I’m taking the risk of repeating myself, but another great episode. When you look at it, it doesn’t seem that hard to have a good season. Just cast some very likable people, some very unlikable people and as many people as possible who are there to win the game, not just be on TV, or just have an “experience” or even just make the jury. So why don’t the producers do that every season?
But enough bitching, I may sound like Artis, let’s enjoy what we have right now.
Dangrayne
– Abi-Maria Gomes: I’m kinda out of words to talk about her. I’ve already mention paranoid, idiot, clueless, but she’s also simply a very mean person and overall a bad human being. It really makes me sad that people like her exist. Really. That being said, last week, we discussed whether Pete was in control of the game or not, and I had to recognize that even if it pained me, he was indeed in control of the game. Except that he is not anymore. Right now, Abi maria is! Yes, she’s completely controlling this game right now, expect that she’s controlling it in a way that everything falls into place for her enemies! I’ve never seen anyone trying to alienate her allies and ask for a betrayal so much before. And the worst part, is that Lisa keeps on staying loyal to her. Also, there is such a thing as being the perfect goat, and I thought she was, but actually, there is such a thing as being so terrible that people don’t even want to have to suffer you to the end. And I think this is what is happening to her right now. No one except Pete (and maybe Lisa) want to be around her anymore and her days on the island are now numbered.
– Artis Silvester voted out: Well, he was pretty inconsequential to this game. He seems like a pretty decent guy, but he had the bad idea to form an alliance with some evil people, so he had to be portrayed negatively, as a guy who always bitches and complains, which is sad. He was very classy in his final words (not like Jeff “sore loser” Kent) and seems like a fun guy to be around from the Ponderosa videos. Too bad he was not like that in the game.
– Carter Williams: Not much about him today, except that now he seems solid with Penner. He kinda has to. But that also shows that he doesn’t seem to be able to have a strategy on his own, just follow whoever will allow him to (ok, to be honest, he was allied with Penner pre-merge).
– Denise Stapley: I don’t know why we’re barely seeing Denise since the merge. She seems to be playing a flawless game, both strategically and socially, and yet we barely see her, and while I still think she should win, her edit makes me think more and more that she won’t.
– Jonathan Penner: I know it’s Penner’s third time, and that his first time around he made some stupid beginner mistakes, but his game now is perfect. Some of the best game I have ever seen. Sure, he’s still alive only thanks to immunity, but the way he managed to turn this game around in just a few days is amazing. He’s now in control of the game. Period. He has Carter in his pocket. Malcolm is talking about going with him to the end (in a secret scene). His strategy during reward challenge was great. And of course, the way he worked Lisa, manipulating her (or at least trying) while being honest and empathetic was genius (and if it didn’t turn Lisa this week, it should turn her the next). It’s now his game to lose, although he still has a long way til the end. As soon as Pete, Abi-Maria and possibly Lisa are voted out, he’ll become target number one again, and not because he’s a returning player but because the other players will have realized that he could easily win if he makes it to the end. I am really impressed right now.
– Lisa Whelchel: I am really confused by Lisa. But then I’m not. I think I see where she’s coming from, it’s been described and mentioned several times: she wants to please, she wants to be loyal. So no matter what abuse she receives from Pete and Abi-Maria, she doesn’t want to betray them. It may seem hard to understand, but maybe it’s not that hard. I’m not exactly a psychologist, but her behavior with Abi-Maria is quite close to the behavior of something who’s in an abusive relationship but just can’t make it stop, because being with an abusive person is better than being alone (according to them) and those sorts of things. Now, there is also something else. I think Lisa didn’t want to betray Tandang because she realizes (or at least thinks) that her best chances at winning the million are with Pete and Abi-Maria sitting next to her during the final tribal council. This is why I don’t think she will be willing to vote them out unless she realizes that it puts her on the chopping block too. And if I was the Kalabaw/Matsing/Skupin, I wouldn’t try too hard to make her join the alliance, because if she makes it to the end, she could win sitting next to many people and voted her out soon (maybe not next tribal, but the one after) could be a wise solution.
– Malcolm Freberg: He recovered niceless from the dangerous position he was in last week. Sure, he now has to change his strategy. His hopes of going to the end with goats have been crushed (I think he would have stayed with Tandang hadn’t it been for Lisa betraying him and the mess that last tribal council was), but he is now more or less in control of the game, although he has to share that control with other players. Now the question is: what will his strategy to go to the end and win will be? Not sure. But one thing is sure though, is that he has pretty much already won the “fan favorite” check this season.
– Michael Skupin: Finally he flipped! It was about time. One interesting thing is that at tribal council while it seemed that Skupin voting with Kalabaw/Matsing was an almost last minute decision and not a sure thing before it happened, in a couple of secret scenes (that were shots after immunity challenge though) it seemed obvious that Skupin considered himself a part of that alliance. So the question is: where does his alliance with Lisa stand? Not sure right now, as they don’t really need each other that much anymore. However, just because of the bonds they have formed, I’m sure they will stay tight, and actually Mike still needs Lisa to have a stronger voting power among the alliance, and not end up at its bottom.
– Pete Yurkowski: Payback has started, he’s out very soon.
Next time on Survivor:
Lisa has trouble dumping the abusive relationship she’s in. Will she? Will she not? I assume she will, or she will be voted out.
Who will be voted out next?
Pete seems like a sure bet at this point, unless some other crazy thing happen.
Winner Prediction:
I’m less ans less confident it’s going to be Denise, and I’m saying this solely based on her postmerge edit.
Malcolm is still a favorite at this point.
Lisa not flipping this week makes her in a dangerous position.
Penner’s amazing game puts him in the potential winner list
Before you go anywhere else, check out these great blogs and sites:
– Jeff Pitman at True Dork Times
– Rob has a Podcast and a few cool bloggers
– More will come as the season advances and I find them. I won’t always have time to update this list before the following week and post, but follow me on Facebook or Google+ (my Twitter account is not just for Survivor, so you may or may not like it, feel free to follow me there too if you want) for links to the best Survivor blogs I read/find.