Episode 38.10

I really hope that I can publish this post on Wednesday for the first time in a while. There is a thunder storm suspected that could cause issues such as the show not being on since storm coverage airing over it or a power outage could happen even after the episode has aired and before I’m able to publish it on my blog. We’ll see what happens and I’ll explain any issues later if and when they happen.

Let’s get to the idols from Cambodia. Kelley found one and used it to negate a record number of votes. Jeremy found one and gave it to Stephen who used it to save himself from elimination. Then, Jeremy and Kelley both found new idols and used them at the final six to cause a null vote after a tie happened between the two of them. But enough of my ramblings.

In the first segment of the show, we get back to Vata after the vote and Lauren is upset. She is now out for blood while not knowing where people stand anymore. People think that Wardog was too impulsive with his move to vote out Kelley and he is once again getting on people’s nerves. He talked to Gavin like a dog, according to Gavin. Ron thinks that his game is going good for now and that things are going all according to his plan. He has an extra vote given to him by Aurora. Remember when people were known by their professions instead of their advantage or season they first played? He tells Julie about this.

When it is daytime, Rick is glad that the vote had happened the way it did while people notice that there is a lot of lying going on. Rick wants both Wardog and Ron as shields and seeks to form an alliance as a result. This trio thinks that Aurora needs to be taken out as she is targeting them. We then get to reward and a challenge for it. Julie, Lauren, Wardog, and Rick win the reward. Gavin wants to vote out Wardog next and wants his head on a platter.

In the second segment of the show, we return to Extinction Island. The people there are upset over what all had happened. Kelley is upset over her elimination. She is dealing with her feelings still. She’s on the edge of extinction and she’s (whatever the words of Edge of Glory are). Reem still gives every new person the usual shade that she gives them all. I can understand why she’s upset, but I also want to know why she thinks this will make her look good. Kelley still wants to have a great experience still in the game. Based on the edits new people are getting on Extinction Island, I’m not sure the returnee is on there just yet.

Back at Vata, people talk about how they need to get rid of Rick. Are we going to see any of the reward at all? It normally isn’t this long that we go without it. Gavin thinks that he should vote out Wardog later just to appease the people. Ron gave Aurora’s extra vote back to her. But they are driving each other crazy in their own ways.

Now we finally get to the reward in question. All of the contestants put mud on each other. I do not yet understand the appeal of why one would want to be muddy. Does anyone understand this? Lauren and Julie want to take control of the game from the men. Lauren doesn’t want to vote out Wardog as she feels that Rick is the bigger target.

In the third segment of the show, we get to the immunity challenge in question. Are we sure that the people crossed the obstacle without touching the ground? It didn’t look like it for sure, but I guess that it might have been that and we’d hear if they didn’t do it because someone would have noticed, right? I guess that I’m not sure. As usual, Wardog has little to nothing to show for himself in the challenge.

Rick seems to be doing better than everyone else, outside of maybe Aurora. He wins the challenge as a result of him doing well. Gavin thinks that with Rick being immune, now is the perfect time to take out Wardog since he could win otherwise. Why do Gavin and Wardog hate each other? This seems like a rivalry that came out of nowhere.

In the fourth segment of the show, there are a lot of sharks being gathered in the water, attacking each other. I thought that Shark Tank was a different reality show. Victoria is upset at how the challenge went today. Ron thinks that he’ll be in the hot seat if Wardog is voted out and considers voting out Aurora instead. Wardog knows that he’s in danger. The trio agrees on Aurora over the vote. He tells Julie about his plan. Wardog thinks that people would be stupid if they don’t vote him out and is banking on it.

Aurora thinks about using her extra vote and is not sure what will be going on tonight. She also talks about how she doesn’t trust Ron and realizes that she is probably a target. I’m a bit confused by who Wardog was talking to as it wouldn’t make sense for him to talk to Aurora, but it didn’t look like Julie, even though I have her written on there instead.

In the fifth segment of the show, we get to tribal council at hand. There is exciting noise as we get into the council in question. People notice that Rick won immunity. Wardog notices that the game is getting harder as it goes along. Gavin felt that he wasn’t included in the vote and Kelley is loving this. Rick thinks that moves need to be made carefully right now. Wardog mentions that Ron helped with these votes and Kelley can’t have much of this crap. Everyone that was voted out thus far was a threat, according to Gavin. Can people agree who the threats are?

Rick wonders what’s going on and even brings up the fact that everyone could have a knife about to stab someone before they suddenly decide to be friends with them. People are used to things being up in the air and a surprise is going to happen as a result of what’s going on. No idols are played. Will there be a tie vote? I guess we’ll see. The jury likes this. Wardog is voted out. Did the trio stick with him? I guess that we’ll soon see. Wardog thinks that they made the right decision in voting him out. He goes to the edge of extinction. This is just like Pandora’s Box. Not one person will pass on opening it.

On the next Survivor, Ron gives an expired secret advantage to Rick and the loved ones challenge does happen. Ron then arrives at Extinction Island. Reem loves giving people crap. I’m starting to wonder what would have happened if someone other than her were the first one sent there.

Total confessional count: Rick- 25, Lauren- 13, Julie- 17, Gavin- 12, Victoria- 13, Ron- 15, Wardog- 17, Aurora- 9; Reem- 13, Chris- 8, Aubry- 14, Joe- 9, Eric- 10, Julia- 7, David- 21, Kelley- 24.

New confessionals this episode: Lauren- 2, Julie- 2, Gavin- 4, Victoria- 1, Ron- 5, Wardog- 2, Aurora- 2, Rick- 2. Extinction Island confessional count: Reem- 1, Chris- 0, Aubry- 0, Joe- 0, Eric- 0, Julia- 0, David- 0, Kelley- 2.

Wardog had two new confessionals this episode, the same number as Rick, Lauren, Julie, and Aurora. The only person lower is Victoria with one. Everyone else is higher with Ron as the highest with five. As for the total confessional count, Wardog had seventeen, the same number as Julie. The people who are higher are David, Kelley, and Rick with Rick as the highest with twenty-five. The lowest is Aurora with nine, unless you could those on Extinction Island, in which case, it is Julia with seven. Aurora ties Joe and beats Chris, but no one else. We’ll see what happens later and if this really is Rick’s game to lose. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Episode 38.9

Good Friday is happening soon and, as usual, the networks are still airing new programs. I don’t get why they always do this. There are a lot of shows that air on Fridays that I like to watch. I tune into Hawaii Five-0, MacGyver, Blue Bloods, Dynasty, Blindspot, Proven Innocent, and, when there is time for it, Fresh off the Boat. I might even give The Cool Kids more of a chance in the future. I’ve only seen it once thus far, but could wind up watching it again.

Let’s get to the idols from Kaoh Rong. This season was a bit different as the idols were made so that two of them could be combined into a super idol that could be played after the votes were read. Tai found one and never needed to use it. Kyle found another idol before Alecia could claim it and gave it to Tai who then gave it back to Kyle after it was realized that they didn’t need a super idol. Kyle then gave it to Scot who didn’t play it before the vote when he got the most votes as he was expecting Tai to combine their idols into one. Tai refused to combine it into the super idol, causing his once ally to be voted out and he got rid of another idol at the same time.

As for the last idol, Neal found one and was evacuated and sent to the jury with it without passing it on. I do wonder why Neal and Scott didn’t combine their idol and play it after the now infamous voting out a juror took place to make it seem like it never happened. But it might not have been allowed as it was in fact still Kyle’s idol and not really Scot’s to use. Ultimately in this season, no idols were ever played, but they were important to the story.

I have to apologize. I announced the wrong winner of Miss Universe. Oh, wait… Actually, this blog was not updated on Wednesday like I was wanting it to be since family gatherings took place during this time that prevented me from watching it until the next day. But thankfully, I am able to publish this blog now and will hopefully have no other delays with it for the rest of this season. I don’t yet know why it might be delayed again for a while so we’ll see if it is or not. But enough of my ramblings.

In the first segment of the show, we start again without a recap. Why do that? It seems so unnatural. We get back to the merged tribe after tribal council and people talk about what went on. Wardog wants to be part of a powerful six alliance in order to take advantage of the fractures in Comma. It does cause you to take a break from things and can be used wrongly and be annoying, when not, used right.

Aurora doesn’t think that she has a tomorrow and that she caused the problems at tribal council. Was she the one? That’s what people seem to think. We then get to the immunity challenge. Squatters have rights to win big. Jeff offers pizza to anyone who wants to sit out of the challenge. Lauren, Kelley, Ron, and Victoria sit out of the challenge. While I normally like pizza, I would not have chosen those toppings and would probably always play for immunity.

There is a butterfly on Wardog and he is once again the first person out. I’ve heard of the fly as having meaning in the show. But what would a butterfly mean? I lose track of who is out next. It comes down to being between David and Aurora leading to Aurora winning instead of taking a nap. Julie wanted Aurora to lose and is now uncertain of how she will fare now.

In the second segment of the show, we see a shark in the water. Da-da-da, da-da-dah-dah, da-da-da, da-da. People want David out of the game. Wardog thinks that David is his nemesis. What? Since when is that a thing? David wants to vote out Wardog, although Victoria is also brought up as a target. It does seem like Julie wants to work with David and Rick. They want her to bring Ron on with it. Julie and Ron do not know which side to join just yet.

We go to tribal council and we aren’t sure yet how the votes will fall. Many people talk about what is going on. Rick thinks that people lose the game due to their loyalty to Wardog and his group of people. People question whether or not David is loyal. David wants the tribe to choose between an easy vote that won’t work for them or a hard vote that will work for them. I did not write about this tribal as well as I could have. David is voted out. He could have used that idol this time around. David takes the torch and goes off to Extinction Island.

There is now another message in a bottle. Someone help me find my message in a bottle. David takes off and other people look for it as well. What does hollow mean? David finds it and gets to give someone an advantage at the next immunity challenge.

In the third segment of the show, we get to the next immunity challenge at hand. Are they even doing rewards still this season? Rick has an advantage of only needing to land four balls instead of five. The rest all have to get a ball on a dimple. I wonder who could do that on an actual dimple that they have. I could try to do that sometime. It seems like none of the women know how to handle balls. It does seem like people need to be more delicate with their balls. The balls were knocked off for some people. Rick wins the challenge. Julie wants to vote out Aurora and put sleeping beauty to rest.

In the fourth segment of the show, Rick talks some about his win. Wardog wants the vote to be easy, yet instead of voting out challenge beast Aurora, he instead wants to vote out Kelley and thinks that all of them need to be stealth. Is he trying to make a new stealth r us? Also, Coach hasn’t won Survivor so I do not know why Wardog thought that he did. Kelley is glad that she has an immunity idol. Ron isn’t sure that he should vote with Wardog against Kelley. Aurora gives her extra vote to Ron. Ron might want to take advantage of her generosity by voting her out to keep her advantage, the Sarah strategy. Aurora thinks that she might be blindsided, but that wouldn’t be a blindside now would it?

In the fifth segment of the show, we get to tribal council. Victoria thinks that she’s in danger. Everyone has to make their best moves. Ron thinks that they need to make a better group of people to not make it blindside after blindside. Victoria thinks that there are more scary people in the game than her. Jeff points out that no advantages have been played yet outside of what Rick has done.

Rick points out that the power of the advantage this season must come from Extinction Island. Votes are then cast. No one plays any idols. Kelley is then voted out of the game as a result. Is Wardog in control of the game? Kelley takes the torch to the island and that’s where the episode ends.

On the next Survivor, people want revenge and either a new alliance will happen or another blindside will happen. Kelley tells some of what is going on to the other players when she gets to Extinction Island such as her own dumb moves.

Total confessional count: Kelley- 22, Gavin- 8, David- 21, Victoria- 12, Ron- 10, Wardog- 15, Aurora- 7, Rick- 23, Lauren- 11, Julie- 15; Reem- 12, Chris- 8, Aubry- 14, Joe- 9, Eric- 10, Julia- 7. New confessionals this episode: Julie-3, Kelley- 2, Gavin- 0, David- 4, Victoria- 1, Ron- 2, Wardog- 3, Aurora- 3, Rick- 1, Lauren- 0. Extinction Island confessional count: Reem- 0, Chris- 1, Aubry- 0, Joe- 0, Eric- 1, Julia- 0.

Kelley had two new confessionals this episode, the same number as Ron. David had four, the most of all of them. Julie, Aurora, and Wardog  all have three. Everyone else is lower with Lauren and Gavin as the lowest with zero. As for total confessionals, Kelley had twenty-two and David had twenty-one. Everyone else is lower except for Rick with twenty-three. The lowest is Aurora with seven. Julia also has seven. There’s not much else to say in this post so hopefully I will be back with Wednesday updates in the next post onward. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Episode 38.8

If we are to believe the promos, something crazy is going to happen at this upcoming tribal council. I will wonder what it is, but won’t have to wait too long to find out. Maybe it will relate to the half idol or it will have nothing to do with the rest of the promo that we saw from the last episode. I do wonder now if the rest of the episode will be as good as the rest of it.

Let’s get to the idols from Worlds Apart. It might be unique in terms of seasons and did have some firsts with it as well. In it, Carolyn, Jenn, and Mike all found an idol for themselves. All of them used it to successfully save themselves from otherwise certain elimination. None of these idols switched hands and Mike won the season. While not the first winner to have an idol, he was arguably the first one who did need it as he would have been voted out if he hadn’t played it. But enough of my ramblings.

In the first segment of the show, we return to Vata after tribal council. Wardog talks about how he is in power. Ron talks about how he isn’t in power. Gavin talks about the moves that he made in the game. David wants to amend things with Rick. Why are they mentioning people based on what advantage or idols they have in the game? David wants to take control of the game, but we don’t see who will get the whole idol yet. Maybe they should both give it to someone else.

Eric talks about how the Edge of Extinction works when they show him on this island. They make it seem like he might be in danger of quitting. If he does, it won’t be this episode as they showed all five of these people on the jury at tribal council. Joe talks about how no one is quitting anytime soon and Chris also catches a stingray for the people there. Maybe he has American Grit, or could still have it if that show were still on the air.

We then return back to the Vata tribe where Rick talks about how Kama fell apart at a strange time to him. They talk about what the best alliance is going forward. Julie gets emotional about being left out of the loop. Others talk about what the best move going forward is.

In the second segment of the show, we are getting to an immunity challenge already. David knows that this was a challenge he has done before. If you hit puberty by your ball dropping, you lose the challenge. Gavin’s ball is moving and so is Rick’s who needs to rest his ball. Wardog hits puberty first. Julia loses her ball next. Everyone then has to grab their balls as they transition, possibly to a coconut place.

Ron then drops his ball. Rick is out next. The women know how to handle balls. That is, Aurora and Victoria then Lauren all lose control of their balls. I’m surprised that women knew what balls were like. Kelley is out of the challenge next and then Julia is the last woman who has no idea what balls are like. There is then a lot of balls moving all over the place and David loses control because Gavin knows how to handle his balls. Gavin wins immunity as a result. Gavin wants to vote out David.

In the third segment of the show, Rick stays with Julia to try to influence her vote and he talks to all of the power trios that he believes are in the game. Should David be voted out? Other options are talked about while Julia wants Kelley to be targeted. What is the most dangerous package? I guess that we will find out. Ron is brought up as a target as well.

Gavin tries to talk about what should be done, but they do not get much info from him about what they should do. David talks about his spider sense and how he thinks that he is in danger. Who will get half of the idol? Suspenseful music is played while all of the tribe mates say nothing until Kelley worries about what’s going on. Kelley thinks that she should probably play her idol as people are acting really strange and she doesn’t know who to trust.

In the fourth segment of the show, we get to the tribal council at hand. Jeff talks about how no one is to be trusted, but you have to trust someone, if I got that right. That’s how he thinks blindsides happen. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Kelley thinks that Comma is back together after a break. David says that he saw minnows gathered and a shark came through and ate a bunch of them. Julie is emotional for some odd reason that I don’t quite understand. Do you understand it? Kelley talks to Julia during this time. I think that Jeff misunderstands what was going on during this time. Survivor madness is going on. Isn’t madness a spooky dog that shows up from time to time.

Lesu admits to being very dysfunctional. There are tons of things going on in the game and it is hard for me to catch everything. Julia is thought to be ruining the plan. Rick thinks that they should take power from Comma since they have it all. A lot of side conversations are going on during the meantime. It does seem like some people want to target Aurora after all. Jeff just wants to watch what is going on. So he does not ask what’s going on and many people wonder about how the vote should go. A lot of people are talking at once. What is this, a Parenthood episode? Jeff just silently sits in amazement at this.

This is the most dysfunctional tribal council that has ever happened. Kelley admits that they were going to vote for David. There is a commercial right during the middle of this with someone ready to jump ship and people losing their minds. What is going on?

In the fifth segment of the show, we return to the many conversations at tribal council. The jury talks during this as well. I’ve never seen a tribal council like this before. People want Wardog to shut up and it seems like everyone might be ready to get to the vote at hand. The votes are then cast. David and Rick combine their idol and play it on David. The votes are then read. There were votes cast for David. It does seem like some votes are scattered, but Julia is the one who gets a lot of votes. She is the one who gets voted out of the game as a result. Everyone needs to talk. Julia goes to the boat.

On the next Survivor, I can’t tell much about what will go on, but it seems like Wardog is coming to be the one that people will be targeting as a result. That’s pretty much all I can get out of the promo and I cannot tell much else about what could be going on.

Total confessional count: Victoria- 11, Julia- 7, Ron- 8, Wardog- 12, Aurora- 4, Rick- 22, Lauren- 11, Julie- 12, Kelley- 20, Gavin- 8, David- 17; Reem- 12, Chris- 7, Aubry-  14, Joe- 9, Eric- 9. New confessionals this episode: Julia- 3, Ron- 1, Wardog- 1, Aurora- 0, Rick- 2, Lauren- 1, Julie- 3, Kelley- 1, Gavin- 2, David- 2, Victoria- 1. Extinction Island confessional count: Reem- 0, Chris- 0, Aubry- 0, Joe- 1, Eric- 2.

Julia had three new confessionals this episode, the same number as Julie. Everyone else is lower with Aurora as the lowest with zero. As for the total confessional count, Julia had seven total confessionals. This is the same number as Chris. The only person lower is Aurora with four. Everyone else is higher with Rick as the highest with twenty-two.

There’s not much to say in this closing outside of the fact that since next week is holy week, then this blog should be back to being posted on Wednesdays again. That doesn’t mean that it will be as there is family visiting and that could affect what goes on as a result. But that’s the plan and I can hopefully get the blog post for next week published by Easter at the very latest. It should be on Wednesday, though. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Episode 38.7

I have not been having as much time to watch shows on DVD from my rolling list. The moment that I’m done watching Survivor: Borneo, I will be replacing it with Survivor: Gabon. I will be blogging about all of the episodes of that season then turn around and blog about them again to get Dan Kay’s perspective on the show. I don’t know when I’ll get to start this, but can only hope it is during the summer, if not at any point sooner to it.

Let’s get to the idols from San Juan del Sur. John Rocker found one and was voted out with it in his pocket after not having the sense to use it. Keith found one and used it to save himself from being voted out. He would have been safe were it not for another idol play that would have made him the second highest of the vote count person. Jon Misch found one and used it to save himself at the same tribal that Keith played his. Jon found another one and was voted out with it in his possession. Natalie found the last one and gave it to Jaclyn. Jaclyn saved herself with it. But enough of my ramblings.

In the first segment of the show, we get to the tribe talking about the jury twist. Did this really start with no recap? That seems weird. I don’t think that I missed something when I recorded this on tape. Ron thinks that he is in control of the vote. Wardog once again dictates the vote to other people. Does he have the right idea? We then return to Extinction Island where Joe talks to himself. But we don’t see much from him yet. We then get to a reward challenge. The blue team wins. Ron is on the losing team, but is glad that people like Kelley weren’t getting this reward.

In the second segment of the show, the reward winners eat the Chinese takeout. I don’t know how close Fiji is to China. Did they actually get that from China? Lauren is upset that she doesn’t have food in the game. Kelley thinks that Lesu should stay together and not turn on themselves as it seems like will end up happening instead. Kelley tries to work together with David and wants to get them to split the votes while they stay a majority. Rick is open about not wanting to work with the Lesu members, even though he seems to still work with David. He doesn’t like Wardog’s constant barking of orders (pun intended). David tries to reason with Rick. David won’t give his half of the idol back to Rick as a result. I wonder if what I think will happen (another duo breaking up) will happen.

In the third segment of the show, we return to Extinction Island and people get wine bottles. There is yet another advantage in the game. Why isn’t this called Advantage Island? They’re going to do that at some point, aren’t they? Aubry tries to find it on her own and everyone is for themselves. Aubry sees a hole in a rock and, as usual, something important is there. She gets a practice advantage and gives an extra vote to someone in the game. The advantage could be the key to someone’s game.

We then get to the immunity challenge. Suddenly, I’m reminded of the promo and how there will be a medical situation at it. Wardog is the first person out of the challenge. Eric is out next followed by Gavin. Kelley is then out. Rick is out, possibly for a joke of being a fit person. Julia is out next and then Ron is out. Julie is out. There are not many people left. This isn’t a long challenge this time. But then we get to 25 minutes into the challenge with four people in it. David is out next. Lauren seems to have issues and she is out of the challenge. Medical is called in as she passes out. Has this happened to her before? Now there are two stories going on with the challenge still happening and the medical situation.

Aurora tries to plead why she should win to Victoria. People think that she’s fighting the battle at the wrong time and acting very wrong at the time. Lauren is okay after having passed out. Victoria passes out and Aurora does win the challenge after all. But what long term cost could this have on her game? I guess that we’ll see. Lauren talks about losing the challenge and having an idol.

In the fourth segment of the show, Aurora talks about her immunity win. She then finds a parchment in her bag with the extra vote in it. Kama talks about how they should stay strong together in order to last until the loved ones visit. They don’t even know for sure that one will happen. They want to split the votes against the Lesu players.

Kelley wonders if she should play her idol. Wardog is once again trying to dictate the vote on what to do. Should Eric or Rick be voted out? It seems like lots of options are talked about, but we can’t tell for sure what could happen. Every option has risks and should Kama target one of their own?

In the fifth segment of the show, it seems like Kama has a plan going forward. Rick talks about how he is not loyal to the other side. People seemed to be too focused on the loved ones visit. When do people make their move? People could join Kama, but would they let them join them? I think that I missed a lot of what could have happened. No idols are played. Is that a good move? Eric is voted out. He takes the torch and goes to Extinction Island.

On the next Survivor, David and Rick can’t decide what will happen with their idol. At least four people’s names are brought up for the vote. “The sins of the past come back to haunt them.” Something really exciting happens at tribal council that Jeff hasn’t seen happened before. Eric arrives on Extinction Island and thinks that it isn’t so bad, but Reem tells him not to get his hopes up.

Total confessional count: Ron- 7, Wardog- 11, Eric- 7, Aurora- 4, Rick- 20, Lauren- 10, Julie- 9, Kelley- 19, Gavin- 6, David- 15, Victoria- 10, Julia- 4; Reem- 12, Chris- 7, Aubry- 14, Joe- 8. New confessionals this episode: Wardog- 2, Eric- 2, Aurora- 2, Rick- 1, Lauren- 2, Julie- 1, Kelley- 2, Gavin- 1, David- 2, Victoria- 0, Julia- 1, Ron- 3. Extinction Island confessional count: Reem- 2, Chris- 0, Aubry- 3, Joe- 1.

Eric had two new confessionals this episode. That’s the same number as Wardog, Aurora, Lauren, Kelley, and David. The only person higher was Ron with three. Well, Aubry has three as well. Everyone else is lower with Victoria as the lowest with zero. As for new confessionals, Eric has seven, the same number as Ron. The only people lower are Gavin, Aurora, and Julia with Aurora and Julia as the lowest with four. Everyone else is higher with Rick as the highest with twenty. We’ll see what happens next. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.