Survivor: Cook Islands
- Thread starter Spiderman
- Start date
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EricBess
Guest
Tuesday - We finally get fed up that our TV reception is fuzzy on several channels (including the channel Survivor is on). Its watchable, but a bit snowy. We call the cable company and schedule a tech.
Wednesday - Tech shows up and tells us there is a problem with the main that is causing a weak signal. There may be problems inside as well, but he won't know until they replace the main. Another guy, another appointment.
Thursday - "outside" tech shows up and replaced the main. By the time he is finished, we have no reception at all and no internet. Supposedly, he starts over and put in more cable, but still nothing. He claims that everything outside is set up properly, so it must be inside.
At this point, we call the cable company to ask them what our options are and basically, the only option we have is to schedule an indoor tech to come again. They assure us that "everything will be okay after that appointment", even after we explain to them that we had pretty good reception before the outdoor tech was there, and had absolutly nothing after they left. Time Warner customer support reps aren't hired for their intelligence. Should have gone immediately to the supervisor...
BTW - speaking Spanish has its advantages, because we confronted the guy that we knew his partner had yanked on the cable when he wasn't supposed to and could it have been damaged? We are told there is no way. They also laid the cable out across the street to measure and it was run over a few times. In theory, this shouldn't matter, but I still have no reception...
Friday - Appointment time comes and goes. They can't find the person scheduled to come, so they call a different guy. He shows up and, sure enough, tells us that the main is bad. He hooks a modem up at the street tap and gets great reception. Moves it to the other end of the main and gets nothing...
Saturday - We now have a "rush" on our job and the outdoor tech is supposed to come back. Outdoor tech gets the request and tells dispatch that he's already been there and done the work. After at least 4 hours on the phone (indoor tech also called his supervisor who contacted the supervisor of the outdoor tech) with supervisors who assure us that they can't do anything, we finally get one to call us back and tell us, "they should be there before 7:00". Oh, we've also been told by this time that the crews don't work Sunday or Monday.
Now, just to give a bit more perspective, we have cable modem, so not only do we not have TV, we also don't have Internet and my wife is taking an online class with homework due on Friday and Sunday. She has to impose on the neighbor to get the Friday work done.
We finally get the outdoor tech back over and the indoor tech was competent enough to want to do everything he could to help, so he goes out of his way to show up on Saturday while the outdoor tech is there. This time, they measure down the sidewalk and we watch them thread it.
By the time they are finished, we finally have everything back to normal.
Bottom line, however, is that I missed the premier and I really don't have any way to see it at this point, so I'm going to have to watch the "last time" this week as well as the catch up show to see anything that happened.
I did see who was kicked off, but I don't know anything about these people yet...
Wednesday - Tech shows up and tells us there is a problem with the main that is causing a weak signal. There may be problems inside as well, but he won't know until they replace the main. Another guy, another appointment.
Thursday - "outside" tech shows up and replaced the main. By the time he is finished, we have no reception at all and no internet. Supposedly, he starts over and put in more cable, but still nothing. He claims that everything outside is set up properly, so it must be inside.
At this point, we call the cable company to ask them what our options are and basically, the only option we have is to schedule an indoor tech to come again. They assure us that "everything will be okay after that appointment", even after we explain to them that we had pretty good reception before the outdoor tech was there, and had absolutly nothing after they left. Time Warner customer support reps aren't hired for their intelligence. Should have gone immediately to the supervisor...
BTW - speaking Spanish has its advantages, because we confronted the guy that we knew his partner had yanked on the cable when he wasn't supposed to and could it have been damaged? We are told there is no way. They also laid the cable out across the street to measure and it was run over a few times. In theory, this shouldn't matter, but I still have no reception...
Friday - Appointment time comes and goes. They can't find the person scheduled to come, so they call a different guy. He shows up and, sure enough, tells us that the main is bad. He hooks a modem up at the street tap and gets great reception. Moves it to the other end of the main and gets nothing...
Saturday - We now have a "rush" on our job and the outdoor tech is supposed to come back. Outdoor tech gets the request and tells dispatch that he's already been there and done the work. After at least 4 hours on the phone (indoor tech also called his supervisor who contacted the supervisor of the outdoor tech) with supervisors who assure us that they can't do anything, we finally get one to call us back and tell us, "they should be there before 7:00". Oh, we've also been told by this time that the crews don't work Sunday or Monday.
Now, just to give a bit more perspective, we have cable modem, so not only do we not have TV, we also don't have Internet and my wife is taking an online class with homework due on Friday and Sunday. She has to impose on the neighbor to get the Friday work done.
We finally get the outdoor tech back over and the indoor tech was competent enough to want to do everything he could to help, so he goes out of his way to show up on Saturday while the outdoor tech is there. This time, they measure down the sidewalk and we watch them thread it.
By the time they are finished, we finally have everything back to normal.
Bottom line, however, is that I missed the premier and I really don't have any way to see it at this point, so I'm going to have to watch the "last time" this week as well as the catch up show to see anything that happened.
I did see who was kicked off, but I don't know anything about these people yet...
Well, actually caught up on this last night... watched the last two episodes in preparation for tonight (so we don't fall further behind)...
Not sure how much you or anyone remembers though
Let's see... the 9/21 episode:
It really just focused on Billy from the Hispanic tribe and how they were going to throw the challenge so they could vote him off. His statement about "love at first sight" was very odd and Jeff's reaction was great! He couldn't believe it either... and of course the 9/28 show confirmed that Candace wasn't interested in him. And Yul finding the immunity token on Exile Island was a good stroke of luck for him.
9/28 show: So they merged into more diverse tribes, with at least one of every race and gender represented in each new tribe. They should have kept the all-one-race tribes longer though, I think, if they were going to start out that way... merging three shows (6 days) in makes in seem the idea was half-hearted.
I can't believe the losing tribe managed to turn Jessica (the roller girl) AND Chai Boi to their side to vote off Cecelia... I thought for sure Becky was going to be voted out and we were wondering if Yul had given the immunity token to her in case that happened... but I guess we'll have to wait until tonight to see.
Not sure how much you or anyone remembers though
Let's see... the 9/21 episode:
It really just focused on Billy from the Hispanic tribe and how they were going to throw the challenge so they could vote him off. His statement about "love at first sight" was very odd and Jeff's reaction was great! He couldn't believe it either... and of course the 9/28 show confirmed that Candace wasn't interested in him. And Yul finding the immunity token on Exile Island was a good stroke of luck for him.
9/28 show: So they merged into more diverse tribes, with at least one of every race and gender represented in each new tribe. They should have kept the all-one-race tribes longer though, I think, if they were going to start out that way... merging three shows (6 days) in makes in seem the idea was half-hearted.
I can't believe the losing tribe managed to turn Jessica (the roller girl) AND Chai Boi to their side to vote off Cecelia... I thought for sure Becky was going to be voted out and we were wondering if Yul had given the immunity token to her in case that happened... but I guess we'll have to wait until tonight to see.
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EricBess
Guest
Yeah, I think roller girl is pretty much swaying in the breeze...not really thinking much for herself, so even though they originally had her on their side, I was sort of surprized that they turned her back. Perhaps it was just who happened to talk to her last right before tribal...
For the moment, I like the people that have allied better than the people who haven't, so I was glad that Becky didn't end up going, but I would have rather seen Rollergirl go because she's clearly going to be a loose cannon in the long run.
The 9/21 show didn't really have any surprises. Billy was clearly a liability in the long run...
I don't think the 6 days was too short, though I am a bit surprised they merged into two already, just for a different reason. Last time, they had 4 tribes separated by gender and age, and they merged after 6 days. But last time, there were 16 people playing. This time, there are 20, so I expected a couple more episodes before the 2-team merge based on that...
The way I see it, this game is always 2 tribes leading to a merge. The 4 tribe thing is just a few days to form bonds with people that aren't going to be in your tribe. Since you don't know who your tribe is, you don't know who to form alliances with. Then, when the merge happens, there is more chance for a breaking of whatever alliance might have formed because it means kicking off people you already got to know instead of kicking off total strangers.
I don't really see it as much different from the tribal shuffle they've done in the past, just a diferent form of the same thing.
It might be cool to see them go to 3 tribes for a while, though...Maybe even split back into 3 after they've been 2 tribes for 6 days...?
Sorry about the whole tag thing Spidey. At least we know that we're not the only ones reading this thread...
For the moment, I like the people that have allied better than the people who haven't, so I was glad that Becky didn't end up going, but I would have rather seen Rollergirl go because she's clearly going to be a loose cannon in the long run.
The 9/21 show didn't really have any surprises. Billy was clearly a liability in the long run...
I don't think the 6 days was too short, though I am a bit surprised they merged into two already, just for a different reason. Last time, they had 4 tribes separated by gender and age, and they merged after 6 days. But last time, there were 16 people playing. This time, there are 20, so I expected a couple more episodes before the 2-team merge based on that...
The way I see it, this game is always 2 tribes leading to a merge. The 4 tribe thing is just a few days to form bonds with people that aren't going to be in your tribe. Since you don't know who your tribe is, you don't know who to form alliances with. Then, when the merge happens, there is more chance for a breaking of whatever alliance might have formed because it means kicking off people you already got to know instead of kicking off total strangers.
I don't really see it as much different from the tribal shuffle they've done in the past, just a diferent form of the same thing.
It might be cool to see them go to 3 tribes for a while, though...Maybe even split back into 3 after they've been 2 tribes for 6 days...?
Sorry about the whole tag thing Spidey. At least we know that we're not the only ones reading this thread...
Yeah, oh well, it had to happen sometime
I slightly disagree, I think even 6 days is enough to form a bond since you're out with those people 24/7. You'll notice that in the losing tribe, the alliances were pretty much formed by race/by the previous tribes - the Asians (Yul and Becky) were allying with the Caucasions (Jonathon & Candace - and Jonathon thought he had Jessica with him) and the Hispanics were on the other side with whats-her-name from the African-American tribe.
I keep saying to my wife that they ought to have all 16/original number in one big tribe from the get-go and then randomly determine teams for the challenges. That way, they're all together from the beginning but no one knows who they will be with during the challenges (and trips to the Council) so alliances will be very undependable and shaky.
Haven't seen last nights yet....
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Nightstalkers
Guest
I think Mad TV's rendition of Survivor: Cook Islands was about right.
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EricBess
Guest
That would certainly be an interesting way to do things. The alliance they did have nearly got shaken just because one of the members was sent to exile island. If each counsil was with what is effectively a random assortment of people, you would need 8 or more people in your alliance just get through...
There is one problem with that, though...If they did manage to get an 8-man alliance going, expect to see a lot of challenges intentionally thrown. For example, if it were down to 14 players and the 8-man aliance was split 5-3, the "team" with 5 people on the alliance would throw the challenge to avoid losing one of the other 3...
It does have the advantage that it's harder to get 8 people that you fully trust, though...
Last night's episode was interesting, but no real surprises. It did show that while one team migt have stronger people, there are enough agility based challenges to make up for that.
It is possible that the winning of challenges is going to start being pretty one-sided from here until the merge...
The fire building was cool, though. Talk about a ringer...
There is one problem with that, though...If they did manage to get an 8-man alliance going, expect to see a lot of challenges intentionally thrown. For example, if it were down to 14 players and the 8-man aliance was split 5-3, the "team" with 5 people on the alliance would throw the challenge to avoid losing one of the other 3...
It does have the advantage that it's harder to get 8 people that you fully trust, though...
Last night's episode was interesting, but no real surprises. It did show that while one team migt have stronger people, there are enough agility based challenges to make up for that.
It is possible that the winning of challenges is going to start being pretty one-sided from here until the merge...
The fire building was cool, though. Talk about a ringer...
I'm not sure I follow you with your example.
I don't think there's ever been an 8 person alliance. Most people stick with 4 or 5 at the most (to gain the number advantage). And of course the other non-alliance side, whether they have an alliance themselves or just happen to be on the other side, try to get one of the other alliance to join them...
Oh wait, thinking about it, I kinda get it. I guess it could happen, but 8 people is tough to hold together, provided they actually get 8 people together. People always get on others nerves, people are always angling to be the final four of the 8, etc.
It could happen once to see how it goes
I don't think there's ever been an 8 person alliance. Most people stick with 4 or 5 at the most (to gain the number advantage). And of course the other non-alliance side, whether they have an alliance themselves or just happen to be on the other side, try to get one of the other alliance to join them...
Oh wait, thinking about it, I kinda get it. I guess it could happen, but 8 people is tough to hold together, provided they actually get 8 people together. People always get on others nerves, people are always angling to be the final four of the 8, etc.
It could happen once to see how it goes
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EricBess
Guest
Yes, I agree that 8 people is tough, so it might simply not be supportable. It would certainly make things very interesting as the tribe became small enough to have to start voting each other off...
Caught up again (it helps when Comcast On-Demand has started putting them on their menu )
10/5 show: Big surprise with JP being voted out, especially when the end-show votes showed that pretty much everyone voted for him. Not sure how the girls got the guys to vote for him but hey...
10/12 show: A bit surprised that Stephannie was voted off rather than Cristina, and again with the end-show votes showing that everyone voted for her. Although I don't think her comment about wanting mashed potatoes indicated her wanting to leave (and I thought most of the girls agreed), she just didn't seem to realize when to keep quiet, especially after her 10/5 remark about being the weakest link.
I think that behind the scenes, the guys, knowing the Cristina was on the chopping block, realized that perhaps they could get her on their side and instigated the voting for Stephannie so that if needed in the upcoming episode on 10/19, they'd have dominace at 4-3 rather than the girls having an edge at 4-3. But then, the upcoming scenes showing Adam and Cristina arguing may put an end to that (or it's just TV hype).
)10/5 show: Big surprise with JP being voted out, especially when the end-show votes showed that pretty much everyone voted for him. Not sure how the girls got the guys to vote for him but hey...
10/12 show: A bit surprised that Stephannie was voted off rather than Cristina, and again with the end-show votes showing that everyone voted for her. Although I don't think her comment about wanting mashed potatoes indicated her wanting to leave (and I thought most of the girls agreed), she just didn't seem to realize when to keep quiet, especially after her 10/5 remark about being the weakest link.
I think that behind the scenes, the guys, knowing the Cristina was on the chopping block, realized that perhaps they could get her on their side and instigated the voting for Stephannie so that if needed in the upcoming episode on 10/19, they'd have dominace at 4-3 rather than the girls having an edge at 4-3. But then, the upcoming scenes showing Adam and Cristina arguing may put an end to that (or it's just TV hype).
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EricBess
Guest
The scenes always seem to show some big event happening and half the time it ends up a non-issue or something completely different.
I got the impression that the comment about being the weakest link was interpreted as an open invitation to vote her out. When she said it, it almost seemed to me like she was volunteering herself for the chopping block and I think a few of the guys in particular took it that way. In that context, I think they were willing to interpret her mashed potatoe comment as volunteering herself up again...
They didn't show more discussion (trying to keep it unclear who was being voted out), but I imagine the final decision was something along the lines of, "look, if she's going to keep saying stuff like this, we're going to keep pushing to get rid of her anyway. Might as well do it now."
I got the impression that the comment about being the weakest link was interpreted as an open invitation to vote her out. When she said it, it almost seemed to me like she was volunteering herself for the chopping block and I think a few of the guys in particular took it that way. In that context, I think they were willing to interpret her mashed potatoe comment as volunteering herself up again...
They didn't show more discussion (trying to keep it unclear who was being voted out), but I imagine the final decision was something along the lines of, "look, if she's going to keep saying stuff like this, we're going to keep pushing to get rid of her anyway. Might as well do it now."
I agree and I took it that way too, but later on she made clear (to me) that it was a moment of weakness and she really wanted to stay on. I'm not sure why Nate took her mashed potatoes comment as getting out but like I said, I figure it was to take the alliance of ladies and break them apart - they were already eager to vote out Cristina so get another one out instead.
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EricBess
Guest
Yes, I think she wanted to stay on, but the people on the island didn't have the benefit of seeing those scenes 
Didn't see the first 15 minutes so I came in the middle of the challenge, but hopefully I'll see the beginning when it gets on On-Demand
"Cowboy" must have thought he had some alliance thing going but the votes turned out all against him except him and Roller Girl's... which may put her on the chopping block next.
Not sure why Nate was chosen - he didn't seem to be in any danger.
And what's up between Candace and Adam? A lot of mouthings going on between them in tribal council....
"Cowboy" must have thought he had some alliance thing going but the votes turned out all against him except him and Roller Girl's... which may put her on the chopping block next.
Not sure why Nate was chosen - he didn't seem to be in any danger.
And what's up between Candace and Adam? A lot of mouthings going on between them in tribal council....
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EricBess
Guest
Yeah, that was interesting between Candace and Adam. The only thing I can think of is if it was some sort of inside joke between them. They started on the same tribe, so maybe they talked at one of the challenges about the whole Bobbie thing and have just sort of escalated it from there. I didn't get the impression that there was any true romance undertones, but more of a teasing atmosphere... If I remember correctly, she mouthed, "we love you", not "I love you"...
Nate seemed an interesting choice. If they were hoping to keep the other team at odds with each other or weak, Cristina seemed like an obvious choice. I thought Jeff said he would be with them "through" the next reward challenge, which could mean either until they meet again or until the reward challenge is over, so it might have been a short term decision or it might have been just because they thought the whole Cristina thing was staged and they were trying to figure who was "really" on the chopping block. Not sure.
I did think it was interesting that only Yul even made an attempt to get Cao Boi's name spelled right. He put "Cow Boi".
Not much really happened in the first 15 minutes. There was a big to do that was refered to in the Tribal Counsil where Adam told Cristina that she was sometimes annoying and didn't let her get in a word edgewise to try to defend herself or find out how she could fix the situation.
I think the fishing you missed also. Ozzie can hold his breath for over 2 minutes and has a particular spot he goes to where he can catch any number of fish, so he feels pretty important on the tribe and everyone seems to believe that. Raro caught yet another octopus.
Nate seemed an interesting choice. If they were hoping to keep the other team at odds with each other or weak, Cristina seemed like an obvious choice. I thought Jeff said he would be with them "through" the next reward challenge, which could mean either until they meet again or until the reward challenge is over, so it might have been a short term decision or it might have been just because they thought the whole Cristina thing was staged and they were trying to figure who was "really" on the chopping block. Not sure.
I did think it was interesting that only Yul even made an attempt to get Cao Boi's name spelled right. He put "Cow Boi".
Not much really happened in the first 15 minutes. There was a big to do that was refered to in the Tribal Counsil where Adam told Cristina that she was sometimes annoying and didn't let her get in a word edgewise to try to defend herself or find out how she could fix the situation.
I think the fishing you missed also. Ozzie can hold his breath for over 2 minutes and has a particular spot he goes to where he can catch any number of fish, so he feels pretty important on the tribe and everyone seems to believe that. Raro caught yet another octopus.
Hmm... I thought it was "I love you". If I was good at reading lips, we'd know definitely what they were saying
yeah, I thought they would have chose Cristina too. No idea why they chose Nate.
I saw in next week's preview that "Ozzo's stock goes way up" with him catching stuff, so I figured he was a good fisherman. Odd how in almost every game, one person does the fishing for the tribe almost every time...
yeah, I thought they would have chose Cristina too. No idea why they chose Nate.
I saw in next week's preview that "Ozzo's stock goes way up" with him catching stuff, so I figured he was a good fisherman. Odd how in almost every game, one person does the fishing for the tribe almost every time...
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EricBess
Guest
I think Ozzy's stock would go up the most if he actually let someone else do the fishing and they weren't able to...Guess we'll see next week.