Happy belated Thanksgiving everybody! Every thanksgiving I feel like John Candy in the Great Outdoors when he eats the “old 96er”
During the moments of coming in and out of food coma’s this week, we the TV viewing public were presented with, I think unofficially eighty-four different JFK documentaries this week. I don’t know if all you are history buffs like me, so let me hit you with some knowledge in case you don’t know, John F Kennedy was our president in 1963 and (spoiler alert) he was assassinated . For whatever reason In 1991 I saw Oliver Stone’s JFK and from that moment on I was very interested in the conspiracy theories of that murder. Even if you think Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, the movie JFK is very compelling. Stone is so effective at blending real footage with fake footage and splicing them together that at times you can’t tell the difference. The cast in the movie is a who’s who of 1991, which we will get to in a little bit, but first let’s talk about why we are all here and what a better way to talk about Survivor then comparing it to one of our country’s darkest days and the first televised murder in our country’s history. This week we will be comparing each remaining participant to one of the characters from the movie JFK. Before we start that process, a few thoughts from this episode.
-The two brothers are done. I think they will definitely not be voting for Laura M and really I don’t see them voting for any remaining female in the game. I think it’s easy to predict that Tyson has his first two Jury votes banked.
-If you had your chance of any food while playing survivor for a reward what would you go with? I would have to go with In-N-Out burger; two double doubles with a large fries animal style, capice?
Let’s get to JFK and Survivor comparing every Survivor player with a character from the movie.
· Tyson as District attorney Jim Garrison:
Before we talk about Tyson, please indulge me for a moment talking about Kevin Costner’s horrible accents. I mean seriously, in JFK I guess he is trying to do a New Orleans dialect, but dear god is it awful. This isn’t the only movie either where Costner mangled an accent, as I give you the forgotten blockbuster, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and 13 days.
Here in Robin Hood Costner literally alternates from one word using an accent to the next word not using it. This movie was one of the top grossing films in the 90’s I believe and you have the main character speaking in different accents throughout the movie. If you thought that was bad, wait till you hear his over the top Boston accent. Fast forward to 1:45 its quick but I think you will get the point:
So to summarize, Kevin Costner is really bad at accents. I wonder if the producers tried to get him a dialect coach but then Costner waved them off and told them that he “didn’t need any damn dialect coach”. Anyways, excuse my rant and let’s get back on track here, so Costner plays Jim Garrison the district attorney of New Orleans who brings the only trial of the murder of President Kennedy in our history. If you look at the game of survivor as the assassination, then Tyson is our best choice to try and figure it out. Everybody else in the game seems like a secondary supportive character in the Tyson movie of Survivor this season. In the movie Jim Garrison deals with a lot of paranoia, some real and some in his head, which is like Tyson this episode when he decided to play the idol. It’s never a good thing when you play the idol and nobody voted for you. There is no argument to be made in that case, so from that standpoint you have to say that playing the idol was Tyson’s first real misstep this season. Being able to read the “room” is a real skill and clearly Tyson lacked that skill this episode. What will the ramifications be for Tyson now that the Idol is flushed out? The margin of error for Tyson is now gone, the force field of the idol is down and so he either needs to somehow use the camera man showing him exactly where the idol is Force to find the new idol or really try and win the next immunity challenge. Tyson has had Gervase as a loyal compadre this whole game, but the previews for next episode show perhaps Gervase having some ambivalence about continuing that bro-mance. If Gervase does decide to turn on Tyson, then the next immunity challenge is really life and death for Tyson’s game, but again I don’t really completely trust those previews so my guess is that Tyson finds a way to survive and gets one step closer to solving the Survivor conspiracy.
· Gervase as Jim Garrison’s right hand man Lou Ivon:
Played by “that one guy” first ballet hall of famer Jay O. Sanders, who somehow is in every movie made from 1989-1996, seriously look it up, its science you can’t argue it. So Mr. prolific movie guy plays Lou Ivon, who is Jim Garrison’s right hand man, I guess best described as his lead investigator. Towards the end of the movie Lou Ivon and Jim Garrison have a falling out about members of their own team. Will this same scenario also play out with Gervase and Tyson is the question. Gervase is going to get pressure next episode to turn on Tyson and stab him in the back, but is that the best move for Gervase? Would it better to almost guarantee yourself at least a finish in the top 3 or would you rather give up that guarantee with the chance of winning the game? I think if I was Gervase I would continue to roll with Tyson until they get down to the final four or five. Switching sides now would be unsafe for Gervase, because he would be giving up his stable position for an unstable position and the risk RIGHT NOW does not outweigh the reward. Gervase is also a tough one to read completely, because I get the feeling that a lot of his social game is not being shown. Example I used last week was Aras pointing out that Gervase had played him, but we really never saw that when Aras was still in the game. We really don’t know the mojo or respect that Gervase is carrying in the camp right now. It looks like right now that it’s Tyson at top, Gervase a little below him and then everybody else below them. Maybe Gervase and Tyson are seen as complete equals at camp, but were being shown a reality where it’s Tyson on top. Even with that said, my prediction is that Gervase stays loyal to Tyson this next episode.
· Hayden as Bill Broussard, Jim Garrison’s left hand man:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-VPLCtu2u2htJ7/jfk_1991_leave_before_youre_destroyed/
Played by another, “That guy” hall of famer Michael Rooker of Walking Dead fame, plays Bill Broussard was one of Jim Garrison’s investigators, a part of his inner circle. In the movie, Broussard gets pressured to leave Garrison because of his investigation into the assassination and eventually he does. Hayden can relate to this guy’s plight in some ways, because like Broussard, Hayden was not in a completely winnable situation with Tyson, but turning on him might lead to his demise in the game. Hayden made a good move by trying to throw Ciera under the bus; even though it didn’t work it appeared at least to put some doubt in Tyson and Gervase’s mind about Ciera. With Caleb at Redemption Island will this end up helping Hayden out short term or will he be the top target for #TeamTyson next episode? In the previews for next episode it shows Hayden right after the vote going back to camp and shouting from the proverbial hill tops that everybody needs to get Tyson out. I don’t think doing that is going to help his chances. If he was able to survive that moment hypothetically, then his next move would be to get himself ahead of Monica and Ciera with Gervase and Tyson. The argument he could make is that Monica is dominating these competitions and Ciera is untrustworthy and playing all sides. Not exactly the strongest argument in the world, but it’s something.
· Ciera as David Ferry:
David Ferry is played by Joe Pesci before he went into hiding from the world. I miss Joe Pesci, I think he played so many mobsters that he convinced himself that he really was a mobster and started acting and carrying himself like that and it ruined his career, kind of like every supporting actor from The Sopranos. In JFK, Pesci plays someone who most likely was peripherally involved in the assassination of President Kennedy. Having a relationship with Garrison, Pesci out of fear of being killed himself decides to somewhat help Garrison and his team with information he knows about the assassination. David Ferry is physically weak and sickly, but his character shows some guile during the movie. Ciera is physically weak and has shared information with Tyson about the other side of the camp. Like David Ferry in the movie, Tyson and Gervase are treating Ciera like a government witness. I think in Ciera’s mind she is thinking Tyson will take her to the finals and then maybe she can get a bitter jury to vote against Tyson which could equal a victory for her. Ciera has shown the ability to read people well and play the social game like a well-played poker hand, knowing when to bluff, fold and push her chips into the middle. I think out of everybody in the game Ciera has made the biggest strides and has had a complete metamorphosis from where she started the game to where she is now. My prediction is that she sticks with Tyson and Gervase next episode, but maybe instead of Hayden she pushes to get Monica out and send her to her death at Redemption Island at the hands of her mother.
· Monica as Guy Bannister:
Played by Ed Asner, Guy Bannister in the movie is a character that it is implied also has a peripheral connection to the assassination. He is a paranoid character that can be physical if need be. I think Monica shares some of those same characteristics. Monica, other than with the immunity competitions has been hardly seen the past couple of episodes. Her biggest moment came a few episodes ago when she decided to roll with Tyson instead of Tina(a little foreshadowing of who I chose for Tina’s character). Monica has shown a lot of fight in those competitions, I can’t imagine how hard that last comp was, but she won it like a champ. I think the problem for Monica is that she is not going to win this game in its current reality. I think she is only seen as a swing vote and when the numbers are dwindled she will be gone. I think if I was Monica I would consider going with Hayden, Katie and trying to get Gervase to vote out Tyson. Is it likely, no, but Monica needs to make a big move soon if she truly wants to win the game. It’s not the hardest mission in the world to try and get one person to switch sides between Gervase and Ciera, but the problem is that Monica doesn’t seem to have the love from the other players that would compel one of them to switch sides with her.
· Katie as the wet blanket wife Liz Garrison:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-VPLCubu74h7Yt/jfk_1991_were_not_important/
The biggest enemy in the movie is not any of the members of the conspiracy against the President but Jim Garrisons wife Liz, with her negative, nagy attitude. Ok, maybe that is a little strong, but she is annoying in the movie. She really doesn’t bring a lot to the table, she is just kind of in the movie, showing up throughout to bitch at Garrison and bring down his morale. Katie, not to be too mean is kind of at that stage now in the game. She really is not bringing anything to the table and she’s kind of a stick in the mud at this point. I want to see some fight from Katie, maybe try and shake things up, plant a lie here or maybe passive aggressively make a comment there, something. I think she needs to go hunting for that idol like her life depended on it. Other than finding the hidden immunity idol, I don’t see her future as very bright in this game.
· Laura as Jack Ruby:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-VPLCbmtt2hu2J/jfk_1991_oswald_is_shot/
This might be too obscure for you non-history buffs, but Jack Ruby was a known gangster who somehow got himself into the police department parking lot the day they were bringing Lee Harvey Oswald to court and shot him. Laura is our Jack Ruby at Redemption Island, only instead of killing one person she is killing everybody who gets sent to Redemption Island to “shut them up”. Laura is a beast in competitions, I mean my god. Seriously, if you could bet on her or take the field on who will come back into the game, would you bet against her? I don’t think I could. I think if/when she gets back into the game, she will immediately be voted off again, but that shouldn’t take away from her assassin’s creed in competitions. I really want to see what would happen if Ciera got sent to Redemption Island. Would Laura throw the comp you think? I actually think she would. Either way, I think Laura should collect scalps of people she has gotten out like Brad Pitt in Inglorious Bastards.
· Tina as Jack Martin:
Ok ya it’s the same clip as Monica’s but that’s by design…kind of. Jack Lemmon plays Jack Martin a nice but mentally tortured person because of the assassination, who doesn’t know who to trust and gets taking advantage of by someone he thought he was close with. Tina got played by Tyson and by Monica mainly. Tina got somewhat saved this episode by Laura, I mean who knows if she still would have figured out the puzzle, but it didn’t seem like should have without help. In my humble opinion, Tina looks very tired and I think spent. My guess is that Tina is done next episode.
· Caleb as Lee Harvey Oswald:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx8tm5_oswalds-later-history-from-jfk-1991_shortfilms
Our Patsy this episode Caleb gets the major role of Lee Harvey Oswald played by Gary Oldman. Caleb will try and avoid the fate of the other survivor Oswalds by avoiding the gun of Laura, but his chances are not good. The patsy this episode could have been Hayden or even Ciera but sadly for Caleb fans it was him. My prediction is that he at least survives longer then Tina and makes it to the episode after next.
Bonus
* Rob Cesternino as Mr X:
The most help Garrison gets in the movie is from the mysterious Mr. X. This is Rob talking to Tyson before the season started, giving Tyson a heaping scoop of knowledge about the conspiracy of Survivor and what to look for this time around. He even dyed his hair mango orange and talked in this voice to match Donald Sutherlands…anyways before I get fired let’s get to the power rankings:
1. Tyson
2. Gervase
3. Ciera
4. Monica
5. Hayden
6. Katie
7. Laura
8. Caleb
9. Tina
10. Scott
11. Sara
12. Josh
Ok so I threw in the last 3…..See you next week.
