Sadly the story begins with Wardog at his worst as he rips on Gavin. Rick looks on smugly, like a cat that just got into cream. Soon after Ron, Rick, and Wardog plot like pretender mob bosses while Ben and I discuss how we'd like to see none of these castaways come back as veterans in future seasons. They are not likable, nor do I think they're all that good at playing Survivor.
Probst arrives to introduce the reward challenge, which I do not follow because I'm riveted by how unbelievably clean his shirt is. (I know this is random, but these are the consequences of a Pickett live-blogging.)
Wardog screws the pooch (get it?) by swimming to the wrong deck. Everything is ho-hum otherwise until Aurora enters the water and I'm again blown away by the physicality of this woman. She may be dumb as bricks but she is a challenge beast.
Then Probst calls Rick Gavin, and Eric's misstep in last week's blog comments is immediately validated. If Probst does it, then maybe we all should.
Julie, Lauren, Rick, and Wardog win the reward. Is this Lauren's first reward ever? (Note: I realize Wardog falls into the same category, but I don't particularly care about his well-being.)
Gavin plots his revenge during an unnecessary slow-mo of him swimming & then we cut to Reem reaming Kelley for almost no reason except that they might be spiking the well on the Edge with bitterness and bile. Would the Edge be 10 times more bearable if Reem didn't live on it like a menacing hermit? Overall this doesn't seem like a fabulous plot twist, but maybe it'd be better on a different, Reem-less season... I'd give the Edge one more try I suppose.
Cut to the mud bath reward & all I feel is uncomfortable. The mud rubbing is gross. Rick's dismissal of Julie & Lauren is repulsive. But fortunately we don't linger there long and soon are moving on to the immunity challenge. Which is kind of boring actually....
I think possibly one of the biggest problems with this season is the general puzzle ineptitude of the castaways. So many of these episodes end with them all looking around cluelessly and/or in frustration. Not the sort of thing that really draws you into the suspense of what's normally a pretty exciting few minutes of a Survivor episode.
Rick wins & now folks are deciding who to vote out. My mind gets blown as Wardog works Julie for her vote. Wardog is pushing for Aurora when Julie asks "Why should I believe you after the last vote?" to which Wardog responds "Well you were closer to Kelley than I was. You would've told Kelley, so I couldn't have told you. That makes sense, right?" Julie seemingly accedes to this nonsense, and I can't tell if she was just bullied that hard or if she maybe kind of believed him. But how could anyone agree to that statement after watching Wardog vote as a united block with Kelley on every vote that season? Madness!
Ultimately Wardog is too annoying to live with and/or the other castaways love Kelley so much they must take revenge. Hopefully the quality of play will start to improve now that he's gone.
The Teams:
- Baggins "Using My Rage Over Last Season to Draft Like a Pro" - 106 pts
- Eric "Eric" - 123.5 pts
- Doug & Bri "Well, That Sucked" - 118.5 pts
- Michal & Ben "The Hammer" - 114 pts
- MoonBee "Nerdy White Dudes" - 96 pts
I think it's safe to say at this point that DoW has run its course. I love the comments but I'm just gonna shut this aspect of the pool/blog down as far as scoring goes. I'm not keeping up with it & it's unfair to pretend.... but can I give Reem a Lifetime Achievement DoW here at the end of a much-loved legacy?
4 comments:
It's gonna be a sprint finish!
The live blogs are my favorite. So much stream of conscious goodness and zero GoT analogies.
What do we say to the GoT analogies? Not today.
Reem definitely earns my final DoW. Get that woman a pack of smokes and a bottle of Jack so she can move on with her life. Yes, you were voted out first. It happens to someone every season. She should know that as a "Super Fan".
I see Victoria making it to the end and then getting no votes from the Jury. She was involved in a lot of key votes but I don't see her getting credit for any of them.
A returning player can really turn this season on its head for the pool and for the remaining castaways, but I agree that the whole Edge has been a bit of a letdown.
30 points isn't a very big spread over 5 different teams. The next few immunities will be big. C'mon random puzzle solutions for Rick and physical challenges for Aurora!
I'm fine with losing DoW. Reem would be the D of the season.
Agree with the power rankings, and agree with Doug that it's close enough anyone could win.
Also agree this is a relatively poor season. Still excited for every episode!
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