Alapaki

I'd lean more towards collateral damage. Because ultimately I don't think Tyrion was really "framed", per se. Everyone in the relevant circles knew how Tyrion felt about Joffrey. So Tyrion would naturally be a suspect, however Joffrey ended up dying. It was Tyrion himself, prodded by Joffrey, who provided must of the "evidence" that'll be used against him.

I agree. Maybe I brushed over stuff when reading the books, but it's my recollection that Stannis' appearance at the Battle of the Wall came out of the blue (in a good way). It was like I'd forgotten about him as a player, and then he shows up to save the day. I think, though, that if they'd have teased his interest in the Wall as they did at the end of last season, and then just leave Stannis off-screen until his appearance at the Wall, that would've been effective. After all, they have so much else to presumably cover this season, (I'm not sure if references to future events in the books are kosher for these episode threads).

There's also something very annoying to me about Dave/Connor's attitude towards helping the Country Singers. They always talk about what "good people" the Country Singers are. As if to say that the Country Singers deserve their assistance or something. I find something very patriarchal and condescending about their approach to the whole thing.

And don't forget those Degrassi-like tingly feelings she gets over her various male suitors. I really wish they'd just make Dany's storyline a web-series and give us more of the characters whose storyline is actually going somewhere. I think the actors who play Stannis, Davos and Stannis' daughter are all so good I can understand the producers' desire to keep them on-screen. But I think this gets up against the problem of there being so much they have to cram into this season that there's really not much room to do anything substantive with Stannis until, presumably, at least the last-half of the season.

I can't recall if we've seen this exact scenario before, in which a Team with an Express Pass uses it at the beginning of the Detour. I thought the EP would've gotten through the entire Detour (meaning, bypassing the U-Turn as well). But, apparently not. I guess the Cowboys thinking was that they could complete the donkey-ride much quicker than they could the cart assembly, and so they chose to use the EP on the cart assembly, assuming they'd most likely have been U-Turned and have to go back to the donkey ride (which they anticipated completing rather quickly). But, in that case, I wonder if it wouldn't have made more sense to just go ahead and do the donkey ride first, and then if they were U-Turned, use the EP to get out of the second half of the Detour. That way, if they had not been U-Turned, they could've used the EP on the Roadblock. Also, in that regard, assuming Brendan/Rachel also knew that the Cowboys had to use their EP on this leg, I don't understand Brendan/Rachel's initially stated rationale of wanting to U-Turn the Cowboys to force them to use their EP.

I'm still trying to understand Dave/Connor's thinking with their own U-Turn. Sure, I understand the first team to be U-Turned on a 2x U-Turn turning around and U-Turning another team. Presumably that's the point of the 2x U-Turn (at least as long as the rules don't require that first team to complete the second part of the Detour before exercising their own U-Turn). But then, why in the world help the team you've just U-Turned?!?! It just seemed like Dave/Connor were so spiteful and pissed off at being U-Turned that they either weren't thinking straight, or trying some bullshit display of "we're better than Brendan/Rachel". But, if it was the latter, then why U-Turn anyone? Why say "sorry, we had to U-Turn you" to the Afghans, and then do something that defeated the purpose of U-Turning them? Also, by telling the Afghans about being U-Turned as they arrived at the Detour, Dave/Connor further helped the Afghans by preventing them from having to run to the U-Turn box to learn they were U-Turned, only to run back to the second Detour option. (I was wondering whether there might be a penalty for them having proceeded to the second Detour without having checked in at the U-turn box, but apparently not. Either that, or it wouldn't have made a difference because the Globetrotters were so far behind).

I think Dave and Connor showed their true colors this leg. Assholes with a sense of entitlement. Hissy fit when another team refuses to help you? Check. Expecting some sort of "I'm 60 years old" immunity from U-Turns? Check. Mocking a woman's appearance because you're upset she's beating you? Check. Refusing to accept an apology (and I suppose we're supposed to believe that Dave and Connor were sorry for U-Turning Leo and Jamal?)? Check. Mocking someone's admittedly goofy dance, when you're in a church? Check. I have no problem with Brendan and Rachel's use of the U-Turn. Personally, I'd try to use it to ensure that the last place team (and not me) definitely gets eliminated, but I'm not sure that Brendan and Rachel would've known which team finished last (and which team got eliminated). Therefore, there was a chance that they would've burned their U-Turn on an eliminated team. They knew where Dave and Connor were. And, while I personally wouldn't be running the race to roll up first-place finishes, I can see that as a legitimate goal.

Kass made the distinction between game play and real life. But I didn’t hear any rational argument for her flip. Probably because there is none. Not unless her objective is to, at best, be dragged to the final as a goat with no chance of winning. I agree with Viajero. Maybe it's because Kass has thoroughly pissed me off with her game-stupidity (which she delusionally sees as brilliance). But I thought her comment was an attempt to humble-brag about what a great person she is IRL, and an allegation that everyone is going to play just as stupidly, I mean, brilliantly, as she has up to this point. And since Kass likes to brag so much about her trial-lawyer skills. Let's break this shit down. You know what one part of trial litigation is? Jury Selection. You know what you do with someone who you're pretty sure will never give your side a fair hearing or be willing to vote for your side? KEEP THEM OFF THE JURY!!! And, back to Survivor, you know what you do with someone who is pretty sure to get no votes for $1 million? KEEP THEM NEXT TO YOU AT FTC!!!! And, when that "someone" is one and the same (i.e. Morgan), YOU DON'T VOTE THEM OUT OF THE GAME AND ONTO THE JURY!!!!!

I think at some point they'll give us a "crisis" moment with Charlie and/or Meryl, to suggest that they're vulnerable, just like they did with Nicole Sherzinger.

And, I suppose that comment indicates that Kass no longer considers herself a "free agent". Of course, she seems to have signed a worthless contract with (apropos of her former tribe-mate) the Miami Marlins! If I'm reading things correctly, we now have: Tony/Woo: who voted together against LJ; Trish: whose standing depends, I guess, on whether Tony and Woo can explain their vote to her liking; Jefra: who, along with LJ, were probably 4 and 5 in that alliance, and is now apparently on her own; Kass: who, aw, never mind. Just fuck her; Spencer/Tasha/Jeremiah: who, all of a sudden, may actually have the safety of numbers, especially if Jeremiah pull in Jefra and Spencer and/or Tasha can pull Kass' vote. (and, of course, Spencer has a HII that we haven't seen anyone else become aware that he has yet). I do agree with others who've said Tony is just playing too hard at this point. And the shame (or benefit, depending on how you feel about him) of that is that I think he actually had a legitimate shot at winning. And his desire to get LJ out of the way was ultimately right, I believe. But he committed a "premature LJaculation", in my opinion.

I don't have a huge problem with the Country Singers' (over)reliance on other teams for tasks with the anything more than the slightest degree of difficulty. I suppose those teams who chose to help them have strategic reasons for doing so. If it comes back to bite them in the ass, that's their problem. But, I do find the Country Singers' repeated Talking Head segments about what a strong team they are quite insufferable.

Agreed. And two other points: 1) Were they really surprised that TPTB chose to highlight any tension created by the partner-switch? They knew the switch-up was coming all season. Did they really expect to just be allowed to pretend it never happened? I think creating that sort of friction was one of the primary reasons for the switch-up. We saw the friction played up with Drew/Cheryl, and Danica/Val & Meryl/Maks (who both showed how to handle it more playfully); 2) More importantly, even if NeNe and Tony were pissed at the edited pre-taped package, the post-dance interview gives them an opportunity to reach their fans directly, unfiltered. And NeNe persisted in being an asshole even then. I think the fact is that NeNe simply is an asshole who lacks grace and class. She may be able to fake those qualities when she's getting what she wants. But when she perceives things aren't going her way, she reverts to her true self.

Has anyone confirmed that Kass actually has a law degree and doesn't simply equate "talking back to the TV while L.A. Law reruns play on Lifetime" with being a lawyer? Because just like her comment about "never losing a trial" from last week, I'm calling a big Bullshit on this "trial by ambush" comment. There's a little thing called "Discovery" that prevents that. At this point, I really hope Kass makes it to the FTC, because she'll be the most insufferable juror ever (and that's a tall order)! The frustrating thing is, she'll get carried to FTC as a goat and misconstrue it to take full credit for getting there based on her "strategy" and "gameplay".

I think NeNe's bitchface and attitude in the Celebriquarium was because she assumed that once Drew was announced safe she was the one being sent home. I also think the reason we saw her bitchiness to Tony in the pre-dance package was because TPTB want her sent home next. I'm a bit surprised by Cody going so soon. I agree that his fan-base probably doesn't overlap with the viewership of this show very much, but between the Social Media vote-begging, and the multiples ways (and extended time-window) for voting, his fans don't have to watch the show. I agree his elimination may be more a function of his pro not having her own established vote-base yet. I also agree with the wonky scoring this week. But, with the field this large, I don't think the Judges' scores really make much of a difference in the eliminations yet.

There was something weird about the way Flight Time handled the Roadblock. It seems like he thought the task was to simply determine the number of steps (and maybe he just assumed that the Roman Numerals on the obelisk provided that answer. Because every time someone told him the number of steps, he ran right back down and reported that to the clue-taker. But, if that's how he understood the task, why didn't he just count the steps himself as he ran up and down them multiple times? It made me wonder if he has some sort of problem with innumeracy or something. I just can't figure out why he wouldn't have been counting as he went up and down, if for no other reason than to double-check the answer the passers-by were giving him. In that same regard, while I agree that smartphones (and readily available internet-connected computer terminals, for that matter) have taken a lot of the challenge out of some of the tasks, didn't Flight Time get 3 or 4 different answers from people with smartphones?

I'm going to need to see some verification of Kass' "undefeated" trial record. Because, I've been a trial attorney for 20 years now, and the only litigators I know who've never lost a case . . . are the ones who've never tried a case. And, we've now seen several qualities from Kass that tend to make her awful at Survivor, and would make her awful as an attorney (but I'd love to play poker against her). She seems incapable of playing her hand close to her vest. First the outright told J'Tia she was voting for her, which helped foment the move to get rid of the Marlins guy. And last night she did basically the same thing with Sarah. She just can't not say what she's thinking. And, at the same time, she apparently can't conceive that other might not be saying what they're thinking. Specifically, Spencer and Tasha may not be "replacing" you with Sarah, they may be humoring Sarah to get her vote at this TC, so they'll preserve their numbers and be able to get rid of Sarah if necessary next week. Assuming a 3-player FTC, there will be an 8-person jury. That means someone will need at least 4 votes to win outright (if the other 2 finalists split the remaining 4 votes). Theoretically 3 votes would be enough for a 1st place tie. But that's never happened, and I don't think Kass will be the first to make it happen. And Kass just royally pissed off 5 people who have a very good chance of ending up on that jury. At this point, I'd say Kass' best move is to play for 3rd place money. Because If i were Tony or Trish, I'd love to have Kass up there at FTC with me.

When will these dummies learn that being the "swing vote" = "being at the bottom of two alliances"? Kass and Sarah were like two turkeys in mid-November fighting over who gets to get fattened up. Tonight's TC was worth just for the serial "oh-shit" facial expressions. And, as long as Morgan and Jefra are still on, more water challenges please!

I thought I heard Tom say last night's scores would be combined with next week's (and presumably with next week's viewer votes as well). That would make next week a non-elimination week. Then, apparently, at the beginning of the following week's show the stars will revert to their original partners. I assume it's the original partner who'll be eliminated along with the pro, but I'm not really sure. Did Tom ever actually announce that Billy Dee Williams was the lowest-vote-getter last night? In terms of adding a 4th judge, as I expect the guest judge didn't really deviate from the pack, score-wise, but when there was a split panel she was always on the side of the higher-scoring judge(s). Adding a 4th judge increases the total points awarded, and therefore gives TPTB slightly more influence on who goes home, because they can create a bit more room between teams, especially at the margins. But with a field that's still this big, it didn't make that much of a difference. Here are the average-adjusted scores from last night (the numbers in parentheses are the score the team would've had without the guest judge): Meryl: 12.54 (12.5) James/Danica/Amy/Charlie: 11.57 (11.64)* Cody: 11.25 (11.21) Candace: 10.29 (10.34)* NeNe: 9.97 (9.91) Drew: 9.65 (9.48) The teams whose scores go up without the guest judge's score included are those who got the same score from each judge. The teams whose score go down are those with a split panel. Since the guest judge awarded one of the higher scores, dropping her out hurts.

Given the Rachel and Brendan still made the same train as everyone else, even after her screw-up, suggests the race planners had to know that all of the teams would most likely make that train. Rendering the Roadblock . . . completely irrelevant to the outcome of the leg, let alone the race. And it seems like the first teams to complete the Roadblock did so relatively flawlessly. Rachel, by contrast, committed just about the worst screw-up that I think is possible on the task. And it still only set them back by less than 15 minutes. I'd like to see the tasks designed so that very good performance is rewarded with more than a 10 or 15 lead time on a team that really screws up. Maybe the Country Singers are just singing from TPTB's script. But, "it's a tough race because nobody makes mistakes?!?" They'd seen Rachel commit a colossal mistake. And they saw all three teams at the Paper Detour miss a crucial step in the task. In fact, this season we've seen pretty bad mistakes completely obliterated by travel bunching, and other teams eliminated due to pre-designed (or easily foreseeable) travel-separation.