Survivor, or why real-time reality is just better

Let me just start by saying, and I don't want to equivocate here, that I totally love my Tivo. Gone are the days where I'd program the VCR wrong, or forget to put a tape in, or worse yet put the wrong tape in, and have part of some priceless old family videos get taped over by Gervais getting interviewed on "The Today Show". (::sigh::) Now I can just sit back and know that my Tivo is going to get all episodes of "Pushing Daisies" and "The Daily Show" and I can watch them whenever I get around to it, work schedule non-withstanding.

But I have to say, there is something about Survivor that is different. I'm not even sure what it is exactly, but whenever I watch Survivor more than a day late the energy just seems to be lacking somehow. Like everyone already knows what is going to happen except me, and I'm just playing catch up instead of playing real-time. That is sort of why I've never bothered to try and watch any of the Survivor: Outback episodes, the only season I've missed (because I was actually camping in the Australian Outback when it aired). From most accounts it is one of the best seasons, full of excitement and stuff, but since I know who the winner is, I've just never had much interest in catching up with it.

This weeks episode, which I just watched, was a little like that. Not that I knew what was going to happen, but it was still one of those episodes where I guessed Jamie was going home after the first five minutes, and then despite some honest-to-goodness fun and plotting along the way, still played out much as expected and just wasn't as exciting. Anyway, that probably says more about me than about the actual episode, but there it is.

So rather than recap the whole episode, I'll just cover my favorite parts. The best moment was, of course, Todd talking about Courtney: "Deal with it...bitch." I think that sums it up for me. Also Todd seems like a little kid to me, and made me think of my post from a few days ago where Pearl said much the same thing. Which of course = me howling with laughter.

Let's see, I think that was about it for the especially good parts. The whole not-an-actual-immunity-idol was totally unsatisfying for me. This season the editors seem to be going out of their way to make people look stupid via editing. I actually thought Jamie was playing very smart with the info she had. Her little "deal" with Todd about saving her and she would give him info on the other idols would have been a great move under different circumstances. She wasn't stupid like James kept saying she was, she was doing a good job with the information she had. Last season when the Four Horseman used their idol, but on the wrong person, it was like TV-heaven because they were so cocky and watching their smiles crumble was as delicious as my mothers homemade sour cream enchiladas with New Mexican green chile fresh out of the oven. But Jamie, while hardly the smartest player the show has ever seen, was still playing a good game, made some smart moves (think Leslie) and could hardly be called cocky. So it all just seemed inevitable, which was sort of boring.

James remains likable, but his less-than-sharp wit means he'll never be in the league of Terry or Tom or even Ozzie, at least for me. Amanda is solid, but still hasn't been given much to do other than provide a bit of wisdom and strength behind Todd's power plays. I still love the wild and reckless way Todd is playing, because at least he is playing, but like I said from Episode One, I'm worried he is just going to play too hard, and the previews for next week seems to bear that out. Jean-Robert's plan also seems to be unraveling though he himself is loathe to admit it. His attempted bulling of Todd about the jury was perhaps on point but also annoying. If there is anything I hate more then walnuts in otherwise delicious cookies, it is a sanctimonious and bitter speech from the jury. Sadly, I think he is right about Courtney, whom I expect is going to make it to the end as the person that no one votes for. Good for James for calling her out on her lack of New York "street smarts".

Another curious Jeff-move, but why didn't he ask if anyone wanted to play the immunity idol? The original intent might have been that is was hidden and that it might surprise people, but surely he watches the tapes and knows that everyone knows about them. Well, Jean-Robert seemed surprised, but surely he knew James was trying to throw the challenge last week, so I didn't really get that either. Anyway, hardly important, just curious.

Also, I was bummed that Frosti won immunity, just because I was curious which way he was going to fall. But since he knew he was safe, he really didn't have to scramble so just went with the easy path. I wonder how long that is going to work out for him. However, if he really does like Courtney, I might find it hard to like him anymore. Fun fact from his bio: he's been on tour with Madonna. Are any of these contestants media-neophytes?

So them's my thoughts. Deal with it...bitch.