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Survivor 49, Episode 8 "Hot Grim Reaper" Gameplay Breakdown

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 "Don't listen to Uncle Jeff." -Jawan Pitts This was a really fun and interesting episode, even if there was some really bad gameplay involved.  The twist in this episode really felt like an un-merge.  We've seen similar twists in previous seasons, but I like this incarnation more than most because we've had at least one regular episode with the merge episode.  We had everyone on one beach and lines were drawn.  Now our group is split in half and they have to deal with those lines.  This version worked a lot better for me than previous versions, especially because we didn't have the terrible Control a Vote Advantage to go along with it.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: Rizo was in a terrible spot coming into this episode.  He was left out of the vote, but he didn't spend any time stewing on that.  He got right back to work doing damage control and seemed to make some good inroads with Jawan.  It's ...

Community: Season 2, Episode 21 "Paradigms of Human Memory" Review

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 "Six seasons and a movie!" -Abed Nadir "Paradigms of Human Memory" picks up with the study group and Chang (Ken Jeong) finishing their 20th and final diorama for Anthropology class, which is a diorama of them making their 19th diorama.  Troy's (Donald Glover) escaped monkey, Annie's Boobs, suddenly reappears and steals Troy's paintbrush before disappearing into the school's vents.  Chang goes in after the monkey and discovers a pile of items that the monkey has stolen from the study group, including all of Annie's (Alison Brie) purple pens.  Chang brings everything back, but then goes back into the vents to chase the monkey who has run off with his spoon. The missing items send the study group down memory lane and the episode becomes a clip show.  We flashback to many different exciting adventures that we've never seen before.  Jeff (Joel McHale) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) reminiscent fondly, but the rest of the group points out that most o...

Survivor 49, Episode 7 "Blood Will Be Drawn" Gameplay Analysis

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 "We already had a boat today!" -Alex Moore We just had a normal merge!  Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with the Earn the Merge format with half of the castaways getting Immunity, but if everyone is living on one beach, it's a merge.  Sometimes it may have extra steps, but it's just a merge.  It was nice to have it be so straightforward for the first time in forever.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked! Who Played Well: Jawan and Sage both did a good job of selling their reasoning for voting out Shannon to the rest of Uli.  I thought they might have oversold it at first.  All they really had to say was that Shannon had thrown out everybody else's name.  They added a bit of embellishment, but Nate, Savannah, and Rizo all bought it.  They also formed the Bottom's Up Alliance with Steven and took out a massive threat in Nate.  It was a really good night for both of them, though I am afraid Savannah might murder them. Sophie...

Survivor 49, Episode 6 "The Devil's Shoes" Gameplay Analysis

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 "Jawan wants me to stop talking." -Jeff Probst Well this episode was quite the roller coaster of emotions for me.  On one hand, Knowledge is Power is back, which is an advantage I loathe with every fiber of my being.  I wish Jeff would take a hint and stop trying to make KiP happen.  On the other hand, Shannon went home and I straight up cheered.  Each episode, I've liked Shannon less and less and I hit my breaking point in this episode when she claimed she can remember being in the womb.  I wanted her off my screen at this moment and away she went!  I've never been so happy that we don't have a reunion show!  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: Starting over on the new Hina, I have to give props to the entire tribe.  Each and every one of them did a fantastic job in the Immunity Challenge.  They honestly made it look easy.  Really impressive stuff. I also really love that MC told Rizo that Sage ...

The Snubby Awards: 2025 Oscars

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It's that time again: The Snubby Awards!  For those of you who don't know, the Snubby Awards take a look at all of the Best Picture nominees from a given year and determine if the best film won or if another was snubbed.  If that's the case, they win the coveted Snubby Award! This time we'll be taking a look at the 2025 Oscars, which was a pretty unique set of movies.  I enjoyed all of them to some extent, but that enjoyment was wide ranging.  We go from one of my all-time favorite nominees, to a film that was somehow nominated despite it being a so-bad-it's-good movie, to a film that got only the most mild enjoyment out of me. The nominees were: The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, I'm Still Here, Nickel Boys, The Substance, & Wicked  with the winner being Anora.   Did Anora  deserve to win or did another movie get snubbed?  Let's find out! #10. A Complete Unknown I've discovered that my least favori...

Community: Season 2, Episode 20 "Competitive Wine Tasting" Review

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 "My emotions!  My emotions!" -Troy Barnes "Competitive Wine Tasting" picks up with the study group taking their spring elective classes.  Troy (Donald Glover) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) take an acting class at the request of their dance instructor.  In class, Professor Garrity (Kevin Corrigan) explains that to be a successful actor, they have to be able to express their inner pain to the audience.  As the class expresses painful memories, Troy realizes he doesn't have one, so he makes up a story about being molested by his uncle, which impresses the class and gets him a lot of attention from Britta. Abed takes a film studies class which is a critical analysis of the show, Who's The Boss?   The class is  taught by Professor Sheffield (Stephen Tobolowsky), who literally wrote the book on the subject.  When he asks the class a rhetorical question, "Who was the boss?" Abed says it was Angela and is mocked by Sheffield and the class for his answ...

Survivor 49, Episode 5 "I'm a Wolf, Baby" Gameplay Analysis

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 "Jesus got high off God." -Shannon Fairweather Another day, another pretty straightforward episode of Survivor 49 .  I've heard some people say this season has been boring recently.  I think I've realized that I don't mind boring gameplay if the moves make sense, so I've been mostly fine with 49 .  Sometimes the best moves in Survivor are boring ones.  Boring or not, let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: Starting over on Hina, Nate had an absolutely stellar episode.  He volunteered to go on the Journey to prevent Jason from going, which worked, he managed to keep his vote by completing the Journey Challenge, while bonding with MC, he managed to prevent her from getting an Advantage, and he voted out Jason, which was absolutely the right move. Rizo, Savannah, and Sophi B all made the right call as well to take out Jason over Jawan.  Savannah played with her head, not her emotions, and made the smart call.  I also like tha...