Survivor: Second Chances

[awesome possum]

The season just finished filming about a week ago and now the first bit of information has been released: tribe names and make up.

Bayon Tribe:

Savage, Jeremy, Joe, Keith, Stephen, Ciera, Kass, Kimmi, Monica, Tasha

Ta Keo Tribe:

Varner, Spencer, Terry, Vytas, Woo, Abi, Kelly, Kelley, Peih-Gee, Shirin

I've seen some social media posts by contestants since they returned, and almost all of them look like they've been through hell. Cambodia is apparently one of the roughest filming locations ever in the show (so much so that season 32, an all newbies season which already filmed, saw at least three people sent to the hospital during/after filming).

[Howdyphillip]

The season just finished filming about a week ago and now the first bit of information has been released: tribe names and make up.

Although I am delighted to hear of this, and I don't mind seeing this information at all, it is a spoiler. Could you please put it in spoiler tags?

Now... On to my speculation based on this.

It looks to me that most of the pregame alliances were separated. I have the power alliances as Spencer/Kass/Monica/Tasha vs Abi/Varner/Terry/Savage/

Shane (who didn't make the show). It looks to me like Spencer and Savage could be in real trouble, and so is Savage... Still, I think the first boot is going to be between Shirin, Kimmi, or Wigglesworth.

[Howdyphillip]

So... I recently became Facebook friends with Dan Foley from the "dirty thirty" and he posted a four hour interview with Survivor Oz

 

https://survivoroz.wordpress.com/2015/07/15/dan-foley-interview/

 

I know most of you don't have four hours, but it was probably the best Survivor interview I have ever heard. The behind the scenes look was absolutely fascinating. 

[awesome possum]

I'll try to give that a listen, I just hope Dan has realized how much of an ass he's come across - not just on the show but after it.  The guy made the rounds immediately after the finale, whining and complaining about how unfair the edit treated him while acting exactly like what we saw on television.  He came across as the poster child for lack of self-awareness, like the lovechild of Michael Scott and Andy Bernard.  

[Howdyphillip]

Below is a spoiler. It is an interview with survivors that will be participating in this season about pregame alliances. It was filmed before the game started, so it will only give you insight into what players were thinking going into the game

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pddDGIVQK7s

[brAnthelAstgreenseer]

Below is a spoiler. It is an interview with survivors that will be participating in this season about pregame alliances. It was filmed before the game started, so it will only give you insight into what players were thinking going into the game

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pddDGIVQK7s

I dunno how much pre-game alliance is going to affect in the actual game .  In Blood vs Water clearly Aras had it with Gervase  and we know how that turned out .

 

 

I saw an interesting article about the hidden immunity idols this season , apparently they are going to be very different from last time . They will not look the same , some of the idols might look like they were made by a young kid . I like the idea . 

[Howdyphillip]

I dunno how much pre-game alliance is going to affect in the actual game .  In Blood vs Water clearly Aras had it with Gervase  and we know how that turned out .

 

 

I saw an interesting article about the hidden immunity idols this season , apparently they are going to be very different from last time . They will not look the same , some of the idols might look like they were made by a young kid . I like the idea . 

About the idols, Here is a podcast from Rob Cesternino that talks about that in detail. It is an hour and a half long, but it really goes into what will happen during the season without actual spoilers.

 

http://robhasawebsite.com/survivor-2015-cambodia-second-chance-cast-release-pre-season-josh-wigler/

 

[spoiler] The actual idols will also be found during challenges. Clues will be hidden in camps to let players know exactly when and where they can be reached while they are playing. [/spoiler]

[Scrambled Aegon]

Ooh pre-game stuff warrants a spoiler tag? Alright then.

 

[spoiler]lol @ Jeff Varner's massive fucking network of pre-game alliances. I hope it serves him well. He and Shirin also both say that while they're aligned with Spencer, they want to take him out, so that's comforting. I love how set Jeff is on targeting Spencer due basically just to Spencer's crotch. <3 I think on the Bayon tribe, Jeremy and Savage will instantly team up, because Jeremy has talked about wanting alpha males around. Ciera and Monica both want to target strong guys first, though, I imagine Kass would do the same, and Kimmi has to do it to survive. I think Tasha has said she wants to take out women for some reason, but Stephen and Savage are both going to be targeting each other at the outset. I think it'll come down to what Keith wants to do, which... lol. Joe could end up with the alpha guys - Jeremy will certainly want him to - but I dunno, he's way athletic but not an alpha personality, and I feel like he'd end up getting along better with people like Ciera and Monica than with Andrew Savage.

 

The other tribe it'll depend a lot on what Jeff Varner wants to do I guess, since his entire fucking pre-game network is on his tribe lol.

 

I was surprised Spencer/Kass and Jeff/Kimmi weren't on the same tribe but it makes sense now that I think about it. I wish Jeff and Kimmi were because he wants to keep her safe, but oh well.[/spoiler]

 

My current ranking of the 20 contestants based basically just on how excited I am to see them again or who I'd want to go far and all that:

20) Vytas - Boring sleazy sexist trash. Hopefully other people recognize it and he's more Albert than Brian Heidik, but I'm very worried about the possibility of Vytas going very far and have been ever since he was revealed to be in the pool. Vytas going far and winning with a Heidik-esque edit could really, really mar this season for me.

19) Terry - Seems like a likable enough dude that I'll probably enjoy him more than I did the first time, but I dunno, that's not saying much and I'll never be rooting for him, and I think he'll gravitate towards alpha/athletic types that I'm not really interested in seeing do as well on this season.

18) Spencer - Meh. Ew if he gets a major edit due to Big Moves, but mostly I just don't care either way, because he was uninteresting or annoying in basically every episode of Cagayan, but he's cool on social media since then, so it could go either way. Could see him ranking higher or lower when all is said and done.

17) Kelley - Kind of softening on her over time because she seems just unhinged enough to be a dynamic casting choice, and it is conceptually interesting to have someone taken out by a swap brought back, even if it's not as interesting as a T-Bird return. So we'll see.

16) Peih-Gee - Not one I care about either way really, but her campaigning was fun and has me pretty convinced I'll like her more by the time the season is over. Right now she could win and I wouldn't be upset, she could be the first boot and I wouldn't be disappointed. I don't really care either way.

15) Joe - I hope Joe continues his pattern of just sitting there and looking pretty while aligning himself with more entertaining and likable people.

14) Jeremy - Jeremy could be better or he could be way worse than this ranking. If he goes into BIG MOVES and STUDENT OF THE GAME stuff, that'll probably be pretty icky, but his episode three performance where he called out John Rocker has me convinced he's more of an emotional player than he'd like to let on. If it stays that way, he could be a great addition to the season. If not, he can go out first or second and the season will be better for it.

13) Savage - I can't imagine he'll align with many of the contestants I like more than him, and he seems to be really, really bad at talking to the cameras. But still, it's conceptually interesting to have him finally return, and it took way too long for a Morgan repeat appearance when Pearl Islands is like the greatest season ever.

12) Tasha - Mostly just ranks this high because I called her winning season thirty-two pretty soon after Cagayan aired, so if that happens, I'll be thrilled. <3 And I think she might be more fun than we saw the first time around.

11) Abi-Maria - lol. She'll be fun for like three episodes. Would love to see her go even further, though, but I don't expect it so I can't get too invested. Entertaining cannon fodder.

10) Ciera - I'm kind of bugged that Ciera's on this season, because if she were on, like, HvV2, I could totally root for her all the way. Here, I don't think she totally fits the theme a ton (and while contestants like Keith/Abi/Kass don't, I'm okay with that because they're so actively un-gamebotty that they're sort of needed anyway) and I think she could have been brought back with more justification elsewhere, so I wouldn't feel comfortable rooting for her over some of those above her who really are "second chance" material. I wish they'd saved her. ...That said, pretty much everything she ever says or does is fantastic, so who cares? Ciera is fucking awesome. <3

9) Woo - Adorable dude who will give fun confessionals and probably make the season a little lighter and I'm totally good with all of that. I really like Woo and am thrilled to see him on the show again.

8) Kass - I'm pretty sure that absolutely anything Kass does will be amazing; I'm just not sure what it is she'll do or how long she'll be able to last, so it's kind of hard to rank her higher, but this season definitely needs her.

7) Kelly - No idea what to expect here but it's way interesting that we're going to see her again.

6) Stephen - It took like two seconds of watching Stephen talk to remember how adorable he is. His total excitement about everything is so infectious. I don't want him to win, but I would like for him to go really far and would much rather see him as the central "strategic" type over Spencer, Jeremy, or Vytas.

5) Keith - *spits*

4) Shirin - Absolutely fantastic virtually every time she ever says or does anything. <3 The top 3 is just even stronger, but I'd be thrilled to see Shirin go far or even win. The long off-season prevents her return from feeling as soon as it is.

3) Monica - I can't fucking believe this is happening <333 I worry that she might overcompensate and try to make Hantzian BIG MOVES, but I think she's probably smarter than that. If she doesn't go that route, and if she doesn't get underedited, I'll love her every step of the way. The fact that three Galu members have returned is amazing, and I really hope it paves the way for more. I look forward to Erik Cardona's breakout into Survivor superstardom on S36: Fans vs. Favorites III.

2) Jeff - It's only just setting in for me that this is actually the same Jeff Varner as on Australia. Jeff totally needed to return post-Australia, but with them never bringing him back, I kind of figured they wouldn't, that it'd been too long. But he was brought back by producers, he was voted back by fans, which could pave the way for other old-school returns (Deena, John Carroll, Neleh, Teresa!)... but even more than that, I'm thrilled that he got a second chance after so long, and I really, really like him. Every single pre-show interview with him is fascinating and amazing and reaffirms that he has a lot of the fun of his Australia self but with a lot more maturity that bodes well for his chances in the game. I am way interested to see how this plays out, since he seemed to be on a more "strategic" level in Australia, but now it's a different game and he's way more mature. And his campaign was fantastic.

1) Kimmi - I don't know why the fuck Survivor producers thought to ask back Kimmi or why fans voted her in - really similar to Monica - but she's such an obscure pick and such an entertaining contestant that I have to freaking love this. Do I think she'll go far? I don't know. But I'm going to be rooting for both Kuchas every step of the way.

[Criston of House Shapper]

This is really a fun cast, but basically the only people I can see winning are Kimmi, PG, Monica, Abi, Vytas, Woo or Tasha, the others will just be targetted at some point, especially the males. I think it will be Kimmi, noone's coming after her and she seems to be better suited to the modern game.

[Scrambled Aegon]

The mystery of why Woo was called "Weasel Woo" had been revealed:

 

http://insidesurvivor.com/2015/09/the-mystery-of-weasel-woo/

[Scrambled Aegon]

NOOO, ALL OUR ANDREW SAVAGE DEBATES GONE!!!!!!

 

In more exciting, non-Savage news, Laura "Luara" Morett is running to be an Oregon state representative...

http://lauramorettfororegon.com/

 

I do not agree with her politically but I am still sort of rooting for her because I find the idea of her launching a political career pretty entertaining. But I'm not in Oregon so mostly I'm just sitting here with some popcorn.

[Howdyphillip]

NOOO, ALL OUR ANDREW SAVAGE DEBATES GONE!!!!!!

 

In more exciting, non-Savage news, Laura "Luara" Morett is running to be an Oregon state representative...

http://lauramorettfororegon.com/

 

I do not agree with her politically but I am still sort of rooting for her because I find the idea of her launching a political career pretty entertaining. But I'm not in Oregon so mostly I'm just sitting here with some popcorn.

That is funny. This was the first thing that I thought of when the new board popped up. We lost all of that good stuff about Savage and an entire season here.

 

In other news.... I am going to miss Chaos Kass. She got Shii Anned with the early merge... (Shii Ann Huang was screwed over by a non merge in Thailand, the worst season of all time). 

[Scrambled Aegon]

Eh, I'd say either Kass or especially Shii Ann were equally screwed over by their failure to form good relationships. If Shii Ann had been in a better position on her tribe, she wouldn't have been voted out then anyway.

[Howdyphillip]

Eh, I'd say either Kass or especially Shii Ann were equally screwed over by their failure to form good relationships. If Shii Ann had been in a better position on her tribe, she wouldn't have been voted out then anyway.

Well, if they didn't merge with historically high numbers in all likelihood Savage would have been voted out this week, and Kass would have made it fairly deep in the game. People have said she was well liked this season.

 

Also, Shii Ann was smart enough to realize she was on the bottom of her alliance and flipped. This is the right move for her. She was established well in her alliance and would have been fine if not for the fact that the merge was fake. 

[Gertrude]

In order to fill the Savage void left in all our hearts, I will add a nugget. I was talking to my parents this weekend about who they were rooting for (Spencer) and Savage's name didn't come up. I asked specifically about him and my dad wrinkled his nose and said ..... eh. I thought I liked him at first, but now ... I'm fine with him going out soon. My completely scientific and incontrovertible proof that Savage is a bit pompous and whiny.

[Scrambled Aegon]

I got the sense in this episode that Kass was more of an outsider than previous episodes let on, since she and Ciera both seemed to be going full Hail Mary very early? I don't know. And Shii Ann really wasn't in an alliance; she just wasn't in the minority alliance of 3, but she didn't really have connections to Sook Jai, and if they'd merged at 10 she'd just have Cochranned to 6th. So she did get shafted of that I guess but she was always going to be on the bottom of one side or another anyway with how rigid that season was.

 

Oh, he's definitely a bit pompous and whiny, after this last episode in particular. I just think those aren't always bad things to have on the show. I prefer to think of it as intense and competitive. <3

 

Also, this ad was on the Survivor Facebook page and just.... ew. No spoilers; spoiler-tagged for length.

 

 

 

That's just.... such an absurd oversimplification of... everything. There wasn't strategy in the first seasons?? That's when they were building it - Kelly on this season lost because she wouldn't own up to being strategic; the winner of Jeff and Kimmi's season won specifically for being seen as the most strategic! Everything about Brian Heidik (ew) and most of Marquesas! The freaking Amazon and Pearl Islands! It's just... so patently false on every level to say they weren't building strategy in the earliest seasons. If by "old-school" the ad means "the Pagong scenes in the very first few episodes", then sure, but I don't see Gretchen Cordy here. It clearly does not mean that.

 

This is setting it up like "old-school Survivor" (I now cringe at that phrase because of this season) just consisted of people sitting around camp voting based off of who wasn't making fires or something, which... is so untrue on every level (and wait, are we implying they don't need to make fires now? lolwtf?) and is perpetuating the idea that early players were dumb or something until we had, like, Parvati or Russell Hantz or whotfever else to shed light on Survivor. And as someone who cares about the history of the show, that is very annoying to me!! Do I care too much? I probably care too much.

 

Except now this is also making me realize, like... is the only reason we brought back Kelly and Kimmi so we could ignore them and focus on how much ~MORE STRATEGIC~ Spencer Bledsoe allegedly is? Did we only vote on Kelly and Terry to see them made fun of for allegedly not knowing strategy just by virtue of having been on an early season? If so then maybe all those people coming back doesn't bode as well for the John Carrolls and Deena Bennetts of Survivor as I'd hoped it might, and it's almost enough to make me wish they weren't on here at all. (Which, in the case of Kelly and Kimmi, they might as well not be!!) :|

 

Buuut I'm trying to remain optimistic, I don't think that "old-schoolerz r dumb" has really been perpetuated in the content of the actual episodes too much - a little, but not enough that I've felt the need to really comment on it before - and everything fb.com/survivor ever posts is always exceptionally dumb. So I won't worry too much. That particular picture is just worrying w/r/t what the next episode may actually entail, if it's some kind of "Look at Kelly, trying to make sure people don't starve to death when she COULD be counting numbers in the sand! Ha ha, what an idiot!" thing.

 

eta: And camp life and strategy aren't even mutually exclusive! obv. Like, probably 80% of why Richard won is because he a strong provider around camp... which he did as a strategy because he knew it would keep him around. Same for Brian - being a hard worker around camp is how he got alliances and how he won the jury vote after breaking them. They overlap constantly. Kelly Wiglesworth is at one complete and utter extreme, further than maybe every other contestant in Survivor history not named Gabe or Gretchen. (And even with Gretchen, it seems awfully convenient that "Vote off 'the weak' and 'the undeserving'" happens to mean "Vote off people who aren't like Gretchen"...)

[Kyoshi]

I hate the new forum.

 

EDIT: This is also a test-post.

[Jace, Extat]

That is funny. This was the first thing that I thought of when the new board popped up. We lost all of that good stuff about Savage and an entire season here.

 

In other news.... I am going to miss Chaos Kass. She got Shii Anned with the early merge... (Shii Ann Huang was screwed over by a non merge in Thailand, the worst season of all time). 

Worse than China? I stopped watching that season partway through when a tribe hid the puzzle pieces in a challenge to get the guy who was feeding them voted off so that their friend on a different tribe would 'have their backs'.

[Howdyphillip]

 

Worse than China? I stopped watching that season partway through when a tribe hid the puzzle pieces in a challenge to get the guy who was feeding them voted off so that their friend on a different tribe would 'have their backs'.

China was one of my top ten seasons. James was an idiot who got voted out with two immunity idols in his bag. Todd Herzog is in the top 5 winners of all time and may be even higher. Phei Gee, (the person who unsuccessfully tried to throw those challenges), was a smart and capable player who I was glad to see play again. Courtney Yates was absolute television gold in that season, and finally it introduced my all time Survivor crush Amanda Kimmel. 

 Thailand featured a true sociopath winner who was later discovered to have been in porn. He also just happened to get arrested for shooting dogs with a bow and arrow. It also contained a story with one male contestant molesting a female contestant and overall had the most unlikable cast of all time. 

[Scrambled Aegon]

Yeah this new forum is garbage. Am I an idiot missing something or is there no way to preview your posts/open a full reply page? (This is the only thread I visit like 95% of the time since I still have to finish ADWD.) At least the icons aren't all empty boxes anymore. But even aside from those bugs it's just clunky and hideous.