Survivor: Samoa

SydneyK · #1 10-30-2009, 01:27 PM

Well, I missed most of last week's episode, but I saw enough to know that only Russell was eliminated from the game.

I saw bits and pieces of last night's episode (I watched the VT/UNC game), but again, I saw enough to know the end result.

I'm not sure I understand why Shambo is now the leader at Galu. I get that the producers want an identified leader of each tribe (have they told us why they want this?), but I don't get why SHAMBO - of all people - was chosen. Was it random? It just seemed so odd. But then, at the challenge, she had to identify someone to make decisions about keeping the point or the matched item. Was she not allowed to make the decision (even though she's the leader) because she was not participating in the challenge?

I'm starting to feel very lost. It seems like there are lots of random rules thrown in this season. We're still in the dark (AFAIK) about the hidden immunity idols (can Evil Russell, who doesn't seem so evil anymore, use the one he found at his own camp?); we just learned last night that a leader has to be identified in each camp (but we haven't been told why); when Good Russell had to be eliminated due to injury, no one else was voted out, but when Borraci (is that his name?) had to be eliminated due to injury, Foa Foa still had to vote out someone else. There just seem to be a lot of rules that don't have much backing. Maybe I've missed to much of the season to be making these comments... I'm sure if that's the case, someone will fill me in.

Signed,
Perturbed with the Producers

ASTalumna06 · #2 10-31-2009, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SydneyK

Well, I missed most of last week's episode, but I saw enough to know that only Russell was eliminated from the game.

I saw bits and pieces of last night's episode (I watched the VT/UNC game), but again, I saw enough to know the end result.

I'm not sure I understand why Shambo is now the leader at Galu. I get that the producers want an identified leader of each tribe (have they told us why they want this?), but I don't get why SHAMBO - of all people - was chosen. Was it random? It just seemed so odd. But then, at the challenge, she had to identify someone to make decisions about keeping the point or the matched item. Was she not allowed to make the decision (even though she's the leader) because she was not participating in the challenge?

I think that missing most of last week's episode greatly contributed to being confused about Shambo being leader.

Last week, the guys took Shambo under their wing, and realized that they wanted to keep her around, and instead, vote out Monica (which if I remember correctly, was mainly because she did so poorly during the immunity challenge). Also, I got the impression that a lot of people had started to not like her, and they wanted to vote her off.

This is why I was mad that they didn't have the double elimination last week, as I would have loved to see her get blind-sided and go home.

But basically, the guys made Shambo leader to show their loyalty to her, knowing full well that they would collectively vote her off later in the game. But for now, they have an extra person on their side.

AlphaFrog · #3 11-01-2009, 07:53 AM

It doesn't matter that much about Shambo being elected leader, because her only decision was to make someone else leader in the only challenge she will be leader for...they merge next week. Even if the leaders have to make decisions as to which camp to stay at, etc, there's still not much that can go wrong there.

ASTalumna06 · #4 11-01-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

It doesn't matter that much about Shambo being elected leader, because her only decision was to make someone else leader in the only challenge she will be leader for...they merge next week. Even if the leaders have to make decisions as to which camp to stay at, etc, there's still not much that can go wrong there.

Exactly.

Making her leader was simply a strategic move made by the guys of Galu.

I think they even said they'll eventually vote her off, but they wanted her to at least make it to the jury.

SydneyK · #5 11-02-2009, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I think that missing most of last week's episode greatly contributed to being confused about Shambo being leader.

I'm sure you're right! Thanks for filling me in.

Random thought: They usually don't start the season with 20 players. Now that we've had two players eliminated due to injury, do you think it's safe to assume the remaining eliminations will be from tribal councils?

MysticCat · #6 11-02-2009, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SydneyK

Random thought: They usually don't start the season with 20 players. Now that we've had two players eliminated due to injury, do you think it's safe to assume the remaining eliminations will be from tribal councils?

I don't think it's ever safe to assume anything when it comes to Survivor.

SydneyK · #7 11-02-2009, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I don't think it's ever safe to assume anything when it comes to Survivor.

You know, when I wrote that, I had originally put "(ha!)" after "assume". For some reason, I deleted it.

Let me rephrase: At this point, do any of you anticipate any non-tribal-council eliminations?

ASTalumna06 · #8 11-02-2009, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SydneyK

I'm sure you're right! Thanks for filling me in.

Random thought: They usually don't start the season with 20 players. Now that we've had two players eliminated due to injury, do you think it's safe to assume the remaining eliminations will be from tribal councils?

I thought along the same lines when (good) Russell was taken out of the game.

My guess is that the remaining contestants will be taken out through tribal council.

However... think about it. When they start a season, they don't know how many people are going to get injured, and they can't base the number that they start with on how many people will be taken out of the game through a method other than a vote.

I actually looked up "Survivor Contestants" on Wikipedia, and I'm not sure how they come to decide how many people will make up the cast. But there does seem to be a pattern forming, although I'm not sure if it's intentional or not. Here is a list of the number of contestants for each season, in order:

16 - Borneo
16 - Australian Outback
16 - Africa
16 - Marquesas
16 - Thailand
16 - Amazon
18 - Pearl Islands
18 - All-Stars
18 - Vanuatu
20 - Palau
18 - Guatemala
16 - Panama
20 - Cook Islands
19 - Fiji
16 - China
20 - Micronesia
18 - Gabon
16 - Tocantins
20 - Samoa

They started off with 16 contestants. Then they bumped it up to 18. But since Palau, there seems to be a pattern... 20, 18, 16 (except for Fiji, where there was randomly 19)

Just a fun fact

ETA: I'd also be curious to find info about how many people were taken out of the game each season due to injury, and also when the tribes merged. I know that while they're merging at 12 this season, they've also merged at 10 in the past. I'd be curious to know how many contestants they started with in each of these scenarios.

ASTalumna06 · #9 11-06-2009, 03:50 AM

For the first time, I was actually rooting for Russell to not get voted out. But I did think it incredibly stupid that he was telling everyone about the immunity idol.

But that tribal council and vote was priceless

AlphaFrog · #10 11-06-2009, 05:50 AM

I was clueless going into Tribal. First it was Laura, and that didn't work out - then it was Monica, Russell (but then not for real - only to flush the idol), Jaison, Erik, Monica, Jeff Propst (I liked that comment that Shambo could vote Propst for all he cared).

Did Erik really think that Natalie, Jaison and Mick would go along with pretending to vote Russell to flush the idol?? I think FoaFoa was on to something when they said that they were at least going into the merge united, while Galu was divided. Erik was SOO funny trying to argue in Tribal that Galu was still one strong united team. Was he really that clueless? I really hope that FoaFoa does stay united. It would be the second time in a row that the tribe that went into the merge weaker pulled out a victory and rule the other team.

The previews make it look like Russell is in trouble next week. While I really do think he started scrambling too early and showed his cards to everyone, rarely does the person who looks in trouble in the previews really go home.

SydneyK · #11 11-06-2009, 09:50 AM

Ditto to all points above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

The previews make it look like Russell is in trouble next week. While I really do think he started scrambling too early and showed his cards to everyone, rarely does the person who looks in trouble in the previews really go home.

You're definitely right about this. I couldn't believe he went around to each Galu member and told them he had the idol. To do that, and to also tell each one that he hadn't told anyone else, was pretty short-sighted.

I'm still kinda puzzled by Russell. I don't like him much, but there are times when he seems to be playing Survivor as well as I've ever seen it played. Then again, there are times when he makes extremely obvious (from the viewers' POV) mistakes. I like it when there are players like this - those who I don't want to see win, but who I also don't want to see get voted out. Strange, I know.

I was happy to see Eric go home. Based on the votes, I suspect Shambo will be on the chopping block next week (despite the previews that suggest Russell is in trouble).