Oh, it's a sad day for me. And maybe for you... You all know my fondness for Penner. He's pretty much my all-time favourite Survivor. And he's gone.... He worked so much magic to stay as long as he did, and I think he was pretty close to staying again but for one mistake. More on that in a bit.
Let's go back to Abi. Our little pouty Shakira was in fine form, only this time she turned on her brain. It's like she hasn't had much brain all this time and only now did it kick in. If I had to classify Abi's brain it would be 95% "All About Me" and 5% "How to Win Survivor... For Me". Thankfully - for her - that 5% of her brain woke up. It started with the 95% when she was crying and pouting to everyone about how mean they all were to her, and how awful it is to be her and have to deal with people being mean. My favourite was her talking to Penner asking him, "What do you have to say to me?" Uh, what do you mean? "I think you should say sorry to me." He tried to explain to her that she "could have been friendlier," but she just wasn't having any of it (surprise!) so in the end the two hugged it out while everyone else stayed silent.
The reward challenge was the Survivor Auction. Now, everyone knows that there's always a clue or an advantage as part of the Survivor Auction. Thing is, everyone is hungry and everyone figures that even with an advantage, there's no way Abi can not get voted out, right? Right? Wrong. Everyone stuffs their faces except Abi, who waits for it (cue 5% of brain) and gets the advantage thingy, using all her money. The way she figures it, if she goes home, she'll be eating well soon anyway so why bother spending the cash on food. Again, way to go, Abi's brain! (Aside: I really enjoyed when Jeff showed Carter a baked potato and pronounced it "potatuh" a whole bunch of times. "You can take this baked potatuh, or you can trade the potatuh for bags of rice & beans for the whole tribe. Will he take the potatuh?" Hee.)
Where were we? Right, so the note Abi bought says that she can advance to the final stage of the immunity challenge. Again, cue brain. Brain tells her to pretend that the note also tells her there's an immunity idol. So, she goes off pretending to look for it for most of the day & then tells Malcolm that she's not going home, because she has the idol. Later, at the challenge, when Jeff asks her to read the note aloud, she says, "Jeff, I only have to read part of the note," and reads the actual part about the challenge. Then she rips the note into tiny pieces and litters it on the ground saying, "I have to tear this up so that no one will read the other part." Brilliant! Who knew the horrible little vixen could be so clever? Whether or not they believe it remains to be seen, but it's at least a very good try at playing the game. Damn, girl.
The note proved to be a huge advantage, as Abi managed to win the challenge vs. Carter and Skupin, who were both probably pretty tired from competing in the previous 2 portions. You (and by you, I mean me) have got to hand it to her, she did good. Don't get me wrong, I still can't her and there's no way on god's green earth that she's going to win this, but yes, this is what the game's about and this is why this show is so good. Now, what looked like a sure thing is no longer.
Now the six faithful allies have to turn on each other and here's where Penner's mistake cost him the game. Remember last week when Lisa & Skupin asked Penner to commit to a final four alliance and he didn't want to commit right then? Yep. Now, he's probably done in Carter too, as Skupin, Lisa, Malcolm and Denise did make that final four alliance (unless of course, Carter wins an immunity challenge, which would be awesome.) Lisa is SO fixated on being loyal (or at least appearing to be loyal) that she wouldn't budge on her alliance to Malcolm & Denise. Penner tried to talk her out of it and was clearly super frustrated ("Lisa has lost her mind again....") and then he tried working on Skupin by telling him that he has a way better chance against Penner than he does against Malcolm and Denise. And here is Skupin's fatal error that will cost him down the road. Penner is totally right. It's going to be ridiculously hard to beat M & D in the final. Malcolm STILL has an idol.... why is no one thinking of blindsiding the guy with the idol???? What the....?
Anyway, Penner went out in true Hawkeye Pierce fashion - giving Carter a hug, telling Abi he doesn't want to hug anyone else, telling them all to "suck eggs!" and then going out whistling down the path... then disappearing, then reappearing, still whistling.... ahhhh... you gotta love the guy.
(Seriously, am I the only one that loves Penner this much? I have a feeling this is the case. Like for reals, I want to invite him to my house for a bbq. Is that weird?)
Next episode is the family visit one, so prepare for lots of crying. There was an odd preview where we see Malcolm's brother - who proves that bad hair does run in the family, and perhaps screws things up somehow for Malcolm. Good fun.
I miss Penner already.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
It's Not Me, It's You
Sorry for the late post, but I went to the opera on Wednesday night & only got to watch the show last night. Many a parallel between the opera and Survivor.... Lots of deceit and treachery and promises and drama... Only in opera, the traitors/liars/lovers/jerks and sometimes even the good guys end up getting poisoned or stabbed to death. Anyway, a Survivor opera in the future? Maybe.
Can I just start out by saying how glad I am that things are working out in a certain way? It's delightful. Again, I'm not one who thinks that lying in Survivor is 'bad' - indeed, deception goes a long way in this game! However, I'm also glad to see that the final bunch of competitors is going to be made up of people who - at least on a handful of hours of TV - seem like good folks.
No big surprise after last episode that Pete was the one to get voted off. Pete and Abi were not in a good place (yay!) and found themselves having to scramble. At least their team won the reward (along with Malcolm and Carter) to go on a big spa day, so you they have that I suppose. Meanwhile, everyone knows that when you come back to camp after one of those cool rewards, you don't ever blab too much about it. It annoys the hell out of everyone else who have been sitting eating rice and coconut, dirty, tired & sore. Right? Seems kind of obvious that you'd say, yeah, it was great.... but you'd kind of play it down a bit. How was the food? Good. That's all you need to say. Did you get a massage? Yes. How was it? Good. End of story. Nope... not if you're Abi. As mentioned - I think by Denise - Abi has no idea how to read social cues. I mean, this has been clear from day one when she freaked out at RC, has been mean to Lisa, to Skupin, to Penner. Pete was the only one who knew how to deal with Abi - and it proved to be his downfall. More on that later.
So Abi goes on and on and on and on about the reward. Tiny, exacting details on how the food was, what they drank, how full she is now, and how much she felt like a princess. Seriously, you could have run a pretty good drinking game on how many times Abi said either 'princess' or 'cinderella' and who knows how many of those they edited out? Dumb. So when the other guys started rolling their eyes and talking about her, she, of course, lost it. Again. (And the other guys listened to the princess talk politely for quite a while.) Abi told them in her Shakira way, that she was 'done wtih them' and was not going to cook any more. She was going to eat, yes, but no more cooking. Sigh. Ok, crazy-pants.
Immunity challenge was exciting, with Denise, Skupin and Carter duking it out. Denise is awesome, non? It was a pretty physical challenge & she kept right in there with the super fit men. And she's no spring chicken by Survivor standards. Anyway, Carter won. No really big deal as far as no one was going to vote for him anyway.
So Pete, being smarter than Abi and not in possession of his own immunity idol, started scrambling. Now, let's remember that had he had anyone else in his alliance, he could have probably made something happen. Maybe. First off - no one trusts Pete. Second, he's too linked with Abi and the mean, axis of evil for anyone to change their minds now. But also, Abi is selfish and would not have given him the idol (well, I suppose not many would - the others had the numbers to split the vote and even had she given him the idol to save him, she would have gone home for sure. It was too late to use the idol to blindside anyone.)
Pete - to his credit - came up with the only plan he could and he worked pretty hard to sell it. He tried getting people to blindside Malcolm, telling them (rightly) that Malcolm will get a lot of votes on the jury because he's nice, everyone likes him... plus he's a huge physical threat... plus he's got an idol still. Really, it was a sound plan on paper. If it was another season of Survivor with other people, Pete's plan may have worked. It looked like it was allllllllmost going to work with Skupin - he did consider it - but in the end, chose to stick with the new alliance of 6: Skupin, Lisa, Malcolm, Denise, Carter & Penner. These 6 have decided that they all want to go to the end with people they want to compete against - that they like - instead of taking someone they know they can beat - like Abi. And if Abi's smart next week, that's how she'll try to sell herself, but I don't think it'll fly with this crew. They've decided it. As Denise said, "It's like playing poker against someone who's never played before just so you can take their money."
I enjoyed how everyone was straight with Pete. Nope, sorry. Good try, but no. I just don't have an alliance with you. Even Lisa - who has made really one of the smoothest alliance transitions EVER - broke up with Abi and Pete. Sorry, it's not you, it's me. I've found someone else. You could have been nicer, but I don't hold anything against you. I forgive you, now it's time for me to move on. I mean, Lisa is worthy of her own Kelly Clarkson song.
At Tribal Council, Jeff is amazed at how little Abi gets about the fact that she screwed up last week with Lisa and how she doesn't understand that the rest of her tribe thinks she's ridiculous. "Is it a cultural thing?" asks Jeff? Yes, says Abi. I'm sure that's it, because I just am not seen as very 'gentle'. (Insert eye-roll and muffled laughter here.) Again it's Denise with the good sound-bite. "Jeff, I know other people for whom English is not a first language, and they are still kind, compassionate people." Did you stand up and clap for her when she said that? It's true. It's not cultural. She's not being 'misunderstood'. She's an unkind, selfish, narcissistic brat who is used to getting her way. The end. Again, we're meeting her on TV in a handful of episodes, but can you find any redeeming qualities besides the fact that her hair is nice and her bum looks good in a bikini? Nope. Even some of the other Survivor 'villains' were that way because they were at least smart (Russell, Parvati). They may not have played the way everyone would have - but they had that. Other Survivors maybe aren't great at strategy but they're great physical competitors. Abi is not particularly good at challenges and honestly, doesn't even seem very bright. She has no strategy of her own, she showed off the idol, she angers and alienates her own alliance mates, she's rude to people. And so when the rest of them told her so, yes, of course she cried. One would hope it's a wake-up call to this girl (or at least it will be when she watches the show) but I don't know. I believe the tears themselves are a way for this type of girl to garner more attention. It's a performance. She doesn't really feel bad - she just wants someone to feel sorry for her. Am I being mean? Maybe. Am I right? Probably.
And Pete - well Pete, when he got voted off, said that he felt bad for Abi. (See, Pete has redeeming qualities.) He didn't quite say he liked her, but he "found a way to work with her" or something like that. And it's true. She tried to pull that crazy stuff on Pete once in a while, and he knew how to shut it down. However, he never found a way to get her to just sit down and shut up. It's a good example of how the horse you tie yourself to on the first day can be your downfall. Pete could have extricated himself like Lisa, but he didn't and so he paid the price. Abi - barring any severe craziness - will go home next and then it'll be interesting again as the final 6 duke it out.
The last thing to mention is that of those 6 - there's an alliance of 4: Lisa & Skupin with Malcolm & Denise. Now, Lisa wanted to make a final 4 plan with Penner, who she trusts & likes more - but Penner, in a moment of unclarity (is that a word?) said, nah, I just want to deal with one thing at a time. Let's stick with the six. It's like Penner used up all his energy saving himself over & over - and fair enough - and now he's sitting back a bit? Anyway, Lisa called it a 'missed opportunity' and I think she was right. Every Boston Rob fan in the world knows you've got to play this game always a couple steps ahead of where you are. My prediction is Malcolm, Denise and Lisa in the final. Or can Penner outsmart them? What do you think?
Can I just start out by saying how glad I am that things are working out in a certain way? It's delightful. Again, I'm not one who thinks that lying in Survivor is 'bad' - indeed, deception goes a long way in this game! However, I'm also glad to see that the final bunch of competitors is going to be made up of people who - at least on a handful of hours of TV - seem like good folks.
No big surprise after last episode that Pete was the one to get voted off. Pete and Abi were not in a good place (yay!) and found themselves having to scramble. At least their team won the reward (along with Malcolm and Carter) to go on a big spa day, so you they have that I suppose. Meanwhile, everyone knows that when you come back to camp after one of those cool rewards, you don't ever blab too much about it. It annoys the hell out of everyone else who have been sitting eating rice and coconut, dirty, tired & sore. Right? Seems kind of obvious that you'd say, yeah, it was great.... but you'd kind of play it down a bit. How was the food? Good. That's all you need to say. Did you get a massage? Yes. How was it? Good. End of story. Nope... not if you're Abi. As mentioned - I think by Denise - Abi has no idea how to read social cues. I mean, this has been clear from day one when she freaked out at RC, has been mean to Lisa, to Skupin, to Penner. Pete was the only one who knew how to deal with Abi - and it proved to be his downfall. More on that later.
So Abi goes on and on and on and on about the reward. Tiny, exacting details on how the food was, what they drank, how full she is now, and how much she felt like a princess. Seriously, you could have run a pretty good drinking game on how many times Abi said either 'princess' or 'cinderella' and who knows how many of those they edited out? Dumb. So when the other guys started rolling their eyes and talking about her, she, of course, lost it. Again. (And the other guys listened to the princess talk politely for quite a while.) Abi told them in her Shakira way, that she was 'done wtih them' and was not going to cook any more. She was going to eat, yes, but no more cooking. Sigh. Ok, crazy-pants.
Immunity challenge was exciting, with Denise, Skupin and Carter duking it out. Denise is awesome, non? It was a pretty physical challenge & she kept right in there with the super fit men. And she's no spring chicken by Survivor standards. Anyway, Carter won. No really big deal as far as no one was going to vote for him anyway.
So Pete, being smarter than Abi and not in possession of his own immunity idol, started scrambling. Now, let's remember that had he had anyone else in his alliance, he could have probably made something happen. Maybe. First off - no one trusts Pete. Second, he's too linked with Abi and the mean, axis of evil for anyone to change their minds now. But also, Abi is selfish and would not have given him the idol (well, I suppose not many would - the others had the numbers to split the vote and even had she given him the idol to save him, she would have gone home for sure. It was too late to use the idol to blindside anyone.)
Pete - to his credit - came up with the only plan he could and he worked pretty hard to sell it. He tried getting people to blindside Malcolm, telling them (rightly) that Malcolm will get a lot of votes on the jury because he's nice, everyone likes him... plus he's a huge physical threat... plus he's got an idol still. Really, it was a sound plan on paper. If it was another season of Survivor with other people, Pete's plan may have worked. It looked like it was allllllllmost going to work with Skupin - he did consider it - but in the end, chose to stick with the new alliance of 6: Skupin, Lisa, Malcolm, Denise, Carter & Penner. These 6 have decided that they all want to go to the end with people they want to compete against - that they like - instead of taking someone they know they can beat - like Abi. And if Abi's smart next week, that's how she'll try to sell herself, but I don't think it'll fly with this crew. They've decided it. As Denise said, "It's like playing poker against someone who's never played before just so you can take their money."
I enjoyed how everyone was straight with Pete. Nope, sorry. Good try, but no. I just don't have an alliance with you. Even Lisa - who has made really one of the smoothest alliance transitions EVER - broke up with Abi and Pete. Sorry, it's not you, it's me. I've found someone else. You could have been nicer, but I don't hold anything against you. I forgive you, now it's time for me to move on. I mean, Lisa is worthy of her own Kelly Clarkson song.
At Tribal Council, Jeff is amazed at how little Abi gets about the fact that she screwed up last week with Lisa and how she doesn't understand that the rest of her tribe thinks she's ridiculous. "Is it a cultural thing?" asks Jeff? Yes, says Abi. I'm sure that's it, because I just am not seen as very 'gentle'. (Insert eye-roll and muffled laughter here.) Again it's Denise with the good sound-bite. "Jeff, I know other people for whom English is not a first language, and they are still kind, compassionate people." Did you stand up and clap for her when she said that? It's true. It's not cultural. She's not being 'misunderstood'. She's an unkind, selfish, narcissistic brat who is used to getting her way. The end. Again, we're meeting her on TV in a handful of episodes, but can you find any redeeming qualities besides the fact that her hair is nice and her bum looks good in a bikini? Nope. Even some of the other Survivor 'villains' were that way because they were at least smart (Russell, Parvati). They may not have played the way everyone would have - but they had that. Other Survivors maybe aren't great at strategy but they're great physical competitors. Abi is not particularly good at challenges and honestly, doesn't even seem very bright. She has no strategy of her own, she showed off the idol, she angers and alienates her own alliance mates, she's rude to people. And so when the rest of them told her so, yes, of course she cried. One would hope it's a wake-up call to this girl (or at least it will be when she watches the show) but I don't know. I believe the tears themselves are a way for this type of girl to garner more attention. It's a performance. She doesn't really feel bad - she just wants someone to feel sorry for her. Am I being mean? Maybe. Am I right? Probably.
And Pete - well Pete, when he got voted off, said that he felt bad for Abi. (See, Pete has redeeming qualities.) He didn't quite say he liked her, but he "found a way to work with her" or something like that. And it's true. She tried to pull that crazy stuff on Pete once in a while, and he knew how to shut it down. However, he never found a way to get her to just sit down and shut up. It's a good example of how the horse you tie yourself to on the first day can be your downfall. Pete could have extricated himself like Lisa, but he didn't and so he paid the price. Abi - barring any severe craziness - will go home next and then it'll be interesting again as the final 6 duke it out.
The last thing to mention is that of those 6 - there's an alliance of 4: Lisa & Skupin with Malcolm & Denise. Now, Lisa wanted to make a final 4 plan with Penner, who she trusts & likes more - but Penner, in a moment of unclarity (is that a word?) said, nah, I just want to deal with one thing at a time. Let's stick with the six. It's like Penner used up all his energy saving himself over & over - and fair enough - and now he's sitting back a bit? Anyway, Lisa called it a 'missed opportunity' and I think she was right. Every Boston Rob fan in the world knows you've got to play this game always a couple steps ahead of where you are. My prediction is Malcolm, Denise and Lisa in the final. Or can Penner outsmart them? What do you think?
Thursday, November 15, 2012
A Million Reasons to Stay in School & A Dissection of Abi's Brain (Or Lack Thereof)
I can't even stand it how much I enjoyed last night's episode!! The look on Abi's face when Artis was voted out made the entire season for me. That's it - I can stop watching. I'm done. Life is good. OK, who wants to take over the blog?
Oh, OK, I'll carry on. So let's discuss how this is now a game that's won by someone who's the smartest. Really, it is... Look at the winners lately - Sophie, Boston Rob, etc. They are smart people who are people-smart. And not that I'm saying Penner will win (though you all know that would be ok with me), but this particular episode was all about how a player's brains - or lack thereof - make all the difference.... with a tiny bit of luck thrown in for good measure. Cases in point: Penner (brains) and Abi (lack thereof). Somewhere in here is a PSA about how you can overcome bullying by being smart. Someday, being smart will win you a million dollars, kids! Stay in School!
The tiny bit of luck I speak of is the fact that for the reward challenge, the Survivors were again split into two teams. Because it was an odd number, Abi did not get picked (it was apparently - though not shown - a schoolyard pick situation) which made her sulk. No one likes to be the one not picked. Abi, however, does not mind sitting out because she is lazy and not very good at things. Note that the almost 50 year-old mom, Lisa, got picked. 20-ish year-old Abi did not. The teams were Penner, Malcolm, Denise and Carter (no surprise there, former red teammates and Malcolm) vs. Pete, Artis, Lisa and Skupin (all former yellow). Penner used his substantial brains to dig up ALL the bags needed at once, making it simple for the rest of his teammates to follow to just grab a bag and move through the obstacle course. Totally paid off and the team won a great reward where they got to deliver toys & school supplies to a local village (cool, right?) It was lovely to see Malcolm say how much he misses teaching kids (he spent a year teaching kids in Micronesia) and how it opened his eyes to how much he'd like to do that again instead of bartending. (Say it with me... "Awwwww!") And then of course, Penner got to schmooze and strategize.
Meanwhile, the bit of luck comes in that Lisa got stuck on the other team that did not win reward. When they went back to camp, Abi was her usual bitchy-weird-patronizing self and told Lisa... who again is twice her age... how she is just "gullible" and "naive" and how Skupin needs to be "kept on a short leash." Lisa was still concerned about how her big move from last week was going to go over. Let's remember that Lisa's move was to save Skupin while remaining LOYAL to her yellow tribe. The thanks she gets is to be talked down to by this arrogant pipsqueak child. Lisa took it all very well, but you could see the wheels turning in her brain.
Penner - knowing he's got to scramble but not LOOK like he's scrambling - approaches both Lisa & Skupin, because they're the ones who can turn the game around on the Axis of Evil. With Skupin, he's pretty matter-of-fact and asks straight out if he'd consider switching loyalties to get rid of people who are jerks. With Lisa, he becomes a psychologist. He talks to her about how she's always had to please people, be the breadwinner, etc. and how she's always wanted to be liked. How changing loyalties against people who aren't loyal to her wouldn't necessarily be viewed as a bad thing. And by presenting it to her in another way that she specifically gets - think of it like a script.... How would you want the viewers at home to see this played out? Do they want you to stay loyal to these jerks? Do they want these jerks to win? Or do they want you to make moves that are good for you because you're a nice person and they're rooting for you? Brilliant. He made Lisa cry at one point and she said how nice it was to have someone understand her. It's a great story seeing Lisa change as a person on this show - and she even said at Tribal Council how much these days have changed her as a person and how much she'll take away from this game. Probst eats that stuff up (have you seen his talk show yet?) (Insert line here about Lisa finally learning the Facts of Life... thanks Wendy!) Abi, because she's young and stupid (well, sorry, it hasn't been proved otherwise yet.) has a thought bubble meanwhile that says, "This game will not change me because I am special and perfect the way I am."
Where was I?
Right. So then there's a fun immunity challenge where you have to get 6 (maybe?) balls to balance on this paddle-looking thingy. I love these ones, as you know, because it's anyone's game. You don't have to be big and strong, or even that smart to accomplish a win. It's a game of skill that anyone may or may not be able to do. Skupin took this one easily, which was fun. Much like seeing Denise win stuff, you kind of pull for Skupin too because you know how much it really means to him to win.
So of course the yellows want to get rid of Penner. Easy vote for them. Couldn't get him last week, so let's get him this week. Penner and the reds are gunning for Artis, because they know that Abi may give the immunity idol to Pete, but not to Artis. The deciding votes will be Skupin and Lisa.
At Tribal Council, Probst asks Lisa how her big moves from last week went over. Lisa tells him that her moves were accepted "with grace" by people who knew she was just playing the game. Oh, says Jeff, by everyone? Nope, says Lisa. Interestingly, more so by the people who are my "opponents" rather than by my own tribemates. Interesting, says Jeff, "Like who?" "Well," says Lisa, "Abi has been a total jerk-face." Ok well, she didn't exactly say that. She's way too nice. But, here again is where the brains part comes in. While most smart people would have known that they need Lisa's vote and they ought to be sucking up to her, Abi just opened her mouth and let the usual arrogant crap flow out. "Well, I thought I was graceful towards her." And, "I am worried about Lisa's vote tonight," making Lisa say out loud, "Geez, I thought my actions spoke louder than words - but I don't know how else to prove to these thankless schmucks how loyal I am." (Again quoting, yet paraphrasing.)
In the end, Lisa and Skupin are a team, so they must have had an agreement. Skupin switched his vote over to Artis, while Lisa still voted Penner. See how she can still maintain the "idea" of being loyal, while actually having some say in who goes home? Smart! Artis goes home 5 votes to 4, and I'm a little sad in a way (a very tiny way) because I really would have liked to get to know Artis more. Is he really the cranky pirate from the Axis of Evil, or is he just a usually nice but sometimes cranky regular dude with 2 big earrings who happened to get caught in the middle of the Axis of Evil? In his parting words, he was super nice and kind of funny, acknowledging that he's really happy... but yeah, could be happier.... to have played the game and wishing the others well.
So now it'll be Pete and Abi doing the scrambling for once, whicih makes me super happy. Abi's face when Artis was voted out is what made my whole season. Seeing the fury that was boiling inside her tiny brain... which I believe was 99% fury and 1% "I'm still special" and not a lick of realization that it was she who was responsible for the whole mess.... Oh, seeing her face made the whole season grand. Now, the kick is that Pete and Abi "share" an immunity idol so it won't necessarily be as easy as picking them off. Pete may be smart enough to play the idol properly. Abi is not, plus she doesn't know how to keep a secret. I wouldn't mind seeing Pete stick around because he's a jerk, but a worthy opponent. If it's Abi, at least she's entertaining. At the end of the day, it's going to be a battle of the good kids... Who is the good-est? (Right, I know, not a word... whatever.) Can they each win a million dollars? Wouldn't that be nice? Maybe get rid of Carter.... and then give a million each to Malcolm, Denise, Penner, Lisa... and maybe even Skupin just 'cause he's got 7 kids to put through college. I'm going to call up Jeff and see if he's good with it. (I'm sure he reads this blog, though... right?)
Oh, OK, I'll carry on. So let's discuss how this is now a game that's won by someone who's the smartest. Really, it is... Look at the winners lately - Sophie, Boston Rob, etc. They are smart people who are people-smart. And not that I'm saying Penner will win (though you all know that would be ok with me), but this particular episode was all about how a player's brains - or lack thereof - make all the difference.... with a tiny bit of luck thrown in for good measure. Cases in point: Penner (brains) and Abi (lack thereof). Somewhere in here is a PSA about how you can overcome bullying by being smart. Someday, being smart will win you a million dollars, kids! Stay in School!
The tiny bit of luck I speak of is the fact that for the reward challenge, the Survivors were again split into two teams. Because it was an odd number, Abi did not get picked (it was apparently - though not shown - a schoolyard pick situation) which made her sulk. No one likes to be the one not picked. Abi, however, does not mind sitting out because she is lazy and not very good at things. Note that the almost 50 year-old mom, Lisa, got picked. 20-ish year-old Abi did not. The teams were Penner, Malcolm, Denise and Carter (no surprise there, former red teammates and Malcolm) vs. Pete, Artis, Lisa and Skupin (all former yellow). Penner used his substantial brains to dig up ALL the bags needed at once, making it simple for the rest of his teammates to follow to just grab a bag and move through the obstacle course. Totally paid off and the team won a great reward where they got to deliver toys & school supplies to a local village (cool, right?) It was lovely to see Malcolm say how much he misses teaching kids (he spent a year teaching kids in Micronesia) and how it opened his eyes to how much he'd like to do that again instead of bartending. (Say it with me... "Awwwww!") And then of course, Penner got to schmooze and strategize.
Meanwhile, the bit of luck comes in that Lisa got stuck on the other team that did not win reward. When they went back to camp, Abi was her usual bitchy-weird-patronizing self and told Lisa... who again is twice her age... how she is just "gullible" and "naive" and how Skupin needs to be "kept on a short leash." Lisa was still concerned about how her big move from last week was going to go over. Let's remember that Lisa's move was to save Skupin while remaining LOYAL to her yellow tribe. The thanks she gets is to be talked down to by this arrogant pipsqueak child. Lisa took it all very well, but you could see the wheels turning in her brain.
Penner - knowing he's got to scramble but not LOOK like he's scrambling - approaches both Lisa & Skupin, because they're the ones who can turn the game around on the Axis of Evil. With Skupin, he's pretty matter-of-fact and asks straight out if he'd consider switching loyalties to get rid of people who are jerks. With Lisa, he becomes a psychologist. He talks to her about how she's always had to please people, be the breadwinner, etc. and how she's always wanted to be liked. How changing loyalties against people who aren't loyal to her wouldn't necessarily be viewed as a bad thing. And by presenting it to her in another way that she specifically gets - think of it like a script.... How would you want the viewers at home to see this played out? Do they want you to stay loyal to these jerks? Do they want these jerks to win? Or do they want you to make moves that are good for you because you're a nice person and they're rooting for you? Brilliant. He made Lisa cry at one point and she said how nice it was to have someone understand her. It's a great story seeing Lisa change as a person on this show - and she even said at Tribal Council how much these days have changed her as a person and how much she'll take away from this game. Probst eats that stuff up (have you seen his talk show yet?) (Insert line here about Lisa finally learning the Facts of Life... thanks Wendy!) Abi, because she's young and stupid (well, sorry, it hasn't been proved otherwise yet.) has a thought bubble meanwhile that says, "This game will not change me because I am special and perfect the way I am."
Where was I?
Right. So then there's a fun immunity challenge where you have to get 6 (maybe?) balls to balance on this paddle-looking thingy. I love these ones, as you know, because it's anyone's game. You don't have to be big and strong, or even that smart to accomplish a win. It's a game of skill that anyone may or may not be able to do. Skupin took this one easily, which was fun. Much like seeing Denise win stuff, you kind of pull for Skupin too because you know how much it really means to him to win.
So of course the yellows want to get rid of Penner. Easy vote for them. Couldn't get him last week, so let's get him this week. Penner and the reds are gunning for Artis, because they know that Abi may give the immunity idol to Pete, but not to Artis. The deciding votes will be Skupin and Lisa.
At Tribal Council, Probst asks Lisa how her big moves from last week went over. Lisa tells him that her moves were accepted "with grace" by people who knew she was just playing the game. Oh, says Jeff, by everyone? Nope, says Lisa. Interestingly, more so by the people who are my "opponents" rather than by my own tribemates. Interesting, says Jeff, "Like who?" "Well," says Lisa, "Abi has been a total jerk-face." Ok well, she didn't exactly say that. She's way too nice. But, here again is where the brains part comes in. While most smart people would have known that they need Lisa's vote and they ought to be sucking up to her, Abi just opened her mouth and let the usual arrogant crap flow out. "Well, I thought I was graceful towards her." And, "I am worried about Lisa's vote tonight," making Lisa say out loud, "Geez, I thought my actions spoke louder than words - but I don't know how else to prove to these thankless schmucks how loyal I am." (Again quoting, yet paraphrasing.)
In the end, Lisa and Skupin are a team, so they must have had an agreement. Skupin switched his vote over to Artis, while Lisa still voted Penner. See how she can still maintain the "idea" of being loyal, while actually having some say in who goes home? Smart! Artis goes home 5 votes to 4, and I'm a little sad in a way (a very tiny way) because I really would have liked to get to know Artis more. Is he really the cranky pirate from the Axis of Evil, or is he just a usually nice but sometimes cranky regular dude with 2 big earrings who happened to get caught in the middle of the Axis of Evil? In his parting words, he was super nice and kind of funny, acknowledging that he's really happy... but yeah, could be happier.... to have played the game and wishing the others well.
So now it'll be Pete and Abi doing the scrambling for once, whicih makes me super happy. Abi's face when Artis was voted out is what made my whole season. Seeing the fury that was boiling inside her tiny brain... which I believe was 99% fury and 1% "I'm still special" and not a lick of realization that it was she who was responsible for the whole mess.... Oh, seeing her face made the whole season grand. Now, the kick is that Pete and Abi "share" an immunity idol so it won't necessarily be as easy as picking them off. Pete may be smart enough to play the idol properly. Abi is not, plus she doesn't know how to keep a secret. I wouldn't mind seeing Pete stick around because he's a jerk, but a worthy opponent. If it's Abi, at least she's entertaining. At the end of the day, it's going to be a battle of the good kids... Who is the good-est? (Right, I know, not a word... whatever.) Can they each win a million dollars? Wouldn't that be nice? Maybe get rid of Carter.... and then give a million each to Malcolm, Denise, Penner, Lisa... and maybe even Skupin just 'cause he's got 7 kids to put through college. I'm going to call up Jeff and see if he's good with it. (I'm sure he reads this blog, though... right?)
Thursday, November 8, 2012
And the Sub-Plots Thicken!
PENNER!
How much do you love Penner? OK, everyone loves him, right? We're all on the same page here?
Right, so backing up a bit... things weren't looking too good for Penner. Even his allies had voted against him. He knew it. There was no point in lying to him about it. Good eggs like Denise just told him straight up, yeah, I voted for you... I had to look out for myself, sorry. And he wasn't a whiny baby about it... he just decided not to quit. In the meantime, might as well help my team win a reward.
The tribe was divided into two teams for a reward challenge. It just so happened that the evil ones were all on one team (to review: Abi, Pete and Artis in addition to Skupin and Carter, who aren't evil, just goofy) and the nice, normal ones were mainly on one team (Malcolm, Denise, Lisa, Penner and Jeff.) Good won out over evil and the nice bunch got to go out for a picnic lunch. And Penner got to work a bit of magic.
All that magic would have been for nothing, though, if he didn't win immunity. He knew he had to win. Was it Jeff who later said that everyone went into the challenge saying that anyone can win except Penner, and of course it's Murphy's Law that Penner would, therefore, win. It was such a good challenge, too. It was one of those ones where everyone competes and then only the first three move on to the next portion of the challenge. Penner beat out Skupin by the tiniest margin... literally, Penner threw himself over the line like a baseball player sliding into home base, while Skupin hurried, but was like, a forearm behind Penner! Then it was a snake-shaped puzzle. Penner started out behind Jeff and Pete. Everyone is cheering for either Jeff or Pete. Penner stays calm. Once again, he gets the puzzle finished before Jeff by what must have been a tenth of a second. Crazy! PENNER WINS IMMUNITY!
Oh. Now, no one knows what to do. Craziness ensues.
The obvious first choice is Skupin. He's the other returnee. However, the original yellow alliance wants to keep their numbers strong and they don't feel like he's going to flip on them. So all of a sudden, Lisa becomes a mastermind of the game. She goes to Pete, and tells him about Malcolm having an idol. It's a solid strategy. Everyone likes Malcolm, but he's a huge physical threat, he's got an idol and he wasn't one of the original yellow tribe. Solid. However, Pete confronts Malcolm about it, thus throwing the lady under the bus who just threw Malcolm under a different bus... are you still following? Malcolm denies it and Pete believes him. On to the next plan, and now Lisa is worried.
The next name thrown around is Jeff. The yellow bunch decides that getting rid of the old Red tribe is the way to go, and without Penner to vote for, Jeff is the next biggest threat. Again, a solid strategy. Meanwhile, Jeff and the old Reds are thinking of voting off Pete, who again is a physical threat, part of a solid axis of evil, and well, not very nice. Yet another solid strategy.
Both groups think they have - or could have - the numbers on their side. If the Yellows stay strong, they have 5 originals, plus Malcolm. The Reds have 4 and think they may be able to get Malcolm or Skupin to flip against Pete.
Then Tribal Council happens. All this stuff comes out. And, Abi opens her mouth, proving herself one of the dumbest players ever. First she blabs about her alliance with Pete & Artis, basically saying that Lisa and Skupin are at the bottom of the heap. Then, more craziness. Malcolm shows that he has the idol. And he announces that he's going to play it to get rid of it, so don't bother putting his name down. Smart, right? No one's going to bother voting Malcolm.... So then Probst says, "OK, does anyone else feel like sharing that they have an idol." OK, says Abi, who reaches into her bag & pulls out the other idol!!!! Say it with me... Idiot. Oh honey, just because Jeff asks you, doesn't mean you have to share....Ay-yi.
Later Probst would say that this was one of the biggest missed opportunities of the game, ever. Why? Because everyone knew that Abi was not going to play that idol. It would have been a PERFECT opportunity to take her out, the idol along with her, and break up that axis of evil. Thing is, the only person who recognized this opportunity was Penner, and apparently no one else was on his page. And by Penner voting Abi, his 'side' only had 4 votes for Pete against the yellow side's 5 votes for Jeff. Penner will know for sure now that Skupin is not with him - fellow returning player or not. And, next time it looks like the Witches of Eastwick bully Lisa into possibly flipping over to team Penner. Things can happen quickly at this point in the game and fortunes can change. At this point, they need to get those idols gone more than they need Penner gone, but clearly not everyone realizes that.
Sheesh, I'm tired going over all that again. It was stressful. Also, can I point out that those former Reds need to stick together more than ever before if there are jury votes at stake. Even though he's not well liked, do you really want to go up against Pete or Artis at the end? Nope. Abi, maybe, because she's not liked AND stupid, so even her team couldn't vote for her once she opened her mouth.
I'm a little sad Jeff is gone. He was a good player, and truly does deserve it more than Artis or Abi. But so it goes. I enjoyed how pissed he was about losing. He said he'd made a gazillion dollars playing baseball and lost a World Series and that losing this was more painful. I believe it.
How much do you love Penner? OK, everyone loves him, right? We're all on the same page here?
Right, so backing up a bit... things weren't looking too good for Penner. Even his allies had voted against him. He knew it. There was no point in lying to him about it. Good eggs like Denise just told him straight up, yeah, I voted for you... I had to look out for myself, sorry. And he wasn't a whiny baby about it... he just decided not to quit. In the meantime, might as well help my team win a reward.
The tribe was divided into two teams for a reward challenge. It just so happened that the evil ones were all on one team (to review: Abi, Pete and Artis in addition to Skupin and Carter, who aren't evil, just goofy) and the nice, normal ones were mainly on one team (Malcolm, Denise, Lisa, Penner and Jeff.) Good won out over evil and the nice bunch got to go out for a picnic lunch. And Penner got to work a bit of magic.
All that magic would have been for nothing, though, if he didn't win immunity. He knew he had to win. Was it Jeff who later said that everyone went into the challenge saying that anyone can win except Penner, and of course it's Murphy's Law that Penner would, therefore, win. It was such a good challenge, too. It was one of those ones where everyone competes and then only the first three move on to the next portion of the challenge. Penner beat out Skupin by the tiniest margin... literally, Penner threw himself over the line like a baseball player sliding into home base, while Skupin hurried, but was like, a forearm behind Penner! Then it was a snake-shaped puzzle. Penner started out behind Jeff and Pete. Everyone is cheering for either Jeff or Pete. Penner stays calm. Once again, he gets the puzzle finished before Jeff by what must have been a tenth of a second. Crazy! PENNER WINS IMMUNITY!
Oh. Now, no one knows what to do. Craziness ensues.
The obvious first choice is Skupin. He's the other returnee. However, the original yellow alliance wants to keep their numbers strong and they don't feel like he's going to flip on them. So all of a sudden, Lisa becomes a mastermind of the game. She goes to Pete, and tells him about Malcolm having an idol. It's a solid strategy. Everyone likes Malcolm, but he's a huge physical threat, he's got an idol and he wasn't one of the original yellow tribe. Solid. However, Pete confronts Malcolm about it, thus throwing the lady under the bus who just threw Malcolm under a different bus... are you still following? Malcolm denies it and Pete believes him. On to the next plan, and now Lisa is worried.
The next name thrown around is Jeff. The yellow bunch decides that getting rid of the old Red tribe is the way to go, and without Penner to vote for, Jeff is the next biggest threat. Again, a solid strategy. Meanwhile, Jeff and the old Reds are thinking of voting off Pete, who again is a physical threat, part of a solid axis of evil, and well, not very nice. Yet another solid strategy.
Both groups think they have - or could have - the numbers on their side. If the Yellows stay strong, they have 5 originals, plus Malcolm. The Reds have 4 and think they may be able to get Malcolm or Skupin to flip against Pete.
Then Tribal Council happens. All this stuff comes out. And, Abi opens her mouth, proving herself one of the dumbest players ever. First she blabs about her alliance with Pete & Artis, basically saying that Lisa and Skupin are at the bottom of the heap. Then, more craziness. Malcolm shows that he has the idol. And he announces that he's going to play it to get rid of it, so don't bother putting his name down. Smart, right? No one's going to bother voting Malcolm.... So then Probst says, "OK, does anyone else feel like sharing that they have an idol." OK, says Abi, who reaches into her bag & pulls out the other idol!!!! Say it with me... Idiot. Oh honey, just because Jeff asks you, doesn't mean you have to share....Ay-yi.
Later Probst would say that this was one of the biggest missed opportunities of the game, ever. Why? Because everyone knew that Abi was not going to play that idol. It would have been a PERFECT opportunity to take her out, the idol along with her, and break up that axis of evil. Thing is, the only person who recognized this opportunity was Penner, and apparently no one else was on his page. And by Penner voting Abi, his 'side' only had 4 votes for Pete against the yellow side's 5 votes for Jeff. Penner will know for sure now that Skupin is not with him - fellow returning player or not. And, next time it looks like the Witches of Eastwick bully Lisa into possibly flipping over to team Penner. Things can happen quickly at this point in the game and fortunes can change. At this point, they need to get those idols gone more than they need Penner gone, but clearly not everyone realizes that.
Sheesh, I'm tired going over all that again. It was stressful. Also, can I point out that those former Reds need to stick together more than ever before if there are jury votes at stake. Even though he's not well liked, do you really want to go up against Pete or Artis at the end? Nope. Abi, maybe, because she's not liked AND stupid, so even her team couldn't vote for her once she opened her mouth.
I'm a little sad Jeff is gone. He was a good player, and truly does deserve it more than Artis or Abi. But so it goes. I enjoyed how pissed he was about losing. He said he'd made a gazillion dollars playing baseball and lost a World Series and that losing this was more painful. I believe it.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Now You're the Al Capone of the Totem Pole. Way to Go.
I don't have a ton of time today to blog, so apologies if this is a shorter one.
What do you guys think about Jeff's decision to turn on Penner? Now, I'm a Penner fan, as you know, so I didn't like it one bit. Fandom aside, I just think he's too hung up on the returning guys possibly winning. If I were him, I'd worry way more about Malcolm or Denise. I mean, Skupin's likely to get bitten by a shark or hit in the head by a falling coconut. And Penner's not necessarily as 'competitive' in the challenges as dudes like Malcolm or Pete or Artis or Carter. I think it's mis-focused energy. Finally, I think it was a bad idea to do in a solid alliance of 4. Jeff, Penner, Carter & Denise could have pulled in Malcolm, RC and Skupin for a majority. Then you get rid of the big dudes first - Pete and Artis. Then you get rid of Abi because she's horrible. Then you see where Lisa sits.
Lisa. I want to love her... I really do. No, I do love her.... but I'm not sure I'm 100% behind her game play on Survivor. She got totally bullied by the Pete group and now she's 'staying loyal' knowing full well that she's nowhere near the top of the pecking order. If she flipped over, she'd have a really good chance with guys like Malcolm (who had to promise her top-3 if she didn't blow his cover about having the idol. She was 'being nice' by going into people's bags (uhhhh.... that's wrong, right?) and laying out their wet clothes to dry.... thus, finding Malcolm's idol inadvertently. She was so nice and kept saying sorry. And I liked how he calls her the 'Church Lady." Hee.) Also, she had a perfect chance to bond with Penner, who knows that she's a former child star. They get along great.....buuuuut didn't see the need to talk strategy. What? Sigh. Lisa may be one of those people who really is just too nice to play this game. Unless she's got something up her church lady sleeves that I'm not aware of....?
Oh... if you didn't get it already... I probably should have started with the fact that the 2 teams merged into one. That's a bit of knowledge you should have. Also, that one man and one woman were allowed to win immunity. Carter won for the dudes, and Denise won for the ladies. How great was it to see her win something? Go Denise!
So Pete's gang's plan was to split the vote between RC and Penner in case Penner had an idol, which of course he did. And the plan worked because Penner did indeed - thankfully - play the idol. (I loved it when Penner said that he figured his alliance was strong, but if it's not, he's a really bad judge of character and he doesn't deserve to play. He must have felt something was up. Judgement intact.) Penner's group all joined in. Denise voted for Penner. Jeff and Carter voted for RC. Penner and RC voted for Pete. RC was the one voted out. I feel kind of bad for her because she seems like a truly nice gal who's a great competitor and a good Survivor player... who just got on the wrong side of a crazy person. And let's remember that it was Pete who got her there with his trickery. Yeah, I know, smart play, but still mean. And while I'm the biggest defender of 'game-play' vs. 'deserving-to-win'... I still prefer it that someone wins who's not a total a-hole. And I truly don't think they will win in the end. There's still the whole social game... even if Pete or Abi somehow made it to the end, they'd have to get outvoted for someone who's nicer. Al Capone could be up against them and probably get more votes for being nicer.
So where does this all leave us? Penner's on the outs and without an idol, he's gonna have to scramble hard and compete hard. They make it look like he wins... which probably means that he doesn't. I totally want his luck to change, but we'll see. It's not looking good. And if Penner goes, Skupin should read the writing on the wall.... he's already lost his main ally, RC because he was too stupid to leave the yellow-team "family". Ugh... who was it... was it Abi that said in Tribal Council... "Oh we fight, but we're like any family." Gross. A family who has to at some point turn on each other... See? That's the kind of language I don't like in this game. Bleh. And once the Returnees are gone, where the heck do Jeff & Carter figure they'll be on the totem pole? Bottom, that's where. If I'm Pete, I vote Jeff off next 'cause he's my next, most threatening alpha male. Carter's a threat, yes, but he's not super bright. I suppose it's possible Jeff figures he can get Denise & Malcolm on his side.... and maybe he can, but it's a stretch. Denise and Malcolm are playing the game brilliantly and staying perfectly in but out at the same time. They're both so likable and helpful and good at stuff.... yet, they generally keep their mouths shut and go with the flow. It's perfect Sophie-esque game play. They'll wait it out and see which way the wind is blowing. They don't have any huge loyalties to anyone but each other, and yet everyone sort of thinks they are loyal to them. Seriously brilliant. I will be surprised if those 2 don't make it 'til the end. And can you imagine making the choice between the two? Who would you vote for? They're both awesome. Malcolm has the obvious advantage in that he's had an opportunity to make more friends with people who will be jury members. Yet, he's also likely the bigger perceived threat.
Fun, right? Stay tuned and keep good thoughts in your heads for Penner. In the world of 'celebrities' I'd like to have a beer with or have over for a dinner party, Penner is on my list. Wouldn't it be fun to sit down with Penner AND Alan Alda and just listen....
In other news, Lisa was on the Jeff Probst Show this week - have you seen it? It's during the day, so generally I do not see it but was off work this Monday and she happened to be on. It was a pretty good interview - she talked about the Facts of Life (she just got back from spending 4 days at Jo's ranch!!) and Survivor and being the Church Lady who just got divorced after 24 years of marriage. Jeff is going to try to set her up. She's now one of his favourites - you can tell 'cause he calls her Welchel.
What do you guys think about Jeff's decision to turn on Penner? Now, I'm a Penner fan, as you know, so I didn't like it one bit. Fandom aside, I just think he's too hung up on the returning guys possibly winning. If I were him, I'd worry way more about Malcolm or Denise. I mean, Skupin's likely to get bitten by a shark or hit in the head by a falling coconut. And Penner's not necessarily as 'competitive' in the challenges as dudes like Malcolm or Pete or Artis or Carter. I think it's mis-focused energy. Finally, I think it was a bad idea to do in a solid alliance of 4. Jeff, Penner, Carter & Denise could have pulled in Malcolm, RC and Skupin for a majority. Then you get rid of the big dudes first - Pete and Artis. Then you get rid of Abi because she's horrible. Then you see where Lisa sits.
Lisa. I want to love her... I really do. No, I do love her.... but I'm not sure I'm 100% behind her game play on Survivor. She got totally bullied by the Pete group and now she's 'staying loyal' knowing full well that she's nowhere near the top of the pecking order. If she flipped over, she'd have a really good chance with guys like Malcolm (who had to promise her top-3 if she didn't blow his cover about having the idol. She was 'being nice' by going into people's bags (uhhhh.... that's wrong, right?) and laying out their wet clothes to dry.... thus, finding Malcolm's idol inadvertently. She was so nice and kept saying sorry. And I liked how he calls her the 'Church Lady." Hee.) Also, she had a perfect chance to bond with Penner, who knows that she's a former child star. They get along great.....buuuuut didn't see the need to talk strategy. What? Sigh. Lisa may be one of those people who really is just too nice to play this game. Unless she's got something up her church lady sleeves that I'm not aware of....?
Oh... if you didn't get it already... I probably should have started with the fact that the 2 teams merged into one. That's a bit of knowledge you should have. Also, that one man and one woman were allowed to win immunity. Carter won for the dudes, and Denise won for the ladies. How great was it to see her win something? Go Denise!
So Pete's gang's plan was to split the vote between RC and Penner in case Penner had an idol, which of course he did. And the plan worked because Penner did indeed - thankfully - play the idol. (I loved it when Penner said that he figured his alliance was strong, but if it's not, he's a really bad judge of character and he doesn't deserve to play. He must have felt something was up. Judgement intact.) Penner's group all joined in. Denise voted for Penner. Jeff and Carter voted for RC. Penner and RC voted for Pete. RC was the one voted out. I feel kind of bad for her because she seems like a truly nice gal who's a great competitor and a good Survivor player... who just got on the wrong side of a crazy person. And let's remember that it was Pete who got her there with his trickery. Yeah, I know, smart play, but still mean. And while I'm the biggest defender of 'game-play' vs. 'deserving-to-win'... I still prefer it that someone wins who's not a total a-hole. And I truly don't think they will win in the end. There's still the whole social game... even if Pete or Abi somehow made it to the end, they'd have to get outvoted for someone who's nicer. Al Capone could be up against them and probably get more votes for being nicer.
So where does this all leave us? Penner's on the outs and without an idol, he's gonna have to scramble hard and compete hard. They make it look like he wins... which probably means that he doesn't. I totally want his luck to change, but we'll see. It's not looking good. And if Penner goes, Skupin should read the writing on the wall.... he's already lost his main ally, RC because he was too stupid to leave the yellow-team "family". Ugh... who was it... was it Abi that said in Tribal Council... "Oh we fight, but we're like any family." Gross. A family who has to at some point turn on each other... See? That's the kind of language I don't like in this game. Bleh. And once the Returnees are gone, where the heck do Jeff & Carter figure they'll be on the totem pole? Bottom, that's where. If I'm Pete, I vote Jeff off next 'cause he's my next, most threatening alpha male. Carter's a threat, yes, but he's not super bright. I suppose it's possible Jeff figures he can get Denise & Malcolm on his side.... and maybe he can, but it's a stretch. Denise and Malcolm are playing the game brilliantly and staying perfectly in but out at the same time. They're both so likable and helpful and good at stuff.... yet, they generally keep their mouths shut and go with the flow. It's perfect Sophie-esque game play. They'll wait it out and see which way the wind is blowing. They don't have any huge loyalties to anyone but each other, and yet everyone sort of thinks they are loyal to them. Seriously brilliant. I will be surprised if those 2 don't make it 'til the end. And can you imagine making the choice between the two? Who would you vote for? They're both awesome. Malcolm has the obvious advantage in that he's had an opportunity to make more friends with people who will be jury members. Yet, he's also likely the bigger perceived threat.
Fun, right? Stay tuned and keep good thoughts in your heads for Penner. In the world of 'celebrities' I'd like to have a beer with or have over for a dinner party, Penner is on my list. Wouldn't it be fun to sit down with Penner AND Alan Alda and just listen....
In other news, Lisa was on the Jeff Probst Show this week - have you seen it? It's during the day, so generally I do not see it but was off work this Monday and she happened to be on. It was a pretty good interview - she talked about the Facts of Life (she just got back from spending 4 days at Jo's ranch!!) and Survivor and being the Church Lady who just got divorced after 24 years of marriage. Jeff is going to try to set her up. She's now one of his favourites - you can tell 'cause he calls her Welchel.
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