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Apr 29, 2010

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Episode 11 Recap/Live Blog

I'm one of those people that hate what I call peoples' tendency towards "Instant History," in which everything that's most recent must be the best, worst, whatever extreme works into the discussion of the day. A playoff basketball game will come and go and be called "the most intense game ever!" A movie list declaring the best of a decade will be heavy with flicks from just the past three years. People have short memories, and hyperbole runs wild.

Well, I've just said all that, so you know it's time for me to contradict myself (at least kind of). I won't go so far as to say that this is "OMGZERS the best season eva!!," but it has to be in the conversation, doesn't it? Then again, I actually do have a terrible memory about things like this, so I could say that it's the best season in recent memory and I wouldn't be exaggerating at all.

How will they keep the drama going tonight?

7:00: Shocker of all shockers - Russell is pissed that he wasn't the driving force in the events of the previous Tribal Council. I am Jack's Complete Lack of Surprise.

7:01: The downside of Rupert (finally) being right about something? Having to hear him say "I told you so." Thank god I'm not there on the island; I can only imagine how unbearable he'd be about that. Then again, the people out there with him actually deserve to hear it - we're just innocent bystanders.

7:05: Survivor Shuffle? Sweet - I've been dying to learn a new dance. Oh...nevermind, it's just shuffleboard. Shame on CBS for not really going with what's hot and having Survivor Curling. That'd truly be sweet.

7:08: Nice shot by Selleck!

(That's my nickname for Danielle's mustache - should you have any better ideas, I'm all ears.)

7:10: Alright - a commercial for Outback! They should sponsor the show or something.

7:12: Speaking of Outback, Bob Stevenson's house does a pretty decent job of resembling the Down Under steakhouse...

7:15: Amanda is a child. She's gonna cry now, isn't she?

7:17: Turnabout is fair play in the game of Survivor. I'm not sure if Russell's decision to hide the fact that he found the idol is a good thing or not, but it's hard to fault him for it, at least in terms of emotions. Strategically, it's a pretty bad play. It's not as though the ladies aren't going to find out that you have it (and have been hiding it) eventually. You have (had?) a strong alliance with Parvati and Danielle - why risk that over some hurt feelings? Share the idol with them, but retain possession of it this time, and you'll be fine.

7:24: Lost in all this back-slapping by Russell is this question: what the hell did he need that clue for? How come he hadn't found the idol before the reward challenge winners even came back from Stevenson's house?

7:26: Uh, Sandra and Candace - I have some bad news. You're each doing badly at this game if you're in the role of swing vote at this point. Even should your plan work, you're the low woman on the totem pole (ah, memories of Stick...). Why not get with Jeri and Colby and create a team of four unbeknownst to the other players? Worst case scenario, you force the remaining players to bond together (haha - Rupert and Russell on the same team) to force a tie next week.

7:28: Mrs. Fletch doesn't like the card-building Immunity Challenge, but I dig this one. Wasn't it used as the challenge to get to a final three or something in a previous season? A tense, tough exercise (for the mind this time).

7:29: Oh, and something tells me J.T. would win this challenge were he still in the game.

7:30: Players not named Russell or Jeri: what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you watching them when there's always a chance that their towers could fall to the ground?

7:31: Of course, Jeri won the challenge as I was typing that. Whatever - point still stands.

7:32: "Even Coach, who I don't care about, but...I'll stick him in there, too." - Sandra talking about people she's winning one for the Gipper for (aka getting rid of Russell). Nice.

7:36: I guess I'm happy for Jeri and all, but damned if she hasn't been flying under the radar a lot here this season, seemingly being on no one's team at any given point. In other words, I'll be upset if she ends up going too far in the game.

7:38: Are you Team Villains or Team Heroes? And will Russell play his Hidden Immunity Idol? I sure as hell would if I were him.

7:41: I just realized that I've been spelling Candice's name wrong all season. Who the hell spells it with an "i?" Thanks for helping out, guys! It's hard enough to remember to spell Jeri's name correctly...

ETA: Apparently, I'm wrong about this and just don't know that many Canda(i)ces. I've been outnumbered, and just to be sure, left the final vote up to the Google, which had 12+ million hits for ICE and only 8+ million for ACE.

7:43: Could these people be more condescending to Candice? If I were him, I'd definitely be on Team Villain at this point. They're all saying "if this doesn't work, it'll be your fault," but she should be more like "if this doesn't work, it's because I didn't want it to work and I wanted to put myself in a position to win and see you lose." I know she's meek, but I don't think she's stupid.

7:48: Well, I have no idea what's happening tonight. Though from the first two votes shown, it looks as though Russ is safe. Parvati or Amanda? Perhaps a major player is going down tonight.

7:51: Though I'm not sure how good the future looks for Russ, Parv, Selleck, Jeri, and Candice, it's hard to argue with their numbers should they stick together. Although my entire family disagrees, I think Candice made a wise choice (outside of my 7:26 idea). She's higher up with the Villains than she was with the Heroes, and with the way the Heroes were treating her, it's obvious they didn't have plans to keep her much longer.

8:05: Ok, sorry for the delay - we've been arguing about Russell and Candice and who made the right call and who's in charge and whatnot. My final thoughts are that it looks like Russ is indeed going home next week....and my Official Question Request for Amanda is:

I have two, actually. First, are you aware that it looks like you're crying 80% of the time? And second, having had the opportunity to watch this episode, are you ready to admit that the hidden idol belonged to Danielle or will you cling to that sequence as your excuse for leaving the game forever?

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9 people have chosen wisely: on "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Episode 11 Recap/Live Blog"

Nick said...

I've only known one Candice in real life, and she spelled her name with an 'i'... so... that's how I'm used to it.

Also, I had no idea how it was gonna go down either (nor did I really care). All I worried about was whether Russell was gonna waste his hidden idol or not.

kid vegas said...

I'm with you Ir, the only Candace I know is Kirk's little sister.

They definitely have stepped up their editing this season every tribal council I'm on the edge of my seat. Can't believe Rusty played the idol though, them knowing you have it is fear enough to never vote for you (sans blindside) and he showed Candace and told her hed play it, Im disappointed in him, this is the same guy who wore the idol around his neck last season at the last tribal, then didnt play it because he wanted to keep it for a souvenier, for shame...

Mrs Fletch said...

Since Amanda had the gumption to get all hovery when she thought the clue had been found, she might as well have stuck with it and kept the clue from Danielle. Or at least read it out loud so all 3 could hear.

She should have either never gone there in the first place, or gone all the way. Allowing Colby to tell her what to do was just dumb and made her appear weak.

Jerry said...

Why did candice vote with villains (forcing Sandra to as well)but not tell Russ about the heroes vote change? Did she make a deal with Sandra to get rid of the idol maybe?

I hate to say it, but I have a bad feeling the season is going to get a lot less interesting next week. Russell may finally go. But the idol is back in play so...

My original final 4 picks remain intact for now.
Russell
Parvati
Jerri
Candice

JacksSmirkingRevenge said...

What was wrong with Amanda grabbing the clue? Danielle set it on the ground, its not like she grabbed it out of her hand. She and Colby should have just made sure it was read aloud.
With that said, Im lad she didnt, as it led to Russell finding the idol.

Also, if Russ was going home next week, would they really foreshadow it that much?

Anonymous said...

The edited episode is always missing stuff. Amanda thought she found the clue under the pillow (it was later hidden there by Danielle), and didn't believe that Danielle found the clue in the bowl. Even though they never explain the all the rules of survivor, you're not allowed to steal stuff from others. You're only allowed to take what is given. In this case, it was Danielle's clue because she found it and she didn't want to give it away.

JacksSmirkingRevenge said...

Thanks for that clarification

Fletch said...

Nick - right you are on the CandIce front. I amended my post.

Yeah, if Russ hadn't been so secluded about his idol (and game in general), he might've been able to keep it. We'll see how big of a boner that was.

KV - no, you weren't with me. Apparently, Deej influenced my worldview of Candaces more than I thought...

BTW - how was golf?

Mrs. Fletch - you made a fair point about reading it aloud and allowing Colby to make the call. But I guess they saw him as an impartial third party. Probably not the case, but ya never know, since he went against his own teammate.

Anyway, I think the producers would've/might've stepped in had Amanda stolen it from Boobs, which she clearly had. That's a no-no, as Anon illustrated. Also a no-no if I recall correctly: fighting, which they came awfully close to doing. Kind of a shame, I might've liked to have seen some contestants come to blows over the years.

Jerry - welcome, and some good points made. Maybe she just didn't have time to tell Russell what was going on, or perhaps she and Sandra each came to their own conclusions and just happened to both fall on the same side? (I might've missed some of the strategerie amidst my typing.

And despite JSR's good point about telegraphing Russell's exit, I kind of feel the same way.

JSR - it's clear that it was in Danielle's posession. If a player finds a clue/idol and puts it in their bag, the other players aren't allowed to steal it, so why would this be any different? (That gives me bad memories of the season where people snuck into someone's bag just to find out if they had an idol - that should be cheating as well, but I digress.)

Like I said, I agree about them telegraphing Russ's exit, but it's almost to the point where every week it LOOKS as though he might be going - it's gotta come true one of these times...right?

Anon - Insider info - yes! Jeff, is that you? Doc Jensen? Who is reading my itty bitty recaps? :D (Or was that just Ponderosa info?)

Jerry said...

Thanks, for the welcome. I read on Jeff Probst's blog that the idol cannot be stolen but there is no rule for the clue itself. He actually said it was up in the air and that he personally would have NEVER let Danielle take it without seeing it himself. NEVER. His words.

Also I have to agree with you on previews. They've been crying wolf on Russell so long it would not shock me to see him go home.

P.S. Probst says next week is 2 tribals and 2 voted out in same episode.