LAST EDITED ON 10-08-06 AT 01:54 PM (EST)

KT, I enjoy your music analysis and noted your observation about Becky not having to answer a question at her first TC. Something to remember for sure.
Emy, interesting idea about the lizard representing Jenny. She did just sneak up out of nowhere.
FP, I see we share very similar views on most of these players, mainly I also don’t think Cristina’s edit is favorable.
The scenery this season is amazing with the rolling whale, the strong waves and the beautiful sunsets.

Teamwork:

This episode was all about teamwork. So I’ll analyze the editing by tribe and how their players were highlighted:

Aitutaki

The recap ignored Cao Boi’s role in saving Becky. The credit was given to Jonathan and Yul only.

As a first, the TC aftermath scene at Aitu was shown before the opening credits. To have it placed there has to mean they wanted us to remember what transpired. We were meant to notice the 2 players shown. Becky and Ozzy’s roles down the stretch should be important. Becky tells us she relied on her alliance to save her. Ozzy explaining he has no friends and doesn’t want to play the game anymore.

Jeff twice mentioned the Aitu tribe was working well together and, despite Cao Boi’s initial comments of not worrying about dragging Becky leg first through the sand and Candice’s foot being caught, we did hear Jonathan tell them not to kill these girls! We never heard either of Becky or Candice complain about the rough treatment. Cao Boi and Jonathan were mainly portrayed as the guides. Once we reached the mat, Ozzy took over and gave his team a big lead. Everyone was then shown to work the puzzle together, Yul taking over the chalk from Jonathan. Two hugs were shown in slow-motion at the end: Yul and Ozzy, the opposing leaders and the Hippy and the Princess. Was it to show the rift is mended? Flicka’s confessional served to tell us how happy they are to have defeated the intimidating opponent.

The scene with Ozzy fishing showed how good he is at survival. The tribe giving him the nicknames of mad fisherman, Poseidon or Neptune was a sign of respect and of acceptance. Not to let us forget is bad boy edit, we hear him say he has power and they can’t get rid of him. Despite that, the whole scene showed the tribe bonding as if they had heard Jeff’s warning about tribal division.

Cao Boi led the egg hunt. I don’t know if the scene has symbolic meaning; I’ll defer to Emy for the animal imagery. For the 2 players portrayed, it showed Cao Boi again as the odd man out. His humble words afterwards almost sounded like final words of someone who knows he deserved the boot. Jonathan had to repair the mess much as he had to do with Flicka last time. To see him almost tear up makes me wonder if he’ll have the stomach to make the hard decisions regarding booting his friends.

The second challenge highlighted four members. Flicka was chosen as the only woman to carry the stretcher. Her role may have been minor but extremely important to leave the “zen fire master” to tend the fire! Candice being chosen to be on the mast shows the tribe trusts her swimming abilities. The first star was definitely Ozzy again. The camera gave us a great view from well above ground level. It pressed the fact he had a big deficit to overcome and served to impress us with his "long run". He is the best swimmer out there by far. After giving his team the lead, he turned the baton to the fire building team who, with Cao Boi as the scond star, quickly got their fire going to Raro’s dismay. Jeff’s comment about him being “either the hero or very silly” made me smile. I think he is both! After the win, the feeling was that Aitu knows how to use everyone’s skills better. The tribe is working very well together and, for this episode, has put to rest the tension that originally surfaced.

-Jonathan and Yul took back seats after three very full episodes. They were still involved in the events of the tribe. Jonathan was heard voicing congratulations for the good job on returning to camp and appreciating Ozzy’s fishing skills when they were out to sea.

-Becky took one for the team and didn’t complain. Her original confessional and its placement tell us she is important to the story.

-Ozzy will make the merge. As a matter of fact, he is so good for his tribe, he will have to start playing Survivor only when it becomes individual. I wonder if he knows that. More importantly, I wonder if he can find enough people to trust him. How will he react when he sees JP is gone?

-Candice didn’t complain either at the first challenge and was more instrumental than Becky in the second. She tried too hard to play dumb. We didn’t even hear her ask about the TC. Her weak effort at deception was clearly shown, her solitary survival efforts on Exile Island were ignored. The editors intent was to make us forget what she can do but make us realize she can’t fool the others. I can’t imagine a worse sign.

-Flicka was shown cross-examining her ex-Raro mate and commenting on being proud of beating the more physical tribe. She twice was shown as the only woman with the guys, being proud of Ozzy on the beach and looking at Jonathan and the baby chick. She has a very nice portrayal but no plan or reflection on the game. While she’s there, the editors will use her colorful character but it won’t take much to wrap-up her story, maybe only someone telling her “nice job”.

That leaves Cao Boi and Sundra. In short: Too much Cao Boi, not enough Sundra for either to play when it counts. Cao Boi did have a very funny line: When Jonathan told everyone not to kill the girls he said, “That’s alright, we’ll give them the pillows.”

Rarotonga

Nathan’s quote about Parvati being “on top of it” was repeated in the recap. Was it as meaningless as it appeared?

Aitutaki is first shown as a fractured tribe. The woman doing all the work while we hear the guys laughing loudly in the background. The boys, being boys, think they are indispensable. JP tells us they don’t care how the women feel and that the four man alliance can relax because the women will need the men’s strength in the challenges. To their credit Adam and Brad showed sympathy towards the women.

In the challenges, we hear the two sacrificial lambs, Cristina and Jenny complaining and giving directions, highlighted by Jeff’s, “Raro does not agree on the strategy.” The tribe never had much of a chance.

The scene between challenges was used to feature the dissension caused by JP and the strategy discussion between Parvati and Nathan. At camp, JP becomes an arrogant version of Billy. Nathan and Parvati find the perfect motto: “The king is sitting pretty.” (If Becky is the little crab, will she hurt Nathan again?)

The second challenge started off better but they put all four men on the stretcher. There was nothing they could do about Ozzy’s dominance in the water but to have the outcome rest on Rebecca and Stephannie, two woman who had a lot of trouble getting a fire started in normal circumstances, wasn’t a good idea. Were they the best choice?

Then the boot discussions were showed, revealing how this is a tribe of individuals. It never appeared as two alliances working in opposite direction, more like an on-the-spot realignment. Stephannie’s admission of weakness could’ve thrown plans out the window but it appeared no one was in charge until Rebecca finally decided to flip the game.

-Rebecca was given the role of leading the charge against JP. It is surprising if she is the leader, to have seen so little of her. It seemed more of a last minute reaction than a planned out strategy. The crucial talk with Jenny had a nice montage: Strangely, they decided to walk out of camp even if Cristina was the only one there. Then, we saw the girls going into the jungle as JP sleeps contentedly. Actually, it didn’t happen quite like that because when we join the girls, Jenny is holding a coconut. Both her hands were free while passing by JP in the tent. Rebecca then says the numbers demand the women align immediately and she has a good confessional to explain it. Yet her role didn’t extend to the later discussion with Brad. Some of those talks had to be cut.

-Stephannie continued to have nice visuals, six times appearing on screen, encouraging her team while she sat out. You don’t have to figure out editing tricks to know that her admission of weakness is going to cause her fall. The women could see their three strong men could handle the four Aitus but they cannot go down by 2.

-Cristina was never shown encouraging her team. She was with the guys, telling them to let Stephannie know she was going out. Give her the red carpet treatment they agreed. She then conforts an almost despondant Stephannie until Jenny arrives. She then had a crucial role in the women’s discussion about booting JP. She was quick to propose the untrustworthy JP once Jenny talked about the women’s alliance. She said JP knows how to play the game too well. Later, she says she doesn’t trust Parvati who’ll talk to the guys. The questions will soon emerge: “Isn’t Cristina playing hardball also? Who can trust Cristina?” Cristina will not make the merge.

-Jenny was presented as playing a central role in deciding JP’s boot. Having her discuss the boot with Rebecca was the start of the women's mutiny. Can it last? She was the one that took charge of getting the women aligned and letting Parvati know. We also saw her connection to Brad underlined by a nod. Her role was surprising considering her earlier showing. How far will her story grow?

-Brad was shown to align with the women and was chosen to compete against Ozzy in one of the swimming competition. He’s valuable to his tribe and will make the merge. Contrary to Ozzy, that would help his game because of his inter-tribe alliance.

-Nathan was first shown relaxing with the men then plotting with Parvati. His role in the challenges wasn’t highlighted. He trusts the cool Parvati. His confessional about “not keeping her” is a sign that his “Hiki Hood Supreme” wasn’t the men’s original choice. Was he left out of the decision or was his vote due to loyalty for a friend? That is one of the questions the editors left up in the air.

-Parvati was twice chosen the spokeswoman for “Women’s rights!” She told us the guys were lazy at the start, and later, that JP’s behavior was unacceptable even imitating him. She also points out to Nathan that even if the 4 guys are tight, the decisions are made by JP. In his confessional, Nathan mentions that Parvati is cool, smart, trustworthy and is his “ace”. She then gets the promise that she won’t be swooped out of the game. If that isn’t a good editing signal for her, what is? Maybe not for Nathan however. He could be the dum-dum he says guys can be sometimes! She then has a confessional saying how JP is the last person she wants on her bad side. With him gone, does she have clear sailing from now on? What we saw of the final decision showed her in the fragile position we’ve been talking about. Was she really? She had to have spoken to the other women about booting JP before bringing it up to Nathan on day 10. Did she tell Adam to vote JP or was it the other way around. Why did she leave Nathan out of the loop? Worrying if tonight was the right time to boot one of your strongest player cannot be seen as a sign of disloyalty

-Adam appeared, went to exile, came back and disappeared. How can so much volume occupy so little space?

Last week, the tribal dynamics were out in the open. This week, everything was left in the dark. Who was Nathan voting for before Stephannie admitted she was the weakest link? The men were never shown discussing who they were originally targeting. Who talked to Adam to get him in line? Why the difference between the portrayal of each tribe? One reason I could see for the difference is that this tribe pays late night visits to Jeff many more times and to have shown all the discussions would have revealed too much.

Comparing both tribes and how their players are aligned shows us from another angle which players have a shot down the road. Aitu has better teamwork and should get an advantage for the merge. Their central players are Yul, Becky and Jonathan. Ozzy is the one that helps them avoid TC. That role ends at the merge when everyone goes to TC. Yul seems too trusting, Jonathan not ruthless enough. That leaves Ozzy and Becky. If it comes down to those two, who will be holding the machete then?

Or can someone from Raro infiltrate the alliance? Out of Raro, the players have less defined roles. Parvati and Nathan have been given the most story. Rebecca has been shown leading the votes. Brad was presented as the key to the vote’s outcome. If Aitu has the advantage at merge as it seems, only Brad and Parvati can profit from it. Maybe it was foreshadowing because Parvati and Brad were the ones shown when Jeff says he hopes they have a plan at the end of TC. Brad’s infiltration would be due to an alliance with his Asian friends. Parvati has another method of infiltration. We even heard that flirtation is only a start, a way to infiltrate the group. You have to keep an eye on her!