Survivor: Second Chances

[Ali]

For all the other (re: 2) Survivor fans on this board, Survivor is doing a fan vote for the cast of Season 31! The gimmick? It's people who have only played once and never won the game. And we have some interesting choices to consider... here are the candidates.

FEMALE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kelly Wiglesworth (Borneo)
Kimmi Kappenberg (Australian Outback)
Teresa "T-Bird" Cooper (Africa)
Peih-Gee Law (China)
Monica Padilla (Samoa)
Natalie Tenerelli (Redemption Island)
Stephanie Valencia (Redemption Island)
Mikayla Wingle (South Pacific)
Sabrina Thompson (One World)
Abi-Maria Gomes (Philippines)
Ciera Eastin (Blood vs. Water)
Kass McQuillen (Cagayan)
Tasha Fox (Cagayan)
Kelley Wentworth (San Juan Del Sur)
Shirin Oskooi (Worlds Apart)
Carolyn Rivera* (Worlds Apart)

MALE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Varner (Australian Outback)
Andrew Savage (Pearl Islands)
Terry Deitz (Panama: Exile Island)
Shane Powers (Panama: Exile Island)
Stephen Fishbach (Tocantins)
Jim Rice (South Pacific)
Troyzan Robertson (One World)
Vytas Baskauskas (Blood vs. Water)
Brad Culpepper (Blood vs. Water)
Spencer Bledsoe (Cagayan)
Woo Hwang (Cagayan)
Jeremy Collins (San Juan Del Sur)
Keith Nale (San Juan Del Sur)
Joe Anglim (Worlds Apart)
Max Dawson (Worlds Apart)
Mike Holloway* (Worlds Apart)

* - At the time of this posting, Mike and Carolyn are still in the game. If either of them wins, they will be removed from contention.

You can vote here: http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/second-chance/

You need to vote for 10 men and 10 women. So who deserves another shot? Who on the lists stands out? Who was snubbed? Will Shane actually kill someone this time? Let's hear your thoughts!

[Everlong]

I don't like that you have to vote for 10, because I couldn't pick 10 of each who I actually wanted. I feel like they left some really good options on the table.

However, I made my choices. I also refused to put in anybody from this current cast, just because I don't like people TOO recent being included.

MEN:

Jeff Varner (Australian Outback)
Andrew Savage (Pearl Islands)
Terry Deitz (Panama: Exile Island)
Shane Powers (Panama: Exile Island)
Jim Rice (South Pacific)
Troyzan Robertson (One World)
Vytas Baskauskas (Blood vs. Water)
Spencer Bledsoe (Cagayan)
Woo Hwang (Cagayan)
Jeremy Collins (San Juan Del Sur)

WOMEN:

Kelly Wiglesworth (Borneo)
Kimmi Kappenberg (Australian Outback)
Teresa "T-Bird" Cooper (Africa)
Peih-Gee Law (China)
Monica Padilla (Samoa)
Stephanie Valencia (Redemption Island)
Abi-Maria Gomes (Philippines)
Ciera Eastin (Blood vs. Water)
Kass McQuillen (Cagayan)
Tasha Fox (Cagayan)

Those were my picks!

[Ali]

For the women, I went with the same picks, except I replaced Stephanie Valencia with Sabrina Thompson, just because I want Survivor: Robdemption Robland to be completely ignored.

For the men, Savage, Terry, and Troyzan are the ones I didn't pick, replacing them with Keith (because him and Shane on a tribe together would be Comedy GOLD), Fishbach, and Joe.

[Str8Shooter]

My memory must be bad, because I barely remember half these people . Although I watched the first few seasons and then got back into it maybe 7 or 8 seasons ago, so some of these people are complete mysteries to me.

I feel like there were a lot more recent people in these lists though, it definitely seemed to skew to newer players. Maybe the people from a long time ago aren't as keen on playing again.

[Everlong]

For the women, I went with the same picks, except I replaced Stephanie Valencia with Sabrina Thompson, just because I want Survivor: Robdemption Robland to be completely ignored.

I don't really remember Sabrina at all somehow. Actually, most of One World really isn't that memorable to me except for the Colton bullshit.

I always thoguht Stephanie got a raw deal in her season. It was her fault for aligning with Russell, but her game was sabotaged by people throwing challenges just to get rid of Russell. She got stuck with people who didn't even want to play the game. Always wanted her to get another shot.

[Everlong]

MALEAS

Jeff Varner
Keith Nale
Vytas B.
Terry Deitz
Andrew Savage
Stephen Fishbach
Woo Hwang
Jeremy
Spencer Bledsoe
Joe Anglim


Females:
Kelly Wigglesworth
Kimmi Kappenburg
Peih-Gee Law
Ciera Easton
Abi-Maria
Chaos Kass
Queen Kelley
Monica Padilla
Shirin O.
Tasha Fox

THATS THE CAST

[Ali]

Shane should be on the season. That is BULLS*IT that he didn't make it! Same with T-Bird! That aside, let's break down this motherf*cker! It's time for...

Ali's Official Survivor: Cambodia: Second Chance Preview Extravaganza!
Part 1 - Cast History

MALES

Jeff Varner - The Australian Outback, 10th place. He was a member of the fairly-dominant Kucha tribe, but his game was in trouble from early on, when Debb Eaton cast her vote against him before she became the first boot. The information of this vote got back to Ogakor, possibly due to Kimmi Kappenberg, we'll get to her later. Allegedly, at the second challenge, Ogakor asked who Debb voted for, and Kimmi told them Jeff. The next problem for him came when Mike Skupin fell into the fire, resulting in the first medical evacuation. At the time, Kucha had a 6-5 lead, and had the medevac not occurred, a Tribal Immunity could have given Kucha a 6-4 lead at the merge. Instead, they go in 5-5. With a deadlock tie presumed, the Ogakors get Colby Donaldson to draw the Kucha's votes, while they use the previous information to vote for Jeff. Since at the time, past votes determined tiebreakers and Colby had none, Jeff was sent home. He had a lot of bad breaks, and he absolutely deserves a second shot.

Keith Nale - San Juan del Sur: Blood vs. Water 2, 4th place. Keith is one of the more entertaining players in recent memory, because he had no idea how to play the game. Combined with his Louisiana drawl and his surprising challenge prowess, Keith was one vote away from possibly winning one of the most bizarre seasons in Survivor history. His ineptitude throughout the game caused him and his tribemates a lot of frustration, with his signature moment of telling people to "Stick to the plan" getting his son Wes voted out. Despite the lack of strategic insight, Keith played the physical and social aspects of the game pretty well, and came close to winning it all, coming one challenge short. Has he learned how to play the strategic game? We will find out.

Vytas Baskauskas - Blood vs. Water, 10th place. Vytas is a perfect choice for Second Chances, as his life has been all about second chances. A recovered heroin addict and ex-convict, Vytas turned his life around and saw his little brother Aras win Survivor: Panama - Exile Island. Years later, in Blood vs. Water, Vytas got to play alongside his brother, but both ended up going home due to the "singles alliance" of Tyson, Monica, and Gervase, who's loved ones were voted out pre-merge. Vytas' calm demeanor hides a cunning mind, and he is quite athletic as a Yoga instructor. Can another second chance give Vytas a million dollars like his brother?

Terry Deitz - Panama: Exile Island, 3rd place. Terry was the de facto leader of the La Mina tribe, who went into the merge outnumbered, 6-4, but he had some good things going on his side. First, he was a challenge dominator, winning five straight individual Immunity challenges. Second, he had the first real Hidden Immunity Idol, which, at that time, could be played through the final four, and after the votes were read. Despite these factors giving him a place in the Final Three, he lost the final Immunity challenge, and his shot at the game. If Terry thinks that he'll have that same kind of luck and strength almost ten years later, he might be in trouble.

Andrew Savage - Pearl Islands, 10th place. "Macho Man" Andy Savage was leading the horribly inept Morgan tribe to a pretty big comeback against the Drakes, when what many people see as the most unfair twist in Survivor history derailed him: The Outcasts. People who had been voted out were going to re-enter the game. When Scoutmaster Lill Morris returned to the game, Savage was doomed. Unlike the Drake tribe, who had largely made amends with Burton, Savage and the Morgans didn't do such a great job reconnecting with Lill. As a result, Lill sided with Drake when the tribes merged. To this day, Savage and the unfinished Morgan comeback remains one of Survivor's great "What-Could-Have-Been" stories.

Stephen Fishbach - Tocantins: The Brazilian Highlands, 2nd place. A writer of Survivor recaps for People.com, and one half of the Survivor Know-It-Alls with Rob Cesternino, Fishbach was one half of the strongest Power Pairs in Survivor history with JT Thomas. Starting on the Jalapao tribe together, they teamed with Taj Johnson-George, but they ended up going into the merge down in numbers, 6-4. When Jalapao's Joe Dowdle got medevac'd due to a life-threatening infection, the 6-3 disadvantage seemed almost insurmountable, but Stephen, JT, and Taj were able to take advantage of Timbira's dysfunction, due in large part to JT's charm and Stephen's strategic brilliance. However, in the final tribal council, which was between the unbreakable duo, Stephen bombed, getting swept 7-0 due to a miserable performance. Can he make it that far again, and forever win the title of Sole Survivor and Knowingest Know-It-All?

Yung "Woo" Hwang - Cagayan: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, 2nd place. Woo was one of the most likable and loyal contestants in Survivor, but his loyalty became his undoing. Initially forming a bond with former NBA player Cliff Robinson, he was blindsided when Tony Vlachos turned and voted Cliff out. Still, he decided to align with Tony, the big schemer and strategist of the season, and they formed an alliance that took it all the way to the Final Three. Woo won the final Immunity challenge, and faced a choice: vote out Tony, his biggest ally and close friend, or vote out Kass, who backstabbed and angered most of the jury. A Martial Arts mentality of "To be the best, you must beat the best" caused him to vote out Kass, and turned out to be a Million Dollar Mistake. He lost 8-1, but perhaps that million dollar mistake will give rise to a new mentality, and perhaps we will witness the new Way of the Ninja.

Jeremy Collins - San Juan del Sur: Blood vs. Water 2, 10th place. Jeremy Collins seemed to have it all wrapped up. At the merge, there was a showdown between the alliance led by Jeremy, and the alliance led by Josh Canfield, with Jon Misch and Jaclyn Schulz caught in the middle. Jon and Jaclyn sided with Jeremy, and it looked as if he had the game in his hands. A strong, likable competitor, Jeremy was sitting pretty, but Jon and Jaclyn used their swing power to pull in enough votes to blindside Jeremy. He was seen then as being "too dangerous to stay in", but with All-Stars playing, it's a whole different game.

Spencer Bledsoe - Cagayan: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, 4th place. In spite of Jeff Probst claiming he had a "0.0% chance of winning" his season, Spencer went on to defy those odds. Starting on the Brains tribe, he was in danger because the Brains kept on losing, and the leaders were quite inept. Things turned around when the tribes merged, and Spencer became an Immunity Challenge threat, winning three. Even though he fought from up against the wall, Kass McQuillen became his undoing once more, winning the Final Four challenge and sending the superfan packing.

Joe Anglim - Worlds Apart: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar, 10th place. Joe ended up being one of the biggest fan-favorites the show's seen in quite some time. A handsome guy with a good amount of charm, Joe's biggest enemy in the game was Joe. He was instantly seen as a threat, and he made good by winning the first three Individual Challenges, one reward and two immunities. Unfortunately, he was doomed the second he lost an Immunity challenge, and although he fought hard by creating a fake idol, it wasn't enough to keep him in the game.

FEMALES

Kelly Wiglesworth - Borneo, 2nd place. When it comes to Second Chances, no one embodies it more than her. She was a member of the original Alliance, the Tagi Four, and though they tried to separate later in the game, Kelly's Immunity Streak kept the group together. She went to the end with Richard Hatch, the Machiavellian strategist who brought the Tagi Four together, hoping his scheming would make him viewed as dishonest and undeserving. Unfortunately, Sue Hawk's famous "Snakes and Rats" speech gave Kelly the label of the scavenging rat, and she lost to Rich 4-3. Who knows how Survivor history would have changed if things went the other way.

Kimmi Kappenberg - The Australian Outback, 12th place. Kimmi, despite only lasting five episodes, had some extremely memorable moments in her time on TV, not all of them PG. Her most infamous moment came after the Kucha tribe won chickens, when Jeff Varner instigated an argument between her and Alicia Calaway. The vegetarian Kimmi tried to dissuade the tribe from killing the chickens every day, but Alicia was tired of hearing it, and unleashed the ultimate argument-ender, "I will always wave my finger in your face!" Kimmi was voted out shortly thereafter, but made enough of an impression to get a second shot.

Peih-Gee Law - China, 5th place. Fiery and feisty, Peih-Gee had the misfortune of starting on the dysfunctional Zhan Hu tribe, which quickly went down in numbers due to the lack of a clear leader. She was eventually thrust into the role, and an advantage came when Zhan Hu and Fei Long got to swap two members each. Peih-Gee came up with the plan to throw the Immunity Challenges in order to vote out two of the stronger Fei Longs, but it only worked once, and the ex-Zhan Hus began to turn. Still, she did not give up, and began to prove herself as a viable challenge threat, though her social game was not a strong suit. Ultimately, she fell victim to the numbers game.

Ciera Eastin - Blood vs. Water, 5th place. Ciera started off on the bottom of the totem pole on the Tadhana tribe, when Brad Culpepper's paranoia caused the late Caleb Bankston to flip and vote him out. When the tribes swapped, she found new allies in Tyson Apostol and Gervase Peterson, but the wrinkle came when her mother Laura Morrett returned from Redemption Island at the merge. Laura and Ciera sided with Tyson and Gervase, but soon it became apparent that Laura was not fully in. With the writing on the wall, Ciera did the unthinkable and voted her mom out, but she was not done. With six people left and two others on Redemption Island, Ciera found she was #4 in her alliance as opposed to #3. This led her to side with Hayden Moss and form a deadlock tie, resulting in the second ever Rock Drawing elimination. She survived, but her other new Alliance-mate Katie Wilson drew the rock. She fought hard, but was another victim of the numbers.

Abi-Maria Gomes - Philippines, 5th place. Abi-Maria was part of the Tandang tribe, a textbook example in favor of the theory, "Maybe losing a tribal Immunity challenge isn't so bad." Tempers flared between her and RC Saint-Amour, even though they had initially aligned. Paranoia and mistrust grew rampant, and when the tribes merged, all hell broke loose and RC was voted out. Abi-Maria's attitude continued to rub people the wrong way and soon caused her alliance to turn on her, but an Idol play and an Immunity win got her to the Final Five. Ultimately, though, she was found to be too annoying to deal with any longer, and was voted out. Time will tell if she has adjusted her attitude into a less abrasive one.

Kass McQuillen - Cagayan: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, 3rd place. Kass is by a wide margin one of the most hated women to ever play this game, and she wears it like a badge of honor. Despite a rough start on the Brains tribe, she managed to make it to the merge, where Sarah Lacina seemed to be the swing vote. Instead, when Tony found out it was clear that Sarah wasn't on his side, he flipped Kass, who was feeling left out of her alliance, and voted Sarah out. Thus, Chaos Kass was born, and she would soon manage to get on everybody's nerves, but still maintained a position in the game that got her to the Final Three. Despite being seen by the almost everyone as a prime goat, or llama according to Tony, Woo elected to vote her out at the final three, setting the both of them up for a Second Chance. Will Chaos reign again? We shall see...

Kelley Wentworth - San Juan del Sur: Blood vs. Water 2, 14th place. Kelley Wentworth may be a bit of an enigma, but only because she wasn't truly allowed to play the game on her own terms. She started off in a solid alliance with Jeremy Collins, and even though she was targeted as a threat by self-proclaimed badass Drew Christy, she managed to get him voted out. Then, the tribes swapped, and her game was screwed. She would join her father Dale, along with Keith, Jon, Jaclyn, and mother-daughter pair Missy Payne and Baylor Wilson. Although Kelley and Missy were initially part of Jeremy's alliance together, a rift emerged between Dale and Missy. With Keith, Jon, and Jaclyn caught in the middle, they decided to side with Missy and Baylor and vote out the Wentworths, with Kelley going first. Perhaps the lack of a familial bond will strengthen her game.

Monica Padilla - Samoa, 7th place. Forgive me if I don't have as much to say about Monica, as I have not really re-watched Samoa due to finding The Russell Hantz Show insufferable. Still, it's odd how her season played out, as her tribe went in to the merge with an 8-4 majority, yet completely fell apart. She was one of the last three Galu members left, when she tried to take advantage of Russell's paranoia by telling him Natalie and Jaison told her how he doesn't need the money. It didn't work, but Monica made enough of an impact that she was remembered as one of the few to stand up to big bad Russell.

Shirin Oskooi - Worlds Apart: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar, 8th place. Shirin became the center of controversy on her season, first due to being perceived as an annoying superfan. Soon, however, a heated argument with Will Sims II made her reveal her past as a victim of domestic violence. In spite of the heat and the anger surrounding the situation, she managed to keep her head in the game, even though she was at the bottom of the tribe. Despite Mike Holloway threatening to play the Idol for her, the bluff was called and she was voted out. Has her Superfan excitement calmed down, allowing her to play the game to the fullest?

Tasha Fox - Cagayan: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, 6th place. Tasha is the third of three Brains tribe members in this cast, and she has a pretty similar story to Spencer. The difference is that at one point, Tasha actually had power. After their second Immunity Challenge loss, Garrett Adelstein all but forced a "no strategizing, just sit here until we vote out J'Tia" policy. Tasha, having none of it, went over with Kass to talk, upsetting Garrett and allowing J'Tia to dump all their rice in the fire. With J'Tia, Tasha and Kass voted out Garrett, giving Tasha brief control of the tribe. When the tribes shuffled and merged, Tasha acted as the de facto leader of her alliance, but was unable to keep Kass on her side. Despite a good amount of challenge prowess, Tasha was unable to turn the game against Tony, going home in sixth place.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there you have it, a brief history of each of the contestants' first shot, and why they're back for another go. Up next, in a couple of days, I'm going to give you my initial thoughts of how the season will play out. What twists we could see, who's completely doomed, and who has the best shot to win. See you then.

[Ali]

Well...

I completely dropped the ball on all my pre-season stuff... and post-premiere talk... but hey! Episode 2 was... pretty damn brutal.

[Str8Shooter]

Varner is starting to piss me off now. Abi Maria is as insufferable as I remember her being.

I'm glad they're doing the weird two tribes switching to three thing. Spencer might have a fighting chance now.

[Everlong]

Varner is starting to piss me off now. Abi Maria is as insufferable as I remember her being.

I'm glad they're doing the weird two tribes switching to three thing. Spencer might have a fighting chance now.

What??? Varner is fucking amazing Everything he says is gold. He might be playing a little too hard right now for his own good but so far he's in control and he's hilarious.

How about Terry Freaking Deitz actually learning something from his experience and making an actual human (although strategic) connection with Abi Maria of all people? Great play from him, something he never would have done in Panama.

The tribe swap will help Fishbach as well, he was clearly on the outs. Savage and Jeremy have it out for the guy. Spencer is on the bottom too but deservedly so, dude just can't stop treating people as chess pieces and it nearly cost him his game this week.

Can't say I'm sorry to see Shirin go. I was hoping to see Vytas stick around longer and be one of the big villains of this season, but in a season stacked with so many good characters, some gotta go early.

So far this season has completely lived up to everything I'd hoped it would be.

[Str8Shooter]

Varner is starting to piss me off now. Abi Maria is as insufferable as I remember her being.

I'm glad they're doing the weird two tribes switching to three thing. Spencer might have a fighting chance now.

What??? Varner is fucking amazing

He tried to get Spencer out, he's on my shitlist.

[Ali]

I don't know, but I am glad Spencer is on the bottom. Not because I dislike the guy, but because he strikes me as a Boston Rob-esque character: Fantastically interesting when he's forced to be playing from behind and scrambling, Insufferably boring when he's in control of things.

A highlight for me was Woo of all people shutting down Shirin's desperation-mode scrambling. Who would've thought that the wishy-washy guy from Cagayan that followed Tony like a puppy had it in him?

I have turned around on Deitz. Coming into this season, I hated him. One of my least favorite contestants ever. A boring Alpha Male leader who felt entitled to the win and didn't really bother to make connections with people. Now, he's not in the Leadership role, he's showing a more human side, and learning all the aspects of a complete game.

Savage, on the other hand... I hate his guts. "Oh, I miss my supermodel wife! Woe is me!" Treating Stephen like Skinny Ryan doesn't help. I have a feeling a swap is going to bite him in the ass. Then he'll cry for 10 years about how he got screwed again.

CBS, what took you so long to bring back Varner? The man is gold! He's hilarious in confessionals, good at the social game, knows enough strategy, I love him. He's playing hard and fast, it might bite him, but he's flexible.

I feel so bad for Joe. Joey Amazing is great, everyone likes him, he's strong, friendly, great around camp... he's just too good to ever win Survivor. Its like... I like Joe and hate Savage because Savage will tell you how perfect he is, but Joe won't. You tell Joe how great he is, he'll just smile and say, "Aw, shucks." I can tell Joe wants it so bad, but he can never win because he's too damn perfect.

[Everlong]

Savage, on the other hand... I hate his guts. "Oh, I miss my supermodel wife! Woe is me!" Treating Stephen like Skinny Ryan doesn't help. I have a feeling a swap is going to bite him in the ass. Then he'll cry for 10 years about how he got screwed again.

FWIW Stephen tweeted that Savage never once ostracized him or spoke to him disrespectfully, and that everyone talks crap about everyone else in their confessionals. He never treated Stephen poorly, he simply distrusts him for being a strategic player. And he's wise to do so, because Stephen IS a really good strategic mind. It'd be smarter for Savage to try to use that to his advantage than to try to work against him, but there's no real evidence that Savage has at all treated Stephen poorly.

[Str8Shooter]

I can't believe how jaded and cynical @Ali is about his heartfelt speech about his wife that had people in tears. Never would have pegged him as a heartless bastard.

[Ali]

Savage always, to me, seemed like the kind of guy who would walk up to you and say, "I'm better than you. And I know I'm better than you, and you know I'm better than you. It's not your fault that I'm better than you, I just am better than you. So just accept it."

It's like he's had everything in his life handed to him on a silver platter, so at this point, he doesn't know any different. His life is perfect, so he expects everything to fall into his view of the world. It's a kind of narcissistic Darwinist thing with him. Stephen (and Skinny Ryan) doesn't fall into his idea of a Man, so he doesn't want to even entertain the idea of working with him.

And it's more laughable when you realize that the reason Savage doesn't like Stephen is that he read his Survivor Wiki page.

He says he wants to give everyone a fair shake, but through his research, he has identified some players that worry him — like Stephen Fishbach, for one. Savage says Fishbach’s Wiki page, which describes the Tocantins runner-up as “strategic and devious,” sets off some alarms.

“He can blindside people and they’ll never see it coming,” Savage says, paraphrasing what he recalls of the info on Fishbach, off the top of his head. “I read that, and I haven’t said one word to Stephen, but I’m thinking, ‘Dude, okay! If that’s the way you roll, that’s the way you roll!'”

http://parade.com/418933/joshwigler/sur ... er-shot/3/

So he made his judgment not from personal experience or even watching the show, but from the damn Wikia. That'd be like if Jeff Varner said, "I don't want to work with Peih-Gee because it said on TV Tropes that she's a strategist, and that's a threat." It's just stupid to me.

[Everlong]

I dunno, I guess I just don't get the hate boner that the internet seems to have for Savage. Most of what you're saying is what I'm seeing at other places like Reddit... it just comes off as a lot of projection. It doesn't seem particularly fair to say the guy acts like he's had everything handed to him or whatever. His story seemed pretty genuine to me, and it was completely fair (and strategically smart) for him to call out Fishbach for unfairly accusing Jeremy of searching for an idol afterward.

In fact, most of the hate for Savage seems to be because of this apparent rift with Fishbach. And a lot of that is probably because most internet fans view Fishbach as "one of us." Superfan, "Survivor Know It All," fish-out-of-water nerd, etc. And because of that, Savage is getting way more heat than he deserves, and Fishbach isn't getting nearly enough criticism.

I mean, so far, Fishbach might be playing the very worst game out of everybody on both tribes. The only reason he's still around is because his tribe won the first two immunities. He went off by himself to go idol hunting on DAY ONE. On a season full of big time players, that's absolutely idiotic. He complains a lot about being an outcast, but based on what we've seen anyway, he hasn't exactly spent a whole lot of time trying to make friends with these people who intimidate him.

He really misses JT out there. He doesn't have anyone who can build those bridges for him to get in good with other power players, he's way too socially awkward to do it himself. I don't think he stands a chance at winning this game because of it, especially given this season is SO focused on building connections and social gameplay (it's truly a throwback season in that regard).

Now, this isn't me loving Savage and hating Fish. Savage is on the low end of the totem pole for me in terms of how much I care about all these players, and I actually think Fishbach is great TV. But I think the internet has chosen sides early on here based on the archetypes of these guys and are projecting a lot of things that might not necessarily be true, and it's unfair to Savage.

[Ali]

I give you that, but I will say that I did not like Savage long before this. My problem with him in Pearl Islands was similar, that he was completely unwilling to bend. He had a strategy that was not working, and instead of adapting and trying to change it, he stuck to his original strategy. That's admirable in a lot of ways, but you can't really hope to win like that. I liken it to trying to break down a brick wall with my fist, and refusing someone with a hammer because I'm so committed.

Savage's entire game hinges on Season 1 strategy. If nothing ever changes, he's golden. He gets a solid alliance, he has his group, that's it. Win challenges, merge, win more challenges, win the game. The problem is that Survivor is a constantly changing game, so the minute something goes out of the ordinary, he has a likelihood of falling apart. We'll see if he can adapt to next week's shakeup.

[Everlong]

I can't believe Abi actually won the PG/Abi rivalry

Great gameplay by Savage and Tasha to uncover the weakness in the tribe there and exploit it.

Great edit for Spencer tonight as well. He's looking like he could actually go the distance. Varner shot himself in the foot tonight, but Spencer and Kelley Wentworth are both looking like strongcandidates to go all the way, as is Jeremy, especially with that idol now.

Glad to see Fishbach make it through another week

[Str8Shooter]

Why would anybody want to be in an alliance with Abi? She's a loose cannon, you can't trust her one bit and you never know when she's going to go off, or get pissed at someone else in your alliance and switch sides.

The only upside I see is she's so crazy that she can take attention away from you with all her antics.

[Everlong]

Why would anybody want to be in an alliance with Abi? She's a loose cannon, you can't trust her one bit and you never know when she's going to go off, or get pissed at someone else in your alliance and switch sides.

The only upside I see is she's so crazy that she can take attention away from you with all her antics.

Savage and Tasha have no intention of allying with her long term, I'm sure. But it'd be much easier for them to keep Abi now and convince Varner and Woo to vote her out next than to keep Abi and convince Varner and Woo to vote out PG next. It's all about trying to stay afloat while they're down in the numbers.