Snackie TeeVee

This weeks Survivor episode begins with the tribe that went to TC last week arriving back at camp. This week it was once again Fang, and they were all pretty unanimous in that getting rid of go-go granny Gillian last week was probably a good idea. She was physically the weakest link and was genuinely hindering their ability to win challenges. They are all chattering about how important it is to win the next challenges (um, duh. It’s important to win them all actually) while Randy sits to the side making snide comments to the camera about how stupid these people are. I predict this will come back to bite him in the ass, but I digress.

Morning at Fang comes and GC gets up to make rice for the tribe’s breakfast. This brings on quite the discussion. Apparently, Fang has been eating 3 meals a day and consequently has already blown through more than half the rice they were given at the beginning of the show. Randy suggests cutting back to 2 meals a day instead of three and all agree…except GC. He is behaving like a spoiled, petulant brat. He thinks they are running low because everyone is eating too much at each meal and feels like he’s being “punished” because they are all pigs. Whatever. I do not like GC. At all.

Over at Kota, the alliance lines are being drawn and there is a definite split in the tribe. Marcus (*swoon*), Charlie, Corrine and Jacquie are in an alliance and go out together to “fish” and by “fish” I mean strategize. They are all worried that if the remaining 5 members form an alliance they’d have the numbers and be able to pick them off, but suspect its not likely to happen because they are very divided. Ace and Sugar (oh, how I love her!!!) are tight, Kelly and Paloma (who HATES Ace) are tight and Bob is just Bob. He’s not really aligned with anyone yet - makes him the swing vote in case the other 4 group up.

This is highly unlikely though because Paloma hates Ace so much and she manages to infect Kelly with the Ace-hate cooties too. Sugar tells Ace that she trusts him completely and that she believes that the two of them can go to the end of this game together. We’ll see. About that time, tree mail shows up with a hint to the reward challenge for the day . It suggests that the challenge will be a physical one and Ace suggests a strategy of using the weaker players for this so they will have their stronger ones available for the immunity challenge. Of course, this pisses Paloma off. Probably because she’s one of the weaker players.

At the challenge, the two tribes face off in a battle of strength and will. One player from each tribe is stationed at a post (there are two players, two posts) and the players from the opposite tribes rush in and try to pull the player away from the post and then drag them across the line to score a point. First tribe to 2 points wins reward. Wanna know what they were playing for? (sorry - that was bad, but I couldn’t help it) They getting bedding. Pillows, blankets, a hammock and a sleeping mat. Comfort. And they get to send someone from the losing tribe to Exile Island.

• Round one: Ace for Kota and Dan for Fang sitting at the posts. Charlie and Marcus attack Dan and GC and Matty attack Ace. Dan is pretty quickly pulled away from the post (pussy) and is drug across the sand. Ace hangs on, never letting go (and GC gave up and quit even trying - seriously….get rid of him, he’s terrible) as Dan is drug across the line. Score one for Kota.

• Round two: Post sitting are Susie for Fang and Paloma for Kota. Bob and Sugar go after Susie and Crystal and Randy go after Paloma. Paloma is very quickly and very easily pulled away and drug across the line. Score one for Fang.

• Round three: Ace and Dan again sitting at the posts. Marcus and Bob work on Dan and Crystal and Matty work on Ace. Crystal and Matty get Ace off the post pretty quickly and begin pulling him toward the line. He fights like mad to stay behind the line while Dan is yelling at Crystal to hurry up because he can’t hold on much longer. They finally pull Ace across the line scoring a point and winning reward for Fang. This is also Fang’s first challenge win at all in this game. They win the reward and send Sugar off to Exile Island.

Back at Kota, Ace kind of lets them all know that they lost on purpose in a strategic move and that by putting Paloma up there against Crystal he was helping to ensure a victory at the immunity challenge. Meanwhile, the folks at Fang are very, very happy with themselves!!!

Sugar shows up at Exile Island feeling okay about being there because she is sure that they picked her to go because they think she’s dumb. And you know what? SHE FOUND THE HIDDEN IMMUNITY IDOL. It was awesome. 2nd person to go found the idol. And it was Sugar! YAY!!!!!

Back at camp, the angling for the TC votes have begun already at Kota, even though they’ve not played that game yet. Bob thinks that Paloma and Sugar are the weakest and it should be one of them. Of course, Ace defends Sugar because she’s trustworthy. This gets Corrine all spun up and she tries to get Bob on her side to vote Paloma out of the game. Marcus comes back with tree mail and bathing suits! Woo hoo! No more flopping wiener during challenges!

Immunity challenge time! There are two giant slip-n-slides set up! Looks fun!!! The slides dump into the lake, where there are puzzle pieces floating. Each player will launch themselves down the slide, into the lake and retrieve a puzzle piece, return to the mat and tag off with the next tribe member. Each piece has a number on it and when all pieces are gathered up a puzzle must be solved. A MATH puzzle. Yuck. Kota decides to have Bob, the physics teacher be the puzzle solver and Fang chooses Ken, the professional video game player. All the pieces come back and the video game player wins the day! He solves the puzzle, opens the chest and raises the flag. For the first time in the game, Fang will NOT be going to TC.

Back at Kota, Sugar tells Ace she found the hidden immunity idol. He now believes that the two of them can dominate this game and sets out to get the tribe to get rid of Paloma. In the mean time, Paloma decides to tell lies about Ace to try and get every one to vote him out. Corrine jumps on this bandwagon by explaining that it is probably better to get him out now rather than wait until later, like the merge. He is a strong player and they should deal with him now. Oh and because she hates him and thinks he’s a con artist. Whatev.

At TC, Sugar’s experience on Exile is brought up and she straight face lies and says she didn’t find the idol. I think they believe her because I think even her own tribe thinks she’s dumb. Paloma tells everyone how much she dislikes Ace as does Kelly ~ because they are sure they swung the votes to get rid of him. Jeff asks if anyone has the hidden immunity idol and tells them to play it now if they do and want to use it. No takers on that, so it’s time to vote.

As Jeff read the votes, I was in tears I was laughing so hard. The first vote pulled is for Ace. It was Paloma’s vote. The second one pulled is for Paloma. The third one is for Ace (Kelly’s). Ace looked a tad worried, but Paloma? She looked so smug and nasty that I wanted to reach into my TV and slap her. Her smug look slowly slid off her face as the remaining votes read were all her name and she became the 3rd person voted out of Survivor. Twat.

Tune in next week - same bat time, same bat channel.

Lucy, over and out.

I am starting to really enjoy this show. I was on the fence for quite a bit, but it has me saying “Ooh fringe night!”. 
This week was another no eww episode. Thank goodness.
This week we are let in a bit more about Walter and his connection to the Pattern.
Let’s  recap

It has arrived.
Peter feels useless and antsy.
“Was he wearing clothes at the time?”
A humming cylinder is found.
Olivia visits an old friend.
Man with hat and sonic like gun steals a second humming cylinder.
Olivia gets a phone call.
Walter explains the cylinder, somewhat.
Bald man in suit shows up in old and new photos. He is called The Observer.
Olivia’s old friend has a visitor.
Walter takes Astrid down with a syringe and steals the cylinder.
Walter has a root beer float and a visit from The Observer .
The Observer says it’s a beacon and then thanks Walter for hiding it.
The Observer is unable to touch it himself.
Walter is arrested and then blows up at Peter.
Peter, who has been just waiting for a reason, leaves.
Peter is watched by hat guy as he packs up his stuff.
Peter is taken by hat guy and has electrodes stuck up is nose.
Hat guy reads his mind and figures out where the cylinder is.
He and Peter go digging.
Olivia goes after hat guy, Peter meets The Observer.
Peter freaks out by bald guy. (Good thing he doesn’t watch Doctor Who)
At the hospital, Peter is going to be fine.
Peter decides he’s not going anywhere until he gets answers.
Walter apologizes to a very pissed off Astrid.
Peter confronts Walter.
Walter tells Peter more about The Observer.
Olivia has a visitor.
Death is fleeting.

Meet Patrick Jane. He works for the California Bureau of Investigations. And apparently he’s quite good at what he does. So much so, in fact, that he has license to break most of the conventional guidelines of law enforcement information gathering in order to substantiate his theories. And since he’s so damn good, he can get away with it. Think of it as House M.D. if he worked as a federal investigator.

Before I issue the inevitable ** Spoiler Alert ** as part of my recap: this is a really good show. I strongly urge you to watch it yourself if you can.  Full episodes are available on cbs.com for those of you within the USA.  (For those of you in Canada — CTV is airing it this season as well.) There’s so much more that you’ll get out of it from watching rather than reading a rinky-dink recap.

SPOILER ALERT: RECAP

The episode begins with a press conference at a nice, upper class home. The neighbor boy has been taken away in handcuffs — presumably for the murder of the cliche teen daughter.  The girl’s father is giving a statement thanking the police for finding the alleged murderer so quickly. The girl’s mother is there as well, looking very uncomfortable standing next to her husband. She’s looking troubled.

Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) notices this. He enters her house, proceeds to make himself a cup of tea and a sandwich, and waits for her to come in. When she does, he tells her many things he’s observed about her - as trivial as her secret thrill when a neighbor gained five pounds. He does this to gain her trust: he knows that she thinks that her husband committed the unspeakable murder, and he wants her to confront him so the truth can come out. But things escalate rather quickly, and in the heat of anger she pulls out a gun and shoots her husband.  The snafu gets Jane suspended from the CBI for a bit.

Fast forward after a bit of time — another crime, another time.  But this one has a calling card attached to it — a smiley face made of blood on the wall of the murder scene, which is the M.O. for a serial killer named “Red John.” Jane makes it clear that he needs to be back on the job to work this case. Apparently  the Red John murders are his baby.

Through a series of flashbacks we see Jane’s backstory: he was a television psychic a la “Crossing Over with John Edwards.”  He even appears on a television talk show demonstrating his “abilities.”  When he’s interviewed by the hosts, he tells them that he’s using his psychic powers to help the police with the Red John murders. Everyone is impressed by the way he’s using his special powers for good and not for evil.

This murder scene, however, is very, very slightly different to Jane.  He believes that it’s a fake — and thinks that someone in the victims’ lives is using the Red John trademark to cover his tracks. The victims are a woman and her gay best friend/physician. Was it the husband? The husband’s brother, whose DNA was at the scene? Jane’s head is spinning on this one, so an appointment is made to see the dead physician’s partner to see if he can score some sleeping pills.

During the consultation we (but not the doctor) learn more about Jane — he arrived home the night after he had been on that talk show where he told of his cooperation with the police about the Red John murders. On his bedroom door he found a typed note from Red John — calling his bluff about being a real psychic. Because if he actually was a real psychic, he wouldn’t have to open the door to see what had happened to his wife and son.  And sure enough — he opens the door and finds Red John’s trademark. And that’s how Jane apparently became involved with the Bureau.

But he holds his cards close to his chest. Ultimately he has the doctor in a trap — since he was the one who murdered his partner (financial reasons) and the woman he was with (as a distraction).  It’s a game of Jane reading someone so well that he can anticipate his next move.

There is a supporting cast as well. Robin Tunney is Agent Teresa Lisbon, a hard-ass by-the-book agent-in-charge who tries (and usually fails) to keep Jane in line. She trusts Jane’s talent, however, and goes to bat for him on occassion. Amanda Righetti is rookie Agent Grace Van Pelt, who asks Agent Jane stupid questions like “do real psychics know that you’re a fake?” And he reads her so incredibly well that he predicts the inevitable hookup between her and Agent Rigsby (Owain Yeoman).  The rest of the team doesn’t interact with Jane nearly as much as Lisbon does — but that’s mostly because she isolates them from this supposed bad influence.

Great show. I can see why it’s been, thus far, the most watched new show of the season.

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh, Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh…*fist punch*.

Have I mentioned yet how I miss the old opening to Beverly Hills 90210?  You know, the one where Brandon does his little fist punch thing in the air?  I really wish that they’d kept more true to that theme song rather than trying to lame modern it up.  Of course, there are a *lot* of things that are way more modern than they used to be, so let’s get to the weekly commentary.

Someone call Alanis because true irony was found on The CW last night around  8:14pm!  When Dixon invited Silver (played by the too skinny Jessica Stroup) to come with him a fashion show, her response was, “I reject the unrealistic expectations the modeling industry pushes on average women.”  Wait what?  Hi Silver, have you looked in the mirror?  Maybe you could eat a sandwich and go look at the pretty  models, m’kay sweetie?

This episode was pretty much centered around the Pacific Coast Fashion Show and the drama that swirled around it.  First of all,  Debbie Wilson (that’s “Aunt Becky” to you) finally got her big photography break when her boss allowed her to shoot the show.  Inevitably, this led to every one of the kids from West Beverly high to somehow be there or be involved in the show.  Adrianna was there because Harry Wilson asked Annie to be nice to her and let her tag along, hoping *that* would dissuade her from her mother-induced drug abuse.  Yeah, right.  Annie was there to help her mom out, along with Dixon and Silver who brought Navid along as their third wheel.  Here’s where the whole modeling/fashion show things gets creepy.  Throughout the show, a man who was famous for making models kept filling Silver’s head with thoughts of how perfect she’d be as a model.  You know, Silver, having just said 16 minutes ago that she was anti-modeling, got a huge head and had hope that she could maybe have that career.  Well, kids…it turns out that creepy old dude just wanted to get her into bed.  In the old days of 90210, this maybe would have been an older BOY trying to get a young teen into bed but noooo….modern ick factor dictates that a man in his 40’s tries to hit on a teenager.  I mean, what?

But that’s not all that went on at the fashion show!  After several lame attempts to get Mommy and Daddy back together, Naomi’s hopes were dashed in a great finale of suck.  She tried to trick her Daddy to come to the fashion show and see her Mommy all sexy, dry humping dudes on the dance floor…she did this by texting him “911″ over and over again.  Needless to say, that blew up in her face and I think she maybe is not talking to Daddy anymore.  But wait…there’s more!  As if this story line wasn’t emotional enough for the questionable acting skills of AnnaLynne McCord, she and Ethan finally called it quits…for like, good!  Wow, what good timing considering that Annie decided to just be friends with Ty, even though she found out the truth about he and Adrianna.  Of course, Annie didn’t take the truth all that well and went off on a tirade that sent Adrianna to the hard streets of LA, looking to score.  And uh, she got in the car with some dude and a cozy little bag of smack.

Now then, let’s get to the good stuff.  We got to see an good old Kelly vs. Brenda moment last night.  Dylan apparently decided that he was ready to setp up and have Kelly and her kid in his life full time.  For some reason, he called Brenda and NOT Kelly.  Now of course Kelly wanted to see where things would head with Dylan so she totally broke it off with Ryan.  When Ryan decided that he’d like to hang out with Brenda, Kelly got all weird and told Brenda that some things never change.  With Ryan placing the nagging bug in her ear, she also questioned Brenda as to why Dylan would call HER if he wanted to talk to Kelly.  There was a little tiff, they hugged it out and all seemed well.  However, when Brenda got back into her car, she deleted Dylans contact information from her sim.  Her sim card, people…not just her phone!  There’s something up with that and I am way more excited to find out what *that* is than I am to find out if Adrianna comes clean next week when she gets Naomi busted for drugs.

Ahhh 90210…without you, I’d have nothing to snark about.

Hilly

Another crazy filled week of gunrunner fun. 

The Chief attempts to assert control. it doesn’t work.
Jax has a plan to store the guns.
Dr. Tara finds rose petals on her car and is not happy.
She gets her gun out.
Dr. Tara takes the car to the gang’s garage for fixing.
Ex-boyfriend, FBI man, is watching the garage.
Jax and Bobby head to Vegas.
They have a little company on the way.
Gemma asks Dr. Tara about her gun.
Clay decides he wants Jax to get Uncle Jerry to join the gang.
Jax is reluctant, but agrees.
An idiot sits on Jax’s bike.
Jax takes his girl.
Once in Vegas, Jax talks business with Uncle Jerry while Stolen Girl gets taught the business.
Clay shows up in Vegas.
Clay teaches the Prospect a lesson.
Jax girl gets taught a lesson.
Gemma pays Dr. Tara a visit.
Jerry joins the Sons of Anarchy officially.
Clay and Jerry ready for the Myans.
Gunfight ensues.
Jerry gets hit, he’s fine.
Gemma has Dr. Tara checked out.
Clay has questions about Jax.
Stolen Girl goes of with idiot left earlier.
FBI man sends pictures to DR. Tara.
What happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas.

A bit late. I know.
Let’s see what they were up to.

Sookie met Bill’s friends.
Bill claimed Sookie as his.
Sookie is freaked out by Bill and his friends.
Tara and Sam share a chat.
Jason freaks out Dawn as payback.
Dawn enjoys it.
Sookie, still freaked out, rebuffs Bill.
Dawn stops enjoying Jason and tosses him out.
Tara propositions Sam.
Sookie propositions Bill.
Jason almost gets laid.
Sam and Tara lay each other.
Sookie lays herself.
No one has sex with who they really want.
Bill challenges the gang of vampires.
Tara’s home life is revealed more.
Sookie has a talk with Gran.
Tara stays at Lafayette’s.
Jason goes to Layette for help.
Jason pays for some V. Juice.
Sookie goes to Dawn’s house.
Sookie finds Dawn.

And they’re worried about the vampires? LOL!

Let’s just get this out of the way right up front: Showtime’s Dexter is the best show on television. Brilliantly written, beautifully filmed, addictive. Dark, scary, hilarious. Boldly going where no television series has gone before.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen a TV series in which the hero was a serial killer. Not just the main character (although I can’t think of one of those, either) — the HERO. Dexter Morgan is. Witnessing his mother’s brutal murder when he was a small child left him permanently damaged, with an inherent need to kill somebody. Yeah, we all feel like that now and then — If I could just kill somebody, I’d feel so much better! —but with Dexter, it’s a good bit stronger. He feels the need, the need to bleed.

Dexter’s foster dad, Harry, is very much part of the story line, even though he died several years ago. In a case of mind-blowingly bad judgement, Harry decided that guiding the young Dexter along a path of selective murder would be a healthier choice than intensive, long-term psychotherapy. Perhaps Harry had the same amount of luck with therapists that I’ve had. So it really isn’t Dexter’s fault he is the way he is; blame the misguided counseling of a loving father. Ironically, last season Dexter learned that rather than dying from a heart attack as he’d believed, his dad had committed suicide soon after walking in on Dexter during a slice-&-dice session. It seems Harry couldn’t live with himself after seeing the monster he’d created at work. Thanks, Dad!

Season 2 ended with Dexter on a high note — permanently rid of both psycho bitch Lila and arch-nemesis Det. Doakes, reunited with girlfriend Rita and her kids, and cleared of any connection to the Bay Harbor Butcher. Discovering the truth about Harry was liberating for Dexter, who no longers feels pressured to live by Harry’s “code.” There was no cliff-hanger, nothing to draw us back but the craving for twisted brilliance. It was enough.

Season 3 is off to a great start. Dental hygiene, murder, sex, pancakes — all in the first 10 minutes! Dexter is one of the few shows for which I step away from the computer and take a seat on the couch. Feeling the weight of responsibility (this is, after all, my debut post here on STV), I armed myself with pen and paper. I meant to take notes, I really did. Here’s what I got down:

Quinn is HAWT.

Deb Morgan needs to eat a sandwich or five.

Yeah, so note-taking during Dexter? Not gonna happen. Good thing I remember every little thing! Because just when Dexter was getting comfortable with a non-dramatic life, damned if he didn’t accidentally kill the wrong person. Intending to take out a murderous scumbag selling drugs to kids, Dexter interrupted a struggle between his chosen victim and a mystery man. Next thing he knew, he was fighting for his life, and had to kill the mystery man in self-defense. Meanwhile, the drug dealer escaped to slay again. Now Dexter is desperately trying to find something bad about the victim to soothe his guilt.

Jimmy Smits has joined the cast this season, in the role of Assistant DA Miguel Prado, a member of a prominent and highly-regarded Miami family. So far, his character is interesting and appealing, and Smits is a nice mature-eye-candy replacement for last season’s Keith Carradine. Prado and Dexter have been brought together by the investigation of the accidental murder (the victim was Prado’s younger brother), and are bonding quite nicely. I like the chemistry between them, and look forward to seeing how this plotline unfolds.

And I’m loving the screen time my two favorite supporting players — Angel Batista (David Zayas) and Vincent Masuka (C.S. Lee)  — are getting now! Batista has been promoted to Detective Sergeant, making him Deb Morgan’s boss, which is not working in her favor as much as Dexter’s ambitious sister expected. Masuka is nagging Dexter to critique an article he’s written for submission to a professional publication. There was also less screen time for Deb, who is by far my least favorite character. In fact, the only time Dexter has ever disappointed me was when the Ice Truck Killer didn’t off Deb.

In true Dexter fashion, the last five minutes of the episode delivered a punch, as Rita gasped to Dexter that she might be pregnant. The big surprise there for me was that Rita hadn’t insisted on protection when having sex with a man she believes to be a recovering drug addict — not to mention his dalliance with sleazehag Lila. Then again, Rita’s never struck me as particularly bright, which I suspect is partly why Dexter is willing to risk a relationship with her. I will NOT be pleased if a pregnancy is part of the storyline. Deeply Domesticated Dexter does not appeal.

The show opens with a panoramic view of Gabon, on Africa’s western coast.  Lordy be, this country is staggeringly beautiful.  I can see why it’s referred to as the last Eden on earth.  And then the camera pulls in and we see the 18 new survivors tromping through the rain forest in a single file line.  Now, let’s stop here for a moment, shall we?  I assume that these people have all at least seen Survivor before.  So, why on EARTH are there douchebags out there in full on suits and women wearing dresses and high heels?  Wear comfy clothes and good sneakers because you are going to need them!!!  But, I digress.

The contestants meet up with Jeff (**swoooon**) in a clearing and begin to introduce themselves and the lying begins immediately.  Crystal, the Olympic gold medal winner, leaves out the fact that, oh, she won a freaking gold medal in the Olympics.  Randy, who edits wedding videos for a living, thinks marriage is bunk and he never plans to do it, but doesn’t tell anyone that.  Marcus, who is actually a doctor, tells people he’s “in the medical field”.  Seriously?  What is up with all that lying in the first 3 minutes?  Oh well….on to tribe selection.

In Gabon, the elders typically make the giant decisions, so in keeping up with the natives, Jeff has the two oldest contestants pick tribes.  This means Bob, the 57 year old physics geek (who is already on my last nerve) and Gillian, the 61 year old nurse and granny are the respective tribe “leaders”.  They proceed to do a standard playground team pick, which always hurts someone’s feelings.  Because someone is the last one picked.  This time around?  That someone is Michelle.  And of course, Jeffy-poo has to ask the question, “Does it bother you that were picked LAST Michelle?”  He might as well have said “Does it bother you that NO ONE LIKED YOU ENOUGH TO PICK YOU?”  It bothers her.  A lot as it turns out.  So, after the tribe pick-a-palooza, this is how it shakes out.

Bob’s Team - KOTA (yellow buffs)

• Ace (who is a douche)
• Sugar (a pin-up princess!  Yay!  I already like her!)
• Marcus (doctor in hiding)
• Charlie (pen-pal of Clay Aiken, hot for Marcus and Dan)
• Paloma (student from So. California)
• Kelly (blonde, perfect, hate her, retail sales)
• Jacquie (medical sales, uber competitive)
• Corinne (outright stated from the get go she was going to be a bitch)

Gillian’s Team - FANG (red buffs)

• Crystal (the NOT Olympic gold medalist)
• Susie (hairdresser - thank goodness someone is there to braid hair)
• Matty (personal trainer who inherited money at 18 and pissed it all away partying by the time he was 28)
• Randy (the marriage hating wedding video editor)
• Dan (hunk-a hunk-a burning lawerly hotness)
• GC (maintenance man, overcoming poor childhood and lots of time spent homeless)
• Ken (professional video game player…seriously?  how do I get that job?)
• Michelle (the bitter, last chosen one)

The first challenge happens immediately.  This is a reward/immunity challenge.  One person from each tribe would win individual immunity and be safe.  For the remainder of the people, getting to the top of that steep hill, all together, meant tribal immunity.  In the end, GC wins individual immunity for Fang and Marcus (hottie) wins for Kota.  Now, what remains is to see which tribe wins over all immunity.  Crystal (the NOT Olympian) sucked, surprisingly bad!!!  She should have flew through this course and seemed to really struggle.  Between her and 61 year old Gillian, the Fang tribe was doomed to head to Tribal Council that first night.

Both tribes win essentials, including rice, but the winner of the challenge, the Kota tribe, also won corn and beans.  They both take off with their supplies and head to their respective camps.

Kota makes it to camp to find some already existing huts.  Bob, the physics teacher, took control and built the camps necessary things.  Surprisingly he hasn’t really irritated anyone yet, but I think that is only a short time away.  He’ll definitely get on everyone’s nerves.

Over at Fang, Gillian goes out and hunts for elephant dung and after find it, actually suggests that the tribe EAT IT!  It’s apparently full of nutrients from undigested things, but I’m here to tell you people…..I’d have to be one breath away from death before I’d eat elephant shit.  I’m just sayin.

Ken and Michelle take off to have a look at their surroundings and look for termite mounds.  He convinces her to eat one, which grosses me out beyond belief, and then remarks “That’s hot”.  No it’s not.  It’s gross.  He’s hoping for a romance.  Shared between termites.  ::::shudder::::

Over at Kota, Ace is already irritating the daylights out of everyone, as I figured he would.  He’s bossy.  No one likes bossy.  Charlie is in absolute heat for Marcus and Marcus is absolutely straight.  Poor Charlie.

Elephants are roaming near Fang and Randy (the marriage hater) bangs his head hard enough to require stitches.  Day freaking ONE and this dude already has to have stitches.  That would be me.  LOL  Michelle is whining about being cold.  In fact, Michelle is whining about everything.  She’s a whiner.  She won’t last.

Another reward/immunity challenge, this time they have to slog through a leech filled swamp, dig through the sand and retrieve puzzle pieces and put them together.  In the end, Kota won the challenge and sends Fang to Tribal Council.  At which Fang got rid of Michelle.  Whining never gets you anywhere honey.  That’s a lesson well learned.

Episode 2

Returning from TC, happy to have the Whiner gone, Fang turns to their newly elected “leader” GC to provide.  He makes fire with the flint given them.  Over at Kota, the tribe is riding high on two major victories.  Alliances are already beginning to form.

At Fang, GC tries to lead, but the tribe isn’t being respected at all because they don’t trust his judgements and workload assignments.  There is infighting and distrust.  Ah, welcome to Survivor folks.

GC wakes in the middle of the night and decides to wash clothes which makes noise and wakes Ken.  Now he’s joined in on the noise making party and this irritates EVERYONE.  Gillian tells GC to please keep the “blah blah blah” down at night after everyone is asleep.  He doesn’t take this very well, as to be expected.  And then?  He resigns as leader.  Because that’s the grown up thing to do.

Reward/immunity challenge will offer the winning tribe fishing gear - a necessity for Survivor life.  The tribes have to push a giant boulder through a bunch of gates, one person has to climb on top and get a key.  After three stops and three keys, they roll the boulder to the end, find the right key to unlock the gate and roll the boulder onto a pedestal.  Winning tribe sends a member of the losing tribe to exile island.  Standard.

Gillian gets in the way, as usual.  And Kota kicks ass, as usual.  Kota wins, winning flint and a 3rd straight victory.  Kota sends Dan to Exile Island where he searches for the hidden immunity idol.  He does not find it.

Fang MacGyver’s a fishing pole out of shoe laces and a part of Randy’s glasses, which Crystal baits with worms she caught.  They manage to catch a couple sardines, which gives them protein for the first time in the game.

Dan returns from Exile Island which gets people all kinds of stirred up thinking he found the hidden idol.  During TC, he stands up and dumps his bag out in front of everyone to prove he doesn’t have the idol, and the tribe then turns on Gillian.  She is viewed as the oldest and weakest, so she is voted out 7 votes to 1.

Whew!  This was a LONG update since CBS showed 2 episodes back to back on Thursday.

Tune in this Thursday at 8pm EDT, 7pm CDT on CBS for the next episode.

There’s a certain thrill that I get when I watch The Amazing Race. Unlike any other reality show, it has the power to get me worked up and have me on the edge of my seat almost the whole time. Maybe it’s because everyone is moving at such an adrenaline filled pace or maybe it’s just because it is, without a doubt, my favorite reality show of all time. I absolutely have to make it the first show I watch on Sunday nights because it takes me at least an hour to ramp down after getting very excited for my team to make it and/or the team I hate to go home. Amazingly enough, I already have *two* teams I’d like to see go home and maybe one team that I’d like to see make it.

Last night, we got to meet the teams. A funny thing happened during that point in time. You see, a friend of mine told me that he likes to see if he can pick who will get eliminated during the first round and who will win the whole thing. So in playing along, I sent him a text message letting him know who I thought was going home last night. Later on, I will tell you if I was right and also will pick my winner for this season! Anydoodle, here is a very brief synopsis on each team (for full bios, go to the CBS website). Included in this rundown? My opinion of each team, of course!

Aja & Ty: A young couple involved in a long-distance relationship. They actually didn’t strike anything in me.
Andrew & Dan: Two young fraternity brothers that lack common sense and couth.
Anthony & Stephanie: Been dating for seven years and are back together after a year-long break-up. She wants to get married, he doesn’t. She’s bossy and he’s a tool.
Kelly & Christy: Two divorcees that like to face challenges and life together. For an all female team, they are very non-annoying.
Marissa & Brooke: Two Southern belles that like to dress well and all that goes with it. We didn’t get much face time with these two so we shall see how they are in the upcoming episodes.
Mark & Bill: Your resident geek squad and friends for over 20 years. I was worried at first that they would not be able to hold their own but they did…and they seem like nice enough fellas.
Toni & Dallas: The mother/son team from Northern California. I have to say that I love the respect that Dallas shows towards his mother.
Nick & Starr: Brother and sister who live on opposite sides of the US. In my opinion, this is the team to watch. They are not only athletic but also high spirited and fun to watch run the race.
Ken & Tina: The token married couple who wants to use the race as a way to see if their marriage is completely broken or can be fixed. Who thinks that is actually a good idea? Yeah, me neither.
Terrence & Sarah: Dating for under a year, this couple is the complete opposite of each other. By day, she’s on Wall Street and he’s a free spirit. By race, the most annoying thing by far this season.
Anita & Arthur: Married hippies and beekeepers. They fill the “older couple” quotient.

Now that we have that out of the way, come with me under the jump as we talk about last night’s episode…

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I completely missed this episode three times. I finally caught it on Hulu.
Gotta love the Hulu.
Let’s jump on in.

The gang enjoys a day at the carnival.
Oswald’s, a prominent citizen, daughter goes missing at the carnival.
Daughter Oswald is found.
The Irish play hardball with the gun delivery.
Oswald enlists Samcro in finding the rapist.
Clay agrees, but with a catch. He wants Oswald to dole out the justice when the guy is found.
Oswald agrees.
Dr. We Used To Date, Tara, has a chat with the now awake Wendy about her OD.
Wendy says she did it herself. We don’t believe her.
The police try to stall Samcro so they don’t find the rapist first.
Clay has other ideas.
The guys go on a search for Darby to ask him a few questions about one of his guys.
They can’t find him.
Gemma finds him.
One of the guys takes a vitamin that’s not a vitamin.
Gemma chats with Darby.
Clay chats with Darby.
Vitamin Boy is passed out.
The gang goes looking for a suspect.
The gang finds a prayer meeting instead. They leave empty handed.
Dr. We Used To Date worries about her ex-boyfriend stalker.
Gemma chats with Wendy.
Wendy dislikes Gemma more and more.
Mrs. Oswald won’t let anyone talk to Daughter Oswald.
No one has any idea how to find the guy.
Jax chats with Gemma.
Gemma chats with Mrs. Oswald.
Daughter Oswald tells everything.
The guys grab the rapist.
Oswald decides he can’t do what he promised.
Clay does the job.
Clay also keeps the knife with Oswald’s prints on it. Insurance.
Jax reads more of his dad’s journal.
Jax takes Wendy to see the baby for the first time.
Vitamin Boy is punished.
Oswald gets a special package.
Dr. We Used To Date’s ex-boyfriend stalker shows up in Charming.
He’s FBI.