I think a lot is going to depend on how JT responds to Stephen’s betrayal: if the two of them stay together I figure that JT’s a shoe-in for the final, but if Stephen gets voted out first, I think taj-erinn would turn on JT in an instant.
I was really pissed the Taj didn’t give the Idol to Erinn. They had to know there was a chance that idiot had fooled Stephen and JT with his Warrior alliance bullshit.
Oh, and in Probst’s blog he’s already assuring us that Coach is a shoe-in for the next All Stars. They’ve already rammed Rupert down our throats twice - please don’t make us watch Coach again!
(although I can’t wait to hear his Final TC. My eyes are going to be rolling around like a snapped shade during his segment.)
I think there’s a good possibility that Stephen didn’t betray JT at all. They heavily edited any talk of who was voting for who. I’m betting that JT said he couldn’t in good conscience vote for Coach (wisely ensuring Coach’s jury vote), but that Stephen didn’t have the same promise and could/should vote for him, still ensuring that Coach would go. I don’t think Stephen made the move without JT’s knowledge and likely, “permission”.
That would be awesome. Seriously, I would so watch that.
You’re totally missing the flavor of the season when you do that. You just have to wallow in the Coachness of Coach.
BTW – was I the only one who started Laughing Out Loud at the end of the IC, right before he dropped? With the poem, OTOH, I laughed when he told Jeff “no – no vote yet – I have a poem,” but couldn’t get past my incredulity at the banality of it to actually laugh at it.
- It’s shoo-in, not shoe-in. [sorry, pet peeve]
- I don’t think it was a betrayal – I’d respond at more length, but Salem already nailed it. This is one of the tightest (and most effective) alliances we’ve seen in a long time.
JT seems to have a very good understanding of the game. He will lose only through bad luck. Like an immunity challenge that favors women, which they tend to have at the very end. (Involving balance, and things that favor people with lower centers of gravity, etc.) I believe that if he makes it to the final two, he wins.
I don’t think it was betrayal either. I just can’t imagine Stephan having the balls to betray JT.
Not only that, but there seems to be a genuine friendship there.
I really enjoyed tonight’s show, even with all the Coach banter. He is finally gone, so at least that is something.
Did anyone else find his “falling” after losing immunity contrived? I notice only the contestants went to assist him, Jeff didn’t even come over.
I guess I could go either way on whether or not Stephen “betrayed” JT. We certainly weren’t shown anything to make us think it was anything other than him going against JT. And JT seemed at least a little surprised at the TC.
Surely Stephen knows he can’t beat JT in a final two. So, he has to get him out at 4 (since the final three challenge is almost always endurance and he can’t reasonably expect to win that). To get JT off at 4 he needs two others that would be willing to vote with him - Coach would not do that, Erinn will. So, if Stephen is actually trying to win and not come in second then voting out Coach here (even behind JT’s back) is probably the right move. Now he just needs someone other than JT to win the next challenge - if it’s at all mental or puzzle-based that’s a pretty good bet (better than hoping Taj beats JT in a tie-breaker).
However, I’m not entirely convinced Stephen has the balls to do that. Hopefully they will explain whether it truly was a surprise to JT or not early in the finale. I got a strange vibe at their reward that maybe neither one of them is 100% committed to facing the other in the final two.
Taj technically gave the Idol to Stephen, so he had sole control over it.
Also, I hope the final three challenge is pure endurance. As in, stand in some semi-uncomfortable position for as long as you can. No balancing, or having to hold yourself up, or anything. It’s a great equalizer because it all depends on willpower. And we get some scheming.
There is a big difference that will make it 100% more watchable. Probst (and the show) loved Rupert and highlighted him as the best person ever while consistently ramming him down our throats. Jeff (and the show) clearly know and understand Coach is a complete tool that exists only to mock and they will continue to do so relentlessly. Revel in the mockery, and the mockery shall set you free.
Oh no, about half the time it hasn’t been used. It was used 3 times, successfully, once to try to save someone who was not going to be voted off anyway, and not used 3 times. Once (James) was voted out with both idols in his pocket!!
Oh, I know plenty have gone wasted, but it seems like each each season someone at least plays one, even if it’s fake.
“It’s a fucking stick!” – one of the best Survivor moments ever.
I would bet a lot of money that JT knew full well that Stephen was going to vote for Coach.
And by the same token, I don’t take it as a given that Stephen “knows” he can’t beat JT in a final two. I don’t see at as a total given, either. Stephen has played a great stealth game, but he can rightly claim to not be a coat-tailer. And other than Coach, has he ever directly betrayed anyone that’s on the jury? I think he’s in a good position to say that he’s played a good strategic game as well as a good social game. Yes, JT can say the same, but it’s just not clear to me that JT is such a shoo-in.
But why would Stephen go for that (other than just blindly doing whatever JT told him)? It makes it much more likely that Coach’s vote will go to JT over Stephen. I’m willing to believe that it was planned but I’ll be way more impressed with Stephen if he did it on his own.
I’m basing it on a few things. The challenge where they were quizzed about the other contestants almost every “positive” question went to JT. The physically strong player almost always wins over the quiet scheming type. Everybody has consistently said they like JT and based on past juries we know that they often vote for the “leader” of the other alliance but rarely for his “sidekick”.
I just don’t see how Stephen wins over JT in a final two based on what we’ve seen, and I suspect that Stephen feels the same way.
And, in a related point, JT must know that there is no way he loses to Taj or Erinn, so why not boot Stephen as soon as he can? And Taj/Erinn hopefully are self-aware enough to realize they probably can’t beat either of the guys so they should both vote for whichever one doesn’t win immunity and pray one of them wins the final-three challenge (which if it’s balance might be doable for Erinn).
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the gloves come off on Sunday. If not, it will be a pretty dull finale… at least until Coach and Tyson start talking.
I have to agree with you in somewhat here, if it was me I wouldn’t know who to vote for in a final b/t JT and Stephen, but I think that comes from our perspective as viewers. So far just about everyone on the jury is in love with JT and feel that he can do no wrong. IMHO, he is trying to make himself look as sweet, dumb and hick-ish as possible to Timbera to gain all their votes in the Finals. In reality, JT is smart, cunning and is playing one hell of a game.
I also think that JT knew that Stephen was going to vote Coach. He voted Erinn to get Coach’s vote at Finals, knowing that Coach would go home.
If Taj and Erinn get smart, they will vote off JT and Stephen and go to the finals together. I doubt that is going to happen, though. I would love to see the vote tally for that combo.
If Stephen or JT gets in the finals with either girl, they should win handily. With the two men in the finals, I am thinking maybe only Taj and Erinn will vote for Stephen, the rest are all solidly JT.
Have any of you watched the Ponderosa videos of Coach yet? Absolutely hilarious. Please take special notice that medical didn’t check out his back. It must have healed due to his special magical warrior qualities once he was voted off.
Nah, he was just happy to see you.
Mutant healing factor. He told the story about being recruited by a bald guy in a wheelchair in episode 3.
I don’t think so that much. They were up there for over an hour, IIRC. I can’t sit in my office chair for over an hour without painful muscle cramps. Coach is a lunatic, but his willpower in that challenge impressed me.