No, in each season, there are 13-15 episodes and 16-20 players. The balancing of episodes to players comes primarily from returning players but also from episodes with multiple tribal councils and from the fact that the producers have switched primarily to a final 3 instead of final 2.
OK, I went against my better judgement and watched (even though I swore I wouldn’t watch another Coulton episode). I’m weak willed…
So, I’ll just ask: Why the hell didn’t the returnees vote Coulton off right away? He sucks at challenges and is disruptive at camp. This is a no-brainer to me, so what am I missing???
Wow, Gervaise. Learn to swim, dude. It’s worse than showing up and not knowing how to make fire.
The fact that every Survivor veteran knows that one of the surest ways to win is to be sitting next to a giant asshole (preferably two) at the final vote, as well as the fact that if he’s that annoying, he’s going to get voted out eventually - so why not target someone else for strategy purposes?
Still not a fan of Redemption Island… takes away from the moment Probst says “the tribe has spoken”
Damn, Candace and Laura must be annoying as hell to shut Colton out of the first vote. And I’m shocked, shocked that the first person voted out of the veteran’s tribe was a hot chick.
Good on the rookies for the bluff about having fire at the first IC. That cracked me up, especially with Hayden’s confessional: “Of course they have fire and we don’t. They’re veterans and we’re a bunch of meatheads.” hehheh.
Thought of both of those things. That’s playing checkers against someone playing chess, especially since your reason #2 negates reason #1. No way is Coulton making it to the end.
Early on, you need a strong team. It’s stupid to vote off a strong player instead of a weak one. Especially when said weak one is known to be disruptive to tribe morale.
No kidding. It looked like they were playing the tape at double speed when they showed them.
I know a lot of people hate these return-player shows but with the way they split the tribes there’s something for everyone. A team of newbies and another team of returnees. It’ll be a neat dynamic with all the pre-made alliances come merge time.
Father time has sure taken his toll on Gervase. Poor guy looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack by the time he was half way to the boat. I predict he’s short lived this season.
Poor Rupert.
Hey, now…being an old Asian guy isn’t a BAD thing, by Survivor standards. Look at Yau-Man!
Now that’s a retread I would enjoy seeing back on this show.
Which is why it dosen’t make sense to me that the ‘Meatheads’ voted out Marissa instead of one of the puzzle girls. Maybe she was a bitch at camp or something, but if it was truly just to punish Gervase, getting rid of a potential challenge monster out of spite is really dumb.
And I hate that redemption island is back. I don’t like trading reward challenges for the stupid duels at the top of the show.
Man, I gotta say, I’m gonna be very leery of this season. I’m glad they finally figured out something that should make a huge swing in the metagame, but … really, this was the best way? It doesn’t help that it’s a very weak crew of returnees IMO. At least there’s no Hantz. And having Redemption Island return is another thing I hate, but it’s clear the producers picked it for the drama of having their loved ones watch as they get eliminated.
I wonder what they’ll do for the “loved ones” challenge later in the season?
I too thought people might just want to get rid of Colton right away, but these guys know what they’re doing. To wit, the relationships:
- 3 married couples (Rupert/Laura, Candace/John, and Monica/Brad),
- 1 fiancee (Colton/Caleb),
- 2 dating relationships (Tyson/Rachel, Kat/Hayden)
- 4 blood relationships (Gervase/Marissa, Tina/Katie, Aras/Vytas, Laura/Ciera)
I think it makes sense to go after the married couples first, since they have the strongest bonds (and game show winnings are even community property in CA!). So targetting Rupert and Candace right away made sense. Not sure on Laura M., but maybe it really was because they didn’t know her at all. She’s the only returnee I don’t remember at all.
I don’t know that word, and I’m having trouble finding an dictionary definition. Apparently something to do with the skin?
Probably a slang word. But it is severe chafing of the nether regions
Mildly NSFW question on a Men’s Health forum about
I have had severe galding one time, after playing 27 holes in extreme heat. In a golf cart. It happened on a Saturday and I could not walk for until Monday. I put a regular thermometer on my thighs and the temperature of the skin was almost 10 degrees higher than if I placed the temperature on my chest.
Doctor friend of mine just told me to ice it down, and take some OTC pain medication.
I thought this as well. Producer shenanigans, instructing them to keep Colton around??? But I don’t know how they could swing it without it coming back to haunt them at some point. But then, no Survivor contestant has ever done any type of kiss-and-tell to my knowledge. (Although Richard Hatch threatened.)
I just have this crazy hunch that Colton will blindside the mothering Mrs. Culpepper. I can’t decide if that would be terrible or all kinds of awesome.
It especially doesn’t make sense that one of the meatheads voted out (probably) a better competitor who is going to battle with his loved one at RI.
For a first episode, I thought it was pretty damn good. The setup certainly creates some conundrums – and a much more interesting merge.
Stacy Stillman, one of the early boots in the first Survivor, claimed TPTB orchestrated her ouster, according to her Wiki bio.
I’m also wondering what we missed, because it seems very odd that the votes on that first day were so similar. I would have expected a bunch of votes for a bunch of different people. Except Colton. They all know his game, and they all know how important it is to have a strong team early on. As for marrieds vs engaged, I can’t see one being more of a threat than the other. They’re both “couples”.
No one wants to vote outside the group early on so once a name is mentioned, it just snowballs as the rest jump onboard. Alliances are not fully formed this soon so like Sandra says, “As long as it ain’t me.”
I have to jump in here to say that I met Yau Man 2 weeks ago. We were both UNPAID extras for a local TV commercial. I asked him what he was doing there, and he said he recently retired from his real job (a dean at U Cal Berkeley) and just wanted to get out and do something. Nice guy. Soft spoken, didn’t draw attention to himself.