Survivor: Cambodia- Second Chance

[Hewson]

Abi-normal .

That nickname's a keeper.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

We're watching the immunity challenge and at the exact same time, my wife and I both shouted at the TV "just grab it!". It was clear nobody was paying attention, everyone was focused on the big wobbly stick.

Plus, they've never hidden them in challenges in Survivor history, so literally nobody is going to figure out just what the hell is going on or question if she walks away for two seconds. It's not going to become an issue until more clues/idols are found and people are in on it or the challenge team starts tossing them in places so blatantly obvious that it can't be ignored.

Also, they're going to have all sorts of different idols this year including ones that look like they were made by a five-year old kid. This is to throw everyone off and to allow people to make fake ones. If the real idols now look "fake" then it will be a lot easier to pass off a fake one as real.

 

[MrPryck2U]

That nickname's a keeper.

Boom!

 

[MrPryck2U]

I don't know. This week was kind of a ho hum episode. All the pointless drama with Abi-normal is already getting lame. Terry made the right move to actually pretend to give a shit about her. Now he's got her in his back pocket. After all the drama she had with Shirin, it was interesting to see who she actually voted for. Next week looks way more entertaining.

 

[Hewson]

Best part was when Woo shot Shirin and Spencer down, "Absolutely not". Love seeing someone just be straight forward.

And of course the other team could only win the Immunity Challenge when they got mental midget Kass off of the puzzle. She was part of the brains tribe last time but couldn't do a puzzle to save her life, but she still insists on claiming she'd be the best at it obviously.

 

[MrPryck2U]

Right, they're barely showing the "other tribe". They're too busy winning challenges. Or making Fish look like a goof, which isn't too difficult.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Well, in Kass's defense, she kicked ass at the final four immunity back in her season where she spent forever in the water and then totally dominated the puzzle. She also nearly beat Woo in the puzzle in the final immunity challenge. She's a smart woman.

Going from two tribes to three tribes is brilliant and something I always hoped they would do. It's clearly going to allow Fishbach and Spencer to reset their games. Spencer has been edited from the first moment as this season's power player and it's unfortunate that his boring ass is going to be allowed that as he surely would have gone next on his original tribe. Fishbach is going to slice the throats of the alpha males that were worried about him, obviously.

I'm absolutely loving this season as the strategy is going at a million miles an hour and there's a ton of great character moments. Jeff Varner and Abi-Maria are television gold, Savage and Jeremy had some intimate moments to share, Stephen is a total wreck out there. A lot of fun to watch.

It's clear from the edit though that certain players make almost no impression over the course of the season, albeit as characters or strategically. They ignored about a third of the cast in the premiere (I reckon about a dozen players had a flashback intro to their previous season while the rest did not). I don't think we've heard a peep yet from Monica, for example, and I imagine she'll get tossed for being physically useless once the tribes become six person teams.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Right, they're barely showing the "other tribe". They're too busy winning challenges. Or making Fish look like a goof, which isn't too difficult.

Again, all played up for their storyline where Fishbach will start taking names on the new tribes next week. Even if some of the alphas are wary of the guy, they're not going to want to lose a male from a tribe with only six people on it...unfortunately for them, Fishbach will have no problem working with members from the opposite original tribe to cut out people like Savage, Jeremy and Joe. If I had to gamble, it would be Joe given the moment in the last episode where Fishbach labels him as the golden boy of Survivor.

I looked it up...there were eight people that didn't get a proper "redemption" intro in the premiere. Two of them are already out of the game, so yeah, they unfortunately made it obvious that some people have no shot at winning.

The eight:

Spoiler

Keith, Monica, Peih-Gee, Shirin, Stephen, Terry, Vytas, Woo

 

[MrPryck2U]

Well, they can split them up into 3 tribes, but Fish doesn't really stand a chance. Right now, his social game is for shit and he just looks like a goofball. Eventually, they'll all be merged into one anyway, so it won't really matter. But, like Abi-normal, Fish could be used as someone's pawn. Out of the 8 that you listed, Terry is easily the best. Hell, they've barely shown Monica. One thing I enjoy about the show, is that often the winner is a wild card in the beginning. Last season, Mike was so out there, it looked impossible for him to win. Especially after the move he made at the auction. Then before that it was Tony who was constantly lying, but somehow managed a decent strategy. If Abi-normal keeps her shit together, she might be able to last a while in this game because people know she's a loose canon. But, if she has an all out Brandon Hantz moment, she is gone. Either that or she'll quit.

 

[Sicy]

Dammit Abi slides through again. She is so ridiculous.

Usually when players dont get a lot of early air time doesn't it mean they do well later on or even end up in the finals?

 

[BigMacPhisto]

There isn't necessarily a correlation except that the winner rarely is outright ignored in a lot of episodes. I really don't see the winner being one of those eight people because I think they would have wanted to hype their second chance storyline in the premiere (and it's no coincidence that two of those people were the first two out). The editors ignored, say, Monica because she has no real affect on the actual season.

I don't think Stephen's dead in the water, but I do think his game is going to be a glorious flame out that he alluded to. When they cut down to 6-person tribes, let's say there's a 3-to-3 split between members of the initial tribes. Stephen jumps ship to make it 4-2 and in the process slits the throat of one of the alpha males...I don't see it happening the other way around because someone like Jeremy is more likely to want to take out one of the women in order to keep their tribe strong while Stephen is more about jockeying for a better position.

Abi-Maria making the merge is going to have required the luckiest set of circumstances in all 31 seasons of Survivor. Knowing that the three tribe thing will only hold for maybe four rounds at most will probably lead to a lot of power players picking each other off and not worrying about keeping the tribe strong since they know they'll be back to two random tribes real soon (and why not boost your odds of having more power on one of those two new tribes?). Therefore, it would not surprise me at all if Abi-Maria was used as a vote and actually made the merge which is pretty astonishing.

 

[Hewson]

Shirin and Peih-Gee have some nice curves and a unique look to them. To each his own. .

Damn dude, you lost both your dream girls back to back.

 

[MrPryck2U]

The warpath of Abi-normal continues. She is tribal poison. And good gravy, Jeff Varner is a putz.

 

[Sicy]

What the hell is wrong with these people?? Abi is the worst why would they keep her

 

[MrPryck2U]

What the hell is wrong with these people?? Abi is the worst why would they keep her

That's exactly why you keep her. Because she is the worst. She won't win the game, but she can sabotage every threat along the way. If she doesn't have a Brandon Hantz moment during the course of the show, I'd be disappointed. And good Lord, Woo is doing the same thing he did last time. Clueless until the end. If their tribe loses again, he's next to go.

 

[Sicy]

Ugh I know but she is so much drama and could cause chaos among the tribe. I wouldn't want to keep someone like that around.

Yeah come on Woo get a clue

 

[MrPryck2U]

Spencer is a riot too. Wonder what his childhood was like? He makes it seem like an extreme chore to actually have a meaningful conversation with someone else. I loved how Jeremy was able to score the Hidden Immunity Idol. So far, the show is 2 for 2 on that gimmick.

 

[Hewson]

Spencer's Girlfriend (possibly imaginary): "I love you Spence"
Spencer: "Chinese or Italian tonight?"

 

[MrPryck2U]

Spencer's Girlfriend (possibly imaginary): "I love you Spence"
Spencer: "Chinese or Italian tonight?"

You're being way too nice.


This would be Spencer's reply: Halo or GTA 5?

 

[BigMacPhisto]

I knew it would be Peih-Gee for two reasons. One, they played up the Abi-Maria/PG feud in the shelter and included a Tasha confessional alluding to that. Secondly, Peih-Gee is one of those eight unfortunate people that did not receive a flashback segment during the premiere episode. Neither did Woo (while the other four people left on his tribe did), so you can effectively consider him gone the next time they lose an immunity challenge. Doesn't help matters that Abi-Maria mentioned the fact that he voted for at tribal council, and if this season has been anything thus far, it's entirely about Abi-Maria getting her way.

Can't say she hasn't been television gold again. Same goes for Varner (flipping off God during the rainstorm and randomly sending unintelligible code to Wigglesworth ). I'd absolutely love to see these two nutcases play a third time.

Really is looking like both Kass and Abi-Maria are going to make the merge. Nobody could have ever predicted that before this season began.

It seems like there's three actual contenders to win based on the edit...Wentworth, Tasha and Spencer. They've been given airtime about their "journey" in order of Spencer, Tasha and Wentworth, but I definitely think we're looking at the power players of the season right there. Especially Tasha/Spencer because nobody else is getting an edit that's specifically tailored to focus in on their struggles and the extremely strategic game they're trying to play.

 

[MrPryck2U]

I knew it would be PG for one reason. She had no game. Plus, usually the teams that are winning aren't featured as much because they're not sitting around debating who is gonna get voted off. They focused on Brandon Hantz a lot in his last go 'round. Then he had his meltdown and he was gone. Abi-normal is a cauldron waiting to boil over. If she survives to the next merge, it's because a person or persons used her well as a pawn. Her game is that she is batshit crazy, but least she has a game as opposed to PG who had nothing.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

They really just let Savage and Tasha dictate everything the second they arrived back at camp after Varner's escapade. Peih-Gee should have reiterated that they're a foursome and would all agree to forgive Varner of his "outburst" but even that might not have worked given Abi's insistence that she was "on the bottom" of that alliance and going to vote with Savage & Tasha. It's hard to navigate around crazy.

Peih-Gee didn't bring her "A" game, that's for certain, but Abi-Maria is the most impossible to handle variable I've ever seen on this show. Unless you're here cuddling partner like that Pete guy was, you never can consider her a trustworthy ally.


The remaining five without a first episode flashback introduction and how I think they all go home:

Spoiler

Woo - This one is obvious. He's now bottom rung on a tribe where everyone else had that introduction and he's been edited as clueless throughout both of his seasons. He's out the door the next time they lose.

Monica - Weakest link on the Bayon tribe. Edited to say that her core four-person alliance from the original Bayon is tight as long as nobody screws things up. Stephen probably flips with Spencer/Wigglesworth and gets her out of the game...

Stephen - ...but then the duplicity catches up to him.

Keith - Worst player of the six on his tribe. Women (Wentworth/Kass/Ciera) could vote together to maintain control of the tribe, so they choose to boot the weakest of the three males over Joe/Terry.

Terry - Eh, I can't really fathom how this will happen. My thought process is that they'll actually switch back to two tribes a couple of rounds before the merge and that's when someone like him would get the chop.


Still pretty certain the next five boots will be those names right there and that the producers were slyly giving away the merged tribe's cast in the premiere.

 

[MrPryck2U]

If that's how it plays out then I'll definitely be impressed with your predictions. Terry is one of the people I'm rooting for, so I hope you're wrong there, though. Obviously, early on, the primary focus has been on Abi-normal. Shit, they've barely shown Kimmi, but her tribes have been winning, so there's not much to cover. Fish is a dork and inept at nearly everything. And Spencer is socially challenged. Those two are practically soulmates.

 

[Daddysgonnapay]

Late to the party here!
I am watching and loving this season so far!!
oh and Abi-Normal = Perfect nickname!

 

[MrPryck2U]

This week's episode was kinda lame. Abi-normal's tribe keeps losing Immunity Challenges. At least they won Reward. Glad Varner is gone. He was a putz.

 

[Hewson]

Yeah Varner dug his own grave last week. But they missed an opportunity to blindside Abi-Normal. She's such a loose cannon that they might have been better off keeping Varner.

 

[MrPryck2U]

If I were a contestant on Survivor, I'd bring Abi-normal along as far as I could. She is tribal poison. Poor Woo was forced to beg forgiveness to her in order to stay alive in the game. Good thing Varner was a putz, or else Woo would have been gone.

 

[Sicy]

Woo should have voted for Abi and sent her into a Tasmanian devil whirlwind

 

[Hewson]

I wish Probst had read Tasha's vote which said "Jeff (not Probst)".

 

[Sicy]

^ yesss