Survivor 23.2

Tonight was the second episode of Survivor South Pacific and this is the second recap featuring Jamie’s Prognosis and Mary Beth’s 2Cents. So far, all of the feedback has been positive about the new contributors. In fact, facebook friend, Patty 4-Names, a Fellow Survivor Geek, left this comment: “PV! Your new guest commentators are FABULOUS! Watch out – they might start their own ‘spin-off’ blogs!” Trying to live up to that high praise from FSG Patty, here are the recaps from this week’s show.

 Jamie’s Prognosis: Therapy anyone?

Lets see…who needs therapy in week 2?  Let's start with poor Semhar who found herself alone in the dark on Redemption Island struggling with abandonment issues. Let me just ask…is Survivor a good place to fix lifelong abandonment issues?  Hmm, I think not. But I feel for her. I spent the better part of this week trying to convince people that I too am a spoken word artist and nobody was buying what I was selling either.

As a Coach fan I am happy to report that thus far this season for the first time the “Dragon Slayer” does NOT need therapy! His people skills continue to evolve. Yes I know, I know, it’s early in this journey but I like what I’m seeing so far. Go Coach!!

We didn’t see much of Cochran this week, but as is my way I am also rooting for this underdog. I like his self-deprecating sense of humor and am impressed that he has achieved the status of becoming a separate entity by referring to himself as “Cochran” along with everybody else. I think that is cool! You keep reinventing yourself Cochran and don’t take your moms advice… you looked great with a machete.  

Do I need therapy? One of my favorite moments of the show was watching Ozzy show off his amazing tree climbing skills in a tight pair of swim trunks (I enjoyed it A LOT) but I’m skeptical that he wasn’t tipped off about the location of the idol. That seemed like a BIG long shot without any clues…

And speaking of clueless, Christine was clearly in need of a therapist to help her with her people skills. I mean it’s a social game sister!  Instead of just wandering the beach alone looking for immunity idols and pissing everyone off, perhaps your time would have been better served being nice to your fellow castaways. Obnoxious and it cost her.

But let’s get down to the player who needs therapy the most. Brandon. Is it any surprise that he is a Hantz? Clearly this entire gene pool has issues. Robin Williams once said, "God gave men both a penis and a brain, but unfortunately not enough blood supply to run both at the same time".

If this isn’t the best living example of this I don’t know what is!  He is a married guy who is so not in control of himself that he must vote off the object of his lust for no other reason than to protect his own virtue? 

Can poor lingerie football player Mikayla scratch out a restraining order on a fig leaf or something? He is just creepy and he has nooooo game. The way he tried to convince the others to vote for her was just… stupid. He’s gotta go soon.

Finally, did anyone notice that when Christine arrived on Redemption Island and tried to awaken Semhar she didn’t move? Didn’t I predict last week that something would eat her out there?  I’m just saying…

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Mary Beth’s 2Cents:

Okay, episode 2 is always something of a yawn at first. It's because they have to give everyone a chance to get some camera time so the audience gets an idea of who these people are. But, wow, did it get better once they got to the challenge!

I liked the sort of reverse Maypole action it started with. Watching Cochran struggle to get over a ribbon was hard though. I genuinely like the kid and part of me has to believe that somewhere down the line he's going to make one of those game changing moves that will be of a historic proportion. (I could be dreaming, but hey! I can dream!)

Oh yeah, Ozzy got an idol. No big surprise there, but it looked kind of calculated the way he was just up in the gnarly tree and all of a sudden, out of the blue, without a single clue? Hmmm, makes me wonder a bit…

But Holy Hotbed of Tribal Intrigue, Batman! Tribal Council was a hoot to watch. All the “I'm gonna put it out there” and “I have to be totally honest” that just caused them all to start doubting each other. Frankly, I'm glad crabby old Christine got the axe but I thought for a minute that Brandon was on the way out!

What the heck was he doing? I mean, clearly he is attracted to Miss Mikayla and it's bothering him that he is, but get it together man! I never thought I'd be saying this, but that “Little Hantz” may be too sensitive for this game! Uncle Russell would be so ashamed.

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From The Booth’s Take:

Tonight started out slowly with Semhar at Redemption Island, blubbering about having abandonment issues. She then started doing some poetry or as she calls it, “the spoken word”. To me, spoken word translated is crappy poetry.

The show remained at a snail’s pace as nerdy, neurotic Cochran proclaimed that he was going to change into cool, mellow Cochran. We also saw Ozzy climbing like a monkey while finding a Hidden Immunity Idol without benefit of a clue. That dude has wild skills.

The pace finally picked up when we learned that Brandon is a full-blown freak. First he spills the beans to Coach about being the nephew of Survivor Hall-of-Famer Russell Hantz. Needless to say, Coach is flabbergasted with this news.

Next Brandon ogles the lithesome Mikayla while saying SHE is evil and must be voted out. He mumbles something about having made mistakes in the past and that he won’t be tempted by Mikayla. The boy has serious issues and it’s pretty bad when the least of them is being Russell’s nephew.

Tribal Council is when things really got interesting. Because they lost the maypole/giant puzzle Immunity Challenge, Coach and the rest of Upolu tribe had to vote some one off to Redemption Island.

Following a little small talk, the gloves came off. First Coach shocked everyone by throwing Christine and Stacey under the bus for conspiring against the lovely Mikayla. They asked him where he got his information, but Coach didn’t let on that it was Brandon who told him. He said it was all about loyalty.

When Christine and Stacey persisted and questioned the loyalty of Coach, the brutally handsome Albert came to his defense saying, by not revealing his source, Coach was indeed showing his loyalty. Huh?

After Jeff Probst stirred the pot a little more, a squirming Brandon ultimately came clean and admitted that he was the one who told the two girls to vote off the luscious Mikayla. Looks of astonishment were on the faces of everyone.

When the smoke had cleared and the drama was over, Christine was the one voted off and sent to Redemption Island. What a bunch of fools.

That’s it for now. Tune in next week to see Christine kick Semhar’s ass in the elimination challenge and also find out what Spawn-of-Satan Brandon will do next.

Until next time…from the booth.