LadyChatts

I don't mind the tribe switch ups (most of the time), but these 2 tribes seem ready to implode that it's been good drama. Like you, though, I am curious to see what the shake up will do to some of the colorful characters we have this season. This may actually be a saving grace for the likes of Mike, Shirin, Dan, and Will, who all seemed pegged to go next from their respective tribes. I think the episode description said something about "battle for power". Even though Mike and Joe seem close in real life, I could see those 2 clashing, along with Rodney and Dan. Actually, come to think of it, I think the men are going to have a harder time adapting than the women.

I'm wondering if Rodney crosses over into Dan territory with some inappropriate joke about women or single mothers. So maybe she's justified, even if it goes a little extreme. I'm actually kind of disappointed the tribes are mixing up this week. BC and WC might actually take themselves out if left together long enough.

I think that's what Vince was going for-get two of the weaker players into an alliance and pick off his biggest threats. Of course I felt it was more out of spite and a craze for control that made Vince target the "Barbie Pack" as he calls them, but it's nothing new on Survivor to get weaker players on your side. Nina had no social game and that was obvious. He got into her head and she was a pawn for him. I don't think she would have flipped on Vince if he didn't attempt to turn on her, but she would have gotten dragged along for however long he was in the game. I don't believe she would have stayed loyal to Joe, unless he was the one to bring her under his wing first. Although somehow I don't know if Nina would have asking for someone else to get the win. I could hear her jury speech now.

According to the newest promo, Kelly is the one injured in the challenge. Lindsey ups her level of crazy by telling Rodney if he was her son, she'd break off his jaw and feed it to him. Shirin confesses she learned how to kill a chicken but slaughtered a rabbit, to which Joaquin may correctly be calling her a sociopath (I guess So was on to something in her exit interviews about Shirin). NC must be living in true harmong since they didn't get anything in the promo, but they did get rid of their two biggest drama queens. http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/video/C80B2A5D-682C-5C51-E3FE-121403A19984/survivor-winner-winner-chicken-dinner-we-re-finally-playing-some-survivor-preview-/

There have only been 2 Kelly's I've liked on this show (Borneo and Africa), and one that I didn't like (Purple Kelly). Who I wouldn't have remembered at all had she not been a quitter. The other Kelly's, I couldn't even tell you if there were others and what seasons they are on. When googling Survivor after the last episode, I did have to laugh that two of the articles I ran across about Kelly had headlines such as "Kelly finally gets to speak" and "Kelly stays under the radar". I have a feeling she's in this game for the long haul, however. I would agree that Sierra is probably more invisible than Kelly, as I remember nothing about her or that she even got a confessional.

We know at least one challenge is the calling challenge, and this doesn't look like it would be part of that challenge. Unless they have a seperate reward/immunity challenge prior to the tribe swap in episode 4 (and I agree that they could have gotten the promo photos mixed up). I would also think they would only do one challenge during the tribe swap episode, since they like to focus on the dynamic shift there within the tribes. ETA: CBS had that photo on their site with the caption "the stage is set for the reward challenge" and it's marked episode 5. http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/photos/1003654/a-battle-for-power-will-shake-up-alliances-on-the-next-survivor/77335/reward-challenge/

I like him better than Rodney, Lindsey, and Dan. So I guess it's more a case of who annoys least more than actually liking him, but I'd rather he stick around over those 3, at least for now. Plus Rodney and Lindsey would probably blow their tops if Mike actually survived getting ousted over them. That often makes for good TV. Oddly the only 2 people I like on that tribe are the 2 girls that have barely had any screen time. It's hard to find anyone that likable in that group. Looking at the entire cast as a whole, Mike is definitely towards the bottom overall.

I don't mind Mike. Not my favorite, but I'd rank him 3rd on his tribe overall. I appreciate the fact that he has a strong work ethic, even if he doesn't go about it the right way in getting people to help him. But nothing new in the game of Survivor, some people are there to work all day, others treat it as the game that it is. Even without the blow ups with Rodney and Lindsey, I still think he was the second lowest man on the totem pole. Those incidents just helped him move down below Dan. Once a tribe shuffle happens, I could actually see him getting along better with some of the other cast offs, especially those that might share his work ethic a little more. Unless he pulls a Vince and gets all crazy about being the sole provider and getting a pat on the back. Besides him and Joe, I don't see the others doing a heck of a lot around their camps, so maybe he'll just be back to yelling at whoever he's with for being lazy. I do wonder if the blue collars will regret not throwing a challenge when the tribe swap happens, especially if Mike suddenly winds up in a better position than some of his tribe mates that were itching to get him voted off. Could be like the very first tribe swap we ever had in Africa, when Silas got the boot after winding up with the very people he was going to target.

Judging from this promo image, it looks like it is simply blue and red http://survivorfever.net/images30/s30_press_images_ep5/s30_press_images_ep5_0002.jpg But from this one, it looks like there's still yellow/red/blue http://survivorfever.net/images30/s30_press_images_ep5/s30_press_images_ep5_0001.jpg So maybe they have a sep. RC/IC and swap after the RC? I personally would rather lose someone from the blue collar tribe, but I guess white collar isn't a huge loss.

That's exactly what I'm thinking. I don't have a lot of faith when it comes to twists on this show, mainly because they usually do suck and end up screwing over my favorites. It seemed like a twist Jeff actually liked from the interview I had read. Since he said they had toyed with using it for awhile, I didn't know if maybe there was an unused twist out there from another season that someone might remember. I am intrigued, though.

What I find interesting about So is that she seemed onboard with Shirin in the beginning, and said that's why she targeted Carolyn (among other reasons). Now it seems like she's saying the opposite in terms of what she thought of them. In terms of alliance, I don't know who Max is loyal to. He voted along with Shirin/Carolyn/Tyler in the first boot, but I wondered if that was more getting into what he might have perceived as a weaker alliance where he could call the shots. So wasn't a good gamer from the one episode we saw her in, though given a chance she might have been. The fact that she outed their alliance might have also made her seem like a liability to him. If he thinks there's a tighter bond with Tyler and Carolyn, he might flip to Shirin and Joaquin. Max gives me a vibe that he thinks he's a bigger game player than he probably is, but will want control. With a tribe swap on the horizon, that might be what Shirin needs to stay in the game. At any rate, aside from the BC ladies, I'm liking the remaining female contestants. Shirin is fun to watch.

I put this in the spoiler thread, but since it's not spoiler-y, I guess I can put it here-if someone is injured during the first challenge next week (or what I'm assuming is the first challenge), then would they even have a TC? If the person is injured before the winners are declared and they have to stop, that is. Maybe that's the reason for the 2 episodes next week, no one goes home in the first hour, then they do the swap and eliminate someone then. Of course I haven't heard of any double elimination this season or anyone being pulled due to injury, so I may be wrong on that. I would think they'd have to have a double elimination at some point to make up for not booting someone in the first hour, if that were to happen.

From the challenge photos I saw on Survivor Fever, it looks like the yellow tribe is being dismantled, as I only saw red and blue at that challenge set up. I think I saw someone post it here that between Hali and Jenn, only one of them was likely to make the merge, and that they guessed it'd be Hali. While I'd love a final 3 of Jenn/Joe/Hali, I'm inclined to agree that Hali probably outlasts both of them. Joe and Jenn are my two favorites so I'm hoping they do make it far, at least to the jury (I think Jenn might give a good speech or have interesting questions). But I can see Hali's game being more under the radar, whereas I don't think that will be the case with Jenn (still saying she gets blindsided). And Joe will be too much of a threat. But who knows. Tribe swaps and idols and the actual merge can do a lot of alliance and loyalty shifting in this game. I wonder if NC will go into the swap with 3 members or if they'll manage to win the challenge. Actually, if they have to stop the challenge for a medical reason, would they even do a TC if no one was declared the winner yet? So maybe NC goes into the tribe swap intact with their 4 members. If next week is the "best episode of the season", that's like saying the rest of the season will be the same old boring stale Survivor where boots are obvious and no one does any game play. Also, at the start of the season, Jeff had said in an interview that they were doing something this season they had never done before, but had thought about for many seasons, and it would impact the game. Jeff being Jeff he essentially played coy and said he was leaving it at that. Any idea what he might have been talking about? ETA: I checked out Survivor Fever again, and they have more screen shots from the promos next week. In their voiceover transcript they have Sierra saying "my old tribe is dead to me." Not sure who she winds up with, but I guess we know who she's not aligning with when they are reunited at the merge. Also looks like Joaquin, Tyler, Shirin, and Joe make it to that point.

I think that was a no-win for the girls. Don't ask her, they're ignoring her. Ask her, and she probably would have felt they were mocking her in some way. That whole blow up seemed like she was just seeking attention, and she got it. Vince's plan was to get in her head and turn her against the others, and he obviously did a good job of it. Too bad it backfired on him and he aligned with the one person on his tribe that inadvertently got him booted. Aside from saying the girls ignored her, Nina said she heard everything from Vince about what they were saying about her. She doesn't seem to get it that he might have been lying for strategy reasons. If there wasn't a tribe swap or merge on the horizon, I feel like Nina would have just up and quit and found someone to blame for it. Even Jeff didn't seem to think she'd be able to handle it, in his pre-game assessment. I could possibly believe her that she had this conversation with Joe about how well she'd perform in challenges, though I doubt it was as bad as she's making it out to be. And if he was worried she'd perform poorly, he was right. Though her hearing had nothing to do with it, so that's where he would have been wrong if that's what he meant (for now, next week's challenge is probably what they were worried about). I'm glad she was voted off, for various reasons, but seeing her getting carried through this season playing victim would have worn super thin real fast. I think this season has a lot of potential with some good people left who could actually make the effort to play the game. CBS also has every Survivor season up on their website, though I don't know if they had that uploaded before this season started filming. Regardless, between that, DVDs, the various social media, and old fashioned research, there's no reason not to know your Survivor stuff or stay up on top of the seasons. Nina probably could have learned a lot just googling the Amazon season and finding old interviews with Christy and the cast.

I'm believing more and more that Nina didn't do much to adapt to her tribe, and maybe that's why they gave up trying to adapt to her. I also question if maybe she's embellishing just how bad they were to her out there. She's got an audience now, without her tribe to speak up. She has a worse concept on this game than I thought, for someone who said she's watched for many years. Last week I thought she relished in the attention she got from Vince and Will over her outburst to Jenn and Hali (who both seemed somewhat caught off guard by it). Jenn was right: she enjoys having someone coddle her. Different tribe, different season, would have probably still been the same Nina.

The episode was good, up until the challenge and NC falling apart. The only thing that might have made it slightly less predictable is if Nina did survive over Will. But even then, it was obvious the vote was going to be one of them. But even the best seasons of Survivor have episodes here and there that aren't good compared to the rest of the season. I'm also curious if Jeff's pre-season hype comes true or not. Right now it's too early to tell. I like this cast a lot, and am really curious for the tribe swap to happen and to see what ends up aligning with who. I just hope Rodney and Lindsey get the boot soon. I don't care to see them make the merge and be on the jury (or worse, make it to the end and possibly win). I agree with those who say that even if NC loses another IC and goes into the swap with 3 members, they are still in a good position. Numbers don't always matter like they did once upon a time, especially later in the game and with idols, blindsides, and twists happening. The whole numbers thing and tribes sticking together until the other tribe was completely voted off made for some boring early seasons. I liked when contestants actually made a move and shook things up. I enjoyed seeing more of the team dynamics this week, especially over at BC. I felt like up until this week, I only remembered Dan from that tribe (and not for reasons I wanted to). They're another tribe that intrigues me, since this week it was Rodney/Lindsey vs Mike/Dan, and next week Lindsey goes off Rodney. I don't have an impression on Sierra or Kelly yet (has Sierra even had a confessional?) Kelly is barely on the radar. I have a feeling, though, that BC goes into the merge with the most numbers. Shirin, I'm trying to figure out if acting like a crazy person is just her or strategy. Either way, I like her. Her social game isn't that great, but I wonder if calling Joaquin out has more to do with the fact that she feels in a good position on her tribe. I'm assuming she and Carolyn think he's the next to go if they lose a challenge. Could just be her personality, too, which I can admire. Joaquin comes off as a grade-A douche. His first confessional about women and boozing it up makes me think he'll blow his money just like Fabio did after Nicaragua. In a tribe swap, I think Jenn/Joe could be targets from NC though I believe Hali and Will could skate on through the merge. Hard to say with BC, but a tribe swap could be what Mike and Dan need to survive. Much like Will, no one will consider Dan a physical threat. Unlike Will, Dan doesn't seem to have much game and shoots his mouth off. But why not have someone sitting next to you in the end that's managed to offend the entire jury? WC it's hard to say. I wouldn't mind losing Max, as I think he's more about building some everlasting character that Survivor fans will forever reference, especially when they are making comparisons with new players to old ones. Carolyn has the idol and may need to use it during a tribe swap, but I'm sticking with she goes pre-merge and is blindsided. I like Tyler, and he might be being underestimated as a player. No one has really done or said anything yet that's overly offended me or turned me off. At least, the people still in the game. The people I didn't like have already gotten the boot.

They've announced they are filming in Cambodia the next 2 seasons, so I assume we are good until Survivor 33. Not sure if it's been renewed beyond that (in the past it seemed like they re-newed 2 seasons at a time, since that got them through the TV calender year). Survivor is still performing well in the ratings and the demo, so I don't see CBS letting it go just yet. https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/tvs-survivor-to-drop-contestants-on-koh-rong-78675/ ETA: Here's some snippets from the above article. The location is the tropical island resort of Koh Rong: I am very excited about this location. No offense to San Juan Del Sur, but I'm ready for some new scenery. The French version of Survivor was filming there, and there is a trailer for that season out there that makes me very excited for our version. Sadly, that season in France was cancelled during filming due to the death of a contestant. I had remembered hearing about that, but had forgotten about it until it was brought up in the article above.

Probably won't be long before they just supply them with surf boards. They give them everything else. I feel like the house guests on Big Brother are more deprived.

I can only imagine Nina's emotions and rant when she arrived. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that. I've always wished we got footage of the pre-merge boots at Ponderosa, before they're whisked off to wherever they go for the rest of the game. So being so confident her tribe would be weak without her, then getting to see her reaction to Vince and Nina coming in next. She was far from my favorite person this season, and I'm glad she got voted off first (even if she had potential for drama and perhaps clashes with people from the other tribes). But I do feel sorry for her, in that she got an unlucky break twice. Who knows if she'd ever get a 3rd chance, since this game isn't that kind to bringing early boots back for alumni seasons (though if Francesca got another shot I guess anything is possible). I wish those ladies hadn't just accepted that a woman had to go first, but rallied together to vote one of the guys off. Of course Joaquin pretty much let So take the fall for their lie, so there was that issue. And So outing her alliance at the very first TC was as dumb as Nina telling Will that Vince was gunning for him.

I really thought Hali would be one of the girls this season who disappeared after the premiere, only to re-emerge deep into the merge and you wonder where she came from. I'm pretty impressed with her so far. She does seem nice, and while I didn't think "law student" equaled "no collar" (but that's the theme of the season, a lot of these people don't fit their assigned collar), she hit the nail on the head last night in her speech to Nina about adapting and fitting in. I didn't know if she'd have much game in her, but she seems to at least understand the social aspect of the game. She strikes me as someone that'll likely get along with just about everyone left.

They don't even seem to be looking. Considering NC has dwindling numbers, I'm sure we'll see the scramble coming up to look for it (especially Will-he has to know he's next). But yeah, that is surprising that Carolyn was the only one to have found it, and WC is the only tribe shown looking.

Ah, so she's the crazy screaming one. The Lindsey's I can remember being on this show all seem to have the same personality around camp-loud, confrontational, acting like they're the hardest worker and the biggest asset to lose. Except they're just a lot of hot air. She will probably be good for drama down the road, especially mixing with the other tribes if she makes it that far. I can see why she's the only BC girl to have gotten as much screen time as she has. If she makes the jury, she's my pick to give the super bitter speech.

I agree that it's too early too tell, but I'm enjoying it. Jeff has do to do the "best season ever!" hype, I agree. But something about the hype this time seems like he really means it. Of course I don't usually agree with their definition of best, greatest, etc., so I may the one most disappointed at the end. The Survivor era of seasons 20-29 were pretty dull and forgettable for me (with about 3 exceptions in there), so it could also be why I think this season is so good so far. I got the impression Jeff's hype came from the long term game, when alliances shift and personalities mix and clash, and idols and blindsides will be weekly. For now, though, I am enjoying it. We'll see, as some of my favorites look to be the ones in most trouble moving forward.

At least she's having fun. Yet another reason I hate the whole "collar" theme this season. Big wig exec or not, she's far more NC than Nina ever was (and I'd probably argue more NC free spirited than Hali and Will). A little weird, but could be strategy. Or just getting that it's a game and embracing it, before it's over and you go back to corporate America. I still say she outlasts Carolyn to be the last remaining woman from WC standing (just a hunch, she gives me that vibe she could do well). The fact that Tyler made such a big deal about her painting a target on her back and the blow up with Joaquin makes me believe that she's probably safe for the time being. I could see her getting along well with the remaining NC group, and maybe some of the ladies on BC (that I have yet to remember).

I'm still liking Carolyn, but I think her strategy of sitting back last night while everyone looked for the idol is going to make her a target. Even Tyler was towing the line of playing dumb and looking for an idol that was already found. She will probably follow the Survivor tradition of getting blindsided with the idol in her pocket. Should the WC tribe lose another challenge before the tribe swap/merge, she probably assumes Joaquin will be the target since he was on the outs of the alliance. Seemed a little too comfortable last night. I am still glad she's here, though. Wonder if So regrets not trying to team with the two ladies and Joaquin instead of the alliance that ultimately booted her out first now that she sees how well they are doing.