Suvivor: Panama

will be watching

After the merge we should set up a pool as to who will win. The person who picks the winner will be crowned "The Armchair Survivor". In case of a tie we should also pick the person who we think will be the runner up.

Sure!

That was pretty cool. I like how the 4-tribe setup makes some implicit tensions more explicit. (The young guys playing around and making a sucky shelter, etc.)

I think Tina made a huge mistake in not saying why she was sitting out there being sad. If she'd even hinted at it, she would've gotten the sympathy of everyone... although, as I write that, it might have saved her in this round but probably wouldn't have down the line, as that sympathy is itself powerful and once they got over it themselves, the three would realize it was a powerful advantage and would be back to seeing her as a threat.

Still, I hope they felt HORRIBLE while watching tonight.

I wonder about the timeline, too -- it must take a long time from application to being on the island, if it was only 4.5 months it probably happened after she applied, but she decided to go ahead anyway.

So sad.

When I was looking at the whole roster of people, before the show, the older Asian guy looked interesting -- he seems pretty strong and capable and a possible stealth candidate.

Astronaut guy looks too frail, but military guy seems strong and they have that instant bond.

Stressed-out-detox guy is obviously the weak link on that tribe.

I missed the first quarter, right up to Misty being left on exile island -- any impressions to share from that?

Interesting decision to make people think she got it -- I see that it would be a good idea to make them suck up to her/ be nicey-nicey, but eventually it'd come out that she DOESN'T have it.

What I've noticed before is that if the obviously weak people make it through the first couple of rounds, they sometimes stick around for a LONG time -- might happen with Cirie, dunno.

Anyway, looks interesting, I like the new elements.

I also missed the first part of the show. I started watching as the young women lost the competition and had to decide which one of them to leave on Exile Island.

The older woman who lost her son was selected to be on the last survivor show. Her son was killed in a car accident just two weeks before she was scheduled to leave for Guatemala. Because of the tragedy, she was replaced. However, the producers invited her to participate in the next survivor if she felt up to it.

Just two weeks, wow.

She certainly seemed plenty tough -- sad, but seemed up to it. Came back from her session all smiles (thanks to the fish, but still).

All three older women are instantly unpopular with me for that decision -- I hope (and expect) that they'll crash and burn from now on.

(I wonder who her replacement was? Margaret, maybe? Trying to think of who was in a similar niche...)

What you folks missed the lone woman eat a worm while on skull island (or whatever they call it)?!

I already see a lot of dead weight on each team. I was surprised they actually got rid of a person with skills. I like this new format, but it's no fun when the weak pick off the most capable people from the start.

I'm not certain of all the details. I got the information about the mom who lost her son on a survivor preview segment on the t.v. guide channel.

I did see the worm! That was one of the first things I saw after turning it on. (A *gulp* and a "not so bad" shrug.)

I hate the whole "vote off the strong people" thing. Hmph. Last season was finally anamalous (with voting off weak people and keeping strong ones), 'cause the season BEFORE that they showed how dumb it was (with the Steph/ Bobby Jon team just losing and losing and losing).

What do you guys think of new-agey sea turtle lady?

I thought the basic idea was cool (honoring the turtle in some way, "turtle island", etc.), but I think she went over the top.

I dunno, maybe if I was in those circumstances food- and water-wise I'd be weeping over the profundity of dead turtles, too...

Yes, she was over the top. These contestants should not be doing anything to stand out. Blending in with your teammates is the best way to avoid being targeted.

Check out Bruce:

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor12/survivors/bio_bruce.shtml

Short and goofy enough to go under the radar if he plays it right, but tons 'o' skills! (Black belt, former Eagle scout, top backpacking instructor...)

For some silly reason I found my self putting names on A2K members on the Island members - YIKES!

Soz, I too found myself not liking the older women. This was a disappointment. I figured there would finally be somebody I could identify with. But not this group. Not only did they vote out the strongest member, but they kept a woman who's afraid of a freaking leaf! Why would anyone who's afraid of what she might find crawling on a leaf go on Survivor? Jeez.

The most interesting group so far seems to be the older men. We'll see how that develops.

The heart around the turtle did nothing for me. And what was that hand business with the younger men? Also, why did they leave out one guy?

I guess that the cigarette smoker thought that being on a isolated island would be the perfect time to quit smoking. Maybe under different circumstances, but not with all the tension inherent in the game.

The four- group arrangement seems interesting, but I'm wondering what will happen if the older women have to vote someone out again next week. Down to two very quickly. The groups can't last long.

Thanks, soz, for pointing me over here!

I understand they are supposed to merge into two tribes next week.

How do you think that will shake down?

Chose a bandana? Pick and choose?

Oh really?

That's too bad -- kinda wimpy.

I'd like to see the four tribe thing continue for a while... but yeah, I guess it can't last long.

Geesh, no idea how they'd do it. Maybe some sort of challenge type thing -- winner on team A, next person on team B, next person on team A, and on down. They seem to want to have things pretty evenly matched, strength-wise.

I agree that the most interesting team so far seems to be the older men, Roberta. I like Bruce! I want to see more of him.

Pretty good, pretty good.

I was happy to see Melinda go because of the stupid Tina decision -- though I wanted to see the remaining three crash and burn because of their lack of survivor skills, rather than being folded into a new, larger tribe.

That said, Shane is irritating.

I like Bruce!! I like that he was last picked. Major underdoggage still, when he has serious skills.

Did he have anything to eat or drink for 3 days?! How does that work, exactly?

Not sorry to see Melinda go, but I would have preferred to see Shane booted.

I like Bruce too, he's seems different from the usual Survivor contestants.

I haven't figured out the details of Exile Island either. I thought that skull thing was housing, but the exiled survivors seem to huddling under leaves and wood at night. Bruce messed up bad with the flint which means he might not have been able to boil water. I think there might have been a little behind the scenes help with that - 3 days without water is serious. The boredom would make me crazy.

So far, the only people who aren't irritating are the older men. At the top of the list of those who are irritating is Shane.

I guess we shouldn't count on subtlety this time around. "Oh, well, if Shane wants to stay then we'll vote out either you or you."

Oops with the fishing spear.

What a sorry bunch this time. Is it me? Am I up too late? Am I being especially grouchy? I don't like this group (with a few exceptions). Cest tout.