Survivor Redemption Island - FINAL results

Okay, let's go over the pool results first.  Andrea came back from Redemption Island but was immediately voted out again which did not make a huge impact on the pool, besides creating more distance between entries.  Entries that had Rob got double points (180) for the final tribal council.  

Everyone who won a prize were first time winners!  LeeAnn squeaked by Devin to take 1st place, forcing him to take 2nd.  Amy jumped from 5th to 3rd, forcing Brad to take 4th.  Kristie had no competition for last place.  So the prizes are:

• 1st, $225:  LeeAnn (played 3 seasons)
• 2nd, $90:  Devin (played 1 season)
• 3rd, $70:  Amy (played 5 seasons)
• 4th, $45:  Brad (played 3 seasons)
• Last, $20:  Kristie (played 1 season)

Prize winners, please send me your mailing address where I can mail a cheque, OR preferably, your email address if you have Interac e-Transfer setup.  I prefer e-Transfers because I don't have to worry about cheques getting lost in the mail, and it gets taken out of my bank account right away.  I just completed my very first two e-transfers recently (both sending and receiving) and it was quick and easy.

Okay, some stuff I want to say about the season finale in a very random order:

1. I'm tired of the "I'm over here and you're over there" reasonings for finalists used against the jury.  If a finalist hasn't played the game well enough to give themselves a good chance to win the game at the end, they might as well be sitting on the jury anyway.  What I'm saying is, riding coattails will almost never get you enough votes to win at the end so you must as well try something drastic to put you in a winning position.  I think it's really embarrassing for finalists who get no votes.
2. I was very bitter when I only found out at the reunion show that Ashley and Natalie knew that Rob had the immunity idol.  Had I known, I wouldn't have been cursing at the girls for not flipping on Rob during that tribal council of 5 remaining.
3. Russell, at the reunion show, should have given his tribe a harder time about throwing the challenge, nailing home the fact that soon afterwards they lost every immunity challenge and got picked off one by one.
4. I think everyone was disappointed with Phillip's speech to the jury.  We were all hoping he would play the "faked insanity to insure my place at the finals" card, but it turns out he really is that... strange (as a nice way of putting it).
5. Natalie and Phillip actually thought they had chances of winning after admitting they owe their success to Rob?  Dave was very accurate during his jury speech to the other jurors regarding this.
6. As Probst said it, Rob played the most perfect game in the history of Survivor.  He had total control over his large alliance, wasn't a jerk to anyone (which cost Russell $1M during his first season), found the immunity idol and kept it a secret (mostly), and even won individual immunity challenges himself.  Congrats Rob.

Survivor is still successful enough to do another season!  Two previous contestants are returning again (I'd rather they didn't), as well as Redemption Island (not sure how I feel about that).  I hope this season isn't full of blind sheep following the shepherd - too scared or stupid to pull drastic moves - like the last two seasons.  See you all again in September for season 23.  Hope you all enjoyed and still enjoy the pool.

Have a great summer,

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 13 results

Just when Rob thought he had his pecking order, Ashley goes and wins immunity, forcing him to choose between voting off Natalie or Grant.  He chose Grant, and that may actually be his undoing.  Team Natley (or Ashalie) might decide to get rid of Rob before the finals, with help from whoever comes back from Redemption Island.  Guess we'll see on Sunday's finale!

In the pool, 30 entries had Grant (tied for most popular with Mike).  Now there are 3 entries that have all 4 remaining contestants.  Devin has a good lead on LeeAnn at the top, but remember everyone: contestants earn points after each tribal council in the finale, with the sole survivor earning double-points.  There's going to be lots of action in the pool on Sunday.  Don't miss it!

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 12 results

This one was the family episode.  Steve got eliminated at the RI duel, and Mike won, choosing to give everyone on Rob's tribe (who all voted him and his friends out) time with their loved ones.  It may pay off for Mike in the end, but it probably won't make a difference.  We'll see.  Rob wins immunity, beating Grant - the NFL player!  My calves would have started cramping on the fifth trip up those stairs.  They blindside Andrea and send her packing.  I think Phillip actually does have a chance of beating Rob in the end - well, he's the only one that has a chance, unless Matt, Ralph, or Mike makes it to the finals which will make things interesting.

In the pool, 18 entries had Andrea.  LeeAnn is the only one with the remaining 5 picks left, and is looking to take first place from Devin in the next few shows.  Kristie is still in last at the bottom.  If the Redemption Island survivor comes back and actually survives a tribal council (or even wins), it will shake up the pool pretty good.  

See y'all next week.

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 11 results

Another double-knockout!  But it was pretty predictable until the very end:  Philip goes a little nuts again when he finds his shorts; Julie got eliminated from the game on Redemption Island; Grant wins immunity and reward which he shares with Rob and Andrea; and Steve tries to persuade the girls to blindside Rob while they still have a chance, but like the mindless sheep of last season they chose to stick to their alliance which will doom them in the end.  Ralph gets voted out first (he actually spelled someone's name right - Rob - on his ballot for once), and then they have a surprise immunity memory challenge right afterwards which Rob wins, so Steve gets voted out.  All of Russell Hantz's old tribe got voted out after they threw an immunity challenge to get rid of him.  His revenge is pretty much complete (unless one of them comes back from Redemption Island and wins the game).

In the pool, 8 entries had both Ralph and Russel, including Kristie at the bottom who normally would have sealed last place prize but Redemption Island might change that.  Devin remains at the top and is one of four entries that have 5 of the last 6 contestants left on the show.  Again, Redemption Island could switch things up pretty good, even at the top.  It doesn't look like anyone will be reinserted from RI into the game next week, but most likely the week after that.

Quote of the night: "YOU CAN'T STAND THE TRUTH!!" -- Phillip (NOT Jack Nicholson)

Have a great week everyone,

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 10 results

Another boring episode in my opinion.  David (the "puzzle master") got eliminated from the game in a Redemption Island 3-way challenge and became the 1st jury member.  The show, including Probst at Tribal Council, tried to flesh out a racial conflict that really had no meat and was just a weak assumption on Philip's part.  It's sad the show has come to that.  I can't say Redemption Island is a failure yet, but where are the reward challenges where the winner has to choose 2 people to bring, or the immunity challenges where they pick each other off by smashing objects that belong to each contestant?  Those are the events that really shook things up and made the show unpredictable.  These last 3 tribal councils really had no surprise in them.  The survivor of Redemption Island will change nothing unless making it to the final three - and even then, does he/she really deserve to win the whole thing?

Julie from Russell's old tribe got voted out and 16 pool entries had her.  Devin is now the solely in first place but there are many entries with 5 picks left waiting to take that from him.  DW still barely owns last place.  Gisele's #2 entry fell 6 spots but her #1 entry jumped 7.

In the next episode, we get to see Matt whine more, which I'm getting tired of.  I'm also finding Philip less and less entertaining.

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 9 results

Did I see a bit of Russell in Rob tonight in the way he's controlling his tribe?  I liked it.  Actually, I shouldn't be surprised - Rob controlled his tribe or alliance the same way in his last two seasons in the game, and sometimes we forget the villain that he was.  Anyway, there were two tribal councils tonight (it was like two episodes combined) - I guess the show didn't want to prolong the inevitable demise of Russel's old tribe.  Mike was voted off in the first tribal council, David was voted off in the second, and they join Matt on Redemption Island.  MAN, Ralph cannot spell - did he spell Phillip "Philite"?  Russell is probably enjoying the show immensely at home, seeing his former tribe lose a member every week since they threw a challenge to vote him off.

In the pool, things got shaken up quite a bit.  Brad and Devin grabbed the top two spots, and Rachel, the only other entry with 6 picks left, jumped 8 spots to hopefully challenge them in the future.  DW still has last place locked down at the bottom.  Only 6 entries didn't have either Mike or David.

I wonder what's gonna happen next week at Redemption Island.  We don't have a clue.  It'd be neat if more than 2 people came back from the Island into the game.

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 8 results

Fool Me Once...

So Matt beats Sarita at the Redemption Island duel, gets reinserted into the game, becomes part of the merge, gets tempted by Mike to switch sides with a great offer of final three, but instead decides to trust backstabber Rob and therefore gets his stupid ass voted out by his old tribe again.  Back to Redemption Island he goes.

In the pool, every entry that had Matt got him back but lost him again, so the number of picks left for all entries didn't change.  However, remaining contestants still earn points because they "survived" another tribal council.  This resulted is some small ranking changes.  Shiyan is barely keeping first place at the top and DW claimed last place for now.

Matt has a chance to get back in the game if he keeps winning challenges, but I personally am not rooting for him anymore.  He doesn't deserve a third chance in my opinion (even though he is one of my picks!).

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 7 results

So Stephanie got beat by Matt on Redemption Island at a game of Memory.  She's history.  Rob's tribe won the immunity/reward challenge and it was pretty ingenious of him finding the hidden immunity idol clue right away and really funny when he threw the clue into the volcano!!  Russell's old tribe (notice how I don't use their weird and hard-to-remember tribe names) decided to keep their tribe strong by keeping David over Sarita.

In the pool, 16 entries had Sarita, but not Shiyan, who now claimed sole top spot.  There's still a lot of game left and anything can happen.

Next week, the survivor of the Redemption Island duel will rejoin the game, and there will be a merge as well!  Should be a good episode.

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 6 results

Well Matt continues his winning streak on Redemption Island by eliminating Krista.  Meanwhile, Stephanie tries to convince her tribe to vote off Sarita instead, but when they lost the immunity challenge big time, the tribe chose  Sarita's trustworthiness over "Stifinie's" physical ability.  Not much else happened worth noting.

In the pool, 14 entries had Stephanie, including the top two, so no one has a perfect entry anymore.  Kristie still has a hold on last place but more have come down to give her a run.  Gisele's #2 entry jumped 6 spots, while John dropped 10.

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 5 results

Well, Phillip seemed to display a little more intelligence and restraint.  Matt won his third Redemption Island duel in a row.  After Rob's team won the immunity/reward challenge, it was pretty wily and cunning for him to swap the new immunity clue that he and Grant found with the vague, first one that Rob found earlier.  After Russell's old tribe lost the challenge, it was no surprise that either Krista or Stephanie was gonna go.

Only 17 entries in the pool had Krista.  There are two entries remaining at the top with all picks intact, and Kristie has claimed last place all to herself, for now.

Looks like Phillip is gonna raise some hell next week.

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 4 results

Russell's Survivor run has finally come to an end.  Matt beat him on Redemption Island, and as most of you saw, he was anticipating lasting much longer.  Rob cunningly created an opportunity to keep his tribe busy while he raced around like crazy to find an immunity idol.  After Rob's tribe lost another immunity challenge (another challenge where I think having Matt would have helped; speaking of the challenge, I'm tired of seeing challenges where the same people can do multiple tasks; every member should have to participate) Philip became annoying again but not annoying enough to save Kristina from being voted out.  It was only a matter of time for her.

In the pool, 20 out of 45 entries had Kristina.  Only 3 are left perfect at the top now, and 3 remain tied for last place.

In next week's preview, we see Philip acting nuts as usual and also perhaps some conflict starting in Russell's old tribe.  A little appeal has been lost now that Russell's gone.

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 3 results

So Russell's tribe threw the immunity challenge just for an opportunity to vote his scheming ass out.  Russell's pawn Stephanie couldn't convince Julie to join their alliance, so Russell was actually voted out for the first time in his three seasons.  Now Russell is going to have to duel Matt on Redemption Island to stay in the game.  I can't believe Matt made that huge comeback against Francesca in their elimination duel!  Francesca is now gone and won't be able to re-enter the game.

In the pool, just under half of the entries (22) have Russell.  Now only 6 entries remain perfect, and 3 entries have a perfect losing streak at the bottom.

Can't wait to see what Russell does next episode to get Matt off his game on Redemption Island.  Even though I don't have him in my entry, I think I might want Russell to be the one to survive Redemption Island to get re-inserted in the game.  All hell will break loose then.

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 2 results

Huge blindside tonight.  Philip wasn't as much of a nut this episode, and Kristina cautiously but needlessly played her immunity idol, but it was Matt who was too much of a nice guy and too friendly with Andrea that got voted out.  On the other tribe, Ralph stumbles upon the other immunity idol and confronts Russell who lies about stealing a clue for it for himself.

So about half of the entries in the pool had Matt.  That leaves 15 entries that still have all their picks, and 6 entries at the bottom that have a perfect losing streak so far.

Next episode, it looks like Andrea is out to avenge Matt... but really - how much can she do by herself?  We should see Matt and Francesca duel it out on Redemption Island.

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island - week 1 results

Crazy first episode, in my opinion.  Russell's up to his old ways of suckering in the young girls.  Rob catches Kristina playing too hard too fast.  Philip is nuts!!  It was hilarious how he couldn't pronounce Francesca's name at Tribal Council.

Francesca got voted off and is now on Redemption Island (RI).  RI threw a bit of a wrench in my pool plans - it's too much of a wildcard.  Who knows if someone will be eliminated from RI each episode.  So as far as the pool goes, we'll stick to the tried and true: there will always be at least one tribal council each episode and pool entries will get points for contestants who do not get voted out.  And, when the "survivor" of Redemption Island gets reinserted back into the main game, entries will get that contestant back and earn points for each tribal council that contestant survives.

So don't count Francesca out yet!  The 14 entries that have her lost her for now but may get her back.  I wonder what kind of elimination challenges they will have on Redemption Island.  Hopefully they make it fair for all contestants.

Have a great week everyone,

Jay

Survivor Redemption Island

Here we go with season 22!  Called Redemption Island, contestants will have a second chance to stay in the game if they are voted out at tribal council.  They go to redemption island to do a challenge with the next contestant voted out; the contestant still standing after a period of time will be inserted back into the game.   I don't think it will mess around with the pool too much - someone has to leave every episode (except maybe the first?).

Well, the pool will work the same:  you get points per pick in your entry that is still left on the show after every week, with the exception of the season finale where you get points after each tribal council.

Rob and Russell are back and they will be put on opposite tribes to start.  Who knows how long they will last.

Pick 8 contestants for each entry you submit.  Each entry is $10, and payable to me or Monique (address below) BEFORE Feb 16 at 5 pm.  Invite all your friends and family and give me an email address to send the weekly results.

1st place is 50%, 2nd place 20%, 3rd place 15%, 4th place 10%, and Last place is 5%.  Last season's 1st place prize was $245.

Get your picks in early so you avoid duplication!  If you submit an entry that is the same as a previous one (has happened once or twice) we will ask you to change your entry and if we can't get a hold of you in time we'll randomize one of your picks (also chosen at random).  You don't want that.

Good luck!

Pool Master Jay

Jason Dela Cruz

75 Peter Sosiak Bay

Winnipeg, MB

R2C 5M3