Board 8 > Survivor: Ghost Island Discussion Topic 2.2 - Purged topic is our Malolo Low

(+) Yeah! (+)

RIP
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Omg Laurel you are dumb as fuck
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Shit Kellyn!
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Laurel isnt gonna be received well. Nor is Kellyn.
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lol scot
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Over half the cast is still in the game, and there have been seven idols (including the legacy advantage) located thus far. Jesus Christ. Oh, and with the sole exception of Kellyn on Ghost Island (finding an extra vote, not an idol), all of these advantages were found by guys.
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Yaaaas queen chelsea
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Its annoying with so many idols, but I expected as much given the theme. Just imagine what Angela wouldve been granted, too.

Not sure why so few women find idols though. They gotta step it up.
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Dom dude you don't need Kellyn! Dom/Wendell/Mololo4 is majority.

Damn these players are stupid.
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So what's the least exciting possible outcome because that's what typically happens lol
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Honestly, Kellyn is the only truly smart player here (probably Angela too, but she can't vote.)

You don't make a "big move" this early, because there is way too much time left to blow up your game. Get rid of another Malolo and then maybe consider changing things up when they've only got three left.
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God this season is fucking terrible. Des is an idiot for trying to stir up shit, Laurel is an idiot for blowing that up instead of keeping her options open, and Naviti is stupid for fucking with a 7-4 majority.
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kinda sad Desiree went home even though I didn't really like her because she was literally the only person this episode who wasn't :| the whole time
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Your feelings confuse me lol. Like when I feel like I have a handle on your opinion I feel like it changes
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So Malolo sucks overall. I genuinely dislike every one of the four. They're not even likable underdogs. They're just boring, lifeless, unpleasant stains on an already boring season. Naviti is SO much better of a tribe, and you can tell that by the fact that 3/4 of the Naviti boots have been over petty, personality conflicts (and hell, if Naviti had their way, they would've taken Angela out for similar reasons, so make that 3.5/4.)
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It seems like the core 4 is 50% Malolo so I get confused when they talk about picking off all the OG orange.

Whats wrong with Don?
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How can you hate Donny?!
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Because he's boring and smug and part of a boring alliance of boring people, plus he found an idol, which fuck that noise.
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:thinkingface:
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He's hilarious! Also, it is now against your criteria to find an idol? How you gonna get mad at the cast for not playing well but them dislike them for finding idols!! Smh
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So is Chelsea gonna quit? I can't think of any other reason why her edit's been so bad. Is it even worse than Purple Kelly's at this point?
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eaedwards6400 posted...

He's hilarious! Also, it is now against your criteria to find an idol? How you gonna get mad at the cast for not playing well but them dislike them for finding idols!! Smh

Finding idols is not "playing well". It's finding idols. Which is fucking annoying given that this season has already had 7 idols in play, and we're coming off a season with eight (I think it's just eight) idols in play. And honestly? It's frustrating to see EVERY idol get found by a guy. In the past five seasons, we've had the following idols found:

Neil
Tai
Jason
Adam
David
David x2
Jay
Adam x2
Troyzan
Tai
Tai x2
Tai x3
Joe
Joe x2
Mike
Ryan
Ben
Ben x2
Ben x3
Michael
Michael x2
Domenick
Wendell
Chris
Donathan

vs.

Lauren

And idols means screentime regardless of personality, which means more for the guys (who already receive disproportionate screentime) and less for the women. This season's female cast is terrible because they're taking such a backseat to the men, and it annoys me when more and more idols are introduced into the game to give more and more screentime to the guys already getting a lot of footage.
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Inviso has always had a general annoyance with perceived sexism in Survivor.

But from what we see, men go looking for idols far more frequently than women, so it's expected that more men will find idols than women.

It's worth noting though that the last time a man won individual immunity was in episode 8 last season, so a balance is starting to appear somewhere.
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Mewtwo59 posted...

So is Chelsea gonna quit? I can't think of any other reason why her edit's been so bad. Is it even worse than Purple Kelly's at this point?

So far it's not as bad - Chelsea has three confessionals so far, and Kelly had only one up to this point. But Kelly got 4 in episode 11, which means Chelsea needs to get at least 2 next episode or she becomes worse.

I don't think she quits though. I think she gets fucked by a twist. Given the preview, I wouldn't be surprised if it's next episode.
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Nice to see that for the purpose of your point you left Kelley Wentworth and season 31 off of your list.

And you may not like to hear this but there is a correlation between finding idols and making the final 3. The last winner to not find an idol or advantage is Michele Fitzgerald. Finding idols or advantage has become an essential part of the Game if you like it or not.

Winners who have found an idol or advantage can go back as early as Cooks Islands:
Yul (God idol, but I already know you think this season is fixed)
Earl
Todd basically found it.
Parvati
Sandra
Boston Rob
Sophie was there when coach found it
Kim
Densie was there was Malcolm found it
Tyson
Tony
Natalie Anderson
Mike
Jeremy
Adam
Ben

And if you include finalists or final 3 in general this list grows greatly!

You got your tinfoil hat basically accusing the show of giving the idols to the guys and if you're that paranoid then why do you watch the show because clearly all it does is make you angry.
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Donathan is not boring.
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I said the last five seasons. And just because it's commonplace doesn't mean it's a good thing. Prior to season 30, despite idols being present in the 19 prior seasons, we'd never had a winner that actually had to USE one to negate votes against themselves. Since Mike, we'd had Mike, Jeremy, Sarah, and Ben (again, only Michele, and surprisingly enough, Adam, are not part of this category at the moment) all play idols/advantages that negated votes that would have otherwise sent them home. The overabundance of idols has diluted the gameplay and diluted character development because we now have to develop a five minute segment to every time a player finds an idol, and then we need another ten minute pre-tribal segment where players discuss splitting votes to avoid idols, while someone contemplates flipping. It makes the show unpleasant and boring to watch.

And yes, I do think that the show tends to push male players towards finding idols over females because the show casts male players as their "stars". I think idols in general are geared in such a way that they benefit male players more than females, because male players are given more leeway in terms of being away from camp (gathering firewood, filling canteens, etc.) And I'm just sick of that aspect of Survivor. I love this show, but the past several seasons have turned to utter trash due to the overabundance of idols and otherwise gamebreaking twists. HHH and GC were both great until the final 2 episodes when everything became about forcing idols and twists into the narrative. Kaoh Rong is an amazing season specifically because all three idols wound up amounting to absolutely nothing. I LOVE that.

And I watch the show because I've been with it from the beginning and I don't quit. I'm still allowed to criticize it for going in a shitty direction and completely warping what the show used to be about. Especially when Jeff continues smelling his own farts with that whole "don't you love the new jury format that we added to prevent another Michele win" spiel last episode.
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You're crazy brother.
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Seriously. This show is amazing right now and I have gotten more people to watch the show recently than people before the past couple of years the show is great right now and you seem to have this disdain towards strategy talk.
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Strategy without character development is just a bunch of robots making moves without us having any reason to care about them. Again, Kaoh Rong was amazing for strategy AND for character development. GC was amazing up until the final 8/7 episode. And as much as I hate Ben's win, I think HHH and Ben were tolerable until he started being given idols at the final 6. I want CHARACTERS to strategize, not ROBOTS.
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You're sticking with them "giving" Ben those idols really tells us the kind of fan you are. I don't know if you'll ever be satisfied with this show.

And just because we don't know every small detail about their lives doesn't mean they are robots. We still get plenty of information we need to know about the players. You don't have amazing episodes like Chris vs Dom with robots.
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I'm the kind of fan that questions when shit stinks. That final 5 idol that conveniently appears in the very place where Ben sleeps and gives confessionals, that he found the same night after playing his previous idol? Yeah, no. This is the same show that gave Russell a second idol after SEVERAL Galus have said they searched the very bridge where he found said second idol. I have no doubt that production likes and encourages players that "find" and play idols to "find" and play more idols.

Let's look at who's left, shall we?

Jenna - Complete wallpaper.
Michael - Charisma black hole.
Donathan - Boring follower.
Laurel - Boring enabler.
Chelsea - Who?
Sebastian - Who?
Angela - Typically who?
Kellyn - Generic enabler.
Wendell - Has one really strong episode of him being a pure gamebot, and that's it.
Domenick - The only consistently dynamic character out of TEN.

Yes, the Chris episode was great. But that storyline ate up SO MUCH of the season's early airtime that we're now left with this dull group of players. In fact, if I include Libby and Desiree, both were sporadic airtime at best and typically ignored. That's fucking terrible. I don't give a FUCK about blindsides and complicated strategy if I don't have a reason to character about the chess pieces getting removed from the board. It's like the Kelly Wiglesworth boot in Cambodia, which is emblematic of how fucking soulless and terrible that season was.
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I don't know why I keep putting myself through this time loop. What you're saying just doesn't jell with what I think and based off of what Dalton Ross's fan season ranking likely the several other survivor fans.
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Dalton Ross is a casual idiot who nearly has Caramoan in his top 10 and thinks Redemption Island isn't a bottom 5 season. Forgive me if I don't take his dumb ass seriously.
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Survivor Topic: Darkx Island: Inviso vs eaed
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great episode. Desiree tried to make a move but did it poorly and it blew up on her. Watching the fall out was fun especially because of Kellyn's complete refusal to accept that Desi would try to back stab her. To her credit, what Laurel was saying was pretty good for Malolo to shift the target on them, and it sure was convenient that only Malolo's were ever around to hear her talk about flipping. It woulda been extra interesting if Angela or Chelsea had been there and doubled down and agreed with her that it never happened - it woulda made them liars along with Desiree.

I guess Kellyn came around in the end. I don't know why people think Kellyn is a really strategic player though. She's just been blindly pushing "keep naviti strong" the entire game with literally zero attempt at bonding with any Malolo's to possibly use if things go sideways. It's not a bad idea to get to the end but.... that's where her game starts and where it ends.

That was Desiree's mistake, too. when did she bond with *any* of those Malolo's enough to just walk up to all four of them and be like "hey wanna blindside my allies with me????" Did she really believe they would just snap to attention for her because they are at the bottom and do everything she says?

IMO, possible winners from now on are: Dom, Wendell, Laurel, Donathan, and Michael. I don't think Seabass, Chelsea, Jenna, or Angela have a shot, and while Kellyn does have a shot, I don't think she has what it takes.
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Well I felt like I was rude but clearly weren't phased. no I don't care about his ranking but the voted on season rankings that he did from the fans just a few weeks ago.

http://ew.com/tv/survivor-seasons-ranked-fans/
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I'm in the "too many idols this season" group I guess. It is like that is all production can think of to keep things interesting (well, it seems to be the case in the last few seasons). I guess idols are still better than most of the twists tried over recent seasons - have any of these been any good? Can't really think of many that have worked out well, if any.

My main issue though probably comes down to casting - not the easiest job, I know, but there's been a lot of blandness in the casts these last few seasons. I think I'll struggle to remember almost anyone from this season in a couple of years time (unless they are in a returnee season). Not good.

I will probably keep watching this season, it's just been kind of boring overall... again. I seem to have said that for most of the recent seasons when I think about it, this one probably more so than most though.
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I think the biggest thing for me is that some of the most recent non-returners are very top heavy. You have a couple of people who just jump off of the screen and then the rest of the cast ends up being bland and that's why they are not being shown. They've had producers on RHAP who have specifically said the reason you're getting nothing from so-and-so is because they are giving them nothing.
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Do we know what's up with season 37/38 yet? I feel like by now we usually have an idea of rough themes.
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tbh I'm on Inviso's side with this one. This season has been boring as shit. I can appreciate that this cast is probably cool/interesting people on paper or in real life, but literally none of them are delivering entertainment at the moment. Domenick is really the only actual character but I'm so sick of loud middle-aged men taking up screentime. This is easily the worst season since Worlds Apart and if the finale is as terrible as all of the recent ones then it will probably be in my bottom 5.

Here's a cast ranking:

Good Personalities, Bad Characters:
1. Donathan
2. Wendell
3. Kellyn

Bad Personality, But Is In Fact A Character:
4. Domenick

Neither Personality Nor Character:
5. Sebastian
6. Angela
7. Laurel
8. Chelsea
9. Jenna
10. Michael
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Yeah I've long been in camp "too many twists" and while at least the theme this season is literally "let's cram as many twists and idols in as possible" I think it's being poorly implemented. I've said before that the fixed order of urns on Ghost Island hurts it tremendously.

I think this season has it's good points, I don't think it's a total piece of shit, but it's definitely in the bottom third, which is tragic because that's the direction I see the show heading in.
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Speaking of twists, any idea what's happening next week?
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I'll pull the ripcord after 37/38. Right now, it feels like their still coming off of the advantage high from 34 because 33 wasn't that horrible with its advantages, the players just weren't as fun.
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From edit only.

Good Personalities, Decent to Good Characters:
1. Morgan
2. Stephanie
3. Chris Noble
4. Wendell
5. Kellyn
6. Donathan

Redundant or Bad Personalities, Good Characters
7. Jacob
8. Bradley
9. Domenick
10. James

Good Personalities, Bad Characters
11. Sebastian
12. Brendan
13. Gonzo (gone too soon to know tbh)

Neither Personality Nor Character
14. Laurel
15. Des
16. Chelsea
17. Angela
18. Libby
19. Jenna
20. Michael

I've been eagerly awaiting for this season to be over for over a month now. Because of the terrible editing making the early heartbreak too big an obstacle to overcome, this is looking to be a bottom 10 season that will remembered for being boring due to the under-edited females, lack of rooting interests, and the dominance of Domenick's redundant personality and Michael being an absolute dud.

This is the rare season where I would rather be on the pre-jury trip than on the jury. I'd love to see the boot order in reverse - though it'd be Morgan winning (EVERYONE in this cast adores her), Gonzo second, and Jacob as the zero-vote getter. 7-3-0 vote.

As it stands right now, I don't see a way someone other than Domenick or Wendell is going to win this. I like Domenick and all but he'd be a meh winner.

*poof*
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I think idols are generally too easy to get but I'm cool with a twisty season

Ghost island itself had mostly fallen flat though. It was neat in the first couple episodes when choosing somebody meant they skipped tribal council. Lots of strategy implications there. Who would they choose? That person is safe, but also misses out on key momen's. Do you protect someone because you actually want them safe or do you protect someone because they look weak and want them to drag the team down?

However, actually being on Ghost Island has been lame. The fixed order pots means there's just a lot of dead episodes where it's actually a waste of time with no impact on the game. Even when they do get to play, it's just this boring game of chance. It would be okay a couple tomes but it's the only thing that happens there. Give the chosen player a challenge to complete!

I do like that the advantages have been more than just normal idols. That's a good thing.

But the effect on choosing players is also lame.... it always goes to rocks, which is boring. I get that getting the players to agree is tough, and a vote would make players have to reveal who they like and who they don't. But that's why it would be fun. If you can't make selecting the players by the players work, then your mechanic is broken.

Also the person who goes is only gone between reward challenge and immunity challenge. That's valuable socializing time in the game but means very little to the viewer. This makes Ghost Island feel pointless, especially on weeks with no game.

On the whole, I'm not impressed with the execution of Ghost Island. Love the idea. Love more minor and unique advantages, especially when earned. Love the idea of isolating a player from the rest the tribe. I love the whole concept. But it feels very unfulfilling on execution.
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Bye bye liar liar Desiree! Her plan to boot Kellyn actually wasn't that bad.

But she tried to have her cake and eat it too. Hilarious how she tried to flip the target back to Michael after she exposed herself as a liar and an angry lunatick. If you wanted a blindside, then maybe you should have you know asked everyone to sign an NDA or something. :)
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eaedwards6400 posted...

I'll pull the ripcord after 37/38. Right now, it feels like their still coming off of the advantage high from 34 because 33 wasn't that horrible with its advantages, the players just weren't as fun.

Unfortunately the momentum seems to be dying right now. This goes in cycles and it always picks back up, but I wonder how much longer it can keep doing that?

Worst case scenario, I don't see the show dying a natural death for at least four more years (or up to S44). It's probably an extraordinarily cheap show to produce and while it has dropped out of the top 20 in the ratings, it still consistently wins it's timeslot. Plus, CBS knows it has a hardcore audience. Even after it gets yanked from the air, it's the perfect kind of show to make All Access-exclusive, and we could get a few more years out of it that way. Hell, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if like 80% of All-Access users are there first and foremost for Survivor/Big Brother.

The only things I can see killing it in the near future would be extreme extenuating circumstances - a contestant dies during filming, Probst/Burnett dies or quits, or some sort of PR disaster.

Other than one of the above catastrophes, at this point I predict the show surviving (pun intended) to about S50.
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