Survivor 20**HvV**No SPOILER THREAD**

[damone]

They haven't shown much of anyone and their luxury items. They record 24/7--and luxury items usually have little to do with the outcome of an episode.

That's precisely my point. This one did, yet they never even brought it up until last night. The entire episode revolved around the pen and paper, yet no one knew it existed until this episode. I would guess during editing, maybe they might mention something that would play such an integral part of the season.

 

[gometros]

Oh Lord! JT so stupid haha, and Colby talking to Russ during the challenge, no wonder Russ slowed down on purpose.

Next week Sandra is going to spill the beans

Parv is playing a better game than Russ, because she doesn't share all the info with him, he doesn't know that she has an idol. I think. We'll see.

Today was awesome, Russ is to darn funny.

Of course, Sandra spilling the beans is almost like closing the barn door after the horses are gone. It's more like rubbing salt in the wound. Even if she flips, they have to get two idols out of play.

Wow- what a moron JT is---he IS as dumb as he sounds when he talks! How did he ever get this far?? He might as well have put smiley faces and little hearts over his eyes for the dots in his little love letter to Russell! What an idiot!!!!

As a fellow New Yorker, I was embarrassed by this remark. It just propagates the dumb southerner stereotype.

Last night was definitely the dumbest move in Survivor history, as well as the most uninteresting tribal council ever. Sandra or Courtney. Who cares? They're both useless.

I don't get what Russell is so giddy about. He has to know Sandra and Jerri will tell the Heroes that Russell is in charge, and then he'll be going bye-bye. Seriously, are any of the 5 heroes left going to vote for one another? As soon as Sandra spills the beans on Russell, it should be over.

I loathe Parvati. Russell at least is funny. Parvati is just conceited.

They're both conceited. We only stomach Russell because his comments are funny.

I agree with pretty much what everyone said. What I don't get is how they could make such a blatant assumption about the all girls alliance with absolutely NO information. If they had a situation where one team member got to visit another team's camp, that would have made a big difference. They should know that alliances are no always made up along gender lines.

 

[jrmasm]

I agree with pretty much what everyone said. What I don't get is how they could make such a blatant assumption about the all girls alliance with absolutely NO information. If they had a situation where one team member got to visit another team's camp, that would have made a big difference. They should know that alliances are no always made up along gender lines.

I don't fault the Heroes for making the assumption about the all girl alliance. It does look like that. I fault them for acting on an assumption.

 

[damone]

At this point, I hope Russell wins, just because everyone else has been so stupid. Parvati hasn't been, but as usual, has done nothing to get where she is. She's just found someone's coat tails to cling on to.

None of the heroes deserve to win simply because of last night's move. I don't care if it's Mother Theresa on the other team, giving the idol to someone on the opposing tribe before the merge makes absolutely zero sense.

 

[Kirby]

DOH!!! That has to be the dumbest move in the history of Survivor -- JT believes in the girl alliance, Colby does, too -- and Rupert, well ... he definitely does.

I had to laugh at tribal council when Coach came in in his "sho-gun" robe.

Notice how he was sitting at the end of the TC?

As far as the two tribes mingling at the end of the IC, we don't see everything. This may have been something normal as far as we know.

 

[luvmy3]

Russell has been in no danger for weeks. There is nothing convenient about him avoiding elimination.

Thats the point! Regardless of them not seeing him play, they all seem to be aware of how much of a snake he is, and how much control he has and yet nobody is plotting to get him voted off? Yup, week after week there's no talk of getting Russell out, I'd say thats pretty convenient The turnig point was last week (I think) when Coach was voted off, There was a perfect opportunity to get Russell out of there, Sandra and Courtney could have tried to get Coach and Jeri so they had the numbers, but nope, and Sandra and and the rest of them knew how in control Russ is. I can't believe these people are THAT stupid

 

[4greatboys]

In one of the videos Amanda has a little piece of paper with names, she also mentioned that JT would be the only one that can cost her the million dollars, well if she think he is, why she went along with the idol thing?

hahaha poor Amanda is dreaming. She has been in the final 2 twice and did not win. Even if she made it to the final 2 again she still wont win.

 

[Sorsha]

That's precisely my point. This one did, yet they never even brought it up until last night. The entire episode revolved around the pen and paper, yet no one knew it existed until this episode. I would guess during editing, maybe they might mention something that would play such an integral part of the season.

A quote from the MSN article I mentioned back on page...er... 71, I think.

The show used to regularly feature each contestant's “luxury item,” such as Colby’s large Texas flag that actually helped serve as shelter in the “Outback” season. While the items haven't been featured on the show during recent seasons, cast members do bring comfort or luxury items with them to the location, and the producers do approve those items — and decide whether or not to distribute them sometime during the game (if at all).

So yes, in a way, the producers might manipulate the show a wee bit by deciding when to let them have their luxury items, but it was still the contestants, in the first place, who decided what to bring with them. If Amanda hadn't decided to being pen and paper, it wouldn't have been there for the producers to distribute.

 

[4greatboys]

I don't remember when but they did have a challenge where they got personal or comfort items. I remember seeing in the basket the 2 immunity idols James was voted out with. That was the only thing that caught my eye.

 

[jrmasm]

Thats the point! Regardless of them not seeing him play, they all seem to be aware of how much of a snake he is, and how much control he has and yet nobody is plotting to get him voted off? Yup, week after week there's no talk of getting Russell out, I'd say thats pretty convenient The turnig point was last week (I think) when Coach was voted off, There was a perfect opportunity to get Russell out of there, Sandra and Courtney could have tried to get Coach and Jeri so they had the numbers, but nope, and Sandra and and the rest of them knew how in control Russ is. I can't believe these people are THAT stupid

You think the show is rigged because they're not doing what you think they should be doing?

Survivor players love to lay low and keep bad guys around until the end in hopes that they'll get the lesser of 3 evils vote at the end.

 

[4greatboys]

Cute moment of the night:

When Jerri and Colby were matched up at the endurance challenge. Jerri poked her head out and said Hi to Colby.

If you remember Season two of Survivor, you know that Jerri had a HUGE crush on Colby and Colby was like a 2nd grader trying to get away from the girl with cooties. LOL Wherever he went, there was Jerri. It was fun to watch. Even though I wanted her gone so badly.

So when she said hi in a flirty voice, I had to laugh.

Sugar was doing at the beginning of this season too. Of course since she was first voted out it didn't last long. But I remember talk of Sugar trying to sleep next to him and always around him.

 

[declansdad]

Thats the point! Regardless of them not seeing him play, they all seem to be aware of how much of a snake he is, and how much control he has and yet nobody is plotting to get him voted off? Yup, week after week there's no talk of getting Russell out, I'd say thats pretty convenient The turnig point was last week (I think) when Coach was voted off, There was a perfect opportunity to get Russell out of there, Sandra and Courtney could have tried to get Coach and Jeri so they had the numbers, but nope, and Sandra and and the rest of them knew how in control Russ is. I can't believe these people are THAT stupid

The problem with your reasoning is that Parvati doesn't believe he in in control, she believes she is and is allowing him to do all the work.

I took your convenient comment to mean that you thought the producers were protecting him.

 

[luvmy3]

You think the show is rigged because they're not doing what you think they should be doing?

Survivor players love to lay low and keep bad guys around until the end in hopes that they'll get the lesser of 3 evils vote at the end.

I get how Survivor works, I've been a fan since Season 1 and while I don't think the show is all rigged, I certainly don't believe its all reality

 

[lustergirl]

I have to agree- that was a pretty stupid move on the Heroes' part last night.

 

[jrmasm]

I get how Survivor works, I've been a fan since Season 1 and while I don't think the show is all rigged, I certainly don't believe its all reality

Then I don't understand what your 'convenient' comment meant.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Thats the point! Regardless of them not seeing him play, they all seem to be aware of how much of a snake he is, and how much control he has and yet nobody is plotting to get him voted off? Yup, week after week there's no talk of getting Russell out, I'd say thats pretty convenient The turnig point was last week (I think) when Coach was voted off, There was a perfect opportunity to get Russell out of there, Sandra and Courtney could have tried to get Coach and Jeri so they had the numbers, but nope, and Sandra and and the rest of them knew how in control Russ is. I can't believe these people are THAT stupid

Sandra was able to save herself and Courtney by turning Russell against Coach. I'm sure she could have gotten Coach to go along with voting for Russell, but for whatever reasons decided that it was more prudent to get rid of Coach. The producers only show us what they want us to see. There are 3 days worth of video which is probably 50+ hours of the lives of two tribes condensed down to 1 hour. I'm sure we are missing out on all kinds of stuff that could be interesting, but at least we are spared from having to watch hours of them passing the time. Maybe Survivor can do what Big Brother does, and have episodes 2-3 times a week. I would watch it I'm sure. I watch plenty of extra video on cbs.com anyway.

 

[4greatboys]

Thats the point! Regardless of them not seeing him play, they all seem to be aware of how much of a snake he is, and how much control he has and yet nobody is plotting to get him voted off? Yup, week after week there's no talk of getting Russell out, I'd say thats pretty convenient The turnig point was last week (I think) when Coach was voted off, There was a perfect opportunity to get Russell out of there, Sandra and Courtney could have tried to get Coach and Jeri so they had the numbers, but nope, and Sandra and and the rest of them knew how in control Russ is. I can't believe these people are THAT stupid

Well they were last season why not this one too? Everyone knew Russell was the one making the moves. Once they failed that times he popped out the HII they just stopped trying.
People on this game flip flop and make stupid decisions I don't think the producers need to help them out.

 

[4greatboys]

Sandra was able to save herself and Courtney by turning Russell against Coach. I'm sure she could have gotten Coach to go along with voting for Russell, but for whatever reasons decided that it was more prudent to get rid of Coach. The producers only show us what they want us to see. There are 3 days worth of video which is probably 50+ hours of the lives of two tribes condensed down to 1 hour. I'm sure we are missing out on all kinds of stuff that could be interesting, but at least we are spared from having to watch hours of them passing the time. Maybe Survivor can do what Big Brother does, and have episodes 2-3 times a week. I would watch it I'm sure. I watch plenty of extra video on cbs.com anyway.

Now that would be great or the live feeds like BB does too.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Now that would be great or the live feeds like BB does too.

Live feeds would be kinda cool. No more blurring out body parts.

 

[Kirby]

Watched Ponderosa. Courtney is delighted to be there considering she made it to the end her first season. She seems to be very positive and pleasant. Even when they show Coach quizzing her on how he got voted off. She lets him know that Parvati and, I think, Danielle voted for him. She also told him that Russell did not vote for him. Russell's luck again.


I know that a PP posted excerpts from Jeff's blog but I went ahead and copied the whole thing for entertainment value. I also saw on a deleted scene video that Russell has decided to bring the "lost" machete back. He says that since he is the only male now in camp, he figures that they will expect him to do all the work and this way, they can do the work for him.

HEROES V. VILLAINS – IT JUST KEEPS GETTIN’ BETTER
Man oh man. Episode eight and this season has not slowed down one bit.

I know I use a lot of hyperbole in my blogs, it’s in part just so I can read your comments criticizing me for doing so, but sometimes the hype is justified. That’s certainly the case with what I’m about to write….

JT made perhaps the biggest and boldest move in the history of our show last night. It will go down as one of the most controversial decisions ever made by a player. Some will call him flat out dumb, while others… like myself …see the wisdom in what he was attempting to pull off.

More on that later…

REWARD CHALLENGE
I have loved this challenge every time we’ve done it in the past, but this time we added a great twist. We made it a tribe challenge pitting opposite tribe members against each other and the twist yielded great results. It was no longer a challenge based simply on strength and will-power, now it mattered who you matched up against. That changed everything.

It’s very clear that Rupert truly believes he is the strongest person left in this game. I love you Pirate Man, but on this note you’re delusional. Maybe you were one of the strongest players back in the Pearl Islands, but not this year. You’re not the strongest. You’re not even top three. In a head to head match up in most challenges I’d take Amanda, Candace, Parvati, Jerri & Danielle over you, and I’m just starting. Most every player left in this game is strong (both physically and strategically) and that’s why it’s going to be an exciting finish.

I think this challenge was won in large part because of the people that had hurt the Villains in earlier challenges. Sandra and Courtney were shoo-ins to win their match up. Courtney’s small stature made this an easy one for her to dominate, in fact she won a similar type of challenge in China. As for Sandra, these challenges play right into her wheel-house because they rely on pure will-power and nothing else. Sandra has an endless supply of will power. Like she said during the challenge, “two kids and not so much as an asprin!” That gave the villains 2 guaranteed points right off the bat.
When I saw the match-ups, I didn’t think the heroes had much chance at all.

100 DAYS OF SURVIVOR
Amanda and Parvati have both reached 100 days in the game of Survivor. You have to tip your hat to that amazing feat. Both of these women are fantastic players. You do not last that long in this game three times in a row without doing a lot of things very well. There are many things you could find to criticize about both of them, but it will never outweigh the fact that they’ve lasted longer than anybody else who has ever played. Now the question becomes who will have the most days played when the game is over? Will it still be a tie? And will either one of them have a million dollars as a result?

THE HIDDEN–HIDDEN IDOL
The way Parvati handled the finding of the clue and the idol is just one of the reasons Parvati has been so successful in this game. Parvati is playing to win. Her instant decision to hide the idol note from everybody except Danielle speaks to her prowess in this game.

Parvati: “We’ll fill Russell in on a need to know basis. Right now he doesn’t need to know.” If she chooses to keep this a secret from Russell and then surprises him with it, there will be repercussions, unless of course she uses it to vote him out.

I’ve said it many times this season because I believe it. Parvati has found a weakness in Russell and it’s a weakness that haunts most men – our ego when it comes to the opposite sex. I know some of you don’t like to talk about sex or the relationship between men and women, but there is no denying it plays a part in Survivor and in our daily lives. Parvati is a good flirt and there is zero doubt in my mind that she senses that she has just a slight edge over Russell so long as she can keep him dancing.

Parvati isn’t kidding when she says she wants to see Russell squirm a bit, she wants it to be very clear to Russell that she’s in charge. It’s a bold move and I respect it, but whoa girl, watch out if and when Russell finds out what you’ve been doing. You better use that idol to vote him out or use it to save him in a way that you can sell as an “alliance” move later in the game. Otherwise this could get really ugly and all the flirting in the world will not save you.

JT’S INCREDIBLY RISKY AND AMAZINGLY EXCITING PLAN
Okay, let’s get down to it.

JT…wants… to… give… a hidden immunity idol… to Russell. What?!

JT wants to give Russell an idol. He wants to hand him a get out of jail free card and along with it the power to change the vote at Tribal and decide who goes home. No amount of hyperbole could over sell this decision. This is JT. The guy who won this game in Brazil now wants to give away the single most powerful weapon in the game to the single most untrustworthy person left in the game?

It boggles the mind. It’s one of the most jaw-dropping decisions I’ve heard in the last 769 days of Survivor. (My math may be a day or two off, but I think that’s how many days the game has been played.)

It’s jaw-dropping but was it really crazy? That’s up for debate. What I like about the move is that it’s a big move and typically (not always) big moves are required if you’re going to have a shot at winning the game.

It’s easy to say it’s a silly idea when you’re watching from home and you know what everybody else is saying and doing. All JT had to go on was the mistaken belief that Russell was in trouble was probably going to be voted out. JT reasoned that if they merged then the female alliance would take over the game. But, if he could save Russell then Russell would be free to join the heroes and they would have the numbers at the merge and JT and his alliance would be in good shape. Based on the information JT had, it was actually a pretty inventive idea. If JT was right, it could have swung the game 180 degrees.

And if indeed there was an alliance, it didn’t matter that Russell wasn’t trustworthy because as far as JT knew, Russell had no other option so that made Russell need the heroes as much as the heroes needed Russell.

INSIGHT – RUSSELL – THE UNKNOWN FACTOR
There’s been a lot of debate about whether Russell had an advantage or a disadvantage since nobody knew anything about him coming into this season. My take is that he had neither. We told everybody at the start of the show that they should read a lot into the fact that while they hadn’t seen Russell play, Russell was selected as one of the 5 most notorious male villains of all time. These are seasoned players, they knew this meant that Russell was a bad dude. On the flip side, when we asked Russell to join the H v V cast, we told him there is a very good chance you’ll be voted out early because nobody knows you, nobody has played with you and therefore nobody can trust you. Russell knew that was a risk going in. So both sides had fair warning. They were just as likely to vote him out in episode one for fear of the unknown as they were to keep him. Once Russell survived a couple of votes and showed what kind of player he is – intimidating, calculating, cunning – all bets were off.

THE LETTER
JT’s hand-written letter to Russell is the kind of moment that reality producers dream about. You just can’t believe it’s really happening and you hold your breath that he won’t change his mind. (By the way, you’re no doubt wondering where they got pen and paper? It was part of Amanda’s luxury item that they won in an earlier episode.)

When the hand-off of the idol and the note finally happened the entire producing team popped a bottle of champagne. Okay that’s a lie, we don’t drink while shooting the show. But when we got back to basecamp. Whoooeee, it was party time! Actually, that’s another lie. When we get back to basecamp, most of us fall asleep at catering. Okay, fine… that too is a lie, a lot of us avoid catering because it’s not the kind of catering you’re imagining. It’s more like Army catering. Hold your plate out and take what’s given to you. So there wasn’t really any formal celebration. But inside, we were really jazzed.

At the end of the day, hindsight is once again, 20-20. Turns out there isn’t a female alliance and as a result JT and the heroes just made a huge mistake. A monumental mistake.

Once again the credit for this goes to the Villain tribe with “special recognition” to Russell for a Golden Globe worthy performance.

THE WORLDS GREATEST ADVENTURE CREW
Hopefully you were so enraptured that you didn’t even notice the amazing camera and audio coverage during the challenge in which all of the idol drama played out. So let me pat our team on the back. We were all over it. First, our crew captured Colby telling Russell the plan as the two stood out on the platform during the challenge. Then, our producers and editors found a beautiful way of letting the moment play within the challenge by fading the audio of the challenge and bringing you right into the moment of their conversation out in the middle of the water.

Then, we got a little love from Mother Nature when she brought us a heavy rain which added to the drama… and you know how much I love me some rain during Survivor.

Finally, our camera crew captured JT giving Russell the idol when they hugged after the challenge. All of this was done without giving anything away to any of the other players. It appeared to be just another challenge.
For all of my lippy comments and for all the times I take credit for things that I have nothing to do with – here’s the real truth… It’s humbling to be a part of this team. Ten years ago I got the greatest break of my career when I stumbled onto this show.

If I may… Survivor: Heroes v Villains is as good as it gets when it comes to storytelling in the reality world and even a lot of the scripted world for that matter. We’re twenty seasons in and the show is as strong as ever.

I hold no hope for any love from the Emmy’s but I would be lying if I said I didn’t think the show deserved to be recognized again for outstanding achievement. Am I biased? Sure. Do I believe it? Absolutely.

INSIGHT – MY ROLE AT TRIBAL COUNCIL
I’m sure most of you have noticed that I’ve been more vocal and more aggressive at Tribal Council this season. The reason is pretty simple – these 20 players are very experienced and as a result very good. To get anything out of them you have to be more direct and more relentless.

I hope you all understand that I never bring up anything at Tribal Council that hasn’t already been discussed or isn’t already known. I would never betray or reveal secret information. When you hear them fighting back with me, that’s just part of the game and often, the words they are saying to me, are actually intended to send a signal to someone else.

It’s a very elaborate game of cat and mouse and the reason this season is so good is because we started with 20 fantastic players who continue to deliver week after week. I bust their chops on this blog every week because that’s the fun part of writing a blog, but since I’m feeling very “confessional” today – the truth is we painstakingly hand selected every person this season and we’re really pleased with the results. Every single player gave us something, even Sugar. Every single player left in the game has a legitimate shot at winning. Even Candace. Ah, I love to kid Candace.

COURTNEY IS GONE
You may find this hard to believe but I miss her. I really dig Courtney. One of the reasons I enjoy her is her laser sharp wit. She could talk me under the table (as you saw at many a tribal council) but I still like taking my swings. I think Courtney enjoyed herself out there more than she likes to admit. I look forward to seeing her on the jury. I expect interesting wardrobe choices and lots of dramatic facial expressions during Tribal.

While we’re on it…

COACH COMES STRONG AT TC
I would be remiss if I did not comment on Coach’s wardrobe as the first jury member. Love him or hate him, the man owns his “personae” and I dig it.

Until next week