Listening to the Garrett interview on RHAP. About 30 seconds in, Rob makes a joke about thanks for taking the time to have a side conversation with me, and it seems to go right over Garrett's head. Cracking up already

My wife works in Organizational and Leadership Development. One of the things she is certified to assess on is Emotional Intelligence. I'm sure there are better links but here is the Wikipedia page. Seems like it would be useful in Survivor.

Rewatch:

Garrett, fwiw, you looked fantastic in your underwear searching for the HII. Hate that we are just dumping all the negative critiques on you.

Garrett's interview echoes what I was saying after the episode about Tasha indeed being against the idea of voting out J'Tia because she wanted to flip on the boys. Garrett's point about it being 2-2-2 at the start is indeed why they wanted to flip on Tasha/J'Tia, too.

I think the problem with this is that he's focusing too much on if this was an endgame scenario; he and Spencer are trying to play TribeF5 as if it's the same as GameF5 (which it is not). While I appreciate the fact that Garrett and Spencer understand this strategy and are planning ahead, it effectively fractures your entire group when you put this plan into action. You can say this was a weakness on Garrett's part, but considering that Spencer and Tasha were both doing the same exact thing, Garrett really didn't have a choice (as being passive means he goes home immediately anyway since Tasha wants to flip on him).

Basically, to sum this all up: this is what happens when you stick three very intelligent Survivor minds in a tribe of five people. While each strategist is individually correct in the decision they're making, the collective impact is catastrophic for the tribe as a whole.

isn't it a matter of trial and error before you even place the first block?
the only way to be that bad is to get flustered and basically give up. having some patience, that puzzle is very easy.

I can kind of agree on this. This was definitely his biggest mistake, along with leaving a buried idol.

I think the thread is being a little tough on our hero. If you're going to be adamant (as I am), that there are winners who got their due to variance (Natalie T., Fabiola, etc.), then you should also agree that there are skilled early boots who suffered from negative variance. For g-man these included a really ****ty tribe and game format.

If Kass does decide to vote ****tia out right there, then are we talking instead about how Garrett expertly manipulated ****tia into freaking out and locking down Kass 's vote?

Garrett also deserves some credit for recognizing and eliminating the David threat in the first half of the episode.

Unfortunately for us, I'm gonna bet that gman is the last poker player that CBS casts for a reality show.

I was calling him Lu Kang

While I'm not a shining example of either, I identify with both the Brawn and Brains tribes. But it really irks me that the Brains tribe has imploded. It's not reflecting well on Brains.

"Whatever brains they have have clearly evaporated 72 hours into this game." {grumble} Truth hurts.

Unless you are on the very bottom, you cannot afford to be ultra selfish about targeting people you think are threats to your own safety over doing what is best for the tribe. So I disagree with David and Garrett targeting each other. Once you start down that road... The beginning of the game is just too early for that $#!%.

David goes to Kass to explore voting out Garrett instead of J'Tia and she is rightly adamant that doing so is the wrong move.

Kass: "No. J'Tia. No. All the way. For tribe harmony. I just want to say, J'Tia, see ya, wouldn't want to be ya."

Kass confessional: "David, he wants Garrett to go first. But that's ridiculous. He's our strongest guy. He's a work horse. But J'Tia, she has not been pulling her weight. She's been doing a lot of direction and no production. She's dead weight. So lets just send her home."

^this is not the best for Kass as an individual as next time it's probably going to be a throw down on whether she or David gets voted out. But on the other hand, it probably does help the tribe as a whole moving forward. ...Maybe they can get their $#!% together and send one of the other tribes to TC.

To me, that first vote should have been a softball. You vote out J'Tia. You strengthen the team unity. Improve morale because now everyone is contributing around camp. They also weren't that happy with J'Tia during the first challenge. Then, there is a struggle between the two pairs for getting Tasha on your side after J'Tia is gone. But Garrett could use his idol to gain control if he felt he needed to. Going for David or Garrett on that first vote...not the right move, imo.

edit: At least in my mind, I identify with the Brawn.

winner. Haven't read the rest of thread but I can only assume the rest of your posts are gold as well.

Another very good post. Yet again I fully admit I made mistakes out there.

But the amount of results-oriented opinions even on a poker forum is pretty impressive.

Shut down the Grammy's, ask my granny
Wu-Tang for the kids, but the host can't stand me
Wu-Tang for the kids, bust them off for family

I think David torched Garrett's game. David was chosen as the leader and should have elite leadership ability as a high-level baseball executive. His first move as the leader was to isolate the tribe's most capable physical challenge competitor. He follows that up by painting a target on Garrett's back that even Leif noticed watching on television. Then David announces to every single contestant in the game that he is already thinking about the endgame. Oh, and an offhand comment about his attire bothered him so much that he was forced to defend his sartorial savvy.

Can anyone name one decent move David made?

I doubt very much that CBS is unsatisfied with the level of entertainment brought by Garrett.

Woo-Tang Financial: A Place for You and Your Kids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsEpjTcWkyw&t=1m15s

^ Good points. David ****ed Garrett in the ass as if he were the tax paying citizens of Miami.

How about trying to vote J'Tia out, which ultimately squashes a woman only alliance.

Wouldn't a "very intelligent Survivor mind" figure that out?

garrett i saw in one of those interviews that you said your tribe didn't have fire until day 4? was learning how to make fire from scratch something you worked on in preparation for the game? i figured that would have been one of your top priorities before heading to the island, is it just impossibly hard without flint?

People do it without flint all time including on this very episode!

Most of us here have watched every episode of every season. Weve discussed the last 15+ seasons as they have been broadcast live. With that said, almost everyone itt thinks you played poorly in the 2nd half of the episode.


Kos is more than likely making that post because he thought you were going to be the greatest player ever. Now he's kinda stuck defending horrible play in order to not look like he misjudged you.

Just like with Vytas last season.

My prediciton: The women will stick together and vote out Spencer. I highly doubt they will win the next competition, not only are they weak when it comes to physical challenges, but they will be going on empty stomachs. They are toast. I hope I'm wrong because I think Spencer would have a really interesting social game.

How many times has it happened in the history of the series? 5 or 6 maybe?

If he had that interesting a social game, he could have made something happen on the second boot, instead of just submitting to Garrett's open forum, following him down to the water (useless move, and probably disadvantageous even besides the rice dumping- neither of them had the social skills to talk the girls out of a plan) and then complaining about him in the confessional.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's probably a good strategist. But social game?

I think everyone just "submitted" to an open forum because it was easier than fighting Gman on it. I think Spencer is left in a ****ty spot, very little fault of his own. I could be totally wrong on the social game part...but I would love to find out . As of right now I want Spencer to win, even though hes a huge dog.