Survivor: Redemption Island

StuckInTheSixties: This season of Survivor has been pretty interesting through the first four episodes. It's been noteworth for the amazing displays of boneheaded stupidity by more than a few of the players.

First, in the Ometepe Tribe, Francesca and Kristina stupidly found themselves talked into a three-way alliance with Phil, the nutty lunatic self-described "special government agent." Then Kristina cleverly found the immunity necklace, and stupidly shared that information with Francesca and Phil. At Tribal Council, Phil then stupidly outted his alliance with Francesca and Kristina, and stupidly outted Kristina's possession of the necklace. This stupid move basically guaranteed that all three of them will be at the top of the order for being voted out, and subsequent episodes have borne this out. In only four episodes, Francesca is out of the game, Kristina was voted out of Ometepe and is now on Redemption Island fighting for her life, and Phil is easily the most disliked person in the tribe.

Over in the Zapatera Tribe, Krista and Stephanie stupidly decided to enter a three-way alliance with Russell, the most evil, diabolical backstabber in the history of the game. Ralph found the immunity necklace, and stupidly shared that information with the members of his six-way alliance. That alliance stupidly threw an immunity/reward challenge in order to execute Russell, when they could have easily just bided their time and voted Russell out at their leisure. Upon voting him out, Ralph became one of the witnesses to the Russell's losing one-on-one competition with Matt (who had stupidly allowed himself to be blindsided by Boston Rob and sent to Redemption Island). After witnessing Russell's lost, Ralph gloated to Russell, stupidly revealing he had found the Zapatera Immunity necklace. When Russell pointed out that he had just provided critical information to the Ometepe witnesses, Ralph stupidly tried to pretend that he didn't, after all, actually have the necklace, a LAME display of stupidity.

So far, through four episodes, this has been a very interesting game. It seems to be a contest of how stupid one can be.

Sables: That Phil, he has all his marbles they just don't roll in the same direction...do you think maybe he had been exposed to something while on a mission...and a special agent do they actually verify that is what these people did...


Russel, I loled when he got voted off, he is so full of himself

StuckInTheSixties: Phil is destined to be known as the Survivor All-Time Loon.

Sables: lol no kidding... can he not see how weird he is...oh I know maybe he forgot his meds....

lois_lane: I have to say I am completely disappointed that Russell is gone. F~&~ I felt for the guy when he shed the tears. I think its the Way he went out not so much that he went out.

If it was some sort of great Plan and a really good blindside or something I think I could of accepted it a little more. I was really looking forward to the merge and him and Rob playing their game on each other. DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Im sooo not interested in that tribe now.

I feel bad for Phil, he is out of his element in this game I think. It was funny when he said that the Bushwacker was totally lying and he did have an Idol hahaha. Stupid hick boy I cant stand that fool.
He thinks hes playing such good game YET he almost went out with an idol in his pocket. Dumb bushwacker!

As always I do enjoy Survivor and have been watching it since day one. I like it cuz its something I would NEver Ever Do hahaha

I didnt even know you watched it Stuck O!

StuckInTheSixties: I never miss it. I posted quite a few comments in a Survivor thread during the last season. In fact, if I remember correctly, we exchanged rather differing views about Russell.

I, for one, won't miss Russell for a moment. His strategy of backstabbery was always a guarantee of failure. In the past, it got him near the end only for the reason that others were happy to go into that final vote against him. No way would he EVER win the final popular vote. And this time around, after two previous seasons that featured Russell and his treachery, his tribe members (except for those two stupid girls) dumped his ass.

I kind of hope they keep Phil around. He may wind up wearing thin on me, but right now, it's hilarious to see him traipsing around in his baggy pink underpants, and watch all the girls rolling their eyes at his bizarre antics and continuous and imaginary references to being a "special government agent" with all sorts of training to read people, etc. He's just sooooooooooo strange. But I doubt he'll last. He'll likely be removed in his tribe's next Tribal Council, and then he'll likely lose the first Redemption Island "duel" he's subjected to.

I'm keeping my eye on Grant, the tall, good-looking ex-NFL player. He's a likeable guy, seems pretty smart, obviously atheletic, and he's not making much noise, preferring to keep a lower profile. I also think Boston Rob has a decent chance, but again, his reputation is eventually going to work against him, so I don't see him winning.

Only four episodes in, it's still very early to be making predictions.

lois_lane: Yups now that you just said that it totally rings a bell! Sorry its hard to keep straight what everyone watches .

I think Rob and Russell are both weasels and snakes the different is (and I am sure I have said this before) Rob has a likeablility about him and Russell just seems like a straight up worm!

We can argue all day about it doesnt really matter, but I still think it sucked the way he went out only cuz hes a hard core player and I hate to see them go out like that. SUCKS!!
I like the little dark haired girl that was Russells friend, shes not a stupid person and I hope she lasts a long time of not to the end. She has a major target on her back even more now so I hope she goes far!

Umm Dread lock guy I am glad you mentioned cuz I was saying the same thing to hubby last night. This guy is smart and he is just kind of staying in the back but still agreeing with the plays that are being made so hes not quite a puppet. I am really liking him too! and hes to look at.

I hope they do keep Phil around and I totally believe him about the "secret agent bond" stuff cuz why else do you think he is messed up in the head a little. Thats what working for the government will do to you! I do feel bad for the way some of the girls are acting. Like they dont look so great either with their hairy armpits and unshaved legs. I mean jeez man give the poor guy a break.
Even tho it is too much to see him prancing around in his pink briefs, It could be worse.
Remember Sue and Jenna???(First season) Sue came in with hairy legs already so she was friggin sasquatch by the end of the days, And Jenna didnt like to wash *Pukes*.
I can handle the pink undies on phil for now haha.

Yes it is a little early to make predictions but thats the fun of it. What we say right now could be a totally different game next week, and the people we love just might turn into the people we hate. It always happens but thats the fun of it.

StuckInTheSixties: "I like the little dark haired girl that was Russells friend, shes not a stupid person"

Note that Stephanie was never shown in one of those little private interviews that a player will sometimes give, where they tell you, the viewer, the secret stuff that they don't share with other players. Had she given one of those interviews, and during it, had she explained that she had absolutely no trust of Russell, and was only cynically, deviously playing the part of the "Russell Puppet" so that she could turn the tables on him, I might agree with you, lois.

But she didn't do an interview like that. So I'll have to assume that she was simply that, a "Russell Puppet." Perhaps she's trying to follow in the footsteps of the other pretty girl that was a Russell Puppet during the season of Russell's first Survivor appearance, and who ultimately beat him in the final vote. But I have to go with what the producers of Survivor is giving us viewers in the way of information. And the way that the producers are, thus far, protraying Stephanie is that of a Russell Puppet.

Being a Russell Puppet doesn't strike me as a smart move, despite the girl that won doing so. Russell is simply to dangerous. Without variation, he will stab you in the back if given any opportunity whatsoever. So even though whatshername won Survivor two seasons ago as a Russell Puppet, I think she bucked the odds to do so.

And being a Russell Puppet sure has backfired in this game. She now has a target on her back. She's a sweet, pretty girl, and looks good in that skimpy bikini, but I think her days are numbered. She's now in an alliance of two with Krista, and is opposed by the alliance of six that gave Russell the boot.

I'll stand by my analysis that Stephanie and Krista were stupid to ally themselves with Russell.

lois_lane: So what your saying is, you think shes a puppet? Jeez man lols. I still dont think she is a stupid girl, she might have made a stupid move but so what, theres still time for her to get out of that and get off the raidar you know. I said I Hope she makes it far not she WIll. Im not sure where this will take her now.
Hopefully someone else will take some heat off her by acting the fool (someone always does) and she can redeem herself and make some friends.
To me it didnt seem like she had a choice where she wanted to go cuz she is young. SO already people didnt really want to be with her. Russell saw his opportunity and took it. Its just a shame we wont get to see him anymore. He did make it entertaining cuz everyone loves to have someone to hate, and he was perfect for that.

StuckInTheSixties: Nah, I'm not saying she's stupid. She might be really smart. Who knows? Just that latching onto Russell was a terrible move. Both of them were essentially letting Russell run the show for the three of them, just following whatever he was saying, taking instructions, etc., hence my "Russell Puppet" term. Boston Rob has his puppets, too. The puppet masters pull the strings, the puppets dance.

If I was playing, I wouldn't ally with Russell almost for ANYTHING. I'd rather be by myself rather than hitching my wagon to him for all sorts of reasons. He's entertaining. I can't argue that. But I think two seasons of Russell being Russell sealed his fate this time.

StuckInTheSixties: The results of Episode 5 were fairly predictable. The doomed Ometepe alliance of Francesca (gone), Kristina (gone) and Phil (delusional and creepy) is two-thirds finished. Kristina lost her Redemption Island duel against Matt, ending her game. It’s a fitting end for her. Early in the game she not only allowed herself to somehow enter into a terrible three-way alliance with Francesca and Creepy Phillip, but when she found the Immunity Necklace, a HUGE advantage to have, she threw it away by getting cocky, somehow thinking she could use that necklace to gain power by letting Francesca and Creepy Phillip know she had it. STOOOOOPID! Of course, crazy Creepy Phillip outted the alliance, and Kristina’s possession of the necklace. Days later she had to play it, days after that she was voted out of the tribe, and the next day, she was gone.

Boston Rob continues to kick ass in this game, pulling a fast one on Grant. The two of them managed to find the immunity necklace clue in the batch of food they won in the inter-tribal challenge. Grant provided distraction while Rob snuck off with it, and by the time they rendezvoused a short time later, Rob had switched it with a previous clue he’d already found. Rob already had found the necklace, so Grant thinks Rob is confiding in him, cooperating with him, but Rob is just manipulating him, gaining his trust, giving him nothing in return. What he’s doing is diabolical, and VERY crafty and intelligent game play.

In Zapatera Tribe, Krista and Stephanie continue to make bad decisions. They were already in dire straits, having hitched their wagon to Russell (gone). They allowed themselves to be chosen as the two witnesses sent to watch the Redemption Island duel between Matt and Kristina, further separating themselves from the rest of their tribe. The only logical play they were left with was to play against each other for favor in their tribe, but they never considered that. Instead, simply clung to each other, mutually dooming themselves. It might have been a lost cause, regardless. The six other Zapatera members are committed to killing them off for the sin of allying with Russell. But they continued their slide by going to the duel, and made a futile attempt to gain something … anything … by letting the two Ometepe witnesses, Rob and Grant, know that they were available as conspirators against Zapatera. It was a desperation play that gained them nothing, as neither Rob nor Grant was impressed. It likely wouldn’t make a difference anyway, as neither will survive long. At least Stephanie was trying to think of something … anything … to help the two of them out. Krista just seemed to dumbly go along with her, not really adding anything in the way of thoughts about how to survive.

Again, back to Rob and Grant – they’re kind of cozying up, with the already described mini-alliance over a useless Immunity Necklace clue, but also as being the two witnesses to the duel. Those two were hanging pretty close. They are, in my opinion, the most likely of their tribe to succeed, but they’d better start downplaying their buddy-buddy thing, else other tribe members are going to take note and become leery of them.

StuckInTheSixties: Phillip is just delusional, just plain crazy, stalking tiny crabs with his huge, wooden spear, strolling around in his snakeskin loafers and pink tighty whities. At least he’s perceptive enough to know that the girls in the tribe are laughing at him. He now has a nutty idea that he’s going to be able to kill off Rob and take over his leadership of Ometepe. He’s just plain crazy. Boston Rob was talking about keeping Phil around, though, logically seeing the value in keeping around an opponent so obviously unable to win. So Creepy Phillip may stay with us for a while. He was making small overtures to Andrea, who seems to be a little bit of a loner. She’s kind of a wild card. She could, if she was so inclined, cozy with the two other hot little bikini girls in the tribe, Ashley and Natalie. But she is choosing to remain at arm’s length from them, mostly because she sees them as lazy do-nothings.

Creepy Phillip was trying to befriend her, and creeping out everyone in the process. Deluded as always, Creepy Phillip sees a “real synergy” with Andrea, who probably wants to take a Karen Silkwood type shower every time he talks to her. She had better wise up and not let herself be perceived by the others as getting close to Creepy Phillip. ( *shivers with revulsion * … Yeesh! )

Stephanie further compounded her problems by volunteering to be the “caller/solver” in the Immunity Challenge. She actually did pretty well at the calling part of it, but when it came to solving the puzzle, she failed badly. Again, I see this as a major error, not just bad luck. She knew that she’d have to solve the puzzle, and she SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that Rob, perhaps the best puzzle solver in Survivor history, would be the caller/solver opposing her. Rob simply ate her alive.

Not surprisingly, afterwards, the other tribe members were not happy with her for failing, and actually kind of turned on each other over the issue. It’s the first cx*$y to be seen in that group of six. David got a bit huffy with Sarita for having the audacity to not wholeheartedly agree that it should have been HIM to be the solver. Result: David was a total conceited dick, and Sarita now harbors a grudge against him. (During the challenge, Redneck Ralph showed himself to be completely retarded by being unable to follow any directions, not even being able to separate his left from right.

Afterwards, Krista and Stephanie sat together, trying to find a way out of their predicament, but knowing that one of the two was doomed for that night, and that the other would soon follow. Krista sealed her fate by spatting with the other tribe members at Tribal Council. Stephanie FINALLY did something smart: She sat there quietly, trying not to offend anyone, even when her failure to solve the puzzle was rubbed in her face.

At the Ometepe victory donut feast, Creepy Phillip creeped out each of the three cute Bikini Girls with a hug. Their lame attempts not to show total revulsion was hilarious! Three girls, three creepy hugs, three “Eeeeewwwwws!” (laughs)

Tribal council for Zapatera couldn’t have been more predictable. Bye bye, Krista!

Sables: lol well said Sits, but you never know maybe the creepiness is a ruse wouldn't that blow our minds

StuckInTheSixties: No WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

(laughs)

No one could fake that creepiness! He's a creepy insane CREEP!

Sables: I agree, but I feel bad for him

StuckInTheSixties: Episode 6 shows that Zapatera continues to fracture, and is showing distinct signs of weakness now. The c#w*z began last week, when David ruined the tribe’s cohesiveness by getting all pissy about the tribe’s losing its challenge, and his insistence that he should have been the person designated to do puzzle-solving part of that challenge. (It should be noted that he didn’t speak up for that at the time that his tribe designated Stephanie as the puzzle solver.) While that tribe stood around whining and crying over their loss, Sarita made the mistake of trying to be philosophical about it, prompting David to unnecessarily jump down her throat. That Sarita would have the audacity to express anything other than fawning agreement has caused David to decide that she is unworthy, and must go, and Sarita hasn’t been shy about returning that ill will. This tribal feud resulted in David deciding that he would rather vote off Sarita and keep Stephanie, and a tiny micro-alliance developed between himself and Stephanie. The David/Sarita conflict has become a festering boil upon the unity of the tribe.

Surprisingly, Sarita is compounding this by moping around camp, driving everyone crazy complaining about a toothache, not contributing much work, etc. The other Zapatera members are, indeed, taking note of that and also her relative lack of competitive skills in challenges, enough so that they were talking about it privately to each other. Sarita is now on the outs with the others. Further evidence of that group losing its cohesion is the fact that they were actually flirting with the idea of placing Sarita ahead of Stephanie in the chopping block order.

After a slight stumble, Stephanie began to make some intelligent moves. Steve confronted her about the two “Steve” votes that she and Krista made during the last Tribal Council. Stephanie lost a great opportunity there. She could have easily fibbed, telling Steve that she actually wanted to vote for Sarita, but that Krista had talked her into voting him. (Actually, Stephanie and Krista both played that vote badly. The only intelligent move for them to have made, knowing that one of the two was going to be voted out regardless, but not knowing which, was to knowingly plan and vote AGAINST each other cooperatively. Doing that would cause no harm to the one voted out, and would help the one that survived to gain traction with the tribe.) But Stephanie kind of hemmed and hawed about her vote, leaving Steve resentful that she had put his name on the ballot.

But after that stumble, Stephanie finally got with the game. She went to Steve and humbly apologized to him for voting for him. It was a small, ineffective measure, but still, the only smart move at that point, and finally, Stephanie was able to figure out the smart move and make it, ineffective as it was. It was a wise move. It certainly couldn’t hurt her, and might have actually helped with her cause to survive. She further wisely grasped the opportunity to curry favor with David in his feud with Sarita, adding fuel to that fire. Stephanie got a few brownie points, and seemed to understand finally that petulantly hanging on to her misplaced resentment of the tribe’s ousting of Russell was dooming her. Finally, Stephanie began to actually play the game.

StuckInTheSixties: In Ometepe, Ashley and Natalie continued to laze around, not working around camp, contributing nothing other than to look cute and sexy in their bikinis. This is really beginning to grate on Creepy Phillip, who is now continuously ranting about them. He complains that the girls don’t “give him credit” for the work he does around camp (mostly fiddling with the fire every few minutes). They, in turn, are lying there, sexily, on their towels, gossiping amongst themselves at how creepy and bizarre Creepy Phillip is. Their laziness is, however, being noted by others in the tribe. Finally, a spat broke out between Creepy Phillip and Ashley. Phillip REALLY creeped us all out when Ashley said, “I’m gonna walk away,” and Phillip replied in a semi-crazed manner, “And I will follow you! You want me to follow you? I will follow you!” as he stalked after her. The video cut away right there to an interview with Ashley where she pronounced Creepy Phillip as “mental.” I was left with a distinct impression that Survivor producers had stepped in right there and told Creepy Phillip that he wasn’t going to be “following” anyone. Creepy Phillip continued to stew about it. Boston Rob, perceptively, noted that the conflict seemed likely to split the tribe, and that it would be best for their tribe to remain whole and continue winning challenges. He wisely took Creepy Phillip aside and counseled him to cool it for the benefit of the tribe as a whole. Rob continues to play the game really well. He noted that it was to his benefit for those pretty girls to continue to be lazy and annoying, that by doing so, they would greatly lessen their chances of winning that all-important popularity vote at the end of the game.

On Redemption Island, Krista and Matt revealed themselves to be deeply Christian, and prayed together, etc. Although she put up a valiant struggle in the duel, Matt continues to rule Redemption Island, and Krista was sent home after his fourth straight win. The witnesses to the duel were Andrea and Natalie from Zapatera, and Julie and Mike from Ometepe. (The make-up of the witness groups apparently had little bearing on events in this episode, as no attention was given by the program to showing how they were chosen by their respective tribes.) It was noteworthy that Julie wasn’t shy about preferring Krista to lose.

At the Immunity Challenge, Ometepe completely dominated. Grant was the superstar of the challenge. (It should be noted that performing so well in a challenge both helps and hurts a player’s chances to win the game. Grant’s stellar performance, and the threat it represents to players after the merge, won’t be forgotten by the others when the challenges are no longer for tribes, but for individuals.)

During the reward feast, once again, Grant and Rob both found the Immunity Necklace clue, and snuck off to read it. (Note: Rob is continuing to play Grant. That clue is meaningless because Rob already has possession of the Necklace. Grant thinks Rob has become his confidant. In actuality, Rob is playing him like a fiddle.) As they were examining the clue, Creepy Phillip sort of sneaked up on them, and saw what they were up to. This has put a dent in their little secret alliance. Creepy Phillip has already proven that he’s too crazy to depend on to hold any secrets. Not only that, but Creepy Phillip had already had some hallucinogenic impression that he was in a secret three-man alliance with those two, and now, having caught them aside of him sharing the (meaningless) clue, he’s secretly pissed off about it, and is secretly looking for revenge. This can’t be good for Rob and Grant. If they’re perceptive to see this development, the next time they have a Tribal Council, they’ll orchestrate a move with other players, and backstab Creepy Phillip, eliminating him as a loose cannon threat.

StuckInTheSixties: Providing comedy relief, Creepy Phillip is convinced that he’s running the show and that when the time is right, he’ll take control and eliminate Boston Rob and Grant for “provoking” his “integrity” by trying to keep the (meaningless) clue from him. He continues to rant about some apparent fantasy of being a “government agent” or something. He’s clearly nuts. I hope they keep him around a long time, as he’s (unintentionally) just funny as hell! (laughs)

After the challenge loss, David began campaigning against Sarita. Sarita, on the other hand, passively refused to campaign, relying on the loyalty she hopes she still shares with the other tribe members. She knows that something dangerous is afoot, but doesn’t really comprehend just how much disfavor she’s managed to accumulate with her tribe. But when it came down to the actual vote, the tribe voted out Stephanie, which was a huge slap-down to David.

David is misplaying his game badly now. His game began coming unraveled last week when he got all pissy with the tribe because of the Immunity Challenge loss then. Just because she didn’t kiss his foot, and had the temerity to voice something that wasn’t in complete agreement with his whining about the loss, David has lost his perspective, and is now obsessed with voting out Sarita. He has continued this bad game play, lobbying strongly against Sarita and outwardly allying himself with Stephanie during Tribal Council, not realizing that Sarita is ALREADY in a bad spot. He needlessly allied with Stephanie, supplying the single vote (other than Stephanie’s) against Sarita. By doing so, he has foolishly, for petulant, petty, personal reasons, managed to place himself in the order of executions directly behind his arch-enemy, Sarita. Terrible, terrible play. He’s doomed himself for NOTHING.

When the votes were counted, judging by his face, it suddenly dawned on him of how he had placed foolishly himself in danger. It looks like the once powerful alliance of six has become a far less powerful alliance of four now, with neither Sarita nor David any longer being a true member of that alliance. While I doubt either of them will realize this, a bold and possibly effective move would be for those two to put aside their animosities and join together, to peel one of the other four off of that now weaker alliance, and split the tribe down the middle into two three-three alliances. Although a long shot, I would think this would be the only move they could make to increase their possibility of survival.

As for Stephanie, her trip to Redemption Island was essentially ordained from Day One and the moment she allied with Russell at the beginning of the game. She might have saved herself had she IMMEDIATELY turned on Krista after Russell was voted out of the tribe, had she IMMEDIATELY began groveling at the feet of the other tribe members, and had she voted against Krista instead of Steve. After all of those errors, she finally began to play the game. Had she not made those errors, it would have been Sarita leaving the tribe, and then probably David (who is becoming a little pissy-pants). But alas, it was too little, too late. Now she has to face the powerhouse of Matt in a duel.

Bye bye, Stephanie.

Sables: I really thought that they were going to vote the other girl off,I actually laughed when Sarita (sp?) wrote Stephanies name down and made the comment about time for her (Stephanie) to leave .... I was quite surprized when Stephanie got voted off, it looked like everyone was planning to vote Sarita off from the comments...be an interesting night back on the island.

Sables: Phil actually seemed a little more sane this time...maybe he is just playing the game well, I was glad when he saw them take the note, that damn ROb (I think that is his name) is always finding the clues...he has his nose everywhere lol

StuckInTheSixties: The elimination order there now is Sarita, and then David.

That tribe has become disfunctional.

Sables: no kidding, Stephanie was a much more competitive person than Sarita


and the two or three models that do nothing all day, Phil beaotching at them to gather firewood they really need to go...

StuckInTheSixties: All three of those girls are make for excellent eye-candy.

Those girls need to STAY!



Actually, one of them, Andrea, is a hard worker. But Ashley and Natalie are lazy bones.

Rich_Is_Here!: I think this week Jeff was hinting around about the redeemer joining back in the game! How does any one think this will go? Will it be a merger to one team or make two new teams?

Rich_Is_Here!: I think this week Jeff was hinting around about the redeemer joining back in the game! How does any one think this will go? Will it be a merger to one team or make two new teams?

Sables: did you see the look on Sarita's face when she got voted off, lol she was a little over confident. She can barely keep up in the challenges, what did she expect, they need to win and with her they are not.