Wow. Longtime DIS'er, glad I stumbled upon this board and this post. Enjoyed reading everyone's reactions to last week's episode.
Won't rehash that, but I will say that I wish they hadn't titled it "Game Changers". I mean, when it comes down to it, how many of the original cast could actually be considered people who "changed the game"? Five? Six? I feel like it was miscast from the start. I'm not saying it's a bad cast, it's fine....but most of these people aren't what I would call "game changers". Heck, I couldn't even remember 1-2 of these players.
But hyping it that way, and ESPECIALLY after a few of the legitimate "game changers"(Sandra, Tony) were voted off early, I wonder if the producers are trying too hard to run with that theme? I was thinking this before last week's episode, so I'm not saying that the Varner/Zeke situation is part of that, but I've thought this was the case for a few weeks now....that they're trying too hard to shoehorn that motif into every episode. You can even tell in the interviews with the players....frequently they'll refer to the theme. And that's what got me wondering if this season was just trying too hard.
"Survivor" works because the game is so good. It doesn't need gimmicks, and it doesn't need themes to help it along. Just get a great mix of personalities and backgrounds, and let it play itself out. The more organic, the better.
As far as how it'll play out the rest of the way, I actually think last week's TC makes it LESS likely that Zeke wins, not more. I'm thinking it comes down to Aubry, Tai, or Cirie, because they're the three who I think can most skillfully take out the bigger threats while pinning it on others. Actually, I think two of those three will make it to the Finals, and they'll bring Troyzan along as the 3rd because, well, he's Troyzan.
