Survivor pool is BACK in an updated format. We've added two new teams (welcome Phil & Eric!), and we've updated the rules for 1 season only (unless this turns out to be amazing) so that each player could be drafted twice. Otherwise I think all the rules are the same.
The draft was mostly done online & ran fairly smoothly all things considered. Ben, Ryan, Chrissy, and Mike seemed to be largely considered the top picks. Draft highlights include Ben's complete & utter shock at Mike being drafted so highly, Moon drafting Cole because he thinks Melissa enjoys looking at him/cheering for him, and then turning around and double-drafting one of the least liked players in Joe. We also saw Lauren "I played center field for 25 years" go in the 2nd round, and Patrick get spurned altogether. Kudos to alums & n00bs alike for solid non-drafting of the dumb ginger!
And now on to Episode 3...
It's the Simone fashion show! Survivor really doesn't have enough opportunities for cross-dressing imo, so this was a nice addition. But really, in the first 20 minutes it feels like nothing happens. We're suddenly watching the teeny-bopper Twilight version of Survivor where all we're doing is listening to people talk about who they like. But do they like them back? Was the peck on the cheek really the most we're going to get in the action category after all of this jabbering on? And with all the talk of power couples, why aren't Ryan & Devon's names being thrown into the mix? How could a bromance be considered a less dangerous bond than a heterosexual "we're making out at best" partnership?
We get our first glimpse of ghosties Roark & Desi. They even speak a little bit! Overall they seem unobjectionable & I could see them both going decently far based on that & nothing more. They certainly won't win if they aren't going to be strategists, but they could make the jury by remaining inoffensive & loyal.
We watch a few different people gloat about how they're in the best possible position, seemingly unaware of the Survivor curse of hubris and also maybe forgetting that Survivor typically does a tribal switch-up right around this time of the season. Then Cole botches the whole secret plan to take Joe out & Jessica overreacts to his "taking her power away" or whatever it was she said.
Finally 30 minutes in and we're getting to the challenge. Feels like it took
forever.
Patrick is getting annoying in this challenge and really has it coming to get voted out. You need to be a team player in every aspect of this game, and hogging a part of the challenge that you actually kind of suck at is pretty bad strategy for both winning the challenge & keeping yourself in the game. Also, Lauren did not need to tell us that she was a 25 yr veteran @
softball. That was understood.
How was redheads don't do very well at lying not the title of this episode?
After watching Patrick prove his idiocy for 5 minutes and then have producers edit it to appear that the rest of the tribe is in anguish over who's getting voted out, we're on to tribal council. Probst looks generally uninterested in the group of castaways. Maybe season 35 is the point that he finally realizes that maybe he doesn't love his job anymore. And is Probst implying that he is a therapist? "Maybe a wannabe," says Wolfie.
Thank goodness Patrick got voted out. That dude was going to be a ticking time bomb for the hustlers. Also I really like Lauren. Of course it would have been hilarious to see her voted out first so we could all endlessly mock Eric's team. But I'm glad that we're going to get the softball player for at least a couple more weeks.
Next week looks like a tribal switch up, and I'm wondering if it'll still be 3 tribes or move down to 2. What will this do to all of these power couples? Of the top tier picks, Ali seems most likely to land on her feet. There's also opportunity for ghosts like Rourke and Desi to move up. Those who aren't adaptable may be totally screwed. I'm thinking of you, Joe!
How was redheads don't do very well at lying not the title of this episode?
After watching Patrick prove his idiocy for 5 minutes and then have producers edit it to appear that the rest of the tribe is in anguish over who's getting voted out, we're on to tribal council. Probst looks generally uninterested in the group of castaways. Maybe season 35 is the point that he finally realizes that maybe he doesn't love his job anymore. And is Probst implying that he is a therapist? "Maybe a wannabe," says Wolfie.
Thank goodness Patrick got voted out. That dude was going to be a ticking time bomb for the hustlers. Also I really like Lauren. Of course it would have been hilarious to see her voted out first so we could all endlessly mock Eric's team. But I'm glad that we're going to get the softball player for at least a couple more weeks.
Next week looks like a tribal switch up, and I'm wondering if it'll still be 3 tribes or move down to 2. What will this do to all of these power couples? Of the top tier picks, Ali seems most likely to land on her feet. There's also opportunity for ghosts like Rourke and Desi to move up. Those who aren't adaptable may be totally screwed. I'm thinking of you, Joe!
The Teams:
Doug & Bri "Cowboys & Estrogen" - 18 points
- Ben (5 pts)
- Ali (0 pts)
- Chrissy (5 pts)
- Desi (3 pts)
- Ashley (5 pts)
Phil "Scrub Island Featuring Superscrub Roark" - 18 points
- Mike (2 pts)
- Chrissy (5 pts)
- Roark (3 pts)
- JP (5 pts)
- Desi (3 pts)
Eric "Two Laurens Don't Make a Right" - 15 points
- Ben (5 pts)
- Lauren (0 pts)
- JP (5 pts)
- Lauren (0 pts)
- Alan (5 pts)
Moon & Melissa "The Bakerss" - 14 points
- Ryan (0 pts)
- Cole (3 pts)
- Joe (3 pts)
- Joe (3 pts)
- Ashley (5 pts)
Michal & Ben "The Candlestick Makers" - 9 points
- Ryan (0 pts)
- Cole (3 pts)
- Devon (0 pts)
- Jessica (3 pts)
- Roark (3 pts)
Player Rankings:
I decided to go full out this week & did a little math:
| Ranking based on avg draft pick | Michal's rankings after ep3 |
Power Rankings:
- Cowboys: this team is chock-full of potential. All of these players could go far & I don't expect any of them to be too negatively impacted by the tribal mix-up. Also if Ali & Chrissy end up on the same tribe & also decide they don't like each other, then there could be some cannabilism early.
- Surf Chicks: I think Bag's team actually has a lot of promise despite taking Poor Man's Ryan in the 2nd round. I think Devon is smarter than he might have initially appeared and he, Ali, and Jessica all seem like potential power players. A point against this team for earning potential in challenges.
- Candlesticks: I think our team has the best chance at short-term earning potential with the 2 best swimmers on our team. As mentioned above, I think Devon is smarter than we might have thought, but I also think Cole might be dumber than we initially thought. I like that we have 2 sets of power couples on our team, but that also makes this a riskier stable than most.
- Bakers: Not as risky as drafting Joe twice though! I just don't see this guy getting very far if his whole tribe already hates him. With that being said, he does have an idol, so I can't completely discount him. A well-played idol could completely switch up the game. He needs to stop throwing food away though. That's a Survivor taboo & also proves he has an extremely weak social game.
- Scrub Island: I like Chrissy, but I think Mike was taken way to early. There also isn't a whole lot of earning potential on this team. Challenges is where most points come from as well as finding hidden immunity idols, and I'm not seeing a high ceiling for either of those from this stable.
- Two Laurens: There's just not a lot to be impressed about with this team. Ben's probably okay, but JP, Lauren, and Alan are not a good supporting cast. JP is vanilla, and Lauren & Alan appear to have far too strong of opinions about most things. Also, is anyone else getting the sense that Alan might quit?
Douche of the Week:
For those new to DoW, this is your chance to vote for the douchiest castaway of the season! Final overall most-voted douchiest castaway earns their team a bonus 5 points at the end of the season.
My DoW vote goes to Joe for throwing food away, especially after someone (Desi?) offered to eat his half-eaten food.
12 comments:
1. I picked Alan with the 27th pick in the draft. When I read this post I realized who I selected.
2. I'm not sure if you all realize this, but in China this is the Year of the Lauren. Hence the reason for my double Lauren pick. She looks rough now, but how can a woman who denounces all humans (and maybe other species) with red hair not go all the way?
3. Lauren makes JP look like a solid pick.
4. How can I not win this season?
5. You write about Roark as if she was actually on the show but after 3 episodes I've seen no evidence to support this theory.
By the way, has anyone ever had 3 (4, thanks to double Lauren) of their players in the bottom 3 of the official power rankings after the first week after the draft? This is setting up to be one of the great victories of all-time!
Also by the way, I have no idea how the scoring works. Wolf sent me a spreadsheet of a point structure that may or may not have been fictitious.
For example, I asked for clarification on how you would earn points for 'Buy good item at auction?'. His response: 'Yes, basically anything that isn't pond water.'
Based on that response I feel like I should have earned that two point bonus this week.
I must say that I am a bit weary of the double Joe draft too, however, I don't have a very good track record in guessing who will go deep. We'll see how it goes. As long as we don't get last, that's all I'm shooting for :)
Also - Our team name is going to be "Two Cups of Joe"...
Why is our team not in the points rankings? DoW is Cole for blowing that good plan to oust Joe. Even though it didn't end up mattering (yet), I agree with Jessica's assessment of his mistake.
Yeah, I noticed Surf Girls was missing too.
I don't know Eric, but his posts make me laugh out loud! Glad you're playing!
I like the DoW picks so far for this week. Good, solid reasoning. I decided during the episode that Patrick was my DoW because of his comment "She didn't look like she was going to do as good as me." The felt DoW deserving.
I hope that we get to to see Lauren's throwing-to-a-catcher's-chin skills in a challenge and she blows everyone's minds with said skills.
Cole definitely disappointed this episode and I'm glad he was gone by our 3rd round pick. He also placed a huge target on Joe. Whether they divide into 2 tribes (most likely) or 3 (less likely), I imagine all tribes will have someone that knows Joe has an idol on it. Which should mean everyone in the game will know after next episode. 2 Cups of Joe should be very worried about this situation.
I was also super impressed that no one fell into the Patrick trap and, out of 6 teams, we all avoided the dreg. Nice work all.
Here are some side bets I remember from the end of the draft:
2 Cups of Joe (Zack) vs Cowboys and Estrogen (Doug) for total points. Wager = 2 drinks. (I offered my team up against any team with a double player on it, and then doubled down when Zack picked Moonbee's Joe(s).
Candlesticks (Ben) vs Cowboys (Zack) for total players taken to the merge. Wager = 1 drink. (Ben offered up a guess that Candlesticks were taking 4 to the merge and he would take on any others for total team members taken to the merge)
+/- for total number of side bets Snaders makes betting on other people's teams between now and the end of the season = 3.5 Wager and takers still tbd...
Phil's Filets de Cod aux champignons vs Cosmo and Sam's nightly dinners. Probably a push, and not at all an insult to Phil's cooking. It sounded delicious.
Two Cups of Joe is indeed very worried about this situation.
Bag's team has already been forgotten.
The n00bs will take some time to adjust. Bachelor Pool scoring is mostly about longevity. But that doesn't explain Lauren's appeal.
Lots of good jabs in the recap Pickett. It does seem like Probst is gonna mail this season in.
Several strong DoW candidates as mentioned by folks above. Gonna go with Joe. You don't throw food away in life and certainly not on Survivor.
Who is Roark??
Also, Fisherman Lauren is from Down East, and I tried to get a women's softball team together while I lived in Beaufort, and everyone refused because...."the Down East women softball players are BEASTS! You will die trying to play them". I totally believe Lauren could bop a catcher in the head from outfield....and probably knock their head off too!
Oh, and I didn't catch the reference about Probst being a therapist... 🤔
Excellent piece of writing by the way!
Best thing about this season so far is the first blog post + great comments.
What will Phil make for dinner next week?
Yeah, where is Bag's team?? Name change for Bag's team to 'Roark'?
I'm linking a picture of Roark to prove existence!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110997/mediaviewer/rm3929837056
DoW is Patrick for me. Well played n00bs and vets alike for avoiding this gingerbread house.
I'm splitting my DoW vote in half:
Half to Lauren for the red head comment
Half to Joe for throwing out food. It reminds me of our 11th grade trip to Colorado hiking near Gunnison. I was a starving teenagers trying to survive with the limited rations they gave us and one of the girls in our group was giving away our food to her friend in another group. That memory still brings back hunger pangs.
I thought Patrick was reasonable this week
I'm gonna have to nix the half votes, sorry Eric. There's already too much math & Dow just isn't worth enough to tackle fractions
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