Survivor: Gabon - Earth's Last Eden

8-30-2008

[Lee'sGhost]

Ah...the old head fake. Something about the promos made me wonder if that was where this was headed.

[Lee'sGhost]

“Not again......damn.”

LMAO. West coasters, guess who says that.

[Lee'sGhost]

Crystal has got to go.

[PeteB570]

Well, the next time the tribes get together the others are going to know exactly who turned.

Made the comment to the better half - whole bunch of losers fixin’ to be the majority at the merge. Not going to take much winning II against Crystal, et al.

[JillValentine]

Let’s rank the remaining survivors in order of how much you want to see them win.

My rankings:

Bob
Sugar
Corinne
Matty
Charlie
Ken
Randy
Crystal
Susie

[PeteB570]

Not bad, not bad.

Susie, Crystal and Ken - need to go quick.

[kmiller1k]

Matty is growing on me—can’t stand Susie

[tob2]

Like Bob myself. Maybe it’s because he’s the oldest one.

[JillValentine]

Sugar is growing on me since she turned against Ace.

Bob is the only one who hasn’t annoyed me yet in some way. Plus he works hard, he’s innovative, and he’s impressive in challenges, especially the one yesterday, even though you might not expect him to be because of his age. He’s kind of the opposite of Crystal the Olympic gold medalist.

[JillValentine]

The background checkers screwed up by not discovering that Marcus and Crystal had a connection outside the game.

On the other side of things, the people who designed the last challenge were very clever. Notice how they made it so that if even one person on a tribe didn’t want to throw the challenge, it couldn’t be thrown.

[kmiller1k]

It was also innovative in that it didn’t require a lot of muscle strength or give an advantage to the skinniest or smallest contestants. Good challenge.

[TimSkalaBim]

Sugar is my favorite, even though she's let others do her thinking for her.

Matty performed well enough to save his own hide the other night, so kudos to him.

I cringe whenever Corinne speaks her mind... usually she says something awful, revealing hidden demons within herself.

Kenny has played the game very well up to this point; he's not a favorite of mine, but he fights for his place in the sun, unlike some recent candidates for Constitutionally mandated offices that could be named, but won't be in this post.

[JillValentine]

I think Corinne is a misunderstood bad girl. I don’t think she’s an inherently nasty person, but it seems like she’s been raised to think that being harsh and aggressive is the best way to get through life. The reason I’m thinking she’s not inherently like that is that she seemed genuinely sympathetic towards Paloma, including in the voting confessional, where she had no reason to put on an act.

[JillValentine]

I don’t have all that much respect for Ken. When he was voting out Marcus, he commented that it was the little guy getting back at the big guy. That showed insecurity and jealousy on Ken’s part. He seems to resent Marcus simply because Marcus is bigger and more of a leader. It reminds me of all the Third World dictatorships that hate America because we’re strong.

I’d have had a lot more respect for Ken if he’d said at the voting booth, “Marcus, voting you out is the best strategic move for me at this point. Checkmate. Let’s have a beer after the game.”

[JillValentine]

SURVIVOR RECAP!

New New Fang Tribe (Red Buffs): Charlie, Corinne, Matty, Randy, Sugar

New New Kota Tribe (Yellow Buffs): Bob, Crystal, Ken, Susie

The Jury: Marcus

Losers: Michelle, Gillian, Paloma, Jacquie, GC, Kelly, Ace, Dan

BLINDSIDED! NICE! NOW THAT'S HOW YOU FAKE A MERGE AND VOTE MARCUS OUT

Both tribes return from their respective tribal councils from the previous episode. At Kota, Corinne is upset that Susie bad-mouthed her at tribal council and called her weak. She says there's no way Susie is stronger than her. At Fang, meanwhile, Matty is alarmed that his ally Ace was blindsided and fears that he will be the next to go. Crystal offers Matty a "fresh start" and claims she can put his alliance with Ace behind her. The four Fang members vow to stick together and try to figure out a way to prevent themselves from being picked off one by one by the Kota six. At Kota, meanwhile, the six members promise to stick together and vote off the four Fangs first. Randy is especially enthusiastic about this plan.

The tribes receive treemail, promising a large feast and a "new tribe." Everyone thinks there's going to be a merge. When the contestants arrive at the feast location, in addition to the food there is a box that they are not allowed to open until the feast is over. As everyone is eating, Ken sees a clue to a hidden immunity idol hidden under the box. He tries to whisper about it to Matty without letting any of the Kotas know about it, but by then Charlie has also seen the clue and decides to announce its presence to everyone. At Marcus's suggestion, the players decide to find the idol as a group and toss it out to sea, so no one will have an advantage. Randy digs up the idol and offers it to anyone who wants it. No one takes it for fear of putting a target on their back. After the idol is tossed out to sea, Marcus comments that the removal of the idol was far more advantageous to the Kotas, as they already had the majority. The Fangs, being outnumbered, needed every advantage they could get and they just threw one away. Randy arrogantly declares himself King of Gabon, with all due respect to President-for-Life Omar Bongo.

It is now time for the fake merge blindside. The contestants open the box and discover that instead of merging, they're switching tribes AGAIN. They draw numbered rocks and form new tribes based on odd or even numbers on their rocks. New New Fang consists of Charlie, Corinne, Matty, Randy, and Sugar. New New Kota is Bob, Crystal, Ken, Marcus, and Susie. Marcus and Randy comment that the tribal division was lucky because each new tribe has three people from the Kota Six and two from the Fang Four.

Marcus and Crystal discover that they have a connection outside the game - Crystal's cousin is one of Marcus's best friends. Marcus feels a sense of loyalty to Crystal because of this, and makes an alliance with her. Crystal, however, reveals that she has no intention of keeping her promise to not write Marcus's name down. At New New Fang, meanwhile, Matty and Sugar, out of necessity, promise to stick together, not that it'll do them much good (unless a miracle happens) because of the numbers. Back at New New Kota, Susie decides that she is the swing vote between Bob and Marcus on one side, and Crystal and Ken on the other. Marcus tries to ensure her commitment to the alliance by offering Susie a final 3 spot. Randy believes that there is only a one in a million chance that Sugar has the hidden immunity idol, after she went to Exile five times.

At the immunity challenge, the contestants have to balance poles on their hands. If someone's pole falls, they're out. Last tribe to have someone standing in the challenge wins immunity. Crystal is quickly out, followed by Sugar and Susie. Randy, Corinne, and Ken drop out, then Charlie and Marcus. Bob for Kota and Matty for Fang are the last ones remaining. After a long struggle, Bob's poles fall and Matty wins the challenge for Fang, making it only the third challenge out of twelve that Fang has won.

Marcus wants to target Ken for the vote, because of his connection with Crystal. Bob and Susie are supposed to go along with it, but Crystal and Susie talk and Crystal convinces Susie that there's no way Marcus could legitimately promise her final 3. At Tribal Council, Susie is revealed as the swing vote. Bob says he regrets voting out Dan last week instead of Susie. Susie says she has made her decision.

During the vote, we see Marcus and Bob vote for Ken, and Ken and Crystal vote for Marcus. Susie's vote is not shown. Jeff Probst reads the votes, and in a blindside Marcus is voted out 3-2. He becomes the ninth person voted out of SURVIVOR: GABON: EARTH'S LAST EDEN, and the first member of the jury.

I'll be back Thursday with next week's preview and picks.

Fun Survivor Fact: Omar Bongo has been president of Gabon for 41 years and counting.

[girlscout]

Crystal has got to go.

I could not agree with you more. Followed closely by Susie.

[girlscout]

Let’s rank the remaining survivors in order of how much you want to see them win.

My rankings:

Bob
Sugar
Corinne
Matty
Charlie
Ken
Randy
Crystal
Susie

--------------------

My picks:

Bob
Sugar
Corinne
Matty
Randy
Charlie
Ken
Susie
Crystal

[girlscout]

I could not believe they voted out Marcus. I actually screamed NO at my TV. I can't stand Crystal and haven't from the get go. Susie is two faced and can't leave soon enough for me, but not before Crystal. I know Ken is strategically playing the game, but he voted out Marcus so he's on my bad list now as well.

Bob's proved to be a good survivor, although a quiet one.

Matty's a good player with the bad luck of being stuck on a crappy tribe. A different side of him may have come out had he been on the Kota tribe, but I have no gripe with him as a player stuck on the Fang tribe.

I like Sugar because she has a cute personality and because she has true feelings. That came through when she felt remorse for her bounty on Exile knowing her tribe was going without.

Corinne seems smart and for whatever reason, I just connected with her early on.

Randy is a good player. I'm not sure I'd like to spend a lot of time in his company in real life, but he is playing the game well.

As for the rest ... eh.

[Lee'sGhost]

Keeping in mind that the only one of my original final four picks is Ken....

My rankings (how I think they rank as players:

Corinne (Aside from being the best all round player left, she is hot...as long as she doesn’t talk too much.)
Bob
Ken
Charlie
Sugar
Matty
Randy
Susie
Crystal

---

My picks for who will actually make it to the final four and then the rest:

Ken — I still see him as an Ozzie/mostly fly under the radar type...two attributes that should get him into the final four. Pisses the least amount of people off so wins the whole thing.

Corinne — She’s actually playing the game and should be the winner, but probably won’t be because she talked too much.

Charlie — Forms a gay alliance with Matty and then stabs him in the back.

Randy — Plays the game but too full of himself to get the votes at the end.

Sugar — The four above look at each other and then at Sugar and say, “no way.” Or, gets hosed in a physical challenge.

Matty — Due for a hissy fit any day...after which he is voted off for being too gay-like. Charlie sees the writing on the wall and stabs in the back for not being gay enough.

Bob — Classic good old guy who has no real alliances so gets voted off for being the good old guy.

Susie — Files for tribal assistance only to find that this ain’t Welfare Survival.

Crystal — Wins gold for being lamest world class athlete ever to play the game. Files discrimination lawsuit and ask Obama to name her Secretary of Whine.

[Lee'sGhost]

Interesting theory. You may be on to something.