LadyChatts

I feel like his teeth are so white to the point that they almost glow. Looking at his family, I think he got lucky with the gene pool.

I believe the link for that interview is on the previous page (it was a pre-season one, where he mentioned all his favorites of the past seasons). I meant to say floaters, the types that are scooped up into an alliance because they appear to have no game. But yes, some people may have to be more aware of being obnoxious since it could get them targeted, physically strong or not. Not having that security every week, or however long your tribe lasts, might make you more inclined to step up and try to control your own destiny. However, that in reality may be more likely to keep those types around, and make people less likely to open up and do anything big. Yeah, every way I look at it, I'm glad it's never been attempted because it would make even the worst Survivor seasons look good. And I think of this season, and the tribal dynamics and strategies we have seen. Some of which failed spectacularly on those wanna-be schemers (Vince, Max). I don't always agree with the twists on here, and depending what this twist is and who it ends up benefiting may make me loathe it. Actually, that's usually what I hate more than the twist itself is when it ends up benefiting the person I loathe most and who becomes completely overrated by Probst's hype. I will say that there was a time when I was tired of the idols, and tribe swaps, and thought a twist for the contestants would be to have no twists at all because they would be expecting something. Watching the early years of Survivor, I think the idol has definitely changed the game for the better. Without that or tribe swaps, all we saw was one tribe make an alliance and take another tribe out after the merge.

I do (begrudgingly) have to agree with him about the ladies not sidestepping that one obstacle, when everyone else was. That could be on Sierra not directing them around it. Of course hearing Jeff screech that he doesn't understand why they are going under when everyone else is going around should have tipped them off. However, I also don't care for the contestants sitting out of the challenge that elected to do so criticizing those who did participate (and I'd say that even if they were elected by their tribe to sit out whether they wanted to or not). You might not have been any better! At any rate, I feel as though Mike has a very holier-than-thou opinion of himself. He wins his tribe one challenge, he plays big man by eating a scorpion and a snake, he's the worker bee that can preach about all the wood he's gathered, and he's got his crazed fan Dan following his every word. I agree he's the more tolerable of the 3 original men on that tribe, but I don't know if that's saying much. I think he's better at censoring himself.

I used to want that idea, just for the very fact that I thought it might actually make people have to play the game from day 1. Just do a One World where they all live together, but each episode they pick buffs and that's the tribe they compete on. I thought it would get rid of the goats earlier, and may be a saving grace to some people on the losing end of an alliance early on before there's a tribe swap/merge. I didn't think about the physically strong getting booted first, but I ultimately didn't like the idea because it'd be a nightmare trying to remember who everyone is. In a three tribe format it can take me several episodes to begin identifying who's who, especially the people we have this season like Sierra and Kelly who've barely had any screen time up until this past week. I couldn't imagine everyone not only on the same beach, but no one tribe to identify them at first. And, I'd miss the dynamics. I feel like we've missed out this season so far on what's been going down at the other tribes, given some of the exit interviews of contestants.

From a link in the episode thread, here is what Jeff had to say about the twist this season. http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/24/jeff-probst-names-his-favorite-survivor-winner-non-winner-twist-challenge-and ETA: Here is the episode description for this week: We already know that the person not fitting in is Shirin. The second part of that intrigues me. There hasn't been much to the promos so far.

I've heard speculation that it might be either extra votes at tribal, or something that Big Brother did with the coup d'etat where someone wins the right to overthrow one vote at TC. It's pure speculation, but if Jeff calls it a jump-the-shark moment, that would fit the bill. I sincerely hope it's neither of those, but he did say it's something they've never done and it changes the game. I figured the merge was coming up. I'm hoping even more that the BC tribe loses this week. Maybe if Mike and his bro Dan sense the merge is on the horizon, they throw the challenge to break up the bros Joaquin and Rodney. Most places I've looked for spoilers seem to say that Carolyn and Joaquin are the last 2 pre-jury boots.

I feel like you can only jump that shark one too many times before people say enough. I don't know what this twist is, though I've seen ideas elsewhere online. If it's any of those, then yeah, it'll just be another stupid lame twist that either royally screws someone and probably benefits one of Probst's man crushes this season. In regards to Yul, Ozzy was my favorite to win and I still would have loved to have seen a win for him. But I think Yul played a good game that deserved the win, and I do find his victory underrated. He's someone I've always wanted to see return years later just to see how he'd play a second go round. Was Cook Islands that last season where contestants could play the idol after the vote was read? I always figured that's why Yul got lucky never having to use it.

I don't think the idea of wanting to play the game is wrong. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people come on board, get into an alliance, and let someone else just run the show and drag them to the end. Or said-goat gets voted off when they aren't needed anymore, and had passed up opportunities to make moves. I think it was more the arrogance that I didn't like reading in that interview, and after last week of Max and his 'so excited for tribal! We're finally playing Survivor!', I'm glad I don't have to listen to anymore confessionals about how he's going to brilliantly destroy the game and make history. In regards to Max wanting camera time vs wanting to win, I believe it's both: he went in wanting to do anything and everything for camera time, obviously overestimated his Survivor knowledge in game play, but I fully believe he wanted and expected to win (or at the very least make the jury). And thank god he didn't make it that far, because that would have been a jury moment worth muting. In reading some exit interviews with him, if Max hadn't been so worried about creating some sort of legacy that will now never be, maybe he would have been a little more in tune to what was going on around him. I believe he may have bought too deep into the "get an alliance of weaklings and you'll control the game" that has worked for people before him. I almost wish we could have seen a WC tribal before the swap, because that might have been even more fantastic than this past week.

I'm very interested to see more of Tyler. Max seemed to be under the impression that he had an alliance with Tyler/Shirin/Carolyn, but the way Tyler tells it in a CBS vid, he was loyal to Carolyn/Joaquin and found Max/Shirin annoying. He doesn't do much for me yet, though I'd much rather he stick around over most of the remaining men in this game.

If Lindsey is right in saying Rodney was a lot worse with his comments, I'm wondering if that was the tip of the iceberg of what went down at tribal. I really hope those comments get touched on at the reunion show. Regardless, I am glad Jeff, in his host-like way, did give them a little smack down over it. Lindsey was meh for me, so I'm not sorry she's gone. But if it could have been Rodney, I would have glad kept her and her loose temper around. That would have been more entertaining than Rodney's sexist take on women and his bromances.

Now I really wish we got video of the pre-merge crowd. That may be more entertaining than the actual show each week. I didn't like So, but I kind of wish she was still around. Not at the expense of Carolyn, but I would have liked to have seen her mesh with the other ladies.

Most of the previews I've seen thus far have focused way more on the blue collar team, but considering it's a budding bromance, that may be why. I am hoping that it means they end up heading to tribal. I was thinking that if it was a more logical challenge, Nagarote might have a chance. However, if puzzles are involved, we've seen how fast Joe gets through them. I don't know if I would say it's rigged. They may have had to change them up to make it more balanced, but it'd hardly be the first time they had to dial back the challenge because of one tribe having an advantage over another. And who knows, it may not even work. So blue Esce-whatever might still have a victory. I'm all for more multi-step and logical/less physically demanding tasks. I like when they mix it up.

She did win that challenge for them. Sierra is no physical liability so Dan is completely full of it. Even though he's performed better than I expected him to, he's about the last person to be criticizing someone else's challenge performance. I think all the women are holding their own out there physically, but Sierra appears to be the strongest. I don't know if Sierra was the right person to be the caller in the first RC, since Lindsey had to yell back at her to talk louder. But maybe they should have put Lindsey, Dan, or Rodney's big mouths up there instead. I bet Sierra waits until the merge to make her move of getting rid of her former BC tribemates. In a new promo she again mentions how much she doesn't like some of her former tribe mates, but my guess is she makes it seem as though she's with them and then finds new avenues come merge time. I really can't see her sticking with Rodney/Dan/Mike and even Kelly, if she goes back to them (and assuming they all make the merge).

Reading this little bit makes me even happier he got the boot. Hype can be an ugly thing, especially when you believe your own. I still can't believe for a guy that is such a super fan he seemed to have no concept of the game at all.

To touch on this part of your post, I am hopeful, too. I guess it's the worst case scenario that I tell myself will happen, so it won't sting so much if it does. And I am more than happy to be proven wrong, of course. I just don't have a ton of faith in Probst & co. I don't know if Jeff's words at tribal sunk in to Mike or if he's just more socially aware than I thought, but I did think it was smart of him to realize that maybe you need to at least pretend to be nice the very people that hold your fate in their hands. Dan just reminds me of the annoying sidekick who idolizes "the star", follows him around, hangs onto his every word and nods in agreement. And then tries to pretend the plans they come up with were also his doing. Dan doesn't have much game, I think when Mike is out he won't be far behind, if he didn't already get the boot. After this past episode I realized that I don't even begin to know half of what was going on out there, especially reading post boot interviews and watching the extra CBS vids. So maybe there's a silver lining in all of that and we do end up with a good season. In the majority of cases, the even numbered seasons of Survivor have always been among my all time favorites, with the odd numbered ones being my least favorites (give or take). We shall see where this one falls in the end. I am liking this season more than others seem to be, and don't think it's a horrible cast. The men are horrible, except Joe and Tyler (heck, even Joaquin isn't looking too shabby next to Rodney and Dan). Joe's the only one I want to see as last man standing, but I won't be surprised if his boot is on the horizon. But I'm all about the ladies this year. I equally hope that Sierra sticks it to the men and doesn't just go along with the majority, because she's a long way from the final 3. And there's never a guarantee that people will vote for you. Kelly, I'm also hopeful being away from the 3 men will do her some good and make her realize she's got better options out there. Sometimes, though, hype is its own worst enemy. Obviously Probst can't go out and say "this season sucked but watch it anyway" or "yeah, dull episode, but don't forget to watch!" I think the more hype he throws on something, the more of a letdown it can seem. I can totally see why he liked this episode, though calling it the best of the season...well, I still think the premiere was the best so far, but that's just me :) The first hour seemed to fly by. The boot wasn't a surprise. The tie vote was, but was that more in case of an idol or because the men thought they were big s**t for pulling off a tie that didn't need to be? At any rate, glad Jeff seemed to scold them a bit. I was happy to see Jenn take the opportunity to find the idol, and hope it does work out how she's hoping (I love Jenn and that would be gold). Happy to see the Max blindside, that TC was the best so far, but the rest of the episode was meh. I do wonder if we'll ever see that blindfold challenge again.

If a BC male wins, I'm going with Mike. I don't know that I'd say he's likable, but probably the least offensive of the men over there. And from the start, something about him just screamed 'winner' to me. I don't know what it was exactly and still don't. Didn't Lindsey say, in the very first episode when the tribes were all introduced, that the winner was on that mat? Someone from the tribe said it I think. I guess if we start seeing any sort of redemption edit with those 3, then we know what's up :( If any of the BC tribe wins, I'm hoping it's Kelly or Sierra. Even if they decide to go with the 3 offensive oafs, I can understand their thinking. I just don't want to see anymore of those stupid cocky smirks like we saw last night when they voted Lindsey off.

If that's the case I really hope they continue to call Rodney out for what he is. He deserves to have all his racist, bigoted, and sexist remarks out on display if he's so proud of himself (and loves the haters, as he's currently proclaiming on his Twitter). I guess on the plus side there's no possible way he wins. I suppose when his time comes to do the post-show interviews, he'll probably do a lot of grand standing over those remarks and not back down. I'm wondering if maybe Rodney was just a tad too close to his mama growing up, and maybe didn't realize we're not in the 18th century anymore. If Mike/Dan/Rodney end up in control and go the distance, this season is dead to me. But they seem to be some of the very characters Probst likes, so now all this pre-season hype is making sense.

That's what I like about her and Jenn's dynamic, is that they both seem to be calling the shots. Not Jenn says 'do this', and Hali follows or vice versa. They debate and talk things over about what's in each others best interest to move forward. I have a feeling there's way more game playing and scheming going on with those two than we're seeing. I guess I need to follow my own rule about editing and give some of these people more credit. I thought Kelly decided to go along with the group so as not to stand out. I didn't realize she was in on breaking up Max/Shirin so early, either! Oh, and her facial expressions at tribal council crack me up.

From another video, Tyler mentions his alliance as being with Joaquin and Carolyn. He doesn't seem to have any use for Max and especially Shirin. So given what Max said in the above article about Tyler being his boy and not wanting to lose him, apparently he was way less observant than he realized. And even I misread what exactly was happening over at WC. The move to get rid of Max seems to make more sense now. He might have been in for a rude awakening at the merge when he tried to take out Joe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG7uc4tu1ns

Hali is yet another of my favorites, and maybe it's for that very reason that I'm having trouble seeing any "mean girl" attitudes coming from her/them. I mean, if it's Nina, yeah, maybe people could go there. But that was situation was two-fold. Hali certainly wouldn't be the first to say she's glad someone got the boot, because it's probably way less stressful back at camp. Sometimes strong morale is all you need. And Nina was way more likely to flip than Will, so they can have that little bit of security. I'm enjoying Hali, and I love that she seems to be genuinely enjoying it out there. I'm happy to see a strong female pair, and I'm hoping that they both go the distance. With all the talk of power couples and then Jenn talking about the idol screwing up someone's game, I worry that's an omen of what might come. I don't often say this, but I really like all of the women left. Should the red tribe lose another challenge, I wouldn't put it past their remaining tribe members to potentially break them up, especially with Joe over at blue.

Every time I see either of them, and now especially forming the bond, all I can think of was 'did they get lost trying to find the Big Brother house?' Because they seem way more suited for that show. Seeing Joaquin's name actually surprised me, since I had also seen it speculated he made it far, and I figured he was probably the victim of the swap. If the blue tribe sees Max gone, they may actually decide to target him or Tyler simply to get the former WC numbers down at the merge. Having the bromance with Rodney likely won't help his cause. I find Rodney way more obnoxious and irritating and would much rather see him go first, but I can't say I'd miss Joaquin at all, either.

From this post boot interview (sorry, I thought I put it was from an interview and not on the actual show): http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2015/03/19/survivor-castaway-max-the-reads-i-had-on-carolyn-were-so-off/

I also felt bad for her when they got back to camp. It's why I was a little giddy when the swap happened, and she wound up in the position that she did. I really wish she could have wound up on the red tribe, because I'd love to see her interact with the other girls. She mentioned in a CBS vid that she was debating sticking with her old tribe or going with the new guys-mainly because she knows there's no way any of Mike/Dan/Rodney are likely to get votes in the end. Which I can totally understand, and I have nothing against thinking ahead. I just hope she heads towards the light of the other people, and leaves her old tribe in the dust. Sierra appears strong in challenges, so she could be a potential threat come merge time as well. However, she seems smart and since last night was the first time I remember anything about her, I'm hopeful. I do like her, I'll just be curious what she ends up doing. She's in a swing vote spot, but I hope she doesn't pull the Survivor error of believing she's the only one in the driver's seat and it comes down to her. She may end up getting surprised that way.

I guess I don't really see why Carolyn targeting Max was a bad idea. As some other people have already said, having Max over Shirin isn't likely going to make a bit of difference in the challenges, considering who they are up against. Hopefully the challenges are less physical moving forward, but I think this tribe is going into the merge outnumbered regardless. There's always people at the bottom of an alliance. Carolyn no doubt took out someone that was a threat to her in the long run, and gained brownie points with Jenn/Hali/Will. Kelly may even realize sticking with them is a smarter idea than going back to her former tribemates. Max didn't seem to even try in the challenge last night. He didn't need to throw it, but I felt that was Max's game the entire time: become a character, create moments, be remembered, take out the the bigger personalities so you get credit. I don't believe she has any loyalty to Joaquin; that seemed to be a Tyler sub-alliance. Someone is always going to be on the bottom. It seems this season people are more observant about that and looking for those very people. Get the bottom feeder misfits together and you'll have a majority. At this point, I wouldn't even count Shirin out next week should her tribe lose.

I was disappointed that Joe got swapped over to the other tribe, but maybe it'll end up benefiting him in the long run. Obviously Sierra already mentioned being on the outs, and Joaquin and Tyler may need him. Assuming of course this tribe actually loses anymore challenges. I do worry that he's deemed too much of a threat and will get sacked before the merge, but I'm hoping Rodney's budding bromance detours that. Or maybe he'll get lucky and find the idol in the blue camp. He kills in the challenges. Between that, being likable, and bringing the pretty, I feel like he's almost too perfect to be human. It seemed like Max had his sights set on taking Joe out. Glad that's one Survivor accomplishment he won't be able to gloat about.