Each week Christine Larivière browses through social media sites where the most casual Survivor fans, the backbone of the fandom, leave comments. Some of the comments are spot on while others are enigmatic, ranging from unpopular stances to the kind that makes one wonder if these people watch the same show or even watch the show at all. The beauty of casual comments can only be likened to the mob in Julius Caesar–it takes little to sway popular opinion. And then there is my casual view from within the game.
Casual Survivor: Pink Eye and a Brain-The Dark Army Rises
Hello, friend. I can’t remember what happened for the last three Survivor days, but I have a vague recollection of someone bossy like Alicia Calaway who waves fingers in faces– or maybe an idol that was in a key or someone from the Florida Keys– and a fish Mr. Brobot caught named Qwerty.
It must be Alicia Keys because a song is stuck in my head. Some people play for fortune. Some people play for fame. Some people play to have power, yeah. Some play just to play the game. Some people want it all. Yes, that’s it and that would be one person specifically– Jessica Lewis. She’s a woman with the Legacy Advantage (How do I know that?), she’s a woman with an alliance of six, and she’s a woman willing to flip everything upside down to protect herself down the road. She has pink eye AND a brain, and she won’t stop until she takes over the world. I’ve lost three days. Where’s Paul? What did Mr. Brobot do to him?
Some people had negative opinions of Gen X Jessica this week, but I don’t because everything means nothing if she ain’t got truth, and by that, I mean a clear sense of what is going on with her allies. Her Jedi mind tricks caused Paul to spill everything. I’ll stop with the Alicia Keys now that I’ve typed the song out of my head. I’ll just store it on a CD named “Jessica Lewis” inside of my coconut with the Survivor logo.
Many in the Survivor community criticized Jessica for worrying about Day 36 but not Day 10. I see things differently. Paul definitely took the time to chat with the male members of the Millennials and Figgy, hoping they’d see him as a father figure. There are four alpha males on Gen X. Paul himself said he had been trying to get Ken in his alliance. There are two alpha males on Millennials yet Will, Zeke, and Adam are not bad in challenges. With a potential tribe swap, Jessica might have realized that Paul would not have her back if something better came along. He stated it in no uncertain terms. I hope they all realize David won’t either because I like Jessica and Sunday more and more. Once we meet Lucy, I’ll include her.
Jessica had a good read on the alpha males. She has everyone on a need-to-know basis, telling them she’s a photographer according to Paul’s RHAP Exit Interview. She probably got a sense that the guys might be intimidated by her more than the other moms if she admitted to being a lawyer. By taking the moms with her and joining Cece, Ken, and David, Jessica has positioned herself well. She and the other ladies can stay where they are or flip back to vote off Cece.
Judging from the looks Jessica gave to David and Ken, Jessica definitely conferred with them before Tribal Council. The interesting part is that while Ken proposed the idea to her and planted the seed, Jessica was shown by the producers as the one who was responsible for this “big move” of a blindside. Interestingly enough, I did not see any comments raving about Jessica at the time of my “research”. A lot of the fanbase, especially the hardcore fans, saw her move as short-sighted.
Unsurprisingly, most comments by the casuals were about how much people could not stand Paul even though no one was shouting from the mountaintop last week or ever about anything Paul did wrong. Hate for Hannah fell a bit short of being the hot topic, but mean comments about her were plentiful. Figgy is still getting barbs, but Taylor is off scot-free. Casual Survivor fans are a fickle bunch. Let’s see where the fickle finger of fate has landed this week, shall we?
Twenty contestants, thirty-nine days, three Gen X alpha males, three soccer moms, and three unlikely allies…This is Casual Survivor…,
Jeff really is beating this theme to death and delighting in doing so. Given his views on the spelling of “you” in text messages and listening to vinyl records, it makes one wonder how he said the name of the popular band, INXS, back in the day. He must have said “Inks”. Seriously, vanity plates with alternate spellings have been around for a while. I guess he never listened to funk either, so Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) might kill him. Alternative spelling started in the 1970s if not earlier! I’ll stop with the music references now, but Jeff started it. Jeff works for Evil Corp, a company that tries to control everyone on Survivor. Mr. Brobot, at least, stood up to Jeff rather than playing along like the other mindless minions. Wait, that includes me, doesn’t it? No, I am Mr. Brobot. No, I’m not, but if people see me as him then my life is complete. Why can’t I remember the last three days? He wants something from me, something back at camp, perhaps my idol.
Archetype: Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Okay, one more music reference)
The comments truly contained gems this week. Most were spewing contempt for Paul or Hannah. Praise is hard to come by unless the discussion is about Joey Amazing. In fact, many of the comments fueled arguments which is pretty rare. Here they are in all their glory.
Hannah is awful. I hope she learns how to play. She actually was wise to vote with Michelle, given that failure to do so would paint a target on her back. The vote was already 6-4 and this put her in a good position with the majority alliance. She alienated two allies, but they still need her.
Yeah, Zack is patient. If he is who I think he is, then yes. The other comment was about Hannah’s strategy, however. Zack really had no choice but to be patient. This is not an argument, but who is Zack?
They should have voted off Cece because she was weak in challenges. It is a reason to vote her off, but as the next comment shows:
What did Paul ever do in challenges? He couldn’t carry the bag. Paul was getting tired out there, yet at least he knew enough to pass the bag to Chris rather than kill their chances! I have to agree with Chris. What was Cece thinking? Lest anyone call Chris or the Gen Xers racist, most of us would want Cece gone by now. By the way, where is her alter ego? She seems more dejected than having a fire lit under her. I want to see the other personality she spoke of.
Every week, there is at least one Boston Rob comment. This one sums up the ultra-casual view. Thankfully, there are casuals who find this statement equally ludicrous.
The season is awful. Redemption Island was better and there were better players like Boston Rob, Ozzy, and Joe. This is the worst season in 8 years. In 16 seasons? South Pacific, Redemption Island, Nicaragua, and Worlds Apart included? We have only seen three episodes by the way.
Are you honestly saying Redemption Island was good? Amen. Amen. Amen!
It was the worst season! Err…there are a few contenders.
And the original poster responds back.
It was challenging and we could see who comes back on Survivor. I might agree with seeing Mari come back in, but everyone voted out would probably get voted out again.
Glad Paul’s gone. What a bully! This is totally out of left field. Being bossy is not bullying! What exactly qualifies as bullying for some people nowadays? Mr. Brobot doesn’t see things that way. Paul represents the establishment and a quick hack into his mind revealed that he views Cece and me as pawns, players who can’t fit into his alpha dog construct of the world.
And now for something completely different:
What was the twist this week? Saying no to fishing gear? Or was it 4 Millennials meeting 4 Gen Xers? My husband and I missed it. This is the question we all would like to know the answer to. We all missed it. The twist was very disappointing and it really won’t factor into the game. I was hoping there would be a clue to something in the food. The twist was great. I got to meet Darlene Figgy and her boyfriend Cisco Taylor. Gosh, Figgy’s hot. I almost forgot again. She’s my sister.
They should vote them all out. I think they found the cast on Craigslist. This is the crème de la crème. The cast all seem like average Americans which is actually nicer than tribes full of mactors. Even Ken has broken the stereotype of a male model by having strategy. Still, the Craigslist mention had me laughing.
While I highly doubt anyone cast this season auditioned via Craigslist, Paul had a Craigslist crazy kind of moment.
Mr. Robot Takes Over
Paul’s gameplay was fine except for his interactions with Ken, Cece, and David. That is, up until the fatal comment. I might have enjoyed the episode more if we were privy to Paul’s innermost thoughts afterward. I guess the paranoia on the Gen X tribe must be contagious or Mr. Robot hacked his mind.
Jessica: “…And as long as you guys aren’t doing a boys’ thing.”
Paul: “Is that what Jessica does? She helps? Tell me, why didn’t Jessica help my innocent friend, Rachel, who died for no reason while the guilty ran free? Okay. Fine. Forget the one-offs and the fact that I targeted her. How about the countless wars declared in Jessica’s name? Okay. Fine. Let’s skip the random, meaningless murder for a second, shall we? How about the racist, sexist, phobia soup we’ve all been drowning in because of her? And I’m not just talking about Jessica. I’m talking about all organized followers…Sunday, Lucy…. Exclusive groups created to manage control, a dealer getting people hooked on the drug of hope–her followers, nothing but addicts who want their hit to keep their dopamine of ignorance, addicts afraid to believe the truth–that there’s no order. There’s no power. That all alliances are just metastasizing mind-worms, meant to divide us so it’s easier to rule us by the charlatan that wants to run us. All we men are to them are paying fanboys of their poorly-written sci-fi franchise. If I don’t listen to my imaginary friend, Jessica,why should I listen to yours? People think their worship’s some key to happiness. That’s just how she owns you. Even I’m not crazy enough to believe that distortion of reality. So woe to you, Jessica. You’re not a good enough scapegoat for me….Oh no. And you have my word that if that came up I would tell you. If they decided to do that, I would say: ‘Ladies you are on your own.'”
“Please tell me I didn’t say all of that out loud, especially that last part. Oh no. I did.”
Poor Paul had a Mr. Robot type of malfunction which cost him the game. He did say it out loud to the women. And all this time we’ve been expecting Cece to change personalities.
Jessica, in her quest for global domination, controls everyone like slaves to time–she’s Pink Eye, the head of the Dark Army of Women whose members are Sunday and Lucy. She’s in cahoots with Mr. Brobot who wants to save the downtrodden, unpopular people from alpha domination, from digital music, Ken dolls, and prose, to establish a land where Barbie does not exist and vinyl records and poetry walk into the sunset hand in hand. Mr. Brobot actually wants to create an island where Cece is safe and I’m athletic, an octopus’s garden in the shade where we’d be warm below the storm in our little hideaway beneath the waves.
Wait, Mr. Brobot speared the octopus and I ate it raw. Do you know the lyrics to “Muskrat Love”? Octopus! Helllp! I don’t think that’s quite right. Wait, I write for “The Family Guy” not “Mr. Robot” nor The Beatles nor “Pinky and the Brain”. I can’t remember the last three Survivor days. Where is Paul? Did we eat Qwerty? Is Cece Qwerty? Is Cece Paul? No, Paul works for Evil Corp. Paul is Evil Corp. Maybe I should vote myself out, but use my idol to save myself. What am I even talking about? It’s exhausting being this paranoid.
What did you think of Jessica’s gameplay? Is she destined for world domination or was that just in David’s head? Is she as paranoid as David? What on earth happened to Paul’s mind? Let me know in the comments and feel free to start something.
For the complete schedule of Survivor blogs: RHAP Survivor Blog Schedule.
