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January, 2021

Rise above  
Jeff Pitman's Samoa rewatch recaps
Episodes 3-4: Rise above, we're gonna rise above

By Jeff Pitman | Published: January 30, 2021

There are good and bad aspects to Survivor: Samoa's second pair of episodes: On the one hand, nearly all the time spent with Galu is delightful, which is good, because they're the focus of Episode 4. Unfortunately, while there's a great story in Episode 3, as Jaison demands that Ben be booted, the show chooses to smother that in unnecessary (and inaccurate) deification of Russell Hantz.


Jeff Pitman's Samoa rewatch recaps
Episodes 1-2: Welcome to Hantzvision

By Jeff Pitman | Published: January 23, 2021

There's a lot going on in the first two episodes of Survivor: Samoa: picking tribal chiefs, a hero challenge, two immunities, an idol find. Unfortunately for the season, almost all of that action is shown from the perspective of one person: Russell Hantz. We do get occasional efforts to also show  the Galu tribe (a.k.a. Shambo and a bunch of people who aren't Shambo), but it's mostly Hantz. So here's an effort to try to deduce/ reconstruct what we missed.


Jeff Pitman's Gabon rewatch recaps
Episodes 12-13: Burning down the house

By Jeff Pitman | Published: January 5, 2021

Rather than a celebration of strategic gameplay, the final two episodes of Survivor: Gabon are a full-voiced repudiation of it, with both vote-receiving finalists strangely touting their lack of a résumé, and jurors attacking the third for making moves (which she paradoxically also does as she targets others). It's weird, it's loud, it's confusing. But at least it's over.


 

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