Survivor Season 35

[JirinPanthosa]

Somebody has to create the thread, we all know who's going to post in it.

Starting the episode now. No idea why I'm so psyched up about this. I had poker night at work today so didn't get to see it live but realized just how excited I was about it when I just had to stay up till midnight to see the episode on the website.

 

[Timewalker]

I saw the episode live, meant to start a thread, and then my computer started throwing fits.

Anyway, first impressions:

They sure didn't get much time to get the stuff from the large boat into the small boats. Do watermelons float? Seems to me that there should be daily excursions to see what items in all that mess might have washed ashore.

Tip for future Survivor contestants: In addition to learning to swim and make fire, learn to maneuver a rowboat.


As usual, I normally don't bother even trying to learn anyone's name in the first month or so. There are just too many people and each gets so little time to make any kind of impression.

However, a few have made an impression:

Ben the whatever-he-is from whichever team (don't recall if Heroes or Healers): Seems okay so far. Allan is just BS!C, paranoid, bug-eyed NUTS. The minute the merge happens (or maybe a challenge or two before that), they need to get rid of him. He's absolutely crazy, demanding people turn out their pockets to prove they don't have an idol.

The small, skinny guy on the Hustlers team is likeable so far. I'm glad he gave the super-idol to one of the older women, and I'm glad that she seemed genuinely remorseful at not using it. Of course she wouldn't want to jeopardize her own game for someone she only met three days previously, and who likely wouldn't be staying around long enough to be useful anyway.

Don't they usually have 90-minute premier episodes? Some extra time would have been nice, to focus on actually identifying the people so they're not just nameless blurs.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The cast seems likable so far. Only person who seems negative so far isn't all that bad. Also a lot of people are really scheming hard already but not making it incredibly over the top or obvious except for Alan. A promising start to the season.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I like it so far. I also wish that they had made the premiere longer. An hour just wasn't enough time to get to know the cast or to establish the state of those early relationships.

I also liked the skinny, turtleneck-wearing bellhop named Ryan from the Hustlers tribe. He seems smart enough, and maybe non-threatening enough to his tribemates that they will keep him around longer than would be good for them. Otherwise we didn't really get to know the Healers or Hustlers that well, except for parole officer Joe grilling Dr. Mike about an idol.

I don't really love anyone on the Heroes tribe, so if they continue the losing streak I won't be too disappointed. However, they do have some physically strong players in comparison to the other tribes, so maybe they won't be going to tribal council very often.

 

[Snaploud]

Heroes, Healers, and Hustlers (defined as hardworking rather than schemers, apparently) is one of their poorer concept ideas. It seems like they were seeking out a bunch of saints, which is not remotely interesting. Luckily, the casting director appears to have ignored the concept and just put random people on teams (which is the only explanation I can come up with for putting a parole officer on the "heroes" team).

I agree that Alan is completely nuts, by the way. He purposely pissed off two people with his nonsense and then still voted somebody else out.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Heroes, Healers, and Hustlers (defined as hardworking rather than schemers, apparently) is one of their poorer concept ideas. It seems like they were seeking out a bunch if saints, which is not remotely interesting. Luckily, the casting director appears to have ignored the concept and just put random people on teams (which is the only explanation I can come up with for putting a parole officer on the "heroes" team).

I agree that Alan is completely nuts, by the way. He purposely pissed off two people with his nonsense and then still voted somebody else out.

Well, the concepts never last more than the first four weeks anyway. But I would disagree, I think this idea works better than the race/gender/age related concepts, and the white collar/blue collar/no collar was a lot worse than this one.

The idea behind the gimmick is to see if people behave in the game the same way they do in real life, which is at the very least, a little more interesting than previous gimmicks.

 

[Timewalker]

If some people behave in the game like they do in real life, it's a wonder they're still alive and breathing.

Some people may be reasonably smart in real life, but monumentally stupid in the game, and if some people who are abusive bullies in the game are like that in real life...

Oh, wait. Colton is like that in real life. And he's a crybaby as well.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I get the impression Russell is like that in real life but Rob isn't.

 

[Timewalker]

All the Hantzes are stark-raving lunatics.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I think the parole officer is on the Healer tribe, which still makes little sense. The one that confuses me most is the financial advisor being on the Heroes tribe. She was the half of the mom squad that did not go home.

I did hear in a pre-season interview that the cast was chosen and then the theme, not the other way around. They already had the players they wanted, then noticed that they (for the most part) fit into these various groups.

I don't mind this theme, because it is interesting to see if the players take the branding they've been given and run with it, or try to break away from it. For example, being put on the Hero tribe will give others the impression that you're probably an honest, loyal type. After the merge, I could see one or more of them trying to play that up, to gain trust and then stab people in the back. Similarly, being on the Healer tribe you might play up your empathy and compassion, which makes it all the easier to draw people in to get them to do what you want them to. I think the Hustlers are at the disadvantage with this theme after the merge, because they don't have as many positive traits associated with them that you would want in an alliance member.

If anyone is interested in listening to Survivor podcasts and doesn't already know about, I highly recommend Rob Has a Podcast (RHAP). It's hosted by Rob Cesternino, a former two-time Survivor player. They did several pre-season interviews with the cast that I am still working my way through. There's also a recap and interview with the person voted out every week. He covers Big Brother too, when that's on.

 

[Timewalker]

Thanks; hopefully my XP computer can play those.

The thing about "Hustler" is that most people think "pool hustler" so the person must be sneaky and dishonest. And the "go-getter, do whatever it takes to get the job done" can be either positive or negative, as in a fantastic work ethic or say/do whatever it takes to get he other person to believe you.

Paul from Big Brother is a hustler, albeit a more likeable one this time around.


As for the financial advisor being on the heroes tribe... is she an advisER or an advisOR? Apparently there's a difference, as the former doesn't need any special training or certification to advise people (some bank tellers are referred to as financial advisers because part of their job is upselling services and changes to people's accounts that they likely don't need but will garner more interest or service charges for the bank; however, they don't have specialized training).

A financial advisOR, on the other hand, does have to be trained and certified to know what they're doing, and be bound by certain rules and professional ethics. I suppose in some sense people might think of such people as a "hero" if they got good investment advice from them at some point...

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Everyone this season is thoughtfully considering their strategy from many different angles.

I guess that's a good thing.

 

[Timewalker]

Yeah, I'm not upset about who was voted out, although I see why some of them don't like Patrick, either. At least she learned how to clean a fish, so that's something useful she got out of this whole experience.

It's good that the woman who got the super idol is going to keep it to use as a decoy idol.

@Spot's Meow: I listened to the podcast you linked. Interesting stuff; I had no idea Ethan had gone through two bouts of cancer.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Also if she had used it to save Katrina she wouldn't now have the alliance with beardie.

 

[Spot's Meow]

At least she learned how to clean a fish, so that's something useful she got out of this whole experience.

And she learned how to go to the bathroom in the ocean, which is apparently a life highlight for her.

I think the tribe made a good choice. She wasn't a total dud because although she lacked experience and took some time to adjust, she had a can-do attitude and would have been a loyal player. But she was not going to be as good in challenges as Patrick, so at this early stage in the game she had to go.

 

[Timewalker]

And she learned how to go to the bathroom in the ocean, which is apparently a life highlight for her.

I've never done that. Mind you, I've only been to the ocean twice in my life (the nearest ocean is a long two-day drive from here) and you couldn't pay me to wade in it since Vancouver's sewage treatment leaves a lot to be desired; they just dump it into the ocean raw.

And the whole thing about just going like that... kinda flies in the face of Western-style toilet training, or at least if you were raised solely in an urban environment. I used to spend a few months of each year in a place where we had no indoor plumbing, but at least there was an outhouse so we didn't have to go in the lake or out in the bush. And frankly, the lake contained food we intended to eat (kokanee fish) so the idea of going in the lake would have been utterly revolting.

Of course, if my grandmother had gone in the lake instead of the outhouse one night, she wouldn't have been trapped in it by a skunk.

I think the tribe made a good choice. She wasn't a total dud because although she lacked experience and took some time to adjust, she had a can-do attitude and would have been a loyal player. But she was not going to be as good in challenges as Patrick, so at this early stage in the game she had to go.

I didn't get much of a read on her personality, whether or not she would have been annoying, but it looks like she went for the experience and got some, so it wasn't a total loss.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The elimination this week was totally rational.

That's the thing about this season, everyone is so rational so far. Everybody is carefully considering all their options, and not letting emotions cloud their decisions.

We have an entire game full of smart, sane people. On one hand it will make the gameplay on a higher level especially toward the end. On the other hand, it risks making the game really dry.

 

[Timewalker]

I wouldn't consider Alan to be completely rational. He claims he's got rational reasons for acting irrationally, but that's what every crazy person thinks.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

They played it like Lauren was going to be voted out, I was surprised it was Patrick. Though it's probably a smart decision. Patrick is better than Lauren for challenges but Laruen is more reliable after the inevitable change to 2 tribes probably in 2 episodes.

 

[Timewalker]

I'm glad it was Patrick. What a jerk.

Although I wasn't impressed with Lauren saying she never believes anything a redhead says. She just branded all red-haired people as liars. So she can go anytime, too.