Between a hurricane, technological issues with Roku and Hulu, and family obligations, my mother and I haven't able to watch this season consistently for a while.  But since there isn't anything worth watching right after S35, we started watching episodes of this season again.

And it's kinda fun watching 2 seasons together, doing live comparisons and contrasts.  As we started these episodes again, I commented that it was a bit of a tonal shift going from S35E02, with people making some interesting moves; back to S13, with some of the smartest players in Survivor history.  If you were make a list of the smartest people to play Survivor (a list that would include a couple literal rocket scientists and many Mensa candidates), or a list of the smartest Survivor players (different from the other list, since those rocket scientists weren't exactly rocket scientists on their islands), there'd probably be at least 2 or 3 people from this season in the top 10 on either list.  Between those smart players, the best physical player in Ozzy, and social queen Parvati, this season ought to be considered one of the iconic ones.  But the initial set-up takes a lot of that edge off, even in retrospect.

As a refresher, we'd left of at the dual boot of Cao Boi and Cristina and started with the results of Aitu "kidnapping" Nate.  So a couple weeks ago, we picked up from there, with Nate doing a great job of giving away nothing about Raro's politics while listening closely as Flicka spilled a lot about Aitu's.

The RC was interesting.  The reward was something else that is probably due for a comeback: the Survivor catalog.  Each tribe got to pick a couple items from the catalog as what they would receive if they won the challenge.  Both tribes picked peanut butter as one item (one jar smooth, one chunky), which is a very logical choice.  Good source of protein that would keep unrefrigerated or uncooked.  Plus a little bit of sweetness.  Brad on Raro was pushing for potatoes as the other item, citing good carbs and starches that would keep longer and mix well with their seafood diet.  But the rest of the Raros insisted on bread instead, for peanut butter sandwiches.  Meanwhile, the Aitus did pick potatoes.  That basically sums up the differences between these two tribes.  Aitu thinking more strategically and long term, and Raro thinking more about immediate gratification.

Next day, back at Aitu camp, Ozzy strolls in, carrying a bird he caught on his way back from relieving himself.  Here he brings up the main card he continues to play throughout his Survivor career; the Provider card, aka "Good luck eating without me."  While in this season that strategy still has merit, it's not as viable anymore.

While we were on the subject, we talked about Ozzy more.  In particular, his physical performances and how he makes it look so easy.  For example, in the above challenge on the first leg, as he's running into the water, he throws the stick they need to use to smash the boxes ahead of him.  That freed his hands to allow him to swim at full speed without encumberance or drag.  And both Yul and Candace followed this plan on their legs.  But even though Ozzy did this in the first few seconds of the challenge in full view of Raro, neither Parvati nor Adam ever followed suit.  (Rebecca only did the one attempt simultaneously with Ozzy, so she didn't have an opportunity to try this technique.)  While we cannot be 100% certain if Ozzy thought of this idea on his own, he implemented it so effortlessly and it helped Aitu dominate this challenge.  Additionally, there was a moment in this challenge where Ozzy leapt from the platform and smashed the box, then grabbed the key before it hit bottom and started swimming back a good 5 feet before surfacing; all in one motion.  Candace later repeated this, minus the instant return trip.  Further proof that you want Ozzy on your side in a survival situation, but not necessarily in your alliance in a Survivor situation.

Onto the IC.  There was a moment in the first phase of this challenge where Peachy commented that the Raro women were all working on the lower end of the staircase while the "men were standing around, comparing the size of their poles."  My verbal comment: "There's a joke in there."  The one in my head (remember, watching with my mother): "Not the first time they've done that."

Here we discussed Parvati's physical game.  While everyone remembers her social game, most people forget that she's also a decent physical player.  In both these challenges, she was designated to be on the physical side, rather than the puzzle side.  And she was very competitive in both.  She may not have made up ground for Raro, but she didn't lose ground like Rebecca did in the RC.

In the end, Raro won the IC in a come-from-behind on the puzzle.  Which actually proved Brad's point for his decision in the RC.  And in the end, Flicka's loose lips and constant attempts to get Penner booted ended her game.

The next week, we got to the big one.  The episode with the iconic event of this season.

I didn't remember that the whole prologue and all of Act 1 was a set-up to the event.  The prologue was the Aitu Alliance (which was everyone except Ozzy) making plans to stick together come the merge and go to F5 together.  Cut to Candace saying she was planning on jumping back to Original Raro (Adam and Parvati) as soon as she could.  Act 1 was Penner and Candace discussing their plans.  Penner stating that since he'd been with her since Day 1, he'd stick with her, and that the two of them joining back up with Adam and Parv at the merge would be a good move; Candace TH-ing that she would prefer Penner gone before that happens.

At the RC site, it happens.   And given the above paragraph, it makes sense.  Candace wanted to rejoin Adam and Parv, so she did.  Penner was loyal to Candace, so he went where she did.

But afterwards, I had a couple of what-ifs.  What if everyone on one tribe stepped off?  Would TPTB have called the merge then and there?  Given the mutiny rules, I think they would have had to.  The other one: What if everyone stepped of their mat, both sides?  I think that would have resulted in what happened back in All-Stars minus Amber; a total swap of tribe names, colors, and beaches.

All that's in the realm of the theoretical though.  Back to the events as they happened.  Round 1 of Raro vs the Aitu4; the barrel challenge.  Again, Ozzy's physical abilities and way of using the course to his advantage helped them blow Raro away.  I think that if Aitu had lost this first challenge, they might not have unified as much as they did.  Their celebration at the reward, including letters and photos from home, showed that they really did come together as a single unit; the now legendary Aitu4.  And in the best part of irony, Candace's eagerness to rejoin her friends gets her sent to Exile.

The IC was a nailbiter.  This was the one with the glass-bottom boats and cannonballs that had to be dropped into targets on the lagoon floor.  Raro took an early lead, but then Yul out-smarted the challenge and the challenge designers.  The intention was that the tribes had to line up the boats with a marker in order to hit the targets.  Yul realized it was easier to sight down the pipe for the cannonballs, meaning a lot less fiddly maneuvering.  Doing that let Aitu come from behind to win the challenge.  And since the rules of Survivor  prohibit sitting out in consecutive challenges between TCs (unless mathematically impossible (see Palau)), this victory means that the Aitu4 beat all of Raro in consecutive challenges.

At Raro's visit to TC  Peachy asked Brad if he trusted his entire tribe, and Brad said he didn't (likely in reference to Penner and/or Candace).  Jump forward to S3502 and Patrick saying the same thing, more or less.  It's amazing to see what little things come up again seasons later, long after being forgotten.  And in the end, the same results happen.  The person that admits to not trusting everyone (eventually) gets voted out.

Family obligations kept us from getting together last week, but we will be watching another episode this week.

ncG1vNJzZmien6fCrr%2BNqamipZWptq6x0WeaqKVfqbyxtcJoam5tY2Z6tH2SZpqop5titrS4wKebrGc%3D