The "hero challenge" for reward was a really interesting concept, as was each tribe's decision to play their old guy as the hero. Seems like the heroes really should have been Woo, Spencer & Joe. But I guess the old guys felt like they had something to prove & the young guys would rather conserve energy & not stick their necks out. In any case, I'd like to see both more reward challenges and more hero challenges.
This episode seemed to improve the lots of Kass, Stephen, Savage, and Woo the most. (Woo mostly by the simple fact that he didn't go home.) On the yellow tribe we got a bit more insight into why Peih Gee went home over Varner or Abi. At the same time, it's unclear why Tash & Savage are letting Abi call the shots at this point. At least they got her to vote out Varner. If they lose again, I'm keeping my fingers crossed they keep Woo & drop Abi. It'd be wonderful to not have to see or hear her on the show anymore!
The Score:
Michal & Ben - Contrarian Ninja Stack: 69 points
- Tasha (12 pts)
- Kelley (11 pts)
- Stephen (15 pts)
- Kimmi (15 pts)
- Kass (16 pts)
Bagdrea - Ghost Coaster: 41 points
- Jeremy (20 pts)
- [Jeff (0 pts)]
- Monica (14 pts)
- Kelly (5 pts)
- Abi-Maria (2 pts)
Doug & Bri - Survivor MacGyver: 37 points
- Spencer (5 pts)
- Joe (16 pts)
- [Shirin (-4 pts)]
- Terry (6 pts)
- Ciera (14 pts)
MoonBee - Woofully Inadequate: 15 points
- [Vytas (-5 pts)]
- Woo (2 pts)
- Keith (16 pts)
- Savage (12 pts)
- [Peih Gee (-3 pts)]
Power Rankings:
1. Contrarian Ninja Stack: Every week is just about the best episode possible for this team. Our point lead is slowly increasing. Now we have Jeremy wanting to take Stephen to the finals with him, thank goodness, so it even feels like our biggest wild card is suddenly safe. Tasha is leading the worst tribe in what seems like the right direction, and is miraculously controlling Abi... at least for now. Looks like Kelley & Kass might end up in a strong alliance after next week & Kimmi is going to get some air time. Will be interesting to see what happens there.
2. Survivor MacGyver: Obviously Spencer & Joe will always have big targets on their backs, especially as we get closer to the merge, but overall they seem to be in as safe as possible for now. I know I'm reading a lot into the "next time on... Survivor!" clip, but it seems like the green tribe is going to make a "final 5" alliance, which in my experience is the most solid alliance you can make. I'm assuming Terry is not a part of this alliance, but Joe & Ciera would be and that would be huge for both of them. So far Ciera has only distinguished herself by being the person who sits out the most, and getting a safety net around both of these players would be huge. Spencer's position is still a bit unclear, especially after that scene where Monica identified him as her next choice to go. However, Jeremy seems to like him & he's the one who seems to be in charge of that tribe for now, so I'm not going to worry too much yet.
3. Ghost Coaster: I'm suggesting a potential re-name of this team to "Jerry & the Dregs." Losing Varner was a massive blow to this tribe. He was an extremely savvy & dangerous player with the potential to go far... before he blew it. Jeremy is still looking strong & in control, but it's hard to find anything good to say about the rest of this team.
4. Woofully Inadequate: Moon's defense of Savage was completely unnecessary in last week's comments as the general consensus of "I just don't really like him" is nowhere close to a castaway bashing. This week's episode made him seem a bit more likable, but overall I'm getting the sense that there just isn't that much emotional depth to the man. Overall this team is looking a bit like Dorothy's companions in the Wizard of Oz: there's Woo "I wish I had a brain," Keith "I wish I had a sense of hearing," and Savage "I wish I had some depth." With that being said, one more episode might be enough to break Wooful out of the basement. It's now a close race between them & Ghost Coaster for the bottom spot despite the big point difference.
Douche of the Week:
Abi again. It's getting to the point where it's hard not to vote for her.
6 comments:
I love your Wizard of Oz analogy for Wooful! Made me laugh out loud. I have to say there's something incredibly endearing about Woo, but he is truly brainless.
I feel like you got a whole lot more out of the "next week" clips than I did! Is Keith part of that "final 5" deal? I mean he was standing there outside the tent (or whatever) with a little group huddled together inside.
Abi needs to go but I don't know if she qualifies as a douche bag; just annoying as hell.
Abi for DoW.
I don't like Abi. DoW
Abi DoW.
The contrarian ninja stack is running away with this one. I could see MacGyver making a run, but it won't be easy to catch this lineup. Shrewdly crafted team.
I am loving Kass's chances of a deep run. Her edit seems to hint at it and she's in a strong position with a winning attitude. She's suddenly becoming one of my favorite castaways. She's following the blueprint written by Boston Rob, Tyson and Cochran for returning players looking to close: a slight personality tweak to more empathetic. She's also sharp enough to recognize potential finals threats (Jeremy, Spencer, Kelley) and oust them at the correct juncture.
I can't believe Stephen might get back into this thing! I'm still dubious based on his edit but if what Jeremy said is true then Contrarian Ninja Stack (CNS) could be in really good shape.
I was confused about the pre tribal council scrambling during the episode. If Tasha and Savage wanted Varner gone why didn't they just go to Woo and say so? That would have been 3 votes and it wouldn't matter what Crazy Abi decided to do. At first, I assumed that they had and the edit just didn't show it to heighten the tension but the way Woo was arguing/pleading his case at TC makes me think he had no clue who was going.
I would like to see more time spent at the non dysfunctional camps. I want a better feel for how those tribe dynamics are shaping up but instead we spend half the episode with a Brazilian child.
I'm going to give my DoW vote to Savage for his over the top theatrics after winning the reward challenge. I do believe the emotion was genuine but if winning a couple sausages in a challenge vs two other old (ish) dudes completely redeems your Survivor experience that's good enough to garner my vote. Honorary mention to the deaf and dumb duo of Keith and Terry for their challenge performance.
I just got back from vacation and caught up on the episode. This will be short and to the point.
Keith for DoW. Why choose to be a "listener" in this challenge if you can't hear. Should be a rare Keith DoW vote, but sit out if you can't hear, old buddy. You know he can holler a pig or cow home back on the farm. I bet he could have made a great "caller".
Terry was doing the right thing asking and waiting for instructions. The error there goes to the caller (Kass) there. Good thing Joe bailed them out.
Anti-DoW goes to Kass for her B-Day necklace and flipping the situation on an over-assumptive Kelley. That necklace gesture certainly made me think she is there for the long run. A little rough around the edges still, but she's making good progress.
Savage redeemed himself a little this episode, but he is just too perfect. There has to be something he is holding deep down. He is too squeaky clean. But you have to respect his effort and golden, old-man image.
Yellow made the right decision getting rid of Jeff. Although, I agree, the edit was weird. Tasha and Savage should have been able to go to all three of the others and say "Who do you want out?". From there, they should have been able to control the vote however they wanted. I think Tasha did some convincing of Abi that we didn't see. Now they have Woo to vote out Abi or Abi to vote out Woo. Nicely played, but they will be scrambling when they tribes merge again, which will probably happen soon.
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