SURVIVOR: BLOOD VS WATER 2 – 11/12/14

Once they return to camp, Jeremy is congratulated for the victory, and it also gives Jon and Jaclyn a chance to rekindle their love for one another. It’s been 2 days apart! But, before that, he whispers to her that he found the idol. Like a boss, she handles that info coolly with no reaction. As everyone knows, this vote is going one of two ways, so whichever alliance can lasso in Jonclyn will control the fate of the game.

The “Josh” alliance decides to vote for Baylor, since she couldn’t tell Josh a lie and commit to his side. That’s 5 votes for Baylor. And depending on which side Jonclyn sides with, Josh confesses,

“This could be my last day out here…” But that couldn’t happen so easily, now, could it?

Jon and Jaclyn step away to get some quality time together (strategizing time, what did you think I meant?) and she reveals her new plan to vote out the “Joshes” because they were ignoring her when Jon was on Exile and treating her like dirt. Plus, she says, we have a better chance to beat the Missy/Baylor/Natalie alliance (we’ll get to Jeremy later) than to go up against the guys. Jon is listening to Jaclyn, but he’s not hearing her. He thinks she’s reacting emotionally when it’s “just a game” and he still believes the story Josh floated them about Jeremy being a “struggling firefighter with a wife and two kids” and his story would be too much for the jury to vote against.

I don’t know why Jon is buying into that since their stories (his father’s illness, her past physical issues) are pretty damn compelling too; but Jon was the first person out on the concentration challenge…so his brain might be mush. I think Michigan State should consider doing a study on the long-term effects of concussions in their former football players, and perhaps they should start with Jon…? Needless to say, everything is still up in the air, and at this moment, the people who have a possibility of going home are:

Josh
Baylor
Jaclyn
Alec
Wes
Reed
Missy

…all for a variety of reasons.

Over at the well, Jeremy, Natalie, Missy, and Keith are discussing the vote. Missy is trying to get Keith to vote with them, since they were all original Hunahpu. Keith is hesitant to make the jump back and tells the others that his alliance is targeting Baylor, since, “she don’t do squat.” He then takes it a step farther and chastises Missy for stepping up to do Baylor’s work whenever she’s being a lazy dog. Probably not the best thing to tell the other alliance, or to tell her mom (!), but Keith is just being Keith. When Missy returns to camp, she tells Baylor what Keith said, which means they need to have Jonclyn’s votes to stay alive. And of course what does the “lazy dog” decide to do? She tells her mom to go do it… Ok, thanks for playing this season, Baylor…

And in the final scenes before the tribe heads to Tribal, we see Missy and Jon sharing a conversation about voting out Josh, which he seems kind of wishy-washy about. This reminds me that I’ve heard Jon and Missy were very close this season but we’re not seeing any of that in the edit… Hmm, suspicious minds want to know why that’s being hidden from us…

Back at camp, Jon whispers to the “Joshes” who the “Jeremys” are voting for: Josh. And while he gives them the impression he is too, Jaclyn is clearly not on the same page as Jon and there could be trouble brewing. In fact, I even hear Jeremy saying that he doesn’t trust Jon, so there’s a little trouble in doggieland. One thing I’m definitely noticing is there’s a lot less smooching between Jon and Jaclyn since returning from the challenge, so is there any possibly they could be splitting their votes? Looks like we’ll find out soon as we’re heading to Tribal…

Quick reminder:

Jeremy has the Immunity Necklace
Jon has a hidden Immunity Idol (only Jaclyn knows)
Keith has a hidden Immunity Idol (no one knows?) and will not be heard from at Tribal

Jeff opens by asking Jeremy how important winning Immunity was, and it clearly was. Josh is asked if he also felt pressure today, and he did. So with the alliances fairly out in the open, where does that leave Jon and Jaclyn? In the middle again…which is kind of surprising to Jeff, who’s been through a lot of Tribals. And something about the way Jon says they’re being approached from both alliances makes a few players perk up their ears.

Natalie discusses how both the alliances can make a play for Jon, and she says that they still consider him an original Hunahpu, and that group can be trusted. Natalie then does the wisest thing she’s done all season and brings up the fact the Joshes treated Jaclyn like she didn’t exist when Jon was at Exile. This elicits a very quick reaction from Jaclyn, who says she felt very disrespected when he was gone. And the moment he returned, everyone went up to him for his input. She reminds them that she and Jon vote together, and maybe they should be smarter in the future. Alec just kind of looks around, clearly not paying attention to anything she’s saying…

Jeff picks up on the weight of this new topic and asks Jaclyn if she feels disrespected, and she says,

“Yeah, by a few people.”

Missy decides to lay it out for Jeff (and us, thanks!) and tells him about the boorish behavior by the “frat house guys.” This makes Keith speak up. Yay, he’s talking!

“I haven’t heard Wesley fart lately, or spit…”

Okay, Keith, maybe you shouldn’t have shared that with the group… He continues that everyone in this group has probably has gas (thanks Survivor Post for the SFX of the thunder in the bg!), but his point is essentially, “This ain’t the Hilton.” Yes, sir, this Nicaraguan beach is definitely not that bastion of high culture and fine dining…the Hilton! Ok, I get it, he’s defending his son, but he’s also revealing that he’s not the most well bred individual. And I bet he doesn’t care one dadgum iota about that, Mr. Fish!

So with all this turmoil brewing, Reed discusses Jeff’s “perception vs. reality” notion that Jaclyn’s thoughts of feeling disrespected are her “reality.” And while Reed claims he’s been nothing but the cat’s meow to all the girls, he does want this opportunity to lobby for Jon’s vote, since Natalie already put her alliances’ claws into him. Jeff obliges and Reed makes the case that if Jonclyn votes against the Joshes, what’s to stop all those “dirty singles over there” (uh, I guess that’s Jeremy and Natalie?) to vote him/them out.

This immediately makes Jeremy speak up and assert that if Jon sides with the Joshes, what’s to stop them from voting him out because he’d be the biggest threat to them.

“Absolutely not,” Reed replies. And I guess we should believe him because he can do a standing split?

Regardless, Jeff ends the discussion by asking Jon how he’s feeling about being the middle (and boy, I wonder if Jaclyn is wondering why Jeff didn’t ask HER how she’s feeling…?). But Jon is going to be diplomatic, and not say that it’s good either way. It’s just that these decisions are game changers,

“…and that could be scary.”

And with that, it’s time to vote. We see votes for Baylor and Josh, but here’s the order they’re revealed:

Baylor
Josh
Baylor
Josh
Baylor
Josh
Baylor
Josh
Baylor
Josh

One vote left…

Josh!

So, we know that Jon and Jaclyn both voted for Josh, which reveals how they’re voting THIS WEEK! Who knows what direction the wind will blow next time? And with the “head of the snake” cut off (oooh, can we use a different metaphor for that?) what will happen to the “BurpFarts” next week? It looks like it’s 6 vs. 4 now, but Keith does have that secret idol!

Or does he!? Next week’s tease reveals that Reed has lowered his standards and is now willing to go through HIS OWN ALLIANCES’ belongings for any opening. And when he finds a clue in Keith’s bag, the whole camp is in an uproar. Let’s see if Keith opens up a can of whoop-ass on that “other Josh” and survives next week.

Did you all enjoy that huge revelation on The Walking Dead that going to Washington isn’t going to happen now? So many questions that episode generated. So much to look forward to next week. I think Sunday’s episode is going to be the biggest one of the season. Hope you are enjoying TWD as much as I am.

Things are whittling down on The Amazing Race as well. I’m kind of feeling about that show the way many of you are feeling about Survivor. There just isn’t anyone I really like, so it’s kind of boring to me. I have criticisms on everyone, so I’m just kind of “watching” the show. I guess that’s really the way I watch Survivor. I don’t care so much about the contestants (although I do loathe some!). I love the competition of these shows. I love seeing how the players interact and plot their course. I like watching the choices that are made and how it affects each teams/players game. That’s what I really love about Survivor. I could care less who actually wins the game (it’s not me, so f**k it…) but watching the gamesmanship of the competition is what’s compelling.

It’s like when I play online poker – and I play a lot of it – there are some hands you go all in and there are some hands you just want to see what the turn offers, but on many hands you fold, because it’s just not worth it. I’ve always compared Survivor to a very elaborate poker game, because players can be rewarded by going all-in or folding. And sometimes the cards are just not dealt in your favor. The important thing is you have to look for those subtle moments to make your move, and hope the other guy doesn’t have a better hand.

Thanks for reading…
Fish

Email: bryan.fish.fischer@gmail.com
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