The pic of ulong...is Ibe's head down to his chest? what's that by his right shoulder? I blew the photo up, but still can't quite figure it out. *(^
I'm thinking the few low shadows indicate morning or afternoon. If morning, the day after last Tc; if afternoon...following IC. but which? Or, would they be so desperate to pray as a last resort?? </]
His brain ? </]
Vidcaps, Analysis and Predictions,
Episode 7, "The Great White Shark Hunter"
By Garbotalk, 3/27/05
Last episode we saw the continued downward spiral of poor Ulong, this time booting self-described "redneck" James. Alliances were drawn between the duos of Ibrehem and Bobby Jon versus Stephenie and James. While Stephenie voted with James the first vote at tribal council, she flipped and voted against him in the second round, securing his eviction. Bobby Jon and Stephenie conspired to vote out James first, followed by Ibrehem next, if they were to lose again. At least that’s what Bobby Jon believed. Stephenie has proven herself to be the power player on Ulong, making the boot decisions each episode. Her choice of evicting strength repeatedly has cost her tribe the opportunity to win challenges, forcing their return to tribal council week after week.
Why hasn't producer Mark Burnett provided a tribal swap or evened out the tribes to save Ulong as he's done in the past when teams became disproportionate? Why are the challenges consistently physical? There appears to be a fed up producer, tired of seeing tribes ditch strong physical players early year after year only to keep weak ones. It's as if he's saying, "Get rid of your strong players early and your team will suffer for it, and suffer, and suffer." Losing Jolanda was costly, as was losing Angie. Maybe Ulong finally learned the lesson by getting rid of James, a weak player who hasn't contributed much in challenges. In any case, future editions of Survivor will have players who have seen this season's hardest challenges ever endured by the weakest team ever chosen. They won't want to repeat these errors, hopefully. Maybe this will be known as the year survivors learned hard lessons and paid terrible prices. Let's look at this week's clues.
From the CBS website: "A tribe member is suspicious of a potential alliance forming between two very friendly tribe mates that could spoil a game plan."
From the CBS Internet promo: "V.O.: And on the other side of the island a blooming romance could affect the balance of power. Tom: We're all watching and seeing where the alliances lie."
From the end of episode promo: "VO: Next Thursday, Survivor is on at its regular night. JP: A relationship gets complicated. Tom: Their little romance could be a monkey wrench that we don't see coming."
From the CBS press release: "A tribe member is suspicious of a potential alliance forming between Gregg and Jennifer."
The male bonding group of shark hunters Tom, Ian and Gregg has been compromised by Jenn's romance with Gregg. Tom had intended an alliance of men, similar to what he has experienced with his fellow fire fighters back home. Only back home, girlfriends don't get to sleep over at the firehouse. This complicates matters. Can Tom trust Gregg to put the strong male alliance ahead of Jenn? No, he cannot. This is the first inkling of Tom as power broker. We've seen Tom strong in challenges. We've seen him work hard and be supportive at camp. But now we're going to see Tom as a strategic player, and it will be interesting. Gregg revealed his plans to keep Jenn and eventually ditch Tom and Ian for Coby and Janu last episode. Tom is now catching on to Gregg and Jenn's power alliance, and plans to watch his back.
From the CBS website: "Two Survivors battle to provide for their tribe. One brings home a clam; one brings home a shark."
From a CBS press release: "The Great White Shark Hunter" -- Tom battles a shark…and wins, on SURVIVOR: PALAU , Thursday, March 31 ( 8:00-9:00 PM , ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network."
From the CBS Internet: "V.O.: And a Survivor First, so incredible…Katie: Oh my God! V.O.: so unbelievable...Gregg: You're a mad man! Koror: (cheering) V.O.: We never thought it would happen. Tom: Yeah!"
From the end of episode preview: "JP: Bobby Jon scores for Ulong. Stephenie: Yeah, good job. Bobby Jon: Getting that fish felt like making the extra point to win the game. Tom: Ahhhh ha ha ha. JP: While Tom makes a slam dunk. Tom: How's that for a shark!"
This is the episode of the hunters for food from the sea, and the competition and victories of these men who hunt. On Ulong, Bobby Jon finally captures a fish using the Hawaiian sling, snorkel, mask and fins won during a reward. His fellow teammates, Stephenie and Ibrehem, cheer his victory. On Koror, Gregg and Tom are deliriously happy after Tom hunts and captures a shark. Who gets the clam? I'd bet its Ian or Gregg, laughing that all they provided for food was a clam while Tom brought in a shark. Tom is proving himself to be a provider, a leader in challenges and an essential power player for Koror. His dominance over Gregg is now obvious. This foreshadows doom for Gregg and Jenn's plan of turning the tables on Tom later in the game. Tom, the great shark hunter, is going to compete to win no matter what the challenge, physical, mental or strategic gaming, and he'll succeed.
From the CBS website: "Sitting out a Challenge, one Survivor finds it hard to watch from the sidelines and doubts the tribe's ability to win."
From the CBS press release: "Meantime, when one tribe member is forced to sit out a challenge, they begin to doubt their tribe's ability to win."
There is a surprising lack of challenge photos from the promos, but based on the pre-game story board, the challenges are the SOS reward challenge and something called Sea Stars for immunity. Let's start with the SOS challenge. This is a repeat of the SOS or save our souls challenge from All Stars in which each team makes an attention getting display on the beach. The team with the SOS signal easiest to see from the sky wins a reward, which is usually dropped from the sky by parachute. According to the story board, the reward for this challenge is meals ready to eat (MRE) sent down to the starving troops as in WWII via parachute.
Bobby Jon works hard to cut wood for Ulong's display. Over on Koror, someone who must sit out watches and worries whether those participating will be able to win. So many people must sit out now, that it is nearly laughable. Only three members of Koror may participate, leaving five to sit out and watch. I would guess the worried player might be Caryn who likes to boss or Coby who worries often. Whichever player worries, it is in vain. Based on the happy Koror players cheering while looking up, they must see a reward dropped on their beach. Meanwhile, Ulong continues their losing streak, and they are quite bummed. Reward winner: Koror.
Will Ulong ever win again as a team? Let's consider the immunity challenge.
From the CBS website: "During a crucial Immunity challenge, one Survivor takes over for a struggling tribe mate. Will it be enough to win?"
From the CBS internet promo: "V.O.: The Ulong tribe is down to 3… Stephenie: And I'm not ready to go yet. V.O.: because every week they've been outplayed. Gregg: They must just be absolutely beat up over this."
Since the title of the immunity challenge is "Sea Stars" based on the pre-show challenge board, it must be a water challenge of some sort. And, in fact, Ulong carries their fins, mask and canteens with them. Water challenges haven't been Ibrehem's forte, and I imagine he is the struggling player who needs to be rescued. Stephenie has been strong in water challenges, as has Bobby Jon. One of them will try to save Ulong by taking over for Ibrehem when he falters. Will it be enough to win? Unfortunately, based on their dejected faces, Ulong will once again head to tribal council. This walk by Ulong in the final photos shows Stephenie carrying a blue board with her canteen and mask on top. Why carry a blue board? Perhaps it is a memento from the challenge. It may be a combination physical and mental challenge, with the physical being swimming and retrieving objects from the water, and the mental being writing answers on the blue board. Immunity winner: Koror.
So who will get the boot? Every week that Ulong goes to tribal council, Stephenie makes the boot determination and the rest fall in line. Bobby Jon believes he and Steph will vote out Ibrehem. Stephenie knows merge is near, and has seen Bobby Jon as her biggest challenge threat. He caught a fish. He probably rescued Ibrehem when he faltered during the challenge to no avail. If Bobby Jon were to make it to merge, he'd be more likely to win challenges than Ibrehem, and also more likely to get along with the powerful male alliance on Koror of Tom/Ian and Gregg. Stephenie won't let that happen. Boot: Bobby
http://www.survivorfever.net/s10_predictions_garbotalk_ep7.html