Survivor Redemption Island - Page 2

Why am I starting to get the distinct impression that Philip might go Columbine at the reunion show?

If Sarita somehow wins Redemption next week and sneaks back into the game, I think Probst will have a stroke.  Let's root for that.

This is starting to look like a Natalie-Julie Final Two.  Sigh.

Ugh. This season is soooo boring. I only came back for Rob and Russell. The latter's out, and Rob is surrounded by such morons that I feel bad that he's metaphorically taking candy from a baby. I have no interest in any of these players. And I use the term lightly because folks have yet to play the game. I keep waiting for someone to make a move. Unfortunately for David, he made a move and it was too little, too late. Why side with Stephanie when she's the only person left in her alliance?! Talk about lack of numbers.

My wish is for Matt to get back in the game; align with David, Phil, and Andrea; play along with Ometepe to get rid of Zapatera; and then flip on Rob and co. I kinda want Matt at the Final Tribal so he can say in all honesty that "God wants him to win".

Grant can potentially make a huge run for it in the individual immunity challenges. He's been on an amazing tear when it comes to physical challenges. But he's just so lame, I couldn't care less.

ETA: I forgot to mention that the Redemption Island challenges have been so lame. I mean, "battle for your life" takes on a whole new meaning when you are just stacking dominoes or playing memory. C'mon, give us some excitement!

I'd have to say this season is running headlong towards the middle tier. I just hope Rob sticks around. It's unbelievable, really, because I hated him so much during the first all stars season, and now I totally want him to win. Him or Philip, who's guaranteed for the next all stars, or at least the first couple weeks of the next all stars. I was hoping someone would win every redemption challenge and then lose the last one, and now Matt just might.

And everyone else I want to lose in humiliating fashion and feel terribly about themselves. But then, I can't even remember any of their names, not one.

Coach breaks down Phillip samurai-style.

Very weak that they're still gonna have Redemption Island challenges. It was fine pre-merge but enough with that already.

Thrilled to see that Phillip is poised to make it to the final 6.

Yeah, Philip is finally learning to talk when asked to talk and shut the fuck up otherwise.

Matt, you disappoint me. I can't believe he trusted Rob again. He deserved getting booted. Who voted Steve, Andrea?

Where's your God now, Matt?

Nice to see Sarita at least went out after some sterling crotch shots.  And can I get a .gif of Natalie prancing around after winning that immunity necklace?  Very Portman 2.0.  

The narrative the producers are going to create is that Ometepe utilized their All Star and dominated, while Zapatera threw theirs away and suffered accordingly. And it's not entirely wrong. If Rob isn't the first Ometepe out though, they're al nuts. They might be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Episode29 

No, it was Matt. Just following Boston Rob's orders like a good sheep.

Oh yeah. I forgot that's who Rob told him to vote for. This is a prime example how religion can make you turn off your brain. Life is hard. Making decisions are hard. You have to weigh your options and make informed choices. You can't just shut down your brain and wish that some invisible being in the sky will make the right decision for you.

And yeah, Rob is wiping the floor with everyone. He really is an amazing strategist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diva 

Quote:

 

Oh yeah. I forgot that's who Rob told him to vote for. This is a prime example how religion can make you turn off your brain. Life is hard. Making decisions are hard. You have to weigh your options and make informed choices. You can't just shut down your brain and wish that some invisible being in the sky will make the right decision for you.

 

And yeah, Rob is wiping the floor with everyone. He really is an amazing strategist.

I guarantee that the only reason Redemption Island is still going forward is to save Boston Rob from his inevitible early merge ousting.  If somehow Russell and BR had both been vanquished before the merge, I'll bet dollars to donuts that RI would be over. 

They've been pretty consistent in saying that they don't engineer merges and the like based on how the game is unfolding. I tend to believe it for a couple reasons, the biggest one being that there's been dozens on instances where they clearly should have to make better television and they don't. Also, apparently the logistics of constructing all the challenges and such on remote islands are usually a big pain in the ass and they can only adjust so much. I remember one recent season, Russell's first, I think, where so many people got pulled from the game early that it really fucked them, or so the story goes.

I'm just surprised anyone thought Redemption Island was going to stop with the merge.

My friend's Facebook note on the past episode. Really great breakdown of how the editors ruin any suspense in the show.

On the one hand it is truly amazing how well Rob has his tribe wrapped around his fingers. On the other hand, what a snoozeworthy season. It really makes me wonder what the hell his tribe is thinking. I mean, they have to know that only three can make the final tribal. And if they do the math, three of them are not making the cut. There's no doubt everyone of them think that Rob will take them, but a smart player would realize that Rob made that promise to everyone. The fact that the show continues to show us Phil's rationale means that he is not flipping. Both he and Rob know, Phil's best chance of making the final is just staying put. Natalie and the other annoying chick have no game plan except ride Rob's coattails. But I'm really curious what is going through Grant and Andrea's heads. Grant has to know that Rob will see him as a threat and never in a million years take him to the finals. Andrea is only as good as her vote. By the time they reach final 4, buh bye.I just don't get why most of the people on Omatepe aren't playing the game. Even if they stick with Rob, its always worthwhile to hear what the other tribe has to say. It's insane that people would refuse to speak to, or share food with, people who could give them valuable information. I'm just baffled at the Rob cult.

I blame this season on Matt. Had he flipped to the other tribe, it would have been 6 vs 6 and more flipping would have occured.  At least he blames himself.

I agree with the double elimination.  There are times when i like to watch a plan stick, but this cult really has me bored. To me, the final three will be Phillip, Grant and Rob. Only taking Phillip because no one will vote for him and Rob and Grant are tight. 

Here's the twist, if the redemption island thing is all the cast offs all trying for one spot, then no-one from the Stealth tribe will win this game, as all of the votes from the jury will be from the other Elder tribe.  This is what puzzles me, Rob and Phillip are taunting the other tribe, putting them down and treating them like outcasts .... and thats 5 jury votes!!!! If this season comes down to a final three, then the number of judges are 9 and more then half are from the Elder tribe.  Andrea is the only one from the Stealth tribe that has a shot at winning IMO.  I hope another Idol comes into play and the Elders find it, it will be a 1 in 3 guess.

I'm conflicted about Omotepe.  On the one hand, there's absolutely no drama in the Tribal Counsels.  Yeah, we don't necessarily know who's about to be booted, but we sure as hell know it's someone from Zapatera.  Conversely, I've been completely entertained by Rob's little cult of personality.  Has any player--even Russell--ever exercised such complete control over so many people for such a length of time.  It's fascinating to me, especially Rob's police state "buddy system".  It's all Nazi Germany up in Murlonio with Natalie ratting out Ashley about the conversation with Ralph (and fabricating part of it, as well).

When Rob's alliance ruptures, I believe that it will come from Grant.  Hell, the producers seemed to be setting that up a little bit in last night's episode.  So far, I think that Grant has viewed Rob and himself as equals: co-Alpha males.  I think that  belief is starting to crack and a professional athlete like Grant isn't going to stand for being second fiddle... I hope.  Let's get some internal drama going!

jstraw80, I really don't see Rob as "taunting" the Zapateras.  He's pretty quiet in his interactions with them.  To the extent he's exhibited arrogance, it's been through his control of Omotepe.  The interesting thing to see (presuming he makes it) is whether the Zapatera members sitting on jury respect that--and I don't think there's any question about David there--or punish him for it.

Also, screw Steve sideways with a chainsaw for eating hamburgers instead of fighting for his survival.  Quitter. 

Philip is starting to feel like a plant to me. If he's entirely legit, he seems barely 1/10th self-aware than even Coach.   Rob seems to have his number, though, on parsing out when Philip is "acting crazy" and when he's actually crazy.  

Either Natalie or Andrea has this in the bag; I can just feel it in my weary bones.

There's no way Rob is taking Grant to the Final 3. Grant can actually win by saying he dominated all the physical challenges and argue he had equal say in all decisions. Rob's best chance is take one of the girls and Philip. No one can argue the ladies or Philip did anything to deserve the mil.

Agreed on all points. Rob has his tribe on such lockdown, no one is playing the game. I can't even admire his play because he's basically taking candy from a baby. He has so much Survivor experience, of course he should be running circles around these clowns. The Idols - the only things that could have shaken things up - have been non-entity's because Rob has one and Ralph and that other chick are idiots. And Redemption island has been a huge snoozefest - both in terms of who gets sent there and the challenges. What a waste of a season.

As i will also agree but the season overall .... this was a very entertaining episode.  I only wish Probst addressed the fact that maybe they called Phillip crazy because he is an adult and was sitting there in his pink underwear with a feather on his forehead.

Rob missed a big chance to get into the good graces of the other tribe .. when he could have agreed with them and voted Phillip out.  I dont understand why they voted out Julie, but oh well. 

It will be another boring episode next week, then after that it may get interesting of the remaining player either Steve or Ralph win immunity.

Yeah, this seasons won't get potentially interesting until Rob's alliance begins to eat itself.  The next two boots, however, are as preordained as the sun coming up in the morning. 

Of course Probst handled it with aplomb, he's had more than enough practice with horrible and uncomfortable situations involving race on Survivor. They're almost as common as horrible and uncomfortable situations involving sex. Every time I see them cast yet another crazy aggressive black person on Survivor, I think of that genius Real World sketch on the Dave Chappelle show. At least Phil was heretofore crazy in a Sassy Old Grampa kind of way. 

I like Rob's game, and I like Phil's crazy-to-uncomfortable-levels thing, and I think this would have been an all right season if it had a lot more Russell, so again, fuck you Zapatera, I'm enjoying watching you lose. I'm especially glad they got rid of Julie, because I simply didn't like looking at her face.

ETA: Also, I think Andrea has this thing sewn up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Episode29 

So Jeff Probst just broke it to EW that there will still be 8 players left in the final episode. I don't know what to think of this.

Aren't there normally four left? I guess you could somehow still have two on Redemption Island, but I don't know what that does with the other two. It sound like bullshit to me. There are only 11 left now. 

Gotta be a Redemption Island Royal Rumble, probably with five?

I just hate it when people get convinced God care whether they win a reality show or not, so I'm starting to enjoy Matt's own personal Gethsemane of doubt. But now that Julie is gone, I'd like him off the show too.

I don't know.  Maybe it's because I was raised Catholic.  Maybe it's because, whether I actively practice the faith or not, it's a part of who I am.  Regardless, I find Matt's story pretty captivating.  He's a guy who readily admits that he wants  to go home, but perseveres--excels, even--because he has faith that there's a reason he's still competing.  I'm not saying that he's right.  I'm not saying that God, if you believe in that sort of stuff, gives a rat's ass about the game of Survivor.  I just think it's a cool story in and of itself.

And I will now sit back and wait for the "Zombie God" and "Sky Daddy" comments to come raining in... I kid, I kid.

CBS seems to be acknowledging that this season is a minor bust with these double-boot episodes.  We also never got the perennial, mid-season clip show this time, either. 

I would dearly love to see a "Classic Coke" Survivor next season:  no idols, no Redemption/Exile Island, less food, etc.  

I'm starting to think Andrea may take it all as well. Still hoping that the redemption Island twist actually pays off and someone from Zapatera not only makes it back into the game, but wins it all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mattioli 

I don't know.  Maybe it's because I was raised Catholic.  Maybe it's because, whether I actively practice the faith or not, it's a part of who I am.  Regardless, I find Matt's story pretty captivating.  He's a guy who readily admits that he wants  to go home, but perseveres--excels, even--because he has faith that there's a reason he's still competing.  I'm not saying that he's right.  I'm not saying that God, if you believe in that sort of stuff, gives a rat's ass about the game of Survivor.  I just think it's a cool story in and of itself.

 

And I will now sit back and wait for the "Zombie God" and "Sky Daddy" comments to come raining in... I kid, I kid.

His arc is absolutely fascinating.

This season has some really interesting aspects, sociologically speaking, but in the SURVIVOR pantheon, it's certainly one of the most boring. I continue to be completely flabbergasted by how mindlessly Ometepe follows Rob. Maybe it's the editing, maybe it's how Rob has treated them, maybe other factors....but we at least see Grant doing something besides tattling to Rob about what others are doing and giving actual opinions. The Ometepe women are sickeningly sheeplike.

Matt's jaw-dropping error of not flipping on Ometepe is, as noted above, THE turning point for the season. Had Matt done that (and had he pulled Andrea with him, which I think he could have done), Rob's cult would have been finished or at least eviscerated. And while I can understand leveling the criticism against religion in general for Matt's poor criteria for decision-making, I blame it more on bad theology than being under the general banner of Christendom. Matt's decision-making process - equating hazy feelings with "God's leading" - is unfortunately rampant in some circles, and I've even seen in people I know. Having said that, I do think he's comporting himself pretty well (questionable evaluation skills notwithstanding) and Rob's targeting of him was smart, game-wise. With a bit more aggression and tactical playing, Matt could have been a formidable threat to Cult Mariano.

I don't think RI has added any real tension to the show, and I hope it doesn't come back. More importantly, I hope they're done pitting experienced players against 19 year olds for a while. I thought last season was boring, but this season is almost as bad. Certainly in the bottom 3 or 5 worst seasons the show has had.

The only thing I dislike more than the inevitable family reunion moment is the equally inevitable tribute-to-our-fallen-comrades moment in the season finale: "Ah... Burt.  It was Burt, right?  What to say about Burt?  He had something stuck between his teeth so we voted him out at the first Tribal Counsel.  Good ole Burt."

I am so sick of this season being stuck on autopilot.  Can we puh-leez have a Tribal Counsel with something approaching surprise or a blindside?  Puh-leez!

Snooze...

Highlights were mentioned above - Rob's dogged determination; shortened version of family time

Also agreed that Probst is trying desperately to save the season's entertainment value by asking Phil dumb ass questions.

Can we just skip to the Final Tribal already?

I missed last night's ep due to a funeral, but didn't even realize it until this morning. This season has been a serious bust.

And completely with Diva: let's just skip to final TC.

Grant would have stuck with Rob, but unfortunately, he is also Rob's biggest threat for the million. Looks like Natalie will win this thing.

Best part of the episode (and I mean this for real) was Rob describing how hard it is to play his game. I've always been a champion of Survivor giving up the element of surprise at Tribal, and instead focus more on the politics of the game. I find it much more fascinating to see how people strategize: what they say, how they say it, and WHEN they say it. The editing throws of the sense of timing as they air events out of order to create drama.

For me, the best part was Rob doing the braggadacio thing with his confessional: "I'm no ordinary man." I've seesawed on my opinion of him, but I think he deserves the win. The rest of the sheeple, I mean Zapatera, have, from what we've seen done nothing but take orders.

The two pivotal moments in this season both revolved around Matt: first, when Andrea threw him under the bus and second, when Matt threw her and himself. The latter is when he had a real chance of dismantling Rob's monopoly on the game. And failed utterly.

So, presuming Rob makes it to the Final Tribal Council, does he win?  There's no question that he played a strategically brilliant game.  He formed an unbreakable alliance under the umbrella of his little cult of personality.  He knew when to massage hurt feelings.  He knew when to sow dissension.  And he always managed to do so without dirtying his own hands.  From a purely objective level, he wholeheartedly deserves the million.  BUT... Survivor is a subjective game.  How bitter is the jury--composed mostly of Zappatera members--going to be towards Rob?  How reluctant will they be to award the million to someone who's had numerous chances to win big in the world of reality television?

I don't know.  My gut tells me there's no way Rob walks away with the money, unless it comes down to a vote between Phillip and himself.  And we already know there's going to be, at least, one more tribe mate sitting at the Final Tribal.

While the Ometepe folks hate Rob, I think they're going to hold the rest of Z tribe in deeper contempt, because at least Rob was actually playing the game instead of just doing as told. I don't know if I'll be shocked if Rob doesn't win - I think we've seen plenty of undeserving winners - but I think he's the clear winner here.

If Mike or Matt makes it to the final three, though, I think Rob has a serious challenge to the prize, but I think he (Rob) deserves it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mattioli 

So, presuming Rob makes it to the Final Tribal Council, does he win?  There's no question that he played a strategically brilliant game.  He formed an unbreakable alliance under the umbrella of his little cult of personality.  He knew when to massage hurt feelings.  He knew when to sow dissension.  And he always managed to do so without dirtying his own hands.  From a purely objective level, he wholeheartedly deserves the million.  BUT... Survivor is an objective game.  How bitter is the jury--composed mostly of Zappatera members--going to be towards Rob?  How reluctant will they be to award the million to someone who's had numerous chances to win big in the world of reality television?

 

I don't know.  My gut tells me there's no way Rob walks away with the money, unless it comes down to a vote between Phillip and himself.  And we already know there's going to be, at least, one more tribe mate sitting at the Final Tribal.

I said it above. Natalie wins for this very reason.

But won't the jury be heavily Ometepe? I guess I can see a vote going emotionally away from Rob, but the only person I can see having any kind of real argument for winning other than Rob is maybe Mike.

If Natalie wins with Rob in the final three, it means people are voting very, very stupidly.

MichaelM, I think you're confusing Ometepe with Zappatera.  Rob's tribe is Ometepe.  The jury is almost completely made up of defeated Zappaterians.