Author Topic: The Survivor Thread  (Read 186496 times)

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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #105 on: March 17, 2011, 08:05:01 AM »
He's basically telling the camera guy to hurry up and run to keep up with him because there isn't a lot of time to pull off what he's trying to do.  Fantastic.

Offline ReaPsTA

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #106 on: March 17, 2011, 10:36:51 PM »
Fun episode.

Phillip's slowly getting smarter.  Talking to Andrea was a smart play, and he's starting to have a better general understanding of what's happening around him.

And by the way, when Andrea's wearing the bandanna and her hair's frazzled out, wow does she look attractive.  When she was talking about how all the shallow talk of hair and the like was annoying to her, I got why Matt was into her.  I sorta feel bad about how Rob punked them.  Maybe after the game they got together.

I think it's interesting how two kinds of Survivor players seem to exist.  One is the group that sees it as a strategy game and the other sees it as an inter-personal game.  The weakest versions of both players inevitably get voted off first, but the strategy players especially this season just seem so lacking.  It's like they don't understand that not being voted off is a function of being liked at this stage of the game and don't go out to make connections and foster loyalty.  Stephanie can talk about how the rest of her tribe isn't playing the game, but she's the one on the chopping block, not them.  So how is she a better player?

It's not like the strategy players are dumb.  Stephanie and Krista's idea of telling Rob they hated their tribe and would be loyal in a merge was a potentially smart move.  But, when they lost the challenge, did they do anything to capitalize on the discontentment in the tribe and keep themselves alive?  No.  WWHYYYYY!?!?!?!?!

I'm watching Kristina's secret scene where she explains how she didn't feel she was able to actually play the game with all its nuances and strategy.  Um, she just chose not to.  The nuance and the strategy is in the inter-personal dynamics, not the strategic play.

Rob's obviously upped his evil genius to another level this season.  You might watch him and think he's good because of his strategic moves.  But his ability to do them comes from his mastery of the social game.  He talked down Phillip in a very calculated manner... because he had interacted with him and understood him.  He was able to stage a chance to get the immunity idol on his own... because he got everyone else into a situation where it wouldn't be suspicious to his tribe.  He got the third idol clue for himself and swapped out the second one to give to Grant... because he was able to act in the moment and work with Grant's psychology.  Kristina went around obviously looking for the idol.  Do we not see the pattern here?

Also, Ralph is dumb as a sack of rocks.  Stephanie actually did a better job than Rob guiding her tribe around, until Ralph ruined it by being unable to follow simple directions like walk forward.  Can he please be voted out in a blindside so I don't have to see an uninteresting egotistical moron on my television.  The void of Russell is huge.  The Zapatera scenes are almost painful to watch in part because of him.

And, like everyone else, I loved Rob telling the cameraman to hustle.  Little moments like that make for transcendent television.

SIDE NOTE:  I thought Redemption Island would be boring, but Matt has made it so much more fun.  This guy is just so unbelievably clutch in these challenges.  No matter what, he keeps calm and keeps chugging.  If he makes it back after the merge, he's a dangerous player because beating him at the individual immunity challenges will be so tough.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2011, 10:43:43 PM by ReaPsTA »
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #107 on: March 17, 2011, 11:13:02 PM »
I can't wait to see those six idiots go down.  Julie saying, "By losing, we actually won because we can now vote off Stephanie or Krista," was moronic.  No, you lost by losing, because your tribe lead is now back to just one.  Knowing that she is dead in the water, I'd love to see Stephanie tank an important part of the next challenge.  She knows she is gone anyway, but at least this way she could screw the others instead of just sitting there like a sap, waiting to be voted out. 

Those six think they are so smart for "ousting one of the greatest players ever in Russell," as one of them put it last night, but no, you simply outnumbered him and voted him out based on his rep.  Once the merge happens and those alliances crumble, it will fun to watch.
 

Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #108 on: March 18, 2011, 07:37:41 AM »
Yeah, there was really absolutely nothing to their ousting of Russell.  They outright purposely lost the challenge and outnumbered him, as you said.  There's no genius behind that at all.  Nothing that is at all worthy of a pat on the back.  You outnumbered him.  Whoopty-do.  I'll be happy to see Ralph leave.  He drives me nuts.  And yes, Phillip may be a little out there and weird, but if you're forced to be around these people, might as well try to form some sort of bond with them, because you may need it down the road.  Instead of bitching about them and acting all "above them" and such.

Offline Space Invader

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #109 on: March 18, 2011, 07:51:40 AM »
So after watching All-Stars and seeing his game in this episode, all I can say is that Rob is a Survivor genius. He knows how to play the game, and he is able to fix his mistakes. Also, he's an amazing puzzle solver, great under pressure, and brilliant when working with his tribe. I mean the beach day/hidden idol ploys? Everyone believes him. He's using his reputation to good use.

That being said, I don't know if its possible for him to win. Sooner or later the tribes will realize just how dangerous he really is (hopefully), because if he makes far into the merge he'll just start winning and winning individual immunity. Also, since his reputation does precede him, will people really be willing to vote for him?

Also, I would have liked to see Krista and Stephanie sow more seeds of discontent in Zapatera. I think it could have been possible for them to swing the bottom 3 out of the majority alliance (who I think are David, Julie and Sertia) with a little determination and careful prying (Julie has made it pretty clear she's willing to change sides). Stephanie is too smart of a player to go down like this. Disappointing to say the least.
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Offline setrataeso

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #110 on: March 19, 2011, 09:57:33 AM »
Yeah, I thought David, Sarita and Julie missed a golden opportunity to switch up the tribe and lobby for a better position. I guess Sarita and David are butting heads, but they need to ge rid of Ralph's idol, and it would be wise to break up Steve and Mike before they become too powerful.

I'm warming up to Stephanie, though. She seems like she can play the game, but was foolish enough to align with Russell early on. She'll do anything to stay alive at this point, so I imagine if she keeps up her "you're gonna have to cut throats eventually" montra, she'll be able to convince the lower people on the Zapatera 6 to flip.
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #111 on: March 24, 2011, 09:35:46 AM »
So last night.  Where do you even start?  The continued lack of brilliance at Zapatera is just amazing.  David was on the right track, by suggesting keeping Stephanie, but bullheadedness kept that from happening.  My thing was that if Sarita stabbed herself in the gums brushing her teeth with a stick, then 1) she's probably not too bright anyway and should be cut loose and 2) if she DOES have an infection, there's a chance of her having to leave in a medical capacity anyway.  That''l put them down one MORE person, whereas if they'd voted her out, it would've been a non-issue for them.  Just seems like a bunch of bull-headed "They aligned with Russell, we MUST vote them out!!!"

Also, what's with the ridiculously mangled spelling of names on ballots?  Stifine?  Ressell?  Krasta?  Discussion at Reality Blurred seems to think that Ralph is doing it on purpose to either be a dick or play up the "dumb hillbilly" stereotype.  I don't get it either way.

Phillip has loose cannon written all over him.  I have my doubts he or Stephanie ever watched one minute of Survivor.  Now I wholeheartedly agre with him that the girls are just laying around doing jack shit.  Irritates me and I'm not even there.  Get rid of them at the first opportunity.  They don't do shit in challenges either, so why keep them?  Dead weight.  Also, Phillip following Rob and Grant and butting onto the conversation about the clue was awkward.  He's like a bull in a China shop.  No subtlety, no nothing.  Wouldn't you feel like busting up some private conversation about the idol would make you look like you were intruding where you were clearly not invited?

Also, after the duel at Redemption, when Andrea indicates she thinks that Matt could be a threat - did anybody else take that as "Ooooh, I'm a little jealous of his connection with her and I really don't like that she gave him a Bible, all sweet and such, so sayonara, Matt!!"

Offline Global Laziness

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #112 on: March 24, 2011, 09:44:29 AM »
Also, after the duel at Redemption, when Andrea indicates she thinks that Matt could be a threat - did anybody else take that as "Ooooh, I'm a little jealous of his connection with her and I really don't like that she gave him a Bible, all sweet and such, so sayonara, Matt!!"

Of course! :lol That's all it was.
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Offline Space Invader

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #113 on: March 24, 2011, 09:46:37 AM »
So last night.  Where do you even start?  The continued lack of brilliance at Zapatera is just amazing.  David was on the right track, by suggesting keeping Stephanie, but bullheadedness kept that from happening.  My thing was that if Sarita stabbed herself in the gums brushing her teeth with a stick, then 1) she's probably not too bright anyway and should be cut loose and 2) if she DOES have an infection, there's a chance of her having to leave in a medical capacity anyway.  That''l put them down one MORE person, whereas if they'd voted her out, it would've been a non-issue for them.  Just seems like a bunch of bull-headed "They aligned with Russell, we MUST vote them out!!!"

I was actually stunned that they DIDN'T take David's advice and vote out Sarita (which includes the medical thing, you're right). David seems like a really smart player, and it's a shame that because of the stubbornness of his tribe mates HE is now on the chopping block for supporting Stephanie. It makes me wonder, if they do go against David at the next tribal, who will solve puzzles for Zapatera, since they already decided David was the right man for the job. Really sucks, didn't want to see a smart man like David in such a tough spot. He's like Marty last season: trying to make moves, but everyone seems to be too stubborn to go with him.

Also, what's with the ridiculously mangled spelling of names on ballots?  Stifine?  Ressell?  Krasta?  Discussion at Reality Blurred seems to think that Ralph is doing it on purpose to either be a dick or play up the "dumb hillbilly" stereotype.  I don't get it either way.

I lol'd at Ressel.

Phillip has loose cannon written all over him.  I have my doubts he or Stephanie ever watched one minute of Survivor.  Now I wholeheartedly agre with him that the girls are just laying around doing jack shit.  Irritates me and I'm not even there.  Get rid of them at the first opportunity.  They don't do shit in challenges either, so why keep them?  Dead weight.  Also, Phillip following Rob and Grant and butting onto the conversation about the clue was awkward.  He's like a bull in a China shop.  No subtlety, no nothing.  Wouldn't you feel like busting up some private conversation about the idol would make you look like you were intruding where you were clearly not invited?

I don't think the girls are totally useless, as Natalie did decent in the challenge while Phillip let her do the work, but I chalk that up more to Grant's strength rather than her skill. Part of what makes this season so interesting though is watching Phillip stumble around, not having a clue and making a total ass of himself. It sort of balances the boringness of the Zapatera tribe.

Also, after the duel at Redemption, when Andrea indicates she thinks that Matt could be a threat - did anybody else take that as "Ooooh, I'm a little jealous of his connection with her and I really don't like that she gave him a Bible, all sweet and such, so sayonara, Matt!!"

This. But in reality, I think she may be right about him being a threat. Having now won 4 duels in a row, Matt is used to the style and pressures of an individual, do-or-die scenario. This could make him very hard to beat in the later individual immunity challenges (maybe only Rob could match him) if he came back. Just a though.
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #114 on: March 24, 2011, 09:51:12 AM »
Phillip is part of what makes this season awesome, because most of the time, he makes everything so awkward and uncomfortable that you can't help but laugh.

Aso, regarding Andrea, absolutely she DID truly think he could be a serious threat, but there was a serious undercurrent of jealousy along with it.

Offline Space Invader

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #115 on: March 24, 2011, 09:53:10 AM »
Also, regarding Andrea, absolutely she DID truly think he could be a serious threat, but there was a serious undercurrent of jealousy along with it.

Oh absolutely. Her sweetie-pie might not be as attached as she might think, and this showed her his capacity to make new connection, even in a short period of time. That makes her jealous, and also I think, scared. She's afraid that he might have it in him to backstab her.
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #116 on: March 24, 2011, 01:36:49 PM »

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #117 on: March 24, 2011, 02:15:17 PM »
Phillip has loose cannon written all over him.  I have my doubts he or Stephanie ever watched one minute of Survivor.  Now I wholeheartedly agre with him that the girls are just laying around doing jack shit.  Irritates me and I'm not even there.  Get rid of them at the first opportunity.  They don't do shit in challenges either, so why keep them?  Dead weight.  Also, Phillip following Rob and Grant and butting onto the conversation about the clue was awkward.  He's like a bull in a China shop.  No subtlety, no nothing.  Wouldn't you feel like busting up some private conversation about the idol would make you look like you were intruding where you were clearly not invited?

Quite the contrary.  He let them know that he knew they were trying to hide something from him.  If Phillip had numbers, then maybe keeping quiet and letting his alliance know what Rob and Grant were up to might have worked, but two of the three girls cannot stand him, so confronting them right there on the spot was the right play.  Plus, the girls don't know what Rob and Grant are up to, and Phillips now knows that, and Rob and Grant know it, so in essence, it gives Phillip something to hold over the guys' heads.

Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #118 on: March 24, 2011, 03:13:35 PM »
Maybe confiding this info to the girls could possibly have swayed them to his side? Probably not. They'd have just gone and tattled on him.

Offline ReaPsTA

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #119 on: March 29, 2011, 11:20:06 AM »
A lot of Zapatera being dumb and boring, Matt being a Redemption Island ringer, and Rob ruling over Ometepe.  Not much to say about this episode:

 - I actually think voting out Stephanie over Sarita was a solid decision.  Stephanie's certainly a better challenge player, but even without knowing what she did at Redemption Island, she's a liability to change tribes at a merge, and she's not exactly super duper awesome when it comes to the challenges.  I can't believe how badly David played it.  He's on the chopping block now.

 - The Redemption Island story was legitimately interesting.  I think Krista might have gotten an unfair editing job in the earlier episodes.  Not that being religious makes you a nice person, but giving her Bible to Matt was legitimately very human of her.

 - After so much brilliant play (including managing Phillip and the girls, as well as not going for the clue), I can't believe Rob made the totally inexplicable mistake of asking Grant to walk with him and read the clue.  Anyone, not just Phillip, could have caught them.  Rob should have just exchanged a guy head nod with Grant and examined it at the beach.

Also, Rob Cesternino from Survivor Amazon and All-Stars writes a Survivor blog for CBS.  It's very good.  Funny and enlightening.

https://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/community/blogs/blog.php?key=0

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Offline Space Invader

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #120 on: March 29, 2011, 02:39:11 PM »
If you're interested Reap, Rob also does a very funny podcast which often addresses Survivor as well, and he often interviews members who were just voted off or Survivor celebs. It's called Rob Has A Podcast.
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #121 on: March 31, 2011, 07:34:14 AM »
Spoilers within, for those who haven't watched yet.

So confusing as to what's going to go what way anymore!  Phillip is pissing everyone off so bad, that it would be wise to expect him to be voted out immediately, the next time Ometepe loses.  But since next week's preview shows that they'll be merging, it seems he MAY be able to skate by a little longer.  OR he'll irritate the remaining Zapatera people and they'll want him out also.  Remains to be seen.  Honestly, I'm happy to see Ometepe keep winning.  I'll be quite happy to see Ralph go home.  From this week's recap at Reality Blurred:

Quote
Oh, also, at the duel, where Phillip went with his babysitter Rob, and told Matt, “You are truly a samurai warrior.” You, Phillip, are no Coach, so stop with that kind of talk. At least Ralph recognizes that he’s an idiot. At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst asked Ralph if he’d rather have a cohesive tribe or a strong one, and Ralph said, “Well, first, Jeff, I don’t know what cohesive means.” Jeff rephrased as an either-or question, and Ralph said, “I disagree.” I really want to see Phillip and Ralph align, because that will be comedy unlike anything we’ve seen before.

One thing I WILL say for Phillip - though he fell behind on the net obstacle last night, when it got to the brick walls, he busted right the fuck through them, almost single-handedly.  Big deal, when last season, the team of girls had difficulty even getting one of the walls to budge.

I was surprised that Zapatera voted to get rid of Sarita instead of David.  Also, when you know your name has been tossed around for being voted out, it seems cocky to leave your belongings at camp, like there's no way you'll leave.  Or is it showing weakness to bring belongings to TC, basically admitting that "Hey, I think I may go home".  Not sure how I feel about that.

Another great episode and what appears to be an even better one coming next week.

Offline Space Invader

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #122 on: March 31, 2011, 05:32:24 PM »
I am SO excited for the merge it's unbelievable! I have tons of thoughts about it, and I would love to discuss some stuff with you Coz. Sadly, I don't have the time to type it all out right now.
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Offline Global Laziness

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #123 on: March 31, 2011, 05:40:54 PM »
Spoilers within, for those who haven't watched yet.

Thank you so much for posting this! I didn't get a chance to watch the new episode until tonight and I originally opened the thread to start reading without even a second thought.
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #124 on: March 31, 2011, 06:52:47 PM »
I am SO excited for the merge it's unbelievable! I have tons of thoughts about it, and I would love to discuss some stuff with you Coz. Sadly, I don't have the time to type it all out right now.

Happy to discuss when you have time. The merge will be awesome. Can't wait!


Spoilers within, for those who haven't watched yet.

Thank you so much for posting this! I didn't get a chance to watch the new episode until tonight and I originally opened the thread to start reading without even a second thought.

No sweat. There have been times it took a day or two before I got to watch it, so I understand.

Offline ReaPsTA

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #125 on: April 01, 2011, 10:03:11 PM »
Re: Latest RI Episode -

 - I dunno if I posed this before, but the idea of Phillip on an island with these people without a camera is scary.  I'm almost certain he would have laid hands on one of the girls and/or gotten in a fight with Rob and/or Grant.  He's a self-centered psycho man.  At least they come together well in the challenges.  Rob isolated Phillip perfectly after the duel, and his throwing the clue in the Volcano was the greatest thing I've ever seen.

 - If Matt doesn't win the next RI duel, I'll be so bummed.  He's a monster at these things, and has really earned the chance to come back.  If Sarita wins, it will just be stupid.

 - Zapatera is stupid and obnoxious.  They're losers.  They voted off Russell because they're losers, and they're still paying.

In other news, I started watching the Heroes vs. Villains season.  I saw five seconds of coach at the beginning was thought "wow, he is going to live up to everything everyone's said about him, isn't he?"

 - Oh my god, this is amazing so far.  All these people have something interesting to say.  Then they launch into a challenge right away!  Then the girl gets her arm dislocated because the Villain tribe demanded it.  Then Coach, as Tyson so nicely put it, utterly owned and emasculated Colby.  Wow, is the whole season this good?

 - OH MY GOD.  Sandra undid the other girl's bra to try and slow her down, and then the girl decided she didn't care, ran back with the bag, and flipped off Sandra.  This is perfect.  And then good lord, what's up with Tyson and his cheeta boy shorts?

 - Something that's very true about anything:  The best always know who the best are.  The best writers know who else is the best, the best Basketball players know who the best Basketball players are, the best musicians know who the best musicians are, and so on.  I think it's notable that the two girls Russell has talked to have both said "I know exactly what he's trying to do, and I don't care, I do not want this guy against me."  If Russell was as bad a player as so many fans of the show think, then why would anyone outright fear him like this?

 - I think it's interesting how just dividing the people up into Heroes and Villains makes them like subjects in the Stanford prison experiment.  The Villains tribe is nastier and more aggressive, and the heroes tribe thinks of themselves as more virtuous and wants to engage in more teamwork.

 - I'm such a pussy, I hate this chicken killing scene.  I find it interesting that the Heroes tribe is the one that just goes for killing animals for food.

 - This Coach and Jerri thing is amazing.  "Jerri's in denial, but in spite of herself, she's in love with The Dragon Slayer."  Greatest sentence of all time.

 - On episode two.  Interesting how Rob is kinda like Phillip here.  Frustrated with how other people don't want to do the work and won't do it right.  Clearly this is a lesson he learned for Redemption Island.

 - Rob's moment of fainting was fascinating.  Feeling like he's dying, his only thought is "I love this game and I need to win."  No wonder he's so competitive.

 - Maybe I haven't seen him at full tilt, but I don't get why people are comparing Coach and Phillip.  He's a bit screwy, but he's fundamentally different.  He's actually happy and peaceful seemingly all the time.  Nobody seems to be creeped out by him.  In fact the other villains seem to enjoy the guy.  Plus, he's just fun.  Phillip is an occasionally funny well of darkness (no racial puns intended).  Other than being a bit off (and even then, Phillip's way crazier), where's the common denominator?

 - The block stairs challenge was so intense.  Has there ever been another Survivor challenge that ridiculous physically?  Also interesting how the Villains tribe is spanking the heroes in the puzzles.  Having BRob is huge, but the heroes look like crap.  Maybe Russell is smart and evil is smarter than good.  I also appreciated Rob killing himself to get it done.

 - The way the trees and greenery cover this island is breathtaking.  It's like a consistent and defined layer of leaves and grass all over it, not broken up by tree trunks and brown plants. Check out this picture to see what I mean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samoa_upolu.jpg  Sometimes for the transition footage they get great stuff from the locations, and with this one they knocked it out of the park.

 - Episode 3.  Isn't Russell married?  He was awfully close with Parvati.  I liked the thing Rob said about the closest alliances sleeping next to each other.

 - Mmm.  I think Coach was dead-on about Parvati.  She can just make you melt, and Russell's letting himself get hooked in.  Really, I feel the same way about Russell here as I do on Redemption Island.  Plays his strategy extremely well (he showed just the right about of submission/conciliatory tone with Rob and Coach to make them feel more comfortable than they should, then did the right thing by telling Parvati everything and assuring her he was solid, which also makes her feel more isolated), but you have to wonder if his strategy's right to begin with.  Coach is loopy, but unlike Phillip he's not totally imperceptive about the world around him.  Russell may or may not like her a bit too much.

 - And now he's hidden the machete.  I can't wait to see how this goes.  And he was thinking of stealing Rob's hat, which felt kinda cold to me.  And then he dropped this gem: "I don't even like the Boston Red Sox, it's the Houston Astros baby."  The guy's entertaining.

 - Great moment out of the commercial where Coach is doing Tai-chi or something and singing, so they wrote music to accompany the singing and set up the camera shots into this kinda serene and trippy moment.

 - Heroes killed the villains 8-0 in the first all-physical challenge.  Also, the missing Machete hasn't come up yet, meaning at this point anyone could have taken it.  Maybe they'll still figure out it's Russell, but the move worked out nicely for him.

 - Watching Parvati try to talk down coach was interesting.  She said something super smart, "You don't look like someone who lets fear control you," which is exactly what someone like him would want to hear.  And yet, due to a combination of his personal background (according to him, he fends off these kinds of tactics from female soccer players who want playing time), and his unshakable nature, it didn't work.  And then he did the flirty grabbing her thing, which was a nice "haha, talking to you entertains me" touch.  She can't be pleased with him right now.

 - Sandra's starting to show why she won two of these games in a row.  When votes this early in the game become bitter, things always go downhill.  I'm sure to some degree this comes from her strategy of self-preservation (which she does rather well, hopefully I can understand it better as we go along), but she knows how to take the temperature of the overall situation really well instead of looking at little petty things.  She (smartly) wants it over with so the environment stays level.  Interesting how this directly contrasts Russell's strategy of making things more bitter.  Also, I notice she's out and listening to people's conversations and hearing what's going on, a basic mistake I've seen too many times on Redemption Island.

 - Now I'm starting to see some of coach's craziness.  Overly dramatic "pontifications" about important sounding topics with a very thin connection at best to what's happening.  That's a little more like Phillip.

 - I feel dumb.  Sandra getting coach to go off about his work at the shelter was such a nice move, it's changed the whole tenor of the conversation away from anything of any real bearing on the voting, and I don't even know how she did it.  And before that she answered every question with something everyone already knew that wouldn't spiral out of control.  Russell's response about respecting the players was good, came from an obviously genuine place.  He's not going anywhere.  Rob's was... indecipherable.  I don't think it was even strategic, he still clearly looks flustered.  Completely different player from the Rob that's destroying Redemption Island right now.

 - Eh, good riddance to Randy.  He was clearly the odd man out of his tribe, and his confessionals about his simplistic views on life were annoying.  Who voted for Rob?

 - Episode four.  Now the crazier side of coach comes out.  We're still not at Phillip levels, but I know why he's so notorious.  As always, Rob has something interesting to say and do.  "Doesn't seem like much of a coach."  Exactly.  The way he handled him was perfect too.  Once he said all there was to say, he cut off coach's whininess and let the chips fall as they may.  And... Coach is back in this.  I think the most interesting thing is how neither Rob or Tyson told him "Sandra just said that to rile you up, no one feels anything bad about you."  Which seems to actually be true, unless the editors aren't showing something.

 - Love this challenge.  Which Survivor producer decided it would be smart to have women in bikinis grease themselves down in the sun?  Because he's a smart man.

 - Russell made the dumbest mistake ever by not realizing it was a hidden immunity idol clue, something only he knew about, and he realized what he did the moment it happened.  The reaction of the other villains was interesting.  None of them were comfortable with the idea.  Sandra was right when she said it makes you marked, and also pointed out how you can set up the vote to force people to use it.  And yet, Russell got a lot of mileage out of those things, and he knows.  "It makes you powerful."  Good on him to act confused about it when it was dropped.  He doesn't want to ruin the advantage that comes from them not knowing that he played in a game with them.

 - What I'm not sure about is his decision to get it in that moment.  Obviously, you can't have other people getting it, and yet this play marks him.

 - Tom looked a little too suspicious.  The move into the sock was smooth, the constant adjusting of the pants sucked.

 - Tom's play to get out Cirie was a great piece of work.  I can see why he won before.  He want from odd man out to potential new tribal warlord.

 - Episode five.  So Probst gives out the chocolate samples.  The villains gladly enjoy it, and the heroes just turn it all down because they want to think they're focused on the challenge.  Look, maybe this says something about me, but the villains tribe seems like a way cooler group of people who would be more fun to hang out with.  Even in real life.  It's not like the heroes can't back stab and be dishonorable when faced with the opportunity.

 - I REALLY didn't like how James' injury meant the heroes were a man down.  Just sub Colby back in or take someone off the villain tribe.  That's just not fair.  Also, maybe there's no better way because the balls are shaped like footballs, but trying to hit it at the basket with the football toss is making the same mistake as Shaq.  When you shoot it at the basket it's liable to bounce away.  Arc it in.

 - Holy crap this is getting tense, they're openly throwing each other around for no reason, and then Jerri got whomped in the head.  Apparently, people get violent even when the game only kinda resembles basketball.  Imagine if David Stern was the commissioner of Survivor.  Three guys would have been booted for double technicals.

 - Loved the reward for so many reasons.  The location was great, the idea of the all-chocolate feast was cool, and of course, the game itself.  It was interesting as Rob/Sandra/everyone not Russell, Parvati, and Coach started realizing this hidden immunity idol thing might be a big deal.  Meanwhile, Russell shows that as bad a guy as he can be, he's legit with his alliances.  His idea to try flipping Coach was exactly right.  Then there was an interesting moment with Parvati.  In the confessionals, she actually doesn't seem self-aware enough to realize she's really an evil mastermind at the game.  Then we cut back to the reward challenge and she says, almost blankly, "[Coach] is a scared puppy, he'll do whatever you want."  Maybe Parvati's not disclosing how much of an evil genius she is in the confessionals so people in real life aren't freaked out by her.  And then Russell went and played Coach like a fiddle, because he has such a terrible social game.  Right?

 - I'm torn.  I liked that James was able to call well for the Heroes and overcome his knee injury, but wow his intensity is scary.

 - Has Rob ever lost a puzzle challenge?  He's unstoppable at them man.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2011, 12:21:33 PM by ReaPsTA »
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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #126 on: April 02, 2011, 12:29:42 PM »
 - Episode 6, can't stop watching.  One big thing about Russell, the Villains tribe winning so many challenges has really worked in his favor.  He builds alliances really slowly, and if a vote was forced earlier, the numbers might not have been on his side.  He really only has Parvati and Coach with him so far, and possibly Danielle.  That's not bad, but still a man down.  What if they went to a vote right when he started looking for the idol but hadn't found it?  Very possibly game over.  The shame is, if he worked harder to create alliances, he probably could.  He's great at talking to people, but for some reason chooses not to.

 - Oui.  Russell talked to Rob for all the wrong reasons, and Rob dismantled him.  Just brutal.  Russell wanted to tell Rob he wasn't after him?  What?  Why would Rob believe that?  At the end Russell said "watch your back," completely undermining what he wanted to do.  The only thing Russell got out of it is that Rob thinks Russell's in more of a pinch than he actually is, but that was an unintended side-effect more than anything.

 - The rope challenge was awesome.  Glad they brought it back.  I liked James' fight.  Rob is such a challenge beast.

 - Did coach just say he's voting Parvati?  What happened to everything that happened with Russell?  Such a baffling person.

 - Heh/wow.  Colby decided to just go away.  The other members of the tribe aren't considering a potentially meaningful angle: If they keep Colby, he might be eternally grateful to them for the rest of the game.  Or maybe he does just want to quit.  I dunno.  As much as there's something in James I find disturbing, he is a true fighter though.

 - Not that Tyson isn't a complete idiot for moving his vote to Parvati, but why didn't Rob just set up the split so he could vote Parvati anyway?  Either way, Russell made a brilliant move.  Rob also got really lucky.  He would have been done this vote if not for his individual immunity.  What confuses me is why they didn't vote out Sandra over Tyson, who's clearly a better player.

 - Rob's face as the fourth Parvati vote came out was awesome.  "Hm?"  And then as the Tyson votes started rolling in, you could see him unable to process what was happening.  I loved Russell's theatrics with it to.  Seriously brilliant move.  Parvati was besides herself too.  Great Tribal Council.  Also, we know why Tyson isn't very smart.  After he explains he made a stupid move and why, his concluding thought was, "I'm still awesome."

 - Rob looks so unhappy.  And the villains get to eat the food in front of them.  I'm smiling with villainous glee.

 - If James did absolutely nothing, would his chances of not being voted off be better?  I feel like the footrace might have done him in.

 - Episode Seven.  Can't stop.  Rob is truly afraid of Russell.  This is amazing.  "How can they be so talky?  How can they be making fun of us?"  I'm actually kinda shocked Rob can't figure out what happened.

 - I'd never want to be married to Parvati.  "I think Jerri will flip and go with us, because she saw what Russell did for me, and she's jealous she's never had a man in her life do that for her.  So maybe she'll see if Russell will do that for her."  She understands these kinds of things way too well.  I feel like she could cheat on me relentlessly and I'd never know.

 - See, Colby's doing what I said he would.  He feels he has to prove to them that he was worth keeping in.

 - They should have just read the clue out loud immediately.  Uncertainty breeds tension.

 - Coach makes an interesting point here.  He knows Jerri is trying to just pull him into this paradigm shift of the alliances.  He's not quite being respected as a person.

 - Rob and Sandra lost a puzzle.  Wow.

 - I'm starting to see why Russell/Parvati/Danielle wanted to ditch Tyson.  For whatever reason, without him, everything's fallen apart.

 - If Rob isn't voted out this Tribal, I'll be amazed.  "Okay, you're entitled to your opinion" is basically saying you've got nothing.

 - Coach voted Courtney.  Unbelievable.  Rob was right to blow him off.  "You're a little man" is right.  He just became semi-detestable.  And, by the way, voting him off was a huge mistake.  The whole point of his game is keeping the tribe tight and together.  They didn't see Russell in Samoa and they don't know he hid the machete, but surely they have to know he's purely out for himself and enjoys instability.

 - Episode Eight.  Can't stop me.  Unbelievable, the moment he gets back Coach says they shouldn't have voted out Rob and that Russell is a bully.  I'm quickly forgetting every nice thing I said about him.

 - The aftermath of this vote is kinda like the aftermath of the Richard Hatch vote in All-Stars.  You see this guy and you think he's a huge threat.  And then the moment you do, the real threat (Colby in All-Stars, Russell here) emerges and you regret your decision.

 - J.T.'s been playing really well.  He gets to control the tribe's dynamics as a swing vote, which is really difficult.

 - I like how Russell is seeing angles.  The other tribe thinks he's the odd man out, so why fight that perception?

 - I saw this before but figured it as editing, and now it's happening again.  Parvati isn't interacting with the tribe.  She's not letting anyone think about her because she knows Russell will give her the relay on everything that's happening.  She so owns him.

 - "I'm gonna work my Magic and we're both gonna be here on day 22 and day 23."  Sandra's being forced to come alive, and her plan is awesome.  She knows exactly how to press Russell's buttons.  That grin on her face as she explained it was kind of attractive too.

 - Courtney did a good job talking to coach.  She got him to think more about how he hates this situation.

 - OooooOooooh Sandra you're melting my heart.  I love how she slipped in the thing about how coach wanted to go back on his decision.  It's exactly what I would have said, and it was so nice.

 - Russell's so smitten with Parvati.  I can't blame him.

 - And I find him to be such an interesting player.  The Tyson move was truly brilliant.  And then the way he got Jerri and Coach to vote with him and boxed in Rob was really good.  But this thing of his where he wants to vote out Coach is being so poorly mishandled.  There's a good argument to do so (he'll flip to the hero tribe), but he's not making it.  He's defying all logic with Danielle and making her angry.  Meanwhile he's letting Sandra stand around completely unharmed for no reason.  Why does Russell not care that she won the game once?  Maybe it's because I'm watching her through the episodes, but she's clearly a powerful player.  Doesn't Russell see this?  At least, if you can't make coach work out, vote for Courtney because it's a decision that will work with your tribe and further isolate Sandra.

 - PAVARTI VOTED COACH!!  I hope this is explained next episode.

 - The train will continue to roll.  Episode 9.

 - Interesting.  In the preview, Probst mentioned Coach was Jerri's closest ally.  Maybe Pavarti wanted to purge potential divided loyalties.

 - Awesome, Parvati just thinks nothing of keeping the clue from Russell.  He's so not got her.

 - And then, when Parvati and Danielle find the clue, evil Parvati comes out in the confessional.  "I'm not going to tell Russell about the idol yet.  It's not that I don't trust him, I just want to see him squirm for a little bit.  You know, he's not the king of Survivor.  I'm the Queen, and usually the King does what the Queen says anyway."

 - Parvati reading the immunity idol note to Russell was great.  But this is year another reason I'd hate to be in anything meaningful with her.  I can just imagine her eviscerating me like that to her friends.  Also, I don't know what to make of JT/the hero tribe's decision to do this.  Obviously, it seems exceptionally dumb because of what we know about Russell, and even aside from that it's still probably not great.  What I don't get is their certainty of an all-female alliance.  There's a reason everyone on the Villain tribe is gleefully laughing at this notion.  I'm semi-surprised that Sandra and Courtney haven't gone to the heroes and told them Russell is actually running the show, but I guess there's no real reason to stir up hate.  Plus, it might put a target on Sandra's back since it would be seen as her move (she's clearly the bigger sister between the two).  As for the vote, Parvati's instincts are correct, Courtney might be more loyal after the merge.  Plus, I think she senses Courtney's the weaker player.  My mind is utterly blown that no one wants to vote Sandra out.  Before it made sense why (by starting arguments, she got people to think about the subjects of the arguments instead of her), but now I'm confused.  This is a past winner who's clearly good.  Why does no one fear her?

 - Right as I typed that, they started talking about Sandra.  All the girls wanted her, and Russell didn't put up much of a fight.  I guess there was something about Sandra in the other tribe he liked less, but he was talked over.

 - Parvati shouldn't have said she was the boss, even if she then tried to make it a joke.  You don't want the Russell target on you.

 - Episode 10.  Russell's lie about them both playing idols ended up being perfect.

 - I think it's interesting that Parvati of all people would be offended by the perception of her.  They want her out because they fear her, which is a vote of confidence about her abilities.  As for them thinking they have control of the game?  Awesome.  She has a little of the Russell ego in her this way.

 - Sandra: "I'm the last of my alliance, and I have to be babysat.  If they catch me talking to you, I'm done, so keep this on the low low."  Aside from the low low thing (which sounds a little less ridiculous when she actually says it), now I'm sorta getting why Sandra lasts.  She'll go to ridiculous lengths to not draw attention.

 - Unbelievable.  Sandra tells Rupert what's up, and he can't make himself believe it even though he knows he has to.

 - JT's an idiot.  Why can't he read that Sandra is clearly on the outs with her tribe, has every reason to screw them, and no reason to make this story up?  Rupert's right, anyone that immediately plays the "I swear on my kids" card is untrustworthy.

 - Amanda actually did a good job with Parvati.  She didn't seem to give up any information of real importance, and then Parvati said she had an idol.

 - Does Danielle have fake boobs?  Also, I liked Parvati letting Danielle win.  Nice loyalty-sealing move.

 - Russell gives Parvati another idol.  Amazing.  Her conversation with Amanda was interesting.  The show screwed us a little bit.  I don't think Sandra sat out and did nothing during the day, but we didn't see it.

 - GREAT move by Parvati giving Sandra and Jerri idols.  The Heroes tribe is about to die and the Villains tribe is going to be rock solid.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2011, 01:38:50 PM by ReaPsTA »
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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #127 on: April 02, 2011, 02:13:56 PM »
Episode 11

 - Parvati's fine.  Russell isn't gonna do anything against this alliance.  She owns him.  Good decision by her and Danielle to be open about what happened and play it down, which further isolates Russell psychologically.

 - As much as Russell isn't the greatest player, he read the tea leaves of this merge perfectly once Sandra told him what's up, and now he sees the next move.  It's a shame his ego often gets the better of him and he never seems to have many moves, because he tends to understand the other people in the game fairly well.

 - Good moves by Russell.  Cover the liability of Sandra by flipping Candace.

 - This immunity idol clue thing is the saddest thing ever.  Fortunately Colby was able to keep things together.  I think the worst part was how they were in a historic museum and potentially about to break things.

 - I have to approve of how Russell played the hidden immunity idol here.  Great excuse to get out, not telling his obviously less-loyal-than-he-thinks alliance.  Danielle gets flustered looking for it.  Then he used it perfectly with Candace.  Glad to see him finally have some moves in him.  It seems like when his ego isn't raging out of control he plays best, because then he actually has to think and make smart plays.

 - This is where the game gets relentlessly fascinating.  Candace and Sandra have essentially traded tribes (great job moving all this around by Sandra by the way.  She knows how to make her personality work in her favor, has a great sense of timing, and knows what to say), and after the immunity challenge, things are going to get very interesting.  Also, I'm starting to see why Sandra won so easily.  No one on the Jury wants to vote for anyone on the villains tribe... except her.  So as long as she can simply stay alive, she's golden.  But in the context of this moment, she realizes she's low on the villain's pecking order and needs to change things up.  What I can't figure out is if she or Parvati has played the better game.  Both of them have had some luck. Sandra managed to slip by a couple votes purely because the others weren't thinking, Parvati would have been screwed without Russell as her number two guy.  I think Parvati has made more decisions, and she had the truly inspired move with the two idols.  I also wonder though if keeping the other idol from Russell was really a good idea, it was an ego move.  Sandra's ridden the line a couple times at tribal council by being argumentative, and yet she's always come out on top for it.  Essentially, Parvati has made more decisions and has made bigger decisions, but Sandra's success rate is higher.  Both of them are great either way.

 - Sandra's a great example of what I like to call below suspicion.  When someone says above suspicion, I think of that as someone who's just this great guy, and his actions show that he'd never do something like what you might suspect him of.  Being below suspicion is when you don't have any of that, but you just stay off the radar so well that no one even thinks about you.  Russell's obvious move here is to vote off Sandra.  He's got Candice so he'll still have numbers and he knows Sandra is trouble, so why vote off Amanda?  It's that stupid ego again.  He sees her as a good player (which, to some extent, she is), so he wants to beat her.  This then raises the obvious question: HOW DOES RUSSELL NOT SEE SANDRA AS A GOOD PLAYER?  SHE WON THE GAME.  I guess the below suspicion thing really works, because it's not like Russell doesn't want to vote Sandra and everyone's telling him he's wrong.  Everyone ignores her, which makes her nice and happy.  For instance, when Rupert's saying "everyone write Russell's name down" in front of Candice, Sandra just sits there and makes no effort to seem like she's in on it.  She's just there, watching, like she's known to do.

 - Candice is an idiot.  No matter what anyone does to make her see reason, she won't do it.  Sandra tried, but I dunno what else you do.  Maybe yelling at her isn't a great idea, on the other hand you have to jostle her noggin somehow, because she was just doing things and blabbing along and needed to get thinking.

 - Russell: "Sandra, she's just there with us."  He really just said that?  On the other hand, it flustered her and made her look sorta bad.  He's actually handling this TC really well.

 - Heh.  Sandra read the Tea leaves and voted Amanda.  Still not sure how well she played that.  Should she have noticed Candice was up to no good?  Did she do a bad job trying to talk to her?  Did Russell just play her better?  He did play her really well, but I'm not sure.  Great moment when he played the idol though. Parvati rolled her eyes and said he wasted one when he said he was nervous.  I think the love is gone.  What I'm not sure of is if it was smart.  Like, the heat was on him and he knew it.  But then the Heroes want to Parvati.  Should he have seen that coming or no?

Episode 12

 - So many people going for the temptations.  Then Rupert slipped.  This contest was way better in All-Stars.

 - Love everyone splitting for the immunity idol.  I loved how Sandra said she thought by burning bush they meant bush on fire.  Maybe she was only half-serious?  But then she found it and smartly ditched it.  Rupert's idea of faking the idol was good.  And he found just the right rock for it.  And yet, Russell didn't even consider the possibility it was fake?  I mean, he probably did and it wasn't shown, but apparently he didn't consider it enough to matter.  I also appreciate Russell and Colby making a savvy play by also voting out Candice.

 - Courtney looks really good.

 - Candice: "It was obvious Amanda was going to go home whether I voted for her or not."  That's beyond stupid.  Glad to see her go.

 - Oh my god, this is amazing.  Russell doesn't realize that his group voted exactly how it should, and that the extra Candice votes came from Colby and Rupert.

 - Crucial immunity win by Russell.  Not that he was on the chopping block, but he needs a way to assert himself again.

 - I don't understand what Russell is doing trying to break up Parvati and Danielle.  It might have worked.  He's a good enough liar, but he messed something up because now both of them know what he was trying to do.  He's getting so paranoid.

 - Maybe I'm wrong, but no one seems to be considering the Final Tribal Council seriously enough.

 - In spite of some glaring tactical errors, Russell got it done.  Hell of a play.

Episode 13

 - If Russell wanted to get Parvati off balance, he succeeded.  She's not sure of Jerri, she doesn't have Danielle, Sandra's a loose cannon, Rupert and Colby won't touch Parvati.  She's the one thinking the most strategically long term btw.  She seems to be the only one who really understands that being in front of a jurry with Rupert or Colby is the end for you.

 - I dunno if it's just the situation of being in the game, but it seems like all these Survivor contestants are very family-oriented people.  The thing with Sandra and her uncle was pretty touching.

 - Why is Rupert making a bunch of noise at night working?  What does this gain him?

 - I think it's interesting that Parvati's dad seems like a very passive guy who's willing to roll over for a lot of things.

 - Sandra makes another subtly smart play.  It doesn't seem like a great idea to tell Russell "I'm against you," but then he starts going off and Parvati starts making fun of her.  Along with not being on the chopping block, her other truly brilliant skill is stirring up conflict.  She starts these fights without it ever coming back on her, and the right person ends up looking stupid.  Plus, at least for a brief moment, Parvati genuinely liked her, which is a very nice asset.

 - Parvati: "I'm a hero on the inside."  Hmmmmmm.....

 - Good job by Sandra realizing she needed to play the HII.

Episode 14

 - Sandra's fine.  By looking so ridiculous about it, Russell de-validates the idea of Sandra being a liar by hiding the idol.

 - Russell clearly doesn't understand how FTC works.  'Clearly, the best people for me to go with are Jerri and Sandra.  Sandra didn't play the game [completely untrue] and Jerri didn't play the game.  They almost have to vote for me.'  Both Jerri and Sandra are extremely likable people who didn't create any truly deep fissures in the tribe.  Parvati is obviously someone you want in with.  Nobody will vote for her.  The other best choice might be... Colby?  You could make the argument he's an over-the-hill quitter who lucked into the Jury. (For what it's worth, for some reason I liked Colby more this season than in All-Stars.  He didn't play the game as hard, but he seemed more evolved as a human being).

 - Nice immunity win by Russell at the end.

 - Parvati knows Sandra will win if she's at FTC.  This is why she's better than Russell.

 - Sandra's got some killer instinct in her.  Great stuff.

 - Sandra's opening wasn't bad.  Good point, didn't sell it too well.  Russell's sucked because he threw bad feelings at the jury by accusing them of looking at him wrong.  Parvati did okay.  She had the reason to like her by playing Russell as a pet, but didn't really explain it, and she ended with saying she played the game well.  Overall, this was weak.

 - Parvati's response to Colby was solid.  I wonder why we didn't see Colby ask Sandra anything.  I shouldn't be surprised that Coach used his moment to talk and not actually ask the Jury anything.  Sandra's answer to the question of why her strategy was good bummed me out.  She should have mentioned how she voted out Coach, which was awesome, and described how she stayed alive by not trying to go to far to screw people.  The weirdest thing is how as she talks about the heroes not voting Russell we all see them doing the "Yeah, she's right, we should have done that" nod.  People baffle me sometimes. 

Courtney did Sandra a great service, and this time Sandra took the opportunity.  You could see she was genuinely loyal to her alliance.  When JT asked how Russell played the game to secure jury votes, the response actually wasn't bad.  I liked Russell arguing that there should be a mutual respect and understanding for what he's done.  The problem is that, again, Russell is putting the heat on the jury instead of making them feel good about voting for him.  He doesn't get this. 

Parvati made a solid argument saying she had to play under much tougher circumstances than Sandra.  And yet, somehow, Sandra's thing is coming together.  Everyone's feeling "Crap, yeah, we wanted Russell off and we didn't make it happen.  She did know what was up and tried to help us and she's being cool by telling it like it is.  We should give it to her."  Russell's playing like crap, and Parvati isn't really doing anything to be liked.

I want to beat Russell, badly:

Danielle: 'Russell, obviously you made a lot of errors in your jury selection, but tell me this, would have you changed anything about your game?' [I commented on how you played because I find it interesting and respectable.  I'm thinking of voting for you.  As a player I respect, can you do the ultimate thing strong players of anything do and honestly evaluate what you did?  This might also help you gain more credibility with the jury.]
Russell: 'I don't regret anything I did, because if I don't play that way, I can't get to the jury. [Your question bugs me.  I play the perfect game and I'm insulted that you would question it.]
Danielle: 'Yeah, but would you change anything?' [I'm going to assume you misunderstood the question.  I understand you did what you felt you had to do.  But you can't possibly actually think, especially given the jury's reaction to you, that you played as well as you possibly could have.  It's like you're ignoring me.]
Russell: 'I'm not gonna sit here and tell you what you want to hear, I'm gonna tell you the truth. [You're insulting how I played, and I want to intimidate you into ceasing what you're doing.]
Danielle: 'Don't you hear what they're saying?  You're not going to get any votes.  No one respects how you played the game.' [Didn't you listen to anything I said?  I'm not voting for you anymore.  Your game in fact isn't worthy of respect.]
Russell: 'I wouldn't change a thing.' [Speaks for itself]
Danielle: 'Okay, that's too bad.' [I can't believe you just threw away a jury vote, I feel personally slighted.]

Russell doesn't fundamentally understand that the whole point of the jury is to tell them what they want to hear.  Just horrible.  This is the same guy that got Tyson to vote himself out then eviscerated Rob, right?  Someone didn't switch out Russell's brain with another one while he was sleeping?

 - Parvati killed Russell with that thing about assuming Jerri would vote for him.  Nicely done.  Sandra wisely didn't say anything when Jerri pointed out she didn't look out for her.  That's something you've just gotta take respectfully.  Candice reminds me why I didn't like her by telling Parvati she was under Russell's thumb the whole game, even though most of the players understood she was the real driving force of that partnership.  Maybe not it's most important piece (if Russell ever went, she probably would have been next), but she definitely pulled strings and had Russell smitten.

 - I didn't like how Rupert said being honest is hard by lying is easy.  Lying effectively is actually really difficult.  Being honest is sometimes the far easier strategy, because it means you're not marked.  Sandra would know.

Rupert "I don't know about the other heroes, but I think I speak for them when I say we should have listened and worked with you to vote Russell out.  So thank you."  Wow, did I call it.  And then Sandra reacted perfectly.  Sandra opened this a bit slow but now it's clear who has control of this and why.  I liked that Rupert gave Parvati credit for being a tough player.  For all his flaws, his sense of honor is legitimate.

 - Oh my god.  I totally liked how Parvati looked more on the island.  So much more raw, unrestrained sexiness.

Reunion

 - Sandra winning just felt good.  Parvati winning would have just given me an odd feeling.  This is where the game becomes a weird kind of personal reflection.  I always watch the show trying to think about who's playing the best rather than liking or not liking a guy/girl and being unable to see his/her game for what it is.  And yet, at the jury phase, I come back to the fact I just like Sandra more.  I honestly don't know if she's a better player or not than Parvati (although I do know she did a way better job at FTC).

 - Not sure what to think of Parvati saying she was a better player than Sandra.  Felt like ego, but not really dark either.

 - How can Russell say Sandra's social and strategic games were poor?  And then he does the thing where he says that because Sandra could win the game twice, the game itself is flawed.  I'm psyched to hear this.

 - "America needs to have a percentage of the vote."  No.  The whole point of the game is that you have to screw people over who you are relying on to like you.  That's why it's genius.  If America could vote, that would be destroyed.  You'd no longer be playing against each other, you would be playing for the television audience.  I mean, really, this idea sucks.  Russell just wants it because he would have won Samoa and had a better chance here.

 - Sandra said she was making moves every day.  I actually wish we had seen more of her.  In mundane conversations, she'd say random things that really illuminated the depth to which she was thinking about the situation and making sure her actions were right.  Obviously her game isn't perfect, but I'd bet it's better than it seems because of the editing.

 - I love that Russell saved the letter from JT, and then JT tried to throw it in the fire.  TV is great sometimes.

 - Sandra's husband seems like a legitimately cool dude.  Godspeed to both of them.

 - After this reunion show I'm really glad they did Rob vs. Russell on Redemption Island.  Russell got Rob in this season, no question.  But on Redemption Island, Russell croaked with his limited vision of the game, and Rob vastly improved his style.

 - Tyson should have won the dumbest move vote.  JT's move at least had logic behind it.  Tyson's was idiotic in every way, and him trying to explain it at the reunion show was insulting to the notion of evolved intelligence.

 - I think I'm done.  Great season.  I swear I won't waste forum/thread space on this again.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2011, 02:38:33 AM by ReaPsTA »
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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #128 on: April 02, 2011, 06:48:05 PM »
Holy blue fuckenstein, Reap.
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Offline ReaPsTA

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #129 on: April 02, 2011, 07:40:49 PM »
Holy blue fuckenstein, Reap.

It all has to go somewhere.  If even one person reads it I'd be surprised.
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #130 on: April 03, 2011, 10:15:08 AM »
I made it through the first post and loved it, really.  Haven't gotten to the others yet.  I think Coach was more "out there' in his first Samoa season.  In HvV he was a little more under control, but as time went on, the Coach everyone knew started to return.

Offline ReaPsTA

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #131 on: April 03, 2011, 03:45:29 PM »
I made it through the first post and loved it, really.  Haven't gotten to the others yet.

Cool.  Thank you.

Quote
I think Coach was more "out there' in his first Samoa season.  In HvV he was a little more under control, but as time went on, the Coach everyone knew started to return.

I can feel this.  Coach, like Phillip, does way too many things to affirm how he feels about who he is rather than trying to actually play the game.  I actually feel worse for coach than Phillip in a way.  Phillip's craziness seems to obscure for people the fact that underneath it all, he doesn't really seem to be a great guy.  Coach on the other hand actually have a sense that being a good person means actually acting good to other people.  But, I keep going back to what Rob said.  Coach's vote for Courtney was one of the lamest things I've ever seen, and Rob telling him he was a little man was absolutely true.  Ultimately, as much as I wished Phillip would become sane and find happiness, the best I can hope for is that he pays his taxes and doesn't hurt anyone.  With Coach, I hope the guy finds whatever it is he's looking for and becomes more fully realized as a human being.
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Offline Space Invader

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #132 on: April 06, 2011, 09:52:19 PM »
SPOILERS.


Oh wow. Just wow. I can't believe Matt would be so stupid as to change his mind AND TELL ROB. I understand he didn't want to change, but he would have been safe with Zapatera, and its a game. Just....wow.....
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Offline Global Laziness

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #133 on: April 06, 2011, 11:34:29 PM »
David appreciates Rob's genius. I would love to see the two team up.
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Offline ReaPsTA

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #134 on: April 07, 2011, 02:23:18 AM »
I might cry of Boston Rob is ever voted out.  Seriously.

 - Naming the merge tribe after an in-joke between him and Amber.  Rob's best at this game when he's having fun, and now he gets to secretly laugh to himself the whole rest of the time.

 - "Lookit, I've got nothing against God.  I mean, I go to church on Sunday.  But, any time a group of individuals like the same thing, I don't like that.  It could be romantic comedies, it could be Oreo cookies.  If they're all liking it together, I want that broken up.

I had to pause and laugh hysterically.  Amazing.

 - Rob manipulates the vote and gets Matt voted out AGAIN.  I also had to pause for this and laugh with glee.  The editing did a bit of a disservice here.  They showed a bunch of frenetic talkyness meant to imply ambiguity.  This didn't make sense to me.  Rob's smarter than to fall for the obvious plan (which, to Zapatera's credit, was reasonably smart.  However the correct move is actually to vote out Natalie.  Rob would much rather have her at FTC than Grant.  And Grant's a long term threat to Rob since he's a challenge monster).  But when the votes were being read, Rob never looked dissatisfied (when things don't go his way, he shows obvious dissatisfaction), and Grant seemed content with the votes, like he was expecting it.  Basically, they didn't show us the part where Rob realized they were going for Grant.  Also, we missed where Rob told Matt to vote for Steve, and Matt went along with it.  Getting Ralph to play his idol was a nice touch too.

Here's basically the interesting question, was it impossible to trust Matt?  I'm torn.  On one hand, he was clearly paranoid.  They walked off without him and he freaked instead of keeping his cool.  The fact he sold out Andrea was also very telling.  And yet, if Rob can make Phillip a reliable member of his alliance, why not Matt?  Really though, it was the right move.  If Andrea can be made to vote for Matt because she feels spited, then really, now Rob has a solid alliance of six.  I hope Grant isn't an idiot in the next episode like the previews suggest.  Because at this point they could easily chop through the Zapatera tribe.

 - Side note, I totally enjoyed Natalie rocking her new immunity necklace after the challenge.  Fun stuff.

 - Side note 2, the part where Natalie walked up to Rob on the path was one of the best shots I've ever seen in the show.  Tons of drama with a good angle.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2011, 02:46:34 AM by ReaPsTA »
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #135 on: April 07, 2011, 06:18:54 AM »
Outstanding.  I'm really loving the drama this season.  I'm not sure who's going to win this one, Rob or God.  Either way, Phillip's analogy at TC about the ocean had me laughing my ass off.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #136 on: April 08, 2011, 08:57:35 AM »
The best part about this week's episode:

https://kotti.wippiespace.com/survivor/datass2.gif

Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #137 on: April 08, 2011, 09:08:15 AM »
Day-um.

Here's a more to-the-point version from the same site.

https://kotti.wippiespace.com/survivor/bum.gif

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #138 on: April 09, 2011, 03:25:52 AM »
Matt showed himself to be a real dumbass.  They shouldn't have even let him go back to Redemption Island, they should have just kicked him out.
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Offline Global Laziness

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Re: The Survivor Thread
« Reply #139 on: April 09, 2011, 12:05:19 PM »
Matt showed himself to be a real dumbass.  They shouldn't have even let him go back to Redemption Island, they should have just kicked him out.

Regardless, I can see him winning this season.
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