South Pacific: Episode 7

     This was the first time of the season that I was left wanting more.  I absolutely cannot wait seven more days to find out what happens on Survivor.  The episode left us with a complete cliff-hanger, and I will tell you my thoughts on this.

     Survivor:  South Pacific has undoubtedly been the most unpredictable season I have seen in recent years.  Normally, it is easy for me to gauge what moves certain individuals are going to make, or at what point each castaway is going to turn on one another and cause the downfall of the tribe.  I have gotten so much wrong this season, it is ridiculous!  I have gotten a few things right, though! :)

     For instance, I thought that the Savaii tribe would continue it's winning streak due to the fact that loyalty had been tested on the Upolu tribe.  After Mikayla's departure, the Upolu tribe was able to gather its remaining members and band together.  In order to do so, Coach decided that it would be best to "find" the hidden immunity idol.  He didn't want to let people know that he already had it, so he thought it would be best to magically "find" it - - all they needed was to pray, of course.  I honestly think that Coach's idea is the best possible scenario for the tribe.  He didn't want to ruffle feathers by letting people know he already found it - - instead, it was a bonding experience by everyone on the tribe looking for the hidden idol together.  This definitely made the tribe much stronger, and Savaii better be praying that they do not go to another pre-merge challenge.  I definitely understand the importance of having a loyal tribe going into the merge.  The six of these people have such a strong bond that they are going to be extremely hard to break.

     I definitely thought that if anyone was going to be able to take out Christine, it would be Mikayla.  I was wrong!  It was definitely the closest Redemption Island duels this season, but Christine is hungry!  She wants to get back in the game.  I have so much faith in her now, that it wouldn't surprise me if she wins again next week, even though I don't want her to!

     Prior to the immunity/reward challenge, Ozzy came up with a "worst-case" scenario.  He recalled from last season that Matt returned to his tribe at the merge.  He also knows that after next week's duel, there will be a total of twelve players left, which is how many people typically make it to the merge.....so Ozzy thinks that if Savaii just so happened to lose, that he should give up his hidden immunity idol to the tribe and be voted in to Redemption Island.  This would give the Savaii tribe the best possible chance at beating Christine and keeping the Savaii 6 in tact.

     During the challenge, Savaii was killing it!  They had a strong lead until Cochran failed to clip the ropes at the right locations.  This caused the tribe to fall behind and ultimately lose.  Ozzy was physically distraught and blamed Cochran for the loss.  Honestly, I believe that Cochran is interesting to watch, but he is absolutely useless in the challenges.  He truly should have been the first one to go at the beginning of the season!  There were talks around the tribe about whether or not Ozzy was going to stick with his original plan..or go ahead and vote off Cochran.  There were a couple people who did not want to vote off Ozzy (Keith and Jim), but ultimately this is what happened.  Ozzy gave up his hidden immunity idol in order to be sent to Redemption Island.

    I absolutely disagree with this decisions and let me give you a few reasons why!  Jeff called this one of the biggest moves to ever be made in the game of Survivor, and I definitely agree.  First of all, what if by some odd chance that Ozzy doesn't beat Christine?  I don't see it happening, but it is possible.  Ozzy isn't a God.  He may be the "winningest Survivor of all time," but that doesn't mean that he can't be beat.  Secondly, Christine absolutely hates the Upolu tribe.  I truly believe that she would have flipped on her former tribe if given the opportunity to play again.  Another note, I truly believe that any member of the Savaii tribe - - other than Cochran - - would have had the ability to beat Christine.  Why choose the strongest person from the tribe?  In addition, what if the merge doesn't happen?!  We all know that the merge typically comes when only 12 tribemates remain.  However, it doesn't necessarily have to be the case - - the 12 member merged tribe has only taken place in recent years, not during every season.  If the merge doesn't happen, there is no chance in hell that the Savaii tribe will beat Upolu.  One final thought, even if the tribes do merge at this point, who's to say that Ozzy will be able to come back into the game?  We all know that Matt did last season, but it may not happen again.

     I do think it is important to make big moves in the game of Survivor.  However, as I pointed out, this situation could go in so many different directions.  It's a huge risk.  Fortunately for the Savaii tribe, I do think that it will work out in their favor - - at least I hope it does.  The reason why I think it will is because Ozzy  is a beast in the challenges.  I don't think losing to a 40+ woman is even an option for him.  Furthermore, we don't see any previews for next week's episode.  The tribe colors would give it away whether or not there is a merge.  Maybe this is their way of keeping us on our toes, but I definitely predict the merge to take place next week, Ozzy will come back, and the tribes will be tied 6-6.

The Savaii tribe has been the most entertaining tribe to watch this season.  Everyone is playing his/her own game.  There is so much strategy involved, it is so entertaining to watch.  The other group of people should just be called The Coach Tribe - - it's boring, and we saw it last season with Boston Rob.  Strategically, I can see the six members of the Savaii tribe outsmarting the Upolu tribe.  I can't wait to next week's episode!

One final note. . . I was "Tweeting" throughout the episode and one of the former Survivor castaways actually replied to one of my tweets! :)  Shannon from Nicaragua

My tweet to him, then his response to me. :)

@the_timgilmore Tim Gilmore

@survivorshannon #Cochran sucks! Should have left the 1st day! Sucks to see ppl stay when they don't deserve it and vice-versa. #Survivor23

20 hours ago via Twitter for Android

 

@survivorshannon Survivor Shannon E ™

 

@the_timgilmore Thts y he staysCause he sucks!He's weak!Most weak people stay!They r good at being pawns!Unless ur with a bunch of followers

Until next time.....

Twitter:  the_timgilmore

South Pacific: Episode 6

The episode started out with the Savaii tribe coming back from tribal council.  Ozzy was completely shocked that Elyse was voted out.  He felt like an idiot and betrayed by Whitney and Keith because he was in the dark about their intentions.  He made a huge speech about how he's going to be a free agent from here on out, that it's the tribe against him, and he even went on to tell everyone that he has the hidden immunity idol.  Such an idiot!  I know that it was just in the heat of things, but come on!  Seriously?  Huge mistake!  This tantrum could eventually get Ozzy out of the game much sooner than he originally thought.  He did end up apologizing for his actions in order to strengthen the tribe; and he admitted that if he doesn't win the game, he wants one of the Savaii Six to do so!

The next Redemption Island duel took place with Elyse and Christine going at it.  It looks as if Christine is slowly beginning to break, but some how she managed to squeak out another win and sent Elyse home.  Christine is actually very impressive and is the Queen of Redemption Island this season!  It should be interesting to see if she will be able to keep the winning streak alive.

Brandon decides to pull a "Russell" and frantically searches for the hidden immunity idol.  He easily finds the clue, but has no luck in finding the idol (because Coach already has it).  Coach began having flashbacks about being on Heroes vs. Villains with Russell and decides that it is in his best interest to not tell Brandon about the idol.  Honestly, I think this is the best thing that Coach could do.  Brandon is a loose cannon.  You don't know if he is just playing the game, or if he actually is that crazy!  In my opinion, Brandon should be informed about anything on a "need to know" basis.  You have no idea what he would do with the information given to him.  Use him as a swing-vote and keep it at that.

In the week's immunity/reward challenge, it looked as if Savaii was going to get demolished.  However, something happened on the last leg of the challenge and Upolu ended up losing the challenge.  Coach blamed it on Mikayla because she wasn't doing very well, but wasn't willing to sit out and let someone else take over.  This was his reasoning for wanting to get rid of her at tribal.  Albert and Sophie wanted to get rid of Edna because Edna sits out of challenges and literally contributes nothing.  There was a lot of talk at tribal council about loyalty vs. physical strength.  Even though Brandon didn't want to get rid of Mikayla like he originally wanted to, he ended up voting for her anyway because that was the original plan.

I think it is important to have a balance of strength and team camaraderie.  If you can't get along with your tribemates, then the morale is going to drop and your chances of losing will increase.  However, you definitely want to have a physically strong tribe in order to go to the merge with numbers.  I think you just have to learn how to balance physical strength with loyalty.  You don't want to give up too much physical strength, but you want to take the right people into the merge.  I seriously thought that Savaii was going to end up losing back to back challenges after they picked Elyse over Cochran, but this wasn't the case at all.  As a matter of fact, they seem to be bonding a lot more than they were before.  Physically, they proved that they can beat Upolu.  Even though the move was very risky to keep Cochran, it paid off very well for the tribe.  The big move worked for the tribe physically - - it helped make the team stronger as far as bonding is concerned - - and it even broke up a potentially very lethal duo of Ozzy and Elyse.  It couldn't have worked out better! 

It will be interesting to see how well the Upolu tribe works together at this point.  I'm going to assume that there are going to be a lot of trust issues that they are going to have to work out if they want to go into the merge at least tied with the other team.  The most interesting scenario would be for both tribes to go into the merge with five members each.  Then things will really start to heat up.  I think Mikayla has the best chance of taking out Christine - - but Christine is definitely a fighter, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Until next time.......


Twitter:  the_timgilmore

South Pacific: Episode 5

I just want to go ahead and say that this episode of South Pacific was by far the most entertaining one so far!  I love how things are beginning to play out.  We saw one of the veterans win last season, and the way things are unfolding, I firmly believe that neither Coach or Ozzy will win this season; unless they use their immunity idols at a pivotal point in the game. 

The episode started out with two former members of Upolu facing off in the Redemption Island duel:  Stacey and Christine.  As aforementioned, I really didn't care who went home.  However, I loved how Stacey told the Savaii members who was running the show on the other side, "Benjamin" aka Coach Wade.  She also mentioned that Albert is Coach's right-hand man.  I'm really surprised that no one already knew this anyway - - I mean, come on, get real!  I suppose it's easier to see what is going on when you're sitting on your couch.  Christine ended up winning the duel and sent the mortician home.

Dawn and Whitney take this information about Coach and Albert back tot he Savaii tribe.  Ozzy makes the huge mistake of saying how Coach should get rid of Albert before the merge.  Although this is exactly what I would be thinking, there is no way in hell I would tell everyone.  I have stated so many times before, you do not want to give people a reason to get rid of you.  This simple statement made Jim realize that he and Keith are dispensable to Ozzy.  There is nothing more powerful in the game of Survivor than fear.  Jim uses this new information as a means to get rid of Elyse.  Jim, Dawn, and Cochran try to work on Keith and Whitney in order to break up the Ozzy/Elyse alliance and vote off Elyse at the next tribal council.

Albert, feeling desperate, decides to go looking for the hidden immunity idol.  He actually found the clue, but had no luck finding the idol.  He recruits Coach and Sophie in order to tribe to find it - - which Coach eventually does.  Coach let the cat out of the bag that he has it, so he feels as if he has all the power in the world.  The thing about the hidden immunity idol is that you have to use it the right way.  If you're going to tell people that you have it, it has to be the right people at the right time.  If I was Coach, I would have held on to the idol without telling anyone that I actually found it.  If I needed to tell someone later on that I had it, then I would have.  He already has a strong alliance with those two, so I don't think it was vital to add more to it.  He would have had more power if he would have kept it to himself. 

The reward/immunity challenge was pretty intense.  I heard that in the rehearsal, they actually used an entire pig (tail, nose, feet, etc) but it was too gross.  Upolu ended up winning by two ounces, which was probably when Mikayla picked up a piece off the ground that Rick dropped.  It was interesting to see the tribes working together and picking the food out of each other's mouths.  Perhaps what they should have tried to do was help each other rip huge pieces off and carry it to the bucket together?  Who knows...pretty gross challenge, though.

Keith and Whitney knew that whatever decision they made, it would piss people off.  They wanted to make the best possible decision in order to not ruffle too many feathers.  At the beginning, there was an alliance of five:  Ozzy, Elyse, Keith, Whitney, and Jim.  You think it would be an easy decision to get rid of Cochran.  However, after Ozzy's remarks, people weren't exactly sure what to do.  At tribal council, Cochran, Dawn, and Jim voted for Elyse.  Ozzy and Elyse voted for Cochran.  Keith and Whitney decided to throw away their votes and both of them voted for Dawn.  I can see where they were coming from with this decision.  However, not only did they betray Ozzy and Elyse, but they didn't exactly take a stand and join the other alliance.  I honestly believe that they should have went one way or the other.  It absolutely was the most exciting tribal council this season, but I think Keith and Whitney should have kept Elyse over Cochran.  The merge still has NOT happened yet.  At this point in the game, it is all about having a physically strong tribe in order to keep the numbers at the merge.  Not only is the tribe physically weaker, but now there are a lot of trust issues, as well.

Elyse has the physical capability to beat Christine next week at the Redemption Island duel.  If she plays her cards right, she could potentially get back into the game.  If Ozzy and Elyse get to play together again, how will this effect Whitney and Keith's game?  Once again, I think Whitney and Keith should have kept Elyse - - or at least made a move one way or another.  It'll be interesting to see how the next few pre-merge episodes lay out.  I definitely see Upolu making it to the merge with the numbers, though....which is how I predicted it at the very beginning.

At this point in the game, anything can happen with the Savaii tribe.  I honestly see them losing again next week.  I'm hoping they decide to get rid of Cochran at this point.  If Upolu ends up losing, then it'll probably be Edna's time to go to Redemption Island.  I predict that Elyse beats Christine in the duel.

Until next time....

Twitter:  the_timgilmore

South Pacific: Episode 4

The episode started out with the second Redemption Island duel between Christine and Papa Bear.  Unfortunately, Papa Bear gave gay guys a bad name and ended up losing the duel.

Back at camp, Jim noticed how cozy Ozzy and Elyse had been getting.  He already knows that Ozzy has a strong alliance, is one of the best physical competitors, and has the experience to go far in the game.  Cochran and Jim came up with a plan to try to get rid of Elyse in order to break up their twosome.  The tribe didn't end up losing the immunity challenge, so we weren't able to watch everyone scramble.  I am hoping that Savaii loses next week so we can see Jim, Cochran, and Dawn try to pull this off.  Honestly, I don't think it is a smart move on Jim's part.  He simply does not have the numbers to make it happen.  He is already in the other alliance that actually has the numbers to kick people off.  Why risk it?  You can't try something like this so soon.  Dawn and Cochran have absolutely nothing to lose from trying to get rid of Elyse, because they are the next two to go anyway.  I thought it was great that Ozzy said that Jim is trying to play the game too much. . . which is exactly what I said a couple weeks ago.  I love when my comments on here are reaffirmed on the show!   Jim just needs to start flying under the radar like he originally said he was going to do.

One thing that I've noticed from these castaways is that there are so many of them who don't really ever say anything:  Sophie, Stacey, Rick, Albert.  I'm definitely going to be memorable WHEN I get on the show.  Talk at tribal council, build relationships...do something!  It's really frustrating to me to see people like this on the show when I know that I could have easily been in one of their spots.  I guess in due time!

One of my brothers mentioned something to me a few days ago - - how he believes that Brandon is fooling EVERYONE.  He's trying to play the "good guy" card, or the "troubled soul" or whatever, but he's actually just doing exactly what Uncle Russell told him to do.  Honestly, at first glance I just thought he was an idiot, but I knew that he was dangerous enough that he needs to go!  After my brother told me this, I've been watching him much more closely.  I actually think he is just playing a game.  At least I hope that's the case...if not then he is the biggest cry-baby I've ever seen in this game.  Hell, he's probably not even married.  Just goes to show that you can't trust anyone!

This week's castoff was Stacey.  I originally thought that she would end up going far if she did everything she said she was going to do. . . but she didn't.  She is easily a forgettable player.  Such a waste.  Next week she will take on Christine in the duel.  Once again, I really don't care who wins.

Next week:  if Upolu loses, I honestly see Edna going home.  If Savaii loses, I see Cochran going home.  Dawn has been doing really well in the challenges.  I don't think the tribe is ready to get rid of her yet.  - - Just a few more episodes until the merge.  The merge is always when things get interesting.  Can't wait!

PS - - the picture at the top caught my eye because Keith is in it.  :)

Follow me on Twitter:  the_timgilmore