Welcome back, my friend. Sorry for your Mets and your Jets.The Good
1- Adam: The recap admirably portrayed the difference between a player and a character. Adam was already thinking of the next move while Zeke could only complain. Then morning came and, with it, the time to make that move, so Adam went to work. Of course, I dislike the way production simply gives idols away these days but Adam’s find led to a very poignant scene. The introduction of his mother’s illness was done in the most powerful way possible and it solidly connected Adam to the audience. Can Adam bring back some joy to his family? Right now, I think he can.
2- Michaela: Like Jeff said, Michaela’s effort was what it takes to win this game. She had an MVP performance in a losing cause but maybe her reward comes later. I expect there will be a showdown between Michaela and Figgy at some point in the game but those two worked very well together in their reward challenge leg and again in the immunity challenge so I don’t think their confrontation will be personal but that they will reach a point where only one can move forward.
3- Michelle: Her meteoric rise in the first two episodes didn’t lead anywhere yet. The good thing is that she is the only player to take control and not get voted out for it. Michelle led her tribe once more to a challenge win and we’ve had a glimpse of her strategic capabilities so she could become relevant again after the swap when the game really heats up. With the numbers the way they are, the Millennials will have to stick together if they want to keep their advantage and they should be able to do so because their fractures are insignificant compared to those facing the Gen-X players. Being a unifier, Michelle should be able to maneuver her way with these numbers.
The Goat Hunters
4- Figgy: I liked the way she wanted to hunt for pig. Skupin must have been happy at the scene. I onder if the scene was to prepare for when she does pick the right goat to win the million. The previews are concentrating on her love affair with Taylor so that should be funny. Will her game pick up or will she languish alone? I think she will become more dangerous a sthe game moves along.
5- Jay: It was weird to hear him talk about the Gen-X generation in this episode. Will he have trouble fitting in with people he doesn't appreciate? He seemed OK when he was an ambassador so maybe he will succeed.
6- Zeke: He tried his best in the challenge but Zeke is only good for funny comments. Where Adam figured out what to do, Zeke could only sulk.
7- Taylor: He's still having fun but what happenes next week when he could lose his girlfriend?
8- Will: The kid went hunting with his friends and tried his best in the challenge but there isn't much there.
The Goats
Hannah: She gave us another funny moment when she caught Adam looking for his idol. Wouldn’t it be fun if we were to learn that she did see the idol after all? What would she do? Blurt it out to everyone?
10- Cece: How will she react now that David forced her to save someone who wanted her out since day 1? Like the rest of Cece’s story we probably won’t even hear her point of view
11- Sunday: Can we get to next week already? I mean, I don’t like Mondays but this Sunday is insipid. The target was squarely placed on her closest ally and she was simply going along. She has totally relinquished her free will to the tribe’s interest. She should have warned Jessica about Lucy’s plan. The tribe wouldn’t be in as much chaos if she had. Unfortunately, I don’t think next week will be her turn yet. As a goat, she is becoming very valuable. We’d need a week with 4 Wednesdays for her turn to come sooner.
12- Bret: For the last 15 seasons or so, Survivor editing, much like those paintings for kids, is being done by numbers. They hear the name Kelly or Bret and they immediately forget to show that person. (Kelly Wentworth was only featured once she simply became “Wentworth”) It could be that Bret is only temporarily kept out of the spotlight so that he can be disassociated from his dumber allies later on but right now he appears to be just as dumb as them.
13- Chris: Like Scot, he is quickly becoming a villain but he's also the dumb guy who thought of throwing the rice away. He is good in challenges but he's now reached a point where being good in challenges is useless so he should get a target on his back.
The Bad
14- Ken: For someone who doesn’t like authority figures, he certainly acted with authority himself when he decreed that Lucy had to go. He was lucky that Jessica’s stupidity didn’t cost him the game because once the alliance saw him as a snitch the target should have turned on him. Aruba says his challenge prowess will hurt him later on but he should consider that it was the only reason he was saved this time. The tribe should have realized that a swap was looming as it always does so why keep the snake? Later, he made it clear at Tribal Council that he didn’t like Jessica so I wonder what went through his mind when he saw the person he thought was his closest ally playing “their” idol to save HER? Despite a very good edit, it is starting to show that Ken is asocial, that he spent four years off the grid on his own in a jungle. Now he will have to deal with kids so I don’t think his disposition will improve.
15- Jessica: This whole episode was about the chaos that Jessica’s knee jerk reaction created and how she was totally unaware of her allies’ true feelings. In our list of characters that makes her a “Dumb Player” and a “Dumb Player” has never won Survivor. Yes, Fabio was a very dumb kid but the edit went out of its way to show him as “someone who wasn’t as dumb as the others thought” when he was probably even dumber than they imagined! Trust and information are the most important commodities in this game so when information comes to you from someone you don’t really trust (and you should trust no one) then you must treat it as if it was a diamond. You don’t believe its authenticity immediately but you don’t throw it away either. You keep it hidden, run your due diligence and then see how you can use it.
16- David: While his move was great for TV, we can certainly say that it wasn’t a good move for David himself because it leaves too many questions unanswered: Did it really matter to David whether Lucy or Jessica left? Did it matter enough to lose his idol? I know David said that voting out Jessica would leave him, Cece and Ken on the bottom but so what? Cece was always going before him and they would have had at least three days to turn Chris, Bret and Sunday against Lucy just like they turned on Jessica. Even if they wouldn’t have turned on Lucy then that would have been the time to use his idol either on himself or on a true ally. What happens now if Chris or Bret gets the next idol? Did David put the target directly on himself? Also, did David gain Jessica's trust only to lose Ken's? And what about Cece whom he forced to save someone who wrote her name down? How will Cece and Ken work with Jessica who is someone they simply can’t trust? Once more, this leads me to think that David is there to pander to the cameras, not to play the game and I really dislike those players. At least now we know where the legacy envelope will go...
Voted Out - Lucy and Paul: What do these two, Rachel and Mari have in common? They all PROACTIVELY worked their way right out of the game!
Lucy should have realized that it works at home better than on Survivor because it is much more expensive to divorce her than to vote her out. I have a feeling that this episode was a guilty pleasure for her husband!
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