Survivor 9/23: Burly Girls, Bowheads, Young Studs

[Chastain86]

I'm sad today.

I'm sad, because I have just found out who tonight's boot is going to be. Courtesy of a spoiler site and a reputable source that has been right on multiple occasions.

Scroll down for the Spoiler box. I don't want this showing up on Preview:

SPOILER:

Apparently, tonight's bootee is going to be the cutest lil' Survivor that ever could, Dolly. I wanted this girl to go far, because of the inevitable selling-out that leads to a Playboy shoot, but it t'wasn't to be.

Good night, little sheep farmer. You had such potential, and it's all for naught. Bah!

I'm still pulling for The Sarge.

[monster]

I found out John P grew up in my hometown. He's a year younger than me, but he went to a different school. I have him on my fantasy team and am pulling for him to win.

PS

SPOILER:

I don't know if Dolly will do a Playboy shoot. Read her bio - she's quite religious.

[Draelin]

I was distracted throughout most of the premiere, so tonight will be like meeting everyone for the first time. The previews look pretty good, though. As long as it's not one of my pool-members getting booted, I'm not caring much.

(I avoided the spoiler, and I'm so proud of myself!)

[stpauler]

Tee hee. Sorry, this is my co-worker's pick for the pool and she's been gloating that her pick is going all the way to the end.

[misstee]

Just subscribing

[simply_cats]

Die-hard fan checking in here. I personally wouldn't mind seeing the spoiler-bootee leaving, as that is not one that I have in our little family pool. I cannot wait to see the show tonight... Thursday is definitely my favorite day of the week!

[BiblioCat]

Arrgghh.
My daughter's Back-To-School night is tonight. It starts at 7:20 (after a meeting in the auditorium), and is the thing where we go and visit each class for 10 minutes (with 5 minutes in between to get to the next class). It's not supposed to be over till freaking 9:15, so not only will I miss Survivor, but most of the premiere of CSI as well. I guess that's why God invented VCRs, huh?

Everything at her school is always on Thursday nights. Doesn't anyone there watch Survivor? I hate having to tape it and watch it later.

[Chastain86]

I found an interesting thought on another website that I thought I'd share.

How amusing would it be if the "spirit rock" that the men won, and have had sitting around as they huddle and shiver in the rain with no fire, is actually a big ol' flint rock?

Food for thought...they do keep showing it a lot while the boys are trying to make fire...

[BiblioCat]

Originally Posted by Chastain86

How amusing would it be if the "spirit rock" that the men won, and have had sitting around as they huddle and shiver in the rain with no fire, is actually a big ol' flint rock?

Food for thought...they do keep showing it a lot while the boys are trying to make fire...

LMAO at this thought.

[kka]

Anybody else have a hard time keeping the names straight this early in the game? Dolly and Scout are the only two women who's names I can put with a face.

[NothingMan]

Well the spoiler was right.

(Sigh.)

They went and voted off Dolly - just the hottest girl on the island.

But it was nice to finally see the guys win one - I was beginning to think "not again".

Go Bubba!

[Slacker]

While it was fun watching Dolly marvel at the fact that the sky was blue every morning, she was right in her outgoing speech - she wasn't Survivor material.

And the episode overall? Boring. Here's hoping the Apprentice will pick up the slack tonight (so far so good as I'm typing this).

[wolfman]

Quick ignorance fighting science question.

My first thought was that there would be no reason for a wild birds to lay unfertilized eggs, so they were going to be in for a surprise when they cracked open their eggs, but I don't know enough to be sure. Was that something we contrived from the species, or does it ever naturally happen. Do wild birds ever lay nice yolky eggs? Or would they have deffinately had a chewy little blob of psuedo-bones and fuzzy-feathers?

[MaceMan]

That spirit rock doesn't look like a flint stone, but I wondered why the guys didn't try looking for one. And wolfman, I think that the eggs were freshly laid, so even if they were fertilized, the embryo didn't have time to develop further than the yolk stage. I don't know whether wild chickens commonly lay unfertilized eggs, but I suspect it might happen. After all, human females ovulate independently of sexual activity.

[jayjay]

The spirit rock looks like lava rock, so not flint.

Dolly found out the hard way that if you try to balance on that fence, someone's going to push you off.

What IS it with the young folks every season who just GOGGLE at how HARD it is on the island, what with no running water or reliably dry shelter or central heating or gas piped in. Did they sign up without having once SEEN this show?! Sheesh!

The old ladies know their stuff. Send an agent provocateur in to talk down the waverer and convince at least ONE of the other numerically equivalent faction to vote against her, then go solid together. Dolly never knew what hit her, and neither did Eliza. I always love the reveal when the supposedly larger voting bloc finds out that someone fucked up...the looks on their faces is priceless.

[Green Bean]

Oh, that was sweet. I've only seen one other season of Survivor, Amazon, but this exact same thing happened on that one--to Christy. In both cases, the swing voter talked WAY too openly about having the power. Eliza got very lucky.

That reward challenge was pretty funny. Did you see the looks on the guys' faces right at the start? You could just SEE that that one guy was thinking "Omigod. This is so gay!" I think that's why the women won so handily--they weren't afraid to rub up against each other. I was glad to see that Chad's artificial leg didn't prove too much of a problem, as I would expect that this kind of balancing thing would be extra-hard on a fake leg.



So, what do you think is going to happen this season to make it different? I assume there is something going on to spice things up a bit. I do have a theory--In this round, the actual "survival" aspect will become more important. A common criticism of the show is that it isn't very much about surviving. Perhaps on Vanuatu, the hardships are more significant than in previous locations, and the powers that be will let the players suffer more. We already saw the men go 6 or more days without fire. If the survival part is more difficult, then the players will weaken faster, and some will be affected more than others. This will make things more interesting. Also, decisions about who to vote off currently seem to be affected little by the various players actual contributions to the team's well-being. If the hardships are significantly worse, then perhaps the teams will be more likely to vote according to who actually is stronger and more useful to the team's survival.

[Frostillicus]

Did anyone notice that in next week's preview, Jeff announces that each team is going to vote someone off at tribal council. He seems kind of PO'ed when he said it, as if the teams did something underhanded in the immunity challenge and this was his way of punishing them. Or maybe I have no idea what I am talking about.

[Batsinma Belfry]

Originally Posted by Green Bean

That reward challenge was pretty funny. Did you see the looks on the guys' faces right at the start? You could just SEE that that one guy was thinking "Omigod. This is so gay!" I think that's why the women won so handily--they weren't afraid to rub up against each other.

That, and the fact that most if the women are skinny, and the guys either have bulky muscles or bellys to get in the way.

I think Scout could've done a better job at the immunity challenge if Sarge didn't have that bullhorn lodged in his throat. How can anyone be heard over that?

[Tangent]

Originally Posted by hillbilly queen

I think Scout could've done a better job at the immunity challenge if Sarge didn't have that bullhorn lodged in his throat. How can anyone be heard over that?

But that shouldn't have kept her from noticing the last pair of puzzle pieces out there in the water--the one Jeff had to point out to her.

My roommate and I cried out in anguish when the last vote was read. Damn it! Dolly was so damn cute!

I will miss her tiny shorts.

[Smeghead]

Ah, well. I decided to tranfser my lust...er...affection to Eliza with her huge dark innocent-looking eyes.

[Liberal]

Originally Posted by Green Bean

I think that's why the women won so handily--they weren't afraid to rub up against each other.

Actually, the men rubbed quite much. At one point, even Jeff noted that there seemed to be a rather long embrace going on.

The men were sunk from the conception of the challenge: they're too top-heavy. That's why men don't do the balance beam in gymnastics. Women generally have a lower center of gravity. A man with excellent balance has had to work harder than a woman with equivalent skill. Generally, of course.

[Johnny L.A.]

The men were sunk from the conception of the challenge: they're too top-heavy.

Yeah, I was thinking this basic fact of anatomy gave an advantage to the women.

Fire. Once again, the men try it once and then give up. (Okay, it could just be editing; but that's the way it looked.)

What about that bit in the beginning where the two guys were talking alone? Was it Bubba? Haven't got the names down yet. Anyway, Bubba says, "We're thinking of voting you off because you're a threat." "Reeeee-reeeee-rooooo!" I said in my un-PC retardo voice. Brilliant idea, that; voting off a strong player before the merge! Aiyiyi.

I liked the way Sarge came down on Rory during the challenge. He'd told the guys to keep quiet so he could do his job, and Rory kept barking or something. Sarge has a lot of experience effectively telling inexperienced people what to do, and he has the voice to do it. Good to see him using the skill appropriately.

And about that challenge... Sarge yells "Left! Left! LEFT!!!" but Bubba (I think) at first goes straight, and then turns right. I know there's a lot of excitement, but doesn't the guy know his left from his right?

Rory is toast. He complained on the way into camp on the first episode. He became vocally petulant after the RC, which pissed the Sarge off. Then he "disobeyed an order" and kept making noise in the IC when Sarge told him to stop. (Is the guy dense? Ego too big?) He's not making any friends.

I gotta say that Eliza is the cutest! I'm glad she wasn't booted. That face is incredible. And those big brown eyes could melt the ice caps.

[Debaser]

The immunity challenge was the most unfair that Survivor has even done. The men had no chance of winning. They could re-do the challenge a hundred times and they wouldn't win. Next week's challenge should be an arm wrestling tournament, that would be about as fair to the women as this was to the men.

[NotWithoutRage]

Originally Posted by Frostillicus

Did anyone notice that in next week's preview, Jeff announces that each team is going to vote someone off at tribal council. He seems kind of PO'ed when he said it, as if the teams did something underhanded in the immunity challenge and this was his way of punishing them. Or maybe I have no idea what I am talking about.

Hmm... Peachy giving the kids some kinda smackdown

[Terminus Est]

Originally Posted by wolfman

My first thought was that there would be no reason for a wild birds to lay unfertilized eggs, so they were going to be in for a surprise when they cracked open their eggs, but I don't know enough to be sure. Was that something we contrived from the species, or does it ever naturally happen. Do wild birds ever lay nice yolky eggs? Or would they have deffinately had a chewy little blob of psuedo-bones and fuzzy-feathers?

Dolly said in the Early Show this morning that the eggs were indeed fertilized and the embryos had developed sufficiently that little chicks had formed. Two women (Twyla and Scout?) ate them anyway.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Terminus Est

Dolly said in the Early Show this morning that the eggs were indeed fertilized and the embryos had developed sufficiently that little chicks had formed. Two women (Twyla and Scout?) ate them anyway.

Yeah, the two women who have shown that they actually know the show is called "Survivor", not "Luxury Island Resort".

[ThatGuy]

As a long time survivor fan i am dissapointed in my shallowness, Dolly certainly deserved to get the boot with her constant and open "swing vote" talk, so why was i so sad to see the cutie go? And why did i take comfort in the fact that "We still have Eliza"....Am i really just a typical male?

[Draelin]

I've been feeling a little iffy towards everybody thus far, but the first few weeks of the show are never that interesting to me, until the competition heats up a little. I have to say, though that the look on Mia's (I think it was Mia) face each time a vote for Dolly came up was one of my top ten favorite Survivor moments.

There's gonna be backlash on this one. Screaming, scratching, clawing, catfight backlash. And I'm so excited to see it.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Draelin

I've been feeling a little iffy towards everybody thus far, but the first few weeks of the show are never that interesting to me, until the competition heats up a little. I have to say, though that the look on Mia's (I think it was Mia) face each time a vote for Dolly came up was one of my top ten favorite Survivor moments.

There's gonna be backlash on this one. Screaming, scratching, clawing, catfight backlash. And I'm so excited to see it.

Mia's the one that has that weird alien feline look, sort of like Penny in Survivor: Thailand, right?

[Ethilrist]

Originally Posted by Liberal

The men were sunk from the conception of the challenge: they're too top-heavy.

Have you taken a close look at these ladies this season? If this were live-action Macho Women with Guns, most of them would be at serious penalties firing downhill.

Originally Posted by Frostillicus

Did anyone notice that in next week's preview, Jeff announces that each team is going to vote someone off at tribal council. He seems kind of PO'ed when he said it, as if the teams did something underhanded in the immunity challenge and this was his way of punishing them. Or maybe I have no idea what I am talking about.

I'm guessing that it's not planned; either both teams failed to accomplish the challenge (like in All-stars, when most of the players failed to get fires lit when they had MATCHES), or they both got disqualified (like Scout almost did last night by telling the girls to take off their blindfolds before all the pieces were in), or a combo.

[Liberal]

Originally Posted by Debaser

The immunity challenge was the most unfair that Survivor has even done. The men had no chance of winning. They could re-do the challenge a hundred times and they wouldn't win. Next week's challenge should be an arm wrestling tournament, that would be about as fair to the women as this was to the men.

I think you meant the reward challenge, not the immunity challenge. But yeah, now that they've done the balance beam, they should do the rings.

[jsc1953]

Ditto on the men's strategy - it is way too early to be talking about who's a threat. You need strong people, to beat the other team. Duh.

The women don't seem to be thinking much more clearly. Scout appears to be dead weight.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Dolly safely in a block of 5 at one point? Until she started running her mouth?

So much for the power of Pinky-Swear.

It should've been Eliza, because she has no fat whatsoever to get her through the lean times. Silicone doesn't count. (how many of these 9 have had boob jobs, anyway? 5? 6?)

[Tangent]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

As a long time survivor fan i am dissapointed in my shallowness, Dolly certainly deserved to get the boot with her constant and open "swing vote" talk, so why was i so sad to see the cutie go? And why did i take comfort in the fact that "We still have Eliza"....Am i really just a typical male?

Revel in it, brother!

[Slacker]

Originally Posted by Smeghead

Ah, well. I decided to tranfser my lust...er...affection to Eliza with her huge dark innocent-looking eyes.

Eew. She looks like a small canine to me. I keep expecting her to reveal in a confessional that she queiros some Taco Bell.

[Jadis]

Originally Posted by Ethilrist

I'm guessing that it's not planned; either both teams failed to accomplish the challenge (like in All-stars, when most of the players failed to get fires lit when they had MATCHES), or they both got disqualified (like Scout almost did last night by telling the girls to take off their blindfolds before all the pieces were in), or a combo.

Actually, I'm betting that it is a planned dual-elimination. This season started with 18 players, as opposed to every other season (with the exception of All-Stars) starting with 16...yet in the opening montage, Jeff Probst still said that the length of play time would be the standard 39 days. In order to acheive getting down to the right number of people in 39 days, they have to find ways to eliminate 2 additional people in that period, so my guess is that next week's boot of 1 person from each tribe is part of the plan.

[Mullinator]

Originally Posted by Slacker

Eew. She looks like a small canine to me. I keep expecting her to reveal in a confessional that she queiros some Taco Bell.

I keep thinking she has either sprung to life off of a velvet canvas drawn on by a Mexican painter or she has stepped out of some grandma's Hummel figurine shelf.

[rockle]

Originally Posted by jsc1953

Silicone doesn't count. (how many of these 9 have had boob jobs, anyway? 5? 6?)

Enough so that even my husband, who is normally a fan of the implant, said to me, "Damn, they don't have 'real' women except the old ones, do they?"

[middleman]

LOL. Mia's look WAS great. She would have fit in great with the loser young kids from Survivor Africa!

I was so glad Leann didn't get voted off. Talk about a STUNNING woman. She and Ami both have such elegant good looks. Kind of a classic beauty (especially when Ami puts the biblical turben wrap).

But looking over the list of players, who the hell is Lisa ?

I can't say I know one thing about her. Has she been even on camera in the background shots?

People who look like they could win:
Ami- Very serene, but she seems good at playing the game.
Brady- Somewhat absent from this episode but has the everyone's buddy thing.
Sarge- A drill sargent who only acts like one when it benefits the team.

People who have no chance:
Eliza- What member of that alliance does not fit in?
Mia- Editing indicates she was the leader.
Julie- She'll go right after Mia.
John K.- He seems to be part of the "young survivors" that Sarge wants gone.
Travis- Never be too honest. It didn't help Lex.
John P.- Seemed kind of nutty in his conforntation with Travis.
Rory- Not doing too well for yourself, Rory.
Twila- Too rough to get the prize. A good strength player, no savvy.
Chris- Should have gone the first week.

Wild Cards:

Chad- I think the leg issue will work against him (they focused on him on the beam), but he has other positives.
Lisa- I don't know who she is.
Scout- The votes go the right way, she can coast to the finals. If she doesn't lose early, she will last a long time.
Leann- I don't think there was any real reason she got votes, but I'll need more info.

[Munch]

Once again, I like my strategy of not watching the first episode. Too much intro bullshit, lots of bad first impressions that CBS tries to push, etc. Now, my preferences in order of importance:

Appearances
Gotta say that with Dolly gone, Ami takes over as island hottie. Yes, yes, Eliza is extremely cute. But Ami wins. Julie is a very close 3rd - fantastic pictures of her on the website. Leann - doesn't have kids, but is a MILF in every other sense of the word. Things go downhill from there.

Competition
Once again, the men are going to suck it, because they insist on playing alpha-dog in camp. They won last night because Sarge is a fantastic leader - which means he'll be the next one off the island. Stupid, stupid men. Anyone going on Survivor in the near future and have a penis? Play the weakling who'll vote for anyone and occassionally screws up a physical challenge, then go into the merge and recruit the older women. I guarantee you a final four finish. Unless you can win immunity the last 2 weeks of the show, you're getting voted off if you're a strong male.

Staying Power
It's too early to make any valid assessment of tribal politics. Last night's coup was brilliant, but once again, Burnett fails to show us the most interesting aspect of the game - behind the scenes of backstabbing.

[levdrakon]

I agree next week's reward challenge should involve lots of push-ups and chest hair counting.

What was amusing was last season's drama over one of the contestant's allegedly rubbing his genitals against another player, and her being all victimized and humiliated, etc. Then this season they have a challenge specifically designed to make everyone rub their genitals on each other. Or it's ok when it's same sex genital rubbing? I guess not though, since Jeff had to point out two of the guys were hugging too long. Jerk.

I wasn't thrilled with the exit speech. If she wasn't cut out for the show, why go on it?

[Ethilrist]

It's okayer this time because (a) same sex contact, and only two that we know of go for that kind of thing, (b) they were told ahead of time that it would happen (not that they could get out of it, but at least they were told), and (c) none of them seemed to be naked at the time.

watsonwil--Lisa is one of the afore-mentioned top-heavy ladies. Perhaps the top-heaviest... which is why it's difficult to recognize her face...

[BiblioCat]

Originally Posted by jayjay

What IS it with the young folks every season who just GOGGLE at how HARD it is on the island, what with no running water or reliably dry shelter or central heating or gas piped in. Did they sign up without having once SEEN this show?! Sheesh!

Amazing, isn't it? Every time....
"It's cold! I can't sleep! I'm thirsty! I'm hungry!"

[Ethilrist]

I busted out laughing at the beginning of the episode when they showed the guys looking down at their empty firepit. They had obviously not been seriously trying to start a fire, and they were staring at it like, "Dude, maybe if we all think really hot thoughts, the stones will burst into flame!"

[Liberal]

Originally Posted by Levdrakon

I wasn't thrilled with the exit speech. If she wasn't cut out for the show, why go on it?

Gah. It makes you just want to slap people. I suppose they imagine that a lack of fire and water will be a mere inconvenience.

[Legolamb]

Originally Posted by Ethilrist

watsonwil--Lisa is one of the afore-mentioned top-heavy ladies. Perhaps the top-heaviest... which is why it's difficult to recognize her face...

Lisa's the one that was lifted up to cut down the bananas. Her boob job didn't look so hot from that angle.

[rockle]

Originally Posted by Legolamb

Lisa's the one that was lifted up to cut down the bananas. Her boob job didn't look so hot from that angle.

Quoth my husband: "What, did they put those in sideways or something? Was she going for the armpit-implant look? Ugh, so unattractive."

Sometimes I love my husband.

[Ethilrist]

Oh, see, I was too worried that she was going to drop a machete on somebody to watch her boobs. I should have known not to worry because they didn't give us the "This episode contains scenes of, well, gory stuff, so you might want to tape it" disclaimer at the beginning.

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by Liberal

Gah. It makes you just want to slap people. I suppose they imagine that a lack of fire and water will be a mere inconvenience.

And it's not just the physical inconveniences. When they say they're just too sweet and honest and innocent and trusting, and just don't know how to scheme and backstab.

Did someone tell you this was the Miss America pageant?

[jsc1953]

Originally Posted by Ethilrist

I busted out laughing at the beginning of the episode when they showed the guys looking down at their empty firepit. They had obviously not been seriously trying to start a fire, and they were staring at it like, "Dude, maybe if we all think really hot thoughts, the stones will burst into flame!"

OK, they've been there 5 days without fire. Odd that they haven't shown a single shot of the men eating or drinking. Either they're drinking unboiled water & eating raw food, or there is some jiggery-pokery going on with the "no food" thing.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by jsc1953

OK, they've been there 5 days without fire. Odd that they haven't shown a single shot of the men eating or drinking. Either they're drinking unboiled water & eating raw food, or there is some jiggery-pokery going on with the "no food" thing.

They're going all hakuna-matata and eating bugs and worms, from what they showed last night. Water, on the other hand, I don't know.