LAST EDITED ON 11-19-03 AT 06:31 PM (EST)
Last time, on Survivor Spoiling:
The Spoiling Community was united in their belief that Ryno was the clear and obvious boot for the week, as the citizens of SurvivorBlows Nation showed. The fabulous Ms. Mistofleas provided a last minute SOTS that backed up this belief, and all seemed well...until the evil Mr. Snewser decided to throw the Spoiling World for a loop, announcing that Lil would take the walk of shame. Again. While many followed Snewser's "wisdom" (including this would-be spoiler), the great blue peeps who preside over SB as a benevolent dictatorship were not so easily fooled, and their independence was rewarded when Ryan Opray became the first member of the jury.
This week: Will the spoiling community once again fall prey to Snewser's shenanigans? Have we finally unraveled the mystery of the big lie? Who will go this week? Cue that funky pirate music!
Yeah, so maybe that was lame…it's been a long weekend. It's the best I could come up with. Let's just get to the spoiling, shall we?
Spoilers for Episode 9 "Swimming with Sharks"
Misdirection
SeeBS gives us this:
Having trouble sleeping, Rupert finds a spot on a log near camp and has a heart-to-heart chat with a faraway loved one.
A trip to fetch water becomes an opportunity for one pair, with questionable fates, to hatch a new plan and turn the tide in their favor. Will their powers of persuasion work?
Lillian has a slight anxiety attack.
One castaway gives selflessly to another.
For some earlier discussion of the title, misdirection and what it all means, check this out.
Reward Challenge
Veruca ventured into the jungle that is Sucks to give us the vidcaps for what most think is the Reward Challenge. Get ready for another Double Dare-esque obstacle course/physical challenge, with pirate themes abounding! Rope ladders, crows nests, swinging from ropes, the whole deal. Why is this the RC, you ask? Several pieces of misdirection indicate that everyone's favorite Scoutmaster gets an anxiety attack at reward challenge, and it would seem that heights give Lil a better chance to freak out than blowguns. Looks like the survivors compete either in heats or in pairs, and most think that Rupert wins at least a share of the Reward: an adventure on the high seas! (ooh…so piraty!)
Immunity Challenge
KB kindly lifted some pictures from Phoenix that most think come from the IC. Looks like it involves blowguns (how original!) and aiming at a circular board. While they may be trying to shoot at their own piece of the board, the "Kill or Be Killed" voiceover indicates its yet another attempt for MB to reveal alliances for the second IC in a row. As to who wins…let's just say the jury is still out. From the caps, though, it seems that Sandra is none too pleased....
Boot
Well, Rupert seems like the obvious choice. The Preview Vidcaps so helpfully uploaded by Webby shows an agreement between Jon, Burton, Lil and the Morgan women, and they've all shown interest in booting Rupert. So game logic? Check. TDT has Rupert as the only one in danger. Other spoiling reports? Check. KB gives us a new confessional count that indicates Rupert's time as our narrator may be winding down. Confessional support? Check. The Mr411 airline spoiler has all other family members sticking around for a few days in Panama…but not Mrs. Rupert. Other evidence? Check. So Rupert goes, right?
Not so fast, true believers! There are those among us who don’t believe Rupert is for sure gone on Thursday. They point out that the previews keep saying "you won't believe who is going home," yet Rupert is the popular choice on the SeeBS website to walk the plank on Thursday. Thus, doesn't the public believe he already is going, and so is not? Or is this just more of SeeBS trying pathetically to be tricky?
Edited to add: KB started some new discussion on this part of the promo here. Check it out for some top notch spoiler discussion.
They also note that Lil seems pretty upset in the vidcaps: would she really be that upset about voting out Rupert? Now Burton…she might cry over him. Also, in the same thread, jkokoj (post #20) discusses an conversation with ABC cameramen who think that Rupert did pretty well…i.e. Final 4. But they also seem to think that Rupert doesn't make it to All-Stars, so think of this what you will…I just think it's cool that jkokoj got some new spoiler info! 
Also, a press release for next week's episodes describes a castaway's behavior (calling someone their sworn enemy) that sounds like something Rupert would do…does that mean he survives this week?
But if Rupert doesn't go, then who does? Most in the Not Rupert camp argue that Snewser really did think that Lil is kicked off again, he just was off a week. And if she does have a really hard time lying, would she be kicked off for being liability? And if the "older woman" spoiler is correct, does this mean that she comes back a THIRD time? I would say that MB is not this cruel…but we all know otherwise.
Other Cool Stuff of Interest
We got all the usual interviews, chats and DAWing from Ryno this week:
The Early Show interview indicates that Christa and Rupert may be joining him on the jury soon.
CBS Chat hints that Ryan had time to get to know the "real" Jon on the jury, and that, once again, Rupert may be jury bound.
Mess Hall Interview has some stuff about Darrah and Rupert, but nothing all that new, either.
Marcopolo battled a nasty case of the flu yet still was good enough to shell out the $9.99 and put his typing skills to the test to give us some info from Yahoo Insider. Not much spoiler info here, but it is interesting to note that Darrah and T both voted for Ryan. Was it because they didn't want to draw more attention to themselves, or is was this the groundwork for a "chica" alliance? And speaking of alliances….
A few threads popped up this week to discuss exactly where everyone's loyalties lie. Nailbone started a discussion of the implications of last weeks IC in seeing if anyone was working together and who is supposedly on the block, via a comparison to the Rotu 4 IC. And was Christa playing dumb with those questions, or is she just not too bright?
JohnMc tried to break down the alliances we know, and the ones that might emerge, and esquire got some good conversation about Core Alliances. We know that Burton and Lil are close, as are Darrah and T. But what about the "chica" alliance of Sandra and Christa with D and T, as last week's episode suggested? Will C&S really turn on Rupert given half a chance? Can Burton Lil and Jon really turn the tables on the Drakes? Oy…now my head hurts.
Spoilers for you Long Term Thinkers
As mentioned before, KB did a nice little confessional count for us. Worth a look to make you ponder whether Darrah is UTR in order to set up her win like Vee or UTR because she has nothing to say like Zoe or Erin. Or (please, God no) it's for both reasons.
The Legend of the Big Lie continued to grow, as Misto's epic "BL/BR/BT" thread reached Part 5 (follow that link to find parts 1-4), but we only have one more week to wait! Bebekid was the first to report here that the title for Episode 10 is "The Great Lie" and a lot of people there seemed to think that Jon tells the lie and it likely has something to do with family. This was supported when Webby laid a CBS press release for the episode on us. It seems that the Big Liar is a "he," though it could another case of CBS screwing up for the nth time, and has something to do with a "grandmother." Jon wouldn’t lie about his granny being sick, would he? (*Snort*) The release also had other descriptions of the episode, in which one castaway declares that they are "the enemy for life" of another. The question is: who? Rupert (which means he's safe for this week)? Sandra (to quote I_AM_HE: "My name is Sandra Diaz-Twine. You killed my Christa, prepare to die.")? Darrah (Yeah, right.)? Should provide for some interesting discussion this week.
Just remember that next week's episode is WEDNESDAY so as not to conflict with all non-veggie American collapsing after stuffing ourselves with turkey.
It's now confirmed that the Finale will not be in Panama, but in LA. If Rupert really is in ASS, and he goes far, he's not going to have much time to clean up before heading to the reunion…this might give us our first real spoiler for ASS.
Think that's everything: Any corrections? Additions? Substitutions? Complaints? Please let me know, and I'll correct them ASAP. I'll also be on patrol for late breaking developments, so as they arrive, they may find their way over here. Remember to go vote once the thread goes up, even if you don't know for whom yet.
ExI hopes he didn't screw this up too badly: his DAW count notwithstanding, he still feels like a relative newbie.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.
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