I shouldn't be forgetting each week who is on the green tribe or what their tribe's name even is. Aubry inadvertently spoke for all of us when she couldn't remember the name of her tribe.
There really shouldn't be two different challenges when there's three tribes. There should just be one challenge for immunity and reward. First place receives immunity + reward, second place receives immunity and third place goes to tribal. I can't believe a tribe that comes in second even gets reward, even if it is a diminished form of what the winner's get. Then it becomes "don't come in last", when there should be more incentive to finish first in the most important challenge.
In addition to that, a greater number of challenges produces less thrilling results. It reduces the probability of the weaker tribe winning. This seems to be how the green tribe, despite losing the last two reward challenges, is still untouched. Five of the tribe's members have yet to go to tribal council and claim their torches. On the flip-side, the one time that the blue tribe comes in second, they're sent packing for tribal council. Once again, another bad shake of things for the tribe.
I think there's more interesting stuff going on but instead we're stuck with this weak blue tribe, the original members of Mana. I'm not saying rig the challenges so we see more of the green tribe, but how about cut the reward challenge and then give the viewers an extra ten minutes of camp life and confessionals?
2) The show's gameplay has not been as exciting as billed yet.
As the show continues to try to push the Game Changers mantra in to our faces, the actual gameplay has been far from game-changing. In fact, it's reverted to the early days of Survivor where one tribe pits itself against the other.
The tribe swap has created an us vs. them mentality among players, as the members of the original Nuku and Mana tribes continue to target members from the other that are in the minority. This was the first week that an original Mana member wasn't voted out. But I find it fascinating that people that were on the same tribe together for just six days are clinging on to each other. Tai didn't need to play an idol on anyone last week. He was safe. So it will be interesting to see who from the original Nuku group will be selfish and put their needs before the group's needs--a group that no longer is physically intact with each other. And for JT, this is what led to his elimination.
3) JT- is he actually the show's worst winner ever? (He isn't)
The biggest problem with all-stars seasons, particularly when some players have better Survivor resumes than other players on the season is that their legacies can take a big blow from what happens when they play again, and then revisionist history is written.
I watched Survivor: Tocantins in the off-season, and was impressed by how JT ran through everyone in the game. He was so well-liked that his adversaries were giving confessionals where they said they wanted JT to win more than they wanted themselves to win. JT played a near-flawless game, and even came back despite a numeric disadvantage at the merge. He played a lot of folks with his southern charm and quickly became one of the show's greatest challenge competitors. And strategically, he made a great move in throwing Stephen under the bus when he needed to and he worked the jury masterfully, earning a unanimous win. If he never plays again, he's a easily in the discussion as a top 10 winner.
But then he makes three clear mistakes over his next two tries. But two of them were risks that had they played out differently, might have been worth taking. Remember, he's already won a million dollars, so now it's like he's playing with house money and is willing to take big gambles. The show pushes for big moves and swinging for the fences, but then laughs at those that strike out.
Should he have given Russell the idol? Absolutely not. But remember, he has no idea who Russell Hantz is. Not everyone on the Villains tribe was an ultra-villain. Had it been Coach or Tyson or maybe even Randy, and they were actually in the minority, the move could have paid dividends. So how could JT know that Russell is who he says he is? Had his risk paid off, he might have been in the best position out of anyone in the game and we'd be talking about him as the first ever two-time winner and indisputable GOAT.
Last week JT gambled on Brad being loyal to him. His hope was to idol out Sandra. Though it was in his best interest to get rid of Sandra, it was in the best interest of the other tribe to pick off the team's strongest member so they can beat them in challenges. Had Sandra gone home? JT has Malcolm at his side who was close with Aubry and suddenly he's got numbers while the tribe stays strong. Should he have stuck to the tribe's original plan in retrospect? Absolutely. He clearly made the wrong move two times, but we shouldn't come down too hard on the guy for wanting to play the game hard and wanting to produce exciting moments for the show. He's basically been playing with nothing to lose the last two times and I applaud him for playing a gutsy game.
As for not playing the idol after being caught screwing over his tribe in the previous vote? That's indefensible. Aubry must have assured him that he was safe. Aubry has to really be on the outs from the other three if she voted with JT and was stunned at the result.
JT did not play Wednesday night's episode well at all and let himself get too cocky, leading to his downfall. But I plead for you not to define JT by his recent blunders, and instead remember the dominant force that couldn't be stopped in Tocantins. And if you want to use JT's blunders as an argument for why Stephen should have won instead, look no further than what happened when Stephen played without JT. Do they need each other? Probably not. Do they make one heck of a dynamic duo that would crush it on The Amazing Race? Absolutely.
P.S. We've now lost three of the season's seven or eight most interesting and popular players. Selfishly I wouldn't mind letting go of someone like say, Debbie, next week... (more on this in a bit)
4) Sandra owned the episode.
Though her team lost, Sandra controlled the vote, and stirred up craziness as only Sandra could. The face she made to the camera during JT's argument with Michaela was priceless, although I feel the actual "sugargate" scandal didn't deliver much.
Though she's in control right now, I'm not feeling great about her moving forward. We all know what Sandra is capable of, but I think she's showing too much cockiness. It's an arrogance that's really off-putting. In her previous tries, Sandra was more sassy than she was cocky. She challenged the cocky players (Fairplay and Russell) and made herself a great antihero. This time she may just be the villain. And just about every villain (not just in Survivor) has its downfall.
5) Debbie's outburst: more Sue Hawk or Brandon Hantz?
Definitely Brandon Hantz. Sue Hawk's blowup in All-Stars was at least warranted. Debbie was acting insanely delusional, just as Brandon was. Though I've made it clear that I'd like less out of the challenges, I did enjoy how they edited this part. I liked seeing them strategize on who should do what part as it was relevant to the story. Even greater, I loved seeing the black and white flashback to what Brad actually said to Debbie. I also laughed when Debbie continued to bombard Brad during the immunity challenge. She sounded like a fed-up, entitled little leaguer.
But man, if you weren't on the Brad bandwagon already, how could you not be at this point? He kept his cool the way an athlete does when Debbie got in his face and started spewing falsehoods. He remained calm and kind. He handled the situation beautifully. And the way that his tribemates reacted when Debbie started targeting him? Everyone had his back. In no way is he a dictator, and in fact, he's emerging as an excellent leader. Though he got a rough edit his first time out, Culpepper had a reputation as a very nice guy as a football player. It's good to see that side of him and to see him doing well. I wouldn't quite yet crown him as the greatest former professional athlete to play Survivor but he certainly is working his way up the list (Jeff Kent remains king).
Debbie handled things as badly and as irrationally as she could. She's easily my pick for the next person to be voted out.
6) I'm intrigued by next week's twists.
As Game Changers continues to glorify itself for its fast pace and numerous twists, I'm in for a new tribe swap. I think the first tribe swap's been a bust and only made the show worse. (This is me being results-oriented). I think going back to two tribes will make things more interesting, and hopefully we get in to a situation where the original Nuku tribe is forced to turn on each other. It will make the show more interesting and hopefully people start to abandon their thin day one loyalties.
Teased in the trailer for next week is "the return of a former Survivor." So what might that mean? I have some (doomed-to-be-wrong) theories:
Theory 1- It's Boston Rob, Rupert or Parvati showing up for a reward challenge. For those that might have missed it, once upon a time Rupert showed up on the Israeli version of Survivor. The tribe that won reward won a day with Rupert, as he came back to camp with them and helped them build a shelter and caught some fish. Could it be an appearance from Rupert or another Survivor legend? Also, it's worth noting that Parvati was out there for several days of media coverage during the season and the show could have found an easy way to incorporate her into a scene. Although I'm not sure how I'd feel about bringing the media out of the press box and in to the battlefield.
Theory 2 (the least interesting and most likely one)- It's Monica Culpepper as a part of a very early loved ones visit.
Theory 3- A random former player joins the season late. Perhaps they finally settled that contract dispute with Brian Heidik and they were only able to get him for two thirds of the season? (This by far least likely).
Theory 4- A player who played on this season returns as a re-up of the unpopular outcasts twist... And it's Malcolm. Production realizes its mistake and fears the backlash from the fans after screwing the season's most popular player. Although I hated the outcasts twist in Pearl Islands, I would totally be ok with this happening. Malcolm got screwed.
After loving the first two episodes of the season, my excitement level has gone down over the last two weeks. Maybe a twist will be a breath of fresh air.
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