DJariya

brainee

They keep voting out the eye candy

zoomgirl

Wow, great blind side...I didn't see that coming!
Man, I wonder when Peter looks back on this show if he will learn ANYTHING about how obnoxious and arrogant he comes across....everybody hates him.

Shinobi

There goes two big reasons why I've been enjoying this season.

Finisher

That outcome sucked. Lose the hottie and stuck with more Peter. He just exudes arrogant douchebaggery.

wirefan

Agree on the loss of eye candy... but Debbie's still around

Thought Scott and the Beauty folk had an opportunity to flip things and keep the idol. If Scott had convinced the Brains to split the vote over fear of an idol, he could have then flipped and voted with the two beauty folk to take out Peter. And the worst case if they turned on him and decided not to split the vote it would have been a 3-3 vote.

If it works that would have left it 3 beauty, 2 brains, one brawn, so the beauty folks would still need Scott as an ally

starseed1981

Pretty much.

hdnmickey

Yup. The episode was also ridiculously predictable after that tribe lost immunity given the twist forced upon them. The edit to show considering Peter may have made some of his haters think twice, but I doubt many fell for it.

I thought that was an interesting twist. Will be fun to see how the rest of it works out next week. Will she come in only to be voted off right away? She certainly didn't look like she will gain an advantage by getting a break from the challenges.

Biggest development this week was Pollard finding out about the other idol and talking him out of using it. Wouldn't surprise me int he least if Pollard talks the two of them into using their combined idol powers to blindside a power player in a few weeks.

AaronHernandez

I assume that is a first. Beauty tribe goes undefeated the first 4 episodes and ends up in the minority of both tribes at the shuffle.

hdnmickey

The tribe was split 2/2/2. How is that a minority? It's their own damn fault they couldn't swing the previous Braun tribe members their way, no?

davidh777

Yeah, that sucked. Because they have so many members left, and by the odds got one sent packing alone, they ended up a target of everyone else.

buckeyes8604

It was a predictable outcome, but I still was on edge before the votes were read thinking Tai might have made a mistake not playing the idol.

Heard an interesting argument on the RHAP podcast today for the yellow tribe to throw the challenge because it would keep the brain tribe with the most players left instead of potentially losing one in a vote from the blue tribe which was split 2-2-2. It ended up going that way anyway, but it's interesting to think about.

lwhy?

Tai should have played the idol. I would if I were playing since it would get rid of a Brain tribe member and add another player to your alliance. Guaranteed spot to the merge...

Jackskeleton

Man, they really killed this season with voting out the eye candy for me. I just can't bother to care any more.

creekdipper

Well, there's always Tai.

It was funny to watch the occasional blurring technique applied to Anna...curiously, sometimes it was just one side (buff slippage?).

My wife's dry comment was her typical response:

"Those aren't real."

Said in the same tone she uses to inform me of other disappointing or deflating news.

creekdipper

Sad that Probst has given up calling contestants by last names.

Was looking forward to hearing him calling out "Sokolowski," "Gottlieb," and "Baggenstos."

BTW...Julia lucked out by getting the red bandana. Getting a pass on elimination in exchange for a brief exile...especially when you've got friends on each tribe...doesn't seem to be a bad trade-off. Surely she has plenty of time to forge new alliances.

It was a bit sad to see her standing alone on her mat while everyone else was greeting each other. Maybe it was just the edit, but you'd think at least one person would have walked over to say something to her instead of leaving her isolated like she wasn't even there.

hdnmickey

It all comes down to who he thinks will target him later in the game, or who he can't beat at individual challenges. That, and it was too early to use it when it was clear he would not need to play it to save himself. I do think it will be used to blindside a strong player in a few weeks. Hopefully in super idol mode such that it will be a complete blindside. The target could not know until after the vote that Tai and the other player want them gone.

davidh777

Tai will be golden if they have a totem pole challenge.

Jackskeleton

I'm still not really sure I'm getting the advantage of blowing 2 idols on one vote or just working together with the idol person to sway/fix two different tribals opposed to just doing the "after the vote" sort of thing in one use. I guess if your alliance has it and you just want to not do any work in figuring out who the vote is going to sway towards. But for me, I'd rather just have two idols work as their single version.

davidh777

I don't know if the producers actually expect it to get used that way or if they just wanted to add another item for people to negotiate and argue over. It seems like a longshot just to have one person have an idol and know that another person does as well in order to even consider a deal.

hdnmickey

But essentially that is exactly what has happened with Pollard knowing that both Tai and Jason have idols, and knowing about the super idol power. I suspect he will create an alliance with those two before long, ending with the three of them in the know. The ultimate irony would be if it was used to take out Pollard after the vote.

brainee

Being able to play an idol after the vote is hugely powerful. IMO much more powerful than 2 regular idols. There's no guesswork at all ... you play it, you save who you want when you want. In earlier seasons of Survivor where the "Super Idol" was the norm, just the knowledge a player had it usually meant no one voted for them (since no one in the majority alliance is willing to be the sacrificial lamb ... willing to go home to flush out the idol so someone else can win).

Now I'm looking forward to a couple of players putting the idols together after the vote. Preferably while saying "Super Idol powers ... ACTIVATE!"

brainee

Strapped4Cash

Extremely disappointing episode. The only ones I could stand going into the episode were Beauty minus Nick, so Michele, Anna, Julia and Tai. And of course this episode blew them up in the worst way.

Meanwhile, I understand the appeal of the super idol for Scott, but I think he would have benefitted from evicting Peter, and for Tai especially I don't see the sense in what he did. Given the choice between taking out brains or beauty then the former seem the way to go. Getting rid of Peter could have meant a strong foursome of Scott plus three Beauties, who could have taken out the other 2 Brains when needed. The last thing that Brawn or Beauty should want is to see all 5 Brains still there when the merge comes. Those are the schemers, and if I were Scott I would feel good about the chances of him, Cydney and Jason dominating a tribe made up of mostly Brawn and Beauty, even moreso when they know that Tai has the Idol and no one knows that Jason has it from Brawn.

The super idol will be great when they need it, but I feel that this move dramatically increased the likelihood that they will. The smart thing would have been to work for a situation where playing an idol would never be necessary, let alone a super one.

hdnmickey

Tai making the "wrong" decision is based on what COULD happen IF original tribe members remain loyal. Seemed to me the best option was for him to keep the idol since he was not the Beauty member they were targeting. Not only does he now still have the idol, he also has some potential allies from Braun. Allies that I would bet he could beat in many types of individual challenges.