Well hello, again, friends. I’m sorry for not writing last week, but I’m, sadly, a man of routine. And when my routine gets even a little bit mangled, I struggle to perform even ordinary tasks. Oh, OK, I’m kind of moving into hyperbolic territory.

 

What happened, seriously, is that I flew to Los Angeles for a wedding last Friday and didn’t return to the great state of Colorado until Sunday. By then, I was so far behind with all my work that I struggled to catch up for a few days. At some point, it became inevitable that something wouldn’t get done and, sadly, this column became that something.

 

To you, I apologize. I hope I can be forgiven. I will never do this again (maybe). Please forgive me. I want to re-earn your trust.

 

OK, enough of the silly preamble. It’s time to talk some Survivor and some theory. Thankfully, in the two weeks since I last wrote, Laurel, the lone remaining player on my fantasy team and my esteemed Winner Pick™, is only looking better than ever. I’m relatively confident, knock on some wood or laminate stuff made to look like wood, that she will make it to the merge. That would be a huge accomplishment for one of my Winner Picks™.

 

Anyway, so what we had this week sure seemed like a relic of the past, huh? That was so very clearly an old-school Survivor episode with a classic Pagonging happening and absolutely no idols or advantages in play. In some ways, it was refreshing. In other ways, it made for boring television. But it also highlighted two things: Producers have become far superior in creating dramatic tension in otherwise boring episodes than they were a decade ago. And, second, I still love Stephanie and was sad to see her go. Boo hoo.

 

But why Stephanie and not Michael or Jenna? Well, I think without any theory or much thought at all, we can clearly understand why Jenna stayed: She will be absolutely no threat to the other Malolo members. She’s an early post-merge boot. That’s just the way it is with people like her most of the time. So, the question was always Stephanie or Michael. We know that in seasons past, the chance to boot a physical threat like Michael would have been too alluring for a tribe to go with any other choice. That’s obvious, right?

 

We’ve done it once before, a couple seasons ago, but let’s talk the theory of disruptive innovation, a theoretical framework introduced by Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen. As I mentioned back then, this book was so successful Christensen did something that all of us academics wish we could: He wrote an academic book that sold well enough to make the New York Times Best Sellers list.

 

Basically, the idea behind the theory is that there are times that an innovation enters an industry (or something similar) and becomes so impactful that it not only affects an industry, but it disrupts it so thoroughly that its normative behaviors and beliefs are threatened or, even, toppled.

 

Obviously, the theory traditionally gets applied in business research as a means of trying to understand how companies succeed or fail in the face of a drastically changing technological landscape. In fact, at first, Christensen called it the theory of disruptive technology. But he changed it because he soon realized people force change and innovation, not the technology.

 

Think about something like data storage. Even just a decade or so ago, we’d need blank CDs or huge external hard drives to even store 100 megabytes. I mean, people often blame the downfall of the music industry on MP3s. But that’s not accurate, right? It was actually data storage. Once MP3 players, of some sort, could hold more than like 100 songs, the technology took off. Data storage and the ease with which you could attain more storage disrupted several industries. It completely changed how many companies operate.

 

 

And that brings us to Survivor. I know I’ve complained about this, but there is no denying that producers incorporate puzzles into challenges far, far more often. And, really, they are the only thing that matters in said challenges. Teams or individuals can get way ahead of the competition only to see their leads evaporate at the puzzle. That’s what producers want.

 

But this is a huge disruption in the game. Before this change, strong, physical players had a decided advantage on Survivor. Now, I think it’s actually the opposite. Most challenges—and again, I kind of dislike this—revolve around puzzles or balancing. Big physical players like Michael aren’t nearly as much of a threat anymore. In reality, smart players and yoga instructors like Stephanie are a much, much bigger threat.

 

And that brings us to what happened this week. Years ago, before producers introduced such a major disruptive innovation to the game, Michael would have received the boot this week. But now, well things are different and good players are adapting to the disruption. And, that, my friends is why Stephanie, my love, is sitting at home.

 

OK, so that’s it for the theory. Let’s talk about the remaining players:

 

Malolo

 

• Jenna: You know, I didn’t actually notice Jenna’s self-diagnosed RBF until she mentioned it numerous times this week. Once she did, I totally got it. She rarely looks very happy… even when she smiles. And that’s sad, because she finally “manifested” herself some screen time this week. But while she spoke a lot this episode, I still don’t see a very long run for her this season.

 

• Desiree: Besides when her tribe pulled her underwater, Desiree still felt invisible all episode. It’s kind of sad because she seems smart, athletic and strategic in the few moments we get to see her, but we’re not seeing much of her. And, as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, while this season is really working for me, the biggest issue, in my mind, remains how much airtime some castaways are getting to the detriment of others such as Desiree.

 

• Kellyn: At tribal, Kellyn said something about how strength could be defined in many ways on Survivor. She’s absolutely right. In my mind, physical strength doesn’t mean very much anymore. But, Kellyn, damn, be quiet. All you’re doing is putting a target on yourself as one of the best puzzle solvers we’ve seen recently.

 

• Sebastian: I have to admit, while I’m sure Sebastian is a great guy in real life, he’s annoying me. His voice and the cadence he uses when speaking makes me think he found some wild strain of marijuana growing in the woods of Fiji. Now, as a Coloradoan, let me stress there’s nothing wrong with wild strains of marijuana, but when your speech and eyes make you look perpetually stoned, it annoys me. I’m just waiting for him to bust out a boombox and play some Marley, man.

 

• Bradley: Well, let me just say, Bradley still annoys me. I understand he owns a dark sense of humor. So do I. But the complaining and condescension, man, that’s got to go. But, you know, the edit so far tells me Bradley will be the subject of a blindside and the audience will love it.

 

• Michael: Obviously, this upcoming tribal switch is happening at the best time for Michael. My guess is we see three tribes of five. Someone like Michael can singlehandedly dominate challenges when there are such small tribes. Now, with that said, he hasn’t done that yet. So, we’ll see.

 

• Chelsea: Can you at least try to say something interesting so producers will allow you a confessional?  

 

Naviti

 

• Laurel: Oh my Winner Pick™, looking pretty damn good right now. We’ve seen very little of Naviti recently for obvious reasons, but Laurel seems like she’s put herself in a stellar position. I’m feeling good about my pick, knock on wood.

 

• Wendell: In one way, it’s too bad we’re going to see another tribe swap next week because I was really looking forward to Naviti heading to tribal. I wanted to see how Wendell would play that. You have to think he wouldn’t have been in trouble, but the way he voted would have been very, very interesting.

 

• Chris: Give the man some damn pastries. While it’s hard to like or root for Chris if you’ve seen even five minutes of this season, you also have to give the dude his due. He’s been basically amazing at challenges so far. Basically, a tribe he’s been on lost only once. And because of Ghost Island, Chris hasn’t even been to tribal. You think that when he finally goes, Probst could coerce another amazing freestyle rap out of Chris? That would be, um, amazing.

 

• Donathan: I don’t know why, but something Jacob said in one of his exit interviews surprised the hell out of me. He mentioned how he and Donathan would talk a lot about the band The War on Drugs.  I’m not sure why, but I would not have begged Donathan as a fan of such an awesome band. Who knew the indie rock made its way out to Eastern Kentucky? I thought Donathan wouldn’t be long for this game after the premiere, but now I know I’m clearly wrong. I’ve been wrong about this dude a lot. He’s outperforming my expectations and I’m enjoying being wrong.

 

• James: As of now, James seems like he’s in a really good spot. And the way he’s maneuvered himself into this spot on Naviti makes me have high hopes for his future in the game. James is near the top of my early-game favorites right now.

 

• Libby: I’m going to make a proclamation: With Easter coming up in a week or so, Libby will not be going home next week. There’s no way karma would eliminate such a good Catholic girl on the holiest of holy days. Right? Or you don’t think karma cares? I don’t know. She ain’t going home anyway.

 

• Domenick: I have to admit, a couple of weeks without constant screen time for Domenick and his abysmal performance with advantages makes me root for the dude more.

 

• Angela: Angela is another castaway getting lost in the edit. But unlike with some other folks, I’m not at all sure we’re missing out in this case.

 

That’s it on this end. Let’s all hope this season continues impressing.