Board 8 > Reality TV Discussion Topic: Survivor, Amazing Race, Big Brother, etc.

(+) Yeah! (+)

foolm0r0n posted...

You're really telling me you didn't enjoy the papaya zoom?

Everything Matt/Frannie related at Tribal last week was great. This includes the papaya idol.

Everything NOT Matt/Frannie related at Tribal last week was contrived and/or forgettable.

I have no idea what you're referring to with a "papaya."

Also, I only see two seasons of Survivor on Netflix. And assuming you watched maybe... four more seasons beyond those? That means you've seen 10 seasons and there is a BIG discrepancy between our perception of the quality of this show. I'm not saying you have to agree with me but I'm trying to get a better understanding of where you're coming from, because this show has been a gigantic emotional support system for me through some of the darkest times of my life so to see it go downhill (in my opinion) is really depressing to me and tough to watch, so I dislike that you're trying to invalidate my thoughts on it by calling it "circlejerking."

Now I'm really worked up. I probably shouldn't be in this topic anymore.

Underleveled posted...

but I'm trying to get a better understanding of where you're coming from

I don't really think so.

If you're really so angry at this show that you're missing the fun little things like the papaya, and agreeing with that guy saying he preferred watching the commercials, then is this really still your emotional support? It's not my fault you're watching this. The other 40 seasons are still there for you to rewatch.

And I think there were 5 or 6 seasons on Netflix. They cycle them out.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Who's this Lauren who won immunity, again?

The one that has an extra vote - that is how her entire existence is defined to me. Once she uses that extra vote, poof - gone like dust....

The papaya was incredible and is why Matt was one of the best contestants this season.

foolm0r0n posted...

that guy saying he preferred watching the commercials

If that's referring to me, note how I still agreed with you about the papaya.

The problem with the show nowadays is that the advantage bloat overshadows the good little things that would have stood out before. All these synthetic attempts to create "BIG MOVEZ" feel so forced; this week's episode was great because one of those came about on its own, which is the kind of blindside that makes for good TV.

Jeff needs to realize that by letting the players play, cool stuff happens. That includes the personality this episode had that was hardly noticeable in most of this season to date (save for the Matthew MedEvac episode, anything Carolyn, and the papaya idol). It felt like a good episode from the Philippines or Cagayan era, and that's a huge improvement.

MartinFF7 posted...

The one that has an extra vote - that is how her entire existence is defined to me. Once she uses that extra vote, poof - gone like dust....

Not knowing who these people are, and simply knowing what advantages they have, is the worst part of modern Survivor.

That Jaime confessional was great.

"I can't believe I still have my idol!"

Her Chyron: One Fake Idol

Yay! We hadn't gotten a good Carolyn scene in a while, and this was just what the doctor ordered.

How quickly they've forgotten about Matthew

Yay Frannie!

Anyway, going into the second half of the episode, my prediction is Jaime going home because of her "idol".

What did Kane do to make them want to target him over someone with an extra vote?

Mewtwo59 posted...

What did Kane do to make them want to target him over someone with an extra vote?

I genuinely don't know, unless they're trying to pick the person least likely to have/play an advantage.

Fucking live tribals.

Well, that was a lousy end to the fake idol storyline

lol so fucking hard if Kane left the game with Jaime's fake idol, and that ENTIRE plot was fucking pointless.

Seriously, that idol, Matthew making it, and Jaime finding it, was basically the only storyline pre-swap Ratu had after the first episode.

Huh, wasn't expecting Frannie to be the Jaime vote.

I lol'd at the editing joke with Yam-Yam's subtitles.

Good episode. Character scenes. A coherent storyline despite the Live Tribal. I enjoyed it, though, yes, the fake idol storyline was completely pointless. Did nobody find the re-hidden Brandon fake? I know Sarah and Matt both left with their fakes.

My current winner pick is Carson. Carolyn is my second choice (the chaos option).

There was a secret scene last week where Kane found Brandon's fake, and then he re-hid it. So it should still be hidden there unless someone found it this week and they didn't show it.

Mewtwo59 posted...

There was a secret scene last week where Kane found Brandon's fake, and then he re-hid it. So it should still be hidden there unless someone found it this week and they didn't show it.

Yeah that's what I was referencing. He re-hid it, so did nobody else find it?

I got wayyyyyy too excited when those Heidi votes were rolling in, like I knew she wasn't going since she wasn't really discussed at all? They only discussed Danny and Kane at camp??? but damn, I wanted that so bad in that moment. And now she has an idol, boooo.

Still lots of good stuff in this episode, mostly highlighted above: nice "rest day" at camp, Frannie winning, "fake idol" chyron, Yam Yam subs, classic Carolyn. Overall good stuff.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Yeah that's what I was referencing. He re-hid it, so did nobody else find it?

Honestly, we've wasted enough time this season on fake idols that didn't amount to anything. I'm fine with it not being shown if it was found since it's not important.

The last couple episodes have made me really doubt Frannie's chances. I feel like she's immediate target number 1 again if she loses immunity. I'd LOVE her to win but...

I just hope she gets to 4th or 5th at this point.

I LIKE Yam Yam a good amount but I wouldn't want to see him win. A bit too vindictive for my tastes.

So baring Frannie since I don't think it's possible she makes it to FTC, a Carson win would be cool. Heidi is a lot more visible these last couple eps and is giving me a lot of shades of Erika.

And Carolyn is great sure, and I seriously doubted she'd be able to talk her case in FTC, but at least this episode showed people actually connecting with her and stuff like that. That scene alone boosted her FTC chances a large margin for me.

Zigzagoon posted...

I seriously doubted she'd be able to talk her case in FTC

Given her ability to quickly laundry-list all the stuff she had done pre-merge in the confessionals when Danny and Brandon were bro-ing out, I never really had this doubt

Carolyn 4eva

Hey, Carson finally gets to compete in an individual challenge!

Does Frannie get a letter from Matt?

Carson might get caught in the lie he told Jaime, because if someone says they found out from Carson, not Kane, she'll know not to trust him, since he left that part out.

That said, I really think that this is a GREAT thing for Jaime, since that was a fake idol. And nobody being any the wiser to that dramatically improves Jaime's winner equity if she makes F3.

Nice that they brought the rain machine back too.

I'm really liking this episode. This is how you make strategy FUN, by tying it into people's personalities. Carolyn loves Frannie, so she's a roadblock to taking Frannie out. Jaime thinks she's a much bigger player than she is, and she's getting eaten alive by a shark like Danny. It's just fun.

I like how Jeff was trying to make it look close there when Frannie wasn't anywhere near done with that puzzle.

Inviso posted...

I'm really liking this episode. This is how you make strategy FUN, by tying it into people's personalities. Carolyn loves Frannie, so she's a roadblock to taking Frannie out. Jaime thinks she's a much bigger player than she is, and she's getting eaten alive by a shark like Danny. It's just fun.

Yeah, this season went from awful to great at quite a clip. This is the third straight episode that's a significant improvement in quality over everything before.

The editors are clearly having more fun with this than they ever were pre-merge. Note little things like Jaime's disappearing "FAKE IDOL" chyron, Yam-Yam's sound effect at the immunity challenge, them mocking Jaime relentlessly... all good stuff.

I'm really loving that post-challenge scramble. It makes sense that Frannie would be a target; she won two immunities and a reward. It makes sense that Carolyn would be against that, since they've slowly been bonding the past two episodes. Heidi, meanwhile, has consistently been this tiny little shit-stirrer, so it makes sense that she might get targeted as well.

Plus, Danny is a controlling threat, and no one believes Jaime when she legitimately tells them she has no idol. It's all well-defined in-character, and it's great.

Sandra's a legend and she never won a post-merge challenge!

Well that sucked. She was so featured throughout the season.

While I wish Frannie had survived there, I appreciate her having a solid story arc.

Carolyn or bust.

Man, I wish just one time the person I like could win Survivor. I knew it was coming though, especially the whole episode it was written on the wall.

Go Carolyn or Carson I guess.

Zigzagoon posted...

Man, I wish just one time the person I like could win Survivor. I knew it was coming though, especially the whole episode it was written on the wall.

Go Carolyn or Carson I guess.

Honestly, the edit was SO obvious that I thought SURELY they were setting us up for a swerve. I'm sorry she was your fave and went out, but it's honestly kinda refreshing to see the show just tell a straight-forward narrative, rather than trying to "surprise" us with the final outcome.

the worst-kept secret is official: 90 minute episodes for survivor (and amazing race) starting in the fall

https://twitter.com/DaltonRoss/status/1656313249447440386

this SHOULD be a good thing, given that there's no sign the advantages and twists are going to be going away - this will give us more time for character development and camp stories to fill the gaps in that we lose from all the extra twists. but...we'll see how the time ends up being spent.

more excited for 90 minute AR than Survivor but yeah, will be interesting to see how it works out.

Same number of episodes though?

Most likely, but TAR's episode count has been extremely variable recently.

Yessssss

That was a really strong opening. We get emotional moments from Carolyn, we get internal conflict from Heidi, we get Danny's paranoia (while continuing the theme of people telling the truth and not being believed). Survivor is so much more interesting when you just let the players and their interpersonal dynamics do the work.

Naye745 posted...

this SHOULD be a good thing, given that there's no sign the advantages and twists are going to be going away - this will give us more time for character development and camp stories to fill the gaps in that we lose from all the extra twists. but...we'll see how the time ends up being spent.

I'm more worried than anything that this will destroy Survivor. I hope we get episodes like the previous three weeks than everything pre-merge.

A few notes so far from this episode:

• Heidi is smart to blame Frannie, who's busy doing it with Matt at Ponderosa. She's also smart to not tell a soul about her idol.
• Heidi getting the intro package now makes me think she's going home with that idol in her bag though
• Carolyn being a nuclear bomb is natural. Yam-Yam and Carson were idiots to insist on having that conversation right away, and should have said "We will talk in the morning." I also think they should have told Carolyn last minute about the plan since they don't know she has the Tika idol.
• Yam-Yam telling Danny is also a bad idea, since it makes it clear that Yam-Yam is a shit-stirrer, and establishes Tika as a threatening threesome. They really need to try to play both sides for one more round before blowing anything up, so it'll be 3-3.
• Carolyn. That is all.

Fuck yeah. Now please keep Tika intact.

Great job for Yam Yam (that makes two seasons in a row where this challenge ended with a "big" winner). Part of me wants Tika to stay intact...but I could also do with Carson going home. Just keep Carolyn safe.

To Jaime & Lauren:
Please don't change the vote to Carolyn...
Please don't change the vote to Carolyn...
Please don't change the vote to Carolyn...
Please don't change the vote to Carolyn...
Please don't change the vote to Carolyn...

Does Danny have an idol? I forget.