343 replies to this topic

[grozeng]

Starts tonight.

3 returning castaways that were taken out for being injured (glad one is not Colton)

A former Baseball MVP

A former Facts of Life star

Not putting names in case someone wants to be surprised although they have all been revealed already.

I am real glad that Mike is back.  I was really rooting for him during his season (well 2 names in the post - but tried to stay away from Spoiling anything)

[The Wedge]

grozeng, on 19 September 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

A former Facts of Life star

Clooney in nothing but a Survivor buff.  I'm in!

[pat5150]

Dear God, all I'm asking for is a bunch of men and women there to play the game and go all the way. . .

Patrick

[Fiddler]

pat5150, on 19 September 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

Dear God, all I'm asking for is a bunch of men and women there to play the game and go all the way. . .

Patrick

I hear you there.  I am tired of all these people that have no clue how to play the game and just ride someone else to the end.

I want to see 2 tribes with nothing but Coaches and Russells, lol.

[Howdyphillip]

It actually looks like a fairly decent cast this year. They still have a bunch of eye candy that will be cannibalized rather quickly, but it looks like they have a number of people there that want to play the game as well.

I think they are going with a three tribe format to start off. That would mean one returning gimpy player per team.

[Arbor Goldson]

pat5150, on 19 September 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

Dear God, all I'm asking for is a bunch of men and women there to play the game and go all the way. . .

Same here, if only to prevent you from continually posting about how bad the season is and how you stopped watching it.  

I'm pretty sure last year I declared that I was finished with this show and not watching it ever again yet I squeeled when I heard that the premiere is 90 minutes.  Not really a spoiler but just in case - a comment by Jeff Probst from the tv guide channel Survivor preview (yeah I watched it on youtube):

Spoiler

He mentioned that they were trying to shake things up to prevent the boring old "align with five people and go the end" strategy.

[RedEyedGhost]

Arbur Goldarelli, on 19 September 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

I'm pretty sure last year I declared that I was finished with this show and not watching it ever again

I took a much needed break from the show, and haven't watched it at all the past two seasons.  I am excited to watch it again including the returning cast.  Hopefully I won't be get fed up with idiots "playing" the no-play game.

[pat5150]

Well, I'm excited!

It's the first time since Heroes vs Villains that right from the start it looks as though it will be a very good season!!

Dumbass Zane. . .

Patrick

[Howdyphillip]

A few notes from tonight's episode...

Blair (I refuse to call her Lisa because she will ALWAYS be Blair to me) is toast. This poor woman is so far out of her element that the Facts of her Life is going to be a really short stay.

Skupin can win a million dollars if he doesn't chop his own leg off, or burn himself to death this time.

Penner is on a team that is not going to let him play at all. I don't think he will last even if he finds an immunity idol. If you are in a mad scramble to find one on the first vote, you might as well bow out and go to the catering tent.

Jeff Kent is out of touch with reality... If you don't want to use your celebrity status to keep a low profile, then why in the hell would you tell your tribe that you are rich enough to own a ranch?

Russell is safe for a while because his tribe is smart enough to know that they need his brawn in immunity challenges. When the tribes shake up, I can see him making the merge.

Zane would have made a really good player if he was in any kind of physical shape to actually play the game. I don't think he was as dumb as the editing did him justice.

Final thoughts... I can't remember her name, but when did they start letting 12 year old girls play the game, and when did 12 year olds start getting fake breasts?

[SpaceChampion]

Zane was right, nobody every played like that before.  Good job, genius!

[grozeng]

Howdyphillip, on 19 September 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

A few notes from tonight's episode...

Blair (I refuse to call her Lisa because she will ALWAYS be Blair to me) is toast. This poor woman is so far out of her element that the Facts of her Life is going to be a really short stay.

Blair was on the local radio station this morning and said she hired a former Navy Seal to show her how to swim in the ocean, she went on Survivalist training to learn how to make fire and survive in the wild, hired a personal traier to get in shape and went to a therapist to help with the mental part of the game.  Then she said once she got there it all went out the window and she started getting personally involved with the people and forgot her strategy.

[The girl with curious hair]

It looks like we have some men in this cast who actually want and know how to play the game. Last season....OH MAN! All of them were fucking idiots. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

Zane though. Dude, you do not put yourself in the fucking spotlight and say, "I know I did horribly. I can't contribute to the team. YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU SHOULD VOTE ME OUT!"  WTFuckingFUCK? Strategy? More like stupidity.

[Howdyphillip]

The girl with curious hair, on 19 September 2012 - 10:12 PM, said:

Zane though. Dude, you do not put yourself in the fucking spotlight and say, "I know I did horribly. I can't contribute to the team. YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU SHOULD VOTE ME OUT!"  WTFuckingFUCK? Strategy? More like stupidity.

I actually believe that was his best strategy, and it almost worked. He wasn't telling the tribe anything that they hadn't already figured out. It was acutely obvious that he was the weakest person on the tribe physically and could not preform in immunity challenges at all. He had to go the likeable, honest route and try to swing the first vote Russell's way.

[Myrddin]

I haven't watched this show since season two, so I was pleasantly surprised to pause in my channel flipping to see Michael. He was great in the Outback.

Wonder how many pigs he's going to kill this time.

[The Wedge]

Howdyphillip, on 20 September 2012 - 03:44 AM, said:

I actually believe that was his best strategy, and it almost worked. He wasn't telling the tribe anything that they hadn't already figured out. It was acutely obvious that he was the weakest person on the tribe physically and could not preform in immunity challenges at all. He had to go the likeable, honest route and try to swing the first vote Russell's way.

If he wanted to stay, Zane's best strategy would have been to band with the women and say, "Yeah! I am awesome at puzzles, but Russell made me run.... you wanted to run, but Russell made you do the puzzle, as you have pointed out many times!  I'm on board with taking Russell out."

Never put a target on your own back or point out a weakness like you've just stopped smoking cold turkey and can't run.  Especially this early in the game.   Heck, they completely pointed this tactic out at the top of the show when Jeff Kent made a huge point to hide his injury.  Never let them smell blood in the water if you can help it.

grozeng, on 19 September 2012 - 09:05 PM, said:

Blair [....] Then she said once she got there it all went out the window and she started getting personally involved with the people and forgot her strategy.

I saw her problem more that she *wasn't* getting personally involved with her tribemates.  She seemed so into hiding her identity that she was avoiding interactions.  Perhaps just editing, but I'd think a player would want to start bonding with as many people as quickly as possible.

Also, once one person finds out who you are in real life, just own up to it.  Keeping it hidden only gives power to the person who knows you're trying to keep something (fairly innocuous) hidden.  Dumb strategy.

Edited by The Wedge, 20 September 2012 - 07:24 AM.

[Gronzag]

Jesus, Angie is sooo hot! I'm already in love, although i still love Chelsea more. I hope Angie stays until the very end

[awesome possum]

Hah, Angie is dogmeat.  She'll be the one bawling about wanting to go home around Day 7.

The rest of the cast looks pretty decent though, which I'm happy for.  Not because of the television it should produce, as I've enjoyed every season of Survivor that I've watched, but because we won't have to put up with the incessant whining in this thread.  But it does look like there are quite a few people who know what they're doing and are there to play.  Though I disagree with a statement above that the coattail riders don't know how to play.  That's a very valid strategy, especially if you end up in an alliance with a strong alpha type who demands to make all the decisions... and ends up the people everyone hates/detests because they make those decisions.  If I had the choice between doing all the hard work and losing in the end or being seen as a phony coattail rider, being carried to the end but walking away with a million bucks because everyone hated/didn't respect the leader... it's really not a decision I'd have to make at all no matter how I intended to play the game.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Skupin's tribe will be the dominant tribe.  Judging from past edits, they usually focus on a group making an alliance Day 1 for a reason: because that alliance sticks.  I have no doubt, if Penner somehow manages to make it through to a merge or tribal swap, he'll join with them in a heartbeat.  I also don't think Lisa is as toast as the preview for next week made it seem.  I think she gets her act together and becomes a big part of that tribe, if only because Skupin has this obvious boyhood crush on her.

RC is going to be our villain or at least the player we love to hate.  She just has this weaselly vibe about her.

Malcolm is going to be an entertaining player to watch.  He's a bit full of himself, but I think he's going to make some moves.

Someone above mentioned they did the three tribes to avoid the powerful 5-person alliance, but I think they need to go further.  At the beginning of every immunity challenge they should mix up the tribes.  Make everyone drop their buff and pick a colored stone out of a bag, that's the new tribe for the next three days.

[Reposado]

awesome possum, on 20 September 2012 - 07:49 AM, said:

RC is going to be our villain or at least the player we love to hate.  She just has this weaselly vibe about her.

yeah, she comes across as playing way too hard

[Gertrude]

I agree, this looks like a good cast (crosses fingers). Zane was a dumb ass. Sure, I can see where he was going with his strategy, but he took it too far. He could have made the gesture, then been 'persuaded' to stay. He'd still be the next one on the block, however, so meh. I'm glad he's gone - I was getting the feeling that I wouldn't like him much and that he'd be around forever.

I do like Malcolm. He seems to have a level head on him. Also, have to root for Denise the sex therapist. She's a hometown girl and seems to be in a good place, so yay!

I will be rooting for Lisa, I admit, I am a fan. And I like Skupin, so really want them to work together. Especially against RC. Agreed - she is weasely. I like Penner, but man does he play so freakin hard. There really is no subtlety to him. I don't think I would trust him in an alliance so would probably want him gone as well. (in game)

Russell really doesn't have what it takes to do well in this game. He's muscle, but once you don't need him anymore, he doesn't offer anything else and I don't think he's sharp enough to take any kind of control to save himself.

Edited by Gertrude, 20 September 2012 - 04:40 PM.

[Cuellar]

Was an interesting first episode, and smart of them to make it 1 1/2 hours.  Plus the 3 tribes makes it much more interesting because there are a lot more long-term options for the tribes, plus people can't be total shitheads because they at some point will convert to 2 tribes and everyone knows their alliance will break up. That being said, last season was a pretty good example where the alliance worked through the merges and still kicked ass (mostly because the guys were idiots).   We could easily be in for 2-3 merges this season which will be exciting. I'm also glad we don't have any exile island bullshit.

Zane was actually pretty funny. I liked the guy, but his stupidity (probably editing) was pretty epic.  He was a perfect person to put on this show because it shows all of us sitting at home how hard this game can actually be. Everyone this season seems to be full of themselves and is "guarenteed teh million dollars" according to the interviews.

Russell is gone soon. I can't see him lasting because he can't keep his mouth shut even though he knows he should.  The fact that he forced his team members into roles they were unsuitable for seems really odd. I'd have thought folks at camp would have spent 5 minutes before the challenge saying "Gee, who's good at puzzles and who is not? Who sucks at swimming?"  That way when you got to the challenge you know who your top 3 swimmers are, top 3 athletes/agile folks, and top 3 puzzle people. And you could easily work out who HAS to do one activity, IE Ozzie is the swimming king, so always make him do that or clibming, make Rob do puzzles (Penner seemed pretty good).  Maybe all the teams besides Russell's did that...

I kinda like the investment banker chick, RC.  She may be playing hard, but she's not aggressive in assuming some sort of leadership position as far as I can tell, which usually is great. She could easily make one of the hulky guys take that roll and let them get their head chopped off.  I'm glad Michael caught on to it and was keeping his options open, since he'd be the first guy on the chopping block.

Angie seemed pretty naive. I'm sure she'll last for a while since she seems athletic and will fly under the radar AND she actually voted with the tribe for Zane. Had she voted for Russell, I'd have thought she was an idiot and would be gone pretty quick, but she was quiet with her opinions even though the cameras played it up.