Survivor Results: Week 4

First off, a correction. Dawn pointed out to me that some of Paul's pool picks were duplicates. This was because of my transcription error. So, if you're paying attention, Paul's #8 through #1 should look like this:

8th: Danny
7th: Jessica
6th: Crystal
5th: Bob
4th: Charlie
3rd: Corinne
2nd: Ace
1st: Dan

If you go look at the original 9/25 post now, it's accurate, but that's because I just corrected it.

And hey, how about that Survivor episode?

The Episode

Reward Challenge: The challenge producers are really into the idea of putting a Survivor spin on team sports this time around. It beats endless obstacle course/puzzle combinations, but I think they need to make them a little smoother in the future.

In the reward challenge, contestants had to throw fruit through high wall openings, while opposing tribe members attempted to swat said fruit out of the air using modified bats. The team that successfully passed the most fruit, in weight, through the bat-defended gauntlet won reward. It was a little too confusing to say what strategies were clearly working-- some people were throwing multiple pieces of fruit at a time, there were options in choosing fruit sizes, and throwers had to figure out how to fake out the bat-wielder without faking out their fruit-catching teammates.

In the end, Kota won some spices and herb plants to make their food options more appetizing. It appears that they also won the fruit. They sent Sugar out to Exile "Island" for the third time in a row, and she lounged happily in what has been dubbed the Sugar Shack.


Kota tribal relations: We didn't get to see too much of Kota, but we did see Dan paying a lot of lip service to the idea that the seven of them should form a seven person alliance that lost no team immunity challenges and thereby get to the end of the game. I'm sure this is a very attractive option, until you do lose an immunity challenge and are therefore forced to consider where you stand among your seven. Marcus expressed suspicion of Dan and the too-quiet Susie to the camera. I suppose that makes Randy the safest of the three former Fang minority members on that tribe.

Immunity Challenge: This was a fun idea, but I don't think it gave enough tribe members important roles to play. Team members rolled giant balls down a hill, where a series of gates worth different point values caught the balls. At the bottom of the hill, a blindfolded tribe member attempted to block the ball, depending on the verbal directions of a teammate. Ace, taking directions from Sugar, was very ineffective at successfully blocking the balls, and it was clear that this was causing tensions between the two. At one point, Ace got beaned in the face by a shield, and he yelled up at Jeff "A shield in my eye!" with none of that fake accent whatsoever, which was hilarious. He's gone in and out of the accent several times, but this was the most obvious time. There's something really funny about a guy who uses a ten-dollar vocabulary and a vaguely British accent suddenly clutching his face in pain and sounding like a mill worker from Ohio. Oh, and Fang lost. In the last roll of the balls, Randy called out "Stop Ace!" Despite the fact that Randy was his opponent, Ace stupidly froze, allowing a game-winning point to be scored.

Fang Tribal Relations: Last week, we had a clear controlling majority of original Fang members Danny, Matty, Crystal, and Ken. Kelly joined them, but it remains unclear how deep in that grouping she really is. Ace and Sugar were on the outs, but they had a hidden immunity idol with the potential to shake things up a bit. So things were looking pretty good for the majority until this week, when Danny decided to up and quit the game for no good reason. He told Matty first, and Matty immediately told everyone else on the tribe, which may have been a smarter play than it seemed. If his alliance ever gets anywhere near the end, Matty sits much higher in an alliance with Kelly, Ken, and Crystal that he sits in an alliance with Ken, Crystal, and GC.
The show tried to play up a potential blindside against Sugar, but in the end, they unanimously voted out Danny, as per his wishes. Oh, and everyone now knows Sugar has the idol.

Danny was about the most detestable contestant ever. He had an unpleasant personality, which isn't uncommon on this show, but his real failing was his failure to act like anything but an enormous baby. He barely tried in the challenges, was constantly turning simple differences of opinion into high-stress grudge battles, and worst of all, he quit the game when he had the opportunity to go very far. What a loser! Crystal berated him harshly and accurately, and has thereby provided the elegy that he deserves.







The Pool

Once again, everyone but Mom and Kim correctly predicted Kota's immunity win, and picked up 4 points as a result. I had the best week of anyone, having predicted Danny out in 11th place (he actually left in 14th place), and so I posted a minute gain of 1 point. Jen and Mom had the worst weeks of anyone-- Jen had too much faith in Danny, predicting that he would make 2nd place, while Mom's incorrect immunity pick gave her no softening effect on her 9 point loss. Paul is still in first place with a hefty 13 point lead over 2nd place Mike, while Dawn crept a little closer to getting out of the cellar. In general, people thought Danny would do better-- other than me, everyone had him in their top 8.

1st: Paul 104 (-6 +4)
2nd: Mike 93 (-9 +4)
3rd: Matt 86 (-3 +4)
4th: Jen 85 (-12 +4)
5th: Carl 82 (-7 +4)
6th: Mom 75 (-9 +0)
6th: Kim 75 (-7 +0)
8th: Dawn 66 (-9 +4)

But things are about to get shaken up in a big way. Why? Because it's now time to send in your second set of picks!

That's right, this second set of picks will be weighted double, and so they are doubly important. I definitely need them by next Wednesday, so please take a moment and arrange the remaining 13 contestants in the order you think they will finish. I know that Mom is going to be away for a week or two, so I'm going to let her current picks ride, and then ask her to update before she watches any more shows.

Good luck, everyone!