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May 4, 2011

Survivor: Redemption Island Episode 12 Live Blog!

(Editor's Note: Ok, so I'm an idiot. I accidentally just wrote over an older post - for episode 10, I think - so there are some comments here that won't make sense. Also, you probably aren't seeing this post in your feed readers since it's a few weeks old. Oh well...)

Alright, my stalwart Survivor gang - it's time for another Live Blog!

Is it just me, or does it seem like this season has gone on forever? It ends Sunday (thankfully), and yet, this episode here is only the 12th. Have the seasons always been this short (and seemed so long)? I think not. Methinks the show needs larger gaps between seasons...

Anyway, on to the show!

7:00: Again with the four person "dual," eh? I suppose the contestants will have to balance 6-sided triangles on their laps later?

7:02: Hmmm...a scene involving Natalie crying...could that possibly have served as the "family crying moment of the season," meaning we might be dodging that bullet?

7:04: I swear to god, right as I'm typing that, the players are discovering phones with family messages. I'm fucking psychic (or I've just watched this show for a long time).

7:05: Hey! Andrea didn't turn into a ball of tears upon seeing her video. A Survivor first! Good for her.

7:06: Damnit, I wish Matt had been amongst the players getting a message. I want to know if it would have been from God.

7:07: Again, I'm psychic - he gets a turn after all. I'll be disappointed if Jesus himself doesn't tell Matt that he's really pulling for him in today's challenge.

7:09: I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but tonight's episode is brought to us by SPRINT...4G! How much you wanna bet me that the first commercial in the next break is from our friends at Sprint? The Epic 4G.

7:10: If I took a drink every time they said "Sprint," I'd be wasted already. And it's all been in the span of four minutes, so it'd be like shotgunning beers.

7:15: Are you kidding? Only one person is going home? So there'll be nine people left in the game, and we've got a finale on Sunday? WTF?

7:17: Bye, Steve. Didn't ya like how they showed Phil immediately after Jeff said Steve was going home?

7:18: What the shit? Is this series gonna be airing on the Trinity Broadcasting Network soon? I have my limits, people...

7:19: That said, while I don't know if it will make the least bit of difference for him, I think Mike made an excellent choice. Not only is it worth a shot, but it's not like he didn't get a) a message and b) to see his Mom in person. And if it curries him favor down the line, to go with the good karma he's already earned, all the better. I'm not sure if I could have made such a move, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

7:24: Okay, no need to correct me. I just got curious and looked it up, and I see that the finale is on the 15th, which means we've got next Wednesday as well. My bad! Though I think I also saw that the finale will start with 8 people - wow.

7:26: Grant's....sister's husband? Odd choice for a family member - I wonder if there's a story there. And Ralph's "friend?" I'm not sure that I would have guessed that Ralph was gay - cool!

7:28: Rob just talked about making a better life for his wife and kids. Yeah...I don't want to begrudge the guy that, but I can't imagine that they're exactly hurting for cash.

7:28: Spoiler - it will be unveiled that Grant is the second coming of Jesus later on in the show. He looks the part, right? And this is the Official Reality Show of Heaven, right?

7:29: Ok, I'll stop.

7:29: If the show stops first.

7:34: How can Grant not win this? The guy's probably spent more time running up and down stadium stairs than the rest of the players combined. Could anyone be more conditioned than he is?

7:38: Rob wins!

7:38: ...and then dies of heat exhaustion.

7:43: Crap, I was too busy skipping the commercials to notice - was that one commercial I called for Sprint or what?

7:48: But of course - Phil has been acting like a crazy fool all this time. I don't buy it. The guy might have had a moment of self-realization where he picked up on the fact that he's a nut that's almost universally loathed, but there's no way that everything he's said and done has been an act.

7:53: So what do we think? More bait and switch? It's gotta be Andrea, right? I say yay.

7:56: I really hope that those remaining five players are forced to do a vote amongst themselves next week, because I'd like to see if Rob can stick to his "keep Phil" strategy, and whether or not the pair of gals and/or the pair of non-Phil guys would dare to vote against each other. I can't think of another season in which we had a solid group of players that contained two even-solider [sic] pairs within it. It makes me hope for a four-person finale with the two pairs making it, just so they have to trash talk each other.


10 people have chosen wisely: on "Survivor: Redemption Island Episode 12 Live Blog!"

Robb said...

Is Ralph illiterate? I mean, "Phile", really?

As someone who is a huge fan of Secret Agent Phil, I have to say his behavior turned tedious. I mean dude, don't make me actually feel sorry for someone as boring as Steve. My main rage though is directed at Julie: not only does the shorts thievery set a poor precedent of acceptable behavior, this means I am now forced to look at those pink underwear the rest of the season. Julie went from boring to super-villain in one fell swoop, and not in a good way. Good riddance.

Underdog Matt had a lot to root for over the past few weeks, but nothing kills goodwill faster than saying "I don't want to be here". Quit already, I can't take the whine. I've gone from wishing him a huge victory to praying for a faith-crushing defeat. Let's see if my God delivers better than his does. lol

Anonymous said...

I can't even root for that tarded team after they retardedly voted off Rusty, and even threw a challenge to get rid of him. but yes the show is hella boring with one tribe doing it, and it won't even be interesting after because everyone left is far, far too stupid to do anything other than what your beloved B.R. tells them to do.

Obv Rob is going to bring Phil to the final, so he can get some votes, the only way this season can be interesting is if they once again go with a final 3, and finally get a tie, causing everyone to look stupid.

Also I have made the controversial decision that yes, Andrea is my favorite and I would hook up with her.

-K.V.

Bob Turnbull said...

Don't forget the shoe stealing incident from last season (uh, I think it was last season...I love the show, but I can't keep them straight anymore). Julie's actually not being very original. Though I did love her parting line after they voted her out: "Good luck finding your shorts now..."

I think Phil is playing it all up. He's created a character and he's sticking to it. I'm not yet sure if he's doing it out of strategy ("they'll take me to the final for sure") or simply for getting noticed and invited back to another Survivor episode (c'mon, how obvious is it that he'll be in consideration for a future "all-stars" ep?). He stretched it too far last night though. Dunno, maybe he is koo-koo after all.

At this stage, Rob should really bring both of the useless young women with him (I don't think of Andrea as useless - though she hasn't done a whole lot I suppose). Even those people who don't want to vote for Rob just couldn't seriously vote for either of them. Not that anyone wants to vote for Phil, but he's a wildcard (I'm just imagining him at final tribal pulling off a mask and saying "My real name is..."). Getting back to the useless duo, I loved the blonde's contribution last night: "I'd rather die than have him stay." So I guess Rob talked her into Harakiri?

Fletch said...

@ K.V. - Um, I thought you stopped watching this season when your boy Rusty got vetoed? You just couldn't stand not watching, could you?

Bob makes a great point in the comment below yours...B.R. really ought to take the two girls with him to the final. After all, you know they would be voting for each other should one make it to the final and the other not.

You know I'm right there with you on the tie. How the fuck has that NOT happened yet?

Would you hook up with Julie? That is the question...Andrea's a no brainer.

@ Bob - I'm torn on Phil, or at least I was going into last night. But frankly, I don't see him as being either smart enough or good enough of an actor to pull off something so grand as what he's done this season. I think he's just a delusional guy, which is of course more sad than anything else.

Absolutely on Rob taking the two girls to the final. As I say above, it's great because you know they'd be voting for each other anyway. And who could pick either over Rob?

Robb said...

I didn't like the sock burning or shoe drowning either, but yes I'd say stealing someone's pants is definitely worse. But it is the pink underwear I have to look at now that makes it such a heinous crime.

Grant seems to be the only one that could even try to take on Rob in the finals, unless someone from RI makes it back to the end. But Julie/Steve/etc would love to vote for anyone but Rob, I kinda doubt any logic of the game will influence them much, I can totally see a very unsatisfying "protest vote" winner.

Fletch said...

@ Robb - Don't lie...you're wildly attracted to Phillip and just don't want to admit it...

Rob certainly appears to be the only one that most of us would deem "worthy" of winning at this point. Then again - even though there are only a few episodes left - there are a number of players out there that could (possibly? hopefully?) make a move yet. I'd be fine with either Rob or Grant winning.

Robb said...

My entire commentary for this episode boils down to one single question: Where the hell was Amber? No one cares about Rob's sister, I wanted to see Amber. I was never even that huge of an Amber fan, but still, she is an All-Star champion, and I was expecting her to be there. L.a.m.e. (None of them had a significant other come, which was kinda weird.)

Even though Rob is perhaps unfairly in a different league than everyone else, I will still be disappointed if he doesn't win. That was a pretty amazing defeat of Grant. (And Andrea really impressed me with her performance as well. And I'm gonna get my Andrea/Matt RI showdown after all!)

Fletch said...

@ Robb - Good call, though I assume that Amber figures she's spent enough time on the show and that we needn't see her more. Besides, this got to shine a light on Rob's side of the family, and I think that's ok, even if it's not exciting.

Didn't notice that about the lack of significant others. That is weird. Actually, though, we might've...(Ralph and his friend.) C'mon, tell me you didn't think his friend looked like a gay farmer and painted Ralph as a super-bear.

That was a horrendous loss for Grant. At least it wasn't necessarily his physicality that failed him, but his ability to remember simple patterns. He was running out of steam as well, but looked to be in a hell of a lot better shape than Rob by the end.

Bob Turnbull said...

Good thing I had posted a comment on this old post - otherwise I woulda missed the new one. And that would not be acceptable!

As for Amber, I think the reason she wasn't there is likely their young kids - don't they like have a REAL young one? But yeah, it would've been cool to see her on the show again.

I still think it's a bad idea for Rob to bring Phil to the final. Even if Phil doesn't pull out some kind of brilliant final speech about how he faked his craziness, etc., I wouldn't be surprised if more people voted for the "crazy" guy then the guy who voted them out. For most players, they vote based on how the person affected them, not on how they played the game. But with the two girls, I have to believe that no one could, in good conscience, give either one of them a vote.

Fletch said...

Another reason not to vote for Rob? He's married to a former winner, and has placed 2nd and (I don't remember) previously in the game. He's not Bill Gates, but he ain't poor, either. And I don't even know how much they made for appearing on The Amazing Race. I know I'd be reluctant to vote for someone I knew had money regardless of how they played the game, petty as that may be. Spread the wealth...

I might actually end up rooting for one of the girls to win it. That blond one (the one that's not Andrea; can't remember her name, either) has done almost nothing out there. Would be a fitting end to a lackluster season.