Board 8 > CBS Reality Show Topic 2: Survivor 41's over, but TAR33 and CBB3 are coming...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Tori is so great and better be a lock for the next All-Star season.

I hope its Romeo, but I feel like its going to be Chanelle. This season has a very boys club vibe.

It'd be funny if Chanelle can continue her run of survival despite playing terribly thanks to someone else playing worse.

How the hell has Romeo maintained such shapely facial hair?

Espeon posted...

This season has a very boys club vibe.

RIP

I will say...I'm seeing a lot of talk, both from Redditors and Clubsers, that this was a boring episode and they hated it (the former, because it was a straight-forward boot with no blindside...the latter because Chanelle is apparently a goddess on high). But me? I liked it. I'm fine with episodes that are straight-forward and obvious, because that means the editors can focus more on characters and what makes them tick. And the strategy in these "boring" episodes even leads to character moments, as you have Romeo panicking and being erratic and untrustworthy, which leads to people considering taking him out...but then you have Mike making a personal vendetta out of targeting Chanelle. And all of this makes the characters come across as real people who are making moves that they think are ideal.

It helps that--and I know I'm usually the person to decry sexism on Survivor--this male cast feels more well-rounded than your typical "THIS GUY IS THE GREATEST, MOST INTERESTING AND INTELLIGENT CHARACTER EVER" edit we get. I wish we didn't have a group of outsiders that consist entirely of the most interesting women of the season, but at least the men aren't awful. Mike/Omar/Jonathan all feel like they represent different aspects of the game (Social for Mike, Strategic for Omar, Physical for Jonathan), so none of them feels like the be all/end all character.

I don't like Hai though. He very much comes across as the guy who talks a big game and his story revolves almost entirely around strategy...but he's completely ineffective.

Inviso posted...

It helps that--and I know I'm usually the person to decry sexism on Survivor--this male cast feels more well-rounded than your typical "THIS GUY IS THE GREATEST, MOST INTERESTING AND INTELLIGENT CHARACTER EVER" edit we get. I wish we didn't have a group of outsiders that consist entirely of the most interesting women of the season, but at least the men aren't awful. Mike/Omar/Jonathan all feel like they represent different aspects of the game (Social for Mike, Strategic for Omar, Physical for Jonathan), so none of them feels like the be all/end all character.

It very much feels like Africa or BvW where the dominant alliance just happens to consist mostly of men who didn't advertently form a men's alliance, it just worked out that way. SJDS is an example of this happening with a group of mostly women.

Inviso posted...

I don't like Hai though. He very much comes across as the guy who talks a big game and his story revolves almost entirely around strategy...but he's completely ineffective.

Hence my snarky remark when he was out of last night's challenge in less than a second, the episode after declaring himself the biggest physical threat after Jonathan.

Last night was definitely the best of Romeo so far.

I didn't think last night's episode was amazing by any means, but it was pretty solid. If I ranked every episode from S31 to the present, last night's is probably in the top half.

And I've been meaning to throw this out there for a while but while it's on my mind, as an "eyes man," damn Drea.

These last couple of episodes showed why Hai was on the outs before Chanelle and Daniel threw their games away.

This episode wasn't as good as last week's but it certainly wasn't boring, either. The character moments helped that.

My biggest issues are the Jeffing and something just being off about Chanelle. Like she thought SHE was the chess player? She's very much overrating herself. I'm going to listen to her exit press later to see if she can admit her mistakes.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

This episode wasn't as good as last week's but it certainly wasn't boring, either. The character moments helped that.

My biggest issues are the Jeffing and something just being off about Chanelle. Like she thought SHE was the chess player? She's very much overrating herself. I'm going to listen to her exit press later to see if she can admit her mistakes.

She misspoke, yeah. She meant to say it the other way around.

Someone else already said it, but straightforward episodes like this let the audience "catch up" to what the tribe's current dynamics are. There was no major shift in alliance or strategy this week, and it allowed us to see a lot of content that might have otherwise been cut in favor of a hectic tribal, like Mike continuing to forge bonds (with Omar this time). When every episode is so jam-packed with twists and strategy, we end up with seasons like 41 where we can barely follow who is aligned with who and why.

It's also interesting to see Hai's game gradually unwinding. What happened to the guy willing to go to rocks for his ally? He's silently lost a lot of power these last 2 episodes and doesn't seem to be aware of that, and I think he's going to have to deal with the consequences very soon.

I'm also tired of hearing about how big Jonathan is and how much he eats. I get it. He's a great castaway that the ham-fisted edit is actively making me lose interest in.

Yeah, I like the "cooldown" episodes where the majority just votes together because it lets us get to understand things. Though I still think we're missing something regarding the Drea/Romeo separation. He started acting paranoid in this episode, but what caused her to turn on him so swiftly in the previous episode? We only found out after the fact, but weren't shown any evidence as to why he was acting that way.

Hai is definitely starting to act cocky. He seems to overrate himself similarly to Chanelle, and that's not good for his game. He's setting himself up for a humbling and he's fallen down my winner contender list several spots. Omar is currently on top, with Mike, Maryanne, and Jonathan close behind and Hai after that. Drea's next but I don't feel like I know as much about her as I do the five above her. Romeo, Rocksroy, and Lindsay are all drawing dead (with Romeo just being added), and Tori would be a shocker that I haven't fully ruled out yet.

This season is giving me strong DvG vibes and it's the best season since that one. Winners at War was good, but the bad swap kinda killed momentum and Edge overran the narrative too much. S42 feels fresh because we're focused more on the castaways and people who find that boring should watch another show.

I think my picks are Drea, Mike and Omar, with Tori and Jonathan "not eliminated."

BlueCrystalTear posted...

She's very much overrating herself. I'm going to listen to her exit press later to see if she can admit her mistakes.

Has she?

GTM posted...

Has she?

Nope. It's all Mike's fault for "being emotional," apparently. She says she and Mike made the same decision - though she never said why she picked Mike (hint: he had every reason to distrust her, since she saw him as 4th on the totem pole) - and also she and Omar made "the same move" so she shouldn't be vilified for it. She's playing the sex card and I'm like... you said you need your vote. She says she also said that she'd like an advantage, but that doesn't change that her situation was different from Omar's since she was going to Tribal. She's also denying that she ever discussed what she would have done at the summit with Daniel, because "they thought it was just a one time thing" (even though it's a completely normal thing to discuss when you're so bored out there, regardless if it's going to happen again). The delusion is strong with this one.

She's trying to make herself look as best as possible and only admitted that her communication to Omar was lacking. However, by saying that, she's making it all about her, and is reinforcing that she's genuinely bad at recognizing others' narratives. She thinks she's above other people and is still putting me off in her interviews. I really don't like her, and it wouldn't be any different if a man were acting that way.

This all-guys alliance won't work. It never does.

Lindsey's recoveries are insane

I'm predicting Tori and Rocksroy go home.

I'm amazed that Jonathan managed to win that one. That's not an easy challenge for a big guy.

Underleveled posted...

I'm predicting Tori and Rocksroy go home.

agreed

My God, Hai sucks.

Romeo, on the other hand... where has this guy been all season?

This'll probably be the less interesting of tonight's two tribals.

bwburke94 posted...

This'll probably be the less interesting of tonight's two tribals.

Yeah. I'm still pretty sure Rocks is gone.

Tribal 2 could be Drea, Tori or Maryanne. I'm gonna stick to my guns with Tori but I'm much less sure. I also think it would be awful to boot such a big villain in this kind of episode.

Seeing the "Ro" vote is less interesting in a season where we've seen a "Mary" vote.

Mewtwo59 posted...

Seeing the "Ro" vote is less interesting in a season where we've seen a "Mary" vote.

Who's Mary?

Bye Rocks.

That's going to force Drea into playing the idol, isn't it?

This seems like a bluff.

Ugh. What, so if 7 white people go out in a row it's racism?

Was it racism in Cook Islands?

Knowledge is Power incoming?

Pokewars posted...

Ugh. What, so if 7 white people go out in a row it's racism?

That's the logic.

Sometimes this is just how Survivor crumbles. Chanelle and Rocksroy both got themselves voted out through things that had nothing to do with race.

This suddenly killed my interest in the season.

Tori has to play a shot in the dark, right?

They played it Ben-style!

Lindsay might as well shot in the dark as well

Then what rofl

Pokewars posted...

Lindsay might as well shot in the dark as well

She still has 2 tribals after this one to use it.

bwburke94 posted...

She still has 2 tribals after this one to use it.

No, I mean what if they both played it and both were safe at this tribal?

Cirie goes home.

Anyway, it is time for a new topic. Pokewars, you're up.

That was pretty dumb that they gave Tori a chance to play the shot in the dark after she knew she was getting voted out.

No that's actually a real fucking flaw with the shit in the dark. There are many combos of this 10 that could have resulted in a tribal where literally everybody was safe.

Mewtwo59 posted...

That was pretty dumb that they gave Tori a chance to play the shot in the dark after she knew she was getting voted out.

I think it's fair because of the unconventional way the idols were played.

Pokewars posted...

No, I mean what if they both played it and both were safe at this tribal?

Chances of that are 2/132 (1/66, or 1.515%). 2/12 for Tori, 1/11 for Lindsay.

If that crazy thing happened...... yeah, Cirie goes home.

Who wants to make the next topic btw?

I already nominated Pokewars for next topic.

Underleveled posted...

No that's actually a real fucking flaw with the shit in the dark. There are many combos of this 10 that could have resulted in a tribal where literally everybody was safe.

Honestly, there could've been 4 idols played tonight if the game went the right way. All three tribal idols, plus the sole remaining advantage amulet.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

That's the logic.

Sometimes this is just how Survivor crumbles. Chanelle and Rocksroy both got themselves voted out through things that had nothing to do with race.

This suddenly killed my interest in the season.

I mean, its also possible that there are subconscious biases that impacted people thinking Chanelle was shady (as she pointed out, why did she catch so much shoot for things Omar and Mike did without issue?). That impacted Rocksroy being viewed as unreasonable and thus needing to go early. That impacted Jonathans split vote between the tribes two black women (instead of obvious boot Tori).

These are real social issues that should be discussed, especially by the black players impacted by it.

Tori doesn't get final words? -_-

Mewtwo59 posted...

Honestly, there could've been 4 idols played tonight if the game went the right way. All three tribal idols, plus the sole remaining advantage amulet.

That's why I said there are a lot of combos.

I'll make the topic.

See you there.