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Survivor: Heroes vs Villains - Thursdays at 8:00pm ET/PT (beginning Feb. 4th)!

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Baker

Banned
Galang said:
Wow completely missed that thing with Stephanie... :lol And it was her third time playing? Didn't know that!
I asked that for at least half the people Probst said played three times. I seriously must have completely blocked out an all-star season.

I guess with Steph, you had her original season, fans vs. favorites, then this one. It's just hard to remember when she gets voted out so early.

Edit: Oh yeah I was wrong about the fans vs. favorites part. Bowie below has the correct info.
 
I still find it surprising how many people are focusing on Russell losing and not Parvati. I mean, whatever argument there is for Russell deserving to win (and I don't think there is one), should be made for Parvati.

Sandra won and it was pretty clear that she deserved it, but I think there is no doubt that Parvati was the best player. She played a (nearly) flawless game.
 

BowieZ

Banned
Galang said:
And it was her third time playing? Didn't know that!
In season 10, she became the last remaining member of her tribe... before the merge. Her tribe kept losing immunity. She went back to camp by herself after winning a firemaking tiebreaker. It was epic <3

Then in season 11, she and another s10 contestant were brought back as experienced "tools" for the two Guatemalan tribes to use, but were considered official contestants with voting rights. Despite the target on her back, she made it to
2nd
place.

Two of the best Survivor seasons ever and I thoroughly recommend YouTubing them if you're bored.

The Crimson Blur said:
I still find it surprising how many people are focusing on Russell losing and not Parvati. I mean, whatever argument there is for Russell deserving to win (and I don't think there is one), should be made for Parvati.

Sandra won and it was pretty clear that she deserved it, but I think there is no doubt that Parvati was the best player. She played a (nearly) flawless game.
I totally agree. I was expecting Parvati to win, which I guess is kinda why Sandra winning was so enjoyably shocking (having not seen any spoilers), though I went in being happy if either one were to win.

Again, Parvati was shown to be an obvious winner (as was Russell), but it begs the question of whether editing influences the 'deserving' factor at all.
 

Baker

Banned
I just read the wiki article for Season 11 and I realized why I didn't remember it. It was one of the three or so seasons that pissed me off for some reason and I stopped watching after ~the 3rd episode.
 

BowieZ

Banned
Baker said:
I just read the wiki article for Season 11 and I realized why I didn't remember it. It was one of the three or so seasons that pissed me off for some reason and I stopped watching after ~the 3rd episode.
Are you a straight male (or lesbian)? All of the attractive young women were voted off near the start of Guatemala :p

But apart from that it's my favorite season of the twenty of them (well, in the top 2 with HvV), and it really picks up by about episode 5. Even if you've spoiled yourself on the winner etc I recommend getting into it... the characters are all incredibly well fleshed out and it's a very heartwarming season and emotionally resonant in some way every episode. The location and theme is also insanely awesome and gave us lots of twists and turns - notably the debut of the hidden immunity idol.
 

Baker

Banned
BowieZ said:
Are you a straight male (or lesbian)? All of the attractive young women were voted off near the start of Guatemala :p

But apart from that it's my favorite season of the twenty of them (well, in the top 2 with HvV), and it really picks up by about episode 5. Even if you've spoiled yourself on the winner etc I recommend getting into it... the characters are all incredibly well fleshed out and it's a very heartwarming season and emotionally resonant in some way every episode. The location and theme is also insanely awesome and gave us lots of twists and turns - notably the debut of the hidden immunity idol.
You are right that Survivor went through about a four season arc of all the hot girls getting voted out first. I'm not shallow enough to stop watching a show for that reason! It did kind of suck though. :lol

It could have been a certain challenge or annoying individual. I'm extremely fickle with what I'll watch on tv and I give no loyalty when deciding to drop a show from my schedule. I was reading that wiki and I didn't even remember the winner ever being a contestant. It wasn't until the ex-NFL guy was mentioned that I recalled watching it.
 

BowieZ

Banned
Well, if anyone wants to relive Guatemala or any of the 'forgotten seasons', this is a good place to begin ;)

EDIT: :lol at one of the top rated comments:

BarelyCoherent
1 year ago 17
its weird how they eliminated all the&#65279; 22 year old pretty girls 3 out of the first 4 tribals
 

Baker

Banned
jstevenson said:
Is Russell in the house?
They're still weeding out the applicant pool so there's plenty of time for AG to throw him in the mix.

I'm glad I got my dates mixed up and didn't go try out in Nashville. That was the weekend the whole place flooded.
 

Galang

Banned
BowieZ said:
In season 10, she became the last remaining member of her tribe... before the merge. Her tribe kept losing immunity. She went back to camp by herself after winning a firemaking tiebreaker. It was epic <3

Then in season 11, she and another s10 contestant were brought back as experienced "tools" for the two Guatemalan tribes to use, but were considered official contestants with voting rights. Despite the target on her back, she made it to
2nd
place.

Two of the best Survivor seasons ever and I thoroughly recommend YouTubing them if you're bored.

Thanks for the info, was wondering how it was possible she became the last person on her tribe.

I was actually thinking of watching past seasons anyway as I've missed 4 - 12, 10 - 12 seem to have the most interesting concepts. 12 being the first time exile island becoming a part of the game I think.
 

CoolTrick

Banned
The Crimson Blur said:
Sandra won and it was pretty clear that she deserved it, but I think there is no doubt that Parvati was the best player. She played a (nearly) flawless game.

But she didn't.

People have weird conceptions of flawless.

Parvati had to win immunity several times or she would have left. She needed to play idols at times because she would have otherwise left.

When did Sandra ever require immunity or need an Idol in order to survive in the game?
 

Kozak

Banned
CoolTrick said:
But she didn't.

People have weird conceptions of flawless.

Parvati had to win immunity several times or she would have left. She needed to play idols at times because she would have otherwise left.

Fair enough but when will you come to the realization that despite Parvati and Russell not playing the perfect game, at least they played a game?
 

BowieZ

Banned
CoolTrick said:
But she didn't.

People have weird conceptions of flawless.

Parvati had to win immunity several times or she would have left. She needed to play idols at times because she would have otherwise left.
Exactly. Parvati patched up her vulnerabilities (being perceived as too much of a threat) by winning immunity. That's great and all, but Sandra did the opposite: exploited her vulnerabilities (not winning immunity) and as a sense was not perceived as much of a threat.

Both strategies are as "flawless" as each other, apart from the fact that at the end of the day, the jury liked Sandra just a little bit more -- Sandra worked harder on meaningful friendships than Parvati (and Russell) -- so strictly speaking, considering the democratic nature of the game, Sandra played a truly "flawless" game.

Twice.


Kozak said:
Fair enough but when will you come to the realization that despite Parvati and Russell not playing the perfect game, at least they played a game?
Sigh. Sandra played the game of "surviving weekly votes and being voted at the end as a clever yet likeable player". That's the game of Survivor. She played it.

Russell played the game of "get to the end by making bold moves and being a jerk the whole time, and to hell with the jury, dammit!" He won that game, for sure.
 

CoolTrick

Banned
Fair enough but when will you come to the realization that despite Parvati and Russell not playing the perfect game, at least they played a game?

You do realize that almost all the people that went to the end of the game making big risky moves were just as in danger of having their big risky moves backfire on them like JT, right?

For me, it's more fun to watch Parvati and Russell's strategy because it's more upfront.

But a lot of the reason is that it was so upfront is because they had to make really bold moves and catch some lucky brakes to make it that far.

Is there any one instance of the game where if X hadn't happened, Sandra would have left?



- If Tyson hadn't voted himself out, Parvati/Russell leave.
- If Parvati hadn't won immunity several times, she leaves.
- If Parvati hadn't gotten two Idols to play, she would've been the first person next to leave.

I literally cannot think of any one brake/slip-up-by-someone/spur-of-the-moment-thing that happened that, had it gone the "other" way like in the examples I posted above, Sandra would have left.

The only time Sandra was ever in danger is when it was between her and Courtney. And you know how she stayed?

Not through Idol.

Not through needing to win immunity.

But through the traditional workings of Survivor: Because no one voted for her that Tribal Council.

Don't confuse people getting themselves out of a jam with people that rarely get themselves into a jam that they need to get out of. Whenever Sandra WAS in a jam, she got herself out of it, and didn't need immunity or Idols to do so.
 

Kozak

Banned
BowieZ said:
Sigh. Sandra played the game of "surviving weekly votes and being voted at the end as a clever yet likeable player". That's the game of Survivor. She played it.

Ignoring your remark on Russell cause I completely agree with it.

I don't think Sandra played that game. She didn't care if she was voted off, her only motive during the game was to vote off Russell.

CoolTrick said:
You do realize that almost all the people that went to the end of the game making big risky moves were just as in danger of having their big risky moves backfire on them like JT, right?

For me, it's more fun to watch Parvati and Russell's strategy because it's more upfront.

But a lot of the reason is that it was so upfront is because they had to make really bold moves and catch some lucky brakes to make it that far.

Is there any one instance of the game where if X hadn't happened, Sandra would have left?



- If Tyson hadn't voted himself out, Parvati/Russell leave.
- If Parvati hadn't won immunity several times, she leaves.
- If Parvati hadn't gotten two Idols to play, she would've been the first person next to leave.

I literally cannot think of any one brake/slip-up-by-someone/spur-of-the-moment-thing that happened that, had it gone the "other" way like in the examples I posted above, Sandra would have left.

The only time Sandra was ever in danger is when it was between her and Courtney. And you know how she stayed?

Not through Idol.

Not through needing to win immunity.

But through the traditional workings of Survivor: Because no one voted for her that Tribal Council.

Don't confuse people getting themselves out of a jam with people that rarely get themselves into a jam that they need to get out of. Whenever Sandra WAS in a jam, she got herself out of it, and didn't need immunity or Idols to do so.

You pretty much just said that Sandra did do nothing in the post. Going to tribal council and not being voted for isn't strategy..the only reason she survived is because nobody saw her as a threat cause she didn't do shit.

The only one that wanted her off was Coach precisely for the reason that she didn't do shit.
 

BowieZ

Banned
Kozak said:
You pretty much just said that Sandra did do nothing in the post. Going to tribal council and not being voted for isn't strategy..the only reason she survived is because nobody saw her as a threat cause she didn't do shit.
But she was a huge threat! She was playing exactly like she did in Pearl Islands, and won that season.

But as Sandra herself said, everyone had "too many other fish to fry". But it wasn't because Sandra was a fish that wasn't worth frying... it's just that nobody recognized her as such.

I guess we could go round and round in circles because it's a neverending feedback loop of blatant strategies versus subtle strategies.

But at the end of the day, in a democratic game, Sandra made friends and they voted for her to win a million dollars. Twice. Russell made enemies and fancy that! Those enemies rewarded the enemy of their enemy. It was just a tour de force performance by Sandra.

It's funny though how you guys are like "but can't you see how Sandra didn't play the game" like we're the ones who are missing out. But it's the opposite: that's how the game of Survivor is played. That's generally the type of winner who is rewarded -- a cunning but lovable human being. (Again, just like a politician.)

If you want to keep watching Survivor, you're the one who's going to have to adjust your perceptions of what "winning" means in this democratic survival adventure, or just don't watch any more. Again, that would be missing out.
 

BowieZ

Banned
Kozak said:
But Sandra didn't make friends :lol Her only friends were really Boston Rob and Courtney :lol
Well, that's all we were shown but I'm sure there were more, and again, as I said above, there are probably issues with the way the show's edited. Focusing so much on idols and gameplay and ignoring personal relationships has kinda created animal out of the last few years of the show -- and of Russell.

But you know what I mean... Sandra was lovably abrasive, affable, a real strong but pleasant personality. Candice said as she cast her jury vote: "[to Sandra] you were true to yourself, you were human, you spoke your mind, and rather than a villain that makes you a true hero to me." It's pretty clear to me that everyone liked Sandra, and my point is that Sandra was well aware that she was likeable. She made a point of being a clown with Courtney making amusing facetious remarks and just playing the "I'm so cool" card throughout the whole show. They certainly wouldn't have rewarded her a million dollars if she went around calling people "dumbass".

I agree, though, that Parvati also deserved to win, and she got 3 jury votes to back it up. Sandra was just better on the day, though.
 
CoolTrick said:
But she didn't.

People have weird conceptions of flawless.

Parvati had to win immunity several times or she would have left. She needed to play idols at times because she would have otherwise left.

When did Sandra ever require immunity or need an Idol in order to survive in the game?

Woah now lets not get out of hand with the Sandra love.

Parvati had to do all those moves to save herself because she was targeted from day 1. Sandra would never have been able to survive to the end with the conditions Parvati started with. The fact that she made it to the end with such a ridiculous disadvantage is remarkable; she was targeted at honestly half the tribal councils in the entire game but played well enough, whether through immunity or socially (and, no, she didn't just win immunities this season; her social game was crazy), to get out of harms way.

I don't know how you can leave this season thinking Parvati isn't the greatest player ever. I mean, she made one mistake, and that was not mingling with the Heroes a little more, whereas Sandra made no mistakes, but that is made up by the sheer ridiculousness of all the other things she accomplished. She controlled the game from front to back.
 

BowieZ

Banned
Meanwhile, Survivor is moving back to its original timeslot this fall.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/05/19/cbs-announces-fall-2010-schedule/

MONDAY
8 p.m . How I Met Your Mother
8:30 Rules of Engagement
9:00 Two and a Half Men
9:30 Mike and Molly
10:00 Hawaii Five-0

TUESDAY
8 p.m. NCIS
9:00 NCIS LA
10:00 The Good Wife

WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. Survivor: Nicaragua
9:00 Criminal Minds
10:00 The Defenders

THURSDAY
8 p.m. The Big Bang Theory
8:30 $#*! My Dad Says
9:00 CSI
10:00 The Mentalist

FRIDAY
8 p.m. Medium
9:00 CSI: NY
10:00 Blue Bloods

SATURDAY
8 p.m. Crimetime Saturday
9:00 Crimetime Saturday
10:00 48 Hours

SUNDAY
7 p.m 60 Minutes.
8:00 The Amazing Race
9:00 Undercover Boss
10:00 CSI: Miami

Best guess is a premiere date of September 15, which is under four months away.
 
ah thats prob a good move to get out of the tough fight that thursday always is. the only thing i watch on wed is modern family so i will prob watch it.
 
BowieZ said:
Best guess is a premiere date of September 15, which is under four months away.

The wait is the hardest part :(

On the BS Report (Simmons podcast on ESPN), they were talking about how Survivor might be on a bit of a downswing because they are getting a brand new cast, and fans should be prepared for a letdown after such an amazing season. I kinda agree; allstars spoils you a bit and going back to normal Survivor is hard. :/
 

BowieZ

Banned
The Crimson Blur said:
allstars spoils you a bit and going back to normal Survivor is hard. :/
True, but the same thing happened after Survivor: All-Stars the first. Vanuatu was a bit of a let down - they reused an earlier twist of dividing tribes by gender, and it was a very by-the-numbers game, with a couple of whiny players and lots of people with no personality to speak of.

(It also gave us John Kenney...

johnkenney12nh2.jpg


Swooooon! :lol )

Anywho, after that, we got Palau, Guatemala, and Exile Island... three very epic seasons with lots of great, rich personalities. So any downswing will be incredibly shortlived.

And considering Survivor's excellent ratings, the move to Wednesday is two-fold: to freshen the series up a bit, heading into a second decade, and to bring the show's incredibly loyal audience to Wednesday night to boost viewership for Criminal Minds/Defenders.

But yeah, Nicaragua promises to be an HD-version of Guatemala... and personally I am pumped for a brand new group of faces (finally!) :D
 

Brian Fellows

Pete Carroll Owns Me
The Crimson Blur said:
I kinda agree; allstars spoils you a bit and going back to normal Survivor is hard. :/

Not for me. I prefer regular seasons. Getting to know a new cast is much of the fun for me.

Also I'm probably the only person who gives a shit but Amazon has added pages for Africa and Marquesas.

No release dates yet.

I'm going through season 3 with a friend who didn't start watching until season 19 but the videos I have are pretty shitty quality. It'll be nice to have the DVDs.
 
The Crimson Blur said:
The wait is the hardest part :(

On the BS Report (Simmons podcast on ESPN), they were talking about how Survivor might be on a bit of a downswing because they are getting a brand new cast, and fans should be prepared for a letdown after such an amazing season. I kinda agree; allstars spoils you a bit and going back to normal Survivor is hard. :/

(Yeah, post is backdated, but...)

OTOH, ESPN reported that former Cowboys/Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson is one of the survivors, which basically guarantees a 3x increase in Simmons podcasts about it. :lol

Will be interesting to see how the changes to Idol distribution ("Russell Rules") and the possibility of show fan contestants will affect the season.
 
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