I just don't get it *sigh*

The ClubHouse: Archives: I just don't get it *sigh*

Joan

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 05:44 pm Click here to edit this post
I am having Colby flashbacks here. You'd think the producers had planned very diverse challenges giving every contestant and equal shot but then one person dominates totally. What the heck?? I am being forced to like Lex now! Well, not really like him but I think he is definitely a superior competitor and probably deserves to win this *game.* Then again, Tina never won a single challenge and she still beat Colby who won everything.

Amac

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 06:13 pm Click here to edit this post
Remember that Colby picked Tina, whom he lost to, instead of Keith, against whom he almost certainly would have won.

Assuming Lex finds himself in a similar position, and knowing that we don't know which of the final four will be the final three, who among them should Lex chose to be at his side as the final two?

Car54

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 06:30 pm Click here to edit this post
A lot will depend on the 2 challenges. We saw tonite that if it is physical, Kimj will be doddering behind on her walker, and she can't do a puzzle to save her soul.

Traditionally one of the final challenges has been Fallen Comrades, where the final players have to show their knowledge of the booted players.

Tom got to know EVERYONE he had contact with.
No one so far got to know Ethan well- he is so
reserved, do we know how much he got to know any of them?

Kimj is very observant but has not done well on either physical or mental challenges- didn't even win the one with her own family

Lex is very sensitive, he is just wrong most of the time-if it is about FACTS, he has a good brain, and is very sensitive- he would do well. If it is about instincts or feelings- he is the least reliable- his sense of how he and others relate is very flawed.

If I were any one of the guys, I would be carrying Kim on my back. At this point, she has backstabbed, undermined or betrayed (in their minds) almost everyone on the jury. The perfect partner.

Moondance

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 06:36 pm Click here to edit this post
I think it is an Ethan/Kim alliance anyway ... Ethan will take her and vise versa

Twiggyish

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 06:45 pm Click here to edit this post
Good observation Car! Moonie, I think there might be more in that alliance.

Moondance

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 06:59 pm Click here to edit this post
Do tell MsTwiggs :) What are you thinking?

Joan

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 07:00 pm Click here to edit this post
I would also take Kim. She seems the most unassuming but her blind faith in her alliance has caused her to step on many a foot even if it was unknowingly.

She really does seem to take her sweet time on the challenges, eh? I like how she tiptoed up the ladder and then scooted on her butt across it. It was like she had given up before she even started. I just want to know how Lex managed to pull so far ahead in both challenges today?

Judy

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 07:03 pm Click here to edit this post
I was surprised at how far behind Ethan was in the IC.
Lex even beat him in the run at the beggining!
Ethan must be really , really rundown. Or Lex is a maniac when it comes to competitions. I think it's the latter:)

Car54

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 07:18 pm Click here to edit this post
Was anyone surprised that Teresa was dead last?

Lex and Tom had a lot of food just 3 days ago- for Ethan it has been more than 2 weeks, and how long ago was the food auction- that would have been a week too that was the only extra food the women have had.

Since then mush and popcorn. There was just one chicken left- so they must have eaten one since Clarence left.

Wonder if Lex ate on his reward day- he was gone all day- surely they fed him something. If he had a meal on the RC that would explain how well he did on the IC- he had fuel to run on, and the others were running on empty.

Evilnurse

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 07:31 pm Click here to edit this post
They should have taken out Lex while they had the chance. He has proven that he is a very good player and has become even stronger now. I could not believe he was such a wiz at the letter game.

What could Mmakim have been thinking? If she had gone with the girls it would now be the girls and one guy. She blew it big time.

At this point I'd say Lex deserves the win.

Whoami

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 07:38 pm Click here to edit this post
I would say that it's not so much that Lex deserves the win. It's more that none of the others deserve to win it. They have played stupid. Not taking out your strongest competition when you had the perfect chance to do so makes you undeserving.

Lilliegirl

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 07:45 pm Click here to edit this post
Right on Whoami, Lex did not mind takeing Clarence out for being strong. Teresa tried so hard to get him off but they are so stupid.

Evilnurse

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 07:49 pm Click here to edit this post
That's my thought to Whoami. If they are going to be stupid and just hand it to him. They deserve to lose. But Lex seems to be the only one playing to win and I don't get what the others are doing, or have done, at all.

Backhome

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 08:13 pm Click here to edit this post
Agreed, agreed!!! The inability of this bunch to think ahead is driving me insane. You eliminate strong competition when you have the chance because you may not get that chance again! How difficult a concept is that to grasp?

Hope Burnett and crew mix things up a little more with the next season -- it gets pretty boring watching the same individual win most of the challenges during the last half of the game.

Gina8642

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 08:21 pm Click here to edit this post
I don't think they should have got rid of him much earlier. He was an asset to their alliance. However, they might have increased their chances by getting rid of him last week.

Still, Lex has played a very good game. He has been fairly gracious in his wins. (It is only now, after how many wins????, that Ethan is starting to get annoyed. I know that annoyance. I get that way when I am sick of losing. It is more directed at myself, for not managing to win, than at the winner.)

I'm not sure who "deserves" to win. I figure whoever wins deserves to win. However they may have managed the win. KimP is the biggest reason a Boran will win. The only reason any Boran is going to win, is because of her blunders. Not because of some slick stategy on a Boran's part.

Tina says she won because of many things, including luck. Whichever of these four wins, it will have a lot to do with luck.

Who do I "like" the most at this point - as in I think they are a nice person? Well, Ethan has consistently proved himself likable, so I suppose him. But it isn't an overwheling feeling or anything.

Guinevere

Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 09:42 pm Click here to edit this post
Lex would "deserve" to win if winning challenges was the only component. But not stepping on toes is obstensibly part of the equation, and he has sucked at that. For that reason, I can't imagine him winning against ANY of the other three if he gets into the final two. But, then, I said the same about Richard Hatch...

Smileeys

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 02:28 am Click here to edit this post
I like Ethan the most but I had to laugh when he got so jealous and the others were upset, too, about Lex. I actually think they were upset enough to go against alliances and boot him had he not won the IC. They should have booted him last week which is why I found their jealousy amusing - they all watched the other Survivor's. Once someone gets a strong winning streak and get a little bit of extra energy (from food and mental rewards), they seem to keep winning and continue to be strong. And, yea, Car, I think they fed ole Lex on his reward day.

Joan

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 11:05 am Click here to edit this post
Backhome, I was thinking the same thing but then I looked back on the challenges and I wondered how the producers could possibly make the game more fair. Colby and Lex dominated but they dominated in ALL varieties of challenge. IMO the challenges are varied enough that just looking at them, everyone should have a good chance to win at least one. For example, Kim J. would never win a race but the word puzzle she should have had an equal chance at. Even with that last IC, Kim and T may have been slower over the nets but there was still puzzle solving and the ladder to give them a shot at pulling ahead and making up time. Even a challenge catered directly to one person's strengths has not given that person an advantage. Think of Tom with the goats and Frank with the archery. I just don't get it. The challenges themselves are fair, I think Colby and Lex were just superior competitors and, due to this fact, they ended up with more food and rest to make them even stronger.

Pamy

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 11:05 am Click here to edit this post
I think they should change the rules for the next survivor, to avoid winning streaks as we have seen in the last two survivors. I think they should make it that you can not win immunity or a reward challenge back to back. You can tell the producers have tried to do different types of challenges to give others a chance to win but Lex even wins the 'mind' challenges that I am sure were thought up for a weaker player to win.

Pamy

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 11:08 am Click here to edit this post
Joan....looks like great minds think alike! We both posted the same type of thoughts at the same time today!!! LOL!!!!!

Gina8642

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 11:55 am Click here to edit this post
Joan,

I pretty much agree with you. The challenges have had a good variety in S2 and S3. (I thought in S1 there was too much physical at the beginning and too not physical at the end).

The one thing that does seem unfair is the extreme lack of food. 300-400 calories a day?? My god, has anyone tried a crash diet? Only that much a day leaves me light headed after two days, and my stupid crash dieting days did not include long hikes in the out back with inadquate water.

So, it does seem unfair a little bit, because the one who wins the food greatly increases their chance at the next challange, etc. We saw that with Colby, and now with Lex. Even when Ethan won the rc, he brough Lex along, and Lex got filling food. When Tom got food, he left alot of it in the toilet - his own fault, but it left Lex the stronger competitor after the event. I don't remember S1's rewards so well, but it seems like maybe their was less food involved? Or maybe a better variety of players won the reward challanges. It's all a blur now....

I think MarkB needs to find a way to mix this up a bit. But then again - how hard is a word search?? I felt like I could have creamed the competition no matter how little food I'd had. And yet, KimJ the school teacher (!!??!!??) is stumbling along at nearly the same pace as Tom, who probably hasn't been inside a classroom since college/highschool. Not sure what else MarkB could have done to give others a chance to win at that point.

Gina8642

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 12:15 pm Click here to edit this post
I also think the challenge and the order of the challenges is somewhat decided on before filming even begins. I know that many of the conspiracy theorists may disagree with me. But I know from my days in theatre it takes a lot to set something like one of those challenges up.

They (each challange) are all practiced to some degree ahead of time. The camera angles are all worked out. They have to figure how long each segment may last. The set material needs to be purchased and prepared to be put up. It would take alot to switch all that stuff around. Yes, I think MarkB can do it a few times if he is really desperate, but not by much. Most of the challenges are designed for a certain number of players. It would be hard to change that number by a huge amount.

Most of the sets (obstical course, etc.) needs start construction days in advance. It would be hard to scrap it in favor of another.

I also have noticed the camera work is much better this season then in the first. Remember we would see the other camera crews in the first season? Like in the aerial shots of that sand island? I was paying alot of attention in this last "Truth be Told" episode. In the Reward Challenge, they did alot of 360 degree filming, and yet you only ever saw Jeff on the contestants. That is no easy feat of filming, and took alot of planing no matter how simple that challange looked. Maybe a helicopter or two... Then later during the obstical course they had more then three camera angles all going from one side of the course all filming accross. Again, only Jeff or the players were in any shot. I didn't even notice shadows from the cameras or boom mics. Even in Primetime dramas you can see a boom or two if you watch carefully.

So, anyway, I know this is ending up like a diseration, but I don't think there is alot of wiggle room in switching up the filming.

(I'm curious to watch S4 from a technical standpoint too. Apparently one of the tribes had to switch locations during the filming. It isn't clear if this was planned or the result of lawsuits. Will the quality of the filming be worse at the new camp location?)

Yuhuru

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 01:02 pm Click here to edit this post
Let's face it gang. Everybody left has stepped on some toes. I don't really want any of the four left to win. Mainly because they've allowed Lex to stay as long as he has. Mamakim really rubs me the wrong way. She lead Kelly to believe that they had an alliance, and then she turned on Kelly without a second thought. Last week she ratted out Tom to Lex, which was totally unnecessary since it was a given that T-Bird was getting the boot. I can't be mad at her 'cause she's playing the game. I don't want her to win because she hasn't pulled her own weight. She hasn't even come close to winning anything. Acrylic paint isn't worth a million. At least Tina rescued the rice from the cold,cold water. I'm not sure about Tom anymore. After T-Bird's and Mamakim's observations last week, I'm not as high on Tom. If it's true that he's been trying to get others to do the dirty work that he's not willing to do, then he's not the Big Dog or risk taker that I thought. He's the wolf in sheep's clothing that really isn't effective (cause now T-Bird and Mamakim have ratted him out). Ethan is the least offensive (I think). However....He is responsible for Clarence's demise. Boran would not have been as angry about those beans (actually they never would have asked about those beans), if Ethan hadn't been whining about the cherries at the watering hole. They just used Clarence and threw him away like an old dirty rag (o.k. I'll get over this Clarence thing before Thursday). I've disliked Lex from the beginning, but now I don't think I'd be very disappointed if he won. He hasn't disapponited me.

I guess it depends on how things go down early Thursday. Who knows what'll happen now that the original alliance is left. I do think if one of the challenges involves info about those voted off, Lex will win. His mind is sharp. He did really well remembering the details of the tribal story.

Car54

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 01:49 pm Click here to edit this post
Gina, the words they were looking at in the word search were in Swahili. The words were a series of letters unfamiliar to english-speakers. Lex is the only one on either team left who was familiar with Swahili. That is one reason why he did so well- he was looking for words that he recognized. The others were looking for a string of letters they had never seen before.

The technical people this year are digitally erased from the shots. I read that they now have that technology- that is why we never see them or their shadows.

Gina8642

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 03:15 pm Click here to edit this post
Wow car, that is expensive and alot of work. I didn't mind seeing the cameras. I thought it lead reality to the event. The obstical course was still set up with all the cameras on one side. But maybe that made it easier to watch. (Like football, you always want the same team trying to head the same way in each shot, or else it is confusing.)

Car54

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 04:48 pm Click here to edit this post
Gina, I think some of the critisism they had last year about "staging" things led to better technology this year.

Backhome

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 05:37 pm Click here to edit this post
Has anyone done a comparison of the RC's and IC's from the three Survivors to date? It would be interesting to see.

Awareinva

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 08:57 pm Click here to edit this post
Ah.... Car, are you a detective in real life? You should be if you're not...you are so good at getting the dirt on this show! :)

It didn't occur to me to check if Lex knew Swahili. I was just thinking he was really really good at puzzles compared to the others. Now it makes sense why he was so far ahead! I thought about the fact that it would be very hard to find the words if it was a foreign language word jumble, but thought all the competitors were on a level playing field!

But why would they pick a language known to one (and, I assume, only one) of the competitors? Sounds like a very very unfair advantage. Was Mark B. trying to stir up bad feeling so the others would boot him, or is Lex the "golden boy" MB is trying to protect? Whatever the reason, I say "UNFAIR, UNFAIR!"

***Mean old Mark Burnett.... he should be staked to an ant hill covered with honey!***

Awareinva

Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 09:04 pm Click here to edit this post
Gina8642 wrote: <I don't remember S1's rewards so well, but it seems like maybe their was less food involved? Or maybe a better variety of players won the reward challanges. It's all a blur now.... >

I think you are right that fewer of the challenges involved food reward. There was some food given during the challenges, but it didn't matter quite so much in S1 I think.

Remember how Richard was the top fisherman for the tribe both pre and post merge? That was the key! They weren't starving because they caught fish and rays to eat. Plus I think they gave them more food that first time out. Yes, they were rationed but it wasn't anything like the conditions the last two times. I think they got complaints that it wasn't "surviving" if they were given so much food. But it certainly led to an unfair advantage for the winner of the challenge and a trend toward a winning streak when food is the reward!

Car54

Monday, January 07, 2002 - 02:45 am Click here to edit this post
Gina, there are some vidcaps out on some of the other boardse that show how MB has altered video.

The one I remember is re-using diary scenes from before the merge and showing them after the merge by altering the buff colors. It convinced me that they are doing this stuff.

Smileeys

Monday, January 07, 2002 - 09:45 pm Click here to edit this post
I agree that Lex is a superior competitor but I think if Ethan was more nourished he would have won some of the ones he has lost to Lex or at least come close to winning b/c he appeared to be the one to beat before he began starving. Today, I had a sausage and biscuit for breakfast then wasn't able to eat again until after 5 b/c was too busy and by that time, I was my concentration was definitely suffering so I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for them!