Survivor: Caramoan, Episode #4 – Might Trumps Loyalty!

Hey There, Readers!

Just finished watching the latest episode of Survivor: Caramoan, and it’s not looking too good for the Fans! So far, they have lost two Immunity Challenges in a row, not doing too well with gathering food, and are separated into two camps: Reynold and Eddie vs. the rest of the tribe. Tonight’s installment shows how far loyalty can go for this tribe before something’s got to change for Gota.

Reynold and Eddie were quaking in their shoes after Hope, one of their alliance members had just been blindsided and sent home at Tribal Council. Back at camp, Eddie tried to reason with the rest of his tribe mates, warning them of the trouble they all are in with their decision to keep Hope over Shamar.  This angered the rest of the group, sending this group into turmoil.

The next day at Bikal, Phillip was providing amusement to the tribe by assigning “specialist” code names to those in “his” alliance. Brandon was especially happy when Phillip blessed him with the code name “The Conqueror.” Brandon didn’t really care for being in the alliance, but he wanted to have Phillip’s trust, and having this new “secret” identity gave him this access.

At the Reward Challenge, the tribes had to get their two of their members from the shoreline to a small platform further out in the water using planks that were tied up. Then the rest of the tribe had to then scramble up on the same platform and not fall off for a count of five in order to win.  What were they playing for? This week’s reward was having a bushman from the area visit the winning tribe, help them improve various aspects of their camp life, create a feast for them, and also drop off some gifts, like food and chickens. Once again, the Favourites came out on top, just edging the Fans out of a win.

Once the bushman arrived at Bikal’s camp, this little guy spared no time in getting down to the business at hand.  He swiftly shared his knowledge on how to do things around their camp better.  Even though it was hard to understand what he was saying, the Favourites were able to catch on by observing his movements. They loved every minute of their informative visitor, and the ladies of the tribe even shared a dance with him. He was not shy about showing his appreciation for the dances!

Back at Gota, the tribe was, once again, reminiscing about where they went wrong during the Challenge.  Reynold was also continuing his get rid of Shamar campaign around camp.  Shamar was indirectly acting as Reynold’s campaign manager by making demands of the tribe in order to stay and lounging about around camp. Shamar’s biggest supporters, Sherri and Laura both said that it wasn’t cool of Shamar to be acting like a big baby, but they were sympathizing with him because it meant siding with Reynold and Edddie, something neither of them wanted to do.

Gota was running into other problems besides the rift between them and their lack of success. It’s hurricane season around Caramoan! Oh, I didn’t mention they also had a rat infestation as well.  So camp life went from just bearable to hanging on by the skin of their teeth fun!

The hits just kept on coming for Gota when Shamar injured his eye.  He scratched it, then started complaining about the amount of pain he was in. Reynold put his situation to his advantage by telling anyone who would listen that a marine shouldn’t be whining about something so trivial as a scratch to his eye, so Shamar should just be he next to go.  Some of the other tribe members were beginning to listen.

Well, whoever said that wishes don’t come true should be kicking themselves right now. Why? Well, because Reynold’s wish was granted when Jeff Probst had to make a trip out to the Gota tribe in order to assess Shamar’s injury.  After taking a look at his eye, the medic found that he had actually scratched his eye in two places, both close to the pupil, and it could affect his vision if he doesn’t get it looked after immediately.  Shamar decided that the loss of his vision was not worth $1 million, so he said his goodbyes, and left the game.  Most of the tribe was crushed by having their main source of muscle just leave the game, but Reynold was happy that Shamar was out of his hair…that was until he realized Shamar’s departure put an even bigger target on his and Eddie’s back to be the next to leave if they don’t win this up-coming Immunity Challenge.

At the Immunity Challenge, five members of each tribe had to swim out to a platform, then jump off of it an hit a tile to release a key. Once all five keys were freed and brought back to the beach, two other members had to them to unlock three locks of a chest containing a whole lot of balls.  They then had to knock off a stack of bricks off of a platform on the beach to win Immunity. Phillip pitched his heart out to hand the Favourites another win, sending the Fans back to Tribal Council.

When Gota arrived back at camp, Eddie and Reynold realized they had to devise a plan to keep themselves safe from the vote. Matt became their newest hero and cheerleader by advising the rest of the tribe that they should be looking to keeping their tribe strong, and maybe turning a blind eye to their alliance for now.  Reynold and Eddie were on board for this new plan, and they knew who to set their sights on to accomplish this new plan: Laura, the weakest member of their tribe. This plan worried not only Laura, but Sherri as well, because, to them, it seemed as though being a woman equaled being weak, since the last two members of their tribe who have left have also been women.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst had Gota talk about what their tribe was like after Shamar left.  Matt commented on their loss of muscle, but also the lack of tension around camp. Sherri said she missed Shamar as part of their alliance, but you could tell she was holding back more comments she had.  Reynold argued that since Shamar was gone, that he and Eddie were needed more than ever for the brute strength to win challenges. Laura saw where Reynold was going, and countered that the tribe had to weigh whether loyalty was more important to them than having a physically strong tribe at this point in the game.  She was leaning towards loyalty because of her position if the tribe went Reynold’s way. Eddie wasn’t doing himself any favours by saying, after being asked by Jeff Probst who he thought was weak, that Laura and Sherri were weak players. Laura them chimed in by reminding the tribe that a merge was coming, and she questioned how loyal Reynold and Eddie would be to the rest of the tribe when that happened.

After the votes were cast, Reynold played his Immunity Idol to save his life in the game.  It was a pretty futile move, as Laura was voted out of the tribe by a vote of 4-1. She was shocked by this decision, but was gracious as her torch was snuffed out.

Was this the smartest move for Gota to have made in the game? Yeah, I think so. Sure, Reynold and Eddie aren’t loyal to the rest of their tribe, but they have their eye on the bigger picture, winning the game.  Laura even knew she was a liability to the tribe. I’m not sure if many more Gota members will make it to the merge to even warrant keeping their Gota loyalty strong. Well, this tribe has a long way ti go if they are going to have any more success in Survivor.  Something really wonky has to happen for Bikal in order to help Gota out at this point of the game. Thanks for joining me for all of the action-packed.fun this episode had to offer, and come back for my next Survivor: Caramoan post to see what happens next to the Castaways this season.

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.