Robe?

I hope Rob got down on his hands and knees each night on that island and thanked the Survivor gods for granting him Phil.

Seriously. I'd want to take that guy to the finals no matter how irritating he got.

Hmmm...not sure about the logic to send away Julie. Seems to me Steve would have been a much better choice, especially for going against Matt. But either way, Rob now has to get all the former Zapp members onto the jury or any one whose left would have an awful lot of votes.

You keep Steve around to keep Philip agitated at camp.

Still waiting on Steve and Grant to actually band together!


Not that I think it will actually happen.......

This episode was both incredibly uncomfortable and also lacking in drama and totally boring.

If this doesn't pick up over the next few episodes this for sure will go down as possibly the worst season ever.

I wonder if I'll get an uncomfortable glare if I call a black co-worker "crazy" tomorrow... (things you never thought you'd learn by watching "Survivor").

These have to be some of the most non-dramatic shows of survivor in quite some time.

Once they start using Phillip to drum-up drama.... they might as well just run a caption on the bottom saying no surprises at tribal so we'll just use Phillip for the hour. Tribal council was utterly useless (and Jeff's attempt to seriously handle the issues was amusing... he would have been better off just calling Phillip 'crazy' and asking Phillip if that makes him a rascist too).

In other seasons Jeff would be asking folks what happens after the Zapateras get voted off and at least trying to dig into the strategic part of the show. Or asking "any thought about who might have an immunity idol/how does that factor in or how do you win the jury vote or when do you start thinking about who you want to take to the final? (of course with Rob in possession of the idol and wanting to carry Phillip, it's hard for Probst to bring some of that stuff up without hurting Rob's chances)

Not sure that can happen (from Grant's perspective)... since they have kept the tribes so separate if you bring any of the Zaps to the final it's trouble as you likely get none of that vote (plus you also likely lose the Matt vote) and you also run the risk of losing your own tribe's vote by turning on them.

I think the only way the former Omatepes win is if it is an all Omatepe final; so if any of them are going to turn on Rob it has to be with a decent majority from within as you'll still have to root out the remaining Zapateras and potentially the RI winner. If he works with Steve but can't get him out before the final, he probably loses. I think when they get down to one Zapatera someone might try to make a move.

For me, this show has completely bottomed out. If Rob or Phillip aren't voted out, does it even matter anymore who is? Producers went to the Boston Rob well once too often. I don't care how much the variables change from season to season, the guy has played the game too much for this to even be a fair fight.

Playing the race card. Gold.

Smart move by Rob to vote out the older chick. That precludes the possibility of a female alliance (at least until 5).

At this point I think he's goofing around. How can he get every name wrong?


When Julie told Phil he'd never find his pants, he should have quipped 'just like your feminitiy, Jack Palance'. (Am I right? Doesn't she look like Jack Palance?)

A Tale of Rice & Racists...full of sound and fury, told by an idiot, signifying nothing.

at "Phile's" referencing the title of Richard Pryor's album. Pryor presciently had Phil in mind when he picked the title.

For the first time, I'm actually starting to feel a little sympathy for Phil. He seems like a not-so-smart guy (considering how often he butchers names of contestants, tribes, etc.) along with his puzzled looks, complete lack of social skills, and delusional feeling that he is part of the "power structure" even as he acts as loyal lackey. It makes me think that the producers picked this guy knowing that he would quickly be in over his head & would do some crazy (oops...racist!) stuff that would be entertaining. As much air time as he continues to get, you'd think he would have a temporary career as a minor celeb after the show...but he doesn't appear to have the mental skills to be able to cash in. I'm beginning to feel that Phil has had a rough life in the past & that nothing will change for him unless he finds someone to take care of him.

IMHO, Phil actually thinks that race-baiting will actually gain him points with his tribe rather than just becoming a nuisance. His "black-men-just-go-off-and-start-shooting" when they feel dissed routine was so beyond the perpetuating of racist stereotypes that it wasn't funny (at least, not after the initial laugh at the ludicrousness of his "outrage").

Like wirefan posted, it became obvious when the producers kept dwelling on the "incident" (including Jeff's MLK impersonation) that Phil was safe and the plan to systematically eliminate the Zaps would proceed on schedule.

The funniest part of the entire episode was hearing Jeff (after initially increduously describing Phil's accusation as a "leap") falling all over himself trying to be P.C. and act as though Phil & Steve BOTH could be right. He went so far as to imply that Steve MIGHT have actually meant to express racist sentiments ("We don't know Steve at all...we don't know what's in his heart", etc.) and putting Steve on the defensive. I felt like Steve should have just told Jeff to shove it and reiterated that Phil is a loose-cannon lunatic, that he's not going to apologize for anything, and he's going to kick Phil's butt if he lays a hand on the Zap's rice.

It is entirely possible that Ralph is playing up the 'dumb' angle to protect himself by making himself seem gullible and easily fooled. However, it's likely that a lot of this perception is genuine and that he really doesn't have a big vocabulary & makes strategic blunders such as revealing the HII just to taunt Russell. At least he's honest (and confident enough) to admit to Jeff when he doesn't understand a word.

However, to answer NORML's question (and other posters who have piled on Ralph), he probably made it to his age by having common sense and working hard. I have known dozens (maybe hundreds) of "Ralphs" during my lifetime. I haven't yet met a hard worker and likable guy like Ralph who asked for hand-outs or tried to live beyond his means. The Ralphs of this world tend to be honest people who will go out of their way to help others and keep the plumbing running, the grocery shelves stocked, and the roads paved for the PhD's of the world. Maybe they aren't great at Spelling Bees, but they tend to have a good sense of humor, don't act like snobs, and can keep a confidence.

On the other hand, I have known a lot of highly-intelligent people who stayed in debt, expected others to wait upon them, were extremely selfish, couldn't handle personal relationships, and just generally behaved like miserable human beings.

I'll take Ralph as a neighbor any day over David.

Hey...the dumb farmer is still in the game. The lawyer is sitting on the jury.

After being disappointed for two weeks, it appears that the Matt-haters will be writhing in ecstasy next week.

Why?

You didn't see the previews??? Looks like a Matt-centric episode complete with sobbing breakdown, self-doubts, and proclamations of faith.

Or the producers could be suckering the detractors in.

So I guess no more reward challenges?

Phil makes Coach look normal by comparison.

It would have been nice to see how Rob's tribe decided to vote for Julie. I thought that they would be voting for Steve and that Phil decided to change his vote after she came clean about strealing his shorts. BUt I guess that was their original plan going in. So will Phil just be in his underwear until the end if he makes it to the final 3? Everyone is going to want to take him if they can stand him that long.

I think she looks like one of those shrunken apple heads.

Ponderosa episodes are up!

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivo.../?vs=Ponderosa

Except it would've come out "Just like your ferminty, Jake Pallace".

I don't think there are many Matt-haters. Just a handful of Matt-mockers. There's a difference.

One night Matt dreamed he was walking along the Redemption Island beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from his time on Survivor flashed across the sky.
In each scene he noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered him because he noticed
that during the low periods of his game,
when he was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
he could see only one set of footprints.

So he said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of Survivor: Redemption Island
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you.

"And stop trusting Boston Rob,
he'll just screw you over again."

Well then that gives you plenty of time to prepare your next sermon. I know you must have been upset last week when no one took your bait, but you may not even need to go fishing next week. I look forward to your happiness.