Survivor H/V: Week 9

Week 9:
Special for One Day Only: Free Idols!

There isn’t a whole lot to say about Courtney’s departure. She really didn’t do much except ride coattails. Towards the end we did get to see her sarcastic comments come out again, which were entertaining. If I were the Villains tribe, I personally would’ve gotten rid of Sandra, who I think is more of a threat. The other thing that I took out of tribal council was that I’m really ready for the merge. I think it’s weird that there will be two members of the jury who weren’t even on the same tribe as some of the Heroes. This just isn’t fair if one of the Heroes gets to the end. Also, I can’t help but think it was a ploy of the producers to have the tribes merge at a 5-to-5 tie. Not that it won’t be entertaining, but the way this has all gone down is a little odd.

Some thoughts...

* I liked how the producers made this reward challenge from an individual challenge, to a group endurance one. Although the Villains won by a mile (Courtney actually contributed!), this was one where I couldn’t predict who was going to win from the get go.

* Dear Outback, your new sponsor is now Sandra! She talked about Outback the way I talk about Pizza King

* So, Parvati found the other clue to the hidden immunity. She did a great job of concealing it. More on this in a bit, but I’m surprised that at this point, the others didn’t think to even look for a clue. That definitely seemed to be a trend to winning reward challenges this year.

* Right now Parvati is controlling this game. Russell thinks he is running the show, and he did, but now Parvati has taken the reigns without him knowing it. That is what makes her such a good player. She knows when to stay in the background and be quiet and then she finds the right timing to thrust herself into the leadership role. The other great move was to tell Danielle about it but not Russell. Maybe she sensed the tension between the two, but she is cementing the two-person relationship in the three-person alliance. I can’t wait to see how these two use this idol.

* Seeing that the immunity challenge was very physical, it was no surprise that the Heroes won. But was anybody paying any attention? Of course the highlight of the episode was J.T. giving Russell the hidden immunity. I loved how the transaction went down. The heist genre would be proud. The look on Russell’s face was priceless. Would you believe it if it happened to you?’

* Now, to J.T.’s credit, none of the other players got to see Russell last season. On the other hand, in no circumstance is it a good idea to give an idol to an opponent that you don’t even know! J.T. will get the blame for this (which he deservingly should), but his tribemates should’ve prevented him from making this idiotic move. J.T. is falling into the trap of over-thinking in this game, and if anybody is going to be targeted going into the merge, he will (being a past winner and being such a physical threat).

* Speaking of past winners, isn’t it crazy that three of these players will be going into the merge having won it all before?

* This sums up the Russell-Parvati-Danielle alliance perfectly: Russell told them all about his idol. Parvati and Danielle told no one else. This action alone will have a tremendous impact on this game, and in my opinion, means that Russell won’t win this season. It was unlike him not to look for another idol once he played his. And it was near a bridge, just like in his previous season!

* Parvati reading J.T.’s letter was HILARIOUS. The way she read it like the voiceover girl from Gossip Girl (I mean, from what Whitney tells me) was pitch perfect. J.T. single-handily changed from the popular jock to the geeky mathlete.

* The debate of whether or not Courtney or Sandra should go wasn’t all that interesting, but it just was another example of Parvati taking over the game as she slowly was pushing her opinion into the forefront, and Russell wasn’t seeming to mind all that much.

* I wonder if the other Villains have worked up the courage to tell Danielle about her mustache.

* If this was ever a time to voice your opinion about this season, now is the time: What did you think of J.T.’s move? This move will be talked about for a long time. What I like most about it is that we didn’t see the impact of the stupid move right away (like Tyson voting himself out). It’ll be fun to see how this mistake will fester.

Yahoo for the merge!