Right, so it's US Thanksgiving this week, and the Americans are too preoccupied with shooting other Americans in Walmarts over great deals on waffle irons, so they can't possibly be bothered to watch TV. As such, the show was the dreaded "clip show" this week, and nothing new happened. No one voted out. If you missed it, no worries. If you saw it, it was mildly entertaining.... there was some funny stuff where Papa Bear tried to teach Cochran how to pick up chicks by telling them they have nice earrings... (Whitney: If you said that to me, I'd think you were gay.") And it really showed the extent to which Coach is hustling to win this thing.
The more I watch Coach, the more I really want him to win. Hate me? I know I said Ozzy will take it, and truly I'd LOVE to see a Coach vs. Ozzy faceoff at the end... but really they are the only two (save maybe for Cochran and Sophie?) who deserve to win as far as strategy goes. Those 4 are playing the game. The rest... not so much. Thoughts?
And..... if Coach or Ozzy do win, what's going to happen to Survivor: Redemption Island? Would 'old' cast-members winning twice in a row give the producers something to think about? Or, do the 'new' cast-members actually learn by time #3 that they have to vote the returning people off on day one? Maybe Christine had it right the whole time....
Anyway, enjoy your Black Friday. Happy Thanksgiving if you're American!! No fighting!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Don't Mess With the Family... or the Great and Powerful Oz
Oh my... there's a lot to discuss today.... not sure where to start! It was a pretty huge episode.... Two people got the boot from Redemption Island and TWO more got sent there. I'm not sure I like the three-way duel. (Aside: Can you actually still call it a duel if it is between three people? Also, why are we still calling it Redemption ISLAND? I'm fairly sure it is not its own island... Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night.)
OK, so let's start there... Redemption Island. The "duel" between Keith, Ozzy & Jim was an endurance one where they had to hold up poles with the backs of their hands... which has got to be ridiculously hard. One of those things that's maybe easy for about the first 2 minutes and then excruciating. The determination by Ozzy to win this thing has me flip-flopping back to his side again. As much as I can't stand all the editing of him as a semi-religious figure (aaaaand we'll talk about Coach later), I also enjoy his attitude towards Redemption Island: Fine, I'll hang out here where it's peaceful and I'll eat super well while you starve and I'll be nice to people, and then I'll kick their asses, come back into the game and win it. And come on, you know he's got a good chance here. I'm going to go out on a limb and call it right now - Ozzy will win this season. There, I said it. He's got all of his tribe's votes for sure, and team Coach is going to have to start backstabbing each other soon, so you know there are people who'll end up pissed off and will vote for Ozzy out of spite. It's all about jury votes now, so it's harder to vote people out... uh... "properly"....
So obviously, you've figured out by now (if you didn't watch the show) that Ozzy beat Jim and Keith - who became the first 2 jury members. As much as I didn't like him on the show, I thought it was cute when Jim said he was hoping there was a "double redemption island"... Don't worry about Jim. He'll do fine with his medical marijuana business... or he'll end up in jail.
So with Dawn & Whitney left from the original Team Oz, they worked it the only way they could... which was to tell people their votes are for sale. Smartly, they went to Albert with it, knowing he's in a bit of a peeing contest with Coach over alpha-male status (though both deny this, we know it's true.) Albert's big idea is to vote out Edna because she's useless, using Dawn & Whitney plus Cochran and maybe Sophie. Sophie's not sure, though, and is wisely playing the loyalty game. My favourite is when they're discussing this strategy, they get to Rick's name and say, "Rick's not even playing..." Heh. As I've mentioned before, Rick hasn't even spoken more than a couple of times all season. And we're at the jury part.... Rick is this season's mute blonde girl, whose name from last season I can't even remember. Purple Kelly? Was that even last season? Whatever.
Sophie won the immunity challenge - Dawn was close, but didn't quite get it... so it looked pretty sad for Dawn & Whitney. But there's still the chance someone will shake it up. That's where Coach comes in. First of all, there were a couple of times in the episode where their tribe is referred to as a "cult"... which I think is hilarious. Cochran talks about "drinking the kool-aid" and I think it was Jim over on the island talks about their tribe being a cult as well. It's not so far off from what we've seen, right? All that "Down on your knees!" stuff.... the complete insistence on group loyalty.... Coach himself describing it as "the Family"??? Come on! You can't make this stuff up! Thing is, what Coach is going for is Scarface and what he doesn't know is he's ending up more Charles Manson. Hee. And all the while, like any good mob boss/cult leader, he denies being in charge.... insisting that everyone is making the decisions together. Riiiiiiight. Meanwhile, Ozzy gets to be Jesus of the Jungle. Coach will find this quite unfair.
(Let's look back at Boston Rob for a sec too... he had the whole cult of personality going on too, which Coach & Ozzy have in different ways.... and no one else playing right now has at all. Rob was more of an overt manipulator than Ozzy, but had the same likability in his tribe. They followed 'cause they liked following him. Coach doesn't exactly have that. Plus, he's a bit odd. Ozzy has the luxury of being the likable warrior that Rob was, without having to vote out his alliance like Rob had to do.... which was pretty tricky business, that I don't know if the Great & Powerful Oz could do as well as Rob.)
So Dawn got voted out - no real surprise. My take on it is that Sophie - with immunity - isn't willing to go against the family... yet. Then, my boyfriend Jeff announced a twist... which was that as soon as Dawn got the boot, there would immediately be another challenge, and another vote. It was a close one between Sophie & Whitney, but Sophie won it to the delight of her cult, who now could easily vote off Whitney.
Now, let's hear your predictions! So I think Ozzy will beat Dawn & Whitney, but both ladies have proven themselves to be pretty tough competitors - especially if it's one of those endurance-type challenges. I just don't think they can take on Jesus right now. So then we have the Group of Seven... not the painters but the cult. Who's going first? Is Cochran actually #7 in the pecking order? I say no... I think he's the swing vote. Where does the cowboy stand? No one knows 'cause he's mute. Obviously Coach, Baby and Edna have a thing... and Sophie & Albert have a thing... I feel that the cowboy's closer to Sophie & Albert, but I could be wrong (because how the heck would I know?) If I'm Cochran, I probably stick close to the leader (oh right, he's NOT the leader) and throw my lot in there. Coach and his #2 henchman Baby protect Cochran, right? He won't turn again at this point, as much as he likes to talk about "big moves." And with little room for two leaders (who aren't actually leaders) I'm thinking Albert will be the next to go. Coach is already nervous about him... If I'm Albert, I'm looking for a horse's head in my bed.
OK, so let's start there... Redemption Island. The "duel" between Keith, Ozzy & Jim was an endurance one where they had to hold up poles with the backs of their hands... which has got to be ridiculously hard. One of those things that's maybe easy for about the first 2 minutes and then excruciating. The determination by Ozzy to win this thing has me flip-flopping back to his side again. As much as I can't stand all the editing of him as a semi-religious figure (aaaaand we'll talk about Coach later), I also enjoy his attitude towards Redemption Island: Fine, I'll hang out here where it's peaceful and I'll eat super well while you starve and I'll be nice to people, and then I'll kick their asses, come back into the game and win it. And come on, you know he's got a good chance here. I'm going to go out on a limb and call it right now - Ozzy will win this season. There, I said it. He's got all of his tribe's votes for sure, and team Coach is going to have to start backstabbing each other soon, so you know there are people who'll end up pissed off and will vote for Ozzy out of spite. It's all about jury votes now, so it's harder to vote people out... uh... "properly"....
So obviously, you've figured out by now (if you didn't watch the show) that Ozzy beat Jim and Keith - who became the first 2 jury members. As much as I didn't like him on the show, I thought it was cute when Jim said he was hoping there was a "double redemption island"... Don't worry about Jim. He'll do fine with his medical marijuana business... or he'll end up in jail.
So with Dawn & Whitney left from the original Team Oz, they worked it the only way they could... which was to tell people their votes are for sale. Smartly, they went to Albert with it, knowing he's in a bit of a peeing contest with Coach over alpha-male status (though both deny this, we know it's true.) Albert's big idea is to vote out Edna because she's useless, using Dawn & Whitney plus Cochran and maybe Sophie. Sophie's not sure, though, and is wisely playing the loyalty game. My favourite is when they're discussing this strategy, they get to Rick's name and say, "Rick's not even playing..." Heh. As I've mentioned before, Rick hasn't even spoken more than a couple of times all season. And we're at the jury part.... Rick is this season's mute blonde girl, whose name from last season I can't even remember. Purple Kelly? Was that even last season? Whatever.
Sophie won the immunity challenge - Dawn was close, but didn't quite get it... so it looked pretty sad for Dawn & Whitney. But there's still the chance someone will shake it up. That's where Coach comes in. First of all, there were a couple of times in the episode where their tribe is referred to as a "cult"... which I think is hilarious. Cochran talks about "drinking the kool-aid" and I think it was Jim over on the island talks about their tribe being a cult as well. It's not so far off from what we've seen, right? All that "Down on your knees!" stuff.... the complete insistence on group loyalty.... Coach himself describing it as "the Family"??? Come on! You can't make this stuff up! Thing is, what Coach is going for is Scarface and what he doesn't know is he's ending up more Charles Manson. Hee. And all the while, like any good mob boss/cult leader, he denies being in charge.... insisting that everyone is making the decisions together. Riiiiiiight. Meanwhile, Ozzy gets to be Jesus of the Jungle. Coach will find this quite unfair.
(Let's look back at Boston Rob for a sec too... he had the whole cult of personality going on too, which Coach & Ozzy have in different ways.... and no one else playing right now has at all. Rob was more of an overt manipulator than Ozzy, but had the same likability in his tribe. They followed 'cause they liked following him. Coach doesn't exactly have that. Plus, he's a bit odd. Ozzy has the luxury of being the likable warrior that Rob was, without having to vote out his alliance like Rob had to do.... which was pretty tricky business, that I don't know if the Great & Powerful Oz could do as well as Rob.)
So Dawn got voted out - no real surprise. My take on it is that Sophie - with immunity - isn't willing to go against the family... yet. Then, my boyfriend Jeff announced a twist... which was that as soon as Dawn got the boot, there would immediately be another challenge, and another vote. It was a close one between Sophie & Whitney, but Sophie won it to the delight of her cult, who now could easily vote off Whitney.
Now, let's hear your predictions! So I think Ozzy will beat Dawn & Whitney, but both ladies have proven themselves to be pretty tough competitors - especially if it's one of those endurance-type challenges. I just don't think they can take on Jesus right now. So then we have the Group of Seven... not the painters but the cult. Who's going first? Is Cochran actually #7 in the pecking order? I say no... I think he's the swing vote. Where does the cowboy stand? No one knows 'cause he's mute. Obviously Coach, Baby and Edna have a thing... and Sophie & Albert have a thing... I feel that the cowboy's closer to Sophie & Albert, but I could be wrong (because how the heck would I know?) If I'm Cochran, I probably stick close to the leader (oh right, he's NOT the leader) and throw my lot in there. Coach and his #2 henchman Baby protect Cochran, right? He won't turn again at this point, as much as he likes to talk about "big moves." And with little room for two leaders (who aren't actually leaders) I'm thinking Albert will be the next to go. Coach is already nervous about him... If I'm Albert, I'm looking for a horse's head in my bed.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
The Little Guys Aren't Going to Take It Any More!
Sorry for the late post again!!
A pretty good episode, non? TWO Tribal Councils... and so now there are three dudes over in Redemption Island: Keith, Ozzy and Jim. That is going to be some epic battle. Will 2 get to stay and one leave? I think that's how it worked before...
So backing up, poor Cochran really got it thrown at him when they got back from Tribal Council after he pulled the ol' double cross. He kept pretty calm & tried to explain his decision to Ozzy - the hilarious part about this was when Baby Hantz popped up out of nowhere to be Cochran's bodyguard. Ozzy shooed him away with, "We're not gangsters out here, dude." Heh heh. I totally love that Cochran has become Baby's pet project, though. He stood up for him again at the first Tribal, saying that no way were they going to turn their back on him... and hooray for the "little guys" who "aren't going to take it any more" or something. Then later, after the Coach tribe got to pig out while the rest of the Ozzy tribe competed, Baby got so full that Cochran said, "You can rest your head on my shoulder." It was awkward and nice at the same time. Love it.
So yeah, Cochran heard it from Ozzy, then got called a coward again by Jim, then Whitney told him that he "disgusts" her. Yep. Poor bastard. And while I get that they're pissed, he had some pretty good reasons as we talked about last week, right? Though, Jim may have had a point when he said, "Cochran's playing the best 3rd place game ever right now." Which may be true. Cochran would be the best person to bring to the final with you - especially if you're on team Coach and anyone on the jury is from the other tribe. No way he's getting ANY votes EVER from those guys.
So Jim comes up with this amazing plan to give his immunity necklace to Ozzy, knowing that he could go next anyway... just to throw a wrench into the other team's plans, forcing them to vote without talking to each other. He also figured he could give a very moving speech about being warriors... and figured he could sway the Coach team to vote Cochran.... Uh, yeah. Coach pretty much saw right through that and said right off the bat that they're going to stand behind Cochran. So when it came down to actually giving up his necklace, Jim wussed out and Ozzy went back to Redemption Island... which he's pretty OK with, generally. He went there & caught this enormous fish and shared with Keith and just figures he'll be nice to everyone, then defeat them in challenges. Which, actually, wouldn't surprise me. Are you getting a little tired of all the slow-mo, posed shots of Ozzy as Jesus, though? Really... oh, there's the silhouette of Ozzy looking out to the ocean with a rainbow in the distance... then later... the shot of Ozzy standing atop the palm tree as if he levitated up there with his magic powers. Ugh. Enough, Survivor editors... enough. Blech.
Right, so then there's Dawn. Dawn is a clever, clever girl. She's being super friendly to the Coach tribe in hopes she can blend in a little with them and make a case for keeping her around when the time comes. When the challenge came where it was Dawn vs. Jim vs. Whitney and the other tribe got to chow down instead of compete, Dawn belts out that she'll stay there as long as she can so they can eat. Brilliant! People remember that stuff. Later though, she said something about it being hard to watch them eat, so Baby called her on it. "What? You said you were happy we were eating, now you don't want us to eat?" Some sort of usual circular Baby logic. At any rate, he likes Dawn more than Whitney probably because Whitney's too good looking or something like that.... Weird.
And Whitney started crying because she doesn't like being called a bully. Well, really? Baby, for all his loco-ness, made a super good point when he said that team Ozzy was all cocky and unfriendly to them when it looked like they were in control. All of a sudden, when they lost control, now they go and paint the other guys as bad guys...? Word.
Ummmm.... and OK.... has Rick said more than 3 words all season. I'm loving that he's silent. 'Cause he's a cowboy, and I figure he goes off and camps alone and sings cowboy songs by himself. That's what cowboys do right?
So, even though he was a total jerk about not giving Ozzy the necklace, Jim got voted out next, just as he thought. I enjoyed the three dudes at the end in Redemption Island saying "Huh, and we thought we'd be the final three...." Heh. Looking forward to seeing them compete! It'll be Dawn or Whitney next... so might depend on winning immunity, or might depend if Dawn can convince everyone she's cool... we'll see. And if Ozzy claws his way back into the game, it'll be hard to beat him. An Ozzy, Coach, Cochran final? What's your guess?
Oh... and I never tire of watching Coach ham it up for the "tai chi".... I don't know tai chi, but I'm going to guess that's not really it. But then again, I remember him saying they type he does so obscure (it was taught to him from some monks maybe?) that you can't even google it. But, come on, the fist clenching and arm shaking.... it makes my life. Then, he'll go and chuck in a quote by Marcus Aurelius. Again, I don't know if he's making this stuff up... but I like it nonetheless. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you can't back up your Internet quotes, just look confident when you say them, and the people will believe."
A pretty good episode, non? TWO Tribal Councils... and so now there are three dudes over in Redemption Island: Keith, Ozzy and Jim. That is going to be some epic battle. Will 2 get to stay and one leave? I think that's how it worked before...
So backing up, poor Cochran really got it thrown at him when they got back from Tribal Council after he pulled the ol' double cross. He kept pretty calm & tried to explain his decision to Ozzy - the hilarious part about this was when Baby Hantz popped up out of nowhere to be Cochran's bodyguard. Ozzy shooed him away with, "We're not gangsters out here, dude." Heh heh. I totally love that Cochran has become Baby's pet project, though. He stood up for him again at the first Tribal, saying that no way were they going to turn their back on him... and hooray for the "little guys" who "aren't going to take it any more" or something. Then later, after the Coach tribe got to pig out while the rest of the Ozzy tribe competed, Baby got so full that Cochran said, "You can rest your head on my shoulder." It was awkward and nice at the same time. Love it.
So yeah, Cochran heard it from Ozzy, then got called a coward again by Jim, then Whitney told him that he "disgusts" her. Yep. Poor bastard. And while I get that they're pissed, he had some pretty good reasons as we talked about last week, right? Though, Jim may have had a point when he said, "Cochran's playing the best 3rd place game ever right now." Which may be true. Cochran would be the best person to bring to the final with you - especially if you're on team Coach and anyone on the jury is from the other tribe. No way he's getting ANY votes EVER from those guys.
So Jim comes up with this amazing plan to give his immunity necklace to Ozzy, knowing that he could go next anyway... just to throw a wrench into the other team's plans, forcing them to vote without talking to each other. He also figured he could give a very moving speech about being warriors... and figured he could sway the Coach team to vote Cochran.... Uh, yeah. Coach pretty much saw right through that and said right off the bat that they're going to stand behind Cochran. So when it came down to actually giving up his necklace, Jim wussed out and Ozzy went back to Redemption Island... which he's pretty OK with, generally. He went there & caught this enormous fish and shared with Keith and just figures he'll be nice to everyone, then defeat them in challenges. Which, actually, wouldn't surprise me. Are you getting a little tired of all the slow-mo, posed shots of Ozzy as Jesus, though? Really... oh, there's the silhouette of Ozzy looking out to the ocean with a rainbow in the distance... then later... the shot of Ozzy standing atop the palm tree as if he levitated up there with his magic powers. Ugh. Enough, Survivor editors... enough. Blech.
Right, so then there's Dawn. Dawn is a clever, clever girl. She's being super friendly to the Coach tribe in hopes she can blend in a little with them and make a case for keeping her around when the time comes. When the challenge came where it was Dawn vs. Jim vs. Whitney and the other tribe got to chow down instead of compete, Dawn belts out that she'll stay there as long as she can so they can eat. Brilliant! People remember that stuff. Later though, she said something about it being hard to watch them eat, so Baby called her on it. "What? You said you were happy we were eating, now you don't want us to eat?" Some sort of usual circular Baby logic. At any rate, he likes Dawn more than Whitney probably because Whitney's too good looking or something like that.... Weird.
And Whitney started crying because she doesn't like being called a bully. Well, really? Baby, for all his loco-ness, made a super good point when he said that team Ozzy was all cocky and unfriendly to them when it looked like they were in control. All of a sudden, when they lost control, now they go and paint the other guys as bad guys...? Word.
Ummmm.... and OK.... has Rick said more than 3 words all season. I'm loving that he's silent. 'Cause he's a cowboy, and I figure he goes off and camps alone and sings cowboy songs by himself. That's what cowboys do right?
So, even though he was a total jerk about not giving Ozzy the necklace, Jim got voted out next, just as he thought. I enjoyed the three dudes at the end in Redemption Island saying "Huh, and we thought we'd be the final three...." Heh. Looking forward to seeing them compete! It'll be Dawn or Whitney next... so might depend on winning immunity, or might depend if Dawn can convince everyone she's cool... we'll see. And if Ozzy claws his way back into the game, it'll be hard to beat him. An Ozzy, Coach, Cochran final? What's your guess?
Oh... and I never tire of watching Coach ham it up for the "tai chi".... I don't know tai chi, but I'm going to guess that's not really it. But then again, I remember him saying they type he does so obscure (it was taught to him from some monks maybe?) that you can't even google it. But, come on, the fist clenching and arm shaking.... it makes my life. Then, he'll go and chuck in a quote by Marcus Aurelius. Again, I don't know if he's making this stuff up... but I like it nonetheless. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you can't back up your Internet quotes, just look confident when you say them, and the people will believe."
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Big Moves & Flip Flops
Sorry for the late post today... sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. Go figure.
A couple of fairly huge coups yesterday! One of the best episodes ever, I think. Do you agree?
First of all, Ozzy pulled it off. He dethroned Christine at Redemption Arena in that game - you know it - where they have to attach poles together with string to make one big long pole that they then use to get some key rings.... It's a good challenge & makes me wonder if Ozzy has done it before? Not sure. At any rate, he had the whole thing done before Christine even had one key. Did you feel just a little badly for Christine? I did. You know I sorta wanted her to beat Ozzy because now he's going to be even more insufferable. So the really fun part, though, was where Ozzy put on the big huge show informing the other team how Cochran was such a weasel for playing the immunity idol... and everyone could clearly tell he was acting. It was some serious BAD acting too. You could just see his team flinching and the thought bubbles over their heads that said, "Shut UP, Ozzy!" Jeff's face during all this: priceless.
So, then, we knew it was going to be the merge because they invited the whole tribes to watch the challenge. There was the usual, 'get to know you' picnic. Cochran was put into the role of double agent, where he was to pretend to be on the outs with his tribe for voting off Ozzy... when in fact he was actually feeling out the other tribe to see if he did want to flip. The other tribe, naturally, was very welcoming. Whether or not it was honest, I'm not sure. I think so.... but if you're that tribe and you've got someone who you think might flip, you do your best to at least appear welcoming. There were warm, encouraging words from Coach, who again - seemed uh... wise?.... as he told Cochran that he too has faced ridicule in his life (Really? Can't imagine.) and that Cochran would be alright.
Cochran went to Dawn with his plan to jump ship. Dawn got all teary-eyed again and started crying about that she hates having to do this stuff and later she cried some more telling us that she felt bad that she hadn't stood up for Cochran and that she hated how he'd been picked on, and that he reminded her of her own son a little bit. OK. I'm on board. She's emotional, but it seemed heartfelt, right. Wrong. Later, Dawn uh.. prayed about it (and you'll note how low-key HER praying session was) and apparently the Lord told her to forsake Cochran for the good of the tribe. Now, I don't want to come down too hard on Dawn, 'cause she's playing her own game. She doesn't have to go along with Cochran's plan, and sticking with her alliance is really just as good - and potentially less risky - a plan. All that's needed is one flip vote anyway, so it really is probably best for her to lay low. The other thing I did like about Dawn's own opinion flip was that she didn't run & tell the tribe about Cochran's plan. She let him do his thing.... though she did apparently tell him she didn't think he should do it and that she'd be disappointed in him if he did. Thanks mom.
Individual immunity was fun. It was balancing coconuts while yourself balancing on a board. Nice! (By the way... did you catch that part about the new tribe name being something to do with "How the coconut came to be?" or something like that? I can't be bothered to look it up, but Keith seemed embarrassed to say it.) So Dawn won for the women and Ozzy won for the men, making things look pretty good for team Ozzy. (And ummmm.... was Dawn a little annoying this time in her win? I can't tell if I'm just annoyed in general with Dawn and all her flip-flopping... Wait, I'm flip-flopping about Dawn, aren't I? Dang!)
But here's the rub - If the vote is 6 to 6... and then they re-vote and it's tied again... they have to draw rocks. Loser goes to Redemption Island. Even if I'm on team Ozzy, I'm not super confident (unless I'm Dawn or Ozzy) that my fate won't come down to a rock. That's stupid. Mind you, I can see the argument for why switching teams at this time is stupid. It's early - they will hate you. A lot of those people will be on the jury, potentially. They will hate you. Have I said that?
Now before I get to the flip, let's talk about Ozzy playing the idol. He gives it to Whitney on a hunch that the other team was going to vote for Whitney.... which they did not. So, idol was wasted. Wasted! Why on earth wouldn't you hang onto it? You know it's going to be a tie vote anyway, save it! Had the other team voted for Whitney, it would have been another genius move, as only the 6 votes by team Oz would count. But, team Coach voted for Keith and team Oz voted for Rick. (The thought bubble above Rick's head said, "What in tarnation?") So, it came down to voting for either Keith or Rick only.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand, Cochran flipped. He did it. Nerds of the world unite. Immediately, with his team hating him.... it was hard to tell if Cochran was happy or terrified. Jim called him a coward about 5 times in a row, and in quite a gallant move, Baby Hantz stood up for Cochran by turning around and saying, "Don't call him that! Saying stuff like that is why you're in the situation you're in!" Ha! Loved it. Then Baby protectively put his hand on Cochran's shoulder and said, "Stick close to me." Uh, does he think Cochran's going to get shanked by Jim with a coconut shard? At any rate, it's the first time I've liked Baby Hantz. Yes, I know, the flip flop again. Oh yeah, so it was Keith - the BULLY - who got voted out. He was shocked! Whitney was sad. It's going to be exciting and uncomfortable to watch what happens next. I don't envy Cochran, but I'm sorta proud of him. Why would you stay loyal to a bunch of people who have been ready to throw you under the bus since day one and have only kept you around when it's convenient? Cochran knew he was on the very bottom of the totem pole, so why not flip and make his way with a new bunch of weirdos? Next episode, however, it looks like Albert & Sophie maybe have had their doubts about team Bible Camp and maybe are going to defect themselves??? Hard to say. Things are never what they appear on the "Next Week's Episode" part...
A couple of fairly huge coups yesterday! One of the best episodes ever, I think. Do you agree?
First of all, Ozzy pulled it off. He dethroned Christine at Redemption Arena in that game - you know it - where they have to attach poles together with string to make one big long pole that they then use to get some key rings.... It's a good challenge & makes me wonder if Ozzy has done it before? Not sure. At any rate, he had the whole thing done before Christine even had one key. Did you feel just a little badly for Christine? I did. You know I sorta wanted her to beat Ozzy because now he's going to be even more insufferable. So the really fun part, though, was where Ozzy put on the big huge show informing the other team how Cochran was such a weasel for playing the immunity idol... and everyone could clearly tell he was acting. It was some serious BAD acting too. You could just see his team flinching and the thought bubbles over their heads that said, "Shut UP, Ozzy!" Jeff's face during all this: priceless.
So, then, we knew it was going to be the merge because they invited the whole tribes to watch the challenge. There was the usual, 'get to know you' picnic. Cochran was put into the role of double agent, where he was to pretend to be on the outs with his tribe for voting off Ozzy... when in fact he was actually feeling out the other tribe to see if he did want to flip. The other tribe, naturally, was very welcoming. Whether or not it was honest, I'm not sure. I think so.... but if you're that tribe and you've got someone who you think might flip, you do your best to at least appear welcoming. There were warm, encouraging words from Coach, who again - seemed uh... wise?.... as he told Cochran that he too has faced ridicule in his life (Really? Can't imagine.) and that Cochran would be alright.
Cochran went to Dawn with his plan to jump ship. Dawn got all teary-eyed again and started crying about that she hates having to do this stuff and later she cried some more telling us that she felt bad that she hadn't stood up for Cochran and that she hated how he'd been picked on, and that he reminded her of her own son a little bit. OK. I'm on board. She's emotional, but it seemed heartfelt, right. Wrong. Later, Dawn uh.. prayed about it (and you'll note how low-key HER praying session was) and apparently the Lord told her to forsake Cochran for the good of the tribe. Now, I don't want to come down too hard on Dawn, 'cause she's playing her own game. She doesn't have to go along with Cochran's plan, and sticking with her alliance is really just as good - and potentially less risky - a plan. All that's needed is one flip vote anyway, so it really is probably best for her to lay low. The other thing I did like about Dawn's own opinion flip was that she didn't run & tell the tribe about Cochran's plan. She let him do his thing.... though she did apparently tell him she didn't think he should do it and that she'd be disappointed in him if he did. Thanks mom.
Individual immunity was fun. It was balancing coconuts while yourself balancing on a board. Nice! (By the way... did you catch that part about the new tribe name being something to do with "How the coconut came to be?" or something like that? I can't be bothered to look it up, but Keith seemed embarrassed to say it.) So Dawn won for the women and Ozzy won for the men, making things look pretty good for team Ozzy. (And ummmm.... was Dawn a little annoying this time in her win? I can't tell if I'm just annoyed in general with Dawn and all her flip-flopping... Wait, I'm flip-flopping about Dawn, aren't I? Dang!)
But here's the rub - If the vote is 6 to 6... and then they re-vote and it's tied again... they have to draw rocks. Loser goes to Redemption Island. Even if I'm on team Ozzy, I'm not super confident (unless I'm Dawn or Ozzy) that my fate won't come down to a rock. That's stupid. Mind you, I can see the argument for why switching teams at this time is stupid. It's early - they will hate you. A lot of those people will be on the jury, potentially. They will hate you. Have I said that?
Now before I get to the flip, let's talk about Ozzy playing the idol. He gives it to Whitney on a hunch that the other team was going to vote for Whitney.... which they did not. So, idol was wasted. Wasted! Why on earth wouldn't you hang onto it? You know it's going to be a tie vote anyway, save it! Had the other team voted for Whitney, it would have been another genius move, as only the 6 votes by team Oz would count. But, team Coach voted for Keith and team Oz voted for Rick. (The thought bubble above Rick's head said, "What in tarnation?") So, it came down to voting for either Keith or Rick only.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand, Cochran flipped. He did it. Nerds of the world unite. Immediately, with his team hating him.... it was hard to tell if Cochran was happy or terrified. Jim called him a coward about 5 times in a row, and in quite a gallant move, Baby Hantz stood up for Cochran by turning around and saying, "Don't call him that! Saying stuff like that is why you're in the situation you're in!" Ha! Loved it. Then Baby protectively put his hand on Cochran's shoulder and said, "Stick close to me." Uh, does he think Cochran's going to get shanked by Jim with a coconut shard? At any rate, it's the first time I've liked Baby Hantz. Yes, I know, the flip flop again. Oh yeah, so it was Keith - the BULLY - who got voted out. He was shocked! Whitney was sad. It's going to be exciting and uncomfortable to watch what happens next. I don't envy Cochran, but I'm sorta proud of him. Why would you stay loyal to a bunch of people who have been ready to throw you under the bus since day one and have only kept you around when it's convenient? Cochran knew he was on the very bottom of the totem pole, so why not flip and make his way with a new bunch of weirdos? Next episode, however, it looks like Albert & Sophie maybe have had their doubts about team Bible Camp and maybe are going to defect themselves??? Hard to say. Things are never what they appear on the "Next Week's Episode" part...
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