LAST EDITED ON 04-13-13 AT 02:50 AM (EST)

Hey All! Here are my editing thoughts about the episode:

The recap highlighted Corinne's blindside as such, "When Dawn caught wind, Stealth-R-Us had to decide" showing a scene with Dawn, then a scene with Andrea & Cochran with Andrea saying "I'm kinda up for a blindside." Philip was neither shown nor mentioned specifically. Interesting how Philip was not given any credit despite his on-going feud with Corinne. Just goes to show that Philip will get lots of attention and airtime, no matter what his standing or importance to the endgame results.

Odd that we heard from Reynold first at the start of the episode. And that there were no night confessionals following TC about Corinne's blindside. We were not privy to see how the 4 remaining players who didn't vote for Corinne were treated when getting back to camp, or what they might've said about the majority's reactions. Could it be that they were treated like they were on the outs?.. and showing any scenes would be too telling about their standing moving forward. Would this be too obvious to show, would production rather manipulate the bad news for those 4 (Michael, Malcolm, Eddie & Reynold) by showing Reynold's rather optimistic take on what happened? Lots of unanswered questions. It simplified things by showing him say it was actually a good thing for him, since a Favorite went home. Still this take on the blindside didn't really ring much hope for the underdogs. It simply fell in line with all the narrator attention Reynold has been getting as lead voice of the Fans. Plus, by this time, we've heard many a confessional come from Reynold that had no basis in reality of how the game is playing out.

We then heard Malcolm's take on the matter. Once again we got a positive spin by on the matter, with him saying now that Corinne is gone no one knows that he has the HII. We also have Malcolm state the episode title "Cut off the head of the snake" alluding that the rebel leader is him rather than Corinne. We'd come to learn, the first segment of the show was setting up what we would see go down at the next TC, while giving us a brief recount of the effect of Corinne's blindside.

Second segment brought some more foolishness about Stealth-R-Us, with Philip welcoming Sherri into the group. Sorry, I'm not a fan of this played-out gag, although I have to give credit to Philip for his attempts to reel in Sherri after the vote. Sure she would likely not want to vote with those who voted against her, but Philip's shenanigans could likely allow Sherri to feel safer with the group and further ensure that she won't flip over. Sherri's confessionals were peculiar too, as she referred to Philip as her "Shamar" on this tribe. (Remember in ep 2 she referred to Shamar as her "Philip" - and we saw how that went). It connects a thread in Sherri's storyline to revisit this, but it doesn't seem like a positive reference for Philip to be reduced to her "Shamar." (Also of note, that confessional was split from Sherri's confessional last week when she stated she didn't like Philip, but would go along with him. Why are they stretching this out for viewers?)

At the reward challenge, Jeff mentioned that it was a schoolyard pick, but we did not see it happen. One team was stacked with more men, and they inched out the win. Most notable of Jeff's commentary during the RC was: "Cochran is on a tear at challenges lately" - which has got to be one of the most blatant examples of pining for a contestant in some time. Brenda got the first goal out of everyone and Erik got the winning goal - where is the love for them, Jeff?! ;)

At the reward we got to hear the two varying perspectives about the waterfall repelling from Cochran & Reynold. Right on par, we got a self-deprecating funny account from Cochran and a confident response from Reynold. To juxtapose these two castaways even more, we heard from them further during the picnic (with no confessionals from the other 3 men). We heard Reynold's alpha-male response about their "post big win, locker room, guys mentality going on." (Totally, Reynold - ha!) and then we get Cochran's perspective "I won't be engaging in any masculine tomfoolery with these numbskulls" Whose words are we likely to see come true?

Back at camp we got to hear from Malcolm again. He continues to discuss his positioning in the tribe and how he could use the Fans and another Favorite to pull the numbers back in his favor. It's nice to see that Malcolm is trying to maneuver, but how could any viewer find this plan plausible. The biggest problem with even enjoying Malcolm's thoughts are that we as viewers are not really aligned with Malcolm's thinking. Yes, it could be argued that Sherri is on the bottom of the majority alliance, but how is Dawn lower on the totem pole than Erik or Brenda. Shame on the editor's for not cluing us in about anything regarding Brenda's game, or more about Erik. It was one thing to not show us how close Corinne was to Dawn, and make her look stupid for confiding in Dawn last episode. But now Malcolm looks stupid for confiding in Dawn, and while it might not be the smartest move, it's enhanced because we hear no reasoning as to why Malcolm would not go to Brenda or Erik.

In confessional, we got to hear Dawn counter Malcolm's plans. She sees him as trouble and wants him out. As Sherri confides in Andrea, with Dawn & Philip there, we hear Andrea make the proposal to lead Malcolm on, and then vote him out. We then heard Philip's vehement reaction about "how dare Malcolm think he can take out the specialist" (which is shown as the editors have invested so much in the Stealth-R-Us storyline) How this scene went down (at least as how it was shown to us) was similar to the information chain with Corinne and these opposing players last episode. Granted, in this scenario we had the addition of Sherri (and the exclusion of Cochran, since he was on reward. Regarding the other players, it played out as so: Dawn comes by information, comments to us how she doesn't think it's right, and snitches to her group. Andrea learns of information, quickly processes it, and continues to share while trying to control the outcome. Philip at the end of the trail, catches wind of the new developments, doesn't like it, and we hear him agree with what we've heard should be the directed outcome. Which one of these is the best position to be in? Well, it depends on the season of survivor, and who ends up winning. The editors can spin any of those positions as being the best one to play. But so far I'm seeing some fault with how each these players are being edited from these vantage points (as to how it might indicate a win/loss) Upcoming episodes will either support their positions or give us further evidence that their position will not lead them to victory. We are already seeing how fickle Dawn's position can be. Last week, it seemed like a positive that she was able to snitch & turn the vote on Corinne. But this week she's taking the same tactic with Malcolm, but the results were different (therefore the reaction will be too). It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I liked that the scene with Andrea and Eddie wasn't just about romance, and that it showed how it has affected both of their strategies (yes, Eddie, likely has a strategy ;) This was integral to the scene showing the scrambling about the boot choice prior to TC (perhaps signifying the reason why we hadn't seen anything about this relationship until now)

Immunity challenge - Ha, when Jeff was describing the challenge and mentioned "the ability to stay calm" we have a cut to Dawn doing her best to download that advice. We saw a shot of Andrea when he said, "it's slow, but it's steady"
Here are some other notable things we heard from Jeff and what was show who he said it:
"You are running out of space" - Cochran shown
"Now you're gonnna be tested - Philip shown
"You need to remain clam" - Dawn shown (again!)
"Biggest obstacle is your sense of panic" - Sherri shown opting out of challenge
"Dawn struggling to stay in this" - Dawn shown opting out of challenge
"In a matter of 3 seconds, the 3 remaining guys opted out" - Eddie, Cochran & Reynold opt out
"Brenda has not moved..." - ha, Brenda shown
"Andrea struggling a bit, but still in it" - Andrea shown
"And she's back in it. Andrea's still in it. Still fighting" - Andrea finally opting out.
This is an interesting depiction of the final showdown of the challenge. What we hear sounded pretty positive for Andrea even though she lost. An excellent example of how editing can manipulate how we perceive the "loser." Juxtapose this with the commentary shown between Cochran and Malcolm in the last IC showdown.

Back at camp, we get to see Malcolm and Andrea spar up against each other. Malcolm declaring: "Andrea's calling the shots" and Andrea stating: "Malcolm's a good liar" and throwing a compliment to Dawn in calling her "an MVP" and saying "she's good at this." We're hearing that Andrea is aware that they're both lying, but Malcolm is not. Is this simply to build suspense for the episode? To some degree yes, but Malcolm is further thrown into contrast as we see him trusting Dawn, who is telling us behind his back that "it's nuts" and that he's not "dialed in." Dawn is playing him. And Malcolm is buying it. And we see Malcolm funnel this information through his alliance chain, informing Reynold to show Dawn the idol to assure her allegiance.

After showing Dawn the idol, we see Reynold relaying the information chain via the "lesser" alliance members, Michael and Eddie. And to some surprise, Eddie crosses chains to share information with Andrea (although he forewarns Reynold). Yes, we were shown his bond to her, but it was rather proactive for Eddie to suddenly make such a bold move. And to Andrea no less - the most likely person to do everything in her power to change things around to get her way. And we get to see Andrea wield that power. Very easily getting the information from Eddie that her name is being brought up. Then we have a confessional of Andrea in tears saying it's she who is going home next. Then we see her chatting with Cochran, who agrees with her "I'm fine with Michael," and then her pleading the case with Philip. Dawn is not as easy to convince. We see Dawn begin to breakdown a bit, as she realizes that her recent deceptive behavior may be all for naught.

Now onto the players:

Michael - Kudos you're on the jury. Although you also made it into a small club of players who didn't get a confessional in their boot episode. I thought you deserved better. But you were admittedly not part of the action and scheming in the episode, so all the players got from and center. Plus, you got stuck on a season with a premise that wasn't in your favor. Oh well, enjoy, Ponderosa!

Brenda - Scored the first goal at the RC, and won the IC. It was great to hear her enthusiastic confessional about her IC win - Brenda has got the strength and the personality to really allow the viewers to get behind her and be pleased with her win. It was also good to hear that although she is playing a more under-the-radar strategy this time around, she feels it's smart for her to do since there are other more vocal players (taking full advantage of any perceived "serenity"). Since the merge she feels secure enough with her relationship with Andrea that she falls higher on the totem than others might perceive. She's remaining loyal to her other Favorites, and can creep past those that are less stable, like Dawn and Philip. She's feeling pretty confident about her game. NNNNOOOOOTTTTTT!!!!! THIS IS ALL A WELL-CRAFTED LIE. THIS IS NOT WHAT THE EDITORS WANT US TO SEE!!! Ha, just wanted to have some fun ;) Well, This is what I'm gleaning from an imaginary edit for Brenda. I didn't want to simply comment that she's being ignored, yet again, and I thought maybe it would be fun to consider how she might actually factor into the game.

Erik - Ok, I'll ignore him instead, ha. Well, he did get to claim himself the "swing vote" last episode, and that suddenly he's becoming a valuable player. Umm, not really, Erik... you certainly weren't of value this episode and there was quite a bit going on.

Eddie - we got to hear from someone that Eddie is hot. Eddie will be extremely pleased with this positive spin on his edit, ha! Yes, Eddie seemed to be in the mix a bit more this episode, but he's still sticking to basic narration and appears to be a player in someone else's game.

Reynold - a "bro-down" pitch to make it to the end! To Cochran of all people!! Good grief. Have you ever watched Survivor, Reynold. Really, I got nothing more to say (I've mentioned enough of him in the highlights from the episode anyway) He's getting lots of airtime, but he doesn't have the game to back it up. I just can't see how he could make it past the next couple of tribals.

Malcolm - as speculated with following Corinne's boot, Malcolm was front & center this episode. He was really kicking it into gear to turn the tide in his favor and we got to hear a lot of his thought process for each of his moves. But something rang true when Dawn stated: "He's not dialed in." Maybe Malcolm's been hanging out with Reynold too much, but he's getting far too lofty on his own plot developments, even when they just aren't feasible. Just like Reynold gloating about an alpha-male alliance to Cochran, how is Malcolm thinking island mom Dawn will turn on all of her previous alliance mates just to make the numbers better for her & Malcolm? Yikes, Malcolm looks like he's in big trouble. Yes, it was a notable moment a TC to have him ask for and claim Reynold's idol. He was perceptive enough to know the votes weren't going to Reynold, but he was off about the real target. Couple this with him overlooking Dawn as the snitch with Corinne, and Malcolm is clearly not playing an A-game.

Sherri - We heard more from Sherri this episode than last, but there could've been more from her about her thoughts of being targeted at the last TC. She mentioned her plan of using Philip, and she mentioned her motivation in joining Stealth R Us (since the other Fans voted for her). But we're hearing her thoughts about these people and not others who have been shown to be more in the game than her (like Cochran, Dawn, Andrea). Her story is going to have to grow beyond her resentment to the Fans and her link to Philip, otherwise she won't ever get back to the multidimensional player we saw back in the earlier episodes.

Philip - We heard, "Philip is a joke" - some clear criticism coming from Favorite Malcolm. Gosh, we still get commentary from Philip, but his stock has certainly gone down. And being referenced by Sherri as her "Shamar" Philip really needs to step up his game. Nobody likes him, people are talking negatively about him, and he is rather delusional. Only a mater of time before someone calls him an idiot, or a moron, twice ;)

Andrea - Shall we believe what Malcolm said, that "Andrea is the leader out here." Perhaps. Add this to Jeff's commentary at the IC, and we are getting telegraphed a very strong depiction of how we should perceive Andrea. We are seeing her playing the game, and she saved herself from the vote once again. Also, we've seen Andrea one-on-one at some point with everyone left in the game. We can take note that she may have more end game connections than anyone else so far.

Dawn: Once again we hear about a "new Dawn" - this time from Andrea after she had commended Dawn on her game-play lying to Malcolm. Dawn got a great showing this episode, just like last - even though we can see that her game-play could possibly go haywire if she's the one who continually snitches, and blamed for determining the boot (Who will vote for her then if she makes it to the end?!) But as emotional as Dawn is, we are hearing lots of reasonable quotes from her as well. Viewers had to question what Malcolm was thinking when he went to her to flip, and sure enough, we hear Dawn voice this reason. We're finally seeing Dawn make moves separate from Cochran too - which can be a good closing argument. But who are we being told has a better chance at winning this season: Someone who is keeping calm? or someone who is making big decisions?

Cochran - The David and Goliath theme continued at the reward when Cochran shared his thoughts about any fancying of "tomfoolery" Juxtaposing him against Reynold made it even easier for viewers to side with Cochran to pull through with his intentions. Once again Cochran was observing the game and being alert and aware. Due to the reward, we didn't see where his participation in the chain of information and decision making back at camp (like we did with Corinne's boot), although we can deduce that he was privy to it when he got back. He's done the best of sharing information and being part of the decisions while having the least blood on his hands and least focus put on him as to who's to blame for elimination. When Andrea went to him about this TC's vote, we saw Cochran respond calmly and obediently. He's always somewhere in the middle of the information chain and he lets the others make the decision (or appear like they're making the decision) Which is a good tone to set among his allies, as well as smart strategy to defer any hard feelings when explaining the maneuvers to a jury.

The only slight glitch for Cochran this episode was that he said he was annoyed with Andrea switching up "the smartest aggressive move to vote off Malcolm." While he was right to note Andrea's power-playing, he was incorrect about the potential of the wrong move to actual happen. As we saw at TC, it would've been the wrong move for his alliance if they hadn't switched to the less aggressive play. So Andrea was right, and inadvertently due to his comment (although not his action) even Cochran is shown messing up a bit. Still, it wasn't really highlighted, and the rest of the episode continued to paint a likeable picture for Cochran to be on the winning side of things.

-- aaron

edited for too many typos