I'm having an argument with a co-worker about Lex's abilities as a Survivor player. So my question is, do you think Lex is a good player? Take his entire game into consideration.

In general yes, but he let himself get blindsided big time. it was a miscalculation that killed his game. He had a whole strategy lined up and he let someone else's strategy trump his. His whining about friendship is just emotion given that he said the same thing to Ethan and Jerri. But, yeah, major miscalculation.

I believe so. People criticized him for getting rid of Colby and Ethan but I think those were wise moves, particularly considering they really hadn't been that great in the physical challenges to begin with. Plus all the subsequent challenges had very little to do with physical prowess.

He got backstabbed by Rob, but had he targetted Amber and kept Jerri, he would still be looking at a 5-4 deficit going into merge and given how tight the 5 have been (who would have only been tighter had Amber been voted off), there is no way he would have escaped elimination.

Simply put, I don't see how he could have played any differently and gotten past last night's episode.

The big question is would Big Tom have supported LEx and given his team the 5-4 advantage. We'll never know, but I suspect that that was part of his strategy. By impulsively switching gears to a new strategy (which is what he did, not a favor for a friend) he scuttled his original strategy. That's the game, bud.

He's an idiot. Regardless of anything positive he may have done, trusting Rob was absolutely stupid. Maybe the most boneheaded show of trust ever in Survivor.

My opinion is that Lex is not a very good player and not just because he trusted Rob. To me, Lex was so caught up in his post-merge strategy that he essentially cut his own throat. First mistake was assuming there would be a merge at the exact moment that most past Survivors have merged. You can't ever assume: see Shii-an in Thailand.

I agree with voting out Colby, because I felt Colby would not just be a physical threat, but would turn on Lex in a second. But then by voting out Ethan, Lex doomed himself and his team. Considering a good portion of the challenges are physical, the odds were that a team of Lex, Shii-an, Kathy, Jerri would not be able to match up physically with a team of Rob, Rupert, Tom, Alicia, and Amber (Jenna sucks at physical challenges, so I'm discounting her).

With Ethan still on the team, they would have at least had a fighting chance.

Next, post-merge. Ethan has a mark on his back for being a previous winner. Odds were he'd be targeted first should he ever not win individual immunity. With Rob, Lex, and Rupert all fighting for individual immunity, Ethan losing was a fair bet.

Furthermore, Ethan and Lex supposedly had a "friendship" and judging from the way Ethan played both times around, it would be hard to see him screwing Lex over. He would also be a good ally on the jury.

So to me, Lex, by voting out Ethan and then by not voting out Amber, put himself in a situation whereby he HAD to win immunity to stay in the game. That to me is not a very good player.

Lex did make a number of "tough" decisions, but making "tough" decisions is very different from making "good, tough" decisions. It's the players that make "good, tough" decisions that are truly great.

What other choice did he have? If they voted off Amber, they would still be down 5-4 and he would have a huge target on his back and 5 pissed off people. He would have been gone for sure. Keeping Amber and relying on Rob to keep his word was his only shot to advance further in the game.

They were not certain to merge, so if he would have booted Amber and the merge did not happen, his tribe could have won the next immunity and then it would have been 4-4. Also, I'm sure Lex can be somewhat persuasive and perhaps could have talked Tom, Rupert, and maybe others into helping him boot Rob. Nothing is a given and it's all speculation what is going to happen next, but I do know that trusting Rob was going to lead to his departure later if not sooner.

Here were the challenges post-Colby's elimination:
Reward: Log rolling (one on one)
Immunity: Target shooting

Here were the challenges post-Ethan's elimination:
Reward: no reward challenge
Immunity: Survivor History Quiz


Very little physicality involved so the elimination of Colby and Ethan had little if any impact on the fortunes of Lex's tribe.

That's how it played out, but it DIDN'T mean that the challenges COULDN'T have been more physical. Example, the show prior to Ethan's booting could have easily been the two challenges the that appeared on last night's show.

It is rather obvious that the producers tailor the challenges in a way that takes into account the makeup of the tribes. Lex very well had to know this when he decided to go to a 1 man/4 woman tribe. Now had he kept Ethan, maybe they would have not had the Survivor Quiz (although I'm sure that challenge would have been used at some point), and maybe they would have had a more physical challenge, but considering the domination of Rob's tribe to date, it was clear that physical challenges were not Lex's tribe's strong suit. Mixing things up a bit by ousting Ethan prompted a different kind of challenge, one that Lex's tribe almost won.

Lex strategery (sp ) was absolutely horrible. It was a case of ego overriding logic. He simply wanted to prove that he was the bigger chest-thumper than Colby. Hopefully, this will be what eliminates BostonRob.

Nobody liked or wanted to keep Jerri in the tribe - she should have been the first one eliminated, not Colby. That may have changed the course of the game right there especially when immunity was up for grabs again.

Also, as much as I liked Ethan his head was always on the chopping block. Ethan thought he could claw and scrap his way to the final two, but he was in denial that his head was on the chopping block. It would have been far wiser to keep him around and get rid of him at a later date. It wouldn't have been difficult to get another tribe member to switch votes based on the "he's already won" argument.

Also, he was too focused on the post-merge strategy at the expense of his then-current tribe. Considering the twists and turns this game has taken, he should have focused on only what he knew at that time, not what he thought was going to happen.

Post-merge, whenever that was going to take place would not have likely resulted in BostonRob, Colby, and Ethan ALL would getting individual immunity at one time.

It would have simply have been a matter of picking them off one by one at appropriate times.

FWIW, Lex had immunity in his hands, but he couldn't get that 10th balloon to float up the water's surface, so he should really only blame himself for not lasting any longer in the game.

I didn't think Lex played well in Africa (getting that Napoleon complex about somebody you only *think* voted for you was dumb), and I think he played worse this time around. Good riddance, tattoo man.

Lex is an above average Survivor player. He made it to the jury both times so he must be a decent player. Just that he made small mistakes that cost him to move further in the game.

I'd say so.

A pretty good player in terms of winning the game, but a GREAT player in terms of making the game interesting.

He never fails to surprise.

The last few weeks would have been much less interesting without his surprise votes.

Hopefully someone else will step up and keep the game interesting.

Lex has to be the dumbest strategist ever.

Sure he was able to survive to number 9.

He continued to weaken his TEAM from the beginning. You have to think about team and survival. Prior to merge. But Lex though too much about himself.

He weakened his team by ousting the stronger physical players. When he shouldn't of. He personally told the 2 people he was voting them out. Then it was deja vu when he was told he was getting the axe. Classic survivor.

Then his dumbest move was to oust Jeri instead of Amber. Which further depleted his team and left the other team with a 6 to 3 advantage instead of 5 - 4.

The other dumbest player is Shi Ann. Sorry girl you have no personality and your coat tails are about to be sniped. You think your a player but your not. Great move voting for Lex. You always jump ship. Can't wait for your ousting.