Survivor: Caramoan - Episode Three

Run for it!

We're getting deeper into this season of Survivor: Caramoan, and getting to know these contestants a little better - particularly the fans, as they lost the Immunity Challenge again this episode.

Before I get into detail, has anyone else noticed how the tribe colors this season are exactly the same as the original tribe colors in Micronesia: Fans vs. Favorites?! Malakal - the Favorites tribe - was purple, and Airai - the Fans tribe - was orange, too! Coincidence? I don't think so. Now we just have to see if the merged tribe color will be green...... Bets, anyone?

So, back to the episode! While I'm happy that the Favorites are winning challenges and not getting voted out, I wish we'd see more of them... I wanted to see just how obvious Malcolm and Corinne were being to attract Andrea's eye, because if they were that obvious about it, that's really a shame. It could also just be Andrea's paranoia, and the fact that she clearly feels threatened by Corinne and was just looking for a reason to vote her out. We'll see where that goes, but I for one hope that Malcolm and Corinne take each other far. The other thing I'd like to see is Brenda and Erik making more moves to stay on the ins of the tribe and break up this Stealth R Us alliance... But I suppose I'll see more of that when the time comes for them to actually scramble.

In terms of Gota - the Fan tribe - I'm still quite impressed with Sherri. Her makeup has remained intact for 9 days!! But seriously, I think she's done a great job at claiming control of the game on her tribe without ruffling any feathers - for instance asking Laura last week who she would vote out, rather than saying the name herself. And this week, she basically orchestrated the split vote AND prevented Shamar from quitting so they wouldn't risk being two extra people down. That said, and I go over this in my video, how strong is a tribe that is as dysfunctional as they are?!

Bouncing off of that, if I see a supposed 'Fan' quit the game, I'm going to be so pissed. I don't like Shamar, and would love for him to go, but he needs to go by getting his loud mouth and lazy butt voted out, not by quitting because he claims everyone is sucking him away from his 'happy place.'

Watch the video to find out more on my thoughts, particularly how I could have seen other scenarios go down for the vote, had some contestants been a little bit more strategic, namely Hope and Laura.

Favorite moment of the episode: I don't know if it was the editing or if Phillip really just felt like working out immediately after seeing Brenda doing it further down the beach, but it was hilarious to watch him go on about how pro and physically apt he is against men double his height, as he just repeated the motions Brenda was doing before. Though, to be fair, he has performed quite well in challenges so far.

Survivor: Caramoan - Episode Two

How hilarious was it when Bikal's flag dropped?
Good thing it wasn't a bad omen for the challenge!

Another solid episode of this new season of Survivor, which still looks promising. Obviously though, there's still a lot to be learned and much still to be laid out, so I'm glad we got to see more of the Fans tribe this episode. We definitely needed to know them!

I was so glad to see the Favorites/Bikal win again! They're really so impressive when they're on their game. Erik, Brenda and Andrea killed it at that challenge! Such great teamwork! And Cochran placed himself well yet again this episode in the rope pulling section, so as to be helpful without holding the whole challenge on his shoulders. Malcolm -- taking risks yet again with the high-pressure role; SO glad he was able to pull through (with Philip's help, gotta say it like it is!). Brandon and Philip both provided as much entertainment as one could hope for. It's almost over-saturation with both of them on one season, let alone on one tribe!!! I'm game as long as they don't both stay all the way -- which I think is unlikely, so we're good.

As for the Fans/Gota, so many missteps, but also some promising moves from Sherri and Laura! (Note: Laura did get one of my Confidence Stars, just sayin'!) Shamar and Allie both get some talk time in the video below, obviously, along with Reynold, who's not quite living up to my Confidence Star in this case: alliance of four in a tribe of ten, romance on the first night, not properly hiding the Immunity Idol, calling out Shamar so obviously... need I go on?

Check out the video and let me know what stood out to you in the comments!

Survivor: Caramoan - Episode One

Oh how I wish I could have the feeling
they're all feeling right then!

Survivor is BACK! The wait is over and we're finally here. This episode was solid, but the jury is still out on how good this season will be. Well, the season's already done technically, but we haven't had any clear indications yet as to whether or not it will be awesome. I do love the premise of repeating the Fans vs. Favorites experiment, and though the choice of Favorites (or Heroes as Jeff called them in the challenge!) is dubitable, it's something new and I agree with Jeff's statement that there comes a point where you need to make new all-stars.

I'm happy to say so far my predictions have been quite accurate -- though of course it's still early days -- and with Shamar in particular, though not for the better. I'm still waiting to see how Laura and Julia will do as we didn't get to see much of them. Definitely impressed with Cochran and Dawn's swing vote turned controlling move, and excited to see more. I'm SO GLAD that Cochran isn't on the chopping block right off the bat. And I'm also excited to see the former Redemption Island players leading their own games rather than play under Boston Rob. The rest of my thoughts are in the video.

Favorite quote of the episode: "I might be seeing a new Dawn." --Cochran