Survivor: Caramoan 1x2 "Honey Badger"

Here are thoughts from the second episode, which unlike the first one (obviously) I'm watching live rather than via the CBS website.

Breaking news!  Brandon didn't like the way tribal council went.  Thus begins his downward spiral!  Picking on Dawn...apparently he needs a good influence to try and be good...which means Coach is technically a good person...Sucks that Dawn was the victim, though.  It appears he's simply concerned about his own fortunes.  Which sheds new light on uncle Russell, who probably suffers from the classic Napoleon complex...Of course, it may also be Brandon simply not wanting to take more shit from family when he gets back home, as my sister just reminded me.

Shamar is either getting the classic lazy black person edit, or that's what he's really doing with his time.

Good sign for Brandon to be talking with Cochran.  I was hoping that would happen, because Cochran is a smart cookie, even if he isn't always the smartest player.  And Phillip, naturally, is Phillip's version of Coach.  Isn't that what he was all along?  I never understood why people don't like Phillip.  He's got an unusual personality.  Still, Brandon is asserting himself about working against Phillip, calling out the Specialist's Boston Rob tendencies, which is not just because Phillip last went far in the game with the legendary (and fourth time's a charm) godfather of Survivor.

Carnival game immunity/reward challenge!  Malcolm, watch out for Reynold!  Always a good challeenge when you need to haul in tribemates and release items from underwater.  Fans apparently aren't also fans of Tolkien.  No love for rings...Favorites win immunity!  Figures, though.  With tribes like these, alternating victories will probably happen a lot.

Shamar predictably is the first target for the Fans.  We'll see how the rest of the episode plays out in that regard...

Okay, so Phillip can definitely overdo his gimmick, although it can apparently amuse people other than myself.

It's not really a Survivor argument unless someone wags a finger is someone else's face.  Hopefully Shamar can tough this rough patch out.  Sometimes when it seems obvious that someone's going, the rest of the episode will introduce an alternative to the person pegged to go home.  We'll see.

Predictably, Matt's the one who introduces an alternative to the proposed vote, simply out of numbers and alliance considerations.  The real trick is that Reynold happens to find a hidden immunity idol.  May or may not have any immediate impact, but certainly makes him that much more of a threat in the game.

Breaking news!  The alternate vote is for Allie, breaking up the alpha couples alliance.

Shamar doesn't simply suffer from laziness.  He's got the classic big man's depletion from lack of the obvious intake he was used to off the island...Also, Reynold has already blown the hidden immunity idol's main effectiveness.  So much for Reynold...Shamar has a chance at life yet!  And thanks to Reynold's blunder, Allie indeed goes home.  It's rare that the edit swerve actually pays off, but sometimes it does, and it works to my interests, so I have nothing to complain about.  I said last episode that the alphas rarely do well in this game, and these Fans have somehow not learned that.  ("Fans" may also be synonymous with the casting agent's ideas of what makes an acceptable Survivor cast.)

So much for another three days on Caramoan!  Usually the person who manages to find a hidden immunity idol without having any clues would be subject for an easy vote for player of the week, but obviously Reynold doesn't deserve the honor.

Next week, is Shamar going to undo everything he just accomplished?!?