The Survivor Research Project: Ep 6

The hapless Ulong tribe sank to new levels of haplessness this week with a 5th straight immunity challenge loss. It was nice to see them win the reward challenge. The Pringles and Mai-Tais were rather lame (people who haven't eaten properly in 2 weeks do not need to have alcohol and salt in their systems) but the swim in that incredible lake with the jellyfish was really great.

I wished they had showed us more of what happened at Koror with the knot-tying to secure the chest. It seemed to me that their confusion of knots was much more difficult to unravel than James's "impossible" knot that he learnt in the Navy. I suspect that Katie's weaving skills (which Coby had mocked in an earlier challenge) came into play here and we just weren't shown any of it. When they made a point to show the Ulong tribe tying and James being confident about the challenge, I was pretty certain they would lose, which they obligingly did. I am beginning to think that we see so much of the Ulong trible and so little of Koror because all the Ulongers will get themselves out before long, and the producers are giving them screentime while they can. The 2nd half of the series will probably feature the Koror members more prominently.

I am mystified about Stephenie's vote. There are many theories about why she voted for Ibrehem first before switching her vote to James, but none of them really compute for me. There must be something that they did not show us, something that showed that she might have some reason for not trusting Bobby John. The only plausible reason I can see for her vote is that she suspected that Bobby John and Ibrehem would both vote for her. She voted for Ibrehem (as she knew James would do) to force a tie. If she had voted for James as per her agreement with Bobby John, she was vulnerable if Bobby John was double-crossing her. If this was indeed the case, I wish the editors had shown it. If not, then I really don't understand why Stephenie voted that way, risking Bobby John's distrust when he could have been a strong ally.

Player Ratings for Episode 6:

ST: Screen Time ; Im: Impression Left ; Lk: Likeability

Ibrehem - Ulong
ST: 3 (shown praying and talking about his reprieve from being voted off)
Im: 2 (he really is very dull and bland)
Lk: 2

Bobby John - Ulong
ST: 4 (strategising with Stephenie, talked about the reward challenge)
Im: 3
Lk: 3.5 (He's an odd one, with his biblical leanings and sense of honour, but he's compelling)

James - Ulong
ST: 4 (the knot master)
Im: 4 (missed all shots at the RC, then spent time tying his toga instead of the ropes on the boxes during IC)
Lk: 1

Stephenie - Ulong
ST: 4 (the potential swing voter at TC always gets loads of camera time)
Im: 4 (really shone at the Reward Challenge, then the mystifying vote at TC)
Lk: 2 (there was a smugness in her during the RC that I didn't much care for. She is so good at the challenges, but her strategic play has been poor, so she is not really redeemed in my eyes.)


Caryn - Koror
ST: 2 (interviewing about Katie's jokes at camp)
Im: 2 (tried hard at the RC, still seems to really dislike Katie)
Lk: 1.5

Coby - Koror
ST: 3 (mocked Katie's craft project, shown giving his own personal commentary during IC)
Im: 4 (they showed him a lot during IC, being all nervous. I wonder if his neck would have been on the line if Koror lost)
Lk: 2.5 (the camp character is really good TV, but his bitchiness can get grating)

Gregg - Koror
ST: 0
Im: 0
Lk: 3

Ian - Koror
ST: 2 (did the exposition about having to vote off Willard and the sense of reinvigoration after getting beef stew the night before)
Im: 2 (not much screen time but emerges as a leader - it seemed it was his decision who to sit out during the RC)
Lk: 4

Janu - Koror
ST: 3 (feeling vulnerable after the storm)
Im: 3 (comes across as a little fragile and emotional)
Lk: 2.5 (I actually empathise with how she felt and really admired how hard she worked on the IC after that)

Jenn - Koror
ST: 0
Im: 1 (one of the so called Koror B team that took part in the IC, but she was clealy working hard)
Lk: 2.5 (still largely anonymous, but I liked that she contributed during the challenge, being the one to swim out with Ian to recover the bundles of wood to build the fortress)

Katie - Koror
ST: 3 (shown doing her craft project and having a sock puppet show, and talking about how it has been easy to adjust to camp life. Also commented on Janu as a drama queen.)
Im: 3 (established as the one who makes jokes, is funny, but seen as not pulling her weight around camp. I still think her macrame skills had something to do with the fact that Ulong had a hard time undoing the knots that Koror tied.)
Lk: 2.5 (I actually think I might like some things about her, although the not working part is hard to forgive. I also didn't much like her dismissiveness towards Janu. However, she's funny, by Caryn's own admission and having someone like that around camp can boost morale.)

Tom - Koror
ST: 3 (cheering up Janu when she was feeling down)
Im: 3 (great job, being patient and kind to Janu. He's also clearly a cheerleader for Koror. When he sat out of the IC, he was offering encouragement and advice at the side. I think he's just a natural father figure)
Lk: 4