Friday, December 08, 2006

Survivor: The case of the missing coconuts (and hat)

"Survivor" spoilers coming up just as soon as I decide whether it's ethical to hide food from my family if I was the one who went to the grocery store...

Well, that was disappointing. And not very interesting, to boot. The first out and out dud episode since the mutiny.

I can't believe Yul allowed himself to be bullied by Adam and Parvati (and, I'm guessing, Sundra) into letting Jonathan get voted off ahead of those two self-righteous, lazy idiots. First of all, this whole notion that Parvati and Adam behave so much better when Jonathan's not around shouldn't be an indictment of Jonathan, but of Adam and Parvati. They have made things personal in a way that they shouldn't be, especially since it's their own damn fault that Jonathan was still around while they voted out so many other members of their alliance. It's like, they can't admit that they screwed up, so they turn into the worst kind of bitter, moralizing name-callers. I get that Jonathan had a forceful personality, but those two (and Candice before she left) spent the last two episodes conducting one of the nastiest, most effective smear campaigns I've seen since Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

(Parvati also got lucky sending Jonathan to Exile Island when she did, or else I imagine her dad, with no insider knowledge, would've picked the lone husband-and-wife team to join in on the reward.)

More to the point, Adam and Parvati hated Jonathan so much that there was no way the remaining member of that duo would ever try to ally with him (unlike Yul, who until this episode had proven the ability to put personal feelings aside in favor of smart game play. Now you have a solid duo left, and all they need is to flip one person (the previews hinted at Ozzy) to force a tie. Why risk that? Why risk a Raro slipping all the way to final two (or, as we've since learned, final three) when the jury is going to be dominated by Raro members?

I'm of two minds on Operation: Vanishing Coconut. Ozzy makes a good point about feeding the competition, especially when the competition does next to nothing to help acquire or prepare the food (though Parvati did chop her thumb off while trying to open a coconut). On the other hand, why give ammunition to what's already going to be the most obnoxious, juvenile jury since All-Stars? I'm surprised Yul the diplomat was on board with both that and Fishgate last week; regardless of the moral high ground, you can't afford to alienate too many of the people who control whether you get a million bucks.

Sigh... Jonathan had zero chance of winning, and even he knew that, but I hate that his early boot allows Adam and Parvati to feel justified in their nasty, nasty behavior. Every time I see Adam's neanderthal smirk, I want to smack him with a coconut -- assuming I could find one without having to climb a tree.

What did everybody else think?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

While it's pretty stupid decision by itself, if either Becky, Yul, or Sundra don't make the final four it's going to go down as one of the stupidest decisions in Survivor.

Anonymous said...

Adam and Parvati are self-centered, shiftless, deluded and not very bright. They would shoot to the top of my company's HR organization.

dark tyler said...

I can't believe that we're going to see Parvati in the final. I can't believe Yul acted so stupid. And, should I say, unethically? I mean, okay, it's agame, so if he thought that he shouldn't ally with Jonathan anymore, then that's that. But not telling him? Avoiding him? What is this, third grade?! (LOL)

Anyway, I'm not sure who I want to win. But I'm afraid that Parvati will play them like fools- Yul wants Adam and Jonathan out by top 5? Seriously? That would leave Sundra, Becky and Parvati in the game. I wouldn't be too sure how that would go.

By the way, I cought an interview of Candice on TV Guide and I actually thought she was very calm and sounded like a real person. Absolutely nothing to do with the persona we witnessed on screen last week.

Taleena said...

No politics Alan I beg ye!

Still while I was sorry to see Jonathan go (oh how this show improved by having emotional grown-ups on it!) I can see Yul's reasoning.

1) He may have traded Jonathan for promises of jury votes from Adam and Parvati and thier level best to influence the rest of the jury in his direction.

2) Jonathan's fault or not, it was easier in camp with him gone, because Adam and Parvati are such annoying screech monkeys.

3) Yul is uneasy in his role of Godfather. With the main point of contention gone, remembering Jonathan is despised not just by Sundra but Ozzie too, Yul may be hoping to not seem so prominent a manipulator.

4) Yul made a remark about final two to Jonathan, which I think he regrets. Voting Jonathan off now gives him more cover facing the Jonathan at the jury. "Well Jonathan I couldn't save you in the face of Adam, Parvati, Sundra andOzzy.

5) Yul wants to go to the final with Becky. He promised her in the beginning of the game and could make a good case for winning opposite of her.

The problem I see is this: Yul needed Jonathan to get rid of Ozzy. People would vote against Jonathan at anytime, but gaining leverage against Ozzy will be difficult.

Anonymous said...

Not to mention that when it comes to immunity, Adam is much bigger threat than Jonathan. Better to have gotten rid of him first, then Jonathan next week or at F5. Dumb, dumb, dumb Yul!

BTW, how obnoxious must Jonathan have been while he was on Exile Island that we didn't get to see one minute of it? I suspect he was mugging for the camera more than Nate and Cand-ass combined.

Anonymous said...

Yul said it best. Jonathan is a known quantity, you can see his moves coming a mile away. God only knows what is rattling around the empty heads of Parvati and Adam. I was all for Yul going all the way, but now I have to back Ozzie.

Anonymous said...

I just really really hate Adam and Parvati because they are so self-righteous and complete hypocrites. Why all this hatred against Jonathan for flipping when he did it to stay in the game? That's how you play it, not high-school like cliques that bully those not in the popular group.
I think Yul should have removed Adam or Parvati before Jonathan, because that duo is dangerous.

And could we have more obnoxious reaction shots from Nate and Candace? you are out, who cares what you think? I hope this isn't the turning point for Yul to lose the game, but he really should have gone with Jonathan for at least one more week.

I have only watched the last 2 episodes of this season, and yet the hate for Nate, Candace, Adam and Parvati quickly formed. Obviously this Burnett's editing, but I hope this is not a season were the whiners win.

Anonymous said...

Sigh. I've seen this arrogance before. Mark my words, Yul will not win this game. I don't know if it'll be Adam, Ozzy, or God help us, Becky, Sundra, or Pavarti whose sole game playing has involved coatttail riding, but trust me, Yul's going to be taken out.

As far as ethics go, for Yul to promise Jonathan final two to have him help Yul win the game, Yul owed Jonathan at least until the other alliance was voted off before he was gone.