CBS Survivor- Kaoh Rong (Brains, Beauty, Brawn)

[goldmom]

Watched Survivor Ponderosa and Scott was actually pretty cool with his exit. He lost nearly 50 pounds in under 30 days, which is amazing.
His reunion with the other three jury members was interesting as well.
The Ponderosa is becoming an interesting part of the show and I'm watching it every week now.

 

[F4Gary]

That's a good question. Do you have to have both idols in your possession prior to reading the votes in order to use them as a super idol after the votes are read? Hmmmm...

 

[44DaCuse44]

Tough call for the two ladies this week: Staying with the majority theoretically only gets them a spot in the final five, while going with Jason/Julia puts them in the final four (and leaves the possibility of taking Goat Jason to the final while eliminating popular Tai). However, they'd be condemning themselves to the minority if Tai played his idol or anything else went wrong.

Aubrey should've been a little more ominous when Tai asked her if he should play his idol. She could've flushed it out without having to actually turn on anyone. Nice subtle try by telling him to use his gut though.

 

[rjstf]

They made it look like, probably through editing, that Tai needed to play his idol. Good call apparently by Aubrey for Tai not to play it. However, now she looks stronger than Tai. The others probably should start scheming to get her out. There is a path for Cydney to win if Aubrey exits, especially if Tai also gets voted out.

 

[Frank"the tank"]

Aubrey is playing a fantastic game. At this point she has to be the leader in the clubhouse to win the $$$. Cydney annoys the hell out of me and will hopefully go soon.

 

[GwinnettNole]

Still pulling for Aubrey to win it..

 

[rjstf]

Revealing that it is Mark who is really controlling the game.

 

[atlseminole]

Well.....after last night, we now have a lot of discord and frowning faces in the alliance. Thoughts?

 

[rjstf]

Sweet Tai got overconfident with his two advantages and tried to dictate to his alliance who to vote out next. Now Aubrey has a clear advantage. Cyndey could be the next best situated, but is too prickly and kind of burned her bridges with Tai. Not good, with Tai able to play his idol next round. It will be difficult for her to round up votes to vote out Aubrey because she doesn't have good relations with the voters she would need. She needs to win immunity again.

I thought Tai made a mistake in targeting Michelle anyway. I didn't see her as a major player. True, Jason was on the outs, but when and if a player like him does make the finals, he could make a claim that he defied the odds. Therefore, you have to close the books on him.

Joe currently has the weakest claim to deserving the trophy, but now is exactly the time he could make a major move and change the game by teaming up with Michelle and Cyndey to oust Aubrey.

 

[peezy28]

Yeah I agree, the Michelle play was not a smart move. Also you realize Jason basically voting himself out by voting for Joe? If he had went with Thai she gets voted out or a tie at least.

 

[atlseminole]

Question. I may've missed it. Who did Aubrey vote for? Cydney is ruthless....I wouldn't want to cross her.

 

[peezy28]

She voted for Jason.

 

[fsUTampa]

Yeah I agree, the Michelle play was not a smart move. Also you realize Jason basically voting himself out by voting for Joe? If he had went with Thai she gets voted out or a tie at least.

Still would've been 4-3 against him.

 

[44DaCuse44]

Yeah I agree, the Michelle play was not a smart move. Also you realize Jason basically voting himself out by voting for Joe? If he had went with Thai she gets voted out or a tie at least.

Did Thai even approach Jason about his plan against Michelle? I don't recall seeing it, but suppose he could have inferred it during tribal. Either way, he didn't know about the extra vote advantage (which was wasted as it turned out).

The only person we saw talk strategy with Jason was Michelle, who griped about Thai, but didn't provide enough evidence that a blindside was feasible. He could reasonably infer that he was being given a story to force him to waste his vote or at best help draw out Thai's idol, which would end up with him being eliminated anyway. He told her that he was going to vote Joe, which makes sense to me. He knew that there was no way to get Joe to turn on the alliance, so he may as well go against him.. We saw that Joe is becoming increasingly annoying and he doesn't go way back with the majority in the alliance of five. That makes him an easy target to get others against. I assume he made that play to some others in footage that went unaired because no one bit on it.

Thai vs Michelle provided more gripping drama now and going forward, so that's what they focused on.

 

[ericram]

Tai wasting his advantage on Michelle was just plain dumb. Michelle and Jason were interchangeable as to who should go home next. Why go against the majority at this time?

 

[44DaCuse44]

For being the "Nice Guy That No One Wants To Go Up Against In The Finals", Thai has quite a resume:

- Sneaking out to search for hidden idols
- Finding idols and not telling his allies (for a while)
- Spilling the beans about the Super Idol Twist at Tribal
- Putting out the camp fire the 2nd time (which I still don't think anyone knows about as Scott has been blamed)
- Turning on at least two alliances
- Reneging on a pact to save his best buddy at the time by employing the Super Idol as they planned
- Befriending Mark and depriving everyone of a chicken dinner

 

[GwinnettNole]

For being the "Nice Guy That No One Wants To Go Up Against In The Finals", Thai has quite a resume:

- Sneaking out to search for hidden idols
- Finding idols and not telling his allies (for a while)
- Spilling the beans about the Super Idol Twist at Tribal
- Putting out the camp fire the 2nd time (which I still don't think anyone knows about as Scott has been blamed)
- Turning on at least two alliances
- Reneging on a pact to save his best buddy at the time by employing the Super Idol as they planned
- Befriending Mark and depriving everyone of a chicken dinner

Mark should be awfully nervous for every tribal...

Survivor has a way of causing nice people to do things that they normally wouldn't. We've seen this time and time again and Thai seems to fit that case. The struggle is when you put people in alliances and you are having to fight for your survival... probably would make us all do things we wouldn't be proud of.

 

[funksouljon]

For those who watch, how is the Ponderosa? I haven't watched at all? What do they cover? What is the format? Is it worth it?

We miss so much through 3 days condensed to an hour and having the leading/misleading editing.

Tai has really moved from sneaky backstabber to pissing off his new alliance. Seems like he is going from playing hard/outwitting to being a jerk.

 

[goldmom]

I watch the Ponderosa episodes a lot. Enjoy the banter with everyone when the latest person shows up.

 

[Frank"the tank"]

Ponderosa episodes are very entertaining. I wish they would have a 30 minute after show (similar to talking dead, etc.) with that weeks cast off as well. It seems like you get more inside knowledge on what is really going on.

This season has been really entertaining and at this point. I think Cydney has been sandbagging on her physical skills and is about to go on a major run in challenges.

 

[44DaCuse44]

Joe's medevac has cost Aubry he most loyal ally and she goes from certain finalist/likely winner to very at risk. Cydney & Michele seem to have the tightest bond among the Final Four - if one of Aubry or Tai wins immunity, the other one probably goes next. I think any of the women could win it at this point. Tai has burned too many jurors and I don't think he has the communication skills to own his flips and get a respect vote.

 

[funksouljon]

Very interesting shake up with Joe's departure. It was such a struggle watching him lallygag through the challenge. If Aubry gets to final 3, I think she wins. And if Tai has enough sense to realize she will beat all of them in the final 3, he will bail on her. He is so clueless, seems to see the world through alternate reality goggles but I don't see a way he can win with any combo of three.

His insistence that he is honest and dependent on trust and loyalty meanwhile he has stabbed 3? alliances in the back... having break downs each episode.....

 

[F4Gary]

So Cydney the body builder sits there and watches Joe eat all that meat, thinking to herself that he shouldn't be eating all that meat, and says nothing to him. Then cries when he is pulled from the game. Right.

 

[ChimpNole]

Aubry wins if she's in the final three. Michele has done nothing and won't win. As said before Tai has blindsided too many and won't win. Cydney knew what was going to happen to Joe. No respect for her. She will win if Aubry gets eliminated.

 

[goldmom]

Cydney is under no obligation to warn Joe he's gonna pay, but anyone who has watched Survivor over the years knows that gorging like that when your stomach is no longer used to food will make you ill. Especially red meat.
Maybe Joe was never a faithful follower of the show.

It was a hard core move on her part. Aubry better hope Cydney can be the one to go. She's tough and just enough under the radar to sneak over the finish line.

 

[F4Gary]

Never said she was under any obligation. Don't like her at all. Nice azz though.

 

[rjstf]

Judging from all the chatter regarding the finale, it apparently will be a final two.

 

[ManicNole]

Judging from all the chatter regarding the finale, it apparently will be a final two.

I was wondering if that was, "the big twist," being advertised since the commercials also state 3 tribals remain. If there were to be 3 people going to final, there would only be 2 tribals left.

 

[ericram]

I hope so. I don't like the 3 person tribals.

 

[GwinnettNole]

It's been a long time since they did a final 2... I prefer that over the threesome finale.

 

[Nole2B]

I can't believe Michelle won. Were the people on the jury sore losers? That's the only way the vote makes sense.

 

[GwinnettNole]

I'm surprised Michele won too. Thought Aubry deserved it more...

 

[rjstf]

I agree that Aubry deserved it more, but juries vary and this one either didn't understand her strategic moves or were swayed by Michelle's social play. Aubry did squander her lead in the last challenge. Being from the brain, ironically she was best in the physical portion, but couldn't visualize the puzzle pattern.

That tribal council where Tai wasted his advantage turned out to be key. He was prescient in seeing Michelle as a threat, but didn't go about talking about it to his alliance in the right way. Michelle fought hard in that tribal council, probably impressing the jury, whereas Tai probably lost his credentials when the jury saw him waste his extra vote.

It was great though to see Sia reward Tai at the ceremony.

 

[Squirrel J.]

Did anyone else notice the slides in the final immunity challenge were orange/blue & Garnet/Gold?

 

[F4Gary]

Disappointed in the vote. The least deserving won a million bucks, the second won 50k, and the most deserving got nothing. Oh well.

The whole can't Seeya segment was a publicity stunt to me. Could have done without it. Same with the crying Cydney's mom thing. I guess they do it to appeal to the women viewers.

 

[ChimpNole]

Disappointed in the vote. The least deserving won a million bucks, the second won 50k, and the most deserving got nothing. Oh well.

The whole can't Seeya segment was a publicity stunt to me. Could have done without it. Same with the crying Cydney's mom thing. I guess they do it to appeal to the women viewers.

Totally agree. Mark the Chicken was more deserving.

 

[goldmom]

The insane segment with the woman in disguise giving Tai money ruined the evening for me. I was not surprised at Michelle's win. I could sense that the tide was running that way and say what you will about her, she made a very savvy decision to remove Neil from the jury. Maybe she does have a few brain cells to go with her "beauty".

 

[peezy28]

I think Neil would have crushed her and definitely could have swayed the vote... I don't think she was deserving more than Audrey but she played the right tools at the MOST important time.

 

[Squirrel J.]

The insane segment with the woman in disguise giving Tai money ruined the evening for me. I was not surprised at Michelle's win. I could sense that the tide was running that way and say what you will about her, she made a very savvy decision to remove Neil from the jury. Maybe she does have a few brain cells to go with her "beauty".

But wasn't it really Tai who pushed her to that savvy decision? She was just going to get rid of Joe since he was an obvious vote. Of course that may have all been editing, but I'm not so quick to give her credit for that one.
I was REALLY hoping Jeff would ask Tai if he had any clue who Sia was, as I'm guessing most people who watch Survivor don't.

 

[atlseminole]

Wow. I was so surprised Aubrey didn't win. I think she deserved it far more than Michelle or Tai. I will give it to Michelle though....she really came on strong the last couple of weeks. She was killing those last few comps.
I think the majority of America was scratching their head over the random Sia appearance. Do most people even know who she is? I barely do. Tai looked utterly confused.