Survivor BvBvB - May 18/16 Finale Recap

Not Going Down Without a Fight

So here we are down to the final four:
Michele: Original Beauty tribe, been under the radar, annoying voice but didn't really make any enemies.
Cydney: Original Brawn tribe, quietly orchestrated some blindsides, great physical strength but never quite lived up to that potential.
Aubry: Original Brains tribe, started out shaky but really took charge at the end, lost both her closest allies but never gave up. (The Tai Whisperer.)
Tai: Original Beauty tribe, the zen master that went to the dark side and back, he had an idol, an advantage, and a chicken but can he win it all?

Dara - Day 36
As dawn is breaking, we see the real winner I think - Mark the Rooster - he crows in the new day and it pisses Cydney off - Tai quickly has to quiet him down because he has no immunity since his idol was only good until five people remained and with Joe being medically evac'd last episode, that took away his last chance to use his idol. Tai's afraid even being associated with the chicken could turn them against him.
-Aubry & Tai talk and confirm that they are going to stick together.  Tai says they need to try to get close to Cydney.  Aubry agrees, Michele is the only one who hasn't pissed anyone off on the jury, they want to go to the end with Cydney not Michele.
-Michele & Cydney think their best bet is to have the three girls as the final three.  Cydney tells the camera she's in a good spot, now that Joe's gone, everyone wants to take her to the end.  Michele thinks if Tai wins immunity she's screwed.

REWARD CHALLENGE
They will race under a net crawl to a shuffle board type table where they will have to slide tiles through a slot at the end.  Once they have all their tiles through the slot, they will have to balance a stack of the tiles on a machete and transport them through a series of obstacles to a finish table.  Once they have all the tiles at the finish table, they have to group them in matching pairs which will leave three unmatched tiles - on the back of those tiles are three numbers that will be the
combination to unlock the stick from a box which will raise their flag and win them the Reward - a great big juicy steak meal back at camp.
-This was a hard fought battle, Aubry got way ahead because she has killer balance but then she mismatched two of the tiles and had the wrong combination for a while which allowed the rest to catch up... but in the end AUBRY figured out her mistake and won the Reward. 
-Jeff tells her she can double her Reward and choose to share with another person.  She chooses Cydney. (She and Tai agreed she had to get close to Cydney, this is a good chance, and Aubry hopes this will increase their chance of beating Michele at the next immunity challenge.)

Reward
They have to eat it right there in camp - these two are already pretty close, it just solidified their bond - they both are hoping the food will allow them to beat the other two for immunity.
-Meanwhile, Michele is trying to convince Tai that he should vote with her - that way if either of them don't get immunity, they'll have the others back.  Tai shakes on it, sure he'll do that - but he tells the camera that he is not turning on Aubry or his alliance with her... unless he has to because he's there to win the million dollars. (Uh, so we're not quite sure what Tai is doing.)

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
It's another multi-level, back and forth, crazy challenge.  On Jeff's go they will have to race out to a platform in the water and retrieve key #1 - then they have to run back to the beach and unlock a set of stairs, at the top of the stairs they will retrieve key #2, then run back out to the water and using that key unlock a ball attached to a rope.  Running back to land, they have to throw the ball into a Y shaped bracket and pull it down to release a ladder - at the top of the ladder they will retrieve key #3 - racing back out to the water they have to unlock a pole then use the pole to knock a bag of puzzle pieces off the top of the platform - then run back to the beach, up the stairs, up the ladder and then use the puzzle pieces to complete a three level puzzle.  First person done the puzzle wins immunity! (Yeah, it was a long one.)
-Aubry led most of the way through the first three phases of the challenge, she and Cydney had quite the head start on the puzzle but apparently the steak dinner helped the body perform but not so much
the brain - they both stalled out on the puzzle and it was MICHELE who came from behind and won immunity!

Dara - Day 37
They return to camp and now Michele is facing the decision of who she wants to go to the end with - if she chooses wrong, it could cost her a million dollars (honey, you ain't winnin'.)
-Tai & Aubry go for water and it's the worse case scenario for them, but they agree to stick together and they have no choice but to vote out Cydney. The figure this could result in a tie and then people will be making fire.
-Aubry's still a little worried that Tai could turn on her - but she is thinking about how to build fire as well.
-Michele tells Cydney she is not going to write her name down and Cydney tells her she will vote however she wants to vote - they want to keep Aubry but they're worried that she will be able to work the jury and win votes so Tai who is not able to speak as well, would be better for both of them in the end.
-Michele assures Cydney that Tai will vote with them and even tells her not to work on her fire making skills, because she won't need them.
-Tai asks Michele & Cydney if the girls are sticking together and voting him out and then he's shocked when Michele tells him they are voting Aubry (Umm, it's like he wasn't even there when they discussed voting together - I would say something about men and their listening skills but you all know it.)  Tai's really glad they're not targeting him, now is he going to turn on Aubry?

TRIBAL COUNCIL #1
Do we care what they said?  Not really - it is a tie vote, 2 Aubry and 2 Cydney.  If they revote only Tai & Michele will be voting and they say they are not changing their votes so it comes down to fire making and wouldn't you know it, Cydney should have practiced because Aubry was able to burn through her rope and raise her flag - sending Cydney to the jury.  Cydney makes a crying declaration that she just wanted to pay off her mom's mortgage and go to school... (but I have no sympathy, didn't she tell us she went to a pretty prestigious college?)

Dara - Night 37
They all feel pretty crappy coming back to camp without Cydney but Aubry is really proud that she was able to pull it off when it really mattered.
-Michele isn't too happy that Tai didn't vote with them - she thinks Tai just handed Aubry a million dollars. (I think so too.)
-They are all talking about being the final three when Tai asks, Are you sure there isn't another challenge?  Jeff never said they were the final three... (it could be a final two - which I would much prefer.)

Dara - Day 38
Mark crows the start of the day and Michele comes to camp with tree mail - there is a final challenge that will decide who can stay and who will go... oooohhh!
Challenge:  Jeff tells them this is not an immunity challenge, they ARE the final three.  However, they will be voting someone out tonight, just not each other.  The winner of the challenge will get to vote out a jury member (What?? That's a cool twist.)  They will be doing the dexterity challenge that no one chose in their first ever challenge.  Standing on a wobbly beam they will have to stack balls and bases using a pronged stick.  If the stack falls, they have to start over.  First person to get all the balls and bases stacked so they stay for more than a 2 count will win the first Vote off the Jury advantage.
-They all have a few start overs but in the end Michele has become the challenge beast when it really counts and she got the advantage.

Dara - Day 38
They get back to camp and Michele is asking for their input on who to vote off the jury - Michele thinks Joe because he's an obvious vote for Aubry - Tai agrees but thinks Neal might be an even better advocate for Aubry and the better choice to take out.
-Aubry's not too happy to hear that Michele is contemplating her two biggest supporters so she tries to steer her more towards people that may be voting for Tai, like maybe Scot (though I don't think Scot's going to vote for Tai, they are no longer buds.) Aubry thinks Scot will be more likely to maul them with his questions (ah, I could see that.)

Pseudo Tribal
Jury comes in: Neal, Nick, Debbie, Scot, Julia, Jason, Joe and Cydney
They notice that no one is wearing an immunity necklace and wonder what's going on.  Jeff congratulates the contestants on making it to the final three and says they will be facing the jury tomorrow night but tonight, Michele won this advantage and he gets her to read out that she gets to vote out a jury member - and they are all shocked.
Blah, blah, blah - running numbers, who is the best choice....
Michele votes off NEAL!  And proves she made the correct decision when he gets the Sue Hawk award on his parting shot - he saunters over to Michele and spews vitriol: "You came to this game thinking you were a bad @ss b!tch but you're more like a cute little puppy suckling at the teet and I don't think you have a chance." (Whoa! Where the heck did that come from?)

Dara - Day 39
They brought in a scale and mirror for them to check out what 39 days had wrought and both the girls were thinking they looked good - Tai, "I look like a refugee." (Ha, isn't that typical male/female reactions to dramatic weight loss.)

Final Tribal Council
The final four show up to Tribal Council - yes, Four - Tai brought along the chicken, Mark is the biggest winner out there I think.
Jason even whispers to Debbie, "Mark's here." (see everyone loves the chicken.) Tai held him in his lap the whole time.

Nick starts off being the smarmy condescending guy he's always been giving them the advice he thinks they need:
Michele: display intelligence (what?)
Tai: display awareness
Aubry: display confidence
And most importantly, be honest.  (Who does this guy think he is? He asks no questions, but he's going to be listening - Argh!)

Debbie - congratulates them and then asks Tai if he has multiple personalities flipping back and forth like he did (no that's you honey.) Tai starts giving this long answer about how he didn't flip back and forth but Debbie just wanted the no, I don't have multiple personalities.
-She tells Aubry she enjoyed watching her metamorphosis from a neurotic nerd to a geek warrior.  Aubry tells her voting out Debbie was
her one regret in the game but their games moved in different directions and it had to be done, because Debbie was too big a threat.

Julia: She says that Michele was the weakest link on the Beauty tribe in the beginning, she was just dragged along until the end when she finally made a move voting Julia out - is that enough to win?  Michele says it took her a while to find her footing, coming in on Beauty tribe you have to prove you have brains or strength and when she did figure it out she made good decisions including voting Julia out.
Tai, he started strong but then after the merge his game deteriorated, should he win a million dollars for that?  Tai says he came in strong, got all the tools he needed, blindsided Scot and then after that he found an alliance he was comfortable with and it took him to the end.  He thinks his accomplishments early on trumped what Michele did.

Joe: He asks Tai why he should win over Aubry? Tai said he accomplished more than her, found the idol, won the extra vote, won immunity, made the big move to get Scot out.
Aubry said she had to step to the plate with the information Tai provided and make the decisions. If Tai didn't have her, nothing would have happened.  She was on the right side of the vote every time, he was on the wrong side. Tai had super-idols and advantages but he didn't have his finger on the pulse of this game, she did.  She was the person people came to to make a decision at the end of the day she was able to rally people together to get things done.

Jason: Truth time - he doesn't know who he's voting for.
Michele - she had no idea about the blindside of Scot, yet she was in that alliance, what up with that (he didn't say that, but I'm getting tired.) She said she was left out of the Scot vote because of her relationship with Julia and they didn't trust Julia.  Michele showed she could be trusted by voting out Julia and worked her way in so they trusted her more than Tai in voting out Jason instead of her.
Tai - why did you leave Scot & I for them?  Tai said he got scared of the bond Jason & Scot had, scared they would vote him out (and they were talking about when they'd vote him out) and maybe he was a little jealous - but they were such guys and so savage and he's not like that... then the chicken started flapping... Jason says, "Calm down Mark." (Hahaha, that chicken was the star of this show, come on!)

Cydney: Aubry - was it always the plan to get me out in final tribal council?  She said no, it was the plan to vote out Michele but she won immunity.  Since Cydney was there with her on every vote, they were very even going to the jury - she had no choice but to vote Cydney out, because she knew that is what she would do. (I think that was supposed to be a compliment.)
Michele - Cydney thanked her for letting her build fire... Aubry interrupted by asking if Michele knew Tai & Aubry were voting for Cydney - she said no, but she could have easily have switched her vote on the re-vote and she didn't - she wanted to be in the final with Cydney and teary-eyed blew her a kiss (really?)

Scot: He's going to make this quick - Tai, you had an idol, you didn't use it, you had an advantage but you used it in a very dumb way - none of the advantages that you earned in this game did you any good because you didn't use them. (Uh, the idol allowed him to get you out - I call bs on that argument.)
Aubry - you started out this game pretty good, I had respect for you - but Survivor has this twist, now you have to make us vote for you - why would we vote for you Aubry?
-I think you are a competitor and you appreciate someone who competes even if it may be a different style than you.  I played this game with my strengths which per personal, I think you can respect that.
Michele - you out-toughed those two, they got weaker, [clapping] well done Michele. (And he made her cry, happy tears, I think.)

Final words:
Aubry: Had a rough start, my game evolved, managed personalities to get her there - she may not have won immunities but damned if she didn't try hard - she won reward challenge on her own and at the end of the day she made fire in the ultimate Survivor moment.  She loves this game, she played her heart out, she out-witted, she out-lasted and she would say she out-played.

Tai: This game is so hard, people back stabbing each other - we don't have to stab each other - I believe in goodness of humanity, it's what I am (keep in mind he has Mark standing in his lap the whole time) it was a kum-bai-ya speech, he tried to get out a Vietnamese proverb but he got chocked up... I don't think it helped him any.

Michele - People think I didn't play an intelligent game and (she starts choking up) I had to really fight my way in this game and I was up against a lot of roadblocks and I was the only one that had faith in myself when everyone was saying I was at the bottom but I believed in myself and I trusted myself and I remained happy and positive and I'm proud of how I played.  I'm just proud of myself (she says as she's trying to wipe away the tears... Oh come on!! It looks like the jury is buying it. oy.)

Time to Vote:
Julia votes for Michele
Joe votes for Aubry

Final piece of business before Jeff brings it to a close, since Tai has no plan on how to take the chicken back to the States, it's time to say good-bye to Mark.  Tai just has to release him and leave it up to fate.
My favourite moment: Everyone on the jury says, "Bye Mark." Even Jeff, when he's leaving the Tribal Council area says, "See ya, Mark." (It was awesome.)  Mark was the real winner, I tell ya.

Reading of the votes:
Okay, I just have to say, everyone looks good like they do at the reunion show, except Jason, he looks exactly the same, greasy hair back in a pony tail and scraggly beard - except he was wearing a Don Cherry jacket.  I said they didn't polish that turd, they just put a jacket on it. Way to make an effort my friend.

Votes:
Michele - 1
Aubry - 1
Aubry - 2
Michele - 2, 3, 4... and MICHELE is the winner of Survivor Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty (What the what??? I would have NEVER predicted that in a million years. Wow.)
And with Michele winning, that means Katie L., Brandon L., and Susan N. won the pool.  Congratulations you guys.

The rest of the Reunion show was one of the worst I've ever seen - Jeff barely spoke to the players and when he did they just rambled boringly.
-We found out Caleb is now totally recovered.
-For some inexplicable reason Sia showed up hidden behind her ridiculous wig and said she was going to donate $50K to Tai because of his beautiful portrayal of someone who loves nature and animals - and she was giving $50K to an animal charity of his choosing.  (I thought she was going to pull Mark out of her coat, but no such luck... I miss Mark.)
-Drew Carey was there talking about a Survivor Price is Right they did. (Who cares.)

And finally they told us about the next season starting in September: Millennials vs Gen X  "Survivor is all about earning it, where Millennials think they deserve it." (Oh yeah, this one could be interesting.)

Have a great Summer!

Coleen

The Amazing Race - May 13/16 Finale Recap

The Only First That Matters

In this, the final leg of the race, the teams learn they are heading to Los Angeles and we'll find out who will be the winners of the million dollars and the Amazing Race.

The final teams are:
Tyler & Korey - they've had five first place finishes and are heavily favoured to win,
Dana & Matt - physically strong team but their communication issues have been a hindrance, and Sheri & Cole - the lucky underdogs who have been saved by non-elimination legs twice, can they go all the way? 
Phil tells them on the mat their final destination city and also tells them for the first time in Race history, they have all been upgraded to Premium class for the flight from Shenzhen to LA (well, I should hope so - that is a looooong flight.)
And they each have their own fancy pod, nice to see how the other half live :) - of course, they are all on the same flight so they hit the ground running when the plane lands in LA.  They have to head to Angelus plaza and look for the next clue.

Angelus plaza - Tyler & Korey are the first to arrive and make their first mistake by running right past the clue box and climbing stairs to an upper level (where are you going?)
-Dana & Matt get to the clue box and read the clue to the ROADBLOCK: Who's ready to take a leap of faith?
One person will have to go up to the roof of the building - 170ft above the ground - and jump off to grab their next clue which is dangling out of arms reach. (OH MAN! Even if you're not afraid of heights, this one would be scary!)
-Dana & Matt debate who's the better choice to do this one but then ultimately make the right choice in sending Matt up to the roof.
-Tyler & Korey, still climbing stairs, "Do you think we have to go up to the roof?" (yes, you do, but not before getting the clue back at street level - so frustrating to watch teams screw up on the last leg.)
-Sheri & Cole get to the clue box and Sheri's going to be doing this one, sticking to her pledge to do all the heights things so precious Cole doesn't get scared (he's a grown up now mom, haven't you learned that yet?) She's petrified and cries the whole time.
-Tyler & Korey finally realize the clue must be at the bottom and head back down, getting the last clue and the last rigger guy who predictably Tyler is boy crazy over (I swear he's a 12 year old girl.)

At the top of the building, Matt makes the leap of a lifetime and gets the clue easily on his first attempt (he's tall and athletic, they definitely made the correct choice sending him on this task.)
-They get the clue to take a helicopter to Santa Barbara where they will have to jump in a little boat and search among a ton of boats in a marina for the Theresa Ann, where an old fisherman will hand them the next clue.
-Sheri's turn to jump and she couldn't let go of the rope and barely cleared the building on her first attempt, no where near the clue, means she has to go again.
-Tyler didn't do much better, his jump was very short - he's also got to go again.  And Dana & Matt keep getting further ahead.

-Sheri gets the clue on her second jump, good for her - she learned she wasn't going to die and was able to focus so she didn't have to do it again. (And they moved the clue closer.)
-Tyler wasn't so lucky - he also missed his second attempt and there was no recovering for the boys.  He did get it on the third attempt.

-The search for the Theresa Ann wasn't that difficult, Dana & Matt found it right away and got the clue to make their way up to Gibraltar Rock to find their next clue.  Sheri & Cole were the most confused but they did stumble upon the boat before Tyler & Korey were able to catch up.

-Dana & Matt let their cab go at the harbour and had to wait for someone to call them another one, which was killing Dana but they were surprisingly screaming-at-each-other free this leg.

-Sheri & Cole tried to take Tyler & Korey's cab but she didn't know where Gibraltar Rock was so they smartly went in search of another cab because Tyler & Korey took that cab and the driver was the final nail in their coffin - Tyler even had step by step directions up on her phone on how to get there and she still couldn't do it (oy, the curse of the horrible cab drivers strikes again in the final leg.)

Gibraltar Rock - it's another If-you're-afraid-of-heights-this-is-petrifying challenge.  One team member has to pull themselves out across a wire suspended over a gorge, while the other team member is attached to them and being lowered down a cliff-face.  Each person has to retrieve half of a clue and then the person on the wire has to pull themselves back and their partner up the wall, which they are also climbing... It was not a simple task that's for sure.
-Matt went across the wire and Dana went down the wall - she was yelling at him the whole time and in typical Dana fashion complaining about how hard it was - but they got through it quickly and were leaving just as Sheri & Cole got there.
-Cole went across the wire and Sheri down the rock face - and they did really well for two people afraid of heights.
-Tyler & Korey were right behind them and they flew through this but still could not catch up.

-Dana & Matt were the first to Grassini Family Vineyards where they ran right past the next clue because it was sticking out of a bale of hay instead of being in a clue box... but they figured it out and this was the final ROADBLOCK: Roll Out the Barrels
-Starting with the # that was in each Pit Stop clue along the race, they have to use wine barrel lids stamped with letters to spell the names of the cities that correspond to the hashtags. 
-Dana, Cole and Korey have to do this one as the final challenge and it seems that all of them were well studied and prepared having guessed that something like this would be the final challenge.

Here's How They Finished:

1) DANA & MATT - got the only first place that mattered and won the Million dollars!   And with them Katie L., Lynne B., Alexis G., Emily H. and Ozzy R. won our pool - congratulations everyone.  (Though they weren't my choice to win, they had a perfect final leg, you have to give them credit.) Hopefully Dana will get some therapy for her anger issues and these two will live happily ever after... of course they say they love and respect each other, and they like their fiery relationship.

2) Sheri & Cole - I was kind of rooting for the underdogs in the end but alas, they didn't pull it out - hopefully Sheri will be able to cut the apron strings soon.

3) Tyler & Korey - I felt a little bad for these two, being front runners throughout and then just having a horrible final leg, I may not love these two but I can still feel their pain.

Over all, it was a pretty good season - we got to see some gorgeous places vicariously through the Race and none of the teams were totally heinous :)
I'll be speaking to the winners of the pool shortly - but the rest, have a great summer and we'll talk again in September.

Coleen

Survivor BvBvB - May 11/16 Episode Recap

With Me or Not With Me

Last week Tai tried to dictate the vote and felt totally betrayed when no one listened to him and even left him out of the decision to still vote out Jason.

Dara - Night 32
-They get back to camp and Tai is kind of shell shocked that he was in the dark about the vote and they made him waste his advantage by throwing a second vote at Michele. 
-He tries to talk to everyone but when Michele challenges all his honesty and loyalty talk because it doesn't include her, he has no response other than to say he doesn't think she belongs (What? Tai's social game could use some work.)

-Tai quickly focuses his hurt and feelings of betrayal on Aubry, he doesn't see that he was treating all of them like Scot treated him and Aubry is something of a Tai whisperer, she calmly tells him people felt he was not listening to them and then she apologized for not giving him the heads up.  I don't know that he was appeased though.

REWARD CHALLENGE
They had to run into the jungle to a large wooden ladder and retrieve three bags of sandbags (one at a time) - once they had a bag back at the playing area they had to throw the sandbags at their targets in the sand, first person to get one sandbag in each of their five targets would win the Reward - being taken to a spa and having food.

-Everyone races out, with Joe bringing up the rear, and it was neck and neck with most of them, except Joe who was way behind the whole time... until everyone ran out of sandbags to throw except Joe and they couldn't re-set until absolutely everyone was out of sandbags... so Joe was able to take his time with his last throws and JOE won the Reward!  Gettin' 'er done at 71!

-So, Joe wins the Reward and is told he can bring someone along, no brainer, he chooses Aubry and then Jeff tells him he can pick someone else and Aubry tells him to pick Cydney, Joe says he's going to let Aubry pick (come one dude, make one decision on your own) but Aubry pipes up and picks Cydney - further alienating Tai, but also, not too worried because Tai & Michele are not the best of friends after the last tribal.

REWARD:
Joe just makes a big old pig of himself.  He couldn't help it, he was really fading with no food and they gave them skewers of meat... Joe went to town.  And it cost him - big time.

-Aubry has the epiphany while she's there and Joe's telling her that she's [Aubry's] the biggest threat out there, that Cydney may be a bigger threat to her than Tai because she has been quieter but still made big decisions (uh, I don't know.)  Aubry doesn't want Cydney in her final three anymore.

Back at camp:
While everyone else is off getting their feed on, Tai & Michele make some kind of peace.  They air out their grievances and then Tai gives her a massage... they do talk about trying to work together, Tai still has his idol, maybe they could try to sway Cydney...?  Aubry would never see that coming.

Dara - Day 34
The reward trio returns to camp and Tai welcomes them back with open arms.
-Aubry has solidified in her mind that she is better off going to the final with Joe and Tai, now she has to make sure that Tai, who is so emotionally needy, doesn't feel slighted by her or he may just go the totally opposite way.

-Aubry puts on her Tai-whisperer hat and when they go for water she breaks him down - she assures him that he and Joe are her absolute choice for the final three and when she tells him that you have to put a lot aside when you play this game... he starts bawling - Tai had just been saying how the mental and emotional aspect of this game is the hardest thing he's every done.  They hug it out and she tells him to take time for himself, not do so much around camp, take care of himself and Tai feels valued and cared for (Man, she is good!)

Cydney sees Aubry & Tai coming back with the water and they look too comfortable together for her liking - it was very suspect.  So she's talking to Michele about how they have to be thinking two steps ahead  and basically they are on the same page to take out Joe or Aubry.

But then Joe's reward feast starts to cause some problems.  He's plugged up with the mounds of beef he ate and the bloating and his typically enlarged prostate (as a 71-yr-old) has stopped him from being able to urinate - so he's in some discomfort.  As the day goes on, it's getting worse so he asks for medical to check him out - they give him some medication, see if it will sort itself out but by that night Joe's in agony and rather than risk permanent kidney damage, he is pulled from the game. 
It is a testament to him that all of them are crying their eyes out, going to miss grandpa Joe. 

No immunity challenge, no tribal council, just a teary send off for an elder statesman.  Also, Aubry has lost her closest ally again and her grand plan is ruined... Who knows what will happen now??

With Joe leaving, that takes Shelley A., Elliot L., and Alexis G. out of the pool.  So close, and yet, we all know he wasn't going to win right?

Joe's final thoughts were that he has proved to himself that he could face this challenge, it was a success for him especially at his age and he's ready for the next challenge.

So, next Wednesday, May 18th is the Finale and here's who is in the running to win the whole enchilada:
Aubry: Sandie G., Manny W., and Gillian H.
Cydney: Kim B., Maggie H., and Drew C.
Michele: Brandon L., Katie L., and Susan N.
Tai: Jeff T., Lucy C., and Sharon R.

Good luck everybody!

Have a great rest of your week,

Coleen

The Amazing Race - May 6/15 Episode Recap

That's Money, Honey

Last week saw the shocking (to me) elimination of the Frisbee boys because of some strategic U-Turn play by Tyler & Korey and Burnie & Ashley.

This week we will find out who are the three teams in the finale - and the leg begins with the teams all heading for Shenzhen, China! They are all on the same flight and their first clue is in the departure hall, right there in the airport.

Tyler & Korey and Dana & Matt find the clue box first and agree to act dumb and hide the clue in case other teams can't find the box.  Burnie & Ashley find the box but weren't included in the don't tell anyone else so when the teams all meet up while changing money, Sheri & Cole are the only team without the clue - Tyler & Korey have been trying to misdirect them and say they haven't found the clue yet but Burnie doesn't play along and calls them on the lying - this means Burnie is dead to Tyler now.

The clue directs them to head for the Eiffel Tower, which they all correctly guess is at the Window  of the World park (it's actually really cool, 130 miniaturized landmarks of the world all in one place - Tyler & Korey and the Dancers are the first two teams to arrive and they read the clue to the ROADBLOCK - It's A Small World: Tyler & Dana are doing the challenge and they agree to work together (Tyler knows at this point Burnie & Ashley are his biggest competition and he's going to help the weaker teams to get them out so he and Korey will have a greater chance of winning.)
In the challenge they get a passport with 8 clues as to the places they need to visit within the park - at each exhibit they will put a provided sticker on the page of the passport and in the end if they are correct they'll get their next clue.  They know about 6 of the clues/places right away but a couple are tricky.
Burnie & Ashley get there - Burnie is doing this Roadblock - and he's not too happy to see that Tyler & Dana are working together.  But Burnie is a smarty pants and he gets all his stamps/places correct on his first attempt - even though he tried to confer with Dana & Tyler and they lied to him - they got one wrong and were already back out trying to correct it when Burnie finished.  Sheri & Cole have shown up by this point and Sheri is doing this one (of course) and she's Sheri about it, "Oh, I don't know if I can do this..." Cole tells her to stay calm, don't cry, and Run!

So Burnie gets the next clue first, and they head for Lychee Park but Tyler & Korey & Matt & Dana catch up at the Subway station so they all get the clue to the DETOUR at roughly the same time: Commuter Cycle or Master of Arts.
Commuter Cycle is a motorized unicycle thing and the demonstrators and Phil make it look easy, and fun!  They'll have to carry a briefcase and coffee while commuting to work.
Master of Arts: They'll get a series of paintings to deliver to a gallery where they will have to hang them to the specifications of the art dealer to get the next clue.
Tyler & Korey and Dana & Matt choose to deliver the paintings, while Burnie & Ashley choose the unicycle/scooter thing... and almost immediately regret it.  First, they have to put on a business suit (you know how I enjoy the dress up challenges ;)) but the fun of dressing up can't improve their balance or help them master this thing any faster.  After giving it a couple tries, Burnie & Ashley realize this is going to take too long and decide to switch tasks.

The delivering of the paintings has been going much smoother for Tyler & Korey and Dana & Matt, once they realize they have to hang the paintings in a specific way so they make up a cityscape.  The two teams that have been working this one from the beginning have all figured it out but they had the spacing wrong on first inspection so they are working at re-spacing the paintings when Burnie & Ashley show up to start this task.

Sheri & Cole have also gotten to the Detour by now and they have chosen the unicycles - because if they are going out on this one, they might as well choose the challenge that sounds like fun.
-Cole was all in until his mom got the hang of it before he did - Sheri is much more capable of many things than she thinks she is - of course seeing Mom racing around gives Cole that competitive spark to really buckle down and get this thing done... even though it has started raining and that adds to the unicycle challenge since it's now slippery as well.

Tyler & Korey are the first to get the clue to the Pit Stop - the Shenzhen Library Terrace.  Dana & Matt are right behind them.  The race for the Pit Stop is between Burnie & Ashley who got through the painting challenge with no trouble, and Sheri & Cole who were behind from the Roadblock but finally got through the unicycle challenge.  Everyone is heading for the Pit Stop.

Here's How They Finished:
1) Tyler & Korey - (Am I the only one sick of his laugh?) They won a place in the finale.
2) Dana & Matt - Surprisingly little arguing this leg, though she did have to give Matt grief on the way up the stairs to the mat (because everything is always his fault.)
3)... Sheri & Cole (WHAT?) I was shocked almost as shocked as Cole that they made it to the Pit Stop before Burnie & Ashley.  Sheri & Cole must have horseshoes in uncomfortable places.
4) Burnie & Ashley - **ELIMINATED** I felt really bad for these two, they definitely are one of the stronger teams and that one critical error in the Detour choice cost them the Race.

With Burnie & Ashley being Eliminated, that takes Bob L., Susan N., Sharon R., Lindsay J., and Monica S. out of the pool.

Next week is the finale and they will be heading back to the United States. I'm rooting for Sheri & Cole - I hope these underdogs and Race karma can snatch the win from Tyler & Korey - they became the #Villains for me this leg.

So, here is who is in the running for the win in our pool:
Dana & Matt: Katie L., Lynne B., Alexis G., Emily H., and Ozzy R.
Sheri & Cole: Dylan R., Pat T., Cindi C., Philip K., and Carol-Anne D.
Tyler & Korey: Lois & Dave L., Patty F., Fraser G., Denise R., and Jeff T.

Good Luck to all!

Have a great week everyone,

Coleen

Survivor BvBvB - May 4/16 Episode Recap

Now's the Time to Start Scheming

Last week Jason had a little reprieve when they voted out his only remaining ally, Julia, instead of him.  Jason was able to sew some seeds of dissent against Tai that may have taken some root.

Dara - Night 29
-Jason starts working on Cydney and Michele as soon as they're back at camp - telling them that Tai and Aubry are going to be hard to beat, they'll be better off against him in the end.
-Tai is working it too, he tells Joe & Aubry that his advantage is an extra vote which he can use at the next tribal council and then the one after that he'll play his hidden idol so they are guaranteed at least final four.  Joe is just along for the ride as usual, sounds good to him, but Aubry is nervous at how powerful Tai may be in this game.
-Tai tells the camera that he thinks Michele may be a bigger threat than Jason at this point - she's a more well-rounded player and he's gunning for her.

Dara - Day 30
-Tai digs up a big ol' nasty grub and feeds it to Mark, the chicken. Jason laments that everyone loves the damn chicken.  Mark seems to be the only one guaranteed to make it to day 39. (I kinda love the pet chicken, but if I was out there it'd probably have been dinner by now. Just saying.)
-Joe has no respect for Jason, he's vulgar and a baby when things don't go his way, no swaying the old guy.  Jason says hes going to play the only card he has left, the lazy card (uh, I think hes been playing that one for a while.)

REWARD CHALLENGE
They are divided into two teams of three.  On Jeff's go one person from each team will swim out through a couple obstacles to reach the floating maze board.  once all three people are on the board one will have to retrieve a ball and they must work together by tilting and moving the ball through the maze to a hole in the centre.  First team to get all three balls in the holes wins reward of a picnic lunch at an animal refuge where they will also get to interact with the animals. (cool)

-Teams were: Joe, Cydney and Aubry vs Jason, Michele and Tai.
Apparently Jason's lazy card does not apply to challenges because he dominated and his team won the reward quite handily.

Reward
-There was no strategy talk that they showed during the Reward, just Jason acted like a normal human being and talked about how much his autistic daughter loves animals and seeing him interacting with an elephant and monkeys was going to make him the coolest dad.  Tai is liking this Jason and it confirms he wants to take Michele out first.
Back at camp: Joe is having a temper tantrum after losing the challenge. He's telling Cydney to get off her butt and help him gather firewood, he's super short with Aubry for not helping him with the fire exactly how he wanted her to. It doesn't sit very well, especially with Cydney and Aubry is in the buffer position between these two - which is starting to wear on her as well.

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
-They have to hold on to a rope attached to a very wobbly table, then they have to pick up blocks one at a time, walk them from the block table to the wobbly table and stack them to spell the word IMMUNITY.
-If at any time you drop your blocks, you have to start over... and you guessed it everyone dropped their blocks at some point, except Cydney who took a slow but steady approach and was able to hold on, beating Jason at the end for her first Individual Immunity.

Dara - Day 32
-Tai has decided that Michele has to go but he doesn't have time to discuss with everyone and just announces it has to be Michele as she is coming to join their talk.  This high-handed direction from Tai did not sit well.  Joe says that he does not agree, he's rather vote Jason... and then Michele comes and joins them and the just talk about staying five strong to vote Jason.
-On their own, Aubry tells Tai that she agrees with him about Michele.
-Tai goes and tells Jason to vote for Michele - but Jason doesn't trust Tai, he wants to vote for Joe.
-Cydney talks to Joe and they are in agreement that Jason has to go - she will not be intimidated into following someone else's agenda.
-Cydney goes and tells Michele that Tai wants her out - but that Cydney has her back.
-Michele doesn't have time to scramble so she's planning her attack at Tribal Council.
-Cydney goes and talks to Aubry about how she will not be dictated to, blah blah blah... Aubry is trying to please them both and it's breaking her down a bit. (There were tears - can't we all just get along?)

TRIBAL COUNCIL
-Michele totally called out Tai and he was shocked that anyone had told her his plan.
-He just gets himself in deeper when he tries to defend himself and both Michele and Cydney are kind of tag teaming him saying how he's got idols and an advantage and he's trying to dictate how they vote... and they don't appreciate it.
-Tai starts saying there is a big group and a smaller group within the big group and they jump on that too - if you're not in the smaller group you're on the outs (Tai has got to stop talking, he's too honest and not good at manipulating people.)
-Michele won't let him get a word in, she's calling him out that she thought they had come to a consensus but now she finds she's not included in this smaller group... and she starts the Jason speech about Tai turning on every alliance he's been in, why would they listen to him.
(And I'm sorry, her voice is just so annoying, what is that weird inflection? Ugh, I won't miss Michele when it's her turn to go.)
-Jason is just staying out of this until Jeff pulls him in - he says he's just keeping quiet, maybe they'll forget out him tonight.

Time to Vote:
Michele votes Jason
Tai votes Michele

Jeff says he's going to tally the votes and Tai stops him - says he wants to play his advantage.  He's going to put in his extra vote... and it was for Michele.

Tallying the Votes:
Tai did not play his hidden immunity idol (he wasn't on the block tonight.)

Votes:
Jason - 1
Michele - 1, 2
Jason - 2
Joe - 1 (that was Jason)
Jason - 3, 4... and Jason is the 11th person voted out and next member of the jury.

They successfully got Tai to burn his advantage and they got rid of Jason, which took: Sunnie C., Cara & Alex L., and Ethan G. out of the pool.

Next week: Tai feels like Aubry turned on him and so he buddies up to Michele (Tai is the flipper king.)

Jason's final thoughts: He still loves this game - he never stopped fighting - he's proud of the way he played, he's proud of the game he played and he thinks his family will be too (uh, you were pretty sexist, that might not play great with your family of girls - but whatever, we don't have to look at those awful tattoos anymore, yay!)

Have a great rest of your week everyone,

Coleen

The Amazing Race - Apr 29/16 Episode Recap

Monkey Dance

Last week the teams raced in Indonesia and Brodie & Kurt found themselves in a position they have never been in before, at the back of the pack, barely edging out Zach & Rachel who ended up going home.

This week the teams remain in Indonesia and we find out there is a U-Turn ahead, with Brodie & Kurt starting out in last place.  Korey & Tyler, in first place, see this as their opportunity to take the Frisbee boys out and give the other teams (by which they mean themselves) a chance at winning.

Phil tells us there are so many islands in Indonesia, if you visited a new one every day it would take 50 years to see them all (seriously?).

Tyler & Korey are the first team out and they get the route info which takes them to a certain bay where they will have to dive down to retrieve their next clue from clue boxes floating underwater.  Both team members had to get in the water and the clue boxes only held two clues each which were in plastic cylinders instead of the envelopes they usually see - this was a little confusing for some of the teams but they figured it out quickly, unlike Dana & Matt who allowed the Frisbee boys to pass them because they were second guessing the cylinders as the clues. (They are definitely dancers, not rocket surgeons.) 

-One thing I did notice was how sunburned everyone seemed to be this leg - I think the Indonesian sun has not been kind to the very pale indoor kids on this Race.

-The clue told them to head to mushroom beach, there they got into marked taxis and headed to the stairway to the temple, where they had to put on a sarong (Tyler said they were actually sa-right) and run up the stairs looking for the dancing monkey (which was actually a man moving like a mischievous monkey, playing keep away with the clue - ha - not so funny.) 
The clue is to the DETOUR: Haul or Harvest:
In Harvest - they must choose a traditional canoe, propel themselves along a marked course and collect enough seaweed to completely cover a tarp to get the next clue.
In Haul - they have to haul, by hand, 50 coconuts and 4 chickens from one point to another to get their next clue. (Sounds easier, but it is not.)
-Absolutely every team chose Haul, which was good for everyone to know what position they were in, especially with the U-Turn looming.  If they could catch two chickens at once, moving the chickens wasn't such a big deal - it was the coconuts with no baskets or means of carrying them other than their arms, there were a lot of coconuts dropped on the ground that day - plus they have to run across a bridge and if other teams ran by it shook... this was a very labour intensive task, took a lot of trips since the most coconuts any one person could carry at a time was about 5 or less.
-And Dana could not do two chickens at a time - Matt was told to shut up a couple times this task... fun times with Dana when she's in last place.

-Tyler & Korey were the first team finished and they got the clue to the U-Turn board - when they got to it, they were surprised to see it was a double U-Turn and they hesitated because if they U-Turned Kurt & Brodie and then the boys were able to U-Turn another team, they could survive the U-Turn and then hang around hating on Tyler & Korey - but in the end they knew it had to be done, so they U-Turned Brodie & Kurt.  They headed out to the paddle-board place to get the next clue... but had some panic moments about the U-Turn until Korey realized that Burnie & Ashley could be smart enough to U-Turn them (Tyler & Korey) which would save anyone else from being U-Turned and pretty much screw Brodie & Kurt... and that is exactly what happened.  Burnie is a gamer and the U-Turn is part of this game, he is a strategist and had that worked out very quickly.  Now if only they could get a first place instead of eternally second place.

-In the hauling task, Brodie & Kurt did make up another spot by passing Sheri & Cole, but once they saw they had been U-Turned and blocked from U-Turning anyone else, they knew they really had to crank out the seaweed to stand a chance.

-Tyler & Korey, first team to the paddle-board shop, get the clue to the ROADBLOCK - Who's feeling blue?  And it is not paddle-boarding, oh no, they have to jump off a cliff. (OMGodupus!) So, who took the plunge?  Tyler, Ashley, Cole, Matt & Brodie - the big question mark in this one was whether Cole would master his crippling fear of heights and actually jump off the cliff... Sheri kept apologizing to him and I was yelling at her to cut the apron strings, he needs to put on his big boy pants and earn his place on the Race.
-The rest of the teams were also nervous about whether or not Cole would find the fortitude to actually make the jump - they did not U-Turn the Frisbee boys in order for them to be able to pass Sheri & Cole due to his fear of heights.
-In the end Cole jumped quickly with no problems - other than a salt water enema he wasn't expecting (hello!)

Pit Stop was the Bajra Sandhi - Phil said, "the last team to check in here may face elimination." (Whaat? He's never phrased it that way before, does that mean something?  Am I reading too much into it? Maybe.)

Here's How They Finished:
1) Tyler & Korey - won an Alaskan Cruise- including Empress tea in BC (they'll be in Victoria at some point.)  Tyler said they chose to U-turn the Frisbee boys because in order for anyone else to have a chance, they can't be in the finals.
2) Burnie & Ashley - it was a foot race to the mat - but they made this their fifth second place in a row.
3) Dana & Matt - ran in right behind the other two teams and immediately were thanking Burnie & Ashley for the U-Turn because it saved them being U-turned by the Frisbee boys.
4) Sheri & Cole - all teams were still at the mat when Sheri & Cole came in and just wanted to clear out before the frisbee boys got there.
5) Brodie & Kurt - **ELIMINATED** They've lost their fair share of games but this was a little bit harder because it felt like they didn't have control, especially with Burnie & Ashley making sure they couldn't U-Turn another team. (The Frisbee boys got to the U-Turn board in third place, so had Burnie & Ashley not burned their U-Turn on a team ahead of them, the boys could have saved themselves by U-Turning someone else.)  Brodie doesn't seem too broken up though, he's looking forward to spending some time in LA and going on a date with Blair. (Blodie rides again!)

With Brodie & Kurt's elimination, that took Ethan G., Brandon L., Rachel R., Kim B., and Elaine R. out of the pool - in a way you were all robbed, but then again, it is a game and Burnie showed some very strategic game play - now it's anyone's Race to win.

Next Episode: looks like they are heading to Paris, oh wait, I think that was just a replica Eiffel Tower, they are somewhere in Asia and it's still a Race to make the finale.

Have a great rest of your week,

Coleen