Survivor: Fiji - Episode 6

Survivor: Fiji Blog
7th Elimination: Anthony

I know that these posts have been pretty short and a little lacking on the humor and strategy. But bear with me, cause my life is going to get a lot simpler right around the time the merge hits, and that's when all the real funs starts anyway.

1. New Teams, New Game.  You know the massacre wouldn't go on forever. Especially not with the living situations making the game completely unfair. And so the producers finally decided to switch the teams up. On the plus side, this fairly boring season just got a lot more interesting. On the minus side, my pick Edgardo just lost his near-guaranteed spot in the final two.

Overall, things did work out well for Edgardo, as he ended up on a stacked team with Alex, Mookie, Rocky, Dreamz, and Anthony. The only possible problem with the new tribe was the potential for the old Ravu guys to stick together and allign with the former Moto outcast Dreamz. That would've put Edgardo and Alex into a very bad position. Thankfully, nobody on Ravu was smart enough to figure this one out and the Edgardo/Alex alliance was able to pull Mookie and Dreamz onto their side. Needless to say, I still like Eddie's chances in this game.

2. I certainly don't smell what this "Rock" is cooking. If there's one plus side to Rocky, it's that he's very entertaining to watch. I mean, rarely do you get somebody on television with the IQ of 35 and absolutely no filter. But what I find to be even more interesting about him is the fact that his acquired nickname gives a completely false impression of him. Because believe me, this guy wouldn't last two seconds in a boxing ring with Mr. T or Hulk Hogan.

If I asked you to name the five strongest people in the game, Rocky would probably be one of the first people to pop into you mind. But after thinking about it a little, you'd realize that Alex, Edgardo, Boo, Earl, Mookie, and Dreamz are all unquestionably better when it comes to challenges. In fact, the only guys in the game that can even hope to match up with are Papa Smurt, Yau Man, and Anthony. And suddenly, when you step back and look at the male pecking order, it's clear why Rocky was giving Anthony such a hard time.

The guy couldn't pick on Yau Man, because everyone would've turned on him. So Anthony became the ideal target for Rocky to mock, thereby taking attention away from his own inadequacies. It's the age-old bully syndrom being played out on national TV.

When the new Ravu tribe lost immunity, I said that they had to vote out Anthony because he's the weakest. However, my fiancé disagreed, saying that Rocky had yet to do anything in a challenge to prove his worth and at least Anthony helped out at camp. And you know what, she was right. (I figure I'd better get used to saying that.) Yet that nickname helped Rocky maintain the illusion that he's actually a tough guy, and kept him in the game.

I'm making a mental note to give myself the nickname "Jack Bauer" if I ever go on Survivor. You think anyone would ever dare write that name down?

3. Nerds behold, your king!  With all I said about Rocky unfairly targeting Anthony to mask his own inadequacies, there's no denying that he's a gigantic, world-class nerd. I mean, the guy is such a dork, I couldn't even bring myself to root for him as the underdog. Every time he tried to come off as a tough warrior who wouldn't give up like Stephenie LaGrossa, I ultimately burst out laughing. I guess some people just aren't cut out for certain things. Yau Man will never be a body builder, Papa Smurt will never win a bikini contest, Rocky will never join Mensa, and Anthony will never be a tough guy. But that doesn't mean he won't be an expert at something else. Like locating witnesses, for example.

By the way, what kind of a job is that? That's perhaps the most baffling Survivor occupation ever. Although it doesn't sound nearly as interesting, I think it definitely beats out "Fire Dancer".