I
heard from a couple of you who strongly believed that the tribe should
have kept Angie. These arguments tended to focus on the shortcomings of
Russell. Russell's weaknesses are many. He might be the weakest
player to be on Survivor twice. However, it's not enough to demonstrate
Russell's failings. You have to show that the tribe would be better
off keeping the Provo Princess. So, stop telling me how poor Russell
is. Explain to me why Angie is better.
Despite their tribe's shortcomings, I believe Denise and Malcolm
are rationale players who are trying to win. They are out there 24/7
with these people. If they think Russell is more valuable to have
around than Angie, I'm not going to quibble. I didn't see anything
glaring to the contrary, so I'm going to trust them on this.
As for the tribe in general - during Malcolm's pre-game interview,
he said he was going to lay low and not be assertive. He didn't want to
be a target.
We can all see the downside of that strategy. There are scenarios
where your tribe self-destructs if the leader-by-default is someone like
Russell. At least Malcolm's beginning to admit that he should have
been more assertive (he said so after the last challenge). But, it
might be too little, too late. Maybe Malcolm will be able to hide in a
re-mixed tribe. But, he'll probably need a hidden idol. He better
start looking for it.
Other Stuff:
1. It ain't Survivor unless Skupin's bleeding.
I am now convinced Skupin got an absolutely fantastic edit while on
Australia. I'm guessing he injured himself just as often in Australia
as he is now. He has simply injured himself way too often for it to be a
fluke. No one has a string of luck this bad. This guy must always be
hurting himself, and it must have been happening in Australia, too -
they just didn't show it because it is hard to see it as anything but
comical (what's happening this season is borderline hysterical, until
you realize he could have destroyed one of his retinas when the facemask
exploded). However, tonally, how do you show a comical bumbling
bruiser for five episodes and then on the sixth, show him severely burn
himself? It doesn't work. So, I think they suppressed his initial
injuries on Survivor: Australia [it also means he probably won't be
having a serious injury this season - just lots and lots of minor
ones].
2. A note to Angie: we got a ruling from Salt Lake City, and the LDS hierarchy has said your stint on Survivor: Philippines does not qualify as missionary service. Sorry.
3. Penner was wise to show the idol to Jeff. The idol is a lot
more powerful if other people know about it. Right now, Jeff could be
in the center of the early decision-making - so letting him know you
have the idol will give Jeff the opportunity to steer people away from
you if he doesn't have the votes to flush it out.
4. It's impossible to get through this game without misleading and
misdirecting a little bit. The question is when does it become too
much? Where's the line?
The beauty of Survivor is that the jury decides. If you go too far with your lying - the jury can punish you for it.
Lately, the jury seems to be more and more forgiving of serial
deception. I though last year's winner, Kim, went too far in this
regard and that the jury should have denied her the check. But, they
didn't. They determined she had played a great game and forgave all. I
think it was the package. Kim could get away with horrible deceptions
in a way the troll-like Russell ultimately couldn't. It's not fair, but
it's the jury's decision.
But, there is one type of lying I find particularly weaselly. It's
when someone gives their word, and then they claim later they never
really did. Sandra did this in Panama to Burton and Johnny Fairplay to
the point where I wanted to puke. She made a promise to them, swore on
her kids, and then gave herself an exemption. In her mind, what she did
was wrong, so she pretended she didn't really do it - it wasn't a
"real" promise. The jury didn't punish her because Burton and Fairplay
were such disagreeable characters - but I haven't forgotten it. She
didn't want to believe she broke her word, so she lied to herself (a
classic example of cognitive dissonance).
Anyway, we got a taste of that sort of nonsense from Jeff last
episode. Jeff is claiming it wasn't a real handshake with Penner, yada,
yada, yada. I already acknowledged you must use some deception in
order to win. I'll grant you a few broken promises. But, please spare
me the "I didn't really make the promise" weasel. Jeff strikes me as
the kind of guy who would go ballistic if someone broke a handshake
agreement with him and wouldn't have much patience for a "I had my
fingers crossed" defense. We'll see where this plotline is headed.
Good episode. I'm liking this season so far.
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