Survivor Thailand--or is it Texas? Preview (plus brief Marquesas wrap-up)!

Hey everyone!

"Survivor" starts in a month, and I wanted to close out the Marquesas chapter before I look forward to Thailand.

I had every intention of finishing my reviews of Survivor 4, but things got really crazy for me (I have a doctor's note if ya don't belive me), and by the time I was in the right physical and mental frame to do it...I couldn't read my notes! Nor could I really get up for re-watching the finale. It's like trying to watch the Super Bowl again in April, you know? The moment, emotinally speaking had passed, and when it comes to "Survivor," well, I can only speak emotionally.

But, some things must be said.

1) Angry Sean turned out to be just as stupid as Dr. Sean. I REALLY TRULY believe he could have gotten Kathy to join him and Vecepia in ousting Neleh, if he'd just kept his mouth shut. In his final episode he vows, "I'm not going out without a fight!" But he goes out BECAUSE of fighting--his odious behavior at Tribal Council were the nails in his coffin.

2) Pappy got more and more cantankerous by the day, and one wonders what would happen had he NOT been ousted by the dreaded sack of balls... wait, WHAT?! Seriously, that was a great moment, when they all reached in as chance decided their fates. I'll bet CBS was mad when he later passed out at the hotel--had he not picked the bad ball, they might have had a medical emergency on camera! Rats!

3) Kathy, who I guessed would be first out, wished would be second out, third out fourth out went on to become my favorite player--just goes to show ya. So much of the game is luck and circumstance. The longer they stay, the more things change--their perceptions of others, the way those others percive them and the way we the audience responds to them. I soooo wanted Kathy to win, and she would have if she hadn't been distracted be her own boobs--hey, it happens to the best of us. But she got $50,000 so ya won't hear me crying.

4) I don't believe Neleh's motives were nefarious when she pointed out that Kathy's top was open, but if they were? Hey, more power to her.

5) Many and I do mean MANY of you were quick to email my own words back to me when Vecepia won the money. I said mid-game that Vecepia's survival was irrelevant because there was no way in hell she was ever gonna win against opposite anyone else. So sue me :p Seriously though, I can only go off what I see and CBS kept one MAJOR fact from us: the knowledge that the Smugglies thought Neleh was with them and felt betrayed by her when she ousted them. Who knew?

6) Was anything more embarrassing than Tammy Tams bitter diatribe...dia-TRIBE, heh heh? Ya got beat at your own game, smugglies, grow up! *everyone remember John crying at his ouster* Ah, memories :)

7) I had to laugh at Sean when he cast his vote for V saying, "We did it girl!" or some such nonsense. Firstly, I'm sure V watched the tape thinking "What's this WE stuff?" Second, after all of Sean's defensiveness over people thinking he and V were an alliance because they were black, he once again makes it perfectly obvious that he and V were friends and allies to the end. The fact that they were both black is irrelevant--the point is they WERE inseparable, and the other players were right to look at them as a voting unit. Hatch and company made the whole concept of alliances in Survivor seem dirty to people, but reality is: Some of 'em are, but some of 'em aren't. And there's a big difference between a 5-6 person Smuggly alliance and a two-person "friends til the end" alliance. Nothing wrong with having friends.

8) I wasn't thrilled with Vecepia as the winner--especially because of the way she used our (hers and mine) common religious faith to justify some of her questionable behavior but...it IS a game, and damn if she didn't play the hell out of it. Vecepia's win proves that "pulling your weight around in camp" isn't all it's cracked up to be, really :)

9) The smuggly bitterness over Neleh's "switching sides" is a fascinating point for me: I think part of the fun of watching Survivor is guessing what you'd do if you were there. I think it's inevitable that your thoughts and feelings about some people will change, so it's best not to be in a committed relationship, so to speak, very early on in the game. BUT it's kind of like gang-warfare on Survivor. If a group approaches you and says, "Join our evil alliance," you HAVE to agree, or they'll just get rid of you next--ala Gabe's stunning departure before even Chachi was shot down. It's a tough situation, and I can't fault Neleh one iota for implying--or even saying straight out that she was with the Smugglies when she really wasn't.


Survivor Thailand:

Just as The fifth Star Wars film is dubbed Attack of the Clones, the Fifth Survivor could be called Attack of the Texans! Now I warned you all of this! When Colby started coming on strong in Australia, and all those scary while cowboy hats at the Republican convention...and now the Dixie Chicks have a new album coming out (that includes the kick-ass version of Stevie Nicks' "Landslide" they performed at "Divas Live"), we still have a Texan in the White House and now this: Of the 16 contestants, FIVE of them are born and raised Texans, and four of them still live there. Jake is from Thailer--oops! I mean, Tyler, Texas. ;D Then there's another who was born elsewhere but now calls Austin her home. SIX TEXANS! Yipes!

Looking over the bios I'm gonna go with Jan as the first ouster, merely for her unfortunate hairstyle (and we've GOT to this out the Texans early). However, I was so wrong with Krazy Kath that my confidence in such matters is severely shaken. Yes, there's a bartender--Robb who already irritates me just by his photo--he looks like such a poseur! CBS is touting Shii Ann as their first Asian contestant (why on EARTH it's taken this long is a mystery), but help me out here...Kel wasn't asain?

Speaking of Asian reality show contestants--how awesome was Dorothy on the MOLE! I NEED Mole3! :(

As always, I'll pick who--based solely on their picture--is the cutest guy. Two years in a row, I've picked the gay guy, whcih may explain why I'm still single. This year I'm going with Brian, who apparently was an actor on "Days of Our Lives." I didn't know you could be on Survivor if you were an actor, but now he's a used car salesman so I guess it's okay. Plus, he's listed as "Series regular" which sounds impressive but probably means he played "Cop #2" on the Salem police force for a while so they gave his "character" a name. I also heard that Gerry from Big Brother (YES, I'm watching Big Brother for the first time ever and I'm LOVING IT!) has appeared on "General Hospital," to which I say, "Whaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!" If you can shed any light on either situation, let me know.

So get thee to the CBS web site and check out your Survivors for yourselves! The fun starts on September 19th and NO they don't pay me to hype their show, I'm just a crazy person :D Peace! Christine