Survivor Blood vs. Water: The Final ... Showdown?

When the preview for Survivor Blood vs. Water aired during the Caramoan finale last spring it wasn’t difficult to figure out the gist of what this season would be all about. I thought it was brilliant, but then I thought about One World. I thought the concept for One World was brilliant too when it was announced and here’s my issue with it: One camp – really interesting, totally changes the dynamic of the game, but separating men and women – not dynamic enough, while being overly dynamic at the same time. I think One World would have been much better if they had mixed gender tribes from the start. Putting all those women together was such a bad idea for that cast. Blood vs Water; however, did it right. Throwing in Redemption Island was such a smart way to mix things up in a rendition of the game that could have been an absolute failure. Separating loved ones was an obvious decision; Redemption Island was the real surprise twist that made this formula work. Given the right circumstances, I would have been happy for anyone in this season to win the money and the title, so I’m calling Blood vs. Water a good season of Survivor. Now, let’s talk about the finale.

First off…omg… Laura with the crazy saves during the duel! Remember in Caramoan during that Immunity Challenge when they had to balance on the boxes in the water? Whats-His-Face bobbled around on that thing like a Weeble, but I think Laura’s wobbling was far more impressive. We all know who won the duel, but let me show you why Tina had this in the bag from the beginning. I direct your attention to the photo below.

See what Tina is doing there? She’s using her arms to hold up her leg, which is reducing the strain on her knee allowing her to keep the vase level and much steadier. Laura has the right idea, but instead of using her arms to her advantage, she’s displaying “jazz hands” throughout most of the challenge. Hayden… I don’t know what you were thinking, sweetie, but you put your vase on a slant! In theory, what Hayden was doing was a good idea; keeping the leg straight, locking the knee into place for more stability, but he had no anchor for his heel. Tina’s strategy in this last duel of Blood vs. Water shows that experience means everything in the game of Survivor, which is why veterans typically out-play the new players in such seasons.

So Tina is granted another shot at playing the game and play the game she did! Grandma got back to camp, pulled out her knitting needles and went to town on a strategy sweater. Looking for the idol proved to be a bust, but we all knew she wasn’t going to find anything. Her real move here was talking trying to knit something comfortable for Monica to wear, but that sweater ended up being too short in the arms and scratchy. Ciera was right on it with damage control, though, because at this point, Ciera is playing a winning end-game.

This brings us to another really difficult Immunity Challenge in Blood vs. Water and Tyson pulls off the first of two crucial Immunity wins he needs to win the game. Watch that challenge again. He was focused. All I could hear in my head during that challenge the second time I watched it was the theme to Jaws. When Jeff put the necklace on him for the first time that evening, I was pretty confident he was going to win the next one too. Tyson was zeroed in on the prize before Rachel was eliminated, but definitely, her exit from the game helped him bring his game to a fine point during these last two Immunity Challenges.

So, okay… When I write these blogs, I usually watch the episode at the same time, pausing, rewinding, captioning a picture, etc. I just have to note what Monica says before the first Tribal Council of the night to Tina and Ciera. --- “I’m 100% with them. He’s [Tyson] not going to think that I’m wavering. He’s not going to play the idol for Gervase because he wouldn’t know who to play it for; me or him…Tonight’s Tribal Council; I’m gonna own it. It’s my night. It’s my strategic move…Tonight it’s my call. I’m gonna say who goes home and I’m gonna make my choice on what’s best for me.” ---

Now… <sigh>… At Tribal Council, of course, it is announced that Monica is the swing vote again and she acknowledges it. Ciera throws it down at Tribal Council, again, and keeps it real. Unfortunately, Monica kept it too real, putting far too many emotions into her speech, which wasn’t even necessary since she voted out Ceira anyway! If she had played it cool and confident like Tyson during the Immunity Challenge, made him believe 100% that she was solid w/ their alliance and voted out Gervase, she could have won the game and she would have deserved it.

For the next sequence of events its lather, rinse, repeat. Tyson wins Immunity again, Monica has a second chance to win herself some respect with the jury, but fails again to do so. Tina’s torch was snuffed and before I dive into the Final Tribal Council… NO MEMORY WALK?! Really? I’m still not sure how I feel about this one. As soon as it was gone, I missed it, but the memory walk has been kind of a drag to sit through since Survivor Final Threes came into play, not really sure why that is for me. Really, though, it’s just a mirror of the little recap of the season we get at the beginning of the finale episode, but if I had to choose one of those two, I’d choose the Memory Walk.

So. Final Tribal Council.

The Opening Statements: Gervase made some very good arguments in his favor; he was calm, well-spoken and projected a confident image to the jury. Monica was far too emotional and should have had more confidence in herself, regardless of what anyone else did or said. And Tyson? Talk about a Goldilocks zone! I told you Tyson would charm the jury. Did you see their smiling faces?

The tone of each of our Blood vs. Water Final Three’s opening statements stay in sync as they speak with the jury and answer their questions. Gervase remains composed and Tyson continues to show just enough emotion making his responses sincere and Monica barely manages to put her emotions in check. I think it was Caleb’s request for her to tell him something from her heart that pushed her down the slide, and then Laura said she didn’t know who she was. Hayden tried, he really did, to pull out of Monica what the jury wanted to hear, but she was so focused on Monica at home because of Brad’s involvement in the game that she couldn’t focus on Monica playing Survivor. I don’t know why! She lasted way longer than him and won more challenges than him so I don’t know why she wasn’t totally proud of herself having made it all the way to the Final Tribal Council.

Honestly, I wanted to give Tyson a 99.9% chance of winning in my previous post, but I like making Back to the Future references and I take advantage of every opportunity to do so. There was also the off chance that Monica would make what I thought would be the right move for her end-game. As with all of these reality shows, there is a lot we don’t see because they have to edit hours of footage into 42 minute packages to engage an audience with a storyline. This is why I always give the benefit of the doubt to the players in these reality TV competition games when it comes to their strategies. Maybe Monica was more strategic than I thought, maybe people who think she played a great game caught things I missed, but I don’t think her head was in it. She was playing with her heart not her head. As for Gervase, dude, I’m sorry, bro, but Tyson has this game in the bag from day zero.

So this Reunion Show… I’m really glad that all of our players were on the stage this season. I’m so happy that Jeff pointed out how great Hayden and Ciera were towards the end of the game. She may have bounced around like Happy Fun Ball, but Ciera was an awesome Survivor and so was Hayden. I just wish Kat has made it a little further in the game. She was my favorite female from One World and I’m really happy that she had a chance to play Survivor again – it was really funny watching her and Colton banter back and forth in the beginning. Her time with Jeff during the Reunion Show, though, was totally awkward! That’s why I like, Kat, though, she kind of reminds me of myself.

All in all, I loved watching all of our Survivor Blood vs. Water players, there really wasn’t anyone I disliked – well, there’s Colton, but I’m neutral with him. He’s a great character for Survivor and I’m sure they will try to bring him back to play again just to see what happens. I, for one, will happily watch him self implode again because if you think about it, it’s actually kind of beautiful. He’s growing, hopefully, as a person before our very eyes and now we have a stable person around to help us better understand Colton, through the eyes of someone who loves him. This is what makes reality TV so awesome.

Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty: So I've seen some confirmed picks of about half a dozen of the cast members for Survivor BBB. We've got some more models and such, but the word is that they will all be new players. I know that will make Judd from Big Brother 15 happy! Judd would also, like me, rather see Survivor go back to the classic Final Two situation. He said I could quote him on that in this blog so...

And now, before I wrap this up, I have to share a pic I forgot to include in the previous post. I can't believe I forgot about it! It's from the Immunity Challenge in the episode before the finale.

See you for the next season of Survivor, everyone! Be on the look out for special blog posts until then and... Support Judd in the Reality Rally! :) Be excellent to each other.

Survivor Blood vs. Water: Tyson's Misted Minions Not Swayed By End Game Strategy

This Sunday’s Survivor Blood vs. Water finale is all I can think about! And before I get into talking about the latest episode and what I think is going to go down finale night, I have something important to say to the producers of Survivor: If the entire cast is not sitting on that stage this year I’m going to be so angry with you! What kind of BS was that with last season’s finale and half of the cast sitting in the audience? I was insulted as a viewer! I can’t imagine how diminished and rejected those players felt. They deserved their moment in the limelight, on the stage, all clean and pretty for the cameras and fans. Not having all of the Survivors sitting together kind of ruined the Reunion show for me, Survivor producers, so let’s not do that again, okay? I know I’m not alone on this. And while I’m at it… I get that a “Loved Ones Visit” episode would have been redundant this time around, but NO SURVIVOR FOOD AUCTION?! Come on! That’s one of my favorite episodes every season!

Anyway… It appears that Tyson has indeed Survivor-Misted Monica. Her emotional response to Tyson and Gervase voting to keep her in the game, and her jokey attempt at pulling Ciera over the line in the sand and back into their alliance proves that Monica is not playing Survivor. Sure, all the talking makes it seem like she’s doing something, but it couldn’t be further from actual strategy. If Monica’s head was in the game, she would have known she was the swing vote in the upcoming Tribal Council as soon as Katie was rocked out and she would have made some deals to secure an end-game alliance. Ciera tried to tell her the truth, but she couldn’t swat away the mist in Monica’s eyes. Monica not flipping over to Hayden and Ciera’s side of the beach is the Million Dollar Decision that will lose her the money.

So no one is shocked that Laura won another duel, right? How are we feeling about Tina giving her daughter the boot to the Jury? If you think about it, this move makes sense for Tina. If she makes it back into the game, and to the Final Tribal Council, Tina has experience in front of a Survivor Jury and with Katie hanging out with Vytas in Ponderosa, she has a much better shot at the grand babies she wants from those two crazy kids.

Can the Super Mom Squad defeat Hayden in the final duel, though? Laura is a challenge beast, but I think Hayden is going to take her down. Not that it matters who comes back into the game; they will be Tyson’s target the moment they win the duel and he has misted minions around to do his bidding.

Without her Puzzle Mom around, Ciera shined in the Immunity Challenge and won a nice meal for herself and Hayden – to enjoy at camp!? What’s up with all these food rewards taking place at camp in front of everyone? Usually the players are whisked away to enjoy their rewards at some other location, (a chance to “getaway” from the game for awhile), and this far into the game, one reward also usually involves an overnight stay with showers and clean clothes. Was there not enough money in the budget this season to buy all of the ingredients in the Survivor recipe? Do I need to remind you about the lack of a Survivor Food Auction this season?

This week, Ciera gets the “Throwin’ It Down At Tribal Council And Keepin’ It Real Badge”. It took her awhile, but Ciera is finally starting to back up all my claims that she’s a great Survivor player and I love it! If only she had realized her best game would be played with Hayden a little sooner, like when Caleb was around, she would have had a real shot at winning the game. Unfortunately, it’s probably too late for our Teen Mom because Tyson’s grip on Gervase and Monica is too tight.

So, here are my predictions for how things are going to play out for us on Sunday night. Hayden will go back into the game, but Cupcake King and his minions will make short work of both Hayden and Ciera – unless one of them happens to win Immunity. Immunity is the only thing that can save Hayden and Ciera. My guess is that Ciera will go first because Hayden wins a spot in the final four with the necklace, but one of those other three is going to win the Final Immunity – the only question that remains is: Is this a final two season or a final three? I still don’t know the answer, and I’m not looking it up because I do like to be surprised. Spoilers! I will say, though, that Tyson has an 88% shot at winning the game,(because 88mph is how fast you have to go to travel in time without a T.A.R.D.I.S), no matter if it's a final two or a final three. I guess we'll all find out on Sunday, December 15th during the three hour Survivor finale, beginning at 8pm Eastern (7pm Central - you west coasters are on your own for show time) only on CBS!

Survivor Blood vs. Water: CONFLICT! (But is it Really the Best Episode Ever?)

In a legen- wait for it, because Tyson is still trying to dig a hidden Immunity Idol from his bag during Tribal Council –dary episode of Survivor that many are calling the “best episode ever”, I had to take some time to discuss all of the insanity with my Survivor-Obsessed best friend before writing this blog. He brought up a good point and I’ll get to that later. There’s no time for idle chit chat (pun intended), let’s talk about freakin’ Survivor!

We’re not even two minutes into the episode when – CONFLICT! Hayden pulls out his cards, throws them at Tyson and Gervase loses it! LOL “I got my hand on his back…in his back!” LOL Oh, Gervase… No you don’t. The Cupcake King reigns supreme over his subjects and none shall remove the cherry from oft his ragged cap and all who try to dethrone him will be EXTERMINATED. You’re only around because Tyson thinks he can beat you in the end, and he’s right. Tyson will win this season of Survivor if he’s facing the jury in the Final Tribal Council. No one will be able to talk to the jury like Tyson. I know a lot of people don’t like Tyson, and I get it, but I’ve always enjoyed watching him play Survivor. He may seem gruff with his dry sense of humor, but he’s really quite charming when he needs to be. He’ll be able to sweet talk the jury, which I highly doubt will be bitter, and he has played a nearly flawless game. So, Hayden wins the “Survivor Awareness Badge” for knowing when (and how) to hold them and knowing when to PLAY (not fold) them. Calling Tyson out in front of the tribe after that Tribal Council was a brilliant move and it was the exact thing to do at that exact time for a player in his position. Kudos, to you, Hayden Moss and THANK YOU! That’s what we like to see on Survivor!

At the duel, well, does it really matter? Nope! Laura is a challenge BEAST and if the next duel is the last duel it won’t matter if Tina lets Katie win because Laura isn’t going to give up that easily and she will go back into the game. Does it really matter? Nope! Laura and Monica (yup, bringing Monica into this) are beasts at challenges, but I’ve seen no real, decent strategy from either one of them. Their best chance of sitting across from the Jury in the Final Tribal Council is by sticking together with Ciera to get rid of the boys, but we’ll see if Monica is smart enough to do that in the next episode or if she, like Gervase, has been Survivor-Misted by Tyson. (Same goes for Tina or Katie if one of them win the next duel).

Okay, let’s fast forward through the next bit. Laura gives Ciera the clue to the newly hidden Immunity Idol and she keeps it, but then READS IT OUTLOUD in front of practically the whole tribe?! I keep thinking that Ciera is this great Survivor player, but she bounces back and forth between brilliant and bonehead – if she ends up in the final and wins, it will be deservedly so, but still! Hayden and Katie try to look for the idol, but Tyson eventually “finds” it after an “emotion-filled” confessional with a camera person then he goes off to take a nap.

Gervase wins the most difficult Immunity Challenge I’ve ever seen (or remember seeing) on Survivor and Hayden pulls out his cards again when they get back to camp. Hayden has the Royal Flush needed to take down the Cupcake King, but Ciera and Gervase still think they have a shot against Tyson in the end and don’t want to play Hayden’s game.

I’ve seen every Tribal Council, most of them multiple times, and I have to agree with my best friend. While exciting and full of CONFLICT, to truly call it the best Tribal Council ever, Tyson would have drawn that white rock. Without a vote cast against him, and a hidden Immunity Idol in his possession, it would have been so sweet to see him “Rocked Out” to Redemption Island. I love Tyson and I will not be upset if he wins, but it would have been so awesome to see his torch snuffed in this episode. It would have been the cherry on top of the cupcake. Did you see the emotion on his face talking to Ciera? Do you see it? Everything you ever need to know about someone is right there in the eyes and what this look tells me is that Tyson is freaked out, he's trying to stay calm and composed, but he is out of his Tribal Council comfort zone. He's really anxious when Ciera switches her vote and he can't hide it. Not from me anyway! :) It's really obvious.

And Hayden gets another Survivor Badge from me, the “Throwin’ It Down At Tribal and Keepin’ It Real Badge” for … well… Throwin’ it down at Tribal and keepin’ it real. This is also what we like to see on Survivor, Hayden! You are definitely Survivor All-Stars material.Then there was all the cracking up from the Peanut Gallery sitting in the Jury seats!

I love when the Jury’s spirits are high from all the fun they are having together in Ponderosa, remembering that’s it’s just a game. It’s always around this time in the season that I finally head over to CBS.com to watch the Ponderosa videos, which I highly recommend if you haven’t done so. There are lots of other fun videos and watching these extras really get you hyped up for the finale, maybe even as much Gervase was by Hayden at the beginning of the episode. Maybe.

So in the “Next Time on Survivor” segment, Tina tells everyone that she will let Katie win the duel (refer to the comments above for my response to that), then we see a snippet of a conversation between Ciera and Monica. Good job on being the one to approach Monica, Ciera, because it didn’t look like she was going to make the best move for her game. Good lookin’ out, but please try not to be ironic in the episode before the finale. I would really love to see you make it to the Final Tribal Council because no matter what, you deserve to sit in one of those chairs.

Before I wrap this up, I just have to share a picture that I put together and I couldn't find a proper place for in the blog. I spent too much time on it not to post it. So... I imagine that this is what was on Gervase's mind while he was throwing sand bags at those targets. And now that I see it... Not happy with how the text looks, but...Not going to spend more time on it. I have some other really freeze frames; maybe I'll Tweet them between now and the next episode.

I also want to let everyone know that just because Survivor is about to wrap up the season, doesn't mean you won't have good reasons to read this blog. :) I plan to keep you entertained in the agonizing months between seasons of Survivor. Don't forget about the second season of Big Brother Canada! It starts in February as well and I plan watching it in whatever manner I must. If you haven't seen the first season of BBCAN, you can watch all of the episodes on YouTube. I promise, you'll love it. All my love to Marsha the Moose! Hope you aren't too cramped in that box! :)

And don't forget to check out the blogs of my fellow Your Reality Recaps bloggers! :)

Survivor Blood vs. Water: What Is Going On?!

Clearly, I have no business writing this blog because my intuitions were way off for this latest episode of Survivor. Wish I was wrong about other, more important things in my life… Murphy’s Law was bound to come into play, I guess, since I was talking up Ciera so much in my last post. When I’m wrong about an event or person, I’m usually wrong in a completely ironic way and how more ironic can we get in this week’s episode of Survivor Blood vs. Water? (And, yes, I’m a writer and a poet so I know what the definition of “irony” is and that Alanis Morrisette song… It’s actually good luck if it rains on your wedding day, or so I’ve heard).

First of all, Ciera votes out her mom in an attempt to show the boys in her alliance that she’s loyal, and Tyson sees it that way, but only thismuch because what actually happens is that instead of proving her loyalty, Ciera becomes Tyson’s target. This is partially her fault for trying to shove the votes towards Katie in the last episode; if Ciera hadn’t worked, even a little bit, to save her mom, Tyson may not have felt so threatened by her. Funny Side Note: When Laura joined Tina and Vytas on Redemption Island, I flashed back to the scene in Back to the Future 2 when Marty McFly walks into his future home and his future daughter says “Mom, mom is that you?”. lol

At the duel, Laura wins and goes on the defense when she sees Vytas looking at her puzzle, then takes the offensive position and starts helping Tina with hers. This is a great move by Laura because at this point, she would much rather Tina be around for the next duel instead of Vytas. Some people have called this cheating and to those people I say – Come on! Technically, you can call it cheating, but in the game of Survivor, it’s called “out-witting”. I didn’t hear Jeff say that the players couldn’t look at another player’s puzzle or help each other solve it – did anyone hear him say that? A duel (or thruel) is not an individual immunity challenge and while you can call it cheating, you have to admit it was the smart thing for her to do to increase her chances of returning to the game because between Tina and Vytas who is the bigger threat?

In what should have been a photo finish, Vytas loses the duel by mere seconds and bids a fond adieu to his cast mates, (“Namaste, bitches” is the new “Aloha”), before he joins his brother in Ponderosa. Laura gives the clue to the hidden immunity idol to her daughter and what does Ciera do? Throws it in the damn fire! I’ve been going back and forth about whether or not this was smart. Some people think there is a second hidden immunity idol, but is there? From what I can gather from last week’s episode, Katie’s clue lead her to the same spot where Tyson found a hidden immunity idol. Wouldn’t this supposed second idol have been planted at the opposing tribe’s camp before the tribes were merged? Would the producers have it moved to another location at the merged tribe camp and if so, why did the clue lead Katie to the snake branch tree? I don’t think there is a second idol, but what do I know? I’ve been wrong before! So was it a smart move? Yes and no. No, because players of Survivor should never pass on the chance to gain an advantage in the game. Yes, because it helps back up the lie she told Katie about having it already – why would she need a clue if she has it - and it helps her seem less threatening and more loyal to the boys.

After the duel, the editors get to work setting up the mirrors and smoke machines so they can pull the ol’ “bait and switch”. Tyson is focused on Katie now. Hayden is talking to us and Caleb about targeting Tyson and Caleb approaches Katie about it, which leads us to a “DR” with Katie and she says what my brother points out is a perfect explanation of what it is like to play the social game of Survivor. --- Katie: “… I feel like one of these hermit crabs that walk along the beach and have to transition from home to home… you don’t have a shell and it’s terrifying because there’s predators…”

Hayden and Caleb then have a conversation with Ciera about targeting Tyson. Ciera thinks it’s all Caleb’s idea and skitters across the sand in an attempt to secure the shell she thinks she has on her back to tattle to Tyson. Tyson then goes to Gervase and they turn their attention towards Caleb and Hayden. The next day, Ciera invites Tyson to walk to the post office with her and for what I think is the first time, at least at the merged camp, and we get to see a little bit of Tree Mail. Then Hayden talks to Katie who thinks everything is up in the air at this point and she’s totally right! I had to watch the episode six times to follow everything that happened, and I think I still missed some things!

This brings us to the immunity challenge and after explaining it, Jeff hands out the black and white rocks to see who wants to eat and who wants to play. Not surprisingly, Tyson and Gervase decide they feel secure enough to eat, and surprisingly, so does Ciera. I will never understand what goes through these players’ minds when they decide to show the rest of the tribe how secure they are in their positions by choosing food over a chance at immunity. I just don’t get it! Even if you know you don’t have much of a chance to win that necklace, you should still fight for it so people don’t resent you for eating. And what was up with Jeff’s British accent?! lol --- Jeff: “Perform for me! Show me blood! Bring me some more meat!” --- I’ve never seen him act so silly while hosting Survivor and I loved it. I want more British Jeff Probst being funny!

So Monica wins immunity, again, and the scrambling begins. Hayden and Caleb throw Ciera under the bus, letting Tyson know that she was down with their plan to take him out and the Cupcake King decides that Teen Mom should be the next target. Tyson also lets us know that he thinks he should play the immunity idol, just to be on the safe side, then has a little chat with Gervase. They don’t know who is lying and who is telling the truth and we go into tribal council without one clue as to who the real target is and whose torch is going to be snuffed. At least, the first time I watched this episode I had no idea who would be kicked to Redemption, but now upon several viewings, the editors make it very clear that Caleb would be jaunting off to join Tina and Laura at the end of the show.

And I just have to say… I like Tyson. I know a lot of people don’t, and I get it, but you have to admit… Tyson is hilarious.

Okay. I kind of strayed away from the whole “irony” thing I was focusing on at the beginning of this post, but it's time to wrap it up... So I can put that focus back onto flirting with Judd from Big Brother 15 on Twitter. ;) Be excellent to each other and J-U-Double D Party-Daugherty on, dudes!

Survivor Blood vs. Water: It's All Wibbly Wobbly Now!

Well, well, well. Not only was I wrong about last week being the kiss goodbye to Redemption Island, but I was totally wrong about Tina only having a 10% chance of staying in the game. Grandma had all three of her bags caught in four throws and she had to start her maze over again after getting thisclose to finishing. Poor, Aras; he shouldn’t have been so competitive with his brother because now he’s the first member of the jury. And THANK YOU, KATIE for not burning the damn clue to the damn hidden immunity idol! Seriously. I want to hug that girl, then I’m going to slap her for being so naïve in the game of Survivor. She’s just floating around all wibbly wobbly with her head either buried in the sand or up in the clouds. If someone told me they had a hidden immunity idol, I would want some proof.

This bring me to Ciera, who has been flying under the radar since the beginning of the season. I knew from the start, especially after Caleb pulled the move to vote out Brad, (THANK YOU, CALEB for that exciting and brilliant move because it was awesome – Sorry, Missy Z!), that she would go far. Unlike in seasons past, I went to the CBS website to look at photos of the Blood vs. Water players before the season started, read the bios, I watched the Rob Has A Podcast Survivor Blood vs. Water preview show and I also watched the special “behind the scenes” video hosted by Parvati Shallow (Survivor Cook Islands, Micronesia (Fans vs. Favorites 1 and Heroes vs. Villians), also located on the CBS website. There was just something about little Ciera… thinking about it now, she actually reminds me a bit of Cera from The Land Before Time, but that would take awhile to explain…

Anyway, Ciera just struck me as someone who could play the game of Survivor really well. I quite can’t explain it, I just liked her energy. I also knew that her mom would probably get in the way. I don’t remember Laura much from her previous season, but I remembered enough to know that Ciera would probably want to get rid of her mom at some point. I just get feelings about people sometimes and usually my intuitions are accurate. (I was completely wrong about Aaryn from Big Brother 15, though). That move telling Katie that she had the idol was great, but Teen Mom should have been a little quieter about sliding the votes away from her mom and onto Katie. Tyson caught wind of her little scheme and now he has Ciera on the brain. If the previews are to be believed, he will be making a move to vote her out of camp and on onto Redemption Island with her mom.

I’m not even going to begin to try to predict what will happen with Redemption Island this week. My Survivor-Obsessed best friend says there will be at least two more duels before a player returns to the game again and he’s probably right. Oh! And where is Tree Mail? My brother made that query when he, my mom and I watched the show together last Wednesday and I was like, yeah! Where the eff is Tree Mail? Did the Survivor Post Office cut its hours down too? Did the guy who wrote the poems about the challenges quit? Hire me, CBS, I’ll write your Tree Mail Poetry. I am the dolphinPOET after all.

So what’s going to happen this week? No idea. I have no clue. Redemption Island is up the air and I think it will be another “anyone can win this challenge” duel. Maybe Tyson will get the votes to get rid of Ciera, maybe Hayden and Caleb will attempt to take down the Cupcake King. Who knows! I think we’re in for an exciting episode of Survivor on the night before Thanksgiving.

Since Eric, Jon and Missy Z. will not be recapping Survivor this week, I am going to do my best to find some time after the next episode to write up something for all you lovely people to read on Thursday instead. : ) I’m not making any promises, but I’m going to try. I might also be posting a fun movie review… <cough> Catching Fire <cough>. It’s sort of like Survivor and that’s a good enough reason for me to post a review the second Hunger Games movie here. Agree?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone in America, and Happy Regular Ol’ Thursday to everyone else!

Survivor Blood vs. Water: A Final Two?! & The H-Factor

Did I catch Katie talking about a final two during tribal council this week? Is Survivor finally going back to classic finale mode?! Did I miss mention of it earlier in the season?! Did the producers only make this season a final two because of the loved ones twist?  I hope this is a final two and I hope the producers stick with it from now on because I can’t stand the Survivor final three – it diminishes the title of Sole Survivor! Allow me to explain why.

Part of the real strategy involved in winning the game of Survivor is choosing the one person that you want to sit next to in the Final Tribal Council. No matter what motivates a player to choose another player, the person winning that final immunity challenge has to make the million dollar decision of which person to take to the final two. In a final three, you might have the immunity necklace after the last immunity challenge, but you do not have the sole vote to snuff a torch that night leaving your fate in the hands of the people in your alliance. That’s just my opinion though! Feel free to share yours.

 

And did the producers decide to go back to a final two for Blood vs. Water so that a pair of loved ones could go the end together without a third person to throw a wrench into the works? This just has to be the reason! A jury full of jilted loved ones would probably give the money, and the title, to the solo player in a final three with a pair of loved ones. The solo player had to get to the final tribal council all by his or herself – the loved ones had each other. I know if I was sitting on that jury, I’d probably give all my props to the solo player. 

Now, I'm about to throw down some knowledge. What is discussed below will not reveal the winner of Survivor: Blood vs. Water, but if you want to watch events unfold on television, STOP READING NOW! :)

Moving on… It’s time to talk about the elephant in the chat room. No matter how much we ignore what we know about Hayden, it doesn’t change the fact that Elissa flapped her botox-injected lips on the Big Brother live feeds this summer and told everyone watching that he makes it to the final four. If you were subjected to this spoiler you shouldn’t be too upset because it opens us up to the opportunity to speculate on how he gets there and with whom he aligns himself.

Until this week’s “Next Time on Survivor” preview, I was sure that Hayden would make it to the final four Brigade-Style and stick with the boys, but now I’m not so sure. A much smarter move for Hayden, at this point in the game, is to align himself with Katie, Ciera and Caleb to take out Tyson, Monica and Gervase – in that order – along with whomever moves back into camp from Redemption Island. What will he do though? Can we believe the previews? Is he really going to make the big move to get rid of Tyson? I have no idea and even though I know that Hayden makes the final four, I’m still excited about watching him get there. You should be too!

That’s all I have for this week. I’ll be back next week with another precap of the next episode with all of my thoughts on what’s going to go down at the next tribal council. Until then… Be excellent to each other!

Survivor Blood vs. Water: Will Ciera Throw Mama from the Game?

Survivor Blood vs. Water has turned out to be quite the dynamic season. At first I was a little apprehensive about having loved ones in the game and how it would effect the strategy of playing it. I have not been disappointed. Splitting up the pairs was an obvious move for the producers to make, but throwing Redemption Island and all of its twists into the mix was a clever surprise. And that tribe switch?! That was almost as crazy as the tribe switch in All-Stars when Amber was the only person to switch, but let’s get to the good stuff.

Last week we had a double elimination episode, which resulted in Vytas and Tina, being voted out of the merged tribe. And by the way, why didn’t we get to see how the players came up with this season’s merged tribe name? Don’t we always get to see that footage? I don’t mind not getting to see them paint the stupid flag, but I’d rather have seen that than Katie’s nasty toenails (or lack there of).

Anyway, Vytas and Tina are now with Aras on Redemption Island so they will be competing in the duel at the beginning of the next episode. And I’m not calling it a “thruel” because let’s be real, folks, grandma ain’t got nothing on those two boys. I will be nice and give Tina a 10% chance of returning the game (because this has to be the last duel, right?); you never know, it could be some wacky challenge that just isn’t suited for two strapping lads, but odds are, it will be something physical or endurance-related. Even if it involves a puzzle, I think Tina will be throwing her Buff into the fire this week.

As long as it’s not the damn clue to the damn hidden immunity idol, right? Am I right? I don’t even care that Tyson has it and that the clue is moot at this point – I just want to see someone not throw it in the fire.

It’s a toss up between Aras and Vytas, though, if we’re talking about who’s going to win this (hopefully last) Redemption Island duel. I’d say that Aras has an edge over Vytas because he’s played the game and won before, but Aras was kind of taunting Vytas at the end of the episode last week, which had to have lit a fire under the former addict’s spoon making the desire to win that much greater. He really wants it now. We’ll just have to see on Wednesday night what happens.

Back to Kasama, or Kasamama or whatever they are calling themselves now, we still have Caleb, Ciera, Gervase, Hayden, Katie, Laura, Monica and Tyson in the game and it is not looking good for the ladies. Katie may have won that Immunity Challenge last week, but I think her torch will be snuffed soon enough. Laura and Monica are playing like it’s their first season of Survivor; they are oxymorons, over-strategizing while not using any kind of strategy that makes sense at all. Ciera is the only woman left in the game whose head is 100% in it to win it, and she’ll probably be the last woman standing.

And then there are the boys. At this point in the game, Tyson is by far the mastermind running the show. His misdirect of instructing the boys to Tina-Sit while she ran the Fool’s Errand of searching for the hidden immunity idol was a brilliant move and he is my pick to win the game right now. Gervase’s best move has been sticking with Tyson and their Coconut Bandit alliance, but he really isn’t doing anything to prove that he deserves to win the money. Caleb and Hayden appear to be sticking with the alliance they all formed with Ciera before the tribes were merged, but like Gervase, they aren’t doing anything strategy-wise except keeping their heads down and their mouths shut. Big moves, fellas, big moves! If you want to overthrow the Cupcake King, you’ve got to start taking some bites.

What we see on television, you have to remember, is what the editors and producers want us to see. Will Ciera throw her mama from the game this week? I think she definitely will if she has the chance; she knows that her mom is a liability to her, but I think that whatever happens during Tribal Council on Wednesday night hinges on which Baskauskas brother comes back into the game. They both have the motivation to rock the boat and if the producers are up to their tricks as usual that’s exactly what we are going to see.