Survivor Redemption Island Episode 12 Thoughts

To mix things up, I'm just going to put the notes I took here, and then expand on them as much as possible.

- Philip's ridiculous dance after getting the phone

It was just in the background, but Philip's dance was once the tribe received their smartphone was a funny aside.

- Philip's fist pump when Ralph won

I honestly had forgot about the Steve/Philip battle from two episode ago, so Philip's fist pump caught me off guard initially.

- Using Redemption Island for reward as well.

Fun little twist on the duel here.

- New Redemption Island idea.

With Redemption Island, why wouldn't they run a challenge where the winner gets back into the game, and the last place finisher gets the book. That would be an extra reason for someone to win.

- Not really "giving your love" for your mother up

Probst had some odd wording when referring to Mike's decision on who to choose to let them see their family.

- The decision.

I don't know if it is right for Mike to choose the players int he game to get to see their family instead of anybody else. I do know it was pretty magnanimous of him to do so.

- Ralph being selfish

While I understand his general point, I think Ralph's anger about Mike letting the remaining players see their family has a lot more to do with Ralph not seeing his family and less to do with Mike not taking the reward.

- Why does God care about Survivor so much? (Mike)

Mike first mentioned the bible when deciding on who would get the reward. No problem there. But when Mike started talking about praying and God causing him to win the challenge? That was a bit much. (I was also disappointed that there was no footbage of Matt questioning why God had forsaken him.)

- Mike, the greatest guy in the world

Mike explained in confessionals why he chose to send the remaining six, and it basically boiled down to "because it was the right thing to do". That was an incredible display of generosity.

- Andrea's Dad wanting hair advice

I was amused by Andrea's dad asking her how she kept her hair looking so good.

- No really, why does God care about Survivor so much? (Natalie)

So Natalie's mom tells Natalie that she was praying for Natalie, and asking God to watch over Nnatalie. How does God have so much time to deal with Matt, Mike and Natalie on Survivor?

- Philip - "I'm prepared to go crazy if I have to. That's what works for me."

Philip said this to his sister, leading us to wonder how much of an act this is.

- Rob's sister seems to care about Survivor oh so much

We see Rob talking about the game with his sister, and it certianly seemed like she was interested in anything but the game, and just patronizing his needs.

- Natalie showing off her bum to her mom

This was while Rob was giving a synopsis of why he is winning the game, and it was seemingly Natalie showing off her bum to her mother, including a gentle ass slap. Very odd scene to add.

- "All they have to do is talk to each other. But they won't"

Rob said this about all of the other players who think he is in a final two alliance with them. He knows that he has them all so under control that they aren't even questioning whether he is going to take them to the final two or not. Just another example of Rob's dominance.

- Rob's assessment of the players - most knowledgeable Rob, Grant and Andrea

This means that they have actually seen the show before. And honestly, that seems to be a fair assessment.

- Build steps immunity challenge

This doesn't cover the enormity of the challenge - it was a good 2-3 stories that they had to go up and down. As well, they could only bring one plank to attempt to fit into the staircase, so if they failed once, they would have to go back down to try again.

- Grant the choker

Grant had a lead near the end, only to squander it by messing up on planks twice in a row. It was kind of shocking to see him fail like that. One explanation is that the 110 degree heat make him a bit goofy, which also helps to explain...

- Rob almost dies to win

I don't know how much of that was a need for Rob to call the Wahmbulance, but Rob was struggling so much near the end that I thought somebody else was going to over take him in the end.

- "Can you help me stand up?"

Defeated in victory, Rob needs help to get his cramp riddled body to stand up.

- What is this Philip getting voted out stuff?

It was odd, because Philip started talking about how he had the argument that nobody had thought of to beat Boston Rob in the final tribal. Then, as if on cue, Rob started talking about voting Philip out because he thinks Philip might be playing him and might have something up his sleeve. What? We need some sort of line to be drawn for us to explain how that connection was being made by Rob.

- Oh Andrea, why do you feel safe?

I guess it's a credit to Rob et al as to how much they made sure Andrea think she was a part of the core crew, but when you don't have immunity, and you were in an alliance with the only person on your tribe on Redemption Island, and you 've openly talked about feeling bad about putting him there, you shouldn't feel comfortable in your position.

- The bizarre Jeff-Philip-Andrea thing

This occurred with Jeff chastising Philip for trying to seem like a big threat when that will just lead people to vote you out. In the net breath, he tells Andrea that she did incredibly well in the challenge today, and then she beams with pride. Did you not just hear what Jeff told Philip? Control your emotions.

- Andrea's excellent response to the immunity threat

Jeff asks her if it's a bad thing to be an immunity threat, and Andrea responds that they still need to be strong because somebody will be coming back from Redemption Island and they need to beat that person. It's a great point that I hadn't considered and if she was getting voted out only because of her strength in challenges, it might ahve given everybody else pause.

- Grant's not so good response to the same question

I've just got to be me and not change who I am? Huh?

- Jeff playing to Philip's ego with the counterintelligence line

Pure genius to ensure Philip will open up.

- "I made no alliances when I, you know, broke them"

Kristina and Francesca would disagree with this statement Philip.

- "Don't know for sure, but I think I'm a guy who you want to have around"

A subtle plea to the rest of the tribe, while not pointing out that he's a hatable guy.

- Nobody feels insecure at this moment

My mind was blown when nobody said they felt insecure. If anything, the fact that everybody else thought they were secure would make me feel insecure.

- Rob gives everybody a bit of a wakeup call by saying that he wouldn't feel comfortable if he didn't have immunity.

I don't know if Rob should have done this, but it's a fair statement.

- "You have done everything right to get to this point. Ovavate(?)"

Philip's great grandfather's words right before the vote. I honestly don't know that last word, hence the question mark.

- David, master of the obvious "She got blindsided"

You think, David? What was the tipoff, that she felt safe going into the vote, or that she reacted when she saw her name a second time?

Power rankings to come tomorrow.