Each week on this blog, I'll write up some thoughts paired with a short video on the latest episode of Survivor. Because Survivor is the most awesome reality show on television. Who's with me?!
It is bittersweet to be writing this post tonight... Excited at the amazing finale, but sad say goodbye to Survivor for a few months once again... At least I know Jeff Probst has his bags packed and is still going to host the show for the next year! I was almost afraid that with Boston Rob's appearance, they were going to announce him taking over for Jeff as host. Not yet, people, please!
But let's talk about the season, shall we? It has definitely been a roller coaster, with some awful moments and some really standout/epic ones, but ultimately I'm SUPER happy with the outcome, both on the Sole Survivor front (called it!) and on the Player of the Season front (Malcolm, I love you.).
In my final video of the season, I go over my thoughts on the Reward Challenge advantage, the Eddie vs. Dawn in Final Three dilemma, the Final Tribal speeches and questions, and some thoughts on next season's Blood vs. Water theme...
Just when I thought the season was out of surprising twists and blindsides... here we are.
Let's recap a little here: for the past twelve episodes, I've been pretty frustrated with Brenda's gameplay, aside from her impressive physical strength and hotness. She was playing the 'lay-low' card, hoping that'd bring her the million dollars. While that's a possible outcome, I like to think that Jury members in general value taking risks and making moves and showing strength more than just liking a person, and luckily, it seems like this Jury is going to take its job seriously -- at least I hope. [That means that if Eddie makes it to the end somehow, I hope Malcolm won't necessarily just vote for him because he was his amigo... Reynold, let's not even go there.]
Then, we find ourselves in an episode where all of a sudden, the unthreatening, non-strategic Brenda becomes this huge threat to win, by continuously showing strength in challenges and then pulling the sympathy card by giving up her time with her Dad to offer up extra special time to 4 out of the 6 remaining contestants -- a twist which I found totally excessive by the way. Taking two additional people with you is huge already, and I think she should have done that. No one could have said she did the wrong thing. I mean come on, her reunion with her Dad made Jeff cry! Not to mention that she did peg Cochran as a threat and was planning to eliminate him after voting out Eddie. Which DAWN ESSENTIALLY TOLD COCHRAN.
So, while really hard to watch and borderline cruel, voting out Brenda was the best move for Cochran to win. Getting Dawn on board for that was huge, because I think Dawn would stand a better chance to win against Brenda than Cochran... and not at least letting Eddie know to vote for Brenda for that extra name was a big gamble too. If Dawn hadn't flipped, that would have been the end of Cochran. Brenda's exit interview was certainly the most difficult and heart-wrenching to watch I can remember, but ultimately, she should have played a more strategic game -- while still being humble if that's what she was aiming for.
I talk about all this in greater detail, and a few more things, in my video below... Can't wait to hear your thoughts. Next up.... the finale!!!
From Survivor Top 8 to Survivor Top 6... Families next!
Double elimination this episode, with one predictable (and self-fulfilled) outcome and one "stealthy" blindside. We've got our traditional stupid and short-sighted Eddie/Reynold moves, some Stealth R' Us strategy with Andrea and Cochran, and some good ol' fashioned "I've got the power" talks that don't actually mean anything. Ultimately, a decent episode I'd say, though still up to par with the two-three we saw in past weeks.
Another thing I talk about in this vid is Malcolm's Survivor After-Show episode (thanks for the must-watch tip, Kevin!), which makes me feel a little better about his elimination and less like he dropped the ball by not looking for the Idol further. I'd highly recommend watching if you have a 'mo (even if the intro is a bit corny, haha). It also confirms a lot of things I said about Malcolm's gameplay in the past few weeks, teehee.
In other news, I met Andrea last week! She was at the same yoga class as I was, practicing about 3 mats away from me. We chatted very briefly after the class and it was perfect timing given her stellar balance performance at the challenge that aired just a couple of days later. Can I please meet Malcolm next???!!
Looking forward to your comments... and don't forget to check out the Ponderosa videos too! Here's Andrea's first one, and here's Reynold's.
So... it happened. What I feared, but what I knew was coming. No one can say Malcolm didn't play a great game, and it'd be hard to suggest he could have played any better. He was just up against some very strong players, and one in particular who I believe should take it to the end and win it all, this time: Mr. John Cochran.
In my latest video, I go over why I think Cochran not only deserves the Player of the Week award, but also the title of Sole Survivor; how I feel about Malcolm's exit; whether Erik and Sherri made the right moves for their respective games; and a little bit on what's next.
I fear the most exciting episodes of the season are now behind us, but I hope the season will still end strong. In the meantime, we now have Ponderosa videos to enjoy in between eps, and Malcolm's vids are now up! I love how in this one, he admits to having a slightly too large ego and having learned humility in the game. I do believe winning would have been a walk in the park for him had he been a little luckier. In Philippines, he had a terrible losing streak with his first tribe, forcing to play hard much earlier than he needed to, and this season, he was surrounded by some true greats and his tricks just ran out.
Most underrated best part of this episode: Eddie's blurred out crotch when he's just strolling around unawares. It looked hilarious on TV.
Best one liners still go to Cochran. I think he'll hold that title for all-time:
Jeff: How often does that happen? [referring to Cochran licking peanut butter off of Sherri's fingers] Cochran: More often than you think.
You know this challenge was just made to get sexy
people covered in mud.
For a season that really started off slow, this one just popped a second epic Tribal Council in a row! Can't say the rest of the episode was great, though. Dawn's breakdown, which was completely overhyped, didn't really go anywhere, and then absolutely nothing exciting or strategic happened at the Reward...
THEN another Idol came into play, and Malcolm pulled another fast one on just about everyone, which thankfully played out in his favor this time. The question is: how many more tricks can Malcolm pull out? He's running out of resources, and I'm not sure just trying to get people to flip will work out for him...
PS. And because I forgot to do it in my video: here's a shoutout to all my Survivor friends, fellow fans, and vlog viewers/blog readers everywhere, all the way to the wonderful land of Australia!
PPS. Brenda got her first confessional this episode! For a full 3 seconds! Because I think she deserves some more time, here's another behind-the-scenes one of hers (I suppose that if they were all like that, I wouldn't have used valuable air time for that either... but who can be sure?)
OMG WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EPISODE! This seriously makes every boring and stale episode of the first half of the season OK. There's so much to say, it's hard to talk about this step-by-step, but that's what I've tried to do in my video. Maybe I'll be more successful here...
I think this episode showed three big things: skill in strategy, the power of paranoia, and luck.
Malcolm took advantage of the Reward Challenge loss to talk to who he thought was on the bottom. Originally, I thought this was great... until I saw he was approaching Dawn and Sherri. HUGE mistake. It really surprises me that Malcolm was so oblivious to Dawn's role in voting out Corinne. It's a big shame... but great for Dawn and it's nice to see her really play (even if it seems it's not going to last...). I still think Brenda and Erik would have been a better choice
Then, we have Andrea, who is also playing hard and very strategically. I'm not her biggest fan, but I do like how she gives it her all. That said, the minute she heard her name was being thrown around, her game fell apart. Her paranoia led her to make the less smart move in voting for Michael, but ultimately, that was the lucky choice which keeps the Stealth R Us alliance in the majority.
Let's go back to great strategy when Tribal Council continues to go in the same direction we've seen with people yapping away, and Malcolm realizing his move may have been compromised. He was very impressive in his quick thinking and though I still think he's in a terrible position right now, he's also not yet shown how good he is in challenges, and the Stealth R Us'ers won't see it coming when he starts winning Immunity Challenge after Immunity Challenge. (Well, that's my ideal turn of events, ha.) Now is the time for Malcolm to step. it. up. If he makes it to the end, he will truly be a worthy winner and in for the title of Best Survivor Ever in my book. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, here...
I talk about a lot more in the video below, including Brenda's potential strategy, Eddie and Andrea's "rapport" and if voting for Reynold has a chance in helping Malcolm argue his case in the tribe moving forward... Ultimately though, the only takeaway you should note from this post is: WATCH. (...that stands for both my video below and the episode!) It's possibly the best Tribal Council I've ever seen. Now we're talking, Survivor: Caramoan.
Finally! An exciting episode this season!!! It was definitely a game-changing one and I loved how clearly we could see the two potential directions in which the game could go. Plus, we got a beautiful blindside out of it.
Objectively, I can't say I was leaning towards one side or the other (I have my favorites for the win on each side), so I'm not sad to see Corinne go. But I do salute her efforts to change things up for herself. She tried to make a move, which could have been beautiful, especially with Malcolm on her side, but she made a huge mistake in talking to Dawn, and it cost her big time -- and unfortunately, it cost Malcolm too.
Another big thing that happened this week is we had our first non-physical Immunity Challenge! However excited I was about that, I was NOT excited to have to sit through another Disgusting Food Eating Challenge. I can barely stand watching them, let alone think of having to play one. MAJOR PROPS to Cochran who absolutely KILLED it. I'm so happy he won. Well earned! Now I don't ever want to think about this again.
I'll let you watch the video below for more thoughts on the strategy we saw in this episode and my prognosis for eps to come, but to lay it out black on white here, my current projections is we'll either have (and I think this is the most likely scenario at this point) Cochran, Phillip and Andrew in the Final Three, or Malcolm, Eddie and Reynold, with Cochran and Malcolm winning respectively in each scenario. I'd be more than happy to see Malcolm pull it off, because it'll mean he really earned it, and I feel the same way about anyone else stepping up too, but I think option one is the most likely outcome.
PS. My thoughts definitely go out to Gerald Babin and Thierry Costa's families... The French Survivor who passed away last week on the first day of the season, and the physician from the show who let the pressure of accusations and questioning get to him... No one can blame these people or producers for being negligent. This was clearly a freak accident, and though it's a huge tragedy, I hope people won't just go the "find someone to blame" route and pin it on Survivor.
PPS. My merged tribe's name if I have a say: Enna, or Divad. Sounds pretty cool actually...
