Survivor: Survivor MacGyver

October 1, 2015 7:46 AM - Season 31, Episode 2

One tribe is completely puzzled at a classic immunity challenge. Later, one castaway attempts a heartfelt apology in an effort to stave off elimination before tribal council.
posted by The Gooch (9 comments total)

I think Probst "forgot" to ask for the idol back just so he could get in a second chances line for himself.
posted by dogwalker at 7:50 AM on October 1, 2015

I found the scene where Terry comforts Abi-Maria on the beach surprisingly moving. In a show where every relationship and interaction usually has an ulterior motive (and not that there wasn't some element of that here), it was nice to see a basic act of human kindness based mostly on just being a decent human being.
posted by The Gooch at 7:59 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I like how everyone is comparing nobody liking Abi for her problematic attitude to Will's extremely horrible and personal, totally uncalled-for attack on Shirin last season. Oh wait no what is the word that is the opposite of like.
posted by phunniemee at 8:00 AM on October 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

I've been Team Jeff Varner since I was 14 years old so I'm glad he's island boss, but man, I'm really sad to see Spencer on the bottom and super sad to see Shirin gone. I really like her.
posted by phunniemee at 8:02 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I like seeing Spencer at the bottom. He's too arrogant when he thinks he's up and needs constant checking. And he definitely plays better when he's backed into a corner.

I'm not a fan of Shirin, and based on Varner's strategy, she definitely had to go before Spencer.

My favorite scene this episode was when Spencer and Shirin went to talk to Woo, who was just goes, "No." Woo seems like a great dude, but his biggest Survivor strength right now is that he knows he's nowhere near the best player is trying to play very carefully. This made me imagine how awful this season could be for someone who finished second on their first go also finishing second this season. If Wigglesworth comes in second place again, that would sting pretty bad.
posted by dogwalker at 8:18 AM on October 1, 2015

I understand the strategy behind bringing Abi into the fold, and I understand why people might want to keep her around, abrasive personality notwithstanding; but the reason you can't keep Abi in the long term is that she just can't keep her mouth shut. So she'll either need to be intentionally misled or left out of maneuvering (which I think she'd be sensitive to and get hurt by), or you concede that you will never, ever be able to surprise people who are on the outs.
posted by trunk muffins at 9:16 AM on October 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

Agreed, Abi makes a terrible goat to take far as she's 1) actually profoundly unlikable, 2) mad as a cut snake, as we say. Totally unpredictable, and I believe unpredictability is actually more of a liability for people in Survivor than being outside an alliance etc. There's no way you could trust her in your alliance, and you can guarantee an association with her will cost you votes at tribal. With merges and splits and whatnot, this risk is magnified. With a final two, maybe worth it. Final three? No way.

Fishbach is playing appallingly badly. He will be so grateful for the upcoming split. Shirin deserved to go for not playing proper survivor. I was surprised and touched by Spencer's distress in voting her. I can''t believe people are using nets as hammocks, or did my eyes deceive me??
posted by smoke at 8:42 PM on October 1, 2015

Congratulations are definitely in order to Abi for graduating from common narcissist to full blown sociopath. Taking Shirin aside to twist the knife into her served no strategic purpose & only satisfied her sense of cruelty. She even broke her deliberate calm & giggled. She needs to stay around as long as possible.
posted by scalefree at 10:11 PM on October 1, 2015

Thanks to CBS's decision that the only free streaming Survivor should be a week old Survivor, I just today got to see this episode. (ARGH)

Kudos to the producers for managing to take one of the more repugnant players in recent memory and making her sympathetic. I felt bad for her, and I was definitely also touched by Terry stepping out to console her. I think the scene was presented similarly to how it happened, but I'm wondering if Terry hadn't gone out to her, if we would have had a different scene of an angry Abi stomping off to be by herself, maybe see that's sad for a second, and move on. Instead, they hammered in her ostracization from the group, cutting back and forth between the group laughing at her being ridiculed to her sitting pitifully on the sand in the darkness.

Fishbach is definitely falling victim to Old versus New Game players. Poor guy.

I like seeing Spencer at the bottom. He's too arrogant when he thinks he's up and needs constant checking. And he definitely plays better when he's backed into a corner.

Absolutely. I'm a fan of his and still grumble how his Brain Team member sacrificed an easy path to the final three for everyone on the team simply to be a 'wild card.' I'm interested to see if Kass plays differently this time, as she claims she intends to this episode.
posted by Atreides at 9:35 AM on October 8, 2015