Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Survivor: Amazon flashback
How did we miss this?
Cole Hamels is married to Heidi from Survivor:Amazon (half of peanut butter and chocolate fame).
LINK
Amazing.
Cole Hamels is married to Heidi from Survivor:Amazon (half of peanut butter and chocolate fame).
LINK
Amazing.
Labels: Amazon, PB and C, Phillies
Survivor: Strange bedfellows
Seeing the JT and Stephen, two people from different worlds and places in life hanging out and fishing is really interesting to me. I like that when you take people out of their comfort zone they have the ability to connect as individuals.
This also got me thinking about some of the other odd couples in Survivor history
This also got me thinking about some of the other odd couples in Survivor history
- Borneo - Richard Hatch and Rudy, the classic
- Marquesas - Pappy and Neleh
- Thailand - Brian and Clay
- Panama - Shane and Courtney, the couple that hated each other the most
- Fiji - Earl and Yau-Man
Survivor: Tocantins - 1802
I wouldn't say that this week's episode had too many compelling story lines, it was more setting the stage for some things to come - I hope.
I'm not sure that this year's crop of survivors are the brightest bulbs in the shed. First Sandy didn't know what a pace was. Then Sierra and Brendan are digging a huge hole on the beach and then just tell Debbie that they're digging a fire pit for that night. Not only does she buy it, she thinks it's a great idea and then the other tribe members mention how hard they are working.
Immunity Challenge
When do they usually start the reward challenge? I was confused since this challenge was for reward and immunity. That shocked me. The physical challenge is becoming a staple for Survivor. I do like that they put it really early in the game when the contestants are still somewhat strong. Can you imagine this on day 31?
It took a minute to realize that both goals are on the same side of the field. That's probably better since the game would have taken forever if they had to go back and forth. With that geometry it seems like there is at least one clear strategy - shoot for your goal from between the two. If you miss long then the ball is far away from the other team's goal. If you shoot from the outside and it comes down in the middle they can just grab it and dunk (like Crystal from Gabon). They didn't really seem to get this part of it.
Taj was a physical force playing this game. With that said she was also a chucker. Passing her the ball was like giving it to Ian, you just knew that she was going to shoot so you can stop looking to get the ball back. The other parallel watching this episode was that this was like playing pool basketball with Brendan and his water polo friends. Completely brutal and a test of wills.
In the end Jalapao won the challenge and the fishing gear. But wait, there is Exile Island. And not only that, the exiled person gets to pick someone to go with him. That is certainly a change. We'll have to see how this plays out, but I am encouraged that it gives people the chance to make alliances before the merge. Could be good, and it really doesn't hurt you to share the clue with someone from the other tribe, as long as you team up with them later. The other twist is that you can go to the other tribe if you want to from Exile. Does that mean the two people switch or do two people go back to one tribe? We'll have to see that play out. I think you really have to be on the outs to switch tribes, but if they pull a tribe swap someone could switch back to get in with their people.
Strategy Analysis
Going into tribal this time it was really a choice between Sierra and Candice. Sierra has the stigma of being the person originally voted out and it is always hard to change first impressions. I hated how it came up at tribal that there was resentment toward Sierra because she wasn't on the trek and was flown to camp in a helicopter. That's completely irrational. There shouldn't be any resentment since it wasn't her choice. The team voted for her to do that. But this isn't a rational game.
Again, at the beginning it's bad to be weak but it's worse to be annoying or negative. Sierra was pretty weak but she wasn't annoying like Candace was. So that throws a wrench in the works.
My Prediction
Sierra. I didn't think that she was strong enough to win over the gamers. Wrong again, looks like they were getting rid of Candace with her bad attitude.
Season total: 0-2 (.000)
Spell Check
Right: 4
Wrong: 4 (Candice 3, Candance (seriously, Candance?))
Other: 0
Season total: 8-8-0 (.500)
Quick hit thoughts
I'm not sure that this year's crop of survivors are the brightest bulbs in the shed. First Sandy didn't know what a pace was. Then Sierra and Brendan are digging a huge hole on the beach and then just tell Debbie that they're digging a fire pit for that night. Not only does she buy it, she thinks it's a great idea and then the other tribe members mention how hard they are working.
Immunity Challenge
When do they usually start the reward challenge? I was confused since this challenge was for reward and immunity. That shocked me. The physical challenge is becoming a staple for Survivor. I do like that they put it really early in the game when the contestants are still somewhat strong. Can you imagine this on day 31?
It took a minute to realize that both goals are on the same side of the field. That's probably better since the game would have taken forever if they had to go back and forth. With that geometry it seems like there is at least one clear strategy - shoot for your goal from between the two. If you miss long then the ball is far away from the other team's goal. If you shoot from the outside and it comes down in the middle they can just grab it and dunk (like Crystal from Gabon). They didn't really seem to get this part of it.
Taj was a physical force playing this game. With that said she was also a chucker. Passing her the ball was like giving it to Ian, you just knew that she was going to shoot so you can stop looking to get the ball back. The other parallel watching this episode was that this was like playing pool basketball with Brendan and his water polo friends. Completely brutal and a test of wills.
In the end Jalapao won the challenge and the fishing gear. But wait, there is Exile Island. And not only that, the exiled person gets to pick someone to go with him. That is certainly a change. We'll have to see how this plays out, but I am encouraged that it gives people the chance to make alliances before the merge. Could be good, and it really doesn't hurt you to share the clue with someone from the other tribe, as long as you team up with them later. The other twist is that you can go to the other tribe if you want to from Exile. Does that mean the two people switch or do two people go back to one tribe? We'll have to see that play out. I think you really have to be on the outs to switch tribes, but if they pull a tribe swap someone could switch back to get in with their people.
Strategy Analysis
Going into tribal this time it was really a choice between Sierra and Candice. Sierra has the stigma of being the person originally voted out and it is always hard to change first impressions. I hated how it came up at tribal that there was resentment toward Sierra because she wasn't on the trek and was flown to camp in a helicopter. That's completely irrational. There shouldn't be any resentment since it wasn't her choice. The team voted for her to do that. But this isn't a rational game.
Again, at the beginning it's bad to be weak but it's worse to be annoying or negative. Sierra was pretty weak but she wasn't annoying like Candace was. So that throws a wrench in the works.
My Prediction
Sierra. I didn't think that she was strong enough to win over the gamers. Wrong again, looks like they were getting rid of Candace with her bad attitude.
Season total: 0-2 (.000)
Spell Check
Right: 4
Wrong: 4 (Candice 3, Candance (seriously, Candance?))
Other: 0
Season total: 8-8-0 (.500)
Quick hit thoughts
- Taj is married to Eddie George?! That's fantastic. He was a fantasy stud for years. If she follows the same trajectory she'll dominate for 8 weeks and then not be able to walk by the end of the show.
- An argument about how to cook beans and rice, together or not. Coach is going to rub these people the wrong way.
- In the challenge, JT totally faked out Jerry. Doesn't he know you shouldn't leave your feet?
Labels: Buckeyes, physical challenge, Tocantins
Monday, February 16, 2009
Survivor: Tocantins - 1801
I'm excited for the latest installment of Survivor to begin. It's now when we get to meet 16 new contestants - and ruthlessly pick apart their actions over 39 days on a national television stage. What could be better?
Starting off, they had a classic take all that you can carry in a minute exercise. Most of the time on these there isn't really that much stuff to take and so it becomes more about getting the right material for your tribe. I'd really like to see them have a truck loaded to the gills and give them 20 seconds to grab whatever they could. Then you'd see some real choices being made. As it was, I think the key things to grab are: 1. dried food (beans, rice) 2. water 3. camp equipment. I can't imagine that taking a watermelon is the best choice, especially since you have to carry it. Same goes for wood. Did they not see any trees around there? Timbira seemed to get everything good. Did Jalapao not understand the task?
The first twist came immediately. The had to vote someone off right away. I didn't like this version the first time they ran it on Palau. It just seems so unfair to get someone out there and they really don't even get in the game. Not surprisingly on first impressions they vote out a zebra and a thin girl. Luckily they weren't really out of the game but got to go to camp early. That was actually pretty interesting, since it throws a different dynamic in there right away. Sandy being so excited she didn't have to go on the forced march was really not a great plan, since she just put herself further on the outs with her tribe.
We had two very different strategies to deal with this event. Sandy decides she's going for the idol. In that quest, she whipped past Dan from Gabon as the worst idol finder ever. First, how does she not dig at the big stick pointing straight up in the air. Second, who doesn't know what a pace is? Or can't find the only palm tree? That's not exactly rocket science. Anyway, I think that in that situation you really have to get back to camp and put aside your anger and pick some manageable task to work on. That way when your tribe shows up, you can have something tangible and say "I did that for our tribe while you were on your way here." That's what Sierra did, and her tribe seemed to notice her effort. I think that will come back to help her.
Players who made an early impression:
The immunity challenge seemed pretty vanilla: racing down a course, pulling some puzzle pieces, and doing a two part puzzle. I didn't really think that it was too compelling. Of course, they're still playing for fire, which is critical at this stage in the game. We didn't see anyone even trying to make fire this season. It looked pretty tough running the course. I was surprised that once people finished they didn't go back to try and pick up their teammates' slack and get the team done.
Strategy Analysis
If you get voted off on the first episode you really don't have anyone to blame but yourself. By the first tribal alliances have not been set up, so you don't get votes split down coalition lines. There are 3 reasons people get voted off on the first episode: weakness, laziness, annoyingness. There's not really much you can do about being weak. The key is really to make sure you're not lazy or annoying (especially bossy). This vote came down to one question. Does Sandy's annoyingness and laziness (not helping out immediately) overwhelm Carolina's bossiness? They are different - Sandy seems to just not click with people, while Carolina calls them out - not a good plan.
My Prediction
Sandy. She still seems like she annoys people in the tribe and spending time on your own looking for the idol isn't really going to help your case at all. Of course I'm wrong once again, way to get this season off to a great start.
Season total: 0-1 (.000)
Spell Check
Right: 4
Wrong: 4 (Caralina 2, Caroline, Caraleena)
Other: 0
Season total: 4-4-0 (.500)
Quick hit thoughts
Starting off, they had a classic take all that you can carry in a minute exercise. Most of the time on these there isn't really that much stuff to take and so it becomes more about getting the right material for your tribe. I'd really like to see them have a truck loaded to the gills and give them 20 seconds to grab whatever they could. Then you'd see some real choices being made. As it was, I think the key things to grab are: 1. dried food (beans, rice) 2. water 3. camp equipment. I can't imagine that taking a watermelon is the best choice, especially since you have to carry it. Same goes for wood. Did they not see any trees around there? Timbira seemed to get everything good. Did Jalapao not understand the task?
The first twist came immediately. The had to vote someone off right away. I didn't like this version the first time they ran it on Palau. It just seems so unfair to get someone out there and they really don't even get in the game. Not surprisingly on first impressions they vote out a zebra and a thin girl. Luckily they weren't really out of the game but got to go to camp early. That was actually pretty interesting, since it throws a different dynamic in there right away. Sandy being so excited she didn't have to go on the forced march was really not a great plan, since she just put herself further on the outs with her tribe.
We had two very different strategies to deal with this event. Sandy decides she's going for the idol. In that quest, she whipped past Dan from Gabon as the worst idol finder ever. First, how does she not dig at the big stick pointing straight up in the air. Second, who doesn't know what a pace is? Or can't find the only palm tree? That's not exactly rocket science. Anyway, I think that in that situation you really have to get back to camp and put aside your anger and pick some manageable task to work on. That way when your tribe shows up, you can have something tangible and say "I did that for our tribe while you were on your way here." That's what Sierra did, and her tribe seemed to notice her effort. I think that will come back to help her.
Players who made an early impression:
- I like Jerry's philosophy of not telling people he was army or giving orders
- Coach is not going to win - you can't choose your opponents like a samurai and try to do everything as honorably as possible.
- Tyson is a riot. Always a great idea to get naked ASAP. And "man tiara" is just gold
- Erinn is definitely going to skew the spell check total . . . unless she wins
The immunity challenge seemed pretty vanilla: racing down a course, pulling some puzzle pieces, and doing a two part puzzle. I didn't really think that it was too compelling. Of course, they're still playing for fire, which is critical at this stage in the game. We didn't see anyone even trying to make fire this season. It looked pretty tough running the course. I was surprised that once people finished they didn't go back to try and pick up their teammates' slack and get the team done.
Strategy Analysis
If you get voted off on the first episode you really don't have anyone to blame but yourself. By the first tribal alliances have not been set up, so you don't get votes split down coalition lines. There are 3 reasons people get voted off on the first episode: weakness, laziness, annoyingness. There's not really much you can do about being weak. The key is really to make sure you're not lazy or annoying (especially bossy). This vote came down to one question. Does Sandy's annoyingness and laziness (not helping out immediately) overwhelm Carolina's bossiness? They are different - Sandy seems to just not click with people, while Carolina calls them out - not a good plan.
My Prediction
Sandy. She still seems like she annoys people in the tribe and spending time on your own looking for the idol isn't really going to help your case at all. Of course I'm wrong once again, way to get this season off to a great start.
Season total: 0-1 (.000)
Spell Check
Right: 4
Wrong: 4 (Caralina 2, Caroline, Caraleena)
Other: 0
Season total: 4-4-0 (.500)
Quick hit thoughts
- I don't like that they give the losing tribe fire after tribal, but if it's 120F out there they really need to give them some water.
- Seriously, who doesn't know what a pace is?
- It sucks that one guy's pants were totally ripped up on Day 1
- I'm sure that I'm not the only man in American who was very upset to Carolina and her two friends voted off on the very first show.
Labels: cleavage, fake-out, Tocantins
Going Live Again
OK, Survivor is back and so we're back and better than ever. If you missed out last season, now you can get back in on the action.
Tokin-cheese here we come!
Tokin-cheese here we come!
Labels: Survivor
