Excellent points, and great comparison.
Voting out Malcolm before Sandra was absolutely the right move. Malcolm is strong both physically and socially, whereas Sandra is never a threat to win challenges.
Boy, JT really fucked up, didn’t he? Now he’s got two of the Worst Survivor Moves in history on his resume next to that sterling “never got a vote against me” win.
I think Sandra’s cockiness is on purpose and part of her gameplay. She knows the under-the-radar “I’ll vote for whoever you want” strategy will not get her to the end with these players. Being too likeable is a surefire way to get voted out before the final TC. After all, everyone liked Malcolm, right?
Not only did I think that was going to be their move, but I thought they would also say “we have an Idol and we’re going to play it, so either join us in voting for Sandra or take a 20% chance one of you gets voted out.”
Some interesting stuff from Malcolm’s exit interview:
- Hali told Malcolm during the TC that they were gonna vote for him
- They chose Sierra as their target because they thought she would never find an Idol; they didn’t think someone else would find it and give it to her
- JT realized near the end of the TC he had fucked up and given away their target, tried to convince his teammates to switch, but wouldn’t say why, so it was too late
Hot damn, JT is really approaching Colby for “worst slide” in Survivor history isn’t he. He didn’t even bring his HII to tribal!
I knew Debbie was a bit ‘off’ from her first season, but here she looked certifiably insane. Freaking Smeagol moment on the beach. Though part of me does wonder how she actually did on the balance beam vs. Hali (hard to tell with the edit). Will need to pay close attention to the interviews and such this week.
I’m not sure you can argue against Sandra for being the greatest Survivor player ever, regardless of how the rest of this season goes. She’s been to 4 of the 5 TCs so far, has zero votes against her, and got rid of Tony and JT.
Yeah Debbie is nuts. What the hell was she talking about with her “It took Hali ten minutes to finish the balance beam, it only took me two!” ? I rewatched to make sure - Hali was the 2nd to finish the balance-on-a-bow stage, after Ozzy. But because Tai was a much faster digger than Cerie, Debbie was the first to start the balance-on-a-disk stage. Yet she couldn’t even finish that stage before both other teams had completely finished the whole thing - the Red team’s puzzle solver didn’t even get a chance to begin. She’s got absolutely no grip on reality if she thinks she was somehow better than Hali at that challenge.
And I agree, after that TC, I’m comfortable in predicting Sandra to win the whole thing. At worst, she’ll go into the Final with 1 or 2 goats, but they jury will vote for one of them for the sole purpose of preventing a threepeat.
We had to pause last night because it seemed as though we were watching a completely different episode than the one Debbie was describing. I’m not sure how quickly Hali got over the beam, but I know Debbie said, I’m good at balance beams or something to that effect. Sure, it could have been some editing, but it took her several attempts to make it across. It was bizarre the way she kept saying it wasn’t her fault, that she wasn’t listened to. The team had her do that part of the challenge because she said she could do it. She’s nuts.
She is indeed nuts. I mean to the point where she needs professional help because she is just delusional. I recall her first season and my wife and I thought the same thing back then. She lost the challenge for her team, and tried to say it was Culpepper who called the shots, when in fact it was Debbie who said “I have a great sense of balance,” so Culpepper said “great, then you do the balance beam.” Seems to me he was simply agreeing with her and supporting her statement. No?
Then in the immunity challenge, another balance beam, the whole team wanted Tai to do it, Debbie threw a fit and decided for herself not to do it, then spent the whole challenge sarcastically saying “good thing I wasn’t chosen to do this one!”
I wanted that team to lose the immunity challenge so bad, because you know they would’ve voted Debbie out and it would’ve been an explosive tribal council.
I think Michaela and Ozzy are the two best players, and I hope it’s them in the final.
Dammit, JT. You idiot. ::sigh::
I thought J.T. had at least some game. Guess not. While good players get blindsided all the time, it’s inexcusable to go to TC so sure of how the vote is going to go that you basically stop playing. Especially for a returning player.
I actually have to give Sandra some props for employing strategy beyond just bullying everybody. While I’m not generally a fan of the dump-the-rice, hide-the-machete style of play, her sugar gambit accomplished exactly what she wanted it to.
And, yeah, Debbie is, uh… not quite right. Enough said about that, I think.
also, during tribal, she referred to the person who would survive the vote as a “him” putting JT at ease even further. It really was masterful.
JT was dumb all the way.
After the previous tribal council there would be no way I would not play the immunity idol unless I had the assurances from the the majority they were voting for someone else.
Regarding the part of the Reward challenge that Debbie did. Ball on a pedestal over the balance beam.
Wouldn’t have been smart to put a big handful of sand on the pedestal and then pour some water on it? Wouldn’t that create more friction?
Mikeala was great in TC, pouring herself a cup of water from the thermos. Sandra is a pretty good actress.
Four of the six more athletic males are gone (Tony, Caleb, Malcolm and JT). Ozzie, Culpepper are going to be big targets if they get to merge.
Be kind of funny if the alleged “least athletic” are the final six. Tai, Varner, Zeke, Cirie, Sandra, Hali
Oh, I can’t believe how stupid he was. He let Sandra play him like a cheap piano. I really like JT, but he just doesn’t hold up in the game against seasoned players. And to lose with an HII… oy!!
Yeah, I thought she was nuts before, and now I’m absolutely sure. She screwed up that challenge, tried to blame it on everyone else, and then flipped out basically insuring herself to be voted out.
I think Sandra is in for a rude awakening when they merge. I suspect she’ll be the first one voted off after that.
I don’t think that they’ll vote out Sandra because she’s not a threat at physical challenges. She can do puzzles, but Ozzie is just incredible at physical challenges. He has balance and great hand/eye coordination. And he’s waaaay more likeable than Sandra. So, unless he keeps himself safe by winning challenges, they would be stupid not to target him.
Michaela is very good at challenges, too. She looked like a drunk sailor on the balance beam, but she made it across, unlike Debbie the Crazy Lady, who took 15 tries. I am aghast as to why she doesn’t try harder to contain her negativity. I realize that it’s her personality to walk around with the world’s biggest chip on her shoulder, but the whole diva thing is so grating.
I think that Sandra’s schtick is all an act for the camera. I think she’s got a wicked sense of humor, and she’s smarter than a whip. It was almost unfair to match her in a game of wits against JT.
Debbie’s meltdown was epic and kind of sad. I hope she was mortified watching herself act like a lunatic.
I get the feeling that Culpepper is going to go far in this game because they don’t show him very much. Either the editors haven’t focused on him or he’s toned down his ego quite a bit. I find myself like him, and Troyzan, a lot more this season than in the past.
So we have Tony, Caleb, Malcolm and JT being voted off the last 4 weeks. The men had better hope for a merge soon, or we’ll be left with nothing but women. And Tai.
Perhaps against the rules. They go over them in some length.
Yeah, this whole episode should be the first thing shown when anybody trots out the “Sandra just wins by being a goat/sliding by”. She played this episode on a different level than everybody else.
In particular she is very good at figuring out what the worst thing for her would be (in this case Michaela and JT aligning) and figuring out how to keep that from happening. She also was very good with Varner, making it clear that he was the deciding vote without pushing too hard, knowing that for him it was a pretty clear choice.
I’d be worried for her at the merge too, except at that point there will likely be a few challenge monsters left that she can build alliances to vote against. I’m sure she can convince some folks to stick with her using the “I won’t win a 3rd time” argument (which I think is bullshit, but may just convince some people).
That’s a good way to put it, Sandra’s playing on a “whole other level” and this is among returning players. She never stops playing. What I don’t get was people thinking they should vote out Michaela because she’s annoying around camp, when it’s obvious that after this vote, they were down to 4 members and there was going to be another reshuffle.
JT with Steven = one of the most dominating performances in Survivor history.
JT on his own = Shakespearean tragedy played out over idols and tribal councils.
Too bad he couldn’t have used “phone a friend” before going to TC.
Hey, I got one right! That’s unusual. Adios, regina!
But I’m confused about Tai. He ended up voting for Sandra, so was that whole thing a ploy? I doubt it. Tai has to go. He’s paranoid and completely unpredictable. Get that crazy little fucker off the island!!