Survivor 28: Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty: Week 11

The SpyShack is a little ol' place where we can get together.

I have just been notified by my sources in the blogosphere that Survivor has now been re-titled The Tony Show.

There have been players more hated.

There have certainly been players more loved. 

But has there ever been a player (not named Tim Tebow) who has been more polarizing?

The general populace appears to be an exterior manifestation of my own struggle to decide what I think about this guy.

In a 10 minutes span, I spoke with 2 people who despise Tony as an unrepentant prick who keeps screwing people over and then lucks into idols.  I then spoke with 2 more who applaud his deductive reasoning skills in terms of idol location and believe that he is playing the perfect game given the excellent hand he has been dealt.

Savior or Goat?  Leader or Tyrant? Butthole with brains or Butthole with luck?

As Spencer pointed out, Tony plays hard but not always smart.

I tend to look at the situation from the Jeffersonian point of view:

“I am a great believer in luck.  I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

--Thomas Jefferson

I firmly believe that Spencer is smarter than Tony and has certainly played a more consistent game, but, in actuality, what has he done (aside from speaking eloquently in front of the camera) that can be viewed as appreciably smarter than many of the coups accomplished by Tony?

Even the most recent Tony flop had far less to do with Spencer’s scrambling than it did with Tash’s heady decision to hang around in the ocean with the girls to scare Woo and Tony.

It is not uncommon in life to see intelligent people fail at their chosen endeavors.

Thus far, I have yet to see an obscenely lucky and extremely hard working person fail at anything.

In short, you underestimate Tony at your own peril.

**Supplemental Observation**

I am absolutely amazed that half of the remaining players in the game are from the brains tribe.

If someone had told me after week 4 that they thought 3 of the final 6 people would hail from one of the most laughably incompetent tribes in Survivor history, I would have hit them in the upper body with a crowbar until they reconsidered.

I’d congratulate the brainy folks on their acumen but I am pretty sure their baboonery made them seem so inconsequential that other people simply forgot to vote them out.

The "Brains" tribe on week 1

Rant of the Week:  Why the Hell Does Kass Feel Like She Has “Done Enough.”?

At some point in the life of every egotistical jackwagon, pomposity morphs into delusion.

When I heard Kass profess in her candid interview that she had “done enough” to be secure in her alliance I raised my eyebrows so suddenly in disbelief that I pulled a muscle in my face.

I suppose for a deceitful shyster attorney like Kass, not %$#@ing anybody over for more than 2 weeks is tantamount to a lifetime of fidelity.

If the aforementioned devotion to her comrades is not, in and of itself, sufficient to have earned her a free pass, perhaps it is:

·         The valiant way she missed Spencer grabbing an idol 4 feet from her face?

·         Challenge excellence so thorough that every team unlucky enough to absorb her has lost their reward challenge?

·         Her excellence at grabbing water.  You know, those 2 times she did it?

·         The diplomatic way that she belittles people in less powerful positions to create additional instability.  Always a good idea when you have the numbers?

·         Her history of betrayal which brings her alliance together in the spirit of “I’d better make a move before Kass flops again.”?

Kass has “Done Enough” to ensure that everyone who is not related to her by blood (and half of the ones that are) holds her in contempt, greatly bolstering her chances at final 3.

Maybe that’s what she meant but I doubt it….

Good Move of the Week:

Tasha getting all giggly with the girls wins this weeks laurels.  While lacking in brilliance and deviousness, the plan was perfectly subtle. 

Tony might not buy it if people run their mouth off about one thing or another, but watching him darting nervous glances toward the ladies of the sea and completely unable to carry on a conversation with Spencer verified the genius of the maneuver.

Innuendo.  Shifty eyes.  Whispers in the dark. 

These are the ways to manipulate Tony.  Hats off to Tash for a well-played gambit.

Other Good moves:

1)      The Survivor editing team has done a much better job this season with the dissemination of information to the viewer. 

In the past, one could simply note that they were interviewing a boring person more than usual and deduce that they were getting wiped out.  



Most seasons, they would have interviewed Jefra for 2/3 of the episode.  Mercifully, we were spared such unpleasentness this season.


Occasionally, they would show spoiler footage during the week showing people missing. 

I think the combination of mercurial players and heady editing have made it much for difficult to anticipate the outcome of each episode.

2)      Tony was wise to display the normal idol at council.  Some people already suspected he had one so it didn’t really provide any additional info other than the fact that he the idol he has is the regular idol. 

Only 1 person left on the island has found an idol so I seriously doubt anyone will guess he has 2 of them.

 

Dumbass Move of the Week:

The collective foolishness of all survivor females not named Tash.

How can someone get this far into the game and think it is a good idea to huddle around in ocean with the enemy, flouting a 4-3 gender advantage right in front of the General Secretary of Paranoia?

Dumb move ladies.  Dumb move....



Tony watches as the remaining female players change into their pajamas and enjoy a pillow/tickle fight in the shelter while singing Alanis Morissette songs



Other Bad moves:

1)      Were it not for the fact that previous seasons have occassionally followed the challenge advantage bid with a clue to a hidden idol, I would have called Tash’s refusal to throw her 500 bucks into the ring just to reduce Tony’s chance at winning the auction the dipshit move of the week. 

If she bids, Tash and her ally have a 67% chance to winning a major game advantage.  By not doing so, she allowed Mr. Luckypants Tony a 50-50 shot. 

Given the way this season has gone, we all knew before the draw how that was going to turn out.

2)      Last week, I said that Jefra’s decision to flip, then flop, and then tell everyone about it would kill her game. 

This week, she knew Tony was pissed, she knew that there is little room in Tony’s game for anyone but Tony, and she knew Woo does whatever Tony tells him. 

Jefra had yet another chance to seize control of her fate and make a move but foolishly allowed herself to be carried along the dangerous currents of end game Survivor.

Given the volatility of both Kass and Tony (not to mention the previews suggesting as much), it seems clear this situation is going to explode. 

This week will tell us a lot about Tony-Try-hard: Corrupt Cop.  If he can swallow his pride and focus on eliminating the real threats instead of letting worthless Kass hack him off into voting stupidly, he may be able to get to the final 3 on physical prowess along. 

If not, He’ll make it to 4.  No more, No less.

Prediction:  I don’t feel good about this guess but I think Kass goes home.  Starving Tony probably can’t control the urge….