|
Post by bbg95 on Aug 26, 2020 22:09:41 GMT -5
I have finished the Amazon. It was a solid season overall. Not the best cast top-to-bottom, but there were some memorable players. Rob in particular played a very innovative game, almost a proto-Tony-in-Cagayan-type game in which he blindsided multiple people who thought he was working with them. Three players who thought they were in a power position (Deena, Alex and Christy) were blindsided over a series of four votes. I didn't think Jenna played a particularly strategic game, but she was solid enough and came through with the last two immunity wins. And I do have to give her credit for becoming the only person to give up immunity and leave herself completely exposed (i.e. no other form of immunity and no fire making challenge) and survive the vote.
I think I will watch Millennials vs. Gen X next. I have updated my ongoing rankings as follows:
Tier 1 1. Winners at War 2. Pearl Islands 3. Cagayan 4. Heroes v. Villains Tier 2 5. David v. Goliath 6. Cambodia 7. China 8. Tocantins Tier 3 9. Philippines 10. Blood v. Water 11. Panama 12. Vanuatu 13. Amazon 14. Cook Islands 15. Kaoh Rong Tier 4 16. Game Changers 17. Micronesia Tier 5 18. Palau 19. Marquesas
|
|
|
Post by bbg95 on Aug 27, 2020 13:59:01 GMT -5
I started watching Millennials v. Gen X, and it seems fine so far, but I'm personally offended that Ken, who is just a couple months older than me and was 33 at the time, was put on the Gen X tribe. My entire life, I was classified as a Millennial, but right around the time I turned 30, the media started shifting the boundary for Millennials because they used it as shorthand for people under 30 instead of the actual definition. It has since reverted back, and I know this probably doesn't matter to most people, but this was definitely an annoying media trend for older Millennials like me for a while.
|
|
bluepenquin
Hall of Fame
4-Time VolleyTalk Poster of the Year (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016), All-VolleyTalk 1st Team (2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016)
Posts: 12,447
|
Post by bluepenquin on Aug 27, 2020 15:30:56 GMT -5
I started watching Millennials v. Gen X, and it seems fine so far, but I'm personally offended that Ken, who is just a couple months older than me and was 33 at the time, was put on the Gen X tribe. My entire life, I was classified as a Millennial, but right around the time I turned 30, the media started shifting the boundary for Millennials because they used it as shorthand for people under 30 instead of the actual definition. It has since reverted back, and I know this probably doesn't matter to most people, but this was definitely an annoying media trend for older Millennials like me for a while. Ken fit the personality of a Gen X - at least as Survivor wanted to stereotype this. Ken was also a terrible 'strategic' player. I really liked this season and thought there was several good players. To name a few: Hannah - I believe her strategy in this season is underrated (and she could have easily gotten my vote to win). Michaela - One of my favorite players of all-time. I appreciated her so much more after watching both of her seasons a 2nd time. Social game may be iffy - but her strategy and how the game should be played are top notch. Also a very good challenge player. Zeke - Also what I think is a very good strategic player David - maybe my favorite player of all-time. He was/is more Cochrane than Cochrane (I am one that likes Cochrane a lot). David was an outstanding strategic player in his first season (it took Cochrane a 2nd season). David's sense of humor and self awareness is highly entertaining for me. And then - he was among the most inept challenge players of all-time. There are strategic similarities between David and Cirie. Chris and Brett played on Amazing Race, so that was interesting for me - although neither was a strong Survivor player.
|
|
|
Post by bbg95 on Aug 28, 2020 14:14:18 GMT -5
Okay, so I think both tribes have made dubious decisions with their first votes. Voting out Rachel over David is pretty questionable when David was both completely inept in camp (he did start the fire, but that was later) and challenges and someone who was paranoid and blatantly looking for an idol. Rachel may have been a little annoying, but she wasn't that bad. And I think voting someone out because they struggled in a single challenge (especially a puzzle) is always a pretty dubious basis for a voting decision unless it's just obvious that they will always be a liability. I would have kept her in the game over him.
But that looks ingenious compared to the Millennials voting out Mari over Figgy, which makes absolutely no sense at all. Figgy is unlikable and got into an obvious showmance right away. She and Taylor didn't even try to hide it and basically bragged about it at tribal council. I understand why their other two allies wanted to keep Figgy around, but it makes no sense for the other six people on the tribe. And Mari hadn't done anything wrong. They said she was "strategic," but all she'd really done was point out that they should break up the obvious couple. And she was right. I don't know if I have ever been so frustrated with the result of a vote as I was with this one. My only solace is I know that eventual winner Adam was on the opposite side of the vote because he's not dumb.
The Figgy/Taylor faction of the Millennials is giving me Raro vibes, which is not a good thing, as Raro was my least favorite alliance ever. I may have to take back what I said earlier. Even though Ken is definitely a Millennial, he may have been fortunate to not be stuck on the tribe filled with bad players. I feel so sorry for Zeke and Adam right now, and I can't wait for a tribe swap in which they will hopefully end up playing with smarter people.
|
|
bluepenquin
Hall of Fame
4-Time VolleyTalk Poster of the Year (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016), All-VolleyTalk 1st Team (2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016)
Posts: 12,447
|
Post by bluepenquin on Aug 28, 2020 14:51:46 GMT -5
Okay, so I think both tribes have made dubious decisions with their first votes. Voting out Rachel over David is pretty questionable when David was both completely inept in camp (he did start the fire, but that was later) and challenges and someone who was paranoid and blatantly looking for an idol. Rachel may have been a little annoying, but she wasn't that bad. And I think voting someone out because they struggled in a single challenge (especially a puzzle) is always a pretty dubious basis for a voting decision unless it's just obvious that they will always be a liability. I would have kept her in the game over him. But that looks ingenuous compared to the Millennials voting out Mari over Figgy, which makes absolutely no sense at all. Figgy is unlikable and got into an obvious showmance right away. She and Taylor didn't even try to hide it and basically bragged about it at tribal council. I understand why their other two allies wanted to keep Figgy around, but it makes no sense for the other six people on the tribe. And Mari hadn't done anything wrong. They said she was "strategic," but all she'd really done was point out that they should break up the obvious couple. And she was right. I don't know if I have ever been so frustrated with the result of a vote as I was with this one. My only solace is I know that eventual winner Adam was on the opposite side of the vote because he's not dumb. The Figgy/Taylor faction of the Millennials is giving me Raro vibes, which is not a good thing, as Raro was my least favorite alliance ever. I may have to take back what I said earlier. Even though Ken is definitely a Millennial, he may have been fortunate to not be stuck on the tribe filled with bad players. I feel so sorry for Zeke and Adam right now, and I can't wait for a tribe swap in which they will hopefully end up playing with smarter people. David is very likeable. Figgy wasn't (at least per the editing). So I agree about Figgy should have been the 1st vote, but very glad that David survived. Figgy/Taylor were pretty annoying.
|
|
|
Post by bbg95 on Aug 28, 2020 15:00:22 GMT -5
Okay, so I think both tribes have made dubious decisions with their first votes. Voting out Rachel over David is pretty questionable when David was both completely inept in camp (he did start the fire, but that was later) and challenges and someone who was paranoid and blatantly looking for an idol. Rachel may have been a little annoying, but she wasn't that bad. And I think voting someone out because they struggled in a single challenge (especially a puzzle) is always a pretty dubious basis for a voting decision unless it's just obvious that they will always be a liability. I would have kept her in the game over him. But that looks ingenuous compared to the Millennials voting out Mari over Figgy, which makes absolutely no sense at all. Figgy is unlikable and got into an obvious showmance right away. She and Taylor didn't even try to hide it and basically bragged about it at tribal council. I understand why their other two allies wanted to keep Figgy around, but it makes no sense for the other six people on the tribe. And Mari hadn't done anything wrong. They said she was "strategic," but all she'd really done was point out that they should break up the obvious couple. And she was right. I don't know if I have ever been so frustrated with the result of a vote as I was with this one. My only solace is I know that eventual winner Adam was on the opposite side of the vote because he's not dumb. The Figgy/Taylor faction of the Millennials is giving me Raro vibes, which is not a good thing, as Raro was my least favorite alliance ever. I may have to take back what I said earlier. Even though Ken is definitely a Millennial, he may have been fortunate to not be stuck on the tribe filled with bad players. I feel so sorry for Zeke and Adam right now, and I can't wait for a tribe swap in which they will hopefully end up playing with smarter people. David is very likeable. Figgy wasn't (at least per the editing). So I agree about Figgy should have been the 1st vote, but very glad that David survived. Figgy/Taylor were pretty annoying. Yeah, I'm liking David now more that he's aligned with the other underdogs on his tribe, and he's made fire and found an idol. And I see what you mean about the Cirie comparison, as she was afraid of leaves at first, and David was seemingly afraid of just about everything.
|
|
|
Post by Hawk Attack on Aug 29, 2020 15:24:43 GMT -5
Survivor alum and former NBA standout Cliff Robinson has passed away at the age of 53
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2020 21:18:24 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by XAsstCoach on Aug 29, 2020 21:50:09 GMT -5
Survivor alum and former NBA standout Cliff Robinson has passed away at the age of 53 WHAT? First Chadwick and now Cliff. What is happening?!?
|
|
|
Post by bbg95 on Aug 30, 2020 15:43:13 GMT -5
After seeing Jessica play so poorly that she needed to be bailed out by David playing his idol on her, it's really hard to take her seriously on that video podcast that she does where she and some other dude (who has never actually played Survivor--he's just an armchair quarterback) explain why other people lost. I honestly have been pretty unimpressed a lot of the gameplay in Millennials vs. Gen X. There are a lot of bad players on both tribes.
|
|
|
Post by bbg95 on Sept 2, 2020 14:08:12 GMT -5
I just got to the merge in Millennials vs. Gen X. The tribe swap really improved the season, and it was fun that in each tribe, the majority chose to vote out one of their own in large part because the majorities were pretty fragile due to their members being on opposite sides of their original tribes. Figgy getting voted off was so satisfying, as she and Taylor was so arrogant and annoying and didn't seem to give any consideration to the idea that Adam would rather work with Ken and Jessica instead of two people who blindsided him and who were still carrying on an obvious showmance. Justice for Mari.
|
|
bluepenquin
Hall of Fame
4-Time VolleyTalk Poster of the Year (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016), All-VolleyTalk 1st Team (2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016)
Posts: 12,447
|
Post by bluepenquin on Sept 2, 2020 14:32:33 GMT -5
I just got to the merge in Millennials vs. Gen X. The tribe swap really improved the season, and it was fun that in each tribe, the majority chose to vote out one of their own in large part because the majorities were pretty fragile due to their members being on opposite sides of their original tribes. Figgy getting voted off was so satisfying, as she and Taylor was so arrogant and annoying and didn't seem to give any consideration to the idea that Adam would rather work with Ken and Jessica instead of two people who blindsided him and who were still carrying on an obvious showmance. Justice for Mari. One of the reasons I liked this season - original tribes didn't matter that much. Some of the players were thinking of the end and where willing to make moves quickly. The following season (one of my favorites) continued this theme.
|
|
|
Post by bbg95 on Sept 5, 2020 23:54:10 GMT -5
I'm done with Millennials v. Gen X, and I thought it turned out to be a very good season after a shaky start. I actually thought Ken played a pretty good game, apart from his terrible move at the Zeke vote, though Adam and especially Hannah also had moves that were just as bad. Ken won four individual immunities, including three of the last four, and he got Jessica to will him her legacy advantage. He was also a hard worker around camp and a provider, but I guess he was viewed as too much of a sidekick to David, kind of like Woo in Cagayan or Joe in Kaoh Rong (if he wasn't medically evacuated). I think Ken played a good old-school game of Survivor, but I guess that kind of game doesn't really work out that well in a modern season.
Hannah, on the other hand, played an absolutely horrendous game, and I'm surprised that anyone thought she deserved even a single vote (she deservedly got none). To put it in sports terms, if Hannah's was a baseball player, I think she would actually have negative WAR for her performance over the entire season. If I was, say, Zeke, I would have never voted for Hannah under any circumstances after her atrocious decision to flip on Mari and how she kept badgering him incessantly afterward when he just wanted to be left alone (that was among the more frustrating scenes I have ever seen). I get that they were on the wrong side of the numbers anyway, but all that did was alienate Adam and Zeke. And I think the majority didn't respect her fickleness either.
Her only "big moves" were convincing her side to vote out Sunday instead of Bret, which was a bad move because Hannah thought Sunday was a goat, and a fellow goat like her needs to sit next to other goats to have any chance to win. Her decision to vote out Bret over David was even worse, as she allowed the biggest threat to stay in the game. The fact that they got David out at the next vote is almost immaterial to me, as it is a terrible move either way. She also flipped from a majority position to set up the rock draw, and she was fortunate not to just go home there if Jessica had just flipped her vote. I need to do some more research on the exit press and whatnot, but from what I can gather initially, Hannah's edit was actually more favorable than the reality.
I also thought Hannah had a terrible Final Tribal Council performance, as she was constantly interrupting discussions between the jury and Adam about his game. She also lied about never being on the wrong side of the vote, and Michelle immediately pointed out the Michaela one, so Hannah even managed to undermine one of her few strengths. She also tried to take credit for moves that were really Zeke's or David's or Adam's (i.e. the moves that were actually good), and it was hilarious that she tried to claim that Adam was taking credit for her moves. Adam really buried her (and to a lesser degree, Ken) at FTC, as he correctly distanced himself from her terrible moves by saying that she "went rogue." I would have voted for every single person on the jury over Hannah except maybe Taylor. Her gameplay was just as bad as Angelina's, except it was also not entertaining to watch, whereas Angelina was TV gold.
Adam's game wasn't perfect by any means, as trying to work with Taylor was dumb (he made a similar mistake in WaW by trying to get Rob to blindside Parvati, and that one ultimately destroyed his game), but I thought he did enough to win. He won an individual immunity and found two idols. I also thought he did a good job with his "advantage" to steal a reward, which seems like a terrible advantage that is likely to just get you targeted. But Adam actually ended up using it to his advantage by not using it and then giving it to Jay as a gesture of good will. Speaking of Jay, I liked him a lot more after the rest of his alliance was gone, and he and Adam had a great friendly rivalry. Kind of like Aras and Terry where they were often at odds but really respected each other. It was heartbreaking to hear that Adam's mother died an hour after he got home, but at least he was there when she passed, and he told her he won.
As for the rest of the cast, I did enjoy David's journey, so even though I would have voted him out first, I'm glad he was spared. He is basically the male version of Cirie in Panama. I also really liked Zeke, who was obviously a very strong threat to win the game if he had made it to the end. He was able to bond with basically everyone, including people I might not have expected such as the former football player in Chris and the cop in Bret. Taylor was one of the dumbest players I have ever seen, and the season improved markedly after he was taken out of the game. Will did pretty well for a high-schooler, but he got cocky when he tried to position himself as the perennial swing vote and got taken out shortly thereafter. I think Michelle was actually a pretty good player who was unfortunately sunk by her alliance. I would have liked to see her play without the anchors of Taylor and Figgy.
|
|
|
Post by bbg95 on Sept 5, 2020 23:55:57 GMT -5
I have updated my ongoing rankings as follows. I've now seen half of the seasons. I plan to watch Guatemala next.
Tier 1 1. Winners at War 2. Pearl Islands 3. Cagayan 4. Heroes v. Villains Tier 2 5. David v. Goliath 6. Cambodia 7. China 8. Tocantins Tier 3 9. Philippines 10. Blood v. Water 11. Millennials v. Gen X 12. Panama 13. Vanuatu 14. Amazon 15. Cook Islands 16. Kaoh Rong Tier 4 17. Game Changers 18. Micronesia Tier 5 19. Palau 20. Marquesas
|
|
bluepenquin
Hall of Fame
4-Time VolleyTalk Poster of the Year (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016), All-VolleyTalk 1st Team (2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016)
Posts: 12,447
|
Post by bluepenquin on Sept 6, 2020 7:58:39 GMT -5
I'm done with Millennials v. Gen X, and I thought it turned out to be a very good season after a shaky start. I actually thought Ken played a pretty good game, apart from his terrible move at the Zeke vote, though Adam and especially Hannah also had moves that were just as bad. Ken won four individual immunities, including three of the last four, and he got Jessica to will him her legacy advantage. He was also a hard worker around camp and a provider, but I guess he was viewed as too much of a sidekick to David, kind of like Woo in Cagayan or Joe in Kaoh Rong (if he wasn't medically evacuated). I think Ken played a good old-school game of Survivor, but I guess that kind of game doesn't really work out that well in a modern season. Hannah, on the other hand, played an absolutely horrendous game, and I'm surprised that anyone thought she deserved even a single vote (she deservedly got none). To put it in sports terms, if Hannah's was a baseball player, I think she would actually have negative WAR for her performance over the entire season. If I was, say, Zeke, I would have never voted for Hannah under any circumstances after her atrocious decision to flip on Mari and how she kept badgering him incessantly afterward when he just wanted to be left alone (that was among the more frustrating scenes I have ever seen). I get that they were on the wrong side of the numbers anyway, but all that did was alienate Adam and Zeke. And I think the majority didn't respect her fickleness either. Her only "big moves" were convincing her side to vote out Sunday instead of Bret, which was a bad move because Hannah thought Sunday was a goat, and a fellow goat like her needs to sit next to other goats to have any chance to win. Her decision to vote out Bret over David was even worse, as she allowed the biggest threat to stay in the game. The fact that they got David out at the next vote is almost immaterial to me, as it is a terrible move either way. She also flipped from a majority position to set up the rock draw, and she was fortunate not to just go home there if Jessica had just flipped her vote. I need to do some more research on the exit press and whatnot, but from what I can gather initially, Hannah's edit was actually more favorable than the reality. I also thought Hannah had a terrible Final Tribal Council performance, as she was constantly interrupting discussions between the jury and Adam about his game. She also lied about never being on the wrong side of the vote, and Michelle immediately pointed out the Michaela one, so Hannah even managed to undermine one of her few strengths. She also tried to take credit for moves that were really Zeke's or David's or Adam's (i.e. the moves that were actually good), and it was hilarious that she tried to claim that Adam was taking credit for her moves. Adam really buried her (and to a lesser degree, Ken) at FTC, as he correctly distanced himself from her terrible moves by saying that she "went rogue." I would have voted for every single person on the jury over Hannah except maybe Taylor. Her gameplay was just as bad as Angelina's, except it was also not entertaining to watch, whereas Angelina was TV gold. Adam's game wasn't perfect by any means, as trying to work with Taylor was dumb (he made a similar mistake in WaW by trying to get Rob to blindside Parvati, and that one ultimately destroyed his game), but I thought he did enough to win. He won an individual immunity and found two idols. I also thought he did a good job with his "advantage" to steal a reward, which seems like a terrible advantage that is likely to just get you targeted. But Adam actually ended up using it to his advantage by not using it and then giving it to Jay as a gesture of good will. Speaking of Jay, I liked him a lot more after the rest of his alliance was gone, and he and Adam had a great friendly rivalry. Kind of like Aras and Terry where they were often at odds but really respected each other. It was heartbreaking to hear that Adam's mother died an hour after he got home, but at least he was there when she passed, and he told her he won. As for the rest of the cast, I did enjoy David's journey, so even though I would have voted him out first, I'm glad he was spared. He is basically the male version of Cirie in Panama. I also really liked Zeke, who was obviously a very strong threat to win the game if he had made it to the end. He was able to bond with basically everyone, including people I might not have expected such as the former football player in Chris and the cop in Bret. Taylor was one of the dumbest players I have ever seen, and the season improved markedly after he was taken out of the game. Will did pretty well for a high-schooler, but he got cocky when he tried to position himself as the perennial swing vote and got taken out shortly thereafter. I think Michelle was actually a pretty good player who was unfortunately sunk by her alliance. I would have liked to see her play without the anchors of Taylor and Figgy. I actually liked Hannah - and thought she played a good game after an initial shaky start. I am too far removed from remembering the specifics - but I was thinking there was a point where Adam thought she made a horrible strategic move and was upset with her. However, I was thinking it was a bad move for Adam's game - but a sensible move for Hannah's game. Adam won the jury when he broke down talking about his mom. Aside from the strategy - Hannah was pretty funny talking about how good looking some of the guys were while showing her own insecurities. Ken - yes an old school game. I sort of remembering him 'spilling the beans' on a move towards the middle of the game. It was such a stupid move. Agree that the game got better once Taylor and Figgy were out. And that Jay was very likeable once Taylor left. I wanted to like Michelle. I still think Michaela was/is one of the strongest players. But then she got voted out very early after the merge. David, Zeke, and Michaela were my favorite players. I found Will annoying. Yes, he was young, but his big game talk at times and decisions didn't seem all that good to me.
|
|