Bits and Pieces
– So maybe ‘Cold Case’ isn’t family friendly entertainment (according to the PTC, anyway) but I’ve found it more entertaining to watch than the Sunday Block on Fox. Anyways, of late it’s been the “actress I had a crush on” show, as former ‘V.R. Trooper’ Sarah Brown has been a recurring character, and this week’s episode featured Anne of Green Gables herself, Megan Follows in the present day, and Meredith Monroe – Andie from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ – in the flashback episodes.
– Even better, we get Brian Bosworth as a bounty hunter on ‘CSI: Miami’. Lucky for us, he’s improved greatly since his starring role in Stone Cold. I think he even showed more emotion than Caruso did. Also, we find out the secret Delko’s been keeping from everyone – his sister’s a pothead due to her having a tumour. However, she remains hot.
– And we go from real football player to fake football player as Russell Hornsby from ‘Playmakers’ appeared on ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ as a pedophile. Yeah, I know, surprising for the show. But as has been the case lately, the pedophile case morphs into an Anthrax case and how the government covers things up. Aside from that, not too bad an episode.
– Can someone tell Mo Rocca that snarkiness doesn’t translate well on ‘Iron Chef America’? Or better yet, keep him the hell away from the show and put Rachael Ray in as a judge.
– Not a bad week on MuchMoreMusic up here in Canada – we got ‘Intimate and Interactive’ (think Unplugged with Q&A segments) shows from INXS and Sheryl Crow, two of my favourite artists. Sheryl was solid as always, and J.D. Fortune looks to have fit in very nicely with the band.
– I finally caught ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, and I have to admit, I’m impressed. Good story, good pacing, and I find myself not hating Sandra Oh for once. Odd, though, that it’s quite similar to ‘Scrubs’ but is a one hour drama as opposed to a half hour comedy. Oh, well.
(item added at 9am Thursday)
– Odd episode of ‘CSI: NY’ this week. Apparently in the CSI universe, roller derby is a sport. Now my roller derby exposure has been limited to ‘Rollergames’ and ‘RollerJam’, but it seems to me that there’s a lot more “sports entertainment” than sport in roller derby. But that’s just me.
The Fox executives are a bunch of wankers
Kind of a big cliffhanger to end the “fall season” for ‘Prison Break’, and now we’ve got to wait until March to see where Mike hid the rachet set. While this isn’t the six-month delay we were threatened with, it’s still rather significant and it’ll be interesting to see whether this hurts the ratings when the show comes back.
Two weeks, and Zero eliminations later…
Straightforward leg, no real surprises until we found out that it was a superleg. And even then, not so much. So let’s analyze the tasks.
Detour – Steam It was actually the better choice, as long as you did what the Weavers did – form a chain to run the coal back and forth. Spike it wasn’t significantly slower though, as it was also a rather straightforward task that was hard to f*ck up.
Roadblock – Another nothing task, as the competitors took to horseback riding rather quickly and nobody got slowed down.
The major task here was actually getting to Yellowstone Park. As we saw, the Godlewskis and Linzes just missed an eruption, and as a result are now fairly significantly behind the other teams. Although this probably won’t matter, since the superleg will likely see another bunchup or two before it’s done. As such, I can’t really comment on how the teams are doing until next week.
Who’s Out:
10. Black (Lancaster, PA)
9. Rogers (Middleburg, VA)
8. Aiello (Huntsville, AL)
7. Schroeder (New Orleans, LA)
6. Gaghan (Quepos, Costa Rica)
5. Paolo (FF, Y) (Lake Powell, AZ)
Who’s Left:
Bransen
Godlewski
Linz (Y)
Weaver
Who’s Gonna Win:
Linz
Welcome to IP Survivor Radio
Thanks to fellow nine-oh-fiver Richard from the IP Forums for this idea
We are back and we’re taking your calls about ‘Survivor: Guatemala’. We’ve got Matt from Detroit on line 1. Matt, you’re on the air.
“Yeah, I was wondering, now that he’s been voted off, do you think Gary could still play QB?”
Well Steve, while I think that Gary could still throw a ball pretty well, I’m not sure how he could stand up to the rigors of today’s pro football.
“Well, what about Steph?”
Steph has definitely stepped it up a bit since Palau, but she’s been abrasive as of late with people, and she could be ousted just like You-Know-Who got booted out of Philly. Besides which, you’re just looking for ways to deflect from your ineptness as GM, now that you’ve fired Mariucci. But thanks for calling.
Now we’ve got Hua Mei on line 2, calling from San Diego. Hua Mei, you’re on the air.
Grunting and what sounds like someone chewing bamboo
Well, yes, I do think that Cindy has improved her position since the merge. Sure, she’s trying to keep a low profile in camp, but she’s bonded with Rafe and she’s a challenge threat so she could go a lot further than anyone thought.
Kurt is on the line from Phoenix. Hey Kurt.
“Hey, Kevin. I wanted to talk about the Weavers from your previous topic. There’s nothing wrong with asking God to give you strength to win. I mean, I did it, and I won the Super Bowl, and-“
– yeah, and I’m sure that you did it all on your own, Kurt. And aren’t you playing for a team that hasn’t won a championship since the 40’s now? I don’t think that God told you to do that. Anyways, enough about the Weavers, we’re talking ‘Survivor’ here.
Next caller is Rey, also from San Diego, and he wants to say something about the Reward Challenge. Rey, how’s it going?
“Not bad, Kevin. Do you think that that Cindy should’ve taken Lydia with her on the reward trip? I mean, the woman was starving. Also, what do you think Lydia’s chances are right now? Thanks and I’ll take your comments off the air.”
Lydia’s a mystery, because it’s pretty much been established that she’s “mostly harmless”. And mostly stupid, based on her performance in the traditional “How Dumb Are You?” Reward Challenge. The object of this challenge is not to win, but as the Rotu Four can attest, it’s to show where your loyalties lie in the game. Gary getting picked off early is no surprise, as the pecking order has been apparent since the merge. But by going straight for the alliance leader, Steph, Lydia painted a target on herself that the remaining Survivors could go after. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Danni use that to her advantage this week.
OK, now we’ve got Dan P. calling from Bristol, Connecticut. Dan, what’s on your mind.
“I wanted…
to talk about…
the immunity challenge…”
– Dan, do you mind not taking unnecessary pauses in between words? This is radio, no one can see you gesture or make facial expressions while you talk…
It seems like Rafe…
has become a real challenge threat…
…
OK, that’s enough of that. But let’s talk about the Immunity Challenge. Once again, it’s a traditional challenge, as “Jeff Tells a Bedtime Story” has been around since the beginning. The key is to stay calm and make sure you can retain all the important elements of the story. With that and a little luck, you can win immunity. Only two people managed to stay calm under pressure, and unluckily for Gary, Rafe just beat him for Immunity. But really, Gary should be used to losing. After all, he did play for the Cardinals.
Rankings:
Made it to the pitch stage:
18. Jim Lynch
17. Morgan McDevitt
16. Brianna Varela
15. Brooke Struck
14. Blake Towsley
13. Margaret Bobnich
12. Brian Corridan
11. Amy O’Hara
Got the pilot episode made:
10. Brandon Bellinger
Cancelled after 3 episodes:
9. Bobby Jon Drinkard
8. Jamie Newton (1 IC)
7. Gary Hogeboom (1 IC)
Got the full season order:
Lydia Morales – You said you were gonna take action and we saw you… make fish soup and act helpless. We know how you made it this far, but you make it hard for me to believe that you’re going much further.
Judd Sergeant – In all likelyhood, Rafe is not going to win all the remaining ICs, and I think that Danni will win one because during these next two weeks, she’ll simply have to in order to get further. And your attitude and “honesty” is likely to get you booted more than the others.
Renewed for next year:
Rafe Judkins (3 IC) – To use a sports cliche, you’re “in the zone” right now. But the problem is that you can’t let up now, and you’ll probably have to run the table. Remember, Steph remembers what didn’t happen when Tom was vulnerable in Palau, and she might not be that willing to let it happen again.
Stephanie La Grossa – You’re firmly in control of things, but one misstep will put your ass back into a familiar place – the Jury. ‘Survivor’ juries are littered with people that were the “leaders” of their alliance. Still, Richard, Brian, Tom and Boston Rob all made it to the Final Two, so you can still do it. Just watch your step.
Final Two:
Danni Boatwright – Yeah, I still think you can pull it off. Convincing people to give Lydia the boot shouldn’t be difficult, but you’d make your life a lot easier by winning the next two immunities.
Cindy Hall – You’re in a really good position, because I think people are overlooking you, yet you’re a threat to win challenges, and you could probably swing your vote without much fear of reprisal at this point. It’s the position that allowed Ethan to win in Kenya, so… yeah. Good stuff.
Sole Survivor
Danni Boatwright
That’s it for this week.
