Eliza: First, I have to say HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! I think it is my favorite holiday of the year and last year I was in Palau filming so we barely even acknowledged that it was Halloween and we certainly didn’t dress up for it. Murtz, I know you’re a big fan of Halloween, too. Should we show everyone our pre-Halloween, Halloween pictures from our amazing weekend at the Houston Survivor Challenge last weekend?
Murtz: I never thought that I would ever be at a reality Halloween party in a million years. I also didn’t think that people would go as all-out as they did! I mean I LOVE Halloween and I know you do too, but I didn’t expect so many of our Survivor friends (and Eric Sanchez, lol) to go full-scale. They TOTALLY did! And it was a week before Halloween too! I totally want to share the pics! And let’s give props to Survivor Palau’s Jolanda for putting together such an awesome weekend. Alright Eliza, let’s cut right to the chase. Hottest costume?
Eliza: No question about it, Natalie Bolton. She was the hottest school girl I’ve ever seen. Alexis as Pocahontas was a pretty close second, though. We did go ALL out. What a great weekend. Jolanda was incredible and I can’t wait to go back next year. So should we get to the episode? I can’t believe Ace and Dan are gone!! Are you devastated?
Murtz: I have to agree with you on Natalie. She rocked the house. And I LOVED your 80’s Barbie costume. It was awesome! How funny is that one picture of us on the duelling Blackberries?! We should get to the episode. I am devastated that Ace is out of the game. Don’t care as much about Dan. I don’t even want to watch the show anymore now that Ace is gone!
Eliza: I love that picture of us. So perfect. We’re always on those blackberries. So, what did you think of the assigning immunity twist? They did it in Vanuatu and John K. used it in a very different way than Marcus did. I have to say, I think he picked the right person to give it to, but WHAT was Marcus thinking winning that challenge?? It’s not even a challenge necessarily designed for a strong guy to win! The merge is coming up and Marcus has just painted a BIG target on his forehead. He was already a huge challenge threat and now he just showed everyone that not only is he good at strength and endurance and thinking challenges, but he’s also good at balance. Murtz, what’s your take on that?
Murtz: Honestly Eliza? Whereas I once thought Marcus was untouchable in this game, I now think his time will come much sooner than that. Marcus definitely should not have won that immunity challenge. It totally highlighted how strong a player he is and with Kenny on a warpath eliminating any physical threats to him, I think Marcus will be the #1 target when the tribes eventually merge. A player that we don’t talk too much about is Bob. He slips under the radar a lot this year and I wanted to ask you what you think about him. Is he really Yau Man version 2.0 or is he just somebody that is being strung along?
Eliza: No way is Bob as strategic or involved as Yau Man. Unless we’re not seeing it, he is not strategizing nor does he have a solid final 2, 3, or 4 alliance! Bob is totally under the radar right now. Can you believe Corinne, Crystal, and Susie are the only women left in the game. We hadn’t discussed this, but do you think all the girls got voted off this season because of how strong all the Micronesia females were? :)
Murtz: Haha, it just might be the case. Isn’t it strange that Susie, Corinne and Sugar are the only girls left? I totally didn’t expect that when the season started. I was hoping for Jacquie, Kelly and Paloma to last longer. Oh and Gillian of course. Can’t forget Gillian!
Eliza: Don’t hate on Gillian, Murtz. You and I love people who love the show. Gillian was a true fan and I would have loved for her to last longer. Well, let’s get to this week’s picks!
THIS WEEK’S BEST PLAYERS
ACE
Eliza: We don’t usually pick the voted off player as a best player of the week. I can only think of one or two instances in the history of this column that we’ve done so, but when we do it’s because the voted off player did EVERYTHING possible and got voted off anyhow. Ace is smart, rational, and made himself the perfect plan. He had Matty as his closest ally and Sugar as his closest ally. He had a group of three in a tribe of five. He did everything right. However, on the game of survivor, being a rational and smart person only works if the people who you are playing with are rational and smart as well. Unfortunately, Sugar is completely irrational. She just voted off her best friend, her boyfriend, her protector, and her best ally in the game. When you’re dealing with someone so completely erratic, even your best laid plans can’t come to fruition. Ace was playing the hand he got dealt and unfortunately, even though he did everything right, he came up short.
Murtz: I think that out of all the picks we have ever made, this one is probably my favorite. I completely agree with everything you just said Eliza. Ace had the majority on a tribe that needed his physical strength. He even managed to turn Matty, which to me was one of the biggest moments of the entire series because Matt had no reason to turn on his Fang majority. I have to tell you that while I am hoping it changes (and undoubtedly it will), I have no reason to continue watching Survivor Gabon. I know you and I are known for our overarching hyperbole and exaggeration Orlins, but this time I mean it. Ace was TOTALLY my favorite player. I liked him from the first commercial that I saw. And I guess the reason that I love Survivor so much is because it is amazing how your opinions on people can change in an instant. I thought I liked Sugar. She was my second-favorite (primarily because she was with Ace), but what she did was awful. Ace would NEVER have turned on her. That’s like asking if Boston Rob would turn on Amber. I am trying not to be too hard on Sugar. I mean she was sent to Exile Island more than anyone else and perhaps the isolation drove her crazy. Still, I just cannot find any redeeming quality in her decision to turn on the only person keeping her tribe alive. Ace was funny, memorable, strategic and strong. The entertainment value of Survivor Gabon just dropped a lot. The damage just might be irrevocable. And why didn’t we see how he lost the toss and ended up in the middle of that final immunity challenge log roll? BAH!
RANDY
Murtz: I love the way that Randy is playing this game, Eliza. I mean if we are being real, there are very few players this season. Are there a lot of pawns? Most definitely. But it’s the lack of playing that absolutely astounds me. Randy is clearly there to win. At first, even I will admit that I bought into the character. That he hated the world and that he was just there for his entertainment value. I certainly do not feel that way anymore. Nobody has played this game harder than the wedding videographer. Let’s be honest. A few weeks ago, nobody would have bet on anyone that wasn’t in the Charlie/Marcus/Corinne Kota power alliance… especially if that person was on Fang. With one tribal switch, Randy managed to work himself into the game’s most powerful alliance, even putting himself ahead of Bob in the pecking order. This is truly shocking when you consider the fact that Bob actually started with the Onion alliance. For a guy who is supposed to be socially-inept, how did Randy manage to do this? Don’t believe the editing. Randy is one of the games strongest players both physically and strategically. Another point that I want to raise is that Randy had no problem slitting Dan’s throat when the time was right. Dan was a useful ally for Randy on his old tribe. On Kota, he was completely useless. I just hope that when the tribes switch again this week as I suspect they will, things will work out for Randy. It’s almost fitting that Randy is on this list right after Ace as he is now the only reason I am going to watch.
Eliza: I completely agree, Murtz. Randy is a gamer. He has followed Survivor since season 1, applied 15 times, and has clearly seen every episode of every season, which makes him extremely knowledgeable in the game of Survivor. That is clearly not enough to make someone good at the game of Survivor, but Randy has used his knowledge of Survivor to play a great strategic game. He has completely integrated himself with Marcus, Charlie, and Corinne. It is amazing that he has gotten himself totally into that alliance and yes, even ahead of Bob! He has been playing an impressive game so far, and as long as he can continue to stay in a majority alliance, I think he could last a while longer!
KENNY
Eliza: Wow. Who knew the little gamer had it in him? Kenny hit it big this week. We can all agree that Sugar shouldn’t have been so stupid to believe him, but Kenny took full advantage of Sugar’s idiocy and convinced her to vote out her biggest ally in the game! Kenny saved himself and his only real ally, Crystal, and blatantly lied to Sugar’s face about what Ace had said about her. It was an impressive showing for Kenny and thus far this season, I don’t think anyone has brought up his name for elimination. However, Kenny could be in big trouble come the merge!
Murtz: Kenny has to be here because what he did was definitely one of the best moves this season. He managed to turn Sugar against her own ally, saved his alliance with Crystal, started a new one alliance and has a waffling and desperate Matt now at his disposal. That being said, he got rid of Ace. So I pick him as one of the best players this week under protest :( I actually don’t think Kenny is going anywhere for awhile. The tough part of the game is over for him. All he had to do was fight and claw his way to the merge. Now I think he will slip under the radar. Is this the same guy we saw after the first episode aired? Remember? Michelle was gone and he seemingly was next.
THIS WEEK’S WORST PLAYER
SUSIE
Eliza: Wow. Susie is about to get stabbed in the face by Corinne. Susie should know better than to TELL someone like Corinne that she was planning on writing her name down. That was the worst idea EVER. Did Susie think that was going to help her stay in the game instead of Dan? The only thing Susie has going for her is that she is weak physically and therefore once the merge comes (looks like next episode), she will be in good shape. But does that make her a good player? Absolutely not. She should have been convincing them why she should stay, instead of giving more reason to vote her off. Susie got lucky that she’s still around, but she’s our worst of the week.
Murtz: I honestly could not believe that Susie told Corinne that she was going to vote for her. That is one of the worst moves in Survivor history. Forget about all those bad uses of the hidden immunity idol. The only good thing that Susie did this week was make our pick easy. She was definitely the worst of the week. I am stunned that she is still in the game.
ELIZA’S PICK
Best line of the night: “Susie is loca en la cabeza.” –Corinne
MURTZ’S PICK
Best line of the night: “Thanks, Sugar.” -Ace
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