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.

Survivor: Philippines, Episode #3 – The Young vs. Old Power Struggle Continues

Hey Readers!

It’s the third episode of  this season’s Survivor: Philippines, and boy, have the claws come out!  During this show, you are really able to see the Young versus Old power struggle coming through.  In some cases, the whipper snappers have the older players on the run while in other cases, the more seasoned players have the power.   Read on to see why this is so!

Coming back from Tribal Council for the second time, Matsing looked defeated.  Angie was whining about how Roxy had called both her and Malcolm out for potentially being a couple.  She thought that since the tribe voted to keep Angie, that everyone didn’t agree with Roxy, and that they trusted her as much as she trusted them.

Unfortunately for Angie, this was far from the truth.  Russell thought that Angie and Malcolm were a couple, and they needed to be split up.  He was also thinking about moving forward in this game, and knew that Angie, being so young, would not be loyal to him if they all hit the Merge.  Finally, Russell knew he would be the next one gone should they go back to Tribal Council again.  He knew it was crucial to get Denise on his side in order to stay any longer in their tribe.

Adding insult to injury, Matsing woke up the next morning to find that their raft was no longer at their camp. It was swept out to sea because they didn’t tie it up tight enough the night before.

Once they finished complaining about this news, Malcolm and Denise were talking about the future of their tribe. They also knew it would be either Angie or Russell leaving their tribe should they loose the next Immunity Challenge, but they were having a hard time figuring out who to keep.  Denise secretly wanted to keep Russell for his strength and his lack of youth, but also wanted to keep Malcolm on his side, and that may mean keeping Angie around.  Malcolm wanted to keep Angie because he could manipulate her easily.

At Tandang, RC and Abi’s alliance was becoming more bumpy.  Abi had hurt her knee twice at the challenges, and was becoming paranoid about RC seeing her injuries as a liability for their agreement.  RC told her that this was not the case, and that she was indeed being paranoid. Abi took a hissy fit, and stomped away from their argument, leaving RC to then turn to Michael for help and advice.

Abi then turned to Pete to help her find the Idol without consulting RC about it first.  She still didn’t trust RC, and Pete was thrilled to get in on this hunt.  They both didn’t trust RC, and have now become a sub-alliance.

Pete, feeling more powerful with this turn of events, wanted a back-up sub-alliance should this one with Abi falls through.  He turned to friendless Lisa, telling her she would have to be able to vote Michael and then RC out of the tribe.  Lisa, with no real ally in her tribe, agreed to Pete’s terms.

At Kalabaw, the tribe noticed something different about the rice box.  They realized the decoration on the top of this container is gone.  Jeff thought that Jonathan had found the Idol but was keeping his mouth shut about it.  He gave kudos to Jonathan, and was upset with himself for not finding it first.  He also wanted to blindside Jonathan the first chance he got.  He shared these thoughts with other members of his tribe, and they agreed with him.

At the Immunity/Reward Challenge, Jeff Probst informed the tribes of what they had to do to win Immunity and reward.  Members of the tribe had to dive and retrieve puzzle pieces to build a puzzle wheel and spell out a word as quickly as possible.  The tribe that finished first would win a fabulous fishing kit and a canoe along with Immunity.  The second place tribe also would receive Immunity as well as a fishing kit that was not as elaborate as the one won by the first place team.  As usual, the team that lost would be meeting Jeff Probst at Tribal Council and loose a member of their tribe.

Here are the results of this Challenge:

1st – Kalabaw; 2nd – Tandang; and, once again, 3rd – Matsing!

This time, it was Angie and Russell being totally useless at the diving portion of the Challenge that lead to their defeat.

When Kalabaw returned from the Challenge, they were greeted with seeing their new canoe docked on their beach along with their new fishing kit. Jonathan was being leery of Jeff, yet wanted to gain his trust to keep an eye on him.  He then took Jeff aside and let him in on his secret about finding the Idol to gain his trust.  Jeff told Jonathan what he wanted to hear, and that he trusted him..  Jeff had the same the idea as Jonathan, and was waiting for the right moment to get rid of him.

At Tandang, Micheal’s accident streak continued with his new injury: the cuts on his face he received during the Challenge moments ago.  Artis was upset that they did not win first place in this Challenge, and had put some of the blame on Michael because he felt that Michael getting injured during the game cost their precious time and first place.

Abi and Pete started looking for the Idol at their camp while the other members of their tribe went looking for clams with their new fishing kit.  Abi looked at the top of the rice box, saw the design on the top and pried it off to find the Idol.  Pete then ran off to make sure he had Lisa and Artis in his pocket when it came time to vote someone out.

At Matsing, the tribe was wallowing over their third consecutive loss.  Malcolm and Denise were both upset about Angie and Russell’s performances at the Challenge.

Angie was trying to cover for her part of their loss by saying she tried as hard as she could, and never said she was a good swimmer, so they all shouldn’t have taken turns diving.

Russell was at least enough of a man, stepped up, and took some of the blame for his part of their loss.  Russell also trying to figure out why the game was putting up so many road blocks preventing him from winning.  He said that no matter what, he would never give up until he was voted out.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst pretty much had Matsing talk about what quality they would rather have in their tribe: youth or experience.  Both Denise and Malcolm said they wanted someone who could step it up and compete, or else they should go home.

Angie said it wouldn’t be fair if she went home because she never gave up at Challenges, while Russell tooted his own horn, saying that Angie couldn’t compare to him as a competitor.

Denise also said that loyalty was another trait she would like to have in their tribe in order to get to the Merge with the other tribes.

After counting all of the votes, it was clear who Malcolm and Denise wanted to go forward with.  They voted for Russell to stay and for Angie to hit the road.  Angie was not surprised by this decision, and wished Matsing luck for the rest of the season.

So the Young versus Old battle will continue throughout this season.  It looks to be almost even at this point.  We may be able to see which side will come out victorious when the Merge happens.  It would be awesome if both sides could come together and just start picking off weaker players.  These players annoy me with their sense of entitlement.  We’ll see how this, as well as other power struggles work out as the season progresses.

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.

Survivor: Philippines, Episode #2 – Practice What You Preach!

Hi Readers!

Oh, the things people say and do when they are cold and deprived of the creature comforts of home!  In this episode of Survivor: Philippines, we see how the Castaways are already starting to crack, and how it could ultimately  lead to their exit from Survivor: Philippines.

At Matsing, everyone was dealing with the cold rain at night in their own way.  Most tribe members just curled up in the fetal position and hoped to trap some of their own body heat to sleep.  Not Angie and Malcolm!  They went with the tried and true method of the buddy system.  That would be cuddling with each other to keep warm.  Angie said she was only doing it to stay warm at night.  Malcolm admitted to finding Angie attractive, but he knew that he had to keep his eye on the million dollar prize, and wouldn’t start a relationship with her while on the show.  Roxy saw their situation in a different light.  She believed they were a couple, working together in an alliance to get through the game.  I don’t know, Roxy, I didn’t see it that way.  I just saw it as two attractive people wanting to snuggle on cold and rainy nights.

Roxy then began her mission to break the Cuddle Buddies up due the threat they presented to her in her head.  Roxy went to Russell with her suspicions, and he saw where she was coming from, but he wasn’t swayed to join in on her witch hunt, either.  She continued to go around the rest of their tribe, spreading her accusations and trying to drum up some support for her cause.  Denise was in a secret alliance with Malcolm, and let him know what Roxy was doing.  He knew what kind of damage this information could do to his game, and then let Angie know what was happening.  They decided they shouldn’ t look so comfortable around each other all the time.

I think all of the cold weather was affecting Roxy because she then began to shut down.  She wasn’t doing anything around their camp, and her tribe mates noticed her lack of physical activity.  She was also complaining about how Angie did nothing around the tribe a lot. What Roxy said was true about Angie, but maybe Roxy should practice what she preaches once in a while.  She said she was outside of her comfot zone being in this game.  Russell was trying to get her spirits up, telling her to hang in there, and that while they were out there, Matsing was her family.

At Tandang, the atmosphere was similiar. RC found a clue to an Idol in the rice bucket.  She instantly showed it to her alliance member, Abi, but not to the rest of their crew.  RC said she only trusted Abi in this game, and that she felt closest to her than towards anyone else in this game.  Abi felt differently about their relationship.She thought she couldn’t fully trust RC because she was always running off with Michael.  When Abi confronted RC with questions about what was happening between her and Michael, RC said she regarded Michael as a father figure, and that her alligance would always be to Abi.  Now both ladies are on shaky ground with each other because the trust was not as strong as they thought it was.

Lisa was having a bit of a Roxy moment herself.  She still was not able to shake her intraverted nature to build up her social game amongst her tribe.  The rest of the tribe could see her shutting down and going off by herself a lot of the time.  She explained her behaviour by saying she was used to being alone a lot when she was younger, and she didn’t know how to get past this way of being to become closer to her tribe mates.  The majority of the tribe assumed she was trying to find the Idol on her own.  They did not like the idea of her having this power all to herself.

At Kalabaw, Jonathan was going stir crazy because he had a hunch about the Idol being hidden around their camp.  The rest of the tribe decided to go to a nearby cave and play chess to wait out the rain.  Jonathan gave a lame excuse why he wasn’t going to join them, and began his frantic search once everyone else left.  A few people from Kalabaw realized that they needed their flint to start a fire to keep warm, so they went back to get it.  They saw Jonathan looking around their camp and asked him what he was doing.  Jonathan lied, telling them he lost his glasses and needed them to see.  He remembered a part of the clue telling him the Idol was right under your nose.  There was a big nose on the lid of their container of rice.  Jonathan pried it open when no one was looking, and Ta Da!  There was the Idol!

At the Immunity/Reward Challenge, the Kalabaw and Tandang tribes had to sit one player out since Matsing had five players.  They then put themselves in pairs.  One pair would take a sled and pick up puzzle pieces.  Once all of these were collected, another player would give advice to the second pair of players to help them put their three puzzles together. The tribe that accomlished this the fastest won Immunity from Tribal Council, and a luxury prize of blankets, pillows and a tarp.  The tribe that came in second would also get Immunity as well as a tarp.  The loosing tribe would have to go to Tribal Council and vote out a member of their tribe.

The results of this Challenge were as follows:
Winning Tribe – Tandang
Second Place – Kalabaw
Last Place – Matsing, again.

Jeff Probst asked Russell why he was so upset after their loss.  Russell said it was because he felt that his tribe should have beaten the other two tribes at this Challenge, and that there was too much whining by his tribe mates about what they can’t do.  This was pointed towards Roxy and Angie.  Everyone should either put up or shut and go home.  I agree with him.  All these two ladies did was complain about what they couldn’t do around camp and at Challenges.  I’d want them to go home, too.

Back at Matsing, Russell was still fuming over their loss.  He apologized for his outburst, and was starting to get tired of Roxy and her tendancy of talking the talk, yet not walking the walk.

Roxy was planning on forcing Malcolm and Angie to reveal the status of their relationship, ultimately targeting for Angie to be voted out.  Malcolm got wind of what Roxy was doing and warned Angie of Roxy’s plan.  They talked about how they were going to defend heir actions to the tribe.

Russell and Denise were discussing whether to keep Angie or Roxy.  Russell didn’t like Angie because he thought there was more to her than the “pageant-girl” façade she was showing to the rest of the tribe.  Denise didn’t like Angie being so close to Malcolm, either, but she saw Roxy as a bigger threat because she seemed to have more spirit that Angie did that could give Roxy more strength than she credited towards Angie.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst asked Matsing what changes they would make at camp.  Roxy suggested that they not work as hard around camp before and after Challenges.  Denise disagreed with her, saying that is what would make them a stronger tribe.  Angie thought that cookies would help them be a better tribe.  Cookies.  Both Jeff Probst and I looked at her and repeated “Cookies?” to her at the same time.  The rest of Matsing rolled their eyes at her.  Malcolm tried defending her, but Russell cut him off, saying that this was what was wrong with their tribe.

Jeff Probst then moved on to talk about the importance of relationships between people within a tribe.  Roxy then threw the Angie-Malcolm relationship into the spotlight. Malcolm defended his relationship with Angie by saying there was nothing between them, and that he thought of her as a sister.  Angie looked at him like he was crazy, and Roxy said that their relationship was creepy, and that their relationship was more along the lines of a “booby trap.”  She then warned the rest of the tribe how dangerous these types of relationships can be.  Malcolm and Angie maintained that what they had was strictly platonic.

The tribe voted, and decided that they would be better off without Roxy in it.  See, Readers, this is what happens when you say things, but can’t back them up.  Roxy became too smug, and was focused on others when she should have been trying to gain the trust, or at least the allegiance, of her tribe mates.

Now Matsing is down to four members.  This should be interesting for the next episode.  Maybe Matsing will break their loosing streak, and another tribe will experience Tribal Council.  Will Kalabaw discover that Jonathan has the Idol, or will Jonathan have loose lips and let it slip?  Will Lisa dig deep within herself and become the social player she wants to be?  Come back to my blog to find out!

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.

Survivor: Philippines, Season 25 Premiere – Don’t Try So Hard So Soon!

Hey Readers!

I’m back covering a different reality show!  Since BB 14 has come and gone, it’s time to different reality show.   This time, it’s going to be Survivor: Philippines.  This series is on it’s 25th season this year, and I’m still surprised people are willing to go on this experience.  Some Castaways like to get their bearings in the game, while others like to go all out.  I would advise to hang back a bit, and see what kind of players are in your tribe.

For this season, the show cast two celebrities, Lisa Whelchel (Blair from the show The Facts of Life) and former MLB player, Jeff Kent.  As well, three former Castaways that got injured and had to leave the game early were back for another try at Survivor.  The other members of this cast had no idea these five people would be joining them, and the celebs were mixed in with the new members.  Let’s get to this season’s premiere and see how they approach their situations.

When the cast reach their destination, Survivor host, Jeff Probst, introduced the three returning players that would be joining them this season.  Some Castaways were happy they were there, while others were already plotting against them.  They also learned they would be placed into three tribes this season: Matsing (in blue), Kalabaw (in red), and Tandang (in yellow).  Each one the returning Castaways were put into one of the tribes to even things out.  These Castaways were Russell Swan (Matsing), Jonathan Penner (Kalabaw) and Michael Skupin (Tandang).  Jeff Probst also informed them of the three Immunity Idols hidden at each of the camps.

The Castaways were then instructed to pick a raft and grab as many supplies as they could within sixty seconds and head towards their new homes.  Kalabaw experienced some early set-backs when their raft tipped over, spilling anything they had collected into the ocean.  As well, Jeff Kent’s knee popped while collecting the Kalabaw’s supplies.  Hopefully, this won’t hinder him and his tribe later on down the road.

When the Tribes reached their destinations, some interesting things happened.  On Matsing, returning Castaway, Russell Swan, declared to his tribe mates that there should be no formal leader for their tribe, and that they should work together to make decisions.  Isn’t what he just did something that a leader would do?  Maybe a passive-aggressive one.  The other tribe members caught on to this when they started to put their camp together.  Russell was telling them what to do, and was showing Malcolm how to start a fire.  Russell’s actions were ticking a few people off, putting a target on his back.

Zane took a different approach to getting to know his tribe mates.  He found a topic he could start a conversation with, and tried getting on their good side.  He then proposed that they should form an alliance with each and every person.  Why would you do that?  He even went so far as to tell Russell and Malcolm that he had done so.  They just shook their heads and commented on him trying too hard too early in the game.

Russell wasn’t looking for an Immunity Idol clue, but he found one in their bag of rice.  He tried to carefully conceal it in his pockets until he was away from his tribe mates to read it.  What Russell didn’t know was that Zane saw what Russell did with the clue, destroying any trust he had built with Russell.

On Kalabaw, Jeff’s knee was just the beginning of his troubles.  Dawson recognized who Jeff was, yet she didn’t let anyone else know of this powerful bit of information.  She will let him know what she knew when the time was right for her.

Jonathan was not doing himself any favours by going all out trying to find the Immunity Idol on his own.  The rest of his tribe noticed what he was doing, and were not impressed with his tactics.  They believed they should work more as a unit and less as individuals.  I can relate with both sides in this situation.  Sure, Jonathan had played the game twice before, putting a huge target on his back, and having the security on an an Immunity Idol in his pocket makes sense to me.  I also get that it may not have been the best play for Jonathan to be so brazen about going after the Idol in front of his tribe.  You’re not helping your social game this way, Jonathan!

On Tandang, an alliance was formed quickly between Abi-Maria and RC.  They then pulled in Pete and Michael to have an alliance of four.

Celeb Lisa was trying to fit in with her fellow tribe mates, but was not succeeding as well as she thought she would.  Michael had recognized her, and let her know he knew who she was.  After finding out why she didn’t want the others to know who she was, was he on her side and would not reveal who she was to the rest of the tribe.  She didn’t want her fame to cloud their opinion of who she was today, or for them to think that she was rich.

Michael was also trying to shed his mistakes from his first time on the show.  It wasn’t working at all.  He cut himself a few times while trying too hard to work around camp and be an asset to his tribe.  He even has a huge gash in his foot.  I don’t know, Michael, your stock may be going down in the eyes of your tribe mates!

At the first Immunity/Reward Challenge, Jeff Probst explained what the Castaways had to do.  Each tribe had its members split into three pairs.  One pair had to race and get the oars for a raft that a second pair had to use to row their raft out to a point and retrieve a chest containing puzzle pieces.  The last pair then had to then put the puzzle together in order to win Immunity from Tribal Council and Reward.  The Reward for the wining tribe was a full fishing kit.  The tribe that came in second would also have immunity, as well as flint to start fires easier.  The tribe that came in last would have to go to Tribal Council, loosing one of its members.

Kalabaw came from behind to win the Challenge.  Tandang  was second, leaving Matsing to have to go to Tribal Council.  Russell took a some of the blame for their loss because he took on the leadership role on Matsing, dictating what role each person took on for the Challenge.

Once back at Matsing’s camp, Russell started lecturing the rest of the tribe about the importance of going all out at challenges.  Zane put in his two cents, putting some of the blame for their loss on himself because he knew he didn’t give it his all.  This was part of Zane’s plan to try to gain sympathy with the rest of the tribe so that they wouldn’t send him home.  I’m not sure how this would work in his favour.  When your tribe looses at challenges, people are looking for scapegoats to vote out.  I don’t think it’s a good idea, Zane.  Zane was also telling the rest of the tribe about Russell potentially having an Idol, setting up a blindside if he didn’t.

Russell continued his “non leadership” role by telling people that Zane was the one to go and that they were safe.  That act upset a lot of the tribe members because Russell wanted to steer the ship, yet he didn’t want to be on the ship as it went down.  The rest of the tribe was conflicted over who to sent home at Tribal.

At Tribal Council, Zane made himself look very cocky and like and idiot in front of everyone.  Russell admitted he blew it for his tribe at the Challenge, and that he realized he resorted back to his dictating ways.  Yet after all of these admissions, he said he would be shocked if he was the one going home.  The rest if the tribe let their feelings about Russell’s actions be known, and they were not favorable.

Matsing voted, and they decided that the first person voted out of their tribe, as well as Survivor: Philippines would be Zane.  As much as Russell became a dictator, Zane did too many things to make his tribe mates want to get rid of him.  I’m not sad he’s gone.  He made too many moves too soon in the game, and it caught up with him pretty quickly.  That is what happens when you try too hard too fast in the game of Survivor!

I’m not sure if I’m rooting any tribe or Castaway in particular at this point.  I haven’t really connected with any of them yet.  As for the celebs, my big question is why do they want to be on these shows and think they will not be recognized? They have to realize that someone will figure out who they are, and it could hurt their game for trying to conceal it.  If you want to learn about any of the this season’s Castaways, check out the link I’ve provided for you under Cast Info found lower on this post .   I wonder what will happen in the next episode.  Will those Castaways on the brink of being let go on their tribes gain some stock in the eyes of their tribe mates?  Will other Castaways step their game?  Well, come back to my blog and check out what happens in the next episode!

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.