Survivor: South Pacific

[maycocksean]

^I really hope Jeff points that out at the reunion show or at some point. . .

 

[Hewson]

I wonder if they are trying to throw us off with that preview for next week, or if it really happens. Would be funny if it did.

Just caught up after vacation...pretty predictable again (though Cock Ring came within a curly hair of taking Ozzy out which would have been something)...I gotta believe the preview is to throw us off otherwise it'd be stupid to show that much...what they lead us to believe in the preview would be the most shocking thing all season, maybe ever in Survivor so tipping it that much is a bad move.


And Coach is the only Upolu deserving to win, nobody else has done a damn thing...but I'd still like to see Ozzy get to the final 3 and win...just to shake it up.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

There's no way Edna wins. They always show those previews just so it will be the opposite. Basically, when it's actually closer in a redemption duel, they don't show a preview for it because they want to surprise us. When the winner is obvious, they do show a preview.

That's why going into last week's episode they showed us Ozzy's funny line about Cochran not having a chance. Because then the viewers would be surprised that Cochran nearly beat him.

Ozzy will kick Edna's ass like usual. They didn't go through all of this trouble to show him hanging out on redemption island for the last month's worth of episodes just to have him get eliminated by some nobody. He returns to the game for sure.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

My Survivor Week Predictions

- Ozzy defeats Edna on Redemption Island.

- The tribe votes out Rick. Coach feels that Brandon and Rick haven't been as "honoarble" or "warriorific" as himself, Albert and Sophie, so they end up being the targets. Coach ultimately boots Rick because he doesn't want to have an angry Brandon potentially defeating Ozzy on Redemption Island and coming back.

- Ozzy defeats Rick and returns to the game.

- At the Final Five tribal council, Coach/Ozzy are both safe without even having the immunity necklace. Nobody will vote for Coach since they know he has the idol, so he can pass it off to Ozzy at the last second if need be. Brandon goes home.

- At the final four, Ozzy/Coach can force a tie together, so neither is particularly vulnerable at that stage, but I think that Ozzy will either lose the tiebreaker or Coach will have second thoughts since he figures he can't beat him. Ozzy is the last man out.

- A very heated final tribal council ends up being mostly hot air and Coach wins a million dollars.

 

[Hewson]

Man, Brandon is stupid or at the very least quite naive...and Coach is a bit of a douche.

Go Ozzy, make the finale interesting.

 

[deep]

Coach played it right

Brandon has a more likely chance of beating Ozzy, than Sophie would.

IF Brandon comes back he won;t be mad at Coach, Coach will tell him it was meant to be, he had faith in him. At that point Brandon would vote both Rich and Sophie out before Coach.

I can't say the same if Sophie went out and came back. Coach would have no chance with her.

So Coach made the right move.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

I think Coach/Sophie overestimated Brandon as a jury threat. I think he'd be just as easy to beat as Rick. Nobody takes the guy seriously. It would have been better to boot Rick, let Ozzy slaughter him, and then have Brandon playing the Final Five immunity challenge.

Coach/Brandon both need their heads checked. That was the creepiest episode of Survivor that we'll probably ever see albeit the most entertaining one of the season. I love paranoia and ominous music.

 

[Hewson]

Coach/Brandon both need their heads checked. That was the creepiest episode of Survivor that we'll probably ever see

Bigtime...this whole "praying for answers" thing is getting really wacky.

 

[phanan]

The whole praying angle has really soured this season for me. It's a game people; pray for something more worthwhile and just play as normal.

At this point, I wouldn't mind seeing Ozzy take this, even if he's been a real prick at times. Not like anyone else has been a pleasure to be around anyway.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Not like anyone else has been a pleasure to be around anyway.

Not true. I'd have probably pleasured myself if Elyse were around camp.

 

[MrPryck2U]

Brandon is a fool. I'm glad Coach voted his ass out. Once Brandon said he was giving up the idol to his prayer buddy Albert, you knew that Coach was voting him out. Ozzy is great in the challenges, but I just don't like him. Right now, I'm rooting for Sophie, Rick or Coach to get the million bucks. And, yes, I'm pretty much done with everyone talking to God first about fuckin Survivor. Especially Brandon. I don't think the Big Guy would have told gangbanger Brando to give up the Idol and roll over like a whimpering bitch.

 

[maycocksean]

My Survivor Week Predictions

- Ozzy defeats Edna on Redemption Island.

- The tribe votes out Rick. Coach feels that Brandon and Rick haven't been as "honoarble" or "warriorific" as himself, Albert and Sophie, so they end up being the targets. Coach ultimately boots Rick because he doesn't want to have an angry Brandon potentially defeating Ozzy on Redemption Island and coming back.

- Ozzy defeats Rick and returns to the game.

- At the Final Five tribal council, Coach/Ozzy are both safe without even having the immunity necklace. Nobody will vote for Coach since they know he has the idol, so he can pass it off to Ozzy at the last second if need be. Brandon goes home.

- At the final four, Ozzy/Coach can force a tie together, so neither is particularly vulnerable at that stage, but I think that Ozzy will either lose the tiebreaker or Coach will have second thoughts since he figures he can't beat him. Ozzy is the last man out.

- A very heated final tribal council ends up being mostly hot air and Coach wins a million dollars.

Well, your prediction fell apart on the second point, but I have a feeling your prediction of the winner will still turn out to be true.

I think Coach/Sophie overestimated Brandon as a jury threat. I think he'd be just as easy to beat as Rick. Nobody takes the guy seriously. It would have been better to boot Rick, let Ozzy slaughter him, and then have Brandon playing the Final Five immunity challenge.

Coach/Brandon both need their heads checked. That was the creepiest episode of Survivor that we'll probably ever see albeit the most entertaining one of the season. I love paranoia and ominous music.

I agree that Coach/Sophie don't realize how Brandon would be perceived by the jury.

With everyone except for Brandon I find all the religiosity to be patently false and deeply irritating.

Brandon is a fool. I'm glad Coach voted his ass out. Once Brandon said he was giving up the idol to his prayer buddy Albert, you knew that Coach was voting him out. Ozzy is great in the challenges, but I just don't like him. Right now, I'm rooting for Sophie, Rick or Coach to get the million bucks. And, yes, I'm pretty much done with everyone talking to God first about fuckin Survivor. Especially Brandon. I don't think the Big Guy would have told gangbanger Brando to give up the Idol and roll over like a whimpering bitch.

While I agree that God doesn't take sides in Survivor. I'm finding that I respect Brandon's faith, as misguided as it often is. Say what you will about the guy, but I think more than perhaps anybody else in the game what you see is what you get with him. In a weird way he is very consistent and reliable in his loose-cannon-ness. Once you get how his brain works he's actually quite predictable. He is unquestionably sincere whereas with Coach, I smell B.S.

I'm a Christian myself, and I have to say among Christians I've come to very skeptical of the whole "I prayed about it" thing. People tend to use that as a cover for making a decision they know won't be well received.

Brandon is the true anti-Russell . . .the complete other extreme. But equally as bad at the game. Of course, Brandon himself admits that he's not really cut out for this game.

 

[deep]

While I agree that God doesn't take sides in Survivor. I'm finding that I respect Brandon's faith, as misguided as it often is. Say what you will about the guy, but I think more than perhaps anybody else in the game what you see is what you get with him. In a weird way he is very consistent and reliable in his loose-cannon-ness. Once you get how his brain works he's actually quite predictable. He is unquestionably sincere whereas with Coach, I smell B.S.

I'm a Christian myself, and I have to say among Christians I've come to very skeptical of the whole "I prayed about it" thing. People tend to use that as a cover for making a decision they know won't be well received.

Brandon is the true anti-Russell . . .the complete other extreme. But equally as bad at the game. Of course, Brandon himself admits that he's not really cut out for this game.

I pretty much agree with your thoughts on Brandon
and I also think these people have just as much right to pray as anyone else.

I am skeptical if any god answers any prayers,
but, if any god does, far be it from me to say which prayers, and who's prayers should matter


also, I am not ready to call BS on Coach or anyone else.

 

[anitram]

I think that there is a lot of animosity towards Coach on that jury. You can just see them dripping with distaste for the guy every time they're shown. It also became very clear to me that Albert can no longer win - not only do people who played the game with him think that he's a lazy phony, but he came across badly in front of the jury. Brandon, should he return from Redemption, also has no chance to win since his social skills are as bad as Russell's, just in a different way. Rick is a non-factor. Which leaves us with Sophie and Ozzy.

To me, this will boil down to Coach v. Ozzy v. Sophie, although unless Ozzy can win every single challenge, he's going to be out on his butt immediately. If he makes it to T3, he wins easily. If he does not, this will come down to how many people retch at the sight of Coach. I think we could have one of the most bitter juries in a while...

Since I very boldly and at the time seemingly foolishly picked Sophie after the first episode in my draft (also didn't get the best draft position, let's be honest), I have to disclaim that I have some interest in seeing her win.

 

[Sicy]

Weird

 

[deep]

bullshit
petty jury

 

[deep]

Brandon ???
jeeez, I do feel kind of bad for him,
no one from his family would come, how fucked up is that?

 

[deep]

that Jim is a piece of crap

 

[anitram]

Didn't watch the reunion show so I'm not sure what happened there. Did they reveal who voted for whom?

Won my Survivor Draft, so I was happy, happy, happy!!

 

[maycocksean]

bullshit
petty jury

I agree mostly. Coach really made the promises that kept everyone feeling good about their place in the pecking order until they were voted out. He paved the way for Sofie to get to the final three. The resentment at being lied to was all put on Coach, leaving Sophie pretty much blameless. One could argue that Coach was more deserving since he did the dirty work.

Still, Sophie wasn't exactly a slouch. She did decently in challenges, including knocking out Ozzy when it counted most. She strategized, and kept her in head in the game. Granted she didn't exactly connect with many other players, but I think that worked to her advantage in the end because the bitter jurors really couldn't be that bitter with someone they felt they never knew well to begin with. Also though she was part of the religiosity and sanctimony that so many jurors found off-putting she wasn't central to it and I think that was clear to them. Clearly the jurors would not have voted for ANYONE but Coach--they would have picked him over Rick, but Sophie gave them a reasonable alternative enabling them to indulge their bitterness by refusing to vote for Coach while at the same time not having to feel like they were rewarding a total coat-tail rider.

that Jim is a piece of crap

It bugs me that he still doesn't see that it's his own fault Cochran flipped. Cochran DID play to win, given the shit hand his tribe dealt him.

Won my Survivor Draft, so I was happy, happy, happy!!

 

[MrPryck2U]

Good to see Sophie win. She earned it. This wasn't the greatest season of Survivor, but it wasn't the worst. I did find it amusing that Brandon's family didn't enjoy his time on Survivor. I mean he did look like a total and complete ass throughout the entire season. I really hope that Russell doesn't return to the game. He'll never win the show because everyone knows him and hates him. Ozzy and Coach played their best games ever, but still came up short. They shouldn't ever come back either. At least Ozzy won the 100K. Good for him. I'm not sure if the one island gimmick is gonna work, but we'll see. I'd love to see Cochran return. He seems like he could make the proper adjustments to advance further in the game and he was also a compelling character on the show. Shit, maybe even Brandon could redeem himself by returning and not make himself look like bitchboy.

I didn't see BigMac "predict" Sophie to win. Looks like he's losing his touch. Lol!

 

[Sicy]

I felt bad for Brandon too.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

I'm pleasantly surprised....it's like the editors went out of their way to make Coach look like the equivalent of Boston Rob last season and gave him a godly edit and then he got his ass handed to him.

Make no mistake, Sophie deserved it and I would have voted for her. When she broke down at the tribal council where she revealed what Ozzy had said about her, I could tell she was making way with the jury and doing something that Albert & Coach completely failed to do (albeit unintentionally) - show that she's human. Albert played the game like everyone was his chess pieces and you could tell that he thinks he's smarter than you whenever he looks at you (just like Sash in Survivor: Nicaragua) while Coach kept up with this family cult nonsense that of course was going to do nothing but backfire once it came down to crunch time. Sophie played a great strategic game, won over the jury's hearts and won three immunity challenges (four if she had been able to keep some coconut juice in her throat without gagging at the last minute).

People can make the argument that the "second in command" should never win which would mean Ethan losing to Lex had they been the Final Two, Rob beating Amber and Russell beating Natalie. I can understand the logic of "whomever does the most should win" but at the very least, compare Sophie to godawful do-nothing winners like Bob and Fabio and you'll see that she played a great game, even if you don't think she deserved to defeat Coach.

Coach's biggest failure is that he failed to see that people like Albert and Sophie wanted to drag his ass to the end because they thought he'd be seen like the clown he was in his previous two outings. Coach never needed to make final deals with anybody and was in such a good position that people would have all taken him to the end regardless because they threw themselves at his feet to make those deals. Instead, he hypes up family nonsense and promises the world to everyone, uses a ton of vagueries instead of answering direct questions (like when Rick is trying to get a straight answer about being voted out or Albert about the Ozzy deal), and worst of all makes inexplicable deals that make nosense whatsoever (Ozzy). He could've just coasted to the end and made an eloquent case and instead revealed his crumbled deck (albeit very beautifully) when answering Cochran's question. He made a very big mess. Like Boston Rob, Coach never could have won against anybody with a semblance of gameplay, so he made the wrong decisions ultimately. Goats like Brandon, Rick and Edna were all sitting there for the choosing and the jury showed in the reunion that he would've won against them. Granted, he wouldn't have had Sophie playing for him in that last challenge, but it's highly likely that Sophie or Albert could have kicked Ozzy's ass over on Redemption. Rob managed to find the only two people he could beat and maneuvered his way there. Coach, instead, looked like a deer in the headlights, constantly confused about what he was doing...

...you know, just like his other two seasons.

 

[deep]

I agree mostly. Coach really made the promises that kept everyone feeling good about their place in the pecking order until they were voted out. He paved the way for Sofie to get to the final three. The resentment at being lied to was all put on Coach, leaving Sophie pretty much blameless. One could argue that Coach was more deserving since he did the dirty work.

Still, Sophie wasn't exactly a slouch. She did decently in challenges, including knocking out Ozzy when it counted most. She strategized, and kept her in head in the game. Granted she didn't exactly connect with many other players, but I think that worked to her advantage in the end because the bitter jurors really couldn't be that bitter with someone they felt they never knew well to begin with. Also though she was part of the religiosity and sanctimony that so many jurors found off-putting she wasn't central to it and I think that was clear to them. Clearly the jurors would not have voted for ANYONE but Coach--they would have picked him over Rick, but Sophie gave them a reasonable alternative enabling them to indulge their bitterness by refusing to vote for Coach while at the same time not having to feel like they were rewarding a total coat-tail rider.

I have to say, I did miss the first hour and 45 minutes of the last show.

I only tuned in from the final 3 getting questions from the jury and the vote and reunion show.

I can't believe I watched all episodes and missed most of the finale.

So, Sophie may have impressed me a little more. I did not see her beat Ozzy and the others. I don't know how and who chose to put Rick out.

Keep in mind it was a 5-4 vote. So no blow out. Am i wrong?

That said, from what I recall, and I will admit it may be from the editing, Coach kept his team steady and when the time came he realized it was best to cut Brandon, because he was unpredictable under pressure.

I still would like to see the public have one vote at jury. If it had been 5-5, or 4-4, let America decide between Sophie and Coach.

or better yet, if Coach got the public vote and that made it 5-5, let them build fire for the million dollars.

 

[MrPryck2U]

No way they should let the fans have a vote in Survivor. Let them have their popularity vote, but nothing else. Let the game be decided by those that participated in it.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

She won 6-3, and yeah, you should have watched it (and still can easily by watching it OnDemand or on CBS.com or illegally downloading it). It was a very great finale since Ozzy made things very tense and close and you'd also get a much better idea as to why Sophie deserved to win.

Coach got Cochran who voted simply based on strategic game (which you would have to give to Coach if you're focusing on just that, but I tend to think the social element is the most important). Edna voted for Coach, unsurprisingly, given her jury speech and that he was clearly the only person she bonded with. So, Rick was the only real surprise, but again, he only showed loyalty to Coach out there the entire time.

Ozzy turning around and voting for Sophie was a nice surprise and he probably saw through Coach's antics the longer he thought about it (and also all of the tension between them because of the stupid deal that Coach brought up and then had the gall to be "angry" at Ozzy about bringing it up). Brandon was probably a Coach vote but he looked like a major tool once Sophie clearly explained the hidden idol ruse.

You can make a fair argument that Whitney, Keith, Dawn, Jim were all not going to vote for Coach regardless. Maybe even call it bitterness, but I could see Whitney/Dawn in particular making a connection with Sophie when she broke down and later made her jury answers.

Also, a fan vote is stupid because the editing is all that matters. Of course Coach would beat Sophie or Albert in a fan vote....he took up the bulk of the show because of the character he was. We don't see the day-to-day social life between all of these people and the actions they make (let alone all of the jury questions/answers). We're not there, we don't know what goes on. We see Russell being this brilliant mastermind, not sitting around being and asshole or following people around and questioning them on who they just talked to and what they said every fine minutes of the day (which basically mindfucked everyone psychologically and seems more like fascism than playing a game). The audience sees Ozzy standing on-top of palm trees, catching fish and winning challenges. They only get a whiff of his arrogance. Fans should not have a vote. *

* Not to mention the blatant sexism. It would be next to impossible for a female to ever win the fan jury vote. A male that wins immunity challenges will always have the advantage, no matter how they act. Cirie is the only person to win a fan favorite vote and that's because Terry wasn't eligible since he already won a car. Otherwise, with all his immunity wins, he'd have won another car despite being a prick the whole time out there.

 

[Sicy]

Dont know if this will work but here's some pics from the Survivor finale.

Survivor: South Pacific / Finale Weekend / Saturday

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Update: Jim actually voted for Coach. So you can't say there was just a bitter Savaii jury thing going on. Wiki was definitely wrong then.

 

[Hewson]

you'd also get a much better idea as to why Sophie deserved to win.


Ozzy turning around and voting for Sophie was a nice surprise and he probably saw through Coach's antics the longer he thought about it (and also all of the tension between them because of the stupid deal that Coach brought up and then had the gall to be "angry" at Ozzy about bringing it up).

You'd also see why I was put off by Sophie winning...her behavior in the final immunity challenges...in the house of cards challenge yelling repeatedly at Albert to abandon his station and pick up her tiles which had fallen out of her reach until Jeff told them no helping was allowed...my wife eloquently said that Albert should tell her to "go f*** herself", and I agree. And then in the final challenge twice when she and Albert were on the same section of the course, she had a bag of puzzle pieces in her mouth and she was shouting a muffled "ALBERT!!" for him to get out of her way like it was her right to go and not his. Ozzy pointed out at first tribal that she was a brat, and he was spot on...he should have mentioned the specific incident of the challenge, that may have swayed a jury vote or 2 away from her.

As for Ozzy voting for Sophie, I assume it was because he saw her as the best overall competitior, she having been the one who beat him, he said in the reunion that he felt she was the only threat, not Coach or Albert.

For me a pretty dissatisfying conclusion...as Ozzy said as the first to address them in the final TC, "you guys have some work to do cause nobody here wants to vote for any of you", and I can see that...not really a terribly likeable threesome the way it played out...Ozzy would have likely won about 8-1 had he been sitting there.

Curious if we'll have returning players next season..I'd have to think so, cause for all the faults of the last 2 seasons, the returnees have been far more interesting than the vast majority of new players. It became hard not to root for Ozzy as this season progressed even though early on it was just the opposite...and Coach at least kept the Upolo band of merry pygmies watchable...without him watching Sophie, Albert, Rick (who knew he could actually speak until the finale), Brandon and Edna interact would have been the dullest TV ever.

 

[Hewson]

Update: Jim actually voted for Coach. So you can't say there was just a bitter Savaii jury thing going on. Wiki was definitely wrong then.

Jim was intriguing...had it not been for his hatred towards Cock Ring getting to him I think he actually could have been a good player and I assume he voted Coach believing Coach had played the best game of the final 3, much like Cock Ring stated when placing his vote...but he was clearly flawed in the way he treated a few people, most notably Cock Ring and that got him to be seat #1 on the jury insead of going a lot further.