Survivor

Mari definitely seemed like a threat so I can see voting her off. Obviously Figgy and Taylor are not mental giants and should be easy enough to get off later. That said, the whole negotiation during the middle of tribal was super awkward and I think that Hannah probably hurt herself by being so dramatically indecisive in front of everybody (not to mention voting for her biggest ally based on the word of someone in the other alliance).

I am not that clear on why Michelle was so determined to keep Figgy that she put it all on the line this early in the game, especially since she was clearly the bottom of the tri-force alliance. It's impressive that she got it done but I wonder if she put a target on her back for no good reason. I was especially surprised that Michaela voted for Mari after shit-talking Figgy for the whole tribal. EW.com said that Michelle told her that if Figgy went she was next on the block so maybe she bought it. I don't recall that from the show but I imagine it happened.

I like Michaela but I think her mouth is too big to really be a player. I laughed when she said "You have to pull a rabbit out of a hat, you can't just walk in with a rabbit".

I actually think David using his idol to form a bond with the survivalist guy was not a bad move. You don't want everyone to know you have an idol, but when you have no friends using it to form a bond of trust with someone seems like a reasonable play to me. David compared himself to Cochrane but I think even that is giving him too much credit. He is clearly the new Fishbach. Smart and strategic, but too neurotic and awkward to get votes in the end.

I'm starting to think that Ken might be my guy. The video of him spearing that Octopus was awesome but also it sort of seems like he's got the kind of quiet confidence that makes people actually want to follow him unlike Paul who is like "I'm in charge because I told everyone I'm in charge". They may put up with that for the first few days but I'm sure everyone sees through it and as soon as he's not useful they will vote him off. I may be reading too much into my impression of Ken at this point but he sort of reminds me of Mike who won a few seasons ago.

Lanx said:

They both seem pretty good together, just like you said, david is like fishbach, but i don't believe that Ken is even remotely close to JT (cuz JT was an absolute retard).

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JT was a charismatic and athletic retard which made him a perfect puppet for Fishbach. Stephen's problem though was that he fell for the charisma himself at the end and didn't cut JT's throat before the finale. Might have been a million dollar mistake. Maybe they still wouldn't have voted for Stephen but he had no chance vs. JT, especially since he can't sell the jury on anything.

Pumpkin Thief said:

I dunno, man. you might be right about getting rid of Mari, but just seems kind of early to be getting rid of possible potential down the road threats vs. busting up a known alliance that contains a budding romantic partnership. But the die's been cast on that score, so we'll see what happens.

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It could easily wind up being a mistake, but Mari struck me as a threat just because she could play the role of nerd but also was good looking and social enough to probably fit in with the cool kids as well and seemed to be not retarded. Even though it's survivor doctrine to break up the power couple immediately, I just can't bring myself to look at Taylor and Figgy as a legit threat. They are babes in the woods. The only reason that they are dangerous at all is that Jay and Michelle are allied with them since they seem quite a bit less dumb.

I disagree that the seasons are getting more boring. That said, this was a pretty boring episode with Paul going down just like we thought he would. I wonder sometimes if people have realizations about themselves when they see themselves on this show. It seems like he would watch this and go "Hmm, I blustered around and told everyone I was in charge and they all nodded and told me I was but obviously didn't take me seriously or respect me at all. I wonder if it's the same in real life?" I liked his farewell where he said "someone's playing the game better than I am". Sorry Paul, but almost everyone is.

The "summit" seemed very pointless. I suspect that we will not see it again.

The rise of Ken is on track. Aside from that the only notable thing was that the conversation after tribal between Hannah and Zeke was one of the nerdiest and most uncomfortable encounters I have ever witnessed.