Survivor: Final 6

[JasonEvans]

Stacy = idiot
Yao = genius

The Dreamz-led alliance to take Yao out woul have worked if Stacy had not opened her flap and said "I think we're about to see a split vote." Good god, how stupid is she?!?! Yao has immunity and the only way the plan could work would be if he did not play his idol... and then she invites him to play it. What an idiot! She eserved her fate after that. There should have been a camera on her watching tonight's show from her hotel room in New York so we could see her reaction when she gives away the game. Woulda been kinda funny, I think.

By the way, I cannot figure out any way that Dreamz wins the game now. Yao gave him the greatest gift in Survivor history and he turned around and tried to stab Yao in the back. The stupid thing is that if he succeeded in voting Yao out, Yao would have done nothing but talk bad about him to the rest of the jury. Dreamz already has enough enemies on the jury. Why did he want to add one more?

The only play Dreamz had was to keep Yao in the game and hope that the jury would see Dreamz as Yao's pawn and have sympathy for Dreamz. You simply cannot scheme against the person who just gave you a freaking car and expect the jury to like you. Not a chance.

The interesting thing is that I don't see Earl and Yao turning on Dreamz at this point. Yao wants to keep Dreamz around because Dreamz is his ticket to winning an extra immunity at the final 4 and because Dreamz is a snake that no one on the jury likes or respects. He is a dream opponent in the final 2/3.

I still see the core players taking out Boo next week. All scheming this week will be forgotten because Boo is too strong in immunity challenges to keep around and he has not pissed anyone off so he is dangerous in the finals.

After that, it is really tough to figure out. Earl and Yao will stick together. I think they will try to take out Dreamz because they like Cassandra. We'll see if it works. Final 4 immunity will be huge.

I wonder if Earl will give his idol to Yao next week? I don't think Earl needs it. Everyone loves him and no one would dare vote against him.

-Jason "really good Survivor episode!! A strong season so far" Evans

[mr. synellinden]

Stacy = idiot
Yao = genius

The Dreamz-led alliance to take Yao out woul have worked if Stacy had not opened her flap and said "I think we're about to see a split vote." Good god, how stupid is she?!?! Yao has immunity and the only way the plan could work would be if he did not play his idol... and then she invites him to play it. What an idiot! She eserved her fate after that. There should have been a camera on her watching tonight's show from her hotel room in New York so we could see her reaction when she gives away the game. Woulda been kinda funny, I think.

By the way, I cannot figure out any way that Dreamz wins the game now. Yao gave him the greatest gift in Survivor history and he turned around and tried to stab Yao in the back. The stupid thing is that if he succeeded in voting Yao out, Yao would have done nothing but talk bad about him to the rest of the jury. Dreamz already has enough enemies on the jury. Why did he want to add one more?

The only play Dreamz had was to keep Yao in the game and hope that the jury would see Dreamz as Yao's pawn and have sympathy for Dreamz. You simply cannot scheme against the person who just gave you a freaking car and expect the jury to like you. Not a chance.

The interesting thing is that I don't see Earl and Yao turning on Dreamz at this point. Yao wants to keep Dreamz around because Dreamz is his ticket to winning an extra immunity at the final 4 and because Dreamz is a snake that no one on the jury likes or respects. He is a dream opponent in the final 2/3.

I still see the core players taking out Boo next week. All scheming this week will be forgotten because Boo is too strong in immunity challenges to keep around and he has not pissed anyone off so he is dangerous in the finals.

After that, it is really tough to figure out. Earl and Yao will stick together. I think they will try to take out Dreamz because they like Cassandra. We'll see if it works. Final 4 immunity will be huge.

I wonder if Earl will give his idol to Yao next week? I don't think Earl needs it. Everyone loves him and no one would dare vote against him.

-Jason "really good Survivor episode!! A strong season so far" Evans

No question Stacy is an absolute moron for making those split vote comments at tribal council - especially after she (I think it was her) made the comment during the Dreamz/Cassandra/Stacy scheming session that it was crucial to not let Yau Man know he was on the chopping block. I am happy to see her leave because I still think she is a b&tch after the way she treated Dreamz (with the coffee) and her "they'll be lucky if we feed them" comment regarding Alex and Mookie. She deserved her fate.

Even so, I wonder if that is what actually caused Yau Man to play the immunity idol. What I am thinking is that it is possible that his "I have bad vibes" comment to Earl was part of a bigger strategy discussion that was edited out. Because if I were Earl and Yau man I would have looked at it this way - we have two idols between us and there are two votes left when they can be used. We might as well use them both in the next two weeks. Yau Man is bright enough to understand that his deal with Dreamz made him a huge target amongst the other possible final four participants (especially Dreamz) and that they would seek to eliminate him before then. So I could see him and Earl agreeing to use the two immunity idols in consecutive weeks as insurance. And I'm not sure that Yau Man didn't decide to play the immunity idol before even going to Tribal Council. I would love to see if they edited any strategy discussions between Earl and Yau Man.

What I think will be really interesting now is how Yau Man (and Earl) react to Cassandra's turning on them and how next week plays out because Boo, Cassandra and Dreamz can still take out Yau if they want. What makes it so intriguing is that they have no idea that Earl/Yau Man have the other idol so we're back to the poker game of Earl and Yau Man trying to figure out if one of them are going to be targeted (and if so, which one) or if Cassandra and Dreamz are back with them and want to vote out Boo who they see as the biggest challenge threat (assuming Boo doesn't win immunity again).

I am really starting to like the changes they made in the rules regarding the immunity idols and how it affects the overall strategy.

[JasonEvans]

Even so, I wonder if that is what actually caused Yau Man to play the immunity idol. What I am thinking is that it is possible that his "I have bad vibes" comment to Earl was part of a bigger strategy discussion that was edited out. Because if I were Earl and Yau man I would have looked at it this way - we have two idols between us and there are two votes left when they can be used. We might as well use them both in the next two weeks. Yau Man is bright enough to understand that his deal with Dreamz made him a huge target amongst the other possible final four participants (especially Dreamz) and that they would seek to eliminate him before then. So I could see him and Earl agreeing to use the two immunity idols in consecutive weeks as insurance. And I'm not sure that Yau Man didn't decide to play the immunity idol before even going to Tribal Council. I would love to see if they edited any strategy discussions between Earl and Yau Man.

What I think will be really interesting now is how Yau Man (and Earl) react to Cassandra's turning on them and how next week plays out because Boo, Cassandra and Dreamz can still take out Yau if they want. What makes it so intriguing is that they have no idea that Earl/Yau Man have the other idol so we're back to the poker game of Earl and Yau Man trying to figure out if one of them are going to be targeted (and if so, which one) or if Cassandra and Dreamz are back with them and want to vote out Boo who they see as the biggest challenge threat (assuming Boo doesn't win immunity again).

I am really starting to like the changes they made in the rules regarding the immunity idols and how it affects the overall strategy.

I agree that the new rules about immunity idols are good. It makes the idol less powerful but more likely to be used and, as a result, more likely to impact the game. I think that was a smart change in the game.

That said, I hate how difficult they made it to find the idols. Exile Island is now almost a reward, not a punishment. It is impossible to find the idols without at least 3 clues. I liked it better when it was at least possible to find the idol with 1 or 2 clues. Burrying the idols deep underground or hiding them deep inside a forest of trees kinda sucks.

Oh, and I agree that Yao had likely decided to play his idol when he got the bad vibes. He and Earl knew that if anyone was targetted, it would be Yao. Now that they have 2 idols, why not play one this week? The show edited the scene to make it look like Yao was unsure and taking his time to decide to play it, but I bet he decided quite quickly -- and Stacy's hint certainly helped him make up his mind. If she had seemed resigned to her fate throughout the entire tribla council, he might have held onto it.

-Jason "if Yao or Earl win immunity next week, they can play the second idol and guarantee their position in the final 4" Evans