Here's a suggestion: Hockey is pointless before March so why waste time watching crap?As for our arguments, we were mostly in agreement up to now but I suspect you'll get knocked out of your chair when you read my rankings this week!
First, I must say that we finally had an OK episode. Not great, mind you, but at least interersting and that's because we see many players, in both camps, having side conversations, talking strategy and putting targets on their rivals’ back. These fractures are surfacing right before a Tribal Swap. This is going to make for some very difficult navigation for the targeted players. On the other hand, we’ve seen some players being able to cope with all different types in their original tribe. These players should reap the benefits of their good early social game.
I feel like doing a countdown this time, going from the useless to the stars:
17- Alec: It’s been three episodes and we still haven’t been introduced to Carl in a proper fashion. The guy is playing lead for his tribe in the physical, meaningless, part of challenges but we know nothing of his personal background and he hasn’t shown us any relevant game play.
16- Allison: Another figurant, Allison is there but we have no connections to her. It’s almost as if that big wave didn’t just scare her but took her away.
15- Carl: He has given us an insight into his family life and how close he was to Jessica but we have to wonder if he is even playing the game or just visiting Fiji. If he is only a “Tourist” then he certainly didn’t book during peak season.
14- Davie: Here, we have an extremely basic game; he was Outwitted by Gabby so he wants to make her pay. How will he do it? We can only assume he’s leaving that up to Bi and Nick.
13- Lyrsa: We have proof that she is an Incomplete player in the fact that she was only relevant when she was in danger. Her performance during the premiere was limited to her participation in the challenge and she hasn’t done anything to build on the alliance that saved her. We do know a bit about her personal story and she even connected that to her desire to fight for her survival, she has no hand on the game’s tactics.
12- Natalia: What do we know about Natalia except the fact that she hates Natalie? OK, she may or may not have Alec wrapped around her finger and she is Dan’s third in his fantasy threesome but those aren’t personal details. There’s probably only room for one Nat in Fiji and it seems the older one might just last longer.
11- Kara: We know about her romance with Dan and we know she is close to Angelina and Natalia but all we know about Kara is superficial; she is the prettiest one out there. With the wrong tribal breakdown, Kara could find herself in trouble. That could even happen in a tribe where the original Purple have the advantage, her former allies not wanting to give her the chance to reunite with Dan.
10- Dan: His game play comprises finding an idol, hooking up with Kara and dreaming of a threesome with her and Natalia. Everyone on the tribe knows about his idol and his romance and I don’t think Kara is going to let him have that threesome so what’s left? We do have a nice personal connection to the SWAT Officer so that leads us to believe that he will last a long time but his lack of game play will mean he has not enough resources to help him in the end.
9- Elizabeth: Whether we listen to Jeff’s recap or to the players themselves, Elizabeth wasn’t credited for the big blindside. Elizabeth has shown some nice personality traits and some game skills but it doesn’t seem to be enough to make an impression on her fellow players or the editors. How can we be impressed?
8- Angelina: We know that Angelina is a smart game player but who is she really? She got rid of a player that would never have entered in her strategy and she was able to rally the whole tribe behind her idea which makes her an important strategist, someone worthy of our attention. Her main problem is that everyone else on her tribe is aware of her capabilities and not everyone is that close to her. Her social game is not equal to her mental one but fortunately for her, Jon could help her there.
7- Natalie: As incredible as this may seem, I was impressed with Natalie and we have to acknowledge the fact that she is one of the season’s biggest characters, having raked up much more confessionals than the average players. (She is second by my unofficial count, trailing only Christian in amount of one-on-ones with the audience) What impressed me was her willingness to do the puzzle, taking the game in her hands and then keeping her cool despite Jeremy’s harangues. If we notice, the main complaints against Natalie came from the way she took charge building the shelter but we have to admit that the Purple Tribe’s shelter is just as good as the Orange one and they didn’t have the tool kit to build it. Whatever role she played in building it, it couldn’t have been that bad. Was Natalia expecting the 57 year old woman to build the shelter with her own hands? The muscle tribe is in need of smarts and maybe, just maybe, the wisdom of a 57 year old CEO could have been better utilized.
6- Bi: The conflict between Bi and Gabby is quite troubling. It would be so much better to have this “mighty mouse” teaming up with the “nerd whisperer” but unless something changes soon it doesn’t seem possible that the two can make the merger together. Bi seems so bitter that she would throw Gabby under the bus even in a situation where the original Orange Tribe members would have the advantage. That would be a sad outcome because these are two of the most nicely connected females to the audience. If Bi can put aside her anger towards Gabby then maybe the two could make it to the end but this seems unlikely at this time.
5- Gabby: Rarely do we go back to the winning Tribe’s camp after the Immunity Challenge but we did so here and one of the two reasons for doing so was to show Gabby as a winner. That’s either a very strong hint that Gabby will be a long term player and have a big impact on the season or that she’s had her shining moment and will be in trouble now that she has half the tribe gunning for her. Her next Tribal Council will be key for Gabby because, if she survives it, she could thrive far down the road.
4- Mike: From a strictly game perspective, the filmmaker was smart in abandoning Jeremy. The panegyric he gave to his friend showed that he wasn’t turning his back on him. He had simply come to the realization that all efforts to save him would be futile. Mike cut his losses, voted with the majority and will live to see another day. A day that we know will confront him with new tribe mates. It was said that fixing a bad first impression is very hard yet Mike did it with the Purple tribe. Now he has a chance to make a good first impression on some of the Orange tribe members so, if he survived despite a bad first impression, we can imagine that he should thrive with a good one.
3- Jon: I’m sure that before the season started many viewers expected that Jon would be the insufferable one. Maybe that applied only to those who knew nothing about Jon but wrestling isn’t exactly a social game so it wasn’t a big reach to picture him as the person who would be lacking self awareness and who would continually boast about his exploits. However, Jon has been a very down to earth character and now he’s managed to get Natalie through the first Tribal Council. Will it be enough for them to form a strong tag team? Even if he loses Natalie, I now expect to see Jon going far in the game. Even Christian idolizes him and wants to play with him so he has a built in alliance either after the upcoming swap or after the Merger. The wrestling star may just have the best social game around and, contrary to Alec, he hasn’t taken the lead in challenges so he isn’t really seen as a challenge threat either.
2- Nick: Here is the perfect example of someone playing both sides. Despite betraying Davie and Bi, Nick still has their entire trust and even if he spent a lot of time with the other side, Christian is still fully in on Mason-Dixon. Nick was on the right side of a big blindside yet he didn’t get any blood on his hands. That’s the way to play this game. We’ve heard about his touching personal story so, in Nick, we have a complete player who, right now, doesn’t really stand out. Those are great qualities for someone who is aimed at the ultimate goal.
1- Christian: The undisputed star of the first three episodes, Christian once more showed his puzzle building abilities in teaming up with Gabby to earn his tribe’s first trip back to camp with the Immunity Idol. Thinking ahead, we hear that Christian is already considering players on the other side at least when it comes to Jon. If those two wind up on the same tribe I think Christian could charm the wrestler into another unlikely alliance. If he is able to align with players from both sides then Christian could go on to the title of Sole Survivor.
Booted - Jeremy: While he was booted because the Muscle tribe didn’t really need him, rarely has a player gone to this length to get voted out. He kept saying Natalie was lacking self-awareness but he was blindsided by his whole tribe. Was there any suspense in the evening’s outcome? No but some of the best Survivor episodes didn’t have suspense about the vote. Sometimes it’s just so funny to see someone being set up for a unexpected exit that the suspense is not needed. Rodger elimination in the Amazon is still the best example of that but this one was hilarious also. As for a redo of Roots, I'll have you noted that Jeremy was against Natalie so it isn't as if an alliance by race is an automatic.
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