MATT’S MESS-UP
A bit of a sober way to start the blog today, but I feel that’s what’s needed. As many of you know, the tagline of “Idol Speculation” is “My knee-jerk opinion that everyone is entitled to.” I hold myself to that, giving my unfiltered opinion immediately after the show. However, there are times where, with the benefit of hindsight, I change my mind. Last episode is one of those instances. I gave the episode some praise in my most recent blog, but the fact is that the more I think about it, the scummier I feel. So, let’s go through things item by item, and give my general thoughts on each part of the issue.
First, the couple of things I misinterpreted/failed to mention in my previous blog. A lot has rightly been made of Miss and Elizabeth basically using Kellee’s feelings about Dan to blindside her, notable later telling Dan that they said no such things. At the time, I paid this no mind, because my interpretation was that they DID feel that way, and they were lying to Dan to make HIM feel better, since it was better for their game. But no, it has come out that they used Kellee’s feelings, and yeah, that’s pretty scummy of them, and makes me think the less of them as a whole. Speaking of Dan, I failed to mention his muttered smugness towards the bootees of the previous episode, which, even with the most generous interpretation of Dan’s actions, is a low blow, dude.
But the big thing I want to talk about is the production side of things here. I wrote a lot of praise for production on the previous episode. I felt they dealt with the situation in a sober and serious manner. Then, as is my tradition, I go and read other people’s thoughts on the episode, and, to put it mildly, they did not agree with me. In fact, they brought up a number of points that I agreed with. Notably, that they should have had this talk with Dan about his behavior BEFORE the issue got this far, and that Kellee should have been able to have a say at the first Tribal Council after she was voted out. Admittedly, the latter could be argued as a violation of game rules, but given that it led to a situation where people were talking ABOUT her when she was RIGHT THERE, I feel like this is one area where we could bend the rules. All that plus my dislike of Probst for forcing a “moment” at the second Tribal Council really makes me unhappy with production over all these proceedings. That said, I do cut production a little slack, and I’ll explain why in the next paragraph.
Let me preface everything I’m about to say by pointing out that yes, production could have handled things better, and no, none of what I’m about to say is an excuse for any of their actions. But I think production was in a no-win situation with this whole affair. The trouble is that production wants to strike a balance between doing what’s morally right, and what’s “fair” in terms of the game. And unfortunately, past precedent with regards to sexual misconduct says to not interfere. I mentioned the “Grindgate” incident from “Survivor Thailand”, and I think that was heavily on their minds when deciding what to do. After all, in that situation, which is comparable in seriousness to the current situation, production let the contestants sort things out. Now again, that doesn’t mean that’s all they should think about in this situation. But consider in terms of lawsuits: If you’re on the production of the show, are you more worried about being sued by Kellee, who has had to sign away a lot of her rights in the contracts they have every contestant sign, thereby giving production something of a barrier to a lawsuit, or Dan, who if you remove him, has fair grounds to say that he was denied money and placement in the game by production? Again none of this makes production ok, but I understand why they did what they did.
For me, there’s also an element of production learning from all this. Yes, as I’ve said, we’ve had situations like this previously, from “Grindgate” to the Richard and Sue situation in “Survivor All-Stars”. But that was a very different era in terms of our conversations about sexual harassment, so for me, this is really the first time that “Survivor” has really had to confront this issue, and their part in it, in this environment. Thus, I give production the benefit of a doubt, and think they’re just making a mistake, rather than acting with malice aforethought. That said, I’m all for questioning authority, and completely understand if people think that production does not deserve that chance. If something like this happens again, and they react in the same way, I’m right there with you. If you feel that this is so triggering that you simply cannot watch “Survivor” anymore, I understand, and do not judge. But I, as an individual, am willing to give production a chance to show that they’ve learned and do better. If they don’t, it might be enough to stop watching the show.
Given how little happens in this episode, this blog may already be half-over. Soberly heading back to camp after a heavy Tribal Council, Janet notes that she’s royally screwed, thereby ensuring that Janet is safe. Janet, however, is not the only person ensuring their safety through edit at this point. Get ready for a heaping helping of Karishma this episode. She was pretty quiet last episode, but she’s back with a vengeance now. She comes in literally screaming, as a rat apparently crawled in her mouth. So in other words, she had the natural reaction. Elizabeth is pretty beat up in the morning as well. Seeing people cuddling, I thought Dan STILL somehow hadn’t got the message about his behavior, but no, it’s just the rain. Again, understandable. Karishma will not be denied, however. She plops herself down in the hammock, leading Noura to a confessional tirade about how Karishma isn’t doing anything for the tribe. A bit hard to deny, since Karishma seems to be sleeping sitting up. Still, Noura is not to be denied, and badgers Karishma into going on a coconut hunt.
This is a big mistake. If someone’s a slouch around camp, and you want them out, you encourage that behavior. Play it up. Keep them in everyone’s minds, and let them see the burden this player is to the tribe. Plus, if you send them off, they have a chance of finding an idol. Which is exactly what Karishma does. Admittedly this idol seemed to “pop” a lot more from its hiding place than previous idols, but I don’t mean to belittle Karishma’s accomplishment. An idol find is an idol find, and Karishma is rightly proud of herself. She’s also right that she needs it, since as she comes back from an hour of hunting with two measly coconuts, we see Noura, Lauren, and Tommy talking about the need to get Karishma out, with Janet as a backup. Needing an excuse, Karishma plays up her illness. Lauren, out of compassion, suggests calling for the doctor, which Karishma denies, though I’m not sure why. If the doctor comes, and there’s not really anything wrong with you, so what? Sure, it looks like you’re playing up the “woe is me” bit a bit if there’s really nothing wrong with you, but hey, you’re already on the bottom, and you lose a lot of goodwill by being so insistent, so what’s the harm?
One point about this season as a whole: While we don’t have any “Island of the Idols” this episode, which I’m overall for (though the title of the season is starting to seem like a lie), and I don’t feel it usually takes up too much time, I think we’ve missed something here. It’s becoming clear this new merge tribe has multiple shelters. Why? Was it a space thing? Because of Dan? Alliance segregation? Gender segregation? There’s a story here, a fascinating insight into the dynamics of the tribe, and I’m sad we don’t get it.
Off to our immunity challenge. Yes, already. You see, the show is doing the “Divide into two groups and vote separately” thing they tried on “Survivor Ghost Island”. Not the worst idea to try again, but since that fell fairly flat this time, I’m surprised to see it come back. Now is not the time, however, purely because of the odd number of contestants left, making for uneven teams. There’s an issue of fairness and number of votes there right off the bat, but there’s more issues I’ll get to in a bit. Second, while both this season and “Survivor Ghost Island” had fairly solid majorities, it felt more solid on the latter season, making the twist seem more of a necessity. Here, there’s more flexibility, and thus, to me, less need for the twist. As to the challenge itself, it’s pretty lame. Balancing on a beam, contestants keep a ball circling the inside of a hoop. Last people standing for each team wins immunity. Definitely a tough challenge, and requires a different skill set than most challenges, but it’s just dumb-looking, and doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from other challenges. Oh, and Probst, no, not all strategies are created equal. Spinning the ball fast does not take significantly more energy than spinning it slowly, and the extra force helps keep the ball in the hoop. Fast is the way to go.
After the challenge starts, Probst pulls a classic “dick move” by telling them the teams are also playing for reward AFTER the challenge starts. The last person standing overall wins peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for their whole team, as well as the right to go to Tribal Council second. This is why, in the issue of fairness, the teams NEEDED to be equal. Could you really not have held this challenge for one more episode cycle?
In the end, the edge doesn’t matter, however. That’s because the winner on Purple is Noura, having beaten out Dean, Dan, Aaron, Janet, and Lauren. Noura being Noura, was not paying attention to the instructions, and drops her hoop in celebration, leaving just Elaine and Missy to battle it out on Orange, Tommy, Karishma, and Elizabeth having fallen out already. Good for them, but nothing much exciting about the challenge.
Probst sends the orange team back to the Lumuwaku camp, while he twists the knife further for the purple team. They’re sent out the old Lairo camp, confirming by proxy that the merge camp is the Vokai camp. Janet is naturally targeted, but realizes this, and so seeks to turn the narrative around. Noura is of the same mind. She may be a bit on the crazy side, but even she can see the blindingly obvious. Aaron has won a bunch of immunity challenges. He’s a major player in the majority alliance, which a number of players in this group have a reason to want to break up. If you’re outside of the majority, like Janet or Dean, it keeps things chaotic and gives you a chance to get back in the majority. f you’re a part of that majority, like Lauren, Noura, and Dan, it gets rid of a major threat and original Lairo member in that alliance, thereby improving your overall odds. Since this group is smart overall, pretty much everyone readily agrees to this plan. But, of course, we need someone to do a dumb in order for us to have tension at this Tribal Council. Dean, as is his want, obliges by talking about wanting to keep “threats” around so he isn’t targeted. Not the worst justification I’ve heard, but Dean, even if you’re fairly strong, you don’t LOOK the part. You’ve got room to maneuver if that’s the case, and any shakeup is a good shakeup for you. Dean’s decent at persuasion, though. He even persuades Dan that he’s a challenge threat. Dan, “challenge threat” is not how I think of you, and I would say that even before the events of last episode. It’s Dan’s musings about his place in the game that transition us to the Lumuwaku camp. A fun transition, but I do wish it was someone other than Dan doing the narration.
Karishma is so obvious the plan to be the target tonight, and thanks to her idol, so obviously not going, that we don’t even get any lip service to the idea. Perhaps that’s because everyone’s lips are full of peanut butter, but even when Missy is capable of speaking again, she’s going with a different plan. Yes, it’s time for that foreshadowing from the swap to pay off. Missy still wants to split Lauren and Tommy up, and to be fair, this is the ideal time to do it. You could make an argument that Karishma pulled something (even not knowing she has an idol), so that Lauren has no hard feelings towards you, while still severing her options. And, of course, anything that keeps Karishma safe is good for her. So why is Missy trying to so hard to torpedo her own plan? Seriously? I get that she’s a bit authoritative, but Missy, you’d been so good at persuasion before. I’ve seen worse, but it really felt even to me, and definitely to Karishma, that Missy was bossing her around. Even so, Missy was in a recoverable position, but then tried to stop Karishma from leaving the clearly uncomfortable conversation, and would not let up on her afterward. You really think this is the way to Karishma’s heart?
Missy then makes a second mistake, though I think this one’s more understandable. Being allied with Elaine, Missy fills in Elaine on the boot out Tommy plan. Elaine, however, is not on board, due to her bond with Tommy! Yes, that very special bond with Tommy that supersedes the bond she has with Missy, who she’s been allied with and on the same tribe as since the beginning of the game! A bond so special, we’re not hearing about it before tonight! Look, I get that Tommy’s thing is “the social game”, but if a bond is this strong, perhaps a bit of foreshadowing would be nice. Then again, maybe Elaine’s just feeling confident because of the immunity necklace. She’s certainly doing better at persuading Karishma than Missy, being gentle and kind and understanding. Let it not be said that Missy does not learn from her mistakes, as she talks more gently with Karishma afterward, and makes it more of a conversation. Karishma admits to being conflicted, stating that it’s a battle between her emotions, which are not happy with Missy, and her intellect, which says Tommy is the smarter move. This is really the main disadvantage of the episode: The less intriguing group is going second, making for a weaker finish. For all my snark at Dean, there’s real debate as to whether Aaron or Janet would go home. Aaron’s the clearly smarter move, but I could see this group not playing optimally. Here, however? Time and again, Karishma’s voted with Missy, and there was the foreshadowing that Tommy and Lauren would be broken up. The only things working in Tommy’s favor. His and Elaine’s “bond” that only came up this episode, and him saying he connects with Karishma, despite her mentioning last episode, that Tommy wouldn’t talk to her. Yeah, Tommy is toast, which is unfortunate, as he and Janet are really the only players left that I unequivocally like.
We get a brief scene at the old Lairo camp, with Elaine’s confessional transitioning us again. That’s the coolest thing, though, as nothing much comes of the conversation. Nothing much comes of the Tribal Council either. I’m still not a fan of Rob and Sandra commenting overall, but this first Tribal Council needed it. There was NOTHING going on. Rob noting Dean rolling up his sleeves is fascinating in comparison. Actually, Rob betting on Aaron going, while Sandra betting on Janet helps add to the mystery, as the narrative so far this season is that Sandra is right in her predictions, while Rob is wrong. Adds more to the mystery. However, with a lack of awesome music this group does the smart thing, and Aaron goes home. I’m not sorry to see him go. It’s impressive that he came back from his first episode blindside, and he did have really cool socks, but the dude was at best boring and at worst a bit arrogant. Plus, Janet is fun character and a wonderful human being. Happy to have her around any day. That said, this really seals Tommy’s fate, as seeing Aaron on the jury indicates a “vote out the men” strategy that Karishma is likely to go along with.
Our second Tribal Council is much more lively, owing to Missy’s self-sabotage. I’m still certain that Tommy is going home, but Missy is doing everything in her power to convince me otherwise. After rallying to have a good conversation with Karishma, she’s now going on about how they don’t get along. Granted, Missy did warn Karishma that they would need to bash her, and I applaud her for sneaking in calling jurors Jamal and Kellee “threats”, thereby pandering to them for potential jury votes, while still having it sound natural. It seems, however, that Karishma is not as logical as she says. She flips to vote out Missy. I would complain about Karishma making a bad move, since Missy has been in her corner far more than Tommy, but I can’t because I’m too busy doing my happy dance! After effectively having “the bad guys” win last episode, it’s nice to see one of the people involved get a comeuppance. Plus, once again, any emphasis on the social game is fine by me.
But who should get credit for this move? When Missy asks what happened, Tommy pulls a “don’t screw with me”. But Elaine, in whispers, says that it was her. She gets the credit from Missy, but at what cost. Blatantly violating the “Need to bring me your torch” directive, she whispers to Elizabeth that Elaine needs to die. Elaine, I applaud your jury management, but it doesn’t do you much good if you’re on the jury.
This episode is solid. The few out-of-nowhere plot points kind of drag it down, but overall a decent episode. That said, it’s not enough, and I don’t think anything would be enough. For better or for worse, this season has become like anything associated with Bill Cosby. It can be good quality, it can bring you joy, but with recent developments, it’s going to feel a bit icky watching it. This is a shame, since I like this cast at least ok overall, and there is a lot good to watch here. But now, it’s mostly going to be marred by the spectre of this incident. Between the lackluster last season, controversy this season, and, if the rumors are true, a completely chaotic and idiotic next season, this show may be finally pushing me to quit watching.
-Matt
Title Credit to Jean Storrs.
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