My recap for "It Don't Take a Smart One" is up. I have some unkind things to say about how Zapetera is playing this game. Plus how awesome is this rivalry between Rob and Philip?

I wanna know what you guys think!

http://survivortheblog.blogspot.com/

• RE: Has Zapetera lost their minds?,iltarion, 06:06 PM, 04-01-11
  • RE: Has Zapetera lost their minds?,garyc, 09:20 PM, 04-01-11
    • RE: Has Zapetera lost their minds?,Belle Book, 11:52 AM, 04-02-11
• RE: Has Zapetera lost their minds?,dabo, 01:16 AM, 04-02-11
  • RE: Has Zapetera lost their minds?,joshtaylor, 10:40 AM, 04-02-11

Great structure and a cleaner entry this time. Well done.

I have a hard time seeing Phillip as a rival to Rob. A rival is like Russell to Rob in H vs. V. A rival is someone who can take your spot if you weren't around. Phillip could never be Rob, though maybe in his delusion he thinks so. Phillip is more like a loose canon that you want to make sure is pointed in the right direction (not yours) when it goes off.

I don't believe Phillip is being edited as a rival. He is being cast as a threat, the kind of threat frankly we've never seen in 21 seasons of Survivor.

Your correct criticism of Zapatera's boot decision only touches on one facet of the decision. I know I've talked about this in other threads, so I'm partially repeating myself, but I would like to deal with this in a comprehensive fashion in one post. So here it is.

1) Strength vs. Loyalty - this is the facet discussed in the blog, and the one that the tribe was shown considering before TC. With a merge at 12 looming, picking strength over loyalty is idiotic. Even if the Zap5 decided to hope for the unlikely event of a delayed merge, still one would hope that the four other men on the tribe would believe that they could replace whatever David brought to the challenges. They said as much when Sarita talked to them about it. Mike saying he could take David's place as the puzzle solver, no problem. Amazingly, in their discussion with Ralph later, they did a complete 180 on this issue.

2) Redemption Island - Keep in mind that we are only being shown what the editing chooses to show us. I find it really hard to believe that no one on Ometepe other than Rob is looking for HII clues and aware that they are typically given on Reward. I find it nearly as hard to believe that no one on Zapatera discussed the important factor that RI plays in their vote decision. What we saw was a tribe approaching the problem like they were down 6-5. This is not the case. They are only down in numbers if whoever they send to RI LOSES to Matt. Matt HAS to be considered a de facto Ometepe member at this point with the tribes otherwise at 6-5. Even if Matt wanted to flip on Ometepe, he isn't going to force a tie instead of just siding with a 7-5 majority. Simple.

So, Zap's only chance to stay out of the minority is to beat Matt at RI, which keeps the numbers at 6-6, anybody's game. Therefore, WHO could beat Matt should have been a prime consideration in the boot. This, of course, would seemingly make the decision to boot Sarita doubly idiotic.

3) Postmerge Loyalty- This factor would actually suggest David would not have been a good choice to boot because already feeling he was on the outside of the tribe, if you boot him, he almost assuredly flips at merge if he manages to beat Matt. This makes Sarita the better boot in the sense that she is much more likely to come BACK to the tribe if she can survive RI. However, regardless, of WHO you sent, you definitely should have TOLD them, and framed it as a decision based on the hope that they would beat Matt at RI. By blindsiding either, you remove any incentive they had to remain loyal to you.

So, actually, the most idiotic part of this vote was that it was a blindside, not WHO they decided to do it to. Really, when you consider all factors, the smartest boot would have been someone loyal who is good at challenges. I'm not exactly sure who that would be, but whoever, that is the way they should have approached it.

>

Based on what has been shown, it should have been David. Guessing they were assuming merge at 10?

You might have a point there. That's the only thing that makes sense. Of course, they're going to be so wrong.

LAST EDITED ON 04-02-11 AT 01:17 AM (EST)

Again, Josh, thank you. Taking time out each week to read your blog has become something I look forward to.

Phillip and Rob? Well, I can certainly understand Phillip's frustration with his position. Someone needs to tell him Survivor isn't reality, it is no one's real world, it is a contrived situation for a game setting. Phillip would have been in trouble in any other edition of Survivor simply because he doesn't get it, he doesn't understand the game.

However, it is almost unfair to judge any of the 16 new players of this game by the same standards as other newbies throughout the years. The intrusion of Rob and Russell into this edition changed the course of events from the start. Both tribes immediately divided along Rob/Russell lines instead of working normally in getting to know one another and feel each other out and get started playing this unfamiliar landscape. The pro-Rob faction in Ometepe gained the upper hand, the anti-Russell faction in Zapatera gained the upper hand.

So now Zapatera is in trouble. David nailed it at Tribal, being anti-Russell was the only thing that they had in common. (Still, though, Sarita and David, had they been that interested in the good of the tribe, should have gotten together and agreed to set aside their differences.) They are all playing badly because they are playing against each other rather than with each other.

But Ometepe is defering to Rob so much it seems like none of them are really playing the game very much. Except Phillip, who is the odd man out in the bunch; he's trying very hard to play even though he doesn't really understand the game. Andrea, at least, seems to have her head in the game, and is the only one (including Matt, Francesca and Kristina) who seemed to genuinely try to befriend Phillip.

Iltarion- Your third point nails it for me. That's an excellent point. And I forgot to mention it in my post, but indeed, it was really foolish to blindside ANYone. It would have made more sense to say "Look, we're all still in this together and we have to send someone out. Who has the best chance of beating Matt?"

Garyc- That's the only way their actions make any sense, yeah... CAn't wait to see their faces when Probsts announces the merge next week.

Dabo- Thanks for your kind words! I really appreciate that! Agreed, have a couple of veterans in the game completely shifted how it was played, and each camp immediately because two sub-camps. I'm so torn because I think Rob is playing a brilliant game right now (But once we hit the merge, we'll find out for real just how good it is), but I also would love to see Matt come back with him, Andrea, and Philip aligned together, if for nothing else but the entertainment value. So I don't know who to root for.