Survivor 20 Ep 2 "It's Getting the Best of Me"

[lazarus]

Good, Boston Rob is still around. Best part of the episode was finding out he's not out.

Once again, a powerful demonstration of leadership and teamwork by the villains in the challenge. They're not physically up to the Heroes' level, but they're definitely on the ball in the puzzle solving/teamwork aspect.

Most ironic bit of the episode: Tom introducing the idea of "one voice," saying they should all listen to JT, then getting mad at James for calling out Steph for not doing that.

On the whole James v Steph thing, esp at the end, I really don't fault James that much. What we saw of the challenge, she was a big reason they lost. She was also supposed to leave TC immediately, and instead decided to call James out one last time. James wouldn't have it. Basically, Tom and Steph just ran into people they can't bully, and it cost them. I'm happy with that.

Did anybody else notice Douche and JT sharing a little fist bump after the challenge? I think JT has an ally if he can survive to the merge. JT and Sandra are the only winners who have a prayer this season.

Interesting that production decided not to show us when Rupert joined up with James, JT, and Amanda. And didn't show us Amanda joining the group. Last we saw, it was JT/James, and JT/Tom, and Tom/Steph, and Cirie/Amanda, with Colby and Candice talking about how they didn't know anybody. Now it's JT/James/Rupert/Amanda vs Tom/Steph/Colby, with Cirie and Candice as floaters who decided to go with JT, et al. I'd like to have seen that transition of alliances.

[dr.strangelove]

1. Loved it

I was also glad that Rob is still around, but I think he did some damage last night. He might not be around for long. His aggressive leadership style works great at challenges but not at camp. If he pushes too much, he will go home.

I also have to tip my hat to the villains. Rob showed why he is such a threat at this game. Not only did he mastermind the solving of the puzzle, but he climbed up and single handedly tossed that block up. He is great at this game. I only wish he would tone it down at camp, but he does camp with the same obvious strength. It will be his demise. I also agree that though the Villians are not up to the heroes' level of strength, they are goign to catch up quick if the heroes ax tom and Colby next. (Not gonna buy it, Colby is way too good to let that happen.)

I agree that Tom hurt himself by getting on James for the "one voice" idea. they should have listened to JT, and Steph was a t fault there. But it was a bad idea to go at her the way James did. Once his strength no longer matters, he is gone. .

I gotta disagree with you on JT. I don;t think he will last too long. I can see him getting the boot right after the merge. He seems to have himself set up right, but if he is not in power at the merge, he has a huge target and coach is not gonna fall for the same trick twice and give up power after the merge.

On the villians, Randy is doing nothing. He looked weaker than I remember him. I suspect he will get axed, either him or Jerri, who also did nothing. though I am likign Jerri more and more.

Damn Parv is sexy as hell. With Steph gone, I am back to lusting over Parv and Amanda. Russel is so good at this game. He see's the right things. Rob's actions with teh clam were a threat to russell. Unless rob takes it down a notch, he is going to give russell what he needs to take him out. Also, I love that scene of Russell stalking the chicken with the spear. that guy makes me laugh.

I think colby was right to present Cirie with the information he gave her. she is clearly the next to go. She is outside the power alliance and they will only keep her around as long as they need her vote. I say tom goes then Cirie. She made the wrong decision. Colby should be smart enough not to get in it with James, but there Heroes are falling apart. Its that kind of strife that causes losses. While they will win a few, unless they step it up, its going to be over for them before it starts. I see a lot of villans at the merge.

[lazarus]

4. Cirie is in a power position

With the Tom/Steph/Colby alliance, she was clearly no better than fourth, more likely fifth. They were too tight. But where's the tight dyad/triad in her alliance now? And look at who she's aligned with: a former winner (JT), a bumbling rube (Rupert), the "weakest" person on the tribe who can't win an FTC to save her life (Amanda), and a singleton who doesn't know anyone and has no strategic game (Candice). She couldn't have built a better alliance from scratch. Tom, et al., were going to dump her quickly, she had to know that.

I don't think JT can win, but he and Sandra have the best shot of the former winners simply because of who they are and the game they play. Tom's a bully who's now on the outs, and Parvati is too dangerous on the Villains tribe. They'll probably dump her right before the merge to prevent her from aligning with the rest of the Micronesia folks. Sandra already set that up in the first episode.

I disagree with how good Colby is. He had Tina and Jerri scheming in Australia, and simply picked which side to go with, and then handed the game away. In ASS, he did nothing of note. He seems lost here.

I do agree that there will be a lot of villains at the merge. If any get voted out early, it will be either Randy or Courtney, based on strength, unless Russell decides to go against Rob, which could be interesting. He might actually win that one, based strictly on the fact that Rob is the most dangerous player on that tribe. The others would be smart to boot him.

[dr.strangelove]

7. I don't know Laz

To me its about numbers. In the Rupert, James, Amanda, JT alliance, she would always be considered the brains and the threat. In the Colby, Stephanie Colby alliance, the three of them all think they are the bomb and would never have considered her a strategic threat, which is where she would have them in her control. Her and Candace could have used them for a couple of weeks and suggested getting rid of JT and James, then she could easily convert Amanda nad Rupert to her side if she needed them. she could have jumped around like she always does. No I say she is the one being used. JT and Amanda will cut her once they first oust Tom. At least thats what I would do.

I also think that her alliance is pretty solid. JT is pretty strong, but he is already shooting himself int eh foot by trying to change the game he played. Rupert is no rube. I see him going far into the jury. He is the guy you don;t vote out and then it comes back to haunt you. Of course she knew Tom et al. was going to dump her quickly, but she also should have known that JT, et al was too.

I don't give JT much of a shot. I give Sandra a far bigger shot because she is simply a better player. I never was a fan of JT. He was in a season with weak players and the "coach show". I see him goign pretty early in this one. I think you hit upon the key words on the other winners though, Tom is a bully and he will be ousted the next hero loss. Parvati though, is not going anywhere. She will let Russell and Rob direct things and just toss out an opinion while shaking that bikini for all to enjoy. Mark my words, she will win this again if they let her, and unless Russel stops her.

I love Colby's game. Its up front. I play hard and work the votes. I don;t hide that I want to win and try to put a positive spin on the game. I hope he goes far. I think this type of game plays well with others. I disagree that Australia was as simple as you think. He played a masterful job of covering his Tina Alliance, which saved him from ever being a real threat to leave since he had a hidden vote in his back pocket. His flaw was being honorable and picking Tina instead of Keith to go to the finals with. I still think it was sour grapes that did him in, but oh well.

If the villains keep playing as a team, they will not lose much. I do agree that Randy or Courtney go first, based on strength. I also agree that Russell will have to eventually go against Rob. Russell likes to keep the ladies close, so I can't see him going against Sandra or Parv. I can't wait for the Rob v. Russell showdown. I hope it happens and I hope Rob wins it. But in the end I think Russell is a better player and I'm sure he would win it. thats probably about the time that I will start to get pissed at the show.

[lazarus]

8. good points

Cirie is, at this time, in the same position she was in early in Micronesia. She's the swing vote. But I think she can easily worm her way into being in a tight core alliance whichever way she goes.

I wonder if she knew that Tom was targeting her the first few days.

The Villains have to realize that Parvati is a huge threat. She's potentially aligned with Amanda, James, Cirie, and Candice. Sandra realizes this, so hopefully she can get it across to Rob and the others.

I think Colby is a terrible player. All he had in Australia was his challenge dominance, which is gone now. I question how much the hiding of the Tina alliance was Colby's skill, and how much was just the editing. Remember, we were misled that entire season about alliances, one of the worst editing jobs Burnett has done.

I don't see Russell's being a better player than Rob. They both lost due to a bitter jury, but Rob knows this. Russell seems to think he won with his style of antagonizing everyone. That said, I see Russell booting Rob simply because Rob is a bigger threat.

I think I'm a bigger fan of JT's than you are for a variety of reasons. One is, I grew up just a few miles from where he grew up, so I know his sort of person. Plus, I've actually spent time on the phone talking to him. He seemed like a genuine person who loves this game. I remember during Tocantins seeing quite a few signs that it wasn't just Stephen doing the thinking. Sadly, of course I can't remember any of them now. :shrug:

[Demit]

2. What I remember of James is, his supposed strength got him nowhere.

I don't remember him doing anything but walk around looking ripped and being sweet-natured. Well, that last impression was destroyed Thursday night. If he's going to call out other people he'd better step up his physical game. He looked pretty half-hearted in that cube-rolling thing.

Same with Stephanie, in her past appearances. She talked a good game—twice—about how competitive, etc she was, yet I don't remember her winning any challenges. Did she? She always faded in the stretch, is my memory. I wasn't sorry to see her go.

I think Tom was thinking it wasn't purely Stephanie's fault that they lost the challenge. They all lost it together by not having anybody who's particularly brilliant at puzzles. James deciding to make Stephanie the scapegoat made him look sleazy. I know I was disgusted & I think I caught a look of disgust on Tom's face too, like, that's not necessary.

I agree, lazarus, they do a little too much editing sometimes. I missed whatever it was that got Rupert against Stephanie, and there had to have been something between James & her that happened that made him so intense at tribal council. I get a kick out of when somebody gets mouthy at TC, tho. It never makes them look good. You'd think they'd learn.

[lazarus]

5. James did well pre-merge

he's a major power in pre-merge challenges, just doesn't do well in individual challenges. I wonder what exactly set him off like that, it seemed really out of character for him. He came close to denouncing her as a witch who had cursed her tribe.

I never understood the Steph-a-me love in either season. I always thought she was a whiner. Don't talk about being a winner, actually win something.

As far as Rupert v Steph, I wonder how much that even exists. Remember, Tom and Colby got all paranoid just seeing Rupert and JT speak for a moment on the beach. They seem to have decided that everyone was out to get them already, and Steph just decided that Rupert was out to get her.

Tom's had this attitude before. If you're allied with him, you're doing Good and Helping the Tribe and the Game. If you're allied against him, you're doing Evil and Hurting the Tribe and the Game. I can't wait to see his sanctimonious ass voted off. I've disliked him since he bullied Ian into quitting a challenge, then claimed the Integrity card.

[romana]

3. I loved it

I agree and disagree. Stephanie's little bittercakes exit didn't win her any points. But, IMO, James looked like he was suffering from 'roid rage through the whole second half of the episode. It was ugly, and it made him look like a fool. The heroes as a team were ineffective at that challenge, which boils down to bad leadership and bad followship. One person wasn't responsible for that, and for James to spend so much time ranting and raving about it was just wrong. And, as someone else said, people who talk too much in tribal always look bad.

I love the Rahbfahthah. His "crybabybitis" comment really was charming and self-depreciating. And then for him to turn around and pull his tribe to a big win was amazing. Little Russell is right to feel threatened. Russell has done nothing to step up and lead the tribe until now with killing the chicken. And that's actually a smart game, though I don't think he realizes it. Leaders have big fat targets on their back, and if Russell can just stay in the background and continue to work his alliances behind the scenes, he could make a move against Rob.

Was Tyson even in this episode?

Rob's fall in the woods was completely staged, though I have no doubt what happened was real. I felt like taking MB aside and saying "C'mon, doing it that way was just dumb."

Strategically, Cirie's move was the smart one. Tom is a huge threat to her, and anything she can do to weaken him probably helps her. JT seems unsure of himself. Rupert is just a big, grumbling lump (what do people see in this guy, and why is this shoe stealer even on the heroes tribe?). The whole heroes tribe really is a mess.

Totally enjoying the villains tribe.

[lazarus]

6. Yeah, the Rob incident was heavily edited

I think what happened is Rob realized he needed to lay down, took off his shoes and shirt, put his shirt under his head, then just sort of passed out. Once the cameraman realized he was out, he went and got Jerri, and Jerri hammed it up a bit.

I agree that JT seems lost, which is unusual, since he was in such control in Tocantins. BTW, in real life he's a great guy. Back in December I got to speak to him on the phone for about 15 minutes or so. He's very into the game, has been a big fan since the beginning. And he's a very nice guy. My sister spent a good chunk of an entire weekend with him, and he's kept in touch since then. Very genuine and down to earth, and very smart.