Previously on SURVIVOR:
Coming into this episode, I've been characterizing Ometepe and Zapatera by two simpler names: The Dumb Tribe and The Smart Tribe. Now, hear me out. I understand that there are segments of both tribes that could justify both titles, but on the whole, there's a whole lot of dumb going on over at Rob's tribe, and a smarter, more united group going on at Russell's (former) tribe.
Ometepe
The way Rob is running Ometepe is just mind-boggling. His will be done, it seems. You have to give the man credit where credit is due, but there is no shaking the feeling that he got paired with a bunch of amateurs, and had he ended up on Zapatera, he would have been kicked off about as quick as Russell, on principle alone. These Ometepe guys act like they're absolutely clueless to the game Rob is playing. He's not even being sneaky about it. He's running it like a benevolent dictator, and they appear to be happy with it, without even a trace of "hey, make us unhappy, and we'll kick you right off of here. There's six of us and one of you." Well, as of the end of last week, now there's five of them, because Rob told everyone that Kristina was getting voted out next. Dumb.
Zapetera
Regardless of whether or not you agree with the whole notion of throwing a challenge just to out Russell, there's no doubt that, thus far, it has improved morale. Now, it may end up being more significant if or when things becomes a numbers game at the merge, but for now, things are looking good for the tribe. They just have to deal with Stephanie and Krista whining a lot about a really, really bad decision they made when they decided to be BFFs with Russell. And apparently they're ready to go to the death to defend that decision? Like I said, even the smart tribe has its quirks. Or idiots.
Redemption Island Ep. 05: "We Hate Our Tribe"
We Hate Our Phillip
Though there are always bigger things going on around him, Phillip has become the quiet star of this show. I've never seen such a subtly hilarious contestant on television than Phillip. A lot of the things he says are easy to dismiss, but if you really think about them, there is a silent poetry to the things he says (i.e. "The girls are like crabs.") You have to respect the man for marching to his own drum, and for sticking around as long as he has. Pink underwear and all.
We Hate Our (Former) Tribe
At Redemption Island, Matt easily dispatched of Kristina in a simple game of block building. During the challenge, however, he called Rob out on his "rascal" tactics, blindsiding him like he did. Jeff prodded Rob for a response; and Rob, veteran that he is, gave nothing up. "It takes more than one person to vote someone out, Jeff. You know that." What a pro, what a pro.
Matt also made mention of his hope to return to Ometepe and make it to the final three with Rob and Grant. Assuming the merge is fast approaching, and also that the champ of Redemption Island will return to the game at that point, Matt could turn things around a little bit. He's a wild card- a genuinely good guy that just got blindsided because he was too palsy-walsy for Rob's liking. But he could just get kicked off Remption Island next week. So there it is.
We Hate Our Tribe
Our resident village idiot Stephanie and her lackey Krista got to represent Zapatera at Redemption Island this week. Never one to let any opportunity to screw herself pass, Stephanie verbalized her disdain with her tribe, stating she'd rather be playing for the enemy. Krista seconded this, and Rob said it sounded interesting, if it was true. Stephanie flashed her best "Who wouldn't trust this face?" smile, and Rob seemed unconvinced. But just to throw the poor girls a bone, Rob whispered for them to "Hang in there" as they were walking out. This little aside prompted a talking head where Stephanie started talking about not planting seeds, but whole sequoia trees into Rob's brain! She just flipped the entire game on its head in one moment! Wait. No she didn't. While it was all Stephanie could talk about for the rest of her time on screen this week, Rob made no mention of it. At all.
From his perspective, if they're lying, big deal, he'll play along so they feel they've accomplished something. And if they are genuinely desperate, well, he has no problem letting them know he can be friendly. Regardless, they just played right into his hands, and all he had to do was use three words to make it so. Again, is the man a genius or are the people around him just that stupid? I think it's a little of both.
We Hate Our Ladies
Poor Phillip! He's having trouble making an "impression on the ladies" (The man is a poet!). He isn't self-aware enough to understand that he's a little awkward. And abrasive. Two things people tend to shy away from. Did I mention he was in the Secret Service?
So with Rob and Grant at Redemption Island for the duel, Phillip wishes he could work some magic on the girls and maybe stick around the game a little longer. Well, as it turns out, Ashley and Natalie aren't really huge fans of Phillip OR Andrea. And, as it also turns out, Andrea sees the other ladies of the tribe as a bit shallow, and longs for deeper conversations than those that begin with, "It only looks bad because my skin is wet" and end with, "Oh, my god... STOP."
We Hate Our King
What follows next is a conversation that could possibly have long-lasting effects, if it isn't nipped in the bud. Andrea and Phillip end up convening and having a conversation about being varying levels of outsiders in the tribe. It's obvious, given her quickness to dismiss Matt as "long gone," she still holds some fear/resentment at how that situation went down. When Andrea says she's afraid to suggest sending the other girls home first because then her head's on the chopping block, it may be the most telling explanation thus far concerning exactly how things work at Ometepe. The fingerprints of Rob run through every single conversation this tribe has. Phillip sums the entire thing up well: "The king is a dictator."
We Hate Our Puzzle Solver
What exactly it was that prompted Sarita, and then everyone in Zapetera, to go along with Stephanie as the caller AND puzzle solver is beyond me. Inevitably, they lost. I mean, that's really about it. But on the plus side, at least we don't have to hear Julie worry that karma will make them lose the next challenge anymore. Unless Karma is another word for "crappy decisions at the outset," it had nothing to do with it.
The fallout from the challenge is far-reaching, and turns into a full-blown argument between David and Sarita. She claims he's bad under pressure, which prompts him to say he's solving all the puzzles from here on out, no questions asked. And there seems to be no complaints from the onlookers.
We Are Beginning to Hate Our Tribe
Will this be the day that the famed alliance of six began to crumble? Sarita and Julie go on a walk and talk about how David is a lawyer "at his core," which I guess makes him a horrible person. and Julie says she wants Krista off because she doesn't like her, but has hope for the village idiot Stephanie.
I could spend an hour on this. All this talk about maybe bringing Stephanie into the fold... why? She's a loose cannon. How quick they are to forget her meltdown at Tribal Council just a few days ago where she basically fought Russell's entire, futile battle for survival. She acted like a brat. I don't know why there is even a discussion about this. Let alone more than one.
We Hate Our Tribal Council
At Tribal, Krista says the first smart thing she's said the entire game. Amazing what she comes up with when she's not just quietly going along with something a dumb person is saying. Jeff Probst singles her out to identify sub-alliances within the main alliance of six. She happily obliges. Mike and Steve. Julie and Steve. Sarita and Ralph. And then she says she doesn't know where that leaves David. Why is this the first we've heard of this? Why didn't she throw Stephanie to the wolves after her sorry showing at Tribal when Russell was voted off, and try and get herself aligned with Dave, and perhaps one or two others? It may not have worked, but Mike is right when he says Krista didn't even try. Krista even says "What was I supposed to do? Go to everyone and say, 'Hey, everyone! Let's vote out Stephanie!" Yes, Krista, that's exactly what you do. It's called making the best of a bad situation. Not sitting on your hands.
You would think perhaps Stephanie would vote Krista, and Krista vote for Stephanie, just as a show of good faith to the rest of the tribe, or as an extended hand to say "I know my chances are slim, but I'm not an idiot." Nope, they are. They both vote together for Steve. It's absolutely beyond me. Stephanie was right at Redemption Island when she said she'd fit in at Ometepe.
Anyway, Krista is sent to Redemption Island where she'll face Matt in a duel; and all of Stephanie's hope to "keep the faith in each other alive" dies, because even if she manages to finagle herself into this alliance, you know she's out of there if Krista ends up winning that duel, as big a deal as the two of them have made about everything up to this point. They're just too dangerous to potentially keep together.
It'll take a small miracle for Stephanie to stay in this game for much longer. But things get interesting when there's only one person left outside of an alliance. That's when the wheeling and dealing begins. And this is where both Stephanie and Phillip find themselves going into episode six. Next week should make for an interesting Tribal Council regardless of which tribe happens to be there.
No comments:
Post a Comment