SITS' Big "Survivor: South Pacific" Topic (Page 2) wilma6666: the challenge wes gross if i was on the show i wouldnt have done it if thay voted me off so be it who ever thouit of that should be fired it was sick  StuckInTheSixties: Episode 5: “Taste The Victory” “Survivor: South Pacific” seems to be settling into having a standard opening segment, one which makes sense. With Redemption Island as a part of the game formula, each episode (at least for the time being) begins with the new loser arriving at Redemption Island and waking the current resident. In this case, it was a reunion, of sorts. Stacey arrived, and her and current resident Christine poignantly celebrated the reunion with an “I-Hate-Coach-Fest.” Stacey filled Christine in on events, as she saw them. According to her, all of the ills of the world are due to Satan Coach. Christine, of course, is every bit as much of a Coach-hater. (A private interview with Stacey was nothing but an anti-Coach rant, as well.) Stacey filled in Christine on the threat she made at the end of the last episode, a threat that she was going to use the upcoming Duel as an opportunity to divulge as much information about Upolu Tribe as possible to Savaii, an opportunity to cause as much harm as possible to those that banished her. Watching this performance reminded me of just how socially ungraceful Stacey is, how caustic her personality is, and how unlikeable she is. She had only one ally in Upolu, which was Christine. In retrospect, I’m actually surprised that Christine befriended her, and I feel like I’ve been remiss in not dwelling on how unpleasant Stacey is in my previous posts. Stacey simply radiates negativity. Stacey’s former tribe was awakened, unnecessarily, by Brandon, announcing the arrival of Tree Mail. (The Tree Mail had nothing of any real importance, only the standard instructions for the tribe to designate two witnesses to the Duel. I’d have been pissed if he woke me up for that …) Coach, in a private interview, voiced a prescient concern and hope that Stacey and/or Christine would “keep their mouths shut” and not reveal any usable “intel” to the two Savaii witnesses. (That was not to be.) In a private interview, Brandon recalled how Mikayla had besmirched the Hantz name in Tribal Council, confirming and reinforcing the fact that she Mikayla a good chance to help herself with Brandon’s ongoing campaign of persecution. He let his emotions show again, tearing up while delivering another of his contradicting, irrational psychodramatic rants, complaining how Mikayla had insulted him, yet in the same sentence, saying that it didn’t matter: “These are real people out here. They have feelings, you know. I don’t care what people think about me. It doesn’t matter. I mean, I’m a good person. I’m a good guy. You know, if I can’t win the game like that, then I don’t need to win it.” Of course, feelings didn’t matter to Brandon for the first week and a half of the game when he made it a personal quest, for no rational reason (but obviously, many IRRATIONAL reasons), to do as much harm to her as he could. He’s one twisted freak, Brandon is. The witnesses to the Redemption Island Duel were Dawn and Whitney for Savaii, and Mikayla and Albert for Upolu. Stacey, true to her word, used the situation to refer to her former tribe-mates as “liars,” and brought particular heat upon Coach, of course, but also Albert and Sophie. She accused them of having a core alliance of three, warning Savaii about them. Jeff took notice as she and Christine repeatedly referred to Coach by his given name – Benjamin – instead of “Coach, his preferred title. Both women made sure to warn the “red team” that “Coach makes all the decisions”; “Coach is runnin’ the team.” This wasn’t unheeded by Dawn and Whitney, who nodded as they acknowledged this vital information. Albert and Mikayla took note of this, as well, with Albert muttering, “Sour grapes …” under his breath. Stacey ranted to the point of incomprehensibility, leaving everyone confuse and bemused. It was a virtuoso performance of unlikeability. She’s really a vile-spirited woman. The Duel was a contest that Survivor viewers have seen before, requiring “concentration and coordination,” as Jeff explained. Each contestant had before them a metal contraption, a track which small rubber balls would be fed into so that they could wend their way down to the bottom. The balls were fed into the SINGLE opening at face-height, but would be discharged from one of TWO openings at the bottom. The track wound in circles a little bigger than a yard/meter in circumference, spiraling down three or so revolutions until the ball was discharged at the bottom, to be caught in the hand, or dropped to the ground. Actually, there were two of these spiral tracks in each contraption, sitting side-by-side, one spiraling clockwise, the other counterclockwise. When a ball was fed into this thing, it would pass a little metal doohickey worked so that a ball fed into the top would pass one way into the clockwise spiral, and the next ball would pass the other way into the counterclockwise spiral. As Jeff explained, it would begin simply, with a single ball, going top to bottom, spiraling down one way, and upon being caught in the hand and reloaded, spiraling down the other. But in timed intervals, the players would be required to add a ball, and then another, and another. With multiple balls running the tracks, it presented a dizzying visual image of balls spinning confusedly in circles in both directions simultaneously. And, of course, the first player to drop a ball was the loser. At first, it was simple. Watch the ball circling downward, catch it when it popped out at the bottom, feed it back in at the top. But as balls were added, it became very complex. Interestingly, each woman displayed a different kind of … attitude … in her game style. As new balls were added Christine was deliberate, carefully trying to time when she would release a ball to provide spacing between them. Stacey, on the other hand, seemed to deliberately cast all concern to the wind, and actually showed a distinct attitude of arrogance as she fed balls into the maze. The witnesses, and Jeff, in his play-by-play, noted the difference in how the two players approached this task. Although Christine bobbled balls once or twice, ultimately her carefully timed releases, versus Stacey’s arrogant disregard for timing in any way, won the Duel for her when Stacey dropped a ball, sealing her fate, and removing herself from the game. I found it very interesting that Stacey’s foolish disregard for timing was, in a way, a reflection of her arrogant personality. As she left, she exchanged goodbyes with the two witnesses of her rival tribe, but not a word was exchanged with her former tribe-mates from Upolu. Thankfully, we won’t now be seeing any more of Stacey until the finale at the end of the season. Christine, having won three straight Duels, lives to fight another day. Albert, in a short private interview, acknowledged that as Stacey had intended, her indictment of her tribe to the Savaii witnesses had been damaging. When he and Mikayla returned to their camp, they described what had happened to their tribe-mates, describing in detail how Stacey and Christine had repeatedly referred to Coach as “Benjamin.” That made Coach quite angry. He had a little dramatic snit about it, declaring: “If anybody calls me ‘Benjamin’ to my face, I’m gonna go nuts. My parents call me ‘Coach.’ I’ve been called ‘Coach’ since I was eighteen.” (Why did he say that? That’s just the sort of information one should want to keep in one’s pocket. That might be used against him in the future. Foolish …) Later, in a private interview, Coach also acknowledged that indeed, Stacey had harmed her former tribe, and him, in particular, by divulging useful information to Savaii in the manner she did. As he noted, this will make him a much greater target to Savaii members when the two tribes merge. Coach was fuming, and declared: “It just ruined my day. It SUCKS! Could this day get any worse?” Life in Savaii had become relaxed and routine … at least for some members. Less so for others. The fracture in the seemingly strong Alliance of Five, the conspiracy that has developed, was going unnoticed by Ozzy and his gorgeous sidekick Elyse and their counterparts, Keith and Whitney. But the secret alliance of Jim, Dawn and Cochran was solidifying. Cochran, fully cognizant of his place at the very bottom of the Savaii pecking order, was going out of his way to do as much as he possibly could in a show of work around camp, gathering firewood, chopping open coconuts (he’s getting better at that, but I still wince when seeing him with a machete). He was having a little fun playing that up for comedic value to Elyse and Ozzy as they lounged around lazily. A funny moment occurred when Ozzy inquired as to how Cochran’s name was spelled, and Cochran replied, “You’re not gonna have to spell it any time soon, man. Don’t worry about the spelling, man. Don’t even worry about the phonetics or anything. Keep my name as far off your fingers and your tongue as possible.” While Cochran was good natured with Ozzy and Elyse to their faces, in a private interview, he revealed, and reasonably so, his a prickliness and resentment of Ozzy and Elyse’s haughty and demeaning attitude about him. Cochran was putting on a good natured show doing what he could to earn their mercy, and they in return were putting on a good natured show of being merciful, but underneath this veneer of pleasantness, Cochran smoldered with resentment: “I work my ass off around camp. Even if I’m not the big provider like Ozzy or anybody, I’m working hard. And then to see Ozzy and Elyse sleeping in every single day … they’re so wrapped up in their love blanket well into the late morning. I find every little thing about them irritates me now.” Dawn and Whitney returned from Redemption Island, and as expected, gave the tribe a full rundown of Stacey’s ranting disclosure about Coach, Albert, etc. As Dawn described Upolu to her tribe, a tribe in which Coach is in charge and Albert was next in the order, an interesting, and noteworthy discussion took place: Dawn (paraphrasing Stacey) : “ ‘Coach is runnin’ the show.’ ” (They called him ‘Benjamin.’) ‘Watch out. Benjamin’s in charge, with Albert and Sophie. It’s not unified. It’s not …’ And they’re all like his puppets.” Whitney: “Yeah, Coach and Albert …” Ozzy: “If Coach is smart, he’ll get rid of Albert soon.” Dawn: “I think Albert and he are aligned.” Jim (to Ozzy) : “Why get rid of Albert?” Ozzy: “Before the merge …” Later, in a private interview, Jim explained the importance of this discussion: “Ozzy made one big mistake. He revealed that if he were Coach, he would get rid of Albert. That’s huge information, because if Ozzy is sayin’ that COACH should get rid of the stronger people on HIS tribe, that’s also sayin’ that OZZY should get rid of one of the stronger people on HIS tribe. The two strong people are me and Keith. Once I heard that, I knew what I had. Nothin’ sells like fear. I’m gonna put that fear in Keith, and help me get Elyse gone next.” Over in Upolu Tribe, Albert was now feeling the heat after Stacey’s caustically effective disclosure. He was painfully aware that a merge isn’t too far off in the future, and after Stacey’s rant, he’s likely to be targeted by Savaii. Thus, Albert wisely decided that an effort to find the Hidden Immunity Idol was critical for him. He began a concerted search, and quickly came up with the Hidden Clue. While he found the Clue, and using the information within it to assist in his search, unfortunately, his search for the actual Idol itself was fruitless. Albert then made a critically impatient (and what may ultimately prove to be a fatal) decision: “I figured I can kill two birds with one stone. I can kind of further garnish Coach and Sophie’s trust by letting them in on this Idol, and I can also have them be helpers for me to find the Idol, ‘cause frankly, I think I can’t do this by myself.” So Albert shared the clue with Coach and Sophie. And while he apparently succeeded in “garnishing trust,” that came with a steep price. Coach, in a private interview, explained: “You wanna do a job right, you do it yourself. So I just said to myself, ‘I’ve gotta take this into my own hands.’ ” Coach went down to the beach and offered some mumbo-jumbo prayers to whatever God he worships, asking for assistance. Perhaps God sees Coach more favorably than he has other religious nuts playing Survivor, because shortly thereafter, Coach found the Hidden Immunity Idol in a tree. This perked his mood up considerably after the sour news of Stacey’s rant. His mood was elevated to a height where perhaps there wasn’t enough oxygen, as he then made the same kind of questionable decision as Albert had. Coach disclosed to Sophie and Albert that he’d found the Idol. This sort of disclosure can have a vast array of unintended consequences. While the disclosure of possession of an Idol can work positively, in general, possession of the Idol is something best kept secret. So it remains to be seen whether or not Coach’s decision to tell Albert and Sophie was a wise one. One thing for sure: Albert’s decision to share clues as to its whereabouts were unwise. Had Albert simply been more patient, the Idol might very well be in his pocket, not Coach’s. As Coach jubiliantly said in a private interview: “I’m not runnin’ the show … but pretty close!” Cochran’s attempt to improve his standing in Savaii, and his attempts to decrease his nerdly inabilities at “manly” physical activities led to his taking his first trip out to the reef with Ozzy and Keith for fishing. Poor Cochran is completely out of his element in so many ways in Survivor. As he explained: “I don’t have any outdoorsy skills, but I figure, you know, I gotta step up. I’m slightly nervous going out on the boat for the first time. I bring zero experience, zero ability, and zero confidence. I don’t think I’m going to be able to prove anything in terms of being able to catch fish, ‘cause that’s being left to Ozzy, but I’m hoping this will be a bonding experience where I’m not always viewed as, kind of, one of the girls hanging out around camp while those ‘true men’ go out fishing.” Ozzy has become the Official Provider of Fish for Savaii Tribe. The episode showed an interesting little segment with Ozzy very skillfully snorkeling down into the reef to spear fish, and explaining that while it might look easy, spear fishing is actually very physically taxing, and leaves him a bit cut, scratched and battered by the unforgiving coral, and exhausted from continuously holding his breath while swimming. Besides the fish, as any regular Survivor fan knows, fishing skills are a valuable commodity, and a great advantage for a player to have. As Ozzy explained: “I’m totally happy to play the provider role, and I think it’s gonna put me in a stronger position than anyone else. I really feel like they’re becoming MY tribe.” While Ozzy certainly does impress his tribe-mates as “The Provider,” he’s annoying Cochran, who, in a private interview, gave some thoughtful insights about Ozzy: “Having watched ‘Cook Islands” and as a fan favorite, to see Ozzy as a kind of super-human, Mogliesque guy that can do no wrong … but Ozzy is in a kind of phase that the middle-aged Ozzy who … you know, a few moments of glory, he runs out and gets us some fish, but otherwise he’s kind of a lazy ass. I mean, the arrogant fisherboy, jungleboy who feels like he can do no wrong, and that he’s entitled to our deference. The more he acts like this, it’s gonna come back to bite him in the ass. In the early years of Survivor, the producers saw fit to follow suit of a couple of other “Reality” games that, for some reason, decided it made for good television to subject the players to contests involving the eating of all sorts of horrible, gross things. Thankfully, Survivor only dabbled in that for a few seasons. But this episode’s Immunity Challenge harkened back to those times at least a little bit. The Challenge was simple. Each tribe had a roasted pig on a spit, and a short distance from that, a large basket. Each player had their hands bound behind their backs. The object of the Challenge was for players to gnaw hunks of roast pig off of their cooked pig carcass, run back to the basket, and spit the meat out. It was a race to see which team could accumulate the most meat in ten minutes time. As usual, a reward was added to Immunity: a basket of fresh vegetables, a collection of spices, cooking oil, and a huge loaf of bread, all looking quite delicious to viewers at home, and obviously looking drool-worthy to the players. In addition, the winning tribe would win another clue to the whereabouts of the Hidden Immunity Idol. (This, of course, was mostly – but not completely – a moot point, as BOTH Hidden Immunity Idols have been found … but, of course, some players know that, some don’t …) The Challenge was quite gross, with lots of drool and saliva, as well as greasy pork, being spit into baskets, meat being smeared all over faces, etc. In the end, it was as close of a contest as could be imagined. When it was over, Jeff weighed the disgusting results: Savaii accumulated twenty-two pounds, twelve ounces. Upolu accumulated twenty-two pounds, FOURTEEN ounces. The winning margin was only 2 ounces out of a total combined 730 ounces. Looked at another way, Savaii obtained 49.86 percent of the total, and Upolu obtained 50.14 percent. The winning margin was slightly over one tenth of one percent. And the winners were allowed to take their gross, spittle-marinated pork back to their camp. (Ick!) They enjoyed a feast of WELL COOKED Spit Pork and vegetables. Gross as the reward was, it had a major affect upon Upolu. It fed their stomachs with badly needed solid nourishment. It also fed their psyches with a victory, and the knowledge that their rivals would soon number one less. Their spirits soared as they chowed down on their feast. For a short time, at least, Upolu was a united tribe without troubles. In contrast, Savaii moped around, discussing how badly their mouths had been abused in this challenge. Then Cochran apparently tried to lighten things up with some joking around about herpes, and how they would all probably catch it from each other now. It wasn’t funny in the least. It fell flat. Cochran also made a show of immediately bursting into a frenzy of camp work, gathering firewood, chopping open coconuts, etc. It didn’t impress Ozzy, who, in a private interview, described it as “too little too late.” For Ozzy, there was no difficulty in making his decision. For Ozzy, it was Cochran’s time to go. “I think pretty much everybody in the tribe thinks he is the weakest link, and I think everybody feels good about letting him go tonight.” But Ozzy wasn’t aware that while he assumed it was HIS tribe, it was anything but that. There were forces at work, forces that had been developing over the course of the previous two episodes or so. The anti-Ozzy faction, Cochran, Dawn, and their leader, Jim, got to work. First, they analyzed the situation, and the numbers. The Alliance of Pretty People (Ozzy, Elyse, Keith and Whitney) numbered four, while the Anti-Ozzy Alliance only numbered three. In order to succeed, the Anti-Ozzy Alliance would somehow have to break the unity of the Alliance of Pretty People. Jim and Cochran conferred, and agreed. The key to unlocking the Alliance of Pretty People was Keith. And Ozzy’s remark from earlier in this episode, that Coach needed to get rid of Albert, was going to come back to be used against him. Jim went to Keith. He took that key, inserted it into the lock, and jiggled it around, trying to get that sticky lock to come undone. While Keith appreciated the gravity of Ozzy’s remark about Coach and Albert, he also appreciated the other dimensions of this situation. While it appeared that Keith had some agreement that the pairing of Ozzy and Elyse represented a threat, he had reservations about what to do about it, and if this was the right time to take action. He reasonably pointed out to Jim that if they took the bold step to oust Elyse, which would be a great blow to Ozzy, a significant consequence of that action would be that Ozzy would then, of course, be unwilling to trust any of them. Although the word “merge” wasn’t mentioned, it appeared that Keith was wisely thinking forward to that event, and the inevitable shakeups and betrayals that typically follow. He’s concerned about conserving his relationship with Ozzy AFTER the merge. In a private interview, Keith summed his situation up, although not decisively: “Tonight’s vote is supposed to go … Jim, Dawn, Cochran vote Elyse … and that Elyse and Ozzy are gonna vote for Cochran. That leaves me and Whitney for a little bit of room to play. The first alliance I made was me and Ozzy, so … tonight’s vote is really scary because if Elyse gets blindsided, in a sense, OZZY gets blindsided. So how’s Ozzy gonna trust me when he thinks we’re all voting for Cochran? That’s the question that I’m gonna have to try to figure out.” Although Ozzy was Keith’s first ally, he isn’t Keith’s CLOSEST ally. That person is, of course, Whitney. The Alliance of Pretty People is actually an alliance of two PAIRS of players. So Keith conferred with his partner. In a private interview, Whitney summed up her view of things: “Elyse and Ozzy are like this [crosses her fingers]. And I don’t think Ozzy’s gonna like it if we all vote her off … and there goes our alliance.” Cochran was feeling, for perhaps the first time, somewhat reassured that the target had been taken off of his back when Jim conferred with him, telling him that it was now a sure thing that Elyse was going to be voted out. Cochran acknowledged, however, that in Survivor, you really don’t know until the votes are read. But he was actually feeling a little cocky about it. In a private interview, he explained: “I don’t care if Ozzy thinks we’re all against him. We ARE all against him, and we’ll vote him out next time. He’s gonna hate me more after I vote out his hammock sweetheart … which I hope is what happens tonight.” It was time for Tribal Council. Jeff began by asking Ozzy to assess his tribe’s situation, being about a third of the way through the game. Ozzy: “A third of the way in, the merge is still too far off to be that worried about in terms of the trust of the group. So it’s all about keeping us as strong as possible.” [To decode that: “We will now vote out Cochran.”] Jim, doing a fine job of acting, nodded his apparent agreement. Jeff: “Elyse, how do you define a strong tribe member?” Elyse: “I think being a strong tribe member is somebody who is strong across the board. I mean, somebody who can deliver what they’re expected in a Challenge, somebody who can contribute around camp life, somebody who has got social skills and graces that can help unify people, keeping the group together.” [Well put, Elyse.] They discussed the microscopic margin in which they’d lost the Challenge. It was unanimous that no one was to blame for that loss. They agreed that they simply were edge out. They also ran down the list of injuries incurred from the challenge, cut lips, broken teeth (Yipes!) Cochran, his lack of physical skills, his nerdliness, his precarious standing in the tribe, inevitably surfaced as a topic. His awful “herpes joke” was hauled out and dissected. He was characterized as the last kid on the playground chosen for soccer teams. It was another brutal, dehumanizing ordeal for the poor forlorn Cochran. It was time to vote. The big question was: Will the Anti-Ozzy Alliance somehow overcome the four-three advantage of the Alliance of Pretty People? The votes were read: Cochran Elyse [You could see her and Ozzy react to that …] Cochran Elyse [“Whoa! their faces seemed to say …] Dawn [“Whoa! millions of viewers simultaneously said …] Dawn [That vote revealed just what had happened …] And the three-way tie breaking vote would be … Elyse (Damn! I HATE it when they vote out bikini-hotties!) (laughs) Elyse stoically left for Redemption Island without a word, or any other reaction. Cochran looked like he was about to get sick, but relieved, of course. Ozzy let the reality set in. Savaii was ANYTHING but HIS tribe. The votes were cast, of course, this way: Elyse: voted for by Jim, Cochran and Dawn Cochran: voted for by Ozzy and Elyse Dawn: voted for by Keith and Whitney I purposefully omitted, until now, something said by a player that previewed just how this vote would go. This statement was uttered earlier in the episode by Whitney, in a private interview, just after she and Keith conferred about how they should vote, what they would do: “Keith and I are still tryin’ to figure out how to weasel our way around this and still come out in our alliance with Ozzy. It’s hard. I wish we could let those three vote for Elyse, and then us two vote ‘not Cochran,’ but someone else.” That statement was presented as just one of many things said in passing, but that was what happened. It was a brilliant move. Their vote was basically an abstention, a non-vote. But an abstention of this type is symbolic only. It may say to the losing party: “I didn’t want to vote against you.” But it also says to the losing party: “I didn’t want to save you, either.” The move was brilliant because it left a crack in the door open for Ozzy. The only improvement they could have made was to have one vote for Dawn, and one vote for Jim. That way they would have been symbolically saying to both of them that neither of them was favored, or disfavored … a TOTAL abstention. But as their votes were cast, it made for a better television, a more dramatic vote count that had a three-way tie broken by a single vote. So keep your eye on Keith and Whitney who proved themselves capable of finding an intelligent solution for a thorny problem that might have eluded others. It was a very smart move on their part. But DAMN! I hate to see that cute, wiggly little bikini babe gone … StuckInTheSixties: Wilma: You're obviously not a LONG TIME viewer of Survivor. There was a time when this terrible other "reality show," called "Fear Factor," was the new kid on the block. Every episode of that featured a segment in which players had to EAT some sort of unbelievably disgusting vile thing, like rotten eggs, decomposed whatever ... vomit-inducing gastronomical contests. Unfortunately, Survivor followed suit, as did other shows, and for a year or two, Survivor contestants also were subjected to Challenges that required them to eat something that made the Spit-Pork downright delectable. Fortunately, the fad of inedible edibles in reality shows was short-lived. wilma6666: ya that why it was short liiuved stuck it was gross and i been watching for 5 years want if one of the person had a disese from the spit in the meat that thay eat i loved the rest of theshow StuckInTheSixties: Episode 6: “Free Agent” “ ‘Survivor: South Pacific’ seems to be settling into having a standard opening segment, one which makes sense. With Redemption Island as a part of the game formula, each episode (at least for the time being) begins with the new loser arriving at Redemption Island and waking the current resident. ” That’s what I said last week. Of course, this week I was proven wrong. The show opened with Savaii returning to camp after having blindsided Elyse in Tribal Council. Of course, Ozzy was quite upset. His closest confidant and partner had just been kicked out without his knowing it would happen. There were TWO that had been blindsided. Ozzy took it personally, and his reaction was swift, and unpleasant. He had a strategic self-destruct meltdown. In a private interview, he said: “I’m pretty pissed off. Keith and Whitney and myself, we had a good thing going, and they just went behind my back and voted someone out without telling me, and made me look like an idiot. How can you trust somebody when they go behind your? It goes against everything that an alliance is supposed to be.” He further delivered a speech to his tribe: “I’m done playing the alliance way, so I’m now what’s called a ‘free agent.’ I’m playing for myself, and you guys can play it for yourselves.” This was the outcome that Keith had been concerned about when the blindside was being orchestrated by Jim. The cost of this blindside had been that Keith and his main partner Whitney no longer had the trust of Ozzy. Although no one was particularly vicious about it, his tribe-mates had little sympathy for Ozzy. Whitney attempted, a bit disingenuously, to minimize the inescapable slight toward Ozzy: “I don’t understand why you’re takin’ this so personal. It was never against YOU.” Ozzy replied: “It’s against me when you don’t tell me something very crucial like that. It’s obviously against me.” Dawn spoke up: “Give me a break, Ozzy. There’s stuff you’re withholding, and you know that.” Ozzy than foolishly revealed: “I’ve got the idol. How ‘bout that? You guys played your hand. I just played mine. I’ve got the Idol. There’s a whole other side of this game that you’re forgetting about, and that’s called ‘Redemption.’ ” Keith essentially threw down the gauntlet: “Well, if you wanna go there, just let us know, man.” In a private interview, Ozzy summed up his new “strategy” … or lack of one: “Now, every little dirty laundry, and every little aspect of the game is starting to come out. I told everyone I’ve got the Idol, so from this point on, I’ve just decided ‘Screw it.’ I’m just gonna let everything hang out there, and try to go as far as possible, but if it doesn’t work, I’ve always got Redemption.” Nice meltdown, Ozzy. Later he continued, holding up a fish he’d just speared to emphasize his point: “I’m just trying to be the provider. I’m just trying to lead by example, but they gotta be forthcoming if they want me be part of this tribe. I’m a big part of this tribe. If they want to win Challenges and get farther, they gotta trust me. That’s the bottom line.” Ozzy’s petulance didn’t go unnoticed by his tribe-mates. We would expect that from the three in the Anti-Ozzy Alliance. It would be natural for Jim, Dawn and Cochran to be sitting around discussing Ozzy’s demonstrative new display of anti-social behavior, but it’s noteworthy that Whitney and Keith joined in the pettiness of the “Let’s-Criticize-Ozzy” discussion group, as well. Ozzy went fishing by himself while everyone else discussed how “unreasonable” he was being. Of course, everyone was failing to see things from any perspective but their own. This is Ozzy’s third time of playing Survivor, and he knows what happens. And while Ozzy’s behavior certainly wasn’t good social play, it should have been expected, to a degree. After all, he was blindsided (albeit, indirectly). But everyone was playing their own game, their own way. Jim, of course, was elated by this turn of events: “The plan’s comin’ together better than I could have ever drawn it up. But now, as opposed to Ozzy being the leader, he throws what can only be described as a ‘hissy fit.’ I kind of thought Ozzy would wake up this morning and realize he needs to apologize to everybody. That wasn’t the case. He’s taking his ball and going to the other side of the island, and still huffin’ and puffin’, not talking to anybody … not only that, he revealed that he had the Idol, and said that he’s a ‘free agent.’ The guy couldn’t have made any worse moves than he did.” Cochran enjoyed the show, as well: “I don’t know if Ozzy’s temper tantrum is going to continue well into the future, but the less pleasant he is, the better it is for me, so I hope he continues to be a crybaby, ‘cause it’s great for me.” Although it was understandable for Savaii to revel in Ozzy being deposed as the leader of the tribe, it was a bit distasteful to watch them sitting around denigrating him. Over at Upolu’s camp, that tribe was fat and happy after having feasted on the rewards of their victorious Immunity Challenge. Coach, in particular, was satisfied. He had the Hidden Immunity Idol. His tribe was victorious and well fed. And Brandon, for the time being, was being less psychotic than usual. Coach’s only problem was only a problem in his own mind. He’d told his closest two allies, Albert and Sophie, that he’d found the Idol. Now he was struggling with the idea of telling the others, wrestling with his silly “honor” demons. It was funny, and more than a little pathetic, to see Brandon ardently searching in vain for an Idol that wasn’t there. He did find the clue to it, which he shared with Albert and Coach. This put Coach in a quandary: “I have the Idol in my possession. Brandon doesn’t know it. The thing is I talked to Brandon about playin’ this game as Christian men, and we are going to do that. But is withholding information lying? It’s a grey area.” This little demonstration, I think, shows Coach for the phony he is. He’s always talked about the importance of “honor, loyalty, integrity.” But in essence, he’s the same as any other player. He fully understands that deceit is a critical component of the game. He’s PRETENDING that he has this code of ethics, presenting a façade of “honor, loyalty, integrity” to players, to viewers of the show, and to himself. He even broached the idea, to Albert, of letting Brandon know the truth about his possession of the Hidden Immunity Idol. Albert wisely advised Coach to forget about that idea. It was both sad and funny to see Brandon on his futile search, climbing trees, wading through knee-deep mud, digging under trees. Albert actually encouraged him. (laughs) It was time for a Duel at Redemption Island. The witnesses would be Sophie and Rick for Upolu, and Ozzy and Keith for Savaii. The usual little mini-Council, moderated by Jeff, wasn’t very noteworthy, although Christine showed a little emotion, tearing up a little, when Jeff noted that Redemption Island had become her “home,” noting that life in exile was hard and lonely. The Duel was a variation of Shuffleboard, played on a long board, waist-high, and resembling, to a degree, the Shuffleboard game with metal discs found in many American bars. The players stood at one end of the board. A short distance from the other end of the board, a set of eight discs (four black for one player, four white for the other) were arranged in two rows, in a fashion sort of similar to how balls are racked on a pool table. The players had a number of “shooting” discs, which they were to slide down the length of the table, Shuffleboard fashion, and kind of like “breaking” in pool. The goal was to knock the opposing player’s four discs off the far end of the table through a few open spots on the raised border around the playing surface. First player to do so would win. It was a close contest, but eventually Christine was to continue her streak of Duel victories. Elyse was out of the game. Viewers would see no more of Elyse prancing about in her hot little bikini. (I’ve gone into mourning …) At one point, Rick made one of his extremely rare verbal utterances, saying: “Go, Christine! You can do it!” Her reply was to flip Rick the middle finger in that not-really-subtle way of using it to rub her nose. Rick and Sophie noted her display of bitterness with some amusement, and as they were returning to their camp, they agreed that it was very unlikely that Christine would ever consider reconciling with her former tribe if she survived to the merge. They related that little drama to their tribe-mates upon return to camp. In Upolu, Edna has taken on a role kind of similar to Cochran’s. She’s become very enthused about making a show of being helpful around camp, gathering coconuts and firewood, etc. She was particularly anxious to kiss up to Coach, as she has been doing for a while now. And she seemed to be making at least some sort of an impression. But Coach, for all of his “honor and trust” rhetoric, still sees Edna as fodder, someone to vote off early if necessary. He voiced his preference to voting off Mikayla before Edna, so she’s climbed at least one notch on Coach’s totem pole. But he’s really just playing her. While he was directly asking her for loyalty, Edna is disposable fodder for Coach. So much for honor, loyalty, and integrity. After the better part of a day, Ozzy came to the realization that throwing a “tantrum” was a mistake. In a private interview, he voiced his change of heart: “I really made a mistake. I still wanna try and make something happen with this tribe because you gotta have some people that you trust if you wanna make it to the end. He and Keith sequestered for a figurative kiss and make up, and committed themselves to a partnership to the end. Yeah … right … He then apologized to the tribe, trying to portray his revealing of possession of the Hidden Immunity Idol as a demonstration of his desire to be a part of the tribe. While Ozzy’s attempt to regain his good graces with the tribe may (or may not) have been successful with Keith, as for the Anti-Ozzy Alliance, he still is looked upon as the enemy. Jim: “Ozzy finally realizes he’s got nowhere to go. His whole speech after Tribal Council about bein’ a ‘free agent’ … free agent for WHO? He’s got nowhere to go except for us. I like havin’ Ozzy on my side. Ozzy helps me win Immunity Challenges before the merge. After the merge, he’s a bigger target than me. There’s nothin’ more that I could want from somebody on my team.” (Jim’s beginning to get pretty cocky, isn’t he?) It was time for the Immunity Challenge, which was a new one, not seen in previous seasons of Survivor. It would be run on separate, side-by-side courses. It had two steps, with three tribe members to complete the first step, and the other three to complete the second: Step One ~~ Three members of each tribe would assemble a large wheelbarrow, a wheelbarrow too large to be operated by a single person. With a separate person on each of the wheelbarrow handles, the wheelbarrow would be run through a maze, stopping at a station where the wheelbarrow would be placed under a hanging bin of coconuts. Another player at that station would have to untie knots to free a large pin, and then pull the pin which would let the bin to spill the coconuts into the wheelbarrow. This task would be repeated by those same three people on the second section of the course. The wheelbarrow would arrive at a large shallow box where it would have to be tipped up to dump the accumulate coconuts into that box. Step Two: ~~ The remaining three players would then disassemble the wheelbarrow, which, by design, would then be converted into a giant slingshot. Using the coconuts as ammunition, those three players would shoot at a series of targets at varying distances. First team to knock over all of its targets would win. The reward would be ~~ Immunity from Tribal Council ~~ A lavish picnic at the Sliding Rocks, a beautiful series of waterfalls and swimming holes with smooth, natural rock water slides ~~ Another Hidden Immunity Idol Clue hidden somewhere in the area around their camp (a moot point for all members of Savaii, and half of Upolu, as both Idols have been found) Upolu, having one greater number of tribe members, chose to sit out Edna (as usual). During the first stage, Brandon and Rick for Upolu expertly ran the maze with their wheelbarrow. But Ozzy and Dawn had considerable trouble, repeatedly running their wheelbarrow into obstacles in the maze. Upolu got off to a significant lead, and was able to begin shooting coconuts at their targets while Savaii was still well behind on the course. But that’s when things changed … Mikayla was one of the shooters for Upolu, and she simply could not operate the slingshot effectively. She not only missed targets repeatedly,, but she could barely even get a coconut to even reach the target, and to double the handicap, when urged several times by Coach to sit back and let others shoot, she ignored him, and continued to take shot after ineffective shot. Savaii quickly caught up, and then won. And while they enjoyed the picnic, swimming, and the fact that the other tribe would be subjected to Tribal Council, Upolu had to spend the afternoon deciding who would be sacrificed. It should have been a simple matter. After all, it was going to be either Mikayla or Edna. But Upolu is not a unified tribe. A division opened up, and Upolu split into two factions, one led by Coach, the other led by Albert. The tribe had to base their decision on two competing realities: ~~ Edna has absolutely no physical skills whatsoever (which is why she is chosen to sit out Challenges whenever possible) ~~ Mikayla singlehandedly, and inexcusably, blew the Challenge Albert, for whatever reason, began lobbying furiously for Mikayla’s life. Brandon, inexplicably, decided that he trusted Mikayla, and began to feel “uneasy” about Edna, the “look on her face like she’s playin’ people” … But … Having said that, Brandon then decided that he still wanted to vote out Mikayla. It was classic psycho-Brandon. As Sophie observed: “He’s nuts! Absolutely nuts!” Crazy logic wasn’t confined to Brandon. Coach decided that the loss of the Challenge was HIS fault because he failed to force Mikayla to submit to his leadership, and he allowed her to continue her inaccurate coconut shooting. He then delivered a long, rambling, semi-incoherent speech about Mikayla vs. Edna, and pronounced the loser would be Mikayla. Albert wisely interpreted Coach’s motivations accurately, that Coach wants to keep Edna solely because he has her in his pocket. Albert would have none of that. The beginnings of a power struggle between Coach and Albert surfaced. Rick found himself in the uncomfortable position of being the swing vote, and he was lobbied hard by both Coach and Albert. While other players might revel in wielding the power to singlehandedly decide the outcome of a Tribal Council, Rick described his situation: “This SUCKS!” At Tribal Council, a clearly divided tribe voiced differing opinions on the relative advantages and disadvantages of going into a merge with tribe-mates who are capable, versus going into a merge with tribe-mates who are loyal. Any time any opinion was stated by any person, it elicited rollings of the eyes and looks of scorn and derision. Albert delivered the most rational argument: “Loyalty can be faked, but you can’t fake strength. A really good person can con people into believing they’re loyal. It’s hard to con people into believing you’re really good in athletics and strong.” Upolu was given a great opportunity with what happened next. Brandon gave one of his patented crazy diatribes, albeit, one that had at least a certain degree of merit. He pointed out that there had been an alliance, the Alliance of Six. It had actually been FIVE, as Edna was never really a member of the Alliance. But Brandon had a point. There had been an agreement made between those people, an agreement that Mikayla had not been a part of, and now, led by Albert, a faction of that Alliance had split off from the others. Frustrated, Brandon suggested that they vote HIM off. Coach offered an amazing bullshit contradiction of himself in that Tribal Council. At one point he said: “You know what my answer is gonna be – honor, loyalty, integrity.” A minute later, he said: “The problem is there’s a point of being too honest and you have to remember that there are some cards that have to be revealed, and some cards that you keep hidden for a time. But it doesn’t mean that you’re being disloyal or dishonest.” Brandon then went into Crazy World again: “You know, it’s funny, but nowadays, people get the misconception that we can tell a half-lie, or we can tell a little bit of a lie. It’s just a game. Oh, it’s just a cigarette. Oh, it’s just a little bit of marijuana, or it’s a little bit … it’s that lasciviousness, because there’s not grey. It’s just black and white. Period.” Upolu voted along the lines of the split: Voting for Edna: Mikayla Albert Sophie Voting for Mikayla: Edna Coach Brandon And Swing-Vote-Rick voted for … Mikayla. Coach wins another skirmish. But his insistence that he is the tribe’s leader is in tatters now. Nearly everyone on his tribe has crossed him at one time or another now. The only exception, the only person who has consistently followed Coach without question, is Edna. The last segment showed Mikayla arriving at Redemption Island, where Christine asked, “What happened” Her answer: “You know crazy Brandon …”  Sables: Coach really needed to grab some balls and ask Mikayla to step aside, she blew the challenge, but I think that they could have used her in some of the challenges as Edna is useless in them, but Edna will do anything they want to hold her spot. lol and get over the bikini babe being gone I am grateful that they are not running around in their underwear (the men) gads that is disgusting, why don't they bring swimming trunks? saggy baggy gross underwear  StuckInTheSixties: What?!? You didn't like Coach and his pixelated bulge? (laughs) It's interesting that both of the tribe "leaders" have lost control of their tribes. It's also interesting that the two tribes have been consistently alternating in Tribal Council. Neither tribe seems to be gaining a numbers advantage as the merge looms ahead. (Edited by StuckInTheSixties) Sables: yes generally one seems to do better than the other...I seem to favor the Upolo tribe but I don't get the underwear thing, there are swimming trunks available that have shorts sewn in them that would be cool and not as revealing, I just can't handle the ugly baggy saggy underwear.. Sables: or I was going to have to resort to having Russel's nephew have a chat with you.....or even worse set Edna on you she would chew your ear off literally lol StuckInTheSixties: (laughs) Now they're getting rid of Mikayla. If she loses her Duel, the only bikini left will be Whitney. StuckInTheSixties: No, not interested ... Not that there's anything wrong with that ...*** *** Famous Seinfeld quote Sables: chuckle, I have no beef in it, what they do behind closed doors is none of my business, I don't want to know what a hetro sexual couple do behind their doors either...lol and no comments from the peanut gallery StuckInTheSixties: No gay guys this season. They usually include a gay guy. They should include a couple of HOT lesbians! (laughs) Sables: as my hubby would say he wouldn't mind a little tongue and grove you guys are such pigs......lol |
n for your soul (and mine too) 