Captain Asshat

Eh, I am reserving my judgement on Su-zaaahn. I say this, because her go-to attitude when dealing with people who don't listen to her is a bit of resentment, combined with a condescending "When <insert whatever> happens, don't come crying to me," or "I told you so" when it turns out she's right. Yep, Seth is beyond a crap partner, and I completely understand her frustration with him. That said, her style of conflict resolution was never going to improve the situation, which is the goal of conflict resolution, and that's where she failed...and bugged the crap out of me. Full disclosure: I have no trouble admitting that my problem with her stems from her conflict resolution style -- a style that is one of my pet peeves in the workplace. I once left a job because of a boss who had good project management skills, but crap leadership and interpersonal skills, especially if someone attempted to perform a task differently from (or even more efficiently than) this person's way of doing things. God help you if this person thought you weren't pulling your weight, as this boss did with another coworker. The boss was totally Su-zaaahn in that situation, and treating my coworker poorly never improved the worker's motivation or, as a result, his quality of work. I know N&A is not a workplace, but conflicts arise, and conflict management skills are crucial to team success. I say, again, that TPTB put these two together precisely because they knew Su-zaaahn and Seth would be a shitshow. In his first appearance, he was a lazy jerk with authority issues. This has not changed. In her first outing, she became a condescending "mom" when she realized her partner was overexerting and getting sunburned, then she went to the "I told you so" place. This has not changed, and the only reason her original situation didn't boil over is that her partner tapped. How could Seth and Su-zaaahn not butt heads if put together in the initial smaller tribe dynamic? So, I am interested to see how she will do if someone contradicts her in this larger tribe environment, and I am totally willing to admit that I'm wrong about her if she deals with future conflicts differently. Seth could do alright with Bulent, because Bulent sincerely doesn't give a crap who does work around the camp. Bulent is there for Bulent, and he gets off his ass to do things only for Bulent. Seth is happy to nap and do no work, so he's good without someone nagging him. OTOH, of course, Seth could get pissed if Bulent is doing nothing while Seth "hunts." More hilarity to come, and I'm here for it. At this point, I'd be happy if Wes, Gwen, and the inhabitants of Camp Murder Puddle finish.

I'm only giving Seth a tiny bit of leeway, because Su-zaaahn is a condescending bench, and that's one of my pet peeves. She doesn't know how to handle difficult people, other than to be bitchy or condescending. She was that way with Seth from the get-go in this challenge, even before he demonstrated his suckitude. In situations where she's right, she tends to go all "overbearing mom" on people who don't listen to her, and she doesn't realize that most adults don't like that. Hell, even her "job interview" with Makani was bitchy until she realized that Makani would listen to, and go with, whatever she said. I have never stated that I thought Seth is contributing in any way. I've called him inept, and have said that his idea of hunting is to sleep in the blind. I've even said that TPTB very likely put these two together precisely *because* of her personality and his aversion to work and being told what to do. However, this is Africa, and the heat will dehydrate you even if you're doing nothing in a blind. You just don't deprive people of water. No one gets to decide whether another person deserves water. It's just a shitty and potentially dangerous thing to do in that environment, and it really takes away from this being about survival. They are both horrible, and they react horribly to each other. My prediction is that next episode she leaves him with the decent boma she built (and probably some well-deserved snark about it) and his shitty hunting skills. He will tap -- no question -- likely the day after Su-zaaahn leaves. Again, I hope that Wes and Gwen do not put up with any attitude Su-zaaahn might exhibit after she joins their camp, because they are awesome, and she...is not. What I really would love is to see the Clothed and Opinionated episode on this episode.

Well, in Seth's defense, Su-zaaahn is a difficult partner, which doesn't help in the face of his ineptitude. He's definitely one of those people who finds "something constructive to do" to avoid a domestic squabble, which is why he is always "hunting." With his eyes closed. And snoring. OTOH, she could and should have given him at least the straw of water he asked for. I understand his frustration. She is right there, and can he please have a small drink. That said, he tends to blow up when she treats him like a child. I mean...good gawd I hate her condescending attitude only slightly more than I hate his reactive attitude. Just because you don't like your teammate doesn't mean you deprive them of something they need, even if you're taking that same item to another team member. In the time it took you two fools to argue over it, he could have had many sips of water. Yes, Su-zaaahn, you can help Mr. Tantrum and Makani to 1) keep the peace and 2) help both of your teammates. Stop looking for things to get pissed about. Also pissed Bulent caught that fish. I did get a bit of a perverse pleasure watching the fish seemingly taunt him, so I hated that he ultimately caught it. Why does he insist on punching fish? That's so...unnecessary. I kind of wish one of its barbs would have punctured his fist when we did so. As for Wes and Gwen? I was happy to see the preview with Wes having a successful hunt. Sadly, Su-zaaaahn was also in that preview clip, so she is going definitely going to self-banish, and then infect my favorite team. Damn, I hope Gwen and Wes shut her down if/when she starts with her BS.

It's easy to call yourself an instructor when you control the lessons being taught and are familiar with the area in which you're teaching the skills. I have no doubt that she has survival skills, but her ability to practice those skills in a challenge in an uncontrolled environment (aka "survival reality") is severely lacking.

I really love the dynamic with Gwen and Wes. I'll bet that if they'd found the duiker, Kate would have stayed. Gwen and Wes actually did see her as an asset. I don't think they blamed her at all that the shot seemed to have just grazed the duiker and didn't kill it. Kate's arrow connected, so she'd achieved something that Gwen and Wes hadn't. I think that, given the level of pain Kate said she was in, she just needed food and a real win, and that near miss was just the last straw. I don't blame Makani for leaving Bulent. Like...at all. This survival challenge is about teamwork. Among other things, she needed more/better fire, and just asked him for help. His reply was, "I don't care about fire. I don't need it." He's not approaching this as a team. And he doesn't give a crap about her (or anyone else, really), because...why? Because she didn't eat a fish she caught and then let him eat all of? And let him have the whole rabbit, too? Horrors! Makani definitely needs another team. She can't do this alone. Sadly, she found Seth and Su-zaaahn. Seth's idea of a welcome is grunting, "Hunting." Makani even good-heartedly apologized for ruining his hunt, even though he was in a blind, and she had no idea anyone was hunting. Seth brings her to Su-zaaahn, who then proceeds to turn on her greatest resting bitch face and give Makani the shittiest, most defensive job interview ever. (Seriously, I've had interviews like that and left thinking, "I would blow my brains out if I worked for this person.") Both Seth and Su-zaaahn knew Makani had walked a number of miles in the heat, and neither of them offered her even a sip of water. They suck. Speaking of Team Karen/Slacker: Those two were definitely put together for the drama factor. She is one of those people who sees someone take a break, takes on more tasks, and then complains that she has to do all the work. She needs to be in charge and turns into a resentful mom when someone doesn't listen to her. That whole, "I'm just trying to help you succeed" is some condescending middle management/helicopter mom crap. Seth, on the other hand, is a lot of talk and no follow through, but he believes his own hype. When someone calls him on it, he turns into a petulant child -- "Don't tell me what to do." He did that with Max, and he's doing it with Su-zaaahn. I hate that she has some valid points about him, because her attitude and condescending tone when making those points make it really hard for me to acknowledge that. If Makani stays with them, I'm going to guess that they either all tap, or Makani and Seth tap. Then Su-zaaahn will take no responsibility for her crappy personality and abysmal people skills being part of the problem. Camp Murderpuddle? I like 'em, but if I see a large cave/hole next to croc-infested waters, I'm leaving. Quickly. Seriously, they need to move their boma. They've found fish in that water hole, which is awesome. But the universe has given them a number of really clear signs that they need to move their boma and just hike to the water hole to fish. Also? Stay away from croc hidey holes! All I can say is this is going to get really interesting when tribes start to merge, and I'm all in.

Oooh, very good point.

It will be three if Su-Zahn makes it to a tribe with those two. Edited to add: I don't speak German, but I strongly suspect that the "ah" sound is not correct for an umlaut over an "A" (ä). I say this based on nothing but my dislike of her condescension when speaking of/to others, and due to that? I wouldn't put it past her to be pretentious enough to spell her name with an umlaut. I think she just wants her name pronounced that way and added the "ä" herself, thinking that's is how to pronounce it. Are there any German speakers here who can shed light on how to properly pronounce her name with the umlaut? If I'm wrong, I'll happily delete this paragraph and admit I was wrong about her being pretentious (but not about the condescension. 😁)

I freakin' love "Clothed and Opinionated." Ya know? Lacey is pretty damn self aware, and Jake is the exact right person for her to be watching with. But, yeah, they all crack me up. I do have to give Makani credit for realizing she will need to eat meat if she expects to survive (which in N&A-speak means "not tap out"). That said, as a Buddhist vegan, she can't be expected to be all in on "RAAARW...kill and eat meat!" once she had this realization. This was hard for her. She knuckled down and caught that fish and wanted only for it to be humanely killed (not punched and have its head ripped off), which is why she asked Bulent about the knife. She did try to eat the fish. I think her nausea was a combination of her own personal feelings about setting aside a deeply held belief and the fact that her body was just not used to meat of any kind (even if it was just a bite). Your system knows when you are eating something you, deep down, really don't want to eat. This still doesn't mean taking on this challenge was wise for her, but at least she knows she can tap if she really wants to if it comes down to her health, her beliefs, and Bulent being an insensitive choad.

So, this is definitely showing my age, but... When two of the Gromflomites on the (not)Death Star are talking, and one asks the other why he's not being taken to meet the parents, I swear, the dialog is the same as between Mitch and Jordan in the 80s movie, "Real Genius." Jordan: Are you going to take me home to meet your parents? Mitch: No. Jordan: Why? Are you ashamed of me? Mitch: No, them.

I can’t say I ever liked Lacey on her challenges, but on Clothed and Opinionated, I found her hysterical and at least a little self aware. Jake is always welcome on my screen. Suzänne is going to drive me nuts. I didn’t really like her on her challenge. While she was right about her partner at the time, she was also condescending to him, and that’s one of my pet peeves. This time, she blamed her issues with him on the fact that he was male. When this other guy showed up in XL (I forgot his name), her negative initial words about him were about his gender. At that point, all he had done was show up. We haven’t even seen any of the actual bad behavior he showed in his original episode. Again, she had a point about his staying out too long, but the way she voiced it could have been better. I can’t wait until the groups merge and she gets a load of Bulent. When rude, condescending Karen meets rude, condescending Vladimir? The calls for banishment from both of them will be epic.

Katie's inner child is stupid for thinking she was saving it, rather than kidnapping it from its environment. Saving a turtle or a tortoise means getting it off the road to keep it from being run over.

I was so happy they didn't subtitle "Fight Song." No, I don't know all the lyrics, but it didn't matter. I know the song, and the actors signed and danced it so well, that the emotion got through. Also, I noticed how many people are praising Takil Talwalkar's signing ability, but no one's said a word about Zak Orth's. I wonder if it's because it makes sense that the character with a deaf daughter would know ASL, so it doesn't occur to us that the Zak would also have had to learn it for the role. I also wonder if was able to sign his dialog with his character's daughter proficiently, as you'd expect the father of a deaf child to do.

I thought about that, but part of me also wondered if he was trying to goad the producer into taking a swing so that Brandon could justify punching him, which would serve two purposes: He would be kicked off the show immediately, and he would have had some sort of justification/defense that he was acting in self defense. Truthfully, though, I don't think he's that calculating. At best, I think he was just at his limit and was just being a d*ck, hoping the producer, Taylor, et al would just leave him alone.

Hell, no. They brought out Neil Lane, and his briefcase, only to tease the audience, especially those who'd read the spoilers that said Peter would propose on ATFR.

This show (and others) have shown turkey vultures in flight -- and they do look cool in flight -- and used hawk audio. I always laugh at that. A raptor and a carrion bird could not be any different. Also? Turkey vultures up close are creepy looking.

Ha! I was close to quoting Chapelle with, “I’m Rick James, bitch,” wasn’t sure if you’d would get that reference, or be offended. 😁😂

That’s Rick James. I? Am so old. (Sigh)

The problem I have with Sergio's political story in this challenge is that he stated he was telling the story of a female Samurai -- a warrior. Then he put her in Geisha makeup. The roles of the Geishas and the Samurai are not interchangeable. He likely chose that makeup, because that's the only Asian look he knows, but it totally took away from his "women can be warriors just like men" story. Even in this forum, people are discussing his Geisha look, which is not what his look was supposed to be. In that respect, he ruined his own story.

I'm not going to say that Asian history is my strong suit, but Samurai were Japanese warriors, and I do believe that there were female Samurai who fought alongside men. "Mulan" is set in China, and the Chinese Imperial Army may very well have had different traditions/rules about women serving in battle during the timeframe of the story.

Silly to you (or most Americans), perhaps, but to not someone from a French-speaking country. Benoit is from Quebec, where French is the official language.

I know what veneers are. Since the OP said "teeth," that's what I thought she was referring to. Veneers make more sense and would have been more clear than "teeth." 🙂

Um...what? I don't understand this at all. Are you saying she has to replace her teeth--actual bones in her head--and then she would be more attractive to anyone?

Well, this and the fact that, once the cameras leave, the show stops paying for elaborate dates, and they actually spend real time together, they realize they're actually horrible together.

I'm sure the show's makeup artists could have. However, the hidden tan lines seemed to be a design ask from the client, so I think it was perfect that Brittany designed the dress to hide them. Besides, I doubt that anyone outside the confines of the show has the cosmetics, the skill, or even the desire to pull that off well. Personally, if I had the choice between wearing a dress that looked good on me and hid tan lanes, and wearing a dress that looked good on me and required upper arm makeup that would be a massive smudge hazard, I'd pick the former.