Board 8 > Reality Show General Discussion Topic: Fewer Villains, More Inspiration

(+) Yeah! (+)

Blaziken posted...

Also, as much as I hate the modern mindset of resumes, I can appreciate Liz, who feels like everyone views her as a follower, getting upset that the move SHE instigated got completely swallowed up by Q's insanity.

Same. There's a difference between having a "resume" (which usually amounts to a million moves just for the sake of making moves, many of which weren't even in your best interest), and having one signature move (one thing you can point to and say "that was me. I did that.") and Liz got hers stolen from her. Not to mention, I understand the feeling of having your thunder stolen from something your proud of.

Blaziken posted...

"No one was gonna get mad if I wrote your name down."

"I was mad."

"Yeah, well you're always mad."

This was both mean and hilarious

Bold of Tiff and Kenzie to team up again after their luck on Yanu.

#Mistake

Also, Q is right. Charlie/Maria need to throw this so Hunter can't just win this challenge easy.

Charlie and Maria (somehow moreso Maria) are the worst. How can we make the season as boring as possible? They'll find a way.

Tiff going would be way more interesting than just voting out the challenge threat or going with the obvious Q boot.

Mewtwo59 posted...

Tiff going would be way more interesting than just voting out the challenge threat or going with the obvious Q boot.

Tiff is a more interesting personality than Hunter (who has an idol he can play anyway).

I don't think Jeff should be making comments like that about who he thinks is going to win and lose.

You can take the Survivors off of Yanu, but you can't take the Yanu out of Survivors

God, Charlie/Hunter/Maria are the three worst players left, and they're the ones with a chance at immunity here. Hooray -_-.

Aww, we skipped several minutes

I really hope they smarten up and target Hunter while he's unsafe. Make him burn his idol (even if they don't know he has it) and open the game up. Plus, he's one of the least-interesting personalities left, so him going out would be good.

At the very least, I'd rather see Hunter idol out a more interesting player (Tiffany/Q/Venus), than the tribe just deciding to vote one of them out the standard way.

I don't know why Kenzie wants to turn on Tiff so soon. She just lost Q, so who does she have left? Ben?

I'm calling it now, Sunny & Bizzy are going home tonight on Race

People in the new era are so desperate to make big moves that they burn loyal votes to do so.

Ricard burned Shan and became public enemy number 1. Meanwhile, Erika/Heather/Deshawn stayed loyal and made the end.

Hai burned Lydia and a few rounds later had no one willing to go to bat for him when he gets booted a few rounds after the merge (although admittedly, he randomly and needlessly turned on Rocksroy in order to save the guy he was feuding with.) Meanwhile, Taku makes the final 4 intact and has the winner of the season.

Jesse burned Cody a round too early and found himself in an unwinnable situation at the fire-making.

Danny & Heidi turning on Frannie was a game-ending move since it secured the Tika 3's position.

Everything Belo did turned against each other while letting Reba stay strong.

And now Tevin boots Soda to go home the next round, and Kenzie turns on Tiff for no reason.

OMG Jeff trolling so bad.

This is ONE way to give the cast food without making them "earn it".

Blaziken posted...

Everything Belo did turned against each other while letting Reba stay strong.

Let's be fair, the Belo infighting helped make 45 so amazing.

I'm not saying the season was bad. Just saying players are so dumb for turning against allies to make big moves.

That was the most anticlimactic tie in Survivor history.

Oh my God, PLEASE revote to boot Hunter.

Holy shit YES! Amazing outcome!

"Hoe bags"

Q was the Ben vote?

Mewtwo59 posted...

Q was the Ben vote?

Makes sense. Hunter told him he was playing an idol to blindside Ben, and Q's a loyal player when you show him loyalty.

Phil got lucky that the bottom 5 teams were all together so that he only had to explain that 3 times.

Angie needs to do more of these non-physical roadblocks if they want a chance of winning

That camera shot was fucking amazing. Amber & Vinny arguing over directions, and the camera just pans over to a dog that's already over their shit.

I'm surprised Melissa & Yvonne can even recognize Ricky & Cesar

Edit: Same with Sunny & Bizzy

Vinny is SUCH a douche, and I'm living for it.

I cannot possibly fathom Amber and Vinny staying together after the Race. Certainly not without a LOT of counseling.

Underleveled posted...

I cannot possibly fathom Amber and Vinny staying together after the Race. Certainly not without a LOT of counseling.

Apparently, they're engaged.

today i solidified not liking venus - she's really smug and cocky now that she's even in a little bit of power (despite totally being on the outs of the core of what's going on) when she was crying over not being in an alliance on day 1 of nami beach; she's a good character, obviously clear why she was cast, but personally she gets on my nerves and i'm looking forward to her (hopefully) comeuppance

sorry stan twitter, get better taste i guess

hunter was the right vote though, good work everyone

i liked hunter but like, dude was too many steps behind the speed of the game

Naye745 posted...

today i solidified not liking venus - she's really smug and cocky now that she's even in a little bit of power (despite totally being on the outs of the core of what's going on) when she was crying over not being in an alliance on day 1 of nami beach; she's a good character, obviously clear why she was cast, but personally she gets on my nerves and i'm looking forward to her (hopefully) comeuppance

sorry stan twitter, get better taste i guess

I agree with this 100%

Venus is just Angelina with a little bit less self-awareness. I'm fine with her.

angelina was naturally funny in a way that venus isn't tbqh. i find a lot of eliza in venus, and hey, i liked eliza. the way venus comes across in the show just irks me - but it's also her going to twitter looking for sympathy points while being very pointed and critical in the show. like, i'm all for you getting revenge on the people who didn't want to work with you! i just don't feel sympathetic like you've been unrighteously aggrieved - they screwed up and you're getting your moves off now. neither of y'all are better than each other and only one is trying to act like you are, and it's not tevin and hunter.

Glad we're having a commercial just to see Ricky & Cesar win another leg.

Ricky & Cesar aren't even bad guys. They're more interesting than Greg & John last season...but their dominance in a South America-centric season is so boring.

How can one team give so much in a single leg?

Was Yvonne & Melissa's purple edit supposed to be foreshadowing that they lose by not being over the top enough in this challenge?

And I don't think South America/knowing the language is why Ricky & Cesar are so dominant. Juan & Shane and Yvonne & Melissa aren't having the same luck.

Something that just hit me - I kinda love how earlier in the season, Q was saying that he wanted to make Bhanu his Phillip, and now he's becoming a perfect Phillip for someone.

This season of Survivor has been great. It's so refreshing to see people getting emotional and fighting all the time, compared to the "good vibes only, it's just a game ^_^" we were getting for so many seasons. I feel like there's less sob story flashbacks, more time showing in-game interactions, and tribal councils actually have real things discussed instead of just a bunch of analogies about how Survivor is a complicated game because you don't know who to trust. Feels like less random bullshit twists and advantages too. I thought by now we'd be having extra vote nullifier nullifiers. So credit where credit is due, they've actually listened to feedback and improved the show, I think. That plus the longer eps and I feel like I actually like Survivor again.

Not sure what show you're watching, but there are still plenty of stupid twists that are disrupting the natural flow of strategy and discouraging interesting gameplay. What's saving this season is that there are SO many shit tier players who literally don't understand the most fundamental aspects of playing the game and the good, level-headed players are getting frustrated that that's ruining their games, and that's funny.

Me personally, I'm currently putting this one in the "bad pre-merge, good post-merge" category.

Not sure what show you're watching, but there are still plenty of stupid twists that are disrupting the natural flow of strategy and discouraging interesting gameplay.

I'm probably just so used to them at this point that it's starting to feel normal. I guess that's what the producers wanted!

But what twists? There's still the dumb mergatory immediately followed by a split vote but I feel there's less random shit ending games out of nowhere. Journeys give less stuff because you can fail them and "knowledge is power" hasn't been uttered a single time, thank god.

Dels posted...

But what twists? There's still the dumb mergatory immediately followed by a split vote but I feel there's less random shit ending games out of nowhere. Journeys give less stuff because you can fail them and "knowledge is power" hasn't been uttered a single time, thank god.

I mean that's a big part of what I mean. 5 boots into the merge (counting Moriah) we've only had one genuine free-for-all immunity challenge so far, which is icky, and only one truly exciting boot, being Tevin (by exciting I mean "this legitimately shakes up the trajectory of the game").

I'm also REALLY not big on people losing their vote, especially when it happens for a reason totally out of their control. It's becoming way too regular a thing and as bad as shot in the dark is, losing your vote means you don't even have that opportunity, which is unfair.

yeah i guess i've gotten numb to the lost votes thing lol so it didn't even register to me. it's really dumb on tribes of 6 because it completely changes how a vote might go, based on a random journey.

I'm not sure there even are that many good, level headed players this season, and the only one that the chaos really seemed to screw over was Tiff. Charlie and Maria are the only other ones I'd say fit that (Kenzie dropped out for her dumb idea of turning on Tiff last night), and the chaos hasn't really hurt them at all.

Finally getting around to writing out my thoughts.

One thing I loved was that there was a lot of craziness at Tribal all without anyone leaving their seats. That feels old school. That feels like how it should be. Another thing I love is that Jeff is trolling like crazy. Him calling that Venus/Liz/Quitavius were gonna finish last in front of everyone and daring them to prove him wrong and then bringing the seat cushion and popcorn to Tribal were the kinds of things we haven't seen from Jeff in quite some time. This feels like the "They will be taken and executed" Jeff from Nicaragua. And it's great.

This cast really doesn't love each other and the season is way better for it.

Contestants ranking right now:

1. Venus - Why do some of you not like her? I get that she's cocky and has absolutely zero self-awareness, but that's what makes her unintentionally hilarious. Her thinking the Tevin move was hers at all, when it was Liz doing the legwork, is just good TV. She's just great to watch. That and, yes, she's hot, so there's that. But this season wouldn't be even half the same without her.
2. Quitavius - Honestly, the only reason he's not #1 is because he threatened to quit multiple times, and I can't in good faith put someone like that in my top spot. His chaotic energy is something else, and it's just destructive to the game. It's a big part of why this group is fed up with each other. He's added a lot to the season.
3. Ben - "This does not rock, Jeff" is a fun catchphrase, and his breakdown at camp that one night was one of the most relatable things I've seen on this show in a long time. He's fun, likable, and easy to identify with... but is lacking in the airtime.
4. Tiff - Her responses to Quitavius got me to like her a LOT MORE. Which is something, since she had been very much in the back seat for a while.
5. Liz - A trainwreck, but one we haven't seen enough of. This episode, we got her "Quitavius overshadowed my move with his insanity!" (great stuff) and... then she disappeared until Tribal. Par for the course with her. It may be because she's famished since she can't really eat. At least the preview gives us her dishing the dirt I wanna see.
6. Kenzie - She took the biggest hit this week with her wanting to blindside Tiff for the sake of a blindside. That always hurts. And she wasn't exactly likable to begin with, given how she treated Jess and Bhanu. That said, her mockery of Quitavius was fantastic. And she foreshadowed Jeff's popcorn at Tribal.
7. Charlie - His obsession with T-Swift has given us several fun moments, and I'm sure she'll eventually write a song about breaking up with him. His song-off with Ben, him shaking off the "Shake It Off" joke... stuff like that is good. I also am very impressed with things like wanting to let Kenzie make the Tiff move so he could put the heat on Kenzie instead of taking it himself.
8. Hunter - Got nothing for ya. Head back to camp. At least I remember his "Hunter and Hunted" line from the challenge.
9. Maria - She's well more of a total nothing than she has any right to be. All I know about her is that she's a mother and is from Lebanon but that's it. Her game is essentially being in Charlie's shadow.

This cast is great. Lots of emotional players. There's also the dichotomy of the three starting tribes: The hot mess that was Yanu vs. the "Vibe Tribe" Siga vs. the winning locker room of Nami constantly devolving into arguments. This is the best cast Jesse Tannenbaum has assembled, unseating 42's.

(Winner contenders are Charlie, rising stock Tiff, dwindling-stock Kenzie, and upset pick Venus.)