Will Rocker's departure help the yellow tribe become a more cohesive & winning group? I definitely don't think it hurt. Rocker was massive & athletic but his track record in the heads-up physical matches wasn't good. He was catching fish for them, but his bulky self would need a LOT of food long-term to sustain him and I don't think he could've kept his energy up much longer anyway. He wasn't useful for team/camp morale and he didn't contribute to puzzles or other mental challenges. So overall I think it was a good decision, although we'll see if that holds true if/when a big physical challenge comes up.
On the other side of the island, the blue tribe seems to be doing really well. They're improving their shelter, haven't lost any major possessions in 3 days, and generally seem to be getting along. Most interestingly, there really doesn't seem to be a clear leader yet. Most everyone is contributing, sharing their opinions, etc. (Obviously Drew is the exception to this.) It certainly helps that they haven't had to go to tribal yet, but so far I'd say this is one of the most stable/least neurotic tribes on the show in recent memory. That could fall apart really easily though; they could totally end up being one of those tribes that loses a challenge on purpose just to get rid of an annoying player & then have that snowball into a series of losses.
The Teams:
Ben & Michal "The Misfits": 15 points
- Josh (0 pts)
- Jeremy (6 pts)
- Missy (6 pts)
- Keith (3 pts)
- Reed (6 pts)
- Natalie (6 pts)
- Rocker (-6 pts)
- Julie (5 pts)
- Baylor (0 pts)
- Jon (6 pts)
- Kelley (6 pts)
- Dale (-2 pts)
- Alec (0 pts)
- Drew (6 pts)
- Wes (1 pts)
- Val (-6 pts)
Power Rankings:
1. The Misfits - Things are going about as well as we could hope for the Misfits. Josh is running the show on the yellow tribe & everyone still loves him despite switching his vote at the last minute... twice. Missy is being the mother hen nurturer that we were counting on -- really, who hasn't cried on her shoulder yet? Jeremy is keeping his cool despite his wife's early departure, and Keith is, well, Keith. We also have 2 players with immunity idol clues so one of them better find that thing soon!
2. Queers & Foreigners - Moon & Melissa took a big hit with Rocker's departure. While they still have a strong team, the negative points he accrued could have a significant impact in what could end up being a close battle. Natalie continues to impress, and Reed seems solid too, although M&M should get concerned by his lack of airtime if that continues for another 1-2 episodes. Julie is in trouble though. If blue loses a challenge soon she's an easy target just because her association with Rocker has made her an outsider.
3. Daddy Issues - Doug & Bri still have plenty of bullets to dodge. An episode hasn't gone by without one of their players being suggested for tribal. Baylor may be in a more comfortable position now, but Dale is probably on the chopping block next. Jon & Kelley do seem solid but if the yellow team gets decimated before the merge, team Daddy Issues will be in a hole that I think will be too big to get out of.
4. The Buffoons - Buffoons!! This episode was pretty smooth for Bag & Andrea although there was a scary moment at the end when Alec appeared to want to think for himself. Fortunately stronger minds & personalities prevailed & Rocker was voted out. Intelligence-wise I think this team is ranked Wes > Alec > Drew, and that's pretty concerning considering that Wes lost flint on the first day of the show. Outlook not good for Drew making the merge based on previews for next week too.
Douche of the Week:
Gotta go with Rocker for pretty much everything he did this episode, but in particular his threatening & unwise reaction to the blue team's barbs.
4 comments:
Rocker's reaction at the challenge was awful. His tribe was prepared to stand behind him but instead of staying quiet or saying that he regrets his actions from the past he started beating his chest and trying to fight everyone. There's way too much testosterone in that dude's body for a social game.
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise that Rocker failed to suss out the blindside and leaves the island with a souvenir of shame in his pocket.
Also amusing was his attempt at a quote, "The best laid plans...don't always work out." Nice one John, you nailed it.
When Val was ousted I heard Dennis Green's "They are who we thought they were" rant on repeat in my head. And now again with Rocker.
If you'd like to watch Dennis for 45 seconds of entertainment here's the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmQbk5h86w
Rocker is my DoW.
Looking towards the next episode it would appear that the Blue tribe finally loses an Immunity Challenge and Drewche is squarely in the cross hairs. The Misfits have a lot of players on Blue so I'm hoping for a straight forward episode.
I think we should reevaluate the -2 points for sitting out a challenge and perhaps change it to -1 at our next dinner. Usually, if you have to sit out a challenge it's because your tribe has won more than the other tribe so right there you are punishing people for doing well. I do think some sort of penalty should apply but a -2 is pretty harsh considering a straight out individual immunity win is +6 and finding an idol is +5. I also feel like the player's most likely to sit are already at a physical disadvantage and less likely to win immunity when they make the merge.
Wolfy's Power Rankings
The Missed Fits - With multiple idol clues in the pocket's of our players and everyone in 'strong' alliances TheMisfits are looking good early... but it's early.
Daddy Issues - I have a feeling that typing 'Daddy Issues' is going to become more and more unsettling as this game goes on so thanks for that. This team has a lot of ninja-esque players ghosting under the radar. High potential still.
Queers and Foreigners - With the ouster of Rocker this team name now almost fits, except for Julie. Seeing how the game is shaking out, I believe this team to be in serious danger long term if they lose her pre-merge. Reed is getting very little airtime and Natalie can't carry the team by herself, dude.
The Buffoons - I'm adding Drewche and his ego to my list of players that might be the quitter. If that happens, I think the Buffoons have a fighting chance at achieving the all time low score! At least you are out of the red, and, for now, you still have a shot at Final Jeopardy.
You have to go with teeth bashing for the DoW award.
Mark
I agree with the Pickle episode recap and team assessment at this point in the season.
My prediction from last week's comments of a scorned Jeremy was proven correct. We all saw that one coming. But it looks like the results of this hurt Rocker way more than Jeremy.
I do want to note that I at least considered Natalie fow my DoW vote. She seemingly knew nothing about Rocker's past and took everything that Jeremy told her team as fact. Without giving one iota of thought to finding out Rocker's side of the story, she had made up her mind that Rocker was a homophobe and racists and in the heat of immunity battle she let him know. Multiple people did, but Natalie was the loudest. Despite it possibly being true, it is pretty douchey to not hear both sides of the story or gather any further info. Especially, because she ostracized a member of her own team while doing so and didn't even ask Julie about it beforehand (at least from what we saw). It didn't seem like anyone on the blue tribe asked Julie if Rocker had changed or even what her side of the situation was.
That being said, my official vote goes to Rocker. Given the time between the comments leaving his big mouth and now, in addition to the PR training the Braves surely put him through, he should have been able to handle the situation 100X better. He did pretty much the worst thing besides actually running over and starting a physical fight. Rocker, you proved it to all of America. You were, and will most likely always be, a huge douchebag.
The misfits are looking really strong. Any team with 3 players on blue is in really good shape currently. Josh is schemey, but considering he convinced the majority of his team to vote with him to blindside Rocker, I think he is in a fine spot at this point. If he mends his ways with Baylor and the Orange team gets an immunity win, he might be guaranteed the merge.
Q&F are also benefitting from their blue majority, but I don't see Julie lasting much longer. Their votes are looking like they will fall to her and Drew. The only way she might stick around is if blue doesn't lose 2 immunity tribals between now and the merge. The (-6) from Rocker is going to sting though.
Dale is certainly not looking great so Daddy Issues is hoping for some Blue loses coming up the next few episodes. We at least need him to get back in the black, points-wise.
And Buffoons... Snaders, when are you going to catch up on the episodes so we can mock you to your face? Go for the record!
We'll have to see how the (-2) for sitting challenges ends up at the end of this season, but Ben's assessment here seems to be correct. Currently it's pretty brutal.
Last, I have a strategy question to bring up to the group. I can't figure out why Alec was told about the blindside as he wasn't needed and potentially could have ruined it for them. The orange team had the majority 4 votes they needed with Josh, Baylor, Jaclyn, and Wes. Bringing Alec in could have proven disastrous to that plan. The only advantage I can see is that Wes didn't want it to seem like Alec wasn't included in the group decision. Still, that is easily explained as he could have said he found out about the idol and it needed to be a secret. Jaclyn certainly tried to ruin it for them anyways. It must have taken great strength for Josh not to facepalm while Jaclyn was trying to convince Rocker to basically play his idol...
Last again, {flashback humor (2 Fight Club references in the comments so far! Yay!)} can Jaclyn's points be tracked and listed each week? Is it too late for that? I think it is interesting to see how certain picks compare to the dreg. No biggie if that's too much work.
Onward!
Agree with Wolf on switching the sit-out penalty to -1 point. Also agree with Wolf's power rankings.
Agree with Doug on Natalie's douchiness, but I will go with Rocker as the DoW.
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