Carpe Datum

Good Players Emerge

"Survivor" was a welcome distraction last night after a long week.

Ok, I didn't understand the rules of the reward challenge at all. Maybe it's just from the lack of sleep. First I thought there were two separate pathways for each team, but then it showed just one in places. Then I thought everyone had to go, but some people went twice. Did the people swinging the sandbags have to go? Boy, those sandbags sure seemed ineffective. I guess Angie has gone from last-picked to Power Player in a few short days. Right now, my favorite in that tribe is Bobby Jon, who always has a good, concise quote about what's going on and is very level-headed. Ibrehem is also very common-sense in a funny way, from what little I've seen so far. Even James ("Hey, Vern!") is growing on me a little bit, just because he's an amusing character. They have the ability to edit him to make him look good or bad, just like anyone else, I guess.

In the immunity challenge, Tom rocked. How can this average-looking old guy kick everyone's ass? He must be built like a piece of iron. That guy almost single-handedly pulled a heavy crate across 50 feet of sand while the other team could barely budge theirs. Tom is also very smart, and I would like to see him go far. Geeky Ian is also a funny character, kind of like James. I was very thankful not to see any more of Coby in this show. Maybe he'll get voted off before he makes any more stereotypical catty remarks. I'm like Seinfeld when it comes to gays ("Not that there's anything wrong with that!"), but certain personality types in guys and girls rub me the wrong way.

As for the vote, again, the tribe is too big to keep track of the shifting alliances and various conversations, and most of the time, I can't keep track of who's going back on their word, who is lying when, etc. That part is more fun after the 5th or 6th show. Maybe it is worse this time because so many of the characters have been very forgettable. Don't know if that is the fault of the producers/editors or the contestants. I was very impressed at the way the older tribe (Koror) was able to go out and retrieve the flint. That couldn't have been easy.

Oh, and before I forget, don't these people know about layers? They showed some girl in a tiny top shivering during a rainstorm. Duh, wear a sweater over that top when you get off the boat, even if it is hot! They usually let you bring the clothes off your back, so wear a few extra. Maybe even some coke-bottle glasses so you can start a fire (why does no one seem to think of that who is wearing glasses ... I don't think it is that hard to start a fire that way). Also, why did Ulong come back to camp so desperate to find hot ashes to get the fire going again? Once you have flint, isn't it pretty easy to just start over?

Ulong was smart to dig some giant clams up off the ocean floor. I've never seen anyone do that in Survivor before. A lot easier than catching fish, if you like clams ok. People seem to be learning some things about living on tropical islands as the seasons go on (or they hire former contestants as consultants, I bet). Not everything, though.

Posted by Observer at February 25, 2005 07:02 AM