I was sad to see Anthony go. I had hope for just a few minutes that Rocky was talking himself right out of the game during tribal council. Oh well.

So the losing streak continues for Ravu. They just can't catch a break. Well, at least they did catch that ugly fish.

Rocky is getting more and more annoying. Maybe he should try crossdressing again. His new macho tribemates will love that.

"it takes a drastic combination of factors to make Dreamz the most likable person on a tribe, but it has somehow been done, and I am confused."

-word, Mandy.

And thanks for kicking us off with that great shot of face-planted Lisi, Schoonie--too funny.

This episode had it all. Probst's verbal bludgeoning of Lisi had us falling off the couch. While perhaps the Probster misread Lisi's comments, it's clear that our rugged, game-tampering host had already developed a strong distaste for the most worthless Survivor conetestant to make the jury since Katie rode on Tom and Ian's backs all the way to the finale.

oh--wait a minute! did i say 'most worthless contestant ever'? what i meant to say was 'most worthless contestant with a vagina ever,' as rocky's epic loserdom has sent him skyrocketing past judd, shane, osten, and even johnny fairplay into a cast of stupidity all his own. here's a suggestion: next time, instead of 'survivor: all-stars,' maybe they should do 'survivor: dickhead losers.' i know stephenie lagrossa would be in.

the sad part, of course, is that, as Schoonie amply points out, Anthony resigned himself to defeat over childish personal neuroses. i know it's tough out there for ex-nerds when they're surrounded by a gang of buffed-up swinging dicks. i'm sure it's especially tough for black nerds, since centuries of stereotyping would naturally lead ignorant morons like rocky to assume that any black guy who isn't jacked, doesn't talk in street slang, and isn't a natural athlete OBVIOUSLY must be a worthless fairy.

But Anthony kind of IS a worthless fairy. Rocky looks like he's about 100 pounds soaking wet--why did Anthony take orders from him? Why didn't Anthony step up? Because, secretly, he really wanted to stay back at the camp, because he didn't want to put the effort into befriending people he wasn't automatically comfortable with. He had dozens of options, including selling his vote in the game and/or on the jury and claiming he knew the location of the immunity idol. instead, he sat at home and sulked about the fact that he doesn't want to be seen with his shirt off on TV.

What Rocky said and did to Anthony was atrocious, but it was also not so much an attack on Anthony's character as a desperate bid for self-preservation. He knew it was going to be one of them, so he made the strongest case his pea-brain could summon to keep himself in the game. Anthony rolled over and let it happen until it was too late. Alex and Edgardo both made comments to the effect that they were sick of Rocky, but Anthony simply did not demonstrate an iota of competitiveness. If you are willing to eat nasty cow tongues and bug crap for a million bucks, why wouldn't you be willing to stand up to a motormouth idiot? Anthony graduated from Yale and works in the legal field. Surely his rhetorical skills could have carved Rocky up like that boobie Yul decapitated last season. But he let his insecurities get the better of him. There's also an advantage in keeping a jackass like Rocky around--he would be an obvious target at the merge, particularly if he and Dreamz start butting heads again.

All of the negativity from Rocky shouldn't overwhelm the pleasure of watching the four most likable people left in the game get a new lease on life. Yau-man's flag-carrying remark was 'huzzah'-worthy, and it was delightful to see Michelle and Cassandra find new hope for survival. Earl is my pick to win--he seems a little too confident at the moment, but after 2+ weeks of starvation, he's allowed to have a moment. In any case, I am looking forward to watching Lisi get ostracized by the knuckle-dragging caveman alliance next week, and hopeful that the Moto streak continues--now that the people I like are in the catbird seat/hammock/bed/plush pottery barn couch.

Jack - word, word, word, buddy. I have made it no secret that I'm also rooting for Earl, because he is awesome. Way to make some comments with substance; it's nice to hear an intelligent opinion on this show.

Schoonie- awesome recap! I've been waiting for it.

I know that the editors of this show are crafty, but I really think that Lisi DID want to leave the game at the point where she was odd woman out. She was so used to having EVERYTHING (including a majority alliance) that being left out caused her to throw herself a pity party. Hell- I would have been glad to know I was safe from TC AND had a chance to get the idol clues! That's why it was so SWEET to see Probst lay into her b/c he hates quitters. I hope to God that Ravu loses the next one too so we can see Lisi vs. Rocky at TC. It would be a battle of the fuckwits! They do both make for good TV though.

Great recap, Schoonie. Love the shakeup changing the game from the Haves v. the Have Nots to the Mostly Good Guys v. the Socially Inept Psychos.

And can you please find a way to work Lisi's face plant shot into every recap from now on? Makes my day!

(Your link also made me go back and reread the BB Friendship recap - two years later, that still makes me giggle!)

I.HATE.ROCKY

Jack, you make strong valid points about Anthony. I just wish he had shown more gumption. I mean, in a group dynamic of ALL MEN, you have to assert yourself and earn respect. Part of me was hoping he would be like the angriest black man in Survivor history (Vanuatu's Rory) and threaten to burn the whole camp down!

I think the flaw that I find in your argument is that Rocky did not attack Anthony because he was fearful of his position (he was still under the impression that Mookie was aligned with him and for the duration), but since Anthony was pretty much leaving, he was kicking a dog while he was down. Jack, you are giving Rocky WAY TOO MUCH CREDIT for having a meaningful, strategic thought in his head.

Rocky is a bastard, but I will find it interesting to see him make the merge/jury, just for the sake of more vitriol forced on the final two.

"Way to make some comments with substance; it's nice to hear an intelligent opinion on this show."

Hmmmmm...schoonie should all the other people that comment take offense to that? It just came across as really rude.

If I was on this show, after hearing Rocky bitch the way he did, I would have totally voted him out. I'm not sure about strategy, but I can't stand that asshole and it was really hard to listen to him say all of those things to Anthony. I really hope he gets voted out soon. He is such an idiot.

For some reason, I can't sign in, but this is Schoonie. And no, I didn't mean it to be bitchy. It was just obvious that he'd spent a bit of time perfecting his opinions and translating his thoughts onto the page, so I thought I would compliment him on that. And also, there had been a grand total of three comments by that point, so it's not like I was exactly being exclusatory or anything. All opinions are welcome! Except the dumb ones.

Oh, and I don't see any situation in which Rocky gets to stay in the game much longer. Think about it: sticking with my theory that he's the root of the problem re: challenge losses, let's assume they're going to lose the next one, which I hope they do. It's either him or Lisi. If they lose two in a row, he is screwed. If there's a merge, what's he going to do then? Align with Earl and Yau-man? He's in a minority any way you slice it; he should be out within the next three eps, tops, I'm thinking.

thanks for the props, schoonie. sorry you got yelled at on my behalf.

slutty_whore, i see what you're saying. my remarks about rocky are somewhat informed by his past tendencies to turn on former allies and point fingers when he might have felt threatened. rocky used jessica and erica as examples of stronger players who got booted before anthony, but, unless i'm remembering wrong, rocky didn't do much to defend those people when their heads were on the block; he let jessica go to tribal council without knowing that she was going to be the victim, and he turned on erica completely. he was also the loudest advocate of getting rid of rita, shortly after he'd been largely responsible for losing the memory immunity challenge (this was also shortly after he'd initially attacked anthony, whom he later conspired with to get rid of rita).

i don't think he put any thought into it; i just think he has an impulsive self-preservation instinct. he also seems to be getting pretty paranoid. either way, he's a huge waste of air and not much fun to watch anymore. i hope he goes out in a humiliating fashion. i agree with schoonie that his goose is cooked. the only thing he's got going for him is that lisi is equally worthless and not likely to gel well with the 'he-man-woman-hater' alliance. he's got 1-2 weeks, tops.

Schoonie and Jack-
I was certainly not yelling at anyone. I wasn't really saying commenters of this specific post, but any survivor post commented on. Just wanted to make sure that fans of schoonies recaps were not getting dissed. That's all, no big deal.

Didn't think you were, dmb. You've been super nice to me ever since you were a newbie, so I didn't see it as yelling at all. Thanks for letting me know that it could be construed in a different way!

Oops! I meant 'ever since I was a newbie'. Misused pronoun.

"The camera leaves Lisi on Exile up in the tower, and I would advise her to get down for her own safety, I think. She tends to fall. On her face."

That was the most hilarious line of the entire recap.

You should make that image your avatar in the forums!

Great recap - as usual!

Jack, you are right. I think we pretty much agree. Schoonie, a great recap, as usual.

Does anyone else feel like they are trying to edit Alex into being this season's Yul, and it's really not working? If he discusses numbers and can't convince his alliance members, (idiotic Lisi and Stacy to vote out that other chick), then he doesn't deserve to win.

The only thing that would be better than starting each recap with that Lisi-on-her-face pic would be for someone to do an animated gif of the fall that can just repeat over-and-over. Anyone?

I don't want to kill the joke, but trust me, it will be reappearing. Frequently.

I actually like Rocky. I think he has what it takes to win the game. So far he has made all the descions as to who leaves and who stays. He is realy good when they have chalenges, and when he is in a good mood he can be funny.

The person that they should really kick off is Lisi. I have noticed that when someone has to back out of the chaleng she is almost always the one.When she does play she sucks!!!!She never does anything around the camp but act like a snob.