Programming Note:
Tonight there are 2 hours of Survivor. 8pm-10pm. Double episode, double drama, double vote out. Anyone out there with old-school time-based recording methods be sure to update your settings tonight!
Intro/Grumbling:
OK, so last week doesn't seem so long ago since I reviewed it only days ago. But, I forgot one hugely important thing that I had meant to write (rant) about. How many episodes did we have to see #Blindside appear at the bottom of the screen? How many of those episodes were truly worthy of being called blindsides? What happened last week? Jeremy voted out in a major blindside - possibly the biggest one we'll get all season. What was conspicuously missing from the bottom of the screen? #Blindside. Why so liberal with it's use before (When Nadiya was voted out? Really? I argue you can't truly be blindsided on day 3.) but leave it out when it fits perfectly? Enough, on to my recap.
Back From Tribal:
Natalie is upset, rightly so. She gets the honor of being blindsided but still in the game. The others in her alliance tell her it was a late decision that was made while she was off talking to Jeremy. I don't buy it. She probably doesn't either, but it's technically believable. Keith/Wes/Alec are obviously thrilled with how that went down.
Reward Challenge:
Split into 2 teams by a schoolyard pick. One-by-one they swim out to a platform, climb it, jump off the other side to grab a key, swim out further, retrieve a set of floating puzzle pieces, and swim back to the start. Players 2-4 get the advantage of being tossed a life-ring which they can use to get pulled back to the start by those who have finished their legs. Once they're all back, you need to unlock your puzzle pieces by finding the only working key of the 4 you retrieved, then solve the puzzle.
Only 9 players, so 1 person wasn't picked and that was Keith this time. The schoolyard pick is meant to even out teams, so we'll see how they did. It ends up Baylor/Missy/Natalie/Wes vs Alec/Jon/Reed/Jaclyn. Things stay pretty close through each of the 4 people returning with pieces. Each team leads for a little bit. Toward the end Alec's team edges ahead. But the puzzle can be an equalizer. It's a vertical stacking puzzle, so it's less complicated, but remember how Coyopa had trouble with a similar puzzle earlier this season when you had to put together flags or banners in th right order. This challenge wasn't like that though, maybe because Jon/Reed/Jaclyn were from the original Hunahpu, where mistakes like that weren't made in challenges. They, and Alec, win. Baylor is sad because her mom hasn't won a reward yet. Reed decides to give up his reward for Missy because it's the right thing to do (actually so he can plot and scheme while they're gone). Wes is chosen to go to Exile Island. We never hear from him again. At least not until he returns for the immunity challenge a little bit later.
Reward Is A Favorite Pastime:
Go to a local village and hand out baseball supplies as goodwill toward the Nicaraguan community that is hosting them. Jon is thrilled because he loves kids. We hear again about Jaclyn's 1/4000 issue in which she has no uterus and can't have kids. Jon is fine with that though. He loves her and says they can adopt. Very 'public service announcement' style - all of that. Anyhow, the kids are all thrilled with the baseball supplies (bats, balls, hats, uniforms, etc.) because that's the #1 sport in their country. What would foreigners bring us? Basketball stuff? Football stuff? Not sure what's #1 here currently. Guess it would depend on where they were. Missy also seems recharged to be dealing with kids. Not sure whether I would or not. Guess I'd find out, if I'm lucky. Oh yeah, they also get to eat baseball food, defined as hotdogs, cheeseburgers, soda, ice cream. Good reward. Jon even went up to bat against the kids and amazingly got on base.
Scheming:
Reed does just what he needs to do. He's back at camp working new angles. He wants to get rid of Jon so he talks to Keith about it and they get the ball rolling. Meanwhile, Missy and Baylor use this time while the 2 guys are off talking to start looking for the hidden immunity idol. I hadn't caught that their clue from exile was to a new idol. I thought it was the same clue that was useless, but it must have been a new one hidden because John went home with his. I should know how these things work, but I have never fully figured it out. Gotta pay more attention I guess.
Long story short, they find it buried in the middle of camp. Importantly, Natalie finds it so she's the actual owner. They run off the the well and giggle. I assume they eventually go back and fill in their holes so people don't suspect anything.
Immunity Challenge:
Another one designed for smaller people with smaller frames and smaller feet, much to Dalton Ross' dismay. (Dalton, an official Survivor blogger with EW.com, is perpetually annoyed by challenges that favor someone based on size since you can't correct for it.) This one puts each person on a tiny ledge that backs up to a post with handles up top on both sides. They must put their heels on the ledge and hold both handles. If either foot comes down or either hand lets go, they're out. What could make this exciting to watch? Temptations! 7 minutes in, Jon reluctantly steps down for a plate of candy. He says he couldn't have won it anyway so he might as well eat. 30 minutes in we see 5 cookies and 2 glasses of milk, which Baylor and Jaclyn jump off for immediately. Missy drops out later without temptation. Wes comes down at the sight of a bowl of wings. I believe Keith and Alec miss out due to giving up. This leaves Reed and Natalie starting around 1 hour and 20 minutes. ... Time elapsed is now 3 hours. Others are sleeping. Natalie asks if there will be another temptation. Jeff is stunned. Someone would fight for 3 hours but be willing to give up? She specifically asks if there will be pizza, cookies, wings, and beer. Jeff walks off screen and returns with a custom plate and says it's hers if she wants it but she doesn't have to take it. She decides she really can't beat Reed so might as well eat rather than just lose. She steps down. Reed is declared the winner and steps down. They both struggle to even move. Natalie makes it to her food much later. Reed has the immunity idol brought to him.
Scrambling:
Reed now has a little wiggle room. He's trying to rally Wes/Keith/Alec to vote with him even though they voted for him last time. He gets the majority alliance to agree that Keith's potential idol is a threat so they need to split between Keith and Wes. But this split includes Reed and Alec, who will actually vote for Jon. Everyone is on board with the various plans. Jon is suspicious of Reed and thinks he's not voting with them. Will he act on his suspicions?
Tribal Craziness:
Before it even started, my guess is that this plan would work unless Keith said something stupid. Guess what he did? After Reed explained that Wes stepping out of the challenge makes it seem like he could be comfortable and so might be sharing an idol, Keith loudly says they need to stick to the plan. Suddenly everyone is whispering what to do because if Keith has a plan that someone else needs to stick to, that means there are plans that lots of people aren't aware of. All sorts of looks and whispers start happening. Mayhem like we've generally only seen when someone physically pulls out an idol when there are no other choices of who to get rid of.
The Votes Are In:
Wait, before the votes, Natalie tells Jon he should play his idol. He asks if she's sure. She says "it's up to you". She has a gut feeling this isn't going as planned. Jon decides to play it now to be sure. Keith, realizing this could end badly, decides he has to play his idol too and Wes tells him to use it on himself. So Jon and Keith are immune from votes.
Jon. Jon. Jon. Keith. Keith. Jon. Keith. None of these count. Just 2 votes left. Wes. Wes. 3rd person on the jury is Wes. Jeff predicts a wild finish to this season.
Next Time On ... Survivor:
The most important thing we see about the next episode is a reward challenge that always displays pecking orders. Get a question right, chop 1 of someone else's ropes (usually 3) to drop them out of the game. Last person standing wins reward. Nearly impossible to not result in the reveal of a pecking order. Therefore nearly guaranteed to cause chaos and get people to start rethinking their strategy moving forward. Keith, Reed, and Alec are sure to be out first, but who falls next and in what order could reshape the rest of the game. My guess is that Jaclyn or Missy will win this one.
What-If Explorations:
Here's my two cents on things that should have been done differently.
1) Reed wants to target Jon. Reed is counting on Keith. Reed knows that Jon would be the obvious target if they were plotting something. Reed should have targeted anyone else. Missy or Baylor or Jaclyn. Missy or Jaclyn are best. If Jon and Jaclyn have an idol they'll expect he was the target and play it on him. If Missy and Baylor have an idol they'll protect daughter before mother. Idols get played, Missy or Jaclyn go home and it's a new game.
2) Reed is smart. He would know based on the immunity challenge that Natalie is at the bottom of her alliance. You could pull her over and have a stronger ally than Keith. This tips the balance without needing to be sneaky. You have 5 votes at that point. You still don't vote for Jon for the same reason as above and because keeping him means you keep a target bigger than your own.
3) Jon/Jaclyn/Missy/Baylor/Natalie, the core alliance there, should have played the numbers better. 5 is the majority. They also should have targeted someone who isn't a threat to hold an idol. Decide on your own to put all 5 votes on Alec but tell Reed you're on board with the split vote. You find out who's with you and against you and you still vote out someone you don't trust. Whittle them down to just Keith and Wes before you start splitting votes that way you almost certainly flush the idol. (Almost certain because at that point Keith and Wes' best move is to let whoever isn't voted out to keep the idol and cause havoc during the next vote.)
I'd like to think that this sort of strategic thinking would make me great at Survivor. It sure seems like there were better decisions out there to be made. Maybe if you're there for 72 hours, instead of seeing 1 hour of spliced video, their moves make more sense.
OK! Tonight! Watch Survivor for 2 hours! This should really move the season along, as much as I never want it to end.
No comments:
Post a Comment