Episode 10 of Survivor Redemption Island is all about Philip. Philip being annoying, racial and blah, blah, blah. In other words, he went crazy on this episode and I can say that without such, Survivor will have a hard time producing this episode.
TV Fanatic: Phillip didn’t want to hear the truth coming out of Steve’s lips this week, but no one on Phillip’s tribe agreed with him and certainly no one watching agreed.
What was most frustrating about the “Rice Wars” between Phillip and Steve is that we were forced to watch it. Certainly I get it – the footage was dramatic, fiery, contained adult language (always a ratings booster) and seemed like it might be integral in the actual game.
There was no way we were not going to be subject to the footage. nlike previous Survivor fights, however, it didn’t impact who was sent home at all and that made it basically useless.
Unlike many other verbal spats in Survivor history, there was nothing unique or interesting about Phillip going off. All that happened is that he came off looking terribly, especially in the face of Steve handling the situation almost flawlessly.
At least in previous fights we got to see an unknown or unique side to someone.
Additionally, those fights often result in one of the combatants being sent home. Phillip was never realistically going home, but why was Julie sent home instead of Steve?
Does she pose more of a threat to win challenges than Steve or Ralph?
Perhaps worst of all, the fight completely hijacked tribal council (if not the entire episode). We were subject to a long therapy session with Dr. Jeff Probst and his nine misfit castaways. While Jeff delivered an A+ performance trying to diffuse what initially seemed like a potentially explosive racial situation, did we really need to see it?
Was it interesting television? It certainly had nothing to do with the game.
Phillip was making a rational argument to Steve for storing the rice, if they existed in a vacuum. But the former Ometepes have been freezing out the ex Zapateras since the merge. What did Phillip thing they were going to do? Willfully help them out?
nce the whole story is told, of course what Phillip was asking for wasn’t as rationale as he thought it was. Beyond that, Steve’s comment had more to do with Phillip’s entire persona this season, not just his allegedly rational suggestion for storing the rice.
A problem with focusing so much time on Phillip’s tirades was that it lent credence to the ravings of a crazy person. (Yes, Phillip’s crazy. I’m a white male and saying he’s crazy has nothing to do with his color.) Jeff may have calmed Phillip down, but he also placated him and gave him the incorrect feeling that he may have been right to act the way he did.
Not only did Phillip’s actions hijack the episode, they hijacked this review! Let’s move on.
Survivor took another twist this week with a move to a trial (I agree with David, a duel can not incorporate three or more people. They are trials now.) instead of a duel. As someone who wasn’t very enamored with Redemption Island to begin with, moving to a format where it doesn’t really matter if you finish first, only if you don’t finish last is even less exciting.
I really liked my own idea of filling Redemption Island with all of the people voted off and doing one final endurance-based challenge at the end to determine who gets to go back in the game. Yes, I know there are logistical issues with this as far as who’s on the jury, etc, but I’m sure the producers could figure out a work around.
Redemption Island will be crucial and pertinent for this season, if and only if, the returning castaway will make his return on final three or four. Aside from that, in my opinion, forget it.
You can check Survivor 22 Redemption Island Reviews and Spoilers HERE.
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