Angelina just lostSurvivor:David vs. Goliath.
Pack up that tent.
All it took were 10 simple sentences.
Credit: Robert Voets/CBS
Ten sentences to forever ruin her chances of winning the game.So, theyve thrown your name out there.
But Im the only person.
I just wanted to be upfront with you, cause Ive gotten nothing but amazingness from you.
I thought I had a different vote.
We were locked in on someone, and then I come back and theyve flipped again.
I just would rather tell you than have you be blindsided like that.
You have such a big heart.
I just respect you enough as a person.
Thats what Angelina told Elizabeth before Tribal Council.
Heres the thing: Angelinas idea was very smart, and I applaud her for it.
But her execution and I cannot stress this enough was TERRIBLE!
But its super tricky.
(See: Brenda/Dawn inSurvivor: Caramoan.)
That can backfire spectacularly.
But you want to make what I would call a surface connection.
And heres another thing you absolutely, positively dont want to do: not bring a jacket onSurvivor.
Sorry, I got confused.
That was last week.
And that is exactly what happened.
If so, that was a massive miscalculation.
So lets just blow it up at Tribal tonight, agreed Elizabeth.
(This, of course, was a mistake by Elizabeth.
You dont wait until Tribal to blow it up.
You blow it up 30 minutesbeforeyou leave for Tribal.
That gives folks time to get significantly pissed off and formulate a new plan.
And Alisons comment about how Angelina had already pocketed a vote pretty much said it all.
Heres why this move is a death knell for Angelina.
That means it will be that much harder for her to get to the end.
But the problem is bigger than that.
And Im not talking about strategy and flipping and backstabbing and all that nonsense.
Im talking about any attempt to make what Angelina described as a raw human moment.
Again, it doesnt matter if that is true or not.
Whether people playingthinkit is true is all that matters, which is why now Angelina cant win.
But that wont stop me from giving my take.
I do think Angelina had a jury vote in mind when she went to Elizabeth with that information.
But I actually think it was something more than that which was not discussed.
I think Angelina was pissed.
But here is my form of protest.
Im going to tell her you all insisted on it and I didnt want to do it.
Just look at her in that scene.
Shes still clearly upset and rattled.
I apologize to my tribe.
I wasnt trying to be sneaky.
Okay, she definitelycouldlie.
Angelina has no qualms with that.
She alsowasbeing sneaky so thats a bunch of malarkey as well.
But I buy the raw human moment element of it.
to her own alliance that she shouldnt have.
And I imagine you probably did too.
And thats too bad because I LOVE Angelina as a player.
By the way, if you missed my merge interview with Angelina, you definitely need tocheck it out.
Lets hit on a few other notable things from this latest episode, hopefully in far less detail.
Urge for a Merge!Everyone loves a merge!
Viewers love it because it means the biggest shift in the game.
Players love it because it means they didnt get stuck on the sad-sack pre-jury trip.
Carl loves it because it means beer!
She didnt find one, but her instinct was right on.
Hmmm…
Of course, you cant have a tribe unless you have a tribe name.
Well, I suppose technically youcouldbut it would be supes awkward.
Didnt happen this time, though.
WHY DID THEY HAVE TO GET RID OF NATALIE?!
You know one thing I amnothating on though?
It kind of reminds me of the Carolina Panthers uniforms.
Andthatreminds me that the Panthers mascot is none other than Sir Purr.
(I wish I was making this up.)
I think you get the point.
And the point is, I like the teal.
Dan didnt do much better himself, vomiting out the info to Kara that he had a second idol.
He even acknowledged it was not the savviest of moves.
I planned on keeping that one to myself, he admitted.
But I was so excited on seeing her.
I cant help it.
At least she was part of his alliance.
In fact, Dan, Kara, Angelina, and the Mayor of Slamtown were a clear foursome.
Alec claimed he was with them as well, but this was all a bunch of Hong Kong Phooey.
Instead, Alec was busy putting together what Christian described as a counter-Goliaths insurgency.
Id kinda call it a strike force, said Christian.
Call it a cross-tribe coalition!
We just went over this, for chrissakes!
God, can we get on the same page here, yo?!
Why me and not John?
But to answer Dans question of Why me and not John?
I say: Why not?
Also: Who cares?
Again, she has no power whatsoever.
There are much bigger things to get furious about.
You know, like the tribe name.
You all know that.
And I was a huge fan of last weeks water wheel immunity challenge.
But I wasnt a fan of this challenge, and Ill tell you why.
The contest involved each player swinging a pendulum through a frame and around a statue.
Here was my issue.
There was no real entry point for viewers.
But you couldnt tell any of that from this challenge.
People were in, and they were just kinda out.
That doesnt make for particularly exciting television.
But the challenge itself?
My Way or the HighwayThe key inSurvivoris to impose your will without anyone even realizing you are imposing it.
You do this by first asking who other people want to get rid of.
After a name is mentioned, you immediately agree as to why that name totally makes sense.
You see if it takes.
Angelina pushed too hard.
He could beat us all.
Heres the thing: SHES RIGHT!
Im Team Angelina on this all the way.
As a viewer, I never want Christian to go away.
He can just stand next to Probst for season 38 onward for all I care.
Just keep him around.
But thats if Im aviewer.
If Im a player, then get him the hell out of there.
Angelina is totally right on this one.
But she came off too bossy.
Do you see what an insidious cycle this was?
And it all could have been avoided with a little diplomacy.
Misdirection is key in this game.
To not embrace it is folly.
We all know (and have already covered) what happened next.
One other thing worth pointing out, though.
After Elizabeth revealed what Angelina had done at Tribal, Angelina responded, This is just bad strategy.
I came here to winSurvivor, said Elizabeth.
I did not come here to let some bitch beat me.
So, alas, one of the thoroughbreds has been put out of her sleeping-awkwardly-on-bamboo misery.
Elizabeth was a fun character to watch.
She was never a threat to win, but went down swinging, which I respect.
Just another example of the stellar casting this season.
Speaking of stellar, ensure to check outthis weeks Q&A with Hostmaster General Jeff Probst.
And watch an exclusive deleted scene from this weeks episode right here.
Finally, for moreSurvivorscoop, follow me on Twitter@DaltonRoss.
