Survivor - Fiji

No kidding.

There's just no way to have a fair fight between teams so unevenly matched. Rita was looking way too skeletal -- I'm glad she was voted off.

I like Earl.

I like Earl too. And this was definately a <yawn>.

What is the purpose of even having a challenge against a team that is thin as rails and a team that is fully fed and strong pushing one against the other? Silly challenge under the circumstances.

I also wondered why some one didn't use their brains in this challenge? I thought if I were in the circumstance, I would let the person some charging after me and then simply move aside at the last minute - you can easily use their momentum to push them off. Although this would probably only work once.

Survivor is on Wednesday this week.

As far as I can tell, when the game is a team effort, it's all about balance. The best bet is to have a mix of brawn and brains, and co-operative effort by all. I think that Ravu made an error voting out Anthony (co-operative and malleable, if physically weaker) and keeping the mouth-that-never-stops, aka Rocky, aka James. When the lovely and talented Lisi returns, Ravu will have 2 players who are excellent on blaming everyone else for their own failures, and poor at everything else. They're both a real joy to have around, 24/7, as well.

On the other hand, I expect the Mookie/Edgardo/Alex combo to carry the day in some challenges. There's both brains and brawn in that trio. Dre is probably safe until they get rid of Lisi and Rocky, as long as he keeps toned down, as he was in this episode.

I'm happy for Earl, winning the Moto camp site and immunity, although he did sound a little cocky there, in the private camera time. And that tiny Michele is quite a spitfire -- I think she deliberately got in the way of the big boys of Ravu during the immunity challenge, twice.

Looking forward to next week, when Lisi returns and expects to be fed peeled grapes by the boyz.

I loved Rocky's face when the first ballot had his name on it, it's only a matter of time before it's the boot for him for real. I think the tribe is going to regret getting rid of Anthony - at least he worked around the camp.

I like Michelle a lot. She's a tiny little thing, but she's got spunk.

Interestingly, on the official Survivor website popularity poll, Yau-man is by far the most popular.

Thanks for the warning that it was on tonight, Roberta!

I missed the very beginning, what was the lead-up to new tribes? All I saw was when someone drew a buff, then that team was Moto -- or whatever. The tribes were already assembled though.

I like Earl a lot, he seems to be playing the game well.

I think Rocky may well stick around until the final two, now. He is obviously the foil -- the one that would be picked by the winner of the final challenge because nobody would vote for him.

Alex seems very smart and capable, Mookie too.

I was sad to see Anthony go, he was doing way more around the camp than stupid Rocky. Good to see Ravu figuring out how to get food, though.

I really like Michelle, too, she's tough. (And she's the one who got fire for Ravu, isn't that like the first time a team has made it for themselves before getting a flint?)

Even after the shakeup, I find this amazingly unengaging. Is it the absence of stong alliances? The absence of plotting and scheming and shifting of alliances? The absence of really interesting personalities? Dunno.

Keeping Rocky and getting rid of Anthony was a disappointment--and a bit of a mystery. In addition to Rocky having contributed nothing around camp, he has also contributed nothing in any of the challenges--neither brains nor brawn. I guess it's enough if you talk a good game.

Aside from disliking Rocky, I have no strong likes or dislikes. Maybe that's why I'm not all that interested. I think that Michelle is smart and tough. Yau-man is wily and even a bit wise. Earl is smart but a getting a bit carried away with his own wonderfulness.

I'm looking forward to Lisi's return the the world of testosterone.

Yes she was the first! No one takes her as a threat, but she is smart and knows how to play without drawing too much attention - very subtle.

Yao is also a favorite of mine - he is clever and you would have never expected him to last so long - he seems well liked, but not so obvious.

Although the "MAN" team looks like a physical threat - they do not have balance. Certain challenges work better with some smaller sized people - squeezing through things, carrying some one, and other skills are needed besides simply strength. Balancing which usually results in a woman winning, memory, puzzles, accuracy. Just see how they lost that challenge. The more balanced group had a little women block the way with big Boo shoving his group and then the others could squeeze through more easily.

I found it amusing that Lisi didn't even really bother with the immunity hints. She probably doesn't even realize it is back at the camp.

I do think it will be funny when she returns - I hope she causes lots of friction. I wondered that about Rocky too - its not like he is really that good physically he just thinks he is.

I agree. Rocky seems to be terrible for the morale of the group. Why did the team act like a bunch of wimps and support him?

They've already shown that they're thinking down the line, and Rocky is a great partner for the final two. (Everyone hates him.)

Interesting episode--finally.

First, I'm thrilled Rocky is gone. What a colossal pain in the ass.

Second, Yao-man finds the idol. Ok. And then creates and buries a fake one. I like this! What a diabolical mind this guy has.

Loved Earl's sand drawing of Earl's Island.

Michelle is proving to be quite a player. Not only used for directing the blindlfold part of the challenge, but I noticed that when they were putting the puzzle together, she was on the fringe of the group. Someone (don't know who) called her name and pulled her to the middle. I doubt that they would have solved the puzzle so quickly without her. She's a force to be reckoned with.

I'm so glad Rocky is gone, what an attitude!

It's going to be fun seeing if anyone finds the fake idol. This has got to be one of the cleverest (even a little mean) thing that anyone has done on Survivor. I love it!

Missed it last night... that's SO smart!!! (Yau-man.) Wow. Not just thinking of it but being able to execute something so complicated. (Finding the idol, making the new one, burying the new one...) Did the new one look somewhat convincing?

Soz, The actual idol is a carved turtle. Yao-man used a coconut and painted a face on it. Then, to leave no doubt as to what it was, he wrote I.I. (immunity idol) on it. LOL. The thing is that no one knows what it's supposed to look like so it pass muster. He put it in a deliberately shallow grave.

I absolutely love it!

I just read the recap on the site, I also love how Earl orchestrated it and then calmly said, "That worked out just fine," when Yau-man revealed that he'd found the idol. Earl is way cool.

Yau-Man and Earl are delightful to watch. Great examples on how to think, perform (did you see Yau-Man nail the fireball challenge after Mookie mocked him?) and react socially, building alliances etc.

I loved the way Michelle, so intent on her game, fell off the platform during the immunity challenge, and didn't miss a beat in directing her team-mates. That was priceless.

I'm liking Alex, the more air-time he gets. Very crafty, that one.

I thought it was a good episode too!

But I was confused about one thing:

I thought Yowman and Earl were at the "good" camp site and that the idol was burried at the "bad" camp site. Was/is there an idol at both camp sites?

What am I missing?

Both camp sites, yep.

I read something about that early on. The clues apply equally (highest point, etc.)