Survivor Live: Ashlee

Survivor Live, the Internet Talk Show
Guests: Ashlee
Hosts: Dalton Ross (Entertainment Weekly) and Jenna Morasca, sole survivor Survivor Amazon

Comments made by Ashlee
What happened? Why was she such a party-pooper?
She was really tired and she'd acted similarly earlier and it was no big deal. She wasn't hungry so she went to sleep. The rest of the tribe could see that she was ready to go home and she really was.

Ashlee voted for Jeff because she promised him that she wouldn't vote for Kim. She was sorry to see Jonathan and Wanda leave but she said Wanda's singing did get on some people's nerves. Ashlee didn't know about the rats at Koror's camp until Thursday night's show. Stephenie is assertive, strong and athletic. Kim offered no excuse or reason for not even trying to help win immunity. Jeff is the most deceptive followed closely by Kim. Jeff and Kim had a lot of close physical contact and Ashlee even heard "sounds", but she wouldn't elaborate about them. Kim really needs to change her attitude if she wants to go far. Coby is a big fan and student of Survivor. Ibrehem is cute and gorgeous. He voted for Kim because he didn't want Ashlee to go. Bobby Jon had a few outbursts that weren't shown. Angie's performance in the reward challenge really boosted her confidence.

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Early Show: Ashlee

Ashlee: She said that she was just done playing the game. It put a real damper on her spirit. Mentally she just wasn't strong enough to keep playing. On last night's show, she was just too tired to be social; she just wanted sleep. Ashlee said it was very hard to play and maintain her strict Mormon beliefs. Regarding the Jeff / Kim relationship: she's not sure if they really like each other or if it's just strategy.

My Take:
At least she didn't give the standard excuse, "they voted me off because I was a threat." I didn't see anything that would really test her Mormon beliefs, but maybe her temptations just weren't shown.

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Episode 2, Withdrawn Ashlee Gone

Ulong wins Reward, Koror wins Immunity and Ashlee (pictured right) is voted off at Tribal Council.

After the recap of last episode, Koror is shown dealing with rats. Caryn (left) blames everything bad on Tom. She says he insisted on the new camp when they had the choice. She thinks they should have voted blah, blah, blah . . . this beach and camp sucks .. yada, yada, yada . . and it's all Tom's fault. Over at Ulong everyone is just glad that Jolanda is gone.

Reward Challenge
Competition: balance-theme obstacle course to retrieve flags
Reward: fishing gear (& flint if Ulong wins)
Sits out: Williard
Swings sand bags: Jeff & Ibrehem (Ulong), Tom & Gregg (Koror)

The players have to retrieve flags. The course is over a balance beam, barrels, a rope bridge etc. Two players from the opposite tribe can swing sand bags on ropes to knock them off, in which case they have to start over again. Everyone has to get two flags. First tribe to 10 flags wins.

Ulong jumped ahead 3-0 and never looked back, they easily won 10-4.
Katie really struggled with this one. Janu got her two flags fairly quickly for Koror.

Angie (left) receives the praise of her tribe mates for her performance in the Reward challenge. Ulong quickly makes fire, catches fish and feasts on seafood. They eat a really big clam, it must have been two feet in diameter. For some reason Ashlee is acting withdrawn and doesn't join in all of the reindeer games.

At Koror they start their flint recovery project. Ian, Tom, Gregg, Janu and Katie (right) take the canoe out to dive for the flint crate (which they lost last episode when their canoe capsized). Tom says it's a bad time because of the strong current. Ian manages to get a rope around the crate and they haul it up. Flint/fire is theirs once again! Ian estimates that it was in about 25 feet of water.

Tree mail includes instructions to learn Morse Code.

Immunity Challenge
Competition: part underwater / part puzzle challenge
sits out: Katie

Each tribe has to swim out to their pontoon. Once everyone in a tribe is at the pontoon, then the tribe can dive down to pull on a rope to drag a footlocker to them. Then they open the footlocker on the bottom of the ocean and untangle/untie eight mess kits inside of it. Next, return the kits to the beach and assemble the puzzle (each kit has a Morse code letter on it).

Willard slows Koror down a little in the beginning by being slow to the pontoon. However Tom (left) and Gregg manage the underwater rope pulling with relative ease. Ulong have trouble and fall behind. Kim never even tries to dive.

Koror wins before Ulong can even open their footlocker.

Here we go again. Ulong for the second week in a row has to go to Tribal Council. Who are the targets? Alone in the cave (I bet Caryn will be even madder at Tom if she find out they "gave up" a cave), Stephenie (right), Angie and James target Kim. They think she's the obvious one because she did nothing during the Immunity challenge. Stephenie talks to Bobby Jon and he seems to agree. James talks to Jeff, who's been cuddling with Kim. Of course Jeff doesn't want to lose Kim so he puts forward Ashlee to be voted off.

Ulong at Tribal Council (again)
(paraphrased)
Probst: Well, well, a bunch of long faces again. First some good news. You won reward. Angie were your contributions recognized?
Angie: Yes, I feel everyone knows how well I contributed.
Probst: Now the bad news. Kim how is everyone taking Tribal Council again?
Kim: The tribe is devastated. We've really grown close in a short time.
Probst: Jeff any friendships you want to talk about?
Jeff: Kim and I are good friends, we cuddle at night.
Probst: Kim when were you first attracted to Jeff?
Kim: Day one.
James: We've all noticed how close they are.
Jeff: It's just nice to have someone to cuddle with.
Probst: In terms of the game doesn't that make you two a threat / alliance?
Kim: No, I hope they understand. That never crossed my mind.
Probst: James who will you vote for?
James: I'll vote for the person who can't hang with the rest of us.

Ashlee is voted off with 4 votes shown. Ibrehem is shown voting for Kim; Jeff votes for Ashlee.

I cannot believe Jeff (left) and Kim didn't realize that their relationship would have an effect on the game. Either they are real stupid or they're just trying to cover their asses. I'm not sure which it is. Whoever voted for Jeff is really out of the loop. It was probably Ashlee.

Alliances
It's still hard to get a fix on alliances. Here's how I think the votes fell: Jeff, Kim, Bobby Jon, and James voted for Ashlee.; Ibrhem, Stephenie, and Angie voted for Kim. I think Ashlee voted for Jeff. At Tribal Council James said he would vote "for he person who can't hang with the rest of us", that could be Kim or Ashlee. I bet Jeff got James to vote for Ashlee.

Over at Koror it's even harder to say who's aligning with whom. Although Caryn doesn't seem to be making many friends.

Heroes & Villains
I don't like Kim (right). When she and Stephenie talked about Tribal Council and Steph told her she was being considered, Kim acted all offended. Like how could anyone even consider voting for her?! Well, how about you doing nothing to help win Immunity. I'm not liking Caryn either, she complains too much.

Official Episode Title: Love Is in the Air, Rats Are Everywhere

Won Reward: Ulong
(fishing gear and fire)

Won Immunity: Koror

Voted Off: Ashlee
Aired: 4 votes for Ashlee, 1 votes for Kim, 1 vote for Jeff

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Survivor Fantasy: My Picks

For what it's worth, here's my Survivor Fantasy team:

Ian, first interview
He seems to be a quiet leader of Koror. Ian was the one giving the others rowing instruction and using an oar for a rudder during last week's Immunity/Reward challenge. He leads yet he doesn't stand out to make himself a target. Ian could go far in the game. "First interview" seems reasonable given that they will be trying to recover the flint.

Janu, gets naked
A guy can hope, can't he? To score the "gets naked" points she has to intentionally get undressed, like Julie sunbathing last season. Janu is a Las Vegas showgirl and maybe she likes to maintain that all-around tan. Also to vie for the attention of the guys she may have to take this drastic measure to stand out amongst the younger women.

Gregg, finds unexploded ammunition
"Unexploded ammunition" maybe a red herring like last season's "gets burned by lava." He seems like a real go-getter so if there is unexploded ammunition lying around he's a good bet to find it. Plus he's likely to get some "goes in ocean" points as they try and recover the flint.

Stephenie, first questioned at tribal council
Stephenie seems to be the quiet leader of Ulong. If they find themselves at Tribal Council again she's a good bet for first interview. She's also athletic so she may get me some "goes in ocean" points as well.

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Love on the Rocks
One final thought. Angie is probably just a decoy and won't be voted off tonight. The promos and ads show her worried about being the outcast and "on the chopping block", but I think a member of the lovey-dovey couples will be voted off instead. So who are the couples? Jeff and Kim and Gregg and Jenn (I think).

Tonight on Survivor
"Love Is in the Air, Rats Are Everywhere", Episode #1002.
One tribe's beach is overrun with unwelcome little visitors. One Survivor is suspicious about a special alliance developing between two tribemates. While enjoying a feast, a tribe notices one member's reclusive behavior. A tribe attempts to recover a lost provision. Will they be successful in the task, or will they succumb to exhaustion?

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Palau Starts Off Strong in TV Ratings

Los Angeles (excerpted from Hollywood Reporter)
"Survivor: Palau" delivered the best performance for a "Survivor" premiere in more than three years and helped give CBS its most-watched Thursday since at least 1987.

"Survivor: Palau," the 10th incarnation of CBS' golden reality franchise, got things off to a strong start at 8 p.m. with an average of 23.7 million viewers and a 9.1 rating/23 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. That marked the best opening salvo for a "Survivor" since the October 2001 debut of "Survivor: Africa."

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Fantasy Survivor

It's Not Too Late to Play Fantasy Survivor!
The Survivor Fantasy League doesn't start until episode 2 (this Thursday, Feb. 24), so there's still time if you'd like to play. To sign up go here: Survivor Fantasy at CBS.com .


My Group
You are welcome to play in my group (aka tribe); there are five spots still available at this writing. To sign-up with my tribe you will need the tribe name and password, which are:

Tribe Name: Sea Mist Beach Club
Tribe Password: sand

Cooperative Rather than Competitive.
I'd like a tribe were we try to do best as a team to see how high ranked our tribe can get. The team that I played in last season (Team MORTY) almost cracked the top 100.

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