Five is such a great number, the way it’s composed of three and two! Wouldn’t it be interesting if Terry were to talk with both Bruce and Cirie, show them the Exile Island Immunity Idol, and explain that it can be used to and through the final four. Terry can then explain that he will almost certainly be in the final five, no matter what Casaya has to say about it. On the rare occasions he doesn’t win immunity, who’s going to risk extracting the idol from him at the cost of going straight to the jury? (more…)

A Survivor Fan Looks At Unan1mous
The jury is still out

Strategy commentary by VikingBear
Friday, 31 March 2006

Idol on Fox turned up a great strategy! Slip Unan1mous in right after the American Idol eviction show. Twice now I have been so overwhelmed by gravity from watching 27 minutes of commercials and silliness with 3 minutes of actual American Idol eviction content, that I sat there and watched Unan1mous. Ya know… this might actually turn out to be a great show!

Like everyone else, I don’t yet know what to make of it. Like that other Fox hit the O’Reilly Factor, it could become a cult hit for how bad it is. On the other hand… again like Bill O’Reilly’s show… there is potential for pure brilliance.

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Survivor episode 8 screencaps - by Dreamer

Tribes Merge and Nick is Picked Off - Recap with screen caps on Survivor.com.

Merger Most Foul - The Knives come out, commentary by Dalton Ross in Entertainment Weekly

Survivor secret scene - VIDEO - HERE
Secret ‘Survivor’ Scene
Nick Stanbury, the latest “Survivor” castoff, was pretty confident that it was his buddy Austin who was going to get voted off the show. Julie Chen reveals an unaired scene from the last episode.

2 Survivors go to Exile Island next week ~ episode description -  episode description released by CBS, by Dreamer

Nick on The Early Show - Survivor Loser Clings To Philosophy -  interview transcript and link to the video, by Dreamer

Survivor is Strategy, Personality, and Skin
And not in that order!

Strategy commentary by VikingBear
Friday, 31 March 2006

(Edit 4/4/06 to add quotations from Maureen Ryan and AP N TN.)

Maureen Ryan writes in her Chicago Tribune blog, What’s behind ‘Survivor’s’ allure?:

Time after time, “Survivor” displays just the right amount of tweakage. The immunity idol and Exile Island were great additions to the show, and made things that much more complicated for students of the game — not just the ones at home, but for the contestants too.

Meanwhile AP N Tenn writes an excellent rant in Reality TV Calendar, All of the Opportunities… WASTED!!!.

SO many opportunities to change the game. So many chances to get the smug smirks from Aras and Shane’s face. So many ways to knock the strong six off their game… All wasted. What was Terry thinking?

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Nick Takes the Hit, Bruce Saves Face
Will the Nut Case Alliance remain strongest?

Strategy commentary by VikingBear
Friday, 31 March 2006

Bruce remains on shaky ground, but he also remains in the game. Bruce got so much face time this week that I thought he might be gone. What did happen to that stretcher we saw in the previews? I’m guessing the editing strategy must have changed!

Aside from Bruce getting Nicked in the face, what happened this week? Well… not much. Not much happened last episode when Dan departed, and not much happened this episode when Nick departed. Casaya remained solid, La Mina continued to be whittled down. Each tribe held to its same basic strategy. Fortunately for us, from Terry’s standpoint, this can not be allowed to continue.

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