Survivor: Redemption Island (Page 2)

lois_lane: I guess those idiots throwing the challenge to get Russell out worked Great Eh, their all in a good position now Bahahahaha Stupid fools!

StuckInTheSixties: Drama, drama, drama in this Episode #7 of Survivor: Redemption Island.

Upon returning to camp after a traumatic Tribal Council, Zapatera members attempted to repair the damage and put petty disputes behind them. David, who is rapidly becoming a really annoying pissy-pants, would have none of it, and continued to needlessly antagonize Sarita, and to a lesser degree, the other members of the tribe. Steve noted that David is letting his personal animosities come before the welfare of the tribe.

In Ometepe, Creepy Phillip continues to just be crazy as a loon. The smoldering resentment he has for Boston Rob, about the attempt to keep Phillip from being in on the (worthless) Immunity Necklace clue, continues to grow. Even though Grant was with Rob in trying to hide the clue from Creepy Phillip, it is Rob that Phillip resents. Actually, at this point, Creepy Phillip is extremely resentful of no less than three of his fellow Ometepe tribe members, as he also hates Ashley and Natalie. His private Survivor interviews continue to be hilarious. He’s just nuts.

Phillip volunteered to be a witness for the Redemption Island duel, and Rob, knowing what a lunatic and loose cannon Phillip is, decided to accompany him, just in the hope of keeping him from doing anything outwardly stupid and detrimental to the tribe. Rob, wisely, understands just how dangerous it is to have this lunatic as a tribe member. He’s keeping a very close eye on Creepy Phillip. The witnesses for Zapatera were Annoying David and Redneck Ralph.

The duel was a memory game, basically the Survivor form of the old TV game show, “Concentration.” For the fifth straight time, Matt won the duel, sending Stephanie packing. The Russell curse is now complete. Stephanie’s elimination was essentially ordained when she hitched her wagon to Russell. She smartened up a little bit after her fellow Russell puppet Krista was killed off, but it was too little, too late. And in the bargain, the Russell curse has infected the entire tribe. Russell may have the last laugh in Zapatera.

A thought: I wonder if other players, on either tribe, are taking note of Matt’s run of five straight duel victories, and the fact that he is proving to be an extremely tenacious and formidable opponent in head-to-head competition. If they’re smart they’ll be taking that into consideration for post-Merge competition.

Before she left, Stephanie delivered an impassioned and emotional plea to Ralph to spare David, and sacrifice Sarita if another Tribal Council occurred, rationalizing that Sarita doesn’t deserve to be in the game because she’s a weak challenge player, further rationalizing that David is the only competent puzzle solver in the tribe. I found this ironic because David’s troubles within Zapatera began when Stephanie was the unsuccessful losing puzzle solver that led to David throwing the tantrum that fractured his tribe, led to Krista being voted out, and ultimately, led to her own demise. She also advised Rob to watch his back. For his part, Creepy Phillip complimented Matt, explaining that “in the old days of the Samurai, they had something called the “Bushudo Code, which is what the Samurai lived by. What I see in you, you are truly a Samurai warrior.” As he intoned this with exaggerated solemnity, Rob tried almost successfully not to roll his eyes. (Note: I Googled, and learned that Creepy Phillip, not surprisingly, was mispronouncing “Bushido.” He’s so full of shit! In a private Survivor interview moment, Rob explained that he anticipates Creepy Phillip is going to make a “big move” come the “Merge,” and the big move will be “Let’s get Rob out.”

StuckInTheSixties: Rob continues to play an extremely smart, perceptive and adroit game, picking up some excellent information by attending the duel. On the way back to camp, Creepy Phillip, who STILL thinks he’s in an alliance with Rob and Grant, asked - actually suggested - Rob if they were going to withhold information from the rest of the tribe. Rob casually replied that he felt tribe cohesion was of paramount importance, and that they weren’t going to withhold anything. The wheels in Rob’s head were turning.

Upon arrival back at camp, Rob first gave a true and forthright account of just what had happened at the duel. He then waited for Creepy Phillip to drift off from the others, and explained to Grant and the three Bikini Girls (Ashley, Natalie and Andrea) just how Phillip attempted to backstab them. Rob also explained in a private Survivor interview how by doing this, he was acknowledging the target on him, so that his tribe members would gain a sense of security from that, and also turn them against Phillip. He explained to the others that when the merge comes, it’s a forgone conclusion that Phillip would flip on them and join become a traitor to the tribe. It would appear that Rob is having second thoughts about keeping Phillip in the game as a sure loser to compete against later, and wants his head on the chopping block if Ometepe loses a challenge.

Phillip contributed to his demise by throwing a hissy fit during a meal of rice. While the rice had been cooking, Rob had wandered away from camp. After eating his own share, Phillip wanted to take a little more of what had been left for Rob. This was, of course, related to Rob when he returned. In a private Survivor interview, he threw a petulant little tantrum about it, saying, “Let it be known that at the first opportunity to ELIMINATE HIM … I will.” He further ranted that being the eldest member of the tribe, he was entitled to “deference,” and was upset that said deference wasn’t being paid to him. What a loon! Eventually, he’ll be voted out of the tribe, and have to duel, will lose that, and be sent packing. I can’t wait for the speech he delivers then!

The Zapatera tribe was also talking about the expected Merge, as well. Who do they think will be the turncoat? David, of course. David continued … no, not continued … INCREASED the degree to which he’s annoying the tribe. He’s just self-destructing at an increasingly rapid rate.

In a VERY tight competition, Ometepe again won the challenge. The reward was a typically sumptuous feast, but this time, on the edge of an active volcano! In a hilarious Survivor moment, Rob (as always) found the Immunity Necklace Clue. Away from the tribe, and in front of the camera, he pointed out that the clue was meaningless, as he already secretly owned the necklace. Without even bothering to examine the clue, he laughingly and casually just threw it into the volcano!

Back at Zapatera camp, Sarita lobbied HARD to vote out David. But due to a rather poor performance in the challenge, and a conviction that David, although annoying and fractious, was more competitive in challenges, tribe members were waffling over which of those two to jettison. On that basis, they voted off Sarita. A further indication of the dysfunctional nature of the tribe was the fact that it wasn’t a unanimous vote. Besides Sarita, Ralph voted for David, leaving him as yet another Zapatera "odd man out."

Bad move, Ralph.

Rich_Is_Here!: It looks like Matt is back on redemtion Island. Who will be the next one to leave? Theres probably going to be some new issues to be delt with, with Grant getting so many votes and Steve getting a vote they going to be urched at this occurance!

Sables: lol the look on Matts face, boy what happened there. It could have been a real cou, if they had of gotten Rob's right hand man out. Will be really interesting to see how the alliances evolve now....

lois_lane: OMG that poor SOB man. I swear I thought he was going to break out into tears right then. At least give the guy a chance to socialize for a minute haha.
Are you insane Nooooooooooooooo not Grant!!! WTF will we all over then? I really really thought that Rob was going to bite it for a second and I cant believe that bushwackin fool(reminds me of someone) played his idol.

Sables: yes I thought that they had promised to play it for Matt, what a waste...
and Sits called him Redneck lol that is an insult to rednecks around the world, I am sure that guy is fresh out of the ozarks

StuckInTheSixties: Wow! As Steve murmured at the end of Tribal Council … “Let the fireworks begin.”

There was no shortage of excitement, intrigue, and surprises in Episode #8. It began with a mixture of surprise, and predictability. Each tribe received an interesting disclosure in their Tree Mail instructing all tribe members to come to Redemption Island as witnesses to the duel. It was pretty obvious that the Merge was in the works. Boston Rob wisely instructed Ometepe to pack up all of their valuables, including the tarp that had been won earlier in a challenge, just in case his tribe wasn’t going to return to their camp. Creepy Phillip stupidly tried to argue that they should leave their belongings behind. Rob’s argument prevailed amongst the tribe members, and they carried their stuff with them.

The predictable was the result of the duel. Once again, Matt, the unbeaten King of Redemption Island, triumphed. It was a close contest, though, a classic game seen many times before on Survivor, where the contestants have to stand between two parallel walls, perched on slim footholds, and after a period, move to smaller footholds, and finally to the very smallest set of footholds. While the duel was on, Creepy Phillip, prompted by host Jeff Probst, delivered a hilariously solemn and sanctimonious lecture about the importance of “Bushudo” Samurai mentality (again, mispronouncing “Bushido” ), much to everyone’s amusement. The guy is such a friggin’ weirdo! It appeared, at first, that Sarita was going to easily win, but she suddenly lost her ability to hold that foothold, and had to drop off of it to the ground, and thus, drop out of the game and her shot at a million bucks.

The construct of the game took a new and logical twist. Matt, as the winner of the duel, finally was able to leave Redemption Island and joined Ometepe and Zapatera in the merge. All players were given new buffs, and moved to a brand new camp. Rob’s caution about carrying along all of their belongings proved justified. But as Jeff explained, while Matt was leaving Redemption Island for the Merge, the concept would be continued. Whoever was voted out of the new combined tribe would again face the isolated exile and win-or-die duels of Redemption Island.

Survivor dwelled on a minor theme in this episode which was Matt’s rather passionate Christian beliefs. In past episodes, Matt had professed his strong beliefs, had spent time praying with Krista, as well as alone, and had appeared in a running string of Survivor interviews in which he continuously referred to Jesus, God, etc. But in Episode #8, Matt’s religion became even more of a featured element of the game. For instance, before his duel with Sarita, Matt said, “God gave me this platform, and I’m gonna do the best I can and hopefully come out with another victory.”

The merged players arrived at their new camp to find food for a sumptuous feast, something particularly enjoyed by the Zapaterans, as they hadn’t had any decent food for quite a while. Boston Rob, cocky as always, provided the new name of the tribe, Murilonio, as well as a total bullshit explanation that it meant “from the sea – united.” After eating, the players immediately leapt to the task of building a new shelter and getting a camp going. Matt asked Grant for an account as to why he had been voted out way back when, and Grant wisely just offered up a vague, but believable explanation, blaming it on long-gone Kristina.

StuckInTheSixties: The intrigue and scheming began immediately, as one would expect at a Merge. Zapatera member Mike recognized that Matt was the guy in the middle who could swing both ways. On one hand, he was an Ometepe, but on the other, he was the Ometepe that had been voted out. He wisely was concerned that with Russell gone, Boston Rob was THE power player in the game now, and he didn’t like the prospect of just sitting back and waiting his turn to become a victim of Rob’s machinations. Mike decided he needed to bring Matt over to the Zapatera side, and have Matt bring Andrea, as well, to give his tribe a numbers edge over Ometepe, and also to cement a trusting relationship with Matt for later in the game. He sequestered with Matt and proposed a three-person alliance: Mike, Matt, and Andrea, and even said that he’d be willing to “whittle down” his fellow tribe members to preserve the threesome. This was all, of course, just a ruse constructed solely to turn Matt and Andrea. He further divulged that he had access to an Immunity Necklace which could be played to help them if needed (although it’s doubtful, of course, that Ralph would be willing to give the necklace to Matt or Andrea). Matt was noncommittal, simply saying that he’d have to talk to Andrea. That was not the result Mike had hoped for. But you have to make moves in this game, and that was Mike’s move.

The divide in the newly merged tribe became painfully obvious that night when, during a heavy rain, Ometepe huddled in relative comfort under the tarp Rob had thoughtfully insisted they bring along (rather then leaving it behind as Creepy Phillip had stupidly and pointlessly wanted to do), while the Zapaterans suffered being dripped upon and soaked in the leaky, half-finished shelter. Murilonio isn’t a tribe. It’s a pair of tribes under a single name, in a single camp.

A strange and critical moment in the game occurred that night, during a lull in the rain. Matt and Andrea slipped off into the darkness. They sat and talked strategy. This moment harkens back to the first two episodes, when it had become quite evident to Rob that a tight bond had already formed between Matt and Andrea. Sensing (rightly or wrongly) that this tight bond could spell trouble for the future, Rob put his crosshairs on Matt, built a conspiracy amongst the others, and Matt was voted out and sent packing to Redemption Island, where he had remained, fighting duel after duel for his life, until returning that night to the united merged Murilonio tribe.

There in the darkness, the reunion of Matt and Andrea somehow took a strange and ominous turn. It started off with Andrea wanting to give Matt assurances, and explaining that she had no idea that he was going to be blindsided as he had been. This should have been the moment when the two reinforced their bond. But for some reason, the moment took an awkward, uncomfortable, uncommunicative turn. Matt basically brushed aside that overture of trust by Andrea, cutting her explanation off mid-sentence, and in a weird, sort of patronizing way, he began dictating what HE wanted, and why HE wanted it. He proceeded to lay out HIS plan (which wasn’t all that swift to begin with). The goal, as he explained it: “I wanna take out the whole Ometepe tribe.” This caused Andrea’s mouth to literally drop open. He explained that his plan was to first take out Zapateran Steve, followed by Ometepe member Creepy Phillip. (He didn’t explain just how he would orchestrate this, though.) The idea was that it would gain the trust of Ometepe.

As Matt continued explaining, the third step in his grand plan was to then blindside Rob. This caused Andrea to literally gasp aloud.

And that was the critical instant in this episode.

StuckInTheSixties: As Andrea gasped, and uttered, “Oh my God!” Matt again cut her off mid-sentence, saying, “Hold on! Hold on! Shhh! Just CALM DOWN and hear me out …” He continued to pitch his plan. When Andrea tried to put a word in edgewise and explain that she was “tight” with Rob, again, Matt interrupted her, brushing aside whatever she was going to say. Eventually he let her talk a little bit, but the audio of a private Survivor interview with Andrea was put in a voice-over right then, and in the interview, she confided to viewers: “I really like Matt … BUT … he has this idea that he wanted to blindside Ometepe Tribe, and in the back of my mind, I’m thinking it’s pretty bad. It’s extremely risky for me to jump ship at this point … BUT … I’m definitely going to keep my options open.” A strategy session that should have resulted in a tight, confident plan of action for Matt instead resulted in the reassessment of a relationship for Andrea.

That talk in the dark was the beginning of the end for Matt and Andrea.

The next day, Matt’s religion became a matter of focus on the program. He was engaged in a sort of Bible study with Mike, while Ashley looked on. Matt explained aloud that after he beat Stephanie in the Redemption Island duel, “… it really kind of clicked for me. God wanted me to win Redemption Island.” He delivered a heartfelt, though confused, aside to viewers revealing a baffling tangle of conflicted thoughts: “I really feel I was put here for a reason, and that reason was, I believe, to honor my God, so I’m morally conflicted here because I really, genuinely care about everyone on the former Ometepe Tribe. Part of me wants to do the big Survivor move. However, right now, I feel like my heart’s almost telling me not to, and to stick with the former Ometepe.” Besides the silliness of the idea that God watches and cares about Survivor, I suspect that looking to God for Survivor strategy is a one-way ticket home. One thing is for sure: Matt’s insistence on trying use his religion for Survivor guidance is providing him nothing but confusion.

Matt’s religious leanings became a minor point of annoyance for Rob who confided mockingly to Natalie that he probably didn’t have too much to contribute to the Bible study. As an aside to viewers, Rob explained that he had “nothing against God,” but he was annoyed by the apparent establishment of a clique within the tribe, whether it is centered on religion, or anything else. His mental alarm was sounding about a possible threat of a bond forming there between Matt and Mike, and the Bible being the glue in that bond. Concerned that Mike could be trying to steal Ometepe members for an alliance, he targeted Mike for possible elimination.

The challenge was a good one. I’m often impressed with how a Survivor challenge can be seemingly so simple in concept, yet so compelling in competition. This was one of those, with each player standing on a log, holding a disc-shaped wooden platter in one hand, and with first one, then two, and finally three balls on the platter – drop a ball, or step off the log, and be eliminated. It appeared that Mike was easily going to win, but at the end, he suddenly lost balance and stepped off the log, leaving Natalie as the first player to wear the Immunity Challenge Necklace.

Mike wisely strategized with his fellow Zapaterans, and rationalizing (correctly, to a degree) that he was being targeted by Ometepe, asked Ralph if he would play the Immunity Necklace for his benefit in the upcoming Tribal Council. Ralph agreed that if it seemed necessary, he’d do that. (So much for Mike’s promise to Matt that the Immunity Necklace would be held for him or Andrea.) Zapatera devised a plan with an ultimate goal of eliminating the obvious big threat: Boston Rob. The plan called for first eliminating “Rob’s right-hand man,” Grant, and then pulling Matt into their alliance against Rob. On paper, it was a reasonably good plan.

StuckInTheSixties: Matt and Rob wandered off for a private conversation, and Matt began again with the God talk. In another aside to viewers, Matt explained that he was going to let his religious leanings dictate his game for him. In order to “honor God,” he would remain true to Ometepe, “rationalizing” that “if it’s God’s will, he’ll take me as far as he wants me to go.” With that in mind, he divulged to Rob the overtures he’d received from Mike, and explained how Mike had asked him, along with Andrea, to desert Ometepe and join with Zapatera in a plan to defeat Rob. He further confessed to Rob that he had actually considered joining that alliance with Mike, but that he had decided, based on his religious beliefs, that he was going to remain true to his Ometepe tribe. Rob thanked him, shaking his hand and saying, with seeming sincerity, “That means a lot. It really does.” Matt continued, “I’m glad we talked, because now I don’t have to worry about anything.”

But apparently Matt was misinterpreting God’s supposed message to him. Rob, always the player, unimpressed with Matt’s religious leanings, explained his way of thinking to Survivor viewers: “First of all, he has the audacity to think that he’s gonna come up with a plan to vote me out, and then the stupidity to tell me that. It just confirms that he can’t be trusted.”

As Matt further explained to Rob about the Zapatera plan to target him, Andrea arrived. With Rob sitting there, Matt told her, “I came clean. I told him about Mike and everything, how they wanted to also bring you in. But I’m not flipping. We’re not doing any of that.” Not surprisingly, Andrea’s expression during this was a concerned “WTF!?!?” She confided to Survivor viewers that Matt was being “so stupid,” and was wrecking her plans on how to further herself in the game. So as far as Matt knew, it was decided there, with Rob and Andrea, that their best move was to vote for Steve. Matt was, of course, deluded.

The reality was explained by Rob to Natalie: “We’re voting for Matt.” As Natalie tried to digest that shocker, Rob related to her everything Matt had divulged to him about how Matt had considered flipping on Ometepe, and then reconsidered and confessed to Rob. He then repeated the same thing in private with Grant, who expressed some misgivings, stammering, “Dude … I’m … he’s such a good Christian guy …” Rob replied, “Well, he can still be a good Christian guy …” Grant wisely completed the thought, “… on Redemption Island.” Finally, Rob went to Ashley, and explained to her that “He’s playing both sides.” Rob is a master of persuasion. All three of them all had the same reluctance to send Matt, of all people, BACK to Redemption Island. Rob laid out the logic of that move, and persuaded them to go along with it. Wisely keeping Creepy Phillip out of the loop until he had solidified things with Natalie, Grant and Ashley, Rob laid down the law to him with both Natalie and Ashley standing by. Phillip simply answered, “Okay,” and that was that.

As this was happening, Matt was beginning to pick up some signs that something wasn’t quite right. He conferred with Mike, saying, “I don’t know what’s going on anymore.” Mike again stressed, “You and Andrea need to jump with us. A bit later on, as the tribe was working on fortifying the shelter, Mike conferred with his fellow Zapaterans. A note was then written, and passed surreptitiously to Matt: “Matt – vote for Grant, and I’ll take you to the final three.” This little bit of deviousness revealed the true nature of Mike’s overtures to Matt and Andrea. Mike and Zapatera wanted to turn them, use them against Ometepe, and then Matt and Andrea would subsequently be killed off themselves.

Not a bad plan. But they didn’t realize that God had other things in mind. (laughs)

StuckInTheSixties: Rob saved Andrea for the last. He was well aware that Andrea and Matt were (supposedly) tight, and so he lined up all of the other Ometepe members before approaching her. He’s an impressive, masterful Survivor puppeteer, and artfully pulled the strings of his fellow Ometepe members, impressively divulging his plan to them one at a time, in just the right order. He did, however, realize that his bold plan was not without risk. If Matt and Andrea were going to flip on Ometepe, and join Zapatera, things would not go well for Rob. Andrea was conflicted, and undecided until the last moment. Whether she realized it or not, Andrea was the key to the future of this new tribe-of-two-tribes called “Murilonio.”

In Tribal Council, there were no pretenses. It was a tribe-of-two-tribes. Everyone acknowledged it. Zapatera complained that Ometepe had selfishly used the tarp to keep dry. It was divulged that the tarp had been won because a challenge had been purposefully thrown to get rid of Russell. Creepy Phillip delivered one of his patented nutty sermons, pompously and needlessly criticizing the Zapatera for throwing that challenge, and pointing out a “distinction” between the two tribes. (He’s just so lost in his imaginary World-of-Whatever that he can’t tell his ass from a hole in the ground.) His diatribe was so extreme and over-the-top that the entire gathering was laughing at him.

The obvious was discussed: with five Zapaterans, six Ometepeans, and Matt in the middle, what would Matt do? Zapatera outspokenly lobbied for him right then and there, with Ralph rationally pointing out in his folksy, Southern manner, “They done canned him once. They’ll probably do it again.” Matt’s response was to acknowledge the reality of that. But he summated by saying, “I’m starting to see the whole picture.” The voting commenced.

After the voting had been completed, Ralph played his Immunity Necklace for Mike, rendering him Immune to any votes. The votes were tallied and read in an order that was specifically, and perfectly, designed to heighten the drama, both for the players, and for the viewers watching on television …

Grant; Grant; Grant; Grant; Grant … five votes for Grant.

The Zapatera members showed some tentative expressions of relief. The reading of the votes continued …

Steve …

Alarm and confusion registered in the faces of Zapatera. “Steve?!?! WTF!?!?!” The reading of the votes continued …

Matt …

Matt, and Zapatera, absorbed that in shock, instantly knowing what was in store, but have trouble believing what they were seeing and hearing with their own eyes and ears. The reading continued …

Matt; Matt; Matt; Matt …

A tie – five votes Grant, five votes Matt, and the single vote for Steve, which had been cast by Matt, viewers knew. And as viewers also knew, the last vote, the key vote, was going to be Andrea’s vote …

Matt.

What a blindside! Zapatera was stunned by the sheer cunning of this vote. Andrea’s expression was one of resolve. David correctly assessed it in a whisper: “Genius is what that was.” And the genius is … Boston Rob.

Matt drudgingly took his torch over to Jeff, who intoned, “The tribe has spoken,” and extinguished it. He then took his extinguished torch, and as he shuffled off into the darkness, heading back to exile on Redemption Island, he muttered in disbelief, “What the hell …”?

The lesson here for Matt is: “Don’t let God play your game for you.”

Sables: lol thanks for the blow by blow Sits lol you must have a great memory, if I ever miss an episode and not record it I know the you will have all the juicy details

StuckInTheSixties: I always record it, and then watch it. That way I can carefully scrutinize the details. It's really a VERY complicated game, one of the reasons I love it so much. There are lots of small details that can be lost in a regular viewing of it. I'll be watching the DVR, see something, and say, "What??!!??" Back it up, see that again, and then say, "Ooooohhhhh! I see! Okay, I get it!"

When I write these big long analyses, I've already watched it, and I'll watch a little bit, write about that part, watch a little more, write a little more, etc. And of course, I'll see something later in the show that will cause me to reassess something I wrote about an earlier moment in the show, and I'll go back in my essay, and modify it accordingly. This process is, of course, really time and effort consuming, but it really heightens my enjoyment of the show. It was this process that revealed to me just how critical that little awkward conversation in the dark between Matt and Andrea turned out to be. In the same way, a couple of episods ago, it revealed to me just how badly David was misplaying his game by needlessly fighting with Sarita and annoying everyone in his tribe, and how that all got started. David was lucky to have survived to the merge, and now his transgressions are sort of wiped away by the dynamics of the merge. Don't be surprise if he winds up being the next one voted out.

Sables: yes that may be so, but the other tribe may win a couple over to their side, say like Philip, as long winded as he is he is looking to get rid of Rob, he is looking for confirmation of his "abilities" and would jump at the chance to gain some "friends" and that would work to their advantage to win him over then after Rob and his sidekick are gone, get rid of Philip....

StuckInTheSixties: That's a very good point.

There's a trade-off with Creepy Phillip. On one hand, can you think of a better opponent to go against at the very end? But on the other, he's such a flake, and liable to do ANYTHING, that he represents a big danger.

I think the danger of keeping him around outweighs the advantage of going up against him. I'm convinced. I think Phillip will be the next to go.

I have no idea what he'll do once he gets voted off, but I doubt it'll be pretty.

Sables: lol he just can't keep his mouth shut can he

StuckInTheSixties: Nope. But even if he's insulting you, he's just so insane that you can't take him personal.

Have you noticed that there hasn't been much reference to the "special government agent" nonsense, either by him, or in other ways by the Survivor producers, in the last couple episodes? I've been wondering about that.

Sables: lol they probably rec'd some legal documents citing liabilities...basically telling him to shut up because the only thing he did for the secret service was clean their toilets


come on anyone that had ever served in that is going to tell the whole world that he was a secret agent like painting a big bulls eye in the middle of his forehead lol

StuckInTheSixties: I'm guessing that the "government agent" he claims to have been is utterly fictional. If he was a "government agent, it was probably something like highway toll-taker, a letter-carrier, or something like that. Note that he never says anything like "law enforcement," "intelligence," or anything else to indicate he was something like a CIA agent or something.

Whatever it is, it'll come out at the finale, unless before. I can't imagine Jeff Probst not asking him about it.

lois_lane: Ya Sables encourage him to write more bahaha .(yes and its a total insult to rednecks around the world lols)

I had a conversation with my aunt who was quite upset that "Rob" sent Matt packing back to Lonelytown. I just laughed and said "what do you expect, Its boston Rob PEOPLE HELLO" Does everyone forget that hes a weasel himself and always was. Is it because he has a cute little smile (or so he thinks) that people forget he will slit your throat if he has too? Oh boy this is why I was sooo annoyed when Russell lost. It would have been really something to watch these 2 in action against each other,. BUT She Hulk thought it would be a better idea to just vote him out and think it was the Play of the Season, stupid fool.

Anywho, good coverage Stuck O

StuckInTheSixties: Boston Rob wouldn't hesitate to throw ANYONE under the bus if he thought it was the right move. That's one way, probably the most effective way, of playing the game. But beyond deviousness, there are a lot of other things one can do to play the game well. As Russell repeatedly proved, playing the betrayal game will only get you so far, and usually won't get you the million bucks. For that prize, you have to be selective and crafty about stabbing someone in the back.

In past games, I was never a Boston Rob fan. But this time, I'm in awe of his ability to persuade other players to go along with his plans. And beyond that, he's just plain smart. His experience in the game shows greatly. He's really good at figuring things out. Just look at how he played that move against Matt. Not only did he get his troops to fight for him, but he worked it PERFECTLY. He very carefully, thoughtfully, worked on them one at a time. And I emphasize that the ORDER in which he got them on board was critical. He started with the three whom he was tight with, then with them in tow, just laid down the law on Phillip. It was very important that when he DICTATED to Phillip what would happen, he had the others behind him. Only after he had everyone else did he finally go to Andrea. Often, when someone is trying to turn one player against another, their argument boils down to "I really like this person more than that person. C'mon, please, please, please go along with me!" But the argument he presented to Andrea was flawlessly logical. He presented her with a picture of Matt as undependable, untrustworthy, dangerous. He persuaded her that it was to her advantage to go along with the program.

He's also playing the social game perfectly. In his tribe, there is only one single person that doesn't like him and accept his leadership: Creepy Phillip. And Phillip is the one guy that doesn't matter in that regard. NOBODY is going to be persuaded by Phillip to do anything. The worst Phillip can do to Rob is to switch allegiances, and go over to the Zapatera side. But everyone is going to be expecting that, so it won't fool anyone, and certainly won't fool Rob.

But if you look at the numbers ...

Five in Zapatera, five in Ometepe ... and Phillip ...

Rob's gotta be at least somewhat concerned. Before he can get rid of Phillip, he's got to get one of the Zapatera to cross over, and give Ometepe a distinct numbers advantage. I'd say David will be the Zapatera turncoat.

Rob is playing a very methodical, very logical game. His experience clearly is helping him, as is his ability to simply present a logical argument, and persuade others to do what he wants done. He's having fun with it, too. I still laugh thinking of how he tossed that useless clue into the volcano.

Sooner or later, though, the others are going to recognize that if they don't stop him, he's going to win the game. Sooner or later, even if Rob continues to play his game so masterfully, there's going to be a shift in alligences. Sooner or later, he's going to see his name appear on a string of votes. The question is, will he be aware of the move as it's happening? Will he figure it out, and find a way to counter the move when it happens?

I don't think we'll see a serious "Kill Rob" conspiracy for another couple weeks or so, but it's coming.

lois_lane: Oh please dude this is nothing new for Rob at all. I think one of the best dupes from him was the one with Lex in All Stars I think it was LOLS. He plays people all the time and they trust him like they have never seen the show before. I DONT GET IT!!! Their all not even paying attention to whats going on.
Hope creepy phil wins hahahaha!

StuckInTheSixties: Rob's good at PERSUADING people. He makes good decisions. He's a good analyst. So far he hasn't made a single mistake, and thus far, the only person he's had to lie convincingly to, and then backstab, has been Matt. And the "genius" (as David called it) in that is that he's done it to Matt TWICE. Remember, if and when it comes down to Rob being in the final vote, even though Matt has been screwed by Rob twice, he'll only be able to vote against him once.

Sables: But Matt isn't completely gone, he did very well on the island, hopefully his luck will keep up because he is good at the games, and would give Rob something to really worry about when and if Matt comes back, because you can be guaranteed that Matt will not side with Rob next time...