Idol Speculation: “Survivor 42” Episode 5: Fully-Armed Battalion

I try not to be too antagonistic on this blog, but sometimes, things just have to be said: CURSE YOU, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA!  You and your annoyingly catchy lyrics!  Now I cannot here the phrase “push comes to shove”, a fairly common phrase, without your songs getting stuck in my head.  And now I’m forced to make them the title of my blog.  Again, CURSE YOU!

Rant over, we join the Ika Tribe, fresh off of Tribal Council.  As Romeo tells us, there’s damage control that needs to be done with Rocksroy, since his “set in his ways” mentality means he was unwilling to not vote for Tori.  Surprisingly, despite numerous slip-ups, Rocksroy actually takes being effectively “left out” fairly well.  I won’t say “perfect” because Rocksroy is not good at hiding his emotions.  He clearly is irritated by the decision, and mistrustful of the others moving forward.  But looking at his reaction on paper, it’s kind of hard for him to have a better one.  He talks about how glad he is that Swati is gone, once Romeo explains the whole “everyone is her number one” thing, and even has some good introspection.  He notes, both publicly and privately, that his social game needs some work, and if he wants to win, he’ll have to up it, or at least “ride his team’s social coattails” as he says.  Good introspection I would not have thought possible for him.  Kudos.  

Continuing the praise, much as I hate to do it for her, I will admit I got a laugh out of Tori rolling her eyes behind Rockroy’s back after he asks if his social game needs work.  That was actually good comedic timing, and I can’t deny that she’s probably right in this scenario.  More concerning for Ika is that Tori is not on board the “strong four” train they have going.  Granted, she has little reason to.  She WAS the alternate target at the first Tribal Council, and was at least talked about for the second.  If she’s not on the VERY bottom, she’s clearly not on top either, and so has little reason to stay loyal, barring no better options.  Really, I bring this up just to reinforce my point that Tori would have been a better boot.  Swati might have been double-dealing you all, but at least she had INCENTIVE to stick around.  

Moving on to Taku, all is not well in Jonathan’s paradise.  Specifically, his tribe won’t stop talking, particularly Maryanne and Lindsay, who first discuss Mario Kart, then the finer points of the game “Hot/Cold”.  There’s only so much the man can stand, but fortunately he has fishing gear to go full Rupert Boneham (“Survivor Pearl Islands”) and get away from it all.  

Unfortunately for Jonathan, he goes even further down the Rupert hole than he should, and by that I mean causing a disturbance via camp life.  Jonathan is in the process of chopping a log, but in the process, it bounces and hits Maryanne in the foot.  Maryanne is naturally upset about this, but Jonathan feels like she’s making too big a deal out of it.  Drawing on my deep knowledge obtained via years in the Boy Scouts (probably the first time I’ve done so in a decade), I have to say, while Maryanne may be slightly dramatic, she’s in the right here.  While she did enter what’s called the “Blood Circle” (an imaginary circle around a person wielding a sharp object whose radius equals the point of that object held at arm’s length to the corresponding shoulder, into which one is not supposed to enter for safety), it’s also incumbent upon the person IN said blood circle to A) call it out and B) keep an eye and make sure no one enters unawares.  

Jonathan tells us he needs to keep his temper, as he’ll come off looking like the jerk in any argument.  Valid, and shows good self-knowledge.  Instead, he privately vents to Lindsay about how Maryanne would need to go next due to irritation, to which Lindsay agrees… Despite being part of the “annoying” group earlier.  Jonathan is not as subtle as he seems, however, since Omar notices him going off, and correctly deduces that Jonathan is complaining about Maryanne.  This, as he notes, is a problem, given that it splits the group, and Maryanne has all the advantages.  Only time will tell if this bears any fruit.  

Not wanting to be left out of the “tribe fracturing” action, we head over to Vati, where Hai is mistrustful of, well, pretty much everyone but Lydia.  And we see he has reason to do so, since shockingly, Daniel and Chanelle seem to be mending fences, agreeing to bury the hatchet should the merge come.  Granted, with Mike, he and Lydia still make three to Daniel and Chanelle’s two, but it’s a point of concern.  Hai decides to break up that possibility by throwing shade at Daniel while the latter is out fishing.  Hai notes that Daniel is saying he can’t do challenges, yet can go out fishing.  I personally would not be one to question a serious injury, but it’s a valid point, and the others seem to buy it, so I can’t really complain.  

Now, we’ve been getting some good strategy this episode, even some bits of social interaction, but viewer, that’s not what you want.  No, what you want is STUFF!  Idols!  Advantages!  Long explanations of rules!  That’s what brings the viewers in!

This, at least, seems to be the mindset of Romeo, who along with Drea sets out to look for the Ika idol.  This segues into him talking about being a pageant coach, and the sacrifices his mother made for his family, and how it inspires him.  Not the greatest backstory we’ve ever had, but it does it’s job decently well.  The picture of Romeo in Time’s Square is particularly inspiring.  That said, I do find it concerning that he frames it as him wanting to help DREA be the best she can be, tying it back to his pageant coach thing.  If it’s just to tie into his career, I’ve no issue.  But the way it comes across is that he’s here to support someone else’s victory, rather than his own.  Not a good look.  

With all this talk about the idol, naturally it must be found, so naturally, with the previews spoiling everything, it is found by… Drea.  

Ok, ok, time to address the elephant in the room.  The preview snookered us, most especially myself.  In hindsight, the voice over that played over Tori looking inquisitive is NOT Tori herself, but Maryanne.  Yes, Tori was never the one to find the idol at all, and could have gone home no problem.  Yes, it is clever on the editor’s part to trick us that way.  But no, it is still not a good thing to do.  Whether intended or not, it still sucked out a lot of the tension.  More to the point, I feel like one should really not include ANYTHING in the season preview that’s after episode 2, in order to avoid such speculation/spoiler.  Or, if you MUST, if there’s some draw to the season that cannot be ignored, talk about it in the VAGUEST terms to build intrigue.  I can’t believe I’m typing these words, but they should have taken their cue from “Survivor Fiji”, or at least its season preview.  The big event of that season was the deal between Yau-Man and Dreamz, and it’s something they couldn’t ignore in the preview, despite happening in the last two episodes.  But rather than give us details, they kept it vague, referring to it only as “The most controversial move in ‘Survivor’ History”, over footage of a shark.  Gives nothing away, but builds intrigue.  The hyperbole could get old, but better than spoiling your season outright, or ruining its intrigue.  

Drea gets her idol, and is very pleased with the amount of stuff she now has.  Much as I like this season, that amount is starting to get out of hand again.  Reading the note, she notes that Maryanne has found an idol, since both Maryanne and her particular phrase are hard to miss.  She wonders aloud if anyone on Vati found their idol.  This is our cue to cut to Mike, who is STILL insisting he won’t say his phrase.  Mike seems to be under the impression that if he just keeps quiet, his vote AND his idol come back at the merge.  Now, they may have changed that rule between seasons, but that’s NOT how it worked before.  Your vote came back, but the idol went away at the same time.  Like I said, possibly they just didn’t tell us about a rule change (in which case, shame on production), but I’m more inclined to think Mike just didn’t read the rules carefully.  

Mike will get the chance to put his money where his mouth is, as it’s once again challenge time.  The challenge is your standard obstacle course and puzzle, with a slingshot at the end, so not much need to dwell on it.  Instead, let’s talk about those idol phrases.  Maryanne once again uses her large reactions to sell her “bunny having dinner in the mailbox” line, and Drea has a natural lead-in with talking about food to get in her potato phrase.  Mike?  Well, he DOES say his phrase, and wisely so, but he doesn’t even TRY to sell it in the moment.  Oh, he goes back an tries to tie it into his football coaching, but he REALLY does a poor job of selling it.  Give Naseer credit from last season: He might have just blurted out his saying as well, but at least his SOUNDED like something of a rejoinder to the other two.  

Given that this challenge only has one small puzzle element, despite all tribes getting good strategic content, Taku is almost guaranteed to win this.  After all, they have Jonathan, who’s basically a fully-armed battalion in one person.  Yet, surprisingly, this episode does a good job of convincing us this might not be the case.  Ika cruises to an easy victory after Tori frankly BEASTS the puzzle, but Omar, on the puzzle, REALLY blows the lead, and Vati gets several shots on the slingshot before Taku gets a chance.  Unfortunately, Vati sucks just as bad on the slingshot as Omar did on the puzzle, and Jonathan is able to beast mode Taku to a victory.  

But wait!  Shipwheel Island returns once again!  As winners (getting a larger tarp as well as immunity, while Taku gets a smaller tarp and second immunity), Ika gets to send one person from Vati to Shipwheel Island.  They choose Lydia.  Unsurprising, given her not-great challenge performance, and a decent move.  Then they can choose one person from themselves or Taku to go as well.  They wisely choose themselves, which I can’t complain about.  Again, keep power and information consolidated into your tribe, rather than the other one.  But I must ask… You send ROCKSROY?  Granted, they can’t send Drea again, since those who’ve gone before are explicitly banned, and Tori is a bad option since she’s disloyal, but Rocksroy?  The guy who’s bad socially, in a situation requiring social smarts, and who may feel burned from the last Tribal Council?  THAT’S who you’re sending?  Again, better than some choices, but Romeo, who has proven to be very socially smart, and also in the majority, is RIGHT THERE!  Why not send him?  

While there is mystery as to which of two choices will go at tonight’s Tribal, it’s not a mystery who those choices will be.  With Hai and Lydia having done the smart thing, and picked up straggler Mike, it will be Daniel or Chanelle.  That said, we’re definitely left in the dark as tho which one the group will go for.  Hai seems to favor taking out Chanelle, while Mike is still against Daniel.  Both are good options, and there’s not really any downside to eliminating either of them, but on the whole, I say better to keep Daniel.  Apart from TECHNICALLY having voted with you once, the dude’s injury makes him less of a threat at the merge, which you now have to assume is nearby given the numbers.  And if it’s not?  Eh, you can get him at the next Tribal Council anyway.  Still, not going to fault them if they decide to keep Chanelle.  

Everyone left tries to push the decision onto Lydia, despite them not NEEDING her vote, assuming that Chanelle and Daniel vote against each other.  They talk about how they need Lydia’s vote anyway, thereby all but guaranteeing she risks her vote at Shipwheel Island.  Speaking of which, we get our requisite backstory on Lydia.  It’s decently touching, as she talks about her image issues, but really only stands out for her pink flower hat.  That thing is awesome.  Vati doesn’t need to worry, though.  She and Rocksroy are both suitably cagey, and so both naturally protect their vote, not trusting the other.  Reasonable decision, and nice to see another new outcome than either a mix, or the total miss when Chanelle and Omar went, but ultimately, just kind of a waste of time.  

What does NOT waste our time is Tribal Council, which brings entertainment in spades.  This is mostly due to Daniel, who tries to deflect things back onto Mike when asked a question, and weirdly succeeds.  He talks about how he can’t do analogies, only to then give an analogy to Muhammad Ali of all people.  He’s neurotic and all over the place and I kind of love it.  Unfortunately, this also dispels the tension of Tribal.  These are the actions of someone desperate, particularly when he tries to build up what a team they are, not someone confident they’ll stay.  Daniel will be going, which is hardly a bad decision.  Dude has shown himself to be unreliable.  

Daniel DOES go, but it’s a bit trickier.  Chanelle, anticipating a possible shot in the dark and unanimous vote on Daniel, throws a vote on Mike to try and save herself in a possible tie should Daniel be safe.  I was initially critical of the vote, since it seemed to come from Lydia or Hai and served to antagonize Mike, but from Chanelle, it makes sense.  This leads to a 2-2 tie between Daniel and Chanelle (Mike and Daniel voted for Chanelle, Hai and Lydia voted for Daniel), leading to Daniel going on a re-vote.  In terms of character, I am sorry to see Daniel go.  Chanelle is perfectly fine, but dude brought way more personality.  In terms of watching strategic play, however, very much pleased with the outcome.  After that first Tribal Council, Daniel was on a train-wreck to failure, and had next to no chance to recover.  Chanelle, at least has moves she can make and that will be intriguing going forward.  

I will say, this episode sits wrong with me.  It’s not the WORST, but I feel like, apart from some Daniel character moments, it’s the weakest of the season.  The issue, I think, is that the episode is more focussed on the twists and advantages coming into play, rather than the characters, which most of this season has focussed on.  The characters are strong enough to shine through anyway, but it’s a concern, particularly after last season.  

What intrigue there will be next episode!  An even 4-4-4 split!  Omar not having a vote, and possibly not knowing if Chanelle doesn’t tell him!  Jonathan now being targeted at every available opportunity!  Join us next week, for a rant about the hourglass twist if they don’t get rid of it and/or alter it!  

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Blood vs. Water” Episode 9: Cheeseburger Debates

Ladies and Gentlemen!  Please welcome tonight’s opening act, the Great Vytas-ini, the world’s worst magician!  Watch as he manages to make any tension during the first half of the episode DISAPPEAR!  And let’s not forget his lovely assistants, the “Survivor” Editing Team, who will do the same for the second half of the episode.  Before our show starts, however, a few reminders.  Please be aware that any photographic and video recording devices are not permitted during the show.  Anyone found with such devices will have them confiscated, and be asked to leave the premises.  Smoking is not permitted in the theatre, and for the kindness of your fellow audience members, please turn off all things electronic and beeping.  We’d also like to take this time to mention the fact that our show is sponsored by:

MATT’S MESS-UP!

Yes, this mess-up is a bit unique, in that it actually spans two blogs!  I meant to comment on this in the last one, but due to sheer length, and a lot happening in that episode, I forgot to.  As such I will address it now.  My mess-up is that, during the episode where Kat got voted off, I neglected to deride her for her complaints that Laura M. was “cheating” by looking at John’s puzzle.  To be fair, I derided Kat for a lot of things, but that’s no excuse to miss this one.  I’ve complained about others doing it in the past, and Kat is no exception.  It’s “Survivor”.  The concept of fairness is minimal at best.  Your job is to get ahead of the competition by any means necessary.  If they neglect to cover up or destroy their puzzle, use that to your advantage.  I’ve heard some people claim that it truly is unfair as Laura had a better vantage point that Kat, but again, since when is “Survivor” fair?  Also, Kat could either A: have looked on Laura’s puzzle since Laura was further ahead of her at that time, or B: run over to John’s puzzle, either to destroy it or get a better look.  And yet, rather than be proactive, Kat instead chose to complain and lose.  Did I mention how glad I am that she’s gone?

Well, moving on to the episode, we see that Super Vytas is using his power of super serenity (no, it is not the super power to summon “Purple Brenda” Lowe from “Survivor Caramoan”), to keep himself outwardly calm in the face of Aras’ exit.  Privately, he admits that it tears him up inside, and that he wants revenge, particularly against Tyson, but to the public eye, he soldiers on.  Good for him.  I’ve said in the past that I understand the reactions of the betrayed, but think it’d be in their best interests to keep it under wraps.  Vytas lives that out.  Good for you, man.  Props also go to Tyson for unflinchingly schmoozing Vytas by going up and hugging him, despite having just voted off his closest ally.

Of course, for every good bit of strategy, there is a bad one, and Kasama is no exception.  Tina, of all people, falls victim to bad social posturing by doing the old “Call out the betrayers by saying they’ll get no votes at final tribal” gambit.  Yes, she’s clearly frustrated at the betrayal, and I don’t begrudge her those emotions.  However, this is a STUPID way to go about expressing them, as it only angers the people you want to keep you in the game.  And this coming from TINA, one of the best social game players in the early seasons.  God, Tina, what happened to you?  Also, I have to say, I find the argument that Tina’s using unjustified, and not just because it didn’t include Gervase when he was the one made out to be the biggest traitor.  It’s true, betray does bring animosity, but not everyone on the jury will see it that way, and if the finals are made up of ONLY traitors, well, you have to give the million to one of them!  There, perfect counter-argument, Tina has no leg to stand on.

Fortunately, as seems to be often the case on this show, morning brings sanity, and Tina, realizing her days are numbered, releases Katie from any ties to her.  Tina thinks Katie has a better shot than she does to stay (despite the fact that for most of the episode, Katie is the name of the two that’s bandied about more), and should not hold herself to one alliance just because Tina is her mother.  I both love and hate this scene.  I love it because it gives Katie the freedom to make moves, and prevents any angry family war scenes that I feared at the start of this season.  I hate it because it’s a bad move for Tina.  In the face of this sort of coalition, you will unite, or you will fall.  Tina, your move with Katie was very classy, but it’s just not smart.  Unless you two plan to split the money should only one of you win, in which case I’m VERY annoyed at this season, as such a pact ruins the gameplay.  Katie makes the token “I don’t know how I’ll do it.” speech, which I buy in that Katie hasn’t had much gameplay experience, and therefore probably DOESN’T know how to proceed.  Anyway, the two come back from tree-mail, and we head to a challenge.

Let’s get ready to RUUUUUUUUUMBLE!  You’ve seen the epicness that was “The Rumble in the Jungle”.  You’ve heard of the mighty clash of titans in “The Thrilla in Manila”.  But now, Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourself for the ultimate clash of the titans, a battle for the ages, the one that will decide, once and for all, who the supreme being is.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you “The Commotion by the Ocean”.  In the red corner, we have our reigning champion: Butod!  Yes, this beetle larva may look like a small-fry, but don’t be fooled!  I can dodge and weave like nobody’s business, wriggles going down, and is known to have a mean left hook.  But our challenger is no pushover either!  In the blue corner, we have our challenger, Gervase Peterson.  He squared off against Butod during the finals of the Borneo championship, and definitely came off the worse for wear.  Now, 13 years later, Jumpin’ Gervase Peterson is back for revenge!  Will his patented left-right slap be enough to conquer the Butod, or is this just one battle Gervase is not meant to win?

Well, before we get to that, we have some pre-game analysis to look over.  In case it wasn’t obvious, this is a gross food challenge, which I’m ok with, despite being reused.  It’s a challenge that can easily by tailored to the locale, and is just a classic staple of “Survivor”.  That said, I’m overall not a fan of this iteration of the challenge, particularly the final round.  The food is certainly gross, so it earns points in the challenging department, but none of it is very distinctive.  The first round is mealworms, which Vytas, Tyson, Gervase, Monica, Caleb, and Hayden all manage to get down.  I was a bit surprised that Tina didn’t last longer, given her bragging about her suppressed gag reflex on “Survivor The Australian Outback”.  Then again, Tina threw up there as well, so perhaps she’s just overselling herself.  The next round is pig intestine (probably the best of the three rounds), which makes the crime of diffusing the tension of the episode by NOT having Vytas progress (evidently the super gag suppression only lasts for a short stretch of time) and instead having Monica and Gervase (both members of the majority alliance) progress.  Here we get the infamous Butod round, and now comes my displeasure.  For all that pig intestine and mealworms weren’t the most unique food challenge “Survivor” has ever produced, I’ll concede they were at least original to this season.  The Butod, however, I must put my food down on.  I concede that Butod may be indigenous to the area, but my gripe is that it’s a food already done mixed in with new ones.  Consistency is my only desire here, folks.  Furthermore, I get the sneaking suspicion that the final round would have been different had Gervase not made it.  This is just too good to be true, there’s no WAY they didn’t specifically put Butod in the challenge, hoping Gervase would make it.  To be fair, however, it WAS very funny to see Gervase try and eat them, as well as his reaction to them.

Monica, as you might expect, wins immunity, so it seems to be a sure bet that Super Vytas is going home.  All that’s left is to get us our obvious misdirection.  It comes in the form of Hayden actually speaking, specifically with Super Vytas.  Super Vytas uses his powers of deduction to correctly conclude that the majority will split the votes 4-3 with himself and someone else, just to prevent any idol surprises.  Super Vytas, however, begs Hayden to split the vote so that the 4 goes to the other person and not him, promising Hayden and later Tyson that they will have a sub-alliance and his eternal gratitude.  The Hoarder admits to us that he’s got no intention of siding with Super Vytas against his good spot, and Wisecracker seems to be going the same way.  Not that I blame them, Super Vytas’ arguments are not very smart.  Look, I respect that you need to make the jury like you, and that there are no guarantees when it comes to challenges, but Vytas is both a physical and mental threat who needs to be taken down.  Super Vytas then, however, makes the one logical argument, which is that if he goes, the women have majority, which is very bad for Tyson, Caleb, Gervase, and Hayden.  This makes Wisecracker take notice, but I’m still not convinced.  Like I said, Super Vytas is just too much of a threat.

He’s not the only one who wants to help his situation, however.  Despite having immunity, Monica is paranoid.  Ok, the other times I could kind of understand it, but now Monica’s really looking over her shoulder way too much.  It’s bound to make other people distrust her.  I’m usually not one to agree with Laura, but I have to say, for once I’m on her side.  Monica: YOU HAVE IMMUNITY!  I understand wanting to play proactively to keep yourself in the game longer, but this is just going way too far!

Still, if there was any doubt in my mind that Super Vytas was going to get the axe tonight, it was dispelled by Super Vytas’ performance at Tribal Council.  The man who’s the master of subtlety in tight spots, the man who would try and talk his way out of anything, utterly blows his only chance by emphasizing repeatedly how he wants to get revenge for Aras-Man.  This determination and drive makes him too much of a threat to keep around, and pretty much ensures his demise.  Not even a commercial break during Probst’s getting of the votes can make this Tribal Council have any sense of tension.  Predictably, Vytas (his loss demotes him from his superness) leaves, and while I’m a supporter of Tyson’s alliance, and am therefore very happy they made the smart decision, I’m still sorry to see him go.  Save for one or two instances, Vytas played with a lot of class, a great social game, and a pretty decent strategic game.  On top of that, he was fun to watch, and I am officially on the bandwagon for bringing Vytas back at some point, just on his own merits.

Well, that was a short episode, if I do say so myself.  How thoroughly unsatisfying.  No, of course that’s not what happens, it’s a good-old double elimination episode, which I’m happy for if only because it will speed us towards a more interesting strategy.

Not that the last Tribal Council was uneventful, however.  No, Vytas’ comments stung Monica a little too close to home.  Turns out she’s STILL sore about the Brad thing, and wants revenge against Vytas for her husband’s sacrifice.  Accordingly, she switches her vote to Vytas (all the girls were supposed to go Katie), which ultimately makes no difference, but is a very dumb move.  Monica, did you WATCH “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”?  Did you SEE what happened to Tyson when he did the exact same thing?  Do you understand the OUTRAGE I feel at a dumb move like that?

While Monica may not understand, Gervase certainly does.  He rightly points out that this could have cost any of them the game, had Vytas had the idol, and makes him mistrustful of Monica.  What can I say, good thinking on the part of Gervase, bad thinking on the part of Monica.

Seeing as how nothing interesting could possibly be happening at camp, we head over to Redemption Island, where Aras tries to remain calm, as Vytas blames him for their current predicament.  These is the usual bland sort of interviews we get at Redemption Island, so I am then very thankful that we move quickly on to the great “Cheeseburger Debates”!  The topic this time: “Be it resolved that you are on Redemption Island, and therefore you are out of the game.”  Vytas has drawn the affirmative side, while Aras assumes the negative side.  This has been a debate amongst “Survivor” fans since the inception of Redemption Island.  On the one hand, people on Redemption Island have been voted out, but on the other hand, they’re still influencing the game, so are they really “out”?  To put in my two cents, I personally say their out, if only for my disdain that the Redemption Island twist.  Sure, they still influence the game, but so, to a degree, do jury members.  Still, Aras’ argument that he’s not eating a cheeseburger, and is therefore still in the game, is quite compelling.

Time for another immunity challenge.  Today’s challenge hearkens to us from “Survivor Nicaragua”, specifically the final immunity challenge of that season.  Balancing a sword on a pedestal, castaways will balance coins of various sizes (as dictated by Jeff Probst) on the hilt, making a small tower of coins.  The last one with a standing tower wins.  This one earns my ire less for not being overdone, but I’d still prefer an original challenge, or at least one more epic in scale.  Still, that sword was pretty badass-looking, so I guess this challenge is ok.

Following the token “People falling out comedically early” (Ciera and Monica, in this case), we end up with Katie of all people winning immunity.  Good on her.  Encouragement from her mom probably helped, though I have to say, Tina, given that the alliance wanted Katie out before you, and she’s the only other person on the outside, perhaps it would have been better for you to wish for your daughter to fall.  Oh well, c’est, as they say, la vie.  Cue obvious misdirection of whether or not the alliance will turn on Monica.

And come it does, in spades.  No real need to talk about it, it’s mostly just conversing amongst alliance mates, particularly Gervase (odd, given that of everyone there, I think his name’s come up the LEAST in terms of word of mouth, save for possibly Hayden).  So, what will Tina do to improve her situation?  Yeah, she had a misstep after Aras’ blindside, but she’s still quite the savvy player.  Surely she’ll come up with a great strategy, full of shock and nuance, one that could completely change the game!

She goes idol hunting.  The most hackneyed, overdone, antisocial, rarely effective strategy ever, and THIS is what Tina thinks is the best bet?

The flaws in this plan become obvious when Tyson, Caleb, and Hayden all take it upon themselves to babysit Tina the entire day, thus not allowing her to search for an idol that isn’t even there.  Have to admire Tyson, though, for being so committed to keeping the idol secret (quite rightly, I would say) that he’ll even waste a day babysitting Tina to keep it under wraps.

Paranoia is still rampant in Monica, however, and it’s not unjustified when, after questioning Laura and Tyson about what they’d do if by some chance Tina DOES have the idol, Laura immediately replies “split the vote”.  Of course, there’s no one left outside the alliance who isn’t immune to split the vote with, so Monica of course believes it to be her.  Given that she IS the other target, however, this does little but make me more annoyed at Monica.  The misdirection here is somewhat better than with Vytas, but my money’s still on Tina.

Tina will not go, however, if Probst has anything to say about it.  Seriously, it’s like he hand-picked those questions to set Tina up to make a good argument as to why she should stay, and that Monica’s untrustworthy.  To her credit, Tina steps up to the plate, and gives a MASTERFUL Tribal Council performance.  She manages to promote herself, arouse suspicion about the idol (even if I thought she overplayed it right before voting), and get Monica to make herself look worse.  THIS is where my doubts about the vote start to be raised.

After a fairly funny fake-out from Tina, we see that Probst’s pleas have done nothing, and Tina goes home.  I won’t miss her as much as I’ll miss Vytas, but I’ll still miss her.  While I feel she wasn’t as nice as she was on her previous seasons, and that she had some major gameplay gaffes, I can’t deny that she still had some masterful moments, and I think I came to appreciate her more as a character than I have before.  However, I must be happy that the alliance continues it’s domination, so I’m ready to see Tina leave at the next Redemption Island duel.

Yeah, this was not the best showing for this season.  It wasn’t a BAD episode overall, at least there was nothing cringe-worthy, but it was exceedingly predictable, and nothing of great interest happened.  I didn’t hate it, though, and this episode was good for a lot of jokes on this blog, so points there.  Hopefully next week can be more groundbreaking.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.