Survivor - Heroes vs. Villians (season 20) official discussion thread (1 Viewer)

[Hanson]

I'm not really into that stupid "Johnny Fairplay" jackassery, so i call him Dalton.

 

[Brett_M]

Thanks for the pix of Amanda. She is my favorite Survivor of all time. I second Patrick's sentiment -- no one else even comes close. She is the only reason I tune in. Well, her and The Dragonslayer's dementia.

 

[Mike Frezon]

It was mighty funny to see the demented Dragonslayer get all goofy and immature at the prospect of "connecting" with Jerri Manthey. The prospect seemed to pull him completely out of character.

 

[Matt^Brown]

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon

"Fairplay" is an alias that Jon Dalton created at some point in his life.

Apparently, on a promotion tour for the new season:



As to the Probst/Fairplay rift, wikipedia has this:

Okay I will bite. What happened at the after party that pissed Probst off?

Side note - Johnny was great on his first season but he completely ruined his survivor image with all the reality shows he did and quiting the all stars game. He is no longer relevant in the survivor world as far as I am concerned.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Matt^Brown

Okay I will bite. What happened at the after party that pissed Probst off?

From ew.com (back when the first Survivor All-Stars was gearing up):

Fairplay It Again The Fans vs. Favorites battle is merely the undercard to the main bout in Survivor: Micronesia — Jonny Fairplay versus Jeff Probst. Bad blood between the two extends back to the 2004 Survivor: Vanuatu finale after-party, when the reality TV villain (who has since appeared on shows like Fear Factor and Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge) got into a heated argument with the host's brother and was subsequently tossed from the soiree and banned from all Survivor events. ''Do I hate him?'' asks Fairplay. ''Absolutely. And I think he would say the same about myself.'' So the question remains: How did he make the cut for Micronesia? He certainly wasn't on Probst's short list. ''My first vote was we don't need him,'' says Probst. ''Send him home. Make a point that there is a level of participant that we don't need on this show. CBS said, 'That's interesting, Jeff — you can leave now.' So my vote doesn't count for anything.''
Fairplay, predictably, is ready to push Probst's buttons. ''I heard he didn't want me here. If that's the case, I will enjoy making his life more miserable.'' ''He can take all the shots he wants,'' responds Probst. ''I just have to make sure that all my shots are retaliation. I will never shoot first. I'm not that dumb. The game needs to be fair. I get that.'' As much as Probst may loathe Fairplay the person, he appreciates what the villain brings to the game as a ''character,'' especially since the host is confident he can handle the rabble-rouser. ''I hope he lasts,'' says Probst. ''Fairplay is fun to go at because I feel like I can eat his lunch all day every day and pack it for him and steal it again.'' Game on!

 

[Brent M]

Now that all of this Probst/Fairplay stuff has come to light I see why he wasn't invited to participate this season. I'd also forgotten that he basically quit during the All-Stars season so it all makes sense now. He'll still go down as one of the all-time "villains" of the show on account of the dead grandma trick, but it's probably better that he wasn't on this season after all. Still wish they'd found a better villain than Danielle, though.

 

[Stan]

I certainly don't miss Fairplay. He was obnoxious, annoying, and if he brought ratings, they sure weren't from me. They've had plenty of annoying characters, but there's always something slightly redeeming and fascinating about them. From him, nothing.

We may never know what happened when he showed up again. They edited it to make it look like he just didn't care, didn't want to be there or even try, just wanted to leave. Had he stayed longer, I think his crappy attitude would have booted him off in the first few votes anyhow. Good riddance.

 

[Mike Frezon]

And what happened to our quiet, humble gravedigger?

Man, James just isn't the same player he was in prior seasons. I don't recall him having a tongue piercing before, either.

I know we don't see much of what went on behind the scenes...but Stephanie must've done something to put herself in dutch with Rupert & James. Maybe her brassy, outspoken self got the better of her.

As I'm typing this, I see they're portraying James as spiraling further "out of control" in next week's show.

It's rare to see a season start off so strongly. Usually we're all here moaning "worst season ever" in the opening weeks.

 

[ChristopherG]

James' mouth is definitely going to do him in.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

^^Yep, hopefully next week, he's a colossal prick.

WHEW! For a second I thought we were going to lose our Amanda.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Less Russell = better flow to the show. Even his chicken hunt wasn't all that.

How hot did Amanda look in her specs? Sheesh!

Good thing Rob wasn't put out of the game due to dehydration.

I LOL'd at James's last words to Steph. He's on a roll.

 

[Greg.K]

I didn't see the season James was on originally, but I'm finding it hard to see how he was ever picked for the Heroes team based on his behavior in this episode.

 

[maklejn]

He may have got a little out of hand, but James was right. They agreed to all listen to J&T and people were undermining that to the extent that they lost the challenge. He was rightfully pissed off. James has never had tact though.

Just to comment on why Parvati seemed to know about Russell, apparently she's friends with people involved in the show and got the inside scoop.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Greg Kettell

I didn't see the season James was on originally, but I'm finding it hard to see how he was ever picked for the Heroes team based on his behavior in this episode.

Greg: This is actually James' third go-round on Survivor. He was also on the first All-Stars season.

He was portrayed, originally, as a socially inept (but incredibly ripped) gravedigger from a tiny town in the southern US. He was always quiet and unassuming. The camera and the show's fans loved him.

My kneejerk reaction to what aired last night is that his Survivor celebrity has gone to his head somewhat. It's easy to make those judgments, however--based on what the producers/editors feed us.

His "claim to fame" is that on one of his seasons he actually had TWO hidden immunity idols at one time...and STILL got voted off without playing one of them. The producers made it seem like all the Survivors (except him) knew the blindside was coming...so the fans knew it was coming. We were all screaming at the screen to "play an idol! But, home he went--the loveable, quiet gravedigger.

 

[Dheiner]

IMHO James was 100% correct.

Steph has never been successful in team challanges. Her behavior in the challange last night highlights what I think is why: She needs to lead, or she does not feel like she won. It seems to me like she is not any good as a follower.

 

[Matt^Brown]

Originally Posted by Dheiner

IMHO James was 100% correct.

Steph has never been successful in team challenges. Her behavior in the challenge last night highlights what I think is why: She needs to lead, or she does not feel like she won. It seems to me like she is not any good as a follower.

I guess I was watching the same show as you and not some of these other guys. These people have all been on this show before so they know what they need to do to win. James might have been a little abrupt but I am not sure he was completely over the top. I don't remember him cussing her out or anything like we have seen on this show a 100 other times when people get mad at each other. I felt like he was just expressing his opinion AND taking up for JT who got steamed rolled by the other older heroes. My quote of the night was "she is like kryptonite draining all the heroes of their power".
I also got the feeling last night that there are already a lot of close friendships and hard feelings amongst this group. We saw the same thing with the All Stars season. The first show went out of it's way to not overplay any of this but the longer it goes the this is going to stand out.

 

[Hanson]

That whole Boston Rob thing and Jerri finding him was so staged it was embarassing to watch. The entire scene with Jerri talking to him was out of a bad soap opera. It's hard to believe she was/is an actress. Actually, it's not hard to see why she was an out of work actress. I'm not sure if they actually said it on the show, but Rob had a case of the Samoan Flu. From what I've read from Jeff Probst's blog, they found Rob lying on the ground, so I'm pretty sure everything before medical came was recreated for the cameras (and pretty badly at that). I mean, who falls down with a pillow under their head?

If there's going to be a puzzle in every immunty challenge, the Heroes tribe will lose to Rob from here on out. If that's the case, Russell won't have an opportunity to take out Rob, and all the girls in the Villains tribe + Coach love Rob, so that will be a hard sell. I'm sure the moment they lose immunity they will want to get rid of Randy.

 

[Matt^Brown]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo

If there's going to be a puzzle in every immunty challenge, the Heroes tribe will lose to Rob from here on out.

Is Rob that good or are the Heroes that bad? I can't tell if he really is the best puzzle guy in Survivor history or if all the heroes are just dumb.

Rob did rise to the surface as the favorite for the villians quickly.

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Matt^Brown

Is Rob that good or are the Heroes that bad? I can't tell if he really is the best puzzle guy in Survivor history or if all the heroes are just dumb.

I'm going to say, "both". Rob is really impressing me this time. I thought he was a moron in Marquesas and redeemed himself in All-Stars. But he's on a whole 'nother level in Samoa -- he looks like the best player ever. But there seems to be a high correlation between Villians and strategy versus Heroes and physical prowess. Yes, there is Coach and Cerie. But in general, the Heroes tribe is physically superior while the Villains tribe is smarter and more strategic. And now the Heroes lost Steph and Rupert is useless with his broken toe, so that really hurts them at their core.

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun

Less Russell = better flow to the show. Even his chicken hunt wasn't all that.

Well, that's because the rest of the season 19 cast was so boring, the editors just filled it with wall to wall Russell. With all the star power around him this season he's no longer the only thing to watch, so he will definitely get less screen time. I also think you're feeling the effects of seeing Russell in back to back seasons.

 

[Diallo B]

Originally Posted by ChristopherG

James' mouth is definitely going to do him in.

like stephanie's mouth did her in???

sometimes people just need to shut the frack up. the chick got voted off for being mouthy and STILL had to run her mouth some more as she left. gfto.