1. I was shocked at the Redemption Island winner’s decision to share the hidden immunity idol clue with her loved one. I would think that the better decision would be to share it with the tribe that evicted her in order to win back their good graces. Am I wrong in this assessment?
2. It is absolutely incredible how the tribe of returnees do not seem to care that Tina and Aras are previous winners. When Tina competed on All-Stars, others almost immediately used her past success as a justification for her immediate elimination. This time around, Monica, Gervase and Tyson seem content to keep Tina and Aras around despite their millionaire status.
3. There is little doubt that this season will ultimately revolved around the relationship between the brothers Baskauskas. It seems that they are the loved ones who are the most likely to turn on each other and I was absolutely gripped by how Aras finds himself in an alliance with Tyson, while Vytas schemed to vote out Rachel as a way to get Tyson to sacrifice himself on her behalf. There is no doubt that they didn’t really discuss who their allies would be before the game, because if they did, I do not think that Vytas would have plotted against Rachel. The Aras/Vytas dynamic is already one of the most compelling in Survivor history and we have only just started.
4. I touched on this idea last week, but on the Loved Ones tribe, I am also amazed by how Hayden has been able to ingratiate himself with the others. A previous winner himself (albeit on Big Brother), it is shocking to me that Hayden wasn’t one of his tribe’s first targets. While I realize that this was primarily due to his gender and Brad’s desire to only align with guys, surely Moss must be given a lot of credit for being able to disguise his prior reality show victory.
5. I genuinely think the entire world was rooting for Gervase in that immunity challenge. The nostalgia factor of seeing a Survivor return to compete 13 years after his initial foray is a script that writes itself. It’s also beyond hilarious that he still is unable to swim.
6. If the returnees lose immunity tonight, is it a sure thing that Laura is the next to go? The only threat of keeping her would be if she goes on a Redemption Island run (unlikely) and rejoins the same team that eliminated her initially. I do not see this happening and I believe that the favorites are best served to keep her and fry bigger fish.
7. While many are hating on Colton for playing too hard, I actually think this is why he is such a great character to have on the show. Many seasons suffer from predictability at their onset, but Colton is such a lightning bolt that you really have no idea what he is going to do next. The way that he threw Kat and Tina under the bus at a moment’s notice was great TV.
8. Tyson is not being edited the way that I thought he would be. Gone are the days of him being a goofy character from Dazed & Confused who cuts amusing confessionals. This season, it’s almost as if he is a blonde assassin. He already finds himself in the majority alliance and has clearly picked one of the most rock solid ever. In the preview, he basically threatens anyone to beat him if he finds himself on Redemption Island. This is not the same player we saw on Heroes vs. Villains. It’s going to be interesting to see where things go from here.
9. Laura was noticeably missing from this episode. I wonder why?
10. Rachel was my favorite player this season and while I don’t fault the logic of the other players to get rid of her in an attempt to persuade Tyson to try and save her, it was very disappointing nonetheless. On a normal season of the show, Rachel’s hilarity and athleticism would undoubtedly see her make it to the end game. This time around, she was voted because, as she put it, her boyfriend is a badass.
