Amazing Race's Twinnies on Survivor: San Juan Del Sur?

Natalie and Nadiya Anderson

There's been a lot of news in the past week about both TAR 25 and San Juan Del Sur. I'll address Survivor first, and then later today or tomorrow I'll update you on The Amazing Race.

Remember Nadiya and Natalie Anderson, the Sri Lankan "Twinnies" from TAR 21 and more recently, TAR 24 All Stars? Disappointingly, they were eliminated first on TAR 24. However, back in March, the spoiler Miss Cleo wrote the following in an Amazing Race forum on Survivor Sucks:

The Twinnies may be joining us soon. Stay tuned. ;-)

It seems as though Nadiya and Natalie are likely to compete on the second iteration of Blood vs. Water! According to Redmond, the cast has already been flown out and filming begins on Monday, which would line up perfectly with the Twinnies' recent disappearance from social media.

Natalie (@NatalieeAnd) hasn't tweeted anything since May 26th, even though she's frequently been tweeting multiple statuses and pictures per day. The same is true for Nadiya (@NadiyaaAnd), who tweeted this on the 26th:
  

Nadiya Anderson‏@NadiyaaAnd

feel like I live out of a suit case

Both twins recently followed Jeff Probst on Twitter, and were tweeting and re-tweeting about the Survivor finale. All of these events seem way too timely and related to be coincidences, so I think we can be cautiously optimistic about seeing them on Survivor: San Juan.

Drew and Alec Christy

And that's not all. While we can only say that the Twinnies are likely to be on Survivor, there's another Blood vs. Water pair spoiled recently that's all but confirmed.

According to Survivor Sucks, and a spoiler named almostsurvivor, twin brothers Drew and Alec Christy from Florida will be on the upcoming season. Apparently, Drew was in the casting mix for Cagayan but didn't make it onto the show. In addition, Allie Pohevitz (2nd boot from Caramoan, now involved with casting) is friends with Alec on Facebook.

On the 27th, Alec posted the photo to the right on his Instagram (@alecchristy5).

The caption was:


Outt Chyeaaa #hollerwhenyouseeme #family

Many of the comments on the photo were saying "good luck," so it seems like Drew and Alec will definitely be on Survivor 29.

It's both excited and relatively unexpected to know the identities of two pairs already...only 6-8 more pairs to go! I'll post later about the beginning of the Amazing Race filming, which started last night at 3 A.M. Stay tuned!

Big Brother 16 and Amazing Race Canada 2 News

Two of the shows Survivor Scrutiny will be covering during the summer season are Big Brother U.S. season 16 and The Amazing Race Canada season 2. When we get closer to summer, I'll talk specifics of covering those shows.

Big Brother 16

Big Brother alumni are tweeting left and right about possible scenarios for this summer's season. Janelle Pierzina, from BB6, 7, and 14 posted the following yesterday on Beamly:

BB12 player and BB13 winner Rachel Reilly, as well as other alumni, have been responding frequently with fans on Twitter, claiming that they've heard about an all-stars or "blood vs. water"-type season.

This makes it extremely unlikely that any of these scenarios are actually happening. Unless the alumni posting were snubbed by casting and are trying to ruin the chances for other past contestants, they are just feeding the masses and helping the rumors spread.

If someone like Rachel was to be on this season, you can rest assured production would not want her tweeting about an all-stars season.

Contrast that, though, with what Miss Cleo (a trusted spoiler who thoroughly and accurately spoiled the most recent season of the Amazing Race) had to say on Survivor Sucks

There will be returning players this season. 

There will also be newbies this season.

Cleo also hinted that the the twist would be similar to Survivor: Blood vs. Water, with returning/new contestants bringing a loved one along for the ride. Due to the alumni activity mentioned above, returning players seems unlikely, but Cleo is a reliable source so far.

Stay tuned for more updates; the cast will most likely be sequestered a week or two before the premiere (June 25th), so if any veterans are to move into the House, we will probably find out then. Click here to see the BB16 News forum on Survivor Sucks.

The Amazing Race Canada 2

Just like Big Brother Canada, the TAR version north of the border last year lived up to--or even surpassed--the U.S. iteration. And now The Amazing Race Canada will return on July 8th.

Huffington Post Canada apparently received an anonymous message from a reader in Hong Kong that reveals TAR Canada will be going outside the country for its second season:

"I'm traveling for work and happened across a Canadian team for supposedly the Australian show (overheard staff at the clue box - wanting to keep it top secret), but reviewing the video and photos I took the clue envelope clearly reads "The Amazing Race Canada" (1 - 10 sec video, 2 photos of the red team, 2 of the blue team running thru a crowd, 1 poor picture of the clue box)."

Various people on Instagram posted photos and a video that back up the anonymous source. This one is from "FTHJIL" on the Reality Fan Forum; click here to read the Huffington Post article containing the other picture and a short video of a team at a Double U-Turn.

Hopefully we'll learn more soon; stay tuned for updates!

Survivor Cagayan: Brains Play Dumb, Beauties Make Ugly Decisions, and Brawn Wimps Out

A super-sized hour-long audio scrutiny!

It was a season full of twists and turns, unexpected blindsides, and come-from-behind victories that ultimately resulted in the win of the most devious player, Tony Vlachos.

Join Ethan and me as we sit down and talk about everything that happened in this crazy finale episode and the season as a whole in a super-sized hour-long audio scrutiny.

We'll discuss the events leading up to Tony's win, including the loved ones' visit and the Final Tribal Council, and then talk about the reunion show. Then we look at Cagayan overall; where does it and Tony's win rank among the other seasons? Who's likely to come back, and what do we think about Survivor: San Juan Del Sur?

Find out in our podcast below, and as always, leave your feedback! Don't go away; there's still some more fun coming your way as we transition into our summer coverage; I'll talk more about that soon.

Survivor: San Juan Del Sur

Amidst the general excitement of Wednesday's finale and reunion show, Jeff announced that season 29 of Survivor will return to Nicaragua, and will feature all new players on a Blood vs. Water season.

All this we already knew, thanks to the great spoilers out there, and I posted about it last week. The new information that Jeff gave us was the season's logo and name: San Juan Del Sur (which is a municipality and town in Nicaragua).

I actually really like this name, even though some people are complaining that it's too long. Well, just call it San Juan. It's better than Survivor: Mesoamerica or Survivor: Central America.

I like the logo as well, although the people on Survivor Sucks generally do not. It is very similar in color and design to the Guatemala logo, but still very nice...hopefully we get some interesting buff colors this year as well.

We don't know about the cast at all yet, which is only to be expected considering they're all new players. Stay tuned over the summer, because we'll likely start spoiling the cast when they return to social media (in July or late June, maybe?).

The other tidbits of information we have about San Juan Del Sur (ok, that is a mouthful) is from Dalton Ross's interview with Jeff Probst on the season:

“We have another twist that’s going to happen regarding duels at Redemption Island, a little different from last year, so I’m curious to see how that plays out and if we can get some story from that.”

Yes, Redemption Island is back, as we expected...I'm hoping that the twist is that Redemption Island leaves once the merge occurs, because it was fine before then. Or it may just be a return to two-person duels.

“The one thing I kept asking our scouting crew for was updates on how the water situation was looking, and between our art department and our challenge department, they’ve got it under control. We’re going to have a lot more water challenges and be in the water more —and really that’s the only concern we had about Nicaragua, is that it was a little dry last time.” 

This is a good sign, because the lack of suitable beaches led to a dearth of water challenges and an unsatisfying pool was the solution. Hopefully this time they've found a better beach.

Jeff also revealed (intentionally or unintentionally) that the loved ones will be separated once again, like season 27:

We just have to do a very good job in how we tell those stories, when you cut from one person on one beach, then cut to their significant other on the other beach. 

That's really all we have for now; check back soon for more updates, as well as for our summer coverage of Amazing Race Canada, Big Brother U.S., and more! Ethan and I want to watch some of the old Survivor seasons this summer, and you can help us decide which; there's a poll on the sidebar.

The Cagayan finale podcast should be up sometime tomorrow (Saturday), so stay tuned.

Cagayan Finale Recap: The Construction Worker Pulls It Off

Your new winner!

Ladies and gentlemen, here's your new winner of Survivor: Cagayan...Tonnnnny Vlachos!

"Ok, look. Look. Look. I had to do what I did, see, 'cause..."

Tony, it's ok. The show's over. You won.

"Come on, my friends. If this young lad over here had sworn on more things--"

Tony, you win! You can stop deceiving people!

"BLAFKALAKLFLFLFLFLLLLLAAAAA. That's right, Kass."

Tony...the season is OVER!

"Oh...oh ok. But, see, I was a construction worker the whole time, see. Lemme get out my bag of tricks..."

But really...what a great cap on a magnificent season, right? Cagayan culminated in an epic finale that I thoroughly enjoyed. And when all the dust settled, Woo made a million dollar mistake and Tony was crowned Sole Survivor number 27. Let's recap it from the top. (Image credit CBS)

I enjoyed Jeff's live show
changes to the finale.

The first big moment of the two hour finale is the family visit. I can't think of a time that they've ever brought family members in this late in the game, but I actually liked it. It was a nice change from an obligatory reward challenge; just to have them there observing was fine for me.

I was a little disappointed that we didn't get any standout characters like Skupin's son or Cochran's mom and dad. The star of the four, though, was probably Spencer's sister Taren (?), who had complete faith in Spencer during the challenge.

We also saw a softer side of Tony. He broke into tears upon realizing that his wife was not there; instead, his best friend Arnold told Tony that she was at home with their baby. I thought for a moment that we were going to get a Johnny Fairplay-esque lie there, but no.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for an important message from...Jeff Probst!

"Hey, people on the street. It's Jeff, backstage in the green room with the Survivors. Ok, now back to the show. The Survivors are going to have to dig deep!"

In all honesty, though, I enjoyed Jeff's live show changes to the finale. He popped in and out just the right amount...about four times, I think. This was probably the least interesting of the four, simply because nothing happened.

It's immunity time. The Survivors have to repeat a challenge that I recall seeing from Micronesia; pour water in a bucket to raise a key to the top of their pole, jump off, and then solve a puzzle on the beach...except, Tony can't swim.

How has he made it this far without
needing to swim?

How has he made it this far without needing to swim? There were a lot of water challenges this season. Anyway, Tony, Spencer, and Woo are working on the puzzle while Kass is still struggling on the pole.

But somehow, Chaos Kass comes from behind, quick as a flash, to take the win! She whipped through that puzzle crazy-fast, and I must say I was rooting for her. She attributed her success to her husband; good for her. Although Spencer does call her a brain-dead weasel.

Back at camp, there's one obvious target, and it's clear who's going home tonight. The target in question approaches Tony, and tells him something that could change Tony's mind; it's going to be a Final 2. This is one of those times where being a superfan of the game really helps Spencer out; he noticed that Jeff didn't say anything about a chance to plead your case at the Final Tribal Council.

Spencer's making some really good points, and Tony says he'll think it over. Spencer's right, really; if Kass or Woo win immunity, they're taking the other person to the end. This whole time, I thought Spencer was safe for sure; his edit clearly ensured him a spot at the Final Tribal Council, and I fully expected Tony to be fully swayed by Spencer's reasoning and vote Woo out.

But no! The editors bamboozled us Malcolm-style once again!!! This was the point where I was really shocked and impressed. I thought that even though the season had been full of twists and turns, we were going to get a relatively predictable finale, with Spencer winning two immunities and dragging Kass to the end, garnering all the votes.

But when my post-Sarah-vote-out pick to win went home (along with my number one spot on my fantasy tribe and any hope of winning my auction competition against Ethan), the finale started to get really crazy.

Because now...it was anyone's game! And I started to get a little worried that what Spencer prophesied would soon come to pass; a Kass and Woo Final 2. While it may rhyme nicely, it's not the ideal scenario by any stretch of the imagination.

Woo even says he'd "be the stupidest Survivor player ever" if he took Tony to the end, so there's no way he'll take him. Right? Right?

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for an important message from...Jeff Probst!

Spencer's mom thought he'd be
one of the first ones out.

Right after Spencer is voted out, Jeff shows a Ponderosa-esque clip of Spencer's walk and weighing on the scale, and then interviews Spencer's mom, who gets a laugh when she says she thought he'd be one of the first ones out.

Not bad. Then, of course, he has to talk to two random guys that drove from Oklahoma to Los Angeles in 24 hours to get to the finale, and an Afghanistan veteran. Cool, I guess.

Back to the game. It's time for...a maze! Wooooooo! We haven't seen this challenge (or a similar variant) since the Heroes vs. Villains finale, if I remember correctly. Possibly Redemption Island, actually; I didn't watch it.

This certainly beats the Philippines "hold up a ball with a stick that gets longer" final immunity, the fire puzzle Caramoan final immunity, and even the impressive obstacle course immunity in Blood vs. Water. I especially liked all the turnstiles.

When all the dust has settled, Kass loses to Woo in the cog-assembling section of the challenge by half a second. This was really the moment that Tony won the game (or didn't lose it, I should say). If Kass had won the final immunity, there would be no way she'd keep Tony over Woo.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for an important message from...Jeff Probst!

Oh no, Jeff has an army of kids.

Oh my god, Jeff has an army of little kids. Oh no. What is he going to do?

He ends up asking them questions about their history of watching Survivor and the Survivor fandom...I actually enjoyed it. Wow, Jeff; you're impressing me.

This was the part of the finale where I really felt bad for Woo. You could see the cogs in his brain whirring at a speed many times slower than the cogs in the challenge, as the mastermind Tony worked on him all afternoon.

Tony's argument is that Woo can't argue that he has honesty and loyalty to the jury if he betrays Tony now, which is true, I guess, but Woo can't beat Tony anyway. Kass just warns him that she won't vote for Woo in the Final 2 if she's put on the jury, and compares him to Fabio (pretty accurate in my opinion).

Even Tony says he wouldn't buy his own argument, and would take his chances with Kass. Yeah, there's no way that Woo falls for this one, right? I think Tony's going home right about...

Aaaaaand there goes Kass. Woo, no! Woo just lost a million dollars by voting out Kass, the easiest finals goat in a long time. 

Woo just lost a million dollars.

Woo's rationale was that the jury will respect him for making a "big move" by voting out Kass and keeping around a worthy player. It's Colby all over again.

Around this point, I was thinking: Woo is the real Coach. And by that I mean he embodies all the ideals Coach was trying to exemplify, and had to go out of his way to point out. Coach pretended he was going to play with honesty and integrity, but was berated by the jury for failing to do that. If Coach really was going to back up all his talk of wanting to go to the end against the best, he would have taken Ozzy to the end and lost to him.

By contrast, Woo is effortlessly humble, kind, endearing, and loyal. He made the decision that Coach couldn't, that Colby did...which doomed both Colby and himself (although at least in Colby's case it was a close vote).

Anyway, at breakfast the next morning, Tony finds another clue. I cannot imagine what this might lead to...the million dollar cheque hidden in the woods? Four extra jury votes? A ticket to the next returning player season? 

Just a scale and a mirror. I actually laughed when I saw this; I loved that they hid it, just for fun, instead of telling them about it.

Let me just mention (because I just remembered) that there was no Fallen Comrades walk! I was extremely disappointed; I always love this segment, and Jeff sadly confirmed that unless they can somehow revamp it, the Fallen Comrades has fallen. The Rites of Passage has passed. Rest in peace.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for an important message from...Jeff Probst!

Queen Parv!

And Queen Parv! It's already good before they start talking. Jeff asks Parvati about the fatigue and rigors of the game, and she says that you need to make sure you're not defensive in front of the jury. A short tidbit, but a good touch.

Now it's time for the Final Tribal Council, at last. I'll just briefly go over each of these in my recap because it's getting long and Ethan and I will cover them more thoroughly in our podcast. I'll tell you who I thought they were going to vote for before the votes were read as well.

Sarah: Berates Tony for breaking his swear on his badge, and asks Woo who he would vote for if she had played his game. He says he would vote for Sarah. Huh. 

Vote: Tony

Jefra: Says she's not bitter, but wants Tony to own that he backstabbed her, had no loyalty, and blindsided people. No BS! Tony says he flipped around and betrayed his alliance, but won't own up to backstabbing her and claims he's "half villain and half good player."

Vote: Woo

Morgan: Takes the opportunity to talk about how young and attractive she is, and wonders how Tony got men to follow him without even having breasts! Tony says he was genuine and nice to people. Morgan also says she respects Woo for taking Tony to the end.

Vote: Tony

Jeremiah: Finds out that Tony does indeed have a wife and kids, and says that "where he comes from," that's not cool...it's pathetic. Then he asks Woo to prove himself, and Woo says he wants to win. Duhhhh.

Vote: Woo

Some of the Survivor jury.

Tasha: Asks a similar question to Morgan's, but without the boobs. Tony mentions that he regrets blindsiding Trish, which was a nice touch. Then she asks Woo about choosing to align with Tony, and Woo says he was forced to adapt.

Vote: Tony

LJ: Asks Tony "who are you?" Tony says that he was scared of LJ, but LJ says "you played me," and doesn't seem satisfied.

Vote: Woo

Kass: Wants to know why Woo didn't cut off the head of the dragon when he had the chance. Woo says it was a power move, and that Kass didn't deserve to sit next to him. Ouch.

Vote: Tony

Trish: First asks Woo if it was his idea to blindside her, to which he answers affirmatively, and then goes off on a great, emotional monologue against Tony. She asks whether it was worth it to sacrifice his own father's memory, and he says yes.

Vote: Woo

Spencer: Compares Woo's strategic game to a dog following its master and then addresses the jury, exhorting them to vote for Tony.

Vote: Tony

I had this at a close 5-4 vote for Tony, with Woo doing exceptionally well in nabbing a handful of them. But instead it was a blowout, with only Tasha voting for Tony, for some unknown reason.

Thanks for following our coverage
of this terrific season!

And Tony Vlachos officially becomes the winner of Survivor: Cagayan.

There's a fair amount of stuff to cover from the reunion, but I think we'll address all of that in our podcast. There's going to be at least one more wrap-up post of the entire season, plus one or two Survivor scrutinies and an Amazing Race finale scrutiny coming your way before we end our spring coverage (and a BBCAN Neda vs. Dan post too) and start to transition to our summer podcasting/blogging.

There's some international Amazing Race, Big Brother US, and old Survivor seasons to cover, so rest assured that Ethan and I will stay busy and keep bringing you content; stay tuned, and thanks for following our coverage of this terrific season!

Cagayan Finale Power Rankings

The eve of the finale is upon us.

The eve of the finale is upon us...and it's time for one last round of power rankings and predictions for what has been a truly incredible season. Gordon Holmes hasn't released his power rankings for this episode, but I'm relatively sure that when they get down to the finale, they put people in order of likeliness of winning, so that's what I'll do as well. If that's not what they end up doing, I'll also write a list of normal power rankings just in case.

As I forewarned, it's been a busy couple of weeks (and still is). Luckily, we were able to continue getting you relatively timely Survivor recaps, and posted our scrutiny of the penultimate episode on Sunday. Ethan and I haven't had a chance to record the Amazing Race finale podcast yet, so I can't give you a time on when that will come out, but hopefully we'll get a lot of extensive finale coverage for Survivor at least; stay tuned for updates. Alright, let's get into this.

Power Rankings

Last Week: I had Trish in spot 5, and as per the rules, I get double the points. Ciera and Gordon both had her at 2.
Total Score: I now have 95 points going into the finale...Gordon has 103 and Ciera has 90.

This Week:

1: Spencer
Spencer has prevailed this season against the odds, and going into the finale episode, he's formed a voting block of three and managed to break up Tony's alliance. He's a huge threat and a likable underdog, so it would be utter folly for the other players to let him reach the end. And yet, I think he will. Spencer has proven to be a beast in challenges and can win immunity when he needs it. He only needs to survive 2 more Tribal Councils, and if Spencer's chances were infinitesimal before, surely they're better now, so close to the end. And if Spencer does make it to the end of the game, and gets to face the jury, he wins, barring an epic Amanda-choke. He has very few (if any) enemies on the jury and quite a lot of friends. He's made some good moves and been someone for the jury to root for. My official prediction for tomorrow night is that Spencer wins Survivor: Cagayan.

2: Tony

Certainly the most willing to
make big moves.

What a great cast this season, right? And possibly the best casting choice of all was Tony Vlachos. Not the best player, not the strongest,  not the smartest this season, but certainly the most willing to make big moves. And in an era of Survivor where big moves are encouraged and looked upon with favor, Tony has a great shot to win this game. His moves may not have always been right, but he managed to wheel and deal himself to the Final 4, with three other players who never had as firm a grip on the game as Tony. There are certainly some bitter jurors (Jefra, Sarah) awaiting Tony at the Final Tribal Council, but if he makes it there, I think they reward his diabolical plans; he can beat anyone but Spencer.

3: Woo
Woo seems like the fish out of water in such a strategic Final 4, but just because Woo hasn't been ruling the roost doesn't mean he isn't deserving of the title of Sole Survivor. Since Day 1, he's journeyed alongside other people as their wingmen, helping them through the game and being a loyal, dependable ally. Woo isn't afraid of flipping the game around; he's done that twice so far with Tony. He is by far the most likable, lovable player left in the game, and could have a lot of sympathetic votes on the jury. I can certainly see an embittered Jefra or Kass voting for Woo over Tony any day. Who doesn't want to reward the nice guy with a million bucks? At the end of the day, it comes down to who you enjoyed being around on the island, and for that, Woo is your guy.

4: Kass

Kass has fought tooth and nail.

Kass has fought tooth and nail to carve out her own position in the game. Several times, she could have preceded with a larger alliance (Aparri 6, Brawn 3), but chose to flip the script and be the "arthur of her own destiny." Sure, she's made a lot of enemies on the jury, but she's made some strategic decisions that could see her rewarded. Making Tony look like a bully and avoiding a potential blindside by the Sarah, Spencer, Jeremiah group talked about at the merge were both smart moves. That being said, I think that Kass will have a very steep uphill battle against any of the other three at the Final Tribal Council; she'll need a monumental slip-up to take control...but it could happen.

Auction Results

If you've been following along throughout the season, you know that Ethan and I held an auction at the beginning of the season where we each bid on the Survivors and drafted a team, that earned points throughout the season. Ethan completely destroyed me in the draft, but things evened up by the merge. Since then, however, Ethan has pulled back into the lead. If Spencer wins the game, though, I might have a chance...otherwise, he probably wins. I'll include the rules for the game and the results from last week.

2 pts if one of your players wins individual immunity

3 pts if one of your players uses the HII to cancel a majority of votes against a contestant

0 pts if your player uses the OPHII

1 pt for voting out the person who used the OPHII or possessed it while being voted out (very unlikely, I know)

1 pt per jury member number (i.e. 3rd jury member gets 3 pts)

1 pt for winning individual reward

9 pts for making it to the Final Tribal Council

2 pts per vote received at the Final Tribal Council

The final 4.

Marcus:
Spencer Bledsoe (+2)
Trish Hegardy (+7)
LJ McKanas
Morgan McLeod
Sarah Lacina
Total Score: 19

Ethan:
Kass McQuillen
Tony Vlachos (+1)
Woo Hwang
Tasha Fox 
Jefra Bland 
Jeremiah Wood 
Total Score: 24

That's it for the eve-of-the-finale post; check back soon for a recap...I think it's going to be a great episode!

Cagayan E12 Recap: "Straw That Broke the Camel's Back"

Sorry that this podcast is getting to you so late; the busy few weeks continue. It's here now, though, so tune in to listen to myself and Ethan recap the twelfth episode of Cagayan and give our predictions for the finale, which is just a few days away! Tomorrow or Tuesday we'll also have an audio recap of the Amazing Race finale, so stay tuned!

Talking Llama on Episode 12

FFLLLRRRRBBBPPRRGRLADLSFLKJWWKFLK. FLJHOPSDFHAAAAGRR?

You're not a llama, right?

Oh, sorry. I forgot I'm not talking to Kass. You're not a llama, right? I'll revert to English now.

What a great episode, right!?!? I think this may have been my favorite one since the merge...let's recap it from the top! (Image credit CBS).

So the main conflict of this episode gets started with a conversation between Tony and Woo out on the boat; Tony proposes a Final 3 to Woo, and Woo accepts. Then Woo confesses last week's plot to oust Tony, which makes Tony emotional, because Woo's so loyal to Tony...and Tony has to blindside him!??!! Whoaaaaa! This is definitely the first we've heard of this!

Tony later approaches Kass and tells her that he knows what she tried to do last week, but he'll take her to the Final 3 anyway. Smart, Tony, smart. Kass mentions sardonically that she's been forgiven by the mafia boss, but needs to cause more (you guessed it) chaos to make Tony look like a bully when she's sitting next to him at the end.

This is actually a great idea in theory. If Kass can make Tony into the bad guy, then she might be able to sway some jury votes her way. And in the end, it looks like she sort of succeeded because she created a rift between Woo and Tony.

Buuuuut...she also turns into a malevolent, evil-looking person while doing it, which is far less than optimal. She may have caused Tony to lose Woo's jury vote this week (probably not), but she also definitely lost Trish's.

At least it was an individual reward!

There's not much to mention in the reward challenge, although I had higher hopes coming into it; I thought they were going to be in a big vat of peanut butter or chocolate (don't you miss the Amazon?). Instead it was mud. We've seen this challenge before, and it's always going to stay at the same level of coolness and entertainment; moderate. Not much interaction or competition going on, but it's funny to see them cover themselves with mud and soak it up in their hair.

It was quickly made clear that Tony had won, however, and there was no need to weigh the buckets. He and "Anorexia" (or as she called herself, Malnutrisha) enjoyed helicopter-delivered pizza, and Tony revealed that he can't play his idols past the Final 5.

Doesn't this have to mean that it's a Final 3 this season? I could be wrong, but I don't think there has been a Final 2 season where the last chance to play idols was the Final 5. Either way, Tony makes a smart move, telling Trish (and eventually everyone, I guess) that he can play his special idol at the Final 4 as well.

At the immunity challenge, Tony solves fourteen thousand, nine hundred and eighty-nine puzzles, but Spencer successfully solves the fourteen thousandth, nine hundred and ninetieth puzzle to win immunity...which was a much needed victory, clearly.

I'm sure it was intentional on the part of the editors that the slide puzzle was a good metaphor for Tony's and Spencer's games; Spencer is thoughtful and methodical while Tony just barrels through frantically.

Vote for Trish for RHAP Fan Favorite
Player of the Season!

Back at camp, I'm reminded why I love Trish so much (I then proceeded to vote for her for the Rob Has a Podcast Fan Favorite Player of the Season, which you should also do). She snaps at Kass: "Do you think I'm stupid,  or do you think I'm deaf?" In confessional, Trish tells us she's not passive-aggressive, just aggressive, which is a nice change from Kass's annoying chaos.

Trish starts really unloading on Kass (which, according to her exit interview on RHAP, she's been waiting all season to do), saying "I'll rip you apart in 30 seconds...you'll be crying so hard...you are vicious and cruel." And honestly, the things she's saying are right. Kass does play the victim card, and as she and Tony said at Tribal Council, she does sit around with that huge grin on her face.

But important conversation Trish and Tony need to be having is with Woo. Woo isn't sure if he can trust Tony anymore, because Tony swore on his wife and child to Kass but not to Woo. How do you remedy that? Swear some more! Tony swears on his wife, child, and deceased father to Woo, which doesn't seem to be enough, because Woo then goes back and tells Kass he will vote out Trish.

A lot of great things take place at Tribal Council, so I'll just mention my favorites. Tony does the llama voice again, and Woo compares himself to a foreign exchange student visiting a very dysfunctional family, which got a laugh from the jury. Then, Tony pulls out both idols.

There's a new alliance of three...
and Spencer could win this game.

This was the point where I thought for sure Kass would be going home. All Tony needs to do is give one of his idols to Trish; there's no risk, cause he still has the OPHII in case the votes are for him.

But not only does Tony play the idol for himself, effectively wasting it, HE ALSO VOTES FOR TRISH!!!! WHAAAAAAAAT!?!?!?

There was a lot of talk last night and today about why Tony did what he did...apparently according to a secret scene, it was to get a guaranteed jury vote, but I think it was a terrible idea. Unless his ruse with the idol works next week, there's a new alliance of three that could be dead-set on sending him home.


This would normally be the point where I answer three burning questions I'm sure you had about the episode, but I just don't have the time...sorry! As I said, this week is very busy and I have to wrap up this recap quick. Expect an audio recap of the episode where we will go much more in-depth sometime on Saturday or possibly Sunday, as well as hopefully another audio scrutiny of the Amazing Race finale on Sunday, and stay tuned!

Cagayan E12 Power Rankings

The long, crazy journey is almost over.

It's that time of the week once again...who will be voted out in the penultimate episode of Survivor: Cagayan! Can you believe it? The long, crazy journey is almost over. Let's get into the predictions. (Image credit CBS)

But first (™ Julie Chen), a quick note about the blog: it's going to be a really busy couple of weeks for me, and possibly for Ethan as well. We're going to be trying our best to get you timely coverage and record our audio recaps quickly, but I can't promise to have something posted every day (plus, there's nothing to post on Friday's now that BBCAN is over)

I also decided to skip the Amazing Race recap this week; there's not much to say. It was a strong leg, one of the best so far. Sad to see the Afghanimals go out fourth again, loved the Hei Ho Heidi Ho, boo Dave and Connor, let's see Jen and Caroline take home the prize.

The TAR recaps don't really provide much, in my opinion; there's not as much to analyze like there is for Survivor, so that might be something to change next season. For the finale this Sunday, Ethan and I will hopefully scrutinize the episode right afterwards and have that podcast posted soon. Now, time for the power rankings.

Power Rankings

Last Week: I had Tasha at spot 5, while on the Xfinity TV power rankings contest, Ciera had her at 3 and Gordon Holmes at 6. They decided on a new rule to double the points for the rest of the season, so I can add 10 to my score.
Total Score: 85 points

This Week:

1: Tony
Tony continues his run at the top of my list; as long as he has that stupid, over-powered idol, he can't be harmed. If Trish, Kass, and Woo have their wits about them (hint: they don't), they'll vote out Spencer next and Tony at Final 4, when is no longer protected. Until then, Tony is safe. Winning, on the other hand, could be a challenge--against Spencer. I don't see him losing to Trish, Woo, or Kass unless he has a tremendous, Amanda-level choke at the Final Tribal.
Chance to win: 2nd best out of 5

I can see him beating Trish and
Kass with his charm.

2: Woo
If Tony can keep his group loyal once again (and they've proven to do that against the odds before), Spencer will go home this week. If Spencer manipulates him and he turns on Kass, then Kass goes home. If Spencer stages a revolt with Woo and Kass, Trish might go home. What's the constant in all of these scenarios? Woo is safe. Nobody wants to come after him...and really, there's no need to. He can't out-argue Spencer or Tony in the end, although I can see him beating Trish and Kass with his charm.
Chance to win: 3rd best

3: Spencer
Crazy, that I'm putting target numero uno this high, isn't it? Yeah, probably. But I'm feeling good for Spencer's chances this week; if the pattern continues, it's time for someone in the majority to go home. I think Spencer will have a decent shot getting in Tony's head again, and if not, he can maybe rekindle last week's Final 3 with Kass and Woo. Plus, he has a great chance of winning his third immunity now that Tasha is gone. And the icing on the cake is his still-strong edit. If Spencer survives a few more tribals, he's won this game.
Chance to win: 1st best

Sorry, Kass...everyone hates you.

4: Kass
It's more than likely that Tony and Kass will start (or continue, for Kass) to target each other this episode. Well, sorry, Kass, but you lose in this scenario. Tony has the idol. So if Tony marshals his troops and presents Kass as a clear target, she'll probably go home; Spencer will be only too quick to jump aboard the plan if it saves his own skin. And if Kass does make it to the end, her chances are not great...everyone hates her.
Chance to win: 5th best

5: Trish
I said that Kass loses in the scenario above, but only if she targets Tony. Everyone knows that Tony has at least one idol; unless Kass, Spencer, and Woo are going to try to blindside Tony (a fatal mistake, obviously), then they'll go for Trish, his loyal sidekick (Woo's been demoted). If Trish makes it past this week, though, I don't think she'll be in danger anymore. Whether she can win, however, is a different story. Trish has made some great moves, and is playing a great under-the-radar game. The problem with being UTR, however, is that the jury doesn't see what you do.
Chance to win: 4th best

Auction Results

Finally it was a good week for me! Tasha, Ethan's biggest point scorer went home, and my draftee Spencer won immunity. It's still an uphill battle, but we shall see how things play out.

The Solarrion Tribe prepares for (individual?!?) reward.

Marcus:
Spencer Bledsoe (+2)
Trish Hegardy
LJ McKanas
Morgan McLeod
Sarah Lacina
Total Score: 10

Ethan:
Kass McQuillen
Tony Vlachos
Woo Hwang
Tasha Fox (+6)
Jefra Bland 
Jeremiah Wood 
Total Score: 23

That's it for the power rankings; check back either tomorrow night (late) or Thursday for my episode recap, and stay tuned!

Recapping the Finale of Big Brother Canada 2

Who would have predicted a Jon victory?

It's been a long, crazy ride in the BBCAN2 House...who would have predicted a Jon victory? Certainly not I; as recently as this Monday, I wrote that "I see no way that Jon doesn't go home [at Final 4]," so winning the game seemed out of the question for him.

As you may expect if you've been reading my recaps all the way through, I am rather distraught at Neda's loss. So be prepared for some complaining. Let's get into it. (Image credit Slice)

At the Final 4, Jon does indeed win the POV. I wasn't expecting this, although he clearly was; usually the last POV is some kind of puzzle; this was not only a puzzle but also involved luck, so it's not like Jon had any clear advantage like he often does.

Heather obviously didn't want this as much as the others; she refused to take the punishment of wearing her squirrel costume for the rest of the season, which really ended up only being one more day. So Jon won the Veto, which really throws a wrench in Neda's plans.

Heather obviously didn't want this
as much as the others.

At least in my opinion; I thought that she should have gotten rid of Jon at the Final 4 given the chance, although from what we've heard about her plans, she was going to take him along to the Final 3 anyway.

So Heather goes out here, and you have to wonder: what changed for Jon? He had the opportunity to get rid of Neda at this instance, and doesn't take it. I think that Neda was a much greater threat to win the Final HOH than Heather would have been. So something must have changed for Jon in between the F4 eviction and the F3 one.

It seems like smooth sailing from here on out for Neda (except for part 1 of the final HOH), who has Final 2 deals with both Sabrina and Jon; there's no way either one of them will cut her before the end, right?

Smooth sailing for Neda?

Jon wins the first part of the HOH, as anyone could have predicted. What couldn't be predicted was just how well Sabrina did at it; even if Jon was gone, I don't think Heather or Neda could have won this. And then Neda easily defeats Sabrina in the second part (again, if Jon was gone, Neda would be up against Heather, so it would probably be even easier).

Going into part three, it's really a toss-up, especially because the questions are just random bits of trivia about the season, not information about what the jurors said after leaving, as I prefer. When Jon won, I was reasonably disappointed, but still not worried.

And then...the moment of truth. Jon gives one little speech to Neda and one to Sabrina (how does he keep coming up with new stuff to say...he just did this last night), preparing to evict one of them. And...boom.

I was absolutely shocked.

She's gone.

Neda's out.

Nooooooo!!!

Neda said that she could see it on Jon's face the whole time he was preparing to evict her, and I could definitely tell right at the end too. Still, I was absolutely shocked. My mouth literally dropped open.

And I finally understood how a jury could be so bitter; especially the final member who doesn't have any time to process what's happened; Jon took Neda's win. That's how it feels. It was rightfully hers, she had done all the work to get the two of them there, and then he cut her right before the end.

Now for a more unbiased opinion. Aside from disappointment, I was impressed with Jon's move. There was no possible way that he could have beaten Neda in the Final 2, although I think that would have been more interesting to watch. After this moment, the finale was relatively anticlimactic; the only question was whether Jon would Sabrina 6-1 or 5-2. Allison followed Arlie's lead and made it the former.

Speaking of Arlie, it was clear that he had been preparing for a Neda victory, and probably lining up the votes for her. Arlie seemed to have a lot of sway in that jury house, so that's one of the reasons that I think Neda would have had an easy time of things.

Jon took out the best player and got
himself to the finals with a goat.

Jon definitely deserved his win; I'm not arguing that. He took out the best player and got himself to the finals with a goat--that's good gameplay. But it is a shame that people cannot now talk about Neda on the same level as some of the other great winners of Big Brother.

It's an interesting comparison between Survivor and Big Brother; in general, Survivor players who do not win are given more credit than Big Brother players who don't. And I think there's a lot of truth to that; Big Brother is so strategic that in general, the best players win.

Contrast that with Survivor, where some of the "greats" are Cirie, Rob C., Stephen, etc. Players who never won. I think we need to start giving that same merit to some of the great third place BB players; Neda was in the same place as Rob Cesternino and Cirie--one immunity/HOH away from winning the game.

Did Neda make mistakes? Certainly. She needed to get Jon out earlier, although it's hard to say exactly when that could have been. Her best chance would have been during the Instant Eviction, when Allison went home, but that seems far too early to get rid of Jon and try to ride things out by herself to the end.

And Jon was safe all the way from the Final 5 onward, so I guess during Adel's HOH...that would have been the last opportunity. Alas, Neda came up just short, but she still played an amazing game and I hope we see her back for Big Brother Canada All Stars.

It was a great season, and the
casting was incredible.

It was still a great season, though, and the casting was incredible. This wraps up the official coverage of Big Brother Canada 2 on Survivor Scrutiny. Can't wait till BBCAN3!

I may have a chance at some point soon to bring you one more post about the season, though. With all the talk about Neda being one of the best (or possibly one of the best), I wanted to examine the games of these great players and contrast them with Neda's. But I have seen only a couple of Big Brother seasons. So, I'll be comparing Neda's game with the only season I've seen one of these "great players" play; Dan in BB14.

If you think about it, there were a lot of similarities. A lot of differences too, but if I get the chance sometime soon, I'll go over them. So stay tuned for one last post about Big Brother Canada--Dan BB14 vs. Neda BBCAN2!

But wait, there's more! The U.S. season of Big Brother will be starting before too long; sometime around June 25th or 26th, I think. That'll be the main focus of our summer coverage, along with The Amazing Race Canada 2 and maybe watching some old Survivor seasons.

Stay tuned for more Big Brother in the near future, and tell me if you liked the coverage of it this spring! Also, check back tonight for an Amazing Race recap.

Cagayan E11 "Havoc to Wreak" Recap

Who can win this game?

Better late than never; here's my talk with Ethan about the eleventh episode of Survivor: Cagayan. Join as as we discuss rewards, the strategy of voting out Tasha, final 2 vs. final 3, who can win this game, and much much more. I mentioned on the podcast that I'd have some BBCAN finale recaps up on Saturday...it's going to be more like Sunday, but I expect to have at least two posts about that in the upcoming days. But for now, listen to our podcast and check back Sunday for Big Brother Canada and The Amazing Race!

Crossing the Don on Episode 11

Everyone is sad that the Immunity Queen lost.

The Immunity Queen is down! I repeat, the Immunity Queen is down! Tasha was vanquished, and Survivor: Cagayan continued tonight with another great episode. Let's recap it from the top. (Image credit CBS)

The backdrop of the entire episode was a Kass vs. Tony feud that, of course, stemmed from Jefra's blindside last week. After Tribal, they're both arguing with each other, and Kass calls Tony (in confessional) the "cult leader," the "Don," and the "mafia king." It's crystal clear that she's not happy. Trish, meanwhile, smartly hides any anger she has.

Things are no better the next morning. While telling Woo and Spencer that he's been shot at three times as a cop, and is never scared, he mentions Kass's name in the context of something like "Is Kass still asleep?" Innocuous enough, right? Wrong. Kass isn't asleep, and she overhears her name.

Assuming he's dragging her name through the mud, Kass starts another argument with Tony, which is funny because Tony is yelling and shouting emphatically, but is telling the truth for once.

Kass, Woo, and Spencer get a
come-from-behind victory at the reward.

Kass gets her opportunity for revenge for the Jefra and LJ votes at the reward. She, Woo, and Spencer get a come-from-behind puzzle victory and the opportunity to deliver toys and school supplies to the children of Cagayan, much like Malcolm and Co. did back in Philippines.

This was one of my favorite scenes of the episode; a mass of kids stormed out of the elementary school and the three castaways were overwhelmed...and excited. At least, Woo was--Spencer admitted he doesn't really like kids. Woo brought out his inner Flight Time/Big Easy, doing basketball tricks and showing off his karate skills for the kids.

It really painted Woo in a positive light and as someone to root for; he's a cool guy. Kass and Spencer also came off relatively well (although here's a tip, Spencer: don't tell a national audience that you don't like kids. Only Courtney can pull that off).

While eating lunch near the school, Kass and Spencer hatch a Final 3 plan with Woo, who is iffy at best. Although this Final 3 is terrible for both Kass and Woo, he should have gone along with it and not given any doubt...but it doesn't matter in the end. Kass wants to split the vote (with Tasha) and have a 2-2-2 tie against Trish and Tony. They'll flush the idol and then vote out Trish. Simple, right?

Wrong. But we'll get to that later. I have to go through and count how many words I've written as part of this week's immunity challenge.

The challenge isn't over yet?

25 minutes later. Oh, the challenge isn't over yet? Well, I should get back to writing. I'll admit I do like a variety of challenges, of course, and I even suggested they have a challenge like this on Cagayan, which I recall from both Exile Island and Tocantins, where the castaways had to race out, memorize a bunch of symbols, race back, and then recall them. Those challenges were both fun, but this one just wasn't doing it for me.

Even throwing in some crabs and masks to count wasn't cutting it. The one thing that did keep me in suspense was the possibility of Tasha tying Kelly's season 1 record of 4 straight immunities, which I mentioned as a possibility on last week's podcast and Jeff brought up tonight.

Alas, Tasha's immunity run was nipped in the bud, with Spencer pulling out the win, making Tasha the default target for tonight if the majority alliance held together.

Back at camp, Tasha's trying to pretend that she knows she's going home, but Tony's not buying it. Spencer asks him if he has the special idol, and Tony's response is wonderful (read in Jersey accent): "I have plenty of stuff, kid. At this time, I cannot confirm or deny."

Tasha has a conversation with Kass and calls Tony their season's Russell Hantz. They both go on to refer to him as not likable and a bully, prompting Kass to wonder if everyone hates Tony as much as she does. If this is true, she ponders, should she keep him around and Natalie White him at the end? (Hint: Kass is not a Natalie White)

Kass and Woo decide to defect from the new alliance and stick with the old plan. Tasha, for all of her savvy arguments at Tribal, is voted out, and Spencer is left on the bottom once again.

Time for three burning questions.

It's too early for Woo to take out Tony.

1: Did Kass and Woo (now called Koo) make the right decision?

Absolutely. I wrote down in my notes in all caps halfway through the episode "IT'S TOO EARLY for Woo to take out Tony." And he followed my advice. While Tony is a wild, dangerous player with two idols, Spencer and Tasha are huge threats to win the game! Finally someone's wisened up to that fact and send Tasha packing.

Make no mistake; I really liked Tasha, and thought she was probably the favorite of the jury, but that is exactly why Koo (mostly Kass) made the right decision in getting rid of her now. Even though she's jumping at the bit to vote out Tony, next episode Koo needs to stay the course and get rid of Spencer before voting out Tony at Final 4, or Final 3 if it's a F2 scenario.

2: What happens to Spencer now?

Spencer should be the next to go.

Spencer should be the next to go. By all rights, he should have been out of here already. But he's stuck around due to Tony's craziness and some good social maneuvering. That still shouldn't be enough to save him, and even if he gets Koo back on his side, they can't split the votes anymore. Unless all three vote for Trish (not totally unlikely, now that I think about it), Tony can always play his idol and send Spencer home himself.

There's also Spencer's edit to consider, however. It's still nearly flawless, so unless the editors are tricking us (like with Malcolm in S25), he has a strong chance to win the game. I can't bet against Spencer, even at this point, because of that.

3: Will we have a Final 3 or a Final 2?
A Final 2 would be extremely exciting. The last time we had one was in Tocantins, 10 seasons ago. And in Micronesia, a surprise Final 2 (due to the two medivaces and quit) messed with everyone's endgames. Many claim that Cirie was robbed of a victory by the Final 2, but I say that she should have played a better social game and established stronger connections with Amanda. Queen Parvati deserved her win.

Sorry about that little rant. What was I saying? Oh, right. Well, everyone had this same thought before, as I recall...three seasons ago. Going into the finale of the Philippines, Abi had just been voted out and we had just 4 players left, and 2 hours to get through, so a lot of people predicted a Final 2, with two Tribal Councils.

Instead, we got a reward challenge and a Final 3. Same deal with Caramoan; Erik is evacuated 5 minutes into the finale, but instead of a Final 2, there's a reward. I want to say that China was the same way, because I remember a reward challenge taking place at the Great Wall, but that's a total guess.

So even though I would love to have a Final 2, I'm going to say no. The one difference is that the players--like Kass tonight--having been mentioning it this season, so it's certainly possible. I'm cautiously optimistic.

That just about sums up tonight's episode; tomorrow I will try to get my podcast with Ethan recorded and I would love to get a chance to catch up on Big Brother Canada and post something sooner. If not, definitely expect something Friday. You can also check out the post I wrote earlier today about location spoilers for the upcoming seasons of Survivor right here. Stay tuned!

Survivor Spoilers: S29 and 30 in Nicaragua and Blood vs. Water 2

It's official: the twenty-ninth and (presumably) thirtieth seasons of Survivor will be leaving the Philippines and returning to Nicaragua, the site of the 21st and 22nd seasons of the show (two of the least-liked by fans, I should add). (Image credit CBS)

The Espada beach from Survivor: Nicaragua.

I've been reading rumors about Nicaragua for several days in Survivor Sucks, although I wanted to wait until I knew for sure to post; Cambodia seemed all but confirmed a few weeks ago.

Yesterday, however, a video linked from YouTube was posted on Survivor Sucks. The video was posted on YouTube on the 4th, and is a thirty-second clip of people walking on the beach.

It doesn't prove much by itself, but the description reads:

"While walking through the jungle in Nicaragua with Sandra looking for this rumor of perfect surf over the mountain we came to close to the Survivor TV show that is being filmed. This will be aired in/around September this year 2014. We could hear the work being done and people chopping but didnt see any game players , rats !"

Then today, a trusted spoiler named castaway208 (who spoiled the One World twist, as pointed out by Reality Blurred) posted the following:

Sorry guys, it's true- Nicaragua is the location. There was a chance they could have gone inland but it didn't happen. 

Another poster linked to this article by the Del Sur News posted over a month ago, which says that Clover Bay S.A., which worked with Survivor last time it came to Nicaragua, is closing a number of beaches in the area that fits with the video. It looks like it's official.

Also mentioned by Reality Blurred, a San Juan de Sur Facebook user posted the following back in February:

“Survivor (The T.V Show) is coming back to Nicaragua this May for 6 months,” adding that “Again they are taking over two popular surf beaches (POPULAR surf beaches) that will NOT give access to anyone for surfing, fishing or beach going.”

Needless to say, this is not anyone's top pick for a location. At least we can have water challenges, hopefully.

Click here for the full Reality Blurred article.

But that's not all.

Another spoiler at Survivor Sucks named Redmond says that, contrary to initial plans, Survivor 30 will not be Heroes vs. Villains II, or even a returning player season. The current CBS plan is to have both S29 and S30 as all newbies, due to the huge success of Survivor: Cagayan.

According to Remond:

As far as I was told production had/have two ideas on the table: 

Heroes vs Villains II with all returnees, production had a early draft list of people they'd potentially like to see play again (Malcolm, Abi Maria, Ciera, Alicia Rosa are the main names I heard. Richard Hatch and Jonny Fairplay are names I heard way back before any theme was on the table as two people producers want back at some point - no idea if it they'd actually have used them for HvV II). As far as I'm aware none of these players were actually contacted other than the initial email that was sent out to all ex-players a few months back. 

All Newbies. This is the other idea and the one that I believe they are going ahead with. Due to the success of Cagayan the producers are now on an all newbie kick. They held more casting calls and appear to be pushing ahead with it.

I wouldn't completely rule out them switching back to returnees at last minute (you can't ever rule things out with Survivor) but right now it's heavily leaning towards newbies. Filming for S29 is scheduled for late May/early June so they'll most likely want the S30 cast decided before they fly out.

This was back on April 26th. But as of the 29th, newbies was looking even more likely:

Everything is completely quite on the returnees front. And while I wouldn't be shocked if they go back to returnees, right now I think it's highly unlikely.

All signs point to newbies. 

This is not necessarily confirmed yet, and it's still possible for the producers to change their minds, but all new players is looking pretty likely. In addition, Redmond says that they're leaning to season 29 being Blood vs. Water II, with all new players. This has been supported by tweets and YouTube videos throughout the last few months.

That's all the information anyone seems to know at the moment; when I learn more, I'll tell you.

And keep in mind, there's no way I'm ever going to post boot or game spoilers (I'm not going to learn them, either), so this is a safe place to read information.

Check back tonight for my Cagayan episode 11 recap!