Survivor 20 Ep 6 "Banana Etiquette"

[lazarus]

"JT, would you like a banana?" Hilarious. I don't agree with voting James off, as he was a reliable partner in the alliance and outperformed Colby even while injured. Plus, James was fighting to stay in, and Colby just gave up. I don't understand it.

Tyson now goes up there with James (in China) and Jason (in Micronesia) as stupidest players ever. At least he paid for his own stupidity, instead of causing someone else to get booted.

Rob is a challenge machine. If he survives to the merge, he wins the game. I didn't think there was any chance he was winning against Tyson; double that for going up against Candice. That challenge was made for lean athletic types.

The hobbit on crack is going to be insufferable after this. Although it was nice to see Coach stick to the original plan with Rob. And Russell is still down 5-3 in alliance numbers. He has to swing two people without an idol to pull anything off. And I don't see the Villains' losing again.

Once again, Tyson is a moron.

[Vinca]

1. That was a great ending. I honestly didn't think Russell would pull it off.

I fully expect he'll find the next hidden idol before anyone is told about it. I was sorry to see James go and it really made no sense. Colby seems completely disinterested and should have been sent packing.

[Demit]

2. I was quite happy to see James go.

After he mocked the idea that it's not good to take all the food you want because other people might be hungry too—mocking Amanda, who was giving him the advice b/c she wanted more than anyone for him to stay! Then when Colby, who knew he was about to be voted off after being openly targeted for so long, came to him for a kind of wrap-up conversation, he tells Colby how badly Colby had been doing in challenges compared to his own wonderful self. Then at TC, right in front of Rupert, he repeats his line about Colby being beaten by a cripple & a fat man—the fat man being Rupert. I think his teammates, after being mocked to their faces, finally saw the light. James thought a little too much of himself—and nothing of his teammates, who had gone to some trouble to keep him—to be reliable in an alliance for much longer.

Tom was right. All mass, no class.

[Arkansas Granny]

3. I couldn't decide last night if Tyson is really so stupid that he would

trust Russell or if somehow the game is rigged. It was an unbelievably stupid move.

I don't really have a favorite yet, but I just hope Russell doesn't win. I'm ready for him to leave.

[Duer 157099]

4. I was astonished that Russell managed to pull that off

I guess Tyson figured that the vote was either going to be a tie with him in it, or he could take the chance that Russell was telling him the truth. I can sort of see why he rolled the dice. But it's still funny.

We need to remember that this current cast did not have the benefit of seeing the prior season where Russell found all those idols. I believe this season started before the prior season had aired. So unless Russell told them (why would he?), they don't know. And nobody has mentioned it either.

I also thought James was being kind of dickish, especially calling Rupert a fat guy during TC. James was a lot more modest during his first season. I think having fans sort of went to his head.

Rob is good. I think he deserves to win.

[lazarus]

5. Further comments

I really don't think Russell's move was all that smart. It was completely dependent on someone he had no control over being unremittingly stupid. Just because it worked doesn't make it smart, anymore than Tyson's stupidity makes Rob's plan not smart. Russell is still down 5-3, this time with no HII. And it doesn't appear that the HII will be re-hidden this season. I can easily see Rob deciding the Villains need to throw the next challenge just to boot Russell, given his talk in the previews that Russell is a kamikaze. And I believe there will be only one more tribal council before the merge.

And I think I figured out why James was voted off. If you look at every boot on the Heroes tribe, JT was the deciding factor. And every boot split up a perceived dyad. First vote was breaking up the Tom-Steph dyad. Then he broke up Amanda/Cirie. Then he broke up Tom/Colby. Finally, he broke up Amanda/James. That leaves an alliance of singletons with no dyad voting blocs. He's not worried about numbers going into the merge because he learned from Tocantins and various other later seasons that the numbers don't matter. The Villains are not likely to stick together in a classic Pagonging, at least from JT's viewpoint.

And a point about editing. Danielle and Sandra have not had a confessional since the first episode. Danielle and Courtney have only two apiece, giving them a 0.33 per episode average, the lowest in Survivor history. Sandra has 3, giving her a 0.50 average, which is pathetic for a former winner who averaged almost 4 confessionals per episode on her original season. It's the Russell/Coach show, as I feared.

[dr.strangelove]

6. Sorry I am late

It was a busy week. I was out of town and finally got to watch the episode on Monday.

Long and short of my opinion, Russel made a great move and a very risky move, tyson is simply an idiot.

As it seems is the general theme of our DU discussions this season, I disagree with Laz on Russell. I think he schooled Boston Rob on how this game works. Russ knows that idols are a part of the game, and not a small part at that. He knows how to play them and knows why finding one is far more important than anything else. If gives you control. More on this later.

The episode was actually very good all around. I love the vague treemail settign up the double elimination. It freaks out the players, which is great going into the challenge. Another reason I loved that episode, it showed us individual immunity and the value of it. I was shocked that Candace won. I thought for sure Amanda would pull this off. I thought she was stronger than Candace, but with the same body type. I tip my hat to James, who played well despite the ass knee. Colby, well, to say he disappointed me is an understatement. He came in dead last. I think he knew he was going to lose and just gave up.

The villains were fun to watch. Boston Rob is just a machine. He is not human, he is like a robot. He wins and wins. I think that will be his downfall as well. He is just too dominant!

I actually like Colby's move at camp. He genuinely wanted to let people know that he does not take it personally and he knows he lost. I like that about him. He may have aged and lost his physical edge, but he knows that trying to fight won;t work, his only chance is to let the other see him as an honorable guy and want to take him instead of James. So he does what he can do, not piss anyone off and just let them decide. I think had he tried to work it too hard, he would have stiffened resolve against him.

then comes the best part of the game. James, who is in a position of power where he can only harm himself, decides to show off how hurt he really is. My god what an idiot. If he plays the game by just hanging out with JT most of the day and saying how he feels better each day and will be better tomorrow, I think he stays. But his "in your face" attitude and makign it all about James and the physical game brings his weakness front and center. James actually asks to participate in a race against JT in order to decide if they should keep him. He is nuts. This move might have actually been worse than Tysen's move last night. At least Tysen got played by a great player, James did it all by himself. Oh yeah, amanda the strategist helped him.

Now, back at the villains, I loved that Rob tells Russell straight out to play the idol. I wonder if rob had stayed silent and told him they were gunning for PArv and not him if it would have resulted the same way. It was the first rob mistake I have seen yet. Then I give him credit for seeing the way to beat the idol. He never played this game with idols, yet he nailed the way to beat it.

Then was THE MOVE. As they are packing up for Tribal, Russel makes the move when no one can try to undo it. Russell grabs Tyson and convinces him that he'll be writing Parv's name. Tyson believes Russell, and votes with him at tribal. At Tribal Council Sandra runs off and tells Russell if you don’t have the idol you better look for it. That was great. She is so good at this game, but she is about to get her first lesson that she does not have control. when the vote comes and Russ plays the idol for Parvati, all look well except Tysen. I can see it in his eyes, he knows he is going home. And the look on Rob’s face when the fourth PArv vote is read was priceless, he was in shock. Tyson is eliminated for being an idiot.

So then the villains enjoy hot dogs sans Tyson. Colby is seemingly ready to go, James keeps beating him when he is down. I swear this is why James is gone. His whole game was about the physical and these outbursts called attention to it. The only other bad thing about James leaving is that no one will protect Amanda now. I will miss those bikini shots of her.
So we lose James and Tyson for stupid play.

Overall, I give Russell huge cred for his move. there was no way to shift votes off of him, but there was a way to shift votes onto PArv, which was the same thing. He knew Tyson hated her and he played his best chance to control the vote. the risk was that if he failed to shift Tyson and the idol saved Parv, it was still 3-3 and he would go home at the revote. He knew it and went all in on the play. It worked for him.

Now, how this works int eh future I think is that Rob is the next to go. Rob has shown he can not be beat in the brain or braun side of thsi game. If he does not have immunity, his alliance will fail. No one likes him but Saundra and I'm not even sure she wants him around. No one can beat him at the end. He is simply the best player in teh game and he has to go now. I predict he goes once the villains lose an IC.

Now colby was given a second chance. If he makes the most of it and gets to the merge, he will be in a great position to flip and join with Jerry. If he plays motivated by the fat superman joke James made, I can see him and JT leading the heros to an IC wina nd Rob going home. If not, Colby goes, then Candace or Amanda, and its a merge 7-3 with rob picking off the rest.

[lazarus]

7. thing is

there's no scenario in which Tyson's switching to vote for Parvati works for Tyson. Not one. Russell may have schooled Tyson, but he in no way schooled Rob. Rob can't help it if Tyson's making one of the dumbest moves in Survivor history.

Also, Russell was convinced that all six votes were going on Parvati, despite being told it was a split vote. So Russell took a stupid gamble, and it worked. That doesn't make it brilliant. It's still a stupid gamble.

I think we have one TC left, then a merge at twelve.

[dr.strangelove]

8. Not true

Russell schooled Rob on why immunity is the best thing. You can control the game. You can do your best to angle votes to you or to someone else knowing you can cancel those votes. Do you think his comments that he did not think anyone could figure out how to split the vote were all that was said. I have no doubt that he knew the vote was going to be split. He did what he could do. True Rob had him beat, but Russell beat Rob because Rob did not control his voters. I really don;t think Russell was convinced that all six votes were going on Parvati. I think he knew it was a split and he went all in on his work (which I also know involved mroe than just tyson, but since he was the one that flipped they showed it). Russell took a gamble, but it was not stupid. It worked and thats what makes it brilliant. Had it failed, it would have been risky play that backfired.

Really, a merge at twelve again? That would be cool. Three finalists again and jurors start at 12 then, right?
If thats the case, the villains better win this week or else they are toast. If they lose and merge up 7-5 and Russell and Parv are still there, will flip and oust the villains they can't control, then flip back and start to vote our heroes. Rob, Coach and Saundra are tops on the list. Then JT and Colby go. That will be cool. This is when Russell is at his best. I hope its the villains at TC next week. It will really be all about Rob v. Russell. If the villains win and they go in up 8-4, Colby will join with Jerry, Rob and Saundra pick off his own team, then they get Russell and Parv, and Rob and Saundra will be in the finals.

[lazarus]

9. but if he knew about the split

his whole gamble was that someone would do the stupid thing and not go along with the split. That's why I believe he thought it would be six votes for Parvati, which is why he and Parvati thought the vote split was so weird.

If he truly thought the vote was split, the decision to give up immunity was even stupider.