The SURVIVOR series (Season 26 airs Feb. 13!)

[The Real Gamer]

Welcome to the official Survivor thread of Smashboards!

Well what are you waiting for? Start discussing! However, keep spoilers to a minimum by using spoiler tags whenever possible.

 

[sammy p]

YAAAAAAYY!!!!! survivor thread! i have to say, im prolly just as big of a fan as you are.
who else thinks coach and jerry are idiots....... coach deserved to leave lol he couldnt take out russel when he had the chance, now he seems like an unstoppable force.

 

[Mota]

Interesting, I haven't seen the ep where Coach is voted off yet but it's cool. Coach is so delusional haha.
I'm a big fan of Russell, seems like people either hates his guts or love him.

Russ, surrounded by females, could they band together as girl-power and turn against him?

Ep 6 HvV best tribal council ever imo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMiKnIZgSrE

 

[sammy p]

Interesting, I haven't seen the ep where Coach is voted off yet but it's cool. Coach is so delusional haha.
I'm a big fan of Russell, seems like people either hates his guts or love him.

awww man im sorry i didnt mean to spoil it for you i guess i shoulda put tags around it. sorry again!!
i personally cant stand russel. he just has too big of an ego. he may play the best game, but if he HONESTLY thinks he can win if he makes it to the end is complete bull. rob is right, there is a certain lck factor involved in this game, and if he thinks that hes dominating on strategy alonehes sadly mistaken.
ohhh i would LOVE to see a womens alliance used against russel

EDIT: actually, it doesnt look like i was the only one to spoil it for you after looking at the OP

 

[The Real Gamer]

EDIT: actually, it doesnt look like i was the only one to spoil it for you after looking at the OP

Well it says right near the top of the OP that if you're not up-to-date with the current season then you will not want to look at this thread!

Anyways, there are a few things I learned from watching last nights episode:

1. Sandras actually got game. She was the main reason Coach left last night. It wasn't Russel for once.

2. Russel doesn't have Parvati on a leash. Parvati voted against Russel's own will last night, which shows that Parvati is willing to do whatever she feels is the best move, and not care what Russel thinks.

3. Russel and Parvati are so in control of this game it's not even funny. Those two are so far ahead of everyone else mentally that they ALREADY have a plan to make it far into the merge. Russel is going to use the "female dominance" excuse to merge into the Heroes tribe, but at the same time, he will have Parvati on the other side to scout for him. The Heroes think that the females are in control, but that's false, it's Russel. Someone on the Heroes tribe is about to get blindsided big time, and I have a feeling it's gonna be JT, which sucks cause he's my favorite Hero.

EDIT: EHHH I'll change the title to warn people of spoilers

 

[Delta-cod]

Poor Coach.

Anyways, according to the previews from last night, next episode's gonna be good. JT's thinking of giving Russel the idol.

 

[sammy p]

yea woooooow..... NOT a good idea
considering how geniously he played the last one!

 

[The Real Gamer]

Yeah JT is going to get blindsided by Parvati and Russel just watch.

I see it coming.

 

[Delta-cod]

Yeah JT everyone is going to get blindsided by Parvati and Russel just watch.

I see it coming.

Fixed for what's really gonna happen.

Russel is too good.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Lol I mean for next episode.

If there's a merge, JT is going to get blindsided. If there isn't one, either Courtney or Jerri are going to be the next to go on the Villains or Candice on the Heroes.

I shall prove my dominance when my prediction ends up right. :D

 

[tmw_redcell]

I liked how Probst hinted that there may not be a merge at all to the villains. While the villains are normally a smart tribe, they were just dumb last episode. Reward challenge? Doesn't mention the word "tribe"? Better pack up our entire camp and bring it to the challenge, 'cause hey, a merge is coming OBVIOUSLY.

The only thing I think that hinted at a merge was that there were enough people gone to start adding people to the jury. But I don't think it's normal for the tribes to merge on a reward challenge, I think it's traditionally an immunity challenge that ends up being for individual immunity instead of tribal. So the villains wasted tons of energy taking down their camp and bringing it to the challenge, and bringing it back, and putting it back together. So they were worn down for the challenge (which didn't affect them much, but they lost anyway) and then while the Heroes are feasting on pizza and stuff they're rebuilding their camp, further draining their energy before the immunity challenge.

While I like Russel, I love how Sandra saw how to take advantage of one of his major faults: if he thinks anyone doesn't trust him or wants him gone, he'll do whatever he can to get rid of them. And I think the best part of the plan was (aside from choosing Coach as the target, who was obviously dissatisfied with how the few previous votes went) that since Russell wanted to blindside Coach, nobody told Coach about it. So Coach doesn't even have a chance to defend himself from Sandra's false accusations. Though, I think that deviates from Russell's usual MO, and he normally confronts people who say they don't trust him. He did that a lot in Foa Foa, at least.

Also, just generally, this season has been great. I only started watching survivor again last season. Russell and the rest of Foa Foa having their backs against the wall and coming from behind after the merge was great. But this time it's not an entire game of Russell and the Morons. Though the Heroes tribe was really dumb early on, and may continue to be dumb.

I'll bet JT talking about giving Russel the idol was just idle strategy talk, with the Heroes thinking about what they should do if a merge comes. Either that or just arguing over what to do with the idol. I'll be really surprised if he actually gives Russel the idol. While the Heroes tribe may believe there's a girl power alliance at first, if a merge happens next episode, I'm sure Courtney and Sandra will take the first chance they get to form an alliance with the Heroes, and it'll be obvious from there that there isn't a solid Villain Girls alliance. And with Sandra and Courtney they don't need Russel and they don't need to give the idol to anyone to get them to vote along with them. Unless Russel can convince them that they're lying about not being in an all girl alliance, and they just want to know who the heroes are gonna vote for or whatever.

 

[The Real Gamer]

I'll bet JT talking about giving Russel the idol was just idle strategy talk, with the Heroes thinking about what they should do if a merge comes. Either that or just arguing over what to do with the idol. I'll be really surprised if he actually gives Russel the idol. While the Heroes tribe may believe there's a girl power alliance at first, if a merge happens next episode, I'm sure Courtney and Sandra will take the first chance they get to form an alliance with the Heroes, and it'll be obvious from there that there isn't a solid Villain Girls alliance. And with Sandra and Courtney they don't need Russel and they don't need to give the idol to anyone to get them to vote along with them. Unless Russel can convince them that they're lying about not being in an all girl alliance, and they just want to know who the heroes are gonna vote for or whatever.

Very good point I never thought of that. Courtney and Sandra will obvioulsy try to run over to the Heroes for help, which will blow the whole "female alliance" cover that Russel had.

Russel has 2 options-

1. Convince Courtney and Sandra to keep their mouths shut so they can blindside one of the Heroes, which would advance both of them further in the game.
2. Convince JT that they are lieing and trying to get rid of him.

I think Russel should choose option one and explain to both of them about how pretending to be a female alliance will work not only to his, but their advantage.

 

[tmw_redcell]

Hm. Option 1 does sound pretty good, depending on how Sandra and Courtney think. Problem is though, it's good for Russel, not really good for Courtney or Sandra, and I think they'll see that. If they go along with it, it leaves Russel pretty much in control of the game, getting an honest line from both alliances. It would be something Russell would go for but I think it'd be to his detriment. Because I think at any time, Sandra and Courtney could still join the heroes. And it'd be a position for Russel that could only last one tribal council. I think if Russel is smart his best strategy would be to do some behind the scenes type stuff, like how he tricked Tyson into changing his vote to Parvati.

If he's visibly playing both sides he'll piss them both off, and he can't do that unless he has all the idols he can eat and a few loyal people like he had in the last season. And I'm not sure he'll have either, as this season they don't seem to be replacing idols as soon as they are used. And in the merge his team won't be in an underdog position where their only option was to stick together to the end. If he wants to play how he payed last season, he will need to recreate the circumstances. Hell if I know how he's gonna do it.

Odds are though he won't be playing perfectly, and he'll end up just trying everything and other people, especially the Heroes, won't even be able to keep track of who's doing what. While his strategy using idols is good, i think the best tactic is "Russel seeds" . He's not the only person who uses them though, as Sandra can use them on him just as well.

If I were Courtney and Sandra, I'd be planting some Russell seeds in the heroes and villains to poison them against doing whatever Russell tells them to do.

Man though, I wish every episode was two hours like the premiere was. I feel a lot of major things happen that aren't shown. I wish there were more confessionals too.

 

[Mota]

Even though I saw it coming, I don;t understand why Coach was voted off. Even after Russell went back to Danielle and Parvati and changed his mind back to Courtney.
At tribal council, after the votes had been read and Coach had left, we were shown Danielle had voted for Coach, even though she argued to vote off Courtney with Russ...weird.

Pretty stupid to vote off Coach imo, Villains have no physical player now, best be hopin for that merge.

Poor JT, finds the Idol and is forced to reveal it to everyone. XD

Not as interesting without Boston Rob, even though I'm rooting for Russ.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Parvarti and Danielle both voted for Coach because they realized it would be the best move for the merge.

But I'm really suprised at how... lacking the Villains are without Boston Rob or Tyson. There's like... no chemistry between them at all.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Updated the OP!

3 major things that we saw this episode-

1. The Heroes sealed their fate by giving Russel their immunity idol. The Villains have 2 idols now, while the Heroes have NONE. The Heroes are done, and JT will go down in HvV history as the main person who led to their downfall.

2. Parvati and Danielle have a secret idol of their own that Russel doesn't know about. It will be interesting to see what they do with it in the future.

3. Next episode revealed that Sandra is a scrapper and is most likely going to flip. She's a huge threat now. Hopefully Russel realizes this before it's too late.

Overall I'm extremely excited for this next episode! Can't wait to see who goes next!

 

[tmw_redcell]

Aaaagh, when Colby started talking to Russell on the platform during the challenge I was on the edge of my seat. They really ****in did it. Thing is though, I don't think Russell should have revealed the idol the anyone and kept it as a hidden idol for himself. If his tribe did turn against him last tribal council or the next one it would have been amazing for him to basically pull and idol out of thin air.

 

[Mota]

I agree, Russ shouldn't have revealed the gift-wrapped HII to the rest of his tribe, very unRussell like. Would be amazing to pull off some more crazy shiz.

This is turning out to be the best Survivor game I've seen. So many shenanigans have gone down, and they haven't even merged yet.

Watching Colby and Russ talking on the Immunity challenge platform, and JT and Russ hug and passing the HII. Omg...I can't believe it.
They just gave Russell a **** HII ahahhahahhah11!
It's a shame because if there really was an all girl alliance, it would have been a genius move by JT. All the info pointed to an all girl alliance and Russ with his acting, too good. Letter form JT was lol, 'destroy after you read' or something like that haha. Loved how Parvati read it too.

I think I'm in love with Parvati, she's cunning and charming, she's letting Russ run the show but she's doing everything behind the scenes to safeguard herself, what with getting tight with Danielle and the attempt to save Courtney. Not telling Russ about her HII will bring repercussions if Russ finds out, but dayum she's the 'Queen' making Russ squirm and that takes guts. <3

But of course the preview reveals Sandra (should've kept Courtney huh?) revealing the Villains and Russ true colours, wonder how the Heroes will react. HYPED!

 

[The Real Gamer]

EXTREMELY HYPED for the episode tonight guys!

LET THE MERGE BEGIN!

EDIT: Updated the OP

Time for the weekly sum-up:

1. Parvati just proved this episode why she is without a doubt one of the best players in Survivor history, and not just in the female category. The idea to give both Sandra and Jerri idols was just GENIUS. She even fooled Russel into giving him his idol. Plus she has close ties with both Amanda and Danielle. No more Russel praise guys. Tonight was Parvati's night.

2. The Heroes without JT is just as bad as the Villains without Boston Rob. It's obvious that the Heroes are done for. Their only hope is relying on Sandra and maybe Amanda to flip and take out the Heroes. I could really see this working out well for Amanda because she is so close to Parvati. And some of you guys need to realize that Parvati is just as much as a power player as Russel is at this point.

3. Sandra once again is in a great position. She has ties with both the Heroes (Rupert) and the Villains (Parvati). It's obvious that she is going to make it far. The ones that are in the middle always make it far.

4. JT is just... an idiot.

 

[Mota]

Unbelievable, the tribal councils this season have been amazing to watch.

I thought with the Heroes strat the Villains would lose a member and Russ would be outed as a liar, yet when Parvati produced the HII and gave it to Sandra, I was jumping out my seat as she gave it to the wrong person (Sandra), then my jaw dropped when she pulled out yet another one, not for herself but for Jerri. No fu**ing way hahaha.

Poor JT he was so sure, but he respected Russ's gameplay as he stood up. Heroes have lost their head.
Sandra will do anything to vote off Russ now, should be interesting, what with Russ no longer running the show for once.
Parvati <3

The mergred tribe name 'Yin Yang' sounds kinda dumb imo. XD

 

[The Real Gamer]

The last episode was a definitely a power shift. It went from Russel to Parvati. Russel could EASILY be voted out next episode if Parvati wanted that to happen. She has Danielle, Amanda, and maybe even Sandra on her side. But I have a feeling that Parvati will want to keep Russel around longer.

I gotta say I'm extremely impressed with Parvati's game so far. She rode Russel's coat tails all the way to the merge and now (UNLIKE NATALLIE FROM LAST SEASON), she's taking control of the game.

ALL HAIL THE QUEEN OF SAMOA!

 

[Mota]

Not a bad ep, tribal council had me guessing.

Disappointed in Colby. When Amanda stole Danielles HII clue, he seemed to be too fixated on the movie and just told Amanda to give back the clue. There is no rule for this particular situation, Colby should have manipulated it in a way so that he would be able to have read it. I mean Amanda;s in his alliance as well...fail, just hand it to the enemy.

Russ finding another HII, no surprises there, then wasting it >_<

Loved the Immunity challenge this time. Simple card stacking survivor style. Lol'd pretty hard at the ones that toppled.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Agreed. These last 2 tribals have had me guessing. What I still don't understand is why Sandra and Candice didn't go after Parvati/Russel and instead got rid of Amanda. It makes no sense to me at all.

Sandra doesn't like anyone on her tribe, and Candice is... well already a Hero! Why would they flip to take out Amanda? Parvati, like Russel is a power player and should NOT be this far into the game. She's too much of a threat. Amanda was also a threatening player, but when compared to Parvati, I would have taken Parvati out in a heartbeat if I was Candice.

Sandra and the Heroes had the numbers to take out Parvati. I don't understand Candice or Sandra's logic at ALL.

 

[The Real Gamer]

*BUMP* OP updated!

After watching that last episode, I just don't know what to think about Russel anymore. Splitting up Danielle and Parvati was 100% necessary for him to get further into the game, but the way he did it was just downright stupid and harsh. I can already tell that he is not going to get ANY jury votes if he makes it to the final 3. He's simply too cocky. I don't really get why Parvati didn't just decide to rally against Russel with Jerri, Danielle, and Sandra. Those 3 would have alligned with Parv over Russel for sure. Idk exactly what Jerri would have done, but Sandra has an idol, so Jerri prob would have gone with Parv's squad.

But Candice had it coming to her. She was in a really bad spot no matter which group she alligned herself with. She should just be happy that she made it as far as she did.

 

[Mota]

Russell's walking he same path as Somoa, he's cockiness and malice will get him no jury votes.

Russ seems to be in trouble, breaking up Parv and Dani was an okay move, but why take out Dani when Parv is such a stronger player and threat. Lol'd when his plan backfired when Parv decided to go talk to Dani about blindsiding her, you could see the panic on Russells face.

At the second tribal, Dani should of kept her mouth shut, she let Russ get into her head and the exhaustion and fear got to much for her. Russ is brutal.

Now Colby, Rupert and Russ are going to align, dodgy move by Russ, Heroes on that Jury will never vote for him if there's a Hero in the finals. Russ better off with all villains.

Respect to Sandra gameplay. Parv is one tough player, taking the first immune challenge and almost the second.<3

 

[The Real Gamer]

Tonight is going to be a good episode! Pumped for it! I predict Jerri is going home tonight.

 

[Matador]

Parvati earned my respect this season, she should be mentioned up there with the likes of Boston Rob and Ozzy when you talk about strong players...

Excited for tonight's episode. I'm thinking it'll be Jerri too.

 

[The Real Gamer]

So Colby is the last remaining Hero... I never saw that coming. He has easily been one of the weakest players in the game throughout this season. Terrible at challenges and has an awful mental game.

THE FINALE IS THIS SUNDAY AT 8:00 on CBS! DON'T MISS IT!

 

[Mr.Victory07]

Colby is probably the worst player to make it this far... ever. He's just kind of there and is horrible at all the challenges.

 

[Matador]

I'm....not sure why they brought him back this season...especially after his lackluster performance on all-stars.

They had plenty of other choices...like freakin' Ozzy, lol.

 

[Mr.Victory07]

Ok, first post regarding the finale so spoiler warning I guess. Sandra wins. Im not super mad Sandra won, but I wouldve preferred Parvati winning. Parv was the best overall combination of a strategic player, a social player, and a strong physical player this season and shouldve won. But Sandra is OK too, anyone but Russell, who I just hate.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Sandra didn't deserve to win. This is the SECOND season in a row there the coat-tail rider wins... Give me a break. Parvati should have won hands down.

EDIT: Well the OP has been updated for the last time for this season. Despite the fact that I'm upset with the ending, this has without a doubt been the best season I've seen yet. So many crazy tribal councils as well as epic confrontations (Russel vs Rob, Russel vs Rupert, Amanda vs Danielle, etc.). It's going to be hard for any season to top that one. But I'm excited to have a set of fresh new faces again! Hopefully Nicaragua will be good!

And thanks to everyone who followed the thread at all. Might not be the most popular one ever, but as long as I know there's at least 1 person who follows this thread, then I'll continue to update it, and that means for this next Survivor, and maybe even more to come!

 

[Matador]

I'm upset that I didn't see this thread earlier in the season. I started watching this season, then went back and watched about 12 other seasons because I didn't know some of the players.

Overall an interesting season though. Some of those tribals were amazing.

 

[Zigsta]

Russell should've won. Just like last season, the jury's just too bitter. His lack of speech skills don't help his odds, either.

 

[Matador]

I think he's right in saying the game is flawed.

Sandra shouldn't be seen as the better player simply because she DIDN'T make the brilliant moves that Russell/Parvati made.

So yeah...season after season, it's always the coat-tail riders that play under the radar who happen to win. There are a few exceptions, but it happens tooooo often...it makes me sad.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Heroes vs. Villains out, and Nicaragua in! The preview is added in the OP, so check it out if you haven't seen it yet!

EDIT: And to make sure we don't forget the epic season that was HvV, I added the top 3 tribal councils to the OP with their own descriptions! Enjoy! Make sure you watch them again!

BUT PLEASE USE SPOILER TAGS IF YOU ARE GIVING INFORMATION ABOUT FUTURE EPISODES/SEASONS!!!

Multiple rumors and whatnot are already flying around the internet, but the biggest ones are:

Spoiler

1. Russel is coming back for the 3rd time. I highly doubt this is true. They would never bring someone on a show 3 times in a row. That's just crazy. I don't know why this rumor has been spreading so much.
2. Survivor 22 will also be shot in Nicaragua. I don't know if CBS is trying to save money or if S22 will be some kind of special season like how Samoa was used a second time for the all-stars season. I think this rumor is indeed true though, because it makes a lot of sense.

 

[Mota]

Sandra definitely didn't deserve to win, it should have gone to Parvati. As for Russ, I would agree he should have won in season 19, but he was out shined too many times this season.

Ban coat-tail riding! Lol but seriously this seems to be the best way to win atm. Imagine a season where everyone was a quiet coat-tail rider, no Russells, Parvatis or bold moves. *yawn*

And thanks to everyone who followed the thread at all. Might not be the most popular one ever, but as long as I know there's at least 1 person who follows this thread, then I'll continue to update it, and that means for this next Survivor, and maybe even more to come!

Haha don't worry Gamer I'll always be following this thread. Thanks for the updates and effort.

XD tribal in HvV was definitely the best ever.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Haha thanks! Glad to know I have at least one follower! Honestly I enjoy updating the OP after every tribal. It helps keep me updated with the boot list and I can always look back on it. I really wish I had done this in an earlier season.

But yeah Parv definitely should have won. Russel deserved the number two spot but Parv was almost always a step ahead of him, and the only reason she didn't get rid of him was because she knew she could beat him in the finals. She really played the perfect all around game this season.

-She rode coat tails (at first) to get into the best alliance of the season
-She was extremely strategic when she needed to be
-She played a great social game to keep herself aligned with Russel (trust me i bet she flirted like crazy)
-She even dominated in challenges when she had to

 

[Matador]

I agree, Parv ruled this season. She made is difficult for Russell too, who stomped all over Samoa on 19 with no trouble at all.

 

[SpiredMoth]

I wish I had found this thread sooner (found it a little before the finale). I kept myself occupied with this group instead.

I also wished that Sandra hadn't won. Parvati deserved it a LOT more. Hopefully next season turns out nearly as good (I highly doubt it will be better)