Survivor 20: Heroes Vs. Villains [Official Thread]

[Sgt Pepper]

Lol. i'm not saying Colby is gay, i dont know if he is. But it is baffling to me how a guy like that, who would seem to make an amazing husband/father is still single.

LOL. I think the "Colby is gay" thing is something that gays do on this board (and others) i.e. every hot guy is gay. I know you weren't doing that, but just saying.

Tyson I still cannot stand. And I'm tired of his nasty little dick dangling speedos already.

Word. And it isn't even like he has much to show in that department.

I fear for Cirie I love her, but I would honestly be surprised if she makes it to the merge she has a big target on her back.

I agree. Cirie is one of the best players of all time, and is certainly MY favorite of this sorry lot. But I'd be shocked if they let her get to the merge. I hate Russell and I'm neutral on JT and Parvati, but none of those three are stupid enough to let Cirie get that far I think.

Also, I'm sure it's been said before, but I just wanna reiterate that it's completely unfair and obnoxious to have James, Parvati, and Amanda together again in the same season! Technically, Cirie should be included in that complaint but she's too awesome. At least Parvati and Amanda got to the end in prior seasons though, what the hell has James ever done to warrant THREE chances at this game?

Besides being shirtless of course which is admittedly his best quality.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

Tyson (is that his name?) needs to keep a shirt on - the kid is a twig and runs his mouth.

The best part is, his insult towards Colby ("Getting owned by Coach? You might as well be a woman...") is actually also an insult towards Coach...not that I expect Tyson to pick up on that.

 

[aijalon18]

I agree. Cirie is one of the best players of all time, and is certainly MY favorite of this sorry lot. But I'd be shocked if they let her get to the merge. I hate Russell and I'm neutral on JT and Parvati, but none of those three are stupid enough to let Cirie get that far I think.

Also, I'm sure it's been said before, but I just wanna reiterate that it's completely unfair and obnoxious to have James, Parvati, and Amanda together again in the same season! Technically, Cirie should be included in that complaint but she's too awesome. At least Parvati and Amanda got to the end in prior seasons though, what the hell has James ever done to warrant THREE chances at this game?

Besides being shirtless of course which is admittedly his best quality.

I know Cirie is next on the chopping block. She is my favorite too. At first I wanted Stephanie to go far but now I see she has joined with the people trying to get rid of Cirie. Amanda is a good girl but she's such a bozo. She should have joined Cirie's effort to get Stephanie or Tom out. She needs to let Cirie do the thinking. Purely out of instinct Cirie knew Steph (persuaded by Tom) and Tom were targeting her and they should be her first targets.

James is back because even though he and Jt both have the minds of children, Jeff Probst is a chauvinist pig who loves guys who do well at physical challenges. I know it's the same complaint but Jeff is so insufferable. He just gives away people's strategy and makes people targets every tribal council. "hey Amanda you prolly have a big target on your head because you made it to the final 2 twice" STFU Probst!

 

[Sgt Pepper]

James is back because even though he and Jt both have the minds of children, Jeff Probst is a chauvinist pig who loves guys who do well at physical challenges. I know it's the same complaint but Jeff is so insufferable. He just gives away people's strategy and makes people targets every tribal council. "hey Amanda you prolly have a big target on your head because you made it to the final 2 twice" STFU Probst!

God you just echoed all my thoughts about Jeff Probst! He really is the worst host. Can we get Tim Gunn up in this bitch? At least instead of giving away secrets and putting targets on people's backs, Gunn would probably just tell the losing alliance/tribe to "make it work."

 

[falconfan]

Hello all, I know I'm coming in much later than normal but I kind of refrained from discussing casting as I had really mixed feelings. There are some people I really love seeing again and some people I am really sorry I ever saw the first time.

Overall I think it was a decent opener. I was terrified for my girl Cirie. I don't know how she dodged that bullet but her spot on reasoning about how Sugar's presence was beneficial to her damn neared proved Tom's point that she should go. I love her but she'll really need to jump through some hoops with the hounds already on her tail and a general record of ok - poor challenge performance.

I'm equally scared for my gorgeous man Colby. Love him to death even if he wasn't and still isn't the best strategic analyst there is. Poor thing can't go on this show without being flirt harassed around the island, though he was much more wise in taking advantage of that the first go around. Anyway he's getting WAY too much airtime in the first episode. If you're not a complete blowhard like Russel/Coach/Randy that much airtime almost promises an early departure. My money is on an immediate ouster following a tribal swap.

Rob reminded me why I hate what Survivor has become. Rob was the kind of 'villain' I could appreciate. He is smart. He plays the game. And he doesn't have distorted images of himself or the intense need for attention. He brings me back to a simpler time when 'villain' was not code for simply being a longwinded asshole. Shame he randomly collapses and likely medevacs (why are there always more med evacs in all stars?). I don't know though they invested a lot of backstory in him in this first episode, deal with Sandra target of intense jealousy from Russel and Coach's bizarre adoration. He seemed like just the kind to keep the moron patrol in check so I hope he lasts a bit.

Too much Russel. Too much Russel already. This feels like they're planning it as the season of Russel two and I may have to vomit if that should come to pass.

Also Amanda, Parvarti, and Cirie are working together. I'm putting a big wad of cash on them having talked about this beforehand based on Parvarti's immediate response of 'I don't think Cirie and Amanda are working together.'

All and all I fear that the Stephanie/Tom alliance will ascend to rule the Heroes group. I like Steph. She's my Jersey girl and a hell of a trooper but I really don't care for the taste of Tom and she's not the best strategist in the bunch. She would better serve for my amusement in a supporting position.

Oh and also I feel more secure in JT's right to have won Tocantis. It was never wholly clear who the strategist was with him and Steven but now that JT's baring his teeth I suspect he's not quite the 'righteous' bump on the log that editing made him out to be.

 

[aijalon18]

Lol. Tim is the perfect host. But Heidi is considered the official host of the show. This season of PR is really good so far btw.

I dont get how Probst keeps winning these damn emmy's and Phil from Amazing Race is ignored.

 

[falconfan]

I know Cirie is next on the chopping block. She is my favorite too. At first I wanted Stephanie to go far but now I see she has joined with the people trying to get rid of Cirie.

I felt the same way about both of them coming in but I can't really find myself disliking Steph for targeting Cirie as it is what she should be doing. Hell it's what they all should be doing. She's not an asset in team challenges and she's a huge threat. The only people who should really want her there are the inept people she'll take with her to the end... which is why it makes perfect sense for Amanda to be fully in her corner. I mean Amanda can only hope for second anyway.

The whole thing seems a little odd and I don't have a good feeling for Cirie based also on the unexplained Candace element. It appeared that Amanda/Candace/Cirie were a 3-way alliance. The fact this was not fleshed out hints that such an alliance will soon hold little impact.

Candace in turn seems to closest to Colby who has done a lot of bouncing (uncool scattering my dear. Never turns out well) but seemed to be one of the main advocates of dumping Sugar and was kinda chummy with Tom.

I mean basically Amanda/Cirie and Steph/Tom are in the same boat. All four of them came in here with obvious previous connections and all of them (save Amanda, maybe in CHina) ran a season of this show. There was a possibility they could've bonded and pulled in a fifth but I think them noting the other groups as natural enemies is more likely and probably more intelligent.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

I'm still puzzled why Candace is there since she wasn't popular with fans on her season and why -- given the way production decides this stupid "narrative" -- she wasn't declared a Villain.

 

[Ohiospeedo]

Were the all-stars able to see Russell's season before going on this adventure? Just curious since some people made some comments. It was my understanding that Russell pretty much went from one season to the next.

Great episode. I really love Colby.

 

[slipintothefog]

Casting and production have a hard-on for Candice, even though she was edited negatively for being on the white tribe during the season with the race twist. They wanted her back for Micronesia but she was doing med school at the time. I still think that they probably cast her as a villain and Sandra as a hero but thought Sandra would be more entertaining on the other tribe and switched the two.

I liked that everybody got featured during the premiere, but the editors would have been completely incompetent to have a two-hour episode and still not be able to feature everybody. Coach, for some reason, doesn't annoy me as much as he did in Tocantins. Maybe it's because he has something going on with Jerri, whom I adore as a character, or maybe it's just because that my standards have plummeted so far down after a season of Russell saying "I'm the best!" 500 times per episode. Tyson is still an annoying little douche, Randy was basically invisible, and Russell still had more screentime than anybody else. I'd trade Richard Hatch for any of these three guys.

I feel bad for Courtney, Parv and Sandra since they'll obviously be ignored with Russell and Coach around. Courtney got one confessional about Coach/Jerri and that "Break her shoulder!" side comment during the challenge, and that's about it. Sandra got three or four confessionals last night but I was waiting for that old sassy Sandra to come out and I didn't really see it. The bra incident with Sugar was hilarious though. Boston Rob is easily my favorite out of the male villains because... well, the others suck and are annoying as hell.

Why am I not surprised that Russell immediately allied with Danielle? She's easily the most useless woman out there on either tribe. And, unlike Natalie, her social game is pretty shitty. If I thought that Russell had seen more than his own season and maybe a couple of stray episodes that the producers showed the cast of Samoa before starting the season, I'd commend him for a smart choice in alliance partners. But I doubt he even knows who Danielle is, so forget that.

The editing for the heroes tribe was so much more balanced. Unlike half of the Villains tribe (i.e. Tyson, Randy, Parv, Danielle), everybody got pretty equal time, even with Rupert around. But as a whole I'm so much more apathetic about the heroes because I don't like any of the male heroes that much (I'm a Jerri guy, not a Colby guy; never thought Tom was great; got sick of Rupert during PI, etc.) and only Cirie stands out among the women. It sucks that Sugar was the first one out because she can be such a glorious trainwreck. I wish somebody irrelevant like Candice or James could have gone instead.

 

[TaggedGalaxy]

Colby still looks great, I don't really like his haircut but other than that time has been good to him.

I think it was a stupid move to vote Sugar out and Cirie knew it she said so in her comment when she wrote Sugar's name down. I think this vote might end up being the downfall for Cirie.

As far as the other Heroes, I think it would have been smarter to vote off Amanda, she has too many prior relationships in the cast that might help her in the game. She is with James and Cirie on her tribe, and she has former alliances and pre game alliances with Parvati and Courtney on the other tribe.

Also if they were smart they would make sure Cirire doesn't make it to the merge because that is where she usually does the most damage.

 

[TaggedGalaxy]

Were the all-stars able to see Russell's season before going on this adventure? Just curious since some people made some comments. It was my understanding that Russell pretty much went from one season to the next.

Great episode. I really love Colby.

Heroes vs. Villains began filming ten days after Samoa rapped, so they never saw an episode of Samoa and had no idea who Russell was and how he played the game, which gives him an advantage.

 

[aijalon18]

It seemed like Parvati was familiar with Russell. She knew he was making alliances with everyone and thought she'd pretend to be his ally because she didnt want to endure his wrath. So I'm thinking they did somehow see his episodes. It's kinda not fair if they didnt. Because we all know he studied their episodes religiously.

 

[falconfan]

It seemed like Parvati was familiar with Russell. She knew he was making alliances with everyone and thought she'd pretend to be his ally because she didnt want to endure his wrath. So I'm thinking they did somehow see his episodes. It's kinda not fair if they didnt. Because we all know he studied their episodes religiously.

I think Parvarti could just tell that he was doing that... much like Betsy or Marissa or Laura or Monica or... anyone really. Everyone on Samoa had his number early on too. They tried to edit it around it but the man has never been subtle. Everyone had his number and no one had any respect for him a reality that they tried to hide from the viewer but that Natalie quickly picked up on and is evident in the jury's vote.

 

[TaggedGalaxy]

I think Parvati was just expressing her intuition, she had a gut feeling that maybe he couldn't be trusted. This article talks about the cast members not knowing who he is, even Coach says that they never got to see an episode of Samoa until it aired after their season was already over:

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b166598_survivor_heroes_vs_villains_how_far.html

 

[aijalon18]

Oh I see. I guess I was wrong. Well I guess they kinda figured since he was on villains team they should be wary. Danielle must just be an idiot for saying her gut says to trust him. I really dont know who she is so im not sure if shes that dumb or that is game.

Is there an alliance btwn to Cirie and James and Cirie at all? I hope so because the hero guys like Colby and JT r prolly gonna look to him as a leader and hopefully he can help keep her around. I am definitely no James fan, but he is useful for early physical challenges and he is easy to get rid of in the end for the true strategists.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

James and Colby on the same season. Shirtless. I think it's safe to assume that there are a LOT of moist towels in Probst's tent at night...

 

[Adrock-JD]

Are there really wild chickens wandering around on tropical islands?

I didn't know that.

They should put a few tigers and gorillas in the jungle to make the nights more interesting.

Put Colby in a loin cloth for a week.

or three.

 

[That70sJoe]

I felt the same way about both of them coming in but I can't really find myself disliking Steph for targeting Cirie as it is what she should be doing. Hell it's what they all should be doing. She's not an asset in team challenges and she's a huge threat. The only people who should really want her there are the inept people she'll take with her to the end... which is why it makes perfect sense for Amanda to be fully in her corner. I mean Amanda can only hope for second anyway.

My thoughts exactly. Cirie was correct in that they should've taken out a major threat whether it be Stephenie or herself. Sugar is so ineffective that she wouldn't hurt anyone's alliance by keeping her for a few more early rounds. I understand why they booted Sugar but it would've been a good message to send out to the Villains that even the savviest (Cirie) or the most fit (Stephenie) can be eliminated early. For us, it would've been a refreshening season opener boot.

I'm still puzzled why Candace is there since she wasn't popular with fans on her season and why -- given the way production decides this stupid "narrative" -- she wasn't declared a Villain.

I think she and Danielle were chosen because they're unassuming. If they were dumped in favor of 2 more outgoing former female castaways, IMO, Burnett and co would've felt that that would've detracted from Jerri, Parvati and Sandra's respective spotlights. In other words, Candice and Danielle were cast because they don't register strongly.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

I think she and Danielle were chosen because they're unassuming. If they were dumped in favor of 2 more outgoing former female castaways, IMO, Burnett and co would've felt that that would've detracted from Jerri, Parvati and Sandra's respective spotlights. In other words, Candice and Danielle were cast because they don't register strongly.

That's a decent explanation, and I'll buy it for Danielle, but Candace was generally DESPISED on her season (by fans) and the show's narrative was clearly constructed to position her as "bad" in opposition to the "good" Aitu clan. I just don't see how she can in any way be considered a hero. And this has nothing to do with my personal dislike for her; I hate Rupert for example, but I know that he's popular with fans (ugh) and so there was never any doubt that he would be on the "hero" team. That one makes sense to me, but Candace is just a head-scratcher.