Saturday, November 8, 2014

Survivor 29: Episode 7

Every episode seems like it starts the same way - with a Misfit being the primary target for elimination. But ultimately the contestants get distracted by someone else & a different team ends up taking the hit instead. The same held true for this latest episode, though this was definitely a closer call than any of the others!

The merge & the subsequent alliance shifts & formations were all pretty inevitable. Ultimately this was a predictable episode since we've long known about the quitter. The most interesting part was watching Josh & Jeremy both vying for Jon & Jaclyn's favor. It's a little annoying that Jon is the decision-maker in this relationship (at least for now) as Jaclyn is clearly the smarter of the two. Jon makes decisions and when he tries to explain why they are the right decision the closest he can get is just to say "this is better for us long term." Not really an explanation, sir. Next episode should be much more interesting as we watch the courting of J&J by J&J continue.

Side Bets:

See Ben's comments from last week for a nice summary.

The Teams:

Michal & Ben "The Misfits": 38 points
  1. Josh (9 pts)
  2. Jeremy (9 pts)
  3. Missy (6 pts)
  4. Keith (14 pts)
Moon & Melissa "Queers & Foreigners": 17 points
  1. Reed (13 pts)
  2. Natalie (12 pts)
  3. Rocker (-6 pts)
  4. Julie (-2 pts)
Bag & Andrea "The Buffoons": 15 points
  1. Alec (9 pts)
  2. Drew (2 pts)
  3. Wes (10 pts)
  4. Val (-6 pts)
Doug & Bri "Daddy Issues": 7 points
  1. Baylor (2 pts)
  2. Jon (5 pts)
  3. Kelley (1 pt)
  4. Dale (-1 pt)
Dreg Tracker - Jaclyn: 2 points


Power Rankings:
  1. The Misfits - This team is in great shape. With a 20 point lead already & 2 more players still in the game to earn jury points, it's going to be tough to beat this team. Despite a tough episode this week I still think that Jeremy is the favorite to win the show, but Missy, Josh & Keith are all contenders too. This team pitted against each other, but since it's 2 v. 2 it doesn't really affect us too much which side wins (except of course for side bet reasons) in the Josh v Jeremy showdown.

  2. Daddy Issues - Outside of the Misfits Jon probably has the best chance of winning this season. Natalie is a potential contender too, but Jon's story with an ailing father is far more endearing to a jury than that of a chronic reality show contestant. Baylor is proving to be more & more useless as the show goes on. After the first episode I thought she'd be a player but now it seems like she's incapable of being a leader and needs to have a stronger personality telling her what to do.

  3. Queers & Foreigners - Quitter Julie was completely devastating to this team. It's a 20 point hit that I can't see them bouncing back from. Reed continues to be a non-entity and I'm predicting he'll get voted out in a collateral damage situation after Josh wins an immunity. Or maybe Reed will win immunity, give it to Josh, and pay the consequences. Natalie is a potential threat, but she's also put all her eggs in the Missy/Jeremy basket. Her fate will depend on those two's ability to keep Jon & Jaclyn loyal.

  4. The Buffoons - Wes & Alec seem like the types who could win some points for Bag & Andrea in upcoming challenges. But this has been a season that is almost the exact opposite of a standard Survivor season - the elderly & minorities are running the show & that seems to include old man Keith winning the physical challenges! We'll see if either of these guys produce before their certain demise.


Douche of the Week

I'm assuming Julie is a shoe-in for this one, what with her food-stealing, whining, and quitting for no good reason. At least that's where my vote is going.

11 comments:

Bag said...

Julie for DoW!

Margot said...

I agree on Julie for DoW. She didn't even look all that upset/stressed out...and obviously not in any physical distress or pain. What a loser!

Jaclyn and Jon: part of me would like to crawl in their heads and see how their crazy brains work. But another part of me thinks I would be terrified by what I found!

Margot said...

Question: Am I correct in thinking that only Keith has an immunity idol? 2nd question: is there a likelihood that someone else will be given the opportunity (e.g., given a clue) to find another idol?

If answer #1 is yes and #2 is no, then Keith is really sitting pretty, eh?

Michal Greenberg said...

Keith is the only one with an idol & I doubt they will put another in play until keith plays his. Keith is only sitting pretty if he uses the idol correctly & I'm not confident that he will

Mark said...

If this were Cameron the Crazies would be chanting, "More than double!" Way to go Misfits.

Doug said...

Julie, for sure, for DoW.

Just caught up after a busy week and a 1/2 and will add more comments before next episode.

TheGraveWolf said...

Julie is the pathetic DoW.

TheGraveWolf said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TheGraveWolf said...

Misfits
DI
QF
Buffoons

1. Jeremy
2. Jon
3. Missy
4. Josh
5. Natalie
6. Keith
7. Baylor
8. Jaclyn
9. Reed
10. Wes
11. Alec

GnightMoon said...

Still think you Greenbergs are too high on Jon and too low on Keith. I'll take the smart guy over the idiot every time, especially if the smart guy has an idol.

Also think you're a little low on Reed. He may not be an interesting interview, but that doesn't mean he can't win. Remember, Fabio won his season.

Julie DoW.

Can't wait for tonight! Should be an epic showdown between the two chessmasters, Josh & Jeremy.

Doug said...

So much comes down to whether Keith can sniff out a vote coming his way or use his idol to save his alliance. I'm not sure that he can. He has the Outlast part down and has found ways stick around in bad situations. So far he has been pretty impressive in the Outplay department. A few more immunity wins and he will fully convince me (although that might put a target on his back). The Outwit section of the game is where I'm questioning his abilities. I just haven't seen anything to prove that he has what it takes to think about both the next vote coming and the final tribal and what it takes to get there.

So far I think only Josh and Jeremy have been thinking about that aspect of the game. Everyone else is taking this 1 vote at a time.

Moon is overestimating Keith, but Wolf is overestimating Jon. Jon, to me, hasn't had the levelest head in his strategy. Michal summed it up with her comment about his reasoning behind some of plans being unexplainable besides "better for us long term".

I see a potential vote split between Jon and Jaclyn coming (as teased in the preview for this week) or maybe even between Missy and Baylor. An all girls alliance has some very interesting implications, especially if they blindside the guys. Jeremy and Josh certainly seem to be running the show currently, and one of them might continue to if people stay true to their current alliances. I see Jaclyn being at the top of the power rankings if this all-girl alliance happens. Yes, you read that correctly, the DREG, could be the front runner. Think of the final tribal speech when she explains that she broke the bond with her loved one to make a major move in the game.

Tonight's episode will hopefully answer a ton of questions.