Here we are, back for episode three. We know from the previews at the end of last week that this week the two tribes are going to be split into three tribes. My question would be whether this was always going to happen or if the producers are manipulating the game because they don’t like the direction it’s going in. I mean, maybe they put their money on Spencer like me and are shaking up the game to get him out of the crosshairs. I have a tough time believing that this was a planned move this early in the game. There have only been two evictions/vote outs. To me, it seems kind of forced, like when a sitcom brings a cousin into the cast, or a new baby…or the old famous “character drinks a secret potion and becomes the exact opposite of the character that they’ve been” like Urkel on Family Matters:
Has Survivor gone to the Urkel well too soon? Have they jumped the shark on this season? Without knowing who will make up the third tribe, it’s tough to know whom this change will benefit and harm the most. If you’re on the bottom of the food chain like Spencer or Stephen, any change has to be seen as positive. New variables introduced into the game is just what the doctor ordered for those two, as they needed a new twist introduced into the game. The question that comes to mind is whether this will be able to shift the thinking of everybody else when it comes to targeting them.
No matter what, the dynamics will be changing regardless of who ends up where. The undertone of this season has been the newer players against the old-school players. Is that a thing? Will it continue to be a thing? Is Jeff truly aligned with his old-school comrades because, to me, he seems like he is willing to stab anybody in the back, which I think is a good thing. I guess the Ta Keo tribe is more divided than Bayon, where they seem harmonious, except for Stephen who appears to be their cancer that they want to cut out (As I write that I cautiously look around to make sure Rob isn’t looking…He gets angry….He hurts us…).
The real truth is that I have no fracking clue what will happen tonight. All-star seasons are so great because you know there are basically no wasted votes or pointless episodes. Every move made is usually a big one. Who does well in competitions… doesn’t matter. Who cooks epic Moons over Miami at camp…doesn’t matter. What matters is who is perceived as a real threat and what group of all-stars comes together to vote that person out.
We will see how this all plays out tonight, as well as if Monica will continue to be the frontrunner for an award for the player who never utters a single word on camera all season long. I mean, seriously, has she been on camera once so far? Is she hiding in the forest like the French woman on Lost and we’re not going to see her until the end of the season when she will randomly come out of the jungle with a gun and a disturbed look on her face? So many things to look forward to tonight! It’s 8pm Portland, Oregon time, and time to get this started.
8 pm
We get the recap of the previous two weeks, which is basically a recap for how dysfunctional Ta Keo has been as a unit. I guess they should switch up the teams; otherwise, Ta Keo is going to be wiped out one by one like a bad horror movie.
8:01
We join Spencer and the rest of Ta Keo as Spencer does the guy/girl who just survived being voted out fake humility speech in which he talks about how grateful he is for still being in the game, but deep down he is seething.
Spencer tells us that he knows he has to change if he wants to move further in the game. Or he can hope the producers come up with a contrived, forced move where they create a third tribe…one or the other.
8:02
Terry tells us that whoever makes it to the end can have pride knowing that they took out one of the “greatest strategic players I have ever met”…then his speech is ruined when he reveals that he is talking about Shirin. He might as well have said: “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
Nobody speaks up and they let Terry have this moment…
Next, we see a cocky Terry talking about how great he feels with his place in the game…usually that means that he will be one of the next two people to go.
8:03
We join everybody with Probst at the beach, where Shirin’s exit is shared, but nobody has the energy to make the token “shocked” face that the producers order them to do off-camera. I guess they’re too busy getting cameras ready for close-ups of the Bayon tribe’s “f**k this” reaction when some of them are going to have to move to a new tribe.
8:04
Jeff tells everybody: “We are switching tribes.” Everybody does a good job of looking happily surprised.
8:05
Savage tells us that he is scared about the swap. He looks like a doctor just told him he has an STD.
We go to the drawing of the new teams. Andrew ends up on the newly created yellow team along with Abi, Woo, Peih-Gee, Tasha, and Varner. Considering where he was in the game to now…I can understand his devastation.
8:07
Commercial break:
If you’re a sports fan, you know it’s baseball playoffs time right now. Are any of you freaked out like I am that Back to the Future 2 might accurately predict the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series?
I mean, wow, Back to the Future 2 predicting the Cubs win it all could actually be right. Just have to be on the lookout now for Marty McFly, Jr. “hoverboarding” into some random building that apparently will be so egregious that it will make the front page of a national newspaper like USA Today. I mean, why was that such a horrific crime again? Granted, public property damage isn’t a good thing, but it’s made to look like it was a terrorist act.
Anyone else freaked out that we’re actually in the year 2015 like the movie? I was supposed to be winding down my Hall of Fame career as a first baseman for the San Francisco Giants…Where did I go wrong??
8:10
Back from commercial, we join the new tribe as they realize that they have no camp and no food. Woo pleads to Jeff and Peih-Gee to stay together in their votes.
8:11
Tasha and Savage scheme to somehow get the numbers on their side. Savage is still walking around camp like he was told he has VD and he doesn’t know how to tell his wife.
8:12
We join the new Ta Keo tribe. Keith is immediately welcomed with open arms. How can you not like Keith? This tribe is pretty stacked with Joe, Terry, Keith, Kass, Kelley Went and Ciara. I wonder if the producers will have another “planned” swap.
8:13
Ciera feels confident. We haven’t heard a lot out of her so far this season. She does the blend-in thing pretty well.
8:14
Kelley Went doing an awesome job of throwing Terry under the bus to her new teammates, telling them how he has been hunting for hours at a time for the idol…little do they know that the idol is in her possession.
8:15
Commercial Break:
Oh, Code Black…Has anybody watched this poor man’s ER yet? I can literally see rejected ER plotlines coming to life on this show. Just tell me, those of you that have watched this show, has there been a moment where one of the rookie doctors says a line like: “I don’t know if I have what it takes…”? Or maybe one of the grizzled veteran doctors, out of nowhere, takes a moment to show us that they’re not as “tough” as they appear. I’d like a scene where the new doctor comes on board and sees the quick-talking, angry head doctor, but doesn’t know that and asks somebody who that doctor is. Then, one of the nurses responds: “Oh, (so and so)…is the best….So shut up and you might learn something from him/her if you’re lucky”. I would love to see a scene like that.
8:18
Back from commercial, we join the new Bayon tribe. Spencer is basking in his second life as he gets the tour of his new digs. Monica talks! Wow, we get Monica briefly talking about having the numbers on her side. She approaches Jeremy and Stephen with both of them shaking her hand and introducing themselves to her even though they’ve been on the same tribe this whole time.
8:19
Stephen is happy that he isn’t on “Camp Macho” anymore. Stephen, come on, man. Writing for this site, I’m obligated to root for you, but can you please stop making it so hard… (That’s what she said….)
Next, we get a shot of Stephen being unable to chop up a coconut. Not the proudest Survivor moment for Stephen.
8:20
Spencer forces a deep conversation with Jeremy. Jeremy is stunned and doesn’t know how to react, so he plays it safe with the “Oh, snap” and prays that it’s an appropriate response.
8:21
We join the yellow tribe as Jeff V is standing out in the rain, flipping off the rain, like he’s Lieutenant Dan cursing at God:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZH9ebAZouk
We just need some shrimp to float to the shore.
8:22
Tasha realizes that Peih-Gee and Abi don’t exactly see eye-to-eye. She capitalizes on this by having a one-on-one bonding session with Abi. I don’t think I’m over-exaggerating here when I say the crazy look in Abi is growing episode by episode. I don’t think there is a ceiling for how crazy she can potentially get….
8:23
Next,Tasha bonds with Jeff V, along with Savage. Jeff, I think, is buying what they’re selling. Once again, Jeff appears to be the swing vote. Maybe he will just spend the whole season being “the swing vote”. Seems like a pretty good role to play.
8:25
Commercial break:
As I’m forced to watch another preview for Code Black and then Supergirl, it leaves me with a thought that there is no epic TV show on right now. Game of Thrones…okay, I’ll give you that, but this weekend I Netflix-binged on watching Breaking Bad again, and my god, was that a great show. Every single scene and shot on that show was done almost perfectly. I loved Lost (for the most part), I loved The Wire, but I really think Breaking Bad was the greatest show of all time when you factor in everything from start to finish. It never had that down year. The ending wasn’t some stupid fade to black or weak ending…It was just so good. If you haven’t watched Breaking Bad, please, do yourself a favor and dive in…You’re welcome.
8:28
Back from commercial, we join the Bayon team as they fight off a scorpion in their food basket. I guess, it’s supposed to symbolize something. What that is, I’m not sure yet.
8:29
Stephen, Jeremy and Monica go idol hunting.
8:30
After a searching montage, Jeremy finds the idol clue. He realizes that he has to somehow grab it during the immunity challenge. So far, we haven’t seen if he has shared the news with his “alliance”.
8:31
We go to the immunity challenge. I’m putting my money on the yellow team losing. It would be cool if you could live bet on these every week. I would easily blow money on this.
I’ll say it again: the Ta Keo team to me on paper looks like it would be a beast in competitions. They’ve got muscle, youth and then good puzzle people.
8:33
Jeremy smoothly snags the idol mid-competition. I don’t think he is going to be sharing…Maybe I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t share either, so no judgments here.
8:37
No surprise Ta Keo comes in first. It comes down to Yellow vs. Bayon.
Bayon comes in second and team Yellow is in trouble.
8:38
Weird moment as Jeff V starts trying to whisper something to Kelly Wig. I can’t make it out, and then Tasha spots him doing this and c**k blocks him. What was he thinking?
8:39
Things are imploding as everybody on the yellow team starts fighting with each other, pointing fingers, asking who is with whom. Did anybody make out what Jeff was mouthing to Kelly?????
Jeff V takes us to commercial, stating the obvious that he is in a big mess and needs to find a way to get out of it.
8:40
Commercial Break:
I would really like to get my online dating experiences onto a blog. I think I have enough stories to write four books, probably a full-length feature film and a miniseries. I think I could do a real life male version of Sex in the City. I’ve really learned to be grateful I’m not short and fat because the ratio of girls to guys on those sights is probably 10 to 90…so every girl that is like a 5 in real life gets to act like she’s an 8 or 9 in the online dating world because there are so many horny, creepy guys.
Every woman has a profile that says something along the lines of “At this point, what I really care about in a partner is someone who is nice, has a job, is family-oriented and most importantly can make me laugh, someone who is funny”. But what they’re really saying is: “I want someone tall, someone good looking, and everything else is negotiable. I can’t really put that in my profile, though, right? Because I would sound like a superficial beazy if I did that, I’m going to pretend the first things I look for are humor and someone that has their sh*t together, but just know I’m really looking for tall, dark and handsome”. Thankfully I have good genes ;)…Really, online dating has given me a license to make really bad decisions over and over again…I should probably stop typing right now.
8:43
Back from commercial, we join the yellow team and the aftermath of the post-immunity challenge dumpster fire. Savage is ready to strike at Jeff. He makes his pitch towards Woo and Peih-Gee. Woo asks to speak to Peih-Gee alone.
8:45
Woo and Peih-Gee have a meeting of the minds. It seems like they are willing to play ball with Savage.
Next, we get Tasha and Abi also talking about shanking Jeff as Jeff, I guess, is taking a power nap….I guess it’s as good a time as any to catch some zzzzz’s
8:46
Abi, Peih-Gee, and Woo next hash it out about how to play this. Abi tells them that she is sticking with the others and not them as she feels she is on the bottom.
Peih-Gee does not like Abi’s tone and goes to Savage and Tasha to let them know she wants Abi gone, but they don’t seem to like this plan.
8:47
Now Savage and Abi talk about voting out Peih-Gee…Wow, how fast things have changed. It appears that Savage and Tasha are the de facto leaders of the yellow vote tonight…Somehow Jeff’s egregious misplay will not cost him tonight.
8:48
We go to tribal council and it seems, right now, that Peih-Gee is in the crosshairs tonight.
Probst calls out the awkward moment that happened at the challenge with Jeff whispering. Jeff doesn’t really take accountability for his actions. He also calls out the fact that Savage and Tasha have moved from the bottom of the food chain to the top of the food chain.
Everybody else has a moment to share their message, but it’s unclear where we’re headed other than it appears that Peih-Gee is still in the most unsafe position.
8:53
We go to the votes!
First Vote: Abi
Second Vote: Peih-Gee
Third: Abi
Fourth: Peih-Gee
Fifth: Peih-Gee
Third person voted out Survivor: Second Chance: Peih-Gee!
8:54
Abi laughs at Woo that this is the second time he has written her name down…Call me crazy, but I don’t see Abi taking the high road with Woo moving forward……
Recap:
So the creation of a third tribe happened as planned and the aftermath is that this game makes it even harder to predict where we’re headed now. The fighting yellows seem like such a weak team for competitions that it’s hard to imagine that they won’t merge sooner or something.
When I try to come up with a power ranking, in which two or three players are in the best position to win this game, it’s still almost impossible in my mind to determine. I mean, can we just lazily say it’s Kelley Went and Jeremy because they have the idols? Is my Spencer pick to win it all still in play? I say, yes. I think he can now regroup, and if he can just make it to the merge, then he can hit his stride for the back stretch of the game….Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but I’m sticking with it. Who the hell knows what will happen? I’m sure we will get a couple more curveballs thrown into the game, forced and organically.
What do you guys think? Which players are sitting the prettiest right now? Thanks for reading. See you next week.
