Idol Speculation: “Survivor 45” Episode 9: 2 B A Master

If I had a nickel for every time someone brought up “Pokemon” on a season of “Survivor”, I’d have two nickels.  Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, isn’t it?  Weird or not, my little nerdy heart loves it, as well as the fact that I can use it to make a “Phineas and Ferb” reference in the process.

Our fallout from the last Tribal Council is truly a tale of two reactions.  We start off with very somber music, where Kendra looks dejectedly out to sea, mourning the loss of her closest ally.  She raises her canteen in a toast, even.  You have to feel bad for Kendra here.  Nearly every Tribal Council she’s been at has not gone the way she expected, either due to an ally being blindsided (Brando and Kellie’s boots), or Kaleb’s Shot in the Dark play shaking things up.  Only the Sifu boot has gone the way she expected without any drama, and that’s not a great track record at Tribal Councils.  Still, the situation is treated soberly and with great respect by the show.  

By the other contestants?  Not so much.  There’s loud whooping and hollering from everyone else.  From Reba+Emily, it’s due to a successful blindside.  From Jake, it’s just happiness to still be in the game.  Jake is fully aware that he’s still on the bottom, but he survived when he really shouldn’t, and frankly, that’s worth celebrating.  Just maybe not as loudly as he is.  Kind of killing Kendra’s mood, bro.  

About the only one to join in Kendra’s feelings is Bruce, who deduces that Kellie was booted for being too close to him.  Reba takes an odd glee in dispelling Bruce of notion, informing him that Kellie felt smothered by him; that she was “under house arrest” with him, and that he was overall too controlling.  Bruce is kind of too shell-shocked by this to really do much about it now, but remember that for later.  Luckily for him, Kendra and Katurah are quickly getting on the same page.  Dee, they decide, has too much power, and needs to go.  A very sensible conclusion.  

Sadly, said conclusion is based on the assumption that, Bruce feud aside, the old Belo can come together to try and pull something off against the old Reba, somehow.  This assumption is faulty.  Katurah declares old Belo a dead tribe, and immediately runs to tell old Reba about this plan.  Shock of all shocks, Dee is not too happy about this, and swears that Kendra will pay for daring to bring up her name.  

It seems she’ll soon have company in that, however.  Emily may have been content to ride with Drew and Austin for a while, but she’s not going to sit on her hands if she thinks she’s fifth place!  No, she takes time in the morning to put out feelers to Drew and Austin about cutting Dee at some point, noting that she’ll likely win at the end.  The results of these feelers are, to put it bluntly, not good.  Neither Drew nor Austin has a good poker face here, with Drew in particular getting a rather disgusted look at the thought.  Austin puts out the excuse that Dee is drawing all the attention away.  Probably true, but doesn’t really answer Emily’s point.  They do a better job responding when Emily says they can’t have Dee in the end, to which they emphatically agree.  Still, it’s clear to Emily that she’s on the bottom of the five, and that’s not a good position.  About the best that can be said is that nothing negative comes from the conversation.  Austin admits in confessional that he understands where Emily’s coming from, and would probably do the same in her shoes.  As such, it seems like she hasn’t lost ground with the alliance.  That said, Austin also makes it clear he’s closer with Dee, so if Emily wants to have a chance at the end-game, she’s going to need to look elsewhere for allies.  

Before we can get to that intriguing storyline, we need to deal with Bruce’s issues.  While Kendra, from what we see, has her head back in the game, Bruce is still reeling.  Both from losing what he thought was a close ally (and being told the opposite), and from what the implications are for his own life.  He claims that he treated Kellie like he does his wife and daughters, and they’ve never complained.  The question he asks himself is: “Am I overbearing to THEM?  Do I need to make some major changes?”  Now, these are all good questions to ask, and good on Bruce for this level of introspection, and willingness to make change.  

That said, Bruce, I think your premise is fundamentally flawed, and you kind of answered you own question there.  You see, you treated Kellie, by your own admission, like one of your KIDS.  Kellie, in contrast, is a grown adult you were nominally in a partnership with.  A very different sort of relationship, and I think any adult would bristle at being treated like one of your children.  Now, the wife thing is a bit more of a direct parallel, but hey, there are some husband/wife relationships where “Husband is the boss”, and maybe Bruce and his wife have that sort of relationship.  No judgment either way, just saying, it could be what they’re comfortable with, but not what Kellie’s comfortable with.  Again, not saying you shouldn’t be asking yourself this stuff, Bruce, and good on you for being mature about it, at least internally, but I think that’s your answer right there.  

Bruce also uses this to tie into his growing up in the foster care system.  I’ll repeat what I said about Kendra bringing up her and her bio dad’s relationship: It’s sweet stuff in the abstract, and I do not want to take away from someone’s personal journey or what they deem the important events in their life.  But when the segway is forced, as it is here, the moment just doesn’t hit like it’s intended to.  

The point of all this is that Bruce is kind of in a “do nothing mood” today, something that does not go unnoticed.  Drew in particular comments here.  Now, I’ve tried to be fair to Drew throughout this season.  He’s not really my type of character, but I’ve given him a fair shake.  Tried not to read too negatively into everything around him.  But man, the dude leaves me no choice he.  He dials the “dick” vibes up to 11 here, talking about how Bruce has played terribly, and how he can now either accept his horrible reality, or laze about and do nothing.  I mean, the assessment’s not inaccurate (if hyperbolic), but it’s how SMUG he seems when he says it.  How SUPERIOR he considers himself as a player.  Drew has now gone from someone I was generally neutral on to someone I’m now fairly firmly against.  

Ok, so now that we’re doing with Bruce’s story, we can see Emily try and make some moves, right?  No, of course not, we’ve got ANOTHER BLOODY TWIST to work in.  Tree Mail arrives telling the tribe to divide themselves into teams of three.  For once, its not random, with them wanting to make the teams as even challenge-wise as possible.  As such, Drew proposes that each tribe have one of each in the categories of “Strong Guy, Strong Girl, Weakling”.  I’d put this into the category of Drew being a dick, but based on how things end up shaking out, I think Drew put himself into the “weakling” category.  As such, I’m inclined to let it slide as self-deprecating.  

To their credit, our teams do end up fairly even.  Austin, Emily, and Katurah make up one team, Drew, Jake, and Dee another, with Bruce, Kendra, and Julie making up the remaining team.  The real drama comes not from the challenge prowess of the teams, however, but from the content.  The players, not unfairly, suspect these may be their voting groups at Tribal Council, which makes Julie in particular concerned that she’ll go, since she’s with two original Belo, and Bruce has an idol.  As such, Austin lets her hold one to keep her safe.  Can’t really fault this move.  Austin does have two of the things, now his amulet is fully upgraded, and Julie is a decent ally to keep around.  Certainly better than Kendra or Bruce.  

The twist is not, however, that these are the voting groups, merely challenge-running groups.  They play through an obstacle course in three stages, with the only truly interesting stage being the final one.  It’s an endurance challenge where the remaining three hold up disks attached to metal pots (which make a very nice clanging sound throughout) with the tips of their fingers.  You may remember this as the showdown challenge between Aubry and Jason on “Survivor Kaoh Rong”.  Don’t worry if you don’t remember it, however.  Probst doesn’t remember it either.  At least not accurately.  I’ll explain in a bit.  

This, then, is the true twist.  The threesome that fails out of the first leg loses their vote, though they will have a chance to earn it back on a “Journey”.  Honestly, my issue with this twist is not in the execution.  If I were to nitpick, I’d say they should have been informed this is what would happen before dividing into groups, but hey, this is “Survivor”.  You don’t get to know everything in advance.  The fact that you don’t just get screwed based on team, with your actions and challenge ability giving you a chance to earn back your vote, mean I don’t think it’s particularly unfair.  

No, my issue with the twist is an ongoing one for the show, one that dates back to at least “Survivor Game Changers”, when I first talked about it in relation to the frequent tribe swaps that season.  It’s the frequency of these twists that is the real momentum-killer.  See, the good thing about twists is that they can shake up the status quo, preventing things from getting too straightforward or predictable.  The paradox, however, is that you have to let the status BE QUO for a bit!  We JUST had a “lose your vote” twist last episode.  Give us a straightforward vote or two before doing so again!  Give the show a chance to develop WITHOUT one of your twists before throwing another one in.  If we don’t let things settle, then we don’t know what needs to be shaken up, and the show just becomes tough to follow, which I’d argue is worse than formulaic.  

Now, I get why the show does this.  The one thing they fear these days is a straightforward Pagonging.  The best way to prevent that is to throw as much at the wall as possible.  Either someone in the minority gets the power to shake things up, or the majority’s steamroll is so quick as to be nonexistent.  A win-win from productions perspective.  But you sacrifice letting the players play as a result, particularly with no guarantee your twist will work in and of itself.  It’s a risk, but in my view, better a couple of predictable episodes than never letting the players play unhindered.  Plus, you twist could just end up being pointless, as we’ll see tonight.  

Despite being ahead most of the challenge, it’s the trio of Austin, Emily, and Katurah that’s out first, mostly due to back luck in the digging portion of the challenge.  Drew, Dee, and Jake end up out second, leading to another showdown between Bruce and Julie, Kendra being the first to drop out, though after a number of spectacular saves.  Here’s where Probst proves he doesn’t remember “Survivor Kaoh Rong”, or at least is misremembering it.  When discussing this challenge, he says it was “Never won by a man.”  This despite the fact that that LITERALLY the first time this challenge aired it was won by a man.  Jason won this one, not Aubry.  

Now, Probst has done 45 of these by now, and Kaoh Rong was… Good Lord, it was seven years ago.  Point being, it could just be a case of it blending together.  However, I find funnier to think that Probst is not just content with acting like Aubry won the season.  No, now she has to win challenges she didn’t actually win as well!  Even as the head of the “Aubry Lobby”, I think that’s a bit much.  

Anyway, Bruce ekes out a win again, thus squashing the plans of flushing the idol.  While most strategizing has to wait until after our “journey”, both of our threesomes who definitely still have their votes discuss their options.  Dee, Drew and Jake discuss being willing to take out Kendra, Dee leading the charge due to the aforementioned saying of her name.  Julie, Kendra, and Bruce, meanwhile, initially discuss Dee, and kudos to Julie for her acting here.  She plays it off like she’s the bottom of her alliance reluctantly going along anyway, when in reality she’s in pretty tight with her alliance, particularly Dee.  She does, however, shift the talk to voting out Jake, which Bruce of all people is extremely on board with.  Hilariously, both sides think they’ll definitely be able to sway things their way, which will make for a good bit of humor later on.  

Anyway, on to our “Journey”.  It’s honestly kind of lackluster.  Each individual is given a number puzzle to figure out under a time limit.  Do so and regain your vote, fail and it’s really gone.  Straightforward, and I like that it’s a different type of puzzle than we usually see, though I feel like it’d be more fun to me to actually DO than to WATCH.  

Then again, math is kind of intuitive for me, and I’m well-fed and hydrated, so I’d probably have an easier time.  Most of these players struggle a lot.  Katurah just has no clue, though Austin continues to show his hidden depths by just barely beating the buzzer.  It’s actuary Emily, however, who notes how embarrassing it is to fail.  She enters a guess at the last second which naturally ends up being wrong.  She notes how it reflects on her profession, but also notes that she’s not a mental math person.  Let this be a lesson, kids: Don’t JUST rely on technology for your math!  Now, get this woman a spreadsheet, STAT!

Back at camp, everyone says that they lost their vote publicly, with Austin not wanting old Belo to know that old Reba has a clear voting majority.  He does tell Drew, Dee, and Julie however, so another negative in Emily’s corner.  The debate is quickly susses out, as noted before, to be between Jake and Kendra.  Jake for not having a Shot in the Dark plus voting Julie, and Kendra for being erratic/harder to work with, and trying to get votes on Dee.  Seeing what old Belo say, it’s clear as well that old Reba has won the war.  No mention of them working together; they just decide to flee the proverbial burning ship.  Self-fulfilling prophecy there, guys.  

Most of old Reba seem to favor getting out Kendra, with only Julie and Emily disagreeing.  To be fair, I can see the logic for both.  Like I said, Jake voted for Julie, so I can understand her vendetta.  As for Emily?  Well, despite Kendra’s vow of vengeance after Brando’s exit, she and Emily have not been shown to really be against each other, whereas Jake and Emily have basically no relationship.  As such, given that Drew and Austin clearly indicated not wanting to turn on Dee, I could see Emily wanting as many numbers to work with for her as possible.  That said, much as I like those two and understand their position, I do think Kendra is the better move.  Jake is very passive in this game, and from what we’ve seen, is a goat at Final Tribal Council at this point.  Unless Kaleb is VERY bitter at the other two finalists, or Bruce is on the jury and is salty, I don’t see Jake getting any votes.  Kendra, for all her quirks, is still likable, and also trying to strategize.  Not something you want to keep around as the majority.  

The best that can be said for Emily here is that Drew does seem to seriously consider her perspective, and could use Kendra and Bruce’s votes, along with his and Julie’s.  Dee, however, is adamant that Kendra should go, saying that anyone who brings up her name is dead.  Winner quote?  Only time will tell.  

That last Tribal Council would be a tough act to follow, and this one really can’t.  It’s mostly standard talk, though with a few funny moments here and there.  Bruce’s comparison of immunity to a double-edged sword, due to keeping you safe but also increasing your threat level, would have just been your standard sort of line, but Probst decides to throw out some schmuck bait, offering Bruce to relieve himself of the downside by giving up immunity.  Bruce, not being an idiot, shames Probst for “blaspheming”.  Gotta love some of these Bruce quotes.  Kendra talks about getting “meat sweats” from eating the reward rotisserie chicken, her first time eating chicken in 15 years.  Definitely memorable, but more in a “Get the Brain Bleach” way.  And, of course, Dee brings up Pokemon evolution as a metaphor for the game.  Not sure if she’s a fan, or just absorbing what Emily and Drew have likely talked about, but it’s fun to see regardless, and did give me a title for this blog.  

In the end, the sensible choice is made, and Kendra goes out nearly unanimously.  I’m not that sorry to see her go.  She wasn’t a bad character, but Jake’s Boston Accent and utter impotence in the game is just funnier.  Plus, it looked like Kendra wasn’t going to be able to get anything going in the game at this point, so might as well let her exit with dignity.  

This episode honestly had a great start.  Then production got involved.  We had great potential in the plot line of Emily finally working to improve her position, and people getting suspicious of how close Austin and Dee are, but it all got derailed because we had to focus on the twist.  A twist, I might add, that FAILED in taking power away from the majority, leading to a predictable boot anyway!  Once again, production is their own worst enemy, putting in a twist where one was not needed.  Let the players play!  Hopefully next episode, we can actually live up to the potential of an insurrection…

-Matt

Title credit to Jean Storrs.  

Idol Speculation: “Survivor 42” Episode 8: Return of the Lex

You know, of all the players I invoke on a semi-regular basis, Lex van den Berghe of “Survivor Africa” may be the most out-there one.  Now granted, he’s a classic character; hardly the worst person to call out.  But he’s neither someone whose game I despise, and thus bring up as a negative example, or one of my favorite whom I praise at every opportunity.  Granted, I like Lex overall as a character.  Dude is complex, and definitely funny.  Seriously, his commentary on “Survivor All-Stars” is worth a watch if you want to laugh your ass off, if you’ve never done so.  But he doesn’t exactly break my “Top 10 players of all time” list or anything.  He’s maybe in the Top 50, but not much beyond that.  Yet, he gives such specific material to work with, that I can’t help myself.  

Such is the case tonight.  Evidently Lex took some voodoo lessons from Butch, and has made one of Hai, channeling his spirit through the doll so that Hai reacts similarly to how he does at the top of the episode.  Romeo, you see, was on the outs of that last vote, and so took a leaf out of T-Bird’s book (also “Survivor Africa”) and threw a vote on the person he perceived to be in charge, in this case Hai.  Hai, understandably, does not take it well, going around interrogating everyone as to who it was, when Romeo gives a decent denial.  The only real differences are that Hai does not go to quite the extremes that Lex did on Africa, and he’s actually right in who voted for him.  

All that said, props to Romeo for overall playing this well.  Apart from one or two kind of awkward acting moments, does a good job saying the right things to prevent any more flak from falling in him, while at the same time recognizing his position and what needs to be done for his game.  The comparison to T-Bird is 100% a compliment.  And yes, I am still bitter at the fan base for not putting T-Bird on “Survivor Cambodia.”  I voted for her every day; I have the right to say “Ya done goofed.” You put on Monica Padilla (“Survivor Samoa”) when we could have had T-Bird.  

The next morning, we keep going old school, and no surprise, it’s Rocksroy who gets that ball rolling.  He gets frustrated over the larger lack of work ethic in the camp, citing himself, Mike, and Jonathan as the three biggest workers around the camp.  The three meet at the water well, and agree that with Hai and Omar on board, they can make an overall majority to run the game.  Fair enough plan for them, but two problems: One, this is framed as a “Guys Alliance”, which is about as painful as every time a “Women’s Alliance” is brought up, though this has the added negativity of it seeming like the “strong” pick on the “weak”, not to mention making for boring tv.  Two, and perhaps more immediately concerning, Omar and Hai have basically no reason to join such an alliance.  They recognize that they would be on the bottom, and unlikely to immunity their way to the end in order to save themselves.  Thus, they have little incentive to comply with the plan, and both openly mock it in confessional.  What little chance the plan had is further torpedoed by having ROCKSROY, the man who openly admitted that he has a terrible social game, pitch this plan to them.  I suppose this is technically a third “problem” with the plan, but one that was avoidable even with the strategy, unlike the first two.  All this really does is make Rocksroy a target.  Good going, man!

Speaking of targets, it’s time for our challenge, where two people will win immunity, and two will be voted out.  Look, this is normally where I get hyped for them having a double-elimination with all 10 people left voting in one big group, but we all know this won’t be the case.  “Survivor” is committed to their “Split into 2 groups of 5” at the Final 10, and on paper I can understand why.  It is a truth universally acknowledged that Pagongings are boring, or at least create a boring stretch of episodes.  Granted, more recent seasons, due to smaller tribes and sometimes multiple tribe shake-ups, tend to not be straight tribe Pagongings, but rather a supermajority Pagonging the minority, so the point still stands.  Thus, the show hopes that such a shake-up will put the minority in power on one tribe, and/or force the majority to eat each other early.  On paper, this makes sense.  But, after SEVERAL seasons of this, it needs to be acknowledge that it has NEVER worked!  Partly  this is just due to luck, but EVERY SINGLE TIME, the majority just gets, well, the majority on both teams, and it has ALMOST never led to any shake-ups.  Again, I get the temptation, and it was worth a shot.  At some point, however, you need to acknowledge it isn’t working, and try something different.  That is the case with this twist at Final 10.  A worthy attempt, but it has failed.  TRY SOMETHING ELSE!  

Our teams are Hai, Omar, Mike, Romeo, and Rocksroy against Jonathan, Lindsay, Maryanne, Tori, and Drea, playing in the “Pyramid Balance” challenge first seen on “Survivor Caramoan”.  It remains unchanged, save for the waters once again being rough.  Nearly snapping Rocksroy’s neck not being enough, now it needs to throw contestants in the air like it just does not care.  Which it probably doesn’t.  Thus, it becomes less about “Who wants it more?” and more about “Who has the best sea legs?”  Hai quickly wins on his side, but stays in since the overall winner between both teams gets kebabs for their team, as well as the right to go second to Tribal Council.  Jonathan and Lindsay are our combatants on the other side, with Jonathan ultimately winning out, both immunity and the food.  Gotta admit, despite the guy’s challenge prowess, this one surprised me.  Men are traditionally worse at challenges that involve balance, as their center of gravity is higher up (in the shoulders, compared to women’s, which is in the hips), and Jonathan being so top-heavy, I would have thought he would be out early  Good on him proving me wrong, though.  

Hai and his team get sent to Taku beach to strategize.  They talk like it’s a step down from the merge beach, which it may be, but the shelter looks decent enough, all things considered.  It’s not Rupert’s hole in the ground from “Survivor All-Stars”, or the Younger Men’s “Four Fronds on a Tepee” from “Survivor Exile Island”.  Strategy, unsurprisingly, quickly coalesces around Romeo being the one to go home, with even Romeo seeming to accept it, saying he just doesn’t fit in with the machismo around camp.  Fortunately for him, Omar in particular still has a chip on his shoulder about Rocksroy, though he also brings up the fair point that Romeo is a possible ally for him down the line, while Rocksroy is, to put it mildly, inflexible.  We haven’t seen this much reluctance to change the plan since Joe Del Campo (“Survivor Kaoh Rong”).  As such, he, Romeo, and Hai hatch a firm plan against Rocksroy, which is honestly probably the smarter of the two options.  Their analysis of their position in the “Guys Alliance” is correct, so they have no reason to stick to it.  Keeping Romeo around keeps their options open, and while the current overall majority might not be happy with the move, Rocksroy is not so integral or so well-liked that they’ll have hell to pay for making such a move.  

Really, the biggest drawback is that Mike would be left out in this scenario, and we’ve seen how he feels about being left out.  Hai corrects this problem by, well, talking with Mike about the plan.  Mike is unhappy about it, and talks about possibly not doing it, but we all know that’s BS.  Mike will stick with the numbers in the end, as well he should, and Rocksroy is obviously going to be the boot of this group.  

Our other group, however, is a bit more of an interesting story.  Like Romeo, Tori would seem the obvious choice, but also like Romeo, there is incentive for the others to not follow said plan.  Drea’s pile of stuff has grown so large that even Jonathan, whom Lindsay will later describe as “Not very strategic.”, takes notice.  As such, he decides to organize everyone else to blindside her.  Which, much as I want Tori to finally be gone, is a move that makes sense for them all.  Having stuff on your side is one thing, but Drea just has SO MUCH STUFF that it can’t be ignored.  Plus, you still have Maryanne to be your “Stuff Supplier.”

Like with the “Guys Alliance” earlier, however, the flaw in the plan is in the messenger.  Jonathan tells us that he’s trying not to be “That big guy” who just bosses everyone around and acts like he owns the game just because of his strength.  Which is true.  We’ve seen shades of it here and there, but for the most part he’s kept his cool.  Now, whether due to immunity or just dwindling patience, Jonathan snaps, and starts talking down to people in regards to his plans, which rubs Maryanne the wrong way, such that she chats more openly with Tori than perhaps might be advised.  

But wait, there’s more!  It’s not just those who personally annoy him that he’s unreasonable with!  Lindsay, whom we’ve only seen be close to Jonathan at this point, brings up the “Hey, what if Drea plays her idol?” scenario to Jonathan.  She points out, correctly, that Maryanne might go at that point, which would get rid of a lot of their edge at the moment.  As such, splitting between Drea and Tori might be wise at this juncture.  Jonathan takes this reasonable idea, and throws it away entirely, evidently on the basis that he “Doesn’t trust Tori.”  Fine.  Don’t trust Tori.  You can still split the votes!  It’s not like Tori and Drea are going to work together at this point!  Seriously, Jonathan is not as bad as many men in his archetype, but loss of respect points this episode.  

Even though we get two Tribal Councils tonight, it really just feels like one.  The first Tribal Council, with Hai’s group, can pretty much just be “Yadda Yadda’d” away.  Absolutely zero mystery, and not even any fun banter.  When the highlight of your Tribal is Hai commenting on his lack of body fat, you’ve got issues.  Rocksroy does go, and while I’d say it was the smarter move overall, I am sorry to see Rocksroy go.  Granted, keeping Romeo around probably keeps things more interesting strategically, and I hardly dislike the guy, but I just connected with Rocksroy a bit more.  Possibly because his archetype is so much rarer in this age of “Survivor”, but I find him more intriguing than Romeo, despite the simplicity of his strategy.  No disrespect to Romeo meant, though.  He’s awesome as well, and I look forward to seeing his strategy play out moving forward.  

What we lose in intrigue in the first Tribal, however, we make up for in the second.  You see, since Rocksroy was voted out first, he gets to sit in on the jury, along with Chanelle.  Thus, this group KNOWS he was the boot, and they can’t help but notice a pattern developing, even if it’s just a subconscious one.  Yep, two black people are the first two members of the jury, and if blindsides go as planned, it’ll be three in a row.  Fortunately, Drea is quick to inform us this will not be the case, as she will be playing her idol to prevent this.  Honestly can’t blame her.  With all the stuff she has, might as well use some of it, both to lower threat level and buy yourself more time.  Drea then talks about the problems of implicit bias and how it affects people, both in day to day life and on “Survivor”, which at first might seem like unintentional guilt-slinging at the attempt to blindside her, but it’s not.  She was aware of the plan.  It was intentional guilt-slinging.  

Maryanne, also being black, chimes in to talk about how she notices the same issues, and thus will also be playing her idol tonight.  With Drea’s proclamation, can’t really blame her, since she would be a viable alternate target.  Our group whispers to come to a Tori consensus, though why they need to whisper I can’t say, since I would assume, with Maryanne, Drea, and Jonathan immune, Tori would be the logical boot.  Only potential misstep here is that Maryanne says the quiet part out loud, outright saying she’s voting for Tori, but since there’s little that Tori can do about it, it’s a minor thing at best.  And hey, while we have had individual discussions about diversity this season, this is the first time this season we’ve seen a community come together to talk about their lived experience, one of the few things “Survivor 41” had going for it over this season.  Good to see this one can hold its own in that territory as well.  Maryanne and Drea manage to marry emotion and articulation, explaining their points well while also making us, the audience, FEEL their pain.  One of the best discussions I’ve seen about this issue in a long time, including “Survivor 41”

TOO BAD JONATHAN’S HERE!  Just when the conversations winding down, Jonathan HAS to butt in with “Hey, I’m not a racist!”  News flash, bud: If you have to say you’re not racist, YOU’RE MOST LIKELY AT LEAST SLIGHTLY RACIST!  Look, Jonathan may be telling the truth when he says that consciously, race has nothing to do with his targets, but that’s not the issue here.  It could be implicit bias (which is in most people, and something we as a society need to work on), or it could just be coincidence.  Overall, though, the point is that you are stepping on these women’s lived experience, telling them, in effect, that what they see and feel is not true.  I don’t care if you’re hurt or offended by that; that is not your place.  Sit down, let them have their platform, then show through your actions, not your words, that you are not, as an individual racist.  It doesn’t help that after the conversation dies down again that Probst goes BACK to Jonathan for his thoughts, though Jonathan does at least have the grace to apologize, and leave the door open for some discussion.  Maryanne and Drea clarify they don’t hate him, but need to talk about their experience.  Could have gone a lot worse, but MAN did Jonathan not come out of this looking good.  

With all the emotion in the air, Probst smells an opportunity for a drama moment, and offers to let everyone skip the formal vote, and just come to a consensus.  Naturally, that consensus is Tori, and we now see her one recourse: The Shot in the Dark.  Yes, this is the one way Maryanne’s proclamation could backfire.  Fortunately for Maryanne, and us as a viewing audience, Tori continues the trend of the shot being useless, and goes home.  I am THRILLED!  Of the choices available at this Tribal Council, definitely the smarter choice, and while she played better than I would have guessed, her arrogance, coupled with her outside-the-game actions, left her the one person remaining I just didn’t care for.  As such, very happy to see her go.  

A jam-packed episode, but one that overall did pretty well.  They made the most of having one straightforward vote by focussing on the less straightforward vote, and hit those mirror neurons very well with Tribal Council #2.  Granted, time is still an issue, with them packing too much into too short a time frame, but with less people and less “stuff” hopefully the upward trend can continue!

-Matt 

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.  

“Survivor” What-Ifs: Redemption Island

Well, last time we saw how one small change could turn a top-tier season into one that’s just… ok. This time, let’s see if making one small change to a season that is hated can produce the opposite result. Though given that our subject today is “Survivor Redemption Island”, it would be difficult to make things worse.

Welcome back to “‘Survivor’ What Ifs”, where I go back, change one small moment in “Survivor” history, and see the ripple effect it has throughout the season, as well as future seasons. Since we went over the format in the last blog, I’ll skip over a lot of it today, and just get right into the speculating. A quick reminder, though, that this blog assumes that the reader has already seen the season, and does not pull any punches accordingly. More succinctly, there are SPOILERS ahead, so read at your own risk. That said, let’s rewind space-time, and see if we can’t create a better world…

THE IMPACT: The moment most suited to changing “Survivor Redemption Island” seems to me to be at the merge. The Final 12. Specifically, we’re going to change the impact of one Andrea Boehlke on Matt Elrod. Yes, you may recall that Matt was initially out for revenge, before inexplicably swearing his loyalty to the man who had got him voted out before. Unsurprisingly, this led to his immediate exit, and with Andrea now having few options, led to the downfall of the former Zapatera tribe, and the inevitable march to victory of Boston Rob. This is really the last time in the game he could realistically have been challenged, so let’s give him that challenge. Let’s say that Andrea realized Matt would need a bit of watching, and so stuck to him, continually whispering in his ear about the threat that Boston Rob poses. This, in turn, leads to Matt and Andrea sticking with the Zapateras at the merge.

Now, here’s what I think is interesting about this change to the timeline: On a surface level, it changes almost nothing about the episode. Despite this change, in this timeline Matt still goes here. That part was inevitable. What DOES change is the mechanism by which he goes. You see, Andrea sticking so close to Matt has a bit of a cascade effect. Say what you will about Boston Rob, but he’s no dummy. I don’t doubt that he would have noticed how close Andrea was sticking to Matt, and how close the pair of them were to the Zapateras. Also remember that Rob had an idol at this point. Put these two together, coupled with confirmation for Rob that Matt’s against him, and I don’t doubt Rob plays his idol, and plays it correctly. Thus, Matt still goes home, but now Rob has to burn an idol to do so. That, plus the fracturing of Ometepe, makes all the difference.

THE FALLOUT: This is the section that suffers the most from having the change in the timeline set so far back in the season. With my previous blog, I was basically able to go blow-by-blow of how the season would progress. Here, though? With so many immunity challenges, plus new idols to be found, it’s pretty much an impossible task, both from a statistical standpoint and from a blogging one. Instead, I’ll be giving generalities on how the overall season would have gone from this point forward.

The first thing to bear in mind here is that, unlike our timeline where Andrea tried (poorly) to play both sides, this time she is now firmly in with the Zapateras. This sinks her chances at the game, but also gives the Zapateras an edge. While it’s impossible to say who finds Boston Rob’s re-hidden immunity idol, the numbers alone mean someone in the Zapatera alliance probably finds it. Bear in mind, while Rob had more OVERALL experience with “Survivor”, he had only been on one prior season with hidden immunity idols, and then didn’t really go looking for it. Both Ometepe and Zapatera had found one idol each, so they would have had a roughly equal chance of finding it. Given that they have an extra player now, that gives them the edge.

So, with no real recourse left, Ometepe is pretty much doomed, right? This should just be another Pagonging, but the reverse of what we had in our time, right? Not exactly. Remember that part of what made Zapatera the more interesting tribe overall was that, unlike Ometepe, they were a fractious bunch, more given to infighting than Ometepe. They could unite in the face of a common enemy, but tended to cave when there was no enemy left to fight, thus explaining the difference between Zapatera with Russell Hantz versus Zapatera without Russell Hantz. Come the merge, they now have a new common enemy in Boston Rob, and so their game probably becomes about getting him out, along with the other physically strong members of Ometepe. There’s an argument to be made for Rob going on an immunity run, but given that even in our timeline this didn’t happen, I doubt it happens here. So he gets picked off at some point in the early merge, along with Grant for his strength, and Phillip, mostly because he annoys everyone. But then? Oh, then the Zapateros start turning on each other. David probably plays too hard, too fast, and goes home. Mike is also probably a huge target for his strength, and since that’s what the tribe’s been doing post-merge, the pattern probably just keeps on going. What we end up with, then, is an amalgam of the non-threatening Ometepe and Zapatera members duking it out for supremacy. It’s a tough call to say who comes out on top here, but I’m inclined to say the old Ometepe remain the tightest bunch. Ashley, now free from the “buddy system” probably joins with Andrea when she sees the way the wind is blowing, and drags Natalie along with her following the vote out of Boston Rob.

Who, you might ask, comes back from Redemption Island in this scenario? Despite what I said, I’m inclined to say Boston Rob. I don’t think a full immunity run was in him, but dude’s still a beast a challenges, and since all he really had to do was not be last, at least until the final duel, he probably at least makes it there. Even the final duel being endurance, I feel, is not a major obstacle for him. Recall that Rob was pretty good at the endurance challenges on “Survivor All-Stars”, and given how competitive he is, I think he could come back into the game again. That said, I think he probably leaves right afterward as well. Ashley still being in the game at this point, coupled with Rob not eating as well, means he loses immunity. Since he doesn’t have his cult-like sway over the cast at this point, they rightly vote him out at this point, leaving us with the aforementioned probable Ometepe Final 3. Who wins in this timeline? I’m going with Ashley. Andrea burned too many bridges by flipping too early, and even in this timeline, Natalie is still seen as having done nothing. Ashley, meanwhile, took advantage of the fracturous Zapateras while still remaining true to the old Ometepe, thus earning a majority of the votes, and sparing us from the obvious outcome the season built to in our timeline.

THE LEGACY: Sure enough, “Survivor Redemption Island” is probably much better received in this timeline than it is in ours. The most common criticism, and the thing that cements this season’s reputation for me, is that it was just an obvious march to the finish for Boston Rob, and we really didn’t get a chance to learn much about the new players. Here, we get to see the new players demolish old favorites, and while that can be hard to watch sometimes, it does build a stronger overall cast, and paves the way for new legends, cementing their legacies by literally overthrowing the old guard. People in this timeline probably hotly debate whether Andrea was robbed for not having a better social game. People discuss the downfall of the Zapatera the same way they discuss the downfall of Galu, but with better characters. And while I doubt Ashley is a breakout character, she’s well received, and acknowledged as having played a subtle, but sound, game. Think Danni Boatwright of “Survivor Guatemala”.

That said, despite the season being better received, we probably get less overall returnees from the season. While the public as a whole loves the season a lot more, it’s still not probably seen as “top-tier ‘Survivor’” but rather as “Pretty Good ‘Survivor’”. Couple this with Probst’s best friend not winning and I think production is much less warm towards this season. Andrea and Francesca probably come back for “Survivor Caramoan” (the former due to actually good gameplay, the latter due to production REALLY needing a woman of color on the season), but Phillip? Yeah, at best he’s a one-season wonder. We may get a former Zapateran back for “Survivor Cambodia”, but overall, they’re not showing up as much as we think of them as doing. On the flip side, Boston Rob probably gets a fifth chance, because dammit, Probst just can’t stand that he hasn’t won! My guess is we probably see him on “Survivor Game Changers”, where he probably loses yet again.

What really intrigues me, though, is how Redemption Island is received as a twist as a result of this change to the season. Bear in mind, while the “Redemption Island” twist, was never beloved, it was not the main criticism of the season. Rob’s win was. True, I doubt this twist gains love from the fans, but now rather than be a mark of one of the most hated seasons of “Survivor”, it’s not associated with seasons that are considered, at worst, “ok”. Given that the producers refuse to get rid of a twist they like even when the audience practically BEGS them *cough*final-four-fire-making*cough*, you can bet this means Redemption Island sticks around much longer in this timeline. Rather than go away during “Survivor One World”, it’s probably a feature of that season and future seasons as well, thus changing the outcome of all seasons it affects. I think it would have taken someone losing due to Redemption Island who production REALLY wanted to see win for them to put the kibosh on it. Thus, I’d say “Survivor Caramoan” is probably when there’s a real push from production to put the kibosh on it.

Yes, the continued existence of “Redemption Island” as a twist eliminates Cochran’s win on that season, and not just because someone better at challenges than him comes back either. Look, Cochran was WAY better in challenges his second time around, but he was no master, and Redemption Island favoring the strong doesn’t help matters for him. But what really kills Cochran’s chances is an effect we didn’t really see in our timeline: An increased gutsiness in “Survivor” play. We missed out on this due to Redemption Island being so short-lived as a twist, but if it became a regular thing, people would have started to figure out that there was less risk to making a gutsy move. After all, even if it failed, you could still come back in the game anyway. With less risk available, people take on the power players more often, and given how vulnerable Cochran’s alliance was in multiple parts of “Survivor Caramoan”, this probably means one of them succeeds. And this is a problem for the show. Love Cochran or hate Cochran, he was far and away the biggest character of the season. With “Redemption Island” still in play as a twist, at best we get a Brenda win, and at worst, something like a Reynold or Eddie win. This, in turn, infuriates the producers, and spells the end for “Redemption Island”. It probably still sticks around for “Survivor Blood vs. Water”, but like in our timeline, that’s the last we see of it, and it probably isn’t even considered for “Survivor San Juan del Sur”.

In other words, we get a better season, but potentially at the cost of other good seasons, “Survivor Philippines” in particular. Would it be worth it? I leave it up for the reader to decide, but without Phillip Sheppard becoming a major character, I’m all for it regardless.

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this little trip through time! I’ve got one more of these planned, but as always, I’m open to suggestions of changes you’d like to see! Feel free to suggest them in the comments! A quick reminder on the guidelines for submissions of changes to this blog:

One Change Only: This can’t be a whole bunch of things or multiple things going another way to alter the course of a season. This must be one singular event that alters the season in some way. Cascade effects, where one change naturally leads to another, are ok, but they have to be natural and logical. As an example, Shii-Ann not flipping and Chuay Gahn losing the final 10 immunity challenge on “Survivor Thailand” would definitely change things, but those are two independent changes that need to happen, and therefore not for this blog. I should also mention that the change has to be an EVENT, not a play style. Yes, “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” probably goes much differently if Russell Hantz (“Survivor Samoa”) isn’t an asshole to everyone, but apart from that never happening, it’s a change in overall play style, not a single moment. It’s also, as I say, implausible, which leads to my next ground rule…
The Change Must Be Realistic: An unlikely change is ok, but it has to be something that COULD have happened, or it’s not worth writing about. Yes, Fang winning the first challenge on “Survivor Gabon” would drastically change the season. Would it ever happen? No. So there’s no point in talking about it.
The Change Must Have An Impact: By this, I mean the change has to actually alter the season in some significant way. Simply changing up the boot order is not enough. Someone new has to win, the perception of the season has to change, or both. As an example, I originally planned to do a blog on “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”, with a timeline where Candice didn’t flip at the final 9. I thought this could lead to a Heroes Victory. Then I remembered that Russell Hantz plays his idol for himself in that same episode, meaning the flip doesn’t matter, and apart from a slight boot order change, the season as a whole remains untouched. Uninteresting, and therefore not worth talking about.
And there you have it! I’m glad to be back at this, and look forward to presenting you all with new and interesting timelines in the future (no pun intended)!

-Matt

“Survivor” Retrospectives: Worlds Apart

As promised, time once again for the return of “Survivor” Retrospectives, but given the season we have to talk about today, can you really blame me for some reluctance here? I mean, we’ve got to talk about “Survivor Worlds Apart”! Look, I try to give each season a fair shake, and this is hardly the worst of the worst, but it’s pretty bad. Still, it may have some redeeming value, so let’s take a moment and look closely for it.

First, though, a reminder for those who have forgotten during the long hiatus, this blog will spoil the season for you if you haven’t seen it already. For those just interested in my generic, spoiler-free opinion, scroll down to the bottom of the page and read the section labeled “Abstract”. Otherwise, if you’re looking for an in-depth look at the season that contains spoilers, read on, as we begin our dissection with probably the most important element of any season…

CAST

Sometimes I struggle a little bit with who exactly is the big name from the cast, but this is not one of those times. If you’ve literally been nicknamed “Amazing”, both by the players and the fanbase, you’ve got to be the big name out of the season. Yes, we have nowhere else to start but Joe “Joey Amazing” Anglim, the jeweler who made pretty much everyone fall in love. Joe was your standard archetype of the young, strong good at challenges guy who was inoffensive and contributed a lot to the survival aspects of the show. Kids loved watching him compete in challenges, and adults loved how much of a breath of fresh air he was when compared to your average cutthroat “Survivor” contestant. Granted, Worlds Apart is not known for being the most cutthroat of seasons, but the need is felt nonetheless. Sadly, I think Joe’s personableness only carries him so far, and while he’s definitely a nice guy, it’s a poor outlook on the season that he’s seen as a major character. Don’t get me wrong, I get why he’s loved, and he’s loved for legitimate reasons. Really, the problem with Joe is not that he isn’t a good character, but a problem with what season he’s on. Worlds Apart is season 30 for the show, and while impressive, the trouble is you start to see the character archetypes over and over again. We’ve seen the type of player Joe is before, most notably in Ozzy Lusth (“Survivor Cook Islands”). Now, a new character in an old archetype can definitely work, but they need to have some aspect of their personality that really sets them apart. Here’s where that “Inoffensive” bit I mentioned earlier comes back to bite Joe in the butt. He’s a nice guy, but nice guys rarely make a big impact, and as a result, Joe does not manage to stand out amongst his challenge-winning brethren.

Almost as big a character, and arguably a much better representative for the season, would be our eventual winner, Mike Holloway. We’ll get into this more in the “Twist” section, but Mike is best known as the winner who won by actually pulling off a complete immunity run. True, he didn’t win EVERY immunity prior to the end, and there was even a gap where he was forced to use a hidden immunity idol. Still, with everyone gunning for him, his strategy was risky, and therefore his streak legendary. Like Joe, Mike was another archetype we’d seen before, in this case the straight-talking simple man. However, Mike brought a crazy edge to the archetype all his own, throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, and oftentimes getting good results despite the odds. This, for me, is what makes Mike entertaining. He’s not a mastermind; he clearly doesn’t have his strategy planned out that far in advance. But he’s willing to try, and dives in with such gusto, and such little regard for the possible drawbacks, that it makes everything fascinating. It helps a lot that not every plan of his succeeds. If it did, then it would imply that his competitors were idiots. Instead, he had a good mix of success and failure, which showed him as an average guy trying to do what he could to win. Thus, Mike ends up being a relatable, but fun, winner to examine.

Sadly, we now must come to a pair that, while not together in any meaningful way during the game, do go together on the grounds of being the main factors that drag this season down. Those two are Dan Foley and Will Sims. These two, I can fairly safely say, embodied no archetype that we had really seen before, but DID do a great job coming off like complete jerks, to put it mildly. Mostly this centered around belittling fellow contestant Shirin Oskooi (whom we’ll discuss later), but they also made off-color jokes, and worst of all, seemed to have no self-awareness about how they came across. It’s one thing to insult people when you just make jokes about everyone, yourself included, it’s another thing entirely when you think you yourself don’t stink. Now, I know what people are going to say: “The producers manipulated them! There were extenuating circumstances!” While that may be true, that does not excuse them doing those actions. And these two make it FAR. They’re not some annoying characters who get a quick comeuppance. Instead, they’re mean to be MAJOR PLAYERS in the season! And that, there, is the crux of the problem.

On a slightly happier note, we have Carolyn “Mama C” Rivera. Carolyn was the older, cutthroat strategic lady of the season, who brought a fun spin to things by appearing to be unamused at most everything. Sometimes she was genuinely unamused, sometimes that’s just the way her face looks. Either way, it made for a fun bit of game. It would be like any time on “Star Trek” where Spock was surrounded by zany antics, and had to remain straight-faced the entire time. It helped a lot as well that Carolyn added more than a bit to the strategy of the season, and for one known for zany antics rather than cold, calculated strategy, it was a breath of fresh air for the strategy fans among us. If it hasn’t been clear, I LOVE Carolyn. Yeah, I was a bit harsh to her in my blogs at the time, but in my defense, I was REALLY not wild about blogging this season, and quick to find criticism. Carolyn may not make the “Survivor” hall of fame any time soon, but for this season, she’s quite a good character I’m happy to have in the annals of this season.

Ooh boy. Rodney Lavoie Jr. has to come up next, and he’s one of the hardest contestants I’ve ever had to judge for this series. Rodney exists to be comic relief, plain and simple. He spouts one-liners, does impressions, and has many a colorful metaphor at hand for virtually any situation. Comedy is very relative, however, and unfortunately, Rodney’s comedy doesn’t really hit home for me. This in and of itself would not be too bad (and, being objective here, a lot of people seemed to really enjoy it, and even I got a chuckle out of his “damn birthday” bits), were it not for the fact that Rodney kept getting in our proverbial faces. Seriously, when we were trying to make sense of this season, Rodney would always show up to knock everything off-kilter, which got frustrating very quickly. On top of this, Rodney also had that annoying habit of thinking he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and lecturing to the camera about his superiority over his fellow contestants. Again, I can take bad comedy, but have some self-awareness, and don’t be afraid to joke about yourself. So, why is it that I’m conflicted about Rodney? Well, out of the game, he softened a lot. He made jokes about himself, and demonstrated both a humility and a self-awareness that made him retroactively more tolerable. For me, this is a case where the edit REALLY didn’t do a character justice. Out of the game, Rodney is a fairly funny average guy it’d be nice to grab a beer with. In the game, as it was edited for tv, Rodney is an annoying, overconfident distraction who drags further down an already bad season. So, what do I rate, the Rodney I knew at the time, or the Rodney I know post-game (or, at least, claim to know based on interviews and other press)? My only real call is to split the difference, and say that Rodney is not the worst addition to the season, but hardly the main selling point.

That about covers most everyone you’ll hear talked about in this day and age from this season. Some would argue that I should include Hali Ford and Sierra Dawn Thomas in this section, but really, they’re only remembered because they appeared on later season. Granted, Hali had that moment she compared flipping in “Survivor” to the American Revolution, and while a fun moment, one moment does not a character make. As for Sierra… she was tall? Yeah, that’s about all you get out of her this season, so let’s talk about those characters who were big at the time, but have since faded into obscurity.

Top of this list as someone who arguably still gets some play today is our second boot, coconut vendor Vince Sly. Just from that intro, you know he should be someone memorable as one of those wild-and-crazy guys you see on the show every so often. For his part, Vince does a good job in his role. While crazy guy is an easy role to make your own, Vince added a creep factor that made him fascinating to watch. Personal space is really not a concept Vince is good at, and while I’m sure it was much harder to live with, it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch on tv. Additionally, Vince had a lack of self-awareness to add to his fun. I know I’ve said that’s an annoying trait in a character, but Vince’s relatively short time in the game, coupled with him 100% being the butt of the joke here makes it ok. He makes an early alliance with Jenn Brown (oh, we’ll get to her), ostensibly a platonic one, but then becomes OBSESSED about her seeming infatuation with the aforementioned Joe. His exit may have been deserved, but if we were denied this feud for the rest of the game, it really is a shame. I think it really was just that early exit that doomed Mr. Sly to obscurity, even if he is one of the great crazy men of the show.

Following in the footsteps of fun weirdos is Max Dawson, our resident nerd of the season. With his distinctive silhouette (seriously, look at that beard), Max was always going to stand out, but again, how to distinguish himself from the “nerd” archetype? By being incredibly weird of course! Apart from taking his cue from Richard Hatch (“Survivor Borneo”), and walking around naked all of the time, Max seemed to have no understanding of general social niceties, from no knowing when to shut up, to putting his foot in the pot for their drinking water (though I give him a pass on this last point, as he was TOLD to do so by his tribe for a stingray sting). Again, this could easily have been annoying, but with his short time in the game, coupled with his obvious good humor about the whole thing (seriously, the guy is nothing but cheerful the entire time), you can’t help but like Max, even if he is a bit of a helpless goober. Again, I think his relative lack of time in the game kind of doomed him to obscurity, and he certainly wouldn’t be the main draw of any season, but for what he brought, I think he did a good job.

Max’s partner in crime was the aforementioned Shirin, who really I think gets a bum rap these days. Shirin started out just as crazy, if not crazier, than Max. Need I remind you that this was the lady who watched monkey coitus, and then told the rest of her tribe about it in nauseating detail. And initially, Shirin seemed like a less self-aware, less interesting Max. However, what Shirin lacked in initial interest, she made up for in character development. Being spared by Max’s exit, Shirin was able to look at her game and attempt to develop into a much better player. By most metrics, she succeeded. Granted, by the time she did so, she was in the minority alliance, so it was too late to do much of anything, but the effort is there. Sharon upped her social game, talked strategy, and attempted to make big moves. She also gained a lot of sympathy, due to being the target of the aforementioned Dan and Will ire, but then got a great badass moment of denying Will a letter from home as the sole dissent. All this sounds like the making of a fascinating “Survivor” character, so why is she not remembered so much these days? Unfortunately, Shirin would return on the next season, and put simply, would not do so well. For whatever reason, this doomed her in the character department, and makes her forgotten today, which to my mind is a shame. She had a good story, good growth, and I think could be a power player if given another chance.

Now, I’ve been pretty positive on the forgotten players of the season. That ends here with the discussion of our last player in this category, Jenn Brown. Initially, Jenn seemed like a great addition to the cast. Young, athletic, and with a good head on her shoulders, Jenn seemed like a savvy player to root for. And she might have been, IF SHE HAD ANY INTEREST IN PLAYING THE GAME! Oh, but this wasn’t just moral conflict or apathy, no no no! Those might have actually been tolerable. Instead, Jenn had an open disdain for the game, and was not shy about letting other people know about it. This made her preachy and irritating. As fans of the show, we want to see invested people. Anything else is just a waste of a spot. The final nail in the coffin for Jenn is her ultimate (effectively) quit, thus consigning her to the realm of obscurity. For her apathy, good riddance I say!

As to those I think need more love… there really aren’t any. Yeah, I’m normally the first to complain about the fanbase being fickle, but in this case, while some people ended up forgotten despite popularity at the time, and could use more attention, I think the fans were spot-on. Those that deserve to be remembered (for good and for ill) are, and those that aren’t are consigned to obscurity. Good on you, fanbase. That said, the cast for this season still does not hold up well. There are a few good standouts, but in the overall history of “Survivor”, they’re mid-level characters at best. Then, when your discussion of a cast inevitably centered around bulying, you’re not setting a good example, and really dragging your season down.

Score: 3 out of 10.

CHALLENGES

Unlike the cast, I can actually be somewhat positive about the challenges this season. None of them area really the stuff of legend, but here the challenge department started experimenting a little. There weren’t that many repeat challenges this season, which is always a plus, and where we got familiar concepts, we started getting shake-ups to them. A lot of challenges involved choice or some other cerebral aspect in the middle, as opposed to at the end, of the challenge, which makes the challenges stand out in a good way. As I’ll discuss in the “Overall” section, this season had a theme of “Shipwreck”, and they actually did a decent job of incorporating this into challenges. Again, not the stuff of legend, but it helps the season stand out from the competition, which deserves a decent score, at least.

Score: 6 out of 10.

TWISTS

While not immediately apparent from the title of “Worlds Apart”, this season was centered around what’s commonly referred to as the “Collars” twist. This being a three tribe season, the tribes were divided based on their status in life: White Collar, Blue Collar, or No Collar, for those who didn’t fit neatly into either category. With the reusing of locations, I get the need to theme your seasons, but this is the first one that felt really forced. Something like Brains Brawn and Beauty makes sense. It’s a logical division people might subconsciously think about throughout their day. But collars? Yeah, not exactly the most natural of divisions. However, all that could be forgiven if the twist was unobtrusive, and the cast interesting. Sadly, as I’ve discussed, the cast was sub-par, and we seemed unable to go an episode without Probst forcing the idea of “collars” into the discussion somehow. We tried to forget, but he would not allow it. Hence, this section starts out on a low note.

Things don’t get much better with a “leader” twist. Right out of the gate, each team has to pick a leader, who then picks a co-leader. The purpose of these leaders is not immediately apparent, but after arriving at camp, it transpires that these leaders must go off and make a choice: either get more rice for the tribe, or a clue to an idol. And this would be kind of a fascinating twist… FOR ONE PERSON! I get the need to change things up, and a adding a co-leader certainly fulfills that requirement, but it also disincentives making any choice but taking the rice. An idol clue for one person is a big advantage, possibly work screwing the tribe over for. Between two people? Not so much. Sure, So and Joaquin on Masaya (the “White Collar” tribe) did do it regardless, but since both left before the merge, I’m going to say it was not a smart idea.

Moving on to the realm of GOOD ideas, we have our first immunity challenge, which is a primary example of the “choices” I was talking about earlier. At first glimpse, this is your standard “obstacle course with a puzzle at the end” challenge we’ve seen a bunch before, but with some twists. The challenge requires a ladder, which must be freed in one of two ways: either undo a bunch of knots, or unlock three locks. The former is consistent, but takes a decent amount of time. If you’re lucky, the latter might not take much time, but could also take an inordinate amount of time. It’s the latter choice, however, that’s the really great one, in my opinion. Rather than one puzzle, each tribe has a choice of three. Each puzzle has a different number of pieces, but the fewer pieces there are, the more obscure the puzzle gets. For all my kvetching, this is a great way to start off the season, getting us insight into how the teams work together, and spicing up an otherwise bog-standard challenge.

Our first player-induced twist comes with an episode two blindside. This is a Nagarote (the “No Collar” tribe) tribal council, and this tribe had been divided between two threesomes. There was the “Normal” threesome of Joe, Jenn, and Hali, against the “Weird” threesome of Will, Vince, and Nina. This in and of itself makes for an intense Tribal Council, but adding in Vince to the mix only makes things crazier. A split vote plan gave the “weird” threesome a chance to take control, but paranoia about Will’s challenge ability (he’s not the greatest) made him rethink things, leading to the aforementioned blindside of Vince. While definitely a loss, it was a very entertaining Tribal Council.

Not much else happens until the tail end of episode four, when we get a tribe swap. If you think they’re going to do it in a new and interesting way well then, you don’t know modern “Survivor”. Yeah, it’s just randomly done, with the new Nagarote getting screwed in terms of challenge ability, because we’ve never seen a situation like that before! At least they brought interesting dynamics. Unlike the new Escameca, where original tribe members had a clear majority, Nagarote was a 3-3-1 split between the old Masaya and the old Nagarote, with Kelly being caught in the middle as the one. Unsurprisingly, she was courted by both sides, but there was more intrigue than just that. Rather than the sides being solid, Carolyn was sick of dealing with Max and Shirin (who went to the new tribe with her), and thus Max was blindsided. Not the most exciting defeat ever, but better than a normal “Which side will they go to?” question.

Adding further interest, Nagarote overcame their relative weakness to win the next two challenges! Granted, the immunity challenge was thrown by Mike to make sure Kelly stuck around, but still, a fun watch. This culminated in the blindside of Joaquin, in a power grab by Mike. Joaquin was voted out over the more athletic Joe, due to the former developing a relationship with Rodney, which Mike saw as a threat. Again, an intriguing episode, and one that would have consequences down the road. Don’t expect this kind of competence much, though, it’s not coming again.

And so we come to the merge. Now, as merges go, this was decently exciting. Some good inter-alliance play, but really, with Joe around, you knew whatever alliance he was in would be targeted by everyone else, thus putting the former Nagarote (save Will, but including Shirin) on the outs. However a well-timed idol play by Jenn saved her, and ended up eliminating Kelly. Sorry to see her go, since she was a big part of the strategy of the season, but it at least temporarily stopped the season from being predictable. After this, it would be normal vote after normal vote. There would be some drama about Jenn quitting, but since she didn’t, it was mostly just a straight Pagonging of the alliance with the strong guy in it.

I say “mostly” because the auction did come with some excitement this season. First, there was the new twist: Will bought the first mystery item, which turned out to be a big mistake, as said item eliminated him from the auction entirely. He would get a secret stash of food , which does shake up the auction bit, but we’ll talk about that in a minute. More important is what happened with the family letters and advantages at the auction. Carolyn, Dan, and Mike all agreed to pay for the letters from home, keeping them at the same level for the future advantage. Mike, however, went last, and attempted to reneg on the deal. I like the gustiness of this move, and fallout was well deserved. Mike got read the riot act from everyone else, and then made the particularly dumb move on caving in. Now, not only did everyone still hate him, but he had no advantage to show for it. The three had to draw rocks for it, with Dan getting the advantage. While definitely fun from a chaos perspective, it was tinged with the negativity that, as I’ll discuss, so affects this season.

And what was this advantage everyone was bidding on? An unexpected extra vote! Yes, for the first time, one could choose to vote twice at Tribal Council. A decently powerful twist, and one well worth implementing, though I’d say later seasons would do it better. As a prototype, though, it’s all right. Shame it had to go to Dan, though.

So, let’s talk about Will’s secret stash. Correctly realizing that it would be difficult to keep hidden, Will shared the stash with the others. Shirin made the unfounded, but not unreasonable, accusation that Will had hidden some of the stash for himself. If Will had simply argued back this would barely have been worth mentioning. But no, Will instead has to make everything personal. See what I mean about the ugliness of this season? On the plus side, this did lead to a badass moment for Shirin. Will, upset at not getting to bid for his family letter, asked to sit out the immunity challenge for it. Prost agreed, but only on the condition that the rest of the tribe agree as well. Shirin stood up and effectively said no. Not malicious, but a good bit of empowerment.

The Pagonging continues until only Mike is left on the outs. This is where Mike’s streak starts up, beginning with an idol play that blindsides Tyler. Tyler was a good strategist, but never really relevant to the season, so this is not a bad start to Mike’s reign of terror. At this point it’s a downward slope to Mike’s win, but we do get some shake-ups here and there. In the penultimate episode, Dan uses his votes to try and save himself against a possible coup. In response, Carolyn plays her idol, thus causing the very coup that Dan feared. Then there’s the fact that Mike doesn’t just want to win, he wants those he perceives as having betrayed him (Rodney and Sierra) to suffer, manipulating things to make sure they exit the game. This did cause some good alliance shifts, but with such a foregone conclusion, it’s basically one blip of niceness over the course of a boring conclusion.

On paper, Worlds Apart sounds better than it actually is. True, there’s a lot of Pagonging going on, as well as a disdain for actual strategists. However, all that could be forgiven in the cast was pleasant to each other. But they’re not. They just go on being jerks to one another, and it just ruins the otherwise good points of this section. I still stand by those challenge twists, though.

Score: 4 out of 10.

OVERALL

Despite not taking place in the South Pacific, Worlds Apart somehow managed to have the obstacle of “Generic South Pacific Island” going against it. Impressive enough in and of itself, but more impressive is how the season triumphs in its adversity. You see, rather than the plastic look of a lot of more recent seasons, Worlds Apart really went in for the hand-made look. They even got it into the challenges! One particularly memorable one had contestants using machetes as carrying platforms. That’s both clever, and impressive! All this is undone, however, by the merge tribe name. “Merica”? Really? You couldn’t come up with anything better?

Sadly, this is where the praise ends. Worlds Apart was not doomed in concept, but it needed a REALLY strong cast to pull through. What we got was a bunch of idiots who didn’t care about the game looking down on those who do. When your audience is mostly made up of hardcore gamers, this PROBABLY isn’t the look you’re going for. On top of that, everything felt SUPER personal this season. This was a cast unafraid to go on the personal attack, and it really dragged everything down. If that wasn’t there, I could look back on the season with apathy, maybe a little respect. Instead, all I see is disgust, and that’s really the biggest problem of this season.

Score: 14 out of 40.

ABSTRACT

Worlds Apart is just simply an unpleasant season. Maybe if you’re someone who really likes watching interpersonal fights, this season’s for you. Otherwise, stay away. The only thing I could say to recommend this season is that it does get a fair number of returnees, but since they’re all pretty much blank slates, it’s hardly necessary to understand future seasons.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor Ghost Island” Episode 10: Lavita Loca

Frankly, this title is not clever. That is because this episode is not clever. Granted, this episode is more clever than this title, but that’s largely because most everything is cleverer than this title. Much like how this episode is more tense than last episode, but only because last episode set such a low bar. Ok, now this introduction is getting confused. Point being, this episode is a repeat of last episode, just done slightly better.

Speaking of repeating things from last episode…

MATT’S MESS-UP!

Three in a row! Six more, and I get a free milkshake! Actually, this mess-up pertains not so much to last episode, but to my commentary on hopes for this episode. In my praising of the double Tribal Council, I cited it having been gone for a while as a factor in my enjoyment. Specifically, I stated that this twist had not been seen since “Survivor Redemption Island”. In fact, I was slightly off, as this twist was last used on “Survivor South Pacific” one season later. Now, this still does not defeat my point here, but it does make me lose some cred as a “Survivor” nerd. However, as those two seasons are considered by many to be part of the worst four-season run the show ever had, I think I can be forgiven for my encyclopedic knowledge failing me this time around.

As one would expect from a blindside, there’s fallout from it, but not the fallout one usually sees on “Survivor”. Rather than questioning or screaming, there are instead hugs and kisses. Domenick is very happy that Laurel gave him the correct intelligence. He credits her with saving him, despite the fact that he was never a target, but whatever, one big happy family. Laurel, for her part, returns the love, noting once again that Domenick and Wendell have become her “Ride or Dies”, thereby sucking what little dramatic tension was left out of this season. What’s that? You say there’s still a couple of spots left? Don’t worry, the ending of this episode will take care of that.

The next morning, Wendell and Domenick talk about how close allies they are. Why, they even make goo-goo eyes at each other. Not since Rodney and Joaquin on “Survivor Worlds Apart” has there been such a bromance. Only this one ISN’T made up of douchebags, so it’s much more fun to watch. Wendell then takes the time to spell out the alliance, noting that he and Domenick are riding the “Naviti Strong” train to weed out their competition, while having the sub-alliance with Laurel and Donathan, allowing them to take it all. To their credit, as I’ll come back to later, they HAVE done a good job of hiding the alliance. People like Kellyn are definitely AWARE that Laurel is working with them, but they clearly have no idea how deep. Where Domenick and Wendell differ, however, is in how they feel about each other. Wendell goes what we might call the “Rupert Route” (so named for Rupert Boneham of “Survivor Pearl Islands”), and says he’s with Domenick to the end, and will not vote him out. Domenick, however, while he wants to work with Wendell, admits that he’d cut him loose, should need dictate. Wow, even for a season with weak misdirection like this, that’s pretty lame. I’m sure some people will say “It’s the end of the Domenick/Wendell alliance!”, and it’s definitely concerning for Wendell that Domenick doesn’t quite share his feelings. However, it’s pretty clear that Domenick meant this in a “Him or me” type scenario, not that their alliance was breaking down. No, after tonight, there’s pretty much no way that happens.

This talk does segway into more idol hunting from Domenick, and it’s not too long before he finds a suspicious looking coconut. Inside he finds a fake idol, but not the one he made. Instead, he finds the one made by David Wright on “Survivor Millennials vs. Gen-X”, which I have to say looks much more authentic with the hot pink paint having faded somewhat. As indicated above, though, this idol has NOT gained power, and is instead just a fake for Domenick to use to fool somebody. I both love and hate this. I do love the fact that this plays with our expectations. The note sounds similar to real idols, and this is the first time that production has planted a fake idol. On the other hand, Domenick’s shown himself to be not so bad at the “Fake Idol” game himself, and thus this all feels kind of pointless. There are far fewer ways a fake idol can impact the game, and all this really lends us is possible future Domenick scheming. We could have been building relationships, or coming up with convincing misdirection, but nope, gotta find that fake idol!

As one would expect with a double Tribal Council, we cut immediately to challenge time! We do have yet ANOTHER endurance challenge, but this one at least is original. Rather than balancing something or pushing up against something, tribe members pul up on a bar to keep a ball against a pole. Last two people standing win immunity at the upcoming double Tribal Council. Not the worst challenge, and I get why they did it here, but again, I could use some variety.

So, how will we divide up who gets immunity? Will it be a gender-divided contest yet again, or will we finally get to see everyone duke it out in an all-out brawl? Unfortunately, we get neither, and my disappointment with this twist comes to fruition. It is NOT taking its cue from the double Tribal Council or “Survivor South Pacific” gone by, but rather from the merge Tribal Council of “Survivor Fiji”, infamously the WORST Tribal Council the show has ever had the misfortune to have. Players will be randomly divided into two teams of five, with each individual five some going to Tribal Council with one person immune. To make things SLIGHTLY more interesting, the team that wins outright gets to go to Tribal Council second, both getting an early peek at who the other team voted out, and getting their bootee extra prize money. Whoop dee do. SO much better than a straight-up double Tribal Council.

Now, before I go further, let me state that this twist is not AS bad as the one in “Survivor Fiji”, for two key reasons. One, it’s coming later in the merge, so alliances have had more time to form, thus making things less of a crapshoot. For another, talking pre-Tribal Council is allowed, thus preventing Probst from engaging in a cheep line of questioning. I can also understand WHY production would want to do this. “Naviti Strong”, and the relative dominance of the Domenick/Wendell alliance has been sucking the life out of this season, as I indicated at the top of this blog, and dividing up the merged tribe means the possibility of a shake-up, even if only for one vote. But the fact that so much of it comes down to luck still bothers me. I know that “Survivor” involves luck, more than most people are willing to admit, but this just seems like a bit too much this late in the game. Plus, the twist doesn’t even work in that regard! One team has Domenick, Wendell, Laurel, Kellyn, and Michael on it, while the other has Jenna, Donathan, Angela, Chelsea, and Sebastian on it, meaning the original Naviti STILL has the numbers, not matter how you slice it. So all this does is slightly speed up the Pagonging. Granted, that’s hardly a BAD thing, but not enough for this lopsided twist, especially when a straight double Tribal Council would have worked so much better.

Ok, ok, calm down. There’s still a chance for this to work out well. If Michael wins immunity, the Domenick/Wendell alliance will have to eat each other early, making for some great drama. What’s that? Michael’s out super early in this challenge? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So much for that!

As if this challenge couldn’t be any more anticlimactic, no one exciting wins on the other team either. Chelsea wins again, and once again is rewarded with exactly ZERO confessionals. She must be so pissed at production right now. It comes down to a friendly rivalry between Domenick and Wendell once again, with some good trash-talking between the pair. Domenick ultimately pulls out the win. It changes nothing, but good for him.

Back at camp, we discuss Michael’s options, as Domenick has given the order that Michael is to be the next to go. Frankly, Michael’s options are few. His best hope is to get the idol that Donathan foolishly found with him around. True to my dire warning from earlier, Donathan refuses to give Michael his idol, and as well he should. Michael is tough competition, and never seen as a super-close ally for Donathan. Playing an idol on someone else is risky at best, and playing it for someone you have only the most tenuous of alliances with? Really not worth it. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that Donathan looks like a jerk for not having over the idol, and can pretty much guarantee himself a lost jury vote. Michael’s backup plan is to simply FAKE that he has an idol, and hope that his paranoia will infect the rest of the alliance and save him. Kind of a flimsy plan, but given how solid this alliance has been so far, I can’t say I fault him for going this route. And I’ll give him credit, he’s quite a good actor. He neither over or underplays it, but does pull off the convincing look of a guy who has an idol. It’s no wonder some people believe him later.

Michael first floats his idol lie to Kellyn, which initially struck me as a poor decision. After all, even if you convince Kellyn, it’s unlikely that Laurel, Wendell, and Domenick will turn on each other, and if they think you’re voting Kellyn, worst case scenario she goes home, and they stay loyal. However, Michael’s wisdom is soon understood, as it turns out that while Kellyn may not have the most power, she DOES have the most paranoia. She falls for the acting job hook, line, and sinker, and thus floats the prospect of eliminating Laurel to Domenick. Domenick is his usual, diplomatic self, and flat out tells her that no, Michael doesn’t have an idol, despite very little evidence. To be fair, Domenick finding the fake idol might indicate that there is no real idol re-hidden, but that’s flimsy evidence at best, and as Domenick doesn’t share his evidence with Kellyn, he just comes off as crazy. More sympathetic is Wendell, who tips a hat to Michael’s acting ability and admits that Kellyn may have reason to be concerned. Showing of HIS acting chops, Wendell subtly implies that he could vote for Laurel to Kellyn. Privately, however, he wants Laurel safe, and like any good ally, warns her of the impending votes. Naturally, this makes Laurel scared, since, to emphasize the point yet again, Michael has done quite a good acting job in this situation. Seeking reassurance, Laurel asks that the vote switch to Kellyn, which might not be a bad plan. The only thing that could potentially undo the Domenick/Wendell alliance (apart from a defection by Laurel, which seems less and less likely with each passing episode), is Kellyn getting off the “Naviti Strong” train, and using that enormous brain of hers. In that sense, she’s arguably more of a threat than Michael. Wendell, in confessional, still wants to stick with the plan, and even if Wendell DOES think Michael has an idol, it’s still a smart more. Worst case scenario, you’re probably not going home, and even if you thought that, you have an idol in your pocket. Laurel may not be too happy, but she’s one vote on the jury, and you can explain your plausible deniability on Michael’s idol. And, since we as the audience know Michael has no idol, there’s really next to zero risk.

What COULD put Laurel at risk is Kellyn’s extra vote. Yeah, remember that? Neither did I. You know you’ve got too many advantages in a game when you can’t keep track of them all. Kellyn intends to use it tonight to pile an extra vote on Laurel, which makes sense. If Michael’s immune, she’s a likely target, and so having one extra safety vote for someone who’s not you is a smarter play. Thus, Laurel takes her concern over to the other group of five, who are having their own strategic kerfluffle.

This kerfluffle, however, is simpler. With neither Sebastian, Chelsea, nor Angela being the great strategic minds of our time, they quickly agree that Jenna has to go, using Donathan as a decoy. A smart plan, but I guess that means that the “Sebastian/Jenna Romance” thing was all for naught. Jenna, not giving up, angles for Donathan’s idol, which he’s tempted to give over. I understand the temptation here a bit more than I do at Michael’s request, since Jenna is closer to Donathan, and it would be a resume-builder, but even so, it seems like an unnecessary risk for someone not in your core alliance. The talk does get Donathan slightly spooked, and so he and Laurel go off to confer in the Spooky Shack… I mean, the jungle. Laurel is truly concerned that she’s in danger and so Donathan considers giving HER his idol, something that I could actually get behind. If Donathan gives Jenna his idol, it’s possible HE’S in danger. Giving Laurel his idol still puts him in danger, but no more than not playing it at all, and helps save someone who’s ACTUALLY a close ally of his. But no, Donathan acts like he’s going to do the stupid thing and give it to Jenna, citing wanting to save his friends to “reverse the curse”. Personally, I don’t buy it. Donathan’s no strategic mastermind, but he’s not an idiot, and saving Jenna would gain him so little, I personally don’t see it happening.

Still, I’ll give the episode this: there’s at least SOME credible tension at both Tribal Councils. Will Donathan do a stupid and play an idol that votes himself out? Will Wendell protect Laurel and all costs, swinging the vote towards Kellyn? Both more plausible scenarios that save this episode from being awful, but again, comparing it to the previous episode, that’s not saying much.

Our first Tribal also sees us without our good Tribal Council talkers, and is thus quite dull. As such, let us skip ahead to the only interesting part of this: whether or not Donathan will do a stupid. At first it seems like he won’t, and then he stops Jeff Probst. Fortunately even Donathan is not stupid enough to vote himself out, and does play his idol, but on himself. Frankly, this is a move I can’t fault too much. While Donathan clearly wasn’t going home from our perspective, there was risk from his. All his main allies were on the other team, and given the whole Jenna/Sebastian romance, there’s a chance he could be axed unexpectedly. Whether or not this reverses the curse is unclear, since Donathan did play the idol and negate votes, even though he didn’t need to. The point is that Jenna goes home, and I’m not at all sorry. Name one thing that Jenna did on this season, besides romance Sebastian. I’ll wait. Yeah, she was kind of a non-entity this season, and probably to be the forgotten cast member this time around. I’m sure some would argue that Chelsea should get this honor, but oddly for me, the fact that we’ve seen so little of Chelsea makes her more notorious than Jenna. It’s sort of like Purple Kelly on “Survivor Nicaragua”. Yes, she did nothing, but she did SO little she’s actually more memorable than the people who actually did stuff. Jenna, you seem perfectly nice, but on “Survivor”, you’re a non-entity.

That being said, I call bullshit on Jenna not getting final words aired. However much of a non-entity you may have been on a season, everyone deserves at least that much respect, and it’s not like there was no way to record them after the second Tribal Council. Again, bullshit.

Since all the good show-biz people were in the latter team, their Tribal Council is much more entertaining. Granted, we start off on an awkward note, with Kellyn making comments about how attractive Michael is. Not saying that Michael isn’t attractive, far from it. However, even with Michael’s lying about his age, Kellyn believes she is still a good TEN YEARS OLDER than he is. A little creepy, if you ask me.

I’ve been giving Michael all the acting props, but I should be giving plenty to Laurel as well. She can amass laurels, if you will. The lady KNOWS she’s in with Naviti at this point, but does SUCH a good job of acting like a Malolo with nowhere to go that even I was convinced of it for a minute, and I know where her loyalties lie! You go, girl!

There’s also some good whispering from Wendell and Domenick to up the tension, though I do wish we found out what they were talking about. Still, I do want to highlight something Wendell did this episode. It was commented on “Inside Survivor” that Wendell was playing to the jury, being about the only person to directly address them, and in a diplomatic manner, no less. Since this got pointed out, I’ve been watching for him to do it again, and he did it tonight. He acknowledged the threat of an idol knocking out an “innocent bystander” indicating Libby in this regard, and thus hopefully indicating to her that he sympathizes. There’s that social game I know and love! That said, I’m not sure how well it worked in this instance. Libby seemed more offended at being called an “innocent bystander” than flattered at being acknowledged.

We have a pretty tense vote, where Kellyn does player her extra vote, as she should. I’ll also give her credit that she does a damn good job of hiding said vote, such that no one knows who played it, which could make for some good chaos next episode. This play, however, results in a tie, with everyone save the immune Domenick receiving votes (Michael voted for Wendell, Laurel voted for Kellyn, Kellyn’s two votes went for Laurel, and Wendell and Domenick both went for Michael). This removes all tension, as Michael rightly goes home on a revote. I can’t say I’m sorry to see him go. While I did grow to like the guy, and he was way smarter than I gave him credit for, his storyline was just getting too repetitive, and this season has too much of that as-is. Wouldn’t mind seeing him back at some point though.

Everyone this episode, I would argue, made the correct moves given the information they had to go on. While this keeps me sane, it also makes for an odd episode. I can’t outright dislike it, as we DID have some good misdirection, but again, for this season, that’s not saying much, and this ultimately cements Domenick, Wendell, Laurel, and Donathan as the final four in case they weren’t already. With no sign that Laurel and Donathan will flip anytime soon, and only eight people left, even assuming that Kellyn rallys Chelsea, Sebastian, and Angela to her side, it’s still 4v4. When that happens, it comes down to idols and advantages. Wouldn’t you know it, but all of those are now in the pockets of Domenick and Wendell after tonight.

Think I’m just blowing smoke? Here, let me predict right here, right now, how the rest of this season will go. Kellyn is gone next episode. She’s the only real strategic left to the Domenick/Wendell alliance, and with her paranoia getting the best of her, they will be able to convince Chelsea, Sebastian, and Angela that she’s too unstable. This gives the Domenick/Wendell alliance complete control for the next few votes. Chelsea goes next, having won at least two immunities at this point, and being Kellyn’s lieutenant. After that they’ll take out Angela, as she’s smarter than Sebastian and has probably won more immunities. Sebastian will lose on a puzzle and be voted out, bringing us to the final four, where things get more interesting. Here’s where the season gets less predictable, and where my enjoyment will subsequently perk up again. My guess is either Domenick or Wendell wins immunity, and keeps the other safe. Laurel and Donathan make fire, with Donathan most likely losing, and thus giving us one of the more competitive final three’s I’ll have seen. Then it will be interesting, but until then, a slog.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor HvHvH” Episode 9: Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

Ok, episode, I’ll grant you that your DELIVERY is much improved from your last outing, but that doesn’t change the fact that you have yet to DELIVER! Normally I wouldn’t mind so much, but we’re now NINE episodes in, and this season has yet to stand out. Oh, this Tribal Council TRIED, certainly, but the fact remains that all that great buildup lead only to a thrilling anticlimax. Was it worth the journey? Let us move on to find out.

We start off the morning after Desi’s depressing departure to find that Dr. Mike is doing what pretty much everyone assumed he would. Consider the fact that the former Healers are now effectively dead in the water. We’ve got a fairly ironclad alliance against people who haven’t been to Tribal Council all that much, and thus haven’t tested their bonds as much. Add onto that the fact that Dr. Mike has allies in the dominant alliance, and the fact that he was never that close to his original tribe to begin with, and there’s really no reason for Dr. Mike to stick with them. As such, he starts throwing them under the bus, both subtly and unsubtly, but for the moment the dominant alliance seems happy.

Dr. Mike may not have as many allies as he thinks, however. Lauren takes time out to brag with Ben about how well her plan went off last night. This brings me to the point that these people must be IDIOTS considering that 10 votes were read with 11 people left, meaning that SOMEONE should have realized something was up. But no! No one mentions anything, or at least doesn’t care! I know one’s intellectual faculties probably diminish with a lack of food, but this is insane. What Lauren says that’s damning to Dr. Mike here is that Ben is her closest ally. From what previous episodes had shown us, it seem like Ben was Lauren’s closest ally in terms of the alliance, but that Dr. Mike was closest overall, hence his in to the current dominant alliance. Now, however, Ben seems to be Lauren’s number one. The pair laugh at how well it went off, which admittedly they do deserve.

Ryan, meanwhile, is forging bonds of his own, noting to Devon that he has an idol in his pants. While I’m normally a fan of the “Keep the idol to yourself” school of thought, I have to admit, I can’t really criticize Ryan here. While his current alliance is good for now, he has to prepare for the inevitable break-up between them. Keeping a close ally like Devon is therefore essential, and sharing the secret of an idol strengthens that bond. Plus, Devon has proven himself very trustworthy so far, so there’s little risk. Now, if Ryan were to share that secret with anyone ELSE, he’d probably be making a very bad move, but there’s no way that would happen, would there?

There’s really no point in talking about this reward challenge. My thoughts on team challenges post-merge are well documented at this point, and nothing about this challenge stands out, aside from the ladder element. Hell, it’s basically the same challenge as last episode, only with a diving element and shooting baskets instead of hitting targets. The team of Cole, Joe, Dr. Mike, JP, and Chrissy win a meal on a yacht, which is also standard fare. Chrissy admits to being upset that she’s not with the people she’s close to, which is understandable, but takes comfort in the fact that she can “control the conversation”. Oh Chrissy. You should know by now that when Joe is around, the word “control” does not apply. To his credit, though, Joe is both subdued and actually pretty funny, cutting through a giant chocolate cake looking for a clue. Failing to find one, he fake reads off a clue that the fifth idol is under the yacht, which is funny in and of that it seems just realistic enough to have that “gotcha” feeling. He looks under other things as well, notably beanbags, but fails to find anything of note. The yacht also passes by their beach, just to rub it in the noses of the losers. Said losers moon the yacht, which is fair.

Joe manages to have two scenes in a row in which he is A: funny, and B: not completely horrible at the game. Recognizing that people last episode probably dug under the flag for a reason, Joe tries digging under the flag, just in case. He doesn’t find anything, but I did enjoy his comment about how it’s always when he’s about to give up that he finds things.

Dr. Mike, unfortunately, is not having such a good scene. Trying yet again to get integrated into the majority, Dr. Mike initiates conversation. Unfortunately his attempt is incredibly forced, with his introduction basically being “Oh, that wacky Joe!” Even if his delivery had been perfect (spoiler alert: it wasn’t), Joe is not someone people like Chrissy and Ashley are happy to talk about, much less to. Driving this point home, Joe comes up to talk with them, which is good for Dr. Mike, because it takes all of the focus off of how awkward he is and puts it on how awful Joe is. He’s basically back to his chaos schtick, calling out Ashley as a goat (a not entirely unjustified charge, but an exaggeration to say the least), and being generally belligerent. I’m not saying that trying to shake up the majority is bad, but I am saying that his way of going about it is. Talking over people and not really leaving room for counterargument is not the way to win hearts and minds. It gets so bad that Chrissy outright gets up and leaves. Hey Joe! When your tactics don’t work, TRY SOMETHING NEW!

So, remember how I said Ryan telling other people would make him a big idiot? Guess what happens! Ryan informs Ben of the idol in his pants, which does admittedly have some benefits. Ben was one of two swing votes, so giving him secrets to keep him close might not be a bad idea. However, a secret like an idol is likely to push him away, given how much Ben has been in favor of idol flushing this season, and how he has no real bond with Ryan. Ryan claims that “Truth is power.” on “Survivor”, but I refer you back to my comments regarding Cole a couple of episodes ago. On “Survivor”, knowledge is power. The more people have your knowledge, the less powerful it is, and by extension the less powerful you are. Granted, Ryan doesn’t go full Cole and tell EVERYBODY, but the idiocy still remains.

Case in point, Ben decides HE needs to use this information to bond with someone. Bad enough for Ryan since more people would know his secret, but Ben chooses to inform DEVON of this. On the surface, it doesn’t seem too bad. Devon does a pretty good job acting like this is the first he’s heard of this, and Ryan hasn’t lost everything. However, Devon then blows his cover, and he and Ben figure out that Ryan trusted them both individually, making them both feel a little betrayed, and putting Ben on alert. Way to go, Ryan.

While our reward challenge was literally nothing to write about, our immunity challenge is much more fun. True, it’s yet another endurance challenge, but it contains a new, as Probst puts it, “‘Survivor’ Torture Device”. Everyone squats with an apparatus supported on their shoulders. Balanced at the end of this apparatus is a pot of water, suspended over a fire. Dip too low, a flag pops up. Go too high, the pot tips, and the fire goes out. Either way, you’re out. Basically what you’ve got is your standard challenge with that nice little “Survivor” touch that makes it work a bit better. Not much has changed, but somehow adding that fire (and fire going out) is a pretty cool touch that turns what could have been just another challenge into something at least semi-memorable.

As you’d expect, Probst talks a lot about squatting in this challenge. Somewhere in Cincinnati, Lillian Morris (“Survivor Pearl Islands”) sits back and smirks, as memories of kicking Jonny Fairplay’s ass come swimming back. One other benefit to this challenge is that they do a pretty good job of faking us out. Chrissy’s form gets complimented early, making it seem like she’s set up for victory. Even other people fall out as a result, as Ashley’s comments distract both Devon and Joe. Ashley comments on her power to Dr. Mike, which might have to do with his proximity, but lends credence to the idea that Dr. Mike is getting in with the majority. But no, Chrissy drops out. Then we get some determined confessionals from Ryan, talking about just how awesome it is to be on “Survivor” Surely Ryan is our victor, then? But no, Ryan falls out as well. Well, Cole got that reward, and is trying to make sure that he stays alive. Maybe this will continue his story arc? No, he falls out pretty much out of nowhere, giving Lauren the victory. Good for her, and good for the show for providing so many convincing fake-outs.

As with last episode, we can’t really pretend that one of the Healers isn’t going, so we need to up the drama with a split vote. Ben lays down the law, saying that four will go for Cole, and three for Dr. Mike. Ashley, however, is upset that Joe isn’t even in contention, since she’s the person left most upset with Joe. Privately, Chrissy and others agree with her, noting that Ben is kind of steamrolling over everyone else here, not even open to the possibility of switching out Dr. Mike for Joe. Evidently wanting to keep Ben close, Chrissy brings up to him how people are feeling. Ben of course refutes the argument that he steamrollers over everybody by steamrolling over Chrissy’s attempt to make him see this. Thing is, for all his steamrolling, Ben actually has the correct idea. The presence of Joe as a common enemy keeps the alliance together, and with Joe likely to draw idol plays to himself, voting for Dr. Mike is safer in terms of idol flushing. Assuming Ben has just given up Dr. Mike as a lost cause, it’s the best strategy for all involved. But the best strategy in the world can’t help you if you don’t SELL IT! Ben, you can’t just tell people to do the smart thing and expect them to do it (believe me, I’ve tried), you have to get them to WANT to do it. This is the first real chink in Ben’s armor we’ve seen, and it’s one that doesn’t look good on him.

Not that Ben can’t pander at all, though. No, Dr. Mike asks Ben to tell him who to vote for, and Ben admits that Cole is the primary target at this point. Dr. Mike notes that this bodes well for him… if Ben is telling him the truth. Having been burned by Ben in the past, Dr. Mike is no so quick to trust his word this time. All that I can get behind. What I CAN’T get behind is Dr. Mike’s next conclusion. Evidently “Big-Move-itis” has not yet been eradicated, as Dr. Mike decides that TONIGHT is the best time to play his idol. This is completely wrong for a few reasons. First, the numbers. There are three possible targets from the Healers tonight, and Dr. Mike has little reason to suspect he’ll go before Joe or Cole. True, the alliance is smart enough to potentially vote for the guy feeling safest, but both are bigger, more disliked challenge threats, and so Dr. Mike has a reasonable degree of safety tonight. However, this means the idol only has a 33.3% chance of being played correctly, which is hardly good odds. Second, allies. While it’s true that Cole and Joe are better than no one for Dr. Mike, and that, as he says, he needs to shake up that alliance at some point, saving Cole or Joe is not going to make the big difference tonight. Dr. Mike building bonds is, but saving that idol for himself makes a good safety net. Get rid of that, and without some major shift, which given the numbers is no guarantee tonight, you’ve given up a lot for little to nothing. While it would make this episode completely boring, the right move for Dr. Mike is to keep his tail between his legs and vote how he’s told. For tonight.

Thankfully from an entertainment perspective, Dr. Mike does NOT do this, as he makes Tribal Council itself the one redeeming factor of this episode. Pulling a fast one, he first encourages Joe to “Follow his lead” during a time when people are distracted, specifically when Desi is walking in for the first time. Which, given how she looks cleaned up in that dress, I can understand the distraction. What this means soon becomes clear. Joe is unsurprisingly the talk of the night, following some discussion of the tightness of the dominant alliance, which is likened to the Knights of the Round Table. Somewhere, Coach (“Survivor Tocantins”) searches for a good lawyer. As you can imagine, this is a bit controversial, but then Dr. Mike takes leave of his senses and enters the fray. He calls the alliance out on its hypocrisy, stating basically that if they hate Joe so much, yet won’t vote him out, then they’re hypocrites. Which is hilarious, coming from Dr. Mike, probably one of the more (would-be) strategic players of the season, who should recognize WHY keeping Joe around is good for their alliance. Yet, he actually sells it pretty well that he’s offended. Unfortunately for him, selling it means burning what few bridges he had left, something Lauren calls him out on. You’d better hope that alliance REALLY needs a swing vote, man, because Lauren is not having it. With the alliance being likened to the English Arthurian Legend (which I think may actually have originated in France, but details), Dr. Mike likens himself to the Statue of Liberty and the USA, standing sentinel, victorious, against the English. That sound you heard in the distance was Hali Ford (“Survivor Worlds Apart”) having the world’s biggest orgasm. It’s becoming clear that Dr. Mike is trying to draw the votes to himself, to save himself with his idol. In this, Dr. Mike is a fool. If Joe has taught us anything, it’s that making an ass of yourself means this alliance is likely to keep you around. The trouble, I think, is that Dr. Mike has bought into the narrative of a “live” Tribal Council, and believes the target can shift freely based on his actions. While it’s true that people have been more open to changing their minds in the voting booth of late, I maintain that a lot of these “live” Tribal Councils are just clever editing, and not so much a result of any sort of shift in the game. As such, Dr. Mike’s move here is misguided. This point is brought home when Probst redirects things back to Cole, who had been doing a fairly effective job of staying out of things.

Beware the quiet ones, they say, and this alliance certainly seems to believe that. After Dr. Mike plays his idol and a certain amount of guesswork as to which Healer will go, the answer ends up being Cole, which I’m not too sorry for. He seemed like a nice guy and all, but he never really brought anything. Joe and Dr. Mike may be annoying and poor at the game, respectively, but they at least bring something to the table. As to the choice in terms of strategy, I maintain it was the best one. Cole is a challenge threat, and after tonight, less likely to be seen as annoying than the other two. Dr. Mike’s stupidity is complete by his wasting an idol, meaning that now things are looking even more down for the pair.

At the top of this blog, I stated that this episode improved on the delivery, but didn’t deliver in the outcome. While Cole is the smart choice to get out, it’s a bit of an anticlimax for a great Tribal Council. This doesn’t sink the episode, but it does move it down from “Good” (since a major shake-up is usually exciting) to just “Ok, I guess”. Granted, it it had been boring and predictable like last episode, it would have been outright “Bad”, and I’m glad we at least got what we got, but there’s only so much patience we have for a Pagonging. All I’ll say is that the preview for next episode had better not be misdirection, or we’re in for a rough season ending.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

Idol Speculation: “Survivor HvHvH” Episode 8: Repetition

You know, season, you were doing such a good job of distancing yourself from “Survivor Game Changers”. I mean, even as someone who likes that season more than most, it had its problems, and you’re not exactly spectacular yourself. But the editing wasn’t horrendous, and while you had your share of twists, you didn’t overuse them, and had things going for you besides them. Now, however? I know that a predictable Pagonging is a hard thing to make interesting, but you didn’t even TRY tonight.

Before we get into the sins of this episode, though, let us get into the sins of LAST episode! Yes, it is time once again for…

MATT’S MESS-UP!

And here I thought I might actually make it through a full season without one of these, but I guess seven episodes is not a bad run. As I hope I made clear last time, the correct move for Ben and Lauren was to move against the former Healers. I tried to make a case for both sides, but inso doing, I actually OVERSOLD the Healers’ side. I made the argument that that particular alliance would have fewer people in it, being a slight plus. In fact, this was not the case. I had, for some reason, been thinking that is Ben and Lauren went back to the Heroes/Hustlers coalition, Dr. Mike would come with them, making the vote 8-4, rather than 7-5 if they stuck with the Healers. This was not the case, and removes even THAT argument from their arsenal.

After the predictable commiserating/celebrating from various parties following the vote, we follow up with an actual INTERESTING plotline with Lauren. The note in the nails that Cole missed last episode is found by her instead, which must be kind of humiliating for Cole. Don’t misunderstand: I like Lauren a LOT! Her deadpan humor suits me very well, and for all the flak I may give her, she’s not half-bad at the game. But that still doesn’t make her the smartest person ever, and there’s always something inherently humorous about the young, fit guy getting outfoxed by the middle-aged lady. This dynamic is probably why the show has lasted so long.

In any case, we find out that Lauren’s note does NOT indicate the location of a hidden immunity idol, but instead gives her an advantage in the game, and a fairly intriguing one at that. Basically, Lauren has an extra vote, first seen on “Survivor Worlds Apart”. However, UNLIKE previous extra votes, Lauren’s does not come free. Instead of just declaring it at a Tribal Council, she instead must abstain from voting. She then takes the parchment she would have used (placing her vote advantage in the urn instead), and saves it for a subsequent Tribal Council. For all my snark, I actually really like how this is handled. While I did enjoy the extra vote, it was kind of a simple twist, and it having to be openly declared meant that it was easy to overcome. This advantage, however, rewards subtlety, and gives it more of a chance to be effective. Played right, this can create some great drama, and is a twist I can get behind. If only they had left it there.

Instead, we start off our reward challenge on a bad foot. Not only do we have a team challenge post-merge, but we have a REPEAT team challenge post-merge. Divided into teams of five, players will run up one at a time to a slingshot, where they must try to hit one of five targets. Once a target is hit, the player tags out, and another person goes. Players can duck out before hitting a target, but everybody must run the course at least once. First team to hit all their targets wins a spaghetti meal on a private island. Not a bad reward, and the challenge itself is decently exciting, but it’s a team challenge post-merge, which is never fun. Oh, and the one person left out? Gets the reward automatically. Yeah, that pretty well sucks too. Look, show, I know that you normally don’t want to copy “Survivor Nicaragua”, but have the sit-outs bet on the winner! It makes things fun, and doesn’t leave so much power up to luck. More on that in a second.

Our teams are Devon, Cole, JP, Chrissy, and Ryan against Dr. Mike, Ben, Lauren, Ashley, and Desi, with Joe being our lucky sit-out. A decently even match, though I give the edge to the latter team, since they have one physical challenge sink (Dr. Mike) versus two (Chrissy and Ryan), as well as having a better average physical strength. True, they don’t have the big guns, but this is a challenge where you’re only as good as your slowest member. However, when the strategy of the other team is highlighted, you know they’ll win. Basically, Chrissy, Ryan, and Cole all run up, take their shot, and leave so JP and Devon can carry the challenge. Unless you’ve got people who are pathetic at this sort of challenge, or think the other team will have someone completely bomb, the time gained by having your stars shoot probably doesn’t make up for the time lost running the course more than necessary. Fortunately for them, Ashley does completely bomb, thus making their risky strategy worthwhile.

Now we come to more twists, which SHOULD be good in theory, but in fact come across as kind of irritating. Rather than have individual meals, there is one big plate of food to share. The catch is that people will eat one at a time in isolation, meaning no one can know how much food each person takes. This leads to a “Prisoner’s Dilemma” type of situation, wherein it’s better for everyone is people play fair, but one person can get a big leg up if they gorge themselves, and no one can do little about it. This is the type of psychology that “Survivor” is made to highlight, and so this should come across well. Now, if ONLY they’d made that decision right. The proper thing to do here is to force everyone to come to consensus on eating order, so that we get more involved int he tribe dynamics, and power is not centered among the few. Instead, Joe gets it because he sat out the challenge. When it comes down to it, I’m the first person who will tell you that luck is a BIG factor on “Survivor”, but that doesn’t mean I think that advantages like this should be PURELY luck based. My point here is this is a lot of power for someone who did NOTHING to earn it. It sours the whole process, and adds another twist this episode did not need.

Joe is relatively predictable in his ordering. He wisely saves himself for last, realizing he needs some political capital, and panders to the strong guys, making the order before him Devon, JP, Cole, Chrissy, and Ryan. We also, in one good moment, get insight into their strategies as each is eating, with some, such as Cole, admitting that they’re taking more to save their own skins.

But, of course, we can’t let THIS interesting dynamic sit, now can we? No, why not add another twist on TOP of that? As more and more of the spaghetti is eaten, it reveals a note saying that the hidden immunity idol is buried under the tribe flag, a la “Survivor Micronesia”. Again, this is actually a pretty GOOD way of hiding the clue, and with a dynamic like this, would be pretty interesting, were it not for the fact that it feels like twist overload. Once again, though the players come in to save it slightly. Cole, the first to notice the clue, decides to hide it. He pulls an apron off of the bread that came with the meal, puts the spaghetti on top, and then puts it on the plate, hoping to hide the clue from others. Actually a pretty good ploy that might have worked, were it not for the fact that the “Survivor” nerds go after him. Chrissy, on the hunt for clues, eventually lifts it off the plate, and leaves it for Ryan to find. Ryan, then, comes up with the idea to simply bury the plate away from the table altogether. Why Joe doesn’t question the lack of a plate, I don’t know, but I suppose I can’t be too hard on the cognitive abilities of a starving man.

For all that this twist sucks, and is just too much for the episode, seeing the human dynamic REACTING to the twist is cool. It culminates with Chrissy and Ryan having a whispered conversation about the clue, with Cole catching on, and figuring that they know about the clue. Naturally, when Cole gets back to camp, he blatantly digs up the idol to save himself… or he goes to use the bathroom, leaving Ryan free to dig up the idol. I mean seriously, if other people know where it is, there’s not much point in being subtle. They’ll guess you have it anyway, especially when you have to dig in such a public location. Hell, I’m MAJORLY impressed that Ryan was able to did it up without anyone noticing, though really, the bulge in his pants should have given it away. No way anyone believes Ryan’s penis is that big.

Ryan asks Chrissy to mess up the sand for him, which leads Cole, now actually doing his job of observing, to dig with Chrissy, leading to the previewed dig fight, but with the disadvantage of the realization that it’s completely pointless. It does up the hilarity, but it seems more like spectacle for the sake of spectacle rather than anything of value.

The only consequence of this is that Ben, who saw Cole tuck in his shirt after the brawl, is convinced Cole has an idol. This makes him like Cole even less for some reason. The food thing I get, but this is Cole trying to save his own skin, man. Don’t begrudge him that. Cole’s only hope now is to win immunity, but that seems like a longshot given the challenge. It must be yet ANOTHER endurance challenge. Basically the final immunity challenge from “Survivor Samoa” turned 90 degrees, our players must use a pole to balance a statue on a thin platform while on a balance beam. Last one standing with their statue wins. I wasn’t a fan of this challenge when it was vertical, and turning it horizontal doesn’t do much to improve things. I say that Cole’s a longshot to win because endurance challenges usually favor women. Given Desi’s track record, I’d say she has the edge.

Sure enough, Desi is the last women standing, but Cole is the one who makes good on his word, winning the whole shebang. I have to admit, though I give Cole a hard time, it’s nice to see. He seems like a fun guy, and for whatever reason, we see people winning immunity in the clutch vote less and less. Not that it never happens, just that it feels like it happened a lot more often in early “Survivor” than it does now. If I were to theorize, I’d say that perhaps the show switching emphasis from survival and challenges to social game and strategy means that less physical people are taken, leading to more shake-ups through strategy, and thus less need to win immunity or go home, but that’s probably just me spitballing.

For all that the Hero/Hustler alliance is good for all parties involved, it does make for boring tv for a period. Oh, things WILL get interesting. Once it gets down to just Dr. Mike and his idol, meaning it’s time for the group to split once again, things will be exciting. But first we must sit through the predictable boots. Even the best misdirection would not be effective here, so the episode just doesn’t even try. Oh, they have Joe try and talk Ryan and Devon into voting Ben out, but even Ryan admits that it’s too soon. Instead, we get Joe causing chaos by lying to Ben, saying that people told him Ben had sworn on the Marines. Ben being more than a little bonded with the Marine Corps, is set off by this, going on a rant to Joe about how awful this is. Really, this whole scene is just uncomfortable, especially as there’s not side clearly in the right. I can understand Ben’s being upset, given that the things Joe’s saying hit close to home for him, but at the same time, can you really blame Joe? He’s a guy on the bottom, desperate, and well within his rights to say these things if he thinks it’ll save him. Granted, I don’t see any STRATEGY behind how this would save Joe, apart from that this is just what he ALWAYS does when he thinks he’s in trouble, but he’s got a right to muck up his game for himself.

Our only drama comes from Lauren. Being part of a supermajority, you’d think she’d be able to abstain from voting without any fanfare. Unfortunately, the smart move here is to split the votes between Desi and Joe, meaning that her vote would be missed, and potentially give the former Healers a 4-3-3 majority on this vote. Lauren tries in vain to unite the vote, letting Ben in on her advantage, which, if she had to let someone in on the knowledge, is probably the wisest choice. Unable to convince the majority to not split the vote, Ben and Lauren then set out to convince Dr. Mike to vote for Joe as well, a move he probably should make. Like I said, Dr. Mike has the fewest ties to the old Healers, and the most ties to the other, meaning he suffers the least from this Pagonging. Plus, the old Healers don’t seem like they’d begrudge the betrayal, meaning all Dr. Mike is doing is putting votes on the jury, should he make it to the end. A no-lose situation for him. And while that WOULD solve the problem of numbers, there’s still the fact that Lauren’s absent vote would be NOTICED, due to there only being 10 votes. Really, I don’t understand why Lauren doesn’t wait to use this. There was no limit on when she could abstain that I noticed. She should have just waited for a time when all votes would be read regardless, and just used it then.

Tribal, unfortunately, is just as boring and predictable as you’d expect. The only highlight is Ashley commenting that she’s not sure whether Joe is annoying as a strategy, or annoying just to be annoying. It’s the latter, my dear. In case I wasn’t clear, Joe’s schtick has worn out its welcome. It was fun for a while, but it’s loud and getting repetitive. How I wish he’d gone tonight. After Joe is thankfully told to shut up by Chrissy, Ben forgives him, and we vote. Lauren does a nice job pulling off her vote abstaining subtly, hiding the note in her cleavage to make it less obvious that she pulled something out of it. It seems Ben’s plea worked, as not only did Dr. Mike flip, but Cole did as well. With one vote each for Ben and Lauren, coming from Joe and Desi respectively, Desi and Joe face a 4-4 tie, with the revote (which Lauren evidently ALSO had to abstain from, pushing a piece of parchment out of the booth instead) sending Desi home. Now, before I get into the complaints, sending Desi home here IS the correct move. Joe is so antagonistic that he helps hold the other alliance together by his presence, while Desi is a quiet challenge threat who needed to go. That said, her exit was BARELY foreshadowed, she was obviously heartbroken, and I feel, like Jessica, that she was under edited. She seemed to have potential, but we never really saw it, and she will be missed. At least she gets to be on the jury.

For all that this episode did things right, everything just went wrong this episode. Predictable boot, boring challenges, no misdirection, and while the twists individually were pretty good, taken together they were just too much. We’ve barely settled into the new status quo. Now is not the time to go changing things up this drastically yet. I’ve been more of a fan of this season than most, but it still needs some defining moment. It can still happen, by my patience is waning. Clock’s ticking, season.

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.

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.

“Survivor” Retrospectives: All-Stars

I’m back, after a week’s hiatus!  I needed it, because let me tell you, this next season is a doozy.  The other seasons have been standard, to the point of appearing formulaic, but this was the first season to turn everything on its head.  It may seem like a bad fanfiction at the outset, but no, it’s really happening.  Favorite castaways are returning to play once again.  This, my friends, is “Survivor All-Stars”.

However, since it’s been a few weeks, I’d like to remind everyone that this review does contain spoilers.  If you wish to avoid spoilers about the season, scroll quily down to the bottom of the page, and read the section entitled “Abstract”, where I give my general opinion on the watchability of the season.  Now, as I haven’t said for a while, on to the review!

CAST

Given that this is the “All-Stars” season, you’d think that the producers would pull the “Best of the Best” from all the season, and come up with a hit cast.  You’d be right, for the most part.  One thing I will give the producers is that they did get a nice variety of castaways for the season.  You had your overall nice, honorable castaways in people like Rudy Boesch (“Survivor Borneo”), Colby Donaldson (“Survivor The Australian Outback”), and Rupert Boneham (“Survivor Pearl Islands”).  You had your hard-core schemers in people like Jerri Manthey (“Survivor The Australian Outback”), Lex Van Den Berghe (“Survivor Africa”), and “Boston Rob” Mariano (“Survivor Marquesas”).  Then you had your people who were sort of a mix, such as Alicia Calaway (“Survivor The Australian Outback”), Tina Wesson (“Survivor The Australian Outback”), and Kathy Vavrick-O’Brien.  Nearly all of these people provided memorable moments, making nearly all of them good choices.  You could argue that some of the early boots, like Tina, didn’t get a chance to be memorable, but as I’ll discuss in the “Overall” section, this season was more about honoring the past than glorifying the present, so it was still good to see.  If, however, you were asked to pick the people who defined the season, the only name that can be reasonably put forth is Boston Rob.  Compared to his last performance, which I would describe as only slightly above average, Boston Rob dominated, both physically and mentally, and ran the game from start to finish, woe betide anyone who dare to stop him.  He got annoying to me after a while, but the ay he played the game was impressive, and he wasn’t the worst character I’ve ever seen.  Even if he was, the other cast members help balance things out.  Jenna Lewis should also be noted as coming into her own here, making it much father than her first appearance, and showing some pretty decent strategy.

So, overall, it sounds like I’d have nothing to complain about, and yet I do.  In fact, I have not one, but several things to complain about with regard to the cast.  One I’ll discuss in the “Twist” section, as it has very much to do with the very idea of an “All-Star” season.  For now, however, I’ll go through them one at a time.

First off, the variety of the cast.  Now I said earlier that the producers got a good, vaired cast this season, and I stand by that for the most part.  Even when it came to distributing who was on what tribe, they did ok, except that the Chapera tribe was made up mostly of schemers, or mixed schemers, so there were few people to root for.  No, the real distribution problem has to do with how many people from each season were invited back.  I’ll mention here that this season had 18 castaways for the first time in the show’s history, so with seven seasons, every season should have had 2 people, with a couple of seasons getting 3 or 4, depending on how well-liked the season was.  What happened was that between “Survivor Borneo” and “Survivor The Australian Outback”, nine of the 18 slots were filled.  That just doesn’t sit right with me.  I know the seasons were well liked, but it doesn’t seem fair to have two seasons alone make up half the cast.  The 4 from “Survivor Borneo” I could maybe understand, but “Survivor The Australian Outback” getting 5?  No, no, no!

The second problem this season was screen time.  Up until this point, CBS had done a fair job of giving all castaways equal screen time, or at least what they deserved given their time in the game.  This season, however, gave us the first instance of someone hogging all the screen time.  I refer, of course, to Boston Rob, and while I admit he was the one doing most everything this season, it kind of detracted from the rest of the cast.

My major problem, though, rests with one castaway in particular.  I said that nearly everybody cast this season was spot-on and deserved to return.  NEARLY everybody.  There is one castaway this season, who’s lack of memorability, whose shear blandness makes me want to tear my hair out, and she WON this season.  Yes, I must ask, WHY BRING BACK AMBER BRKICH?  I’d just finished watching “Survivor The Australian Outback” when I saw the season, and I couldn’t recognize her easilly.  She just left me so empty.  In a season full of household names, of great, memorable castaways, THIS is the best person you could find?  No, I refuse to believe this was intentional.  I know Amber was a backup, and was only asked after Colleen Haskell (“Survivor Borneo”), Elizabeth Hasselbeck (“Survivor The Australian Outback”), and Sandra Diaz-Twine (“Survivor Pearl Islands”), all refused to come back, but still, there were so many alternatives!  In fact, the following is a list I’ve made of people who, while maybe not the biggest characters on their season, would at least have been better than Amber!  Note that, for this list, I’ve imposed a few requirements.  The castaway must be a woman, as they’re replacing a woman, and may not have been booted out earlier than seventh, as this is the earliest the other All Stars were booted on thier seasons, specifically a tie between Boston Rob and Shii Ann Huang of “Survivor Thailand” (who, incidentally, also came into her own on this season.  Now then, the list:

Gretchen Cordy (“Survivor Borneo”)

Kelly Wiglesworth (“Survivor Borneo”)

Kelly Goldsmith (“Survivor Africa”)

Kim Powers (“Survivor Africa”)

Teresa Cooper (“Survivor Africa”)

Tammy Leitner (“Survivor Marquesas”)

Neleh Dennis (“Survivor Marquesas”)

Helen Glover (“Survivor Thailand”)

Deena Bennett (“Survivor The Amazon”)

Christy Smith (“Survivor The Amazon”)

Heidi Stroebel (“Survivor The Amazon”)

Tijuana Bradley (“Survivor Pearl Islands”)

Christa Hastie (“Survivor Pearl Islands”)

Darrah Johnson (“Survivor Pearl Islands”)

Any one of these people would have been an improvement, but you didn’t pick them CBS.  Shame on you.

I wish I could talk about the other major problem with the cast, as it had a large effect on my score, but suffice to say that my low score here will make sense later.  Not a bad cast on the whole, I suppose, just one with a couple of major flaws.

Score: 7 out of 10

CHALLENGES

Like the cast of this season, the challenges were the best reused from previous seasons.  Unilke the cast, however, the challenges hit 100% of the time.  Unlike another season with returning castways, all the challenges were epic, and the coices for which to reuse were good ones.  If challenges were changed, or a new element added, it improved the challenge, making it more difficult, and oftentimes combined an element from another season’s challenge to make the whole thing even more difficult.  About the only new challenge was the “Build the Best Shelter” challenge, and even that, it could be argued, had elements of the “SOS” challenge from previous seasons.  It could be argued that the challenges were unfairly portioned, as some seasons like “Survivor Marquesas” got a lot of reused challenges, whereas “Survivor Pearl Islands” got none.  I’d argue, however, that “Survivor Pearl Islands” also had the challenges that had the most distinctive theme, and so would be harder to reproduce in a more generalized context.  In any case, I don’t care that much, the challenges were just so exciting and appropriate that I can’t give this season’s challenges anything but a perfect score.

Score: 10 out of 10

TWISTS

There’s a lot of twists to get through this season, so let’s not waste any time with fancy introductions.  In the All-Star Season, the first twist you’d naturally see would be the returning castways.  For the most part, this was a good idea.  It gave fans a chance to fangasm, and upped the gameplay to a new level, making it truly time to prove who was “the best of the best”.  Unfortunately, this led to the problem with the cast I alluded to earlier.  You see, in earlier seasons, while people did get understandably upset at being voted off or targeted, they got over it eventually, and didn’t make too big of a fuss.  They knew they were playing a game, and didn’t take anything personally.  They could only do so, though, because the people coming into the game were all strangers, and so it didn’t seem like friendship would enter into the game.  The All-Stars, however, did know each other, in some cases for four years.  This led to people taking the game personally, with a lot of bloody, unpleaseant arguements, the one between Boston Rob and Lex being a particularly difficult example.  And before I get off the subject, yes, Lex, what you did to Ethan Zohn (“Survivor Africa”) is EXACTLY the same as what Boston Rob did to you.  While I admit the All-Star idea was overall very engaging, and had to be done at some point, it was still a somewhat unpleasent affair that made the cast as a whole look bad.  I should say, going along with the All-Star twist was the aforementioned 18 castaway premier, and the first (and up until the upcoming “Survivor Philippines”, only) instance of 3 tribes in one season.  Personally, I liked this.  It created new dynamics, and gave the season a feeling of honoring yet surpassing its predecessors.

Another aspect of this season being All-Star was that even less supplies were given to the castaways.  Now, in the past seasons, what supplies were given had been steadily decreasing, and as these were veterans, the twist was understandable, and had the potential to be good.  Unfortunately, this also meant giving no one fire, and with no one able to make one, most of the first few episodes was the castaways whining with entitlement, which was not fun to watch.  Richard Hatch (“Survivor Borneo”) was later revealed to have smuggled waterproof matches up his ass, but as he never used them, his Mogo Mogo tribe whined as well.  A twist with potential, but not one that went well overall.  If it hadn’t been for a reward, this would have continued.  Along with this reward came the realization that a lockbox with rice was at the tribe’s camp, and winning rewards would give clues to keys that would open the lockbox. A good twist.  It raised the stakes, and gave an air of seriousness to the season.

The next twist was a sad one.  Jenna Morasca (“Survivor The Amazon”) became the second castaway ever to quit the game, due to her mother being ill with cancer.  This turned out to be a good thing, as Jenna’s mother regrettably passed away 8 days later.  A good twist, albeit a somber one.

One twist that did do well came in episode 5.  In addition to fishing gear (the reward for that episode) the tribes played for the right to dismantle the last place tribe, and absorb their members into two remaining tribes.  This was a great way to play.  High stakes, major consequences, and it made sense, not to mention being a uniue way to shuffle the tribes.  The Saboga tribe ultimately lost, but even their dismantling couldn’t deter them.  Their members made it through several tribal councils before being voted off.  This same episode brought the next “Twist” as such, when Richard Hatch rubbed his (naked) body over Sue Hawk (“Survivor Borneo”).  This only counts as a twist because it later caused Sue to quit the game in a memorable fit of rage, and, much like Jenna’s quit, it was a good, if unpleasant, twist.

Although this season was meant to honor seasons past, it didn’t mean that this season couldn’t start trends itself.  This season gave us the first instance of a combined reward/immunity challenge outside of the first immunity challenge, as well as the ability to kidnap a member of the other tribe, thus keeping them from tribal council.  Chapera won and chose Kathy, which led to a lot of good strategy talk, so I’m calling this a good twist.

This season also saw another instance of a reward that allows you to steal items from the other tribe.  This wasn’t like it’s inception on “Survivor Marquesas”, which was a free-for-all, nor was it a running twist like on “Survivor Pearl Islands”, but it was just a “Pick 3 items for a reward” deal.  I though this was a good balance, and liked the reward.

Drawing from “Survivor Thailand”, this season also gave us a fake merge, when in actuality, it was just another tribe swap, the first time it happened twice in one season.  This caught most people off guard, and made for some funny moments.  Notable, however, was that the tribes exactly flipped, with only Amber getting new tribemates.  This twist of the switch served to make it much more memorable and enjoyable, so I can’t say I don’t like it.  It also led to one of the few player twists of the season, when Boston Rob asked Lex for a favor to save Amber, in return for his keeping Lex and his alliance longer in the game.  It was a bold move, and created much drama when it didn’t work out, including the aforementioned argument with Lex.

Post merge was a move back to an old camp, which was slightly new.  Beforehand, tribes had moved to an already settled camp, or else an entirely new one.  To return to the old Saboga beach was unprecedented.  Also, no merge feast for the new Chaboga Mogo tribe.

From here on out, it was pretty boring, with the old Mogo Mogo getting Pagonged.  There was a reward challenge where edveryone got to eat, which would show up in a few later seasons, and the betrayal of Alicia, “Big Tom” Buchanan (“Survivor Africa”), and Rupert, which provided a few more player twists, but for the most part, everything was normal.  Then Amber won.  What an unpleasent twist.

This wasn’t the end, though.  Jerri Manthey walked out in justified frustration at the Reunion show, which was unpleasant, but this wasn’t the end either.  After 8 seasons, CBS saw fit to hold a popularity contest of the All-Stars, with the winner getting another million dollars.  Naturally, Rupert won, and the twist was decried as unfair, as it relied heavilly on editing.  I, however, diagree.  It was a nice tribute to the audience, who helped make the show, and as long as it didn’t become a regular thing, I saw no trouble with it.  In fact, it was an overall enjoyable tribute to the seasons.

Overall, a lack of player twists, and some general unpleasant twists drag this season down a bit, but overall, the twists were pretty good.

Score: 8 out of 10

OVERALL

The unpleasentness of how personal the cast took this season really cost it some points with me.  Also, while most of the cast was good, the ones who dragged it down REALLY dragged it down.  But you know what?  It doesn’t matter that much.  This was not a season, for new, original, dynamic cast members. This really was a different sort of season, existing to memorialize and praise past seasons.  This is why the problems with the cast don’t matter that much: it’s worth it just to see them back again.  The excitement of that sheer fact overwhelms everything.

Score: 33 out of 40

ABSTRACT

All-Stars is very much a “Survivor” fan’s season.  It contained so many refferences, so much nostalgia for the first 7 seasons, it couldn’t be anything but.  It does have some unpleasent factors that make it less enjoyable, but any fan of the show must see this season.  On the whole, I’d give it a watch, but ONLY after watching the other seasons before it first.  I admit, I myself did not follow this, but this was because at the time, only “Survivor Borneo”, “Survivor The Australian Outback”, and “Survivor Pearl Islands” were on DVD, so I had no choice.  Now all seasons through 12 are out, so there’s no excuse not to see them.