Eliza: Hey Guys! What a treat! Brooke, Murtz, and I all in one column!! It was so great to see you guys last weekend at the Castaways Dodgeball Tournament. What a crazy weekend. I had so much fun, as you can tell from the pictures! How are you guys recovering?
Brooke: I think I may have finally caught back up on sleep, but the all-nighters at the Dodgeball tourney were worth it. I had a blast seeing you both! I have to say though, the highlight of the weekend was Murtz’ “Tearin’ Up My Heart” karaoke serenade. Seriously Murtz, are you the missing sixth member of N’Sync?
Murtz: I have to say, my emotions are all over the map after coming back from Long Island. Was it the best weekend ever? Yes. Was it amazing to see my two favorite people in the entire world (along with Michelle and Jaime of course)? Yes. Am I totally depressed that it is over. *Nods sadly* It was the first time we all got to hang out together in a couple of years wasn’t it?! I see Eliza like everyday now, but Brooke, you are always the elusive one. And thanks for giving me the highlight award Struckster. I have to say… mine involved a certain car ride, a certain Survivor winner and a whole lot of vomit.
Eliza: Oh GROSS Murtz, did you really have to bring up the vomit?? I’m changing the subject immediately. I think the highlight was that a bidding war actually ensued over Brooke and my auction item!! We auctioned off the opportunity to be in a photo with us in this column, and it was so appropriate that Grant, the organizer of the whole fabulous weekend, won the honor. So check out our pic above! Now can we get to the episode and how sad I am that my friend Charlie was voted off?!?! :( What did you guys think of this episode and Kenny’s crazy reason for turning everyone against Charlie?
Brooke: I hated this episode because I hated to see Charlie go! Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the first time we’ve seen someone (in this case Sugar) crying as they wrote down a name at Tribal Council? Was she that close to Charlie? And if so, why do your think she voted him off? Funny enough, I think Sugar cried more over her voting Charlie out than Charlie did! Charlie was too excited for his consolation prize: Marcus! I’d be smiling too if I were him :).
Murtz: Hahaha. I am totally laughing right now. TOTALLY laughing. I think Sugar is just an emotional person, although I do agree. She definitely shed more tears for Charlie than she did for Ace. I think she left that for me. And there’s no doubt that the thought of Charlie and Marcus alone in Ponderosa is very hilarious. I wish they could show us scenes from there like they do on Big Brother from the jury house. You would think that by now, Sugar would be used to turning the knife in the backs of her former Kota teammates, but I guess it’s still hard for her to do so. Now it’s time for me to make a very guilty admission. I was going to bid on this column photo that you guys put up for auction in Long Island as well. I mean I know I have a murtzillion pictures of us all together already, but who wouldn’t want another one with the gorgeous Brooke Struck and the vivacious Eliza Orlins. Can a price even be placed on that?
Eliza: No, definitely no price can be placed on a picture with the two of us! Haha. But Murtz, that’s hilarious that you were going to bid on it! I think we do have (AT LEAST) a couple of us from the weekend, anyhow!! Murtz, you forget, we DO get to see what they’re up to at Ponderosa. You just don’t get to see it because you’re in Canada! Charlie and Marcus’s newest video is like my first one at Ponderosa and they’re trying on all their outfits for the next tribal council. I love it. Speaking of outfits, who do you guys think wins the best outfit at dodgeball? I liked my “princess” tank, but it certainly didn’t come close to some of the outfits this year…
Brooke: I’m laughing with you Eliza! I love that you were going to bid on the auction photo Murtz even though you are automatically in every column photo with us. I guess you have to protect your territory :)! Now to best Dodgeball outfit… while you were an adorable Dodgeball princess Eliza, I think the China trio of Courtney, Todd, and Frosti took the cake. Their sexy tights put them over the top! Don’t you agree Murtz? And by the way, I’m a little concerned about something. Did you retire the purple fedora?
Murtz: Brooke, you are BANG on. The Frostoddney trio looked hilarious and their matching outfits were hard not to notice! Oh, Brooke, Brooke, Brooke! I am so glad I remembered this. I totally wanted to ask you what you thought about our team. We all know that Eliza was paired with the greatest dodgeballer around (although he will always be my second favorite Brook), but what about our Ponderosa’s Revenge squad? For those of you guys reading this who weren’t at the event, Billy Garcia from Survivor: Cook Islands was the captain of our team and picked me first. I then ‘helped’ him pick the rest of the team. I quickly realized that with Billy and I on the team, our chances of winning were slim to none so I went for the only strategy that I have ever employed in my life. Pick the good-looking girls! I picked Alexis Jones from Micronesia, Brooke Struck (you might know her), Sarah Leshner from the Amazing Race and even one mystery girl who might have been one of the hottest girls I have ever seen! We may not have won a single-game, but there’s no question our team was the most photographed of the entire event. And to answer your question, I had the purple fedora with me the whole time. Jonny Fairplay told me not to wear it anymore though because he thinks with my show, I have “grown past it.”
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Eliza: I agree Murtz, you have grown past it. You’re so much more than just a purple fedora now. :) And I agree that Todd and Courtney and Frosti took the cake for those outfits. They were amazing. Their singing was pretty great, too. No one should miss this event next year, I’m already looking forward to it!!
Brooke: Before we get to this week’s picks, I just want to say that Ponderosa’s Revenge beat out all other team names, even if we didn’t win the ultimate tournament. And, for all our good looks, we couldn’t quite distract the other teams enough to get them out. Next year though Murtz, if you wear some short shorts and show a little more leg, I think we will be unstoppable!!! Let’s get to this week’s picks!
THIS WEEK’S BEST PLAYER
KENNY
Eliza: As much as I hate to name Kenny as one of the best players of the week for what he did to my boy Charlie, Kenny is playing this game. HARD. Kenny tells the lies he has to tell and sells out whoever he has to sell out in order to get himself further in the game. It’s great for the game of Survivor and it could definitely get him to the end of the game, but Kenny could also end up shooting himself in the foot. When you tell lies in Survivor and they serve a purpose, then hey, I’m all for it. For example, Kenny needed to lie to Sugar to get her to turn on Ace, but did he need to lie to his alliance to get rid of Charlie, not really. However, I think he did the right thing by getting rid of Charlie, but for the wrong reasons. Although Kenny didn’t acknowledge it on the show, Charlie was a huge threat to Kenny. As you can see from the voting confessionals, everyone loved Charlie. Sugar was bawling her eyes out because she had to vote him out and he is someone who would be a huge threat in front of the jury. Kenny’s reasons for getting rid of Charlie were childish, but I still think he did the right thing and seems to be in control of this game. Murtz, do you agree?
Murtz: Agreed. I liked Charlie a lot as well, and it was very hard to see him go… but it was definitely the right move for Kenny. A player like Charlie can easily use his charm and likeability to sneak into the end of the game. I know the Todd comparisons happen everytime Charlie is mentioned, but there is definitely a parallel and Kenny managed to do what the entire China cast couldn’t. Get rid of the game’s most likeable player. If Charlie didn’t go this time, I think he really could have managed to work himself into the underdog alliance and make it to the end. Did I like what Kenny did? No. Was it a phenomenal strategic move? Unquestionably. What I like the most about Kenny’s game right now is that he has managed to put himself in the lead position of a very weak alliance. One that will do whatever he says. It’s brilliant. Instead of aligning with stronger players who will question him at every vote, he is the king of the weak. He reminds me of myself in highschool. I always wanted to sit at the popular table until the day I realized that I could be the leader of the socially inept because there were way more of us and we could force the cool kids out of the cafeteria. That’s exactly what we did.
Brooke: Kenny really has gone from underdog to top-dog in just a few short days. I laugh when I think back to the first episode where Kenny was so focused on trying to hookup with Michelle that he seemed to forget there was a million dollar prize on the line! He does deserve best player this week for successfully exacting revenge on Charlie. Maybe karma is rewarding Kenny for being tortured by childhood bullies. What I don’t like though is that Kenny is getting too cocky about it. When he said, “tonight at Tribal the Crystal in me came out,” I cringed. That is NOT a good thing Kenny!!! Remember: pride comes before the fall!
SUSIE
Brooke: I would bet money that no one guessed Susie would win the immunity challenge this week (or any week for that matter.) I loved that Susie got to be rewarded for all her hardwork around camp!!! She may not be winning people over with her social game, but, she’s using the skills she has to her advantage. Can you believe how much she beat the others by in the fire challenge? Sugar was the only one who even came close! Good thing the men in this game have the women to look after them at camp! Boys really are helpless aren’t they Eliza?
Eliza: Totally helpless! Rarely, if ever, is there a shot of Susie at camp without an armful of firewood. You can tell that she’s the one who is in charge of the fire at camp and she got to prove her skills during that immunity challenge. Also, although she won this challenge, she did not do it in a way that is going to concern people that she will go on a challenge run and win all the subsequent challenges. Susie is in a great position to go very deep into this game since she is not much of a physical threat and proved her loyalty to Kenny and Crystal who seem to be a very tight alliance. Susie seems to be very well situated right now and she had a great week. Murtz, can you believe Susie won the first post-merge immunity challenge?
Murtz: I was totally in shock that Susie won that challenge. I think editing was definitely a factor because it seemed to me like that challenge went on way longer than we were led to believe. And Brooke, boys are not helpless. Only some boys. Admittedly, there’s no way I would have gotten that fire started. Susie is a very intriguing player to me. I’ll be honest. I was WAY off about her. I thought she was going to hit the bricks immediately after Gillian and while her continued stay has largely been because of luck, we must give her some credit as well. Her strategy of working hard and aligning with the weak seems to be working for her and she just might sail to the end because once Corinne is gone, she won’t have too many enemies around her except for maybe Bob.
BOB
Murtz: While I don’t think Bob is the nouveau Yau-Man just yet, this was certainly his best week in awhile. When one of your alliance members is completely blindsided at a tribal council, there are two ways to handle it. The first is to immediately react and try to enact a hasty plan to exact revenge immediately. This is almost always a mistake because the fast plans never seem to work. The other way to react is to take a step back and law low, doing nothing to increase the target on yourself. This is what Bob did. Instead of freaking out that Susie backstabbed their alliance, Bob kept his nose clean and his mouth shut, hoping that the merge would follow and this is exactly what happened. When he was sent to Exile and couldn’t find the Idol, not only did Bob learn that Sugar must have it (which he can now use against her), but made the best fake idol in Survivor history. I honestly think it looks better than the real thing.
Brooke: Bob is the Yau-man of this season. Both of them had the wisdom to use technique to win challenges, not brute strength. I couldn’t help but root for Bob in the reward challenge as he used the momentum of his entire body to launch the sling shot. I was afraid he’d break every time he fell to the ground!!! I think his legs are actually skinnier than Courtney’s were in China! IF that’s even possible! You got pretty skinny on both Vanuatu and Fans vs. Favorites didn’t you Eliza? But not that skinny!
Eliza: HAHAHAHA! Love you Brooke! So true. Bob has truly become a competitor out there. I don’t know exactly what he hoped to do with the fake idol (seeing as the whole “ruling” alliance knows Sugar has the real one) but it was a beautiful fake idol nonetheless. I mean, nothing can compare to a stick with a face on it, but had Bob found the real one and made one to replace it, I think it would have convinced a lot of people. Bob is a regular MacGyver. I was so impressed. He is laying low and he does seem to be friendly with everyone after having spent some time with the Fang tribe, so in a situation where Randy and Corinne are totally abrasive (and somewhat crazy), Bob seems to be in a good position to last at least a few more weeks!
THIS WEEK’S WORST PLAYER
CORINNE
Eliza: Oh Corinne. She is truly one of the most entertaining people left in the game, but she’s also somewhat of a disaster. Corinne can’t control her emotions or her outbursts and that’s definitely going to hurt her in this game. I’m afraid of what’s going to happen next week now that her good friend Charlie was blindsided at the last tribal council. I think Corinne is going to wreak havoc on the camp and at least make it interesting before she goes home. Unfortunately, I think that is going to be sooner rather than later since she has a truly abrasive personality and does not “play well with others.” I’m sure Corinne will have fun at Ponderosa with Charlie and Marcus, but I will certainly miss watching her in the game. I think that I have a huge appreciation for Corinne because I was somewhat the same way in terms of not being able to keep my mouth shut when surrounded with people I hated. Brooke, you were always able to keep your emotions in check during the game, so what do you think of Corinne’s attitude?
Brooke: Am I surprised at Corinne’s catty comments towards the other players? No! I mean, come on, her CBS biography says she’s a “self-described b!$@#”. Looks like she better hide her true colors because she’s got some major sucking up to do if she’s going to convince anyone to keep her in the game. By the way, if I were Corrine I wouldn’t call Sugar a “moron.” Sugar has the idol, is in the majority alliance, and didn’t fall for Corrine’s phony pleas to side with her. If we’re keeping score, so far Sugar is way ahead of Corrine.
Murtz: I totally agree ladies. All I remember before this season started is what people were saying about Corinne. How she was the new Jerri Manthey. How she would take-no-prisoners in her quest to dominate the game and would do anything to win. I have to say that outside of her basically telling Bob how to vote in one of the early episodes, I really didn’t see the fire that everybody kept saying that she had. It certainly came out this week as she first expressed her total disdain at Kota for voting out Marcus and calling Sugar stupid in a confessional. While Corinne does get props for keeping her opinion of Sugar in check around camp (and saving it for just when she is talking to the camera by herself), this is the second week in a row where she openly let her emotions impact the way that she is playing the game. If you’re playing Survivor, I am sure there are many people you don’t like around you. That’s why they were chosen to play. The thing that separates good players from bad ones are when you can separate how you feel about somebody just to progress in the game. Corinne alienated herself from Susie last week. Called out the entire Kota tribe this week for getting rid of Marcus because he ‘deserved it’ and called Sugar stupid (when I would be willing to bet the house that Sugar will now last longer than she does). Not a good week.
ELIZA’S PICK
Best line of the night: “Hey Guys, if we are going to win, let’s win happy” -Charlie
“I haven’t even started, so how can I finish?” -Randy
“If you got more to say, we ain’t got nothin’ but time” –Crystal
MURTZ’S PICK
Best line of the night: “If we’re not in a merge, I’m history. Even though I teach science. That was a little joke.” –Bob
“Marcus and I have been playing together since the beginning of this game.” – Charlie
“I haven’t had a girl come on to me in about 20 years.” -Randy
“Sasquatch is bigfoot which Crystal.” -Randy
BROOKE’S PICK
Best line of the night: “It doesn’t even make sense, but she buys it because she’s such a moron.” -Corrine (referring to Sugar)
“Sasquatch” “Big Foot” “T-Rex”- Randy (listing his nicknames for Crystal)
“This is Crystal. What you see is what you get.” -Crystal (repeatedly referring to herself in the third-person)
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