Survivor Gabon: “The Good Things in Life Aren’t Easy”
December 6, 2008 by Kath Skerry
After a Thanksgiving highlight show gave Survivor fans a recap of the season’s eliminated contestants, the Gabon crew returned to their manipulative ways this week.
With just seven contenders left in the Nobag camp, the dramatic tension was more palpable than ever.
Corinne delivered the first hard punch before three minutes had elapsed in the show, when she asserted, “In general, I am a nice person to people I like. I am now in a camp of mutants, none of whom I like!” Game on!
A number of edits were made to the standard format this week, particularly in explaining the details of the reward challenge, in order to provide more time for the emotional scenes between the Survivors and their visiting loved ones. Am I being too cynical by suggesting that fatigue and exhaustion are the primary sources for the tears shed by some of these folks when their family members arrive? Familiarity can provide temporary comfort, and I cannot personally imagine becoming misty upon seeing one of my siblings after a month of separation. For the contestants who were being reunited with their significant others, the emotion appeared genuine. On the other hand, Kenny appeared to get over the sight of his sister in minutes, immediately segueing into a self-congratulating lecture about his dim-witted strategy.
The emotional high of the episode was supposed to be Matty’s proposal to his girlfriend Jamie, by way of a necklace that appeared to be the product of a second grader during arts and crafts. Rather than serve as a tear jerking moment that engendered Matty to the audience, I was struck by how hurried and spastic his actions were. The decision to share your life with another person ought to be considered carefully. In the world of Survivor, we saw two people who appeared to be acting out of desperation. Honestly, I hope that the Reunion Special following the finale will reveal Matty and Jamie to be happily married and eagerly awaiting their life together. Unfortunately, the manner in which they made that commitment was muted by circumstance. This was the stuff of Heidi and Spencer, not the average folks that Survivor portends to solicit.
My biggest gripe about this lackluster episode was Bob’s attempt to go back to the “fake idol well” once too often. If the prank pulled on Randy at the last Tribal Council had occurred while two distinct tribes were still populated, perhaps one could forgive a contestant for being duped by this bait and switch. However, is there any reason for the remaining contestants to be unaware that Sugar may have stumbled across the actual Idol during her fortnight at Exile Island? If this were a scripted series, I would call it a significant plot hole. Since we are in the realm of reality, I will simply attribute it to some of these folks not being hugged enough as children.
On a positive note, the trivia-based Immunity Challenge served dual purposes, advancing the strategic parts of the game while showcasing the lush landscapes of West Africa. In addition, Kenny’s perception of himself as an intellectual giant has brought laugh out loud moments of unintentional comedy back to the game. With Marcus and Charlie sequestered with the jury members, I had grown weary of consuming episodes featuring all angst and no humor. Thank goodness for video gaming professionals!
Let me know what you think, GMMR Tribe. Did you make your engagement ring at Summer Camp? Would Bob’s fake Idol have convinced you to betray your alliance? Who are you rooting for out of the remaining six contestants? Has it occured to anyone that someone has to vote for Sugar to be eliminated? What did you think of the loved ones’ visits? I will not put down my torch until you have spoken!
— posted by Erik
How does Erik stay grounded from his luxurious life as a substitute teacher? He keeps it real with ALF DVDs & Fantasy Football. On weekends, the GMMR HOUSE & SURVIVOR guru spends quiet time imploring the TV gods to bring back Sports Night & Ed. Erik resides in South Florida and spends his summers following Dave Matthews Band.
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Filed under Survivor, Survivor Recap
I think having the loved ones come visit the tribe was a shameless cop-out. Granted, it’s a game, but part of the game is going the solid month(ish) without much food, comfort or contact from loved ones.
As far as who will go all the way, I think Kenny might have just dug his own grave. I started to like him when he was able to dismantle the Marcus, Corinne, Charlie, Bob alliance… but now he’s turning into an overconfident douche bag who has betrayed alliances one too many times.
I honestly hope Bob walks away with the win. That man is a champion of whit and integrity.
I, too, would love to see Bob walk away with the win, or even Sugar, who everyone thought was so dumb. Bob pretty much has to keep on winning immunity to stick around, I think.
I was glad to see Corinne go.
Bob didn’t say he got the immunity idol at Exile Island; he found the one they threw in the water (that’s what he said, anyway). His story was plausible. The stupid part was not believing the idol was real, it was Kenny switching sides to Bob and Corinne. Does he really think he’d have a shot at winning vs. either of those two? They have the whole jury on their side.
Anyone with one eye and a grain of sense would’ve known that idol was fake “We don’t want to play it tonight . . . ” wtf? Too bad! You wanna stay in the game, you play it. I don’t know why Kenny felt like he needed to vote with them in order to get Corinne to play the idol. He could’ve just said, hey, if you’ve got the idol, play it and we’ll see where we go from there. If he’s a “gamer” apparently NONE of his games involve much strategy. He SUCKED at the puzzle part of the reward challenge and cost his team that win.
Bags: I agree that the visits from friends and family take away from the “outlast” piece of the Survivor mantra. While I understand the producers’ motive in generating emotional segments for the show, I think there is enough psychological drama to go around. Perhaps we could get better editing of the contestants’ feelings about one another, which would eliminate the need for Parents/Spouses/Siblings/Etc to pack a bag for West Africa?
Alyson: Sugar & Bob are the two Survivors who have proven to be respectable competitors and likable people. As a result, I find myself rooting for them, too. As I noted in a previous recap, Corinne appeared to be auditioning for her own MTV reality show, rather than concentrating on Survivor. I tend to look on the bright side of things, but I could not find any redeeming qualities in Corinne over the past three months.
Carli: You are absolutely right about Bob’s specific story this week. However, the leap in logic required to believe that Marcus & Bob had conspired to hide the ocean-bound Idol was staggering. Giving him credit for both that scheme and the fake idol massacre to eliminate Randy seems tough to do.
Sarcasmo: Kenny’s actions are those of an insecure person with false bravado. Your comments, along with the other contributors, indicate that Kenny has contributed less to the game than he has boasted. In addition, his “strategic moves” have been fairly innocuous, outside of persuading Sugar to vote Ace out earlier in the game. The alliances that have emerged since that twist have served each contestant’s best interests, and were unrelated to Kenny’s control of the game.
I am terrible with predictions with this cast of characters. However, if he does not win Immunity Thursday, I think Ken might see his time in Gabon come to an end.
Thanks for the feedback. I am looking forward to finale week!