Happy March!
Okay CBS, joke over. You win.
Can anyone tell me what’s going on with the women of Survivor? Why is this gender, of which I’m a proud member, being the targets of this mass conspiracy? What are we doing wrong?
The first four people voted out of Survivor have all been women. We’re already down eight to four to the men. So what gives? Dumb luck, I guess.
Let’s take it week by week. Tina got the axe because her tribe lost the challenge, and they had to vote a woman out. The next week, Casaya’s alliance, which is based mostly on age, excluded Melinda and Cirie, and they just so happened to keep Cirie. But then the men of La Mina stuck together, which has since resulted in the exits of Misty and Ruth Marie. With this instance, the alliance was all male because the guy who started it wanted four bucking young lads to bind together. It’s like a fraternity – all men, but not because we’re anti-women.
So it looks like the first four boots are not because of some master plan to get rid of the women. The women have just been unfortunate up to this point It as sad as it looks, it may get worse before it gets better, with Sally seemingly the obvious choice for next boot if La Mina loses. But I digress, like Danni Boatwright, Sally has spunk, and that alone could be enough to keep her around if the worst does happen. Also, you have to realize that because Casaya is up two people, that means that in a given challenge, either Bruce and/or Cirie must compete for their team, which could prove to be problematic. We’ll see.
Obviously a lot to talk about this week, but I feel it’s best to take it person by person, and sort of analyze them individually. So with that, time for the rundown. As with always, this reflects a person’s likelihood of being Sole Survivor, relative to the others.
Loser’s Lounge:
16- Tina Scheer
15- Melinda Hyder
14- Misty Giles
*Loser’s Lounge Update!* Misty showed up to the lounge just in time! With Melinda and Tina at each other’s throats for three days (How long can you really hang out with only one person), Misty came and settled the feud. Melinda gave Tina the silent treatment after Tina was flinging rubber bands at her for hours on ends. Misty arrived topless, hoping there’d be boys there. To her dismay, no such luck. But Melinda and Tina found it so hilarious, they couldn’t stay mad at each other. All three have started their own old maids’ knitting circle.
13- Ruth Marie Milliman (11). Her or Sally, and it wasn’t Sally. I can’t help but feel that Ruthie didn’t really do anything to “deserve” getting kicked out. Obviously wither her or Sally had to sit at the immunity challenge, and Sally was the better choice to do the running. In the course of that, Sally proved herself for another week, such that by process of elimination, it had to be Ruth. So, sadly, Ruth leaves Survivor in anonymity. But on the good side of things, I can’t think of anything anyone could say bad about her.
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12- Shane Powers (13). Seriously, dude. The only reason you’re rising a spot was because there were no lower spots to give you. Prove yourself, otherwise, you’re stuck here as a bottom feeder.
11- Sally Schumann (10). As I said, it would appear she’s gone should the unfortunate happen. I see a nice little group remaining at La Mina, such that what’s left could really kick some ass (not unlike post-Ghandia Chuay Chan in Thailand, or post-Mitchell Ogakor of the Outback). If that happens, watch out for this tribe. If you want to think long term, say all five La Mina are the final five (or even now, if they want to self-destruct early), then the young versus old battle will commence, and Sally will be the swing vote. Keep your head up girl, a lot of people have faith in you.
10- Courtney Marit (9). I want to side with Courtney over Shane. I still see her being a potential target however, and thus I have to hesitate giving her a higher ranking.
9- Bruce Kanegai (3). In all honesty, I cannot explain a drop of six spots. I ranked people where I thought appropriate, and because Bruce was at the bottom, #9 was left, and it stuck. I think I may have given him too much credit for his double-trip to Exile Island last week, and now I see him as more of a neutral player. So he get’s a neutral ranking.
8- Bobby Mason (6). Did very well in the challenges. But damn, what is it with the laziness. Maybe I’m not seeing everything, but it looked as if he went out of his way to show a lack of effort around camp. He’s still okay for awhile, because Shane’s running the show, and just wants to vote everyone out. So Shane mentioning Bobby doesn’t hold too much merit.
7- Cirie Fields (12). If not for someone else getting clear-cut status of player of the week, I would have given it to Cirie this week. I LOVE it when people knowingly exclude themselves, and let others burn their own bridges. Well, just that happened, and Cirie played a wonderful game this past week.
6- Nick Stanbury (5). Until proven otherwise, I will equate Nick as being Austin’s bitch. For that and only that, I have to drop him a spot. It’s not like Nick is purposely letting Austin run the show (a la Amber letting Rob do it all), it’s almost like it’s because he’s stupid. But still, he’s in the top half of players, so he’s clearly doing something right.
5- Dan Berry (2). Dan finally slips. And I’m not just talking about at the immunity challenge. That didn’t hurt things one bit. Dan’s in a worse position because I thought Terry was going to turn out worse than he currently appears. That being said, Maybe hiding behind Terry isn’t as good as it seems. At least not now. Come merge time, Terry will clearly be a target, such that Dan’s position will be better. Still a good player, and that whole thing with Ruth Marie will be totally smoothed over real quick.
4- Aras Baskauskas (7). I gave Yoga Guy too little credit. By the way, I like the term ‘Yoga Guy,’ because it’s seven letters long, and the only consonants are Y and G – letters you don’t always see near each other too often. Aras is proving himself to have a very level head, and physical abilities to boot. He’s a really stable player in a cracked out tribe. He’s also taking a leadership role nicely, and subtly. He’s crucial to Casaya, and I expect not to write his eulogy until at the very least late March.
3- Danielle DiLorenzo (1). After two weeks of being at the top, she slips a little bit. That whole thing with Shane I’m sure will turn into nothing, simply because it’s Shane. Like Aras, Danielle is invaluable to Casaya. But still, being called out like that can’t help someone all too much.
2- Austin Carty (4). Oh, how I wanted to really give a writer the #1 spot! Austin is in a very good position in La Mina, and as I said with Dan, Terry would most likely be targeted first after a merge. So in other words, Austin is not going anywhere for a while, and IF it comes down to Casaya versus La Mina at the merge, Austin’s still not going before at least Terry. Also keep in mind, that Austin can opt to use Sally to better his own game if he wanted to break up La Mina now or at the final five; Sally would clearly pick Austin/Nick over Terry/Dan. In other words, Austin is in control of this game as of right now, and I don’t think a lot of people even realize that. All that being said, I do think Austin’s the best player in the game at this point. But after the week Terry had, anything less than #1 for Terry would have been a gross injustice. (Way to give away the surprise ending, Dora).
1- Terry Deitz (8). As I just said, I think I’d be getting death threats if anyone but Terry got the #1 position this week. He did everything right. He stuck with the guys to vote out a woman, and he made the right choice by picking Sally over Ruthie. And Terry’s such a good guy, that he all but flat-out said to Dan “go ahead and give Ruth your sympathy vote, and I won’t hold it against you in any way. Terry right now is a lot like Rupert; he’s the figurehead of his tribe, and in charge of the tribe (not necessarily ‘in control’), yet everyone loves and respects him. He’s not the dictator I thought he was going to be. He’s emitting a certain Tom Westman aura, and my radar is picking up on the vibes.
Of course, the real reason Terry’s at #1 is because he’s got the best game going for him right now. After three weeks of speculation, we in the audience found out that the immunity talisman (I like that word) was not found by Bruce or Misty, and was indeed still on Exile Island. Terry used the clues he was given, and found it, thus making his long-term game exponentially better. Looking at the clues Bruce was given on week two, the word ‘why’ was in quotes (Misty’s hint). I wondered if it had something to do with not the word ‘why,’ but the letter Y. But I couldn’t substantiate (I like that word too) it enough to call it a logical guess. Then combined with above the tide line, meant that it was on the island part, and not the beach. It’s under a rock, which could mean anywhere. But Terry’s hint of ‘underground’ proved to be the kicker. I did not think it would be hidden, which is “why” (har!) neither Bruce nor Misty could find it. If you know it’s underground, and not in plain sight, where do you start digging? You can’t, unless you just hope to be reeeeally lucky.
Terry used all of these clues, and found a spot which looked suspicious. He looked under a rock under the Y-shaped tree, and poked it with a stick. No roots near a tree could mean that dirt was placed there. I loved his smart-assed comment of “this doesn’t belong in the jungle!” Roots don’t have corners. A minute later, Terry put himself in the most powerful position in the game. I do hope Terry had the common sense to burn the box/evidence, and fill the hole back up. If Bruce doesn’t have it, and obviously Misty didn’t have it, and whoever goes to Exile Island next week finds a hole or an empty box, they’ll know it’s Terry. And that would spoil all the fun.
And think of the fun he could have with it! He gets a free pass whenever he wants to. A few weeks ago, I called it a Get Out of Jail Free Card. And that’s exactly what it is. Terry can play his game as he normally would, and IF there’s a coup against him, ‘screw you, I’ve got the talisman!’ But this will end up benefiting whoever’s on Terry’s side. Say the merge comes five on five against Terry, it doesn’t matter because the other tribe is sending one of their own home. And say Terry wins an immunity, but since he’s a target, he can attract votes toward himself by giving the necklace away, and using the talisman. This will better his whole team. And I think Terry is smart enough and a good enough guy to realize what’s best. I have all the faith in the world that he will use it very strategically if needed. Of course, he could just become selfish and use it when he gets unanimously voted out. Now that the secret about exile Island is out, it’s up to you to keep us in the audience in suspense, Terry. No pressure.
On a side note though, what was Casaya thinking when they sent Terry to Exile Island? Bruce knows that the hints accumulate each time someone’s sent there. So why would they send the person most like to be voted out by them to somewhere where he could screw up their whole tribe’s gameplan? Clearly, it’s not going to bother someone like Terry, and he ended up getting the idol, so it double backfired. I’d have sent Dan or Ruthie – someone likely to wither away if exiled, such that that damages the whole tribe vicariously. They’ll pay for this
On a side note, I do want to thank CBS for showing us that Terry has the talisman (such a good word!). If Terry may or may not have come up empty handed, it would have marked the fourth consecutive episode where we didn’t know the outcome of Exile Island. After that long, we’d just become immune to the feeling, and the suspense would plummet. Now we get to watch people search in vain for something that no longer exists there! Public failure AND disappointment? Tell me more!
I’m such a bitch. But at least I’m well aware of it.
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Wow, that was BY FAR my longest blurb about someone during any rundown. And I feel it’s well-deserved.
And with that, I’m out. To think, I was concerned about cutting this too short when I started the rundown after a page and a half. As always, I always underestimate myself.
As always, I invite you to shoot me a line (not DOING lines, which is illegal, kids!) if you want to chat about something. My email’s at the bottom, and I do read everything.
So until next time, when we discuss the substantiation of a certain type of talisman (is it wrong for me to get shivers by writing that?), stay cool.
~Dora
