Yay for week two of Survivor! First off, I’m going to gloat about my correct Matsing prediction. But some things were not as I had predicted they would be. I watched the episode twice, and maybe I just think this because it means that Angie is still available for a Survivormance, but I think Malcolm is thinking about their cuddling as a romantic thing more than she is. For one, he’s doing all the moaning and rubbing. Normally, I’d be inclined to think that simply by allowing such physical intimacy, a girl is showing interest in a guy, but precedence in my own life would show that I would be wrong. Over my trials and tribulations with the opposite gender, I’ve accumulated a few rules of thumb that I keep in a small notepad in my back pocket. Firstly, guys assume that physical things mean a lot more than a girl does. This is increasingly true the more attractive the girl is. Hot girls always have guys flirtily touching them, so it isn’t a big deal to them. Something tells me Angie has had a lot of guys who are “like her brother,” touching her with motives that aren’t exactly brotherly. I think Angie is oblivious to how things like that are perceived by everyone else.
At this point, I think Tandang is the biggest mess of a tribe, and is most likely to go to tribal this Wednesday. I find it crazy that Abi Maria thinks she’s in a position to intimidate RC at all. If she’s right and RC wants to work with Mike, what options does she have other than to try to be their third and fourth with Pete? There’s no way She and Pete can beat Mike and RC at bringing Artis and Lisa in. I feel a lot safer about my previous prediction after Abi’s blowup. It’s amazing the double standard she has set up for herself. She says RC shouldn’t be playing with her heart, but the only incentive she provides RC for keeping to the first day deal is that if RC screws her over, RC will be “dead to her.” This might be a good strategy if she were in the jury, but there were 17 people in the game when she said this. “Keep me or we’re not friends anymore,” is only effective if being your friend matters.
Jonathan finds his idol which is great for him. I still hate the placement, but I love Jonathan and how aware he is. The second time I watched the episode, I noticed that he put his buff on top of the missing piece. Sure this may be easily moved, but he doesn’t need it to be there the rest of the game, just long enough for people to not remember the crate without it. If he plays it right, he can always get the rice, and ensure that the empty spot remains hidden. The fact that he thinks about it immediately after finding the idol shows exactly how much his head is in the game. Additionally, he will now have the ability to calm down and think things out. He didn’t find the idol when he was rummaging through camp, he found it when he was in the water just thinking about the clue. Thinking and mentally going through camp is much more powerful, and less suspect than physically searching everything. Luckily, he has a tribe that won’t notice that he still has both of his contacts, and also probably won’t notice the idol is missing. Speaking of contacts, do they give you saline solution and a case? As a legally blind applicant, I would really like to know.
It’s weird to me how much people are scared of couples. In the history of Survivor, what couple has really been an influence on the game? Romber? Was that really the couple making a difference? I’m pretty sure it was just Rob. Two people being attracted to one another isn’t what’s dangerous, two people being able to trust and rely on each other is. Malcolm and Angie aren’t the power couple, Denise and Malcolm are. That being said, not everybody thinks like me, and Malcolm knows that people perceive couples as threats, but he still gets frisky in the shelter. When someone knows the consequences of an action, but takes the consequences of the action anyway, that makes them impulsive. When my alarm goes off at 11am so that I can get up from my nap to go to my class at 1pm, I can justify giving myself 30 more minutes at the cost of very little. I can justify giving myself another 30 minutes after that because I can take a shower, eat, and get to class in an hour. Another 30 minutes, however, and I will either look like a mess, or go hungry for 2 hours. Do I wake up every time? Nope, and my stomach rumbles like the sound of regret. Those are relatively small things though. Malcolm is taking hits to his game for temporary pleasure. What’s to say he doesn’t step off of a perch when tempted with pizza? He seems very strategic, and I like him as a competitor in this game, but when the scent of mozzarella and tomato floats by his nose, I’m not sure I like his chances. If he knows he’s on the chopping block, then I think he’ll manage, but if he gets complacent, I don’t see reason prevailing in that situation.
I feel very bad for Lisa. I don’t feel as bad for her as she does, but I feel bad for her nonetheless. She feels like a loner, and is very upset about it, but her tribe just accuses her of looking for the idol. Meanwhile, on Penner’s tribe, the opposite is happening. The Lisa bashing makes me think more and more that Pete and Abi are going to find themselves on the outs much sooner than they expect. I don’t think Mike and Artis are very comfortable with comparing Lisa to a dog that needs to be shot. Between Pete’s dismissive and dark attitude and Abi’s apparent lack of sanity, I think RC will turn on them to join the more stable alliance possibility.
As a fairly religious person, I am a fan of contestants who put value in what they believe. I am less of a fan of overt expressions of faith and never not talking about it. I am even less of a fan, however, of people belittling someone because of their religious choices. I’m not sure how Roxanne giving a prayer of thanks for the sun somehow makes her have less “strength of character.” I understand that religion isn’t everyone’s thing, but how is a Christian going to prayer for strength in the game any different than an atheist thinking of their family to remind themselves why they are there?
Matsing then loses the challenge, and Roxy and Angie are on the block to go home. Malcolm and Denise both take easier legs than I think they should have, but they are both out of the spotlight because they are smarter than everyone else. I don’t think Roxie had much of shot to begin with, and she knows it. She was significantly more stereotypically angry black woman than I ever imagined she would be. Then she talks about how Angie was sitting down after the challenge. Oh, you mean after she was done with her second leg? When she didn’t have anything left to do? After she did twice the work you did? I know Russell wishes everyone on his tribe was too tired to get up after a challenge. That’s how you know everyone gave it their all. It’s crazy that it was even used as an argument. What’s slightly more ridiculous is that Angie doesn’t even realize the obvious argument for Roxy to use against her. When Malcolm lets Angie know why people might want to get rid of her, she responds with a facial expression that makes it clear she doesn’t know how her tribemates think about the cuddling. Malcolm does, and that’s why he’s longer for the game than Angie. At tribal council, Roxy already knows she’s going home, and the only thing that is accomplished is some cock-blocking. In Jeff’s interrogation, he successfully makes Malcolm laugh at and talk bad about Angie’s cookie answer and refer to Angie as a “sister.” Maybe Malcolm has got game that I’ve never even imagined could exist, but I think that’s a wrap for the showmance possibility.
My moves:
Malcolm: I think Malcolm is doing what he should be doing, but he should try to get closer to Russell, just in case all four Matsing make it to the merge, Russell needs to at least think he has them as an option. There will probably be some switch to two tribes which will give Malcolm more to work with, but he doesn’t know that for sure, so he should work with what he has.
Denise: She’ll probably naturally bond with Russell now that there are so few people on the tribe, but she really needs to drive it home that they are willing to work with him after the merge. Unless the members of Matsing maintain some connection throughout this game, they could easily fall victim to the numbers game and be picked off.
Russell: It’s no secret that Angie is less useful than Russell at the challenges, but Russell needs to make himself more useful to Denise and Malcolm in other ways too. He can’t cuddle up to Malcolm, so he needs to make Denise think that his vote belongs to her, which will make her want to keep him over Angie.
Angie: As with Russell, if Angie makes Denise think that she has two votes, Denise will be much more likely to want to keep the subservient person around. Denise is the key player because if she decides to keep Angie, Malcolm won’t mind at all, and if she wants to keep Russell, Malcolm won’t have a good argument to keep Angie.
Skupin: I don’t see Mike getting to a final 4 with Artis, Lisa, and RC and not making it to the final 3. I like his odds at any challenge or firemaking, and I don’t see RC, Artis, and Lisa all turning on him. He needs to convince RC to hop off the crazy train and join the elders alliance.
RC: Exactly what I believe for Skupin, I believe the opposite for RC. If RC gets to a final 4 with Mike, Pete, and Abi Maria, I think she is guaranteed one of the seats at the final tribal council. She should stick with it, even if Abi goes nuts again.
Abi Maria: Take a chill pill and stop alienating your own alliance members. The correct response to seeing two people get close is to force yourself to get even closer to both of them. If Abi Maria can do damage control on RC, I think she is very easily going to be in the game a long time.
Pete: Maybe chill it with the morbid jokes, but that’s really a personal preference. He should make more of an effort to be close to RC and Mike if they are actually going to be in an alliance together. We saw him approach Lisa about getting rid of Mike, but I think Mike is the only person on the tribe more threatening than him. Maybe he’s such a douche that he knows people wouldn’t mind sitting next to him in the end.
Lisa: If she can prove to RC that she is more trustworthy, and less crazy than Abi, RC will be much quicker to take Lisa along. I don’t know about this whole getting rid of Mike business. Mike seemed to be the only person fighting for her, and if he goes, Lisa will be an easy next target.
Artis: Artis is in a great position from what I can see. The first vote will definitely not be him, and after the first vote, it will probably be more clear where he stands, but I don’t see a scenario where he is the second vote either. He just needs to solidify that he has some long term deal with the person in power after the first vote.
Penner: I am really happy that Penner found the idol, and I watched a clip of him talking about using it to make alliances. Because it will probably get noticed anyway, he would be best served telling someone sooner rather than later. I’m hoping Dawson, and I think it’s the best bet for him to connect with someone strategically oriented.
Jeff: He’s got a lot of momentum built up for getting rid of Jonathan, but he needs to have a plan in case Penner plays his idol. All he needs to do is establish a final 4 within his group of 5 and do a split vote. He runs the risk of Penner leaving and the 5th man knowing he’s on the bottom, but better that than Penner uses his idol to get Jeff out on the first vote.
Dawson: I think she would end up being the 5th person in Jeff’s back-up plan, so she should probably just work with Penner on some combination of Katie, Carter, and Dana. With the information she has about Jeff, I don’t think it would be difficult to get two of those people to jump ship, especially since Penner now has the idol.
Dana: For everyone other than Penner and Jeff, the name of the game is don’t be the last person to join whichever side has the numbers. Penner has an idol to sway people in his favor, and experience to push people away, but the only thing that matters is where everyone else goes. Best move for Dana is to get a group of 3 and pick a side and leave the 4th person high and dry.
Carter: Carter is not going anywhere, and he’s surely going to be included in the group of three that picks which old geezer to ultimately go with. I think it’s better to have the idol in your alliance than to not have it at all, so going with Penner is what I think he should do.
Katie: She was the only girl from her tribe that ran the sled this last challenge, so she’s obviously the most physical, so I think that she is also going to be in the group of three that I’ve referred to several times. Like I said with Carter, idol is better than no idol, and I think Penner is the way to go.
Predictions:
Matsing: I hope they don’t lose again, but if they do, I think Angie is already playing with borrowed time, and Malcolm and Denise won’t want to risk losing a fourth challenge.
Tandang: I think Abi is going to go crazy and do something stupid to alienate Mike and RC. From there, Artis and Lisa will side with Skupin, and Abi will be the first gone from her tribe.
Kalabaw: Penner is safe, and see him trying to work with Dawson in the next episode. From there, I still have faith that he will get the ball rolling in his favor, but because Jeff’s knee is still a factor, switch my first boot for this tribe from Dana to the baseball legend.
