Board 8 > Naomi's Survivor: Redemption Island Analysis Topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

Survivor is here! I'm making this topic so as to not clutter up the actual discussion topic, and instead keep my rambling separated. If you wanna pitch in, feel free to.


To start, the reality of reality TV - and this is something that I admit first flew right over my head - is that what we see on the screen is not always what has really (or only) happened. Only so much footage can be shown in such a short amount of time, and so because of this, the people being paid to edit the footage must get incredibly selective. With this in mind, you as the viewer have to realize that everything shown becomes important. Nothing goes to waste. Everything shown provokes something, exists for some purpose, even if it's nearly impossible to recognize for the time being. Even if it's for something so momentary and minute. The show is like a Lego set being built from the ground up.

Unlike a similar reality show in Big Brother where the ending is unknown, every current season of Survivor already has an ending established by the first episode's airing. There is already a winner of Redemption Island at this very moment amidst its cast, despite the fact that not even the winner entirely knows who they are yet. Every season builds up to its end, even if it takes some strange routes to get there. The editing team has to start with the end results - the winner, the final 2/3, and so on - and go from there, editing the show backwards, always foreshadowing events to come. You look back on a season and you say "wow, it was right there" - with analysis, we aim to capture those moments before they ultimately reveal their true purpose.

The simplest way I can describe analyzing a show like Survivor is this: think of Survivor as a 'Who Dun It?" story. We have a bunch of perpetrators, weapons, settings - so who is the killer? Who are the victims? Who are the accomplices, the distractions, the good guys, the bad guys, the background noise? Here, we have 18 contestants, a Nicaraguan beach, and 39 days to produce one winner. There is a means to the end - and those means are the story. The editing is the crafting of said story. Why are we seeing what we are seeing? Why are we hearing what we are hearing? If you look close, you can unearth the path through the editing as it's given to us.

In lieu of all this, I plan on attempting to nail down what we're seeing. I've never done this before, but I think it'll be interesting. I have a feeling that the ability for players to come back into the game will change how the editing unfolds, and thus make it somewhat more difficult to predict, but we'll see. Regardless, I'm not spoiled in any way.

We have 18 contestants, 2 of them returning players, and so here's a fun fact: In every season where players have returned, a female has won the game.

I'll post my thoughts on Episode 1 in a bit.


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Survivor is so much more re-watchable than most reality shows because the editors are such masters of storytelling.

When you know how the story ends and then re-watch an episode it's like a whole new show sometimes.

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Thank you, Eddie Guerrero.
http://i.neoseeker.com/n/2/nintendo_quality_seal.jpg

(repost) Jeff's Cast Assessment Video:

Pre-Season Analysis:

So here we are with Redemption Island, and unlike Samoa or Nicaragua, almost everyone spoke at least once. Oddly enough, Mike and Grant were the only two not to speak, not including Russell/Rob as they're returners. We received a helluvalot of talking here, so I'm not sure if not hearing from Mike and Grant is good or bad for them. I think it's worth something, no matter how minuscule, and so I'd say it's more bad, as we got to hear from both winners in Tocantins/Nicaragua (and nobody spoke in Samoa).

Sarita - Confident, "should last a while", big threat past merge 1
Matt - Like Fabio, but country, may also have a mask 1
Julie - No "BS", enthusiastic 1
Mike - Strategic player, "could make it far", "has social skills to win" 0
Andrea - All about how she has more going on than meets the eye 1
Phillip - Questionable character 1
Natalie - Young, a wildcard 1
Steve - Enthusiastic, maybe social 1
Ashley - "Good chance of staying around", not dumb or naive 1
David - Smart, cocky 1
Krista - Questionable, bold? "What is she capable of?" 1
Grant - Conflicted on who he may be 0
Francesca - Has a mouth 1
Stephenie - First out 1
Ralph - Likable, hardworker (strong sense that he'll be a Coach-like character) 3
Kristina - Infectious, "will play a tough game", "will make big moves to try to win" 2
Russell - Loyal if you're on his side 0
Rob - He's actually a hero, guys 0

So what are we looking at here?

Despite the notion that this is speculation skimming the outer-edge of an actual edit, I'd probably bet that any of Sarita, Mike, Andrea, Steve, Ashley, Ralph, and Kristina will last. 7/16. It's probable that one or maybe two of them won't, but I'm guessing that these guys are gonna be core for the merge.

I think David not getting so spruced up despite him coming off very cocky and condescending bodes well for him. If we really wanted to see him as a despicable guy, Probst would tell us that in some way. Probst instead slightly vouched for him. Why? I don't know, but it bodes well.

A few characters that came off as one-dimensional were Julie, Phillip, Natalie, Francesca, and Stephenie. 5/16. When Probst hasn't summed up players well, or brought them into multiple lights, they seem to not last.

Matt, David, Krista, and Grant were all question marks to me. I think Krista won't be as important, but there's still potential. Matt getting compared to Fabio is both good/bad. Good because Fabio won, bad because... Fabio won, and repeats don't sound good. It'd be like Fabio winning twice in a row - not very likely. Already spoke about David. Grant is shown to be unknown - Probst wonders who he'll be. This leaves the audience wondering who he'll be as well. What's Grant gonna do? His chances aren't dead, but this isn't exactly a positive summation, and he as well doesn't get a confessional, so that's not helping either.

I also think Ralph will be like a Coach character (not hypocritical like Coach, but still big airtime), and maybe Kristina will be a Holly-esque character. I didn't like how Mike didn't get a confessional, but on the plus side he received a lot of hype. I did like Sarita, Andrea, and Ashley outright, however. Probst wants to see Andrea break the mold that Natalie White began in Samoa - young white blonde in Pharmaceutical Sales who doesn't make a splash, but still gets far. Probst has hope for her, her segment is long and personal, and it shows promise. Sarita was all good, and I as well expect good things from her. Ashley came off strong as well, showing us multiple facets of her character.


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Episode #1: "You're Looking at the New Leader of Your Tribe"

The episode begins with Probst on-board the chopper taking the contestants into the country.

Phillip gets the first confessional of the season telling us how he's a CEO of a software company. He tells us he's a former federal agent, with a "?" located next to the profession in his confessional.
Matt tells us about how his faith is everything. He strives to become more like his savior.
Ralph tells us that he's a redneck and he's crazy, and that maybe he'll win because of that.

Opening credits roll. DAT ASS arrives right before the Zapatera tribe is shown. Several contestants are shown participating in a challenge that has yet to happen.

Francesca: "Wow, this is really happening."
Mike tells us how he was in the marine corps, and how he thinks he's gonna win because he's trained for something like this.

Jeff officially welcomes them. Then tells the tribes two more players are arriving as well. The tribes cheer for Rob's arrival, are shocked to see Russell.

Stephanie tells us that she aims to impress Russell and get in good with him. She tells us she's got evil inside her, and that she wants to be "that girl" he takes to the end. (Oh boy)

Jeff: "Boston Rob has proven his ability to help a tribe not only in challenges, but in camp life. He has played 3 times. He's made it to the final once, he has never won. Russell, in back-to-back seasons, has masterminded two of the strongest alliances in Survivor history. Russell has played twice. He's been to the end twice. He has never won. Together, these two offer 156 days of Survivor experience. That is worth a ton out here."

Francesca jumps in and says how the two are sizing them up like prey. She calls both of them "trouble makers."

Rob gets orange, and orange explodes in applause. Purple less so, but both are open-armed. Jeff then explains how Redemption Island works.

Russell gets his first confessional telling us how RI doesn't scare him one bit. He tells us that he's gonna win that challenge and come back chopping heads off. (Oh, so he's heading to RI?)

Jeff: "It's going to rain a lot out here in Nicaragua. I suggest you get to camp quickly, start using the experience of Rob and Russell, and start building camp.

Francesca tells us about how have RI is gonna make having Rob/Russell more complicated, especially when they get rid of them. She tells us "the good part of it is that if I get voted out, I could come back into the game, but the possibility of getting voted out was so not a reality to me that I only saw it as a downside." (Perhaps it will only be a downside for her?)


Zapatera gets the first camp life viewing, and Russell tells us about how grateful he is to be back. He tells us that he's bringing it this time around, and he's no longer a "school boy." Russell is gonna be a new him, he's gonna be a leader to his tribe.

Russell immediately opens up to his tribe with a speech. "You know, you see it on TV, it seems easy. I promise you, you're about to experience the toughest thing that you've ever been through in your entire life. I'm not here to sabotage anything, nobody. If I came back and did something like that, it would be pretty stupid of me. I'm here to win." Russell seems to be rallying his troops in an organized fashion, very much the opposite of his previous two games.

David tells us he's skeptical of Russell's motives. (Anyone should be)
Ralph tells us how happy he is to be building stuff.
Mike tells us how he's got some good first impressions of his tribe, a bunch of workers. "As long as we can win, and stay away from the immunity challenges(?!?), I think we'll be good." (Pretty sure he meant tribal councils)

We then zap to Ometepe, where Rob is leading his tribe in building the shelter. Matt asks Rob if he's really from Boston.
Matt tells us how great of a force Rob is to have around, how his laid-back vibe is great for the camp, and how they should be called "Camp Harmony" at the moment.
After Rob flatters Natalie and Ashley by telling them they know what they're doing, Natalie tells us how much fun she's having with Rob around. He brings a sense of comfort. She tells us that if Russell was there, everything would be tense, because he's 'crazy'.

Phillip is shown bustling around camp telling people what they need to do, intercepting others as they work.
Francesca tells us how annoying he is.
Andrea comments on how Phillip is apparently correcting her, despite the fact that she knows what she's doing. She's gonna let him do his thing while she keeps going along.

Phillip gathers everyone, reveals that he's a federal agent(?). He tells them he can detect lies. He's useful for the merge because he can tell if they have friends or not.
Francesca tells us that Phillip is good for comedic relief, as if his profession is impressing anyone.

Kristina tells us that people should be looking for the HII clue. Rob arrives to meet her, and tells her he knows that she's looking for the clue.
Kristina tells us that she's glad only Rob noticed her actions, and that she doesn't want to seem like a big strategist despite really wanting the clue.

Rob and Phillip talk about working together because there are 5 girls and 4 guys. They both say they are sticking with the girls.
Phillip tells us that people get paranoid in the game, and that he likes to think of him and Rob as two lions butting heads. He flexes his muscle saying how his brawn is gonna eventually take over. (Wait, what happened to working together?)

Phillip goes to Kristina and tells her how Rob is talking about being wary of the girls number advantage. Kristina says he'd be an idiot not to. Phillip then gets paranoid and says he's gonna stick with the girls (and not Rob), but he wants to work with Kristina. Kristina says she is on board.

We see a lizard running across the water, only to be introduced to Russell and Stephanie walking alone.
Stephanie tells us how she was getting nervous around Russell.
Russell opens the idea that he can bring Stephanie to the end much akin to Natalie/Parvati. Stephanie laughingly mocks him about his speech earlier and how he's a "changed man," to which Russell says that he thinks they can work together, but that he won't stay around her too much because she's "that girl." He finishes with "me and you, when we get to the merge, it'll be over. Done. All we have to do is get to the merge."
Stephanie tells us how of course she said yes to Russell's proposal, as Russell always gets to the finals. (And what if he doesn't this time?)

We then see Sarita and David talking about how bad it is that Russell is 'getting the girls'. (Notice the plurality here, yet we only see Russell talking to Stephanie, so why not Krista? We saw Russell talking to just about every girl on his tribe in Samoa) Sarita wants Russell out immediately. David tells Mike, and at first Mike says Russell isn't a threat, but then he realizes that David is right, talking about how he already has his hooks in Stephanie, as per usual with Russell's strategy.
Mike tells us that he likes David, and that "any pro's of having Russell around have quickly evaporated. He's just gonna spread paranoia and be a cancer to the tribe. There's nothing to be done except the task at hand which is to get rid of Russell as soon as possible."

Ometepe, Day 3, we get Kristina telling us that she doesn't want to have Rob stick around as he's dangerous to have on the tribe.
We then see Camp Harmony grouped together around Rob with Ashley touching his hair.
Kristina tells us that Rob is gonna go after all the young girls because they're 'easy pickins'. (A lot like what was said about Russell!) Kristina - whilst picking at her teeth (we see the pack of girls wander off with Kristina cleaning her teeth here) - tells us she is gonna find the HII, because "if anyone can do it on this tribe, it's me."
Kristina finds the HII and immediately re-hides it. She tells us that Rob is good, but so is she.
She talks with Francesca and Phillip about voting out Rob.
Phillip tells us how he operates, that he's a processing person.
He asks Kristina how she's gonna get the votes to vote out Rob, and she tells him to keep quiet and relax. Francesca tells him to stop talking to them like they're children. Phillip gets annoyed, while Francesca and Kristina get frustrated with how Phillip operates. Camp Harmony gets back and the conversation ends.
Francesca tells us how much she regrets being in an alliance with Phillip.


The immunity challenges arrives. Jeff explains it.
Quotes:
"Ometepe needs to dig in!"
"Ometepe is not panicking, they're working together."
"Zapatera had a gigantic lead and it is gone."
"Russell is now calling the shots. It is Russell and Boston Rob."
Zapatera wins.
Russell tells us that his tribe is faster, stronger, and smarter than Rob's tribe, and that he knows how Rob thinks, and that Rob is thinking "oh crap, I'm stuck with a bunch of weinee's." (Not exactly, actually!)


Ometepe gets back, and we first hear from Ashley: "In a way, and I don't know if other people feel this way, but I feel like we let Rob down. It's weeeird, but... you want to please your leader, I guess."

Kristina tells Francesca that she has a HII. Kristina devises a plan where Fran lures the girls into voting for Kristina, and then Kristina/Ran/Phillip vote for Rob.
Francesca tells us that she was shocked and amazed to hear this, and excited about the plan, but that it's not a sound idea, because Rob is still needed in challenges, they don't have the numbers, and that the tribe would be pissed off.
An image of a snake is shown, only to then have Kristina's face show up next. Francesca wants to get rid of Natalie.
Kristina tells us that voting off Natalie is better for the tribe, but voting off Rob is better for her.

Kristina approaches Rob wondering who they're voting for, but Rob says he doesn't know.
Rob tells us that he originally wanted to vote for Francesca, but actually now wants to get rid of Kristina, because he realizes that she knows strategy and how to work for it, and that he doesn't want someone like that in his company. (After all this time, we finally get a Rob confessional. Interesting enough is that it's all he needs this episode)

Camp Harmony (Rob/Andrea/Ashley/Natalie/Grant/Matt) meet, with Rob leading the discussion. He tells them about Kristina looking for the HII clue, and that he wants to split the vote on 'Francine' and Kristina. He says "Does everyone understand it? Because I got so screwed last season because one person switched their vote." (Hahaha, oh Tyson) He continues "Don't let anyone try to like..." Andrea: "Bamboozle you" Rob: "Yeah! That's it." (A reference to Hatch!)

The conversation between Kristina/Phillip continues, and Kristina then shows Phillip her HII. She explains how the HII works (almost like she's speaking to a child!), asking if Phillip understands.
Kristina tells us that she doesn't trust Phillip and how he operates and that's why she didn't tell him sooner. She tells us how Phillip is a 'spaz' about everything.

Phillip then tells us that he's pondering whether taking out Rob is a good idea or not. He ultimately settles on it being a good idea, and that once Rob is gone, he'll be the new leader of the tribe. (This is absolutely absurd on his part, for various reasons, the least of which is that nobody would follow him)


Tribal Council comes, and Jeff asks Rob how things went when they first got to camp. Rob says that a quality shelter was built.
Jeff asks Phillip about leadership. Phillip doesn't think he's the leader, but instead that he simply does work when it needs to be done. Matt agrees with this.
Kristina is uneasy about staying tonight.
Francesca tells Jeff that Rob isn't getting voted out tonight, and Phillip says he has an issue with that statement. He then outs the plan to blindside Rob. Francesca denies this. Phillip outs that Kristina has an idol. Jeff is jaw-dropped. Nobody from Camp Harmony knew this information.
Kristina reveals that she was gonna vote for Natalie.
Phillip heavily defends himself and explains his story.
Rob asks to see the HII. Kristina shows Rob the HII. Rob asks for her to give it to him and in return he says she won't leave tonight (the Robfather is coming out here). Kristina chooses not to give it to him. Rob is unimpressed.

Rob tells us in his voting confessional that he loves playing with the amateurs because they give so much up.
Natalie is shown voting for Kristina. A tree frog jumps on a vase prior to her vote. (I bring this up because a tree frog was shown against her earlier in the episode, as well as in the opening credits, so it's interesting to see it come up again)
Francesca votes for Phillip, hoping to never see him again. We get a vote shown for all 3 of the minority alliance.
Francesca gets a majority of the votes and has her torch snuffed by Probst, sending her off to Redemption Island. Before leaving, she tells her tribe not to trust Phillip.


The Tribes:

By the looks of it, both tribes are split, though we received more attention to Ometepe as they went to TC first. Ometepe has a huge crowd of people that I like to call 'Camp Harmony.' Rob is the poised leader, and his followers all seemingly look up to him (particularly Natalie/Ashley/Matt). What I like about this group is that despite a lot of them not really standing out, none of them had any negative traits associated with them. The only downside to any of them was that Natalie was weak. Otherwise, this is not a Galu tribe, though it may appear that way from the outside. A "Galu tribe" is a tribe to me that has one centralized character with many light-weight not-so-important slightly-negative characters surrounding the main character. In the actual Galu tribe, this character was Russell Swan. Another tribe somewhat like this would be Timbira, with Coach at the center, though I think Galu had an even uglier characterization than they did. Either way, Ometepe is a tribe with one centralized main character (Rob), and many light-weight positive characters surrounding him. They may not be important yet, but they aren't building up to be negative either, and that's good for them. The minority alliance in Ometepe seems to be more a nuisance than anything else and will be the direct focus over the next few episodes.

Zapatera didn't get highlighted much, but from what we did see it's a tribe consisting of a small force ready to target Russell, and then Russell himself following the same strategy as he has in the past. Both tribes seemed to work well together on the outside, but on the inside they divided rather quickly. In Zapatera's case, Russell caused this dissension, just as Kristina did over on Ometepe. I can't say this bodes well for either of them at the moment.

From what I've noticed, a message of "Respect Your Leader" seems to be something prominent in this episode. Probst tells us right away all about how much experience both Rob and Russell have, and that they're invaluable to the tribe. Their experience should help the newbies, and that the newbies should respect these guys for what they've accomplished. Francesca immediately butts in and calls them both trouble-makers, seemingly an appropriate name for them, but I don't think it was meant to be appreciated. What's more, she got voted out this episode, so that always helps reinforce the notion that going against them isn't a valued idea. You need to respect their experience, not dismiss it. As well, Rob ends the episode by telling us how much he loves playing with amateurs right as he votes out Francesca, benefiting the theme that Rob has the experience necessary to advance.

With this in mind, I'm gonna categorize and highlight each character and tell you my thoughts on them based on what we saw in this episode. This is not necessarily a ranking on who I think has the best chance to win, but instead just a categorization of the 18 contestants.

Due to my current re-newed Bright Eyes obsession, the category names all come from them:


~The Missing~
The players whom we never really saw or heard from, that somehow got lost in the fold and left to the wayside. These are people that didn't even get up to Natalie White-esque levels of visibility in the first episode of the season. Not good for any of them.

Grant: Nothing. Worse is that his tribe went to tribal council but we still saw nothing of him. We can assume he's in with Rob just based on the vote, but that's it. I think he was left in the worst position of all the players in this category just because he's the only player from the tribe that went to tribal council to get nothing.

Julie: We literally saw nothing of her. She's hardly shown in any of the scenes. Her tribe didn't go to tribal council, but it's still not a good thing to be left out for an entire episode.

Steve: The guy was most shown when he became ecstatic to greet Russell into the tribe at the beginning of the episode. Otherwise, not much else.

Krista: Nothing really to say here either. Just another player who wasn't shown, although her tribe didn't go to tribal council either.


~The Barely There~
This is a group of players who weren't invisible, but still didn't have too much going for them in the midst of everything. They oftentimes contributed to another's story, or just didn't have too much to speak of yet.

Ralph: Shown to be a worker-bee who enjoys knowing more about this sorta stuff than other people. He received a winners quote, but nothing more was told to us about him. Barely there, but there.

Sarita: She had one moment in the episode where she spoke with David and Mike about dissenting away from Russell. Given that Russell has shown to be duplicitous once more (to the audience), I'd say this may bode well for her if Russell continues with his current edit. She's going to be a part of the rebellion alliance against Russ if one is to ever form (which I'm sure it will). Otherwise though she wasn't shown much at all.

Natalie: The character who received the most screen time in Rob's alliance, she was told to be smitten with him in a personal way. Young and much a follower, she was as well mentioned to be the weakest on the tribe. Her physical weakness may be a reason she leaves pre-merge, if any.

Andrea: A character who's on the right side of the votes, she makes up a part of the Camp Harmony alliance, lead by Rob. She hasn't said or done much, but from what was shown we can see that she's just gonna let players like Phillip do their thing while she keeps going. She was bunched in with the 'young girls' we kept hearing about, but that's not a bad thing as of yet.

Ashley: Much akin to Andrea, Ashley is also bunched in with the young girls. She's shown being attached to Rob and feeling apologetic toward him for losing. Nothing negative to speak of in her character yet, but not very much either to discern her from anyone else.

Matt: Matt mentioned first how his faith is everything, and that he strives to be like his savior. In this case, he placed his faith in Rob, and if anything else, I could see Matt becoming somewhat of a protege to him. Rob spoke of how he was screwed over last time he played (thanks to his previous protege Tyson), and this time around we get a mention of that and in turn the split vote worked out according to plan. Matt is more than likely going to be committed to Rob as much as he can.

David: We were told he's savvy, and that he knows how Russell operates and wants him gone. I'm gathering that this guy won't be on Russell's side when it comes down to a vote.


~The Malcontent~
Characters who spoke up and existed in their own domain to some larger extent.

Phillip: the comedic buffoon of the episode, this man is shown to lack social skills and awareness despite telling us otherwise. His rationale is barely explained and he's reported by others to either annoy, spaz out, or flip rather quickly. He did all of this throughout the entirety of the episode. We're gonna be laughing at this guy until he's gone for good. The good news is that he respected Rob, but the bad news is that he nearly turned against Rob in an episode where Rob was the hero.

Kristina: The snake who turned against Rob rather quickly, is playing an individual game way too soon. I don't believe she's the next Russell Hantz, but I got vibes from what she was saying and doing. Despite getting a lot of the attention this episode, it's also to be expected because she found the HII and was the main opposition to Rob's majority alliance. Coincidental how it was 6v3 with Rob leading the 6, a split vote is drawn, and the leader of the 3 has a HII to play. Kristina is no Russell! HvV vibes! Anyway, I foresee her meeting up with Francesca soon on Redemption Island. Her minority alliance was nothing but negative and ineffective.

Francesca: Despite being voted out first, and though I wan't surprised to see this (called her boot right when she called Rob/Russ troublemakers), I think she was presented in a much better light than her other two alliance mates. Having spoken about RI, her words don't sound too encouraging in terms of her staying there.

Stephanie: Hooked to Russell, but we got her take on the whole deal, which is good for her. She talks early about being evil and wanting to get with Russell, and her tribe mates were worried that Russ would turn her evil, but she's already been evil from the get-go. Also, in regard to the Natalie White mentions, I think there's a major difference between being a Natalie-type and trying to be a Natalie-type, and in her case, it's probably not a good thing that she's avidly trying. Russell and her talk about reaching the merge, and I have a funny feeling that if these two do, it won't be smooth sailing like we're told it should be.

Russell: The man is back, but he's got a lot less airtime than before. Good or bad? Difficult to call at the moment, but I feel like we're getting the short end of the stick with Russell so far. He tells us early that he doesn't fear RI and will easily win whatever challenge is thrown at him, leading me to believe he's gonna go there at some point, which means he's gonna get voted out at some point. The only other person who mentioned RI in a confessional was Francesca, and guess where she is right now. Beyond that, he acted like he had turned a new leaf, but then immediately receded back into his tried-and-(somewhat)true strategy by hooking up with Stephanie. Problem is that we heard all of it from Stephanie's side. Russell is being established as an obstacle for Mike/David/Sarita, as well as an alliance for Stephanie, and not the other way around.


~The Parliament~
These are the characters that caught my eye.

Rob: As practically expected, Rob looked good this episode. Being the leader of his tribe, he's already got a good alliance going where everyone is told to be looking up to him. He's already begun to dismantle the opposing alliance in his tribe. I'm surprised we didn't hear more from him. His game hasn't changed anymore than Russell's, but he's earned the respect from his tribe unlike Russell, and I think that'll go a long way this season.

Mike: The probable emerging leader and narrator of Zapatera, Mike hit a lot of right notes. Winner quote, positive social game, highlighted being wary about Russell's game. I can see Mike going the distance with this edit.


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I totally agree that Rob and Mike are looking good so far, but I feel like once the merge hits they will go from "huge assets that are in little danger" to "huge threats that must be rid of yesterday". I wouldn't be shocked if they were both early jury. Particularly Mike, because Rob's tribe seems to literally be starstruck with him.

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I'm "kind of a big deal".
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/princess_anri/CylcoandAnri.png

Not entirely sure on Mike, obviously a logical possibility that he'll be instantly targeted at a time like the merge. He looks good now though, that's for sure.

Rob is getting spruced up with little commentary on his end, which isn't terrific for him. I mean, he looks good on the outside, but I think we need to hear more from him and his alliance soon.

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tag

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GranTurisMo - God's Tiniest Man - Great Thorn Monkeys!
Member of the merSHINEsess Nation since 7/15/09

you're it

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but yeah I read it, but I really don't have much to add

It usually takes me a couple of episodes to really get to know people, off the top of my head I only know like 5 of the cast.

And it seemed like you tried to cover all the bases (you mentioned stuff like shots of tree frogs o_O)

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GranTurisMo - God's Tiniest Man - Great Thorn Monkeys!
Member of the merSHINEsess Nation since 7/15/09

Tree frogs hold the key to the winner.

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tag

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Genesis does what Nintendon't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

no tomnook, I was it

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GranTurisMo - God's Tiniest Man - Great Thorn Monkeys!
Member of the merSHINEsess Nation since 7/15/09

Hopefully this won't purge.

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Would the editors know who won, or just who is in the final 3/2?

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GranTurisMo - God's Tiniest Man - Great Thorn Monkeys!
Member of the merSHINEsess Nation since 7/15/09

They'll know who won.

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Wondering who's gonna go to TC next.

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If nothing else, I appreciate this topic for the comprehensive recap. Good work.

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"I can't possibly think of anything less intimidating than the New York Jets." - lovethejuice
http://i52.tinypic.com/334qmms.png

Thank you.

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This topic isn't getting voted off just yet.

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Teacher discussing the length of the paper “the paper should be like a girl’s skirt, long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to retain interest.”

Thanks Falcon. I'll have this weeks episode summary up in a bit.

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GranTurisMo - God's Tiniest Man - Great Thorn Monkeys!
Member of the merSHINEsess Nation since 7/15/09

Episode #2: "You Threw Away My Vote"

The recap tells us that 16 people were brought into the game, ready to start a new season. Surprised by the return of Rob & Russell, Matt yelled out Rob's name, Steve welcomed Russell. The experience of these two returning players is again mentioned.
Redemption Island is explained.
Russell wasted no time aligning with the pretty young tribemate Stephanie, but everyone else picked up on his plan.
On Ometepe, almost everyone fell for Rob, except for Kristina, who aligned with Phillip and Francesca. She found a HII and had an almost fool-proof plan, except Phillip turned on his alliance and spilled the beans, getting Francesca voted out.

(Sounds pretty accurate. I don't think much has changed in the way of Phillip or Kristina's chances at winning this game. Interesting to note is that the counter-alliance on Russell wasn't mentioned.)


REDEMPTION ISLAND

Redemption Island is shown first, with Francesca saying how it's all been downhill for her. She doesn't see herself sleeping tonight. She reads aloud the sign posting to the camera. She tells us that she believes coming to redemption island may be the best thing for her game because she may come back at a core time in the game when things have shifted. "I could still win Survivor." She then tells us that she'd much rather be here on RI than back in the game with Phillip.

(This is all rather neutral in my opinion, neither positive nor negative. Good to hear she still thinks she can win, bad to hear that she thinks it's the best possible thing for her.)


OMETEPE
DAY 3

Rob says that was the wildest tribal council he's ever been to.
Kristina tells us that she lost the battle but it's not the end of the game, and that she's so grateful for not playing the idol last night.
Rob tells us that he knew Kristina and Phillip were lying, but that anyone could figure that out.
Phillip tells Rob that Rob owns his vote until he goes to Redemption Island.
Rob tells us that he now owns Phullip's vote for the time he's here. Rob considers the possibility that he's delusional.
Rob tells his alliance of 6 that he wants to get to 6 first, and then strategize. He tells them to vote for Phillip.
Rob tells us that his group of 6 knows how to follow directions, and that Phillip is an idiot.


Opening Sequence


OMETEPE
DAY 4

Phillip is hunting a crab.
Phillip tells us about going back to a primal state and how you get tested in so many ways.
The alliance of 6 is shown, with Matt poking fun at him.
Phillip goes on to tell us how he was emotionally impacted by Francesca. He mentions his uniform and how loyal he is to it, and that Francesca was taking away his pride, his trustworthiness. Phillip comes to terms with himself, and then catches the crab.


ZAPATERA
DAY 4

We open to a bunch of birds, and then Ralph making a rooster-like noise.
Mike calls Ralph a legend.
Russell tells us that the fools he's playing with aren't bright, and that Ralph may be the dumbest yet. He tells us that Stephanie is a good player, and that he needs Krista. He tells us that three worked for him before, so why not again?
We see a snake in the grass, and the Russell talking to Krista about finding the clue for the HII on the reward.
Russell tells us he can't trust anyone but his alliance. That he's gonna go all out finding idols, because that's how he plays the game.
Steve and Mike are shown watching Russell as he searches.
Ralph is as well shown walking around, only to then find the HII in a hollowed tree branch.
Ralph tells us about how he found the HII. He tells us that it was simple, and that Russell better eat his heart out.

(We're definitely looking at a pro-Ralph edit here. Russell, on the other hand...)

OMETEPE
DAY 5

We open to two tree frogs sitting on a leaf, and then Andrea and Matt sitting on the beach. Matt is telling Andrea about how he had been praying to get into an alliance. Andrea agrees. We see the tree frogs again. Matt says he needs to hang in Wisconsin sometime.
Andrea tells us how she's close to Matt, and that they have loyalty between one another.
Rob tells us how Matt is trying to play the good guy, but that Andrea knows what she wants, how she's stringing along Matt. Rob doesn't like that, because he knows how strong pairs can be. He mentions Amber. We get a spliced shift in confessionals where he says "Now I'm thinking about who I'm gonna sit next to in the end."
We get a shot of vulture eating a corpse (wow animal imagery) with Rob talking to Natalie. Rob asks her about Matt/Andrea, Natalie says they're dangerous. Rob says that Matt is trying to get far with Andrea.
Rob tells us that Natalie makes a good partner, but that he's gonna have to carry her all over the place.
Rob says how they'll need to get rid of either Phillip or Andrea, and that they won't tell Matt, even though he's gonna get hurt.
Natalie tells us that she's gonna make big moves and trust Rob because it's smart.

(This is telling!! After he mentioned Amber, Rob didn't go on to talk about his endgame, but we heard it anyway thanks to editing. And then we get Natalie shown right after. This leads me to believe that either Rob or Natalie reach the end, or possibly both. If anything, this basically told us how Natalie is getting to the end. I'd say there's a good chance she makes it since we also got her insight into the situation.)


Immunity challenge:
Zapatera reaction is shocked to see Francesca gone, saying "she was strong" and that Ometepe "was dumb."
Ralph says they're getting the immunity back, Phillip gets asked about that and he tells Jeff that it brings out the animal in him. He says he will outlast any man, and so Jeff asks him about any woman, and he says he's not sure. (As simple as this comment is, this could hint that Phillip either doesn't outlast a woman on RI, doesn't outlast a woman in general, or that a woman may even win the season. I would not be surprised if all three came true.)
Andrea bellyflops into the water, we get a laugh right after by an unknown source (laugh track!).
Phillip fails, Zapatera wins immunity.
Matt gives handshakes to the Zapatera's.
Rob tells us that he didn't like what Matt did, giving handshakes to the opposition after a loss. He said it was despicable.

ZAPATERA
DAY 5

Thunderstorms open us to the tribe.
Russell tells us about his plan to nabbing the HII clue. He manages to get the clue away sneakily.
Ralph tells us that he saw Russell sneak the clue. Ralph tells us this isn't Rusell's game, it's HIS game, and that Russell is gonna pay the price.
We see Ralph talking with Julie, Sarita, Steve, and maybe David. They are visibly upset about this situation.
We then see Russell, Stephanie, and Krista walking off talking crap about Sarita and her performance at the challenge. Stephanie says that Sarita "sucks at life." (Oh, hi Ms. Yates)
Mike and Sarita are talking about how Russell took the clue.
Mike tells us about the dilemma of the clue, and how Russell used his experience to do that. In a slightly different confessional, he tells us how hypocritical Russell is as a person, and that they can't go deep with him.
We see Russell having the two girls open the clue for him as he reads it aloud. He says that if someone doesn't have the clue, it's gonna be hard to find it. (Which it wasn't, right Mr. Hantz?)
Russell tells us how he doesn't need numbers to reach the end, he just needs trust.
Mike then shows up to the party and Russell starts a conversation about how weak Sarita was. Mike fakes an agreement.
Ralph then arrives and immediately asks Russell about the clue. Mike says he saw Russell take something. Russell denies taking anything. He then threatens both of them with "you're either with me or against me." Russell doesn't like how Ralph came at him asking about the clue.
Ralph tells us that he knows Russell has the clue, but it doesn't matter cause he has the actual idol.
Russell tells us he's perplexed at Ralph's approach, mocking Ralph about knowing how to play the game.

REDEMPTION ISLAND
DAY 5

Francesca got a luxury item in tree-mail, a journal. She tells us that she doesn't know any details to RI, but she hopes she doesn't have to co-exist with anyone there, especially Phillip.


OMETEPE
DAY 5

Phillip gathers the tribe around to talk.
Rob tells us that they now have to suffer through another one of Phillip's talks as usual.
Phillip tells us he won't be scrambling like he did a few days ago before the first tribal council.
Nobody says anything, though Rob tells him he did good and they lost as a team.
Rob tells us that Phillip lost them the challenge, but that Matt shouldn't have gone to congratulate the other team. He says that Matt is trying to play the "good Christian game" and the social game too early - but the Christian part is spliced in. (More manipulation pointing to Matt's religion-based edit!)

Kristina is shown putting on the HII to which Phillip compliments her. She asks if he's worried if it'll be him tonight, but he says no. He says that "if it's to be redemption, I kinda like that name."
Kristina tells us that she's gonna play the idol tonight because she knows they won't give her the chance to get by it this time. (Except that they did, but she didn't see it coming)

Darker music plays as we're shown Rob talking with Ashley and Grant about the vote. Grant thinks Andrea has strength in challenges. Rob is peeved that Matt went to the other tribe at the challenge.
Grant tells us that he agrees with Rob's stance on Matt handshaking with the other tribe.
The three of them decide to all vote for Matt and then tell Andrea and Matt that they're splitting the vote, figuring that "if they screw us, we'll see when the votes come through." (When were the other two planning on ever screwing them over? This was a weird disconnect here.)
Rob tells us that he's voting out Matt. Rob says he didn't want to have to resort to this, but that Matt is playing "textbook Survivor" and that it won't do because he's playing with Rob.

OMETEPE
DAY 5 (cont'd)

We open to see the "alliance" of 6 talking like they did in the first episode, with Rob telling them that they split the vote and that none of them are going home. They settle on the same as last time, guys on Phillip, girls on Kristina.
Andrea tells us how the plan is going to unfold, as stated above.
Rob tells us that 'as far as Matt and Andrea are concerned' - only to state the same as above. But then he tells us that none of that is happening, and instead 4 votes are going to Matt. He also hopes Kristina plays the idol. If all of it happens, it's a 'home run'.

Phillip asks Rob what's gonna happen, and Rob says he doesn't know.
Matt says to Rob that Phillip has nowhere to go, and that they wouldn't spare him.
Rob then takes Phillip aside.
Matt tells us that Rob is both impressive and amazing with what he can do in the game.
Rob tells Phillip that he shouldn't worry because he's not going home, and that they don't know who they're voting for yet.
Rob tells us that Phillip is a tough cookie, and that he can't tell Phillip the truth because Phillip talks a lot.
Rob lays out a plan telling Phillip how he'll inform him on who to vote for at tribal council. He then instructs Phillip on how he needs to behave at tribal council.
Rob tells us that he's testing Phillip to see if he's worth putting back into the rotation.


TRIBAL COUNCIL

Jeff asks Kristina about the idol. She says she has a good feeling she's gonna play it tonight.
Jeff asks Phillip about the animal in him. Phillip talks about his tattoo's. Gorilla and lion. Phillip essentially says he's the Gorilla that needs to suffer the consequences of his loss (and get beat down by another Silverback? (Rob?!?).
Jeff asks Rob about Phillip. Rob says he's a competitor, and he compares himself to his competitive nature.
Jeff asks Matt about voting out Phillip. Matt says it's tough, but it's possible it can happen.
Jeff asks Phillip about getting voted out. Phillip talks about he's okay with it because he gets to meet Francesca and get even. "There are some upsides."
Jeff asks Matt about Redemption Island, and Matt throws out a bunch of questions in regard to it. He wants to know the details. (And I guess he now gets to know the details.)
Rob signals Phillip to vote for Kristina with a rub on the shoulder. Kristina looks puzzled. (Rob essentially throws Phillip's vote away here)

Phillip votes for Kristina for being a liar and a manipulator. (despite the fact that Rob is doing all of that instead)
Rob's vote is hidden, but he hopes that whomever he votes for doesn't hold it against him.
Kristina plays her HII.
Matt looks stunned after the second vote with his name appears. Andrea looks worried.
Third vote with Matt, he says "Wow", Andrea covers her mouth in shock. Matt's jaw is agape.
Matt gets blindsided by the vote congratulating his tribe on the way out. Andrea is shown nervously assessing the situation, having been blindsided as well.

Matt meets Francesca on Redemption Island, telling us that sometimes he just wants to go home, but then he also feels like Rob just set him up for the greatest comeback in Survivor history.

- The Tribes -

Zapatera is a tribe divided by Russell. As he states, you're either with him or against him. And from the looks of it, if you're with him, you'll get a negative edit, and if you're against him, you'll either be positive or mostly invisible. The tribe as a whole seems to work well together despite being divided. We've heard a decent amount from them considering they've yet to go to Tribal Council, but I'm still not quite sure where they leave us.

Ometepe is less divided on the outside, but still divided immensely. Here, we have a tribe that doesn't talk to each other and utilize everyone, as we saw Kristina get completely left out of the vote and Phillip left to run amok. On top of that we have two players who were completely blindsided in the end. Rob is running the tribe and is dictating how every chip falls, but a lot of is merciless and being portrayed rather negatively.


- The Characters -

The NPC's:

Julie: No edit as of yet. 2 episodes in a row does not bode well for her. She was shown talking with Ralph and the gang in terms of Russell, but that's it.

Steve: The guy is shown to occasionally communicate with the 'good' side on Zapatera, but otherwise he's never shown. Hasn't had a confessional yet. Where does he stand? Who is he with? Why is he not being shown at all? Just another NPC.

Krista: Despite getting with Russell, we little from her. Yes she was shown, but I believe it takes more than what we saw this episode on top of what she didn't get last episode to really place in her competition with those that are actually standing a fair chance. She's an extension to Russell, and that's been told to equal success to some degree, but I don't see any signs of that happening with her at the moment.

David: The guy was near invisible this episode despite having an 'okay' first episode. A lot of Russell opposition this episode but none of it was with David, leaving me to wonder where he disappeared to. His biggest contribution was sitting out at the challenge. I don't see him winning like this.

Sarita: We saw her talk with Mike, and we know she's not on good terms with Russell. If there's anything to her story over the last two episodes it's that she's helping to take down Russell and she's doing so via Mike. She's building on Mike's story, but has little of her own to show thus far.


The Subordinates:

Grant: The man got a confessional, but the problem I had with him was that he was connected to a rather vile and duplicitous scene with Rob. And all he did was agree with Rob. He may have a vote to lend but anything else beyond that seems to be rather minuscule in relation to the story being told.

Phillip: He's more or less just the comic relief of the season, and much like last episode he was always in the background of the actual outcome, never really being important. He has an individual story to tell about how he grows into a valorous man, and he certainly got that this episode. Stands no chance at winning, but could be beneficial to helping Rob in the mean time. I don't see him going too far, though he could possibly be meeting Francesca on Redemption Island soon (and losing).

Kristina: She had nothing to lend this episode except the fact that she was playing her idol. She had her story told in the season opener but it seems it's coming to a quick end now that her idol is gone and she has no one on her side.

Ashley: She as well had little to contribute in this episode. Her story continues as a limb to Rob's alliance, but we also know she's not his #1 choice. She had nothing to tell us this episode and she only showed up to help Rob concoct a plan to blindside Matt. Not liking what I saw here, especially building upon what little we saw of her last time.

The Bad Guys:

Russell: Sorry Russell fans, but this time around we gotta hate the guy, as he's not being portrayed as the mastermind that he used to be. Shown playing the same game just the same as in his previous two seasons, we are getting Russell playing with a weakened strategy. We're seeing the flaws in Russell's plan scene by scene. Russell tells us one thing but we the audience see more than that. We'd almost feel bad for Russell if he wasn't such a despicable character. Unlike in Samoa or even HvV, we aren't supposed to respect Russell. We're getting a buildup to a big folly in his story, and all it really comes down to is a matter of when.

Stephanie: The better side of Russell, but she gave us a negative comment in the background. The "she sucks at life" comment about Sarita wouldn't come out of a winner's mouth. Her story is about Russell, as it was cemented in the first episode, and is now just an extension of his edit. The good news is that we're being told by Russell that she's a good player, but the bad news is that I don't see her winning if this negativity persists.


The Good Guys:

Rob: As great as Rob is looking, and as much power as he seems to hold, he was portrayed rather negatively this episode. We respect the man because everyone around him respects him and we got to hear his side and insight into a lot of his actions, and they all worked out too. Ultimately, however, I believe we're looking at a character who controls his spot for a while only to eventually get usurped later down the road by his own minions. He's an unforgiving and somewhat merciless leader who expects his followers to follow instructions, and once they don't... he gets annoyed. We saw a tactical Rob this episode who came out victorious, but he looked cruel to the touch at the same time. I didn't like seeing a vulture prior to his strategy talk with Natalie nor did I like the dark music in his talk with Grant/Ashley. I see him going far but not winning yet again.

Ralph: Quite a character we have in Ralph, a man who is set to show Russell how to lose at his own game. Ralph's story is opposite Russell's, and while that's a good sign in relation to the story, I don't see long-term prospects here yet. I see a character whose story depends upon taking out Russell. Much like how Jane wanted Marty gone, it may be the same side of the coin with Ralph. He's a positive and abrasive character who may get the better of himself if he doesn't play his cards (or idol, in this case) right.

My "Big Three" of the episode that are interchangeable in position:

Natalie: She may not have done too much, but what we saw was a lot like Natalie White from Samoa. She's entirely connected to Rob but is receiving none of the backlash for it. When I heard Rob tell us he's gonna put her on his back to the end - bam, Natalie White right there. We had that same confessional by Russell in Samoa. There was also manipulation in Rob's confessional in this scene, and I believe it spoke volumes about Natalie's chances. She wasn't shown when discussing or implementing the Matt/Andrea blindside, meaning she was left out to avoid looking negative there. Why? I have a feeling she may end up in the final three if that scene was any indication of how far she goes and how she gets there. Can she acquire the respect necessary to win, however? We'll have to wait and see.

Andrea: We got to hear her side on her connection to Matt, and likewise she was portrayed positively in that scene with him. Other than Natalie we saw every potential player in Ometepe look bad except her. Though it helped build up the blindside by keeping her in the dark, we felt that blindside along with her, and I think that because she's yet to receive any negative or ugly showing in her edit, we're not supposed to be against her. She was told by Rob to be a challenging, capable player, and we heard from Grant that she's worth keeping around (over Matt!) challenge-wise (despite that bellyflop?) We felt bad for the girl, and her chances at winning went up a lot compared to everyone else.

Mike: We got to hear from Mike a few times throughout the episode. Whereas Ralph is the direct opposite to Russell, Mike is the listening and level-headed figure who has yet to look bad in any way. He's not over the top or under the radar, and his edit is letting us hear from him in situations where we otherwise could have heard from other players. Sarita told him about Russell but we heard from Mike about all of it instead. I think he still looks pretty good all around and has a lot of potential in his edit as events unfold. His biggest hurdle may be avoiding turning into a Mick or Marcus, which is still likely, but not there yet.


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amp bump

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GranTurisMo - God's Tiniest Man - Great Thorn Monkeys!
Member of the merSHINEsess Nation since 7/15/09

Wow, this is a lot of analysis.

I love reading your stuff.

*starts reading your episode 2 posts*



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~The Queen has returned~

So what do you have to say about Fran and Matt's chances?

Fran has been getting a positive edit, but at the same time, Matt did too, though he was shown much less than she was.

Everything Matt was saying was really positive, optimistic, and humble. They seemed to make his blindside more heartbreaking. Now did they do this for Matt's edit, or Andrea's edit? Or just to make Rob look more like a villain?

I thought Fran was going to beat him for sure, but the more I think about it, I wouldn't rule out Matt. At this point, I'd say his storyline has more potential than Fran's. The only thing that makes me doubt this is how they still make references between Phillip and Fran.


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http://i51.tinypic.com/2rhl08o.jpg
~The Queen has returned~

I think there's a strong case for both of them advancing on RI. Francesca got a bit more screentime this episode - reminded me of Vecepia a tad with the journal, and she had some decent quotes from both episodes. I don't think she got as great of an edit in episode 1 as people believe. It's easy to look at her in comparison to her two alliance mates in Kristina and Phillip and say she looked good - I think everyone did. But we get a lot of discussion with Phillip possibly going to RI and probably losing to Francesca so that's something to consider as well. Why would they show us all that if it wouldn't happen? Survivor doesn't often lead to dead ends with characters that the editors love (such as Phillip).

Matt, on the other hand, looks good based on what we've seen. He's got his religious edit to him that's been manipulated to be placed under the limelight, essentially defining him as a character. He's got the whole 'Rob's pupil' thing going for him, and now he could possibly come back and really get a great story arc. His potential is much more established for the long haul, but there's a good chance it may just be too far out of reach and thus ultimately reduced to mere speculation. We saw Matt praising Rob numerous times throughout, but if he were to be out of the game first - why not show Grant a little instead? Why so much Matt praising Rob? To establish a blindside that ended his game at the hands of Rob? Possibly.

Either way you go, both characters have ground to build upon. I think Matt would be more fun to follow personally, and I think that Francesca really blindsided herself early on with her overlooking redemption island, but regardless, it kinda seems up in the air. I'll see if I can gather more insight from other people that are analyzing the editing this season as well and see what they come up with.


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In other news:






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http://robhasawebsite.com/2011/02/25/survivor-redemption-island-podcast-stephen-courtney-on-boston-rob-4-0/

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I just noticed that there was more splicing of confessionals. We hear Rob say "the first gameplan was to vote out Phillip or *splicing* [Andrea]."

I'm betting that Andrea was never on the table and that he actually said "Phillip or Kristina." In this case, why direct us to Andrea when she probably wasn't in danger? Obviously her ally in Matt was getting sent home later that night, so maybe it was to establish a bigger blindside. Maybe Andrea gets taken out next?

Regardless of what it means, now that we've seen manipulated doubt in her edit, I'll be watching her a little more carefully from now on.

Here's the video that I caught it from:

The splicing happens around 59 seconds in.

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I believe it was to suggest that Rob wanted to split up their group but did not want to lose Matt for his challenge strength, so he originally was thinking about Andrea. That was how I interpreted it, anyway.

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I'm "kind of a big deal".
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/princess_anri/CylcoandAnri.png

I believe that them bringing Andrea's name up as someone to vote off was probably just the editing department taking creative liberties with the storyline (as you hinted at). They didn't seem to portray Andrea in a negative way. So to me it would seem that maybe they were setting up a story arc for Andrea for later on.

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Congrats, Black Turtle on winning the Guru contest!

Extra notes where I found splicing in the previous episode:

Francesca in the beginning of the episode: "After what happened at Tribal Council tonight, [sic] it's been kind of downhill." This is rough and had me re-listening numerous times, but it's there.

Russell: "These dudes I'm dealin' with, they ain't too bright, and [sic] poor old Ralph, [sic] that dude might be the dumbest player..." A lot of that whole segment seemed thrown together to pit him against Ralph.

Rob tells us how Matt is trying to play the good guy, but that Andrea knows what she wants, how she's stringing along Matt. Rob doesn't like that, because he knows how strong pairs can be. He mentions Amber. We get a spliced shift in confessionals where he says "Now I'm thinking about who I'm gonna sit next to in the end." And then of course Natalie is there and all that, followed by the Nat confessional. Pretty sure we're gonna see Natalie reach the end.

Rob tells us that Phillip lost them the challenge, but that Matt shouldn't have gone to congratulate the other team. He says that Matt is trying to play the "good Christian game" and the social game too early - but the Christian part is spliced in. More manipulation to build on Matt's religious characterization.

Rob: "The first gameplan was to vote out Phillip [sic] or Andrea." Seems he was gonna probably say Kristina here. Interesting is that at the beginning of the episode he says either Phillip or Andrea, yet here we get Andrea's name spliced in to go along with the storyline.

Also the Mike bit where he was walking to find Russell and he tells us that Russell isn't trustworthy was noticeable too. His voice switched around there.


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new episode plz

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'LOL' Phillip video:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/video/?pid=MjAOZLfbJRgLECz_xHaidbKhUECXOPkT&vs=Default&play=true

Duel Challenge Preview:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/video/?pid=EnFnmqJM5GX3OO76eeSyRVxjpGv4AdCq&vs=Default&play=true


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Tomorrow.

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Duel preview (looks to be actual footage of the episode):


Andrea, Ashley, David, and Steve get to watch.

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oh, so they get to know who is still on RI? that is convenient. would be much scarier if they had no idea.

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I'm "kind of a big deal".
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/princess_anri/CylcoandAnri.png

Tomorrow (or today technically) is my last day of class before I'm on break, so I'll get my analysis up at some point tomorrow night.


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