I really enjoyed this episode! We have a lot of interesting points to discuss.
The Fans
Most of the episode was devoted to the Fans' tribe, which THANK GOD! Had there been minimal time spent on the 10 Fans, I'd have feared a fate worse than pagonging. It's not just that I predicted the Fans would lose the combined RC/IC and have to go to Tribal Council. It's that no time spent on them would have meant they were super boring contestants, so at least this group did something worth showing and worth discussing.
First of all, some viewers thought Kathy, Chet and Tracy were wrong to separate themselves from the rest of the group almost from the outset. They should have "somehow" stayed with the majority and insisted on being allowed to sleep in the main cave shelter. I disagree. I think the threesome made the correct move here. What was their alternative? It looked to me as if the "younger group" just took a dislike to the "older group." Hanging around, making whiny confessionals and doing not much else is what we've seen on other seasons. That "strategy" has usually proved a surefire way to get booted fairly quickly AND have nowhere to sleep but the sand. The sooner you face reality and choose a different path, the better off you are. Tracy, Kathy & Chet went and built their own shelter, thanks to Tracy the Residential Builder. In fact, everyone admired that shelter. It's my theory that this move is what set the threesome up in a good way. Even if you hate Chet and wished he'd been booted, you have to admit that from a gameplay perspective, it worked for the threesome to go their own way at the point they did.
So, Chet's performance at the IC. Well, it was hysterical. I mean, come on! Chet can't go down? Bad news for his boyfriends, eh? Poor Chet is probably still in denial that he made a bad decision to be one of the swimmers. He can't even make the argument that he didn't foresee that "swimming" in this situation involved diving. Jif explained the whole challenge before giving the tribes a moment to "strategize" i.e., determine who would perform which task. There's no excuse for Chet.
And yet, I totally understand why he wasn't booted. Winning challenges IS important, no doubt about it. And the tribe won't let Chet be in a position where he has to go down again (haha). But winning challenges isn't as important as figuring out how to get oneself to the merge and beyond. At least, that's what I figure Joel's viewpoint was. Joel obviously decided that his chances of making it very far were worse without Chet, than with him.
So what WAS the deal with Mikey? I'm sure many of you were wondering what the hell Mikey was doing, trying to orchestrate a super-duper triple backflip kind of psych-them-out before they know what hit them kind of play. Let's remember: these players aren't ordinary Hollywood & Vine variety mactors. These people are Fans, supposed to have seen and absorbed the lessons of seasons past. We should expect them to be bearing in mind some of the blindside plays that have taken place recently. I followed Mikey's reasoning and frankly I'm surprised that any of his tribemates did not. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Kathy could come back with a second idol and decide to share her good fortune with one of the other two outcast pals. Which of those pals had been favored would be kept secret and a plan to target one, could backfire and result in the elimination of whomever the threesome decided to target with their vote.
Mikey's plan was not such a bad idea.
In fact, despite Joel making a confessional to declare how confused he was, I'm thinking it was the opposite. Joel followed the plan just fine, but more importantly, feared that Mikey would take control of the tribe with cute Mary by his side. Joel would be targeted and booted without much ado. Probably using some super duper secret double-indemnity plan that nobody could really follow. They would just be handed their instructions by Mikey or a minion of Mikey's... Funny how that reminds me of how Joel delivered the instructions to Kathy on whom to boot. Funny also how her response to being told to vote out Mary, was, "Who?" But I digress.
Blindsides are fun to watch, and Mikey didn't disappoint. But look for retributions and ramifications. We laughed incredulously to see that the great instigator, Joel, did not himself vote for Mary, but for Tracy. I don't know what he thinks he was doing, because the truth usually comes out. Nevertheless, I think Joel made the best move for himself here. Why should he want to risk being booted before he can discover who is willing to work with him and who isn't. Joel foresaw himself getting tossed aside in a complicated voting scenario. Countering the Mikey scenario with a scenario of his own was smart gameplay. Choosing to target Mary instead of Mikey? Smells like jealousy to me but maybe Mikey is of more use around camp and in challenges. But voting for Tracy after all of that? I'm at a loss for words. I feel like I need to rewatch the episode in order to figure if we were even shown how he felt safe enough to basically throw his vote away and risk his own concept being foiled by himself.
Bottom line on Joel: I do not see that he's smart enough to consolidate the group and deal with whatever fallout materializes post-TC. Maybe the Fans' tribe would have done better as a tribe with Mikey & Mary at the helm. Joel recognized they were a threat to his chances, and saw to it they were split up. I think the problem is that Joel isn't up to the task of leading the tribe.
Bottom line with the Fans tribe: they are fractured and cliquish. I think the strongest group, funnily enough, will prove to be the threesome of Kathy, Tracy and Chet, who separated themselves from the big group. I really like Tracy and hope she manages to entice a couple more people to vote with them in a solid block. Even Kathy is starting to seem less bizarre. And as for Chet, his lack of confessional to explain his actions in Ep 2 hopefully means he just won't be around very long to worry about.
The Favorites
When it comes to this group, perhaps Episode 2 is when the most focus is on those who don't win. In the Faves' case that would be Cirie, Jonathan, Ozzy & Amanda.
What about Cirie? She scored the largest amount of facetime of her tribemates, but I do not see her emerging as a major mover shaker. What do we know about her? We know she wasn't anyone's first choice for a 4-person alliance, and we know the one who tries to swing from one group to another is usually eliminated before F5. In episode 2, she was chosen in the challenge twist to accompany the losers' own choice, Kathy, to Exile Island. A good deal of time was spent on this segment, in part because the whole EI scenario had been tweaked, in part because the pair was able to solve the clues they found right up to the point when they were supposed to find the idol.
Did they find it? I doubt it. Instead, a lot of time was lavished on Cirie's reactions to swimming back and forth between the little islands. It wasn't really that earth-shattering or revelatory, unless Cirie's theme this season is that she runs out of steam just before she is successful. Yes, she was bubbly and sweet and had some funny lines. But I was disappointed. Despite a few entertaining moments, I came away feeling like Cirie is just going through the motions and isn't truly motivated to succeed. Watching her and Kathy swim back and forth and then to not see one of them triumphantly finding the idol is very bad for them. MB hasn't hidden it from us when someone finds the HII. He wants us to be in on it, so we can enjoy what happens later, when the finder shares his find with allies, or deflects questions from other people about the idol. When it isn't found, we get nothing. The exiled don't usually appear to say, "Nope, didn't find it."
Now, Jonathan seemed to have had a solid appearance both eps, but could he be a distraction? I think he's a classic narrator, describing other people's actions and who is pissed off by them. Jonathan's edit so far is not that of a winner. He could even be gone before the merge if he keeps up this level of visibility.
A moment to digress and give condolences to Ami fans. True, she didn't get much facetime in this 2nd episode. If my theory is correct, that might be good news. However, she also didn't receive enough solid facetime when she really should have, in the Fave-centric first episode. Being so under-developed after two episodes makes me think she will have "her moment," but she isn't going to win. She needed something substantial in the first episode and really didn't get it.
Of course, what could be worse than getting the kind of facetime Ozzy & Amanda received in episode 2? Sure, we saw some lovely illustrations of Ozzy clam-diving (hahaha), but the clams were actually the stars of that footage. After assuring us that they won't allow their attraction for each other to interfere with their game, they made out onscreen for 15 minutes! I mean Ozzy & Amanda, not the clams! (oops!) Best laid plan of men and rats, eh? I'm certainly convinced of their attraction to each other. All that kissing without the benefit of mouthwash or toothpaste! What we do know is Jonathan and Cirie weren't the only ones expressing contempt of the lovers' shenanigans. MB instructed his editors to illustrate the tender lovemaking with images of rats having a cuddle. I mean, I suppose it's possible the rats were supposed to symbolize Jonathan and Cirie gathering round the fire in the middle of the night to bemoan the lovers' rudeness, but it doesn't feel likely. I'm just happy that my meal ticket Parvati did not receive such treatment concerning her flirtation with James.
Actually, what I really hope is that the first Survivor baby was conceived that night. I'd even bet $1 Canadian that Amanda appears on the Reunion show roughly 7-8 months' pregnant. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
Thanks for reading. I've set this forum up so that anyone may post, so let's see if it worked! Please feel free to add your thoughts & comments to this thread, if you can
The Fans
Most of the episode was devoted to the Fans' tribe, which THANK GOD! Had there been minimal time spent on the 10 Fans, I'd have feared a fate worse than pagonging. It's not just that I predicted the Fans would lose the combined RC/IC and have to go to Tribal Council. It's that no time spent on them would have meant they were super boring contestants, so at least this group did something worth showing and worth discussing.
First of all, some viewers thought Kathy, Chet and Tracy were wrong to separate themselves from the rest of the group almost from the outset. They should have "somehow" stayed with the majority and insisted on being allowed to sleep in the main cave shelter. I disagree. I think the threesome made the correct move here. What was their alternative? It looked to me as if the "younger group" just took a dislike to the "older group." Hanging around, making whiny confessionals and doing not much else is what we've seen on other seasons. That "strategy" has usually proved a surefire way to get booted fairly quickly AND have nowhere to sleep but the sand. The sooner you face reality and choose a different path, the better off you are. Tracy, Kathy & Chet went and built their own shelter, thanks to Tracy the Residential Builder. In fact, everyone admired that shelter. It's my theory that this move is what set the threesome up in a good way. Even if you hate Chet and wished he'd been booted, you have to admit that from a gameplay perspective, it worked for the threesome to go their own way at the point they did.
So, Chet's performance at the IC. Well, it was hysterical. I mean, come on! Chet can't go down? Bad news for his boyfriends, eh? Poor Chet is probably still in denial that he made a bad decision to be one of the swimmers. He can't even make the argument that he didn't foresee that "swimming" in this situation involved diving. Jif explained the whole challenge before giving the tribes a moment to "strategize" i.e., determine who would perform which task. There's no excuse for Chet.
And yet, I totally understand why he wasn't booted. Winning challenges IS important, no doubt about it. And the tribe won't let Chet be in a position where he has to go down again (haha). But winning challenges isn't as important as figuring out how to get oneself to the merge and beyond. At least, that's what I figure Joel's viewpoint was. Joel obviously decided that his chances of making it very far were worse without Chet, than with him.
So what WAS the deal with Mikey? I'm sure many of you were wondering what the hell Mikey was doing, trying to orchestrate a super-duper triple backflip kind of psych-them-out before they know what hit them kind of play. Let's remember: these players aren't ordinary Hollywood & Vine variety mactors. These people are Fans, supposed to have seen and absorbed the lessons of seasons past. We should expect them to be bearing in mind some of the blindside plays that have taken place recently. I followed Mikey's reasoning and frankly I'm surprised that any of his tribemates did not. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Kathy could come back with a second idol and decide to share her good fortune with one of the other two outcast pals. Which of those pals had been favored would be kept secret and a plan to target one, could backfire and result in the elimination of whomever the threesome decided to target with their vote.
Mikey's plan was not such a bad idea.
In fact, despite Joel making a confessional to declare how confused he was, I'm thinking it was the opposite. Joel followed the plan just fine, but more importantly, feared that Mikey would take control of the tribe with cute Mary by his side. Joel would be targeted and booted without much ado. Probably using some super duper secret double-indemnity plan that nobody could really follow. They would just be handed their instructions by Mikey or a minion of Mikey's... Funny how that reminds me of how Joel delivered the instructions to Kathy on whom to boot. Funny also how her response to being told to vote out Mary, was, "Who?" But I digress.
Blindsides are fun to watch, and Mikey didn't disappoint. But look for retributions and ramifications. We laughed incredulously to see that the great instigator, Joel, did not himself vote for Mary, but for Tracy. I don't know what he thinks he was doing, because the truth usually comes out. Nevertheless, I think Joel made the best move for himself here. Why should he want to risk being booted before he can discover who is willing to work with him and who isn't. Joel foresaw himself getting tossed aside in a complicated voting scenario. Countering the Mikey scenario with a scenario of his own was smart gameplay. Choosing to target Mary instead of Mikey? Smells like jealousy to me but maybe Mikey is of more use around camp and in challenges. But voting for Tracy after all of that? I'm at a loss for words. I feel like I need to rewatch the episode in order to figure if we were even shown how he felt safe enough to basically throw his vote away and risk his own concept being foiled by himself.
Bottom line on Joel: I do not see that he's smart enough to consolidate the group and deal with whatever fallout materializes post-TC. Maybe the Fans' tribe would have done better as a tribe with Mikey & Mary at the helm. Joel recognized they were a threat to his chances, and saw to it they were split up. I think the problem is that Joel isn't up to the task of leading the tribe.
Bottom line with the Fans tribe: they are fractured and cliquish. I think the strongest group, funnily enough, will prove to be the threesome of Kathy, Tracy and Chet, who separated themselves from the big group. I really like Tracy and hope she manages to entice a couple more people to vote with them in a solid block. Even Kathy is starting to seem less bizarre. And as for Chet, his lack of confessional to explain his actions in Ep 2 hopefully means he just won't be around very long to worry about.
The Favorites
When it comes to this group, perhaps Episode 2 is when the most focus is on those who don't win. In the Faves' case that would be Cirie, Jonathan, Ozzy & Amanda.
What about Cirie? She scored the largest amount of facetime of her tribemates, but I do not see her emerging as a major mover shaker. What do we know about her? We know she wasn't anyone's first choice for a 4-person alliance, and we know the one who tries to swing from one group to another is usually eliminated before F5. In episode 2, she was chosen in the challenge twist to accompany the losers' own choice, Kathy, to Exile Island. A good deal of time was spent on this segment, in part because the whole EI scenario had been tweaked, in part because the pair was able to solve the clues they found right up to the point when they were supposed to find the idol.
Did they find it? I doubt it. Instead, a lot of time was lavished on Cirie's reactions to swimming back and forth between the little islands. It wasn't really that earth-shattering or revelatory, unless Cirie's theme this season is that she runs out of steam just before she is successful. Yes, she was bubbly and sweet and had some funny lines. But I was disappointed. Despite a few entertaining moments, I came away feeling like Cirie is just going through the motions and isn't truly motivated to succeed. Watching her and Kathy swim back and forth and then to not see one of them triumphantly finding the idol is very bad for them. MB hasn't hidden it from us when someone finds the HII. He wants us to be in on it, so we can enjoy what happens later, when the finder shares his find with allies, or deflects questions from other people about the idol. When it isn't found, we get nothing. The exiled don't usually appear to say, "Nope, didn't find it."
Now, Jonathan seemed to have had a solid appearance both eps, but could he be a distraction? I think he's a classic narrator, describing other people's actions and who is pissed off by them. Jonathan's edit so far is not that of a winner. He could even be gone before the merge if he keeps up this level of visibility.
A moment to digress and give condolences to Ami fans. True, she didn't get much facetime in this 2nd episode. If my theory is correct, that might be good news. However, she also didn't receive enough solid facetime when she really should have, in the Fave-centric first episode. Being so under-developed after two episodes makes me think she will have "her moment," but she isn't going to win. She needed something substantial in the first episode and really didn't get it.
Of course, what could be worse than getting the kind of facetime Ozzy & Amanda received in episode 2? Sure, we saw some lovely illustrations of Ozzy clam-diving (hahaha), but the clams were actually the stars of that footage. After assuring us that they won't allow their attraction for each other to interfere with their game, they made out onscreen for 15 minutes! I mean Ozzy & Amanda, not the clams! (oops!) Best laid plan of men and rats, eh? I'm certainly convinced of their attraction to each other. All that kissing without the benefit of mouthwash or toothpaste! What we do know is Jonathan and Cirie weren't the only ones expressing contempt of the lovers' shenanigans. MB instructed his editors to illustrate the tender lovemaking with images of rats having a cuddle. I mean, I suppose it's possible the rats were supposed to symbolize Jonathan and Cirie gathering round the fire in the middle of the night to bemoan the lovers' rudeness, but it doesn't feel likely. I'm just happy that my meal ticket Parvati did not receive such treatment concerning her flirtation with James.
Actually, what I really hope is that the first Survivor baby was conceived that night. I'd even bet $1 Canadian that Amanda appears on the Reunion show roughly 7-8 months' pregnant. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
Thanks for reading. I've set this forum up so that anyone may post, so let's see if it worked! Please feel free to add your thoughts & comments to this thread, if you can
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