10 Thoughts on Survivor: Gabon
1. Crying over spilt… rice?
I’m still trying to figure out exactly how Crystal managed to spill the rice, but really, shouldn’t you almost instinctively know where your only source of food is? Regardless, I’m sure they ended up eating the rice whether it was dirty or not. And it’s not like it affected their performance.
2. Yeah, like Fang had a chance here.
I don’t think that Survivor has played “Keep Away” before, but based on this, they probably shouldn’t play this again, at least with these rules. A crazy guy like Randy will do whatever it takes to win, and if your challenge means you can legally attack someone, well, he’s gonna take advantage of it. Conversely, someone like Sugar is never gonna attack people no matter what the challenge.
3. Now that is a freaking reward.
A picnic on top of a cliff? Yeah, that’s damn nice. But for people that have been away from loved ones for 20+ days, the letters were probably even better. And those eliminated Castaways and Fang are probably cursing as this is the first time they saw this footage.
4. You know, the twist isn’t that surprising when you hype it all week.
It was pretty impressive that Sugar lasted all the way to the finals, but when you look at the challenge, she was one of the few people with the proper defensive strategy – looking at the opponent’s feet. Her balance was good enough to keep her on the log until her opponent made a mistake. However, in the three way dance Ace and Marcus stayed patient and outlasted her. It was actually an impressive outing by Ace here – he was rolling but he wasn’t facing Marcus at all, putting him at a distinct disadvantage. And after winning, Marcus did the smartest thing possible with the second Immunity Necklace – he gave it to Sugar, figuring that she either had the hidden Idol or had used it already, and thus keeping all the power with a known commodity.
5. Kenny makes a move.
Kenny’s been trying to play this game from day one, and while most of his moves haven’t fully worked out, he managed to get this one to work. He managed to put enough doubt in Sugar’s mind to get her to turn on Ace and perhaps gaining a bit of a power position. Of course, with the merge looming, that position may mean squat when your Tribe is at a 6-4 disadvantage.
6. No Ace on the river.
This was going to happen sooner or later, but the way things were going you’d almost have expected Ace to end up in the final three because he was not the most likeable person and in fact he wore that snakeskin like he was born with it. But that snake attitude backfired on him when Kenny decided to do whatever it took to keep Crystal.
7. Randy makes a move.
Randy is like a bull in a china shop, and by being the bull he managed to work his way into the Kota alliance, giving them the option of keeping him or Bob should all five make it to the Final Five. I really do have to admire the guy because he’s going in with a sink or swim mentality, finesse be damned. I don’t know that that will work with this bunch, but he’s doing well so far.
8. Kota back at Tribal Council, finally.
Should the traditional merge happen next week, Kota will emerge as one of the two most successful tribes in Survivor history, behind or ahead of Koror who of course ran he table in Immunity Challenges but did lose three Reward Challenges (Kota has lost two challenges total). The Kota alliance went with a smart strategy knowing that Susie might not vote for Dan. Knowing that Dan would vote for Suzie, three voted for Dan and two voted for Suzie. In a revote, they could vote off who they pleased, and thus avoid the Purple Rock OF DOOM~!
9. Did they make the right call?
Yes and yes. Ace would be a lot of trouble down the road and in a merge situation, I’d guess he’d be the first to go anyway. With Dan, Kota was secure in their Final Five allowance and thus they weren’t really fuss about who went home. Should a merge not happen they could still vote out Suzie.
10. So who goes next?
Well, if a merge happens just about anything could happen, but I’d expect Matty to be targeted. Without a merge, Fang probably loses (again) and Crystal goes home.
That’s all, see you next week!
Kevin Wong writes for Reality Dish, Prime Time Pulse and Inside Fights. He’s hoping that Ace clears up the accent thingie when Josh interviews him.
