simplyme

I was thinking about that too. I came up with three possibilities: 1. The show is outfitting them, in which case I second the motion that Hannah gets to beat down a costumer. 2. The entire picking teams week was faked and teams were pre-picked so contestants could be told what to bring. Still, the colors are often a bit matchy-matchy for this. 3. Contestants had to bring clothing in all four colors. That seems highly impractical.

I can't figure out what kind of temperature swings that place must go through either. They go from wearing hats and scarves and coats to little bathing suits. I mean, the temperature here can change 30-40 degrees in a day from when you get up to the hot afternoon, but no one walks around like it's 20 below. I'm delighted to no longer have to watch Melanie and Herman snuggling and cooing. Honestly, I thought Chloe's choices were perfect. They were indeed the glue of each team, and that's exactly who you want to remove. (The added bonus was that Carla was pissed to go up again and if Herman or Melanie went home, the other would be upset.) Boy, that first competition was short and boring. Wow. That must be like a ten minute show.

I have a long and complex history of spiders attacking me starting when I was defenseless in my crib. Apparently I am some sort of spider treat that they work their way past all sorts of obstacles just to bite. It's freakish. As a result, I would have beat that spider into a grease spot. This is war.

I'm not sure what thread it was in, but there was a theory that contestants couldn't split the food between the two members of the team. I was rereading the Gear List and noted the following: * Participants may only choose up to 2 Food items each So if they didn't change that, each person could in theory have up to two items (to a total of four for the team), and the food apparently can be split so long as no contestant has more than two total (or goes over their five items, presumably.) The more I've thought about soap, the better idea it seems in case someone gets a small cut or irritation. One of the risks for getting pulled would be an infection, and being able to clean an injured area with soap and water would certainly help. Think of how easy it must be to scrape up your hands out there, and how difficult it would be once you did to effectively clean them... So looking at the soap that way, it was a fairly practical item to me if you saved it to be used in that manner.

We've also seen Brooke explore and use more of her camp area. I don't really know what all is in the Baird and Brockdorff areas because they haven't done as much. Sam noted kelps and algae just as he was walking into the Brockdorff area. His father seemed to be sitting around eyeing bear scat most of the time. The Baird brother seemed overly focused on limpets and his gill net, and since he talked big about his limpet knife the first time he went to use it (oops, fail), I kind of think he might not be able to find his own rear end with both hands some days. Building a boat from branches and a tarp with what I've seen of his skills looks like a huge waste of time and energy where he could be foraging and stashing wood to dry out instead. I'm glad someone else laughed as hard as I did at the other Baird brother throwing a stick at the grouse. Just save your energy, you idgit. I also am not sure if there actually was a cougar there. There could have been, or he could have been overly paranoid, or he could have used the scat he saw earlier to play for the cameras. I like Brooke and Dave together.

Wow! You've sure aged well! Ahem. Sorry.

I have flamingos in my backyard. Plastic ones. I wouldn't be surprised if their gators are about that real. Nothing else on the show appears to be. Hannah, who claimed to have "never taken drugs before" (I took that to include things like cough syrup or ibuprofen. Maybe that isn't what she meant. If it was, I'm supposed to assume she's what? Stoic? Principled? Amish gone wild on Rumspringa?) is given both codeine and morphine for a sprain? What the hell hospital is that? Any ERs or doctors I've been to would have been like, "If it hurts, you can take a Tylenol. Keep icing it." They don't hand out the hard stuff for much that doesn't involve surgery. Apparently after a couple weeks at Camp Grit, Shermon is now a team player and has learned to trust people, and Will no longer doubts himself. Guess they can go home now. Carla is still portrayed as a selfish witch who prizes her appearance above punctuality and shushes her cadre. She'll be here a bit longer. Once they show her have a "growth" moment or two, she's toast. All I know from spending more time watching Camp Grit is that I should be wearing really high barn boots for the amount of crap I'm wading through.

Probably, but I've had a mad girl crush on her since last season's Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge when I realized exactly how much of a badass she was. She also apparently was Jessie Graff's college roommate. (source: https://www.americanninjawarriornation.com/2016/6/9/11886352/jessie-graff-talks-with-former-roommate-maggie-thorne-about-life-as-kick-butt-athletes )

Heh. I think you listed the reasons why not pretty well. I'd also emphasize that the heavy salal looks like a pain to get through with any speed. It would be like fighting through tangled strings with leaves obscuring your footing every step you take. Exhausting after a while. I think one of the reasons Jesse made good time compared to others may have been taking that bear trail. Scary as hell, but WAY faster than forcing his way through the salal and other barriers. I just wish I'd gotten some idea how long he'd actually used it for.

I'm keeping in mind that it's one season. I expect shows to occasionally try new things. Otherwise they stagnate. In a lot of ways, I think the two-person concept had some real potential, but it hasn't panned out a lot of the time and I expect they realized that while editing. So I'm enjoying what I can and not really worrying that the show is forever ruined. Unless or until they announce otherwise, I figure next season we're back to singles. It's not like they pulled an American Grit, got a second producer from the Bachelor/ette franchise, and changed the whole focus of the show to be the stupidest drama they could find. (Maybe that's why I'm so calm. American Grit used up all my horror.)

I think what I would term actual misogyny is pretty rare. To me, gender bias is not the same thing as misogyny or misandry. I tend to use misogyny/misandry for the people with very deep prejudice or dislike. Otherwise I think we'd all be considered misogynists and misandrists, because I don't believe it's possible to live in a culture without at least subconsciously picking up cultural expectations and biases. So, to me, misogyny is pretty rare. Bias (of all sorts: age, gender, race, build, athletic, etc.) is common, just like outside of Survivor. IMO Survivor, as a social game, involves trying to find a way to deal with whatever hand you are dealt in that manner. It's definitely not an even playing field. That said, I find it interesting to see what biases I note and ponder how they impact the game, as well as look for overall trends. But I'm not sure what definitions of misogyny other people are working with. Typing "define misogyny" into Google gives the definition of "dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women." So if someone is using that as their definition, the term will get brought up a lot more. We all bring our own connotations to a word in addition to its strict definition, and that may be what we're running into. The alleged insurance fraud was an issue for me, too. It's a little hard for me to comprehend someone going on Survivor after saying they're physically disabled to the point where bathing is a problem. If that was true, he had no business going on Survivor. If it wasn't, it was insurance fraud. Sexual harassment is really haaaaaaard! *whine* No, seriously, it's pretty complex IMO because what actually counts as "harassment" depends on the relationship between the people involved. If the people have different understandings of their relationship or how an overture is being received, things can go to hell pretty quickly without there being any intent, just social awkwardness or stupidity. That said, there are times when people claim that and they know darn well that they're over the line. I mean, when I was a librarian I was once groped by a patron as I walked past him after showing him where to find a book. We'd never met before. I think that was pretty clearly over the line and thus there was no need for me to have previously stated "Don't grope me." But between people with a pre-existing relationship of any kind, sometimes misunderstandings occur. People need to be clear about what they don't like. That said, when someone is told that, they need to shut up and take it, not punish the person who drew the line. Unfortunately too many people don't feel they can speak up without being punished (often correctly), and situations often escalate. So... it's complicated. It's essentially a social problem that we try to address with rules and laws, and that seldom works particularly well. I knew nothing about Caleb from BB, btw. So that was theory-only not related to whatever I missed with him. I wouldn't necessarily count on producers to do anything, though. I mean, in S8, Rich rubbed himself against Sue without her consent and nothing happened to him. His actions were clearly illegal. I think producers have an easier time dealing with obvious acts of violence than they do figuring out how to react to other violations.

I'm gonna go Brooke/Dave, primarily due to editing.

Brooke's proclamation to the woods was too much for me. All I could picture were her kids watching it and cringing. "OMG! Mom! You did not just do that!" I also wouldn't be surprised if she's a hammy person prone to proclamations irl. I've had some friends like that, so maybe that's why I find her easier to stomach. She gives me an amateur drama geek vibe with a tendency to be dramatic even in everyday life, whereas the Bairds come off as braggarts to me. The sunbathing kind of struck me as sensible. It rains a lot there. Get the sun while you can. Aside from the hamminess, she seems pretty lowkey.

I kind of like this as a one-off. I got a bit tired of seeing people sitting alone talking about how hungry they were and how much they missed their families. So far I've gotten to see more terrain and how different people handle it, which is interesting to me. Granted, I'd like to see more from the campers setting up camp, but we're only like 9 days in. A lot of people hadn't made huge progress on a permanent shelter at that point last season. I'm going to see how it goes from here.

Sorry this is so long. Eep. Well, I'm a sap. I sniffled when Shannon and Jesse went out. Now that looked and sounded like a serious injury, and I really liked both of them and the affectionate way they talked about each other and their family members. I hope Shannon is okay. The good news is that I actually like three of the four teams left, and I didn't have to see the team I dislike (the Bairds) at all this episode. And although people are doing things I might not, I'm trying to keep in mind that so far they're not remarkably stupid and can be rationalized, especially when you consider that these are hungry, lonely, tired, stressed people. I mean, would I eat raw salmon in most situations? No. But was it a greater risk to go another day without food and not knowing when he'll get more, especially protein, when he's expending so much energy hiking every day in terrain where a misstep will take him out? Or is it a greater risk that the salmon has a parasite? So maybe I would in Brody's shoes. As for Brooke going into the wolf's territory, she was already there. Vancouver Island wolves (a subspecies of grey wolves) live in packs of 5-20, are endangered (some estimates put the total at 150ish), and have large territories. That means her campsite was probably already in it. We don't know how quickly she walked over to get more of an idea about where it had gone. The wolves are territorial, yes, but they are also usually very shy of humans (which the show doesn't mention), and it's fairly rare for humans to see them. So while Brooke shouldn't be approaching it (them), I think occasionally wandering over to look at paw prints after some time elapses may not be as dumb as it looked since she is living in their territory. Which also makes me think their campsite isn't as awesome as we all originally thought. I mean, nice clear area and good access to water and beach, but active wolf population already wondering what she's doing there. I might prefer a slightly harder locale minus the wolves. For the most part, I just like the fact that Dave/Brooke, Pete, and Chris/Brody seem to be realistic. They seem pretty calm and show some humor at themselves and awe the terrain (and occasionally the bear scat). I haven't seen enough of Sam yet to say much about him except, "Like the beard." I was happy the flatlanders found each other, even if I was yelling at Brody to yell back more, dagnabbit. One "woohoo" and then talking to his camera foreeeever was not helpful to his brother. I'm a little worried for that team about Chris's mental state since his wife and kids didn't want him to go. I loved Dave joking about the clearing being radioactive.

Well, the Simply family has now finished watching this season. SimplyDad has now inadvertantly been sucked into the Survivor viewings, so this was a first watch for him and SimplyMom and a rewatch for me. The consensus was that while Rob played an amazing game, it was a difficult win for any of us to stomach because OMG, he had a sweet set up tribe-wise with people who had no grasp of strategy. He started on a tribe of four men and five women, and Kristina, Phillip, and Francesca managed to immediately put themselves at odds with everyone else. (Mostly Phillip by being Phillip, Kristina by obviously hunting for the idol, and Francesca by being allied with them.) From then on Rob just solidified his control over people too stupid to think ahead, count, or work with people they disliked temporarily. Andrea had a lot of potential but the two Matt votes screwed her. They essentially meant she had to be extra cautious and kiss ass. By the time anyone else (hi, Ashley) starting thinking about getting rid of Rob, it was too late. They hadn't flushed his idol, and I'm not sure Natalie would have done it. My God, Natalie was dumb. Dumb. DUMB. She spent most of those 39 days smiling vacantly into space and doing whatever Rob or Ashley said. By the end, I would have voted for Rob. SimplyDad would have voted for Phillip just to piss Rob off. SimplyMom would have voted for Rob with much angst. I'll note that my mom really liked Rob before this season. (I still think he's funny as hell and good at reading people. I just find this win so frustrating to watch.) Rob clearly worked for the win. I just found Natalie as annoying to watch as JT in HvV, just in a much less active sense.

To be fair, though, how aggressive a game people (especially women) are able to play depends on the cast, and I think that gets reflected in the edit. Returning player seasons tend to have more aggressive players cast to begin with, and women don't seem to be as likely to immediately be voted out for being too threatening if they don't play dead strategically the first half of the game as they are during new player seasons. In recent returning player seasons, targets are chosen based on threat level and alliances, not on what they bring to the tribe. So strong males are more likely to go home earlier than they seem to be in new player seasons, where the focus at first is on the tribe winning immunity. Tribes focused on winning immunity often prioritize keeping the men in TC votes and that can give the men an outsized voice in who goes home. The women who get kept around around are often the ones who cozy up and play the least aggressively. Obviously, there are exceptions to this. But it's certainly something I've noted happens fairly often as a dynamic in new player seasons, either because of the game structure or the personality types casting favors. I'd note that the two most aggressive female edits mentioned happened during slightly abnormal seasons (if there is such a thing as a normal season): one a returning player season and one where the tribes were initially separated by gender.

Quick note that the sleeping bags are supposed to be synthetic: "1 Multi-seasonal Sleeping Bag (should be a minimum of a -10 degrees Celsius rating and synthetic)"

I had to dig deep to find some positives in the crap this show has become. I'm really enjoying Gigi, whose final response of "My dad is a truck driver" in George's big reveal scene to his team was priceless. Actually, I admit I really enjoyed that entire scene. I'm also glad Gill went home, and Hannah the klutz is growing on me. So far she's gotten a fishing lure stuck in her leg, burned her butt on the wood stove, and fallen down a couple steps during the elimination challenge, but she keeps going. I also like that her crying and hugs piss Burk off. Why would Alison think only Melanie would get a talking to from Cena for crawling under the bunker with Herman? Wouldn't Herman get one too? Nice sexist thinking, Alison. All that said, I want the old show back. I don't want Fear Factor Bachelor/ette on Mosquito Lake. I want to watch team competitions that take longer than three minutes on my screen. At this point, I'm hanging on to see how long Gigi lasts, and I'm probably gone when she is. (I think I like her so much because omg, I am not a drama person.)

He might also just be built that way. I say that as a middle-aged woman who discovered that no, that baby fat was not going to go away. I'm just roundish at every darn weight. There is no way not to look like a Sunday School teacher. Somehow thin just looks round and haggard on me, so I avoid it. :P There's an interesting show idea for me. Take Brooke, Callie, Fowler, etc. and have a "Survivalist Home Building and Decor" show. Whoever suggested the minimum age of 30, that seems way too high. Carleigh, Callie, Sam were all under 30 and fine. Maturity varies highly depending on the person and their experiences, so basing it on age seems unfair. Maybe they just did a poor job of vetting people and after last season were cautious about people going too long, but not nearly concerned enough about people not being mentally prepared. (Also, I don't know if you can always gauge someone's future mental state. Last season's first tapout might have lasted longer had the adoption thing not been occurring while he was gone, and with how adoptions work I don't know that he knew the two things would be coinciding.)

I'm fairly certain both Whitney and Keith made the merge but not too long after. I remember them since they were on the same tribe with Cochran and Ozzy and were annoyed that Cochran wouldn't let them have the shelter to themselves to sleep (read as "to boff"). Everyone else fled the shelter but Cochran was pissed enough that he refused to and just laid there and cringed at night. The relationship was a bit scandalous at the time it aired because it came out that Whitney was married at the time to a country musician. They divorced. She and Keith dated for years and then got married.

Man, I'm hoping Shannon is okay. I was really starting to like the guy. His brother, too. I'm hoping the Baird brothers get off my screen fairly soon. I can't verbalize why, but they bug me. Well, part of it is that I think they're playing to the cameras (yes, I know it's a slug. You don't need to say it 42 times like a five-year-old. I actually knew the name for it, too, as opposed to calling it "rain forest slug."). The other part is that I think they think they know more than they do. Brody and his brother (Charles?) haven't made much of an impression, other than that Brody is definitely a flatlander. Around here we call those hills, Brody. Yeah, they're a pita, but they sure aren't what we'd consider mountains. And no, we don't have mountains here. That said, I can't navigate very well at all in completely flat areas. I'm like, "Where are the geographic landmarks?" So I understand Brody being intimidated by a big hill in crappy hiking conditions, even if I slightly mock his concept of a mountain. I'm really liking Brooke and Dave. They both seem extremely competent and calm but have a sense of humor that shows up occasionally in the off comment. I think that was Jim. It was definitely a Baird. "Content creator" is generally jargon for "I create and put stuff up on the Internetz." People who use it outside of resumes and board meetings tend to be pretentious, imo. Technically, we're ALL content creators. Many of us are digital ones. All of us who have posted on this board have created digital content. I'm sure Jim means he creates particularly wonderful, meaningful, and artistic digital content, though. *eyeroll* ETA: I do find it interesting both tapouts were done by the camper, not the hiker, and should Shannon have to leave due to injury, that will be three teams where the medievac/quit occurred on the camping end. I was expecting hikers to go down first given the terrain.

I'd say YMMV on that. :) I thought there were definitely some amazing, stand-out moments of game play in HvV (generally by the villains), and the same can be said for GC. That said, there were also an awful lot of people in both seasons who either did very little or actively shot themselves in the foot. I think one of the reasons HvV may be better received is that Survivor wasn't in its 34TH!!! season yet and people weren't as jaded. But again, just opinion. I know I certainly have enjoyed Survivor much more after I took several years off.

Why hello! That line was certainly an attention-getter. I must ask, have you ever tried a variant of that as an ice breaker at a party? I hadn't. Now I'm wishing I'd been wearing ear plugs. I'm sure the bear would have liked that option, too. Some people do not understand the concept of wild animals. It boggles my mind. While touring Denali National Park in Alaska via bus, we came across a grizzly. The grizzly came extremely close to the bus. It walked right up beside it, past it, around in front of it, and wandered slowly down the road in front of it. The driver had repeatedly told us the importance of remaining quiet so that the bears (and other animals) did not acclimate to the presence of humans, and he reiterated about 82 times that no one could get off the bus. As the grizzly was walking just outside the bus, the oncologist in front of us loudly asked her (very annoying, very spoiled) children, "Do you want to get off the bus to see the bear?" SimplyMom, a former teacher, snapped in her best iron teacher's voice, "No one is getting off this bus." Dead silence. Topic dropped. Later SimplyMom confessed she just snapped and probably should have kept quiet, but I pointed out that her comment was more tactful than what I was about to say (which would have included a curse word followed by the word moron). My brother was slightly disappointed we hadn't gotten rid of the really annoying kids, but that would have ended poorly for the bear.

If the 19 year old who tapped out counts as a "trained survival expert," my Girl Scout training apparently makes me a freaking survival genius. After watching Fowler, Megan, Carleigh, Dave, and Callie last season, it was hard to take him seriously when he was wandering around in the brush an hour away from where he was dropped, right next to the bountiful sea. As for preferring single or pair Alone, I'm assuming this is a one-off and I'm willing to give it a chance and enjoy the differences.