Thursday, November 15, 2018

Survivor DG: Episodes 7 & 8

It's a post-merge world in Survivor "and now the real game begins" (said at least 1 castaway on every season of Survivor ever). These were a pretty interesting couple episodes, with a few of my highlights recounted here:


  • Elizabeth v. Angelina = what a n00b-fest. Elizabeth told Gabby that she'd save herself by blowing Angelina's secret at Tribal Council and Gabby totally backed that up. If Gabby knows anything about Survivor (and I'm not sure she does), sound advice here would have been to make these kinds of moves on the beach. Vote changes once you're at Tribal Council almost never happen. I'd assumed that Gabby encouraged this because it made her life easier - she supported a friend while also advancing her own plans with her Stealth Force 6 Alliance. But I think I was giving Gabby too much credit.
  • Alec. Dude's just crushing it. Everyone both trusts & distrusts him at the same time (how is that possible?), he has the most alliances, the most options for game play, a lot of flexibility, etc. Also he's a challenge beast. His current point earnings don't fully reflect how valuable this pony is. That plus his fabulous Probst lip-syncing last episode makes me seriously regret not drafting him. He should be a shoo-in if they ever do an All Stars season again - are you listening Survivor producers??
  • Gabby is a disaster. But Dan is the wooooorst.
  • Mayhem! It's a lawless world out there now that the resident Mayor was deposed in a shocking bout of collateral damage. Did not see that coming.
  • The Davids love each other. Seriously, I'm not sure they're playing optimal game strategy. I think they really bonded during the first week of the show (with the exception of Elizabeth) & are just plain looking out for each other. I'm not saying that Davie's save of Christian was the wrong move -- actually I think it was brilliant.
  • Trending up. Kara looked like a beast in the reward challenge, and if she finally realizes that Dan is dragging her down I'd be pretty thrilled about her.
  • Trending down. Not sure Mike fully thought through the implications of turning on Christian & what the consequences would be if he lost. I'm still not sure what those consequences will be myself, but it should be a fun next episode when we watch the fall out!

DOW:

Dan Douchechacho. I just can't stand you, bro. So glad you lost points for that idol mis-play.

11 comments:

TheGraveWolf said...

Arrogant Mansplaining Dan is my DoW. Also wanted to mention that the way he reacted after learning that he *might* be getting votes a couple episodes ago made me not feel very safe that he is a SWAT officer.

Not sure if Davie using his idol to save the biggest threat in the game was 'brilliant' but it definitely made for good TV. I'm open to being convinced, though. What do you think?

Michal Greenberg said...

I think it was important to do something to rally all the Davids together if that was Davie's long-term alliance strategy. Saving their figurehead is a good resume builder & morale booster for the easily-emotionally-defeated Davids. I feel like a lot of people in Davie's position at this point in the game choose to keep their idol for themselves. They last a little longer, but they never build up any momentum & will get picked off eventually anyway (or make Final Tribal but are labelled a coattail rider & get no votes).

Bag said...

I really started to like John the last few episodes, bummed he's gone. Angelina for DOW, I can't stand her. Go team Bag.

Eric said...

I second this: :Also wanted to mention that the way he reacted after learning that he *might* be getting votes a couple episodes ago made me not feel very safe that he is a SWAT officer. "

How did that alliance of 6 blow up?

In a vacuum Davie saving Christian might have been bad but it probably Davie's chance of winning from 2% to 5%.

If someone lies like Angelina in a game the way she did I can't help but think she's devious in real life.

Dan DOW.

I knew there had to be a reason they included the clip of Gabby talking about an idol at the merge meal but I had given up on it. 80s t-shirt design was a perfect description of that clue.

They do select the wardrobe for contestants and it makes some of them look ridiculous on an island.

Every time I see Gabby I wonder if she would be super hot if she had a different attitude and facial expressions. I think she would be.

The Bachelor mansion did not burn but the production crew home did burn.

Phil said...

Mike - DOW He had a good six strong silent alliance, he turned his focus on the, "Big Threat" which you have to do at some point but clearly he did it way too early.

Alec is masterfully playing both sides. He continues to build trust with the David's his information led to the usage of two idols and his original Goliath tribe still seems to be with him, well played indeed.

I loved that Davie played his idol to save his alliance, we may have finally found a fracture in the Goliath tribe that the David's can exploit.

Big John was an accessory player this season. He was well liked, worked around camp was a strong competitor but didn't show any game play or interest in making moves. He was the status quo guy who thought he didn't need to play until it was only goliaths remaining. He took some shrapnel but his demise was eventual.

Davids can steal a vote and cancel out an idol, if used properly they can flip the numbers and run the table. Dan has a zero percent chance of winning the game.

GnightMoon said...

Epic episode. Taut start to finish with an exhilarating climax that was pure devastation for Slamtown supporters. This is a strong season.

Horrific idol misplay by Dan. Most Goliaths wanted Angelina out and they would have still had a numbers advantage if she went home. They would not have begrudged him holding onto the idol. It actually appears his girlfriend may break up with him for wasting it on Angelina.

Even though it was "successful", Davie's idol play was equally terrible. Let's look at the forest, not the leaves on the trees. The fact is the biggest threat in the game would be out if he had not been saved by an idol nobody knew Davie possessed. Davie has shown the ability to bond with people outside his default alliance and the "numbers advantage" is generally overblown because people flip so frequently. Further, Davie isn't even tight with Christian. Big Bang Theory has at least four other closer allies.

I predict Christian goes on to win the game and Probst asks Davie in the L.A. studio why he gave him the idol.

GnightMoon said...

Angelina DoW for her misplaced sexism rant. It really bothers me when someone misinterprets their own disapproval as bigotry. People listened to Mike's argument to oust Christian because he explained it logically and he's a respected voice of reason, unlike selfish snaky Angelina.

Doug said...

I had way less time in my week than I prefer to add comments here, but I'm getting them in before a new episode, so there's that.

Angelina is my DoW for both prior episodes. Various reasons, most of which have been mentioned to this point.

I would have paid GOOD money, for a side-by-side, hidden camera video recap of Tom and my face when that first John vote was read. John was totally right about the brochacho blindside, but this time, unlike usual, the producers didn't go and ruin it by teasing that it was even a possibility. That was quite the surprise!

I do feel that Christian was more in on the plan that he might get saved (even if he didn't quite know how) than the show let on. I feel he would have fought a little harder at tribal if not.

I still think the steal a vote play would have been a better play than using Davie's idol. I hope they had a convo about how they plan on using that moving forward. Maybe they thought they would save it for next week for some reason?

Eric said...

From now on you and Tom should record videos of your expressions for each tribal council then post it to Youtube. I'm not joking.

Margot said...

I second Eric's suggestion about videos!

And, again admitting I'm not the strategist that the rest of you are, I thought Davie's move was brilliant! (And [SPOILER ALERT!]in my mind the Davies proved they are very savvy with their idol/secret advantage play this week. I just wish we were shown how they came up with their plan(s). Anyone find video of that?

Personally, I love watching Davie. I hope he wins the whole kit and caboodle!

Eric said...

Just started next episode. How amazing would it be if Kara and Gabby took 1-2? What are the odds? 1 in 50.000?