Rob makes me laugh- unlike many people, he sees through Rupert’s act, just like we did for the last 3 weeks of the last survivor.
Rob is however, making too much of a target out of himself, and that more then anything else will haunt him.
Lex made a stupid move cutting all the althetic talent off his team- they are now getting killed at challenges and when they merge he is the first gone. His only hope is the Burnett has never let one team just get wiped out, he always starts rigging the difficulty of the contests or throws a player swap in. That sucks though- I want to see “all business” Lex get dumped on the first post-merge vote. Kathy made a poor decision voting for Ethan- she could have controlled the tribe with Ethan and Shii Ann under her sway by voting out Jerry, but she just couldn’t see it.
Shii Ann played a good RC game this week, and Alicia played horribly- twice. Go figure.
Now that Ethan is gone (sigh), I guess my preferred winner is Mr. Chicken Dance himself- big Tom. All the fun of Rupert without the barely repressed issues flaring out of control everytime something goes wrong.
Rob might be the one to go to the tribe of idiots, not Amber. In fact, I am almost certain of it. That’s how the teaser clip two step works on Survivor.
Ethan’s big mistake last night was going to Kathy with the plan of voting for Jerri. Instead he should have made the case for Lex. The women would have seen the wisdom in that; Lex was a good one to oust for all the reasons Ethan was, plus the fact that he’s treacherous. And a Lex-plan could have included Jerri.
With Ethan gone, who’s the remaining player with the best original track record? I know Tom was Final Four in Africa; did anyone else do as well or better?
Yeah! I loved it! I’m not going to be too hard on Lex, as I do admire him for telling Ethan that he was going to be voted off. As a friend, I think this was a good move. While I can see Ethan’s point that keeping him on for F2 would almost guarantee a win; that does increase Lex’s chances of **not ** being in F2. On the whole, I think it was a good move on Lex’s part. Now, on Cathy’s part, I also think it was a good move, not to exert her power just yet. She’s had two encounters with the other tribe, and is building her influence. There is no need to start showing her muscle just yet.
Meanwhile, at Chapera, despite the fact that he is an arrogant s.o.b.; Rob is just the most delicious eye candy to me and I don’t want him to go for awhile! I think that the more cutesy cutesy he and Amber get, the larger a target they draw on themselves as it will just annoy the others in the tribe who aren’t getting any cuddles. If there isn’t some sort of switch up, splitting them up, they will both go quickly. Split them up, and they become stronger because I think it is an alliance that will stick.
Rupert is not being protrayed as mightily at he was in Pearl Islands, but if he can hold out until he somehow gets to a tribe with Cathy and ShiiAnn, I think he can build an alliance with them. Just my two cents.
Anybody else getting the impression that next week’s little “teaser” isn’t going to be the long-anticipated merge?
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it turns out that…
…the contestants have to draw lots, and are assigned into two completely different teams. It would also explain the little confessional admission from Amber that “I’m the one that got screwed.”
Lex was F3 in Africa - he might have won the whole thing, but “Mama Kat” won the final IC and she sent Lex home because the night before, he was sick (with diarrhea, I think). Kathy was F3 in Marquesas - those “Christian” gals V and Neleh stuck it to Kathy together.
Wish I could understand the “logic” of what Lex is doing - I’d have kept Ethan around for as long as possible, just to guarantee myself an extra couple of days. (Of course, I am also desperately in love with Ethan and want to have his babies, so in all honesty I’d actually want to keep him around as long as possible for other more “nefarious” reasons.)
Boston Rob is working my last nerve. I used to love him, but now I just wonder how it is possible for him to walk around with that enormous chip on his shoulder. And shut up about friggin’ Amber! Fool is getting played, and he can’t even see it. All he has to do is keep running his mouth off, and he’ll end up choking, just like his (and my) beloved Red Sox.
I am a huge Rupert fan, but I am also pulling for Big Tom this time around. He might be annoying to live with, but I like the way they show him playing the game. Slow and steady wins the race. And damn if his dancing isn’t the funniest thing on TV right now.
I thought I heard Kathy say something about not feeling comfortable going after Lex this time around, so maybe Ethan did put Lex forward as a possibility. Since Kathy wouldn’t go for that, Jerri is the next best choice, since she doesn’t seem liked by anyone other than Lex.
Has anyone else watched the videos on the CBS Survivor website, the “Insider” extras? There’s some interesting stuff there. I’ll spoiler this, just in case you don’t want to see the extra stuff.
[spoiler]They have one video (the one titled “Sore Loser”) that shows the rest of the tribe really bashing Alicia and indicating that her time is limited, and then another showing Tom and Rupert going off and bonding.
I think that throws a whole different light on the way the tribe might vote if they go to TC. Alicia could certainly be the next one off, or Tom and Rupert might split from Rob and Amber with a new alliance.
Also on the website, they have previews that seem to indicate that next week will be a highlight episode rather than new stuff. [/spoiler]
So Rob has achieved his dream of becoming Puppetmaster. Yay.
But his dealings with Rupert just show that he doesn’t know how to wield power. He could’ve let Rupert feel good about himself, catching fish, and keep him as a potential ally; but instead, Rob had to assert his alpha-male dominance, and made an enemy out of Rupert.
The trick is to wield power without overtly appearing to wield power, and Rob doesn’t know how to do that. He’d rather engage in marking-my-territory pissing contests.
Y’know, I thought Lex did the right thing in voting off Colby–Colby was a loose cannon who didn’t get along with the rest of the tribe and challenged Lex for dominance. By getting rid of Colby, Lex put both Jerri and Shii Ann in his pocket. That seems like a worthwhile tradeoff
But voting off Ethan was just dumb. Ethan’s not much of a long term threat–he’s got that great big target on his chest, and he’s been seriously underperforming in challenges all season. And Ethan had a personal loyalty to Lex. It would have made far more sense to carry Ethan along for a while, then throw him to the wolves after the merge. (Meanwhile, Lex could have gotten rid of self-proclaimed schemer Shii Ann, whose loyalty is, by her own admission, always in question.)
Meanwhile, the alpha males over at Chapera got distracted by a completely self-destructive pissing contest. Both Rob and Rupert got foolishly carried away by the fishing, falling into the trap of believing that every fish they caught actually improved their chances of winning.
Rupert made the mistake of showing off, not to the betas of the tribe, but to the other alpha male: Rob correctly viewed that as a threat. Rob made the mistake of making the target on his back even bigger: he humiliated one of his alleged alliance-mates (whose vote he might need later on), while at the same reminding everyone in the tribe that he can physically outperform any of them. Given that Rob has completely dominated the challenges and has a, um, tight alliance with Amber, his own tribemates would be insane not to vote him off immediately after the merge.
The end result is that Rupert looks bad, which slightly reduces his chance of winning. Rob looks good … which, given his domination of the tribe, reduces his chance of winning even more! Being the dominant male of the pack isn’t necessarily an advantage in a pack run by democracy and with a million dollars at stake.
I missed a little dialogue immediately after the immunity challenge.
Jeff said something to Jerri about stepping up to perform.
And (IIRC) she said it didn’t work out and she felt bad.
Then Jeff said something I completely missed, cause my son was bragging over how much better he would have done at the archery.
And Jerri kinda snapped back saying something like, “We know what THAT is.”
Can anyone help me out here?
Despite her buff bod, Alicia sure is sitting out a bunch of physical challenges - and not doing too great in the ones she competes in.
Not sure what Lex thinks he’s doing right now. Don’t see him, Jerri, and Si-Ann being a powerful alliance.
I’m inclined to agree, but man-oh-man was I glad to see him put the unbearable sob-sister Rupert in his place. And Rupe calling Rob arrogant! Pot, meet kettle (but at least Rob’s proven himself enough to back it up; Rupe’s all bluster and big words). Seeing him get all mopey after the city boy caught 11 fish was hilarious. I just do not get the love for this burly, inept narcissist. Go Rob & Amber!(especially since Lex’s days are unfortunately numbered, I think)
Well, she sit out the bow & arrow because, I think, they knew she’d be of better use in a strength/speed challenge where she does just fine. Balance, of course, is another matter…
They should have let Ethan do the archery. He kicked arse in it in Africa. It doesn’t really matter if you have previous archery experience or not, the equipment they use is always so crappy. In fact it’s probably a hindrance as you try to use the bow like it was actually decent. IIRC Ethan turned the bow so it was parallel with the ground and managed to hit all sorts of stuff that way.
Whatever her faults, Alicia isn’t useless physically and she’s certainly no Osten. In the Outback they had an endurance challenge where you had to stand on a pole until you can’t stands no more, and she won it, lasting many, many hours, even though she didn’t (from a political point of view) have to.
Oh, and I thought Jenna was very nice to present the other tribe a toothbrush and soap when she went to take the 3 items they won in the reward challenge. She’s the one who wanted to just split the stuff after Sue walked off, but everyone else wanted to play on. I don’t know if this is just a part of her personality (I think it is) or it’s a deliberate strategy, but when you compare it to the ruthlessness of Marquesas where Sondra just went and practically tore down the other team’s shelter to get to the tarp…
Of course, Sondra went on to win so what do I know? I just thought it was a nice thing to do. Much like Colby bringing back the food after his reward challenge.
