Finally, contestants on Survivor figure out how to neutralize the threat of people holding immunity idols—stab ‘em in the back and get ‘em off the island. Last night was a beautiful thing to behold. Witness: Todd’s grin when the window of opportunity for James to play his idols elapsed. I thought Amanda handled it all brilliantly. Without giving away the farm, she communicated to P.G. what how she should behave that day. It was an act of trust on P.G.’s part, and it played out like clockwork. I liked James a lot, but the whole idol thing got mishandled badly early on. Too many people knew who had them. I wonder if they’ll get recycled or if they’re gone for this installment altogether.
Some facts and figures to follow-up yesterday’s post about the papermill closure I mentioned. This is in Dalhousie, New Brunswick. Total population: somewhere between 3800 and 5000 depending on whose numbers you believe. Total number of employees who will lose their jobs as a result of yesterday’s announcement: 330-400. Average age of those losing their jobs: 50. Construction on the paper mill began in 1928 and it has been in operation since 1930, though under a variety of names and owners. At the time it opened it was the largest paper mill in the Maritimes and one of the largest in the world. It produced over a quarter of a million metric tonnes of newsprint per year. The mill reportedly consumed more electricity than the entire province of Prince Edward Island!
I wrote another 800 words on my mill story this morning. I have a small hole in the middle that needs to be filled in, but I’m just about finished with the first draft, which is 3400 words long. I expect it’ll be about 3700 when done and I hope to edit this back to around 3000 for the final version. We’ll see. Sometimes stories shrink during editing, but sometimes they grow.
I’m surprised that Todd didn’t think to vote for P.G. Three votes would still have been enough to get rid of James, but an extra vote for P.G. would created a Todd/P.G. tiebreaker if James played the idol. Yeah, it all worked out for Todd in the end, but, c’mon, James had TWO idols…there was a huge risk of him using one of ‘em if anybody said the wrong thing at tribal council!
I wonder how much of what goes on at the camp Jeff knows about before Tribal Council. I would think there would be the risk that he might accidentally tip somebody’s hand if he knows too much, but it seems like he always knows the right quiestions to ask. I guess that’s the genius of editing, because I think those Tribal Councils go on for a long time–hours, even.
I liked it when what’s-his-name (Eric?) diffidently raised his hand when Jeff asked if there was anyone there who felt safe!
From what I’ve read, Probst isn’t told anything about what happens at camp, and doesn’t see any of the tapes. Everything comes out of his questioning. We only see a few minutes of relevant material, but Tribal Councils are usually at least forty-five minutes but can go on for two or three hours.