S30.E04: S30.E04: Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner / S03.E05: We're Finally Playing Some Survivor

[peachmangosteen]

Yea, Kelly's the 'undercover cop.' And the fact that she called herself an 'undercover cop' in a confessional is enough to annoy me honestly. Also, I don't like Kelly based a lot on her pre-show stuff and since she hasn't done a single thing to disprove my theories on her from those pre-show things I continue to find her annoying. 

 

Also, she seems like an idiot to me; if I had got hit in the head with that thing I wouldn't have been all 'let me just stand here blindfolded until Jeff tells me what to do' and I sure wouldn't have kept playing a game where I was blindfolded. Survivor ain't worth all that!

Edited March 19, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[Ms Blue Jay]

Maybe she was dazed.  She had just been hit in the head.

[fishcakes]

That's quite the Women's Studies group they have going over at Blue Collar. I was trying to remember where I'd heard Dan's theory about "men think women want them to be problem solvers, but women just want men to be empathetic," and finally I remembered it was from an episode of Modern Family.

 

I feel bad for Sierra being stuck with Dan, Mike, and Rodney, but she is a terrible player. Dan was stupid to catalog what he didn't like about her after TC, but she did open that up by demanding to know who voted for her and why. If you're on the outs, you don't do anything to emphasize it. Just take your votes in stride and try to figure a way to survive the next TC. And then after the tribal swap, at the very first opportunity, she lets Tyler, Joaquin, and Joe know that she's ready to jump in with them, she hates her old tribe and they treated her badly, and all that does is demonstrate to them that she's an emotional, disloyal, unreliable player, and they can use her to get further in the game but hurt her feelings and she'll turn on you, even if it's bad for her own game. If she had any strategic sense, she'd know she was in a good spot. Blue Collar went in with a majority of 4 so Tyler, Joaquin, and Joe are going to be looking to flip one of them and, on paper, she's the logical choice. She should have waited for them to come to her. Contrasted with the way Carolyn played it, and there's no comparison. Carolyn sat back and waited to see what the reaction to Max and Shirin would be, and once she saw they were annoying the shit out of everyone, she let it be known that she'd be open to other offers. She got rid of someone she couldn't stand and put herself ahead of Kelly in the new alliance.

 

I don't think there's ever been a more uncomfortable TC than that second one. Max and Shirin are being weird and annoying and almost gleeful about the vote, yet are completely oblivious to how much everyone there dislikes them. The rest of the tribe are rolling their eyes, not laughing with them, and probably blinking "it's time to vote" in Morse code at Jeff. I thought it couldn't possibly get more embarrassing and then Max calls out, "hold up, bro." Thud.

 

The thing about the chickens is that it doesn't matter which one you kill. A rooster isn't needed for the hens to lay eggs, but it functions as the alpha in the social order. If you have three egg-laying hens and a rooster and you kill the rooster, then one of the hens will become the alpha and stop laying eggs. So whether you kill the rooster or a hen, you'll still end up with only two egg-laying hens. It makes sense to kill the rooster if you're a late sleeper because it's noisier in the morning, but it has no effect on total egg production.

[himela]

Maybe some of the past seasons which were great have made me spoiled with expecting great episodes but I've got to say that these two episodes were not that good and if they are considered the best of the season I might as well just rewatch some of the past really interesting seasons.

 

Regarding episode 4: I'm wondering why Will wasn't mad for using him to avoid an idol being played by Nina. They actually told him "If Nina had an idol you were the one leaving and/or you are the fourth in this four people alliance" and he was like "ah ok, thanks for filling me in". I mean, wtf? When The same thing happened with Sierra (her being used to avoid an idol played by either Rodney or Lindsey) she went rightfully crazy. In my books and in survivor books this means war and that's what she claimed she'd do. Also I'd have to comment on the "Madonna - 80s" pants Lindsey was wearing on the tribal council. Woohoo.

 

Regarding episode 5: I made a plan of the new tribes with the colors that they used to have. I don't remember a third person having an idol, if you do please feel free to correct me :)

I agree that the way the two tribes were made is the most unfair ever. I'm stunned with Carolyn for betraying her tribe just cause she gets annoyed by these two people (Shirin and Max) and giving the numbers advantage to the former blue collar tribe. In a game where numbers are everything you simply suck everything up and you stick to your tribe in order to keep your numbers. Carolyn just became number 5 in a five people alliance (former no collar tribe, Will - Hali - Jenn - Joe, assuming they ever come together again on a merge) and just lost 3 allies (former white collar tribe, Shirin - Tyler - Joaquin). And all this for what? Cause she was annoyed with Shirin and Max. Who cares? You are not there to make friends or have vacation in an ideal environment, you are there to win a million dolars for God's sake! Like I was mad at Jenn who couldn't tolerate some craziness from Vince and couldn't be a little more tolearant with Nina's tough character, I'm mad at Carolyn who put her personal feelings on top of progressing in the game.  Also I think it's smart to keep Rodney and pull him to the final three cause nobody will vote for him.

 

 

 

[the eskimo]

 

After this is over I would be surprised if any woman would want to even look at Rodney, unless they're really desperate for some sex from him or don't have any "high standards" for themselves according to Rodney.

I really wanted one of the ladies to respond to him by saying, "If all women held themselves to a higher standard, you would still be a virgin." I think that is exactly what he is implying. That he doesn't want to date a woman that he could pick up in a club or bar who would sleep with him. Though I still can't figure out what he was talking about when he mentioned women don't have to "work" at getting a new guy after a break-up.

 

Sierra kind of annoyed me with the pouting, but I agree that Dan shouldn't have tried to talk to her about challenges right when they got back from tribal. Bottom line is, everyone wrote down a name, including you. Don't pout because it didn't go your way. Be upset internally, and work on getting into that alliance in some way externally.

 

Max and Shirin were so impressed with themselves and their knowledge that they forgot to look around them and make sure they had a strong alliance. It was kind of beautiful to watch the cluelessness.

[scowl]

When you go to college, one important rule is to never tell anyone how much you love your parents. I now believe that Survivor has a similar rule: never tell anyone how much you love your mother, or "muddah" as Rodney calls her.

 

This is the funniest thread on Survivor I've seen in years. Good job, everyone!

[Asha124]

Why does everyone hate Mike? I didn't hear anything offensive or sexist come out of his mouth. He might be actually the smartest person from the BC tribe. He tried to stop Rodney and Dan from attacking Sierra after the TC and then he made Dan apologize to her. IMO he was right when he told Dan to just apologize without making any excuses. So what's the big deal?

[Jodithgrace]

I sincerely hope that the women of Rodney's acquaintance hold themselves to a high enough standard that they reject him totally. If not, than I'm afraid he's correct..they HAVE no self respect!

 

Did Shirin happen to mention that the bunny she boiled was the family pet of that guy she'd been stalking?

 

I think it was very nice of the red team to give Max that blindside he's been dreaming of. His Survivor classes should be extra fun, now. I wonder if he teaches them naked.

 

My only comfort in watching those dangerous blindfold challenges, is the fact that they were actually taped months ago, and if anybody had been seriously injured, or God-forbid killed, we would have heard about it on the news, spoilers be damned.

 

So stupid to eat a chicken rather than the rooster. I wonder if the tribe doesn't actually know that roosters are edible. I mean, nobody ever says, "We're having rooster parm for dinner." With or without tuna salad.  Too bad they didn't have any Survivor savants on their team to explain it to them in excruciating detail.

[candall]

I think it's only been a couple of seasons since some clueless bunch had the same confusion about hens and roosters.  It's a shame they edited out the whole "Where do babies come from?" discussion, because that made for a howling good segment.

 

 

 

 

[Alapaki]

LOL at how awful these eps were. The best of the season, Probst?! Really?! This season is gonna be rough. Although, as has been mentioned, at least now we know why Jeff is so in love with this season.

 

 

I really hope Jeff was just puffing about this being the best episode of the season (although I doubt it).  Because, if he's serious, he's even worse than I previously thought.

 

Most boys stop being impressed with competitions that draw blood when they hit puberty and realize that Professional Wrestling isn't real.  

 

TPTB should be ashamed of this episode.  It's bad enough they put the obstacles at crotch level in these blindfold challenges.  That white-collar tribe woman (Shirin, maybe?) probably had a prolapsed uterus by the end of the challenge.

 

But to have the baskets flailing around like that, and especially when they had so many near-misses, until someone suffers an open-head-injury, is really irresponsible.

 

I understand that "test" these challenges.  But the way Dalton Ross from EW explained it, they basically use visiting journalists for the dry-runs.  That may help determine how easy a challenge is.  But I doubt it gives a true picture of how safe a challenge is, because those "testers" probably aren't playing with the intensity (and potentially recklessness) that players in the real game do.

 

And if Probst is referring to the result of the Tribal consolidation, then why he thinks that makes for good TV is beyond me.

 

I don't remember a third person having an idol, if you do please feel free to correct me :)

 

 

I was wondering this myself.  I can't recall anyone on the Blue Collar Tribe finding the HII in that camp.  And isn't the new Blue Tribe camping at the Blue Collar Tribe's camp?  That would mean that HII is potentially up for grabs.

[peachmangosteen]

Maybe she was dazed.  She had just been hit in the head.

 

She did come off pretty out of it to me after that. I'm surprised the medical team didn't make more of a deal out of that injury. But she seemed perfectly fine the next day so I guess it wasn't bad.

 

Why does everyone hate Mike? I didn't hear anything offensive or sexist come out of his mouth. He might be actually the smartest person from the BC tribe. He tried to stop Rodney and Dan from attacking Sierra after the TC and then he made Dan apologize to her. IMO he was right when he told Dan to just apologize without making any excuses. So what's the big deal?

 

I can't remember exactly what he said about the apology but it was basically, 'women just want you to say sorry so they're right,' type bullshit. There is no doubt in my mind Rodney, Dan, and Mike are varying levels of sexist with Mike probably being the least offensive.

I was wondering this myself.  I can't recall anyone on the Blue Collar Tribe finding the HII in that camp.  And isn't the new Blue Tribe camping at the Blue Collar Tribe's camp?  That would mean that HII is potentially up for grabs.

 

No one from Blue Collar was shown searching for the HII so we can presume none of them found it and that it is still there to be found by the members of the new Blue tribe.

Edited March 19, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[cooksdelight]

My first thought was, why did the show give them a rooster?  Then I realized that the rooster was the one they could eat.  Do you think maybe they didn't realize that hens would lay eggs without a rooster?  I cannot imagine why you would eat one of the egg-layers otherwise, just baffled me.  Keeping the rooster seems dumb, too.  You'd have to feed it, right? Without getting any eggs in return? I'm guessing these are not people who have lived on a farm or know much about animals.

Kids today, what are you gonna do? They don't get taught the fundamentals in biology that we did.

[ghoulina]

I really wanted one of the ladies to respond to him by saying, "If all women held themselves to a higher standard, you would still be a virgin." I think that is exactly what he is implying. That he doesn't want to date a woman that he could pick up in a club or bar who would sleep with him. Though I still can't figure out what he was talking about when he mentioned women don't have to "work" at getting a new guy after a break-up.

 

Nothing he says makes any sense to me. That would imply that he thinks when a woman becomes newly single, men are falling all over themselves to get on that. So is it the reverse? Newly single men aren't beating women off with a bat? Because, then that WOULD imply that women are holding themselves to these "higher standards" he keeps prattling on about, right? 

 

I think I just confused myself all over again. 

 

See, the dude is just dumb. That's why I got so annoyed at Lindsey for even engaging with him. I probably would have just laughed and said, "Well, I couldn't agree less, but good luck with that"....and then just walked away. There is really no sense in trying to debate with someone who is dumber than a box of rocks. 

[meep.meep]

Max is a pretty good example that if you work up the courage and follow your dreams sometimes you get crushed in a pretty humiliating manner.

 

And on national television!

 

I would have kept him and voted Shirin out, but then I don't have to be around them 24/7.

 

As much as I loathed the manly men session of Women's Problems that the Blue Collar dudes alliance was running, one of them was smart enough to figure out a vote split that would accomplish their goal.  And, it indicated that they knew there must be an idol near their camp.

 

Since Joaquin got the clue to the one at White Collar camp, he should be able to figure out where this one is.

[sadiegirl1999]

After the second time Jeff told Will to watch it with the cart, Joe seemed to realize he was the only one who could see and leaned over and told Will to jump out of the way as soon as it dropped. The other two didn't do that, that we saw.

 

This reminds me that *usually* this challenge involves more than one pair for the caller to manage.

 

I'm not saying I'd be great at it...but all the caller had to do was direct ONE PAIR to the item and back.

[Asha124]

I can't remember exactly what he said about the apology but it was basically, 'women just want you to say sorry so they're right,' type bullshit. There is no doubt in my mind Rodney, Dan, and Mike are varying levels of sexist with Mike probably being the least offensive.

 

I don't think he meant it in a sexist way. I just think that he was frustrated with Dan and he was (unsuccessfully) trying to make him say that he was sorry without looking like an ass.

 

I think that sometimes Americans tend to be a little too oversensitive about comments like that. Most of us probably said some pretty dumb things too we just didn't do it on national TV.

[truthaboutluv]

This reminds me that *usually* this challenge involves more than one pair for the caller to manage.

 

 

Actually, they did this exact same challenge on the Brains vs. Beauty vs. Brawn season, just as the Reward Challenge from the second episode was the exact one from the first Redemption Island season. With regards to the former challenge, this is why, while I understand posters' concerns and reaction in light of Kelly getting hurt, I can see why the producers/show may not have seen it as so dangerous. Because they did the exact challenge before and no one got hurt like Kelly or even close.

 

Sure there was the requisite bumping into the obstacles which I know they put at that level because they think it's fun to see the players bump into them, which one can certainly debate the ethics of, but no one was ever in danger of getting hit as badly as Kelly was. I don't know if maybe because those players that season just had a better handle on pulling and dropping the lift. I honestly don't remember the lift even slamming down as hard as was happening last night and in fact just remember that the items kept falling off because some of the tribes couldn't figure out how to pull in tandem with both players on both sides, blindfolded. 

 

The other thing I am baffled by is the hate on for Hali with regards to last night's episodes. But then I've long made my peace with the fact that many opinions get made about players, usually with regards to nothing actually shown on the show, so I'm often left confused. I remember her expressing happiness at Nina's leaving but I simply saw that as who knows how bad or negative things got between them, on both sides, before Nina was voted off. And then she was grossed out about Max's feet.

 

Yes, Jenn told Max to put his feet in the pot because of the stingray stings but Hali's disgust was at discovering a wart on his foot and her feeling was "it's gross to stick your foot in the pot we have to drink water from with a giant wart and to have it in there for hours." She didn't look like she was yelling or bitching or getting angry about it but simply expressed her annoyance and disgust in her talking head. And for the vote in the second episode, she very calmly said Shirin and Max are both annoying but they may need Max to help with the challenges. I just can't see what, especially in an episode that included such raging asshole behavior a la Rodney, that Hali did that made her so unlikable and awful. 

 

But again, as noted, I don't actually actively seek reasons to dislike the players/contestants.  When they say something and do something as moronic as Rodney, I look forward to their being voted off, but I've never had the raging dislike for players like others seem to. I could not stand Kass at points during Cagayan because I found her incredibly obnoxious at points in the game but honestly, by the end of the season I didn't even care about her that much since it was clear as day she wasn't going to win. 

Edited March 19, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[iMonrey]

I spent the first three episodes defending Jenn and Hali against charges that they were acting like "mean girls," and now I see that apparently other people had a better instinct about this than I did, because they did in fact come across somewhat "mean girl" during these two episodes. I was kind of shocked by Hali's coldly stated "she got what she deserved" after voting off Nina. And the way both Jenn and Hali turned their noses up at the "nerds" in their new tribe spoke volumes as well.

 

If, by their own admission, both Max and Shirin are equally annoying, vote out the one least likely to help in challenges - especially when you have such a physically weak team to begin with. Yes, yes, I know the thinking may go "well we're going to merge soon anyway" but they are competing for more than immunity, they are also competing for reward and they need all the food they can get. Plus there's no guarantee there will be a merge at 12 or even 10. The producers like tp screw with the format, and I can totally see them letting the weak tribe U-Long itself down to zero players just to keep the douchebag sexists around as long as possible. You just know Jeff Probst adores them.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Regarding episode 4: I'm wondering why Will wasn't mad for using him to avoid an idol being played by Nina. They actually told him "If Nina had an idol you were the one leaving and/or you are the fourth in this four people alliance" and he was like "ah ok, thanks for filling me in". I mean, wtf? When The same thing happened with Sierra (her being used to avoid an idol played by either Rodney or Lindsey) she went rightfully crazy. In my books and in survivor books this means war and that's what she claimed she'd do.

 

Huh?

 

In my opinion Will was doing the smart thing by hiding his feelings on it and just giving straight Poker face.  That's exactly what he did at that first Tribal Council and that seems to be his method of playing and he seems very smart for it.

How is the Sierra play ever the good play --- almost never, in my opinion.

[LanceM]

I spent the first three episodes defending Jenn and Hali against charges that they were acting like "mean girls," and now I see that apparently other people had a better instinct about this than I did, because they did in fact come across somewhat "mean girl" during these two episodes. I was kind of shocked by Hali's coldly stated "she got what she deserved" after voting off Nina. And the way both Jenn and Hali turned their noses up at the "nerds" in their new tribe spoke volumes as well.

If, by their own admission, both Max and Shirin are equally annoying, vote out the one least likely to help in challenges - especially when you have such a physically weak team to begin with. Yes, yes, I know the thinking may go "well we're going to merge soon anyway" but they are competing for more than immunity, they are also competing for reward and they need all the food they can get. Plus there's no guarantee there will be a merge at 12 or even 10. The producers like tp screw with the format, and I can totally see them letting the weak tribe U-Long itself down to zero players just to keep the douchebag sexists around as long as possible. You just know Jeff Probst adores them.

[CletusMusashi]

A rooster isn't needed for the hens to lay eggs, but it functions as the alpha in the social order. If you have three egg-laying hens and a rooster and you kill the rooster, then one of the hens will become the alpha and stop laying eggs. So whether you kill the rooster or a hen, you'll still end up with only two egg-laying hens. It makes sense to kill the rooster if you're a late sleeper because it's noisier in the morning, but it has no effect on total egg production.

But does the hormonal change happen instantly? Or do you still get an extra few days of eggs?

[LanceM]

Why does it speak volumes that Hali and Jenn find Max and Shirin annoying when this is the exact same conclusion that EVERBODY who has been on a tribe with them both before and after the swap has come to as well? Why single them out for this and not the others?

[Waldo13]

Plus Rodney would be the type of guy who would accuse a woman who shot him down in a bar of being a lesbian.

Rodney is one of those masdageinistic ass holes who want to screw every woman but marry a virgin. Once married he wants only straight sex with his wife but will cheat on her to get his kink on. I'm sure his mom is very proud of him. A woman has every right to tattoo any part of her body she wants just as a man. If Rodney had no tattoos, I can see he might think that way but he is covered in tattoos so I find him also hypocritical.

[Calamity Jane]

"Annoying as hell"??  I truly don't even know who Kelly is!?

 

Is Kelly the cop who got hit in the head?  I have never even noticed her otherwise at all.  I think she's had confessionals but you couldn't pay me to repeat what she might have said.

I actually really liked both of them this episode, and I started hoping they could somehow knock out the whole male contingent and be the final two.  They both seem like tough, smart competitors.  On a totally irrelevant side note, I was pretty impressed at how well put-together Carolyn looked at Tribal Council.  It doesn't have any effect on my overall take on her, but she really did look stylish.  

[ghoulina]

Rodney is one of those masdageinistic ass holes who want to screw every woman but marry a virgin.

 

The ironic thing is - if women held to his higher standards, none of virgin women would marry his club-trolling ass. 

[Wouldofshouldof]

Just FYI to all the posters who have commented on Dan's comments about "women" . . . He actually never said the word women, instead consistently calling them girls, which really bugged me.  There are no girls on Survivor, Dan.  The minimum age to compete is 18.  Maybe you're not smarter than you look, after all.

[fishcakes]

But does the hormonal change happen instantly? Or do you still get an extra few days of eggs?

 

Oh, that's a good point. The new alpha would probably lay for an extra day or two. I'm always curious how much any of these hens are laying, though. They've gotten chickens in a number of seasons, but there was only one time I ever remember seeing an actual egg.

[hincandenza]

I have a love/hate relationship with that first reward challenge, as they've had many variations of it over the years, and every time I think "I would so rock this challenge"... and then I watch people flub it.  It's amazing: people who take several minutes to finally realize that their left and the runner's left isn't always the same thing, or who give vague instructions like "Further!" or "Right there!", and then wonder why their runners come back angry and bruised up. 

 

Does anyone else remember the LOGO computer program from school in the 80's and 90's, where you'd manipulate a little onscreen turtle cursor using commands like FORWARD 10 or LEFT 90?  It seems like this challenge would be so easy with just some basic rules and a good caller:

 

• Runners have their arms and hands dangling loosely about a half foot in front of their waist, like a bumper with some "give" for when they hit something.  Stop sticking your hands straight out, you idiots, nothing is at that height!
• Callers should have a distinctive voice: if the other two are women, try to pick a low-voiced male, or vice versa.
• Callers have to have enough smarts to SHOUT like a drill instructor only dead simple commands like "GO 5" to take 5 normal steps forward, "LEFT 3" to sidle three steps to the left, and "STOP".
• Talk to them normally only when they're stopped at the various collected pieces or at the platform, but otherwise keep it SIMPLE.  Saying "Go faster!" is not only pointless, but is going to be ignored by the very angry blindfolded people who you've already had run genitals-first into a wooden crate or fence post three or four times.
• Win reward/immunity!

 

So frustrating.  :) 

 

As was that first Tribal Council; I totally did not see that coming, and did not understand why Lindsey was so disliked.  What did I miss?  I don't think the show gave us much insight into why Rodney wasn't just as good a boot, but the smug meathead knew it the whole time: the other three presumably had decided to do a three-way tie and flush out an idol and let him in on it... but then why not vote Rodney on the vote-off?  He had shown earlier that he wasn't particularly good at challenges either.  Were they just all that worried about Lindsey/Sierra as a "power duo"?  I honestly was sure that between Rodney seeming utterly clueless about the social game, and Lindsey's speech about unity that Mike gushed about, that this was as unsurprising a vote as Nina last week... but then they switched it up.  I didn't see the groundwork there, so I must have missed something.

 

 

Total aside, but I loved the green lizard and millipedes: it was strangely beautiful and hypnotic, and I rewound that moment several times.  It was truly... alien. Life, very much life, but somehow also so different from us, a mindless symbiosis of organic machines.  Maybe Rust Cohle was right, and Consciousness was the mistake... :)

 

 

Second tribal was fun, just because that kind of gleeful schadenfreude and cocksure certainty from people who are going home in a few minutes... I haven't seen since probably Edgardo at Fiji.  Max and Shireen aren't bad people, and in fact I empathize with them a lot; I think like myself they're the verby, thinking types, and usually hang around their own kind who are similarly analytical.  Max however I'd been done with early on, he was the kind of preening "self-made man" type I've met in the tech world before, the kind who imagines themselves as one of the "elite" for no particular reason; I'm not shocked he was a terrible loser, ignoring his tribe and glaring at Jeff wordlessly while his torch was snuffed.  Stay classy, Max.

 

Shireen seems actually fairly aware of herself and her shortcomings, and is good at reading people... she just sucks at tamping that down in real time when she talks soooo much.  For example, I'd bet money that Shireen did see Jeffy give "a face" that meant exactly what she thought... but most people either don't pick up on those things (since they're so in their own ego) or just know to not point those things out, especially on "Survivor": not because you're wrong, but because it solves nothing and people hate when you're reading them so closely it threatens to shake their personal legend. People like Probst, or Dan, or Rodney, or even Max have these "myths" of their own greatness, and on "Survivor" you have to coddle their childish asses long enough to get their votes. 

 

But eh, if she goes home next episode, I don't care either.  Can't say I'm really rooting for anyone, except maybe Joe as the balanced non-crazy person, or possibly Jenn as a somewhat annoying Mean Girl who is still reasonably funny as this season's "Greek Chorus".

[viajero]

I spent the first three episodes defending Jenn and Hali against charges that they were acting like "mean girls," and now I see that apparently other people had a better instinct about this than I did, because they did in fact come across somewhat "mean girl" during these two episodes. I was kind of shocked by Hali's coldly stated "she got what she deserved" after voting off Nina. And the way both Jenn and Hali turned their noses up at the "nerds" in their new tribe spoke volumes as well.

 

If, by their own admission, both Max and Shirin are equally annoying, vote out the one least likely to help in challenges - especially when you have such a physically weak team to begin with. Yes, yes, I know the thinking may go "well we're going to merge soon anyway" but they are competing for more than immunity, they are also competing for reward and they need all the food they can get. Plus there's no guarantee there will be a merge at 12 or even 10. The producers like tp screw with the format, and I can totally see them letting the weak tribe U-Long itself down to zero players just to keep the douchebag sexists around as long as possible. You just know Jeff Probst adores them.

 

I personally did not find Hali to be particularly objectionable in this episode.  Perhaps the way she phrased her comment on Nina was less than diplomatic, but what she said was also basically true and matches what many people on this forum have been saying for weeks now.  Besides, it was just a toss off sentence in a confessional that was mostly about how happy she was that their fire hadn't gone out while at they were at TC and that this bit of good luck might indicate a turnaround in the fortunes of her tribe (a nice bit of foreshadowing) .

 

I can also completely understand why Hali was grossed out by seeing Max's wart in the pan they use for their drinking water.  It's not even clear that she knew about Jenn's role in getting that foot into that pan.  From what they showed, the only other people present at that moment were Shirin and Will.  Hali walks in later, sees Max's wart and was naturally upset.  I sure would have been in her place.

 

As for the rest, I agree with LanceM. When pretty much every single person on both their old and new tribes finds Max and Shirin annoying and repeatedly makes this clear, why are Hali and Jenn being singled out?  For instance, why not Will?  He had only been with Max and Shirin for the same amount of time and made an equally strong complaint about those two in a confessional. 

 

Personally, I don't think anything that any of the former NC tribe members said in this episode comes close to tipping my scale.  Not after we just spent two hours watching those Blue Collar guys spew out one vile disgusting thing after another.  Even Tyler's smug little confessional about bringing him the outcasts, etc, bothered me more than anything Hali said.

 

As for why then sent Max home instead of Shirin, I wouldn't be surprised if the rest simply went along with Carolyn, who has had it in for Max for awhile now.  From their point of view, the most important thing was to make sure they had Carolyn's vote.  It's not like Max was some kind of challenge monster.

[enlightenedbum]

Just FYI to all the posters who have commented on Dan's comments about "women" . . . He actually never said the word women, instead consistently calling them girls, which really bugged me.  There are no girls on Survivor, Dan.  The minimum age to compete is 18.  Maybe you're not smarter than you look, after all.

This is an unfortunate culture wide thing I have a hard time specifically blaming him for.

[truthaboutluv]

Why does it speak volumes that Hali and Jenn find Max and Shirin annoying when this is the exact same conclusion that EVERBODY who has been on a tribe with them both before and after the swap has come to as well? Why single them out for this and not the others?

 

 

This. I don't get the whole "Hali and Jenn were being mean girls turning up their noses at the nerds" when we were shown continuous footage of multiple people being annoyed with Shirin and Max, especially Shirin, starting with their original White Collar tribe. Jenn's irritation with Shirin came from her talking nonstop and I'm sorry, I completely empathize with Jenn's "I know more about Shirin than I ever needed to" with regards to Shirin's feeling the need to announce she's going to go off and try to poop. Yes, everyone poops but no one wants or needs to hear your plans to go number 2. And we as viewers see very brief edited amounts of this. Imagine spending hours and hours living with and dealing with this.

 

ETA: Someone mentioned previously about how quiet Joe was during the first reward challenge and I have to agree, which is what makes them dominating so soundly hilarious. But it was funny watching Sierra and Carolyn screaming themselves hoarse, while every minute or so you'd hear Joe's voice calmly saying, "right there, at your feet" and Hali and Jenn were quickly getting all their items. 

Edited March 19, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[RedheadZombie]

I'm not calling shenanigans, but holy moley, could those teams be any more lopsided?  No wonder Probst loves this season so much.  Ugh.  At least Sierra and Will, the likely next boots had there not been a shake up, know they are safe for a while.  Too many meatheads and clueless idiots are lining up ahead of them.

 

I'm not calling shenanigans either, but it wouldn't be difficult for Probst to avoid this disparity.  The women and men are evenly distributed in the original tribes, why not split them evenly when they switch up the tribes?  Things could still be uneven, but not like it is now - all men plus a very tall athletic woman, versus all women plus a fat asthmatic man and a professor.

 

Not many real alpha males this season, and I don't think they are dominating anything. 

 

I sort of agree with this.  Usually there are so many meatheads that I can't differentiate them.  This year, there's Texas, Boston, and perhaps Joaquin.  Then there's this season's Ozzie/Malcolm - Joe.  Joe doesn't appeal to me physically, because I think he looks like a woman in a wig.

 

The women aren't typical either.  Usually, they're an assortment of implants, bleach, and dazzlingly white teeth, with maybe two or three "normal" women.  This season, I feel like they broke the mold.  None of the women seem to be using their implants as strategy.  They always have the "old" female (Carolyn), but this season there's also an older female - Kelly.  And they're both good at the game, and haven't been targeted (yet).  None of the women are playing helpless, and all of them seem to be strategizing.  I'm kind of enjoying it.

[Special K]

Rodney's philosophy of gender relations, despite how incoherently expressed, would be right at home in the Taliban.  You know, men are, by nature, dogs and can't control themselves around women, so women are responsible for policing their own behavior.  "Higher standards" = Burka.

 

Human history (along with many different religions) is rife with examples of women being punished for men's sexual behavior.

 

I'm sure his mother is proud, though I'm sure she's no Einstein either.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Special K

[lilabennet]

I think they, meaning Carolyn, made the right choice getting rid of Max.  Hali and Jenn may think that they were voting based on who was more annoying, but I think that Carolyn was the driving force behind the choice and she was not voting based on who was more annoying.  She had already targeted Max and it would have been a simple thing for her to say, "Shirin is more annoying now, but just wait, Max will be even worse soon" to get everyone else who actually cared about that distinction to vote the way she wanted. 

 

I think she made the right choice for these reasons:

 

1.  If she thought that they were going to merge at 12, then it doesn't matter if they lose the next IC anyway.

2.  I think Max would be more able to handle losing his closest ally and get back into the game than Shirin.

3.  I think it is always a good idea to keep an eye on the number of each gender left in the game and to stay on the right side of those numbers, especially in the beginning.  With Max gone there have been 3 women out and 2 men, instead of 4 women and 1 man.  Even if the alliances that emerge are mixed and gender doesn't seem to be taking a huge role in the strategic decisions, it is still an immediately identifiable difference that can be used to make inroads with someone or to develop a voting strategy like "Let's get rid of all of the other alliance, then when they are gone let's vote out the women (or men) in our alliance, then turn on each other".  And, even though Carolyn doesn't know exactly how things are going with Blue Collar as far as gender stereotyping is concerned, what she can see is a large group of men that will have time to bond while winning all the challenges until the (hopefully soon) merge.

4.  I don't think Carolyn jumping ship from her White Collar alliance was a mistake.  I think the alliances in this season will be very fluid and there  is still plenty of room for her to maneuver.

[FineWashables]

Yeah, Rodney, and since women must hold themselves to a higher standard you always get your blowjobs from men, right?  Tool.

 

There are many women in my family who are in their 90s.  They used to tell me when I was a teen that women must hold themselves to a higher standard than men because women can get pregnant and men can't.  This must have been a compelling argument before the advent of birth control but it was already outdated by the time I heard it -- and even as a 12 year old, I knew enough to ignore it.  I give them credit for dropping this attitude even if it took them to the 80s to adjust to the change.  Rodney wasn't even born then so I wonder where he even heard this idea, let alone accepted it as gospel.  I do hate it when people refuse to think for themselves because "everybody knows" that something is true.

[Etta Place]

Does anyone else remember the LOGO computer program from school in the 80's and 90's, where you'd manipulate a little onscreen turtle cursor using commands like FORWARD 10 or LEFT 90?  It seems like this challenge would be so easy with just some basic rules and a good caller:

 

• Runners have their arms and hands dangling loosely about a half foot in front of their waist, like a bumper with some "give" for when they hit something.  Stop sticking your hands straight out, you idiots, nothing is at that height!
• Callers should have a distinctive voice: if the other two are women, try to pick a low-voiced male, or vice versa.
• Callers have to have enough smarts to SHOUT like a drill instructor only dead simple commands like "GO 5" to take 5 normal steps forward, "LEFT 3" to sidle three steps to the left, and "STOP".
• Talk to them normally only when they're stopped at the various collected pieces or at the platform, but otherwise keep it SIMPLE.  Saying "Go faster!" is not only pointless, but is going to be ignored by the very angry blindfolded people who you've already had run genitals-first into a wooden crate or fence post three or four times.
• Win reward/immunity!

Yes, and I said almost all of these things during last night's show! The different voice is one reason I thought it was a plus that Joe was the NoCollar's caller (plus being on one side rather than in the middle to further minimize audio interference). And I don't understand why (particularly with only one team to manage), they don't work out simple commands like that. It should be a lot like "mother, may I?" - take 3 big steps, take 5 tiny steps, drop down and reach far left, etc.

[Brookside]

I don't understand the problem with Shirin having learnt to kill something.  Is it because most Americans don't eat rabbit?  Or  are just squeamish about realizing that what they eat comes from something that was once alive?  Would people be upset if she'd learned to slaughter a chicken?  Baby chicks are cute, as are lambs and calves.  To me, her learning to kill something in a (presumably) humane way is like getting fit, or learning to swim, or balance, or throw.  Things people get upset about what contestants don't do before they're on the show.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Brookside

[AZChristian]

It has been mentioned that they should have kept Max because he would have been stronger at challenges.  He talked about his willingness to THROW a challenge as part of his strategy.  That ain't strong . . . that's your weakest link right there.

 

Buh-bye, Max.  Good luck getting anybody to pay tuition for your future Survivor courses.

[LadyChatts]

I guess I don't really see why Carolyn targeting Max was a bad idea.  As some other people have already said, having Max over Shirin isn't likely going to make a bit of difference in the challenges, considering who they are up against.  Hopefully the challenges are less physical moving forward, but I think this tribe is going into the merge outnumbered regardless.  There's always people at the bottom of an alliance.  Carolyn no doubt took out someone that was a threat to her in the long run, and gained brownie points with Jenn/Hali/Will.  Kelly may even realize sticking with them is a smarter idea than going back to her former tribemates.  

 

Max didn't seem to even try in the challenge last night.  He didn't need to throw it, but I felt that was Max's game the entire time: become a character, create moments, be remembered, take out the the bigger personalities so you get credit.  I don't believe she has any loyalty to Joaquin; that seemed to be a Tyler sub-alliance.  Someone is always going to be on the bottom.  It seems this season people are more observant about that and looking for those very people.  Get the bottom feeder misfits together and you'll have a majority.  At this point, I wouldn't even count Shirin out next week should her tribe lose.

Edited March 19, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Special K]

That image, of a contestant standing blindfolded, with blood soaking through her blindfold while a medic gingerly exposes only the tiny area of her wound to assess her injury was one of the most surreal and disturbing things I've seen on TV in a long time.  

 

And I watch Game of Thrones!

[Nutjob]

So that's Rodney, Dan, and Mike that I absolutely cannot root fort. The former two are sexist jerks, where the latter totally lost me with his "white collars live off the backs of the hard-working blue collars" bullcrap. Hey Mike? I'm white collar, raised by blue collar parents, and I work just as hard as you do in a job you would never be intellectually equipped to do. Jerks, all three of 'em.

[Waldo13]

So that's Rodney, Dan, and Mike that I absolutely cannot root fort. The former two are sexist jerks, where the latter totally lost me with his "white collars live off the backs of the hard-working blue collars" bullcrap. Hey Mike? I'm white collar, raised by blue collar parents, and I work just as hard as you do in a job you would never be intellectually equipped to do. Jerks, all three of 'em.

Blue collars think they rule the work force because the work with their muscles but the brain is a muscle also. There are many studies done on the health effects of blue collar workers but far fewer on how much the brain is effected by constant worry, stress, and anguish of a white collar worker. White collar workers are more prone to suicide though.

[RedheadZombie]

That image, of a contestant standing blindfolded, with blood soaking through her blindfold while a medic gingerly exposes only the tiny area of her wound to assess her injury was one of the most surreal and disturbing things I've seen on TV in a long time.

And I watch Game of Thrones!

The whole thing was mishandled. Not only the fact that she wasn't thoroughly examined, but she had to continue playing with a blood drenched blindfold covering her nose. This ensured that she no longer could breath through her nose. It would have been incredibly claustrophobic.

[Jodithgrace]

I'm sure his mother is proud, though I'm sure she's no Einstein either.

 

Uh-oh! You dissed Rodney's mama! He's gonna spank you like a bad baby!

 

Personally, I don't see the difference between Max putting his dirty, bloody feet in the drinking water pot, and him putting his dirty, bloody, warty feet in the pot. The pot will be boiled and sterilized afterwards, and will be perfectly fine. That wart was gross, though. 

[cooksdelight]

I can't help it....whenever I see Rodney, and he says anything, I think of these guys. My apologies to these guys...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jFnqQbtHeDE

[Donny Ketchum]

The same could be said for Sirin and Max. Maybe it's on them.

Especially since Will found them annoying also.

And Carolyn had found them annoying after having been on the same tribe as they were up to that point.  So I really don't think Jenn and Hali were being mean girls.  Max and Shirin really were that annoying to be around.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[Jobiska]

I thought I heard no collar saying they were going to cook the smallest chicken.  This has some logic to it, as they were saving the larger protein units for later (even if one of those is noisy).  Well, except for the fact that they have now saved the larger units for three of themselves, plus a bunch of other people, which they didn't know but might have predicted.  But I think there was at least some sort of thought process behind it.

I'd be intrigued to see if Rodney's mom was his family visitor (if they have that), but I'd be even happier to see him gone waaaay before family visit time.  Like, next week.  

I also think Max was the%

[blackwing]

I think that Mike is the only one of the blue collars who was making sense.  It does no good to attack and alienate Sierra after the Lindsey boot.  This is Survivor, and Mike correctly anticipated the issue of a tribal switch and losing her.  The tribes switched, and they lost her.  Mike even counseled Dan that he had to make peace with her, especially since she was clearly going to be a swing vote.  But Dan went all Oda Mae Brown on Mike and was all "I'm going to tell her in my own way" and then proceeded to tell her once again exactly how much she sucks.  If he had simply apologised to her, they might have kept her in their alliance.  Instead, he does the classic non-apology "I'm sorry you feel that way" and proceeds to tell her that she was just as wrong.  What's funniest is that he says that he knows how to talk to women, that Mike is half his age and that he guarantees he has talked to more women than Mike has.  Uhhh... look at Mike, and look at Dan.  I'm pretty sure Mike has slept with more women than Dan and has probably been in more relationships.

 

I think Carolyn was stupid in the second vote because she should have stuck with her white collar alliance, worked Kelly to join with them, and boot one of the no collars, probably Will.  She is short sighted.  Now she's at the bottom or near bottom of an alliance of five that is controlled by three.  Why does she think she can rise to the top of that alliance?

 

I don't care for producer manipulation at all, but I would support a way to ensure that teams don't get divided in switches like this so unfairly.  Perhaps have the guys draw from one set, and the girls draw from another.  Every strong fit male ended up on Escalade.  Nagasaki only got two males, and they were by far the weakest two.  They got stuck with the skinny nerdy professorial beanpole, and the slow overweight one.  Seems patently unfair.  They are going to lose every challenge that relies on physical strength.  And yes, there are puzzles of course, and it seems women on Survivor are always looked to as the good puzzle solvers, but most challenges lately have a physical portion before getting to the puzzle.

 

Rodney is a tool.  Fully living up to the image of the Boston Masshole.

 

I didn't get a good look, but was the thing on the bottom of Max's foot actually a wart?  Or was it just a callous or blister?  I get callouses that kind of look like what he had when I wear shoes without socks for days on end.  I've never thought of them as warts.  Also, I'm sure they were going to boil water in the pot again and sterilise it first before using it for drinking water.  Living out on a beach, I'm sure there are plenty of other pollutants that are getting into that pot.  It's not like Max's feet are any worse.

Edited March 19, 2015 by blackwing

[Ms Blue Jay]

I don't "hate" Jenn and Hali but I do resent the implication that people are not allowed to dislike certain contestants or not allowed to provide personal, subjective, and in my opinion, often very rational reasons for liking or disliking people or contestants.  I'm not sure what fun of the show even is if I can't pick and choose amongst the contestants what of humanity I like versus dislike, what people I'd get along with versus not.... what would be the point of casting 20 different personalities if we couldn't judge them in this way?   One of the facets of Survivor is watching these people attempt to survive amongst different personalities.  Clearly some of us can hardly even survive watching them on screen.

 

It reminds me of that personality type where if I state I don't like a certain woman the person declares that as a fellow woman I "must be jealous of her" even if in the same breath I talk about how I adore 10 other woman separate from the original one in question.

 

Hali acted okay until she suddenly said Nina "got what she deserved" getting voted out.  Where did that even come from?  Nina did nothing mean-spirited to Hali so why was Hali's comment so ..... strangely mean-spirited?  It sounded practically hateful.

 

My issue with Jenn is that she's smug.  There's nothing inherently wrong with being smug but a lot of people get turned off by it.  She's only smiling and happy if she's doing whatever exactly she wants to do at any given moment -- if anyone else has the attention or wants to do absolutely anything else she looks very unhappy.  She's extremely pleased with herself and her own personality.  That is all fine.  Just is a unique personality type to get used to where she doesn't care to get along with someone who might be slightly different.

 

I found Shirin really annoying myself and don't care if the so-called Mean Girls agree with me on that or not.    

 

I think Will will wear any mask necessary and say anything necessary to fit in and fly under the radar.  I don't necessarily believe what he actually says.   The other contestants love to shit on his body type and apparent lack of athleticism so I think it's a good strategy.

 

This is the kind of evaluating personality types that I love to do... I am not "trying so hard to find reasons to hate somebody".

Edited March 19, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[peachmangosteen]

As much as I loathed the manly men session of Women's Problems that the Blue Collar dudes alliance was running, one of them was smart enough to figure out a vote split that would accomplish their goal.  And, it indicated that they knew there must be an idol near their camp.

 

Dan and Mike should know without a shadow of a doubt that there's a HII in their camp because they were the ones who had to pick between deceive and honesty (or whatever) on the first day. But also, all of them should know because duh! I imagine they've been looking for it and just haven't found it because if they're not even looking for it then they're even dumber than I already think.

 

Just FYI to all the posters who have commented on Dan's comments about "women" . . . He actually never said the word women, instead consistently calling them girls, which really bugged me.  There are no girls on Survivor, Dan.  The minimum age to compete is 18.  Maybe you're not smarter than you look, after all.

 

This. I'm so tired of men referring to women as girls. 

 

Even Tyler's smug little confessional about bringing him the outcasts, etc, bothered me more than anything Hali said.

 

Oh, I hated Tyler's confessional, but then I've disliked him since day one so I'm biased. I still hated Hali's nastiness in this ep, too.