Richie Glanzer will be writing a blog all season long for Rob Has a Website as we continue to cover “Survivor: One World” from every conceivable angle. Click Here to Read more About Rich
Villain: Before I shoot you, I’m going to tell you my evil plot. It all started 20-something days ago….
Christina: (Hands tied behind back, buff in mouth so she cant scream)
Kim: Let’s vote out Mike instead!
What the hell is going on here? How many lives does this girl have? Last week, I predicted it would be Tarzan and Leif because I felt that would be the smart play for the trio of Sab/Kim/Chelsea. After watching this episode, as Lou Ferrigno would say on the Celebrity Apprentice, “I stand behind that prediction 110%.”
Here’s the thing, this is going to be the toughest week ever to write this column (blog sounds lame), because there are too many heels and not enough heroes. To further complicate matters, the editors decided to blindside us and not tell us how Jay and Leif ended up voting for Mike to go home.
So with my head all on a swivel, I can only do one thing. Turn to Seinfeld. One of the greatest scenes ever was when Jerry attempted to rent a car. He made the reservation, the rental company took it down, but didn’t hold the car. And Jerry told the counter attendant, “See you know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hoooold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation, the holding.”
Jay had a very telling conversation with Chelsea after he won immunity.
Jay: To be honest, I’m scared of y’all girls. You all get rid of him (Mike), you all get rid of me next.
Chelsea: That’s not necessarily true.
Jay: Not necessarily true, that’s a real promise.
Much like the rent a car attendant, Jay clearly knew how to take the information that Chelsea gave him, he just didn’t know what to do with it. The sad part is, he knows its coming. Before the conversation with Chelsea, Jay and Troy had a conversation.
Jay: The next decision’s easy. I think it needs to be a girl.
Troy: 100% it needs to be a girl.
Jay: You know I’m really scared at this point about the girls getting together. They could easily hook up and they can do damage and honestly, I don’t want to be overpowered by just girls.
Jay has had a very interesting season. He was the only member of the Frat Boys who realized they were putting a giant target on their back, and maybe not so coincidentally he’s the only one left. He stumbled into the Misfits alliance, and was brought into Kim/Sab/Chelsea’s alliance. But time is running out for Jay. He needs to stop following, and start leading. As Jack Bauer would say, “We’re running out of time.”
Richie’s Hero:
The hero is not necessarily the player who played the best, but improved his/her stock from the previous episode. And for me, that player is Leif. I have to be honest, I’m giving it to Leif mostly because he called on the spirit of Big Tom, when he purchased a mystery item at an Awards Challenge with Ethan, and the meal included ham. Tom started screaming, “He’s a Jew! He won’t eat the ham. He’s a Jew!”
I saw Big Tom running around when Leif yelled “Oh my God we got Barbeque! Barbeque!! BARRRBBEEQQQUUEEE!!!”
But it’s not just that. Leif probably got at least six extra days in the game, which can buy him time for Alicia, Christina or Jay to realize they are in the minority, and need to join forces with Leif and Tarzan to take out the four girls in charge. Will it happen? I honestly have no idea, but I’m thinking no. But if Leif makes the final three, he can win, as long as Jay is not sitting next to him. And I really didn’t see a path to victory before this episode.
Richie’s Heel:
Outside of Cirie, Parvati, Amanda and Natalie somehow duping Erik to give up his immunity necklace, and Parvati giving both hidden Immunity Idols to Sandra and Jeri, I’m not sure I’ve seen a more impressive episode from a female than what I saw from Kim. Yet she is very deserving of my heel award. Sabrina and Kim had a conversation at the reward meal.
Sab: I’d rather just have three really good people there.
Kim: Me, you, and Chelsea.
Sab: It would piss me off to see someone like Mike there.
Kim: Me too, it has to be all girls.
Kim later said, “We get rid of Mike, and then we’ve got six girls and four boys and we just annihilate them.”
Stellar idea, but wrong name, and wrong time. It must be pretty obvious that outside of Jay, no guy left has any wherewithal or gameplay. (Yes, that includes Troyzan) So why do you need to get rid of the physical threats now? It’s not like Mike was going to ring off 7 challenges in a row. Kim and Sabrina should have let Jay get his wish, and voted out Christina for four reasons.
• If you keep Jay happy, and vote out Christina this week, he probably will be fine to vote out Tarzan or Leif next week. This is a slight gamble because the men would be tied, but as long as you brought in Alicia, the women would be unified. With no man showing any gameplay, and Jay probably trusting you, there is little hope of them figuring out the situation before its too late.
• Can the girls really trust Christina? Because now, they have to. Christina has the smarts to turn this whole game around, she just needs the power. I’m sure she realizes she’s the last girl in an all-girl alliance. So if she and Jay can compare notes now that Mike is gone, they may splinter off and fight for Alicia to join them, and try to oust Kim, Sarbina, Chelsea, and Kat. Had the girls gotten rid of Christina, Alicia surely would have stayed loyal to them.
• Is Kim even thinking of her end game? When they knock off Troyzan, and he asks Mike why he was going to vote him out, Mike is going to ask Troy what he’s talking about. If Kim makes the finals, she better hope those two aren’t upset by the lie, and respect her gameplay. And if asked about it, she should not only admit the truth, but embrace it.
• This really is the most important reason. Sophie Clarke was criticized by many for not making any big moves. And I always defended her asking, why would you make a big move if you were already in the dominant alliance? Kim was in two dominant alliances, and I just didn’t see any reason to vote off a player who has no gameplay and will do whatever you say.
I still have to give Kim a ton of credit in one regard. She realized she pushed Jay too hard, and did an amazing job figuring it out, and then suggesting they vote out Christina. And then she did an even better job, getting Leif and Jay to vote out Michael. We don’t know how she did it, but we know she is the most powerful player in this game, and if she makes it to the final three, she maybe rewarded for it. So Kim gets my heel, but earns my respect for being one of the most influential female Survivors of all time.
Richie’s Thoughts:
Missed my bi-weekly compliment of Rob, so I’m going to make this a good one. Do you know who would realize he was at the bottom of this alliance? Mr. Cesternino would, that’s who. If they had a lifeline, they should call him. Rob turning on his alliance was shocking, and took a tremendous amount of guts at the time. There maybe a lot of people wishing they had the stones he did if the four girls run rough shot over them.
I know it’s tough to pack everything in an hour, but that schoolyard pick needed to be shown. Schoolyard picks lets you know where you stand, and now we have no idea.
I get grief every time I criticize Jeff, and it’s always undeserved. Always. (Especially when my brother is the one giving it to me) So let’s give Jeff a compliment first. I couldn’t believe Jeff got Kim and Chelsea to give so much of their strategy away. But I actually agreed with Tarzan who was smart enough to tell Jeff that they are all playing a game, and therefore not going to give all their secrets away at Tribal.
I’m not sure everyone thought they weren’t going to go home or not. What good would it do for Christina to say, “I’m worried, I don’t trust Kim, Sab and Chelsea.”?
Survivor historian and the best commenter damnbueno says, you shouldn’t win immunity when you know you’re not going home. Michael knew he wasn’t going home but he was wrong. Which is why I feel you should win immunity when you can. I’m curious if he thinks Jay should have won.
