I’ll be away for the weekend (leaving tonight; returning on Monday.) Thought I’d get something up quickly even though I probably won’t be able to reply until next week. So here goes...We were subjected to a host of the ridiculous post-TC confessionals fresh off the Hai blindside.
We start off with Mike who has the audacity to claim HE orchestrated the Hai boot. He rambles on about how the “peasants” took out the “king...” blah...blah...blah...
Romeo starts boasting about his UTR game like he’s some kind of strategic player. Hey Romeo, it has absolutely nothing to do with strategy and everything to do with...well...you suck. The kind of “suck” that modern day Survivor will allow you to be carried to the end.
Speaking of which...we go to Maryanne—who is insistent that a semi-annual loss of toenails simply falling off her foot are normal human occurrences. What she is right about is she’s on the “bottom” because she is a non-threat. Wanna know why you’re a non-threat...because you are inept. The kind of inept that modern day Survivor will allow you to be carried to the end. Hey, have we heard this before? Yes, we just did.
To quote Dirty Harry Callahan, these jokers are all “legends in their own minds.” In this most predictable season, we may have our F3 vying for the title. LMAO!
Romeo, already the most tantalizing goat this season, raises the ire of his tribemates even more by doing his worst Winnie the Pooh imitation reaching into the cooking pot to scoop fragments of rice.
Jonathan is particularly agitated because he feels entitled to larger portions to support his large frame. He goes on to tell us how many thousands of calories he burns by just lying on his back doing nothing...yadda...yadda...yadda... Lindsay and Drea seem the most irritated by Jonathan.
The stage is being set where ANYONE and EVERYONE is at risk to get the next boot...well...almost everyone with the exception of Maryanne still securely strapped in her car seat.
Enough of this social butterfly/tribe dynamics crap; let’s get to the IC.
But wait...PSSST...Jiffy has another secret to share with us. Well, maybe a secret to viewers like me who did not watch last season. It’s called a “Do or Die.”
Hearing it for the first time, it’s sounding like a reason for casting debacles to chicken sh!t their way out of competing. True to form, only Jonathan and Lindsay choose to compete in a mano a mano showdown. The winner gets immunity; the loser has a 2/3s chance of going home without any TC vote OR a 1/3 chance of safety.
Jonathan is a stud, but Lindsay is no slouch. If you don’t know this by her efforts thus far this season, her backstory provides confirmation revealing she completed on a boy’s football team. If someone like Lindsay played football when I was growing up, I would have traded in my soccer cleats for a football helmet just for a chance to “tackle” her. *sigh*
OK, back to the Summary…
It was a grueling hard fought challenge with the chicken sh!ts watching from the Sandra/Daniel Sit-Out Bench. Lindsay was in total concentration, while Jonathan kept glancing over at Lindsay like the “cat who was eating the mouse.” Over 12 minutes later, Jonathan was licking his chops while Lindsay dropped. She must play “Do or Die” at TC.
After the IC, the scramble to target someone continued. The scramble put a bullseye on MIKE who Drea will use her “Knowledge is Power” on to steal his II. She decides to share this plan with only ONE player. Unfortunately for her, that one player is the biggest lying dong of donkey’s dust this season—Omar. If a player ever needed S35 Champion Ben with his finger over his lips whispering SHHHHHHHH, it was Drea this episode.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Drea says she's been doing a whole lot of “observing.” So much it’s hard to remember what I noticed more—the number of times Drea said she “observed,” or the number of Maryanne open mouth gasps. *snort*
Let’s get away from the chicken sh!ts and get straight to a true competitor like Lindsay and the “Do or Die.” She must pick one of the three boxes. If she chooses correctly (the flame) she is safe; if the open box reveals a skull, she joins the jury. Lindsay chooses the middle box. Any viewer with one eye on the TV and the other eye on a clock (indicating about 10 more minutes of remaining telecast,) pretty much knows the outcome before it’s revealed. IT’S THE FLAME—she still has life! And that’s the way it should be because she COMPETED...which now means one of the chicken sh!ts will be voted out. Ha-Ha!!
I guess it won’t be Drea because she has the “Knowledge is Power” advantage to steal Mike’s immunity away from him. So, she asks Mike if he has an II (which he would be forced to hand over to her essentially ending Mike’s game.) Mike answers,”NO?!” HMMM, it appears the “Knowledge is Power” is no match for the “Lying Sack of Sh!t is Power.” Omar narced Drea out. Even with Drea’s extra vote, her torch is snuffed and she’ll be joining the jury.
After she departs, Jeff babbles some kind of jibberish about “comradery,” Well, Drea showed comradery with her parting words to Lindsay and Maryanne, but did she with Mike and Omar? I don’t think so.
Drea proclaims if Mike makes it to the end, he’ll win. REALLY? You think I’m going to believe for a nanosecond if Mike is sitting next to Maryanne at FTC, Drea casts her vote for...Mike? OF COURSE NOT; she purposely spewed that verbal diarrhea to intentionally put a target on Mike. Some comradery. *snort*
AND announcing she revealed her “Knowledge is Power” to ONLY Omar paints an even bigger target on him. So big, I’ll give you my prediction for the next episode’s boot right now—OMAR. Not that I blame her. She did go out swinging...
NEXT TIME ON SURVIVOR
Maryanne continues to babble aimlessly about not being a “goat to be herded” Actually, she’s a baby kangaroo being carried. LOL
Short and to the point, sometimes that's the way to go. Thanks for the Summary, Aruba.I know I'll have to wait for the answers (have a nice weekend) but I have some questions:
You write: «...the kind of “suck” that modern day Survivor will allow you to be carried to the end...»
How would have described Kim Johnson in S3, Vee and Neleh in S4, Jan and Clay in S5? Didn't you used to define them as sucky players? I'm pretty sure you did, so how is the «bringing sucky players to the end» a modern day Survivor problem? Even your godly Tom brought «good for nothing» Kathy to the end. We used to call them goats and goats have always been part of Survivor's end game.
My second question is concerning Omar. You see him as «the biggest lying dong of donkey’s dust this season...» I see a very strong strategist. At least he is playing hard so if you don't like the «chickensh*t» maybe you should appreciate the proactive strategist who takes the game in his hands. To borrow from Jeff: «That's How You Do It On Survivor.»
I guess I have another question for you: Would it be smart to LET Jonathan and/or Lindsey make it to the end? Do you see it as a meritocracy where winning a few challenges and providing for the tribe should force everyone else to forfeit their chances in the game? Already, Jiffy's format has made it much easier for the challenge beasts to make it to the end by getting rid of the F4 and the F3 eliminations.
For me, a deserving winner is one that had to survive a good number of votes without the protection of an immunity necklace or idol.
Crazy week and away this past weekend, so just getting to respond now. Also, with the Ranger’s second round game starting tonight, I will not be watching this evening’s episode; will have to catch it later this week, or maybe during the weekend. Here’s my reply...I’m not going to say suckiness among casting debacles were NONEXISTENT during the early years of Survivor because it wasn’t; but it sure has become a WHOLE lot more prevalent during “modern” years. My “modern” reference criticism is more how these delusional coattail riding “non-threats” ignorantly herald themselves as solid Survivor players when in fact they sleighride to the end by being carried.
NO, I do not want inept, weak, coattail riding and/or meritocracy to merely LET the more solid players win. What I would like is better casting so you do NOT have the inept coattail riders to begin with and we could have a season of solid proactive players. Anyone can be a lying sack of sh!t...that’s not what I qualify as “playing hard” or proactive. And yes, you CAN “outwit” without lying, Truth of the matter many players INITIATE lies to compensate for their ineptness, inadequacies, and lack of proactiveness. That being said, (if I was forced to choose one or the other) I’d rather see a lying dong of donkey’s dust like Omar win over bottom “players” like Romeo or Maryanne being carried to a million-dollar payday. But in this highly predictable season I'm sadly just not feeling it.
You say implementing the F4 fire building challenge aka “getting rid of F3 and F4 eliminations” makes it easier for the challenge inclined proactive player? I say quite the contrary...that new addition to the game hands ANOTHER golden ticket to the inept coattail rider to be, yet again, carried into FTC. Sure, it provides another opportunity for the solid player, but that player STILL must step up to the plate to go out and WIN the tiebreaker! As opposed to someone who got carried to the endgame and is given a free pass to the F3 because they suck at making fire. That previous sentence is a travesty to a game called SURVIVOR.
We’ve gone back and forth on this for years...let’s have this season play out in the next couple weeks and perhaps this disagreement may be further clarified during the Finale. Like I said, probably won’t catch the episode until later this week, but feel free to post. I won’t go into this Forum until I’ve watched the episode.