DON'T TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT: It may be season 23, but there's still a reason to watch Survivor.
There's a few things we know about the show at this point, and I want to focus on two: (1) if you're at the low end of your alliance, they'd better give you a damn good reason to stay loyal; and (2) when in doubt, vote someone else out.
No, John No-E Cochran isn't likely to win this game regardless, and maybe shouldn't have owned his move so quickly, but he had no reason to stay put where he was. Ozzy's awful acting job at Redemption Island doomed the possibility of his harebrained scheme working, so, at that point, why trust a rock that's 40% likely to fall on someone in your tribe and 10% on you? Add to that just how suavely Coach played things, and the result wasn't surprising -- but a hell of a lot of fun. Yay.
I wasn't in on Cochran at first, but I have to say that the production staff both cast it right and got lucky enough with the ginger wonder. Survivor has tried to cast game-savvy players the last few seasons (and, really, every season since the game became a full-fledged cultural entity), but they usually end up voted off right away for various reasons. It doesn't help that anyone can claim to to be a strategic player, during the casting process, without any real way to cross-check that, but Cochran will likely be remembered no matter how far he goes for this move.
ReplyDeleteAnd, in the end, only one person wins a season. The odds (no matter how you calculate them) are against you no matter what. Best case scenario: Cochran gets in with the other team, and they somehow run the table with their newfound 6-5 advantage. Who knows how far Cochran makes it once the original tribe alliances fracture, but I think he's probably ensured himself a top-eight finish with this betrayal, probably even top-five. Of course, knowing my analysis, he'll be gone next week.
Whatever the case, this move is a hall of fame manuever. Cochran may or may not get entry, but this move is definitely on exhibit in one of the wings.
I thought someone said it was 6-4,which would mean that everyone but the vote-receivers are eligible including those who were immune. I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteBonus Clip: they offered Cochran a Final Four slot with Coach/Sophie/Albert to flip. That explains everything.
ReplyDeleteHoly crap, that was awesome! What dickheads like Ozzy and Keith (and apparently the strangely, suddenly venomous former nonentity Whitney) forget is, there's a basic law of human social interaction that goes something like: If you shit all over a person, continually and openly, for your entire acquaintance, you DO NOT get to be surprised when they do not feel or display loyalty for you. I actually Terrorist-Fist-Jabbed Mr. Gleemonex over that Lil' Hantz comment (in the thread title) -- damn right, you don't get to talk to him that way. IDIOTS.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great episode. I think Cochran comes off as a total dick - the type of nerd who never gets over being bullied in high school and takes it out on everyone else (see also, with a lesser rage factor, Nolan on Revenge, the season's best new show IMO). That said, his tribe are total idiots for not realizing the type of person Cochran is and how he was OF COURSE going to flip if they didn't give him a reason to stick with them. This part of Survivor (right after the merge) always feels a little "the ant and the grasshopper" - the "hot" tribe who've spent the first half of the game congratulating themselves on how awesome, smart, and attractive they are now get screwed by the industrious ants who have been thinking about strategy and how to win the WHOLE game, not just part of it.
ReplyDeleteThe weirdest part of all of this is that Coach is the one thinking about strategy. He has really figured out how to play the game and I am very impressed.
Great scene - again showing Coach being totally in control of this game... (Also love when Albert gets hit with a palm frond halfway through).
ReplyDeleteRe: the casting process, they've gotten more serious about casting game-savvy people since they started doing the "bring back 2 previous players" thing. I know for this season they were concerned about having players who knew who Coach and Ozzy were (and had knowledge of their seasons) so they skewed more heavily toward fans of the show than toward models they met out in Hollywood...thank goodness...
ReplyDeleteAgreed on all fronts. That scene where Coach expertly dissected Savaii's plan to Cochran's face really let me see him in a whole new light as an intelligent and strategic player. Unlike Ozzy, Coach actually seems to have learned how to play the game from his previous appearances.
ReplyDeleteThat does indeed explain everything. Although I look forward to Cochran's efforts to explain it to his former Savaii tribemates.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Coach is the real surprise to me -- he's actually learned from each of his Survivor experiences, whereas Ozzy has just gotten to be a bigger and bigger egotistical socially-retarded dick.
ReplyDeleteThat was infuriating at the end -- the "guys, I'll explain." They're not your friends anymore, John No-E. Just tell them "I did this to you before you could do it to me."
ReplyDeleteWhile I at first railed against bringing back some of these players, it's actually been massively interesting to see who's learned from their previous mistakes (Rob, Coach) and who hasn't (Russell, Ozzy)...
ReplyDeleteIt'd be nice if they brought back female competitors as well. Or Andrew Savage.
ReplyDeleteThey did bring back Steph LaGrossa, although that was arguably a different format.
ReplyDeleteNo question, that's exactly what he SHOULD tell them. My expectation, however, is that he has dreamed up some grand, possibly deluded, certainly narcissistic dissertation to deliver in his defense.
ReplyDeleteI was under the assumption that all holders of immunity remained immune to the rock pull, but I too could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteToo many people have lost this game because they weren't able to own their strategy. Think of poor Scoutmaster Lill.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Official Rules (on Reality Blurred), everyone's eligible but (a) people who were voted against in the tie, and (b) holders of challenge-based immunity.
ReplyDeleteSo Whitney was back in the risk pool, but not Ozzy or Dawn, which made the rock pull a 1 in 8 chance.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see a "people who were gone too soon" season - Savage, that cute girl Michelle from Earl's season, Brian from Guatemala (skinny kid who was a big fan), etc. I think they worry there aren't enough die-hard fans to get excited about such minor characters.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, would love to see some women come back...(but please no more Stephenie - that was one example of someone who had a ton of goodwill built up from her first season and then managed to squander it all. And her name always looks like a typo, it's killing me not to go back up and change it to "Stephanie"...)
That's exactly why I stopped at "Steph," bella.
ReplyDeleteI think there are plenty of women from recent seasons who I'd love to see play again... just off the top of my head: Natalie B (viscious black widow 'fan' in Micronesia), Corinne, Crystal, Shambo, Natalie W (beat Russell), Brenda, Jane, Holly, Andrea, and now Sophie and Dawn.
ReplyDeleteBTW guys -- have you seen the rumors for next season's twist? Looks HIGHLY fascinating... far better than any of this redemption island mess.
I believe that rule book was from a season before the hidden immunity idols were introduced, and if that's the case, then who knows.
ReplyDelete