Way Wes Jr

Hmm. This isn't episode specific. I'm not speculating, and there's a chance some folk are avoiding the Spec thread anyway because it discusses previews... I guess I'll start a new thread From the past seasons thread: As one of those Russell bailers, who hasn't yet bailed on this train wreck of a season, I'll take a stab. In our corner of the Internet Survivor Fanbase we seem to enjoy strategy more than the "casual fan," does. I know I do. And while we take this season's awful awful people to task for the strategic mistakes they appear to make, they seem to have (collectively,) more ideas of how to play than the average cast (even if those ideas are wrong.) It is a horrible irony, to be finally given a cast that understand to varying degrees what game they are playing, and then - each week - have yet another one of them outed as a contender for "Worst Cast Member Ever." I half expect that in the next couple of episodes one of our invisibles (Sierra, Carolyn, or Tyler,) will out themselves as a serial kitten torturer. Let's go through the last eight: (Vaguely ranked in order I'd prefer to see them win.) Shirin - Has flashes of good gameplay, but a poor social game, (and being too happy to be on Survivor,) more than counteract that. (I thought she meta-played the letters from home at the auction perfectly, only to have Mike ruin her moment.) I'm rooting for the underdog revenge angle here. Mike - Paranoid and playing hyperactively, he has made some good moves, and some horrible ones. Had has his sexist moments, but has come to both Sierra and Shirin's defense when they were being yelled at. Not rooting, but would be okay with winning. Rodney - Of the strategies the editors have deigned to show us, Rodney has been playing the most coherent strategic game. I don't want him to win, but would grudgingly accept it. The Invisibles - Do Tyler, Carolyn, and Sierra have more of a strategy than, "I suck the least of your three choices?" Tyler seems to be observing and tattling, letting others take the heat for his shit-stirring, Carolyn found an idol w/o a clue and seems to be trying to play a mother figure while lying low, and Sierra ... has eyebrows? I haven't noticed, but I'm not looking that closely. [Hyperbole alert, as I mentioned in Sierra's thread, she told Jenn directly that she wants to be sitting at FTC with unpleasant people.] While I will never be able to "forget" this season, if one of these folk win, I'll probably forget who they were over time. If Natalie wasn't a twinnie, I'd have trouble remembering who won her season - and that was S29! Dan - He claims to have Survivor knowledge, but we haven't been shown him showing any strategic thought. About the only good having the extra vote will provide is to (hopefully) make him a target. I would greet a win by Dan with a healthy, "What?!?" Will - A recruit whom I doubt watched the DVD's provided to him. An invisible nothing, who was revealed as a hypocritical ass this week. I would unleash a series of swearing so foul my children would flee the house if he was to win. On the plus side, I cannot come up with a F3 or F2 in which he could get enough votes to win.

According to Jenn's exit interview on RHAP (Rob Has a Podcast,) Sierra admitted to her that the "women's alliance" was never going to happen. Something along the lines of, "If I make it to F3 with Hali/Joe/You, ..., you're all too likeable. I'm better off where I am." Normally, the "vote for me, I didn't do anything in the game, but at least I'm not this guy (or guys,)" isn't viable, but in this dreadful season it seems Sierra may have correctly read the room.

The assumption is F3, eight people on the jury; Hali, Joe, and Jenn are locks for Shirin. I'm pretty sure Mike'd go that route also, (though there is a small chance he'd vote for Rodney as a Blue tribe member.) Carolyn votes for Tyler. Dan votes for Rodney. Will and Sierra's votes don't matter. If anyone wants to continue, we should probably move it over to the speculation thread.

This episode riled me up more than usual - leading to a lot more posting. So, short rankings this time through. 1. Tyler (4) Tattlin’ Tyler seems to be playing an under-the-radar shit-stirring game. He’s in the majority alliance, hasn’t been an obvious ass, and can probably state a good FTC case. (And, I can see him winning a timely IC to keep himself in the game.) 2. Rodney (3) You’re the one who appears to be driving the boat, but your enemies aren’t targeting you. Good work if you can get it; but can you make an intelligent case at FTC? 3. Carolyn (5) 4. Will (7) Both of you may appear goat-like to the players above. And Will, go back to being invisible, please. 5. Sierra (6) I guess. 6. Dan (2) You switched alliances, going from #2 out of 4/5, to #5/6 out of six. How’s that an improvement? 7. Shirin (8) They’re willing to keep you around longer to torture you. I sincerely hope that there is a final three of you, Rodney, and Tyler. I think you get four votes and they split the rest. 8. Mike (1) Worst auction play ever. Plus, by doing it, you killed any goodwill Shirin might have generated by calling out the $20 strategy. [You were worried about the target moving to you after Joe’s boot, and you decided to hang it around your neck yourself. And we haven’t even gotten to the part where you play ‘Buzz Kill Bob’ once everyone gets back to camp to read their letters.] OUT Jenn (9) Your group figured it would be a 3-3 (-3) vote, so you took control and voted out the person who was over the game. Plus, you’ll have three good days at Ponderosa.

I need to rant, and this is the right thread. These people have vast amounts of free time, why don't they do basic contingency planning? This season in particular is driving me crazy. Let me give three BASIC plans that every Survivor player should have at least thought about, before they even get dropped on the beach. A somewhat united tribe, much like the Blue's this season, should go into every immunity challenge prepared for a surprise tribe swap before it starts. Along with the understanding that, if the numbers work, that a "new" tribe with a majority should throw the IC in order to save their tribemates on the other side. This is the contingency I'm the least worked up about, as it isn't always the right play. And, you can execute it and vote off the wrong person. Have a plan for reward challenges! I thought that Joe/Jenn/ Hali played this to perfection, Joe taking Shirin along as the bonus player aside; but then we found out that Jenn was upset. Have a plan for which players need to be separated from each other, or which might be convince-able swing votes, or in the worst case, who you don't want to have a random chance at an immunity idol clue. Up until they change the way the auction works, have a plan. The editors don't show much strategy, but imagine how delicious it would have been to have Mike and Dan off together gloating about how they worked the auction so Mike would get the advantage. (And I say this as someone who dislikes Dan very much.) Or, after Probst screwed up by allowing Carolyn to call "backsies," the two of them gloating that they played it so they had a 2-1 edge over Carolyn for the rock draw. --- Oh, and while I'm here: Don't share your secret food stash with the whole freaking tribe. Your final four group? Sure, but not with the people who are trying to vote you out before you can vote them out.

I don't, and won't, follow Survivor players on twitter. (Hell, I barely use twitter at all,) but I am curious; just when did Will start playing damage control? Did he start before the episode? 'Cause I just know there is an, "Editing didn't show the whole story," tweet in that shitstorm somewhere.

I mentioned in the episode thread that I couldn't believe they didn't give us a reaction at the immunity challenge when JiffyPop didn't say anything about Dan having an advantage. I'm going to guess that Tyler and Carolyn are going to act out a little scene where they discuss the IC, leading to Tyler making the, "I need to get into his bag," comment. I've only bailed on two Seasons, the first two of the R Hantz trilogy, but I'm coming really close to shutting it down for this season. Not only are the players horrible (both as players and as human beings,) but the editing has changed from telling an overall story, to trying to make each episode its own individual thing. This trend started last season, and while it has given a couple of good episodes, (the telegraphed boot of the Christie brother last season comes to mind,) it has completely made for a confusing season.

True. But, this argument is posited upon Mike, Jenn, and (I suppose,) Shirin talking about the potential shadiness of Will to Tyler and Carolyn because they are upset that he didn't share all of his food. Which isn't what they were trying to do. They were trying to make Will's alliance trust him less. Which is what they are supposed to do as the minority alliance. (What, they're supposed to call out the producers and say, "Hey, we're getting Pagonged off anyway, but we don't want to quit. Why don't we have a 'shocking' triple elimination vote at Tribal tonight and get this over with?") Will's response after Tattlin' Tyler told him about this was to single out the physically weakest member of the minority alliance, and ratchet up the bitchfest to eleven. And, rather than get it off his chest and move on, (which, not to defend Rodney, is what Rodney does,) the asshat then finds the bonus level 'up to twelve' switch and makes personal attacks on Shirin. Hali knew about Shirin's domestic abuse while on the island. Given that Shirin is a "talker," I'm guessing everyone knows. Will's attacks - "you have no friends, nobody likes you," - weren't solely based upon tribal dynamics, they were abusive attacks on their own. (And the six fucks who let him get away with need to be hit by an asteroid strike.) Kindergartners like a coherent story. I think each episode was edited by a different person, in a vacuum. When Probst made no mention of an advantage for Dan at the Immunity Challenge, I cannot believe that none of the contestants reacted. Nobody turned to a tribemate and whispered "Dan's advantage wasn't for this challenge?" In an alternate universe, there's a really well edited version of this season. The remaining castaways all still suck, but at least the season makes sense.

If this was The Amazing Race, I'd say that Mike had a Killer Fatigue meltdown. His strategy completely blew up, and he drove Dan (and Sierra, I guess,) over to Rodney's collection of Suck. Just. Awful. Gameplay. Probst should have shot down Carolyn's attempt to give the letter back. This was totally a moment where he made one of his, "on the fly, producer," decisions. I thought Mike had made a balls out move, (perhaps in concert with Dan and Shirin,) and JiffyPop neutered it by not shooting down Carolyn. [And seriously, you don't have a plan with your alliance to make sure one of you gets the advantage? What the fuck are these people talking about on the beach?] I hope Will's wife gave him a solid nut-punch after this episode. Yeah, he'll claim his side of the story wasn't shown by "editing," but you said that shit, asshat. Good luck with that "acting" career.

AKA Jessica Jones is next in the queue, the least known of the MCU Defenders,(for the comics, I'm a Doctor Strange/ Namor/ Hulk/ Silver Surfer believer,) and the one for whom the backstory and power use will be the toughest to deal with, and budget for. We've seen Daredevil. This version barely has any "powers" at all. Iron Fist has a mystical (magical/alien/other dimensional) flavor - but he can be boiled down to Martial Arts Guy with a super punch. Luke Cage is basically a super-serum / centipede experiment - super strength, and 'unbreakable skin.' Question for comic experts: bullets bounce, but do they bruise? But JJ is an ex-super hero, who works as a private investigator, with clientele that includes other meta-humans. She's basically a lower power Luke Cage, not as strong, (probably) can't shrug off bullets, BUT she can fly. Either they drop the flight, making her a weaker version of LC, or this series gets the bulk of the CGI budget... FOX having the rights to "mutant," (unless they're an Avenger, like Wanda and Pietro, but wasn't a founding X-Man, like Beast,) is the monkey wrench in MCU continuity. (And whichever studio that has the Fantastic Four rights.) Thank goodness that the Marvel Universe has so many nuts-in-power-suits to convert over to the MCU; Daredevil and Iron Fist can fight mooks and Ninjas, but Luke and Jessica will require more 'cinematic' villains.

Fantastic season, beware Marvel - for you have set the bar VERY high for the next three series. As for the Karen/Matt interaction at the end ... My initial impression was to question if she noticed something about Matt that reminded her of "the man in black." But, I think it is more in the " 'shipping category;" Matt is offering her his hand to walk into the building together, and note that they walk in the door hand-in-hand, he rarely takes assistance, let alone ask for it, and when he does, it's an elbow he takes. Karen's always been interested in Matt, (creepy, "touch my face like Matt would," anyone?,) so I interpret it as a, "Hey. I have a chance," moment.

Okay, what did Matt learn about Fisk's financing? He already knows about Owlsley. Is it the heroin connection? 'Cause that seems like a stretch. [And really, was the heroin even that big a part?]

Okay, when I saw it originally, I just thought it was Will. But you have now convinced me it was added in. Good job sound editors.

Blah. Perhaps the conversations I’ve read that try to split the difference between Jiffy Pop saying this was one of the best casts ever, and whether or not that means he meant to promote this season as one of the best ever, have had the question answered. Unless the remaining episodes knock our collective socks off, this is one of the worst seasons in recent memory. So, since Jeff couldn’t use his usual hyperbole about how great the season was, he instead promoted the cast. [This is the flip side of the One World coin. While that season was full of people I hated, I enjoyed watching how effortlessly Kim ran the season. Worlds Apart has (what appears to be,) an obvious runaway winner, but he seems almost frantic (Vlachos-ian,) in his demeanor. [And add the fact that Mike lost me with his sexism during work-gate and after the Lindsey vote.] Maybe Survivor should stop subtitling seasons with the word “World.”] An additional nit-pick: last weeks previews ruined this episode. While I was hoping Jenn would win the Immunity Challenge, we hadn’t seen all of the stuff we were shown in the preview - so I knew she was going to lose. And then, I still don’t think we saw it all! Some of those clips are probably from next weeks episode. It would have been glorious to see her hand Joe the idol at tribal. Who would Mike have wanted Shirin to vote for to prove her loyalty then? (Answer: Jenn, obviously, but still.) Anyway, no changes to the rankings. Pagong, pagong, pagong. ‘Merica (purple) 1. Mike (1) It seems like his Paranoia is pinging on Rodney. Or at least that’s my take-away from the Shirin scene. At the very least, his concern over Carolyn/Tyler/Will was confirmed by Shirin. 2. Dan (2) Nahh - nahh, hey, is that a tin can? 3. Rodney (3) You want to wait until seven to strike - is Mike going to take out one of your four first? (Even if Mike suspects Rodney, I think he wants to take as many original Escamacas as far as he can, to play the Blue collar loyalty card at FTC, so Carolyn or Tyler may be the surprise boot.) 4. Tyler (4) Winning immunity makes you more of a threat, but if Shirin is campaigning against Carolyn, pointing out that she’s the glue between you and Will, (and Rodney,) she’s in greater danger. 5. Carolyn (5) Souvenir in pocket. 6. Sierra (6) Inaudible, but seen listening to Mike and Shirin. 7. Will (7) Invisible. 8. Shirin (8) Mike may use you for a vote, but he’ll cut you loose in an instant. I’d wager that Hali and Mike bonded over her #1 favorite thing, (Jesus,) and he not only voted for her, he was suggesting her. 9. Jenn (10) I over thought the Joe ranking last week. OUT Joe (9) Fantastic fake idol construction. Horrible fake idol play. (Show it to Mike if you must, but tell him you’ll give it to him after FTC, not before/during.

See, I kind of disagree here. From Vlad's perspective it would have been kinder to Matt to shoot him. (See Healy, John: Ep. 3.) And New York lost one of its few honest cops; the actor playing (Sullivan?) did a great job with the combined WTF/"I'm getting killed by a cop?!?" eye reactions as the (SWAT) team guy reported he was dead. The real question is, was that a real (SWAT) team, or a fake group?

Crap! A cliffhanger. Luckily I don't have to wait a week... Was this the episode where Foggy dropped the 12 letter mf bomb? First "real swear" I recall on the show, and it comes from a protagonist, nice. An okay episode, I felt too much time was spent on Foggy/Karen. My biggest unanswered question - leading directly into the cliffhanger - is, what did Bad Cop tell the force? If anything. I suppose I'll find out soon if there's a force-wide APB foe a masked guy in black. And, is the force dumb enough to fall for a costume change if / when Matt moves to red leather?

I wasn't on the fence for this show, (for I am Marvel's bitch,) but if I had been, D'Onofrio's portrayal of Fisk, (and the writers writing for the character as well, of course,) would totally put me on the Yes side. I think that "street level" hero stories function best when the villains motivations are somewhat understood - or that we at least relate to them as people. "Cinematic," villains are, by a 90 minute - 150 minute necessity, more 'black' that shades of grey. And "one bad day from being the Punisher," isn't quite right, but you have to cross properties to make it work ... I think Matt's "one bad day away" from being Rorschach.

Last episode I thanked them for not going the, "36 hours earlier," route ... and then, no ... wait, it was just a standard flashback - whose primary purpose was assigning a fan-boy name to Turk. Nice fake out. As part of a (slow) binge-watch, I didn't mind this being a slightly 'slower' episode. It allowed us to see a little bit more of the legal practice of Nelson & Murdock, and allowed time to introduce Ben, and expand on Karen's character. Healy was (understandably) despondent over giving out Wilson Fisk's name, but damn, that took commitment.

Nah, even a mild geek with an eye for "easter eggs," (remember when DVD's had those? Good times. Good times.,) can get a reaction out of that level of detail. A pass through Wikipedia notes that in addition to Dr. Strange, which isn't going to be Netflix, the "Night Nurse" character has also given aid to Luke Cage and Iron Fist (both of whom will be Netflix-ed.) So - Rosario Dawson long term employment achieved. I mentioned in the first episode thread that this series looks to be syncing up with my internal concept of the DareDevil character. The "one bad day," concept cements it. By the way, and this is "spoiler free," musing, while Claire's referencing the various "low level hoods," that Matt has been helping Hell's Kitchen with; this episode, with its allusions to the old Outfit in the flashbacks, helps explain why Matt is focused upon the Russian Gangsters, and eventually the (person) above them in the food chain. Only one "action sequence," in the episode, but boy did they make it count. I stopped watching Supernatural years ago, and for quite a bit I was worried that this episode was going to use that series over-used "four hours earlier," storytelling mechanism. I was very pleasantly surprised that the continuation from the first episode was done by narration.

Okay, I'll be lucky to get two a day in, but slow-binge away! The action scenes were well done, and the tone met my interpretation of the Daredevil story. (Miller-esque, but without the cartoon assassins (Elektra, Bullseye.)) [Note: Bullseye is one of my favorite low-power villains, I remember him being on trial, and the court was dumb enough to let him get his hands on something he could throw while on the witness stand. He escaped.] I like the way that, while Foggy is played as the comic relief, he's also the one interested in paying the bills. There was a newspaper scene? I'll have to rewatch the end before Ep. 2. And, was the father of the kidnapping victim at the end someone we had seen earlier - or were the (Russians) performing a random snatch and grab? --- Edit: Oh, and I think the reason Agents of Shield was so uneven (for the first season, haven't seen the second,) is that it was tied in so strongly to the MCU movies. (Thor: Dark World, and CA:Winter Soldier especially.)

Sketchy. That being said, in their defense, a team did try to hide their amazing fannypack under the driver's chair of the car they switched out of. (Was it the hairdressers? I feel like it was the hairdressers.) I believe that either Tyler or Laura said something to the effect of, "the race is on, now." While the return of "Eat, sleep, mingle," has resulted in a pretty amiable group of racers, it's only a matter of time, (and proximity to the finish,) before Raaace! kicks into gear.

I missed my Airport-Fu! And given the linear nature of the roadblock, and how closely the teams seemed to come into the Pit Stop, it very well may have staved off elimination for Team Truck Stop.

Thanks KimberStormer, that helps me to recall: Mike sounded like he had just finished reading his copy of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, I think he also trotted out the, "men want to just solve the problem, women want to discuss how they feel about the problem," canard.

You know, I don't remember what he said back in (Episode two?,) and it may have been part of his 'worker bees must work' diatribe. (And I'm not going to rewatch to hunt it down,) BUT, and this is probably splitting hairs as far as some are concerned, I think Mike probably said something sexist, rather than misogynistic. It's not quite the right thread but, I perceive Rodney's comments to skew more sexist than misogynistic as well; the only player on the island that really comes across as misogynistic - by word and deed - is Dan.

Boring and predictable episode. I’ve got to believe that we had two idol hunting segments because no one on the reward trip bothered to do any strategizing. (Joe because he may be a fan, but he doesn’t understand the social/political part of the game, Shirin because she loathes and is loathed by Tyler and Carolyn, and the other three because they believe they are in the majority sub-alliance within the side with all the numbers.) Chekov’s gun alert: They talked about the idols at the original camps, does the original Escamera (blue) idol get found and played in the third act? Merica (Purple) 1. Mike (1) I don’t know what the “Congrats Joe on finding the idol,” plan was - he said something but I tuned it out - but it had the (unintended?) consequence of making the others stop hunting, giving you a hidden HII. [According to the story presented to us by production.] He’s either going to play it at the exact right time, (and win this season of Survivor,) or he’ll be blindsided with it in his pocket. 2. Dan (5) The Phillip Sheppard Goat position. While Rodney is being portrayed as a meathead, Dan is getting a progressively worse edit. If the interview snippets I’ve seen in this thread are correct, then he is even more disliked by the remaining women than Rodney is. (Carolyn is a cipher, but I can’t imagine she has escaped being the target of some of Dan’s wisdom.) There are going to be four of five women on an assumed eight person jury. <goat sound> 3. Rodney (3) And, shockingly enough, not for your goat potential. (You’d probably qualify more as an Ox, anyway.) While your master plans keep blowing up in your face, because of your inept social play, your strategic thinking has been pretty good - and the editors keep showing it! Mike is the “leader,” but his (shown) strategy has always been ‘ride the numbers,’ which is great until cannibalization occurs - and we haven’t seen Mike’s plan for that stage. Tyler has been presented as a passive player. If you can take some combination of Will/ Carolyn/ and Dan to the (assumed) final three, I think you can win, meatheadness be damned. 4. Tyler (4) I think you are being portrayed too passively to be a serious contender. You and Carolyn are playing a great swing vote game, without the hubris shown by Jon and Jaclyn last season. (Perhaps because you are a “secret” pair?) But I don’t know if you have “done enough” to sway a jury vote at this point. If your sub-alliance is successful in taking out Mike, I don’t see how you can wrest the credit away from Rodney. 5. Carolyn (2) I could have ranked you above Tyler because of your HII, but I’m beginning to suspect that you’ll take it home as a souvenir - either by blindside or passing the point where it can be played. I’m ranking him ahead of you because I think he’d get more FTC votes than you. (You have alienated all the women except Sierra that I know of, and the he-man woman hater club out there isn’t going to vote for a woman if someone with testicles is available.) 6. Sierra (6) 7. Will (7) Both invisible this week. 8. Shirin (8) I don’t get why so many people dislike you. Mike had to explain why Hali was more important to take out (strategy) than you (personal.) Yet another reason I think Mike is a better player than he is getting credit for. (Because of his allies Dan and Rodney, that ultimately the producers gave him, rather than he chose.) 9. Joe (11) 10. Jenn (10) Mike is playing a long game here. Joe is a threat, and will likely go the instant he doesn’t win immunity, but Mike would like to keep him around as long as possible to keep the heat off of himself. I’m thinking Mike might try to swing the vote to Jenn, citing his “belief that Joe has the HII.” OUT Hali (9) And, I think HII fears played out here also. If Joe had the HII, after winning immunity, perhaps he’d give it to his ally that was in the most trouble. Since Jenn received the votes last tribal, that’d be her, making Hali the “safer” target.