State of the
Spoiling Episode Eight

“What we don’t know, affects what we do know, in ways we will never know.”
Richard Rhodes.

This quote, from one of my favorite authors, should be the motto of spoilers everywhere.

Episode 8 Title

Neanderthal Man. Someone was convinced once that this was a reference to the fire-building challenge Mersaydeez says happens in this episode. Others are convinced it’s a reference to Bobby Jon. Perhaps it’s both.

CBS Misdirection

See the thread here.

A Survivor becomes irritated with the tribe's living conditions and lack of maintenance around camp, which has attracted unwelcome visitors.

General consensus is that this is Coby as was shown to us in the TV promo. There are some (Bebo) who think this could be Tom.

Several weeks surviving on an island has driven one Survivor to exhibit unruly behavior, much to the concern of a tribemate.

Bobby Jon and Steph. Probably. On the other hand, is just belching cause for being considered unruly?

The Survivors get a chance to sample a Palauan delicacy, which can be rather difficult to swallow. Who has the will to stomach this indigenous cuisine?

Obviously Steph and Bobby Jon on the one side. There are shots of Tom chewing something. Fruit bat, perhaps? (Thanks Vols!)

Two Survivors disagree on how the tribe should enjoy their Reward, leaving one of them feeling defeated and annoyed with the final decision.

Bobby Jon and Steph? When you’re down to two people on one tribe, it’s easy to narrow down the misdirection.

Promos

Promo vidcaps are all over the place. Thursday night’s caps are here. The focus is on the rats at Ulong, Coby becoming upset with living conditions, and Bobby Jon belching.

Web promo and on-air promo caps can be found here. Focus of the Web promo is on Ulong being decimated and “in the fight of their lives”, Coby being depressed, and Ian showing his lack of understanding of the “Strategies Revealed” theory. (While we’re at it, have we ever had an alliance thrown in our faces as much as that alliance is in the Web promo? Considering that many believe three of the four people mentioned are three of the final four, is MB throwing the “Strategies Revealed” theorem in our faces?) The focus of the on-air promo is the competition between Ulong and Koror. As the voiceover says “It’s two against eight – can the mighty beat the many?”

Which brings me to why I’m even mentioning the promos here. (I’ll be discussing the content in the context of the RC and IC later.) I think it’s important that any analysis of promos begin, if possible, with watching the actual promo instead of looking at the vidcaps. Vidcaps can be deceiving if you don’t have the context in which the caps are presented. For instance, the two types of promos have vastly different audiences. The Web promo is more for the hardcore Survivor fan, the person who is definitely going to watch the show. These promos contain more detailed information and are more likely to contain misdirection or information open to interpretation. The on-air promos are for the casual viewer. They are designed primarily to attract people who might otherwise not be inclined to watch. These promos usually boil down to one conflict, one simple enticing storyline. These are unlikely to contain misdirection or information open to interpretation. There’s a simple reason for this – you don’t want to draw a casual viewer in with the promise of one thing and then give them something different. They’ll feel they were subject to a bait and switch and not watch again.

Reward Challenge

As indicated in the misdirection, the Gross Food Challenge. We know Steph and Bobby Jon compete. But who from Koror? There is footage of Tom chewing something. The suggestion is made by HE that perhaps Tom and Ian have to compete because they sat out the two previous challenges. We’ve already seen the sitout rule adjusted to fit the special circumstances. (That is, the people who participated in the RC last week were forced to sit out the IC.) Maybe it’s been adjusted further so that no one can do a challenge until everyone has done one. That would force Tom and Ian into the RC. But who wins? Well, there are shots of a happy Steph and Bobby Jon returning to camp. So let’s go with them.

Immunity Challenge One

If you follow the Mersaydeez spoiler to its logical conclusion, there are two ICs in this episode. The first is a regular IC between Ulong and Koror. Both are discussed here. This involves some sort of water challenge, and we know that Coby is participating for Koror. We’re not sure who the other person is, though speculation ranges from Gregg to Janu to Jenn. Personally, I think it would have to be Gregg or Jenn. There’s swimming, going under a dock type thing, and a photo of the II stool. There are also shots of a wet and depressed Steph and Bobby Jon going back to camp. So, Koror win.

Immunity Challenge Two

According to the Mersaydeez spoiler, the second IC is a fire-building challenge between Bobby Jon and Steph. This challenge takes place because Ulong loses the last Tribal Immunity and there has to be some way to determine who goes home. This is the source of much debate all over the board. We seem divided into two camps – those who believe Mers and those who don’t. Those who do think things shake out (more or less) exactly as she says. Ulong loses, then Steph and Bobby Jon go head to head with one staying and one going. Those who don’t believe her think that the Ulong two get to IC and find out they’ve been merged and are now competing for Individual Immunity. (There is also a small “Bobby Jon gets kidnapped” contingent floating around. For them I say – GIVE IT UP!!!!!! Not going to happen. No way, no how. Maybe he stays around because of a merge, but he’s not getting kidnapped.)

I’m firmly in the “believe Mers” camp. For one thing, she’s been right everything she directly quoted her source on. (The thing she was wrong about, Ibe outlasting Bobby Jon, was her own supposition – not her source’s statement.) For another, the photographic evidence, and the context of the promos, clearly show a tribal immunity challenge. There are people sitting out. The Immunity Idol stool is there. We see a wet and defeated Steph and Bobby Jon walking back from the Challenge. The promos talk about “Ulong fighting for their lives” and “can the mighty beat the many”. Couple this with Probst’s preseason statement that there would not be a merge, and even without Mers there would still be people arguing that we are seeing a first and that a two-person tribe is competing for Tribal Immunity. We might now know how they resolve things if Ulong loses, but there would still be people arguing that it is still tribal without a merge. (For you Bobby Jon gets kidnapped types still around, answer this: Absent the CMC spoiler, is there any evidence whatsoever that supports the argument that Bobby Jon gets kidnapped? Nope. Nothing.) And the flip side is true as well. Other than tradition, is there any evidence that supports the notion that it isn’t a tribal immunity challenge? Nope. Not really.

So that’s where I stand. Ulong loses the first immunity challenge, Bobby Jon loses the second immunity challenge, and we’re off to next week.

Long Term

We see a hint of the Tom, Katie, Ian, Steph alliance. This is where we are going next, along with Gregg and Jenn in love, Coby feeling outcast, and Janu slowly disappearing before our eyes.

SOTS is provided by SurvivorBlows.com as a service to our readers. The purpose of this post is to consolidate the threads in the Spoiler Forum pertaining to this week's episode. Feel free to reply to this post if you feel that a theory you support was not adequately represented in this message. Please use this thread for unified discussion of all topics as we approach the next episode.