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VerucaSalt 1580 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Peanut Festival Grand Marshall" 02-12-12, 01:49 PM (EST) "The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" I will be putting the contestant information in a bit later but obviously feel free to put your "thoughts" in your own posts. It always amazes me how quickly the season ends before a new one begins and upon seeing the date, I realized how far behind I was. Just when you think Survivor does not have any more tricks up its sleeve, it somehow manages to tweak their format to elicit continued interest. Most of you know more information than I do however the premise is now one beach, two tribes, gender split. Rest assured, this premeditated environment is clearly designed to make sure these separate tribes do interact, form cross alliances which naturally will result in drama, betrayal and other intriguing outcomes. I think this dynamic should be quite revealing as to who the main characters of this season will be along with early signs of long term players as opposed to our short term players. Consider this as a pre merger merger and how we see interesting edits of players leading up to the merger and how the merger evolves them or has them fade away. Men and women just can’t stay away from each other. Survivor is making it even easier by creating this environment for them to co-mingle. Imagine how Survivor Amazon would have played out early on if the tribes were on the same beach. Would the progression of the show and the characters have remained the same? Think about what happened when they finally did merge? I think this should be a very interesting season for those who thrive on editing.   Top

Subject     Author     Message Date     ID    RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... Flowerpower 02-12-12 1  RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... Outfrontgirl 02-12-12 2  RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... michel 02-12-12 3    RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... PepeLePew13 02-13-12 4        RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... Flowerpower 02-13-12 5  episode 1 b1whois 02-17-12 6    RE: episode 1 PepeLePew13 02-17-12 7        Episode 1 - Editing thoughts michel 02-18-12 8            RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts PepeLePew13 02-18-12 9                RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts michel 02-19-12 10                    RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts PepeLePew13 02-19-12 11            RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts AaronLittleton 02-19-12 13            RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts suzzee 02-21-12 22            RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts b1whois 02-21-12 24        RE: episode 1 AaronLittleton 02-21-12 18  RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... AaronLittleton 02-19-12 12    RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... michel 02-20-12 14        RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... AaronLittleton 02-21-12 16    RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... CTgirl 02-20-12 15        RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... AaronLittleton 02-21-12 17            RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... glennyfromtheblock 02-21-12 19                RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... glennyfromtheblock 02-21-12 20                    RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... Outfrontgirl 02-25-12 26                        RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... PepeLePew13 02-26-12 30                RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... parathor 02-21-12 21        RE: The Players, The Game, The Edit... suzzee 02-21-12 23  Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts: michel 02-25-12 25    RE: Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts: dabo 02-25-12 27        RE: Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts: michel 02-26-12 31            RE: Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts: dabo 02-26-12 32    RE: Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 02-29-12 41  Episode 2: The Players, The Game, T... AaronLittleton 02-26-12 28    RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... glennyfromtheblock 02-26-12 29        RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... michel 02-26-12 34            RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... glennyfromtheblock 02-26-12 35                RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... parathor 02-27-12 38        RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... AaronLittleton 02-29-12 42    RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... michel 02-26-12 33        RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... PepeLePew13 02-26-12 36            RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... michel 02-26-12 37            RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... AaronLittleton 02-29-12 40        RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Gam... AaronLittleton 02-29-12 39  Thoughts post ep 3 Flowerpower 03-01-12 43    RE: Thoughts post ep 3 Round Robin 03-01-12 44        RE: Thoughts post ep 3 glennyfromtheblock 03-02-12 45            RE: Thoughts post ep 3 parathor 03-02-12 46            RE: Thoughts post ep 3 PepeLePew13 03-02-12 47  Episode 3: The Players, The Game, T... AaronLittleton 03-03-12 48  Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-03-12 49    RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-05-12 50        RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts: dabo 03-05-12 51            RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-07-12 53        RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-05-12 52            RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-07-12 54  Episode 4: The Players, The Game, T... AaronLittleton 03-10-12 55    RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Gam... michel 03-10-12 57        RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Gam... AaronLittleton 03-11-12 59            RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Gam... michel 03-11-12 61                RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Gam... AaronLittleton 03-13-12 64    RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Gam... suzzee 03-13-12 68        RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Gam... AaronLittleton 03-14-12 72  Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-10-12 56    RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-11-12 58    RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: glennyfromtheblock 03-11-12 60        RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-11-12 62            RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: glennyfromtheblock 03-11-12 63                RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-13-12 66        RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-13-12 65            RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: glennyfromtheblock 03-13-12 67                RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: NedraSue 03-13-12 69                    RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-14-12 71                        RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: Nasha233 03-15-12 75                            RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-20-12 84                RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-14-12 70    RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: suzzee 03-14-12 73        RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-14-12 74  Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-17-12 76    RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: glennyfromtheblock 03-18-12 77        RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-20-12 78            RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: parathor 03-20-12 79                RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: PepeLePew13 03-20-12 81                    RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-20-12 83                    RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-20-12 86                        RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-27-12 92                RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-20-12 82                    RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: PepeLePew13 03-20-12 85                RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-20-12 87                    RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-27-12 93    RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts: suzzee 03-20-12 80  A Challenge Question michel 03-20-12 88    RE: A Challenge Question AaronLittleton 03-27-12 91  Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-24-12 89    RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts: Slider 03-24-12 90    RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts: AaronLittleton 03-27-12 94        RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts: glennyfromtheblock 03-27-12 95            RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts: parathor 03-27-12 96                RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-27-12 98                RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts: glennyfromtheblock 03-27-12 99            RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts: michel 03-27-12 97    RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts: suzzee 03-28-12 100

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Flowerpower 7262 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-12-12, 05:44 PM (EST) 1. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Veruca! So nice to see you and your thread up and running! Hearing your preview for the season gets my hopes up! It stands to be an interesting season indeed! Following the editing can be so much fun, but as we've learned from the past, it isn't always the picture that you think it's painting! I am eager to watch the show and make my own assessments, and eager to see what others see....usually so much more than I can. I would so love to hear your thoughts on some of the episodes as well, sure hope you will stick around! Thanks so much for getting us going this season, and for all the seasons gone by!   Top

Outfrontgirl 6830 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-12-12, 11:22 PM (EST) 2. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Hi Veruca! Time flies and so does the interim between seasons. I love what you wrote here. From the promos released, FlowerPower and others have figured out that the men vs women will be short-lived. Expect a swap as soon as Ep 3, probably no later than Ep 4. I predict that Alicia will be a big character right off the bat, because she is the biggest flirt and they are going to showcase the inter-tribal interactions. Colton should also be a big character right away. Jeff says he is always pointing out that he is different (gay) and he is the Survivor Superfan of the season. Also Jeff says he is a villain. I believe that Kimberly will have a good story, based on seeing her at the core of the groupings in the promos. For the first time, I think, we have a player born and raised in my state of Hawai'i, Jonas. so I have to give him a shout-out, even though he lives in Utah now. Of the men, I like Troyzan and hope his many times trying out and all his jungle experience translates into a good run on Survivor. Regardless of how they do overall, we can expect to see some early focus on the Troyzan - Tarzan (Greg) dyad, as we have a promo where Troyzan says that Tarzan must go! Leif too will get attention as the first little person. My hope for this season is that the editors show us the whole cast and move away from the trend of focusing on characters they THINK are entertaining, such as Cochran, Phillip, Russell. I would like to see them focus on who is ultimately important to the season while on the island. For instance, Coach and Ozzy certainly deserved prominence last season, as did Brandon, but Cochran really got a disproportional amount of focus.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-12-12, 11:54 PM (EST) 3. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Hello Veruca, FP and OFG. It's nice to see everyone back and ready for this new season. I've noticed that, across most boards, this new twist has been very well received. Will it live up to expectations? So many haven't but there has been so little strategy in the last few seasons that the producers had to do something. That idea had been discussed by peeps here many years ago so it's nice that they listened! I read something funny from Jeff where he said the idea had been brewing for 5 years but it wasn't until someone came up with the "One World" title that they decided to go with it. Talk about procrastination! I think it will be important to remember Tina's words from way back during season 3: Look at who sits with whom, who sleeps close together, who works together. There won't be a "tribe of interest" this season like in Samoa where it was easy to see that the Foa Foas were long term players despite their plight. It could mean that the scenes of camplife will take on more importance.   Top

PepeLePew13 26134 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-13-12, 00:03 AM (EST) 4. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" LAST EDITED ON 02-13-12 AT 00:09 AM (EST) Bingo. Over on the vidcaps thread, I pointed out (and was supported by OFG) that there were three people that were repeatedly shown either alone amongst themselves or were seen in 'alpha' positions (i.e. those three were the ones who were most prominent in a 7 or 8 person group): Kim, Kat and Alicia. It's worth keeping an eye on those three to see if they're a power alliance or not. I also noted that Kim is all.over.the.place in the promos and she's got a couple of interesting shots where it could be seen as a winner's celebration, such as the women celebrating winning a challenge with Kim as the focal point. Nice to start this season off with no sourced spoilers or revealed boot lists! ETA: The images that were noted by both myself and by OFG in keeping mind of what Tina famously said about watching to see who's sitting with whom -- these three definitely bears watching:   Top

Flowerpower 7262 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-13-12, 07:23 AM (EST) 5. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Hi Pepe! I wanted to add that I noted your observations and as always, I thought you were spot on. It sure seems like they will be people to watch! I also noted that Alicia appears to be very, very social, and very gregarious...it appears as though she is quite a character from her sound bytes so far and from the vidcaps. She should be a fun one!   Top

b1whois 126 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-17-12, 02:46 PM (EST) 6. "episode 1" hi all. good to see all of you still here. cant wait to read the analysis this season! my fist thought involves the upcoming season that is supposed to bring back players for a "second chance". i think courtney moon is an obvious choice. i was thinking that there may be distortions to the editing this season as they prep the audience for a future "second chance" show. i would expect to see far more development than usual of characters that are short lived, to build interest for the future season. we may even see another medivac, who knows? (and if you DO know, keep quiet, pls!) anyway, let's get posting people, it is already 15 hours post show! hoo-rah!   Top

PepeLePew13 26134 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-17-12, 04:50 PM (EST) 7. "RE: episode 1" LAST EDITED ON 02-17-12 AT 06:59 PM (EST) Doing a hit-and-run for now but will be back to post my full thoughts on episode 1 later tonight, but for now... That's a good thought about Kourtney being a potential 'second chance' player, but she's not going to be able to get up and about any time soon. Poor girl's been having a rough run lately - that broken arm didn't set properly and it had to be re-broken and re-set twice. And now this latest setback: Kourtney was found to have a cancerous tumour in her stomach and is at the moment awaiting test results to determine how bad it is. I'm wondering if this could be a repeat of Jenn Lyon who had her cancer discovered because she couldn't afford health insurance on her own before being cast on the show and then having money to get checked out. Kourtney might not have been in this situation to get her tumour found if she wasn't in the hospital a couple times recently for her broken arm. For now, here's some quick thoughts on episode one: After this past season where the attention was almost completely focused on four megaDAWs (Coach, Ozzy, Cochran and LilHantz) and the winner was largely undeveloped as a character as a result, I would expect a greater emphasis on developing this season's winner to show how he/she won the game. I also expect the editors would show this year's winner to be somewhat more palatable than Sophie was because of the greater attention that is likely to be focused on developing the winner's storyline this season. So, that'll be one of the things I will in particular be keeping an eye on this season - who's getting a solid winner's-type of edit? This is something we haven't had for five seasons now. Look back at the previous seasons: We had the Hantz Show in 19, the HvH all-star season in 20, a doofus (Fabio) in 21 who lucked his way through, Mariano hogging all the attention in 22, and a winner who was totally overshadowed by superDAWs in 23. This time, the odds are that this season's winner will be well developed and shown on the screen. I think the likes of Sabrina, Kim, Leif, Jonas, Michael and Chelsea bear watching throughout the season because they got positive or smart edits even if they weren't always positive and Kim, in particular because she had a particularly nice confessional that could be interpreted as a winner's comment and focus: Kim: I am not a big fan of the girl power thing but I will go along with it for now. She also was quick to catch on to alliances amongst the guys - she said to Michael, "Matt, Bill and you" when asked who she thought was running the show. Speaking of Kim... how about these as potential victory cheers? She's the only one who got a close-up of whooping it up: (I also note that Sabrina was the one she went to for the big embrace following these two pictures, so that's another person I'll definitely be watching for as an alliance partner in addition to the "power trio" {Kim/Kat/Alicia} earlier alluded to)   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-18-12, 05:37 PM (EST) 8. "Episode 1 - Editing thoughts" I see that the party is already started. I apologize if I repeat anything that you guys have written but I wanted to post without outside influence so i will have to come back and read your thoughts: Here is what I saw: Jeff flew overhead, we had the first confessionals. The players’ name didn’t appear as they spoke but we had: Colton: “This is definitely my game. I love the girls (shot of Kat) and the guys, they won’t see me as a threat.” Alicia: “If I find out that one of these dudes like me’ Oh! They are going to get played.” Jonas: “I have a lot of outdoors skills that people won’t necessarily know because how baddass can a sushi chef be?!” Jay: “I am going to make a girl alliance” (this came right after Jeff said “they think they have Survivor figured out”) “I get along well with the females as well as the males.” Micheal: “I’ve seen the game change. I think I am ready for the twist.” After saying that the players were in for a surprise, Jeff told us that they would be “living together on one beach.” The intro served to set up the season’s twist and, from the way the scene was cut, the joke was mostly on Jay. Jonas had a interesting confessional in that it didn’t fit in the joke’s set-up. For some reason, we had to get to know Jonas without ties to the gender split and the living arrangements. That bodes well for him. When Jeff mentioned the concept of One World, he asked: “Who will stay loyal to their tribe and who will form alliances with the enemy?” Since this is the imposed theme of the season, we should note that cross-tribal alliances are described somewhat negatively. Jeff didn’t need to use the word “enemy”, he could have gone for the more neutral “other tribe”. If these words were recorded in post-production then are we to expect that the loyal players will be more successful? The title of this episode could have been: “It doesn’t look like One World to me Greeting the new participants, Jeff first turned to Kourtney who told him she didn’t really fit in. This was underlined by the camera going directly to the stern look of Alicia which was accompanied by an ominous sound effect. The ending of the episode was set-up rather quickly, wasn’t it?! Next, Colton presented himself and said that there were many good-looking guys. Next, Greg/Tarzan was introduced which quickly led the the first confessional that showed the player’s name Troyzan: “One guy’s called Tarzan and I am like; wait a minute! He can’t be Tarzan. I’m Troyzan. This is my island, baby!” Not only does Troyzan look somewhat like Jimmy T, it seems his story will be similar, Instead of targeting Jimmy J, he will be targeting Tarzan in what could be a similarly short-lived adventure. When Jeff told the women to go one way, the men the other, it was Colton’s shocked reaction that the camera showed. Colton: “I was absolutely horrified…Are you freaking serious? I am the girl within the guy tribe.” Jeff made what could be an important comment: “Right away, the women all went over and said “Hello!” They’re excited, they’re smiling. The guys are going: No women?” Sabrina interjected: “We know that men can’t survive without women.” Troyzan had to reply: “They are all talk right now…The guys will have no problems.” Even if this episode would prove difficult for the women, Jeff’s words served to make us appreciate them. As the tribes raced to get stuff off the truck, we saw Micheal stealing things that the women had brought to their side. Seeing this, Jeff commented that the game had definitely begun. As soon as the minute was over, Micheal went to Jonas and boasted that he had stolen their stuff. Alicia quickly realized that their axe was missing. Micheal: “I stole everything from them. It was just too easy. I had to go get it.” We heard the women calling the men cheaters. When Jeff said that there wouldn’t be a Redemption Island, we again saw Colton and a look of worry. It suggests that he will be voted out before too long and would have needed help. Chelsea: “We are not letting those muscles discourage us at all. The girls, if we just keep our head in the game and try to stay together and just take the boys down, then we will just be one huge ball of badasses.” As it brings us to the first commercial break, that sounded like an important confessional and it puts Chelsea on the loyalty side of the theme. Manono Tarzan: “As we walked through the Jungle, we realized that this encampment is a hundred miles away and we had tons of stuff to carry. It was like.” Jonas: “I’m trying to act all tough but on the inside, I’m like (weazes) I’m hurting, just sucking wind. The one that impressed me the most on the trek was Leif. He was carrying the heaviest thing out of everybody. He’s a buff little dude.” This was underlined by showing what Leif could do and it was impressive. Salani Kourtney: “I wasn’t happy with the men versus women thing…I’m a girl, I know and I’m crazy, we’re all crazy. Women can be warm and accepting and compassionate and then, before you know it (made a stabbing gesture)” Since Kourtney left without being backstabbed, one can wonder why this confessional was included. Could it be to prepare us for some big moves by the women? Or is it to warn us that they will be crazy? Alicia: “The hike into camp definitely showed who were the stonger girls and it’s Kim, myself and Chelsea and I would say Sabrina. I love Kitty Kat but she was a little weak and she was irritating me but she knew that.” (note that the editors out the women’s name on screen to make sure the audience knew which ones Alicia meant) Alicia’s confessional went on: “Right away, I knew who our five were going to be and it was done in a matter of seconds.” We saw Alicia and Chelsea saying: “It’s me and you, Kat, Sab and Kim.” Not far away, Sabrina was talking with Kim: “What do you think of me, you, Alicia, Kat, Chelsea?” Kim: “I didn’t plan to form an alliance right off the bat. I was just going to lay low but, when we saw the guys stealing off the truck, that was a huge rivalry right off the bat (Note that Matt was shown at this moment) so, when the guys did that, the women were like: Women Power! I’m not a big fan but I am going with it.” The women were first to arrive at the site where both tribes would reside. Sabrina had the confessional to tell us about the groups reaction: “When we walked onto the beach, looked up at our flag; we were so happy to get here and then we look five feet to the right and saw the Manono tribe. What is going on? Are those suckers living with us?” Then, in quick succession, we had: Kourtney: “Wait a minute.” Alicia: “Hey! It’s going to be a party!” Chelsea: “We were kinda pissed.” As the men arrived, Jonas had a confessional: “When I saw our flag, I was excited but when I saw their flag next to our flag, I was confused. I was like; wait…what?” It seems that Sabrina and Jonas are going to be the narrators. At least that is their early role. Alicia, being the only one saying that she enjoyed the twist, is definitely not a narrator; she is given a distinct role. Colton was the first to mention the “One World” theme written on the flags. Jonas replied: “It doesn’t look like One World to me, bro. It looks like their world and our world.” The women soon noticed four chickens just a few feet outside camp. Chelsea was first on the hunt. We heard her say: “So y’all get one and we’ll get one.” Matt agreed they would share the chicken: “Let’s all work together and we’ll split the chicken.” The silly banjo music and the flying chicken made me think we would see another fiasco like Mariano’s chicken hunt in Marquesas but Chelsea (outplaying Rob!) soon caught a chicken. “Don’t mess with the country girl”, she said. The hunt continued and suddenly Chelsea had a chicken in each hand and was smiling from ear to ear! Matt reacted by saying they would take either one, it was her pick. Chelsea wanted to talk to the girls and they decided to keep them both because, as she said, they don’t know if the guys would have honored the deal. She wanted to bargain if the guys could find something they needed. Sabrina: “If I had to do the “jumping on the truck-60 second grab” all over again, I would have stolen some things from them that they stole from us. They definitely played dirty on that truck. It’s OK. We got a good inclination of how they are going to play the game. And, hum...Game on!” Kat proposed giving a chicken in exchange for help building the shelter but the others decided to walk away. Matt: “I’m not a ladies’ man, I am not a guy that will go around to keep the girls happy. I don’t care about those girls. Give us that chicken as an apology and then we’ll think of something.” Apology for what Matt? For showing you how it’s done?! That must have been the reaction the editors wanted from the audience. After Bill was heard saying: “They need us more than we need them.” Matt’s confessional continued: “It was obvious from that minute that I was with the guys, not these girls. If you cross me, I don’t care what you look like or what sex you are, I’m not working with you.” Act 3 started with everyone working on the shelter. Everyone except Colton that is. We saw him sitting down during that time. Colton: “There’s a clear divide within this “One World”: There are the guys over here and the girls over there and I definitely want to be over there.” We soon saw him hugging Sabrina, Christina and Chelsea. Matt: “The minute I saw Colton, I knew Colton was gay. He is very comfortable with it; good for him. I also knew that he was going to have problems identifying with the guys in camp; there’s a lot of manly men around here. Nobody has an issue with him being gay or anything like that but he doesn’t try to fit in at all. If Colton doesn’t fix that, he’s going to be going home quick.” Matt talked to Colton, suggesting that, if he wanted to stay, he should use his access to the women to the guys’ advantage. Colton: “Matt is very arrogant. He’s condescending and he thinks that he is running this show but, if I get what I want, his torch is going out.” As Bill, Matt, Micheal and Jay walked by the girls, we heard one of them asking: “Is this the frat boy alliance over here?” Jay realized that they would have a huge target on their backs. Matt and Micheal scoffed at the idea. Matt: “The way Survivor always works is that, initially the strong stay because they benefit the tribe and the weak go. I am going to make an alliance with Big Mike, Jay Bird and Bill. It’s an easy alliance; we are the young, fit guys. We are not going to get any Survivor points for that one. Everybody else is screwed. I’m in the group and I’m happy and it’s the dominant alliance clearly so I’m sitting pretty as far as I’m concerned.” Just like the women’s alliance, we saw the name of Matt’s allies on screen so that we would remember them. Unlike the women’s alliance though, we already heard that Matt wasn’t running the show. We also saw Amazon and Vanuatu; the strong men aren’t as needed when competing against women. Most importantly, we can count: 4 < 5 just like in the islands of fire! Colton then went to Christina, Monica and Sabrina, begging for them to share an idol clue should they find one because, as he said: “you know who needs it the most.” Sabrina: Colton is the wild-card. My gut is telling me to believe in him but who knows? Anything could go down in Survivor but he has me cracking up in stitches and, if humor is his armor, then he has all of us sold like suckers. I like him.” This is a little more than narration but it really only served to set up the upcoming exchange. We had to know that Sabrina trusted Colton to some extent so before we put too much weight on this scene, let’s see how this storyline develops. Next, we saw Jay working on making a fire. Jay: “Even though this is One World, to me there’s two hemispheres: Their tribe versus our tribe. I don’t really think that the girl tribe wanted to be in with us. They made it apparent by the way they were scouting around and keeping everything on their side. I don’t want to help them in any way possible. As far as I’m cincerned, they need to stay on their side, I’ll stay on mine and, if they need us more than we need them, then we are in charge of this game.” For only the second time in 24 seasons, fire was made by rubbing pieces of wood together. Note that Jay’s accomplishment wasn’t really underlined. The story quickly turned to the women needing the fire instead. Sabrina came over and asked if they could have fire in exchange for a chicken. Matt said they already made a deal for one of the chicken. Sabrina walked away. Leif: “The women definitely noticed the fire and, as soon as they saw that smoke, they came running.” For his first confessional, Leif certainly didn’t shine. I was expecting something deeper than mocking the other side. Something like Clay had in Thailand’s first episode, something like Leif said in the promos. Maybe his story won’t take off. Matt: The chicken thing started things on the wrong note. They wanted us to give them fire and that ain’t happening.” Alicia reminded the guys about the axe that was stolen but Greg had none of it. Alicia tried to sneak by and light a branch on fire but she was blocked by Leif. Troyzan: “These chicks over there are like in coocoo land. They want to trade fire for a chicken. It’s the first day, the first hours. We don’t need a chicken. The girls are so typical. I’ve been around for 50 years so you ain’t coming around and walk in your little bikini and expect fire from me on the first day. You are going to have to suffer for two or three days and maybe they will quit one by one, saying this isn’t what I signed up for.” Maybe Troyzan will be right and the women will suffer (One woman already had to leave) but the tone of this confessional and the scene makes me think he will be proven wrong. During the night, Kim and Kat tried their luck with Micheal. The scene told us that Kat doesn’t know the meaning of the word ambiance and that she thought Tarzan was running the tribe. Micheal found that funny but then Kim said Bill, Matt and Micheal were in charge. Micheal: “The women want fire. They are getting dehydrated, there’s no water for them. They can’t boil their water so us not giving them fire is a big advantage.” Jay: “You’re at war here, period. Somebody’s got to beat somebody so I think any deal with the girls at this point is ludicrous. They are down; keep them down. If they get fire on their own; good for them. They don’t; let them struggle.” Monica: “Tonight, Christina and I thought: The guys stole the axe from us so we are going to steal an ember from them.” They succeeded. Christina: “Last night, we stole an ember. Did we start a fire? Yes. Did it last? No. It died. Fire is really important. We need to get that fire today. I think that some of these girls that have this chip on their shoulder thinking we don’t need the guys; look it isn’t about pride. We have a game to play but we also need to survive.” Kat tried to make fire but failed. Christina tried to negotiate with the guys. Jonas said that they had a deal if the women would weave 20 fronds. Alicia: “Christina keeps going to the guys’ camp, making deals, shaking hands. She’s trying to make peace treaties with the guys. I’m not stupid.” Christina explained her latest deal which didn’t please Alicia. “We are going to weave for them but we are going to weave at our camp and they are going to birng us our fire. I’m about to punch Christina in the face. I can see what she’s doing: She’s trying to be friendly with the guys so she is going to be the first one that’s goings to go. First one to go.” (I wonder who was the “she” that Alicia said wanted the work to be done at their camp) During that time, Sabrina was hunting for the idol and soon found it in an obvious place. Sabrina: “I went to take a bath and, when I was coming back, I thought; let me look for an idol. I am having an amazing day! The second place I looked I was like OH! My God! There’s a package. I found an idol but it’s not for me. The rules said it was for the Manono tribe. I have to give it before the next tribal Council. I’m trying to think who I should give it to? I have to save someone from the guys’ team. That could either hurt or help me and Colton is the obvious choice.” Colton: “I am the first choice candidate to give the idol to. I am jumping up and down now. This is my saving grace.” The Challenge Jeff stopped the challenge when he realized that Kourtney was injured. When she was taken away, Jeff simply awarded the victory to the men… (Why not resume the challenge with one guy sent to the finish line?) The Jeff added: “Since it is only day 3 in a 39 day game, the men could make a gesture of goodwill and say let’s finish this challenge…The single biggest mistake in this game is making decisions early on that nobody will forgive you in the end.” Despite that, the guys decided to take the victory. Christina was the most vocal in expressing the women’s frustration while Troyzan was the one to explain the men’s position. Chelsea: “In our minds, we knew there was no chance that they would take the immunity. When they did, it was like heartbreak. Those guys don’t give a crap about any of us girls and they showed it today. They don’t care. This is a no mercy game.” Arriving back at camp Nina had her first confessional: “The challenge; wow! What a disappointment. I feel bad for Kourtney…I only got through the first part of the challenge and this is what happened!” (she laughed at the redness of her face due to the faceplant she had on the jump) Talking to the girls, maybe thinking he was being diplomatic, Matt said: “I felt we were going to beat you anyway…” Reacting to that, Kim had a confessional: “The guys, not wanting to finish the challenge; you know I get it. Looking back in hindsight, I see what they were thinking but, I’m from Texas; men are chivalrous, grew up watching westerns, it’s like no guy I know would have made that choice.” One could see this and say that Kim was being naïve; Survior is certainly not about chivalry. (although one famous Survior Texan would have been dumb enough to give the women a chance!) But, coming right after Matt’s dumb comment, it felt that the important point to make by including this confessional was the idea of the “bad choice” and how it affected Kim. Will she make someone pay later on? Talking to Colton, Sabrina asked about the voting dynamics on Manono. He told her it was split 4-4 with him in the middle. Sabrina told him it was his opportunity to knock out one of the big guys. She added: “The strong guys are only keeping you on because they know you are disposable.” Colton replied: “No, they are keeping me on because they want me to work you all.” Sabrina gave him the HII. With a “mystery movie” kind of tune playing in the background, we then saw Colton turn around and the camera made it look like he was staring at Matt and Micheal who were still talking with Kim. If that wasn’t enough of a clue, then the camera gave us a close-up of Matt. Since there was not much suspense to build for the women’s TC, the editors are already setting up the drama of the guys’ Council. With the editors hitting us over the head with these clues, I’d say that Matt’s days are numbered! Sabrina: “This is the big move that everybody is looking for. You have to take the risk, forget who is going to be pissed off at you, swing over and think about the gay guy that comes in and who everybody thinks is going to get out in the first round, you come over and you knock out one of the biggest people there.” Told that he had to stay around and that the game wouldn’t be fun without him, Colton had an interview after leaving Sabrina: “Matt thinks I am a puppet but he is in for a huge surprise if things work out the way that I want it to. We are going to cut his throat faster than (something I couldn’t hear about his next boyfriend)” Sabrina talked about the “big elephant in the room”, saying that, even if Kourtney came back in the game, she couldn’t really participate. That scene made Sabrina appear as the leader of Salani. Sabrina: “I hope this doesn’t sound mean but hopefully, she is getting X-rays and is getting used to the air-conditionning, getting a fresh drink of water and saying: “I like this” and don’t come back.” Sabrina, reminding me of Cirie, is showing good narrative and strategic skills. That means she will be seen often on camera. We will have to be very careful how we interpret this “starring role”. We know she is nicely set-up in the women’s alliance but what will happen if her move works but then she faces a tribe where the men have majority? Alicia: “Kourtney, poor Kourtney, so unkourtnenated! Obviously, she broke her wrist but I am definitely will turn the tables around and let them know that Christina needs to go. It’s guys versus girls and she is playing that side and playing us at the same time. She’s poison so I’ll call her out. I already know it. I guess we will have to see when we get there who will be kicked out.” Tribal Council Asked about the twist, Alicia said she likes to bond with the girls better. Christina rolled her eyes at that, showing that the animosity wasn’t only one-sided. Asked to identify the tribe’s leader, Kat said everyone played their role, that her role was to tend fire. Christina explained the deal that she made with the guys to obtain fire. Alicia interrupted, saying that “a shady deal went down. She told the guys that she would have two girls weave for them.” An argument ensued, shocking Jeff and making some women laugh uncomfortably. They agreed it worked out, Kat saying they did get fire. Surprised, Jeff was still not 100% sure what happened so he asked Alicia to go through the deal once more. Christina interrupted her exaplanation, saying: “You are wrong so shut-up!” Jeff just went “wow!” He asked Chelsea if they should work as a team of women or should just go for the individual game. Chelsea: “Everyone’s doing what they want. I think that if we talked about everything as a group, it still wouldn’t happen. It’s women, I mean, we can’t all agree on everything and that’s just part of it.” A silent Monica seemed troubled thoughout this exchange so Jeff went to her. Monica said: “Whatever is right in front of us, it has to happen right now. It’s crazy, it’s total anarchy!” Jeff reminded them that, even if they were laughing, it still meant they were in Tribal Council and that the guys were thinking that the women were all over the map. He told them about Kourtney’s status and that no one else would be going home. (Somewhere Betsy must have gone: What?) Jeff left them with more good news and bad news. “The good news is that’s it’s only day 3. Plenty of time to turn things around. Bad news? There are 36 days left in this game and if you don’t get it together, none of you will make it to the end.” As he said that, the camera went to Kim as if she would be the one to hear his advice. The Story Airing on the day after Valentine’s day, I wonder if the producers were expecting the same sexual tensions that we witnessed in the Amazon. Instead, we had Vanuatu! As Chelsea said, it was a “heartbreak” because “the guys don’t care”! These conflicts brought us back to Jeff’s original comments: “Who will stay loyal to their tribe and who will form alliances with the enemy?” This episode showed us that making any deals with the enemy, let alone an alliance, could be a fatal mistake. I would expect that the more neutral players, the ones that aren’t too dogmatic about men versus women but aren’t too open with the other side will be the more succesful ones. Let’s not forget that Jeff also said: “The single biggest mistake in this game is making decisions early on that nobody will forgive you in the end.” I wouldn’t say that is exactly true. In the history of the show, bad early decisions have led to early boots. The decisions that nobody forgave in the end usually happened much later (Twila swearing on her kids, Rob’s deal with Alicia, etc…) The only things that happened early and weren’t forgiven in the end were bad behavior, especially laziness (Clay and Katie for example). However, since Jeff mentioned it here and his line was aired, it could mean that this theme comes in to play in the end. It’s something to keep in mind when we start talking about FTC. On the other hand, we had one decision that went unnoticed and served to create drama for the upcoming episodes. Will that deal hurt Sabrina? On Manono, we heard how the tribe is split and who is running the show or thinks he is. The men were united in denying fire to the women and in claiming victory at the challenge. No one argued against the deal that was made to trade fire for palm fronds. We even saw some manly bonding around campfire yet this tribe could be in trouble. The opening segment included 3 of its members to set up the twist of this season so we could expect that the joke will be on them. With Jeff’s comment that the women had a better reaction when he announced the twist and the men being called cheaters for stealing the axe, our first impression is that the women will come out on top. With that in mind, in Salani, I was most interested in their contradiction: The episode clearly showed us that Sabrina took charge yet Jeff was left with the impression that the tribe had no leaders. An exposed leader gets knocked down as we often saw but an under-the-radar leader is usually much more successful. Of course, we were told twice (first by Kourtney and then by Chelsea) that a group of women could lead to craziness so let’s wait before crowning any of them. The Characters Despite the One World concept, it didn’t look like One World to me: The Netherworld – These Players were barely exposed to the light of day. Bill: Just like Kat asked when Kim said that Manono was led by Matt, Bill and Micheal, we ask; Bill who? Not receiving a confessional, he could be a collateral casualty if the strong guys’ alliance crumbles. Nina: Even if she had a confessional, Nina didn’t play a role in this episode. It could be that the audience needed to see what happened to her during the challenge to explain an upcoming boot. Greg/Tarzan: His lack of substance makes us think he will be little more than comic relief. Leif: Surprisingly, this strong little dude wasn’t featured at all. His only confessional served to mock the women so despite Jonas’ nice comment, Leif stayed outside of the story. Monica: Part of the commando to steal fire, Monica also had a chance to talk during Tribal Council. Unfortunately, it showed her as someone who was laughing at a serious problem. I certainly doubt that the general audience even remembers Monica. Anyone of these “extras” could work their way into the spotlight (I especially hold hope for Monica and Leif) but, as of now, the story wasn’t about them. The Middle Earth – This world featured some characters that stood out for all the wrong reasons and could be in trouble. Troy: For an unimportant character, Troy was certainly involve in a lot of conflicts. First, his claim to the role of Tarzan over Greg, next, his claim that the women were all talk and finally his role in explaining why they decided to end the challenge and keep victory. I really don’t think this will be his island. Colton: Matt vowed he’d be the next to go but Sabrina’s idol should save him…for a few days. What happens if he does eliminate one of the big guys? The other group of 4 didn’t seem all that tight and the whole tribe could turn on Colton. His worried look when Jeff mentioned that there wouldn’t be a second chance this season suggests that Colton will leave early but then we heard that the game wouldn’t be fun without him. He needs a swap that would put him with the girls. (There has been a swap in every season that started with a gimmick, be it men versus women, Have vs Have-not, or old versus young) But being the one that was horrified by the season’s twist doesn’t exactly bode well for his chances. Matt: Just like JP Calderon who thought the rest of the tribe needed its strongest members, Matt could be in for a surprise. His depiction was so rough that I don’t think many viewers would be upset to see him go. Making an alliance of 4 in a tribe of nine certainly presented him as a “Dumb Player” just like his demands for an apology. The worse is that we heard he was arrogant and we had his confessional to prove it, the one where he said he was sitting pretty. Micheal: So far, he wasn’t identified as the one that stole the axe and he was seen a few times in discussions with the women so this player could survive being identified as one of the leaders of the frat boys alliance but his early decision during the scramble on the truck must be kept in mind should he ever be called on it. Christina: She appeared to be the calmer one in her conflict with Alicia but her order to shut up during Tribal Council was a mistake that even Jeff couldn’t understand. By her own words, she was more interested in surviving than playing the game. Like Colton, she is the one that would benefit the most by a tribal swap. Alicia: This stron-willed woman could very well turn out to be a villain this season. From what we heard, she is the most difficult to place on this chessboard. She says she knows how to play men if they fall for her, she says that living all together will be like a party but, at the same time, she is all for keeping the women and the men separated. There are many levels to this woman and I hope we have a chance to enjoy her game. However, she has clearly made an enemy in Christina. Her alliance should protect her but what if Christina finds an idol or they get swapped together with some guys? I don’t see long term players in any of this previous group but one could surprise us. Nowhere Land- The roles of these two players was left undetermined: Jay: He had a good showing with quite a few confessionals but making the fire had to be shown and his feat wasn’t really underlined. As far as the game is concerned, he was identified as being part of the frat boys’ alliance, Even his edit wasn’t totally positive. Yes, we know he will be loyal to the men but he told us in no uncertain terms that he wanted to keep the women down which puts him in the heartless category. Kat: Game-wise, she is in a solid position even if she was the weakest of the core 5 and she irritated Alicia. However, why did we need to hear that she didn’t know the meaning of the word ambiance and thought that Tarzan was in charge? And why was she the only woman left without a confessional? Her small role during TC is something to remember however. On top of the World – These players find themselves in a great position both game-wise and editing-wise. Jonas: He had one of the strongest opening episode of this group. He was the diplomat that finally brokered a deal between the two tribes. He had a completely unnecessary confessional during the opening sequence, the only one that we couldn’t point to and say: That person is in for a surprise! Not only that but his confessional delivered both personal development and the promise of being a good player. If that wasn’t enough, he was the one that commented on Leif’s abilities. That means there could be a story developing between those two, a story that could go along the lines of Earl who was the only one that saw the value of Yau Man Chelsea: Despite what could be seen as a bad early decision with the chicken, Chelsea had a strong premiere episode, especially with the important last confessional before the first break. More importantly, that confessional told us she would be loyal to the women’s tribe and loyalty once more seems to be a central theme. We saw what this country girl could do in the wild and it gave the audience a good impression. Her decision? I sense that the editors didn’t want to put too much blame on her but we will see how this develops. Sabrina: This natural leader managed to stay under Jeff’s radar but will she stay off the men’s? If her move to give the HII to Colton is discovered, it could be trouble for her. Also, it was troubling that we didn’t see her discussing her decision with any of her allies. Did she really keep it to herself? Could her allies resent being left out of the loop? The editors didn’t give us any clues, just showing that she was worried it could turn against her. For now, we see a strong woman that gives interesting confessionals and has a good head on her shoulders about the game. Quite a promising start. Kim: She was named as one of the stronger women and she is included in the core alliance. More importantly, she was quite level-headed, trying to talk reasonably with the men and telling us that her plan was to lay low. In a very subtle way, Kim made a good first impression which is very encouraging for her long term chances.   Top

PepeLePew13 26134 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-18-12, 06:24 PM (EST) 9. "RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts" Good opening thoughts, michel. I thought this was a better opening episode than the great majority over the past few years because we got to see a fair number of contestants and got a few useful insights into tribal dynamics. Regarding your comment: Let’s not forget that Jeff also said: “The single biggest mistake in this game is making decisions early on that nobody will forgive you in the end.” I think it was you who brought this up on the East Coast thread, but it bears bringing up again - Jeff emphasized this point on, I believe, three occasions during the episode so I think it is going to be a significant theme of this season. Let's see how the next few episodes unfold and whether this theme pops up again.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-19-12, 01:17 PM (EST) 10. "RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts" Thank you for the feedback, Pepe. Yes, I think this was a better opening than the last few but it wasn't as entertaining as the first episode of HvV or as dramatic as Samoa. I liked your post even if the news about poor Kourtney broke my heart. (Can someone tell SEG that the challenges don't need to be so risky? What does dropping into a net have to do with a competition? I know you can't make everything safe but when you know someone could break their arm, you change things a bit.) Out of those you listed, I'm not sure that Leif and Michael got positive or smart edits. Leif was surprisingly under-utilized and, as Estee put it, Micheal looked like a moron. As for Jeff's words, I did get into a conversation with Round Robin about it in the ECST but he was the one saying that those idiots weren't thinking of jury management. I still think that nothing was done that would definitely cost anyone the game. On the other hand, the editors could work with Jeff's words to make it appear that an early decision cost someone the game. For example: we both like Kim and Chelsea's chances so, if they face each other at the end and Chelsea loses, they could highlight her decision to explain the outcome.   Top

PepeLePew13 26134 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-19-12, 04:01 PM (EST) 11. "RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts" I based my view of Leif because of the comment that he's a really strong dude during the trek in to the camp and also I noted that he was making friends with some of the ladies such as when he greeted Monica with a hug when she came to talk to the guys. I'm placing a high emphasis on inter-tribal interactions for the time being to see if it'll be a predictor of sorts as the season goes along and the tribal swap/merge takes place. For this reason, I also take note of how Jonas, Kim, Alicia and Sabrina, to give a few examples, interacted with the other groups. I had high hopes for the likes of Kat based on all the vidcaps preseason but we did not see much from her other than the incorrect assumption about male alliances. Working with who I thought to be a power grouping preseason, I see Kim as outlasting the other two, with Alicia as a perfect goat to take along to the end if they make it that far. I mentioned Michael because he seems to be the leader of the buff guys alliance and he showed that his head is in the game from the get-go with the stealing of supplies and taking the lead in several conversations. I agree that he didn't have a positive edit overall, but I try to look at who's doing the interacting or the leading, good or bad.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-19-12, 09:13 PM (EST) 13. "RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts" Thanks for the recap, Michel! It's always great reading your thoughts about the editing, which I've been reading for years now, and I'm sure has contributed to the "eye" I have for the editing as well. I think we agree on many points, especially who got a positive edit and negative edit. I think I may have seen Michael as more positive, and more likely to go further, but mostly your assessments make a lot of sense relative to how I saw it. Like you, for me the Matt/Colton stuff was very clear, and it seems that this will play out soon. I like your association of Sabrina to that of Cerie. I totally see it, and I hope Sabrina get's the opportunity to play some real strategy and get further into the game. Here's to a good season!!   Top

suzzee 5961 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-21-12, 03:27 PM (EST) 22. "RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts" Hiya michel! You're always such a good observer and I enjoy reading your take. It's interesting that you pointed out loyalty as the theme, it fits nicely with the "One World" season. I'll be looking to see how that plays out in coming episodes. It seems that Sabrina and Jonas are going to be the narrators. At least that is their early role. Alicia, being the only one saying that she enjoyed the twist, is definitely not a narrator; she is given a distinct role. Alicia seems to be in a ringleader role, she and Chelsea telling Kat, Sabrina and Kim they were in the alliance (bossy and do what she says) and Sabrina in a toned down ringleader role by asking “What do you think of me, you, Alicia, Kat, Chelsea?” I think Sabrina may be the power behind the Alicia, letting Alica do all the "leading" while Sabrina gains the respect of the rest of the girls and Alicia comeing off a bit abrupt. If Sabrina indeed is going to be the early narrator, she must have more of a handle on everything. All in all, nice summary of events michel. What happens in da Zone stays in da Zone.   Top

b1whois 126 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-21-12, 07:31 PM (EST) 24. "RE: Episode 1 - Editing thoughts" hi michel. your analysis got me thinking about a couple of things. first, when we return to the women after the commercial break is when kourtney tells about women backstabbing, and, as you pointed out, she was gone before that comment could bear fruiit. maybe that comment can be taken relative to the next scene: the women's alliance. perhaps we can look for a backstab within that group. also, for some reason, kat struck me as incredibly dumb when she said she was "in charge of the fire" at TC. finally, the thing that really stuck out to me after reading your analysis was how prominent kim was. she really had many good confessionals for the audience and is my pick to go far.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-21-12, 02:44 AM (EST) 18. "RE: episode 1" Hi Pepe! Cool, as I watched the episode I also noted the confessional from Kim that you highlighted here. Pretty good - There was definitely something about it, which is leading me to keep an eye on Kim. Let's see if the editors do too!   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-19-12, 08:34 PM (EST) 12. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Hello editting thread posters and readers! I'm hoping we may just have a fresh new season ahead of us, and I'm feeling inspired to post here with you all. I was a longtime lurker and then posted in this thread for Season 21. After 2 seasons of returning players and redemption island (2 of my least favorite twists) I just couldn't bring myself to post for those seasons. So, with this seeson I'm hopeful, all new players, a twist that seems to be working out nicely. I enjoyed the first ep, and I'm ready to go! But enough about me, onto the editing thoughts: I haven't really thought about themes yet, other than the gender divide. I've always felt that production usually plays into gender stereotypes, and therefore it will be amplified due to this season's theme (for instance in the Amazon they really played into this with, "boy craziness" and "cool kid" undercurrents). So, I think there's a good chance we'll see highlights of steretypical guy/girl behavior and dynamics. I was expecting them to play up the macho factor for the men, and they did. Of course, there was normal confidence that we'd get from any ambitious tribe. But it seemed really layed on thick that these are MEN and they do manly things. From Michael's stealing to Troyzan's pole-dance comment to Matt's lingering crotch-shot confessional (and all that he said with it) Most of this to contrast the opposing female tribe, and even one of their own tribemates (who outwardly called himself the "girl within the guy's tribe" - huh) I felt that the woman's tribe had a bit more range to it's portrayal. I think the editting tried to highlight all the instances where the women were acting somewhere betweer damsals in distress or ladies using their wiles to get what they want. But interestingly this was interspersed with some great scenes that showed how they could go far in the game. Like withChelsea catching the chickens and Christina negotiating to finally gain fire, to Sabrina's quick discovery of the idol, along with her assessment of the "odd man out" to give it to (which might not have been to hard to note, but I also loved her sizing up the "fratboy alliance") My impression was that the women weren't as much of a mess or "crazy" as the editting wanted us to believe. (Although I have a friend, who is a regular viewer, but doesn't delve into the editting aspects like I do, and her impression of the women's tribe wasn't good. She felt that the women were relying too heavily on the men) My thoughts are, when you're surviving, and you need fire, you do what you can to get fire. And they did, until they were successful. My feeling is that this could also be kind of an "underdog" set-up, so that we are routing for the women as they continue to prove themselves throughout the game. Regarding the alliances, I think it's really interesting that this was so clearly told to us within the first episode (with captioning nonetheless!) I believe since there are no returning players, this won't mess with the "alliances revealed, won't succeed" rule. In fact, for some reason, it seemed very apparant to me that they won't succeed. Regarding the dominant "frat boy" alliance, anyone who really knows this game will know that a 4-person alliance on a tribe of 9 doesn't assure you diddly. Nor is keeping strong players a shoe-in depending on the twist (Uh, Matt, did you see Vanuatu - the 4 dominant strong guys that aligned were some of the first to go. I'll also add that one of the strongest guys was first to go in Season 21, when the younger tribe likely had the idea that strength is indeed expendable depending on their perception of the other tribe) Although what Matt is esposing might sound valid to a casual viewer, and therefore could appear that he has a "sense" of the game. Whereas, mostly what he is saying will prove to be "nonsense" or at least a non-factor in this addition of the game. With the female 5-person alliance, we can have a bit more backing that this might work (Chelsea also happened to mention this as part of strategy coming into the game in an Insider clip). The only thing is that it seemed to come about so early in the game, on the walk into camp. And flimsy at that, and was editted so - with different factions of the five only quickly checking in with each other about their approval. (Far different than what we saw with the "beach alliance" we saw forming last season, which was one of the longest lasting alliances on Survivor) While I think some of the ladies in this alliance had the best showing in this episode, there is just no way this alliance will be intact. Odds are there will be a switch soon, and this will break up the five anyway. And I don't get the sense that these five will be tightly bonded that they would reform as an alliance if they all make it to a merge. My main sense of this is that Alicia seems to be too much trouble for the other woman to anchor themelves to her. Perhaps they could switch her out for someone like Christina (although this could just be my wishful thinking because I'd rather have the dominant alliance get rid of the "trouble-maker" - but this is often not the case, I'm still shaking my head that on Guatemala they kept Judd over Margaret) Still, there is reason why these alliances were highlighted so clearly and early, perhaps their undoing will happen early as well. Regarding some of the individuals, there were definitely some that stood out for me, and others that appear to be peripheral players. I must admit that I was psyched to see that almost all the players got a confessional in the first episode. Perhaps the editors are making a conscious effort to potray all the castaways rather than a select few. That being said, Bill and Kat were still left out. Interestingly both are part of their respective tribes hightlighted alliances, and both likely at the bottom of them. This can frequently be a good position, to be one of the lower profile members of a dominant alliance. Though it may not bode well for them that they were not given a confessional. Although for Kat, it could be promising that she was showcased at tribal council in what could be perceived as a mediator role. Could this be foreshadowing? There is a Jud (Fabio) vibe to her, as she seems aloof (for instance, what is "ambiance") and nonthreatening. While being the only one to speak up in Alicia's deliberate attempt to stir the pot (kind of like how Jud would be the voice to speak up to Naonka) A big difference with this comparison was that we heard acknowledgement of Jud's aloofness from him, showing his self-awareness and how it could factor into his game. We have yet to see this from Kat. If this season were to have a hidden winner, she could be a possibility. Although, I believe concesus is leaning toward a more outright winner, after Sophie's relatively hidden game last season. Others who seemed on the periphery, while having had a confessional or two, are Monica, Nina, Kourtney, Leif, Tarzan, Troyzan and Christina. Of these, I would separate out Christina and Troyzan because it seemed through the course of the episode that they were involved in more of the key scenes than others. Christina had a good showing with negotiating for fire, as well as standing up to Alicia during the argument at Salani's tribal council. Christina appeared sensible in both her confessional about needing fire, and then successfully following through with getting it. Although it might be a big Survivor no-no to tell someone to "shut up" (especially in front of Jeff who will surely milk it) she definitely appeared to be on the right side of the argument against Alicia (whether her tribemates honor this, we have yet to see). As for Troyzan, he seemed to be a voice of reason at times (whether you agree with him or not) in stating they don't need a chicken, and sharing about their decision not to finish the challenge. If he keeps up this omnipresence, but keeps it more subtle than overt, he could be going far. The heavy hitters this episode were clearly: Alicia, Sabrina, Matt and Colton Alicia: Ugh, it's hard for me to get a read on her longevity, because of all the castaways, I want this one gone... Now. She is Little Miss contradiction, or some might see it as hypocritical. She said it was a "party" to live with the guys, while in the first minutes she complained if a guy were to try to play her. She attempted, in her daisy-duke shorts, to try to get fire from the guys, and even offered that Monica would take her pants off (way to go, why not try to refrain from objectifying women, Alicia!) - and guess what, her attempts were unsuccessful. And then who do think she would oppose at Tribal Council - Christina, the person who was successful in getting the fire from the men. Was Alicia pissed that Christina got fire - probably not. She was more likely pissed that Christina was more successful at winning over the men than she was. So Alicia took it upon herself to call out Christina on the "game" that Alicia was trying to play (poorly, at that). This one's trouble. But we have yet to see where she ends up, unlike the "confict" between Matt and Colton on the men's tribe, we have yet to be shown through the editting who will be the victor in the conflict between Alicia and Christina. And although I feel it showed Alicia in a more negative light - there have been many times in Survivor where this person moves forward past the more likeable person. Sabrina: I must say, I might have a hard time reading her as well. Just like with wanting Alicia gone, on the other side of the spectrum, I want Sabrina to go far. We saw throughout the episode that she has the social game to work both within her tribe, and across tribal divides. This is such a good quality to have, especially with this season's twist. I'm just a bit concerned that Sabrina may have already called out what could've been her major mistake - which would be trusting Colton with the idol. I think she still has good standing with the ladies on her tribe, but if there is an early swap, or at merge time, she may be the first woman targeted simply because of her likeability and ties to a number of other players. Matt: During his crotch-shot confessional, which was segmented for even more effect, I feel like they editted this for him to seel his own fate, and with irony at that, when he stated "I'm sitting pretty as far as I'm concerned" Yet, another example of Matt's ineptness for this game, while there is an "I" in tribe, Matt's statement had too many "I"'s and one could argue that Survivor is anything but "sitting pretty" (however, nice he may be to look at) To me, this guy is clearly toast. And his comeupance will be sooner than not. More the question will be, how much of a role will Colton play in his ouster? It's not looking good for Matt, as they cut to Matt when Colton received the idol from Sabrina. Colton: two of episode's other heavy hitters were tied to this player. Matt mentioning in confessional (and to Colton himself) what he thinks Colton's gameplan should be, and Sabrina mentioning whether or not she should trust him (and then of course deciding to give him the idol) as well as also advising him on his gameplay. Interesting juxtaposition if you ask me. Why all this attention? In many senses Colton got the most attention in the premiere episode. But not all of it was positive. He was so outward with his fraternizing with the other tribe, which could likely be construed as scheming, and showing this so much through the edit could be evidence of what his mistake will be with his gameplay. Although I remember seeing Jenna as inept in this area too and perceived her as negative by her overtly bonding with the boys (whether telling Dave everything about her tribe when they met for reward, or her fawning and defense over Alex) Still she made it all the way, despite it seeming like poor gameplay. Perhaps it let people's guard down about her ability. The same could be said for Colton. It would be funny if he were this season's Queen of the Amazon - could he get that far? It's going to take a few more episodes to get a better read on him. As he is such an apparent character to highlight regardless of his standing, that he would surely garner a lot of attention from the editors. He was in the mix with two of the storylines of the first ep: fitting in with your tribe, and the finding of the first HII. I think it will be telling if Matt is voted out soon for the guys, as Colton was editted saying "if I get what I want, his torch is going out" Another ego-driven statement, but Colton has not been portrayed as arrogant as Matt (although as we are seeing in confessionals, he is). He's been fleshed out a bit more, so it looks like he'll win in the Matt vs. Colton match. So, if Matt is gone early, how much longer is it for Colton. Well, at least as long as it will be for us to see if Sabrina was right in trusting him, and perhaps as long as until way into the game if he gets further woven in storylines with other players. 5 others to watch: Jay: after they were referenced as the frat boy alliance, he was the one to be shown having the awareness: "we're putting a huge target on our back" (to which Matt stated "no we're not"). He was also the Manano member who got the fire started. So, it seems like he's in a good position within the tribe, and one of the safest in his alliance. For now, Matt seems pretty strong-willed about the tribal divide, and could prove to be the most loyal. It's going to be a matter of flexibility that comes into play for Jay. That being said, all looks good for Jay sticking around for awhile. Michael: My read on Micheal is more about where he lies within his alliance. He appears to be somewhat of a mix between Jay and Matt. He doesn't appear as arrogant as Matt, although this could show up (especially if Matt is ousted early). He also appears to be loyal to his tribe like Jay. His "stealing" scene was portrayed more positive than negative (ala Rupert). He also had that good campfire scene with Kim and Kat, in which he showed he can be somewhat diplomatic. And he was wise enough to ask Kim about who she thought was in control, and she answered (revealing her insights on the opposing tribe). So, he could be savvy to ask the right questions to help him get a good lead on the other players. Also in his favor, no interactions with Colton were shown, who will, if given the power, choose someone else as his target over Michael. Chelsea: her confessional about the girl's tribe being "a big ball of bad-#####-ness" was very good for her, especially as she proved her bad-#####-ness within the episode by catching not one, but two, chickens. Yes, she did go back on the "agreement" to split the chickens, but this scene was editted more about Matt's extreme reaction, than to show that Chelsea was in the wrong for not sharing. I get a similar vibe with her, as I do with Jay for the guys. She's loyal, she's social enough, and physical enough - she'll be going far unless something really crazy happens. Kim: Seemed to be a strong presence on her tribe and in the episode. She had my favorite confessional of the ep, when she stated that she wasn't a fan on the "woman power" but went with the alliance anyway Primarily because with the men stealing right off the bat, she knew that the game was on. She showed strategy, flexibility, and was even laughing it off - all qualities that will get her far in the game. The other key scene with her was at night talking with Michael, with Kat alongside. It was one of the few more prominent times that the men and women were connecting, (and not in the over-the-top or forced ways that we've seen with Colton). It seemed more subtle and natural, and more importantly it showed Kim in a good light, by having a more accurate reading of who was seemingly in charge over at Manano (at least with respect to what viewers are being shown) even though she was divulging it to Michael. I think if anything this would be helpful to have showed him that she is observant and someone he could possibly trust and align with. Jonas - in my opinion he got the best edit out of everyone. A personal confessional within the first minutes. Second confessional stating something positive about a tribe mate, who happened to be the first little person to appear on the show (and a likely sentimental favorite). His negotiating scene with Christina, proved far more diplomatic than we've seen from any of the other men. All this, and little drama or negativity involving him, even though we know it was going on around him. If he continues to build a story arc, around all these other stories, which may be pre-merge, he's looking really good to get to the finals.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-20-12, 00:29 AM (EST) 14. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Nice post, Aaron, I see we are on the same page on these players, even Micheal because I may have been too rough on him. I have some comments: >I felt that the woman's tribe >had a bit more range >to it's portrayal. Yes, but it could be because they went to TC and Sabrina found an idol. There was more there to show. We still have to wait and see. >Regarding the alliances... > it seemed very apparant >to me that they won't >succeed. I had the same feelings but some of those in the alliances should be there at the end or then why even bother? >The only thing is that it seemed >to come about so early in the game, >on the walk into camp. The same happened in Australia but it wasn't shown. Tina, Jerri, Mitchell, Colby and Amber formed the Ogakor5 alliance during their trek and Amber was their Kat. >Perhaps >they could switch her out >for someone like Christina Or perhaps the producers will switch it for them! If, say, Chelsea, Kim and Kat find themselves with Christina while Alicia gets swapped to the other side, they might not have a choice but to align with Christina. Sort of like how Judd aligned with Cindy even if he hated the zookeeper at first. >I'm still shaking >my head that on Guatemala >they kept Judd over Margaret Since Guatemala is one of my favortie seasons, I can tell you why: Even before the swap, Judd and Bobby Jon had enough of Margaret's bossines. Mother-hen they called her. Then, when the swap occurred, we saw Steph's alliance court Judd into joining them but, when he wavered, they also talked to Margaret. We didn't se that but Margaret's voting confessional made itv clear. She said something like: "I am voting Lydia because I gave my word tvo Brooke and I have to go with party lines." When judd did vote against Brooke, NuNakhum knew they could trust him even if Rafe knew it meant they had become the axis of evil! >There is a Jud (Fabio) >vibe to (Kat), as she >seems aloof... > A big difference with >this comparison was that we >heard acknowledgement of Jud's aloofness >from him, showing his self-awareness >and how it could factor >into his game. We >have yet to see this >from Kat. I'd say that is indeed a key difference but, like you wrote, Kat still has time to surprise us.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-21-12, 02:29 AM (EST) 16. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Thanks for the comments, Michel! Good point about the ladies being fleshed out more possibly due to their date with TC. Although for the most part I thought the episode itself seemed pretty evenly split with attention given to each tribe - due to living on the same beach, and even the idol focus, as it involved members from both tribes. I liked that it was rather balanced. Would be interesting to see if this changes in future episodes. Yes, regarding the alliances shown, some will most definately last, and it will be fun determining early on who those players may be. Nice little tidbit you share about Australia's early alliance. I imagine there are a bunch of alliances thrown together early on througout the seasons that we aren't privy to. Perhaps they actually showed the audience these alliances this time around to set up more suspense for an eventual swap. And you may just be right with Christina getting switched into the alliance due to help from production's placement of the swap. Thanks for the further explanation around Guatemala. Makes sense! Although I thought it was a good season, I didn't watch it on-line at time, and I'm sure I didn't get to see all the scenes (or any of them repeated) like I do now. Perhaps, that will be next on my list as a season to re-watch. Yeah, Kat could be interesting to watch over the next couple of episodes. It just seemed like there were a couple of times that they honed in on her where it appeared like she wasn't a player, yet at tribal we saw a different side. Regarding the difference with Jud, and her showing awareness of this in confessional (or through editing), they might choose not to edit that in, otherwise it might be too obvious that she was using a similar strategy as Jud (as he was a recent winner) Not to mention the fact that she would probably get a different edit than him simply because she is a female player, right?!   Top

CTgirl 8013 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-20-12, 10:48 PM (EST) 15. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" My impression was that the women weren't as much of a mess or "crazy" as the editting wanted us to believe. These were my thoughts exactly. The women as characters were portrayed in a much better light than the men IMO, especially Kim and Chelsea. I could root for a lot of them and I believe some of them will get their act together and turn their game around. The men came off horribly in my mind: Matt is a tool, Jay's voice reminded me of L'il Hantz, Tarzan and Troyzan had the ick factor and Bill was invisible but is part of the frat boy alliance by association. Jonas came off very well as did Leif until he opened his mouth. I'm not expecting much from him. Surprisingly, even though Michael stole the women's things at the beginning which I found incredibly annoying, I didn't have a terrible impression of him at the end of the game. These are my first week impressions and could get totally rearranged after the second episode!!   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-21-12, 02:38 AM (EST) 17. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Hi CTgirl! Interesting to hear that you saw the woman this way too. I was actually a bit surprised that I came out of the episode feeling that I'd be rooting for several of the woman characters(I thought it would be one or two from each tribe) I'm still wondering how much of this was based on editing and how much was based on their profile (as I did watch the Insider intro interviews) I think episode 2 will be really telling depending on which ones get strong showings again. Not to mention, if any of the men will get some more positive light.   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 02-21-12, 07:09 AM (EST) 19. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" What a weird first episode. I don't think I've ever had less of a feel for how a season is going to go than this, everything was so flat and lifeless and just kind of meandering. I'm still excited for the season to progress, but yeah.. I'm going to hold my major analysis til I see E02, but here are my major thoughts :- Based on the interviews, my pre-season pick was Kim, with Troyzan and Jonas as back ups. Pre-season picks were much harder this year because there was hardly any interview footage and I always find, say, the Dalton Ross interviews much more useful for getting a gut feeling for someone than the CBS ones as the contestants are still busy playing a role in those. Kim is still probably my number one contender, but Jonas would be pretty much equal after the premiere - a lot of care and attention given to him. Plus, he was literally the only guy to get a positive edit. Everyone else either came off as invisible or a grade A d-bag. I'd say Troyzan is somewhat exempt from that as they made an effort to show that his whining was somewhat founded. Don't think he'll win anymore, but he's definitely post-merge. Unlike Tarzan who I think will be gone pretty soon considering how weak his showing was in the first episode. Sabrina is definitely the other winner contender besides Kim and Jonas. I need to see another episode before I throw my weight behind her, but she's definitely got strong potential to win and had a great first showing. Be interesting to see how much of it was because of circumstance. Still, definitely someone who will be around at F5/6 minimum. Matt is pretty much dead man walking. Besides the cocky (albeit - in my opinion - kind of founded) confessionals, it was all about how there is no way he could possibly fail. Pair this with the fact the editors all but spelled out his dodgy mathematics, he'll be gone in the next few weeks. I have no idea what to make of Colton's edit other than that he's just THE WORST. I personally think he got a dumb player edit to a point about ostracizing himself from the team and having no clue about how to play the game. But who knows? He could fall into a big swing vote role and he has received a lot of pre-season press... Alicia is clearly set up to be this seasons big villain, but I think she got enough care with her edit for it to be a long term role, unlike Matt for example. She was clearly wrong in the TC arguement and I think we were meant to see that. No way she wins. I personally thought Christina came off very well in it all and we were meant to sympathize with her (particularly as she was shown procuring fire etc) but since all her confessionals were short term and situational, I don't see her making it too far. I can't decide what I think of Kat yet. My take on the TC was she looked quite childish with her head buried in her hands. *shrugs* I'm reserving judgement til next week. Leif is interesting because he was mostly neglected. At first I thought it meant he was an early boot and therefore inconsequential. Now I wonder if he might be more important but, since he doesn't win, they're trying not to let us get too attached to him (similar to Cirie being UTR for the first two episodes in FvsF). Again, I'm holding out til next week to call it. WINNER PICKS - Kim >Jonas >Sabrina   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 02-21-12, 07:39 AM (EST) 20. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Also - BIG FAVOUR this season? Can we try not to accuse people of being spoiled openly in the forum this year? I am definitely for calling them out in PMs or to Moderators or whatever, but if you do it in the middle of the forum, it makes it so obvious that whoever that person was championing for the win (or, alternatively, calling as a boot) is spoiled to win/go far/etc etc. I delved in to edgic on sucks a few days ago and literally the first post was someone complaining about someone siding with the 'spoiled winner'. Thankfully I didn't see who they were referring to (I tend to read sucks with my fingers over my eyes at the best of times) but, now that there appears to be winner spoilers out there, I'd appreciated as little being intentionally or unintentionally given away as possible.. And, if you are spoiled, I don't think you have a right to be entering into a debate on the potential winner, period.   Top

Outfrontgirl 6830 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-25-12, 07:41 PM (EST) 26. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" glennyfromtheblock wrote: >>> Also - BIG FAVOUR this season? Can we try not to accuse people of being spoiled openly in the forum this year? I am definitely for calling them out in PMs or to Moderators or whatever, but if you do it in the middle of the forum, it makes it so obvious that whoever that person was championing for the win (or, alternatively, calling as a boot) is spoiled to win/go far/etc etc. I delved in to edgic on sucks a few days ago and literally the first post was someone complaining about someone siding with the 'spoiled winner'. Thankfully I didn't see who they were referring to (I tend to read sucks with my fingers over my eyes at the best of times) but, now that there appears to be winner spoilers out there, I'd appreciated as little being intentionally or unintentionally given away as possible.. And, if you are spoiled, I don't think you have a right to be entering into a debate on the potential winner, period. ____ Where to start and still be nice ... "calling them out to Moderators?" This is not a Spec forum. This is Spoilers. All spoilers are welcome to post in all topics here. This is VerucaSalt's topic. She has posted it for many seasons. She has said numerous times that it was never her intent to bar spoiled folks from the topic. She has asked one thing only: please don't post spoilers in this topic. I highly resent the movement of late to berate people who don't confine themselves to spec forums to stay out of this topic. If you don't like it, go back to the Edgic topic and Sucks. If people want to waste their time trying to read into the posts of people they think know something, that is their own problem. I am tired of hearing about it and tired of people being rude to spoilers in a SPOILER forum. btw, I am not aware of even one end game spoiler, and after your post I looked at Sucks Spoilers, which I haven't followed this season -- and saw nothing. So basically you are complaining here because someone at Sucks complained that someone at Sucks picked a "spoiled" winner called out by a non-credible spoiler topic that has probably been locked by Anti for being totally bogus. I cannot tell you how much I hate the idea that regulars here will be treated badly because people think they know stuff that they don't, or even if they do know something. They have just as much a right to be in this debate as you do, period -- until and if Veruca states in her top post that she wishes it to be for unspoiled posters only.   Top

PepeLePew13 26134 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-26-12, 02:05 PM (EST) 30. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Second. I do want to emphasize the need to keep known end-game spoilers out of this thread (yes, referring to Belle Book, in particular) and try to be as neutral as possible to focus on the editing, but I see no reason whatsoever to suggest that people who might know certain spoilers should be kept out of this thread.   Top

parathor 250 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Network TV Show Guest Star" 02-21-12, 09:18 AM (EST) 21. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" I can't believe we're already at another season! I think you're right on with Jonas. Hero edit, for sure. I suspect he'll go far, if not win the whole thing. Sabrina also got a hero edit, but it seemed more narration than hero. Still, she's probably my third or fourth favorite right now. I think Kat was highlighted to be dim, or super-dim, but I think she could still go far. This season's goat? Or a girl to carry to the end? Regarding Michel's analysis of Chelsea - I really want her to do well (I'm a sucker for girls in baseball caps), but her story of catching the chickens didn't get her the screentime that it should have. She didn't bargain anything (leaving it to others), she didn't complain much about the guys (again, others), she did well enough in the IC to not be remembered... Mid-level player at best... which is unfortunate, because I'm totally cheering for her. Colton, Troyzan, and Alicia all seem like villains, with (presumably) one going soon, and one staying a long time. Cochran (last season) stayed a while, so it's possible that Colton (similar in physical prowess, and usefulness, to their tribe) stays longer than Alicia (making waves already?) Everyone else was mildly forgetable (right now). But I think we'll probably be focusing on the players mentioned here (with maybe Christine?) as the season progresses. The rest are cannon fodder.   Top

suzzee 5961 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-21-12, 03:36 PM (EST) 23. "RE: The Players, The Game, The Editing - Survivor One World" Nice job AaronLittleton or can I just call you AL . CT took the words right out of my head but said it much better so I'll just ditto her thoughts. Sweet! Thanks to Ag!   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-25-12, 05:55 PM (EST) 25. "Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts:" The recap showed “18 Americans abandoned on an island with one goal in mind…” - Troyzan: “I just want to be known as the greatest Survivor of all time.” “ They were quickly divided: The men versus the women… …but not everyone was thrilled…” - Colton: “I’m the girl within the guy tribe.” “And, for the first time in Survivor history, two tribes found themselves co-existing on one beach…” (Jeff erased Thailand from his memory!) - Troyzan: “It seemed like total chaos.” “On the Salani tribe, a group of young women was running the show” - Alicia: “It’s Kim, Chelsea, Kitty-Kat, myself and Sabrina and it was done in a matter of seconds.” “At Manono, the muscle took control.” - Matt: “I’m aligned with Big Mike, Jaybird and Bill so I’m sitting pretty as far as I’m concerned.” “Sabrina thought she had it made when she found a hidden immunity idol but all she really had was a tough decision to make.” - Sabrina: “It’s for the Manono tribe. I have to give it up before the next tribal council.” “Sabrina gave the idol to the man on the outs: Colton.” “At the immunity challenge, a close race was cut short when Kourtney couldn’t continue. With Kourtney’s status in the game uncertain, the women headed for tribal council. At Tribal Council, the women imploded…” - Christina: “You are wrong so shut up!” “When it looked like it couldn’t get any worse, it did…” Jeff told them that Kourtney was out. “Despite the bad news, there was a glimmer of hope:” - Jeff: “Nobody else is going home tonight. There are 36 days left in the game and if you don’t get it together, none of you will make it to the end.” <Close-up of Kim> Did Jeff watch the same episode we did? None of the conflicts between Manono and Salani were mentioned, all we saw was Leif preventing Alicia from getting fire and we heard from Troyzan that it was total chaos. But, before we start thinking that this bodes well for those that were in inter-tribe conflicts (namely Matt, Micheal and Chelsea) let’s consider the possibility that the recap chose to ignore these conflicts because that wasn’t how the producers wanted the season to play out. Something like: Don’t remind the viewers and they will think it really is One World! What stood out was Troyzan who was presented as the one observing the chaos and giving us what could be a great winner’s quote. From the conflict that was shown, the one between Alicia and Christina, we never saw Alicia’s bad behavior because the scene started with Christina’s loud intervention. That is a definite warning sign as far as her future chances are concerned. Of all the decisions made last week, only Sabrina’s was mentioned. Is that the one that will turn out to be the bad one? Then again, that scene had to be showed to explain an upcoming conversation in this episode. Another small detail to note: Jeff said the challenge was close when, last week, it really didn’t appear to be that way. It could be a good sign for the women, making them appear to be more competitive than they really were (although this week’s showing will be hard to spin positively!) The Colton Show Salani – Night 3 When the women returned to camp, they were greeted by Micheal who told them he had tended their fire. Kat: “The guys said they were taking care of our fire when we were gone but, mind you, I am the fire person and, if they weren’t there when I got back, I probably would have started…” <she was attacked by a large insect!> “Wooh! Sorry! I would have been able to do it myself.” Micheal: “Tonight, a couple of the guys went out to the women’s camp to see what went on at Tribal Council. Kourtney is the only one that went home. They didn’t have to vote anyone out so, they are all safe and it’s kind of annoying.” We will remember that Micheal was the one chosen to give us this example of guys being heartless. If we are right about the recap, that the producers really wanted to see the groups mingle more and work together, then Micheal is part of the problem. Christina asked to speak to Alicia alone. Alicia: “Tribal Council couldn’t have gone any better than I planned. Thank you Christina for making yourself look crazy and telling me to shut up and for also lying.” We saw the two women agree to bury the hatchet and shake hands. Alicia’s confessional continued: “Please, if I saw her swimming in an ocean and she was drowning, I would probably look the other way! I have my five, Kim, Chelsea, Kat, Sabrina and myself so we can vote anybody out. We need to win challenges and Nina looks like a bag of rocks. I don’t even know what that analogy means but she is not moving.” That is two weeks in a row that the opening sequence presents the player about to be eliminated. Subtlety isn’t part of the boot story this season. Day 4 Sabrina took charge of the women’s discussion, saying they had to set some ground rules. Chelsea asked if they should choose a leader. Someone quickly nominated Sabrina. Chelsea agreed, saying Sab was direct and to the point. Kat chimed in saying they weren;t offended by what Sab says because it isn’t emotional. Monica hid her head in her hands in obvious disagreement but said nothing. Sabrina said she would take on the responsibility. Sabrina: “Managing the air-heads is going to be exhausting but, hopefully with the new leadership role, I can come in there and be like: Shhhush.” Tasks were divided in food, water and shelter. Monica said she’d take care of the water. Alicia proposed to take care of the food with Kat. Nina: “I don’t know what we’re going to do but, at this point, it is definitely the five younger gals, Kim, Chelsea, Kat, Sab and Alicia against Christina, Monica and I and I’m trying to find my place. There’s a definite immaturity factor in some of these women. I like Kat, I think she is fun but I am 51 years old and she’s driving me nuts. I just want her to shut up and work.” We then saw Kat and Alicia resting in the ocean so Nina is right about some of these women. Even Kat realized they were in trouble! The next scene showed the women finding tree mail and a strange message. Nearly 10 minutes into the episode and practically no sight of the men so, despite the new set-up, it still is possible to see which is the Tribe of Interest! Nina: “I was hoping it was food…” Once the men had brought their crate to the clearing, Bill read the instruction of the do-it-without-Jeff challenge. The men won a not-made-for-good-TV challenge. We only saw two huddles and, without Jeff’s comments, we didn’t even have the possibility of wondering if he was giving out clues for future events. Fortunately, we had some confessionals: Jay: “When the challenge starts, we wanted to have everything out of the box, on the ground. As soons as that happened, everbody started on the outside, worked their way in…” Bill: “…It’s going to start raining here soon so that tarp is the biggest benefit anyone can have.” Showing a bit if humor, we had a plunging view of Kat’s cleavage and then a woman’s voice shouting: “Mine are out! Mine are out!” Leif quickly looked over! Christina: “We have to win this!” After a tangled mess, the guys jumped in victory. In what could be seen as unsportsman-like conduct, Jonas spiked the ring in front of the women. Sabrina: “We lost the damn challenge and that hurt my soul. We needed a tarp like a fat kid needs cake…We were seconds away from winning. It wasn’t a horrible lost but, at the end of the day, it was a lost. No one remembers second place.” Interesting! Was that a hint that Sabrina will finish second? Manono Micheal: “Today, we won. It was like, game on and we all finished the challenge and we came out on top. We got the tarp and it was like icing on the cake. Our camp, it’s going to look great. The Manono tribe; we are going to have probably the best in history.” After watching Colton doing nothing while everyone was hard at work, Micheal had another confessional: “Colton has done nothing. He’s proved he’s the absolute worse person for our tribe. He does nothing...He feels like this is a vacation. He’s here to hang out in the girls’ camp.” Jonas figured that Colton had the girls in his hands and that if they were down in numbers, they were done He added: “He’s making Russell look like a freaking schoolgirl.” Interesting that the editors gave the confessionals to talk about the challenge win and its aftermath to Micheal, the one that didn’t participate. Since it turned into some Colton-bashing, even if it was well deserved, this could indicate the start of a conflict between the two. We know Matt is in Colton’s sight and an idol could take care of him but what about afterwards? From this, we can expect that it will be Micheal that will become Colton’s antagonist. Salani Colton was there, giving the girls a hand with the shelter. Sabrina told him he should try to bond with the guys. Colton: “I have nothing in common with the guys…Going with the girls is like a release for me because I have people I can relate to and talk to...I love the girls more than anybody on this island.” Kim told Colton to leave the shelter alone, that they were good. Sabrina: “Colton is like a virus. There doesn’t seem to be a cure for him. Today…I found myself entertain him half the morning so I asked myself what was I doing?!” She finally chased him away by saying they needed to have a girl-talk. Colton: “I go over there to help them and they are like: “You need to go”. They want to have a girl-meeting”. I need to find myself an island and build my own little hut, live there and just be my own little tribe, like the Colton-tribe or something.” We heard Sabrina saying that there was no meeting, she just wanted him out. Colton continued: “I will just keep digging deep and go over there because , in order for me to make a move, I honestly believe I need the girls.” Some time passed and we saw Colton returning to Salani and asking to talk to everyone. Sabrina: “Again, Colton has snaked his way into our damn camp. I don’t know if he has more estrogen in his body than us but I swear; what a drama-queen! We just don’t need that energy; just go to your camp.” Colton wanted the girls to know that he wasn’t about strategy, he just wanted to talk. Sabrina: “I don’t know about Colton’s craziness and now he’s crying. It’s just the more that he comes over, the more he starts becoming a jerk by the minute.” Kim explained the situation: “It’s not that we don’t want you around but you have to understand: We are two tribes. You are from the other tribe and you are in our camp and you are seeing everything we are doing so that is a really dumb, dumb move on our part.” Sabrina: “This is our tribe and we have to start owning our tribe, owning our thoughts, owning our action and owning our vision of what we want to look like further down the road without having a guy who acts like a girl involved. If he is running the show and we lose this damn game, I am going to slit my wrist.” The scene ended with Kim tellind Colton: “It’s not an option for us to have you over here all the time. We can’t.” Colton left with his tail between his legs. With the upcoming emergence of Colton as the “leader of the Misfits” it’s possible that this scene set up the women’s alliance for a fall. Their smart leader showed animosity towards the guy that had just received her idol. If he were to use it against her, it really would be like slitting her wrist, committing game-suicide. Is that where the story is heading? If it isn’t then it was quite notable to see that Kim was the one that handled Colton with a mix of diplomacy and firmness. A mother to a child. The question becomes: Is Colton a child or the ring leader? A skull was shown before the next Manono scene It was Tarzan’s part of the show. Jonas was banging the drums and the sexagenarian was dancing half naked around the camp fire. Colton: “Tarzan is crazy sometimes. I wouldn’t talk to these people outside of this game but in Survivor you have to do what you have to do. I have the immunity idol and I have to regroup, use the immunity idol to my advantage.” While we saw some people sleeping, including Micheal and Bill, Colton approached Troyzan, Jonas and Leif, saying: “I am playing this at the next tribal Council and I am not going home.” Troyzan asked where he got the idol and Colton replied: “The girls.” Troyzan: “Holy cow! I just found out some stuff tonight. My heart is pounding. I found out that Colton has the idol and we must get rid of some muscle, meaning Mike and Matt.” Jonas said: “We are set! We are set!” Jonas: “So, Colton reaches into his bag and he’s got this idol. Colton went from the first guy to get voted out to, now, the ring-leader. I knew the kid was a freak of nature as far as, like, the kid is ridiculously smart.” We heard Colton say: “I have to make Mike and Matt believe I’m still with them.” Colton: “I am on board with Troy, Leif, Jonas and Tarzan which is like the most random group in all the world but, until I can get with the girls, I have to associate with these Misfits. They can call themselves the Misfit-alliance, I’ll just be their king! This is my world! They should have called this “Survivor – Colton’s World!”” With the music swelling as we heard Leif saying: “This is it! This is it!” we have to admit that it could very well be the deciding moment in the game. The music’s crescendo was similar to what we hear in a final immunity endurance challenge when the moment of victorty appraoches so the clue is undeniable The Challenge Leif quickly figured the strategy while Kat was stopped by the other women’s boobs! The only things to make of this challenge was that Kat jumped in the water twice when she didn’t have to and that Monica showed some confidence by taking over. The men won. Sabrina told Monica she had done a good job while Chelsea played the role of post-game analyst: “It’s definitely the boobs are hard” (You never hear that on ESPN!!!!) Nina told Jeff that it was because they had no communication and no teamwork. Monica: “Kat jumped in when she didn’t even need to jump in. Not once; twice. I’m sad. I’m sad for women. This isn’t the way women are. I am so embarrassed.” Salani Sabrina started the women’s meeting and Kat apologized for her horrible communication skills. Both Monica and Sabrina said they liked her enthusiasm but, as Sabrina pointed out: “logic and strategy trumps rah-rah.” Sabrina: “Kat; I really like her energy but it needs to be channeled. We want to keep things controlled as much as possible. At least, I do if I’m going to be the leader and Kat is very young and emotional. There’s nothing wrong with being emotional if you can control it. She can’t control it at all then it’s a liability. However, Nina is like the walking dead around here. She knows her head is on the chopping block.” Nina: “We didn’t just lose we got our asses kicked. It wasn’t even close but everyone was going like “Kat, you did so good.” Kat! You jumped in the water twice, you dumb blonde.” Monica and Nina went to retrieve water and Monica said: “It doesn’t matter the order: Me, you and Christina are out.” Monica: “I am so low on the totem pole, How do I possibly go to somebody within the five and say: Would you guys be interested in getting rid of Kat? I mean, that’s my one-way ticket home. I’m hoping they’ll open their eyes but who knows with this group.” Nina called the tribe “witless”. Later, in the shelter, Nina approached Chelsea, telling her that Kat should be going home. Taking that information, Chelsea went for a walk on the beach with Kim. - Chelsea: “Nina…is really right about Kat. Kat makes us all out to look like freaking idiots. I know we need numbers but what if we voted Kat out?” Chelsea: “All eyes are on Kat right now. We are starting to look at the weaker players even if they are in our alliance. I am one of the strongest people on the tribe. so, if we decide to pick off the weakest link then Kat would be our pick.” To Kim, Chelsea added: “It kills me to talk to Nina because I understand everything she is saying.” - Kim replied: “I do too…I’m with you…but I think we need these girls to trust us.” Tribal Council Jeff put things in context, saying the women were off to one of the worst starts ever because of the total dysfunction within the group. Jeff asked Kim how she could help. Kim said she was a good communicator but she didn’t think there was a place for her voice yet. Nina said they were a divided tribe. There’s 5 against three. She named the alliance. Jeff asked about her background and Nina talked about her years on the police force and how that meant she could deal with pressure and be physical. She then threw Kat under the bus. Kat talked about her work with people but agreed she was young and had never experienced things like this. Nina then said that Kat wasn’t the good athlete she claimed to be because she couldn’t handle stress and wasn’t smart. Kim agreed with Jeff that the vote was between Kat and Nina. Chelsea agreed that they would probably form different alliances if they started over. Even Sabrina agreed. Alicia then agreed with Jeff that there was no women power going on and that it was embarrassing. Kat knew she was the source of the embarrassement. “It sucks” she said and started to cry. She said she’d understand if they sent her home but hoped they would believe in her like she believes in herself. She added: “I’m learning. I’m not calling Christina out but there are people that could be here just to be here as opposed to playing the game.” When Jeff pointed out that Kat had thrown her under the bus, Christina said: “You take it in and then you move on.” Sabrina said she hated that tip-toeing around the issue. She wanted things to be dealt with directly. Jeff asked Nina if it gave her hope to hear that Christina didn’t want to play the game. Nina said absolutely. Kat voted against Nina, noting that she wouldn’t have thrown her under the bus. Jeff sent them back to camp saying they had to get it together. The Story We are seeing a battle of alliances. It isn’t one alliance in each tribe picking off the blind players; there are two alliances in each tribe which makes for much more interesting dynamics. While the older women of Salani were clearly outmatched, the lack of airtime received by the Frat Boys’ alliance tells us that the power shift on Manono will succeed. The “Air-Heads”, the “Frat Boys” and the “Misfits”! Very interesting! But who will emerge from these alliances, the Air-Heads or the Misfits? Or could one of the outsiders find their way back to the top? Maybe we should look for those that are in the alliances but prove that they aren’t Air-Heads or Misfits and maybe that will lead us to a new alliance that will dominate this season. So let’s look at the individuals to see which ones appear to be long term players and could thus decide the outcome of the season. It is to be noted that, in a season where “fitting in” was an early theme, an alliance of Misfits would emerge. They don’t only have the music going for them. The Characters Their World is Tumbling Down Christina: Last week, her comment about getting fire in order to simply survive had us thinking that she wasn’t there to play the game. Our suspicions were confirmed in this episode. The viewers are left to understand it that way because Christina didn’t argue with Jeff about her desire to play the game and because Monica’s vote against Christina wasn’t explained, Monica appeared to think that Christina was a better choice to leave than Nina so she must have hoped the others would join in. (Of course, it could have been due to a promise Monica made to Nina that wasn’t aired but, if so, it isn’t part of the story.) Add the fact that the recap put the blame for the women’s implosion totally on Christina’s shoulders and that tells us that she won’t be able to save herself when her time comes. I’d expect her to be eliminated soon. Monica: Monica can still turn things around. Her best editing assets were Sabrina’s post-challenge acknowledgment (“good job”) and Chelsea’s comment to Jeff that the alliance would be different if they could start over. What is disappointing in her portrayal is this apparent fatalistic view. She was resigned, playing defensively, when we should see a desire to fight. She said she didn’t know how to approach the five and we didn’t see her even making an attempt. While she still has a story that could carry her to the end, it seems unlikely at this time. The World is their Oyster Micheal: Everything is great in Micheal’s world. He was even able to sit out a challenge and the men still won. It was icing on the cake as he said. He was blissfully ignorant of the dangers that “the absolute worse person” in the tribe could represent. It was troubling that his name suddenly popped up not only from Colton but also from Troyzan. Being the narrator of the Frat Boys’ alliance could give him a few extra episodes and showing him greeting the women could be a sign that he will get along with them. The only way Mike will turn into a long term player is if he benefits from a swap. Is that when his heartlessness will cost him? Matt: As we heard him say during the recap, he is still sitting pretty because the men are on a winning streak. Everything was working his way until he went to sleep a little too early. He should wake up in Loser Lodge before too long. Jay and Bill: They both have received non-descript edits. Their relative “invisiBillity” makes the assessment of their future uncertain. While both could be eliminated without drama, either one could survive a while. As of yet, neither appears to be an impact player. The Unworldly Tarzan : Despite his position in the alliance of Misfits, Greg is really the Comic Relief of the season. Note that he wasn’t present in the scene where that Misfits’ alliance was formed so his inclusion in it could be misdirection but I doubt it. The Misfits is where he belongs! He probably greeted the news of the alliance with a little dance that, thankfully, we were spared. Leif : Being such an underdog to win this game, it’s troubling that Leif isn’t featured more than this. It’s as if we were being told not to get too attached to this character. He is in a good position now that the Misfits have the numbers yet we do not hear from him and he has no personal development. There is still a lot of time to get to know Leif and his game so we can’t rule him out but he cannot be considered a contender right now. Colton : This episode was his show much like South Pacific’s pre-merge was dominated by Cochran’s story. Fortunately, we don’t have anyone saying that he could win this thing, that his passion for the game is key. Yes, he may be smart but his game is already exposed. Both the women and his allies are aware of the danger he represents. Colton’s victory should be limited to outlasting a few Frat Boys. If he goes on to win, I feel most viewers will slit their wrists… Jonas : Showing him spiking the ring in front of the girls could be a sign of arrogance but it wasn’t that big a deal since no one commented on it. It wasn’t like Mia’s moon dance while winning Vanuatu’s balance beam challenge that irritated the men so much. The important scene for Jonas was the night time formation of the Misfits. He, along with Troyzan, was the one to talk about it but his intervention was limited to how he felt about Colton. Just like he talked about Leif in the previous episode. Will his role be limited to narrator of the Misfits or will this sushi chef prove to be a badass? The jury is still out as far as I’m concerned. Troyzan : The recap showed an interesting, unaired segment of one of his early confessionals. Were his words meant to show his arrogance or will he really prove to be a force in this game? For now, his “heart pounding” confessional has to be considered as part of a build-up to a big story. He told us what Colton’s revelation would do and how it would impact the game. Getting rid of the muscle would help him a lot, put him in a position where he’ll be one of the strongest. Along with Jonas, he could fit in much more easily than the other three members of the alliance, especially if he lets the Tarzan stuff to Greg. Was I too hasty last week and could this be his Island? Suddenly, it looks possible. Their Worlds Collide Kat : She has to hope that the comments about Nina were meant to explain the women’s choice. Nina was like a bag of rocks and she was the walking dead but the overall impression still remains that Kat should have gone. On the other hand, Kat could still turn out to be a long term player, the one that gets carried to the end for an easy victory. Maybe that’s why she received such a ambivalent treatment. Thrown under the bus in some scenes (not only the challenge but the ocean scene with Alicia) then redeemed in others: She has enthusiasm, she takes care of the fire, she is learning and her voting confessional showed no bitterness. That’s seems too much care for a player that would exit soon. Alicia : She was the one to tell us that the alliance that most regretted making was done in a matter of seconds so she gets the blame for that. In addition, it is the alliance of Air-heads, plural so Kat isn’t the only one! Of the other 4, Alicia is the only one that qualifies. She fits in! Chelsea : She continued to get a nice portrayal. She smartly nominated Sabrina as leader and then she was the one that was approached by Nina. On the other hand, she was the one that said she regretted making such a hasty decision on forming an alliance so that could be a sign that things will turn against her. Bt thining of eliminating Kat, she showed a lack of loyalty which goes against a season’s theme. Sabrina : With the amount of confessionals she is receiving we can already say that the game will be decided, one way or another, by her decisions (or what will be presented as her decisions). Colton’s idol and Kat’s save were her decisions and should shape the whole pre-merge. How will her decision to send Colton away turn out? Cirie had to deal with an alliance of nutballs so it was funny to hear that Sabrina called her alliance the air-heads. We heard two comments that make us think Sabrina won’t win: “Nobody remembers second place” and “If he is running this show and we lose the damn game, I will slit my wrist”. Of course, that could simply be to tell us what she will have to fight against. Kim : By the way the camera showed her, we can say that Jeff’s post Council advice in episode 1 was directed at Kim. In this tribal council, he urged her to tell the group what she could bring to the table. We heard that communications skills is what the women need and communication skills are exactly what Kim can provide so, once her voice does get heard, we could expect things to turn her way. It seemed significant that, in a season where the women have to get it together, her voice still hasn’t found its place. Right now, it seems that the women could profit from a new leader even if Sabrina isn’t the problem (in sports a new coach often gets a team to play better even if the former coach wasn’t the problem) and we heard Kim saying that she needs the others to trust her first. That, in Survivor is often the key. Her talk with Colton was interesting as she told him to go but explained why he had to. It could signal a possible understanding between the two later on. Jonas, Troyzan, Chelsea, Sabrina and Kim they are all either in the alliance of Misfits or the alliance of Air-Heads but none really qualify so they are the players to watch. I can see arguments that anyone choosing the nickname Troyzan should be a misfit by definition but his edit has showed him to be mostly level-headed. That, in itself could be the manipulation needed to shape the winner’s story!   Top

dabo 26942 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-25-12, 08:12 PM (EST) 27. "RE: Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts:" LAST EDITED ON 02-25-12 AT 08:26 PM (EST) I found myself educating him half the morning so I asked myself what was I doing?! Part of this story is that Colton can't even take advice from those he likes. He doesn't like the situation, the contrived reality of the men tribe and the women tribe, but rather than accept how things are he wants to change it more to his liking. Even good game advice falls on deaf Colton ears. It's as if Cochran and Brandonhantz have been merged into one character with the worst traits of both.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-26-12, 02:11 PM (EST) 31. "RE: Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts:" ?? Sabrina did say "entertaining" not educating. Even if she had said educating, it doesn't change much, if anything, of the analysis. Although, listening back to that scene, it reminded me that Jonas compared Colton to Russell, not Brandon. Maybe we should start fearing seeing Colton go all the way to the F3?! "Even good game advice falls on deaf Colton ears" I think he has his own ideas of what makes a good game and, right now, it's working for him.   Top

dabo 26942 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-26-12, 02:38 PM (EST) 32. "RE: Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts:" Well, I heard "educating" and it makes a difference, but if you heard "entertaining" whatev -- gufu to the sound mixer. He was getting advice from the women and it was bouncing off, and it hardly seems his game is working for him when he considers himself an island of one. It's much too early to obtain perfect goat status, IMO, but with the HII he could run this all the way to Final. Hope not, but this story may have legs.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-29-12, 03:48 AM (EST) 41. "RE: Episode 2 - Editing Thoughts:" Great analysis, Michel! Nice that you also noticed how Michael was chosen for the confessional post reward, although he didn't participate. I like that you've picked up on the negative tones to what they are showing for him. For some reason I haven't been picking up on this. I guess it's been more noteworthy to me that he's been shown more than most of the other guys, both in scenes and in confessionals, which I was thinking would be good for his longevity. But the negative vibe could be indicator that he gets cut short. Interesting note about the music when Leif commented during the Misfit alliance scene. And nice to see that you highlighted even more than what I noted with Troyzan being shown with such a strong comment in the recap, and the ep. It's going to be really interesting to see how an episode plays out when the men are going to tribal (which will likely be ep 3). I'm sure there will continue to be lots of focus on Colton, but I'm going to keep my eye on Michael and Troyzan, and how they are treated amidst it all. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of their tribal dynamics, even if I feel we've been easily handed a Matt boot. As for the ladies of Salani, I'm pretty much in full agreement of your assessment. Good stuff!   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-26-12, 00:00 AM (EST) 28. "Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" Highlights from Episode: Recap Good showing for Troyzan with 2 sound bites Matt was highlighted saying "sitting pretty" in the recap, then was pretty much ignored during the rest of the episode The recap and the first segment hightlighted the 5-person woman's alliance - all within the first 5 minutes of the show. This could likely be because it was pivotal to the boot story of the episode and some of the Salani's decision to not vote out the weakest. Was it also drilled in because it will continue to play into the storyline First Segment Mike had a good showing when the women came back to camp. Kat got her first confessional. I found that she didn't come off as "dumb" as they would usually edit Dumb players to be, even though she's not being portrayed as the sharpest tool in the shed. Once again I felt that she received that silly Jud-vibe to her in her confessional with swatting at flies, didn't they once show a confessional with Jud getting distracted by some island critter as well?! Alicia and Christina are revisited after last ep's TC. They were shown making up, but Alicia got the confessional. Even though I don't particularty like her, I feel her confessional wasn't as negative as her showing last ep. (and that some may have agreed with her assessment that stirring it up at tribal worked for her) Still, she got the confessional about this and not Christina. Although the editors could've chosen her to summarize the fight/make-up as she appears to give better sound bites. Second Segment The women discuss leadership, and Sabrina steps up after the women pretty quickly all state that she's the woman for the job. They showed Chesea in particular making the case. Kind of like taking the approach of hidden leader appointing the outward leader (who would be more likely to get targeted later on) In her newly assigned leadership role, Sabrina begins to review the other women's roles. Something I found interesting was that it was edited to hone in when Sabrina was talking about Kat and Alicia getting food. She says, "go on, and survey the land" and Kat's response, "I don't want to observe the land" Sabrina overlooks the mistake by Kat, and just further described what she meant. Yet another scene purposely shown, about Kat's supposed dimness (or as Nina would say "witlessness") Is this reality or strategy? Nina pretty much summed up the Salani tribe as it has been served to us. There is the alliance of 5 - while her, Monica, and Christina are on the outs. Nina's confessionals were actually fun, sad to see her go ;( Reward There was finally some focus on Bill reading the rules for the reward. And Bill gets his first confessional. The last of the cast to do so, which is a record in recent seasons in not having anyone with 0 confessionals past ep 2 Jay, Christina and Sabrina also get confessionals about the the reward. And we can note a fist bump between Leif and Troyzan. Other than this, the Reward challenge told little Third Segment When the Manano tribe came back to camp, interestingly Mike, the one who sat out from the reward, got the confessional about how good it was for his tribe to win the challenge & the tarp Then Mike gets a second confessional about how Colton isn't working like the other men. To which we also see Jonas make a comment to Bill and Mike comparing Colton to Russell Hantz. Perfect segue for us to be shown Colton heading over to the women's tribe. We get to hear Sabrina's sound bite about "Colton is like a virus" and in her confessional we hear awareness from her basically that Colton is creeping into her game more than she would like. Then we get Colton's cofessional in which we hear him feeling sorry for himself and needing his own island, which is likely to make a large percent of the viewing audience roll their eyes or laugh at the TV. Although we also get to hear some strategy talk from him about how he needs some of the women to factor into his game. Colton journeys back to Salani, and Sabrina and Kim spell it out for him that he cannot be there. While Sabrina's confessional was shown, and let us see that she is getting a better read on Colton, she also states that if he is running the show, then basically they are screwed. And kinda with an invisible thump a big question mark is put out there. Fourth Segment Nightime at the men's camp, and after some entertainment from Tarzan, Colton shares the his ownership of the idol with Troyzan, Leif and Jonas (notably Tarzan is absent from this, even as he is considered part of the group of misfits). Troyzan then shares with the camera that they need to target the muscle "we need Mike and Matt out" Interestingly, he stated Mike first. Then we get Jonas sharing with the camera, that "Colton went from first-voted out to the ring-leader" And once again we have Jonas commenting on a positive attribute about one of his tribemates in Colton being "ridiculously smart." Then we hear Colton whispering, we have to make "Matt and Mike still believe I'm with them, otherwise..." Another indicator here that Matt is Colton's first choice as he stated him first before Mike. The Immunity Challenge Other than the completely inept performance from Kat, of note was: Jeff to Colton and Matt: "Nice recovery, nice balance" Colton to Matt, "hold me, hold me, hold me.. I got you, I got you" Priceless! What a quote. Is this Colton's strategy in a hutshell, "hold poor little me... and then, I'll get you" And he said this to Matt - his announced first target. Monica steps up and does the best job for the women, but too little too late. Will this be her theme within the season. We even see a caption of Sabrina whispering "Good job Monica" And Monica gets the voiceover/confessional stating how poor Kat's perfromance was, which was pretty accurately stated, and is the voice of the audience, stating "I'm embarrassed for women" This was one of the most frustrating challenges to watch ever, with Kat so blatantly doing a horrible job. It reminded me of Vanuatu's first Immunity Challenge, where Chris could not hack the balance beam. An equally atrocious performance by Kat, and she was saved with the vote at tribal due to being in the dominant five alliance, just like Chris was with his tribe (and we all know how far he went) Fifth segment Back from tribal, once again the women group together and discuss. With apologies from Kat, and confessional from leader/tribe narrator Sabrina. We get some more cut and dried truth from Monica and Nina. Monica continues her confessional with stating some stategy about how the 5 can swap out Kat for someone else... but who knows? Nina pleads the case for Kat to Chelsea. To which Chelsea states "Trust me, I've been embarrased since I've been here" Chelsea speaks to Kim in private. Calls Kat the weakest in the alliance. Kim states "I think we need these girls to trust us" Pretty much indicating that it's too early for them to go back on the 5. Tribal Council Jeff first addresses Kim. She states that she thinks she's a good communicator. And she states that "I don't think there's a place for my voice YET" More voice of reason from Nina, but it doesn't matter as the alliance of 5 is revealed and discussed. Jeff asked Chelsea if she could go back and change this alliance would she, she says yes, and Jeff goes to Sabrina, and Sabrina agrees. Jeff then goes to Alicia, and Alicia gives props to Monica. A lot of focus was put on Kat, and her choosing to take the blame. Will the others find her sincere and give her sympathey? At least as far as the vote they did. All in all, I felt it was a good episode. It was nice to see they 2 remaining players get a confessional! This episode wasn't as balanced as the first between the 2 tribes, but this was clearly because the women went to tribal. The episodes title was called Total Dysfunction, which was Jeff's opinion of the Salani tribe. Although we started to see elements of them coming together, however minimally - appointing a leader, sticking with their main alliance when they were tempted to reconsider. Their Ep 1 felt like more dysfuction. With Ep 2, however dismal their Immunity Challenge performance, showed a slight movement above it. Will their Ep 3 finally bring them to a more prominent standing? Also of note, I felt like their TC was nicely balanced. Of course there was lots of discourse between Kat and Nina. We still heard from Christina and Alicia, and more notably Kim - and bunches of screenshots of her and Chelsea. Monica even got a few screenshots, as well as the mention from Alicia. And Sabrina continued her good showing, which was in every segment of this episode It appears that they are setting up the story for when the men final do go to tribal. Ep 1: Colton on the outs, Colton gets idol, Colton hates Matt. Ep 2: Colton bonds with the misfits by revealing idol, Troyzan confirms target on getting rid of the muscle, Colton acknowledged as having power. What will Act 3 show? Well it looks like from the promos that these three men will be the focal point of the men's first TC. Of note, Mike's name has also been brought up to target, but we have not seen any interaction between Mike and Colton (other than the awkward "hug" during the challenge - ha) If we were to have a showdown with them, the editors would have showed us something to foreshadow what's coming. I mentioned this last episode and it carried through in this episode (Interestingly enough there was a scene between these two in the Insider clips). So in terms of editing, their scenes are purposely being left out as I suspected. I believe this is because Colton will not intially target Mike. Which leaves the question: Are the editors handing us the first male boot by showing Colton's clear disdain for Matt? Secondary players for Episode 2: Manano: Tarzan, Leif, Matt, Bill and Jay - of these guys, Jay looks to be in the best shape to last longer, as his confessional, along with ep 1, has him coming across like he's sharing narrator duties. Salani: Alicia, Christina, Nina (as the boot) and Monica. To me, the most notable of these was the positive light that Monica received throughout the episode. In additon to her doing well in the challenge, we got her voice-of-reason confessionals, and we heard her get props from both Sabrina and Alicia. During a tribal shots (while looking very beautiful I might add) she seemed to have a knowingness in her expression. Can she turn it around? The editors may just be giving her some good airtime, knowing that due to the tribal dynamics, this very apt woman just might not make it in the luck department. Primary players for Episode 2: Mike: He got most of the confessional time for the Manano tribe. Again, he had a scene talking with the women, showing his diplomatic ability. His name has come up with Matt, as the first of the "muscle" to be targeted. Yet we haven't seen any other indications of him being in danger. Can he be first to go? Likely not, it seems like he's been shown repeatedly with conversing with the women, and I think this will continue so that we see him in a newly configured tribe with some of them. Jonas: Not the strongest episode, but he is still one of the castaways that we are hearing talking about the other players. This time it was Colton, who has been front and center the first two episodes. And Jonas was shown as part of the configuration of the "misfit" alliance. Troyzan: His recap highlights almost gave him leader status of the men's tribe going into the episode. He seems to be shown throughout the challenges and camp scenes more prominantly than the secondary player. Hearing his thoughts on strategy after learning about the idol from Colton should bode well for him. Especially as his thoughts were aligned with what we had already heard from Colton. Colton: What more needs to be said about him - he's already been mentioned so much - ha! Obviously as more and more players distinguish that "drama" is his middle name, he will continue to get lots of attention from the editors. Goodness, we might not have seen drama like this since Naonka (and the editors still couldn't keep their hands of her reels, even as she became a quitter) I feel as long as he's in the game, he's going to get airtime, which will make his edit tricky to determine between his longevity and what is being used for entertainment purposes. Sabrina: Wow, Sabrina had an even better showing this episode, after a great showing in ep 1. Sabrina is in the mix of many things, and we're being shown this. And she's also a great narrator. The thing for me about her is, I can't see how she can keep this up. It will be interesting to see when her screentime dips, and how. Will she eventually start playing a quieter game, or will other developments around her simply upstage her. My main concern with Sabrina is we've seen her vocalize some things that may come back to haunt her. She had a couple of mentions of Colton surprising her, and these were in confessionals. Also, her punctuating Chelsea's point that she would have chosen a different alliance might come back to hurt her as well. Chelsea: While we got a little less from her this episode, she still had a strong presence. And appears to be the dominant part of the alliance with Kim. She was given the airtime to show her influence on the two major decisions for the Salani tribe this ep: choosing a leader, and deciding who'll be voted out. The outcome of both, benefitting her. She doesn't have the target of being the leader, and her majority 5 alliance is still in tact. Kim: I feel like I've already stated the good showing for Kim, and I'd be hard-pressed for anyone to say different. The scene with Colton and Sabrina and the women discussing him being in their camp, really made Kim look strong in standing up. Her scenes with Chelsea continued (as well as the high amount of screenshots) I think her response to Jeff at TC about "finding her voice yet" bodes well for her individual journey in this game. Kat: Goodness where to begin. For doing as poorly as she did in the challenge, the editing could have left a far worse impression of her with the audience I mean, even after Monica switched her out, she deliberately grabbed Christina's arm, and there was no one near Kat! The cameras showed us this. Yet Kat faired pretty well in her treatment the rest of the episode. While we were able to hear the Voices of Reason from Monica and Nina (and even Chelsea later on) We didn't see Kat in total contrast to this. There seems to be a lot of care going into her edit, and I'd be really surprised if she was voted out early. I've already noted references to two previous winners (Jud and Chris) in viewing Kat. I think if she begins to fall under the radar in the next couple of episodes it will bode really well for her.   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 02-26-12, 07:02 AM (EST) 29. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" What an interesting episode! Clearly the long term story is with the women, even if Jonas or Troyzan work their way into the mix or Colton manages to make the audience collectively want to kill themselves for another 11 episodes.. Even if the editing is keeping us squarely in the girls camp because of their short term challenge issues, there would be one or two key scenes from the male camp to set their story up for the long term. Unfortunately, all we have is scenes of the Fratboy alliance which are CLEARLY just setting up their inevitable doom over the next few episodes (well, in my opinion anyway) and the Misfit Alliance formation which is going to take their place. The troubling thing for me with the latter is that, even though I think it is presented as an important alliance over the course of the season, the scenes shown were all either (a) about Idle Colton and his Lucky Idol and (b) to make the other guys, Leif and Jonas, look pretty stupid for thinking Colton is a strategic genius when he's been clearly presented as anything but. Jonas and Troyzan are the only two that have legs in my opinion. Troyzan probably isn't winning, but he is going to be a big character this season. There was way too much unnecessary attention on him for that not to be the case. Jonas was a definite winner contender last episode although he moved down a rung or two with this one - still a lot of care taken with him but that scene with Colton made him look dumb, which bothers me. Colton I can't get a longevity read on at all - he's so OTT and, you know, AWFUL, that I have no clue. The two things that struck me with the women's tribes chances is some of The Insider footage this week. There was a fantastic scene of Alicia being just THE WORST boasting about being intentionally lazy and wanting everyone to serve her. Even though she has definitely been presented as lazy and volatile, it was such a great unlikable pure villain scene that would have turned every single audience member off her for the whole entire season. The fact they didn't show it makes me think she might have legs closer to the finals afterall. The other thing was that, even though Chelsea was presented as Nina's potential savior and the first girl to wake up and smell the airheads, in actuality it was Kim that was working Nina and in turn Chelsea, even though Nina has stated in interviews that Kim was more placating her than actually being serious in hindsight. To present it as Chelseas idea was great for Chelseas edit but also even better for Kims as it spared her from coming across unlikably. Showing Chelsea in the previews as having a breakdown makes me nervous for her chances, but I think she'll make it far. Sabrina is a fantastic narrator, but I still feel like something is missing from her edit. Almost like she's being presented as too obvious a winner and that she's going to fall just before the FTC ala Cirie as a threat. I can't for the like of me understand where Kat's edit is going. I think she'll probably get some redemptive growth edit where she eventually overcomes her immaturity to a degree, even if she's not entirely likable. I felt like the tears at TC were complete crocodile tears though, for what it's worth.. WINNER PICKS - Kim > Jonas > Sabrina >> Kat >> Troyzan > Alicia >>>> Everyone else   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-26-12, 03:02 PM (EST) 34. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" Hi Glenny, I'm surprised that you have Kat and Alicia as contenders but not Chelsea.   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 02-26-12, 05:05 PM (EST) 35. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" To be fair, I just kind of forgot to add Chelsea to that list. She wouldn't be higher than Kat or Alicia though. There is something missing from her E1 edit for me. I can't quite pinpoint it though. Her E2 showing was stronger and makes me think we're definitely meant to root for her, but I think it's more so we care when she is booted towards the end. Part of that though is that when I watch her preseason interview my read on her was that she didn't have the instincts to win this game from a mental POV..   Top

parathor 250 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Network TV Show Guest Star" 02-27-12, 10:34 AM (EST) 38. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" I agree! I'm holding out hope for Chelsea, but her edit so far has me pegging her for a mid-season boot. Unfortunate. The rest of Glen's list looks solid - Kim (winner?), Sabrina, Jonas, Troyzan, Kat... Alicia looks like she's due to go sooner than later. Colton can't possibly stay longer than first juror, but could be the "Cochran" of this season (people cheering to not have him win, even though he dominates air time). Everyone else is mostly invisible, or Monica, and doesn't look good for any of them. But would they give us TWO seasons in a row of an invisible person winning it all?   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-29-12, 04:07 AM (EST) 42. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" Great thoughts and analysis, Glenny! It seems I'm in consensus more or less with your winner picks (as these are my "longevity" picks ;) Although I would definitely exclude Alicia, and add in Chelsea. And for some reason I can see the possibility of Sabrina getting a premature axe (and Colton lasting instead). Still, Kim, Kat, Jonas and Troyzan are looking good! Yes, I too had the feeling that Kat's were crocodile tears, leaving me to wonder again if this were part of her cover/strategy. It may be a stretch, but it's possible. As you stated, she's got a questionable edit so far.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-26-12, 02:40 PM (EST) 33. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" Nice analysis Aaron. Yes, I kind of remember one of Jud's confessional being interrupted by something distracting him. However, before making it a winner's parallel, I certainly remember Greg interrupting a confessional because he spotted a flying fish and Ace being interrupted by an elephant! And the comparison between Kat and Chris falls a bit short when we consider that Chris was the one that formed the Flab5 alliance to counter the young guys which is what Colton did. Hopefully he doesn't turn into Chris! Right now, I see Colton as a mixture of Alicia and Kat: Like Kat, he embarrasses his teammates and, like Alicia, he does nothing in camp. In Survivvor, that can either get you booted early or get you to the end! Since all three appear safe going into the game's third cycle, they could all go far. I missed the interactions between Colton and Matt; nice catch that was indeed priceless! I see you also noted Kim searching to place her voice. That comment really stood out.   Top

PepeLePew13 26134 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-26-12, 07:47 PM (EST) 36. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" I noted that as well about Kim's comment - it's like she really had her pulse on the game and knew it was time to let others take the fall for their actions, stay out of the fray so nothing sticks to her until it's time for her to step up. I get a strong sense that she won't "find her voice" until when there is a swap and she has to work with the guys, this ties in with her episode one comments about girl power.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 02-26-12, 09:32 PM (EST) 37. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" The only thing that gives me pause though is that, right after she says that, we hear Jeff saying that he feels like he's talking to 6th graders. I didn't make much of it at first but, who knows?   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-29-12, 03:25 AM (EST) 40. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" Great points, Pepe! Totally agree   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 02-29-12, 03:24 AM (EST) 39. "RE: Episode 2: The Players, The Game, The Editing" Thanks, Michel! Yes, I'm sure there were other moments of interupted confessionals (my favorite being Leanne's with the earthquake ) but Kat's seemed very similar to Jud's. Regarding my mention of her and Chris, I agree with you. I, in no way, was meaning to compare her to him beyond having a horrendous early challenge performance that sent their tribe to TC (with neither really in danger of going home as in being PART of the dominant alliance) I don't know why I'm drawn to put this much focus on Kat, but for some reason I am, so I'm considering it due to the editing. Moving along with my comparisons of her to Jud and Chris, with Chris I was making more of a situational comparison. With Jud it's more of a strategy comparison. Gamewise, I can't possibly see Kat having the strategical acumen of Chris (which, by the way, RNO just posted articles listing the top survivors, and he made the cut) Interestingly, Kat was a young teenager when Chris played, so there's a good chance that she didn't see his season or didn't understand his strategic gameplay. Whereas Jud's season was more recent and more likely for her to have seen, and something that she could relate to - being young and beautiful and possibly viewed as dumb (and letting people think this as strategy - hey, Sash said it was a great strategy ;) Thanks for the reminder that it's actually Colton that is following suit with Chris's strategy. I haven't been focusing on him as much, well, because he's too much - out of all the players they are force-feeding him the most. But, wow, that would be really interesting if he turned into Chris. I think I'd actually respect his game if that were to happen (as I didn't care for Chris, personality wise, nor do I for Colton - ugh, why is it so hard to leave personal feelings aside, ha!) Glad I could highlight the interactions btwn Colton and Matt, let's see what their next "dance" will be. Regarding Kim, yes, this was a great TC comment, especially since we saw earlier in the episode that she indeed does have a "voice" and it was used strongly in achieving to give Colton the message about being in the women's camp too much (even though he was soon come back)   Top

Flowerpower 7262 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-01-12, 11:26 AM (EST) 43. "Thoughts post ep 3" I'm trying to stay independent with my thinking this season, and so often others have such BRILLIANT observations, I think it tends to sway me a bit. So, I have not read much as to what others are posting. For that I apologize, but trust me....I am looking really forward to a nice LONG read at the end of this season. But, who knows, maybe I won't be able to stick to my intentions....just won't be able to hold myself back! Anyway, I am seeing alot of editing that is leading me to believe that Chelsea could be our winner. I thought she had great presence in the first episode, and in every other episode. She was the one that Nina came to to plead her case and make a case against Kat. While she may not be "the" leader, she is respected by her tribemates, and that, imo, is telling. She clearly is focused upon. She got the narration with the fishing gear and adventure right off the bat, after she had been focused upon with the storm and freezing rain. Also, in the promo last night, she was the one that was focused upon when Greg comes into their camp and states that "they have a betrayal"... I think Kim and Sabrina are both in good positions as well, and even Jonas. But, I think that Chelsea is seemingly the "star" of the show....It appears to me that the girls may persevere in the end game. Will the guys eat themselves, OR, will the girls dominate them? Just my 2 cents.   Top

Round Robin 2914 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Howard Stern Show Guest" 03-01-12, 01:11 PM (EST) 44. "RE: Thoughts post ep 3" Unless the editing of the men is brilliant misdirection, and I don't think these editors are that brilliant, I think the men will be too divided, I think the swap won't help them in that regard, and the better women will compete well post-swap and at least 2 of the 3 remaining members of the frat boys alliance will be axed pre-merge. As you correctly note, the players do not know when the merge or the swap will be, or if there will even be either, and neither do they know how big the jury will be or if there will be a final 2 or final 3. They'll probably do a lot of guessing and/or assuming on these matters, but right now even though the men have the numbers edge, based on their apparent divided state as shown so far, I think their current numbers advantage will dissolve before the merge and things at that point will probably be pretty even.   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 03-02-12, 00:55 AM (EST) 45. "RE: Thoughts post ep 3" I'll come back later and write something proper but just wanted to jot down some thoughts since we got what I consider to be the first good, proper episode of the season. Women are definitely the main post merge story. I'm not necessarily sure whether the winner will be a woman though or whether we'll get another Vanuatu where one (or two) guys survive an estrogen explosion at the merge. Chelsea had another stellar episode but I still feel like she's missing something. Clearly, we're meant to like and root for her, I'd say she could even go all the way to the end. But I don't think they are presenting her as the winner. Firstly, she's being shown too heavily and, in my opinion, slightly one dimensionally. We're not getting enough insight into her long term strategy. I also don't think they'd show her so desperate for fire and warmth if she was going to win. Now, compare this with Kim. She did a similar thing (although not visually hammered home as much), but she got a very savvy confessional explaining her thoughts on it. At the end of the day, in a men vs women season, if the winner is a woman, she is not going to be a simpering layabout. Kim is still my number one pick to win. She got a lot of unnecessary focus and placement in an episode where she wasn't particularly relevant. She got spared the negativity of being reliant on the guys. She got some insightful comment and confessional moments. Kat intrigues me more and more. I don't know why, but there is something very careful about her edit even though she is still being portrayed as a moron. Her edit puzzles me, but I can tell that it definitely has some serious legs. Watch this space. This episode also took Sabrina down a few pegs in the winner rankings. She's still a long term character, but I thought that the womens uselessness in the blindfolded portion of the challenge was put as much on her shoulders as it was theirs, even if Sabrina got the puzzle solving glory but didn't actually win it without everyone working as a team to solve it. Jonas cooled down a lot too. Amazing E01 showing but I'm concerned about him thinking Colton is a genius and with him getting a lot of other follower moments. I did like his offer to the girls at the start though. Cross tribal alliances are going to be a key to winning this season and he's the only guy besides Colton getting any of this attention, so he is still on this list. Colton is definitely not winning after the ghetto trash comment alone, but I'm more and more afraid he is this seasons Phillip Shepard. Although the fact Matt talks so highly of him in interviews is food for thought.. WINNER PICKS - Kim >> Kat >>> Jonas >>>>>>>>>>> Sabrina >>> Chelsea   Top

parathor 250 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Network TV Show Guest Star" 03-02-12, 10:24 AM (EST) 46. "RE: Thoughts post ep 3" >"Chelsea had another stellar episode but I still feel like she's missing something. Clearly, we're meant to like and root for her, I'd say she could even go all the way to the end. But I don't think they are presenting her as the winner. Firstly, she's being shown too heavily and, in my opinion, slightly one dimensionally. We're not getting enough insight into her long term strategy. I also don't think they'd show her so desperate for fire and warmth if she was going to win." 100% agree. She's still my favorite, but this episode showed her too much. Every cut-scene in the reward challenge refocused on her. She caught the fish, she narrated the cold, she angered the men when she visited a second time... I wouldn't be surprised if this was her "spike" episode, before the "disappearance" next episode, and then the "boot" 2 eps from now. I hope I'm wrong... she's awesome. >"Now, compare this with Kim. She did a similar thing (although not visually hammered home as much), but she got a very savvy confessional explaining her thoughts on it. At the end of the day, in a men vs women season, if the winner is a woman, she is not going to be a simpering layabout. Kim is still my number one pick to win. She got a lot of unnecessary focus and placement in an episode where she wasn't particularly relevant. She got spared the negativity of being reliant on the guys. She got some insightful comment and confessional moments." Yes, again! Kim is Chelsea's confidant... not the other way around. We haven't seen Kim approach Chelsea about doing things, but we have seen Chelsea approach Kim. In a world where the coattail-rider often wins over the more dominant partner, I'd say that Kim would be the "disappointing runner-up," but it looks like she's driving this bus. >"Kat intrigues me more and more. I don't know why, but there is something very careful about her edit even though she is still being portrayed as a moron. Her edit puzzles me, but I can tell that it definitely has some serious legs." Yep. I think that she'll screw something up for the women's alliance. It's been foretold by Chelsea ("I'd redo who we're aligned with"). Every episode has Kat doing something dumb. I suspect that she'll be outplayed at a critical juncture, or play an idol when it didn't need to be played, or something. Watch this space, indeed! >"This episode also took Sabrina down a few pegs in the winner rankings. She's still a long term character, but I thought that the womens uselessness in the blindfolded portion of the challenge was put as much on her shoulders as it was theirs." I think she was taken down a peg, but they didn't focus much on Sabrina's frustration in her inability to communicate (like they briefly did with Bill). Long term, but not spotlighted this episode. >Jonas cooled down a lot too. Amazing E01 showing but I'm concerned about him thinking Colton is a genius and with him getting a lot of other follower moments." He dropped a bit, too... but this was really the Chelsea Episode (and maybe Troyzan, or Colton), so I'm not worried. He's still winner material. >"Colton is definitely not winning after the ghetto trash comment alone, but I'm more and more afraid he is this seasons Phillip Shepard." He's more like Cochran than Philip. Cochran was good for nothing, made disparaging female remarks, and blew up the season at the midway point. I can see Colton going "I like the girls more, so I'm betraying my alliance." The issue is whether the guys will be able to recognize that and stop it beforehand. My guess is "no" (although, irony, what if Kat doesn't realize what is happening and votes some other way, thereby screwing up things, too?) >"WINNER PICKS - Kim >> Kat >>> Jonas >>>>>>>>>>> Sabrina >>> Chelsea" I'll go Kim, Jonas/Troyzan/Sabrina, Chelsea (if she's not kicked out in 2 eps)...   Top

PepeLePew13 26134 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-02-12, 11:50 AM (EST) 47. "RE: Thoughts post ep 3" You're correct, Kat is getting a really interesting edit - she's Phillip in a way, but not as overblown in the promos or in the episodes. This can only mean that she's going far in the game, but I think she's being set up as an ideal goat to bring to the end by the winner. Right now, I can only see two men as potential end-game players: Jonas and Troyzan. Still, I am strongly leaning toward to this being an all-woman final three with Kim, Kat and probably Sabrina. I had thoughts after episode 1 that Alicia would be the third that Kim would want to take along because she'd rub a lot of people the wrong way, but now I don't see Alicia lasting to the end. I think Sabrina would potentially get attacked in the final tribal council as the 'leader' of the women's tribe who had the more visual role in eliminating people onto the jury, while Kim appears to be getting the more careful edit to show her head is completely in the game but not making as many enemies. Kim>Sabrina>Kat in the F3 with three of Alicia/Troy/Jonas/Chelsea rounding out the top 6.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-03-12, 04:30 PM (EST) 48. "Episode 3: The Players, The Game, The Editing" Recap Jeff referred to "Matt and the muscle" alliance. After Matt was hardly shown last ep, this was another punctuation point for us to see Matt as the main target by the "misfit alliance" Jeff then narrated, "The woman's biggest obstacle was Kat" and "Back at camp, Kat only made matters worse..." highlighting Kat prominently from the Salani tribe. And we were again shown Chelsea's comment that the alliances would be different if they could start over. First segment Chelsea: "a little bit of confidence is all we need" Then seemingly enough we get a scene that then cuts to Colton & Jonas coming up to Chelsea and Kim to offer them to come over to their camp. Are the little "hand-outs" that the guys are giving the girls all they need to build come confidence and turn things around? Second segment More focus on Chelsea and the aftermath of the storm. Kim's accurate assessment of the men not really wanting the there, show's more awareness from her. As well as Sabrina's screenshots and her social diplomacy while in the men's camp even got a smile from Michael. We then get Matt's first confessional of the ep, in which he comes across as unsympathetic to the woman (although gamewise he's right) Reward Challenge Jeff says "you are playing for momentum" and Monica is shown. Nothing major stands out during the RC as each of the women beat their male counterparts. Well, other than the fun little montage of Troyzan and Kat both messing up at the reward. With Kat finally triumphing. Third segment Kat gets the confessional about the win. While in a group scene we hear Monica say, "All we need to do is get this fire started, and you know our lives will change." Monica and Kat then go over to the men's tribe ask them for an ember. AND THEY GIVE IT TO THEM! So, now we can expect to see the women's lives change - will this be for the episode or for the game at large? While they are at Manono, Jay puts it out there that this could be in exchange to allow the ment to take out the boat. After they leave, Matt's shown chiming in that this has to change. To which we get Colton's confessional in agreement that "he doesn't do handouts." Continuing to focus on the storm, they cut back to Chelsea being water-logged, and then to Jonas commenting to the men about how this is a game with regards to giving the women anything. Soon to be interrupted by Chelsea and Alicia. And a little banter ensues. Chelsea mentions the boat, and Jay states how the men plan to use it too. Then Alicia chimes in (with gems like " I don't think your deals are fair" and "Don't come at me like I'm crazy") Then we get Bill's confessional with his "One World is out the window" comment and Tarzan's request that Alicia and Chelsea go back and discuss the deal with the other women. I think eveyone in the scene faired okay, except Alicia who seemed laughable with her words as she's standing UNDER THE MEN'S TARP IN FRONT OF THEIR FIRE as she's saying this. Chelsea was very blatantly imposing upon their camp, but she didn't come off as negative. Then they proceed back to the women's camp and Chelsea has her breakdown. Was this edited for us to be sympathetic toward Chelsea? Fourth segment Chelsea, Monica and Kim go out spear-fishing with the boat. Not much lingering focus, but Monica is positioned between the established pair of Kim and Chelsea. Can she be making her way into the alliance? They show their "catch" to Troyzan. Who seems to be taking a cue from Colton about interacting more with the ladies. His confessional states that "the girls are feeling more confident" Immunity Challenge The men appeared to be doing much better at the challenge than the woman at first. Although both Bill and Sabrina did well enough at the difficult position of being the caller. It did appear that Sabrina forgot about Monica and Christina - interestingly the two ladies outside of the main alliance. Monica also seemed to stand out more during the challenge (just like earlier in this episode and in ep 2). Of note were the pairings, which revealed all of the close allies (Kim/Chelsea, Kat/Alicia, Monica/Christina, Matt/Mike, Troyzan/Tarzan, Jonas/Leif) Jeff shouts "The woman come from behind with a huge victory" Yes, they did! Matt gets the confessional right after the challenge stating that "he's LOOKING FORWARD to doing this... using some of the power he's been building" at the TC. The final stamp for Matt's ouster (and we still haven't seen the men's tribe scrambling before the TC) Fifth Segment Of note, we are shown the woman arriving back at camp to discuss their win (we were not shown this for the men when they won in ep 2) Monica states "was that a come from behind or what" Then we get another Chelsea confessional, rounding out her narration of the episode. Being that by this time I'm already %100 sure it's Matt that gets voted out, it makes it even easier to focus on the other men and how they are being edited around this. They start off with Colton, of course, commenting on Bill, and how he sucked at the challenge, and how he can't stand him (granted Colton confesses gleefully that he can't stand MOST of his tribe, so we can gather that the editors had several soundbites to choose from) Colton states that Bill is "digging his own grave." While this might've been shown to highlight Bill as the alternate boot choice at this TC, it sounds to me more like they are setting up the next boot. Colton is a few steps ahead of everyone in the game, he stated Matt's boot in ep 1 and it happened to be the first boot. Now he's stating Bill's boot, and it will happen. Gamewise, Colton's the one on the men's tribe with the most power so far, and editing-wise, they have chosen to have his confessionals narrate how things are going down with the men. I found it very interesting that it was Tarzan who was seen as talking about the first boot with Colton, as we've seen very little of him in previous episodes. With Tarzan pleading Colton's previous case to vote against Matt. This scene was perfect to edit in as it created doubt (for casual viewers) that it might not be Matt going home at this TC, and it showed that Colton and the others had their head in the game as to who else was a threat to them. With Bill now taking the #2 spot (which helps Mike a bit) We have Troyzan looking on and then in confessional stating the dynamics in the tribe, and the "two" opposing alliances. But notice, when he speaks of those outside his alliance he says "we have Matt and Mike, pause, Jay, pause, and Bill" Basically he's stating it more in a way to mean that this is who's outside of his alliance. And the rest of the episode goes on to prove that the "fratboy alliance" wasn't actually as tight as shown. Next we get Jay walking in on the "misfit alliances" TC boot discussion. Jay states "everybody's chattin', so I figure I'll come see what everyone's chattin' about" Colton then says, "We're not voting you out" And Jay get a confessional at this crucial time, and basically makes the decision right there to back the dominant alliance. We are shown his flexibility, a quality that Matt was largely lacking. Then Matt walks up and doesn't get the same welcoming reception as Jay. In Matt's confessional he state's how he wanted to walk up to them and shake it up a bit. And oddly, Matt thinks this is working for him. He then pulls Troy aside and in Matt's voice-over, he pretty much unknowingly narrates to us as to why HE will be the boot. He attempts to pull Troy over to his side (Matt still inflexible, sticking with HIS original plan) showing us what he believers to be keen negotiating skills. Although Troy, and the audience, can see there is nothing in this for Troy to gain, only Matt. And with Troy's confessional we get the skinny on Matt, and another nice soundbite from Troy in saying "it ain't Survivor unless your lying" with a nice big smile. Then we cut to him heading back to Colton to divulge his discussion with Matt. And interestingly Jay is right there between them, seeming comfortable at that. Colton sets it up for us that he's fine with either Bill or Matt. And then we get a bit of foreshadowing with Colton stating how happy he'd be to get ride of 5 of them (which is exactly what would happen if there is a switch up happening soon) Tribal Council Michael gets the first question from Jeff, and says there are lots of alliances in the tribe (some of which we have not been shown, obviously). As he begins to address Tarzan, Jeff states, "...there are already fractions within the 9" and the camera cuts to Jay. Tarzan mentions the alliance of 5, and they cut to Colton's "tell" and he runs his fingers through his hair (or is Colton concerned that Tarzan may just say too much about the "behind-the-scenes" stuff) We then get to hear Mike's perspective, and Colton's perspective, about the game and their tribe (although it manages to get summed up through Colton's role in it). Colton is coming across as a bit smug, and Mike is just stone-cold, as we can tell he's probably fuming inside. Bill chimes in, and we get Colton's defense of why he would be commiserating with the women. Jeff then has a fun moment, with his "reverse duh!" to Colton. Then we have Tarzan saying, Colton's highly intelligent and "invaluable" to how this game plays. Wow, pretty nice for Colton. The banter then goes on between Tarzan and Matt, and interesting it is Tarzan that we are shown getting the heat from Matt. Not Colton, or Troy. Colton doesn't play the idol, and Tarzan looks on knowingly (he wasn't surprised) The episode The biggest thing that stood out to me for this episode was how the women's tribe was still front and center throughout an episode in which they did not go to TC. Granted they did win their first challenge, but it just seems like they're getting so much more development than the men. For the first half of the episode, even in the scenes when we were in the men's tribe, we were watching the men's interactions to the women's presence in their camp. I'm putting my stake in the sand that it certainly looks like a woman will win this season (although I may recant this once we hit the merge, ha!) It was nice to get a glimpse of the men, with them going to TC and the segment leading up to it. Colton is clearly holding the power, which can allow for him to be a lot more up-front and transparent approach (kind of like idol holder Sugar, who even had the balls to tell the wretched Corrine, about how not to be wretched, ha!) Still, we are seeing, and hearing from others, that Colton may be smart enough to pull off a strategy like this. We already had Tarzan state, "He's Colton!" But similarly transparent is Tarzan. He told Matt that they were indeed talking strategy, when Colton was clearly going to lie. Tarzan also clearly spoke of the "five" at TC, which so blatantly can make those on the outside resent him (oh, and add this to how he barked at Chelsea and Alicia to go discuss "the boat deal" with the woman) He's certainly not gaining any friends outside of his alliance. This is also in large contrast to players like Troy and Jonas, who are just as in the mix as Tarzan, but we're being shown their more diplomatic approach. Out of the guys who are on the outs of the "five" - Bill seems to be in the worst shape, with his name coming up a number of times and Colton leading the charge. Mike, once again may be spared, as their is someone else we are being told is more threatening than him. Through all of this, Jay seemed to fair the best. Shown somewhere in the middle of the things a number of times, despite not being in the "misfit alliance" he should be able to get by for awhile. Each of their fates are likely going to come down to who gets stuck on a switched tribe with Colton(assuming they do so, as they have in past gender-split seasons), as Colton will likely side with the women of a newly developed tribe. Still, whether this were to happen sooner or not, I think the editing, from the first 3 eps, looks the worst for Bill. The Men Matt - I'm happy to have picked up on the clues of his ouster within ep 1 (congrats to everyone else who did too!) I wouldn't say it was the most difficult to determine, with lots of basic editing clues, but it was fun nonetheless. For as smart as Matt thinks he is, it's clear that he isn't that smart on the game of survivor (I'm really interested in whether or not he's seen past seasons) At the very least, what Matt may take away from his game is how he views "average Joes" and "chickens" - ha! Although he's gone, I would like to know, did he really think they would vote off Colton? Leif - Looks like he's playing and under the radar, and so far he's totally getting an edit for it. If he stays there he'll make it past the merge. But if he stays UTR and then we get to hear some of his personal story, he may be gone shortly thereafter. Bill - will the real Bill please stand-up. How do we get the most poignant statement at TC about Colton "spot-on judging THEM" (rather than the other way around) and then his manic outburst, "this is intense, man, this is emotion..." Whichever one he is, I'm still gathering he is not in long for the game, as he is now Colton's new enemy #1. Editing has not given us anything for us to even consider that Bill will win against a match-up with Colton. Perhaps something will develop for Bill in ep 4, but I doubt it. Mike - Mike came up twice last episode as the possible boot along with Matt, by both Troyzan and Colton. Yet, this episode he fell out of the line of fire. He also faded from our screens a bit, as I feel he was shown more steadily in the two previous eps. This may be good for him as his tribe was going to TC. We got to hear from him first at TC, and I think many viewers could tell he was biting his tongue from saying even more about what he thinks of Colton and the others. I'm going to say it again, perhaps they are holding off the drama between these two, as there's more yet to come. I just feel like the editors are leaving out some "fodder" that they could use to really pit these two against each other. While it was stated that Troyzan and Matt were 2 heads of the alliance "snakes" - I imagine Mike and Colton would say otherwise. Colton has called himself their "king" and now that Matt is gone, that would bring Mike to prominence for those outside the alliance of "five." Was the lesser showing of Mike in this episode good for him.? Let's see how he fairs when he gets some more screentime again. Tarzan - In contrast to Mike's relative dip, I think Tarzan's relative spike (compared to his ep 1 & 2 showing) might not be a good thing. It just seemed that when he was on screen, he was too commanding, we were shown him revealing much of what he thought. He made it transparent to Matt how the "five" were voting and that they'd be sending him home. Giving the impression that he won't be able to hold back from voicing his opinion, and that could be his undoing. I just can't see him lasting long, while he may contribute a bit to the short term. Jay - Jay had a great episode. Of the previous secondary players, he was shown to shed the skin of the "frat boy alliance" by being flexible enough to see which way the tide was turning. We heard Colton mention he was safe, which really bodes well for him (as we rarely see Colton say anything that positive, ha!) For someone who's gotten "middle of the road" screentime, his confessional came at a great time in the episode and he also spoke of his own perseverance. This are looking good for him to last awhile. Jonas - had a similar stable ep 3, as he did ep 2. Nothing big from him, although he was shown alongside Colton and then Troy in some key scenes. This plants him right in the middle of the dominant alliance on the Manono tribe. I'd say that's a nice place for him to be. He's in for the long haul. Troyzan - Out of everyone, Troyzan faired the best in this episode. Shown on several occasions interacting with the women (with no negative repercussions like Colton has received) He told the audience in confessional that he's playing survivor, and he is. Gamewise, he played Matt just how he needed to. He lied to someone he knew he couldn't trust. And when he was done talking with Matt, he went back and shared the info with Colton (and Jay). Editing-wise, he didn't take front and center during the "fives" strategy talk, coming across as non-threatening. And I think most importantly, none of the fray fell on him at TC. The self-proclaimed "King"/"Queen" Colton: Well, I guess we can say: Everybody's talking about Colton! In ep 1 it was Sabrina (positively) and Matt (negatively), in Ep 2 it was Jonas (positively) and Mike (negatively) and Sabrina on the fence. Ep 3 we now add Tarzan and Troyzan (positively) and continuing more with Mike and Matt (negatively). No other character is getting nearly as much attention as this from the other castaways. I think this episode was better for him than last. We are being shown more of Colton's strategy skills, which is now balancing his entitled, sometimes smug, attitude. Still, we are getting very little sign that anyone has intention of going against him and being successful at it. The Women Chelsea - Interestingly, she was the star of the episode. Having confessionals in most of the segments and taking over narrator duties from Sabrina. Yes, the women won both challenges, but this could have been an episode to focus more on the tribal dynamics of the men as they were the ones visiting TC. Why the spike for Chelsea when she was already having a good steady showing in the previous episodes. I'd think it unlikely that she'd be an upcoming boot, so this could be seen as an investment in her longevity. I felt in this episode, her narrating duties balanced out her "breakdown" and her imposing upon the men's camp. She's getting a lot more attention than most of the other castaways. Monica - She's getting repeat attention that she did in ep 2. Could this be a sympathy edit? As she appears to be a likeable, strong woman, but the cards just might not be in her favor. It seems like she's getting some deliberate quotes, but this can be translated to how the women fair in the game, rather than her personal game. There just seems to be something missing from her edit and I'm not clear what it is. Perhaps it's just that it seems like at least 4 of the other woman are getting a much better edit than her, so where does that leave her? Christina - Wow, not much to say about her. Her performance was similar that to the other ladies at the RC. And she clearly was the lesser of the two in her pairing with Monica during the IC. While current conditions are telling us that it doesn't look good for either Monica or Christina, perhaps her near invisibility in this episode means that she'll still get a chance to stay awhile until there's a spike in story. Maybe it will include false hope for her if/when the tribes are switched up. Either way, we need something more from her soon, as the memory is fading of her being the one who made the deal for fire. And saying "shut-up" to Alicia (while pleasurable to watch ) is hardly enough of a storyline. Alicia - I think this ep was as quiet as we could possibly see Alicia. And still she managed to come across negatively (and even a bit of a "dumb player") when saying her comments in the Manono camp. We could be getting some scenes that are foreshadowing that the men will be less likely to put up with Alicia than the other women when they switch or merge. We were shown again her main ally is Kat, and of these two it looks like Kat would fair better. Kat - Kat got a bit of redemption with the women winning this episide, especially the RC and being the victor after her montage with Troy. She also got the confessional afterwards. With her highlight in the recap and this to counter-balance, the editors are deliberately handing us a story for Kat. The question is, how long will it last? Sabrina - Sabrina took a break from narrating duties, as Chelsea took over. In last weeks analysis I stated that it would be interesting to see how Sabrina's screentime would dip if it did. And it did, but not in a bad way. With Colton focused on the drama at the men's camp, Sabrina got a break (although I imagine this is only on hold) from him. And the narrating duties seemed more of a desire to highlight Chelsea than to set a negative vibe for Sabrina. Sabrina was still very present, as she was diplomatic when she was in the guy's camp, and she was the caller/puzzle solver at the challenge. So she managed to get some good screentime. She's still looking pretty good. Kim - Kim had some narrating this ep, but for the most part she was in the background. Not bad though for her to be laying low after a good first two episodes for her. Having been mostly connected to Chelsea through the editing of the last eps, although literally connected in the challenge, it seems we can separate her from Chelsea a little more (although more due to Chelsea's large showing this ep) Chelsea is more vocal, and Kim is still "finding her voice" Will it benefit Kim to play a bit more UTR than Chelsea and Sabrina? I'd say so.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-03-12, 05:08 PM (EST) 49. "Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts:" The recap reminded us that this battle of the sexes hasn’t been a battle at all. The Men’s tribe has won every challenge. With confidence at an all-time high, Matt and his alliance of muscle thought they were running the show… ..but the rest of the tribe had plans of their own. Colton, Leif, Tarzan, Jonas and Troyzan formed an unlikely alliance. - Colton: “They can call themselves the misfit alliance. I’ll just be their king.” At the last immunity challenge, the women’s biggest obstacle was Kat. <Jeff reminded us that Kat jumped in the water needlessly.> The men won their 3rd challenge in a row. At camp, Kat only made matters worse by wearing her emotions on her sleeve. - Sab: “Kat is very young and emotional and that is a liability.” At tribal council, it was clear that Kat’s alliance could do without her. <Jeff asked Chelsea about redoing the alliances.> In the end, Kat was saved when the tribe voted out Nina, the oldest member, believed to be a liability in challenges. This recap nicely set-up the women’s comeback but it certainly wasn’t nice to Kat. A cut in Jeff’s dialogue made it sound as if he had said that SHE was completely falling apart when he had said the tribe as a whole was falling apart. That leaves Kat with two possibility: Either she won’t make it far or she is in for a redemption edit, a Journey to prove herself. Before we dismiss her chances to go far, let’s look at this episode which wasn’t bad for her. The misfit alliance was reitroduced in the recap but only Colton was highlighted. It seemed like the strict minimum to set up this episode. As for the alliance of young women, we can wonder about their chances if they continue to protect Kat. The recap suggest they need to get rid of her but what if she redeems herself? Things are Starting to Change Chelsea: “All eyes are on Kat right now. We are starting to look at the weaker players, even if they are in our alliance.” Kim is shown saying: “What a joke.” Chelsea’s confessional continued: “Our next move is to try and stay as positive as possible. If we can get the smallest glimmer of hope it will change the whole tribe. A little bit of confidence is all we need.” While the opeining scene tied Alicia to Kat by showing her saying some comforting words, this confessional and Kim’s words separate Chelsea and Kim from the tribe’s problematic player. That is a good sign for them. This episode was about to give the women all the confidence they needed so this episode looks to have propelled them towards a final victory. Colton and Jonas came to offer a place in their shelter because of the big ass storm approaching. Kim told them that they would see how miserable they would be first and, to the women, she said they should tough it out. Sabrina: “The men, they have a tarp and, it’s raining. Right now, I feel like our whole shelter is about to blow down.” Salani Day 6 Chelsea: “We’ve been crapped on since we’ve been here. We got zero sleep last night. We stayed up the entire night, froze, soaking wet. We haven’t had fire because it rained and put it out so now we haven’t eaten.” During this confessional, the music was almost funereal, something similar to what we hear when someone of valor is about to be medevaced. Will something happen to Chelsea, forcing her out of the game? The editors have treated her character too nicely to see her quit but what if she gets pneumonia or something? Kim: “I was thankfull last night that we stuck to our guns after Tribal Council and didn’t go over and jumped in the men’s shelter but, going over there this morning, I have no shame!! I’ve never been so miserable. I couldn’t get my tail over there to that fire fast enough. I hope it is a temporary pit-stop at the men’s shelter, I don’t think that any of the girls want to stay over there. It’s uncomfortable mooching off the them. They are all like: “Excuse me, move, move.” Matt: “I went crab hunting this morning, came back and found the girls under our shelter, sitting on our bed, soaking wet. I get it that they had a tough night and some of the guys are sensitive to that but there’s barely enough room for 9 guys…That means, for the girls, (their stay) is done.” Too bad the editors gave this confessional to the eliminated player because it would have given us a clue to which other guy is shown as being heartless. For now, we can clearly establish that the men’s attitude isn’t considered acceptable. Why else give the confessional to this season’s most arrogant character? Some men had told the women it would be alright to come over so it wasn’t as if they had crashed in uninvited. On the plus side, Matt was nice enough to leave one spot open! Another thing to note is that once more we get to the first challenge and all the story has been about the women…and this time they weren’t going to Tribal Council. The Reward Challenge. We saw Sabrina beating Matt. Monica beating Colton. Alicia got the better of Jay. Kat took on Troyzan with a little defiance in her demeanor. With the number of items raised to 8, both had trouble but Troyzan tried to trick Kat, first by looking at the puzzle for less than a second and, later, by looking and walking to his station, letting her drop the curtain. The banjo music and the fast forward told us we were dealing with two dumb players. In Kat’s case we can say that’s nothing new but for Troyzan that hurt his character. Jeff even mocked him, first saying he was not even close then by telling him that his last effort didn’t matter. I’m not sure if a challenge performance can completely kill a player’s chance but the way this duel was cut tells me that Troyzan’s chance have to be questioned. Why else tell us he was wrong 7 times? It was also during Troyzan’s turn that Jeff said that the men continued to be pathetic in this challlenge. Going up against Bill, Christina won the challenge for the women. As the women left, Jeff said that they didn’t need to share the canoe. Hearing that seemed to set the stage for the deals about to be negotiated. Jeff also said that the women now knew they could beat the men which seemed like another clue to how the game will develop. Kat: “We won our first challenge; it was amazing. It was exactly what we needed, to pick up the tribe. We came back to this horrible weather. The plan for today is start the fire, fix up the shelter and keep everybody warm because we are on the verge of a horrible storm.” Kat and Monica had no success starting the fire so they decided to ask for an ember from the men. Jay asked if they could use the canoe in exchange. Monica said she’d have to ask the other women. Jay handed them an ember. Colton: “Some of the guys were like: We got to stop giving them stuff and not get anything in return which I do agree with. I love some of those girls but if they aren’t going to give me anything I am sorry. I am a Republican, not a Democrat so I don’t believe in hand-outs.” So Colton is put on Matt’s side of this argument. We can say that this makes him out to look poorly after being handed out the key to the game, the HII he will so proudly talk about later on. Chelsea: “It is raining pretty hard and my hands are incredibly water logged. My feet are probably worse, I haven’t look at those yet.” Jonas was shown talking to the other guys saying: “If this was a life and death situation, obviously I would help them out but this is a game.” Alicia and Chelsea turned the corner and interrutped him saying they didn’t ask for anything. Jonas: “The girls are beyond a mess. They are like zombies, shivering and I am like, let them tough it out.” Jonas joins Matt and Colton in the Heartless category, going against the One World theme Jay asked to take the boat out once more, Alicia first said that their deals were unfair then that she’d have to check with the others. Bill: “Oh! No boat after everything that we have given you? When you want fire, when you want shelter, you use your womanly charms to take care of those situations but when we ask for a boat, you say no? One World is out the window.” This confessional is heartless like the others. The women didn’t say even no like Bill mentioned. They said they would have to ask the others. Since we heard Jeff saying they didn’t need to share the canoe, this whole scene could be interpreted as the men forcing the women’s hand. Bill may regret throwing out the One World concept but he will soon have more pressing worries. Tarzan ordered Alicia and Chelsea to discuss the deal with the others and come back with a consensus. In Salani’s shelter, Chelsea, who was losing it, told the other women that she would agree to give the men all their fishing stuff and the boat to get out of the cold. Kat agreed that being girls, they weren’t made to be beaten down like that. Monica looked surprised hearing that but the scene cut there. Salani – Day 8 The sun was out and we saw Chelsea, Monica and Kim out in the canoe. Chelsea: “This morning, the sun finally came out so we decided to put our reward to use and learn to spearfish and get our confidence in that so we know that we can catch a fish if we’re hungry. It’s a little surprising how things turn around. All three of us went out and we all three caught a fish. They weren’t very big but we did it.” Kim: “Things are starting to change. I actually feel like people get that they are here when before, everybody was like; where am I? What am I doing?” Troyzan who had come to see the catch of the day, had a confessional: “I think the girl are feeling more confident. They got their feet under ‘em and it’s going to change the way things are, how the guys feel. We need to win again.” As he spoke we had two very interesting visuals: First, Kat was the one on screen when Troy mentioned getting their feet under ‘em so we can assume the danger for her has passed and she is entering a Journey to Prove herself. Next, Matt came by and congratulated the women but Kim was the one on screen. We didn’t see a close-up of her face but it was definitely her. That seemed like a big clue that Kim was going to be the one earning congratulations in the end. Especially since it connected to her theme: Her voice is being heard (the “stick to our guns” confessional) and, as a result, things are getting better. The Immunity Challenge The pairing revealed each tribe’s buddies: In Salani, we had Christina and Monica together, Chelsea and Kim were paired as were the food gathering buddies, Kat and Alicia. Manono had Micheal and Matt going together while Leif was with Jonas leaving Troyzan with Tarzan. Note that, like on day 1, Matt and Micheal were off to a fast start, getting the first bag. Monica and Christina struggled all along the challenge just like in the game. At times, they appeared to have been forgotten by Sabrina! As Jeff said, they were looking for help but didn’t get any. Monica practically went off the course (as if out of the game.) Even if she was part of the pair that collected the first piece for Salani, we saw Kat, a few times, wandering around, looking completely lost! This challenge was edited as a summary of the first 3 episodes in a nutshell: Under Sabrina’s direction, Salani struggled, falling far behind the men who thrived under the directions of one of their Frat Boys. When it came to the puzzle part, Sabrina was shown following Kim’s directions and the women came from behind for a huge win. Yes, we saw other women pointing to where some puzzle pieces should go, Christina in particular, but the editors really focused on Kim’s voice. Could this challenge also reflect the whole season? Matt: “I couldn’t believe we lost but now that we have lost, I’m looking forward to doing this. I have been 8 days out here creating some power and I want to use it...” This confessional is self-explanatory and is to be savored for all its marvelous irony! Salani Day 8 Chelsea: “Today, I was worried because it was a communication-type challenge but we pulled through. What is funny is that the boys thought they had it in the bag because they were so far ahead so now they are probably running around like chicken with their heads cut off, not knowing what to do.” Despite the men having to go to their first TC, we still had to see the women’s celebration. We hadn’t gone back to Manono’s camp after their immunity wins. That is a big indication as to which tribe is the important one. It is also telling that Chelsea talked about communication, what Kim mentioned as her strength and which we saw her use during the challenge. It wasn’t Sabrina’s communications skills that won the challenge. The confessional is also great for Chelsea herself because we saw how she can handle chicken and, apparently, the men are like chicken now! Manono - Day 8 Everyone was conforting Bill…except Colton. Colton: “I’m so excited to vote somebody out. I dislike so many of these people. Like Bill who screwed up in the challenge today. I’m sorry but you had a good 5 or 7 minutes lead over these women and you still lost. I can’t deal with this “bro, bro, bro. Like: Shut up and go kill yourself. He’s digging his own grave. I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t like you, stay away from me. You are ghetto trash, that’s all you are. I can’t stand him. Urrrgh! I want him gone…yesterday.” If anyone thought Colton could win this season well this confessional absolutely killed his chances. Letting the “ghetto trash” comment make it on the air even makes me wonder if Bill can outlast Colton. Colton gathered his five and surprised them by saying that Bill, the one that Tarzan considered their 6th, was his target. Tarzan still saw Matt as the dangerous one. Troyzan: “There’s clearly two sides in our tribe. There’s Matt and Mike, Jay and Bill and then there’s me and Jonas, Tarzan Leif and Colton. We’ve got the numbers so the guys in the alliance are the ones picking who is going home. If we say it’s Matt, it’s going to be Matt. If they switch it and say it’s going to be Bill, it’s going to be Bill. The one that is making the biggest suggestion is Colton.” When Jay approached the Misfits, Colton told him he was safe. Tarzan asked if he wanted to be with them. Jay: “They’ve got the numbers and I’m not part of that so that just puts a target on my back. I can join them or butt heads with them. So, I basically had no options today so I’ll vote with you guys.” Matt came by next and Tarzan told him he was interrupting their strategy talk which caused Colton to laugh. Matt walked away. Matt: “…I wanted to go and stick my head in…I walked away, no problem but what I wanted to do was pull Troy aside. I think Troy and I have spent the last week as the head of two snakes that are battling each other. You are either with me and my guys or with Troy and the average Joes so I decided that something had to be said.” Troyzan: “Matt basically is a jerk. He calls the strongest guys the Roosters and, the whole time, I am agreeing with him but,in my mind I’m never going to be with you. It ain’t Survior unless you’re lying!” Troyzan told Colton that Matt was the dangerous one. Colton: “Right now, the vote is between Bill and Matt. If I had my way, Bill would go just because I hate him, I can’t stand his voice…. Matt is like the head of the snake and you have to cut it to stop the rest of it from wiggling. Either one makes me perfectly happy. Honestly, in this tribe of nine, if I could get rid of 5 people, it would be like heaven!” Who is the mystery 5th?! We know Colton doesn’t like Matt, Bill and Micheal while Jay has to be counted in those he wants to eliminate but that still means someone from his alliance of misfits is in his sights. Could that person jump ahead of the other three in the order of elimination? Tribal Council Asked about the power struggle that would happen in any tribe of 9 guys, Micheal quickly tied himself to Matt, saying they clicked instantly but that there were many alliances in the tribe. Tarzan refuted the fractures in the tribe by saying “we have an alliance of 5”. Jeff then went to Colton saying 4 players must feel unconfortable. Colton playfully replied that he wasn’t unconfortable because the women gave him an idol and that, unlike James in China, he would play that idol tonight. Micheal once more showed his intentions by telling Jeff that Colton was playing both sides, going often to the women and that the idol was disrupting their whole game. Colton told Jeff that it shouldn’t be a shock that he was spending time with the women. Jeff shot that idea down saying he wasn’t on their tribe. His “reverse-Duh” got the whole tribe laughing and put Colton on the defensive. He finally said that he wasn’t voting with the women. Bill replied that Colton assumed they prejudged him so he, in fact, prejudged them. Asking to speak, Tarzan told Jeff that Colton was highly intelligent, that they needed him to understand how the game plays and that he has alliegience with the women which could benefit them. He added: “We need him”. Matt asked who Tarzan meant by “we”. Tarzan was momentarily stuck but he explained he was defending Colton. Matt told Jeff he thought Tarzan was talking out of fear, that he needed his five to prevent him from shivering in his boots. Matt explained how Tarzan was irritating him: “When Tarzan speaks…you don’t know if you should take him seriously. I’m the kind of guy that, when I speak, I want peple to listen and take me seriously.” Asked about the vote, Bill talked about fun and games and that this was intense. He looked jacked up! Colton didn’t play his idol, his expression showing that he was proud of himself. After sending Matt to loser Lodge, Jeff said that the game was on. Tarzan asked if they could see the two unread votes. Jeff simply said no while Colton answered: “Save those questions for me.” The Story With the women still dominating the airtime in an episode where they didn’t go to Tribal Council, we are being told that the winner is likely in Salani. Our impression is reinforced by their underdog status which puts doubts on their chances to even make it to the end. If the Immunity Challenge is indeed like the season in a nutshell, then we can expect that the women will still have problems but that they will comeback and win in the end. The Characters Christina: Much like in the immunity challenge where Sabrina always called out to Monica instead of her, Christina’s story gets mostly ignored. Monica: Like she said about the fish she caught, Monica only has a little story but at least it’s something. She often seems to be on the verge of giving the girls a “facts of life” speech but she always stays quiet. Will she explode and will that cost her the game? What is evident is that this beautiful woman is both eloquent and tough so being ignored is a bad sign for her future chances. Leif: I had a weird impression during Tribal Council: By the way Leif was seated, his stool slightly higher than the others, he looked to be sitting on Matt’s lap like a dummy sitting on the ventriloquist. Well, Leif wasn’t in Matt’s pocket but his lack of presence tells us that he is nothing more than a vote for his alliance. We aren’t meant to root for Leif so that could be a good indication that he gets voted out by the future winner. Jay: He was reduced to following the Misfits’ orders yet he was still shown antagonizing the women. He lacks a fall-back story now that the Frat Boys are dead. Jonas: I feel that his story took a nose-dive when he compared the women to zombies and especially when we heard him calling Colton “Boss” before the council. He is too much part of the Misfit alliance, not enough part of One World. Tarzan: He was shown as Colton’s lackey, defending him to Jeff, calling him highly intelligent and saying they needed him to understand the game. That means we were right to see him as a “Dumb Player”. Bill: Judging him by his Tribal Council performance, we can say that Bill is truly a comedian. The problem is he would fit better in a movie like “up in smoke” than on Survivor! However, he was the subject of a vicious attack by Colton and his words about being prejudged must have resonated with the audience so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him outlast Colton. But in the post-Russell era, he may just wind up voted out without having a chance to avenge the affront. Micheal: In all the negativity surrounding the Frat Boys, Micheal was mostly left out of it. Was he spared or ignored? His words at Tribal Council definitely tied him to Matt so I am thinking he was being spared. His safety net is that Colton’s hatred towards Bill could enable Micheal to make it to a swap and an alliance with the women. However, we have to remember that some of his confessionals showed he was heartless. Maybe he will regret not sharing more with them. Alicia: After being a big character in the premiere, Alicia has slowly regressed to the back of the stage. That could be good for her longevity but not for her end game perspective. We will probably return to the villainess’ story once her elimination approaches. For now, she is being totally tied to Kat, conforting her and teaming up with her during the challenge. A little distance would do wonders to her story because, for now, she looks like she would be Kat’s shield, the one you eliminate first while you keep the less dangerous Kitty-Kat. Sabrina: She continues to show that she is a woman of valor. She was the first to win a duel against a guy during the Reward challenge and she was amazing during the puzzle portion of the Immunity challenge. Yet, we saw that, as leader, she continued to fail. I feel that it is becoming her theme: She will prove that she is a solid Survivor but her story will end just short of the goal like many other solid performers. Like she said, this game has already made her age ten years. At that pace, how can she last until the end? Colton: There continues to be a lot of doubts surrounding Colton. Is he using the alliance as a means to get to the merge where he will team up with the women? Will he vote with the women or not? And now we have to ask who is that 5th person in his tribe that he wants to eliminate? However, these doubts aren’t making us wonder how he could win but rather how he can impact the eventual winner. Yes, Colton knows Survivor like Tarzan said. His own words to Tarzan reflected that: He knows that the two unseen votes had to be meaningless, had to be against Matt. Yes, he probably won’t make a stupid move like James but being smart doesn’t mean playing well. We already know that his ties with the women aren’t as strong as Tarzan seems to think. If he does want to play with the women, he could be the one that gets played. He has too much down side - His “I’m a Republican” confessional made him look like a hypocrit: Like many, he forgets that it is easier to be against hand-outs when you are “rich” because, when he was “poor”, he was begging for that idol. - Like Bill said, we saw that Colton immediately put himself outside of the tribe because he was certain they wouldn’t like him. He prejudged them - The ghetto trash confessional was clearly over the line, a scar that wouldn’t be revealed of a winner. Troyzan: Is Troyzan the 5th person that Colton would love to see leave? If so then a conflict should emerge between the two and it would greatly enhance Troy’s story. Of course, it could prove fatal but, if he survives Colton’s attack, he will have a chance to make it far. Of the men, Troyzan’s story is the one that has most potential. His performance in the Reward challenge looked bad for his winning chances but who would remember an episode 3 challenge, especially if he were to go on to win a few key challenges down the road. He is the man that bridged both sides, talking to Matt even if he was in the Misfits alliance and he was the one that twice went to the women, first to invite them to the shelter and then greeting them after their fishing expedition. Compared to Micheal who had a similar role, Troyzan’s confessionals weren’t heartless towards his opponents. Of all the players, he is the only one with an end-game connection, telling us he wants to be seen as the greatest player ever. He still has a long way to go but, should he pull it off, it will have been quite the journey. Kat: For someone that was supposed to be voted out, she made a nice recovery in this episode; she showed her rah-rah attitude by defying Troyzan but she kept it under control enough to win a key point during the challenge. She had a good confessional, the kind that showed she had her head in the game. It seems like her Journey to Prove herself has started. She should make it far but we already know why she wouldn’t win. Like in the immunity challenge, Kitty Kat is in over her head. Chelsea: There is a big story being built around Chelsea. This strong woman was the one shown breaking down so she could be getting a “Tribute” edit; the valiant player that couldn’t finish the game. However, her story could also fit an end game player that doesn’t make it, either voted out because she is too much of a threat or the one that doesn’t get enough votes. Her decision with the chicken and her breakdown could be used to explain that loss. Kim: Her voice is now being heard: The women toughed it out during the night, they didn’t go crawling to the men and her directions in the challenge seemed to guide the women to victory. Add Matt’s congratulations and we are close to naming her as this season’s Sole Survior. The only thing missing is an end game connection. We haven’t really heard her talk about her plans to get to the end. There was that confessional about using woman power for now so maybe that’s enough but I would still like to see more before making a call. But, as for now, she is the leading candidate to dominate One World. I see that others got the party started but there already are a few curls for this episode so I didn't know where to put my post. Shouldn't we have 1 curl per episode?   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-05-12, 03:11 AM (EST) 50. "RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts:" Excellent analysis, Michel! Once again I see we noticed a bunch of similar things in how the women were shown in this episode. I would even go so far as to say that my editing "eye" has been trained through reading so many great posts in this Editing Thread over the years. Like, for example, how the women got lots of attention considering they didn't go to TC, and how they received screentime after the IC, unlike the men in ep 2. It's lots of fun reading everyone's thoughts. Especially some of the little nuances that slip by me. You seem to have picked up on a few that I overlooked in watching the episode. Some of it will always be left to interpretation, but I think it's also a sign that the editors are doing a good job in giving us a lot to work with this season. Once again I'm mostly in agreement with your assessment of each of the women. Thanks for mentioning the close-up scene with Kat at the challenge, kind of wandering around aimlessly. I clearly noticed that when I first watched. I also remember Kim seeming the most vocal at the IC challenge in communicating to Sabrina, but failed to mention it. Another great connection with her "finding her own voice" comment. And good catch with her scene getting the congratulations. I'm trying to refrain from picking a winner at this point, but she is looking in the best position to me from the cumulative first three eps. In my analysis I noted, like you, that it seems like they are serving us an edit that the winner will be from Salani. Interestingly while my take on the women is similar to yours, my view of the men has been different for most of their tribe. Regarding the fratboys, we both saw it as a good thing for Mike that he was spared the negativity, although I'm haven't really felt that he is on the outs with the women (should be fun to see what happens when he's on a tribe with them) And for Jay, I thought he had a really good episode. You're correct that he was reduced to following the "misfit alliance" but this is a good thing gamewise, and I feel it was edited so as well (since he got a confessional explaining his reasoning behind it) This could be foreshadowing why he won't be a non-alliance member to get voted out when/if a swap happens. I was very intrigued to read your assessment of Bill and Colton. I still don't think Bill has given nearly enough that would be substantial to be the victor of anything yet (but this could change, maybe even in ep 4 with his confrontation with Colton that was highlighted in the preview). You're take on Bill's scenes did give some speculation that he might end up on the right side of this conflict, where I hadn't really seen any evidence of it yet. Regarding Colton's comment about "ghetto trash" I didn't take it as harshly as you or others, in killing Colton's edit. He was just literally "trash" talking, as he has since day 1. He's already called himself a "girl" and a queen, and spoke poorly about Matt. I think many viewers will just see this as his petulant humor (kind of like what we saw with Corrine calling Dan a former "fatty" due to his insecurity. Dan left pre-merge, while she lasted). Although he's getting a lot of attention, and many soundbites that can come back to haunt him, we've be shown that Colton is the person tied to the most players right now, which will likely bring him to the merge. Cheers, Aaron PS - oh, and about the curl action for the Editing Thread, I think it was me who mussed it up I was posting as a reply from Veruca's initial post with my weekly analysis, and thought I was meant to only reply to someone else's post when I was commenting directly to them. Let me know if it's preferred for me to do otherwise. Thanks!   Top

dabo 26942 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-05-12, 11:09 AM (EST) 51. "RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts:" I was posting as a reply from Veruca's initial post with my weekly analysis, and thought I was meant to only reply to someone else's post when I was commenting directly to them. Let me know if it's preferred for me to do otherwise. That's perfectly fine.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-07-12, 03:47 AM (EST) 53. "RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts:" Thanks for clarying, dabo! Much appreciated   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-05-12, 12:42 PM (EST) 52. "RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts:" LAST EDITED ON 03-05-12 AT 12:54 PM (EST) First, like Dabo said, you didn't mess things up, it's just that we used to have one curl per episode. Maybe this way is better because the margin got messed up when the curl was too long and since FP stated she doesn't want to be influenced by our views then I guess it's more respectful not to respond directly to her post with our points. As for our different views on the men, I think that's because they have been neglected up to now. If we use Jay as example, I didn't like his edit from the start: - He had this confessional in the opening "I am going to make a girl alliance” and it was presented right after Jeff said “they think they have Survivor figured out”. He served as Jeff's punchline. - He made fire but the editors practically brushed over it. The fire became an object of conflict instead of his accomplishment. - You say he showed good gameplay by joining the Misfits and it may prove out to be true but, as it was presented, Jay went from an alliance of 4 to the bottom of a 6 person alliance. We heard that the guys liked him but he didn't use that advantage to save his original alliance. All he needed was to flip 1 guy but he didn't even try. Of course, the guys, especially Jay and Michael will have to be looked at carefully when they do get on a tribe with women. The women's stories are all pretty much "in the moment" so maybe the men represent the long term players afterall. ETA about Bill: I don't hold out much hope that he will indeed outlast Colton, I was just saying that a remark like Colton's should be thrown back in his face by getting voted out by Bill because Bill hasn't been edited as the likable "Victim" of this season's Villain. Being mostly InvisiBill from the start makes it look as if the editors are endorsing Colton's remark and that just stinks.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-07-12, 03:56 AM (EST) 54. "RE: Episode 3 - Editing Thoughts:" Yes, Jay hasn't been shown as stellar, but he's not being ingored and has had a consistent showing so far. So at this stage in the game I think that's pretty good. We'll see how things transpire. While he may be at the bottom of a 6 person alliance, but his only option at this time was to be 6th, 7th or 8th, so that buys him some time. Like you mention, I plan to look at Jay and Mike and see how they are shown within the mixed tribes too. Yes, while Colton's remark sucks, the editing is looking to still give Bill an earlier ouster than Colton. Maybe we'll see something that will redeem Bill, Colton or the remark, before either of them go.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-10-12, 05:04 AM (EST) 55. "Episode 4: The Players, The Game, The Editing " Recap The most interesting aspect of the recap for me was how it revisited the tension between Christina and Alicia. Showing the scene of when Christina made the deal for fire with the men, with a bit from Alicia, stating the Christina is "playing that side" and that she's "poison" Personally, I've gotten no impression that Christina is poison, so why are we hearing this again? This could've been shown to set up the possible boot story for the women if they had gone to tribal (before the men lost their marbles!) But this could also be a set up for the next tribal council and the upcoming tribal switch. First segment Mike gets to speak about the TC upon the men's return to camp, which bodes well for him. And this is further solidified by Tarzan's confessional stating that Mike is peripheral and Bill is more of a threat (setting up the boot story) 2nd segment Monica gets a nice testimonial about the women having a huge turnaround, and how she can go on for another 31 days. Chelsea adds to the sentiment with stating "how much the roles have reversed in 9 days. In approaching the women with Troyzan, Jonas looked to have failed in this negotiation attempt. Which was stamped with Kim's confessional of calling him a "rude dude" Not good for Jonas, as Kim has been shown as likeable so far. We then get Troyzan's ironic confessional about the women being the emotional ones. And we get further screenshots that Jonas & Troyzan appear to be side by side. Reward Challenge Monica gets another good challenge performance showing - winning it for the women. Jeff asks, "is this what it takes to turn it around for the women" to which the men say no (which is correct as they will soon show us later in the episode what it is that will turn things around for them) There's as odd WTF moment of Tarzan calling Jonas "Jason" repeatedly (and someone correcting him) and Kat really standing out with her victory dance. 3rd Segment Sabrina gets the confessional back from camp. Gotta love her saying about Tarzan "his crusty #####" We are meant to like Sabrina, and dislike Tarzan. Then we quickly go to the men's camp and we get a scene with Leif divulging information to Bill about how close he was to getting booted last TC. Bill gets some confessional time, and while continuing to be the voice of reason, we're not really hearing what he can do to better his situation. Cut to Mike talking to Colton, worsening Leif's situation. Mike gets a nice confessional stating his strategy of putting Leif as a target before himself. And as the scene ensues we are guided to believe Mike was successful. Then Colton in confessional states "Bill is sneaky, and Leif is stupid." Once again, in the power-position, Colton is being shown giving us the next men who will be up for elimination. Mike was looking on as Colton schooled Leif, and Leif's confession set him up to be more of "victim" player than anything else. 4th Segment Alicia was pissed off in her confessional, enuff said, and Sabrina was shown in confessional calling Alicia a firecracker and "we don't need that" Immunity Challenge Lots of negative focus on both Alicia and Tarzan. Alicia, for her reaction to blowing the puzzle. Tarzan, for screaming "cheater" when in fact the women are permitted to view the men's puzzle (which is stated during the challenge by Jeff) Christina got the confessional after the IC and punctuated that Alicia has a bad attitude, and this could be an indication to vote out Alicia over Christina. Stating "when there's a weak link, you just gotta take it out" Leaving us to ponder the question who will be seen as the weak link, Alicia or Christina? 5th Segment Sabrina gets another confessional stating "Alicia is just dead weight with a mouth" Scene with Sabrina and Kim discussing the fate of Alicia or Christina. Kim states that Sabrina is trying to shake things up and that makes her nervous. Back at the men's tribe we see the scene of Bill trying to talk to Colton (interestingly, this was cut to be right after the scene we already saw between Leif and Colton with Mike looking on) Colton brings up his concern for Bill and his hair-brained scheme to Jonas and Troyzan about giving up immunity to the women. Jonas gets a confessional about how "Colton's calling the shots" punctuating what the editing has already been showing us. Jonas also states that he doesn't want to put a target on his back, and therefore will follow along. We then see Colton, with Jonas alongside, bring the idea (to vote out Bill) to Jay and Mike nearby. As Troyzan is talking with Tarzan about it. Tarzan then has another confessional that continues to paint him as a "dumb" player. He then goes to the women's camp and tells Chelsea that they have a betrayer. Then we have a scene of the men talking in a circle about going to tribal. Tarzan's speech to Leif is laughable at best. And the men talk about how this needs to be unanimous to make the decision. All this malarkey, actually makes way to the possibility of Kat having a voice-of-reason confessional with comments like: "They've lost their marbles" and "that big boost we needed" Colton then reminds us he is "running the entire show right now" - and so far we have not seen that there would be any irony to that comment. He wants Bill out, and he will get it. Then we cut back to the women, with Sabrina stating this would never happen on their tribe. Tribal Council The men arrive to TC. Jeff asks Troyzan what happened, and he summarizes. We get Leif's explanation about losing trust in the guys. Then Jay states how he reluctantly agreed as he didn't want to put a target on his back. We go on to the discourse between Bill and Colton, which I imagine will land within the lexicon of not-to-be-missed Survivor Tribal Councils. The Episode Well, now we know why the dynamics of the men, while shown somewhat, were minimal in ep 3. Production knew what they had in store for us with ep 4! Wow, this appeared to me to be a complete implosion for the men. In a series of downward-spiraling interactions that led them to go to TC after winning an IC. There's a reason why this has never been done before! Even if it has some kind of logical sense to the dominant alliance, like Colton did his best to convey, it just does not seem like this is something that they Survivor gods will forgive. (Just like Julie's "karma" comments with Zapatera throwing the challenge to vote out Russell - it seemed good on paper, but there was no recovery) One thing the guys have going for them is that the upcoming tribal shuffle might derail whatever instant "karma" could've come from this. Still, I feel mostly all of the men have been edited to look like they were foolish with this move. Tarzan was already called "crusty" and Jonas called "rude dude" before this all went down. And both of which are stilling kissing Colton's a$$. Poor Leif's first appearance on the radar was edited to look like one of the biggest mistakes ever in Survivor history (whereas we are well aware that time and time again non-alliance mates have divulged information to each other) Troyzan didn't fair as bad as these guys, but he's smack in the middle and mere association paints him badly. Mike, although contributing to the turn of events, actually came off in a better light, as we heard from him in confessional that it was for his own preservation (as in, he's "surviving"). To a similar extent, Jay didn't fair so bad as he was avoiding the any target once again by going along with the majority. Still the men's tribe dynamics were all whirling around Colton. And in typical Survivor fashion, the better eidt isn't always granted to the more righteous player. Still, Bill was able to walk away with a positive outlook and Colton was able to solidify his status as a villain (with enough soundbites in four episodes to already have created a lengthy montage for the reunion) Yet, despite all of this, the women still maintained their presence, their subtle emergence, even though they took a backseat to allow the men's drama to unfold. The Men Bill - sad to see him go, but the writing was on the wall. Whether Bill was just trying to be a stand-up guy in his attempts to hash it out with Colton man-to-man, it came across as him opposing the person in power. Editing-wise, Bill was given about an 1/8 of the attention as Colton was given in terms of focus from the first 3 eps - there was just no way he was going to prevail against that giant. I must say, I thought we'd wait at least another episode before his dismissal, but who could've predicted the downward-spiral that Hurricane Colton whipped up. Bill and his entire tribe merely expedited his ouster. Fortunately, the editors allowed Bill some more moments to make it clear to us that the harshness to which he was booted, was not due to Bill's character as a person (thank goodness they gave us that, due to all the counter ugliness we had to view from Colton) Leif - ...and the best supporting actor for a little person impersonating a Survivor player goes to... any guesses! In my last recap, I felt it would be good for Leif to stay UTR. Instead we finally get some story for the good-hearted little guy, but boy did it really make him look like a pawn in Colton's game (actually a pawn for the whole "misfit" alliance). As with the previous stated male boots, I think it is clear that Leif will be the next male boot, as Colton has clearly stated it to us. The only thing to save Leif is if: 1) Colton loses his status, or 2) we begin to hear Colton talk up another boot as more "eminent danger" than Leif. Tarzan - Honestly, I don't even feel like discussing him anymore, ha! I pretty much stated it above. In my opinion, he's being edited as a "dumb" player. I feel like he's merely biding time. 2nd tribal in a row, where we hear him stroking Colton's ego. I foresee two options for him: 1) to be ousted taking a "hit" for Colton, or 2) to be the next person to go right after Colton gets de-throned. Whichever it is, I hope it's soon. Jonas - Still getting a consistent edit in tune with the other episodes, but it seems like he's not getting much "props" lately. Hearing Kim calling him a "rude dude" and witnessing him coming across as one of Colton's lackeys, can't be good for Jonas' chances. He will need a big turnaround for that. Although it does appear that he's making the best hand for himself due to the circumstances thrown at him. Troyzan - Appeared toned down a bit in this episode, while maintaining an omnipresence in the game. He still looks possible to go far, but the irony in his statement that the women were "emotional" just before the men's rash decisions, can be a signal that Troyzan is a tad out of touch as to what is really going down in One World. He has a nice position and showing within the men's tribe, let's see how he fairs with a co-ed tribe. If he steps up to "work it" with the women, he may maintain a good standing. Jay - a status quo episode for him. He's been consistent, which I feel is good for his longevity. Especially because we are seeing, as well as hearing from him, that he is on the periphery. Before is was periphery to the dominant alliance. But right now periphery is good, as it was to all the drama. Plus the tribe shuffling is coming up and may favor a more peripheral player. Jay also muttered the episode's title "bum-puzzled", so that alone must get some credit. Mike - Once again, I feel like Mike had a solid showing. His edit, and story, seems to be the only one of some substance (of the men) that is not wrapped up with Colton. In my previous recaps, I've noted that we had not seen any confrontations between him and Colton. Whereas they were both painted as possible villains and they each landed in opposing alliances on the same tribe. For Mike, it's a case of what is not being shown. With this in mind, we've been show limited wrath and contempt for Mike from Colton. And this is good for Mike. Even better, when we finally get a pivotal scene between Mike and Colton, it is Mike offering up the Leif "bit", which was the butterfly effect to Hurricane Colton. Could Mike be the one to usurp Colton? Colton - good grief, what else is there to say about Colton. I'm going to try to do my best and simply stick to an editing standpoint. And from that it still looks like we'll all suffer at the mercy of Colton a bit longer. As despicable as some of his comments were, he's still in the mix of so much of the story, and while many audience members may want him off their screens, editing is not giving us much hint that anyone plans to give him the ouster. I do feel that he's being set up for a fall, but this guy has so much more he can climb before that happens. And as Survivor likes to do with their most abrasive castaways, we will see him in droves until his torch is snuffed (all in the name of "good" television... or something like that ;) The women Alicia - With the lingering scene of Jeff questioning her about the loss , the editing certainly made it look as if there was a really good chance that she'd be going home at Salani's TC. With the turn of events that saved Salani from TC, this was simply misdirection. While I feel that this will continue on to the next ep/TC. And perhaps keeping Alicia in danger or at least tied to the boot story. My instinct is telling me that she won't be the boot though. I think we'll get a bit more of a build up before Alicia leaves. Plus, it the conflict between her and Christina, Alicia's been getting the better edit. Christina - Out of the remaining woman, she's had the least development, although she hasn't been invisible. Her story so far has mainly consisted of 3 things: 1) she's outside of the main alliance on the Salani tribe along with Monica, 2) she had a conflict with Alicia at the first TC, while hugging it out shortly after (yet we were reminded in recap about their tension and Alicia's view of her) and 3) she negotiated the deal with Jonas for fire in ep 1 (which was also highlighted in the recap) Seeing how she was saved as being a boot choice, she is still being set up as the next conceivable woman to leave the game. Due to previews, we know the tribe shuffling is on it's way in ep 5 and Christina indeed ends up on a tribe with the three people she has been tied to regarding her "storylines." Sounds like it can all be wrapped up nicely for Christina in ep 5 with her being first boot for nuManono. Editing has been kinder to Alicia (especially when it could've been worse due to her personality) and it looks to me like Christina will go before her. Monica - Once again she had a solid challenge performance at the RC. She has a consistent positive edit for the past 3 eps, there just isn't as much meat (or editing manipulation) to what we're seeing of her. I'm really curious to see how she fairs with any "opportunity" that might come along for her in the shuffle. Will they show her talking strategy? If so, how? I think this will give us clear indication if Monica can make it through the next phase of the game. Kat - The "disposable" view of Kat has been diminishing, continuing from ep 3. She did well in the RC and was shown doing her "rah rah" thing (which annoyed Tarzan, but could've been depicted worse) She also spoke up this time about her concern with her placement for an upcoming challenge. While this was looked down upon by Alicia, relative to Kat this was a good thing after her abysmal performance in stepping up for the balance beam when she clearly shouldn't have. She also got the "losing their marbles" confessional, which is basically another alternate for naming the episode. All of this, to me, says that Kats looking pretty comfy for awhile. Sabrina - Was back to being primary narrator at Salani (after Chelsea's more prominent coverage last week) We are meant to relate with Sabrina's assessment, especially as she is perceiving Alicia. This is what the audience is seeing, although Alicia, and to an extent the editor's are seeing it differently. Sabrina is still a strong focal point for the women and appears to be in no danger. Kim - Everything about Kim's edit is letting us know that she'll be around for awhile. There will be much more to come from Kim as she continues to find her voice. She will be less likely to "shake things up" right now, just as she stated in reference to Sabrina's comments that doing so was making her nervous. Chelsea - After being the star of last ep, there really wasn't much place for Chelsea to go other than down in screentime. And fortunately for her, ep 3 wasn't a spike before her boot (which makes sense as her story hasn't been leading up to that) Once again she managed to go unscathed from something that could've been edited in a different way. We had her disagreement with Matt and the chickens in ep 1, her breakdown/whining due to the weather in ep 3, and now her horrendous performance at RC - all of which were downplayed as to keep her character intact. She is still highlighted in a way that we are meant to like her and still root for her (and I do ) For her to lay low in this high-octane episode that made many players look bad, this is good for her. She's in it for the long haul. -- aaron --   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-10-12, 04:05 PM (EST) 57. "RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Game, The Editing " Excellent analysis, Aaron, I see we are one the same page for most but there are some differences: - Jay: What you saw as a status quo episode for him, I saw as him making huge strides ahead? OK, I had less enthusiasm for his edit than most so he had more distance to cover but still I felt he stole Michael's thunder in this episode. Mike made the move but Jay seemed to get the most airtime out of it. - Chelsea - you write that she managed to go unscathed and kept her character intact but I can't agree. Troy called her bitchy and he hasn't been proven an unreliable witness up to now. He is more rational than most. Also, her challenge performance wasn't completely brushed over because we saw that she had to apologize to everyone. Chelsea continued to make mistakes and we were told that early mistakes are hard to overcome. That brings me to Troyzan: I like his story and his confessional could indicate that his presence will be important after the swap. The women are doing well but they are emotional so a bit of fatherly advice could do wonders. Up to now, Salani has been a tribe without a "parent" and it has hurt them. Sabrina was asked to step in to the role but she wasn't equipped for it as we clearly saw. She is the oldest "Daughter" and was overwhelmed a few times including in this short strategy discussion that made Kim nervous. The parental seat is open for Troy. Historically, players presented as "good parents" do really well on Survivor.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-11-12, 04:11 AM (EST) 59. "RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Game, The Editing " Thanks, Michel! I think we are actually in closer agreement about Jay and Chelsea, as perhaps "status quo" was not the best choice for describing Jay, or "unscathed" for Chelsea. Still I feel Chelsea had several opportunities there to have been shown worse. (As for Troy calling her bitchy, I can only think of the numerous things said about Sandra in her seasons and she won twice!) And like you mention, I had already seen Jay as having a great episode last episode, so for me regarding him, I felt it was more of the same. Nice to see you're noticing it too, as it isn't all that blatant. I actually think the area where we differ most has been with Michael. And now, more so, with your statements about Troy above. While I think as Troy has so far gotten the best edit from the "Misfit" alliance and is being shown as likeable, I feel like his edit is almost too normal - if that makes any sense. There doesn't seem to be much manipulation with him. Although the same can be said for Kim, and she's looking pretty good. I just feel that the men are being edited differently so far. The dominant alliance on the women's tribe is prevailing and each of those women got some pretty good editing so far. Where as on the men's tribe, the "misfits" weren't the prominent alliance at first, and since they have come into power we have been shown so many flaws with each of those individual players. And I think Troy is merely looking good in comparison. But what stops me more about seeing Troy as successful, is that I've gotten a much different read on Michael's edit than you have. I think he's much more of an "impact" player than say Alicia, and he has gotten a solid edit in the past 4 episodes. In your ep 4 analysis, regarding Michael you stated: .........."The problem with Michael’s story is that, if he is the eventual winner, this move would have been featured much more prominently. While we did see him observing the disastrous events, we didn’t hear him commenting on it. Even during Tribal Council, Jeff didn’t turn to him but to Jay. Michael played a pivotal role in this episode but the editors used Tarzan’s words to present him as a peripheral player."............ The editor's were certainly not going to upstage the Colton show with making more out of Michael's move. The fact is they still showed us this, and his move was very calculating (as we can just see Michael there observing and simmering) and it was a good move gamewise. As for Tarzan calling him a peripheral player to Troy, this really doesn't amount to much as it's coming from a "dumb" player. So that brings me back to Troy. While you have noted that he has had some key scenes with the women (and I agree he has) I've also noted this with Michael. He had a key scene in ep 1 with Kim and Kat. I haven't taken his scenes as negatively as you or others, I feel like they are somewhat neutralized. He may simply just not be as likeable. In which likeability won't necessarily be a factor in his longevity or winning the game (as so many unlikeable players have made it far, and some have won) All in all, there are parallels with Michael and Troy here too, but the biggest difference I note is that Michael's edit appears to be manipulated more. And I feel that this usually is a good indicator for a long term player. Of course, the determining factor will be which one of these guys fairs better with their newly formed tribes and the women on them. Right now, I think it really could be either of them.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-11-12, 11:46 AM (EST) 61. "RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Game, The Editing " "I can only think of the numerous things said about Sandra in her seasons and she won twice!" But the ones bashing Sandra were Fairplay and Russell, the two negative players of those season. Troy isn't a villain. Besides, Sandra wasn't portrayed as a survivalist, a strong woman. Her victories were credited to her wits. They could call her weak as much as they wanted it didn't matter. I realize that this could apply to Tarzan calling Michael peripheral but Troy immediately agreed, saying Tarzan had made a good call. Troy has good game connections with most of the players, don't you think? Even Matt went to him for his last second plea! Having connections to everyone was the main reason that Chris won. Tina, Danni, Earl, Todd, Parvati and Natalie also. Not surprisingly since it's a social game. As for Michael's scene with the women, I still go back to the very first one where he stole their supplies. In a season when Jeff mentioned "early mistakes" he has to suffer the consequences for that move.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-13-12, 03:29 AM (EST) 64. "RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Game, The Editing " Yes, I do think Troy has good game connections (even stated it my ep 3 analysis ). And he has a likeable personality, as shown to us, and as it appears to others in the game (even Matt was fooled by him). The thing is, I just don't feel Troy has been given the clout, editing-wise, that would warrant his comments of calling Chelsea something negative to hold that much weight in diminishing her chances of making it to the end. Nor do I feel his agreement with Tarzan, would then negate that this was coming from a "dumb" player. I feel that particular scene was simply setting up the upcoming TC boots, and made sure the audience took Michael out of contention. To me there were no larger implication there. As for Michael and Jeff's "early mistakes" comment, part of what I'm trying to convey here is that his scene with Kim and Kat was in the same episode as him stealing their supplies. From my viewing perspective we were not told that Michael made a mistake by doing this. The scene showed him and Kim talking diplomatically about cross-tribal info (it was not a scene to give us the impression that they distrusted Michael or that they were weary of him for stealing). And I feel that the editing further supports this by showing us a scene with Michael (not one of the other men, until Jay walked in) talking near the fire at night with Kim and Kat in particular, who have also gotten pretty solid edits so far.   Top

suzzee 5961 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-13-12, 10:36 AM (EST) 68. "RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Game, The Editing " Very well done Aaron, nicely laid out. On Jonas, agree with the sketchy edit but he is heard as being willing to be a "lackey" to the power which could show flexibility or later being perceived as a coattail rider. Depends so much on how the tribe switch plays out. Sweet! Thanks to Ag!   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-14-12, 03:14 AM (EST) 72. "RE: Episode 4: The Players, The Game, The Editing " Thanks Suzzee! Appreciate it Great point about Jonas acknowledging his "role" - this is good for his edit. And certainly, gamewise, this could be a smart, flexible move giving him longevity. I think ep 5 is going to be telling for Jonas. Just how much of his game is he going to allow to be wrapped up with Colton?   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-10-12, 03:26 PM (EST) 56. "Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" In the recap Jeff said: “For the first five days, the men’s tribe was on a roll, dominating every challege… <A new confessional by Jay saying that “as far as I’m concerned, we are in charge of this game.”> …leaving the women of Salani hanging on by a thread.” <Colton heard again saying he doesn’t believe in hand-outs after Monica asked for an ember> “But the women weathered the storm with back-to-back victories.” <Kim said: “Things are starting to feel different.”> “But, even reward and sunshine couldn’t keep them from each other’s thoats.” <We revisited the Christina/Alicia feud, Christina asking Manono what it would take for them to work together, Alicia saying that Christina was playing both sides. She called her “poison”> “Facing their first Tribal Council, the Misfits alliance targeted Matt, the head of the Muscle alliance…but Colton was harboring a personal vendetta and wanted to take out Bill.” <Colton is once more heard calling Bill “Ghetto Trash”.> “At Tribal Council, the Misfit alliance decided Matt was the bigger threat and he was sent home.” The only reason I can think of for reminding us of the Christina/Alicia feud was to draw a parallel between Colton and Alicia. Ghetto trash and poison are both atrocious accusations. However, Christina’s words made it sound that she wanted to align with the men instead of just making a deal for fire, lending credence to the accusation. It makes me wonder if Alicia will get what she wants just like Colton. This episode should have been titled: They Lost their Marbles! Manono – Night 8 Michael: “Getting back from tribal Council was a little upsetting because Matt went home tonight. These guys don’t know what they are doing. Most of those guys are weak and they just want to keep the weak around. You have an old guy, you have a little guy and you have a gay guy who doesn’t want to work. If they want to vote out the strong guys then they can continue to lose.” As Michael went to bed, we heard Tarzan talking with Troy: “Mike is so peripheral, he has no clue so we can left him float a little while before we vote him out. The next round will be Billy.” Troy said that was a good call. Tarzan had a confessional taped the next morning but seen during this scene: “It was good for us to go to Tribal Council because I truly felt that the five of us, we were solid. Bill is really dangerous. He is capable of loosening the ties that bind us five with his charm his beguilling character.” During that confessional, we saw Leif getting into a reward box to use as his bed even if it looked more like a coffin! Knowing what was about to happen, we can say that Michael was right, these guys don’t know what they are doing. How far he can go now that he is perceived as a lesser threat? The main problem with Michael is that he isn’t peripheral only in the game but in the story also. Salani – Day 9 Conituing her way to recovery, we saw Chelsea preparing the morning meal: Snails! She was accompanied by Monica while Christina and Kim watched. Monica: “The women had a huge turn-around. We won the last two challenges and we are not starving. Between, the coconut, the snails and the rice, we could go another 31 days. At least I could; mind over matter.” Interesting confessional from someone that didn’t seem to have a long term story. Will Monica make it 31 more days? We have to keep that possibility in mind. For now however, I think it’s noteworthy that the woman that was the most vocal against the alliance of young women said they have turned things around. Compared to Michael’s words about the guys and we have another indication a woman wins. Jonas and Troy came to look at what was cooking. Jonas said that, being Hawaiian, he knew how to use a net and would share half the fish he’d catch using the women’s net. Chelsea: “Isn’t that funny?! I think it’s hilarious that, at the beginning, we were struggling but now the boys come by wanting to borrow everything that we’ve won at challenges. It’s just crazy how the roles have reversed in just nine days.” To the men, she said: “I know it will make me sound like a cold-hearted bitch when I’m not but we can’t be feeding our enemies.” Jonas insisted but said he didn’t really care either way. Kim: “I think Jonas is a real rude dude, I mean, he made an offer with the net and then he said “I don’t care, I don’t care.” But, obviously he cares a lot!” Troy: “The women! They are trying to be so hard-nosed. I don’t get it. I don’t know if their emotions are turning whacky or what but they are emotional creatures and they can’t seem to think straight. They could go suntan on the beach while we go fish and bring them half of the food. Like: Hello! Is there anybody home?” Taken on the surface and only considering that sharing seemed the right thing to do, we could say that this scene made the women look bad, Chelsea and Kim in particular but, in the context of the episode, it’s quite ironic. Through Monica, the women had just told us they had enough food, we even saw them eating with their fancy new plates(!) while this confessional was going on: We will later see that it’s the men that cannot control their emotions when they make a very whacky decision. Still we can be concerned for Chelsea if she ever winds up in a tribe with Troy as he noted her bitchy attitude. Then again, a later scene is forcing me to reconsider this one: While talking about giving immunity to the women, Jonas was holding a fishing net. It seems that an agreement was eventually reached so why show the failed negotiations at all? I see two possibilities: Make the women look independent which would be great. Make them look selfish which would be terrible. The Challenge The camera focused mostly on Colton and Kat’s reaction when Jeff reveraled the choices for reward. Was it just that they have the best facial expressions or was it to show that the two are emotional and think more of their needs than the game? At least, they gave Kat a nice camera angle for her celebration when she knocked out a piece. We also saw her enthusiasm when she did a little dance after the 4th piece was knocked out and after the victory. Her chant of woot-woot as she danced irritated Tarzan. Tarzan’s dumb player edit continued when we heard him encouraging Jason! Someone had to tell him his name was Jonas. Monica won the challenge for the women after we heard Alicia help her, saying that she was aiming too high. Just as a note but the editors didn’t show us the first round between Christina and Jay or the second one between Kat and Troy. Mean anything? Being somewhat a sore loser, Tarzan said it was luck. The women wisely chose the tarp for reward. Sabrina: “It was so good to win the reward challenge. When we hit that last one, we could tell it sucked all the air out of the guys but I didn’t care. Tarzan was over there with his crusty ass saying: “It’s just luck!” I’m like: Luck these!” Back in the Manono shelter, Jonas was saying the challenge was a fluke. Troyzan agreed saying: “We didn’t have enough time to learn the game.” After a few exchanges, Jonas added: “The game is not even: We are up one person. I will take one person up over all the doughnuts in the world.” With the move they were about to pull, Troy’s line could apply to the whole game of Survivor, not just this challenge. It’s making me think that none of these Misfits can win. And Jonas words also proved ironic considering he would later throw away a 2 person advantage!!! Bill: “To be honest, we got our butts kicked.” Bill and Leif took a moment to talk on the beach where Leif let it slip that Colton had targeted Bill in the preivious TC. Bill: “Boys and girls: Bill Posley just got wowed!” After their exchange, Michael went to Colton, saying: “I saw Leif talking to Colton. They were in a good conversation, you know.” That infuriated Colton: “That little munchkin is about to get kicked back to Oz.” Michael: “The Misfits are running the show right now and I think there’s a target on my back so I need to do something. Colton and I were talking about Leif because I see Leif working all sides here, so I brought Leif into the mix just to get one more (?) in front of me.” Leif appeared before Colton who was sitting in the shelter, the image of a king holding court. Leif was forced to admit that he told Bill he was next. Colton: “It’s a tight race between Bill and Leif to see who is the most wishy-washy player in this game. Bill’s more sneaky where as Leif is more stupid.” Leif: “Today, I put the biggest foot into my mouth. Right now, everybody has lost trust in me, I can only hope that I can regain that because, if not, I could possibly be going home.” Four players participated in this big set up scene. A look at their portrayal up to now could shed light on the editors’ intentions for them down the road. The scene had two victims; Bill and Leif. Bill was about to get railroaded out of the game and he would receive a positive portrayal along the way but we can’t say he had been an important character up to now. Many viewers had to feel bad for Leif after his slip-up but, again, Leif hadn’t been shown enough for the audience to truly connect with him and worry about his demise. Michael made a huge move to protect himself yet it was fairly brushed over and he’d be similarly ignored during the upcoming Council so this scene wasn’t meant to make him shine. All three remained minor characters whose fall seems inevitable. The intent of the scene therefore was simply to enhance the “Colton is the Villain” storyline. That kind of story tells us he is going to have a big comeuppeance but we cannot tell when that will be. We are still in the “gathering power” phase even if the previews suggest the beginning of a “time of worry”. I guess he will get the axe when the viewers will reach the point where they think he can make it to the end. Salani – Day 11 Hearing that they would be paired off to solve a puzzle, Kat told her tribe that she would need a good puzzle solver as companion. Alicia felt insulted by that. Alicia: “It seems that we have to do a puzzle. Hum…Right away Kat says: “I don’t want to be with you. You can’t do no puzzles.” That just pissed me off and I had to check her.” Sabrina: “Kat was saying: “I’m not the brightest star in the universe when it comes to puzzle and Alicia took it very personal causing controversy minutes before our challenge when we need to have our minds straight. You already know that we are a hot mess when it comes to communication but Alicia’s just like a firecracker. That’s stuff we don’t need.” If we would do a similar analysis with this scene that featured 3 women then we’d have to say that all three have been well established before this. Sabrian returned to her narration role which means she will last a while. Kat and Alicia both continue to be edited as players that could be going all the way to the end where the jury will remind them of their actions. Since we probably won’t have them both at the end then we have to favor Kat who has had the more nuanced edit so far. The Challenge If we can call it that because the men won in a huge blow-out. Chelsea and Alicia were paired and we saw them struggling with the first puzzle, the one Jeff called the easiest. At one point, we heard a couple of women suggesting that they look at the mens puzzle which got accusations of “Cheaters” by the men. To that, Jeff told the second pair, Kim and Sabrina, that they had a model to guide them. Tarzan continued to call out the “Cheaters”. Despite the win, we still were able to see Colton losing patience at Tarzan: He forgot to grab the key. He blocked the second pair. He yelled out unnecessary explanations. After the loss, Jeff focused on Alicia, saying: “You and Chelsea were still working on the first puzzle while the men were nearly done with the entire challenge.” Alicia agreed with an embarrassed smile. Jeff pushed the point further: “How can you laugh?” Alicia said she wasn’t laughing but she let them down. Jeff continued: “You walked over, looked at it and couldn’t get it.” Alicia could simply say: “I hear you.” Christina: “Alicia’s attitude after the challenge was repulsive. That could actually be to my advantage because all the girls are thinking that it’s time for Alicia to go and, when there is a weak link, you got to take it out.” All we can say here is that a lot of effort was put in to hide Chelsea’s failure. Jeff’s words, Christina’s confessional, even the tree mail scene were the viewers were prepared to see Alicia fail, were all used to put most of the blame on one half of the pair. Still, Chelsea wasn’t totally excused from the failure as we were about to see. Manono Bill: “That may have save my butt because I’m on the outs with the tribe…It’s nice to see that little red devil back at camp.” Salani Chelsea apologized, saying: “I’m not making any excuses but it looked a lot easier than it was.” Too bad for Chelsea but we heard Jeff say it was the easiest of the three puzzles and the dumb Tarzan was part of the duo that solved it. (Yes, I know Tarzan is a smart doctor but his edit is that of a Dumb Player.) Sabrina: “When it comes to challenges, I’m used to people going to war. Alicia laughing about the loss? That right there pissed me off. That’s like salt in the wound. Alicia is just dead-weight with a mouth.” With Kim, Sabrina discussed voting out Alicia. She said: “Alicia’s got to go. Alicia does not want to be here.” That surprised Kim who replied: “I don’t know that Christina is contributing anymore than Alicia,” Sab wasn’t letting go: “She is contributing a lot more in camp and who has had a beef with people?” Kim: “For sure, I thought Christina was the next one to go so, the mood is weird now. Sabrina is trying to shake things up. That makes me a little nervous. I don’t know; it’s going to be an interesting afternoon.” We went back to Manono where Bill wanted to squash some beef he had with Colton who simply would not hear him. Like he had been when Colton confronted Leif, we saw Michael listening to this argument. A frustrated Bill called Colton a stuck-up little brat. After having another “Kill Bill” confessional, Colton told Troyzan and Jonas: “Maybe I should go to those girls and say Do y’all want to trade and we’ll go to Tribal Council tonight because we have a lot more to deal with than y’all.” Jonas was shocked but said: “That would be interesting.” Those words enabled Colton: “Would you be willing? We all want to go to the merge with numbers but, if we go to the merge and those numbers aren’t on your side then it doesn’t matter.” Jonas: “We just won immunity and Colton is saying we should give it away. I’m thinking what? I don’t like that idea but at this point, Colton is calling the shots so what am I going to say? No? If I do that, Colton might put a target on my back.” Jonas saw it as a huge move, Colton as a smart one. Colton then went to Jay and Michael with the idea to vote out Bill. Jay thought it was a hasty decision. Troyzan explained the situation to Tarzan. Tarzan: “When a group of men make a pact and you betray them, that’s a breach of faith. So, we have to do something about this and we have to do it tonight.” Tarzan told the women that they were thinking of going to TC because they had a betrayal. Tarzan addressed Leif in front of the group, saying what he had done was egregious. Leif could only say he was sorry. Jay: “Tarzan gave this huge speech about sending Leif home but I thought Colton wanted to vote out Bill so, I’m like; what in the world is going on?” Kat: “The Manono tribe, they have absolutely lost their marbles. They are not a tribe, they are not working together which is great. If they do this, that will give the Salani tribe the big boost that we needed.” Bill: “This game is crazy…but if I go to Tribal Council and vote Leif off while they are angry, that serves my purpose immensely.” Jay was “bum-puzzled” by all this. Colton: “The guys are really confused right now but I’ve always been able to get people to do what I want and I want Bill gone. I am running this entire show right now. If you can’t see that, you are Helen Keller.” We had a shot of Jay at that moment. Ms Helen Keller was quite successful despite her condition. In Salani, Sab told the women that something like that would never happen in their tribe. Tribal Council It was too dark to tell which team was on the path leading to TC. Along with Jeff, we were looking at the slowly moving torches and I was laughing all the while! Much like at the end of the Amazing Race’s episodes, when it comes down to the last two teams trying to avoid elimination, we had a view from a camera preceding the contestants who were walking on the bridge leading to TC. We then saw…Manono entering the council area while Jeff’s jaw dropped. Jeff asked Troyzan what happened. He said that everyone got together and agreed to give immunity to the girls because: “As a team we wanted to vote Bill out but Leif..broke the trust of everybody.” Jeff turned to Leif who said he plays with his heart on his sleeve. Jeff pointed out that it didn’t mean giving up information from an alliance. Leif explained that Bill was his friend. He added: “By putting myself up for elimination, I hope it proves to the guys that I still have integrity within our group.” Jay told Jeff he didn’t understand the urgency. “If I don’t go with the majority, I could be the next one to go. I’m not trying to put a target on my back.” Jeff turned to Bill asking if this could be the dumbest move ever. Bill said it could be the dumbest move but that there was no point going into a merge with someone that couldn’t be trusted. Colton told Jeff the idea came when they realized Leif had told Bill, He then went into his personal vendetta against Bill. Bill showed he was the bigger man, excusing their conflict as people coming from two different backgrounds. Telling us about his tough life, he was brought close to tears. Colton told us about his easy life. It seemed that Tarzan was getting a headache. He told us he was sick of all discussions about race. For some reason, Jeff and the editors let him ramble on when he started defending Colton. Colton, showing he was playing for the cameras, smiled when Jeff said this was the craziest TC ever. Evveryone voted against Bill. Jeff ended TC by saying: “Voluntarily giving up immunity will go down as one of the biggest and riskiest moves ever seen in this game. Time will tell if this one pays off.” Bill had class in his final words, saying that Colton prejudged him because of his differences while he accepted him because of his. The Story This episode, on the surface, continued to show that the women were getting the better story. Now, they were even shown playing a better game. However, two details will prevent me from saying that a woman wins: The net and Jeff’s last words. Why bother showing the argument between Jonas, Troyzan, Chelsea and Kim? The fact that these 4 have been relevant characters up to now tells us it wasn’t a scene to dismiss. Like I wrote above the question we have to answer is whether or not this made the women out to be independent or stubborn? Positive or Negative? This ambiguity forces us to be very cautious in making deductions without answering that question first. Jeff’s last words were surprisingly neutral. Biggest and riskiest were the adjectives he used to describe the men’s move when dumb, short-sighted and impulsive should have been added. Were these Jeff’s only words? Were his harshest comments deleted to protect Manono’s “reputation”? He did say much the same about Ozzy’s move last season so we cannot say that his words are a good sign for the men. For now, Kat’s words seem to indicate that someone from Salani will win because that gave “the Salani tribe the big boost that we needed”. The question could be: Is the winner presently on Salani?!! A close analysis of the tribes and the interactions of their major players should give us the answers to most of our questions. The Characters Leif: He is already lying in the coffin. That image told us everything we needed to know about his future in the game. If Leif was to be the lovable underdog then he would have been more present in the earlier episodes in order to let the audience connect with him. Tarzan is simply presented as a dumb player. Another doctor! His close ties to Colton, which even included an apology, are a sure sign he will follow in the leader’s downfall. Christina: The reward challenge showed Christina falling flat on her back after a miss and ignored her first attempt so, despite her confessional post-IC, she remains a marginal character. I’d suggest that her confessional was shown only as an example of “Never sell the bear’s skin before you have killed the beast”. Christina may regret that the women didn’t go to Tribal Council. Monica: Many believe that, in the rigourous conditions of Survivor, players revert to familiar social settings to help them cope. They need a family unit to make it through. With the confessional where she said: “Between, the coconut, the snails and the rice, we could go another 31 days”, Monica showed us she could have been Salani’s Mother but she has always refused that role, staying outside of the tribe’s core, not interfering when the tribe’s children were in trouble or even making bad decisions. Adding the sentence: “at least I could” showed a lack of care that should never be present if one wants the role of Mother. This confessional could be a clue that Monica will last to the end but I see it more as an indication that some of the women will make it there. Jonas: Being presented as Colton’s lackey and his enabler was very detrimental to Jonas’ story. Not only that but we once more saw him arguing with the women but Kim called him rude and described his ridiculous actions. His episode 1 showing had prepared us to see a diplomat but he has moved far away from that role. That isn’t good for his story either. Michael: He played a huge role in the men’s actions by getting the ball rolling. His first confessional told us that the men didn’t know what they were doing so he certainly exploited his rivals’ weaknesses. The problem with Michael’s story is that, if he is the evenvtual winner, this move would have been featured much more prominently. While we did see him observing the disastrous events, we didn’t hear him commenting on it. Even during Tribal Council, Jeff didn’t turn to him but to Jay. Michael played a pivotal role in this episode but the editors used Tarzan’s words to present him as a peripheral player. The Impact Players (They should be in for the Long Run): Alicia: The women’s villain could still have her moment to shine now that it seems she has jumped ahead of Christina in Salani’s pecking order. Will she, like Colton, get what she wants? The way their feud was presented in the recap suggests that Christina is a wishy-washy player, ready to make deals with everyone. That storyline will have to be revisited and, up to now, the investment in Alicia has been much greater than the one in Christina. Colton: We saw small parallels between Colton and both Kat and Alicia during this episode. Colton seems to have the worst of the two women and no redeeming qualities. As we saw when Jeff revealed the choices of reward, Colton, like Kat, is too emotional. Like Alicia, he has too much beef with others. Interesting that, within seconds, we heard the same word, beef, used in connection to the season’s two villains. Colton is as arrogant as Russell but his confessionals aren’t twisted to appear more strategic than they really are. He is made to sound like the stuck-up little brat that Bill mentioned. His fall should be a time to rejoice and hopefully, like James, he leaves with an idol in his pocket, the thing he claimed wouldn’t happen to him. Et tu, Todd? Sabrina: Returning to her role of narrator, we also see that she is filling the role on Salani’s Mother. Unfortunately, Salani is a tribe where the daughters are running the show. Showing Sabrina’s desire to flip the alliance and eliminate Alicia could be an indication that she will regret Manono’s gift. Will Alicia turn out to eliminate the likable Sabrina? Kat: Like Colton, we saw her emotions during the reward. Like Leif, she put her foot in her mouth and upset Alicia after reading the IC tree mail. Yet, Kat is protected by the editors because Sabrina came to her defense. Leif needed it much more but no one said a word to explain that it was only a slip-up. There seems to be an intent to make us like Kat a little. Not as someone we should pull for but someone we should enjoy watching. I don’t think she has reached that yet but there’s a lot of time left. Chelsea: This episode only partly reestablished Chelsea as a strong woman. She was back on top as far as camplife was concerned but we saw her as a weak challenge competitor. It was good that she escaped Jeff’s wrath after that failure but we had been told it was an easy puzzle. To hear her say that it was harder than it looked didn’t help her cause. The fact that we saw Tarzan telling her that they were thinking of going to TC means Chelsea still has an important role this season but her road to victory looks harder than it was. Troyzan’s words about her attitude were another indication that Chelsea will not be able, in the end, to get forgiveness for her early mistakes. Jay: In confessional, in the discussion with the other guys and when answering Jeff, Jay showed he wasn’t happy with the move and knew it was dumb. Maybe it would have been nice to see him acting more forcefully because, despite his words, it would have been quite easy to turn the game. He already had 3 votes with Bill’s and Michael’s and how hard would it have been to get Leif to turn against Colton. That left him only 1 short of majority and an easy target to suggest for someone like Troy: Get Colton! It’s troubling that no one was even heard making that suggestion because it would have increased the interest in the upcoming TC if the audience thought that Colton was in danger. That this move wasn’t even manufactured in the story of someone like Jay is troubling. On the other hand, I felt like Kat gave them the best quote of all for the episode’s title yet they chose a quote by Jay so that could be something. Just not enough to put him in contention…yet! He has certainly made big strides in the right direction. The Contenders: Troy: The question with Troy is whether or not he will have time to learn the game. That comment seemed to seal the fate of the Misfits alliance but he seems to be slightly separated from them. For example, his TC intervention portrayed him as being closer to Jay’s position than that of the Misfits: He saw it unfold, understood what it meant but let it happen because that’s what others wanted. Was that the lesson he needed? It will be interesting to see if he gives his opinion more forcefully later on. For one thing, he has always been shown in deals with the women so, now that he will in a tribe with some of them, his story could really pick up. Kim: If the next episode tells us that this one was indeed favorable for the women then Kim’s future still looks bright. However, we do have another question about her story: We heard her defending Alicia which isn’t necessarily the best position to be seen in. It does show her as a cautious player and an important one as far as Salani’s strategy is concerned so, since she didn’t actually vote to save Alicia, I see the advantages of showing the strategy discussion with Sabrina outweighing its disadvantages. Still the favorite to become the Sole Survivor, Kim will need a good episode when the tribes gets mixed.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-11-12, 03:28 AM (EST) 58. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" Enjoyed reading your recap, Michel! Great catch with noting Jonas holding the net later in the episode. It's definitely telling that they chose to show the negotiating scene that failed, yet held back with the one that obviously succeeded. I didn't feel that the women were viewed as selfish or terrible, it seemed like the wise decision to make, based on all the scenes that have been shown that there has been a clear divide since the ep 1. Plus in an episode where the men "lost their marbles," it was probably better that we got a scene like this where the women chose not to get intertwined with them in any arrangement. And I'm still not sure if this shows Chelsea in a bad light for initially refusing. This could be a continuation of her keeping enough distance from the men. Perhaps foreshadowing future interactions of when Chelsea will indeed stay with the women (to her advantage). We certainly agree with a lot of the assessments around many of the characters. Glad you also saw that Jonas' story was going downhill and that Tarzan is getting a "dumb" player edit, in which he's sealing his fate with his close ties to Colton. I also really like your assessment of Sabrina as the "big sister" and Monica never accepting the role as "mother." This really describes the dynamics on the women's tribe accurately. Although with them surviving this far (barely at times) I can hardly see them welcoming a father figure (even in the form of a likeable Troy) Also, good catch on our "beef"y castaways. Yes, there was some parallel between Colton and Alicia (and Kat to a degree) and this could be foreshadowing for the upcoming tribal shuffle and the new dynamics of nuManono. While I do not see Alicia as an impact player, I think she may believe she is and the editors are using some of this to tell the story. But I don't feel it's Alicia's story. It will be interesting indeed when her and Colton commiserate together. While we have certainly been fed enough to believe that Colton may switch with the women, we have also been given enough that he will stay with his alliance. Whereas, it could very well be Alicia to be the one who "flips" by going with Colton and the men to secure herself a few votes ahead of the other women. From what we've seen of Alicia, especially relative to Christina, this would not be an out-of-sequence occurrence in her development or the story's development. And I agree with you that Kim is the best position right now, and I think she will certainly get her share of scenes to confirm this, if not being the complete star of an episode sometime soon.   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 03-11-12, 05:39 AM (EST) 60. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" What a FASCINATING episode. I was on the edge of my seat throughout, even though it was obvious from the hype that the guys were giving up immunity. It's interesting that this move, while being presented as risky, wasn't totally condemned by the editors. At least not compared to say Redemption Island when the Zapetera story literally died once they threw the challenge (even though it was probably a good idea in their case). I'm not willing to commit to this meaning that a man will win, but it's interesting the care they are taking with it. The one thing that stands out to me is Leif's involvement in the whole thing. Did he really think he had a shot of going home? Was the whole fight a heavy handed act to convince Bill to agree to going to TC. The deleted scenes don't elaborate more on this but I just find it very difficult to believe an episode with three potential bootees would all agree to such a damned risky move. Poor little Leif by the way, he's already been so ignored, and to now have his defining shot in the episode be him sleeping in a makeshift coffin? Obviously he's not a player they want us to connect with. The thing that interests me with this is that I don't necessarily think it's because he's an irrelevant player, but because we're not meant to dislike whoever boots him. His deleted scenes actually show a really interesting, very likable guy who plays with his heart and, pardon the blunt language, but a 'sweet adorable midget' is reality tv gold, no matter whether he lasts two episodes or thirteen. The only other thing I can't decide on from the editing yet is whether we are meant to respect the women for not sharing or, for lack of a better term, see them as a bunch of selfish hypocritical bitches. Survivor is interesting, as it can both glorify self-serving shrewdness as smart strategy and also vilify it. I still can't work out which way the show is presenting it. On one hand, I respect that the girls are milking the guys for all they are worth but, on the other, I think it is quite hypocritical and disgusting on a human level how eager they are to take when they need shelter or fire but how callous they are when the shoe is on the other foot. I still think the winner is a woman (more on that later) but, should this selfishness play a part in being the winner, the one person I see the editing giving the blame to is Chelsea. I like Chelsea a lot, actually more than I thought I would, but while the editing is presenting her as a definite character we are meant to root for, they are also showing why she won't win. Now, I still can't decide whether this is due to her being a merge boot or her getting the annual Offical Amanda Kimmel Perennial Runner Up edit. I'm leaning the latter still, but wouldn't be shocked if she is say getting the Marcus Gabon edit instead - someone who we are meant to think will win that gets a shocking mid-season boot. Time will tell, but either way, I think we are definitely getting a lot of signs why she's going to lose. Jonas is another person whose edit fascinates me. His e01 edit was so strong but he's devolving further and further into Colton Lackey Land. This could be redeemed by him eventually overthrowing Colton, but his glowing testimonials to Colton's supposed genius pretty much eliminate him even if he were to make a big move. Again, he is someone we are meant to sympathize with though. There was a great (I think Sabrina?) Insider clip this week where they explained why the girls were actually about to say yes to the Net deal until Jonas's manner of dealing with it turned them off, as well as his manner to them in general. It was a fascinating confessional with a lot of information, but it has been deemed irrelevant to the story by the editors. Since both are clearly long term players, I'd say it's because we are meant to root for Jonas and he comes very close to the end, but his infatuation with CCC means he's not winning. Kat continues to get some nice care. The self-awareness in knowing she sucked at puzzles was good for her longevity and her development and maturing over the course of the season. Whether she is a runner up or a late boot, I think we'll be meant to feel proud of her by the time she's done and how far she's come. While Monica is clearly a disposable player, I still can't work out why she was so hidden early on. Really likable personality, definitely the one surprise package for me out of all the pre-season interviews (where on their basis alone I literally picked Kim as my winner pick and Troyzan and Jonas as my 2nd and 3rd back ups). She reminds me a little of T-Bird, or a more charismatic Tina Wesson, but she's given no care. Shame. Troyzan is the only other man who could still sneak out a win at this point. As I mentioned earlier, he was my pre-season back up winner pick, but his first two episodes, whilst establishing him as a key character, didn't really show any reason why he would win. The most damning this is that The Insider footage has made it pretty clear that he is the man leading the Misfit Alliance since episode one, but we are meant to think it is the KKK, I mean CCC. He's giving the editors great material and he's got a very relevant strategy role in the mens tribe, but we're not being shown it. There is no way such a dynamic, audience friendly character would get neglected like that if he won. And speaking on the one man Klu Klux Klan, Colton is OBVIOUSLY not winning this season. No way, no day. There's fascinatingly over the top villains ala Hatch and then there is players like Colton Cumbie. It's a shame as he has some interesting moves in his arsenal that I like in spite of myself, but a winner would NEVER have that amount of bigoted awfulness shown. Actually even more than the race related stuff with Bill, it was his constant derogatory terms toward Leif that made me feel confident that he could never win. Sabrina is the other potential winner that just had her chances sort of killed this episode. Not irrevocably mind you, but the deference to Kim completely showed her being a follower, not a leader, at a time where Alicia clearly is being presented as the smarter boot than poor Christina (who, in reality, is getting a better edit than her consistently awful challenge performances would normally deserve). I still see Sabrina as the final boot before FTC, ala Cirie. We're meant to root for her, we're meant to invest in her, but she'll fall before she gets a chance. We're not getting reasons why should would lose an FTC. which is why I don't think she'll make it that last step. And then we have Kim. I've said Kim is our winner since the CBS interviews came out. She reminds me a lot of Dannii Boatwright in the way she's just someone who has that certain quality that they could win any social situation. Then her epsiode one and two were fantastic. The thing that has just solidified it for me one hundred percent is these last two episodes. She's had a small role, but she's shown consistently as being in control of the women and the vote without us being beaten over the head with it. We're meant to know she's in control, but we're being directed to get behind Chelsea and Sabrina as winner guesses. The other big thing for her is that she's beind spared the negativity of the girls selfish interraction with the men. She's been either seperated from it or given a chance to comment on why she;s made certain choices so we understand. Winner. Winner Picks - KIM >>>>>>>>>> Troyzan >> Jonas >>>>> Kat > Sabrina >>>>>> Chelsea   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-11-12, 12:17 PM (EST) 62. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" Nice read, Glenny! "The only other thing I can't decide on from the editing yet is whether we are meant to respect the women for not sharing" Since writing my post, I have been asking myself that question and come to realize the following: The episode aired on the eve of International Women's day! I think that, after showing us how needy the women were, they had to show them gaining independance. I see it now as their moment of emancipation. Funny that you equate Chelsea to Amanda! I've been thinking the same, even putting Kat in the role of Courtney Yates, the weakling that, surprisingly and quite amusingly, will get more votes in the end! Now, will Kim or Troyzan fill in Todd's position? Like Courtney, Kat is getting some special attention. Too bad she isn't as funny. You write: "There is no way such a dynamic, audience friendly character would get neglected like that if he won." There could be one reason: If you show too much of him it would be too obvious. There is plenty of time to develop him as the mastermind of the season. Right now, what amazes me is the number of contacts he's been shown to have. Colton had connections to the women but that has stopped and it was mostly with Sabrina. Leif and Jay have barely been shown talking to the women. Tarzan only to be laughed at and Jonas was rejected. Michael has had a few moments but only with Kat and Kim and he is peripheral in his own tribe. PS< I think you can knock Jonas out of contention!   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 03-11-12, 07:03 PM (EST) 63. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" Heh. I love the idea that Kat is some bizarro world Courtney Yates. That's hilarious. What I wouldn't give for some Courtney commentary right about now - it's what this season is missing. I still say Kim is definitely in the Todd role, I haven't felt this sure about an E01 winner pick since Parvati in Micronesia. I can see all your points about Troyzan and then make sense, I'm just going with my gut on it based on the first two episodes. I wouldn't mind if I were wrong, but still.. I just realized that I, once again, forgot to include Jay. He's obviously got legs and is getting some nice attention and a tiny bit of care that makes me think he'll do an Eric China and last late in the game, maybe 6,7 or 8th. Frankly, I'm just grateful that the phrase 'bum-puzzled' is now in my life. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Jonas is discounted, but there's a part of me that's not willing to 100% discount his edit the first two episodes, only because there are one or two likely ways he could redeem it. He's a VERY distant 3rd choice though.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-13-12, 04:05 AM (EST) 66. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" Great discussion here! Yes, Kat could totally be the Courtney (who I happen to love, and actually got to meet in the real world ) I don't have nearly as much love for Kat (yet). And this could explain the extra manipulation she's getting. Instead of setting Kat up to be a complete disaster, or a perfect goat, they could be giving us glimmers of an underdog or journey player (as she may actually score some votes in the end) I agree that Kim is the Todd in this equation, so who is the Amanda? Wouldn't it be too easy for it to be Chelsea? Could a man sneak his way into a Kim and Kat final three? (and manage to get less votes than either of them)   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-13-12, 03:53 AM (EST) 65. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" Great thoughts, Glenny! I especially enjoyed your comments about Chelsea as to whether or not she's getting an Amanda runner-up edit or a Marcus merge boot edit. I've been thinking similarly, and I'm constantly vacillating about it. I also agree with your thoughts about Kim's great chances to win, and Sabrina just falling short. To me Sabrina's got a high volume edit, which may likely lose steam an episode or a TC too short. Whereas Kim's subtle volume edit will get her all the way to the end. Then we have Chelsea with a cross between Sabrina and Kim's edit, so would that place her between them? hmm. But if we throw in Kat's quirky manipulated edit, then she may very well take Chelsea's place. Ugh, my head is spinning. While I once liked Jonas' chances, he's veering off course each episode, as he's been sucked into the vortex that is Colton. We have to see Jonas veer away from Colton if there is any chance for his end-game. So, yes, I agree with you, Troy does look the best so far to go furthest out of the men. You didn't mention Michael - he seems to have a decent showing to me.   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 03-13-12, 07:40 AM (EST) 67. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" I still think Michael is gone sooner rather than later but, irregardless, he's a player of no consequence. The fact that he basically engineered the fallout at the mens tribe today but got pretty much zero credit or facetime for it is a sure sign he's not getting close to the finals. Also, we've been beaten over the head with how bad his stealing was which, if he were a long term player, we wouldn't be. He seems to be shown when the story gives it no choice but to, much in the same way Christina is. I actually like him, but the editing is telling us otherwise.   Top

NedraSue 109 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-13-12, 01:44 PM (EST) 69. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" I like Kat and Jay together...maybe Jay is on the tail end of the girls alliance?   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-14-12, 03:08 AM (EST) 71. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" Nedra, the romantic in me is pulling for a Jay and Chelsea pairing. Although, I'd be open to a love triangle   Top

Nasha233 2 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "American Cancer Society Spokesperson" 03-15-12, 09:50 AM (EST) 75. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" >Nedra, the romantic in me is >pulling for a Jay and >Chelsea pairing. Although, I'd >be open to a love >triangle Me too regarding Jay and Chelsea. I agree with most of your assessment. I do think that the women are getting a far better edit and the underdog that beats the odds. I think currently, Sabrina, Kim and Chelsea are getting the best edit with Kim pulling ahead. As for men, I think both Jay and Troy have been given a good edit. To a certain extent I would give Jay a slight edge. From the beginning they showcased many things Jay does without being too overt but yet it was there. Him building the fire, they didn't overplay it but they definitely made a point for a reason. If you noticed, they showcased him as a worker bee, well most men were except for Colton. If you noticed he was constantly working effectively unlike Tarzan. The muscle alliance seemed to be more of Matt's idea and Matt spoke of it but we never really hear Jay gave a solid agreement. When the tide turned, we saw Jay in the mix of things and being accepted meant although he is then known to be muscle alliance the opposing alliance he was likable enough to be accepted or included in misfit alliance. Which bodes well for who he is. Again we see Jay showcased his opinion, his narration not in overt way but subtly and almost all of it in not a bad way. I mean really the decision to go to TC when your have immunity was an idiotic move, no matter how you sugar coat it, dumb move, yet Jay managed to not look bad because he was showcased few times in discussion against it and again in TC. Even Troy didn't come out as well during this idiotic epic move. I am not sure if Jay will win since there are girls getting far better edit but I do think he may stay pretty long, maybe even make final 3.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-20-12, 03:19 PM (EST) 84. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" Great thoughts, Nasha! Yes, Jay has been looking pretty good. Consistent edit, and we've been shown a number of times that his head is in the game. It's just so interesting how the ladies, Kim, Sabrina and Cheslea are really getting an even better showing. And yes, after ep 5, we can definitely see Kim pulling ahead. It was also good for Jay that he was seen right alongside Kim and already talking about strategy. I did not expect to see that, thought he would take a more casual, social route with the ladies (which he is likely doing as well)   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-14-12, 03:05 AM (EST) 70. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" Thanks for responding, Glenny! Guess we're going to have to agree to disagree on Michael (who does have a more ambiguous edit that the other players) I feel that it was very clear that he got credit for the move for getting Colton to become on the outs with Leif (albeit through scenes and not confessional), and that it was better for his edit to simmer a bit through all the drama at them men's camp - as they were all so poorly shown by this crazy move. I see this in juxtaposition to ep 2's after-reward confessional, to which Michael got to share with us, without even having participated in the challenge (such things do not happen to a player of no consequence). Lastly, not to beat a dead horse (with a stolen axe - Ha!) but Michael was never identified as the "stealer" so for me that's another positive editing choice for him. Still, it could just be my wishful thinking for his longevity, as I think he's one of the more interesting men out on that island. I'm curious to see how he'll do with some women on his tribe at the swap.   Top

suzzee 5961 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-14-12, 10:14 AM (EST) 73. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" That was a good one michel, I do enjoy reading your analysis very much. Keep up the good work. Bill and Leif took a moment to talk on the beach where Leif let it slip that Colton had targeted Bill in the previous TC. This particular line surprised me because I thought it was common knowledge that Colton was going after Bill. Unless I'm confusing confessionals with what is going on in camp. Maybe Bill was just clueless which seems likely. Can't wait till your next one. A Tribe masterpiece   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-14-12, 07:35 PM (EST) 74. "RE: Episode 4 - Editing Thoughts:" Thanks Suzzee! With his confessional where he said "Boys and girls, Bill Posley has just been wowed" Bill showed he was clueless.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-17-12, 06:37 PM (EST) 76. "Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" Previously on, Survivor: After a rough start for the women, momentum finally swung their way… Back at camp, Leif leaked information to the enemy alliance… …and quickly found his name on Colton’s hit list alongside Bill. At the immunity challege… <We heard Tarzan screaming “Cheaters, Cheaters.” We also heard Chelsea replying: “Kiss my ass”> …the women suffered a devastating loss but it was the men’s tribe that lost their mind. <We heard Bill call Colton a stuck-up brat but we don’t hear any insults from Colton> Colton, the tribe’s biggest manipulator, lobbied to forfeit immunity so that he could get rid of Bill… <We heard Jay’s confessional where he said he didn’t know what was going on and then we heard him telling the tribe he was bum-puzzled.> …and everyone gave in, not wanting to go against the majority. At Tribal Council, Colton continued his attack on Bill. In the end, Colton got his way. With Bill’s departure, the men and women are now even at 7 and it’s anyone’s game. The recap wasn’t as negative as it could have been for the guys even if Jeff said the men lost their mind. It was surprising that the only insult was heard from Bill. Calling Bill “the enemy” instead of a more neutral term such as “the opposition” almost endorsed the men’s decision. Salani – Day 12 Sabrina woke up saying it was a new game. Troy took a peak inside the women’s shelter, waking up Kat. Someone asked Troy if he was the one that made the decision to give up immunity. He told the women it was Colton’s idea. He added: “I didn’t want to go with this but it was agroup thing, so…” Sabrina: “We really should have six people on this tribe but we really have seven. The guys are much more of a mess than what we thought but I am not going to question their non-sense over there. I am just happy to have 7. The girls are sticking together on this one.” I noted that Troy was the one seen on screen when Sabrina said the guys were a mess. Alicia: “The guys messed up big time. If we come in strong seven, we are going to blow them away. We are going to beat them today in the challenge. They are so dumb. They handed us the million dollars.” If the recap was neutral, the choice of cutting the men’s return to camp and letting us hear the women’s reaction instead, revealed the editors opinion. The audience had to agree with Sabrina and Christina: The guys were a mess and it was craziness over at their camp. So, should the audience also agree with Alicia and say that the women have been handed the million. It would seem that way with just one caveat: Alicia said “IF we come in 7 strong…” The women would soon be down to 6 members…but Salani is still 7 strong! In all this, we heard Kim say: Let’s go win this.” The Swap and the Challenge Reacting as if they were in S3 Africa instead of S24, the players were shocked when Jeff ordered them to drop their buffs. After the switch, Jeff turned to Kim, asking: “Did your side get better or worse?” Kim answered: “This couldn’t have gone better for us.” Colton interjected: “They have all the muscle.” The only interesting tidbit during the challenge was Monica’s fall but, as it foreshadowed her imminent fall out of the game, it can’t be of any use to us! After the loss, Colton commented: “It’s like Greek Gods vs Peasants.” Christina and Monica objected to that term so Colton corrected himself, saying they were village people. Jeff said that there were two fishing gears so it seems that we were wrong last week in assuming the women had let the men use their net. The men must have had a net, presumably smaller than the one Jonas wanted to use. Salani Sabrina: “We went to the reward challenge today and, when we picked the egg, I said Lord, please let it be the same color as Kim. That’s what I wanted. I smashed it and it was blue, she was blue, Chelsea was blue, that’s my first three in our alliance and then I saw Kat and I was just like: Oh! My God! Is this really real? I can’t believe that 4 girls within the 5 girl alliance are on the new tribe. Priceless.” That was a very glowing endorsement of Kim’s worth. Manono Colton: “When I cracked that egg and saw I was in orange, I looked around and Jay was covered in Blue, Troyzan was Blue. I looked over and Kim was blue and Sabrina was blue and I just thought...BEEP!” Now, the other big character of the season told us that he would have liked to be with Kim. It tells us that Kim has managed to impress most of the players over there. What was particularly interesting was that Colton mentioned Jay. He even thought of him before Troyzan. This tells us that Colton has a blind spot for Jay, causing him to confuse Jay’s easy going attitude and willingness to go along with a true alliance. JT had the same power over Coach. This could be a hint to how Colton will fall. It’s also a hint to 4 long term players: Kim, Sabrina, Jay and Troyzan, three of which we would soon see aligning with each other. They shouldn’t have problems making it far if their main opponent wants to be with them rather than against them. Colton’s confessional continued: “Not only am I on a tribe with people I don’t want to be with, I’m on a tribe of people who suck. We are not going to be able to compete with them in anything. They are Greek Gods, they are going to dominate the challenges and they…are getting stronger than they already are.” Alicia: “Oh! My God! We are going to be the laughing stock. We are not going to win. I already know we are not going to win. If the girls didn’t have the guys over at Salani, they’d still probably kick our butts. That’s how stacked they are.” Manono’s “Prince” and “Princess” soon got together and Colton had another confessional: “Eventhough I can be a complete and total evil person, I know how to relate to people, I know how to charm people and know what they want to hear to get them on my side.” We saw him making a deal with Christina. He went on: “I’m just telling Christina what she wants to hear…but that’s just because I want her to give me information. I want everyone to trust me so they can give me information.” We next say him charming Monica who told him she wasn’t a liar. Monica: “Colton joined us and I thought: OK! There’s some power in numbers but I’m not sure. I hope you are still with us, I hope you are not the puppet master manipulator and you are with the guys and us girls are going down 1-2-3. I feel like I am the strongest of the 3 girl so it would be me first.” Salani Michael and Chelsea were hunting for crabs and were quite successful, catching 4 big ones. They returned in camp just in time to join Jay, Troy and Sabrina in a chicken hunt. Troyzan tackled a rooster in the open field. Troyzan: “Today has been just fantastic. It reminded me of 1979 when I played cornerback for the Central Valley Bears…It was total instincts. It was; game over. Sorry, chicken, you lose! We caught a rooster today. Mike and Chelsea caught 4 huge crabs. It was like the gods said: “Come together and I will provide you with what you want. It’s been wild.” The next scene showed Jay, Troyzan and Kim talking on the beach, Jay making sure that Michael and Kat were out of ear-shot. He proposed an alliance: “If we get to a merge, we want to be sure that we have a solid 4. The boy in the ocean is not one of them.” Jay: “I think it’s Salani versus Manono right now. It isn’t men versus women and, if it was, we’d be on the outs because we are down one man as far as this tribe goes. They have one more girl. I don’t mind at all working with these women. I feel like I can trust some of them when I get to know them better and see where their heads at.” Asked what she thought of Chelsea, Kim said she was great and hasn’t been playing a strategic game. She added: “I trust her.” Kim: “This has been my thing all along: I”ve tried to keep my options open so, if sticking with the girls works best for me in the long run, I’ll stick with the girls and, if we get to the merge and we don’t have the numbers, Troy and Jay are my alliance all the way. I can’t get over how this could not have gone any better for me and how much fun I am having doing this. I thought it would be really hard, that it would be a grind and I know it will have its moments but this isn’t one of them. This is a good time.” Manono Colton was working on Alicia, telling her that Christina had to go first. Alicia didn’t want to go with the men because they were unstable while the girls were loyal. Alicia: “I don’t consider Colton as one of the guys so I think we have 4 girls against 3 guys but Colton is crazy. He really wants Christina out but I really need to keep my girls and get rid of the guys so that, when we merge, I am still there. I want to keep my name out of the mix and, if we do have to get rid of some girls it will be Christina and Monica but definitely not me.” Having seen him in action before, Jonas wanted to know what Colton had been discussing with Alicia. Colton assured him he was with the guys. Jonas: “While we are working, busting our ass building this shelter, Colton is doing the same thing, sitting on his ass talking to Alicia. I’m like: What is going on? How does he get away with it? I never thought to play that game but it’s brilliant. Half of me believes him and half of me is like, he’s saying “I’m just a girl.” What is that? It’s like Colton is running the show on both sides with both the men and the women but it would be ridiculous of me not to think that he is with the women right now.” Salani – Day 14 Kim was on the prowl: “Sabrina found an idol but it wasn’t for our team. She had to give it to one of the guys. Nobody has the girls’ idol so, something snapped for me and I thought that I would go up and find this right now. It’s out there somewhere. I walked all around the guys’ side…I was getting pretty frustrated so I said: Lord! Please! I just found the immunity idol! It felt amazing… I looked so hard…Maybe one of the best feelings I’ve had since I got here.” She told Chelsea she had the idol. Kim’s confessional continued: “As soon as I found the idol, I had been thinking all along to keep it to myself…but there is no one I trust in this game more than Chelsea. If I want to do this with anyone, it’s going to be with her so, I decided to let her in on it.” To Chelsea, she said that this would be a game changer and that they’d need to get their hooks in as many people as possible but keep the idol quiet. One thing to note about Kim’s search is that we have no real way of determining if this truly happened on Day 14. The camera gave us shots of the guys wearing blue buffs but they were isolated shots which tells us nothing about the timing of the events. Kim had already talked alliance with Jay and Troy so why would she say that they needed to get hooks in people when it already had been accomplished? At the very least, I feel it was interesting that the editors presented this scene in such a pivotal episode. This was the episode for the young women to start using strategy, something they barely had to do since the trek had settled the pecking order. If Kim had been shown finding the idol in an earlier episode, it would have been forgotten in all the men’s craziness but showing it here clearly established Kim as an important player in this game. As for her choice to reveal the idol, Chelsea didn’t say anything which makes me think that she will not betray Kim’s trust. I would also point out that we have had 3 scenes in Salani since the swap and all centered on Kim: From Sabrina saying she was happy to be with her to Troyzan and Jay plotting with her and finally to her find and subsequent interaction with Chelsea, we saw Kim’s connection and how well she has established herself in the center of the tribe. Manono – Day14 The women of Manono were hunting for chicken and Monica managed to trap one in their improvised coop. Momentarily trap one that is because it soon found a way out! That led to Colton saying: “These people suck at Survivor” and we had to agree with him. He added that they didn’t have a chance in hell of winning challenges. Noting that Christina had no friends on the other tribe, Colton put the target on the dangerous one: Monica. He presented the idea to Alicia who agreed that Monica was more dangerous but hesitated at the idea of getting rid of both women. Colton reassured her by saying he could control those guys. Colton: “I just had to convince Alicia that I had her back…I have been getting rid of the head of the snake throughout this game: Matt, Bill and now Monica! I think it’s pretty brilliant.” In reality, Colton didn’t have to convince Alicia of anything because he had the numbers to do whatever he wanted without her. To say that he needed her means he is still considering playing with the girls later on. He may think that Christina isn’t dangerous because she had no friends in Salani but the same cannot be said about Alicia. And, if somehow Christina manages to make it to the merge, she would probably be greeted as a friend by the women for at least one vote. (Remember Ami and Leann marvelously maneuvering to get Julie back in the women’s fold even if she had been an outsider before the swap.) The Challenge - March Foolishness As noted in the gufu thread by Byoffer, Kim played a round that wasn’t shown. Knowing that Manono only got 1 point, we can assume Salani won that round so why not show it? Was it cut because of some sort of mercy rule where it was enough to show Salani’s dominance in 3 of the 4 rounds? They have often cut a scene to protect the eventual Sole Survivor, not showing that player looking foolish. But since Salani scored, would anyone on their tribe look that foolish? It’s possible but unlikely. Now, before you say it could mean the Sole Survivor was on Manono, I’d object that everyone on Manono, with the exception of Monica, had been made to look foolish. Granted Leif worked hard to slow Michael down but, like Vermont taking on North Carolina, resistance was futile! So that editing choice remains a mystery, something we can put on the back-burner and see if we can hear anything about it later on. Michael scored all three Salani baskets shown. Monica assured Manono’s only reply with a jump shot good for a field goal. Funny comments that I noted: “Colton takes a long shot but he’s short.” “Jay could win it but he’s short.” After Michael made the last basket, we didn’t see anyone congratulating him, instead, we saw Troyzan and Jay exchanging High Fives. Manono The scene opened with Tarzan napping. There were a few of those shots during the episode and another one where he stumbled while building the shelter which indicates that the conditions are getting to the older man. With a medical evacuation coming up, he is the logical candidate. Back in camp, Monica told her tribe that she was sorry to have let them down. Maybe she did something bad in that unseen roundof the challenge that the editors didn’t want to show in her final episode. Monica: “Today, you will see an Oscar performance by Colton and I for the best blindside ever played. Monica is going home tonight. I’m sure she thinks she’s in a safe spot because she did score us a basket but she is going home.” Jonas: “If following Colton means voting out somebody else and getting me one step further to the million; awesome! I can be Colton’s #####, I’ll be whatever he wants me to be but just don’t vote me out.” Christina: “I went to Alicia and she said Tarzan. I said cool! That’s exactly what I wanted. Tarzan, at the challenge today, was like watching a wounded hippo… I think it came to a unanimous decision that he needs to go.” Colton and Jonas fooled Christina and Monica by talking of voting against Tarzan. Monica: “The guys have lost sight on the numbers game. In my mind, it’s a huge win for the women that the guys are on board to taking out one of the men.” With Christina sitting behind him, Jonas told Leif they were voting out Tarzan but gave him a big wink to let him know it was a trick. Jonas: “In a weird way, that whole event that happened with Leif telling Bill that he was going home, that really tipped me off to be a little leary of Leif and not to trust him. Leif is definitely a wild-card. He could do some pretty crazy things and, with three guys and three girls, anybody could flip on the guy side and make it the girls’ game now.” At the water barrel, Colton made sure that Leif and Tarzan were following the gameplan...and remembered which one was Monica! Colton: “I told Leif and Tarzan this is the deal; we are voting out Monica but Tarzan is like a grandfather that has Alzheimer…If I was working with somewhat intelligent people, you know, who would kind of help me out and I wouldn’t have to make all the decisions, it would be easy. It’s really hard to be the leader of a bunch of idiots. It’s so difficult.” Is Jonas supposed to be included in this bunch of idiots? If so, it can’t be good for his chances. As is, Colton should realize that, if he wasn’t playing with idiots, he could have been the one going home! Having idiots in your alliance makes this game easier, not harder. Tribal Council Asked about the new tribe, Jonas said the odds weren’t in their favor. Monica said she had gotten close to the girls but that it was a blessing because their beach and their food supply were better and they were playing as a team. Colton liked Monica’s attitude and was ready to hand her the wheel of the sinking ship. Alicia told Jeff that Monica was an awesome person, an amazing supermom, very competitive and very athletic. Jeff sensed a but coming. Alicia said that Monica could be seen as a threat. Monica explained she was trying to help the team. Leif pointed out that Monica was one of the hardest working persons he had ever seen. Tarzan said that he decided to be less assertive in the new tribe, leave that to someone else. Asked who was that other person, Tarzan kept it quiet, saying the game was afoot. The rest of the Council revolved around Tarzan’s affection for words, his affectation using them and his affliction remembering some. With Monica’s “wow” and Christina’s “What the…” we were shown that the blindside worked. Jeff was puzzled: “You admit the other tribe is stronger and you vote out arguably your strongest member because she was too much of a threat. Interesting strategy on day 14. Let’s see if it works out.” The Story With Jeff’s rather neutral recap of Manono’s big move, the challenge scene that was cut and Monica’s erroneous take that the guys had lost sight of the numbers game, we have some hints that one member of the Misfits alliance could win. It’s even quite obvious that the editors didn’t want us to connect with their Victims: Matt was generally made out as a despicable Dumb Player while Bill and Monica were all but ignored until their final episode. Despite that, the preponderance of the evidence points to a victory by one of Salani. We heard that the men were a mess, the editors didn’t even bother presenting their reaction to that huge TC and we heard that the men handed the women the million dollars. Add Jeff’s poor opinion on their latest vote and it makes it doubtful that the winner is on Manono. As to which one will return to the States to be crowned Sole Survivor, we have to thank the editors for reducing the number of players around which the story has crystallised. Christina, Tarzan, Leif, Michael and now Kat and Chelsea are established as supporting characters. Sabrina and Troyzan only talked about the events that we saw unfold, nothing about an end game storyline. Alicia and Colton are too hated to earn votes. That leaves those that told us about their strategy in this episode: Kim, Jay and Jonas. The Characters Tarzan: The joke has probably lasted long enough. We heard that he was like a wounded hippo during the challenge and we saw that he needed to rest a few times while talks were going on. These are hints that Tarzan could be the one needing medical attention. Leif: The wild card could get a bigger role down the line but he doesn’t have a plan. All we see from him is that he likes everyone and that already got him in trouble once. When he complimented Monica during TC, we realized he hadn’t learn. Christina: She was shown as being clueless about the vote, her words only serving to underline the upcoming blindside. If clueless is the way we should think of her then what about her claim that it was craziness over at Manono. Is she wrong about that? In a way, the move was crazy but it solidified the trust between the alliance of Misfits and that’s something Christina neglected. Are we neglecting it also? Alicia: Maybe the men handed the million to the women but it won’t be hers. She continued to show her poor understanding of the social game when she was so proud of her abilities to blindside Monica. Granted, we aren’t at the jury stage yet but Alicia’s villainnous behavior seems to come naturally. Colton: He continues to decide the course of action and it’s troubling that the three players he eliminated had such poor edits. It’s as if the editors wanted us to appreciate what he was doing, making sure none of his victims were fan favorites. That’s the warning sign that we could be reading this story wrong, that we should look to Colton and his allies for a winner. Yet, we think there is sufficient evidence pointing to his eventual fall. His desire to be on a team with Jay, Troyzan, Kim and Sabrina showed that he had a blind spot, that he doesn’t read those players well. That could be the cause of his downfall. However, I will give him his due: He is great at getting information from people so he does have the ability to charm them. Jonas: He is the only player on Manono with a story that could lead to a victory and this episode was very good for him. He was one of the very few that had an occasion to tell us about his line of thought regarding the game. Unfortunately for him, he was included in the people that suck, the tribe of idiots. Nothing in the edit separated him from those harsh comments. Instead, he told us he wanted to be as close as he could to Colton. The Villain’s fall would leave Jonas with absolutely no story of his own. Kat: We saw her during the challenges. She seems to have been reduced to the role of Salani’s cheerleader. She was absent from all the discussions except for being Troyzan main interlocutor when he came over before the swap. Those two had a connection during a key challenge so maybe something will develop between them later on but it hardly seems important at this point. Michael: By showing us that Michael was out of ear-shot when Jay, Troy and Kim had their vital strategy discussion, the editors confirmed that he was a peripheral player. “The boy in the ocean is not one of them” as Jay said. Michael had a nice scene catching the big crabs and he scored all three baskets during the reward but no one talked or even wanted to talk, about the game with Michael. Sabrina: She continued having the role of narrator. Her only interventions told us about the men’s problems and that she wanted to be on a team with Kim. Besides Bobby Jon’s words about Tom or Gary’s words to Rafe about Danni, I don’t remember a better endorsement of another player. If the previous examples mean anything then we can say that the Survivor editors don’t waste the big compliments. Chelsea: Noted as a trusted player, Chelsea was removed from any strategy discussions. At most, she listened to Kim’s idea, not offering anything of her own. That tells us she will most likely be a tag-along player; one that is shown when the story involves her but will be ignored most of the time to leave room to the important players. I expect she will have a prominent role when she gets to be on a reward experience, the editors using her as spokesmodel. Troyzan: By showing his exchange with the women early on the morning after TC, we continued to see a player with great rapport to the others. He is a character with personal development but his story is short of end game connections. While we saw him talking about an alliance with Jay and Kim, he was the one that didn’t get a confessional about it. As of now, there are no indications that he will make this his island or that he will be seen as the greatest survivor ever so it could have all been irony. On the other hand, he still has plenty of time to surprise us. Jay: As noted above, there is a parallel to be drawn between Jay and JT, another southern boy that charmed his way inside an opposing alliance. Here, everyone seems to like Jay and his easy going nature has removed the target from his back. Jay could win this thing but, like in the challenge, I think he will come up short. I expect that his reward will be to outwit the puppet manipulator. Kim: When Jeff asks for a player’s reaction about a swap, it’s usually significant. Remember how he bashed Kenny during the first swap in Gabon and how he couldn’t understand that Bob was picked last. So, letting us hear Kim’s immediate reaction to the new Salani tribe was a great indication that things will go well for her tribe and her in particular. At the start of the episode, she said “let’s go win this” and I believe she will. At least, this episode put her on a very good trajectory, combining both personal interactions and strategic thinking. She now has all the end game connections we like to see in a future winner. All she needs are moments of doubts, things that will make us wonder if she can make it to the end because I do believe she will face the jury and her good connections to people will be rewarded with the title of Sole Survivor.   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 03-18-12, 07:34 AM (EST) 77. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" Another episode, another clear progression in the 'Kim Clearly Wins' edit. Not to complain though, I think her edit is a lot more obvious to hardcore fans than casual viewers, at least previous to this episode. It's funny how every single person who I've thought had a long term story/edit ended up on Tribe Greek Gods. With the exception of Jonas and, maybe, Alicia, everyone who ended up on the Peasant Tribe were ones I'd already pegged as being the next couple to go. Which is a shame, as Tarzan is starting to become Real Housewives levels of Amazing TV. This episode really firmed up for me how I've seen everything playing out, with Kim winning, Chelsea being the runner up and Sabrina just missing FTC. The only thing really interesting to me is who is going to be the male in the finals. I think Troyzan had a fantastic episode showing him being tied to strategy and to other players, but I still think something is missing in his edit. A big part of it is that he is a lot more in control than is being portrayed and, in an episode where he got shipped to a minority, he was never shown to being in even remote danger, which would be a good sign for his winning chances if some doubt were thrown in there. I can't see that opportunity being missed if he were to win. Jonas is still a candidate for me, only because we keep getting confessionals about how he is aware of his role as Clu Clux Coltons 2nd in command and how that is his strategy. We are also seeing hints that he might be the one to overthrow Colton, which is all his edit would need to be a contender again. Whoever eventually votes Colton out gets big points in the potential winner column and Jonas could still do this. Anyway, I'm still Team Kim by a long shot, but Jonas and Troyzan could still surprise us.. WINNER PICKS - Kim >>>>>>>>>>> Jonas > Troyzan >>>>>>> Jay >> Kat   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-20-12, 03:50 AM (EST) 78. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" LAST EDITED ON 03-20-12 AT 02:46 PM (EST) Haven't read anyone else's editing thoughts yet, and didn't get to re-watch the episode, but this is what I got The Episode Loved the episode. Personally, I was happy with the new tribal divide. Yes, put the "toxic" players on the same tribe so that they don't infect the games of those who really want to play. The editing drilled this in as well, with showing us enough scenes on nuSalani and how they were discovering a new world. Even the little bit of strategy on nuSalani was mild and tasteful, for lack of a better word. Kind of like how old skool Survivor was prior to all the OTT personalities and their penchant for drama. "Greek Gods" or not, this was the tribe to be on. But the episode was certainly more focused on nuManono, the flawed "peasant" tribe. As it would be for 2 major reasons. They lost the IC and were going to TC, and this was the tribe Colton landed on. We got to see a climax of one of Colton's storylines: Would he choose to side with the women or the men? And while we were lead to believe since ep 1 that he would choose the women, our self-proclaimed "'girl' on the guy tribe" chose the men of his "misfit" alliance. The episode also saw the re-emergence of Alicia, which surprisingly came off well-balanced than her previous episodes. Perhaps this was because she was shown alongside Colton, and that could put anyone in a more balances light. Still this was a lovely moment when villain teams up with villainess, and not surprisingly Alicia gets the Colton-esque confessional about how Monica's gotta go. Manono Tribe Monica - Sorry to see her go, but the writing was on the wall. Just her luck that the twist put her on a tribe where she'd be viewed as a threat. After doing so well to weave herself into the dominant alliance on her original tribe. Like I mentioned previously, she was kind of getting a nice "tribute" edit considering she left so early in the game. And her strong woman testimonials from the others were shown even through her final TC - good for her! Leif - Whereas the switch was tough for Monica, it sure did help Leif. There was enough discord from the Tribal switch that Colton's focus was taken off of Leif. Although editing is still giving us little story for Leif, he's squeaking through these last couple of weeks. But the image of his new buff over his face like a blindfold, is not a good sign for him. Especially leading off of last weeks image of him in the "coffin." Although in contrast, last week he had his fun victory leap, and this week he put up a great effort at the IC. But in a few weeks which of these images will we remember? Tarzan - Very odd to have so much of the TC dedicated to him. That's 3 minutes we'll never get back! Peculiar, to say the least. All I can think about is the loads of footage that could've been used from the insider clips instead. Still, Tarzan's edit has now taken him into some sort of idiot savant category. Why? Is he the med evac? Is he a memorable jury speaker? Who knows, all I know is that he is not the winner of this season. Jonas - One of my favorite moments of the episode was Jonas' confessional about Colton. Not so much the "I'll be Colton's beotch" comment that we saw in previews, but how he talked about how he never thought to play "that" game. To me this showed Jonas in a relatable way, like he was speaking for the audience. This was also further indication that Jonas' head is still in the game. In addition, he happens to be better at lying than Leif (well, okay, that ain't saying much) Still, he will have to make a move against Colton at some point to have any of these factors have full merit for him. Come on, Jonas, make a home-viewing audience proud! Christina - To my surprise, Christina is still here. In my last recap, I reiterated the 3 threads I saw as her storyline and thought they would all be wrapped up in this episode and she'd get the boot. Perhaps this should've been clearer to me that she had more story than Monica. Therefore Christina survived, and perhaps we'll get a bit more juice from her main storyline thread, which is her conflict with Alicia. She was shown mildly in the episode, and from previews looks to be shown a bunch in ep 6. Is this her 'calm' before the rise in her boot ep? or.... Allicia - ...is Alicia in trouble as she had such a good showing in ep 5? I actually enjoyed Alicia's edit in this episode, and felt it was the best for her so far (while I still don't like her) She was smart to go with Colton, and the dominant alliance on her new tribe - and was shown discussing this. Now she is tied to two of the dominant alliances of this game. This would put her in an ideal position at the merge. The thing is I just haven't felt like Alicia's edit has had the "legs" of the other women that are left of nuSalani. How could she possibly outlast any of those women? So I'm going to have to say that the reason why Alicia is getting any highlights of a good edit, is because she is outspoken, and "good TV." And the editors also knew we would get this inevitable pairing of her and Colton. Let's see where it gets her. Colton - Colton has a buddy in Alicia. While this added more fuel to his ego, it also appeared to channel his energy more. How fun was it to hear Alicia call him "crazy" - what on earth can we make of that? Still, while this was yet another episode where Colton got his way, he comes across like the mad queen in storybook fables. While Survivor (and the editors) reward good strategy, to which he has some - they usually aren't so kind to emotional players. And Colton has reached his tipping point with this. He's building a house of cards and we will see them fall. Salani Tribe Troyzan - Great episode for him. The one member of the "misfit" alliance to be separated and we were not shown any perceived danger for Troy - this is very good for him. Granted nuSalani didn't go to tribal, but Troy was shown discussing strategy with Kim & Jay, he caught a chicken, and was also shown talking to the women after the men's last TC. He's doing a great job being a likeable, non-threatening player... and even better, we're seeing it. Jay - More consistent, steady edit and gameplay from Jay. So interesting that he was the one to confirm that the "guy in the water" is the next to go, but I guess he didn't have many choices. And in a season where we're being fed the set-ups for what is mostly coming to fruition, this looks good for Jay (and bad for Mike) But is Jay lacking enough substance to be a finalist. While his showing is good in comparison to the guys, it doesn't hold a candle to some of the women. Will he simply be last man standing? Mike - Yikes, this was not a good episode for Mike. Even with a great IC performance and a nice catching of crabs scene, Mike very much was on the periphery. Whatever I had previously seen as possibility in his edit, has almost all fallen to wayside. Poor guy, he's outside the alliances on both of his tribes. Which would make him a free agent at time of the merge, if he makes it. But it just doesn't look like that will matter much in this season. We haven't really seen evidence that a free agent will be needed. Instead, we've seen that those with the most connections have more likelihood to move the furthest to end-game. Kat - not much to write about Kat, she's skating along with the benefit of being on the better tribe for her and her alliance. She can stay UTR for awhile as she is in no danger. Chelsea - We got to revisit the pair of her and Kim, when Kim shared news of finding the Hidden II. Will she be part of the pair that makes it too the end? Or will she be collateral damage in being closely linked to Kim. Granted we were shown them talking about making their pairing less obvious, but once again it's appearing like Kim has the reigns. Still, it looks like this country girl has backed the right horse. Sabrina - Sabrina gets another consistent showing. (*Edited to correct that she was mentioned as someone Colton wanted to be tribal swapped with* at first I thought she was not mentioned, which would've looked bad for her) While we heard her vote of confidence for Kim, we did not hear this in return from Kim. As this was Kim's episode, Sabrina was relegated to a supportive player (albeit narrating it ever so pleasantly) Kim - Well the episode we've all been waiting for, Kim's turn to be the star of the show. And was she in spades. Gosh, not only did she fair well from the tribal switch, and was shown as stating so with Jeff, but she was also given a beautiful confessional about where she is positioned within this game. Add to this, Sabrina's comment about wanting to be with Kim on the new tribe. As well Colton mentioning he wanted to be with Kim too - yes, he also mentioned Jay, Troy, and Sabrina - but this episode clearly showed those 3 players being tied with Kim - and Kim herself stating to us about their role in "her" game. With all of this, does there even have to be mention again of her great cross-gender strategizing with Troy and Jay, or finding the Hidden II and sharing the secret with Chelsea. It's amazing, how much we've seen in Kim's favor this episode, and it's only ep 5. How can we not see her as having the best chances right now? So this certainly leaves me to question can she hold on to this for the remainder of the game? Perhaps that will be the objective of the season: Can Kim do it? Just like we've had season's where it was Russell's or Coach's game to lose, it would actually be refreshing to see this in the affirmative, to want to back a player for the remainder of the season, and see them pull through. Have we ever seen such a good edit for a female winner? I don't think so. Actually I'm not sure if we've ever seen this good of an edit by any winner! (maybe Tom?, maybe Yul? ) So this puts Kim in a very small minority, if she can in fact pull it off. I think maybe an even better question might be: Which female players got as good of an edit as Kim, and where did they place in the game?   Top

parathor 250 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Network TV Show Guest Star" 03-20-12, 09:20 AM (EST) 79. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" Excellent analysis (and analyses!). I'm ready to follow everyone and crown Kim the Sole Survivor. The only trip-up will be the jury, if they decide to go against the obvious "best player that season" and reward the "follower"/"co-decider"/"other option" (Chelsea!)... and a quick check shows this happens about 25% of the time: S2: Tina over Colby S8: Amber over Boston Rob S11: Danni over Stephanie *S13: Yul over Ozzy S19: Natalie over Russell *S20: Sandra over Parvati S23: Sophie over Coach * = debatable > "Actually I'm not sure if we've ever seen this good of an edit by any winner! (maybe Tom?, maybe Yul?)" As of right now, yeah, that's who I would match against her. Maybe add in Boston Rob, except he was a little more out-there dominant, while Tom & Yul were somehow more subtle. In general, the guys seem to get better edits. Unfair, but that's how it is. > "I think maybe an even better question might be: Which female players got as good of an edit as Kim, and where did they place in the game." Love this question! Let me list some: - ... - ....... Yeah, um... I'm sure there's got to be a few that are as "smart" "strong" "lucky" and "hero-like" as Kim seems to be. I think the closest "strong winners edit" would be Parvarti (FvF), but she was evil, not heroic; Amanda (China & FvF), but she was weak in mind; & Stephanie (Palau), but she was unlucky. I'm a big fan of Cirie, Sandra, and Eliza, probably because of their edits, but I don't think any of them had the same type of edit that Kim seems to be having (quietly in control, no negatives)   Top

PepeLePew13 26134 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-20-12, 12:08 PM (EST) 81. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" It's only five weeks in, with plenty of time left in the season for things to happen, but at this point, I've never seen anyone with the same kind of edit as Kim. There have been other strong females who were edited as popular players such as Amanda and Stephenie in their original seasons, but they were never shown as controlling the game. Another possible comparison is Danni who worked the social angle extremely well, but I don't think she was shown as a particularly strong strategic player. By contrast, Kim has been shown getting along extremely well with the other castaways, Sabrina was completely elated to be on the same tribe as Kim after the swap, Monica called Kim "very savvy" in her exit interview, and Kim has had a lot of interesting confessionals and comments so far in the game. She's getting an one-of-a-kind edit and I think the editors have recognized that there's no way they can hide her type of edit as it's integral to several storylines.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-20-12, 03:12 PM (EST) 83. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" Right on, Pepe! With all that was reveled to us in ep 5, there was no way that they could have hidden the type of player Kim is as she is integral to so much. She really is getting a one-of-a-kind edit for a woman, let's see if that spells "winning" edit Yes, there are similarities between Danni and Kim, but this latest episode knocked Kim way onto the radar more than Danni was in her season. It will be interesting to see if they go back to editing Kim more subtly again, or if from here on out she has "found her voice" and we will continue to hear it.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-20-12, 07:26 PM (EST) 86. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" >Another possible comparison is Danni >who worked the social angle >extremely well, but I don't >think she was shown as >a particularly strong strategic player. I see many similarities between Kim and Danni. Episode 5 was also Danni's strongest episode, the one where we saw her deciding to trust Gary and boot Blake. Many people underestimated Danni's edit but when you consider that one of the big pre-merge stories, Gary's lie about his name, was more about showing that Danni was smart than showing that Gary was fooling the others, it gains importance. She had him pegged as a pro-football player by episode 2 but, when the switch happened, she gave him an out, telling the others he had played for Central Michigan in college. Even that was too much for Gary to admit but, while he realized he wasn't fooling her, he saw she wasn't outing him either. Danni's strong edit continued pre-merge with her birthday party that she used to bond with others. Then, post-merge, it really took off, showing all her thoughts, from being Steph's slave, to finding a crack and to bonding with Rafe, understanding he was the leader, not Steph. Kim still has ways to go before she matches that edit.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-27-12, 02:35 AM (EST) 92. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" Great comparisons, Michel! So then, it looks like out of all the "strong women" edits - Kim is looking most like a Danni-edit. Good for her. It will be interesting if she could match that edit. And with Kim having an idol in tow (which usually equates power and/or a power-play) Kim will likely have another strong episode or two coming up.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-20-12, 03:05 PM (EST) 82. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" Thanks for sharing your thoughts about my questions, Parathor! Yes, the guys do seem to get better edits than the women. I agree with your thoughts about the strong women's edit. And perhaps Kim is looking so good because: she's less "evil" than Parvati, more strong-minded than Amanda, and luckier than Stephanie. Therefore giving her a winning combination. Whereas, if these woman stand alone, then I guess Kim's edit is more akin to Stephanie (Palau) and therefore will need her luck to hold out better than Stephanie's. So, I'm wondering if this would also leave some room to consider, that despite her great edit thus far, there is still an ever so slight chance that Kim departs at 6 or 7 like Stephanie. Not that I see this coming, I'm just putting it out there. Like you I'm also a big fan of Cirie, Sandra, and Eliza, but yes, like you mention their edits are rather different than Kim's - perhaps primarily due to the fact that they had "non-survivor" types of personalities. If anything maybe Ami (in comparison to Eliza) had more of the strong woman edit, that could've been perceived as a contender to win. (Yet she placed 6th in Vanuatu) The only other woman who comes to mind with an extremely strong edit is Kathy O'Brien. Marquesas was her season, and she was edited as so. Unfortunately she came up short at 3rd.   Top

PepeLePew13 26134 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-20-12, 03:33 PM (EST) 85. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" That's true about Kathy O'Brien and Ami Cusack being strong players, but people could clearly see they had flaws in their games/personalities that might have given others a reason to target them and they weren't always edited so glowingly at certain points in their seasons. By contrast, Kim has had the most glowing edit I've seen in a long time (both male and female) so I will be quite interested to see how it all plays out over the next few episodes. My main concern is whether we are being set up for a hard fall from Kim at some point (i.e. final 6) but I think it's clear that Kim is going to be in the final tribal council. We have not been given a reason why she could lose or why she could get voted out thus far.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-20-12, 07:48 PM (EST) 87. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" >The only trip-up will be the >jury, if they decide to >go against the obvious "best >player that season" and reward >the "follower"/"co-decider"/"other option" (Chelsea!)... and >a quick check shows this >happens about 25% of the >time: > >S2: Tina over Colby >S8: Amber over Boston Rob >S11: Danni over Stephanie >*S13: Yul over Ozzy >S19: Natalie over Russell >*S20: Sandra over Parvati >S23: Sophie over Coach This list is quite debatable! The players in the Outback saw Tina as the strategist, not Colby Stephenie was never the leader as she followed Rafe all along. Danni derailed Rafe by making him feel like a genius. Ozzy followed Yul while Sandra followed no one! >> "Actually I'm not sure if we've ever seen this good of an edit by any winner! (maybe Tom?, maybe Yul?)" > >As of right now, yeah, that's >who I would match against >her. Maybe add in Boston >Rob, except he was a >little more out-there dominant, while >Tom & Yul were somehow >more subtle. In general, the >guys seem to get better >edits. Unfair, but that's how >it is. I'd say for sure Hatch, Brian, Sandra, Earl, Todd, Parvati and JT in addition to Tom and Yul. >> "I think maybe an even better question might be: Which female players got as good of an edit as Kim, and where did they place in the game." My list would include: S2Lis (F4), S4Kathy (F3), S5Helen (F4), S6Deena (F8), S7Sandra (won), S10Steph (F7), S11Danni (won), S12Cirie (F4), S15Amanda (F3), S16Parvati (won), S20Parvati (F2) and S21Brenda (F9). S9Leann(F7), S22 Andrea (F4) and S23Dawn(F8) also had strong edits that some people saw as winning edits but not quite as good.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-27-12, 02:42 AM (EST) 93. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" Thanks for rounding out the list of female players with good edits, Michel! Almost forget about Helen, as I've pretty much forgotten about S5 - Ha! I liked her, and remembered thinking she had a pretty good shot at winning. I liked Deena too - it was almost like Deena gave us the actual "strength" that Jenna just didn't have (well, until the end) And Brenda did have a pretty good showing, and was a nice surprise to see get knocked out of the game so early (although I would hope this not be the case for Kim)   Top

suzzee 5961 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-20-12, 11:23 AM (EST) 80. "RE: Episode 5 - Editing Thoughts:" Rocking the PG & E michel, I'm getting to this before the next episode. Finally getting my priorities right . Awesome as usual michel, love to read your thoughts. Idol Chatter: After Colton was given the HII I wondered why there seemed to be no talk or efforts shown for the women looking for the Idol over at the Manono camp until Kim "realizes" it's available. I think you are correct thinking editing held back Kim's discovery in order to feature her emergence as a contender. As is, Colton should realize that, if he wasn’t playing with idiots, he could have been the one going home! Having idiots in your alliance makes this game easier, not harder. Very true, it's much easier to lead non thinkers. Very enjoyable to read michel. Sweet! Thanks to Ag!   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-20-12, 09:53 PM (EST) 88. "A Challenge Question" I found a possible explanation why they only showed 3 points being scored by NuSalani and all three by Michael when we know it ended 5-1: It would have been very smart for NuSalani to throw the challenge, protect the three NuManono women and boot Michael but how could they if Michael won it (supposedly) singlehandedly? If they are going to those lengths to protect the women's game-smarts then we know a woman wins.   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-27-12, 02:32 AM (EST) 91. "RE: A Challenge Question" Hey Michel, that would be a possibility. Although I'm not sure if the women on NuSalani would have considered to throw THAT challenge, as they likely thought Colton would go with the women on NuManono. So it wouldn't have been until after they arrived at the next RC to see who was voted out, and then think they may need to do something like throw a challenge. I know now as I post this, it is a pretty mute point - with Colton gone, no new IC as NuSalani, and the merge. Although this could solidify that the women will indeed want to stay together at the first merge TC.   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-24-12, 12:52 PM (EST) 89. "Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts:" In the previous episode, we saw that men versus women was no more… And a battle between the mighty and the scrawny was underway. After losing the reward challenge, the new Manono tribe was banished to a new beach where they struggled to make ends meet. <Colton said his tribe was composed of people who suck> The new Salani tribe returned to the comforts of home where Chelsea, Jay, Troyzan and Kim quietly formed a majority alliance. We heard Kim saying: “When it comes time to vote we all have to tell each other what is going down and make sure that it goes.” But Kim wasn’t done yet…She found a hidden immunity idol which she told Chelsea about, cementing their relationship. Kim said: “This could be a game changer moment where we take the numbers.” In confessional, Kim told us that she couldn’t get over how well things had gone. When the Manono tribe lost a brutal Immunity Challenge, Colton went to work, targeting Monica, his biggest threat. Alicia told us about the blindside that they were preparing. At Tribal Council everyone voted for Monica except Christina and she quickly realized she was out of the loop. With her only ally gone, can Christina hang on? Now that Colton has been removed from the game it’s interesting to recall the confessional he had after the switch about wanting to be with Jay, Troy, Sab and Kim. That wasn’t included to forseshadow an eventual meeting of those players so the reason they included it was to show how well those four players had done. Add Jeff’s words when he said that Chelsea, Jay, Troyzan and Kim “quietly” formed a majority alliance and we have a seal of approval on that group of 4-5 players. And we should not forget that Kim wasn’t done yet! I would hae titled the episode simply One Person Gone... Manono – Night 14 Alicia: “Our first tribal Council as a new tribe couldn’t have gone any better as we had Monica out. Originally, I had an alliance with the girls but realized that there was no point in keeping them anyway because they are going to go once we merge. So, I wanted to stick with all the guys.” Colton: “I don’t really care if Christina knows she is going home next. There’s nothing that can save her: She doesn’t have an idol and she has 5 people gunning for her. The more defeated she is, the easier she will be to get rid of and I still have my idol so I am going to run this game until I am in the Final 3.” We knew right then that something was going to save Christina but we couldn’t know how perfectly the tables would turn! Christina, who had been in trouble since Salani’s first TC, made it to the merge but, strangely, she was never an important character. The audience was meant to connect with her present situation but not necessarily carry that sentiment for the long term. To her face, Colton called Christina a cockroach. He added that she would go first at the merge even if she made it that far. Christina took it quite stoically. Later, we saw that Alicia was hogging all the space in the shelter. Christina tried to get her to move but Alicia said she would whack her if she touched her again. Jonas and Tarzan looked on in amusement. Christina: “I think Alicia is genuinely not a good person. She has a lack of integrity and Colton’s a jerk. I’ll let other people see that. All gloves are off and I’m ready to fight and I’ll fight hard.” Salani – Day 15 Salani woke up after what was called a rough, cold night but the camera showed that Chelsea hadn’t suffered as much as previously. It wasn’t even an issue as we heard about Kat’s dream instead: Kat: “I had a dream that I was at the mall, shopping for clothes and Alicia killed me in my dream. Maybe it’s a sign, maybe it’s not, I don’t know but I really hope she doesn’t kill me. That was very scary for me.” It was a strange decision to include this confessional, What message does it carry? Will Alicia kill Kat’s game? We didn’t hear Kat say that it was a lifelong dream to be on Survivor, did we? Or what if the dream served to make Kat suspicious of her former buddy? What if Kat kills Alicia’s game?! That would be a nice explanation for the inclusion of this confessional. Kim read Tree mail and everyone started talking about chocolate and the games played in backyards. Troy: “We got treemail today for something sweet. It could be chocolate cake…it could be a banana split. I don’t know but we are confident. The other team are just a bunch of Misfits, they are a goofy, gooey clan. I’m trying to play it down a little bit but we are kicking their #####.” Before leaving, Chelsea pointed out that they would see who was voted out, reminding us that it was the first time the other side hadn’t immediately seen the result of TC. The Challenge Sabrina, like a good narrator, told us how surprised the women of Salani were when they saw Monica had been voted out. Sabrina: “Monica was voted out so that goes to show that they are going to vote out all the women one by one on the other tribe so, when it comes to the merge, we are going to be in the minority. We are kind of fighting an uphill battle.” If anyone was wondering where the doubt was about Kim’s eventual win, this confessional puts doubt on all the women’s chances, not just Kim. I really appreciated the following exchange: Jeff: “You can eat ice cream until your stomach hurts.” Colton: “Please, Please, Please.” It was as if he was asking for stomach pains!! And he didn’t need ice cream to have them… Jeff really gave Alicia a hard time, saying that she threw her first coconut like a little kid, threw it worse than his nephew on the 2nd and finally called her pathetic after her last toss. (Maybe Jeff thinks we still need clues that Alicia isn’t winning this game!) Colton, for someone that missed all his targets, showed unreasonable frustration with Christina when she didn’t run back as fast as he would have liked. When Kim went up, Jeff said she wasn’t messing around as she hit the first target with a forceful toss. Like many out there, Jeff seems to like Leif, calling him buddy during one of his attempts. Leif did score a point for Manono. As the person sitting out, it was nice to see that the camera didn’t forget Sabrina but then, it showed her laughing at Tarzan’s problem with his leg. That wasn’t so nice, especially considering that Tarzan connected on both his tosses. Jeff also said: “Jonas…a wasted opportunity.” (Now, that sounds like a usefull hint!) Chelsea, Kat (again) Jay and Troyzan scored the points for Salani. Colton had a confessional before the break: “Christina…she ticked me off. You can quit or be voted off in two days or jump in the fire, whichever is more convenient for you…I hate her voice, I hate her face, I hate everything about her.” The Reward Jay: “We showed up to this little ice cream shack right on the beach and it’s all you can eat…” Kim: “We come walking up the beach and we see this little ice cream parlor. Honestly, I just…it feels so surreal! So satisfying to eat something besides rice and coconut.“ Kim dropped the cone that was on top of her Sundae and, quickly Jay picked it up saying: “I got it, I got it.” Will Kim drop the ball, opening the game for Jay to win it? Maybe… Micheal talked about their morale being so high after 3 wins and we saw Chelsea on screen. Sabrina: “Just to get away from the camp, to break away from the monotony…it just re-energizes us. We know what winning feels like and what rewards feel like and we want to keep doing it..” This time, Kim was the one seen on screen as Sabrina talked about re-energizing and knowing what winning feels like. She even had one of Amber’s patented OMG! after Sab’s confessional. We then heard Kat saying that this was something Manono would never understand. It made me wonder if she was only talking about the ice cream parlor or the sensation of winning it all. As the camera pulled away we heard a big burp from one of the men. Manono – Day 15 Colton and Alicia were still giving Christina a hard time. Christina: “Right now, no one likes me. I am the cockroach of Survivor. My parents didn’t raise me to be a quitter so, I am not going to quit.” Tarzan then asked Colton and Alicia for an update so they walked away. Jonas: “Colton and Alicia are interesting in a sense that they like to make it personal…It’s not enough that they have the power to vote them off, they have to give one last twist of the knife in and just, like Umphhh!” This was a much needed confessional for Jonas who, for once, wasn’t admiring Colton’s game. He needs to separate himself from the jerk and showing him listening to Christina and taking her side accomplished that. With the Villains away, Christina seized the moment to talk to Leif and Jonas. She told them about Alicia’s alliance with the women while she wasn’t part of that alliance Jonas: “It’s possible that what Christina is saying could be true because I don’t have a whole lot of details on Alicia. That’s is my issue: I don’t know her status with the women on the other side which is a huge risk but.” Christina ended her talk by saying: “It’s either me or her.” All the time, Alicia had been standing behind her, listening to the discussion. She clapped at Christina’s effort, saying she didn’t know how to play the game but Alicia was worried at the same time. Alicia: “Christina is, for once, telling a partial truth. I do have an alliance with the girls that Jonas doesn’t need to know. So, I am going to give her a hard time. It’s just too much paranoia for me and I can’t have it. I have to be in control so that’s why she’s going.” The scene ended with Alicia saying she was done with Christina But she really isn’t, is she?! Which woman will be able to reconnect with Salani? The conversation between Sab and Kim about them comes back to the forefront now that we are at the merge. Colton’s Evacuation. Colton: “I woke up…and I thought my brain was swollen…” Christina: “If someone is sick and needs help, I’m going to be there for them. I think this is coming to my advantage too, as far as strategy goes. Colton will see that I am actually a nice person and not the bad person that Alicia portrays me to be.” What Colton saw is now meaningless but the others saw it also. Maybe it will help but it could also hurt her. One thing is for sure, Colton didn’t deserve her care and attention, especially after: Colton: “Christina stepped in and took this motherly role and, of course Christina is going to do that because she is trying to save herself. She will do whatever she has to, to stay in the game.” It is called Survivor but I don’t like that Colton’s rant was included since it will taint Christina’s generous act in the eyes of some viewers. Manono – Day 16 Jonas climbed on Tarzan’s shoulders to get some breadfruit “Can you work with me, bro? We’re almost there, bro…Victory!” Those quotes are golden and they give a very symbolic feel to that scene. On the surface, Jonas was portrayed as the victor, getting his reward while standing on his team mate’s shoulders. But, a closer look told us that Jonas was really relying on Tarzan’s shaky legs. If, by working together, they managed to get that meager reward, can Jonas really count on Tarzan in the long run? The answer would obviously be no. Which interpretation is the right one? The immediate, superficial one or the deeper one? Considering that Jonas only got two small breadfruits while we saw a chicken walking around camp just when the scene started and again when he yelled victory, I’d say that Jonas will get a small reward out of this game but not the million Leif certainly didn’t look impressed by the breadfruit so why should we! Maybe Jonas’ll be the last Nu Manono standing. Tarzan: “I know the signs of appendicitis…” The editors, after portraying him as a complete buffoon, worried enough about Tarzan’s professional reputation to show that he knows what he is talking about! Colton went out for a walk in the jungle and I absolutely hated the fact that the editors chose to use birds to warn us that something bad was happening. That was how we had been warned that something had happened to Skupin and (even if Mike is an idiot) Colton’s collapse shouldn’t have been preceded by images that reminded us of that memorable event. I know pain can’t be measured but I’d be ready to bet that, for a similar condition, Bruce suffered 10 times more and much longer than this crybaby. Christina: “I see Colton on the ground and I am freaking out…” I’m thinking it would have been a good time to put in effect Sue’s rats and snake speech and just let him rot there! Alas, Christina is nicer than Sue… Jeff and the medical team came in, probably not the only time either judging by Ramona’s change of hairstyles! The tribe was brought in to say goodbye and Jonas was moved to tears: “He is the biggest Survivor fan ever. It kills me. I’m just putting myself in his position and if I were him, I’d just be heartbroken.” Somehow, I don’t think Jonas was talking on behalf of the audience but, then again, the general audience has some weird choices for favorites! What we can note is that, after finally distancing Jonas from Colton’s bad behavior, they are reconnected by this scene. One step forward, one back for Jonas. Alicia: “Colton and I, we always talk strategy, 24/7. That’s what we always do. If Colton is out of the game, I don’t know about anybody else but that would put me in a bad situation. Call me a bad person but I kept thinking of strategy the whole time.” In his last words to the tribe, Colton told them to go get ‘em but he didn’t give them the tool to help, keping the idol as a souvenir! Alicia: “You know what? Colton is a spoiled brat. He is going to keep the idol as a souvenir even though he screwed me like the biggest. I voted off Monica. If Monica was here, the girls would have the numbers and I wouldn’t be in this position. So, screw him.” Jonas: “The original plan, when Colton was here, was to get rid of Christina first but I feel that, now that I have a little more power in the game, it would be wiser for me to vote off Alicia cause Alicia has more ties to the girls. It’s very dangerous to have Alicia in the game. Colton leaving is a huge game changer. I do believe that, if there was a karma, Colton got karma right back at him. Ha! Ha!” Interesting confessional, especially now that we know that Alicia has made the merge. Will Jonas regret it? With so much airtime to fill and so little to show, we were “treated’ to images of hermit crabs, a turtle, butterflies, the Moon, the Sun and even the Milky Way until Salani retrieved their tree mail summoning them to Tribal Council. The speculations ran almost as wildly as on our board when we get vidcaps! Kat: “Tree mail said that both tribes were going to Tribal Council and I don’t have any finger nails right now. All the dirt is in my mouth. It was nutritious but disgusting. I’m really nevous about it.” During the discussion, we heard Chelsea saying: “Tribal’s a challenge.” Kim laughingly: “There’s a lot of speculation. Our tribe likes to run on and on and develop these fantasy themes about what is going to happen. I have no idea but I guess I’m going to go and have my idol in my back-pocket just in case.” Manono Alicia: “We still have to go to Tribal Council tonight. I think we are only going to talk about Colton, however, just in case we need to vote somebody out, I might be the first to go.” The skull of a dead crocodile was featured on the Manono beach but, after Upolu’s dead fish, I am cautious using that kind of image. Tarzan was obvioulsy on Alicia’s side not on Christina’s. He said he would be friends with everyone except Katrina (sic!) Jonas: “The plan, as it stands now, Christina, Leif and myself are planning on voting out Alicia. The thing is that Tarzan is not on board with that but I don’t really care because I am ready to take the bull by the horns and make myself the ringleader.” Tarzan went to work on Leif, hoping to get him on board. Leif: “I’m stuck between two hard places. On one side, Tarzan wants to vote off Christina but, on the other side, Jonas wants to vote Alicia off. I’m really stuck right now.” Alicia: “I’m kind of pissed about the whole idol thing. Colton should have given it off to somebody. I was hoping he was going to give it to me being that now I am stuck with Christina and the guys. Lord knows I need it.” Tribal Council As Salani entered, we saw them counting the remaining seats and, as soon as Manono approached, Troyzan realized that Colton was missing. Jeff gave them the news telling them that he had acute appendicitis. Kat wondered what that was, amusing everyone. Leif said he had his taken out and that it was painful. Kat looked worried. Asked how this affected the game, Troyzan said he was sad for Colton. Jeff turned to Kim, saying it was another person out of the game. Kim: “Absolutely. Another person gone is another person gone. I had my appendix out myself and it hurts like hell.” (Kat was really worried now, as if just learning that it could affect women also) Kim added: “So, I do feel sad for Colton. He was so excited to be here.” Alicia interjected: “Sabrina, he said thank you for the souvenir. He did not give anybody the immunity idol. He took it with him.” Jeff wanted to know if Sabrina believed Alicia. Alicia said it did fit Colton’s character but Chelsea said they would want to keep it a secret. She added: “I don’t belive it. Somebody’s got it.” Jonas didn’t want to reveal if this was all a plan. Jay didn’t know whom to believe. Troyzan wasn’t buying it. Tarzan corroborated Alicia’s words. Kat, with an out-of-place “touché”, agreed with Jeff that they could be lying but she was more worried about the appendix thing and not get hers hurt. Jeff told everyone to drop their buffs. Jeff turned to Troyzan about all this. He said he was counting numbers, seeing that there were 6 women, 6 men. He added: “Everyone has their own agenda.” Sabrina turned to look at Alicia but Jeff addressed Kim, talking about eyeballs going left and right. She said that everyone was trying to figure out what people that were on their tribe previously were thinking: “Are the women together? Are the men together? Is Salani together? Is Manono together?” she asked. She also siad she was excited. “Nervous too but in an excited way.” Tarzan would only repeat that the game was afoot. Sending them back to the One World beach, Jeff told them to take a moment to celebrate and then to get their head back in the game. At that moment, the camera focused on the main characters: Kim, Troyzan, Jonas and Chelsea As they rose to leave, we had the close-ups of two players: Kim and Chelsea The Story This episode mostly solidified what we had seen in the previous episode. Jeff’s recap reinforced our impression of the importance of the Salani 4 alliance and of the partnership between Kim and Chelsea. The game still seemed to be Salani versus Manono, the players showing doubts about former allies. If that is the case then we heard that the members of Manono will never understand what it means to win. But, now that they are merged, it will be interesting to discover everyone’s agenda. We know that Jonas has a new agenda but only Troyzan and Kim expressed their thoughts about the new development. The Characters Leif: Still the nice guy, Leif was only used to make us wonder who would have been eliminated if they had voted during Tribal Council. The fact that they didn’t give Christina the satisfaction of making it clear that she would have survived worries me for her longevity. Tarzan: He is already opposing Jonas’ attempts at being ringleader. Tarzan seems to be acting as a dummy in the hopes of receiving the same free ride to the end of the game that Phillip enjoyed. Tarzan could be used to make us fear that Jonas will not succeed but I see it more leaning towards showing us why Jonas will fail when even his allies don’t follow his directions. Christina: This episode was set-up as Christina’s struggle to survive. Her tormentors were so outrageous that we knew she would succeed but is this all there is to her victory? We didn’t have to hear from Colton that she had ulterior motives when she took care of him. Since her character development had been lacking, it would have been better if the audience had seen her as being generous enough to help someone that had mistreated her. The mixed messages don’t really clear up her role and we heard that she was ready to be disloyal to all the women, ready to give the game to the men. Also, with the episode lacking any climaxes, it would have been a good idea to create anticipation regarding Alicia’s elimination. Why put it in doubt when there wasn’t even going to be a vote? Christina outlasted Colton but she may not outlast her other bully. Alicia: Alicia said that Christina didn’t know how to play the game but we had a few examples that she doesn’t know it either. She was happy at first that Monica was gone but soon lived to regret it. She had talked strategy with Colton but apparently forgot to solidify her position with the others. We heard that Colton’s condition worsened over 3 days but we never saw Alicia talk to him about needing that idol if he left. More importantly, the women of Salani didn’t really appear to believe her about that idol. If you are still pulling for Alicia, you have to remember that Jeff said she was pathetic. Kat: It would be a lot of fun if her dream held truths about future events. I could see Kat turning her back on Alicia because she has become suspicious of her intentions. If Kat causes Alicia’s elimination then I could see Alicia turn it around and “kill” Kat during the Final TC. If that scene was just filler then Kat is just a somewhat funny character with not much to contribute to the game. Michael: We only saw Michael when Salani was speculating about tree mail and he had some ideas but none of them panned out. Much like his game. The Following Players All Have Supporters: Sabrina: She continues to be seen as a bright woman who tells us about the events around her. Her lack of end game connections and strategic confessionals should dampen the enthusiasm of her supporters. I am waiting to see if her talk with Kim about keeping Alicia over Christina has any repercussions in the merged tribe. If the vote comes to a decision between the two, it would be the key of the game. It would either doom all the women or enable them to keep the new Salani together. Jonas: He finally got off of Colton’s coat-tails and he now has some power in this game. How will he fare as the new ringleader? It seems that Jeff prepared us to see it as a wasted opportunity but, then again, he did claim victory after successfully getting some breadfruit. As explained above, that seemed like a hollow victory as he will be relying too much on Tarzan. Jonas told us he doesn’t understand the ringleader type of game and getting a little bit of power all of a sudden after his mentor’s exit isn’t what he needed. Chelsea: On the one hand, it’s good that we are shown she is handling the conditions much better than before but, if we take a closer look, we can say that it’s bad that no one is commenting on how well she has recovered. Her words after Tree mail told us she will probably be facing the jury but that “Tribal’s a challenge.” Jay: This episode did nothing to advance Jay’s story. Like Sabrina, he lacks confessionals about his future plans. The only wink we received happened when Kim dropped her cone at the ice cream parlor. If she lets victory slip through her fingers, we know that Jay will be there to pick it up. Troyzan: Even if we have many opportunities to see that Troyzan is playing a good game, we also see some arrogance seeping in, especially in that first confessional where he called the other side the Misfits when, not too long ago, he was part of that group. Looking back at his key early confessionals where he talked about this being his island and about being the greatest Survivor ever, we can see that, instead of being clues to his win, those were intended to show his arrogance. Still, his Tribal Council interventions were just about as important as Kim’s. Kim: Sabrina’s first confessional gave us some doubt on the chances of any women emerging as the winner. Even if they have merged 6-6, Christina seems determined to give her vote to the men, increasing the women’s difficulties. Add the fact that Kim is presented as a confident player, one that doesn’t appear to be worried too much about the situation and we know many audience members are thinking she won’t make it to the end. Yet, she keeps getting all the little hints that she will do exactly that. Everything has gone well for her up to now and she isn’t even done yet according to Jeff’s recap of the story. Kim was featured on screen in everyone of Salani’s scenes and even dominated Tribal Council. Her face is shown at many key moments like when Sabrina said they knew what it meant to win, how it re-energized them and when Jeff said they had to get their head back into the game after celebrating the merge. Her confident demeanor could, like in Troyzan’s case, be seen as arrogance but we always see that she mixes humor in there, deflecting the harshness of the comments. And, if it sounded cold-hearted to say that Colton’s exit was good for her, the editors also left in her comment about being sad for Colton when it would have been so easy to cut it out. Of the 6 players with potential winning edits, Kim is, by far, the one I see as running away with it. She is clearly in charge of the game in Salani and even the decisions on Manono are influenced by the links to the women which, inevitably, brings us back to Kim, the quiet ringleader.   Top

Slider 29 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 03-24-12, 10:30 PM (EST) 90. "RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts:" Great thoughts as usual, Michel. When I watched the episode again with my son, I noticed that in the conversation with Jeff, Colton wasn't wearing the immunity necklace. In fact, it wasn't seen on him until Jeff asked Colton if he had any last words, then it was cut to look like he answered immediately not to worry about the idol because it was out of play. He was wearing it then. I wondered what was really said by him or others as he put it on. Slider   Top

AaronLittleton 123 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson" 03-27-12, 03:21 AM (EST) 94. "RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts:" Thanks, Michel! Especially for this week's editing thoughts and recap. This and the East Coast thread have helped me piece the episode together, as I was only able to watch ep 6 on my iPad in various segments - ughhh! ;) It's exciting that Colton is gone, because from an editing standpoint, they will now have to use other players to fill "his" air time. I'm thinking this will help confessional bumps for Kim, Troy, Jay and Chelsea. (whereas Sabrina was already doing just fine, and will likely continue to do so) Dabo had it marked that Colton had 25 confessionals by the time he was taken out of the game (25 is the same number of confessionals for the combined total of the first 5 bootees - holy comparisons, batman!) So there's definitely some space to fill, and we'll likely see some new stories emerge, or stories pick up again if they were put on simmer. I'm actually surprised that we've gotten so much juice out of the Alicia/Christina feud. And they are both still in the game! Is this going to simmer again, or is it finally done, regardless of how soon either one of them goes home. Alicia's edit is the most interesting to me in a way now. As almost every other player has a certain steadiness to their edit. Alicia's started high, dipped, reached a new height, will likely dip, they spike again - she may get enough of a rollercoaster ride to bring her close to endgame. Unless her next spike is her ouster. But there's no chance she can win - as you mentioned with Jeff's words at the RC - they were rather blatant, yikes! And we will soon see if they will have her fill Colton's villain's shoes. Everyone else, seemed par for the course, from what's been previously analyzed. Kim continued to get her strong showing, from Jeff's comments at the RC, to her getting to respond to the game's latest developments again at the TC. And Jonas did show signs of coming out of Colton's shadow. Although was it too late? - due to Colton's early departure. I like how you mention, it seemed a little "one step forward, one step back" for Jonas. I think this is showing us that he has a head for the game, but it's not gonna stack up for him. And one more note about filling the villain's shoes, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Michael in this light. Jeff mentioned Michael's villain ability pre-game, although we have yet to see it other than "stealing" in Ep 1. Perhaps after his quiet showing the past few episodes, a storyline could likely build about his attempt to emerge as a player. The bad thing for Michael is that it will likely be against someone who has already been edited as more likeable, like Kim or the women. This could set up his boot nicely, and also provide some danger/doubt for a woman (winner)   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 03-27-12, 08:01 AM (EST) 95. "RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts:" Well, THAT was unexpected. After being One World, Two Worlds, Mixed Worlds and now back to One World again in only six episodes.I'm glad they've merged this early although it does feel like a bit of a storyline rollercoaster as I'm not sure which tribal divisions the editing is setting us up to invest in. Is it still Men vs Women or Nu-Manano vs Nu-Salani? I guess the next episode will answer this. This short of swaps can often manifest a post-merge clusterf**k of strategy as no one has had enough time to make strong enough loyalties with either tribal breakdown (see also Amazon, Nicaragua). The one thing that often happens though when alliances are so tenuous at a merge is that the easiest targets tend to still go for an episode or two, as no one wants to upset the apple cart for a vote or two when they can vote an easy pre-agreed target out that both sides are happy with, thus maintaining an uneasy harmony and sparing key players from showing their true hand too early. I'd say that, based on the editing, that someone like Christina is probably still doomed in the next episode or two. The women are happy for her to go because she's allied to the men. The men are happy for her to go because she's a woman. The editing still hasn't really allowed us to get to know her except for this episode. She's only been shown when absolutely essential to the story. I've got my money on her getting an Alina-esque set up and edit as a merge boot. After that, I'd say that Tarzan and Leif are probably the next two in danger. Tarzan might have more legs than Leif though, I can't quite get a read on his edit. He's clearly not a winner, but beyond that? Leif is still a player of no consequence but I still think whoever is responsible for booting him is our likely winner. As I've said previously, he's quite a likable player, so the fact editing is ignoring him so badly means I think that we're not meant to dislike whoever boots him. Michael is getting ignored so hard that I'd say he's going pretty soon as well, no doubt as an individual immunity threat and as an easy general consensus boot. The fact the recap highlighted the Kim/Chelsea/Troyzan/Jay alliance means that obviously this will be the endgame alliance to watch. Out of the four, Jay probably has received the least amount of winner attention. Chelsea has received a great edit, but more of it is rooted in reasons why she would lose a final vote rather than why she would win. Troyzan keeps going in peaks and troughs for me. He's still my back up choice after Kim, but there has been some interesting displays of arrogance, particularly post challenge that make me nervous about a win, specially when not coupled with better confessionals like Kim is getting. I did find the challenge voiceover where Kim just missed out and then Troyzan made the winning shot that was very interesting. Did anyone else catch that? Jonas is still getting a pretty intense late game edit. I put him a clear third to win, but he's got legs where the rest of his tribe don't. This episode took pains to seperate him from the shadow of the Klu Klux Kolton, which was all he really needed longevity wise. It's also good for him that he has been spared some of the more negative insider footage that paints him as not that well liked by the girls. Not good for him actually winning, but good for him potentially making the FTC. Chelsea is still holding steady as Kim's F2 opponent. Sabrina is still standing out as the last one to go before the FTC. It's interesting that she's not included in the main alliance any more, but we have been shown why she would vote for Kim at the end. Jay is also getting a good low key edit but we're being spared a lot of very positive footage of him. The fact that Colton was willing to give away the idol if he could give it to Jay and has said Jay was his closest ally in the game says a lot about his social game that is not being shown. Although maybe that is to spare him the negativity of being associated with Colton. Thoughts? Kim still CLEAR number one pick to win. I've run out of new reasons to even bother pointing it out. I haven't felt this sure since Parvati in Micronesia. She's reminded me of Danni a lot pregame and it's fascinating how she's getting a similar, but meatier edit this time around. WINNER PICKS - Kim >>>>>>>> Troyzan > Jonas   Top

parathor 250 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Network TV Show Guest Star" 03-27-12, 01:36 PM (EST) 96. "RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts:" Awesomeness as always to Michel/Glen/etc! Kim's edit is so over-the-top good, I wonder if it's because she's surrounded by dolts and she looks good by comparison (no - I like these characters)... or if she's the more-deserving-winner-but-gets-second-place. Or if we're just so attuned now to who will win because we've been practicing for so long? (my opinion) - Of the recent winners, being the obvious winner-edit or the hidden second-choice: - Sophie was hidden - Rob was obvious - Fabio was... mixed? Hidden? - Sandra was hidden - Natalie was hidden - JT was obvious If Kim is the "obvious" edit at this point, what does that say about her chances? Is it even too soon to call her the "obvious" winner's edit? I think it's not too soon, and that she won't win (she's no Rob... although she does remind me a bit of JT). So whose edit matches the silent second-choice (assuming that the underling wins yet again, and the more deserving winner doesn't win)? Probably someone in the nuSalani alliance, I'm guessing? Chelsea, probably? Jay? My other winner's theory (worked for Fabio) is whoever has the most "cut-to-commercial" moments (at the reunion show) seems to win. Right now that's probably Kat (ugh), but Chelsea has a couple (chickens, shivering cold), and Jay has a couple (switch alliances early, picking up ice cream). I don't know if Troyzan has that many... he seems more of a narrator than a "moment" person. I like Kim a ton, and would be excited to have her win, but she seems too front-and-center to win. (...but they don't KNOW that we know that they know that they're giving her a winner's edit... so that gives us back our edge!)   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-27-12, 06:48 PM (EST) 98. "RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts:" Thanks parathor! As for picking winners: - Sophie was hidden => I Missed it - Rob was obvious => I Got it (was sure by the time Russell was gone) - Fabio was... mixed? Hidden? => I Got it at the merge - Sandra was hidden => I was spoiled so doesn't count. - Natalie was hidden => I Got it (and it felt obvious) - JT was obvious => I Missed it. So even the obvious can be missed or the hidden seem obvious!   Top

glennyfromtheblock 28 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge" 03-27-12, 08:05 PM (EST) 99. "RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts:" Good points there. To be honest, my single only concern for Kim this season is how much of a classic winner edit she has. That being said though, I don't think she really came on the general public's radar til episode 5. And, even then, someone like Sabrina would rank just as highly for them. If she keeps being so obvious there is a point where I might wonder about her chances, but I'm mostly paying attention to how they cool her down for the next few episodes as, sadly, I've been wrong before.. - Sophie was hidden - I picked Sophie episode one as she had quite a good early edit. I got sidetracked by Cochran though for a while as his edit was actually quite a balanced one. Key lesson being that in seasons where nothing happens, the editors have to basically create storylines to pad out the second half of the game. - Rob was obvious - Rob was SO obvious. But, until the merge, I didn't feel like he could win because I thought it was just so freaking obvious. I couldn't get past my own sense of logic that there was no way anyone would be dumb enough to let him near the end. Also, as a returning player, it was hard to get a read on the balance of his edit. - Fabio was... mixed? Hidden? - Fabio was actually pretty obvious. He was my back up pick after Brenda from episode one and stayed that way all through. He got a really nice, prominent sympathetic edit the whole way through with lots of extra attention. They did the best they could with him. - Sandra was hidden - This one doesn't count because I was spoiled (like everyone) for the Final 3. Based on knowing that though, Sandra was CLEARLY the winner from episode one. If you take that knowledge out of the equation, I'd say Sandra's edit jumped into winner contention with Coach boot episode, because she got all the credit for that move when, in reality (based on the interviews and the Insider footage at the time), Parvati was pretty much 100% for that boot. One of the biggest red flags for a winner is when they get credit attributed to them that they didn't make. - Natalie was hidden - I did not even realise there was a Natalie on the show until the merge. - JT was obvious - True, but I totally missed it even up until the last episode. Like with Rob, I could never get past my own messed up logic that I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to keep him that long..   Top

michel 10958 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-27-12, 06:41 PM (EST) 97. "RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts:" Nice read, glenny! I want to comment on the following: "This short of swaps can often manifest a post-merge clusterf**k of strategy as no one has had enough time to make strong enough loyalties with either tribal breakdown (see also Amazon, Nicaragua). The one thing that often happens though when alliances are so tenuous at a merge is that the easiest targets tend to still go for an episode or two, as no one wants to upset the apple cart for a vote or two when they can vote an easy pre-agreed target out that both sides are happy with, thus maintaining an uneasy harmony and sparing key players from showing their true hand too early." In Amazon Jenna wasn't afraid to upset the apple-cart! Alex, Deena and Rob were all going to eliminate Dave but Jenna convinced Deena that Roger had to go first in order to keep him off the jury. THAT was a great move because, as Jenna said, Roger wouldn't have voted for a woman and he could have poisoned the jury against them. Jenna never gets enough credit for this. Unfortunately, nowadays with the F3 and the bloated jury, players don't have the occasion to eliminate the player that would hurt them the most but, with a merge at 6-6 as far as original alliances go, it should be interesting to see which player gets credit for deciding the vote.   Top

suzzee 5961 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-28-12, 01:40 PM (EST) 100. "RE: Episode 6 - Editing Thoughts:" Excellent, you know michel, sometimes I wonder if you're seeing a show with editors notes while I'm watching the show with 20% more commercials for toilet bowl cleaners. meh, glad you're paying attention so I can drink wine while I'm watching. Nicely written dood. A Tribe masterpiece   Top

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