Remind me, @avclub-a5fdfa672284da6bf4f4326e2b3698bd:disqus : when Parvati had the double-HII play in HvV, how long was it until the idols went back into circulation?  I don't remember.

There's no guarantee, but that seems to be the pattern, isn't it?  Once a HII is played, it gets recirculated.

Based on the video, linked below, Cochran did get that promise — Coach/Albert/Sophie/Cochran.

Or the Fairplay/Burton meathead tribe of two from Pearl Islands, who assumed that when they went away on a two-person reward while the other three women stayed back at camp,  nothing bad could happen.

It's more important to make sure that someone from Team Ozzy doesn't find the next HII, which means winning the reward challenge I assume happens next week (in lieu of a Redemption battle), than it is to worry about Ozzy winning individual immunity in any given week. Because there will be a week in which he doesn't.

Bingo. It's like the clips we didn't see last season of everyone knowing that Rob had the HII.

Oh, geez.  Was it as good as last season's Philip-inspired Survivor Symposium on the Sensitive Subject of Race?

He's now in a group of seven.  Somewhere from that seven, there's a four that will emerge.  Be part of it.

Every large alliance eventually crumbles.  The great alliances in this show are never larger than four, are they?

How about bringing women back to the show, like the involuntarily-gone-from-All-Stars I Sue Hawk and Jenna Morasca?

If you're going to make a move like that, extract a promise. Make Coach promise to take to you to Final Four.  I feel like this was a smart move in theory, played haphazardly.

Yep. And a 40% chance of the Black Rock hitting your tribe anyway is just too high a risk when you're only drawing it one time.

He wasn't going to win the game by staying put.

Each season of Survivor creates its own narrative and moral universe. There's no reason why you couldn't have a season in which alliances were disdained and contributions to tribal living (and survival skills) were what counted.

Have to object to the assertion that "For any seasoned reality viewer, it’s obvious from almost the very beginning that Sonja, the sweet, slightly crunchy 63-year-old cancer survivor, is doomed. "

There's more: not only did Richard understand alliances long before the producers thought they'd come into play (they assumed fitness-boy Joel was the likely winner), he understood the importance of being a good narrator for tv purposes.

They were much more into the "forming a new civilization" mumbo-jumbo back then, and Probst was much more of an amiable douchebag.  They didn't overtly treat it as a game the way they do now.

Indeed. Richard figured out the importance of alliances right away.  Imagine the whole history of reality competitions had that not occurred for the first few seasons of Survivor, if decisions were more ad-hoc and based on things like friendship and contributions to tribal life.

And the Blue Screen of Death.

Villainy? Cary did his job this week.  Playing the Taiwan=No Immunity card was kinda brilliant.