Survivor: Samoa

SydneyK · #1 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 · #2 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 · #3 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 · #4 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 · #5 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 · #6 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 · #7 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).