Yes!! I was hoping that things would be shaken up, and indeed they have! The merge was not kind to Evil Box, who'd been leading the whole season so far, much to my enjoyment. Of particular note: Evil Russell actually has negative points now due to his misplay of the hidden idol. Erik has scored more than twice as many points as anyone else (thanks to a 10 point boost for making the jury), but is now incapable of scoring any more. At this point, Bag's active players' points total less than mine... but since everyone from now on is guaranteed at least a 10 point boost for making the jury, this isn't much for me to brag about. Still, I'll take what I can :).
A couple of stand-out performances from Jaison and Natalie: first, for being able to see exactly what was going on, and second, for actually doing something about it. I was also pleased to see that the purple tribe is very willing to stab each other in the back, which should make for an entertaining rest of the season!
I hope Survivor will have a few more "double immunity" challenges in the future - my disappointment with the female lack of athleticism and basic softball ability notwithstanding, this could really mix up the dynamics of the post-merge game. I used to think that maybe the challenges were harder than they looked considering some of the poor performances by the women - but after the last episode I realized that the women that are brought on this show are just wusses, and that pretty much all the women I am friends with would do better than most of the ones on the show right now. And I think you should only be allowed to wear knee-high socks to a t-ball challenge if you can actually hit the ball. False advertising, IMO by both Monica and Kelly.
On to the standings:
Evil Box (34 points):
1. Evil Russell (-2 pts)
[2. Erik (32 pts)]
3. Shambo (4 pts)
Pizza Place (27 points):
1. John (14 pts)
2. Brett (10 pts)
[3. Ashley (3 pts)]
Cutesiness (23 pts):
1. Monica (8 pts)
2. Mick (3 pts)
3. Laura (12 pts)
Goody Two-Shoes (14 pts):
[1. Good Russell (5 pts)]
[2. Liz (3 pts)]
3. Kelly (6 pts)
Dachui (10 pts):
1. Jaison (3 pts)
2. Dave (4 pts)
3. Natalie (3 pts)
Team Power Rankings: Everything has been mixed up now! Last night was a great equalizer and now I'm not really sure how things stand. But I'll organize as best I can...
1. Dachui: That's right, I now consider The Rooks to be the front-runners in this game. Jaison still has a target on his back, but I was impressed by Dave and Natalie's ability to adapt in the game. They aren't leaders, but that's a good thing in Survivor. They'll lay low, let a bunch of other people get kicked out, and then all of a sudden it's the final 4 and everyone's wondering how they got there. Besides which, Dachui actually still has all its players in the game - a huge advantage. They only have 10 pts right now, but the stakes just got a lot higher, and they could make up their deficit in just a couple of episodes.
2. Pizza Place: Seriously, who is this Brett guy? I like that John got a little more TV time, but Brett is noticeably absent - could he be the most boring man in the world? I still don't expect either of these two to win, but even without Erik they're still largely in control of the game, and have enough brains and brawn to win a lot immunity challenges.
3. Cutesiness: Welcome to not-the-bottom, Moon! I actually struggled with who should be ranked higher, Pizza or Cute, but in the end settled on placing Cutesy third. Cutesy's strengths are that there are 3 of them, and that hopefully the women's physical weakness will leave them unnoticed for a few episodes. Cutesy's weakness is that all of the players' names keep being brought up right before tribal anyways. Well, not Mick's yet, but I think it will be soon. Keep clawing Moon!
4. Evil Box: Evil Box took a couple of HUGE hits last night - two of Bag's players had immunity idols, and now one has been voted out and the other misplayed his. Evil Russ basically defanged himself last night. Really, the hidden immunity idol is actually more powerful when it has the potential to be played, rather than when it actually is played. Evil Russell had one trump card and he played it too early. Having an immunity idol means you need to play a finesse game (dorky bridge analogies are running through my head) and Russell is not a finesse player. Shambo - the only player besides Erik to vote for Jaison - was really dependent on Erik, and completely disconnected from everyone. If the women start to become more powerful, I think Monica and Laura's dislike of her will get her voted out quickly. I'm not counting this team out though, even though previews for the next episode look dire for Evil Russell. If anyone can squeak out of a bad situation, it's Evil Russ!
Last. Goody Two-Shoes: Well, I'm pleased to see that Kelly has a brain and is willing to make moves as well. I'm also really starting to love her hair. Could mini-dreds be a good look for me too? Go Kelly!
Individual Power Rankings:
1. Dave (3)
2. Kelly (8)
3. John (5)
4. Natalie (6)
5. Laura (7)
6. Brett (4)
7. Jaison (11)
8. Monica (12)
9. Mick (10)
10. Evil Russell (2)
11. Shambo (9)
12. Erik (1)
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12 comments:
I learned how to post a comment, thank you very much, but I did so on your last blog--since you had nothing up about last night mid-morning EST!
On to your current blog: why is the jury so big this time (if you're correct that Erik made it)?
mini dreads? sure, why not!
what was erik's quote about shambo voting. wasnt it something like, "let her vote for probts for all i care". hahhahahaha!!!
also, when you wikipedia "shambo", look what comes up! hahahahaha!!!
P.S. And you'll also see (if you go back to my comment) that I agree with you about Dachui and Evil Box.
My predictions for end results for y'all:
#1 Dachui
#2 Cutesiness
#3 Evil Box
#4 Pizza Place
#5 Goody Two-Shoes
sorry michal! :)
Such a bullshit turn of events. I guess that's what I get for talking.
Pickle, you totally make my day when you post to your blog! I think the show has seen a dramatic improvement in 1 episode. Thus far, the season has dragged on and a few episodes have made me miserable by just watching. I completely agree about the wussy women factor (Shambo counts as a lunatic and not really a woman). Why can't they find kick ass women? On the bright side (and I'm surprised you didn't mention this in your blog) Dave's comment on his extra curricular activities was hilarious. I think that made the sad immunity challenge ten times better.
What a great episode. I just watched it. I think I counted 15 people being considered for elimination. Well, maybe not that many, but close. All the flips were amazing. Glad this group is starting to get with it.
Pickett, if I agreed with the reasoning for your rankings, I would think that Cutesy would be ranked #1, not Dachui. Cutesy also still has all three players, Mick is laying as low as possible, Laura has a target on her back, and they have 2 players on former Galu (and possibly the best former Foa Foa player). Laura's name has been tossed around a little, but I am pretty sure that the former Galu players aren't dumb enough to lose their advantage. And if the "girlpower" thing takes shape, Cutesy has 2 ladies. Dachui's anchor is that they have 2 former Foa Foa players.
But I don't agree with your reasoning.
The girls in this season have not impressed. I don't think they will muster together for a majority or win many of the individual immunity challenges. I think the winner will be one of the guys that is not drawing a lot of attention to themselves. Margot hit it on the head. Lay low future survivor winners.
This comment is getting long, so I'll finish saying Pizza Place is the team to beat. And that's not because their my team. That's what I really think.
Sanders, what will you be rubbing on your bee stings while buying part of someone else's Murphey's?
Damn it. Comments need grammar check.
because *they're my team.
Go Pizza Place!
OK so much to talk about here I am gonna have to number this, Observations style:
1. That was the best episode in recent memory, top ten overall, maybe top five. It really had it all - an exciting, meaningful immunity challenge, diabolical scheming, backstabbing, a total departure from everything that had happened up to that point, and an ultra-satisfying and thrilling tribal council. Episodes like that are why we still watch the show.
2. What a DISASTROUS night for the Bag! No Survivor fantasy team has ever or will ever suffer a reversal of fortune that cataclysmic in one episode. From outhouse to penthouse Olof Thorson style.
3. How do you know Erik makes the jury? Is it a bigger jury than usual?
4. Love how "the even dumber long haired blonde" Natalie makes the biggest and best move of the game, Russell just discounts it telling her that she is being duped, and then wastes his idol.
5. The Alpha Male fails again.
6. All this talk about females and wusses and weak girls but nobody has a shorter skirt than Jaison. What a pansy.
7. I will leave the female athleticism discussion for another time. Actually, for the sake of our friendship, we should never have that discussion. Agreed on the socks though.
8. I've got Pizza Place #1 in the Power Rankings, with arguably the two top contenders to take home the million.
9. Every team still has a legitimate horse with a real chance to go all the way, so this should be an exciting finish for everyone.
10. I think you could pull off the dreads. You can ease into it experimenting a little here and there and see what you think.
11. I really don't think you're giving Mick enough credit. Everybody seems to like the guy, he might be able to win some immunities down the stretch, and nobody has once mentioned him as a possible vote-off. He can't be lower than 7th in the rankings.
12. I usually think when someone gets no attention a la Brett that's a good sign as they will eventually get more tv time. Dude is cruising under the radar and figures to arouse zero suspicion until the final push - and he, like Mick, could win some clutch immunities when it counts.
13. Again, what a debacle for Baggins!
Agreed with pretty much everyone - we've had a couple of teams crushed by medical evacs before, but no one has been completely destroyed by one episode of craftiness and planning. Bag, I'm happy you're hanging out w/ me in the bottom, it's a sad but friendly place to live!
The reason Pizza Place isn't #1 is exactly b/c of what Moon says. They're top contenders, which means they're going to draw too much attention to themselves. Plus they might start to be picked on b/c of a seemingly close alliance to each other a la Laura and Monica.
Courtney - Shambo on Wikipedia is awesome! I be the human Shambo has no idea about this connection :).
Erik is on the jury because Probst announced it at the end of the episode. Don't believe me? Check it on Wikipedia. (An aside, my life has much more meaning to it since my introduction to Wikipedia. I love it.)
Doug, I agree that the girl power thing probably won't work. I think in random instances they might all pull together, but they don't have any strong leading female who can keep them unified. I think maybe a "ladies + Dave" scenario could play out though, which would be both hilarious and awesome.
Just padding the comments total. :)
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