Survivor: Guatemala Thoughts: Week 4 “A Maletosterone thing…”

So, last week when we left, once again Lydia escapes the curse of being the unathletic girl on Stephenie’s tribe. Little Ms. Lebron James (not) Brianna took the heat for, well, standing around for a while trying to figure out exactly what a pick was, while Lydia was grabbing the ball and running with better moves than Hogeboom ever showed in his, umm… landscaping career. Unfortunately, running with the ball wasn’t exactly legal.

So, we begin the show with some traditional Survivor filler, complaining about the heat, and close ups on the multiple bug bites covering the bared flesh of our favorite Survivors. Then of course, we come to another sometimes tradition at Survivor: THE TWIST.

Firstly, the way they did the twist this time, was interesting, but not all that special. The “vote for a tribe mate” thing was interesting, although the questions were sort of bland. Who smelled the worst? Oh, how telling… The only interesting vote was who deserved the picnic. Gary, Amy, Judd and Margeret were the choices. Does this give us a glimpse of the future in the show? Hmmmmm…..

Then we have the switch. Now, I used to be a huge fan of the switch. It added a little unpredictability to the show. It told the players that they never, ever should feel safe. Complacency could be a death sentence. Yet, that was all in theory, in reality the exact opposite happens. Switches, in reality, increases the predictability of the show. It puts people in jeopardy that they didn’t earn, often because they weren’t complacent. People who stand out on the other tribe, may actually be voted off because of that due to a switch.

The other problem with twists, is that it actually puts tribes in a position where losing a challenge is preferable to winning. Yes, there are those who will talk about how they are totally morally opposed to losing, that even if it’s in their best interest, they have to try. I never understood this. If the goal is to win the game, and the best way to do it is to strategically lose a challenge, by not throwing the challenge, aren’t you then not trying to win the game. Whatever the moral implications, two tribes trying to lose, just really isn’t all that interesting. Right now, we are at that point, were the controlling factions of both tribes would be better served to lose challenges. Maybe Stephenie’s curse will actually pay off for her.

More on that later, let’s get to the good stuff….

Winner of the Week: So, the winner and the weasel are tough this week. Really, no one acted all that jerky, or all that heroically. So, instead, I am going to look at the two people who figured prominently in the show this week, that of course would be Judd and Margaret. For my winner, and I image I will catch some grief for this, is Judd. OK, so, I guess you can argue that he betrayed his tribe, if you actually believe that tribal lines are bond enough to require loyalty. Judd never seemed to have any sort of bond with the women of his tribe. In my opinion this made him a free agent. He obviously had issues with Margaret, before the switch and those issues don’t just magically disappear when a switch comes. So, he made his move, and a smart one at that, at least for the short term. He now has a three way alliance with Stephenie and Jamie and barring some twist or freaky accident, will make the merge. Of course, if his formal tribe mates end up with numbers come merge time, and he can’t utilize his bond with some of his former tribe mates, he won’t last long after the merge.

Weasel of the Week: Let me first say, I like Margaret. I think she’s competent and competitive. I think some of her interpersonal skills are lacking, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen Survivor’s overcome before. Now, she’s this weeks Weasel because I believe she made two strategic mistakes. Firstly, she played for a tie. Now, maybe she believed she didn’t have any other choice, but we didn’t see her make any attepmt really to switch up the numbers, like Steph and Jamie did. When she saw Steph and Jamie talking to Judd, she should have pointed it out right away to Rafe and Lydia, try to put some doubts in their head. Tried something. Secondly, she tried to ensure Judd’s vote by force. She had to know that her and Judd were not the best of buddies, yet, her basic pitch was after they vote us girls off, you’ll be next. Why not try to make him a deal. Offer his some security with your side of the tribe. Give him a little incentive. Judd basically believed he had a choice between a three way alliance with Steph and Jamie or the mysterious “tribal bond” with Margaret and her girls.

Now, we come to our latest in the line of women voted off this edition of Survivor. Brooke, well, I really don’t have much to say about her. She was there, she seemed like a decent competitor, but heck, even Steph had trouble remembering her name. Well, so maybe I should make some stuff up about her. We can have one of those “remember when” conversations, yet with a bit more fun… :Like, remember when Brooke wrestled the crocodile, then ripped open it’s throat with her bare teeth. Oh, and remember when Brooke got into Gary’s face and screamed “You were a friggin’ cowboy… just admit it you annoying jerk.” Ah, remember when Bob made up some stupid crap about Brooke because he couldn’t remember anything else really all that significant… those were the days. So, goodbye Brooke, you’ll be missed… I think.

Now, more on the whole winning by losing. Maybe Steph and her cohorts have spent too much time trying to figure out who was the weakest player to vote off, that maybe they forgot that there are other reasons to vote people off, besides not being able to throw a club. Now, what was the point of voting off Brooke. Why bother with keeping the tribe strong when you have more to gain by losing then winning. Personally, I feel it would have been smarter to vote off Margaret or even Cindy. They were both much more dangerous players, and come merge time, it would be better to be rid of them.

OK, I sorta get why Mr. Hogeboom wants to keep his secret safe, but it’s just becoming ridiculous. So, I have included my own Survivor Insider Clip for your reading pleasure.

Danni: Hey, aren’t you a former football player?
Gary: No, ummm… (looks nervously around) I’m just a landscaper… Who did you think I was?
Danni: You’re Gary Hogeboom, form Central Michigan.
Gary: Well, I went to Central Michigan, but I’m not him…
Brandon: Hey, wait. I think she’s right. I used to deliver newspapers to you. Gary Hogeboom. You used to live on Franklin Street, right?
Gary: Well, I did live on Franklin street but I’m not him…
Amy: You know what. I pulled that Hogeboom guy over once. You’re him…
Gary: Well, you did pull me over one time but I’m not Gary Hogeboom….
Bobby Jon: Hey, come on man. I’m friends with your son Jake Hogeboom… I know you’re him…
Gary: Yeah, Jake Hogeboom’s my son, but I’m just a normal landscaper…

Oh, poor Gary…


Note:Last week I misspelled Guatemala, as Guatamala. While I would have corrected it upon my realization, I also realized that many people, like me, don't know how to properly spell words, and that gave me an edge on search engine hits. Yeah, poor spelling!!!!