S34.E01: The Stakes Have Been Raised (Double Episode)

[Wandering Snark]

9 hours ago, Drogo said:

Khaleesi has returned to Survivor this season

Personally I believe this is the best thing this season has going for it as of now..

[Drogo]

16 hours ago, ghoulina said:

Thank Freaking God.

But I did like the voting booth - it reminded me of a lighthouse and had a very piratish theme to it.

So did I, but once you hear the words "Best Western" while looking at it, you can't un-see it.  Once the third castaway went in to vote, I was looking for a continental breakfast.

And as evidence that I live with clever women of varying generations, my wife had a little crush on short-haired Micronesia Ozzy, so I called her over to show her that he was playing.  Her response: 

Edited March 13, 2017 by Drogo
Custom GIFage.

[cooksdelight]

Pippi Longstocking!!!!! Bwahahahahaha!!!!! He definitely hasn't aged well. 

[Daisy]

hi my survivor peeps! I'll have to check in. and see what everyone wrote - but my few notes:

my biggest beef is going to be how the new tiebreaker rule is coming in and eliminating the split vote. I personally think this is just a way to protect those who have a Hidden Immunity Idol, more so than ever. That's why votes are split, - if they feel someone has an idol, try to flush it and oops if we're wrong, at least Jane goes home instead of Wanda (or Bobby instead of Joe). now who is going to take that risk if it automatically goes to rocks? meaning if you find a HII, you're pretty much flying in like Flynn.  or if there are two factions - how many people are going to turn tail because of the fact that they could go home instead of getting rid of __________ if it ends up tied. 

This has the potential to bug the everlasting snot out of me. 

edited to add because apparently i did post in here earlier and made several similar comments. bad noodlebrain. 

Edited March 13, 2017 by Daisy

[LizBug]

Looks like several of the returnees have put on additional weight.  Some of that is definitely due to the aging factor but some looks like it was intentional ... so they would have more to lose during the actual game.

[ProfCrash]

I like Sandra. I like that she wins when she is not the stereotypical winner. She is loyal to those who are loyal to her (See Rupert). She seems to target the people I strongly dislike (see Russell and Tony). She understands what mask she needs to put on in order to stay safe. She works to build and maintain alliances. I suspect that we are going to see more of that side of her game this year since it has been discussed by the past Survivors who played with her but TPTB have never really showed it. She speaks her mind without fear. Yes, she uses language and a tone that I would not use but she doesn't hide what she is thinking or play the political game.

Outside of the game, she served in the Army and is married to a Soldier. I believe that her husband retired after 20+ years. She continued to work her regular job after the game ended. She understood that the money was a good thing but not something to be wasted by just stopping working.

I can see how she rubs people the wrong way. I think that she is a lot like Tony. She is brash and loud and very interested in being in control. She spent a good amount of time spying on folks during her first season. She is different from him in that she can read the room better and far more loyal. She is not paranoid and Tony is the definition of paranoid. Anyone who has watched Survivor and listened to the interviews know that Sandra is very, very loyal to her alliances and friends. Once she agreed to be in an alliance with Tony, she was going to stick with that alliance. Tony spying on her and flipping on her sealed his fate.

I don't have a problem with all of her Queen talk. She cannot hide that she has won twice, everyone knows that. She is referred to as the Queen on Survivor interviews so it is not exactly something new, it is a known nickname. She is willing to own it because there is no point in downplaying what she has done in the past.

Tony won his season because the Brain tribe imploded and the people on the Brawn tribe where mainly sheep. Wu was flat out told by Spencer what would happen if Wu went to the end with Tony and still Wu stick with Tony. Kas and Spencer worked to flip Wu but couldn't because he was so blindly tied to Tony. Trish was the same way. Tony's main alliance would allow him to flip a vote and not tell them and not care. He was able to play a chaotic, paranoid game because his main alliance was filled with flat out bad players. The second Tony landed on the beach with players that were competent he was in trouble. He was schooled by a far better player.

Sandra should not win this game. She should not make it even close to the Jury. She should have been the first person voted out and yet she has survived two tribals and seems to have a nice little alliance working. I am not going to be surprised if she wins, again. Even when JT, Malcolm, and Tony are talking about how quickly she was bale to put together an alliance, JT and Malcolm voted with her. They know her game and they think that they can control her or work with her or something so she remains in the game.

Dangerous play on their part.

[NutMeg]

3 hours ago, Drogo said:

So did I, but once you hear the words "Best Western" while looking at it, you can't un-see it.  Once the third castaway went in to vote, I was looking for a continental breakfast.

And as evidence that I live with clever women of varying generations, my wife had a little crush on short-haired Micronesia Ozzy, so I called her over to show her that he was playing.  Her response: 

He already styled his hair that way before (so much easier to do without help, and he may not want to ask anyone, of either gender, for help). I don't like it either, but if it keeps the bugs away... 

And for whoever wrote that he's not ageing well - I think he is ageing pretty nicely :) 

[peachmangosteen]

3 minutes ago, NutMeg said:

And for whoever wrote that he's not ageing well - I think he is ageing pretty nicely :) 

I've never been into Ozzy, but I think he looks better now than he did before. Ditto for Malcom, which I've already mentioned.

I'm figuring Sierra did his pigtails. Didn't she braid the women's hair during WA?

[slowpoked]

21 hours ago, Cutty said:

Tony: “Sheep being led to the slaughter."

Sandra: “That’s what you get for plotting against me. That’s what you get and the queen stays queen.”

Tony: “You guys are suckers if you allow that to happen.”

Sandra: “That’s what you get. Take your ass home.”

[beat]

Sandra: “Byeeeee, Tony. Say hi to Ciera for me.”

 

I could relive this scene forever.

Yes! Tony dished it out constantly in Cagayan and no one there was strong enough to dish it back to him. Maybe except for Kass, but she's still no match to him. So it was nice to have someone else dish it to him and take him down a few pegs. Doesn't hurt it's a female too.

[Vyk]

9 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Tony won his season because the Brain tribe imploded and the people on the Brawn tribe where mainly sheep. Wu was flat out told by Spencer what would happen if Wu went to the end with Tony and still Wu stick with Tony. Kas and Spencer worked to flip Wu but couldn't because he was so blindly tied to Tony. Trish was the same way. Tony's main alliance would allow him to flip a vote and not tell them and not care. He was able to play a chaotic, paranoid game because his main alliance was filled with flat out bad players. The second Tony landed on the beach with players that were competent he was in trouble. He was schooled by a far better player.

Sandra should not win this game. She should not make it even close to the Jury. She should have been the first person voted out and yet she has survived two tribals and seems to have a nice little alliance working. I am not going to be surprised if she wins, again. Even when JT, Malcolm, and Tony are talking about how quickly she was bale to put together an alliance, JT and Malcolm voted with her. They know her game and they think that they can control her or work with her or something so she remains in the game.

Woo, not Wu.

Also, J.T. didn't say any such thing about Sandra.  He's not even on her tribe.  I think you meant either Caleb or Troyzan or possibly even Jeff.

[spritz]

13 hours ago, DallasGypsy said:

Looks like several of the returnees have put on additional weight.  Some of that is definitely due to the aging factor but some looks like it was intentional ... so they would have more to lose during the actual game.

Unlike regular seasons of Survivor -- where many contestants look like they could be swimsuit models -- almost all of this season's contestants do not look like they are any where near their prime physical form. You can see the sagging body parts, fat, and wrinkles. It was actually kind of refreshing to see that, just for a change of pace from the regular seasons.

[green]

On 3/11/2017 at 4:31 PM, Rachel RSL said:

That's literally Big Brother.

I do really miss the survival aspect of the game. That was huge in the first few seasons and now it's barely an afterthought. I mean, I don't want anyone to die or anything but, on a show called Survivor, I'm ok with a little suffering.

I want more suffering.  A little physical suffering is what a lot of people experience daily at their non-cushy, non--desk jobs.  What many people in developing nations go through daily all their life.  This is for a pre-tax million.  The contestants should suffer for it.

On 3/11/2017 at 11:01 PM, Katesus7 said:

I don't really care who are "good" players, I only care about who I like or don't like, because I'm extremely shallow when it comes to this show.

So the fact that Sandra, who will always and forever be my favorite Survivor winner ever, as bitchy as she may be, went head to head against Tony, one of my top 3 LEAST favorite winners ever, and took his ass down? And let him know about it? It was my everything. She won't win, but I'll enjoy the hell out of her until she gets the boot. 

I like both good players and players I like.  Sandra is both happily.

On 3/12/2017 at 5:29 AM, Nashville said:

Hear, hear.  I hate and despise that TPTB have made the food situation so cushy, because it has removed what used to be a key strategic element for players to pursue - the role of Provider. 

Take a look back at the earlier seasons; it wasn't unusual to find a player spared from eviction at a critical juncture simply because of that player's skill at fishing - or some other food-gathering ability - anything which would supplement the rice-only diet provided by Production.  Why?  Because that player's skill supported their Tribe as a whole, by better enabling them to compete and win in challenges.  When the Production-supplied rations were just this side of the razor's edge of starvation, such additions to the food supply had a significantly greater impact upon the game in varied ways - and not just the physical aspect, because hunger can significantly impact people's reasoning and decision-making skills.

Nowadays, though - when someone's been on the beach for 30 days, and on their post-eviction weigh-in has only dropped 10-12 pounds...?  Heck, I've done that sitting at home by cutting out bread for a month.  That's not taking it to any limits.  That's not "surviving".  That's being inconvenienced for a while.  That's padding the game because someone thinks keeping the mactors looking good for the cameras trumps removing a key element of Survivor's primary premise.  Feh on that.

Yes.  I hate that Survivor has become Big Brother on a tropical island.  I watched Big Brother the first 3 seasons but not an episode since.  It was interesting in season 1 as a social experiment then went downhill into a stale, boring show I came to intensely hate.

On 3/12/2017 at 1:54 PM, Giesela said:

Yes, but no.  How well you can maintain your mental dominance while hungry is for me one of the things that makes Survivor what it is.  Its about being able to carry on in the face of adversity not just be a popularity contest.  Those that can either, or both, forage for food or just plain do better without it will get ahead. They that can push through the inertia and fatique of hunger to keep strategizing keep laying.  Part of doing better than others without food is not just feeding off fat stores but fortitude.  It is a balance for TPTB to walk that line between letting hunger stress the Survivors a little and letting them starve.  The seem to have see sawed quite a bit although I don't understand why, it doesn't seem that hard.  Nothing in the ocean biting?  Throw them a little rice and beans.  

Absolutely.  On The Amazing Race travel fatigue etc is introduced to make decision making harder.  You have to push these people to the limits; not cuddle them.  Challenge is wanted.  Not a travel cruise on dry land.

On 3/12/2017 at 4:28 PM, peachmangosteen said:

I've personally always seen this game as primarily a popularity contest. I think it's been that way since season 1, episode one and will be that way in season 40. That's probably a big part of why I don't give a shit that TPTB don't allow them to starve anymore.

Well, damn! I mean I figured Tony was hard to live with, but that is a strong statement!

Huh?  Richard Hatch was popular?  I don't think so.  It is not and never has been a popularity contest that I can see.  If a person gets "liked" it is because of that person being great at manipulating others more than anything else.  See Rob, Boston.

1 hour ago, spritz said:

Unlike regular seasons of Survivor -- where many contestants look like they could be swimsuit models -- almost all of this season's contestants do not look like they are any where near their prime physical form. You can see the sagging body parts, fat, and wrinkles. It was actually kind of refreshing to see that, just for a change of pace from the regular seasons.

Not for a change of pace.  For forever.  I am sick of American TV trotting out "made in Hollywood fantasy factories" bodies of unreal people.  It has had such a negative effect on perhaps millions in this country.  Most notably on girls and young women but now with young males as well.  Let us get this society back to what actually constitutes a normal human being and stop living in a totally psychologically sick body fantasyland 24/7.

Edited March 14, 2017 by green

[cooksdelight]

14 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Usually starvation level diets are considered dangerous unless under close medical supervision.

 

6 hours ago, green said:

I want more suffering.

Watch "Alone". These Survivor people wouldn't last a week. 

When Jeff Probst said that the castaways were leaving just like they did in Season 1, when jumping off the boat....I had to rewind to make sure I heard him right. No, don't think so....I don't remember a huge amount of food, tools, etc. being part of that launch.

[Whimsy]

As a reminder, this is the thread to talk about THIS episode. Discussions beyond that should go in the appropriate threads. 

[iMonrey]

I skipped several seasons in a row so some of these players I never saw. But I watched Tocantins all the way through - I remember hearing it pronounced as "token-cheese" every week and giggling. But for the life of me I do not remember JT. At all. And I never watched Heroes V. Villains because I started boycotting all the seasons with returning players. Was going to boycott this one but then they brought back Malcolm so . . . 

Never saw Tony's original season(s) but he seems like the worst of what Survivor and other reality shows have become. People are savvy to these shows now, and they know the object is no longer to win. It's to become as notorious as possible by being outlandish, outrageous and crazy so that everyone will focus on you, the producers will focus on you, everyone will be talking about you and you will be invited back again and again because you are such "good TV." I'm tired of the Tonys and the Hantzes and the Coaches and the shtick they employ for attention. Thank God he's gone.

[Stinamaia]

Nevermind