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!!!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
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!
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!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
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.
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.
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