Idol Speculation: “Survivor 41” Episode 10: Mirror Neurons

For those not familiar with psychology terms “Mirror Neurons” refer not to specific neurons themselves, but to the propensity of the brain to fire off in response to external emotional stimuli.  In other words, your brain activates when you see someone conveying a strong emotion.  Monkey see, Monkey feel, to put it crudely.  Interestingly, the effect even works for a simulated emotion, such as from a drawing or, more on the nose for tonight, on your tv screen.  This is something that, as we’ll see, the music uses to great effect.  

We pick up immediately after Tribal, where we see that there are surprisingly few hard feelings about getting out Naseer.  Danny in particular is ok with the whole mess, which makes sense given his earlier vendetta against Naseer.  As we’ll see, Danny has a hard time letting go of his old, earlier targets.  To be fair, Ricard actually does a good job of spinning the whole thing, describing Naseer as a “consensus boot”.  Where I can’t get behind Ricard is in his noting that Shan used her extra vote to do so.  Not only does this reveal to Heather that Shan voted for her, it also reminds everyone that Shan has advantages.  I get what Ricard is trying to do: Reduce the threat level of his ally by noting she has fewer weapons now.  But it also primes everyone to remember “Oh yeah, idols are dangerous.  We should eliminate the people who have them.”  Not good if your number one ally is someone who has one of these.  As we’ll see, though, Shan may not actually be Ricard’s number one ally.  

Sure enough, Erika goes to Deshawn to suggest voting out Shan to get rid of her idol.  Way to go, Ricard.  Shan sure is lucky to have you as an ally.  

You could be forgiven for thinking you accidentally skipped back to last episode when morning comes, but no, we are getting what at first seems a repeat scene.  Deshawn and Shan are making amends, though this time it seems to stick a bit more.  Both are wary of the other for various moves they’ve discussed, but at the end of the day still want to come together, and this time things seem to stick more.  There’s no IMMEDIATE confessional of one of them wanting to target the other, or someone close to the other, at least.  

What there is is an explanation for why they keep coming together in spite of these disagreements.  Things have been hard for the Black community as a whole in North America this past year.  They’re hard in general, but the past year has been particularly hard.  There’s no denying that just by looking at the news.  As such, despite their disagreements, Shan and Deshawn want this alliance to stick together as a “win” for the Black community.  And I can applaud that.  I respect that.  I like to think I understand it, but then again, I’m white, so I’m not sure I truly do, or ever fully can.  And I certainly don’t pretend that I have a right to have my opinion have any weight in this matter.  But that being said, if you want to know my opinion… Eh, I’m largely happy, but not fully.  

Part of me believes that “Survivor” is at its best when the self-interest of everyone comes up against the group dynamic.  Having people play for a greater goal than their own self-interest makes for a heartwarming game, but not necessarily an interesting one.  On the whole, though, I’m very happy with this development.  If “Survivor” is to truly be a “social experiment” as Probst likes to claim, this sort of subject and reasoning is going to come up, and should be embraced, not avoided.  And I also can’t deny that the first 40 seasons could be largely argued to the story of “White people ganging up”.  There are exceptions, of course, but it happens often enough that the show got flak for it, helping lead to the “Minimum 50% BIPOC” mandate in casting now.  Turnabout is fair play, is what I’m saying.  And, if nothing else, it is really heartwarming to see the group come together in this way.  I just wish the strategy lined up as well.  But strategy or not, I can’t deny the truth of what Shan and Deshawn are saying.  

I also can’t deny that this scene is emotionally effective.  The pair genuinely tear up when talking about the hardships of the past year, and it gets those mirror neurons firing full speed.  A genuinely touching moment to help kick off the show.  It would be a shame if something happened later on to undermine this.  

CHALLENGE TIME!  Yeah, been a while since I’ve used all caps to describe a challenge, but this reward challenge makes me happy.  Each individual works their way along a rope their tethered to, only to solve a star puzzle at the end.  The winner goes to “Survivor Sanctuary”, which is thankfully NOT a twist where 8 zillion more advantages get added to the game, but basically just a reward cabin with pizza.  Probst calls it “a break from the game”, but we all know, until that final vote is cast, the game never really “breaks”.  Longtime readers may remember that I find ropes courses overplayed.  While I admit their long absence has made me more tolerant of them, I’m still not the biggest fan.  Why am I so happy, then?  The operative word in that first sentence was “Individual”.  Yes, the show has FINALLY deigned to give us an individual challenge post-merge, as I have BEGGED for, so that we can have the drama of deciding who to take on reward.  

We see this drama on full display, as Ricard wins after a fairly back-and-forth challenge.  His first pick, Shan, is reasonable.  While tight, the two have had rocky moments.  Better to shore up that ally, and Ricard makes a good case, pointing out that Shan hasn’t been on any rewards yet.  His next pick, Heather, is still a little eyebrow-raising, but reasonable.  Heather’s someone you don’t mind strengthening for a challenge, and Ricard can make the excuse that she hasn’t been on a reward yet.  But Xander?  Ricard does a decent job justifying himself, referring to it as payback for him sitting out to get the tribe rice (I notice that didn’t stop you from voting out Naseer last episode, though).  Decent enough justification, but Xander is your main immunity threat competition, and on the outs with pretty much everyone else.  Why strengthen him?  Especially when you could take a non-challenge threat (like Erika), or someone closer to your alliance (like Liana), and still be all right?  

Jury management, according to Danny.  Danny is certain he knows what Ricard’s up to, and it’s making nice with future jury members to ensure that he wins in the end.  Unsurprisingly, this puts Ricard at the top of his and Deshawn’s hit list.  They’re certain Erika and Heather will vote with them, but they need a fifth.  Why they don’t think to go to Xander in this situation is beyond me (admittedly, he’s off on reward, but they could ask when he gets back, yet from what we see, never do).  Still, they talk to Liana, who’s all about loyalty to Shan at this point, but is willing to cut Ricard for the sake of the alliance.  Really, worry about Shan’s reaction is the only thing making the alliance hesitant to turn on Ricard at this point, but Deshawn and Danny both admit that while they want the alliance as a whole to succeed, they don’t want to go against Shan at the end, and so flimsily justify it to themselves.  

They may not need to, however.  Rather than focus on the reward (presumably because “Treasure Island” isn’t playing), we get more clarity on Shan and Ricard’s relationship.  While the two are very close, and are working as a pair, Ricard notes that they never actually made a deal to go to the end together, and each plan to snake the other at some point.  Shan never explicitly confirms this is the deal, but does briefly agree when Ricard brings it up to her face, before suggesting they enjoy the reward.  Shan is thinking it over, as evidenced by her humming her “evil music” once again.  Hilariously, someone other than Shan makes note of it for the first time, with Heather asking her what she’s doing.  

Despite having been all-in on the plan earlier, Liana decides she’s closer to Shan than to Danny and Deshawn, and thus, by extension, closer to Shan’s allies.  She breaks down about how close she feels to Shan after their trip to Prisoner’s Dilemma Island, and spills the beans.  A level of devotion not seen since Brendan wanted JT to win over him on “Survivor Tocantins”.  This scene feels a bit more forced than the emotion we got earlier, but it still gets the old mirror neurons firing just the same.  

Since Shan does not believe it’s time to snake Ricard yet, she lets him know about the plot.  Ricard takes it well, and for once, that’s not sarcasm on my part.  Shan seems dumbfounded at Ricard just wanting to “process the news” rather than make anything happen, but I’d say it’s a perfectly reasonable reaction.  The two do suggest getting rid of Deshawn, since he’s starting to strategize more, though.  

Off to our immunity challenge, which involves balancing a ball on an increasingly long pole while standing on an increasingly thin sloped balance beam.  We’ve seen it a bunch of times before, nothing to write home about.  Given the trends of this season, we know that one of our targets will win immunity, but we have MULTIPLE targets now, with both Deshawn and Ricard being thrown out.  That is, until Deshawn drops, and any tension between our remaining contenders (Ricard and Xander) is gone, as Ricard handily wins immunity.  Honestly, the best thing to come out of this challenge was Erika’s quip about Probst retracting her and Xander’s “Friendship Bracelets”.  

With Ricard out, the plan defaults back to Erika, being considered the best schemer outside the alliance.  Decent plan, though you’d think they’d be more worried about Xander’s idol.  Shan’s solution to this is to not name a target to Xander, in the hopes that he spooks and plays his idol.  Decent plan.  Certainly better than Ricard’s attempt by just telling Xander to play the idol at Tribal with no evidence.  

Ricard, however, has a different plan. While Shan does not believe it’s the right time to get him, he disagrees, and says it’s the right time to get her.  As such, he kills any hope of Xander playing the idol by telling him, Heather, and Erika about the plan.  Of course, this is only four, and with no split vote, they need a fifth.  This comes in the form of Deshawn, who despite earlier wanting Ricard out, is willing to work with him to get Shan out.  Deshawn’s flimsy justification for this is that Shan betrayed the alliance by telling Ricard about the plan.  Certainly a true statement, but that, Deshawn, could be argued to be in response to you breaking the alliance to target her other ally (rather than one of the others on the outs), and given that you’ve said you don’t want her in the end, I’d say you broke the alliance first, at least in spirit.  

Also gee, sure glad that alliance that was so empowering at the beginning of the episode remained tight, and the strategy didn’t retroactively kill that moment.  

What’s interesting about this plan is that it makes sense for pretty much everyone involved… EXCEPT RICARD!  You know, the guy who suggested it in the first place?  Erika, Heather, and Xander should all just be happy it’s not them, while Deshawn takes out a threat without hopefully taking flak for masterminding the plan.  This admittedly means he’ll have to take out the true masterminds to get credit, but he’s got time to do that.  For Ricard, however, it’s too soon.  I won’t deny he needs to take out Shan in order to get credit for making moves on his own, but when someone LITERALLY TELLS ALL ABOUT THE FIRST HINT OF A MOVE AGAINST YOU, YOU MIGHT WANT TO KEEP THEM AROUND!  Plus, while tonight clearly shows that Ricard has more social capital than previously thought, it’s still unclear who he would be tight with moving forward.  Xander perhaps, but I feel like Xander’s enough of a threat that Ricard will want him out soon as well.  

This plan is mana from heaven for those on the bottom, but Erika is not content, rightly noting that if Shan DOES play her idol, then she has full control over who goes.  Given that it’s likely to be Erika, Erika is naturally unwilling to go to this.  A split vote would be ideal with these numbers, but it’s not feasible with five.  Thus, she goes to Danny to make a sixth, which Danny’s initially on board with.  Again, reasonable for him for the same reasons it’s reasonable for Deshawn.  What gets me, however, is Danny saying that formulating this plan makes ERIKA a threat.  Don’t misunderstand, Erika did a great job in approaching Danny, and persuading him to come along with the plan, but the plan itself?  A split vote is pretty simple at this point.  Erika is definitely smart, but this plan does not a strategic mastermind make.  Really, this comes across more like Danny is bringing up his and Deshawn’s grudge from Luvu once again.  

Probst claims that Tribal is one of the best in terms of people giving answers that aren’t really answers, and honestly, I’m kind of inclined to agree.  For once, Probst hyperbole is not present.  Sadly, a cagey Tribal means there’s not a lot to talk about in terms of the Tribal itself.  Thankfully, the music makes up for it.  For all of this episode’s strengths, one drawback is that there’s little mystery.  With all this buildup, there’s no way Shan doesn’t go home.  Her not playing her idol is just the final nail in the coffin.  The music, rather than try to build tension where there is none, instead gives us a sad, haunting, somber piece, for the death of such a great player.  Capping it off is Ricard’s voting confessional after the split vote ties between Shan and Liana, telling her that he respects her, but one of them had to snake the other.  It’s a touching vote that reminds me positively of the vote out of Dan “Fuego” Barry from “Survivor Exile Island”.  Granted, that one was even more touching, since the tribe was so reluctant and unified, but they give off the same vibes of a true player taken out before their time, and the moment just comes together nicely.  

In case it wasn’t clearly, I am IMMENSELY sorry to see Shan go.  A villain, to be sure, but an interesting and likable one, who largely played the season well.  She made some mistakes, but that showed she was human.  She had charm, she had charisma, she even had a fun little jingle!  Shan was a fantastic addition to the show, and I eagerly await her return.  

If this is not the best episode of the season, it’s a close contender.  Yes, there was little tension.  Yes, some of the strategy undermined the earlier emotion.  But it had both the heart and the strategy of some of the best episodes of the show, and for all my complaints, deserves to be talked about among the best of the best!  That said, if the rumors about what’s coming next week are true, like Shan I may soon be singing a very different tune.  

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Edge of Extinction” Episode 4: Sailor Wendy

Freeing chickens by moonlight/Spilling secrets by daylight/Busted ankle and she’ll still fight/She is the one named Big Wendy!

Yes, this introduction is corny, but it’s better than what we get on the show these days. Not only do we lack the awesomeness that is the “Survivor” theme song, but now we don’t even get Post-Tribal Council fallout. Why? Edge of Extinction, of course! Everyone’s favorite twist that just gets worse and worse with each passing episode! To its credit, though, we do at least get something different this time around. Reem and Keith were both allied, so their subsequent vote-outs were to be expected, and their bond largely intact. Chris, though? He is amongst those responsible for their evictions, and so you can expect initial conversations to be, well, awkward. What you don’t expect is for Reem and Keith to be so vindictive. Granted, I’d expect lack of food to do that to anyone, but they really lay into Chris as though he’s the scum of the earth, gaining schadenfreude from his blindside. Ok, Keith I can kind of get. Chris was his play to stay in the game, and it didn’t work. But Reem? Yes, Chris voted against her as well, but he was just a number among many, and was by no means the orchestrator of her demise. Someone like Kelley, Lauren, or Wardog I could understand, but Chris was just someone on your tribe who didn’t vote with you. Guess what? SO WAS KEITH! Oh well. I feel bad for Chris here, but at least his judgement day gives us something different to watch.

Moving onto the players ACTUALLY in the game (I still refuse to consider those on the Edge of Extinction fully “in the game”), we see that Wendy’s chicken crusade continues. Trying a different tack, she returns the flint, now ready to enact her own version of “Chicken Run”. Here we see that Wendy’s TRUE flaw in the game is her inability to keep a secret, well, secret. We saw her earlier talk to Rick about her chicken-freeing plans, and now she nearly does the same with David. Some might be inclined to blame this on her Tourette’s, and I can’t rule out that possibility. However, given that she’s been shown to be high-energy regardless, and she didn’t talk about her Tourette’s making it hard for her to keep secrets, I’m inclined to say that has nothing to do with it. Wendy’s just really bad at keeping secrets.

Not helping Wendy’s case is the fact that people (Kelley in particular) have finally caught on that she STOLE THE FLINT! Better late than never, I suppose. Since this only adds to Wendy’s already substantial pile of “Royally Screwed”, she’ll need a big shift in order for things to work out for her. Cue the tribe swap!

Actually, that’s about our only cue. We forgo our usual foreshadowing confessionals (the person on the bottom talking about needing a miracle, the person on top talking about how safe they are, etc.), which I like. Shake up the formula once in a while, I say. Sadly, what we replace it with is arguably worse. Yes folks, it’s time for PROBST HYPERBOLE! Watch as Jeff Probst tries desperately to interest you in what has so far been a pretty lackluster season by making out that your average shocked tribe expression is the BIGGEST the show has ever had! Look, Probst, I get what you’re trying to do, but this was just way too obvious. Yeah, this was probably the biggest reaction so far of the season, but of the whole show? Whether you want to admit it or not, “Survivor Gabon” exits, and was a good season. If nothing else, it gave us the over-the-top reaction to the exit of Marcus Lehman, which is the REAL “Biggest reaction of all time”.

Thus comes our promised tribe switch, this time to three tribes. Now, I get why this is done these days. It helps prevent supermajorities, and shakes things up from your regular switch. But at this point, it’s become so predictable, I think it needs to be retired, at least for a little while. People are starting to guess a switch to three tribes is coming, and planning accordingly. Shake things up! Keep people guessing! Make for a more exciting game WITHOUT being really predictable. Hell, you even know what the buff color will be before the reveal. It’s green. Because with the exception of Angkor on “Survivor Cambodia”, it’s ALWAYS green! Look, as green is my favorite color, I’m happy to see it used more often, but give us some variety for goodness sake!

Well, at least the breakdown of our switch gives us some variety, in the form of a rare fall-out. This is not really a “switch” so much as a “dissolution”, as there are very few new interactions to be had. Joe, Aurora, Julie, Julia, and Ron all stay on Kama. Aubry, Victoria, Eric, and Gavin remain together as well, joining Wendy on Manu. This means that our big five alliance, the one that’s voted together at every Tribal Council so far, makes up the new Lesu tribe. A fun concept on paper, being effectively a swap that’s not really a swap, but then, when you think about it more, it’s really lame. Here’s where I’d normally describe the new dynamics this creates, but there are practically none! Everybody stays with everybody else! The only new interaction is on Manu, and even then, basically all it does is help Aubry stay in the game longer. Granted, I’m in favor of this outcome, but it doesn’t really add anything to the season. Ultimately, this just makes the swap seem like a pointless waste of what could instead have been a challenge.

That said, I must now nerd-out “Survivor” style, and call Gavin for saying that there’s never been a swap like this before. Yes, Gavin, there has. “Survivor All-Stars”? Second swap? Chapera and Mogo Mogo just switched camps, with only Amber ending up with new people? Granted, that was two tribes to two tribes, and the camps at least changed, but still, pretty similar situation, no? Some might argue that “Survivor All-Stars” goes into the same category as “Survivor Game Changers”, but I think “Survivor All-Stars” deserves more credit than that. Yeah, it’s by no means a top-tier season, but it had some fun moments, so big emotions involved, and if you look at it as less of a season in and of itself and more a love letter to past seasons, it actually works really well. Yes, I would argue that it’s better than “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” in that regard. Bite me. If nothing else, “Survivor All-Stars” is a guilty pleasure for me, and I think it needs more love.

Tirade over, we now go deeper into the dynamics of Lesu. Not since Angkor have we quite got a tribe that seems so screwed to be at the new camp. Post Angkor, it seems like the newly created tribe gets some advantage, whether it be an extra person (“Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X”), getting a challenge beast on the tribe (“Survivor Game Changers”), or just getting someone who can make camp life extremely easy (“Survivor Ghost Island”), something seems to compensate the new tribe for their inherent disadvantage. This time, however, there’s nothing. True, no one with the possible exception of David seems to suck in challenges (and even then, David does usually have a knack for puzzles), but there’s no big guns either. No, Wardog does not count as a big gun, given his track record in challenges so far. Add onto that having to build a new shelter and start with no ship supplies, I’d say Lesu is in trouble.

Such tensions will usually get one person to crack, and this time that person is Lauren. She’s been having trouble eating, and the extra physical labor involved in the new camp is getting to her. I can’t say I don’t sympathize with her, but I must counter her claim that “‘Survivor would be fun.” Dear, I may not agree with Keith Nale (“Survivor San Juan del Sur”) a lot of the time, but this bit of wisdom from him rings true: “‘Survivor’ ain’t fun. Going on a cruise is fun.” I’m all for fans playing the game, but don’t have any illusions about what you’re getting into.

Moving over to Manu, Wendy is giving everyone the grand tour. Aubry should know the camp quite well, as it’s clearly the old Mana camp she spent the majority of “Survivor Game Changers” at, but evidently she’s being polite. Speaking of Aubry, her new lease on life is confirmed when Wendy begins spilling the secrets of Manu to her new tribe, which I can’t really blame her for. With no knowledge of the Edge of Extinction, she has no reason not to burn the people who perpetually kept her out of the loop, and since the old Kama seem set up to run the game, might as well ingratiate yourself now. Aubry goes full Boston Rob from “Survivor Redemption Island”, and laughs at the “ametures” (his words, not hers) giving up info so easily.

All well and good, but bear in mind that Aubry is with arguably three of the people most dead-set against working with a returnee from her old tribe. Why should she think Wendy will go before her, old Manu or not? Well, the answer to that is our old friends, the chickens! Yes, while Manu camp doesn’t have quite the amenities of Kama camp, it does have chickens, which Eric in particular is very keen on eating. Wendy once again sticks up for the chickens, and while Eric has a more sympathetic ear that most of the old Manu, he’s still pretty dead-set on killing a chicken.

Checking in with Kama, Joe now decides to turn on his “charm”, so that he doesn’t just have to rely on physical strength to carry him through the game. Not a bad idea in theory, but we quickly see that Joe doesn’t really know how to pull it off. The man was allied with Aurora and Aubry. Aubry is now gone, but he at least has Aurora on his side. This means all he needs is one more. Does he try to pull in Julie, the lady who has seemed most on the outs, and closer in age to Aurora, thus meaning a possible connection. No, that would be the SMART thing to do! Instead, he decides to try and convert Ron. You know, the guy Joe caught plotting against him LITERALLY TWO DAYS AGO! Look, a tribe swap can shake things up, but when all your tribe does is shrink, it’s probably not going to change things that much. Sure enough, Ron quickly reveals that his talk to Joe was all a ploy so that Julia could go through his belongings, checking for an idol. When no idol is found, Ron is willing to accelerate Joe’s demise, even at the cost of his tribe. I can understand the impulse, but I’m not sure it’s wise. Kama seems to be the overall weakest tribe, with their only saving graces being Ron’s puzzle ability and Joey Amazing. Get rid of half of that, and you can expect many a Tribal Council visit. With only original tribe members to vote out after that, there’s not a lot going your way.

Back at Manu, Wendy decides to enact Opertaion: Fly the Coop, sneaking in and releasing the chickens. It makes for a fun scene, and Wendy gives us Stereotypical Anime Girl Pose #5, which is something you rarely see on “Survivor”, so I enjoy it. What’s more, Wendy actually pulls the move off with SUBTLETY this time, waiting until everyone’s asleep, thus giving her plausible deniability. Good in theory, at least, but plausible deniability only carries one so far. Wendy, unfortunately, has been too vocal about the chickens, and so everyone can tell that she’s been planning this anyway. Things get worse when the chickens, territorial creatures, keep trying to come back to camp, forcing Wendy to shoo them away. Honestly, who can blame them for coming back? That was a sweep coop they had, with a net giving them a wide-open area. Shame we couldn’t have seen THAT being built. Maybe in place of, say, Edge of Extinction?

Eric in particular is mad about the chickens, stating that the first one he catches goes straight into the pot. This confessional is interrupted by the clucking of a nearby chicken. I have to admit, that’s good. It got a chuckle out of me.

Say, since we’ve got nothing by rehashed tribe dynamics for those IN the game, why no have some rehashed tribe dynamics for those out of the game? Yes, it’s back to the Edge of Extinction. Keith gives us a confessional about the temptation of the sail. What it means to him. How much easier than living on this island it is. Wow. A really touching confessional that brings something we haven’t heard before to the game. Almost makes this twist worth it. Too bad we have to the segway into more bashing of Chris for little reason. Chris, for his part, tries to redeem himself, and so takes out the fishing spear and brings back… wait, FISHING SPEAR! Dammit, “Survivor”, you can’t even stick to your own premise now! I thought “Edge of Extinction” players were supposed to get nothing, and now, not only do you give them rice, but you give them a fishing spear too? How is this in any way worse conditions than the regular camps? You’ve officially lost the right to say this twist in any way tests the metal of the contestants.

Chris comes back with fish, finally earning him some love from Keith and Reem. Talking about Reem for another minute, I’ll give credit that she’s at least toughening up during her time out there. When Chris and Keith complain about the conditions, she points out that this isn’t the Holiday Inn, and they can’t expect comfort. It’s fun to see from Reem, if only because it makes me see her as the second coming of Twila Tanner (“Survivor Vanuatu”) and it is glorious.

Our challenge today technically originates on “Survivor Samoa”, but is more directly copied from the second immunity challenge of “Survivor Cambodia”. Tribes first race up a pair of A-Frames, then tie rope to pull a crate. Then, of course, you solve a puzzle, with the first two solved puzzles winning immunity. A reused challenge, to be sure, but a cool and infrequent one, so I’m willing to let it slide.

I’ve talked briefly about the challenge abilities of Lesu and Kama, but let’s talk Manu for a second. Since most challenges are “only as fast as your slowest member”, I’d say they have an edge. They have puzzle ability in Aubry (and, as we’ll later see, Wendy), and probably the only guy comparable to Joey Amazing in Eric. With no real challenge sinks, I have a hard time seeing them lose a challenge. Kama has some of the physically weaker members, and Lesu just a lack of big guns, but Manu has no real weak suit. Give them any time of challenge, they’ll probably do well. That said, I feel like Manu is the most likely to lose based on targeting. They’ve had a lot of talk about taking out Wendy, and the vendetta against returnees may still stand for Aubry. True, we’ve had some talk on both other tribes about vote-related topics (Ron’s plan against Joe, Lauren being ill), but nothing that coalesces very well. Hell, despite Lesu being favored to lose based on strength, I’d say they’re least likely to lose based on screentime.

However, that all goes downhill pretty quickly, so let’s talk idols for a moment. I always favor the split idol when multiple tribes need immunity, but what they go with here is pretty cool as well. Probst pulls out a wooden phoenix to pair with the dragon, looking to be at war with each other. The idols have a theme and feel like they fit together, yet aren’t identical. It’s a cool and different way of having multiple idols. I still prefer having one idol that splits apart, but I like this better than either having a mini-idol or multiple copies of an idol, and I could see some creative idols coming out in the future as a result.

Dodo music heralds the demise of Lesu, as even a favorable amount of confessionals can’t spare them a trip to Tribal Council. Back at camp, everyone is devastated. As well they should be. This is the group that voted together every single time this season. The group that, as a result, has had the chance to form the tightest bond. And now they have to turn on each other, much sooner than expected. This should be touching. This should be the highlight of the season. This Tribal Council, on paper, should be the emotional equivalent of the Dan Barry boot on “Survivor Exile Island”. It should be that heart-wrenching. And yet… I don’t care.

You are, perhaps, wondering why I don’t care. The answer is simple. The vote out at the aforementioned Dan Tribal Council was impactful because of the time we spent getting to know the La Mina Tribe. While perhaps not as interesting as the clashing personalities on Casaya, we still knew who these people were. We still met them. We still cared about them. Who can we care about on this tribe, based on what we’ve seen? David and Rick? Ok, fair, they’re a funny and smart pair, but they still have yet to truly stand out. Everyone else? Lauren found an idol, good for her. Doesn’t make her a memorable player we’ve bonded with. Wardog? Fun for how he always ends up in charge of the boot, but still yet to carve a name for himself, and seems like he’s trying to hard when he does. Even Kelley, taken on her own merits this season, hasn’t done much to earn investment. As a returnee, she has an advantage in that department. And even THEN, we’ve seen more of people geeking out over her than we have anything from her properly. I love Kelley Wentworth as much as the next guy, but she needs to step it up. Bring out that charm and grit we saw on “Survivor Cambodia”.

Moving on to the strategizing, David and Rick quickly nix the “Vote out Kelley” plan, on the basis that “The time isn’t right.” according to David. Translation: Wardog won’t go for the plan, and we need him as a swing vote. As such, they decide to target Lauren due to her illness. This makes sense, as Wardog has seemed to favor that type of strategy so far. Plus, David suspects that Kelley has an idol at this point, and thus Lauren is the “safe” vote. Ok, this episode will completely redeem itself if David’s proclamation there is what ends up biting him in the butt on this vote.

Kelley and Lauren, as you’d expect, are our other pair, and quickly decide to target Rick as being more likely to flip in the event of the merge. I can kind of see that, but if I was Lauren, I’d push harder for David. Bigger threat, not great in challenges so far, and getting rid of him gives you power over the returnees left. Perhaps Kelley wouldn’t go for it? In any case, Wardog once again finds himself the swing vote, and at this point I think we have to assume that it’s his maneuvering that’s got him in this position. Given that he’s the swing vote at pretty much EVERY vote so far, it has to be intentional. He claims to be unsure of what to do as we head off to Tribal Council, but really, the outcome is obvious. Lauren will go home tonight. She’s fun and all, but Rick has been built up as a big character for the season, if not the overall breakout character of the season. No way we lose him now. That said, it will be the wrong move for Wardog. The debate here is down to strength versus loyalty, and given that the old Manu will almost certainly be down in numbers come the merge, loyalty is needed. Plus, Wardog as an in with at least Kelley, whereas Rick and David seem inseparably tight. Then again, who said Wardog always makes the smart move?

Rick kicks off our festivities tonight with a fun fake broadcast for the “Lesu News Network”. Frankly I’m surprised it took him this long to make a joke like that. The wait was worth it, though, as it is quite funny. Sadly, the rest of Tribal Council does not live up to it. Again, it SHOULD be really emotional. Everyone hits all the right beats, talking about how bonded they are, and how they don’t want anyone to go. But because we just don’t care about the people experiencing it, we don’t care about the experience.

Even the shock that Wardog did the smart thing and send Rick home isn’t enough to save it. Granted, it’s better than a predictable vote, but now I’m just sad we lost one of the biggest characters of the season. It was the smart move, but Rick brought much-needed levity to the season. With him gone, not only does Kama’s dominance seem assured, but now it will be all the more hollow without our funny man.

This episode needed to help a season that has been struggling overall, but did not deliver. There were one or two bright spots of humor, but apart from that, again, we just don’t care. It’s still salvageable, but we need to connect more with this case, and we need to do it now. Can it be done with Edge of Extinction taking up more and more time each episode? Possibly, but it’s an uphill battle. Still, I’ve been wrong before. Perhaps this is one of those times.

As a final note before I sign off, I want to talk briefly about our “Next Time On…” preview. I normally don’t mention these, as doing so would be pointless, but I feel so strongly about something that I need to call BS. Much as it pains me to say it, I don’t see an Aubry/Wendy/Victoria alliance coming to fruition. Victoria was too set against returnees. My guess is that, like Ron with Joe, it’s just another diversion. You heard it here first!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Cambodia” Episode 4: You’re A Firework

Going into this new episode of “Survivor”, the big question on most people’s minds is “Will Angkor lose horribly?” The answer, however, is not as obvious as one might think. Then again, for a tribe with Jeff Varner on it, few things are obvious.

Speaking of Jeff, he brings us back into tonight’s episode. After his outburst after the previous immunity challenge, Jeff knows he narrowly dodged a bullet at the last Tribal Council. He attempts to make amends by swearing up and down that he’s loyal and Angkor strong and all of those sweet nothings you whisper in that situation. Give Jeff credit: if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s making total B.S. sound completely sincere. The tribe seems to buy it, but in confessional, Jeff says what everyone watching knew he was thinking: that he hates these people, wants nothing to do with them, and would rather see them out to further his own game. True, he did vote with the majority at this past Tribal Council, but bear in mind, that puts only Woo in the minority, and on a tribe this desperate for challenge wins, Woo is a much more valuable commodity than Jeff. The man needs a miracle.

Or else he needs to be on a tribe with Abi-Maria. Which, of course, he is. The drama, such as it is, starts when Tasha pulls Woo aside to talk, apologizing for the blindside and trying to get the pair to move forward with the group. Actually, not a bad strategy. Apart from helping keep the physical strength of your tribe happy, it gains you an easily manipulated ally. Don’t get me wrong, I quite like Woo. He’s a charming, goofy kid, and a lot of fun to watch. Facing the facts, though, Woo is not exactly a great player of “Survivor”. The kid can be let along by pretty much anyone with a brain. He’s kind of like Rupert from “Survivor Pearl Islands” in that way. I would never call either of them a good player of “Survivor”, but they seem like really nice people, and are a TON of fun to watch.

Sorry, sorry, got off-track with my Rupert-fanboying there. He’ll be the next Kass before you know it. The drama I was hinting towards come, to no one’s surprise, from Abi-Maria. She’s annoyed that her alliance-mates are talking with the person who just cast a vote her way. Admittedly, I have a lot more sympathy for Abi-Maria in this case, partly because she actually manages not to go as overboard or melodramatic as she has at past betrayals (see, she IS learning), but mainly because she’s actually somewhat justified in this case. Your supposed allies talking to the person perceived as your sworn enemy is grounds for mistrust and frustration. Note, however, that I say that she’s only SOMEWHAT justified. While being mistrustful of your allies is one thing, staying loyal only as long as they only talk to certain people is just an unrealistic expectation of the game. Plus, since I think 75% of the cast is Abi-Maria’s sworn enemy, that doesn’t give people a whole lot of wiggle-room.

What’s this? A tribe OTHER than Angkor actually has something interesting to say, strategy-wise? Surely you jest! But no, in fact, things are on the move at Bayon. Specifically, those things are Jeremy and Stephen. After the required interview in which Jeremy gushes about his new hidden immunity idol, Jeremy chats with Stephen by the water well, doing a very convincing job of acting like the idol hasn’t been found yet. Certainly Stephen laps it up hook, line, and sinker, and both sprint off in separate directions, searching the trees. Have to admit, this is a pretty slick move by Jeremy. It simultaneously hides his idol, while also building team unity that makes it less likely that he’ll have to use it. Jeremy admits in confessional that, contrary to the will of Savage, Jeremy quite likes Stephen, in a J.T. sort of way. In fact, Jeremy would like to be the NEW J.T. for Stephen, complete with Stephen getting so harangued at the Final Tribal Council that Jeremy wins in a landslide. Not a bad plan, and I think Jeremy’s got the skill to pull it off, but I see a couple of problems here. The first is that, despite what the editing of this season seems to indicate, Stephen is not a moron. Do you really think he’d make the same mistakes as last time? And second, Jeremy, make sure you’re channeling “Survivor Tocantins” J.T., and not “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” J.T. The former is considered one of the best winners of all time, the latter is considered to have made one of the dumbest moves of all time.

But enough about that, I want to know if camp life at Angkor still sucks? It does! Great! Moving on.

And so we come to today’s reward challenge, for a varying amount of barbecue supplies. One tribe member will race out into the water to collect a sandbag, then bring it back to shore, using a plank and fulcrum, said tribe member will then attempt to launch said bag onto a net above. The first two tribes to get three bags on the net win. An interesting thing to me about this challenge is that, as has been widely publicized, this season is reusing challenges from past seasons. In an effort to fit in with the “Second Chances” theme, the crew has been particularly using challenges played by past contestants who got on this season. The trouble with this plan is that “Survivor” challenges are elaborate, meaning the early ones need to be constructed well before the season begins, and in this case before the season was even cast, due to the short time span between the cast reveal and the start of filming. This means that the producers had to guess who would make it on, and pick challenges accordingly. This particular challenge hails from “Survivor Africa”, the season of the regrettably-not-picked Teresa “T-Bird” Cooper. This says to me that the producers thought T-Bird was going to make it (a sentiment I share), but got blindsided by the viewing audience. Or, since the immunity challenge does not hail from a season ANYONE in the potential contestant pool was on, perhaps I’m just coming up with conspiracy theories.

Another interesting thing you may have noted about this challenge is that, despite being a tribal challenge, only one person plays. This is something new that “Survivor” is trying out, a so-called “Hero Challenge”, where only one person competes. An interesting concept, and on the whole, I’m for it. It makes for a big change, some nice drama with the “Hero or Goat” role, and frankly, it’s not all that different from a lot of team challenges. After all, a lot of times the outcome of a challenge DOES rest on one person. The only part that gives me pause is that the tribal challenges are generally grander in scale than individual challenges, generally making them more exciting than individual challenges. Basically, what we have here is sacrificing a tribal challenge for an individual challenge. That’s ok in moderation, but I fear losing too many tribal challenges. Still, a pretty good twist. To add some more wild conspiracy theories to the mix, I think this challenge might have been thrown in to give Angkor a fair fight. The producers must have realized that the conditions at Angkor weakened the tribe as a whole, and that in group challenges, where your weakest links are the factor, they’d lose. While the camp conditions hardly make a fair fight, putting up the strongest from each tribe eliminates the weak-link problem, making the challenge SLIGHTLY fairer.

Every tribe makes a logical choice here. Angkor puts up Savage, Bayon Jeremy, and Ta Keo Terry. About the only choice I have any doubts about is Terry. Not so much because Terry is bad, since he does have that whole “5 Immunity Challenge” streak thing under his belt, but because you’ve got St. Joe on your tribe, who’s good at everything. I mean, Terry’s good, but by his own admission, he’s not as young as he used to be. Why not put St. Joe, who’s in his prime, up there? Can’t knock the choice overall, though. Terry is hardly a BAD choice, just maybe not the optimal one.

Perhaps Ta Keo didn’t put St. Joe up to make everything a fair fight. Out of the gate, pretty much everyone’s even in terms of the running. Savage is a bit behind, as one would expect, due to life at Angkor sucking like a Hoover, but he still keeps running fairly well. Heck, he even comes back. It quickly becomes clear that what will decide this challenge is not strength, but how well one can remember the proper plank configuration and power in order to get their bag in the net. Here’s where Savage really shines. He’s definitely more cerebral than Terry, and arguably more cerebral than Jeremy. Of the three, I’d argue that he’s the most well-rounded, and he shows this when, after taking three tries to net his first bag, he nails the next two in one shot, winning first place for Angkor. I will give Savage his due: the man is a BEAST in hopeless situations. If you ever need someone to pull you out from the bottom, Savage is your man. And the editors know it, and they milk every minute of it. Go back, listen to the music during the challenge, and tell me that they don’t give Savage the dramatic hero music, and make him look like the biggest badass the world has ever seen. Bit of hyperbole, but the man really deserves it in this situation. Good on you, Savage! Oh, and Terry manages to take second place after leading most of the challenge, so that’s good, I guess.

Since Angkor is still most likely going back to Tribal Council, this makes they by far the most interesting tribe, let’s cut back to them and see what they’re doing after the challenge. Ah, I see they’re enjoying their well-earned spoils and bragging about how much better off they are. Deservedly so, but not very interesting. Is anything happening at Bayon? No? All right, Ta Keo, there must be something interesting happening at Ta Keo. And there is. Character development.

Yes, it is time once again to talk about Kass. STOP! ACTUALLY READ THIS PARAGRAPH! I know I’m a Kass fan who’s gushed on and on about her little scenes that don’t really matter, but I think I’m justified this time, since she IS the center of what happens at Ta Keo this episode. We once again get a confessional with Kass talking about how she has to change up her game from her last stint, since she says that those who don’t learn from their mistakes cannot win this game. See also, Hantz, Russell (“Survivor Samoa”). But Kass is absolutely right, in my opinion. Luck is a part of “Survivor”, but very rarely is it ENTIRELY luck that someone gets voted out, though it does happen (see the fate of Michelle Yi on “Survivor Fiji” for an example). Therefore, if you don’t want the same outcome as last time, you need to change up your game. Hell, this season proves that point. Everyone voted out so far has, in some form, repeated the mistakes of the past. Vytas was too obviously threatening, Shirin played too hard too fast (even though this wasn’t what got her voted out, everyone from that season says that’s how she was, so I count it), and Peih-Gee couldn’t resist fighting with her tribe mates. You need to change up your game if you want to win, and you didn’t the last time. Even if you DID win, you should probably change up your game, since people can see it coming.

But getting back to Kass. Kass’ weakness last time, by her own admission, was not playing a social game. To that end, she very publicly read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” preseason, and has taken advice from it. Sincere gestures are a part of that, and to that end, she’s taking the tribe supplies and making a bracelet for someone on the tribe. All this while talking about how everyone perceived her as untrustworthy going in, and an obvious first boot. Chaos Kass wouldn’t be doing this. Oh, and you can see how desperate they are to use the “Chaos Kass” hashtag when they bring it up in a context where it really isn’t that relevant.

Oh, but what was that about people having a preconceived notion of Kass? Well, Kelley happens to be one of those people. Kass has been doing her work before the tribe awakes, but not too much before. Kelley happens to wake up, and sees Kass doing her work. This sends Kelley, in confessional, on a rant about how untrustworthy Kass is, and how she’s clearly making a fake idol. Admittedly, not an unreasonable conclusion, given how similar the activities are. Things get worse when Kelley walks up to Kass on the beach while she’s working, only for Kass to shoo her away, thus reinforcing the “fake idol” theory. Things are looking bad for Kass. Even when she TRIES to be nice, it still comes off as manipulative. But who was Kass making that bracelet for? Why, Kelley, of course! It’s a late birthday present. Kelley gushes over the thing way more than I would expect, and admits she thought Kass had been making a fake idol. Not sure Kass is in the clear on this one, though. While she’s giving it her all to not make the same mistakes as last time, the fact that people jump to that conclusion is a problem, and we never see Kelley definitively say that she’s forgiven Kass, or is no longer suspicious of Kass. To give Kass her due, though, she is trying.

Ah, and with that respite, Bayon actually has some interesting events going on. It’s time for the great debates. The Challenge Beast vs. The Vulcan. Kelly vs. Spencer. Well, I say “debates”, but it’s really one-sided. Jeremy and Stephen, who are all buddy-buddy with Spencer now, ask him what his relationship is with Kelly. Spencer says that she’s in the pockets of Terry, Woo, and Jeff, and not on his side. Spencer expresses remorse at throwing Kelly under the bus (perhaps his attempt to get emotions is working), but I would point out that Spencer is technically telling the truth here, and it’s in his best interests. Kelly has no loyalty to him, and he no loyalty to Kelly, so why bother trying to save her. Spencer may be going a bit overboard with the play, though. He even tries to convince the Bayon water well that Kelly needs to go. Some lady named Monica CLAIMS to be there, and not trust Spencer, but we all know there’s no one named Monica on this season, and CERTAINLY no one who would have been better if replaced with T-Bird.

And now we have our Immunity Challenge. As I stated previously, this one hails from no season that anyone on this season participated in. This is the “Send Blindfolded People out to Retrieve Puzzle Pieces to Make a Cube” challenge. The cube puzzle itself first aired on “Survivor Thailand”, but this particular iteration comes to us from “Survivor All-Stars”. And man, is this a great challenge. It’s got both physical and mental components, and makes for some fun chaos. But the best part is, of course, the falls. I know I really shouldn’t be taking joy in the potential serious injury of others, but it’s like watching one of those goofy physical game shows. You know it’s probably dangerous, but it’s just so mesmerizing, you just can’t look away.

Jeff, Kimmi, and Kass are all selected as the callers, which seem like wise choices at first. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Kass has a problem. Jeff has a huge diaphragm to project from, and Kimmi is just loud in general, but Kass is actually fairly soft-spoken. She’s having a hard time time making herself heard over these two loud people, as evidenced by Terry’s just wandering around lost, and Keith repeating “I can’t hear.” over and over again. By the way, I get that this is supposed to be the new equivalent of Rudy Boesch’s “I don’t know.” bit on “Survivor Borneo”, but no. Just no. It doesn’t work. There can only be one. In Kass’ slight defense, she was in a bit of a spot. You need your most physical players to carry the pieces, but you need your cerebral players, like Kass, to solve the puzzles. Kass needed to be in this challenge, but couldn’t really do the lifting of the piece. Therefore, caller it is, and she’s simply outclassed by the lung capacity of the “Survivor the Australian Outback” players.

Fortunately for Kass, she’s on a tribe with St. Joe, who seems to be able to see through his blindfold. He not only seemingly gets to the pieces by himself, but also brings them back by himself. Why did he not run the “Hero Challenge” again? Guess he was saving his strength, as he puts Ta Keo back in the lead in what is a back-and-forth challenge. I’ll be going into my problem with this challenge in just a minute, but to give it it’s due, it’s quite tense. Not only does the lead shift back and forth throughout the course of the challenge, but we’ve also got some ambiguity over who’s most likely to go to Tribal Council. True, we haven’t heard much from Ta Keo, so they’re probably safe, but both Bayon and Angkor have given us strategy talk. Either one of them could be the winner, and that makes this challenge heart-pounding.

Now for my problem with the challenge: I don’t like the editing When they’ve done this challenge previously, they’ve shown us highlights in a linear fashion. Pretty understandable. It spaces out the action, and this is an easy challenge in terms of showing who’s ahead and who’s behind. Doing montages would just confuse us. But that’s exactly what they do. The montages make the challenge hard to follow, and put nearly all of the “People colliding with other people” action in one spot, which just ruins a lot. Also, the collisions felt a bit lackluster this time around, but due to the injury potential, perhaps that’s for the best.

Oh, and that tension I mentioned? It stays for most of the challenge, but it kind of peters out towards the end. Everybody gets to the puzzle, but Bayon pulls ahead and wins outright. Since we pretty much know Ta Keo doesn’t win the challenge, this seems to make everything straightforward. We get shots of Angkor just being burned out on the puzzle, and you know it’s over. Ta Keo, once again, takes second place, and Angkor, once again, goes to Tribal Council.

After the challenge, there’s no beating around the bush. Jeff is in trouble and he knows it. Fortunately, he also knows that he’s on a tribe with Abi-Maria, who is very emotional, and who is much madder at Woo than she is at him. That could save him. First, though, Woo has an original idea: AN IDEA! Isn’t that great, folks? Let’s give him a big hand! No, Woo starts questioning why the old Ta Keo, who had the advantage on Angkor, is letting Tasha and Savage, the technically minority, run things. This… is actually a good point. I would not have believed it of Woo. It’s true, Tasha and Savage are big threats who are unlikely to take any of you too far, so why not get rid of them and keep yourselves safe? Woo pitches this idea to Abi-Maria, and here’s where we see the flaw in Woo’s otherwise brilliant plan: HE’S the one offering Abi-Maria this deal. Dude, do you not realize your name is mud with Abi-Maria right now? Let Jeff offer her the plan, she’ll listen to him.

True to form, Abi-Maria does not listen to Woo, and goes to tell Tasha and Savage that she just wants Woo gone for his disloyalty. Tasha talks sense to Abi-Maria, pointing out how much bigger of a threat Jeff is, and how he wasn’t really loyal to the tribe. Tasha forgets that she’s talking to Abi-Maria, who doesn’t play with Earth logic. While everyone still seems to be leaning towards Jeff, things are still a bit up in the air as we head to Tribal Council.

And what a Tribal Council it is! We’re only four episodes in, true, but this is definitely in the running for best Tribal Council of the season. This was great! This was entertainment! This was magic to watch!

We start with the true start of Tribal Council: Big Creepy Bug! Seriously, Jeff Varner is giving Jeff Probst a standard sound-byte, when some giant bug from the depths of hell say “No way, Jose!”, and proceeds to fly right into Jeff Varner’s face, as well as at some of the other contestants as a warning shot. This is a hilarious way to open Tribal Council. I know some people might give the contestants here flack for flinching at a harmless bug, but I’m on their side. That bug was huge and in their respective faces! You’d flinch as well, mark my words. Our only standard bit is Jeff Varner talking about a toe injury he received during the previous challenge, but then we get to the highlight of the episode.

As I said, things are still a bit up in the air this Tribal Council, and I don’t mean just for the audience. This tribal uncertainty means that Jeff Varner and Woo have to plead their respective sides. And it is glorious. Not so much in how evenly matched these two wit-masters are (which they aren’t at all), but in just how gloriously Jeff Varner plays it. He comes out swinging, once again professing his loyalty, not just to the tribe, but to each individual sans Woo. But when Woo even TRIES to make a comeback, makes ANY point that’s contrary to Jeff Varner, he gets immediately shot down by Jeff Varner. Woo’s needed to win physical challenges? That makes him a threat. The merge is ages away? Woo can’t guarantee that. Jeff still had that slip up after last episode’s immunity challenge? At least Jeff voted with the majority. If Jeff is going home tonight, it’s a blaze of glory, and that’s why we love him. Jeff made every argument the best way he knew how. Even his fellow tribe mates seem stunned at his passion. I feel a bit bad for Woo, since he’s so outclassed, but I’m just so fascinated by Jeff Varner that I can’t help but love this scene. Definitely in the running for best Tribal Council of the season, and possibly of all-time. And the capper? During the debates, the sticking point with Woo was that he never swore loyalty to Abi-Maria. What does he do before the vote? Swear loyalty.

While I was pretty sure before Tribal Council that Jeff Varner was done for, his performance made me reconsider. Maybe he’s not… DANG IT! You got me again! Sure enough, despite his best efforts, Jeff goes home, which I would say is the smart decision. Well, maybe not for Abi-Maria or Woo, since they’re now solidly out of the majority, and in the case of the former, Jeff was her closest ally. In Abi-Maria’s case, though, she’s likely to be taken along by some other alliance, so it’s of little loss, and as for Woo, since it was either him or Jeff Varner, I can’t call it a terrible move for Woo. For everyone else? Jeff was the one controlling things on Ta Keo, uniting the various factions to suit his needs. Getting rid of him gets rid of a hard-playing strategic threat, and pretty much prevents the old Ta Keo from coming together again. Some smart individuals like Spencer or Kelley might be able to work their way decently far into the game, but the tribe as a whole. At this point, I say done for. Bayon wins.

Surprisingly, I’m not all that sorry to see Jeff go. True, I will miss his gameplay and his snakiness, but it felt like his time. We got what we wanted to get out of Jeff: a lot of funny confessionals and some hard-core gameplay. Would it have been nice to see more of? Maybe, but for what we got, Jeff went out in a blaze of glory, and had a really excellent, if short, run this season. He will be remembered with honor.

As a final note for the episode, I’ll say that I’m annoyed that they didn’t show Tasha’s “Jeff (Not Probst)” vote anywhere but the end credits. Not only would it have been funny as all-get-out, but it’s exactly what I would have written, had I been out there. Great moment I’m sorry didn’t get more recognition.

Can this season do no wrong? We’re four for four so far on great episodes, and I might go so far as to say this one’s the best yet. Yes, even with the Kass ambiguity, the episode had a lot of strategy, humor, and drama. What more could you ask for? Well, how about a…

TOP 10

Now, I’m sure a lot of you are saying “But Matt, you do ‘Top 5 and Bottom5’ lists, not Top 10’s!” Very astute, my readers who I’m talking for. The trouble hear is that I’d like to talk about my top Tribal Councils of all time (in terms of vote-off, not design), and it’s kind of hard to have a “Bottom 5” list for that, since it’d just be 5 Tribal Councils that are completely unmemorable. Basically, all of pre-merge “Survivor Fiji”. So, to make sure you get your content, I’m going to be listing my Top 10 Favorite Tribal Councils, based on what happened at them. My only caveat is that someone actually had to be voted off at this Tribal Council. None of this “Remembering and Evacuee” or quitting stuff. There’s a lot to cover, so let us dive in!

10. “Survivor Pearl Islands” Episode 10: This one lands on the list for very personal reasons. This is the episode where Rupert gets booted, and as mentioned before, I like Rupert. This makes it a hard episode for me to watch, particularly given the look of utter defeat on Rupert’s face as the votes just keep coming, but perhaps that’s why it stands out to me so much. It’s not exactly a happy memory, so it lands low on the list, but it stands out, so it should definitely be on the list.

9. “Survivor China” Episode 7: Another one that many people may think I’m overrating. This is the first episode of a fake idol play in the history of “Survivor”, when Jamie Dugan played the wrong symbol from atop the camp archway in a desperate attempt to save herself. Many will say, quite rightly, that this was a perfectly fine last-ditch move, and that there have been funnier fake idol plays in the show’s history, but this one came first, and it’s always stood out in my mind. I remember laughing so hard when I saw that this was even possible, and Probst just taking it so seriously makes it all the better!

8. “Survivor Borneo” Episode 7: Now, before I start getting hate comments, let me state, for the record, that if this was a list of the most SIGNIFICANT Tribal Councils of all time, Gretchen Cordy’s boot would definitely be #1 on the list. But it’s not that list, but a list of the BEST Tribal Councils, so it doesn’t make the top spot. Still, there’s plenty to like about this Tribal Council. I believe it holds the record for the most people voted for in a single round of voting, and even now it’s hard to see sweet, fan-favorite Gretchen get the axe. Really, the only reason it’s not higher up on the list is that it loses some impact when compared to how modern day “Survivor” is played. Still impactful, though.

7. “Survivor Redemption Island” Episode 3: Ah yes, how could one neglect the boot episode of Russell Hantz? I almost didn’t put this on the list, because the real coup de grace is in the next episode when he actually gets eliminated (thank you, Redemption Island twist), but this moment was still too sweet to leave off. After enduring two full seasons of Russell Hantz, and the start of the third one where we had to see the same aggravating game over and over, it was refreshing to see Russell called out on his poor gameplay, and to get his just desserts.

6. “Survivor Gabon” Episode 7: Another one I may remember more fondly than most people. This is the episode in which the second tribe swap happens, where Randy declares himself “King of Gabon”. I’m not sure I’ve talked about this before, but I’m a big fan of Ken Hoang from this season. He was a more than decent strategist whose only flaw was getting cocky towards the end (which I’m sure NO ONE ELSE has ever done). His personal growth over the season was great to watch, and it’s a testament to how good he was that, on a season where everybody hated everybody, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t like Ken. And this episode, he comes into his own. Marcus has been running the game pretty much from the get-go, so it was shocking and satisfying to see him get overthrown. This is Ken at his best, and that’s why I love it so much.

5. “Survivor Caramoan” Episode 10: This is the episode where Malcolm manages to get immunity for himself and his comrades, via two immunity idols. There’s something to be said for spectacle, and certainly that spectacle made this a memorable Tribal Council in and of itself. What puts it even higher up for me is that it has more than that. The last minute politicking at Tribal Council makes it all the more intriguing, the blatant calling out of strategies enjoyable, and the exit of Phillip “Special Agent?” Sheppard the icing on the cake. Just all around, a lot of sweet, Tribal Council goodness.

4. “Survivor Marquesas” Episode 8: If there WERE to be a contender for “Most Significant Tribal Council” other than the Gretchen boot on “Survivor Borneo”, it’d have to be episode 8 of “Survivor Marquesas”. The first ever “Totem Pole” shake-up of the show, this saw Neleh Dennis and Paschal English flip from the old Rotu after getting axed off early in a challenge. This episode changed the course of the game for the better, but even the Tribal Council itself was enjoyable. A great blindside, and a number of good moments. John’s emotional exit speech deserves mention, but the crowning moment is Sean Recotr’s “Chicken and Waffles” vote. That confessional is priceless.

3. “Survivor Exile Island” Episode 6: A lot of people forget about this one, but it’s one of the most emotional Tribal Councils I’ve ever seen. This is the Dan “Fuego” Barry, and no, it’s not surprising. But man, is it touching. Everyone knows Dan is going home, even Dan. Rather than hide it, they use the Tribal Council to showcase everything Dan has done. No, there’s no mystery, but there doesn’t need to be. And all capped off with everyone helping Dan take his torch to Probst in a show of unity. It’s hard to find a Tribal Council more touching than that.

2. “Survivor Cambodia” Episode 4: Yes, a lot of this is probably recency bias, and yes, in a while it’ll probably slide down the list, but that’s how I feel right now. It’s hard to find a Tribal Council more hilarious than this one, but is also has great maneuvering, excellent soundbytes, and the grand fall of a major player. All pretty good stuff, in my mind.

1. “Survivor Micronesia” Episode 13: Yep, the Erik Reichenbach boot. No way this wasn’t going on here. The most improbable event in “Survivor” history, and one not likely to be repeated in terms of surprise. Great confessional clips, a hilarious boot, and an improbable giving up off immunity at a stupid time not only make this the best Tribal Council of all time, but, for this moment alone, largely explains why “Survivor Micronesia” is a lot of people’s favorite season.

Honorable Mention: “Survivor Blood vs. Water” Episode 12: The first drawing of rocks since “Survivor Marquesas”. A very dramatic moment that deserves to be remembered. Why is it not on the list proper? Well, this is a bit of a cheat, but it was broadcast a little too loudly that they were going to rocks before the Tribal Council to add any tension to the proceedings. Still, give it what it’s worth, it WAS a memorable moment.

Let’s hope the streak keeps up in the weeks to come!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Blood vs. Water” Episode 10: The Long Goodbye

Obvious outcome is obvious.  However, this is one of those rare episodes where I don’t actually mind that you could tell before the lack of an intro exactly who it was who would be going.  Yes, there was barely any suspense, but it had great editing, great clips, and even a good bit of strategy here and there.  Definitely the first good episode we’ve had since the merge, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Fresh from Tribal Council, we get Katie lamenting her situation.  Strategize though she might, she just can’t seem to break the block set up by Tyson.  Still, she soldiers on, realizing that the next obvious recourse is to hunt like crazy for the hidden immunity idol.  The fact that Tyson has it means that this plan is pretty much worthless, but given the information Katie has at this point, it’s understandable.

Thankfully keeping a discreet distance, Ciera and Laura celebrate being the last pair in the game, despite the fact that Laura should have been gone about 12 days ago.  They keep it small and intimate, which is nice.  However, while Laura continues the nice sentiment in her private interview, Ciera is not so optimistic.  She correctly realizes that A: Her Mom is not very popular, B: Her Mom is something of a physical and mental threat, and therefore C: Her Mom is likely to be voted off sooner rather than later.  While Ciera understandably wants to work with her mother (it’s an extra vote that you have, essentially, and probably the closest you can come in the game to actual trust with someone else), she realizes that this is an individual game, and she has an actual shot to win, and therefore it might be in her best interest to vote Laura off.  This is one of the good things about this season: it brings out these sort of ethical dilemmas.  It’s true, they come up in other seasons, but the genetic link just makes it all that more personal, as well as more compelling.  I respect Ciera, even if I’m not the hugest fan of her, but tonight I was riveted by her confessionals, which was probably a good thing, as they made up approximately half of the episode.

Sweeping over to Redemption Island we see that Aras, Vytas, and Tina will be facing a repeat of a repeat.  It’s the Redemption Island challenge in which Cochran nearly beat Challenge Jesus (my heart quivers with joy at the memory) from “Survivor South Pacific”:  After using a grappling hook to retrieve 3 bags, the duelists must take a small ball from one of the bags, and navigate it through a maze to an end slot.  First to finish gets to give away a clue to the hidden immunity idol, last place becomes the first member of the jury.  I must say, although this challenge is very derivative (notably, it’s very similar to a couple challenges from “Survivor Marquesas”), it hasn’t been done in a while, and I give it a pass just for the good Cochran memories.

So, it looks like we’ll have a jury of 8 and a final 3 once again this season.  Joy.

Normally, I’d give good odds that Tina would lose a Redemption Island duel against Aras and Vytas.  This is not to dis her challenge skills by any means, far from it.  Tina, while not a physical force, does hold her own very well in the challenges, particularly when factoring in her age.  So, it’s not that she’s bad, by any stretch, but just that Aras and Vytas are EXTREMELY good.  This challenge, though, is not one where physical strength is necessarily an asset.  It’s more about dexterity and balance, which could go either way.  My only concern for Tina is the grappling hook leg of the challenge, and if she can survive that, she might just have a shot at this challenge.

And survive she does, somehow edging out Aras and Vytas on the grappling hook.  After a funny moment in which Aras encourages Laura to encourage him as well (she’d previously encouraged Tina and Vytas), things end up fairly even on the maze.  A mistake by Tina means that Vytas gets first place, and I start to feel sorry for Tina, given that she was doing so well.  It seems that mazes and Aras don’t agree, however, as Tina still manages to survive, and given all her effort, I’m happy for her.  Plus, it’s Aras, in my opinion the most boring of the three, who leaves.  Can’t say I’m too sorry over all.  While he did surpass my expectations strategically, he was still pretty boring in interviews, and made some pretty dumb moves.  And to all you Aras fans out there, don’t worry, he’s still on the jury, you can see him.

Before he leaves, however, Probst tries to make Aras and Vytas epically recount their life story, as well as give contrived platitudes about how their relationship has changed and will continue to change.  Vytas gains respect in my eyes by cheekily saying that he doesn’t think their relationship has changed very much.  Since no one questions Probst, though, Vytas is forced to give the platitude anyway.  Bummer.  I liked his first answer better.

Vytas decides to give his clue to Katie, who, wisely realizing that she can’t get much more on the chopping block than she already is, keeps the clue.  Back at the camp, Katie publicly announces her bathroom break.  Everyone at camp wisely realizes that either Katie is something of an odd duck, or she’s going idol hunting.  As it’s the latter, everyone hilariously lampshades it, while Laura suggests, not unreasonably, hiding all their digging tools to make like harder for Katie.  It doesn’t matter, though, as we see that for the time being Katie has absolutely no success in finding the idol.

Meanwhile, Laura goes in for another counseling session with Ciera, where we once again reaffirm that Ciera is more than willing to vote off her mother, while Laura remains perfectly naïve about the threat that she poses.  The one interesting bit is Ciera’s current advice to her mother, which is to not go around strategizing, and to wait for Tyson to make the first move.  On the surface, this could be seen as legitimate advice to prevent people getting paranoid about Laura, but it could also be read as a self-serving move by Ciera.  If her mom isn’t strategizing, it’s all that much easier for Ciera to control things.  You go, girl!

Speaking of Tyson making moves, he decides it’s time to have an interview or two, and comes to the same conclusion that Ciera has.  He admits that Laura’s a threat, both as an individual and as part of a pair, and therefore needs to go.  Thinking at first that he can do it without Ciera, he approaches Hayden and Caleb with the proposal to eliminate Laura rather than Monica should Katie win immunity.  This serves only to give Hayden another generic interview, but it is good strategy on Tyson’s part, save for one caveat.  He admits that it’s another betrayal, which makes him look more like a villain, at a point where jury management becomes a big factor.  Look, Tyson, I appreciate the improved strategic game, but you need to consider not being the messenger for once.  Try and NOT make people feel betrayed by you.

Enough about that, though, as we’ve come to it, the emotional heart of the episode, the thing that makes it just so great.  Ciera, unable to contain herself any longer, takes her Mom down the beach, and admits that she’s probably going to have to vote her off fairly soon, probably at the next Tribal Council.  Laura, naturally, protests, pointing out that it might be short-sighted of Ciera, as the guys probably won’t take her to the end, anyway.  Still, she’s not mean about it, Ciera seems appropriately embarrassed, and Laura goes so far as to admit that despite this being a game, she’s able to separate out being proud of her daughter for coming into her own.  Ciera, for her part, puts things gently, explaining via sand diagram exactly why things will come down to Laura being voted out.  I LOVE this scene.  Not only was it handled well by the players, but it was shot and edited impeccably.  The action felt intimate, we heard just enough to understand the situation, while at the same time not seeing so much as to make it repetitive, and it was just gorgeously done!  On top of that, the music was impeccable!  Music, in my opinion, is an underappreciated aspect of “Survivor”.  As you might expect, we don’t think about it very much, but you notice its absence.  This time, those absences were used perfectly.  The music added to the emotion, while not being overpowering, and particularly emotional moments were underscored by silence.  My hat’s off to the composers on this one, they were really on the ball.

Katie mentioning that she needs immunity leads us to today’s challenge, hailing this time from “Survivor Nicaragua”.  Castaways hold on to a rope while standing on an angled platform.  Overtime, they inch down the rope, until they fall into the drink.  Last person standing wins.  As repeat challenges go, this one isn’t bad.  It’s only been done on “Survivor Nicaragua”, it’s a good endurance challenge, and is a solid idea all things considered.  I do take issue with it being a repeat challenge, as well as the fact that it’s neither big nor epic, but I’ll let it live.

This challenge is good news for Katie, as being about balance and holding your weight, it favors the small and the skinny.  Katie, however, is out somewhat early, leaving Monica, who was not even a target this time around, with immunity, and the extra reward of a cheeseburger feast.  Yeah, did I mention that I HATE REDEMPTION ISLAND FOR ELIMINATING REWARD CHALLENGES?  BECAUSE I DO!  Still, Monica handles it all with grace, giving up her feast for the losers (which I’m somewhat surprised Probst allowed, as it lowers the drama somewhat).  Probst questions Caleb as to whether this was a personal or strategic move, because lord knows Caleb needs SOMETHING to talk about.  Caleb wisely points out that the move can be both, and everyone save Monica enjoys their burgers.  I would point out that this is kind of a double-edged sword for Monica, as it makes her more of a jury threat, but since she has immunity, it’s not as much of a concern.

Hey!  Who left the transition snake on the Kasama camp set?  You know that the castaways and the transition animals must NEVER been seen in the same shot.  Oh, great, there goes the meta-meter.  The episode is ruined.

Not to be deterred by errant transition animals, Katie attempts to seize the day with another idol hunt.  Laura, desperate to save her own skin, does the smart thing of tailing Katie and digging where she digs, so as to keep Katie from finding the idol.  What do you know, a move from Laura that actually makes sense!  Never thought I’d see the day.

Tyson, however, still wants his screen time.  He decides that Ciera ought to be approached, so as not to offend her by blindsiding both her and her mother.  Ciera, however, is one step ahead of him, anticipates the move, and smartly agrees to go along with it.  Man, Ciera has really upped her game this episode.  Tyson also seems to have learned from his earlier errors, as he pins the blame for the idea on Hayden and Caleb, rather than himself.

So, the plan seems set, but Tyson still won’t tell people he has the idol (good man), so what’re they going to do about Katie.  In yet ANOTHER brilliant strategic move, Ciera bluffs Katie into giving up that she didn’t find the idol, by saying that she (Ciera) did.  It’s two people bluffing each other, and although it seemed comedic at first, it became very serious and game-changing.  Katie’s falling first makes her lose power, and doesn’t give her much of a position in the tribe.  It does, however, boost Ciera’s position, as she’s now the one with a link to Katie, and therefore potentially another vote in an emergency situation.

The one department in which Ciera falters is in not bragging.  She admits her scheming ways after the fact to Tyson, who clearly sees this as a threat.  This not only cements Laura’s doom, but also makes Ciera more of an obvious threat, where one of her great strengths originally was her ability to blend in and not be considered a threat.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Tyson was on the warpath for her in the next few episodes.

Probst wisely just lets things run at Tribal Council, as we get Laura giving saving herself the old college try.  She has a few compelling arguments, pointing out that a pair in the game is two votes for the price of one, and that one of a pair on the jury and one in the finals is a vote everyone but the loved one won’t get, but unsurprisingly, that doesn’t work too well.  So Laura is gone, and while I still don’t like her and am happy to see the back of her, she did leave in such a manner that I at least respect her more now.

This episode was not particularly surprising, but it didn’t have to be.  It used pathos effectively, it kept me interested (if not fooled), and it showcased some good strategic thinking, so I’m quite fond of it.  It’s not earth-shattering, but still quite good.

Still, this blog feels short, and this was such an emotional episode that it merits a:

TOP 5 AND BOTTOM 5!

Today’s subject is emotional boots.  Every Tribal has a tone to it, and while most are fairly average, some are really respectful, and some are downright bitter.  As such, the Top 5 list will be happy/respectful boots, while the bottom 5 bitter boots.  With that, I present to you:

TOP 5

5. Christina Cha (“Survivor One World”): Kind of a stretch, as the vote off itself wasn’t really respectful, but I did like the fact that, whatever Probst made out, Christina really didn’t defend herself against the at that point inevitable, and just enjoyed her last day.  However stupid it may have been, she went out on her own terms, and that’s respectable, at the very least.

4. Laura Morett (“Survivor Blood vs. Water): As I said before, beautifully edited, easy to watch, and overall just made for a good episode.  Only loses its higher spot on the list because most of the emotion happened before Tribal Council, not at it.

3. Rudy Boesch (“Survivor All-Stars”): A bit of an odd choice, as it was a blindside of a poor old guy doing the best that he could.  What puts this on the list is a genuine, heartfelt speech by Probst after Rudy left. It felt right, it showed respect, and made the blindside much more pleasant.  See there, Probst, I don’t hate EVERYTHING you do!

2. Ian Rosenberger (“Survivor Palau”): Yes, “Survivor’s” first ever impromptu Tribal Council was also one of the most touching.  We’d seen Ian struggle, both physically and mentally, over the last several episode, but it climaxed at the final 3 immunity challenge, where after 10 hours on a buoy, Ian stepped down after getting Tom to promise that he WOULDN’T take Ian to the finals.  I didn’t put it in the top spot on the list, because it was kind of a stupid move on Ian’s part, but still a very sweet moment nonetheless.

1. Dan “Dan Fuego” Barry (“Survivor Exile Island”): Without a doubt the most respectful Tribal Council I’ve ever seen.  La Mina didn’t want to vote out what was effectively their patriarch, nor did they like kicking an old man when he was down.  But they had to, and so they agreed, not only to tell Dan, but to defend him on a united front at Tribal Council.  Dan scrambled, to be sure, but he accepted his fate with good grace, and this Tribal Council just felt right for him.

Honorable Mention: Russell Hantz (“Survivor Redemption Island”): Not a particularly respectful vote, but one that makes me happy nonetheless.

 

BOTTOM 5

5. Benjamin “Coach” Wade (“Survivor Tocantins”): This one might have seemed respectful, and Coach really wanted to make it grand and epic.  And in part, he succeeded.  However, some of the voting confessionals (not undeservedly) trashed Coach, perhaps to the point of excess.  I’m no big Coach fan, so I didn’t mind that much, but it still felt a bit mean-spirited.

4. Keith Tollefson (“Survivor South Pacific”): While I side with Cochran on this issue, and admit that Keith didn’t have that bad of a time at Tribal Council, he still bore the brunt of the blame for being horrible to Cochran, when I’d say Ozzy and Jim Rice were both more to blame for that.  Kind of a bland character, but I still have a soft spot for the guy.  He didn’t quite deserve the trashing he got.

3. Jane Bright (“Survivor Nicaragua”): Much like with Laura Morett’s boot tonight, this one was mainly unpleasant before Tribal Council.  Tribal, however, was not easy for Jane either.  I liked Jane ok, so to see her be fairly unceremoniously booted off was a bit disappointing, but I understood its necessity.  Her complaining and haranguing of people just strategizing like they were supposed to really just made everything worse.

2. Randy Bailey (“Survivor Gabon”): Like Russell Hantz, this was someone I was glad to see voted out.  However that does not excuse the wasting of an excellent quality fake idol on a practical joke, that was meant merely to humiliate a man on national tv.  Shame on you, Sugar.

1. Lex van den Berghe (“Survivor All-Stars”): This was a fairly heated Tribal Council, but nothing special on the surface.  Dig deeper, however, and you find a barrel of unpleasantness that was the way Boston Rob (“Survivor Marquesas”) handled it.  On top of that, the All-Star season just felt more personal, making this vote most painful to watch of all.

Honorable Mention: Gretchen Cordy (“Survivor Borneo”): At the time, this was the height of dishonor, as it went against what people thought the game should be.  However, interviews after the fact reveal that people really loved Gretchen, and hated doing that vote.  For this reason, it needs mentioning, even if it can’t be on the list proper.

So there you have it!  See you all for what is hopefully an even better episode next week!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Survivor Retrospectives: Exile Island

Sorry for the one-day delay on this particular blog, but perhaps that’s due to the nature of this season.  Most seasons of “Survivor” are either well-loved, well-hated, or are a polarizing force amongst the fan base.  Exile Island, however, falls into a similar category with “Survivor Marquesas”, about seasons that divide people, but not strongly.  Some say it’s a closeted great, others, say it’s just “meh.”  So, where do I stand?  Well, if I just told you outright, there’d be no point to this blog, now would there?

But just to drag out the dramatic tension still further, a quick reminder that this blog does contain spoilers, and therefore should not be read in full unless you have either seen all of the Exile Island season, or simply don’t care if you know who wins.  If, however, you wish to know how watchable the season is without any spoilers, you can scroll to the bottom of the page, where I have prepared an “Abstract” section, that will cover the season in just such a way.

 

CAST

This, for me, is probably one of the weaker points of Exile Island, though it is by no means the worst part of Exile Island.  After all, the cast did give us a few standouts that are still talked about today.  Going from the time it was aired, probably the two most talked about contestants are also two of the people who made the final episode.  Specifically, I’m talking about almost polar opposites Terry Deitz and Cirie Fields.  Seriously, the debate over who was better divided nations.  Terry was someone the show had seen before in other forms: an ex-Army (or, in this case, Air Force) guy who was unbelievably strong, a leader of his tribe, taken out by a majority who wanted power for themselves.  Think Hunter Ellis (“Survivor Marquesas”), but with more success. Terry managed to survive by a combination of good politics on the tribal level, a string of immunities at the individual level, and a certain twist that I’ll naturally be saving for the “Twist” section.  Suffice to say, he was the Big Good Guy, of the season, the underdog trying to claw his way up after the Pagonging of his old La Mina Tribe.  Seen as a real threat by many, disliked by only a select few (such as Cirie), who could dare challenge this paragon of might, this spiritual successor to Rupert?  Why, an overweight, highly strategic woman who was so afraid of the outdoors that she was actually “afraid of leaves” of course!  In all seriousness, Cirie was the ultimate “Underdog” story of the season, even including Terry.  She started out as probably the most visibly unfit contestant ever on the show, had absolutely ZERO outdoor training, and was widly considered by many to be likely to be evacuated.  Instead, with a few clever moves on her part (which will, again, be covered in the “Twist” section), Cirie survived week by week, until, thanks to many of her new Casaya Tribe being unbelievably annoying, she’d worked herself effectively into the tribe’s political structure, was probably the biggest threat to win should she make the finals (save Terry), and even acquired a few outdoor skills along the way, managing to start fire with no matches by the end, and even catching the biggest fish of anyone out there.

So, if these characters divide nations, naturally I need to stand somewhere myself, and I do. Sorry Cirie, if you’re reading this, but I’m firmly in the Terry camp.  While I respect Cirie’s growth and development throughout the season, and acknowledge that strategically and socially, she was the best player out there (she originated the idea of the 3-2-1 split vote, and decisively won a challenge based upon likeability), the “afraid of leaves” thing turned me off to her in the beginning, and by the time she was really developing, Terry was well into his underdog story, and I just couldn’t resist.  Besides, with the odds stacked against Terry, he was going to be much more interesting week by week than Cirie once the merge came.  The audience loves an underdog, and while Cirie was one in the beginning, she and Terry kind of switched places (underdog and top of the tribe) come merge time.  On top of that, I’ve always had a bit a problem with how Cirie talked about her fellow castmates.  While there have been snarky and rude people before, and Cirie was by no means the worst of the lot (at that point, Jonny Fairplay of “Survivor Pearl Islands” would get that distinction), I felt that Cirie, talking to the cameras, was far too mean to her fellow contestants.  Again, Terry was not the saint I made him out to be, but he had a good story, a relatively good attitude (at least up until the final 4), and with the odds stacked against him, he was the main thing I tuned in to watch.  Also bear in mind that this, for me, was an early season of “Survivor”, and so I didn’t fully understand the social game yet.  I thought it was still only for hardcore survivalists, and so I thought Terry would have had it in the bag.  In hindsight, I appreciate Cirie’s social game, but still, if only for nostalgia, my support stays with Terry.

While these two were the main characters to come out of the season, they were by no means the only ones.  Most memorable by far is Shane Powers, the young-at-heart smoker who somehow ended up on the original “Older Men’s” Tribe, who went very insane trying to quit cold turkey THE DAY THE GAME STARTED.  This led to a lot of funny confessionals and moments, notably the creation of “Shane’s Thinking Seat”, and “Shane’s Blackberry”, the former of which was a stump, and the latter of which was a small hunk of wood.  Any debate or discussion about such things would guarantee an eruption from Shane, and an over-the-top argument.  I didn’t much like Shane when I first saw him, I’ll be honest.  My general disdain for all smokers at the time just prevented it.  However, he’s since grown on me since I’ve widened my horizons, and now I find him funny.  Also of note is Shane’s arch-nemesis on the show, Danielle DiLorenzo, whom Shane chastised for doing no work, and Danielle chastised for being rude and insane.  Danielle started out filling the “hot chick in bikini” role for the season, but we found she actually had a few brains behind her, with some even going so far as to call her the “Female ‘Boston Rob’” (“Survivor Marquesas”).  Now try getting THAT image out of your head.  Personally, I always thought she was overrated, as while she was smarter than the average young, hot female contestant, she wasn’t brilliant, and really the only thing she did all game was to ally with Terry at a strategic time, and then break that alliance at the end, when it served her (not that it mattered, as she would have lost against either Terry or eventual winner Aras Baskauskas).

Other contestants of note would be Bruce Kenagai, an older gentleman best known for being a bit eccentric, anal about his things, and his manner of exit (which will be discussed in the “Twist” section), and his partner in crime, the rare famous early boot of Bobby “BobDawg” Mason.  The latter is a bit surprising, since he went out fifth, and got barely any screentime beforehand (and most of that was Danielle calling him “Not a gentleman”), but BobDawg is very hard to forget.  A big, bombastic personality that took to the internet very well, BobDawg has been one of the more vocal early boots, talking at length (and very crudely) about how early boots are portrayed on “Survivor”.  This has earned him a considerable following, but not from me, as I just find him a bit too crude.  Still, you have to admire the guy for speaking up at all.

There are a few other slightly remembered early boots, specifically Dan Barry (though more for being a former astronaut than his gameplay), and more unfortunately Tina Scheer, the first boot of the season.  apart from being the most capable survivalist on the “Older Women’s” Tribe, Tina’s remembered for having a tragic backstory.  Originally cast on “Survivor Guatemala”, Tina the Lumberjill withdrew when her son, Charlie, tragically died in a car crash.  Naturally, the production was devastated, but handed over Tina’s spot to Amy O’Hara, and told Tina should she ever want on the show again, all she had to do was ask.  Tina asked, and next thing you know, she’s voted out first, poor thing.  Her dream had turned into a nightmare, and unfairly so, though I’ll explain why in the “Twist” section.

One person I really liked initially was would-be author Austin Carty.  Part of the initial “Younger Men’s” tribe (or Viveros, to use the proper name), I felt that Austin was funny and a lot smarter than was given credit (he actually was the first to make a fake immunity idol, but it never made air or came into use), and only left as early as he did because his ego got in the way, to the point where no one could trust him.  Still, on a show that favors big, bombastic characters, I can understand why he didn’t stand out.

Now, this is a fair number of big characters for the show, so why should I dislike the cast?  Well, while they stand out compared to each other, compared to the pool of ALL “Survivor” contestants, none really stand out save Terry and Cirie (and Terry would even be overshadowed next season).  On top of that, a lot of the people at the merge were really just non-entities, and so it got quite boring at that point.  Hell, back in my blogs for “Survivor One World”, I named Aras one of my Bottom 5 winners ever, for good reason: he really did nothing!  At least, nothing big or of interest.  Still, one cannot deny that this cast had a few good, memorable characters, but when diluted, the cast doesn’t stand out too much.  It’s not bad, it just doesn’t stand out.

 

Score: 6 out of 10

 

CHALLENGES

Now for the REAL weakest category of Exile Island.  While I will consent that this season did have one of the best obstacle courses ever on the show, and while they tried to be clever and unique about the challenges, they REALLY fell flat for me.  They seemed to be hedging their bets, not going strongly in the puzzles direction or the strength direction.  They just kind of sat there, being average, not at all big or exciting.  There were exceptions, such as the aforementioned obstacle course challenge, and I’ll admit the season was limited by its theme (which we’ll discuss in the “Overall” section.  And you thought I would say “Twist” section!), but the challenges were just really lackluster this season.  When you got the rare good one, it was really, really good, but overall, they’re just “Blah!”

 

Score: 3 out of 10

 

TWISTS

Enough bashing of Exile Island, now we come to the best part: the twists!  Yet, what would a season called “Exile Island” be, if not for the “Exile Island” twist that was central to the season, and may I just say, what a great twist this was, even if not entirely original.  The name “Exile Island” actually came from a twist in “Survivor Palau”, where Janu, after losing a challenge, was sent to live on her own for a night.  This expanded it, by forcing a winning tribe to send someone from the losing tribe (or, once the merge happened, anyone in general) to Exile Island, to be on their own for a period of days, essentially turning the idea of “voting people off the island” on its head, as now you were voting people ONTO the island!  On top of that, it combined such a twist with the “Hidden Immunity Idol” twist from “Survivor Guatemala”, thus further complicating the game, though it did change up the way the idol was used.  On “Survivor Guatemala”, the idol had to be played before the vote.  This time, you could hold onto it, and play it after the vote, thus sparing yourself, and the person with the next highest number of votes would go.  This changed things up adequately, but was a bit too powerful, as once people found out who had the idol (Terry), they were too scared to try and vote him out, the few times he was vulnerable.  Note that the introduction of an idol played this way led to a string of alpha male victories.  Still, this one stumbling black aside, this was the biggest twist to the game since the introduction of switching tribes, and if I do say so myself, it came off quite well.  It added and manipulated the social dynamics in a big way, while still keeping the core game the same.

But the producers were not content with this, oh no.  They had to pile on more twists, specifically, starting out for the first time with 4 tribes, Older Men, Older Women, Younger Men, and Younger Women (Bayoneta).  Again, I like this twist, it lends the season a unique start, and forces hard gameplay from the beginning (only 4 to a tribe).  However, it is what led, indirectly, to the ousting of Tina.  While she did want to go on the show, she was still mourning her son, and understandably so, but this meant she was of on her own a fair amount.  Cirie, who was on the outs by this point, seized her opportunity and banded the other women of her tribe together to vote out Tina, on the basis that Tina was less like them, and therefore couldn’t be trusted.  Good bit of strategy, I’ll admit, but I felt sorry for Tina for being treated this way, and many other people did as well.  By the way, interesting side note: on the DVD for the season, there’s a feature where a bunch of critics, before the season, give their personal picks to make the final 4, and their personal picks to win.  The most common answer for a winner?  Tina.  Boy, that REALLY bites the big one.

If I have one complaint about the “4 Tribes” twist, its’ that it DIDN’T LAST LONG ENOUGH!  By this, I mean that literally in the second episode, they did a schoolyard pick of new tribes (La Mina and Casaya).  I admit this was a fair way of doing things, but it was just too soon in my opinion.  Let the original tribe dynamic develop a bit before you mix it up.  It did have a unique element, though.  Bruce was not picked, due to the odd number of people left, and so was sent to Exile Island, but also avoided the second vote, getting absorbed into whatever tribe lost the next immunity challenge (Casaya).  Again, a good way of shaking things up, and making the season unique.  It also helped Casaya a lot, as Bruce had many survival skills, and let to their eventual domination.

Terry found the immunity idol hidden on Exile Island on Day 9, which is not bad, and would become a major force later in the game.  Things continued on normally, for a while, until a combination Reward/Immunity challenge, the first that was not a first challenge since “Survivor All-Stars”.  This was another ok way to change things, up, nothing too special.  The only way this impacted the game is an early merge.  It also, however, led to the odd ousting of Dan.  Up until this point, Dan had hidden his astronaut history from everyone (save Terry), but came out after the challenge, believing himself to be going home for his poor performance.  He did go home, but it was one of the soberest, most personal tribal councils ever, that’s a standout for the season.

Following the ouster of Dan was the merge, with Casaya having a large advantage over La Mina.  Terry tried to work things (he was a halfway decent strategist), but Casaya simply blocked him at every turn, and the Pagonging of La Mina continued.  They did change things up with Exile Island once, sending two people (Austin and Danielle) there after a challenge involving 3 teams of 3, and it was good to know that Exile Island Wouldn’t be predictable.  This season also had a “Eat or Compete” twist, but it has no major difference from the one in “Survivor Guatemala”.

The next major twist came after the Pagonging of La Mina, save Terry.  Bruce, unfortunately, had a blocked colon, and needed to be evacuated, the first since Michael Skupin of “Survivor The Australian Outback”.  This was an unfortunate and somber turn, but as the game had been in a bit of a rut, it was not an entirely unwelcome twist (once it became clear that Bruce would be ok).  It also won Bruce a lot of sympathy and fame with the viewers, and I was sorry he didn’t come back for the “medevacs” twist of “Survivor Philippines”.

Then came the family challenge.  In and of itself, the challenge was nothing special, just another obstacle course, but the way things worked was one of the most unique family rewards ever.  Rather than the winner getting (or being offered to give up) love for himself and one other person, the winner got to advocate who got how much love.  Terry gave himself and Shane a night away from camp with their loved ones, Cirie a night with her husband, Aras a hug from his mom, and poor Danielle (who had recently betrayed him) nothing.  This was an excellent way to do the loved one’s twist, staying true to the roots of the twist, but adding a new political dynamic that incited debate amongst contestant and viewer alike.  Just a great way for it to go off, making this probably my favorite loved one’s episode ever!

Terry by and large remained pleasant throughout the ordeal of being on the bottom of his tribe, but once the final four rolled around, and he was STILL unable to control his fate, he lost his cool and snapped at Cirie.  I think how the others ganged up on him after this was mean, but it’s no excuse for what Terry did, and one of the few low points of the season for me.

The final twist, such as it is, was due to the early merge and previous combined reward/immunity challenge.  Prduction was a few days ahead of schedule, and so Cirie was voted out a day early, and there was an extra reward challenge at the final 3 (something not done before).  While it made the game unique, it still wasn’t anything to write home about, and the season finished very blandly, with Aras predictably winning once Terry was gone.

Lots of good twists this season, and what few bad ones there were didn’t hut things too much.  They still existed, but they don’t drag the season down.

 

Score: 9 out of 10

 

OVERALL

As you can probably tell, this season had a lot of “blah” elements, and what good one existed were dragged down somewhat by the bad ones.  If the season had had a good theme to tie it all together, things might have worked out better, but given that the show was going to Panama for the THIRD time, they went with Vodou for the theme, which just didn’t lend itself well to “Survivor”.  The tribal council set looked kick-ass, but the season as a whole revolved around a lot of skulls, and just didn’t get much in the way of good challenges or design.  Note that this season gave us Jeff saying “Place the zombie head on the zombie body”.  Still, the season should be noted for what it did well: namely Exile Island.  It gave us a great, game-changing twist that would influence the show for years to come, and tied in well with the dynamics of isolation present in the cast (particularly how Terry was isolated from the Casaya Tribe), so it wasn’t all bad.  Even so, not one of the stronger seasons, in my opinion.

 

Score: 25 out of 40

 

ABSTRACT

While not the greatest season in the world, “Survivor Exile Island” is certainly one of the more influential seasons you’ll find.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it was the genesis for “Modern Survivor”.  While the cast and challenges are not the best, the twists are phenomenal, and a few good cast members keep you invested.  Not the GREATEST season in the world, and it CAN be skipped if you’re pressed for time, but if you’ve got a free bit, I’d say give it a watch.