LAST EDITED ON 04-19-15 AT 09:32 PM (EST)Another great write-up, as usual, Mr. Michel.
That sure was an illuminating episode in terms of the edit, huh? Only, like, half the cast were even in the episode. I can't remember the last time when they had literally half the cast go invisible. I think Tyler winning Immunity, but still not even getting a confessional, says all there is to be said about Tyler's chances. So much for being the darkhorse.
Thought it was a pretty poor episode for Jenn too. I was curious to see how they would handle her despair (maybe making her sympathetic) but I don't see much upside to how she was characterized. She's just kind of checked out, and is only relevant because of her relationship to Shirin, ironically enough. I was thinking about my earlier impressions of her, where she seemed a little Palau Katie or Boston Rob'ish with her confessionals. She might actually be a Final 3 goat.
Mike is sitting pretty as usual. The only thing I didn't like was that Rodney's impressions came off good instead of obnoxious, so it struck me as another seed of dissent (edit-wise). Still hard to argue against the rest of the edit, however.
The main thing I wanted to talk about was Shirin.
Okay, what's the deal with Shirin's edit? Since when is she the main character of the show? Obviously, there's an emphasis on Mike's story still, and Shirin is fitting into his plans. But this past episode, the way they framed it, Shirin was the protagonist of the story. The story was, Shirin needs to save herself and go to Mike. It wasn't, Mike needs more allies and pulled in Shirin. It was told from Shirin's point of view. Shirin gets to make the choice to get rid of Joe. Jenn is only around because Shirin needs her. All of this stuff revolves around Shirin.
Shirin can't win. Everyone hates her.
So why aren't they actually showing it? They were showing it earlier. It still seems to be true. Will is even going to call her out next week. So why don't we get "annoying Shirin whistling" scenes anymore? All we got was an argument with Rodney over deli meats.
She can't win, right? Everyone hates her.
Something's up, and I can't figure it out. You don't give Shirin a godlike edit for no reason. Normally, I would say, duh, she is probably your winner then. But the social dynamics don't make sense where Shirin could win. She would need a very, very specific Final 3 for that to even be viable. Maaaaybe she could win a Shirin/Jenn/Sierra or Shirin/Jenn/Dan kind of combo. But even those would be a pretty big stretch.
My only guess is that we're supposed to root for her because we want to be happy when Rodney/Will/Carolyn/Tyler get supplanted this week. We're not supposed to care about someone like Will, so we won't have any problem when Shirin and Mike turn the tables on him. Ditto for Dan, but that's probably down the road. Maybe the Shirin thing is a little like Missy last season. A player who can't possibly win because of social dynamics, who still somehow gets the kid gloves in the edit.
If Mike doesn't win, who else possibly could? Probably not invisible Carolyn, Tyler, Will, and Sierra. Jenn's nosediving. Rodney and Dan, don't make me laugh. And everyone hates Shirin.
Will looks like he's toast this week, huh? Completely invisible guy shows up as focal point of the previews? Not a pretty combination.