simplyme

Clearly, the affair was for whoever she had the affair with! It was an act of giving. :P Less sarcastically, I don't think having an affair automatically makes one a bad person. I think that most people have the ability to cheat on their partner if enough things line up, and we don't know details. It sounds like she stayed in her marriage and at least somewhat tried for five years after the affair ended, mostly for her children, before she realized it wouldn't work. So I understood what she was trying to say in that sense. She stayed in that situation for her children. Now she's made a decision to move on and do something for herself. She overstated it, as she's clearly done something for herself in the past, but it sounds like she feels like she's been living for others for years. Now people who repeatedly cheat? I have no patience for them. I'm going to have to poke around and figure out where to give feedback on the show.

Sorry, Cena. As many times as you say it's about grit, that elimination challenge is significantly harder for a somewhat-out-of-shape woman in her 40s than a young man in good shape in his 20s. Once I saw the elimination, I knew who was going home. How on God's green earth did Hannah get a hook complete with fish caught in her leg? I don't know how much longer I can take this show. I'm enjoying Richard and Gigi. Of course, I'm supposed to. I'd prefer if the cadre barely appeared on camera, as they seem to mostly be filling roles, driving drama, and pushing story lines. Also, the challenges suck. Drinking a gross shake, getting naked, and the like are not sacrifices. They're things you do with your friends in college when drunk and bored. No real or lasting repercussions, just a bit of shock value for the viewing audience. The only thing there that could possibly count as a sacrifice was Melanie shaving her head, and she made it count double by donating the hair. Good for her. (Also, she looks great with a shaved head. Amazing facial shape and symmetry on that woman.)

I don't think it had anything to do with age or gender. Dawn screwed up Brenda's vote all on her own. She relied upon Brenda and forged a very close bond with her. When Dawn lost her teeth, she literally told Brenda both, "I couldn't bear to let anyone else see me like that" and "I'll quit if I can't get my teeth back." So when she backstabbed Brenda, Brenda was very hurt. I think Dawn outplayed Cochran in many ways, but if you tell someone that your teeth are more important to you than a million dollars and they're the only one you trust to see you and you knew they would fix it... Well, you reap what you sow. You aren't getting that vote if you backstab them, and be prepared to take your teeth out to try to earn the million. With Brenda, Dawn screwed up in terms of getting her vote. Dawn was way, way, WAY too close to Brenda to backstab her without emotional repercussions, especially with not much time left before FTC. That was a massive social game fail there. I have more issues with other people on the jury not giving Dawn credit for often being the person who gathered the intel used to make decisions, or with people who get upset about being voted out by people they were never close to. I think Brenda thought she had made a very special connection with Dawn, and in some ways Dawn broke her heart.

Actually, since I'm now just past where NaOnka and Purple Kelly quit in my rewatch of Nicaraugua, I'm going to say that on rewatch I have a new appreciation for Fabio. It's clear that he decides to play an under-the-radar game and deliberately tries to anger as few people as possible. He wants to be underestimated and liked as long as possible. When Alina approaches him about voting out Marty instead of her, he tells he that would make a lot of people angry with him. He even says that he wants to stay under the radar as much as possible in some THs. He's not stupid, either. He does well in the memory challenge, and there are a number of times when someone says something stupid and he realizes it immediately. I'm not saying he's brilliant, either, but he isn't dumb. He definitely tanks at least one immunity challenge when he feels safe: The one that Jane wins, supporting your weight over water on a rope, moving down knots on the rope. He clearly drops out in a respectable position but lets Benry, Chase, and Jane fight it out and put targets on themselves. IMO, given the volatility of the Nicaraugua cast, Fabio had the best strategy to make it through and get votes at the end. And given some of the things he said throughout the game, it was an actual strategy, not just luck.

The merge and first juror are not always simultaneous, if that's what you're asking. For example, Marcus was the 1st juror in Gabon and he was voted off Kota. Then the merge happened and the merged tribes became Nobag.

Are we sure they wouldn't have started the jury with Ami, though, if it was going to be an F3? Ooo. What a nice can of worms! *opens*

I remember very little about Guatemala, but I did know that about Panama and just... blanked. How I blanked on that stupid little ugly head, I have no idea. Sorry bout that! Good news is when you mess up here, someone gently corrects it. Appreciated. :) (Both the correction and the gentleness.)

Well, here's my opinion: I'm a huge fan of the social game, but for most of MvGx I thought Adam's social game was weak. He was on the wrong side of the first vote; he ran around like a chicken with his head cut off until Hannah had to tell him to chill or he was going to be voted out; he got caught sharing info with Taylor and it came out he'd known Taylor had taken food so no one trusted him; he said the wrong things to people and just ticked them off. There's one scene where Jay is furious and looking for the word to describe him and Zeke fills in "asshole." And that was when Zeke and Adam were theoretically allies. Yes, his game improved, but some of that was due to him bonding with Jay because of the mom thing and Brett because they both wanted to vote David out at the same time (when Hannah didn't because that would get her sent home). Ken had no social game. Can most of us agree on that? I feel like Hannah was screwed the minute she had a panic attack. That plus being the geeky type (especially female) meant no one was going to vote for her in F3, IMO. I don't care if she was a strategic genius and challenge beast combined. She would still have been viewed as weak, and no one wants to lose to a weak player. (Again, the question of "Who do I least mind losing Survivor to?" Very few people answer that with "The ubergeeky girl with panic attacks! Wooohoooo!") So I have trouble seeing a correlation between Sophie, who held it together the whole time, and Hannah. In fact, I think the fact that Sophie got votes from Ozzy and Brandon, both of whom tend to favor physical games and alpha males, says a lot about her social game. You can say Coach "lost" those votes by not answering honestly, but IMO Coach is full of BS. Sophie could pretty much count on him going in there and spewing more crap about playing with honor and integrity, just like he always had. If TwoP were still around, I'd try to find my post from the episode or two before the finale where I said, "I'm pretty sure Sophie has this in the bag." I probably explained why much better then since it was fresh. :P Anyways... *plunks down her two cents* There!

So, speaking of unpopular opinions... I liked Kass the first time she played. (I haven't seen her second appearance.) I certainly didn't think she was evil. She played for herself. She sometimes saw things primarily from her perspective. But she also sometimes played logically, and she was one of the absolute best I've ever seen at puzzles. And some of the things she said were amusing as heck to me.

I always thought this too, right up until a few days ago when I rewatched the finale of HvV. During that, there's one TH where he says that the last time, he took people he thought he could beat and it didn't turn out too well for him. This time he wants to make sure he takes (I think it was something like) people who have done absolutely nothing in the game. So apparently he did know he'd lost Samoa, I assume from the way FTC went and maybe things people said or the way they acted afterwards. Anyways, I was like, "Wait, what?" when he said that. I'm glad I'm not the only one who'd had that impression.

I would like to say that Natalie's jury question to Parvati was the single most awkward, horrible question or statement from a juror I have ever seen on Survivor. I was actually wishing she had just been an arrogant ass like so many others (*cough*FijiAlex)

Out of curiosity, who that season had a good social game? Dawn? In the end, Sophie didn't have a strong social game, but I don't think she tanked it as badly as a lot of people did. If anyone says Cochran, slap yourself.

I didn't hear him call her that either, but it may have been bleeped. I say this bvecause the first time I watched the episode, when Alison accused him of calling her a bitch, I remember thinking, "I don't remember that. I don't remember him using your name either." So when I rewatched the episode so SimplyMom could see it (no, not because it was just that awesome or I have latent masochist tendencies), I paid close attention. According to the edited version of the fight we were shown, I never caught him using her name. They did bleep him two or three times, and the first time the context was where he very well could have been calling her a name. That said... I'm not sure. It would have been nice if we could tell who was making stuff up.

Eh. I wouldn't assume that either. Right now we have rumors and allegations. It could simply be that shutting down seems like the wisest course when faced with a possible lawsuit. You want to control the environment while you look into it. And I'm sure the parent company's lawyers will consider all avenues from dismissal to settling to litigating and go for the cheapest, best for the company. Especially if they think the court may have a few questions for the people supplying copious amounts of alcohol or that it may be bad PR. If the show is still filming and then airing, it will be harder to get people to forget about any alleged incidents. So all I would get out of the show ending for now is that they aren't stupid and are covering their butts. The rest... I'm not going to rush to believe anyone. It could be horrible or nothing, but I don't know.

Personally, I think Russell could have gotten away with outplaying the jury if he'd played a better social game. I mean, Cirie votes out people who would vote for her all the time. But I think he's too antagonistic and makes it too personal during the game, which is a social game failure. Eh. It's probably one of those "agree to disagree" things.

I don't know what anyone is calling it. It doesn't have to be rape to trigger the identity shield. I'm sure rape shield laws vary by location, and there's definitely some variance in journalism practices. But generally reputable journalists tend to be a bit careful with the victim's identity once they realize an alleged incident is of a sexual nature.

That probably has to do with journalism standards and rape shield laws. Once someone alleges that some sort of sexual assault has occurred, usually the identity of the victim is protected by official sources (such as the police). According to journalistic tradition, reputable journalists also do not tend to reveal the identity, although in some cases the alleged victim identifies him or herself or in some other way goes public. Rape shield laws were enacted to protect victims who were already traumatized from being further humiliated, harassed, and threatened. The reason DeMario's identity would not have been protected is that he is not an alleged victim of sexual assault, so the technical standards aren't applied to him. Hell, they're barely being applied to Corinne judging from her photo being used some places.

I've decided to stick with my theory that the real, ass-kicking Amanda is chained somewhere in a temple in China. She got switched with DoppelManda shortly before the China F3. It's painful to watch useless, sniveling DoppelManda play. I either have to go with that theory or admit that Amanda will never be effective on a season with an alpha male who isn't gay.

1. Oral sex without consent still constitutes rape. 2. She can still be traumatized and not blame DeMario for what occurred. First, I have friends who were date raped. It is traumatic. It just is. Almost 30 years after the event, after counseling, after going on and living their lives and getting married and having kids, it still affects them. That said, it may be that Corinne sees DeMario as a victim too because of the alcohol. Frankly, DeMario may be a victim, too. As a bad analogy, as a teenager, while walking down the street, my husband was attacked by three aggressive dogs that had escaped their yard. They bit him extensively, leaving him with physical scars and a fear of dogs. He doesn't blame the dogs for what they did. They were dogs, and they acted in the way their owner had trained them. He blamed the owner, who made the dogs aggressive and then failed to keep them properly penned up. 3. Many times people don't stop date rape because they aren't sure what to do, or if people will think they're overreacting to people having a good time, or a bunch of other reasons. Add in that this was a show and people had money at stake and were afraid of losing that if they alienated the wrong people and it gets even dicier. I don't know what actually happened. I'm not going to cast blame on anyone yet. But I did think it was important to point out a couple things, like that people could be traumatized and not blame the direct actor for the trauma.

I know he didn't say spin it, but that's how I took it. Then again, maybe I'm too used to translating SimplyDad Speak. "I'll pick up this and hold it. You turn that thing." Quick, figure out what "that thing" means before your septuagenarian father keels over from holding the heavy object he lifted with little warning... *eyeroll*

In Penner's defense, Yau-man was his right hand. Penner has few social skills, but he ain't an idiot. Getting Cirie, who he doesn't trust, in exchange for Yau-man, who he does, is reeeally questionable. That said, getting antagonistic with the vote you need is stupid. If he had to give up Yau, he had to.

For me, I sort of try to think about cast aways two different ways. There are the ones I enjoy watching (which include Courtney, Boston Rob, Malcolm, and a slew of others). Then there are those that regardless of how entertaining they are to watch, I can clearly see why they won. (Sophie, Natalie W., etc.) Some people who entertain the hell out of me (Courtney, obviously, sometimes Tai) will never win Survivor. I'd put Russell in this category because while he plays a great game to watch, and a great game to get himself to the F2/F3, along the way he invariably treats jury members so poorly that they refuse to vote for him. It's an epic fail of social strategy. Based on his HvV Reunion comments, his conclusion is that the game itself is flawed and should involve the public voting. But that's not what Survivor is. It is already defined. HE needed to adjust HIS play to win. On a show with fans voting, Rupert and Russell would slay. But... that's not Survivor. So I try to separate my "people I like" thoughts from my analyses of "This is how and why this person won." Sometimes I fail miserably. (It's easier for me to see the flaws in JT's game than it is to see in some other people's games because I so heartily dislike JT, and I know this.) But sometimes I think I do an okay job. Like with Aubry and Michele. I preferred Aubry, but I think I get why Michele won and can give her credit for that.

Well, SimplyMom and I have reached Nicaraugua in our Survivor season watching (rewatching for me). We just slogged through the first five episodes. And I do mean slogged. I'd forgotten almost all of the season until I saw the cast again. I think it was a protective mental barrier that's now gone. I miss it. Midway through episode 2, SimplyMom asked me, "Why are there so many crazy people this season?" And later, "There are very few of these people I like." Preaching to the choir, Mom.

NaOnka and Shannon were both vile. They just managed to highlight different facets of it. I say this as someone who just started rewatching Nicaraugua and now remembers that she hates almost the entire cast.

Yep. This show has been Bachelorized. The focus is definitely on drama between cast members and between cadre and I'm sure we'll get cast members with story arcs who stay around foreeever. There are also scenes that I thought were patently fake. "Put the ball over your head and spin" and every single person interprets it the same, wrong way? I knew what he meant. Also, this: Good observation. And really, the only consequences were that everyone knows Shermon is a pill (like they wouldn't have anyways) and he maybe ended up on a different team than he might have. Sorry, Heather. You should have been thinner, younger, male, or talked more about your childhood. Oh, and glad to see the cadre all knew their roles. Burk is the hardass possibly hiding the marshmallow heart. Grady is the competitive clown. Riki is the caring cheerleader. Chloe is the strict mom. *eyeroll*