S31.E03: We Got A Rat

[ratgirlagogo]

 

 

"I'm going to have feelings."

Good for you, Data.

That and Jeremy snatching up the HII were my favorite parts of this episode.  And the adorable animals of course - at first I thought one of the Survivor players was being chased by the monkeys in the water!  Make that happen, production.

[blackwing]

I think Jeff is obnoxious, so I was all for Tasha calling him out. She was at the bottom and likely going home, so good for her for finding a way to escape. I didn't mind Jeff much in Australia, but is there a reason why he is completely dominating this show? He gets several confessionals per episode, usually about how he is svengaliing everyone. Meanwhile, there are some like Keith and Kass who have barely been on.

I know it was supposedly a random box draw, but I find it suspicious that not only did none of the tribes end up with a 3-3 or 5-1 split, but also that each tribe was perfectly balanced with 3 men and 3 women. Someone with a better knowledge of statistics could probably compute the odds on the even gender distribution. They are probably higher than I think.

[Nashville]

I wasn't that sad to see Pei Gei go. I really liked her in her first season, but she didn't seem very interesting this time from what we were shown.

I think idiot Abi will provide way more fire works.

I was disappointed in her, but I do think her comment, "Good luck Woo!" was rather prophetic.

Poor Woo has been on the outside of every vote so far.

  

Abi said that to Woo because she is an emotional, irrtional trainwreck and loves to rub it in that some how or another she is still there. She is going to target Woo because he had the audactity to vote for her insane ass twice.

 

I really don't like Abi. Why the hell did anyone vote for her? I fail to see how anyone sees this as good Survivor play and any form of entertainment.

  

Actually, Pei-Gei (intentionally) and Abi (unintentionally) both may have gone a long way toward extending some protection to Woo in the next couple of TCs:

• Besides consoling her only true ally in this tribe at the loss of HIS only true ally, I think PG's "Good luck, Woo" was also a strategic move for Woo's benefit - emphasizing to/assuring the other tribe members that (a) Woo was the other person besides her to vote for Abi, and (b) Woo is now totally on his own. Which can be good for Woo - because if you're going to be isolated in this game you better be GOOD and isolated. As in solo dolo. As in An Army Of One. As in absolutely no strategic threat, but potential strategic value.
• Abi's "That's twice you've written my name down" sneer actually amplifies and extends the benefit to Woo. Amplifies, because it reinforces the image of Woo as An Army Of One. Extends, because it telegraphs Abi's next TC vote as clearly as anything Dr. Sean did in S1 Borneo - and just like in Borneo, that's handy information to the rest of the Tribe to have at their fingertips.

To expand on #2:

• This TC vote cuts the Ta-Keo/Bayon bias from 4/2 to 3/2.
• Abi's already communicated a significant degree of intent to cast a vote for Woo at next TC - which further cuts the Ta-Keo/Bayon bias of votes still in play from 3/2 to 2/2. By targeting a fellow former Ta-Keo, Abi unilaterally creates a parity situation between the two former tribal alliances.
• All that remains for Andrew and Tasha to do is convince Woo he needs to write down Abi's name if he wants any chance at staying in the game, and that's it - Ta-Keo's days are done at Angkor. Woo and Abi cancel out each other's votes, Jeff becomes a solo Ta-Keo vote still in play, and the Andrew/Tasha two-vote Bayon bloc can eliminate whoever they wish - and I'm virtually certain the unlucky evictee would be Jeff, because IMHO it's obvious Abi and Woo would be unable to overcome personal animosities for strategic purposes.

Instead, Woo looked like he was thinking "Oh, you're Abi? I thought I was voting for somebody else." 

Actually, my first impression of Woo at that moment was of him thinking "We voted...?"

;>

[fishcakes]

I suppose it's good for Tasha for finding an in, but I thought the way she called out Jeff after the challenge was incredibly obnoxious.

 

Someone already mentioned this in Tasha's thread, but in her xfinity interview Peih Gee said that right after she was voted out, Tasha yelled, "It shouldn't have been you tonight. It should have been Jeff!" which is also incredibly obnoxious, not to mention stupid. IMO, Tasha's strategic and social game is way, WAY overrated.

[susannot]

SUSANNOT, I'm not sure I understand the connection between saying that the tribe split (and the idols and challenges) were pre-planned and (presumably undue) producer manipulation.  "Planning" isn't the same thing as manipulation.  If you've ever taken a trip and booked your airfair, hotels and rental car ahead of time, that's planning, not manipulation. That's all that's being said here by Cooksdelight about the tribe split, Idols, etc.  That they didn't come up with them on the spot. They were planned long in advance.  It's not manipulation, because they DIDN'T pre-plan who would win, or who would find an Idol, or who would get voted out, or anything like that.

I read and replied to CooksDelight's pose before she edited it.  I apologize for not understanding what she meant.  In my defense, wine.

[pamplemousse]

See now, I think Abi wants to win and is trying to win, she just doesn't know how.  As people pointed out, it's crazy for her to say "I'm not on the bottom with them" when no matter how you count it she totally is: but that's only if you're looking at it in a certain way (the way most of us look at it), and Abi is not looking at it that way.  To her, "on the bottom" is an emotional state, a feeling.  She is on the bottom when she's feeling down, on the top when she's feeling in control.  People coming to her asking for her vote, saying they'll take out who she wants to take out = Abi on the top.

 

To me an example of someone infuriatingly not playing to win is Denise from China.  What can you do, when you're Peih-Gee and Jamie, if the idiot on the bottom knows she's on the bottom and refuses to do anything about it whatsoever but mope?  Abi is not like that.  She is making moves for her own benefit.  They are crazy moves.  They won't help her win.  But she's playing for herself, the way you're supposed to play.

 

Now I agree that everyone is incredibly dumb to keep her.  Eliminate the element of chaos.  But if they're going to grab this radioactive isotope of a goat-vote, they absolutely deserve to suffer for it and get voted out by her undirected scattershot radiation.  That's on them, not on Abi.  And I love seeing them go down for it, though I can see that I'm in a tiny minority.

Abi's gameplay is entirely ego-driven. Stroke that and you're golden, but the second you don't, you're dead meat and she will do anything, even if it is stupid and doesn't serve her in any sort of long-game strategically, to punish you. Thing is that her ego is so unbelievably enormous and needy, like a huge sucking black hole of suck to which there is no bottom or limit and no possibility of any appeasement or satisfaction beyond the momentary, that no one can put up with stroking it constantly and people just get fed up with that unrelenting monstrous level of vanity, egomania, and megalomania.

 

The only entertainment I will get out of Abi remaining in this game is that eventually -- unless they come to their senses and get rid of her next TC -- she will screw over Savage and Tasha. The moment she feels like they're not stroking her, taking care of her, kissing her narcissistic ass, is the moment she will flip over to someone else who whispers, as she puts it, 'sweet nothings' in her ear. And she will find that moment -- if it doesn't happen for real, her paranoid mind will concoct some plot that Savage and Tasha have against her. And since she has a habit of coming up with some reason to feel affronted then targeting a woman in her alliance, who she believes to be in a weaker/more vulnerable position than she, she'll probably start constantly jumping down Tasha's throat (not Savage's, sadly).

 

She's boring as fuck to watch too because she's so smugly antisocial in her interactions with people -- she acts like she's some cartoonish Mafia character, the way she smirks and sneers at people when telling that they're screwed, the way she threatened Woo. She's so predictable and that's what really makes her deeply tiresome to watch -- she'll just side with whoever strokes her ego the most and she'll spout a bunch of hypocritical nonsense while doing so. And then she'll find some woman she believes has it out for her and then she'll construct this elaborate paranoid plot in her mind about that woman and do everything she can to get rid of her. YAWN. We've seen it all before twice over.

 

Okay, I lied, there will be another source of entertainment for me if Abi makes it deep into the season -- the hope that her and Kass will end up on the same tribe and we'll see an epic Clash of the Crazies.

[Paron Xanthis]

Did we have a legit Ciera sighting?  She was sitting upright and talking!  I guess she feels better.

Yes.  She and Kass were talking about how good a position they were on their new tribe, seeing as they had the majority of nuTa Keo, with themselves, Joe, and Keith having the numbers over Kelley and Terry.

 

I don't really get the big deal about him trying to talk to Wigglesworth.

You don't?  In this game, any little thing you do can be jumped on, and it seems like he forgot that.  Yeah, it was unlucky that Tasha caught it, but I can see why she did.  Anything to call attention off herself and Andrew.

 

I am right with you in not wanting Russell, Kass, Phillip, or Brandon on my TV screen.  (Ja'Tia I don't remember.)  But for me, Abi is different.  I guess she's more comical?

I think, for me, it's that Abi's at least a touch more self-aware than those you've mentioned.

 

Andrew and Tasha are very lucky that they got on a tribe with a bunch of idiots because they played being in the minority so damn terribly. Like I was flabbergasted at how horrible they were playing. Just truly atrocious. But lucky for them Abi is a completely irrational and vindictive player and Woo and PG are stupid.

 

Also, what was with Tasha there? Again, her game play was just mindbogglingly bad in this ep.

Huh?  I normally enjoy your posts, @peachmangosteen, but was I watching the same show as you last night?  Tasha and Andrew played this almost perfectly with the cards they were dealt.  Sure, while they did start out a bit shaky, since they had no way of seeing where the cracks were at first, but once those cracks exposed themselves, they navigated brilliantly to make sure neither one of them was even considered for the boot.  When they first got over there, yeah, they were obviously the main ones in consideration.  But they managed to turn things around without panicking or losing their cool, and in the process, they managed to eke out a new alliance to take control of the tribe.

 

So no, they weren't "mindbogglingly bad."  They were terrific.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Paron Xanthis

[ToastnBacon]

I think Jeff is obnoxious, so I was all for Tasha calling him out. She was at the bottom and likely going home, so good for her for finding a way to escape. I didn't mind Jeff much in Australia, but is there a reason why he is completely dominating this show? He gets several confessionals per episode, usually about how he is svengaliing everyone. Meanwhile, there are some like Keith and Kass who have barely been on.

I look at it this way, production is telling us a story of what they think is the most intriguing aspect of what happened out there.

Keith and Kass probably haven't been central to the narrative yet.

Not that I'm being a shill for production, but they have to pick and choose little segments from the hours of footage that is being shot out there.

Thus when some players who have been getting very little air time, are suddenly on screen, it often telegraphs their demise.

I think it would be a boring show if they tried to give equal air time to each player.

[peachmangosteen]

I suppose it's good for Tasha for finding an in, but I thought the way she called out Jeff after the challenge was incredibly obnoxious.

 

Everything about Tasha is 'incredibly obnoxious.'

 

Huh?  I normally enjoy your posts, @peachmangosteen, but was I watching the same show as you last night?  Tasha and Andrew played this almost perfectly with the cards they were dealt.  Sure while they did start out a bit shaky, since they had no way of seeing where the cracks were at first, once those cracks exposed themselves, they navigated brilliantly to make sure neither one of them was even considered for the boot.  When they first got over there, yeah, they were obviously the main ones in consideration.  But they managed to turn things around without panicking or losing their cool, and in the process, they managed to eke out a new alliance to take control of the tribe.

 

So no, they weren't "mindbogglingly bad."  They were terrific.

 

Yea, I just don't agree. At all. Tasha is playing straight-up terribly imo. And hearing what she said after Peih-Gee got voted out just adds another level of bad to it. Her and Andrew both just did/said so many stupid things I was amazed. But Abi is nuts, so they were always gonna have her vote at first because she was on a power trip and wanted to punish the people who 'wronged' her. And then Jeff made an equally dumb move at the IC. And then Woo and PG were stupid. The way I saw it everyone on that tribe was dumb as hell, but Andrew/Tasha happened to get lucky this time.

Edited October 8, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[bsur]

 

 

"I'm going to have feelings."

Good for you, Data.

 

Ha!  Spencer has been cracking me up - "Apparently these humans value Feelings.  I am going to access my emotion chip and feel some of these Feelings of which they speak. They will think I am one of them."

 

I mean, I like Spencer, and I agree with those upthread who've spoken up for him.  I myself can come across as cold and distant until you get to know me, so I get it.  It's just funny the way he keeps talking so analytically about an emotional part of the game.

Edited October 8, 2015 by bsur

[LadyChatts]

Someone already mentioned this in Tasha's thread, but in her xfinity interview Peih Gee said that right after she was voted out, Tasha yelled, "It shouldn't have been you tonight. It should have been Jeff!" which is also incredibly obnoxious, not to mention stupid. IMO, Tasha's strategic and social game is way, WAY overrated.

Have these people forgotten how you play this game? So far everyone has either been invisible or allowed themselves to be a goat. Not a lot of strategic or even fun game play going on. Abi is starting to look like the only smart one out there.

[JudyObscure]

In one of her interviews Peih-Gee says Jeff  "Called out every single person on our tribe. He blew everybody up.”  Now why didn't they show us that?  I live for that sort of thing!

 

Well with Jeff giving every single person a reason to vote him out, Abi and Peih-Gee letting everyone know they hate each other, Tasha making an enemy out of Jeff, Savage being way too obvious in his attempts to turn people away from their alliance -- even Woo was laughing at him for telling people he would take them to the jury, -- only Woo was half way safe.  It might be fun to watch this little tribe fight it out every week.  After watching that clip of Ciera, I was reminded of what boring is and I appreciate everyone on this tribe.

[ProfCrash]

We did see it. On the mat he mentioned having a deal with Andrew and said he saw Abi and Phei Gee talking to Tasha. Woo was pissed because no one told him what they were doing.

[Paron Xanthis]

I've been slowly re-reading and savoring old Survivor recaps on Brilliant But Cancelled.  I am currently reading up on Season 19, which featured Russell, Shambo...and Monica.  I'm reading about her season and I STILL don't remember her.

That's understandable.  Samoa was basically The Russell Show with a side of Shambo.  Monica was like so many other players that season (including the winner, Natalie!) who got shafted by the editing just to cater to Russell's obnoxiousness, so it's hard to remember most people from that season, unfortunately.

[Paron Xanthis]

Yea, I just don't agree. At all. Tasha is playing straight-up terribly imo. And hearing what she said after Peih-Gee got voted out just adds another level of bad to it. Her and Andrew both just did/said so many stupid things I was amazed.

I still don't agree.  I saw nothing "stupid," so . . . whatever.  I don't even see what was so bad about what she said afterwards because she's right -- Jeff was all but gone, and Peih-Gee did end up signing her own death warrant for wanting to deviate from that plan and not giving a good reason for it.

[BigRedCheese]

 

I've been slowly re-reading and savoring old Survivor recaps on Brilliant But Cancelled.  I am currently reading up on Season 19, which featured Russell, Shambo...and Monica.  I'm reading about her season and I STILL don't remember her.

 

She was one of the only ones that stood up to Russell, she had a memorable moment when she told him that if she was on the jury, she would be voting based on who needed the money, and would lobby others not to vote for him. This got under Russell's skin like crazy, which made me adore her, lol. She's also pretty easy on the eyes, which made her memorable at least to me.

[Vicky8675309]

How is shouting "we've got a rat" while jumping around and waving your hands in the air conducive to becoming a family? Stupid move but she lucked out by having crazy emotional Abi and emotional Peih-Gee in her tribe. Lol @ delusional Abi saying at TC that she is loyal like Peih-Gee. No way Jeff votes out Abi unless that is the only way to save himself since he already told us he wants to sit next to her at the end (he identified her as the ultimate goat right away).

[Nashville]

How is shouting "we've got a rat" while jumping around and waving your hands in the air conducive to becoming a family? Stupid move but she lucked out by having crazy emotional Abi and emotional Peih-Gee in her tribe.

S'truth. To a sizable degree, Tasha got luckier than she deserved with that display. If Jeff had simply cocked his head at her and said, "Uh, what the hell are you doing...?", he'd have probably stood a good chance of totally defusing the situation, making Tasha look like someone desperately trying manufacture a situation to deflect the target from her back to someone else, and getting her booted at TC. Jeff's lack of presence of mind played right into Tasha's desperate hands.

[Skeeter22]

Tasha's move at the challenge might have been a little better if she'd actually voted Jeff out, but she didn't. He's still there to stir up trouble and possibly resent her. Peih-Gee said Tasha also shouted out that it should've been Jeff after she was voted out. Why do that? Jeff is still there and Tasha doesn't know what might happen next. She might need him. She should be undermining him behind his back, not bashing him to his face. Tasha strikes me as someone who burns bridges. I know she stopped talking to Kass after the big flip in Cagayan. It's stupid to ice out someone. You never know when they'll be in a position to help or hurt your game.

[Paron Xanthis]

S'truth. To a sizable degree, Tasha got luckier than she deserved with that display. If Jeff had simply cocked his head at her and said, "Uh, what the hell are you doing...?", he'd have probably stood a good chance of totally defusing the situation, making Tasha look like someone desperately trying manufacture a situation to deflect the target from her back to someone else, and getting her booted at TC. Jeff's lack of presence of mind played right into Tasha's desperate hands.

 

Tasha's move at the challenge might have been a little better if she'd actually voted Jeff out, but she didn't. He's still there to stir up trouble and possibly resent her. Peih-Gee said Tasha also shouted out that it should've been Jeff after she was voted out. Why do that? Jeff is still there and Tasha doesn't know what might happen next. She might need him. She should be undermining him behind his back, not bashing him to his face. Tasha strikes me as someone who burns bridges. I know she stopped talking to Kass after the big flip in Cagayan. It's stupid to ice out someone. You never know when they'll be in a position to help or hurt your game.

Hey, I think she should've stuck to the Jeff plan, too.  But think of it this way.  Even with him still there, I think a lot of potential trust in him has been shaken, and shaken hard.  I think there was still some of trust left in Peih-Gee.  If Peih-Gee stays, she and Woo could possibly try to finesse something with Abi against Andrew and Tasha.  By Jeff staying, he's now left with much less trust in him, and he probably can't salvage anything with Woo or Abi.

 

So yes, Tasha could've used more finesse in what happened after the challenge.  But in the heat of the moment, I can see why she acted as she did.  She wanted to get attention of herself and Andrew and show Woo, Peih-Gee, and Abi proof of someone potentially disloyal to them.  So while it was a bit quick and rash, as long as it seems like one of their own could now be in the crosshairs, it's really no skin off her back.  And since the editors aren't making any bones of it, it's probably not going to hurt her.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Paron Xanthis

[seasick]

I think it was numbers. Savage and Tasha presumably told Varner they were going with PG. That means Varner voting Abi would make a 3/3 tie whereas voting PG makes a 4/2 eviction. Of course, Varner could have advocated for PG and put Savage/Tasha in the position of forcing a tie to protect Abi, which it is very unlikely they would have done.

 

IMHO, that would have been the smarter play because Varner/PG/Woo would have been up 3/2 against Tasha/Savage whereas now Varner is in a very weak position. He knows that Tasha doesn't trust him and neither Woo nor Abi have any reason to risk themselves to try and protect him. If Angkor loses again, Varner's only hope is that Abi pisses off Savage/Tasha enough that they vote her out instead of him. Definitely possible given Abi's Abiness, but I don't think it's likely. Jeff better be hunting for the idol.

 

I guess what I meant about Varner jumping over was that I didn't see who spoke to him about it.--Abi or Tasha/Savage and what they said to him.    

 

I don't think the 3-3 tie would necessarily be the better play for Varner..  It's a risk that it would go to pulling stones.  For Varner. he has a good chance of staying one more round at least as they can vote out Woo.  They could win the ICs and he could make it to the merge.  Overall I think the better odds for him was to go with Tasha.  

 

If he gets to the merge with Abi, she may keep tight to Varner since he knows how to stroke her ego.   I always hope Abi gets voted out.  But when she doesn't I look forward to what she's going to do to piss me off next week. There's always the hope that she will screw someone i can't stand, so she may have some redeeming value eventually.  .

[Zuleikha]

I don't think the 3-3 tie would necessarily be the better play for Varner..  It's a risk that it would go to pulling stones.

I meant counter-propose to them to vote Abi at whatever conversation they had where the told him to vote PG. If he made it clear that he wasn't going to vote PG, Andrew/Tasha would likely have given in and joined in voting out Abi. And even if they did vote a tie in the first round, isn't there always a re-vote before rocks? It's more of a risk, obviously, because if Andrew and Tasha did hold fast to protecting Abi, everyone is in an undesirable position. But sometimes you have to take risks.

[Swedee]

I don't get the Tasha love. I didn't like her on her season and I like her even less this season. The combination of arrogance and entitlement (while throwing in blatant hypocrisy of deliberating acting un-Christ like because she can just ask for forgiveness) is very off-putting. There are plenty of others on all the tribes I dislike (Abi most of all) but I don't see the kind of praise for their gameplay like Tasha. I think she's playing emotionally and it will be her downfall.

[EC Amber]

It sucks not having broadcast tv... just finished watching it. Random thoughts, no particular order:

I'm pretty happy with how the tribes worked out as with the exception of Tasha the entire Angkor tribe can just go. Yes, even Woo (I know he gets much love and I don't dislike him, but I don't enjoy watching him on tv either). Tasha works the game - probably better than anyone else out there. If she keeps pulling these great observations and moves and keeps the target on others she may pull this one out. But grinning and curtseying after loosing the puzzle was awkward to watch. Right on the heels of what I thought was some negative attention I was sure she was gone. Well played!

That being said - the rest of them are idiots. While Abi is a great goat, the name of the game is still "keep your tribe strong." PG is simply a stronger player in challenges and Abi seems a little lazy or entitled at camp. For the team, poor choice and I suspect they'll be back next week at TC.

It pains me to admit this, but Kass was remarkably focused and calm during that puzzle. Color me deeply impressed. 

What bothers me so much about Abi is that she is blindly passive-aggressive. If she was doing it to unnerve or manipulate I'd be impressed, but when it comes down to it - I don't think she has a clue. But it's more than that. When she has decided (almost ambiguously) that she doesn't like you, everything you say has some ulterior and sinister motive. I don't much care for toxic people like that. We're stuck with her I think and this saddens me. 

I was rather impressed that Spencer took his weakness (struggling to make a connection) and used it to bond with Jeremy. And probably get some good advice or at least a good ear to talk about something that is important in his life. I can certainly see why people say he is a really smart guy. 

As far as the game itself - I am LOVING having the idols hidden in a challenge. The risk and ovaries required to snag one in front of everyone.. what a brilliant twist I hope they never get rid of. I will never get tired of watching that. Statistically if they never get rid of that then eventually someone will get caught and I would love to see that. I also love this split into three tribes. It's enough of a fracture to get most of the alliances a little altered.

I agree with the poster up thread that noted Angkor got shafted unfairly by getting stuck with having to build a new camp. They should have had something extra and some food to compensate since the other two tribes could just go back and bond and relax. I would have preferred that such evenly split teams have a close to the same level of resources so we can focus on the social game and challenges. Looks like what we'll get stuck with is "how much does this suck" from Angkor instead of, you know, the actual game. 

Next weeks challenge looks brutal and is my LEAST favorite kind of challenge. Will a contestant have to be seriously injured or even killed before the producers realize that blind folding people is a horrible, horrible idea? And Probst - fuck you for yelling "watch out" to people in blindfolds. Idiot. 

 

[yamashinaryu]

This is turning to be a Survivor Spencer : Second Chance Series. His edit is way too similar to that of Cagayan's.

I wish Tasha and Savage voted out Jeff. Jeff is exploding at every tribal council.

And suddenly I want to root for Woo. He is always given the least importance of every tribe he is in.

Kasa and Joe rocking that puzzle challenge. Joe tweeted that Kass did most of the work with a little help from him.

I feel Kass is still in the outs especially Kelley and Ciera are likely to bond. Glad there's Terry especially Kelley has an idol.

Stephen is suddenly leading his tribe.

I still don't like Tasha and I don't know why.

[Guest]

...what a brilliant twist I hope they never get rid of. I will never get tired of watching that. Statistically if they never get rid of that then eventually someone will get caught and I would love to see that. I also love this split into three tribes. It's enough of a fracture to get most of the alliances a little altered.

 

I agree.  If they keep it, and even if they don't, will all future challenges have players looking suspiciously behind them throughout, wondering if someone's about to reach for an idol?  Fun.  

 

Don't worry about watching a day late.  Some of us just keep talking about it all week.  ; )

[Kromm]

I'm pretty happy with how the tribes worked out as with the exception of Tasha the entire Angkor tribe can just go. Yes, even Woo (I know he gets much love and I don't dislike him, but I don't enjoy watching him on tv either).

I guess people like seeing a dummy, if he's a nice dummy.

 

Frankly, not to be unkind... but he's still a dummy. You're right, it's not interesting viewing.

[KimberStormer]

The only entertainment I will get out of Abi remaining in this game is that eventually -- unless they come to their senses and get rid of her next TC -- she will screw over Savage and Tasha. The moment she feels like they're not stroking her, taking care of her, kissing her narcissistic ass, is the moment she will flip over to someone else who whispers, as she puts it, 'sweet nothings' in her ear. And she will find that moment -- if it doesn't happen for real, her paranoid mind will concoct some plot that Savage and Tasha have against her. And since she has a habit of coming up with some reason to feel affronted then targeting a woman in her alliance, who she believes to be in a weaker/more vulnerable position than she, she'll probably start constantly jumping down Tasha's throat (not Savage's, sadly).

 

She's boring as fuck to watch too because she's so smugly antisocial in her interactions with people -- she acts like she's some cartoonish Mafia character, the way she smirks and sneers at people when telling that they're screwed, the way she threatened Woo. She's so predictable and that's what really makes her deeply tiresome to watch -- she'll just side with whoever strokes her ego the most and she'll spout a bunch of hypocritical nonsense while doing so. And then she'll find some woman she believes has it out for her and then she'll construct this elaborate paranoid plot in her mind about that woman and do everything she can to get rid of her. YAWN. We've seen it all before twice over.

 

Okay, I lied, there will be another source of entertainment for me if Abi makes it deep into the season -- the hope that her and Kass will end up on the same tribe and we'll see an epic Clash of the Crazies.

 

It's funny because I basically agree with all this except that I find it super-entertaining.  You even identified something entertaining about it: everyone thinks they can use her, and then she eats them alive.  I feel like I've read this in a fantasy novel or something, where self-impressed villains try to use some terrifying beast or unstoppable soldier for their own ends only to discover they've bitten off more than they can chew...but the difference and what makes it much better to me is that Abi is, after all, just a person, a sort of weirdly vulnerable human being, not some author's macho fantasy.  I'm disappearing a bit down my own rabbit hole here maybe, but I think it's just really satisfying to me to see a rather small girl who people are trying to manipulate and use, but isn't a tool or an object for them--not the prize princess at the end of the video game, but a person with her own agenda, which keeps snapping the necks of those who don't see her that way.  I can't emphasize enough how much I'd rather have a million obnoxious, illogical, passive-aggressive, unjustifiably smug, ego-driven emotional people who are playing for themselves rather than a single pleasant go-along-to-get-along cannon fodder passive-passive person, dutifully going to the 6th place slaughter with no plan or attempt to flip or make a side deal or blow up the game or otherwise try to save themselves, because they see this as a team game, not a solo game.  It is gross and disappointing how Abi goes after other women.  I still prefer it to the Denises of the world.

 

I've also said this before, but Abi is what Kass wished she was when she started calling herself Chaos Kass; there's not any authentic crazy in Kass, just stupidity and self-regard.

[Paron Xanthis]

I still prefer it to the Denises of the world.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Let's not come down on all Denises.  Yes, one Denise was passive, pathetic, and totally useless.  But another Denise actually won this show! ;)

[KimberStormer]

Haha, yes, the Denise that Abi played with is awesome!

 

What if Abi recreated her feat of surviving every tribal this season?

[Paron Xanthis]

What if Abi recreated her feat of surviving every tribal this season?

Bite your tongue!  Bite it!  Because if that happens . . . she'd actually deserve to win!

[SlackerInc]

I meant counter-propose to them to vote Abi at whatever conversation they had where the told him to vote PG. If he made it clear that he wasn't going to vote PG, Andrew/Tasha would likely have given in and joined in voting out Abi. And even if they did vote a tie in the first round, isn't there always a re-vote before rocks? It's more of a risk, obviously, because if Andrew and Tasha did hold fast to protecting Abi, everyone is in an undesirable position. But sometimes you have to take risks.

 

Yeah, I think in general people act way too freaked out by the idea of picking rocks.  I don't know whether or not it would have been the best choice for Jeff in this case, but it sure seems like people are so against it, so incredibly pessimistic that they are going to pick the purple(?) rock even if the odds are in their favor, that they will choose a sure path to having the numbers against them, rather than take the risk and maybe get the numbers on their side.

[Oscirus]

Now I see what Jeff was doing. He was trying to start shit on the other tribe by telling Kelly who she and Spencer should try to align with if they wind up losing and going to tribal ( I assume that Savage was stupid enough to divulge the tribal dynamics to either Jeff or Abi). I do like that Jeff totally got Bubbaed.

 

Voting out PG made perfect sense. She was wishy washy while Abi wasn't and now Jeff can easily get booted next since they have the majority whereas with PG, her and Woo would have likely went back with Jeff and booted one of them.

 

The most amazing thing to me is that this is the first all star season that I've seen where the alpha males aren't targeting each other early on.

[Misty79]

Kass, Ciera and Kelley Wentworth on the same tribe is a bit of a dream for me, three of my favorite survivors. And on Team Joe too, so unlikely to be going anywhere. Of the three tribes I can see that one actually starting to unite and be something of itself going forward. Which is good because otherwise I feel the Old School players are likely to take control and make it to the end, as they seem to be the only durable cross-tribe alliance. Apart from Jeff they are all deathly dull, so I'm rooting for the more recent players. 

[marys1000]

In PG's Dalton Ross interview it sounds like people were more upset with Varner's meltdown that we didn't see than the "we've got a rat" moment.  So the fact that Varner's  meltdown  called each and every person out on there strategy publicly was what worked for Tasha because PG said after that people saw him as someone untrustworthy.  PG said something to the effect 'hey, I'm in your alliance, why are you shouting about me? Should I trust you?" 

I think its BS that they didn't show it.  Its stuff like this that remind you that it is a heavily edited show and that editing is not neutral or objective and that I shouldn't really give too much of a damn about any of it. 

 

PG said in another interview that her mistake was she should have gone straight to Savage and Tasha and started on working Abi out before they approached Abi.  Which I think is  true.  She also said that at one point on twitter she said something something nice to or about Abi (which has not been the case in general) and suddenly Abi was all sweetness and light for a bit - and the lightbulb went off - oh that's how Varner is doing it.  You have to compliment her and stroke her and manage her like that.  She regrets not realizing that before.  I don't know Abi and I won't from watching a few hours of TV.  But I think that in a paranoia inducing setting that she gets very insecure.  And so yes, she needs to be stroked and kept feeling secure or it just doesn't work.  And eventually it probably won't work anyway. 

 

At one point in the Dalton Ross interview she likens Abi to a rabid dog OMG!  She was talking about trying to get Abi out with Varner and Varner wanted to keep her because he thought she was easy to manipulate and PB says - Abi is like a rabid dog.  You can put it on a leash and try to keep it pointed away from you but you can never know exactly when its going to turn around and bite you.  Wow.  In every exit interview she talks about how hard with was with Abi and that Abi had it in for her no matter what.  At one point she says "it was almost worth getting voted off to get away from her".  Wow Wow. 

 

I think the 3rd tribe getting a sucky beach, no food, shelter etc. is TERRIBLE.  I hate it.  I don't see the point at all, which makes it totally stupid and its a very unpleasant viewing.  It really screws those people and so yes Probst is always yammering about luck in Survivor - there is plenty without him totally screwing a whole group with not just a little bad luck but a lot of bad luck. 

 

Very sad for Varner, he's my fav so far (don't think I saw his other season) and I think this is going to cost him the game. 

 

I had the same thought as another poster - i would love a jury to give the goat a million - it would so add to future seasons if people had to rethink that strategy.  It would add another element and make for a more interesting game (and save us from Abi's).

 

And say what you will about Boston Rob - I don't think he would have let that 4 numbers strong crack.  Not if he had to tie Abi to his arm and gag her. 

Edited October 9, 2015 by marys1000

[ProfCrash]

Haha, yes, the Denise that Abi played with is awesome!

 

What if Abi recreated her feat of surviving every tribal this season?

She was on Rob Has a Podcast this week.

 

http://robhasawebsite.com/survivor-2015-cambodia-episode-3-recap-denise-stapley-podcast/

[Jersey Guy 87]

I look at it this way, production is telling us a story of what they think is the most intriguing aspect of what happened out there.

Keith and Kass probably haven't been central to the narrative yet.

Not that I'm being a shill for production, but they have to pick and choose little segments from the hours of footage that is being shot out there.

Thus when some players who have been getting very little air time, are suddenly on screen, it often telegraphs their demise.

I think it would be a boring show if they tried to give equal air time to each player.

 

Production will always focus on the tribe that is going to tribal because that's the tribe where the scrambling, etc. is going on. Watching a tribe that won immunity (plus some reward items at this point in the season) isn't necessarily all that interesting.  Prior to the immunity challenge they will spend some time showing the tribe that will win the challenge, but it's not as focused on tribal dynamics, usually more of a show of amusing stuff around camp (unless someone finds an idol or a clue to an idol).  So people like Kass, Keith, Ciera, etc. haven't had a chance to be shown much yet.  Which means if they do start focusing on one of those people you know their tribe will lose immunity and you'll be confused as to how the tribal dynamics got to where they are.

[laurakaye]

Next weeks challenge looks brutal and is my LEAST favorite kind of challenge. Will a contestant have to be seriously injured or even killed before the producers realize that blind folding people is a horrible, horrible idea? And Probst - fuck you for yelling "watch out" to people in blindfolds. Idiot. 

 

THIS x 1,000.  It's not entertaining, IMO, to blindfold people and watch them run into stuff.  How many times is Probst going to have to make everyone stop in their tracks this time while medical tends to someone's bleeding forehead?

Edited October 9, 2015 by laurakaye

[seasick]

I meant counter-propose to them to vote Abi at whatever conversation they had where the told him to vote PG. If he made it clear that he wasn't going to vote PG, Andrew/Tasha would likely have given in and joined in voting out Abi. And even if they did vote a tie in the first round, isn't there always a re-vote before rocks? It's more of a risk, obviously, because if Andrew and Tasha did hold fast to protecting Abi, everyone is in an undesirable position. But sometimes you have to take risks.

Going by what we saw on the show only--   I think at that point Varner needed to ride Abi's coattails. Varner was in no position to stand firm against them or counterpropose..  Abi was possibly the only one who might still trust/stick by Varner due to his ego stroking so I can't see him ever suggesting they vote Abi, because he also feels he can manipulate her.  So when Abi lfipped and it looked 3-3 Varner saw his saviour.to flip with Abi.

 

As far as the comments that . "varner should have been the one to go" at TC..  Perhaps--- BUT Abi wanted PG out.  Not game play, just personal reasons. In order for  Tasha/Savage to get Abi on board they had to vote off PG and do what ABI wanted..  My feeling is that Abi is still close to Varner and actually trusts him the most of all.and will not vote him out unless absolutely necessary.

 

I wouldn't be surprised - if they lose immunity next week- that Abi flips again,  joins Varner and Woo, and votes out Savage or Tasha 

.   

[ProfCrash]

There is no way that Abi works with Woo, he voted for her twice.

[peachmangosteen]

There is no way that Abi works with Woo, he voted for her twice.

 

I think all it would take is like one wrong look from Tasha or one wrong word from Andrew and Abi would be spearheading a campaign to get rid of them. She'll hold onto her Woo hate too, but she has enough hate in her heart for multiple people!

Edited October 9, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[truthaboutluv]

Kasa and Joe rocking that puzzle challenge. Joe tweeted that Kass did most of the work with a little help from him.

 

 

And of course the editing didn't show this because it doesn't fit the "Joe is amazing" narrative that's happening so far. And I say this as someone who likes Joe. I'm not surprised about Kass being good with the puzzle because she's the one who came from last place at Final 4 in Cagayan, to win immunity, because she solved the puzzle in a few minutes. 

Edited October 9, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[Guest]

THIS x 1,000.  It's not entertaining, IMO, to blindfold people and watch them run into stuff.  How many times is Probst going to have to make everyone stop in their tracks this time while medical tends to someone's bleeding forehead?

I don't like these challenges, either, but I bet there is a big segment of the population that does.  I never have found physical humor funny, either, but people do. Hopefully we're spared the obligatory 'railing hard in the guy's crotch' shot we always get.  

 

The ones I like even less are where they have to pry someone off a pole or otherwise manhandle each other.  Another really bad one was 'drag a partner tied to you with a rope through an obstacle course', like where Penner hurt his leg and Parvati hurt her head.  

[cooksdelight]

Probst lives to watch his rats running around in a maze, blindly bumping into things, never being able to find their way out. It's his favorite kind of challenge.

[fishcakes]

I think all it would take is like one wrong look from Tasha or one wrong word from Andrew and Abi would be spearheading a campaign to get rid of them. She'll hold onto her Woo hate too, but she has enough hate in her heart for multiple people!

 

I don't even think it requires a wrong word from Savage or Tasha. They could say something completely innocuous, like, "good morning, Abi, did you sleep well?" and then we'd be treated to multiple scenes of Abi going batshit because they accused her of being lazy. "Did they ask Woo if he slept well? Did they ask Varner? No, they only asked me. So what else am I supposed to think? Obviously they have an alliance against me."

[peachmangosteen]

I don't even think it requires a wrong word from Savage or Tasha. They could say something completely innocuous, like, "good morning, Abi, did you sleep well?" and then we'd be treated to multiple scenes of Abi going batshit because they accused her of being lazy. "Did they ask Woo if he slept well? Did they ask Varner? No, they only asked me. So what else am I supposed to think? Obviously they have an alliance against me."

 

You do a great Abi impression!

[cooksdelight]

I don't even think it requires a wrong word from Savage or Tasha. They could say something completely innocuous, like, "good morning, Abi, did you sleep well?" and then we'd be treated to multiple scenes of Abi going batshit because they accused her of being lazy. "Did they ask Woo if he slept well? Did they ask Varner? No, they only asked me. So what else am I supposed to think? Obviously they have an alliance against me."

You forgot to add "You're dead to me!!" :)

[azshadowwalker]

I don't even think it requires a wrong word from Savage or Tasha. They could say something completely innocuous, like, "good morning, Abi, did you sleep well?" and then we'd be treated to multiple scenes of Abi going batshit because they accused her of being lazy. "Did they ask Woo if he slept well? Did they ask Varner? No, they only asked me. So what else am I supposed to think? Obviously they have an alliance against me."

 

Funny and accurate. She voted with Peih-Gee several times despite having a heavy dislike for her. It completely depends on how Tasha and Andrew treat Abi. If they manage her sufficiently well, she and Jeff will join with them and boot Woo. If she gets a wild hair up her ass to hate one or both of them, then she will absolutely vote with Woo. It just depends on who she's most pissed at in the moment.

 

I also agree that Jeff was never going to vote against Abi under those circumstances. At this point, she's probably the only one who doesn't have 10 pounds of suspicion about him. She's the most solid ally he has, especially on the current tribe. She's also his designated goat, and Jeff has shown that he's all about the end game, even this early. The only way to get Abi out was for Peih-Gee not to be so wishy-washy and Woo not to be so useless. If they'd been quicker to align themselves with Andrew and Tasha, they stood a chance. Or if they'd gotten Abi out the previous week, this would totally be put to rest. They failed on both accounts, so good riddance.

[seasick]

Funny and accurate. She voted with Peih-Gee several times despite having a heavy dislike for her. It completely depends on how Tasha and Andrew treat Abi. If they manage her sufficiently well, she and Jeff will join with them and boot Woo. If she gets a wild hair up her ass to hate one or both of them, then she will absolutely vote with Woo. It just depends on who she's most pissed at in the moment.

 

I also agree that Jeff was never going to vote against Abi under those circumstances. At this point, she's probably the only one who doesn't have 10 pounds of suspicion about him. She's the most solid ally he has, especially on the current tribe. She's also his designated goat, and Jeff has shown that he's all about the end game, even this early. The only way to get Abi out was for Peih-Gee not to be so wishy-washy and Woo not to be so useless. If they'd been quicker to align themselves with Andrew and Tasha, they stood a chance. Or if they'd gotten Abi out the previous week, this would totally be put to rest. They failed on both accounts, so good riddance.

I also loved the fishcakes post this responded to, scripting Abi's paranoid thinking about any possible 'good morning'. 

 

I agree that Abi trusts Varner the most at this point.  Whether the ring goes thru Varner's nose like it did this time or thru Abi's, right now they're going together.  

 

Re; beating Abi to the punch to vote Abi: That's far out hindsight.   They came into Angkor with the numbers.  The obvious simple choice is stick together, , put personal differences aside for a million bucks, put your feet up and relax and wait to fry Tasha and Savage. .    I mean you would be KERAAAZY! to screw that up, right???       Enter Abi...

 

I know even PG says she shoulda..   but no one in their right mind would think to stir shit when you have the numbers.    Enter Abi...

 

Even to give Abi the benefit of the doubt and say that it's actual game-move and not ego and personal, it's a bigger risk going to the merge with a new alliance, especially since they don't like her boy, Varner.  .I think she should have stayed put.   And I cannot blame PG for not wanting to risk a huge advantage on getting rid of crazy Abi just coz she's crazy or nasty. .  I'm sure she never thought she'd be dumb enough to flip with the advantage they had.  (because PG like others is rational)

[Zuleikha]

I also agree that Jeff was never going to vote against Abi under those circumstances. At this point, she's probably the only one who doesn't have 10 pounds of suspicion about him. She's the most solid ally he has, especially on the current tribe.

I don't agree with this on either point. I don't think anything we saw or have read in post-game interviews indicates that Abi and Jeff have such a tight bond. Abi told PG that she was going to vote with Savage and Tasha. That was voting against Jeff, and it was Abi trying to get PG and Woo to commit to voting with Savage and Tasha against Jeff. Abi has zero loyalty to Jeff. Abi has zero loyalty to anyone other than Abi (which is not a criticism... that's one of the few things about her Survivor play that I support).

 

Jeff may have found Abi delightful, but I don't think he finds her so delightful that he is going to be loyal to her after learning she was completely happy... nay, eager to sell him out. I don't know how much PG told him, but assuming she told him that, I think he would have been happy to vote Abi out if he felt safe in the numbers to do so.