With some exceptions, I thought this episode was a typical pre-tribe-merge situation. Lots of misdirection thrown out about who will get voted off, Big Suspense happens… and the obvious person is voted out. Phew, could’ve been some drama, thank goodness that was averted.
On the other hand, Penner leaving was sufficiently tearful, but not all that unexpected. I’d wondered last week if Penner could just forge on with medical checkups, and the British/Aussie medic made it clear: “This is not going to get better.” Okay, that sounds like all she wrote, and Jonathon agreed. Sucks to be him; I didn’t really like the guy much, but it is a shame.
It seems Jason saw through the artifice that the producers threw up in the previews, and somehow knew that stick he found was not the HII. Shame, that.
I like how James and his harem powered through the IC on brawn and enthusiasm. I’d speculated last week that the other tribe losing Joel would hurt in an upcoming challenge. I guess this was that challenge, but somehow I can’t see Joel keeping everyone together like James’ tribe did. Kudos to them.
I was surprised that the IC happened after Penner bit the big one. In previous seasons, if someone left via medical or quitting, the IC was skipped and nobody was nuked that episode except the quitter/medical casualty. Am I wrong?
Yeah, agree that’s how it sounded in the confessional – OTOH, if he *did * figure out it was fake, it’s not like they would have wasted that great bit of tape.
Not wrong, at least, not wrong to the best of my knowledge. In fact, on the first All Stars, they got to the beach to perform the Immunity Challenge, Sue announced she was quitting, and the episode ended very anti-climatically, and we never got to see the obstacle course thingy in action.
On the other hand, Penner left earlier in the episode than often happens for early departures, and in a less traumatic/dramatic manner than some of them have. Especially the guy who fell into the fire.
But it was weird, seeing one guy leave for medical reasons with the understanding that he was only leaving because his leg and maybe his life would be at risk if he didn’t, and then another guy want to be voted off for medical reasons.
As to the other debate, I was really surprised when Jason speculated that Ozzy had already found the idol. I’m not sure whether I think it is more likely that Jason figured out that the Idol he found was not the REAL Idol, or whether he declared that Ozzy had found it in an effort to make Ozzy look like more of a threat who needed to be taken by surprise.
I personally think Chet was inspired by Jonathan. He’s tired. He’s not feeling well. He has a minor abrasion on his foot. Oh, what can I do I’m so tired of this stupid game what was I thinking?!
Bingo! Medical reasons! Of course, asking to be voted out because you have a tiny booboo on your foot looks really goddamn stupid immediately after someone who DIDN’T WANT TO GO was forced out of the game by the threat of major sepsis.
Bruce in Survivor 12 Panama was also a medevac victim, and they didn’t vote anyone out that episode. I’m half convinced he was faking it because he wanted to get away from Courtney though.
I’ll miss Jonathan. He was always good for drama around camp. He must have been in agony at the challenge though - a spreading abscess can’t be any fun.
Chet was bloody useless. The guy was just a Sad Sack. His ever-present hang-dog expression did indeed say, ‘What was I thinking?’ I think his fantasies overpowered any sense of reality he may have had. (Personally I can imagine myself in the game; but I know that with two wrecked knees I wouldn’t stand a chance in the challenges.)
I did notice some redness in his foot. Foot injuries can make it very difficult to function. Maybe he could have ‘toughed it out’, and maybe he could have asked a medic how he could treat it. It might not have become too serious by the end of the game. But I agree that he just wasn’t ‘in the game’ mentally.
And he just wasn’t an interesting character. He didn’t perform well in the challenges, and rather than bring up some drama he just moped around camp. Only his antagonist Joel made Chet remotely interesting. He’s well off the island.
I am a bit relieved to see the romantic stuff has cooled off, although I wonder if that is the editing, or is there trouble in paradise? I think with the separation, only Ozzy stands a chance to make it far in the game. He and Amanda will make it to the merge with a few tribe mates, but they won’t have the numbers to manipulate the other tribe.
We have not been seeing much of Alexis or Natalie, which is a shame. I think James’s Harem will do well the next couple episodes. It’s hard to tell who might be in danger on that tribe, since they keep winning.
finally, I think at TC, Chet tipped off Ozzy about how the tribe feels about him. Ozzy is smart enough to know when to play that idol, so its unlikely he will be blind-sided.
OK, they finally vote off someone who should be voted off. And James is just rocking even more than he did the first time around. That guy is unbelievable. James vs Ozzy at the end would be very interesting indeed!
I can’t see how Jason would think that obviously hand carved stick is the HII.
As much as I want Ozzy to stick around, I am angry at Chet for being such a self-centered moron. Why on earth wouldn’t you use your last act in the game to help your alliance-mate, and then you could quit the show, having finally made a move that amde sense for once? Instead, you completely screw your team for no reason. “Honor?” Like there’s any more honor in petitioning to be voted ot than simply quitting.
What a complete douchebag. Especially his closing comments “They can get rid of Ozzy without me.” No, they can’t, idiot. Not without the numebrs that you just gave up.
Probst seemed to genuinely like Penner, coming out and shaking the man’s hand, and saying something along the lines of “it’s been an honor” as Penner was being loaded onto the ambulance boat. Every other departing tribe member in my memory has gotten indifference or even hostility from Jeff when they’ve decided to leave the game (although Penner had a pretty darned good reason to go).
