Survivor 27, Episodes #6 & 7 – Have the Trust of Your Alliance Before Making a Big Move

Hey Readers!

I do have to apologize for running so far behind on my Survivor posts. That’s why I have been combining two episodes together, and writing about only the competitions and Tribal Council, so you would get the action bits of the show.

So, alliances between players are being tried more than on any other season of Survivor!  It might be because half of this season’s Castaways are returning players, while the other half have heard the war stories of the Returning Players.  No one truly went into this season with blinders on.  When the alliances have been true to each other, it always seems as though the person at the bottom of the totem pole made a big move on their own which went against the wishes of their alliance, resulting in their departure from the game.  Two players fell into this trap of thinking they had the support of their alliances, only to realize that they were the odd Castaway out.  Who were these two players?  Read on and you’ll find out!

Episode #5 – Redemption Island

After Jeff Probst introduced John, Laura M and Brad as the competitors for this Duel, he explained how the these three players had to race across a balance beam while untying 4 bags and collecting numbered tiles. With ea h bag, they then had to put the tiles in numerical order from 1-100. The player not to finish would leave the game, losing their chance at $1 000 000.

Laura M won the Challenge, while John came in a very close second.  You know what that means, Readers! Yes, Brad is out of the game! Monica was in tears as she said her goodbyes to Brad and watched his buff burn in the urn as he left the game.

Jeff Probst then announced that the living situation was going to be switched up a bit fir the Castaways.  They had to drop their old buffs, and blindly draw for new buffs.  Which ever buff they picked was the tribe they would be on.  Strangely enough, Galang ended up having 4 women and 1 man, while Tadhana had 4 men and 1 woman!  Here is the actual breakdown of both tribes:
Galang – Monica, Laura B, Kat, Tina and Vytas
Tadhana – Gervase, Tyson, Aras, Caleb and Ciera.

Immunity/Reward Challenge

Each tribe had to swim out and get 3 fish traps.  They then had to bring them back to the beach and use the wood from the traps as puzzle pieces.  They then had to put the vertical puzzle together first to win Immunity, and either Luxury Prize of a Picnic complete with meat, fixings and brownies, or they could trade it for the fishing gear Tadhana still didn’t have.

It went down to the wire, but Tadhana won the Challenge! Vytas was very upset because of his situation on Galang (being the only man with a bunch of women).

Tribal Council

Jeff Probst and Galang spoke about the following topics:
How the tribe was getting along since things had been switched up – Monica and Kat said it was hard. Kat said Monica was strategizing too much, and it was putting a strain on the rest if the tribe, shaking the trust of the other ladies. Vytas was playing humble, saying his name would be most if the ballets to leave.
Vytas and dealing with being only man on tribe of women – Vytas said he would be open with the ladies about who he was, and that everything else would be what it will be
Kat and the ladies’ trust in her since it came out she was gunning to try and get Monica out – Kat, trying to save her skin, said she could really be trusted by them. Vytas challenged her, saying it was not true. Kat was then begging the rest of the tribe to keep her, in spite of trying to get rid of Monica and ruin their alliance.

Here were the results after the votes were cast:
Vytas – 1; Kat – 3 (they didn’t show the last vote because it was enough to have Kat leave).

A very sad Kat then found her way to Redemption Island to await her fate at the Duel Challenge against John and Laura M.

Episode #7 – Redemption Island

Once Laura M, John and Kat the Redemption Island Duel Area, a crying Kat asked Jeff Probst if she could get a hug from her boyfriend, Hayden. Jeff Probst asked Kat why she was so upset. Kat answered it was because she felt as though she had let him down for being voted out so early in the game. She didn’t want him to think of her negatively.

After Jeff Probst asked Hayden what he thought, Hayden answered that their relationship was more important than how well someone played this game. Jeff Probst asked whether Hayden wanted to take Kat’s place at Redemption Island. Hayden and Kat took FOREVER to decide that Kat would stay where she was. If seemed for as though Kat was going to let Hayden take her few seconds. I would have been so pissed if she did, after the way she went after Monica, then tried to put the blame for her predicament on others.

For this Duel, the 3 players had to untie and cut through ropes, using a machete, to release puzzle pieces. They then had to put a difficult fire-shaped puzzle together. The player that didn’t finish the puzzle would see the the end of their Survivor game.

John blew through this Challenge, finishing it first. It was a close race between Laura M and Kat, but Laura M was able to figure it out where the pieces of the puzzle went quicker than Kat could, ending Kat’s time on the show. Kat said a tearful goodbye to Hayden, then put her buff in the urn and left the Area. John chose Monica as the recipient of the clue to the hidden Immunity Idol, and she, once again, destroyed in by putting it in the urn to burn.

Immunity/Reward Challenge

For this Challenge, 4 members of each tribe were tied together, and had to move together to untie bola pieces. They then had to work through a mini obstacle course to untie the other bola pieces. They then had to be the first tribe to toss 3 of them on a post to win the Challenge. The Reward for this Challenge was a fried chicken picnic with all the fixings!

Tyson won this Challenge for the mostly male Galang tribe, sending Tadhana back to Tribal Council.

Tribal Council

Jeff Probst and Tadhana spoke about the following topics at Tribal Council:

• Laura B taking it upon herself to tell Vytas he was going home – Vytas said is was discouraging, milking sympathy for how bold Laura B came across when she let her bombshell go off.  Monica shared the sentiments of the tribe, which was that what Laura B. did was very risky, especially since she did not have the tribe’s trust or approval to go and tell Vytas about his fate.  Vytas added that lack of trust in a Castaway was the reason why Kat went home, making Laura B’s case look worse in front of the rest of the tribe.
• Tina played Devil’s advocate, saying that Vytas could be saying all of these things because of the situation Vytas is in right now (only man on a tribe with 4 women).
• Vytas and his lot on Tadhana – Vytas said he was in a good place within his old tribe, now he’s in a lot of trouble because he’s the only man on a tribe filled with women.
• Vytas and Aras relationship – pleading to stay, Vytas said he wanted to continue to work on mending the relationship he has with Aras, and that the best way to do so would be to stay in the game.  Laura B wisely warned the rest of the tribe that to keep Vytas and Aras in the game would be dangerous because they were not only a pair, but that both of them were also good players and could win Survivor.
• Laura B’s story –  Laura B felt as thought this experience, especially without Rupert around, has allowed her to come out of her shell more, improving her self-confidence, and live outside of Rupert’s shadow.

Here are the results of the votes: Vytas – 1; Laura B – 3.  Laura B then left to join the other on Redemption Island.

Well, Readers, players, both returning and new to Survivor, must be aware of where on the totem poll they sit when in an alliance.  In Kat and Laura B’s case, they thought they had enough support to overthrow other alliance, only to find out too late that they were the ones in need of the support.  Where Vytas is concerned, even though he’s the lone man amongst a pack of women, it  it looks like he’s doing well for himself…for the time being anyway.

Will the merge happen soon? Will the alliance hold now that Kat and Laura B have left their tribes?  Who will be the next Castaway to leave the game?Pop back to my blog to find out!

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese

Survivor 27, Episodes #4 & 5: Your Cockiness Was Your Downfall!

Hiya Readers!

Paraphrasing from Jeff Probst, Survivor is a game of knowing when to make big moves that will get to to the end of the game.  Most players of this game make big moves but they may not be at the opportune moment, or let their cockiness get in the way of their judgement, getting them voted out of the game.   Two players have fallen into this trap during these two episodes, and should not have been surprised by the blindside they got at Tribal Council, essentially ending their game.  Who are they, you ask?  Read on and you’ll find out!

Redemption Island (Episode #4)

Jeff Probst introduced Galang and Tadhana to Castaways competing in the three-way duel  – Candice, John and Marissa.  Jeff Probst then asked Candice how she felt to see her husband show up at Redemption Island, to which she said she was upset because there was one person really responsible for sending him there.  Paraphrasing what she said, it was Brad.  Monica, standing by her man, says that more than just Brad is responsible for John being at Redemption Island, meaning the rest of the Tadhana tribe.  Actually, both women are right.  Sure, most of the time, it takes more than one person to vote a person out of a tribe.  But it only takes one person to place a seed of suggestion in the minds of everyone else in the tribe to want to have that person leave as well.  John then said that every time a person had to leave their tribe, Brad “muscled” his opinion around as to who this person should be.

For this duel, the players had to race across a ladder-rope with a key that was attacked to the ladder-rope.  They had to use this key to unlock bags containing puzzle pieces.  They then had to put the puzzle together.  The first two to do this would still be in the game, with the loser having to leave the game.  As well, the winner of the duel will also get to choose a Castaway to get a clue as to where the hidden Immunity Idol was located.

John won the duel.  Candice came second, leaving Marissa to have to say goodby to her uncle, Gervase, as well as to the game.  Jeff Probst asked Gervase what he thought of Marissa’s performance in the game.  Gervase said he was impressed with what Marissa could do, especially since she really didn’t get a chance to play much.  He also said her leaving also gave him more incentive to win the game.

In a strategic move, John chose Monica to receive the clue for the lost Immunity Idol.  They chose her in order to put an even larger target on her back.  Brad immediately told Monica to burn it.  She listened, and threw it into the fire that Marissa dropped her buff into, making this the first time anyone has destroyed a hidden Immunity Idol clue!

Immunity/Reward Challenge

5 members of each tribe had to paddle out inn a canoe to where two crates lay at the bottom of the ocean.  Each tribe had to then bring them back to the beach ad use them as steps up to a platform.  The other two members of the tribe had to then put the puzzle together to get the combination to unlock a flag that signaled the tribe was finished the Challenge.  First tribe to finish would win Immunity, and the choice of a Luxury Reward of an awesome tea and coffee party, or they could trade it for fishing gear.  When Galang were asked to sit two people out, and Tyson wasn’t one of them, Jeff Probst asked why he was competing with his injured shoulder.  Tyson replied that he thought he could, and that he was better than anyone on Galang with 1 arm!  Jeff was shocked, but let Tyson compete.

It was a close battle, but, once again, Galang won the Immunity Challenge, taking their luxury tea and coffee party prize with them.  A sad looking Tadhana had to face Jeff Probst for another Tribal Council, where one of them would then be sent to Redemption Island.

Tribal Council

Jeff Probst spoke to Tadhana about the following topics:

• Has Tadhana lost firsdt 4 Immunity Challenges because of lack of strength or lack of puzzle-solving ability? – Tadhana flip-flopped about this topic.
• How Tadhana was going to vote this episode – Jeff Probst asked they were going to vote based on who’s left in the game on the other side. Brad said it would be great to vote people out from those whose “blood” (partner/family member) is gone.
• Trust – Caleb announced he wasn’t going to vote the way Brad thought he originally said he would.  Ciera was slated to go home, as per Brad, but Caleb didn’t like how Brad was operating, and that he was going to vote for Brad to leave the tribe. Brad started back-peddling, trying to maintain his grip on the tribe.  Brad even said he wasn’t going to write Caleb’s name down.

The votes were cast, and, after a second tiebreaker vote between Ciera and Brad, guess who left the tribe…Brad!  After displaying all of his cockiness, especially after John was blindsided, it was now his turn to feel what it was like to have the rug pulled out from under himself.  Jeff Probst even commented that this may have been the biggest shifts of power in Survivor history, and this may have been one of the biggest move in Survivor history!

Episode #5 – Redemption Island

Castaways on both tribes were very worried about their safety in the game, and they were doing what they could in order to ensure they were not the one voted out.

Redemption Island

Jeff Probst introduced Candice, John and Brad as the competitors in this episode’s Elimination Duel. Monica wanted to take Brad’s place in the Duel, but Brad told her he could handle it.

Each player in the Duel had to create a bridge out of a crate and then cross it. They then had to dismantle the bridge, flip over the bridge pieces, and use these bridge pieces to put the puzzle together. The first two players to finish would remain in the game. The player not to finish would leave the game.  The winner of the Duel would get to give a Castaway watching the Duel a clue to where the location of hidden Immunity Idol on their island.  John was the first to finish the Duel. Luckily, Brad finished his puzzle before Candice could, knocking Candice out of Survivor.  John chose to give Monica the clue for the hidden Immunity Idol, which she burned, again, saying it was too dangerous to have this sort of power. Candice then said goodbye to her husband, and threw her buff into the urn, signifying the end of her game.

Immunity/Reward Challenge

Castaways on each tribe had to take turns racing down a slide, then tossing a ring onto a post. The first tribe to score five points would win Immunity, and could win either a Luxury Reward of a steak and veggie feast, including spices and a wok, or trade it for the fishing gear.

It was a close one, but Tadhana finally won their first Immunity Challenge! Instead of choosing to take care of themselves for the rest of the game by taking the fishing gear, Tadhana chose to celebrate by taking the Luxury Reward. Maybe this boost of confidence may be clouding their judgement!

Tribal Council

Jeff Probst and Galang spoke about the following topics:

• how hard his Blood vs Water twist was for the players this time around. Galang said it was hard because your decisions could impact your
• how easy of a vote it would be for Galang to get rid of Laura B because she was the only member of Galang not to be a Returning Player, so she doesn’t share that bond like the rest of them do.

Once the votes were cast, guess what, Readers? Yes, another blindside went down! Laura M was voted out of Galang because the tribe felt she was not trustworthy, was a bit too cocky, and trying too hard to be friendly with every one in their tribe.

Oh, Readers! Brad really dodged a bullet at Redemption Island, and Laura M didn’t see herself being voted out so early in the game.  It seems as though nothing is following the usual routine of Survivor this season.  Will Brad’s fate finally be sealed by losing in he next Redemption Island Duel? Who will be the next Castaway to be voted off of their tribe? What else is in store for the Castaways this season? Find out all of this and more during my next post on Survivor: Blood vs Water!

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.

Survivor: Caramoan, Episode #12 – Feeling Too Comfortable Can Cause Your Exit to the Game, Again!

Hey There, Readers!

I guess the producers at Survivor decided to take the game up a notch this week (or they realized they were running out of time) because there were two Immunity Challenges and two Castaways voted off during this episode! This meant there was less tribe life seen, but it also gave way to more action, which is always good entertainment. In this episode, both players that left the game became too comfortable in where they stood amongst their tribe mates, and one of them made the mistake of not learning from their past experience on the show. Who was this person? Read on, and you’ll find out!

After the last Tribal Council, Reynold was upset that Malcolm was out of the game, but, he was also very confident about his strength against the other competitors still fighting for the million dollar prize. He confessed that all he had to do was to continue winning Immunity Challenges, and that it would not be that hard because he thought he was the best at them now that Malcolm was gone. Cochran and Andrea must have sensed hat this was what Reynold was thinking, as they were discussing how they knew the next step would be to take Reynold out to prevent him from getting to the Final Three. Tree mail alerted Enil Edam that they wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

At the first Immunity/Reward Challenge, the Castaways had to balance themselves on a floating triangular platform with narrow footholds. The last person standing would gain Immunity from the next.Tribal Council. The Reward portion of this Challenge was that they would earn information about the game which could prove invaluable to the winner.

As the Challenge began, Jeff Probst offered people the opportunity to forfeit in order to snack on some doughnuts and milk. Eddie and Erik felt safe enough in their positions in the game that they jumped off of their platforms and swam over to collect their snack. At the 15 minute mark, the competitors went to the second level on the platform. Jeff Probst offered another treat for people to quit: Hotdogs and soft drinks. Cochran leaped at the chance to eat, giving up on winning Immunity. At the 30 minute mark, the rest of the Castaways moved to the top of the platform. This, along with the wind proved to be the undoing for Dawn and Sherri.  Reynold tried holding on, but after some very close saves, fell into the water.  This left Andrea and Brenda in the Challenge.  The ladies couldn’t agree on a deal for both of them to end the Challenge, and were able to stay balanced and afloat for over three hours! They even came up with a new rule for the competition. They lifted their left leg to see who would be able to stay up the longest. Brenda wobbled, and fell off, leaving Andrea as the winner!

Back at camp, Andrea and Brenda began seriously seeing each other as a threat to winning the game. They both pitched ideas to their alliance members  to blindside the other one, and how the other one was untrustworthy. Andrea also shared  her Reward with her alliance members. It was directions to another Immunity Idol. Erik found the Idol, and gave it to Andrea instead of keeping it for himself. Maybe Erik should have kept it for himself. This set off alarm bells for Cochran, making him suspicious of Erik’s actions.

At,  the first Tribal Council, Jeff Probst introduced Michael, Phillip and Malcolm as the Members of the Jury.  Then he and the Castaways spoke about the Immunity Challenge, and why Brenda and Andrea stayed so long in the Challenge after Reynold was out. Brenda’s excuse was that she didn’t  wanted to win by default. No one believed her. Reynold then reminded his tribe mates that they could use him for whatever purpose, he just wanted to be kept in the game.
After the votes were cast, Jeff announced that it was a 3-2-2-1 Vote to have Reynold leave the game (the other votes went to Eddie, Erik and Sherri in that order).

Back at Enil Edam, the scheming continued, as Andrea and Brenda were continuing to plant seeds of doubt against each other to their alliance. Cochran heard both sides, and decided that Andrea was the more dangerous of the two ladies, since she’s more of an independent thinker than Brenda was. He’s right, and by players thinking for themselves and not always sharing their game-plans with you all the time means they may have plans to eventually get rid of you sooner than later.

At the second Immunity Challenge, the Castaways had to go through an obstacle course and untie several knots on a post to retrieve a key that opened up a chest. This chest held a ladder puzzle where they had to figure out which rung belonged where on the ladder. The first one to finish would win Immunity. Erik blew passed everyone to swiftly win Immunity.

Back at camp, Andrea and Brenda were still trying to convince their alliance to get rid of each other. Andrea knew she should be worried about what could happen at Tribal Council, but she felt that she could trust those in her alliance to get rid of Brenda. Cochran was very unsure of Andrea and her motives, especially since, when she spoke of her plans, they seemed not to include him. He spoke to Erik and told him of his plan to potentially split the Vote and have Andrea go home. Erik said he would think about the plan. I agree with Cochran, again! If your plans don’t include me, then maybe it was time for you to go. Andrea also spoke to Eddie, telling him he would be safe from the Vote. Eddie said it was the first time since he’s been out there that he could breath a sigh of relief at Tribal Council.

At the second Tribal Council, Jeff let in the Jury again, which now included Reynold. Jeff and the Castaways spoke about Eddie being on the outside of the tribe, and about how and when a big move should be made in the game, especially since there were only seven of them left. Brenda said that if no big move was made now, it will eventually be made. They also talked about being lied to in the game. Cochran said he knew he’s been lied to, but at the same time, he’s also done some lying of his own. Andrea also admitted to the same offense, and if she felt paranoid, she would use her Idol to save herself. These words were telling, and maybe Adrea shouldn’t have felt so confident in her alliance, as they voted her out of the game with a Vote of 3-2-2 (Brenda and Eddie got the other votes).

Andrea even had an Idol, and she chose not to use it!  This happened to her the last time she was on the show. She trusted those in her alliance, and they turned on her. When you have an Idol, and you know someone is coming after you, you use the Idol to save yourself, no matter what anyone tells you. It was sad to see her go, since she was such a good player. Only two episodes left, and with six people left in the game, it should prove to be interesting as to who will stay loyal to who, and who will fall by the wayside.

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.

Survivor: Caramoan, Episode #3 – That Was a Close Shave, Shamar!

Hello Readers!

The Castaways on this season of Survivor: Caramoan are very explosive. They continue to allow their emotions get the better of them, clouding their better judgement.  This is especially true of the Fans, or Gota tribe. This is especially true of Shamar and Reynold. Reynold sees the errors of his ways, but Shamar seems as though he’s a lost cause. How do they fair during this episode? Read on, and you shall see!

With the loss of Allie to their band of four, Reynold, Hope and Eddie were still reeling from Shamar still being a part of the Gota tribe.  Reynold began trying to make concessions with Matt, telling him how important he thought he was, and how needed Matt was for numbers to get rid of Shamar.  Shamar, not learning from the close shave he just had at Tribal, began going off on anyone around him, telling them how awful they were for treating him so badly.  Laura and Michael commented on how they liked Shamar, but he needed to cut down on the crazy.

The next day, Laura took it upon herself to take Shamar aside and let him know that he was wrong about how the whole tribe hating him. Shamar was so defeated by the blowout at Tribal, that he was on the edge of wanting to throw in the towel and leave Survivor. Laura told him that the reason some people may not like him was because he was so explosive.  In a nice way, Laura told Shamar he should not rise to Reynold’s attempts to provoke him.  Shamar continued to mope, telling her nothing will change because he was the black sheep of the tribe, and the money for winning the game was not worth bringing both the tribe and himself down.

Reynold and Eddie were trying to see how to get the numbers back in their favour while getting Shamar out of their tribe. They realized that if they could get Shamar to blow up a few more times around camp, while keeping themselves cool may make other tribe members see what liability Shamar was to them.  They then set out to fulfill their plan.

Shamar got some counseling from Sherri as well.  She said she was used to dealing with guys like Shamar, and decided to try to talk him out of wanting to stay in the game. Sherri also thought that if Shamar did quit this game, that he would regret this decision and be angry at himself for doing so.  The talk made Shamar feel a little better about himself and his place in the tribe.  He even apologized to the tribe for his actions, and told them he didn’t want to leave the game yet.  This turn of events made Reynold even more determined to send Shamar packing if Gota should have to go back to Tribal Council.

At Bikal, home of this year’s Favourites, Malcolm and Corrine were talking strategy while searching for the Immunity Idol in the jungle. While they were talking about what they would do at the merge, Malcolm had the Survivor gods smile on him by finding an Idol! After celebrating, Malcolm hid the Idol close to where he found it, decided they should work secretly together in an alliance, and returned back to camp.

Their alliance may not be a secret for much longer, though, as Cochran spied Malcolm and Corrine chatting to each other off to the side of their shelter away from everyone else.  Cochran then shared his concerns with Andrea, who was not keen to hear this bit of news.  She then concocted a plan to get rid of Corrine, as Andrea felt threatened by how strong of a player Corrine was.  As she began recruiting other tribe members to her cause, Andrea was also worried about Corrine finding out about her designs against Corrine.

Brandon was not gun-ho about Andrea’s plan. In fact, he didn’t trust Andrea at all.  He confessed that he didn’t trust anything anyone on his tribe tells him.  I think some of Brandon’s paranoia around good-looking aggressive women may be rearing its ugly head again. He went so far as to say if anyone double-crossed him, he would go crazy on his tribe mates.

At the Reward/Immunity Challenge, all members of both tribes had to swim out to a sunken cage, open its door, then retrieve a very heavy trunk that would require all of their efforts.  Once out if the water, they had to take turns using a rope with a hoop tied to it to gather three pieces of a bridge to push their trunk across to the finish line.  The winners not only gained Immunity from Tribal Council, but they would gain some comforts for their camp, such as lounge chairs, cushions and and a tarp to keep warmer and drier.  It was a close one, but the Favourites were able to squeak out another win, leaving the Fans out in the cold with a trip to Tribal Council.

Oh, Shamar has listened to nothing his fans on his tribe have told him. While the tribe was assessing where they went wrong during the Challenge, Shamar starting yelling at Reynold for not giving him a pair of goggles.  Laura was also worried about her performance during the Challenge because she swam so poorly, costing them time during that competition.

Once the shouting match ended, the tribe members not a part of the fractured mini alliance came up with a plan to get rid of Reynold by splitting the votes between he and Hope.  Since there were more men than women on their tribe, Reynold would go.Shamar, being smug, alluded to Hope that she was not the intended target for the vote.  She caught on to what Shamar was telling her, she told the rest of her alliance what was happening.  They then went around camp, telling everyone that Shamar spilled the beans on their plan, and this was a good reason to cut him loose.

When this news hit the rest of the tribe, they were upset to this new development.  Laura was so upset that she went to Reynold, suggesting that herself and Julie would flip, adding the much needed numbers to their cause.  Reynold was over the moon, and couldn’t wait to see Jeff Probst at Tribal.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst and the players started the meeting off with what happened at the last Tribal. Again, Shamar had his pity party, saying he was a scapegoat for anything that went wrong for their tribe, and that some tribe mates were lying about what he said. Hope felt the need to try to save her butt by binging up her conversation with Shamar. This set Shamar off, again! Come on, Shamar, have you learned nothing? You never go crazy at Tribal. You have to keep your crazy pent up inside of you until the game is over.

It was a wacky vote, Readers, as the Gota tribe had a three-way tie for Shamar, Hope and Eddie.  Jeff Probst advised the Castaways that they would have a second vote where they could only vote for the three aforementioned tribe members, and that these people were not allowed to vote.  Once these votes were cast and counted, another shocking decision was made…Hope was voted out four to one against Shamar. Reeling from the decision, she gave Jeff Probst her torch and watched as her life in game was snuffed out.  Jeff Probst also warned Shamar to shape up or ship up if he didn’t change his ways towards his tribe, as I guess even he though Shamar was on his way out of the game.

Shamar was a lucky ducky, narrowly getting by this Tribal Council with his torch still on fire.  Due to his theatrics, it could have very well been him leaving the game. Hopefully, he will get the message and start being more friendly towards the rest of the Gota tribe.  I have the feeling he doesn’t, though.  Now that another explosive episode of Survivor has come to an end, will my prediction come true?  Will the Favourites be in for any bad luck soon? Will the weather hold out for these Castaways, or will it become wet and wild for them? All you have to do to find out is to come on back to my blog!

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.

Survivor: Caramoan Fans vs Favourites 2, Episode #2 – Remember, This is a Numbers Game!

Hey Hey Readers!

Episode #2 of Survivor: Caramoan brought out the fierce side of the Castaways with arguments and threats being flung around each of the tribes. Maybe the weather and the lack of food is beginning to really hit this season’s players earlier than usual.  Sure, it’s great for ratings, but it also hurts the social game of those starting all of the trouble.  What caused all of the verbal fireworks, you ask? Well, read on, and you’ll find the answer.

After the first Tribal Council, Bikal returned to their camp with mixed emotions. Some were happy with Francesca’s departure (Phillip) while others were blown away by it.  Brandon was especially upset about Francesca being voted out because he thought she didn’t deserve to leave the game yet.  He took his anger out on Dawn by yelling at her, threatening to make her time left in the tribe a living nightmare.  He also confessed that he might take a play or two from his Uncle Russell’s angry playbook, eventually leaving the game with a bang.

Dawn didn’t know what to make of Brandon’s tirade against her.  She said she wanted to try to not break down so easily, but you know what they say about the best laid plans!  She was crying hysterically in the jungle, wondering why Brandon would speak to her the way he did.  Dawn, this is Survivor, as well as your.second time at this rodeo.  You really can’t fall apart so easily so soon in the game.  It puts a target on your back for the next time Bikal goes to Tribal Council.

Brandon’s mood changed the next morning.  He went from going on a rampage to somewhat mellow.  He told Cochran of his change of heart (not going after Dawn and ruining camp life for her), and this raised a red flag for Cochran.  Cochran confessed that he may not want Brandon in their tribe anymore because of these mood swings. It was disturbing to the rest of the tribe, and it made trying to gauge where Brandon’s head was.

Phillip was also stirring up trouble within the tribe.  He took it upon himself to try and reign Brandon in by telling him how to calm himself down.  Brandon equated Phillip’s “advice” to being bullied around as Boston Rob may have done if he were a part of their tribe.  Others noticed how Phillip was trying to be Boston Rob, and it turned them even more against him.

At Gota, Shamar wasn’t doing any favours for himself with the rest of his tribe mates.  As Shamar put it, he was “conserving energy” for Challenges by not contributing around camp.  He just lounged about in the tribe’s shelter, watching everyone else work their tails off.  He also didn’t care what the others thought about his inaction around camp.  Not surprisingly, Shamar’s laziness didn’t go unnoticed, nor were they ignored by he rest of his tribe.  Allie expressed how upset she and other tribe members were over his choice not to help out.  Julie, on the other hand, wanted Shamar to stay, comparing his popularity around camp to that of Phillip.  Maybe Julie wants to use him as a shield at some point in the game?

At the Reward/Immunity Challenge, each tribe had three of its members untie a raft and use a pulley to get a second set of three members out to an underwater cage.  Once there, they had to release nine rings kept in place by bamboo sticks and collect them.  They then had to get pulled back to the beach where the last group of three had to toss three of these rings onto three posts to win.  The Reward: a full fishing kit to find more food, as well as Immunity. The Fans struggled through most of this Challenge because they didn’t use the talents of their members effectively, handing another win to the Favourites.

After the Challenge, Bikal was excited, probably because they escaped Tribal Council.   They poked around the fishing kit, and even tried out a few of their new toys. The strange thing about Bikal going through their kit was that not one player thought to look for a clue for the hidden Immunity Idol.  I guess the trill of food took over their competitive nature for a moment.

Phillip also decided to give those in his alliance code names to describe their responsibility to their union.  Malcolm just shook his head, explaining that that Phillip may be doing this because of his job as a secret agent.

Feelings were not riding so high at Gota.  Matt and Eddie were going over the various mistakes they made at the Challenge.  Reynold decided this was a good time to call Shamar out on his lack of responsibility around camp.  This then sparked a shouting match between the two, blaming each other for their loss.  Reynold also admitted in front of the whole tribe that he was going to vote for Shamar at Tribal Council.  Shamar wasn’t deterred by Reynold’s comments, throwing out comments about how Reynold was.saying all of this in order to keep his alliance of Allie, Eddie and Hope together.  Shamar continues to “help” his case to the rest of the tribe by going back to the shelter and resting some more.  Really, Shamar!  I know you don’t care.how.you are perceived by your tribe mates, but you are not helping your cause by being lazy.  That kills your social game.

This outburst further confused most of the Gota tribe.Most of them agreed with Reynold, wanting Shamar out because of his laziness.  They were also looking at the four-person alliance as a threat to their personal game.  They ultimately had to decide whether one lazy person outweighed a group that didn’t have their personal best interest at heart.

Reynold went to cool off by trying to find an Immunity Idol in the jungle behind their camp.  After some stumbling around and digging, Reynold finds one hidden within a tree.  He tried to conceal it in the pockets of his tight shorts, but Laura was watching him and newly lumpy pockets.  Reynold decided to keep his new prize from everyone, including those.in his alliance.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst got the Gota tribe to talk about a few issues.  The first one was Shamar and his military background. Shamar also commented on how Gota had no leader, and how it was the main reason why they lost the Challenge that sent them to Tribal Council. Reynold also piped in, stating that Shamar was the big problem in their tribe. Shamar defending himself by saying he was being used as a scapegoat to keep Reynold’s alliance together. When Laura was asked how she would be voting, she said she thought she was voting the way the “family” decided, but then she commented on Reynold’s bulge in his pocket, and may have been swayed to vote differently. Reynold admitted he had the Idol, shocking the whole tribe, including members of his alliance.

Before Jeff Probst revealed the vote, he always asks if anyone will be using a hidden Immunity Idol to save themselves. Reynold, after some pondering, decided not to use his. The vote was another close one. It was a shocking 6-4 vote for Allie to leaving the game over Shamar.

Now, you’re probably are wondering why the tribe would get rid of her instead of Reynold, Shamar, Eddie or Hope . I think it was because the tribe wanted to keep some strength on their tribe. As well, since Allie and Reynold are in a romantic alliance, breaking them up now was a good idea.

Hopefully, the now three-person alliance will begin ti.realize how important it is to have the numbers on your side before going to Tribal Council, along with a good social game. They pretty much had separated.themselves from the rest of the tribe, making it easier for those who voted Allie out.

As for the Favourites, they also have to make sure they don’t ruffle too many feathers, as Brandon’s fickle thoughts and Phillip’s Boston Rob impression will be taken as a reason for the rest of the tribe to ditch them. If you don’t have a social game in Survivor, the numbers will not be in your favour. This will ultimately lead to your end in the game.

What will happen now that both tribes are evenly matched, how will they do the next time they meet for a Challenge? Will Shamar lift a finger around camp? Will Brandon flip-flop again and try to turn into his uncle again? Who will be the next Castaway to leave the game? Come back for my next Survivor: Caramoan entry to find out what happens next.

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.

Survivor: Philippines, Episode #4 – Who Can You Really Trust

Hey Readers!

Are you ready for another episode of Survivor: Philippines.  Last week, Matsing lost another Immunity/Reward Challenge, forcing them to send pagent girl, Angie, off the show. Besides the age struggle, this episode also brought about the question all reality-based game shows ask: Who can you really trust? Some of the Castaways are slowly beginning to realize who these people, and for one Castaway, not having the trust of anyone on their tribe causes their downfall.

Matsing returned from the last Tribal Council cold, depressed and short one person. Wait a minute, doesn’t this sound like a rerun of the past few weeks?  Russell, Malcolm and Denise all believed that what Matsing needs in order to get back on track in this game is to have a few wins under their belts and to make it to the Merge.

Russell also began running his mouth around camp, again.  This annoyed Malcolm, and said the only reason why Russell was still in the game was because he and Denise chose to keep him for his athletic ability or his knowledge or prior Survivor experience.  Russell also became suspicious of Denise and Malcolm over the amount of time they spent talking to each other, and was wondering how much out of the loop he really was within his tribe.

Denise felt as though she could no longer fully trust Russell, either.  She saw Russell looking around their camp and assumed he was looking for the Idol.  Russell then tried covering up his suspicious actions.  Denise brought this information to Malcolm’s attention. They thought Russell had the Idol, and that they may have to smoke it out.

At Tandang, Pete wanted to stir up some chaos between Abi and RC to completely sever the bond that joined them. He saw the clue that he and Abi used to find the Immunity Idol, and put it in RC’s bag to make it look as though RC took it.  Pete’s plan worked.  Abi was furious with RC, and shared her anger with the rest of their tribe. 

At Kalabaw, Jeff and Jonathan were both keeping each other close until one can strike against the other.  Carter, a younger member of the tribe, wanted to start working with Jeff and Jonathan in order to form an all-male alliance to knock off the women when the time comes to do so.  Don’t worry, Readers, the women of Kabalaw thought that the men would try to eliminate them, so they are starting to preparing for whatever the men have in store for them.

At the Immunity/Reward Challenge, each member participating had to carry two pots of rice through various obsticles. Then one member must smash all of these pots with a wrecking ball.  Here is a break-down of the Rewards:
First – Steak, veggies, spices for fabulous celebratory dinner, along with Immunity;
Second – Veggies, spices for an okay dinner, along with Immunity;
Last – As usual, Tribal Council.
Jeff Probst also mentioned that either of the winning tribes were able to trade their Reward in for a tarp to keep them dry at their tribe.

This is how the Challenge turned out:
First – Tandang
Second – Kalabaw
Last – Matsing.
Kalabaw traded their so-so dinner for a much needed tarp.  Out of frustration, Russell freaked out, again, asking God why his tribe always lost Challenges.  Jeff Probst was trying to reason with Russell, but it didn’t work.

After the Challenge, the members of Matsing were depressed over their loss, as well as trying to figure out who they could trust.  They were weighing the pros and cons of why to keep one person over another, and they gave each other the “I will take you” speech.  As you can tell, no one felt safe going to Tribal Council.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst got Matsing to talk about who they thought should stay in the tribe and why.  They also talked about Malcolm loosing the Challenge for Matsing, as well as Russell’s actions after the Challenge.  After falsly flattering each other, the tribe made their decision, making Russell the next casualty of Survivior: Philippines.

I have a feeling that the Castaways are beginning to realize they shouldn’t really trust anyone in the game of Survivor.  The only things that can get them through this game are your initial instincts and a lot of luck.  Russell wasn’t so fortunate to have the use of any of these things this time around, and that’s why he’s no longer in the game.  Well, that, and he had an over inflated sense of himself.  If you want to find out who the next Castaway sent packing will be, come back to my blog to see what happened!

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.