Episode 9 MVP – Do Not Pass Go
Survivor: Fiji, Episode 9 MVP – Do Not Pass Go by Betsy Wasser -- 04/19/2007 Ravu and Moto are now one tribe, living a luxury free existence as Bula Bula. The tribes faced an unexpected twist when half of them had to go to tribal council without strategizing first. The player who handled it best is this week’s Most Valuable Player. Survivor is a game in which players learn to expect the unexpected. This week, that happened several times. First, the tribes had to meet at Exile Island, where they received new buffs for their merged tribe. The players were pretty ready for that, and in fact, the men of Ravu had already figured out who they’d target to vote with them. But a bigger surprise came when they had to go to a newly luxury free Moto. Poor Mookie was heartbroken to realize he’d never experience the cushy version of Survivor that the other players had. But the biggest surprise of all came when the immunity challenge was not for individual immunity. Instead, the tribe was randomly split in half. The winners were immune (and scored a nice dinner). The losers had to go to tribal council immediately, with no time to strategize. The situation reminded me of a Monopoly card: “Go to Jail. Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.” All of a sudden, players didn’t have their usual time to regroup with partners and solidify their plans. In fact, many players found their partners to be back at Moto eating steak. With no time to talk, players had to think fast. Luckily, master pot-stirrer Jeff Probst gave them the opportunity to do just that. He asked each player why they’d consider voting for various other players. I had to love Dreamz’s reason to vote out Stacy – “It’s not me.” Hey, that strategy won Sandra a million bucks back on Survivor: Pearl Islands! But Alex gave the best answers. He said that he had no reason to vote out Stacy. Or Dreamz. Or Mookie. He did offer a reason to vote out Michelle, that being that he didn’t know her. Alex was in the lucky position of having three of his four fellow horsemen with him. Dreamz got the message and voted for Michelle, just as Alex wanted him to. Stacy was able to read between the lines to see that she could get back with Alex, as she’d been in old Moto, so she voted for Michelle, too. Those three votes were enough to eliminate Michelle. Better still, those three votes could set Alex up very nicely. With Michelle out of the way, his group has the numbers to carry the next vote. Earl and Yau-Man might have to sacrifice their idol. And if he still wants to, Alex can certainly keep Stacy in the fold. Alex did a good job of playing the hand that was dealt to him this week, and for that reason, he wins this week’s MVP award. Now that the award has been handed out, I suppose I could be done, but I’d like to spend a moment talking about the challenges that Alex is going to face next week. Just moments before the merge, he and his four horsemen seemed to have a good handle on things. They were solid, they’d given themselves a cute nickname, and they even had planned who to target to bring to their side. But things quickly fell apart. For one thing, Mookie told Dreamz that the other three had the hidden immunity idol, even though Edgardo and Alex advised him before not to. When the three of them talked about it before, they agreed to kept he idol a secret from Dreamz for fear he’d tell Cassandra, a point that Edgardo reiterated this week. From the looks of it, Alex and Edgardo were right to be concerned about it, since the previews for Episode 10 pretty clearly showed Dreamz telling Cassandra – and Earl – about the idol. Because Mookie told Dreamz about the idol and the fact that they’d had it for several days, Dreamz was able to quickly see that of the four horsemen, he was number four. Suddenly his position is more precarious than he thought it was. Dreamz is now a much bigger risk to jump ship. So why would Mookie tell him? My guess is that Mookie can count too. He figured out that while Dreamz is horseman #4, he is horseman #3, which is not much better. Alex and Edgardo have been aligned for quite a while, and Mookie knows that he is relatively new to the fold. That’s a big part of why he insists on being the one to hold the idol. By making Dreamz aware that the two of them are on the outside, he has solidified his bond with Dreamz to put himself in a strong pair just like Alex and Ed are. Mookie and Dreamz have even more motivation to flip since Alex and Edgardo let on that they’d like to keep Stacy around for a while longer. Again, Mookie and Dreamz seem to have mastered basic math skills and realize that they may now only be at fourth and fifth place. Alex, in the span of just one episode, may well go from the Most Valuable Player to being in serious risk of getting voted out. Can he save himself? It won’t be easy. First, he and Edgardo need to work hard to firm up their commitments to Dreamz and Mookie. Perhaps they can separately offer final two to each guy – maybe Alex tells Dreamz he wants to go to the final two with him and Edgardo says the same to Mookie. It doesn’t have to be true, but the two need to make it seem like it’s true. They also need to give Dreamz and Mookie something to feel more comfortable. Their best move would be to let the two of them choose the next boot or two, even if that means getting rid of Stacy. It’s time for Alex and Edgardo to step back, make nice, and let the other two horsemen take the reins.
Survivor: Fiji, Episode 9 MVP – Do Not Pass Go by Betsy Wasser -- 04/19/2007 Ravu and Moto are now one tribe, living a luxury free existence as Bula Bula. The tribes faced an unexpected twist when half of them had to go to tribal council without strategizing first. The player who handled it best is this week’s Most Valuable Player. Survivor is a game in which players learn to expect the unexpected. This week, that happened several times. First, the tribes had to meet at Exile Island, where they received new buffs for their merged tribe. The players were pretty ready for that, and in fact, the men of Ravu had already figured out who they’d target to vote with them. But a bigger surprise came when they had to go to a newly luxury free Moto. Poor Mookie was heartbroken to realize he’d never experience the cushy version of Survivor that the other players had. But the biggest surprise of all came when the immunity challenge was not for individual immunity. Instead, the tribe was randomly split in half. The winners were immune (and scored a nice dinner). The losers had to go to tribal council immediately, with no time to strategize. The situation reminded me of a Monopoly card: “Go to Jail. Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.” All of a sudden, players didn’t have their usual time to regroup with partners and solidify their plans. In fact, many players found their partners to be back at Moto eating steak. With no time to talk, players had to think fast. Luckily, master pot-stirrer Jeff Probst gave them the opportunity to do just that. He asked each player why they’d consider voting for various other players. I had to love Dreamz’s reason to vote out Stacy – “It’s not me.” Hey, that strategy won Sandra a million bucks back on Survivor: Pearl Islands! But Alex gave the best answers. He said that he had no reason to vote out Stacy. Or Dreamz. Or Mookie. He did offer a reason to vote out Michelle, that being that he didn’t know her. Alex was in the lucky position of having three of his four fellow horsemen with him. Dreamz got the message and voted for Michelle, just as Alex wanted him to. Stacy was able to read between the lines to see that she could get back with Alex, as she’d been in old Moto, so she voted for Michelle, too. Those three votes were enough to eliminate Michelle. Better still, those three votes could set Alex up very nicely. With Michelle out of the way, his group has the numbers to carry the next vote. Earl and Yau-Man might have to sacrifice their idol. And if he still wants to, Alex can certainly keep Stacy in the fold. Alex did a good job of playing the hand that was dealt to him this week, and for that reason, he wins this week’s MVP award. Now that the award has been handed out, I suppose I could be done, but I’d like to spend a moment talking about the challenges that Alex is going to face next week. Just moments before the merge, he and his four horsemen seemed to have a good handle on things. They were solid, they’d given themselves a cute nickname, and they even had planned who to target to bring to their side. But things quickly fell apart. For one thing, Mookie told Dreamz that the other three had the hidden immunity idol, even though Edgardo and Alex advised him before not to. When the three of them talked about it before, they agreed to kept he idol a secret from Dreamz for fear he’d tell Cassandra, a point that Edgardo reiterated this week. From the looks of it, Alex and Edgardo were right to be concerned about it, since the previews for Episode 10 pretty clearly showed Dreamz telling Cassandra – and Earl – about the idol. Because Mookie told Dreamz about the idol and the fact that they’d had it for several days, Dreamz was able to quickly see that of the four horsemen, he was number four. Suddenly his position is more precarious than he thought it was. Dreamz is now a much bigger risk to jump ship. So why would Mookie tell him? My guess is that Mookie can count too. He figured out that while Dreamz is horseman #4, he is horseman #3, which is not much better. Alex and Edgardo have been aligned for quite a while, and Mookie knows that he is relatively new to the fold. That’s a big part of why he insists on being the one to hold the idol. By making Dreamz aware that the two of them are on the outside, he has solidified his bond with Dreamz to put himself in a strong pair just like Alex and Ed are. Mookie and Dreamz have even more motivation to flip since Alex and Edgardo let on that they’d like to keep Stacy around for a while longer. Again, Mookie and Dreamz seem to have mastered basic math skills and realize that they may now only be at fourth and fifth place. Alex, in the span of just one episode, may well go from the Most Valuable Player to being in serious risk of getting voted out. Can he save himself? It won’t be easy. First, he and Edgardo need to work hard to firm up their commitments to Dreamz and Mookie. Perhaps they can separately offer final two to each guy – maybe Alex tells Dreamz he wants to go to the final two with him and Edgardo says the same to Mookie. It doesn’t have to be true, but the two need to make it seem like it’s true. They also need to give Dreamz and Mookie something to feel more comfortable. Their best move would be to let the two of them choose the next boot or two, even if that means getting rid of Stacy. It’s time for Alex and Edgardo to step back, make nice, and let the other two horsemen take the reins.