S35.E10: Two for the Price of One

[azshadowwalker]

Most of all, I am just happy that the men are all turning out to be fucking idiots. Ben's obsession with being a "double agent" to get Joe is completely emotional. Joe being a blowhard ass crack was stupid, and got the Little Soldier Boy all riled to get him out. Ryan didn't put enough extra weight on to keep his head together for 39 days. Devon is way too impressed with himself, and will take his hurt feelings over his broken bromance to Ponderosa soon, I think. All points to a female winner, with the edit suggesting to  me that it will be Chrissy overcoming. I am digging the hell out of this season. 

[cooksdelight]

17 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Impossible.  As far as the Coconuts knew, they had betrayed Ben the last vote.  They never thought Devon, Lauren, and Ashley were aligned with Ben.  Neither did Chrissy or Ryan.  It could not have been a talking point.  That's the brilliance of Devon's scheme!

For the reason above I think this analysis, while totally sound to us the viewers who knew the actual score, doesn't work according to who knew what in the actual game.  Voting out Ben would have made 100% sense to Joe and Mike, and made them all the happier to stay in their alliance.  It would have been not only expected but delightful to them, particularly Joe, who dislikes Ben the most.  We saw that Mike is too dumb to consider flipping to Ryan -- the Coconuts were too busy patting themselves on the back for being "on the top", and how they were the better surgeons who could actually manage a 5-man alliance, etc.  Also there is Lauren's second vote, which would make them flipping a 4-4 tie and rock draw.

I think what they've done instead is give Ben a whole lot of power, even more than he had before.  He knows everything and has connections to everybody.  Now HE could easily grab Chrissy, Ryan, and Mike, and outfox the Lauren/Ashley/Devon trio with his idol and knowledge of what they're doing, if he wanted to.  Ben has all the options, knows everything, he's incredibly dangerous at FTC, he's playing super hard, and he's smart and a proven good liar.  Keeping him was playing it safe, and I know everyone loves to hate on the big moves around here but I don't think playing it safe is going to win them the game in this case.

(I know I am an island of one on this one, but I don't think "real Mike" is a good person either.  He's a jerk in any persona.)

I totally agree with everything you said, brilliant summation!

[AZChristian]

I always just figured his cue cards for the tough phrases - "Come on in, guys" - were laying in the sand at his feet.  That's why he always looks down.  LOL.

BTW, I know that in the modern vernacular "guys" can be meant to include women (or even "gals") in a group.  But couldn't he say something like, "Come on in, folks"???

[azshadowwalker]

2 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I always just figured his cue cards for the tough phrases - "Come on in, guys" - were laying in the sand at his feet.  That's why he always looks down.  LOL.

BTW, I know that in the modern vernacular "guys" can be meant to include women (or even "gals") in a group.  But couldn't he say something like, "Come on in, folks"???

I would prefer, "Come on in, survivors," or someone will soon be insisting it is captioned as, "Come on in, folx." 

[kikaha]

On 11/30/2017 at 8:28 PM, Fallacy said:

I think Lauren is making a huge mistake planing to go to the end with Ben, Devon, and Ashley. Ben and Devon could easily beat her in jury votes and Ashley is also great in challenges. Had Lauren aligned with Chrissy, Ryan, Joe, and Mike, she would beat any one of them in a jury vote because nobody likes that group very much and she can best them in most challenges, making her far more likely to on an immunity run to the final three. 

Thus, I don't think she's a brilliant, practical strategic mind. She's playing a friendship game and staying loyal to the people she likes better even though her odds of winning are higher with the other group, in my opinion. 

Lauren already is scheming to boot Ben, even though they were/are great friends.  She has proven to be a step ahead of the others strategy-wise, so it will surprise me if she doesn't have plans for Devon, who she might not beat, and Ashley, who she probably could, especially if she keeps running the game and turns in a good FTC performance.  (The new FTC format should help her in this regard.)  

I didn't care for her much the first few episodes, but she's now my favorite player, and I think the best this season: a real good combination of strategy, challenge play and low-key social. 

My one fear is that the others see her as a threat, and team up to boot her. 

[Bouffe]

The Coconuts stuff cracked me up big time, not gonna lie!

I don't know if it is because I have no real favourites, but I really enjoyed this episode. The one that comes close to a favourite for me is Lauren. I did enjoy Chrissy in this episode, although I do think she comes off as arrogant most of the time (and it doesn't bother me much, but I can see why it may bother others). I kind of like that double agent stuff, but Ben was totally blinded by his dislike of Joe. Devon was enjoyable too. All in all I thought it was a good episode!

[SourK]

I have to say, I was impressed by the plan to make Ben a double agent so that the numbers wouldn't turn against the main alliance after the first vote. I can see the drawbacks, since it separates one person from the group and makes the alliance slipperier, but this is the first time I can remember seeing an alliance actively try to conceal who's in their alliance and bluff to the others (aside from season one). I was also impressed by how kindly Joe accepted Mike as his alliancemate even though Mike wasn't doing anything to help his game.

Re: JP -- I have a theory that the Survivors tend to target physically strong players before strategic players because physical strength is more objective, and seems like it can't be countered as easily. People who aren't physically strong normally know that about themselves because they have lots of evidence in their day-to-day lives. We also know that building muscles requires time --no one on the tribe is suddenly going to be stronger than JP in the next five or six days. But, when it comes to strategy, it's easier to believe that you can out-think someone or out-plan someone, so it doesn't seem like such a pressing threat. It's easier for everyone to think, "I can be smarter than Ryan and Chrissy" than "I can lift something heavy to win immunity better than JP."

I also think it's valid to worry that people who rely on athleticism and individual immunities are a threat to win, since they may not make as many enemies along the way.

[amazingracefan]

I think the bigger worry with an under the radar player is what will they start doing when the numbers get low?  They don't really talk strategy with people so most won't know where their head's at.  JP has probably just stuck with Chrissy but beyond that will he just stick with whoever's in power?  I think that's a bigger worry than whether people don't dislike him on jury.  If he's not playing a strategic game he may not be a number you can get on your side when you really need it. 

[ProfCrash]

And the under the radar player is less likely to have pissed people off, making it more likely that they win the votes of anyone who is angry with the people who voted them out. I think Desi's quiet play was a massive factor in her being voted out. She was winning challenges and in the hunt to win other challenges and she was well liked. Vote out the challenge beast who is like or the loud mouth asshole who has not come close to winning a challenge?

I think Chrissy is overlooked in challenges because she had not done great in the more physical challenges. She never sucked at them but she was not one of the top contenders. What people failed to take into consideration is that Chrissy has never been fully out of those challenges and she is smart. So this last episode she was able to complete the physical part later then the physical challenge beasts and then flew through the mental puzzle. Given that many of the final challenges are more in the physical task followed by puzzle, Chrissy is probably in a good place for the last immunity challenges. Probably in a better place then JP was.

Chrissy would have been the smarter vote out because of her puzzle ability, she demonstrated her smarts more then once. Ryan has not shown himself to be good in the physical or mental challenges.

[Nashville]

Summation: Under-the-radar play is of minimal value unless you’re competing against really egregious assholes.  :)

[ProfCrash]

I suspect that there are a good number of people who we call "invisible" were playing a more social game that we would call under the radar. The folks who make it to the merge that we have not seen have done a fine job of contributing but not standing out are more likely then not playing a decent social game and are more involved in things then we know but they are not causing problems at camp or leading an alliance and TPTB are clueless how to depict their game.

[awaken]

Is something on ben’s shoulder  tattoo being covered up?

loved joe’s giant baby-head on his arm. 

[awaken]

On 11/30/2017 at 11:44 PM, Nashville said:

Well, Ryan’s physique does bear a certain resemblance to that of Joey Ramone....

I was thinking Mr Burns from The Simpsons. 

[peachmangosteen]

12 hours ago, awaken said:

Is something on ben’s shoulder  tattoo being covered up?

Yes. And we're not sure exactly what is is.