Survivor 11 - Guatemala - The Maya Empire

hmmm it could be the light but it looks like a couple girls have moustaches

I think the reason they had Steph and Bobby Jon is because they were the last two of the tribe where no immunities challenages were won. I don't think they broached the question to Ian.

I do like Steph, but she may get voted out as she is definately a threat. She did make some not so smart moves in the prior survivor, but it sounded like she learned at least something from that. She made the suggestions on who should row and where the strongest should be - so maybe she has gained some smarts.

Enough with the vomiting. Start the backstabbing already.

I'm having a hard time sorting out the players this time. But I'm rooting for the team Steph is on. I was sorry to see they lost both challenges this week. A bad omen?

I had no recollection of Morgan. Get rid of her? I didn't even know she was there.

Roberta!!!

Morgan was the one who was dilly-dallying around at camp -- standing there drinking water and looking vaguely tragic, dipping her tootsies in the lake, etc.

I really like Lydia, glad she wasn't voted off. I don't know if I've EVER seen such fish-catching smarts on Survivor. What was that thing!? I know it caught only minnows, but seemingly effortlessly once it was built, and enough minnows can go far. Not to mention being bait if that team gets fishing gear later.

I like the big ol' doorman guy on the other team and how he's sick of the muscly types being... sick.

I don't think it was necessarily a bad omen that Steph's team lost both challenges -- I think it's a measure of how evenly matched they (the producers) tried to make the two teams this year. No more of that lopsidedness from last year.

But!! I'm super-glad that in deciding to vote off Morgan instead of Steph they're not doing the "vote the strong ones off early" strategy. I hate that strategy, it's boring.

I instantly like Danni a lot more for the fact that she recognized Gary (Hogeboom), former NFL quarterback. Seemed like it might be smart to hoard that info, but who knows. Whatsisname (cute, earnest, sticky-outy-ears) seems to have some sort of alliance with Gary and seems to believe him for now. And now that Gary's out-and-out denied it, rather than the caginess of saying he's landscaper ("well, they didn't ask me what I did 15 years ago"), that could bite him in the butt.

I love the fact that "fishmonger" is still a job title in the 21st century.

How come they never make a soup out of the food they find?
Soup goes further and has hydrating qualities.

I've never quite understood the water situation on Survivor. Jeff is always saying things like "4 days without food and water sure takes its toll" but then you see them chugging the stuff.

IF they have limited water, that could be one answer, but they seem to have as much as they want.

Maybe lack of bowls/ receptacles?

That's what I kept wondering when watching: Why does JP keep saying these people have NO WATER? How can these people have NO WATER? Obviously, the Survivor producers would have to set up these people in camps near some water source--even if they have to boil the water.

I thought the tug of war challenge was unfair--the team with the biggest, heaviest man was destined to win. How could the lightweights on the other team possibly move that man in order to get closer to their flag?

Why would the ex-football player run to the other side to tackle the big man near his flag? Tackling him didn't do any good when the person closest to his flag won the match.

I liked Lydia too. I am also happy to see that she spoke up for herself, but in a good way, not b*tchy or whiny. That fish catching was very smart. The rest of the team thought they could do that too. Of course they could, after she showed them. I would want to keep her and see what other smart things she can come up with. Also, I didn't think she did so badly on the challenge. She made it through, where that gay guy couldn't.

I also think this team Steph's on is smart. Look how they voted and went about it. I remember hearing one player state that he didn't care that strongly one way or the other who they voted between Lydia and Morgan, but thought it was important for the team to stick together.

Debra, I think Survivor producers may use certain challenges specifically so that one team has an advantage over the other. I would guess it is better for the show's ratings to have the teams more evenly matched and not have one dominate the other.

(Hi Soz)

I'm a fan of Lydia, too. And I too am glad to see that "fishmonger" is still in the vernacular. I also agree that Gary's outright denial will come back to bite him in the tush.

So far, this looks like it will be a good season.

It does!

I read all the bios, and my pick is Lydia. I'll do the more subtle group thing later (while I haven't picked the winner any of the last several seasons, I think the winner has been in the general group I chose), but right now I'm choosing her 'cause:

1.) She's female.
2.) She's a potential under-the-radar person.
3.) She was in peril early on (something I've noticed about a lot of winners, they come *this close* to being voted off very early).
4.) She's Latina -- not a demographic group that's been represented, and appropriate for a Survivor in Guatemala. (Brianna might be, too -- last name Varela -- but not sure.)

I believe Sandra who won on Pearl Islands was Latino.

Sozo
do you keep stats on the seasons lol

This show is borderline boring for sure and something better change soon or it's the last season.

Oh, I liked it.

Talk about producers trying to manipulate the results, though, challenge-wise... a scrummy ball game when one team has two former football pros? (Amy used to be a pro women's football player.)

I think if Amy hadn't gotten injured right off it would've been fine, as it was the later rounds with Steph, Brianna and Lydia that sucked. If it had been a healthy Amy, Steph and anyone they would've won.

I do like how Danni is plucky and sporty though even though she seems girly.

What do you think the big "Oh my god!" from Steph inducing twist will be?

I was annoyed with a number of people on the losing side. Lydia ran when she shouldn't have, and others should have and didn't.

You may be right, Soz, about the producers trying to manipulate things.

There's not much suspense--yet. A lot of unity makes the person voted out a foregone conclusion.

Not my favorite survivor. But not bad.

very confusing so far - with the team shake-ups

Pretty good, pretty good.

What was with doorman guy flinging the mallet over and over and over and over, though? NOBODY else on the team wanted to take a whack at it?

He's not the brightest bulb, you could tell he ended up voting based on "Margaret bothers me", not strategy. Maybe it'll work for him, though, who knows.

Interesting how this game is all about keeping the strong ones, first time since the very first one, I think. That's kind of refreshing. (Last year there were strong ones by default, but they were still going with voting off strong competitors early.)

Gary is so toast for the whole "Der, who me, no I was never a QB" thing. I hadn't actually thought of the obvious, that Amy pointed out, about how he's already a multi-millionaire.

I liked Danni's tack, "Central Michigan" -- shows she REALLY knows what she's talking about, while remaining somewhat subtle/ keeping some power.

Finally, some strategy, some sneaking around. The shakeup was a bit drastic. Don't know who I'm rooting for now.

Good point about the strong players being kept instead of being voted out first.

I'm waiting for a challenge that isn't all physical.

Very few players stand out with me any more. The doorman is soooo bad at lying. Now he's the first to change sides; he's toast.

Aaargh! I stepped out of the room for a few minutes to get dinner started. I returned to find that the golden boy is toast. What the hell happened? What did I miss?

BTW, is it my imagination or do he and Stephanie resemble each other?