simplyme

Well, the two people on this show I think were completely screwed were Heather and Herman. Everyone else had to directly lose an elimination challenge to go home. I may not have thought those elimination challenges were evenly stacked, mind you, but they at least had a chance to save themselves. God, this show sucks. I mean, I actually liked Gigi, and I certainly don't think she should be disqualified from winning because she happened to be the young, tiny girl on the stacked team of big, buff guys so she never saw action in an individual challenge until the end. That certainly wasn't her fault. But it does point to some (well, some other, cause we've certainly mentioned numerous ones) problems with the structure of the competition. Hannah was certainly edited to appear as an emotional roller coaster. I mean, there are people who cry easily but just sort of keep going on because they know that's just how their body reacts. She just gives in to it. Exhausting. That said, pulling a snake out of your pocket is generally a dick move. I say this as someone with no fear of snakes but plenty of family friends who served in wars that left them petrified of snakes. It's a very common phobia for both men and women. If there is a next season, and if it has the same premise as this season, I'm pretty sure that's a pass for me. I'll find some other fake dreck tonwatch. :P Also, although glad that Gigi can pay off her debts (although they never say how much they are), I've always sort of believed that no one should NEED to be given a huge sum of money. Want it? Sure. Make life easier? Definitely. But if you're so in debt that you *need* a big hunk of cash, you are probably one of the last people who *should* get it for your own good since you're really, really bad at financial decisions (barring certain situations like medical emergencies). I don't know if Gigi falls in this category or not, but it kind of sounded like it from the bits they said.

Wait. Are we looking at the same trailer? The one that's embedded in this thread? It goes from Jesse yelling for Shannon/ to a shot of blurry greenery with some coastline vaguely viewable/ to a profile of Brody's (?I think?) face on the side of the screen with more greenery/ to the words "survive as a team"/ to side-by-side shots of a Baird tossing the crab trap out of their boat and someone male fishing/ to the Bairds celebrating by the fire post duck-kill/ to the words "outlast the others"/ to nightvision Jim cutting his thumb by carving towards himself/ to dayvision bloody thumb head-off-screen man/ to men carrying what looks like a stretcher and onward... I see no Brooke collapsing in there. Am I somehow missing it despite my obsessive attempts at rewatching frame by frame or is there another, similar trailer? My God, I need a life.

I think Jerri would have had Coach's vote. I would guess the rest would go to Sandra in that scenario, but we'll never know.

The stretcher could have been Shannon. With the way he injured his back, they brought in a stretcher to evac him. You are much better at noticing things in trailers than I am. Where is the shot of Brooke dropping? The cut thumb is definitely male. They don't show the face, but the hand does look a bit weathered, so I'd say either Pete or maybe Dave. (Of course, I'm not sure anyone has hands that don't look old in those conditions.) I'm not as familiar with Dave's weather gear as Pete's, but they're both dark. So my best guess is Pete with a possibility of Dave.

They could be doing that and we just aren't being shown it, especially since Sam in particular pointed out its presence as he hiked in to join his father. It's also possible that a few of them are going a bit easier on the seaweed (like maybe the Bairds) since one of them got sick on it. Apparently the high iodine content can cause some issues. From http://www.livestrong.com/article/470501-what-are-side-effects-of-eating-seaweed/: "Depending on the type of seaweed you choose, it could be quite high in iodine. The tolerable upper intake level for iodine for adults is 1.1 grams per day, but some types of dried seaweed can provide as much of this mineral as 4.5 grams in a 1/4-cup serving. Too much iodine could cause you to develop an enlarged thyroid, called a goiter, by increasing the amount of thyroid-stimulating hormone your body produces. It can also cause skin problems, including an acne-like rash, and gastrointestinal issues, such as nausea, diarrhea and vomiting."

I grew up in western NY state. It wasn't that unusual to see a car with Ontario plates going through, and one thing we noticed is that Ontario drivers tend to drive fast. Really fast. Now that I've seen Jim and Ted in action, I can't stop picturing them as kids in the back of the family car. Yeah, I'd be doing 90, too. Anything to shorten that trip with them.

What are we counting as deserve? I figure this is set up for Herman to win. He's had a great edit. He's made it through three challenges (two double eliminations), he's always shown hugging people and being supportive, we didn't actually see him talk about Alison but only help resolve that, and Cena brought in his parents special so that he could face his issues with them. So we got to see him conquer his fear of disappointing his parents and choose to be his own man. *eye roll* Oh, and he dispatched George and Carla, who set up as the two other athletic Goliaths. No way anyone else is winning this thing. Everyone else has had negative sides of their personalities shown. Herman the fake Native American got the Golden Boy edit.

I pretty much see Brooke/Dave winning this. The editors will make it suspenseful, but if they weren't winning, they wouldn't have been in every single episode. I don't think Sam/Pete even showed up until episode three. The Baird brothers are the comedic relief. They only win if packs of crazed predators or natural disasters take out the other two teams in the next week or so.

Yeah. That was annoying as hell. To be fair, though, ANW practically requires ninjas to have a sob story or inspirational story now if they want to get on. I was really sick of Grant by the end of the first year, but since then he's actually become one of my favorite ninjas because he doesn't keep talking about his late mother and he's incredibly supportive of others. But yeah... that first year. Ugh. I had a strong aversion to him due to the coverage. I think it's a testament to him that I no longer feel that.

The problem with that is that then the advantage goes to people with smaller caloric needs per day and/or slower metabolisms. Also, either way, weight gain or loss just isn't the same between different people. Two people who eat the same amount and types of food and do the same amount of work may have very different results in terms of weight gain or loss. There are multiple genes and enzymes involved, and they're just starting to understand how they all work. It's not like last season's winner, Fowler, sat around on his butt and played the waiting game.

Um, yeah. There are a LOT of reasons why war is horrible and leaves lifelong scars on people. Frankly, I don't really think a TV show for entertainment should be anywhere near that difficult.

IMO, as far as I can tell, Chris wanted to address the issue with someone who he thought was his friend so that she would know it was happening. Having been the person talked about before, I imagine he felt not telling Alison would have been a betrayal and she would have been upset with him when she discovered what people were saying. Also, he could attempt to tell her in a more matter-of-fact, gentle, and less public way than she might otherwise find out and thus give her time to deal with her reaction and prepare a plan to handle what was going on. I don't see a thing wrong with what Chris did, especially since I don't recall him using the word "everyone." I believe he said "people are saying..." which is pretty general. I pretty much think that in a situation like this, where you are at a camp with people you haven't known for an excessively long time, just about anything you say behind someone's back should be something you are willing to say to their face. If not, don't say it. But really, if you're talking to everyone in camp about someone and they find out? That's on you. Hannah's "I had to have a conversation I didn't want to have because of you!" reaction made me want to smack her. Sure. We all want to be able to do stuff we shouldn't without repercussions, but that's not life. Suck it up. As to mental illness... I don't see how they could do a single very special episode on such a broad, varied, complex topic, but God, I hope they don't try. They'll just slaughter it. Now if Hannah had said to Chris something like, "I don't like Alison" when they were one on one and it was obviously something she'd said in confidence and didn't want Alison to know, she'd have a reason to be upset. But that wasn't the case. People were gossiping in groups about Alison's character, not saying things in confidence. So people getting mad at Chris was solely because they were uncomfortable with having to face the ramifications of their own actions. Too bad.

I don't dislike Brandon. I think he has some serious issues, but it's also clear that he wants to be a good person. After the family visit, I had the impression that his father was very manipulative. Some of the stuff that Brandon said was naive. Some appeared to be misplaced (like thinking Mikayla was a temptress of some sort). But some of what he said was right on the money. I quit watching Survivor for several years when they announced the cast for Caramoan and I saw they were bringing Brandon back. It wasn't because I hate Brandon, but because I don't think there is any way he could have passed a proper psych evaluation to play the first time, much less a second time. I was disgusted with TPTB for exploiting someone I saw as vulnerable. I started watching again on and off during season 32, and I've since gone back and watched Caramoan and some of the other seasons I missed. I think I'm glad I didn't watch Caramoan at the time. I'm still very angry about that casting. It wasn't good TV. It was just horrible and painful to watch. Overall, I mostly feel a bit sad for Brandon.

Shannon was actually the camper in that pairing, too. Jesse was hauling butt to get to him. It just seems like Shannon could have been a hiker because he was, you know, useful and knowledgable (if a klutz). I hope they're also making whoever was in charge of casting sit in the corner while wearing a dunce cap.

Jerri was innocent in this one. :) Colby took coral back as souvenirs for the other castaways, not realizing that taking anything from the nature preserve was a big no-no with potential environmental ramifications. Coral was especially bad since it takes so long to grow and is endangered. Survivor ended up paying a fine, and Colby and Survivor powers that be ended up apologizing a lot for that one. But yeah... In this case, I completely agree that the bear hunting licenses are CYA. Easier to get them (and better PR) than to not and have to worry if anything went wrong and someone was accused of killing or trying to kill a bear. I mean, I may not have been all that impressed with some of the contestants this year, but none of them were/are downright stupid enough (or suicidal) to want to go after a bear.

I can't stop laughing. Did you discover your mistake before you started watching the show or during? Because now I can't stop seeing your little Cartman avatar staring at the screen in disbelief before going into an obscenity-laced rant.

I think it should be noted that Mrs. Stanger has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (wikipedia link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehlers–Danlos_syndrome ), which has no known cure. Handling the pain that may accompany some types of the disease is an issue, however. I would not be surprised if Mrs. Stanger is not "cured" but rather is using medical marijuana and a healthy lifestyle to manage her symptoms, especially pain, much as cancer patients do. The distinction may have gotten lost in the coverage.

I figure all the cadre are using this as an entry point for a possible career in acting. I'm not really too cheesed about how any of them act because I'm fairly certain they have assigned roles (cheerleader, mom, drill sergeant with inner marshmallow, shady prankster) and their conflicts are suggested if not actually scripted. Burk's melodramatic talk with Melanie last week made me roll my eyes. All right. Most things on this show now make me roll my eyes.

I like big butts and I cannot lie... ...but I'm making an exception for the Baird brothers. They're big asses, all right, and it isn't attractive.

Oh! I almost forgot! My favorite part of this episode had to be the little Viking ship burial for Melanie, with Alison complaining that it smelled "chemical" (That's the spirit, Alison), someone else responding with, "That's a lot of bacon grease," and a third person adding, "She loved bacon." At which point there was a general murmur of assent. I cracked up.

Well, in theory people are chosen or not based on "who needs to be here." That's the mealy-mouthed supposed premise of the show. But really, it's usually "I'm trying to knock out the toughest competition for my team" which means the strongest competitors are put up each week. So the result is that there are jerks who have grown not one iota who continue to advance. On the other hand, since the eliminations have in large part favored the most physically fit, strongest competitor (no matter what BS Cena spews about "who wants it more"), I feel fairly certain that someone like, say, Alison or Richard is not going to win. I mean, I personally really like Richard's attitude, but the guy isn't winning this thing. The Georges and Hermans of the competition have a definite advantage unless they start adding in marathon puzzling sessions or some such thing. I'm also sure that given how fake large portions of this show have been, the winner will be someone portrayed in a positive light of some kind. So Carla is not winning this thing.

One thing that struck me about this season is that we just finished episode six and we were on something like day 12 or 13. That's a huge difference from some other seasons, especially last season. A season that goes 89 days may be prohibitively expensive, but it also means they have a lot of footage to work with and can choose real gems to show and advance the stories they want to tell. If this season is only 30 days or so (a random guess on my part), and the contestants are grouped into twos, that significantly decreases the amount of footage they are able to use to craft a narrative. Great from a cost perspective, but it would mean less than half the video they had to choose from last season. So season length as well as format may be influencing this if you're finding this to be a less compelling season. I'll admit that now that the contestants are together, I'm really enjoying watching Sam and Pete and Brooke and Dave. (Jim and Ted are annoying, but I expect them to either kill each other or have one get injured soon enough.) It's not the same as watching people all alone, but it's charming in its own way, and I don't mind it for one season. For me, it's a nice break from the dreaded "I miss my family" sobbing. I mean, I get that. I would be doing that. I just find it hard to watch repeatedly from multiple people. I'm also glad that now that the hikes are done, we're actually seeing people other than Brooke do something other than stare at water, hills, rocks, or salal. Let's just say that I'd choose Dave to be stranded with rather than either Baird brother based solely on building/whittling skill.

Yay! I finally had a chance to watch this episode. We didn't see much of Chris and Brody (the flatlanders), possibly because they were boring. Ye Gods. I like their senses of humor, but those few flashes of humor were about the only things that kept me conscious when they were on screen. The other brothers, Team Baird, are still the least impressive. Aside from being unable to carry the 50+ lb packs, my 3rd grade brownie troop had more common sense and appears to have had the about the same level of bushcraft they possess. (Apparently Ted did find more stuff than we were shown if he scavenged a fishing net that Jim used to make the crab trap.) Sam and Pete are adorable. (No disrespect for the two grown men intended.) I mean, I love their relationship. It's very warm and caring, yet they appear knowledgeable. I wouldn't mind being adopted into that family. Brooke and Dave continue to kick ass, imo. You can tell that yes, they've roughed it before and they're very comfortable working together. And wow, do they adore each other. I've now changed the name of Brooke's Palace to the Love Shack in my mind.

Also, if you're going to count on someone to play Russian Roulette for you, you shouldn't make them feel like an outsider before that. That was the HUGE flaw in the plan. Jim at the reunion said that he made the mistake of thinking everyone was playing to win, and Cochran clearly wasn't. He was playing just to get farther. But the truth is that Cochran already knew that hell would freeze over before Keith, Jim, Ozzy, or Whitney would vote for him to win. Flipping on them didn't really lose him their votes. They'd already made their disdain clear. So if you can't win, why let them use you and chance going out earlier than you would? In the end, Cochran ended up seventh instead of a possible sixth. Big deal. He'd only have gone out sixth if Savaii hadn't decided to keep someone around longer than him, which we can't predict. The big thing is that Savaii blamed Cochran when they mishandled the whole scenario. They could have treated him better. They could have made him secure and had someone else draw rocks. They sensed he was wavering, which is why they pressured him. They have no one to blame but themselves. And this is coming from someone who found Cochran annoying as hell and with a bizarre sense of entitlement.

"The challenge is about priorities." "I should wear my bikini!" Somehow I'm not following that train of thought.