[Scott Kocourek]

The Season Premier of Survivor is tonight, September 19, 2012. I can't wait as always.

There are some videos you can watch at the CBS website: http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/

Enjoy!

 

[Henry]

It was a good premier ...wonder what Zane thinks of his excellent strategy now. :lol:

 

[Drew2k]

Ummm ... Zane say what? First, Zane was crazy to think he could form individual alliances with each tribe-mate without them comparing notes. Second, Zane was crazy to think it was a good tactic to take the blame for the tribe immunity challenge loss, when it was clear Russell's heavy handed mismanagement of resources was the cause. Zane got himself voted out.

This could be an interesting season with three tribes. I wonder if they will play with merging only two of the three tribes, for example, if the same two tribes continually lose and dwindle in size, so that it balances out the "bigger" winning tribe.

Of I wonder if they throw a twist like immunity challenges will also be reward challenges, where winning tribe is safe from tribal council, but the runner-ups get the reward. Would a tribe throw a challenge for reward, knowing they still would be safe from tribal?

And poor Lisa Welchel. You'd think she'd know how to play a social game by using her acting abilities, but she looks to be an outcast in her tribe. Where's Mrs. Garrett to give guidance when you need her?

 

[Doug Brott]

I suspect they'll get back to 2 tribes by doing a shuffle at some point to re-mingle the tribes. They could do it differently and a single-member tribe could lose, but the caveat to that would be that there would be no one to actually cast a vote ... who would you vote out?

I always like Survivor and this will be no less. Hope Jeff Kent can hold out, but if he has a bum knee he could be a goner - plus if it is an MCL he will need surgery for a proper fix if he doesn't get it tended to immediately (and apparently he isn't).

 

[Henry]

Ummm ... Zane say what? First, Zane was crazy to think he could form individual alliances with each tribe-mate without them comparing notes. Second, Zane was crazy to think it was a good tactic to take the blame for the tribe immunity challenge loss, when it was clear Russell's heavy handed mismanagement of resources was the cause. Zane got himself voted out.

This could be an interesting season with three tribes. I wonder if they will play with merging only two of the three tribes, for example, if the same two tribes continually lose and dwindle in size, so that it balances out the "bigger" winning tribe.

Of I wonder if they throw a twist like immunity challenges will also be reward challenges, where winning tribe is safe from tribal council, but the runner-ups get the reward. Would a tribe throw a challenge for reward, knowing they still would be safe from tribal?

And poor Lisa Welchel. You'd think she'd know how to play a social game by using her acting abilities, but she looks to be an outcast in her tribe. Where's Mrs. Garrett to give guidance when you need her?

No arguments here. :nono:

 

[Dr_J]

Jeff Probst said in the TV Guide Channel preview that the decision to go to 3 tribes was motivated by the predictability of the past few seasons, when 5- and 6-person alliances in a 2-tribe competition dominated the game. I'd definitely have to agree with that. Eventually, they will merge into 2 tribes for sure, but then it will be more interesting to see how those smaller alliances within the original 3 tribes intermix.

Zane really shot himself in the foot with the whole "vote me out" and then tried to use it as reverse psychology to blindside Russell. The tribe gave him his wish and voted him out! Plus, people might have thought that Russell had the idol because he had the clue.

Russell totally blew it when he said no way was he going to be the leader, and then not only does he become the leader, he completely botched it in the immunity challenge by not assigning people to the right tasks. (The producers only show the deliberating before a challenge if it's instrumental to the outcome, like when Semhar in South Pacific said she could shoot baskets and then bricked everything, leading to her getting the boot.) At least he realized and admitted his mistake at tribal council and hopefully won't do it again. I don't think that Mike taking over as leader was as egregious, although if he keeps getting hurt, it will work against him.

I feel bad for Lisa in the sense that she seems like a wonderful person who's a superfan (and in my humble opinion looks a lot more adorable now than when she was a kid), and she's pretty much guaranteed to go if they ever lose a challenge. By the same token, she should not have allowed herself to get isolated from the rest of the tribe. I don't know if she allowed it to happen or if it happened spontaneously because of her age, but she had to have known that it was not a good thing to do or have happen. Now it looks like she'll have that episode #2 meltdown that we've seen a number of times recently (e.g., Dawn from South Pacific; Holly from Nicaragua).

 

[Henry]

Nice post, Dr_J.

Something tells me that Russel can't help himself. I think he'll make another grab at leadership before long ... and of course it'll blow up in his face.

 

[jdskycaster]

^I do not think Russell has it in him to put his personality on the back burner. He knew what to do from the beginning but just could not get himself to do it. He may still not be able to take a back seat and even if he does it may already be too late as the other tribe members will not forget that quickly.

To save himself he will have to not only have to force himself to take a back seat but become instrumental in winning immunity for the tribe.

Just had to feel sorry for Zane. He really gave himself far too much credit for understanding his fellow tribe members personalities. Hopefully he can take the lesson learned and apply it to his future endeavors... but I doubt it.

Look's to be another good season.

 

[Henry]

^I do not think Russell has it in him to put his personality on the back burner. He knew what to do from the beginning but just could not get himself to do it. He may still not be able to take a back seat and even if he does it may already be too late as the other tribe members will not forget that quickly.

To save himself he will have to not only have to force himself to take a back seat but become instrumental in winning immunity for the tribe.

Just had to feel sorry for Zane. He really gave himself far too much credit for understanding his fellow tribe members personalities. Hopefully he can take the lesson learned and apply it to his future endeavors... but I doubt it.

Look's to be another good season.

I don't know what Russel's thinking. It could be the opening jitters, ego (vanity face time) or it could be his nature to lead. He's all over the place and shows no consistency. All I can see for him is an early exit unless he figures out what he is and trategizes accordingly.

Zane had a zany theory about people that he no doubt developed in front of a mirror. Like you, I don't think he'll learn any lessons from it, unless of course you pay him for the 8 hours he'll spend thinking about it.

I agree, it promises to be a good season.

 

[Scott Kocourek]

Actually laughed out loud when Roxy said "It's like a booby(ie) trap".

Good episode, I don't know how long Jeff Kent is going to hold out with his knee the way he was working at the challenge.

 

[kiknwing]

Cookies anyone?

 

[Doug Brott]

Well I know where everyone's head is ... :lol:

BTW, that was a really stupid answer ... !rolling

 

[Marlin Guy]

I know she's as dumb as a bag of hammers, but dayum! :eek2:

 

[SPACEMAKER]

Nice.

 

[Doug Brott]

I know she's as dumb as a bag of hammers ...

Really? I didn't get that impression at all. Yes, she is young and doesn't have the life experience of some of the other contestants or us old farts here, but I certainly didn't get the impression that she was dumb.

Her "cookies" answer was dumb but I chalked that up to not saying what she really wanted to say and coming up with a stupid answer rather than a real one.

 

[Holydoc]

Really? I didn't get that impression at all. Yes, she is young and doesn't have the life experience of some of the other contestants or us old farts here, but I certainly didn't get the impression that she was dumb.

Her "cookies" answer was dumb but I chalked that up to not saying what she really wanted to say and coming up with a stupid answer rather than a real one.

I think someone else has been blinded by the coming headlamps. :lol:

 

[Doug Brott]

I think someone else has been blinded by the coming headlamps. :lol:

Anything is possible, but I do try to look at everything pragmatically .. The simple fact that she's been shown a lot could lead credence to an early ouster.

 

[sigma1914]

A little about Russell...

He's in my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma. (Note that historically black fraternities and sororities are lifetime commitments and not just during college. I say this in case anyone is unsure why an older person would be mentioning fraternity life.) Anyway, while discussing Russell with other brothers who know him, they say he's a natural leader type. We all know the type...it's a personality trait some have. Unfortunately, that can hurt in Survivor.

 

[Dr_J]

What's happening now with Matsing reminds me of Palau and Stephanie's Ulong tribe losing eight straight immunity challenges until there was no one left but her. It won't go that far this time because there has to be an imminent merge from three tribes to two, and there's less people per tribe, so that prior losing streak will not be broken, but still. It's also reminiscent of Pearl Islands, where the Morgan tribe lost the first three immunity challenges to Rupert's Drake tribe.

I distinctly remember hearing Angie say she didn't want to dive again. Whether that was "giving up" or strategically saying she didn't want to do it because she was weak is debatable. Even though Russell didn't do so hot himself in the challenge, I think letting Angie go was the right move. The other thing that perplexes me is why isn't Russell making a more concerted effort than we're seeing to find the hidden immunity idol? He's the only one with the clue, and it's right under his nose! The other two tribes have found it. Russell needs it more than they do right now. He should now give some excuse to Denise and Malcolm to go explore somewhere so he can look for it.

The politics over at Tandang are fascinating, but they haven't been put to the test because they keep winning. You had Mike, Peter, RC, and Abi aligned, leaving Lisa and Artis on the outs. Then Peter tries to make a side deal with Lisa to oust Mike. Then RC and Abi have a blowup (and I kinda feel bad for RC because I don't think she's done anything wrong, and Abi is just a hothead), leading Abi to share the immunity idol clue with Peter and then finding and hiding it from RC (nice alliance there). Then Artis wants Mike gone because he did what he told Artis not to do, dive face-first into the water and have the mask shatter. If they have to vote someone out, I think it will be Mike vs. Lisa, but I have no idea how it will go down.

I was wondering how long it would take for someone at Kalabaw to notice that the lid handle on the rice tin was missing (and now the same is true at Tandang). The politics here seem less obvious and similarly haven't come to the forefront because they keep winning. All we've seen is the tribe wanting Jonathan out because he's played before, and then Jonathan trying to make a deal with Jeff and telling him he has the idol and Jeff not truly sealing the deal with his "weak," "nonmanly" handshake. I love the intrigue of three tribes!

 

[Dr_J]

I felt bad for Russell, Denise, and Malcolm last night. I really wanted them to win something. Last night's challenge couldn't have been any closer. You could tell Russell poured his heart and soul into this game, and it was heartbreaking that he ended up completely empty-handed. Some of it was his poor leadership skills early on, some of it was his poor performance in the challenges, and some of it was just plain bad luck. It's too bad that he kept walking right past the idol without realizing it. This is now the longest immunity challenge losing streak since Stephanie's Ulong tribe lost eight straight in Palau. The other tribes have interesting politics going on, particularly Tandang, but nothing is getting put to the test because they keep winning. The next question is will the three tribes still compete separately next week, and if so, that means a fire-making tiebreaker if Matsing loses again, or will there be a merge? It looks like someone will be medically evacuated next week, so the point may be moot.