Survivor Philippines

SNEAK PEEK of the next season: 

officially titled SURVIVOR CARAMOAN FANS VS FAVORITES 

10 fans, newbies competing against 10 of the most favorite seasoned castaways since season 1.

(from CBS youtube) 

Rumored Returning Survivors: (c/o excelman) 

• Andrea Boehlke, Survivor Redemption Island; 
• Brenda Lowe, Survivor Nicaragua; 
• Corinne Kaplan, Survivor Gabon; 
• Dawn Meehan, Survivor South Pacific; 
• Francesca Hogi, Survivor Redemption Island; 
• Brandon Hantz, Survivor South Pacific; 
• Erik Reichenbach, Survivor Micronesia: Fans vs. Favorites; 
• John Cochran, Survivor South Pacific; 
• Malcolm Freberg, Survivor Philippines; 
• Phillip Sheppard, Survivor Redemption Island 

Denise Stapely! Congratulations! I just had to get that out of the way first since I am probably the last to blog about the winner of this season's Survivor. 

Sometimes you don't know if you would be happy about your prediction or hunch coming true or not. It's really unfortunate that Malcolm didn't make it to the final three. But this has been truly a great season that I am equally delighted that my second bet, Denise, won and my third bet, Lisa got the Player of the Game award. Though I feel bad that Malcolm is .07 percent close to winning a hundred grand for that award and he didn't even get a car even if it could be "cursed" .... Because instead he got a cursed advantage to the last immunity challenge. 

And as i said before, Malcolm should have maintained an unbreakable bond with Denise who was his ally from day 1, back at the Matsing tribe, instead considering her as a threat. After Malcolm won the reward challenge, the aforementioned advantage to the last immunity challenge, Denise approached Malcolm and explicitly asked him not to vote her out so that Lisa and her would get equal votes and have a least a fire-making tie-breaker challenge. Malcolm's non-committal and very vague response, gave Denise the go signal to reach out to Lisa and Skupin and ask the solid - original Tandang duo to take Malcolm out if he loses the last immunity challenge. That was the opportunity Lisa was waiting for all along - the chance to finally break the bond between Denise and Malcolm and take him out, which she has attempted a couple of times already.

It's only around two or three days left before the 2-hour season finale of Survivor: Philippines, the 25th season of the reality show that started it tall. 

And we have, as Jeff Probst would say, the most likeable final 4 castaways: Lisa Whelchel, the former star of Facts of Life; Mike Skupin, the returning and most accident-prone castaway to ever play the game; Malcolm Freberg, the charming bar-tender and Denise Stapley, the tough sex-therapist.  

Survivor: Philippines proved to be one of the best seasons after Heroes vs. Villains with moments that are truly firsts in the show's more than a decade of history - the crazy tribal councils: the show-and-tell of  Malcolm and Abi's immunity idols; Jonathan Penner shouting out his vote while writing it down; Denise possibly attending each and every tribal council; the awesome challenges that really showcased the Philippine islands and a lot of other crazy stuff. 

But let's turn the spotlight on at the four remaining players and their chances of winning one million dollars. 

Lisa Welchel: I believe that this season has been the "Lisa Welchel Show". From the very beginning, the focus of every episode was practically on her - from the time she was this crying older lady, alone in the woods, finding her place to becoming the most socially-capable player of the game. You just never knew what Lisa would do. She has thrown Malcolm under the bus by exposing his immunity idol, yet Malcolm kept her as an ally and allowed her to spend time with her brother, Justice - and then the siblings hatched the plan of voting Malcolm out. Lisa also has become Penner's closest friend, crying her eyes out on him a couple of times with their heart-to-heart talks. Yet she still voted him off and at the same time, making him not hold any grudges against her. Lisa also stayed loyal and civil to Abi despite their differences; and turning the tables at the end that it was Abi who lost trust on her, which is enough excuse to have a breakup. And now, Lisa apparently has the best spot to reach the final 3. She is no physical threat (winning no individual challenges so far); everybody wanted to take her to the end and nobody in the jury really hated her. She played the big moves during the entire game, under the guise of not really knowing if she has the heart to play it. But now, her eye is on the money and I wouldn't be surprised if she pulls off another shocker that could shatter someone's dream of reaching the finals. No wonder, Parvati thinks that Lisa already won. 

Whether or not Abi's fantasy idol worked, she's the one staying in the island and not Carter. So, after the tribal council Abi thanked everybody for keeping her. 

"I don't even know how to thank you guys. I survived another tribal. I cannot believe this, I'm over the moon. It's great to be here," Abi said.

Abi assured that she's going to pull off her imaginary immunity idol again just to keep her safe in the next tribal council

Meanwhile, Lisa admitted that voting off Carter was difficult because he was "one of the nicest guy you ever wanna meet." But she stood by her position that she would rather bring somebody that she could beat in the end. 

As for Malcolm, he believed that the last tribal council was an eye-opener since he realized who Lisa was looking for to bring to the final three.

Day 34

The next day, Abi excused herself to get some water and escaped into the woods. Skupin and Malcolm knew right off the bat that Abi was just pretending trying to hide her immunity idol. Malcolm called it a cock and bull story since there's no way that Abi would not use her "idol" during the last tribal council because the threat of being eliminated was high on her at that time.

Abi, on the other hand, had her eyes set on Malcolm who is bound to use his immunity idol. And the only way to for him to get voted off when the opportunity arises is to destroy Lisa aand Malcolm's alliance. So Abi took the opportunity to talk to Lisa, warning her that she is in the bottom of the alliance between Denise, Skupin and Malcolm.

Lisa took Abi's food for thought with a grain of salt and said, "I don't believe Abi for a second. But I am gonna keep her close. Taking her to the end feels yucky inside but I'm not gonna lie. That is the relationship I have with her and it's the best game plan."

Lisa admitted that she would love to vote out Denise and keep Abi around. 

"I am taking control of my destiny. But part of it is waiting for the right time to make my big move," Lisa said.

Here is Carter's secret scene as he makes a plea to the rest of group to keep him for another day.

It's once again proven that if all else fail , "alliance" is the name of the game. It's not about being the nicest and most dignified guy in the tribe, but it's about forming a solid alliance that will take you to the end. And it's already a tell-tale sign that Carter Williams is on the chopping block the moment he loses immunity. After all, he and Abi sided with Jonathan Penner during the last tribal council against the power 4 of Mike Skupin, Denise, Lisa and Malcolm. 

So here's how the latest episode of Survivor Philippines turned out:

At night 30, after Penner was voted off, Abi said that that the foursome alliance of Malcolm and the rest is clear and the next target would be only between her and Carter. The kid from Kansas, Carter told the girl from Brazil that if she indeed got an idol, she would definitely go farther in the game. Abi assured Carter that she indeed got an idol. 

Lisa meanwhile, shared her feelings to Malcolm and Denise after voting off Penner. Denise complimented Lisa for sticking with her guts. Lisa admitted that she agreed with Penner that Malcolm is truly playing a brilliant game - 'strategic, likeable, good at challenges, all around great game." She also knew that going to the end with Malcolm and Denise would not be a great strategy but betraying their trust would oppose who she was.