This site uses cookies. If you continue to browse the site, we shall assume that you accept the use of cookies.
Big Brother and online Hunger games.

Survivor Thai Sun Land Rewatch - ep 3

Jan 7, 2014 by zimdelinvasor
Watched the infamous Grindgate episode of Thailand. I have to say that while it was unpleasant, it wasn't.. /as/ unpleasant as it could have been. I mean, there were some comical quotes there -- Brian giving a confessional about earlobes, "I'll punch his ass in the eye", "You don't do Ghandia like that", "Wut wuz thaayut?", "I am a hundred and.... fifty... to two hundred percent happy!", Clay awkwardly interrupting Ghandia and Ted's exchange to ask to go fishing -- and it is kind of entertaining how the Red Berets picked /the worst day imaginable/ to show up. The image of them standing there awkwardly when they expected to just be chopping trees and shit is kinda lulz. But... it was still an entire set of scenes revolving around someone accusing someone else of sexual assault, so that's never gonna be fun and I still wish it hadn't happened. I think this moment being one of the bigger ones from Thailand has to be a part of why it was so negatively-received; even if some funny quotes come out of it, an entire sexual assault storyline is really never going to make people remember your season in a positive light. This is just a topic that I don't like at all in general so I wish it hadn't played a part in this season or any other.

Cast thoughts:

- Shii Ann is such an un-fun human being that, ironically, it actually starts to make her fun. It seems like her only role in the season is to talk in confessionals about how either:
a) she's better than you, because you suck, or
b) she's better than you, because she's awesome.
To illustrate this, Shii Ann's three confessionals this episode were one about how she could totally do a logic puzzle in her sleep (spoiler: no), one pissy one about how annoying Jed is because he took a nap and the net just ~floated away~, and one about how Robb is annoying and has too much energy, which was delivered in basically the most un-fun, businesslike way imaginable. On paper Shii Ann should be awful because her role is just to suck away the fun by complaining about things, but the way she does it is so comical to me for some bizarre reason.

- I like Ken's voice.

- I do not like Stephanie's voice.

- Robb is just... such an obnoxious human being, on so many levels, it is perfect. It has been discussed hundreds of times but every single thing about him in the "lost by a bunch of rules" scene is glorious. "Big Teddy wasn't so big." ...what the hell does that even /mean/???

- Jed is a total footnote in Survivor history but I think he's a mildly entertaining one. I mean he was just so inept at... really, everything, that I have to find it kinda comical, though it was more in the first two episodes than in his relatively low-key final episode. I won't miss him but I enjoyed the role he filled while he filled it. I have come out of this rewatch with the very slightest amount of appreciation for Jed Hildebrand as a Survivor figure.

- Ghandia playing up the Ted thing to try to make him a target.... really, really not cool. :| Usually -- like, in 99.99% of all cases, real or hypothetical -- my stance is that you can do whatever you want in Survivor and I'm okay with it because it's a game, but the stuff that she tried to do to Ted here is the one thing that has happened that I think really crosses a line. It's a shame because otherwise I am a huge fan of her, seeing as how she is the kind of person who barks during challenges.

- "Wut waz thaayut?" Everything Jan does is comical.

- "My two year old did that one time. I whooped its ass and put it back to bed." Clay also.

- I do feel bad for Ted for the way the whole Ghandia thing played out and that no matter what else he did on Survivor he'd be remembered for this moment.. however, he himself is still a kinda dull character, so.

Despite the fact that I didn't really enjoy the Chuay Gahn plot this episode, I still am definitely enjoying the season. I really like the challenges -- not just the Attack Zone one, though it, too, is fucking legendary -- and all of the aesthetics that are unique to this season. There are a lot of new things this season that they didn't do in past seasons (different types of challenges, letting them pick their tribes, the Green Beret reward, and even more coming up!) and I have to appreciate that. There are also some pretty entertaining and memorable characters this season. Even though there are those who don't get as much focus, like Erin and Penny, they still aren't totally neglected; both of those girls got confessionals this week. There is no Hope Driskell who is completely ignored until five minutes before she is voted out. Even the characters who aren't as cartoonish relevant to the plot are still given a simple confessional to the effect of "Survivor is hard! :( " and that is definitely something I appreciate about the older seasons vs the really new ones. (I noticed it in my Vanuatu rewatch as well; Leann is probably the least visible character out of all those who make the swap, but she /still/ got a confessional virtually every episode!)

They are also continuing to do a very good job of setting up the Chuay Gahn and Sook Jai storyline; the "previously on" segment focused on how Chuay Gahn were "keeping hope alive" (sidenote: lol) despite being on a losing streak and it showed a brief shot of Jan saying "We'll get 'em eventually, and that's all I can say." There's SO much talk about CG being a "family", even after all of Grindgate went down. Meanwhile, almost all of SJ's Tribal Council centered around how everyone is grumpy and how bad it is without foot -- contrast that with the episode two Tribal Council where it is apparent that on CG, everyone likes everyone and they're only voting someone out because they /have/ to. It's the kind of stuff you'd never notice the first time you watch the season but becomes really apparent once you go back on a rewatch and look for it. Strong season with a consistent narrative that I have been enjoying and still am.

My cast ranking of the first three boots:
1. Tanya
2. Jed
3. John

Comments

I love brian
Sent by bryjow123,Jan 7, 2014
Shii Ann is so fierce
Sent by saxonmath,Jan 7, 2014
zimdelinvasor
I do think she was genuinely hurt at first. I mean she did have the whole rock throwing and screaming fit. If anything I thought all of her emotions in this episode were real but moving on to the next one is where she began using it to her advantage (I don't recall her mentioning using it to her advantage here). Which I mean.... Ghandia still fucking sucks but knowing that episode 3 was all genuine but had no lasting effects makes it completely enjoyable to me. I just loved this and thought it was too hilarious to be uncomfortable.
Sent by best,Jan 8, 2014
best i mean even if she were 100% genuine the principle is still too uncomfortable for me to find it as a survivor moment 'hilarious' despite some cartoonish quotes

in my opinion i think she was playing it as strategy right around the time she, you know, started inventing details and telling people he didn't apologize
Sent by zimdelinvasor,Jan 8, 2014
shii ann is FLAWLESS
Sent by Survivor233,Jan 8, 2014
i definitely did not like ghandia in her final two episodes

not that i don't believe something happened or that she was in the wrong by being upset, but her using accusations of sexual harassment to further her game (and deter Ted's), when that could have serious implications on Teds life outside of survivor has never sat well with me
Sent by Ghoul,Jan 9, 2014

Leave a comment