Survivor S39: Island of the Idols

[PUSH]

I listened to quite a few of the RHAP podcasts during the Summer seasons - Shannon Gaitz is fantastic.

I feel I need to step away from those detailed analysis a bit, because they're almost too good in predicting things ("based on the editing of the first five minutes of the premiere, here is the order that everyone will now get voted out...").

Plus, at what point does it become unhealthy to spend hours and hours of my time on one TV show? On the other hand, need to fill some time in the car on the drive to/from work...

I don't think it's unhealthy. It's just like someone following a sport and watching/listening to hours of coverage on that. Just a different topic. It would be different if it was a sitcom or scripted series. But Survivor is a game that you can really dive into that is not written. And now with hundreds of players and episodes there is a lot of history to go around. Survivor is one of my three major obsessions. The other two are Disney World and the Green Bay Packers.

 

[PUSH]

What is a little unhealthy is that I rewatched season 1-14 and 17 over the summer and have now compiled my season rankings for seasons 1-17, 26-28, 31, 33-38. And that's not the unhealthy part yet. I also have ranked every player from those seasons. I have ranked 428 players. My goal for the offseason between 39 and 40 and next summer is to finish rewatching the rest of the seasons and finishing my rankings.

I love doing it. I would totally love Rob Cesternino's job. Dream job.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

What is a little unhealthy is that I rewatched season 1-14 and 17 over the summer and have now compiled my season rankings for seasons 1-17, 26-28, 31, 33-38. And that's not the unhealthy part yet. I also have ranked every player from those seasons. I have ranked 428 players. My goal for the offseason between 39 and 40 and next summer is to finish rewatching the rest of the seasons and finishing my rankings.

I love doing it. I would totally love Rob Cesternino's job. Dream job.

Yeah, you definitely need professional help

I think Summer was a burn out for me. Four hours of Survivor on television each week and then 4-5 hours to listen to the podcasts.

I just finished re-watching Season 2, and while I have no desire to rank the seasons, it's interesting to see how dull/predictable the show could be before all the twists were added.

 

[PUSH]

I have not watched any international seasons. Although I have heard a lot of them are very good, I also heard they are a lot more time consuming.

 

[artvandelay]

I’m really glad we have Rob’s exit interviews again this season. E of E took that away from us. Exit and interviews give a deeper view of the game and can cut through some of the editing.

 

[wdwtopten]

feel I need to step away from those detailed analysis a bit, because they're almost too good in predicting things ("based on the editing of the first five minutes of the premiere, here is the order that everyone will now get voted out...").

Exactly. It takes some fun out of just watching the show.

 

[danheaton]

For international seasons, I would recommend Survivor: South Africa, Season 6 especially. Season 7 (Island of the Idols) is worth watching too because the production is so well done. I've heard raves about Survivor: Australia. I've been watched S1 of the restart (2016 season), and it's been good so far. Australia has a big cast and a longer timeframe, so there are a lot of episodes.

In terms of RHAP, I think that I started listening around One World, maybe South Pacific. So it's been a long time. I used to listen to every Survivor podcast, but now there's too much (which is a good thing) to catch. I always listen to Know-It-Alls and the exit interviews during US Survivor plus a few recaps with guests I like, and I've been listening to Mike and Shannon on Survivor: SA this summer. Plus, I'm also a big fan of The Amazing Race. It's pretty amazing to see what Rob has created and how it's evolved. I blogged for RHAP from Seasons 28-32, but it was just too much to do a weekly blog. Still, it was a blast to do.

 

[PUSH]

For international seasons, I would recommend Survivor: South Africa, Season 6 especially. Season 7 (Island of the Idols) is worth watching too because the production is so well done. I've heard raves about Survivor: Australia. I've been watched S1 of the restart (2016 season), and it's been good so far. Australia has a big cast and a longer timeframe, so there are a lot of episodes.

In terms of RHAP, I think that I started listening around One World, maybe South Pacific. So it's been a long time. I used to listen to every Survivor podcast, but now there's too much (which is a good thing) to catch. I always listen to Know-It-Alls and the exit interviews during US Survivor plus a few recaps with guests I like, and I've been listening to Mike and Shannon on Survivor: SA this summer. Plus, I'm also a big fan of The Amazing Race. It's pretty amazing to see what Rob has created and how it's evolved. I blogged for RHAP from Seasons 28-32, but it was just too much to do a weekly blog. Still, it was a blast to do.

Those are some pretty good seasons to blog for. Two of my top 4 seasons (28 and 31)

 

[PUSH]

So last week there was a promo during the show that spoiled who won the immunity challenge. There are commercials showing who goes to the IOI this week. Jeff tweeted tonight that despite 20 years they do not have say over their promos or when they air. But one would think the person in charge would not spoils major episode details... and they would watch the previous episode to see if their promo is a spoiler...

 

[PUSH]

Before my thoughts, I just want to say RIP to my female winner pick. I felt so good about her after the first episode. Jamal ruined my hopes for her tonight, though.

Now my thoughts...

1. I don't think Molly did anything particularly wrong. She was making the smart move. But it begs the question: is the "smart" move the one to make anymore? The smart move never pans out anymore. You're almost better off to let someone else make the smart move, then counter their move.

2. Parvati's game was so iconic and brilliant that it's still ruining the game for charming women. I got Parvati vibes from Molly even before they mentioned it.

3. If you know me, you know how much I love Parvati. Needless to say, I was a HUGE Molly fan through the first two episodes. I am sad to see her go. I think she would have been an excellent player. I think she had the potential to be one of the greats. I know that's a jumping the gun a bit, but I had some good vibes from her.

4. Jamal is not winning this game. He got the edit that you think would have led to him being the one voted out. Molly and Jack did not get "bully" edits like Jamal did.

5. The IOI challenge this time was so much easier than Elizabeth's challenge. All you needed to do was read Sandra's Wikipedia page once and you could pass it.

6. I much prefer watching IOI challenges to reward challenges. I am past the reward challenge phase. In old seasons they used to be crucial to social gameplay, but not anymore.

7. IOI did not seem as ridiculous tonight as it did last week.

8. Chelsea finding the idol = awesome.

9. Kellee's idol in the hair while crying about stripping to prove she doesn't have an idol = brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Phenomenal execution. Loved Kellee tonight. Didn't think I would after episode 1.

10. Noura is a gem. An absolute gem. I thought she was going home early, but then as they kept painting her as the kooky castaway, I knew she was in for a longer ride because she's this season's comedic relief.

11. Jason is eh. I don't see why people painted him as Rob Cesternino 2.0.

12. I'm not loving Lauren. Probably because she voted out Molly who I was very high on. And she ruined my winner pick.

13. I'm overall loving the women of this season. They have controlled the game through two episodes. I love to see that. I think the men are average players thus far. They are definitely being outsmarted and out-Survivored by the women.

14. I have very much enjoyed this season so far. I hope it continues. It's exceeding expectations, but that's not hard to do after EoE.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Glad that Jeff is calling out CBS on Twitter for those promos. I didn't see them, but come on CBS.

Does Jamal saying he's not in the bottom and doesn't have to play that way yet count as a spoiler?

They are playing this game hard, and early. Molly is perhaps the first time an early bootee is someone I'd be excited to see play again.

1. I don't think Molly did anything particularly wrong. She was making the smart move. But it begs the question: is the "smart" move the one to make anymore? The smart move never pans out anymore. You're almost better off to let someone else make the smart move, then counter their move.

This is why the season (and show in general) is so interesting. An "easy" first vote seemed like the way to go, but as they said, the game shifted to fourth gear super quick. The trick is to be on the right side of votes, but not seen as the person calling the shots.

 

[wdwtopten]

This is why the season (and show in general) is so interesting. An "easy" first vote seemed like the way to go, but as they said, the game shifted to fourth gear super quick. The trick is to be on the right side of votes, but not seen as the person calling the shots.

The trend seems to be to vote out the "good" players first and fast, keeping the "poor" or "awkward" players around because they are "goats" who don't really have a chance to win at the end. This is why, I think, the show keeps doing things to let players get back in to the game once they have been voted out. Some of these players deserve a 2nd chance (at least the show's producers think so).

Jason is eh. I don't see why people painted him as Rob Cesternino 2.0.

I'm not impressed either.

 

[Watchers]

 

[PUSH]

They are playing this game hard, and early. Molly is perhaps the first time an early bootee is someone I'd be excited to see play again.

I think a lot of recent seasons have featured intriguing cast members who I'd welcome back. I guess I'm thinking mainly pre-merge boots, though. Ghost Island had a few - Bradley, Brendan, and Stephanie, but mainly Stephanie. In DvG you had Natalie and Lyrsa. In HvHvH I was big on Ali. Not recent, but Tracy from Micronesia deserves another shot. And then definitely Molly, too.

I would enjoy a Contenders vs Underdog season where one tribe was returnees who made the merge. The other tribe was pre-merge boots. Just think of how many hidden gems there are out there who got cut off too early. We're lucky Kelley Wentworth was voted into Cambodia.

 

[PUSH]

I just put together a pre-merge season of Survivor, with the season they were on in parentheses. Not sure I'd want to see them all back, though. A lot I would.

Women:
1. Molly (39)
2. Stephanie (36)
3. Natalie (37)
4. Tracy (16)
5. Christine (23)
6. Ali (35)
7. Stephanie (21)
8. Lyrsa (37)
9. Angie (10)
10. Alexis (28)


Men:
1. Aaron (15)
2. Hunter (4)
3. Silas (3)
4. Ace (17)
5. Brendan (36)
6. Bradley (36)
7. Brian (11)
8. Peter (32)
9. John (27)
10. Marcus (17)

 

[danheaton]

I'm really enjoying a lot of the women in this cast. I also think the edit is presenting a lot of the physically strong guys as idiots. It's a great thing to see because it's such a strong cast overall. Kellee was so much fun and really smart this week. Missy is a player to watch on the other tribe too. I think Lauren could be a force, and there really aren't any duds. Molly had potential too but was removed because she was the "glue". It's really too bad, though I did enjoy seeing the players on the outs team up against the top three. I also enjoyed Island of the Idols more this time and thought the editing was fun with Rob and Sandra giving all that info. They're such great characters and appear to be having a lot of fun too.

 

[PUSH]

Thoughts...

1. This continues to be a very strong cast.

2. This IoI challenge was ridiculous, and it was not a Survivor skill at all to steal fire... but I kind of loved it.

3. That challenge was amazing. Very interesting. I feel like the challenge department has stepped up in a major way over the past few seasons.

4. Karishma is not a good player. She is playing the "I'm different" card to get sympathy. I totally agree her tribe mates should have comforted her when she sliced her hand open. However, she continued to play the "poor me" card instead of take her game into her own hands. The only reason she's still there is because Vince went to the IoI.

5. If you think you have any chance of going, why not play an idol that's only good for two Tribal Councils. It's not like a traditional idol that you can use almost the entire game. There aren't many chances to use it, so play it rather than walk out with it in your pocket.

6. Purple Dean is alive!

7. Loving this season so far. It seems like the less hyped the season, the better it will be. DvG was an example. Perhaps that's a marketing tactic. Market the bad seasons to try and trick people into thinking they're good (Ghost Island and EoE).

8. This was the first vote out that I wasn't able to predict. I thought it would be Karishma.

 

[artvandelay]

Thoughts...

1. This continues to be a very strong cast.

2. This IoI challenge was ridiculous, and it was not a Survivor skill at all to steal fire... but I kind of loved it.

3. That challenge was amazing. Very interesting. I feel like the challenge department has stepped up in a major way over the past few seasons.

4. Karishma is not a good player. She is playing the "I'm different" card to get sympathy. I totally agree her tribe mates should have comforted her when she sliced her hand open. However, she continued to play the "poor me" card instead of take her game into her own hands. The only reason she's still there is because Vince went to the IoI.

5. If you think you have any chance of going, why not play an idol that's only good for two Tribal Councils. It's not like a traditional idol that you can use almost the entire game. There aren't many chances to use it, so play it rather than walk out with it in your pocket.

6. Purple Dean is alive!

7. Loving this season so far. It seems like the less hyped the season, the better it will be. DvG was an example. Perhaps that's a marketing tactic. Market the bad seasons to try and trick people into thinking they're good (Ghost Island and EoE).

8. This was the first vote out that I wasn't able to predict. I thought it would be Karishma.

Who’s Dean?

 

[PUSH]

Who’s Dean?

I am loving Dean's edit so far. It's hilarious. The only time they show him is when he make a fool of himself.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Hindsight (and watching from home) is always 20/20, but Vince should have played the idol for sure.

As PUSH said, there's a negligible advantage in keeping it for just one more vote. However, and perhaps more important from a strategic standpoint, it would have turned the island/idol paranoia into an advantage. Playing it would have sent the message that the island provides advantages, and since someone else will go next time, it completely would have shifted the target off of Vince to other people moving forward.

Not clear why they didn't go for Tom. Vince really struck me as someone who would have been loyal. They didn't vote with Tom, so there's still a division AND they've lost an ally.