Survivor: Cambodia- Second Chance

[PUSH]

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS BELOW.

Well so much for my winner. He definitely played the game too hard to start out. He was clearly working everybody. New winner pick: Kelley Wentworth! She looks to be playing the game the best in the early going. I also think Spencer has had a good start. He did well in the challenge, stayed off the radar, and ultimately made the decision to get Vytas off. Varner did look overwhelmed at the start, but I think he'll settle in fast. But Spencer has an eye on him from his comment about the "crazies".

From the preview it looks like Abi will start to explode, and Varner will pick up his strategic game. Saying he wants to take out the strong players. I'm against that strategy in the beginning, and if you read that article I post yesterday, then I think Probst summed it up great - voting off the strongest rarely works and is a strategy based on fear. And in the preview Varner was saying this to Terry - who is one of the strong players. I could ultimately see it backfiring.

Side note: Keith already messed up with dipping to torch in the water.

 

[NYwdwfan]

It's Wednesday! I hope the commercials didn't over-hype Abi's meltdown.

 

[SAV]

I know I posted this in her original season, but this is totally what I saw at the end of Tribal...

And by her actions with Abi, it was totally deserved.

And I already like the shake-up for next week. Split them up and see what happens.

 

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Shirin played too hard too early. I liked her much better this season, however. I was so nervous Spencer was going. Varner is playing this game hard. His strategy is working masterfully, but with the switch-up, he could be dumped quick if he has the wrong tribe mates. This will definitely give Spencer new hope. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens!

 

[SAV]

Shirin Interview:
http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2015...in-i-got-caught-red-handed-coming-for-varner/

Vytas Interview:
http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2015...ould-put-more-of-abis-stuff-in-peih-gees-bag/

 

[GenerationX]

As I've said, I've seen every Survivor episode of every season, and I don't recognize half these people.

I was fan of Jeff Varner in his season (Survivor 2: Australian Outback). Pre-merge, he was the go-to interview for the producers (what I like to call the Narrator role for the season). His observations were astute, he expressed himself well, and he was pretty funny, also. He lost Survivor 2 due to a mistake Kimmi made in revealing to the opposing tribe that Jeff had had votes cast against him. Tie-breakers, in those days, were based on previous votes. When the two tribes merged with equal numbers, the vote was a tie, and the opposing tribe had all voted for Jeff. It was a shame, because he was both sharp and entertaining.

The guy who told the long boring story about meeting his wife irritated me. He was so sure everyone was moved by his story. Don't like him. Not a fan of the Brazilian drama queen, either. Happy to see Shirin go.

I like the girl who found the idol. Grabbed it at just the right time. Varner's still fun to watch, too, so there are people to root for.

I thought I heard Probst say the challenges are all repeats of "classic" challenges. This is hysterical, because they've been recycling challenges for YEARS and would rarely admit it.

 

[RMichael21]

Here's my take on the season so far.

I was EXTREMELY upset the Vutas went home, because I feel had he gone farther into the game he would've really made some waves. As for Shirin, I was a little annoyed that she was voted off, because I really like her, but she (like Vytas) pretty much dug her own grave. I found it kind of interesting that she did something similar to what her tribe mates did to her last season but this time she wasn't on ghee receiving end.

As for Abi staying in the first episode, I'm actually somewhat happy as she'll make for some great TV in future episodes. I, really not convinced that we've seen the complete meltdown yet. And spencer, I'm extremely glad that he's still here, as I like him, but even I was actually convinced that he was going home this past week.

Unlike the past two seasons (mainly San Juan Del Sur) where there were two or three people that I liked and that I didn't like and everyone else was just ok, this season, I find myself rooting for several people but I find that there's somewhat of a problem in fans voting people into the cast. There really won't be any true villain, or a person that I won't like because I like practically all of them.

But, my favorites so far have been. Kelly Wentworth, that girl can play! She's not playing to hard to fast or not to slow and she's made an almost perfect set of alliances that can take her far in the game, but she's good enough (from what I've seen) in challenges to cut them loose post-merge. Not to mention, everyone likes her and she also really deserves the second chance. I also am really liking Jeff Varner, Spencer and Jeremy. As for people that I like but I think are playing the game all wrong, that would be Joe and Spencer. Joes trying to come off as someone who's not a physical threat, but in doing so he's becoming a strategic threat by helping out and doing things for his tribe. And spencer, he's just playing way to hard way to fast and I hope that his close call at tribal council has given him a wake up call.

I'm super excited for this week's episode, as I can't wait to see how the tribe swap works out. It should be a great thing for Spencer and Stephen, as their current position in the tribe hierarchy is pretty low. But we'll see as I've seen countless seasons where the tribe swap can completely ruin someone's game. Just look at Kelly Wentworth in San Juan Del Sur. Had the tribe swap never happened, she wouldn't have been placed with her dad and then she most likely wouldn't have left so soon.

Well, let's just say that I look forward to the rest of the season.

 

[DinoInstitute]

Shirin played too hard too early. I liked her much better this season, however. I was so nervous Spencer was going. Varner is playing this game hard. His strategy is working masterfully, but with the switch-up, he could be dumped quick if he has the wrong tribe mates. This will definitely give Spencer new hope. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens!

I don't even know if I'd say she played too hard...she just didn't play well. From what I've been able to gather it seems like she was so excited to come into this game expecting that it would be much more game-botty people, and she more or less completely neglected the social game (isolated Abi, didn't try to establish connections with everyone as shown by her convo with Woo where it was the first real time they talked).
I did kind of want to see her go much farther going into the season, but in some weird way I feel like her story arch is complete.

Also, I love her final words... "Give em hell"

As far as everyone else....

-I'm pretty disappointed in Fishbach, at least based on his edit. He's a smart guy and I'm rooting for him, but he is kinda rusty socially....

-Last week I was pretty high on Jeremy, but with there being a tribe swap so soon his alliance is most likely going to be torn apart. He's pretty good at establishing connections, but I think his fate is all up to luck right now.

-I have nothing to say about Purple Monica.

-#CaringKass she actually doing pretty well which makes me happy...hopefully she makes the merge and blows some crap up...

-Feeling pretty good about my winner pick of Varner! He is having a great game and is absolutely amazing to watch. Also, usually it's not the best idea to jump from a small alliance into a larger one if you already have the numbers, but it turns out that will actually help his chances going into the tribe swap.

-Abi is glorious to watch

-I find it interesting that Terry was compared to Mike in how he was the one to rescue Abi. Mostly because during Worlds Apart we were already comparing each other, the guy everyone wants out that keeps winning immunity...

As I've said, I've seen every Survivor episode of every season, and I don't recognize half these people.

I was fan of Jeff Varner in his season (Survivor 2: Australian Outback). Pre-merge, he was the go-to interview for the producers (what I like to call the Narrator role for the season). His observations were astute, he expressed himself well, and he was pretty funny, also. He lost Survivor 2 due to a mistake Kimmi made in revealing to the opposing tribe that Jeff had had votes cast against him. Tie-breakers, in those days, were based on previous votes. When the two tribes merged with equal numbers, the vote was a tie, and the opposing tribe had all voted for Jeff. It was a shame, because he was both sharp and entertaining.

The guy who told the long boring story about meeting his wife irritated me. He was so sure everyone was moved by his story. Don't like him. Not a fan of the Brazilian drama queen, either. Happy to see Shirin go.

I like the girl who found the idol. Grabbed it at just the right time. Varner's still fun to watch, too, so there are people to root for.

I thought I heard Probst say the challenges are all repeats of "classic" challenges. This is hysterical, because they've been recycling challenges for YEARS and would rarely admit it.

About the challenges- Usually, yeah, they are recycled, but to their defense the two challenges they have used so far have only been used once in the past on a second chancer's season. So I'd say they are classics so far.

 

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The only thing with Varner so far is he's playing a very aggressive and wild game. It's won him in the early goings, which could carry him far. However, you saw how that strategy went with Mike last season. Had he not had a long immunity streak, he wouldn't have won. And Varner is no Mike Holloway when it comes to physicality.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Some of my early thoughts.

-Varner is absolutely amazing television, that much I think we can all agree on. Having said that, he's over-playing like crazy and there's no way it doesn't come back to bite him. His edit this time around kind of reminds me of a more strategic Jonathan Penner. Totally entertaining and you want to root for him, but he's his own worst enemy when it comes to getting his hands too dirty within the context of the game.

-Spencer is really winning me over. I never really got his appeal until this new, more sensitive side of his personality started to emerge. The kid inspite of having bad luck in Cagayan still needed to be humbled a bit further because he was definitely arogant about how good his position was (something I'm pretty sure was fueled by how popular he is with the fans...) seeing him break down and start to cry about voting for Shirin is the total polar opposite of the Spencer we met in the Cagayan pre-game interviews who seemed like an elitist brat.

-I have a sinking feeling Wentworth is going to be the Amber/Parvati/Sandra of the season. She's had too good and focused of an edit for someone who was next to invisible her first time around. My issue with her if she wins is that frankly I don't think based on her legacy in the game she deserves to be there. I understand that she's a big fan of the show and a total social media hustler, but we saw literally NOTHING from her the first time around outside of Drew randomly targeting her and Dale blowing her game.

-I'm going to cherish Abi Maria for every episode she remains. No possible way can she win, but she's among the most entertaining female players they've ever cast for my money (though I completely understand that she's polarizing.)

-Fishbach is the buffoon of the season. It'll all depend on the luck of the draw to see how he fares after the swap, but his edit has already been killed.

-Savage/Jeremy/Joe/Keith I can see making a deep run. The glorification of Joe has gotten rather ridiculous. Frankly his edit in Worlds Apart was rather low key and middle of the road. His popularity kind of baffles me.

I love the idea of swapping into three tribes. This should basically shake up any and all potential pre-game alliances or even those established in the first six days on the beach. I'm crossing my fingers that they do a second swap back into two tribes at final seven.

Hopefully the members of Bayon besides Joe, Stephen, and Savage will start to emerge soon because they've been a really under the radar tribe. Understandable considering they haven't lost a challenge, but it still feels like we know next to nothing about the dynamics out there besides the testosterone fueled alliance of Savage/Joe/Jeremy/Keith and the fact that Fishy is on the outs. I want to see more of potentially evil Tasha!

 

[PUSH]

I love seeing Survivor commercials while watching football. It's like my two favorite things in one!

 

[JenniferS]

A lot of good players on the cast. Some people I'll be cheering for from the start will be Spencer, Ciera, Jeremy, Joe, Tasha and Vytas. There really are a lot of good players here. I'll even probably cheer for Kelly Wiglesworth a little bit. I think Spencer and Ciera will be my top two, though.

All caught up w/the episodes, now to catch up on the thread.
It's so funny to read your top picks vs mine.
You are young, and picked younger, hipper, more recent players. And me, I'm going Old School all the way.
Go Terry, Varner, Savage, and Wiglesworth - in that order. I also like recent players Jeremy and Woo.

 

[PUSH]

All caught up w/the episodes, now to catch up on the thread.
It's so funny to read your top picks vs mine.
You are young, and picked younger, hipper, more recent players. And me, I'm going Old School all the way.
Go Terry, Varner, Savage, and Wiglesworth - in that order. I also like recent players Jeremy and Woo.

If I were to play, I'd definitely take a much more "new game" strategy into it. I love the scheming and strategy. That being said, Terry is one of my favorite players ever. But Spencer is my all-time favorite.

 

[JenniferS]

If I were to play, I'd definitely take a much more "new game" strategy into it. I love the scheming and strategy. That being said, Terry is one of my favorite players ever. But Spencer is my all-time favorite.

Spencer? Your all-time favourite?
I didn't know that.

Spenser (with an "s" is my all-time favourite boy's name; but I'm pretty sure you knew that too. )

 

[PUSH]

Spencer? Your all-time favourite?
I didn't know that.

Spenser (with an "s" is my all-time favourite boy's name; but I'm pretty sure you knew that too. )

Spencer is really the first player I ever took a huge liking to, as I started watching from season 26, and only after Cagayan did I start going back and rewatching old seasons.

I assume you know he was in my list of top favorites, however.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Kenny Huang from Gabon might not be my all time favorite from a strategic point of view, but out of everyone who's ever played he was definitely the person I rooted hardest for. Mostly because I already knew who he was from his Smash Brother tournaments.

 

[PUSH]

Kenny Huang from Gabon might not be my all time favorite from a strategic point of view, but out of everyone who's ever played he was definitely the person I rooted hardest for. Mostly because I already knew who he was from his Smash Brother tournaments.

I absolutely hated Kenny. I hated how he played the victim in almost every situation. That's the one thing that annoys me the most - don't play the victim when you're the one making the dirty moves. I also hated Crystal, his partner in crime. It probably also didn't help that he was the head of the alliance that took down the alliance of my two favorite players from Gabon: Charlie and Bob.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

I absolutely hated Kenny. I hated how he played the victim in almost every situation. That's the one thing that annoys me the most - don't play the victim when you're the one making the dirty moves. I also hated Crystal, his partner in crime. It probably also didn't help that he was the head of the alliance that took down the alliance of my two favorite players from Gabon: Charlie and Bob.

Like I said he certainly wasn't the best player out there, my attachment to him stems from the fact that I knew who he was before the game started and could relate to him as a fellow gamer. You're absolutely right that he did act rather entitled out there but I view his edit as lovable underdog turned villain, which makes him a rather fascinating character. Different strokes. I could give you reasons why I think Spencer is over-rated, but I'll admit he's winning me over with Second Chances

And you've got to admit, the Onions weren't exactly the crown jewel of non-self entitlement either

 

[NYwdwfan]

My favorite ever: JT. Interestingly enough - I don't remember the guy (Fishburn?) playing this season who was JTs buddy that season.

 

[JenniferS]

My favorite ever: JT. Interestingly enough - I don't remember the guy (Fishburn?) playing this season who was JTs buddy that season.

I barely remember Fishbach from his season either. He is more famous (to me) for his post-appearance blogging and commentary.