S30.E03: Crazy Is As Crazy Does

[Puffaroo]

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!

 

Didn't she say something like "That was my life for 44 years?"  She's said that she's been deaf for seven years, so I'm betting that's what she meant.

[Wings]

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.

 

 

This is only the 3rd boot and probably a distant memory for Probst when he made that comment.  This may mean that we are in for a better season than we think we have right now.  I hope so! 

[FineWashables]

I understand why Shirin was so excited about seeing monkeys doing it -- who wouldn't be?! --  but she's losing sight of one of the basic principles of Survivor: don't keep demanding attention.  Between the nonstop monkey talk and waving her curlies around by the river, Shirin is losing sight of the end game.  Reminds me of the woman many seasons ago who brought a ukelele and sang songs she wrote herself about Survivor.  She never made it past the landing on the beach.

[Guest]

Lindsay kind of lost me with the "your god and his beard" comment.  Even if Mike was preachy, I kind of doubt any belief about a deity's facial hair came into discussion.  It just sounds childish and presumptuous to use your own misunderstanding of someone else's beliefs in ridiculing them.  Especially when your understanding of his religion seems to come from a preschool level.  

[Tryangle]

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

 

The less I know about Mike's colon, the better, thank you very much.

 

A bit strange that production decided to 'hashtag' Psalm121, but possibly another way to reach new demographics based on Mike's tattoo.

[truthaboutluv]

So far I can't stand Joe.  He is getting the "wonderful, golden boy-god walking amongst mere mortals" edit.

 

 

I don't see that. I think he's getting a basic nice guy edit but he was called out immediately after they lost the challenge, by Probst, as essentially being responsible for the decision to make Nina go ahead.  And he owned up to it when they got back to camp and apologized. I thought he displayed amazing patience and calm when Vince was coming at him with that bullshit about him not showing him (Vince) respect or whatever he babbled on about.

 

And he did lose his patience when he snapped at Vince about the shelter building that he thought was wrong. Personally with all those loud, aggressive male personalities on Blue Collar and obnoxious Jaoquin on White Collar, I'll take Joe who genuinely seems to be there just to play the game and have fun doing it. I just think right now more than anything he seems to have a good social game and that might serve him well when the inevitable three to two tribes merge happens. 

 

As for all the drama on Blue Collar - I really wonder about the mindset of someone who thinks it is ever okay to "jokingly" call someone's mother a whore. Especially someone who they've just met. Maybe that is the kind of thing Dan says and jokes about with his friends back home but it's only been a few days, Rodney is still mostly a stranger to him so you would think he would tread carefully when joking. 

 

As for the stuff with Mike and Rodney and Lindsay, while I actually understood what both Rodney and Lindsay were saying and I imagine it is annoying having someone constantly bitching about people not working and needing to do it now for now, both went from making their points in a simple manner to becoming just as obnoxious and annoying as they view Mike to be. Rodney for some reason brings in a comment insulting all of Texas and then Lindsay goes for some snark about Mike's religion that had nothing to do with the discussion. It's just one of those things were it's like "yeah you had a point but you became so obnoxious in arguing your point, it made me dislike you just as much."

Edited March 12, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[JudyObscure]

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.

I know. Every year it amazes me that in a game to win a million dollars, pretty much based on your ability to get along with people, someone is always bossy, and someone is always calling other people out. I picture the Mikes of the game going home to a wife who has been planning how to spend the mil and telling her, "Sorry. It just bothered me so much that I was collecting more firewood than anyone else that I just had to make an issue of it."

So I think Mike is an idiot and he may or may not have been talking about his religion, I imagine they all end up talking about stuff that bores the others, but none of that excuses Lindsey. You don't get to say something racist about all African Americans if you don't like Will and you don't get to grossly disrespect a religion because you don't like Mike.

Lindsey just showed everyone that she has a three year-old's vision of a grandpa God, and that she thinks someone saying they're a Christian is them saying they think of themselves as like Christ, when it's sort of the opposite. One of the most basic tenets of Christianity being that you know you're too much of a loser to ever get to Heaven on your own, so you need Christ's atonement to help you out. Of course Lindsey wouldn't understand the dichotomy of worshipping someone unlike yourself, because she has told us many times, that most awesome, amazing person who she worships is Lindsey.

[Alapaki]

As for all the drama on Blue Collar - I really wonder about the mindset of someone who thinks it is ever okay to "jokingly" call someone's mother a whore. Especially someone who've just met. Maybe that is the kind of thing Dan says and jokes about with his friends back home but it's only been a few days, Rodney is still mostly a stranger to him so tread carefully when joking.

 

 

The only thing I can remotely think of is the SNL "Celebrity Jeopardy" skirt where the Sean Connery character delights in saying that to the Alex Trebek character.

 

But . . . that's really only the kind of thing you say amongst people with whom it's a shared joke.  Breaking it out in unfamiliar company is a pretty solid invitation to getting your ass kicked.

[Primetimer]

Monkey sex, mom jokes, lizard snacks, and a whole lotta no suspense await the Blue, White, and No Collar tribes in this week’s installment of Survivor.

Read the story

[Special K]

I also disliked Rodney making fun of Mike's voice.  And I don't particularly like Mike.

 

Seems like they did the casting this season in a Kindergarten.

[peachmangosteen]

I thought it was very interesting how Tyler seemed to be playing both sides with the idol.  He seemed to be genuinely bonding with Joaquin, but  Carolyn certainly didn't seem like she was worried he might say anything.  I had forgotten he even knew about it until his confessional.  I don't know.  I just think he's someone to watch.  He's playing very well so far.

 

I pegged Tyler as one to watch in ep 1 and now I really think he might be the winner. I don't like him at all, but he is playing very well right now and I suspect he can keep it up until the end.

 

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.

 

This. And they wouldn't even admit it. I don't even like Nina, but for all these people to act like her being deaf (and older and a women) had nothing to do with them completely sidelining her is ridiculous. They came off even worse to me because they were all trying to pat themselves on the back about how it totally had nothing to do with it.

 

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

 

I really dislike him and I think his face is kinda disgusting, but he has one of the best bodies I have ever seen.

 

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.

 

Since ep 1 I wanted to like Tyler but I couldn't really bring myself to and now after this ep I actively hate him. And after seeing an extra vid from last week where Shirin brought up how no one had a problem with Max's nakedness but when it's her it's all "my eyes!' and then his comments this week, I just think he is bringing the sexism something fierce.

 

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.

 

I love Shirin and I think she reads people amazingly. The problem is, she doesn't care and in fact seems to want to actively bring out what sexist assholes Tyler and Joaquin are, which is terrible Survivor gameplay but something I really love in a person.

 

So far I can't stand Joe.

 

I'm sorta there, too. Like Tyler, I really want to like Joe, but he just rubs me the wrong way. I don't have any real reason to point to, he just comes off arrogant to me. And he is playing martyr a bit too much for my tastes.

 

Dan is deeply terrible at the game and sorta awful, but I find him oddly endearing. If I had to pick a man from this season to spend 39 days with it would actually probably be him. Or maybe Tyler if he'd cover his face and not speak.

 

Max is insufferable to me. Going in I thought I'd love him or hate him and it ended up being the latter. I would love to know what he said that all had to be bleeped after he found out Vince was booted. Maybe I'll ask him on tumblr.

 

I have been hating Lindsey but I kinda loved her rant. She probably did go too far, but I feel her on the religion stuff. I suspect Mike is probably bringing it up more than we've been shown because otherwise I don't really get why she'd go there. But if he really doesn't bring it up then yea, that was a pretty awful thing to say to him.

 

Blue collar is hilarious. Like why do they all wanna be thanked for doing basic things? LOL. Mike comes off as someone who wants everyone to thank him and bow to him for all the hard work he does but at the same time wants to be able to whine about how no one else does anything. You can't have it both ways, Mike.

 

This episode was weirdly both boring and hilarious. I'm starting to worry my initial suspicions that this season would suck will be true.

Edited March 12, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[ProfCrash]

Mike doesn't exactly need to bring it up in his conversation, he has a massive tattoo on his back that says it all. I do suspect that he is making comments and probably praying in public places so that it is on display. I liked that Lindsey called him on his attitude, his hypocrisy, and his perception that he is the only one working. She did go too far with the religion comment but there is probably a reason she went there. I have a feeling that Lindsey is someone who is pretty outspoken and that she is pushing peoples buttons.

 

On Nina, I think that Joe, Hali, and Jenn are probably 75% accurate in their description of what was happening. I am not sure that the problem was her being deaf, I think that it was her different attitude towards the game and how she interacted with the rest of the tribe because of that. Joe and Hali do not seem like someone who are intentionally mean to people. I do see them as folks who don't want to be around someone who is a "downer". She was not willing to simply chill at camp and she blamed the problems on her hearing. We saw Hali reach out to Nina last week and Joe reach out this week. I don't think they were patronizing or talking down to her. The interaction felt sincere. But Nina simply couldn't chill. I did not hear Vince or Nina talk about a lack of work ethic. I don't think anyone is saying that work is not getting done at camp. So I think it is more of an attitude thing then a hearing/age thing. I can see how Nina would assume that it is because of her hearing but even Will was saying that was not the issue. Nina should have been on a different tribe where her approach to life was a better fit.

 

I don't think they all want to be thanked, I think Lindsey and the other women were saying that if Mike was going to demand thanks for doing things he should be saying thank you to others for doing things and he is not. Essentially, Mike is trying to say he does all the work, when he doesn't, and he expects people to thank him for the work he does when he doesn't thank them. I saw it more as general frustration with Mike then a demand for thanks.

[peachmangosteen]

I don't think they all want to be thanked, I think Lindsey and the other women were saying that if Mike was going to demand thanks for doing things he should be saying thank you to others for doing things and he is not. Essentially, Mike is trying to say he does all the work, when he doesn't, and he expects people to thank him for the work he does when he doesn't thank them. I saw it more as general frustration with Mike then a demand for thanks.

 

You're right. Lindsey and Sierra probably weren't actually looking for thanks as much as calling out Mike on looking for thanks. It was still a hilarious conversation to me, "Do you thank me?!" "Well, do you thank me?!"

Edited March 12, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[Jobiska]

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.

 

I agree--I think it was about speed of getting through obstacles and not about her deafness at all.  And in answer to why not send Will ahead instead since he struggles perhaps even more with the obstacles--yes, he's asthmatic, clumsy, and slow, but one thing he probably has over Nina is the strength to carry the bucket.  She's awfully twig-like and frail-looking.  

So then that brings up the question, if Will is going to slow them down even more than Nina would, but they need him for the carrying, why not just let Nina stay with them perhaps at least plugging one hole--and that maybe should have occurred to Joe, but, again, as the above quote says, heat of the moment and all that.  And Joe owned the mistake and owned that it made Nina feel excluded, but I do not think that was his intention, nor do I think it was deafness-based.

I wonder what would have happened if someone had surreptitiously scooped up mud and tried to smear it into some of the holes.

 

I liked the little fuzzy anteater.

 

Dan is deeply terrible at the game and sorta awful, but I find him oddly endearing. If I had to pick a man from this season to spend 39 days with it would actually probably be him. 

I actually find him a little endearing as well (not the whore comment, obviously).  There is something about his mannerisms (head tilts, smile) that reminds me of someone I know and I can't think who, so there's that, but I think his comment about learning from his mistakes, though it might take a while, is going to turn out to be significant.  He is one of the few who declare such a thing who actually may have some degree of success, and I hope so, because of the three men on Blue, I'd prefer he stay longer over the others.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Jobiska

[fishcakes]

So, I hate them all but still find Blue Collar hilarious. It's just all yelling, all inappropriate, all the time. I don't even know what Lindsay and Rodney are saying most of the time because every other word is bleeped out. Kelly was the only one I had no opinion about, but then she lost me with the confessional about how as a cop she doesn't always rush to respond to bar fights because people are easier to handle once the fight is over. Um, yeah, unconscious and/or dead people are much more malleable.

 

I kind of like Shirin from this side of the screen, but I can see where she could be annoying to live with. I understand the logic in trying to get everyone to agree not to look for the HII by themselves, but trying to force everyone to agree and quizzing them about why they won't is not good play. And the gleeful way she was describing the monkey sex was a little bit weird. She does seem to have a "look at me!" personality, which can be entertaining, but not in big doses.

 

I feel bad for Nina and I do think she was excluded, but I don't know if it's because of her deafness or because she wouldn't stop accusing people of excluding her because of her deafness. Eh. Doesn't matter now.

Edited March 12, 2015 by fishcakes

[peachmangosteen]

So, I hate them all but still find Blue Collar hilarious. It's just all yelling, all inappropriate, all the time.

 

They are my fave tribe for this very reason. I hope they continue to win challenges so we can continue to see them all interact.

Edited March 12, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[Special K]

Blue collar is hilarious. Like why do they all wanna be thanked for doing basic things? 

 

[snip]

 

This episode was weirdly both boring and hilarious.

 

Yeah, that quibble about who had been thanked less for their labor was highly toddler-esque.  All they needed to add in was a round of "did not/did so" to finish things off after the yo-mama bit.

 

Totally agree with you on the second point!  No mean feat there, Survivor!

[Wings]

It takes time for this show to get off the ground.  It will get better.  I love the blue collars for the entertainment factor, too.   I loved Lindsay going off on Mike who gets women into bed by talking about finding his dead sister.  That is casting gold!  

 

The stand outs, that I expect to see go far, are Joe and Tyler and I like them both.  I think I like the women on the blue team, not sure yet.  

 

All of this can change, of course.  

[wonald]

 

Didn't she say something like "That was my life for 44 years?"  She's said that she's been deaf for seven years, so I'm betting that's what she meant.

 

Right. Managing people . . . that was her life for 44 yrs.

I guess she meant that when she was still hearing for the first 44 yrs of her life but that is not what she said. I bet she was a sucky manager too since her communications skills are as bad as her people skills.

 

 

I have to admit that I dont like this cast. I am beginning to think that Jiffy Probst loves this season bc douchey Boston Rod wins. Ugh.

[enlightenedbum]

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.

It's full of antagonistic douchebags and delusional weirdos, has a guy built at the Jeff Probst Mancrush Factory, and the women who are not also antagonistic douchebags are being seen and not heard.  Bonus: no one is transparently smarter than him!  Like the only thing missing for him is a 24 year old who sleeps with him after the show (probably).

[Alapaki]

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.

 

It's full of antagonistic douchebags and delusional weirdos, has a guy built at the Jeff Probst Mancrush Factory, and the women who are not also antagonistic douchebags are being seen and not heard.  Bonus: no one is transparently smarter than him!  Like the only thing missing for him is a 24 year old who sleeps with him after the show (probably).

 

 

And, in my 100% unspoiled speculation, it means that a female contestant doesn't win.

[ProfCrash]

It's full of antagonistic douchebags and delusional weirdos, has a guy built at the Jeff Probst Mancrush Factory, and the women who are not also antagonistic douchebags are being seen and not heard.  Bonus: no one is transparently smarter than him!  Like the only thing missing for him is a 24 year old who sleeps with him after the show (probably).

ahhh lots of "characters". Gotcha

 

Never mind that many of the characters are annoying at best, unlikeable at worst. He probably loves Rodney. (eye roll)

 

The show normally picks up at the merge. Hopefully that will be the case this time.

[jbrecken]

When Lindsey was asking Mike, "Did your God start this fire?" it reminded me of Pharaoh talking to Moses.

[blackwing]

I think Mike is one of the only people that I like. He went about things the wrong way, but he is annoyed that he feels like nobody is doing any work.

Rodney seemed to be arguing just for the sake of arguing. He is a hothead that doesn't like to be told what to do. Hate him a lot. "There's a reason why I'm jacked, it's because I'm dedicated." Whatever.

Lindsay... Yeech. Is she a hairdresser? Because hers looks terrible. I found the comments about "your God and his beard" to be offensive. Did she mean Jesus? Jesus had a beard. Regardless, offensive.

Good riddance to Nina. Thoroughly useless in every way, with the paranoia and insecurity and maturity of someone half her age.

[Way Wes Jr]

Poor episode, I probably was, at best, paying 80% attention.  Forgive me if I misstate anything.

 

Masaya (Yellow)

 

Again, no changes to the rankings.  Didn’t Carolyn tell Max about the idol also?  [Twenty-odd minutes wasted on cbs.com later.]  Nope, not that was shown in episode one.  Tyler made a fantastic move by going out and “looking” for the idol.  And staying close to Joaquin.  Conversely, Carolyn messed up big time by not making an effort: someone has to be thinking “Why isn’t she looking?”

 

Max was kind of invisible this week, and Shirin seemed way too confident in her interaction with Joaquin.  And while he was right to not want to stop looking for the idol, he could have been polite about it, but instead opted for a misogynistic put-down.  I haven’t seen anything to make me think that the Carolyn/ Max/ Shirin alliance is on the rocks - Shirin’s relative weirdness aside - and I think Tyler is making a good move in getting close with Joaquin, just in case they’re together after a tribe swap, or a merge.

 

1. Carolyn (1), 2. Max (2), 3. Tyler (3), 4. Joaquin (4), 5. Shirin  (5)

 

#FreeKelly, er I mean,

Escameca (Blue)

 

Can we go back to this tribe not getting any air time?  Kelly received the only game-play related confessional, (and has Sierra had a confessional this season?,) Sierra was mostly invisible, and everyone else just looked worse for the wear.

 

1. Kelly (1)  Staying above the fray.  I hope she is cementing a relationship with Sierra, (and, Lindsey too, I suppose.)

 

2. Sierra (2)
3. Lindsey (3)  Sierra managed to not be offensive.  Lindsey, not so much.  On the other hand, numbers are on their side.

 

4. Rodney (4) There were times I just wanted to reach through my television and slap the snot out this human turd.  He manages to hit every negative “Masshole” stereotype possible.  Especially the, “can dish it out, but can’t take it,” one.  (Also known as the terror of the pack who will piss himself if caught alone.)

 

5. Mike (5)
6. Dan (6)  If push comes to shove, and they have to go to tribal, I still think they’ll want to keep Mike over Dan for challenges. BUT, if they start thinking, “it’s time for a tribe switch/ merge,” I could see them dropping Mike first.

 

Nagarote (Red)

 

I have a theory ... waits for Buffy: The Musical music to stop playing in my head ... “It could be Bunnies! ... okay, I’m back.  Hali and Jenn told Joe that they were splitting the vote, and he was going to be the one to choose between Will and Nina.  And, golden boy edit aside, he went with penis, because an overweight asthmatic dude who fucked up your voting plans at the last tribal council is a much better choice than a woman who looks to be in great shape.  (And, familiarity with the Deaf community?  Joe completely failed on an opportunity to cultivate a side alliance/ stealth goat.)

 

This tribe is going to continue to lose immunity until they take pity on them and merge them into the other two tribes.  Unless they throw in a karaoke challenge.  Or maybe the blindfold maze, so they can stash Will as the caller.  [seriously, this was my exact thought process while I was waiting for the previews, at which point: “Oh, man!”]

 

So, since this was such an obvious boot, there was nothing shown to change this tribes order either.

 

1. Joe (1), 2. Jenn (2), 3. Hali (3), 4. Will (5)

BYE Nina (4)  It probably is just the editing, but you weren’t shown trying to make a case against Will until Tribal Council; too little, too late.  I don’t know what you expected from Survivor, but you didn’t seem to make any of the effort needed.  I hope you enjoyed your eight days.

[tvfanatic13]

Not one of the men on the Blue Collar tribe has any appeal to me whatsoever. Their personalities all suck.

[sadiegirl1999]

Between the nonstop monkey talk and waving her curlies around by the river, Shirin is losing sight of the end game.

 

 

<record scratch>

 

OMG, I literally laughed out loud for an entire minute. People came to see what was so funny.

[Guest]

.... Nina should have been on a different tribe where her approach to life was a better fit....

 

Or a different reality show, one she'd seen before.  

[needschocolate]

You may bad a the social game of Survivor if ---

 

--- you tell a guy in your three person alliance that the third person in your alliance thinks he is weak

 

--- you think calling someone's mother a whore is funny

 

--- you tell everyone else on your tribe that you are the only one working

 

--- you hug someone for more than 3 seconds in the first 3 days on the island

 

--- you are describing monkey porn and everyone else is looking at the ground or off into the distance and you still keep describing monkey porn

 

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. 

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. 

 

The others were not saints and may have treated Nina differently because of her deafness, but, IMO, the person who discriminated against Nina the most was Nina herself.  

 

It has got to be difficult to lose one of your senses and it would be a life changing event - forcing you to find new ways to adapt and make changes you never planned on making.  If I suddenly lost my hearing, I may end up just like Nina, but Nina's deafness isn't her biggest problem , it is the huge chip on her shoulder.  Every perceived slight is deemed to be solely because she is deaf - I have a felling that if the waiter put lemon in everyone's water glass except hers, she would complain that he only left it out because she is deaf and the waiter doesn't think deaf people can handle lemon.  

 

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.

 

It would be horrible to exclude her from the challenge because she is deaf, but I don't think her deafness had much to do with her being excluded.  I think they left her out because she is older (age discrimination is also horrible) and because she doesn't look strong enough to be much help carrying a heavy bucket.  Plus, excluding her for being deaf would make no sense - verbal communication wasn't really necessary in this challenge, as opposed to those challenges where someone is standing on a platform shouting commands.  

 

Getting into semantics here  - the definition of legally blind is that your vision is worse than 20/200 with corrective lenses. Can Nina still be called deaf if she can hear with a cochlear device (the equivalent of corrective lenses)? My husband's vision is much worse than 20/200, but he has normal vision with glasses - no one says he is blind. With the cochlear device, Nina may not be able to hear as well as "normal" but she can hear well enough to have conversations without having to lip read..  Why do we say you are not blind if you can see better than a certain level but you are still deaf if you can hear good enough to have a discussion?   (Note: this really about semantics and I am talking about people in general - I am not trying to start an argument or get into a discussion as to why Nina, in particular, might identify with being deaf when she can hear)

 

Lindsay kind of lost me with the "your god and his beard" comment.  Even if Mike was preachy, I kind of doubt any belief about a deity's facial hair came into discussion.  It just sounds childish and presumptuous to use your own misunderstanding of someone else's beliefs in ridiculing them.  Especially when your understanding of his religion seems to come from a preschool level.  

 

I had the opposite take on her comment.  It was so odd to say "your God and his beard" instead of just "your God" that I figured he must have said something about God's facial hair for her to go there.  Maybe he mentioned that he is hoping to grow a beard as long as God's in the cartoon drawings or maybe he commented that he thinks the stubble he has grown on the island makes him look like Jesus.  

 

It takes time for this show to get off the ground.  It will get better.  

 

Survivor is the only show I watch "live" (actually, we start about 15 minutes in so that we can skip the commercials) because there is a family tradition of phoning my mother to discuss the episode right after the torch is snuffed.  But I realize now that there is another tradition --- every year, sometime during the pre-merge episodes, my mother says something to the effect of "this season is so boring, there is no one to root for, I don't like any of these people..." and I reply with, "you say that every season before the merge.  Just wait, it will get better, but we have to suffer through the early, boring episodes in order to enjoy the post-merge ones."  Some seasons are better than others, but every season gets better after the merge.

Edited March 12, 2015 by needschocolate

[Guest]

I had the opposite take on her comment.  It was so odd to say "your God and his beard" instead of just "your God" that I figured he must have said something about God's facial hair for her to go there.  Maybe he mentioned that he is hoping to grow a beard as long as God's in the cartoon drawings or maybe he commented that he thinks the stubble he has grown on the island makes him look like Jesus.  

I totally agree with your whole post.  But I think I've heard 20-somethings ridicule Christian religions by referencing the image of a bearded god.  I think their point is that a humanoid, personal deity is ridiculous.  Which I think just shows their own misunderstanding.  While it is monotheistic and the deity is usually considered more of an entity than say a force, I think the bearded god imagery is meant to be metaphorical... as in a wise being.  Not literally an old, bearded man in the sky.  So it's kind of a straw man argument.  "Your religion is stupid because it includes a bearded god in the sky."  

[discorules]

My strange observation: Does No collar Jenn Brown remind ANYONE else of Amy Steel from Friday the 13th Part 2? I was racking my brain trying to decide who she looks/sound like and them it came to me......it's GINNY!

Edited March 12, 2015 by discorules

[Alapaki]

It was so odd to say "your God and his beard" instead of just "your God" that I figured he must have said something about God's facial hair for her to go there.

 

 

IIRC, we saw that comment juxtaposed with Mike's TH about having a "personal relationship" with God.  I suppose it's possible that they'd had discussions in which Mike talked about actually believing in an anthropomorphic "old man with a white beard", and maybe even credited Him with all sorts of things that had happened in his life.

[LiveFromKevin]

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.

Totally disagree with the "never" part of this. I'd never say it to a stranger, I'd never say it in anger, but Dan CLEARLY didn't mean it in any kind of offensive way. I'm not a total bro or anything, but I understand (and partake in) the way guys jokingly give each other shit about anything and everything. Yeah, Dan clearly misread both that a) he and Rodney have the kind of relationship where they can rib each other and b) Rodney was capable (or willing) to see how Dan meant it. Rodney was looking for a reason to get offended. Yeah, when Dan realized this was a line that he crossed with Rodney, he should apologize and explain that he didn't mean anything. But I really don't think that Dan could've forseen that. I love my mother as much as anyone, but I'm not going to get offended if someone mock-insults her in such an obviously innocuous manner. I'm not saying Rodney should just sit there and take it if it bothers him, but a mature person would be like "whoa, Dan, my mom's off-limits, man" and say in the confessional "yeah, what Dan said bothered me, but I know he didn't mean anything by it, love ya, Ma". I feel like Rodney would have the same (over)reaction if instead of "haha, well you're mother's a whore", Dan had said "haha, well Tom Brady's a pussy". Dude just totally ignored the tone and was so ready to be offended (which seems like every Boston sports fan on social media's default setting).

Lindsey's God comment was the other side, where it came from a place of anger, and intentionally disrespectful. Outside of Mike's (private) confessional after her outburst and his tattoo, we haven't seen Mike really refer to his religion much. Sure, the tribe probably asked him about his tattoo and he explained a bit to them, but we've seen no reason for her to throw it back in his face like that. I'm agnostic and I felt like that crossed a line. I'm glad to see Mike didn't take the bait and start a giant fight about that. That said, Mike was kind of being a dick around camp so I could see why he was frustrating his tribe mates.

To sum up: I'm pro-mother, meh-Dan, meh-Rodney, but didn't think Dan was totally out of line. I'm meh-God, meh-Mike, but Lindsey was.

[AZChristian]

So Nina seems to be the one person who thinks all of Nina's problems can be traced to her deafness.

 

I met a woman yesterday who lost her right leg above the knee in an auto accident.  She said, "Well, if I was going to lose a leg, I'm glad it was that one.  The doctor told me my right knee was bad and I was going to need knee replacement surgery.  That's no longer an issue!"

 

Please, God, may I always be able to have an attitude of looking at the bright side of even the worst tragedies.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'm sorry, but I found Joaquin's rant towards Shirin absolutely hysterical.

 

May I please say that I'm a staunch feminist and I'm always the first one to point out things like that, but Joaquin's rant at her was the first time I was legitimately entertained by this season.  I couldn't understand every word, obviously, but his speech patterns and deadpan reactions to her, oh my god.  Hilarious.  I rewound it a few times.  I really wanted to understand everything.  I couldn't find the closed captioning.  He just absolutely hates her.  And the visual of him being barely visible in the trees or whatever, and keeping the same facial expression while saying all these things.  People on Survivor are supposed to keep these extreme feelings about people to themselves so when it's let out in this type of way it's very, very funny to me.

 

I have to love the honesty.  You're expected to just go along with this person who has Decided what everyone should do in regards to the Idol and he was basically like, Fuck, No.  That's the kind of character I enjoy.

 

Jenn on the other hand, Queen of Smug, I can't even take it.  She's just soooo pleased with herself.  "God, why does everybody (who probably spent years applying and is trying hard to win a million dollars) take Survivor so seriously?" 

Edited March 12, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[CletusMusashi]

If I suddenly came down with a serious disability today, I admit I would not handle it amazingly. For every Vanuatu Chad there are a lot of Ninas, and, honestly, I'd probably be one of the Ninas.

But if that were case, I wouldn't choose to go on SURVIVOR! What the hell was she thinking?

[Alapaki]

Yeah, when Dan realized this was a line that he crossed with Rodney, he should apologize and explain that he didn't mean anything. But I really don't think that Dan could've forseen that.

 

 

I'm no stranger to crossing lines, and I don't consider much if anything to be off-limits when it comes to sarcasm and comedy.

 

But even I would strongly presume that calling someone's mother a "whore" will not be well received until pretty damned-well proven otherwise.

[CletusMusashi]

Anybody who'd seen five minutes of Rodney on "Survivor" knew that he would react that way to a mother joke. 

Way to read the room, Dan.

[meep.meep]

Unless you are Dick Whitman/Don Draper.....

Jeff having to articulate why the producers put Nina in "No Collar" shows how this collar bit is crap. 

 

Especially when the real answer was:  we already cast an older woman for the White Collars.

 

Nina just kept sabotaging herself.  If you want to stay in, you have to articulate to your tribe mates how you can be useful to them in the future.  The old traditional things like:  I'll always have your back; I promise to never write your name down; Just tell me who to vote for; I'll sleep in the uncomfortable spot, etc.  She just tried to make them feel guilty.  She didn't even try to pull two of them together with her to vote out someone else.  Get Jenn and Hali and get rid of Will, for example.

 

Jenn was right:  she wanted to be coddled.

[Ms Blue Jay]

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?

 

Everyone on the Blue Collar tribe I guess (Mike, Sierra, and ??? the loud one), like to spend all day fighting about who contributes the most to the work.  The guy with the big belly (Dan?) and Rodney were not as much part of that fight.  Also, neither is the cop.  Who I keep forgetting about.  They showed her in a couple of scenes and I thought a crewmember had gotten loose.  

 

Mike was trying to get Rodney to contribute more and Rodney seemed to go on what felt like an episode-long rant about how he'll do work when he wants to, and nobody is his Daddy on the island, and leave him the fuck alone.  He also claimed to not feel well, feel light-headed, needed to eat etc. which prevented him from working.

 

I think there was a scene of Rodney personally saying this stuff to Dan too and then they commiserated how they hated rich people from Texas?  Maybe that is what Mike is, I'm not sure.  Are there really no poor people in Texas?  I find that so hard to believe.  I guess Texas is like Canada's Alberta!

Edited March 12, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[Miss Scarlet]

 

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.

Yeah, it's ridiculous. Joaquin said the reason Tyler was so uncomfortable with was because he was married. I love how the idea is that since Tyler's married, Shirin shouldn't walk around naked, even if it's more comfortable for her. Because women should always have to do what's best for the men.

 

I don't like Tyler particularly, but I could see him going far in this game. I noticed in his confessionals last night that he was basically echoing everything Joaquin had been saying, but was saying these things in much more diplomatic ways. This diplomacy will be really helpful to him throughout the game. 

 

Him and Joaquin are definitely humourless dolts. What Shirin was saying/doing just wasn't that weird. 

Edited March 12, 2015 by wudpixie

[CletusMusashi]

Maybe White Collar wold be more comfortable if the monkeys wore pants. And suspenders to keep them on.

And little hats, just to keep me and Shirin happy.

[Guest]

So Nina seems to be the one person who thinks all of Nina's problems can be traced to her deafness.

 

I met a woman yesterday who lost her right leg above the knee in an auto accident.  She said, "Well, if I was going to lose a leg, I'm glad it was that one.  The doctor told me my right knee was bad and I was going to need knee replacement surgery.  That's no longer an issue!"

 

Please, God, may I always be able to have an attitude of looking at the bright side of even the worst tragedies.

I don't know if I can voice this right but when Nina said that losing her hearing made her walk away from her lifelong career of sales and become a 'hearing advocate' (which I'm kind of having trouble understanding what that is-- advocate for the hearing impaired?), I did kind of feel like a more resilient person would choose not to define herself by her disability and might forge on in their chosen career, a la Bethany (one-armed surfer) on TAR.  

 

I think there was a scene of Rodney personally saying this stuff to Dan too and then they commiserated how they hated rich people from Texas?  Maybe that is what Mike is, I'm not sure.  Are there really no poor people in Texas?  I find that so hard to believe.  I guess Texas is like Canada's Alberta!

I wasn't 100% clear on that comment but I think Rodney was ridiculing Dan's "$100,000 ranch" as in it's a cheap home but homes in Texas are cheap because no one wants to live there.  Rodney's from Boston, right?  That's one of the more expensive cities for real estate in the US.  Kind of a stupid argument but I wouldn't expect much from "I pick up chicks with stories about finding my dead sister" Rodney.  

Edited March 12, 2015 by Guest

[Paws]

Shirin seems like a ball of fun to me. Id like to look at animals too! And i loved how she was ribbing Joaquin---"oh you don't trust me...why not?" She hasn't  lied to him, as far as we've seen, when we know he blatantly lied to her and the rest of them on the first day about the idol. I do worry that her face and belly appear to be completely covered in hives or bug bites of some kind.

[Miss Scarlet]

Rodney has such an obvious case of a Napoleon complex. 

 

I don't care what Mike's tattoo is of, it's one of the most hideous tattoos I've ever seen on this show. And that's really saying something considering that he's on a tribe with Lindsay "face tattoo" and Rodney "murdered sister tattoo that's used to manipulate other women".

Edited March 12, 2015 by wudpixie

[Special K]

Rodney is an idiot, but I can't disagree with his assessment that a person who gets a face tattoo has some issues.

 

Have they ever cast a hairdresser that doesn't look like fright-night?  And I mean not considering the roughing-it aspect.

[iMonrey]

This was right up there with Joaquin calling Shrin the most annoyingest person on their tribe.

Yeah - what is he supposed to be again? "Marketing Executive?" Phone sales, more like. At best. This "collar" thing is such bullshit. How is the hairdresser with the tattoos covering 50% of her body more "blue collar" than the boating instructor over on "No Collar?" I swear it's like they just drew straws to see which tribe they'd be on then made up reasons for it.

 

Kelly was the only one I had no opinion about, but then she lost me with the confessional about how as a cop she doesn't always rush to respond to bar fights because people are easier to handle once the fight is over. Um, yeah, unconscious and/or dead people are much more malleable.

 

LOL - I kind of understood the point she was trying to make, but her attempt didn't speak very well of her police work.

 

I was on the fence about whether they should have voted off Nina or Will because they do both suck in different ways. But Will is the type of player that could make it all the way to the final three if he makes the merge because nobody thinks he's a threat, and I don't think he deserves to go any further than Nina went, so that's going to be frustrating if it happens.

Edited March 12, 2015 by iMonrey

[Special K]

Yeah - what is he supposed to be again? "Marketing Executive?" Phone sales, more like. At best. This "collar" thing is such bullshit. How is the hairdresser with the tattoos covering 50% of her body more "blue collar" than the boating instructor over on "White Collar?" I swear it's like they just drew straws to see which tribe they'd be on then made up reasons for it.

 

 

I agree with your overall sentiment, but the sailing instructor is Jenn, on the No Collar tribe.

[ProfCrash]

Getting into semantics here  - the definition of legally blind is that your vision is worse than 20/200 with corrective lenses. Can Nina still be called deaf if she can hear with a cochlear device (the equivalent of corrective lenses)? My husband's vision is much worse than 20/200, but he has normal vision with glasses - no one says he is blind. With the cochlear device, Nina may not be able to hear as well as "normal" but she can hear well enough to have conversations without having to lip read..  Why do we say you are not blind if you can see better than a certain level but you are still deaf if you can hear good enough to have a discussion?   (Note: this really about semantics and I am talking about people in general - I am not trying to start an argument or get into a discussion as to why Nina, in particular, might identify with being deaf when she can hear)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant

 

It is a long read but a cochlear implant is not even close to glasses for a person with bad vision. I can put on my glasses and gain 20/20 vision. A choclear implant does not give a deaf person perfect hearing. The article is very long, and gets into the controversy regarding their use, but there are a lot of different parts that have to work for the implants to work. On top of it, there are different types of deafness and the implants work better for some deafness then others

 

We saw Hali trying to talk to Nina when they were walking and it was clear that Nina could not hear what Hali was saying. Nina needed to have eye contact with someone, which gives me the impression that she can only hear well if she is close to someone and the sound is coming directly at her.

 

It might be that hearing aids are the equivalent of glasses but I don't know that it is even that easy.

 

We don't know if Nina understands every word in a conversation or if she is taking in some conversation and responding based on context.

 

So yeah, she is deaf and the implants help but do not give her perfect or even near perfect hearing. They help her to function but she is not able to participate in the same way a hearing person can and that is a disadvantage.

[iMonrey]

 

I agree with your overall sentiment, but the sailing instructor is Jenn, on the No Collar tribe.

 

Thanks, Special! I edited my original post.