S29 Ponderosa

[choclatechip45]

I like Jeremy, but that's the nature of Survivor you are playing again unknowns and you have to figure out the social game so I don't feel bad for him. I do imagine it must be frustrating being at Ponderosa  if you are a big fan while people who are not a fan of the show are still playing. 

Edited December 16, 2014 by choclatechip45

[ProfCrash]

Upon further reflection, I think Alec gives Missy credit for his ouster because he cannot believe that Baylor would turn on him and all of his manly charms. Since he had been flirting with Baylor, Missy was behind his ouster. She is probably an upset Mama because her baby girl was being manipulated by the hotness that is Alec.

 

True to this season, Jeremy is the one who seems to be the most "bitter" at Ponderosa but that is pretty tame.

 

Seriously, this entire season has been elements of traditional Survivor but no extremes. There is no real villain. There are a few strategists but they are not great strategists. There are some socially awkward players but mainly they don't get that you say excuse me after you fart. There are some folks big into trust but not so much so that it could be shown as a plot line.

 

Seriously, this entire season is just so in the middle with all the elements that it has been bland.

[Jobiska]

So, Jon lost 30 pounds! That's got to be most anyone has lost during their run on Survivor.

 

Well....he said he was 205, then the medical staff said he was now 178.8, and he said "That's with all this [clothes and shoes, I guess, but do they weigh them naked to begin with?  Oh, who knows]!  So I'm like 175!"  I don't think anyone else has arbitrarily lopped off almost four pounds and then promulgated that amount among the other Ponderosans, in any season!

[Oholibamah]

Well....he said he was 205, then the medical staff said he was now 178.8, and he said "That's with all this [clothes and shoes, I guess, but do they weigh them naked to begin with?  Oh, who knows]!  So I'm like 175!"  I don't think anyone else has arbitrarily lopped off almost four pounds and then promulgated that amount among the other Ponderosans, in any season!

 

Ha!

 

This is also assuming he didn't add on 4 pounds to get to 205 in the first place.

 

(I kid, but I totally do it, too. After eating well for a few weeks I mentally round up my starting weight and round down my new weight and tell myself I am awesome.)

[peachmangosteen]

Does anyone remember what people lost last season? I feel like these people are losing more than they have lately, which seems odd. But maybe I'm not remembering recent season weight loss totals correctly.

 

Didn't RC gain weight? LOL!

[choclatechip45]

 

Does anyone remember what people lost last season? I feel like these people are losing more than they have lately, which seems odd. But maybe I'm not remembering recent season weight loss totals correctly.

I remember Ciera from the first BvW only lost like 2 pounds.

[ProfCrash]

I don't know why the weight loss seems odd. They have not been shown catching fish on a regular basis. We have not seen them eating any fruits that are in the area, which makes me think that there is not much for them to harvest. Exit interviews have mentioned eating crab and that is about it. That tells me that they are going to lose a ton of weight. Yes, there have been the reward challenges but not everyone goes on those and that temporary food, one day out of three, is going to be quickly returned to the earth and not lead to much weight gain.

[peachmangosteen]

It's odd to me because I was thinking they just hadn't been losing as much weight lately. And just because they don't seem to be playing up that they're not eating/hungry really this season. Plus, I was thinking the women don't even look like they lost much but then I looked at the pre-show pic and shit, Natalie and Missy look like they've lost a good bit.

[ProfCrash]

They flew through the rice and beans on the one tribe because they were hungry. All they could find to eat was crab and Drew was allergic so he could only eat rice and beans. I think if there had been other food that they could have harvested; coconuts, bananas, mangos, whatever else is commonly found, they would not have been so hungry that they would not have rationed their food better.

 

So even with the over eating and the rewards, the men have been losing 20-30 pounds. That is a lot.

[Miss Scarlet]

I thought Jon's Ponderosa video made him and Missy look bad. For him to say that he played an honest, loyal game (I forget the exact words he used) is just ridiculous considering their move to blindside Jeremy. I have no problem with them doing it, of course, but don't pull a Coach honour/integrity thing afterwards. I felt the same way when watching the clip of him and Missy talking about how their game is run on faith. Too many Coach and South Pacific flashbacks. 

[cooksdelight]

Coach has been oddly silent about this season on FB and elsewhere. He's got a new baby girl so that may have his mind on more important things.

[Donny Ketchum]

Coach has been oddly silent about this season on FB and elsewhere. He's got a new baby girl so that may have his mind on more important things.

A woman was actually able to stand Coach long enough to have a child with him?  Oh, that's priceless! :)

[ProfCrash]

Jon's blindside of Jeremy was not out of line with saying he played an honorable game. Jaclyn is the one who switched their vote from Josh's alliance to Jeremy's alliance. Jeremy admitted he got too comfortable and that he should not have trusted Jon because that was something new and he didn't know that Jon was really in his alliance.

 

I think that the players know who they made "real" final deals with and make their honor and loyalty argument with that in mind. Jon has said that Missy's allegiance to Baylor trumps her allegiance to him, so he does see that there is a difference. It sounds silly to us but I think that the players understand the difference. That does not mean that the person who was stabbed in the back isn't pissed and hold it against the person but on a different level they get it.

 

Then again, we mock Wu and others who bring people to the end based on loyalty and honor and we roll our eyes at their naiveté and wonder why the hell they would do something like that. I think the loyalty thing screws people up when they feel that there was a real connection, like Jon had with Missy and Dawn in her season. When the person you lied to is someone you don't have a connection with, it probably does not feel like being disloyal.

[Boilergal]

I'm not surprised by the weight loss - it seems like the last few seasons there were a lot more food challenges, and they were all eating better.  I figured with the way it was going, this season they would have a fully stocked fridge and food cabinet that magically filled.  

 

Back to just rice and foraging for anything else...as it should be!!

[Miss Scarlet]

A woman was actually able to stand Coach long enough to have a child with him?  Oh, that's priceless! :)

Wow. So there really is a lid for every pot.

Jon's blindside of Jeremy was not out of line with saying he played an honorable game. Jaclyn is the one who switched their vote from Josh's alliance to Jeremy's alliance. Jeremy admitted he got too comfortable and that he should not have trusted Jon because that was something new and he didn't know that Jon was really in his alliance.

Ultimately though Jon went along with the plan both times, to switch to Jeremy's alliance and then to vote him out. He would admit that this was a blindside and based on his greeting to Jeremy at Ponderosa, would probably also admit that this was a betrayal. I never saw any indication that their alliance was so new or fragile that they didn't even really consider themselves aligned. 

[truthaboutluv]

Saw the final two Ponderosa videos of Baylor and Keith. Well apparently people really didn't care for Baylor too much as her welcome seemed rather cool. Jeremy, as per usual, was side-eying and criticizing how immature the other guys were being because of how much they talked about not liking Missy and Baylor and their reaction to her at Ponderosa. That said, I noticed he didn't exactly give her a big hug either. You'd think if he cared that much, he'd do something to make her feel more welcome. And I will say the guys did seem to speak to her and say hello, certainly not like Kass' welcome last season. However there just weren't any big hugs from them and clearly they weren't that close. 

 

Keith was a little friendlier and Wes ragged on him some more about his "stick to the plan" comment and how it may have cost them a million dollars. I also thought it was interesting that Jeremy was the one who seemed to bring that up at the dinner table the same night Keith got there and not Reed whose plan it was that got ruined. I like Jeremy but I definitely understand why some felt he was almost condescending towards Keith in his attitude because after they talk about Keith's making that comment, he started saying how they would discuss that maybe Keith was getting better at playing and understanding the game because he was still in it and maybe he was improving. It just felt like he was talking to a child. 

[Jobiska]

That said, I noticed he didn't exactly give her a big hug either. You'd think if he cared that much, he'd do something to make her feel more welcome.

 

Well, he was first at the door to greet her, but with a camera.

I laughed so much at Spitty McSpitterson telling Wes to stop picking his teeth [on camera] in their dual interview.  And then the rest of that shot Wes was still working at whatever was bugging him, but with his tongue behind his closed lips.

[ProfCrash]

Baylor was clear that she was getting the cold shoulder from the guys. I am not surprised, she was not well liked. It was clear from comments that were made in camp that the guys thought she was lazy and a brat and that they did not want to spend time with her. I wish that the more mature men, Josh at least, would have gotten past some of that and embraced Baylor.

 

I said this in the finale topic but I think that there was a real personality clash in play this season that was handled by not socializing in camp. So we didn't see the animosity we have in past seasons on full blast but we saw it percolating up in the comments that Keith and Alec made on a regular basis. I just wish Baylor got more support from Jeremy and Josh when she arrived. I expected the two of them to at least put on a show of being welcoming.

[peachmangosteen]

I just wish Baylor got more support from Jeremy and Josh when she arrived. I expected the two of them to at least put on a show of being welcoming.

 

I was glad they at least marginally pretended to give a shit. I mean they both did actually greet her as she arrived and Jeremy took her picture, like they've been doing for everyone. And then Reed was at least standing when she came inside and smiling at her. Alec and Wes are too immature to get it, I guess.

 

When Jeremy was whining (like he always does) about everyone acting like 'little girls,' I was thinking, pot meet kettle. Jeremy is so high on himself and has such little self-awareness.

[truthaboutluv]

The thing is though it did seem like a few of the guys did at least come out to say hello. Jeremy as noted was standing there with the camera, I think that was Reed standing to the side. So they did come out to say hello (again unlike Kass where everyone just stayed inside and said nothing to her) and while she was talking about her experience in the game, there is a shot of her in the pool and it clearly looks like she and Wes were talking. So I don't think the guys were mean or even rude to Baylor. There just weren't any big hugs like when the others got there. 

[riverblue22]

I'm thinking Baylor must have been pretty bad in the game, and her helicopter mother just made things worse.  Baylor, as a young player, was set up perfectly to be the camp's "little sis."  She could have gotten the protection of all those guys, if she was the least bit likable.  She obviously was not.

 

ETA:  I was just thinking of Elizabeth Hasselback, another young player.  I think almost everyone was crazy about her during Survivor Australia, and she had the father figure of Roger watching out for her.  No one held that against her.

Edited December 19, 2014 by riverblue22

[Special K]

I'm not a Baylor fan, but I think she would have done better relationship-wise without her mother there.  I think it kept her (both of them perhaps) in the mother/daughter dynamic that was pretty infantilizing (not that she didn't collaborate in her own infantilization).  At that age, you're still figuring out how/who you want to be in the world.  It's like going to college and living at home vs. going away to college.

[peachmangosteen]

She could have gotten the protection of all those guys, if she was the least bit likable.  She obviously was not.

 

I don't find any of the people who hated Baylor 'likable,' so I'm not willing to accept that she is categorically unlikable because they don't like her. At least she has the excuse of being only 20 years old.

[choclatechip45]

 

I don't find any of the people who hated Baylor 'likable,' so I'm not willing to accept that she is categorically unlikable because they don't like her. At least she has the excuse of being only 20 years old.

I completely agree. I hate the age excuse when it comes to reality television contestants, but I think it's valid with Baylor. I didn't think she was that bad, but I could see her being annoying if you spent 24 hours a day with (like anyone else). I do wonder, how much of the anomosity in the exit interviews/ponderosa is based on the fact that they are mad a 20-year old outlasted them.

[angelita100]

Well I agree with Jeremy. I can't believe a grown ass man was so obsessed with Baylor and couldn't let it go after he was sent packing.  Just ridiculous and says more about Reed than it does Baylor.  There are people who annoy the hell out of me but I get over it and learn to deal with it.  

[BigRedCheese]

I found Baylor really likable, seemed like a sweet young girl to me. She also seemed a lot savvier about the game than a lot of young players that have been on the show before.

[Lingo]

Baylor at least admitted that even though she had disagreements with her mother, she almost always ended up doing what her mother told her, and so nobody ever listened to her own thoughts and ideas.  So she was at least self-aware enough to see how that dynamic was affecting her game.

[peachmangosteen]

Yea, I think Baylor showed more self-awareness than any other person that made the merge besides Natalie.