henripootel

Oh Jesus, I'm so right there with you. I'm curious - has there even been any other time where players were deliberately kept in the dark about actual rules? Is there any chance at all that none of the other contestants asked off camera about the SHII and (apparently) were not told the truth? Such a huge steaming pile of Grade-A bullshit. The fact that Spencer did this at FTC (he could have aired his opinions privately back at Ponderosa) and that this made the edit - pretty sure this was Spencer's ticket to a return invite. I'm not wholly convinced that he changed anyone's mind but I think the producers were taking no chances. Just another part of the 'pave the way for Tony' campaign. I actually don't mind that Tony won but the shenanigans they used to insure it were simply absurd. I'm an old-school budo guy myself, and when I play poker with my friends I fess up when my cards are bad because deceiving them would be untrue and dishonorable. Oh wait, no I don't - it's a fucking game, not a testament to my character or my art. You, Woo, are a dumbass.

Nor I - any veterans wanna give a quick rundown on this guy? I've never watched the 'ette before but I thought the editors treatment of this whole kerfuffle was hilarious - like the producers were also embarrassed by the incident but it happened, so conscientious reporters of the facts that they are, they were obliged to air it. Yeah, um, no. Was there anyone with flowing locks who made it through or was this the culling of the long-hairs? Andi even gave a rose to a lunkhead or two.

Not trying to pick a fight here, Alapaki, but I honestly don't know what people really mean when they use this phrase. I can see how folks could use this argument to point out how their rivals at FTC just sat around and did nothing (which should make them look less worthy) but the idea that some folks are more worthy because they spent time running around, listening behind bushes, etc - I never quite got that. I actually get the 'I never lied to you' thing as, even within the framework of the game, betrayal actually exists (and I was fool to believe you so you know sure as hell I'm gonna blame you for that) but 'gameplay' seems a much more slippery metric. Besides, from our perspective, who was out there hustling and the impact it had on the game - highly filtered by the editors. And yet some of the appeals to 'gameplay' seem to me to be as if they were made from the perspective of the audience. I mean, who gives a crap if you make a 'big move' that delights Jeffy but has no real impact on the game at all? Some of the arguments about gameplay that I've seen at FTC seem to amount to 'I pleased the shit out of the producers with my antics - I deserve your vote!'. I'm almost hoping that Tony does get to the end as I'm looking forward to hearing his version of this.

Wow. Couple of days ago I confronted a bear in my trash, which is not rare but still notable here in the Blue Ridge of Virginia. Man, you win. Every now and again I come across those shots of hippies frolicking in the mud at Woodstock, and these days I gag a little. Can you even imagine the filth they were splashing in? I got a whiff of that queasiness last night when they started rubbing mud on their heads. I may be spoiled for life, and too bad as I love playing in mud.

You might want to think twice. Mud pits are now common at survival-marathon races and are apparently a hotbed for, ugh, fecal contamination and cross-infections. Make sure you get some nice fresh mud, survivinmt.

I think I'd be one of them. Something about the way she strolled through carnage and stepped over a body without a glance was ... arresting.

Well, actual Canyonlands is off limits, obviously, but there's plenty of southern Utah that looks a lot like it. Be a nightmare logistically - trucking in food and water for the crew alone would be quite the task. I'm actually kinda surprised that they've never gone for the 'oasis in the desert' motif, which might offer some pleasing visuals. I'm of a mind that HIIs are here to stay (unfortunately), so I think they should explore different ways of gaining one. How about 'Revenge from the Grave' - whomever is voted out whispers a name to Jeff as they leave, and that person gets an HII slipped to them. It lasts for only one TC, and can be given away but only while back at camp. You don't have to use it but you don't get to keep it. This would have the effect of giving losing alliances an advantage (if they're crafty) and might add a bit of suspense as to who actually has the damn thing at any given moment.

Way too small - the bath at Bath is pretty large. Like as not Ecbert's bath is fire-heated and probably has a working hypocaust. Full disclosure: my main aim in life is to build a house with a Roman bath and a triclinium. One day, my pet, one day ... Wrong colony, SingleMalt, that'd be Plymouth up north. The Jamestown guys were mostly adventurers and entrepreneurs who would likely have been better off if they'd thought to bring some farmers with them.

Not a bad start but the central conceit bugged me, the idea that a drone 'accident' (as far as anyone knows for the moment) would derail a treaty between us and the Brits. Please - we've had bases there since WWII and we still have several, at least one of which hosted nuclear weapons back in the day. And given the Special Relationship (and the bad state of the british economy), President Heller could stick the PM's head in a toilet and we'd still get our base.

Pretty sure that's a genuine Roman bath Ecbert has there, which is pretty awesome. At that time there was still plenty of Roman stuff above ground, heck there is still some stuff today. The Romans built to last - imagine the bathing facilities built by the guys at Jamestown still being used.

I know only that I was farted by the gods to learn a new meme today. I thank thee. I couldn't read it either but I don't think it said 'Ulfberht'. Oh, and it's the 'Ulfberht+' that you want to see to guarantee it was the real deal - the fakes lacked the +, I believe. It's about the right time period though, or at just the beginning of it if this is the early 800s we're seeing.

Pretty sure they were Horik's. Not sure who killed them but I'm gonna have to watch that sequence again carefully anyway - seemed to me that a couple of Ragnar's guys got clipped by Horik's men just to make Horik think things were going to plan. That was pretty cold of Ragnar. I thoroughly enjoyed that - seems to me they're really hitting their stride this season. That last shot was pretty awesome.

No way this doesn't make 'clip of the week' on The Soup.

I think the challenges have been, of late, fair but boring and repetitive. Run through a maze (paddle a boat, climb some stairs), collect puzzle pieces, solve a puzzle. Some of the puzzles have been pretty cool looking but they haven't exactly been straining themselves coming up with new ideas lately. I suspect lower budgets, but having recently seen some old episodes, I will say their coverage of the challenges has gotten pretty good. I'd say the photography in general has been pretty spectacular since then went to HD video.

Mrs. Pootel thinks Spencer is totally getting a winner's edit but I'm not so sure. I do feel pretty sure it's gonna come down between Spencer and Tony, especially now that they've just given Tony his 'get to the final free' idol. Gun to my head, it'll be Spencer by a vote with Tony winning 'fan fave' after Jeffy tongue-bathes him liberally for his hard (read: telegenic and absurd) gameplay. Extra bonus guess: I hope you're all not sick of Tony the Cop, cuz I'm pretty sure his ridiculous duck-blinding secured him a return invite. I don't totally hate him so I don't care.

That was some high-grade, industrial strength bullshit there. I've been wondering since the beginning if Tony, with his antics and OTT talking heads, wasn't so much playing the game as playing the producers. I'm not wondering any more. Pretty certain he's willing to clown around with the frankly bizarre Spy Shack nonsense because he's being well paid - if he has a lick of sense, the SHII will pretty much guarantee him a final 4 at least. I'm tempted to say that the producers have lost all semblance of shame and aren't even trying to disguise their machinations any more, but then I remember Mr. Hantz the senior and his many, many HIIs, and B-Rob's whole last season. Yeah, any shame they once had is now a distant memory.