S28.E10: Chaos Is My Friend

[ratgirlagogo]

 

Trish cannot win. The minority alliance has no knowledge of the moves that she has made and what little she has done in front of them has not been impressive, spending money when Tony wasn't, on the back end of two blindsides that Tony put together, no immunity idols, and poor performance in challenges. We see what she is doing but Morgan, Jeremiah, Spenser, Tasha, and Sarah don't. Sarah knows of the tension between Trish and Cliff/Lindsey as well.

I think that Trish is doing a lot more socially and strategically than we're being shown, based on the high praise she got in the post-boot interviews from Morgan, Jeremiah, LJ and Jefra.  They all seemed to think she had a good chance at winning.  I'm not sure she could win over Tony myself, but I think she's better off than we see.

 

In the first few seasons, all idols worked like this season's special idol.

There were no HIIs until Guatemala (season 11) and that season's HII worked like the "regular" ones - had to be used before the votes were read.  The "special" one they've brought back was only used in Cook Islands and Fijii (seasons 12 and 13, Yul's and Earl's seasons respectively) and then ditched for all the following seasons.

 

 

So I fully believe that no one thinks Tony has the special idol and that Tony has only one idol.

They might even know he has the special idol, but I don't think anyone but Tony knows what makes it special -  that he can use it AFTER the votes are read.  My problem with bringing back the super-duper idol is the same one Dalton Ross at EW has - that they brought it back too late in the season.  I've seen enough of Tony's gameplay to guess that he would have been almost physically unable to resist playing the super-idol earlier in the season if he had found it earlier.  To have it NOW just seems a little much, even though it was just luck that he found it.  At this point there are three more FTCs?  And the HIIs can only be used for the next two, is that correct?  It just seems almost impossible that Tony won't be able to make the finals just based on the idiols, which stacks the deck in a way I don't like.   Unless he just freaks out and burns them both next week, of course.

Edited May 4, 2014 by ratgirlagogo

[Eggman]

The thing about the  super  idol  is that you don't have to play it until you KNOW that you  have been voted out. Unless you are giving it to someone you know is the target of the vote, there is no way to play it unnecessarily.

[Wandering Snark]

The TPI can't be given to anyone, so there is that at least...

 

Thanks for the info on the origination/powers of the idols ratgirlagogo I didn't want to try to refute anything with authority as I din't really remember just had a feeling it's been a while since one with this power was in the game.

[nutty1]

I think that Trish is doing a lot more socially and strategically than we're being shown, based on the high praise she got in the post-boot interviews from Morgan, Jeremiah, LJ and Jefra.  They all seemed to think she had a good chance at winning.  I'm not sure she could win over Tony myself, but I think she's better off than we see.

 

 I think Trish is playing a good game, but she seems pretty hidden the past few episodes. Would that be a winner's edit?

[Hera]

I don't mind the idols but clues to idols or advantages should be hidden in the auction. The piece of paper should be inside a sandwich or wrapped inside a quesadilla or even if something gross is available it should be hidden in that so if the person winds up just throwing it away they throw away their clue as well. That would be a bit more fun to watch.

I personally don't think watching someone throw a clue away would be very entertaining. I also don't think watching the entire tribe look on as someone pulls a clue out of his/her mouth would be that gripping either, since everyone knowing who has the idol clue creates the scramble we saw when Woo found Spencer's idol clue. I don't find the watching the whole tribe do a Hidden Immunity Idol treasure hunt that interesting, but I acknowledge that some people probably do. I do like the idea of covering idol clues and immunity challenge advantages like they're food so that people will bid on everything. I also think the order in which items are auctioned has become a little too predictable. No one bid on what ended up being Kass' sandwich because it was about time for the disgusting item to come out.

 

As for idols, I think the problem with this season (aside from the existence of the over-powered Tyler Perry idol) is that people have chosen to keep idols (and clues) to themselves. In previous seasons, people have teamed up to look for idols and people have used the fact that they have an idol as a way to build and solidify alliances. Tony sort of tried that before Tribal Council this past week, but since he wasn't actually in any danger, it's hard to tell if it had an effect. This season, people have been left to guess at who does and does not have an idol, since no one really seems to share this information. Any strategizing around idols has to do with how to deal with an idol the other side might have; no one discusses how to use the idol(s) in their (and by extension, their alliance's) possession to its/their best effect. For instance, if Jeremiah and Tash had known about Spencer's idol ahead of time, they might have worked a little harder to figure out who Tony's alliance was going to vote for (or even tried to influence it) and the idol might not have been wasted. I also doubt LJ and Tony would have burned their idols for each other if they each had known ahead of time that the other had an idol.

 

I suppose it makes sense, though. There haven't been any tight alliances this season, thanks to Tony and Kass. The only pair left in the game that might be tight is Spencer/Tash and I don't think they actually are; I think they're each all the other one has right now—I initially thought that they had coordinated their attempts to make Tony paranoid, but their confessionals didn't seem to bear that out. The other two pairs are Tony/Woo and Kass/Trish (mostly by default), which are the result of Tony's flips.

[samuel]

I think it's great that people are finally keeping idols to themselves. Hunting as a team and everyone knowing about the idols makes for more entertaining reality TV, but I don't watch Survivor as a reality show. I watch it for the gameplay. It always infuriates me when a player decides to share their idol or tell someone about it. That's just about the last thing you should do.

[Wandering Snark]

I see it with the hidden idols at the auction as why does having a HII have to be a positive thing? Yeah it sucks to pull one from the plate of tacos and everyone knows you have it, but now you have to deal with it... there can be two sides to having an idol, giving you security and making you a target.

Edited May 5, 2014 by Wandering Snark

[Alapaki]

There were no HIIs until Guatemala (season 11) and that season's HII worked like the "regular" ones - had to be used before the votes were read.  The "special" one they've brought back was only used in Cook Islands and Fijii (seasons 12 and 13, Yul's and Earl's seasons respectively) and then ditched for all the following seasons.

 

 

I couldn't remember, so I checked Wikipedia.  According to that, in Guatemala the HII was played before the vote.  Then, for the next two seasons it was after the votes were cast and read.  Then it reverted to what we have as the "regular" HII today, where it's played after the votes are cast, but before they're read.  

 

So with HII v1.0 there was no chance of wasted votes/bounce-back eliminations.  But there was a chance of a blindside. With HII v.2.0 there was a complete chance of wasted votes/bounceback eliminations, and no chance of a blindside.  With HII v3.0, there is a chance of both wasted votes/bouncebacks and blindsides.  

 

there can be two sides to having an idol, giving you security and making you a target.

 

 

I remember a spirited debate over at TWoP over whether holding a HII would put a target on someone who wouldn't otherwise be targeted.  I think it's very situationally dependent.  But I do think the practice of immediately placing HIIs back into circulation after they're used creates more of a risk to the HII-holder

[samuel]

Yeah @Wandering Snark, I would never go for a HII in a case where the other players would know I have it (or have a chance to get, like with a clue). HII are great only if no one else knows about them. Otherwise they're poison. Tribemembers last season were right to burn most of their clues.

Edited May 5, 2014 by samuel