Survivor: South Pacific
 

Premiere of the new season is tonight! Ozzy and Coach return for this one. Also saw on one of the promos that Russell's nephew is one of the contestants.

Coach, again? Isn't this like his third showing? He's a big reason my wife and I STOPPED watching.

I was out at a bar or something and saw the preview out of the corner of my eye. I thought I saw Russell - is that why I thought that?


Not thrilled about Coach, but Ozzy is one of my top 3 favorites of all time, so I'll let it slide.

I've been a big fan of Survivor for many years, but I gotta say, I'm starting to grow a bit weary of it. Their fascination with all things Hantz is absurd. Not thrilled with "returning players". So unless 1st or 2nd show grabs my attention because of something different/unique, this may be one of the shows on a short leash competing for my attention.

Yeah, I'm not really a fan of Redemption Island or always having returning players now. This may be the first season of Survivor I skip in quite some time.

This would have been 100x better if they'd brough back Ozzy and that girl (Amanda?) that he pathetically fell for during his last appearance.

(I'm assuming they've broken up now. Even better if they're both bitter about it. Come to think of it, a male vs female season where each side is lead by an embittered ex would be fantastic.)

It's been about 6 seasons since I made it through watching a whole season. Coach was unbearable. Perhaps he has gotten a sense of humor. I hope he's changed. Ozzy was awesome in his first season but was an arrogant prick his second. We'll see which one shows up.

The thing I've enjoyed about the returning players is that they have demonstrated that experience can play a factor in how well you do. If I was a newbie, I'd boot those returning players in a hurry because they're a threat. With that said, I'm amazed at how well some of them are able to do despite the target on their back right from the start.

Yeah -- I love returning players when it's once in awhile. Doing it every season pretty much saps it of any novelty. Once you're bringing Coach back for the third time, it's probably time to do a few good-old-fashioned seasons before going back to the returning players well. The original premise, after all, was 16 strangers forced to survive together and the dynamics that come from their all being strangers to each other. That did actually work well.

As for RI, I can only hope they at least learned to shut it down at the merge this time. I enjoyed Rob finally winning a season, but post-merge RI completely ruined the endgame last season.


Me too, but I can't imagine they'll have any chance this season after Rob's run on S22. Everyone just saw that -- it's fresh in their minds. Ozzy and Coach are both well situated for fairly deep runs. Ozzy because he should be huge in getting his tribe a numbers advantage up until the merge, and Coach because anyone should want to drag Coach to the end. If any returning players would have a chance to stick around awhile immediately after Rob, these two would. But I still see them both being removed irrationally early because of the Rob factor.

Not sure on timing of filming, but if the players are aware of Rob's victory last season I can't imagine they don't do exactly that for Ozzy and Coach.

I think most thought they'd do it to Rob last year. What happens is that the newbies start panicking when the returning player starts stirring the pot. They start thinking that they're better off with the returning player even though the newbies could easily dispatch that returning player if they put their minds to it.

It's a fascinating thing to watch happen either way.

I'd prefer an all-newbie cast, but Survivor is still one of my favorite shows.

I liked redemption island, but only 2 players at a time. And only have one player ever make it back into the game.

This one snuck up on me.

Have to catch the beginning on demand, I guess.

I've gotten into this show just the last 3-4 years (after not watching since season 3), I would have totally missed the premiere without the bump, so thanks for that.

She was so tiiiiiiiiiired though.... ;)

:D

Even tired should be able to dig deep enough to try, that was pathetic.

That one womans eyes are CRAZY!!

Yeah, you have to eliminate someone like that. In the competitions you're trying your best and so is the other team. You're both tired and hungry. If you have someone on your team that gives up, you have no chance.

Love the Hantz kid... "Ain't no way I'm gonna let anyone know my last name... which come to think of it could be tough since I have this giant tattoo of it..."

P.S. Could we label spoilers? Big difference between discussing something from last night's show that DVRers may not have seen vs. revealing an actual spoiler for future episodes.

yeah, I don't think anything that has already happened on the show needs to be a spoiler. It's your own fault if you are in the thread and haven't watched yet.

This is a good reminder that I need to steer clear of FB until I watch though. East coasters ruin everything

That's why I spoiler tag my posts during the show, just to be safe.

Coach seems to have changed. He's not the uberannoying scapegoat of scorn he once was. Really seems to be well grounded and even has a sense of humor a little.

Ozzy hasn't changed a bit. He says he's more mature but he seems to already going back to the bully he was last time. And geez. "We should all go swimming right away, ya know....DUUUUUUDE there are some tasty waves out there. Then we could lie in the sand and uh...pretend to eat stuff and drink stuff. and WHOA my hands are HUUUUUUUGE!

Ozzy

I was torn. didn't want to see Samsha's rack go away, but I find the nerdy guy to be entertaining (if not entirely believable - he kind of reminds me a bit of the Idol contestants who are intentionally bad but fake being pissed off when they get critiqued)

There are some hotties this year I gotta say!

Ozzy has no chance to win if he's going to do the same old "I'm so cool" shtick again. Coach actually came off very likeable and kinda wiser.

Run Papa Bear run! I honestly thought his undies were going to slip off.



Brandon = pschyo killer (f-f-f-f-ffa fa -f-f-f-f-f-faa-faaaa)

Brandon is crazy. He said from the beginning he wanted to be different from Russell, then tried to pull a Russell move on Mikayla. Then the next episode he feels bad about it and says he's not going to do that anymore. The very next scene he is getting into a fight with Mikayla and causing a big scene at camp. I think the guy is bipolar.

Brandon definitely is a whacked out dude. He reminds me of a lot of people that talk God God God and then turn around and are just plain nasty and constantly ask for forgiveness.

He is doing no favors for the image of devout Christians.

I'm not sure if Cochran is going to even come close to pulling a move or if they are just teasing us

I think they are teasing but I would love to see him pull it off.

I would not let Brandon hold the machete, that's for sure

+1

A few years from now we're going be reading about the bodies found buried in Brandon's back yard.

I think that Cochran helped himself in a way that he didn't realize at tribal. When he said that someone getting the individual idol shows that a prson doesn't trust his tribe. They guy that Ozzie told popped his head up a bit on that one. Maybe he planted a seed there.

Yeah Keith and the blond already want Ozzy gone and Ozzy is clueless about it. But he could easily wise up.

I mean he WAS ousted with the idol before. He might play it next week.

I think Cochran might be a goner if he tries something.

Well he could easily get Dawn. If he =finds out about the idol then he told JIm, Jim would go in too.

So Jim Dawn Keith Cochran Blond

That could be the new 5.

I'm hoping Ozzy's tribe loses the immunity challenge tonight, so we can finally see if Cochrane/Jim can pull their big move off. I still think it's dumb to take Elyse out instead of Ozzy. If Elyse goes, then Ozzy will certainly play his idol the next time they go to Tribal, meaning he has a very good chance of making it to the merge. At that point, they won't be able to vote him out unless they get a comfortable advantage in numbers.

Moves glorious moves!

Not sure what exactly Keith and Whitney were thinkng.
But I'll take it all the same. Crazy. Not sure if they realized that NOT voting for cochran is the same as voting for Ozzy or elise :)

Anyway it was good that they jumped ozzy's ship. Keith REALLY needed to spill the beans on ozzy's idol. I really don't know why keith would even consider TELLING ozzy.

Agree with Keith/Whitney made a dumb decision. By putting their votes on Dawn instead of Cochran or Elyse, they

1.) they made themselves look like a pair which is what caused Elyse to get axed
2.) They gave both Ozzy and the Dawn/Cochran/Jim alliance a reason not to trust them

Was I the only one partially gagging during the challenge, yet couldn't keep my eyes off it?

Does anybody else think Cochrane looks like a vampire?

And on the vote... Coch Train? Really?

If Ozzy was smart, he'd make nice nice with Keith/Whitney. His idea should be to get them to have the alliance of three target him so he can play the idol and knock out one of the three. But it looks like he is just going to pout.

With the fractured Savaii, it looks like Upolu is going to dominate this one, but things could change.

I was gagging afterwards when the winning tribe took the meat back to camp to eat with them...and then heard the injuries the other tribe got during that challenge...blech!

It sure would have been great to see Ozzy's face last night if Cochrane, Jim, and Dawn pulled a fast one and voted Ozzy out-and with an idol in his pocket and not a fear in the world that he'd be voted out. Would have been priceless...and that tribe probably would have lost every challenge to the merge after that.

Yeah, but Ozzy will very likely tank at least one of the challenges before the merge. He's got a get out of jail free card, so he can afford to do that and weaken his current tribe if he wants to defect to Coach's tribe. An Ozzy/Coach/Albert/Sophie alliance of 4 would be pretty hard to beat.

Of course, I would hope that Coach is smart enough to not let Ozzy do that. He should immediately vote Ozzy out immediately post-merger unless the tribal balance is close and they need his vote.

They showed a quick flash of them washing it off at least

Hmmmm no precedence for this but a fun thought: Both idols being played on the same night and nobody going home! :)

But he's not all glittery and sparkly though!

Ozzy no doubt wants to ride the cock train.

That would work too since Keith and Whitney are so scared of Ozzy and want to keep him in their alliance. I still don't think they would have voted for Cochran if they didn't go Dawn. The same ole thing of "they have all the info in front of them and want to pull the trigger but are afraid to make a move".

And that's ALL Ozzy ever did was pout.

Well that would be considered a tie and they would revote, but it would be a free for all because Coach/Ozzy would be exempt.

What happens in ties nowadays? I've lost track.

They revote and only the two people with most votes can be voted on next time. So I'm actually not sure how it would work if nobody had any votes against them, but my guess is there would be a 2nd vote for anyone but Coach/Ozzy since they played idols.

One thing I love about this season is how it has changed so dramatically from the start. Savaii was excited to have Ozzy, while Upolu was not happy to see Coach. The tables have definitely turned, haven't they? Coach's tribe seems ready to follow him to the end of the world right now, while Ozzy just loafed around and didn't pay attention to what was going on in his tribe.

Not sure why Coach's tribe kept Brandon tonight. That guy is crazy. I think he would have been better to vote out then either one of those girls.

I soooo wish Albert or Sophie had pulled out the big guns and told Brandon that Coach hid the idol from him. I wonder if that would've made him rethink the importance of loyalty.

The problem for Upolu is that their former tribe member keeps winning immunity and now it looks like the returnee will be a disgruntled Upolu member, whether it is Christine or Mikayla. So even if they win immunity next week they might not have an advantage post-merge.

This is depressing, two weeks in a row and two hot chicks voted out...

My biggest suprise: Rick has an accent?

Rick decided to follow Coach and Brandon over Albert and Sophie. I don't get that at all.

I want a Edna/Cochrane Final Two. Two of the least physical players in Survivor history-that would be great. :)

Brandon really needs to go-he just can't keep his mouth shut, and he's making the rest of his tribe deal with his own personal demons. I'm not sure what religion got to him, but its pretty scary watching him try to follow whatever beliefs he's supposed to have. He needs help pretty badly I think.

Brandon's going to end up butchering his tribe in their sleep one of these episodes. He seems to have some serious issues.

Rick is week. He is one of those that has no idea what show he's on nor what to do. He will be led to the slaughter by coach who will easilly manipulate him and vote him out. Albert and sophie should jump ship :) I actually like those two.

*weak

Does Cochrane seriously have that little clue? Sure he doesn't want to get voted out. Okay, fine. But he doesn't try. Doesn't try at all in challenges. He's like this scared little mouse. TRY dammit. Just HULK OUT or something.

In the show's history, there have been several Survivor contestants where I've asked the question, "How the hell did they pass the psychological test?" Until now I've been semi-joking, but not with Brandon. This guy has some very, very serious issues that frankly are uncomfortable to watch and not fun to see played out on national television. I think they must have wanted a Hantz on the show so badly that they looked the other way with the psychological test. I'm extremely dismayed that this guy is married and reproducing already.

As for Rick, I got the sense he just didn't want to deal with Coach's inevitable hissy fit. It didn't seem like there was any actual strategy behind it.

I've been watching the season, but mostly on PVR and fast-forwarding through a lot of the camp stuff. Somebody catch me up on Brandon and why he's crazy?

what the fuck is a baseball / dating coach?

I have to say as a huge Survivor fan this season has really been painful to get through. I think the whole Redemption thing has worn thin with me already.

If they're going to do redemption island they need to have that person join at the merge and that be the end of it. They also need to get rid of the immunity idols IMO. Redemption island already gives players a way to stay in the game.

I'd rather they dropped redemption island and kept the immunity idols, but both is too much for me.

Brandon Hantz is making this season difficult to watch. His uncle was a game show villain and he wants to blame that for all of his issues in life? Really?

I don't know what to say about that.

Um... WTF?

Have they not seen how much that lady hates that other tribe?

Yeah, I can't believe they didn't think of that. What a stupid move. I'm rooting for Ozzy to lose so it becomes the dumbest move in Survivor history. Would also be funny if Cochran flips post-merge and doesnt give the idol back.

"God help us find the thing I lied about"

...

Also, why give the idol to Cochran? What happens if the merge doesn't happen right away and Savaii loses again due to a Cochran screwup? They won't be able to vote him out because he'll play the idol. I'd love to see Ozzy's face if he's sitting there at Redemption Island and sees Keith walking up.

Was also thinking...what if the tribe went against Ozzy's wishes and voted Cochran out anyway. :)

Well it is good TV. The other tribe has quickly become the tribe I want to FF through. Albert has really become a jerk so he fits right in with Coach and Brandon.

Yes Ozzy congrats you had the balls to go completely stupid to give up your idol and go willingly to Redemption Island to try to take out someone who's all but admitted that she's flipping over to your tribe if she survives till the merge...and given how she's done on Redemption, a much better ally and competitor than Cochran. Yes yes Ozzy, very well done. Congrats on perhaps the worse move ever in Survivor history.

Kinda. :)

I still say "handing over your immunity idol right before making it to the end so the girls can vote you out" was the dumbest move EVER and will have a very hard time being topped. It's also pretty close to getting voted out when you have TWO immunity idols with THREE votes left to play them when you've been dominating most individual immunity challenges and thus are likely to win at least one of the two remaining after that.

yeah that's why I put perhaps in there. :) For one, we'll need to see how this turns out. But giving up an idol at any time is a particularly stupid move, especially in this case if the merge happens-Ozzy is likely to be lynched first if he survives Redemption.

Cuddling up to Russell...Spooning with Ghandia...and several other of these are pretty dumb moves too :)

The latter is even worse when you consider that Jason had just narrowly escaped being eliminated by one vote the week prior.

Was hilarious watching Ozzy and Elyse on the jury as they watched the Eric thing go down. :)

I was thinking of James in Survivor China...

Yeah, I mixed the two up. Jason only had one idol in his pocket, but was really stupid for not playing it because he had just narrowly missed elimination.

JT giving the idol to Russell was also one of the worst moves ever.

Unemployed.

He coaches baseball and is a dating coach..

A-Roid should give him a call...

Just caught up now, and really hoping this happens. Cochran as the new "evil" Survivor mastermind would be great TV.

Just caught up to last week's episode now, so no idea what happened tonight.

So, uh... good lord.

I'd argue that Ozzie's move is even dumber than what's-his-name who gave the idol to the girls. That guy was a dumb kid who was 30+ days into the game and probably starving to death. Ozzie is basically a professional Survivor player who has had years to think about how he'd play if he had one more chance. And he does this. Unbelievable.

(And that's true even if it works. Punting on first down can work too, but it doesn't make it any less dumb.)

That was the worst acting ever by Ozzy, pretty much gave away that it was a ploy.

Has that tribe never seen the show? Do they expect the person that they have treated like crap for all that time to show loyalty for them and risk his life in the game based on drawing rocks?

I was especially glad that Keith bit the dust, because he was the worst with all his crap at the beginning of the episode criticizing Cochran for letting people fight his battles for him. Hey, maybe now is the time to build the guy up since he is absolutely crucial to the plan your tribe is trying to execute, which will involve him talking to the other team for three days. Also if Cochran did as Keith suggested and volunteered to go to RI instead of Ozzy, that wouldn't be brave or manly, it would be STUPID.

I've been going back and forth on whether Cochran made the right move here. Basically, using the rock strategy, he had a 71% of surviving AND having the numbers advantage without having pissed anyone off. But he also had that 1-in-7 chance of being out of the game completely. He traded that for 100% getting three more days, but being #7 outside a seemingly tighter tribe of six and having four probable jurors completely enraged at him (I doubt Dawn is enraged, just disappointed).

I wonder how much the whole ostracizing thing was actually happening. Yeah, Ozzy and Keith were both being classic condescending jock bully types, and Dawn seems to corroborate that he was not being treated particularly well... but Jim, Dawn, and Cochran had also made this power move earlier -- was he really the last guy on the totem pole there, especially in a post-merge world where weakness is a strength? Even if he was, he would've had a lot of time to maneuver while they whittled the other tribe down, and especially at final seven, with a 6/1 split, there would have potentially been room for a big move by using the remaining straggler from Upolu for an extra vote.

I know it seems like Jim is a douche, but isn't Cochran actually being sort of a coward? You have to OWN a move like this, not get all defensive and "let me explain" about it. Brandon offers to protect you, you go, "Thanks, but I got it." Geez. Nobody's going to respect Cochran unless he owns it forcefully. But we'll see how it plays out.

I'm not sure I see a path to victory in the new spot he's put himself in. Best case he's now a goat to take to the end. But of course there's always the emotional aspect of sticking it to someone like Keith, which I'm sure felt good -- although Keith doesn't leave, he just goes to Redemption goddamn Island, which apparently is going to plague this season's end-game, AGAIN. I really hoped they would drop it at the merge this time. Last season was great till the merge and went slowly downhill from there because half the remaining cast was dicking around on bloated RI, with people finishing third in duels and still somehow sticking around for weeks on end. This season has been very strong so far, I think, but I'm afraid it might meet the same fate.

Survivor Video - Offer Final Four - CBS.com

This deleted scene makes Cochran's move make more sense. Of course, I don't buy the offer as genuine at all, but it's an offer and he didn't get shit at all from the other tribe.

That. Was. Awesome.

I'll say one thing for him. He didn't pull a Matt and TELL everyone what he was doing altho he almost caught it from Dawn. Oh boy. I don't think that was a good move. Sophie stood there and soaked all his info up and then totally played him saying she wouldn't give him any info back. plyaplayplay

There's really no way Cochran will win the game. I think in the long run that was a bad move. But I do agree that Keith and co was really dumb in how they worked that.

The worst part of that move was giving the idol to Whitney.
Why did they do that?

I guess they were thinking that they would pick either Jim or Keith and couldn't decide which one and then flip to Whitney, the obvious one that would not have it. But man that was just a lot of bad moves. Ozzy doing that over acting thing was horrible.

As much as I hate coach, good for him. And wow he TOTALLY said the right thing to Cochran. TOTALLY TOTALLY INSTANTLY said the PERFECT THING to make Cochran feel welcome . Wow. And of course Coach will slice Cochran's throat instantly I'm sure. And selfrighteously tell him and apologize beforehand while he does it.

Poor Jim. I really like him. He's not gonna last long with his mouth. Hmmm...Things just got really screwed.

Cochran is so not going to be in the inner circle of Upolu. There's no way that is going to happen. Only thing I can see happening is Sophie and Albert joining him and Dawn and getting rid of others.

The other side of this. Brandon and Coach are just stupid and crazy enough with all this honor crap that they could indeed try to protect him.

I guess my problem with this altogether is that Cochran is doing it JUST to make a move. JUST for fame . JUST to be remembered.
The rock in a bag thing may not have worked in their favor but it was surely better odds than he has now. Also he has to live there with them now.

And I expect there to be some one on one battles coming. Jim will DESTROY him. :)
can't wait for that.

Best line: He's the dragon warrior and talks of Dragons and wizards and King Arthur..." HAHAHAHAHAHA