Idol Speculation: “Survivor Kaoh Rong” Episode 5: Dr. Peter, Headache Inducer

Ooh, Peter. Peter, Peter, Peter. You’ve got the vestiges of a good “Survivor” player in you. When you’re knocked out of the power position, you clearly know what you’re doing, and go note-for-note in the direction you need to. But give you an ounce of power, give you a glimmer of hope, and you become nigh-on insufferable.

Don’t believe me? We get a prime example of “good player” Peter at the start of the episode. We begin at Chan Loh, since the vote off of Alecia was SO inconsequential that we don’t need to see any of To Tang’s reaction to it. Joe seems to have some trouble with his finger, and so with much fanfare, Dr. Peter is brought over to examine it. The whole thing doesn’t seem severe, but Peter admits in confessional that, while he’s still out to get the rest of his tribe, he needs to keep that on the down-low. He’s the obvious next target, and to get out of that position, he’s going to need to make himself useful. Playing up his “doctor” role might just help endear him to his tribe, especially as evidenced by Debbie asking what they’d do without him. When you’re in the position Peter’s in, the best way to play is to keep your head down, make yourself useful, and hope you don’t go to Tribal Council. It worked out for Ethan Zohn on “Survivor All-Stars”. In other words, in at least this one instance, Peter is playing things exactly as he should.

Neal, however, is playing like a decision-maker in the head alliance should, and not believing a word of whatever Peter says. Debbie may be swayed, but Neal refers to Peter as a cancer, and thankfully not in the zodiac sign way. No, Neal decides that, if Peter is the main threat to the alliance right now, then Peter needs to not have the hidden immunity idol. Neal, therefore, concludes that he should have the idol, and starts looking around significant looking trees. It’s not long before he happens on a not-very-well-hidden clue. Maybe it’s just that the blue wrapping for the clue made it stand out more than red or yellow, but it seemed like, where the other clues were hidden deep in their respective trees, this one was just kind of lightly shoved in there. In any case, the clue leads Neal to digging up the box, which leads to him discovering the need for a key, which leads to him finding said key, which leads to him getting the idol. Pretty much the same story as at the other camps, though this one isn’t dragged out nearly as long. Neal has little to no reaction to the new twist with the idol, other than to say that this means he’ll have to look extra-hard for an idol, or at least someone else who’ll play it with him. Though he does get in some words about how this gives him a certain amount of power, compared to the arrogance often shown on this show, it’s quite mild.

It seems even MILD talking about being in a power position is enough to trigger a switch, however, as that’s exactly what happens. As advertised, everyone drops their buffs. It’s always nice for a switch to happen, since it helps prevent dull Pagongings later on, but at this point the switch methodology itself isn’t very interesting. They’ve at least dispensed with the damn show-offy colored eggs originating from “Survivor Cook Islands”, but now it’s just “Pick a random buff.” every time. Come on, guys, give me a school-yard pick for once! Make things interesting and different! Are you just turned off by “Survivor Gabon” that much?

“But surely,” you say, “this one will have SOME intrigue to it! After all, there’s an uneven number of people, and no Exile Island to send them to. Probst admitted as much to everyone there. No doubt this will lead to an epic twist of awesome proportions!” Well yes, not having an Exile Island, and not wanting to have uneven tribes does make for a lot of creative scenario possibilities. Of the myriad of solutions before production, they go with… Adding in what is basically an Exile Island, and just playing it the same old way. Yes, there is one To Tang buff hidden amongst the Chan Loh and Gondol buffs, and whoever draws that must go the way of Stephenie LaGrossa (“Survivor Palau”), and live at the crappy camp by themselves. Unlike Stephenie, however, the person at To Tang will get to avoid Tribal Council. They will not compete in the immunity challenge, and they’ll instead rejoin the losing tribe from this episode. Basically exactly how it worked on “Survivor Exile Island”, “Survivor Fiji”, and “Survivor Gabon” when they did their switch-ups. How original. I know, in all fairness, that it’s not a bad way of doing things, and the fact that Exile Island wasn’t a part of this season before now means that it comes as a sadistic twist to the players this time, but I was hoping they’d go a different direction. Give us a switch-up like we’ve never seen before! Instead, while such a switch-up has been absent for a while, we still got something repeated. I’m probably alone on this, but it felt like a bit of a letdown.

If the method of switch-up is disappointing, though, the results certainly aren’t! We’ve got a fairly even switch-up this time around, with both tribes being fairly evenly matched in both challenge ability and strategy potential. The new Chan Loh keeps things very even, retaining Neal and Debbie, and gaining Jason and Cydney from To Tang, and Michele and Nick from the old Gondol. Meanwhile, the new Gondol has kept Tai and Anna, while gaining Peter, Aubry, and Joe from the old Chan Loh, leaving Scot as the only old To Tang member on Gondol. As I say, fairly evenly matched all around. Chan Loh may have a SLIGHT strength advantage, but even that’s negligible to a large degree. Still, both tribes are intriguing. There’s a clear 2-2-2 split at Chan Loh, making it impossible to shake out who’s on top, but should make for some interesting politicking. More unbalanced is Gondol, where the old Chan Loh would seem to have an advantage, having the largest single block of any original tribe. However, that block includes Peter, who’s stated in no uncertain terms that he wants to undo his tribe, and could very easily flip away to get rid of Aubry and Joe. Meanwhile, you’ve got Scot, who’s on his own, and while you do still have two original Gondol, Tai and Anna weren’t exactly paired up in any way. So, you’ve got a lot of different dynamics that could happen here. My guess would be that Peter would play the smart game, and use this time to exact his revenge on his former tribe, since he’s at the bottom there regardless, and probably pull in Scot as another swing vote. Tai and Anna would probably stick together, since they don’t want the old Chan Loh to overtake them, and get either Aubry or Joe voted out. As we’ll see, though, that may not necessarily be the case.

Before we continue our intrigue, you may notice that I’ve neglected to mention someone. Or maybe not. She hasn’t had much screen time. Fair Julia is nowhere to be seen on either tribe. by process of elimination, she drew the unlucky To Tang buff. Yep, the youngest person out here is the one who has to live on their own. Tough breaks. It also means, as Michele notes, that the women’s alliance of Gondol, which had seemed poised to run this game, has now been completely split up, making them easy pickings no matter who loses. Will they be good enough to weasel their way back together, or is the luck of the buff against them? Time will tell.

One positive to say about this season is that, apart from some bullying of Alecia on the parts of Jason and Scot, this is a very jovial season. Despite the new Gondol probably being the more fractious of the new tribes, things start out copacetic, with everyone admiring their new camp, and all seem to be bonding well. Tai, having evidently gotten over the loss of Caleb, now sets his sights on Scot as his new boy toy, under the guise of lifting him up to a high tree to get mangoes. Scot initially doesn’t seem too keen on the idea, but since he goes for it later, it all seems pretty good. Speaking of Scot, he once again proves his “Not a brain” thing by thinking that he’s going to be on the bottom of this tribe, just because he has no ally there. Dude, have you watched ANY “Survivor”? In these situations, the person with no ally is ALWAYS the swing vote! Between that and your strength, you’re the safest out of anyone on this tribe!

Dissension begins with Peter, who, now that’s he’s in a position of power, has slipped BACK into “Bad Strategy Mode”. Specifically, he’s the one rallying for the former Chan Loh to stick together and target the old Gondol members, particularly since if they lose, Julia, another old Gondol member will be coming back into the fold. Not a bad concern, but this ISN’T the smartest strategy for you, Peter. By making it a tribe vs. tribe thing, and giving your old tribe an advantage, you pretty much guarantee getting picked off at 5, if not sooner, and give yourself less room to play by not trying to form a multi-tribe coalition. He floats the idea of voting off Anna to Scot, who seems on board, but Aubry is a bit concerned. She sees Peter’s point, and certainly doesn’t want the old Gondol becoming a rival to her and Joe, since the pair would then become targets, but Peter also can’t be trusted. He needs to be gotten rid of at some point. That said, she doesn’t say too much about it, and I think the smart move is to stick with Peter for at least this vote. Peter does need to be gotten rid of at some point, but now might be a bit premature, since Scot could then just go to the old Gondol and pick off you and Joe, should you next lose. NEXT vote, it might be good to consider getting rid of Peter, but better to keep it simple for this first vote. Still, you have to admit, intriguing dynamics! Damn, this switch gave us some exciting new talk!

Things are pretty happy-go-lucky at the new Chan Loh as well, with Debbie showing off all the amenities their camp has, like… a chin-up bar. Ok, not what I’D consider the biggest positive of their camp, but if that’s what you want to focus on, Debbie, far be it from me to judge you. Once again, though, Debbie proves why it’s best not to assume she’s just crazy, by quickly setting out to keep herself and Neal safe. Since it’s likely that the old To Tang and Gondol members will stick to whom they know, she needs to court one side. She chooses To Tang, which makes sense, since they already have fewer options. Debbie starts out by courting Cydney, in a way you wouldn’t expect. Debbie admits that she can tell that Cydney is more than just a pack of muscles, which Cydney ultimately does not deny, despite keeping that side of her under wraps for most of the game so far. After checking in with Jason, Debbie seems to have done her duty in keeping herself and Neal safe. Excellent work.

After a quick scene at Gondol where Tai gets his wish in getting Scot to help him get mangoes, we see that Anna is no slouch in the social department either. Not being an idiot, she realizes that she and Tai are the obvious targets, given that Julia’s eventual return to the game is a big threat should Gondol lose this next immunity challenge. Therefore, Anna commences throwing Tai under the bus, spilling the beans about his idol-hunting first to Aubry and then to Joe. For the time being, it seems to work. Not a bad play on Anna’s part.

For a brief time, we also check in with Julia at To Tang, who’s not doing too well. With no one there to help take care of things, she’s become severely dehydrated, wheezing and trembling under the shelter. Normally, I’d brush this off, but since last episode, it’s clear that dehydration is nothing to sneeze at. Julia does eventually pull herself together, but also says that she feels like she needs the older people in this game to take care of her. For what’s effectively our first real Julia scene, it doesn’t make her look all that good. The woman’s obviously tough, and pulls herself together pretty well, but also come across like she needs someone to take care of her, showing the negatives of her age in this game. It remains to be seen, but I think Julia might just be toast.

Back at Chan Loh, it’s now Nick’s turn to once again egotistically profess how good he is at the social game. This time, tough, he actually backs it up, going to talk to Jason about the pair forming an alliance, bringing along Michele and Cydney to make a majority. Jason certainly entertains the idea, and it’s not a bad plan, just kind of standard. While the dynamics on Chan Loh aren’t QUITE as interesting, given that, as Nick says, it’s a simple 2-2-2 split, there’s still debates to be had about which side is better and who Jason and Cydney will go with. On the one hand, as I’ll discuss at the end of the episode, it seems like To Tang and Gondol teaming up would be the smart move for both of them, but on the other hand, Cydney was basically left out of Nick’s conversation. That personal bond with Debbie might swing things.

After the obvious confessional of Jason talking about how good it is to be in the power position, it’s time for our challenge, which, in a first for this season, isn’t all that exciting. Two members from each tribe swim out to untie a fishing net with 14 wooden fish puzzle pieces in it. Once the net is back to shore, two other tribe members untie the fish from the net, hook them onto a pole, and carry it up the beach, where the remaining two tribe members try to solve a fairly complex puzzle with the fish. First puzzle solved wins immunity. Not to say that this challenge is bad, since that puzzle is really cool, and it is largely original, but it just doesn’t feel all that big or interesting to watch. It does remind me somewhat of the fishing challenge from “Survivor Samoa”, particularly in the puzzle, but I can’t say it really copies any previous challenge, so points there.

Once again, this episode does a fantastic job of giving us evidence for both sides going to Tribal Council. Admittedly, with all this talk of the threat of Julia coming back to Gondol, the smart money is on Gondol losing, but that doesn’t mean that one can’t see Chan Loh losing this one. It helps that this is a very back and forth challenge, keeping one on the edge of their seat the entire time. Ultimately, though, Peter and Anna can’t figure out the puzzle for Gondol, and lose the whole thing, despite the impressive performance of Scot carrying the entire fishing net by himself.
When we return to Gondol, the team as a whole is dejected, but overall keeps a stiff upper lip. Unsurprisingly, Peter, Aubry, and Joe are debating who needs to go. Aubry and Joe seem to be more for getting rid of Tai, having bonded with Anna. Peter, however, sticks in his opinion that Tai is valuable as a provider, and thus Anna should go. Normally I’d say that Peter, being a possible target himself, should just keep his mouth shut and go with what Aubry and Joe want, but he states his opinion in a pretty modest way, doesn’t force the point too much, and Aubry and Joe seem willing to listen, so I guess it was ok. It’s certainly enough to sway Joe and Aubry agrees, making Anna the target.

But of course, the good stuff from Peter can’t last. Sitting by the fire with Tai and Anna, he flat-out ADMITS that the old Chan Loh are sticking together, and that either Anna or Tai is going home. Peter, did you learn NOTHING from your previous Tribal Council? YOU DO NOT LET THE PEOPLE YOU’RE VOTING OUT KNOW YOU’RE AGAINST THEM! Is that REALLY that hard of a lesson to learn?

Sure enough, Peter’s blabbermouth once again comes back to bite him in the butt, as Tai comes to the conclusion that the rest of the audience has: Peter is an arrogant prick. Partly out of wanting Peter gone, partly out of not wanting to leave with the idol in his pocket, Tai pulls it out for Anna and the newly arrived Scot to see after Peter leaves. He says he’ll play it that evening, and that then if the three vote for Peter, he can be gone. Not a bad strategy, all things considered, and I admire Tai’s willingness to play to idol, but I’m not sure it’s Tai’s best move at this point. Like with Peter, it would get his old tribe in the majority, but that means that he’s still on the bottom of their group. Furthermore, you should never play the idol if you don’t need to, and I don’t think he has to this time, and not just because he’s not the target of the alliance. If Tai thought about it a bit longer, he might have realized that this arrogance of Peter’s probably annoyed Aubry and Joe as well, and that the pair might be willing to vote him instead, especially if he and Anna swear to vote out Scot afterward. They don’t necessarily have to keep that promise, but since Peter is a threat to them, Aubry and Joe might be tempted. Then you get the majority, and you keep your idol. All good!

While it seems set that Peter’s going home, Aubry throws another monkey wrench into the equation by telling Scot that Anna is the target. Having bonded with Tai, and knowing the idol rules thanks to Jason, Scot concludes that the idol might be more useful down the road. Hence, he goes to tai and encourages him not to play it, since he’s not the target tonight. This is where the new twist with idols is really fun to see. Now we’re getting new dimensions to strategy that we’ve never seen before, and it’s great to watch. Admittedly, I don’t know how Scot can promise anything, since he himself does not have an idol, but it’s fun to see conversations we haven’t seen before on “Survivor”. That said, because Scot can’t promise anything, it doesn’t help Tai as much as it seems, but the fact that he’s supposedly not the target does make Tai question his decision regarding the idol. Smartly, he decides to bring it to Tribal Council, and see whether or not it seems right to play it. this means that we’ve got a fair bit of mystery on our hands, so this won’t be the most predictable Tribal Council ever, but signs still point to Peter going.

We start off with Aubry making the same mistake as Peter, and revealing that it would be wise for the three old Chan Loh to stick together. She at least says it in a more subtle and not as arrogant way as Peter might have, and no one seems to mind, but watch yourself, Aubry. you’ve been playing a good, subtle game thus far. Don’t screw it up now.

Next, we get Anna and Tai pleading for their lives, Anna taking the more logical, strategic route, while tai plays up to people’s emotions, highlighting his status as provider and even tearing up a little bit at how hard he works. Nothing really spectacular there, just always nice to see dynamics play out in this manner.

Beyond this, it’s usual Tribal Council banter, but the mystery of the vote holds one’s interest. But what comment could Tai possible use to swing his use of the idol? Enter Joe, who’s decided to speak up for the first time in a while. And after hearing him speak, it’s clear that Joe really shouldn’t have. Joe puts forth the theory that, since he hasn’t really seen anyone looking for an idol, perhaps the twist this season is that there are no idols to be found! Joe, please don’t speak up again. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not as crazy an idea as it sounds. Fans have floated the idea of that very twist for years. But, it would never logically happen. Production gets too much drama from idols for them NOT to be in place. This is the “women’s alliance” assumption from “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” all over again. It’s quite easy to see why one could think that, but it’s completely the wrong conclusion, and that assumption could lead to disastrous results later on. Granted, this isn’t quite as bad, since once Joe gets back together with Neal it will become clear that there ARE idols in the game, but still, it’s just the clue Tai needs. Deciding that this ignorance is an opportunity not be missed, Tai opts to let Anna go, which I think is his smartest move. If you’re not the target, unless NOT playing the idol spells certain doom for your game overall, it’s best to hang onto the idol. Further, since Anna and the women’s alliance wanted Tai gone anyway, it’s not like he was particularly beholden to them. If he can make it to the merge with Scot, Tai’s in great shape. Not sure how Jason will feel about forming the super-idol, but it’s an interesting possibility, and gives everyone some room to play.

That said, as a fan, I am sorry to see Anna gone. We didn’t get a whole lot of her, but what we got seemed to be at least decent at the game. Conversely, Peter is repetitive and annoying on all accounts, and it’s be nice to see him gone. Next episode, it might be the smart move, but for now, we will simply miss Anna.

This, though, brings me back to Chan Loh, and the debate of which side Jason and Cydney should take. This episode makes it clear that they should go with Michele and Nick. The major threat of siding with Michele and Nick was the women’s alliance making it impossible to get a foothold. With founding member Anna gone, though, the old Gondol become fractured, and much less of a threat. Conversely, the old Chan Loh now becomes the major united front, which needs to be gotten rid of. Whether or not Jason and Cydney see this or get a chance to act on it, I don’t know, but if they’re smart, that’s what they’ll do.

Overall, this episode was a pretty good one. Oddly, the least interesting part was Tribal Council. I don’t know, while they did a good job of hiding who was going, it not being Peter felt anticlimactic. Still, there was excellent personal dynamics and good strategy on both sides, so no complaints about that. I look forward to what the next episode brings!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

“Survivor” Retrospectives: One World

Normally, “Survivor Retrospectives” stops for the summer when the cast of the upcoming season is announced. That cannot happen this season, since we already KNOW who the cast is, since we kind of picked them. I was unsure of when I was going to stop this time around, and I take the releasing of official cast photos as the equivalent of releasing the cast this time around (particularly since it’s about the time when the new cast would be announced if we didn’t already know it). Yet, as you may notice from the title of this blog, there’s a new “Survivor Retrospectives” out. While I try not to hold myself to any release standards for off-season coverage, I do feel like I’ve done very little this summer, mostly because I’ve been busy. On top of that, I feel like it’s appropriate for me to finish off what many consider to be the worst four-season run in the show’s history before moving onto what will hopefully be a bigger and better season. Certainly everything I’m hearing about “Survivor Cambodia” seems good. And while I have already done a cast assessment, and feel no need to correct anything in it, don’t worry. I’ve still got some pre-season coverage ahead. In the next couple of weeks, I’ll be releasing two blogs that are at least semi-related to “Survivor Cambodia”, so keep an eye out for them.

All that said, let’s talk about something not as exciting: “Survivor One World”. A contender for “Stupidest Season Title” right up there with “Survivor Worlds Apart” and the subtitle “Earth’s Last Eden”, One World is even lamer than it’s name would suggest. But that’s not for lack of trying on its part. As I’ll discuss in the “Twist” section and the “Abstract” section, this was a season that was aiming to please. What went wrong? You’re going to have to read the blog to find out.

Before you read on, though, I must once again warn you that this blog contains spoilers. I address the major plot points of the season, and openly reveal who the winner is. If you do not want to know these things, I highly recommend scrolling down to the bottom of the page, so you can read only the “Abstract” section. This will be a broad, spoiler-free take on the season, for those wondering whether or not to watch it. So, now that you know where you should start reading, get to reading it!

CAST

If you’re the impatient type like me, you don’t have to worry too much about finding out how a season that aims to please goes so horribly awry. The answer is that the cast is AWFUL! And I can’t think of a better indicator of this than by the big name to come out of the season: Colton Cumbie. Yes, if you’re a “Survivor” fan of the modern era, you’ve doubtless heard of the awful excuse for a human being that is Colton. While I do feel a little bad about trashing the guy so mercilessly, since his fiancé tragically passed away a year or so ago, and that’s something no one should have to endure, I am compelled to talk about Colton as a character on the show. And good lord, they needed someone better than this. Much like Cochran on “Survivor South Pacific”, Colton was built up big time as a major fanboy and underdog of the season. However, Colton was actually a whiny, bigoted scumbag whom nearly everyone (Mayim Bialik excluded) hated on sight. When things didn’t go his way in the game (something that can happen to ANYONE, I would point out), or were moving too slowly, Colton, rather than use any strategic or social prowess to get his way, instead whined until everyone did stupid things to his benefit. Colton could not have made himself more unlikeable if he TRIED! I’ll go over it more in the “Twist” section, but the ultimate troll move on his part was to be eliminated in a non-standard way, such that we didn’t even get the satisfaction of voting him out. So yeah, pretty clear that this is a character disliked by the audience, including myself. And this is going to be your season’s flagship character? Not a good sign.

Not to say that Colton was the ONLY person remembered from this season. Oh, no, we also had to endure the vacuum of intelligence known as Kat Edorsson. Initially seeming like she would just be another bland, good-looking young woman for the audience to ogle at, Kat proved that wrong by possibly being the DUMBEST person ever put on the show. Her highlights include an inability to do math, getting her feelings hurt by basic gameplay, and not knowing what an appendix is. At the time, a lot of people liked her, since she was at least positive, but for myself, not a good character to have around. Just a personal pet peeve of mine, but I don’t tolerate acute stupidity well, and Kat’s defining feature was her stupidity. Well, two major characters in, and we’re 0-2 on finding a good one. Will we actually get someone entertaining this time around?

Probably not since the next big names to come out of this season are the ‘Zans. Yes, for some insane reason, CBS thought it would be a good idea to have not one but two grown men who refer to themselves as some variant on “Tarzan”. We had the straight up Greg “Tarzan” Smith, and the variant in Troy “Troyzan” Robertson. As their having such obnoxious nicknames might indicate, neither of these two is well-loved by the fanbase, and once again tarnish the good name of “Survivor”. In the case of Tarzan, the less hated of the two, we have someone who was a doctor, supposedly smart, but who spouted out what sounded like random nonsense a lot of the time. I would point out, though, that a lot of the “nonsense” was scientifically accurate, and merely sounded kind of out there to the layperson. I didn’t mind that about Tarzan so much. No, what I minded about Tarzan was his utter stupidity with the strategic and social aspects of the game. Tarzan did little to no work on his own strategic position, and outlasted his fellow men mainly because of sympathy from the women. He could have been another Chris Daugherty (“Survivor Vanuatu”) if he’d been a bit smarter, but instead, he just sat there and took it. On a season where the men are largely idiots, this we did not need. Troyzan, on the other hand, went the opposite route. True, he made his strategic gaffes, but where Tarzan could occasionally be funny or likable, Troyzan was just obnoxious. He’s best known for screaming “This is MY island!” after winning an immunity challenge, a move seen by everyone, both in and out of the game, as overdoing it. It’s strange, because at this point, with the men being dominated, and Troyzan the big physical threat, he SHOULD have been the underdog that everyone was rooting for. It goes to show how obnoxious he was that he was never embraced by the fanbase, even being denied a spot on the upcoming “Survivor Cambodia” since we didn’t need to see him again. Yep, 0-4 now. Our hunt for a good character continues.

One person who’s surprisingly still talked about today, though less commonly than those already mentioned, is Alicia Rosa. Similar to Troyzan, she was full of herself, believing she was running the game when she was little more than a pawn in the game of this season’s mastermind, whom we’ll be talking about shortly. She was also known for getting into weird nonsensical vendetta’s, notably against Christina Cha, who did absolutely nothing the entire season. Alicia was an over-the-top charicature of someone with delusions of grandeur, and at times it was fun to watch, at least more so than the other people on this season. Overall, though, both I and the rest of the audience found her random fighting tiring, and were glad to see the back of her.

I suppose I should also taking a minute, before moving onto the silver lining of the cast, to address who is currently the big name from this season: Monica Culpepper. She’s much talked aabout in the fanbase now, but more due to her performance on “Survivor Blood vs. Water”. Much like Jenna Lewis from “Survivor Borneo”, she’s someone who would become much more well-known after appearing on a later season, but still had some following initially. Monica is remembered as being the person screwed over by the tribe shuffle, and for being decent physically despite her older age (relatively speaking). She was liked ok her first time out, but no one really mourned her passing, since she could be occasionally entitled and didn’t really have all that great a game.

But now, you’ve been waiting for it. No cast of “Survivor” not even “Survivor Fiji”, is without merit, and even One World managed to produce a character that the fanbase likes and still talks about today. For all that One World is one of the more hated seasons of the show, pretty much everyone agrees that winner Kim Spradlin is one of the best the show has ever had. Initially, Kim just seemed like a decent strategic player who was a nice person, putting her a leg up over everyone else this season already. It quickly became clear, though, that Kim was actually a force to be reckoned with strategically, basically doing what Boston Rob did on “Survivor Redemption Island”, and running the table such that there was never an insurrection against her. That’s pretty impressive for a first-timer, and is one of the reasons why she’s considered one of the best to ever play. Unlike Boston rob, she didn’t have much of a character apart from her strategy. She’s a normal, sane person which is refreshing, but in “Survivor” terms makes you boring. On this season, though, boring beats out annoying any day and Kim is rightly the most beloved person on the cast. She played a fantastic strategic game (even if it did make for a boring season), and had nothing going against her. It’s nice to see strategy respected, and so Kim is definitely a worthy candidate in my eyes. Makes a better season star than Colton, anyway.

One person who gets talked about today, but more as a joke, is Hawaii-native Jonas Otsuji. A sushi chef, Jonas was actually a lot smarter than people give him credit for. He was the diplomat of the men, able to converse with pretty much anybody, and was ready to take the reins once Colton left. Unfortunately, he didn’t do such a good job with the reins, and was voted out shortly afterward. He’s remembered today mainly as a joke, as his distinctive, hesitant style of speaking is fun to imitate, and he was little more than a coattail rider with big aspirations. It’s a shame, though, because had Jonas lasted, he could have bene one of the greats, in my opinion. Hear me out on this: as I said, Jonas was a diplomat, so I think, given enough time, he might have been able to work out a cross-tribal alliance. He was a likable enough guy, and his only flaw was being willing to take a backseat to an obnoxious blowhard, a strategy that had worked well for past winners such as Natalie White (“Survivor Samoa”). Admittedly, he was up against Kim, who as I’ve said is one of the greats, but still I think Jonas had stuff to bring to the table that he never got a chance to. Plus, the men of this season were MORONS, pretty much to a man, and nearly all unlikeable. Compared to that, Jonas was about as good as you’d get. Much as I like him, though, even I cannot deny that he didn’t bring much to the season, and while he’s better than people give him credit for, and could be an unsung hero of the season, he doesn’t add a whole lot to counterbalance the awfulness of the cast.

That about does it for people who are remembered today, but as per usual, there are a few who were popular at the time who have faded into obscurity. The first is an interesting bit of casting: the first ever person with dwarfism to appear on “Survivor” Phlebotomist Leif Manson is remembered for his height… and that’s it. Yeah, I hesitate to call this “stunt casting”, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Leif was cast for his height alone. He brought literally NOTHING to the table, either as a character or as a strategist, and it’s only too right that time has forgotten him. Lastly their finalist Chelsea Meissner. Much like Ashley on “Survivor Redemption Island”, she was seen as an acceptable alternative to win, just because she did a little bit more than her other competitors. While she was never going to be one of the greats in any department, she put in a token effort at being an individual in the game, for which she deserves some credit. She was also likable enough, but again, just too generic to make much of a lasting impression. Compared to her competition this season, though? She’s a freaking standout!

But that should tell you what you need to know about the cast. The addition of Kim gives it a few points above the minimum, but having a stupid and annoying cast is the major flaw of the season.

Score: 3 out of 10.

CHALLENGES

Jumping ahead a bit, this season had a “Men vs. Women” twist. One of the drawbacks to this, that I’ve mentioned before, is that challenges need to be very balanced, which can, and often does, lead to boring challenges. Such is the case here, but not only do we have boring challenges, we have boring REUSED challenges. Aside from the occasional standout, such as transporting a barrel full of water with holes in it, this season’s challenges are either reused, lame, or forgettable. Not good, to say the least.

Score: 2 out of 10.

TWISTS

Before talking about the twists of One World, I should give mention to the twists that did NOT happen on One World. Specifically, Redemption Island was nixed, and the cast was entirely original. This is what I mean when I say that One World was trying hard to please. People hated both of these twists to begin with, and them being reused on “Survivor South Pacific” made us all sick of them. Therefore, I think it was a VERY good idea to get rid of these elements! If people don’t like them, don’t use them again, plain and simple. As I’ve said, I’m not opposed to bringing back players for a season, but I also agree that it was time for a change. It was starting to look like “Survivor” had no confidence in finding new players, and so we needed a season to convince us that new players were still worth watching. That season wasn’t One World, but it was a valiant effort nonetheless.

As to the twists that DID happen on One World, the first would be the titular “One World” twist itself, namely that both tribes share a beach, at least initially. This is not as original a twist as it was made out to be, since we’d seen this sort of thing briefly on “Survivor Palau” and more extensively on “Survivor Thailand”, but this time promised to be a more extended version of said twist. And, despite how hated the season, and by extension the twist, has become, I think it actually went rather well. Looking at the first two or three episodes self-contained, there’s a lot to like about it. You’ve got tribes negotiating, and how people react to said negotiations. You’ve got espionage, with the women’s Salani tribe trying to steal fire from the men’s Manono tribe. You’ve even got some cross-tribal allegiances, since if one tribe found the other’s hidden immunity idol, it needed to be given to someone on the proper tribe. The only problem with the latter is that this is how Colton came to power, with Sabrina Thompson (someone who otherwise made no impact on the season, despite making the Final Tribal Council) giving him the Manono hidden immunity idol after she found it. This is good stuff, which we mostly hadn’t seen before. Really, apart from the whole Colton thing, the only reason this twist failed, such as it did, was because the cast was so bad that nobody cared about the twist. For my part, though, it still came off well, apart from the “Colton comes to power” thing mentioned earlier. I do have a personal gripe with it, though. The twist was dismantled as of episode 5. Oh sure, they came together again at the merge, but that’s to be expected. If your season is called “One World”, I expect there to be ONE WORLD the entire time. It made it seem like the producers had no confidence in the twist, and so dismantled it. When your season is NAMED after said twist, it makes it look like the season itself is bad, which you do not want to do. Ugh, just keep them all on one beach, what’s the harm in that?

A twist that went along with the “One World” twist, unfortunately, was the third time tribes were divided by gender. True, there was a larger gap here than between “Survivor The Amazon” and “Survivor Vanuatu”, but people were still sick of repeat twists, myself included. While I was eager to see a tiebreaker in “Battle of the Sexes” seasons, to see whether with this twist men or women are more likely to win (it’s women), I was discouraged because we’d seen this play out before. Why do we need to watch the same twist play out the same way over and over again? You could have just kept the tribes mixed, we wouldn’t have minded. While I’ll normally defend the twists of One World, this is one that just didn’t need to happen, and wasn’t that interesting to begin with.

But wait! The season had to start out with yet another twist! We got a repeat of the “Gather supplies for your tribe off the vehicle” start, dating all the way back to “Survivor Borneo”, though due to the use of a truck, this one more closely resembles the iteration from “Survivor Tocantins”. Unlike the “Battle of the Sexes” tribe division, this reused twist went over very well in the eyes of both myself and the audience. Partly this is due to the fact that this twist is brief but exciting, but also due to the fact that something DIFFERENT happened with it this time. Michael Jefferson (another boring person who had no impact) finally had the idea that the audience had had for a while wherein Michael simply waited for Salani to dump their supplies off the truck, then stole them. Sadly, Michael would not live up to this early excitement, but it’s a good way to start off a season noneless. Shame this pattern didn’t continue.

The first person voted off this season, Kourtney Moon, was also a twist, though not in the manner of blindside. One stage of the first immunity challenge involved jumping off a platform onto a net. You had to land a specific way to be safe. Kourtney messed it up, and broke her wrist. Probst stopped the challenge, and Kourtney was eventually medevaced for x-rays and ultimately surgery, making her the earliest game-ending injury ever. Certainly a unique way to start a season, but also kind of a letdown in a sense. Hard to say whether this was good or bad, but I’ll give it a pass for being memorable.

Episode 2 was mostly quiet, but introduced us to another staple of the season: Probst-less challenges. This had been tried out on “Survivor Samoa”, but were utilized more often here. Instead of going to the challenge, tribes received one at tree mail, and had to run it themselves. It would come back in later episodes of One World as well. These challenges ultimately didn’t amount to much (they were quickly forgotten), and most people consider them a bad idea. I have to roll my eyes, however, since these are, by and large, the same people who complain about how much Probst talks during challenges. In my opinion, these are a good idea, just not executed very well. What’s needed is some contestant who’s a good showman, who can really make these challenges exciting. We just haven’t had that yet. Most people will disagree with me, but I’d be up for giving Probst-less challenges another try. Still, if we’re judging by this season alone, they’re a flop.

We get our first blindside in episode 3, wherein Colton comes to power, and takes out the chauvinistic head of the other alliance, Matt Quinlan. Normally, I’d call this a pretty exciting shake up. After all, Colton used his idol to unite the misfits to take out the cool kids. This WOULD be compelling tv if it weren’t for the fact that Colton basically WHINED his way to an alliance, and nobody wanted him to succeed. The domination of Colton, while overall well-done, is the beginning of the end for the season.

Up until this point, while One World wasn’t the strongest of seasons, most people agreed that it had some good elements. Then episode 4 came around. The episode infamous for the dumbest move in “Survivor” history.

So, in episode 4, Manono won immunity in a landslide. But Colton, ever tolerant, can’t stand to hear Bill Posely, the black would-be comedian of no note on the season, say “Bro” one more time, and so asks that his tribe give up immunity to vote off Bill. And, despite nearly everybody agreeing that it’s a bad idea, and it needing to be a unanimous consensus for the tribe to go, they do. Now you see what people hate about One World. The depths of stupidity and in this case racism that the cast will go to was just so unpleasant, so mind-boggling, that no one liked it. These were bigger idiots than we’d seen on the previous seasons! Can’t we go back to having smart people? Suffice to say the utter stupidity of this move is what killed the season for a lot of people, including myself. Not a good move there guys. Not a good move at all.

Oh, and you know what ultimately convinced Manono to commit this act of stupidity? Colton’s whining. Yes, he was SO instant upon going to Tribal Council that they went just to shut him up. THAT’S how bad Colton was to watch.

Following the ouster of Bill, we have ourselves a tribe shuffle, wherein the tribes are now separated by beach (which, as I’ve stated, was NOT a good idea), and the Manono tribe gets screwed. All the strength goes to Salani, and sure enough, Manono goes to the next two Tribal Councils. Here we have the fall of first Monica in episode 5, and then Colton in episode 6. Colton’s ouster was a double twist, as he went via a “stomach bug”. People have claimed that Colton faked this illness, but I like to give the guy a benefit of a doubt here. Even so, this was not a good way for Colton to go. True, better to have him out of the season if possible, but we all wanted a dramatic comeuppance for the whiny idiot, not getting taken out in a lame way. The season was already doomed, but this did little to help it.

Both tribes were brought to Tribal Council to discuss Colton’s exit (it’s here that we get Kat’s infamous “appendix” scene), and are then merged at Tribal Council. A cool idea, but a bit soon for a merge, and as we’ll see, it did in Jonas.

You see, Jonas had been riding Colton’s coattails from very early on. Apart from some good negotiating with the women, which I alluded to earlier, Jonas hadn’t really made a name for himself. But now, he was ready to take charge, and… the women saw this and got rid of him instantly. Thanks to the presence of Kim and the early merge, the women were a united front, whereas the men were fractured. The merge was even in terms of numbers, but Jonas’ departure set the stage for Kim’s victory. After that, nothing else really happened. The win for Kim was a foregone conclusion. Everyone loved her, and whenever talk of an upset happened, Kim was always part of the plan. The men were idiots, and the women took over. Not that there’s anything wrong with that plotline, it’s just that it made the rest of the season predictable. Nothing else of note happened. Oh sure, Jay Byars (a contestant of no note) and Kat were both blindsided, and Tarzan managed to win sympathy by asking only to make the loved one’s challenge, but these were minor alterations that did not impact the overall season.

The twists started out good here, but twists going wrong later on, coupled with an overall awful cast, mean this season’s twists fall flat. I give it credit for trying some original ideas, some of which I think worked early on, but that only gets you so far. Most of the twists after the first few episodes were either underdone, or we did not need to see them at all.

Score: 4 out of 10.

OVERALL

For all that this season tried to separate itself from the past couple of seasons, it actually ended up being more like them than expected. You had a predictable finish with a domineering winner, and a whole lot of people that were annoying, stupid, or both. Unity was the theme of the season, with a Generic South Pacific Island aesthetic, but it kind of fails as a theme when the season turns into a tribe-based Pagonging. Some of the ideas of One World were adequate, but again, it keeps coming back to an awful cast. While there are a few things about One World to appreciate here and there, on the whole, it just can’t overcome the awful cast and the stupid decisions. It does get slightly better than say “Survivor Redemption Island”, simply because seeing someone NEW dominate the game is more interesting than a returnee who had it handed to him on a silver platter, but this only makes it slightly better than its predecessors. As it stands, One World cannot be called a good season, by anyone’s measure.

Score: 11 out of 40.

ABSTRACT

One World is not a good season. If you’re looking for entertainment, this is not the season to go for. It has a lot of annoying and stupid people, and is utterly predictable. It does take a few risks, that may make it worth watching, but they tend not to outweigh the bad factors, and a number of them go nowhere. There is a future season that has returning contestants from this season, but a lot of them are early enough boots that in my book, there’s no need to see this season to largely understand what’s going on on that season. Unless you’re a major completionist of “Survivor”, or just want to be absolutely sure you understand future seasons, I suggest skipping this one.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Philippines” Episode 9: Paddle-Balls to the Wall

“Survivor” Medic!

Seriously, I’m having fainting spells, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll last!  I know I’m about to spoil the climax of the episode, but damn if I can’t blog without getting it off of my chest.  I’ve praised the misdirection this season by and large, but tonight I thought I had it figured out.  I was sure, despite my own personal biases, that Penner was gone, dead in the water, Skupin was his best chance, and Skupin wasn’t moving without Lisa.  We get to Tribal Council, the 4^th vote for Penner comes up, and I’m dead certain he’s gone.  There’s no way Skupin and Lisa would move independently, so the only way it swings in Penner’s favor is a 6-3 vote for Artis.  Then the last name comes up, I prepare my “Support Denise” banners, and all of a sudden, Artis comes up!  You can’t see me now, but I have a huge grin in my face.  If only to keep it longer, let us savor the sweet journey that was, in my opinion, the best episode of this season.

We start off with a lot of celebrating/complaining about Jeff Kent’s (damn, I thought I wouldn’t have to write that name again) departure.  Of particular interest is why Penner voted for Abi-Maria instead of forcing a tie.  Fan theory was that Penner had a diabolical scheme up his sleeve, which required splintering an alliance.  My theory was that he had a grudge against Jeff Kent (will he never leave this blog?), and couldn’t stand keeping him in.  The big reveal is that Penner was simply confused, and didn’t know there was a plan (despite his grandstanding at the previous Tribal Council).  Wow, loss of points on the brilliance-ometer there Penner.  Don’t worry, you’ll more than earn them back later in the episode.

Also of interest is Lisa, who took a moral bashing last episode, and previews show that she’ll continue to get one this episode.  She tries to explain herself to everyone, and Tandang seems receptive (though Abi-Maria continues to dig her own grave), but still, Lisa questions her decision.

Following commercial, Christmas comes early as Penner’s foreshadowed work on Lisa begins.  Seeming to have gotten over his case of pissed-off-itis from the night before, Penner admits that he still needs a plan in order to move forward.  His plan is to continue his work on Lisa, but hard core now.  He does this, not by strategizing, but by appealing to her emotions.  Now, some of my more frequent readers know that I normally despise this form of manipulation, feeling that it is overall weaker and less effective (not to mention somewhat less scummy) than outright strategizing.  Penner’s use of it I’m ok with for 2 reasons.  The first is that he ADMITS that it’s a strategy, as it’s the best way to get to Lisa, whereas others who use this I believe go with it on the basis that it feels less scummy than the other method.  The second is that, unlike others who appeal in vague noncommittal terms (or fake a birthday, John Cochran of “Survivor South Pacific”), Penner goes straight for the proverbial jugular, not attacking Lisa’s sense of righteousness, but her insecurities, and her insecurities from EARLY LIFE nonetheless!  What’s more, he does it in the guise of friendly advice, claiming to be the first person who understood her.  All this is sprinkled with hyperbolic praise.  “Unprecedented move”, huh? Yes Penner, as a hard core strategist, you of all people know that a person uniting a disparate group of people to form a voting block has NEVER happened before!  I know I should be appalled at Penner’s display, as most of his words a clearly not genuine, but damn it, I can’t help but be impressed with his read of people, and the overall convincing performance he gave!

Challenge?  Oh, yeah, right, I suppose there was a reward challenge this episode.  Do I really have to?  Can’t I just rhapsodize about Penner some more?

In all seriousness, this challenge does deserve a decent amount of mention, both good and bad.  For it, tribes are split into teams of two, who make their way through a muddy obstacle course one at a time, each collecting a bag of balls.  Once everyone has made it through, teams unwrap their balls (12 in all), and try to get them down a small cone.  The first team to get all 12 balls down the cone wins the right to take school supplies (though they mostly look like sports supplies to me) to a local Filipino school, and earns a feast from that school.  This seems, at first, like your average obstacle course challenge of the type I rag on normally.  However, there are two things that save this challenge from my disgust: mud and rice.  Mud is a fun element of every “Survivor” challenge.  It adds to the spills and the hilarity, it gets the castaways dirty, which is rather entertaining, and it just seems like adding insult to injury, if you’re into schadenfreud.  But mud has been done before, it’s old hat, give us something new.  Ok, how about rice? One leg of the challenge forces the castaways to dive through a trough of rice, which, of course, sticks to them and everything muddy.  Even more than mud, this is insult to injury, and it lends this challenge a unique twist that I rather like.  Top it all off with a good bit of strategy by Penner (which I’ll get to in a minute), and you have a decent, solid challenge.

Though really, does it HAVE to be a team challenge?  Would it kill you to let a free-for-all happen, and force people to make choices about who to bring on reward?

Back to Penner (you’ll find that I do that a lot this blog), he finds himself on a team with Malcolm, Denise, and Carter, going up against Skupin, Lisa, Pete, and Artis, with Abi-Maria not picked (there’s a shock, I’m amazed Probst didn’t lampshade it) and therefore ineligible for reward.  The teams are fairly evenly matched, with Penner’s team having a slight edge in my opinion, but Penner takes no chances.  He loses time on his leg to search around in the mud for all 4 bags and bring them to the surface, thus saving time in the long run.  It’s a good strategy, and helps his team to an admittedly quite narrow victory given the circumstances.

Penner’s team goes on reward, and as always they enjoy the food and hobnobbing with the locals, which at least one person must say is a “life changing experience”.  Malcolm is this year’s winner in that department, at least.  Not one to let a good situation go to waste, however, Penner takes time out to strategize with his fellow reward members, correctly pointing out that they’re on the bottom, and ought to stick together.  The consensus is that Lisa and Skupin are the way to go, and things seem set up for a flip from Lisa.

Oddly enough, Tandang seems to agree with the plan, as they’re doing all that they can to convince Lisa to betray them.  Well, at least Abi-Maria seems to be.  Pete says that he hoped that this would be a bonding time for Tandang, a reaffirmation of their alliance, and return to the fold for those on the outside.  Continually, Pete forgets that he’s aligned with Abi-Maria, who proceeds to badmouth Lisa for her perceived “gullibility”.  Even Artis admits this is a bad idea, and when ARTIS thinks what you’re doing is insane, you know there’s trouble.  What makes it even worse is that Lisa HERSELF, the person most likely to flip, wanted to go along with Pete and co., was perfectly willing to follow along with the plan, and you go and alienate her for no reason!  I’ve run out of metaphors for stupidity at this point, just make one up.

Heading back to camp after commercial, we’re greeted with the return of the effective “Kalabaw 4” from reward, and as you’d expect, they’re greeted…  oh, wait, I guess nothing happened at camp, as it’s CHALLENGE TIME (boy that came fast)!  And the immunity challenge is nothing short of sadistic.  Castaways roll balls down a long paddle, trying to get them into one of 6 notches carved into the paddle.  The first to have all 6 balls sitting on the paddle wins.  Dear Lord, this challenge is difficult.  First of all, it not only requires balance, but also coordination with balance, something very rare, and almost never practiced.  Furthermore, those notches aren’t big, they just barely fit each ball, so while the first ball might not be too bad, it’s downright Herculean to get the other 5 in there without dislodging another ball (as Pete so aptly demonstrated).  It’s like a challenge off of Wii Fit, if Wii Fit had a cruel streak.

In an ironic twist, the man who left the game because of his hands is now kept in the game because of them.  Skupin wins, which would normally be Penner’s death knell, but he’s not one to just roll over and die.  He continues his work on Lisa, taking a slightly different emotional tack this time, one that I’m sure has come up in many a strategy discussion, but has never been shown so blatantly on screen.

Penner asks her how she wants to be perceived in editing.

I’ve always said that these people realize that they’re on a tv show to some degree, no matter how long they stay on, and are, to some degree, thinking about how they’d like to be shown.  I think that, of late, it’s what has led people to avoiding a lot of good strategic moves, as they don’t want to look like scum to the national public.  It also makes sense that the producers don’t want this sort of discussion shown, as it ruins some of the illusion of “reality” on the show, and can blatantly reveal what the editors are trying to do in some cases.  Still, I doubt Penner’s argument is original, but it is a good one.  He tells Lisa that however things turn out, she’ll be perceived as a likeable, loyal underdog, but that the public will dislike her for keeping the “evil” threesome of Artis, Abi-Maria, and Pete in the game.

What’s scary is the man’s ability to predict the public.  That’s pretty much exactly the fan reaction to Lisa.

Meanwhile, the rest of Penner’s alliance (in what I first thought was a conspiracy to turn on him) decided to shift the vote to Artis, as he’s unlikely to play Abi-Maria’s immunity idol.  A bit of unnecessary strategizing, given the confidence of the alliance, but certainly sound reasoning, and any one of the threesome is better than one of the Kalabaw 4.

Penner’s taking no chances, though, and also works the immunity-given Skupin to try and vote off Artis.  Penner works a bit more blatantly, offering Skupin a full-on alliance.  Skupin likes what he hears, but won’t move against Lisa.  So, after some discussion in the water, it’s off to Tribal Council, where Abi-Maria once again digs her own passive-aggressive grave.  And from here on out you know the story.  Like I said, I thought for sure Penner was gone (very glad that he’s not, though), and I even had my “MORONS” megaphone ready to chastise the editors for slipping up on misdirection, when, in fact, it was one of the best bits of misdirection EVER in my opinion.

So, where does this leave us?  With a big question mark, that’s where.  Skupin, despite his interviews, moved against Lisa, and voted with the Kalabaw 4, apparently for good.  This leads to one of two conclusions.  Either Skupin has freed himself of Lisa (which I find unlikely) or Lisa told him to vote against Artis, allowing her to look like a good guy, but still eliminate Artis.  A shrewd move on Lisa’s part, if that’s the case, but not a smart one.  She moves from a solid 5 where she’s guaranteed victory at the end to a not solid 6 where likeability is pretty much even.

Still, this could lead to a short Pagonging of the old Tandang loyalists, which could make the next few episodes boring.  Given the drama that Abi-Maria’s existence causes, though, I kind of doubt it.

What I don’t doubt is that tonight’s episode merited another:

TOP 5 AND BOTTOM 5

The theme, as you might guess, is blindsides, and for once, I’m going purely subjective, my own opinions (primarily based on predictability) of what the best blindsides are.  I may do a more objective list at some point, to talk about the blindsides that had the most impact on the game, but that’s not this list.  Also, as there’s no such thing as a “bad” blindside in my objective opinion, I’ll be using it to list the top 5 missed opportunities for blindsides.  One note of clarification on this: the name I list for the bottom 5 is the person who ACTUALLY got voted off, not the person who should have been blindsided.  Now then, on to the list.

Top 5

5. Deena Bennett (“Survivor The Amazon”): Where better to start than with a blindside by the king of blindsides, Rob Cesternino.  While Rob had already perfected this with the boot of the aptly-named Roger Sexton, Deena’s was in my opinion the most unexpected, as well as Rob’s biggest power play.  It gains the lowest slot I can give only because the editing made it seem like it was coming, so a bit of predictability.  Overall, though, an exciting boot for an exciting episode.

4. Artis Silvester (“Survivor Philippines”): So what if it might be the afterglow of Penner’s continued tenure in the game, my list, my choice!  Admittedly, I did put this one down low because I’m not sure how I’ll feel about this blindside compared to others come tomorrow, but at the moment, they pulled the wool over my eyes, made an exciting episode, and earned the #4 slot.

3. John Carroll (“Survivor Marquesas”): It’s not so much that you thought John Carroll would never be voted off.  He was in a leadership position (always precarious), a physical threat, and somewhat cocky.  No, this one you just thought the alliance for it would never come together.  Neleh and Paschal were too far ensconced in the Rotu 4 alliance to dare flip, especially with loose cannon Sean, and yet they did, making for the first “bottom of the totem pole” shake-up in “Survivor” history, and one hell of a blindside.

2. Leann Slaby (“Survivor Vanuatu”): I know I said that overall impact on the game wouldn’t be considered, but this is the exception.  This is the vote that saved Chris’ game and won him a million dollars.  I justify this bending of the rules by pointing out that I did not expect Chris to pull off any sort of a win, given how many women were left, so I’d call it an unexpected and fun blindside.

1. Erik Reichenbach (“Survivor Micronesia”): A fun and deserved blindside.  Never.  I never thought someone would be du enough to give up immunity to a majority alliance.  You proved me wrong, good sir.  Thanks for making the end of the season entertaining!

Honorable Mention: Gretchen Cordy (“Survivor Borneo”): I’ve mentioned before that I watched the seasons out of order, so “Survivor Borneo” was not my first and consequently lost a lot of it’s impact for me.  Still, a lot has to be said for the first real “blindside” of “Survivor”, ever.  You could argue, I suppose, that Stacey or Joel were technically first, but in both cases, you kind of saw it coming.  Gretchen was the first real surprise, and it caused a storm of controversy when it aired.  It must at least be acknowledged, even if it didn’t surprise me.

 

Bottom 5

5. Jenna Lewis (“Survivor Borneo”): Sticking to the land of Borneo, we have our first missed opportunity.  While there was never really a chance to overtake the Tagi alliance from this season, as Pagong was just too disorganized, they did have a shot with their “Barbeque Alliance”.  The Tagi alliance was fragmenting (with Kelly Wiglesworth defecting for a vote), and newly united Pagong front.  That is until Sean Kenniff got moral, voted for Jenna, and in doing so sealed the rest of the Pagong’s fate.

4. Stephenie LaGrossa (“Survivor Palau”): Again, given the amount Tom Westman and Ian Rosenberger won immunity, this was a very slim chance, but deserves mentioning.  The women couldn’t compete on any level with either alpha male, the only way they could WIN in the end was a woman’s alliance.  However, it broke up because, according to Katie “Caryn sucks”.  Mature Katie.  Real mature.  No wonder you lost.

3. Kelly Goldsmith (“Survivor Africa”): Much like Pagong, the Samburu tribe was at a disadvantage, ready to be picked off come the merge.  Unlike Pagong, however, Samburu was much more prepared strategically, and it helped that the old Boran had a few cracks in it.  And while this vote did end up going for a Boran member, it permanently splintered the Samburu, leading to their destruction and a missed opportunity for power.

2. Alicia Calaway (“Survivor The Australian Outback”): While Alicia originally hails from the outback, this goes out her boot in “Survivor All-Stars”.  Once it became clear that a Pagonging of Mogo Mogo would not go smoothly due to Shii-Ann Huang’s winning immunity, people should have ganged up on Boston Rob.  Although he didn’t win, he was the guy to beat, and yet no one made a move to better themselves.  Shii-Ann put it best by calling them “Stupid, stupid people.”

1. Amanda Kimmel (“Survivor China”): This goes for the one time she was actually voted out, in “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”.  DAMMIT, CANDICE, YOU COULD HAVE GOT RID OF RUSSELL FUCKING HANTZ, PUT YOURSELF IN A POWER POSITION, AND YET YOU DIDN’T!  WHY?  WHY?  WHY?

Honorable Mention: Mike Chiesl (“Survivor Redemption Island”): More of a placeholder for any vote post-merge this season.  Ometepe, like on “Survivor All-Stars” just couldn’t bring themselves to vote off their biggest competition, and payed a rightful price.  They’re not on the list proper only because I can’t think of a specific vote that could have changed the game.  For all my criticisms, Boston Rob did keep a good, tight grip on the tribe that season.

Well, that’s it and I’m bushed.  Looking forward to the next episode!

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.