MediaScribe
ForumsNet Moderator
Moderator
ForumsNet Member
Keepin' it all together
  
Gender: 
Posts: 2163
|
 |
Wacky Wanda's S13 Episode 4 Commentary!
« on: Oct 9th, 2006, 9:42am » |
 Quote  Modify
|
Here's Wanda's weekly commentary regarding this season of Survivor...
I heard Cecilia, third boot from Cook Islands, on a radio interview in Canada on the way to Stratford Friday a week ago. The interviewer asked her if she was blind-sided or if she saw it coming (always an interesting question to ask). (Needless to say, in my case I was totally blindsided!) Cecilia said she saw it coming, and she felt ready to get out of the game so she did nothing to stop it. Needless to say, that's not the mentality of a "player."
The fourth episode of Cook Islands was a great one in lots of ways. First, Aitu beat Raro twice, and that was great, since Raro won the week before. One of the worst things that can happen on Survivor is that one tribe consistently decimates the other (like Koror over Ulong in Palau) so that things become predictable. Second, the alliance structure of Raro was completely different from the alliance structure of Aitu, so we can see that alignments can develop in different ways. Third, the "have-nots" of Raro took control instead of letting themselves be "had," --- YAY REBECCA!
The differences in the ways the two tribes initially aligned themselves was interesting. At Aitu, the two Koreans (Yul and Becky) immediately aligned with the two strongest Caucasians (Jonathan and Candice) against the two Hispanics (Ozzy and Cecilia) and the lone black (Sundra), with the tattoo-two ( Vietnamese Cao-Boi and Caucasian Jessica/Flicka) as swing votes. Cao-Boi and Jessica could have been at worst 4th and 5th (and very likely better) if they allied with Ozzy, Cecilia, and Sundra, but instead they let themselves be "had" by aligning with Yul, Becky, Candice, and Jonathan, where they could at best end up 5th and 6th. Bad play; not thinking.
At Raro, by contrast, the alignments have had nothing to do with friendships made in the initial tribes. Instead, a male-alliance developed with a serene confidence that their strength gave them automatic immunity. Stephanie did the the typical "have-not" thing, to use again the line of thought introduced by Christopher J. Wright's Tribal Warfare: Survivor and the Political Unconscious of Reality Television (a book which every serious Survivor fan who does not already own it should promptly order from Amazon.com). Stephanie blamed herself for losing the immunity challenge (although Rebecca and Jenny were working with her on attempting to build fire, and JP's being outswum by Ozzy made at least three other people just as much "at fault" for the loss as Stephanie, if blame is to be assigned -- although, as discussed at Tribal Council, it should rarely be the basis for the tribe's vote).
That brings us to the remarkable -- and surprising, by Wright's analysis -- job Rebecca did in saving the "have-nots" of the tribe (in this case, the women) from their one chance to stay in the game. If Rebecca (with Cristina's and Jenny's help) had not engineered a turn-around, the dominant males could have, and probably would have, picked the women off one by one.
In Episode 3, Rebecca won big points from me by being the physically strongest woman, the last one to keep going in the walking-in-the-water challenge. In Episode 4, Rebecca wins big points for initiating the plan to save the doomed minority, in this case the women (contra the Aitu doomed minority group of five, the Latinos-black-and-outcast-"Asian-Caucasians"). Stephanie woke up quickly and came back with "I'm not giving up!" YES! Parvati only briefly hestitant; she got on board -- and surprise of surprises, by the time the votes were cast, Brad and Adam were voting with the women against JP! One would have thought that if any of the males would have voted with the women, it would have been Nate who (1) shares Stephanie's ethnicity and would be advantaged to keep an alliance with her; (2) seems to be tighter with Parvati than with the other guys; and even (3) seemed to want to "have the backs of" -- i.e. protect -- some women in the game, almost having a dual set of alliances.
In sum, Episode 4 reversed at least three expectations that might have been created by Episode 3: That (1) The Aitu and Raro alliances would follow alliances of their initial tribes. This happened with Aitu but not with Raro. (2) Raro would dominate. Instead, they lost back-to-back challenges this week. (3) The "have-nots" would succumb, as usual, to the power-grabs of the "haves." Usually the "have-nots" recognize their plight too late, as will happen for Cao Boa and Jessica. Rebecca is unusual. She recognized the problem immediately and took action in time to change up the game in time and reverse the fate of the women. This was a great week for Survivor. It's almost always best (most interesting) when what we expect does not happen, when we are surprised.
Scores after the fourth inning:
California -- lost 3 of initial 13 (the biggest tribe); Other-49-states - lost 1 of 7. (CA still leads 10-6).
Men - lost 3 of 10; Women - lost 1 of 10. (Women lead 9-7).
Hispanics (original Aitutaki)- lost 3 of 5; Blacks (original Manihiki) - lost 1 of 5; Asian/Caucasian -- both groups intact.
Exile Island: Jonathan, Yul, Candice, Adam -- 3 white, one Asian. Interesting. The reasons for selection are different:
sometimes it's been a punishment; for Candice it was a reward, an immunity.
Who we're likin' :
On Aitu, Ozzy remains my hero in spite of his having made a bad play in getting rid of tribemate Billy in Episode 2. I like Survivors who can really do the Survivor thing, the outdoor stuff, the shelter-building and the food provider role. Ozzy outswims and outfishes everybody, and in my book he doesn't deserve the outsider status that the Big Four Alliance on his tribe has relegated him to. He's been a key to winning the last two challenges, and he's a key to keeping well fed on the home front. GO OZ! I also had to like Candice again this week. Like Oz, she's been one of my favs from the get-go, but for a different reason: Candice is the biggest long-time Survivor fan playing the game this season, and I'd like to see the real fan go far. Candice was a gem with her innocent act this week. "Hmmm.. why did they select me to go to Exile Island? I was so busy on Exile Island that I never had time to think about that!" Cute, Candice! You go, Girl! And then there's my Appalachian Trail hiker buddy Cao Boi -- gotta give him credit for his Way with the Wind this week: he got that fire going! Jeff said he'd either be a hero or a laughing-stock, so let's give the hero his due!
On Raro, Rebecca's been an outstanding player both physically and strategically. She's great! Nate's cute and fun and lovable. Parvati's a keeper, too. She's always thinking, analyzing, playing the game, playing the people (especially the guys) -- and good enough to tell us about it! Gotta love that! Cute or hunk or stud may be applied to Brad and Adam, but they've been rather inconspicuous recently as players, along with Jenny, although she's a good ally to Rebecca. Cristina and Stephanie have sat out challenges, but they have a lot to offer, and it's great to see Steph awake now to playing the game and not giving up. Hope she hangs on to that attitude.
My Fav Final Four as of now: Candice, Ozzy, Rebecca, and maybe Yul. Just coincidentally, that's one from each of the original four tribes. But shucks, three out of four are California recruits! So go Candice!
|
Sponsored by: The Fans!
Home
Help
Search
Members
Chat
Member Map
Login
Register
Reply
Add Poll
Notify of replies
Send Topic
Print