My thoughts on Survivor Nicaragua finale

I don't think Survivor Nicaragua was that bad. Survivor Fiji was bad but not this. Well maybe it is now that I am thinking more of it.

For starters, Dan made it until Day 37, which is amazing for someone who was kept in the game because he was just so lame. Yes, there were other weak people that even made it to the Final Three (remember Susie from Gabon?) but no one was as uninspired as Dan. I could only think of Chet from Micronesia who was worse than Dan. But come on, Micronesia was one of the best seasons and Chet, fortunately, did not make it to the jury. I bet the only thing that kept Dan on the island was his ego.

Another point that stings for this season was the fact that there were two quitters in the jury. Naonka and Purple Kelly should have at least made a sad face but they looked jubilant for people who were in the game. Kudos though because I never heard of them claiming to be great fans of the show.

Jane was still great and I love her rising above her anger with Chase.

I hate it when people in the jury are still so emotional when casting their votes. Sash never got any vote. Just like Russell never got any vote last season. Just like Sugar never had any vote in Gabon. All because they pissed off almost everyone in the jury and blame it on their strategy.

Early in the show, I have read some spoilers that Sash, Chase and Fabio are going to be the Final Three. I did not believe it then because it was just so unlikely. There were still a few power players left at that time so Chase and Fabio were really a long shot. But I guess anything can happen in Survivor, no matter how crappy the season is.

I'm glad Fabio won. Sash would have been a worthy winner too.

I was surprised that there were not a lot of Boos for Naonka and even for Shannon during the reunion. Also, usually, everyone who gets a vote on the last tribal council would usually get an almost equally loud round of applause from the audience. But it did not happen this time. Chase was probably too dumb to get a fan.

Be back soon...

Starting January, I will blog about not only Survivor but also about my other favorite shows, which includes Modern Family, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Good Wife, House, The Amazing Race, Fringe, Desperate Housewives and No Ordinary Family. Hopefully, there will be new good shows around. Can't wait for Survivor Redemption Island.

Quit with just 11 more days?

What was the last episode all about? Now a whole episode is dedicated to quitting? It was probably the most depressing episode, even more depressing than seeing Cassandra in Fiji.

I had so much expectations for this episode as Jeff Probst mentioned on his last blog, this was going to be an interesting episode but it was NOT.

I am pissed that they would let someone, let alone two people, quit. What pisses me more is the fact that they would let them sit in the jury. Purple Kelly and Naonka should have made to go home in the U.S. and not in Ponderosa. They do not deserve seats in the jury. If they wanted to go home, then they should have been sent back to their home.

The biggest brouhaha of the episode was when Naonka, after contemplating of quitting, she just decided to still take the reward and not take one for the team. Yes, it was selfish. But come to think of it, she did that challenge. She was part of the team that won unlike Dan who just sat on that hilariously supersized chair and did nothing (not even a worthy cheer). Had Holly not given up the reward in exchange for the tarp and rice, I believe no one would have castigated Naonka like that. It's not that I'm saying Naonka has a few enemies. I am saying that she has a LOT of enemies and I think that legion has gotten so much bigger after the last episode.

Funny how I remember last season's movie reward. It was an old movie which I do not remember but I certainly remember the catfight that happened between Amanda and Danielle and the stupid lifeless Colby decided to side with the "truth" even if it was in favor of someone from the other alliance. This season, they took it up a notch. They made it into a scandalous advertisement for a Jack Black movie (Are you sure the producers of that movie wanted to have Naonka promote their film?). This also makes me remember that phone ad while Parvati et al were enjoying their reward.

If you see how Naonka and Purple Kelly behaved in Ponderosa, you would be so flabbergasted (I am not exactly sure what this word means but it just sounds appropriate). They acted as if they have not left any impact on the show. Clearly, they aren't big fans of the show. If I were a producer on Survivor, I would have been stone cold mean to them. They should have not been given the usual food that castaways who have been VOTED OUT AND DID NOT QUIT. They should have just been given some biscuits and a bottle of water and been asked to go back to their U.S. home.

The Ponderosa episode by the way made me like Alina more because she was just so devastated of what Naonka and Purple Kelly did. Clearly, she is a fan.

Survivor Nicaragua: A Moronic Episode

Chase. Moron. Marty. Moron. NaOnka. Moron. Alina. (I love Alina but as they say) Moron. Purple Kelly? She looks moronic. Not to mention everyone who voted against Alina. Moron. That leaves Jane (who I also love) who has a deep-seethed hatred for Marty and who was just not contented of winning the immunity necklace that she had to beat the guy's ass. Moron (well, kind of).

Chase. Whoever told this guy he had a bit of a brain simply had a huge crush on Mr. Pretty-Face-With-A-Well-Toned-Body. I bet this dumbass is going to get some more groupies after the show because he just lost his dad. Go ahead and mourn dude. This is Survivor though and just in case you do not know yet, you use that organ up in your head (oh no, not the eyes) and you keep your mouth shut especially to people who are not in your alliance. What was he thinking when he went up to Dan just to tell him who they were voting for? If it has not been obvious yet, Dan and Marty are the only older guys remaining and it looks to me that they are talking a lot so that muscled guy who has a gray pair of boxers that is longer than his shorts should have been more observant. I think I have guessed why the producers are putting a lot of effort to tell the audience that southern boy Chase has just lost his dad and is still grieving. He is just a dimwit and nothing else.

NaOnka, NaOnka, NaOnka. After seeing her make a living hell out of Kelly B's leg, stealing the tribe's stock of food did not come as a surprise. What was so stupid about it was why stole a jar of flour in broad daylight when your tribemates are gathered together just a meter a way. And she did not stop there. She went back for a pan and a boatload of fruits. It was a far cry from what the great Russell Hantz pulled off during the last two seasons. There was just one thing that NaOnka did that I liked. Inviting Alina for the secret feast and her not putting the blame on Alina. Although she has mentioned that this was a strategy to gain Alina's trust for the jury's vote, you can't win with a single vote. Piss your allies off and gain an enemy's trust? That's crap. I believe that amidst everything, Nay still has a heart even though I don't know how small.

Marty. Sash was right: Marty was just digging a deeper hole for himself. When you know your head is on the chopping block, you don't go ranting to people that they won't keep their promise. An act of desperation you might say, but an act of a moron definitely. What do you know? It worked. And then come tribal council, Marty just left it all off for Jane. What bothered me was when he said that Jane's greatest mistake was within 30 minutes into the game, Jane allied herself to the three weakest players. I can think of Holly, Jimmy Johnson and who's the third? Wendy? Even so, maybe Marty has forgotten that he is allied to the second lamest player of all time (I think Chet from Micronesia was the lamest ever). Doesn't the game start right on the first second of the first minute of the first day you landed on the beach? Is it against the rules of Survivor to make an alliance within the first hour of the game? What was more of a mistake? Getting weak allies or handing out the idol?

Alina. You could have been such a good player if only you had the numbers. And you don't tell anyone of a plan when you're not sure they're even with you. I loved it when Alina acted sad when conversing with Fabio. "I thought we got along, too" was just the right moment before tribal council takes the scene.

Jane. I hope you don't let your ego consume you. Marty is not the only player you are going up against. There are other players you need to focus on.

Brenda. Sash should not be running the show. Make a bold move or Sash may take all the credit in the end.

Sash. You may win the title for this season but I hope you won't

Benry. What made you hate Alina? I really want to know more. I thought you were getting along just fine.

Fabio. I can't wait to see more of the ever so frequent Fabio-NaOnka fight.

Holly. I think you should step up. Holly going into the final three may turn out to be the biggest surprise this season.

Dan. Quit.

Purple Kelly. Hi. How are you?

Hand to me the Idol

Everyone now wants to label Marty's move as one of the dumbest but I do not think it is. He simply did not have any choice. We'll be back to this later.

One thing that struck me early on the show was Jeff's intro where he was saying that after the youngsters from both tribes recruited Holly and Jane, everyone north of 40 was in trouble. We know it was Marty, Jill and Dan and we know that these three are close.

Let me just say that I love Jill. There are moments while watching the show that I wanted her to be my mom. Who doesn't want a doctor mom? As unnoticeable as she was, I was really sorry she was gone. She would have been that silent player allied to the devil, much like Natalie in Samoa.

Fabio relieving himself in the pool was not that hilarious although I felt the grossness that his fellow players felt. I have peed in the pool, well maybe not in the pool, but out in the sea, and I felt that my pee, or at least some particles of it, have touched other people. Eeeeew! Haha

Was Chase really hit on his groin? I thought the ball hit somewhere lower on his thighs. While we were on with Chase, I don't feel the drama that they're trying to surround that guy. Maybe it will have something to do later on in the game, but I just don't think it has any impact for now. His father died, fine, and I sympathize. But what's that got to do with the game? We are now on the 21st season of Survivor and we all know for a fact that the game is about winning, getting people to vote for you in the end because of the game you played or maybe the niceness(whether fake or not)you showed to other players. We don't need a pretty guy crying over his dead father on his one-on-one interview.

I love Jane. If I wanted Jill to be my mom, I wanted Jane to be my grandma. Imagine how my household would feel so alive if she had just been living inside. She's so cool for her age and quite a strategist too. Most older people, especially women on their 50s, are nice (pardon me if that's how I see them). But Jane is nice in a sort of wicked way. Her eating a whole fish away from others was just badass.

Sash was a revelation. After Shannon called him gay on the second episode and defending that, I thought he was going to turn out to be this likable player. But no, he is a mean strategist who wants victory for himself and not for his friends. That's what Survivor wants, but it's not what I want. I want to see hardcore players with a heart, but not as nice as Amanda. I thought Parvati had a heart or probably I have watched her plenty of times to make me think I know her personally. Back to Sash. I have this feeling that he is going to be seen as a villain along the way.

Dan as always was a disappointment. NaOnka could not have said it any clearer. "He couldn't jump either." If they lost the challenge, I would have shouted at the top of my lungs to vote off Dan. Thank goodness Espada won the immunity challenge so I would not have subjected myself in this kind of humiliation.

I believe Alina's tears were genuine or maybe NaOnka is right. Alina may just be too cold to easily cry like that without purpose. But come to think of it. What did she achieve by crying? Saving herself from future votes? I don't think so. She may have been the next secret target of Nay, Holly and Chase, but as far I know from watching, she did not know that. And besides, it was still before the Immunity Challenge for her to feel vulnerable.

I thought the Reward Challenge was fun where it tests your mind as well as part of your physical ability. The Immunity Challenge was much better. I thought it was going to be similar to the challenge during the first episode. The props may have been reused but uh-uh, it was not as boring as the first-episode contest. I thought Benry was just all muscles and I was surprised that he can be at par with Alina in formulating strategies.

We all thought that what Brenda and Sash were planning was bull considering how awesome we have seen Marty's mind worked in earlier episodes. I for one would have never believed he was going to hand his Idol to Sash. What was he thinking when he gave the hidden immunity idol to Sash? That he was going to be part of their alliance? Even if he would be, he was still going to be at the bottom of the hierarchy. But let's give Marty some props in here. He was desperate and whether he gave the Idol or used it for himself, he would still be in the same position. Hope is what he needed and that's what Sash gave him. He should not have handed it over but what choice did he have? Use it on the last tribal council and be a clear target of everyone on the next tribal council or keep it and get voted out?

Sash's slip was one of the highlights in the show and yes, I loved it. I hope Brenda and the rest of the crew would ponder on that. I think Brenda already does and maybe that was her plan all along.

We all assumed that the youngsters are going to make a mess, but hey, they're not doing so bad. I wish Alina would find more allies to topple the party of five's (Sash, Brenda, Chase, Naonka and Purple Kelly) earlier bond. Holly and Jane seem to have sided with the alliance and Fabio may have already been absorbed into the group, but let's keep our fingers crossed.

A Tie or Not a Tie? That is the Question...

I have been thinking of starting a blog about Survivor so I guess this is my first entry. I love reading Dalton Ross' and Jeff Probst's because it gives me a good perspective of what others (well, not really others since they are part of the show one way or another) think of the episode that was just shown. I have been a fan since I was 15, which was way back in third year high school. I will tell of that story some time later because I prefer about the last episode for now.

I expected Survivor Nicaragua to be a bit of a bore after having seen the best moves done by the best players last season. Currently, I do not feel that I am bored with the show but it is pretty disappointing in terms of the players' moves. Please note that I feel bad because I have not thought of starting this blog back when Nicaragua was just starting.

Anyway, let's start the show with Dan contemplating about quitting. Ironically, he aired this bit of his emotions to Holly who also contemplated about quitting some ten days ago. Of all people, Holly was the only one who encouraged the old man with the bad knee to stay. She was then on to declaring "You've signed up for something. Suck it up and finish." To me, she was like saying "been there, done that and it's moronic." And wait, wasn't it Holly who threw Dan's $1600 pair of shoes into the sea? I thought Dan was never going to forgive (or was it just forget) her? Are they tight now? Pardon me if I consider a conversation about quitting intimate. Remember the conversation between Alina and NaOnka? Hmmm. How sweet...

Back to Jeff Probst's recap, he mentioned that Yve was the only other player who did not vote Tyrone out during the last tribal council (aside from Tyrone of couse, duh!) and we knew it was going to be part of a storyline somewhere in the episode. Voila! It happened early in the show with Yve asking Holly about being in the dark and Holly immediately explained that they thought Yve and Tyrone were close. How come Dan knew about the plan? Again, something is telling me that Holly and Dan are getting a little cozy now (not in a romantic kind of a way because that would be gross but a first, if ever, in Survivor history). She now thinks her head is on the chopping block, which is true, and the editors were leading us to believe that Yve was going to claw her way just to kept in the game (more screen time for Yve! Yay!).

Then the scenes shift to La Flor's camp where Jill was noticing that the "young tribe" was their complete opposite. Hello! That's why they're young and you're old. Usual Survivor drama where almost always, the older people are much more hard-working than the kids.

Brenda went on to lay out her plans in front of the one-on-one interview. And off to the challenge!

When Jeff Probst announced to La Flor that Tyrone was voted out the previous night, I seriously expected that some jaws were going to drop. But guess what? La Flor was ecstatic, especially Marty. It sure is at the other end of the "expected" spectrum, but it just was not in me.

The challenge, which was part individual, part team (courtesy of the winner from each team), was not that exciting but I thought it was one of those games where anyone could win. I was rooting for Yve when it was Espada's turn to play, a feeling that probably the producers wanted us to have right from the get-go. But it was from another old lady in the form of Holly where we saw victory. Who knew that an unstable woman from the second episode could get this stable?

Jill won from La Flor. Gosh I wish it was Kelly B and I am sure that most people also wanted her to win that challenge considering the alliance of Jill and Marty who also has the hidden immunity idol by the way. Jill and Holly then faced off on a very quick and not so thrilling part of the challenge. Then Jill won a banquet of kebab for her team, which they were going to eat in front of Espada during tribal.

Since Jill has the individual immunity and Marty has the hidden immunity, Brenda, who is the show-runner of the younger people, devised a plan to vote off one of their own, Kelly B, in case Marty takes out the hidden immunity and use it. Well, thinking about it, Kelly B has never really been their own. They even now consider Jane as more of their own.

Marty devised a plan to tell Fabio, and probably everyone who still was not born in the 70s, about him being a grandmaster and beating out another grandmaster from Argentina, Guillermo Vilas. Guillermo Vilas turned out to be a tennis player. I play chess but I do not follow the lives of these grandmasters so after a little soul-searching, I realized that I would also have been fooled by Marty's story should we ever had that kind of conversation. It was just funny though how they play these with Fabio.

Back at Espada, Alina was so determined to weed out the weakest link and if it was still not obvious who she was referring to, it was Dan. But then, Yve pulled her and NaOnka aside to tell them that she would be a great asset to an alliance if ever they would bring her with them to the merge. And her key point: I am closer to the alliance of Jill and Marty so I can tell you what their secrets are. This was the same mistake Danielle did in Heroes vs Villains which assured her of her ouster. If Yve was too focused in doing everything she can to stay, she should have not done this. What's frustrating is that Dan was the strongest ally of Marty and we have seen Marty doing all his might to make Dan stay. Yve should have directed that argument towards Dan, not towards her. This was what sparked Alina's decision to change her vote to Yve in a heartbeat.

La Flor came to tribal council first. This was where the weirdest thing has happened. Jeff was asking Jane first if she was on the outs considering her position as part of the older tribe and being outnumbered by the younger tribe. Jane coolly answered Jeff that she definitely felt such. But wham! Brenda suddenly attacked Marty exposing his tight alliance with Jill and putting Jane in middle of the two existing (or perceived) alliances within La Flor. I personally thought that Brenda's attack was going to make Marty very nervous and would force him to show the idol to protect himself. But no, he did not. Instead, he kept his cool and stayed. I also don't know what went through his mind when he whispered to Jane, and most likely Jill also heard and complied, to vote off Brenda. Probably he really wanted to vote off Brenda because she was smart and conniving, but on his confessional, it was apparent that he knew she was not going to be voted off. What a waste of vote! Then the group of six (Brenda, Sash, Purple Kelly, Benry, Jane and Kelly B) split their votes between Marty and Kelly B (who thought the other three was voting for Jane). This was obviously a trap to vote Marty out or at least flush his idol out. But after the tie-breaker, they voted off Kelly B? Where's the sense in that? Was it all a show to make us just too excited and make Survivor "unpredictable"? Sigh.... NaOnka now does not have anyone to pick on.

Then La Flor moved to the opposite side to feast on their kebab, which NaOnka could not make herself look. Jeff asked her why, then directed the question to Fabio, which irked Nay a little bit. Marty could not stop himself from wishing Dan good luck as if the gods of Survivor will hear this (which I guess they did) and as if this would encourage Dan to strategize a little more.

Yve was clearly desperate and it was obvious in her face and the words coming out of her. She was definitely putting up a fight just to stay in the game but her tribemates had already made up their mind that she was just to smart. I am going to miss Yve. I have been rooting for her since day one, but I guess it is just not meant to be. She's one hot momma and I know a lot of Survivor nerds would agree.

This is my first entry so Yahoo! Looking forward for my next article next week.