S02: Australia

[Whimsy]

Here is your Survivor S2 topic.

[LadyChatts]

I don't know what it is, but I never liked Outback as much as the masses.  It could be that the cast looked 'camera pretty' and knew that they were going to be watched by a lot of people, or that some pre-show interviews some of the contestants talked about playing nice and wanting to get rid of anyone that created drama (which, I get, but coming off of the sunshine and rainbow season that was the first Big Brother, I guess I didn't want to see people going out of their way to avoid playing the game for the sake of feelings).  Probably didn't come out right, but anyway.  Some of my favorite personalities from this season were early vote offs-Maralyn, Jeff, Kimmi, and I was a huge fan of Jerri.  I hated after the merge that the Kucha tribe could have possibly tried to flip things in their favor but didn't.  Though its been so long, so maybe someone can refresh my memory if they tried flipping Jerri and/or Amber to their side.  I couldn't stand Mike this go round, but felt horrible for his accident.  I'm glad he got another chance to return, as I feel anyone medevaced should.  I don't really know how good he was at playing the game.  The only two boots Kucha had seemed like no brainers (Debb and Kimmi) before Mike was pulled from the game.  I remember him saying that he really thought he was going to go back in and play. 

 

I still believe Kel had beef jerky.  I was surprised he got voted out in such a landslide.  I didn't like him, but I always wondered if there was more to his boot than that and him just not fitting in.  I remember when he went on Rosie O'Donnell and she was trying to grill him about the beef jerky and whether or not the cameramen told him about the discussion at back at camp; he didn't give a direct answer, which pretty much meant yes.  Kind of an odd choice to vote off one of the more stronger men of the tribe, and especially a vote coming from Maralyn who stood up for him during beef jerky gate.  I'm sure Keith was thanking his lucky stars that during the Maralyn vote, he voted for Mitchell (sealing his fate in the tie breaker the next vote).  BTW, Jeff has said that Kimmi blabbed to Ogakor that he had a vote, thus helping him get bounced (even though Jeff really did it to himself by jumping for peanut butter during that first IIC).  Did that soundbite make the show?  I've never heard Kimmi say it on camera, but I wasn't sure if it was something that didn't make it to air.  As much as I liked Jerri, one of my favorite moments came when Ogakor was losing yet another challenge (the blindfold challenge) and Amber and Colby were right there, almost won, but didn't turn around in time.  Colby threw a bucket of water on Jerri (I actually wondered if he got in trouble for that).  Jerri had some good sound bites in regards to Colby, even if the whole playing up a fake showmance by the editing was pathetic.  Keith, the professional gourmet chef, not being able to make anything edible and then his nemesis Jerri shows him up, was another highlight. 

 

Coincidence or conspiracy that the vegetarian got the cow brains during the gross eating challenge?  Also, was that little piglet let loose at the Kucha camp because this season of castaways couldn't take care of themselves?  We never saw another pig running around either camp.  I loved at the merge how Barramundi was slowly killing themselves and Jeff had to swoop in and say he didn't think they were going to make it.  I liked Amber way more during Outback compared to AS and the numerous other times her and Rob showed up on TV.  Good for them for finding love, though.  Also liked Alicia a lot more during Outback than AS.  I saw a photo of her a few months ago and have to say, she still looks amazing for being almost 50.  I re-watched the reunion show for this awhile back, and forgot just had bad and awkward that moment with Debb was.  I remember her breaking down, I just didn't realize it was that bad.  In a way, she probably got off way luckier than if this had happened during the SM age.  She got ripped to shreds then, but she would have been annihilated today.  I felt bad her experience was so horrible when she was so gung ho about going out there. 

 

Colby was an idiot for taking Tina to the end.  For that reason alone I never cared to see him back.  If it's one of those you have no chance of winning or it's a 50/50 shot, okay.  But he completely blew winning a million dollars (and probably what would have been the first sweep of votes, as I can't see anyone voting for Keith on that jury).  Wasn't there some controversy at the time that he and Tina promised to buy the other a motorcycle or split the money or something in exchange for loyalty, which was against the rules?  I never cared for Tina.  Interesting that she was originally the alternate this season, and then wound up getting on and winning the whole thing.  There was a guy named Nick this season?  Oh yeah.  I guess even early seasons could ignore a contestant for not being a loud, America's Sweetheart, or polarizing, personality.

Edited January 24, 2016 by LadyChatts

[fishcakes]

No one from Kucha tried to flip anyone from Ogakor at the merge; everyone just sat back and accepted it was going to be a tie and hoped they targeted the right person. Ogakor was lucky that Kimmi blabbed about Jeff's prior vote (which never made it air, but many people confirmed it happened at the gross food challenge), but also lucky that Kucha stupidly all voted for Colby in the first post-merge vote. Why they thought Ogakor would have previously put votes on their challenge monster before the merge is a mystery, especially when they could see how much Keith and Jerri hated each other. Vote for either one of them and Kucha gets the majority.

 

Even had they tried, though, I don't think they would have flipped anyone. Jerri and Amber thought they had a F3 alliance with Colby; Tina and Keith also thought they had a F3 alliance with Colby. There was no benefit to anyone on Ogakor to flip and be at the bottom of a Kucha 5- or even 4-person alliance. Tina later used Elisabeth, Rodger, and Nick to vote out Jerri (and Liz and Rodger to vote out Amber after Nick), but she was never going to side with them to the end; she just needed to lock Colby in with her and Keith.

 

Kel and the beef jerky? I don't know. My theory was always that Jerri saw Kel chewing something (he says a blade of grass) and initially thought it was food, then quickly realized it wasn't, but it gave her the idea to lie and say that he had smuggled something. I'm not as sure that she lied as I once was, but I still kind of think that's the way it happened, despite Jeff Varner now, 15 years later, claiming he saw Kel with beef jerky before they left for the Outback. I like Jeff, but he's a shit-stirrer and attention whore, so I would probably believe Jerri over him, if it came down to that. However, I do agree that Kel came across as untrustworthy; I think it's because he was so socially awkward. Any conversation with him is probably a festival of uncomfortable pauses.

 

Pretty sure the cow brain thing was a coincidence since it was on a spinning wheel. Also pretty sure the piglet was put into the camp. It looked like one of the miniature pot-bellied pigs that people keep in their apartments and take for walks on a leash.

 

The only controversy I recall about the Harley was that Tina repeatedly tried to back out of it every time she and Colby did a post-game interview. He finally told her she didn't have to buy him one and I'm guessing she didn't, even though later they both said she did. I don't think they ran afoul of the rules because the rule is only that players can't conspire to split the winnings -- this is why all the complaining about how Amber and Rob broke the rules by sharing the money as a married couple is so annoying -- there's no rule about actually sharing money after the fact, only about conspiring to share beforehand in a way that could change the outcome of the game. Colby and Tina's deal regarding the Harley was characterized as a bet, that if either won the game, he or she would buy a Harley for the other. As long as it didn't affect how they voted, and there's no reason to think it did, then it's not a conspiracy. Contrast that with what Jane in Nicaragua claims Sash offered her, which is that if she voted to keep him in and he won the game that he'd give her $50K. There's no proof beyond Jane's word that he really said that, but if he did and if she had agreed, that would have been a conspiracy.

[LadyChatts]

I don't know if I believe Jeff's version, either. 

 

I think for me, I don't know why the Kucha's didn't try flipping Jerri and/or Amber during those votes to gain a majority, but I guess if they thought Tina was with them then they wouldn't have.  Jerri wasn't well liked out there, as we know.  I don't really remember the attitude towards Amber, other than she was considered Jerri's little sheep.  Also, after Colby ditched them during the Mitchell vote (from what I remember, Jerri/Amber/Mitchell went into that vote thinking Colby was with them but he flipped to Tina/Keith, causing the tie) why those girls still believe he was with them at the merge.  Had they been able to get any Kucha members on their side to vote off the trio of Tina/Keith/Colby, they still would have been outnumbered, but either way, they were screwed.  Of course neither showed to have really great game play skills, so why am I surprised.  Ah, the early days of Survivor. 

 

Also agree about the Kucha vote at the merge.  Maybe they figured since they voted off Kel (the second strongest on the Ogakor tribe) Colby was a possibility.  But still, I would have erred on the side of caution and gone with someone else.  Thank you for filling me in about the Tina/Colby situation regarding their Harley promise/bet.  I think more of the controversy seemed to come from the boards and people wondering if it was more than just a bet/promise to buy the other a motorcycle if either of them won, but over time the facts got murky.

[Oholibamah]

IIRC:

Colby purposefully played rude to make Kucha think it was likely he had past votes. Jerri was instructed to "play nice".

Apparently Amber tried to flip to Kucha after the Jerri vote, but Elisabeth/Rodger had inexplicably decided they'd rather vote with Tina.

[ljenkins782]

The only controversy I recall about the Harley was that Tina repeatedly tried to back out of it every time she and Colby did a post-game interview. He finally told her she didn't have to buy him one and I'm guessing she didn't, even though later they both said she did. I don't think they ran afoul of the rules because the rule is only that players can't conspire to split the winnings -- this is why all the complaining about how Amber and Rob broke the rules by sharing the money as a married couple is so annoying -- there's no rule about actually sharing money after the fact, only about conspiring to share beforehand in a way that could change the outcome of the game. Colby and Tina's deal regarding the Harley was characterized as a bet, that if either won the game, he or she would buy a Harley for the other. As long as it didn't affect how they voted, and there's no reason to think it did, then it's not a conspiracy. Contrast that with what Jane in Nicaragua claims Sash offered her, which is that if she voted to keep him in and he won the game that he'd give her $50K. There's no proof beyond Jane's word that he really said that, but if he did and if she had agreed, that would have been a conspiracy.

 

The part that strikes me as dumb about the whole Harley thing is that Colby had a slam dunk victory if he took Keith and a million dollars could buy a lot of Harleys (including one for Tina.) I've never understood the theory that he gave up a sure victory just to give Tina a shot to win and then buy him a bike. 

 

Colby was an idiot for taking Tina to the end.  For that reason alone I never cared to see him back.  If it's one of those you have no chance of winning or it's a 50/50 shot, okay.  But he completely blew winning a million dollars (and probably what would have been the first sweep of votes, as I can't see anyone voting for Keith on that jury).

 

 

I don't think he'll ever really admit why he did it, but I'm still curious. I think he honestly thought he'd still win, but would look like a loyal, good guy for bringing Tina along with him. 

 

Kel and the beef jerky? I don't know. My theory was always that Jerri saw Kel chewing something (he says a blade of grass) and initially thought it was food, then quickly realized it wasn't, but it gave her the idea to lie and say that he had smuggled something. I'm not as sure that she lied as I once was, but I still kind of think that's the way it happened, despite Jeff Varner now, 15 years later, claiming he saw Kel with beef jerky before they left for the Outback. I like Jeff, but he's a shit-stirrer and attention whore, so I would probably believe Jerri over him, if it came down to that. However, I do agree that Kel came across as untrustworthy; I think it's because he was so socially awkward. Any conversation with him is probably a festival of uncomfortable pauses.

 

I could totally buy that. It seems very much in Jerri's nature (especially back then) to simply float an idea, put it in people's heads and then stand back all "hey, I'm not saying for SURE, but..." 

 

And yes, Kel was incredibly socially awkward, making him the perfect target since he was unlikely to have any allies. I tried to like Kel, as I feel like quiet people get an unfairly bad rap off the bat sometimes, but it was painful watching him try to interact. The few times we saw someone trying to engage him, he would cut them off and talk over them and just came across harsher than he probably intended. 

 

I liked Amber way more during Outback compared to AS and the numerous other times her and Rob showed up on TV.  Good for them for finding love, though.

 

I much preferred Amber in AS, she seemed to have grown up a lot in the few years in between. She was such a non-factor in Outback and that "oh my gahhhhhh" thing was grating. Either she toned that down or they mercifully edited it out of AS. 

[Lamb18]

I watched the first episode the other night. In reviewing the posts above, I realized that Tina is the winner. I'd read Miss Alli's recaps several years ago and when I saw the cast lineup at the beginning, I thought I remembered that Tina won. I recognize Skupin (so far I like him better on season 25), Amber (from The Amazing Race) and Kimmi (from S31). She doesn't look a whole lot different. There's some others that look familiar, I'm not sure if any of the others have been back. I saw part of the Jeff Kent season (because he was from a town about 10 miles away from me) and some of the season that Boston Rob won. I'm not looking forward to seeing people starving, the pig and Skupin falling in the fire.

[LadyChatts]

Outback I think holds the record for most returning players.  That was a joke Kimmi made during her second chance campaign, was they were down to her because they were running out of people.

Colby, Tina, and Jerri have played twice (all three were on All-Stars, Colby and Jerri were on HvsV, and Tina on BvsW with her daughter Katie).  Kimmi and Varner were on second chances, and Amber and Alicia were also on All-Stars.  And of course Skupin on Philippines.  Truthfully, I think the players listed above would be the only ones ever brought back from this season at this point.  I suppose never say never, but Elisabeth has declined every invite to return and is doing well for herself (probably the most successful Survivor alum).  Debb was the first boot, but so traumatized by the aftermath outside the game she'll never return. I will say some of the others are memorable, but I just don't see them getting invited back.  However, I never expected to see Kimmi again so I may be proven wrong.

[Lamb18]

Thanks LadyChatt, I knew I'd seen Tina before - it would have been on BvsW.

I watched episode 2 last night. Poor Kel, what a Lord of the Flies mentality. I can see why Jerri was considered a villain. I already don't like her. She has a way of targeting people with her comments (all said with a smile) that causes the tribe to turn against them. I have a feeling what I watched yesterday was a mild-mannered prelude to bigger trouble. Kimmi really pulled it off with that icky food eating challenge.

Fly walking on brains

Moist, glistening in the sun

Eat your fill - yummy!

[fishcakes]

On 1/29/2016 at 8:11 AM, ljenkins782 said:

I don't think he'll ever really admit why he did it, but I'm still curious. I think he honestly thought he'd still win, but would look like a loyal, good guy for bringing Tina along with him.

I think it was a combination of thinking Tina "deserved" to make F2 and simply his own disdain for Keith. He'd given a confessional earlier about Jerri, saying he didn't think she deserved to stay because of the way she treated people, and his reasoning about Keith was probably similar. Keith didn't treat people badly, but there was something unlikable about him and Colby just hated him so much. When Keith proposed marriage to his girlfriend during a reward challenge, Colby's nastiness about it afterward was quite the thing to behold.

I also think Colby thought he could win against Tina and I do agree that he had a shot, but he underestimated her. She doesn't get enough credit for the way she worked that jury, first telling them that she was okay with whatever they decided because when it was all over, she'd go back to her husband and two kids who loved her -- leaving the part about how Colby has no children who'll need things like braces and college unspoken. Tina also completely fished in Elisabeth by saying she loved her idea about setting aside part of the $1M and donating the interest to a needy family every year, and Elisabeth said that was the deciding factor in voting for Tina over Colby. Of course, there's no indication that Tina ever followed through on that. By her own account, she went through the million pretty fast, spending it all on her family and friends.

[LadyChatts]

On ‎7‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 9:01 AM, Lamb18 said:

Thanks LadyChatt, I knew I'd seen Tina before - it would have been on BvsW.

I watched episode 2 last night. Poor Kel, what a Lord of the Flies mentality. I can see why Jerri was considered a villain. I already don't like her. She has a way of targeting people with her comments (all said with a smile) that causes the tribe to turn against them. I have a feeling what I watched yesterday was a mild-mannered prelude to bigger trouble. Kimmi really pulled it off with that icky food eating challenge.

Fly walking on brains

Moist, glistening in the sun

Eat your fill - yummy!

I was a fan of Jerri back then. I was one of a few, but I liked her.  I guess she was a nice contrast to the too-sugary-niceness going on.  The big personalities that season (Jerri, Marilyn, Varner, Alicia, Kimmi) were among my favorites.  After Outback aired, I wrote Jerri a letter,  and she wrote me back a really nice response.  I think the backlash caught her off guard, and she didn't seem to understand why she was so disliked.  I mean, I could see it then, but I don't really think she did anything that horrible.  After Kel was voted off, he did the usual media rounds, including stopping by Rosie O'Donnell's show (she was a big Survivor fan back then).  She grilled him about a rumor she heard, that the cameraman told him what his tribe mates were talking about in regards to him having beef jerky (and also clued Jerri in on him possibly having food that he was eating behind everyone's back).  Rosie thought it made Kel look guilty by going down and disrupting the conversation.  Kel did a really bad job of denying it, since he was obviously trying to make it look like that's exactly what happened.  I didn't like the guy, so I'm not sorry he got booted. 

Also always called BS on Kimmi getting the cow brain.

[BK1978]

I did not watch season two when it first aired, Amazon was the first season that I watched.  However, I bought Australia when it came out on DVD and I remember thinking, "Why was there some much hate directed at her?"  To me she was not even a proper villain in the way that Richard Hatch was (Even he was not that bad during his first season.  All-Stars was another matter entirely.).  I actually have been a fan of Jerri's during her other two seasons and I really wanted her to win season twenty.  

[Lamb18]

After watching episodes 3 and 4 I liked Jerri a little better as I realized that some of her behavior is due to insecurity. However, jumping out of bed and grabbing the canoe just as Tina and Keith were about to take off was pretty rude. And the only reason she did it was because Tina and Keith were going to use it, not that she really desperately wanted to paddle.

Poor piggy. That little dark carcass lying there . . . I have to doubt the wisdom of killing a whole pig from a practical standpoint. Can everyone in the tribe eat the whole pig in one sitting? If not, what do you do with the rest of it, considering there are flies and it will stink? Second, can you be sure of cooking it well enough to avoid parasites and trichinosis? A wild pig is sure to be full of worms. It would be cooked unevenly over the campfire - there's no guarantee the temperature will be hot enough. Of course that's a concern with any flesh they eat.

I definitely don't care for Skupin. He killed the pig, less to provide for the tribe, and more to make himself look like a he-man provider. Funny, I liked him in s. 25.

[Lamb18]

I'm back to watching this after a couple of months off, starting with episode 6 and Skupin falling into the fire. It wasn't as gross as I thought it would be from comments (also I'm watching from my laptop and the resolution isn't top notch). Then I got to the end of episode 7 and this guy called Jeff was voted out. I was looking at him and wondering why he looked familiar and suddenly light bulb - that's JEFF VARNER!! His second chances thing was abandoning the immunity challenge for peanut butter, wasn't it? It seemed to be a big deal when the Second Chances season was airing, but in watching the actual episode, so many other people came down for food it didn't seem like such a big deal. I can't believe how long Tina and Keith stayed up there! Holy cow!

Alicia just got voted off - did she ever come back? I liked her and her departing attitude was pretty good. Jerri seemed so shocked that she got votes. She's not that bad, but she has an unpleasant compulsion to needle people who she perceives are beneath her on the social stratum. It's safe to needle those people because they are lower and their feelings don't matter and there's no consequence - until those people vote for you at Tribal!

It's fun watching Amber (Lamber!) bouncing around. I wonder if Rob watched this season and thought "she's pretty cute!" I also like Elisabeth. I wonder if she came back, too.

[fishcakes]

Alicia came back for All-Stars and did reasonably well by virtue of being on Rob and Amber's tribe, but she was never really allied with them (Rob made a fake alliance with her briefly, but he didn't mean it and I suspect she didn't either). Elisabeth never came back; she got the co-hosting job on The View just a year or two after being on Survivor. I liked her a lot too when she was on Survivor, but I try to avoid everything she's done since then because the woman is unfathomably stupid and judgmental.

[KimberStormer]

Hey now, Elisabeth did The Look For Less for awhile before the view and she was a great hostess for that.  She didn't give any opinions or anything, just sent the stylists on their way and was adorably peeved when they inevitably went over time, budget, or both.  (Having missed Australia, this was the only thing I knew her from -- I remember when she changed from Filarski to Hasselbeck.)  There don't appear to be any clips on YouTube; I guess that whole thing has fallen down the memory hole, but that's how I will always remember her, looking at her watch and stamping her feet at some poor stylist who was 2 minutes late, like a little girl pretending to be mom.

[LadyChatts]

15 minutes ago, KimberStormer said:

Hey now, Elisabeth did The Look For Less for awhile before the view and she was a great hostess for that.  She didn't give any opinions or anything, just sent the stylists on their way and was adorably peeved when they inevitably went over time, budget, or both.  (Having missed Australia, this was the only thing I knew her from -- I remember when she changed from Filarski to Hasselbeck.)  There don't appear to be any clips on YouTube; I guess that whole thing has fallen down the memory hole, but that's how I will always remember her, looking at her watch and stamping her feet at some poor stylist who was 2 minutes late, like a little girl pretending to be mom.

I remember that show.  It was actually quite good.  What I remember is sometimes that contestants (or whatever you called them) didn't seem to really like the style picked out for them, but they'd grin and bear it, and go on and on about how great it was.  I thought that was more up Elisabeth's alley than talking politics.  She didn't seem so bad on The View at first, but then again, that was when I thought The View was still somewhat bearable to watch.  She might have been better at trying her hand at ET or E! or something.  It's funny that her and Rosie were the ones that went at it so bad, because once upon a time Rosie seemed to actually really like the girl (that was back when Rosie had her own show, and invited the Survivor castaways on to chit chat after their ousters).  Elisabeth made her some funky immunity headdress as a gift.

So who hasn't been back from this cast?  Debb, Kel, Maralyn, Keith, Rodger, Elisabeth?  Seems like the most well represented cast in terms of returning players.  I was amazed that Kimmi and even Varner were asked back.

Edited January 27, 2017 by LadyChatts

[ljenkins782]

Quote

So who hasn't been back from this cast?  Debb, Kel, Maralyn, Keith, Rodger, Elisabeth?  Seems like the most well represented cast in terms of returning players.  I was amazed that Kimmi and even Varner were asked back.

Nick has also never been back, but he appears to have a very high level law career and I doubt he'd want to come back. Deb is a definite no, the show ruined her life the first time, Kel would probably never do it again, Maralyn and Rodger were both on the older end of the spectrum 16 years ago, and Elisabeth (besides her new career) got so physically ill out there, she'd never do it again. Keith...I don't know, probably never got asked back. There was also 7-foot-tall Mitchell, who I guess was also never asked to return. 

Quote

She didn't seem so bad on The View at first, but then again, that was when I thought The View was still somewhat bearable to watch.  She might have been better at trying her hand at ET or E! or something.  It's funny that her and Rosie were the ones that went at it so bad, because once upon a time Rosie seemed to actually really like the girl (that was back when Rosie had her own show, and invited the Survivor castaways on to chit chat after their ousters).  Elisabeth made her some funky immunity headdress as a gift.

She was tough to take on the View (I didn't really watch it, but clips of her somehow made it into my periphery). She just seemed so uninformed and yet stubborn. I liked her on Survivor though.

[Lamb18]

Oh, so that's Elisabeth Hasselback! I've never seen The View, but have read references to her being on Survivor.

[Michel]

FWIW, Elisabeth was asked back, but she declined.  That's how Amber ended up returning for All-Stars instead.

[Lamb18]

I just watched the episode where Jerri was voted out. At least she got a nice meal and a fun adventure a couple of days ahead of time. For some reason, I thought she lasted longer. I thought I read that Colby had a choice between having Tina or Jerri stay and voted Jerri out. Maybe it was someone else. Anyhow I'm glad she's gone. I like how she's very aware of playing the game and that you should make moves that will get you the win, but I didn't like how she needled people who she perceives as a weaker than her or just jeering at others, all for the sake of one-upmanship. That behavior is so unnecessary and got her voted off!

[Oholibamah]

7 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

I just watched the episode where Jerri was voted out. At least she got a nice meal and a fun adventure a couple of days ahead of time. For some reason, I thought she lasted longer. I thought I read that Colby had a choice between having Tina or Jerri stay and voted Jerri out. Maybe it was someone else. Anyhow I'm glad she's gone. I like how she's very aware of playing the game and that you should make moves that will get you the win, but I didn't like how she needled people who she perceives as a weaker than her or just jeering at others, all for the sake of one-upmanship. That behavior is so unnecessary and got her voted off!

It's possible you're thinking of the Mitchell vote. Colby was supposed to side with Jerri and vote out Keith, but Tina swayed him (reportedly on the way to Tribal, which is why they've gotten stricter on off-camera communication. But I may not be recalling that correctly). 

[Lamb18]

Well, I've been watching more episodes. We are down to Tina, Colby, Keith and Elisabeth. I felt sad when Rodger was voted off. He ended up being my favorite person. During the flood episode, I think I felt the most anxiety for the kangaroo that was trying to get out of the river onto shore. It took three tries. While watching this episode I could side why Tina won. She has some guts! Swimming across that river to get the rice. I wonder how that log managed to stay burning during the heavy rain - Keith said it was left over from the forest fire.

I was wondering how they got internet connection for the outback back in 2001 but then I saw the huge satellite dish. Internet was still in early days (anyone remember Netscape Navigator?). No skyping either back then.

Quote

 

[LadyChatts]

The aftermath of the flood was my favorite, when Jeff had to come down and tell them he didn't think they were going to make it.

Think I'll go back and watch Outback again before S34 starts.  I finished Borneo and Palau, and I really enjoyed watching the older seasons again (plus, I'm in the middle of HvsV, and Colby seems like such a different person than his Outback and AS days).

[Lamb18]

He didn't come to them after the flood, at least not in the episode I just watched. He came down before the flood when they had next to no rice left. He said he could see how lethargic they were during the challenge and so brought more rice, but they had to give up their tarps and shelter for the rice.

Colby won the reward challenge and went off on horseback with cowboys to a campfire meal and overnight stay while the others returned to find their camp wiped out by the flood. They couldn't even cross the river - they had to wait hours on the other side before crossing over. The camera crew got a nice shot of the rice container floating down the river. So they had to rebuild the shelter twice within a few days. But it's a good thing that flood didn't come while they were asleep. I don't know how much warning there would have been for a flash flood like that.

[LadyChatts]

Ah, I must have gotten that mixed up.  I thought it was after the flood, but you're right, it was before (which would make more sense that Jeff was a little annoyed that they were doing so terribly).  It's been awhile since I've watched this season (clearly lol)

Ah, I must have gotten that mixed up.  I thought it was after the flood, but you're right, it was before (which would make more sense that Jeff was a little annoyed that they were doing so terribly).  It's been awhile since I've watched this season (clearly lol)

[omophagia]

I loved this season when it originally aired and have always remembered it perhaps more fondly than it deserves just based on nostalgia and the fact that its returning players have generally acquitted themselves well from either a gameplay or character standpoint over the years.

Jefr Varner has said in interviews that he wanted to have Alicia as his "loved one" for the Second Chances season, which I thought would have been hilarious.

[LadyChatts]

I wish they'd go back to the Outback sometime.  Still has one of the best, if not the best, TC settings ever.  I've been re-watching this season, and found it more enjoyable.  It's always been such a big favorite for so many, but I could never get into it.  There isn't really anyone I like or dislike more on re-watch, which is rare.  I still think the pre-jury group was more exciting than the jury crowd, and Tina/Colby still ranks as one of my least favorite end game duos.  I've never gotten the appeal with Tina as a winner, nor do I think she did anything special.  Never saw the hype with Colby, either, and that grew more and more each time he played.  He seemed completely lost during HvsV. 

[fishcakes]

Rewatching the season and I just saw the episode where Mike falls in the fire, which I think might be the greatest episode of the entire series. Aside from the drama of the evacuation, this is the episode where Jerri is openly fantasizing about pouring melted chocolate all over Colby and licking it off while having sex with him, interspersed with scenes of Colby looking completely disgusted, and then his confessional where he said, "I might be a lot of things, but I ain't no Hershey bar," and you can hear the cameraman burst out laughing at that. Then back to Jerri and Amber lying in the shelter and orgasmically screaming the names of various kinds of chocolate treats, but what put it over the top is when Amber at one point randomly screams out, "MEATBALL SUB!"

I also really liked the final scene of Rodger saying grace, giving thanks for the fish that Mike caught, asking God to be with the doctors treating Mike and give them the wisdom and skill to heal him, and asking that God also give his blessings and guidance to all of them still at the camp. It was the complete opposite of the God-bothering you usually see on Survivor and other reality shows -- and here I'm thinking specifically of Coach forcing Edna to her knees to thank God after they won a challenge, as if God cares if Coach gets pizza or whatever. Instead it was Rodger being humble and grateful and submitting to God's will; I don't share his religious faith, but it was lovely scene.

Edited July 15, 2018 by fishcakes

[LadyChatts]

I remember the rumors and theories floating around the internet when the preview came up at the end of the previous episode about the incident at the Kucha camp. One was that Alicia got her leg bit by a crocodile.  This cast seemed like a particularly religious one; I can't remember if it was on the actual season or one of those bonus DVDs, but they apparently said a prayer every night before going to bed.  I consider myself religious, but often cringe when someone is cast on here as the "religious one" because they never come off well.

I remember the one two-person team RC after the merge, where they had to pair up and Jerri automatically wanted to be with Colby.  Everyone else said it should be fair so they drew names out of a hat, and Jerri still got paired with Colby (who wasn't very happy about the arrangement).  I believe this was the reward where they got to visit the Great Barrier Reef, and Colby ended up getting the show in trouble by breaking coral off from it to take back as a souvenir.

I still don't care for this season as much as others do, and my mind wasn't changed when I re-watched it awhile back.  But, considering the more recent seasons that have been churned out lately, I'm starting to look back at it with much more fondness.  I never would have expected it to turn out the way it did, so it did surprise me.  And since I have a love for the landlocked locations, I had always hoped they'd re-visit Australia to do another season.    

Edited July 16, 2018 by LadyChatts

[fishcakes]

7 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I remember the one two-person team RC after the merge, where they had to pair up and Jerri automatically wanted to be with Colby.  Everyone else said it should be fair so they drew names out of a hat, and Jerri still got paired with Colby (who wasn't very happy about the arrangement). 

Ha, yeah, he was over her by that point. He did his share of flirting in the beginning, but he soured on her pretty fast.

I always like older seasons better in retrospect too, which doesn't say anything good about the direction the series is headed in. I rewatched Nicaragua for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't as terrible as a few of the more recent seasons. I mean, it was still ass, but in comparison to, say, Heroes Healers Hustlers, it was decent enough.

[ljenkins782]

On 7/15/2018 at 4:25 PM, fishcakes said:

Rewatching the season and I just saw the episode where Mike falls in the fire, which I think might be the greatest episode of the entire series. Aside from the drama of the evacuation, this is the episode where Jerri is openly fantasizing about pouring melted chocolate all over Colby and licking it off while having sex with him, interspersed with scenes of Colby looking completely disgusted, and then his confessional where he said, "I might be a lot of things, but I ain't no Hershey bar," and you can hear the cameraman burst out laughing at that. Then back to Jerri and Amber lying in the shelter and orgasmically screaming the names of various kinds of chocolate treats, but what put it over the top is when Amber at one point randomly screams out, "MEATBALL SUB!"

I also really liked the final scene of Rodger saying grace, giving thanks for the fish that Mike caught, asking God to be with the doctors treating Mike and give them the wisdom and skill to heal him, and asking that God also give his blessings and guidance to all of them still at the camp. It was the complete opposite of the God-bothering you usually see on Survivor and other reality shows -- and here I'm thinking specifically of Coach forcing Edna to her knees to thank God after they won a challenge, as if God cares if Coach gets pizza or whatever. Instead it was Rodger being humble and grateful and submitting to God's will; I don't share his religious faith, but it was lovely scene.

I'm rewatching this one too, Rodger is one of the old-school, probably never to be cast nowadays types, who seems like a genuinely nice person who was just looking for an adventure. He seems like a great person to have out there, even if he was never a favorite to win. 

I'm also looking back at Jerri in another light, I still think she'd have been received differently if she'd been a man, she was definitely not wrong about key tribal decisions but her approach seemed to turn people off. I think she would have been perceived as bossy, but not necessarily as bitchy, at least at the beginning. However, I can also see where editing probably did her big favors, considering that even the nicest people among the tribe couldn't stand her. 

Also, I will still never believe that Colby's ultimate choice wasn't about him trying to look like the good, loyal guy bringing his closest ally while still 100% expecting to beat said ally. His alleged motive of not wanting to Keith to win really doesn't wash, Keith was annoying and I probably wouldn't want to work with him or hang out with, but he's not so odious that I'd risk a million bucks to deny him $100,000.

My main question is wondering about his proposal on screen. Did he ever end up marrying that woman? Her appearance and the background of that video was as sterile and "model unit" as I've ever seen, like she plopped her laptop down in the middle of the display unit of the local apt complex. 

[fishcakes]

17 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

My main question is wondering about his proposal on screen. Did he ever end up marrying that woman? Her appearance and the background of that video was as sterile and "model unit" as I've ever seen, like she plopped her laptop down in the middle of the display unit of the local apt complex. 

Based on reading just Google search results and not clicking through, Keith and his fiance Katrin did get married and he's a documentary filmmaker now. I'm not interested enough in him to learn more, but I did get a kick out of this result:

Imagine being someone for whom this is an urgent question.

I guess I take Colby at face value when it comes to his decision, mainly because he seemed to be caught up in wanting to at least appear to be a good guy and also he did seem to genuinely albeit irrationally hate Keith at the end. Early season players were much more conscious of how they were going to come across to the audience, and this seemed particularly true in season 2 because when they left the U.S. to go film their season, the Borneo players were still being treated like rock stars here. On the other hand, his reaction when Tina won seemed waaay too enthusiastic to be genuine, so I don't know.

[ljenkins782]

2 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I guess I take Colby at face value when it comes to his decision, mainly because he seemed to be caught up in wanting to at least appear to be a good guy and also he did seem to genuinely albeit irrationally hate Keith at the end. Early season players were much more conscious of how they were going to come across to the audience, and this seemed particularly true in season 2 because when they left the U.S. to go film their season, the Borneo players were still being treated like rock stars here. On the other hand, his reaction when Tina won seemed waaay too enthusiastic to be genuine, so I don't know.

I can understand worrying about how they’d come across, but he and Tina were in lockstep with Keith for the entire second half of the game. It would hardly be a massive betrayal to choose Keith. He’d already backstabbed his allies Jerri/Amber in a much more dramatic way.

In a situation like Lill choosing Sandra over Jonny FairPlay just to make sure he didn’t get the money, that kind of emotional decision makes some sense, but Keith was no Fairplay.

I really liked Elisabeth in this season, she seemed so much smarter and more down-to-earth than she later did on the View. 

[fishcakes]

14 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

I really liked Elisabeth in this season, she seemed so much smarter and more down-to-earth than she later did on the View. 

I liked her a lot too; she came across as sensible and kind with a good sense of humor. It's hard to reconcile that Elisabeth with the screechy halfwit she later became.

[Emilio Jr]

Hello, everybody.

Something curious about this season I'd like to discuss:

1. Debb. I remember reading somewhere that after the season was over she was told by her former tribemates that they regret voting her out. I guess everyone, but Elizabeth, wish had voted Rodger or Skupin instead.

2. Kel. True or False that his boot had anything to do with his weird character?

3. Kucha's dynamic. IIRC Skupin was their intended second boot but once chicken fight took place everyone agreed to vote Kimmi instead.

4. Was not really obvious Jerri's edit? For instance, her confessional in E3, when she said: "I would vote Colby out".

Feel free to discuss...

 

[fishcakes]

I doubt they regret voting Debb out. She was an outsider from the beginning. Some may have told her that to be nice because she had a really hard time once the publicity about her second marriage came out (her first husband was quite a bit older than her and had died; later she married his son, who was her own age and who had never lived with them so she had never considered him her stepson, but people still thought it was weird). She was crying at the reunion and saying she wished she hadn't gone on the show because it ruined her life.

Kel was super socially awkward too and didn't mesh with the tribe. That probably had more to do with him getting voted out than Jerri's story about the beef jerky.

I don't know if Skupin was the intended second vote, but I do think he would have been voted out sooner rather than later. Because he fell in the fire, everyone talked about him after as if he were the most popular guy out there and how he would have won if it weren't for the accident, but before the accident, it seems like he was really getting on people's nerves. They might have kept him for a while because he was providing food, but he wasn't as beloved as they all pretended later.

[AncientNewbie]

Skupin was the beta test for Andrew Savage and it would likely have gone the same way as Savage's two seasons but for the fire. He's too overt and aggressive in imposing his plans on his alliance and then he's gone as soon as he's expendable. I'm frankly surprised he lasted so long in his second season, but I think Denise et al had his number. And I'm even more surprised he spent so little time in prison.

[blackwing]

On 8/7/2018 at 6:56 PM, ljenkins782 said:

I can understand worrying about how they’d come across, but he and Tina were in lockstep with Keith for the entire second half of the game. It would hardly be a massive betrayal to choose Keith. He’d already backstabbed his allies Jerri/Amber in a much more dramatic way.

In a situation like Lill choosing Sandra over Jonny FairPlay just to make sure he didn’t get the money, that kind of emotional decision makes some sense, but Keith was no Fairplay.

Colby did seem like the quintessential nice guy, loyal to the end.  It's funny because I think one of the very first things he said on the show really grated.  Back then, everyone was allowed one personal item (I cannot even remember when they started doing away with these personal items).  His was a giant flag of Texas.  He used it as a tarp and tied it up with four branches for shade/cover.  He commented on how smart he was for bringing it and using it as a tarp and then he said something to the effect of "every day I wake up and see my flag and I feel so lucky and thank God that I am from the great state of Texas".

I think Colby stuck with Tina because the two of them were a team, and he felt like it would look really bad to the jury if he backstabbed the person he had played with the whole time just to increase his odds of winning.  I think also that this was so early on in the game of Survivor that strategies hadn't really fully formed yet.  I wonder if this season had been played today, after all these years of secret alliances and backstabbing and triple agents and whatnot, if Colby would have made a different decision.  Somewhere along the line, the game morphed from being loyal to your core alliance, to flipping and doing what you can to get ahead.

20 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I don't know if Skupin was the intended second vote, but I do think he would have been voted out sooner rather than later. Because he fell in the fire, everyone talked about him after as if he were the most popular guy out there and how he would have won if it weren't for the accident, but before the accident, it seems like he was really getting on people's nerves. They might have kept him for a while because he was providing food, but he wasn't as beloved as they all pretended later.

Yes.  I distinctly remember loathing the guy... he was one of my most disliked Survivors on the show.  Debb wasn't beloved either, as they later tried to make her.  I think as mentioned above, people just felt sorry for her that she was ridiculed relentlessly on the internet for just about everything... marrying her stepson, her looks, etc.

If Skupin hadn't fallen into the fire he never would have gotten asked back and his Survivor history definitely wouldn't have transformed him into some kind of "beloved and tragic" figure.

[Jtrain]

Just rewatched after years, and still don't understand how Colby didn't win. He dominated