I don’t want to provide a long list of former players now because I know there’s a lot of factors involved in casting a show. And since Survivor has a very capable casting department who does their jobs very well, I’ve leave that to them. I’m sure everyone has their own list of favorite “villains,” but you just can’t pick the meanest, nastiest players (Hello, Russell!) And obviously, you can’t just take 10 of the dirtiest players and not expect to have your audience leave in droves. But I think if you find those players who embody both the good (intelligence) and bad (the “dark” side, shall we say?) then they might walk a successful fine line.
Just to give you one example, a guy like Vytas, while he came across as a relatively honorable guy, he did do that cheap shot on Aras in the baton challenge, and he also told us how he’d be “playing” the women when he was the only guy on the tribe. Again, I don’t want to start listing all the players who I think should be on the season, I just want to throw it out to you folks for your input, and if you send in some comments or tweets or emails, maybe somehow the show will catch wind of what we’re discussing and perhaps give it some thought. Hell, I heard Lisa Whelchel was cast on the show partly because of the huge push her Twitter followers made. Who knows? Maybe there’s an idea in here somewhere…
And since I don’t want to be one of those people who say, “I have an idea! But I can’t find a pencil to write it down,” and it dies right there. I’m saying I have an idea and I want to throw out a few suggestions on how it might work. Here we go…
The season revolves around the theme of sabotaging the other tribe. This may involve the following:
1. On Day 1, two “leaders” are selected to choose tribes (schoolyard pick) for the other leader. This could promote a unique reverse selection process (worst players chosen first).
2. At any challenge where players have to sit out, the other tribe will choose who sits. Standard Survivor rules apply (can’t sit out same player in consecutive challenges). This might lead to choosing to have a good swimmer sit out or a good puzzle maker sit when there’s a puzzle to figure out.
3. During challenges, tribes may select to hinder (sabotage) the other tribe or help their own during certain stages of the challenge. Not to the point of kicking player’s legs (a la Ben Browning), but there could be devices set up to slow the other tribe down. This will have to be considered when designing challenges…
4. After a reward challenge, the winning tribe will select 1 or 2 player(s) to go raid the other camp of one item each. Aside from certain items that can be placed in a lock box, any other item can be stolen (food, tarp, pillow, clothing, hat, etc.). A time limit will be established for the raid.
5. Exile Island will provide clues to finding hidden immunity idols at THE OTHER TRIBE’S CAMP. So when players go to conduct a raid, the “raiders” can choose to either take items or look for the hidden immunity idol. Given the time limit, raiders may not want to divulge where the idol might be (as they could be followed by the raided tribe) or maybe they’ll give the clue to someone on the raided tribe and take an item?
6. At final tribal, players can choose 1 (or 2?) jury members whose votes won’t count for the opposing player(s). Perhaps you choose to have 2 votes cancelled for one strong finalist, or maybe you spread the agony and have one vote cancelled for each finalist (assuming there’s 3 finalists). The choice can be made AFTER the jury has voted and revealed at Season Finale…
I’m sure there are a host of other ideas that could fit this theme. These are just the ones that occurred to me in a single sitting. So let’s hear what you guys and gals have to say! Who knows, maybe something we suggest will find its way to our favorite show/pastime/addiction. Of course, I want a producer credit! 😉
Enough with Season 30, let’s dive into episode 8 of Season 28, curiously entitled, “Bag of Tricks.” From last week’s tease and the promos I saw this week, I know things are heating up at Solarrion. Tony and Woo might be working against each other, or is LJ a part of the picture? And more importantly, on which side of the fence is Kass going to stand? Maybe she’s come to her senses and realized she needs to be with people and not just making big moves… Let’s see what drama unfolds tonight.
Jeff’s recap reminds us that we’re 6 Tigers vs. 3 Lambs. The Tigers are led by LJ and Tony, Spencer (a Lamb) holds a hidden immunity idol, Kass is on the hot seat due to her previous choices, and there’s that damned Tyler Perry idol somewhere around camp.
Following last week’s tribal, the tribe wanders back to camp and Tony is all messed up. He can’t even place his torch without knocking over everyone else’s. Love the fact that he just said, “f**k it” and didn’t bother to pick theirs up! He’s miffed about something, and we find out it’s because he saw his name written down 4 times at Tribal. Spencer must have just told him that having his name called out like that is a compliment, because Tony’s questioning how Spencer could see it that way.
“Because you’re a threat.”
Tony is seriously focused on one thing and one thing only: he wants to win the game. He wants to win the game so much he can’t even SEE why the Lambs would have voted for him. “Morgan was undeserving, that’s why she’s not here no more,” is what he tells them. “If you agree, why didn’t you just come to me and say, ‘Let’s all vote out Morgan.’” So I guess Tony feels that he’s running the show and everyone should just come to him with their plans…
“Caesar, the other Lambs and I have decided to vote out Morgan. What say you…?”
What I find odd is that Tony thinks the other tribe would include him in their plans. (Isn’t that what alliances are for?) Let me make this clear for Tony… You see, the thing is:
EVERYONE ELSE WANTS TO WIN THE GAME, TOO
So Tony tells us that even though it’s now 6 vs. 3, there’s no guarantee that he’ll make the top 6. He’s got to keep his thinking cap on, and as always, he’s looking to make a big move. “The chance to make top 6 may not come for some of them,” and in the shot we see a close-up of LJ, so I’m wondering if there’s any foreshadowing going on… Sneaky editors.
The next morning, Trish and LJ are discussing Tony’s reaction to Spencer’s “compliment” comment. While they understand why he’d react that way, they agree he’s going into scramble mode, since he’s feeling targeted. A scrambling Tony is a bad Tony, and they just wish he’d chill out for a second and breathe…
And so we see LJ and Tony walking together discussing what to do, and in Tony’s ITM (I guess they’re called “confessionals” on Survivor) he tells us that when he looks at LJ he sees himself – someone who’s the playing the game very smartly. But while Tony is an “in your face” kind of player, LJ is more calm and cool. And Tony doesn’t like that. He knows he’s going to have to target LJ eventually, but he doesn’t want to do it in a way that could lose him jury votes. Tony wants to set LJ up to break a promise he’s made to someone else, and then turn on him when it’s revealed. The two guys then discuss idols, and Tony immediately says, “Woo’s got it.” LJ suggests that maybe they should turn on Woo before he turns on them. That’s all Tony needed to hear. He can now use this to turn on LJ…
Enjoyed the recap as always. 🙂 Do you watch the Ponderosa videos? I watched the one where LJ got to Ponderosa and the look of hate Morgan was giving him was really weird. I wonder what that’s all about. Can you clarify how he was boorish? I doubt Morgan used that word herself. Ha Ha. Anyway, as much as I hated to see him go, he had a weird video. He got all Zen-ish at Ponderosa (doing yoga on the beach) and said he was going to be the most influential person in Boston, to paraphrase. Maybe he and Vytas should be buddies. Kinda funny.
Thanks, kinb! I do watch the Ponderosa videos. There’s usually some very revealing info in them. Not just how much weight was lost, but since it’s the first time the players are “out of the game” but still dealing with people “in the game,” (who oftentimes have a lot of unanswered questions!) it’s neat to see how those interactions go. And I totally know what you mean about Morgan’s hate look. As I mentioned in the recap, in her After Show interview with Parv, she mentioned that she didn’t like LJ at all. I don’t wanna go back and watch their whole video, but she mentioned something like, “his stories were very boring.” I get the feeling that either A) she tried to work her magic on him and he just blew her off, which pissed her off, or B) she liked him enough to want to pursue an alliance with him and he just blew her off. As we’ve heard, she’s a girl who usually gets her way based on her looks, and since that didn’t work on LJ, he’s “boorish” (my word) and she’s a bitch.
Yeah, I think he went a little bonkers on the island. I wasn’t kidding when I was saying that he started to look very tired. Not just physically, but mentally. Maybe the weight loss, sleep deprivation, and PTSD got to him. Sometimes, saying crazy big things seems like a good idea, but after some thought, he probably realized that sounded kinda dumb. But hey, more power to him if he’s aspiring to do great things. I just think he’ll try to milk his 15 minutes, and either find someone to spend his life with (or 6 months) or just go back to his farm. And I’m not trying to rip him, as I said, I liked LJ from the get go… Good luck to him!