Category: survivor caramoan

In an effort to prove he’s a real man, Brandon threw perhaps the biggest temper tantrum in Survivor history in Survivor: Caramoan Episode 5, thus coming off as a bigger whiner than we already knew he was, in addition to being delusional and quite possibly crazy.

Now that the loon is out of their tribe and hopefully will never return to this show ever again, Phillip is on to the next step. Operation Thunder Dome has the goal of eliminating Corinne.

As one of the most pathetic tribes ever, one thing the Fans have been hoping for is a momentum shift. Perhaps Brandon’s departure is the start of that. Probst is about to throw his own wrench into that.

Time for a tribe shuffle. New tribes will be chosen by the color in an egg.

Orange (Gota): Eddie, Reynold, Andrea, Malcolm, Sherri, Erik, Brenda
Purple (Bikal): Corinne, Phillip, Michael, Matt, Cochran, Julia, Dawn

This new orange tribe seems pretty stacked for challenges. Even though they’re stuck with Sherri, not only do they have Eddie and Reynold, but now they have added Malcolm to the mix.

Each tribe has been given another bag of rice. So much for Brandon’s grand gesture.

Eddie and Reynold quickly throw Sherri under the bus to Erik and Malcolm. If they want to vote her out, they don’t care. In turn, Sherri goes to the girls and says she wants to get rid of Reynold.

In an unusual turn of events, the Favorites have a 4-3 advantage on both tribes, so they still control the game as long as they want, no matter which tribe loses challenges, as long as they don’t do anything stupid.

Within 30 minutes, Phillip is already trying to get Julia into his alliance. He’s the worst federal agent Corinne has ever met.

Andrea had a dream that Malcolm has an idol, which he denies.

At the immunity challenge, two members from each tribe will roll large crates, which will then be used to build a staircase once they are on the other side of the course. Gota gains an early advantage as Phil and Julia fall behind. Michael and Dawn struggle just as much. Eventually, Gota laps Bikal, and it gets worse when Phillip is made to go two times in a row. By the time Bikal finishes debating how they should arrange their stairs, Gota is almost done. Gota wins immunity. Exactly what we could have expected from these new tribes in a strength challenge.

Corinne is tiring of Phillip, but she’s willing to put up with him being annoying because she does not think he’s going to flip.

Despite his early attempt at getting Julia on his side, he tells Matt and Michael that they need to get rid of her. The strange thing here is that, of the three, she seems the most likely to buy what he’s selling.

Julia has decided that Dawn should be their target, though both of her tribe members don’t have any interest in voting for anyone other than her.

The only thing going for Julia is that Matt and Michael are close, and it may be a smart move to split them up. This is the scenario Cochran is pushing.

The good news for these Favorites is that they are on a tribe with the three Fans least likely to have a hidden immunity idol. For any Fan who does have an idol, all they need to do is play it, and they can get rid of any Favorite they want. It will make for a lot more interesting Tribal Council if Reynold ends up there.

Votes
Julia
Julia
Dawn
Matt
Matt
Matt
Matt

With 4 votes, Matt has been voted off the island.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Caramoan Episode 7, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

Shortly after agreeing to not quit as long as his tribe brings him meals while he lays in the shelter all day, Shamar was pulled out of the game for medical reasons in Survivor: Caramoan Episode 4. Then the bleeding continued as the Fans lost as usual, but this time they finally made a sensible decision and voted out their weakest link, Laura.

Brandon says he’s missing his kids, so the tribe can vote him out the next time they go to Tribal Council. He apologizes for thinking about burning the shelter down and peeing in the beans and rice. Of course, with Brandon’s multiple personalities, it’s not long before he changes his mind and decides he no longer wants to quit.

At the reward challenge, two members of each tribe will hold on to a rope attached to a net while the other tribe shoots coconuts into the nets. Reward is a BBQ. Andrea, Dawn, and Erik sit out for the Favorites. Phillip and Brandon hold the nets against Michael and Matt. Sherri quickly proves to be useless. Brandon is the first one to let go. He is followed by Matt. Then Michael releases as Phillip holds on to win reward for the Favorites.

When they get back to camp, Sherri starts whining to the camera about how they just lost. And why did you lose? Because you yourself suck. It’s not because you got rid of Laura or because you kept Eddie. Regardless, the challenge would have gone from a loss to a blow out if they had two shooters as bad as Sherri.

I would argue Reynold pointlessly wasted his idol last week, but it doesn’t end up mattering. He finds a replacement. He reveals this to Eddie, but he won’t be telling the others.

Brandon’s angry that Phillip takes credit for winning the challenge after he gave up. He tells Phil to shut up and let someone else have an opinion. Gladly. He can walk away and let Brandon yell amongst himself. But he will be plotting to get rid of him.

As they deal with the fact their tribe is in general a failure and now rain for 48 hours straight, Matt asks for something good to happen to their tribe. A perfect segue to the continuing Brandon meltdown. Phillip wants to throw the challenge because he’s not happy living with somebody who is insane.

Too bad he won’t even make it there. Brandon tells him to let him give them a reason to vote him out. He dumps the rice and beans on the ground. This putz is the most ridiculous villain ever. I hope this is the last we see of him, ever.

I don’t think the immunity challenge really matters any more, but before we get to that there’s some more drama to deal with. Brandon tells the Fans that they might have a chance to get back into this and asks them to not let Phillip get to the end of the game. As a follow up, on behalf of the Favorites, Corinne forfeits the challenge.

Then we get to listen to Brandon shout on and on and on. Can this moron please shut the hell up already? Go home, go home, go home.

For once, the Fans win a challenge. There’s only one thing in this game more pitiful than the Fans. With their luck, that would be a member of the opposing team.

They don’t even need to go to Tribal Council. They can just vote here. Everybody votes out Brandon. Good riddance. Thus ends perhaps the most annoying episode of Survivor ever.

Having seen three Hantz family members now, it seems that Russell is the normal one.

Now that this experiment of what happens when you put a mentally unstable person (as we already knew from his last season) in a high stress environment has concluded, there is one positive from this otherwise loud (very loud) and obnoxious (very obnoxious) episode: host Jeff Probst. When he identified someone who was a threat to himself and others, he moved him to neutral territory, held him back, and let the tribe hash things out without subjecting them to the situation for very much longer. Even if at the same time he did milk the drama more than necessary.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Caramoan Episode 6, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

Neither his mouth nor his threats to quit were enough to get Shamar in any trouble in Survivor: Caramoan Episode 3, and Hope was sent packing.

Phil has invited everybody to be members of Stealth R Us, and they all get nicknames.

Their task at the challenge is to get tribe members from one platform in the water to another, eventually getting everybody on top of the final platform. Reward is a local bushman. Cochran sits out for the Favorites. In a close battle, Favorites win reward, as the Fans come one person short, while Shamar yells “That’s what I’m talking about!”

Since he’s unquit, Shamar has a new offer for his tribe: he will stick around if they serve him food at least once a day. These putzes agree. Shortly after making this arrangement, he scratches his eye, which is immediately dismissed as him being a baby. Medical wants to pull him out of the game because the issue might affect his vision. However this may have happened, the rest of the tribe expresses happiness that he’s gone. Not like they didn’t have a chance or two to vote him out.

At the immunity challenge, they will swim to a platform, smash a tile, retrieve keys, open a chest, and use the sandbags inside to knock down blocks. Corinne and Dawn sit out for the Favorites. Erik gives the Favorites an early lead as Sherri falls way behind and ends up just about getting lapped. Favorites retain this lead throughout most of the next four legs. Laura sucks at opening locks, but then Reynold takes over and starts chucking bags. He’s quickly closing the gap, but he comes a few blocks shy. Favorites win immunity.

After the ineptness displayed during that challenge, do you really want to vote out the only two bright spots?

Matt tells Michael they need to get rid of the weakest link, Laura. Michael’s not sure about that since he doesn’t trust Reynold or Eddie. Then Matt tells Reynold this as well, but Reynold protests, saying he has no reason to trust them. Next in line is Sherri, whose argument is they aren’t winning anyway, so they may as well get rid of their best competitors. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this sort of reasoning, though it’s not entirely surprising since she single handedly cost them this last challenge, making her next week’s easy target.

Reynold chooses to play his hidden immunity idol. Not sure I understand since he was never really anybody’s target, other than Shamar.

Votes
Laura
Laura
Reynold (does not count)
Laura
Laura

With 4 votes, Laura has been voted off the island. The first smart thing this tribe has done this season.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Caramoan Episode 5, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

With her tribe siding with a useless player rather than a member of the couples, Allie was voted off the island in Survivor: Caramoan Episode 2.

Reynold warns his tribe that now it’s game on. Then Shamar proceeds to run his mouth at everybody on both sides, proving why it would have been beneficial to get rid of him in the first place.

Sherri asks Shamar if he could just shut the hell up for once because otherwise his target is going to keep growing.

As the two people in the alliance who have not previously played with anyone, Corinne and Malcolm form their own alliance of sorts. They find themselves a hidden immunity idol, or at least he finds it and is stuck with her knowing about it because she’s right there with him. At least that’s his story anyway. If he really didn’t want her to know, perhaps he shouldn’t be searcing with her.

Andrea has decided she really wants Corinne out. After all, Brandon is a more reliable partner for their alliance. Really, Brandon? The guy who’s talking about peeing in the rice and beans and burning the shelter to the ground if he finds out he’s going home. As if anybody is afraid of this coming from the least frightening villain ever.

A more subdued Shamar says he’s thinking of quitting. He’d rather do that than keep being angry. His tribe asks him to at least stick around until after the immunity challenge so they don’t lose two people.

At the challenge, they will climb over a cage into the water and retrieve a chest to be returned to the finish platform on the beach. Reward is comfort: chairs, pillows, blankets, and a tarp. They’re roughly even going over the cage despite Laura’s terrible swimming performance. Fans untie the ropes first to take the lead in releasing the chest. Favorites gain the lead as they head into the final stage. The end comes down to Brandon against Eddie on the final toss to retrieve a piece of the track to roll the chest on. Favorites win immunity and reward.

After the challenge, we return to the angry Shamar episode.

Laura realizes she’s pathetic at challenges and should be a target, though her name’s not really on anybody’s list. Instead, the plan is 3 votes for Hope, 3 for Eddie in case Hope receives an idol, and 3 for Shamar. Shamar’s got his own plan that she vote out Eddie to save herself. As this gets back to the rest of the tribe, Shamar may have just sunk himself. Worried her name may still come up, Laura offers a ray of hope to Reynold, telling him she can secure Julia as a fifth vote to get rid of Shamar.

Shamar has this new policy. Reynold, who by the way is a liar like everybody else in the tribe, is no longer allowed to talk to him. Eddie’s on the no talking list as well. As we continue this discussion, Probst finds out that Shamar has a problem with just about everybody. But surely these people are all misinterpreting him, every one of them.

Votes
Shamar
Hope
Shamar
Hope
Shamar
Hope
Eddie
Eddie
Eddie

In the event of this three way tie, they will revote, choosing between the three people who have received votes, who will not be allowed to vote. Backing out Eddie and Hope’s votes, that brings Shamar down to just one, allowing the tribe to get rid of their actual target.

Votes
Shamar
Hope
Hope
Hope
Hope

With 4 votes, Hope has been voted off the island. This tribe deserves what it gets. I hope Shamar flips out on them again.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Caramoan Episode 4, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

Francesca (seriously, whose favorite is she?) was voted out first in Survivor: Caramoan Episode 1, again.

Dawn tries to explain things, apparently, to an angry Brandon. She ends up walking away after he refuses to listen. Afterward, he says he’s thinking about going Russell Hantz style on these people. That would be a nice change from the lame Brandon Hantz style we saw last time he was on the island.

Shamar says he’s trying to conserve his energy, just staying in the shade and relaxing. Get rid of this clown already.

The next morning, Brandon has changed his mind. He says he’s going to be a nice guy. More boring.

3 members from each tribe will hop on a raft, be pulled out to a platform by 3 other tribe members, and dive to grab bamboo sticks to release rings for a toss back at the shore. Reward is a fishing kit. Laura is sitting out for the Fans. Before they start the challenge, Shamar talks about how he’s just a fool.

They’re about dead even as they hit the platforms, but the Fans are hopeless when it comes to retrieving rings. Favorites have all 9 rings and head back as their opponents only have 2. By the time they have all their rings, the Favorites are already on shore with Malcolm tossing. Did you learn nothing last week? Reynold has the chance to win this if he can again outtoss Malcolm. Malcolm’s up 2-0. Reynold makes it 2-1, but they’re just too late. Phillip takes over to score the final point and win immunity and reward for the Favorites.

Phillip has decided he is the CEO of a spy corporation, Stealth R Us.

Shamar’s the obvious choice because he is both useless and annoying and not trying to hide it, but nonetheless he’s a number in a tribe split down the middle. If not him, the choice is one of the girls from the couples. Not sure it matters which one. Laura suggests Allie as the only one of them who’s actually thinking.

Reynold assumes there must be a hidden immunity idol. He searches for a bit and finds it. Before they head for Tribal Council, Laura sees a bulge in his pants, and she wonders what’s in them. While there, she says she’s not going to say who… while looking directly at Reynold. In response, he reveals his idol to the tribe. He claims he’ll play it tonight. Unsurprisingly, he puts it back in his pocket after the vote.

Votes
Shamar
Shamar
Shamar
Shamar
Allie
Allie
Allie
Allie
Allie
Allie

With 6 votes, Allie has been voted off the island. As useless as Shamar is, the sentiment behind the vote makes sense: two couples is a powerful alliance that needs to be broken. Reynold might have been better off to just pass the idol to Allie, though next week he’d still be outnumbered.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Caramoan Episode 3, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

Remember when Fans Vs. Favorites meant players such as Parvati, Amanda, and Cirie? In Survivor: Caramoan, it means whatever group of nutjobs is desperate enough to do the show again. I don’t know whose favorites these people are, but they’re not mine.

The 10 returning players on the Bikal (purple) tribe are: Andrea Boehlke, Brandon Hantz, Brenda Lowe, Corinne Kaplan, Dawn Meehan, Erik Reichenbach, Francesca Hogi, John Cochran, Malcolm Freberg, and Phillip Sheppard.

They will face off against the Gota (orange) tribe, a group of 10 new players: Alexandra “Allie” Pohevitz, Edward “Eddie” Fox, Hope Driskill, Julia Landauer, Laura Alexander, Matt Bischoff, Michael Snow, Reynold Toepfer, Shamar Thomas, and Sherri Biethman.

The Survivors hit the beach and face the first challenge. Reward is fire plus 20 pounds of beans. After stripping down (Phillip brought even pinker underpants), they head into the water, where two people on one tribe must get a ring past two defenders on the other tribe. Fans take the 1-0 lead. Brandon and Andrea drag their way to a 1-1 tie. Phillip drags everybody to his goal and takes the 2-1 lead. Cochran does not get beat by a girl as the Favorites take a 3-1 lead. Malcolm and Reynold want to prove they are the most physical and naked on the beach, and Malcolm comes out ahead, giving the Favorites the win.

Shamar has decided he does not care about the shelter and lets his tribe know that they should be building a fire instead, as if the odds of that make it a more worthwhile task. It’s clear he’s got a mouth on him that is going to rub people the wrong way. In the end, for all his talk, he does help to deliver results, as the tribe ends up making fire.

Francesca points out one reason why I barely remember half of them. She was the first person out during her last season. Phillip screwing up her name and putting a q in it is more memorable than anything she did. She promises to eat a rock if she’s voted out first again.

Phillip says he’s learned a list of rules about how to play the game from Boston Rob. Unless one of those rules is don’t be crazy, he’s going to come up short again. Corinne and Andrea happily ally with him. His total alliance is 6 people, the last of which is Erik, who he bullies into joining them. Erik agrees despite thinking he’s a combative idiot loser who makes everybody crazy.

Reynold forms a final two alliance with Allie, saying he wanted to join someone who would not be obvious. Yeah, because nobody would ever suspect you going after the pretty blonde girl. Especially after seeing you cuddling on the first night.

Meanwhile, Eddie, telling us he’s the best looking person on the island, teams up with the other best looking person, Hope. He won’t be at all obnoxious. These two make a four person alliance with the other cool kids, Reynold and Allie. Like the other cute couple, their relationship has very quickly been exposed.

Knowing that there is a division in the tribe, Michael and Matt must decide which four to align with. I don’t see them as having any chance to break into the cool kids’ alliance, though either side would be happy to have the numbers for the time being.

I don’t know how the heck Cochran survived the first time, yet he’s back again. Even his toes are sunburned.

At the immunity challenge, they will toss crates off a tower, then use the sandbags inside to complete tosses. The first part of the challenge is pretty well moot, though Allie and Eddie put their team way behind on the final leg, far enough that Malcolm’s half way done with the bag tosses by the time they finish. But he never gets past that point. Despite the lead, Reynold jumps ahead of Malcolm to win immunity and flint for the Fans.

Francesca suggests getting rid of Phillip or Corinne, but mostly she wants revenge on Phillip. She tells this to Andrea, one of Phil’s closest allies. Francesca and Brandon are pretty comfortable that there’s no way Phillip could actually have the numbers on his side. So confident is she of this that she wants to split the votes. Phil is behaving too calmly, so he must have immunity.

He may not be worried about Phillip, but Brandon is terrified of Andrea. He’s on to the fact that she’s relaying information to the other side. Now a third name is into their equation. Since you’re about ready to leave and vote, you might consider making a decision. I thought you people were supposed to be experienced at this game.

Dawn and Cochran have agreed to work together, which went really well for her last time he voted her out.

Votes
Andrea
Andrea
Andrea
Francesca
Francesca
Francesca
Andrea
Francesca
Francesca
Francesca

For the second time, Francesca has been voted off the island first, burned by both Phillip and her overly aggressive gameplay. I again question how she is a favorite. Along with Erik and Brandon, Brenda joined the minority in the vote against Andrea, but as he promised, Phillip has the numbers, with or without Erik.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Caramoan Episode 2, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.