S30.E03: Crazy Is As Crazy Does

[Turtle]

I thought Hali's comments to Nina at tribal were very insightful, and Nina seemed to get what she was saying. I've been a law student, and there's not much room for free spiriting there if you want to succeed,and so I got the feeling Hali was talking about her own way of adapting, and I thought it was very interesting. She's no dummy.

Rodney, however, is a dummy. And a scary immature hothead one at that. I'm not saying it's cool to cuss someone's mom (because obviously, no), but what adult actually gets that fired up about it, especially when it's clear that person throwing the insult doesn't know your mom and is just being a jerk, and when you're playing a game that requires not ruffling feathers early on to win? Yo mama jokes are child's play, and letting them get to you is ridiculous. That said, Dan was a total idiot to go there. It's starting to seem like no one on blue collar has ever watched this show before.

With three tribes, I prefer to only have one comp per episode because I'd rather get to know the people and see the tribe dynamics.

Adore Joe, mostly because he's so pretty, and was really sorry to see Nina go.

[ProfCrash]

Probably not going to be on the following Wednesday due to CBS and the NCAA basketball tournament. That's the reason The Amazing Race is taking 2 weeks off after this Friday's episode.

I believe the tournament starts on Thursday. Wednesday might be in a play in game....

[Miss Scarlet]

Jeff has been touting this cast as the best cast ever and this season as the best season ever.

 

So as usual Jeff is wrong.

 

This cast is horrible and these first 3 episodes have been boring. They've made San Juan Del Sur look exciting/

[LanceM]

I actually agree with Probst as this is one of the best casts they have had in years and i am definitely enjoying the season.

Edited March 12, 2015 by LanceM

[Miss Scarlet]

While I do think Nina was whiny, I thought all that "you need to be more No Collar" at tribal council was ridiculous. I sort of get the rationale that she had to do her part to get along with them and it shouldn't have been all on them. But the way the tribes, or at least No Collar are taking these stupid titles so seriously is ridiculous. Interesting that Hali voted for Will - I actually thought it would be Jenn when I first saw the votes, since she seemed pretty vocal against Will. It's interesting that once again everyone wasn't all on the same page with the votes. 

No Collar is so ridiculously and ironically pretentious about their collar.

 

Joaquin is a sexist a**hole. His line to Shirin about "you're being a paranoid, panicked woman" was horribly gross.

 

Maybe Shirin and Nina should have switched collars. I wonder if that would have worked out better. Maybe not for Nina, but I think maybe for Shirin (unless No Collar keeps going to tribal).

Rodney's a genius.

Rodney: "Whether you do the most or the lest". I literally rewound that three times to make sure I heard it correctly.

I'm still watching, but I had to comment on that.

This was right up there with Joaquin calling Shrin the most annoyingest person on their tribe. I love it when someone makes themselves look like even more an idiot than when they're already saying something so stupidly sexist. 

[Quilt Fairy]

Nina is just awesomely bad at Survivor.

But she did bring the snark at the end: "This has been a life-changing.................8 days."

[Miss Scarlet]

Rodney makes me feel like I have to take 3 showers back to back.

 

The whole Blue Collar tribe is awful. I don't like watching them. I actually groaned every time they had a segment.

[Lantern7]

I feel bad for Nina. I probably relate to her more than the others. Then again, if you were to give me an hour with the whole "No Collar" tribe, I might find common ground with Vince. In other words, I might be the odd one. I don't see Jenn and Hali as the second coming of Jenna and Heidi (same first initials, though), but I think Nina got hosed by being with the wrong tribe. Will had better make the merge, or I'm going to be hacked off. I will say that the challenge they showed for next week shows that the No Collars are lucky, because a blindfold challenge might have been the last thing Nina would be prepared for.

 

I don't know if I should hitch my wagon to any of these horses. Shirin is wacky enough to keep me interested, and Max is supposed to be a scholar of Survivor. The others? Meh . . . maybe I could be buddies with Dan, but he comes cross as having Cliff's "intellect" and Norm's gut. Not a good combo to have.

 

I'll bite . . . what is Psalm 1:21? And why would anybody have it scrawled-tatted across his back? I thought I imagined it before it got called out.

 

Survivor gets two hours next week, while The Amazing Race gets shelved for two weeks due to "March Madness." Maybe it's because I hail from a small liberal arts college that's only been to the tourney once, but I'm bitter. The next episode better be friggin' fantastic. I'm thinking two blindsides, minimum. And Probst gets struck by lightning. Not enough juice to wipe him out, but enough to make him rethink some things.

 

ETA: When Survivor switches locations, I'm probably going to miss the howler monkeys the most.

[LadyChatts]

I'm really enjoying this season so far.  I love the 3 tribe format so much better, though going forward I hope there's no more themes. I want to mute the TV every time someone has to say "she/he aren't blue/white/no collar" or "it's not the white/blue/no collar way".  I'm always leery when Jeff especially hypes a season as being the all time best and the cast the absolute greatest, but it's an improvement over last season.  We'll see how it progresses, but 3 episodes in and I'm liking it better than all of last season.  Tonight's boot was painfully obvious, but the last 2 weeks were blindsides, so I did wonder if we'd get surprised again (especially since it was so painfully obvious).

 

I felt like Jeff seemed to be more or less pushing for Nina to get voted out tonight.  I wish Vince would have targeted either Nina or Will last week, because I thought targeting Jenn as being weak was as bad of an idea as targeting him.  He would have had a chance to go after Joe/Jenn down the road (and likewise they would have had a chance to target Vince).  He was creepy, but I think it was a harmless creepy and would have made for good TV.  Nina and Will were/are liabilities, so keeping either one isn't helping tribe strength.  I guess it came down to tribe morale, and this tribe sure needs some after 2 losses in a row.  Will is at least upbeat and entertaining and a team player.  The No Collars are my favorites, but physically appear to the weakest and are a mess.  I understood what Joe was trying to do during the challenge, even if it was a bad idea.  What I don't understand is that Nina seemed to have no idea that's what his reasoning was.  She went along with it, then seemed offended after.  I guess in the heat of the challenge yeah, you don't have a lot of time to ask questions and think.  But Nina took quite a few falls in the very first challenge, so I could see Joe's logic there.  It didn't seem like the other tribes had people running ahead, so maybe he just assumed she'd slow them down, and that Will was stronger to carry the barrel.  But when it didn't work the first time she went ahead, she should have stood her ground and participated, or they should have realized their mistake and let her participate.  Regardless, the other tribes were stronger and faster so either way I think NC was doomed.  Joe is my eye candy and all sorts of adorable, but I worry he'll get a post-merge boot (since I seem to have a habit of jinxing my favorites).  He might be outnumbered in a tribe swap.  After the merge he'll likely be a target for a variety of reasons.  I appreciated him reaching out to Nina to try and make her feel included.  I did wonder if he'd throw a pity vote against Will for her, but his face at TC after casting his vote was obvious who he'd voted for.  He seemed to really not want to do that.  And speaking of obvious, way to give away the loser of the challenge again producers.  The description mentioned a strategy at the challenge would backfire, so as soon as I saw what Joe was doing, I knew they were losing.  And last week I thought the promos were somewhat telling that NC lost and someone was getting voted off.  

 

I don't really see Jenn as being a horrible human being, and I definitely don't see her and Hali as being the next Jenna/Heidi.  I'd probably go as far as saying that maybe they are ignorant, and Jenn basically said last week that she's never really associated with people that are deaf so it was a bit of a struggle to adapt on her part as well.  I thought they both had some good insight on Nina needing to adapt to them as much as they did for her, and she wasn't making the effort.  But I think Nina was to blame as much for the friction between those two.  She made every little hiccup that was swung at her about her disability.  I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle.  She should have gone last week, but I'm glad she's gone now.  For her own sanity at least, because I think it would have been the same old broken record playing had she survived, she wouldn't have been trust worthy, and all I could think of was her having some break down and quitting.  I just don't think she's cut out for a game like Survivor, as she's one of the worst players I can remember playing.  I do wonder what it would have been like for her to be on a different tribe and if she would have been more likable to me.  NC has me intrigued a little with the way they vote.  I felt like Joe/Jenn/Hali were a solid block but I'm wondering if they are really that tight.  Were they splitting the vote again in case of an idol?  At any rate, I hope those 3 stick around well into the merge.  I think Jenn might be a good gamer and be underestimated.  Hali seems to sort of go along with the flow, but at least she's interesting and not a boring floater type.  Those 3, along with Tyler, are my four top favorites right now.

 

Blue Collar tribe, I don't like anyone on it.  Actually, I'm neutral to Mike.  Can't stand Rodney, and I honestly can't tell the 3 women apart over there, other than the one girl has a tattoo on her face.  I thought for sure they might throw the challenge tonight given that we saw more of them than I felt like we saw in the last 2 weeks (not to mention all the drama over there).  I saw another poster comment about combining the RC/IC might make it less tempting to throw the challenge, which is something I never thought about.  Makes good sense.  That said, if they believe a tribe swap is coming up, why not get rid of someone that is likely to turn on you when they have other people to align with.  I was also hoping that they would lose, just so one tribe doesn't get decimated like NC is on the road to being.  Dan crossed the line with the mom joke to Rodney, but I think he got caught up in the moment of joking and it went the one step too far.  Of course since he was laying in the shelter and acted out of it while he was being called out I half wondered if maybe he was drunk.  I also think tattoo girl is classless and hope she and her mouth get booted sooner rather than later, along with Rodney and his attitude.  Interesting that next week Rodney and tattoo girl go at it, and this week it's the opposite.  Weren't they in some tight foursome alliance?  And what is it with Rodney's mom?  First Dan makes a joke that backfired, then tattoo girl yelled in the preview about how his mom raised him.

 

White Collar tribe I'm on the fence about.  Don't hate them, but don't care for them.  Was Max even in this episode?  Joaquin is one to watch.  I think he's going to potentially be a big threat down the road.  I love Tyler and he seems to actually grasp the concept of the social game.  One person shared the fact that they have the idol, the other shared the clue with him.  There must be something about that guy that they really like and trust out there.  Shirin is a nut, and I feel like her and Carolyn are a little too comfortable with their position out there.  Betting one of them gets blindsided if WC goes to tribal next week.  I wondered if anyone paid any attention to the fact that Carolyn wasn't looking for the idol and had a light bulb moment as to why she might not be.  At least Tyler played dumb over it and pretended to look.  Maybe Carolyn should take a crash course on the all the Survivors who thought they were safe only to leave the game with the idol in their pocket.  The only thing I like about the WC continuing it's winning streak is that So was so confident that they'd be weak without her, and that Carolyn was holding them back because of her age.  And the next two boots after her came from 2 different tribes.

 

Next week should be interesting.  Wondering who the collision is with, if someone gets taken out for medical purposes, and if NC can finally pull off a win.  Joe's expression in the preview didn't look very happy, so I wonder if it's another NC loss.  Also, Rodney and Mike didn't look too concerned on the sidelines, so I wonder if the injured person is in fact with their tribe.

Edited March 12, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Alapaki]

I'll bite . . . what is Psalm 1:21? And why would anybody have it scrawled-tatted across his back? I thought I imagined it before it got called out.

 

 

"And woe to ye who rest on your bamboo beds while the righteous feast on scorpions.  For I will bring the wrath of my hairy-bellied beast upon your jezebel mother."

[Superpole2000]

I sympathize with all of the non-Mike Blue Collar tribe members. Mike mistakenly tried to be a leader without having earned that status. Rodney and Lindsey reacted in a hot-headed way, and neither one can express themselves perfectly without being offensive themselves, but their repulsion to Mike's bossiness was completely valid.

 

What the No Collar tribe did to Nina in the challenge made me uncomfortable and angry. It was a physical challenge, one that required very little if any listening. Pushing her to the sidelines reflected horribly on them and demonstrated just how much the world loves to ostracize anyone differently abled. I cannot excuse Nina's occasional self-defeatist attitude, but I can empathize with her after that exclusionary challenge behaviour. The rest of that tribe just didn't want to play with her. She is not like them so they wanted her to go away.

[Dust Bunny]

 

I'll bite . . . what is Psalm 1:21? And why would anybody have it scrawled-tatted across his back? I thought I imagined it before it got called out.

 

I think it's Psalm 121; there's no Psalm 1:21 (Psalm 1 only has 6 verses). Psalm 121 is about God's protection. People have favorite scriptures; maybe this one brings Mike comfort.

 

Blue Collar has too much conflict going on. I hope they lose the next challenge and get knocked down a level.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Dust Bunny

[Lantern7]

Dust Bunny . . . forgive my ignorance of the Bible. I don't recall a colon tatted on Mike's (??) back, but I imagined it.

[enlightenedbum]

I believe the tournament starts on Thursday. Wednesday might be in a play in game....

Only play in games are before Round 1 and those air on TruTV on Tuesday/Wednesday.  Real tournament is Thursday-Sunday the first two weekends and then Saturday and Monday for the Final Four and championship games.  So Survivor should be unaffected by the tournament.  Probably just how the math worked out since there are I think four more Survivor episodes in any given year than whatever airs at 9 on Wednesdays.

Edited March 12, 2015 by enlightenedbum

[dolphincorn]

Tyler sort of bugged me on the first episode, but now I think he's kind of sexy.

[Guest]

I feel like Nina was pushed aside because (1) she's 54 (not deaf) and (2) it seemed like a valid strategy.  No one was plugging holes anyway, they didn't need the help with the weight, and there's only so many people who can surround a barrel and walk backwards through ropes efficiently.  Maybe they lost not because of Nina being out of the way but because they're saddled with two dead weight people in challenges, and have only one able-bodied man?    They would've had Vince there if Will hadn't gone rogue.  

[Drogo]

Hali: Surfing is the third most important thing in my life.

Khaleesi (8): You don't say something like that and not tell people what #1 and 2 are.

Re: Nina's "occupation"

K: What is a hearing advocate?

Me: An advocate is someone who supports something. If you advocate for something you say nice things about it to other people.

(...several minutes later...)

K: Are there people who don't advocate for hearing?

Re: Beach inequality

K: "Why does white collar have all the mosquitoes and no collar has all the good waves?"

Re: Nina's disability isolation

K: "She really needs to read Helen Keller's biography."

I'm thinking many hearing-impaired people watching the show are probably annoyed that Nina was the one chosen to sort of "represent them" - like how I was annoyed that they let lazy, mopey fat-ass Shamar represent OIF veterans.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Drogo

[ennui]

I freely admit that I only saw the second half of the episode, but I decided that I don't care for No Collar. I would have thought they'd be kinder. Instead, they are the most ruthless and exclusionary. Very sand box.

[viajero]

I found this episode to be kind of boring.  But that was mostly because the boot was so predictable.  I do think they did a good job of showing the intra-tribal dynamics in a way that sets things up nicely for next week.

 

I think this cast is okay.  Certainly not the best we’ve ever had, but not the worse either.  Most of my hate is focused on the Blue Collar tribe.  I find all three men to be detestable and go back and forth on which of the three is worse.  Meanwhile Lindsey is too confrontational, though unlike the 3 guys, at least she has a basis for about half of what she says.  The other two women seem okay, but that may be because we hardly hear them speak.  At least they do well in challenges and do their share around camp.  My hope is that the three women on that tribe will stick together and start getting the guys out (in the unikely even they actually lose a challenge before the merge).

 

I’m also back to disliking Joaquin, who seemed to confirm the initial bad impression I had of him.

 

At this point the only ones I definitely like are Joe and Hali.  I want to like Tyler, but he’s coming off as too judgmental.  The problem I have with Jenn and Carolyn is that they can sometimes act a little too smug. But I don’t actively dislike either one (yet).  I’m pretty much neutral on everyone else.

[Guest]

I freely admit that I only saw the second half of the episode, but I decided that I don't care for No Collar. I would have thought they'd be kinder. Instead, they are the most ruthless and exclusionary. Very sand box.

I think the no collars are pretty laid back and accepting.  Jenn is a little snarky in confessionals but that's ok.  I feel like Hali's "you need to be more 'no collar'" was her way of saying "you're going home because you didn't have a social game".  Which is true.  

 

I think the blue collars are a lot more ruthless and aggressive.  Brod, Mike, Dan and Lindsay all seem to be spoiling for a fight.  

[Turtle]

I feel for Nina overall, and I understand why she worries so much about her deafness leading to her being excluded. I think it must be especially difficult to become deaf as an adult, because she didn't grow up in the deaf community and is really between two worlds- the hearing community she was a part of for most of her life but no longer belongs to, and the deaf community that she is not a part of even though she is deaf. And they are two different communities; the differences are more than just hearing or not hearing. And Nina is not fully part of either, and I get why she wasnt comfortable with her tribe. That said, she should have found a way to temper that insecurity, or at least to hide it, if she planned to do well in this game. But I'm really not comfortable judging her because of her deafness.

Rodney makes me feel like I have to take 3 showers back to back

Rodney makes me feel like I should get 24/7 protection because of what I say about him. Dude might be more threatening than the youngest Hantz.

[wonald]

This episode was appropriately as overwrought as Nina was. Did anyone catch when Nina implied that she managed people for 44 years? Since she's 51, that means that she started working when she was 7. WTFever, Nina. Buh-bye!

[Donny Ketchum]

Poor So.  Stuck in Ponderosa with weird, creepy Vince and whiny, sad sack Nina.

[GaT]

So glad Nina is gone. If you don't want to be treated like your disability makes you different, don't bring it up constantly & don't keep accusing people of treating you differently, even when they're not.

[Drogo]

Poor So. Stuck in Ponderosa with weird, creepy Vince and whiny, sad sack Nina.

So does love making people cry, and that will be an easy task with Nince.

[loki567]

It always funny to me whenever they do the three tribe format, there's always one disaster tribe and that tribe's remaining members do well post-merge (Rupert/Jenna, Malcolm/Denise, Spencer/Kass). And you can see it here too. No-collar will probably lose one more challenge and get rid of Will before a tribe split. The resentments will build and build on blue and white-collar, probably explode at the merge and what's left of no-collar will probably slip through and make it reasonably far. I find it interesting that a few tribal councils might actually be good for long-term tribal unity.  

[Superpole2000]

So glad Nina is gone. If you don't want to be treated like your disability makes you different, don't bring it up constantly & don't keep accusing people of treating you differently, even when they're not.

But then why did they exclude her from tonight's challenge? Will is a real liability physically, but they didn't exclude him. I think they did treat her differently, partly because of age, partly because of disability, and partly because they just didn't like her.

[Lingo]

Man, Shirin was cracking me up at the top of the episode.  Such enthusiasm about monkey sex!  I hope she stays.  Yeah maybe she should have been No Collar (Yahoo executive or not?!).

[GaT]

But then why did they exclude her from tonight's challenge? Will is a real liability physically, but they didn't exclude him. I think they did treat her differently, partly because of age, partly because of disability, and partly because they just didn't like her.

I think she brought it on herself. When they first met, nobody on her team treated her any differently, but she kept bringing it up & accusing them of treating her differently for every little perceived slight. When the other 2 girls (no idea what their names are) went swimming without her, Nina got all pissy about it & accused them of not inviting her because she was deaf. I think they didn't invite her because they're close in age & would naturally want to hang with each other rather than an older woman, it didn't have a thing to do with her being deaf. She brought it up so much, that even the guy who was used to being around deaf people marginalized her. It was her own fault. 

Edited March 12, 2015 by GaT

[rozen]

Thank you, Joaquin, for making it clear you belong on the douche train with your 'paranoid, shrieking, woman' comment. I'm sad that So got done it by you, your hot is already melting off after only 3 days too. Shirin is hysterical, too bad she's on a tribe of buzz-kills. 

 

I know a lot of baptist ladies back home who have probably said something exactly along the lines of the hairdresser's comment to Oil Rig. I saw it less as a slap at his religion than a slap at him for not appreciating the neighbors the lord's provided him. He's just taking the hurt feelings out because he (presumes) she's not religious, instead of acknowledging he's being a sanctimonious twit. There are few people I find more annoying than the "I've worked hard for everything I've had" proselytizers, because they never actually shut up long enough to figure out that other people have worked hard too. 

 

I am so ready for Jenn from no collar to leave, she is so smug and pleased with herself. I think she's going to be surprised at how quickly her tribemates bounce her once they make it to merge. 

 

Nina got too deep in her own head and there was no way out. She would have been doomed no matter what tribe she was on, she's too inflexible.

[Donny Ketchum]

the other 2 girls (no idea what their names are)

Jenn (the blonde) and Hali (the brunette).

Edited March 12, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[NutMeg]

Jenn (the brunette) and Hali (the blonde).

 

Or rather the opposite :-)

[RedheadZombie]

    Those 3, along with Tyler, are my four top favorites right now.

 

I like Tyler, but he really irritated me tonight.  Citing nudity as a reason to vote out Shirin, but apparently fine with the bearded dude walking around bare-assed.  I hate double standards.

 

I know a lot of baptist ladies back home who have probably said something exactly along the lines of the hairdresser's comment to Oil Rig. I saw it less as a slap at his religion than a slap at him for not appreciating the neighbors the lord's provided him. He's just taking the hurt feelings out because he (presumes) she's not religious, instead of acknowledging he's being a sanctimonious twit. There are few people I find more annoying than the "I've worked hard for everything I've had" proselytizers, because they never actually shut up long enough to figure out that other people have worked hard too. 

 

Have to disagree with this.   No self-respecting Baptist is going to spit out a "your God" comment.  It was insulting and it was deliberate, which is part of the game.  I don't like being preached to any more than the next person, but as far as we saw, he wasn't proselytizing.

 

I'll bite . . . what is Psalm 1:21? And why would anybody have it scrawled-tatted across his back? I thought I imagined it before it got called out.

 

One of the more famous passages.  It begins with:

 

1  I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,        

from whence cometh my help.

[vb68]

 

Nina got too deep in her own head and there was no way out. She would have been doomed no matter what tribe she was on, she's too inflexible.

 

 

I thought a good example of this was when she couldn't even try to eat the lizard.  Granted that would be hard for many people, myself included.  But under the circumstances she have made some effort and not just sit there all tense.   There was more going on there than her hearing loss.  Some of it was probably age and life experience.  There did to appear to be a generation gap, and another tribe might have been a better fit.  I wonder how she and Carolyn would have gotten along.  But I also think Nina was still very much trying to process what has happened to her in life.  She seemed like she had a lot of issues, and I'm not sure she should have been cast for that reason.

Edited March 12, 2015 by vb68

[mertensia]

"We're No Collar! We do our own things the way we want because we are independent and individualists!" "Nina you need to start acting like a No Collar!" Hypocrites.

[cooksdelight]

f they were looking to cast a whiny deaf person, they should've just gone with Luke from TAR. At least he could've done the physical challenges

Oh God in Heaven, no! Just NO! I hope to never see Luke again. Anywhere.

Poor So.  Stuck in Ponderosa with weird, creepy Vince and whiny, sad sack Nina.

I don't think they are at Ponderosa, but at a hotel where they can come and go as they please. Previous season spoilers have included photos of booted people at malls or shopping centers.

[Wings]

In Lindsay's defense we don't know how much Mike talked about his religion.  Christians often pepper their speech with things that can build up and grate on others who do not share them.   And the mother comment.  pfffffffft    Small potatoes.  

Edited March 13, 2015 by wings707

[wonald]

 

I don't think they are at Ponderosa, but at a hotel where they can come and go as they please. Previous season spoilers have included photos of booted people at malls or shopping centers.

 

They are at Ponderosa until the merge, when they are booted out for the jury people.

[ProfCrash]

I think that Hali's comment was more along the line of "chill out and enjoy the adventure" rather then "be as unconventional as everyone else". No one wants to eat lizard but at least taste it, it is part of the adventure. Go skinny dipping, it's part of the adventure. I think that Joe and Hali wanted Nina to be more laid back.

 

Nina was very uptight. She gives the impression that she felt like she was on the outs before the game started and in many ways she was. She is in her fifties so 20 years older then the next oldest person on her tribe? I don't know Will's age but Vince was 32. She is deaf so communication was going to be more difficult. Nina probably knew, from her day to day experiences, that communicating during stressful, chaotic times was going to be really, really hard. This means challenges were going to be hard. She was not going to be able to participate easily in water based challenges because she could not wear her implants.

 

I wonder if Nina said to Jenn and Hali "Swimming is hard for me because I cannot wear my implants so I cannot communicate with you. So it is not social and it can be kind of scary." I don't know if that is why she didn't want to swim or not but I can see it being an issue. She just seemed like a stick in the mud.

 

Shirin and Nina could have been swapped easily. Shirin works in the tech industry which is demanding but has a totally different vibe to the work force. Yahoo, Google, Apple and other similar companies are known to make their work places more like a home. It encourages people to work more hours, because they are comfortable places with bedrooms, good food, and places to relax, and encourages a sense of camaraderie. They also encourage out of the box thinking. So at 31, Shirin has been very successful but not in a traditional manner. Nina is a hearing advocate because her life changed significantly but I would imagine that her world requires that she knows the law well, is well spoken, and capable of handling bureaucracies well. I think the two were misplaced simply because the casting folks did not have a good enough idea about what they did.

 

I like Shirin. I like her attitude, enjoy the nature and adventure and the monkey sex. She does not seem to read people well. Tyler seemed to be weirded out by her. Joaquin is an ass and Shirin knows she doesn't like her.

 

Dan has no social game. He and Rodney were messing around. Dan made a "Your Mama" joke and Rodney got way bent out of shape. Seriously, chill out. Tell Dan he crossed a line. Dan apologize and be done. Rodney is a walking rage machine. Rodney is flipping out about Mike's trying to get everyone to work? Really? Just shut up, get some wood, and eat. People know that Mike is being an ass. Don't put a target on your back because you flip out and toss shit around. Grow up Rodney.

 

I would say that I like Joe, Hali, and Shirin.

I don't know enough about Kelly, Tyler, or Max to like or dislike them.

I dislike Mike, Dan Will, Jenn, and Lindsey

I strongly dislike Rodney and Joaquin.

[Zahdii]

I was late turning on the show, so I got there after the comment but while Rodney was throwing his fit.  Can someone please enlighten me on just what was said?

[ghoulina]

Personally, I loved Shirin "talking" back to the monkeys. I could have done without the sex play-by-play, but if I was on Survivor, you could be damn sure I'd be trying to hang out with the animals. Other than that, and the fact that she talks a lot, what's so "crazy" about her? Maybe she's annoying, but crazy? It just really bothered me how Joaquin called her out as being a "paranoid, panicky woman" since day one. Is going to pull out a fainting couch next? 

 

Blue Collar - so much drama over nothing. Mike seriously needs to realize how ridiculous he's acting. It sounds like everyone is doing something around there, but that's not good enough for Mike. He wants it done his way and on his time. How has that ever worked out for anyone on Survivor, Mike? But I will say, despite him being a chore nazi, I did not like Lindsey mocking "his god" when she got mad at him. That's just a very personal thing and had ZERO to do with what they were talking about. Unless he's the type who's preaching at them all day long, I didn't see why she needed to bring religion into it. She is not coming across as very likeable to me. 

 

And Rodney has a hell of a temper. So watch out, anyone who gets on his bad side. 

 

I would have killed for those chairs they got at the IC! 

 

 

Nina. Nina, Nina, Nina. She got "it" just a little too late. I had hoped when Joe came and spoke to her early on in the episode that she would realize her disability has nothing to do with how she's being treated. But she seemed to just really want to carry that cross. He made a good point at tribal - they were feeling just as misunderstood by her, as she was by them. 

 

I still think I would have voted Will out. Despite his vote chicanery (which he could have explained better), he has proved utterly worthless in challenges. And Red Collar does not need any dead weight as it is. It really pissed me off when HE called Nina "dead weight". He didn't perform well in the challenge because he couldn't. With Nina, she was actually TOLD not to. Big difference there. 

 

Oh well. Their loss. I'm betting RC will continue to be decimated until Probst has to do a tribe shake up ala Malcolm and Denise. 

[cooksdelight]

I'm not sure why or how Nina lost her hearing, but imagine that a sensory ability were suddenly snatched away from you. Some people turn bitter and wear a huge chip on their shoulder about it for all to see. I think Nina may have fallen into that category. She told everyone she was deaf, and I sensed that she expected them all to accomodate her. They didn't.

Others who have lost hearing or sight will reach out to people, doing extra work to help others understand where they are coming from. Nina didn't do any of that, that I saw. She expected them to come to her. Which was her ultimate downfall.

[Alapaki]

It always funny to me whenever they do the three tribe format, there's always one disaster tribe and that tribe's remaining members do well post-merge (Rupert/Jenna, Malcolm/Denise, Spencer/Kass). And you can see it here too. No-collar will probably lose one more challenge and get rid of Will before a tribe split. The resentments will build and build on blue and white-collar, probably explode at the merge and what's left of no-collar will probably slip through and make it reasonably far. I find it interesting that a few tribal councils might actually be good for long-term tribal unity.  

 

I think this is true, but it doesn't really even require internal dissension amongst the other two Tribes.  

 

If one of three Tribes ends up at the majority of pre-merge TCs, then by definition the remaining two Tribes will have roughly equally numbers.  The 2 or 3 remaining members of the shitty Tribe then become essential swing votes.  And, also because of those numbers, unlike typical single-player swing-votes, they are safe for a few more TCs, which gives them a chance to establish their own relationships/alliances/etc.

[green]

"We're No Collar! We do our own things the way we want because we are independent and individualists!" "Nina you need to start acting like a No Collar!" Hypocrites.

 

Yeah all this stuff about adapting to other people and they just treated Nina like crap.  That challenge exclusion for no reason other than deafness was horrible.

 

I was late turning on the show, so I got there after the comment but while Rodney was throwing his fit.  Can someone please enlighten me on just what was said?

 

The postman called Rodney's mother a whore.  He was probably trying to make a joke but his delivery of the line sucked and you never ever call anyone's mother that even while joking.  Especially among males.  Men traditionally tend to feel very protective of their mothers and so consider that the biggest no-no you can say.

 

So far I can't stand Joe.  He is getting the "wonderful, golden boy-god walking amongst mere mortals" edit.  If he wins it will be a horrible season with him being shoved down my throat each week.  I'd rather watch Vince be bat-shit crazy any day.  He was about the only person remotely interesting on this season so far.

Edited March 12, 2015 by green

[Haleth]

Has there ever been a cast with so many bad players?  So many of them don't understand the social aspect of the game.  They are way too prickly and confrontational, especially on the BC tribe.  As loki567 says above that will probably allow the decimated NC tribe to hang in there after the merge.  It's disappointing, I'd hoped BC would be a model of efficiency and cooperation.  I guess they are when it comes to challenges, but their camp is a train wreck.

 

I wonder why Nina even applied to be on Survivor.  Of all the bad players she was the least suited for the game.  She took no joy in participating in the adventure.  What was she expecting?

[Alapaki]

I think that Hali's comment was more along the line of "chill out and enjoy the adventure" rather then "be as unconventional as everyone else". No one wants to eat lizard but at least taste it, it is part of the adventure. Go skinny dipping, it's part of the adventure. I think that Joe and Hali wanted Nina to be more laid back.

 

 

I agree.  Or, as a wise man once said:

 

[ProfCrash]

I am trying to figure out why Jeff Probst is so high on this season because I am not seeing it yet. Most of the people are in the dislike to strongly dislike category, the strategic play has been missing, and there is no real surprise in who is going home.

 

OK, Tyler is playing a good game. He knows Carolyn has the idol and went out and looked for the idol with Joaquin even though it is not in play. He seems to be trusted by everyone.

[BarneySays]

Personally, I was happy to hear that comment shutting down the religious crap.  No one needs to hear your religious beliefs at all, unless they've expressed an interest.  If you want to proselytize, you've got to accept that others don't want to hear your shit.  Given he went so far as to etch an ugly tattoo of a scripture cite on his back, I have no doubt she'd heard enough already about his god and his beard. 

 

Joe is a real piece of shit IMO.  How manipulative to tout how wonderful you are about the deaf, but then treat the insecure (within the tribe) deaf woman as a complete non-entity.  His behavior was the worst I think I've seen on this show, barring that huge asshole who hostilely dragged the gay guy around on the rope.  People don't tell you who they are, they show you. 

[Boilergal]

I understand why they sent Nina ahead the first time - if you are thinking it's about speed and getting through a mud pit and obstacles, and she struggled with those kind of activities on the first challenge you would want to take that out of the equation.  But after you went through the course the first time and realized it was less about speed and more about fingers plugging holes you don't send her ahead the second time and keep her fingers there.  I also get that when you are in the heat of it you really aren't thinking about changing the strategy midstream,  you are trying to win. 

 

Not defending the mailman, but I'm sure that mom whore jokes within his circle friends are all part of it and probably go along with a whole lot raunchier jabs.  I think after ROIDney's (tm BusyOctober) reaction mailman gets that he's not in his circle of friends.

 

Loved Nina's reaction at tribal council when she found out that Joe knows sing language and has been around a lot of deaf people.  So I take it that she never took the time to get to know any of her tribemates that is was all about her and her disability. 

 

I get Shirin being excited about seeing nature happen - I wouldn't have reacted the same way.

[ghoulina]

Personally, I was happy to hear that comment shutting down the religious crap.  No one needs to hear your religious beliefs at all, unless they've expressed an interest.  If you want to proselytize, you've got to accept that others don't want to hear your shit.  Given he went so far as to etch an ugly tattoo of a scripture cite on his back, I have no doubt she'd heard enough already about his god and his beard.

 

I don't think just because someone has scripture tattooed on their body we can jump to the conclusion that they're the preachy type. I know plenty of people who have very personal things tattooed on them, and that doesn't reflect the way they interact with people. As I said in my earlier post, IF Mike has been preaching at them, then I could understand her statement. But we haven't seen any of that yet, have we? I know they can only show so much, but I'd think if Mike was doing something other than ordering people around to rub them the wrong way, they'd show that. But they haven't. So I just can't make that assumption. And if he has been keeping his beliefs to himself, that was a really shitty thing of her to say, even though Mike is a world class asshat.