Up A Brook, Without A Paddle

Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. You gotta go to Tribal Council and alliances naturally form. This first episode was SO reminiscent of Amazon, it's scary. In a good way though because Amazon is still my favorite season of Survivor. If I ever said Pearl Islands was, it was for Rupert and Rupert alone.

(Disclaimer: My comments towards the castaways are of how they come across on the show and not of how I think they are in real life. If I choose to go there, I will gleefully say so. *smile* )

In both Amazon and here, two things about the voting were the same. Three different men were voted for -- the bossy guy, the young strong kid, and the guy who screwed the tribe over in the challenge. Even the result was the same. In both cases, the young, strong guy was tossed. Perhaps Brooke, JK and JP didn't see the Amazon parallels. It was a given when the men lost after having a huge lead over the women (sound familiar?) that the island Gods sucked the power out of the lucky stone. Maybe their alliance was blind to the fact that not everyone blamed Chris.

Chris was insanely smart. I hand it to him. He talked to Lea and put the target on someone else's back. If Chris had just sat back and did nothing, I think he would have been gone. Brady was also smart. If he had voted with JK and JP, he would have been sticking his own foot up his ass. He cast a safe vote for Rory, Rory being an outsider. JP and JK can't exactly be mad at him because four votes wouldn't have saved Brook anyways.

On the ladies side, it LOOKS pretty harmonius, but as anyone could tell in parts of the show, it isn't. Scout, Twila and Ami are clearly on one side while Eliza, Julie and Mia appear to be clearly on the other side. Dolly, Leann and Lisa appear to get along with everyone. I want to see a Twila/Eliza catfight. I'd slap 100 bucks down on Twila to win. The difference between the two of them are, Eliza is openly drawing attention to herself. Not a good thing to do.

If we want to stick with Amazon comparisons, let's look at how the ladies did. The Amazon women went to Tribal Council in Episode 2. GranolaGate determined the evictee which turned out to be Janet. Although one could only hope for more confiscated junk food, I don't think that will happen. What COULD happen though is another case of an older woman getting booted. The three vixens along with Deena and Jeanne voted for Janet. The other three votes were mixed. Eliza, Julie and Mia will vote the same. I am almost sure of that. If there is a majority on that side, I think Lisa will vote with the younger girls a la Jeanne. It's a tough call, because in my opinion, I would think Dolly and Leann would lean towards Ami, Scout and Twila. They just seem nice and not catty. I only say Lisa would be in with the younger girls because she used to be a cheerleader and was no doubt a lot like Eliza and company when she was their age.

The vote will be between Eliza and Scout/Twila.

Now for my individual performance reviews. Note that my Smart Awards of the Week go to Brady, Chris, Leann and Dolly.

TRAVIS
I said that he would be okay if he kept his mouth shut and became a sheep. Congrats Mr. Sampson, you make a fine sheep. Way to pull a Big Tom. In a Survivor male's case -- if you can act stupid, you should. I think Bubba looks good so far. He's on the right side. Even if in theoretical boot order JK and JP went next, you still have Rory pissing everyone off. Travis is good for now unless God forbid some big alliance shift comes along which could happen when the ladies and men intermingle. Eliza's Angels won't like Travis. Bubba better bank on his buddies not liking fake sorority girls.

CHRIS
I was worried about Chris and rightly so. I also said he wouldn't sit down and let things go on around him, and he did not. I said Chris would have to be at the head of an alliance to make it work. Do I know Chris Daugherty or what? The odds were against the man and I knew it, but I also knew he had the ability to make it work. He was the only one who could and he MADE IT WORK. The thing you have to understand now is that unless Chris fucks up, I mean, REALLY fucks up -- he's safe now. You rarely save someone that you just plan on booting soon anyways. He now knows who he can trust and who he can't trust (I'm sure Lea told him who was voting for him) so that gives him a one up on everyone else.

DOLLY
Dolly proved she's a sweetheart by wanting to stay with Scout and wait out the rain. She also confused me by playing bath goddesses with Eliza's Angels. After I thought about it though, it's only natural to wanna hang out with girls your own age. And it's especially smart to be friendly with both sides, especially before the first TC and before you can really tell where everyone stands. I don't think she's in any trouble. And I think she'll still be cruising with guys around. Again though, being in the wrong alliance is the only thing that can hurt her.

LISA
I still contend Lisa is someone to watch. She didn't get much airtime and she seemed very under the radar. I don't think anybody even said anything about her. In Survivor, that is a GOOD sign. I look forward to more from her next week.

AMI
I knew that Ami would gravitate towards the "nice" people. It looked likely that she would bond with Scout, all sexual orientation aside. Her game will depend on if she comes out on the side of the majority after Tribal Council. I really want her to stay because I still have hope for an alliance with Brady. They are Hunter and Gina I tell you!

JK
I proclaimed that JK is not going to win. In the first episode, Mark Burnett enhances my conclusion that JK is NOT going to win. He hasn't annoyed anyone yet, but he's kind of out on a wire now. To tell you the truth, he never would have fit in with the other alliance anyways. The dude is dead meat no matter where you go. Bottom line. Oh and HUGE props to JK for being the ONLY person, male or female, to cross the balance beam on foot. Way to go buddy!

JP
He's definitely a player. Rupert knew that too. He made one killer mistake. Know your pack, know your prey. To keep a team strong and united, yes, you should get rid of the weakest link. A) Everyone has a different definition of weak link and; B) Some people in Survivor prefer to get rid of the strongest link. Not to mention Lea was NOT the person to go to. They didn't secure Brady and they didn't consider going to Rory who was obviously in danger too and might have voted with them thinking he had to save himself. In another scenario, I think they could have succeeded in targeting Rory. Chris was not an outsider. Chris was well-liked. He just happened to have poor balance. Chris, who is the high man on the totem pole, doesn't like JP so someone had better light a fire under Rory's butt.

JULIE/MIA
Aka Eliza's Angels. I group these two together right now like I often did Jenna and Heidi because there's really nothing to distinguish the two of them YET. They're both hardcore players, they both like showing off their bodies. I said in my orignial notes that I thought Julie might be a little hostile. She is. A little. They just have to get away from Eliza and do some work around camp. Of course they should be allowed to take a little break here and there but I didn't see them lift a finger except to exfoliate their skin with sand.

TWILA
She's an outcast like I thought, but only in the eyes of the Powerpuff Girls. I think Twila is a hard worker and I hope she sticks around. I can only wish that a majority of the tribe appreciates her contributions.

SCOUT
Scout is definitely a mellowed down Jan from Thailand. Except I actually think Jan was more physical at times. I think she's a sweet lady but unfortunately will be a major liability to the tribe. As long as the challenges are physical, if they keep her around, they're nuts. You don't want to kick out people you like, but you don't want to be Maaramu either. Maybe there will be a lot of mental challenges and she might be able to stay around.

RORY
He is SO the way I thought he'd be. Rory tries to hard and thinks he's smarter than he really is. This leads to him opening his mouth in situations where it should stay firmly shut. Someone has to take charge but you don't so eagerly put the spotlight on yourself. It looks like he's yelling about something else next week too so the wheel just keeps on spinnning. I'm sure Rory is a decent guy but he sure doesn't have the best people skills.

BRADY
Hunter's Reeeveeennnnggee continues! My big point about Brady was him being able to take down JP. He almost SIDED with JP. But, now, this is prime opportunity to flush him out. Brady earned extra points too by retreiving the magic rock from the top of the pole. He's a big physical threat but no one seemed to think so. That bodes very well for him. Not to mention he's... *drools* ... umm... pretty hot.

LEA
Sarge did exactly what he needed to do. He deferred leadership to others and he seems to be on the same page as Chad. I told him to hook up with Chad! If he could pull Brady in too, that'd be super. The dude gets props for not going along with the young guy alliance. They wanted him as a vote and had no promises for him whatsoever. Good thinking Lea.

ELIZA
I am sure Eliza is a beautiful person in real life. But one word could sum up her air time in the premiere. B I T C H. I took her for smarter than that. I'm not sure how Eliza thinks excluding people and being lazy works. It may have worked for Jenna Morasca, but I hate to tell Eliza you ain't gonna catch that break twice. It doesn't matter if she goes at first tribal council or not, a target is on her back. That theory she had about playing dumb would have worked a hell of a lot better.

LEANN
Leann didn't get too much airtime either, but I still love her. She's not drawing attention to herself, she's working hard, she's performing in challenges -- all good things. She's kind of like Deena, but looks like a model and isn't bossy. Basically, friendly with everyone and does what she's supposed to do. I can see her fitting in with the men very well too.

CHAD
I love Chad. Almost as much as Rupert. Almost. Him revealing his leg the way he did was kinda like Christy explaining that she was deaf. This is SO Amazon. They really seemed to be accepting of it, but Brook put it very well. It's very inspirational, but his ass is still bootable. It really is his only downfall. He's a nice guy, been through a lot, a great competitor -- which is why he's more of a threat than anyone out there. I would pay to see the girls talking about their reaction to Chad's leg though. It's different to be told firsthand about how it happened than it is to see that and form your own opinions. I still love him. I think he's great and they better not vote him out.

BROOK
Buddy, you said it yourself. Chris and Travis both acted like they wanted an alliance, but nobody said anything. Being agressive can hurt you, but so can NOT being agressive. Chris's ass was on the line so he became agressive. Look where he is and look where you are. There has to be some motivation either way. I don't know if you knew that JK had never watched the show. Knowing that, he was a great pawn. But when you couple JP into it, it was just a bad alliance. You're still hot and I'd still give you my number but as a Survivor nut like me, you should have been willing to make some difficult choices and take some risks.

Next week I think the girls have to lose. They guys are not going to let themselves drop two immunities in a row. Yet another person would have to fuck up really bad. Chris had better hope it isn't him.

And something to think about -- guys, I don't know how you must have felt about the girls crawling through mud with their chest hanging out, but *I* was turned on. Of course, I was even more turned on watching the men with their legs wrapped around a beam, humping their way across. Let's have more challenges like that!