What? No thread yet? I know I was on vacation last week, guys, but y’all can’t have missed me so much that you’ve given up the SDMB … can you?
And if you did … does that mean I can now have Ian all to myself? 
Look like tonight is the “Traditional Visit From Family And Friends” episode. If Ian has a girlfriend, I’m going to find her and cut her, I swear! Call me, Ian! I don’t want to have to stalk you, but I will!
I was going to start the thread, but then my boss came by and told me there was cake in the boardroom, and I have my priorities.
The CBS site makes it sound like only some of the Survivors are going to get visits. And when the letters from home were offered at the auction and Ian decided not to take it, he said “Sorry, Mom and Dad,” not “Sorry, insert name of pretty co-ed we’ll have to kill here”.
I think Caryn’s toast.
And I love Ian. 
I’m looking forward to it.
Handicapping their risk of going home tonight:
HIGH
Ian- At risk. Gregg could decide to spring his trap tonight. Ian is only at risk if Tom loses the IC.
Tom- Pretty high. I think he has Ian and Caryn on his side, but Katie’s support is always shaky. He knew he was at risk last week.
Caryn- At risk if the tribe continues to have no real game break or Gregg is smart (see below). She is kind of the odd man out. The loose alliance could just decide not to decide and oust Caryn. Gained some points tipping off Tom.
MEDIUM
Jenn- In danger. Tom and Ian have indicated before that she is not part of their alliance. If Katie is onboard with them, Jenn will probably go soon.
Gregg- At risk if he bucks Tom about ousting Jenn and Tom realizes that Gregg’s loyalties lie elsewhere. The smart thing for Gregg to do is push to oust Caryn this week and wait for Tom next week. That way, he has numbers that give him security. And he’ll still look loyal to Tom.
LOW
Katie- Only at risk if she plays up the fact that she is the sneaky swing vote.
Driving home from work tonight, I found myself wondering:
[ul][li]Who is the “we” that is going to make someone(s) pay?[/li][li]Who is the “you(s)” that the aforementioned “we” is going to make pay?[/li][li]What is the payment?[/ul][/li]Will someone displease Overlord Tom and have to, I don’t know, loofah Ian’s back and wash his hair and maybe give him a back rub as punishment or something? And can it be me? And can I be nekkid when I serve my penance? And most importantly, can Ian? 
Seriously, though, will the payment be booting? Shunning? The booting of someone important to you instead? We shall see soon enough, I guess …
See, I’m wondering if maybe last week’s auction was foreshadowing for the Loved Ones event. Maybe the money they saved last week has to be used this week to buy time with their families. The ones who splurged on food won’t get the chance to see their folks because they can’t afford it.
Or … maybe they won’t get to see their folks because they didn’t pay up last week for their letters. Good thinking, jayjay! I hope you’re wrong, because maybe Ian has a brother who is just as cute as Ian is, and then me and Draelin and the rest of the Cult can add him to the Collective … but you could be right. I don’t think it’s been done before, either, so that would be a new twist.
The line starts behind me.
Seriously, though: yes, the title of this one sounds interesting. Who is going to pay? Who is going to make them?
Does someone piss off someone else (or several someone elses?) and making them “pay” is getting booted off?
Still watching, but I just wanted to say this: oooooooooooh, Katie is a bitch, she’s a big fat bitch, she’s the biggest bitch in the whole wide world …
… and I will get her. I swear to GOD!
Hmmm. I guess the lesson is, don’t be a dick at the reward challenge.
And I guess they **did ** make him pay. There were certainly two shocked faces there tonight.
Katie may be bitchy, but she’s got a good head on her shoulders.
4>3
4>purple rock (or whatever else they had chosen)
::squee::
I love this season.
That was a major risk for Tom and Ian. I would have played Katie similar to the way that Ian did with one exception. I would have made sure she was very worried about having a 1 in 3 chance of pulling out the purple rock. She’s worried that Tom and Ian wouldn’t want to take her to the final two, or that she couldn’t win against one of them? Does she really think that Gregg and Jen would have been gunning for each other instead of her? I think she made the only move she really could have, but it matters little. Her only chance in the game would be sheer luck.
Steph looked nice, Coby looked very nice, actually. I loved Coby’s antics on the jury side.
Oh…damn, forgot to say…
Jen sweetie 3 vs. 3 is a tie, not a majority. (I can only hope she was thinking of the 5-1 alliance against Caryn but it really didn’t sound that way. )
First of all – previews!
Oh, God, Promo Monkeys, how could you? How could you show me that scene, with Ian offering to sacrifice himself – for Katie!? That witch! That bitch! That absolute c-word! She made him cry! I hope this is the usual Promo Monkey style hype, because if he is gone next week I swear to God I will commit absolute harikiri. Sweet baby Jesus, my heart aches just thinking about it! What is wrong with the good men in the world? Why do they always fall for the charms of evil women? And her “charms” aren’t all that, either. My boobs are way nicer. Don’t do it, Ian! Don’t do it!
Sigh. Now then. What I liked about tonight’s episode:
[ul]
[li]Jenn’s bathing suit. I am not cut out for bikinis, and Lord knows I am getting to old for them anyway, but I know cute when I see it, and if I could still pull off a suit like that, I would totally be all over that. And Ian would love me and we’d live happily ever after and have lots of dorky dolphin boy and dolphin girl babies and it would be sweeeeeeeeeeeet! [/li][li]Caryn. Big ups, girl! Normally I am not terrifically fond of her, but she really managed to pull it off tonight. I don’t think Caryn particularly cares for Katie, either, and I think it gave her no small amount of joy that she could be part of the plan to force Katie to show her hand.[/li][li]Dolphins. They’re so cute and I love them![/li][/ul]
What I didn’t like tonight:
[ul]
[li]Katie.[/li][li]That everybody didn’t at least get a wee glimpse of their family members. I don’t think everybody should have gotten to spend the night on the yacht or anything, but it would have been nice if Tom’s wife or Caryn’s husband or Ian’s mom could have waved from the side and threw roses or whatever, you know?[/li][li]Katie. She sucks.[/li][li]Probst being all nasty at TC and shit. Except for some people (i.e., “Shady Lady Katie”), most of these people seem pretty OK and I would like to hang around with them off air. Even Caryn seems like she’d be cool to drink with. Why does Jeff have to make everything so dramatic? Is he on Lex’s payroll or something? People are like they are – just shut the hell up and let them vote![/li][li]Katie. She’s an absolute turd and I hate her. HATE![/li][/ul]
And, I never thought I’d be like this, but: Shut UP, Coby. Just shut UP. And your ugly shirt, too.
So, what do we think of Ian this week? I’ve always liked him, obviously, but I fear he is both one of the smartest AND one of the dumbest players I’ve ever seen. I was extremely impressed by how much he’s noticed about what is going on around camp – all the little suballiances and counteroffers and secrets. But he is a terrible liar (see: the conversation with Gregg after the IC) and also a bit too honest for his own good. I would NEVER have told Katie about the plan to go into TC with a tie. Katie must have some powerful mojo or something, because I can’t understand why he is so “into” her, strategically speaking. Then again, as a woman, I am also immune to offers of free blow jobs (which is the only explanation I can come up with for why he has fallen under her spell). Perhaps YMMV.
So, to sum up … Ian = perfect man IRL, but no chance in Hell of winning “Survivor.”
I don’t know rockle. He told her right before they left for TC, so she had no chance to do anything with Gregg and Jen. Also, by telling her, he scares her and lets her know that if she doesn’t go their way, she has a one in three chance of going home tonight. If the left behind three vote for Gregg, the yacht club vote for Caryn…Ian is safe. That leaves her picking out a rock with Tom and Jen. If she stays with her alliance it’s a 2 out of 3 chance that her side is losing.
The previews looked interesting. I’m anxious to see what that’s all about.
I think we’ve officially seen the very worst of decision makers ever on Survivor. Ladies and gentlemen … I give you Caryn. Let’s examine:
Somebody nails you in the reward challenge. 1 of 3.
Somebody else nails you in the reward challenge. 2 of 3.
It’s your turn to choose someone. What do you do? Naturally, you forego revenge on the people who got you before and go piss off someone who will be choosing right after you.
Duh. She nails you good. 3 of 3. Get on the bench, loser.
:smack:
Wow, this turned into a good season somewhere along the line. I really can’t get that worked up over the Katie hate – although if she makes Dolphin Boy cry next week, she goes on my List for sure!
And speaking of Ian, he’s getting awfully thin. Poor baby, I think we all need to bring him home and feed him and fatten him up and hug him and squeeze him and…
Ahem. Anyway, loved, loved the look on Gregg and Jenn’s faces when he got the boo. And props to Caryn for being such a good moper around camp; man, she looked like her dog just died.
My hubby lived in Guam (before I met him) for 11 years and has gone diving in Palau several times. He’s had dolphins both in Guam and Palau out swimming alongside him just for fun. Man, I am so jealous. 
The boot. He got the boot. I don’t think anyone was booing him.
An excellent episode. It almost made up for last week’s loss of Stephenie to see Gregg go this week. Well played.
I was watching the reward challenge and after seeing Gregg, Jenn, and Katie alienate Tom and Ian, I turned to my friends and said, “it looks like Caryn just won the challenge.” (My other good line of the week was when Jenn jumped up and hugged her visitor. I said, “If she introduces her as her girlfriend, Gregg’s going to have to rethink part of his strategy.”)
Ian has now emerged as the new power player. Unlike Tom, he was able to see that they had lost the iniative and also was able to put together and carry out a plan to regain it. His last minute approach to Katie was also smart - it avoided the possibility of the purple rock and also kept the door open with Katie. Ian has also avoided the mistake so many previous final two members have made - he has not pissed off people on the jury. Ian remains my favorite to win.
That said, the physical attraction isn’t there for me. You ladies are welcome to the loofah privileges.