Aaah classic handy!
It’s called a joke, Joyce.
Redboss
Ah, yes. For such moments was the universe brought into being.
Snipe, snipe, snipe. Where was the joke? I didn’t see it. All I saw was that Zumba mentioned going to survivorsucks for a recap, and handy mentioned that survivorsucks isn’t reliable, as they’ve made up information. No need to snipe that comment. If the original suggestion to check out survivorsucks was tongue-in-cheek, I for one missed it.
They’re suppose to merge next week, right?
Maybe the merge will come this week, rather than when there are 10 of them? They would definitely merge with uneven teams then.
**
**I can’t wait, either! That will be great. It will be a huge psychological blow to Lindsay and Kim (or is it Kelly? The one with the dark hair in pigtails. She irritates the shit out of me…that giggling about no food, no water, no fire…she had that attitude of “Oh, well!”)
What? I’m the first one to post after last night’s show? I expected the Right Coasters to have posted before the show aired here.
Right. Spoilers.
Saburu took Silas’s ouster better than I thought. They barely mentioned it. There was some speculation on their part that Silas was voted out because Frank was a big meanie. I still can’t believe that the Necklace Gang couldn’t see through Silas’s smarmy manipulation. What dupes!
Poor Clarence! He wanted a chicken breakfast so bad! He made a deal: Either there’s an egg in the chicken coop in the morning, or there’s a dead chicken on the fire. Yeah. There was one egg, which the rest of Boran put on a tray for him to discover. “Hell, no!” cried Clarence! They had a chicken dinner anyway.
The reward challenge was, predictably, food; a banguet of sandwiches, pasta salad, cookies, and all the Mountain Dew they could drink. Samburu won the quiz-type challenge because Boran missed one question: Along with lions, buffalo, (and a couple of other animals), what is the other Big Game animal? A) Leopard, B) Tiger [Monty Python: “A tiger? In Africa?”] C) Giraffe, D) Hippopotamus. Obviously, B and C are right out. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to kill a leopard (their gene pool is dangerously shallow, and this might lead to their extinction), and I’ve never heard of anyone killing a hippo. I guessed D) Hippo. Unfortunately for Boran, they did too. Again predictably, Samburu, having won by answering A) Leopard, ate too much. Kelley was on the verge of losing her lunch on the walk home, but she kept it in.
It was Frank’s time to shine prior to the immumity challenge. It incolved shooting arrows, and Frank became the instructor. The challenge was to shoot flaming arrows into targets that were rigged to burst into flames when they were hit. The arrows used in the challenge looked more like bows. How could anyone hit anything? Samburu took an early lead and managed to stay one step ahead until the end, when they missed and Boran’s Ethan ignited the final target. Frank didn’t hit anything, but I think his instruction helped a lot.
The Necklace Gang had a plan: Trick ex-Boran into voting for Brandon, who had no votes against him. They would vote for Tom, since they surmised that Tom was an old dumb guy and Brandon said, “I can’t imagine any question that they could ask that Tom could answer and I can’t.” Too bad they don’t know anything about security, or else they would have made sure no one was listening to their planning session and they wouldn’t have been talking so loud.
Boran tried to get Kelly and Lindsey to vote with them against Brandon (knowing what the Necklace Gang were planning). At the tribal council, surprise! Boran didn’t vote for Brandon! Good bit of intel gathering an operational security. The Necklace Gang voted for Tom. ex-Boran all voted for Lindsey. With the tie, Lindsey got up to leave. Jeff told her to sit down; there’s another round of voting. Tom plead his case, basically saying he is who he is and he isn’t going to change. Lindsey plead her case, basically saying she’s toast. A two-two vote and a comparison of past votes later, Lindsey was gone – with more grace than I imagined she was capable of. I really expected her to lose it and blame everyone else for her ouster, but there were tearful hugs all around (especially Brandon, who plan it was to “take the bullet” for her).
Oh. Lindsey’s post-show comments. She said she’s an athlete who’s used to competition, but under controlled conditions and with people who play fair. Not as bitter as I expected her to be, as in the “private moments” in the show she always seemed on the verge of exploding.
I don’t know what’s up for the merger. I predict that Boran will lose the next immunity challenge (they’re already two up on Samburu, and it’s “good television” for them to lose the challenge). I’ve been paying more attention to the Car Wreck That Is Samburu, so I can only guess who will get the boot from Boran. Frank might be in a good position since he taught the tribe how to shoot arrows. Clarence isn’t taking the lack of food as well as the others. There might be some lingering ill-feelings there. Also, assuming there is only one more immunity challenge before the merge, or assuming the merge actually takes place, they might want to get rid of him now before he can become an opponent in the individual immunity challenges.
Boran seems a tight team. Samburu might get tighter now that only Brandon and Kelly are the only Necklace Kids left. Brandon knows the value of getting on ex-Boran’s good side, and Kelly is still keeping a low profile. If it comes down to an immunity challenge for Samburu though, I think that Tom, Lex and what’s-her-name?-ex-Boran will stick together.
Not a lot of response to what I consider the best episode of the season to date.
FYI- Kelly is the young blond. Kim is the black haired, pig tail girl who bears a striking resemblence to Phoebe Cates.
Lindsey is gone. You know? I disliked her more than Jerry.
My next question is this: Where are the alliances for a post merger tribe? Once the necklace gang is purged, and maybe Clarence is ousted, how will the rest of the group ally themselves? Everyone seems to get along. I see Frank in good shape. He’s the kind a group will carry along. He works hard. He’ll help keep camp and he isn’t likeable enough to win in the finals. I see Frank slipping into the final four.
My Pre-merge Final four:
Lex
Ethan
Frank
Teresa
Coupla observations. Old Kim was signalling her old tribe mates Lex/Tom/? at the reward challenge. Apparently she made an “L” with her fingers, to signify Lindsey had the votes against her. Neat!
Kim is lucky that strategy worked, because she is quite the liability. Earlier, she took a dive on the netting. This week, she was the genius who came up with hippo “Wait - I know this one.” Obviously she didn’t read enough of the exploits of “Bring 'em back alive” Frank Buck when she was young.
Best moment so far was when Brandon squealed as he almost shot himself with the arrow.
Clarence’s reaction to the egg was great - the other guys did a great job setting it out and waiting for him to wake up.
And way to go Ethan, getting the final shot. The challenge was filmed pretty suspensfully, I thought. Shooting flaming arrows was pretty neat. Lex was a deadeye for the other team, getting 2 targets with his unconventional crossbow style. And Lindsey had a chance to win it, avoiding her own dismissal. Do you think Frank actually shot one into the water? Where the hell was there water around there?!
As in Australia with the fish, I don’t understand why they roasted the chicken instead of stewing it. I hope after eating they made a stock of the scraps.
Pretty cheesy spread for the reward challenge. Previous survivors had shrimp, etc. These guuys get pasta salad, cheese sammiches, cookies, and (sponsored by) Mtn Dew. Are we on a budget here?
Over all, an excellent episode. But I suspect it was really just edited well. Given Old Kim’s hints, and the necklacers’ stupidity, I doubt there was any question who the oldsters were gonna vote for. And then, Lindsey signed her death warrant, essentially admitting she had votes against her by getting up to leave after the first tied vote.
Question - has anyone ever changed their vote in an initial tie-breaker revote? I can’t remember it happening. Seems to me like a stupid procedure. I think it could be eliminated.
So, when and if they merge, the strategy changes. Originally I figured the 2 necklacers were toast. But folks have to start thinking about getting rid of competition. I figure Frank and Theresa have got to be pushing big time to get rid of the 2 remaining necklacers. Theresa’s still gotta be remembering Brandon’s “Nothing!” And I figure Kim’s days are numbered. No one wants a replay of Tina last time. Therese has been flying under the radar pretty well, but I don’t see her protecting herself with immunity wins. And Clarence has to be viewed as a threat. So my money would be between Lex, Kelly?, Ethan, and Tom.
Oops, I forgot Frank. So my final four would be Frank, Lex, Kelly, Tom, and Ethan. (Yeah, I know…)
Way back in the first Survivor, yes. When it was down to four (Rich, Rudy, Kelly, Susan) the vote was tied with two on Rudy and two on Susan. Kelly switched from Rudy to Susan, voting her off and setting up the “Rat vs. Snake” speech.
Dinsdale’s post reminded me of a few things.
Kim’s indication of Lindsey. The “L” was a beautiful move. But putting up the “4” votes was a bad move. Who cares? How many? None of their guys had any, so one would be enough. Kelly was right. The hand gesture that indicates the number four (with the thumb bent in front) is the sign for “B” also indicating Brandon. Kelly was a little TOO smart for the clue. Of course if they had signed Tom, he wouldn’t have noticed. With Lex they ran the risk that he’d think they were singing an MC Hammer song and break into “2 Legit to Quit”.
It begs the question, why not just scream “IT WAS LINDSEY!!!” Why be subtle? Fear of reprisal?
Clarence and the Chickens. Was this whole plotline in good fun or were they taunting him to make him look bad? I thought it was in good fun, but any association of Clarence and food reflects negatively on Clarence.
And just once, I’d love for someone to yell out at a reward Challenge “AWWW!!! Mountain Dew Sucks! Give me the crab juice!” I don’t think that dialogue would escape the editing room.
I thought it was an okay episode. Not great, just okay. Now that the shockwave of the “twist” has worn-off, we’re seeing familiar alliances re-emerge. Of course all this changes if they delay the merge too long.
If they do go two more weeks before the merge (and tell the tribes about this), then I’d throw the next two immunity challenges if I was the Samburu (né Boran) trio. Get rid of Brandon and Kim, then enter the merge as Boran plus two. (btw, kudos to David B. over at realitynewsonline.com for calling Brandon’s first archery shot the most stereotypically “gay” shot ever).
Clarence is doomed. He just doesn’t know when to stop calling attention to himself and how much he really likes food. Besides being a competition threat, he’s constantly making a target of himself.
I’m not sure if I see Frank going too much farther. I’m not blaming him for leaving the side of the barn untouched in the archery contest (he probably beat himself silly over that), because he did give some valuable advice in the training which counts a lot. However, once the merge happens I see one or two things happening. First, old Boran will rise from the dead and quickly vote Frank and Theresa off. Second, once Frank starts to feel comfortable in the new tribe, I think some of his old ways will come out. Granted he had total ninnies to work with in Samburu, but I think his “I’m in charge, here’s how we do it, anyone who disagrees is wrong” attitude will alienate others (I’m thinking specifically of his idea to use the camp’s natural fence to form the SOS without even entertaining other ideas).
Tom. I like Tom. He’s a redneck, but probably an okay guy. I think his days are numbered though. He has votes against him which makes him vulnerable. Yeah, there are reports that he lost 80 pounds out there which seems to indicate he stays a while, but I’m guessing he’ll make the final six, not the final four.
My final four lineup: Lex, Ethan, Old Kim, and Kelly.
I was going to mention this before the episode, but now I just look like a hindsighted idiot. I was wondering why they hadn’t just said “Lindsey has 4 votes” LAST week. But I didn’t mention it then, so blah.
While it wasn’t shrimp, this reward challenge was a whole lot better than last season’s Mountain Dew and Doritos. What was that, an 8th grade dance?
And I was impressed with Lindsey for the first time. I really think that she really believed that ex-Boran was voting for Brandon, but didn’t fall in line just to save herself. Brandon would have beaten Tom in a test, and Lindsey would have been safe. Hopefully this’ll serve as an example for the rest of Samburu, unfortunately, it’s too late.
I bet Frank was kicking himself for his archery meltdown. He really looked terrible. However, those arrows were a hell of a lot bigger than what they were given to practice with.
Kim from Boran looks like a much stronger competitor now that the merger is getting closer. I think if they lose the next challenge, Clarence is gone - and Kim flies under the radar into the final four.
The opening camera shot for the immunity challenge was an aerial view of the targets, which were sitting on the banks of a river. So yeah, there was lots of water there to hit.
I cracked up when Brandon squealed at his misfire.
Overall, good episode! The merger is really going to be interesting, and the way things are going, the ones left will likely be a more harmonious group than in past seasons. I think that’s going to make the voting strategies more difficult.
I’m not sure whether this should be a separate thread, but do y’all like the Survivor theme song, you know, the tribal sounding thing at the beginning of each episode? I love it. Is it original to MB Productions? Does anyone know what they’re singing? “Oye coma locka soye,” or something like that. 
I thought the episode was okay. The necklace gang’s reaction at no Silas was a bit of a letdown. I wanted a real popped-out chin shot, especially of Lindsey. But oh well… I hate to admit this, but something about Lindsey standing at the voting table, I dunno, she looked — just for a split second — pretty.
Stop throwing those tomatoes!
People with no votes: Brandon, Kelly, Lex, Kim[sup]2[/sup], T-Bone, Ethan. I see Lil’ Kim, Kelly, Lex and Ethan in the Final Four. Bet a ham & broccoli Hot Pocket on it.
Yet another nitwit from the original Samburu builds some cockamamie theory of how the voting will go. Run along now scabby, your dignity is lost not found, and all the crocodile tears are dry. Oh Lord, Mother Africa, thank you Mark Burnett I love to watch them suffer.
Me, I would have filled up on the cookies and pasta salad and then crotched at least 3 sandwiches. Ass picnic, anyone? Didn’t think so.
On the local radio station, Kel from survivor 2 is our “expert” commentator. He said that the crew told the contestants before challenges not to talk to each other, but there were hand signals flying like crazy.
I feel sorry for Frank for his archery performance. He is probably used to using good equipment. I’ve noticed that if you’re used to using good quality stuff, it is actually quite difficult to use poor quality, it’s like your body naturally tries to perform the way it is used too.
Ethan, a professional athlete, once again does well. Remember how easily he handled the nets. I wouldn’t be suprised if they wanted to get rid of him.
While I think both Frank and Theresa made maturity a helluva lot bigger issue than they should have, I’m definitely not going to miss Lindsey at all. Lord, what a whiner. Laziness (a la Gervase) I can handle, irritation, never. Geez, are some of these people forgetting that they’re on national television? And honey, if you can’t stand an unfair contest, you don’t belong on Survivor. Maybe The Amazing R…actually, forget that too.
The Tribal Council was kinda weird. This is unquestionably the first time I ever saw someone conceding defeat (not that it mattered, of course). Note too no word whatsoever concerning a merge. We’ll just have to wait, I guess.
You know, while I appreciate the need to keep the show fresh and avoid getting predictable, all these on-the-fly changes seem to me a really ham-handed way to do it. Why not give everyone a list of possibilities, so there’s at least some way to prepare? Or drop a few hints on the initial trip?
Kim J. (the old one) looks in serious trouble. Sure, she probably won’t be much of a threat in Immunity Challenges come the merge, but remember, neither was Tina, and this time we don’t even know when there will be a merge. Frank has a lot of a maturity, but in my experience those with lots and lots of maturity are also some of the most arrogant, condescending people on the planet. Frank’s fit the mold, and in an environment where everyone has a vote, that’s the kiss of death. Clarence looks fairly weak, but with weaker memebers around him I don’t think he has to worry just yet.
Brandon…I dunno. I’ve actually warmed up to him. At least he’s somewhat entertaining (much like Big Richard, come to think of it), and he isn’t a thousandth as annoying as Lindsey was. As others have pointed out, that flubbed shot was one of the most unintentionally funny moments of thsi show. If Samburu loses the next IC, I’d much rather see Kim P. or Tom go than him.
From an article I read, the theme song is actually an old Russian folk song. Paul Winters covered it in “Kurski Funk” on his album Earthbeat. Due to a recent lawsuit, the song could still be used on the show, but not with the original voices, which came from “Kurski.” That’s why they re-recorded the vocals, giving them a more African flare, this year.
I always heard it as “We are holding, holding, holding on…”
I was sooo glad to see Lindsey go, though I agree that she redeemed herself somewhat in the end. I was glad to see her do the right thing and not turn on Brandon. (Though, dammit, I wouldn have paid large American dollars to see THAT scene played out!)
I also thought it was amusing that Lindsey said, “I’m an athelete but I couldn’t stand how mean-spirited these competitions were.” Hellloooo. Weren’t you part of the necklace gang who deliberately alienated half of your tribe by being an ass? “Oh, look, we all get cool necklaces. Well, except you, old people.”
Was it my imagination or did Ethan shoot 3 of the targets last night? I know he got at least 2. And he had his shirt off last night. Mmmm mmmm. Hope he makes it far.
I think they have to make the merger happen soon or it will get predictable again. Brandon and Kim are sitting ducks at Samburu now. Boran is a little more interesting because I can see them voting off Clarence, Kim, Teresa OR Frank next week. The others seem pretty safe.
Finally, I like how they’ve mixed up the game a bit, although I get the feeling that Burnett is changing the rules of the game mid-season and I think that is risky. Clearly, the shake-up mid-season was VERY disadvantageous to Lindsey, Brandon, Kim and Silas. I wonder if we’ll see another lawsuit accusing Burnett of rigging it. (Whatever happened to Colleen’s (or was it another woman?) lawsuit from Survivor I?) In the interest of fairness, I think all the competitions and rules ought to be decided on BEFORE the game begins so that he doesn’t rig it. I mean, I’m glad Lindsey and Silas got the boot, but I think they should have been booted legitimately not by pure manipulation on the producer’s part.