TotallyGruntledSurvivor

The poignant moment was weak and more manufactured by Jeff's narration.  He also let them the losing team out of  swimming back and brought out a boat to take them back.  This allowed Sarah to find the Secret Advantage that Michaela missed. In the end we FINALLY had a surprise game changing move, although it will probably not help Sarah to the end or with the votes as we all know that flippers never win. MAKU MAKU Night 24 Debbie talks about how easy the vote was, and now that they have Debbie, Sarah, Sierra, Brad, Troyzan, and Tai they will pick off the other five.   Andrea was out of the loop, and talks to Zeke who tells her he didn't think they were going to keep him for much, and decides to stay witht he majority alliance.  He talks to Sarah who wants to work with him. REWARD Day 25 Two teams of five will go over a series of obstacles then use a grappling hook to retrieve five rings.   Reward is a seaplane trip to the Usalla Islands.  Br...

Tonight's Episode:  Zeke is still not trusted by his old alliance,  Sierra/Brad's alliance looks like the ones to beat, as they believe they have brought in Sarah, but Sarah may have other plans. The immunity challenge is from Brains, Brawn and Beauty 2 and involves spelling IMMUNITY correctly backwards, while balancing a platform with a rope. Predictions get harder, but here goes: Already Gone 20. Ciera (14)     14/20 60% 19. Tony (19)      33/39 85% 18. Caleb (15)    48/57 84% 17. Malcolm (2) 50/74 68% 16. J.T. (15)        65/89 73% 15. Sandra (15)  80/105 76% 14. Jeff (12)        92/119 77% 13. Hali (11)       103/132 78% 12. Ozzy (10)      113/144 78% Total:  113 11.  Zeke--(4)  Zeke still has the biggest target on his back as he betrayed his alliance, but may be needed for other purposes. 10. Sierra(3)--If Zeke doesn't go then Si...

This two-hour episode by itself was not interesting but it leaves us with a sense that the next few episodes could be unpredictable.  I'm not holding my breath. Part 1 NUKU Tribe  Short commiseration with Zeke the day following tribal.  Sarah does not forgive Varner.  Ozzy seems uneasy about talking about it. MERGE Tribes come to reward to see feast table and covered table.  Jeff does not mention Varner being gone and lays on the twist that they can have the feast only if one player from each tribe gets one volunteer to sit out the feast.  Otherwise it's cheese and crackers.  Brad on Mana and Tai on Nuku volunteer the others partake.  Zeke wonders about Brad's motivation to sit out.  Cirie is also suspicious. Debbie pretends to be drunk and does shenanigans, and reflects on strategy a little, but otherwise uneventful. MERGED Tribe (MAKU MAKU) Tribe goes back to Nuku beach.  Debbie apologizes to Brad for her outburst.  Z...

After an emotional tribal council, the Nuku tribe merges with Mana and hopefully the game gets interesting after a very ho-hum pre-merge season as far as game play is concerned.  The total vote has been 40-8 for the 7 people eliminated with only the J.T. vote close at 3-2 although 6 votes for Sierra were not counted due to the Idol play by Tai. We also know from the synopsis, that two players won't participate in the merge feast.  Are they Exiled?  Do they get something else?  Do they sit out the first Tribal Council or are they immune? Original Mana has lost 6 people to Original Nuku's 1 so the smart bet would be for Hali, Troyzan, Aubry and Michaela going early and the remaining 9 Nuku battling it out. There could be some surprises though: Women outnumber men 8-5 and could take out Ozzy, Brad, and Troyzan pretty easily leaving Tai and Zeke. Mana 3 has 7 members to Nuku 3's 6. The Tavua tribe is still intact with 6 and would need to pull one person in to...

This weeks episode has created a lot of stir and discussion, and although the Transgender conversation is important, it may or may not detract from the rest of the season, which again is uninteresting.  I'm finding it more and more that the GameChangers theme is not about the players so much as the twists the producers have put in.   They are overtwising.   The cumulative vote has been 40-8 with the other player never receiving more than 2 votes, other than Sierra's 6 which were nullified.  That was a unified vote though because there were two tribes, and not a true vote of a tribe. It seems players are hesitant to make a big move, because those that can or do are now out of the game.  I don't at this point see a clear winner, I see a lot of coasters.

Tonight's episode should have been entitled "Metamorphosis" as the actual title had nothing to do with the episode. It's a simple review of the game play: 1. Nuku wins Reward Challenge of Pizza and Soft Drinks 2. Mana wins Immunity Challenge by figuring out the 13 balls spell M-E-T-A-M-O-R-P-H-O-S-I-S 3. Jeff Varner is booted. This episode had really little to do with Survivor game play and more to do with social consciousness.  As a Survivor episode it will be talked about for years to come, but not for the right reasons. In my pre-season analysis, I said about Varner: "His wishy-washiness will get him in trouble and he will go home somewhere in the middle of the game, close to the merge or just after it."  I was right about the timing, but had no clue he could be that mean or vindictive. Jeff spent 50 days total in three seasons on Survivor, and granted had Skupin not fallen into the fire just before the merge, he probably would have been on the...

Sandra goes home for the first time ever, and my suspicion is this is the last episode before the merge based on Sierra's Legacy Idol being able to be used at 13. There are hints that Ozzy is now a target after Tai brought his name up, but I think Mana will be the one at Tribal.  Troyzan has an Idol, and Tai has two, so things could get interesting if they are not played this time. Varner is the only one left on Nuku from the original Mana, but original Mana has a 4-3 advantage on the 3rd Mana tribe, which is significant if Mana goes to tribal.  Four Men and two women have been booted, so the trend is to take big players out, which makes Ozzy and Brad susceptible to boots. Oh, yeah, the reward is Pizza, and lots of it. Already Gone 20. Ciera (14)     14/20 60% 19. Tony (19)      33/39 85% 18. Caleb (15)    48/57 84% 17. Malcolm (2) 50/74 68% 16. J.T. (15)        65/89 73% 15. Sandra (15)  80/105 76% ...

The Queen is gone!  Long Live the Queen! NUKU Tribe Aubry is shocked and impressed with Sandra's game play.  Sandra explains that J.T. had to go because of the Betrayal. MANA Tribe In the middle of the night, Tai searches for the Idol from the clue he had to wet the boards, and finds the anchor symbol and the Idol. Tribe Switch At the Reward Challenge Brad is visibly upset that J.T. is gone, then they wonder what is happening at the challenge. Jeff tells them to drop their buffs and passes out new ones to two tribes.  Debbie has no buff and is put in the middle.  Varner and Sandra from 2nd Nuku welcome Tai, and Sierra from 2nd Mana, and Andrea, Ozzie and Zeke from Tavua as the new Nuku tribe.   While Hali and Brad are joined by Aubry and Michaela from 2nd Nuku and Troyzan, Cirie and Sarah from Tavua to form the 3rd Nuku Tribe.  Jeff calls out Sandra and Varner being in the minority.   Jeff then tells Debbie that she is heading to Exile Island...

J.T. becomes the first former Nuku member to be voted off after four original Mana.   With a 9-6 advantage how does the tribe split to 7 and 7 play out?  Or is there another twist coming?   Also, Tavua still has 6 to 2nd Mana 5 to 2nd Nuku 4.  Does that play into it at all? And who is the mysterious stranger. This preview doesn't show how any of the split goes, so not knowing who stays with whom, here goes: 20. Ciera (14) 19. Tony (19)  18. Caleb (15) 17. Malcolm (2) 16. J.T. (15) Total:  65 15. Sandra (13)--Sandra is definitely in charge. When do they turn on her or is it already too late. 14. Michaela (10)  Michaela won't keep her mouth shut, and will likely be targeted by those who don't know her. 13. Debbie (6)--Debbie's eccentricities will cost her, especially if she ends up with Brad again. 12. Brad (11) --Even if he's not really being a dictator, perception will kill him.  Old Brad is in the edit now, and I don't think it ...