Yuku free message boards

it's a lot harder to gage tone for someone with a 1 in visibility.

That's the crux of the matter. Does UTR1 have enough content to rate a tone? Since I gave most of the Bikini Team Ns for their comfort silliness and the negative SPV about it from the men, I will consider a P for Liz. But her P'ish content wasn't nearly as concentrated or broad-based as the volley of comments from the Galu men about the comfort decision.

Speaking of Edgic...


I reviewed Ep1 Sunday and my impression of the players was pretty much what I got (or didn't get) the first go through.

What did stand out was something that is probably pretty obvious: The theme of Leadership.

Jeff tells us that first impressions are already forming.
Anonymous man #1 (Brett), tells us that "This lady" (Shambo), "will naturally set forth as our leader."

Anonymous lady (Shambo), then tells us, "Dude, I'm a people magnet. People have gravitated to me my entire life. It's like, "Oh my god! This chick rocks, we love her!"

Anonymous Marisa tells us of a tough guy. "I wouldn't want to mess with him, that's for sure..." But she does and pays the price.

Next, of course, comes anonymous tough guy, aka Evil Russel. He promptly confirms Marisa's first impression. "I plan on making it as miserable as possible. Makin' it hell for everybody to get what I want."

Right after Evil Russ comes Betsy. So, the first two to cross Russ are introduced with him. The first two to cross him quickly pay the price.

Next, Jeff tells everyone that they are to pick the person they think has what it takes to be a leader:

"Out here the leaders, or matais as they're called, are held in very high esteem because they're called upon to protect the interests of their tribe. Whoever you elect is gonna do that for your tribe. It's gonna be based on body language, observations, ... do your best to describe who could lead your tribe."

It's immediately followed by the first named confessionals:

Monica, "...Taking on a leadership role in a game like Survivor is a death wish!"
Monica makes it clear that she doesn't want to lead.

Mick, "I do have leadership qualities. Being in an operating room, you have to make decisions..."
Mick accepts the challenge of leadership with confidence.

Jeff, "Alright Galu, who looks like they could lead your tribe?"

Ben, "...I've done all this stuff before and I kinda think a lot of these people are candy asses." (Shot of Marisa.)
Ben is pure, arrogant confidence. He also equates what it takes to win with outdoor skills. Of course Ben is focusing on totally the wrong skills and falls because of his lack of people skills..

Jeff, "...test your leadership skills...!"

Russel S, "I'm scared. This leadership thing can go south real quick. The highest nail gets pounded down in this game and right now I'm sky high!"
Russel is scared of leadership and his strategy has been to make moves that keep people liking him.

1st commercial break.

---

I don't have any great ideas from this observation, except that the effort to create a theme is there.

Survivor's "themes" are often vague and inconsistent, but it's something to look for echoes of through the season.

Six players had leadership comments or SPV in the first 15 minutes:
Monica- She won't touch leadership with a ten foot pole.
Shambo- SPV that she's a natural leader.
Evil Russ- His leadership plan is manipulation.
Russel S - He's scared of being the leader and standing out.
Mick- He's confident that he has leadership skills and experience.
Ben- He's annoyed that people don't recognize all the merit badges that he's wearing. He's got outdoor skills, what else do you need?!

Of all these, Mick and Shambo are the two with positive leadership comments.

Marisa commented after the challenge that Foa Foa won because Mick made all the right choices right down the line.
Does this make Mick overexposed? Not with Evil Russ and Shambo around. And now we have Jaison making big scenes. And Russ wants us to believe that Ashley is a big threat because "the girls are talkin'...Ashley is gonna try somethin'." That's a lot of distraction from anything that Mick might have said and done in the first 1/2 hour of Ep1.

He hasn't gotten any of the blame for Foa Foa losing, and sometimes I forget he even is the leader.

It's the boring MOR winner a la Pirate Master Part Deux. (Though I'd love for a crazy Evil Russ or Shambo win.)