matt and Frannie she can target with whatever three are left.  On the whole, I would say it’s slightly smarter for her to keep Claire around, since she says she’s closer with her, as opposed to being the third with Danny and Josh.  Gives her more decision-making power.  Not to mention, I don’t buy the idea of “addition by subtraction”, wherein a tribe gets better in challenges by losing someone.  Particularly in this case, where the tribe will still be able to sit one person out, given that Tika is down to 4 people.  Wouldn’t fault either move, though.  

Not content with asking the players for metaphors, Probst is now supplying the metaphors himself!  He compares the game to the gargoyle above the “Walk of Shame”, in what may be the most forced metaphor this show has ever seen.  Probst, drop the metaphors overall, but ESPECIALLY drop your own.  

For all my snark, this is actually a pretty good Tribal Council.  Discussion is, for once, centered on the dynamics of the tribe, and in particular challenge strength vs. loyalty.  I will also give Claire credit that she argues effectively for why she should stay, noting that “Tribe Strength” doesn’t just mean challenge strength, but loyalty.  How she has this over Josh, I don’t know, but it’s about the most effective argument she can make.  Also, kudos to Heidi’s poker face.  When Claire asks her is she’s changed her mind from earlier that day, Heidi stone-cold says she hasn’t, despite the fact that she’s going to vote for Claire momentarily.  None of this is the stuff of legend, but its all well-done and engaging, which I’ll take.  

Claire plays her shot in the dark despite Heidi’s poker face, and I really can’t fault Claire here.  Since Matt can’t vote, it’s up to Frannie, Heidi, and Danny who will go home.  If they vote the way Claire wants, her vote doesn’t matter.  If they don’t, this is her only chance of survival.  More justified than Jaime’s play in episode 1, but also less successful.  Claire is not safe, and then voted out unanimously.  I am really sorry to see her go.  A pre-season winner pick leaving is never easy, and nerd-bashing aside, I did really like Claire.  She had good strategy for the most part, and it hurts to only participate in one challenge (and an abbreviated reward challenge at that) before leaving.  About the only good thing about this is that Josh gets more screen time hopefully, since it would have been a low blow for him to leave without us really getting to know him.  

While perhaps not reaching the heights of the first two episodes, this one still holds up.  A bit touchy-feely maybe, but fun nonetheless, with clear dynamics and good strategy.  So far, liking the season!

The spice must flow.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  

Idol Speculation: “Survivor 44” Episode 2: Holding the Bag

Cardiologists tonight curse their ill fortune.  “Survivor” had been banking on their new “birdcage” twist to capstone the season, only to have the Ratu tribe’s opening on the cage go completely off the rails.  True, it did lead to some good drama, but not the high-end strategy the show was probably hoping for.  Even if it makes for good tv, not so good for making the twist look awesome.  Heart attacks were incoming if the other two tribes didn’t succeed.  Thankfully for the producers, but unfortunately for the cardiologists, they did.  

Our range of reactions run the gamut from Ratu, coming off that hectic Tribal Council.  Surprisingly, the happiest is Matthew.  We get a little more insight into his thinking in playing the Shot in the Dark, with him stating that he wanted to see how things shook out before having to pick a side.   Of course he’s happy that Brandon stayed as well, since they’re tight.  I can see the logic there, and he does play it off well as just him being spooked by Jaime playing her Shot in the Dark, but if I’m Brandon, I’m thinking “When the chips were down, you chickened out rather than stand by me.”, and so I’m surprised no one accuses Matthew of being wishy-washy.  Then again, I suppose Brandon doesn’t have a ton of options.  

Also happy is Lauren.  So happy, in fact, that she spills the beans about her extra vote.  Um, Lauren?  WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?!  You had the perfect lie!  Basically no one could call you on it (that she knows of; she presumably isn’t aware about Claire tipping off Matthew regarding the parchment last episode)!  Why come clean now!  It only serves to make you look sneaky!  Yes, Maryanne did that as well, but her’s was kind of an open secret anyway, though both do a good job pitching their advantage as “for the tribe” at least.  

Further down the spectrum we have Brandon and Kane (Jaime for some reason does not get to give her thoughts).  Kane, naturally, is a bit concerned since he’s the only person left on the wrong side of the vote.  He attempts to make nice with Brandon, and while Brandon doesn’t let his temper get the best of him, he is clearly unhappy.  No “Rupert Blowing up at Jonny Fairplay” moment or anything, and what Brandon SAYS in the moment is what he should be saying.  Dude just needs to work on his poker face a bit.  

Morning over at Soka, and what a shock, we’re still following the Frannie/Matt relationship.  As Matt kindly recaps for us, he’s been having kind of a rough start to the game.  Losing votes for the first two Tribal Councils is not exactly the auspicious start a superman wants.  On top of that, dude apparently had a long-term relationship end right before he left to go film.  Rough go.  Thus, Frannie to him is the one thing going right in this game.  He trusts her implicitly, enough for him to confide in her about the second lost vote, but also thinks she’s cute.  She seems to return the sentiment, with the pair playing a game of her sticking her hand through the shelter roof while Matt tries to hit it with his big, long pole.  

No, that is not me intentionally making an innuendo.  That is a legit Freudian Slip on Matt’s part that I could not make up if I tried.  Seriously, that should be shown in Psychology Classes as the textbook example of a Freudian Slip.  

Frannie is the more level-headed of the pair.  She seems to share Matt’s feelings, but recognizes that being seen as a tight pair, especially on so small a tribe, is what we would describe as “Bad”.  While she admits both to us and to Matt that she doesn’t want to do this, she talks about needing to distance herself from Matt.  A task MUCH easier said than done, and I’m not just talking about their actual doing of it.  When the pair ARE apart, Frannie talks to Heidi and Claire about how she’s intentionally not being around him.  Frannie, the point of staying apart is to minimize how connected you seem.  It doesn’t work if you tell everyone that’s what you’re doing, since it just confirms the connection anyway!  Of course, they also suck at the “actually staying apart” part of that plan, to the point where they adopt a stick bug, name it Ernest, and talk about it as though it’s their child.  A fair call back to Rupert and Balboa on “Survivor Pearl Islands”, were it not for the fact that they do this RIGHT BEHIND CLAIRE!  Claire, for her part, rightly mocks them, and notes this may be a threat to their position in the future.  

Moving on to Tika, things should be a bit more straightforward.  When you’re on a tribe with Carolyn, she’s naturally going to stand out as the obvious target.  Sure enough, Helen talks about the one thing causing dissent amongst the ranks: The Birdcage!

Yes, rather than delve into the actual PERSONALITIES at play here, we instead focus on the twist.  Because that’s what everyone wants to see!  Tika initially tries to follow in Ratu’s footsteps, with everyone searching together.  Even Yam Yam’s attempts to separate (presumably because he realizes he’s not in with the tight threesome) get shot down.  The only person actually able to go out and look on their own is Carolyn, so far on the outs that she doesn’t care about being seen that much.  Unfortunately for her, the first thing to see her is a snake, reminding us why you should always use a stick when searching for objects on “Survivor”.  

Ratu may not have a key to search for any more, but Brandon did play his idol, and so everyone’s searching for it.  Kane in particular is keen.  Despite him trying to work himself back into the tribe socially, he knows it’s an uphill battle.  Not that his searching does him any favors, but I can’t blame him too much here.  Nevertheless, he has lost social points with the tribe for his constant searching, and what has he gained?  A crab in the crook of a tree.  Does NO ONE remember to use sticks this season?  

Danny.  It seems that Danny remembers to use sticks this season.  Danny is also going about searching for anything of use, though doing it the smart way and taking looks when out doing chores for the tribe.  Granted this fools absolutely no one, but Danny does have the advantage that his strength and speed mean no one bothers to tail him.  He does eventually find the key amongst significant looking roots (alert the media), but now faces the task of getting what’s inside without anyone else noticing.  He does consider grabbing it for the tribe, before deciding that’s a stupid plan.  Danny times things well and comes up with an idol and a coin to use as a fake.  In this case, Danny decides to use it as a fake weight, leaving it in there (hopefully with a note to help indicate that it ISN’T a fake should someone else find the key.) so that his deception may not be noticed.  The bag looked noticeably less full to me, but then again, I’m eating regularly and staying well-hydrated.  It’s enough to fool some of the tribe in any case, so props to Danny on that one.  

Back at Tika, after Carolyn feels compelled to show Helen the snake, she gets back to searching (still with no stick), but has better luck this time.  After a story about searching through her son’s poop for DAYS to find a missing baby tooth for the Tooth Fairy which I guess is supposed to be inspirational, but really comes across as just weird to me.  Seriously, just have the Tooth Fairy understand and come anyway.  Point being, she finds the key, but now faces the dilemma of when and how to go about getting it.  A test of patience for even the most disciplined of players, which Carolyn is not.  As soon as she’s alone at the camp, she makes a dash for it, getting her prizes.  Interestingly, her coin is stated by her to be the correct one, while the bead chain is the fake, the exact opposite of what Danny just had.  This might be Carolyn misreading or misremembering the parchment in confessional, but I’m inclined to say that the show just made the fake and the real different depending on tribe.  And if that’s what they did… Good for them!  Good way to inject some drama into the proceedings, with people thinking reals are fake and vice versa based on their own preconceived notions.  Could make for some fun strategy as well.  

Carolyn’s happiness is short-lived when she realizes that, by not putting the empty bag BACK, everyone will realize that she found it, since she was the only one alone.  She does manage to put it back without being seen, but hers is not as close as Danny’s fake.  Carson correctly calls out that it’s been opened.  He claims to be able to read people really well, and will use their body language against them.  Psychology tells us that, unless you’re a trained secret service agent with a knack for reading micro-expressions, this is false, and sure enough, we get a round-table of accusations.  Carson misreads Helen’s general anxiety as her having it.  Yam Yam reads Sarah’s reluctance to open her bag (presumably hiding her Inheritance Advantage) as her having it.  Sarah misreads Yam Yam’s suspicion of her as him having it.  Yet, through it all, Carolyn remains uncaused.  A win for her, but I’m still not certain how we got her.  Can’t argue with the results, though.  No matter how badly I want to.  

Off to our challenge, and hey, look at the variety we get today.  We get an obstacle course ending in a MAZE rather than a puzzle!  Stop the presses, we’ve got a hot one here!  Please note the sarcasm.  

We at least get a cool “Lifting the bridge” element that we don’t often see, but yeah, this is not the stuff of legends challenge-wise.  Worse for Tika, this challenge does not end on a puzzle, costing them their greatest asset.  Even the edit can’t protect them, as it’s been fairly even between all three tribes.  

This challenge is for the newly-reassembled Aegislash, as well as varying amounts of fishing gear for first and second place.  Ratu initially falls behind due to bad luck finding a ball in a bunch of sandbags, which Probst talks about as though they’re WAY behind.  True, they’re in last at the time, but they’re hardly out of it, Probst.  In fact, despite the lack of puzzle, Ratu will eventually go on to WIN the whole shebang in first place, owing to Matthew’s skills on the “Maneuver the Ball up the Snake” ending.  Turns out the dude has a replica built in his backyard, and I now want to meet this guy even more.  Practice does make perfect, as he gets the ball in without dropping once, a feat I believe is unmatched in “Survivor” history.  Probst doesn’t make a note of it for some reason, though.  Also, while I had mad respect for Matthew’s skills in that challenge, a loss of points for boasting about defying doctor’s orders to do so.  Look, you know your body best, and that challenge didn’t look particularly bad for his shoulder, but not the sort of thing you should wear as a badge of honor, IMO.  

Despite being in the lead pretty much every part of the challenge, it looks like Soka may take the loss here.  A guy named Josh, who only showed up briefly in the introductory montage to talk about his medical issues growing up, so you could be forgiven for forgetting he’s on the season, has been blowing it for them over and over again, barely making it past the tip of the tail.  Thankfully for Soka, it seems he was just getting a feel for it, as he edges of Sarah to come in second place.  

Now the paranoid Tika must go to Tribal Council.  Sarah still doesn’t want to let on that she’s missing a vote, but does want a majority going against Carolyn, the obvious choice for a target due to her erratic nature.  I should mentioned that I erred slightly last blog: Sarah did NOT admit that she lost a vote, but instead implied she chose not to risk on a classic Shipwheel Island, a much easier lie to be called out on.  The result, however, is that Yam Yam is brought in on the plan.  Yam Yam, being smart, realizes that he should initially say “Yes” to this deal because there’s no downside, but even in the best case scenario is on the bottom of his tribe.  Thus, he warns Carolyn, and the pair plot to get someone on their side.  

They don’t have to wait long.  Carson, after congratulating Matthew on practicing the challenge, and reminding us that he 3-D prints puzzles from the show (something else brought up in the opening montage last episode I forgot to mention), decides he wants to move in “multiple worlds”.  He frames it as an “angel vs. devil” decision, but I call it “normal vs. crazy”.  Point being, while being ok with the plan to oust Carolyn initially, he goes and talks to Carolyn and Yam Yam about possibly ousting Helen instead.  The pair are on board, largely since that was the plan they wanted anyway, due to fearing Helen’s intellect.  Carolyn, however, may be the fly in her own ointment.  She can’t just talk with Carson about this.  No, she has to roll around and throw leaves over her shoulder for no apparent reason.  She freaks out about Carson, and I wonder if this is setting up an epic Carson blindside.  But no, it’s just to emphasize Carson’s role as the swing vote.  

Speaking of, which side should Carson swing to.  As the audience who has perfect information, the correct answer is to vote out Helen.  Without Sarah’s vote, the best Carson can hope for is a tie, and with the idol in Carolyn’s possession, better to play it safe, and stick with the side with the power.  In the world where Carson is in, where he doesn’t have all this information, I’d say it’s more of a toss-up.  The side with Helen and Sarah seems more stable, and thus probably the more logical choice, especially since he seems more connected with those two, whereas Yam Yam and Carolyn are clearly the tightest pair in that threesome, should he join up.  Harder to beat in the end, perhaps, but that’s a ways away.  Not to mention, siding with Yam Yam means siding with a THIEF!  Look at that hat!  That’s clearly Cody’s idol hat from “Survivor 43”!  Only he can make that hat; there is no other possible way for Yam Yam to have it apart from theft!  

Well, I said I wanted better strategy this episode, and I got it.  Unfortunately, it came at the expense of entertainment at Tribal Council.  There’s basically zero mystery, since Sarah’s lack of a vote coupled with no time for a tie means Helen is doomed.  Only two things at all stand out about the whole process.  One is the simple joy of Carolyn apparently being mystified at the number of pieces involved in a game of chess.  The other is the return of sassy Probst!  He only shows up briefly, to respond to Helen’s point that she might have no idea what’s going on and get booted for it with “That would be called a ‘blindside’” but MAN is he a welcome reprieve!  Actual pushback!  Funny quips!  Where has this host been in recent seasons!

While I completely understand why Helen got the boot this episode, I am sorry to see her go.  While Carolyn is definitely the bigger character, and will continue to lead to messy gameplay this season, Helen was the better strategist by far, and it always hurts to see those go.  Plus, she sounded truly devastated in her final words, and that’s just heartbreaking.  Hopefully she can be on the ballot for a future second chance season or something.  

Honestly, lackluster Tribal Council notwithstanding, I would say this episode holds up in comparison to the first.  Stuck a better balance of good and bad gameplay, some intrigue, and some come-from-behind plays.  A good solid mix contributing to a good solid season so far!  Shame about Helen, though.  

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  

Idol Speculation: “Survivor 44” Episode 1: La Cage aux Fools

To all those who complain that the show is too “game-botty” now.  To the people who claim they “only cast superfans” who “only make the correct moves”.  To those who claim this is now nothing more than chess on tv.  To those people, I present to you the premiere of “Survivor 44”: A chaotic mess that was nonetheless very entertaining.  

Friends, readers, welcome back to “Idol Speculation”, my knee-jerk opinion that everyone is entitled to.  Today, my knee-jerk opinion shall be on the premiere of “Survivor 44”.  Let’s recap it, shall we?

We kick things off by seeing that “Survivor” is taking a cue from YouTube, and letting some of the behind-the-scenes production show to be more relatable.  Carolyn is supposed to bring us in by just talking about herself.  You know, where she’s from, what she does, the basic stuff.  So enthused is Carolyn, though, that she can’t even manage to do that, and breaks out into hysterics.  She asks the poor producer for clarification, and the poor guy just tries to give examples, only making Carolyn break down further.  

While fairly generic overall, with the likes of Claire giving us the “Here’s why I’ll be good at this game” moment, that’s not the only fun moment our introduction to the season brings to us.  Jaime tries to shill for Windows by talking about speaking things into existence and punctuating them with a “Bing”.  Give it up, Jaime.  Google has won.  Most fun, however, is the “How excited I am to be here.“ montage.  Would be a pretty standard thing, were it not for the fact that the editors flawlessly intercut multiple confessionals from multiple people into one big sentence.  That’s some good editing, right there.  

Proving that the show really is willing to acknowledge old seasons, we get a montage of some of the greatest moments from some of the most beloved seasons past, and also “Survivor Edge of Extinction”.  

Ok, ok, I’ll be fair.  For all the crap I give that season and all the crap I say it deserves, the bit they focus on is Reem, and if you’re going to HAVE to acknowledge that season, Reem is a good part to acknowledge.  

Getting to the mat, we’re formally introduced to our tribes, and get more “excited to be here” confessionals, Matthew on Ratu and Yam Yam on Tika being highlighted here.  We’re then introduced to our now standard challenge to earn a pot and flint.  Pairs from each tribe will race under a bamboo crawl to a mud pit to retrieve pairs of puzzle pieces.  Once everyone has run the course, two members will solve a puzzle, arranging geometric blocks into a rectangle.  Then, three other tribe members will need to hurl hoops from the ground off over a pole, with a crosspiece near the top to make it difficult.  Not the grandest challenge, but these early episode challenges usually aren’t.  We’ll see how they do with immunity.  

That said, there is ONE change from the past few seasons here, and it’s one I’m a fan of.  You see, this challenge is no longer “Winner take all”.  Yes, the first tribe done still wins their supplies, but there’s a benefit to coming in second.  You do that, you get the same choice in the other seasons, “Savvy of Sweat”.  The third tribe, however?  Has to do what the other tribe chose not to do.  Genuinely, this is a good change I hope sticks around.  Apart from making the challenge a bit more tense, since second place now matters, this also adds a new dynamic in choosing which task to do to earn your pot and flint.  Do you pick what you think you’re best at, or do you pick the one that you DON’T want the other tribe doing?  It’s a valid strategic dilemma, and one that I hope comes back.  

Right from the first leg, the gratuitous slow-mo is broken out.  I’m prepared to rail against its overuse as always, but no, this one actually has a purpose.  You see Bruce, the oldest person on the cast, and thus naturally the oldest on the Tika tribe, has a little bit of red coming out of his head.  Then some more.  Then a lot more.  Until finally, Probst has to stop the challenge to call medical.  Up until that point, I’ll admit, I thought the show was milking a minor injury for shock value.  Yes, that’s a lot of blood near the head, but even minor head wounds bleed profusely.  Yeah, there’s concern since he plunged in the mud right afterward, which I’d say would lead to a big infection risk, but that’s not something immediate.  

But no, I’m wrong here.  Bruce is feeling lightheaded, and thus we get medical.  He is thankfully all right, and so happy is this group of players that not one of them even gives a pat “I was kind of hoping he’d leave to make it farther for me.”, and all simply applaud.  Nice and heartwarming.  

Tika was naturally last back with their pieces following Bruce’s bash, but actually finish their puzzle first, proving how little the physical portion of a challenge actually matters when it comes before a puzzle.  But this one, you see, requires finesse at the end, and Soka is not far behind, wisely copying the completed puzzle on Tika’s side.  Ratu takes a bit longer, despite having TWO puzzles to copy off of.  Boy, this does not bode well for their puzzle skills.  Lucky for them, someone decided Carolyn should be the first ring-tosser for Tika, and either they weren’t allowed to switch out, or Carolyn just chose not to.  Either way, she’s bad at it.  Give her credit, though: She remains positive throughout.  

Soka understandably wins outright, and thanks to Carolyn’s performance, Ratu comes in second.  We head off to our beaches, with Soka and its jovial attitude coming first.  Everyone does the usual go around, introduce themselves thing, but no one really wants to go off on their own, and everyone just seems copacetic.  Danny in particular notes that he was expecting at least one obvious person who didn’t fit in, one obvious first boot, and is somewhat surprised there’s no one like that.  

Hope you enjoyed that Danny content, because it’s literally all you get this episode, aside from one mention where he isn’t even on-screen.  

In order to insert some drama into this happy tribe, Matt, Claire, and Frannie happen upon a birdcage.  A locked birdcage, but with a bag containing their tribe emblem on it.  The three contemplate trying to keep it to themselves before realizing “Oh wait, this thing’s out in the open, anyone can stumble across it!”  They thus wisely inform the rest of the tribe.  It’s left there for now, but the mystery of what this thing is and how it works is truly effective!  I sure hope that we don’t learn the results in the same episode, or if we do, those results aren’t thoroughly disappointing!

Ratu, meanwhile, is in the process of making their decision.  The “Sweat” option involves two people hauling a bag back and forth between two piles of coconuts, picking up one coconut at a time and putting it in a bag, naturally getting heavier the longer the task goes.  The “Savvy” option meanwhile remains a mystery as to the specifics, though we know that only two can work on it, and only get one guess.  Already, the dilemma of which to choose pays off.  Ratu did fine on the physical portion of the challenge, but not so good on the puzzle, whereas Tiva was the opposite.  Thus, if Ratu picks what follows their strength, they also give Tiva their stronger option.  On the other hand, if they pick the option Tiva would be best at, they put themselves at risk of not getting anything either  In the end, Ratu decides to level the playing field, and let both themselves and Tiva play to their strengths, which I overall can’t fault them for, despite how Tiva will mock them.  Counter-picking against Tiva would, in the long run, only serve to strengthen Soka.  

Tiva thereby gets the honor of showing us what our “Savvy” challenge is.  Basically, two wire spheres, one nested in the other, hang around, and the two must correctly calculate how many wires there are.  Given that Carson and Helen, our two puzzle-solvers this time around don’t just go up and physically count them, or at least hold them still to stop the spinning, I’m assuming there was a rule about “No touching the puzzle after it’s revealed.”  Carson notably did NOT want to do this, not wanting to come off as too smart too early, but wisely does not protest too much, lest he rock the boat.  Luckily, the pair get it easily, as Helen quickly hits upon the correct way to figure this out; observing the hubs of wires and counting from there.  Tiva also finds their birdcage here, but again, nothing really comes of it.  More of note is Yam Yam starting the fire for the tribe after Carson gives it a go and fails.  Carson had practiced at home, but Yam Yam has more experience on the beach, and we get some flashbacks to his life in Puerto Rico.  You see, show?  When the flashbacks are NATURAL, they work much better!

Having less success is Ratu, where Matthew and Brandon, as the two physically strongest guys out there, are having a harder time with the challenge.  They do eventually win, but it’s near sunset and the hourglass has visibly almost run out when they do, so this is probably the closest anyone’s ever come to failing this task.  If nothing else, it does bond the pair, and we get the first inkling of what could be called an “alliance” this season.  Ratu also comes across their birdcage here, but yet again, nothing on it.  At least for now.  

We’re not done with the first night, however!  You see, for all that Bruce was cleared to continue in the game, he still needed monitoring.  He unfortunately starts fading fast that night, and medical comes back.  They don’t like what they see, and it quickly becomes clear that Bruce will need to be pulled from the game.  Saddening.  There’s no other way to describe it.  It’s not as bad as if he’d had to be pulled before even the first challenge was finished, but still, not even 24 hours.  That’s barely anything off the “Survivor” bucket list.  Hell, even Jonathan and Wanda on “Survivor Palau” got a full day and a “vote” of some sort.  I do hope that Bruce gets another chance in some form, because he seemed like a nice guy, and deserves to at least get more “Survivor” milestones than “One Challenge”.  

Also, note to the show for the future: THIS is how you use Probst during a medical situation.  Let medical come in, do their job.  Let THEIR words and actions be the one to help us understand the situation, and the gravitas therein.  Only when someone needs to be pulled, right at the end, do you bring in Probst, for a quick summation and a dignified sendoff.  A little bit to show respect, but not so much that he dominates.  That’s all I ask.  

Unaware of the overnight tragedy at Tiva, Soka begins the next morning on a quest to make fire.  Initially the tribe wants to wait for Danny, whom, as a fireman, they believe will be best at starting a fire.  Tom Westman (“Survivor Palau”) suddenly breaks out in a sweat, fearing he will be called in for the “Losah Job” again.  Thankfully for both Tom and Danny, Heidi is not one to just sit there and let someone else do the job.  She takes it upon herself to do, and does nit well, starting fire for the tribe.  Good for her.  

Matt and Frannie, meanwhile, have taken up the job of weaving palm fronds.  Matt jokes about how bad he is at it, noting that the holes are big enough for rain to get through, which fortunately Frannie finds funny.  Very funny, in fact.  The pair quickly bond, and agree to stick together.  An alliance, yes, but also with a lot of flirtatious overtones that it’s plain to see will bud into a showmance.  Has it been long enough that people have forgotten how dangerous these types of bonds can be, or will they still be nipped as soon as their found out?  Remains to be seen, but my money’s on the latter.  

Over at Ratu, Matthew is taking charge.  He’s the one directing things around the camp, and everyone knows it.  Strangely, this does not seem to make him a target that we see, and everyone seems to like him.  Perhaps this is because Matthew is just so vivacious, so full of energy.  He describes this as his “Mid-Life Challenge”, noting that he left his husband and four year old son to play the game, and wants to make the most out of every moment.  Admittedly tying this into his mom working at the YMCA is a bit forced, but hey, still more natural than most of the flashbacks last season, and it speaks well for Matthew that something that would normally paint a huge target on someone’s back doesn’t seem to hurt his game too much.  

No, the thing most hurting Matthew’s game, is, well, Matthew himself.  You see, so enthused is he that he climbs that rock we saw him climbing in that preview.  Why?  No idea!  We saw him talking about hunting for crabs, but somehow I don’t see crabs enjoying the top of the rock so much.  

Sure enough, Matthew falls, and from there it’s a roller-coaster.  First Matthew calls that he needs medical for his arm.  Then his arm pops back in, having merely been dislocated, and he says he’s fine.  But then there’s blood gushing from his foot, and one of his toes looks bent.  Basically, Matthew is just all the injuries from the opening challenge of “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” in one guy.  Medical does need to come out, and he’s clear to stay, but no heavy lifting from him.  Kent, our resident Canadian for the season, notes this is an issue, both because it doesn’t speak well of Matthew’s decision-making skills, and that they’re now down a strong tribe member for challenges, at least in the short-term.  

Back on Tiva, and oh hey, alliance talk?  Glad to get more than just pairings HALFWAY THROUGH THE EPISODE!  With Bruce gone, Carson and Helen build on their teamwork from earlier, roping in Sarah since she seems the most level-headed.  Most people look level-headed next to Carolyn, admittedly.  Speaking of Carolyn, while she may be a bit loud, and sometimes erratic, she is not a moron.  She realizes that three people talking on their own, especially when she had been closest with Bruce prior to his evacuation, means she’s probably on the outs.  That said, she notes that she can’t pull an Abi-Maria (“Survivor Philippines”, though admittedly the particular incident I’m thinking of is from “Survivor Cambodia”) and just bluntly go over and interrupt their conversation.  A truly tricky situation.  You don’t want conversations without you, but you don’t want to come in like the proverbial wrecking ball, either.  How will Carolyn handle this tense situation…

Oh look, there’s the boat to take someone on a journey!  Gee, sure glad that DIDN’T interrupt the first truly interesting strategy we’ve had in a while, and a good old-fashioned social dilemma!  SO GLAD this is the direction the show’s going in.  

Carolyn does try and parlay her way onto the boat, but unfortunately for her Yam Yam, the one person who might be willing to back her up, also wants to go, and so they resort to drawing sticks.  This leads to Sarah going, after we see Yam Yam do his best “The Price is Right” impression with his “Come on Down”.  By sheer coincidence, Soka also uses this exact same method, leading to a reluctant Matt going.  Ratu is the one that breaks the pattern, though still randomized.  They draw rocks instead of sticks.  Unfortunately they didn’t think to watch the watchmen.  Lauren was the one who organized the rocks, and rigged it so she would get to go.  Would have been nice to have a better explanation of HOW she rigged it, but good forward thinking regardless.  Can’t argue with the results, kudos to her.  

Ratu will not waste time while she’s gone, though, and decides to have a group hunt for the key to the birdcage, speculating that it might be a challenge advantage for the tribe.  After the usual confessionals about how hard it is to find, Brandon comes across the key in a log.  Maddy is nearby, so Brandon, not trusting her, tries to play it off like he found nothing.  Unfortunately for him, two things are true: Maddy is EXTREMELY close by, and Brandon is not a good actor.  Maddy makes it clear in confessional that she knew Brandon had found something in the moment.  Thus, Brandon’s decision to come clean, while belated, makes sense.  Maddy suggests keeping it to themselves, but Brandon, spooked, comes clean to everyone anyway.  Which makes sense, if he thinks it’s some advantage for the tribe.  

It is not.  It’s an idol and a fake idol, both of which Brandon now possesses.  

And thus, now we talk about the Birdcage twist, and how ultimately disappointed I was.  Something this powerful being out in the open, along with the lack of instructions, was a great setup!  A mystery for both contestants and audience, keeping everyone engaged!  When all is said and done, though, it’s just another idol.  Adding in a fake idol as a bonus doesn’t really seem like much.  On top of that, what happened to “You have to earn everything in the new era”?  True, you had to hunt for the key, and I suppose if you’re not Brandon try and secret it away publicly, but there’s no potential consequence for grabbing that idol like there has been.  You know, one of the GOOD things about the past few seasons?  This is little different then a regular idol hunt, and easier than some.  Want to talk to the cast of “Survivor Kaoh Rong”, who had to find a special tool to attach to a stick to release a key to unlock a box with an idol?  I think not.  Now, some of this was just outside the show’s control.  While the reveal would always be underwhelming, it’s not on the show that someone figured it out so quickly.  But some sort of consequence beyond the public location would be nice.  

Now, the way for Brandon to play this off is to talk about using it for the tribe.  As we’ll see, however, Brandon is using it for Brandon.  

Ok, maybe we’ll get some better stuff on our journey.  We’ll hold off on the gimmick for the season, as it’s so often the bonds made and how those impact individual decisions that matter more in the long-run…

Oh, they’re already going their separate ways to make a “decision”, without us hearing a word between them beyond introductions.  Again, show, thanks SO much for shoving aside interpersonal interaction in favor of more twists and advantages!

Even the “decision” at the end of the journey is a bit of a letdown.  I use quotation marks here because everyone is FORCED into a certain action as their first one.  Each individual has picked a path, with no further information known, and comes across a bag.  Rather than being able to choose to walk away, they MUST pick at least one shell out of the bag.  One contains an advantage, the other two are a lost vote.  Then, admittedly, each individual does make a decision.  They may either reach into the bag again, giving them better odds of getting something out of the journey, but also potentially losing votes at their next two Tribal Councils.  Now, I see what they’re going for here.  “Sunk Cost Fallacy” (i.e. believing that since you’ve already lost your vote anyway, you might as well try and get something out of it, even though your odds are still a coin flip) and all that.  But the thing that made the journey work on the other seasons was the interactivity.  Not just the talking on the way up, I mean, but how the other player’s choices impacted you.  You had to go based on what you thought other people might do.  Here?  You’re forced to a choice, no other interaction required.  The only “choice” that involved the other people was picking which path to go down, and with no information about what is down a given path, that’s just random chance, no strategy at all.  

Speaking of random chance, we get all three possible scenarios for a bag draw in one episode.  See, show, it’s things like this that make people think you’re rigged.  

We also learn here that not all paths are created equal.  The two people (Sarah and Lauren) who do get advantages get ones of very different power level.  Now, I know I said I DIDN’T want things to be the same for everyone in my very last blog, and I stand by that, but the balancing could be done better than this!  While Matt gets nothing, Sarah, after losing her vote, gets the “Inheritance Advantage”.  Now, the rules went by kind of quickly here, so forgive me if I’m wrong on this, but by my reckoning, here’s how it works: Sarah declares that she’s playing it publicly at Tribal Council, before anyone plays any idols or advantages.  Then, any idols or advantages that DO get used go straight to her.  SECRETLY.  Forgive me, but this seems slightly overpowered.  Now, it could be worse.  Having to play it publicly and before anything else gets played are both correct calls.  Expiring at the final 7 is also probably necessary.  But getting EVERYTHING?  When you can have 3 or 4 advantages played at one Tribal Council?  That seems a bit much.  And bear in mind, it’s not like people will KNOW this is what it does.  This is the first we’ve ever seen this advantage; Sarah can make up whatever lie she wants to about it.  Granted, this will make it somewhat underpowered in subsequent season, since everyone WILL know what it does, but at least then it will still work as an advantage-deterrent.  As such, I think I feel about this they way some others feel about Knowledge is Power: Too much for one person to have.  

Contrast with Lauren, who gets one of the best new advantages I’d say this show has had in a long time: Bank a Vote.  At one Tribal Council, of her choosing, Lauren may choose not to cast a vote, but instead take a parchment back with her.  Then, at any subsequent Tribal Council, she may use it as an extra vote.  Great advantage!  Valuable, but requires some risk to use.  Powerful, but not game-breaking.  And she didn’t even lose a vote in getting it!  

Great stuff, but you see why there’s a power disparity between what the two ladies got.  How would I resolve this?  Well, assuming we’re not going to just come up with a more equivalent advantage to the Bank a Vote, I say make the choice of path an informed choice.  Have the sign say something like “You will each have to draw a shell from a bag at the end of whatever path you choose.  One shell will have an advantage, the rest will lose you a vote.  The first path has three shells in total, the second four, and the third five.  However, the more shells a path has, the more powerful the advantage.”  Then, people make an informed choice about how much they want to risk.  Plus, you can then either have people be able to go down the same path, and thus open more collaboration opportunities to increase odds for themselves, or force them down separate paths, leading to negotiating about who gets what path.  Either way it’s interesting, leads to a more informed choice, and gives players a bit more agency than they currently have.  

Naturally, after writing a blog about how the journey system in the new era makes lying about your trip all but impossible, naturally all three of our players lie.  Matt and Sarah tell half-truths, admitting they lost their vote, but not admitting to the results of their second draw, while Lauren just outright lies and says she lost her vote.  Admittedly, this is a lie she could possibly get away with, since banking her vote means one less vote at Tribal Council.  Yet another reason to like this advantage.  

Off to our challenge, and it’s sadly in the category of “tough but generic”.  Our tribes race out in boats around a buoy, haul a crate onto the shore up to a ramp a la “Survivor Samoa”.  They then pull that crate over a ramp with lots of peaks and valleys, only to find a key to unlock a giant slide puzzle, with the first two tribes winning immunity and keeping their flint.  The sheer scale and physicality, seen much more rarely these days, keeps me from hating this challenge outright, but MAN do I long for original challenges.  I’ll be touching on this more later on, but this season has a really strong medieval theme, and I kind of love it.  If ONLY the challenges could be original ones to match that theme.  

Probst also takes the time to let us know that Bruce is ok, which is nice.  Everyone claps.  Say what you will about this season, but the cast is very NICE, which particularly after some of the bitterness at the end of last season is refreshing.  This is also where we get the reveal of the immunity idol for the season.  I would talk about it, but I need a quick bathroom break, so please sit through this commercial while I do so.  Won’t take long.  

WHO’S THAT IMMUNITY IDOL?

*commercial plays*

IT’S AEGISLASH!  

Aegislash!

It’s times like these where I really wish I had the skills to do these as video, rather than as written blogs.  That joke would have worked so much better visually.  

For the non-Pokemon initiated, our Immunity Idol this season is a sword stabbed through a shield, separating to become two separate idols as needed.  Frankly, this idol is nothing short of BADASS!  One of the best I’ve seen in a long time, and certainly helps this season stand out from the others aesthetically.  Again, if only the challenges themselves could keep up that aesthetic.  

While we can be fairly certain, given the relative lack of strategizing from them, that Soka will not be going, it’s a toss up as to who loses between Tika and Ratu.  Fittingly, they keep it back and forth, but things don’t look good for Ratu when Tika gets to the puzzle first.  Again, they seem to be the puzzle tribe.  Making matters worse is that Brandon, their physical anchor with Matthew injured, goes too hard in the challenge, and medical is called in.  He’s ok, but has to sit out the rest of challenge.  Not that I think Ratu was winning with their puzzle skills, but it certainly didn’t help matters.  Tika gets second, and Ratu loses their flint.  Scared as I am for Matthew, probably the most interesting in terms of tribe dynamics so far.  

More interesting than the challenge, however, are our sit-outs.  Oh, not who they are.  Matthew sits out for Ratu, given his injury obviously, and Claire, who appears to be the least physical of Soka.  No, what’s interesting is that Matthew’s charm seems to extend even to people outside his own tribe.  Claire says she likes him, and so gives him information, conferring with him about the results of the journey.  Matthew notes the lost vote Lauren said she had, but Claire notes that Matt on her tribe SHOWED the paper.  Given that Lauren did not, this makes Matthew suspicious.  

This suspicious quickly turns to targeting.  Matthew throws Lauren’s name out to basically everyone but her, though particularly Brandon and Kane, which they readily agree to.  Matthew’s logic makes sense, and while it was by no means the thing that cost them the challenge, Lauren did visibly struggle in the water.  Understandable for a Texas native, but still, not good when swimming challenges have a strong possibility of coming up.  

Maddy, however, has not forgotten Brandon’s mistrust of her.  Mistrust begets mistrust, and so Maddy goes to Lauren about voting out Brandon, getting Kane and Jaime on board to make a majority.  Lauren readily agrees since, you know, the alternative is her getting voted out.  They then go to Jaime, who evidently finds the pressure of being the swing vote too much, and says she’s going to use her shot in the dark.  Excuse me, WHAT?  Jaime, you are in arguably the BEST position on this tribe!  Everyone is coming to you with plans, no one is targeting you.  Why not vote?  Because you don’t want to make a decision?  THAT doesn’t bode well for your game.  

Kane not being super on-board with the Brandon plan seems to put the kibosh on it, but thankfully for misdirection, Brandon has not forgotten his and Maddy’s feud either.  He feels Maddy is more of a strategic threat than Lauren, and thus wants her out first.  Maddy, meanwhile, still tries to resuscitate the Brandon boot, going to Matthew to try and get a solid 4th.  Matthew protests strength, but she argues that he, her, and Kane will be enough.  Not sure why anyone would buy that, since Matthew’s arm is still in a sling and Kane does not seem particularly strong, but hey, you say what you have to.  Matthew notes that he’s closest to Brandon, but if the majority is going that way, will not want to rock to boat.  

As we head off to Tribal Council, can I just say how AMAZING it is that Matthew’s name is not even BROUGHT UP to boot this episode?  Not that I wanted it brought up of course.  After all, I like the dude a lot (pointless rock climb notwithstanding), and am rooting for him.  But with his arm in a sling, you’d think someone would at least MENTION it!  Chalk it up to his social game, I guess.  

Like our immunity idol, our Tribal Council set is nothing short of EPIC!  In keeping with the medieval theme, it’s a ruined castle, and they go all-out!  The desk with the parchment is a chessboard.  A gargoyle looms over the “Walk of Shame”.  THERE’S A FREAKING CATAPULT AT THE ENTRANCE!  Yes, it absolutely does not fit with Fiji, but if we’re stuck there anyway, I’ll take whatever unique designs I can get.  

Sadly the content of our Tribal Council does not match the aesthetic.  Gone are the days of hard-hitting questions.  Instead, Probst asks about how good everyone feels, and we get more metaphors that have honestly slipped through my head leaving zero impact.  Very ho-hum overall.  

Oh, wait, Probst did actually deign to give at least ONE hard-hitting moment.  The subject of the birdcage is brought up, and Brandon makes it clear that, in his words “The idol is for Brandon”.  Brandon, buddy, no.  This is not how you want to play it.  When you’ve got so public an idol, you need to sell it as being a group thing, not a “yourself” thing.  This is REALLY not the path to go down.  

Tribal Council discussion may be humdrum, but our voting is anything but.  Jaime announces her Shot in the Dark plan, and follows through.  So, we find out, did Matthew.  Now, in his case I’d say it’s a LITTLE more justified.  After all, while WE know he wasn’t at risk, he didn’t, and logically might believe he could receive votes.  That said, given his conflict over what to do with Brandon, it comes across to me more like he didn’t want to offend one side or the other.  Fair enough, but it still makes you look wishy-washy.  Jaime as well, though at least she is “Safe” out of the bargain, the first person to do so via Shot in the Dark.  She had literally NO votes against her anyway, but technically still the first.  

Adding onto this chaos is Lauren choosing to bank her vote.  Props to her, I would not have had the guts, knowing my name had been brought up.  Honestly, the most sensible move out of all of these is Brandon who, after seeing all this go down, plays his idol.  Understandable, both as he knows his close ally didn’t vote, and as the idol is a stigma he needs to get rid of.  Sure enough, Kane and Maddy both went for Brandon.  Brandon, left to his own devices, went for Maddy, who gets sent home with but a single vote.  I do feel for her, going down without a majority against her, but I’m not too sorry to lose her.  She wasn’t a bad character, and a decent strategist, but overall just kind of generic and I kept forgetting who she was in crowd shots.  Not a great character lost, is what I’m saying.  

Much like the strategy of Ratu, this episode is an enigma.  I love it, but for very different reasons than usual.  The strategy was messy at best overall, and once again, we lost time on more interesting interpersonal dynamics in favor of gimmicks.  But the episode was so different, so entertaining compared to a lot of recent episodes, that I still love it.  Partly it’s the aesthetic of the season helping it stand out, but it’s also how we’re not seeing ideal strategy.  Granted, I’d like at least Matthew to play a little better, but he’s hardly the worst of the bunch, and it does lead to insane situations you don’t see as often.  Ultimately, though, I think it’s the positive cast that really puts this episode over the top.  Their charm, their sheer joy at being there, is infectious, and just makes the episode fun to watch.  Hopefully they can keep it up!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  amil