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Survivor

By B-Side | Friday, April 14, 2006 | 1:37 pm | 42 Comments

survivor4-13-06 Last week, I was annoyed at Terry on Survivor. Now I’m positively livid. Okay, maybe I’m not livid, but seriously, this guy has the worst gameplan of all. Who knows. Maybe he will go all the way and prove me wrong, but as of right now, I have a hard time thinking that his cocky attitude won’t get him anywhere except a cushy seat on the jury. Serves him right. He’s had so many chances to turn this game around, and each time, he drops the ball. I don’t know why I’m so angry. At this point, I pretty much hate Terry — so why should I care that he’s totally screwed up his chances? I guess it’s because my desire to see the smug Casaya alliance upended overpowers any disdain I have for Terry and his lame scheming. What a strange thing Survivor is. It forces you to hate someone and root for them all at the same time.Last night’s episode started with the heartwarming image of monkeys in the trees. Yay monkeys! And speaking of simian creatures, we then found Terry babbling about his Navy training to the tribe. I think it was his way of intimidating the others, making them feel that if they couldn’t beat him, they might as well join him. Of course, this wasn’t a particularly smart strategy because it only underscored how powerful he could be. I’m sure this dissuaded anyone who had been thinking about flopping and heading to the final four with Terry. What’s the point of joining someone’s alliance if they’d only beat you in an endurance challenge anyway? On top of that, all this Navy bragging just reiterated how important it was to get rid of Terry as soon as possible, thus strengthening the Casaya bond in the face of a common enemy.

Meanwhile, under the so-called shelter, Courtney, Danielle, and Cirie could care less about Terry’s military training. Cirie even suggested that they break his arm. I’m not sure if I advocate such brutal violence, but… I’m not sure if I’d stop her either. At the very least, she could burn Terry’s dumb yellow shirt.

Moments later, Terry then tried to see where he fit into the big picture after the final six. Uh… you don’t fit into the big picture after the final six. Exactly what part of “dwindling alliance” do you not understand? Nevertheless, this only fanned the flames of Terry’s competitive drive even more. “I am totally motivated to kick their butts at everything that comes down the road,” he said. And if the next challenge calls for terrible scheming, he’ll totally win. Casaya, on the other hand, was ready to keep pushing Terry. There’s no way he could keep winning immunities. “He’s not an American Gladiator,” Aras said. We then cut to Terry swinging from rings in the treetops and tackling one of those monkeys. Oh Aras. How wrong you were!

Later, the girls talked about getting rid of Terry’s idol, if indeed he actually had one. You see, even though Danielle had seen the idol, she wasn’t actually sure that it was the idol. It could have just been a furry thing in the woods. Yes. Because there are always ornate, idol-like objects scattered in the wilderness.

At the reward challenge, Probst announced that the winners would receive messages from home. I figured this would be happening, thanks to all the bawling in the promos for the episode. Sure enough, within seconds, Shane was already crying, his paternal guilt kicking in. “Well, it would be great if they were here in the flesh. They’re not,” Probst said. I didn’t believe him though. Jeff can never resist that joyful surprise when relatives pop out from behind the bushes. But alas, he was telling the truth. All we saw were snippets from videos. First was Terry’s family, which featured a tantastic wife (Terry is pretty tantastic himself) and a teary-eyed daughter saying, “I really miss you.” Way to neglect your child, TERRY!

Danielle’s family was what I expected: very Boston-ish, eating dinner, semi-bored. Bruce’s family seemed consumed on making its dog “Choco” bark for the camera. Seriously, the entire video seemed to consist of them saying, “Say hi, Choco. Say hi!” We then moved on to Courtney’s mom, Barbara, and I expected a total Earth mother, surrounded by pottery and dream catchers. Instead, we found a relatively prim woman who may or may not have just finished watching “The Hour of Power.” Nevertheless, once she began talking, it was easy to see where Courtney had gotten her crazy from. “We’ve got the candles going, we’ve got the fountain going, we’ve got the love signs going,” her mom said. Candles? Love signs? A fountain? Exactly what sort of household is this? Do they have an altar too?

Next was Aras’s dad who spent the video circling around his backyard on a bike before stepping into a giant, uh, teepee. How very Aras. Then it was time for the total waterworks as we moved onto Shane’s ragamuffin son. The kid said something forgettable, and Shane totally lost it. I mean, he was a few sobs away from literally saying, “Boo hoo.” Eventually, he said that he’d grown up with his son, who he’d only had when he was twenty-one. “He is my brother. He is my other half. He is my son.” And he is going to be so screwed up you don’t even know.

Sally’s family was fairly blah; although, I was oddly amused with how happy they were to reveal their new apartment to the world. And last but not least was Cirie’s family. Probst pretended to skip her, but then he smiled bashfully and said, “Aww, I couldn’t forget you.” Oh Jeffy! Such a prankster!

Anyway, after these clips were complete, Jeff said that the winners would get to see the rest of the videos and dine on some PB&J sandwiches with milk. Kind of ghetto with the food there, but I’m sure at this point, any sort of nutrition was wonderful for the survivors. As for the challenge, well, let me just say that I thought it was hilarious. Basically, the tribe would be randomly split into two teams of four. On each team, one person had to lie down on this cradle that was suspended by three ropes. The other three people had to hold those ropes and tug on them as appropriate so that the person in the cradle could grab flags off poles and then insert them in designated slots. Winner of the challenge would get all the stuff mentioned above AND choose someone to go to Exile Island.

Well, the event began, and almost immediately, I was laughing. The sight of Courtney and Danielle — the two girls in the cradles — getting whipped around this course was hilarious. I don’t really know why. It just was. At first, the teams were neck and neck, with Danielle’s group having a slight lead. But with the score tied at 6 all (the teams had to place fifteen flags each), Aras knocked a flag out of its hole by accident, causing his team to lose valuable time as they went back and fetched the flag. Courtney’s team then took a solid lead that was eventually made even larger when Danielle’s team knocked yet another flag out of its slot. Well, we all knew how this would end: Courtney, Terry, Sally and Bruce all won reward. I was hoping they’d send Shane to Exile Island, just because he’d be a total mess, but sadly, they sent Aras — who actually wanted to go.

Now, if Sally and Terry were smart, they’d take the opportunity to scheme with their fellow victors Courtney and Bruce — two of the more disgruntled Casaya members — but Sally and Terry weren’t smart, and so they just gulped down their milk and smiled.

Back at camp, Cirie had her own special reward: getting to look at Shane’s penis. In a moment that made me ever so thankful for the CBS blur, Shane dropped trou and had nurse Cirie look at his pee-pee.

“I have an issue with my penis,” he said. “I need you to look at it.”

“I don’t want to look at it,” Cirie said, dreading this entire Survivor experience more and more.

“I can’t even touch it. It hurts,” Shane said, later questioning, “Why is it all red?” Okay, Shane, you have to shut up now. Cirie, meanwhile, was hysterically laughing. “YAY!” she sarcastically said to us, explaining her enthusiasm over the entire situation. Eventually, she did inspect Shane’s sore penis, and her official diagnosis was diaper rash, chafing. Shane chafes? Why, I thought that was a given.

Nevertheless, Cirie then told us, “I tried to be as professional as I could be under the circumstances.” Apparently Cirie’s level of professionalism includes doubling over with intense laughter and mockery. “Shane is like a cartoon character,” she then told us. “And now he’s like a nude cartoon character.” Man, we just can’t get enough of the disturbing images, can we?

Over on Exile Island, Aras was having a fantabulous time. He was alone, with nature, free to masturbate (okay, I inferred on that last one). The only problem he had was finding that damned immunity idol, which, sorry to say, wasn’t even there anymore.

“I just can’t seem to wrap my mind around these clues,” Aras said. To be fair, he can’t quite wrap his mind around a lot of things — starting with the concept of bubbles. Anyway, he then wrote off his incompetency, saying, “I’m sure a lot of it has to do with mental fatigue.” Yeah, either that or the fact that you’re a MORON. Okay, Aras really isn’t that bad, but I still can’t get over his silly hand-hovering technique from the first episode.

Back at the Gitanos camp, the reward winners returned, which meant we had been thankfully spared the sight of them watching all their dumb videos. In addition to everything they had already won, the foursome also was given their luxury items. Courtney had her fire dancing thingies, Bruce had a sketch pad, Sally had a journal, and Terry, well, of course he had an American flag. I thought it was going to be a book about ugly striped shirts, but I was wrong. Anyway, this wasn’t just any American flag. It was the flag that had adorned the casket of his father, a Korean War vet. I appreciated the symbolic meaning for Terry, but was it really a tribute to anything to bring it out here in the wilderness where it could be sullied and destroyed by Mother Nature — or Shane’s infectious penis?

Later, Sally told Terry that she didn’t want to go home yet (then SCHEME, bitch!). Terry replied that it was up to her to get the girls to come on over to their side. That was kind of his way of saying, “Whatever. I already have the immunity idol. You’re on your own, sistah.” Terry then told us that we thinking about sharing the immunity idol because it could shake up the game. Uh, it would have shaken up the game had you used it three weeks ago, but that’s okay. Anyway, I wasn’t going to get into a whole tizzy because if there’s anything we know about Terry, it’s that he’ll never let anyone else use his idol. So don’t get your hopes up Sally. It’s all over for you.

At the immunity challenge, Jeff handed each of the players a nut and a shell. Each person then had to put each item in each hand. How very cryptic. Jeff then revealed this week’s challenge. Players had to swim out into the ocean and memorize a bunch of symbols (and their order) from an underwater display. They then had to run back to the beach and replicate the pattern in a little work station. First person to correctly complete the task would win immunity. A rather simple challenge, BUT there was a twist. People could opt out of the challenge and instead dine on cheeseburgers. This, of course, got Shane all excited as he gestured frantically for Probst to bring him a burger right then and there. Not so fast, Shaney. The way this worked was that on the count of three, the Survivors had to hold out their hands. If they showed the shell, they’d be competing. If they showed the nut, they’d be eating. Well, everyone revealed their hands, and in a not so smart move, nearly all of Casaya opted to eat cheeseburgers. The only one who decided to compete was Aras. Sally and Terry obviously eschewed the burgers too, which meant that they’d have a 66% chance of winning immunity. Not such a smart thing for Casaya. If Sally were to win, one of them would be guaranteed going home. If Terry were to win, then there was a chance he’d give Sally his immunity idol. Very risky overall.

Anyway, the challenge began, and since there wasn’t an awful lot that Probst could do a play-by-play of, he focused his energy on the people eating, giving us unnecessary narration like “Cirie’s got a bite!” and “Bruce’s getting in there!” At one point, while Terry, Sally, and Aras were underwater, Probst even said, “A lot of french fries. A lot of cheeseburgers.” Okay, Jeff. We really don’t need to know every detail about this culinary experience.

First to head back from the ocean was Terry, followed by Aras, and eventually Sally. We then eagerly sat and watched as the trio toiled with their puzzle pieces. Suddenly Aras called Jeff over. Did he have it? Did he have it? NO! Ha! Excellent. But now Terry thought he had it. I was hoping that he was wrong, desperately wishing that Sally would pull this one out, but no such luck. Terry got it right and won immunity again. Sadly for the Casaya crew, they had to stop eating immediately, which was tough for Shane who had about two hamburgers stuffed in his mouth. Seriously, I’ve seen orangutans that have better eating mannerisms than Shane.

Well, this was all bad news for Sally because now that Terry had immunity, there was no way that he’d hand over his hidden idol. That didn’t stop him from bragging about it as he quietly showed it to Bruce. I think this was his way of trying to curry Bruce’s favor again, but we as usual, Terry’s biggest downfall was “guaranteeing” something instead of planting seeds of doubt and paranoia. He later tried this strategy on Courtney, who also didn’t seem all that excited about it.

Sally meanwhile tried to work the girls by saying that at sometime or another, they’d have to break up. It was a nice try, but too late. Oddly enough, during this process, I somehow came to believe that Terry might just play the idol after all, especially once Aras began freaking out. You see, Aras feared that if the idol were played, he’d have the second highest number of votes and would be heading home. I didn’t understand why Terry and Sally didn’t then approach Aras and threaten to play the idol unless he joined their side. Aras would be completely stuck. He’d have to join up, otherwise he’d go home. On top of that, it would be in his best interest to dissuade the others from voting against Sally. It would only be a matter of simple pressuring to bring someone else like Shane on board to vote against a mutually hated tribemate like Courtney. THEN, if they wanted to be really devious, Terry and Sally could then tell Courtney that Aras and Shane were voting against her and start a whole war. Suddenly Terry and Sally become swing votes instead of victims. ARGH! I need to be a consultant for these people.

Unfortunately, Terry and Sally were incapable of actually formulating a logical plan like this, and instead they still maintained that maybe they could win over some people with their “guarantees.” Terry then told us that maybe he’d play this idol and get some numbers on his side because then he wouldn’t have to worry about immunity until the final three. Yeah, that’s something you should have thought about A FEW WEEKS AGO.

That night at Tribal Council, I had to admit I was a bit excited. I sincerely didn’t know if Terry was going to play his idol or not. My brain said no, but my heart said yes. Or maybe it was the other way around. Whatever. Anyway, as the first member of the jury, a clean and shaven Austin entered the council. This made all the girls go ga-ga (and Shane too, who let out a little “Wow”). Probst then questioned Sally about how she felt about things. She said she was annoyed that she couldn’t be confident about her place in the game. I thought she’d be more annoyed that she was completely inept at scheming. You know, if Misty were still around, she’d have turned this game on its head by now.

Later, Aras talked about how annoyed he was that he had to shoulder the burden of winning the immunity challenge all by himself. After all, if everyone had participated, Terry might not have won again. Amidst all this, we kept cutting to the ex-Navy Officer who sat smugly in his seat, a haughty smile plastered on his face. Did anyone else want to punch him? He has to be the first underdog that I’ve actually hated.

And just in case we couldn’t tell how annoying Terry had become, he then said, “I’m going to continue winning immunities whether they like it or not.” Oh shut up. This was all bad news for Sally, by the way, because the cockier Terry acted, the more likely everyone would gun for him. And the more people gunned for Terry, the less chance he’d have to break apart Casaya. And the less chance he had of that, the more he needed his idol as a backup. And the more he needed the idol, well, let’s just say, Sally should enjoy these final moments.

Nevertheless, Danielle balked at Terry’s attitude, calling him cocky, but lo! Jeff Probst wasn’t going to let that sneak by him. “I think it’s an interesting comment coming from you, seeing how confident and how cocky YOU were,” he said. Oh SLAM! You got surrrrved!! (Christina Aguilera inflection intended).

Well, there was some minor discussion about the idol, and some people seemed to be daring Terry to play it (smell the roses Aras! They don’t care about you! Switch sides!). Aras then pleaded for Terry not to use the idol until he had immunity, and yes, I’m sure Terry was going to wait until his biggest competitor was safe before he wasted his idol. Then again, knowing TerryLogic, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s exactly what he did.

Anyway, it was time to hit the parchment. Sally and Terry voted against Aras, of course, and Cirie voted against Sally. We didn’t get to see who Courtney voted for, but we heard her say, “You’re a great player in this game and too much of a threat.” Hmmm… Surely she couldn’t be referring to Sally. Calling her a threat is like calling Terry a strategist — just doesn’t fit. The rest of the gang then scrawled down whatever names they scrawled down, and then it was time to learn the results. First vote: Sally. Second vote: Sally. Third vote: Aras. Fourth vote: Aras.

So it was tied two votes Sally, two votes Aras. The next two names were Sally’s, which meant that Courtney and Bruce hadn’t switched sides. Sure enough, Sally was voted off the island. But wait! What about the immunity idol? Did Terry play it? A few thumping heartbeats later, Sally stood up and handed over her torch. Nope. No idol for her. Terry: what a dick. I mean, I understand why he didn’t give it up — he had to look out for himself. But the only reason why he had to be so careful was because he’d totally painted himself into a corner. Now he needs that idol more than ever before. He’s taking a huge gamble going up against an entire tribe, and if there’s an immunity challenge where the survivors can take out each other’s porcelain tiles or whatever, he’s a total goner. Then again, he’s guaranteed a spot in the final six now, and a lot can happen between now and then.

What did you think about this episode? Did Terry do the right thing? And has he made his uphill battle that much harder?

Comments (42)
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42 Comments

1

Ash

Posted April 14, 2006 at 2:18 pm

Yeah, I was kind of pissed when I got on MSN’s Entertainment section at 7:00 PM last night and saw the heading that said “Sally is gone” or some crap like that… JERKS
2

Ash

Posted April 14, 2006 at 2:24 pm

Oh, and yay for being first Good recap as always!
3

mangos

Posted April 14, 2006 at 3:10 pm

As much as I wanted him to give Sally the immunity idol, I probably wouldnt have either. The time to change the game was a few weeks ago, so pretty much if he had given her the idol he’d just have an extra week or two to stick around. Now he can afford to lose immunity once. But one thing is for sure-next week is going to be good because someone on the other team is going home!
4

TWilliams

Posted April 14, 2006 at 3:21 pm

Poor Sally . . . I liked her. I can’t blame Terry for not using the stupid idol, but as you said B-Side, he is only making his place in the tribe worse by always talking about how he is going to dominate the rest of the game. If he is so sure about this, why not slip the idol to Sally b/c he won’t be needing it?! This shows how confident he REALLY is.

I did find Cirie’s comment to the camera interesting as she voted for Sally. She said something along the lines as “this is only strategic and I HOPE you have the idol.” She wanted Aras’ ass gone. I think Cirie is going to be one to watch in the future . . . she might have been Terry’s best bet from the beginning; unfortunately he went for the younger, thinner girls. Strange, he wanted NOTHING to do with one named Misty at the start of the game. Makes you wonder how different the game would have been had weak-ass Ruth Marie been sent packing before Misty. Astronaut Dan was such a genius . . .

Shane’s dining manners are lacking. Gross. I think he said “Wow” to Austin because he was wearing pink — not a color the manly Shane would EVER wear.

Preview for next week — poor Bruce.

I don’t understand how Terry thinks he can win this thing? Him irritating the Casayas just means they would NEVER EVER vote for him. Him making it to the final two means nothing because he doesn’t have the numbers in the jury. I think he is expecting them to all get upset with each other when they have to start voting out each other; but shouldn’t he be a bit less vocal and a little less annoying if he wants some of their votes? I don’t get him; but nobody here has ever said he is much of a thinker.
5

jeff

Posted April 14, 2006 at 3:33 pm

You know what’s fun? Terry just might win all the rest… and take 2nd, of course.
6

grits

Posted April 14, 2006 at 4:10 pm

I had a true guffaw when at the end of the reward challenge, Courtney’s team mates just let go and she went flying away. Was it Courtney who said she wanted to be up against Terry in the final two? What is she thinking? Sure he’s an egomaniac and sure he has no clear strategy, but if he makes final two with his sucky strategy, I would probably vote for him because he outlasted and outplayed. Why wouldn’t she want to go up against Shane the Chaffed?
7

KatiesHole

Posted April 14, 2006 at 4:25 pm

Did anyone else laugh out loud at Courtney’s mother, then seeing her dance around with the fire?

Even though I’m not a fan, Terry is looking better and better, the longer he stays on that island. I think I’d rather have Aras first, but could enjoy the Terry train of love..; )

KH
I miss Nick!
8

grits

Posted April 14, 2006 at 4:53 pm

KH — Yes, I had a chuckle at Courtney’s mom and then her whole fire dancing ecstasy. I’m kind of with you on the Terry train of love — he has a lot to prove and it could work to my advantage…..
9

mangos

Posted April 14, 2006 at 5:03 pm

B-side, how could you not post a picture of Shane when he had his mouth stuffed with hamburger? That was the funniest thing I have seen in weeks!
10

stacyrocks

Posted April 14, 2006 at 5:11 pm

Oh, the pictures are up now, yet none of Shane’s baboon face full of food? I thought for sure it would be one of the pics this week. I about died when I saw him. Even Jeffy was cracking up!!

Terry, he’s shown his immunity idol to so many people. And for what? Nothing. Oh, I’m sorry, he actually promised them a week of worry free tribal councils. Sounds like a GRRRReat offer!… Clown.

Oh and Austin didn’t look any different to me. He had good clothes, and his hair was clean but he’s still lacking an upper lip. Not hot. It pains me that it’s not Nick sticking around.

And now, WHY would CBS even show those previews of Bruce in pain? And then when the tribe is eating the next day, he is obviously missing. CBS is spoiling their OWN episodes.

*Cirie, make it work girl!
11

HoneyBunny

Posted April 14, 2006 at 5:15 pm

Watching Shane eat reminded me of watching Flavor Flav eat –
Ick.

hb
12

zoobabe

Posted April 14, 2006 at 7:33 pm

Shane’s chafed penis (and Cirie’s mocking of it) was a reprieve in this somewhat predictable episode. I would like to think that the Casaya memebers were smart enough to not ALL go for the food to try and stop Terry from winning immunity, but I guess I thought wrong. Terry and his “idol” promises are so lame! Why even offer/show it now? It didn’t matter whther people flopped sides b/c whoever Terry and Sally voted for would have gone home anyway in the event of him playing the idol. The only thing that switching others would do is guarantee that Terry DIDN’T have to use it! Don’t they teach strategy at the Naval Academy? I want his ass out of there!
13

georgiababe

Posted April 14, 2006 at 8:26 pm

I like Terry. Maybe I’m a nut, but I do. I hope that it’s Terry and Bruce for the final two, but I’m very worried about Bruce, seeing the previews of the next episode…
Whatever happened to the whole “Survivor being carried away on stretcher in intense pain” story line? I thought that CBS would show that for sure but it’s been what, three weeks? I really hope that isn’t what they’re alluding to in the previews, with Bruce rolling around moaning…I love Bruce!! Bruce for final two!! Yeah!!

What does everyone else think about the absent stretcher? Is that Bruce’s fate?
14

Victoria

Posted April 14, 2006 at 8:39 pm

I thought Sally was supposed to be estranged from her parents, because she got a divorce and they are Christian? Then she has a video from home from them. Does Terry not realize he can’t win this game? No one will vote for him if he makes it to the final two. Well, except Austin and Sally who really even shouldn’t, because it’s not like he ever gave them anything. I would be bitter if I were them, but they were holding on to the delusion until the very end that Terry would help them out, and he didn’t and still they were all like “Rah Terry!” Pathetic. Go Cirie!
15

zoobabe

Posted April 14, 2006 at 8:52 pm

georgia- yes it does seem to be that the stretcher is for Bruce next week. The editing of the Burnett crew is crafty, but one of our fellow commenters said that next week would be the “medical emergency” episode.
16

zevonia

Posted April 14, 2006 at 8:54 pm

georgiababe, I think it probably is Bruce going out on the stretcher but you never know. Editing for misdirection happens a great deal on this show.
I wish Terry was better at strategy but I can’t entirely blame him for wanting to hang on to the idol. If he makes it to the end, who he’s standing next to will make all the difference if he wants to win the million.
I loved Cirie laughing at Shane’s genitalia. I wonder if it was cold out?
17

holyterror

Posted April 15, 2006 at 6:10 am

One more disturbing image: Shane saying how long he’d been wearing the same wet underpants.
18

djo8901

Posted April 15, 2006 at 6:26 am

Maybe Courtney sets Bruce on fire with her fire dancing thingies. First a machete to the face – now this. Poor Bruce.
19

TinkerbellAPixie

Posted April 15, 2006 at 7:09 am

Great recap B-Side. For some reason my Tivo missed this ep so I had to rely on you = and you never let me down!

That photo of Cirie and Shane looks like she is on the “job” if ya know what I mean.
20

joyfulchicken

Posted April 15, 2006 at 8:21 am

Now we know where Danielle got her big boobs gene from: her dad. Heh.

And Terry… argh. Terry is Colby version 2.0. Strong as an ox. Dumb as an ox.

I think he still has a shot. The right thing for him to do at this point would be to stop hiding the idol. He should just show it to everyone and say, “Hey everyone, I have the idol. If you vote for me, I’ll be sending a random person home. You don’t want to take the risk, do you?” That way, the others will definitely think twice before writing his name down.

But I don’t think that he’s smart enough to figure it out. Which is really unfortunate, because that immunity idol is probably the most powerful item in the history of Survivor.

What a waste.
21

exlogcabin

Posted April 15, 2006 at 8:50 am

Why all the hate for Aras?

His team basically backstabbed him by not competing. They showed that they weren’t willing to protect their leader. If I were him, I would have joined Terry and Sally and tried to pull Bruce over.
22

subgenre

Posted April 15, 2006 at 9:00 am

Grr!!! Why can’t Mark Burnett cast for smarts and not looks for Survivor? I love this show but it is absolutely MADDENING to watch and see NO ONE scheming or plotting! There has been such a dearth of any plotting since the first season. And the only reason Richard Hatch seemed like such a strategical mastermind is that no one had done it before him. The only exception was Rob Cesterino from the Amazon series. It really irritates me that this is the 800th series of Survivor and all the contestants think that “playing under the radar” is the most cunning strategy to get them the million.

I also have to complain about how LAME the Twist is this season. It seems that Burnett, et. al, TRY to create an interesting atmosphere for the show then just let it die out after the first or second weeks. Examples: Amazon = men v. women. That flopped when they mixed up the teams cuz the one chick got all weepy when her flirting skills atrophied. Pearl Islands = pirate theme. The best that happened was Rufus’ pilfering the other tribes’ belongings in the first episode. And now, Exile Island = exile island & immunity idol. Where is the fun & torture of the castaways if Aras considered going to Exile Island to be a vacation? And Terry finds the hidden immunity idol then blows all our fun by showing it off to everyone.

Parson my vent. I enjoy the show but watching it is becoming frustratingly repetitive with the same bland, forgettably “pretty” faces and lack of scheming which is what SHOULD make this show so entertaining.

I suppose since the casting pool pulls from the same group of folks (the American public) that twice voted for a man who has no “strategery” against global terrorism I should not expect much.

I will thank Mark Burnett for one thing: not prolonging the home video sobfest this go round. That event always makes me yawn. It’s nice that the cast gets to see their familia. It just bores me to tears to watch them break down over their silly “love signs” and goofy dogs.

One last thing… Sally should count herself LUCKY to be on the jury. After she lost the fishing spear way back when, her arse should’ve been toast a long time ago.
23

jack

Posted April 15, 2006 at 9:09 am

ACK! did not need the image of shane’s smelly, unwashed, wart-infested dong in my head. at least cirie didn’t comment on whether or not shane’s resemblance to tommy lee extends to the nether regions.

as for terry, he has certainly raised my ire at times, but i find myself cheering as he dominates challenge after challenge. terry has made at least 5 head-slappingly bone-headed strategic moves, and he’s passed up another 3 or 4 great opportunities, but you have to admit, there’s something fun about watching him consistently throw it in casaya’s faces. i wish sally could have been spared, but since her main strategy throughout the game seemed to be ‘ask terry’, she sort of deserved it. i’ll miss the pigtails and the knee-socks, though.

b-side took terry to task for boasting about his navy exploits, and while he may have come across as slightly (atrociously) smug, at this point, terry’s near-invincibility is a given. it can’t hurt his chances to intimidate the opposition even more. the fact that only aras chose to compete for immunity is less indicative of the other casayans’ confidence than of their acceptance that it would be foolish to pass up food just to lose to terry.

terry probably blew any chance of winning the game weeks ago when he failed to use the idol to save nick. at this point, his only chance is to persuade one of the casaya nut-bars (shane and courtney would be the best candidates) to backstab their alliance, carry that person to the final 2, and hope that the sting of betrayal will sway the jury to turn against the traitor. terry has sally and austin and probably bruce (assuming bruce ends up on the jury), so he’d only need one more vote to win. occasionally, jurors vote for someone they hate out of respect for their game play. alas, the resentment of terry seems too potent at the moment for this to happen, and none of the casayans has the nerve to risk being scapegoated for screwing the alliance. sorry, terry–but hey, 2nd place (100 grand) is still worth playing for.
24

The_Brain

Posted April 15, 2006 at 9:53 am

Why do people even bother signing up for Survivor if they’re not going to do anything it takes to “outplay, outsmart, outlast” or whatever it is? Sally pretty much knew she was going home unless she did something drastic and she did nothing to help herself. Terry made no attempt to save Nick or Austin with the idol so expecting him to use it to save her was very stupid.
Here’s what Sally could have done to save herself. She could have gone to Cirrie or the other girls and offered up Terry on a silver platter to save herself. She doesn’t owe the guy anything she just met him and it’s not like he has done anything to help his team members. She could have formed an all girl alliance to get rid of the guys and get her into final 4. At that point she would have been the strongest remaining player and even if the others ganged up against her she would have had a better chance. She could have told the girls to pretend to join her and Terry and that way he would let his guard down and maybe lose an immunity. The could use that chance to vote against him and then he would be forced to use his immunity idol and Aras or Shane would be going home. Then they would pick the men off one by one. There is strength in numbers and they could have all pooled their resources to help one girl win immunity and get Terry out.
That never happened of course. Sally was hoping Terry would use his precious immunity on her which WAS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN!!
Sally pretty much deserved to go for her stupidity. I’m hoping Cirrie wins now.
25

chronic

Posted April 15, 2006 at 10:19 am

I dunno, I think Terry has a really good shot to win if he makes it to F2. He’s already got Sally, Austin, and Bruce, and I think it often happens that people vote for someone they dislike if they’ve played a strong game. Terry is strategically idiotic, but the upside of that at least is no one is going to be pissed at him for any betrayals. Terry’s played stupidly, but clean, and I can’t see, say Shane or especially Aras denying him a win because of cockiness. I don’t think they hate Terry and as tight as Casaya is, there’s not a lot of love there.

And that’s not even taking into account future backstabbing as next week a Casayan is guaranteed to go home. Now unless they stupidly just want to stick with the pecking order, I’d say the people at the bottom are going to be a lot more concerned about saving their own asses, knowing that Terry is safe. Should be interesting.

I noticed that OTT hero music Terry got when he and his tribemates made their way towards the Casaya camp (B-Side commented on it too), and thought “HUH” and “WTF”. Seemed a bit curious at the time, but now it really does seem more and more plausible (and likely) that Terry wins it.
26

Shoe-In

Posted April 15, 2006 at 10:59 am

I was thinking the exact same thing about Courtney No. 14 — if she is estranged from her family, you’d never know it from the video clips that were shown.

Did anyone else have a hard time at first figuring out which one was Bruce’s wife and which one was his daughter ?
27

holyterror

Posted April 15, 2006 at 11:39 am

The Brain (#24): Sometimes doing nothing is what it takes to “outlast.”

I think Survivor should have Scratch ‘n’ Sniff cards, like John Waters had for one of his films (Polyester?). First up: Shane’s damp, perpetually unwashed underpants.
28

jack

Posted April 15, 2006 at 12:36 pm

i see your point, chronic (#25), but it looks to me like casaya really does hate terry. they look at terry and say ‘that guy is the ultimate badass–just ask him.’ i don’t see anyone–including aras–favoring terry over a former casaya UNLESS one of them really screws the alliance, and even then, i think they’d prefer to reward one of their misfit brethren over captain america.

victoria (#14): a quote from a post-ejection interview with sally: “I was really shocked and pleasantly surprised that my family sent a video. I obviously have a relationship with my sister and I was shocked to see my parents in the video as I hadn’t talked to my mother in months and seeing them appear in that video gave me hope that there was a chance to make amends. Also, they hate appearing in any video so I was shocked to see them participate.”
29

RealityTV4Me

Posted April 15, 2006 at 5:18 pm

I wish Cirie would win, but it will probably be a dark horse like Danielle. She seems likable enough and capable of winning some individual immunity going forward.
30

zoobabe

Posted April 15, 2006 at 9:16 pm

subgenre (#22)- what “pretty” people do you think are still in it? We obviously have a different standard of beauty b/c I think that they’re all average (except for Aras).

btw- Rob M. schemed, Jenna Morasca schemed and I thought that they were “pretty”. JMHO
31

zoobabe

Posted April 15, 2006 at 9:18 pm

oh- let’s not forget Danni. Pretty and schemey!
32

Shollia

Posted April 15, 2006 at 11:10 pm

What’s with all the Terry hate.
Yeah he could’ve used his idol.. but he didn’t. Yeah he totally sucks at the manipulation thing. But oh well.. it’s easy to sit on our couches and shout at the tv on things they should’ve done.

Hell, if I had found that idol I sure as hell wouldn’t give it to anyone.
Even if he did use it a few weeks ago and tied up the teams… he still would’ve had a huge target on himself FROM HIS OWN TEAMMATES.
Do you think they would want to go up against him either? Hell no!
Has he done some dumbass things? Heck yeah.. but don’t dog on him b/c he hasn’t given anyone his idol.
I think him keeping it is the right thing.

Anywho… where are all the pics? 5 shots isn’t enough!
33

Tony A.

Posted April 16, 2006 at 8:13 am

Tailhook scandal of several years ago notwithstanding, Terry belongs to a brotherhood of the sharpest, strongest, quickest and most resourceful bunch: Annapolis graduates who go on to become Naval Aviators. “Top Gun” was an example of their hell-for-leather, fight-to-the-last-man attitude that makes them victors time after time. These are guys that fly and die (or mostly win) alone in the cold unforgivimg skies. They’re also loners that fight best against overwhelming odds.

If Terry makes it to the final two with sheer guts and determination, any Casayas on the jury that don’t vote for him are small, spiteful people that don’t know the meaning of the word courage. Ganging up on others then hating them because they win is something cowardly bullies would do.
34

JasonR

Posted April 16, 2006 at 1:56 pm

zoobabe (#30), Danielle cleans up pretty nice, I’d dare say stunning (until she opens her mouth and that god-awful Boston accent comes out).

Am I the only one who caught Shane and Aras basically telling Terry that if he won every immunity from here to the end they would “hand him the check” or something to that effect? Even if he’s been light on the “outwit”, if he does in fact run the table on Casaya immunity-wise he would have to be mentioned among the great players of this show of all time, and I have no doubt out of respect the jury will give him the win (as long as he keeps humble and goes light on the trash talking he’ll be ok).
35

GregnNYC

Posted April 17, 2006 at 7:08 am

#22 subgenre: Let’s not forget one of the greatest schemers of all seasons: Kathy Vavrick O’Brien. She turned the game around during Marquesas. Unfortunately, she fell for the “your boob’s out” lie that Morman Neleh pulled. She didn’t play as well in All-Stars because she alligned with one of Survivor’s greatest badguys & backstabbers Boston Rob. But I will now and forever love me some KathyO.
36

AbbyAnn

Posted April 17, 2006 at 8:51 am

Because of the typical bitterness of people whose original alliance turns on them, I think that players like Cerie and Danielle will always try to stay true to their original alliance as long as they can. Cerie clearly wanted Aras gone, yet she voted for Sally because flipping would hurt her both with her current alliance position and with the jury should she make final 2.
37

stacyrocks

Posted April 17, 2006 at 10:23 am

JasonR #34;

Terry was telling Shane & Aras that he expects to win every immunity challenge until the end and Shane told Terry that if he indeed does it, Shane will drive Terry to the bank himself. How generous.
38

Yota

Posted April 17, 2006 at 1:03 pm

The picture of Shane after he ate 1/2 of the cheese burger in one bite at the end was priceless. My wife and I couldn’t help but run it over and over in slow motion on the Tivo. We were laughing so hard. He looked like a man crossed with and ape and a sucker fish.

Shane is a mess. And when he said his son was his brother and best friend that was just weird. If that is the case that kid is doomed. They grew up together? Dude is a mess,but without him there would be a lot less fun on the show.

If Terry represents one of our finest millitary academys, we are in trouble. I would assume that one trained in milltary strategies would be able to come up with something better than he has. Just counting down the episodes till his over achiever ass gets voted out.
39

masmith103

Posted April 17, 2006 at 3:06 pm

No kidding Yota, I can’t wait to see the end to Terry’s smug mug. He has had the power all along but is too greedy to use it. I hope he has regrets when its all said and done.

Victoria, good point, hadn’t thought about the parental hating of divorce and all. Why were they on her video? Strange.

Can we get a video of Shane’s food fest in slow motion for the video of the week or day????? Pleasssseee…..????

Go Cirie!!!
40

chronic

Posted April 18, 2006 at 7:00 am

#32, totally agree. It’s obvious Terry has little in the way of scheming and manipulation skills. It’s just plain painful to watch. And yet everyone is dogging him for not playing a game based on scheming and manipulation. I mean even if you’re great at it, it still hardly guarantees you a win.

The contestants that are able to successfully plan and execute a mastermind scheme are pretty few and far between anyway. I know there’s no way I could, some people are just really shitty liars.
41

JasonR

Posted April 18, 2006 at 8:20 am

If Terry, at age 47 no less, can keep dominating and winning immunity while maintaining the begrudging respect of those who are on the jury, he deserves to win. He will actually be in better stead than he would by scheming, since no one ever felt betrayed by someone who got where they are fair and square by simply continuing to win immunity, as opposed to lying and trickery. Might not make for great TV like scheming does, but it’s working for him.
42

chick110

Posted April 19, 2006 at 3:45 pm

B-side, well, yes, there WAS another Survivor contestant who absolutely drove me nuts. Stephanie who I unfortunately had to see in TWO Survivors. It wasn’t bad enough for CBS to inflict her on us for one season, they had to bring her BACK… I was so glad she won neither one she was on.

I, too, can’t believe Terry. You’d think someone hit him with a stupid stick or something because he is acting so pathetic! I’m sure he’s HEARD of strategy…

Can’t wait for this week’s show and see the medical emergency they’ve been teasing us about for weeks… Pretty sad when the only highlight of Survivor is someone getting hurt.

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