‘Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites’ review: Shamar and a hard place
It’s interesting that before “Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites” even kicked off, the Favorites were the only thing that anyone really wanted to talk about at all. However, the Fans have really been the crew to since dominate when it comes to airtime. To make matters even more interesting, you have a guy in Shamar who may actually be getting more airtime than Special Agent Phillip Sheppard.
So what do we really make of such a man? For one, it’s pretty lame that he wanted to quit just a week into the game, especially since any real “Fan” would probably not do that. However, there is something that we have to say somewhat in defense of him: how hard is this for a guy of his size? This is not a small dude, and the bigger you are on “Survivor,” the harder it is to function. Just ask James Clement, who used to get in trouble for eating extra food even though he needed it. Shamar is lazy, but it is harder to get your motor running when you are as big as he is and trying to cut your diet drastically.
As for whether or not the Fans made the right decision to keep them, they didn’t. Instead, all they did was likely give Eddie and Reynold yet another reason to flip if they make it to the merge. While Shamar is helpful in theory for the challenges, his conflict with a good half of the tribe makes communication all but impossible. You need strength, but you also need communication … and this is where he lacks. Losing Hope Driskill was no surprise: she was the weakest person in the cool kids’ alliance, and we heard next to nothing from her while she was on the show. Ultimately, though, we wonder why she didn’t just cast her vote for Eddie knowing that it could keep her in the game a while longer. Should she really have been so smart as to trust Laura that she and Julia could help her get rid of Shamar? If she was voting for Eddie the first time, there would still be a Shamar vs. Hope re-vote that they could use in order to cast the big guy out.
While the Fans tribe cut some more of its dead weight (at least when it came to entertainment value), the Favorites tribe brought us the stunning admission that Andrea apparently feels threatened by Corinne, though we don’t know why outside of the fact that she doesn’t trust her. Why disrupt your alliance so quickly? While getting rid of her would still give you a 5-3 edge, it becomes much easier than in a 6-2 situation for some people to turn against you. What Andrea doesn’t know is that Corinne helped Malcolm find an immunity idol, though it’s hardly like Malcolm is ever going to give it to her in the first place.
While this episode was sadly a bit too predictable for our taste, we do appreciate some of the character moments, including an opportunity to see more of where Shamar comes from, how Cochran views being on “Survivor” versus watching it, and why Sherri is so good at communicating with people.
What did you think about Wednesday night’s “Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites,” and would you have sent Shamar home? Be sure to share what you think below, and you can see our latest rankings for the two tribes over at the link here.
Photo: CBS