Survivor: Caramoan Episode 7 Thoughts

The Horsemen reborn!

Malcolm struck me as the best player coming into the season, and he has done nothing to dissway me from this. Today he came up with another angle which ended up paying huge immediate dividends.
He was smart to realize that he was on a tribe with 3 other alpha males, and the alpha males would be a target. So why not band them together for the short term (and then obviously cut them loose as soon as you can.) And for his troubles, he found out that Reynold had the immunity idol.

Reynold just can't help himself though. If you give him an inch, he'll give you back a mile. I have to admit that I don't know how I would react if I had sensed that I had been betrayed continuously, and was then approached by somebody else to join them. I like to think that I would be a little wary though, and definitely wouldn't offer up the biggest piece of information I have. But that's me. Reynold might be suffering from some sort of anxiety based on his continued rejection, and it might be causing him to give up this information. Or he could just be a nice guy who lives in the moment, instead of thinking too far ahead.

Julia decides to pack 10 days of playing into one day

We hadn't seen too much from Julia. Heck, you knew it was bad when everybody on the show was referring to Julia as being vanilla and invisible. So when she was offered a lifeline from Philip, she chose to try to use that information to cause the favorites to overthrow Philip. That, of course, found its way back to Philip and he turned on her.

I never cease to be amazed that when people are handed a life line, they try to turn it into a trap for the person offering it. In turn, that life line ends up becoming a noose for them. The name of the game is Survivor. If somebody is giving you an opportunity to survive a little bit longer, take it! Don't try to flip it on them immediately unless you know it will work. It goes back to the basic principle of Survivor: Keep it Simple, Stupid. Why make a fancy play when a simple one will work?

Julia decided to make a complex play all of the sudden, and ended up screwing herself for it.

Corrine and her stupidity

Beginning by announcing "I want to work with Michael long term," and following up with "I don't want to split votes because I want him to trust us" after he was made to look like a fool on the Matt vote? And as an added bonus throwing out in a confessional that you know that the Julia doesn't have the idol because you and Malcolm have it? WTF?

Let's begin with her announcing that she wants to work with Michael long term. I mean, what would possess you to say that? You are basically telling your alliance that "Hey, I want to have something on the side here. Don't worry, we're still good. Just I'll be extra good because I'll have my side alliance and you guys won't." And then to throw in that you want him to feel comfortable to continue to work with you? Why not just take him aside and tell him "The vote is going to be split 2/2/2, but don't worry, it's Julia." That way you can keep him on side, but also keep your alliance in check. As well, he might pick up on the hint and vote Julia himself.

The real stupid part was that if Corrine had just did my idea of giving Michael the information on the down low, she would have been fine. Your worst case scenario? Michael brings it up at tribal, and gets voted out. Corrine is still in the same "I don't trust you" spot with Philip, but also is out of a potentially bad situation with Michael. Given the the upside of the play, that would have been much superior to what she did.

And finally, the theory that there couldn't be an idol because you and Malcolm have one? You don't think there could be an idol on the other beach where the fans came from? God love Corrine (and she is fantastic), but that was some stupid Survivor theory right there. I almost wanted there to be an idol that we knew nothing about, and that Julia had and played to get Corrine voted out.
This isn't to say that Philip deserves to duck some of the blame here. By acting like himself, he made the Corrine situation much worse. And even though they ended up on the same page, it just showed to everybody else that there was going be trouble ahead, and they might want to get their ducks in a line.

Best Play of the Week

Malcolm recruiting Reynold. Not only did he make a solid side alliance with others, but he got key information about where the other immunity idol is. A good side alliance will work out well for him, unless he has to decide immediately whether he needs to stay with the favorites, or if he needs to flip.

Worst Play of the Week

Julia and her attempt to flip Dawn. Ignoring the concerns that I metioned before, Julia chose to try and flip DAWN. It's not in Dawn's nature to turn on someone so quickly. She needs a good reason to do it, which Julia wasn't able to provide.  Why not try to flip Corrine, who has shown that she doesn't care about alliances, so long as she gets further in the game. If Julia had thought for just a minute, she might still be in the game.