TotallyGruntledSurvivor

NUKU Tribe  Aftermath of Tribal Council Upon returning from tribal Sandra started questioning J.T. and what he told Culpepper.  J.T. scrambled with lies but failed to get the target off his back, and the next morning searched and found the Hidden Immunity Idol, located similarly to the one that Tai found at Mana the day before. REWARD CHALLENGE Upon coming to the Reward Challenge, Tavua were surprised to find Mana intact and Nuku missing Malcolm.   Presumably Jeff told them about the twist at some point but it was not shown. The reward challenge had five individual parts, a grappler, a digger, 2 balancers and a puzzle solver. Troyzan sat out (again?!) for Tavua. Roles for Nuku, Mana, Tavua Grappler--Varner, Sierra, Sarah Digger--Michaela, Tai, Cirie Bow Balancer--J.T., Hali, Ozzie Handle Balancer--Aubry, Debbie, Andrea Puzzler--Sandra, Brad, Zeke Reward was for Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Cookies and Milk for the winner, PB&J Sandwiches for...

One postscript from last week's episode.  The end result was not  unlike the rock draw in other seasons and someone deserving to stay, like Jessica last season was lost from the game.    As painful as it was to watch Malcolm leave, it's part of the game.  If J.T. hadn't done what he did, then perhaps it would have been Sierra that left the game. Tonight, Debbie appears to go berserk and get crazy with Brad and Tai, which usually means she stays.  After the twists of the first three weeks, who knows what this week's twist will be and how it will affect the game. So rather than guessing what's going to happen, let's get right to the rankings.  Awful week as my #2 left the game because of the extra twist. 20. Ciera (14) 19. Tony (19)  18. Caleb (15) 17. Malcolm (2) Total:  50 16. Hali (17)-- Still think Hali is at risk unless the women go against Brad or Tai.  Mana has been to every tribal so far, why not this week.  Not s...

Sooooooooo... The extra twist was a doozy, and probably cost someone who would have normally gone much deeper into the game.   And the question has to be asked "How did J.T. ever win Survivor?" REWARD Challenge The Reward challenge is for Coffee and Cookies.  Two people participate from each tribe.  J.T. and Malcolm for Nuku, Ozzie and Troyzan for Tavua and Tai and Brad for Mana.  Tai has trouble balancing the ball in the first part while Ozzie and J.T. Navigate it rather easily with Ozzy finishing slightly ahead of J.T. The second part involves throwing sandbags at 9 sticks.   Troyzan has knocked over 5 sticks and Malcolm 6 before Brad gets his chance (remember Brad was a professional Quarterback).   Malcolm finishes off all 9, while Troyzan is stuck on two left.   Brad eventually wins a Thermos of Iced Coffee for Mana  MANA Tribe Sierra consoles Tai after Caleb leaves, Debbie approaches Hali to get her take on where her head is ...

The tease for tonight   i s that two tribes will go to tribal council which means two boots.  Jeff also promises at least one additional twist to this, perhaps individual immunity or some other new plan. There will also be a separate reward challenge where only two people participate from each team for Coffee for the first two winners.    The Immunity challenge is a blindfolded one with callers.  Cirie, Varner and  From a clip preview of tonight's episode, my feeling is that Mana goes again (Tai says there are going to be fireworks tonight) but I'm not sure if Tavua or Nuku also go, which leads to my bottom three being the most likely from each tribe to go.  So far this season, I was 6 off with Ciera, right on with Tony (if he drops after Ciera is removed, and was 3 off for Caleb for a total of 48 points.    We'll do the same thing tonight based on the order of the tribal councils.  When the first is voted off everyone below that p...

In Caleb's exit interview with Parade  Caleb confirms one of my pet peeves with returnees, relationships outside the game.  In one answer he mentions that Tai was at his wedding and Hali and Sierra got matching Tattoos after their season. In most seasons with first time players, all you know is the relationship you have. The exception is the 2nd Blood vs. Water, where you come in with a loved one, and they know stuff that can potentially make or break you. But forming relationships for Survivor alumni whether or not you even played together is a factor on the returnee seasons.   Sure it can hinder you as well (like Ozzie and Cirie's past on Micronesia).   The Survivor edit tends to gloss over any outside relationships, but play up the on-screen former relationships. Jeff Probst also plays into this and intrudes on the game play more and more, as he did in this episode, by dwelling on the fact that Tai and Caleb were tribemates before.   That's fair to poin...

This episode went directly to the Reward Challenge and the anticipated tribe swap. As shown on "Next Time..." last week, five Mana became Nuku with J.T..  Hali and Caleb stayed Mana and were joined by four Nuku, Tai, Brad, Sierra, and Debbie.   The other six formed the new tribe Tavua, Troyzan the only Mana member was joined by Zeke, Cirie, Ozzie, Sarah and Andrea from Nuku. NUKU Tribe It is not lost on J.T. that he is the only Nuku on a tribe of Mana.  He immediately tries to make himself valuable by chasing goats with Malcolm and capturing two of them.  Only problem was, it was a baby and its mother.  Sandra doesn't seem to care and wants goat for dinner and talks about gutting and cleaning them, while the others, most notably, J.T., Malcolm and Jeff, bare their consciences and don't want anything to do with it.  Malcolm realizes that he has to finesse Sandra into coming to their side without getting her peeved at them, finally deciding to eat a chic...

So after two boots, the tribes are going to "drop their buffs".   Since green is a new color for this season and was very prominent in the "Next Time on..." clip, they are obviously going to three tribes of six castaways. We also learned from the clip that the six members of the Nuku tribe are, Jeff, Malcolm, Sandra, and Aubry from old Mana with  J.T. from old Nuku.  Nuku also gets a goat (literally). So the other two tribes will consist of Caleb, Hali and Troyzan, with Andrea, Cirie, Brad, Debbie, Ozzy, Sarah, Sierra, Tai and Zeke. Tai will be separated from his chickens at least temporarily. Unless the remaining three Mana end up on the same tribe making a 3-3 split, then Nuku will have have a 4-2 and 5-1 Advantage on the other two tribes. So only six will be at risk to be booted, and much of it depends on the tribe split, but here is an attempt at a rundown. Number in parenthesis is my rank at time of boot or last week's ranking. 20. Ciera (14...

As a members of the Procrastinators Club which I will eventually form, here are my Pre-Season Rankings 20-1 and my comments on how the first two episodes went for them. In future weeks I will release an update prior to the Wednesday Broadcast. 20. Tony (19th)  Goes into character right away but somehow escapes the first boot, but not the 2nd. 19. Brad--Generally Low Key but his tribe was not the focus. 18. Sandra--Claims Queen crown, ousts Tony and mouths off about it. 17. Tai--Getting too close to the Chickens.  When others get hungry he goes. 16. Jeff--Generally weak in challenges.  Laid low, but can't see this lasting. 15. Cirie--Paranoid about Ozzy coming for her, might become his target eventually. 14. Ciera (20th) --Plays the game too fast, leading to a unanimous ouster on Day 3 13. Debbie--Touted her instincts and surveillance skills. 12. Michaela--Strong personality came out when mentioned as the "alternative" to Ciera for first boot, but seemed to sta...

Survivor Game Changers opened with a two hour episode that I am going to breakdown into two parts. All 20 Castaways are on the same ship similar to the initial Marooning in Season 1 Borneo.   After Jeff weakly explains the Game Changers theme, he gives them time to grab supplies and load them on a raft.  In addition a life ring signals two ropes with knots that leads to a tool box.   First one to untie wins. Part I NUKU Tribe As the rest of his tribe is salvaging supplies from the boat all 20 Contestants are initially on, Ozzy swims out uncontested to retrieve a basket of tools that will be very valuable for the game.  Also on the ship Sierra discovers an envelope among the supplies that is a legacy advantage, in that she can take immunity at when the players are down to thirteen or six.  If voted out prior to using it, she has to pass the legacy on to another player.  This is an indication to me that the merge will happen at 13 as there would be a ...

Tonight the action starts!  Season 34 Survivor Game Changers! And the Game has already changed.  CBS and Survivor/Jeff Probst have made some announcements recently regarding a couple of the changes. First in a tied first tribal council vote, there is no revote.  It goes straight to a discussion to get a unanimous boot, among the non-voters.   Failing unanimity, Those who were tied are safe, and the others draw rocks. The other change is that there won't be any consistency to where the Hidden Immunity idols are hid.  For instance last season they were hidden in an object such as a coconut or piece of wood with the tribe emblem or colors on it.  In Second chance they were hidden in Challenges.   In Samoa they wre hidden where Russell Hantz could easily find them. This year they can be hidden in any or all ways of the past, or even some new ways.  Depending on how often they are played and recycled.   There's even a hint that an idol may...

Name:  Michaela Bradshaw Gender:  Female Age:  25 First Appearance:  Season 33: Milennials vs. Gen-X Finishes:  33: Total Appearances:  1 Last Appearance:  33 Game Changers Initial Tribe:  Nuku Michaela came into the game as a straight shooter and benefitted in that she only had to go to one tribal council in the first 18 days and 6 Tribals and also had a 4-2 advantage in the Tribe Switch.  Ultimately she was done in by a tendency for the season to go full-blindside and voting out the least likely person to go. Michaela first targeted the Tails-Figgs romance in the Millenials tribe, but was also allied with Jay who was allied with the power couple.  Her suggestion to vote Figgy out on day 7 but was met with resistance.  Jay convinced them to go with Mari by trying to create a alliance of six, with Michelle and Will. When the tribe switch moved from two to three tribes, Michaela ended up with Jay, Hannah, and Will, along...

Name:  Zeke Smith Gender:  male Age:  28 First Appearance:  Season 33:  GenX vs. Millenials Finishes:  33: 9th Jury Total Appearances:  1 Last Appearance:  33 Game Changers Initial Tribe:  Nuku Zeke was a little out of place on the Milllenials tribe and fell in with fellow geeks, Adam and Hannah who both made it to the end.  He took charge of the Millenial tribe after the cyclone evacuation.  The seven Millenials who made it to the merge only had to go to Tribal Council two times each.  However in between there was a tribe switch where he and Michelle were in the minority.  To make things worse, he didn't have an alliance with Michelle.   He immediately bonded with Chris on their Oklahoma roots and worked together to knock CeCe out. Zeke was also a puzzle monster figuring out one of the word puzzles and working with Michelle to make another one blindfolded. Zeke was done in by moving too fast on David. ...

Name:  Debbie Wanner Gender:  Female Age:  51 First Appearance:  Season 32:  Kaoh Rong Finishes:  32: 9th Jury Total Appearances:  1 Last Appearance:  32 Game Changers Initial Tribe:  Nuku Debbie is one of four people returning from Kaoh Rong, two each from Brains and Beauty, which was one of the more confounding seasons in Survivor History.  Debbie, a jack of all trades was put on the Brains tribe as her primary job was a chemist. In Kaoh Rong, she teamed up with Joe as the six members teamed up in pairs.  Early on they were on the outs with the other four because they were the oldest.  Or at least that's what Peter and Liz thought.   The battle was over Neal and Aubry, and Debbie perceptively figured out the overconfidence of Peter and Liz.  At their first vote they successfully voted out Liz. After the tribe switch, Debbie ended up on a tribe with 2 Brawn, 2 Beauty and Neal and Debbie from Brains. ...

Name:  Tai Trang Gender:  Female Age:  52 First Appearance:  Season 32:  Kaoh Rong Finishes:  32: Final 3--3rd Place Total Appearances:  1 Last Appearance:  32 Game Changers Initial Tribe:  Nuku Tai Trang seemed to be the most misplaced person in the whole game let alone the Beauty tribe.  Initially he fell in with the sorority girls who thought he had a certain cuteness (like a doll), but almost immediately falls out because of his search for the Hidden Immunity Idol.  He was smart enough to know it, though, and secretly found it anyway, while remaining in the tribe's good graces although the girls alliance threatened to take him out.    The Beauty tribe however never had to go to Tribal Council, and only lost Caleb to a medical evacuation before a switch. At the switch Tai ended up on a tribe with Anna from his old tribe, Scott from Brawn and three Brains--Peter, Aubrey, and Joe.  Another beauty was sent ...

Name:   Aubry Bracco Gender:  Female Age:  30 First Appearance:  Season 32:  Kaoh Rong Finishes:  32: Final Tribal-Runner-Up Total Appearances:  1 Last Appearance:  29 Game Changers Initial Tribe:  Mana Aubry might have been the biggest brain in Kaoh Rong, as we constantly saw her thinking, thinking and thinking.   She paired off with Neal, initially, but had an anxiety attack on day 2, which seemed to portend an early exit.  Peter and Liz had targeted her in the Brains first vote, thinking they had Debbie and Joe on their side, but was saved by the older pair.  Aubry then became a non-factor over the next few episodes, although her tribe after the switch lost the next two immunities.  After the first vote Aubry shut down Joe's move the move to eliminate Peter.   However the remaining members didn't trust Peter and wanted to get rid of him.  In the end she switched at Tribal and became the deciding vote ...

Name:  Caleb Reynolds Gender:  Male Age:  28 First Appearance:  Season 32:  Kaoh Rong Finishes:  32: 15 Med Evac Total Appearances:  1 Last Appearance:  32 Game Changers Initial Tribe:  Mana Caleb, the Beast Mode Cowboy from season 16 of  Big Brother, joined Survivor as a member of the beauty tribe, although it made more sense for him to be on Brawn. In Kaoh Rong, we didn't get a real feel for him as he was evacuated from the game at the 4th challenge which took down two other players from heat exhaustion, but not to the degree of needing to leave the game.  He had just pulled off the win over the Brawn's before collapsing.  Prior to that the biggest news for Caleb was his relationship with Tai. In Game Changers he really doesn't know Aubry, who will start out on his tribe nor Debbie, as there was no switch prior to his leaving.     I don't watch Big Brother so I have no idea if any personality from that...

Name:   Ciera Eastin Gender:  Female Age:  28 First Appearance:  Season 26:  Blood vs. Water Finishes:  26: 5th Place, Juror; 31 10th Place, Juror Total Appearances:  2 Last Appearance:  31 Game Changers Initial Tribe:  Mana "I voted my mother out!" is not a strategy especially when her mother was going anyway as everyone else voted her mother out.   And to be fair Ciera tried everything to save her mom before ultimately voting for her.  The edit for Ciera in Blood vs. Water showed personal growth for her in that she started making decisions for herself and direct her mother on her plans, but in the end, she was on the bottom five in her alliance, and her mother was 6th. Three years later Ciera went for her 2nd Chance.  Early on, her tribe was winning so she was a non-factor as most of the rest of her tribe other than Monica and Keith got the focus when the focus wasn't on the Ta Keo tribe who lost a lot.  She n...