As Cyndi Lauper once sang:

Truel colors
Are beautiful
Like a rainbow

Don't forget to order pizza for Tribal Council(s) again this week.

And as always please keep discussion of the proceedings contained within this thread until the show has aired on the west coast, or until everyone has died of boredom, whichever happens first.

*** In memory of vince3 ***

• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,jbug, 05:18 PM, 11-16-11
  • RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,tribephyl, 07:19 PM, 11-16-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,Belle Book, 06:13 PM, 11-16-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,Brownroach, 09:05 PM, 11-16-11
• Previously on Survivor...,Flowerpower, 09:06 PM, 11-16-11
  • RE: Previously on Survivor...,PepeLePew13, 09:07 PM, 11-16-11
    • RE: Previously on Survivor...,Brownroach, 09:17 PM, 11-16-11
    • RE: Previously on Survivor...,Flowerpower, 10:16 PM, 11-16-11
  • RE: Previously on Survivor...,Karchita, 02:08 AM, 11-17-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,Brownroach, 09:15 PM, 11-16-11
  • RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,dabo, 01:22 AM, 11-17-11
• Post Intro....,Flowerpower, 09:15 PM, 11-16-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,Brownroach, 09:20 PM, 11-16-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,J Slice, 09:25 PM, 11-16-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Threadhohh,Brownroach, 09:25 PM, 11-16-11
• After the duel....,Flowerpower, 09:26 PM, 11-16-11
  • RE: After the duel....,jbug, 10:33 PM, 11-16-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,Brownroach, 09:27 PM, 11-16-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,Brownroach, 09:44 PM, 11-16-11
• Post Challenge #1,Flowerpower, 09:45 PM, 11-16-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,Brownroach, 09:46 PM, 11-16-11
• 2nd IC,PepeLePew13, 09:52 PM, 11-16-11
• RE: S23 Ep 10 East Coast Spoiler Thread,Brownroach, 09:54 PM, 11-16-11
• IC #2, TC #2,Flowerpower, 09:54 PM, 11-16-11
• Next week,Brownroach, 09:58 PM, 11-16-11
• Next week:,PepeLePew13, 09:58 PM, 11-16-11
  • RE: Next week:,Brownroach, 10:00 PM, 11-16-11
    • RE: Next week:,PepeLePew13, 10:03 PM, 11-16-11
      • RE: Next week:,Brownroach, 10:10 PM, 11-16-11
      • Hotel room???,Brownroach, 10:30 PM, 11-16-11
        • RE: Hotel room???,PepeLePew13, 10:44 PM, 11-16-11
          • RE: Hotel room???,Brownroach, 11:46 AM, 11-17-11
    • RE: Next week:,dabo, 10:25 PM, 11-16-11
      • RE: Next week:,Brownroach, 10:39 PM, 11-16-11
      • RE: Next week:,Flowerpower, 10:41 PM, 11-16-11
        • RE: Next week:,CTgirl, 11:24 PM, 11-16-11
  • Zeus?!?!?!?!,Snidget, 08:45 PM, 11-17-11
    • RE: Zeus?!?!?!?!,dabo, 08:48 PM, 11-17-11
      • RE: Zeus?!?!?!?!,Blind Freddy, 08:03 PM, 11-18-11
• Next time on Survivor....,Flowerpower, 10:09 PM, 11-16-11
  • RE: Next time on Survivor....,dabo, 10:38 PM, 11-16-11
    • RE: Next time on Survivor....,CTgirl, 11:31 PM, 11-16-11
      • RE: Next time on Survivor....,dabo, 11:38 PM, 11-16-11
• Jiffy Touts teasers,Flowerpower, 10:47 PM, 11-16-11
  • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,michel, 10:52 PM, 11-16-11
    • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,PepeLePew13, 11:25 PM, 11-16-11
      • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,michel, 11:40 PM, 11-16-11
  • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,Brownroach, 11:32 PM, 11-16-11
    • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,SquidProQuo, 00:45 AM, 11-17-11
      • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,SquidProQuo, 00:56 AM, 11-17-11
        • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,dabo, 01:25 AM, 11-17-11
          • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,SquidProQuo, 10:20 AM, 11-17-11
            • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,CTgirl, 12:02 PM, 11-17-11
              • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,SquidProQuo, 04:28 PM, 11-17-11
        • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,chinadj, 03:30 PM, 11-17-11
      • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,Brownroach, 11:56 AM, 11-17-11
        • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,dabo, 12:57 PM, 11-17-11
          • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,SquidProQuo, 04:16 PM, 11-17-11
      • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,parathor, 02:11 PM, 11-17-11
        • RE: Jiffy Touts teasers,michel, 05:59 PM, 11-17-11

I've never ordered Pizza on line .
But then I'm too far from any pizza joint for delivery anyway.

Did you say Peace Joint delivery?
Here ya' go, bug!

This may cause a desire to make your own pizza out of saltines and ketchup. Sorry.

Make my two boots (er, pizzas) plain, please.

Belle Book

Whitney gets a confessional! She must be leaving.

Here we go....For 19 days 2 tribes traded victories, when they merged it was still 6 on 6, but then Cochran voted out Keith, sent Savaii in a state of shock, when Ozzy failed to win Immunity the tribe jumped on him sending him to RI twice. Then Whitney hung on for a win, back at camp, after previously going against his tribe by first going after Edna , now wants to vote off Dawn, but it didn't work, now will anyone seize the opportunity to get up with Whitney and Dawn to take control...

RI

Jim at RI, I thought we were s<[posed to be the final 3, Whit won the IC, we ate and they are a cult, and the longer that coach has them believing that they are all one tribe, the more likely he will win the million....Ozzy: I hate to say I told you so....so, I won't say it...[P>
Upolu: Now Coach, talking about Jim... tries not to judge people because to your face he's your best friend but behind your back he's a snake, and now that he's gone we are going to be like one big happy family

Coach says got to make the bottom of the totem pole feel safe so they won't blindside you, there are more blindsides in the game than alliances sticking together....blah, blah...

Coach: We are a family we all make decisions together...

Coach is running the show like he is Jesus...Cochran's in law school, Sophie is going to med school....ya'll are so smart, I don't understand how all these smart people can be so stupid...

To be clear, Whitney was the one who said that last sentence of yours (just sounded like it was coming from Coach from the way it was presented in your post).

Yes that was her preboot confessional.

Thanks Pepe! I just try to type so fast, sometimes it can be confusing to read afterwards. I apologize to all for the horrific punctuation and spelling errors!

Right. And if all those smart people are so stupid, how come you're the one who just got the boot and they're still in the game.

Whitney is gettin' old. Just sayin'.

Coach doing Tai Chi with Cochran. Coach says he is worried about Albert, Brandon, he (Coach) might get blindsided. Cochran feels less secure.

Truel time.

Balancing poles. First two out are first two jurors.

No one rooting for Ozzy. Lol.

Jim out, first juror.

Keith out. Ozzy wins.

Ozzy threatens to beat everyone at redemption, will see who backstabbed who, come back strong.

Ozzy threatens to beat everyone at redemption, will see who backstabbed who, come back strong.

So much for Jim using the power of the jury threatening to vote Cochran for the win.

LAST EDITED ON 11-16-11 AT 10:19 PM (EST)

O M G, it's Coach and Cochran doing Tai Chi....I'm going to throw....Cochran....says he's drinking the coach koolaid....I have to obey the father of the family. Coach says that he is worried, Albert's been squirerelly, Brandon is running around in Brandon mode...

Cochran: do you think anyone is going to vote me out?

Coach says that he will try to do what he can do, Coach thinks fishy things are going on.
Cochran thinks that Albert could be gunning for Coach sooner rather than later. Cochran is starting to get uncomfortable with his position in the tribe.....YA THINK???

The duel:

Whole tribe is there to witness. With arms outstretched you will balance something over your head, if you move your hands at all, you will drop the contraption....This is it, one shot to Jim, Ozzy, and Keith...Duel is on, another duel that you need to concentrate, don't lower your hands even just a little bit, first one out is first on the jury, second one is second one on the jury and third one, winner is still in this game....

Rick and Brandon tell Jim to stay focused. Brandon says that he is rooting for Jim, and Jiffy asks who is rooting for Keith and Whitney says that she is, and he asks if anyone is rooting for Ozzy, and no one is!

Jim is out....Ozzy and Keith, now battling, Ozzy flirting with disaster....Keith is out....Ozzy stays alive in this game, they hug, they show Albert....Jim tells Ozzy to go get 'em...The one guy that got no support from the tribe. He doesn't have to rely on people's trust, he's getting stronger, he'll be able to see who's backstabbed who, and who has taken the higher road...Jim is first jury...then Keith, they hug Whitney is crying, and he goes....Ozzy...awaits his next duel...he says, see you later guys...

More Ozzy at RI swimming and fishing. Creating hope for Ozzy to rejuvenate for the endgame.

LAST EDITED ON 11-16-11 AT 09:26 PM (EST)

Admittedly, I was never an Ozzy fan. I always found him stupid and arrogant.

::checks tv::

Nope, nothing new to report. This is a man who will never, EVER win this show.

Edit: SOPHIE WINS IMMUNITY. One of the only consistently awesome people on this show. She gives me hope that my average a$$ will finally make it on tv.

Contrasting with Upolu who don't have enough food.

Dawn thinks Cochran owes her for not having outed his flip.

Time for IC.

More balancing, with bowls of rice.

Dawn doing well. As are Brandon and Sophie.

These three still ahead.

Sophie wins.

Redemption Island, and Ozzy is swimming out to sea with fins and gogles, and spear....see him in under the water on the reef, it's beautiful on RI, his mini paradise, he's really scored big, with all the food he can eat, he's glad that the tribe is missing his skills, they have to spend all of their energy on who's doing what tha tis the normal, classic game of Survivor....RI, I can refresh, rejuvenate, and play for end game, that duel proved that I am a huge physical threat and that the next people that come out here will have a huge challenge in front of them, and that's me....

Te Tuna....see Rick at the net with nothing to eat....Dawn is frustrated that she jeopardized her game, she will do anything to stay in now....Cochran says there is something appealing to return to dawn....like an angel with good news....he's not giving her lip service....he's going to have to trust the promises that he's been given so far, is he really seventh in this game, he has to seriously consider....he's considering flipping back to help Dawn and Whitney???

IC...balance a bowl filled with rice on your head, go over the teeter totter and empty the bowl in the bowl at the end. If you touch the bowl or it spills you have to go back...

Start. Put the bean bag on the head then the bowl of rice on top of that....Whitney is off an running....Albert and Coach and Coch back to the start, Jiffy says use your body....Dawn off to a good startDawn is first back, then Brandon, SophieCochran spills again, Coach with a bowl in the bucket, Whitney falls, Brandon is doing well and has his second bowl, Dawn not messing around, she has her second and Sophie has her second. Albert sucks at this....

three people in it....Dawn, Sophie, Brandon...Sophie has a HUGE bowl of rice, filled to the brim.....and Sophie wins immunity....Rick hugs her....They show Dawn as Sophie gets the necklace. Then they show Whitney, and then Cochran. Jeff tells them that there will be a twist at TC. Dawn gets the post Challenge confessional....Jeff said there will be a twist, I am not giving up cause anything could happen....

What's Coach's excuse for not being able to balance?
He does Tai Chi all the time; balance should be easy.

Jeff says there is a twist to be revealed at TC.

Cochran disappointed at not winning. Coach wants Dawn out as a threat. Cochran guesses there will be a second boot.

Whitney and Dawn discuss talking to Albert. They tell him Coach is taking Edna and Sophie to F3. Albert wants to secure their votes plus Cochran and one other person to vote Edna out.

Albert talks to Cochran and Sophie about the plan. He says Edna will be loyal to Coach, Sophie agrees and dislikes Edna, but is unsure. She is the swing vote. Coach suspects Albert.

TC.

Whitney says Cochran is 7 in Upolu based on what she's heard. Jeff is getting Cochran to put his foot in his mouth.

Coach is concerned. Coach says he is not the leader, but Whitney says everyone reports back to him. Albert says Coach is not his leader.

Whitney votes Edna.

Votes:
Dawn
Edna
Dawn
Edna
Dawn
Dawn
Dawn is voted out.

Ozzy getting LOTS of love on RI....Survivor loves their little jungle boy, dolphin boy...

Back at Te Tuna...

Coach is starting to get paranoid, imo....

...Day 27: They are talking about how awesome Sophie was, Cochran was disappointed in his performance. Then we see Coch and Coach on the beach...it's definitely dawn and Whitney....they know they are the next 2 to go....Coch thinks it will be a double elimination. He's just nervous about himself...especially if one of them wins the IC...

Dawn says she needed to win it and didn't, so now she is most likely going to RI....Coach has this loyalty thing going on....Whit thinks their only hope is to talk to Albert. Whit says that Brandon is a loose cannon, Edna is so far up Coach's butt, so it's Albert. See them talking to Albert and Cochran.Albert says he needs to get every Savaii vote. He wants to credit Coch for voting with them....He thinks that Edna hasn't done anything this whole game. and he knows that Edna is Coaches zombie....Cochran, me, you and Dawn and one more to vote out Edna. Whit eagerly agrees. Brandon now says isn't it rude not to talk to these people....Cochran now playing chess with Albert....Alberts telling Cochran that they are going to target him 7th....Cochran says that he confirmed my suspicions....he's pissed because he has saved their entire tribe....no one's sacrificed more than me for them.....WHAT A HIPPOCRITE! He's going to consider flipping back again. Albert is talking now to Sophie....who is Edna going to have the most allegiance to in front of the jury...Coach..

Albert is showing his true colors, it's our one shot to make the big move....Albert and Sophie....they don't like Edna....Albert is trying to take control of this game, and I'm the swing vote, at the end of the day it is a aquestion of what will take me to the end. Cochran tells Albert that C is getting suspicious. Coach is getting mad at Albert, if anyone votes against the family, it's instant death....I feel like an old mob boss, if anyone goes against the family, they are dead...

Tribal Council...

Jim and Keith come in....Dawn waves to them. Dawn, once IC was over, your job is find a crack or create a crack. She thinks it is time for them to use the two of us....# 5, 6, and 7 come with us....Whit knows that Coch is 7...she is confident by observation and hearing some things. Cochran knows he's a late comer to Upolu.....Jeff is telling Cochran to wake up.....Cochran says that fractures are inevitable, he says this is an ideal time to make a big move, but this is the time to make a big move....dawn, what is your best move....I've got nothing but loyalty, I will stand behind you. Coach, how much does this concern you that this game that is under control could slip away....he's always concerned....he says he's not running the show, and he's thinking that people have to make big moves to get further in this game, he stresses.....Whitney rolled her eyes when C said he wans't the leader of the tribe, she's noted that he is the one they all report to...

Albert does that surprise you, Albert says he's not my leader he represents leadership to the group....C doesn't feel like he is the leader but he likes to get information, he gets it and files it away....Dawn and Whit you are on the bubble unless someone decides it is time to make a big move, Brandon is first voter...

Coach praying with his beads again....they show the beads in a zoom in.....votes:

Dawn
Edna
Dawn
Edna
Don
Dawn
Dawn is out

Albert looks over to Sophie....Sophie then Coach are zoomed in on , then Albert and Cochran...now for the twist....we are going into another IC with a vote to follow....Whit says, "DA*N IT"!

Another IC and another vote coming up.

Sophie wins again!

IC is series of multiple choice questions, with answer cubes.

Albert Edna Rick out on Q 1.

Cochran Brandon out on Q 2.

Coach out on Q3.

Whitney out, Sophie wins again.

Immediate vote.

Cochran
Whitney
Whitney
Whitney
Whitney
Whitney out.

LAST EDITED ON 11-16-11 AT 10:29 PM (EST)

Whitney knows she is a dead girl walking....

So, everyone at TC chickened out. Even Albert and Cochran both voted for Dawn. Sophie must have talked them out of it....

Back at TC...alot of focus on paranoid Cochran....a series of Survival related questions, answer correctly, stay in, get it wrong and you are out....beginning: to prevent dehydration how much purified water do you need to drink per day....1 qt, 1 pint, 1 gallon....Whit, Coch, Brandon, Sophie, Coach got it right. Rick, Edna, Sopie got it wrong.

Coconut crap got it's name cause Coconut is it's favorite food, T or F, **ETA: I meant to say coconut CRAB, got it's name....not coconut crap...LOL!

Whit Coach, Sophi in the challene

soft edible flesh in the coconut is called what....Coach gets it wrong down to Whit and Sophie...

Q: T or F, altho quite deliious don't attempt to remove giant clams from the ocean because they are dangerous....Whit says true, Sophie says false....Whit is wrong. Sophie wins. Sophie becoming the challenge whore....ha! Albert is such a loser in these challenges! Can't believe Edna got the water question wrong....she's an anesthesiologist for gosh sakes!

Now they vote immediately....

cochran looking nervous....Cochran, Whitney, Whitney, Whitney, Whitney, Whitney is out

show cochran....Jeff says...good news is the 7 have accomplished your goal, the bad news is, this game is about to change, good luck....

Brandon possibly in trouble, Coach thinks he is Zeus.

LAST EDITED ON 11-16-11 AT 09:58 PM (EST)

Everyone's ripping Brandon.

Cochran says: "my name should be Zeus" or something like that.

I thought it was Coach and then Cochran said "didn't Zeus eat his children?"

LAST EDITED ON 11-16-11 AT 10:03 PM (EST)

You're probably right as you heard it, while I was depending on the crappy captioning on the hotel room TV to tell me what was said. (I only saw Cochran speaking, and the captions never brought up Coach's name)

Even not knowing for sure, which one is 1,000% more likely to say something like that?

Yes I seem to remember you were making a trip in November. So where exactly is this hotel?

It's in Toronto... I'm at a conference.

(And yes, we were planning a trip to NYC for the Nov 11-13 weekend, but had to drop it as other things came up)

Oh damn. Another peep meet foiled.

LAST EDITED ON 11-16-11 AT 10:43 PM (EST)

Cochran said that but he got it wrong. Cronus (Saturn) ate his children, except for Zeus (Jupiter), his father ate a stone thinking it was Zeus. Zeus later overthrew his father and cut him open to release his siblings.

No doubt a gauge of how accurately Cochran will be able to cite cases of legal precedent in his future career.

FYI. My 12 year old daughter is studying the Greek Gods now in social studies, and I have the information right here...

Zues swallowed Metis...Athena was the daughter of Zeus and Metis. But there was a problem, Zeus checked up on Metis and found out that if he had a son by her this son would be mightier than him (you know, the same way he was greater than his daddy and his daddy was greater than his grandpa). So he tricked Metis and ended up swallowing her when she turned into a fly and figured she was no longer a threat. However, Metis was pregnant with Athena and when Athena was born, this turned into quite a problem. Soon Zeus was plagued with killer headaches and he ran to Hephaestus (Smith God) and begged him to open his head. Hephaestus did as he was told, and out popped Athena, full grown and ready for battle!

So, Zues swallowed Metis, then gave birth to Athena, goddess of wisdom, goddess of military victory, and goddess of crafts.

This is pretty funny. I was listening to an audio CD in the car today on Greek mythology and Dabo and FloPo have two pieces of the same story. Cronos swallowed all of his children, Zeus just swallowed Metis.

Just catching up on the DVR now,

Zeus?!?!?!

Delusions of grandeur much?

I am not in charge, I control nothing, I'm not the leader, by the way name's Zeus.

And guess what name Zeus gives to his minion?

'Hercules'

(from the 'Closer Look' re-cap preview)
http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/video/2168711056/survivor-a-closer-look

Now I would LOVE to see the rest of the cast's reaction to that nicname

And in case you've forgotten Mamma Klump's reaction....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxYQQoYfMtQ

Will Cochran be the next one out, or will Edna finally bite the dust? That's the question...Will there even be a new episode next week? Or, will it be a re=crap?

Next time on Survivor....Brandon stops catching fish, they are all starving, and starts catching heat. Albert (with Sophie) seen saying.,, We get Brandon next, and Coach says that Brandon really has no business in this game....Then we see Coach and Cochran in the woods together....And the Dragon Slayer (seen with Cochran) upgrades his name....My name should be Zues! Cochran (seen at camp in Coach's jacket) says that Zues ate his children...

On RI see Dawn coming up to Ozzy lying down in the shelter....Hi Dawny, as she hugs him. Dawn: At this point it's going to turn really chaotic on their part because they have focused so much on loyalty and unity. So when that's your motto, I don't know what you do....

Then we see Whitney come to their shelter, Ozzy says, "There she is!", and they all hug...."you were right behind me!"

They don't promo recaps anymore in post-episode promos, but rather the episode following the recap. If there is a recap they will start advertising that sometime in the next few days.

Survivor Phoenix tweeted "It's a recap for #Survivor on pre-Thanksgiving Wed, Nov 23: "A Closer Look" - Whose edit will be revisited for better end-game storyline?" So yup, we're getting a recap!

Phoenix wouldn't have said that without solid intel, so I believe it. Sophie is emerging with two challenge victories, but she is also holding Albert back. Wait too long in this game, you lose your chance to make the big move, or someone else beats you to it.

Jiffy says that after this episode, it's all about Cochran. He's number 7, he's the next one to go. He has to make a big move. The question is, can he pull it off?

There was that line by Cochran though that said he received promises that would get him further than 7th place. Is Jeff creating doubts for Cochran or is he just setting up the decoy boot? I think this question is best answered by another question: Why would he go to the trouble just for a decoy boot?

It's "Survivor: Cochran", don't forget, kind of like Russell or Phillip in past seasons. Whether he wins or loses, the story is going to be largely about Cochran, and it makes sense to highlight him now because he's the one non-Upolu left in the game who went against his original tribe and now that the boring boots have been quickly dispensed of, the drama is back on to see whether Cochran's moves work out for him or not.

Bring it on, can't wait to see how the next few boots unfold! I really have no idea how the next episode or two is going to reveal in terms of who's going.

Yeah but...last season, they only had Rob and Phillip. This season, they still have Coach, Brandon and Ozzy. They don't need Cochran and he hasn't been exactly TV gold. In fact, he is kinda boring except we always get in his head which makes him more interesting that Rick, Edna, Whitney and even Albert and Sophie even if those two finally picked up a bit in this episode.

No. It's not about Cochran making a move, it's incumbent on others doing it. Albert talked about "upgrading" Cochran tonight but that didn't pan out as we saw. I expect Cochran is toast without immunity.

BR, I agree, I didn't feel it was a good night for Cochran:
- Recap said Cochran betrayed his tribe...on top of last week's Coach "seduced" him
- Silly music when he did terribly during the IC
- Dawn says she should have outed him
- Another "Mini-me" scene with Coach...this week he's not wearing Coach's coat but he's doing Tai-Chi with him and drinking the kool aid
- And still can't forget Ozzy calling him a wiener, ha!

But I'm not convinced that Cochran goes next....I wonder if Coach agrees to sacrifice Edna to appease Albert? Albert is important because he needs to beat Ozzy or whomever returns from RI. The key is we weren't shown why Sophie decided to not make the big move....she seems to be holding the cards. Wonder if they made a deal with Coach that Edna is next?

I really like Albert and the fact that he's not drinking the kool aid and willing to shake things up, but all his plans/big moves constantly get foiled, so he sure doesn't seem to be positioned as our winner.

Thought the country singer's comments tonight were hilarious and pretty much summed it all up....Coach playing Jesus.....Rick not playing the game....Brandon the crazy wildcard....and smart people like Cochran and Sophie making dumb moves. Personally I hope she's wrong about Sophie and she's really just biding her time to make her move.

P.S. Just curious, does anyone remember if the people on RI get snorkeling/fishing gear last season?

Ozzy sure is getting the beauty shots on RI! Loved the underwater shots and the overhead shot of him standing on the top of the tree. Felt like Earl at the top of the world. Earlier I was feeling like Dawn could be the Fan Fave this season, but definitely not after tonight (unless she kicks butt on RI.) At this point Ozzy feels like the Fan Favorite to me...i.e. the one who they want us to be rooting for.

Part of the problem is that no one on Upolu is really likable right now, other than possibly Albert (but his plans keep getting foiled) and Sophie, but she's so low key and behind the scenes.

They didn't show the people at RI last season having any fishing gear, but they did keep them supplied with rice.

Thanks Dabo. I had a feeling they were doing it primarily for Ozzy/good TV. I wonder if it was there the whole time for Christina and she just didn't know how to use it, or if the equipment just showed up post-merge.

Christine said in her exit interview (in one or both of the podcasts) that she tried to fish using the spear thingy (the name escapes me right now) and had no luck. She was especially bummed because her father was a fisherman and she used to go fishing with him!

Thanks, CTGirl! So Ozzy is the first one who knew what to do with the snorkeling gear -- good for him! I really am enjoying him on RI....vs. Matt et al last year. Would love to see him come back and beat Albert, etc.

Jiffy told us last season that the Survivors on RI got the same basic supplies as the Tribes got. I think last season fishing gear was a reward, but this season it was supplied for each tribe.

I really like Albert and the fact that he's not drinking the kool aid and willing to shake things up

I like Albert too -- he's not complacent and is willing to look at other opportunities besides the alliance he's in. But I really think it's in his and Sophie's best interests to *not* make any moves. It's Coach that engineered all the Upolu alliances and is "running the show", so if they are all in the Final 3 the rest of Upolu will hold Coach responsible for voting them out, not Albert or Sophie. Trying to "upgrade" any of the Savaiis didn't seem like a great idea to me, although I understood Albert's concern regarding their jury votes.

Making a move in this episode with Dawn and Whitney would have been a good idea except Edna should not have been the target. Coach is holding the HII and would need to be blindsided, very big move. By waiting until it is Upolu 6 + Cochran, Coach is going to be even more on his guard, plus they would need to get Brandon or Edna ro Rick in on it; Coach is virtually untouchable. So, maybe they can work things out to knock out Edna next time, spare Cochran for one more round -- and this is a big move?

Yep, it would have been a good time to surprise Coach....but then again, I suppose that Sophie and Albert consider Coach to be their goat. They feel they can beat him at the end, and they're most likely right....so as BR says, they can sit tight and ride it out.

The part I don't understand is how Coach thinks he can beat Sophie and Albert -- rather than do the strong warrior/loyalty to the end thing, he should ideally bring other goats like Edna and Rick. Unless he thinks that Sophie/Albert cancel each other out since they attract the same kind of jury vote.

There is some good stuff in the Insider Clips this week about end game strategy, including some insights into Sophie. Will try to bring it over later if James Barber has it transcribed.

"but all his plans/big moves constantly get foiled, so he sure doesn't seem to be positioned as our winner."

Hmm... maybe. I guess it depends on if Albert was serious about going ahead with his plan, or if he was just currying juror votes. I suspect the latter (as Coach described to us), so in that case I think he was successful.

Albert failed at the Mikayla save, but he hasn't gone against the grain outwardly since then (and there doesn't seem to be any repercussions from that). He's the nicest contestant left, he's following the "Winners 101" playbook by dragging a quiet girl to the end... all he has to do is pull the Brandon/HII plug and he gets rid of one of Coach's allies.

He's outwitting and outlasting, and we were shown him "outplaying" (checkers) the Harvard student who essentially got rid of his entire tribe. "I didn't see that move," Cochran said.

Calling it (again) - Albert wins.

Now I just need to look in hindsight at clues that we missed in order to fit the results to my thesis...

>Now I just need to look
>in hindsight at clues that
>we missed in order to
>fit the results to my
>thesis...

There are none!