“This is going to be good.” -Steve
Zapatera camp life is home to glowing spiders and contestants all trying to justify their inadequacies. They voted off Sarita last week because she was week in challenges. As long as Grant is on the other team, they’ll always be weaker. David takes getting votes very well, but then again, he has too. Matt meets Sarita and is underestimating his opponent. He’s never seemed confident going into a challenge, so I worry for him. But that boy is smart. He starts getting information right away and contemplates switching to Zapatera when the merge happens. Like I’ve said, in order for Zapatera to have a chance post merge, they need both the Redemption Island dueler and Phillip on their side.
Ometepe is home to neon frogs and a disgruntled federal agent. They get tree mail (a term which I have hated since day 1) that suggests a merge is coming. I don’t know why they’re so surprised. It has to be top 10 so there can be an odd number jury. Rob and Phillip square off again about whether or not to gamble and leave all their stuff on the beach. And once again, Phillip claims he’s the red headed step child. As a side note, a “ginger Phillip” would freak me out. Zapatera wants the merge as well to try and get rid of Rob. Baby steps Zapatera. Maybe pick off a weakling first? No? Your funeral.
Matt is poised for his sixth duel! But there’s drama, he has cut his foot. It seems like the show is trying to build tension because on paper, Matt is the clear favorite to beat Sarita in a duel. Here we have it, the winner of the duel is back in the game. The stakes are high. And in true Survivor form, the battle is an endurance challenge. It looks like Matt’s foot injury might come into play. My money is still on Matt and his reentry would be very interesting. Would he defect to Zapatera? Or would he rejoin the team that voted him out? He’s had two weeks to think about it. If I were an onlooker, I wouldn’t let on to who I was rooting for. No reason to put my strategy out there for all to hear. And Matt wins the challenge! He’s an unstoppable Redemption Island warrior! And we have a merge! I’m not sure if this was the payoff the show was looking for, but wait, Redemption Island is starting back up again. This could be interesting now. The producers are trying to do everything to make sure Rob can stay around. That was quite a run for young Matt. Good on you kid.
The “merged tribe” shows up to their new beach and there’s a feast waiting! I remember seasons past when tribes would have to trade in their gear just to get more rice. They’re really making sure these contestants are well fed. Rob names the new tribe Murlonio. He claims it’s Spanish for “of the sea, united,” but it’s actually the name of his wife Amber’s stuffed animal ring leader. Oh Rob...The merged tribe builds a shelter together and Mike the Marine makes the astute move of trying to enlist Matt’s vote. He really can swing the vote. With that option available to him, it all but guarantees he stays in the game a while longer. I almost never see a tribe just run through the other team’s numbers without some sort of shake up. So even though the camp is very divided, I look for new alliances to be made very quickly.
And wouldn’t you know it, Matt wants to blindside the Ometepe tribe and enlists the help of Andrea. I think Andrea needs to tread lightly, because blindsiding Rob may be all well and good, but she’ll lose every single jury vote from each Ometepe tribe member she picks off. She’s best just letting Matt try and pick off the tribe mates with the other team. She also does not want to go up against Matt in the final vote, as he will almost assuredly win the vote.
Matt has an internal struggle going on where he doesn’t want to dishonor his God by playing a deceptive game. I believe Matt is the most outwardly religious player on Survivor. MIke the Marine is bonding with Swing Vote Matt over religion and Boston Rob thinks he should join in on the conversation, but has nothing to add. He wants to break up what he calls “the Christian Coalition.” And sure enough, Rob has eyes for my pick Mike the Marine. He wants him gone at the first chance, and I think he’s smart to do so. Mike is sharp witted and able bodied.
Immunity challenge is another balance and endurance challenge. The contestants have to balance themselves on a round log while balancing a ball on a plate. Phillip is wobbly, but hangs on. Julie is first out and they add a second ball to balance. Ashley falls. David falls. Ralph barely hangs on. The third and final ball is placed on their plates. And Andrea falls. Grant, surprisingly falls early. Then there’s a wave of exits as Matt and Rob both fall. Mike is looking strong. Only one former Ometepe is left. Ralph drops out. Natalie, Steve and Mike are all that remains. Steve falls out. Mike looks unbeatable. But after a fly lands on his ball and the sweat drips off his brow, he loses his balance and falls of the log. Natalie, a former Ometepe, wins immunity. So Mike is poised to be voted out.
Mike, with a great looking beard, hatches a brilliant plan back at camp. He wants to use Ralph’s idol to save himself and they’ll blindside Grant. The key to this move working is Ralph giving up his idol and former Ometepe putting their votes on Mike. The best laid plans never seem to pan out on Survivor, but this has the makings of a good move. However, as unbeatable as Matt was at Redemption Island, I think Grant would be that much more impressive. Rob and Matt share a moment alone on the beach and Matt decides to stay with Team Rob. He outs the brilliant plan to Rob and now Mike’s plan is all for not. Rob decides Matt can’t be trusted and wants him gone. And now the paranoia sets in for Matt. Mike writes Matt a note that says, “Matt vote for Grant and I’ll take you to the top 3.” Matt has said he doesn’t want to flip because of religious purposes and yet here he is debating whether to flip. I’m not saying he’s “less of a Christian” if he flips, but I think he’s played it up too much.
Tribal council starts off beautifully with David outing the fact that they threw a challenge and it launches Phillip into one of his most excellent rants. It has Zapatera uncomfortable, and Ometepe laughing. I really have no idea how this vote is going to go. Matt, Mike, Grant, and Steve all could be voted out. Ralph could still play his idol. Andrea could still flip and vote Matt out. For the first time in a while, I have no idea how the vote is going to go. Survivor has been lacking this drama for a while now. Ralph plays the idol for Mike and it appears he’ll fulfill my prophecy of wildly misusing the idol.
5 straight votes for Grant, one for Steve, and 6 for Matt. Matt is headed back to Redemption Island. Steve says, “Let the fireworks begin.” David says, “Genius is what that was.” Former Ometepe flushes out an idol, gets rid of the swing vote and fully enlists Andrea. Bravo Team Rob. Now it’s just a matter of time until Ometepe picks off each member of Zapatera.
Final Thoughts: Matt isn’t very good at Survivor, but he is great at duels. Former Ometepe has all the momentum. They have numbers and a hidden immunity idol. If they stay strong they’ll go far. Enlisting jury members is the next big task. Also, when will the Redemption Island winner reenter the game?
My Pick to Win: Mike the Marine
Showing posts with label boston rob. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boston rob. Show all posts
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Survivor: Redemption Island Recap and Analysis 3/16/2011
“You got to hustle if you want to make a dolla. Everybody knows that.” -Rob
Survivor off to strong start by listing Philip’s job as “Former Federal Agent?” Not surprisingly Philip is bothering everybody back at Ometepe. Rob cooks up a plan that it might behoove him to keep him around to take the heat off him. Smart move Rob, except he’s the last of your throw away votes before you have to start voting off your fringe alliance thereby outing your core four alliance.
Back at Zapatera Steve wants everyone to be one happy family. He does know they won’t win every challenge right? Someone from their huge alliance has to break apart soon right? Julie has to be the most fit girl for her age ever to be on the show. If you don’t know who Julie is, I don’t blame you. She’s literally had 6 minutes of screen time all season. Stephanie and Krista are going to use their trip to redemption island to build the case for the other team that they’ll switch come merge time. More strategy unique to this season. They couldn;t have asked for a better two people to share their secret with than Rob and Grant. Serendipity!
This weeks redemption island challenge is between Matt and Kristina. I’m pulling for Matt here as I will be for every week unless Rob goes up against him. Survivor going with the ol’ puzzle cube challenge. Rob shakes his head disapprovingly as he’s puzzled hundreds of cubes in his day. Matt asks Rob why he voted him out, and Rob, ever the politician, says it was a team effort. Rob shows up to redemption island and literally has 3 players tell him they’d love to join his tribe at the merge. He lives a charmed life. Matt wins for the third time in a row and is still alive. He’s one of the few contestants who I think could survive if they were put back into the game. He really made no enemies.
Over at Ometepe Philip compares the ladies to crabs and wonders why they don’t give him a chance. Ashley says there’s a lot of faking it going around. Why do I feel like that’s not the first time she’s used that strategy? Not sure why the sequence of the girls talking about superficial things makes the cut, but I won’t complain about the airtime as they are very easy on the eyes. Philip is starting to work his federal agent magic on Andrea as he plots a plan to backstab Rob. You had your chance Philip and you blew it!
Zapatera is getting awfully complacent. I can’t stress enough how I feel about the size of their alliance. People like Julie and Ralph would really benefit from jumping alliances and get on the top end of the numbers.
There’s a trend in this year’s challenge that it’s a mix of strategy/puzzles/physicality. The show really needs Ometepe to win this challenge. I trust Rob a lot more than Stephanie to lead a challenge. Zapatera forgot to factor in just how dense Ralph is. His lack of intelligence is quite funny to me. I still look for him to get voted out with the immunity idol in his possession. With Rob winning and Stephanie in the goat role, it looks like an easy vote for Zapatera. However, how great of a move would it be for Ralph to turn heel, save Stephanie and join forces with the ladies to over take the tribe! That’s playing to win. But since he doesn’t know his left from right, there’s no way he makes this play.
Philip goes into full on creep mode offering up donuts for massaging. Grant finds the immunity idol clue and he and Rob launch fully into excavating the campsite. What Grant doesn’t know is that Rob already has the idol. I don’t like Rob lying to Grant, but I think he’ll come clean soon enough. In due time Grant. Patience.
David and Sarita are jawing about strategy with who to put where. And yes, that name is Sarita. Apparently she’s in charge of the tribe. She’s also got a floppy black hat, and for that, I have mad respect. Sarita and Julie are hatching a plan to get rid of David! Keep thinking ladies! Get the immunity idol from Ralph, save Stephanie, take out David and get the numbers! Julie, Sarita, Krista, Stephanie, and Ralph. Bingo. There’s five strong to the merge. There’s no scrambling here, so it looks like we’ll get an uneventful tribal council with Stephanie going home.
Krista is spilling the truth at tribal council! She’s calling out the tribe for not thinking ahead about their team of six. She seems wiser than the rest of their team. My pick from Day 1, Mike the Marine, is getting awfully lippy. He runs his mouth a little too much o win. I’m sticking with my pick until he goes down, but I *really* want to switch it to Grant. The tribe votes out Krista because she’s the only one playing a strategic game. Oh how I hope Stephanie can sway the back end of that strong six alliance.
Bottom Line: Survivor lacked drama the past two episodes, but this was expected. It’s good to see they’re letting us get to know some of the players we don’t know a lot about. I look for some upheavals in Zapatera. Ometepe looks to belong to Rob and Grant and for that I am happy. The game really gets going now. I’d also be ok if Krista won out on redemption island and jumped ship to Team Boston Rob at the merge.
Pick to win: (begrudgingly) Mike the Marine
Survivor off to strong start by listing Philip’s job as “Former Federal Agent?” Not surprisingly Philip is bothering everybody back at Ometepe. Rob cooks up a plan that it might behoove him to keep him around to take the heat off him. Smart move Rob, except he’s the last of your throw away votes before you have to start voting off your fringe alliance thereby outing your core four alliance.
Back at Zapatera Steve wants everyone to be one happy family. He does know they won’t win every challenge right? Someone from their huge alliance has to break apart soon right? Julie has to be the most fit girl for her age ever to be on the show. If you don’t know who Julie is, I don’t blame you. She’s literally had 6 minutes of screen time all season. Stephanie and Krista are going to use their trip to redemption island to build the case for the other team that they’ll switch come merge time. More strategy unique to this season. They couldn;t have asked for a better two people to share their secret with than Rob and Grant. Serendipity!
This weeks redemption island challenge is between Matt and Kristina. I’m pulling for Matt here as I will be for every week unless Rob goes up against him. Survivor going with the ol’ puzzle cube challenge. Rob shakes his head disapprovingly as he’s puzzled hundreds of cubes in his day. Matt asks Rob why he voted him out, and Rob, ever the politician, says it was a team effort. Rob shows up to redemption island and literally has 3 players tell him they’d love to join his tribe at the merge. He lives a charmed life. Matt wins for the third time in a row and is still alive. He’s one of the few contestants who I think could survive if they were put back into the game. He really made no enemies.
Over at Ometepe Philip compares the ladies to crabs and wonders why they don’t give him a chance. Ashley says there’s a lot of faking it going around. Why do I feel like that’s not the first time she’s used that strategy? Not sure why the sequence of the girls talking about superficial things makes the cut, but I won’t complain about the airtime as they are very easy on the eyes. Philip is starting to work his federal agent magic on Andrea as he plots a plan to backstab Rob. You had your chance Philip and you blew it!
Zapatera is getting awfully complacent. I can’t stress enough how I feel about the size of their alliance. People like Julie and Ralph would really benefit from jumping alliances and get on the top end of the numbers.
There’s a trend in this year’s challenge that it’s a mix of strategy/puzzles/physicality. The show really needs Ometepe to win this challenge. I trust Rob a lot more than Stephanie to lead a challenge. Zapatera forgot to factor in just how dense Ralph is. His lack of intelligence is quite funny to me. I still look for him to get voted out with the immunity idol in his possession. With Rob winning and Stephanie in the goat role, it looks like an easy vote for Zapatera. However, how great of a move would it be for Ralph to turn heel, save Stephanie and join forces with the ladies to over take the tribe! That’s playing to win. But since he doesn’t know his left from right, there’s no way he makes this play.
Philip goes into full on creep mode offering up donuts for massaging. Grant finds the immunity idol clue and he and Rob launch fully into excavating the campsite. What Grant doesn’t know is that Rob already has the idol. I don’t like Rob lying to Grant, but I think he’ll come clean soon enough. In due time Grant. Patience.
David and Sarita are jawing about strategy with who to put where. And yes, that name is Sarita. Apparently she’s in charge of the tribe. She’s also got a floppy black hat, and for that, I have mad respect. Sarita and Julie are hatching a plan to get rid of David! Keep thinking ladies! Get the immunity idol from Ralph, save Stephanie, take out David and get the numbers! Julie, Sarita, Krista, Stephanie, and Ralph. Bingo. There’s five strong to the merge. There’s no scrambling here, so it looks like we’ll get an uneventful tribal council with Stephanie going home.
Krista is spilling the truth at tribal council! She’s calling out the tribe for not thinking ahead about their team of six. She seems wiser than the rest of their team. My pick from Day 1, Mike the Marine, is getting awfully lippy. He runs his mouth a little too much o win. I’m sticking with my pick until he goes down, but I *really* want to switch it to Grant. The tribe votes out Krista because she’s the only one playing a strategic game. Oh how I hope Stephanie can sway the back end of that strong six alliance.
Bottom Line: Survivor lacked drama the past two episodes, but this was expected. It’s good to see they’re letting us get to know some of the players we don’t know a lot about. I look for some upheavals in Zapatera. Ometepe looks to belong to Rob and Grant and for that I am happy. The game really gets going now. I’d also be ok if Krista won out on redemption island and jumped ship to Team Boston Rob at the merge.
Pick to win: (begrudgingly) Mike the Marine
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Survivor: Redemption Island Recap and Analysis Episode 4
“It’s just what I call The Shepherd...STAMP!” -Philip
Survivor started with giving Philip a lot of screen time. I often think that leads to their exit. It’s been my experience that the director of episodes kind of give a swan song to the survivor leaving the show. However, I think with Philip it’s just that he’s TV gold! In no way is he going to win, but he sure is entertaining to watch.
I worried last week that the next few episodes wouldn’t be as good because there’d be no drama. Each tribe has a strong alliance and there are people on the outs of those alliances. If Zapatera wins immunity, then it will be Philip or Kristina and if Ometepe wins, Stephanie is as good as gone. So the show needed drama to come from somewhere else. Be it Redemption Island, the challenge itself or at camp. Unfortunately we didn’t really get it from anywhere.
At Redemption Island we had a battle between Russell Hance and Matt. I really want Russell to stay in the competition for the drama he brings, but I do think it would be cool to see Matt stay the duration and come back. The challenge is not purely physical and Matt ends up winning. There wasn’t drama in the challenge, but what happened after was pretty interesting. The show is allowing the person kicked out to talk to contestants who attend the duel. Here, once Russell stops crying, he spills the beans about his whole tribe. This would not have been possible in any other season except this one, so it will be interesting to see what comes of this in the future.
Back at camp, my wish came true. Boston Rob found the hidden immunity idol! Best of all, he lied about taking a crap in order to get time to find it. Classic move Rob. I don’t think there could be two more different players to hold the idols then Ralph and Rob. Rob will make all the right moves with it and Ralph is a buffoon. Prediction: either Ralph gives the idol away or goes home with it in his pocket.
The immunity challenge is largely devoid of suspense as Zapatera leads from wire to wire. We do get to see just how freakishly athletic the ex-football player Grant is, but it was all in vain as Zapatera showed they still have a strong tribe even after throwing a challenge to get rid of Russell. So back at camp Ometepe, true to my guess, has to decide between Kristina and Phillip. This isn’t any big drama, but I just think Philip is such an interesting character I don’t want to see him go. Though I would be interested to see whether the lion or the gorilla comes out at Redemption Island. Question. Anybody wonder just what investigations Philip has been on? He clearly has no problem being candid, so I hope we hear something outlandish like “I shot a man in the jaw cuz he wouldn’t stop interrupting me.” Well I get my wish and we keep Phillip. See ya later Kristina. Good luck versus Matt! You’ll need it.
One observation is that both tribes are all about out of their “free votes.” When you’re playing gin, you have some very easy decisons with what cards to discard as you make moves to get your sets in order. But eventually, you have to make a decision to discard something you’ve been collecting since the beginning or abandon a new strategy that you’ve just cooked up. This is not unlike these tribes. They each have created a fairly large alliance and we’re getting to where someone might need to make a move to get in a better position. Someone like Julie is in a dangerous position because she has to consider herself the first to go if it’s just the alliance left. So, although I think there’s still one more drama-less episode, I look for it to be shaken up pretty quickly soon there after.
My Pick to Win: Mike the Marine
Survivor started with giving Philip a lot of screen time. I often think that leads to their exit. It’s been my experience that the director of episodes kind of give a swan song to the survivor leaving the show. However, I think with Philip it’s just that he’s TV gold! In no way is he going to win, but he sure is entertaining to watch.
I worried last week that the next few episodes wouldn’t be as good because there’d be no drama. Each tribe has a strong alliance and there are people on the outs of those alliances. If Zapatera wins immunity, then it will be Philip or Kristina and if Ometepe wins, Stephanie is as good as gone. So the show needed drama to come from somewhere else. Be it Redemption Island, the challenge itself or at camp. Unfortunately we didn’t really get it from anywhere.
At Redemption Island we had a battle between Russell Hance and Matt. I really want Russell to stay in the competition for the drama he brings, but I do think it would be cool to see Matt stay the duration and come back. The challenge is not purely physical and Matt ends up winning. There wasn’t drama in the challenge, but what happened after was pretty interesting. The show is allowing the person kicked out to talk to contestants who attend the duel. Here, once Russell stops crying, he spills the beans about his whole tribe. This would not have been possible in any other season except this one, so it will be interesting to see what comes of this in the future.
Back at camp, my wish came true. Boston Rob found the hidden immunity idol! Best of all, he lied about taking a crap in order to get time to find it. Classic move Rob. I don’t think there could be two more different players to hold the idols then Ralph and Rob. Rob will make all the right moves with it and Ralph is a buffoon. Prediction: either Ralph gives the idol away or goes home with it in his pocket.
The immunity challenge is largely devoid of suspense as Zapatera leads from wire to wire. We do get to see just how freakishly athletic the ex-football player Grant is, but it was all in vain as Zapatera showed they still have a strong tribe even after throwing a challenge to get rid of Russell. So back at camp Ometepe, true to my guess, has to decide between Kristina and Phillip. This isn’t any big drama, but I just think Philip is such an interesting character I don’t want to see him go. Though I would be interested to see whether the lion or the gorilla comes out at Redemption Island. Question. Anybody wonder just what investigations Philip has been on? He clearly has no problem being candid, so I hope we hear something outlandish like “I shot a man in the jaw cuz he wouldn’t stop interrupting me.” Well I get my wish and we keep Phillip. See ya later Kristina. Good luck versus Matt! You’ll need it.
One observation is that both tribes are all about out of their “free votes.” When you’re playing gin, you have some very easy decisons with what cards to discard as you make moves to get your sets in order. But eventually, you have to make a decision to discard something you’ve been collecting since the beginning or abandon a new strategy that you’ve just cooked up. This is not unlike these tribes. They each have created a fairly large alliance and we’re getting to where someone might need to make a move to get in a better position. Someone like Julie is in a dangerous position because she has to consider herself the first to go if it’s just the alliance left. So, although I think there’s still one more drama-less episode, I look for it to be shaken up pretty quickly soon there after.
My Pick to Win: Mike the Marine
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Survivor: Redemption Island Recap and Analysis Episode 3
“This is my game SUCKA!” -Russell
Tonight’s episode saw our dear friend Russell Hance leave camp. The producers had to know that the possibility of him getting voted out early was strong, so they birthed the idea of Redemption Island to “keep hope alive” for one of their most popular players. As Russell himself pointed out, this is the first time he’s been voted out. If he’s as selfish as I think he is, he can at least hang his fedora on the fact that it took a tribe throwing a challenge to accomplish that feat. Russell has to be anxious to run the table at Redemption Island, which we learned a little something about tonight, and make it to the merge.
I have conflicting views about both Zapatera throwing the challenge and Redemption Island. First, let’s start with Zapatera. I know most teams would never consider it, but if you wanted REALLY wanted Russell gone throwing a challenge is a way to do it. I know people are concerned with numbers, but with Russell being on the short end of the alliance, he’s not really a number is he? He’ll flip at the soonest moment. Also, mixing in the reward with the immunity challenge is the deterrent from the producers standpoint. I had a problem with the story telling on this episode. I wish they revealed the “throwing the challenge” angle until after. It just made too much sense for the team to do this, that I assumed it was a done deal. The producers got a little bit lucky. If Stephanie hadn’t faked having the idol, I’m not sure they would have split the votes and there would have been zero drama. Also, I do give them kudos for finding a story line that made sense to offer drama at tribal council. If Julie is on the tail end of her alliance, it actually makes a little bit of sense to switch over and move higher up in an alliance numbers wise. Julie, may be right at the top of the six strong alliance, but we were not led to believe that. Drama at tribal council is essential for the success of the show and so far Survivor is 3 for 3 in delivering us that. Stephanie is the perfect mate for Russell. She might be even more conniving than he is. She even has equally as lame catch phrases. “Storm’s a coming.” Her and what army precisely?
The other big thing we discovered tonight was just how Redemption Island works. Mind you, the producers can change how they do things at any moment, and I hope they do. It should be noted that, a few people get to go to Redemption Island to see the duel. I have polarizing views on this. On the one hand, I wish it was a complete secret to the opponents so they have zero idea what to expect. This would give the inhabitant of Redemption Island an upper hand. On the other hand, I always like when the game splits players away from the camp. It forces people to talk and can cause some tense situations on camp. After having seen Redemption Island, I don’t think the spectators really have any advantage over the others who didn’t go. The only thing, maybe, could be the type of challenge. The girls could make up some story how mentally challenging it all is so sending them to Redemption Island isn’t an automatic out. They have a chance. Conversely the guys could say it was a physical challenge and that Matt won easily. And that advantage is slight at best. The first duel is not physically demanding. I wonder if the producers will change up the type of challenge based on who is on the island. I want to see some fierce gladiator type wars with a few spectators. Really get down to the animal side of these players. Can you imagine Russell and Phillip squaring off in a brutal fight in the mud with 1 million dollars on the line?! It would be a sight to see!
I have one worry about the drama of this season. It seems like both tribes have a strong alliance present that has numbers. It would seem to me that the next few votes would be fairly easy to make. On Zapatera, Stephanie is an obvious next choice and on Ometepe, Kristina is back on the chopping block. I still think that someone in Ometepe will wake up and think, “we need to get rid of Rob.” Make no mistake, Rob is still very dangerous. He’s a strong inner core of four people. He needs everyone of those to make it to the merge with him so nothing would make me happier than to see Boston Rob with the Hidden Immunity Idol. We’ve seen him be so cunning with next to nothing as far as assets goes, I’m just so curious as to the types of moves he can make with it. Think Paravti with two hidden immunity idols. I think we’d all love to see something that awesome again.
This season of Survivor is still going strong. Here’s hoping Russell can find a way to win a few duels at Redemption Island so the producers can consider releasing him back into the game. I still think there’s a chance that more than one person can get released back into the game at separate times. I’m excited to see how the next few episodes unfold. But until then, “Keep Hope Alive.”
Tonight’s episode saw our dear friend Russell Hance leave camp. The producers had to know that the possibility of him getting voted out early was strong, so they birthed the idea of Redemption Island to “keep hope alive” for one of their most popular players. As Russell himself pointed out, this is the first time he’s been voted out. If he’s as selfish as I think he is, he can at least hang his fedora on the fact that it took a tribe throwing a challenge to accomplish that feat. Russell has to be anxious to run the table at Redemption Island, which we learned a little something about tonight, and make it to the merge.
I have conflicting views about both Zapatera throwing the challenge and Redemption Island. First, let’s start with Zapatera. I know most teams would never consider it, but if you wanted REALLY wanted Russell gone throwing a challenge is a way to do it. I know people are concerned with numbers, but with Russell being on the short end of the alliance, he’s not really a number is he? He’ll flip at the soonest moment. Also, mixing in the reward with the immunity challenge is the deterrent from the producers standpoint. I had a problem with the story telling on this episode. I wish they revealed the “throwing the challenge” angle until after. It just made too much sense for the team to do this, that I assumed it was a done deal. The producers got a little bit lucky. If Stephanie hadn’t faked having the idol, I’m not sure they would have split the votes and there would have been zero drama. Also, I do give them kudos for finding a story line that made sense to offer drama at tribal council. If Julie is on the tail end of her alliance, it actually makes a little bit of sense to switch over and move higher up in an alliance numbers wise. Julie, may be right at the top of the six strong alliance, but we were not led to believe that. Drama at tribal council is essential for the success of the show and so far Survivor is 3 for 3 in delivering us that. Stephanie is the perfect mate for Russell. She might be even more conniving than he is. She even has equally as lame catch phrases. “Storm’s a coming.” Her and what army precisely?
The other big thing we discovered tonight was just how Redemption Island works. Mind you, the producers can change how they do things at any moment, and I hope they do. It should be noted that, a few people get to go to Redemption Island to see the duel. I have polarizing views on this. On the one hand, I wish it was a complete secret to the opponents so they have zero idea what to expect. This would give the inhabitant of Redemption Island an upper hand. On the other hand, I always like when the game splits players away from the camp. It forces people to talk and can cause some tense situations on camp. After having seen Redemption Island, I don’t think the spectators really have any advantage over the others who didn’t go. The only thing, maybe, could be the type of challenge. The girls could make up some story how mentally challenging it all is so sending them to Redemption Island isn’t an automatic out. They have a chance. Conversely the guys could say it was a physical challenge and that Matt won easily. And that advantage is slight at best. The first duel is not physically demanding. I wonder if the producers will change up the type of challenge based on who is on the island. I want to see some fierce gladiator type wars with a few spectators. Really get down to the animal side of these players. Can you imagine Russell and Phillip squaring off in a brutal fight in the mud with 1 million dollars on the line?! It would be a sight to see!
I have one worry about the drama of this season. It seems like both tribes have a strong alliance present that has numbers. It would seem to me that the next few votes would be fairly easy to make. On Zapatera, Stephanie is an obvious next choice and on Ometepe, Kristina is back on the chopping block. I still think that someone in Ometepe will wake up and think, “we need to get rid of Rob.” Make no mistake, Rob is still very dangerous. He’s a strong inner core of four people. He needs everyone of those to make it to the merge with him so nothing would make me happier than to see Boston Rob with the Hidden Immunity Idol. We’ve seen him be so cunning with next to nothing as far as assets goes, I’m just so curious as to the types of moves he can make with it. Think Paravti with two hidden immunity idols. I think we’d all love to see something that awesome again.
This season of Survivor is still going strong. Here’s hoping Russell can find a way to win a few duels at Redemption Island so the producers can consider releasing him back into the game. I still think there’s a chance that more than one person can get released back into the game at separate times. I’m excited to see how the next few episodes unfold. But until then, “Keep Hope Alive.”
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Survivor: Redemption Island Recap and Analysis Episode 2
“The gorilla. Powerful animal that won’t attack anyone unless provoked. A lion. One of the few animals that no animal whether it’s starving to death will approach. For me? That’s how I feel about my family and my country.” -Philip
Bravo to Mark Burnnett and those involved in the casting and creation of this year’s Survivor. I was worried at first when I heard that both Russell and Rob were coming back as well as adding the twist of redemption island. It led me to believe they had lost a handle on the game and were going to muddy it up with a bunch of gimmicks and the show I love would have become some watered down shell of what it once was. I could not have been more wrong.
Philip is pure Survivor gold! There’s nothing like a delusional self righteous maniac who speaks the absolute truth at all times. Candidness does not get you very far in Survivor, but it sure is fun to watch. Philip and Boston Rob couldn’t be more polarizing players. Where Philip says everything he’s thinking at all the wrong times, Rob plays a slick cunning game where he has everyone eating out of his hand. Watching their personalities collide is a real treat. I do wish that I would get a chance to see Philip and Russell Hance play against each other. I think Philip would have some real choice things to say about the type of person Russell is.
Russell’s charade is up. He really needed to adapt to his game play after other contestants got the chance to see him play. I’m not wishing for a quick exit from Russell, because he’s good TV, but I think that his team will not hesitate to cut him loose at the most opportune time. No matter who’s on his team, Russell always thinks he’s playing idiots. He called Ralph the dumbest person and player alive. So it was a real treat to see Ralph out Russell for stealing the hidden immunity clue in front of everybody and make him look bad all while having the actual idol in question. However, Russell is right. The hidden immunity idol clue is not a team clue. It is an individual thing. So it’s not smart for Ralph to say “that clue is ours.” I don’t remember too many instances where a team used the individual immunity idol to better their cause. This is if we’re discounting JT’s aw(esome)ful play in the All-Star game where he delivered the idol to Russell secret agent style with a sweet note attached to it. I think if Russell would have just said, “Yes. I found the clue. We all had the same chance to grab the reward basket. You’ve seen the show before, this is how it goes. But remember, I’ve found plenty without clues, so all hope is not lost.” But maybe that just puts an even bigger bullseye on his back. Russell can’t survive on the defense “I KNOW this game. Don’t tell me how to play this game” forever.
Rob, Grant, Natalie and Ashley are an extremely powerful alliance. They’re physical, charismatic, good looking and smart. They orchestrated a blind side of a strong man, Matt, while keeping numbers, gaining an outsiders trust (Philip), and forcing an immunity idol to be played. I’m glad to see that Rob has insulated himself from elimination. The game is better when he’s around. He’s so cunning without being a brazen jerk. Just a slick slick player. And no one has really touched on Grant being a former professional football player. He’s keeping quiet while being great physically. Another solid strategy. Natalie is playing the under the radar/ride the coat tails game with Rob. You align yourself with someone strong who makes big plays and let them take the bullets and then you win the jury over by saying I never did anything to hurt you. I just rode my alliance and was honest. If Rob is smart, which I think he is, he’ll make sure everyone in his alliance gets some blood on their hands.
I really hope Team Rob starts winning some challenges. It’s no fun when one team has all the numbers coming into the merge. All of the conversation becomes about the strong tribe picking off the weaker one and someone trying to break up the alliances on the stronger one, blah blah blah. I’ve seen that game before. I want the strongest players from both teams going head to head in the merge. This definitely means I’m rooting for Russell and Rob to make the merge. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing Russell have to make it their by winning his was through Redemption Island.
Redemption Island remains a mystery. And I’m glad for that. We learned this episode that the specifics of Redemption Island will be kept from the contestants. I think that’s a very smart move on the producer’s part. Another interesting question was raised tonight about the island. How many will come back from it? I suppose it’s possible that the winner of Matt v Franchesca could reenter the game immediately and possibly on the other tribe. Lots of questions still yet to be answered.
Survivor pick to win: Mike
Bravo to Mark Burnnett and those involved in the casting and creation of this year’s Survivor. I was worried at first when I heard that both Russell and Rob were coming back as well as adding the twist of redemption island. It led me to believe they had lost a handle on the game and were going to muddy it up with a bunch of gimmicks and the show I love would have become some watered down shell of what it once was. I could not have been more wrong.
Philip is pure Survivor gold! There’s nothing like a delusional self righteous maniac who speaks the absolute truth at all times. Candidness does not get you very far in Survivor, but it sure is fun to watch. Philip and Boston Rob couldn’t be more polarizing players. Where Philip says everything he’s thinking at all the wrong times, Rob plays a slick cunning game where he has everyone eating out of his hand. Watching their personalities collide is a real treat. I do wish that I would get a chance to see Philip and Russell Hance play against each other. I think Philip would have some real choice things to say about the type of person Russell is.
Russell’s charade is up. He really needed to adapt to his game play after other contestants got the chance to see him play. I’m not wishing for a quick exit from Russell, because he’s good TV, but I think that his team will not hesitate to cut him loose at the most opportune time. No matter who’s on his team, Russell always thinks he’s playing idiots. He called Ralph the dumbest person and player alive. So it was a real treat to see Ralph out Russell for stealing the hidden immunity clue in front of everybody and make him look bad all while having the actual idol in question. However, Russell is right. The hidden immunity idol clue is not a team clue. It is an individual thing. So it’s not smart for Ralph to say “that clue is ours.” I don’t remember too many instances where a team used the individual immunity idol to better their cause. This is if we’re discounting JT’s aw(esome)ful play in the All-Star game where he delivered the idol to Russell secret agent style with a sweet note attached to it. I think if Russell would have just said, “Yes. I found the clue. We all had the same chance to grab the reward basket. You’ve seen the show before, this is how it goes. But remember, I’ve found plenty without clues, so all hope is not lost.” But maybe that just puts an even bigger bullseye on his back. Russell can’t survive on the defense “I KNOW this game. Don’t tell me how to play this game” forever.
Rob, Grant, Natalie and Ashley are an extremely powerful alliance. They’re physical, charismatic, good looking and smart. They orchestrated a blind side of a strong man, Matt, while keeping numbers, gaining an outsiders trust (Philip), and forcing an immunity idol to be played. I’m glad to see that Rob has insulated himself from elimination. The game is better when he’s around. He’s so cunning without being a brazen jerk. Just a slick slick player. And no one has really touched on Grant being a former professional football player. He’s keeping quiet while being great physically. Another solid strategy. Natalie is playing the under the radar/ride the coat tails game with Rob. You align yourself with someone strong who makes big plays and let them take the bullets and then you win the jury over by saying I never did anything to hurt you. I just rode my alliance and was honest. If Rob is smart, which I think he is, he’ll make sure everyone in his alliance gets some blood on their hands.
I really hope Team Rob starts winning some challenges. It’s no fun when one team has all the numbers coming into the merge. All of the conversation becomes about the strong tribe picking off the weaker one and someone trying to break up the alliances on the stronger one, blah blah blah. I’ve seen that game before. I want the strongest players from both teams going head to head in the merge. This definitely means I’m rooting for Russell and Rob to make the merge. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing Russell have to make it their by winning his was through Redemption Island.
Redemption Island remains a mystery. And I’m glad for that. We learned this episode that the specifics of Redemption Island will be kept from the contestants. I think that’s a very smart move on the producer’s part. Another interesting question was raised tonight about the island. How many will come back from it? I suppose it’s possible that the winner of Matt v Franchesca could reenter the game immediately and possibly on the other tribe. Lots of questions still yet to be answered.
Survivor pick to win: Mike
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Survivor: Redemption Island Recap and Analysis Episode 1
“Man it feels so good to play with you amateurs. You give away so much. You don’t even know enough to keep your mouth shut. Thanks for the memories.” -Boston Rob
Survivor is back and this shaping up to be a great season already. This is Survivor’s 22nd (2 a year over 11 years) so the question is always, “How do you keep it fresh?” Survivor has responded by adding to wrinkles to the game. The first is that both Boston Rob and Russell Hance will be returning to the game to play against each other. They are regular contestants with no special provisions. It would seem too obvious to just vote these two very strong players out first, so Survivor installed their 2nd wrinkle: Redemption Island. After you are voted out, you go to Redemption Island where you await the next contestant who’s voted out and there you have a duel to see who stays.
I have a lot of questions surrounding Redemption Island. First, does the duel take place right away when the 2nd member shows up? This would not allow for strategy to be talked. I think Survivor is always better when more players are playing a strategic game. Second, will there be a hidden immunity idol on the island? This seems unlikely as one person may find it, hide it, get eliminated and it’s gone forever. It would also seem like a third life given to a contestant who already hasn’t proven worthy. Third, when will the survivor of Redemption Island be released back into the game? It has to be post merge, but not too much after. I doubt the producer’s have a set time. I think they’ll release the player when it will most benefit the narrative. Fourth, will the other players know who’s been eliminated every challenge. I hope that they don’t know. It’ll make for more drama when they arrive back. It will also keep people from counting on a vote. Which leads me to my last question, can the Survivor be on the jury? This would make me think that they’ll be released before the next person voted out hits the jury. I know all these questions will be answered soon, but I think this element will be very dynamic.
As for the episode itself, I don’t think Survivor could have asked for a better premiere. They’ve done a great job of casting. We have lots of opinionated people and some very beautiful girls. Boston Rob’s team, Ometepe, lost the first challenge and the events that ensued were extremely entertaining. Kristina found a hidden immunity idol and wanted to make a big play early by using it to vote out Boston Rob. The problem was that she only had two other people on board. Boston Rob, being the savvy veteran that he is, anticipated that she would find it so he and his alliance already planned to split their vote to get rid of either Francesca (if Kristina played it), or Kristina (if she held onto it). Phillip, the loud mouth ex federal agent, told the girls he was with them until he heard different. At tribal council he heard an answer that he didn’t like, told Rob the plan and that Kristina had the idol. I’ve never seen so much action on a first tribal council. Kristina kept the idol and Francesca was voted out.
Kristina made the right move in not playing the idol. With Phillip’s declaration of voting for “Franchesqua” she knew it’d go her way so she has three more days guaranteed without having to play it. If she feels she needs to play it next week, another 3 days. Thus she’s guaranteed 6 days by not playing it as opposed to just 3 by playing it. Philip made the right move in abandoning the girls, but he’s still on the outside of Rob’s very large alliance. Rob can’t continue with an alliance of 7. He’ll need to pick out a select core from that group and Phillip’s only hope is to be a part of that.
As for Zapatera, Russell’s tribe, things couldn’t be better. They built a great shelter and won the first challenge. Russell made a declaration that he’s a changed player. That it would be stupid to play the game the same way. It should be noted that Russell was able to get to the finals in his second season because no one had the luxury of seeing him play. The all-star season was filming while his was airing. If other players had a chance to scout him, no way he lasts that long. So his tribe members are wise to his tricks and it looks like they’re going to vote him out at first chance. Russell’s best chance is to ingratiate himself with a core of four people, tell them his game plan and be candid. He can’t do all the backstabbing he did before. He is going to have to play the game differently.
I’ll pick who I think is going to win every week. I’ll keep that pick until they’re voted out. This first one is a crap shoot, but if I had to blindly pick a winner I’ll go with Mike, the ex military soldier on Zapatera tribe.
Survivor is back and this shaping up to be a great season already. This is Survivor’s 22nd (2 a year over 11 years) so the question is always, “How do you keep it fresh?” Survivor has responded by adding to wrinkles to the game. The first is that both Boston Rob and Russell Hance will be returning to the game to play against each other. They are regular contestants with no special provisions. It would seem too obvious to just vote these two very strong players out first, so Survivor installed their 2nd wrinkle: Redemption Island. After you are voted out, you go to Redemption Island where you await the next contestant who’s voted out and there you have a duel to see who stays.
I have a lot of questions surrounding Redemption Island. First, does the duel take place right away when the 2nd member shows up? This would not allow for strategy to be talked. I think Survivor is always better when more players are playing a strategic game. Second, will there be a hidden immunity idol on the island? This seems unlikely as one person may find it, hide it, get eliminated and it’s gone forever. It would also seem like a third life given to a contestant who already hasn’t proven worthy. Third, when will the survivor of Redemption Island be released back into the game? It has to be post merge, but not too much after. I doubt the producer’s have a set time. I think they’ll release the player when it will most benefit the narrative. Fourth, will the other players know who’s been eliminated every challenge. I hope that they don’t know. It’ll make for more drama when they arrive back. It will also keep people from counting on a vote. Which leads me to my last question, can the Survivor be on the jury? This would make me think that they’ll be released before the next person voted out hits the jury. I know all these questions will be answered soon, but I think this element will be very dynamic.
As for the episode itself, I don’t think Survivor could have asked for a better premiere. They’ve done a great job of casting. We have lots of opinionated people and some very beautiful girls. Boston Rob’s team, Ometepe, lost the first challenge and the events that ensued were extremely entertaining. Kristina found a hidden immunity idol and wanted to make a big play early by using it to vote out Boston Rob. The problem was that she only had two other people on board. Boston Rob, being the savvy veteran that he is, anticipated that she would find it so he and his alliance already planned to split their vote to get rid of either Francesca (if Kristina played it), or Kristina (if she held onto it). Phillip, the loud mouth ex federal agent, told the girls he was with them until he heard different. At tribal council he heard an answer that he didn’t like, told Rob the plan and that Kristina had the idol. I’ve never seen so much action on a first tribal council. Kristina kept the idol and Francesca was voted out.
Kristina made the right move in not playing the idol. With Phillip’s declaration of voting for “Franchesqua” she knew it’d go her way so she has three more days guaranteed without having to play it. If she feels she needs to play it next week, another 3 days. Thus she’s guaranteed 6 days by not playing it as opposed to just 3 by playing it. Philip made the right move in abandoning the girls, but he’s still on the outside of Rob’s very large alliance. Rob can’t continue with an alliance of 7. He’ll need to pick out a select core from that group and Phillip’s only hope is to be a part of that.
As for Zapatera, Russell’s tribe, things couldn’t be better. They built a great shelter and won the first challenge. Russell made a declaration that he’s a changed player. That it would be stupid to play the game the same way. It should be noted that Russell was able to get to the finals in his second season because no one had the luxury of seeing him play. The all-star season was filming while his was airing. If other players had a chance to scout him, no way he lasts that long. So his tribe members are wise to his tricks and it looks like they’re going to vote him out at first chance. Russell’s best chance is to ingratiate himself with a core of four people, tell them his game plan and be candid. He can’t do all the backstabbing he did before. He is going to have to play the game differently.
I’ll pick who I think is going to win every week. I’ll keep that pick until they’re voted out. This first one is a crap shoot, but if I had to blindly pick a winner I’ll go with Mike, the ex military soldier on Zapatera tribe.
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