If I thought Phillip was a more self-aware person, I might almost admire the way he played Brandon.  However obnoxious the Special Agent is, he eliminated an enormous problem for himself, and did it in a way that improved his position in the game.

At least the front-facing part of her got to be on TV this week for a change.

You're not as ugly as Laura, are you?  God, gross.  Go to another lunch table, freak.

Plenty of room on the Julia train!

Poopert seems like a nice, genuine guy in real life who gets a little weird and self-aggrandizing when you put him out on an island.

I guess if it's a final 3 they wouldn't have to do a double with 18 players, but I know that Guatemala had a double elimination episode.

They used to cast only 16 people, so there wasn't any real leeway.  Now that they cast 18 (or 20), you get double elimination episodes, and medical evacs are a good way to do two in a show without people feeling ripped off.

(It's Julia.  I'm going down with that ship.)

At least Colton was an intriguingly devious player though, with a strange hold over his tribe.  He played the game, even if he was an awful, privileged racist.  Shamar was deeply obnoxious, and also a terrible player who had already lost the game by the middle of the first episode.

I think that Shamar is the first medical evac that the show's ever had where there was no possibility for genuine sympathy, and everyone was just glad he was gone.

The editing of this episode was just awful.  Why did Julia and Sherri join the vote against Laura?  They gave us absolutely no clue as to why that happened, so a good chunk of the strategy that occurred in this episode ended up being hidden from us for the sake of creating stupid "blindside" drama at the vote.

It's been the dominant storyline so far this season, just like the godawful "Chef Jeff" and slightly less godawful "Zarra" storylines dominated the last third of the 1st season.    To say that it's "taking over" seems a little short-sighted.  It's an aspect of the show that they're particularly bringing to the…

Yeah, that's usually an easy way to tell.  If they pick someone from Guatemala or some shit, they're a fan.

I absolutely agree that a mental illness should not be a disqualifier.  Maybe that describes Shamar, I don't know.  But there has to be some sensitivity about the fact that the Angry Black Man is a very old and very threadbare reality-show trope.  Is that maybe unfair to people like Shamar, assuming he does have PTSD?…

And everyone secretly resents you for it.

There's a lot of circumstantial evidence that Jon Snow is……….BIG FUCKING SPECULATIVE SPOILER
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The son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.

Philip is Philip.  Gives good copy, not a surprise they brought him back.

I think there are some really great characters in that season - not just Boston Rob, you've got Sean, you've got Kathy, you have arrogant John getting drunk with power.  The big thing you'd miss with All-Stars is the Kathy/Rob friendship, and also just how good and interesting of a player Kathy was.  If you want to…

No no no no no no no.  There is no God.

Also, Rob's entire tribe was a parade of morons.