Bob's Survivor: Vanuatu Thoughts

Finally, The Island of Fires has been extinguished. Now, it is time for my last thoughts on this season's finale...

1. The Ultimate Winner: So did Chris deserve to win? This is the question that follows almost every Survivor winner. Many people, including myself, believe that the question is moot. If you won, you deserve it. But still that is too simple. Was Chris the best player in the game?  In my opinion no he wasn't, but the best player doesn't always win. Chis deserves some credit for winning despite his odds. Yet, when Chris was at his most strategic, when he had plays to make he often made the wrong choice. Chris orchestrated voting off Jon over Julie or Twila, bad move. Chris trusted Julie and Twila to stay with the Lopevi alliance, which was wrong. Chris read people wrong and made bad decisions. Yet, he possessed a quality that the other guys didn't. He knew when to shut up. Chris won because he kept his relationships despite the actions of others. I don't really like Chris. I think he was a bad strategist early in the game and jeopardized his chance with the jury by turning it personal and using his friendships with Eliza and Julie when it really wasn't necessary. Yet, I am happy with his win. Why? Because it is a great story. A season of man versus women in a series recently dominated by women. A seeming unbreakable women's alliance. Being outnumbered 5-1. In the end, a man won. Chris played a smart game, not a great game. He rolled with the punches and I think his win will do more good than harm to the future of this franchise.

2. The Ultimate Weasel: It was a roller coaster with Twila. I went from liking her, to being disgusted by her, to pitying her, to hating her, to cheering for her, to respecting her, to being disappointed in her, to a point where I just really don't know how I feel. All I know is despite often time bad behavior, if I was on that jury, she would have got my vote. One of the things I have always wanted to see it someone just stand up during the final tribal council and say, "Screw you. I lied. Don't vote for me if you can't take it." While she didn't really do this, she came pretty close. Now, I am not justifying some of the things she does, I just appreciate that she could recognize the negative aspects of her personality. She nailed herself pretty well with her answers. She does speak her mind, she is overly judgmental, and yet, I think she would stay amazingly loyal to a true friend. I think people on the jury failed to see that her betrayal came from loyalty to Scout. If an alliance could flip on one person, it could certainly flip on another. When Scout fell out of the alliance, the original agreement was broken. I don't care if she swore on her son. People say a lot of things the regret in an attempt to save their own butts. One thing I do hope that Twila saw was that, at points in the game, she was equally as immature as Eliza. Now, for me that is worse. It's one thing for a young, fresh out of mama's house and straight to a fraternity to act childish, because she is basically a child. It's another for a mature person. I think she has a bit of growing up to do too.

3. I don't like Scout for a lot of reasons, but somewhere deep down in my hidden places, that I don't like to show, I have to respect the women. Ironically, the reason I respect her is the reason a lot of people hate her. Physically, Scout was one of the worst Survivors of all time. Yet, who cares? This game is not about physicality. I have to say that I am impressed with what Scout did. Would I want to sit in on a lecture by her? Probably not, unless they have an open heckler policy. Would I want to see her grace my TV set again? Oh, God no. I think like Chris, I don't like her, but I like her story. Scout sort of reminded me of Dharma's Mom, form that Dharma and Greg sitcom. She almost seemed like a parody of the aged hippy. Yet, to physically endure the day to day struggles of Survivor life, even if she would probably lose Physical challenges on The Biggest Loser, has to garnish some respect. I guess.

4. Before this season began I made some predictions. This is something I never really do, but I had to make an exception this year do to a commitment (The SC Apprentice Contest). Now, I am not going to toot my own horn but I had Chris and Twila in my final four. Now, the process I used was simple. I picked out the 8 most interesting people, removed those who seemed nice, then picked out of those left who I thought would be the fist left. The remainder of those left were my final 4. Outside of my final 4, (which also included Leanne and John P.) , my predictions sucked. I picked Ami as the first to go, yep, that happened. I put Mia, Rory, Lisa and Julie as my nice people. I guess you can make an argument for some of them, but Mia, What was I smoking?

5. One of my predictions was Survivor Least Likely To Shut The Hell Up. Not surprisingly I picked Eliza. While my belief that should would be annoying and a motor mouth on crack, what surprised me is that she became one of my favorite Survivors of All Time. Yes, she is childish, but let's all take a second to remember what we were like at that age. Then let's factor in a mother who was concerned that she would remember to brush her teeth and this makes me think she was extremely sheltered. In this world, blue collar morals and work ethics are so appreciated, that often time we don't realize that the people reflecting that sort of "regular" upbringing are total jackasses. Eliza made an interesting journey. It was obvious from day one that she had nothing at all in common with the majority of the women there. Yet, she flipped that very first vote and voted with those who most desired her ousting. From that point she played the game, hard, smart, and with a childlike ambition. In the end she fell into the trap of trust. Trusting a person who has no second thoughts about becoming your best bud, just to screw you over is a lot easier to do than we may think. I cringed at how much she bought into Chris. I hope she takes something more away from this than you can't trust anyone. 

6. One little thing that I found interesting. How did Julie become the sweet innocent girl that was walked all over and destroyed by that mean conniving Chris. If I remember correctly, she screwed him over first. She lied to him and my bet is she used her relationship with his to back it up. If I remember, sitting by that volcano working out a deal with Leanne, her big brother Chris's name never came up. I must have also missed the scene where Julie snuck her buddy his two chicken wings too. Julie was far from an innocent in this game. I have no doubt that she was hurt by Chris's betrayal, and I do think Chris went a bit overboard swearing his undying affection and 100% support, but I thought her bitterness and her fresh faced innocent portrayal on the reunion show was a bunch of hogwash.

7. This was easily the worst "Fallen Comrade" remembrance ever. Half the people in the game didn't even merit a mention by the final three. Maybe their comments were boring, or too offensive for TV, but I would rather of heard them then another, "OH, I am so proud of myself and I am not upset I lost" self serving crap speech As far as other aspects of the game itself, both challenges where pretty cool. The final 4 immunity was pretty cool, combining a lot of elements, and a ton better than that stupid Pearl Island quiz versus the jury. I like that the "endurance" challenge involved more than just balancing on a stump, but included another aspect with the inclusion of the bow and arrow. All and all the final episode was entertaining. The jury was just bitter enough for a little fireworks, with only one corny "You guys are both winners" form the enlightened Scout. 

I will probably have a lot more to say tommorrow, but that is all for not. Another good season. See ya again soon.

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Months ago, on the island of Vanuatu lived two tribes. Unlike most tribes in history, these two tribes were not mixed sexes but a tribe of man and a tribe of women. Over the course of time, these two tribes were pitted in a battle of the sexes. The males, lead by a fiery man of battle, the women by a cunning brewer of hot beverages. This two tribes battled it out, friends and foes falling, until their numbers dwindled and they were forced into one group. Eventually, and surprising to some, under the leadership of the coffee maiden, the women were seemingly in control. Until that Maiden was brought down, not by a man, but by one of her own. Now, only four are left to read my thoughts on this week's episode...


1. Winner of the Week: Choosing Chris this as this week's winner was really tough. He had a tough decision to make and one that I know wasn't easy for him but I think he made the right decision. My problem was I didn't like how he went about it. I have never liked the jumping from one group to another and making promises based on your friendship that you know you are going to need to break. I will cut him a bit of slack though because he had few options on how to play this position of power that wouldn't put him in the Christy/Dolly type of situations. It is interesting that this season goes from all about the women, to a man controlling the fates of the game. Chris played smart, jumping on the opportunities he was given and after being beat in two consecutive physical challenges I think he made the right choice.

2. Weasels of the Week:  When this season started I really wanted to like Scout and Twila. They seemed like interesting characters, Scout the matronly enlightened chiefess and Twila the straight forward, hard working, blue collar Mom. Scout lost me pretty quickly and Twila did eventually. Now, to me, they seem to be immature, judgmental, hypocritical and mean. I think their treatment of Eliza shows this the best. When they need her, it all hugs and kisses, but when she becomes less important the devalue her with demeaning and condescending tones, calling her little girl. If anyone was acting childish, it was Scout with her "Oh, she got you" comment that seemed straight out of a middle school playground. Scout is all about the "sisterhood" if that sisterhood is made up of people like her, who have "gotten back to their roots" and have mistaken blowhardism for enlightenment. Twila failed tosee the hypocrisy is her treatment of Eliza who found herself in the same situation as she did when she had to choose between the guys, who she liked better, and Ami's gal gang, who she didn't. The funny thing is that they both used the same, "Oh, I was just listening" type of excuse. Just because you are older and don't use the word "like" a lot, doesn't make you better people.

3. OK, let's now deal in the bare facts. Julie's assets could only get her so far, and now she leaves the game behind. The bottom line is that some people get branded a bum from the get go while others work their ass off. So, you held up the rear of the women's power union and... OK, enough butt euphemisms She showed her butt. Get over it Bob. Now, we must say Good-bye to Julie, may she find her roots. Julie found herself in an interesting quandary. Winning the reward challenge gave her the perfect opportunity to take Chris along and try to swing him over. But it was a mistake. She should have let Twila win, who would probably have taken Scout and given her the same opportunity. In the end, her winning only highlighted the fact that Chris cannot beat her in a physical challenge, which in the end, was probably why Chris choose to go with Scout and Twila. So, Julie's strength in the end was her downfall, and not her butt.

4. What can I say about Eliza? Well, if I was Eliza I could probably go on and on about her without really saying much, but luckily I am not. Eliza is sort of the anti-Scout/Twila. I had it all planned out. I wasn't going to like her, but eventually she sucked me in. Eliza is sort of like a bad reality show, if you don't pay her much mind you can go on ignoring it, but if it sucks you in just once, you can't stop watching. She has moved from my choice of the most annoying, to the one who elicits the most cheers when she won the Immunity Challenge. She is sort of an enigma. It becomes more obvious that she is very smart, but she hides it well, and I don't think she is really trying. If she wins this thing it may be one of the most satisfying wins in a while. Of course, what is the likelihood of that, she did win the car, and now she has me cheering for her. She's screwed.

5. The reward challenge conglomeration was pretty neat. Eliza again had to face her intense fear of pigs. Scout had to suffer the indignity of the mud crawl and Chris missed the opportunity to screw up the balance beam again. This really has been one of the odd balls seasons of all time. Yes, it is called Survivor: Islands of Fire, but I think it should have had another surname. Going back to what Chris said oh, so long ago, this season should be called Survivor Vanuatu: Not about Walking On A Balance Beam. This final four is just amazing. For the most part, I haven't liked this season as much as some of the others, but this last few weeks and these last groups of people have been down right entertaining. 

6. Yeah, it's story time with Jeff. Gather around kids as Mr. Probst tells you a touching tale of a man whose goal was peace, and ended up being killed with by his brother and all his followers being brutally slaughtered Ah, the tales of power. I always like these story challenges In think whoever rights out the tale that Jeff reads has a weird way about him. They read like a childs story book, except for the brutal slayings. The survivors seemed riveted to the tale and Scout seemed to flinch when Jeff put in the kicker about the men being sedated by Kava but the women being strangled to death.  Survivor, and a history lesson, cool. Well, now I know, and as Srgt. Slaughter used to say, knowing is half the battle.

7. I have given up prognostication. This has been my worst season of predicting the strategy and the boots of the game. I cannot even begin to truly analyse some of the moves that were mad. They just left me shocked. I knew that Twila was going today. Just knew it. I thought that Chris would choose the group he liked the best. It made some strategic sense and while I think he made the right decision, Chris hasn't really had a good track record of making good decisions. So I give up. I won't try to predict the winners or the strategies anymore. Well, at least not until next season.

Well, that's everything. See ya at the finale....

Bob

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Now, available for the first time, it's Survivor Vanuatu Shuffleboard the home game. Now, in the comfort of your own home you can slide your pieces and maybe, just maybe you'll land on an island, knock you opponent into the sea, or actually land you piece right into the volcano for a guaranteed point. I swear on my son, You'll Love It. For one low price you can get the whole set, and if you call now, included for no additional charge, my thoughts on this weeks episode...

1. Winner of the Week: This may just be the year that the curses come down? First, we had the curse of the bambino, could we now see the curse of the car come tumbling down?  So Eliza wins the car, in a gutsy and great performances. History says if you win the car, you lose the million, but Eliza is in a nice position to become the Boston Red Sox of the Survivor world. Beyond that, she has morphed from one of the more annoying players, to the dark horse fan favorite. Yeah, she talks a lot and maybe the word "like" peppers her speech in nuclear proportions, but it's hard not to cheer for the underdog, and from week one, she has been targeted. Yet, through it all she has shown herself to be a smart player, knowing how to separate emotion from game decisions, knowing when to hide under the rocks and know when to spring.

2. Weasel of the Week: I don't hate Ami. I swear I don't, but her arrogance is offputting. In reality I would have loved to see Scout walk the plank this week, but Ami's ousting was sort of bittersweet. It's sad to see and all out player get the boot, but it also is sort of fun. This week Ami takes home the weasel award because of her unfair attempts to guilt Eliza. Yes, I agree, that Ami was Eliza's champion at many points of the game, but in the end, Ami wrote her name down. To me that's the end all and Eliza didn't owe her a thing. Eliza had no reason to feel guilty about a vote that if she didn't make, her game would have been over. To tell the girl that "throwing her away" would hurt her feelings, Eliza should have just looked at her and said, "Then you'd know how I felt last week." On top of that the vitriol she spewed towards Scout and Twila seemed a bit harsh. What she failed to remember was that Leanne had basically said that Julie had leapfrogged them in the alliance. So, while you may have been betrayed, it was a bed that you helped make. So, I mush now say good-bye Ami.

3. The old "I swear on my son" debate. I guess the question is that by placing the qualifier in her statement did Twila step over the line of the typical Survivor lie, or was it the more egregious type of personal lie? To me, it wasn't that big of a deal. I can understand those people who feel otherwise, but to me, this doesn't came anywhere near the dead grandma style lie that I find distasteful. Yet to me that isn't even the greatest issue of the whole thing. What I find interesting was how Ami grabbed onto it? Do I really feel that was the true cause of her anger towards Twila. Nope. Ami is shrewd, And I think what bothered her was the betrayal and just plain being out played. Ami has a knack for having one reason for doing something but using another reason to justify it. She did it to Bubba and she did it to Lisa. Ami knew that using the "I swear on my son" and making it public it would hamper Twila's credibility. It was a smart play, and may pay off for Julie, but it was too late to save Ami.

4. I still don't get why they just didn't take out Chris. Last weeks episode just confused me. What was the strategic point to voting off Eliza? She was a lone wolf, and would have been an easy enough vote after Chris. The women's alliance was a smart plan and would have been successful if the lasted one more week. Yes, there were issues between them, but if Ami and Leann did want to win, the worst thing they could have done is let those issues rise to the top. In the end, the women are responsible for their own destruction. Chris has a straight shot to the final three. And if he manages to find his way into the final 2, he wins against most of the opponents.  Wouldn't that be the ultimate irony of this "All About Eve" season. This episode was a good one for him. All he had to do was sit back and enjoy the show. He won an immunity that didn't make him a threat and he solidifies himself as the swing vote next week.

5. It's funny what happens when the tides turn on you. The guys got sullen and bitter when their alliance fell through. Ami, attempted to play off he position of power and the relations ships she developed, even though she destroyed the collateral that she had by last weeks vote, and Julie once again snuck back into her shell and played turtle.  Has she used up all her strategic assets or will she be able to squeeze her way between the fragile bond between the older women and Eliza. I think she needs to play the game like Chris did and let the fractures appear themselves and just wait to he chance to help them along.

6. Did anyone else feel like Chris was treated like a second class citizen during the reward challenge? He sat in the back of the car on the ride, took the last shower, had Ami plucking food off his plate then finally got stuck on the couch. Now, I know there are perfectly good reasons for all of it. It wasn't like Eliza and Ami were going to let the guy jump into bed with them, but it just sort of summarized the season pretty well. Chris played the third wheel pretty well. In the end, they could make him sleep on the floor and throw him their scraps, and he'd probably be OK with that as long as he wasn't going home.

Well, I wish I had more, but I don't. See ya all later...

Bob

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I decided this week to get a picture not being used by CBS. I pulled this off off the Videocaps for episode 9 from ImmunityIdol.net. I like this picture a lot more, and may offer some better potential for humor.

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Take me back to estrogen city, where the guys are dopes and all the girls are petty. Oh-Oh, won't you please take me back...  Always great to get a good Guns and Roses reference to start off my thoughts on this week's episode....

1. Winner of the Week: So who is the real power player in the all women Yasur alliance? Well, obviously it's Ami, but she seems to have created a monster in Leanne. Leanne made a few shrewd and smart moves this week and may actually be more of a player than just Ami's shadows. She seemed to be one of the few women to understand the dangers of the reward challenge and played it smartly. She also made an excellent choice in bringing Julie along for her little reward. She solidified Julie's place by making her a potential swing vote in her and Ami's favor when the women's tribe finished eating the men. Now, they have a choice, keep Eliza for the final five and bank on her hatred of Scout, or pull in Julie to the final four and knock Scout and Eliza both out early.

2. Weasel of the Week: I can't seem to get a good grasp on Chris. Now, if he was playing Survivor with robots he probably would be a hell of a player. He makes so seemingly smart technical choices, but those choice cannot be made in a vacuum. Chris, you aren't going to break into the core female alliance. You may knock out a splinter here or there, but the problem is that the splinter you remove with only cause the other splinter in that alliance to latch onto the core group. If you flip Eliza, Scout stays with the women, if you swing Scout, Eliza is not coming over. I understand you position stinks, but you seem to be overplaying it. Voting for Sarge may make some sense on a technical level, but I don't think it will accomplish what you wanted. Maybe a smart thing would have been, since Sarge voted for Eliza, and Chad voted for Julie, to vote for Scout. Then if asked say you voted for Sarge. Confuse them. Personally, I think you are screwed no matter what you do, maybe this was the time to just dance with the ones who brought you. 

3. In a sort of weird state of affairs, Sarge gets voted out on Veterans Day. Instead of a sad Eulogy and comments on strategy, I think this is the appropriate time to thank Sarge for his service to this country. As a nation polarized by the issues surrounding this war, I hope we can all come together in appreciation for what these men and women have sacrificed for our protection. The men and women of our Armed Forces and the families that support them deserve to be honored and remembered. Sarge, I as a proud American first and a Survivor fan second sincerely thank you.

4. So what's the deal with the pig? Is it there to search for truffles. Maybe, the pig is a new tribe member. If so, who do you think the pig will align with? Do you think the portly swine will feel some sort of affinity with the surviving members of the fat five? Will it search out those who prefer Kosher diets? All I know for sure is that this pig is already the most interesting character on the island.

5. Yes, the guys are bitter, but can you blame them. I am trying to remember a time where the controlling alliance was this callus towards those in the minority. I do remember the guys from Amazon laying around while Butch, Matt and Chrissy do all the work, but I really can't remember a time where a group would smuggle back food for one group and not for another. I would have liked to see one women stand up and just say that it was wrong. I don't think that it was evil for Julie and Leanne to do this, but I do think that it was a bit of a sucky move. Especially because I love a good chicken wing.

6. What is the deal with Scout? Yes, her comments towards Eliza may have been a bit misconstrued, but they could easily have been read as saying that Eliza's smart to realize her place in the game. Hey, I understand being blunt, but saying things like you need to get rid of the smart people, even if you were discussing the challenge, may not be all that smart. I really don't know how the read this Eliza/Scout conflict. I believe they don't like each other, but is it possible that they were playing it up a bit to keep the guys off balance and spinning? Are these women really that superior to the men in this version of the game? It would seem so.

7. What can I say about the immunity challenge? It was probably the most God awfully boring thing I have ever seen on this show. Now, I am a bit biased. I suck at that sort of thing. It just seems that this season has been a crapfest of stupid and visually boring challenges.

8. So, I was watching the show with a few people I met down here that are Survivor fans and were nice enough to hand out in my room and have a couple of brews during the show. It was an interesting experience. These people were the type who love yelling at the screen and asking questions throughout the show. My favorite comment of the night: When Jeff flashed Julie's vote which read, "Sarge Lea" one of my new friends yelled out, "Why did Lea sign her vote?"

OK, that's all. See ya next week.

Bob

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RMG1145:
UH does this mean we're buddies?

Jackie:
"Vanuatu, a thrill a minute and that was a minute ago."

RMFRstefenson 
"Trust nothing of what a tribe mate says, only half of what they do and you'll be ahead of the game."

Ron234x 
"Hold still while I put my initials on. That will keep Ami off your back"

Bob
Leanne: "OK, so your arm is Lisa's Chest. The made an incision tight here, then placed in silcone."
Twila: "I just don't get it."

Onesearch
"Ok, I let Ami braid my hair, I let LeeAnn paint my arm, but there's just no way I'm gonna let Eliza wax my legs"

rnbrigal
Thanks for being the voodoo practice doll, Twila. 
Take that Sarge!

dsdsa5
So Twila, we'll make the incision here........  then we can insert all the girlie genes you seem to be lacking!

I always enjoy these Caption Contests from The CBS Website, but I think that those they pick are sort of lame. This is this weeks picture, and I think we can do better than them. Yeah, I feel bad that I stole their picture, and maybe in the future we'll start using another picture, but I think this may be a little fun and we can see if our captions are better than the ones chosen by CBS. So, Email me, leave a comment or post a caption on the AOL Survivor Board under the freeze frame thread and I will post them all.

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I have cliches by the bucketful. Yep. Waiting is the hardest part, some may say. Patience is a virtue, as others chime in. Anticipation is half the fun is something my mother used to say. But, mostly good things come to those who wait, so for all you out their in cyberland, finally, after a bit of an unanticipated delay, comes my thoughts on well, umm... last week's episode....

1. Winner of the Week: This was really a tough choice, but in the end my decision became obviously clear after a long period of contemplation. From a purely strategic viewpoint, Twila was this week's winner. Not only did she make a strong move, she did it in a decidedly anti-Dolly manner. It was obvious that she and Julie were the swing votes, yet they played that role with subtly and restrained energy. Instead of jumping from alliance to alliance like a jacked up ping pong ball calling too much attention to themselves. The allowed the confidence of their loyalty to the women be know by reputation, while totally blindsiding the men. They even pulled off pushing the men towards a Rory vote without seeming disloyal. Now, where the tough choice came in was whether added Julie as a co-winner. In the end, While I think it was a smart move to stick with the women for Twila, I am not so sure the same stands for Julie. I think she probably would get further in the game aligned with the men.

2. Weasel of the Week: Last week I made the argument that perhaps John K. was one of the worst players in the game. I think I may be taking that back. My new nominee is Chris. Chris is a legend in his own mind, a Brian wanna-be who fails miserably in execution. While Chris shares Brian's ability to be deceptive, he utterly lacks the ability to read others, But enough from me, let Chris's words speak for himself. Fittingly, the first line of the show came from Chris talking about the previous tribal vote. He says, "Now does everybody trust each other?" He later comments about Julie's loyalty by saying to Chad, "She proved that at Tribal Council." Now, how exactly did she prove that? Yeah, she and Julie could have joined up with John, but they didn't. They choose to vote off John, not out of loyalty, but self preservation. Then Chris, in making another of multiple many final two alliances, another attempt to steal Brian's strategy, says to Julie "Well, if you don't trust me, all you have to do is tell me." Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Hey, tell me you don't trust me, so I know to vote you off. Lastly, in his cockiest manner, which made me desirous to see him walking the walk of shame he states, "You pretty much have to strategize for Twila." Well, buddy, I think she did pretty well on her own, in fact, she could teach you a thing or two.

3. Well, I used to love him, but I had to kill him... So, along with the women I must say good-bye to Rory. Despite the Ami's strong bond with you, and the time you spent with the women, it seems that you were victim of what Leanne calls "the master plan" Why do I get the feeling that Leanne wasn't the master of the plan. One of my points of contention with Rory this week is his "stupid people irritate the hell out of me." I think the height of stupidity is to repeatedly make the same mistake over and over even when you know that its wrong. So who is the dumb one, Eliza who is utterly incapable of learning how to make a fire, or Rory who keeps on attempting to teach it too her? I guess like how many licks it takes to get to the chewy center of a tootsie roll pop, one will never know. (Oh, on a personal note, I have tons of leftover tootsie roll pops from a less than stellar Halloween showing, so send you kids, the ghost is still on the door.)

4. First, the premerge stuff. Now, it has been established that Julie is a shameless floozy that is using certain exposure to further the game. The low and behold, Twila decides to try out some topless sunbathing, lying next to Sarge. Then, chalk it up to mass hysteria, all three in a wanton display of hedonistical exhibitionism all three provide "visual stimulation" by exposing their nether reasons. So, are Twila and Sarge also shameless floozies, or are they just victims of an overly permissive sub-society initiated by the morally deprived Julie? My take: they are all a bunch of asses.

5. The most dangerous thing in the world is to be loved the way that Scout loves Twila. Scout loves Twila so much that she'll jeopardize the women and place a huge target squarely on her back. I understand that you were excited to see her still there. But chill lady. Also, don't you think that maybe Julie should have gotten some love too, or weren't you glad to see her safe also?

6. Merge time. Two tribes came together and celebrated with another Survivor feast of crackers, some fancy cheeses and dried fruit. Oh, happy day. Now, maybe it was great for those Survivors, but could you at least throw in some meat. How about some ham or salami? Hell even some cocktail weenies. Something that used to walk around and breath too. Well, whatever.

7.  I for one was hoping for a little fireworks at the merge, a little bit more than a battle of the sexes. It should be interesting to see how the dynamics play out. Will the former members of the "Bowhead" alliance, Julie and Eliza try to throw a king into the masterplan, or will they just wait out their fates and hope for a few lucky breaks? Will the guys attempt to cause division, and possibly attempt play off of Ami's paranoia, or will the sulk. True Survivor greats prove that they can win despite adversity, now is time for the guys to go out and try to make a name for themselves in the annals of Survivor Greats. My suggestion for the guys would be to play Eliza. You don't even need to flip her. Just attempt to make friends with her, hang with her and ignore the rest of the women. May them wonder about her. Have little conversations about her that just may get "accidentally" overheard by some of the women. Don't play the Shii Anne, in your face game, low key may be your best chance. I'm just not sure these guys are capable of low key.

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully, I'll see ya next week....

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Welcome to the Survivor Coffee House. Try our newest blend of South American coffees, every other cup free. Come down to our lounge area and sit at our on our mismatched tables and chairs and listen to the live band playing a weird acoustic set of alternative folk music. Play some chess, have a smoke and read some of our various free literature including my thoughts on this weeks episode...

1. Winner of the Week: Where would this world be without loving, and sensible wives keeping their husbands from acting like asses and overreacting. I was getting ready to rip Rory for his pillage and plunder, burn Yasur burn attitude. I hate the camp saboteur, if I going down I'm taking you with me, attitude. It really serves no purpose outside of a little revenge. Yet Rory received a word of wisdom from his loving wife and set him on the right path. From that moment on Rory went on to have another solid and fun to watch episode. His domination of the immunity challenge was very fun to watch. Finally Mark Burnett has given us an interesting, quirky African American Survivor who can actually swim. Yeah, he is a bit on a the weird side, but I'm lovin' him.

2. Weasel of the Week: Being a weasel isn't always a bad thing. Usually it is, but not always. I like Chris but he is weaselly. On some levels he reminds me of myself. I have this weird knack for making those I dislike, think I am their buddy. It's a gift. Chris has a bit of this ability. For some reason, the people he targets like him. Yet, that pat on the back that he freely gives, soon will have a knife in it. I have a hard time figuring out how good of a player Chris is. He seems to be able to mastermind a boot without making himself look bad, which is a good skill to have in this game, but I'm not sure that those boots were smart moves. I think taking out Brady before John was a mistake, and I think that keeping Julie over Jon was one too. I think he put way too much weight in the girls voting off Lisa. So, for now I'll say he's a good manipulator, but the case still needs to be made that he's a good Survivor.

3. Well, the so called, mislabeled Flab Five finally accomplished their task of taking out all the cocky, young ones. Well, good for you guys, I guess. So with that, I need to wish John K. good-bye. Yeah it was a "rough ride" and you were "steered" the wrong way by your buddy Chris. Personally, I think that John was one of the worst Survivor players of all time. I just don't think he was prepared for the nature of the game. Physically, yes, he had it, but this is the upside down world of Survivor where physicality is as much a weakness as a strength. He played the wrong cards at the wrong time, and then napped through the rest of the game. I almost felt bad for the guy, trusting the man who was the one most vocal about taking you out. Well, there's always the whole "fake rodeo" thing or whatever. Keep your chin up, cowboy.

4. Ami really interest me. I think it's an odd strategy to want to keep with people just because you want to establish a new Survivor precedent. I understand her thoughts, and her desire to make a lasting, and faithful women's alliance, but is it really worth your game. Do you really trust Ms. Survivor addict Eliza to not try to spurn Scout who has targeted her from day one? Do you really trust Leanne, who may be the ultimate UTR player? Do you really trust Scout, who seemed a littler put off by your railroading of Lisa the week before? All these women may begin to worry that they may be the next one that you take out. I think that Rory would have made a strong ally for you, and whether you wanted him or not was your decision, but to totally write him off because you want an all women dominant alliance seems a bit short sighted.  Well, at least you got to make some coffee.

5. The family angle of the challenge was a nice surprise today. It was sort of nice to see the emotional side of the Yasur women, to give them more human qualities. Yet, one of the women character has still not been developed. That women is Leanne. What is the deal with her? Now, some may say that this lack of development is a sign that she is destined for big things in this game. I don't know. Maybe there is just nothing their to develop. She seems to really excel at being a follower. What's weird is she was one of the early targets, is this because the women feared her as some sort of under the radar threat, or was it just an easy vote? Last week she cost them immunity and this week she came through during the reward challenge, then almost took a header which could have cost them the win. Weird.  All I know is that she sort of reminds me of the Saturday Night Live alum, Molly Shannon.

6. The challenges this week were nice, I guess. I am a little so-so about them. I liked the reward challenge, it combined a lot of skills. I wasn't surprised to see Scout's little dump job, deliberate screw up. I think that the rules should have stated that a person has to complete the challenge even if they spilled the contents of their bowl. Now, I don't want to make the challenges overly hard, but I think that a team shouldn't always have an out for their weakest member. It would have been nice to see Scout have to do this challenge as she has been so little involved in the challenges up to this point. Also, I think she could have done it.

7. I think it's speculation time. Next week will more than likely lead to the merge and will set the tone for the rest of the season. Putting on my prognosticating cap, I think we will soon see the rise of a new mismatched alliance. I do not believe this season is going to come down a battle of the sexes or of post switch tribal loyalty. I think we'll see a combining of weaker factions. I wouldn't be surprised to see an alliance with Julie, Rory, Twila and Chris rising form the ashes. I think that Sarge and Ami will be the early victims of the merge. We may actually get one of the most interesting post merge games we have seen.  Yeah, many people have called this a dull season, but I think we may be in for some interesting fireworks over the next few weeks.

Well, that's all for now. See ya next week...

Bob

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Yee Haw, gotta catch me a greased up hog. Gonna chase the oinker all through the mud, get myself all dirtied up and than give you my thoughts on this weeks episode...

1. Winner of the Week: Rory is really winning me over. He has gone, in my book, from annoying weird guy to the most entertaining person in the game. I am actually sort of shocked that his speech to the ladies worked in some way. Of course, I don't think it was a strategically brilliant move on his part, his staying had more to do with Ami's paranoia and Lisa's general wish-washiness then his game play, but on some levels I think he just plain guilted them. Beyond his ability to save himself for another week he really has done well in the challenges and in working with the women of Yasur. He made himself valuable. Plus, he's just fun to watch.

2. Weasels of the Week: This week was a tough choice. I decided to go with two different people for two different reasons. I really wanted to like Scout before the show started, but, and I know this isn't very popular opinion, I feel she is one of the harshest and unfairly judgmental Survivors we have seen for a while. I thought we saw further proof of that today with he "pity pot" comments about Rory. I also wanted to be an Ami fan, but slowly but surely she seems to be become unhinged and her ugly side is beginning to show. Her comment to about Lisa not helping herself by getting angry seemed to be short sighted. You just told someone they were totally untrustworthy, and you expect them to sing your praises. Anger is the typical response to being accused in that manner, if their response is devoid of anger, than they are blowing smoke up your.... well you know.

3. Once again the vote seemingly comes down to possible one statement made, and possibly one statement misunderstood. Yet, of course, there is more to this story. So, firstly we must say good-bye to Lisa. I feel for you, while you may feel it was unfair, and I do agree that too much was read into your statement, when you flip on your first alliance, people will always be wary that you may do it again. If there wasn't some level of mistrust of you, that statement probably would have floated by, or at least it would have been less disastrous. Well, at least you weren't counting on the prize money for implants.

4. Julie took her clothes off. She ummm.... let her assets hang all out. I guess that's a bad thing, she's now the scourge of the world, the whore of Vanuatu, and singular responsible for the breakdown of morality in the Western World. OK, a bit overboard. I don't like when women just strip to better their chances in the game, but then I like when women strip to better the chances in the game, especially when they look like Julie. I am morally conflicted. Ah, the struggles of the attempt to be a sensitive, yet honest man.

5. There's just something cool about reality contestants running around in a muddy pit chasing after animals. I just waiting for one of them to have a Colinesque explosion. "I hate you greasy pig, I just hate you!!!"  Add to that the funky Survivor like county banjo music playing in the background and it made you just miss Bubba all the more. I mean, come on, everyone loves Bubba. Both challenges were actually pretty cool. While the women really did have Leanne to blame for losing the Immunity Challenge, I think the women were destine to lose the pig capturing challenge and were pretty far behind to begin with. I was really hoping to see a John vs. Eliza duel with a slim, Boston Red Sox like chance that she may pull it off.

6. I find it interesting that Julie and Twila seem to be working together than selling each other out. Yeah, there is some mistrust going on there with each women trying to get in with the guys, but I expected more active attempts to get screw each other over. It seems like maybe John is still on the outs, if Sarge actually still has the pull that he believes he does, but I'm starting to really wonder if he is. Maybe, with Rory staying, Chris will see the opportunity to take Sarge out. Of course, this is the guy who hates when people just give up and stop trying in the challenges, I mean, yeah, he sucked at the balance beam and only gave a half ass attempt, but he never REALLY gave up. 

7. Well, Jeff gave the eulogy for the Yasur tribe, the are down, they are defeated and they have no chance to win. They just screwed up and lost four challenges but never voted out the weakest links. They are choosing so called loyalty over strength. All this means that next week they will probably rise up and kick some butt. I think that the Yasur dynamics have really been interesting. Dolly was kicked out for trying to play to many sides, Mia for causing emotional pollution, Bubba left for not really being a member of the tribe and now Lisa for her wishy washiness. And all the time Ami is just laughing, because each move seemed to benefit her more than anyone else. Yet, Ami herself seems to contain a lot of these traits. I think some people may be starting to wake up to her, but maybe it's just too late.

Well, that's all for now. See ya next week,

Bob

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Shake, shake, shake shake... shake, shake shake... Your Vanuatu. Even the earth was screaming for a shake up on the show, and it got it... Yet, no matter how many times the producers shake up the show, you can always count on my thoughts on this week's episode....

1. Winner of the Week: These week we got what we wanted, a bit of excitement and a shake up on the old island of fire. As with all switches there are always a few winners and losers. The biggest winner probably was John K. John fate was far from secure on the old Lopevi tribe, and this switch offers him all sorts of opportunities. Yet, beyond this saving turn of events John finally backed up his talk about being "strong" with two very solid challenge performances. Now he's on a tribe that needs him, for both his strength and his vote, plus has the opportunity to form new bonds. Let's see how he now handles the strategy end.

2. Weasel of the Week: Up until this point of the show I have been a big fan of Ami, but I really cannot stand hypocrisy. Ami's little speech about how she thought they were all one big tribe, until she caught Bubba's little signal to Chris. Then she was so shocked to realize it was still men against women. Yeah right. This coming from the women who didn't want to share all their secrets because she felt their bond was breaking. This coming from the women who straight out said she was still all about the women. Come on Ami, you were voting the guy off anyway, at least be honest about it.

3. Joining the ranks of Silas as victim of a tribal switch I must say good-bye to Bubba. You handles your little secret message to Chris with all the smoothness of a Wal Mart security guard, oh, wait, he is a Wal Mart security guard. You say that the Yankees are looking for you as their new First Base coach. I can just see it now. You standing their in your tight fitting Yankees uniform with you hand over you mouth mumbling, Hey, Derek, steal... steal..." Although I will cut you a bit of a break, because in reality, you may have been right. It may actually have been smarter for Lopevi to lose that challenge.

4. Well, it seems the earth was sending the producers a bit of a message. "Come on guys, it's getting boring. Let's shake it up." Well, they did. It's hard to really judge how Twila did. You could see her basic strategy was to try to keep herself in the game by stacking her alliance mates, except for her move to put Twila with Chris and Chad. My guess was she was just winging it. Her only obvious strategy was to separate Julie and Eliza.  Sarge basically made the right choice, but of course it was really the only choice he could make. How exactly this switch will effect the game remains to be seen. Ask me next week.

5. Have I mentioned that Eliza is a dope? Well, she is. Did she really suggest that the Yasur should vote one of the women off to keep the tribe stronger. OK, maybe on some level it makes sense, but if the women really took her advise, just who do you think they would have voted off. Their "chief" Scout? Your best bet right now is to do something totally against your nature and shut the hell up. You got a bit of a reprieve from the switch, don't screw it up. As it was said, some times the people just get themselves voted off.

6. This season has had some of the oddest arguments we have ever seen. This week's episode with a debate over the whose spot is better around the fire. It seems that Bubba believes that they are all the same, but he isn't giving his up, no way, no how. Makes sense to me. Bubba does seem to have a way with words. He almost drowned in the ocean when he was a child and yet today was the first time he ever had been in the ocean. OK, yeah, I get it. "Hey, A-Rod, swing away..." [wink, wink]

7. How much do you want to bet that after days of eating nothing but what you can forage and catch yourself that a Pringle tastes like.... well, a Pringle. Maybe to Twila this was akin to being pampered at the Motel 6. Now, if it was a Dorito it may reach the Holiday Inn level. Now, I like the occasional Pringle, but the idea of "all the Pringles and beer you want" doesn't really excite me. I hope if I ever get on Survivor that years sponsor is the National Beef and Beer Council.

Well, that's all for now. See ya next week,

Bob

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