In case you’re wondering, I started a new job on Monday, hence the lack of an Amazing Race column. But to make it up to you this week, here’s a look at this week’s Survivor. Which hopefully you didn’t miss due to the Madness of March and all. Speaking of which, I’m pretty much DOA in my pool. But I digress.
OK, the tribal swap has been built up for a couple of weeks now, and how did things turn out? Incredibly, new Ravu ended up with a bunch of Alpha Males… and Anthony. And now they’re stuck with Lisi, which may make them wish that they’d gotten rid of James instead. Or maybe not, if the challenges are physical – Lisi and Anthony are probably about even there.
Meanwhile, new Moto has a slightly more cohesive tribe. Probably even more so now that Stacy and Lisi are separated. The former Ravu are probably in control there, as Cassandra has no reason to align with Stacy and Boo, but stranger things have happened. Like Erica, Jessica and Liliana getting booted before Anthony.
As for the swap itself, my wife brought up a good point – was it planned or thrown in there as a contingency? I’m almost inclined to feel that it was the latter. This isn’t Palau where both teams have similar living conditions – Moto was clearly gaining an advantage from their “posh” life, so a change was in order.
I felt that the Immunity Challenge was rather diabolical. There was no way that the game designers could predict how the teams would break out after the swap, but this challenge helped negate a lot of the strength of new Ravu (which isn’t likely to ebb as much now that they can get fish). Whenever new Moto fell behind, their size helped them to slip back to even with new Ravu. I think it was Boo that actually helped to carry new Moto to victory in the end, but again, it was close, and showed that strength isn’t the be all and end all of this game.
Now, a quick look at some of the players:
Lisi – I don’t know if she was trying to be flippant or what, but it came off as if she didn’t care about the game anymore. And when Probst is calling you on it, that’s making you an even bigger target should new Ravu go back to Tribal Council.
James – I’m sure that in his own way, James believes that he’s being nice and helpful to Anthony. That’s because he doesn’t have that filter in his brain that screens out the crap that comes from his mouth. I don’t think he even realizes how annoyed the former Moto are with his antics. At this point, I’m expecting him to get the boot next from New Ravu, which will probably put Mookie in a tough spot.
Alex – When we got our first look at the new castaways, I felt that Alex had a good shot of winning. And even in his current position, I think he’s still on pace to reach the Final Four at least. A lot probably depends on how well the Yau-Earl combo does, but Alex is in control of new Ravu, which will probably come as a surprise to James when he gets the boot.
Stacy – Notice that, separated from Lisi, Stacy isn’t nearly as much of a bitch. She’s in, at best, a stalemate as far as power goes, and so she can’t afford to show her true colours anymore. Good luck trying to hide it.
Yau and Earl – One of the two solid alliances left in this game, and probably the most unlikely one. Yau’s proved to be a lot tougher than anyone could have imagined, and Earl is showing a lot of savvy in knowing how to use the hidden Immunity Idol without actually having it. Well, assuming that Yau finds it. He’s getting a little cocky though, and that might not be such a good thing.
Keep an eye out for our usual lot of Survivor alumni, as well as Murtz’ interviews with the castaways.
