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Zesty
Jan 17, 2012

The Great Twist
We're 4 boots in. If anyone gets any better thread titles, announce them anytime and I'll PM a mod.

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Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!
No, we didn't hear about that angle until tribal. It almost makes me think that he came up with it on the way or something. He was clearly excited for the chance to grandstand like that.

The Mighty Moltres
Dec 21, 2012

Come! We must fly!


No game two weeks in a row, then when there IS one, she doesn't play. I'm starting to think ghost island is dumb.

SLICK GOKU BABY
Jun 12, 2001

Hey Hey Let's Go! 喧嘩する
大切な物を protect my balls


bbf2 posted:

The move is to say "I'm playing this (fake double) idol on two of us. These two girls are voting for Bradley, and me and Brendan will be putting two votes on another one of you that we picked earlier at random. The only way to guarantee its not you going home is for you to vote Bradley"

(and then in actuality all four of them vote Bradley but hopefully this scares at least one of them into adding a fifth vote as well)

No, that's not going to change anything really. You're saying you're going to split the votes so if the idol is real it's going to be 2-2, so they could still stick to their guns and vote Bradley out on a revote.

SLICK GOKU BABY
Jun 12, 2001

Hey Hey Let's Go! 喧嘩する
大切な物を protect my balls


The Mighty Moltres posted:

No game two weeks in a row, then when there IS one, she doesn't play. I'm starting to think ghost island is dumb.

Ghost Island is just Exile Island except there maybe an advantage instead of just getting an idol clue :eng101:

ApplesandOranges
Jun 22, 2012

Thankee kindly.

Zesty posted:

We're 4 boots in. If anyone gets any better thread titles, announce them anytime and I'll PM a mod.

What pithy sound bites do we have yet?

'Sad.'
'I dissent.'
'Don't trust the cute blonde.'

Lone Goat
Apr 16, 2003

When life gives you lemons, suplex those lemons.




IcePhoenix posted:

:siren: Chelsea speaks! :siren:

I was terrified that she was going to get booted this ep because of that.

Unrelated: Stephanie strikes me as smug and annoying. I'm glad a better reason to dislike than her stupid fake boobs.

Zesty posted:

We're 4 boots in. If anyone gets any better thread titles, announce them anytime and I'll PM a mod.

Survivor 36: Ghost Island - 3 spooky 6 me

Zesty
Jan 17, 2012

The Great Twist
Ghost Island as a game mechanic is bad. It’s just exile island with an optional gamble. Not having the chance at the advantage makes the whole gimmick a wet fart for that episode. Even if you get the option to gamble your vote, the nebulous advantage so far was something that doesn’t even benefit the person who made the gamble. The whole concept punishes the player for taking a risk.

Now if they had it where you TRADE your vote for an advantage, that might be something. But no one should want to risk coming out behind.

Lone Goat
Apr 16, 2003

When life gives you lemons, suplex those lemons.




Zesty posted:

Ghost Island as a game mechanic is bad. It’s just exile island with an optional gamble. Not having the chance at the advantage makes the whole gimmick a wet fart for that episode. Even if you get the option to gamble your vote, the nebulous advantage so far was something that doesn’t even benefit the person who made the gamble. The whole concept punishes the player for taking a risk.

Now if they had it where you TRADE your vote for an advantage, that might be something. But no one should want to risk coming out behind.

I got my :tinfoil: on but I'm thinking that you can't actually lose the "game" but they just word it that way to stave off cowards.

I fully expect to be incredibly wrong about this.

The Bloop
Jul 5, 2004

by Fluffdaddy

Lone Goat posted:

I got my :tinfoil: on but I'm thinking that you can't actually lose the "game" but they just word it that way to stave off cowards.

I fully expect to be incredibly wrong about this.

Could be different advantages in each.



Or one has a pissed off cobra in it

ApplesandOranges
Jun 22, 2012

Thankee kindly.
Man, on reflection, Bradley's alliance got really lucky that Kellyn was the one sent to Ghost Island. Bradley would have played, no question. No idea about the other three, but I think Sebastian would have played, possibly Chelsea too.

Pinterest Mom
Jun 9, 2009

The bluff was dumb but FL is right that there's no real way to parlay the situation into an actual advantage.

Sometimes the only out you have is "say something dumb and hope it fools the dumbest person on the other side", and you play to that out. "Throw something out there and hope Tyson Sea Bass doesn't understand how voting works" maybe only works 5% of the time, but that 5% is not zero.

SweetJahasus
Dec 23, 2005

Dragon Slayer
Samurai Warrior
Escape Artist
Viking
Chong-Ra Master

BE THE WIZARD

SweetJahasus posted:

I don't think these people really think through the answers they give to CBS. These bios make me feel like I hate everyone.

Particularly this guy:


From the old thread, but I feel vindicated that I read this dude correctly in my knee-jerk assessment.

On the other hand, I read Michael completely wrong. Dude is great and he was impressive this episode, despite failing. No chance in hell he sticks around very long but if he can keep being clever, with a little luck he may sneak his way to the end and would be a shoo-in to win.

ApplesandOranges
Jun 22, 2012

Thankee kindly.
Something I'd low-key like to see is Michael and Chris making it to the merge, and Chris trying to buddy up with Michael like 'we're two alpha bros we gotta stick together' and Michael realizing what a massive tool Chris is and playing him like a fiddle. Bonus points if he Sarahs Chris into giving Michael an advantage.

It'd be a cute subterfuge of the 'pretty girl strings the boy along' trope.

Fast Luck
Feb 2, 1988

The Mighty Moltres posted:

No game two weeks in a row, then when there IS one, she doesn't play. I'm starting to think ghost island is dumb.
I'd bet that game will keep being there now until someone gets whatever the advantage is. So next person to go to Ghost Island will have a game, and if they play and lose, next person will have a game, and so on, until that advantage is won

Zesty posted:

Ghost Island as a game mechanic is bad. It’s just exile island with an optional gamble.
It was kind of interesting as an escape from Tribal Council. I don't really understand the timing of how that mechanic ended, like why was it there one vote after the swap and then changed the next? Will it change back? It's weird.

SLICK GOKU BABY posted:

No, that's not going to change anything really. You're saying you're going to split the votes so if the idol is real it's going to be 2-2, so they could still stick to their guns and vote Bradley out on a revote.
It doesn't have to be like that. If the minority faction's threat is that they'll send the random player home if nobody flips, and the tie is between Bradley and the random player, those two lose their votes and the minority faction takes the numbers.

Fast Luck fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Mar 16, 2018

DrVenkman
Dec 28, 2005

I think he can hear you, Ray.
Still laughing about how unsuccessful Jacob's big gambit was.

I read one of the post-show interviews he gave and came away feeling a little sorrier for him. It seems he's had a hard time meeting and connecting with people and that's probably not what you want on this show. Still, he was so blinded by how he can survive the first week that he isolated himself from everyone right away.

I'm digging into an older season in the meantime and settled on the white v blue v red collar one which has been pretty hilarious so far, not least for VInce, who's occupation is 'coconut vendor' and reveals himself to be a creepy weirdo almost immediately by asking a girl he thought he had a 'connection' with if she liked another guy instead. On Day 1.

Zesty
Jan 17, 2012

The Great Twist
The behind the scenes stuff for that season is way more :stare: than you can imagine. That cast is full of crazy people.

Rarity
Oct 21, 2010

~*4 LIFE*~
Oh man Worlds Apart suuuuuuuuuucked

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Eh. On a binge I can see it holding up as the Torture of Jenn followed by the Weirdness of Shirin and finally the Battle of Mike. It's got narratives and memorable players. That's more than I can remember from some more recent seasons.

Spatula City
Oct 21, 2010

LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING
Worlds Apart is mostly dragged down by Dan and Will being tremendously lovely people. Rodney has bad moments, too, but also fun ones. I would love to see Rodney back in a less toxic environment (Second Chances 2 would be perfect, but another straight All Stars like Game-Changers, not so much).
it is also dragged down because Mike won on the back of an immunity run. Although, he got to the point where he could by navigating through a sea of snakes, and the editing does build up a pretty effective good versus evil, one man against them all story.
It's weird to me that Shirin, Hali, and Sierra have come back, but Carolyn hasn't yet.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Yeah, it's got toxic personalities which hurts. But they're juxtaposed with some absurd characters so it's not as bad as it could be. And "immunity run" isn't an objective negative. Some people don't like it but for some people it can be a compelling overcoming the odds story.

It's not great or anything, it's just that there's stuff I remember positively from it while I have to rack my brain to remember some of the seasons since.

STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Mar 18, 2018

Fallen One
May 1, 2007

" Whoa! Death? He's come for me!... Death is sleeping too..."

STAC Goat posted:

Yeah, it's got toxic personalities which hurts. But they're juxtaposed with some absurd characters so it's not as bad as it could be. And "immunity run" isn't an objective negative. Some people don't like it but for some people it can be a compelling overcoming the odds story.

It's not great or anything, it's just that there's stuff I remember positively from it while I have to rack my brain to remember some of the seasons since.

The ending saved it from being a bottom three season for me (up to a bottom ten season). I think Worlds Apart has the least likable post merge majority alliance of any season barring maybe Redemption Island. Even the "heroes" of the season were pretty flawed. I think Mike had some arguments with the women of his tribe early on that didn't look good for him, it was easy to see how Shirin could be annoying, and Jen came just short of quitting.

Dugong
Mar 18, 2013

I don't know what to do,
I'm going to lose my mind

Jenn was the only good thing about that season.

ApplesandOranges
Jun 22, 2012

Thankee kindly.
The Shirin-Will stuff in the middle was just uncomfortable, but it's a breath of fresh air compared to Koah Rong and Game Changers.

It's okay. Not great, but I think the winner was fine, and I don't dislike them like I did Sarah.

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!
At the very least, Dan's jackass behavior on social media gave us the most gloriously awkward finale segment of all time.

ApplesandOranges
Jun 22, 2012

Thankee kindly.
The Varner-Zeke 'reunion' takes the cake for that one.

Apparently Varner had an interview with Scot from Koah Rong recently-ish and he's still a pile of crap.

Vernacular
Nov 29, 2004
Just caught up on this season and am enjoying it so far. Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of dead weight cast-wise, though I am a bit bummed they didn't split everybody up into three tribes at the swap. Just kinda makes it look like production was being cheap and didn't want to pay for another beach.

Laurel is pretty great, and would have to be my pick for pony so far. James, Stephanie and Wendell are likable as well. As somebody else said, Bradley has the makings of a good villain.

I was worried about the Ghost Island gimmick, and maybe it gets grating as they continue to hammer away at it, but so far it seems tolerable. If anything, I'm wondering if it will be approached conservatively more often than not. We could very well see winning tribes electing to make losing tribes go for rocks with the chosen person then electing to go the Kellye (sp?) route and conserve their vote more often than not.

blue squares
Sep 28, 2007

I just rewatched the Varner outing and it is just as terrible as the first time I saw it

The Bloop
Jul 5, 2004

by Fluffdaddy

blue squares posted:

I just rewatched the Varner outing and it is just as terrible as the first time I saw it

You just saying that made me relive seeing the utterly crushed look on Zeke's face while he was trying to keep it together :smith:

Invalid Validation
Jan 13, 2008




Such a lovely thing to do and it was probably the producers wet dream.

Fast Luck
Feb 2, 1988

ApplesandOranges posted:

The Shirin-Will stuff in the middle was just uncomfortable, but it's a breath of fresh air compared to Koah Rong and Game Changers.

It's okay. Not great, but I think the winner was fine, and I don't dislike them like I did Sarah.
I liked it less than those, but it has some good moments, like the whole auction and auction fallout was pretty great, but overall, watching it week-to-week, it just got enormously dragged down by the Will stuff, where that was all anyone could talk about anymore as it was airing, and that sort of thing really doesn't have anything to do with a good season of Survivor imo. It might actually be better on a fast rewatch actually since you can just move on to the next episode instead of getting bogged down in Will/Shirin chat for weeks. I was a bit annoyed by the ending but it had nothing on last season, which took it from "this guy is lucky he got to the end since nobody wanted him in the game starting at f9" to "this guy has literally no business making it to the end."

SweetJahasus
Dec 23, 2005

Dragon Slayer
Samurai Warrior
Escape Artist
Viking
Chong-Ra Master

BE THE WIZARD

Dugong posted:

Jenn was the only good thing about that season.

Rodney, once he got past the initial couple of misogyny-filled episodes turned out pretty drat funny. To this day, I still constantly reference the "it's my birthday, bro" and the "zero point zero zero zero percent chance" he's going home ...he went home.

ApplesandOranges
Jun 22, 2012

Thankee kindly.
I was okay with Worlds Apart because well... the only thing that would have saved that season was Mike or Carolyn winning, and that happened. The editors gave us effective villains to root against, but at least they didn't win. Plus it gave us America-loving Hali, Fan Favourite Sierra Dawn Thomas, and other... characters.

Koah Rong was actively worse for me because you have the Alecia bullying at the start, and then everything in the middle. It was only palatable when Scot/Jason were split up, and then after they were both taken out.

Also I liked Michele ever since she used the word 'malarkey'.

clown shoes
Jul 17, 2004

Nothing but clowns down here.

blue squares posted:

I just rewatched the Varner outing and it is just as terrible as the first time I saw it

Holy crap! This is one of the most disgusting things I've ever watched. Even Jeff Probst is horrified and I feel like that's something that doesn't happen often.

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!
On the flip side, Rodney's Dan impersonation videos are some of the funniest things ever.

SweetJahasus
Dec 23, 2005

Dragon Slayer
Samurai Warrior
Escape Artist
Viking
Chong-Ra Master

BE THE WIZARD

Propaganda Machine posted:

On the flip side, Rodney's Dan impersonation videos are some of the funniest things ever.

Lone Goat
Apr 16, 2003

When life gives you lemons, suplex those lemons.




ApplesandOranges posted:

Plus it gave us America-loving Hali, Fan Favourite Sierra Dawn Thomas, and other... characters.

These are good things??

ApplesandOranges
Jun 22, 2012

Thankee kindly.

Lone Goat posted:

These are good things??

Like 3/4ths of Gabon, they're basically inoffensive trainwrecks. Plus we got 'I do not consent' out of Hali when she came back, the spiritual ancestor of 'I dissent'.

Metis of the Chat Thread
Aug 1, 2014


oh man I forgot how great Hali was

Her weird art project in Ponderosa was top notch stuff

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TASTE THE PAIN!!
May 18, 2004

:laffo: I want those pastries!

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