NSLog();

Survivor week is here. I watched last night with Gabe and Daria, and now I'm blogging about it around 1 on Friday. Rob screwed Heidious and Jenna last week (not in the way he'd truly like to screw them), and so this week was an interesting one. Christy being voted out? Unexpected!

This week begins with a late-night bitchfest. Jenna felt betrayed and almost passed out? Both brain cells not getting enough oxygen there Jenna? She would never sacrifice "personal relationships" for a gamble. Jenna, it is a game. Rob is doing what he needs to do to stay in the game. The recurring theme this week is going to be just that: "It's a Game." Even Matt said that in his little speech.

Later Heidous and Jenna talk with Rob, Heidous cries. Rob says "it's time to evaluate what you're willing to do to win this game." Yes, Rob gets it: it's a game.

Next scenes: Christy, Rob, Matt, Butch working; Jenna and Heidous sleeping. This brings up an interesting point: work. Last week Jenna, Heidous, Rob, and Alex didn't do any work because they're in the majority. Nick says that if you're in the minority you shouldn't do any work, because it only benefits those who will stay in the game: the majority. Frankly, I'm not sure I look at it all that way: Jenna and Heidous are lazy bitches used to using their looks to get people to do things for them. Very simple. Matthew, Christy, Butch, and to some extent Rob: used to working for themselves. Self-sufficiency is key here, and who was voted "most likely to not be able to survive on her own?" last week? It wasn't Butch, Rob, Christy, or Matt.

Heidous and Jenna continue to stand around while others struggle, in the rain, to erect a new fire shelter. They pull Christy aside and hatch their evil plan: a 3-on-3 tie against Rob and either Heidous/Jenna. Rob would lose, and Christy would make it to at least the final three.

Heidous really is stupid, isn't she? "I didn't get out here 31 days to be screwed over and just take it." She misuses language, even in the simplest sentences, all the time, and it's really not flattering. Nor is how she looks when she talks. Or does much of anything else…

Given the results, and hindsight being 20/20 and all that, it's interesting that Heidous didn't see the alternative plan: Heidous/Jenna get Rob, Matt, and Butch to vote out Christy. This still leaves Jenna and Heidous down, making the plan not terribly unappealing to Rob/Matt/Butch, but saves their skin another week. All they'd need then is to flip one person to gain the 3-2 advantage. Is this what will happen next week? I guess we'll see.

Rob pulls Christy aside and tells him of the talk he had with Jenna/Heidous last night (perhaps I should call the two of them Heinna - sounds a bit like hyena). He plays on something that's not quite been exposed in Christy yet: her desire to "beat Heinna" instead of her desire to win. She wants to last longer than Heinna, and that's her goal. Rob says that Jenna says "we've worked so much harder than her [Christy]" eliciting an "I've never seen Jenna chop down a tree" response from Christy. Did Jenna really say that? Or is Rob lying? I'd believe either: Rob lies a lot and Jenna's a stuck up snobby bitch.

Christy: "I think I could go farther with the girls, but I like the guys more." Christy, no offense, but that's exactly the reason you're in the game: to win, to go further. You're forgetting this week's lesson: it's a game! Play it. "Is it better to win a million dollars or to be the final girl to kick butt?" Hello! McFly! Anyone home?!? Winning Survivor - and the $1,000,000 - is the best way to kick butt! Grrrrrrr!!!

The reward challlenge is a race/puzzle. Matt starts off badly, head-diving into the sand. Ouch! The canoeing is funny - Jenna swimming around, Rob swimming around, Christy swimming around, and Matt winning easily. Jeff says "one" of them will win a visit from their loved one. Is this the first season he's lied so much himself? I dunno. Making Matt choose is a crummy way to go. He probably wondered if he might not get to see his mom in the end, anyway, but still a crappy place to put someone. As Rob later points out, everyone would have chosen the same way (sidebar: not so sure Jenna or Heidous would have, but maybe that's just me). At least Matt gets "special treatment" with his mom - a bigger feast, etc. - and fortunately nobody talks about him behind his back while he's off enjoying the spoils of his victory.

I like how Rob looks like he's about to cry when his mom comes out. Heh heh heh. Jenna's advice to her dad: "Don't run, you'll hurt your knees." Matthew "felt like a God." Rob tells his mom "I've been really bad" and she replies sarcastically "I'm shocked!" The best thing about this dinner? The wine they all take back with them. The worst thing? The Speedo™ we have to see on Rob! Ack! They're all so drunk. Christy gets her foot stuck in a tree, Butch passes out, Rob pukes and says "at least one of those two people [Christy, Butch] soiled themselves." Matt and his mom enjoy a visit from an Amazon indian tribe. I think if I saw them coming towards me like that, I'd run away. They looked scary! Maybe I'd take my clue from the camera men: if they run, I run too. Cut back to Rob talking about how he made up with the girls. It wasn't by singing! Incidentally, Heidous's fake breasts look soooo terrible. They looked bad before, but she's lost some weight, and ugh!

Rob is now talking about wanting to go to the end of the game with someone more disagreeable than yourself. He'd planned on taking Matt, because he's a "spazz," but now Matt is the "patron saint of reward challenges." Matt may be "cut off" before the final two. Rob then goes to Jenna to tell him he wants to take her to the final two. "There's nothing stopping you from going back to the group and telling them this." So that's what she does. Does Rob do this on purpose, or is it a lapse? "I have morals, I have ethics, and he has none. I refuse to go along with his crappy plan" says Jenna. Jenna, dear, one thing: it's a game.

Heidous and Rob have a little convo following the Jenna blabbing. Heidous says she told her mom she's "played good." Sorry dear, the word you want is "well." Rob says camp is like hanging out with two ex-girlfriends who hate him. He says "I am a jerk, and you just didn't realize it for 31 days." Previously Heidous said Rob is a puppetmaster. Guess what, Heidous? Puppetmasters can win the game! Lest you forget: it's a game. And you're (not) playing it very "good." Heidous's crying leads to an all-out flamefest in full view of the rest of the camp. Jenna: "you've lied." Rob: "did you ever think maybe I was lying to you?" My guess? Probably not. You see, people hear what they want to hear, and Rob knows that. "I'm sorry that I was playing the same game you are" says Rob, and Jenna comes back with "I care about my personal relationships." Clue to Jenna: it's a game. Will these people really play that much of a role in your "personal" life in another week? Surprisingly, Heidous seems to get it at the end. Jenna: "I'll try to make your life miserable." Sigh…

Rob is a lone wolf, an alliance of one, picking up the bottom feeders promised a dream of getting to the end. Matt and Butch talk to Rob, and he reassures them of the plan. They buy it, and that's fine. Christy is still with us, Matt says, but then Christy gets pulled aside by Heidous again. Heidous asserts that with Jenna and herself, Christy would be at least top three, but with Butch, Matt, and Rob, she'd be fourth. There's some logic there. However, unless Christy won immunity in that top three, that's as far as she'd go. Heidous and Jenna would both stand a better chance going against each other than the poor deaf girl who worked hard and never lied to anyone. I'd have given her a better chance in the foursome than the threesome.

The immunity challenge is interesting, and Matt only got one puck: surprising given his former skill with the weapons. Jenna and Butch with five? Interesting. Jeff's quip after Christy's first slide is "strategy, or just a weak toss?" said with a tone that made the three of us bust out laughing. The end is interesting: Heidous knocks rob into immunity and Jenna out. Butch plays a bounce off of Jenna's and gets in on immunity. Christy knocks rob closest and everyone else out. Jenna misses Rob's pick, and Butch knocks Heidous's pick closer than Rob's. Jenna, who you think might just let Heidous win given their alliance, actually plays to win for herself, risking giving immunity to Rob in the process, and pulls it off. Lucky but not smart. My guess is that this is how Jenna gets through life. Heidous looks deeply troubled.

Rob's stomach in knots, he talks to Christy. Rob asks Christy her plans for later with "you're still gonna vote for Heidous tonight?" Her reply? "I guess so." And right there, that's where she loses. She becomes a wild card, one nobody can rely on, and thus a big freakin' target. With those three words she sealed her fate. Rob goes to Heidous, and Heidous loves the plan. "Let's do it." Heinna seems happy, and we thought they might still be scheming themselves, but no, in the end, they vote out Christy.

Jenna says that other women think "you're a stupid model, you just can't hack it." Well Jenna, let's review: you often forget that you're playing a game, you've been accused of using sex appeal to get what you want, you've been voted least likely to survive on your own, and you never do any work? I'd say those "other women" nailed it. Your own previous comments with Heidous about "those fat old women" don't help your case at all. Jeff again asks a lot of good questions about "playing to win" versus "playing to get as far as you can get."

Christy says "I'm in the driver's seat. I make the final decision." Jeff incredulously asks "Really?" It's interesting that Jenna further cemented an alliance Heidous by giving her immunity necklace to her. She says "strategy is all I can say," and given how things shake out, I'm left with one question: what strategy? Christy votes for Jenna with "we don't need you." Butch voted for Jenna, meaning that Matt was also flipped into voting for Christy. Perhaps there wasn't enough time for Matt to talk to Butch, or perhaps they simply didn't need his vote, or perhaps stockpiling votes against Jenna is a good thing. Rob got no votes.

Christy looks shocked when she gets to her third vote: I guess she expected two. Her "parting speech" is incredibly lame, still blaming the girls instead of Rob.

Anyway, here's where we stand: Rob, Matt, Butch and Heidous, Jenna. Heidous says "it's to my advantage to get Jenna voted out." I won't read into that too much, as it could be out of context. I will, however, give my take on the situation as it stands right now.

Butch will win against anyone in the final two. For that reason, he needs to go really soon. You don't want to wait until it's down to three because he may win the immunity. If Butch goes next episode, that leaves a two-on-two situation: Jenna/Heidous vs. Matt/Rob. Who can Rob really win against? His best bet may be Heidous or Jenna - they slacked off, they whined, and votes against them may come from Dave and Deena and might certainly come from Christy.

I want Rob to win. I do. He's played the best game so far, and he's right in being surprised that it's taken everyone this long to notice. Will everyone vote for the best "player" of the game or will they vote emotionally? It's tough to say. Normally I'd say they're good about rewarding "players" over "favorites" but Vecepia throws a monkey wrench into that line of thinking with her lame victory a season or so ago.

Next week:

• The Survivors react to Butch's bizarre behavior when he obsessively stacks firewood everywhere throughout the camp.
• Returning to their camp, the Survivors find devastation after a fire rages through their shelter and belongings, leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their backs. (Awesome! Yes!)
• Believing they are on the chopping block, Jenna and Heidous refuse to help in rebuilding the camp. Will this seal their fate?
• One Survivor is worn out and sick, and begs to be voted out. Will the others comply? (This explain's Rob's "if you're willing to put your head on the chopping block, I'm willing to chop it off.)

We shall see what unfolds. We shall see.

Comments RSS