Survivor 20 Ep 2 "That Girl is Like a Virus"

[lazarus]

I was hoping Parvati and her gums were gone. Stupid of the tribe to keep her around, I'm disappointed, particularly in Rob and Sandra. They're smarter than that. :shrug:

Least. Suspenseful. Challenge. Ever. Did anybody expect the Villains to even score a point? I expect a pure puzzle challenge next to make up for this obvious gimme.

Tyson kissed JT. Nobody seems worried about the Tocantins potential alliance. With Coach and JT bumping fists last week, that alliance looks alive and well.

JT was very smooth in getting Tom back on his side. I'm honestly more interested in the dynamics on the Heroes tribe right now, as we're not seeing anything but loose dyads on the Villains tribe. I'm interested in how the big alliance on the Heroes survives.

Russhole up to his old tricks, this time ditching the machete. I'm not sure how that helps him, to be honest. Just like dumping the water, it seems to simply create chaos for chaos's sake.

On edit: How cool was James's bringing one of the HIIs from China for his luxury item?

[lazarus]

1. I just realized this should say Ep 3, not 2

Also, there's a deleted scene on CBS's website. Apparently, the Villains completely lost their shit about the machete when it first turned up missing. They eventually decided it was Randy's fault, thinking he had tossed it when he realized he was being voted out. So Russhole's little gimmick actually had an affect.

[romana]

2. Boring

I thought this episode was really boring, to be honest. The challenge was predictable, and even the camp intrigue seemed old. Russell continues to act like a troll, but now it's not fun.

Randy was pretty ineffectual overall, which is why I think they opted to keep Parvati over him. She at least is pretty to look at and can perform on some level in the challenges.

Everyone needs to watch out for those cross-tribe alliances.

Also, while I'm used to the preview being very misleading, was last week's preview of this episode not the most misleading thing ever? It flat out said that James' 'roid rage was going to continue, and we saw nothing of the sort. That was cheap, even for MB. Between that and Rob's staged collapsed, I'm beginning to worry. Are things so lame on this survivor that they have to resort to these lame gimmicks to get people to watch?

Oh, and I wish they'd stop doing reward and immunity challenges together. Watching the strategizing back at camp has, so far, not been nearly as entertaining as watching the tribes interact during challenges.

I hope next week is better.

[lazarus]

3. Normally

I'm one who's all for more camp life and intrigue. That's one reason Thailand is my favourite season; it showed all the scheming and alliance building as the season went on.

But yeah, this was a boring episode. And I'm not liking the fake drama in the previews. As soon as I saw Rob saying Russell has to go next week, I knew Russell would be safe. Unless MB's playing hyperdimensional chess with our minds, and he's just faking us out by making us think he's faking us out....:evilgrin:

I thought Tom handled the James incident with surprising class, and James seemed to have some awareness that he had crossed the line with his behaviour. Although James showed his ass again with Randy. The only thing I can think of that makes his actions somewhat acceptable is remembering how bigoted Randy was in Gabon. Maybe James saw that?

So, who's in better shape with cross-tribals, Amanda or Parvati? They each have four people in the game they've played with before. Parvati's allies are all on the other tribe, while Amanda's are split evenly. I think Parvati's in better shape, because she's also building current alliances to get her to the merge, then she gets to pick which side to play. As much as I dislike her and her style, she's effective at surviving and winning.

[dr.strangelove]

4. Not the best episode

I thought it started strong. I was hoping for some real heat in the James v. Colby/Tom post tribal, but Tom played it brilliantly by calming James down and calling for him to be gentler.

I was glad they finally called out the ease of spotting alliances at night. In the most relaxed time, its easy to figure out where loyalties lie. The thing is, Russell and Parv are smart enough to know that. I swear they are each playing each other. Coach and Rob step up and warn Russell about it. I never saw that Allaince, Coach, Rob and Russell. Its not going to work. Russell picked his partner, which he showed by telling Parv what they said. Information is the most important tool. russell is sharing it with Parv easily. Maybe they are not playing each other. Maybe these two evil monsters are actually seeing something worth trusting in each other.

Oh yeah, I gotta agree with Laz. Russell tossed the machete for no reason other than to make controversy. But was it controversy for its own sake. Maybe he plays it up and we don;t see it. I don;t think even that deleted scene shows any real value to Russell in this.

I thought MB played with the game too much by holding that challenge. It was insane. Talk about one-sided. James showed his lack of class again. He is all brawn and no brain. I tip my hat to teh villains for votign off randy though. He was clearly the weakest person both at camp and in challenges. They are going to win if they stay together as a tribe. He was the square peg in the round hole. Not sorry to see him go.

Next week, more Rob v. Russell on the way. while I am cheering for Rob, I think Russell's head is in the game more.