Survivor: Blood Vs. Water Episode 11

In this season dominated by couples, the trend continued in Survivor: Blood Vs. Water Episode 10, and the last pair was split up when Laura was voted off the island for the second time.

There’s a lot of talk about the vote. More specifically, there’s a lot of talk about Ciera’s vote because she voted against her mom. Nobody seems quite sure what to make of this, but even if blood is thicker than water, there was no point to voting against the group in what was ultimately a foregone conclusion.

Vytas, Tina, and Laura compete in the duel. Laura says the vote was okay, and she’s proud. She’ll be back anyway. Again. Their challenge is to free and then arrange boxes so that there are no repeating colors on any side. Vytas and Laura are more than a full box ahead of Tina as they get to the puzzle. Laura wins. Then she starts to help Tina, who has been struggling with this from the beginning. Tina beats Vytas by seconds. I’m not sure I get what just happened, though it does make sense to keep around the weakest link, but I don’t think that was the main reason behind the offer of help.

Laura gives Ciera the clue to the hidden immunity idol. She burns it.

Tyson wants to keep everybody against Katie. Despite not having done much of anything, the argument is that she has three guaranteed jury votes.

Not wanting to wait too long, Hayden approaches Caleb to target Tyson. They realize he has done the most damage in the game and should look good to a jury. Ciera agrees and makes a final three deal with them, but she thinks they are too sketchy since they are this willing to flip against people. She goes to Tyson with this information, promising to vote however he wants. He needs them out anyway, though perhaps not this soon. Caleb’s likeability has made him Tyson’s first target of the two.

Hayden and Caleb quickly become suspicious about Ciera the next morning. She’s not talking to them and won’t look them in the eyes, and then she goes off to get treemail with Tyson.

The way things are going, multiple people could use immunity. They will each hold a rope handle attached to a bucket, which contains 25% of their body weight. Probst offers up a BBQ for anyone who is not interested. Tyson, Gervase, and Ciera opt to eat. Monica wants to show the kids more than one badass lives in her house. Katie is the first one out. Caleb is next, saying his hands are starting to bleed. Doing that much damage to your hands can be dangerous for future challenges and just camp life in general. Hayden is next. Monica wins her third individual immunity.

Hayden’s worried that he’s on a sinking ship, the one he punctured. He wants to try to get back into Tyson’s good graces and all vote against Ciera because she’s playing both sides. Tyson doesn’t trust her, but he doesn’t trust them either. Out of the three, it seems clear that Ciera is the only one he can trust, at least for now.

Prior to the reveal of the votes, Tyson pulls out his hidden immunity idol… after spending some time going through his bag to try to find it. Ultimately a waste, but the timing was nonetheless smart.

Votes
Ciera
Caleb
Ciera
Ciera
Caleb
Caleb
Caleb

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

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Blood Vs. Water Episode 12, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Biggest Loser Season 15 Episode 7

Matt was saved by Bob after falling below the red line in The Biggest Loser Season 15 Episode 6.

It’s Thanksgiving week, typically one of the worst for any of these contestants, most of whom used to consume 5-10,000 calories in a single day at this time of year before they started this journey. Now they can give back with the challenge. And then I walk away from the TV for a minute and apparently the challenge is over. Well, then. Anyway, the blue team won the challenge, whatever it was (loading trucks with boxes of food it seems), and they will be getting visitors from home.

With this visit, Hap gets to meet his new baby for the first time. Matt visits with his fiancee after having postponed their wedding in order to come on the show.

Bobby, who has now come out to the whole country, has yet to tell his father he’s gay, though surely he has been able to guess. To encourage him to talk about this with his dad, Bob discusses his sexuality for the first time in 15 seasons, acknowledging that he is gay, something that has been rumored for years but never confirmed nor denied.

Bob is worried that everything going on at the ranch this week may serve as a distraction for his team. We jump right from the visits to the weigh in with no yelling about last chance.

David: 306 pounds (-11, 3.47%) – over 100 pounds lost
Jennifer: 211 pounds (-9, 4.09%)
Tanya: 216 pounds (-4, 1.82%)
Rachel: 183 pounds (-12, 6.15%)
Ruben: 394 pounds (-7, 1.75%)
Red Total: 1310 pounds (-43, 3.18%)

Marie: 203 pounds (-4, 1.93%)
Jay: 219 pounds (-7, 3.10%)
Tumi: 250 pounds (-6, 2.34%)
White Total: 672 pounds (-17, 2.47%)

Matt: 281 pounds (-9, 3.10%)
Chelsea: 191 pounds (-6, 3.05%)
Hap: 334 pounds (-6, 1.76%)
Bobby: 284 pounds (-9, 3.07%)
Holley: 288 pounds (-3, 1.03%)
Blue Total: 1378 pounds (-33, 2.34%)

In a result that I don’t think anyone saw coming, Holley pushes her team into the losing column, and she falls below the red line.

But she’s not the only one going home tonight. Or next week anyway. Of course, that could mean anything, from double elimination to someone winning a trip to their hometown. Normally I would consider this a fake out, but there are only a few weeks but 12 contestants still left.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 15 Episode 8, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Amazing Race 23 Episode 9

After being U-turned by Tim & Marie in The Amazing Race 23 Episode 8, one of the least threatening teams bowed out of the race, as Nicky & Kim were eliminated.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Nicole & Travis – 12:38AM
Second: Jason & Amy – 12:52AM
Third: Tim & Marie – 1:15AM
Fourth: Leo & Jamal – 2:06AM (slept in)
Fifth: Ally & Ashley – 2:06AM

Jason & Amy have decided they want to keep working with Nicole & Travis. Marie remains delusional and argumentative even with her own partner. Leo & Jamal find out the reason they were U-turned: they lied about having used the U-turn themselves.

Teams will now fly more than 4000 miles to Bandung, Indonesia. Everybody will be on the only flight.

Their first task is to pick up two rams, watch them butt heads in a ram head butting arena, and load them back on the truck. They will then travel by train back to where they came from.

First train: Ally & Ashley, Travis & Nicole, Leo & Jamal
Second train (1 hour later): Jason & Amy, Tim & Marie

The detour is a choice between for the elephants or for the birds. For the elephants requires them to pick up food from a market, transport it on hand trolleys, and feed the elephants. For the birds requires them to pick up birds, bring them to a competition arena, and get them to sing.

Elephants: Leo & Jamal, Ally & Ashley, Jason & Amy, Tim & Marie
Birds: Travis & Nicole

Ally & Ashley show up at their final destination rather than the place they are supposed to start. Being at the front of the pack didn’t last very long for them. Eventually, they get into a shouting match but still refuse to switch detours, despite being the only team whose taxi won’t let them transport the massive sugarcane, which effectively puts them in last place.

The road block requires teams to properly assemble an angklung, a traditional Indonesian instrument.

Road block (in order of arrival): Nicole, Leo, Amy, Tim, Ally

Nicole can’t figure it out, so she goes to the judging area to try to peek at Leo’s. His response is that she’s a hypocrite, so he takes his apart so she won’t see it. Tim, who it turns out was in chorus and is very musical, manages to leapfrog Nicole, but he ends up a minute behind the lead team. Then Amy passes Nicole, too. Jason insists that Amy go back to help Nicole, then he gets frustrated that she takes too long to help. Not only did they just screw themselves in the event they end up getting lost, but it also would have been smarter to let them get knocked out in favor of the weaker team. This is the failure of the concept of an alliance on this race. Help people when you can… but not to your own detriment.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Bosscha Observatory.

First: Leo & Jamal (win $7500 each)
Second: Tim & Marie
Third: Jason & Amy
Fourth: Nicole & Travis
Eliminated: Ally & Ashley

I expected things to come down to the train ride, but these teams completely blew that expectation apart. Having fallen behind on the detour, Ally & Ashley have been eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 23 Episode 10, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

Survivor: Blood Vs. Water Episode 10

With two eliminations in Survivor: Blood Vs. Water Episode 9, first Vytas followed his brother to Redemption Island, then Tina joined them.

Ciera has realized that her mom needs to go in order for her to have a chance. Her mom’s a good shield for her, though. Nobody really takes Ciera seriously enough to vote her out, but I suppose they would get rid of her if it’s the only way to break up a pair.

Tina will not even consider letting Katie swap spots with her.

Duels are back. Their task is to hook bags with grappling hooks and release the balls to complete a table maze. Considering the competitors, Tina would be the one I would have counted out early, but she jumps out to a quick lead ahead of Aras and Vytas. After making her way all the way to the end of the maze, Tina’s ball falls in the final hole. Aras dropped, too, but much earlier. This allows Vytas to win the duel. Tina returns quickly to finish second, and Aras is the first member of the jury.

Vytas gives the clue to the hidden immunity idol because she needs it the most. She has no intentions of throwing it in the fire.

Unlike when her mom went looking for the idol, they aren’t talking about babysitting Katie. They just consider hiding the sharp tools so she can’t dig.

I’m not sure they even really care about her anyway. Tyson certainly doesn’t. He wants to get rid of Laura instead, which would eliminate a threat and break up the last remaining pair. Ciera’s convinced that she’s a goner at six if her mom wins immunity. Rather than try to unite all the women for a new alliance to combat the men, she lets her know she’s open to getting rid of her just like the boys are. If these women are just going to roll over and let the men run with this, they deserve to go home.

At daybreak, Katie goes to look for the idol, which Tyson already has. Knowing she’s on the chopping block, too, Laura follows her and goes digging with her.

They will stand on a small platform while holding a rope, leaning over the water until they fall. Reward is burgers/hot dogs, fries, and soda. This seems more a balance/endurance challenge than a strength one, so I’d rule out the men. Hayden falls quickly, and Caleb is right behind him. They then move to the next knot, and Gervase drops, followed by Ciera. Katie is next, then Laura. Tyson lasts a long time, especially considering his injury, but he eventually falls. Monica wins immunity again. Rather than pick someone to share reward with her, she offers the food to the rest of the tribe and forgoes her own meal.

Tyson told Ciera that Laura is the target. Ciera is now telling this to Katie. They both lie to each other about having the idol, and Katie’s the one to buy the lie. This gives Ciera ammo to target Katie. Not that Tyson really believed that Katie might have the idol in the first place, but perhaps the others did.

Tyson realizes he was stupid for letting Ciera know the plan, but he still has the same target anyway. Though not everybody is onboard with his plan, one thing we’ve learned so far is that Tyson is in control of this game. He also makes a sensible point: break up the couple. Laura emphasizes his point for him at Tribal Council. They serve as two votes.

Votes
Laura
Katie
Laura
Laura
Laura
Laura

With 5 votes, Laura has been voted off the island. Even Ciera realized it was a lost cause. Hopefully we are finally done with this season’s twist influencing every aspect of the game as it has for too long, but I doubt it.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Blood Vs. Water Episode 11, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Biggest Loser Season 15 Episode 6

After falling below the red line again in The Biggest Loser Season 15 Episode 5, Craig was eliminated. That was not all, though. The producers threw all subtlety out the window and came up with some excuse, any excuse, no matter how lame, to bring Ruben back to the show, opting to call Jillian a cheater rather than just letting his time come as it should have. The manipulation was so ridiculous and blatant that I’m pretty sure NBC gave the reigns to the producers of Big Brother for the week.

The winners of tonight’s challenge will receive $1,000 each. Each team will have to take balls, race them 250 feet, and bounce them to a teammate on the other side of the bridge, who must then bounce them into baskets of varying points. First team to 30 will win. As David gets into a rhythm, the red team starts running away with the challenge, reaching 15 points by the time the others have 8. They easily end up retaining this lead and winning.

Bob’s team is dominating, while Dolvett’s team is newly rejuvenated. Then there’s Jillian team, which is slowly getting decimated.

Now that they’re about half way through the process, they get to watch their original videos, allowing themselves to see a clear amount of progress that has been made over the course of the past couple of months. Everybody has a sad story, including David, who in his early 40s has already gone through the death of a spouse.

Season 14 winner Danni comes to bring them lunch. From Subway, of course. Since leaving the show, she has become a Subway spokesperson and run a marathon.

Now we get to why they brought Ruben back. He meets with well known music producer David Foster to do some singing. No way they risk missing this opportunity like they did before.

Hap: 340 pounds (-8, 2.30%)
Holley: 291 pounds (-5, 1.69%)
Matt: 290 pounds (-4, 1.36%)
Chelsea: 197 pounds (-5, 2.48%)
Bobby: 293 pounds (-5, 1.68%)
Blue Total: 1411 pounds (-27, 1.88%)

Jay: 226 pounds (-5, 2.16%)
Marie: 207 pounds (-6, 2.82%)
Tumi: 256 pounds (-11, 4.12%)
White Total: 689 pounds (-22, 3.09%)

Ruben: 401 pounds (-8, 1.96%)
Rachel: 195 pounds (-3, 1.52%)
Tanya: 220 pounds (-4, 1.79%)
Jennifer: 220 pounds (-4, 1.79%)
David: 317 pounds (-17, 5.09%)
Red Total: 1353 pounds (-36, 2.59%)

Red team had a lackluster performance until one person hit a homerun. It took 6 weeks, but the blue team finally lost a weigh in. Bob says he wanted to save his save for Chelsea, but he has decided she does not need protection. Matt has been saved. Why bother with a save if all three trainers use it the first chance they get?

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 15 Episode 7, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Amazing Race 23 Episode 8

After finishing the detour last, Nick & Kim were last to the mat in The Amazing Race 23 Episode 7 but were saved by non-elimination.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Leo & Jamal – 7:10AM
Second: Jason & Amy – 7:15AM
Third: Nicole & Travis – 7:23AM
Fourth: Tim & Marie – 7:44AM
Fifth: Ally & Ashley – 7:53AM
Sixth: Nicky & Kim- 8:02AM

Teams must now drive themselves to the sand dunes, and they are provided $1 for this leg of the race, which means they aren’t going anywhere.

Once they arrive at the sand dunes, they get on dune buggies and follow the flags into the desert. Easier said than done. Leo & Jamal do fine, but Nicole & Travis get stuck for a bit. Jason and Tim don’t have any problems, and then the ice girls do okay, too. Unlike Nicole & Travis, who managed to get out of the dirt with a little effort, Nicky & Kim end up needing a replacement vehicle.

The detour is a choice between wedding guests or beauty contest. In wedding guests, they must prepare a traditional ceremonial meal. In beauty contest, they must pick a champion among the beauty queens (camels).

Wedding guests: Nicky & Kim
Beauty contest: Tim & Marie, Jason & Amy, Ally & Ashley, Leo & Jamal (switched from wedding guests)

Most of the women opt for the beauty contest, assuming they will be dressing up other women. The concept of camels being beautiful and having nice little humps seems absurd, though I suppose no worse than people who put clothing on their dogs. Seeing Tim & Marie finished first convinces Leo & Jamal to join the group.

Having already decided to use their express pass before the leg began, Nicole & Travis bypass the detour before it starts. They U-turn Leo & Jamal because they lied about previously using the U-turn. Feeling as if they have been spared, Jason & Amy decline to U-turn anybody. Having used their U-turn before, Leo & Jamal can’t use it now. Despite being in a good position, Tim & Marie U-turn Nicky & Kim, saying it’s because of the little “stunt” they pulled at the airport, still upset they were smarter than them and pre-arranged standby.

Factor in already being in last, their speed bump, and having to do a second detour, and it’s a foregone conclusion how this leg will end. Don’t even bother trying to edit it like they have a chance because nobody is going to be fooled. I’m not buying how Ally & Ashley are lost.

Before the road block, Nicky & Kim must complete their speed bump, making their way across a wave generating pool, which creates a 6 foot wave every 90 seconds.

The road block requires teams to navigate the world’s largest man made rapids, collecting flags as they go.

Road block (in order of arrival): Nicole, Jason, Tim, Jamal, Ashley, Nicky

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Jebel Hafeet.

First: Nicole & Travis (win a Ford each)
Second: Jason & Amy
Third: Tim & Marie
Fourth: Leo & Jamal
Fifth: Ally & Ashley
Eliminated: Nicky & Kim

They might have made a good run at it if they weren’t U-turned, but the third time is a charm as Nicky & Kim have been eliminated. Marie felt good getting her “revenge” on them, but this seems to be the most pointless U-turn ever.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 23 Episode 9, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

Survivor: Blood Vs. Water Episode 9

Following the merge, Tyson got his way in Survivor: Blood Vs. Water Episode 8, getting the tribe to vote out one of the former winners, Aras.

Tina warns Monica and Tyson that they won the battle but did not win the war. Tyson mocks how she plays the game, though she has won before, admittedly early on when the players were a lot less savvy.

It’s the gross food eating competition, which is anybody’s game, even the weakest of links, though I doubt either Ciera or Katie has a prayer. Tyson, Monica, and Vytas pass the test of eating slugs, and in the next group of five, Hayden, Gervase, and Caleb advance on the same task. The next food is pig intestines, which presumably are not prepared the same way chitlins are. Monica and Gervase move to the final round. Their last item is two live grubs, the food that Gervase failed to eat during season 1. Though Gervase puts up a good fight, Monica wins immunity.

The plan is to split the vote 4 for Vytas and 3 for Katie. Hayden tells Vytas the plan, though he does not seem particularly willing to change the outcome. Realizing that the girls may wise up and form an all female alliance, Tyson decides he would prefer to get rid of Katie instead, which also would break up another pair.

Tina realizes she probably should have just kept her big mouth shut when they got back last time. Vytas is not realizing this, though, and threatens everybody because they got rid of his brother. Then he turns hostile toward Monica. He also says the girls should align themselves and get rid of Tyson and Gervase, two votes that are potentially his savior tonight.

Votes
Vytas
Katie
Tyson
Vytas
Vytas
Vytas
Vytas

With 5 votes, Vytas has been voted off the island. I was initially rooting for him to save himself, but then he opened his mouth. At least one person (Monica) changed her vote after his speech. He will be joining his brother on Redemption Island and will have a chance to get back into the game, so perhaps all of his talk was not a complete waste.

Aras says he’s still in the game. Vytas just thinks he’s in purgatory. Typical of what we expect from each of their personalities.

For the next immunity challenge, they will balance a sword in one hand while stacking coins on it with the other. Monica drops almost immediately, and Ciera is right behind her. After about a dozen coins, Tina is out. Gervase is next, followed by Laura, now at about two dozen coins. Caleb is the next one to drop. Tyson and Hayden both fall. And Katie wins immunity. Huh? Perhaps they should have gotten rid of her last time.

With Katie being safe, that makes Tina public enemy number one. Knowing that, she quickly goes to look for the idol. So everybody follows her, including Tyson, the person who already has the idol.

They can’t split the votes this time because there is no second person to split the vote toward. Monica particularly worries that she’s the person who will be the target if they do split. Tyson’s apparently the only person concerned about a Monica exit. Tina bluntly tells her what she fears: she’s on the bottom.

Votes
Monica
Tina
Tyson
Tina
Tina
Tina
Tina

With 5 votes, Tina has been voted off the island.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Blood Vs. Water Episode 10, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Biggest Loser Season 15 Episode 5

Leading his team to a loss in The Biggest Loser Season 15 Episode 4, Ruben fell below the red line and was eliminated.

Their challenge is a half hour cooking challenge, and the prize is a year’s worth of groceries. They must cook healthy meals that taste good. Red team cooks tapas that have 380 calories. White team has cooked ranch quesadillas with 420 calories. The blue team has also cooked quesadillas, hiding the veggies so that Biingo is tricked into eating them. Because they are able to get Biingo to overeat a food he claims not to like, the blue team wins the challenge.

Jillian hops in the pool and helps Craig overcome his fear of water. The red team’s last chance workout is not so happy. Tanya, who has been dragging behind the rest of the house, is sick and will not be joining them, though she does eventually get out of bed and perform her workout on her own.

Before the weigh in, an absurd announcement is made. Jillian broke the rules last week and gave her team caffeine supplements, which she defends by saying that this is healthier than letting them drink a lot of coffee. Their punishment is that they are given a 4 pound penalty at this week’s weigh in, 1 pound per person.

It doesn’t end there, though. Last week’s weigh in has been invalidated. Therefore, the blue team has immunity again. Furthermore, the person who was eliminated last week because he consistently pulled low numbers, Ruben, will be returning to the game. Yeah, the most famous contestant of the season is coming back, coincidentally.

It has been two weeks since the last weigh in, which will inflate these numbers a lot higher than they normally are.

Bobby: 298 pounds (-19, 5.99%)
Holley: 296 pounds (-19, 6.03%)
Hap: 348 pounds (-15, 4.13%)
Chelsea: 202 pounds (-13, 6.05%)
Matt: 294 pounds (-21, 6.67%)
Blue Total: 1438 pounds (-87, 5.70%)

Craig: 336 pounds (-14, 4.00%)
Marie: 213 pounds (-12, 5.33%)
Jay: 231 pounds (-13, 5.33%)
Tumi: 267 pounds (-13, 4.64%)
White Total: 1047 pounds (-52, +4, 4.37%)

David: 334 pounds (-13, 3.75%)
Jennifer: 224 pounds (-12, 5.08%)
Tanya: 224 pounds (-15, 6.28%)
Rachel: 198 pounds (-18, 8.33%)
Red Total: 980 pounds (-58, 5.59%)

With or without the penalty, the white team has lost the weigh in. As the person with the lowest percentage of weight loss on the losing team, Craig has fallen below the red line for the second time, and this time he has been eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 15 Episode 6, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.