One survivor has a mental meltdown.
Survivor: Micronesia Blog
8th Elimination: Kathleen
9th Elimination: Tracy
It had to happen eventually. There was simply no way Survivor: Micronesia could pull off thirteen episode run without a single semi-dull hour. Yet even though this past episode lacked the stupidity and surprise of the previous six, it was still far from a snooze-fest. There was still a nervous breakdown, group showering, and a potential blindside that just never picked up enough steam. In a normal season, those types of events would easily qualify an episode as one of the best three. If what we saw this past week was the worst this season had to offer, and I think it might be, then Season 16 will go down as the best in series history, without question. Onto the observations…
1. Yeah, so about those “Super” fans… Don’t get me wrong, in their own pathetic little way, The Fans have certainly managed to make this season interesting. But as I’ve said many, many times before, there is absolutely no way that these people are “Super” fans. They clearly have no idea how this game if played and are letting The Favorites completely overtake them without so much as a fight. Look at this list:
Chet: Worst Survivor ever, quit
Dirty Ogre: Made an incredibly stupid decision nearly every week
Mikey B: Smart, but waaaay too aggressive, turned everybody against him
Erik: Blinded by his major man-crush on Ozzy
Jason: Thinks a twig is the hidden immunity idol
That’s 50% of the fans, and I haven’t even gotten to Kathleen yet, who had a complete mental meltdown. She just totally lost it.
“I couldn’t ‘feel’ my family”
Kathleen, I don’t want to be a Negative Ned, but nobody on that island can “feel” their family, because their family isn’t on the island. If you send out vibrations across the Pacific Ocean to your daughter and expect to get them sent back, you’re going to be waiting a loooooooong time to feel anything. That’s just the way it is.
I’m sorry if this sounds like I’m being insensitive, but I really didn’t like the way Kathleen quit. Even if she desperately wanted to go home, she should’ve sucked it up and at least waited it out until after the immunity challenge. That way if her tribe lost, she could’ve absorbed the hit. With Jonathan out due to injury and her deciding to quit, her team would have ended up DOWN in numbers if they didn’t win that challenge. That’s insane considering how dominant they’ve been. It was unfair of her to put her team in that type of position.
I just feel like when you play this game, you’re a part of a “tribe”. You win together, you lose together, and, more importantly, you keep each other alive. Jumping ship like that could have really hurt the people on her team, the people who gave her the food, shelter, and support she needed to make it the 19 days she did. I didn’t like the decision one bit and felt it was extremely selfish. Thankfully for the members of her tribe, it didn’t come back to bite them.
2. The One and Only. So 20% of the “Super” Fans have played the game horrifically and given up, and 40% of them have just played the game horrifically. What about the remaining four? Well, clearly Mary left the game too early to make a fair assessment, especially since she was the victim of an unprovoked and stupid play. Alexis and Natalie are perfectly content to fly way under the radar at this point, which may or may not end up being a good strategy. This means that out of the ten people who were labeled as the “biggest fans Survivor has ever had”, only one has managed to play the game intelligently AND actively. That person, of course, is Tracy, who ironically just got eliminated.
Last week, I put Tracy as #10 on my list of Survivor’s Top 10 All-Time Strategists. Several people thought that this decisions was extremely pre-mature, but I beg to differ. Despite the fact that she had only been around for six episodes, Tracy managed to pull off some incredible feats. Think about this: due to her tribe labeling her as weak, she entered the game with CHET and KATHLEEN as her only alliance members. What were her odds of winning at that point? They couldn’t have been greater than one in ten thousand. Still, she refused to quit and managed to manipulate her way into getting Mikey B and Dirty Ogre voted off in consecutive weeks. Remember, Mikey B and Dirty Ogre were the two powerhouses of the Fans tribe and the main people who labeled her and her alliance members as weak and worthless in the first place. Do you realize how big and improbable of an upset that is? Nobody in this game has ever done anything like that before! When you think about it, it’s truly unbelievable!
Adding to her legacy, Tracy was miraculously able to take Chet to tribal council three times without getting him eliminated, and the only reason he didn’t make it through a fourth is because he quit! If you really want to have your mind blown by what Tracy was on the verge of accomplishing, think about what would have happened if Chet didn’t quit. In addition to overthrowing Mikey B and Dirty Ogre, Tracy would have blindsided Ozzy, I repeat, OZZY right out of the game! Had Ozzy been out of the game, Tracy, Chet, Erik, and Ami would have had the numbers this week, which means that Cirie or Amanda is sent packing instead, and Tracy’s still alive and kicking.
Then, imagine if Kathleen didn’t quit! Just imagine this! Tracy would have started out with the two most pathetic alliance partners in Survivor history, and would have somehow managed to keep all three of them in the game for seven episodes! There would be 11 people left in the game, and her alliance would comprise over 25% of them. Believe it or not, at that point, she’s got the largest alliance in the game. Improbabilities of that magnitude don’t just happen! The only reason those three would all be around because she fought and manipulated them to that point.
Ultimately, what made her run though this game so spectacular (her historically horrible alliance members) was what ultimately did her in. If Chet and Kathleen had been a tad less awful, just to the point where they wouldn’t quit, we’re having a discussion about how Tracy might be the favorite to win the whole thing, not about how she was tragically eliminated. Hopefully after reading this section of the blog, you’ve gained a deep appreciation for how well Tracy played this game. If anything, putting her at #10 on the list was too low.
3. And now, the moment you’ve all been anticipating…
The Amanda and Parvati Hoochi-meter!
Wait for it…
Wait for it…
Wait for it…
It’s over! It’s over! Ring the bell! Amanda has just overloaded the hoochi-meter beyond repair! After Parvati crept up and threatened to take the lead last week, Amanda went straight for the kill by removing her top during a shower with Ozzy. There’s simply no recovering from this move on Parvati’s end. Nothing that they would ever be allowed to show on network television could close the massive gap separating her and Amanda. Raise her arm in the air, cause we have a winer!
Ladies and gentlemen, your neeeeeew Survivor Hoochi-weight Champion of the Wooooooooorld: Amanda!
Survivor Power Poll:
| Ranking | Player | Comments | Last Week |
| 20 | J. Fairplay | Eliminated. | – |
| 19 | Mary | Eliminated. | – |
| 18 | Yau Man | Eliminated. | – |
| 17 | Mikey B | Eliminated. | – |
| 16 | Dirty Ogre | Eliminated. | – |
| 15 | Jonathan | Eliminated. | – |
| 14 | Chet | Eliminiated. | – |
| 13 |
Kathleen |
Eliminated. | 12 |
| 12 |
Tracy |
Eliminated. | 15 |
| 11 | Erik | He’s next on the chopping block on the team who can’t seem to win immunity.. | 11 |
| 10 | James | Parvati strategizing a final four with Natalie and Alexis? Not a good sign for him. | 12 |
| 9 | Jason | I can’t wait to see the look on Probst’s face when Jason pulls out that twig at tribal council! | 10 |
| 8 | Eliza | Looks like Parvati is making the big play with the fans, not her. | 6 |
| 7 | Cirie | I have a feeling that people are only going to let her tag along for so long. | 8 |
| 6 | Natalie | She’s under the radar, and possibly in the final four. | 7 |
| 5 | Alexis | See above. I think she’s the more likeable of the two, which is why she’s a spot higher. | 4 |
| 4 | Parvati | Started off with a huge target on her back, but now everyone’s underestimating her. | 5 |
| 3 | Ami | She can’t continue to let opportunities to blindside Ozzy pass her by. Somehow I have a feeling she’ll still get another shot at it. | 3 |
| 2 | Ozzy | People are going to start gunning for him very soon. | 1 |
| 1 | Amanda | Unlike in China where Todd came off as the likeable partner and she was the one doing all the dirty work, it now appears that people are getting resentful of Ozzy and turning to Amanda. | 2 |
Biggest Riser: James (12th to 10th)
Biggest Faller: Eliza (6th to 8th)
[hype]
