10 Thoughts On… Survivor: Philippines – Episode 9 Review

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

1. This is literally the most confusing season ever. While the majority of the episode was spent on Penner’s plea for Lisa to go against Tandang and save him, she still voted him out. The unbelievable part? He still managed to stay. The one thing to note is how great his argument was when he asked her what the viewers would want to see. He had no problem breaking down the fourth wall and it was eerily reminiscent to Redemption Island when Boston Rob talked to the camera as he hid the immunity idol clue.

2. I think it is pretty clear that I am not a big fan of this season. I don’t think it is because of a lack of characters (of which there are plenty). It all boils down to the lack of strategy that is being employed. With that being said, I did like seeing Denise finally show the mastery that she is capable of when she made the play to eliminate Artis, realizing that Abi would not give him her idol. I have long believed that Malcolm and Denise have been in the best position since the merge (even though they really shouldn’t be) given how much they know about each tribe since they were on both between them. This was the first time, I saw them make a game-changing move.

3. While some Survivor fans like seasons where one majority alliance does not dominate and there are flips every week, I don’t find this interesting at all. To me it reeks of players that don’t know what their best move is. Sure, this episode made sense for Penner…. but on face value, it didn’t make a lot of sense for Skupin.

4. With that being said, it appears Skupin did have the luxury of deciding who to go with since it would appear that he is on the bottom rung on both tribes. If he stuck with Tandang, he would almost certainly be voted off right after Kalabaw was eliminated. By sticking with Kalabaw, I would presume that Denise, Malcolm, and Carter would pick each other over him. At least by sticking with Penner, he could perhaps convince the anti-returning player sentiment against him if need be.

5. Artis was a very underrated character this season. I wish he had gotten more TV time.

6. Who do you think the best strategic player still is? It has to be Penner right? Either him or Denise.

7. This season needs RC and Angie back desperately.

8. One thing that I definitely like about this season is how great the challenges have been. They are almost always nail-biters and the excitement that ensues at the end of one certainly makes up for the lack of strategic play.

8. Can anyone tell me how Lisa was picked ahead of Abi in the pick-em? Huh?

9. It’s pretty shocking that there are two idols still left in play with the end coming soon. Is there a chance that the game will end without either being played?

10. I’d like to think Pete would be the next choice to go. You know what that means right? Never going to happen.

* Bonus thought: Where does the Lisa/Mike alliance go from here, since they didn’t vote together on this episode? That to me will be the most fascinating part of tonight’s episode.

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.