Surviving Thailand, The Review Episode: The Usual Excitement

If the Survivor contestants thought that Helen's recipes and Jake's stories were yawn-inducing, they should just feel lucky that they didn't have to sit through this review (rerun) episode while on the island. I suppose if you have not seen a single episode this season, you might have gained some insight as to how the contestants got to where they are now by watching this, but otherwise, you gained nothing and just lost an hour of time that would have been better spent by reading articles on this site.

I'm not going to bother recapping the review, because you can just go to our Survivor page to get the same information in greater detail. So let's take a look at what was new. As you'll see by the fairly short length of this article, there wasn't much of it.

We did get to see post-vote interviews from the contestants who have already been given the boot. John (remember him?) said he felt confident going into the first Tribal Council, and once again blamed an unseen alliance for getting rid of him, rather than accepting that he was voted off because of the way he behaved. And, just to make sure the viewers remember, we did get some new footage of him ordering people around and Clay noting that John wanted to sit and watch the fire while sending everybody else to get the materials.

After that first Tribal Council, Ted began a ritual of shaving his head using the shaving kit that he brought as his luxury item. He has apparently done so after every Tribal Council since as a kind of ritual. OK, that's sort of interesting, but not exactly the kind of mind-blowing new material people were looking for.

Tanya's post-vote interview revealed nothing as she said that it's not good for your self-esteem to be voted out.

Ghandia revealed a bit more about how she was acting with Ted and the others as we see some new footage of her acting like, in her words and the words of the others, a "diva." Apparently whenever the chance arose, she would act like she was a model and Ted would be the cameraman. Just adds another layer to her already kind of bizarre actions on the island.

After being voted off, Jed said he was praying it was a nightmare and just wondered if there was something more he could have done. Let me lead a chorus of "Duh" here from all viewers.

When Ghandia was voted off, she also had a "Duh" moment by noting that to stay longer, she should have just accepted Ted's apology for the whole "grinding" incident (which, actually, she did do, but then opened it up again). But that wouldn't have been the essence of Ghandia. Hmmm. Yeah, well, that essence is what landed her in the Reality TV Hall of Shame.

A bit more unseen footage showed us that Jake got mad at the heavy, leaky canoe. He even threw some things. Wow. That was exciting.

In her post-vote interview, Stephanie said that the rest of the tribe had shelter as their priority and she was taking care of the water. But she wasn't there for the money - she was there for respect, to have an adventure, and the challenge herself, which she did.

Robb, in his interview, said that he lasted longer than he expected as he was the youngest and by far the most outspoken player (noooo, ya think?). He wishes he hadn't gotten into a petty squabble with Ken - he felt like he was arguing with a cop over a traffic ticket. Well, he was half right.

Shii Ann noted in her interview that she shook everyone up and let it all come out. She felt liberated and knows that the others would soon be fighting amongst themselves.

Time for some more new footage. Or should I say, "buttage"? Clay, to nobody's surprise, is an ass man. He in particular liked watching Erin's butt once the two tribes came to live together. Jan says Clay being an ass man is cute and darling and doesn't offend anyone. Clay even goes so far as to tell Erin that she has the prettiest little butt. I hope he's not relying on a "compliment" like that to win over her vote if he should make it to the final 2.

More new footage shows us that the tribes had gotten a couple of sets of masks, snorkels, and fins - not as part of a challenge, but just to use. So Jake and Brian decided to make spears out of sticks and try to be Rich Hatch by catching some dinner. It did not appear to work. However, it is interesting to note that Jake and Brian were the ones who lasted the longest in the next immunity challenge where they had to stay underwater and breathe through those leaky bamboo snorkels…

Moving back to interviews and old footage, Erin said after her vote out that Sook Jai got really big heads in the beginning (another "Duh" moment). They thought they were much stronger but only later found out that Chuay Gahn was much closer. She said they should not have taken anything for granted.

More new footage! There's a bug attack in the cave while the players are sleeping. Brian and Jake swat at it. Wow, I can hardly catch my breath from the excitement.

After Ken was voted out, he said that he played with integrity because that's how he is. Some people can separate the game from real life, but he can't because he would be judged by it and he can't afford that in his line of work. He didn't want to lie and play the game that way, but then again he didn't win.

Finally, we get to Penny's post-vote interview, in which she said that she knew she had little time to rescue herself and she was trying to get to know the Chuay Gahn folks because she felt threatened. It's an uncomfortable feeling knowing that you don't control your own destiny.

And that was pretty much it. Sure, we got to see a few lowlights and highlights again, like Robb whining about the the reward challenge they blew because they couldn't follow the rules and Robb being stung by a stingray, but I could have lived without them.

So, what about next week, when we return to Thursday nights and the actual play of the game? Well, Clay speaks his mind to Jake, apparently about the work that people are doing, and Helen says that Jake does indeed do more than Clay. Is this supposed to convince us that maybe Clay will be going? Yeah, right. Anyway, there is a "twist" in the reward challenge. Judging by the players' reaction, I'm betting family members are there, and we'll probably see those family members play for the reward the way we did last season.

That's about it. Told ya it wasn't terribly exciting. But stay tuned to the site because we always make it exciting with our ongoing commentaries and analyses!

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline, and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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