Tag: Andrew

Australian Survivor – Tues, Sept 13

I still can’t get used to having three episodes of Survivor each week. When the US Version returns later this month with Gen X versus Millennials (yeah, I don’t know why they didn’t use Gen Y either) a mere 40 minutes of Survivor a week will pass in the blink of an eye. I am looking forward to seeing how the show covers the contestants being evacuated on day 2 due to a cyclone in Fiji – hopefully we get to see a little behind-the-scenes stuff.

After the Kat vote out we learn that Conner tipped off the core yellow alliance that Andrew was being targeted. And that Craig told Kristie the alliance was targeting Kat. Andrew is none too pleased and vows to have his revenge.
At yellow, Coma Kate wakes everyone by banging on a pan with a stick, just so the producers can get some comedic footage of Andrew attempting to do yoga. Kate says the yoga will prepare them to win the next challenge by lighting a fire in their bellies. Andrew bags it out off camera but has a bit of a go.
Over at blue everyone is sick of eating beans so the talk turns to whether they should eat the chickens, which apparently are not laying eggs.
Nick is pragmatic and says straight up they should eat the chook to give them energy. Most of the others agree, including Flick.
But Magic Matt, who used to work in a poultry shop, wants to let them roam free and says he wouldn’t eat the chicken anyway.
Cue a Nick confessional (we’ve missed you, Nick!) about Matt putting on a nice guy facade because he once had 62kg of chicken nuggets in his freezer.
Then Sam says they could all get food poisoning because they don’t know how to prepare a chook, Lee jumps on board with his new best bro and the backflips spread from there.
It seems no-one wants to be known as the Survivor chook killer. Last US season Mark the Chicken was a key character, but Chester and her friend haven’t been that fun to watch. Kill ’em, I say. Nick notes how much influence Matt has with the tribe.


[EDIT: Australian Survivor has since tweeted the blue still has Chester the Chicken – they let go two other chooks.)

It’s challenge time
Her former tribemates are delighted to see Kat was voted out. Brooke and El rock up carrying the chooks and they try to wheedle JLap into swapping the chooks for other food. He tells them to suck it up and learn how to fish.


We see the challenge is a Survivor classic, Hot Pursuit, where contestants weighed down with sandbags must chase each other through thigh-deep water (this is the one where eventual winner, firefighter Tom Westman, proved a challenge beast in Palau – more here). As people drop out, they pass their sandbags to stronger team members. Lee and Sam should do well here and, yes, blue team starts out at a fair trot. Matt drops out and passes his 6kg bag to Firey Kylie, while Sue is first to go on yellow, handing over to Kate. This must be strategy to not give the bags to the big guys. Andrew flakes out then offers the helpful advice from the sidelines to “pace yourself”. Kylie suggests to blue that she and Nick should detach so that Lee and Sam can sprint to a win. Seems smart. Sam is carrying 24kg by himself. Kristie falls over and Spidey Sam sprints to tag yellow, almost strangling Lee in the process. He finally manages to tag Conner and blue wins a chocolate feast reward.
Coma Kate, who did a great job in the challenge, is sick of losing. “We can’t keep on using the same formula to lose,” she tells the camera. Ooh, please tell me Kat is going to start talking to Phoebe.

Blue team gets to dig into brownies, doughnuts and chocolate milk and, boy, they are going to have such huge sugar crashes a few hours later, not to mention they’ll be rushing into the bushes.
Magic Matt skols a one-litre bottle of chocolate milk to impress the crowd. After the feast the chicken release takes place and poor Nick and Flick are sad to see so much food walking away.
Loser yellow is sad to miss out on chocolate. Kate goes sea cucumber hunting with Phoebe and Kristie but it’s just an excuse to talk strategy.
“I don’t know about you guys but he missed me off at tribal,” Kate tells them, referring to Andrew. This is Kate, who at the start of the season looked like she was too nice to form alliances and would just play a physical game. Yay!
“I’m sick of dragging dead meat along for the ride,” Kate tells the camera.

It’s immunity challenge time
It’s another holding things up challenge. Contestants must hold up a net into which their rivals toss coconuts to make it heavier.
Sue and Craig hold the ropes for yellow while Sam and Flick do it for blue. For yellow the girls prove to be the best coconut chuckers. Blue targets the net of Craig, who performed so well at the challenge where they had to hoist up a tribe member. There is not a single coconut in Sue’s net. After a massive effort Craig’s rope slips through his fingers. What a champion.
Yellow is targeting Sam but now there are quite a few coconuts in Sue’s net and JLap gives her props for doing so well. Craig is cheering her on from the sidelines and she outlasts Sam. We see Andrew struggling just to walk back to pick up a coconut, to add to the “Andrew doesn’t try” edit. Despite her valiant effort Sue can’t outlast Flick, who is only just now getting weight in her net. Blue wins immunity so yellow is back at tribal yet again.

Back at camp, Sue wants to stay loyal to the alliance and, since Andrew wants Kristie gone, they are voting Kristie. Kate tells Andrew she’s going with the flow and we learn that Andrew in fact hates Kate. Kristie and Phoebe sound out Craig about ditching the dead wood that is Andrew and, while he knows where they’re coming from, he’s non-committal.
Eventually Kate broaches the subject of Andy’s loserishness with Craig. They are struggling with their desire to win versus loyalty guaranteeing safety. Andrew knows he’s in trouble and all of a sudden is best buds with Conner, talking about how Kate may flip.
In the shelter Andrew whispers to Kristie that they should do a deal to save each other and he’ll guarantee she and Phoebe safety.
And [this is where my four-year-old wakes up crying because of the heavy rain here in SA and I miss the next five minutes of scheming – aargh! I shall have to catch it on TenPlay]. I can’t see Kristie trusting Andrew, though. It would be a shame if Kate is voted out as she’s a physical force, but she is a huge threat to win the final prize.


At tribal council
JLap starts with much praise for Craig and Sue’s rope-holding prowess before they get into the “who’s in the majority?” speculation. Kate says she’ll be voting with her head, heart and guts. There’s a lot of drawn-out questioning about alliances but no exciting answers.
We only see Andrew write down a K and they are trying to make us think he’s voting for Kate, but surely it’s Kristie.
The votes are Andrew, Kristie, Andy, Kristy, Andrew (so he knows someone flipped), Kristie and Andrew. So I’m guessing Craig joined the girls to vote out Andrew.
Andrew is cheerful enough as his torch is snuffed but as he walks off, mutters: “I didn’t see that coming. Jesus.”

Next time
Craig is still looking for the idol that Phoebe found a few days ago. They really don’t like to give much away with their previews.

The vote reveal
Yes, we see Craig did indeed vote with Kate, Phoebe and Kristie. Andrew tells the camera he has no regrets and recognises he was too cocky.
“What better way to go out of Survivor then to be blindsided,” he says.

Thoughts
Well, I’m glad Kate finally decided to play the game. Craig should be able to talk Sue round and smooth over any talk of broken loyalty as they seem tight. It will be interesting to see where Conner falls in all of this, and what Phoebe does with her idol.



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Australian Survivor – Mon, Sept 12 – Is Phoebe a goner?

Ten are promoting tonight as a Phoebe V Andrew showdown, but no doubt it’s all hype. I do enjoy listening to Andrew’s confessionals and seeing his Penner-style hat.
I hope we do check in with the blue team this episode as we only saw their interaction briefly last night – I miss Nick’s commentary.

Back at camp after tribal, everyone is shocked Rohan actually handed his idol over to Phoebe. We as viewers were shocked, too, because the editors failed to give us an inkling” that Rohan was even considering it.
Craig tells the camera that Rohan sent himself home, and that they are stuffed without his strength in challenges.
Andrew is delighted Rohan went and now has little scrapper Conner in his sights as a middle man who could be potentially be lured by the siren call of Kat, Kristie and Phoebe.
Andrew reckons he’s the only one playing the game. “I have a Ferrari in my brain and the rest are driving Hyundai Excels,” he says. So, Andrew is another one who knows what to say to get the camera time and entertain us here at home. And now we know Hyundai is not a sponsor.
A dispirited Phoebe is trying to chill on the beach when Kat rubs her the wrong way by listing the 1001 things she hated about Rohan. If I were Kat I’d be keeping my distance from Phoebe and showing the yellow core alliances I wanted nothing to do with her. Cosying up to the next obvious target is dangerous.
Meanwhile, Craig has been looking for the hidden immunity idol, using the clue he fluked upon at the shuffle feast, to no avail. (And with Phoebe playing Rohan’s HII last night, does that mean it will be re-hidden on the same beach?)

It’s Day 22 and we get some stunning aerial shots of Samoa (hope this boosts their tourism) and, over at blue beach, everyone is living the sweet life. They have all the comfort items and the fishing gear. Lee is loving having Spidey Sam to buddy around with, but he’s a bit worried he and El will be targets when the good times end. El is confident, however, that give time, they can both play a good social game and forge new alliances.
Back at blue Phoebe goes idol hunting because she has run out of options. Having noticed Craig “collecting firewood” in one area and finding it a bit suss, she has a hunt around and, wallah: idol! Good on you, Phoebe – hopefully you won’t have to play it within the next 24 hours.
Her tribemates are discussing how screwed they’ll be at the challenge without Rohan’s strength, but Andrew’s not fussed: “For me, challenges just get in the way of the real part of the game; which is voting people out.” Hear, hear, Andrew. I really only like the challenges when they go to individual immunity and they are tests of endurance, balance or intelligence, rather than the giant team obstacle course ones that favour the protein shake pack.”
But, since we are getting a lot of Andrew talking, do they try and vote out Phoebe tonight (or Pheobe, as a lot of them think she’s named) and, because they don’t split the votes, Andrew goes home? That would be good TV.

Come on in, guys
JLap has ditched the navy T-shirt for marle grey and his Wolverine-veined forearms are glistening in the sun, but blue tribe doesn’t have time to admire his outfit because they are shocked that Rohan was voted out. Straight away they pick Kat as the mastermind, which is giving Kat more credit than she deserves.
The challenge involves a lot of climbing, balancing and creating ladder rungs, ending in a puzzle. Brooke sits out for blue. Kylie is going to pretty much skip through this challenge and El’s army background will help. I can’t see yellow winning this – they don’t have the co-ordination. I really want an update on Kate’s boil – it might hurt a lot for her to have to stretch her arm so high for this challenge. Poor Sue is a short-arse and can barely reach the top rung.
“Kat, struggling a bit for Vavau,” intones JLap. She teases back: “I’m not struggling, buddy!”
Thanks to Nick, blue knows what the puzzle picture will be almost straight away. He and Magic Matt get to work for blue while it’s Kate and Andrew for yellow.
The result is predictable and yellow will be back at tribal council.

(Side note: The editors are being a bit mean with the Kat edit tonight: First there was a shot of her looking like a dead fish in the shelter, mouth agape and half an eye open, and then in the challenge there was a lingering shot on her backside as she struggled to climb over the obstacle. Just because she’s a “villain” doesn’t mean they need to seek out all the unflattering shots they can find.)


Back at yellow beach, Andrew pulls his alliance buddies plus Conner aside to discuss the vote and has Kat in his sights. He tells Kat that Phoebe is the target.
Coma Kate is worried they are on a sinking ship and has a very roundabout chat with Craig about how much Andrew sucks at challenges because he’s not trying (although I don’t think either of them actually uttters his name). Ooh – this could be fun.
We’d seen Andrew sit out a tonne of challenges but I thought he was just out of shape, but now we learn that he doesn’t even have a go and doesn’t help around camp. Phoebe is gunning for Andrew, too, with her former tribemates. She wants him gone so much she is willing to work with Kat, even though she despises her now.
“He’s shit at challenges,” (now there’s a word you wouldm’t hear on US Survivor) Phoebe tells Kat and Pigtails Kristie, then confesses she found the idol. Kat doesn’t believe her – just show her, Phoebe. Saying “I swear on my life; why would I lie” doesn’t cut it on Survivor. The three of them approach Conner to try and get something started when Andy, once again, appears to stymie the conversation, as he does so often this episode.


Tribal council
JLap has ditched the chinos for some smart casual shorts. I am not a fan of him mixing up the wardrobe. He prods for comments about how surprising it was to see Rohan voted out, given he had muscles. Sue tells JLap they didn’t do that badly in the challenge but no-one is buying that. Kate tells JLap the tribe needs to get some more “oomph” and Phoebe gives a passionate speech about how much effort she puts in at each challenge because she knows she’s in danger. Sue says she tries hard, too, but Andrew doesn’t bother to say he tries and just talks about loyalty.
Kat – who must be thinking they are talking about her being a dud at challenges – announces to everyone she pledged loyalty to the core yellow alliance at the last tribal and the look on Phoebe and Kristie’s faces is priceless. Kristie is great for reaction shots so I hope she sticks around for a bit.
Kristie gets up to vote and Kat whispers to Phoebe: “I’m with you.” Phoebe does not look reassured. We see Kristie vote for Andrew and Andrew vote for Kat.
The votes are: Kat, Andy, Kat, Andrew, Kat, Kat and it’s Kat. Phoebe must be glad she didn’t play the idol – I wonder if she voted for Kat?
A smiling Kat turns to the tribe as her torch is snuffed: “It’s been an absolute pleasure, guys. Play hard. See you on the outside.” Bye, Kat – go home and burn that leopard print thing.

Next time
We just get footage of Andrew blathering about getting his revenge on the “stupid girls” who voted for him.

The vote reveal
Everyone on yellow voted for Kat and, yes, Phoebe did indeed vote for Kat (which I imagine she only decided to do after Kat’s “I’m with Vavau” speech).



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