Monday, December 15, 2014

Survivor 29: Episode 12

Hurray! A great episode for gamesmanship as well as seeing "the good guys" get a victory. It would have been too painful, for me at least, to see Jon make final tribal. He would have been completely undeserving of the title, but based on who went with him, he might have won anyway. I'm glad I didn't have to see the good name of Survivor dragged down by that situation.

Missy's injury this episode was unfortunate but should be inconsequential to the rest of her game. She never expected that she'd win any challenges, and with her alliance & the short time left in the game she should be able to tough it out. It'll be interesting to hear at the reunion show, though, how badly she injured her ankle/foot and if there are any long-term repercussions for her not having sought immediate medical attention.


Side Bets:
  • Reed ftw: Moon v. Ben at 100:1 odds (two bits) - Ben = winner!
  • Jeremy v. Keith ftw: Michal v. Moon ($20)
  • Missy v. Keith ftw: Ben v. Moon (one handle or bottle of wine $50 or less, 1 drink at Survivor dinner, and 5% of the next tournament they both play $1650 or less)
  • Jon v. Keith ftw: Ben v. Moon (see above)
  • Josh v. Jeremy ftw: Moon v. Ben

The Teams:

Michal & Ben "The Misfits": 87 points
  1. Josh (18 pts)
  2. Jeremy (29 pts)
  3. Missy (8 pts)
  4. Keith (32 pts)
Moon & Melissa "Queers & Foreigners": 60 points
  1. Reed (36 pts)
  2. Natalie (32 pts)
  3. Rocker (-6 pts)
  4. Julie (-2 pts)
Doug & Bri "Daddy Issues": 55 points
  1. Baylor (11 pts)
  2. Jon (44 pts)
  3. Kelley (1 pt)
  4. Dale (-1 pt)
Bag & Andrea "The Buffoons": 44 points
  1. Alec (25 pts)
  2. Drew (2 pts)
  3. Wes (23 pts)
  4. Val (-6 pts)
Dreg Tracker - Jaclyn: 4 points


Power Rankings:
  1. The Misfits - Having either Missy or Keith in the final tribal seems inevitable, and if both somehow get there then this season is pretty much locked up for us. But there is still the possibility of of a vote sweep (especially if Natalie makes the finals and Keith doesn't) that keeps the competition alive! It will be super interesting to see how that breaks down, along with how the sliding scale of points based on the order contestants are voted out will affect the impact of final tribal.

  2. Queers & Foreigners - Natalie has to be the favorite to win now, right? She has an idol, she's in the majority alliance, she's played a great game, and she's a likable person. Keith is her biggest threat right now since he's also likable and the good ol' boys alliance makes up a huge part of the jury. But I'm pretty sure she knows that & so long as he doesn't win a couple immunity challenges in a row she'll get rid of him. With that being said, Keith definitely has the advantage in the upcoming immunity challenges. There isn't a lot of competition left for him (besides Natalie) to go up against. It'll be fun to watch the Natalie-Keith show-down in the challenges.

  3. Daddy Issues - Daddy Issues is now left with Baylor, who really is proving to be a player at this point in the game. Her handling of her mother was very well done, and she's been much more influential strategically at this point than I expected her to be. Unfortunately I don't think most of the jury saw this side of Baylor at all while they were on the island. So it's too little too late for Baylor. Plus, the plan of her going with her mother to the finals - as has been noted by many commenters - means a guaranteed vote for her is lost & any votes giving credit to the pair will be diluted by both of them being there. They need to think that through & vote one of them out before final tribal!!

  4. The Buffoons - Wes is representing the Buffoons well on the jury with his coiffed hair & clear ability to follow what's going. However, Alec is representing the Buffoons more accurately with his slack jaw & glazed look plastered to his face. Who he votes for may not be based on any sound argument in the end, it might just be based on whose name he can still remember from among the remaining players.


Douche of the Week

Jon!

5 comments:

GnightMoon said...

Jon DoW.

Such a strong season, sad to see it end Wednesday. I really have no idea who is going to win.

Margot said...

Love your analysis of Alec! He has provided much laughter at our house, so good for him.

I'm voting for Rocker for DOW just cuz Jon needs some competition.

Melissa said...

oh my gosh, Jon was such a douche this week! I'm not calling Jaclyn smart, but she seems to have better intuition than Jon does. She called the blindside and Jon didn't listen - he deserves to be voted out!

Looking forward to the finale :)

TheGraveWolf said...

Jon for DoW and he even has a lovely DoW trophy to put on his wall.

I think Keith will win if he can get into the finals. He's well liked, good at challenges, and has probably pissed off the jury the least of anyone left. He's not a strategic genius but he's not (always) completely clueless.

Natalie is also a strong candidate and I think she will win if she goes to the finals with the right people. If she were to get there with Missy and Keith I don't see her getting the victory. I think she is slightly less likely to win than Keith but also much more likely to make final tribal with an idol in her pocket. If she and Keith are both in the finals I think it would be a close vote.

Missy can't be written off either. She has played a strong social game and has emotional ties to jury members from both tribes. I think if Missy can get to the finals without Natalie she may have a shot. We've also talked a lot about how it makes sense to vote off your loved one to guarantee a vote but in this case I think it would actually benefit Missy to take Baylor over most of the other candidates.

I don't think Baylor or Jaclyn can garner enough votes from the jury to win.

Power Rankings

1. The Misfits
Even if we immediately lose one of our players we will have about a 40 point lead. Insurmountable? No, but certainly daunting.

2. Q&F
Natalie could take this title home for Moon and Melissa. A couple challenge wins and perhaps a large point boost from a correct idol play and this season is much closer. If Keith is ousted before final tribal she will probably win the game and maybe garner enough points from the votes to swing the tide to Q&F. If Keith or Missy are with her in the finals either would likely pull in enough votes, even if they lose, to keep the Misfits on top.

3. DI
Losing Jon was the mortal wound for DI. They can look forward to a DoW point boost.

4. Butt Goons

Doug said...

I didn't get my comments in before watching the finale, but I agree on all analysis. Keith or Natalie deserve the win. It was a good season.