Last Thursday’s Survivor episode another good one

Dude, I’m tellin’ ya…………

For the second week in a row, Survivor was a pretty good episode. It’s getting harder and harder to tell what is going to happen at Tribal Council which makes the show a lot more interesting.

Near the start of the show, cutie pie Natalie killed a rat out in the woods and provided the camp with a little snack. Nice.

And after that, the gamesmanship began. Like the previous week’s episode, there was a ton of scheming and politicking going on that kept you guessing on what would happen with the vote. Once again, Laura’s head was on the chopping block. And Russell’s too. But after losing a reward challenge that had all of his enemies away from camp for the day, Russell found another immunity idol without any clues.

Is this guy good or what? Viewers (and my friends who watch the show) that still don’t like him cite his arrogance and the comments he makes. But this dude has a right to act a bit cocky after now finding two immunity idols without the aid of a clue. He’s down to the Top 10 and has shaped the game more than anyone else to this point. And he’s risen to the role of puppetmaster despite his original tribe turning in one of the worst group performances ever. None of them got to power up with a fine reward feast. Or enjoy a day away from camp relaxing on a boat, etc. Yet somehow, Russell has kept his energy and been behind the ouster of a good half-dozen players so far.

Ya know, his finding the idol without clues—and the rest of the people doubting it could happen—is why I think I could win the game. The people who get on the show are allegedly HUGE fans of the show. As mentioned previously, there is alot more recruitment of pretty people than the producers let on. But for the most part, these are real people who have watched Survivor from Day 1. The are rabid about the show. But it seems like season after season, only one intelligent player accurately applies lessons learned from the past.

Since the abolishment of Exile Island—which I always thought was stupid to begin with—–the immunity idols have always been hidden somewhere in/near the camps. I would start looking from the first day. Screw the clues. They usually suck anyway. But the players on this show consistently wait for everything to be spelled out for them. They are always reactive instead of proactive. And the one player each season who is more “street smart” and crafty usually emerges and thinks outside the box. And typically goes pretty far. The old man Bob who won a few seasons ago is a great example.

It’s not just with immunity idols, though. Perhaps this happens and of course they edit all of it out, but if I were there playing the game among other supposedly rabid fans, I’d constantly be talking about prior seasons. I would be sitting around the campfire at night laughing about when Boston Rob screwed over Lex. Or when Heidi and the other chick promised to strip for some peanut butter and chocolate and Probst yelled, “Someone get me some fuckin’ peanut butter !!” 

Like I said, there may be a lot of discussion like that and they edit it all out. But in all the downtime around camp, I would be remembering all of the great strategies that have been used and try to find situations to apply them. And I would remember all of the mistakes people have made and look to avoid them. Right from the start like being too brash or vocal, taking a leadership role and doling out orders to people without being appointed, or slacking off around camp.

But every season, multiple players make the same mistakes over and over again. And get voted out.

Now if I were my favorite hottie on the show..Monica, I’d be pretty pissed. I can see her consider making new alliances next week. She was the only one with the brains to suggest that Russell could have found another idol already. And her tribemates pretty much dismissed it outright. One idiot even said, “we don’t even have to think about that right now….we just need to do it the way we’ve planned”. Or something close. It made no sense when he said it. What Monica had suggested was totally plausible in the realm of possibility—–and they waved her off. Literally. One or two of them waved her suggestion off and said there was no way.

They questioned Russell’s intelligence. They made the mistake of assumption that another idol couldn’t be in play already. Or that he could find it so fast again with no clues. Idiots.

And they paid the price. In the end, they all voted for Russell. They didn’t put any sort of strategy in place in the event he did play another idol. They could have just did what they had before: vote out another member of Russell’s original tribe and scare him into flushing out the idol for the second time in a row. But no. Too dumb. Except for Monica.

So with all of the votes for Russell not counting, pretty blonde Kelly was voted off. The look on her face was classic. Really, the looks on all their faces. But if I were Monica, I’d be pissed and considering finding some smarter people to play with. Even in her own tribe, she’s viewed as the weakest physically. And if they are going to dismiss her strategy suggestions as well, she would seem to be quite dispensable. Time to jump ships, Monica.

Next week should be good. Russell is down to his last card. With Shambo on his side, there is now a 5-5 split in alliance votes. But it would bode well for ol’ Russ to either win immunity in the challenge or pull an incredible trifecta and find a third hidden idol.

Otherwise he could be gone.