Tag: Nick

No Australian Survivor tonight – Sun, Oct 2

Silly NRL grand final meaning there’s no Survivor tonight. Instead, if you haven’t already, check out US Survivor online at 9Now.

Does Sue make a big move tomorrow night? Let’s hope she can rustle up some support from Magic Matt and Kristie.
Fingers crossed Adelaide will still have power tomorrow (more rain on the way) and I’ll be recapping as usual.
Meanwhile, here’s Conner’s audition video:

And Nick’s:



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Australian Survivor, Mon, Sept 26

The promo for tonight shows Kate talking strategy with Spidey Sam and BFF Lee. Hooray – people talking strategy who aren’t already in the pretty girl alliance! Don’t think it will save Kate but good on her for having a go.
Now, if we get a scene where Jenna Louise gets to talk I’ll be even more delighted.

Back at camp after the Conner vote out the usually chipper Kate is feeling dispirited – knowing she’s next in line – but Sue tells her to buck up: “Don’t get mad; get even.” Please do, Kate – we’d love to see you take out Brooke or Flick.
Her first port of call is to go for a walk with firefighter Kylie, because no-one on the former blue tribe cares what Kylie does. They want a “Good Guys” alliance that draws in Sam.
And the “Bad Girls” (Flick, El and Brooke) want Kate gone just as bad.
Kate sketches out in the sand the tribal pyramid of power showing Sam and Lee where they stand in the game and they discuss blindsiding Nick to flush the idol. They reckon they can get Kristie, Kylie and Sue on board. Lee worries me because, here at home, we’re led to believe he’s very tight with El, and in the game we’ve seen they are friends but they don’t strategise together. Lee could well turn Kate in to the Bad Girls which won’t make much difference to Kate’s chances but it could send Sam home earlier than expected. And relying on Kylie for anything strategic seems shaky.

On the beach Brooke is squeezing Flick’s blackheads – gross! They are unmatting each other’s hair and attempting to pluck eyebrows. Aren’t these people starving? Is no-one trying to catch crabs or fish? While the beauty salon is open, Lee and Sam have a chat with Kristie about voting for Nick, interestingly, we see Lee tell the camera how much he admires Kristie for her quirkiness and resilience.
Ooh – there’s Jenna Louise being part of a strategy convo with Nick and Flick but again she’s not saying anything! And the editors cut another shot of her just standing there with Nick talking about how people are flying under the radar.
Kate fills Sue in on the plan to blindside Nick but Sue is rightly sceptical of Lee and Sam’s motives.

Immunity challenge time
And – phew – we get a “Come on in, guys” from JLap. I think it’s time the drops this mini interrogation before each challenge and just let them get on with it.
The challenge is one that didn’t stretch their budget but I don’t remember seeing it before. They have to spin a ball inside a wide wooden hoop – last person to drop the ball loses. Sue is out after only a minute. Kate is about the fifth to lose it and is devastated. The final four are El, Sam, Lee and Kristie and there’s a bit of chatter going on which seems designed to irritate Kristie, who’s struggling.


After an hour it’s Lee versus El and it must be hot as the other contestants are trying to take shelter in the skerrick of shade provided by their platforms. Five minutes later El wins in a top effort to outlast professional cricketer Lee.

Bad Girl alliance wants to split the vote so the girls vote for Kate and boys vote for Sue.
The Good Guy alliance needs Kylie’s vote but she’s worried about the backlash from the Bad Girls. So she spills the beans to Brooke and pitches it as a way to get rid of Nick’s idol – aargh! Kylie!
Meanwhile, Nick seems to have no idea he’s in trouble but we get a confessional of him saying he’s considering playing the idol to get a target off his back. That horse has bolted, my friend.
Brooke and Flick are ropable at Sam and now it’s all about how Sam is a snake. Bad Girl alliance (minus Nick) calls Sam to order and Magic Matt can’t believe how everything is crumbling just before tribal. “I’m over this shit,” says Flick.
I think Sam will flip again and go back to the majority. And if we get one of those tribals where JLap tells the players what their enemies’ strategy is, Nick could get antsy and play the idol.



Tribal council
There’s a lot of chat about playing with honour and then Kate goes all out with a call for action for people on the bottom of the alliance to realise where they are in the hierarchy. Nick says he considers Kate a friend (at which she rolls her eyes).


And then Sam sticks the knife in to Nick, calling him a snake. Not a smart move, Sam, when you don’t want to spook Nick into playing his idol. “Everyone has a little bit of blood on their hands,” Nick responds and I feel quite sorry for him – how dare he try and play the game, because people like Flick and Brooke aren’t playing the game and no-one else has ever voted anyone out … “I’m bored of all this chat .. I’m over this BS,” say Lee flatly.
Brooke and Flick are obviously worried Lee won’t be their puppet tonight – they could well vote for Nick after all. “It’s your game. Have the balls to vote for who you want to vote for,” Kate tells everyone. Does Kate do public speaking? She’s quite good.

The votes
We see Flick vote for Kate and Sam for Nick. JLap asks if anyone wants to play an idol and everyone looks at Nick – and he plays it! Yes – this makes things interesting. Sam looks panicked.
Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Kate, Sue, Kate, Sue, Kate, Kate, Kate and we don’t see the last vote.
Sue starts crying and whispers to her “I love you, Kate.” Aww – lovely.

Next time: We don’t see much, other than Nick being worried about his future in the game.
The votes: Voting for Nick were Kate, Sue, Kristie and Sam. We hear Lee say he had to vote for Kate because he gave his word.
“I hope the can of worms I’ve opened is creating chaos back at camp,” Kate tells the camera.



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Australian Survivor – Sun, Sept 25

Finally – a real merge – not just a shuffle. The fallout from this is going to be fun.

It’s Day 32 already – the days just fly by when Survivor is on three nights a week.
At yellow, Conner, Kristie and Kate are wasting away. They are going to go nuts and get so sick when they finally get that merge feast.
Everyone heads in to what they think is a challenge and the fans quickly realise the seating indicates it’s the Survivor auction – yay!
There are gasps as blue realise that Phoebe is gone.
The editors play sad music as Kate speaks about how many players their tribe lost and the camera cuts to Conner and Kristie.
JLap starts talking about how hard it’s been, laying down the adjectives and the contestants get restless as some of them twig he’s about to announce the merge. Except Spidey Sam, who says: “What’s going on here?”
Meanwhile, Nick is happily chanting: “Say it! Say it!”
Yes, it’s the merge (the real one) and they are now all competing as individuals, with new black buffs.


They get $500 to spend and can bid in $20 increments. There’s no sharing of money or food, which I know is standard in US Survivor these days but it would have been kind of interesting to let the Aussies do it to see where the alliances lie. Usually with the auction, the people who are playing hard will save all their pennies as the final item is usually an advantage or clue to an idol – or occasionally letters from loved ones. This makes me think Nick and Magic Matt won’t be buying any food and we’ll see who else is in it to win it. Plus with a merge they usually get a feast, so hanging out a few more hours won’t hurt the former blues, who have enjoyed many helpings of Hungry Jack’s and a Samoan feast.

The auction begins
First up is salt and vinegar chips and a cola. El makes first bid but Conner is the only other bidder – poor kid – he must be starving. JLap reveals Conner gets and extra three softies, which go to Kristie and Kate and his old tribemate Sue. Aww, he’s a good kid.
Next is chocolate cake and choc milk. El bids $60 but is immediately outbid by Conner with $440!! That’s his whole stash gone. Fair enough, kid – he knew he didn’t have enough money for a clue so made sure he got some food. That cake is going to make him so crook.
Next it’s the old secret item trick. It’s going to be a bowl of rice. Sam bids $240 (after Nick drives up the price in what looks like a deliberate move). JLap does the old “but do you want it or this other covered item?”. He sticks with the original and it’s nachos and a margherita. But we don’t even see what was under the other hessian cloche.
The following item is also covered and the keen players sense it’s something special. Nick, Brooke, Lee and Sue all place bids. Sue for $220 gets steak and chips.
Up next is a hot bath with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Brooke gets it for $20 and has to hop in in front of everyone.
Next is what they’ve been waiting for: an advantage. El and Lee bid for it. Magic Matt stays quiet, knowing these advantages can come back to bite you.
Kate for $500 buys spag bol and a red wine, so expect to see her topple of the bench.
The final item is covered and Nick outbids Lee for $440. He has won an advantage and he doesn’t look too happy. “I didn’t want this … I didn’t want a big, fat target on my back – that’s what that is.”


Too right, Nick. The advantage holders will open their scrolls back at camp. If I was Nick I’d do it in front of everyone and read it aloud. Lee may get away with doing it secretly as everyone trusts him.

They all return to their new home beach and everyone’s sad to learn they are at the crappy yellow camp, with the comforts of blue camp left behind. Chester the chook has at least made it over. It seems there’s no merge feast so I feel sorry for poor Kristie, who didn’t get anything at the auction.
Everyone gets to work expanding the shelter but really they are dying to cement alliances.
Conner is worried he’ll be targeted and rightly so – Flick wants him gone after his perceived earlier betrayal (because she’s the only one allowed to play the game) and Brooke and El are on board.
Sue lays it out to the camera: “They’re all ra ra ra over there like a university sorority house. Full of their own arrogance.”
Sue warns Kristie and Kate that Conner is in trouble. Conner takes Kylie off for a super casual walk to show her the well and she seems to be on board. I hope she is, as she has’t shown herself to be good at strategy or the social game. Conner is keen to turn Sam back to his alliance, but I don’t know that Sam would break up with his new BFF Lee. Interestingly they aren’t talking about approaching Jenna Louise, a former yellow. Is that because she’s in the pretty girl alliance and we don’t know it?
Really, the old blues should target the unsuspecting Kylie and get that idol out of the game.

Lee reads his advantage in secret – he gets to stop someone from voting at a future tribal council, up until final five – and says he’ll tell his alliance.
Nick, meanwhile, talks about burning his but he just can’t help himself – he unwraps it. It’s an immunity idol clue and it sounds like it’s up a tree. He monkeys all over the place and is immediately spotted by Lee. At least when he knows he’s busted he shows Lee the clue and ropes him in to the search. Lee is suss but plays along. Nick finds it and tells Lee he will also only tell his alliance of six.
Sam finds some pink fabric washed up on the shore and the pretty girl alliance rip it up for friendship bracelets. The core alliance all get one – and Kristie. Way to stir the pot.


I wish we’d seen whose idea that was. Brooke’s?
And, still, no-one seems to be talking to JL. What does this mean?

Immunity challenge time
We don’t even get a welcome from JLap. Sam tells JLap the new tribe name is Fiafia, which is “happy” in Samoan.
The challenge is a Survivor classic: hanging upside down with your arms and legs wrapped around a poll. Girls often do well at this – and those who meditate – I’m guessing El and Kylie. If Kristie had had any food I’d guess her. In Survivor: Panama in 2006, it was won by Terry Deitz at around the 45-minute mark. In 2011, Andrea won the challenge on Redemption Island. The US usually holds this challenge above water for more drama, but this time we just have it above the sand – a cheaper option, no doubt.
Magic Matt is first out, then Sam. They know they’re not in danger. Conner, who knows how much he needs it, goes next. Next are Sue and FLick. Kate and Kristie are doing some awesome full body dangles. El and JL do a deal to drop out together and Lee is next, leaving Nick the last bloke. Kylie is encouraging Nick to hang on to the 60-minute mark and he just makes it.
Kate looks amazingly relaxed and in control and at 75 minutes JLap tells them they can only use one hand.
Poor Kristie is stunned: “I thought you were going to give me food.” (True – this often happens). Poor Kristie is destined to go hungry. She is the next one out – a great effort with no sustenance. Then Kate, who has been so strong, drops. It’s Kylie V upside down Brooke and Kylie makes the mistake of swapping arms, which is not allowed. Brooke wins the necklace.

Back at camp Nick wants Conner out, too, but he wants a vote split in case Conner has an island. He wants five for Conner, four Kate and they know Kylie may flip.
Matt, Sam and Lee go for a wander and Lee is wearing sneakers – so he must have had a second pair that survived the fire – and they chat about Nick’s general untrustworthiness, although, secretly, Matt doesn’t mind him. Lee asks Matt to explain why they need to do a split. Aaargh – come on, Lee! Get with the program. Sam and Lee aren’t happy that this seems to be all Nick’s plan.
Sam is not happy that his old tribemate, Conner, is the target, nor that Kate is the second option. He tells the camera: “He’s a good kid – baby bruvva.”
Sue sends Kate to talk to Kristie while Conner will work on Sam but the old blues have taken a leaf out of the Boston Rob playbook and don’t want to leave Sam alone. Brooke follows them as they try to chat. Kristie is also torn between proving loyalty to former and more recent tribemates because she could be the next target.
They head off to tribal and it seems either Conner or Kate will go home.


Tribal council
JLap chats to the final 13 and no-one says anything much, other than Lee echoing back to JLap that he’s playing based on mateship. Flick pretends she doesn’t know who’s in charge but then JLap brings up the pink wristbands. “Is that the alliance,” asks JLap. Brooke replies: “Definitely not.” JLap notes they must be friendship bands: “Friendship, in Survivor, means alliance.”
JLap tries to get Kate to plead for her life. “I’m not going to get down on my knees and beg,” says Kate. “I’m just going to be my own self.” (Soooo, Kate’s going home, then.)

Time to vote
We see Sue vote for Matt and Flick for Conner. “I’ll count the votes,” says JLap (I read an interview with him today in which he said some fans are upset he does not say “I’ll tally the votes”, Probst style.)
It’s Matt, Nick, Conner, Kylie, Kate, Conner, Kate, Conner, Kate, Conner, Kate, Conner and … it’s Conner.
He gives a gracious speech about everyone being great competitors while inside his heart is breaking. Ah, Conner – you were a likeable lad who made some mistakes along the way that came back to bite you but I wanted you to make it a little further.

Next time: Pretty girl alliance is talking about how awesome they are. Please, please let them come a cropper.
Who voted for whom: JL, Magic Matt, Kylie, Brooke – voted for Kate; Sam (how could you!), Kristie, Flick, Nick, El and Lee voted for Conner; Conner vote for Nick; Kate for Kylie and Sue for Matt. So the underdog alliance couldn’t even agree to vote for the same person!



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Australian Survivor – Tues, Sept 20

Instead of starting with the awkward fallout of the attempt to vote out Kristie, we begin with kidnapped Sue’s introduction to her new blue tribe.
They must all have been wondering which of them Sue was there to send back to yellow, but it looks like that’s one twist the producers aren’t playing … for now.
Former yellow Nick gives her a hug but you just know it’s all going to blow up later on, as it did with JL.
At blue Kristie knows she had a lucky escape, but tells the camera she still has Phoebe as an ally. Oh, Kristie – I fear Conner’s naivety has rubbed off on you.
As Kate sunbakes on the beach we get a glimpse of her armpit and she’s no longer wearing a bandaid.
As Phoebe and Kristie chat the shelter they’ve built over the fire catches alight and thank goodness for Kristie’s quick thinking or their sleeping shelter could have gone up in flames a la Survivor Amazon.
At yellow, Nick starts chatting to Sue about why she voted him out – in front of the whole tribe, mind you – and it escalates quickly. Everyone else pretends they are off in the jungle with the chooks.

Immunity challenge time
This is a challenge they’ve used a few times on US Survivor (including Second Chance), involving spinning quickly to retrieve puzzle, then staggering drunkenly to a balance beam and so on. A few people usually get so dizzy they fall over.
The winner gets immunity and a Hungry Jack’s breakfast (with coffee) eaten by a waterfall.
Blue has to sit out more than half the team and it’s Sam v Conner to begin. Conner does really well, despite looking like he’s going to throw up at one point. Poor Sam takes a hard fall on to one of the poles and it looks like his own pole would have been injured in the process.


Kate then leads Magic Matt and she kills it. OMG – yellow is in the lead. Kristie takes on Brooke and keeps the lead. It’s Phoebe versus JL for blue and JL is a little dynamo, making up a tonne of ground.
The puzzle makers are Magic Matt versus Kate and while JLap says it’s neck and neck it looks like Matt is way ahead. Interestingly Kate did the puzzle last time and was beaten by Nick – does no one else want to have a go at puzzles and put a target on themselves?
Poor old yellow has to head back to camp without so much as a nibble of a hash brown.
Phoebe tells the camera: “The strangest thing is I trust Kristie the most in this tribe but, strategically, I have to vote for her.”

At the waterfull, everyone discovers the way to make Hungry Jack’s coffee taste good is to go 30 days or so without caffeine. Wonder if they will all have massive headaches a few hours later? Sue is stoked to a) be safe and b) eat something that’s not rice and beans and c) to wash herself in fresh water.


At yellow, Kate and Conner do an awkward yet rather sweet exchanging of trust with each other, involving placing invisible “trust” in each other’s hand. Aww – you wouldn’t see that on US Survivor.


Meanwhile, Phoebe is still playing Kristie, telling her they can pull Conner in to vote out Kate. Kristie says she just wants to have a chat with Kate and Phoebe’s mind works frantically to come up with a plausible reason this is a bad idea. But Kristie goes ahead and Kate, honest Kate, makes it clear the vote was Phoebe’s idea. Uh oh!
I know Phoebe is just playing the game and has done well to save herself from a few raw deals, but I can’t help but be Team Kristie on this one, due to her quirky, slightly awkward vibe.
“She’s the black widow; she’s weaving a web of lies,” Kate tells Kristie.
Conner is happy Phoebe and Kristie are mistrusting each other and he’s telling both of them what they want to hear.
Kristie tells the camera she’s determined to not be a goat and to make a move by taking out one of the biggest plays in the game. Ah, it’s refreshing to hear someone talking who’s actually watched Survivor. (And a nice little evil chuckle at the end of her spiel.) I don’t know if it will work but at least she’s trying.


Tribal council time
JLap again starts by reminding them how much they suck, having not won a challenge since the tribe shuffle. JLap desperately tries to get Kristie to say something bad about her tribemates or her fears but she won’t bite.
“This is very cryptic,” JLap smiles, shaking his head slowly.
Conner says it’s important they are strong in challenges as they still don’t know when the merge will be – but they must be thinking it’s the next day.
The votes are read: Kristie, Pheobe (sic – seriously – can’t she tell them how to spell her name), Phoebe (that must be Kate because she spelt it correctly before) and Pheb’s (ick).
Well played, Kristie!
It’s hugs all round and Kristie tells Phoebe, “I love you, babe”.

On Sunday: After 32 days it’s merge time at what looks like the Survivor auction. Yay!

Phoebe afterwards: Give Kristie credit for outplaying her and takes it with grace.

So, now the question is, what will happen to the three remaining yellows when they merge with blue to create the black tribe? I kind of hope Kristie teams up with Nick. I can see Kate getting along with Lee, Sam and El but whether there will be time for her to forge a bond is unclear – and she’s an obvious threat.



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Australian Survivor – Mon, Sept 19 – are you Team Phoebe or Team Kristie?

Yellow tribe arrives back at camp after the Craig blindside and everyone quizzes Phoebe about the where and when of the idol.
Kristie – who acted so well earlier – awkwardly lies that she only had an inkling that Phoebe had the idol. Even Conner – dear, sweet Conner – thinks her pants are on fire, and he trusts everyone. Sue is not happy. And that’s what you get when you don’t split the votes, people!
It’s Day 28 at blue tribe camp and everyone seems a bit chirpier. They even get to gaze at a rainbow as they talk about wanting to win yet another challenge.


Over at yellow, Kristie is up a tree trying to fish using Rohan’s dacks as a net. Her plan would work better if she stood in the water. And then we get a whiff of Phoebe – rocking a massive topknot – thinking of turning on ally Kristie, who is “a bit weird”. Uh, no, weird in Survivor is Phillip Sheppard, not Kristy of the expressive eyebrows.
Sue and Coma Kate go for a stroll and Sue has to fill Kate in about Kristie’s “Academy Award-winning performance”, because Kate is one of those always think the best of people types (as you would be, after her experience). Sue has the shits about the havoc Phoebe has wreaked on her alliance. How dare Phoebe play the game when the odds are against her!
(Side note: My, we’re getting a lot of footage of pounding waves tonight – does someone’s camp get washed away later? Or did they run out of wildlife shots?)

Challenge time
And we don’t even get a “Come on in, guys”. Blue team cracks up when they see yellow enter without Craig – that kind of “I’m horrified and shouldn’t laugh but I can’t stop” laughing.
The challenge is a memory test – yay! I wonder if the producers had to drop some of the bigger, more elaborate challenges they had planned because yellow has been decimated. First tribe to five wins.
Blue has to sit out FOUR people: Kylie, Elle, Flick and Lee. Magic Matt and Nick should ace this – plus blue has had a lot more to eat – but at least yellow is in with a chance.
The first round involves memorising five objects (coconut, mortar and pestle, tribal statue-type objects) and Nick wins the round against Conner. Conner just can’t catch a break.
Brooke beats Sue – the first person back to the mat with the correct objects wins, so it’s speed as well as memory. Kate beats Magic Matt – ouch, that’s gonna hurt, Matt. Perhaps you should have eaten the chicken.
Phoebe beats Jenna-Louise so at least it’s not a slaughter of yellow, as in previous challenges. Sam and Kristie both stuff it up and get a do over, but as Kristie sprints back her statue topples off the shelf and does not count.
Nick battles Phoebe and super fast Nick kills it. It’s Kate V Brooke and they have to memorise eight items. And Brooke wins and blue gets a meat and seafood feast. Poor yellow – they are doing it tough.


Yellow gets an awesome feast – it’s much better than what they often get on the US Show, with a mixture of fruit and protein. Perhaps it came from the resort a stone’s throw away? Good one, Samoa.
“Eat now and worry about what happens to the guts later,” says Lee.
Cut to poor little depressed yellow team. There is a chicken wandering around but no talk of eating it.
Kristie is determined to pick up everyone’s spirits and goes snail hunting on the beach so they can have a snack. Luckily they taste pretty good. “They do taste like mussel, says Conner.”
As they nibble their snails and put on brave faces, blue team are trying not to throw up from their pig out. “I’ve got the crab sweats,” gasps Nick, clutching a tree for support. He is sooo going to cop it from his students tomorrow morning. Sam spews in view of everyone – charming.

On Day 29 at blue, Kylie decides it’s time to try and forge alliances and get a girl power thing going. Why would you bring that up in front of El, Kylie – don’t you know how tight she is with Lee? Flick and JL are stunned and there is awkward silence. (More Survivor 101: Nod, smile, say “cool bananas” and then report back to your real alliance.) Kylie is really bad at the social aspects of Survivor, but a gun in the physical stuff.


At yellow Sue mentions she reckons Rohan would be a snake in real life – bit harsh, Sue. The talk turns to lying and Kristie again does a bad “I didn’t know Phoebe had the idol for sure). And then the minute Kristie is gone, to try and save her own skin, Phoebe throws Kristie under the bus completely by saying she knew all along.
And then Phoebe pulls Conner aside and tells him Kristie is basically a crazy person and wanted to vote Conner out earlier. Ouchie! Well, now I’m Team Kristie – do we get the merge tonight so she’ll be safe?

Immunity challenge time
“Welcome back,” says JLap, before launching in to: “Phoebe, you’ve had eight losses.” And then they have to stand there shivering while they get rained on.
The challenge involves paddling a boat, opponents pulling a rope to drag the boat back, and doing a puzzle. The winner gets immunity and a huge, secret advantage. Brooke, JL, Sam and Magic Matt sit out for blue.
Nick makes quick work of the knots and drags the yellow boat back quickly. Kate does well but it’s tough in the slippery conditions and they are wearing reef shoes.
The puzzle has a lot of pieces and, from the sidelines, even Magic Matt concedes it looks tough. “Can Nick keep his title as the Puzzle King?” intones JLap. Nick takes a while to find his mojo but gets the hang of it and blue wins yet again. Poor Kate is devo and seems to start crying. Blue team looks awkwardly over at the team they keep thrashing, wishing they could hand over a participation medal.
JLap reveals the secret power is that blue gets to send a player to observe the yellow tribal. Cool. So, obviously, they’ll send Kylie. Just kidding. I’m guessing Matt because they may not trust Nick enough, although he has sworn revenge on his enemies.

Back at camp Phoebe tells everyone they should write “Kristie” and they seem to agree. She and Kate even fist bump on it, although Kate later tells the camera it’s a case of “keep your enemies closer”. Phoebe tells Conner to pretend to Kristie that he’s voting Sue. Conner, who is a terrible liar and is notorious for saying the wrong thing at tribal. We don’t see the tribe discussing how they are going to handle having an interloper from blue at tribal council, but surely they would have.


Tribal council
Ah, the interloper is Brooke! I wish we’d seen the conversation that led to that. Is JLap going to turn around and say: “Surprise – you’re now part of yellow.”
JLap makes them talk about why they each should not be voted out and then, through his questioning, makes it clear to onlooker Brooke that Phoebe has masterminded a lot of the vote outs. Kristie says she didn’t know for sure Phoebe had an idol and the others all say they don’t believe her but she defends with, correctly, saying she never actually saw it. Then she gives an emotional speech referencing her mini meltdown at the start of the game (guess she means the “someone took my bag” Abi-Maria-esque moment”. Kristie is a goner.
And this is when JLap drops the bomb … “Tonight, one of you will be leaving this tribe but you will not be leaving the game.” He reveals Brooke was told before tribal she had the power to take one person back to blue and there will be no vote. Ooh – twisty.


Brooke says she’s been tossing up between Phoebe (but her gameplay is making her nervous) and Sue. And it’s Sue. So, she took Sue in order to have a sacrificial lamb? Sue looks gutted.
As Phoebe rightly says, it’s not 10 versus 4. And then JLap appears wise by tweaking a Mark Twain saying to cheer them up with: “You need to remember what matters is not the size of the tribe in the fight but the size of the fight in the tribe.”

Next time: We see Kate telling Kristie Phoebe betrayed her and it looks like “game on, mole”.

And: So yet another tribal council where no-one goes home. You can tell the producers really want yellow to finally win a challenge, after which they will do a proper merge. I look forward to seeing the Kristie V Phoebe fallout. Will Conner be Team Phoebe and Kate Team Kristie, or vice versa?



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Australian Survivor – Sun, Sept 18


The way Channel 10 are promoting it the poor ole yellow tribe will be back at tribal council tomorrow night (Sunday). I would say the whole “Phoebe makes a move” thing is a misdirect, but up until now there promos have not tried to trick us at all.
In other Survivor news, I’ve heard a disturbing rumour that Channel 9 is going to air the upcoming season of US Survivor (Millennials V Gen X) – yeah, it IS a silly name) not on GO, as per usual. It will reportedly air on the flagship Nine channel but A WHOLE WEEK AFTER it screens in the US and at about 10.30pm at night. Yesterday I tweeted and posted a query about this on Facebook but Channel 9 has not responded.
I am hoping it’s all a terrible mistake.

It’s day 26 and everyone is looking gaunt, scruffy and exhausted.
At blue everyone is knackered because Firey Kylie did not want to make room in the shelter or something-or-other. It apparently escalated and it looks like no-one got any sleep. She tries to apologise the next morning but it turns into one of those “I’m sorry but it’s actually everyone else’s fault” moments. Oh, Kylie. You’ve upset Magic Matt, which is not good. Strangely we don’t get a to-camera piece from Nick about this. He’s not the narrator this episode.
At yellow Conner is worried about being out of the loop on the Andrew blindside, and whether Kate is still loyal to the core yellow alliance as she flipped to join Phoebe and Kristie (as well as Craig) in the voteout.
They go for a swim and Kate has a little breakdown. With anyone else you’d be worried she was bunging it on but Coma Kate just has that innate honesty about her.


Conner awkwardly pats her arm. They discuss targeting Phoebe next and the everyone – well, everyone who is not Phoebe and Kristie – at least seems cool with it.
Poor Craig is still looking for the hidden immunity idol, which is actually in Phoebe’s bag. Phoebs knows she is still in trouble, so tries buddying up to Conner. Conner, supposedly a huge Survivor fan, outright tells her that he has sworn loyalty to the others but, if she lasts, they could work together in the future. CONNER! You just smile and say yes, then rush back and tell your alliance so they know who aren’t doing deals. And when she asks to be told if she’s being voted out, just say yes. You can lie!

At blue Lee and Spidey Sam continue their bromance, bonding over their ineptitude with a fishing spear. The girls are sunbaking, admiring the view of Lee fishing.
(And here’s a shot for you, Windong


Magic Matt tells Brooke in not so many words she’s a flibbertyjibbet whose head is easily turned. Brooke is not happy and reckons he’s just jealous now he’s not the “man” of the tribe. It could be, or it could be the fact you guys are lying on the beach while there is no firewood and there are jobs to do around camp. Plus Matt is so pasty he could burst into flames if the sunlight touches his skin, so he can’t just loll on the beach.
Brooke starts thinking she needs a new alliance with non-ghost white people, and likes the look of Lee and Army Corporal El.
Things we still need an update on: Kate’s armpit puss and what wild animal has killed those released chickens.

Challenge time
Come on through, says JLap, mixing it up from Jeff’s come on in, guys. Blue team is surprised to see Andrew was voted out.
Kate says yellow, which has been on such as losing streak, is bringing the fire – a whole bonfire. She needs to be on a Brawn tribe with Lee, Kylie and Spidey Sam – she’d fit right in.
The challenge is a variation on the use a catapult to toss a bag challenge, but it’s more of a heptathlon using coloured coconuts. There’s a bit of volleyball action in there, dodgeball and balance beam work. The end section is a giant Connect Four type board – but with five.
Yet again blues are guns at the challenge while scrappy lil Conner tries hardest up against them but falls in the mud a coupla times. But then he doesn’t listen to Sue calling where to place the coconut, so that will cause angst. Yellow should have had Craig throwing rather than defending so they could get more coconuts over the “net”.

Back at yellow camp Conner is devo, blaming himself for the loss. The core alliance decides Phoebe should go home. They don’t even discuss a split. And then Conner goes and tells Phoebe it’s her. Nooooo! He tells the others what he’s done and they all agree it’s unlikely Phoebe has an idol. Why are they so sure? Then they tell Kristie they are all voting for Phoebe and she herself is safe. Kristie tears up a bit – awesome acting job, Kristie! And then she pretends to go and console Phoebe on the beach when actually they are both grinning like maniacs. So, who will the target? Craig’s the obvious threat but they need him for challenges.
They even have a chat about how to spell Phoebe’s name – a conversation which must happen a lot but we don’t really see it. I know they still won’t get it right, though.
Will Phoebe triumph is is this all just a misdirect by the editors and they are splitting the vote after all?
Australian Survivor isn’t sticking to the US rulebook but, let’s say the core – thinking that Phoebe didn’t have an idol – put two votes on Phoebe and two on Kristie, and the girls put two on Sue in turn. If the tie is deadlocked, those voted for can no longer vote. This would leave Craig, Conner and Kate in charge of the vote and they could vote out who they want. If they used the same 2-2-2 strategy and Phoebe played the idol, they could use their greater numbers to vote out Kristie on the revote. Just thinking on the fly here as I watch and type, so I may be wrong. I hope we at least get to see a fire-starter tiebreaker at some stage this season, because they are such fun.


At tribal council
They chat with JLap about how losing sucks and how they all are fairly sure who’s going home, which sucks because they are all friends yadda yadda … No one mentions how Kristie is rocking a side braid and looks like one of the lost children from Mad Max 3 in her brown shapeless outfit.
Craig writes “Pheobe” and so now I kinda hope it’s him the girls target because he cannot spell. We don’t see who the girls vote for – maybe it’s Conner, because he’s had a lot of airtime.
JLap is about to read the votes but Phoebe does the “umm, Jonathon …” and hands over the idol. Craig is a shattered man and Phoebe is grinning with delight – as she should be.
Only one of the four of them spells Phoebe correctly – they all deserve to go. And it’s Craig going home!
Well played, Phoebe and Kristie. Sad to see Craig go, though – he’s been great TV. He gives everyone a hug – even those who voted them out. He tell yellow one of them has to win the whole shebang. Bye, Craig!


Next time: Sue wants Phoebe gone but then we see footage of Phoebe (or Pheb’s, as Sue writes her name – urgh – kill me now over that apostrophe) telling Sue that Kristie knew all along she had an idol. Not cool, Pheb’s. We don’t see footage of yellow losing yet another challenge.

And Craig is calm and philosophical in his final to camera piece: “Bitch stole my idol, but, hey …”



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Australian Survivor – Sun, Sept 4

Our recorder has blown a gasket so I’m watching live tonight and, darn it, I missed the first few minutes.
Over at yellow shelter Sam and Conner are getting used to their new digs, while Nick (aka Aussie Rob C, but much brasher) and Tegan arrive at blue to find the shelter is soaking wet. Nice welcome.
“I’m out for blood,” says Nick, adding he was surprised Sue (the naughty Nanna) betrayed him.
I can’t wait to see what red tribe’s reaction to the swap is at the next challenge.
It’s night and a storm is lashing the island, leaving everyone – even Chester the chicken – soaking and dispirited. Except, that is, red tribe, because they finally won a challenge and got all of yellow’s previously won comfort items and gear. Cricketer Lee is obviously not used to losing so he’s stoked things are looking up.
Over at yellow, new tribe member Spidey Sam knows he’s no longer the top of the totem pole.
At blue, Flick knows she had a lucky escape. I’m really interested to hear Magic Matt’s take on all this. Nick’s strategy is to be super helpful around camp and he chops up a coconut with ease. We finally get to hear Tegan speak and straight away Brooke gets to work on drawing her into the pretty girl alliance. Tegan doesn’t seem to have much strategy and because she was weirded out by the truth or honesty test (and is a model/personal trainer) I’m thinking she’s a recruit rather than a student of the game. It’s actually in Tegan’s interest to distance herself from Nick, to make him a target should the team go to tribal again, but she doesn’t seem to be doing so consciously.

What the hell is it with Survivor and yoga? Is it compulsory to whip out Downward Dog at the auditions? Pigtails Kristy and Lawyer Phoebe are bending it on the beach and Kristy seems to have recovered from her paranoid “they moved my bag” freakout.


They have a chat about how expendable Model Rohan but Phoebe’s real bond is with El the army chick.
Suddenly Nick is sporting a brown fedora. Where did that come from? He gets to work ingratiating himself with his new tribe and seems to make headway with Magic Matt, who reveals he’s pissed off with the pretty girl alliance of Flick and Brooke.


At yellow, Conner is liking the yellow vibe (and we learn the chicken’s name is Apricot – clever) but he knows he’s in danger because he’s no super human and he thinks the tribe would rather keep Sam. With such big numbers I’d be ditching Sam and keeping Conner, who can more easily be won over to their side.
We finally get some Dreads Barry back story (about his time playing with the Wallabies), so he could be going tonight as he’s treating Survivor like a school camping and ignoring the Outwit and Outplay aspects of the game. And that’s what happen when you recruit people, even if it’s great to see cultural diversity in the cast.

It’s challenge time …
JLap does the “come on in” and red’s minds are blown to realise no-one went home and there was a tribal swap. The challenge contains a component that is a Survivor classic: binding sticks together to create a long pole that can then hook a key.
Conner said he sucked at challenges but, boy, the little fella had some speed on him racing out to the frame in the water.
Blue and yellow get their poles built quickly but they are quite bendy and blue drops their key on the sand and have to drag it. Red has made El and Kat the pole builders – setting Kat up to be in the firing line again? Blue are first to the firemaking station and Nick gets a spark straight away. They win immunity.
Yellow is having trouble getting their fire to build up enough (was Nick their fire starter?) but red still doesn’t have their key off. On the sidelines Lee, Phoebe and Rohan are slowly dying watching the girls try to hook it. Finally they get it but Lee and Rohan must be the best fire builders, otherwise they would have been on the pole building. Lee gets it started quickly and they are doing a good job building it up, sheltering the flame nicely. Well, I’m actually glad, for Kat’s sake, that she’s not in the firing line yet again, as she surely would have been. I just hope that when she is voted out she burns that monstrous leopard print cardy thing in the fire along with her buff.
So, the yellow tribe is going to tribal and Conner and Sam are going to be really worried – there’s no way JLap will be throwing in another twist tonight.

Interestingly they seem to be targeting Conner, without any talk of splitting the vote in case he or Sam has a secret idol. How do they know Kylie had the only one? Conner pitches to the majority alliance that he is desperate to stay and will be a loyal number in future. And it has an impact: Coma Girl Kate is swayed by Conner’s emotion. She throws Barry’s name out as a possibility and it seems some of the others are irritated by Barry’s refusal to “play” the game. And then there’s a curveball: Andrew (in a trilbly, because felt hats are totally suitable for the climate in Samoa) tells the camera he wants Craig out, because he’s a threat. He approaches Naughty Nanna Sue, seeking support. Finally! People who want to make moves and not just hold hands and sing Kumbaya.


At tribal council …
JLap awkwardly questions Sam and Conner about how much it sucks to be on a new tribe and then tries to get some dirt on last week’s Nick blindside. Then he reminds Craig and Baz how bad they were at building a fire in the challenge. JLap has been doing quite well until this episode as Survivor host, but his line of questioning tonight is stilted and they are draaaaggging it out. Not good editing.
I hope it’s Barry.
The votes are read and it IS Barry! Hooray. The question will be whether anyone clued Sam and Conner in to the vote (judging by the vote footage at the end, they did).

Tomorrow night
Kate has a horrible-looking lump under her arm that looks ready too explode, reminiscent of the last season of US Survivor when everyone was sporting pus-filled boils, which resulted in ice-cream maker Neale being ousted on medical grounds. I hope Kate stays – she seems a good egg. And that JLap puts his medical background to good use. Lance it, JLap – that would be grosser than any bug-eating challenge.

What did we think?
Well, it wasn’t as twisty as the last episode and tribal council was boring and awkward, but it’s always good when tribes don’t take the easy option and vote out the newest tribe members, especially when they are people who really want to play. I’m hoping Magic Matt and Nick build up a decent alliance over at blue and are able to pull Tegan away from the pretty girl alliance.



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