Survivor: One World - Episode Three: Places for Pride and Manipulation

Another super cool Survivor puzzle! 

This episode of Survivor saw me begin to feel some girl power solidarity... I'm still not super proud of my "team" so to speak, but even so, the men have fallen so deep into the chauvinistic and egomaniac stereotype that I can't help but feel defensive.

The exciting thing is: this season is inspiring many new reactions in me that previous seasons never have. That's not to say they're better or worse - but they're new, and that's saying a lot for a TV show that's been around for 24 seasons!

1. Should the girls be relying on the guys so much/at all/more?

In Richie Glanzer's blog post last week for Rob Cesternino's website, Sophie Clarke - winner of last season, and overall awesome chick who kicks ass as a representative of women anywhere - suggested that the girls weren't poaching off of the guys enough. She recommends playing the weak card and giving the men the impression that they are all-powerful... to then stab them in the back when the time is right. I have to say, my initial instinct was to wish for the women to be stronger and prove they don't need the guys; to tough it out like all the Survivor tribes before them who lost the tarp challenge and faced relentless rain had to do... But this season's set of rules should indeed breed a new set of strategies, and I think Sophie has a point. I'm still very eager to see how both tribes - and sexes - are going to continue to figure out what their best strategy might be. It's kind of like watching Season 1 all over again!

2. Shedding some light on the Manono [man?-oh-no] tribe proved they're not all d-bags. 

In previous episodes, viewers were slightly influenced to believe that all men - except for Colton - were egocentric, selfish, relentless, immoral bastards. [Flashback to them all agreeing to not continue competing in the first Immunity Challenge.] But this time, we finally got some more insight into the depth of the various tribe members. We got to see Bill through Colton's lenses (in my last post, I thought he seemed cool! as of this episode... it's hard to take him seriously), Matt through even darker scorned female lenses, and most of the members of the Misfits Alliance in redeeming lenses. My new favorite guy is Troyzan, who seems to have figured out a balance between being competitive and leveraging some power within his tribe while also being a gentleman and overall reasonable guy. Tarzan is also growing on me - aside from his ridiculous choice for a nickname. (At least Troyzan kept his original name in there...)

3. However, there's no way I could feel anything but totally thrilled that Matt got voted out. 

I don't like disliking someone on Survivor as much as I disliked Matt while watching the show. Especially now that I've met a whole crew... I know they're all really cool people playing the game the best way they know how - which let's face it, they usually don't seeing as they've mostly never played it before. [I can say I'd be an awesome player all I want, I really have no idea until I'm on that island dealing with the elements, the people I may or may not like, the challenges... That's part of the appeal!] Whatever kind of person Matt is in "real life," he handled himself extremely poorly on the show. Sure, he's strong and he was probably relying on that to be kept in the tribe. Of course, the tribe separation screwed him over in that sense and he had to find another strategy. But showing off your muscles and forming a macho-man tribe and strutting around thinking you've got all the power and being a total dick to the other tribe are certainly not appropriate strategy adjustments. If you want to hear something to help rid yourself of such strong feelings of animosity for someone you've never met, listen to his exit podcast with Rob and Nicole.

4. Is Colton a genius or a reckless drama king?

I mentioned in my last post that I felt strongly about the fact that Colton should have kept his Immunity Idol secret longer. And there he goes, flaunting it at Tribal Council like a diamond ring. But.... he doesn't use it like he says he would. Great - that maybe helps him for this Tribal Council, but how is he going to handle the rest? Does he seriously think that just because he has majority now and has made a point by helping to get Matt voted off (well, he wanted Bill off... so let's look at others for the job of puppeteer) that he's home free? If I were in his tribe, I'd stick with him, make him feel extra comfortable, and get his butt voted off as soon as I could, and the sooner the better. Colton is proving to be just as much of a power-hungry egomaniac as Matt...


I wanted to see more of the guys this ep, and my wish was granted! I'm still super pumped about this season and excited for the next episode! I think we're going to see a lot of adjusted strategies and interesting moves as the contestants get a better foothold on what their situation is... What are your thoughts and predictions? How do you feel about Matt getting voted off?