Survivor: Caramoan **SPOILERS**

[GoGo Yubari]

Let it be chldish then.

Let it be chldish then.

Let it be chldish then.

Let it be chldish then.

Let it be chldish then.

Let it be chldish then.

Let it be chldish then.

Let it be chldish then.

Let it be chldish then.

DO I LOOK LIKE BOOBOO THE FOOL TO YOU

SHUT UP!

[Pleatherface]

I'll be honest. I don't really see Shamar being the stereotypical black guy.

I can see where someone might take that impression, but I feel it's a little false. He's got James level anger and irrationality. He's got te lazy thing. So I KNOW that even the editors think he's the classic black stereotype.

But he's not.

He came out onto the island, expressed his confidence in himself, ragged the other team immediately, in a tribal situation told everyone what HE expected, and when someone did something else got mad, and the ultimately had himself a big grandstanding moment to prove to everyone he's the daddy.

He sulks when he's ignored, blames everyone else for the loss, reacts to feedback poory, and let's someone else do his thinking while looking smug and superior.

He's not Black Guy #314. He's Joel from FvFI. If Joel had no influence.

If Joel couldn't flex and have people ostracize the elderly for him? He would've sat around just like Shamar. Hell, half the time he DID sit around.

If I didn't KNOW I'd regret it, I'd almost give Shamar credit for knowing that he's safe, but it's probably less him gunning for Goat position and more him just being the type of guy that doesn't give a fuck about the game and caring less.

Sherri calling him her Phillip was something of a poor word choice on her part, but I ultimately take her meaning.

For what it's worth? My character assessment of Shamar is he's just President Beefcake without the charming likeable bits, i.e. Joel.

If he makes it long enough? Look for Shamar to talk shit about Sherri and be all "HA! She thinks she's clever! I'm smarter than her!" a confessional I was sooo expecting when he was mocking her on the beach.

[GoGo Yubari]

I actually grew to love Shamar over the course of this table. He's kind of an ass but the Cool Kids Table alliance sucks anyway, so him shit-talking Reynold was magificent.

[The Quasi Juice]

I still like Reynold, because he seems to somewhat get the game. The other Cool Kids Alliance guy is beyond horrible, he says the dumbest shit like "oh well, there's no fish here anyway", and he seems baffled by any strategy talk. So far I like Matt the most, he's playing both sides and entertains all options. As for Shamar, it wouldn't surprise me if they vote him off anyway next week and induct one of the Cool Kids into the main alliance. Hell, it might actually be Reynold if he plays his cards right with the idol.

As for the favs it feels like Dawn is getting a winners edit and they are ignoring Brenda, Corinne and Erik. They teased another Brandon-goes-crazy-on-the-tribe moment in the preview, but they did that last week and it ended up being nothing. Will probably happen next week too.

[RPS]

Not feeling this season. The favorites tribe is just focusing on Phillip and Brandon and it is unbearable, and I am assuming it is going to get worse next week. The fan's tribe is just reliving the men's tribe from One World, down to the 6-4 split between the odd and sodds against the young hotties. Also, besides Shamar, Matt, Michael and Shiery, the six younger people all just blend together. I didn't even know who the fuck Ally was. I'll give it one more episode and than probably tune out.

Also, Survivor Ratings drop? It's because the show is too self-referential at this point. As opposed to reinventing the show, trying new ideas and taking risks, they've just brought back people and heavily relied on referencing what happened before. The mentioning of Phillip's Boston Rob strategy or Brandon becoming like his uncle Russell is just alienating to viewers who have never seen the show or couldn't give two shits about what happened 3-4 seasons back.

Edited February 21, 2013 by RockPaperScissors

[The Quasi Juice]

Oh god yes I didn't know who Ally was either, too many blondes. I do know who Laura is now though, she's cute ^_^

[Pleatherface]

Laura is brilliant, and I'm fearing the day she gets picked off.

[GoGo Yubari]

I dunno, outing Reynold's idol at Tribal wasn't that great a move. Could have blindsided him at the next tribal easy if she hadn't mentioned it.

[Pleatherface]

Could've but I really don't think Reynold is an immediate target in the eyes of their tribe. Outing him served little purpose other than to highlight that she's a player, which in and of itself is a pointless somewhat dangerous move. I don't reckon Eddie, Hope, and Reynold are compotent enough to punish the minor ego trip, but I'll give you it wasn't needed.

On the other hand, she's been playing since she was on the boat. She's observant, seems smart, and doesn't seem content to just ride. For that alone? I support her.

And if I'm being honest? When I look at Reynold and his general attitude up to this point? I don't see taking him and his idol out next week to be that big of a struggle. An appropriate Shamar outburst? And I'd bet on Reynold holding onto the idol because he thinks he's safe as an alpha male with lynch immunity. I could be wrong there, but I'd risk my place in the game on him not using that idol unless it's made painfully obvious that vote split is happening.

I think Laura shows potential, and I'll be rooting for her until Sherri decides she's a threat.

[RPS]

I don't think Laura has much potential. Outting the idol wasn't a great move because they were at tribal when she did it so there was no chance they could relocate their votes to Reynolds. Reynolds, being somewhat competent, has to know that it is unlikely that they will change their votes to him because 1) it would be impossible / unwise to try and blind side a somebody who has an idol at tribal council right in front of them and 2) he's a physical asset to the tribe. But now Laura has done the exceptionally bad move of pissing off the guy with the idol who also has an alliance of 3.

In my opinion, the only two threats on the fans tribe are Michael and Sherri. Sherri because she gets the numbers game and knows how to build alliances and Michael because he seems likeable enough to have established multiple alliances within his tribe where was a crucial number. Everybody else playing on the Fans seems like a dud or I don't have the slightest clue who they are.

[RPS]

Re: Brandon next week... how do these people get mental clearance to play the game?

OK season so far. I am assuming Brandon's meltdown is going to significantly alter the game and things will pick up.

[GoGo Yubari]

I'll miss Laura. Her moves wavered in terms of quality but she probably would have been a really fun post-merge player.

I hope after whatever Brandon does the Hantzes will be permanently banned from CBS shows as a whole. Please god no combination of them for Amazing Race ever.

[The Quasi Juice]

Fuck sake why did Laura have to go, she was at least entertaining from a strategic standpoint. She did suck big time in the challenges though. The Fans NEED to start winning 'cause otherwise they will be dismantled after the merge. I have a feeling they'll either do a tribe mix-up soon or the fans are going to lose every single week from now on.

As for the preview, isn't this like the third time we've had a OMG BRANDON IS GOIN' INSANE preview and every time it ended up being absolutely nothing special? Although Jeff did say every season has a memorable moment so this could be serious. Don't see Brandon leaving though and if he makes the merge he can beast almost every challenge. My guess is he's mad at Philip by the way.

[GoGo Yubari]

There surely has to be a tribal swap. The FvF concept practically demands it. Then again, this is the creative team who set up the One World twist so it only lasted a couple weeks and then they split the two tribes up proper.

[GoGo Yubari]

No more Hantzes. Ever.

[Pleatherface]

I have watched every episode of Survivor not a recap in full.

This was the first one I had to skip parts of. It... It was uncomfortable to watch.

Brandon going off the rails was a matter of time, but it was painful to see, was disrespectful to the game as a whole, and that it benefits Phil? Hurts me badly.

I grieve for the insanely skilled short man Brandon could have been, rather than the crazy short man he turned out to be. Never suited for this game.

I feel sorry for Brenda and Icecream Scooper. They deserve better, and I'll be desperately hoping for a swap before the favorites begin to lose in earnest.

[GoGo Yubari]

I'm assuming next week is the swap. For Erik and Brenda's sake it desperately needs to be.

[RPS]

Aside from the Brandon meltdown (who, shockingly, made a lot of good points about Phillip and his inability to play the game), this was a pretty meh week. I'm not really wowed by anybody playing the game from a personality stand point or a strategic stand point. Everybody ranges from terrible (Andrea, Phillip, Eddie, Francesca, Shamar) to meh (almost everybody else). I've been intrigued by Michael, Sherry and Matt, but they've been largely surrounded by duds who it's really hard to ascertain. The favorites... I'm cheering for Malcolm and Corinne. Dawn needs to stop crying. Phillip and Andrea need to go. We need to see more of Erik and Brenda. And Cochran is just Cochran - a good narrator, but how much of an actual threat? We've seen him narrate, but we haven't really seen his role in everything.

I hope things pick up soon. Brandon's meltdown made for car crash like television, but outside of the personalities, we've got a bunch of chickens running with their head cuts off.

[GoGo Yubari]

What good points did Brandon say? He stated the blatantly obvious (you were a goat in your season, everyone is humoring Stealth R Us) while at the same time downplaying what Phillip's been good at.

[RPS]

That Phillip was making a complete and utter joke of himself and that nobody takes him seriously.

Phillip hasn't been good at anything, besides challenges. The guy straight up has no social skills, evidenced in his interactions with Brandon and Erik. He is terrible at Survivor. He think's he is playing a Boston Rob game, but a) there is a reason Boston Rob got voted out in Heroes vs. Villians and didn't get voted out in Redemption Island and b) you aren't really playing a Boston Rob game, you just have an alliance and are treating people like children.