It's amazing how different people can be made to look by how the show is edited. There's so much we don't get to see, and there's practically no interaction shown among the cast that isn't immediately to do with strategy or actual competition. That's something the show lost from the early years, when we saw people introducing themselves, getting to know one another, and actually trying to have fun. I never saw any of the previous Redemption Island seasons, so this is a first.
Yeah, that tribe is a mess. It's amazing that Ciera is still there. I feel like in almost any other season she would have been one of the first out, simply because she has sucked so bad at all of the challenges. Maybe Brad is starting to see that turning on John, who was completely loyal to him, wasn't such a great move after all. As Hayden said, Brad just got "Johnned." It's funny that we saw Hayden struggle over the vote but in the end it didn't matter anyway. And sadly I don't see the tribe doing too well at future challenges, unless they don't include any puzzles. It seems like this happens often in Survivor - one team is just terrible at puzzles and no matter how much brute strength they have, they just can't win any challenges because the other team always catches up on the puzzle.
Loved the tribal twist, and I thought Brad handled it really well. I'm looking forward to the redemption island challenge next week
I'm having trouble telling whether Caleb's switch was a rational decision or an emotional decision. At the time it seemed emotional, but on the other hand, the guy who blindsided somebody else in his alliance just called him out directly as somebody he's worried about. So it's probably a genuinely self-protective move even though at the time he may have been thinking emotionally. As long as he can smooth things over with Vytas and Hayden, it would have been way better for him if he hadn't just gone out and made the move on his own.
I'm happy Candace is gone. Her being the victim because people voted for her was wearing thin. I'm pretty sure she voted for someone too.
This is why I don't like Redemption Island, it takes up such a huge chunk of the episode that could be spent on showing us more about who these people are. The 'loved ones', at least the ones who are still out there, seem more interesting than the returning players, but we just know so little about them because 3/4 of the runtime is Redemption Island, immunity and tribal.
It's been years since they showed us much of anything at camp besides the strategy stuff. There's hardly any of the normal interactions and "getting to know you" stuff. I remember the ukulele-playing and Greg talking on his "coconut phone" from the first season and dammit, that was FUN! They also made much of the fact that people were only allowed a single "luxury" item, and the producers were quite restrictive as to what those could be. You never hear about this anymore.
I wish they'd go back to showing more of camp life (outside of strategizing), but since now most players start strategizing on day one, I can see why the emphasis has switched towards that. I liked how Brad was so shocked when Laura M. came to Redemption Island at the end of the episode. Must have been a bit of a blow to his ego seeing his old tribe win a challenge without him.
I don't mind having the emphasis be on strategizing, but it's stupid that they're spending 15 minutes an episode on duels when only one of these people will get to come back in the game anyway. It's kind of like how, in the first season of Apprentice they spent the majority of the show on the business strategy in the challenges. Then as they show went on, they spent less and less time on the business strategy, more and more time in the board room, and Trump seemed less and less concerned with actually coming away with the most qualified candidate (Until they said screw it and staffed the show with D list celebrities known for being crazy, long after the show became unwatchable for anyone who doesn't like that). Social game shows should spend the majority of their time on the players interacting with each other, and a very small amount on the parts strictly about the game mechanics.
Wow, I'm watching the episode on the CBS website now and I just got through the Redemption Island segment. The subtext of that interchange between Kat and Hayden was furious. That moment where Kat was saying "Switch with me!" and Hayden said "Kat, which one of you do you think has a better chance to win?" What Hayden was really saying there was "Are you fucking kidding me?! Imma give you a chance to backpedal here." And of course every time somebody asks their loved one if they want them to switch they're really saying "I don't wanna switch but I'm gonna put it on you."
I'd be pretty insulted if my girlfriend thought I was so shallow that I would break up with her over her performance on a reality show, and kept repeating it over and over.
Well, Laura really opened her big mouth and stuck her whole self in... I guess the previous vote taught her nothing about staying quiet about strategy once something's been decided. It can get un-decided in a hell of a hurry.
This season has gotten better since the switch. It helped that the really irritating people (Brad & Colton) left early. But, Vytas, Hayden and Caleb are killing it strategically, Tyson has pulled off the 'Likable villain' role, Tina and Monica are dominating the social game. It's got me really interested to see how it all turns out. It'll also be interesting how Jon fits in if he comes back from Redemption. Also, could the hidden idol not even come into play this season?
I thought the whole thing was pretty masterful of Hayden. He somehow is able to convince people to do what he wants, while convincing them that it's their idea and remaining the nice guy. He did it well on Big Brother, and he's doing it here now as well.
I don't know, it seemed really transparent. Granted I haven't seen him in Big Brother, but based on Kat I would attribute his success more to her manipulability than his mastery of manipulation (say that fast three times).
Kat has some pretty serious self esteem issues. And it seems a lot like that's what their relationship is based on: She doesn't think she can do anything so Hayden does it for her.
Even though I'm not saying he couldn't win on his own, Hayden was in the season where it took them until Final 5 to even think he was a threat. They were too concerned with getting rid of Rachel and Brendon. He also had an alliance around him that did and said stupider things than him, making him the obvious choice at the end.
Yes, I agree. Compared to other winners, I don't think Hayden is all that great and probably wouldn't have made it to the final 5 without that alliance. However, he does pull off the "nice guy" thing really well, and he is careful with his words.