Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On

 "Whatever, man." -Kendra McQuarrie This was a bounce-back episode for Survivor 45 .  It was a pretty standard episode for the new era, but it worked.  We got solid setup for the possible conflicts in all three tribes going into the Immunity Challenge, so I had no idea who was going to Tribal Council.  We got some fun scheming and plotting and interesting character backstories.  This is what the average episode of Survivor should look like.  Plus, no one quit!  Let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: We'll start over on Belo with Austin.  He got dealt a bad hand by being sent on the journey, but I'll give him props for being the only to recognize how much of a disadvantage the Advantage Amulets are.  Taking food would have been the right call, but when he realized that wasn't going to happen, he made a nice pivot into embracing new allies while plotting to take them out as soon as possible.  He also convinced Emil...

 "Mr. Martell, Andy moved his knight without doing the little hook thing." -Lucy Moran "Wounds and Scars" picks up with Harry Truman (Michael Ontkean) drinking and mourning the death of Josie (Joan Chen) at the Bookhouse.  After learning more about Josie's past, Harry becomes violent and trashes the Bookhouse.  Eventually, Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) manages to talk Harry down, comfort him, and put him to bed with one of the Bookhouse Boys sticking around to keep an eye on him. Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham), Norma's (Peggy Lipton) sister, arrives in town after leaving a convent and starts working at the diner as a waitress.  Cooper meets her and is instantly attracted to her, but he doesn't notice that they are being watched by Windom Earle (Kenneth Welsh). The Log Lady, Margaret (Catherine E. Coulson), notices the markings on Major Briggs (Don Davis) neck that he received during his recent disappearance.  Margaret has similar markings on her leg fr...

 "I got stories." -Sean Edwards I was really enjoying this episode until I wasn't.  The tribe swap was a breath of fresh air.  I think seasons should generally have one, and not just a mini-swap like they had in 44 .  I loved watching all of the new interactions and I was looking forward to Tribal Council until Sean up and quit out of nowhere.  It would have been hilarious if they had voted out Sifu instead and held Sean hostage, but that wasn't to be.  I'm cool with casting fewer nice people who are just there to experience Survivor and more cutthroat people who are there just for the money.  We've had two of these in four episodes, something needs to change.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: Let's start on the new Belo tribe.  I really liked Emily's honesty approach.  I think that was a great direction for her to go and the alliance of Emily, Austin, and Drew is a fun one.  I hope they go fa...

 "There's an epidemic of multiple gunshot wounds following this chick around." -Albert Rosenfield "The Condemned Woman" begins with Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean) bringing in Pete Martell (Jack Nance) to make the next chess move in the game against Windom Earle (Kenneth Welsh).  Josie Packard (Joan Chen) returns home to discover Andrew (Dan O'Herlihy) is still alive and faints in shock.  Andrew and Catherine (Piper Laurie) encourage her to go and see Thomas Eckhardt (David Warner), especially with the murder investigation closing in on Josie.  Catherine even lets Josie have a gun. Hank Jennings (Chris Mulkey) tries to trade information on the supposed murder of Andrew Packard in exchange for his freedom.  Sheriff Truman isn't interested, so Hank taunts him that Josie was behind it.  Hank is charged with the attempted murder of Leo Johnson (Eric Da Re).  He tries to get Norma (Peggy Lipton) to lie and give him an ali...

 "Trip, trip, trip, trip!" -Jake O'Kane Wow, what a Tribal Council.  I feel like that's going to be iconic.  This was such a fun episode.  It's crazy to me how hard these Idols are to get and making them weaker Idols is just brutal.  After Sabiyah was voted out, all I could do was laugh and laugh and laugh.  But now it's time to stop laughing and figure out who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: Starting on Belo, Jake and Kendra finally had a strategic conversation.  Better late than never, I guess.  They seem to get along really well and I could definitely see them working together going forward. Moving over to Lulu, Emily continued to improve her social game.  It seems like everyone on her tribe likes her now.  They all want to work with her and she wasn't in danger of going home.  If Kaleb had gone home, she still would have been on the bottom of the tribe, so I like her move to save Kaleb, her closest ally, and take ou...

 "I didn't actually witness it, you know.  The exorcism." -Chris MacNeil Two girls go missing for three days, but are luckily found alive and mostly unharmed.  However, they soon begin exhibiting strange and demented behavior.  Their parents start to suspect the girls are demonically possessed and turn to all sorts of religious leaders for help, as well as Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), who knows a thing or two about exorcisms. What Works: The best part of this movie is the performances from the actors.  They are all trying their best and it isn't their fault the movie around them doesn't work.  Leslie Odom Jr. is the main highlight as he gives a really sympathetic and relatable performance as the main protagonist. This movie has a few neat ideas.  I like how the movie begins with the girls going missing.  I think that could have been a whole movie of parents looking for their missing girls only to find the disappearances to be supernatural in ori...

 "I got a prescription scope." -Gunner Jensen When a mission goes wrong due to Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) disobeying a direct order, he is kicked out of The Expendables.  However, when the team gets captured on a mission, it's up to Christmas to rescue them, but there may be a traitor among the team. What Works: As to be expected with a movie like this, there a few fun action beats.  There aren't as many as you would expect, but there are a handful of fun moments. Finally, Jacob Scipio joins the Expendables playing the son of Antonio Banderas' character from the previous movie.  Scipio manages to match Banderas' energy and is the only actor who seems like he wants to be in this movie.  He's really the only fun part of the film. What Sucks: One of the big draws of The Expendables series is getting all of these different action stars into one place.  That's what makes these movies stand out.  This movie loses nearly all of the characters and actors fr...

 "Big Toe Energy!" -Dee Valladares This was another really fun episode of Survivor .  I'm really digging the vibe of the Reba tribe.  It's a fun group and they got up to some really goofy moments that I don't think would have made the cut in a shorter episode.  I'm loving this cast and I really like the new sit-out rules for challenges.  But now, we have to figure out who played well and who sucked! Who Played Well: Let's start over on the Belo tribe.  Brando did a good job of getting in with the women of the tribe and he and Kellie both did a great job on the puzzle and got into another alliance with Bruce and Jake.  Both of them are in a great spot going forward. Bruce is still having a pretty mixed social game.  Some of his tribe is annoyed by him, some really like him.  I also don't love that he volunteered to go on the journey.  I think that's generally a bad move.  All that said, I do think he improved his position from last e...

 "Live or die.  The choice is yours." -John Kramer Saw X  takes place between the original Saw  and Saw II .  John Kramer (Tobin Bell) travels to Mexico to take part in an experimental treatment to cure his cancer.  It's apparently an success, but John learns that the whole thing was a scam and he is still dying.  With help from his apprentice, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), John kidnaps everyone responsible for scamming him and forces them to take part in a brutal and bloody game. Spoiler Alert! What Works: Saw X is the first film in the series to make Jigsaw the protagonist.  John Kramer hasn't appeared in as much of the series as you'd think.  He really only has large roles in 2 and 3 and he's very clearly the antagonist in those movies.  This time around, he's still the Jigsaw Killer, but we see events from his perspective.  He has every right to be angry at these people.  It's a interesting change of perspective and gives some de...