South Pacific: Episode 3

Not enough time to post a deep analysis, sorry! But here are the rankings, and a quick summary of my thoughts: 


- Brandon = YIKESSSS!
- Please blindside Ozzy soon, that'd be awesome
- Papa Bear's running form is one of the worst I've ever seen

The Standings

Team Top 3: Moon - 32 pts
1. Ozzy (17 pts)
2. Sophie (8 pts)
3. Jim (7 pts)

Team Baseball, Belts & Bibles: Doug/Bri - 23 pts
1. Albert (8 pts)
2. Rick (8 pts)
3. Dawn (7 pts)

Team ICRWYTNISTB: Dachui - 23 pts
1. Keith (7 pts)
2. Brandon (8 pts)
3. Stacey (8 pts)

Team Dungeons & Dragons: Me - 22 pts

1. John (7 pts)
2. Elyse (7 pts)
3. Coach (8 pts)

Team Hide Yer Kids, Hide Yer Wife: Bag - 20 pts 

1. Mikayla (8 pts)
2. Christine (6 pts)
3. Edna (6 pt) 

 

Team Country Bears: Courtney - 16 pts
1. Mark (7 pts)
2. Whitney (7 pts)
[3. Semhar (2 pts)]

Power Rankings

 

1. Top 3 – Sophie is growing on me, and I hope that she manuevers Brandon out of the game. It'd be a good move for her. In the war of the Savaii Alpha Male, the score remains Jim: 1, Ozzy: 1.

2. Dungeons & Dragons – Cochran needs to keep dodging these bullets! Man, I could use a Savaii victory next week pretty desperately. Happily my other 2 ponies seem to be out of harm's way. And Coach is still looking solidado.

3. Baseball, Belts & Bibles – Again, this team seems to lack a stand-out player. Since nothing's really happened with them I didn't feel like they should move down in the power rankings, but I think that Bag's Mikayla & Dachui's Keith both have better chances of a deep run than Albert, Rick, or Dawn.

4. Hide Yer Kids, Hide Yer Wife – Bag's team isn't out of the woods yet, but I think that Mikayla's in a better position now than she was before. Brandon is a lunatic, and the more he reveals it the more it helps Mikayla's cause. Plus, with the change in rules, having a player on RI isn't as bad as it was before, so Christine can still be a moderate point producer.

5. ICRWYTNISTB – Brandon and Stacey are still in bad spots, but Keith made some good moves last nights, so I'd say that Dachui's team is looking up! Fingers crossed that he'll make a move against Ozzy sooner rather than later - it seems like the longer they wait the harder it becomes for the tribe to pull the trigger.

 

6. Country Bears – With Semhar gone & Papa Bear heading towards his "slow death" Courtney's team's in some serious trouble. I'm going to miss Papa Bear! I hope he wins at least a few RI challenges so we can keep watching him.

South Pacific: Episode 2

Last night's episode definitely brought the entertainment factor into the show. My favorite moment was probably the way that the Upolu women destroyed that maypole! They actually looked like they'd been practicing for that exact challenge! I have a particular fondness for maypoles as we celebrated May Day when I was a kid growing up in Vermont. So I remember winding & unwinding those giant ribbons myself, and how much fun it was.


What I'm still not completely grasping, though, is how the Upolu men could have blown such a huge lead on that puzzle. Do they lack puzzle-solving skills? We're they lackadaisical, like Christine believed? I think it has to be the latter, because that puzzle really wasn't very difficult. Hopefully they'll learn from that and FAST, because you can't win Survivor if you're going to get lazy. I'm really happy that they blew it though, otherwise Cochran was probably going home.


Obviously the biggest drama of the night was Brandon's creepy obsession with Mikayla. Coach's summary of "Brandon has demons" is probably the most succinct way to explain Brandon's issues... but I'm still not sure what's really going on. He complains that she walks around in her underwear to other people as they all stand around in their underwear. He accuses her of being slutty, when I haven't seen her make a single play in that direction. Mikayla clearly came into this game thinking that her physicality would be her greatest strength, not her flirtatious nature. I don't want to get into it too much more because I could go on for a long time. Plus, I already talked with Ben & Moon about it for about 30 minutes last night, and now I'm sick of thinking about it. However, I'd love to hear other people's opinions! Ultimately it probably doesn't bear thinking about for too long because Brandon will probably be out within the next 3 episodes anyways.




The Standings

Team Top 3: Moon - 27 pts
1. Ozzy (17 pts)
2. Sophie (3 pts)
3. Jim (7 pts)

Team Dungeons & Dragons: Me - 17 pts

1. John (7 pts)
2. Elyse (7 pts)
3. Coach (3 pts)


Team Country Bears: Courtney - 16 pts
1. Mark (7 pts)
2. Whitney (7 pts)
3. Semhar (2 pts)

Team ICRWYTNISTB: Dachui - 13 pts
1. Keith (7 pts)
2. Brandon (3 pts)
3. Stacey (3 pts)

Team Baseball, Belts & Bibles: Doug/Bri - 13 pts
1. Albert (3 pts)
2. Rick (3 pts)
3. Dawn (7 pts)

Team Hide Yer Kids, Hide Yer Wife: Bag - 7 pts

1. Mikayla (3 pts)
2. Christine (3 pts)
3. Edna (1 pt)

Power Rankings

1. Top 3 – Moon is getting his wish and is moving to the top of the power rankings board. Ozzy did himself & Moon a favor by finding that idol in almost no time. As Moon said, if Ozzy makes it to the merge he'll have a good chance to win a decent number of challenges, and he has a safety blanket. Still, he does have a huge target on his back, and if word gets out that he does have an immunity idol, they'll start gunning for him. My guess is that Sophie will actually outlast both Ozzy & Jim. In the war of the Savaii Alpha Male, the score's now Jim: 1, Ozzy: 1.

2. Dungeons & Dragons – I can summarize my reasons for placing myself 2nd in the power rankings with two words: Dragon Slayer. Coach is playing a crafty game, and I think he's doing a great job of controlling his team. I expect him to drop Brandon from his alliance within a couple episodes, and then bring in either Edna or Mikayla for the New Final Five. He's not being super dominating like Boston Rob was, but he's definitely still getting his way. I think Coach has a real chance to get far in this game if he can keep it up!

3. Baseball, Belts & Bibles – Doug & Bri's team is decent, but none of them seem to be stand-out players. Even if they all make it to a merge, I don't see anything of them racking up a lot of points. It's only 2 episodes in, so this could definitely change, but that's the vibe I'm getting right now. I've gotta say, though, that I was really impressed with Albert's smooth-tongued diplomacy. That guy can probably talk his way out of trouble if it starts coming his way.

4. Hide Yer Kids, Hide Yer Wife – Bag's team is aptly named, although that wasn't intentional. His team o' ladies really should hide - from Brandon! I'm really happy that no one on the Upolu tribe wanted to go along with Brandon's "get rid of the Jezebel" plan. I like Mikayla, plus Bag would've been essentially knocked out of the game without her.

5. Country Bears – Papa Bear and Whitney got almost no air time this week, so I can't really change Courtney Bar's power ranking. But we'll be cheering for Semhar in next week's "Battle of the Useless" on Redemption Island!

6. ICRWYTNISTB– Dachui's team is getting worse and worse and creepier and creepier! Brandon now has tattoo issues as well as women issues. Stacey is definitely the most disposable on her tribe. Keith's in a good spot, but 1 out of 3 is not enough strength to win the Survivor pool.

Survivor South Pacific: Draft & Episode 1

It’s time for another season of Survivor, and therefore another Survivor pool! I mean really, what’s Survivor without the pool? It’d be like jelly without peanut butter, Oreos without milk, Jersey Shore without Sammie & Ron screaming at each other. It just wouldn’t be the same.

We had a successful draft last night, and I took a bunch of notes… which I then left at the restaurant. So I won’t go into as much detail in this post as I’d hoped, but we’ll still get the essentials in there.

Overall, I was impressed with the first episode. This seems like a canny bunch that won’t get completely owned the way Boston Rob owned everyone last season. I think it should be entertaining, even without Phillip coming back! To me, Coach seems like he’s in a more secure position right now than Ozzy. Ozzy actually pissed me off in the first episode with his attempts to be “easy going.” These people are looking to you to organize them not be the tribe’s social committee! Coach understands better what his role needs to be to keep in him the game. He’s playing the “wise veteran, but not leader” role that works well with his personality.

The Rules

The rule changes were fairly minimal this season. We increase the Redemption Island win from 1 to 3 points. Our only other change is that we’re no longer awarding standard amounts to 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place finishers. Beginning this season, the players who make the Final Tribal Council will earn a baseline of 25 points, and then they’ll get 5 points for each vote they earn.

Placement Points
Making Final Tribal Council: 25 + 5 points per vote received

Jury: 10

Challenge Points
Win team reward challenge: 2
Win team immunity challenge: 3
Win individual reward challenge: 4
Win individual immunity challenge: 6
Invited to share reward challenge: 1
Sit out a challenge: -2

Hidden Immunity Idol Points
Find the hidden immunity idol: 10
Play hidden immunity idol (success v. fail): 10/-5
If you play hidden immunity idol unsuccessfully during the last tribal council you can play it: 0
If you don't play your immunity idol on the last day you can play it (whether necessary or not): -5
Plays a fake immunity idol: -10
Creator of fake immunity idol, if played: 5

Redemption Island Points
Win battle on Redemption Island: 3
Get back on the tribe from Redemption Island: 3
Miscellaneous Points
Buy bad item at auction/don't buy an item at auction: -2
Buy good item at auction: 2
Fan Favorite: 5
Quitters: -10


The Picks

Again, I lost my notes, so if I put the wrong players on your team, please let me know! Definitely a lot of differing opinions on who’s going to be valuable this year, but I think we all agree that Bag won the “worst value” award by taking Christine in the 2^nd round. I’m giving myself the “best value” award for getting Coach as the 2^nd pick in the 3^rd round.

Team Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife: Bag - 9 pts
1. Mikayla (3 pts)
2. Christine (3 pts)
3. Edna (3 pts)

Team I-Can’t-Remember-What-Your-Team-Name-Is-Supposed-To-Be: Dachui - 8 pts
1. Keith (2 pts)
2. Brandon (3 pts)
3. Stacey (3 pts)

Team Baseball, Belts & Bibles: Doug/Bri - 8 pts
1. Albert (3 pts)
2. Rick (3 pts)
3. Dawn (2 pts)

Team Top 3: Moon - 7 pts
1. Ozzy (2 pts)
2. Sophie (3 pts)
3. Jim (2 pts)

Team Dungeons & Dragons: Me - 7 pts
1. John (2 pts)
2. Elyse (2 pts)
3. Coach (3 pts)

Team Country Bears: Courtney - 6 pts
1. Mark (2 pts)
2. Whitney (2 pts)
3. Semhar (2 pts)

Power Rankings

1. Baseball, Belts & Bibles – Doug & Bri jump into an early lead on the power rankings board simply because they have 2 out of the 5 players who made an alliance in Upolu on the first day. This has put them in a secure position… at least for now. Also, bonus points for Dawn not getting booted in the first episode even though she had an emotional breakdown.

2. Top 3 – Moon got is top 3 choices, mostly because he had the first pick & took Ozzy, and no one else wanted to touch Jim or Sophie because their videos on CBS made them both look like giant douches. Giant douches they may be, but so far they’re hiding it pretty well. Sophie’s in a good alliance, and Jim did some good work getting Semhar out instead of John like Ozzy wanted. In the war of the Savaii Alpha Male, the score is Jim: 1, Ozzy: 0.

3. Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife – Bag may have picked horrible Christine way too early, but he does have Mikayla – my early favorite to win it all. Edna is a bit of a dark horse too. I think she could go far, but for some reason I see her getting voted out in one of those “we can’t take out the guy we actually want to vote out, so we’re going to pick on this rando player instead in his/her alliance” moments. Edna: my early pick for collateral damage.

4. Dungeons & Dragons – I think I could do well this season, but I need to dodge a few bullets in the first 4-5 episodes. My team is set up to do really well in a merge, but until then they could be easy targets. Keep dodging those bullets, Johnny boy!

5. Country Bears – I like Courtney’s team, and Mark is one of my favorite players on the show so far. Semhar wasn’t a choice; she was dumped on Courtney as the final dreg, so it’s not her fault that she’s on her team. Still, being down to just 2 players this early can be crippling, which dropped her in the rankings. And no, Semhar doesn’t have a chance of getting back in the game. RI is going to destroy her.

6. I-Can’t-Remember-What-Your-Team-Name-Is-Supposed-To-Be – Dachui gets last place because 1) they have Brandon who is so paranoid about his tattoos that he’s already made it super apparent to everyone that he’s hiding a big secret, and 2) Stacey can’t see a hidden immunity idol clue that was literally inches away from her hand. Also, negative points assessed for Brandon’s creepy stalker behavior & dislike of Mikayla after spending 1 day with her. This team has problems. Hopefully they’ll resolve them quickly!

Bronco's QB

I made a bet with Bag that Tim Tebow would be "successful" with the Broncos within 3 years of being drafted. This is the start of year 2. Things weren't looking so hot for me, but last night's game gave me hope, as I wasn't alone in chanting "Tebow! Tebow! TEBOW! TEBOW!"

GL me :)

Game of Thrones

I blogged several years ago about my dream casting for the HBO series, knowing full well that they’d never cast the people I wanted because a) they’re mostly movie stars they can’t afford, and b) HBO doesn’t care what I think. At least not when it comes to casting.

Those blog posts ended up getting more comments than any other blogs I’ve written. (Apparently the online community cares more about Game of Thrones than Survivor.) While I really enjoyed creating my own casting lists, one of the main reasons I did it was because I wanted to write my own dream scenario down before HBO went and ruined it.

I had low expectations going into the TV series of my favorite book series. There are only very rare situations where a movie/show ever did a book justice. I thought that I’d watch the TV series but only out of loyalty to the books, not because I would really like the show itself. Turns out I’m dead wrong.

I love the show Game of Thrones and I am thrilled that they’ve already signed on for a second season. Ben and I went on a binge this weekend – we were 5 episodes behind, so I had 5 hours of bliss to catch up on. The show takes on a huge challenge of tackling a book that has a massive cast of characters, and somehow successfully integrates all of their stories into one cohesive storyline. I didn’t think this was possible, which was one of my main doubts about the show.

Happily, the author George RR Martin worked for some years in the script-writing industry, and appears to have written the books in a way that can easily be translated onto the small screen. For that, and for completing the 5th book A Dance with Dragons, I thank you George!

If you haven’t seen the show yet, I definitely recommend it! It’s got all the best things: great characters, good plot, plenty of violence, sex, cussing, etc. I’m especially pleased with the actors they cast as Dany & Arya – they, Jon Snow, and Tyrion are my favorite characters in the books, and the actresses are doing a wonderful job! I like the actors who play Jon Snow & Tyrion as well, but have minor gripes about them. I hate Jon’s hair – I think it makes him look like a tool – and I don’t like Peter Dinklage’s choice of inflection when he speaks. In my mind Tyrion has always been smugger in his tone of voice and Peter’s playing it too proper. However, he’s growing on me pretty quickly.

My other huge compliment to the show is their choice of giving the whores in the series a voice. There are a lot of men who sleep with prostitutes in the series, and the writers decided to give these women an intelligent voice & opinion. These “lowborn” women end up having some of the best dialogue in the show! I love watching those scenes & I applaud the writers for choosing to take this convention and run with it.

Game of Thrones airs on Sundays on HBO. You don’t need to have read the books to follow it – the show carries all the best stories & stays true to the tenor and voice of the books.

Redemption Island: Episode 14

I loved the finale this season! Not because the ending was surprising in any way, but the suspense of the Survivor Pool had me squirming on the edge of my seat, spreadsheet open in my lap. As the contestants were eliminated one-by-one, and the points were added up, I knew: this really was coming down to fan favorite.


In the end those 5 points made a huge difference. Who won this season's pool? Well... for the first time in Survivor Pool History, we ended with a TIE!!

The Standings 

Team #Winning!: Moon - 141 pts
1. Boston Rob (105 pts)
2. David (23 pts)
3. Krista (13 pts)


Team Saggy Bottom Panties: Me - 141 pts
1. Phillip (48 pts)
2. Ashley (46 pts)
3. Natalie (47 pts)


Team Cockydoodlebug: Doug/Bri - 117 pts
1. Grant (46 pts)

2. Rooster (29 pts)

3. Andrea (42 pts)

Team Fabioesque: Dachui - 67 pts1. Mike (29 pts)

2. Matt (23 pts)

3. Stephanie (15 pts)

Team Evil Crushell: Courtney - 46 pts
1. Evil Russell (10 pts)
2. Sarita (11 pts)
3. Julie (25 pts)

Team Haterz Gonna Hate: Bag - 33 pts
1. Francesca (0 pts)

2. Kristina (10 pts)
2. Steve (23 pts)

Reflections:

After speaking to other Poolers, we decided it was best to split the victory, rather than try to come up with some kind of tiebreaker. ALTHOUGH, I'd be very willing to have some sort of Survivor trivia lightning round duel to decide it, a la Friends Season 4, Episode 12 "The One with the Embryos." Beware Moon, I majored in lightning rounds.

Splitting the victory means that Doug still retains his record for most Survivor Pool wins, but this is not a runaway. Bag & I are in close contention! Courtney is 0-2 so far, but I have no doubt that there will be many seasons in which she'll have a chance to win The Pool. Hang in there... and maybe don't pick Evil Russell for once. :)

Even with this shared victory, Moon still has a large asterisk hanging over his head. His only solo victory is the controversial Yul season, and with a shared victory this season I think that Moon needs another solo victory before he can consider himself a top Pool competitor.

Dachui picked what I considered to be the strongest team at the outset of this season. We picked blindly (which is why Phillip went in the first round) and considering that they had little to no information on the players, their team was a tough one to beat. Unfortunately the game got the best of them, and they underperformed this season. However, Dachui is a real threat in the long run of this game.

I have mixed feelings about picking players blindly at the start of the season. While I enjoyed both cheering for & rooting against my team, our picks had more to do with luck than skill this season. Next season I would prefer to pick a couple episodes in, and then have dregs to buy later, although ultimately this is up to the group. Interestingly, if this had happened this year, Phillip probably wouldn't have been drafted until mid-season!

Thoughts on the Season:

Overall it was a decent season, but it was really saved by Phillip's antics. I appreciated watching Rob pwn his tribemates - he's clearly a master of his craft - but it got boring after a while. He had no competition at all! I'd rather see him and Parvati battle it out in an even match of wits. What I'll remember more fondly were moments like this:

Phillip: I wanna say that I was never proud to wear plum-colored underwear.... However -
Rob: Are you getting rid of those things?

Phillip: Yes.
Rob: I am SO glad. Look at how saggy those things are!
Phillip: I knew that my manhood was not reflected in the briefs that I wear, but rather the character that I bring to the game. And so, with happiness and joy as I approach my destiny, I bid you ado [sic].
(Underwear are tossed in the fire.)
Natalie: Thank God.
Rob: Now go wash your hands.

Thoughts from the Reunion Show:

-  Grant looks HOT in suspenders! Also, I liked that he didn't forgive Rob. If I were in his shoes & saw the way that Rob screwed around with me with hidden idol clues I don't think I'd forgive him either.

-  I'm pretty sure Dave got dumped later that night. That proposal was the most horrible thing ever aired on television.

-  CBS's attempt at verifying Phillip's "federal agent?" status was purposefully weak. They found someone who got trained when he did 25+ years ago? Seriously? If CBS really wanted to clear Phillip's name, they could have found someone far more legit to back him up. 

Thoughts on Next Season:

I'm happy they're bringing back Redemption Island; I think RI has a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing a more empowered, less religious version of it next season! Probst also mentioned that two former castaways would return. I didn't find any spoilers on who these castaways might be, just a lot of speculation. My fingers are crossed that Ben's Fools v. Freaks dream will be realized with a Phillip v. Coach, or maybe a Shambo v. NaOnka. Expect the next season to air sometime in September with 18 castaways starting the show.

Rule Changes?

-  I think we made some great rule changes for this last season - everything really clicked IMO. Have we perfected our scoring system? No, but we're getting closer :)

-  Having a pool where the overall winner is averaging about 140 points makes ties an unlikely occurrence. But obviously they can happen! Should we consider adding a tie-break rule?

-  Moon mentioned having those who make it to final tribal council earn their points based on the number of votes they receive.

-  Any other suggestions should be mentioned in the Comments here! I can promise you that they will NOT make The Draft: Agenda for next season if you don't!

Redemption Island: Episode 13

Only a few days before the finale, and there's so much left unresolved! Who will return from Redemption Island? Does Grant really think that Rob wasn't the one who blindsided him? Can Rob ever be defeated?

I liked last night's episode even though most of the contestants got really whiny. Especially Rob. He kept complaining about how hard it was to win... Bullshit! He's an Olympic-level athlete who's been skiing down a bunny slope this whole season; just because he hit a slightly icy patch doesn't mean he can complain about how difficult it's been.  

Usually at this stage we have a pretty clear idea of who will win the pool. This season, it's still totally up in the air. What we do know is this:

- at the bare minimum I'm guaranteed to win 40 more points

- at the bare minimum Moon's guaranteed to win 5 more points (he'll win at least 10 jury points, but could lose 5 points for an idol misplay)

- at the bare minumum Doug/Bri are guaranteed to win 20 more points

- at the bare minumum Dachui are guaranteed to win 20 more points

... which means that Dachui will need to win more than 48 points at the bare minimum in the finale to have a chance. Is this possible? Absolutely. This also means that if you calculate in people's guaranteed points above, Saggy Bottom Panties actually has a slight lead over Cockydoodlebug! 

Ooooh, I just remembered that we are awarding 5 points this season to the fan favorite. Who on earth will that be? I see 3 likely candidates: Boston Rob (the only conniver in the group), Phillip (the sadistic viewers' favorite), or Matt (the underdog favorite). I don't see anyone this season running away with this, which will keep the suspense going. Having this fun surprise at the end is great, especially in a game that's so close!

The Standings 
Team Cockydoodlebug: Doug/Bri - 93 pts
1. Grant (36 pts)

[2. Rooster (29 pts)]
3. Andrea (28 pts)

Team #Winning!: Moon - 85 pts
1. Boston Rob (49 pts)
[2. David (23 pts)]
[3. Krista (13 pts)]

Team Saggy Bottom Panties: Me - 75 pts
1. Phillip (18 pts)
2. Ashley (30 pts)
3. Natalie (27 pts)

Team Fabioesque: Dachui - 47 pts
1. Mike (19 pts)
2. Matt (13 pts)
[3. Stephanie (15)]

Team Evil Crushell: Courtney - 46 pts
[1. Evil Russell (10 pts)]
[2. Sarita (11 pts)]
[3. Julie (25 pts)]

Team Haterz Gonna Hate: Bag - 33 pts
[1. Francesca (0 pts)]
[2. Kristina (10 pts)]
[2. Steve (23 pts)]

Power Rankings

1. Team #Winning! - This competition will come down to who returns from Redemption Island. A strong competitor coming back from RI (like Mike, Grant, or Matt) could return & potentially win immunity in the next couple challenges to earn their way into the finals. A returned Zapatera member would probably sweep the Purple Jury votes, and possibly some pissed off Ometepe's too (Andrea perhaps?). Rob needs to make sure this doesn't happen if Moon is to win the pool.

2. Saggy Bottom Panties - I'm guaranteed to have at least 1 person make the finals, but man wouldn't it be cool if all 3 of them did? I know that won't happen, but I'm still astounded that I have 3 players still in. 3 players whose names have barely even been mentioned when discussing who to vote out. Fingers crossed that Natalie decides to stick with Ashley!

3. Team Cockydoodlebug - I think having Grant sent to RI has given Doug/Bri their best chance to win this pool. Grant was happy to make it to the finals with Rob, and he wouldn't have beaten him. But now, maybe Grant will get pissed off & come back from RI ready to take Rob out. Not saying he'll succeed at this, but it's better than his other plan.

4. Team Fabioesque - They aren't out of it, although it's the least likely scenario I've come up with. But totally possible. I'd like to see Matt get back to the tribe one last time to see him try to scheme one last time. But if I were Team Fabioesque I'd be pulling for Mike to get back since he's by far the more competent player.

5. Evil Crushell - Julie for fan favorite? She was certainly mine.

6. Team Haterz Gonna Hate - Steve for fan favorite? He earned it by handling Phillip's Crazy Tirade as well as can be expected.