Gotta disagree with this--even though the show is usually strongest post-merge anyway, the tribal stages always seem to be better with producer-picked tribes (for my money, Africa has the best pre-merge of any season). The ones that had pick'ems early on (first three eps): -Thailand (ep1). Pre-merge is actually stronger than the majority of post-merge here, but the tribes ended up being essentially old vs. young, which took away a lot of conflict. -Palau (ep1). We all know what happened here--it was entertaining for sure but one tribe dominated and the other never won an immunity challenge. -Panama (ep2). Great season, but practically all of the entertaining players were on the same team, so when they didn't have to go to Tribal, the episodes dragged. -Cook Islands (ep3). Season was slow and conflict-free (besides Cao Boi) until the mutiny. -Fiji (ep1). Not necessarily the pick'em's fault, but the haves/have-nots twist made the tribes even less balanced than Palau.
I do wish All-Stars had begun with a pick'em though; they deliberately put past friends/potential allies on opposing tribes which makes sense but I think ended up being a mistake.
Indeed we do. I wonder what happened to all those rumors about sets being in the works? (although that's a discussion for another thread that's already underway.) It would seem to me that maybe they would at least want to get sets of the most recent shows out just before the new season starts. That seems to working for a lot of currently running series now. Both events tend to cross-promote each other.
=====================
Back on topic: my wife wants it on record that she doesn't like Ashleigh (the wrestler)! She finds her to be quite an annoying character. I, OTOH, figure she will probably become quite a formidable player in this game with her background in the entertainment world (a reason NOT to hand-pick contestants like that). Also, I figure she should be quite strong in the challenges which require physical strength and dexterity.
I agree too. Pirate Master was so random or same-y it was almost completely devoid of fun.
I think the wrestler (Rass-ler! Im from the south) was interesting and the previews for next week show competition against her will be tough. I'm glad people didn't side with Chicken, who was nothing but a grizzly old fool with nothing interesting about him but the giggle inducing name. The rassler was honestly sick, you could tell. She'll be a much better player if she lasts.
I had the same reaction to the waitress' statement about folks from NY. Sure, everybody from NY is just like you bitch!
DAAAAMMMN!!! That was hands-down the best reaction to being voted off in the history of Survivor. I was actually kinda sad to see "Chicken" go as I thought he might be an entertaining character for this season. It looks like there are plenty of other intriguing players, however, so I'm not too worried. It was a great opener and this looks like a very good season(unlike last year which was almost unwatchable at times).
Oh, and that little waitress from NY needs to be put in her place on the double!
The season premiere was okay. I have to admit I was kind of bored. It could have been that I was tired from working all day, but I just didn't feel as into it as I have in the past.
I wasn't all that impressed with the tribes, but I did think the challenge was cool.
Everything the producers/editors show me about the Christian Talk-Show Host (I don't remember her name) has me scratching my head. Why she would despair over not having her bible so she could spend time with God struck me as odd. And going to another player with the HII clue doesn't seem like solid strategy this early in the game.
Well that tribe just shot themselves in the foot. They got rid of a strong competitor and kept a slave driver. Can I just say that dave sucks as leader of the tribe. You do not get people to do things by talking down to them and completely ignoring what they have to say.
They sure are getting physical again. I didn't like it the last season and I'm not liking it again this season. And it looks like it continues on next week.
[old man]Someone's going to get their eye put out.[/old man]
While I'm okay with challenges that put an emphasis on physical activity (just as I'm okay with mental and balance challenges)...I think challenges where contestants are actually fighting and clawing at each other is a bit overboard. I keep thinking they do them to try and keep the game "fresh." I, however, honestly keep think that someone is just going to get hurt and somehow wreck their chances (and maybe their team's) in the game.
I'm sort of glad she went home. I like big boobs, but hers were so cartoonishly bloated, they were more of a distraction than being an attractive asset for her. I'm liking Jamie more and more.
The roller ball challenge was down and dirty, lots of fuzzing out of body parts in that challenge.
Really liked tonight's episode, but I agree with Mike--a handful of extremely physical challenges can be ok but I hope it doesn't become a weekly tradition. Fortunately Probst has promised a few challenges based on Chinese culture, including a sword fight next week IIRC.
I'm glad Ashley left too--the novelty-sized boobs that came straight out of her neck were disgusting.
Ashley was simply disgusting. Ugly, tragically fake boobs, and those lip rings -- just hideous. Also, dumb as a box of retarded rocks. How many times did she ask Dave, "tell me what to do?" HE ANSWERED YOUR F*CKIN" QUESTION YOU F*CKIN' GROTESQUERIE! GET SOME F*CKIN' STICKS! Stupid lazy ass.
BTW, did anyone else think her puking and chills from last week sounded like withdrawl symptoms?
Dave looks like a cross between Tim Robbins and Vince Vaughn. From certain angles, Jamie looks like Angelina Jolie.
Also, in the recap, the Christian talk show host said, "it says in the bible that thou shalt not bow before other gods". Please settle an argument between myself and my wife -- unless this is expressed somewhere in the Bible other than the 10 Commandments, she basically made up her own commandment (it's actually "thou shalt not have any other gods before me") and then stuck to it literally. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but she was really following her own misinterpretation to the letter and not the Bible per se. Then, after crying about not having her Bible, she gets into an alliance with a gay flight attendant. But I guess in her jumbled version of the Bible, Leviticus 20:13 has some addendum about "it's okay, though, if they help you win a million dollars". Hypocrite!
If I were on this years Survivor, I would be praying that they offered a chance to mutiny...man oh man I would not want to be on Dave's team now.
Survival rules:
Build a shelter (you can survive exposure to excess heat or frigid cold for up to 3 hours)
Find water and food (you can survive without food and water for up to 3 days)
The fact that this idiot called Dave had his team building an elaborate fireplace/bbq before even starting a shelter was stupid.
He should have divided up the work so that everyone was doing something that would help this camp prosper. Get some people started building a shelter. Have others work on getting a fire started and get the rest to find food.
How many seasons is this and people still apply to this show without learning any basic survival skills????????