Survivor 33.13: Thoughts on a Finale

Hi y’all!

Well, another season of Survivor has been completed!  We started tonight’s finale with 6 castaways left and, by the end of the show, we had three left.  And amazingly enough, it was the three that I predicted in my previous post!  I’m either brilliant or I’m extremely lucky.

I’m going to go with lucky.

Since we started the 2 and a half hour finale with 6 people still left in the game, things occasionally felt a little bit rushed.

In quick order, the following happened:

Knowing that Jay was really good at finding immunity idols, David made a fake one.  Jay found it and believed himself to be safe.  Ken, meanwhile, actually was safe because the legacy advantage gave him immunity.  And David actually won immunity!

So, at tribal council, Jay played his fake idol and was promptly voted out.  To his credit, Jay laughed and took it well.

Adam then managed to find a real immunity idol (and I’m not sure how much I like an immunity idol still being in play that late in the game) and he used it at the next tribal.  Adam was hoping to keep himself safe and vote out Dave.  However, Hannah told Dave about Adam’s plan so Dave, Ken, and Hannah voted out Brett.  Brett threw a little fit on his way out, largely because Brett’s a 40 year-old, 250-pound child.

Ken won the final immunity challenge and, at tribal, he finally made a game move when he betrayed his closest ally and voted to send David to the jury.

That left Ken, Hannah, and Adam as the final three and the outcome was never in doubt.  During the final jury, Ken struggled to point out any moments when he actually played the game.  Hannah tried her best but, again, she most came across as a follower.  In the end, Adam came across as a strong and competent player.  It also helped that he had a compelling personal story.

Adam won.  Adam won unanimously.  Every member of the jury voted for him.

So, to sum up … here’s who would have won in a perfect world…

Here’s who won in the real world…

Congratulations. Adam!

Well, that’s it.  It’s time for me to take a little break from writing about reality television but I’ll be back next year to continue to cover Survivor, The Amazing Race (if it ever returns), and Big Brother!

Thanks for reading everyone!

Lisa Marie

Survivor 33: My Finale Predictions

Hi everyone!

Well, I have to apologize.  Last week, I had to take care of some personal business and, while I watched the show, I did not get a chance to do a write up.  For the record, Will was voted out and then Sunday was voted out.  Will was voted out because he started to get a big head.  I don’t think anyone was surprised when that happened.  Sunday was voted out because … well, I’m not sure why they decided to get rid of Sunday as opposed to an actual threat, like Dave.  Hannah seemed to be really desperate to get rid of Sunday, largely because she realized that Sunday would probably get taken to the end because everyone knew that they could beat her.  Apparently, Hannah wants to be the largely useless third wheel who is taken to the end because there’s no threat of her actually winning.

So, tomorrow is the finale!  I’m really excited to see who wins.  Despite the fact that I’m not a big fan of the Gen X vs. Millennial theme, this has been a pretty good season of Survivor.  We’ve heard memorable players, dramatic tribal councils, and unexpected blindsides!  What more could you want?

So, here are my thoughts on the 6 finalists:

David — Oh my God, who would have guessed that the neurotic and seemingly fragile David would somehow emerge as this season’s power player?  By any and all logic, Dave deserves to win this season.  Not only has he had the most interesting journey in the game but he’s also proven himself to be a surprisingly good strategist.  If nothing else, he deserves a lot of credit for surviving despite being everyone’s number one target.  Sadly, I think Dave might have trouble making it to the final three.  He’s too much of a threat to win.  If he can’t win immunity tomorrow night, he’s going to have to hope that Ken stays loyal to him.  Speaking of which…

Ken — I love Ken.  I can’t help.  He’s totally full of himself and he’s kind of flaky but seriously, he’s such a character.  He’ll be discovering the details of his “advantage” and it’ll be interesting to see if it will help him or if it will just prove to be one of those anti-climatic Survivor twists that don’t really do much to change the game.  Because Ken has been such an aloof player and has no head for strategy, it wouldn’t surprise me if he made it to the final three.  I imagine that everyone feels that they can beat Ken.

Brett — Brett has somehow made it to the final 6, despite not being a very smart or very good player.  If Brett somehow manages to win, I’m sure the first thing that he’ll do is go out and get a drink.  And then another drink…and another…and another…

Hannah — The last woman standing is the epitome of someone you bring to the end because you know you can beat her.  The only question about Hannah is whether or not she’ll be able to get through the final tribal council without having a panic attack.

Adam — The jury may hate Adam but he’s still a real threat to win.  Adam has been ruthless.  Adam has been a jerk.  Adam talks too much for his own good.  But Adam has a compelling personal story.  With his mother dying, can anyone blame him for playing hard?  If the remaining players are smart, they’ll get rid of Adam before they reach the final three but I think the rest of tribe has consistently underestimated him.

Jay — Jay may not be the most likable person on the tribe but he’s definitely a strong contender.  He’s played hard.  He’s won challenges.  He’s survived, despite being everyone’s target.  If Jay makes it to the final three, he’ll definitely start out with the votes of Michelle and Taylor and he’ll be a real threat to win.  Since Jay gave up his idol, he’s going to need to win immunity because, if he doesn’t, he’s going to be everyone’s number one target.

So, who do I think will win?  It depends who makes it to the final three.  The strongest final three would definitely be David, Adam, and Jay.  The weakest would be Brett, Hannah, and Ken.  My prediction is that everyone’s going to come after David and Jay, which will allow Adam to slip by.  Of the remaining players, I think Adam will feel that he has a better chance to beat Ken and Hannah than Brett.

So, I’m predicting the following final three:

Adam

Ken

Hannah

And my guess is that Adam will ultimately win.

We’ll see if I’m right tomorrow!

Lisa

Survivor 33.11 “About To Have A Rumble”

Hi y’all!

Well, on Wednesday, I was at a movie when Survivor aired so I have just now finally gotten a chance to sit down and watch the latest  episode.  About To Have A Rumble featured not only another great tribal council but it also featured the seasonal Loved Ones challenge.  This is the challenge where the castaways compete for an opportunity to spend the day with a loved one.

This is always an emotional episode but that was especially true last night.  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many tears shed during an episode of Survivor.  What was interesting is that it really did change the way that I felt about some of the castaways.  I’ve spent this season hating on Jay but his tears and emotions were so sincere that, as I watched the episode, I couldn’t help but start to like him.

(Seriously, is it me or has Jay become a lot more likable now that Michelle, Taylor, and Figgy are no longer around?)

I’ve also been pretty dismissive of Adam but he brought tears to my eyes, both with his refusal to use his advantage and his conversation with his brother about his mother’s health.  (Sadly, Adam’s mom died two days after the Survivor finale was filmed.)

This season, the visit from the loved ones served to remind us that, regardless of whether we like how they have played the game up to this point, all of the castaways are still human beings.  None of them are 100% good and none of them are 100% evil.  Instead, they’re all human.

For the record, Jay won the reward challenge.  He shared his reward with Will, Sunday, Adam, and their loved ones.  Jay said that he had to reward Sunday because she kept her word to him and it would seem that Jay and her are a lot closer than has been shown up to this point.  Will was rewarded because he has been Jay’s ally since the season began.  Adam was rewarded for refusing to use his advantage.

The rest of the episode was pretty much dominated by Will.  After spending almost the entire season as a sort of mascot for the Millennials, Will has decided that he wants to be taken seriously.  As a result, he came up with a plan to flip the vote and blindside Zeke.

It was a good plan and it made a lot of sense because Zeke was obviously the biggest threat in the game.  It nearly didn’t work, however.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love Ken.  Ken makes me smile.  But he’s not the best player in the game.  He often seems to be in his own little world.  As a result of this, Ken nearly destroyed the plan to get rid of Zeke.

What happened is that Will told Ken that Zeke and his allies were planning on voting for him.  Despite the fact that Ken had the numbers to stay, he still felt the need to confront Zeke’s alliance about their plans.  By doing so, he revealed that Will was planning on betraying Zeke.

Instead of automatically switching their target over to Will, Zeke and his alliance decided to target Hannah instead.  (They were worried that, if David had another idol, he would play it for Ken.)  Zeke felt that he had brought Will back into his alliance.

Well, Zeke was mistaken.  At the start of this season, Zeke came across as being neurotic but likable but, over the course of the last two episodes, he revealed himself to be very cocky and very arrogant and that cockiness did him in.  At tribal council, both of the alliances argued that Will should vote with them.  In the end, Will voted for Zeke.

As a result, Zeke would have been voted out regardless of whether or not Adam played his idol.  However, Adam did play his idol for Hannah.

And so, Zeke left.  Seeing as how Zeke was previously the most powerful castaway in the game, it’ll be interesting to see who steps into the power vacuum next week!  I have a feeling that Will’s going to try and it’s going to backfire on him.

By the way, am I the only one who finds Will to be hilarious?  He is so melodramatic!

We’ll see what happens next week!

Lisa Marie

Survivor 33.10 “Million Dollar Gamble”

Hi y’all!

Well, first off, I apologize for the late update.  Today was not only Thanksgiving but it was also my sister Erin’s birthday!  It’s a double holiday!  Depending on what this day may mean to you, I hope that everyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving, birthday, or Thursday!

As for the latest episode of Survivor, it was an action-packed, two-hour extravaganza.  In the past, I’ve actually been disappointed with the double-long episodes of Survivor but not this season!  While the first hour was pretty much a typical hour of Survivor, the 2nd hour is destined to be remembered as a classic.  Not only did it feature two strong alliances competing against each other but it all concluded with a tribal council that it destined to go down in Survivor history!

Unfortunately, that tribal council did not end in a good way.  But we’ll get to that in a minute.

The first half of this double-sized episode ended with Chris being sent to the jury.  I wasn’t surprised to see Chris voted out.  Chris is a self-styled alpha male and he often came on way too strong.  He got cocky.  He occasionally got bossy.  That said, I never disliked Chris and I don’t think the rest of the tribe did either.  It didn’t feel like a personal vote.  Instead, it just made strategic sense to vote out Chris.  We all knew it was going to happen eventually.

For the record, the vote broke down as follows:

Bret, Jay, Sunday, and Chris voted for Jessica.  (I have yet to figure out why Jessica has inspired so much animosity from Bret, Chris, and especially Sunday.)

The rest of the tribe — Adam, David, Hannah, Zeke, Ken, Will, and Jessica — voted for Chris.

Chris was sent to jury by a vote of 7 to 4.

The second half hour was a lot more exciting.  After joining forces to take out Chris, David and Zeke both suddenly got paranoid and started targeting each other.  During a reward, Zeke and Bret bonded over being gay and discussed how times had changed.  It was actually a nice moment between the two of them but it doesn’t change the fact that Bret is a bit of a jerk and Zeke is starting to get awfully full of himself.  Following the reward, a new alliance formed as Zeke joined up with Bret, Sunday, Jay, and Will.

Meanwhile, David formed an alliance with his fellow neurotics: Hannah, Adam, Jessica, and Ken.  David decided to target Zeke but Zeke, at the same time, decided to target David.  Or, at least he did until he realized that Hannah was more interested in working with David than with him.  Zeke then decided to target Hannah.

However, at tribal council, Zeke dramatically whispered to Bret that they were going to vote for Ken.  Tricked, David used his immunity idol to keep Ken safe.  The vote was then tallied and it turned out that no one was voting for Ken.

Instead, Hannah received 5 votes.  Zeke received 5.

As everyone revoted, Hannah begged Jessica not to change her vote.  “But we’ll got to rocks,” Jessica replied, fully aware that a tie would lead to a random rock draw.

However, Jessica didn’t change her vote.  The revote was another tie.

Jeff told the tribe that they must now unanimously decide whether to evict Zeke or Hannah.  David pointed out that Zeke was unbeatable but Bret and the others refused to vote for him.  Since the tribe could not come to a unanimous decision, the rocks were brought out.

Here’s how this worked:

Because the tie could not be broken, Hannah and Zeke now had immunity and would not have to pull rocks.  Because Jay won immunity, he would not have to pick a rock.  Because David played the immunity idol for him, Ken would not have to pick a rock.

Everyone else had to pull a rock out of a bag and whoever got the black vote would be sent to the jury.

And, of course, Jessica go the black rock.

I FELT SO BAD FOR HER!  Alone among the castaways, Jessica seemed to understand the risk associated with pulling rocks at tribal.  And after being targeted so many times, Jessica was finally kicked out of the game by a random stroke of luck.  Jessica started sobbing and I don’t blame her.

What made it even worse was that Bret yelled out, “I’m sorry, Jessica — David wanted to pull rocks!”

Seriously, Bret?  SHUT UP!

Anyway, Jessica earlier won the legacy advantage, which means that she was due to get a mysterious advantage in just a few days.  Since she got voted out, she had to give the advantage to someone else.  She gave it to Ken.

So, after that double episode, here’s what I think of the remaining castaways:

Adam — Adam seemed strong during the first half of the season but now I think he might be one of the dumbest people to ever play Survivor.  He still has his immunity idol but I can imagine him easily being voted out with it in his pocket.

Bret — Bret’s an alcoholic jerk and I can do without him and his commentary.

David — I know that David drives some people crazy but he’s one of my favorites.  I’m just sad that he wasted his immunity idol.

Hannah — Somehow, Hannah has yet to be voted out.  At this point, she’s such a basketcase that she might be taken to the end just because everyone figures they can easily beat her.

Jay — After being a huge target, Jay has somehow managed to achieve a position of safety.  He’s still got his idol.  Probably the smartest thing Jay can do is keep quiet and lay low.

Ken — I love Ken and I hope he wins it all!  That said, the Ken/Hannah showmance needs to end before it begins.

Sunday — Who are you, Sunday!?  Deep into the season, Sunday remains a cipher.

Will — Wow!  Will is aging fast!  He looks like he’s 20 now!

Zeke — Zeke is a definite contender to win but he’s getting way too cocky and full of himself.  He’s got a big target on his back and it gets bigger with each episode.

So, I guess I hope Ken wins!

How about you?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Lisa Marie

Survivor 33.9 “Still Throwin’ Punches”

Hi everyone!

I’m sitting here thinking about last night’s episode of Survivor and one word comes to mind:

Wow!

Seriously, that was a great tribal council.  You can say what you want about some of the people in this group of survivors or the weakness of this whole Gen X vs. Millennials theme.  (I’m not a huge fan of the theme and I think that Jeff Probst has been going overboard into trying to convince us that every little thing that happens is somehow emblematic of an entire generation.)  But this season has given us some wonderful tribal councils!

Last night, from the minute that Ken won the immunity necklace, I think it was pretty obvious that either Jay or Taylor would be going home.  The show tried to create some suspense by showing us that Sunday wants to get rid of Jessica and that the Gen X alliance isn’t quite as tight as it initially appeared to be.  But, going into the tribal, it seemed obvious that it would either be Taylor or Jay.

But then Taylor and Jay both turned on Adam.  Taylor admitted to stealing and stashing food but he then also revealed that Adam has an “advantage.”  Considering that almost everyone in the tribe dislikes Adam, this was not a bad move.  Adam’s sputtering response didn’t help.

But then Taylor and Jay both made a huge mistake.

They accused Adam of helping Taylor steal the food.  There was no reason to lie about it and try to make Adam look bad.  When Adam replied that he hadn’t helped Taylor steal any food, it was obvious that he was telling the truth.  And it just reminded everyone that Taylor cannot be trusted.

Jay then started to claim that Adam should have told everyone about Taylor’s stash and Jay ended up going so far overboard in his indignation that he pretty much sacrificed whatever credibility he once had.

In the end, 7 votes were cast for Taylor, 4 for Jay, and 1 for Adam.  Nobody played their immunity idol.  Taylor was sent to the jury, where he can now hang out with Michelle.  One thing that surprised me about the vote is that only Taylor voted for Adam.  Jay still voted for Taylor, indicating that he realizes that his scheme hadn’t worked.  Even more surprisingly, Will voted for Jay.  Up until this point, Will has basically been Jay’s right hand man.

Personally, I think that Taylor and Jay’s scheme would have worked if they had revealed Adam’s secret before tribal council and given people time to think about it.  By taking everyone by surprise, they may have caused a little damage to Adam’s game but, for the most part. everyone voted the way that they were originally planning to.

Still, it was great Tribal and I can’t wait to see what happens next week!

Lisa Marie

Survivor 33.8 “I’m The Kingpin”

Hi, everyone!

Sorry for the late update!  Yesterday was my birthday so I was out celebrating and I’ve spent most of today recovering! 🙂  However, I finally got a chance to watch last night’s episode of Survivor and here’s a few thoughts on I’m The Kingpin.

So, this was the merge episode.  The new tribe started out with 13 castways: 7 millennials and 6 Gen Xers.  In theory, the Millennials should have been able to come together and pick off the Gen Xers one-by-one but it didn’t work out that way.  It didn’t take long for it to become obvious that the Millennials were actually far more divided than the Gen Xers.

Essentially, the merge started with two Millennial Alliances.

There were the cool kids alliance: Jay, Taylor, Michelle, and Will.  Jay is the unquestioned leader of that alliance, with Will as a his main henchman.  Taylor, meanwhile, is still obsessed with getting revenge for Figgy and also stealing all of the tribe’s food.  And finally, there’s Michelle who … well, Michelle was just kind of there.

And then there was the nerdy alliance: Zeke, Hannah, and Adam.  All three of these Millennials realized that they were on the bottom of the Millennial Tribe and they sought to even things out by teaming up with the Gen Xers.  Though they originally targeted Will, plans changed when Will won immunity.  So, instead, they voted out Michelle and, by a vote of 9-4, Michelle became the first member of the jury.

To be honest, it wasn’t really a surprising result.  Jay and Taylor are both so cocky and so full-of-themselves that it never occurred to them that they needed to any sort of damage control after blind-siding Michaela.

What’s funny is that, even if Michelle hadn’t been voted out, the Millennials would have lost a player.  Jay and Taylor were targeting Adam.  Why?  Mostly, it came down to the fact that nether of them cared for Adam personally.  Taylor wanted revenge for Figgy.  Jay saw Adam as a threat.  Instead of trying to stick with Adam just long enough to take out the remaining Gen Xers, Jay and Taylor let their personal feelings get the better of them,  And now, they’re on the bottom of the new tribe.

That said, it’s apparent that Adam is not as strong of a player as I thought he was.  Last night, he was totally erratic and nervous.  Foolishly, he attempted to bond with Taylor and ended up sharing way too much information with him.  Though he was ultimately saved at tribal council, Adam came close to alienating even his allies.  Adam is fortunate to have an immunity idol but he needs to start playing smarter or he might end up going to the jury with that idol still in his pocket.

The great thing about Survivor is that the entire game can change in just a day!  So, I can’t wait to see what happens in the next episode!

Lisa Marie

 

Survivor 33.7 “I Will Destroy You”

Nooooooooooooo!  Not Michaela!

Seriously, Michaela’s been one of my favorite players since this season started.  She was a strong competitor.  She spoke her mind.  She was often very funny and, more often that not, I found myself agreeing with her thoughts on the other castaways.

But, I have to be honest — there’s a part of me that knew she’d eventually be blindsided,  You can’t be too strong in Survivor.  This is a game that rewards those who fly under the radar.  Michaela was emerging as a threat to win the game so I knew that she would probably eventually be blind-sided.

At the same time, Jay may have made a huge mistake by blind-siding her pre-merge.  With Figgy having been voted out last week and the merge coming up next week, the Millennials now only have a one-vote advantage.  There will be 7 Millennials and 6 Gen Xers on the tribe.  Jay and Will not only blindsided Michaela but they also blind-sided Hannah by not letting her know what was going to happen.  Considering how flaky Hannah appears to be, it’s not difficult to imagine her flipping sides.  For that matter, Adam has shown a willingness to flip.  Zeke is close to David.  Taylor is so angry with Adam that he was willing to work with Ken and Jessica to get him out.

The Millennials will be going into the merge with more players but their tribe appears to be a lot more fractured than Generation X’s.

With the merge approaching and the game nearly halfway over, here’s my thoughts on the remaining castaways:

Generation X:

Sunday — Sunday still seems kind of lost but, at the same time, I don’t think anyone views her as a threat.  Sunday could get a lot further in this game than anyone’s expecting,

Chris — Chris is a really strong competitor, which is going to put a huge target on him after the merge.  If the Millennials don’t fall apart and concentrate on picking off the remaining Gen X players, Chris will probably be one of the first voted out.

Bret — I will never understand why, exactly, Bret is pretending to be a funeral director.  He’s the most obvious cop that I’ve ever seen.  Bret is hard to read as a player.  He seems like he should be strong in challenges but he’s really not.  He seems like he would be a hard worker around camp but he really isn’t.  He’s certainly not a strategic genius but he’s made it to the merge without making any serious enemies.

Jessica — When this season started, I thought jessica would be a power player but she’s kinda faded into the background.  That may be strategy on her part.  Jessica’s not dumb and she might understand the importance of not standing out.  Let’s not forget that Jessica still has that advantage that will be revealed later in the game.  I still think Jessica is a dark horse to win.

Ken — I like Ken but he’s too strong a competitor.  Everyone’s going to be coming after him after the merge.

David — DAVID!  Somehow, the bizarre and unpredictable saga of David continues.  By all logic, Dave should have been voted out a long time ago but he’s survived.  And he’s got an immunity idol!  I won’t even try to guess what’s going to happen with Dave.

Millennials

Adam — Adam has an immunity idol and he might need it because he’s basically managed to tick off Taylor, Jay, and Michelle by voting off Figgy.  Adam has to decide whether to try to repair things with the Millennials or to go over to the Gen X side.  Adam’s problem right now is that he’s shown himself willing to betray his alliance so nobody has any reason to trust him.

Michelle — Poor Michelle!  I felt for her yesterday, when she was having to deal with the grossness of being the only girl on the Vanua Tribe.  I imagine Michelle will stay loyal to Taylor and Jay after the merge, despite the fact that every other member of the Millennial Tribe seems to be on the verge of turning against them.   If the Millennials stay united, Michelle will be okay.  If the Millennials fall apart, she could find herself isolated.

Hannah — Hannah sure was shocked when Michaela was voted out!  Will Hannah seek revenge on Jay or will she just accept it as gameplay?  To be honest, Hannah will probably do whatever the last person she talks to suggests.

Zeke — Zeke remains a big question mark.  He’s said that he’s not comfortable with the other Millennials.  He’s also bonded with both Chris and Dave.  If a Millennial is going to flip, I think it’ll be Zeke.

Jay — Jay made a big move by getting out Michaela and his smirk at Tribal Council will go down in history as a great Survivor moment.  However, if you follow the clues of how each show is edited, it appears that Jay is being set up for a big fall.  Jay’s arrogant and he’s managed to alienate both Millennials and Gen X’ers.  Jay has an immunity idol but I can easily imagine him being sent to the Ponderosa with that idol still in his pocket.

Taylor — Amazingly, once Figgy was gone, Taylor suddenly became a lot more tolerable.  Last night, I actually found myself liking Taylor.  That said, I still have my doubts about whether or not he’s smart enough to make it to the end.  If he wins, it’ll be like that season when Fabio somehow won.

Will — They desperately need to do a reward challenge where the winner gets to take a shower because Will’s hair is looking seriously filthy.  As much attention as Will got for being the first high school student to appear on Survivor, he really hasn’t made much of an impression.  He pretty much does whatever he’s told to do and I imagine that’s what he will continue to do.

The merge is next week!  We’ll see what happens!

Lisa Marie

 

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