I said the exact same thing to my wife.  She gave me the "shut up" up look.  I didn't even get to not explain it.

I know I'm in an overwhelmed minority here, but I don't really mind Malcolm's ouster.  I haven't been a big fan of his this time around.  Maybe he was a little more interested in being on Survivor than playing the game.  Same goes, for that matter, for Cochran (blasphemy, I know).  Both seem like nice guys, but I…

Oh yeah, the behavior fits her character, for sure (that lady apparently has the stability of a Parkinson's patient on roller skates).  But the whole thing: just weird.

Everything relating to Dawn's dentistry interlude — how it was dropped in and then *poof* over, Dawn's level distress, missing teeth, Brenda's willingness to help — was one of the straight-up weirdest things I've seen on Survivor in a long time.

For that matter, they've had a pretty easy run of it as far as alliance-testing votes go — an incompetent tribe on the other side, obvious outsiders to vote off, etc.  Easier, I'd imagine, to just go with the flow and avoid ruffling feathers, even if it means dealing with some crazy for a while.

Re: Malcolm keeping his idol — in retrospect, yes.  But I cannot fault him for playing it and would have done the same myself — it's just too risky a bluff to make.

Philip must've been absent on "how to handle waterboarding" day at Special Agent School.

I'd like to see the producers shake up the Hidden Immunity Idol a bit.  It's always found, but hardly ever played, which is unfortunate because some of the best Survivor moments (Russell, tonight, the fake Idol play, etc.) have happened when an HII shows up at TC.  Having the HII sit unused all season is wasted…

The irony of it all is that Phillip isn't really that bad of a strategist.  Certainly he has a better handle on how to play the game than a lot of the other players right now.  Hell, he's generally been strong in challenges, too.  If he'd just shut his mouth and stop trying to convince everyone else of his own…

And of course when there are exceptions, like Earl Cole, they balance it out with a guy like Dreamz, who seemed to have been built in a lab from lesser stereotypes with the express purpose of giving white folks the Vapors.

With a handful of exceptions, the black contestants typically come off as the worst.  What I wonder is if the casting department is intentionally picking these people, if they're playing it up (with or without direction), or if the editors are making them look worse than they are.  Maybe all of the above.  But yeah,…

I could definitely do without Brandon, who is squicky in a way unlike any of the other contestants.  I rather liked Russell, so he's definitely bringing down the Hantz name, which I'm sure some people would find impossible.

Mr. Fingerbottom?

Satellite providers often use the eastern feed for some cable channels.  I don't know why.  Dish uses it on Comedy Central, which is awesome for watching the Daily Show and Colbert and the uncut versions of things late on Friday night.  Hearing them say "fuck" on TV seems so…naughty.

As a west-coaster who's just getting started on the episode, I'm hoping the rest of the season lives up to the first 30 minutes.

Wednesday night means nachos and Survivor.  Glad to be back!

@avclub-9c33ea7188cb0fc5d524f4ad1e8d8fc5:disqus ADUIS is the music of your fourth whiskey while lamenting a bad breakup.

@avclub-9c33ea7188cb0fc5d524f4ad1e8d8fc5:disqus ADUIS is the music of your fourth whiskey while lamenting a bad breakup.

@avclub-e463f97ca6bc46b1ba706474e108c7e1:disqus As @avclub-8f6b5d58af68257e3b548645711bfcf7:disqus mentions, don't overlook the Cherry Tree EP, which not only has "About Today" on it, but also "All Dolled-Up in Straps" — an excellent track that never seems to get any recognition.

@avclub-e463f97ca6bc46b1ba706474e108c7e1:disqus As @avclub-8f6b5d58af68257e3b548645711bfcf7:disqus mentions, don't overlook the Cherry Tree EP, which not only has "About Today" on it, but also "All Dolled-Up in Straps" — an excellent track that never seems to get any recognition.