I like Jane as a character. She says some funny **** and she's a ticking time bomb.

Both Marty and Jane are absolutely awful at furthering themselves in the game. Marty isn't even entertaining though, save the grandmaster lie.

This season just might be the least likeable cast ever imo and I've watched all seasons but 5 and 8-11 I think. Africa was fairly bland and Fiji totally sucked minus Yauman and Dreamz.

Sash and Brenda seem to have this in the bag but I'm expecting some major drama late in this game when these people start having to turn on each other.

As much as I want Fabio to win for lol effects he's pretty much drawing dead because he'd get eaten alive at final tribal.

If they ended up voting for Alina for strategic reasons that's fine, but if they voted for her because of Sash's promise to Marty then they are even dumber than I thought.

sash convinced the group to do it. so it was smart for him and fabio and maybe benry? but dumb for brenda and whoever else

http://www.realityblurred.com/realit...0_Nov_04_merge

Pretty funny article on how the castaways would introduce themselves if they were honest.

Just a few comments off the top of my head before I slog through all the posts I've missed. Warning: Don't forget that my comments which follow are naturally my opinion which is naturally based on my perception of the presentation that CBS the editors shared with during last night's episode. If you get your panties in a wad about my bitchy, know-it-all tone, at least you've been warned.

Marty on Jill: "Jill was an incredible player, a great contender, a lover of the game, and there's people left who I think have no right to be in this game." Whether based on friendship or not, I think people get points from player X for simply chosing to align with/or even just sharing information with player X. I don't know if it's the nature of the game, or the level of information players have, but I think it is really hard to remain objective about who is playing well while you are actually in the fray.

Does Naonka/Detta Walker have a writer? Could this train wreck be any better if it was scripted? And were there really people who couldn't understand why she was drawing dead from a game play standpoint? Chick is like a mine field--I thought about saying time bomb, but those usually go off and then are done--Naonka is more the gift that keeps on giving. Dare I say this girl needs a phsychiatrist?

I loved the scene where everyone in her inner circle is standing around saying that they have to protect Nay. But Alina is getting the ax for 'being a part of' Naonka's crime. Is Naonka the diabolical super genius? I mean, with a few random acts of theft, she has not only solidified her position with the movers and shakers to want to take her to end game, but she intensified the target on a former enemy, AND curried favor with that enemy (and first member of the jury) by sharing information with her. Is she following George Costanza's "do the opposite" strategy?

On that note: Jane is putting all her cards on the table. Telling how she preped for the game by getting in shape. Telling her life story. Catching the fish. Staying in the challenge even after she had won. Being overly focused on Marty. ...Not that she's wrong. He's a threat, but that's not why she is focused on him. And I think she just gives away too much information about her motives by being so upfront about not liking Marty.

Marty is 100% correct about Jane. I disagree with he and Jane over this battle they are having. I just don't think it is a good idea to be this focused on a single opponent for obvious personal reasons. But I'd give the Survivor advantage to Marty on this round. Not that he improved his position over Jane so much that he hurt her position more than she hurt his...which seems to be their primary goal at the moment. Sure she beat him in the IIC--it didn't matter, they weren't competing against each other. She did no real damage to him, but his speech at TC was probably devastating to her.

Of course, maybe Marty is just smarter than me, and he's smoke screening. I thought Alina was prudently attempting to direct attention to the alternate person on the block in Marty, but maybe it was exactly her prudence that did her in. Perhaps the Survivors were like, hmmm, Alina is making some sense and Marty is trying to direct attention to someone we can't even vote for on this round (hidden genius?) so he still seems like a harmless/powerless (and distracted) loon. Alina has to go. Again, I'm not sure it was the correct decision. Vote off the isolated misfit who can't muster enough support for herself even when there is some strong opposition to her opponent. Yeah, she tried to scramble and made some good points, but she didn't get far with it.

Should Holly call out Naonka the minute she sees her taking off with the flour? Does the game change if she does?

I thought it was a mistake for Dan to take the Chase info right to Marty saying that Chase was going to blindside Marty--which wasn't even what he said. All Dan needs to do is lay low and continue to be non-threatening. If this gets back to Chase, he might lose his information pipeline. Also, by using the term blindside he lit a fire under Marty. Marty did more damage to himself than Jane ever could by pushing people so hard about whether he was being voted out.

Fabio, "It should be Naonka first." "I would piss a lot of people off if I would do that." How does he think he is ever going to get Naonka out if not by alligning with some of these people who are not Brenda, Sash, Chase, and Invisible Kelly? If you want something to happen, and it seems like it should happen, but you can't make it happen, don't you give some thought to where the primary resistance is coming from and draw some conclusions about where you and others stand in the game? Nevermind, I'm talking about Fabio here.

Benry seems like an idiot. Where does he think he stands in the super alliance? By my estimation he's not far from the '100% Grade A dirt squirrel'--whatever that is. I think he and Fabio need Marty to save them, but Marty is so preoccupied with Jane, I don't see how it happens.

Nice points Soncy.

There are pros, and cons to this. Pros are she outs Na, but the negative reprecussions is that she puts a target on her back. Being out there for so long, with so little food can cause one tiny spark to blow up in your face. Plus it would destroy her plans of going under the radar.

I don't think anything differently would have changed had she mentioned what happened, as it would have turned out the same as it did because of Na's alliance being in power. But as others have said this cast is so terrible they don't know how to use this stuff to leverage their game when other players make mistakes.

Yep Fabio should have, and could have turned the balance of the game three weeks ago. And they could have turned the game around this week too! But these players are not the brightest when it comes to strategic gameplay, or in Fabio's case he doesn't want to ruffle the feathers yet. The people on the bottom are playing for bottom spots unless the power alliance cracks which I very well expect to happenen post merge.

I think at this point Fabio, Marty, Dan, and Holly need Sash to flip and make a alliance with them. All of them are easy beats besides Marty if the jury votes on gameplay vs emotions. Eventually I expect him to see how close Brenda is with Jane, Na, and Chase which may lead him to ditching them, and through a possible blindside by his alliance mates to get him kicked off because of fear he will win the game at the end.

Brenda is not playing for second place! And her main objections in her mind would be Sash for being the one in control of the game, and Jane for pity votes.

I haven't talked to her since last week, but I guarantee my Everywoman barometer likes Jane and Holly and hates Marty and Naonka.

I like Jane some. I respect her ability to provide fish and remain active while a lot of the kids lay around tanning and napping. I respect her determination and ability to last longer in that challenge they had. She's no spring chicken, but still a tough competitor. I think she is probably genuinely a nice lady in life. Chase likes her, and he seems like a pretty nice guy. Are these things I like about her helping her game...not so much. And she is probably doing more harm than good to herself right now with this Marty feud. I do give her credit for understanding that Marty is not only a threat to herself, but just a threat in general. But the way she is going about things is short sighted. So from a game play standpoint, I think she could be conducting herself better. It doesn't prevent me from enjoying some things about her.

As for Marty...I like some things about him as well. He has fabulous Survivor hair. He thinks critically about the game a lot. He makes some really good points at times. He calls BS when he hears it. But, his general character seems on the Type A bully side. This is not my style. I can tolerate it some, but I don't prefer it. Also, he's not as funny as I would like. Kind of a downer. Funny covers a lot of sins.

fabio winning would be absolutely hilarious, too bad he needs to grow a brain to make that happen

day after the episode, time to discuss all the things that the editors showed us that we perceive to be mistakes and call the cast a bunch of idiots!

no talk of the greatness of last night's ep

THis has been such a weird season. Not a single Survivor has stood out for me. I usually have a favorite picked within the first 2-3 episodes.

I can't stand Jane. I respect her up-front approach with Marty, but I'm still not sure why she hates him so much. She chose the losing side of the old person alliance. I can see why she's playing the grandma/mother role with the younger ppl in the tribe, but she's thinking too short-term IMO. It's just a matter of time before Brenda/Chase/Na cut her loose. On the female front, a friend of mine hates Jane...soo...yeah...

If I had to pick someone to root for it would be Marty. He's the underdog right now. He made two serious mistakes the previous two episodes, but somehow it worked in his favor. I hate to use the cliche phrase, "He's either very smart, or very stupid," but that seems to be the case with Marty. I like how he is planting seeds of doubt in the minds of the younger tribe with respect to Jane.

Sad to see another hottie leave Survivor. Brenda will have to suffice

I touched on it, but you have to read between the lines of my know-it-all comments. Naonka and Fabio are fabulous TV. The Marty / Jane saga is also a good story line even if I think they should both lay off if they are really trying to win the game. And even that would probably end up being awesome TV. If they buried the hatchet long enough to...well, dig it back up and knock Sash and Brenda in the head with it, I guess. But Naonka... oh my goodness. She's TV gold. If you people find this season boring, you don't love a good proverbial train wreck, I guess.

Sash, Brenda, Marty, Alina all had some good moments where they are saying strategic things that make sense. And there are some others which...well, not so much. And Holly is laying low as Holly should...she is trying to remain alert to what is going on. Always a good thing. Oops, sorry, I slipped back into analysis again. I can't help it. It's what I enjoy. Along with the funny.

I feel I am getting a good mix of entertainment and gameplay. Of course, I may be easier to please than some. And I don't have to bear the cross of watching my favorite player bungle around at the mercy of others. I'm okay with it if Marty rises from the ashes and I'm okay with it if he doesn't. I'm not so in love with anyone's game that I'm like oh so and so has to win this or Survivor is just ruined for me. I never am...if I was I would have been done with this show a long time before now. I just like watching how things play out. Or how CBS is telling me that things are playing out, if you prefer.

Well what do you call Na hiding the food, and the pan? It isn't hard to see who is making idiot mistakes. Because it is like saying that Kelly Purple is actually a great stragetic player but that the editors just have not show that she is the actual mastermind who is actually the one controlling Sash, and Brenda, and is the one actually making the moves.

I think it's pretty safe to say if you like Marty, or are actively rooting for Marty, you aren't going to like Jane. Can anyone provide any conflicting evidence to this statement?

Is your female friend young or old? Mother or not? Does she like Marty?

I think older people (specifically older females) are more likely to respect Jane's apparent work ethic and possibly have a favorable opinion of her regardless of her gameplay, while the younger crowd (specifically younger males) are more impressed by Invisible Kelly appearing to sun bathe while strategic conversations appear to be happen all around her.

Is there anyone else who is in my camp of having favorable feelings towards Marty AND Jane?

I like both, and both are playing totally different games. One is strategic, and the other is playing the under the radar game.

My friend is early 20s, single, not a mother. She has strong family values too, very close with her brother and parents, as well as her grandparents, etc. I'll ask her why she does not like Jane, would be interesting to get her perspective.

I can see where Marty is coming from when he talks about Jane. She has an in with the young people strictly because she's old, she can fish (and not complain about it), she reminds them of a mother/grandmother and one of the young kids is from the same area! I certainly respect Jane's gameplay and playing that angle, she would be stupid to play the game otherwise. Play on other people's sympathy, play the sweet old lady, feed the helpless lazy children, etc. Put myself in Marty's shoes I would be like....****, I have nothing to offer these ppl.

I'm in the camp of Jane/Marty are hurting themselves with their TC comments and open hate toward each other. I think it's fair to say Marty is more likely to go home first, once he is gone, Jane will continue to float on and coat-tail Chase, Brenda, Sash and Na.

It's pretty impossible for Marty to hurt himself since he has no power. Calling out Jane like that was exactly what he needed to do: put doubt in the minds of these dumb kids. Him saying he would vote for her in the finals was an excellent idea as well, as it makes his whole "Jane is a big threat" argument seem more believable. He played the whole situation very well imo.

I agree Kos that Marty did a excellent job at pointing out that Jane was likeable, and could very easily fly under the radar and make it to the end. And by taking her, or letting her get to the finals that she deserves it because they let her get there.

lol Kos, how old are you?

Marty sucks. Calling out people=attracting attention to yourself. He's gone next week.

Attracting attention? It was him or Alina last night, so the attention is already on him. Laying back and doing nothing in his spot would have been ******ed. Calling out Jane as being a big threat is a good idea.

Good idea? Marty lacks more than one of those. He's proven to be incompetent at this game. All he's doing is annoying people who are equally dumb. The people in power like Jane...nobody like you Marty. New approach needed.

Thoughts on the trailer for next week? (Does it need spoiler tags?)

We get it, you like Marty and will describe anything he does as a "good idea"

But seriously, if he truly was trying to do something to save himself from being voted out at that TC, wouldn't it be a better idea to focus all the attention towards someone that wasn't immune?

no cause its not like theyre gonna change their vote coming in tribal anyway