343 replies to this topic

[awesome possum]

The thing about Russell is that he was the exact same way in Samoa.  He was really grating on his tribe's nerves, but they kept winning and winning cures most if not all ills.

[The Wedge]

awesome possum, on 21 September 2012 - 03:28 PM, said:

The thing about Russell is that he was the exact same way in Samoa.  He was really grating on his tribe's nerves, but they kept winning and winning cures most if not all ills.

Yeah, playing straightforward and carrying the load like Russell does is great.... until he's blindfolded and damn near dies during a challenge.

He needs to heed his own advice and let others lead for a while.  But from what we've seen, I'm not sure he's the type to do that.

And as an aside, Russell is killing it with the Stevie Wonder style receding hair line braids.

[pat5150]

I don't Russell can help it.

Also, he sort of fell in everyone's opinion when they realized that he wants to lead but can't really do shit. From day one, some of them perceived him as some sort of buffon who thinks he knows it all. If Russell can't deliver and they lose the next challenge, he's gone. The guy has nothing going for him right now. . .

Patrick

[Tears of Lys]

I can't believe I missed the opening episode of Survivor yet AGAIN.

I'm off to watch it on teh Intrawebz - sounds like it's going to be a good season.  Thank the GODS.

[Gronzag]

Russell simply loves to give orders but he doesn't want the responsibility.

[Black Wolf Smith]

I just didn't like it. They brought back 3 players I liked when they played but I didn't like anybody on there, well maybe Lisa, but in the previews she about to cry.

[pat5150]

Good news! We're not the only one who enjoyed the first episode.

It racked up 11.37 million viewers, which means that it got better ratings than any episode from last season of Survivor. . .

Patrick

[Ken Stone]

Russell is pretty funny.  "I'm not the leader, we don't need a leader.  That being said, you do that, you do that, after that do that, then we will take a 5 minute water break, and then you do that....."

I liked Zane so I was sad to see him go.  I thought it was pretty ingenious to do they whole "Just send me home".  Usually when people say that everyone is trying to get them to stay.  It would have been pretty epic if it would have worked.  I sort of wonder if he didn't actually want to leave.

[awesome possum]

I think he did.  He was not in any type of physical shape for just the camp life portion of the game let alone the grueling challenges, but he had personality and a half so I understand why he was cast.

Russell's mistake is not embracing who he is, and he is a bossy loud mouth.  His former career was as a personal trainer, so he's used to telling people what to do in physical situations.  Now he's shot himself in the foot and even though he's the strongest person on his tribe, he has very little chance of lasting unless they switch up tribes almost immediately.

[SpaceChampion]

"She's got some boob thing going on."

"It's literally a booby trap."

"She show'd the boobs.  Somebody will fall for it."

"Please don't be blinded by the headlights."

"What? What?"

Edited by SpaceChampion, 26 September 2012 - 09:41 PM.

[Gertrude]

While I see why Roxy was voted out, I don't think it was a clear cut choice. Roxy came off as quite the self-righteous bitch. She worried that they were working too hard, she had a mini-breakdown, and she didn't take care of herself enough to perform in challenges. Those are all very good reasons to vote her out. However, when you have four left on your tribe and two of them are are seen as a couple ... that's scary, Especially since Angie is not much better than Roxy in terms of challenge value. I'd say she's marginally better, but her mind is not in the game. (cookies? wtf) Then again, Roxy's attitude was pretty crap. Both pretty useless, but at least Angie tried I guess. Yeah, I'd probably have gone into tribal wanting to vote the smugness out of Roxy, but Angie's cookies comment would have made me think hard. I can see Denise's angle, but I'm sure Russell voted just to stay good with Denise. If not then he's an idiot.

I am HOPING that if it comes down to another vote, Malcolm can see the strategic move is to vote Angie out. We don't know how close they really are and he's really trying to overcome his hormones - it's just not working that well at the moment. I wonder if he feels safer now, or if he will wake up and cut ties with Angie.

Seriously though guys, I would like to understand. This shit comes up all the time. I understand hormones, I've been there. However, in this situation is it that hard to get it under control? I don't mean this to sound patronizing, but I'm aware that it probably does. I'm also aware it's a person to person basis on how you deal with it, but I just ... gah! It's so transparent and I hate it. The booby-trapper as well as trappee. I've never been a fan of females who use the flirt card to get ahead in anything. (it's why it took me a long time to appreciate that Parvati is a sharp player)

eta: ok, so Penner has the idol. Big whoop. If he goes to more than one tribal, it won't be doing him much good anyway since they all know/suspect he hasn't hid the fact that he was looking. Also, how do you now explain away the missing rice box ornament? I'm wondering if there would have been a way to secure it back on and take it at a later time when it's not as obvious that it was he who took it. Now that it looks like he will probably survive til a shuffle (cause it can't be too far away) then it looks better for him, but really, he hasn't done anything to make allies that we've seen

Edited by Gertrude, 27 September 2012 - 01:23 AM.

[Gronzag]

Im glad that Angie is still in the game. She's very hot, and for me that's enough. Denise and Penner are now my favorites even though i know that Penner will be voted out very soon

[The Wedge]

Penner's Alan Alda / Howard Stern voice annoys the crap out of me.  I hope he gets blindsided while keeping the idol in his pocket.

[DivisionByZero]

I can definitely empathize with Malcolm.  Sure, a million dollars is on the line, but if a girl that hot was wrapping herself around me, I admit it would be a little hard keep sight of that.  I do think people's assumption that couples are the most dangerous thing in the game to be a bit overblown.  Obvious couple "alliances" like that shouldn't be much of a threat at all, really.  They're right there in the open, easily seen by everyone and as long as you have at least three other people, a two person alliance will lose every time.  Although, knowing people's somewhat irrational hatred of couples, it certainly would have been smarter to not hang out together on the beach as much as they seemed to show those two...  Snuggle if you must, but be sure to hang out with everyone else during the day.

Also, why is everyone making fun of the cookies answer?  It was a bit out there, but not as far as most people seem to be making it out to be.  Once they start offering reward only challenges and food auctions and things like that, they pretty much always offer comfort foods like cookies.  Particularly in that first week when people are still getting acclimated to the game, and specifically after losing two challenges, a bit of comfort food to boost spirits is actually a pretty good change to ask for.  Although, Angie probably wasn't thinking that; she was probably just giving an airheaded answer...

[The Wedge]

Do the other players in the tribe know yet that Denise is a sex therapist?  She could probably have explained the instinct to cuddle (Hey, warmth, comanionship, the birds & the bees, duh) and chilled out Roxie's paranoia.  But who knows with a seminary student....  unmarried canoodling is teh devil in disguise!

And poor Blair... err  Lisa.... still not wanting to be social at camp, but she was barking orders for the puzzle in a commanding fashion.  Good for her.  She still has the opportunity to build up her standing in the tribe if she would just reveal her background and start telling stories about how Clooney and Mindy Cohn got all crazy in the store room of Edna's Edibles.  Or how upset she was when Molly Ringwald and half the Eastland school got expelled only to be replaced by butchy biker chick Jo in season 2.  C'mon, Blair, we want the dish!

[awesome possum]

Roxy was quite obnoxious.  Glad she's gone.

I'm also not sure how the whole power couple fallacy still carries on to this day.  I mean, there was Rob and Amber and... who else exactly?  What other twosome managed to become dominant players while adding a romantic entanglement to the game?  I can't think of a single pair.

I agree that Penner's immunity idol won't amount to squat unless there is a tribal mixup soon, though I'm not sure.  He could use it to at least try to bully the others.  If I were in his shoes and knew they'd be gunning for me at the first tribal, I'd be frank with them at that tribal and not before, so they didn't have time to plan anything.  I'd tell them, "This early in the game, we need to vote the weakest member out.  So here's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to play my immunity idol and I'm going to write either Jeff or Carter (the blonde dude who hasn't said anything).  You want to get rid of a strong player like me because I've done it before?  How about we get rid of our strongest.  Or, you can vote out *insert female here*.  Those are your choices.  Vote for me and lose your tribe leader or vote out who I say to vote out."

I would then not play the idol and hope my bluff was not called.


I'm wary of Lisa's edit this episode.  For some reason I don't think she's going anywhere any time soon.  The early breakdown is usually reserved for people who are either getting voted out that episode or to show the player's "journey" and how they overcame their early struggles.  I'm thinking Lisa will be the later, if only because her tribe is looking really strong and I don't think they'll see tribal council any time soon.

[MisterOJ]

awesome possum, on 27 September 2012 - 09:07 AM, said:

I'm also not sure how the whole power couple fallacy still carries on to this day.  I mean, there was Rob and Amber and... who else exactly?  What other twosome managed to become dominant players while adding a romantic entanglement to the game?  I can't think of a single pair.

I can't think of any others in Survivor either, but there have been several seasons I have missed.

However, in Big Brother, couples have fared very well on many occasions. Two different shows, I know, but the social aspect and voting with your "alliance" is very similar.

[pat5150]

On the whole, another good episode...

Looks like I'll watch the entire season this time around!

Patrick

[Gertrude]

I think the couple thing is valid. If the couple is not in a position of power, then not so much, but Malcolm had some power and a friend in Denise. Like she said, if it comes down to those three, she'd be at the bottom. I'd prefer to align with people I felt I had an even chance with. If the couple is not in a power position, they are still problematical. If Angie was indeed the weaker link and the consensus vote, they have to either trust Malcolm and tell him the plan, hoping he doesn't work with Angie to flip someone else to their side. If they don't tell him, then he feels ostracized. When a person is in a couple, they are thinking more emotionally than strategically most of the time, and it can be a wildcard no one wants to deal with.

We don't actually have any evidence that they would vote together, or are indeed a couple (romantic or otherwise) but the perception is stronger than the reality. The only other couples i can remember having any impact was Parvati/James and Amanda/Ozzy. The women cut those two lose pretty easily, but it was a concern for Cerie.

It's not just romantic couples that are dangerous, it's just that they are usually easier to spot and thus get targeted. JT and ... can't remember his name, Coach called him the Wizard, anyway - they were a couple that should have been broken up, but it was harder to spot because they didn't advertise it all over the place.

eta: Cookies. To me that indicated that her head wasn't in the game the way the others were. She is young. If she would have defended her answer a bit and said, 'Yes, Jeff. Cookies. It would boost morale and give us a rush of energy for the challenges. Cookies.' then I'd be ok with it. Instead, she looked like she was barely holding back a flood of tears 'cause gee, this is hard. I don't dislike her, just wouldn't necessarily want her on my team.

Edited by Gertrude, 27 September 2012 - 04:41 PM.

[Howdyphillip]

I would extrapolate on what a dumb move it was for Denise to side with Angie and Malcolm in voting Roxie out, but I really don't blieve that in the long run that it will matter. I actually think that whole tribe is going to be cannibalized by the challenges and it won't matter in the grand scheme of the game.

The other thing that I wanted to point out is that it is television gold watching Skupin injure himself. The clip from next weeks preview showed him pretty bloody. I have a feeling that he is going to bleed and burn himself into becoming a millionaire.

Edited by Howdyphillip, 27 September 2012 - 05:09 PM.