Yuku free message boards

Bill – UTR – Not much from him again.  I had high hopes for a pro comedian….alas.

Colton – CPN – He’s annoying as hell, so I have to be careful it’s not a knee-jerk desire to call him OTT… but he’s CP since he talks about long term game moves too, and uses the idol wisely to rally an alliance.  We’re in his head (unfortunately, granted) and understand his short and long term goals.  (I never understood, except in Boston Rob’s case, why keeping the idol secret was the best strategy.  I always thought the best long term protection was to let everyone know I have it, forcing people to look for easier boots, and using its advantage to win friends.) In the final analysis I think he’s more than just a caricature. 

Greg-zan – OTT – The dancing was an OTT blessing, since it reminded me that men can be fools too.

Jay – UTR – A bit of narration.  I almost gave him INV and can barely remember him.

Jonas – MOR – He has inherited the “Sophie” style presence… there, on the rader even when not part of the action.  That may not be good enough as a male edit.  But in a tribe of macho guys who seem doomed since they can’t count…

Leif – UTR – Given his unique position, I’d think he’d have some development if he went anywhere.  Reminds me of the arguments made to eliminate Keith since no care was given to give the backstory about his heart.

Matt – INV – I kept looking for the Big Bad, and he was MIA.

Michael – MOR – Narrator material…

Troy – MOR – He seems UTR in some ways, but the content he does get is significant, especially that recap quote.

Salani

Alicia – MORN – Her statement about leaving Christina to drown puts her in N-teritory.

Chelsea – MOR – A great edit continues.  She continues to be visible, and is a little more rounded, not just an OTT ‘chicken girl’ caricature. I don't have her as CP because she seems to be following Kim, rather than thinking independently....

Christina – UTR –  A bit of narration, a bit of focus, an uncomfortable moment at TC – just enough to keep her from INV…and in minds as the next boot?

Kat – OTTN –  In her favor, she didn’t fold up at TC and quit after Jeff took charge of the anti-Kat TCQing.  She tried to make a case for herself and demonstrated some tenacity in the end.  Others in her spot in the past have outright admitted they should get the boot.  I take that to mean she is confident in her allies, which could be subtle story editing that actually supports Chelsea-Kim n the long run.  But overall she seemed rather blasé about her failures, joined the hallowed ranks of lazy girls who don’t help at camp, was mocked at TC, and shown up by Nina and Jeff.  She was kept for one reason….no one in the alliance wanted to upset the apple cart and give someone ammo later on to call them untrustworthy.

Kim – CP –  One reason I like her edit better than Chelsea’s so far – she’s the one shown looking long term, worried about booting Kat.  If she and Chelsea are a pair inside an alliance of five, she seems to be the dominant one in the pair.

Monica – CP –   I liked that she kept her head in the game and at TC.  Too often when playing Survivor, people bond to the point they forget they aren’t in a fairy tale story where honor and morality aren’t the priority in the game. (coach-cough cough)  Of course there needs to be balance.  The Russells of the game should lose for forgetting that people aren’t game pieces.  But the flip side is also true.  You can’t let sentimentality overrule common sense game play.  She spoke what so many of the female audience had to be thinking, then voted in her own best interests.   Monica kept her priorities straight and the edit took care, it seemed to me, to shield her from Jeff’s overall criticism of the choice to boot Nina and keep Kat.

Nina – MORP – I know the P is controversial, but I really weight heavily Jeff’s views and the things he says.  It’s clear he was anti-Kat, and disapproved of the decision to keep her, which by implication was positive for Nina.  I’m really concerned right now with how the edit is shaping the Salani as a whole verses the individual women within the tribe. 

Sabrina – MOR – She is just a little shy of CP for me…I liked that she stepped into the leadership role with little fuss, and seems to be genuinely capable.  While it was mostly Chelsea’s nomination, the edit seemed to confirm all Chelsea said, if only by saying little about the decision. This is good for Sabrina as the edit often takes care to highlight bad choices in leaders, or self-styled leadership hubris.  As others have said, her visibility is too high for traditional edgic comfort…but part of that is due to story circumstances that force the edit to be visible.  What I like is that despite such high vis, she has not been OTT or inconsistently portrayed or contradicted.  Care’s been taken, it seems, to keep her edit solidly centered, if toneless.

*********

I went back and read my notes from last season.  My three biggest mistakes were that I counted story logic too lightly when interpreting editing, I allowed visibility to affect ratings, and…I eliminated Sophie too soon.  Thus…..while there are some characters with pretty poor edits I’m being very conservative in eliminating people.

Top Contender  (5 pts)

Kim

Strong Contender  (4 pts)

Jonas, Chelsea, Monica, Mike

Possible Contender  (3 Pts)

Troy, Sabrina, Jay,

Weak Contender  (1 pt)

Matt, Greg, Bill, Leif, Christina, Alicia (I’d really like to eliminate her)

Out of Contention – ELIMINATED

Colton, Kat