Do you really think the producers/judges wouldn’t bend over backwards to try to steer things even the slightest bit towards the weaker tribe to make things just a bit more interesting in the middle of a pagong? If touching your feet with your hands was against the rules, those girls would have been eliminated before you* could spit. Every single time in a challenge where they have to transition, they make it clear what’s okay and what’s not okay - they just don’t necessarily tell the audience. Because it’s obvious.
Slight hijack: I’m relatively new to watching Survivor. I understand the premise, I’ve seen clips of previous seasons here and there.
One thing I want to know, though – are things always that slow between challenges? I mean people lazing around, not saying much…for some reason I thought Survivor’s premise is based more on personal interaction than anything else.
I disagree. He said you could only use your legs and that no other body part could touch the structure. Touching your feet is not touching the structure.
For them? Yeah, it’s really boring between challenges and when little strategy is going on. For us? No, it’s usually more interesting. It seemed dull this time because there was no hope of anyone going home except for the people who did. Rob’s alliance is too strong for anything to break it up.
This season is slightly unusual. Having a tribe that’s down on numbers at the merge isn’t unusual, and neither is that tribe getting thrown out right down the line (this is called “pagonging”, after the name of the tribe on the very first Survivor season that it happened to). What IS unusual is that the larger tribe is, with Rob’s influence, essentially shutting the smaller tribe out of everything. Usually, at a merge, the tribes actually…well, merge, socially if not survivor-politically. Usually, they’ll sleep in the same shelter, share cooking and water-gathering and food-gathering duties, actually TALK to each other about camp stuff instead of just game talk, etc. This is probably one of the most socially-segregated merged tribes I’ve seen. Rob’s group doesn’t HAVE to peel off someone from the other group to get numbers, so they’re not even trying, and they’re shutting down every attempt by that other group to talk strategy and get someone to flip.
So yeah, it’s kind of boring, but it’s not usually this boring at this point in the game.
ETA: And the situation may have been exacerbated by the producers not having a tribal shake-up two or three eps before the merge, which they sometimes do. The shake-up does strange things to alliances because you’re spending a week apart from most of your allies and actually getting to know people from the other tribe.
The only play I can see now is for the former Zapatara tribe is to somehow turn Grant. He’s the weakest link as he must know he’s first on the chop block when it comes to only Ometepe left. Grant will have to convince his allies that the other guys found an idol to force vote splitting, then vote with Zapatara to blindside Rob. It’s their only chance.
Watching Rob this season is like a master class. Which I suppose it is. The guy is probably the most experienced reality TV person bar Probst and Burnett. But do you all think he’s:
Brilliant?
Studious?
Coached?
I know the edit has been very favourable to him this season, but damn! The guy says what he wants to happen, what is going to happen, and then it happens. Seems a little scripted. In fact it seems more than a little scripted. My 13yo pointed out that it sounded like he was reading in one of his first confessionals of the season.
Keep in mind that what we’re seeing has been edited down from hours of tape AFTER the knew the end result. It doesn’t need to be scripted to tell a specific story.
They do confessionals with each survivor at least a couple of times every day and yet we’re seeing mostly Rob. The Amazing Editors take all the raw material and craft a story that they hope will engage us. They aren’t impacting what happened on the island but they are definitely scripting what we see.
I don’t think Grant has a clue. As far as he’s concerned, he’s Rob’s best friend. He was the HII clue collaborator with Rob, he’s Rob’s buddy during buddy system mode, etc.
he is, the script based on having played this game over more seasons and more days than anyone else… basically, he is writing the script on how to play this game…
Rob’s a pretty smart & clever guy. I don’t think he’s reading off a script, but I think he knows what the producers want out of a confessional, plans it out ahead of time, and probably does a few takes. If you watched him when he was on Amazing Race, he was definitely good at thinking up stuff to say to the camera on the fly - no writers following the teams around as they ran through airports & cities.
Of course, if it turns out there are 6 writers just off screen feeding him lines, my worldview won’t be shattered.
Same coin different side. For me it’s like watching a pro play with amateurs. You ever try to play pickup basketball with someone who is several levels better than you? There is no way for you to stop him. He’s got all the moves. You are no challenge for him. His team just gives him the ball and sits back and watches. Your team tries to bump him, just to get him to take a break. But you can’t even touch him, he’s just too fast.
So yes, it’s boring to watch, but I can’t wait to watch the Omas start eating each other, and hoping they’ll leave one Zap around to giggle.
He didn’t say anything at all about “the structure.”
He just said “legs only.” Three times.
Because of their lighter weight, women already have enough of an advantage in hanging or balancing challenges without letting them steal an extra edge.
So? Let me ask you this - if flapping their arms like a bird helped them gain an advantage, do you think that would be “cheating” as well? No - it was clearly implied that “legs only” meant “in contact with the structure”. It’s absolutely absurd to suggest otherwise.
Seriously. I had no trouble with the implication that “legs only” meant “you can only hang from your legs”, as opposed to the first part where you hung from hands and legs. What you do with your hands in the 2nd part is irrelevant.
I still think Rob is ultimately in trouble. Maybe not until after the last 3 are gone, but certainly then. He has an idol for one attempt at his head, but after that he better win some challenges. There is no chance that enough of his tribe actually want him there at the final TC (especially if Matt comes back).
Ultimately Rob will make a move on Grant, or Grant will make a move on Rob. I could easily see that happening in the next two TCs. Once there are only a couple of “others” left it makes sense to use their votes to improve your standing in the 6-man alliance (an opportunity they will jump at after being ostracized for so long).
It might happen, but it would not be the right move. If Rob takes out one of his own, it would open the door for anybody who thinks “maybe I’m next” to align with the remaining Zapateras, which could spell trouble for Rob.
The smart course for everybody in the alliance is to complete the Pagonging before making any big moves. It remains to be seen if they have the patience.
I don’t see Grant making a move. The only ones I see making one is Phillip & Andrea. I don’t really think Phillip could initiate a successful attempt. His timing has been awful, so far. Andrea seems to be cagey, but we haven’t really seen her making any overtures to anyone. Plus, she seems to favor waiting it out to see what happens.
I completely agree that it’s the smart course for Rob to complete the Pagong - that is obviously his first priority. Get to six with the idol secure.
I’m not sure I’m convinced that waiting is the best move for Grant though. Grant is such an obvious threat to (a) win challenges and (b) win the final TC that he really needs to get ahead of the curve and not wait for his head to roll. Rob wouldn’t have much trouble convincing his group to get Grant out first, I don’t think.
That said, Grant hasn’t shown himself to be the smartest kid on the block - does he even know that Rob has the idol? Has he completely stopped looking for it?
RI is still the big wildcard I think. If one of the Zapatera come back, then it probably just keeps going down the Pagong path. But if Matt comes back things might get interesting…