Good premerge episode, nothing too special.
I have one complain about the edit though. Why was Kat completely invisible for pretty much 5 episodes, got her two minutes last week as she was being voted out and this week, it felt that the first half of the episode was all about her. I mean, she was on her way out, had no impact on the game anymore, why spend so much time on her?
Redemption Island
John Cody is starting to dominate redemption island, but the fact that we don’t hear him at all, and don’t see him beyond the truels tells me that he won’t have a further impact on the game (i.e. lose sooner or later).
Nothing special about Laura Morett this week.
Kat Edorsson lost beautifully. I’m gonna sound mean, but all season long I was surprised we didn’t see more of her infamous stupidity, we had some this week with her refusal to “cheat” during the challenge and her fears that Hayden dumps her because she was voted out premerge.
Galang
That’s the thing I don’t like about tribe swaps, more often than not there is a huge discrepancy in between the new tribes and one is doomed to go to tribal every week after that. This season it’s new Galang.
– Katie Collins: Still have nothing to say about her. What’s strange is that she seems to be a quite smart and eloquent person, yet, the editors don’t seem to see her worth of any screen time. Not sure why.
– Laura Boneham sent to redemption island: Not sure I can say it comes as a surprise. I mean, yes, it does in the sense that she could easily have gone far as she’s the least threatening person of all. Editing seems to make it look like she was voted out because she told Vytas he was going to be voted out without consulting with her alliance before, but I think that’s bullshit. I think that Tina intended to vote her out since the beginning and Laura’s lack of social skills (I’m not even talking about social game here) was the right argument to convince Monica and Katie, if they needed to be convinced. If Vytas had been voted out, Tina and Katie were most likely the only pair left when merge comes (Well, Laura M could still come back) and would be targeted because of that. By keeping Vytas, she assures herself two things: no target on her and Katie as long as Aras and Vytas are in the game and in the meantime she fortifies her alliance with Aras by saving Vytas and can “stratify” her alliances; core alliance with Katie, then with Aras and Vytas, then with Monica, Tyson and Gervase. Little does she know that Tyson and Gervase have found a new alliance.
– Monica Culpepper: Not much about her this week. I’m not sure she’s aware that her position is pretty weak right now. But that could be good for her, she won’t be targeted by anyone for a while now and she could go far at this point, especially if there’s a showdown Tina, Katie, Aras, Vytas vs Tyson, Gervase, Hayden, Caleb, Ciera. She could be the swing vote.
– Tina Wesson: I think I have said all I have to say about Tina this week in Laura B. paragraph. So I’ll add one more thing: she’s this week’s recipient of the don’t-let-that-fool-you award for keeping Vytas and ditching Laura B. It looks like a not so good move for many reasons, but mostly for people not named Tina or Katie.
– Vytas Baskauskas: How much was he protected by Tina, how much did he save himself by being charming? Not sure, but charming he can be and that can bring him far, that also paints a bigger target on his back every week.
Tadhana
– Aras Baskauskas: He made a huge mistake: got overconfident. You never ever leave your tribesmate for more than just a few minutes. Ever… How long did it take him to walk up that mountain and stay there long enough to the helicopter to be dispatched to film him there? Long enough to have your former ally turn on you and form a new alliance aimed at backstabbing you first chance. He got very lucky they won the immunity idol, but now the marking is on the wall and the merge episode could be explosive.
– Caleb Bankston: He’s a bit invisible right now, but he has no reason not to be under the radar at the moment.
– Ciera Eastin: Same as Caleb.
– Gervase Peterson: Not much about Gervase this week either.
– Hayden Moss: On the other hand, we saw a bit too much of Hayden. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see him more, but I wish I heard him speak more about the game and less about his dopey girlfriend that was just eliminated. OK, actually, in the arena he managed the situation greatly. He did exactly the right thing, taking Kat’s spot would have been as stupid as Rupert doing it. Yet, he had to manage not appearing as the asshole boyfriend. As opposed to everyone else sent to redemption thus far, Kat was begging him to do it. Refusing without upsetting her and without looking like an asshole to all of his tribemate was a difficult task and he managed it perfectly.
– Tyson Apostol: He’s taking a leading role in his alliance. Good for him. He never wanted to do it before, he was the “assistant coach” in Tocantins and Boston Rob’s sidekick in Heroes Vs Villains and look where it got him. This time he is taking matters in his own hands, and it was extremely risky to be so open about his intentions to Hayden, Caleb and Ciera (that tells us how long Aras was gone, Tyson had the time to explain everything, convince them and form a final five alliance). He almost deserves my weekly award, but this move didn’t have an impact this week, so he didn’t get the award. How strong is this new alliance? Not sure. Caleb could become tight with Tyson and Gervase, Ciera is tight with Caleb, so all should be good, expect if Laura M. comes back (how close to Tyson and Gervase will she want to be as they voted her out too? Although they can use this as another argument against Aras, after all, he was the ringleader of Laura M.’s ouster). How about Hayden? I’m not too sure. He’s not really tight with anyone, so he could easily become a free agent.
Next week on Survivor:
It’s merge time!
Who will come back from redemption island? Seeing the challenge, I’d be extremely surprised if Laura M doesn’t come back (this endurance challenge is a huge advantage for light people and she’s lighter than John and Laura B.).
Then we should have a showdown with Aras, Vytas, Tina, Katie and Monica on one side, and Tyson, Gervase, Hayden, Caleb, Ciera and Laura M. on the other. Unless Laura M. and Ciera decide to align themselves with the two other pairs remaining.
Also, it will have to be a blindside, so Tyson and Gervase will have to look like they’re still with Tina and Aras. How about Vytas and his former alliance with Hayden and Caleb? Will he still pretend to be with them? Will one of them betray his new alliance?
It promises to be a crazy episode…
Next person voted out:
It looks like everything points to Aras, but it’s so obvious, that it may not be him… Who then? Vytas? Tyson?
Winner Prediction:
Tyson and Vytas are getting winner edits aren’t they? But Tina and Monica are getting under the radar edits too. Mmmm…
You want to read more about Survivor? You should read those fine people’s blogs:
- Super Jude’s blog. One of the best Survivor bloggers out there.
- Rob has a website, a podcast and an amazing know-it-alls analysis.
- Jeff Pitman’s True Dork Times is a must read every week.
- Stephen Fishbach’s blog too (now with illustrations by Erik Reichenbach)
- Dalton Ross’s recap on EW is much much more than just a recap.
- more to come…