I can’t recall a time when I ever saw more chaos and scheming on SURVIVOR during episode 2.
Was anyone else amazed by what happened last week? I, for one, was stunned.
Usually, you don’t see the kind of drama we saw pre-TC until much later, and certainly not the very first Tribal Council a tribe has to go to.
Dolly thought she was playing. In a lot of ways, she pulled a Christy. She was caught between two opposing sides, let each side know that they were in the middle, and couldn’t decide which route they were going to take.
Eliza both impressed me and discouraged me this episode. She had a wide-range performance last week. I didn’t like what I saw about her being a chatterbox. It was the same thing in the first episode. She has obviously grated some nerves, seeing as she became one of Yasu’s first targets.
However, I was impressed with how she and Leann orchestrated the turn-a-round that resulted in Dolly’s ouster. The two of them did exactly what any good player should do when someone like Dolly pulls a Christy. They were made aware of her indecision, and exploited the situation to their advantage.
She can’t choose which one of us she’s going to vote for? Fine. We’ll vote her out instead.
So, who was left out in the dust. Well, Dolly, obviously. She never saw that coming. The swing vote swings no longer.
But, she’s gone now, so we don’t really care whether she was left out in the cold or not. What we care about is who’s in trouble who is still left in the game.
Three people this time. Mia, Julie, and Lisa. They were caught completely off-guard.
Uh-oh.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I’ll get to some official predictions a little later, but for now, we’ll just say that this will be very interesting.
Let’s move on for the time being to Lopevi. Who performed well, and who performed badly.
Here are some people who I think performed badly:
RORY— A second bad week in a row. It’s not looking good for him”¦.personally, I don’t think his trip to Vanuatu will last much longer. There was no need to make such a big deal about the girls’ victory dance at the Reward Challenge. Maybe you didn’t like it. Deal with it. He should have known better not to draw anymore attention to himself after his pitiful performance the first three days and seeing his name come up at TC. It’s going to be an uphill battle for him from here on out, for sure.
TRAVIS— If it’s one thing SURVIVOR has taught again and again, it’s this: Honesty is not the best policy. Travis should not have been so open about his strategy with John P. That was a huge mistake, and could result in a game-ending blunder. John P. could easily turn some of the younger guys against Travis, calling him out for being so blunt. He has made it known that he will do whatever he has to do in order to win the money for his family. He needs to do some serious work making sure his original allies are still with him. However, some other people are most likely farther out in the spotlight than him at the moment.
JOHN K.— To round off the list, I think John K. had another bad performance. Last week, he cost his team the Immunity Challenge. Ouch. Just like Rory, he’s going to have some major work to do if he wants to stay in the game. He needs to reestablish himself in the tribe and make an alliance pronto. I’d recommend going to John P., because after his talk with Travis, he may be open to the idea. At this stage, it couldn’t hurt.
Now, here are some people from Lopevi I thought performed well this week:
BRADY— It’s so refreshing to see the person I have as my Sole Survivor pick doing so well. Two strong performances in a row. He was the only one successful in the Reward Challenge. That proves his value to his tribe even more. He does have to be careful, however, to make sure he doesn’t come off as too dominant. If the older guys like Lea, Chris, and Chad are picking off the young strong guys, then he could be a threat. Especially at a merge. But, strong performance for the time being. I hope he keeps it up.
LEA— He did a great job leading his team through the Immunity Challenge. It was the perfect time to put his drill sergeant experience to good use, and it paid off. His team got the flint and Immunity. Excellent work. All he has to do now is make sure his alliance is still intact. But I don’t see a problem for him when they vote.
I’ve decided to start a new little “Eyes” tradition. Every week, CBS puts some “teasers” on their official website for Vanuatu. For those of you who do not know the address, it is here:
www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor9
So, anyway, I’m going to list those teasers each column, and make a prediction as to what each one means. Some of them are easier than others. So, here we go with this week’s batch:
“Post-Tribal Council fallout leaves one castaway feeling the heat from fellow tribe members.”
—- Well, from the preview, I think this is talking about Mia and Twila. My guess is that Mia is upset over being blindsided and decides to call out a member of the alliance, and that happens to be Twila. Personally, if this is true, then she’s making a mistake. Why make herself stand out anymore than she already does?
“At another tribe, differing work ethics and personalities lead to a clash between two castaways.”
—- This is obviously Rory and Lea, as we saw from the preview. Rory just digging a deeper grave for himself. Ouch for Lea. Don’t blow it”¦you’re doing so well. Don’t blow it, just vote Rory out. Don’t cause drama, that never goes well.
“Both tribes are shocked when they gather for a Challenge and are told at the end of the day there will be a double Tribal Council.”
—- I can’t wait for this. I love dual Tribal Councils. It worked great during that one episode of Pearl Islands, and I can’t wait to see how this one turns out.
“A twist at the end of the Challenge puts one castaway in a very influential position.”
—- My only guess for this is that they will run a challenge, but it won’t be tribal. It will be individual, and someone will receive individual Immunity. Should be interesting.
“Tension and politicking run rabid at both camps as several vulnerable tribe members jockey to survive. Two will leave Vanuatu…who will it be?”
—- Okay, are you ready for my official predictions for the week? Here it goes:
RORY for Lopevi.(He’s caused tension since day one.)
MIA for Yasur. (Yelling at Twila will result in nothing but unwanted attention.)
I can tell that this week’s episode is going to be explosive! I can’t wait! I’ll “see” you next week!
