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OTH,

I tend to agree with most of your observations, but I disagree in some places.

"PG - I agree with earlier posts, she's falling way out of the running. This is where Chris' holding pattern was that the women wanted to involve him but wait, Chad has to go. We have no statements about incorporating PG, it's all about how to dismantle Fei Long. She could win, yes, and her numbers are wowsers, but story wise, I am not seeing it anymore."

See, I don't see this at all. Didn't we have Denise commenting upon whether she should go with Peih Gee or not? We certainly see her weighing the option, and the events of TC hardly suggest she won't have cause to review her decision. Frosti also is maintaining his position as the "swing vote", which only makes sense if he is considering swinging at some point. Amanda continues to warn against Peih Gee, but has yet to follow through. Sure, Peih Gee could still lose, but I don't see that her edit differs enough from that of Chris to be assured she does. A lot of the distinctions you are making have as much to do with the real differences as any editing ones.

"Todd - Was manic, but he's thinking things that are being reinforced to the viewer. James kept the idols, James is dangerous. Why show the little N rants James does from time to time while keeping him P overall, except to provide more boot justification. Amanda also spoke up to the dangers of James. So did others. I saw Todd pretty much neutral. We want JR to finally go, but Todd surveyed the landscape for us. He says he's tired of some of the players and we see why. Todd must be involved with James' demise but the fans see everyone is worried and rightfully so. Leading to"

I realize Todd has been presented as by far the best player this season, but that doesn't mean we're meant to agree with what he says and does. He's getting arrogant and erratic, and his closest ally is expressing doubt she can rely on him much longer. Sure that's all great for doubt and his winning chances, but it is certainly negatively toned. Hey, that's a good thing - there's nothing worse for winning than an untoned edit. If booting James was such a good idea, why then does he flip the script and vote Jean-Robert? Sure, the audience is pleased since Jean-Robert was such a negative character, but it sure doesn't put Todd's decisions in such a great light. Besides, it doesn't matter what is the best move as far as tone goes, but how the move is portrayed. Amanda does give us the good reasons for booting James - Todd's reason is because he's upset that James hasn't offered to return an immunity idol. Todd's reason for voting instead for Jean-Robert isn't even given except because he's coming up with the same plans as Todd and thus could take credit for them. He comes across as power mad, creating chaos just because he can. The negative is definitely intended.


"James - P again here, and worthy. Catches fish without effort. (Take that, Rupert and Hatch!) Doesn't bow down to the master poker players threats, sees right through them in fact, and we laugh with him. Cute survey of Erik. Interesting that Denise wants to outlast him, not ride him any longer."

He doesn't see through Jean-Robert as much as get angry over his confrontation. If it wasn't for that, I don't see that James would have been so eager to short circuit what he thought was the plan. (As it is, he expresses reluctance.) James is also arrogant this episode and without cause because we see he's putting all his faith in the very people who are considering voting him out. The dismissal of letting Denise know of the change is particularly negative. James is a great character, but as I've been saying for some time, he is not the OTTP hero, and this episode, he isn't even positive.

"Tribal Council - James called it for the viewers, the real strength is with Todd and Amanda, nothing hidden about that. We're being prepared for James to fall, and I take it he's a fan favorite. In the end, no one player that cut out JR got singular blood on his hands, in fact he only turned Zhan Hu on his side (possibly by accident) and knows all but one stray vote kicked him to the curb. Todd "spoke" to Jaime in a very manufactured way."

I don't disagree that Todd and Amanda have the power, but I'm beginning to wonder why. Edgic aside for a minute, why aren't Courtney, Frosti, and Denise better off with Peih Gee and Erik. Courtney knows well enough already that Todd and Amanda don't really care about her, and while we haven't seen it, she can't be too fond of James either. If she were to pair up with Denise and Frosti, that threesome would become the strongest in the game. Frosti has got to see this too, but I think he actually thinks Todd and Amanda will look out for him (though why he would want to go to the end with Todd and Amanda over Courtney and Denise is beyond me). Denise was placing her faith in James, but being left out of the vote has got to let her know where she really stands, doesn't it? At the moment, she's not even as in as Frosti! Frosti could bust everything up just by letting James know that Todd wanted to blindside him (though I guess I can see why he wouldn't). If Todd still wants to bust James next, would anyone stop him? It would just leave two pairs with the key threesome in the middle.