Survivor: Philippines **SPOILERS probably*

[The Quasi Juice]

What a season. Every time someone needs to pull off a massive upset it happens. Malcolm is playing the best game so far and he definitely has a chance to win, although I think if he doesn't pull off a win at top 4 or something he might go due to him being a massive threat. Lisa I don't see winning, she's flip flopped too much and has had some stupid moments. Skupin, maybe. Denise, definitely. It would be interesting to see someone now use Abi as an extra vote and carry her to the end for an easy win, but I'm afraid next week she'll just go home.

Also, if you have money at the end of Survivor Auction, you get to keep it right? If Abi was smart she would have just bid 320 on the advantage instead of 500, because nobody had enough money to outbid her anyway. Same for Skupin and Denise just flat out spending 500 on one thing instead of starting low.

[RPS]

Yeah, honestly this season is really hard to predict. It seems as though the final 4 is going to be Malcolm, Denise, Skupin and Lisa. Of those three, it's obvious that Malcolm would probably win. I'd like to think that Denise would be the next obvious to win, but she has pretty quiet on the strategy front. Skupin seems to be despised by his peers, so I doubt he wins. Lisa is not a very good player. Carter and Abi have zero chance of winning. So basically we've got three people who could theoretically win - Malcolm, Denise, and Skupin. Maybe Lisa could, but I just don't see how people are going to respect her "latch to an alliance and pretend like I can't hear anybody else" strategy. Lisa is a horribly inept player. She just keeps saying "I am not cut out for this game" while making alliances and refusing to break them. It's nauseating. Penner's warning that either Malcolm or Denise will win seems to ring true.

EDIT: And Penner's move to not make the alliance, while dumb, is logical. He was playing for the end game and he knew the two people he wanted to go against - Skupin and Lisa - weren't going to be able to claim honor and integrity to their word. If he made the promise to go with Skupin and Lisa and broke it, I think he'd probably lose the game.

Edited November 30, 2012 by RockPaperScissors

[The Quasi Juice]

Penner was definitely right in saying Skupin and Lisa are setting themselves up to lose. Bring Malcolm and Denise to the top 4, you (most likely) lose. Bring Penner and Carter, you have a shot.

[RPS]

Yeah. Carter is definitely a goat. Abi is a much larger liability, because while everybody still in the game hates her, she has two potential votes her way (Pete & Artis). That's a huge gamble to bring to the finals. Carter might have Jeffs, but other than that he has done nothing. Will be interesting to see if Malcolm/Denise or Skupin/Lisa contemplate turning on the other side to bring Carter to the finals.

[The Quasi Juice]

I listened to Penner's exit interview with Rob earlier and he says Carter got portrayed badly on the show, and he might be right. He comes across as a doofus but apparently he was liked around camp and respected due to being great in challenges. I don't think he's a threat but we think so because we're watching it on TV, maybe Malcolm sees him as a threat soon, I don't know. Abi has two votes perhaps but other than that no chance I think. At this point Malcolm has the biggest shot with all possible combinations, which is why he probably fails soon You have to admit this season is a breath of fresh air, great television.

Edited November 30, 2012 by The Quasi Juice

[RPS]

Watching Denise vs. Abi is like watching a lion maul an animal with no legs. I could watch it all day. Denise is an assassin when she speaks. Her and/or Malcolm are gonna be huge jury threats.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Carter's exit speech was the best.

"Now they're playing with their head and not their hearts."

[RPS]

It's funny because the editors have been telegraphing the same story for the whole season - "Hey everybody, Malcolm and Denise are two well spoken people who play the game very well and who are going to be huge jury threats. You might wanna vote one of them out". Skupin and Lisa need to bring goats to the finals because people don't like them. Neither are likeable people.

[Horus]

I'm going to hell, but Abi is quickly growing on me as the unlucky hero ever sense Denise gave her the verbal smackdown, followed by Pete's exit. Whether it was actually necessary or not, her "I have the Idol" play tonight was great, simply for the fact it shows shes growing as a social player, and the previews for next week just build upon that, by the looks of it. Its a shame with Malcolm having is place pretty much locked, unless a major blindside happening, and Denise being a threat lying in the wings all the time for Immunity, that its all probably too little, too late.

The reunion does need more Abi smacking Skupin with coconuts though. But thats because the guy just completely made me feel like a fool on Twitter, after I've done nothing but praise him.

Speaking of Twitter, RC was telling me that her and Artis became really good friends at Pondersa. and her and Pete called a truce. Any that watches these videos, can you confirm RC and Artis are now BFFL?

Edited December 6, 2012 by WeAreOne

[RPS]

I'm a huge Survivor nut, but I've never really watched the Ponderosa videos regularly. I watched the one after Penner got the boot and he seemed to bring a much more positive attitude with him, but RC and Artis were definitely bickering than.

I love Abi because a) I'm not stuck on an island with her and b) she makes for great television. She literally has no self awareness. She is exactly like Russell Hantz and Coach in that regard. She lacks the ability to look at herself objectively in a mirror and to assess herself. That's why her interactions with Denise are so fantastic. That's basically what Denise job is - to make people look at themselves in a mirror and assess who they are.

EDIT: Also, Denise answer on Abi tonight, to me at least, emphasized why she'll kick Lisa and Skupins ass in the end if she ends up in the final 3. Complete and brutal honesty. She could have lied to Abi's face and said 'you could win this game'. But she looked at Jeff and said 'no, she cannot win this game'. It was brutal and probably hurt Abi's feelings, but it was the truth and I feel like this jury is going to appreciate somebody who straight talked and doesn't hold back.

Edited December 6, 2012 by RockPaperScissors

[Horus]

Maybe I'm just seeing Abi through rose color glasses because quite frankly, I've become bored with Malcolm and Denise, its Kim, but this time two of them. Great player(s) but with personalites of a rock for the most part. As far as RC and Artis, meh, it is what it is, maybe there into the verbal abuse thing :s. Must say RC seems like an extremely class act, makes me feel even more horrible about the bullying, alienation and finally betrayal by Skupin. She needs to come back for a reunion season. Actually, if she brings the shells, and Abi brings the coconuts, i just hope they go crazy attacking him on finale night :/.

[RPS]

It's the downfall in a game like Survivor. By design, people who are boring television will win. Juries are rarely going to award the victory to somebody who plays with the qualities people want to watch. Nobody wants the loud obnoxious person who stirs the pot to win the show. But, they are the ones who make quality television.

[The Quasi Juice]

I don't find Malcolm boring television, but I guess that's just me. I've been rooting for him and Denise since the start and especially after their tribe got raped. He's got an all star place on lock at this point. I've soured on Denise now, she hasn't done much significant but she's still fantastic in challenges for a woman though. Skupin has stumbled through this season and Lisa is just so emotionally unstable. At first I saw her as this sweet old lady finding her voice, now she just annoys me. I still dislike Abi but I do like that she's still in the game just because she's a bitch. I'm thinking Skupin, Lisa and Denise as the final 3.

Edited December 11, 2012 by The Quasi Juice

[Blehschmidt]

Malcolm gets screwed in the game, and then the fan vote. LAME!

[GoGo Yubari]

How the fuck was Malcolm screwed? He fucked up the final challenge twice and made a massive strategic blunder when it mattered most.

Carter voting for Skupin was fantastic. So many shades of Ralph voting for Philip.

[RPS]

Yeah Malcolm will go down as a guy who lost his chance to win in the last few weeks. He was pretty flawless until last episode, where he a) should have given the immunity idol to Denise and b) split up the other pair in the game of Skupin and Lisa. Malcolm was going to win no matter who he was standing next to in the finals, and by splitting up the other pair in the game/the immunity threat in Skupin at 5, he'd have the easiest path to the finals. He didn't, and than at 4, instead of going with Denise, a harder person to beat but somebody he'd probably beat, he burnt the bridge and hoped the goats would take him to the end. Denise seemed willingly to go with Malcolm to the end because she knew a forced tie meant that she'd stick around. Malcolm didn't want that, he wanted the easy path to a million. It cost him the million.

Edited December 17, 2012 by RockPaperScissors

[The Quasi Juice]

Disappointed by the finale. I hoped Malcolm would win but the moment he lost the final challenge it was obvious he was going. The final tribal made it seem like Lisa was going to win.

The returning players for next season are (no boot list or something I don't want spoilers either):

John Cochran

Brandon Hantz

Phillip Sheppard

Corinne Kaplan

Francesca Hogi

Dawn Meehan

Brenda Lowe

Andrea Boehlke

Erik Reichenbach

Greg "Tarzan" Smith

Malcolm

Talk about a disappointing list, fuck. What the fuck did Francesca and Dawn to deserve a call up? What about Marty? Hell, even Fabio? They must be saving those characters for another All Stars because these guys are pretty shit except for Malcolm, Philip, Cochran and Erik I guess for entertainment purposes.

[RPS]

Disappointed by the finale. I hoped Malcolm would win but the moment he lost the final challenge it was obvious he was going. The final tribal made it seem like Lisa was going to win.

The returning players for next season are (no boot list or something I don't want spoilers either):

John Cochran

Brandon Hantz

Phillip Sheppard

Corinne Kaplan

Francesca Hogi

Dawn Meehan

Brenda Lowe

Andrea Boehlke

Erik Reichenbach

Greg "Tarzan" Smith

Malcolm

Talk about a disappointing list, fuck. What the fuck did Francesca and Dawn to deserve a call up? What about Marty? Hell, even Fabio? They must be saving those characters for another All Stars because these guys are pretty shit except for Malcolm, Philip, Cochran and Erik I guess for entertainment purposes.

Tarzan is not returning. (you've got 11 names on the list)

I feel like they'll do a full fledged allstars at 28 probably, so a lot of the big names left off will return. I've always advocated doing a winners versus runner ups versus early boots. There has been 27 seasons, spice it up by digging into some of the older seasons.

[GoGo Yubari]

Yeah, I want to see more old-school players returning. Surely Skupin winning some immunities and making the final three (albeit as a goat) over a decade after his first game should open the door.

[RPS]

Yeah, I want to see more old-school players returning. Surely Skupin winning some immunities and making the final three (albeit as a goat) over a decade after his first game should open the door.

Exactly. A winners versus runner ups versus early boots would be such an easy sell to the public too. "These guys won, these guys came close and these guys barely even got a chance... will things play out differently a second time". Have 3 tribes start off ala this season and let it play out. The concept is broad enough that you could feasibly fill the roles with quite a few people and also bring back some early boots who were entertaining but never got a chance to shine. (Not Francesca)

Edited December 17, 2012 by RockPaperScissors