Culturally Preconditioned

I know I am in the minority here, but personally.. it’s official : Vanuatu > Thailand+AllStars. Why? Because the Pagonging stopped. And Chris didn’t even win immunity. Hell, he didn’t even get a single vote at this tribal council which baffles me to no end. To those who have been avoiding spoilers, I’m pretty sure tonight’s episode was a shocker! Must give props to the editing team because there were no straight forward indications that LeAnn was getting the boot tonight. In fact, not a single LeAnn vote was shown during the voting confessional. I think the power shift tonight is almost as good as the one from Marquesas (that one still takes the cake, though). And as much as a heartless bastard that I am, these family visits ALWAYS get to me, no matter how hard I try not to get choked up by it. I don’t know, I guess, these are the only times when you sorta knows the castaways let down their Survivor guards, and was once again normal everyday life people with real emotions.

Episode 11 : Castaways Impressions

Alinta Tribe

Ami - Ami was almost played down this episode compared to previous episodes. She commented that they would be in trouble if they didn’t take out Chris now and he ends up with an immunity run. That got me wondering if that’s foreshadowing of Ami herself going on an immunity run to the end, and not Chris. *shrug* Her chances doesn’t look good at all now that her right hand woman is gone, so immunity is her best bet to end up in the Final 2. And dammit, again, there were Ami vs Chris showdown tonight. Once was during the immunity challenge. The race was a close one between all 6 teams (all 6 teams, except Leann’s, were at trying to solve the puzzle at the same time), but it seemed as though it was a really tight race between Chris and Ami when the teams were blindfolded. It was edited like that for a reason. AND the most curious shot of the evening, after Tribal Council when the castaways headed back to camp (before the end credits roll), there was a subtle shot of AMI AND CHRIS in the background. That was a really clear shot. Either Mark Burnett has really got me fooled big time this time around with all these ‘clues’, or it’s the most gigantic red herring ever.

Chris - Chris is a very lucky man indeed. It still amazes me how Ami was swayed away from her “Eliminate Useless Penises” Operation and ‘kept’ Chris instead of Eliza. Some of my friends have argued that Chris is still there because the women allowed him to still be there. But Chris is not there just because of that. Twila and Scout didn’t have Eliza’s trust, and they needed Chris to do the sweet talking to get the numbers advantage. Strangely enough, we also were shown scenes of him working closely with Julie which is UBER ODD!!!! So far, we’ve been shown Chris talking strategy with Julie, Eliza, Scout and Twila. What we haven’t seen is the interaction between Chris and Ami. And yet, there are all these subtle hints of these two pairing up or having a showdown several times. It’s just too damn weird. At this point, I don’t see how or IF these two will actually pair up to get to the Final Two. But then again, I didn’t exactly see how most of the Final Two end up together anyway (ie. Vee/Neleh, Jenna/Matthew, Sandra/Lil - these pairs did not come from a long time alliance in their respective seasons)

Eliza - Eliza truly is the girl who dodged the most bullets since Rory. But will she eventually be shot down like him? Time will tell. Eliza has switched alliances so many times in the game, and has received votes in almost every tribal council - she would be the perfect Final Two opponent. In terms of gameplay, I’m not sure if Eliza is very good with strategies. Sure, she has dodged bullets, but only because she’s been told that she’s the target. And congrats on winning the Reward Challenge (though I am 100% convinced that Julie threw the challenge on purpose)

Julie - Yep. I’m willing to bet Julie threw that challenge. Come on, don’t tell me she’s that dumb not to remember a single item from that previous challenge. Did she throw the challenge because she sympathized with Eliza (who got so worked up about seeing her mother from the webcam) or did she do it to sabotage Eliza? Who knows. Julie’s editing remains uber weird. It was clearly shown tonight that Julie was Chris’ informant. Why would you be an informant to someone who have absolutely no use to you? Either she’s REALLY that stupid, or, we are definitely not shown everything. Julie’s editing is very mysterious. One side, it was clearly shown that she’s firm with Ami’s group. But on the other hand, we see her talking to Chris (it was even indicated from her words to Leann - about keeping Chris and booting Eliza - a few episodes back). If things ARE as it seems, then poor Julie needs to scramble soon if Ami wins immunity next week.

Leann - Leann shot herself in the foot when she told Scout that they “never promised Scout Final Four”. Didn’t she remember that was exactly the reason whjy that fucker Alex Bell was voted out of the Amazon? And even though she was trailing behind the others in the Immunity Challenge, she should have at least tried going on anyway. Oh well. That’s fine if she wants to have a laugh about it.. but it was a tad too cocky saying that “she didn;t need immunity”. I know a lot of viewers mourn for her getting the boot. But I defuinitely am not one of them.

Scout - I was right about Leann not winning the game. Now I’m willing to say that Scout won’t either. Why? Because she has been shown saying “Vengeance shall be with the jury” or something like that. Why did the editor put that quote in if she gets to the Final Two? I don’t see Scout making it to the Final Two (but of course, I have been proven wrong most of the times. LOL). Some people dislike Scout for being the nasty old woman for turning on her original alliance (with Ami and Leann), but I don’t blame her, because I loved it how she takes matters into her own hand when she knows her ass is on the line. She is probably the exact opposite of Granny Jan from Thailand. She does what she needs to do to stay in the game. Even if that means forming an alliance with her arch enemy - Eliza. I really applaud her for that.

Twila - Twila shows that she’s got brains after all. I like the way she’s playing that’s all I can say. She seems to be getting the Kathy edit. Unlikeable and dumb at strategizing in the beginning - and now she’s like the ugly duckling that has grown into a beautiful swan. The power shift just proves that she knows what’s been going around and she actually has the brains and guts to stay in the game. Will her new alliance hold next week? I guess we’ll see.

Predictions : Brain/Heart/Gut

Brain : Ami (she’s supposed to go this week but won immunity)

Heart : Eliza (she’s just a pawn being used by the others)

Gut : Julie (80% of my gut is saying Ami goes on an immunity run)

Stickies for the Eleventh Episode :

AmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmi
ChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChris
AmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmi
ChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChris
AmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmi
ChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChris
AmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmi
ChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChrisAmiChris

LOL but seriously though, if you have recorded the show - fast forward to the part after Tribal Council. The shot with Ami and Chris was put there for a reason. At least, I would like to think so anyway.