Tag: David

Episode 4 – ‘Somebody Loses Their Shit Tonight’ OR ‘Lucy Gets Lawless’

If you haven’t read my analysis of the previous episode I’m gonna get upset, so do what I say and check it out so here. Or you’ll be sorry.

Ken giving Lucy not quite enough rope

Episode four is in the bag and unfortunately for Takali, it was Gen-X’s turn to go to tribal once again. And what a tribal it was! David whips out a little something something to save someone who we’re not sure he is even aligned with. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more shocked player as the Jess I saw when she was saved by Dave. Hell, I too was bewildered, flabbergasted,overwhelmed, and utterly jubilant when David pulled that baby out. I have no idea if it was a good move for David but he’s certainly given us something to talk about. Let’s get into it.

Rules and Regulations

🎤They ain’t never gonna vote me off, never gonna get me out🎤

After Paul’s blindside last week I was really looking forward to seeing how the tribe reacted. The last thing I expected though was what we got from Lucy. Lucy completely tries to take control of the game, and for what reason? She doesn’t trust Jessica implanting ideas in her head? Does she not think for herself. It’s as though because the women copped shit from Bretstopher because of the blindside, she couldn’t handle the aggression and anger coming towards them and had to distance herself from that move. I thought it was pretty hypocritical of her to throw shade Jessica’s way after being so willing to make the move against Paul last week. Incidentally how funny was it when Lucy was talking to David and David was trying to find out where Lucy’s head was at, and she told him that she wasn’t ready to give him a name, that she’d give him a name later? Apparently later means two minutes later in the conversation. I guess the way she’s feeling makes sense, but the way that she actually behaved on those feelings, by being ultra-controlling was never going to work long term. She’s not Boston Rob, she just can’t get away with that so early in the game. The way she behaved notwithstanding, I’m not sure that the move itself is a good one. img_0932Jess was solid with her. Solid. Trading one solid alliance for two embittered players does not seem like a good trade to me. Let’s assume that David doesn’t play his idol and Jess goes home and Lucy stays. I would argue that Lucy is then the number one target. She has made a big move against an alliance, showing that she’s not, to quote Robert Pollard, a number I can trust. Either Bretstopher are going to want her gone, or, Ken and David are going to want her gone. The only numbers she has are maybe Sunday and CeCe. And they’re ‘maybes’. Speaking of ‘maybes’, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Ken would be next on the chopping block. Regardless, I don’t feel as though Lucy would be far behind. Anyhow, for better or worse, the idol was played, and Jessica got DaveSaved!

A Sucker’s Evening


David! What are you doing man?! The vote wasn’t coming your way, it wasn’t even coming at your alliance! I just have no idea what David was thinking when he did this. He seems like an impulsive guy. This was a move for the sake of making a move. Why do I think this was such a bad move for David? Well, actually I don’t think it was a ‘bad’ move per se, it just wasn’t the right move. In this move David lost an idol, potentially lost some respect or trust from his number one ally (Ken), telegraphed to everyone that he’s unpredictable and shifty, and all that is gained is some thanks from Jessica. It’s possible that Jessica may count David as an ally now, but in a tribe of seven where he may now have no other solid allies, that’s not much help. Okay, maybe it is a bad move. The other thing is we have a tribe switch coming up. Now sure he wasn’t to know that it would happen before next tribal, but he should have known that it was coming soon. In a twenty person game you generally are going to have a tribe switch up after losing between four and six players. So now he’s lost his idol, and has only one to two people in his corner, who he may not even end up on the same tribe as. It may have been an entertaining move, but it sure was reckless. Could be worse, he could have played emotionally.

Emotional Like a Girl

 

“Lucy, your words are like weapons, they wound sometimes”

Yes, Lucy equated showing emotions with ‘girliness’ and by extension ‘girliness’ as weak. I’m glad she’s gone, I don’t know how much longer I could have tolerated listening to her bollocks. We all know females are strong as hell, particularly ‘Amazon warriors’ like Michaela. Great effort in that challenge woman! Of course the person that Lucy directed that comment towards was our friend Ken. Gender stereotypes aside, Ken definitely let his emotions get in the way tonight. He gave us another example of poor gameplay. Again, the vote was not coming his way. He should have just been happy to go along with the flow this vote. Ken I understand that you were pissed at Lucy, but dude, it’s best just to let that shit go, you’re safe and it’s not affecting your position in the game. Even if you wanted to flip on her, you don’t have the numbers yet, it would mean that you have to get Jessica and one other. Of course Jess was going to go to Lucy and suss out where she was, that wasn’t being a snake, that was her getting the info to make a decision. I suspect that maybe there is more to the relationship between Jess and those on the bottom, Ken and David, than we’re seeing, and that is why he felt so betrayed when she did that. As far as then voting against Jess, I’m not sure whether this was the right move. I guess had Lucy stayed in the game and Ken had voted for her then he may be next on her shitlist. As it stands though, to the rest of the tribe, David included, Ken comes off as wishy washy and unpredictable. I don’t think his relationship with David is irredeemable however.

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“This is going to be more delicious than fresh goat”

I think David would understand it and still feel as though they are together. The fact that neither of them seemed to have any idea how the other was voting though is an indication that they aren’t quite on the same page. If they’re going to be an effective alliance going forward, they’re going to have to sort that out. Ken does have a right to be pissed that David played his idol though. I’m pretty sure when they formed the alliance David told Ken that the idol was ‘their idol’. If I’m wrong about that please let me know in the comments. Without the idol, there’s less reason for Ken to stay tight with David, other than maybe to keep him as a shield for later on, if either of them get there. The bad gameplay on show this episode doesn’t end at Lucy, David and Ken.

 

Zap Her Ass!!

“Y’all wanna vote lil ol’ me?”

Where was Jess tonight?! We saw very little of her around camp. Yeah, that could just be the editing, but given how things actually panned out I don’t think so. Perhaps she felt the need to go underground after blindsiding half of her six-person alliance. Still, what did that result in? Having zero idea what was actually going on. Even at tribal, Lucy made it pretty clear to anyone reading between the lines that she HAD actually approached Ken and that he wasn’t lying. Either she didn’t pick up on that or she didn’t feel she could confront Lucy about it at tribal. Either way it’s pretty poor gameplay, and for mine she deserved to go home. Where she is left now is hard to say. With a tribe switch happening before next tribal it would be futile to discuss future strategies for our remaining idiots at Takali. The vibe couldn’t have been more different over at Vanua though.

Get Yer Ta-Ta’s Out

Girl was in the Ama-zone!

Before I finish up on this episode I just wanted to briefly run down a few of the fun things we saw from the millenials. Michaela of course let the dogs out (and the puppies) to absolutely dominate amongst the women in the challenge. Adam found an idol, YAY!!! (Hannah may know about it, boo). Andy they went goat hunting, as far as I’m aware that’s a survivor first. We didn’t get a chance to see much in the way of strategy there today but I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what happens post-tribe switch and how Adam uses his idol. Until then, I’ve got nothing else for you. Head back to camp.

Episode 3 – ‘Girls & Boys’ OR ‘Charmless Man’

If you need to read about the last episode before getting stuck into this one, you can do so here.

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The bigger they are, the harder they fall…

Another episode down. It’s still early days and Gen X is taking out the big characters. Their last vote they took out Rachel, seemingly because she was intense and annoying. Tonight it was Paul’s turn. I’m sure similar reasons contributed to this decision, but a large part of it was strategy. Was it the right time though to start breaking a big alliance? Let’s make like Paul, put on our mask and flippers, and dive into this discussion. Hopefully we’ll come out of it with more than he did.

You’re on Your Own

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Hello foot, meet mouth.

With these innocent words Paul sealed his fate and became the third person voted out of the 33rd season of Survivor (US). My take on those words was that he was trying to be honest to the women in his alliance. Letting them know that he would inform them should there be a boys alliance within the six. Clearly Jessica in particular read much more into it. Good on her for asking the question. Had she not asked whether “there is a guys thing going on” I suspect we would have seen a different vote tonight. img_0857Personally I’m not convinced it was the right time to do it. My reasoning is this, if we are to assume that the bottom three (David, Ken, Cece), the ladies (Jessica, Sunday, Lucy), and the remaining men (Bret and Chris) are solid voting blocks unlikely to change, then this move gives the bottom three equal power with the ladies (in terms of numbers). If they had waited until next tribal to vote Paul, and voted Cece, then the ladies retain the power of three against two blocks of two. To me though the bigger con in voting out Paul is you lose a meat shield. It would be easy later in the game to convince numbers to vote against Paul. Less easy to convince numbers to vote against CeCe. On the pro side, I guess you take the shot when you can get it, you might not get the opportunity again. I guess it was always going to go this way, since CeCe prayed really hard and she thought it was going to be alright.

Clueless

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One ticket for Dumbass Island please!

Did the bottom three actually do anything to make it through this vote? I didn’t see them actually make any moves or have any meaningful discussion to help this vote along (other than discussion at god of course). Ken had a brief conversation with Jessica, but it seemed to me to just be an attempt at undermining Paul. Perhaps this conversation did actually contribute to the final vote, I can’t imagine it would have hurt David, CeCe and Ken’s cause at all. There was of course some talk at THE SUMMIT!!!!

REPRESENT!!!!

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UNITED geNerATIONS

I can’t recall the last time I saw a ‘summit’. And as I was watching I was thinking, what sort of strategy is best to employ at such a meeting of the minds. First, in choosing who to go, is there a penalty for going against the rules and just tipping all of the rocks out of the bag and choosing who you would want to go? Is there any merit in actually doing this? Maybe someone can answer that for me in the comments below. Is there advantage in going? I guess it can’t hurt right. And the more info you have the more power you have. The other question is just how much info do you give to the other tribe. My gut instinct is to go ahead and let the other tribe know all you want to about your enemies, unless you want to use your enemies as numbers post merge. Is it wise to try and form a cross-tribe alliance with anyone? Again, if you’ve got the opportunity I guess it can’t hurt. The more I think about it the more I think I would want to be part of the G8 at the summit. Unless I was the only person going, then I think any advantage you gain from obtaining insider knowledge is lost by the fact that every one else may assume you have some sort of advantage that they need to neutralise. Oh yeah, you can assume there’s going to be food top, so vote me in.

David needs to get some recognition for the way he played the summit. Very casually and friendly questioning how Mari was voted. I’m not sure how I feel about him telling Tay that he would flip with Tay in a heartbeat. By all means, try and form that cross-tribe alliance, but the way he told Tay that he would flip on his gen-xers, it seemed desperate and if I was Tay, I’d be thinking, David must be on the bottom.

Where to for Takali now?

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The road ahead is going to be a balancing act for Takali, for some members more than others…

I get the feeling this could go any way. If you’re Bret and Chris, the question you’re faced with is do we stick with the ladies or do we side with the bottom? Wow, this is really a toss up. I expect that Jessica and the ladies intend to approach Bris (Chret? Bretstopher?) a la The Great Tony Vlachos and plead their case, saying they are still with Bretstopher (I like ‘Bretstopher’ the most, assuming Chris is short for Christopher), but just needed to get rid of Paul because he said he would make a move against the ladies if he had to. I get the feeling that if this were to happen it would be a very uneasy alliance between the women (Ju(i)cyday?, alright I won’t go there) and Bretstopher, with the men waiting for the women to turn on them. Similarly for the women, I would imagine they would be watching their back expecting for Bretstopher to try and get their revenge. This actually kind of leaves the bottom three, no longer the bottom three. They potentially now have the power. With this thinking in mind they could sit back and wait for Brestopher and the ladies to approach them. So, if you’re Bretstopher and the ladies you’re actually better off sticking together and trying to mitigate some of the power the bottom three has. Ideally by getting rid of CeCe as she is clearly holding you back in challenges. So will the bottom sit back and wait or will they make a move? One would assume that David for one is not the type to sit back and wait. I imagine David would be straight in Bretstopher’s ear to get them to flip. Even if they lose CeCe, that would then leave 4 men against three women. Though I don’t actually like to see alliances formed along gender lines, this is just the way it has turned out and is probably the best move for all the men in the game, if the men can form an alliance, from a numbers point of view it wouldn’t matter whether CeCe was voted out first or one of the other ladies. So what then is the best move for CeCe, other than praying for a miracle? I don’t know. I can’t see a way forward for her. My guess is she will just stick with her alliance, let her alliance gets the numbers on her behalf and hope she doesn’t get picked off. That leaves us then with Vanua to talk about.

Meditate on this

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Zeke – “Hannah you are the most annoying palindrome on this island, even more annoying than when my buddy here introduced himself to Michaela with ‘Madam I’m Adam‘”

We didn’t see a lot from our younger friends tonight. Of course we saw some fallout from the previous tribal, which was much fun. Perhaps not the smartest move for our two friends on Dumbass Island (Adam and Zeke) however. I can understand that they would be really pissed with Hannah about what she had done, but guys you’ve got to keep that in check, you’re going to need her number if you’re going to stay alive in the game. At least we saw some Adam later in the episode working on keeping Hannah and Michaela. He was playing some really smart strategy here, trying to get them to see things from Taylor and Figgy’s eyes, showing them how they were on the bottom. Hopefully this isn’t all for nought, we know that Michaela has a tendency to do her own thing. I get the feeling Hannah just wants to be liked. So if the cool kids made her feel that she was still with them, then they have a chance to use her as another number to get either Adam or Zeke out. I don’t know where Will is at. If he is smart he’ll sit back and see where Hannah and Michaela land, who they side with, and go their way. He’s in a pretty good position. So if you’re Adam and Zeke you’ve got to get Hannah and Michaela back on your side. Good luck gentlemen.

Regardless of which tribe goes to tribal next week, it looks like we’ve got some engaging strategy on the docket. Until then, I got nothing else for you, head back to camp.

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“Ciao for now!”

Episode 2 – ‘Where There’s a Will There’s a Way’ OR ‘Getting Figgy With It’

SPOILER ALERT: The following discussion contains spoilers for episode two

If you’re yet to read my analysis of episode 1, you can do so here. 

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Our slightly odd couple. Watching their relationship develop is beautiful and heartwarming. A true Survivor love story.

Episode two is in the bag and much like a specially marked coconut, it was chock full of gameplay. But the headline everyone’s talking about is Taylor and Figgy sitting in a tree.

Love Goggles

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Jeepers creepers, where’d you get those peepers?

 

It’s been a while since we’ve had a survivor ‘showmance’, (ugh, let’s make that the last time I use that portmanteau). Fig-Tay outing themselves as a thing brought total drama island to Vanua camp. Whether it was the “mackin’ in the shack” that for some reason turned Michaela against Figs or something else we don’t know. Their altercation seemed to come out of nowhere. Someone who certainly wasn’t happy that his boy was bailing on him on bowling night was Jay. Though again, I’m not sure how much of this was personal and how much was strategy, give me your thoughts in the comments. Regardless, it was clear there was a lot of uncertainty in the camp. The cool kids aware that they only had four, and it seemed that any animosity, disrespect or mistrust directed toward Figs was enough to put her head on the chopping block. A quick aside. I am a little confused that any fallout from the tainted kiss was not directed toward Tay. Millennials or not it seems to me that the patriarchy still has life left in it. Anyhow, for mine it appeared that Mackfest 2016 certainly precipitated the strategy that was to come.

Casual Hook-ups

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I’m like totally serious dude, like Mari’s totally gonna vote you out man. Bummer. If only there were a way we could stop her from doing that. 

So Adam and Zeke don’t realise that Jay is in on the cool kids? That doesn’t seem right. Or are they just so naïve that they don’t realise just how tight he is and that he will talk to his Triforce (which incidentally has now been renamed a ‘trifecta’ yet still seems to have four people in it. Let’s stick to the one moniker please Jay, you’re making me do extra work here). So Jay talks to Michelle, who points out to Jay that this will flip the numbers (d’doy) and seemingly gives him the job of getting *cough cough* Michaela and Figs to kiss and make up (Figs’ lips be working overtime this episode). img_0793And props to him for making that happen, coming up with a story that Mari was going to vote Michaela next after Figs. Michaela being Michaela she does zero fact checking on this (I’m already confident enough to make my first prediction of the season, Michaela won’t win). All of this results in Michaela voting with Figs, yet there’s clearly still animosity between them at tribal. Had Michaela done any fact-checking then I think things would have shaken down a little differently. Not that I’m saying Michaela’s vote would have necessarily changed, she could assume that Mari was lying to her if she checked with Mari. But had she checked with Mari, Zeke, Adam or Hannah, there’s no doubt that one of those guys would have talked to Mari, and Jay (and/or Michelle) would have been outed as a snake and the not-cool kids (everyone outside of the triforce and Will) would have galvanized. Meanwhile, Michelle is working on Will as he seems to be a floater, and of course we learn later that he votes against Mari. Whether it was by design or accident, Hannah is asked to flip while in Council. If this was by design then this was very clever. Had they approached Hannah earlier then there’s a big risk that she would have informed the rest of the not-cool kids. By doing it at tribal, Hannah doesn’t have that opportunity. It also means she doesn’t have time to think about it. It turned out that both Will and Michaela voted Mari and so the cool kids didn’t need Hannah’s vote. So Mari goes and Figgy stays (7 votes to 3).

Walking in with The Bunny

 

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I know this isn’t Figs. But if you’re anything like me you much prefer to be reminded of David’s antics than look at Figgy.

So I’ve heard it said and read it written over the past week that Figgy is the second coming of Parvati. I for one was all set to give her the nickname ‘Parvatwo’, unfortunately, we didn’t actually see any gameplay from her tonight, so I have to reserve that handle until I see that she has really earned it. Or is it that she’s got things locked in so tight that she doesn’t even need to play hard, she can have her minion do it for her? I suspect it’s somewhere in between, that she actually did have some strategic conversations of her own to try and save herself, we just didn’t see them, as it was more fun to watch Michelle and Jay (JayChelle?) do it instead. Where to for Figs from here? Well, it’s pretty clear that she has a really strong four, and with the other five seemingly fractured things are looking pretty tidy for her. I imagine that there will be some fallout directed toward Hannah from the not-cools, and we don’t know exactly where Will fits into all this, but as long as she can keep her four tight and bring in just one other, she should survive at least a couple more tribals.

Will has Grace 

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There’s something fishy about your proposition. Nope, you just need a shower woman.

The young Will it seemed had plans other than voting out Mari until he was approached by Michelle. Whether these plans were because of an alliance with Mari and/or the other not-cools or just borne of voting Figs as it seemed where the numbers were going is unknown to us. Either way I thought he showed great openness and honesty and dependability in saying to Michelle that he had to think about it as flipping his vote so close to tribal could mess the flow of his game. It seems he is in a pretty good position now then. Voting with the cools but having not necessarily given his alliance to them, he could easily flip back to the not-cools if it suits him. He’ll have to play this position smartly though lest he come off as wishy-washy and bad for both groups’ games. His deliberateness and patience will only get him so far before it is seen as volatile. He might soon have to choose an alliance and tell them he’s with them, or more entertainingly, tell both the cools and the not-cools he is with them and choose one at tribal. Which would be the best for him. Hard to say without knowing the fallout from Hannah’s and Michaela’s decisions to vote Mari. He’ll need to keep a close eye on where those numbers go, and follow them. Perhaps forming a duo with Hannah is a good move, a solid two is a more attractive recruitment proposition than an indecisive one. Also gives the two of you more power within that alliance of four or five.

Best Version of Myself

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I just met you, and this seems wiggy, but here’s some sugar cane, please vote out Figgy.

Based on the “next time on…Survivor” scene, it looks like Zeke and Adam are pissed that Hannah flipped her vote and left them in the lurch. Zeke this is not the “best version of yourself” anymore! Damn I hope they don’t go too far with this. That could be just enough to nudge Hannah into the cools, and if the cools are smart they’ll scoop that up that number pronto. Zeke and Adam really are in a tight spot now, I can see that they’ll have to scramble if they wanna stay alive in Vanua. That means, first of all, staying tight with Hannah. I don’t think this is outside the realms of their capability, but they’ll have to play softer than telling her how pissed they are at her. And unless they can get Hannah, Will, AND Michaela voting with them, they are in a lot of trouble. This is a pretty tall order. The only other option I see for them is to get Jay on board and I see that as a much longer shot. I guess it’s possible that they could convince Jay that Figgy is a threat to TayJay and that Jay could use them to break up Fig-Tay. I can’t see it happening though. Good luck not-cools. Speaking of not-cools…

Put de Idol in de Coconut, Seal it on up.

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Our hero keeps his head above water for another episode.

Tonight was another great episode for David. From finding the hidden immunity idol (nice one production, that was kinda cool), to his unlikely alliance with Ken, to starting fire, everyone’s favourite skinny white bald man got plenty of airtime. We saw him come up with a great cover story for his idol expedition, ok maybe it wasn’t that great, but he’s trying, and it worked and that’s what counts. A really genuine piece to camera about how Paul’s health issues are good for his game. Other than David there really wasn’t anything happening over on Takali, and I’m just fine with that I’m really growing to love The David Show.

Until next week, I got nothing else for you. Head back to camp.

Episode 1 – ‘Gen X-Wings vs Millennial Falcons’ OR ‘It’s a TARP!’

SPOILER ALERT! The discussion below contains spoilers of season 33 episode 1.

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Welcome to the 33rd seasons of Survivor US, also known simply as Survivor. We have two tribes Vanua (Millennials) and Takuli (Gen – X). Though I think production may be playing a little fast and loose with their tribe definitions (I’d love to know the age gap between the oldest millennial and the youngest gen -x’er (someone can google that for me)) they are certainly playing any perceived differences between these arbitrary definitions for all they can. Regardless of real, imagined, or manufactured differences between these tribes, so far it looks like we’ve got some cool characters this season and at least one interesting twist ahead.

THE LEGACY ADVANTAGE DA DA DUUUMMM!!

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“Um excuse me Jeff, can we get our personal items before we evacuate, I’d hate to leave a legacy behind”

So the legacy advantage is an unknown advantage for the holder on day 31? Did I get that right? The finder of the legacy advantage must ‘will’ it to another player should they leave the game. I couldn’t begin to speculate on what that advantage may be, the possibilities are endless. And I would argue that the fun of this particular twist is not in the revealing of the advantage, but in following its travels from person to person and seeing how they use it. It looks like we may have already seen it trying to be leveraged by Jessica (good work spotting and hiding that by the way Jessica!). Did anyone else think that when David approached her and told her that he didn’t have a hidden immunity idol that she was going to suggest pooling of advantages? Is that where we were supposed to think she was going with that? Can’t wait to see how this advantage is going to be leveraged throughout the game and if people are going to try and find sneaky ways of getting their hands on it once they know about it. The other question we have is how does the ‘willing’ work? Is that done openly so everyone now knows about the advantage and who has it? Or is it done behind the scenes? The answer to that my friends, is blowing in the wind…

Biggest Twist(er) in Survivor History

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So, unless there’s something I’ve completely missed this is the first time we’ve had the game put on hold and all participants evacuated due to safety concerns. I guess it was pretty serious. I personally would have loved to have seen just where they spent the night and how that could affect the game. I’m imagining there was much debate among production about whether or not they would show that as showing it could pull the viewer out of that Survivor experience. It’s just something that happens so rarely that I’d imagine all Survivor nerds would love to see that. I do wonder if it means that the game will be a day or so longer.

Short Cut Short Cut Short Cut

Tonight we heard the phrase ‘short cut’ used more times in the space of 5 minutes than it is used in a year at the military barber. Not that I’m saying I didn’t like this facet of the challenge. In fact I really dug it. Any time that they can give the players more choices in a challenge, it instantly makes it more interesting, unless everyone makes the same choices. Thankfully in this case the tribes chose slightly different strategies, and it just gave us one more thing to talk about around the water-cooler. I’m very happy with the first immunity challenge. Takali is sent to tribal and thus continues The David Show.

Power, Wisdom, Courage, and….. OK Scrap the Wisdom

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“Kill the dorks. Bash their butts. Kick their shins“

Before we return to The David Show, here’s a message from Nintendo. Since when can you add a fourth to your Triforce and still have a Triforce? And just how useful is a Triforce of four in a tribe of 10? Especially when you have a couple of people as sharp as Hannah (this season’s Aubry?) and Mari who can instantly recognise when they’re being left out, and who also know that this is a numbers game. And though Figgy is in with the cool kids, from what we’ve seen so far, she seems to have the nous to know when to flip out. I can’t wait to see how this particular battle plays out. Regardless, unlike the current series of Australian Survivor that I feel like has been going on for a year, our US participants hit the ground running and start trying to form alliances and voting blocks early. Millennial particularly, who have grown up with the show.

Oh Crap!

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David. Never lied about being The Outdoor Type

Regular readers of my Australian Survivor analysis will know that this is where I like to talk through the moves that a number of players have made and what they can and should do to move ahead in the game and get to the end. As we’re only in episode one and haven’t really seen much of the tribe dynamics it’s too early to enter that discussion with any confidence. I can say, and I’m sure many of you will agree with me, that David is and will be (if he sticks around) fun to watch. I wasn’t sure what to make of his comments at tribal when he realised that people didn’t trust him and speculated on whether he had an idol, he said something like ‘this is a test’. I’m wondering if he was referring to anything specific that perhaps Bret, Jessica and Chris had said to him. I do wonder if one or more of them set some sort of trustworthiness test, and had him vote a particular way. As skittish as the guy is, he still seemed to me to be a likeable guy, and one that could be fun to have around camp, certainly more so than Rachel (crazy eyes personified). We did get a snippet of a discussion from, I think it was Bret, Chris and Ken(?), saying that they would not tell David, CeCe, or Rachel which way they were voting. Given how paranoid he is, and without any sort of security in knowledge of where the votes might land, I’ve no doubt that if David had an idol he would have played it. Perhaps this was the aforementioned test to which David referred. By not playing an idol, those guys know that he was telling the truth when he said he didn’t have an idol, and perhaps now feel that they can trust him. That logic is a little screwy, but maybe he will pay back their trust with some loyalty and they all can live happily ever after in their rebel alliance (I know that doesn’t really work but I was already committed to the Star Wars puns so it stays). As much as I and clearly the tribe found Rachel annoying, I’m not convinced that I would have voted her over David. If David is that skittish and flighty and volatile days 1-4, are you sure you’re going to be able to reign him in over the coming 35 days so that you can solidly depend on him? He also does not seem like he’s going to be an asset in the physical challenges that is for sure. I guess it’s a credit to his self-awareness to recognise that he was coming off as paranoid and unreliable, and then have the social chops to still be able to connect with those guys enough that they at least have some degree of faith in him.

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“D’ya see that Wilson, I made fire”

I couldn’t end this post without mentioning Zeke. What a rad dude! It was such a great moment for him when he created fire. We don’t yet know what he is going to be like gameplay wise, but certainly as far as watchability, he’s going to be very entertaining. Until next week, I got nothing else fo you, head back to camp.