Fabulous Fabio!!

It's Fabio!!!  Did you watch?  It was so fun.  And let me start by saying that yes, I won my own Survivor pool, which my husband was quick to point out is ummm.... "not done."  But, I also have to point out that it was the first time in 21 seasons that I've won.  So, I think that if I do the math, I'm probably still coming out on the short end.  Anyway, very exciting to win, and I was really pleased that Fabio won.... just 'cause I liked him.  He played a good game.  He played the likeable goofball to a tee... was probably quite a bit smarter than he ever let on & made friends with everyone.  He stayed out of the hard core strategizing and ended up being able to say that he didn't backstab anyone, which we know plays well with the jury.  And finally, the dude cleaned up on the final immunity challenges, winning three in a row when he clearly needed the wins to stay in the game.  Overall, you can't argue with the win. 

Chase came in a close second with four votes to Fabio's five.  I was a bit surprised that he got as many votes as he did.  I honestly thought he'd pissed everyone off too much with the wishy-washiness, and promising everyone and their dog an alliance to the end.  But at the end of the day, he was well-liked, he was a good physical competitor, and darn it, he just has that honesty thing down.  It's weird, for a guy who actually backstabbed so many people, he seems to be able to pull out the honesty card when it counts and tell people straight up what he's planning or how his decisions were made.  He was honest with Fabio that the three in the alliance (Chase, Holly & Sash) were planning to vote him out next if he didn't win immunity.  Holly was also honest with Fabio, while Sash was a weasel. 

The weaseliness (is that a word?  It should be.) is what did Sash in.  No one can argue that he was a good player.  He was always thinking strategy.  (Sidebar:  If I heard one more person say "strategical" last night, I was going to hurl something at the TV. That is not a real word.  Not that weaseliness is either, but at least I know that.)  Back to Sash... yep, he was good.  He had Russell's way of promising everything to everyone, but he was more likeable.  Mostly.  Until he wasn't.  When it came down to it, you could see right through his smile & laugh & attempts to save his own butt.  When Fabio had immunity and basically got to choose who was going home (which I LOVED! Didn't you love seeing the alliance scramble & all of a sudden they're all Fabio's best friend? Hee!) as mentioned, Chase & Holly were straight with him & Sash wasn't (no pun intended.)  Sash tried telling Fabio that noooooooo, he would have taken Fabio to the final three.  Right. 

So it was brilliant that Fabio and the others voted for Holly as the first out of the final four.  It was smart.  Fabio had to decide who to take & his best bets (clearly) were wishy-washy Chase and weaselly Sash.  Good move. 

It was a great jury question period.  The majority of the questions went to Chase & Sash, which tells you something right there.  As said, Chase answered the questions quite well & kept pretty honest.  He said exactly how some of his choices went down and both he & Sash tried to play up the fact that they were the ones strategizing while Fabio was not always in the loop.  Fabio, to his credit, piped up on more than one occasion to defend himself - saying that he knew more than he let on and just let others do the dirty work.  When Chase said he'd spend the money on his mom, Fabio spoke up again saying he's going to take care of his mom too.... then he got all emotional (real, I think?) and talked about how he realized that family is the most important thing, etc.  Cue jury tears!  Heh heh.... Well played! 

NaOnka wasn't as hard on them as I thought she'd be.  I figured she'd be a bit tougher on Fabio who she always said she couldn't stand... but I think he grew on her.  Marty and Dan were both pretty hard on Chase & Sash and Jane was by far the worst/best of the stink-eye crew!  I don't want Jane to ever look at me like she looked at those dudes!  Yikes!  Said something about Sash's mother not raising him right... Oh my. It was lovely!  Pretty good questions... none that were to cringe-worthy... and good answers!  Well fought!

A pretty good reunion show too.  I loved seeing both Fabio & Sash all cleaned up!  I loved my boyfriend Jeff asking Fabio if he was playing dumb... and Fabio's answer that was....  ummm... confusing?  Seriously... something about coming from a family of artists and something about his grandfather inventing the colour wheel and another grandparent inventing... what was it?  Anyway, then something about traveling the world and "joining the dots" and "it's all about communication..." and what the....?  Duuuuude!  But he's so darned lovable and weird, that you can't  help but thinking good for you, weirdo-model-hippie-dude!  You go join those dots!  Perhaps he'll go communicate with those Amazon dudes who kidnapped Coach Ben Wade?

Sidebar:  All those shots of the former Survivors in the audience.  I didn't mind really (though, Rupert - really? Still with the tie-dye? Move on.) but would have preferred less talk of Boston Rob & Amber's childbirth experience and more talk from some of the actual Survivors from THIS season who didn't get to talk.  Right?

Jane won the audience choice award of $100,000.  Yay!  Obvious choice. What else...?  Yeah, Marty said that he & Jane weren't planning to be pals any time soon.  Hee. Jimmy Johnson went on about how hard Survivor was & how it saved his life to try out (and then more blathering by that other football dude. What?) and Wendy  Jo is still insane (my boyfriend Jeff:  "I have no idea what you just said, but OK." Ha!), and there was some crazy business from Shannon who went on about Sash's sexuality some more.  "I was just calling a duck a duck. If it walks like a duck, it's a duck. I mean it might be a chicken, but.... well, I just met Sash's girlfriend...so...." What?  And then NaOnka refreshingly talked about how foolish she was and how some of the kids' parents she teaches want her fired.  Ha!  Funny.  And NaOnka's mom "threw her under the bus" as Jeff said, not exactly "so proud".... And no talk from mute Purple Kelly. 

OK, so next season (which starts in Feb. after Super Bowl?  Right?) is called Redemption Island!  So the trick is that once people have been voted out, they get a chance to get BACK!  Fun, right?  I don't know how that's going to impact the pool... might have to come up with a new twist of my own.... we'll see. I have the Christmas break to think about it.  So thanks to y'all for reading and for your comments (you can leave comments... just sayin') and for putting up with all my ranting.  If you want, you can just throw out another topic in between Survivor seasons & I'll happily update the blog.  Otherwise... Redemption Island it is! Yay!

Flippers, Liars, Cheats & Backstabbers!!

Sorry for the late post, but it's the Christmas season & there is so much to do!  I actually forgot to PVR Survivor, so had to catch up online yesterday.  Phew!  It was a good one... and only one (sniff!) more (sniff!) left!  Don't forget that the finale is on SUNDAY!  So exciting!  Who are you guessing will win?  I'm secretly hoping for Fabio or Dan, but have a bad feeling it will be Sash or Holly.  Personally, I'm rooting for the less annoying people to win.  Chase, well, he's a lost cause, non?  Why bother.

Chase just can't help himself.  I take it all back about Fabio being the mimbo.  I now believe that Fabio is actually a lot more of a smarty pants than he lets on, and that Chase is the mimbo.  Chase, who let himself get swayed every time Brenda batted her eyelashes.  The guy has literally promised everyone something and then has gone back on his promise.  And not in the clever, Russell Hantz way... but in a way that suggests he maybe just can't remember who he's promised what.  On this week's episode, we see him promise Fabio that he'll take him on reward if he wins.  Yep (insert eye roll here), we've all seen this play out before.  Chase did, in fact, win reward and did not take Fabio.  Instead he took Sash (no one argued with this pick, as Sash hadn't been on reward forever, plus Chase screwed Sash over last time with his "promises" remember?) and Holly.  Why Holly?  He was clearly drawing a line with his new alliance and cutting out Jane. 

Thing was, it was the family episode.  Gets me every time.  I love watching them with their families and seeing how emotional they all get.  It makes them more human, right?  And it's funny how even the most manly dudes get caught up in everyone's emotional-ness.  Dan pretty much lost it when watching the video of his sons, and then when his son came out & hugged him.  Cute to see the son giving dad lots of kisses on the head!  So of course, everyone wanted to go on reward with their loved one.  Fabio, however, was particularly pissed at Chase.  Not only had Chase promised him he'd go, but apparently they had bonded over the love of their moms (that doesn't come out right, but you know what I mean.) And apparently Fabio only sees his mom a couple times a year, etc. so he just about threw a fit when Chase didn't pick him.  So much for the "playing it cool" strategy. 

So the three of them - Sash, Holly & Chase - seem to have all the power. They decided to vote off Fabio it seemed, but Fabio won immunity, so it looked like Jane would be the next pick.  And a smart move, right? We've all talked about it - how no one would beat Jane at the end... how no one wanted to go up against her.  So it was a matter of time 'til they turned against her.  However, Jane caught them talking and confronted them on it... Chase (who also is the WORST liar ever) pretty much came out & said yes, Jane, we are voting you out.  Well, Jane lost it.  They were supposed to be the final four together, blah, blah, blah. On the way to Tribal Council, she threw pots of water on the fire saying, "I started it, I can damn well put it out!" 

Now here's the thing... well two things really. 

1)  Why the heck didn't the other three - Jane, Fabio and Dan - try to form their own alliance and knock one of the others? Sure Chase & Sash had immunity idols, but they could have knocked out Holly.  Even my boyfriend Jeff at Tribal Council put this question to them.  He even said, "Here's what my mom would ask.." then put on his mom voice (Hee!)... "Why don't those other three form an alliance?"  So all I can figure is either a) they didn't think of it, b) Jane was too busy being mad to come up with another alliance & save her butt and/or c) Fabio and Dan also know that Jane needs to go for them to get ahead in the game and are happy enough to take their chances against the others.  Let the others be the "flippers" and just go along.  Hell, Dan is just happy to still be there!  Thing is, depending on how much the others have to backstab and how well he handles himself in the final questions, a guy like Dan could do well in the end.  Right?  Worked for Natalie!  And Fabio's in the same boat, only he has more chance of making it to the end by winning immunity. 

2) Jane, oh Jane.  Jane is Survivor McGuyver, remember?  So for someone who's SUCH a huge Survivor fan, who's seen all the seasons, who practiced before going on the show.... how does she not realize that alliances are meant to be broken?  As poolster Don noted, alliances only work until they don't.  Good point. I mean, I get her being pissed that she got booted out, for sure.  Especially by Chase (did you love Jane saying that Chase "had better not show his face in North Carolina again!"  Hee!)  But, come on.  Again, it makes me crazy to no end - and you've heard the rant many times here - how some people think that to win Survivor... or maybe it's to "DESERVE" to win Survivor, you have to play with "integrity"... this magical thing that some players think is necessary to deserve the million bucks.  Thing is, the game is "outwit, outplay, outlast" and sometimes outwitting means lying.  It's not a ponzi scheme, no one is worse off in life.  It's like being mad because someone bluffed you in poker to make you think they have a full house when really they have a seven and a three.  Do they not deserve to win?  It's part of the game.  You're not supposed to look disappointed when you get dealt your seven-three.  You're supposed to do what you can to win the pot.  In the end, the combination of these things is why Survivor is fun to watch.  Guys like Russell Hantz don't win because they don't put any work into the personal part of the game - making people THINK they "deserve" the money and at the same time why people like stupid Purple Kelly won't win either, because they have no strategy (well, and the fact that she's a quitter).  It's a balance of the two.  Jane had it going on & while I'm sad to see her voted out, I'm also super pleased to see people playing the game.  I'd have voted her skinny, McGuyver butt out long ago. 

Maybe It Was Karma For Killing Jane's Chicken....

Let's see.  No play-by-play necessary.... the events weren't really that interesting.  Here are the short-form highlights:

• The group named the chicken Kelly-Nay after their quitter former tribemates.  Hee!  That's not the funny part.... then they ate said chicken.  Actually, Fabio, Dan, Benry and Sash ate the chicken while Chase, Holly & Jane were on reward.  Fair, right?  Jane didn't think so.  She was M-A-D... and very sad that her pet chicken was murdered. Here's an idea... maybe don't get attached to chickens when you're on Survivor with a bunch of starving people. 
• Chase is not very bright.  Bless him, he's so very nice and isn't hard on the eyes, but strategy just isn't his thing.  To his credit, he recognizes this flaw... but not until after he's blundered his way through something...  Last night he won reward & had two people to choose to go with him.  Holly was the natural choice for giving up her place on reward last time.  No one would argue with that.  But then it was obvious that he should have taken Sash.  Sash was the swing vote who you don't want to leave behind to worm his way in with the other three.  But Chase chose Jane because they're close, because of the mom thing, because she's from North Carolina... whatever.... Dumb.

Yeah, that's about it.  Everything else was just strategizing and scrambling.  On one side you had Jane, Holly & Chase.... on the other you had Dan, Benry & Fabio.  Sash is in the middle & he has an idol, then he wins individual immunity.  The guy goes from having nothing to having everything in a day, which is the beauty of the show once again. Sash approaches both groups to see who "has the best offer"... which brings me to my point that Sash used to be so cocky when he was the Queen with Brenda.... then he ousted her and laid low for a bit.... now he's back to being cocky again.  Ugh.  It's getting to Russell Hantz territory.  Sash had better be voted out soon, or he could win.  He has a lot of friends on the jury.  Even Brenda it seems is prone to forgiveness and may not know that he turned on her.  It is time for a Sash blindside if you ask me.  Wasn't meant to be last night, though.

Sash eventually made it known that he was siding with the Chase-Jane-Holly alliance & it looked like they were voting out Fabio.  Even poor Fabio was as worried as we've ever really seen him.  Did you get sucked in?  I did.  I was certain he was going home.  And I should know better than to trust those wily Survivor editors... He was using his "play it cool" strategy, not scrambling, and even in Tribal Council there was talk of communication & how playing it cool wasn't the best way to go....  Even Benry was over chatting it up with Holly & Chase saying that he was willing to vote out his buddy & jump alliances.  It would have been easy. 

But in the end it was Benry who went home. So clearly, those wily editors are leaving something out.  Did Fabio make a case for staying that we didn't see?  Was Benry more annoying (that's my guess)?  Benry is a physical threat, but no more than Fabio really.  (UGH!  Which makes me remember the part where Sash tells us how he's been purposely sandbagging at the challenges so as not to look like a physical threat.  Sit DOWN, Sash!  Wait a sec... I'm somehow surprised that a dude who wore a skinny tie to Survivor Nicaragua is unbearable?  OK, my bad.)  And what annoyed me the most about Tribal Council was that they kept talking about how Fabio, Benry and Chase were the biggest physical threats and NO ONE mentioned JANE!!  Has everyone forgotten that Jane has, in fact, beaten all those boys at physical challenges on a few occasions???  OK, so she doesn't do that great when it comes to challenges with a lot of running - I'll give you that.  But any type of endurance challenge has Jane beating each one of those muscle boys.  And no one thinks to bring this up?  Everyone keeps talking about how they don't want to go to the end with Jane because they know they can't beat her, yet they don't vote her out.  It's amazing.  And the challenges lately have been maily obstacle course type running events, so we're definitely due for some endurancey, puzzley type ones to come soon.  Trust. 

I'm starting to completely love the fact that Dan is still there.  He's sort of grown on me with his weird dyed black hair and grey beard and huge arms and little legs.  I know he's basically an easy vote and likely won't win, but you never know.  If things get backstabby, Dan could pull it off by staying out of it. 

Fabio makes my life.  I love the "play it cool" strategy and I love that he's really smarter than he lets on.  From the smirk on his face when Benry got booted, I'm thinking Fabio knew that Benry was playing the other side and worked some doofus magic.  You?  I like to think he's controlling the game somehow.

And Holly.  Again, she's someone who could win this thing because overall, she's pretty well liked.  A bit annoying, sure.  But plays the mom card well and hasn't put anyone's alligator shoes in the ocean recently.

Jane needs to stop annoying people & she'll be OK.  I don't think she does too much - but we saw it a bit last night with the cheering for everyone during the challenge.  However, as said, no one seems to want to actually vote her out anyway.  She will win if she makes it to final three.  Do you agree? 

At any rate, it's getting interesting.  Will Dan & Fabio get picked off now without Benry?  It all depends on who will win the immunity, right?  And if they're smart, they blindside Sash & get rid of the idol.  Plus, no one knows Chase has NaOnka's idol.  My thought is that he'll be stupid and tell someone & get  himself voted out but he may surprise me.  Two idols still!  Fun!  And in the "scenes from next week"... what the hell?  My boyfriend Jeff tells the Survivors that the ones who don't win the reward will be executed???  OK..... Maybe the chicken has come back from the dead for revenge....

We are SO close to the end... will it be one more Wed, then the finale?  Or is it two more Wednesdays then finale?  Crazy! 

Finally, my thoughts on Benry.  We didn't know who he was until recently (Benry?  Who?) and he just wasn't really that likable.  His biggest contribution was in being mean to Alina and calling her a dirt squirrel (puke weasel?) and he showed that he could be a weasel himself by quickly dumping Fabio.  Plus, the dude's a "club promoter."  Come on. 

Quitting is Dumb.

OK, so first of all, I'm not slacking... there was no show last week because of American turkey day.  Well, there was a clip show.  Yawn.

Last night's show totally made up for it.  Yowza!  Not one, but TWO quitters!!  Crazy!!  Hard to believe people are that stupid... Before I get into the rant, I'll give you the background.

It was raining and cold.

There.  That's it.  Poor NaOnka and Purple Kelly were chilly.  I think it was Benry (or maybe Fabio) who said it best.  You're in a RAIN FOREST in Nicaragua and you don't expect it to RAIN?  The two girls were all emotional and crying and NaOnka's "joints hurt".... Now, I'm not saying it would be easy or that I wouldn't break down and have a little cry maybe.  But come on.  Those girls are in their early 20's.  Holly, Jane and Dan are all sucking it up & toughing it out.  Why?  'Cause they know life is actually harder than sitting in Nicaragua in the rain.  Anyway, ranting again...

Then there's the part about how NaOnka is not only a quitter, but a horrible, horrible person.  Nothing we didn't already know, right?  We already knew she's selfish and as my boyfriend Jeff likes to say - basically, she's a 7 year-old.  But yesterday's actions took the cake.  The Survivors broke into teams to do the reward challenge.  NaOnka's team won reward, which was going to a movie (uh, blatant product placement as we also were forced to basically watch an ad for the movie during the show - ugh!)  Then my boyfriend Jeff says that if someone wants to stay behind from the reward, they can have a new tarp & container of rice for the group.  Backing up a bit, NaOnka and Purple Kelly at this point had already confessed to Jeff that they wanted to quit.  Jeff hates quitters.  It makes him (and the rest of us) angry, because there are a lot of people out there who want to play and here are these people with a golden opportunity just throwing it away.  Jeff gives them the afternoon to think about it.  Back to the reward.... everyone looks directly at NaOnka... You're leaving anyway... you'll be eating a big meal soon, why don't you take one for the team and at least leave on a positive note?  Nope.  Not if you're a selfish, bratty 7 year-old.  If you're a selfish, bratty 7 year-old, you go on that reward and don't think twice about it. 

Who does stay back?  Holly.  Holly's a mom and Holly wants to take care of the team.  It's just the way she is.  As I've mentioned before, when Holly checks into the game, she can be super smart and a force to deal with.  So, even though she had just finished saying, "All I want right now is a hot dog!" she stayed back and it could have been an action that could win her a million dollars.  And she should win a million bucks for the mom stare she gave NaOnka when she stepped aside.  It was the best - I tried to replicate it myself later, but not being a mom, I couldn't.  I'm going to see if I can get my mom friends (and my mom!) to do it and show me how.  It's awesome.  But it did not work on the brat with no conscience.  Holly later "mommed" Purple Kelly - giving her the big talk, saying things like, "Here's what I would say to my own daughter..." etc.  Holly herself almost quit on day 5, remember?  But she got a talking to by Jimmy Johnson.  Apparently Holly's daughters are much smarter than Purple Kelly and I don't think even Jimmy Johnson would be able to get through to this girl.

So there was no immunity challenge.  Straight to Tribal Council to hear from the two weiners on whether they'd stay or quit.  Here's the thing - it's in everyone else's best interest for people to quit - less competition. But these girls had people trying to convince them to stay.  Jeff did his best.  Jane gave an awesome speech about how life is hard and you need some inner strength to get through.  My favourite was when she said that there are people in the world in WAY worse situations than they were in, and they are not playing Survivor.  Yes!  Love Jane. 

NaOnka went on at length about how she comes from a long line of strong, black women.  Uh... too bad that line stopped with you, you big baby!  My boyfriend Jeff, exasperated, asked Naonka whether she actually thought she had a shot to win the million dollars.  "I don't think so, I KNOW so!"  Then why quit? Now the rant - NaOnka is one of these girls - and I say girls because I think it mostly happens with girls... who think they are special because they are told they are.  No other reason.  No matter what they do in life, good or bad, they are taught that as long as they are "true to themselves" and "are a strong woman" and all that BS, then everything's OK because they are special.  You can see this when her defence for bad behaviour is that, "I'm just being myself and if you don't like it, too bad!"  I'm quite sure all those Girls Gone Wild say the same thing when they show their boobs on crazy spring break videos.  It's OK, no matter what, I'm special.  I live my life with no regrets.  Well it's unfortunate that they don't realize that being a strong woman doesn't mean doing whatever you want, and that you SHOULD regret a few things or else you don't learn anything.  NaOnka's parting words were exactly what you'd expect from this type of girl - basically that yeah, she has (you guessed it) no regrets about quitting and that (again, you saw it coming) she's so very proud of herself for making it so far in the game.  Special, right? 

Meanwhile, the jury is beside themselves, and it's hard to blame them.  Alina, Marty and Brenda all got voted out - they did not quit.  We hear Marty say, "I WANT to play!"  And truly, it's unfair, right?  Even Alina was crying (a bit much right?) but yeah, why didn't those girls quit a long time ago if they didn't want to play?

Now, Purple Kelly on the other hand, is just stupid.  We've talked about it before on this blog.  She wasn't in the loop, she wasn't important even for a vote, she never talked, she wasn't playing the game.  She was a waste of a spot on the show, and it's too bad they even let her on.  Apparently you don't have to have a personality to get on Survivor, but if you look good in a bikini and have some purple hair, you're in!  Maybe that's harsh, but I might have changed my mind if she had stayed.  She's just not smart enough to do the math.  I've done this for 28 days, what's another 11?  (I loved Fabio - "I'm sticking it out even if it snows!)  She said something about that she's proud herself for playing "with integrity" the whole time.  (A separate rant - see past seasons for my thoughts on that one.)  Ugh!  And the difference between her & NaOnka in their parting words was that Purple actually apologized to the jury members for quitting.  Some redemption there, but still just makes us shake our heads and wonder how you could be that dumb. 

These two babies now have a vote on the jury, which in my mind is totally wrong.  I think if you quit, you void your spot on the jury.  They don't deserve to vote for the winner.  Jeff at least asked them what they think should be done with their torches.  NaOnka said "I think they should be smuffed, Jeff.  Isn't that the word?  Smuffed!"  No, it's not a word, you stupid, stupid girl!  So Jeff ended up "smuffing" the torches, but told them he's leaving them there as a reminder of their stupidity.  (My words, not Jeff's.) 

I'd be pretty interested to see Ponderosa now.  If anyone out there is tech-savvy enough to find the vids (huh - I never thought to just check YouTube...) let me know.  Would LOVE to see how those girls are treated by Brenda, Alina & Marty.  I'm thinking Alina claws NaOnkas eyes out and then rips Purple Kelly's purple hair right out of her head, causing the air inside to escape & the head to implode.  Harsh again?  Maybe.  In the end, neither of those girls were going to win anyway really, but both of them had a shot at being in the final three.  Quitting with 11 days left is ridiculous & they'll have to live with it.  And I'm sure there are people at CBS who regret signing them up for Survivor.

For your reading pleasure, my boyfriend's blog:

http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/12/02/jeff-probst-blogs-survivor-nicaragua-episode-12/#more-113997

The King is Dead!! The King is Dead!!

I really thought Brenda was smarter than that.  I know Brenda thought she was smarter than that. Perhaps therein lies the rub.  More on that later.

It was a good episode, non?  (Do you know you can leave comments on this site?  Do it! I dare you.) It was good and it was a little bit weird.  The good part was in the strategizing. We're seeing some excellent game-play, and oddly, some non-existent game-play.  Seriously, what is WRONG with Purple Kelly?  She's essentially mute, she's not very good at anything except French braiding her hair, and she is not playing the game.  I guess she wanted a vacation?  Even when she won reward & her team was sitting around having a nice talk & enjoying some food, Fabio says to her, "You don't talk much."  She replies, "No. I don't. Weird, huh?"  Yes, weird.  She won't win, but the sad part is that she'll be a completely ineffectual jury member.  She'll likely vote based on something lame like who's prettier, and her jury question will probably be something like, "Ummmm.... it's hot out, huh?"  Right.  What a waste.  Would way rather have Jill or Tyson or any of the Jimmies.  Sigh. 

The team that won the reward, did so handily.  It was Purple Kelly, NaOnka, Jane, Chase & Fabio.  I'll spare you the details except that my boyfriend Jeff was especially punchy in his commentary.  "If this was for life or death, you guys would be DEAD!"  "Yellow team making NO progress."  "Brenda tries to walk on the barrel... yeah, that'll work.... for a minute."  And something about Benry jumping off the barrel in a loser's salute or something like that... Hee. 

Then the show gets a little weird.  The winners go enjoy their time tobogganing down a volcano (cool!) and riding in a helicopter (cool!) while the losers go back to camp to find a fire has destroyed most of their stuff. Now, first of all, whose bright idea was it to shelter the fire with wooden crates?  The weird part (to me, at least) is that they didn't even show the reactions of the winners when they got back to camp.  Must have been boring, I guess.  In my mind it went something like this:

Fabio:  "Whoooooa!  Dude, this is CRAZY!"
NaOnka:  "What is wrong with you people?  Who's the dummy that came up with that idea?"
Jane:  "We-yull, ah guess ah'm gunna hafta take y'all behind the woodshed and whip ya."
Chase:  "Brenda, you're pretty."
Purple Kelly:   (*insert cricket noise here*)

Anyway, the immunity challenge is worth mentioning because Survivor MacGuyver Jane won it.  And it was a strength/endurance challenge again.  She was up against both Chase & Benry at the end & she kicked their butts.  At one point she just about quit and my boyfriend Jeff talked her out of it.  You can tell he (like the rest of us) kinda loves Jane. (I'm not jealous.)  He tells her, "Don't you quit now! You can do it!" And she did.  Heh. Of course she tells us after that her strength comes from cutting dogs' nails and lifting all those 80 lb dogs.  Seriously.  I have an 80 lb dog.  Maybe lifting my dog should be my new workout....

So then the strategizing. Holly snaps out of vacancy again this episode to talk to Jane about how they need to vote off Brenda because she showed how powerful she was last vote.  (Btw, Holly reminds me of the Chicken Lady from Kids in the Hall.  Anyone?)  So all of a sudden it looks like they have numbers to vote off Brenda.  Holly, Jane, Dan, Fabio and Benry are all in.  NaOnka, who was Brenda's bff, figures it might be time to make a power play and break up Sash & Brenda.  Chase... oh Chase.... Chase is on the fence, or so it seems at the beginning.  His idea is to vote out Benry because he's a "threat".... How he figures this is beyond me.  He shows everyone that he's still sucking up to Brenda & just like when he picked the girls over the guys in last week's challenge, can NOT see that he's backing the losing horse.  Numbers, dude!  Thing is, Chase is sweet on Brenda.  Chase would do anything for Brenda.  It's sick.  Everyone else can see it, even Brenda who pretty much can't stand him.  Benry sees it & tells us, "Chase needs to grow a pair...." while even Holly looks brighter when she says, "What the #%!* is wrong with Chase?" 

So Brenda's strategy is to talk quietly and reason with her alliance of Sash & Chase.  (Oh yeah, at the beginning of the show, Brenda tells us that she can see why people see her & Sash as King & Queen.... only "Sash is more of a Queen, and I am the King."  Hee.)  Brenda is too good for scrambling. Even Jeff asks her at Tribal Council... "Are you above scrambling?"  "It's not my style, Jeff."  Cut to Alina on the jury, "She's so irritating!"  Hee.  And Marty.... all clean shaven and put together... fantastic!!  His facial expressions did not disappoint. 

For a minute I thought that Sash might make a huge move by giving her the immunity idol, and then voting off NaOnka.  Now that would have shaken things up a bit.  But he did not.  AND just to rub salt into the wound, both Sash and Chase ended up voting for Brenda in the end!!!  I'm not too surprised that Sash flipped on her, but I was surprised that her lapdog Chase did.  How's that for loyalty?  The funniest part was that Purple Kelly voted Benry.  Apparently no one sees the need to inform her of any plans at all.  Maybe they just forget she's there.... Brenda should have scrambled.  She should not have been so high and mighty. She should have not been such a tyrant as King.  And she will not forget.  There will be some awesome girl fighting if NaOnka makes it to the end... I think it'll be Jane vs. NaOnka vs. someone inconsequential. Unless of course NaOnka gets in trouble next week like the previews show... but it's never as bad as they show us, is it?  I'm dying to watch Ponderosa to see how Brenda is welcomed by Alina & Marty.  Hee!  Can't seem to get the videos this year, though, because we're in Canada... Boo, CBS!!!  

Sometimes Being Interesting Just Isn't Enough

Super late with this post. Sorry! It was Remembrance Day, then I had a day off... and well... just didn't want to turn on my computer. It's clunky... kinda like Dan in Survivor.  It does the work, but just barely... and if you look at it sideways, it's likely to fall over and get med-evac'ed off the island. 

But I digress. The episode, if you missed it, was a bit of a dull one. I know it's been a common complaint about this season - there's just not enough interesting stuff going on and the characters aren't much to write home (or a blog) about.  But we do our best with what we have... and it's bound to start heating up again soon. And really, there's a lot there if you look. It's kind of like shopping at Winners.

So, the short recap.... if I can remember that far back.  The challenge was interesting only because it was a random draw into two teams that ended up all women vs. all men.  Chase was the extra & had to sit out but was allowed to back a team to get in on the reward.  Now, I'm no rocket scientist and I'm all about the grrrrl power, but you've got an obstacle course in which the Survivors need to break through walls made of sticks and bricks.  Ummmm..... who would you pick?  You'd pick the men.  Why?  'Cause you ain't no dummy. (Ooh, sorry, I let out my inner Naonka there for a bit.)  But seriously. Chase is lovely. Chase is a REALLY nice guy.  He's cute, and he's sweet and he should NOT win Survivor. Sheesh. For that move alone!!  All Brenda had to do was jump up & down and say, "Pick us!" And he did.  Yup. He can try to tell us all he wants that it was about some sort of strategy... that he was more in with the alliance on the girls' side... but that was just dumb.  Even Brenda knew it, but she knows she can get him to do whatever she wants. Brenda is smart.  Later there was a lovely part where Chase is talking to Naonka & is worried.  Naonka tells him not to fret, but don't piss off Brenda. Leave her alone.  Then - and maybe it's good Survivor editing - he's there bugging Brenda. "You look worried. What's going on?  Are you OK? Is everything alright? Are we still friends?" Blah blah blah.... Brenda complains to us at home that Chase is "like a little baby going wah wah wah...." and Naonka rides him about it in her special way. "What did I tell you? I said, "Don't go over there and bug Brenda." And then what do you do? You go over there and bug Brenda."  Hee.

Anyway, guess who won the challenge?  That's right, smart reader.  The men.  They got this great reward & got to zip-line through the jungle & eat a big feast, etc.  Everyone looked like they had a blast, except Dan, who looked seriously uncomfortable about the whole thing.  Heh. Poor Dan. Someone put the man out of his misery.

The immunity challenge was a memory challenge. Marty came close to winning, but lost out to a very smug Brenda.  It looks like it would either be Marty - because he's a threat & Jane hates him - or NaOnka because she's annoying and stole food and has an immunity idol.  Then it was flush the immunity idol out by making NaOnka think she's being voted out but really vote Jane (guess who's idea that was?)

Tribal Council is full of fighting. Jane hates Marty. Marty hates Jane. NaOnka hates Fabio. Jeff can't believe NaOnka talks so much smack and steals food and gets away with it.  She goes on at length telling him that's just how she is & if people don't like it, well then they don't like it.  Sigh... There's some positive role model material.... This woman teaches children?  Have you read my boyfriend Jeff Probst's blog about his epiphany that NaOnka is really a seven year-old?  Hee. Here's the link - it'll help you appreciate NaOnka:
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/11/04/jeff-probst-blogs-survivor-nicaragua-episode-8/

Anyways, poor Marty got voted out.  Had an immunity idol & everything. Sigh. The ego finally got him. I'll miss Marty and his hair.  Don't get me wrong, I think Marty will be OK.  He's going to be a fine jury member - we'll get some excellent reactions I'm sure and hopefully some thoughtful questions come the finals.  He also has truckloads of money in real life, so don't feel bad for him there. However, Marty was good TV. One less Marty means one less interesting person on a season that's giving you Purple Kelly, Benry and Dan.  Holly had one moment of brillance & is back to vacant.  We've given up on Chase. Fabio's "being cool" strategy is good & he's fun to watch. NaOnka is hateful, so great to bring to the final 2 or 3 and would have been gone by now if she wasn't pals with Brenda. Sash is really following Brenda, though he thinks he's running the show.  So it's essentially a Brenda vs. Jane show as far as I'm concerned.  One of them should be planning to oust the other sooner vs. later!  Girl fight!

Who's Playing the Game vs. Who's Just a Puke-Weasel

The merge!  I love the merge.  It's always fun to see whether old alliances stand up or whether new alliances are the more important.  Also, it's fun to see people like Marty - who are totally in the doghouse - have their situations improve.  It's not like Marty's a superstar on the other side either, but he's definitely got a few allies, and more room to maneuver.  And really, Marty is fun to watch, am I right?  It's hard not to respect his risky game-play, though it would be awesome if he'd shut up about it every once & a while. 

After the merge, which always comes with food, NaOnka got all Russell Hantz on us and stole a bunch of food and hid it for herself for later.  Here's the difference between NaOnka & Russell, however. Russell would have hidden the food and would NEVER have owned up about it. He'd have revelled in the chaos.  Also, he'd likely have hidden the food in other people's stuff to make it look like they took it.  With Russell it was all about strategy.  With NaOnka it's just about her.  She hid the stuff because she "was mad."  She didn't like the way she didn't get enough props for making tortillas and didn't feel like she got a big enough one herself.  Ummm, YOU'RE making them.  Make yourself a big one, girl!  No, instead she got mad.  To quote my husband.... "What, is she SIX?" 

So the one clever thing she did is to take Alina along for the ride.  Knowing Alina's on the outs, NaOnka figures that she should take Alina in, give her some food, and tell her that the tribe is gunning for her.  Super smart move. If Alina gets voted out, NaOnka looks like she had her back & tried to save her.  And everyone from here on out is on the jury.... Smart, right?  NaOnka could actually go far in this game.  She's cut-throat, she's thinking ahead, and she's got a great, solid alliance.  And we hear a lot of the bad stuff, but I get the feeling that she's actually pretty well liked or they'd have booted her booty a while back.

Vacant Holly sees NaOnka take the flour.  She only says something about it later, once people have found out that stuff is missing.  Now, if I'm Holly, I'd have capitalized more on that & pushed a little harder.  This will prove a costly mistake.  Trust.  When NaOnka does have to come clean about it, she says yeah, well, I did take the stuff, but I'm giving it all back.  When she gets pushed on it, she pulls a brilliant girl move on Fabio and says something like, "I said I put it back, so move on." And walks away.  Hee.  Fabio's left there wondering what the hell just happened.  Not many people would have gotten away with it like she did - even at Tribal Council when Dan brings it up, NaOnka just says, yeah I did it, but you got it back, so what? Makes it a non-issue.  NaOnka should run for politics - she is good TV.  And, to give her some credit, she didn't let Alina take the fall when people tried to pin it on both of them.  She said, no, it was all me, she was just there.  And to Alina's credit, she also owned up to not saying anything about it. 

So anyways... the immunity challenge was this crazy thing where you had to hold an iron rod with these iron holder thingies.... Jane won for the women and Fabio for the men.  Crazy Survivor McGuyver just kept holding on even after she'd won just to prove a point (mainly to her nemesis, Marty) that she was stronger than the boys.  Well played, Jane.  Jane could also win this thing.  She has huge respect of most of the players, she's well-liked, she's got this North Carolina thing going with Chase, she's reminds others of their moms.... she catches fish, starts fires, and wins challenges. Uh, someone should vote Jane off.  Marty is the ONLY one who gets this.  So Marty tries to warn everyone at Tribal Council and comes off like a crazy mom-hater.  Marty even says that if Jane makes the final and he doesn't, HE will vote for Jane because she's playing so well.  Hee.  Well played, Jane!  I would love to see Marty AND Jane in the final, but unless Marty can keep pulling horseshoes out of his butt, his time is running out.

So speaking of that, Jane tried desperately to vote off Marty.  She wasn't changing her mind no matter what. And it looked at first like most people were on board til Sash asked everyone to change their votes so that he wouldn't have to go back on his word to Marty that he'd be safe at the next Tribal if he gave Sash the immunity idol.  Well played Sash.  Finally, people are starting to play the jury game.  At least some people are.  So Alina got most of the votes & went home.  I didn't think she was that bad, but she didn't really have any friends.  She was on the wrong side of the alliance (remember, she was pals with Kelly B...) and just rubbed people the wrong way.  Benry (who?) called her what was it?  A something-weasel (then made a weasel face, which I thought was a little mean....) Puke-weasel?  Weasel-face?  Jerk-weasel?  If anyone remembers the term, let me know.  I'd like to rotate it into my vocabulary.

UPDATE:  "GRADE-A DIRT SQUIRREL."  Thanks, Don.  Now I have 2 new things to call people when they pass me in the bus lane on Crowchild.

The Id, the Ego and the Pee

Well, I won't lie to you. This wasn't the most exciting episode ever. But, as always, some interesting things to note.

First on my mind is Fabio. I'm pretty sure dude is smarter than we think. He is only 21 and he's a student. He comes off like a mimbo, but is it all just an act? Yesterday we saw a few glimpses of smarty-pantsness. For one, when his tribe is deciding what to do, they all look to Fabio and say, "What's the plan?" I'm thinking, you're asking HIM? He then rattles off a smart answer. "Well, we should split the vote between Marty & Jill to flush out the idol." Uh, OK. Good idea. Granted, it's a bit obvious... but last week they made him look like he didn't even know what they meant by flushing out the idol. This is a guy who took a minute to pee in the pool during one of the challenges. Jeff: "Fabio, what are you doing right now?" Fab: "I'm using the restroom, Jeff." Everyone: "Ewwww!" Fabio: "I can't concentrate if I've gotta pee!" But then, in tribal council, when Sash makes an error in speech (more on that later), Jeff asks Fab whether he's familiar with what a Freudian slip is. "Uh, yes, Jeff, I'm actually VERY familiar with Freudian psychology." Really? Huh. And you know Jeff knows things we don't and likes to poke people til they spill. From Jeff's own blog last week,

"Everybody keeps saying Fabio is crazy, or maybe not the sharpest tool – but I wonder how crazy he really is? Is he playing everybody including us? That was my question from day one. I was never sure if his surfer boy responses were 100% genuine or a bit of a character he’s created. I’m guessing a bit of both."

As always, me and my boyfriend Jeff see eye to eye.

So. There was a reward challenge. Horse ride, breakfast, blah, blah, blah. The only semi-interesting thing was where Alina started crying and getting all emotional over the food (she must have really missed fritatas.) Right away NaOnka points out that it's probably an act to get sympathy. NaOnka is really a piece of work.

Besides Fabio, Jane was my favourite again last night. Can I help that they're both my picks in the Survivor pool. Nope. It's just that they're both super entertaining to watch in a field of fairly blah contestants. Even NaOnka - she's hateful, but man, she's good TV. Marty is also good to watch.... but almost everyone else is pretty boring so far.

So Jane goes off fishing, catches a whole bunch of fairly large fish (she's Survivor McGuyver, remember?) and scurries off to the woods where she cooks and eats one of the fish by herself. Hee! That is a fine Survivor move! Remember, the show is called SURVIVOR... not SHARESIES. Right? Our Jane is surviving. She also is surviving by not buying into Marty's bullying and just opting for what the youngsters have to offer. She's not stupid, she knows she's not first on their alliance list either, but she knew she wasn't getting anywhere with Marty and Jill. When Marty confronts her on how she voted, I LOVED that she just laughed & patted him on the back & walked away!!!! Hee! I'm suspecting that Marty is more than a little peeved that his bullying isn't getting him anywhere with her.

Now, that doesn't mean I'm not fond of Marty. He's a smart and risky player, who I'd like a bit more if he'd stop TALKING about the fact that he's a smart and risky player. But that's the type, right? Richard Hatch was the same. Russell Hantz was the same. To be that sort of player you have to be pretty self-confident and unfortunately that also can mean being stuck on your own ego a bit.

Marty's team loses the immunity challenge in a spectacular fail by his entire team. No one was working together & the other team just walked all over them. So it was pretty obvious that it was going to be Marty or Jill going home. Sash & Brenda came up with a pretty good idea to simply ask Marty to give them the idol in exchange for not voting him out. Now, that could turn out to be the smartest or dumbest thing any of them has done so far. Dumb for Marty because he could have been voted out last night. His risk paid off, however, and he wasn't.... so smart. Dumb for Sash/Brenda because they had their chance to vote off one of the most powerful players & they didn't. The merge is up next & Marty will have a whole new lease on life (mind you, they didn't know that to be fair.) Smart for Sash/Brenda because now Marty owes them one & trusts them a bit... or does he? Smart for Sash because he's got the idol. When he tells Jeff that he has it, it becomes clear that he didn't let his teammates in on the fact that he had it, didn't tell Jane about it at all and then makes "the slip".... that "if ever I don't trust them"... uhhhh I mean, "if they don't trust me...." then we'd see in whose pocket the idol gets to reside. Heh heh. Cue Jeff - Fabio - Freud. Delightful. Made the whole show. If all you saw was the last 10 minutes, you'd be good.

So yes, Jill got voted out. I liked Jill. She couldn't really have played any differently & in my mind is a way better person to get the money than NaOnka. On the other hand, she's an ER doctor, so she's probably OK in the money department. And I liked that in her parting words she said how much being on Survivor made her appreciate her husband & kids. Someone who gets it. I'd like her & Marty to team up again for the Amazing Race or tmaybe he Apprentice. Now that would be some good TV.

Under the Radar, or Radar O'Reilly? (And do you get the '70's reference?)

So it was all about the alpha males before... now it's the alpha females' turn... Well, at least gals who kinda thought they were playing under the radar but who everyone can tell are players!

A pretty fun episode. It's always going to be a let-down a little bit after the big "Heroes vs. Villains" superstar season, so I'm glad that they're at least shaking it up a bit and putting in some great challenges. While there are some amazing characters on this season (Marty, Fabio, Kelly B., NaOnka....) there are some who don't have a lot to offer.... yet. I mean, we haven't heard two words from Benry (who?) or Purple Kelly. It's like they're not even playing. Chase is good to look at but doesn't really have a lot of game-play so far. Sash was in a gay/not gay discussion with Shannon and loves minorities as long as they're not disabled... that's all he's contributed. So I liked seeing a few developments this episode.

First, I enjoy that Jane is in with the youngsters. It was a good move for her to make because she was never really in with Marty & Jill. Not that she wouldn't have liked to have been, but they never let her in to their plans. MacGuyver Jane is playing the game and could go a lot further.

Second, all of a sudden, Holly has developed a brain. The vacant cow-stare seems to have vanished and she all of a sudden is forming her own thoughts and contributing to her tribe. She's pretty likeable when she does things for herself!

Third.... well, it's not really a development exactly.... but I enjoyed watching Marty trying to work Fabio by telling him that he is a chess grandmaster and beat Argentine Guillermo Vilas when he was a kid. "Whoa, dude!" says Fabio. Well, Guillermo Vilas is an Argentine tennis player, and no, Marty is not a grandmaster at all. Hee! But he tells us, "I can pretty much use any reference from the '70s around these guys and they won't have a clue what I'm talking about." Bravo! It's a funny story, plus it makes Fabio like Marty a bit more, not want to vote for him, "because he's been sharing his secrets with me." Delightful! There was another bit later on where Sash was trying to communicate the plan with Fabio... they were going to split the votes between Marty & Kelly B to try to flush out the idol... Fabio: "Are you sure we WANT to flush out the idol?" The look on Sash's face was great... Uh.... YES!! OF COURSE WE DO, YOU MIMBO! Heh.

Right... so the big news was that the teams were playing for individual immunity. One person from each tribe would win immunity, but both tribes would go to tribal council. The two people who won immunity would compete for a reward feast that the winning person's tribe would get to have while watching the other team's tribal council. Cool, right? Surprisingly, Holly won for her tribe and Jill won for hers. Jill narrowly beat out Holly for the reward. See, finally Holly doing something good! Yay!

So yellow team has to figure it out. Marty has the idol. Brenda's plan is - as I mentioned earlier - to split the votes between him & Kelly B. Would he play the idol? I personally was yelling at the TV... "Play it! Play it!" Yep. True story. NO! He didn't. Dude should take up poker. It was an amazing bluff that could have easily ended up with him leaving with the darned idol in his pocket.... BUT, the tie resulted in a re-vote. Apparently Kelly B. was the bigger threat. She didn't see it coming & at the end mentioned that she didn't think she had done anything wrong. Sadly, it was because of the one leg. It's unfortunate but true and it's good game-play. You don't want to take the girl with one leg to the finals. She's nice, people like her, she does well in the challenges.... and she has one leg. Do you want to compete with that? No. You don't. I know, I liked her too. Now, the other minority people will be happy to have one less minority to compete against and not take with them in their minority sweep of the finals. What? Right.

Then team blue comes in & has to watch the other guys eating, drinking, licking their fingers.... Which, I think, Jeff Probst really enjoys. I think he's a little bit sick that way & I love him for it. So this one's between Dan & Yve. Both from the former older tribe, they're in the minority. Dan pretty much says he wants to quit, he complains all the time, can barely walk (NaOnka: "He's gonna be walking on stumps pretty soon." Hee.) and doesn't exactly contribute. He even tells us that he doesn't need the money, he's got 6 cars - one is a Ferrari, etc. etc. So, begs the question... why are you there? Go home then! But, no. He seems to always pull it together by Tribal council and is adamant that he doesn't want to go home. Whatever - maybe he's trying to make it to the jury? Yve, on the other hand, really wants to stay. She approaches the other girls and tries to make her case. She's a hard worker, she contributes to challenges, she wants to be in the game... OK, the girls follow so far. Then... OH, YVE! Silly girl... she tells them that one of the advantages of keeping her over Dan is that she has better relationships with the older tribe people on the other team. Riiiiiight. That is not an asset. That, my dear, is a liability. That makes these girls think that you'll jump ship as soon as the tribes merge, and they are probably right. So, Yve is gone. Too bad, I liked her too, but the game is getting more interesting, right? The players are aiming for the other players... which in my mind says that probably one of the people I mentioned at the start of this blog will win. My money's on Benry or Purple Kelly. You?

Next time Sash starts making some moves (which may or may not be gay), Marty still has the idol and the team doesn't have a swing vote. Marty tells Fabio he is in fact the King of Argentina. Madness ensues.

Social Game? What Social Game?

If I were an alpha male on Survivor, I'd be watching my back. That's... three alphas down in a row. Jimmy Johnson, Jimmy T, now Tyrone. And still they don't seem to learn their lesson. And honestly, it's been happening for a few seasons now - haven't we discussed this? Aren't they reading my blog? (Ha!) It's been the misfits at the end, generally, or the under-the-radar players, or the alpha males who can persuade others that they're not as much of a threat as they really are (Russell!)... Right? So, probably being all alpha-up-in-everyone's-face is a bad idea, Tyrone.

The teams split up. No more young vs. old!! Which is great - I like that they shook it up early. You? I like that it totally messed up some of the existing alliances. Marty & Jill are still together but they don't have the numbers they had before. Plus, Marty is getting all alpha. On the other side, NaOnka's big alliance was split up & she now has to be pally with Alina. At one point, there's a huge storm and NaOnka can't handle it. She falls apart, gets all emotional and starts crying and whining about how she wants to go home. Alina, on the outside, tries to be quite comforting. To the audience at home, she's totally revelling in NaOnka's crash. And so would I. Heh. Rightly, she says, fine, go home. One less person here to vote out. Seriously, NaOnka is a Phys. Ed. teacher. And she wants to quit the game because it's hard. Wah. Do you feel sorry for her yet? I feel sorry for her students. Awesome example she's setting. Push down girls with one leg to win..... unless it rains, then quit. Oh no I didn't! Yes, I did.

The blue tribe (I just don't care to remember what they're called) won reward... some chickens! Immediately there's discussions on what to do - eat them or save them. They decide at first to save them, then later on, to eat one. Tyrone is the only opponent. Way to go. If you're the only opponent to something, you need to make your case but not be so sour about the result when you're voted down. Even Vacant Holly noted that as soon as it was decided to eat the chicken, Tyrone refused to participate in the chores (killing the bird, de-feathering, cleaning, cooking, etc.) but was fully in there to eat. Not only that, he ate MORE than anyone else! What? Seriously, Tyrone, you & I need to talk. People who go on this show & forget that there's a very important social aspect are just as bad - perhaps worse - than the losers who go on without knowing how to start a fire. It's like applying for a job at NASA and being super surprised when they tell you you need to know math. Sigh.

The yellow team won the immunity challenge. It was a crazy-awesome challenge that made me say "WHAT?" out loud in my living room. 3 people get strapped to a wheel that gets spun through a trough of water. The 3 people have to suck up water in their mouths and then spit it into a skinny tube, which eventually would get full enough to tip over, releasing a ball that the reamaining teammates have to throw & break 5 plates........ (You just said WHAT? in your head right now, didn't you?) Anyway, yellow team won.

So blue team has to go to Tribal Council. Jeff pretty much only talks to Alina, NaOnka and Tyrone. Very little is made of the fact that NaOnka wanted to quit, making me think something's fishy with the editing. Pretty much right until then, she wanted to go home. So, she must have made some attitude changes to her tribe prior, or she'd have been gone. At Tribal she goes on to Jeff about how this is the hardest thing since her divorce and how she's happy to have these people here as a support net. Jeff... "These strangers?" NaOnka, "Yep." Weird. There was also a really great spot where Jeff asks Benry (who?) a really direct question about... I don't even remember, honestly. It doesn't matter. But Benry looks at him and says, "What do you mean?" Jeff just about loses it. "I can't believe you don't understand." Heh. I love it when Jeff is punchy.

So Tyrone went home. Everyone found him annoying, way too alpha... and if they're willing to get rid of a big dude who can help in challenges, then they mean business. Marty should watch out. Apparently next episode, he confesses to Fabio that he's a chess grand master, which makes me think of Coach & wonder if Marty also was kidnapped in the Amazon..... Also, next time there's a personal vs. tribe immunity! Fun! Keep on shaking it up, Jeff. Tyrone, call me up any time. We'll meet for coffee & I'll tell you all about Survivor. It'll be fun!

I'm Easy to Get Along With..... I Think.

So, even if you had him in the Survivor pool, you weren't that sad to see him go, right? The sad thing is that ol' Jimmy T. may have just had an epiphany re: his personality, but I'm less inlcined to believe it. You? I think he would have gone right back to camp and harassed people for, "just an opportunity to be a leadah," because, "where I come from, I'm a leadah." Seriously, where does this guy come from and who the heck is he leading? Jimmy T. indeed was from his own world, alright.

So back to the episode. It was pretty much focused on the older tribe and Jimmy T's whiney exploits. However, there was a tiny bit of younger tribe drama. Brenda helped that horrible NaOnka find the hidden immunity idol. When Kelly B. and Alina tried to go find it, NaOnka got in their faces rather than just ignore them. Something about "keeping them off balance" or something... surely the pun was intended. NaOnka again went on about not letting a one-legged girl get on the jury, blah, blah, blah. Girlfriend is going to (hopefully) get some serious karmic action handed down on her one day. To her credit, Kelly B. kept her cool when NaOnka was in her face telling her, "I don't like you." She correctly labelled her a bully - so true! It's hard to watch and I'm quite sure if any of us were in Kelly B's place, it would have been pretty tough to bite our tounges and not call her out for her horrible-ness. (Is that a word?)

Right. So that's really all that happened for the young folks. Not even any clips of Fabio hurting himself. And still - who the heck is Benry?

So our older folks go into the immunity challenge with a plan. They know it's going to be a blindfolded challenge, so they practice. Marty cleverly nominates Tyrone as leader, knowing full well that it'll get under Jimmy T's skin. Does it ever! (Remember, where he's from, he's a leader.) Sounds good so far, right? They get to the challenge & the young tribe uses the MoP, giving them immediate advantage. Well, not that they really needed it. Tyrone did his best calling out what I thought were very clear directions. "Jimmy T, go left." Nope. The older tribe were PAINFUL to watch. They couldn't do anything right, weren't listening, going the wrong way, tripping over stuff, and slow as molasses. They had no chance. Later they try to talk themselves up at Tribal Council saying that had it not been for the MoP, they'd have been right in there. Jeff: "Let's be clear. You had one more item, a big heavy chest, a set of keys and three locks to go. Do you really think you were in this?" Hee.

So it was sort of a toss up between Jimmy & Dan. People still want Dan out because he's weak & can't really participate in any challenge that requires, well, walking. But here's why Jimmy got the votes:

1) Marty. Marty is the squeaky wheel who gets to be leader. He doesn't like Jimmy & Jimmy doesn't like Marty ("Mahty") & Marty's is getting rid of his opposition. Others like Jill & Tyrone would have been inclined to vote Dan, but Marty reminded them that they'll have numbers on their side if they get rid of Jimmy. Would have been a good point.
2) Jimmy T. was annoying. You can't be annoying and get very far on Survivor. The problem, I suppose, is that annoying people don't generally realize that they're annoying. At one point, Jimmy says, I don't know what their problem is, I'm pretty easy to get along with.... I think. If you have to add the "I think" part, you already know a little bit that you might be difficult, if not annoying. It wasn't just the contant "Put me in the game, I just want an opportunity to lead..." nonsense (loved the part where he's going on & on to Yve, who says, "I'm a mother. I don't coddle my kids that much!" Hee.) It was also likely the singing (bad-annoying), the hugging (spatially intruding - annoying) and the lack of any actual skills (annoying, when all you do is talk about your great ummmm.... skills.) Right? I mean, the guy couldn't throw a fishing net, wouldn't accept help doing it, and ummm... is a FISHERMAN! Really? Granted, that's not likely the type of fishing he does in life, but if that's the case, maybe accept the help that's offered so that your tribe can eat. If you're an annoying person, you'd better have some sort of skill that would make your tribe keep you, and sadly, Jimmy T. had none.

At Tribal Council he got beaten down to the point where he agreed that he'd just step aside and quit asking to lead, because obvioulsy his tribe didn't want him in that role. However, he won't get the chance to prove it. My other favourite part of Tribal Council was vacant Holly standing up for Jimmy T..... "Just give him a chance!" ... proving that she has no game whatsoever.

Next week the teams will switch up! Don't know if it's a big merge or - more likely - that it'll be a playground-style pick where someone (let it be Holly) will be the last one picked. It'll be new tribes and alliances will be split up! Very bad for Marty. Bad for NaOnka. Great for Kelly B. and Alina. Fun!! Love that they're switching it up early! And though I'll miss his accent, I will love watching an episode with no Jimmy T.

Hood, Not Ghetto - "Skills", Not Substance

Last night's episode wasn't as entertaining as the two previous ones, but it certainly has set things up nicely for upcoming craziness.

Not a ton happened really... there were some lovely moments with Jud (Fabio) where he talks about not being that dumb and then in mid-sentence has a hermit crab on his foot. Heh. He's pretty.

Also in the younger tribe, NaOnka is off the deep end. It's really too bad she's in tight with her alliance, which is now pretty strong, with her, Purple Kelly, Sash, Benry (who? I know.) and Fabio... with Kelly B and Alina on the outs. Wouldn't you way rather see Kelly B. in there vs. NaOnka? She's awful. After the young tribe won immunity/reward, she's carrying a basket of fruit with Kelly B. and they both notice a clue to the hidden immunity idol sticking out. So, when they get back to camp, NaOnka literally pushes the one-legged Kelly B. down, squishes a bunch of her tribe's bananas, and gets the clue. She then goes on about how she's "hood" but not "ghetto" and if you understood what the hell that was about, please enlighten me. Ugh. Either way she's a jerk. And then, after going on about how her name is NaOnka, not Fool, and how smart she is.... uh.... she can't figure out the clue to the hidden immunity idol. Even my mom phoned after the show and said that NaOnka is a bitch. And really, that's not even a very severe word for her. On the "Scenes from Next Week" she is going on about Kelly B. better watch that her artificial leg isn't too close to the fire!!! What? Oh no she didn't!

So the sad thing, to me anyways, is that NaOnka is still on Survivor while Jimmy Johnson is out. And I know... I always am the first one to go on about how it's not about who "deserves" to be there... but darn it, that Jimmy was just so likeable. Even if he didn't win the million, you wanted him to be on the jury, right? And I wanted just to see a little more of him because I've rarely seen anyone have as much fun as him & who just genuinely LOVED being there. Right?

So how did Jimmy meet his end? Well, to put it in a word..... Marty. Marty has had it in for Jimmy since day one. Didn't like him, resented his leadership, resented his celebrity. And whether or not Marty had a point (that others will just blindly follow him because of the celebrity factor), I would have gotten rid of Dan instead. Dan was clearly the weaker player this week. He's hurting, there were about 45 shots of his knee surgery scar (ewww), and his energy level is way low. He just doesn't seem to contribute to the group the way Jimmy J. did, but then again, Marty's idea was to shake things up.... Now that Jimmy's gone, there's a leadership vacuum and there's at least 3 alpha males who want the job. For sure Marty and Jimmy T (we'll get to him in a minute) and also Tyrone. The women so far are playing it smart and letting the alpha males duke it out. Jill is actually controlling everything Marty does, but he doesn't know it... brilliant! She puts ideas in his head & then lets him think they're his own. Like last night, when she told him he should tell the tribe about the immunity idol. He resists at first and then does it - making himself look good, but also putting a target on his back. When it comes down to it, wouldn't you blindside the guy with the immunity idol before he has a chance to use it? Right. Well played, Jill.

So, back to Jimmy T. He provided (along with Fabio & his hermit crab buddy) the comic relief last night. Tyrone was in charge of throwing beanbags onto barrels for the immunity challenge & started out great, but then faltered and lost to Benry (Who? Right, that guy.) Jimmy T. was practically peeing his pants asking the Coach to put him in for Tyrone. "You're wasting me over hee-yah, Coach." His accent is the best. Then, of course, he's mad & has to tell everyone about it later.
"I've got skills and they're being wasted!!"
"I'm a leadah where I come from."
"My skills! My skills!"
"I've got skills and they're going to wast hee-yah."

Right. So someone clearly believes they're special. He's kind of the slightly less bitchy NaOnka on his tribe, right? We all want him to shut up. What exactly are these so-called "skills"? It'll be interesting to see now whether he steps up or whether he just ends up fighting with Marty. I suspect the latter. I think their special-ness will be the end of them. And Tyrone may still have a chance if he keeps his mouth zipped.

Finally, did you love at Tribal Council where Jeff asked everyone whether they were one of the weakest players and the only one who answered honestly was Coach Jimmy? Awwww. Dan knows he's weak and Holly knows she's weak, but they're better liars. And Holly... man, she's just sort of.... vacant. What I'd love to see is Coach Jimmy vs. Coach Ben Wade. Right? Now that would be good TV.

Oh, and one more thing. That snake. It's killing me that at EVERY Tribal Council they show that snake sitting there. Watch for it. It's huge and dangerous looking and it's RIGHT THERE. Is it dead and stuffed? Is it a prop snake? Is it someone's pet who's getting a cameo? How scary can it be if it sits there & watches them vote week after week?

Who Wants to Talk Themselves Off the Show Next?

Sorry for the late post, but I really wanted to see the whole show and the lead-up to the hot mess that was Tribal Council.

We got to know some of our characters a bit more, and as poolster Don remarked, "There are a heck of a lot of weirdos on this season." Too true. On the old tribe, you've got Jimmy T and Dan, both weird for sure, but taking the cake this week was Holly. Distressed over her failed alliance with Goat-lady, she had a bit of a melt down. There's always one, right? One person who - even though they've seen the show for 10 years - finds it "emotionally difficult" to be there and considers quitting. Coach Jimmy talked her down but the damage is done and even the Coach noted that in his experience, once a person starts down that road it's easier to continue and have a meltdown again. So after hearing people talk about her like she's crazy.... she gets crazier. She doesn't like the way Dan talks about her so.... what would the smart thing be? Ignore, right. Nope, not Holly. She instead STEALS his $1600 alligator shoes, scurries off to another beach, fills them with sand, and then dumps them in the ocean. PSYCHO! Now, let's grant that she's nuts, but also.... the situation begs the ultimate question, which is:

Who the hell takes $1600 alligator shoes to go play Survivor in Nicaragua?

Seriously. That's even worse than the skinny tie.

So, let's talk about our skinny tie. Sash & NaOnka have this delightful conversation about how they'd like to take minorities to the final. Brilliant. Maybe worry first about getting to the final, and then play that card. Apparently Sash is half black. OK. So then they figure they'll include Brenda (Asian) in this plan... Dumb plan, but OK, at least it's something. BUT THEN, they turn around and in the SAME converstion, start talking about how they can't let Kelly B. win because of the sympathy votes she'll get for having one leg and NaOnka worries that she'll use her leg to get out of challenges, blah, blah, blah. Ummmm..... I'm fairly sure that people with disabilities are generally thought of as MINORITIES. See where I'm going with this? Sash & NaOnka are cool with RACIAL minorities only, and not at all cool with disabled people as minorities.

And speaking of that, Kelly B. kicked butt in the challenge. She performed as well if not better than any of her teammates in a very physical challenge. So, hopefully, that'll shut a few people up. However, it's still going to make her a strong threat. Alas.

Back to NaOnka... I think she's even kookier than Holly. Girlfriend has a screw loose for sure. At one point she lost a sock so went off about it forever. So, because her first reaction was to blame her teammates for it, she just went and helped herself to a pair of her teammate Fabio's socks. Yep. Didn't ask, just took. When he tried to talk to her, she snapped the Z and again, went off on him. Poor guy. He's not smart, but he's certainly not mean. He could have told her to give back the socks but didn't. Seriously, Fabio is turning out to be one of the "smart ones." For real.

The challenge was fun & the older tribe used their MoP to gain an advantage & win. Smart, because they also got a reward (some fishing gear.) I'm starting to really like the red-headed gal on the older tribe... Jill I think? She seems like a bit more of a normal one.

So then Tribal Council. Ay-yi-yi. So there are two sides on the young tribe. One, led by Shannon, wants to take out Brenda 'cause she's a threat. Chase, however, thinks Brenda is dreamy and doesn't want to vote for her. So she basically asks him straight up, why don't you take out Shannon? Why do you need him? He's a bigger threat. Good points. So all of this spills over to Tribal Council, where Shannon starts out with a huge, crazy tirade right off the bat. Jeff is so 2004 when he says that in 21 seasons, he'd never seen an opening question open up so much "whoop-ass." Hee. Jeff is adorable.

So yeah, Shannon starts by saying how Chase is a jerk for switching alliances (true, a bit) and how he should watch his back now that he's flipped on his alliance (also true). Fabio tries to make peace a little by telling Shannon to shut up & stop talking. Again, here's Fabio looking like the smart one. But no, Shannon continues with the most random and weirdest thing ever. Turns on a dime towards Sash & asks, "OK, are you gay?" Whaaaaaaaaaat? I mean, it's true, Sash is quite likely gay as a three dollar bill, but really? Was that the time to ask? And it wasn't a nice, just-getting-to-know-you question. It was mean. Sash denied it and said he's probably had way more beautiful girlfriends than Shannon, who said no way, then Sash said something about New York City, to which Shannon responds, "Yeah, 'cause New York is full of gays." Not even lying. Then he qualifies it with, "More than Louisiana!" Ummm... yeah, probably statistically speaking, but again.... why bring up your agressive homophobia at Tribal Council? Weird. Dude should have stopped talking when Fabio told him to. Not rad at all, man. So, he essentially talked himself off the show just like Wendy did the week before. Jeff must just be sitting back and enjoying because he really doesn't have to do any work this time. Just let it happen... And while I think Shannon was right to call Chase out for flipping, the show certainly doesn't need his woman-hating, gay-bashing, caveman attitude. It was just a matter of time before he'd have said something racist to NaOnka and then what? I don't want to see the repurcussions of that! (Seriously, I've never seen a girl move her neck sideways as much as that. She's gonna get a kink. And what was that "Meeeeeeeeee? Whaaaaaaaaaat? Nooooooooooo!" squealing she did when Jeff asked her if she was complicated? Who talks like that?) She'd probably strangle Shannon with Fabio's socks. Perhaps now he can happily go back to Louisiana and crack a Budweiser on his forehead, belch and be hateful all by himself. Good riddance!

Only Goats Like Chatterboxes

Hello All - long time no post... feels like a million years ago since the Heroes vs. Villains, non? As much as I loved that one, I'm really enjoying having a whole new cast of weirdos to watch and learn about as we go. And a couple of new twists to make the show interesting, as always.

So we have Old vs. Young this time. Should be fun. I was reading an article with Jeff Probst where he comments on the fact that you'd think the older Survivors would have it together a little more, be more mature, etc. However, he notes that older contestants are also more set in their ways and you can end up with a lot of ol' codgers (my word, not his) who all want to be top dog in the tribe. We saw this last night a bit with some of the other alpha males taking offense to Jimmy Johnson's leadership.

Let's discuss Jimmy J... he's totally the cutest, right? I mean, whether or not you think he deserves to win a million dollars, the dude is ridiculously happy to be there. Apparently he tried three times to get on the show & finally made it. He's a huge fan who's just "in it for the adventure..." or maybe a million bucks. Whatever. I like him. And I think he was clever to tell his tribe that he just wants the adventure & wants to help THEM get the million bucks. Not everyone's buying what he's selling, but he had to say it.

So there's this "Medallion of Power" (or MoP for the sake of blogging). Jeff tells them all to go find it, but not what it's for. Madness ensues. Brenda finds it in a tree. Have you seen the size of that thing? It's hilarious really. I think the prop crew got a raise this season... the vote jar and the immunity idol - also funny in their ornateness. (And while we're at it... the tribal council takes place in a graveyard? Whaaa? I'm hoping it's just a prop graveyard.... or else that's kind of wrong.... right?)

Back to the MoP. The young tribe trades it for a box of gear. The old tribe later finds out they can use it to help them out in challenges. When you do use it, it goes to the other team for next challenge and so on. I'm liking the idea. The oldsters wisely (I think) decide not to use it on last night's challenge. They didn't win the challenge, but they were close & I think it'll come in WAY handier on a physical running and swimming challenge. Good call.

So what else about our cast of characters. Out of the old folks, I'm also digging Jane, who made fire using someone's glasses! Way to go! Finally, someone practiced how to make fire before coming on Survivor! Only took 21 seasons.... She later told Jeff that she read an interview with him that said the same thing & she took it to heart. Jeff: Someone finally listened to me! So now she's being called Survivor McGuyver. Hee. Jimmy T. is annoying. Dude's a fisherman with an ego the size of the one that got away. He won't last long. Trust. Tyrone kills me. Dude's sarcasm and eye-rolling at the Tribal Council was brilliant. More on that in a bit. And I think Marty might be pretty good if he can keep his alpha dog on a leash. Oh and Holly... annoying. Please vote her off next.

For the young guns... Brenda seems like a smarty-pants. And I totally dig Kelly with the one leg. (I have no idea yet which Kelly she is... I think she's Kelly B and the other one is "Purple Kelly." Whatever.) At any rate, one-leg Kelly is the awesomest for competing, but her tribemates are realistic about her getting sympathy votes if she makes it to the end. Sad but true. The jury has voted for people for way dumber reasons than that in the past. A couple of our muscley (is that a word?) dudes, Chase and Shannon, have an alliance already. Shannon (wait, that's a girl's name....) has already endeared himself to millions of female viewers by saying something dumb like, "let's not let the girls own this game, they already own us in marriage!" Really? Good luck getting a date after that one... And Jud.... who has been dubbed "Fabio" by his teammates.... dear, sweet, dumb Jud. The dude is a mimbo for sure. His claim to fame in his bio is "being a rad older brother." And the lovely editing showing the montage of clips of Jud hurting himself. I am pretty sure he should not be using a machete. Can see the air-lift episode coming up. And finally, the young people coming into the challenge doing that stupid song & dance routine? Eesh. I liked the guys at the back of the line looking all sheepish and just not playing along.

And that pretty much brings us to the end. The old people off to Tribal Council. It looks like it'll either be Wendy or Jimmy J. because they're the weakest. And it probably would have been Jimmy J. too if Wendy hadn't have opened her mouth. Let's start with the beginning. Wendy is a goat farmer who admits that she's "sheltered... which means naive, I guess." Uh-huh. Wendy's own husband declared that she'd be the first one voted off. Uh-huh. Wendy figures that she'll stay quiet for a while, then at Tribal Council, when asked why she feels like a target, says that she hasn't really made connections with people. Following so far? From here, it goes off the rails into wing-nut territory. Wendy starts telling Jeff that she's surprised that no one has asked her age. A number of her teammates reply that hey, you don't ask a woman her age - it's rude. But she still can't believe it. Apparently that's what you do in goat farming. It's all, "How old are you?" and "How many goats do you have?" When she proudly declares that she's 48, Tyrone chirps in with a sarcastic, "Well, you don't look it." Hee. As voting is about to begin, Wendy pipes up AGAIN. "Jeff, can I just say one more thing?" Oh dear, you've just gotten yourself voted off Survivor. On and on about how people love being her friend and how she's really a very nice person and how her goats love her (OK, I made that one up.) and how she's a CHATTERBOX. Uh, do people like chatterboxes? No. No, Wendy, they don't. They especially don't like living with Chatterboxes in camps in Nicaragua. Seriously. Good riddance, goat lady.

So next week it looks like more drama ensues. Yay! NaOnka (seriously?) gets all up in Fabio's face about getting up in her face (or something.) Again, way to get yourself voted off the show. Just saying.

Finally, can we please discuss Survivor dress code?

1) Were they asked to dress in colour code? Did they not notice that others had the same basic colour code as them & figure they'd be on the same tribe? And how does that work? Do you get assigned a shirt? Or does an intern come around and look through your bag and pick something out for you?
2) Sash. You are wearing a skinny tie to camp in Nicaragua? Really?
3) Enough with the underwear already. Come ON, Mark Burnett. We know where they're going, they know where they're going.... we know they were not just plucked out of an Old Navy ad... can they not just come prepared please in a pair of shorts and t-shirt? How about wearing bathing suits when we need a little eye candy? Seriously, it's dumb - dudes walking around the Nicaraguan jungle in their skivvies. Dumb. I did like the shot of Jimmy J. going for a little swim in his cute blue old-man boxers, but otherwise, stop it. The pixelating is distracting and that one girl (um, Alina maybe?) really needs to be properly fitted for a bra.

Her? Really? Well, OK.

The finale! I loved it. I loved the whole season. I loved the whole good vs. evil thing. Sigh... and now it's over for another season. Sigh again.

So. am interested to hear your thoughts on Sandra's win. None of us saw it coming (well, until maybe the final three, right?) and all of us asked ourselves why the heck she was back in the first place. Who was she again? She won? Really? Her? So how did she get to the end again?

If you missed it - here's the short version. The first immunity challenge was won by Parvati. Colby fought hard, but couldn't quite do it - the story of his whole, sad season. Did you feel just a little sorry for him? Don't lie. Everyone wants Colby to win just a little. But he can't. And so his fate was sealed. He threw in a last-ditch effort for Russell to keep him over Sandra, but to no avail. Colby was gone.

Then there was a huge time-suck where they walk past the extinguished torches of their fallen Survivors. It's painful to watch, but it's the only way they can make the show into 2 hours. It started to get annoying to hear Jerri say each person's name the same way.... like this: "Sugaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr".... "Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaames".... "Courtneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey"

Anyways... time suck over, we move onto the final immunity challenge. A maze where they have to go through all blindfolded and find necklaces and then find their way out again. It was pretty exciting. Russell won, but both Jerri and Parvati were RIGHT behind him. Gah! Could have been anyone's game. Except poor Sandra, who couldn't get it together.

Wasn't sure who was going to go this time. Would Russell stick to his original alliance? Who did he think he could beat in the final? (Turns out, it didn't matter. He wouldn't have beaten any of them.) Jerri got the boot. I really liked Jerri in the end. She was much more likeable, more of a Hero really and I liked how she said in the reunion show that she has gone from being one of the most hated Survivors to one of the most liked. And you can tell she's really happy about it and really happy and thankful to have played and to have gotten as far as she did.

Then the jury. It was good, but it made me crazy. You all know how I feel about the whole "good vs. evil" thing and how you have to play with "integrity" as long as that integrity fits the mould of what other people think "playing with integrity" should be. I also know not all of you agree with me, but that's the beauty of it. I didn't actually think anyone would change, and yes, all of these types of comments made me crazy. They just come off sounding bitter. Let's have some interesting questions for the finalists! Let's ask about what they'll do with the money. No mention at all about the fact that Sandra & Parvati had already won it... No real interesting questions at all. More comments and crabbiness. And Coach, talking about who he thought was the biggest warrior (he liked Parvati)... which is expected and funny. He wouldn't want to ask a question as it would take the focus away from him. Hee.

So, where were we? Right. I'm not defending Russell....exactly. I don't think he should have won. He played a perfect game to get himself to the end ONLY. Not to win it. To win it, he needed to make some friends and play nice a little. The jury votes for you and he doesn't get it that they need to like him at least a little in order to respect his game play. And they don't. To win Survivor you need to have some kind of social game at the end. You need to at least pretend to want to be people's friends and show some form of loyalty to someone. He could have played on his loyalty to Parvati more, but instead he came off petty when she insisted that they protected each other instead of how it is in his mind - that he protected her only. Now, while I don't think the game is entirely about making friends and being social, there's definitely that aspect to it, right? The winner is always the one who can strike the fine balance between being cunning and strategic, lying to the right people, being truthful to the right people, keeping certain loyalties, and building relationships. You need to cut people out without making them FEEL like you backstabbed them because you hate them or are ambivalent towards them. And like the Silver Fox Tom Westman said, it's also a combination of social play, physical play and luck. Russell said luck had nothing to do with him getting to the end - but it always does. Do you agree? He just didn't get it - even when Jeff straight out asked him if he understands that the jury's opinion matters. Nope. America should vote, says Russell (and they did - they gave him the 'fan favorite' award for $100,000). Jeff basically said, but that's not how this show works, Russell. We're not American Idol. The rules say the jury votes for you, so why don't you get it that that's the only way you can win? Nope. Like talking to a tree.

Anyways, the jury was fairly split between Parvati (4 votes) and Sandra (5 votes). Russell got nothing. No surprise. Here's where I'm not sure Sandra should have beat Parvati. I think Parvati - as much as I couldn't stand her in the beginning - played a great game. Plus she was fierce in the challenges, where Sandra has never won anything. However, Parvati was tied to Russell which may have cost her a few votes.

Do you think Sandra deserves to win? Like Parvati, I liked Sandra a lot more at the end. In Jeff Probst's blog, he mentioned a while ago that Sandra is strong because she knows when to say stuff and make moves and when to shut up and go along with others. I think this is true. She could be abrasive, but she also knew when to follow along and fall into the background. She made people think that she was "riding coattails" or playing "under the radar" but she also had to hustle quite a bit to save her butt on a number of occasions. She tried to get Russell out, but when she couldn't get anyone else on board, she knew that she should keep to the original alliance and vote WITH Russell to stay in the game. And at the end, she made a way better case for herself for the jury. She distanced herself from Parvati & Russell, saying she had to look after herself and got there on her own. She talked about her loyalty to her alliance and what she had to do to stay around once that alliance was gone. And in the end, she had made some friends and people liked her devotion to her family etc. etc.

Final, random thoughts:

- Sandra burning Russell's hat at the end. So funny. And at the reunion show saying, "Well, it was funky and it had to go, but I did feel bad after for a bit."
- Poolster Lori wonders why there are 3 finalists and 9 jury votes - couldn't it be a 3-way tie? Hmm...
- Candace made me hate her at the final Tribal Council. Her comments were stupid.
- Rupert... oh Rupert. His comments were expected - about how bad Russell is, blah, blah, blah. But then at the reunion, when asked about the good vs evil thing, he says how it IS difficult. How the lines are "blurred" and how even he had to sometimes lie, steal, whatever, on the show. So how does he figure his lying is better than Russell's lying. Is it better when you don't MEAN to lie and you're called a Hero? What? And how does it make you a good person to call someone else a "disgusting human being" on national television. I'm pretty sure that even if you don't like someone, it's not a nice thing to say. Also, for the love of puppies and candy and everything good in the world, lose the damn tie-dye already. Does he have a whole closet of tie-dyed tank tops? It's awful. And the beard. Trim it. Seriously. It's gross. There. (Hey, I never said I was a hero. I agree with Russell. Rupert is a dumbass.) And oh yeah. TWO toes were broken! Oh dear, said Eeyore.
- JT won a dumbest Survivor move ever award. Cute.
- They didn't talk about the Coach/Jerri romance at all!
- They did show the Survivor baby - Boston Rob and Amber's new addition. Rob has some serious hotness these days all of a sudden, non? Huh. And he wouldn't shake Russell's hand. Said he'd go back any time and kick his ass. Jeff: Maybe we'll have a whole season of just Rob vs. Russell. Hee. I also liked the way Rob said (in the time suck part) that the new generation of players is smarter and that the game has changed. Interesting then that Sandra won and not a "newer" player.
- Jeff asked both James and Colby if they weren't having any fun this season. James skirted the issue but did admit that even his mom didn't like him this season on the show. Colby talked about how the adventure wasn't there, that there was nowhere to explore, etc. which was what he liked on previous seasons. Also that he was sucking at the challenges, so yeah, he didn't have as much fun. Thought it was a good, honest answer.
- Candace got married after the show. Who cares? Right.
- Next Survivor is going to be in Nicaragua. Yay! Back to scary animals roaring!

And that's it. It's great every single season because it's unpredictable. They're keeping the challenges clever, Jeff somehow never ages, and there are a couple of twists to keep us on our toes. It's fun. Every time. And I enjoy ranting about it (clearly) and that you keep reading. Thanks, and see you back here sometime in September?

How I learned to love Parvati, and why the sad donkey had to go...

So before I say anything else, don't forget that Sunday is the finale! Don't forget!

Finally they had the family episode! I love the family episode! It makes us remember that our Survivors are actually real people who have other people who love them. I know, it's hard to believe in some cases (read: Russell) but that's part of the charm. Sprint product placement aside, it's fun to see who gets all choked up and what people come out to support our Survivors (remember Coach bringing his Assistant Coach? So sad and great at the same time!) Rupert and Russell's wives were there (both quite lovely, non?).... Sandra's uncle (her husband's in Afghanistan).... Jerri's sister, Parvati's dad and Colby's brother.

Which brings me to some of the best unintentional comedy ever. The family members have to help out in a challenge where the Survivors throw a bucket of water & the family have to try to catch it in their own bucket. Not as easy as it sounds. Colby, who - let's recall - can't win a challenge to save his life, got SUPER mad at his brother, Reid for not catching the water. It wasn't just mad, but it was progressively more and more mad.... so like this:
"Come on Reid, work with me."
"Talk to me Reid."
"Come ON, Reid."
"Seriously Reid, why can't you catch the water?"
"Reeeeeeeeeeeeeid! COME ON!"
"GEEZ! Reid, FOCUS! TALK TO ME!"
"REID, YOU ARE THE WORST WATER-CATCHER OF ALL TIME!"

Really, Colby? OK, I'm exaggerating a bit for effect, but it's not that far off, trust.

Jerri & her sister won the challenge, and of course could take two others with them. She chose the girls - Sandra & Parvati. Was there strategy involved there do you think, or did Jerri just feel the need for a day out with the girls? Russell, of course, was mad & went on about it at length about how that just cost her a million bucks, blah, blah, blah. Then Russell goes up to Rupert and Colby and makes an alliance. Or so we think. Russell would make an alliance with a tree if he thought it would help him in the game. Never take a Russell alliance too seriously. And of course, 'cause he's not that bright, Rupert trusts Russell. Again. Mind you, Rupert doesn't have much choice in the matter but still, you know that in Rupert's mind he's thinking, gee I hope Russell has turned his life around (thanks to me) and is ready to play this game with integrity. Ugh. Meanwhile, Colby is thinking this: (insert crickets chirping noise here)

Later, immunity would be won by Parvati. Again, this girl brings her A-game to the end. Remember, she is going to use this to her advantage - not just the immunity - but she is going to point it out to the jury just how good she is at the game.... the social part, the strategy part AND the physical challenge part. Right? More and more, I'm sad to admit that I'm liking Parvati. As poolster Lori pointed out today, Parvati is the only one who seems to be really having fun playing Survivor. Well, I think Russell is too in his own weaselly way. Poolster Lori also pointed out that both Parvati and Colby have names that either sound like or are cheeses. Coincidence?

With Parvati immune from the vote, Russell knows he's going to have to turn on his new "alliance" with the fellas and stick with the girls instead. Turned out to be a good move, as Colby and Rupert voted against Sandra, who played the immunity idol.

Sandra was funny. She taunted Russell all day with Parvati, almost like she was tempting him to vote her out. Hee. Then, when she played the idol, she said something like "I've got to play it because I don't want to carry it around in my bra any more." Hee. Funny because A) she was indeed carrying it in her bra and B) no one knew she had it, so their faces were priceless. As a side note, Sandra normally does not wear a bra. She really should. Yikes!

Parvati made a pretty smart comment at Tribal Council too. She noted to Jeff that the smart thing in her opinion was to keep the villains together. Why would you take a hero with you to the end when they have lots of friends on the jury? True.

And do you keep Rupert or Colby? Who goes first? Well, Colby can't complete a thought or an action. Colby is no threat. Rupert is still pretty strong and actually has come pretty close to winning a lot of challenges. Rupert is also annoying to have at camp. There was a lovely part last night where the whole tribe is trying to sleep and Rupert decides it's a good time to saw, chop, and break up huge pieces of wood. Hee. Jerri came fairly close to snapping. Finally, despite the fact Rupert is annoying, he actually does have friends on the jury, and is oddly likeable, though I can't understand it personally. Maybe it's kinda the way you still like your golden retriever after it chews up your remote control or something? Something about good (or oblivious) intentions maybe? I don't know. I do know that I'm going to have trouble not rolling my eyes and throwing up a little when he gets to ask a question as a jury member. Ugh. Let me guess - it'll something wicked original like, "Do you feel like you played the game with INTEGRITY?" "Are you PROUD of HOW you played the game?" "How can you LIE and expect to win a million dollars?" Oh, I'm starting again.... sorry.

Where was I? Right. Eeyore, the tie-dyed pirate, has been sent packing. Maybe he'll trim his beard.... who knows? I'm also interested whether all his "jury" clothes will be tie-dyed...

Don't forget to watch on Sunday!! 2-hour finale! So exciting!!


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