Thanks for the great recap Michel! And the others too (& congrats on contributing to Rob's blog!)

Here's a few thoughts to add to some of your comments on the players.

>
>Corinne: First, she got into the
>alliance quite easily and now
>she finds herself with a
>strong pair in hand. By
>giving her a confessional during
>the quest for the idol,
>we can say it’s almost
>as much hers as it
>is Malcolm’s. She may be
>the one that is saved
>by the idol but it’s
>interesting that as soon as
>her story took off, she
>was put on the chopping
>block. This could be the
>sign of a very short
>story arc because Andrea’s story
>has received more investment.
>

Great point that right when we get Corinne's story beginning we also hear from Andrea about her need to target Corinne sooner than later. In light of the BR rules in ep 1 (even though they haven't been referred to again) it looks like the Andrea/Philip pairing are wanting to pull this off. In their season they were schooled a certain way on how to play Survivor (and we all witnessed Rob's tutorial on how to play in a Machiavellian fashion). If they do follow along with Rob's playbook, they may indeed target someone who's deemed threatening within there own alliance of 6, rather than someone outside of it. Andrea & Philip are very familiar with this - and there roles are now different. In RI, Andrea was part of the threatening pair within the alliance, and Matt was booted. Now with her assuming the power role (ala Boston Rob) she is setting her sights on this season's similar pair, Corinne & Malcolm. Interestingly, she is looking to target the player in her previous position - whereas BR was more threatened by Matt, Andrea might be more threatened by someone her own gender, pointing to Corinne. Without the BR rules, they might have simply gone ahead and voted out Brandon. But as we heard from Andrea, he would be just as loyal than Corinne. Interestingly, Philip was on the same page with this - which makes sense as Philip was in Brandon's role in RI as the one swapped into the alliance. Which leaves us to wonder: Are they trying to repeat RI's gameplay this time around?

>Malcolm: Finding the idol gave him
>new powers so he’s made
>an alliance inside the alliance
>by hitching his wagon to
>Corinne. He realizes that it’s
>risky, that Corinne’s temper could
>cost him but he is
>the go-to-guy in the challenges
>so he’s not in immediate
>danger. Since he is the
>favorite among the Favorites, I
>find something lacking in his
>story though. If he were
>to go as deep in
>this game as in the
>previous one, we would be
>seeing a lot more of
>his confessionals.
>

Regarding Malcolm, it does seem like something is lacking in his story, yet he doesn't seem in danger. If I remember correctly, both Amanda and Rupert, had much lighter edits initially when they came to represent the second time in their back-to-back seasons. They both ended up going pretty far in their second installments, so this still could be good for Malcolm's longevity. (And regarding the back-to-back season players, I won't mention Russell, as he was an anomaly)

>Laura: Realizing that her showing
>in the challenge could put
>her in danger with the
>“pretty people”, Laura made a
>big move and went to
>Reynold with the idea to
>eliminate Shamar. Did she ever
>consider voting against Shamar? I
>doubt it. I think she
>only wanted to make sure
>she wouldn’t received votes so
>she lied to Reynold, giving
>him, Eddie and Hope false
>hope. While a great tactic
>for this round, was it
>sound strategy? Reynold will certainly
>press her on the issue
>which would likely lead to
>everyone finding out about her
>move. Even if she convinces
>Shamar that she didn’t cross
>him, even if she convinces
>Sherri that she never intended
>to go against the plan,
>then she still stands out
>as a thinker, a dangerous
>strategist. She should have stayed
>with the role of smart
>observer instead of showing this
>early that she is a
>high roller.
>

I agree, I don't think Laura ever had intentions of voting off Shamar either. I also think it was a smart move for Laura to do what she did (and it worked out for her benefit) In terms of looking bad to Reynold, it's nothing that Matt hadn't already done to him in the previous TC (and we didn't see Matt getting any slack for that) Laura can simply say that she decided not to risk going against the majority. Regarding showing that she's too strategic to Sherry, et al. - it could be that they decided this as an alliance, and Laura was simply the one to orchestrate. In which, Sherry would actually prefer this, as it allows Laura to put herself in the precarious situation. However it may have unfolded, these weren't major hick-ups for her and nothing that Laura couldn't easily talk herself out of. In terms of editing, I think it's great for Laura that we're seeing her have to jockey her position so early in the game. She is proving to be one of the strongest "young female blonde" players we've seen. An anti-purple Kelly, if I dare say. I like her, and I enjoy the attention she's getting. She was ep 3's confessional leader with a 5 count. And while she didn't speak at TC, there were lots of cuts to her at key times in the discussions.

>
>
>Sherri: At the other table, this
>chip leader isn’t confrontational. She
>has her lightning rod and
>is simply moving forward, collecting
>the small pots and avoiding
>the risks since it is
>way too early to go
>for the kill. She says
>she controls Shamar but we
>were shown that the big
>guy doesn’t keep quiet. Still,
>it never came close to
>threatening Sherri’s game so we’d
>expect that Shamar’s indiscretion will
>hurt Shamar. As the
>Fan that seems to be
>playing with the assurance of
>a veteran, Sherri looks to
>go deep in this game.
>
Sherry also had a good episode - a nice follow-up to her star performance last time. She definitely was in the mix and seemed very attentive to the discussion at tribal, even was integral when Jeff was able to go to her to punctuate what was happening with Shamar. I love that you mention that she is the fan that seems to be playing with the assurance of a veteran. This could be very good for her portrayal, just like we saw with "heroic villains" and "villainous heroes" in H vs. V. Great point as well that we're hearing more than just narration from Sherry when she shares to the camera. She's definitely got social skills and understanding of the game, and I'm glad we're seeing it all.

>
>Cochran is observing everyone while they
>play their cards. What
>an advantage to know what
>the others have in hand!
> The veteran that plays
>with the enthusiasm of a
>fan could be really dangerous
>down the road…if Cochran plays
>his cards right!
>

And then we have Cochran, the perfect fan/favorite hybrid, and clearly showcased as such with his confessional in ep 3. Cochran is looking great for his longevity this season. I'm really interested in his relationship with Andrea. Somehow, she is convinced that the Corinne/Malcolm pairing is more dangerous than the Cochran/Dawn pairing. I believe there's a good chance that Cochran nurtured his relationship with Andrea, as we've seen her a number of times talking about her plans in front of him. It will be interesting to see if Cochran will lay low and continue to observe when Bikal has to face their next TC.