Episodes 10 and 11 ...
I promised myself that I was going to dig deep and find the will and restraint to not even so much as mention the absolutely massive merge feast that this season’s castaways enjyed, buffet style nogal. But alas, I have decided that y’all are just going to have to deal with me this week. I make no apologies for this intro because, it simply must be discussed.
These okes are talking about lunch, leftovers, dinner, breakfast – they are getting so much food that they are actually getting two meals at a time now. It’s an outrage! How did the production meeting work the day that they were talking about the provisions?
Obviously someone in catering missed the crucial memo about this being Survivor and not brunch at Le Touesserok!!
Let me give those of you who have missed the first 8 blogs a quick recap: For Season 2 of Survivor South Africa: Malaysia - when we merged, nothing. When we made the final four, nothing. Food rewards? There were like 2 for the entire 27 days. It has now become painfully clear to me that I obviously applied for the wrong season!
So Nico did his thing and inducted the remaining survivors into the new Juara tribe as he whisked away the two Captains who will apparently face off in these weird duals where the reward is some sort of cup, with a flame, with the power to snuff votes, because they’re out of the game, were never really in the game, but they’re technically still apart of the game blah blah blah…………it’s all awfully strange for me.
I am a staunch Survivor fan and player so forgive my continued irritation with this whole concept of coaches. The truth is that Survivor, as a loyal fan and devoted player, is a sacred and dear institution. The thought of messing with its essence just does not sit well with me.
I would want to win Survivor in my own right and not with some random vote against me mysteriously burning away. I would seriously rather come 3rd. Oh wait – I’ve already got that t-shirt. Never mind.
After the full bellies rolled themselves back to camp with their padkos, they were greeted on their new island with sunshine, a new flag and the entire Builders Warehouse. WHO gets hammers, machetes, malles and…..wait for it……….a WHEELBARROW on Survivor!! Seriously guys. Seriously. I can’t anymore with the 5 star treatment.
I have said this in a previous blog but it bears repeating. I am always dazed and confused every time someone hides an idol in their…….well, their region.
In episode 10, I watched Marian actually transfer an idol from her region to Shane who then proceeded to place it in his region. Why? What is this season’s contestants’ mindboggling obsession with putting idols in underwear or storing them in the crotch area?
Is there a Survivor manual out there that I am totally unaware of that recommends this ritual? Does it explain why this is option A? Are all other potential hiding places ruled out? I’m just asking.
Despite the fact that this was quite a long and seemingly tiring individual immunity challenge, it did conclude in a predictable way because our dearest Zavion made a point of winning it.
I totally agree with Zavion (who I’ve gradually become terribly fond of as a player) – they made a HUGE mistake bringing him through to the merge. However, I worry for Zavion if his strategy continues to be to just win everything. We’ve seen this strategy crash and burn numerous times. You lose one challenge bru, and it’s game over. I am cheering you on but your strategic decisions tend to stress me out!
Tribal Council was everything that a Survivor fan absolutely LIVES FOR! It was a shocking, stressful, brilliant and surprising cocktail that I was slowly sipping and loving every minute of it!
When production, editing, strategic chaos and an outstanding cast mesh together, you have the perfect recipe for what will easily go down in history as one of the best Survivor SA moments…………LIKE EVER!!!
Before I get to Marian and Shane, let’s start with Altaaf voting for Sivu. As a player I know that nothing in this game is unplanned. Obviously Altaaf is made or thought that he made a calculated move.
The problem I have though is that I don’t understand how this move in any way benefits his game at this point. He has clearly pissed Graham off (given the highlight reel for next week’s episode) and totally confused me. I cannot wait to see how that decision plays into his fate.
Bonnie and Clyde a.k.a Shane and Marian, knew all along that one of them would more than likely end up as a sacrificial lamb. I have a theory though that Shane knew all along that that lamb was certainly not going to be him!
He played Marian like a fiddle. First of all losing an idol is preposterous. Then secondly offering her the “one and only other remaining 2nd idol” was a bunch of pure grade rubbish but it was GENIUS!!
Now, I could be wrong but I thought about it this way. Marian is the first member of the jury so Shane needs to lock in her vote. He needs everyone else to think that he is this really nice guy who gave up the idol for his island BFF. So he pretends to lose an idol, confronts everyone publicly, takes a small gamble that the idol is used to save him but then gets to walk around with a second idol making everyone else think that he flushed out his one and only idol.
The bottom line is that Shane is way too smart to be losing idols and giving idols away! It was risky but it worked and he lives to play in another immunity challenge. Just a hunch that he thought of this plan to keep him in the game :).
Marian had a clear mission to play a villain this season. Hiding Zan’s pants is not going to win you R1 million but you will be memorable. Lying repeatedly is a strategic choice, not always a necessity. Unfortunately, her antics and probably a little bit of karma came back and sealed her fate.
I have so enjoyed watching Marian this season as a viewer and a fan. However, as a player, it is unfortunate that her strategy didn’t evolve and mature a little faster. I would have wanted her gone too!!
In my view, she lost on social skills. Had she fostered a better relationship with her former Utara tribe mates from the get-go, they may have rallied behind her a little bit. I have to congratulate her though because she will be remembered as a notorious player this season. Well done girl!!
The individual game is where things really heat up. I am SO excited!! After that crazy episode 11, cannot wait for next week!!!