This was one of the most interesting episodes all season. It really focused on the dynamic that having a loved one on the show has created. I'm glad they spent some time on that. Ciera & Laura's conversation was so complex, emotionally charged, and could easily have led to a "bad break-up" sort of situation between them. The fact that it went so well is a testament to both their maturity levels and the strength of their relationship. It's a sort of situation I don't think I've ever seen before, at least not with a happy ending & no hurt feelings. I found it fascinating to watch.
The rest of the tribe continues to do nothing. Hayden & Caleb especially need to put together some kind of plan for themselves, rather than going along with whatever Tyson tells them to do. No is going to vote for them if they make final tribal the way they're playing right now.
The Teams:
51st State: 83 pts
1. Aras (38 pts)
2. Rupert (0 pts)
3. Marissa (3 pts)
4. Caleb (16 pts)
5. Laura M. (26 pts)
1. John (6 pts)
2. Laura B. (16 pts)
3. Candice (4.5 pts)
4. Gervase (29 pts)
5. Ciera (14 pts)
MooMe: 74 pts
1. Vytas (12.5 pts)
2. Tyson (34 pts)
3. Monica (26 pts)
4. Brad (1.5 pts)
5. Rachel (0 pts)
Mind Under Matter: 57.5 points
1. Katie (12 pts)
2. Hayden (16 pts)
3. Colton (-2 pts)
4. Kat (14 pts)
5. Tina (17.5 pts)
Power Rankings:
1. MooMe - With Monica turning out to be a challenge beastlette MooMe is making strides in overcoming the point differential between them & the 51st State. Love that Probst blew Tyson's cover a bit by pointing out how good he was at the grip challenge with "a torn rotator cuff." This is the Probst we all know & love!
2. AhhhhFUCKthat - Moved up in the rankings! Ciera & Gervase are both proving to be canny & tough in this game. Hopefully they'll form a temp alliance to blindside Tyson. It's in both of their best interest & then they can fight it out for the crown after he's gone. Go Anyone-But-Tyson-Because-Man-That-Guy's-Arrogance-Drives-Me-Crazy!
3. 51st State - Aras' departure from the game was a surprise for me, he wasn't ever really competitive in that challenge. Now the 51st State is left with Caleb, whose presence is minimal both around camp, in strategizing, and in challenges, and Laura M. Laura's departure was predicted, but will she come back again? Wouldn't that be awesome: she goes to RI twice, comes back twice, gets voted out by her daughter twice.4. Mind Under Matter - Katie survived this week, and while she could get voted out at any point now just because she's an easy target, I think the alliance will forget about her for a little while. They have their own house that needs some cleaning, and Katie may skate through to the finals because of her cluelessness. Don't actually start playing the game, Katie! That would be your death knell.Douche of the Week:
Vytas, for his vitriol.
Watching this season makes me feel more & more confident that I am the worst player left in Survivor pool. Most of my predictions are wrong, my team is terrible, my analysis should is questionable at best. How I miss the days of Dachui & Alia!
Love that they brought the food eating challenge back. If the definition of "good television" is when a show gets you physically & emotionally invested in what's going on, then I have to call this good TV. I was gagging right alongside the people who were actually eating those insects! Will they do a survivor auction too this season? Am I hoping for too much?
Vytas and Tina both came off as big train wrecks this episode, and I'm wondering how much of that was calculated or not. I feel like Tina's outburst at the beginning was certainly not planned, but perhaps everything she did afterwards was to draw attention away from her daughter. And Vytas... well I thought he was one of the smartest guys left, but that bitter diatrbie at tribal council just seemed like the nail on the coffin for both him & Aras.
The Teams:
51st State: 71 pts
1. Aras (28 pts)
2. Rupert (0 pts)
3. Marissa (3 pts)
4. Caleb (15 pts)
5. Laura M. (25 pts)
AhhhhFUCKthat: 67.5 pts
1. John (6 pts)
2. Laura B. (16 pts)
3. Candice (4.5 pts)
4. Gervase (28 pts)
5. Ciera (13 pts)
MooMe: 65.5 pts
1. Vytas (11 pts)
2. Tyson (33 pts)
3. Monica (20 pts)
4. Brad (1.5 pts)
5. Rachel (0 pts)
1. Katie (11 pts)
2. Hayden (15 pts)
3. Colton (-2 pts)
4. Kat (14 pts)
5. Tina (16 pts)
Power Rankings:
1. MooMe - Vytas is gone but Tyson stands strong. With the amount of attention he's getting now, do you think anyone will plan a blindside? It seems like the obvious next play - after all, ANYONE could beat Monica & Katie at final tribal - but this seems like the kind of group that won't bother thinking that far ahead.
2. 51st State - Right now I think Aras is favored to get back in the game over Vytas & Tina (who is probably only capable of beating either of them in a game of chance), and may find himself in the position of "crucial swing vote" when he gets back. There's life yet for this team, though previews of next week don't bode well for Laura M.
3. AhhhhFUCKthat - Ciera may be the most interesting person left in the game. I'm looking forward to her potential back-stabbing of her own mother. I think she's playing the game the best that she can, considering the hand she's been dealt. Hope she gets far, but it'll be a tough road ahead to really have a chance to win. Gervas is pretty comfortable right now, but I don't see him beating Tyson in final tribal.
4. Mind Under Matter - They're falling to pieces, and not really worth thinking about. I'd like to see Katie start selling herself as something that other people could beat, but I imagine instead she'll just fade away with little fuss. Hayden needs to start playing the game harder. You can only lay low for so long in this game. Now is the time to start making moves.
Douche of the Week:
Tina.
The merge is here! The merge is here! As Hayden appropriately said, this is when Survivor really becomes Survivor. Hard to believe you have to get through half the season to see the best stuff.
Overall this episode made me start to dislike this season. There are SO many stupid people on this show, and I'm getting sick of watching them make the obvious blunders over and over again. How could no one else figure out that the tree with the giant vine on it was where the hidden immunity idol was? The only explanation I can come up with is that they were afraid to have it because it would've put a big target on their back, so they decided not to look for it. But I doubt that's right because it means giving them credit for actually thinking about the idol, which I feel like they didn't.
Also think it was a bad move for Laura M. to take the clue & burn it. She's just returning to a group that voted her out in the first place & historically speaking had a huge chance to be voted out. She got lucky that she didn't and it was certainly no credit to her. MVP of the episode has to be Ciera for keeping her mother in line.
And Aras & Vytas being all chummy & cocky, thinking that they were the only people on the islands with brains... well they were half right, I guess. Still, how do they not think "wow, I can see I'm such a big threat, maybe I should make sure my alliances are secure & start building in a back-up plan."
And Tina & Katie for bringing this whole mess on themselves with their terrible decision making over the last 3+ episodes.
The Teams:
51st State: 71 pts
1. Aras (28 pts)
2. Rupert (0 pts)
3. Marissa (3 pts)
4. Caleb (15 pts)
5. Laura M. (25 pts)
AhhhhFUCKthat: 67.5 pts
1. John (6 pts)
2. Laura B. (16 pts)
3. Candice (4.5 pts)
4. Gervase (28 pts)
5. Ciera (13 pts)
MooMe: 59.5 pts
1. Vytas (11 pts)
2. Tyson (33 pts)
3. Monica (14 pts)
4. Brad (1.5 pts)
5. Rachel (0 pts)
1. Katie (5 pts)
2. Hayden (15 pts)
3. Colton (-2 pts)
4. Kat (14 pts)
5. Tina (16 pts)
Power Rankings:
1. MooMe - Vytas is obviously on the hot seat now, but he's such a charmer that he might be able to re-direct attention to another perceived threat. Honestly, if they majority alliance really knew who they were up against they would have known that Vytas was a bigger threat than Aras. Tyson is in great shape with his idol & Monica, despite her annoyingness is a part of the majority alliance too. MooMe is only widening the gap of awesomeness between their team & the rest of us losers.
2. 51st State - Not a great week for Doug & Bri. They aren't getting to secede from the rest of Colorado AND they lost their best player. On the plus side, it would've sucked to have been from "the great state of Eastern Colorado" and they got a player back.
3. AhhhhFUCKthat - So much for that "pending merge is an advantage" opinion. But while AndBag lost 2 players in 1 episode, Ciera really stepped up & impressed me. She has a game plan & is working it well so far. Hopefully her mom ends up being a contributor & not an anchor.
4. Mind Under Matter - My best shot is if Tina & Katie just get forgotten about while the rest of the tribe turns on each other. Probably not going to happen, though, so now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Hayden is ready & capable of making some big moves. Maybe he & Vytas will put their heads together & start voting out some returnees.
Douche of the Week:
Aras. Anyone who says "I'm clearly the favorite to win this but everyone else is too dumb & scared to make a move against me" deserves the DOW title when they get voted out in the same episode.
Unfortunately with the conference & moving I wasn't able to catch episode 6, but thanks Moon for your eloquent guest blog! Overall a good analysis, but a weak attempt at changing your team name halfway through the season. Team MooMe it will remain until/unless someone else decides to guest blog. ;)
Episode 7 continues to reveal the genius that is Vytas... and the baffling naivete of the women on his tribe. Tina said there would be consequences with voting out either Vytas or Laura B, but I can't imagine their alliance's situation improving at all with that decision! What's their plan now? Try and bring Aras & Ciera into their alliance? That might end up being a good decision for Vytas & Aras, but I feel like Aras is too trusting of Tyson & Gervase to jump ship.
Kat's emotional & mental intelligence both also boggle the mind. It's unclear to me how she can successfully complete daily activities based on what's I've seen. Hopefully her departure will enable Hayden to kick some butt.
And finally there's Tyson. That guy's arrogance is going to get the best of him eventually. What happens if/when they run out of food? Will people (rightfully) blame Tyson for the decision to binge on rice or will they forget whose idea that was? I also think if/when they get rid of Aras he might feel like he's in such a good position "running the show" that he'll get blindsided too. Definitely a solid player, but he'd be even more impressive if he kept his ego out of it.
The Teams:
AhhhhFUCKthat: 67.5 pts
1. John (6 pts)
2. Laura B. (16 pts)
3. Candice (4.5 pts)
4. Gervase (28 pts)
5. Ciera (13 pts)
51st State: 65 pts
1. Aras (28 pts)
2. Rupert (0 pts)
3. Marissa (3 pts)
4. Caleb (15 pts)
5. Laura M. (19 pts)
MooMe: 48.5 pts
1. Vytas (5 pts)
2. Tyson (28 pts)
3. Monica (14 pts)
4. Brad (1.5 pts)
5. Rachel (0 pts)
1. Katie (5 pts)
2. Hayden (15 pts)
3. Colton (-2 pts)
4. Kat (14 pts)
5. Tina (16 pts)
Power Rankings:
1. MooMe - Vytas, Tyson & Monica are all in good shape. This is the most well-rounded team with everyone in power positions.
2. 51st State - Until Aras actually gets voted out, this team is still a huge threat!
3. AhhhhFUCKthat - With a pending merge, having 1-2 players on RI that can consistently bring in a couple of points each episode actually turns into an advantage.
4. Mind Under Matter - I just don't see a way that the lady alliance comes out of the merge on top. Too many bad decisions from this team early & now there's a huge point deficit that I don't see them being able to make up.
Douche of the Week:
Kat. Ugh.
