Official SURVIVOR Thread

[Dr.ciski77]

Haven't watched that video, but I'm surprised anyone would have voted for Shirin. She was widely disliked, she wasn't a strong competitor in challenges, and she certainly wasn't much of a strategist. Having said that, I don't get why Mike didn't use the idol on her to try and change the numbers a bit. He's on the chopping block as soon as he loses an immunity challenge, and now everybody knows he has an idol. He's definitely getting the winner's edit, but he's fucked up too much to actually be a viable contender. I still can't believe how dumb he was during the auction.

I also don't think Tyler is in such a good spot. Honestly, I can't make a case for anybody winning because they're all awful.

[misplaced validity]

The No Collars liked Shirin, and they are all still friends. That's 2-3 votes between Hali, Jenn, and Joe. She and Mike became a pair, and it isn't far-fetched to think he'd vote for her. That's 3-4 votes. It's hard to know where Sierra stands; as in, she's in an alliance, but she's also said she doesn't like those people. She seemingly talked to Shirin a decent amount. So, I don't know for whom she'd vote.

[Dr.ciski77]

Interesting. She was edited as a much more negative presence in general, then. Still, I'm not sure that liking necessarily equals getting votes, especially if we look at the last few seasons were people voted more out of respect for strategy and/or physical prowess. The trend seems to be to reward the puppet master who didn't get too much blood on their hands (even there, bitter juries haven't been a factor in a while).

I have to believe someone will take Dan to final 3 - he's shockingly obtuse, strongly disliked, and a non-factor in challenges. I can see Tyler, Carolyn and Dan making it to the end, and I would guess Carolyn wins that. And she would be one of the worst winners ever.

[misplaced validity]

(05-02-2015 01:06 AM)Dr.ciski77 Wrote:  Interesting. She was edited as a much more negative presence in general, then. Still, I'm not sure that liking necessarily equals getting votes, especially if we look at the last few seasons were people voted more out of respect for strategy and/or physical prowess. The trend seems to be to reward the puppet master who didn't get too much blood on their hands (even there, bitter juries haven't been a factor in a while).

Oh, I agree in a general sense, but I don't see Jenn being one of those jurors. Hali either. They seemed to hold real disdain for most of the competitors. Joe might look past personal feelings a bit more, which is why I said I don't think Shirin would have for sure gotten all 3 No Collar votes. I do think she would have gotten Mike's vote, though, and if it's a final 3 then 3-4 votes could be enough to win.

Who would be a strong winner out of this group? It's been just such an uninteresting season to me, and no one really stands out in terms of their play. To some degree that's because they've had one alliance and stuck with it, but even in seasons when that has happened someone has been able to stand out. I don't get that sense here...yet?

[Dr.ciski77]

No one. To be honest, there haven't been strong strategists (or particularly bright people) on the show in years. I think Rob's victory in RI, as baffling as it was, has really informed the way people have been playing the game since. A very passive approach that hinges on short term planning and luck of the draw. So I usually end up rooting for a particularly likable or interesting personality, but they're all awful in that sense this season.

The format this season was also really obtuse. It assumes that the three groups have idiosyncratic qualities that give them specific advantages and disadvantages (the blue collars are educated but have no street smarts, the white collars have a strong work ethic but lack a certain intellectual refinement, the no collars are laid back and adaptable but lack structure, etc) but that was not the case at all. So it was just three tribes that awkwardly came together with no real sense of purpose or drama or contrast.

[eurocheese]

Natalie from San Juan Del Sur is among my all time favorites, and I've been catching up on the back log. She lost control the week Jeremy left, but from then on it was a pretty stellar game from her. She also made a couple of significant moves in the early game that led to her win. Cochran and Kim Spradlin were pretty great in their winning seasons, too. But this season? I'd say Tyler has played the best, but all he's done is let people make terrible plans. In an all star season, these people would be cannon fodder.

[Culturegeek]

(05-02-2015 03:13 PM)eurocheese Wrote:  Natalie from San Juan Del Sur is among my all time favorites, and I've been catching up on the back log. She lost control the week Jeremy left, but from then on it was a pretty stellar game from her. She also made a couple of significant moves in the early game that led to her win. Cochran and Kim Spradlin were pretty great in their winning seasons, too. But this season? I'd say Tyler has played the best, but all he's done is let people make terrible plans. In an all star season, these people would be cannon fodder.

I'd be curious where Natalie eventually ranks for you.

[misplaced validity]

It's hard to know how much Natalie was helped by the rest of her cast, but in a way that's true every season. I really like that she played the hand she was dealt (first in losing her sister right off the bat and then losing her main alliance partner), took risks, and made them work.

[Culturegeek]

So, I just started watching this season (midway, from Joe's exit - I generally dislike pre-merge episodes). Some thoughts

a) If you use air quotes around victim to describe someone who's suffered abuse in her childhood, you are scum. Will sucks. Dan also sucks for his "karma" comment. What exactly is karma? No, seriously Dan. According to his logic, his wife being hit by a bus would be karma for him being a dick on this show. Also, asserting that domestic violence is the same as being adopted is a giant ass fuck you.

b) When one of the most entertaining players is someone trying to engineer her own exit, you've failed at casting.

c) Rodney or Mike is winning - that's the only way that Jeff would love this season. And at this point, that's hard to imagine.

d) Right now, I guess my favourites would be Mike, Tyler and Sierra. Sierra for actually reading Tyler correctly, Tyler for being amazed at how dumb Dan is and Mike for actually trying to stop Will from going off on Shirin. Tyler's tribal council performance was superb - he absolutely nailed Mike ("Because you've been entirely trustworthy this past week"). Mike is not Survivor-smart and is playing a terrible social game, but he's also not an asshole. The immunity challenge was surprisingly well edited (the crash of water on Rodney was superbly done).

[eurocheese]

Ha, I'd rank Sierra above Fabio, but yeah, sad story. Rodney reminds me quite a bit of Tony, but I guess Tony was more strategic. Actually, with the enthusiasm from Jeff, I think Mike is winning now. If he could knock out Rodney, Carolyn would be his biggest competition threat. Based on the clip, I could see him taking the girls to the end and winning the immunities from here on in. He made some huge mistakes but he's by far the best choice left.