S30: Shirin Oskooi

[Donny Ketchum]

Hi.  I work for Yahoo! and have previously worked for Google.

[Zuleikha]

I have some acquaintances who know her. They say she is exactly like her CBS profile Q&A makes her seem (although despite that, they all like and respect her as a person). I look forward to the splendid trainwreck.

[peachmangosteen]

She's my pre-season fave. Which honestly probably means she'll end up being someone I hate because that's usually how it goes.

Edited February 22, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[Oholibamah]

She is my pre-season favorite also, despite reminding me of a cross between Corinne and Shii Ann (neither of whom I am a big fan of). But I am hoping she pushes the snarky superiority just far enough to keep me onboard.

[fishcakes]

I try not to have opinions of people based on their pre-season bios because they almost always sound assy in those, but I think it's a safe rule of thumb that no one who's ever said, "I'm super smart," is super smart.

[Miss Scarlet]

Yeah, her bio was a little too try-hard, but I like her enthusiasm about being on the show and I feel like she'll know what she's doing.

[choclatechip45]

Apparently she is is RHAP patron so at least she is a huge fan of the show.

[Donny Ketchum]

I can't believe she bombed that puzzle so badly.  What happened?  She looked like she was getting off to a solid start!

[Tryangle]

I can't believe she bombed that puzzle so badly.  What happened?  She looked like she was getting off to a solid start!

 

I'd have guessed she just got stage fright of sorts and lost focus. It was a straight forward puzzle. And then instead of calling for a sub, she just froze up.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Tryangle

[Miss Scarlet]

She's probably not used to the fatigue, dehydration and starvation yet. I'm sure that messed with her focus and thinking.

[Jersey Guy 87]

She's probably not used to the fatigue, dehydration and starvation yet. I'm sure that messed with her focus and thinking.

 

You can't complain about fatigue, dehydration and starvation in the first challenge, though.  You certainly shouldn't be anywhere near "starving" although you've gone a couple of days without a good meal.  But starving?  And I think they provide drinking water so dehydration shouldn't be an issue either.  If you're physically wiped out this early I question how you'll recover.

I lean more towards she simply froze up and they didn't have a plan b if she couldn't do the puzzle.

[wonald]

It's funny that she talks about taking a goat to the finals in her pre-show interviews and she just may be the goat this season herself. Something prevented me from getting on the Shirin train and now I am never getting on.

[Miss Scarlet]

You can't complain about fatigue, dehydration and starvation in the first challenge, though.  You certainly shouldn't be anywhere near "starving" although you've gone a couple of days without a good meal.  But starving?  And I think they provide drinking water so dehydration shouldn't be an issue either.  If you're physically wiped out this early I question how you'll recover.

I lean more towards she simply froze up and they didn't have a plan b if she couldn't do the puzzle.

I've heard a lot of Survivors say that the first days are the worst because they aren't used to these things and that they start to forget about the hunger, fatigue, etc as the season progresses. So if that was the case for Shirin then I think it could have affected her puzzle performance. The other thing is that we never saw the White Collar tribe get a fire started, so they probably weren't able to boil drinking water. She might have been dehydrated and will be less so throughout the season because all the tribes will get fire pretty soon.

[wonald]

WC started drinking water w/o boiling it on the second day, according to Max.

[Donny Ketchum]

WC started drinking water w/o boiling it on the second day, according to Max.

Wow, without boiling it?  Maybe that was the problem.  The amount of germs and bacteria in the water might've affected Shirin.

[wonald]

Only Shirin? None of the WC seems the worst for wear. Historically, many survivors have done it, which Max well knew.

[Miss Scarlet]

Okay, so now I'm thinking maybe she messed up the puzzle because had the beginnings of a brain parasite!

 

Jk, but drinking the water without boiling it would really freak me out. 

Edited March 2, 2015 by wudpixie

[wonald]

OK, it looks like none of you have read the reddit AMA where a Survivor cameraman(?) revealed that the show often pours bottled water into those wells. This has been the practice since Samoa, which was 11 seasons ago.

[Hera]

I assume they don't have permission to just dig wells for the contestants, so throwing bottled water would be how they ensure the cast has water, but it doesn't negate the need to boil it before drinking it. Those covers will keep out leaves and large animals, but they won't stop bugs getting in (not to mention whatever microscopic organisms make their home on the buckets). Unless the show also takes steps to ensure that the water in the wells stays clean—does anyone know if this is the case?

[peachmangosteen]

Shirin tweet:

 

 

"We need to keep the team strong, and there's no 'vagina' in 'team.'" -> episode 1 mantra 15 years strong.

 

Shots fired! And this is why I love her.

[Miss Scarlet]

So does that mean that the men pretty much declared it would be a woman going home? If so, then I can see why she wouldn't have approached the other women. She probably figured that while she did that the other two would be working to save themselves and aligning with the men. I'm sure there were major distrust issues between the women at that point since they were pretty much made to turn on each other.

 

Love her tweet! She is definitely smart and aware of the game on a micro and macro level. 

[fishcakes]

Because I'm a nerd, I went through all the seasons and counted how many first boots were women vs. men on every pre-merged tribe. Women were voted out first 35 times, and men were voted out first 27 times.

 

It does seem though that the first vote of the season is more often a woman, 20 times for women vs. 10 times for men in the first 29 seasons (There's one extra because the first BvW had the vote on the beach before the game even started so I count both Laura and Candace as first boots that season.) So while it seems like all tribes are more likely to vote out a woman first, it's really only that whichever tribe loses first is more likely to vote out a woman.

Edited March 3, 2015 by fishcakes

[scowl]

I liked her when she said "the game is afoot!" There's a Survivor fan. 

[peachmangosteen]

I was just watching some of the extra vids for the past ep and Shirin made me love her yet again.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HtVEw1lirE

 

I hope she continues to call out the sexism. Now if only they could actually show her doing it on the actual episodes!

[Donny Ketchum]

I hope she continues to call out the sexism. Now if only they could actually show her doing it on the actual episodes!

As good as that'd be, Probst would never allow it to make the cut since he's gotta protect himself and his precious alpha-male crushes from public perception.

[CletusMusashi]

She and Max are like the only ones on White Collar with any sense of fun.

I'm disliking Tyler just for disliking Shirin so much. What a party pooper.

[Tryangle]

I think I like her, oddly enough.

 

Maybe she was a bit *too* thrilled about the monkey relations going on nearby, but when you're stuck on a small island biding time, you gotta find your entertainment where you can.

[JudyObscure]

I'm hoping Shirin and Lindsey both make it to the merge, because I think they might clash like two wild monkey women going after the same banana -- with Shirin winning the battle.

[CletusMusashi]

I wonder if they think she's been looking for the idol ten times as much as everybody else, because she actually spends time looking at things?

 

"I sure am tired from working so hard." 

"Yeah, me too."

"Me three." 

etc..

"Of course Shirin isn't as tired as us, because all she ever does is look for the idol."

"I agree. Let's continue lying here talking about how hard we work."

"Shirin sucks. Remember that time when we had to see her vajajay? It almost made me feel uncomfortable about standing on the beach gossiping while she washed all the dishes for everybody."

"Yeah, but we had to make her do some work. I mean, all she ever does is look for idols."

"LIke right now. If she was tired from working as hard as us, she'd be right here with us."

"Yeah, what a bitch."

"Hey everybody, shush. Here she comes now."

"She must have found the idol. Because looking for it is all she ever does."

"Hey, guys! Guess what? I saw a monkey and another monkey and then the one monkey saw the other monkey and the monkey and the monkey had wild monkey sex! Come on, follow me! I'll show you where all the monkeys are!" (Runs away babbling about monkeys.)

"Oh, great. So now she's looking for another idol, and she's a furry!"

"Bitch."

[wonald]

IRL, I would like her a lot, but in the game, she is giving off Cockran 1.0 vibes. She can't read the room at all. Max is the only one who doesnt find her annoying but that's bc they are cut from the same cloth. I get the feeling that she is going to be the flipper this season.

[LadyChatts]

At least she's having fun.  Yet another reason I hate the whole "collar" theme this season.  Big wig exec or not, she's far more NC than Nina ever was (and I'd probably argue more NC free spirited than Hali and Will).  A little weird, but could be strategy.  Or just getting that it's a game and embracing it, before it's over and you go back to corporate America.  I still say she outlasts Carolyn to be the last remaining woman from WC standing (just a hunch, she gives me that vibe she could do well).  The fact that Tyler made such a big deal about her painting a target on her back and the blow up with Joaquin makes me believe that she's probably safe for the time being.  I could see her getting along well with the remaining NC group, and maybe some of the ladies on BC (that I have yet to remember).

[marys1000]

I can't remember the exact word So used in an interview where she was asked to use one word to describe every team mate but it was something like psychotic. 

 

I would be totally distracted and loving all the bird and wildlife (not the bugs, crabs and snakes tho). 

 

I think she's still a bit of a mystery to me.   Is she in an alliance with anyone?

[peachmangosteen]

Is she in an alliance with anyone?

 

Yes. In the first episode we found out her, Max, and Carolyn are aligned. Although I'm not sure if Max is really that into based on his body language and confessionals.

 

If I was going to make a guess, I'd say Max and Tyler are aligned and Carolyn is pretty close to them and then Shirin is 4th.

 

marys1000, you might be referring to So calling Shirin "delusional schizophrenic." I think So and Joaquin hate Shirin because she played better than them and didn't get voted out first. But also, I think Shirin comes off a bit kooky, but the tribe is making it to be much more than it is. They all seem more stuck-up and White Collar-y than Shirin and therefore they thinks she's insane.

Edited March 14, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[LadyChatts]

I can't remember the exact word So used in an interview where she was asked to use one word to describe every team mate but it was something like psychotic. 

 

I would be totally distracted and loving all the bird and wildlife (not the bugs, crabs and snakes tho). 

 

I think she's still a bit of a mystery to me.   Is she in an alliance with anyone?

 

What I find interesting about So is that she seemed onboard with Shirin in the beginning, and said that's why she targeted Carolyn (among other reasons).  Now it seems like she's saying the opposite in terms of what she thought of them.

 

In terms of alliance, I don't know who Max is loyal to.  He voted along with Shirin/Carolyn/Tyler in the first boot, but I wondered if that was more getting into what he might have perceived as a weaker alliance where he could call the shots.  So wasn't a good gamer from the one episode we saw her in, though given a chance she might have been.  The fact that she outed their alliance might have also made her seem like a liability to him.  If he thinks there's a tighter bond with Tyler and Carolyn, he might flip to Shirin and Joaquin.  Max gives me a vibe that he thinks he's a bigger game player than he probably is, but will want control.  With a tribe swap on the horizon, that might be what Shirin needs to stay in the game.

 

At any rate, aside from the BC ladies, I'm liking the remaining female contestants.  Shirin is fun to watch.

Edited March 14, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Lingo]

Oh gosh.  So clueless but so lovable.  I thought for sure they'd vote her out but I'm glad they didn't!

[Donny Ketchum]

I still like her in spite of her kookiness.  But seeing her get totally blindsided by Max's vote-off was hilarious!

[LadyChatts]

That whole TC episode, between her and "why are you giving me that look, Jeff?", to Max's blindside.  The expressions on everyone's faces when she said that to Jeff was worth a few rewinds.  And of course, going into it so confident that she had orchestrated Will's blindside was epic.  Made up for an otherwise somewhat dull 2 hours.

 

Sadly, there's no one on the current red tribe that I want to see go.  I think they're all great, fun, and schemers (yes, even Will, who is a wildcard with the votes).  I wish they weren't so outmatched physically, because that'll make for a very dull week next week should they lose.  Shirin dropped a little bit for the overconfidence, but in the end that's what makes Survivor all the better when you get ousters like that.  I still do like her, though, and wouldn't underestimate her to pull something out of her hat.  From a CBS video I watched with Tyler, it sounded like Shirin was on the outs with him as well.  That may actually benefit her, since she could be someone's swing vote and secure herself into an alliance.

Edited March 19, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Lingo]

She reminds me of Eliza Orlins: small, slight, dark hair, very animated, book smart but very poor at the game because apparently she talks too much and nobody likes her.

[Donny Ketchum]

So apparently, Shirin and Max did themselves in not all that long after getting to their new camp.  This video posted in Hali's thread pretty much details how badly they played the swap.

 

No one was mean-girling them.  Shirin and Max really did ostracize themselves.

[scowl]

New Survivor rule: do not sing the Star Spangled Banner unless someone asks you to.

[peachmangosteen]

I continue to (probably irrationally) like Shirin, but I just watched the extra vids from the last eps and she really has no damn idea what is going on. It's mind-boggling really. I feel kinda bad for her. It's kind of endearing to me how clueless she is.

 

I'm interested to see how she responds to her best friend being booted and the realization that everyone doesn't actually love her. Well, hopefully she figures that out at least!

[wonald]

She is one of the juiciest goats I've seen in years. I really hope that she will be able to be carried to F3 so that I won't be deprived of the jury tongue lashing, as I did with Kaoss in S28, alas. Stay strong, Shirin! Don't pull a Nina!

[marys1000]

Its just so weird that someone that smart AND SUCCESSFUL in their work life could be that clueless.  Is it an act?  I'm not a threat?  There was a comment somewhere about her real life co workers who said something to the effect that she really was sort of over the top but they respected her.  I think it will be interesting to watch and see.

[Hera]

My speculation is that Shirin is high enough in Yahoo that most of the people she works with are trying to impress her and stay on her good side, so there is very little to stop her from behaving however she wants (within certain bounds, obviously). I've read that the higher up the corporate food-chain you go, the worse people are at reading the feelings and moods of others. The rationale proposed was that it's much more important to a peon to be able to read his or her manager's mood than the other way round. Plus, underlings want to keep their managers happy (or at least, don't want to make them unhappy), so will tend to force a laugh at the manager's lame jokes and listen politely to whatever the manager has to say, no matter how asinine. Managers, on the other hand, can tell the people they manage to get to the point and stop wasting time.

 

So what I think we're seeing with Shirin on Survivor is what happens when you take someone who is used to being in charge out of the environment she's used to. It's not so much that she's bossing people around—she doesn't appear to have had any Mike-style tantrums about who's doing the most work around camp—but she has been shown as someone who behaves how she wants and who can't read the room. It'll be interesting to see if she adjusts her behavior after this last tribal council, where she was given incontrovertible proof that she is at the bottom of the pecking order on her tribe.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

 I've read that the higher up the corporate food-chain you go, the worse people are at reading the feelings and moods of others.

Oh yes, to be sure.  Just read or watch King Lear.

[Zuleikha]

There was a comment somewhere about her real life co workers who said something to the effect that she really was sort of over the top but they respected her.

 

Yeah, that was me. I've never met her, but I know some people who have worked very closely with her. What they said was that they like her, respect her a lot (she really is supposed to be super book smart), and they all thought she'd do great with the survival aspects of Survivor. They also said that her CBS bio represented her personality accurately... although I expected more of a Sandra type than a space cadet type as a result of that!

 

I think her problems reading a room are not just that she's fairly high up, but the Silicon Valley technical environment is very weird and homogenous. There's a lot of book smart/people stupid out here, and I think that's a lot of why she and Max became so close. I suspect that Shirin is so used to being surrounded by people exactly on her wavelength that she's completely forgotten that Silicon Valley tech culture is not what the entire world is like.

[ByaNose]

And, I'm sure she'll have some revisionist history about why she went bottomless & that she isn't super annoying. LOL!! I think Probst was even taken aback by her at tribal council. She might lack self awareness and the camera really captured the real her. It will be interesting to see how she handles Max having been voted out & without no allies.

Edited March 22, 2015 by ByaNose

[kikaha]

And, I'm sure she'll have some revisionist history about why she went bottomless

The reason she gave seemed lame to me: the water she washed the dishes in looked like it barely covered her heel, and should not have made her shorts or undergarments wet.

[NutMeg]

She's the kind of chippy person I cannot stand being seated next to on a plane - now imagine being with her 24x7 and I suddenly have much more sympathy for Survivor quitters. Maybe thatr's her strategy - talk them out of the game ? 

[Lakewood27]

I am predicting that Shirin will calm way down now that Max is gone.