Survivor: San Juan del Sur

[SpaceChampion]

You're right it would become a strategy in the future, especially if the wrong people get punished for it. I think they should reshuffle the tribes back to what it was before, so that tribe and everyone responsible for eating all the rice (or saying nothing to stop it) has to deal with simply starving. Don't punish the people who joined the tribe after the rice was gone. Let them survive on catching / gathering food, and food rewards (or trades for food rewards), but don't give them more rice. It's not much long until the merge, right?

[Fiddler]

I think it would be awesome to do something like this:

Tell them that they will discuss it at the reward challenge.

Then at the reward challenge tell them their choices are:

A. Do the challenge and continue on with the little rice they have, with no opportunity for another deal.

or

B. Forfeit the reward challenge and immunity challenge. Tribal council immediately (while the other team looks on and enjoys the reward which could be something like an already prepared dinner). Then another tribal at the normal time and place.

This way it is suitable punishment and entertaining for the viewers at home. Then, if other contestants try this in the future, Jeff can then make it even worse or state at the start of the game "no deals".

[RedEyedGhost]

I think #2 is the most likely option.

[Arbor Gold]

I think it should be an immediate rock draw. That would eliminate people wanting to use it as a tactic in the future. Want more rice? Sure. Draw rocks first.

[RedEyedGhost]

I think it should be an immediate rock draw. That would eliminate people wanting to use it as a tactic in the future. Want more rice? Sure. Draw rocks first.

That would be... AWESOME.

[Arbor Gold]

Reed has had such an invisible edit, I could see him going home in a rice rock draw. It will either be him or Julie as they were the only two last week who had commentary related to being scared of the consequences of trading for more rice. They (the tribe) would be idiots to agree to a rock draw, though.

[Cyvasse Khal]

I don't think tearing down the shelter or giving back reward items is much of a punishment at this stage of the game. In 1 or 2 more tribals they will be merging and can just choose to live at the other beach and share all their stuff. I do agree that a forced tribal isn't the best way either, essentially is just a form of throwing a challenge to get rid of a weak/annoying/threatening player. The forced rock draw is a cool idea and i think is starting to hit the level of punishment they deserve, and would be good tv to watch, but I just don't know if I like that a decent player who may not have even been part of the original tribe could go home.

My suggestion is just nothing. No deal. Production and location staff do not put these people in locations where there is no resources, so if you run out of rice, try bloody catching some fish and foraging in the jungle for fruits and berries.

[Gertrude]

Yeah, that was too lenient.

I do love the rock draw idea.That would actually be a deterrent, assuming that's what they want.

Boring episode is boring.

[Slurktan]

Yeah, that was too lenient.

I do love the rock draw idea.That would actually be a deterrent, assuming that's what they want.

Boring episode is boring.

I guess it was a boring episode in the sense of the predictable one went home. I really liked Dale's plan though for the fake idol. Pretty clever way of pretending to have an idol but then utilizing its uselessness. I had hoped John would have taken the deal so that we could see him try to use that "idol" at some point.

[Cyvasse Khal]

The rice thing was dumb and wasted the first 5-10mins of the ep. Jeremy was right about the whole situation, but didn't seem to speak up about it. I don't really blame him though, you never want to be the only guy with the opposite opinion of the other 7. The rest of the episode didn't really hit any heights. For me, Dale overplayed that situation. If he had just left it at "this is my idol, i'm playing it no matter what", he would have had a much better chance at scaring Jon & Jaclyn into taking the safe Keith vote. But by saying "if you save me, i'll give my idol to you" that directly translates into "i'm not playing my idol tonight". Fake idol aside, Jon doesn't need it even if it was real. He's in a very strong position and idol gossip his way just puts a target on his back.

Pre-merge game is just about over, hurray! Even though i'm about a 3/10 for this season so far, one thing I will say is that the merge is looking extremely unpredictable and I really like that there's no clear alliance blocks of more than about 4 votes, to paraphrase the words of Brad Culpepper..."4 into 12 just don't go". So that at least makes it quite exciting.

[Fiddler]

I hated the trade. It did very little in the way of punishment and gave them a ton of rice which will allow them to continue eating.

Episode over all was just ok. I liked the bluff with the idol, but hated the deal he tried to make with it. He should of just stayed with the bluff and tried to convince the other old guy to swap votes (telling him he had an idol and that they were going to split votes for the two old guys). That way he would have ended up in a 3 way tie with a chance.

I also would have liked to see pretty boy (can't for the life of me remember his name) go for the deal and get the fake idol. It could have made for some funny tribal shenanigans later.

[awesome possum]

Well that was an episode. I like that Dale went down swinging but it was obviously him. Jon doesn't strike me as strategic at all, but you'd have to be really really dumb to fall for that.

I really liked that rock draw idea. That would have been great, but I do think losing their rewards and tools was a harsh enough trade. Losing your tarp when the rainy season is about to kick into full gear is going to hurt those guys in the long run. Hell, Julie almost quit after just one night. I don't know if I could have made that trade, especially with the merge in two or three days. I spent the night outside once in a cold rain with a crap shelter and no warm clothes... it was hellish. I'd much rather be hungry for two or three days than go through one more night of that.

I've got a feeling that what once seemed unpredictable is going to end up being very predictable. Josh/Reed will be the target at the merge, Jeremy has already set that up. Jon/Jaclyn will go with Missy/Baylor/Natalie/Jeremy/Julie to get rid of Reed, Josh, Alec, Keith and Wes (I can see Keith playing his idol and getting his son booted, hence his soundbite "I've done the worst thing ever on Survivor"). Julie will quit somewhere in there and Jon/Jaclyn will end up 5th/6th with Missy, Baylor, Natalie and Jeremy as the Final Four. Jeremy is either taken out at 4 because he's a threat and Baylor or Natalie win the game or Jeremy wins immunity and then the game.

I hope I'm wrong but it feels like I'm right.

[DivisionByZero]

I guess it was a boring episode in the sense of the predictable one went home. I really liked Dale's plan though for the fake idol. Pretty clever way of pretending to have an idol but then utilizing its uselessness. I had hoped John would have taken the deal so that we could see him try to use that "idol" at some point.

Yeah, I would love to have seen John try to use the fake idol, that would have been great.

[Gertrude]

I can see a scenario where Missy/Baylor, John/Jaclyn using Keith/Wes and Josh/Reid to whittle down the singles, then using those same singles at strategic times to get rid of Keith/Wes and Josh/Reid so they are the final 4. Or at least plan to do that. I don't see them actually all 4 making it to the end, but Baylor and Josh have a bond, and it seems Missy and Keith might have a bond.

Funny thing is, I also see a final 4 of Missy/Baylor, Jeremy and Natalie as likely, but different routes getting there. Taking Jeremy over John doesn't help reduce challenge threats, but it does break up a couple and singles are easier to sway to your side.

[Nox Irradiata]

I want to see Missy / Baylor broken up soooooo badly. Missy's crap about everyone "being mean to her baby" is such bs.

[awesome possum]

Yeah I find it interesting that, for me at least, Missy's treatment of Baylor is less "Mama Bear Protecting Her Cub" and more "Mama Bear Indulging Her Cub's Every Whim Because They're Besties 4Ever TEEHEE." It hasn't come across as ultra positive. From tanking her round of that one challenge because she busted her daughter's lip to being told that her daughter's version of events with Dale were wrong but still accepting Baylor's version anyway (that Dale unfairly targeted her for no reason when the reason was that she targeted him first), Missy is just sort of rubbing me the wrong way.

[Kyoshi]

I seriously dislike Baylor and her mother. Like story book villains, Baylor has shifty eyes to go with her sketchy character. I love a good Survivor villain, so long as he/she doesn't annoy me as much as Baylor and her mom.

So far I really like Jeremy, Natalie and Julie.

[Nox Irradiata]

Yeah I find it interesting that, for me at least, Missy's treatment of Baylor is less "Mama Bear Protecting Her Cub" and more "Mama Bear Indulging Her Cub's Every Whim Because They're Besties 4Ever TEEHEE." It hasn't come across as ultra positive. From tanking her round of that one challenge because she busted her daughter's lip to being told that her daughter's version of events with Dale were wrong but still accepting Baylor's version anyway (that Dale unfairly targeted her for no reason when the reason was that she targeted him first), Missy is just sort of rubbing me the wrong way.

:agree:

[Scrambled Aegon]

Yo. Haven't popped into the thread yet this season, but here I am. So far, I've been enjoying this season. Not great, but good, and I think a lot of the more "meh" characters have been eliminated, so I do think this season will continue to pick up momentum as it goes. Other than Wes and Reed, there's nobody left that I'm not invested in, whereas I really didn't care about the Wentworths and the Drew elimination was obvious anyway, and Rocker was super freaking dull.. so from here on out every elimination should feel like a bigger thing than they have thus far. Again, Wes/Reed are meh, but I can't imagine either of them will go at the merge since typically merge boots are bigger characters (Keith being the one exception), so hooray!

What this season does really have going for it is that there's no one I dislike. No shitty Phillips who are taking up all the air time despite being vile and unentertaining. Dale kinda bugged me for subtle reasons (not sure what they are), but he's gone, so woo! Jeremy, Jon, and Natalie are probably my favorites. I also rather like Josh now that his massive edit has tapered off -- just seems like a nice dude with a good TV presence. Baylor is charismatic and I enjoy watching her. Keith, Alec, Missy are all alright characters, too. I like Jaclyn to an irrational extent. So yeah -- there are a lot of people I like. Where the season fails is that there aren't any that I omgfuckinglove, but I'll give them time.

My money is on a Jeremy elimination this upcoming week.

[Cyvasse Khal]

^ Yay! Someone to join me in the Baylor fan club. She's dodged herself away from going home at a few tribals now, and I can see her getting out of some sticky situations past the merge too.