Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts

And so we have the predictable end to an unpredictable season. Overall I'd say San Juan Del Sur ranks about middling for me amongst all Survivors. It was fairly boring up until the merge, then it got interesting...but in really weird ways. It's dissapointing that of the final five, Natalie was really the only one still playing the game (but props to Jac for the impressive comeback win in the final challenge). It's pretty bad when Nat had to resort to making supposed "big" moves just to do something . A trend in the game that I'm not personally excited about is the making of big moves simply for the sake of making them. Sometimes they're necessary to get to the finals, sometimes they're not, and I can appreciate a player who's stayed on the right side of alliances the whole way through whether or not they've had to make a big move to be there. Natalie's strength in the game was her subtle play and quiet manipulation. In my opinion she di...

If Jon has learned one lesson from this game, I hope it's to LISTEN TO HIS GIRLFRIEND! It must've been fun for those two to watch that episode together. Moreso for her than for him. Since this is my last post pre-finale, I'm going to break down the remaining five from the perspective of a jury member---i.e. if I were on the jury and knew everything I currently know, would I give her/him my vote for the mil at the final tribal council?  This is NOT necessarily how I see the real jury voting. Baylor - No vote from me. She's been spunky but has been led like a little lamb the whole way through. Jaclyn - Too wishy washy. No vote from me. It's good to be flexible & willing to make big moves but she relied too much on the swing vote position and didn't build depth in alliances with anybody but Jon, who she knew was a primo target. Missy - She hasn't been my favorite, but I could see possibly voting for her. She formed solid alliances and made herse...

This week, though it was a double episode, I've just got one question - WHY didn't anybody talk about voting out Jaclyn? As soon as Jon won immunity, it was like Jac became invisible. If Natalie was willing to show her hand by voting Alec, why didn't she take it a step further and actually accomplish something by voting Jac, thus weakining her prime target? As I typed that, I had a thought about a possible reason. Nat knows Jon has a hidden idol...right? Is it possible she thought he might be spooked enough from tribal last week to give it to Jac? She wouldn't have had enough support to split the vote between Jac & Kieth or Jac & Alec, so maybe she didn't want to take that chance?? I give a salute to Reed for playing hard till the bitter end. And dammit, I'm back on the Keith train. He does't have any idea how to do subtle, but he does his best to get into peoples' heads, and he's kicking bum at the challenges against all those young ...

Soooo...can we all forget that thing I said last week about Keith having game? He wasn't strategizing when he voted for Reed last week; he was just following orders. *sigh* I don't know why I so badly wanted him to turn out to be some kind of latent genius. But his comment at his week's tribal - you know the one - proved beyond a doubt that while he may have a good, practical mind, he ain't got no game. It's pretty rare that we get to see the precise moment, the exact words that sway an outcome, but Keith sure did provide us with that. It wasn't Jon he swayed, though - it looked like Johnny boy didn't plan to use that idol until after Natalie told him to. Do you think she actually thought the vote was going to go toward him or do you think she was just using his shaken confidence to get the idol out of his hands? Ever since the merge, there have been a lot of small, strange, un-Survivor-ike moments that have impacted whose torch has gotten snuffed: 1...

NOW we're playing Survivor! I have to say they gave the show an excellent edit this week. I was GOLing (gasping out loud) during the reading of the votes. I can not believe Missy flipped so easily. I'm not sure what her strategy was with that. Jeremy was an obvious threat to take the million, so I can see why she'd want him gone at some point, but there are still too many players left in the game to give up a solid ally like that. And for who? Jon & Jaclyn? They've already flipped...how many times now? Why would she trust them to stick with her? I like to think that if I'd been in Missy's place, I'd have gone to Jeremy with the news of Jon's idol so we could make a plan to flush it out. I hope future contestants were taking notes this week. Never ever give away your reward thinking it will cement you in someone's favor. Here's why: #1 It's blatant suck uppage. Nobody likes a blatant suck up #2 Because of #1 it shows your tribem...

Click image to watch this week's episode of KNOW-IT-ALLS Well, Josh bit the dust. He had such a good game going before the merge, though it looks like his vote for Baylor in episode one may have played a role in his doom. She cited that vote as something that held her back from trusting him. So if he'd written a different name down at the very firt tribal (and really, why didn't he??), could he have built up that trust with her enough that she would've done more to work with him post merge? Maybe if they had a more solid relationship he wouldn't have resorted to playing that impotent you-owe-me card. My soft spot for Keith is gone. He, Wes, and Alec are such dumbasses. Have they never watched a season of Survivor? Do they not have a freakin' clue that the social game matters? And that women's votes count? I'm happy happy with the way the vote went down because three weeks from now, I'd much rather watch Jeremy, Missy & Natalie strategize th...

Well, the woman who it seems only wants to be known as "John Rocker's girlfriend" fulfilled every pre-judment anyone at the island may have made about her. And she ruined any chance of seeing if any of my predictions would've actually gone down. Let's take a look and see how I did: The Natalie, Baylor, Missy alliance came right together with Jon and Jaclyn joining them---at first. But it looks like the happy couple from MI enjoys playing the swing vote and is already eager to jump ship. What I hadn't expected was for Jeremy to be so tight with Missy and Jon right away. Keith did, in fact, feel betrayed and jumped right to Wes & Alec. As suspected, Baylor didn't stay loyal to her bond with Josh, and he & Reed jumped over to the KWA alliance. Jeremy and John Rocker's girlfriend would've voted together if she hadn't wussed. Jeremy was indeed gunning for Josh & Reed, but that was a really nice twist when Josh actually seemed to...

Here are this week's ramblings on Survivor: San Juan Del Sur - Blood Versus Water . It was a valiant effort by Dale with the fake idol. At first I didn't understand why he said the whole thing about giving it to Jon if he was safe after the vote, but now I realize that if he'd simply threatened to use it, they would've done exactly what they did do and split the vote. This way there was at least the chance Jon might go for his deal. I think it was foolish of Jon & Jaclyn to stick with Missy & Baylor. Didn't they see Natalie so blatantly show her hand when she volunteered to join Baylor at Exile? Clearly Natalie, Baylor, and Missy will unite once the merge happens, putting J&J at the bottom of that alliance. Dale might've been weaselly, but he had no allies left in the game so he's not a threat. Then again, that also means he wouldn't be able to bring any voters over to their little group once they joined the other side, so maybe they di...

*gasp!* I nearly forgot to post today. Part of the problem is that I just haven't glommed on to any of the Survivors as favorites. I like pretty much everyone, but I don't seem to really care one way or another who goes home. I felt especially that way during the tribal council last night. And that makes this season rather blah for me. I see two major problems: #1 Boring one-on-one camera time. There's no one like Cochran or Sandra with delightful commentary on their fellow castaways. Raw honesty combined with humor is what makes me love a Survivor. #2 There's no villain. It's hard to throw my support behind anyone when there's no one to be against. God help me---I miss #ChaosCass. The only thing I have to say about this episode in particular is that I don't support the random tribe mix-ups. I long for a Survivor played old-school with the same rules as Borneo. Because it's a game, right? Shouldn't the players know the rules before they play th...

If there's a rule on Survivor it's DON'T THROW AN IMMUNITY CHALLENGE! (Can you guess what I shouted at my TV this week?) And oh boy, did Drew learn that lesson. Clueless to the end, he thinks they kicked him off the island because he was a threat. No, no dear boy, it was because you were a jerk who was too tied up in your vanity to see what was really going on around you---and that makes you a very weak ally for anyone. So off you go. That's all you must endure from me this week because I'm off on a road trip Ted & Marshall-style to bring my baby girl home for the first weekend since we dropped her off on campus in August. Have a groovy weekend, everybody!

Welcome to the third installment of my ramblings on Season 29 of Survivor: Blood vs. Water; San Juan Del Sur. Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? This week I was joined by my sister for the viewing---hooray! As a result I got a lot of my spewing out that night, so this will just be a quickie post. #1 I was right! It was Josh who threw the tying vote at Val. #2 I know I've been dissing the emotion on this show, but I thought it was a really sweet moment between Wes & Keith after the reward challenge---because it was natural and not at all instigated by Probst. #3 Rocker is such a dope. Why was he at all concerned about earning the favor of one person on the other tribe (Jeremy) while meanwhile irking the people who had the power to vote him out by flat out admitting he'd been trying to manipulate them for his own secretive purpose? #4 Dale is out as my favorite and Josh is in. If I was on the island, I'd be wary of Josh's aggressive play, but everyone who...

I call this one: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Buff I'm back again for my new Friday feature, in which I share my thoughts and feelings about the latest episode of Survivor. (As I said last week, no need for my regular visitors to feel bad about taking a pass on these posts if  you don't watch the show.) The thing I'll stop harping on...after this: Probst continues to push my buttons by trying to manipulate the castaways' emotions. He acts like he cares, but really, he's just being cruel by intentionally drawing out their tears. He's clearly been given a Barbara Walters directive for the season, but happily, the players aren't dwelling on their feelings as much as the producers would like. So I guess I won't either. The thing I shouted at my TV: "She's half his height!" I can't stand it when they don't adjust the individual challenges for varying height or foot size, and this reward challenge had a clear advantage for the v...

Let this post also serve as my Shelfie for Tara Tyler & Co . It's hard to see, but writer freinds' books are next to my head. Bobbing head dolls & classics on top shelf Book I'm reading by Erik Reichenbach, former Survivor I'm doing it! For the longest time I've been wanting to start a Survivor blog, and...well, I'm not doing that , but I'm starting up a Friday feature here in which I spew my take on the week's episode. As you see, I'm calling it "A Day Late & a Million $$ Short" because #1: I'll be posting a day later than most Survivor pontificators, and #2: I obviously can't win the cool mil until Probst finally breaks down and casts me. If you're a regular visitor to my blog and you don't watch Survivor, please don't feel bad about bailing on the DLM$S posts (look at that---it's already an acronym!). I'm going to write these posts as if readers have watched the episode, so if you're n...