Survivor 29: Episode 2

Well, I forgot to write the top section of this blog before posting it & letting everyone know it had been posted. So for this week I'm just going to let the scores & power rankings to the talking.


The Teams:  

Moon & Melissa "????": 12 points

1. Reed (3 pts)
2. Natalie (3 pts)
3. Rocker (4 pts)
4. Julie (2 pts)

Ben & Michal "????": 9 points

1. Josh (0 pts)
2. Jeremy (3 pts)
3. Missy (3 pts)
4. Keith (3 pts)

Doug & Bri "Daddy Issues": 6 points

1. Baylor (0 pts)
2. Jon (3 pts)
3. Kelley (3 pts)
4. Dale (0 pts)

Bag & Andrea "The Buffoons": -3 points

1. Alec (0 pts)
2. Drew (3 pts)
3. Wes (0 pts)
4. Val (-6 pts)

Power Rankings:

1. Moon & Melissa - Moon & Melissa's team did nothing but make themselves appear more formidable over this episode. Reed appears to be taking a leadership role, Natalie is proving less annoying than her sister & very much a part of the team, and Julie is a solid competitor. Rocker seems to be every bit the jackass we expected him to be, but he managed to get himself an immunity idol so he's also exceeding expectations.

2. Michal & Ben - This episode also made our team look good. While choosing minorities, LGBT & elderly folks for the survivor pool is generally ill-advised this season seems to be an exception. The players who are drawing the most negative attention this time around are the young, straight, white folks. We'll see if that trend continues, but for now at least we're in a pretty comfortable position.

3. Daddy Issues - In this last episode we learned that Jon is an idiot & Baylor is sitting in a precarious position. No good news for Doug & Bri this episode except maybe that Dale's name didn't come up at all when discussing who to vote out. Hopefully Baylor will be able to solidify her place in her alliance - she needs more ins with the guys than just Josh - otherwise she could be in trouble.

4. The Buffoons - The Buffoons are living up to their name. They're doing push-ups to prove their manliness, cheering for the wrong team, and aggressively & fantastically stating that in the course of 6 days they've managed to acquire not just one but two immunity idols. The only surprise here is that it wasn't someone from this team who lost Blue Team's flint. 


Douche of the Week:

My vote is for Drew because he cheered for the wrong gay man in the immunity challenge. After living together for 6 days you'd think he would remember the names of his tribemates!

Don't forget - team names are due by next Wednesday!!

Survivor 29: The Draft

Survivor is back! With all new castaways & a kind of new format, I'm excited to see what happens. While the first episode didn't reveal any crazy good schemers or just plain crazy people, fear not! It's early & the hunger & paranoia haven't set in yet. I am very optimistic that we'll have a season chock full of blindsides, bad moves, and general shenanigans. After celebrating the Ben & Michal win from last season, and watching 1 episode, we made our draft picks. Several rule changes were implemented this year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aoh0Nvq7LdAEdDNUM3NqWDZhZWtwdzl4WGt1SXl1X3c&usp=sharing. I think it's extremely unlikely we'll get close to the record score Doug & Bri set with 208 points one season since we've added so many negative points this season, but we might see a new all-time low! (I would love to get de-throned from that honor.) I'm exciting to see what the consequences of these changes are as the reason rolls on.


The Teams:  

Bag & Andrea "The Buffoons"

1. Alec (#1 overall pick)
2. Drew (#8 overall pick)
3. Wes (#10 overall pick)
4. Val (#15 overall pick)

Ben & Michal "????"

1. Josh (#2 overall pick)
2. Jeremy (#7 overall pick)
3. Missy (#12 overall pick)
4. Keith (#13 overall pick)

Moon & Melissa "????"

1. Reed (#3 overall pick)
2. Natalie (#6 overall pick)
3. Rocker (#9 overall pick)
4. Julie (#16 overall pick)

Doug & Bri "????"

1. Baylor (#4 overall pick)
2. Jon (#5 overall pick)
3. Kelley (#11 overall pick)
4. Dale (#14 overall pick)

Power Rankings:

1. Moon & Melissa - While it's too early to call anything with confidence, I think this is a solid team. Reed & Natalie didn't get a lot of attention early, but they're on a good tribe & I can see them going far. Rocker will probably draw a lot of fire early but should be able to bring in some points before he gets voted out. And I think that Julie is a great dreg pick. She's in a similar position & has a similar attitude as Monica Culpepper, who seriously exceeded expectations in the last Blood v. Water season.

2. Michal & Ben - Josh & Jeremy got a lot of attention in the first episode, which means they could be "going the distance" players or they could be "gotta give them some air time before they're off the show" types. Obviously we're gambling that it's the former. Missy & Keith are among the elder statesmen of the season, but they aren't ancient & I'm guessing they have the grit to get them through challenges.

3. Doug & Bri - This is potentially a great team, but we need to see how the next couple episodes play out. Dale could still draw some fire, especially if the yellow tribe loses some physical challenges. Jon's ailing father could be a warning sign that this is the player who quits this season. But Baylor is my favorite pick of the season at this stage in the game & if my concerns turn out to be groundless there are a lot of players on this team that could go far.

4. The Buffoons - An aptly named team, as Bag & Andrea fall into the same trap they do almost every season. Bag's drawn to brawn like moth to a flame & as a result this team consistently overlooks the brains aspect of the show. Still, with a little luck, this team could be a contender. This is a team that could do well if they coattail-ride real strategists & pull in points on challenges. If they try to be their own masterminds, though, this team is in for an early exit.

BBB: Finale

VICTORY!!! 

Massive amounts of credit for my team winning after a looong drought has to go to Ben. He was the one who suggested drafting Tony, someone I wouldn't have seriously considered if he hadn't pointed out all his dark horse-y virtues. Lo & behold, Tony came through big time! 

A valiant effort from Sinkers & Floaters & their beastie dregs, and a bit of a scary moment from WooBrr when it looked like Woo - clearly a descendant of both Asian Keanu Reeves & the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz (if I only had a brain) - might take Kass to the finals, sweep the vote, and have a huge come-from-behind victory. Fortunately his teeny tiny intellect somehow led him to believe that martial arts integrity in a game about backstabbing & manipulation was more important than winning $1,000,000. I imagine that in 5-10 years, an older semi-wiser Woo will be reflecting on this decision with a lot of bitterness.

It's super exciting that the Pool Idol will come to live in our house for a little while! I'm very excited to see what Moon & Bee put together & am going to start scouting out a good place of honor where it can reside. If next season Bag & Andrea win and Doug & Bri lose, then we'll have completed a full cycle of everyone contributing to the Idol & emerging victorious.

Also, I believe that Moon won a "12 pack of delicious micro brews" from Doug this season for picking Tony to win over Tash/Kass. 


Final Standings:

J'Tude: 149 points
1. Tony (99 points)
2. Kass (24 points)
3. Jeremiah (23 points)
4. J'Tia (3 points)

Sinkers and Floaters: 103 points
1. Sarah (19 points)
2. Morgan (13 points)
3. Tasha (32 points)
4. Spencer (39 points)

WooBrr: 81 points
1. Woo (54 points)
2. Brice (0 points)
3. Alexis (2 points)
4. Jefra (25 points) 

Space Cougars: 53 points
1. LJ (23 points)
2. Trish (24 points)
3. Cliff (10 points)
4. Lindsey (-4 points)


Bookkeeping:

• Tony wrapped up Douche of the Week as well as a near sweep of the vote at final tribal. I think that might be a first!
• It appears that there is no official fan favorite this season, nor was there one last season either. No points awarded for that. 

Reflections:

• This was easily my favorite season to watch in a long time, and not just because we won. It was refreshing to have a season of all new players and especially players who weren't afraid to make big moves.
• I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around how little credit Kass got for her plays. AND she got no time in the reunion to explain herself! Poor form, Probst, that certainly would have been more interesting than talking to Tyler Perry. 
• Huge shout out to everyone for their insightful & plentiful comments this season! The additional perspectives, both through official guest blogs & comments certainly added to both the season, the pool & the blog.

Suggested Rule Changes for Next Season:

• Penalty points for first person & or round of people out once we reach individual immunity challenges
• +1 point for a player each week they have the idol but don't play it (and it turns out to be correct play for you of course)
• A more scaled point system based on when players are eliminated. E.g. 1st person voted out gets -5, then -4, -3, etc. until the merge/jury when there would be a +10 base points addition. E.g. 1st person voted out at the merge/jury +10, then +11, +12, etc.

Next Season:

It's Blood v. Water II, filmed in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. It's nice to see them finally leave the Philippines and it'll be an all new cast again - hurray! Apparently everyone loved the all new castaways for Cagayan, so they are doing it again. Like the last Blood v. Water it looks like it'll be pairs of loved ones split into different tribes. Also they're bringing back Redemption Island which was where Probst seemed to enjoy most of the drama on the last BvW. I think it's going to be 10 pairs, 20 castaways total, but don't quote me on that. Premieres in September!

BBB: Episode 12

The finale is coming up soon! Unfortunately I won't be able to see it right away, but I hope to have scores tallied by Friday. Here's where we stand:


Current Standings:

Sinkers and Floaters: 93 points
1. Sarah (19 points)
2. Morgan (13 points)
3. Tasha (32 points)
4. Spencer (29 points)

J'Tude: 63 points
1. Tony (29 points)
2. Kass (8 points)
3. Jeremiah (23 points)
4. J'Tia (3 points)

 Space Cougars: 53 points
1. LJ (23 points)
2. Trish (24 points)
3. Cliff (10 points)
4. Lindsey (-4 points)

WooBrr: 50 points
1. Woo (23 points)
2. Brice (0 points)
3. Alexis (2 points)
4. Jefra (25 points)


Power Rankings:

1. Sinkers and FloatersAll signs are pointing to Spencer, lucky lucky Spencer, winning this season. He appears to be the only player left capable of winning challenges, he's the most likable (after otherwise-useless Woo), the most strategic, has the best "come-from-behind" story, hasn't really backstabbed anyone, and is smart & eloquent enough to do well in final tribal. Maybe he won't win this final immunity challenge, but even so there's a bigger-than-there-should-be chance that Tony & Kass's infighting will muddy the waters & Spencer will coast through again.

Tony is 100% to blame if he doesn't win this season. He had the whole thing in the bag until he freaked out & voted out Jefra for no reason (kudos to Tasha), and then this last episode was terribly played by him as well. Read on below...

2. J'Tude
Tony knows that he 2 idols he can use for the last time this episode, and his plan to trick everyone into thinking he can use the TP idol for 1 more episode is marginal at best. Even with that still being a part of the plan, I feel like he HAS to give his non-special idol to Trish this episode. He's told everyone he's playing it, so he can feel extremely secure in not getting any votes. Even if he got votes, he still has his TP idol to use so there is literally no risk here! Then he and Trish can coast into the Final 4 & take out Woo, who Tony believes to be his biggest threat. Or he could take out Kass like they were already planning, but he should only do this if he thinks keeping Woo around helps their chances of stopping Spencer from winning this last immunity challenge. He needs to separate his emotions from his game play -- he's been failing at that all season, though, so I guess I shouldn't expect him to suddenly get better about this.

It is extremely obnoxious to me that Tony didn't bother to think this through. He's almost all the way to the end, he has nothing but time on his hands, and a tendency towards paranoia. Why don't you take this opportunity to think out scenarios? Aren't you supposed to be a detective? Did you really not think it was possible that Kass & Spencer would sway Woo to target Trish? Even if you didn't, wouldn't it be worth taking out "too likable" Woo at this point? C'mon man, you need to up your game.

 3. WooBrr
Woo is still hanging around, and could end up being a coattail winner this season based on likability & lack of back-stabbing (if Spencer doesn't make the finals). He wouldn't even be the least deserving coattail rider to win. I honestly wouldn't even mind if he won; he's played the game to the best of his ability, and certainly would deserve it more than Trish or Jefra.

4. Space Cougars
Trish is gone & WooBrr is still guaranteed an additional 10 jury points at minimum. With no chance at DoW points and slim to no chance at fan favorite (probably Tasha or Spencer will wrap this one up? I'm not sure!), the Space Cougars should start planning what sort of tier they'd like to add to the Pool Idol.


Douche of the Week:

 Tony.

BBB: Episode 11

The drama continues this season! Alliances shifted, friendships were tested, but that's all normal these days. Perhaps the most surprising moment of all was that this was the first time they made the Evil Russ-Tony connection. They're both bald, short, and play the game hard & deviously. How did they not see that sooner?


Current Standings:

Sinkers and Floaters: 87 points
1. Sarah (19 points)
2. Morgan (13 points)
3. Tasha (32 points)
4. Spencer (23 points)

J'Tude: 59 points
1. Tony (25 points)
2. Kass (8 points)
3. Jeremiah (23 points)
4. J'Tia (3 points)

WooBrr: 50 points
1. Woo (23 points)
2. Brice (0 points)
3. Alexis (2 points)
4. Jefra (25 points)

 Space Cougars: 42 points
1. LJ (23 points)
2. Trish (13 points)
3. Cliff (10 points)
4. Lindsey (-4 points)


Power Rankings:

1. J'Tude
Our team despises each other which is dangerous for Kass, but they're still sort-of allies, and they somehow made that work. It'll be interesting to see how the "final 4" (+ Spence) break out. Will Kass find herself in the minority because she's pissed people off too much? Will Trish realize this is about winning $1 million & not about who she likes & doesn't like? Who will Woo ally himself with next? Keeping our team at #1 because we still have 2 players, but the point differential is starting to widen...

2. Sinkers and Floaters
 Losing Tasha was unfortunate, but Sinkers still have Spencer, the other player bringing home the bacon. Maybe this will just eliminate his only other competition in challenges. As noted previously, it was obvious Tash's time was limited since she wasn't getting nearly enough airtime considering her tough strategy & game-play. With just 1 player left this team might look like it's in trouble... and really if Tony wasn't such a moron last week, they'd be out of the game by now. But Tony is Tony & Spencer is scrappy. He only needs a couple more challenge wins to earn his way into the finals.

3. WooBrr
Good for Woo for finally thinking for himself... by doing what people other than Tony tell him to do. Still, he's a least starting to make decisions & weigh options for himself which is a big step in the right direction!

4. Space Cougars
Trish has become a really disappointing player in this game. Early on she was making new alliances & planning huge blindsides. Now she's just a fraction of her original size & her interest in the game seems to have disappeared with all her fat & muscle. How is she still so loyal to Tony after all of his shenanigans?


Douche of the Week:

I've got to go with Kass this week. Though I completely understand the misunderstanding between her & Tony, ultimately she was the person in the wrong.

BBB: Episode 10

BBB's tenth episode reiterated the season's two dominant storylines: 1) Tony's unrelenting, maximum-effort gameplay and 2) Spencer's uncanny escape from the depths of despair. At this point it's hard to remember how many idols Tony has found, how many times he's backstabbed an apparent ally, how many times Spencer has found himself as the targeted player of the minority alliance and how many times he's received an eleventh hour stay on his execution. I'm giving Tony my Douche of the Week vote: his latest purge went beyond paranoid to nonsensical, and there was no reason to off inconsequential Jefra - unless he wanted Bri & Doug to add another wing to the trophy.


Current Standings:

Sinkers and Floaters: 69 points
1. Sarah (19 points)
2. Morgan (13 points)
3. Tasha (22 points)
4. Spencer (15 points)

J'Tude: 57 points
1. Tony (25 points)
2. Kass (6 points)
3. Jeremiah (23 points)
4. J'Tia (3 points)

WooBrr: 48 points
1. Woo (21 points)
2. Brice (0 points)
3. Alexis (2 points)
4. Jefra (25 points)

Boston Cougars: 40 points
1. LJ (23 points)
2. Trish (11 points)
3. Cliff (10 points)
4. Lindsey (-4 points)


Power Rankings:

1. J'Tude
Tony figures to play his idols the next two episodes, leaving the others just one chance (with four players left) to vote him out. This assumes Tony can't use either idol at the penultimate tribal, and that Final Tribal will feature three players. But here's the thing: the two-hour season finale won't actually occur until Wednesday, May 21. We'll lose one player this week and another on May 14, leaving us with four castaways heading into the finale. The finale, which will be in a weekday time slot for the first time in forever, generally starts with five players. So you have to wonder if this season's Final Tribal might be an old-school two-player showdown, leaving more opportunities for Tony to use his idols and/or be voted out.

2. Sinkers and Floaters
Somehow Spencer did it again. Give the lad credit. He was able to plant enough seeds of doubt to provoke Tony into another wild move and extend his stay for at least another week. The move seems dubious from our point of view: it appears Tony should have viewed Spencer as his most dangerous opponent, capitalized on a risk-free opportunity to oust him, and kept milquetoast Jefra around. But if Tony takes the young buck down before the finale and advances with the likes of Kass, Trish, and Woo, more power to him. Can Tasha win this thing? Her multifaceted game is befitting of the winner's circle, but the airtime she's received thus far is not.

3. WooBrr
This was a poorly constructed team void of players capable of winning the game, but Bri & Doug will likely avoid trophy-addition duties because useless 4th round pick Jefra lucked into 29 more points than useless 4th round pick Lindsey.

4. Boston Cougars
The Cougs need Trish and not Woo to make Final Tribal. That would likely be enough to avoid the basement, but not for certain.

I would make a prediction on how the final six will shake out, but this is not a season for predictions. It is a popcorn season, one of the most purely entertaining in recent memory. Based on recent history it would be easy to dismiss everyone but Spencer and Tony as also-rans, but older seasons tell us that airheads and coattail riders can win Survivor too. 

BBB: Ep 10 part une

Hey everyone, Moon is guest blogging this week (thanks Moon!), but so we have time to DoW vote, I'm putting up the scores for now.


Current Standings:

Sinkers and Floaters: 69 points

1. Sarah (19 points)

2. Morgan (13 points)

3. Tasha (22 points)

4. Spencer (15 points)

J'Tude: 57 points

1. Tony (25 points)

2. Kass (6 points)

3. Jeremiah (23 points)

4. J'Tia (3 points)

WooBrr: 48 points

1. Woo (21 points)

2. Brice (0 points)

3. Alexis (2 points)

4. Jefra (25 points)

__:

 40 points

1. LJ (23 points)

2. Trish (11 points)

3. Cliff (10 points)

4. Lindsey (-4 points)

DoW:

Tony.