Survivor: Popping Collars

[awesome possum]

Predictable but entertaining episode. They tried to throw Will under the bus edit-wise to make it seem like it could be him, but Nina just got way too much attention that episode. I told my wife around the half-way point that she was either being set up to go home or to be a huge swing-vote at the swap, either would have made sense, though going home made the most.

Blue Collar.... When there are multiple arguments going on and no one seems like the "good guy" in the argument, you've got a train wreck. A glorious, awesome train wreck. Let me count the ways....

Lindsey, who is currently owning the "bitch" edit, and who seems to take untold joy and happiness from just complaining.

Mike, whose work ethic is so great he must share it with others, despite that never turning out well for pretty much anyone in the game ever.

Dan, who can't go three minutes of back and forth joking without calling someone's mother a whore.

And Rodney, who would have totally been in the right had he not kept going and going and going and going and going and going and going.

So far Sierra and Kelly seem like the two most level-headed of the group, but that's only because we barely see them.

White Collar I can't get a read on. The last two episodes we've only really seen Tyler talking strategy to the cameras (unless you count Max's "I'm going to get naked to have alone time") which I think will doom him honestly. And there's just something about him that's off. Like he is trying desperately, desperately hard to be anyone but himself for the cameras.

Either way, I kind of like that we're not seeing a ton of strategy right now because that means there are no solid alliances. No solid alliances means the swap and merge are going to be absolutely beautifully chaotic. Especially since half of the players seem like they can't stand each other and can't wait to vote each other out.

[Cyvasse Khal]

This is the episode we needed to have. Good to get it out of the way, but the time spent at the White and Blue Collars made up for the predictability of the No Collars. I think Probst really hit the nail on the head at Tribal: Perception is reality for everyone and this case there was two perceptions. Nina perceived she was being outcast because of her disability, the rest perceived her to be outcasting herself because of her disability. They made the right decision though, they can't go another how ever more days with the same issues being brought up.

My thoughts now is....No Collar should really throw a challenge before they mix to get rid of Will right? It makes much more sense for Joe, Jenn & Hali to go forward as a solid 3 and taking a side to help Blue or White Collar get rid of the other.

[The Dragon Prince]

I felt bad for Nina but i'm glad she's gone. The blue collar tribe is a wreck but I love watching them constantly fight. Tyler seems to be in control of the white collar tribe. Can't wait for the next episode.

[dbunting]

Agree Nina had to go. It was stupid to not use her during the challenge and stupid of her not to say f you I'm helping plug holes. Will is so out of shape that he would have been even more exposed and he may have gotten the boot instead.

White collar, so far, ehh. Not enough screen time to see personalities.

Blue collar train wreck. They win but it's in spite of themselves. The three guys are all at eachothers throats already.

I could see no collar losing again next week in hour one, then hour two having the split/merge to mix things up and get us excited for it's return after the tourney.

[Howdyphillip]

Does anyone know if it is a one or two week break because of March madness? I am thinking two, but I do not remember.

[Gertrude]

Joaquin and Rodney are bro-ing out? Who'd have guessed. :rolleyes:

So. Interesting episodes.

Lindey seemed to conflict with more people (Rodney, Mike) while Rodney was just in general a blow-hard. Given that Rodney is stronger (theoretically), it's not surprising that she got the chop. They handled the aftermath so poorly. At first I thought there was no reason to do that as getting surprised with an idol would still mean that Rodney goes, but that's not exactly right. Rodney is now a tight ally, where as Lindsey would have been an enemy and Sierra by association. If you make a decision, you gotta make it work, I guess. So the smart thing would have been to gag Dan and keep him gagged until you wanted to cut him loose. I kinda wanted to like him, but that goodwill is pretty much gone. Still, it just seems so bad. Perhaps they just needed to go to Sierra and be up-front with her so she felt in the loop. Downside is that she tells L, she plays an idol and goes rogue in the voting so it's not predictable where it will land. meh.

And then there's Man and Shirin. Wow they amped up the edit on those two. I tend to think Carolyn made a good move here. If she didn't feel solid with those two, or was afraid of them (which she said) then getting them out is good in the short term. If she would have waited until Kelly had made a decision it would have been worse for her, assuming Kelly went with no-collar. And with the edit S and M were getting, who wouldn't? Maybe Carolyn was able to read the room and got a jump on it. Again - a move that was probably not optimal, but I still like it. She's not safe, but she has built a bit of trust she can leverage in the future. She just has to hope their tribe can last through the many, many tribal councils they will see in their future.

[Kyoshi]

I am very shocked actually. I was not expecting that.

[Cyvasse Khal]

Thank fudge monkeys that pompous tool is gone. Great move Carolyn & Kelly. I cannot comprehend two people who study the show religiously, claim to know all the ins and outs of the game from micro-strategy to how to cook a coconut, I cannot believe they would spend the majority of the next few days in a new tribe sticking to each other and isolating themselves to the other 5. And you can't even claim that was the edit. Will said at tribal "Max and Shirin are standing by the fire all day strategising with each other" and everyone nodded. Zero self awareness, zero awareness of others, terrible read on Carolyn. I can't express enough how glad I am that Max got blindsided.

Other thoughts:

- Boy, Rodney & Dan - the words that come out of their mouth are just awful. Rodney is kind of a joke anyway so no big deal. But Dan's stuff makes me cringe because he actually thinks he does have a soft touch with people and that he is treading the sensitive line successfully.

- I'm crushing on Jenn. She wouldn't usually be my type, but I find her incredibly endearing in all facets. It a little bit annoyed me when she said Joe was the devil for killing the chicken, because vegans getting on their moral high horse is a pet peeve of mine. Otherwise big hearts for her.

- Tyler is the sleeper this season, he just seems so damn good at this game. He's very calculated in the way he talks, and every approach he takes is a measured one. It's a shame he's not very dynamic to watch, but I guess that's what makes him fly under the radar perfectly.

- Was that tribe swap the most lopsided in terms of potential to win challenges ever? I think so.

- If medical was going to be called this episode, I would have put money on it being for Probst popping a vital artery. Tone down the intensity buddy, I felt scared for the players.

[dbunting]

Good episodes. Man, Dan, shut your mouth, you are not smarter than you look and you have no idea how to talk to people, period! I am sorry, but you know you suck worse! Great move smart man. I like how they made sure to edit it to show Probst telling them repeatidly to be careful with the platforms, and then the accident. In real world you recognize a hazard that has that obvious of a chance of huting someone, you stop everything and make a change. That said, if I was on blue collar I would have gone to her after, hugged, kissed and pledged my sword to her service. She clearly is a warrior and you want her as an ally. She had blood all over and never flinched.

As to the two survivor guru's, well, sometimes self awareness is more important than all of the knowledge in the world. Smart moves in getting one of them out, I personally would have chosen Shireen since you only have one other male, but oh well.

[Cuellar]

It's funny you mention Tyler, because I can't think of who he is...

I'm really surprised how bad match ups really were with the whole collars thing. Maybe they just focused editing on the folks that didn't quite fit in each group. The 3 team dynamic usually ends up with some really crazy dynamics.

I was ok with Sierra until the last episode, where she seemed quite whinny. You'd think these people would have a little tact. It would cost her NOTHING to APPEAR to be part of blue collar, then flip on them like the white collar chick did.

[Gertrude]

Yeah, I had my eye on Tyler and Carolyn from the first episode because she told him about her idol and wasn't spooked enough to use it. Jen's stock went up tonight.

I'm looking at the people and there are so many who can't win right now. Count out Dan, Rodney, Joaquin, Shirin, probably Will and Sierra, and maybe Hailey because she's not differentiating herself from Jen who's getting the better edit.

That leaves me Mike and Kelly, Carolyn, Tyler, Joe and Jen. I'm pretty ok with that. Wild ass guesses to win.

Tyler

Carolyn

Jen

Kelly

Joe

Mike

Also I hope Survivor can learn something from it's mistakes. When you set something up hoping for good TV, don't be surprised when it blows up in your face. Brandon is a wildcard, he's a bit unstable so let's throw him back into a stressful situation! It's funny when people get hit in the crotch - we should put in more obstacles and opportunities for injuries! I like blindfold challenges, but my god, they need to change it so people who are desperate to not lose don't kill themselves. Have them try to complete a complex puzzle or task, not run around a mine field with no protection.

eta: I think the worst tribal swap has to go to Marquesas. All woman and the oldest man.

[Kyoshi]

Poor Joe, someone is always out to get him. He just got rid of Vince, who was at least entertaining, to be burdened with Rodney, who when not looking lost, is the jerk of all jerks. I don't understand how people are still willing to throw challenges. I can't remember it ever ending well for any tribe (either the individual who orchestrated it or the tribe as a whole):

- Zapatera, in the disaster that was Redemption Island

- Hunahpu in San Juan del Sur

- when the Manono Tribe chose to go tribal because Colton, in One World

I can't think of any more but it just seems a bad idea. Rather be safe...Mike does not know what is happening on the other tribe so... :dunno:

EDIT: I'm glad Shirin decided to suck it up and tried to find out where she went wrong. And I honestly hope we could reach a stage where super-fan is not a personality trait; I find it very limiting and one-dimensional most of the time. You end up with very aware people: they know the cameras are there and they spend most of the time talking about how well they know the game, all the moves they are going to execute, how brilliant they are, etc. That is we end up with Russell, Boston Rob, Parvati, Tony Vlachos and others. It makes for boring television. The dynamics are limited since we don't get a marooned society of different people from different walks of life, we just get people "loving the game." We need more people like One World Kim, Natalie White, Natalie Anderson, Earlier season casts, Tasha, etc.

Anyway, that's my ramble for the day

[Cyvasse Khal]

Pretty solid episode tonight. Felt very classic Survivor where 2 different paths were presented to us, each edited to lay out a story where either path would have been believable. I only slightly leaned towards thinking it was Joaquin Dead because they hit the 'bros runnin the show' angle a bit too hard. Both challenges were quite boring tonight so it was probably for the best that 1 was inconsequential and the other was thrown. I think Sierra made the right decision and I think Mike played well in orchestrating it...but...Mike should be careful with this strategy because he's now publicly vocalized that his strategy has been to break up pairs the minute they become too inseparable. yet he himself has his lapdog in Dan.

[awesome possum]

Mike may be playing it smart by making it seem like Dan is a pair with him, when in reality he's allied with Kelly as his #2. Mike is likable, Dan less so, so chances are Dan would be the target there if the other players wanted to break up that pair while keeping secret that he still is in a power duo with Kelly.

But I'm not sure if Dan is going anywhere any time soon, unless the other players catch on that he is being primed as a Goat and take him out for that reason. Otherwise, I can absolutely see Dan sitting there at the end.

My only problem with this episode is that it was clear Joaquin was gone as soon as they lost the immunity challenge and Rodney wanted to target Joe. Joe hadn't said a single word all episode up to that point and he's such a goldenboy that no way would he get so little attention in his boot episode. Up until the challenge, however, it seemed clear that it was either Shirin or Rodney, so I guess I don't know what I'm talking about.

I get the feeling that the next several episodes are going to be pure chaos. I really have no clue how the votes going to break down.

We have Mike, Kelly, and Dan with maybe Sierra

We have Jenn, Hali, Joe, and Will

We have Tyler and Carolyn

And then Rodney and Shirin as outsiders, though I can see Rodney getting back with his Blue Collar peeps. However, with Mike basically having just saved Joe, will they continue to work together or go their separate ways? I can kind of see them banding together for an episode to finish off the White Collars and take out either Tyler because he's so trustworthy and likable or Shirin because she's an easy vote.

Either way, I hope that neither one of those groups keep control. I want a completely chaotic and insane post-merge with constantly shifting alliances.

[RedEyedGhost]

Rodney's face as Joaquin was sent packing was hilarious; he was so confused, and I don't think it really set in by the time they cut away.

[Kyoshi]

^He reminds me of Drew from last season. I kept imaging the two of them on the same season, on the same tribe, in an alliance, and they got blindsided every week. Those faces kill me.

[Scrambled Aegon]

(a)EGGY'S BACK, Y'ALL! Let's break br-break br-break-break-br-break down this cast.

So was gamebotty as fk, and she chose an Idol clue over rice, which: ew. Happy to see her go first. I had high hopes pre-show, but then she was just a gamebot who made an annoying choice and disappeared - nothx.

Vince was fucking awesome pre-show. Disappointed on the show, but I do get the sense that the edit particularly made him look bad, which typically I don't care about but can sort of sympathize with in his case for some reason, I don't know, maybe just because I loved him pre-show. I think he came across much better in week 2. In any case, the coconut vendor provided some good early strategic conflict and added a little bit for a second boot so gj!

Nina was awesome - her whole story was great, her boot TC especially felt SO old-school, I loved it. She gave us some conflict and interesting, deep, personal dynamics, and then she went out right when her storyline had clearly reached its apex. Cool cool cool.

Lindsey was fucking brilliant and I miss her already. Episodes 1/2 I was meh, lindsey who? Episode 3, she was.. super over-the-top - but I actually loved it after watching the episode twice and reflecting. She was irrational but she didn't seem overtly mean-spirited and I just appreciated her role as someone unfiltered enough to be a catalyst for drama. And we saw that in episode 4, too - how she was an excellent casting choice for ALWAYS feeling EVERYTHING 100% no matter WHAT - and she was also a force of righteousness there decrying Rodney's awful, awful opinions on everything. She was awesome. Obviously never was gonna go far with so little regard for how she was viewed, but who cares, she was great TV and I rooted for her.

Max lol <3. It was hilarious how he was blindsided, and it felt like a subversion of the whole Student Of The Game myth, but at the same time I do think he was a likable and relatable dude who didn't do anything bad, he just made some poor decisions and got too confident, but was always likable. I loved him and loved to laugh at him. Good times.

Joaquin.. eh. I oscillated on him pre-show, would he be fun douche or just boring douche? Turns out, it was basically the latter. I wish it had been Rodney who went out, but I won't miss him, either, and I'm SO happy the Ghost of Tom Joadney #bromance isn't going to be a long-term thing. And I also give him a thumbs down for choosing Idolz over rice. His confessional about Shirin murdering small animals was pretty fucking great, though.

The remaining people - I'm hyped on this season. I'm invested in pretty much all of them, I like pretty much all of them, the edit has certainly given us reason to care about all of them - more than in recent seasons. Even SJDS, I defended its edit and still would, because I think the characters who were relegated to a background role were all justifably so. But here, there really hasn't been anyone relegated to that role and it's FUCKING AWESOME YOU GUYS.

Joe has gorgeous eyes and was nice to Nina. I thought for sure he was winning pre-show and in episodes 1-3, he has sort of fallen off the map since then, which I'm okay with because he's kinda dull but am un-okay with because his eyes are magical.

Jenn is fucking awesome. My sister and I both have crushes on her. <3 I always look forward to a Jenn confessional. #PhotoFinish

Hali was cute/sweet this episode on the turtle reward with her David/Goliath comparison. I liked that. Haven't cared a ton about her - but at least I know who she is, it's not like she's underedited by any means.

Tyler meh. See Hali but without an uptick like she had this week.

Shirin is amazing, she's lulzily bad at things but also super relatable, and this episode showed that maybe she's not so bad at things after all!, since she's going to try to adapt and stuff. She is fun and sympathetic and all-around an excellent addition to the cast whose story I am very invested in.

Carolyn is delightful. I love what a big character she is for the demographic of which she is a part, her accent is perfect, she's fun whenever she talks - she's great.

Rodney haha NOPE fuck off obnoxious creepy sociopath sexist scum

Dan... eh. There's some sexist undertones to him and he likes Rodney. These prevent me from really being invested in him as a joke contestant. But he does have some comically inept moments. Like, calling Rodney's mother a ho? Telling Sierra she owes him an apology? He's just such a walking joke whom nobody takes seriously, and this isn't at all what I expected from him pre-show, but it's fun. <3 The sexist stuff and tie to Rodney drags him down, tho.

Mike has bad taste in allies and a biiiit of casual sexism but is largely a good bloke. He's not my favorite, but I'm fine with him. Also, he has two totally different voices, and I'm always excited to hear which one he'll bust out at any given time.

Sierra better get revenge on Rodney and Dan. That'd be fuckin' great. I love the potential here but do not know whether she will utilize it.

Kelly's ties to being a cop were great, and so was taking that head wound. She's cool. All the air time she does get is quality stuff to where I feel like I know who she is even tho she's not shown a ton.

I somehow forgot to name WILL earlier which.. okay, maybe that's because he has sort of done nothing but be weak in challenges for the last couple weeks - but I nonetheless have a soft spot in my heart for him due to the greatness of episode 1-2 Will, who just sat around making sandwiches and jokes about being black while everyone else jumped on and hated each other. <333

Will, Carolyn, Shirin, Sierra, Jenn are probably my favorites, but really Rodney is the only blight on this season. I hope he goes out next at the merge, because he's a VERRRRRY big blight if he lasts and really drives the narrative of the season, eek yikes blagh etc. All the others have at least some stuff I like about them. This show has been on a great upswing for the last three seasons (maybe four? I didn't watch S27) and I fuckin' love it.

Haven't been actively paying attention to the edit but my instinct is that we either get a Mike win or all of Jenn/Hali/Joe make final three (or at least final four) and then one of them wins, maybe Hali to explain the amount of air time she has. That's my instinct. Can't really imagine it going any other way, though I'd love if Shirin's OTTN-ness for the first few episodes is just building up this super weird, unorthodox winner story, like Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien but without the part where Vecepia kicks her ass and curbstomps her and crushes everyone's dreams like a badass. (Vecepia <3 Marquesas <3)

I'll read through the short thread up to this point. I hope it is full of delicious Rodney hate.

[Scrambled Aegon]

I got ready for this season of Survivor by rewatching all 29 seasons during the off time this year. I am really looking forward to this year.

You managed to rewatch All-Stars, Redemption Island, and Caramoan?? You're a braver man/woman/your preferred term than I.

I actually think Dan is going to get a redemptive edit similar to what Lisa Whelchel got a couple of seasons ago.

lol this prediction in retrospect <3 Nope. Turns out Dan just sux. I love him for it, tho.

I get the feeling So would have been a great player.

I have to ask - would have if it weren't for what? It seems to me that she had the chance to be a great player and.. well, wasn't.

(Also, I don't know why it adds the incorrect usernames. Oh well.)

Max and Shirin could be good to watch, and they could be good players. However, I hope they both don't continue the trend of making it very known they're massive Survivor fans. I cringed when Shirin said "as a wise man once said Jeff, the game is afoot" and Max jumped in and said something to make sure everyone knew she was making a Tarzan reference. Being a Survivor nerd is not a personality trait, nor is it a way to play the game, so I just hope tribal councils and confessionals don't become a Survivor history referencefest with those two. I'd prefer to see a Max Dawson 1.0 than a culmination of other versions of Survivor players.

I can't wait to see your reaction to episode 5. :laugh:

Re: Max's course - it was about reality TV in American culture, and it incorporated some elements of the game by dividing them into "Tribes" and turning exams into challenges. It was not a class on Survivor the game because, yeah, no way to know too much about that without having played it - and there'd be no real academic merit to that.

I do agree - even still and now - with Gertrude's assessment of Dan: that a lot of his mannerisms aren't rude, just.. different. (But then, he does do some things that ARE rude - like berating Sierra - and at that point I just have to laugh at how bad his decisions are. Just a further testament to the fact that being a fan doesn't intrinsically mean you know shit about how to actually function on Survivor.) Also, a Probst's niece reference in this thread :laugh: <3

Also also agree with Gertrude's assessment that social conventions on nudity are strange. And agree with Gertrude's Katie appreciation. I am agreeing with a lot of Gertrude's posts while going through this thread, it seems!

Happy to hear that there are no spoilers. Worth noting is that pretty much this entire cast seems to adore each other, so I would not place much stock in social media interactions.

Kelly Wiglesworth life update: Last I heard, on Survivor Oz (before they turned out to be racist), she lives on a goat farm of Mexico. She has never seen a single second of Survivor outside of the bar reward, including her own season, and actively goes out of her way to avoid watching it - her mother is a big fan, and if her mother is watching it, she'll shut herself in another room until its over - yet... she also said that she wanted to play again. :laugh: Good luck with that.

I never saw Thailand. I missed a lot of seasons between Africa and Panama. I think between those I've only seen All-Stars.

:O You're missing some GREAT stuff there. Marquesas, Pearl Islands, and Palau are must-see seasons! And.. everything else in that frame is also pretty good. But those three are my personal favorites from that era.

@Howdy: Totally with you on the Heidik hate and the Marquesas adoration. <3

Mmk. Those are my main thoughts upon reading through this. I'm not too active on this site - I really only show up for the Survivor threads - so my apologies if double-posting is bad here, I can't recall since it varies from forum to forum, but I'm 99% sure that I've seen people do it in the past Survivor threads here, so I am assuming it is safe and rolling with it to avoid one massive all of text.

[dbunting]

Good episode despite throwing a challenge.

Rodney, glad to see his genius plan didn't work and he looked absolutely clueless.

Joaquin, ehh, you should have gone with So, so see ya

Mike and Kelly alliance, I like it. I still hope she wins just for the fact that she took a whack and kept fighting. I will say that I was not as happy when she kept messing up the challenge that Mike was handing her.

Joe, seems like he will be final three or out quick now that the merge is happening. He is too much like a pretty boy, athelete, actual good guy to be allowed to stay in the game.

Sierra, can't decide if I like her or not.

Shirin, oh boy lets see if she can make a comeback. Here's a hint, keep your clothes on and listen more then talking!

Hali and Jenn, like em both, Jenn more for some reason.

Carolyn seems like a player to be feared. Not scared to make a swap. Only problem is she seemed to give it up too quickly to Will. He said one word and she spilled it all to him. Sometimes you have to keep a little to yourself.

Will, you had a good run, you are almost done.

Tyler, have you played yet? He seems to be edited out or sitting out.

[Howdyphillip]

ALL OF THE LAST TWO POSTS....

I am so glad to see you back in this thread. There just can't be too many fans of this show on the boards, and every time you post here, you bring it.

Stephen Fishback gave Mike the fishy (award for best survivor move of the episode) on the Survivor Know it Alls podcast. http://robhasawebsite.com/ .

I personally can not agree more with him. It was brilliant moves by an incredibly likable guy guy this week. Throwing the challenge was the right play for him, and he had the gumption to do it. Upthread, someone said that these moves never work out, but I would have to strongly disagree. There are cases after tribe swaps that it is essential that you lose challenges, and this was clearly one of them. Mikes end game would have been shot with the loss of Kelly. Kelly was the obvious choice to be booted next on the other tribe by anyone who is actually playing the game of Survivor. Despite the editing, Mike clearly believed that he had Sierra on his side, and he was correct. He had the numbers, and he played it right.

Mike seems to be following the Boston Rob method of playing the game which is you make a tight alliance with a strong female character that can fly under the radar after the merge and won't be first off, and a goat. Kelly and Dan are perfect partners for this. I wouldn't be surprised to see them as the last three standing.

The only thing in their way right now is a No Collar alliance. With Shireen being disenfranchised with that group, and Tyler already forming some kind of bond with the Blue Collars, I see this as leaving Mike with a good shot of winning.