Sheer, unadulterated genius.
The Outcasts represent the best twist of any Survivor yet. Despite what they said about the ration regimen, you have to wonder if they had a physical edge over the other tribes. But ultimately, it was their careful assembly of their pole that took them to victory after Drake's fell apart.
I found it interesting that although this was billed as a reward challenge, no mention was made of what Drake or Morgan would have won had they not been beaten by the Outcasts. Either it was edited out because it wound up being irrelevant, or this should have been called an immunity challenge.
As for Osten, good riddance and shame on him. I agree with Jeff-- too many people work their butts off to stay in the game. For him to just give up his spot is a slap in the face to whoever would have played instead had he decided not to enter the game at all.
In the Outcast council, I'd expect players to vote for whichever other Outcast they think is likely to garner the least votes (which would suggest a win for Nicole, unless everyone double-thinks and votes elsewhere). I'd also expect 2 separate votes, otherwise it would be too easy for them to just pair up and vote for each other, creating a 6-way tie.
The fact that the Outcasts are being guaranteed immunity in the next council suggests we may not see a merge for a while.
Mr. Burnett, I tip my hat to you, sir.
Posted by Peter at October 31, 2003 12:50 AMI agree, it's a great twist. And not just because it shakes up the show (and let's face it, without stuff like this how many more Survivors would we keep watching?). No, it's not just a twist for twist's (and rating's) sake - it's a really cool game variant. It has all kinds of ramifications, and tilts the old Survivor politics on its ear (and you have to assume that many of these players have watched and studied the old shows).
> The fact that the Outcasts are being guaranteed
> immunity in the next council suggests we may
> not see a merge for a while.
Well, there's no reason to merge now, since the original two teams, even at 5 members each (Mark Burnett, the luckiest producer in showbiz), will not be reduced for a while. Every time Drake or Morgan loses someone, an Outcast takes their place, right?
So the teams will stay at 5-5 for... how long? I don't know. And would that mean that ALL of the Outcasts eventually fill in as long as they don't come in third in challenges? I don't know. And how will they get rid of multiple people later if they're still gonna stick with the original 36 day time schedule? I don't know.
But, damn, I'll be watching.
> Mr. Burnett, I tip my hat to you, sir.
You should never be too friendly with THE DEVIL. I mean, come on - teams are 5-5 *and* the Outcasts come in first in the challenge? I'm still trying to figure out how he got Michael (was it?) to fall into the fire two Survivors ago, making those teams... hmmm... even at 5-5.
And as for this:
> As for Osten, good riddance and shame on him. I
> agree with Jeff-- too many people work their
> butts off to stay in the game. For him to just
> give up his spot is a slap in the face to whoever
> would have played instead had he decided not to
> enter the game at all.
I thought Probst was way too heavy-handed and ridiculous. Osten didn't stop in the middle of fighting fires, or turn his back on his country, or decide he no longer wanted to rescue hostages...
It's a frickin' TV show.
He had every right to try out for it, and once *they* picked *him*, he had every right to play (or not play) the game the way he wants (within the rules, of course). I'm sure when he auditioned he thought he could take it, but the game kicked his ass.
(An aside: I wonder how many previous contestants might have quit mid-game had they not been the ones voted out early? Perhaps there's some real Darwinism going on here)
And did he quit in the middle of the escape challenge? No. He opted out within the rules of the game. Regardless of how sorry some were to see him quit, I guarantee you those other Morgans were relieved as hell to have that voting burden lifted. They didn't have to fret and scheme and figure out who's allied with whom. He gave them a gift, in a way (a gift with the additional gravy of not being around anymore to tank future challenges).
Should he have been dishonest instead? I'm sure he could have intentionally pissed people off or worked something out so that they voted him off "properly" so as to not insult or demean those true players, as well as the worthy ones that didn't make the cut.
Sheesh.
It's a game about lying and backstabbing and alliances and playing people off against each other and a million frickin' dollars.
And ratings.
Actually, this little rant of mine reminded me of that previous season where that one tribe lost their rice (in a rain flood, right?). And then Probst came by and said the producers would give them more rice, but it was gonna cost them. So they gave up their canvas shelter roof (or something like that), and afterwards Probst had the gall to compliment them with "Good trade guys. Tough... but a good trade."
And all I was thinking was that if I had been there, I'd have almost assuredly said (probably to the detriment of my staying on the show):
"Actually, here's our trade, Jeff: You guys give us some rice, and we won't die on national television. You filmed our rice going away and didn't stop it because you didn't want to interfere, yet now you're willing to step in and *maybe* feed us? How about you give us food to live and we won't lay around doing nothing, tanking your show?"
Good trade.. please.
Posted by: Dave on October 31, 2003 03:33 AMWhat isn't clear is whether the Outcasts will be a recurring element in the game for the next few episodes, or if this is a one-time event only. I've heard viewers interpret it both ways, and neither the episode nor the web site says for sure. My guess is that it's a one-time event - otherwise, like Dave said, we're stuck at 10 players for a while, and not even the players would want that. It is an excellent twist, but really I'm just relieved that the Outcasts aren't rejoining as an official tribe and resetting the player count to 16. That would be a nightmare.
CBS.com: "Never in the history of SURVIVOR has a castaway requested that their own tribe vote them off." Um, it happened once already in this season, let alone how many times in previous editions. The only thing I see different about this time is that the decision was unanimous, despite Jeff's best efforts to get under Osten's skin at the last minute and induce the possibility of drama. Osten has been impulsive and short-sighted literally since Day 1, and it's appropriate that he leaves the game on that note, unable to forsee himself lasting even one more day when there's so much money at stake. Even if he were to go all the way, he'd STILL be past the half-way point as of now, so it's just plain stupid to quit. But that's Osten. Looking back on the challenges he has caused Morgan to lose, I have to wonder how many were intentional. Last week, did he drop his moderate weight load early to get himself out of the game?
I also have to ask, what does Andrew have against Skinny Ryan, anyway? The hostility with which Andrew has talked about him this whole game and continued to talk last night, I don't see a returning Ryan having any chance at all of winning as long as Andrew is still in the game, for Andrew will make it his personal mission to oust him. If you haven't already, read Ryan's chat transcript, in which he speculates on Andrew's intense dislike of him: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor7/survivors/chat/ryans/ryans.shtml
Jon may be one of the most annoying contestants ever to play the game, but even I had to bust out laughing at his simple, understated "@%$& YOU!" when he cast his vote last night. :-)
Posted by: Scott Hardie on October 31, 2003 01:10 PMMy wife had a great idea about Outcast vote. The Outcasts all share in a pot (50K-250K) if one of the returning Outcasts win the million. That way the weaker ones have an incentive to vote for the stronger ones (Brandon & Lil?)
I thought Osten was playing a mindgame and was going to come back post-merge.
I also think Jeff was over the top in the sense that they picked a guy they knew could not swim (of course, I thought he was faking that too, so what do I know) for an Island survivor. Between their psych profiling and knowing he could not swim, they had to know he could act the way he did.
Posted by: Jonathan on November 1, 2003 09:44 AMI hated the concept of the Outcasts. I'll finish watching the season, but, for my money, this is very close to a shark jumper. Blah.
p.s. Is it just me, or does Obnoxious John look like he could be David Sidore's brother?
Posted by: Stephen Glenn on November 7, 2003 02:30 PMPeter said: "The fact that the Outcasts are being guaranteed immunity in the next council suggests we may not see a merge for a while."
Fooled you . . . and me.
Now there is one extra person in the game. Will it be one episode longer or is another twist coming?
Posted by: Jonathan on November 8, 2003 05:52 PMOh crud, sorry about the spoiler for Tivo folks.
Posted by: Jonathan on November 8, 2003 06:29 PM