Survivor- Gabon

I'm a long-time Survivor addict, so I loved it, of course.  I guess it's the psyc major in me who is so fascinated by the interactions of the players.

Ultimately, I agreed with the people they voted off, too, but it was dicey for a while there.  I was afraid they were going to make the same mistake they made last season (or was it the season before?  I lose track.) where the weak team wound up voting all the physically strong players off out of fear.  For a while, at least, they need to hang onto the strong players (unless they are so unbearably obnoxious they can't stand it, I suppose) so that they don't just get weaker and weaker.

Not only are they making their team weaker when they do that by insuring they'll lose most food and other reward challenges (thus, physical and emotional depletion), but the more they lose, the more the members of the winning team identify the individuals as losers.  Thus, they are less likely to want to keep them after the merge, IMHO. 

Didn't they vote Paloma off last week?  I think they did because Paloma was making a bid for voting Ace off instead but failed.  (Unless I dreamed it.)

I'm with you in that I just don't like Randy.  He creeps me out.  It especially bugs me that he thinks everyone else is dumb, a handicap, inept, <you name it>, but not him.  I haven't noticed him being outstanding at anything.

I didn't like Ace in the beginning.  I thought he was just too too...  But he doesn't seem quite so obnoxious now.  And I agree about Sugar, too.  I thought she was a bit full of herself initially, but she seems more down-to-earth now and, impressively, found the hidden idol.  There were a few tense moments when she was walking through that pond or whatever it was while some sort of alligator-like thing -- a caiman, maybe?  hard to tell -- was lurking nearby (or so they led us to believe, anyway). 

In any case, I was glad the other tribe won a few things last week.  It's really no fun when one tribe wins everything and the other tribe loses every time.

Well, I can't say that I wouldn't have gotten rid of GC, too.  He certainly made it clear that he wanted to go, and he wasn't doing a whole lot to help the tribe succeed.  He obviously never outgrew that childhood phase where you do the exact opposite of what someone tells you to do because you don't like being bossed.  Earlier, when they wanted to conserve rice, he was opposed to that.  Last night, when Crystal told him to eat his rice, he got his back up over that and said, "Don't tell me what to do!"  He would cut off his nose to spite his face, as my grandmother would say.

I would have been sorely tempted to get rid of Kelly, who does seem a bit less whiny this week but no more helpful.  She's weak and lousy at the challenges, too, so she certainly isn't helping them win anything.  I still can't believe they kept her over Jacquie last week!

And, if they wanted to get rid of Sugar, I think they blew their chance for that last night.  Again, not that I would have chosen her over GC, but I think it was their opportunity to blindside her.

I was sad to see Marcus go last week.  I thought he was a pretty good player and a nice guy.  I can't stand Crystal, she complains about how everyone else sucks and I just don't see any shining moments in her performances.  I also can't stand Suzie and hopes she goes home soon too.  I feel bad for Bob and feel that the Kota tribe (if they still stay separate and don't merge) will be heading to tribal again.

 I was happy for Matty to win that immunity for his tribe.  Must have felt great for him to finally win and the fact that it saved him is good too.

Strange choices often, it seems to me.  I was sorry to see Marcus go, too.  Strategically, for Crystal and Ken, who can't win any challenges on their own, it was probably a good move.  They weren't going to win individual immunity when he was around.  Still, he played well and was a strong contender and a smart guy, so I hated to see him voted off.

I can't believe Ken keeps hanging on.  He isn't strong at all, and Susie is a major detriment in all challenges.  Plus, she foolishly told Corinne that she had thought about voting her out a couple of weeks ago, so I can't believe she's going to be in for much longer.  Time will tell, though, if someone else seems like a bigger threat.

I'd be happy to see them get rid of Randy.  He gets on my last nerve, but I still have to admit he's been a much better competitor than I thought he'd be based no his early performance.

I was so entertained by last night's episode.  Kudos to Bob for making such a great looking fake idol.  I thought it was too bad it ended up in the fire.  I was glad to see Randy get shafted.  I honestly don't know what kind of game plan it is to piss everyone off so completely.  He started doing that before he knew for sure that Bob had the 'idol'.  And until then it looked like he wasn't even the target this week.  The whole cookie incident was ridiculous and he was a jerk about it from the beginning.  Can't wait to see Corinne go next.

Finally, Randy got his comeuppance.  I had to love Crystal's little speech when she placed her vote.  She meant for him to hear every word of it.  He was such a despicable, nasty old jerk not just in the whole cookie incident but also with his remark when Susie bought the shower -- his remark that he'd give $100 to bathe her if she won it.  I assume that was either his way of saying he'd like the opportunity to drown her or a nasty remark that she smells bad because it was obvious he hates her for flipping on them.  What did he expect her to do, though?  Let's remember this is a game.  She was low man on the totem pole for her tribe, and she knew it.  Why should she just stay loyal to the alliance and then get voted off next by the people to whom she was maintaining loyalty?  She wants to win as much as the next person, so she made a move that increased her odds of getting significantly further in the game. 

Besides, it was his own darned fault for being so obnoxious to everyone.  That was the craziest strategy I ever heard because, as best I could tell, he had no idea at that point in time whether or not Bob had found the idol.  If Randy wanted to stay in the game, he should have tried to make nice with people.  After all, until he showed his rear end one too many times, Matty was pitching for them to get rid of Bob instead.

I just hope Bob didn't cut his own throat in the process.  Of course, he probably wasn't going to get to final 2 or 3 anyway, unless he won lots of individual immunities.  There are too many other seemingly solid alliances around, and his little threesome didn't have the power. 

I wish he'd make up a story and pretend that whoever found the real idol must have made and planted that one to fake him out, which really did happen in a previous season of Survivor.  Of course, the planted fake idol in that season was not nearly as elaborate as the one Bob made, but if Bob made it look that good, then what's to say Sugar couldn't have done it, too?  Yes, it's a lie, but, again, this is a game.  The rules don't say you can't lie, and everyone should understand that a player is in it for his shot at the $1 million -- not to get some other person or persons further in the game.  I think that's the only way Bob could get jury votes from Corinne and Randy, if he were to get to the finals.  I don't think he will, however.  Time will tell.

I'm more impressed with Kenny than I was before, too.  He isn't very strong, physically, but his gaming skills are serving him well, I think.  He has master-minded several strategic moves, and people don't really appear to hold a grudge against him for them.  He tricked Sugar into voting against Ace, but Sugar seems to have forgiven him.  He finegled Marcus's departure, and, as much as Marcus's tribe didn't like it, they don't seem to have great animosity toward Ken.  Somehow he is still managing to fly pretty much under the radar, even though he's taking a much more active strategic role.

It's fascinating to watch it evolve.