Survivor 33.6 “The Truth Works Well”

To be honest, I really don’t have much to say about last night’s episode of Survivor.

Well, I do have one thing to say: It was extremely satisfying.

Seriously, has there been a Survivor showmance as teeth-grindingly annoying as Taylor and Figgy?  Of course, As individuals, both Taylor and Figgy were fairly annoying from the beginning.  Taylor is the guy who struggles to speak in complete sentences.  Figgy was the girl who simply could not seem to believe that anyone would not want to just give her a million dollars.  When they got together as a couple, it was a perfect storm of annoying entitlement.

And really, from the minute that this episode started, it was obvious that Figgy was being set up for a big and (hopefully) humbling fall.

It’s true that we did get a few non-Figgy developments.  At Iakbula, Jay and Will found a hidden immunity idol, a triumph that was only slightly marred when Michaela stumbled upon them celebrating.  At Vanua, Zeke realized that, once they reached the merge, he would be at the bottom of any Millennial alliance and it’s obvious that he’s thinking about flipping over to the Gen X alliance.  Interestingly, David did a terrible job at the reward challenge but then came back and was truly impressive at the immunity challenge.  It’s difficult to predict what’s going to happen with David.

Hannah, meanwhile, had an anxiety attack at the reward challenge and had to be checked out by medical.  She’s now worried that she’ll be perceived as weak and she probably will be.

But, for the most part, the show was dominated by Figgy and Taylor.  At Takali, Figgy and Taylor made a big deal about revealing their “big” secret to Jessica and Ken and were shocked to discover that everyone already knew that they were a couple.

At the immunity challenge, Taylor got upset when — after leading her tribe to victory — Michaela coached Vanua to victory.  Michaela explained that she wanted to keep the Millennials in the game and since Vanua had only two Millennials left on the tribe, it was important that they win immunity.

“There’s Millennials on this tribe too!” Taylor said.

“There’s three of you,” Michaela replied, “If you can’t work together, you deserve to go home.”

And Michaela was absolutely right.  At tribal, Figgy and Taylor both assumed that Adam would vote with them.  However, Adam decided to vote with Ken and Jessica.  As a result, by a 3-2 vote, Figgy was voted out.

Figgy sobbed as she walked away.

The lesson?  Don’t get too cocky or comfortable.  Hubris has been the downfall of many and we saw that last night with Taylor and Figgy.

Lisa Marie

Survivor 33.5 “Idol Search Party”

Last week, when David used his idol to save Jessica, I really thought he was screwed.  I shook my head and I said to myself, “Well, David, your game is done.  Your going to be everyone’s number one target.  Jessica isn’t going to put her neck on the line to repay the favor.  You lasted longer than anyone expected but … buh bye, David!”

Well, that shows you what I know.  David is not a physical threat.  He’s not a strategic mastermind.  His social game is a mess.  BUT HE’S LUCKY!  At the start of last night’s episode, David somehow managed to find the immunity idol for the second time.

Of course, shortly after finding the idol, David also found himself on a new tribe.  Last night started out with a tribal reshuffle.  The two tribes were separated, via random draw, into three tribes!

Here’s your new tribes:

VANUA:

1. CeCe (former Gen X)
2. Chris (Former Gen X)
3. David (Former Gen X)
4. Michelle (Former Millennial)
5. Zeke (Former Millennial)

TAKALI:

1. Adam (Former Millennial)
2. Figgy (Former Millennial)
3. Taylor (Former Millennial)
4. Ken (Former Gen X)
5. Jessica (Former Gen X)

IKABULA:

1. Bret (Former Gen X)
2. Hannah (Former Millennial)
3. Jay (Former Millennial)
4. Michaela (Former Millennial)
5. Sunday (Former Gen X)
6. Will (Former Millennial)

The Ikabula Tribe was sent to an entirely new beach and had to build a new shelter from scratch.  (That’s also why they were given an extra member.)  Amazingly — free of the influence of Taylor and Figgy — Jay stepped forward as a leader and shelter builder.  Michaela, who was not happy about the tribal shuffle — stepped up and made fire.  Bret and Sunday did … nothing.

As for the other two tribes, it’s interesting that the same thing seemed to happen at both camps.  On Takali, Taylor and Figgy were happy to be together and confident that they had the numbers but they didn’t seem to notice that Adam appeared to be growing closer to Ken and Jessica.  Since Adam has never liked Taylor or Figgy, I wouldn’t be surprised if he flipped in an upcoming episode.

Meanwhile, on Vanua, the Gen Xers had a numerical advantage but Chris and Zeke immediately started to bond.  And when Vanua lost the immunity challenge, Chris had no trouble voting out his former tribemate, CeCe.  I was a little bit more surprised that David went along with the plan but perhaps he finally realized how little there was to gain from keeping CeCe as his only ally.  In the end, CeCe was finally voted out of Survivor.

What will happen next week?  It looks like there will be yet another medical crisis!  And it looks like Taylor and FIggy might be in some trouble as well!

We’ll see what happens!

Lisa Marie

 

Survivor 33.4 “Who’s The Sucker At The Table!?”

Honestly, David — you’re going to miss that idol.

Last night’s episode of Survivor was an idol episode.  Almost all of the action revolved around the two immunity idols.  Over on the Millennial Tribe, Adam managed to find the immunity idol.  Oddly, it appears that he was the only one looking for it, which highlights what could be the Millennial’s biggest problem: they don’t seem to understand that Survivor is ultimately going to be a game of individuals.

Meanwhile, over on the Gen X tribe, David used his immunity idol to save Jessica from eviction.  He didn’t even let his closet alley, Ken, know what he was planning.  By playing the idol, he kept Jessica from being voted off the island and, presumably, he also made an ally out of her.  If Jessica does remain loyal, that would mean that the new Gen X majority alliance would be Ken, CiCi, David, and Jessica with Bret, Chris, and Sunday on the bottom.

As a result of David’s move, Lucy was voted out.  After spending three episodes in the background, Lucy suddenly emerged as a literal terror last night.  She attempted to take control of the Gen X tribe and she came on so strong that I’m not surprised that she freaked out David.  David is scared of grasshoppers, after all.  It’s not surprising that Lucy would send him into a panic.

Next week, we get a tribal shakeup.  Buffs will be dropped.  New tribes will be formed.  I can’t wait to see it because something definitely needs to change.  Right now, the tribes are to unevenly matched.  Gen X is too old and out-of-shape.  The Millennial Tribe may be full of annoying people but at least they know how to work as a team.

Still, David’s going into a tribal shakeup without an immunity idol.  That’s not necessarily a good thing for him.

Anyway, have a good week everyone!  I apologize for the short post.  Jeff & I are currently at Mt. Nebo in Arkansas!  I’ll be back next week and, just in time for the tribal shakeup!

Lisa Marie

Survivor 33.3 “Your Job Is Recon”

Hi, everyone!

Sorry for the late update!  I’m currently up at Lake Texoma on vacation and I’ve only now had a chance to watch last night’s episode of Survivor.

And what can I say?  I’m not surprised that Paul was voted out.  It seems like every season, a self-styled alpha male and self-appointed tribe leader ends up getting blindsided.  Players like Paul might be helpful when it comes to building a shelter but they always seem to get cocky.  It was unbelievably stupid of Paul to tell the women that he would abandon them if the men started an alliance.  That led to all of the women joining in with David, Ken, and CiCI and voting for Paul.  The final vote was 6-3.  Paul, Bret, and Chris voted for CiCi.  Everyone else voted for Paul.

To be honest, I don’t know how I would have voted in that situation.  Paul may have been a blowhard and a jerk but, at this point in the game, the tribe needs to concentrate on winning challenges.  After all, if the tribe would start working together and actually win the next few immunity challenges, no one would have to worry about who Paul would vote for at tribal council.

Now, I’m not sure that I agree with those who thought CiCi and CiCi alone lost the immunity challenge for Gen X.  Gen X was running pretty far behind before CiCi started doing her thing on the balance beam.  But CiCi’s performance definitely didn’t help.  In fact, it was pretty selfish of her.  She may have felt getting across the beam was a personal triumph but, at this point, Survivor is all about team triumphs.

That’s one reason why the Millennial Tribe is doing well.  Whatever issues they have as a tribe, they work well together as a team.  But that’ll probably cause them trouble after the merge and suddenly, everyone’s playing as an individual.  Gen X could do well, post-merge — assuming that enough of them make it to the merge to prevent the Millennials from picking them off, one-by-one.

The other highlight of last night’s episode: Hannah’s desperate attempt to explain her actions to Zeke.  During the first episode, a lot of viewers thought Hannah would be the new Aubry.  That didn’t last.

Anyway, have a great week everyone!

Lisa Marie