I missed the first 15 minutes, could anyone recap the RI challenge and if there were any memorable meltdowns?
You missed basically nothing.
It was the “tie sticks together to reach keys and open a gate” challenge from last season. Ozzie one easily.
You did miss his hilariously bad acting job before the challenge trying to sell that Cochran surprised him with an idol. The entire Upolu tribe immediately called that out as bullshit. It was really over-sold by him, which he even admitted at Tribal Council.
Then they did the merge, had some food and drink, and the requisite small talk.
Thanks, I came in right when Coach was giving his “people used to make fun of me before I was a Dragon Slayer,” talk.
Watching that, I was just thinking, “And people still make fun of you now that (and because) you call yourself a ‘Dragon Slayer’.”
Yeah, that was the core of the entire episode, when he drank Cochran’s milkshake and seemingly cemented his alliance as the final 6.
Boy, did this take me a long time to figure out. 
As usual, Dalton Ross’s recap is fantastic.
Why didn’t they try to take Coach out?
Why didn’t who try? Ozzy’s group? They were aiming to avoid an idol, so they picked the player they thought was least likely to have it or be given it. Upolu didn’t have that concern because Cochran (in his wisdom…) told them who would be given the idol.
Secondarily, if it goes to rocks the two who received votes are safe, so if they ultimately want Coach out it makes sense to make sure he has to pick a rock.
Heh. That just occurred to me, and I was going to post it.
Huh?
4 of the first 5 posts started with “wow”, so to get symmetry:
wow
mom
Doesn’t really work in this font, but anyways…
Funniest part of the episode: Ozzy’s over the top, piss-poor acting and Albert/Sophie/Coach not buying it for a second…topped off by Sophie calling it “pathetic”. LOL. (Though the skeptic in me thinks that the whole Ozzy big move and Coach and co seeing through it as a bit ‘over-produced’. I think the reason they bring these returning players back is the producers can control them a bit more)
It’s shocking how bad many of these players are. No one aside from Albert, Sophie, Coach, or Jim has shown any level of intelligence or game play.
Whether Cochrane made this move or not, he’d be at the bottom of the alliance, but now he’s on the bottom of an alliance with half of the jury members hating him…really, what was the point? I hope Cochrane goes soon. He’s not smart or interesting.
As I mention almost every year around this time, this is the point at which an alliance of two could break off and really do some damage, by moving their votes back and forth between tribes each week. For example, Sophie and Albert could form an alliance. Next week they switch sides to vote Coach off (blindsiding him, and taking his idol out of play). The following week, they switch back to vote Ozzie off, etc., etc., just keep switching back and forth until they are among the final four.
It would work because the group in the minority will always be desperate for short-term allies.
Each year, I hope that some bright pair of players would see this possible strategy, but no one ever does.
Players have tried staying as the middle swing vote before. Usually they get voted out because both sides are tired of them being too much of a wild card.
When has an allied pair tried the strategy I suggest? Never in Survivor history.
A key to doing it successfully would be to employ some subtlety. It shouldn’t be obvious what you are doing. For example, wanting to force out Coach’s idol is a perfectly legitimate reason for switching sides next week. Wanting to eliminate the strong immunity threat of Ozzie would be a perfectly legit reason to switch sides the following week. Etc., etc.
This has been tried a number of times–you probably just don’t remember it because it always fails rather quickly. Inevitably, because they have to make promises to both sides, word leaks and one of the other (or both) alliances turn on them (e.g. last season–Matt and Andrea were going to try it).
Why it won’t work:
- The other alliances wouldn’t make deals with them after the second blindside.
- The double swing vote is, in reality, the minority alliance.
- The final tribal has 3 members. The third player would always win in such a scenario.
It has never been tried. I look for it every season and it never happens.
Didn’t someone try that all the way back in season one, peculiarly staking out an I’m Going To Vote In Alphabetical Order position to look like a predictable quantity in the middle rather than a wild card?
One person can’t pull off the strategy I am espousing. It takes a pair. That way, each time the pair swings from one group to the other they will make that group the majority.
And it doesn’t take a lot of promises, either. Just go to the minority group and say quietly “If you all vote for Coach this time, I can get you two votes, and you will all stick around for another three days.”
A group that is facing a Pagonging will seize this chance. You haven’t made them any big promises, and you can swing back to the other side the following week.
Matt and Andrea tried to do it last season…