It really seemed to me that he was baiting him. Yes, he’s acted like that before; but he seemed to be deliberately winding Brandon up. Did he have a plan, or was it just him being a jerk and establishing dominance? I don’t know. But it looked deliberate to me.
That’s because of the Brandon Show.
With him gone, look for seeing many of the others finally getting some air time.
BTW, have you noticed that not only have all the challenges been purely physical, they’ve almost all come down to throwing things. Coconuts, bags of sand, hoops, whatever.
Why can’t they mix it up? Have a throwing challenge, then a puzzle one, then a run through a maze, then an endurance one?
I can’t help but feel they are catering to Probst’s acknowledged preference for the ‘men’s strategy’ way of playing the game, but even if they are trying to showcase strong young males in an effort to boost the young male part of the audience, can’t they see the drawback? If the challenges all require physical strength to excel, the less strong players are likely to be voted out first.
And the ‘less physically strong’ players tend to include all the cute young girls.
And having lots of cute young girls running around in bikinis and underwear should be a definite draw for increasing your young male audience proportion.
I’m actually really enjoying Phillip’s play this time around. Yeah, he still comes off as delusional, and the Stealth R Us thing is really dumb, but it almost seems like a master plan. It’s certainly possible it’s all dumb luck and he has no master plan (I’m still unsure as to whether he actually buys into the names he gives for his Stealth R Us group, or if he does it just to try and manipulate people), but at least it seems to work. I give everyone who had to appear on Boston Rob’s last season some extra credit simply because of how much having him changed the game - in retrospect, Phillip’s plan of “ride Rob’s coattails and be just annoying enough he wants to keep me” worked to get him into the final 3, he just couldn’t find a way to win the jury vote. So in some respects it seems like Phillip actually has a plan this time around and he’s doing a good job so far of executing it. He’s already taken out the two targets he’s wanted to (Francesca and Brandon). On top of that he’s also dominated the challenges (though as StarvingButStrong points out, they have played to his strengths as well).
Or he might just be crazy. Entirely possible.
are you talking about his general strategy outside of the meltdowns? because he promptly ran during the first rice throwing tantrum, and he kept quiet during the immunity challenge until Probst prompted him. he then immediately quieted down when Brandon started swearing after his kids got mentioned. i don’t see that as baiting him rather than a general wish to keep cool and avoid a fight.
it’s really saying something when a crazy recognises a bigger crazy. or it could be the editing.
No, I’m talking about the impromptu TC. Though now that you mention it, I’ll address where he walks away. Philip wants to be Tommy Lee Jones as Agent Kay. Granted, it’s a poor imitation. Philip isn’t as cool or smart as Agent K. But he does know how to manipulate certain kinds of people. That everyone in the game sees through him either shows they’re not as dumb as they often (usually) act, or that the people he’s used to manipulating do not rise to the level of even Survivor contestants. Personally, I find it insulting when someone tries to manipulate me as Philip tries to manipulate the other players. I had a roommate that tried that sort of thing all the time; even when I told him exactly what he was doing, and ‘Dude, do you really think I’m that stupid?’ Nevertheless, Philip uses techniques that are effective with certain people.
Philip did not want to get into a physical altercation with Brandon. For all his bluster, I don’t think he’d come out ahead against a crazy person who probably gets into fights all the time. Furthermore, fighting does not fit his persona. A True Secret Agent uses psychology. By walking away, he avoids a fight he would probably lose and he makes it very clear to everyone who the ‘reasonable’ person is. And he avoids being booted from the game for fighting (which I believe is a rule). I think that you are correct that during that altercation he was not baiting Brandon, but just didn’t want to get his ass kicked.
At the ITC, he was quite content to let Brandon rave. When Probst prompted him, it seemed to me that Philip knew what would wind Brandon up, and knew that he was safe from physical assault. To the SO and me, it did look as if Philip was baiting Brandon. As for being quiet, it is an excellent technique to use when you want to piss off someone who is out of control. Brandon wanted Philip to respond, and Philip was denying him that pleasure. By not responding, or when he did, by responding in the way he did, Philip prompted Brandon to become even more vocal; at the same time showing everyone and the viewers how ‘reasonable’ he is.
Do I think this is part of his overall strategy? FFA? Philip buys into his own persona. Nobody else does. He thinks (or appears to think) that his clumsy psychological tactics are working. His strategy is to manipulate the other players with his Amazing Psychological Talents™. It ain’t working. But he does seem to have grasped Brandon’s vulnerability, and at the ITC he used the ‘silent treatment’ and ‘pressing specific buttons’ when he did speak to achieve the desired outcome. Brandon was out in any case. Philip stayed quiet until he needed to speak, and then he said exactly the things that would wind Brandon up even more. I still say he was deliberately trolling.
Brandon was right about one thing, “Philip you’re a Bitch!”
I realized something last night that is pretty obvious from the last few seasons.
There is no advantage in having women on your team!
How many challenges rely on balancing yourself (women have a lower center of gravity) or take advantage of their lower weight (“Pull up your team member . . .”)
I would also require that teams cannot sit someone out a second time until everyone has sat out once. Therefore sitting someone out is strategic and not always the worst athletic person.
i see what you’re saying Johnny L.A., especially when he had gathered his composure enough to feign ignorance and take a stab at Brandon’s kids. i’m just not sure that that is part of his overall strategy rather than an instinctual tit-for-tat people do during arguments.
But he didnt take a stab at his kids! That’s what made his explosion even worse. Sure, it might have been a wind up still just mentioning them but Philip said something to the effect of “I bet you’re a jerk with your aunt that’s helping out with your kids while you’re gone”. He didn’t say anything like “your kids suck”.
i think you’re right, i mis-remembered that part. is Brandon truly delusional or was it some sort of face-saving gesture to cover him wanting to quit the game?
Finally saw the episode. Total train wreck. Next reality show: “Hanging with the Hanzes.” It’ll be shown right after “Swamp People.”
Is it time to mix up the teams yet?
I think that’ll happen this Wednesday.
Just as I was reading this, a five-second promo on CBS, with Jeff saying “It’s time to switch up tribes.”
Some news story said that there’s a random mixup and the resulting tribes have a big strength mixmatch.
I remember the one time they used that… it was brutal. Both tribes still had tiny, little women. And, given that the fans had just voted out the tiniest member of their tribe, I was kind of hoping they were going there again, because that would be hilarious. Granted, the Favorites don’t have any dainty women either, so it would have balanced out, but still…