O.K. it’s unanimous, Eddie is an idiot Even Eddie agreed (it was a chuckle moment for me).

Major kudos to Cochran on the win! And not just the million $, but according to Wikipedia, he is only the second to win a perfect game … all the final jury votes and zero elimination votes for the whole season … and he pulled it off when half the players had been on Survivor before. He didn’t just win, he’s set himself as one of the best to play the game imho.

Those of us who follow Survivor know that the stress, fatigue, and hunger take their toll on all the players who manage to go even half-way through the game. Yet Cochran never seemed to give into to those stresses and always had his head in the game. On top of that, he never seemed to be at a loss for his brand of well placed humor.

If Cochran starts writing, I plan to buy the first book at least.

I’m not sure how feasible it would be, but I’d love for you guys to interview Cochran and/or Probst sometime. Just putting it out there.

This turned out to be a great season, made even better by the podcast. Thanks for all you do

My question: What do you think next season’s “Blood vs. Water” will be?

Thanks for another great season of Survivor commentary. I always nod my head and smile when I see your podcast downloading.

I have a question: what would you do, if anything, to improve the next few seasons of Survivor?

Sincerely,
Barbara from Long Island

It was Andrea who came up for air in the middle of the platform in the final round of the Immunity Challenge while Brenda (whose left leg is injured pretty badly as she can barely walk/run on it) gave up after 2 rings and just stood by her pole and like Mike said Malcolm couldn’t even get out of the water to retrieve the 5th ring.

Oh and Jeff misspoke when he said everyone’s chance to win improved 20% when Phillip dropped out since 2 of 5 would move on (40%) but when Phillip dropped out 2 of 4 would move on (50%) so a 10% improvement not 20%.

Loved your analysis of Malcolm’s big move and agreed that it was more show than strategic since he ended up still down 6-3 in numbers and now without ANY idol. Stating the 3 Amigos were voting for Phillip made it easy for Stealth-R-Us member to stick with the split vote as none of them were in danger (except Phillip) of going home. They should have kept their target a secret to cause more scrambling/fracturing or announce they are voting for Andrea, Cochran and Dawn and watch the fireworks!

Malcolm pulled off his big move. Cochran can’t believe he’s there for this one. Dawn was probably crying, Stealth R US are all whispering to figure out what to do now. Michael is all by himself in the jury looking like he’s at a hard rock concert.

Kudos to Phillip for keeping his cool and advising that S R US keep to the plan. Better to clear out the idols than to leave Malcolm with one or more. Still it meant that Phillip was gone, but the only alternative that could have worked would have been for S R US to have all turned on one of their own with no time to discuss the options.

With Phillip having been so pivotal in the game so far, who know how this is going to shake up the game?
Malcolm might be able to pull over a couple of the shell-shocked to his alliance, or S R US may find a new leader from their ranks.

The game is ON and this is the kind of stuff that we watch the show for.

Remove From Majority
Engage Physically (but not with the prettiest girl)
Yield Idol
Nettle Tribemates
Obtain 2nd Idol
Level With Stranger
Dominate Game

Christiana, very funny… “I’m a Michael Magnet I guess” – I laughed pretty hard at that one.

Dwaine

While I have listened to your podcast for about a year now this will be the first time I have wrote in. Dwaine and David from Survivor Talk with D & D have often recommended your podcast and are the reason I found you guys in the first place. I was disappointed when I didn’t see Christiana’s entry into D & D’s fantasy pool this season seeing how I’m pretty sure she was the only person I finish higher than last season.

The reason for my letter today, I mean other than to rub it in Christiana’s face that I beat her, was to compliment you guys for what I would consider the absolute best analysis of the Survivor character Shamar. Every podcast I have listened to has focus primarily on his oblivious bad behavior but not much deeper. I was also just as guilty. As a 46 yrs old African American male I saw Shamar as a racial embarrassment and was upset he was even casted. It was bad enough that Phillip was casted to play the fool on the favorite tribe but casting the lazy, irrational, possibly violent Black guy on the fans tribe seemed like over kill to me. I was raised to remember my action weren’t my own at any point of my life. How I acted reflected my parents home around family, my family when in my community, and my community when out in general public. This yoke has for the most part kept me on the straight path but I have rejected pasting that mind set onto my children. Unfortunately I haven’t manage not judging others by it. Shamar and Phillip to lesser degree bother me greatly. My anger toward them was allowing me to dehumanize them and not see Shamar as a seriouly flawed human in need of assistance. Your podcast cause me to take a deep look in the mirror and check myself.

Shamar’s Survivor story is his own cross to bare. Anyone that would judge me by his behavior on TV wasn’t going to like me in the first place. For me not to consider his mental state was my error. While I want give him a past for his conduct on the Island I also will not be taking it personal either. By the way Mike’s point that while there were five people on that tribe that witness everything going on and still chose to still vote against Reynold was also missed by most other podcast.

Keep doing what you do when you do what you do so well.

Good to hear you both again and the new web site looks nice!

Some things Allie said in her interviews explains some of why things happened. She claims:

o Allie did not make out with Reynold
o Shamar was constantly fighting with Allie
o The 4 Cool Kids were aligned with Laura and Matt so thought they had 6
o At the Immunity/Reward Challenge Shamar refused to let Allie (a strong swimmer) do the raft portion as he insisted on having the 3 lightest women on the raft. This apparently turned into a heated argument with Allie that the Faves overheard.
o The argument continued at camp and Reynold confronted Shamar to defend Allie
o Allie says she knew about Reynold finding the idol and that Reynold said she could use it if she needed it
o Allie says Sherri first saw that Reynold had the idol and told Laura about it
o Allie says Reynold was sure they had Matt’s vote and that Shamar would get voted out so she didn’t ask for the idol even though she felt like she was going to get voted out
o Allie was the biggest fan and most strategic person on their tribe, a big threat, and that’s why she was targeted.

Of course this all could be revisionist history…

Looking forward to your analysis of the next episode.

MikeK from SoCal

Just listening to the latest episode. Great to have you and Survivor back! Definitely nobody knew Malcolm, notice when he come off the helicopter all of the fans were silent saying “Who?”, also he didn’t see his last season air before he went back, he only had a 2 week break between filming.

And when I don’t, I blame the rain/cold/sore toes, and call it good.

Anyways, good for you! Do what you can, when you can.

EW: I was shocked to see the jury members at the reunion say they would have voted for Denise over you in the finals. I don’t buy that for a second.

Yeah, so the honest truth right there is that before we went out there, Pete and Carter said “We’re gonna mess with Probst. We’re not gonna raise our hands when they ask that question.” Because they knew it was going to come up. Pete, Carter, and Penner were all in on not raising their hands for me when they would have. It’s absolutely true. They were just screwing around to enjoy themselves. If you go back and watch the finale — and I don’t know who goes back and actually watches the finale — but if you want to, just watch their faces and the things they were doing to the camera. They were out there just enjoying themselves and having fun at CBS’ expense.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/12/17/survivor-philippines-malcolm-freberg/

Stufflets I mean. These are too cool!

this is Laura from Germany, I have written a couple of times during the last 10 seasons (damn, I’m getting old).
I wanted to say how much I appreciate your podcast. It is so much fun and I like how detailed and accurate you two discuss the show.
I actually wanted to write earlier when you were talking about the Jeff Probst Show. When I was in LA I got the chance to be in the audience (two former Survivor player have been there too, one was Gillian, the other one was on the show before I started watching). During a break Jeff said, that this season is really good and next season will be even better.
And so far I think he is right. Last week has been so good and this week too. I did not like Penner in the beginning, but that changed, I’m starting to root for him. And also Lisa, she is very relatable, I mean, that I can relate to her and what she is thinking
Anyways, have a good day and thank you for your work!

Oh, and in the interim, I think (though am unable to confirm) I may have snagged your show a few more listeners through my Twitter evangelism. Except for my friend Nate’s show, Moral of the Story, yours is the only podcast dedicated to movies I listen to.

And it sounds to me like One Flew Over The Cookoo’s Nest ought to be it’s own episode, once you get to it. I expect that to be a looooong segment.

My immediate thought was that Angie was the obvious choice to keep because she seemed to be close to Malcolm and would be a near automatic vote down the road. Plus, as far as tribes go, Matsing seems pretty much done. A shuffle or a tribe elimination has to be coming soon. But Angie is young and in need of mentoring and guidance on the show. (Which might have helped her BEFORE she went on the show.) But that fact might make her just young enough to NOT follow Denise or Malcolm’s advice and fall victum to any interogation she’s put under from either tribe. With the offer of just one cookie they’d have her believing that Malcolm and Denise were plotting against her and she’d be someone else’s pawn as soon as the next vote came around.

On the other hand, Russell would be better to keep around if there were another tribal challenge, he’d be more loyal since he’d have a better understanding of the game and how to play it, and he does do more around camp, according to the edits. He’s also NOT a threat to find the hidden immunity idol since to our knowledge, he’s barely looked. I’m sure he’s looked more than the zero camera time given to his fruitless searching, but the fact that the idol was still sitting on the rice box when they went to their 3rd tribal council tells me he’s not even close to finding it or they would have teased us with that info. However, Russell is also smart enough to work out a new plan with whomever he’d be joining once a swap or shuffle came about. He’d have no alliance loyalties with Malcolm and Denise because as far as I’ve seen, they never agreed to one.

I agree with Denise’s statement of “whatever gets me farther in the game”, and in the end, I believe they made the right decision. If they do get one more tribal challenge, and it looks like they do, they will more than likely need Russell’s muscle to help them along the task. If there is a puzzle, neither Russell nor Angie would be much help. So by keeping Russell, they get at least half a loyalty point for not voting him out, and maybe that might buy them half a point if Russell makes the jury or becomes a swing vote in deciding to keep or snuff out Denise or Malcolm.

Thanks for reading, have a great day!

David in Virginia
(The second “D” in Survivor Talk with D & D)

Once again I am thoroughly enjoying your in depth analysis of Survivor Philippines! I got behind listening to your podcasts so I’m leaving feedback for your first 2 episodes here.

I often learn some new fact, phrase, or word in your podcast. For instance: Portmanteau and Leeroy Jenkins. I had to look up both on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeroy_Jenkins

Oh and in Episode 1 podcast I was surprised Mike let Christiana getaway with saying that Zane “is not necessarily all that *Well Spoken* generally”. Is it okay to use “well spoken” in the negative or because Zane is White though he is a minority Southerner?

The term “well spoken” was used a lot during One World. Kim (and others) said that Christina is “NOT very well spoken” so she considered taking Christina to the end. Kat and Troyzan said they were amazed at how “Very Well Spoken” Sabrina was in Tribal Council. Kim even called Chelsea “Well Spoken”. In one of Kim’s post show interviews she was asked “What would have been the reason why Sabrina would have won?”

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/the-fien-print/posts/interview-kim-spradlin-talks-survivor-one-world

“I think Sabrina was incredibly well-spoken during Tribal Council and thought a lot more about that, her social game, than I did, because I sat at Tribal Council and tried to be incredibly quiet and didn’t want to be called out on a lot of stuff. So I think overall she ended up looking very well-spoken and diplomatic throughout the entire season.”

I think most people use “well spoken” to describe anyone that is articulate, speaks well, fitly, or courteously. Oprah and Barack Obama are often called “well spoken”. It seems the bigoted connotation comes up mostly in the sporting world.

Looking forward to your Ep3 podcast!

“As-per-gers” MikeK from SoCal

I believe you were channeling Syrio Forel instructing Arya Stark. Ah, just so!

(I know you enjoy Game of Thrones as I listen to your other podcast from SpecFicMedia.)

Anyway, Christiana and Mike, I enjoy your Survivor banter and the insights it provides. Thanks for all your work.

(Joke in slightly bad taste, but worth it.)

FYI
According to Oxford dictionary, “per” is a preposition and means: for each and by means of. While “as per” is a phrase, which means in accordance with.

1. Gas is 2 USD per gallon
2. Send it per express

As per example

1. I made it as per your instructions

Definition of AS PER
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/as%20per

: in accordance with : according to

— as per usual
: as usual

Some web sites state “as per” is a half-latin phrased used in business writing. Used in other writing or in speech, “as per” may be either jocular or deliberately impersonal.

MikeK from SoCal

Of course, thanks to the internet I now can’t think of The Man Who Fell To Earth anymore without thinking about the brilliant review of it on Brows Held High, where the host sang the entire review to the tune of David Bowie songs. Seriously, check it out, it’s awesome. http://blip.tv/brows-held-high/bhh-the-man-who-fell-to-earth-mpg-5370618

Christiana, I won’t mention where you were in our fantasy pool, but we were so glad you decided to be a part of it. Suffice it to say, David beat us both.

Until next season,

Dwaine
Survivor Talk with D & D

I was open-mouth surprised while driving around this past week listening to the podcast. Mike, you made the assertion that the phrase “Well-spoken” is racially charged – in fact, you spent time saying that it really irritated you to hear it etc. I must say, I have been around forty-three years and have never once thought the phrase well-spoken meant anything other than the person speaks well and to be more specific, that the person was able to influence others easily due to the quality of word choice etc. They come off as smart and on top of things.

I have never thought this phrase was used only towards a certain race.

Having said that, you obviously have, and obviously have for a long time based on what you said. I guess this might be a case of our living two completely different lives in different parts of America. I have lived in Texas, Missouri, Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama.

Anyway, I’m not saying you are wrong, but I am saying that I have been around that phrase a long time, have used it about many different people regardless of color or race, and have never meant it to imply I was surprised they could speak well.

So, we have two completely opposite experiences with the phrase. I will admit that now I have heard you say this with such conviction I will be watching for it on news telecasts etc. to see if I can see it as you see it.

Until then, I will continue to use the phrase when appropriate – in fact, I have said the phrase several times about both of you when talking about this very podcast and I meant it as a compliment.

Have a great day. Love your podcast.

Dwaine

Kim, Chelsea, Sabrina & Kat decide it is time to take their four and go with the ladies to the end. In light of this decision, they decide to vote out Jay. Why? because he is more likely to win immunity (perhaps) and because he is more strategic in his gameplay than are Troyzan and Michael. Greg and Leif. Phbbt… who cares about them, eh?

Meanwhile, Troyzan and Jay are getting nervous about the ladies and decide to play a trick of their own. They figure out that the ladies are going for one of them… Troyzan wins immunity, gives his hidden immunity necklace to Jay AFTER the vote, and they vote off Kim!!!!!

Just a thought.

Dwaine
(from Survivor Talk with D & D)
(you don’t have to mention that, just not sure if you knew it was me or not)

Sorry I haven’t left any feedback this season but I’m still listening and thoroughly enjoying your indepth analysis. Sometimes I feel like I’m in a college philosophy or critical thinking class! Thanks!

Regarding the Hidden Immunity Idol and how to wield it’s power…

Yul’s season was NOT the first season with a Hidden Immunity Idol, it was the third. Also, Yul’s use of the Hidden Immunity Idol is NOT a good example as Yul’s Hidden Immunity Idol was an ALL POWERFUL “get out of jail free card” played AFTER all of the votes were counted. No one wanted to risk voting for Yul since Yul would simply play the Hidden Immunity Idol ONLY if he got the most votes.

The first Hidden Immunity Idol was in Survivor 11 Guatemala found by Gary Hogeboom which had to be played BEFORE they voted. Gary played it at the first Tribal Council right after he found it. Basically the same as winning the Individual Immunity Necklace.

The second Hidden Immunity Idol was in Survivor 12 Panama (Exile Island) found by Terry Deitz. This was also a “get out of jail free card” just like Yul’s. In Terry’s case the tribe couldn’t vote for Terry as he kept winning Immunity Challenges.

Terry Deitz was first castaway to obtain an idol but never use it. Yul Kwon was second castaway to possess an idol, but not use it, though he would become the first winner to own one.

Parvati Shallow became the first and only person to find an idol and leave it behind in Exile Island, in Micronesia (though it was never shown on TV). So she is really the third person to have a Hidden Immunity Idol and not play it.

Oh, and Sandra found a Hidden Immunity Idol in Heroes vs Villains and kept it secret from everyone. She played it at the Final 6 Tribal Council nullifying 2 votes for her but Rupert had 4 votes and so was voted out 4-0. She of course went on to win.

Dwaine already mentioned the editing of the chicken escape that Monica talks about in her interviews.

MikeK from Socal

Apparently, the chicken was in the trap for about an hour before it got out.

Just goes to show you how the editors manipulate the scene to elicit a reaction from us, the viewers. It worked.

Dwaine

I can’t believe I did that.

Christiana (not Christians)

Sorry. The “a” is too close to the “s”

Dwaine

On an exit interview I heard, Monica said that the Manono tribe arrived at their new beach only to find all the Manono supplies from the other beach. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. That means they got the axe, tarp, etc.

Thanks for the show.

Dwaine

So for the ‘sin’ of being someone who Coulton doesn’t like, the rest of the men’s tribe can’t wait until losing an immunity challenge to get rid of Bill. What the …?

What is Coulton bringing to the table for the men? Working hard at camp – No. Being good at challenges – No. Looking out for other people – No.

I cannot fathom how a group of adult can let Coulton’s acting so childish and prejudiced not only go unchallenged, but they actually seem to be enabling him.

I want to like Coulton, but after this past episode; I’m not sure that it is possible now.

At least Bill doesn’t have to put up with that brat for one more day, and Bill is going to come away from Survivor with a lot more than Coulton ever will.

In Survivor, people only have the power that other people choose to give them. It’s that way in real life too. We all need to be careful who we give our power to and not just do so because to go along with some crowd.

I can’t figure out why metal can’t be bent. Even when Toph bends metal, she’s actually bending the impurities IN the metal.

The ‘Earth-bending Lemur’ was fun. But it raises a question: how does anyone know it’s a lemur, without being told? They died out with the Air-benders, after all.

Finally, one unrealistic thing in the whole series is the lack of any honourable soldiers in the Fire Nation Military. They’re all dead, exiled or retired.

C, I tweeted you this but thanks again for the referral to Survivor Talk with D and D. Now up to 4 survivor podcast (yeah I have no life). See you are in the fantasy pool, just wanted you to know I have played this pool (they guys got it from “The Tribe” podcast and it is a far cry better than the old CBS quote/unquote fantasy league. Now that you are in a league that does not suck, maybe you should add the 2 minutes of talk back into the podcast.

I realize you will read this after EP 2 has aired but do we really think the Gals are this out of sorts, disorganized or are they playing the Rope-a-dope to get the guys to get over confident? I know the preview for EP 2 was attempting to reinforce the initial thought of the gals being a complete disaster but we all know how previews end up being. Time for the game: Am I onto something or on something?

C Ya.

Also, I just noticed this comment editor thinks “Christiana” is not a word..

LOVE this podcast

Wow! Thanks Christiana for the amazing shout out at the end of your pre-show episode. Totally unexpected but appreciated.

Also, if it is easier for people, they don’t even have to use the blogspot part of the address, they can just go directly to http://www.survivortalkwithdandd.com

Again, thanks.

Thanks for all your podcasts in 2011 and looking forward to them back in 2012!

Kindest Regards, Hayden

Reading your comments is a great companion to a rewatch, and I hope I can contribute something as things go on.

Hayden

Hey C+M

Haven’t contributed for a while so I thought I would chime in with a couple of quick points.

Did it not feel like Probst was fishing for Ozzy to let Lil’Hantz see his “Russell Hantz’s Brother” I think Ozzy could have gotten everyone on that reward if he left Brandons’ RHB till last.

Albert – “One more”,
Coach – “One more”,
Sohpie – “One more”,
Rick – “One more”,
Edna – “One more”,
Brandon – “FINALLY!”

However RHB did deliver. I love the Hantz family they are so unhinged.

While I enjoy both I want to point out that Death Note suffers from fake logic. L (and relatives) continually make assumptions based less on logic and more on plot progression. For instance the idea the one person could not be behind the massive number of deaths is absurd. Much more probable that it IS a highly organized secret group or perhaps even aliens then one person with unknown means. L, to be sure, does not believe in paranormal reacting badly at even the suggestion of a “god of death”.

Regardless both are great stories and most fiction requires some suspension of laws, be they physical or logical. Continue to enjoy!

-Dt
*PS sorry for the repost. I made a small grammar mistake with big consequences.

(Typed before episode 13) Cochran has little chance of winning against Ozzy, but if he does it will one of those ‘wow’ moments in Survivor history.

Finally: Brandon, I vote him most likely to skin another member of his tribe then use it to cover his ‘Hantz’ tattoos. #justsaying

I also think I like the remixed Tron Legacy soundtrack better than the original.

Death Note sounds a whole lot more interesting now that I know it has an investigator trying to find him.

I couldn’t finish the Airbender live action movie, and not because it didn’t follow the show well, but because it was just terrible. Saddy deathday.

Enjoying the podcast as always. Here’s a few items for feedback:

1) It was Tyson that gave Coach life advice in Heroes vs Villains

The Funny 115 – version 2.0
#7. Tyson gives life advice
http://funny115.com/v2/7.htm

2) Regarding Multi-Person Duels, AFTER filming but BEFORE the season started Jeff Probst said in an EW interview with Dalton Ross:

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/08/22/survivor-south-pacific-new-cast/
And while the Redemption Island twist is back, there will be one major change to it, with the elimination of group duels — meaning each competition will truly be a win-or-go-home situation (as opposed to last season, in which players often simply did not have to come in last to stay alive). “We’re not having multi-person duels,” says Probst. “That was part of the experiment [last season]. We wanted to see how many people we could keep in the game until the end. And that’s why we let more people live out there. But we felt like it’s too many people and now we’ve got half the group still in it at the end. So it will only be a one-on-one situation. Loser’s out, winner stays. Otherwise, we’re playing it the same way.”

Jeff had to correct himself before the 3 person “duel” between Ozzy, Keith, and Jim:

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/11/10/jeff-probst-episode-9-survivor-south-pacific/
As we head to the tease for next week, you told me when filming began that there would be no group duels this season, yet by my math we have three dudes hanging out on Redemption Island. What gives?

Yes, I did say that and I was trying to find a simple way to say that generally speaking duels will only be one on one. I think there are two times where we have double eliminations and have to have a 3 person duel. But only the winner stays. The two losers are out. My bad. Just seemed more complicated to explain it the way I just did.

3) Coach found the Hidden Immunity Idol way back in Episode 5 and he STILL has it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor:_South_Pacific#Episode_5:_.22Taste_the_Victory.22

4) The coconut crab, Birgus latro, is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest land-living arthropod in the world, and is probably at the upper size limit of terrestrial animals with exoskeletons in today’s atmosphere at a weight of up to 4.1 kg (9.0 lb).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab
http://www.damncoolpictures.com/2009/05/giant-coconut-crab.html

5) Are South Pacific Clams dangerous to remove from the ocean?

The South Pacific clam is also known as the “Giant Clam” or “Man-Eating Clam”. It is a Legend that South Pacific clams can grab you and hold you under the water. Today the giant clam is considered neither aggressive nor particularly dangerous. While it is certainly capable of gripping a person, the shell’s closing action is defensive, not aggressive and the shell valves close too slowly to pose a serious threat. Furthermore, many large individuals are unable to completely close their shells.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_clam#Legend

MikeK from SoCal

At any rate, glad the move has been a good one.

Love the show.

Comments on episode 9:

There was one point at which I think Coach said of Ozzy ‘too little, too late’. I couldn’t help remembering how Ozzy had said the same thing about Cochran when about to vote him off several weeks ago.

The thing is, even with all the spleen that was vented in this ep by Cochran’s former tribe-mates, ‘we saved you so many times’, I started to think of something.

It’s actually arguable that Cochran created the opportunity that he just took. When he was treated as the weak, useless member of the tribe by his smirking mates, Cochran resolved to work his tail off to not be voted off. And he did just that.

Despite everyone’s casual dismissal’s of Cochran as a person, I think that what lulled them into their subliminal presumptousness about Cochran’s loyalty may actually mostly have been how damned hard he worked to stay in their good graces. It occurs to me that on a psychological level it may have been pretty hard not to come to see him as the comfortable footstool he was forcing himself to be.

I don’t expect my footstool to get up and smack me in the face when I put my (metaphorically, of course) ol’ smelly feet on it. I imagine I’d feel betrayed if it did.

I suspect they assumed he could be used and not taken seriously.

Will Cochran’s actions help the cause of outcasts everywhere? Probably not. But am I glad he did what he did? Pretty much.

This is the odd point in the season at which desperate people start making weird character attacks.

One I’d like to hear is: ‘You’re so dishonorable that you’d go onto a show where you have to vote off everyone you’d formed bonds with just for the chance of winning 1 million dollars! uhh…oh…wait a minute…’

How can one not like Brandon a little bit after what he said at the tribal council?

(We’ll borrow from Brandon’s playbook and overlook for the moment the fact that under slightly different circumstances, Brandon would be just as likely (probably more likely) to call someone a coward.)

I cannot even wait until the episode is done to type this. I’m watching episode ‘Double Agent’ now. I’m at the part where Coach is telling Cochran that they simply don’t buy it.

I actually didn’t get to see the previous episode. I only experienced it by hearing you guys discussing it. (I’m in Asia and my ability to watch each episode is not quite touch and go, but at times a bit encumbered. That’s fine with me. It was through your podcast that I was actually drawn to watch the show at all, so it’s kind of fitting for this to happen from time to time).

Anyway, I’m watching Coach talk and I have to admit the guy has personal power. He seems like an archer who sets his eyes on a target and then pierces the intervening space with his mind before releasing the arrow.

In this case, the intervening space is the other team’s ‘clever’ strategy. wow.

Pretty much in ever case so far, I’ve wound up agreeing with your take on a given character or situation. At first, I thought or hoped that Brandon would be fascinating, but it didn’t take long for me to revise my view. Both of you pointed out that he was not as good at the social game as I might have assumed based on the initial one or two episodes. That turned out to be true in spades.

Anyway,

Just feeling really impressed with Coach. I didn’t see the previous two seasons in which he appeared, so it’s only in your recollections that I’m encountering his previous incarnations.

It would have been fascinating if Brandon had been who I thought he was; to provide a kind of wildcard counterpoint to Coach’s more consistent morality. But Coach remains a pretty interesting character to me.

I was sorry to see Christine go. She played with heart. That’s never uninspiring. It’s a little annoying that she was ejected largely as a consequence of what will probably turn out to have been an ill-fated deception. But I suppose it would either have been her or Cochran. And I pretty much like Cochran best of all.

(I think Cochran has the potential for Survivor immortality. All we need is a training montage. That’d pretty much cement it.)

As always, thanks for your great conversations. Back to the show now.

I think Ozzy forgot that last time he pulled the “free agent” stuff it was after
the merge where that was actually a viable strategy for him. It is very disappointing
that a 3rd time player of this game got so hot headed after TC. Sure he figured out
it was dumb after the fact, but he took a long time to cool down.

Back to the lame duel challenges. I am hoping that we get some more Final Immunity
Challenges as the duels. 2 out of 4 so far. Fingers crossed for the final duel to
be the final challenge from Vanuatu(drawn bows standing on stumps).

I read in the pregame that Jeff said that every duel this season would be one on
one so I feel like that Christine will not be around at the end so I am still
not really invested in the redemption part of this game yet.

Didn’t seem like Cochran, Dawn and Ozzy was their A-team for the first portion of
the challenge, but they won so what do I know.

I still think Mikayla had her head in the clouds. They haven’t shown any kind of
strategy from Mikayla, not even approaching someone for an alliance or anything.

I love it how Lil’Hantz takes a good episode and makes it a great episode, almost
without fail.

Keep up the great work you two,
Hayden

Hey C+M,
I Feel this season’s opening has been on of the best of the last few seasons and I hope it continues.

I am glad Stacy is out, she wasn’t really contributing to the entertainment so far aside from the “Original Batman” Sound effects which were mildly amusing. “Blam” “Pow” etc

I am under the assumption that Mikayla is a dumb jock. She doesn’t seem particularly perceptive or very aware of the state of the game, as far as that they are showing through the edit anyways.

I was a bit shocked by Edna, after Lil’ Hantz revealed to her that she was on the outs of the six, She took it well in person but when it came to her confessional it didn’t even seem like she even saw the possibility that this was going on.

I like that Coach seems like he has grown in the game. I think he identified that he needs to treat Lil’ Hantz completely differently to a your typical player in this game.

Keep up the good work, Hayden.

PS I still have my fingers crossed for a mixup. Even if it unseats some interesting characters, It makes for a more interesting post merge, and final vote – Puts a more interesting tribal dynamic into the game and lessens the chance of a “Old Tribe” voting block in the final tribal council.

Great show as always.

The conflict at Brandon’s center, between cunning and ruthless self-promoting deceptiveness, on the one hand, and fidelity to some higher order of ethical values seems to strike right at the heart of the two main ways that people tend to approach this game.

It’s not a choice between self-interest and non-self-interest. In a game in which the main goal is ‘survival’ self-promotion and self-interest go without saying.

Any viable player in this game will inevitably form strategic and, ultimately, temporary social alliances in an attempt to reach the end stage.

It’s more about one’s approach to self-interest and self-promotion.

Coach is, for me, the second most fascinating (read: conceptually interesting) player. So, I’m very glad that Coach and Brandon have wound up on the same team.

Within the defined conditions of the game, Coach is attempting to innovate some kind of enlightened self-promotion and self-interest, based it seems on some sort of ethical counterpoint between loyalty and honesty.

This is particularly interesting because most spheres of the non-Survivor world do not contain such purified and explicit rules determining success and failure. In the real world, the rules are negotiable and shifting.

I suspect that if Coach could come on this show 9 or 10 times, he’d eventually evolve a pretty interesting and maybe even solid way of dealing interpersonally.

Anyway,
there’s one species of player in this game that likes to use the word ‘honor’ a lot. Both Coach and Brandon belong to that species.

Thing is that there’s not just one kind of honor. Each kind of honor seems to be based on its own rules for what is or isn’t acceptable.

Some forms of honor just wouldn’t be able to survive in Survivor.

other interesting things:

1) the Conan throat yawning thing in the music at ep.2 Tribal Council. Wish I could do that.

2) Stacey’s being from a racially informed American sub-culture that has given her speech and behavior patterns that are in humorous counterpoint to most of the other players. It’s borderline taboo for any of them to comment on it, but it’s pretty funny to watch from the outside.

3. When Sophie appeared and started commenting about Brandon’s issues with Mikayla(sp?), I was like, ‘wait a minute, who’s that?’ She hadn’t seemed to get much airtime before, which made it seem that she’d just wandered along and joined the game or something.

4. Brandon’s creepy form of sexist projection onto Mikayla is almost pitiably cliched. You just want to plug him into one of those Matrix machines so he can get caught up. ['No, Brandon! That form of sexism is obsolete. You need to upgrade to one of the more contemporary versions!']

In closing, good to have you back! Really like your approach to the podcast.

Nigel