Survivor: Worlds Apart

[RPS]

GoGo, imagine the Survivor winners montage for Shirin. It would be the MOST amazing winners montage ever:

Shirin watching monkey sex:

Shirin telling the story:

Shirin enjoying camp life:

Shirin describing who she takes inspiration from in Survivor:

Shirin bonding at tribal (note Will's expression)

Shirin firing a shot:

[GoGo Yubari]

The worst case scenario of this season is still that she's going to play again so that's pretty rad.

Also is Will in the running for genuine worst Survivor player ever? This is his history; challenge liability, flipped on an alliance that was in perfect position to take control of their tribe because he was paranoid, thereby destroying them and then mostly just surviving through the grace of a tribal swap, promptly flipping on his new alliance at the first chance he gets, and then floating around as sort of an amiable, non-threatening alternative until he completely torpedoed his chance at a social game win forever.

[RPS]

Will is up there. Shambo is probably the worst. I think people hate Will so much because he isn't entertaining and he aligned with other duds. I think most fans would have preferred to see a combo of Joe, Hali, Shirin and Jenn battle it out for the finals. Now we've got maybe Tyler, Carolyn, Will and Rodney, which is infinitely more lame.

EDIT: Throw Chet and Christina from One World on that shortlist.

[GoGo Yubari]

From Jenn's exit interview with Gordon Holmes:

Brown: Will was always the sweetest person to me. He gave me extra food. He was so nice. And to this day he’s still incredibly kind…to me. He blew up because we went looking for more food because we were bored. It was like a treasure hunt for us. But the thing that blew my mind was that he acted that way to Shirin with so much malice and hate that came from some deep, dark place and he was horrible to Mike. He yelled at Mike. And then to me he pulled me aside and was like, “Jenn, I respect you. I’m not going to blow up at you like that. I just wanted to let you know that I still love you, girl.” Then he walked away. I did the same (expletive deleted) thing that they did! What?! What?! Why?! Why didn’t he yell at me?!
Holmes: Probably because it was more socially acceptable within that group to single out Shirin.
Brown: Shirin and I got such opposite treatment for the same scenario. It made no sense to me. He was so horrible to Shirin. Even when I released the chickens…
Holmes: Wait, what?
Brown: They didn’t show it, but I released the chickens. They were my babies. And nobody got mad. They were like, “Oh, Jenn.”
Holmes: You rascal.
Brown: I was like “What the (expletive deleted) guys!” Carolyn was like, “Oh Jenn, you’re so crazy.” I just threw out your food!

[GhostMachine]

I look at it this way: Will was completely justified in going off on Shirin. But he went way too far when he made it personal. If he hadn't done that, then I doubt she would raised her hand. And if she had, then she'd be a world class bitch. But I believe the episode also proves that no one gives a damn about Will, since no one thought to ask Jeff if they could spend another 20 bucks to get Will's letter and give it to him.

Will and Rodney I could see possibly being 2 of the final 3......but only because it would pretty much guarantee that the third person is the winner. This has been the worst cast in ages. By this point in the last three seasons, I had 2 or 3 favorites still in the game. Right now, the only person left I'd like to see win is Mike. But I damn sure don't want Rodney or Will winning, and I'm on the bubble about Shirin.

[GoGo Yubari]

Will and Rodney I could see possibly being 2 of the final 3......but only because it would pretty much guarantee that the third person is the winner.

Rodney would beat Will and Dan in a landslide.

[RPS]

Here is how I break down the likelihoods of victory at this point: Will and Dan cannot win at this point. So anyone who advances to the finals with the two of them will win. With that scenario out of the way, from there I think the people most likely to win (if they can somehow get there) is Shirin, Mike, Sierra, Caroline, Tyler, Rodney, in that order. That is all based upon how likely it is they can make it to the end of the game.

I think the three current jury votes for Shirin no matter who she is against and if she isn't there, they vote for Mike. Sierra faces an uphill battle - she is likeable, but she doesn't appear to be doing anything strategically and has been under edited. One negative to her - she may get burned because she didn't bring along Jenn, Hali or Shirin. But if she is standing beside anybody other than Mike or Shirin, I see her winning. Caroline and Tyler are a step below them - they've clearly thought about the strategic game, but do not appear to be thinking social game. Survivor is about getting jury members to vote for you. You can get to the end with strategy, but if no one likes you, they aren't going to vote for you. If Tyler and Caroline vote off Shirin, Mike and Sierra, the three most likeable and most likely to win, one of them is likely going to win. Rodney is a tough read. I put him on the bottom, but he could be closer to the top depending on how he finishes this game. The problem for him is that he may have strategic chops, but he clearly has a problem with girls and he seems like he has lost 4 jury votes already - Sierra, Hali, Jenn and Shirin.

When Dan was lecturing Shirin about numbers, all I could think was how funny it was and how Dan this conversation exposed how the conversation should have actually applied to Dan. Dan thinks about numbers in the wrong way to play Survivor. Anyone can get 6 people together and form an alliance. Dan's behavior has basically lost him four jury votes. Shirin's behavior has won her three guaranteed jury votes. It is the Sandra way of playing the game. I don't know if she wins, but she's got the best shot if she can make it of the people remaining.

[RPS]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Blehschmidt]

Are we headed for the most unlikeable final tribal council ever?

[GoGo Yubari]

Mike's winning the season I guess. I guess I'll force myself to watch it. I cannot fathom even Jeff Probst blathering on and on and on about this season and how good it is without the game from this point on turning into Vanuatu with Mike as Chris Daugherty.

I do think Dan is an amazingly good Survivor character. They've invested a lot of time into displaying his overall arc and all the ways in which he's almost this Shakespearean fool type. I never want to see him again in my life after this season's over but I at least appreciate the work the editors have done on him.

Will remains literal garbage.

[RPS]

Honestly, I'm gutted Shirin left. Not because I wanted her to win. But I just wanted her to be on every episode! She could have been sent at 4 or 5.

Guess I'm cheering for Mike!

[GhostMachine]

If Mike makes it to the end, I cannot see any possible scenario where he isn't the winner....unless maybe Mama C is also there. No way in Hell that Will wins unless the show is rigged.

[RPS]

Mike has four votes on the jury. He wins in any scenario.

[Alex.]

this season is redemption island levels of bad

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

This season could have been improved even slightly by showing us more of Tyler/Carolyn. It's astounding that they've made it this far and yet, they're background characters. How much better would have last week's show have been if we had actually seen Tyler's great game almost blow up in his face at tribal.

[GoGo Yubari]

AHAHAHA HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AMAZING

This season is I think going to go down in history a bit like Fiji (a distinct but mostly unlikable cast with a couple breakout characters), and if so then this episode is the equivalent of the Four Horsemen imploding. I can't believe it. That was the best possible way for Dan to go out. The best.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I'm not sure if you guys watch the Ponderosa videos but seeing Dan on there was really interesting. He sees himself as a hero. A man who played with integrity and morals. When you look at his game, he's not totally wrong. He didn't betray Mike, Mike betrayed him.

Yet, he's so unlikable. And he treated people like garbage. Like they were stupid and beneath him. He equates being a hero as someone who plays by the rules. It's so interesting.

[RPS]

I don't think he was a moral person. He talked down to people, was rude and dismissive towards individuals (particularly women) and at one point I think he even wished that Shirin got hit. He may have integrity if integrity means that he didn't betray anyone (though, he technically did with Lindsey and Sierra).He was an interesting character for the show, but I don't particularly want to see him play again. The best returning Survivor players are those who learn from their mistakes and from what happened and change. I don't really see that quality in him.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I agree with you. I just find it interesting that he thinks he plays with morals and integrity.

He thinks that playing within the rules (not backstabbing anybody) means he's a hero, even though he was mean and disrespectful.

[RPS]

Probably a mix of him having a delusional perspective, mentally drained from Survivor and maybe a bit of damage control.