Rob and Amber Mariano, The Amazing Race
Question: In your recent Ask Matt column, you said that The Amazing Race still blows a lot of us away. I definitely agree with you on that one! The show is nothing short of amazing in all aspects, and it definitely deserves another Emmy nod. The upcoming all-star Amazing Race stars some of my favorite past racers: Joyce and Uchenna, Charla and Mirna, etc. But I am not happy about Rob and Amber — is it really necessary for them to be on a second race when they've already been on Survivor (and won!) what seems to be 10 billion times? Enough with those two already! Like they really need more money? And they have another reality show about Rob becoming a poker pro. As the staff at Seattle Grace would say, "Seriously!" I am from Boston myself and do not sound like Rob — he embarrasses us with his uneducated, overly thick accent. It's torturous to see him on the Race again, or anywhere on TV for that matter. Normally I would root for a fellow Bostonian, but in this case, I hope he falls in ...
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For some reason I really thought Parvati would end up in the finals. Not due to any true game play on her part, but merely out of some cosmic irony. Rarely have I seen a castaway who has done as little as she. I was wrong. Even with the seismic tremors at Aitu — Becky and Sundra maneuvering to oust Ozzy — the easily influenced Yul pulled his strings and chose Adam as the Raro member most worthy of staying.As much as Yul denies it, he is the top dog on the island, and he wears the Puppet Master title well. The thing is, even though he is the whole Survivor package — smart, strong, has ripped abs — he thinks too much and that overactive brain may just knock him out of the game. In case you hadn't noticed because you were distracted by Yul's mud-caked torso, there will be five people in the finals! Five relatively strong competitors. Seriously, who thought Sundra would last this long? After the first merge, Flicka was in a better position than the alliance-free ...
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And now we know why Parvati doesn't do any work at camp. It's just not safe. The girl nearly sliced her thumb off trying to open a coconut. Tragic as that may have been, Parvati's mishap allowed us another glimpse of that cute Aussie doctor from last season. Her sacrifice will not go unnoticed in my book. This week was the family visits. Sundra's heartfelt weeping at the sight of her mother had me wondering if she'd be able to actually perform in the reward challenge of throwing water from one bucket into another while blindfolded. I’m still not sure. Mom wasn’t catching much water and Sundra was all over the place. While Jonathan and his wife were well-matched — both competitive and innovative — it was the injured Parvati and her father who won the challenge and chose Sundra and Adam to join in the reward.What happened next is why I think Cook Islands is clearly among the best Survivors we've seen. While the winners were feasting and Jonathan was at Exile Isla...
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This show is so good I am almost moved to write poetry, and yet there are no words to express how much I'm enjoying Survivor: Cook Islands. Alas, I will attempt to recap the happenings at the Aitutonga tribe. In the aftermath of Nate's departure, Parvati was outspoken about her disappointment in Jonathan. She was so upset with him that she could vomit on his face. Now, she's billed as a boxer. Would a right cross not suffice? Parvati did make me laugh — when Jonathan flat-out told her that "Yul does have the idol," and she still did not believe him. Hilarious. Perhaps, Nate should have left his glasses behind. Like I should talk. For weeks now I've watched the rat footage and mused as to why the show always cut to Jonathan afterward. Perhaps Burnett is trying to tell us something? Um, yeah. If you come away with anything from this episode, it's that everyone thinks Jonathan is a rat. He may very well be, but I'm thinking this rat's going to come out on top — at the end ...
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I hate to say I told you so…but Nate perhaps you should have worn your glasses to tribal because you should have seen your ouster coming. Though it is clear from your parting words – Jonathan you can kiss my ass. You're a dirty, stanky, whack, fruitcake who sold me out, who sold out our tribe when we brought you in. You trading bastard. So kiss my ass Jonathan – that you were somewhat surprised and upset. On the other hand I don't know if anything could have saved Nate. His strategizing has been off for the whole season and he never saw how out there he was so it really was just a matter of time.Tonight's show was nowhere near as exciting as last week's but it does rate up there as one of the season's best episodes. For the most part it was all about strategizing and deciding on the best move. They teased us a lot about the personal immunity idol. I expected that the idol would finally be used this week but, alas, Yul managed to stage a coup with only the mere threa...
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I love, love, love this show! It has excitement; it has conflict; it has betrayal; it has underdogs; it even has new verbs. Where else would you hear about octopussing? And Rebecca, if you chose only to speak one word during this week's show, I'm glad it was that one. Let's see, it is day 22, and over the course of the next three days Aitu pulled out another two challenge wins — making it a four-challenge sweep since the infamous mutiny. I'm so pleased for this underdog team, and who says that dog can't hold a grudge? They sent Candice to do yet another stint on Exile Island. And to display the workings of their well-oiled machine, Aitu members all chimed in together to call her name. Aww. For whatever reason, Jonathan is bearing none of the brunt of the mutiny from his former 'mates. If he makes it to the merge, we'll see if all is forgiven. But Raro is going to have to start winning some immunity challenges. I mean, they have double the numbers, you'd think that would count ...
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Well, well, well. The show is getting interesting again. The Mutiny on the Bounty theme added a much-needed jolt to the Cook Islands Survivor. Jeff tossed out this new twist just before the reward challenge and, through the magic of editing, just after Jonathan and Candice chatted about breaking up their alliance of six. The offer? Mutiny. With ten seconds to decide, castaways could switch tribes. The only takers? Candice and Jonathan — thus leaving Aitu shorthanded with only four members to Raro's now eight.Not only did this move piss Aitu off, but it also lit a fire under them. With half the numbers, Aitu went on to win both reward and immunity challenges, forcing Raro to tribal council. Aitu expressed its displeasure clearly by sending mutineer No. 1, Candice, to Exile Island. Jonathan worked his mojo as Raro's newest member by talking up Adam and doing all of the grunt work. While his new tribe relaxed to the sound of his working, Jonathan's former tribe bonded as if they...
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Clearly Candice is just a loving person. She loves Billy. She loves Adam. But she really loves peanut butter. Like, loves peanut butter would make her declare, "I'm in love with everybody that I can see right now." I mean, it's only been 17 days. Maybe I just don't eat peanut butter that much, but I’m pretty sure that a two-week hiatus from it would not have me kissing on Flicka. And what’s up with Brad? I'm sorry, but peanut butter and potatoes just don't go together. I don't care how forward-thinking you are.OK, how badly did you feel for Rebecca and her Tara Reid take on the reward challenge? "Pull your top down, baby!" I don't know who yelled that out, but I’m quite sure it wasn't Nate, who was just a-grinnin' at the whole scene. And Jeff, who's always yelling something useful during the challenges, couldn't come up with a quick, "Rebecca, you're flashing your tribemates," in between play-by-plays?Kidnapped at the last tribal council, Nate was made by Aitu to sit ...
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Eighteen days in and the producers are still trying to reel in new viewers with this CliffNotes, catch-me-up episode. That's right, it's recap time on Survivor: Cook Islands. Rather than just stroll down memory lane, we regular viewers were also treated to 14 new and easily identifiable scenes — the most riveting of which was Adam and Candice's Day 2 adventure at sea that left them stranded and shivering on a sandbar and had them ultimately abandoning ship in a desperate effort to swim back to land. The next time this happens, it would be nice to see Parvati show a little more concern for her fellow tribe mates than for the unwrecked boat safely parked on a sandbar. At least now we have some basis for Candice's blowing kisses to Adam at last week's tribal council. You don't go through something like that without it changing you. Theirs is a bond none can break.Pavarti is, I guess, this season's hot chick. She got her own montage and everything, but if I see that tattoo one more...
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You have to watch what you say on Survivor or it could cost you big. Just ask Stephannie, who watched her million-dollar dreams drift away on an imaginary plate of mashed potatoes. I feel bad for Stephannie because Nate, who, despite his declarations, is no friend to Stephannie, has been trying to get this woman off the island for the last two weeks. How do you take "I could go for some mashed potatoes and gravy" to mean, "Gee, I can't wait to get off this island"? I’m sorry that Stephannie was not motivated to fight to stay in the game. For that reason alone I'm OK with voting her out. Personally, I don’t understand contestants who go on this show and then give up. It makes me wonder if they even really wanted the million. Like Cao Boi, I'm not sure if the cash prize motivates him or if he only jumped at this opportunity to have a captive audience. The man can talk forever, yet he cannot read body language or recognize when he's gone to far. Not only did he, Flicka and O...
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