That thought crossed my mind as well. It somehow seems like it would violate FCC guidelines – that the producers are changing the rules midstream to force a desired outcome. This is a game show, isn’t it? Wouldn’t that be like changing Jeopardy categories in the middle so the guy you like gets to win?
I sincerely hope something happens next week, though, to keep James around. I think PG & J made a smart move (one could say that they outsmarted Mark Burnett), but I hated the giggling. And Erik…they don’t trust you, or they would’ve clued you in. So don’t trust them.
But the problem with that is they’re not “forcing” anybody. If it works out that way, Fei Long does not have to protect James and if they don’t know they’re protecting James then how can they say they created a desired outcome if the players had no knowledge of what outcome they’d be producing?
Correct me if I’m misremembering, but didn’t Jeff clearly say, more than once, something about “you’re basing your strategy on an assumption” or something to that effect? Again, I may be misremembering, but I don’t think Jeff would say something like that unless he knew that something else was going on. Especially because I know about the editing-schmediting that goes on. I think that Peih-Gee and Jaime might be in for a rude awakening right quick. (Or perhaps that is the “hope” talking. )
Jeff: So I’m judging by the lack of performance at today’s challenge that you’ve decided that you can’t trust Aaron and James and you threw the challenge?
Jaime: Yes sir.
Jeff: So, Peih-Gee, a big assumption you’re making is what?
Peih-Gee: Frosti and Sherea get voted off, and suddenly we merge, guess what? Now, there’s only three original Zhan Hu members, seven Fei Long - hmm, I wonder who the next three to get picked off are going to be.
After the vote, Jeff says, “Well, Jaime, Peih-Gee, Erik - you three are making a very strategic play. If your assumptions about the game hold true, it could be a good play. If your assumptions are wrong, could be trouble. Grab your torches, head back to camp. Good night.”
There are actually TWO assumptions being made by PG and Jaime. First, that Frosti and Sherea will keep to their old tribe. Second, that the merge will occur at 10.
If either one of those doesn’t hold true, they’re up Crap Creek without an oar.
On the other hand, if I were in their shoes, I probably would’ve done the same thing. If they win the immunity challenge, Frosti and Sherea would likely be gone and there’s a high probability of being Pagong’ed out of the game at the merge. The only strategy then is to paint James as a threat, which is lousy and unlikely to work.
While I didn’t like the smug way they went about it, I have to agree that throwing that challenge really was the only option available to anyone who knows the basics of Survivor. It’s rare that alliances formed outside of the original tribes can be formed, let alone last, so Jaime, PG and Erik’s only real hope of getting anywhere post-merge is by doing everything they can to even out the original tribes.
Of course I’m rooting for teeny Todd, so I’m hoping that something goes wrong for them next week.
See, I’m not so sure forming a new alliance with Aaron and/or James couldn’t have worked. And I’m not sure at all Sherea and Frosti feel any real loyalty to Zhan Hu. That tribe was fractured before The Twist, when everyone was just getting pissed at Dave - and they seem to have forgotten how annoyed they were at Sherea for loafing around camp just before they voted off Dave.
So, just hypothetically, let’s say the tribe members took the opportunity to have a bit of a discussion about the new tribe, and form some kind of agreement to work together. Aaron and James were both good in challenges, and Erik doesn’t do badly at all either. Further (not that Zhan Hu would necessarily know this), James was basically a free agent, and even though Aaron had been in a loose alliance with Todd and Amanda, I think he would have been smart enough to go with the numbers advantage they could have had had they kicked ass at the Immunity Challenges like they were clearly capable of doing.
Peih-Gee and Jaime made a quick decision to preserve the original Zhan Hu members without any idea that Sherea and Frosti feel the same, and didn’t seem to consider for a moment the advantage they would have if they embraced their new members as their new tribe. As Jeff said, it might work, or it might bite them in the ass. Maybe I’m just being idealistic, but I’m wondering if the producers are annoyed Zhan Hu took what could have been an opportunity for them and instead turned it on its head in the interest of politics (and potentially bad politics at that).
Just remember - they’ve had MONTHS to edit this stuff to look how they want it. We have no idea when that actually happened. But my husband still rewound it to watch it again!
I think the difference is that in Jeopardy, there are a set of well understood, consistent rules, known to the contestants ahead of time, and changing categories midstream would break them. In Survivor, there are no cosistent rules - they mixup tribes, merge or don’t merge, withhold immunity, send people to exile, hide immunity idols, etc., none of which is known to the contestants ahead of time. So if the producers decide on the fly “Hey, lets pull a no-immunity deal next time,” the contestants can’t complain, since they were never told every show would include an immunity.
If I was James, I’d spend the next three days relentlessly hounding Erik to split from the giggling bitches and join me. There are tons of reasons why it’s better for Erik to side with James: The two dumb girls have already shown that they don’t trust him and don’t care about him, so why should he think they won’t turn on him first chance they get? If he sides with James, he’s throwing in with the guy that pretty much everyone agrees is the strongest player in the game, and earns that person’s gratitude and loyalty. James could easily and truthfully promise that he’d do everything he could to take Erik to the final four, which is far far more than Erik could get from staying with the two weak sisters. Even if their plan succeeds, and they go into the merge at five to five, and the other two former members jump back with them, they still have to win the first immunity challenge, and how good a bet is that?
Pound that into Erik’s head for a few days, and get him to switch. Hell, I’d be tempted to even make that argument right in front of the dimwitted duo; their feeble attempts at convincing Erik to stay with them could well make the case for James even better.
So James and Erik vote for Piggy girl, and the two bozos vote for James. Ties get resolved by some sort of challenge, and who’d bet on that stupid girl to best James at anything (other than being an idiot)?
Not sure I follow. Immunity is individual after the merge; I think Jamie and Peih-Gee are simply betting their “original Zhan Hu five” will vote as a bloc - which is in no way a given, if you ask me, but they just want even numbers at that point.
Dunno; she might be better at starting a fire (which has been used recently in Survivor history to settle ties).
Hell, I’d like to see James stick around for a while too, and have Jaime and Peih-Gee suffer some comeuppance for their smugness, but I’m not sure I can see that happen without another Twist That Turns The Game On Its Head.
Oops, my bad. Still, you’re agreeing with my basic point, which is that even if the two dummies do manage to go into the merge with even numbers, it’s still not a sure (or even good) bet that the two former Zhan Hus will join back with them.
Yeah, and maybe monkeys will fly out her butt. It’s already been established that James is likely the only one who made any attempt to learn survival skills. I’d bet big money on James in a fire-making challenge, especially against one of those ditzy girls.
I can see it happen, like I said, if James really focuses on getting Erik on his side. If James doesn’t want to depend on a twist, that’s his only real hope. And personally, I’d find much more satisfaction in seeing the look on the girls’ faces when Erik turns on them than the look when, for example, the merge comes at eleven.
One strategy for James that could work is if he fashions a fake immunity idol and tells Erik he found it at the Fei Long camp. Erik can “save” himself if he keeps quiet, tries to win in the immunity challenge and votes with James if they go to tribal council. Unfortunately, I don’t think James is aware of it or crafty enough to come up with this strategem. Also, if Erik is smart, he votes for a different tribemate than James.