Fabio: I call it being cool.
Ah Fabio. Youre awesome.
Fabio continues to crack me up
in the best possible way.. every single episode. More on Fabio and being cool later
REWARD CHALLENGE
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Survivor is you truly never know what is going to happen next. For the reward challenge, we did a random draw and ended up with all men on one team and all women on the other. To make it even more dramatic the challenge was the most physical of the season. The women had very little chance simply due to strength. The stick crossing and the brick wall at the finish was extremely tough to get through. We never anticipated an all men vs. all women challenge but thats just how it played out.
I was very impressed with the women. Jane was completely spent by the time the challenge was over because she gave everything she had. Remember they have been eating very little for nearly a month. They are already severely depleted. To then be tested with one of the biggest obstacle courses weve ever done was a major challenge. The women really gave a huge effort and made it much closer than any of us predicted.
Another fun aspect of hosting Survivor is that you are living in the moment along with the contestants. After the challenge was over, I was very moved by the effort of the women. Purple Kelly was crying she was so hungry and Jane was barely standing. So I took the opportunity to give the men a chance to step up and say Im gonna give up my spot on the reward to one of the women.
The reason you ask this question is that regardless of the answer, it is guaranteed to reveal something that will move the story forward. In this case, none of the men were willing to give up a spot to any of the women. Fine. I dont blame them for the decision. But their answer gave us a story. What this showed everybody was despite any alliances this was an individual game. Its a small moment but it registered with everybody and will live inside their brains as this game continues to progress. Survivor-is-an-individual-game. Never forget that.
Another surprise from the reward challenge was Chase choosing to back the women. It was a very revealing move and definitely raised a few eyebrows. He let the guys know that he is pulling for the women, which means he probably has an alliance with a few of them. In addition, not being with all the guys on the reward challenge removes you even further from the men. That move could haunt Chase for a long time. You could argue it was a bit of a lose-lose, as no matter which side he chose the other might be upset, but in this case I think choosing the guys would have done less overall damage.
BRENDA
If Brenda represents every woman, then Brenda is giving a free class on what women look for in men. Her comment about Chase
Brenda: Chase is like a little baby who is always going wah, wah, wah.
said it all.
Women want a guy with some balls. Balls! Come on, Chase. Where are they? Your balls, that is. Women dont like wishy-washy. Chase is wishy-washy.
Brenda is in charge of this game. She says its her and Sash together but its not. Its her. Not Sash. If you remember, when Brenda asked Sash what his plan was, Sash said, My plan is your plan. There ya go. Brenda is in charge. Dont misunderstand Sash is a very good player. He is great at looking out for himself and that simple little strategy is how Sandra Diaz won this game twice
by looking out for herself and nobody else.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
At this point in the game, the immunity challenges are really pressure filled. Everybody wants it and depending on where the alliances stand in each episode, a few absolutely need it. Tonight, Jane needed it, Chase needed it and Marty clearly needed it.
Memory Challenges always seem so easy when youre sitting at home with your bag of Doritos and a Diet Coke. Its kinda like watching Jeopardy. The answers are always so much easier from the couch. Okay thats a lie. I could Tivo Jeopardy, watch it twice and still struggle to come up with the answers on the third viewing. But you get my point. Its much more difficult to do these types of challenges when youre actually out there with all the distractions, such as cameras and crew. Youre tired, youre hungry. Its hard to hold even the smallest thought in your head.
Whenever we do a challenge like this, I always ask the challenge guys to prepare lots of extra rounds because I am always afraid everybody will get every one of them right. In reality it never seems to go more than a few rounds. Pressure.
These types of challenges also tend to show whose mind is the sharpest. If you watched Marty during this challenge he kept running the list in his head, you could see him saying the words to himself over and over and over. It was clearly a pretty effective strategy, but in the end he lost to another very sharp mind Brenda.
BEING COOL
Benry and Fabio hanging in the shade, talking Survivor strategy. It was almost like a trailer for a new comedy:
Benry: You and I should just lay low
play stupid.
Fabio: I know dude, I hate playing stupid so much
but its like the smartest thing to do right now.
Benry: Its easy.
Fabio: Its
real easy.
Come on! Thats brilliant. Thats yet another beautiful element of reality shows. People forget the cameras are there, they stop thinking about what they are saying and they get so depleted that cant even monitor what they are saying. Put those elements together and you end up with moments that wouldnt be half as funny if you wrote them in a script.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Naonka deserves a special achievement award for still being in this game. That alone is one of the most most amazing achievements this season, maybe ever. She stole Fabios socks, she stole flour, she stole food, she tackled a woman with one leg, she yells at everybody whenever shes in a bad mood and is one of the most despised contestants to ever play Survivor
but she is still in the game. Not only is she still in the game but she has a hidden immunity idol. In case there was any doubt, I am so happy Naonka is still in this game. In order to have a good season you need big polarizing characters like Naonka. Love her or hate her, she is a gift from the reality gods.
HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS 20-20
Its so easy to backseat drive. I do it all the time. Every day. Monday morning quarterbacking is one of the great American pastimes. And while I do it every day, I hate it when people do it to me about something I did or said.
Case in point: It was the second episode of the first season of Survivor. We had just finished tribal council and Mark Burnett, the Executive Producer of the show, came up to me and started to make a suggestion about a different way I could have asked a question. To be clear, as EP he is fully entitled to not only suggest but to firmly encourage me to do something differently. But being a new host of a new show with a format that had never been done before, I was overly sensitive to being back seat driven during Tribal Council. I sensed that he was about to criticize the way I ran tribal and my brain (ego) quickly foresaw a problem. If he said something that made me think he was second-guessing me, how would that impact the way Id run Tribal Council from there on out? So I stopped him and said something to the effect of You cant second guess me. I need to know you believe in me or Ill never be able to fully run tribal council with confidence. In hindsight, it was probably a major overreaction on my part but to his credit, Mark never said another word.
Im sure there have been many times when he wished I might have asked a different question or handled something differently but he never lets on and in doing so, he instilled a confidence in me that has helped me do my job for 21 seasons over 11 years.
But like I said, that doesnt stop me from doing it! Especially with Marty.
Ive given Marty a hard time the entire season but Im the first to admit, Im really bummed he is gone. Marty is a story starter and a story finisher. Hes a good interview. Hes confident enough, even cocky enough to believe he is the best player in the game. He is willing to make big moves and say outrageous statements.
Marty is a pretty good player of Survivor but with a bit of tweaking I believe Marty could be a great player.
If Marty made a mistake it was in not seeing that maybe his best option would have been to just back off. Pushing to get Jane voted out seemed to me to be a personal agenda as opposed to a truly big picture strategic play.
I could be wrong, Im not inside his head. I am merely backseat driving as I do every week in these blogs. I think his ego got too involved. If Marty played again I think he would play a better game. Im sure he learned a lot.
I too have learned a lot from Survivor and one of the most valuable lessons Ive learned is that in any negotiation (and Survivor is a 39-day negotiation) the less you talk and the more you listen the better off you will be. Marty should have listened more.
So is that advice for future Survivors
or simply lippy Thursday morning quarterbacking? You decide.
I could not STAND him!!! Good riddance!!!
Oh, and NaOnka...
