Survivor 30 - Worlds Apart -

[BetinaNungging]

Also, Will is still in. I fear he's the Muffin/Missy this season. Dragged to the end. He should have been out long ago, especially after he did to Shirin.

cant wait to watch the ponderosa people give him a cold shoulder to Will when he's eliminated

 

[joesman]

I was right with the jury votes being for Shirin. All three people looked pissed when she was voted out, even as they were happy at the prospect of Mike giving her his idol. But it might not have helped anyway. When Tyler voted for her (his message was clear that his vote was for her) I knew Mike would not give her the idol, hoping he had fooled enough people to vote Tyler. Really sad and Shirin's message at the end was even sadder, but she will be with decent people now who respect her.

 

[CoolBlue71]

I don't have as strong a reaction as some have. I think, if anything has been truly revealing, what happened is that this cast of Survivor: Worlds Apart was very interesting in the early weeks…and became a mess after the merge. It has nothing to do with whether I find them appealing or unappealing. It's that they seemed, at first, to have the makings of an unforgettable cast of Survivor. And that turned out not to be true. When Survivor: Worlds Apart ends, with the May 20 "Finale" and "Reunion," I will move past it quite quickly. With the April 29 episode having just passed, it is now a matter of just tuning in for what little is left in order to officially wrap it up. May 6. May 13. May 20. Done.

 

[slipintothefog]

This season is giving me such flashbacks to South Pacific right now, where I was *sure* the majority alliance couldn't win because the edit painted them as awful and a lot of members of the pagonged minority alliance got painted as the underdogs were going to triumph. But it's probably worse than South Pacific because at least that season had Sophie saving us in the end, and this season doesn't have a Sophie.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

If Carolyn could get to the end with any combination of Sierra/Dan/Will, she could win and she'd be my Sophie this season. Despite her dislike for Shirin, I'd still root for Carolyn, and unlike Tyler, we've actually seen a personality and some smart moves by her.

But it's going to be Mike or Tyler so I'm rooting for Mike to win every fucking challenge now.

 

[Ekim23]

Shirin's elimination stings even more because she had a great 1 in 3 chance of winning immunity, but she blew it. That she lost to old hag Carolyn who isn't good at challenges and who hates her, just made it worse. I guess Tyler wins now and his New Colossus/Survivor speech was the only foreshadowing we had?

The real winner this season has been the editors, not just fooling some of us (including me) into thinking that Shirin had a chance, but also fooling many into thinking that more was happening each week other than a Pagong-ing. I said this in a previous post, but with the exception of Kelly's boot at the merge, every single boot has been the same as if the dominant alliance had stayed together and just voted out the minority alliance: Hali, Joe, Jenn and now Shirin. The editors have given us enough smoke and mirrors to make us think more "game" was happening, but really every single TC has been a cock-tease for the viewer.

And the editors also did the impossible by getting me to root for Mike.

I couldnt have said it better

 

[joesman]

Carolyn is dead to me. If Dan, Rodney or Will win I will throw up. I likewise rooted for Mike because of Shirin, but I still don't like the lug. Sierra and Tyler are on my flush list, too. So actually I want them all swallowed up by a giant sinkhole and then the jury would have to vote one of themselves the victory. I wouldn't mind either of those four winning (obviously they won't).

At least the remainder of the slugs know Mike has an idol, and that Dan has two votes. So starve them all until they spit roast Dan or Will.

 

[slipintothefog]

I don't think Sierra is playing a horrible game, but the fact that they're leaving out all of her strategy and editing her as a tagalong makes it obvious she isn't winning. In her secret scenes post-swap and early merge she's disclosed that her intention was to go to the end with Rodney and Dan because they suck and that'd be her best chance to win (true), that she couldn't vote out Dan over Hali because the numbers weren't there and it would have exposed her to her alliance (true), and last week that she had to vote with her alliance because she couldn't beat Jenn or Shirin in a final vote (also true).

Just frustrating that last year we had Jaclyn awesomely grabbing Jon by the balls and leading the charge to vote out the idiots she hated, and Sierra is trying to play smart instead of emotionally but it's not going to work anyway.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

See that is exactly why I preferred last season. Not only because of Natalie but because the alpha male (Jon) was far more likable than Mike/Joe/Rodney, and we even had an awesome ball-buster in Jaclyn.

That said, I do agree that Sierra has made the right moves for herself, it's just that she hasn't made it clear to the people getting voted out that she is a strategic player. Unfortunately, she's committing the same error as someone like Albert (to further the South Pacific comparisons), in that she's trying to curry favor with the people who will eventually get voted out, but she does it in a way that always makes them think she is seriously considering flipping with them, when in fact she isn't. The problem with that strategy is that it just reads to the jury that you're either completely fake or that you don't have the stones to make strategic moves and you just keep talking about them rather than doing it. It's not fair because Sierra actually IS being strategic for all the reasons slipintothefog enumerated, but the way she's handling the jury is making her seem more passive than active. On her podcast today with Rob C, Shirin praised Sierra multiple times as a person -- and in all those photos with Shirin/Mike/No-Collars hanging out, Sierra is there too -- which proves that she's likable enough to win enough jury votes, but Shirin also made the point that Sierra was NOT telegraphing her moves to the jury and that she was always perceived as a tagalong. That makes me think it's very likely Sierra gets to the end and gets no votes.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

Also, I know I should get over it, but I'm still so baffled by the editing this season. I get that they want to keep the winner a mystery, but if Tyler wins, it's so weird that literally the ONLY foreshadowing we got up until now was his New Colossus speech and I guess, going through Dan's stuff. Carolyn has had more (and more interesting) confessionals than he has. Also, I'm still confused why they gave us all those signs about Dan getting his comeuppance and Shirin saying portentously, "Maybe you just don't understand my game."

Like I said: GIANT COCK TEASE OF A SEASON!

 

[slipintothefog]

Personally edit-wise I think it's SO weird that they put all of the Shirin stuff in that they did when she ended up being an 8th place pagonging victim who got no revenge or vindication against a single person who hated her. The quotes about getting to the end, the stuff with Dan, the rivalries with Carolyn and Will, all just left hanging the moment Shirin was unceremoniously kicked off in a nothing-special placement. The only explanation I have NOW for Joe, Shirin and Jenn/Hali getting the good edits they did is because of the fan voting for the next season (if they're even in contention)?

Also, the pre-merge Blue Collar story being "Mike/Dan/Rodney make varying degrees of sexist comments and makes Sierra hate them all" is going to be SO lame and hollow when a man wins. (I've accepted that neither of the remaining two women can win.)

 

[Sgt Pepper]

Yes, and the lack of comeuppance for asshole/sexist men is yet another example of this being the cock tease season. Also a tease: Sierra wanting to get revenge on those blue collar assholes, having that opportunity delivered to her on a silver platter with the tribe-swap and her being the swing vote and then...nothing happens and Joaquin gets the boot instead.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

(I've accepted that neither of the remaining two women can win.)

I think Carolyn or Sierra could win if either of them gets to the end with two assholes (like Dan and Will) and then gives an assertive speech, owning their gameplay and outlining all the ways in which they directed the flow of the game...oh never mind, you're right. That's not happening.

 

[slipintothefog]

Well, we know Carolyn definitely can't win because ball-busting hags gets crucified in the end for not conforming to the caring, motherly stereotypes that other players attribute to any woman over 40. See also: Missy, Monica, Lisa, Dawn, Sherri, etc.

 

[RRUGER]

Its not looking good for mike

 

[CoolBlue71]

One thing I want to say about Shirin is this: She messed up early in the game. But, she has a head for the game that is deserving of a second chance. I think she can take into account her mistakes (the strange nudity and the oddball way she came off to her early and sub-merge tribe mates) and, in better preparing herself, adjust herself for a more focused and committed game. She is capable.

 

[CoolBlue71]

Well, we know Carolyn definitely can't win because ball-busting hags gets crucified in the end for not conforming to the caring, motherly stereotypes that other players attribute to any woman over 40. See also: Missy, Monica, Lisa, Dawn, Sherri, etc.

Yes, but let's say Carolyn makes it to the end of this Survivor: Worlds Apart.

Would jury voters feel that Carolyn stung them the way that "Missy [San Juan del Sur], Monica [Blood vs. Water], Lisa [Philippines], Dawn [Caramoan], and Sherri [Caramoan]" did with the past Survivor editions?

I think the others doomed themselves with a faultiness.

Missy held tightly to her daughter without leading the direction of the game.… Monica held to Tyson and Gervace with hope their trio would get to the end.… Lisa didn't see the end game with a need to send Denise and Malcolm out in fourth and fifth place while having Abi Marie join her in Michael in the finals.… Dawn used her so-called helpless and emotional antics to, hopefully, appeal to the senses of those she voted out and, as a result, received zero votes because she was, in reality, failing to kill with kindness (as was the appeal with Caramoan's winner, Cochran). And Sherri (who, like Dawn, was a runner-up of Caramoan who didn't receive a single jury member's vote) was doomed because her original tribe mates, who made it past the merge with her, had a generally strong dislike of her (despite the fact that Michael, who was initially with her, prior to the merge, should have given her more support) as she was actually trying to set up her original tribe's most trusted to go deeply into the game.

I understand the hypocrisy. But, none of them had the potential to feasibly win. One who did was Scout, from the Fall 2004 Vanuatu. Scout was really observant and sharp in reading her original, fellow female tribe mates' intentions for the end game. She worked with Twila to take apart Julie, Amy, and LeAnn (in that order) because, in reality, she had to flip their script. Scout didn't get to the end (a Final Two) because Chris, who won Vanuatu, knew that Scout handled herself better than Twila; and, of course, he realized that he was better off going into the finals with Twila. Had it been a Scout-vs.-Twila Final Two, it would have been Scout would have won Survivor: Vanuatu.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

I basically fall somewhere between slip and CoolBlue* in that I don't think Carolyn can win against almost anyone in the game -- and she will absolutely lose if she goes to the end with Tyler -- but if she's in the F2/F3 with Will and/or Dan, I don't see how she can lose. Even Shirin would vote for her over either of those two.

For what it's worth, Queen Sandra thinks Carolyn is going to win.




*I don't agree with CoolBlue on that awful hag Scout.

 

[joesman]

Mike made a potential play about giving Shirin the idol which delighted the jury. Did he kill his moment when he did not do as he said he would - he does that so often that no one should trust him. Hali and Jenn would not vote Will/Dan/Rod because they have seen who they really are. Jenn remarked on it several times. Carolyn does what? She sticks like glue to the safety zone. Sierra rides along too while confessionals tell us she is making a move that never happens. At this point for me they are a dull, tedious group, including Sierra.
Mike is all bravado in his confessionals but he knows where he stands and knows he has at least one more opportunity. Of the lot, Mike will probably win if he gets into finals. Ugh! What a per-dick-ament.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

Obviously I wanted Mike to give Shirin the idol for real, but objectively, it made no sense for him to do that. With his challenge prowess and the fact that no one else in the game has his range of skill sets, the idol can basically guarantee him F4 and he just has to hope that final immunity challenge doesn't cut against him. But to guarantee himself even a shot at winning that final challenge? That's more than enough reason to keep the idol for himself.

The producers basically gave Shirin an out this week by adding a female immunity necklace where all she had to do was outlast two women who are no better in challenges than she is. She should've been able to win that.