Ah…unscripted reality. You just can’t write this stuff. I think the idea of having them rank themselves in order of importance was one of more inspired “switch” ideas of late. You can thank Dan Munday for that one. Been with our show since season two and he’s brilliant. They simply didn’t see the switch coming and as you know that pleases me to no end when we pull one over on them.
Dumbest move: What blew me away was the fact that Bob was picked so late in the process. Somebody is gonna pay for that one. Trust me, had you been standing in my shoes you would have been just as shocked. Bob is a worker and a competitor. To leave him up there that long tells me these guys are vulnerable for a smart player to wreak havoc on this game. That was a mistake. They’re under estimating him and that means they’re not paying attention.
Best move: Kenny choosing Kelly. Kenny is playing to WIN. He’s taking chances. Kelly seemed like a ridiculous choice and Kenny played it as such saying he chose her because “she’s hot.” Lie. He chose her because he sensed a lost puppy in need of a home and he believed he could use her vote to further his own game. Video gamers all over the world must be loving skinny little Kenny with the creepy long fingernails. Another one to watch out for down the stretch.
Favorite move: Ace ended up on one of the worst tribes ever – Fang. It’s perfect. I can’t wait to hear him wax on about all the problems on this tribe.
Corrine is growing on me. Just sayin.
Ah, Matty swearing on his girlfriend. Will this come back to bite him in the butt? Not sure I’d trust Ace. Check that, I’m sure I wouldn’t trust Ace. I don’t think Ace trusts Ace. Matty is vulnerable. He plays this game too honestly to have much of a shot at winning.
The immunity challenge: I’m so done with Fang right now. It had to suck major big time to have Randy dominate them the way he did. Ace got used, but in his defense, Ace had absolutely no help from anybody. I don’t think Crystal ever moved from her corner. It’s amazing to watch. No matter who goes over to the Fang tribe, they suddenly suck.
When it came time for tribal council, Jacquie was simply a victim of bad luck. She had all her eggs in one basket with Marcus and thanks to Dan Munday, her game was shot. Again, just being candid, as nice as Jacquie is (and she is extremely pleasant) she didn’t bring as much to the show from a character point of view….Why is it the attractive blonde women on our show are often the least interesting in reality? Jacquie was all about winning and she would have had a very good shot had she lasted a bit longer but we also need to entertain the audience and that wasn’t Jacquie’s strong suit. So, if you have to lose someone, I guess Jacquie isn’t a bad person to lose. Just being honest, better her than Randy or Ace. Add Jacquie to the list of people who will not want to talk to me at the live show.
Okay. That’s all I have. For all you critics just remember, you don’t pay anything for these blogs. I’m not a magazine writer. I’m just a simple little reality host trying to make his way in the world. Dalton asked me to write these blogs, “without thinking.” Those were his exact words. He wanted an unedited account of what I remember about the episode. So, that’s what you’re getting. I’m not going back and rewriting or even checking the spelling. This is a blog and this one is finished. See ya next week!
Now check out our exclusive deleted scene from ‘Survivor’ and then read Dalton’s recap.
Comments (1-30) of 97 Add your comment
Gosh, lots of thoughts this morning mainly about the sad Fang tribe – scary stupid people. Why does everybody go with what Crystal says? She’s pretty lame in the “brain” department – can’t say anything except worry about who has the HII. Kenny’s choice of Kelly was a smart one, although Jackie was a stronger competitor IMO. And after watching the deleted scene, I wonder where Ace’s accent went? OVer at Kota, I hope that bow-tie Bob will remember his earlier conversation with Corrinne about the four-person alliance and with Jackie gone, maybe he can step into her spot. I like Bob’s chances better this week than last. Still shaking my head over how pathetic Fang tribe is….
Jeff, I think its amazing that you take the time to write such candid & details observations for us. This brief blog has taken my anticipation for the next weeks show to a new level. Keep em coming!
Ace’s accent seem to change with the wind. He’s interesting enough but fake as a 3 dollar bill! I love Jeff Probst!
Love the blog posts, Jeff. Thanks for taking the time to do them, as they provide us with some thoughts from an “insider,” which are always very revealing!
And just a brief comment on all the blonde, hot women who usually populate every season of Survivor–is it possible that their “hotness” doesn’t really draw in as many viewers as you think it does? Believe me, I’m not opposed to seeing beautiful women, but in a choice between eye candy and a man or woman who is actively going to play the game and keep things interesting, I’d go with that person. Just saying.
LOVE JEFF PROBST!!!!!!! Thanks for the great insights Jeff. Keep on blogging!
I think it was smart for Ken to pick Kelly for his own needs, but it made Fang even weaker. That they even considered getting rid of Ace was amazing to me. I like Ace, but I don’t listen to him to hear what he’s saying, I listen to hear his fake accent change.
Fang is one of the WORST tribes ever on Survivor. Most of them don’t even try to win. I think they didn’t care about losing because they felt Ace & Jacqui were easy vote outs, but that will eventually catch up to them. Losing luzury challenges will hurt. Kota can come into the merge more intact and have plenty of vote out options. At this point, I’m rooting for Marcus and Bob. BTW – Bob is better than most people on either tribe. Completely underestimated, and I hope he gets to the end.
First of all, these blogs are starting to make me think that Probt is hot. Which is scary. So part of me wants him to stop since his being good looking is several degrees of wrong and evil. But most of me wants him to continue because I look forward to these recaps every week like the trained monkey i am. Brilliant as ever, Jeff!!
I think you are doing a great job of blogging about this season..keep it up! YEs I think that some of these ditzy blonde are way smarter than what they believe them to be.
Jeff your the man, been a die hard survivor fan since the very begining…Last night it was a loose loose situation because we were dealing with two hot ladies and as much as kelly’s attitude is pissing me off lately she still remains very hot…that being said I was upset to see Jacquie go, she was doing pretty well up to this point but in survivor you have to be prepared for anything and she could have put up a better fight to stay. Strategically she failed, she should have thrown ace under the bus…ace is tight with sugar and Jacquie needed to make Ken see that(since Ken is clearly the puppet master behind the moronic crystal and the pathetic excuse for a survivor G sizzle)…thanks Jeff these blogs are awesome, keep em coming
I think it’s interesting how this season isn’t even “race” wars and yet the contestants still group themselves by white vs. minorities. Case in point:
1. The original Kota tribe was the all-white Abercrombie & Fitch crew + Paloma and not surprisingly, she was the first person they kicked off.
2. Even with the Fang tribe, the minorities Crystal, GC and Kenny have formed an alliance of minority outcasts. You can sense that white boy Matty is not really feeling this alliance although he has no choice but to take part.
3. This situation is similar to Cook Islands, when the misfit alliance of Yul, Becky, the black woman (I forgot her name) and Ozzie looked like they were in deep trouble against that season’s Abercrombie Crew but through some luck, Ozzie’s physical briliance, and the implosing of the white crew, Yul came out.
4. This being said, I don’t see this season’s minorities lasting long because they don’t have Yul’s brains or Ozzie’s athleticism.
Jeff Probst IS hot! Just give into the dimples and smile, listen to how smart and funny he is…and let yourself believe in the ultimate Hotness of Jeff.
Also, it’s interesting that every season, the random tribe switcheroo leaves an undeserving victim voted off. This time, it was Jacquie. I think the season before, it was some typical stud-looking white guy who was clearly dominating and was well-positioned to go far — but the tribe switch mixed up his plans and he was gone.
And finally, we need better representation from minorities. We get the withdrawn, difficult GC for the black male and the scrawny effeminate Kenny to represent the Asian man — c’mon!
Dude – too much time on your hands with nothing to do but study race cards like you’re reading Tarot cards. Most of the people on Fang suck, has nothing to do with race.
You should learn how to read because you’re missing the point. I’m not saying that Fang is losing because of their race, I’m saying that it’s socially interesting that people group themselves by race regardless of whether it’s forced (like Cook Islands) or not (Gabon).
Don’t be one of those typical white folks who immediately hiss anytime the word “race” comes up. Invoking the term “race” does not always mean the “race card”.
I had to laugh when Crystal gave the camera a little ‘look’ when speaking with Jacquie – she clearly was put off by her last minute appeal. Also, did anyone else notice that Ken was creeping on Kelly? He gave a look just before the commercial break that was priceless; part dreamy, part lusty, all scheming! All in all, not surprised they re-merged the tribes. This season was going down in flames fast unless they made a major switch-up. Notice how these changes happen during a weak season? The producers had to do something fast, because this fang is toothless!
Always look forward to J.Probst’s blog… my little slice of Friday morning heaven. Loved the ranking of the tribe members, every season there’s a challenge like this and it always “stirs the pot.” I know Ken’s playing this game to win but he looks like he just got done eating 20 oreos – that facial hair has got to go (and yes, I know they can’t shave). Sorry that Kelly’s in the game. I can’t stand to listen to people complain about others not liking them. LISTEN TO YOURSELF! I don’t like you either! As for the race comments (Simon, I’m looking at you) – don’t forget you had James and 2 black winners, Earl and Vecepia. Yul won for the Asians and Sandra won for the Hispanics. Please quit pointing fingers and remember that the casting directors and producers can’t predict how well people will do on the show until after they’re on it. Crystal looks good on paper (Olympic runner!) but isn’t so good in the game itself.
Pinky — you’re absolutely right. There have been some great ethnic contestants.
My point, from the minority’s point of view, is that because we have such limited representation in the media, each example is more important. For example, for whites in the media, because there are millions, no one ever associates any attributes to them. But if you only have 3 black portrayals and one happens to be arrogant, then it’s easier to stereotype blacks as arrogant. There’s even less portrayals of Asians so negative portrayals tend to stick more.
I remember the season that Yul won, one of the white contestants in the final tribal council jury complained that Yul, Becky and Ozzie were “boring”. The problem is that oftentimes, minorities don’t have the luxury to try to be funny or interesting because they know that, whether they want to or not, they are representing their ethnicities to lots of white Americans out there who’ve never seen Asians or Hispanics before.
You know, Jeff was right. I *am* pulling for Sugar for some peculiar reason. I kind of want to see her pull one over on all the players who are underestimating her. And Randy is growing on me. Probably because he sees everyone for the idiots they are and just to hear what’s going to spill out of his mouth next. Surprisingly entertaining. Both of them. Hopefully, they will also be surprisingly intelligent and strategic game players too–it would be a shame to lose them too soon.
Simon, I’m a latina married to a caucasian man. We both thought Ozzie ruled the world on each season of Survivor he was on. Even though I don’t like him personally, I think he’s an excellent player. If I were ever stranded ANYWHERE (on a deserted island, in the desert, on the side of the road), I’d want him there to help me. He’s that good. We both loved James and his personality and altheticisim. I, personally, don’t think there is a lack of representation on these types of shows. I think you’re perhaps picking at something that doesn’t seem to be there. There are lazy and apathetic people of all races on Survivor, this season happens to be GC and Kelly (who happens to be caucasian). Maybe I live in a bubble but I don’t think that the minorities are getting the shaft… GC was nominated to be leader and gave it up. That was not a planned move on Survivor’s part, that was GC. I can’t get mad about a stereotype on a reality show.
LOVE this blog… Jeff’s honesty is a beautiful thing!
Pinky — upon further reflection, I think you’re right. I think Survivor, more than any other show, has done a great job in getting minority representation. As an Asian male, I think was being extra sensitive because the last two portrayals (Kenny and the Asian male on Survivor China) were shy, effeminate and easily swayed by white women. But your argument has changed my position. I stand corrected.
I think its an interesting comment about the attractive blonds not necessarily being the best tv. Maybe in real life they don’t have to try that hard to have people interested in them, all they need is the golden hair and the bolt ons to get attention. In Survivor that will only get you so far though, with their tribemates and with the viewers. As its been mentioned, the most interesting players to watch have always been interesting personalities. There have been countless hot chicks that I (a dedicated Survivor fan) couldn’t name.
Keep em coming, Jeff!
I too have to say I love both Jefff and Dalton’s blogs – they’ve become essential parts of the Survivor experience.
Who are these so-called critics who don’t like this blog? These entries are tremendous – how often do you get complete candor from someone who’s an insider?
Usually after a tribal switch-up, the crappier tribe has the advantage, because whichever new tribe has the higher number of those people will lose more challenges, and then get rid of the people from the good tribe. But this time, I don’t think Fang can be saved. Even if new Fang gets rid of old Kota over the next few episodes, Randy’s not going back after the merge, and neither is Susie. GC, Kenny and Crystal need to figure out a way to form an alliance of the wretched after the merge, but I’m not sure there’s enough gameplay sense between the three of them to do it. This is promising to be a disappointing season so far.
I would have to agree, been with survivor since Richard and look forward to friday morning, Dalton and Jeff! I would love to be on Survivor, is there room for a mother of five who is an elementary librarian? I need a vacation!LOL
Love that Jeff defended my hometown boy, Bob. What was up with leaving him standing there like that? I hope he ultimately feasts on their entrails. Literally. And has anyone verified that Crystal was, indeed, an Olympic athlete? Man, I think I could take her in a race.
I will say that another of the best “gimmicks” Survivor has come up with to keep people watching is Probsts’ fantastic blog reports. I had sworn off the show, but now I’m watching every week just so I can follow Jeff’s posts! This is a man of many talents. Just saying…
Pretty blond girls are usually not interesting because they never had to be.