Can you believe there’s not one video of a Lion fighting a Gorilla on youtube? Good thing there’s not or I might have never been able to type up these latest 5 Survivor Redemption Island Revelations.
5. Retro Rob – If Heroes vs. Villains showed us a new kindler, gentler version of Boston Rob, this past episode gave us a glimpse of Boston Rob Classic. I don’t understand the upside for Boston Rob to get rid of Matt. Yes, Matt congratulated the other team for winning the challenge and had a blooming romance with Andrea (much like Rob had with Amber on Survivor: All-Stars) but was Matt really about to become a threat in any way to Boston Rob?
Boston Rob was the unquestioned leader of a six person alliance in a tribe that was about to be down to seven people. By blind-siding Matt (and Andrea), Rob now is at the head of a four person alliance in a tribe of seven people. He’s hurt his current position for the sake of getting rid of someone who literally was thanking God that he was in an alliance with Boston Rob.
Boston Rob’s success or failure on Survivor will always come down to numbers. If and when Boston Rob makes it to the merge, Russell’s team will be undoubtedly be gunning for him at the first post-merge vote. Rob needs to have a strong united tribe to both have a majority and avoid his tribemates flipping to the other side to vote him out.
These new players have a lot of respect for Boston Rob, but you have to think that some of that respect could begin to erode watching Boston Rob lie right to the faces of two of their alliance mates. You would think that at some point Grant, Ashley and Natalie might realize that he could just as easily turn on them. This could be the wedge that Kristina uses to break up Boston Rob’s alliance and gives her a chance to get back into the game.
4. The Beastmaster – As I stated before, I’m not sure that Boston Rob did himself a favor by sparing Phillip, but as a Survivor viewer, I could not have been more grateful. This week, Phillip showed off his sweet Gorilla and Lions tattoos at tribal council – The lion represents Phillips tenacity to protect his family, The Gorilla represents the strength of which he will attack those who try to do wrong to this country.
I personally slept a little bit better last night knowing that if anybody ever to attempt some evil deed against the United States, they’re going to have to deal with Phillip Sheppard. Furthermore, should that perpetrator be a small crab, Phillip will both stab at them with a large spear and throw rocks at them. May God have mercy on their soul.
3. Clueless – This week, Russell described Ralph as not only the dumbest Survivor ever but the dumbest person on the planet Earth. In the 22-season history of Survivor, country-folk like Ralph have often been underestimated. Players like J.T, Big Tom and Rodger Bingham all benefited from other players believing that they weren’t as smart as they actually are.
Ralph may wear overalls, make noises like a rooster and make Robin Williams look like a Mexican hairless puppy, but Russell is making a major miscalculation by not taking Ralph seriously as a threat. Ralph is well liked within the tribe and has already beaten Russell at his own game by finding an idol without a clue – which might also be the best way I’d describe Russell’s game thus far this season.
2. Russell Being Russell – Last week we saw Russell work on Stephanie and make his first alliance of the new season. This week, Russell brought Krista in to add another young attractive woman into his harem… I mean, alliance. While Russell managed to get to the end in Heroes vs. Villains starting out in alliance with just two women, three is not more than six. Ralph and the other players in the tribe seem keenly aware of exactly what Russell is up to – and without an immunity idol to save him, getting rid of Russell might be easier than “wiping your hiney with toilet paper”.
1. Let’s Get Ready to Rumble – Next week we’ll finally get to see how Redemption Island works when Francesca will square off against Matt in our first Redemption Island Showdown. We don’t yet know what toll being on Redemption Island will take on these Survivors, but it certainly seems plausible that Matt could make it back into the game at some point. Strategically, I feel like the Redemption Island twist should have had Boston Rob thinking twice before blind-siding a player who could dominate on Redemption Island. Boston Rob could even find himself mono e mono versus Matt on Redemption Island, which I think would be a sweet little grudge match to watch.
Do you guys think that Boston Rob made the right call getting rid of Matt and keeping Phillip? Let me know what your take is in the comments or twitter, @RobCesternino
