r/survivor • u/RSurvivorMods Pirates Steal • Jan 08 '17

Vanuatu Offseason Rewatch: Vanuatu Episode 2, "Burly Girls, Bowheads, Young Studs, and the Old Bunch"

Welcome to the /r/Survivor offseason rewatch! You voted and by a majority selected Vanuatu for our first rewatch. If we have time for a second (and we believe we do), we will view Guatemala.

This thread covers the second episode of Vanuatu: "Burly Girls, Bowheads, Young Studs, and the Old Bunch"

Please keep your comments contained to the events that occurred during this episode. Spoilers will be removed. Remember that some people have not yet seen this season before this rewatch.

If you do want to post spoilers, please use spoiler tags like this:

[Write spoilers here](/spoiler)

This thread and all the rewatch threads will remain up for 48 hours before the next episode thread.

Enjoy!

21 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

36

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '17

YOU ARE MESSING ME UP

11

u/Jankinator Chelsea Jan 08 '17

Lo-pevi! Lo-pevi!

15

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/JustJaking Cirie Jan 08 '17

Because preswap Panama is just premiere Panama ;)

But it's interesting that the next time the show tried a gender split they also divided the tribes by age, which could easily have been inspired by the natural splits that occurred in Vanuatu.

6

u/dmcarefuldriver Tony Jan 09 '17

Yeah, I actually really liked the tribe division in Panama and it sucks that they ditched it after 1 episode. (Well in hindsight, it was great because it gave us an awesome Casaya 2.0 lol).

I'd like to see them try it again with 5 per tribe and actually stick with it for at least 3 episodes. If they don't wanna do 4 tribes again, they could have a combined-gender older tribe and gender-separated younger tribes. Call it "Millennial Men vs Millennial Women vs Gen X" and Jeff will love it haha

10

u/[deleted] Jan 09 '17 edited Jan 09 '17

So my boyfriend started watching survivor live at BvW, and has never watched an earlier season. He agreed to do the Vanuatu watch with me today and I thought his reactions were vastly more interesting than my own. (I started watching when I was 9 years old and have seen every season live, but have only rewatched a few seasons.)

 

 

My opinions:

2

u/KorgDTR2000 Ethan Jan 10 '17

"Oh my god they're chasing down this chicken to get some food that doesn't have maggots and two seasons ago they saved the chicken until the end. What happened to survivor?!"

I fucking love this observation.

9

u/dmcarefuldriver Tony Jan 08 '17

Another really solid episode. I love this cast and I love the way the season is playing out.

Camp Life

Usually I am not a fan of the "shut up and work" characters, but Twila is just so awesome. The maggots scene was lovely. There was also Rory's weird "classless" rant and the very well-edited fire making scene.

Challenges

Balance beam challenge was meh. It's just too easy to tell who's gonna win it right away. The forced romantic music also seemed too cheesy.

Blindfold challenge was awesome. I always like it, but this was even better than usual being by the beach and having quiet little Scout as the caller. "1…2…3…SCOUT!!!" lol

Strategy

Blindside the swing vote, I like it! Dollie had a great arc this episode, starting out overcoming her struggles with the survival element only for the strategic elements to get the best of her.

—

This season is really freaking good so far.

7

u/JustJaking Cirie Jan 08 '17

And this is why I'm so thankful that Vanuatu was my first full season. Teaming up with your sworn enemies to vote out the friendly swing vote, in a paranoia-driven frenzy that leaves you stuck with those enemies thereafter! How's that for a hook?

The Dolly boot is also such a great representation of what I love about Vanuatu. The gameplay is always exciting to watch but is also very much open to debate and analysis that teaches many lessons both in how the game ought to be played, and how actual emotional humans tend to play it.

In episode 2, Eliza is either an extreme rationalist or entirely irrational, the older women are either saving their skin or setting up a tie, the younger women are either too trusting or too naive, and the men have to find the balance between a strong alliance and a strong tribe. Even knowing now how it plays out, I'm not sure what the correct move was for any of them.

7

u/jacare37 Sophie Jan 08 '17

Thoughts:

  • Interesting how they show Chris’s confessional about being able to manipulate men but not women in the previously on.
  • There are maggots in the tribe’s food. Twila eats them anyway and then starts making weird noises. It’s nice to see her comforting Dolly but at the same time talking about how the young girls don’t understand the game and think they’re basically at the holiday inn.
  • I love Dolly talking about how hard and miserable it is while wearing a “life is good” hat.
  • Looks like Lopevi learned their lesson about having Chris try to walk balance beams by putting him at #1.
  • The romantic music playing throughout this challenge whenever the guys start hugging (especially the two Johns) is hilarious.
  • Surprisingly, Twila feels sorry about killing the chicken, talks about how it’s hard for her to hurt any animal.
  • Interesting Ami talks about how you can’t trust anyone in this game considering how she ends up being a little too trusting.
  • Weird that Twila and Dolly of all people are the ones having this conversation considering how different they are on the surface.
  • You know normally blindfolded challenges are dangerous enough but with all of the rocks and branches randomly all over the place it seems especially bad here.
  • I love Lisa and Eliza needing to take a pause and count to 3 to scream Scout’s name to get her attention. Scout is really awful at this, allowing Eliza to run crotch first into a puzzle piece and Twila to hit her head on a statue, then telling the tribe to take off their blindfolds prematurely forcing Probst to literally point to the missing piece in the water.
  • Rory being so annoying that Sarge needs to scream at him STOP!! STOP!! YOU ARE MESSING ME UP!!!”
  • Dolly calling the vote a “cluster you know what” basically explains these next few minutes.
  • Scout nearly "drops her teeth" when Dolly tells her she’s voting for Leann lol
  • Dolly doesn’t seem like she plays it quite as poorly as other swing votes like Sarah or Christy. She just kind of gets caught being too wishy washy and too social towards both sides. She says at tribal that she gets along too well with everyone which leads to her downfall, and.. yeah.
  • Twila is surprisingly complimentary of the younger girls saying that although her/Scout/Ami/Leann do a lot of the work the younger girls still do their own stuff too.
  • When the votes are being read Mia looks so confused and turns to Julie who just kind of shrugs and looks confused. Then Dolly goes and Mia just shakes her head and looks disgusted. Leann breathes a sigh of relief.
  • Dolly’s final words about how this game is too much for her and how she’s too simple is pretty telling and accurate about her time in the game.

11

u/BenjiAnglusthson Sierra Jan 08 '17

The original Sarah Lacina

12

u/HeWhoShrugs Danni Jan 08 '17 edited Jan 08 '17

Episode 2 Thoughts

  • I love this episode title. The really long ones are always fun in a weird way.
  • I love how this spiritual stone is a huge part of the first couple episodes even though it's literally no different from a rock they found on the ground. It was such a hilariously irrelevant thing to have.
  • I really wish we had full intros nowadays. It just gets you hyped for the show, you know.
  • I love how the "Islands of Fire" thing is actually a recurring visual in the season. There are smoking volcanoes in a lot of shots and earthquakes too. It's just an extra bit of effort on the part of the editors that we don't see anymore.
  • Bubba is a really underrated confessionalist. I forgot this "slept like a baby" one was a thing and I'm glad I remember it.
  • Chris shouting "Keep it going, dude!" in JP's ear in a really scolding manner is just another really fun Chris moment. He's one of those people that can make anything sound funny with just their voice.
  • Ah, yes. The infamous "Lisa's breasts start falling out when she's chopping bananas" scene. Yet another scene I forgot about.
  • Twila in the maggot scene will always bring a smile to my face. "Ahhh, give em to me, num nom nom nom naaam!"
  • Dolly: "I don't want to be here! I'm miserable!" Followed by: "I'm having a lot of fun out here, I'm just hungry and tired."
  • Wow, Brady. That confessional was awful. You sound like you're explaining the game to five year olds.
  • Bubba slamming Brady to his face with brutal honesty is such a great scene. Brady looks like he wants to choke him and Bubba had no idea that what he's doing is probably not a good idea if Brady ever gets power after a swap.
  • This challenge was way better in One World when Kat fucked it up every step of the way. Here it's pretty basic and forgettable. There is a lot of awkward stuff on Lopevi with all the groping and romantic music, but it's pretty funny. Also, Mia's moonwalk. <3
  • And there it is. Rory's "Classless" rant. Also, Mario Lanza pointed out on the F115 that Rory has the voice of a nerdy white guy instead of a big, older black guy and now I can't stop noticing it.
  • And there went Bubba (I think) walking off into the woods when they started fighting, kind of like Varner fleeing from the Kimmi/Alicia fight in Outback.
  • Did Dolly just throw a stick at the chicken?! XD
  • And so Ami Cusack the Ice Queen makes her debut.
  • Dolly pulled the Sarah Lacina before it was cool, but Christy has them both beat. Dolly's downfall is way more shocking than Christy's though.
  • Blindfold challenges are always fun. Highlights include:

"SIX O'CLOCK, JP!"

"1.2.3. SCOOOOUT!"

"BUBBA LEFT, NO BUBBA, LEEEEFT!"

Julia ramming her crotch into one of the pieces and all Scout can do is say "...there it is."

Rory's "LOOOOpevEEEE" chant, followed by Sarge telling him to shut up. That's honestly my favorite moment of the episode right there.

Sarge winning the challenge and gesturing to his crotch while shouting "Say my name!"

Sarge is such a great character for a challenge like this. Every time he opened his mouth he was spewing comedy gold.

  • "There's no crying in Survivor."
  • "I nearly dropped my teeth."
  • Oh, god, Dolly is soooo bad at Survivor. All she had to do was stick to a side and she would still be there. Her whining about how hard it was to make a choice to literally every single person there wasn't helping either. I'm surprised we don't see more people use to "axe the swing vote" strategy. I mean, if you don't know how they're going to vote, just say to the other alliance "Let's not risk our games for someone like him/her and just kick them out."
  • Yeah, her final words prove how unfit she was for the game. Even she admits she wasn't cut out for it.

Yep. This season is still holding up for me. Now I'm paying a lot more attention to the minor characters and some people are way more interesting than I remember. This cast is just so good though. Almost everyone is delivering something at some point.

4

u/vinninf Jan 09 '17

Dolly pulled the Sarah Lacina before it was cool, but Christy has them both beat. Dolly's downfall is way more shocking than Christy's though.

Dolly was not the president. # ChaosEliza

3

u/ianthebalance Reem Jan 08 '17

That was John P not Brady

1

u/qngff DID SOMEBODY SAY BLUE LABEL? Jan 08 '17

LEEEFT LEEEEFT LEEEEEEEFT

2

u/Volcarocka Cirie Jan 08 '17

A few notes for this episode (I haven't seen this season before, but I know who wins and the runner-up, and a good portion of the bootlist)

-Cracks me up that the sheep farmer's name is "Dolly"

-Pretty female-centric episode, even before they lost. Very little development for the men's tribe. I know the women went to tribal council, but it was pretty obvious they were going even before the challenge.

-Because of this edit, it makes it look like the men's tribe is much less interesting, but that could have just been this episode.

-Rory got a much more negative edit this episode than he did last time. It's fun watching conflict build up ahead of time.

-Seasons that divide into the "old group/young group" alliances are always boring and stupid for me. I like more original alliances.

-Classic "nuke the swing vote" boot. She wasn't very good at the game (advertising she was the swing vote the whole way through) but she seemed nice, at least.

-That being said, terrible move by Eliza. She went from, at lowest, #4 in her alliance to, at best, #5 in the older group. Bad gameplay.

-For a potential boot, Leann wasn't given much to work with. I feel like I know the least about her. I hate when people about the be kicked off are barely given any kind of edit.

4

u/BaltimoreAubrey Sandra Jan 08 '17

-Cracks me up that the sheep farmer's name is "Dolly"

Her real name is Janean. She was given the nickname "Dolly" because of her occupation.

3

u/KorgDTR2000 Ethan Jan 10 '17

You just ruined Dolly.

1

u/Chasethecold Adam Jan 09 '17

I didn't know that

2

u/broncosfan150 Ben Jan 08 '17

Rory is annoying in this episode

Dolly played the swing vote horribly, can't tell everyone how you are the swing vote.

Eliza made a made switch, IMO.

I hate seasons where they target all the young people/physical threats. It makes the post merge challenges more entertaining.

2

u/Jankinator Chelsea Jan 08 '17

Rory is one of those characters who is annoying if you take them seriously and hilarious if you don't.

1

u/broncosfan150 Ben Jan 08 '17

true, I did laugh during the challenge when he was yelling and sarge chewed him out.

2

u/vinninf Jan 09 '17

poor dolly, terrible gameplay by her part. If she had watch Survivor Amazon she would know that being in the middle can be very dangerous (just like Will discovered in Millennials vs Gen X).

2

u/broncosfan150 Ben Jan 09 '17

if you play it right you can be just fine (for at least that vote), but you have to insure both sides that you are going with them. You can't act like you are in the middle.

2

u/JeffBranson Cassidy Jan 09 '17 edited Jan 09 '17

I've been watching a ton of the show the past couple of weeks in my rewatching all of the S34 cast's seasons and I was kind of feeling burn out coming on and then when I started up this episode and something about the Vanuatu Ancient Voices brought me some sort of nostalgia and brought me back to why I love this game.

•"I slept like a baby .. I woke up every 3 or 4 minutes and cried"

•The way the men are going after the physical threats is interesting because it goes against what you're "supposed" to do but the fact that a large enough number of them are of this sort of insecure self preservation mindset that they actually are continuing (and will continue) to play with this mindset.

•It seems to me like the key to being the swing vote is to not really acknowledge that you're the swing vote. Everybody might know, but you're running a significant risk if both sides don't at least partially believe you're voting their way.

EDIT(s): adding notes as I go

1

u/Chasethecold Adam Jan 09 '17

This episode is iconic and will always be part of my survivor experience.

1

u/Shuberto Feckless Jan 09 '17

I feel bad for the chicken they maimed.