We Know SurvivorSurvivor: Cagayan

Our Game Has Devolved Into This

The episode started with Jeff reminding us that Aparri and Solana had finally merged and a new idol with different powers was put in play.

(Tony’s confessional about the idol’s special powers was repeated)

The real struggle for power was between two alliances and Sarah was playing both sides.

(Again, it was Tony’s confessional that was chosen to explain the two alliances)

We then heard Sarah saying she wanted Tony out and guaranteeing her alliance that he didn’t have an idol.

Survivor 28.07 Kass Kass had other plans.[/caption]

(We heard Kass asking in confessional “who made her queen?)

At Tribal Council, Sarah could only watch as her game unraveled … Her control turned into chaos.

(We see Tony and LJ playing their idols)

She went from the queen to the first member of the jury.

Her former allies identified Kass as the flipper and we heard Spencer saying that she had zero chances of winning the game. Kass’ reply was partly muffled and the camera focused on Tony instead.

 

The recap put the blame of bad game play much more on Sarah than on Kass. Kass’ confessional did show her as acting emotionally but it would have been worse if they had chosen to repeat the part about destroying the game. Jeff’s recap almost rationalized the move.  The upcoming episode would let Kass and Spencer tell us about the two alternative views of her move.  

This episode should have aired next week because it was more like an Easter egg hunt.

Our Game Has Devolved Into This.

Solarrion – Night 19

 The scene started with Spencer saying: “Nice job guys! It was pretty cool.”

 Spencer’s confessional was heard right after Tony said they lost two idols: “Tribal was insane. We voted for Jefra, she should have gone home and we dodged these idols and it’s all for nothing because Kass flipped and we are screwed. (The exchange between Kass and Spencer reported below was inserted here) Kass will fly in the face of strategy just because of how she feels. She will go basically wherever her estrogen takes her not where her brain takes her.”

 This is what we were shown in the middle of Spencer’s confessional.

Kass told Spencer that she expected him to be mad, that she expected everyone to be mad. Spencer replied that he wasn’t mad, that he just meant it was a bad move.

After Spencer’s confessional, we heard Kass confirming his judgment: “I went with my gut, Spencer, That’s how I’m playing.  I’m playing with my gut.”

 

After Kass asked for protection from Woo and Trish, she had a confessional: “The alliance of six let me go to the bottom and the number one rule of Survivor isn’t “cater to the person on top.” It’s wonder about the person on the bottom.”

 

Kass was still talking to the group at the fire, saying that “they” will realize what they did. That got a reply from Morgan: “What did we do? We didn’t do anything …”

Tony said that Sarah was trying to get rid of Kass but Spencer said they weren’t.

Spencer said he didn’t want to talk strategy with Kass and he laughed when she suggested he had been out-strategized.

 

Kass’ confessional continued: “It’s like I pulled a hat trick on Survivor: I got rid of the girl I wanted to get rid of and two big lugs played their idols unnecessarily.  Triple win. Right?”

 

Spencer, now in the shelter, said: “Stupid.  Since day one, she played like a freaking idiot.”

 

Kass continued in confessional: “I knew they were going to be mad. So, I pissed off five people but I gained five friends.  The pissed off people are going to get over it so, I don’t have an alliance. I am a free agent and everybody is mad that I messed up their game because I am playing my game.”

 

 

In Confessional
Listen to the music.

When Spencer gave his confessional, we heard only percussion instrument and the volume of the music was low.  When Kass gave hers, strings were predominant, giving a tense feeling to the scene.  When Kass ended her interview, the music sounded like a warning. Then we heard a thunder clap.

 

What do I make of this? The music editors use percussions in two different ways: The dissonant percussions tell us that we are listening to a dumb player but here it was to lighten the mood. The volume was kept low so that we could hear Spencer’s words properly, a sure sign that we had to take note of what Spencer was saying.  I would say that we are supposed to feel for Spencer now that he has been relegated to underdog status once more by Chaos Kass.

 

Strings are used to underline a stressful situation so I believe that Kass isn’t meant to be seen as a Dumb Player even if she agreed she was playing with her emotions. I think it was important that we heard Spencer refute Tony’s accusation that they were targeting Kass so it means she was wrong to say that she was at the bottom of her previous alliance. She was also wrong to credit herself for getting “two big lugs” to play their idols because they were going to play them independently of her vote, but the viewers will credit her with that nevertheless.

 

The care Kass received from the editors tells me that she will strike once more, but I also think that she is overly optimistic about players getting over it and we know that the two present jurors won’t be voting for her.  It seems certain however that the jury will have the final say on her move.

 

Solarrion – Day 20

Morgan was in her usual spot when Kass and Tony said she should get water. Morgan said she’d get water but that Kass was being rude. 

 

Fighting like Kass and Dogs
Fighting like Kass and Dogs

There was a short argument between the two women, enough to make LJ happy.

 

Kass in confessional: “I am fairly certain that Morgan is in a constant state of center of the universe. She’s like an old dog … that you are keeping alive because you love it … That’s Morgan.”

 

 

After flipping them the bird, Morgan got out of the shelter and gave us a confessional: “Kass, she said I am being mean to her … I am ignoring her … she should be used to this … She’s a bitter old lady …”

 

Since we were shown this exchange, we can say that the vote tonight was once more decided by Kass’ emotions. Morgan certainly wasn’t a threat to win.

 

The Reward Challenge

(It really was more like a commercial for the Outback Steakhouse.)

 

Isn’t it nice that the “random” draw put all the Beauty tribe members together, making them available to shoot that Outback commercial?  It’s almost as if Outback selected which models they wanted for their promo … and for good measure they placed the idol clue in the napkin of the guy in most danger.  How convenient!

 

LJ, Spencer, Jeremiah, Jefra and Morgan won the challenge in which, once again, LJ showed he was the best puzzle solver this season.

Yet, once more Jeff didn’t credit him personally. It was always “the orange team” or “LJ and Spencer” even if Spencer was only handing the puzzle pieces to LJ.

 

Back in camp, we saw the losers try to make the best of it.

Tony gave us a confessional: “I am so pissed off that we didn’t win the challenge today.  We could have had a big juicy steak but, you know what they say: it’s better to be pissed off than being ___ on.”

 

Kass used the time to put the target on Spencer instead of Jeremiah.  Trish said Kass could decide the next vote and Tony agreed since she knew them better.

 

Kass in confessional: “I am not even in an alliance; I am still a free agent. No one has said: “Kass, you are in”, but there is an assumption that I am in.  Already, Tony and Trish said who would you want gone next?  I said I don’t care as long as it’s not me and I want to reinforce that so that there is a comfort level when I need to come in for the kill.”

 

Just then, we saw a machete in the foreground, in front of Kass.

 

The Barrister
The Barrister

The camera’s focus had been on Kass … 

 

 

 

 

With The Machete
With The Machete

but it quickly shifted to the machete …

 

 

 

 

 

In The Jungle
In The Jungle

 

 

 

… and then the camera went to Tony.  That strongly suggests he will be her next big kill.  We aren’t finished seeing chaos from Kass.

 

The scene ended with Kass saying: “What if I made a mistake? So what?”

Tony asked if she was happier now. She certainly was.

 Tony had a confessional: “Kass is telling me how she is going to be solid with us. She seems sincere but she is really hard to read because she doesn’t have any facial expressions. She’s like a stone face. I can’t tell if she is lying to me or not and I am a police officer. I am hoping that she is staying with us, but again, you always got to prepare for the worst.”

 

The Fogs of War
The Fogs of War

During the voice over portion of this confessional we had the familiar “Fog of War” shot that featured both Kass and Tony. Kass was walking behind Tony and both were engulfed in the smoke from the camp’s fire. This suggests that Tony will indeed be confused by Kass’ actions, that he won’t be able to read her intentions.  But Kass was also behind the smoke so maybe her conflict with Tony will make her lose sight of the big picture.

 

After talking to Woo about the idol, Tony started his search and gave a confessional: “Last time at Tribal Council, LJ and I played idols but there is a new hidden immunity idol with special powers around camp. That is a needle in a haystack, but there is nothing but time on this island. I went out there and I started looking in tree holes, climbing trees, I’m doing all kinds of stuff because I need to find that idol. It’s a security blanket that I would love to cover myself with.”

 

Ouch! But It's Just a Stick.
Ouch! But It’s Just a Stick.

 Hilariously, just then, Tony got stung in the back by the branch of a tree which suggests once more that he will get hurt by the idol he covets.

 

 

 

 

Outback Commercial – Take one:

 Of course, Morgan was selected as the spokeswoman (they may as well use her for what she’s best suited): “As soon as we arrived … we were greeted … we started off with a salad … we went on to a fully loaded baked potato and the steak which was amazing.”

 Then it was Spencer’s turn to give a confessional: “The steak was probably the best tasting steak ever.”

Jeremiah then joked: “Stick a fork in me; I’m done.”

 We’ve known that Jeremiah was done since the 4th episode

 Spencer’s confessional resumed: “Out here, I’m not concerned with manners so I just said: “forget the napkin, I’m eating”. It takes me to the end of the meal to realize that my hands are gross so I wiped them off. I open the napkin and out falls a piece of paper. I wonder what that could be so I put it in my pocket because I think it’s going to be some kind of clue to an idol. I need a game changer right now and this could be it.”

 There were two glaring omissions in this scene:

  • No one thanked LJ for winning that big reward for them. Someone certainly had to say something about LJ’s clutch performance so this was another missed opportunity to get more viewers on the LJ bandwagon. 
  •  No one talked strategy. It was the ideal time for Jeremiah, Morgan and Spencer to lure LJ and Jefra away from Tony’s side. We have to assume that they made their pitch so why didn’t we hear it?  The most obvious answer, considering the upcoming vote, was that LJ and Jefra refused to listen to any offer.  If the game is in for a wild finish, it won’t come from these two. We can add that this group wasn’t given as much attention as the one that lost the reward.  It’s certain that the game will depend much more on the interaction between Tony and Kass.  Spencer is the only member of the reward winning team that was important enough to feature and his idol will also play a role. 

 Solarrion – A Day in the Life of Survivors: Four Thousand Holes to Dig.

 

It was pouring rain when the winning team got back to camp.

Spencer in confessional: “I get to camp and all of a sudden a downpour comes on. I’m just trying to keep this thing dry. Tribal Council isn’t that far away so time is money right now.”

We saw Spencer slip out the back and he read the clue as soon as he was out of sight. 

 The rain subsided and Morgan noticed that Spencer was missing.

 It led to a confessional by Woo: “I am a big fan if Survivor. I know that, when there’s a reward … there’s usually a clue to the immunity idol. All of a sudden, Spencer takes off so what do I do? I start to follow Spencer.”

 We saw Woo take the path to follow Spencer and he had to cross right in front of LJ who was only concerned about chopping firewood.

 It gave me the impression that LJ was unaware about the game of Survivor.  He wasn’t thinking like Woo or he would have been following Spencer himself.

 

Since the clue led him to the river, Spencer took off his shoes and pants. He then put the clue inside the fold of his pants. 

 

Woo’s confessional continued: “I’m going to pull something out of my arsenal which is my ninja stealth mode.”  Woo reached the river just then and used Sandra’s old trick of looking through the bushes. His confessional continued: “You better believe that I am going to be lurking in the shadows. Boom! I spot him. He is digging through the side of a wall and automatically I’m assuming that he is looking for the immunity idol.”

(Clay would say: “No shit, Sherlock”)

 Spencer decided to look up the river a bit and ran into Woo.  Having been discovered, Woo told Spencer that he forgot his pants. He picked them up and threw them to Spencer. That’s when Woo saw the clue fall to the ground.

 Woo’s confessional resumed: “I go to pick up his pants and, as soon as I do, boom! Out pops the clue to the idol. Woo (!) is going to pick up that clue and give it back to him? No way!”

 Realizing what happened, Spencer raced to catch up with Woo, who continued with his interview: “I high tail it … There’s no way he’s catching me.”

 We then heard Spencer’s confessional: “Woo bolted with the clue and that guy can run. I knew that pandemonium was about to ensue.”

 The next segment started with Woo walking into camp, telling everyone about Spencer’s clue.

 We heard more of Woo’s confessional: “I knew that finding the immunity idol wasn’t going to be easy. So I run to camp and tell LJ: You got to follow me man and, from there, the search party is on.”

 Note that the music was mostly filler during Woo’s confessionals. It could have been accompanied by the familiar kooky theme but Woo’s expressions and speech pattern supplied all the comic relief needed.

 Spencer also arrived in camp with a slightly different version of the events; “He threw my pants in the water and took the clue from me.” He enlisted his alliance mates in the search.

 Spencer explained in confessional: “When Woo ran to camp, I knew it was time for me to get my troops in line as soon as possible. It’s a race to see who can get it first.”

 Does it matter that we had two versions of the way Woo wound up with the clue? I think it may. From what we saw, Woo didn’t take the clue from Spencer; it just fell when Woo tried to give the pants back to Spencer. Yet, we would soon hear Kass saying that she didn’t approve of what Woo did. Instead of simply telling us that Spencer was careless with the clue, an impression was created that Woo took it from him.

 Getting a look at the clue from LJ, Tony said he knew where that was.

Tony in confessional: “It’s a mad treasure hunt for that idol and, you know me, I love action so I’m in.  Count me in.  Which way is this?”  Soon, everyone was digging holes in the river bank. Tony went on: “You have two different alliances looking for an idol at the same time.” (Even Morgan showed up!) “You know it’s bad when Morgan, the girl you can’t tell if she’s a pillow or a person because she doesn’t do anything, you know it’s serious when she’s up on her ass and she’s looking for this idol.”

 The music swelled in intensity to underline the adventure.

 Spencer had the important confessional: “I’d say stress is at a peak right now. I’m in a bad position. We have everybody looking for this idol and it’s likely that whoever finds it, will find it in front of everyone.” Spencer’s frustration grew when Woo asked Kass to keep an eye on him while he went to get LJ. Spencer turned to Kass and said: “Funny how our game has devolved into this, isn’t it?”  Kass said she didn’t approve of what Woo did but that it was Karma for Spencer’s behavior. He apologized. His confessional continued: “After this whole fiasco of Woo stealing my clue and everyone going to look for the idol at once, I’m digging and I’m right by Kass and right in front of me is the idol and Kass is watching me like a hawk so I keep digging and acting like I haven’t found it. I wait until she’s not looking, stuff in my pants and walk the other way. Kass is so blind that I found it right in front of Kass’ face and she didn’t see. Today is complete euphoria. I’m still shocked that I found it. It could not have worked out better.  My position in the game is just on the brink of ecstasy and devastation all the time, but it’s a whole new game as far as I’m concerned and I bought myself a lot of time potentially.”

 

After the adventure theme, the music nicely underlined Spencer’s find.  This could mean that this idol won’t be wasted.   Hearing Spencer say that Kass was blind reinforces the “fog of war” image we had earlier: Tony will not see what Kass is doing but Kass won’t see what Spencer is doing.

 

It was weird though to hear Spencer say it was a normal idol because there couldn’t be two types of idols in play at once.  (After all the seasons filmed in the Philippines, maybe this idol was left over from a few years ago!)  I think Spencer must have misread the instructions that this was the idol with special powers and maybe Spencer doesn’t play it as efficiently as he could.

 

 

Day 22 – The Challenge

 

There’s a theory that uses the parallel between Lord of the Flies and Survivor: Some posters believe that a player shown with a fly on his body is cursed and cannot win.  I have trouble believing that anyone has been able to look at every frame of every winner and see that a fly was never shown on their body but it is true that a fly cursed Mike during a crucial Redemption Island challenge and he was eliminated right after. Others, including Cochran in South Pacific, could also have been victims of the fly curse. 

 

Jeff did mention flies, asking:  “What do you do when bugs come flying on your body? They are annoying. How annoying? Are you going to swat it away? You are probably out of the challenge.”

If that curse holds up, then a whole bunch of players were eliminated during this challenge: Besides Morgan, the fly hit Tasha, LJ, Woo and Spencer.  Jeff said that Spencer made a nice recovery right after the fly was shown on his ankle. Is winning the challenge enough to break the curse? 

 

It was an interesting challenge and the players showed their determination considering they lasted over 90 minutes whereas the Dream Team had given up after only 10.  Well, not all the players lasted long because Kass couldn’t stay up more than a few seconds. Jeremiah, Trish and Tony weren’t impressive either.

Morgan dropped after 25 minutes and she was quickly followed by Woo, which left only Jefra, LJ, Tasha and Spencer to make it passed the hour mark.  Despite Tasha’s impressive determination, Spencer won immunity.

 

If Spencer wins the game, this challenge could very well have served to symbolize it because he suffered a lot and he had to struggle to hold on. That’s what we’ve been seeing from him since the second episode.  Receiving the necklace from Jeff, he said he had been dreaming of this for a long time which would be a nice quote to show at the reunion where he could echo that sentiment.

 

Solarrion – Day 22:

 

Spencer received congratulations from Tasha and Trish.

 

Tony in confessional: “Spencer was very desperate to win and he won. He pulled it off. That’s the will you need out here to Survive.”

 

Doesn’t that make a fine winner’s quote if it was used to foreshadow Spencer winning the whole thing?

 

Tony’s group asked Kass if the other side had an idol. Kass said she didn’t believe they did. The group made Morgan their Plan A while Tasha was Plan B.

 

I wonder what happened after Spencer found the idol. Was he smart enough to continue looking?  If the mad hunt suddenly stopped then they either agreed they needed a second clue or they’d figure it was found.

 

Tony had a confessional to explain their decision: “Tash is definitely a physical threat along with a social threat, but Morgan does not deserve to be here.  People that work hard, that bust their ass around camp deserve to be here. People like Morgan that don’t do anything; they don’t deserve to be here. As far as numbers, my alliance is in the power position right now. It’s six of us against 4 of them, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. The problem with tonight’s Tribal Council is going to be if Spencer found that idol, it’s going to be very tricky on who we vote for. If they have an idol and we vote for the person that uses the idol, one of us six is going home. If they don’t have an idol and Kass flips back with them, there will be a tie: Five – Five. We draw rocks and one of us goes home. So, I’m hoping she stays with us because, if she doesn’t, there’s going to be some trouble.”

 

When Morgan suggested their side vote against Kass, Spencer was quick to point out that she is the only person who would even consider flipping.  He wanted to vote Tony on the off chance he’d do something stupid at TC. He thought Tony was the best option because Kass “changes her mind at the drop of a hat”.

 

Spencer (solo): “It’s kind of ridiculous but our option now is Kass. The person who screwed us over is the one person who may be crazy enough to help us. I am safe because I won immunity so the idol could help but it would only work if I had someone who would flip with it. Someone who is willing to flip could tell us who they’re going to vote for, helping me to use my idol successively and change the dynamics of the game.”

 

Spencer approached Kass saying that she wouldn’t have lost all the jury votes if she went back to them because there would be two of them on the jury.

 

Kass in confessional: “I knew this would happen: The human in you wants to forgive someone and be friends again. So, I was banking on that when I made my move; that the five people I allegedly betrayed would get over it because there will be many more betrayals.”

 

I knew this would happen: The human that makes a mistake finds a way to justify his actions! Kass didn’t wait for the press tour to start putting her spin on the story. If she thinks Spencer approached her because he wanted to be friends again, she has a poor read on human nature.

 

She told Spencer she was a free agent and that she would consider his idea because she wanted to get to the Final 3. Spencer suggested they vote against Tony.

 

Kass went on with her confessional: “In my opinion, Spencer had some pretty good arguments. I would not like to sit next to Tony. I think he is much too charming and everybody likes him. Morgan is annoying and she’s a bitch. She is going to stay that way so she’s not really a threat. She’s just extra luggage that we are carrying around here. At this point, people know that I am willing to play this game. They brought me their game plan and I can either go with it or change people’s lives. That’s how I am in the court room too. I do trial by ambush. It’s not a recommended strategy by any legal authority. It’s probably not a recommended strategy by any Survivor authority, but I love the ambush and I love the blindside.”

 

I know it’s very unlikely but I wonder if Morgan’s promise to change, to start working, influenced Kass’ vote! One thing I do know: If Kass is ever invited to return, she will be the first one voted out, ambushing her. There might even be a few lawyers anxious to ambush her in real life!

 

Tribal Council

 

Tasha interacted with Sarah when she entered to Council area by showing her a heart.

Jeff asked Tony about the power shift.

Tony said the wind changed directions.

Kass wanted to make sure everyone knew she was the wind that blew.

(Sarah rolled her eyes)

Kass added that she got the cold shoulder from those that felt betrayed.

Spencer said: “I respect big moves but I felt betrayed … I got a little out of hand.” When Jeff pointed out that he must feel relieved that he is immune, Spencer replied: “I play the game to win the game. I would rather risk going out now for a shot at winning than extend my stay in the game.”

That seemed to either surprise or impress LJ.

Asked about the vote, Tony said: “We made a consensus as a group so that we could have smooth sailing ahead.”

Turning to Morgan, Jeff tried to help her out by throwing Jeremiah under the bus.

Morgan agreed that she wasn’t a threat and wasn’t well liked.

Trish said she could add to the list of reasons to take Morgan along.

(Sarah was surprised by her boldness)

Morgan explained that LJ and Jeremiah took good care of her at the beginning so she got used to it.

Jeff suggested she was used to it also back home.

Morgan said: “Absolutely.”

That shocked Jefra, Sarah and Kass.

She added that most people would choose to be cute instead of ugly.

(For some reasons, I don’t know why (!), the camera went to Trish when Morgan said that.)

Probst loved that quote.

Morgan apologized for not working hard and promised to improve.

(That’s the old Jean Robert strategy!)

Jeff asked Jefra about numbers, pointing out that Kass was now their number six.

Jefra said they were all even, simply links in a chain.

Jeff stopped her: “When have you seen an alliance where there is no one on the bottom?”

Tony said the other side was an alliance by default; that they simply came together because of the swap.

Spencer couldn’t see how their alliance was different.

Tony said they handpicked each other.

Spencer said someone is always on the bottom.

Jefra said that it could happen in the future.

(The cymbal crashes made it a certainty)

Tony was quick to say that Kass was in a comfortable place and was sticking with them.

 Jeff said that Kass was unpredictable.

(Take that Nick!!)

Trish said there was a risk she could flip back to the other people, but they were treating her as well as everyone else in the alliance.

Kass said she understood the game; that she made her decision even if there was no alliance made, no guarantee. She added: “When I go to Vegas with a friend … I don’t mind beating him.”

That pained Tony.

 

After retrieving the voting urn, Jeff said that it would be the time to play a hidden immunity idol which is what you’d expect he’d say for a normal idol. (What gives?)

Spencer remained seated which brought smiles to Tony and LJ.

Morgan was voted out 6-4.

She turned to Tasha and wished her luck.

Tony and Trish exchanged winks.

 

In his final words, Jeff pointed out that they didn’t vote out the biggest threat which means they could not trust what anybody said. He added: “The good thing about that is: If you’re on the bottom, it doesn’t mean you’re out.”

I will let you guess who got the close-up when Jeff said that.

 

 

The Story:

 

It seems that the most important confessional of the episode came from Kass when she said: “I pissed off five people but I gained five friends.”  

 It now seems certain that Kass will go to the final judgment and that she will have Spencer sitting next to her because their debate about Kass’ strategy can only be resolved there. This season is set-up for a Final Tribal Council that will decide the validity of Kass’ flip, I mean, move.  Kass and Spencer were the two actors during the “Welcome me to the Bottom” scene so we now have to determine which one was the protagonist and which was the antagonist. Will it be only between those two or will a third player join them? It hardly seems to matter.

 

The Characters:

 

The Peripheral Players – They are buried in holes so deep that the editors are forgetting them:

 

Jeremiah: It’s always nice when the editors use a player’s own words to confirm what we saw: Jeremiah’s chances are done.

 

Jefra: She’s merely a figurant and the camera finds her when it’s time to give some facial expressions.  If Jefra is to be the Sole Survivor, the viewers will be left to wonder if they missed some episodes.  She could still find herself as the runner-up though which I would find hilarious.

 

Trish: It was quite strange to see that the recap didn’t even mention Trish’s role in the big shift of power.  The last episode had opened up the possibility of a renewed story for Trish, but this episode brought us back to our original impressions: Trish’s role isn’t important to the overall story of Survivor Cagayan; she was only the guess star of last week’s episode. The sudden fear of seeing her as a contender made me see more than there was.

 

The Lost Players – They had good roles in Act I but are dangerously close to falling in a hole of their own.

 

LJ: I feel that LJ and Jefra have reached the same destination despite taking opposite directions.  If LJ is our Sole Survivor, the viewers will be left to wonder why they weren’t shown his story.  It really wasn’t a bad story but I think his role was nicely symbolized when Woo started running after Spencer: LJ was right there, but he didn’t realize that there was a game going on. He was so busy working to survive that he forgot about Survivor.

 

Tasha:  If Tasha is our winner, we would know why:  She is good at the physical and the social games. The heart symbol she made for Sarah and Morgan’s good luck wish revealed that she already has two locked votes on the jury.  This beautiful, strong willed woman would not be so neglected if it was her season.  We didn’t even get to hear her thoughts on Kass’ betrayal which had to hurt her more deeply than Spencer.  Tasha probably deserves to win this more than anyone besides LJ, but that’s not how the game is played and it’s certainly not what the editors are telling us since they aren’t letting us hear her thoughts.

 

This Week’s Guess Star – He Popped out of a Hole for our amusement:

 

 

Woo is having fun and in a great spot.
Woo is having fun and in a great spot.

Woo: His numerous backers will be very encouraged after this episode. Woo could be our Sole Survivor and he would deserve it since he is such a big fan of the show and knows how to use Ninja stealth tactics to his advantage … or so it seems.  Without using any other manipulation than the extreme close-up of his confessional, the editors made this likeable player look weird. His smart idea was delivered in such a way that it turned him into an over the top cartoon character.  There’s also the troubling fact that, while it looked accidental, the way he came into possession of the clue became questionable, Kass saying she didn’t approve of what he did.  Woo could win this season and many would cheer, but that outcome would also look accidental.  After all, his story is much more about failures: Spencer found the idol and woo has no idea that he has it. Another of his missions failed.   

 

The Season’s Star Villain:

 

 

I don't want that Idol
I don’t want that Idol

Tony: While he is aware that Kass is hard to read, he decided to trust her. Jeff reminded him that she was unpredictable but, lost in the fog of war, Tony won’t know how to deal with Chaos Kass. He won’t have the idol he covets either and, like the branch (the stick!) that pricked him in the ass, Spencer’s idol could very well play a role in his backstab.  Tony loves action so that’s probably why he won’t be content with an easy, straight pagonging of the opposition.  A methodical approach is required in his position, the ability to determine who would be the best opponents to take to the end, but I doubt that Tony can slow down now that he is getting close to the end.  I think that, in his mind, the New Aparri is already finished, but they represent 3 votes that could help someone going against him.

 

The Debaters :

 

Survivor 28.07 Kass
Debater

 Kass:  By giving her ample time to explain her move, the editors confused the situation. Many viewers will agree with her: It didn’t matter if she made a mistake because those she betrayed will forgive her after they see more betrayals.  The problem is that resentment usually grows when players get to the jury.  Even if Kass doesn’t betray anyone else, if the future jurors all stab each other in the back, they will look at her and think she doesn’t deserve to be there, that she made her way to the end because she can’t win.

 

That being said, we heard Kass say that, as an attorney, she never lost a case so she will be a formidable opponent if she is given the opportunity to dissect her game.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard her say that she never lost a case because she loses this one.  We heard from ex-soldiers that Survivor is harder than their tours of duty (yeah, right!) so this could be leading to Kass saying that a Survivor jury is harder than a real life one.  

 

Spencer:  I think that the main opposition to seeing Spencer win will come from viewers pointing out that he was wrong to say that Kass was playing like a freaking idiot.  That could certainly pass as arrogance, as a sentiment of superiority but I will refute that argument by using what we were shown:

  • Kass agreed that she was playing with her gut, her emotions.
  • Tony explained Kass’ action by saying her old alliance was targeting her which Spencer quickly denied.
  • Kass thought Spencer was coming back to her in friendship when he was only looking to use her.
  • We were allowed to hear Spencer apologize to Kass, both during the search and Tribal Council.  If he was to be seen as an arrogant mean kid, we wouldn’t have heard his apologies. Instead, we saw a player that had a reason to be upset, but getting over it and making the best out of the situation.

His play to get Tony voted out didn’t work this week but it made him look like someone that is always thinking ahead. Sooner or later, he will succeed in overturning Tony’s alliance and go on to be the Sole Survivor.

Isn’t that what the intro has been telling us all along?

A Shot of Spencer
A Shot of Spencer
Followed by the image of the Sole Survivor?
Followed by the image of the Sole Survivor?
Become a patron of RHAP
Liked it? Take a second to support Rob Cesternino on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!