The Survivor Thread

[BlobVanDam]

I swear, if they do not get rid of Abi soon, I'm liable to break something.  She is like that itch you get square in the center of the bottom of your foot, while you're driving.  You can't do anything about it and it will annoy you mercilessly.  Yeah, it goes away eventually, but for now, it will torture you without end.

Also, Lisa seems to be a big fan of Survivor.  She of all people should know that loyalty will not win you the million dollars.  Not going to happen.  Abi wasn't very nice to her last night, so why in the HELL would she want to continue to stick with her and the others?  I get the internal struggle that "But, I gave them my word!"  Hello???  You say you're a fan of Survivor, but have you ever even watched it?  Peoples' word means precisely DICK on Survivor.

I AM glad to see that Mike flipped.  I really don't want to see Penner go.  The more I see of him, the more I like him.  The whole conversation with Lisa last night about the expectations she's always had to bow to?  Excellent groundwork for swaying her to their side.  It was almost like he was looking right into her soul.  Kinda cool.  Hopefully she will give up the loyalty to the others and come over.  But if not, hopefully Mike stays on their side.  Penner's strategy on the reward challenge was excellent.  It helped them out in a big way.

Read my mind.
I laughed when Abi wasn't even picked for the reward challenge. That says it all. How does she expect Lisa to stay loyal to her, when she was a complete bitch to her?
Penner's strategy in the challenge didn't seem all that good at first, but it really helped them blitz that challenge by saving them all starting from scratch to find a bag. That was a cool challenge too.
The immunity challenge was great too. At first I thought it would be the old "balance something longer than everyone else" trick, but that was a really tough challenge that required skill.
I really liked Penner even more this week. He played the game well, and he's a smart guy. I'd like to see him go far. And Lisa redeemed herself too. She's too kind, if anything.

As much as I want Abi to go, the look on her face when Artis got voted out was fucking priceless. Wiped the smug right off her.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

It was quite satisfying.  That chick is 7 gallons of bitch in a 5 gallon bucket.

[BlobVanDam]

The best part is always when someone looks around to see in people's faces who voted for who. Again, priceless tonight.

[KevShmev]

How obtuse is she?  Go to her twitter page.  She is clueless as to why she has so many people criticizing her, and she apparently blocks anyone who tweets a criticism at her.  Sounds like the classic "What did I do wrong?" playing the victim kind of person.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I can TOTALLY see that being the case.  "You had a criticism about me instead of kissing my ass?  BLOCKED!"  People like that are an unnecessary drain on the planet's oxygen supply.

[BlobVanDam]

How obtuse is she?  Go to her twitter page.  She is clueless as to why she has so many people criticizing her, and she apparently blocks anyone who tweets a criticism at her.  Sounds like the classic "What did I do wrong?" playing the victim kind of person.

I definitely get the impression from the show that she has no self awareness. Like this week when she said she thought she showed grace to Lisa. Really? All I saw was her completely patronizing Lisa and calling her gullible and naive.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Rude, condescending, and passive-aggressive people are rarely even remotely aware of what repulsive people they can be.  Abi is a textbook example.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, she doesn't have a clue what grace is.  Also, watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxpso-1UL9E

Yeah, how did winning everyone over with your charm work out?

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Also, everybody is going to be excited to look at her. 

DIAF, moron.

[BlobVanDam]

Damn, the video's blocked in my country, but I can imagine. Is it from the first episode? Shame I didn't keep it saved.

[KevShmev]

Also, everybody is going to be excited to look at her. 

DIAF, moron.

Haha, she really think is she all that and a bag of chips.  Would it be mean to point out how ugly her teeth are?   Who want to look at that?

Damn, the video's blocked in my country, but I can imagine. Is it from the first episode? Shame I didn't keep it saved.

No, it is all of the intro videos each Survivor does of themselves that are posted online. 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

See if this link works:

https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/video/2270292077/survivor-philippines-meet-abi-maria

[BlobVanDam]

Thanks guys. The cbs link didn't work either, but I managed to find a working link on Youtube knowing the name.


What a nutbar.

[KevShmev]

Calling her a nutbar is probably an understatement.

[BlobVanDam]

Good result in tribal this week, with Abi giving up her idol, Pete leaving, and Malcolm boldly not playing his idol. Jeff was really pushing hard on Abi, especially saying she was full of it. And Denises' comments were great too.

I can't believe how someone can be so oblivious. Hopefully she gets the boot next episode now that she doesn't have the idol. It's usually right at a time like this that they manage to pull an immunity win out of their hat though.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Yeah, very irritating how completely self-unaware she is.  Just when you think nobody can be that oblivious.  Holy shit. 

[hefdaddy42]

I am loving this season, and it is somehow fitting that Abi is all alone now.

[senecadawg2]

Can't wait to see her go next week. After that, I'm hoping Penner can squeeze his way into the final 3. Malcolm and Denise are fantastic as well, but I don't care for Skupin or Lisa.

[BlobVanDam]

Speaking of final 3 etc, I can't recall a series of Survivor (at least recently) where I've liked so many of the remaining people. Usually by this point it's thinned down to only one or two people remaining who I'd want to win, but I like most of the people still in it.
The only people left who I really don't want to win it are Abi and Carter. I'd equally love to see either Malcolm or Denise win it, because they've both been great players in every regard, and I like the way Penner has played the game too. And while Lisa and Skupin wouldn't be my picks, I wouldn't be disappointed if they won.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm hoping Penner can squeeze his way into the final 3. Malcolm and Denise are fantastic as well, but I don't care for Skupin or Lisa.

This exactly.

[KevShmev]

Speaking of final 3 etc, I can't recall a series of Survivor (at least recently) where I've liked so many of the remaining people. Usually by this point it's thinned down to only one or two people remaining who I'd want to win, but I like most of the people still in it.
The only people left who I really don't want to win it are Abi and Carter. I'd equally love to see either Malcolm or Denise win it, because they've both been great players in every regard, and I like the way Penner has played the game too. And while Lisa and Skupin wouldn't be my picks, I wouldn't be disappointed if they won.

This mostly sums it up for me, too.

I want Malcolm, Penner or Denise to win. 

I think many are assuming that Abbi will go next week, but I am not.  Sure, Denise talked about the honor in wanting to go up against the best, instead of dragging dead weight to the finals (that was awesome), but not sure everyone will feel that way, and I can see some of the remaining players now wanting to drag that dead weight and her shitty attitude to the finals.  I almost hope it happens just to see her get picked apart again, this time by the jury.

[senecadawg2]

I sure hope that's not the case. As much as I'd like to see the jury eat her alive, it would not be worth having to watch her stick around for the next couple weeks.

[senecadawg2]

It was sad seeing Penner go. As much as I like both Denise and Malcolm, I think I would have been happiest to see Penner win it all.  He played a very strategically sound game, while also being very honest and upfront, and easily could have won had it not been for Lisa's need to get a final alliance. Then again, Penner is at a fault for not trying to secure that final alliance earlier when given the opportunity.

[BlobVanDam]

Hopefully she gets the boot next episode now that she doesn't have the idol. It's usually right at a time like this that they manage to pull an immunity win out of their hat though.

Yep, saw it coming. I swear they save the obligatory auction challenge for just the right moment like this when it's going to throw a spanner in the works. The last round of that challenge wasn't even as hard as the others. The time was all in untying knots, and there was little physical element to it compared to the first two rounds.
I'm annoyed that nobody else realized this was going to happen going into the reward auction, because they always auction off an advantage. I just hope they don't believe Abi's BS about the note also giving a clue to a hidden immunity idol to screw over their voting two weeks in a row.

And I was also sad to see Penner go. He played a great game without lying and cheating his way through. Yet again Malcolm didn't play his idol, although it makes sense. They didn't have the numbers to split votes, which means that any votes against him would have been thrown away votes, so it wouldn't have been a smart move.

[KevShmev]

I liked Penner, but I kind of want to see Denise win, so I was glad it went the way it did.  Especially since I didn't want to see Abbi still there while Denise is voted out.

[BlobVanDam]

I would rather see Denise win than Penner, so in that regard I was happy with the outcome. But Penner would have been my #3 with Denise/Malcolm.

And considering the immature little poking out the tongue she did when Denise went to vote, can you imagine how she would have reacted if Denise got voted out?

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Bummed to see Penner go.  I really liked him.  He would be an excellent ally to Coach.  As would Lisa.  Lisa probably even MORE so, due to her complete incapability to jump ship for any reason whatsoever.  Her blind and unwavering loyalty is on one hand very admirable and on the other hand kind of foolish.  When it gets to four, unless she wins immunity, she'll be the first to go.  I liked Probst's attempt at getting Lisa to out herself at Tribal Council.  Nice try, dick.  Also, Malcolm gets point for making one of the most accurate statements in the history of Survivor.  "Abbi is very un-self-aware."

[BlobVanDam]

Lisa probably even MORE so, due to her complete incapability to jump ship for any reason whatsoever.  Her blind and unwavering loyalty is on one hand very admirable and on the other hand kind of foolish. 

Very true. As she was saying in this episode, she's really not cut out for Survivor. Her honesty is an admirable attribute in real life, but in the game of Survivor, not so much. It reminds me a bit of Brandon Hantz a few seasons ago, except that guy was also a total whackjob to boot.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Oh hell yeah.  That guy was completely off his fucking rocker.  No surprise that he ended up divorced.

[BlobVanDam]

Speaking of Hantz, I wonder how long they're going to keep up the one returning player per tribe idea? Personally I like it, because a lot of the contestants are too entertaining to only get one season, so I'm glad they keep finding ways to bring back favourites. I just wonder if they're going to mix it up soon, because they're always messing around with the formula.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Probst has said they'll have returnees as often as possible:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/survivor_philippines/2012_Jul_30_returnees-forever

[BlobVanDam]

I'm glad to hear that. At the start of a season none of the characters stand out yet, so I like having familiar people there, and seeing how much they learned from their past season(s) in the way they play the game.

[senecadawg2]

Jesus Christ! Get Lisa out of there

[BlobVanDam]

Gaaaah, I cannot believe they even for a second believed the notion that Abi might have an idol. It was just such a blatantly desperate tactic to say "I have the 4th hidden immunity idol". It sucks that she got away with that bluff. After not playing it tonight, I hope all doubt is removed for next week's episode. Since next episode is the last time it can be played, I hope Malcolm plays his idol regardless just to be safe.

I don't like the direction Lisa is heading in. I'm not convinced she can play the strategic game, and I think that will backfire.

I'd love to see Malcolm and Denise in the top 3. It will be interesting to see how next episode pans out.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I absolutely despise the "loved ones" episode.  Making the winner pick 2 people who can stay with their loved ones longer, while the others have to say goodbye?  Terrible to put people in that position.  I know it's all about strategy and force people to work trhough emotions for strategic purposes, but it's still awful to manipulate people like that.

So yeah, Lisa is incapable of taking her heart out of the equation when it comes to Survivor.  However, it makes you wonder, did she get this far because of that or is she just lucky?  I'm going with luck.  The only other person to be known for playing with that kind of integrity is Coach, who lost all three times.  I'm still scratching my head that the jury gave Sophie the win and not him.

Just please, people, get Abi the fuck out.  "If Abi goes home tonight, it's because she's a bitch."  No shit.  I cannot stand another second of her.  She's as bad as people like NaOnka were.  Complete self-absorption and inability to read social cues.  Frustrating as hell.