Comrade_Snowball's Game Recap #2

Well here it is Ladies and Gentlemen, you’ve waited patiently, and Karen Ruiz has finally delivered! Anthony Rollins is the first cast member to clock out this season, the very first kill of Season 65! And boy what a kill it was. I’ll admit it, I didn’t see this kill coming. The group Anthony was rolling with (Pardon the pun) was very tight. Sterling and Amber were allied with Karen, and I hadn’t expected her to open fire, especially after Amber’s tirade.

But she did anyways, prompting thousands upon thousands of pages of discussion on the official SotF Fan Forums. The twittersphere has been on fire; #KarenRuiz has topped the hashtag list for at least the past three days since the footage went live. People all around the country have been asking, just what is she playing at? Is Karen off her rocker like “Reverand” Smythe? Or is she simply thinking ahead? Could she be going after the ten kills?

I’m sad to see Anthony go. But regardless, his death has certainly left quite an impression on the game. Pink Team was never the strongest team, but they ranked at least Mid-Tier. But now with the loss of Anthony (and the continued stupidity of Jonas, Glen and Ben) they’re looking to be an early out.

Anthony wasn’t the only victim. Karen Ruiz managed to inflict quite the nasty wound to resident lunatic Ali White, blowing a finger clean off. It was a lucky shot that is sure to plague her until her inevitable demise. So far this Season has been rather lax on injuries, again, many people are decrying the slow start, but I’m thinking the exact opposite. Getting to know these characters makes the wounds and the death all the more shocking, and all the more brutal. I know I jumped when Ali was attacked. She’s a loony, (even BEFORE SotF: TV) but she is one of the fan favourites, and I myself have grown particularly fond of watching her exploits.

Speaking of fan favourites, take a look over at the tag list on the sidebar. As you can no doubt see, we’ve got a few notable names already in Season 65. The power trio of Shawn, Mae, and Zach have kept the shipping and fan fiction sections of the forum busy as hell, and it isn’t hard to see why. Interesting to note here, while ShawnxMae is wildly regarded as the better of the pairings, at least in the public eye, a quick look around any SotF fansite will reveal QUITE a lot of ZachxMae shippers on the net. Why is this? I don’t mean to offend here, but I sense some serious wish fulfillment going on.

Zach is the ultimate White Knight, and judging from the pre-game footage gathered he’s been harbouring a major crush on Mae for months, maybe years. Mae St. Clair is, to be blunt, beautiful. She’s witty and nice, and more importantly for the fans out there, she talks to Zach, the social challenged boy that he is, and even MORE importantly, she treats him with respect. When SotF was in the early stages, it first caught hold on the internet; the chans and the “nerd” demographic took hold of it and made it their own. This was their show, their chance to dream. What would it be like to kill your enemies, kill anyone who’s ever hated you? It’s one of the things so appealing about SotF: TV, the revenge and the righteous anger dealt out with no penalty. Zach has been aptly dubbed “The Love Martyr”, and he’s one of us. Anyone who’s ever fallen head over heels in love, everyone in the dark corners of the net who’ve been picked on and persecuted, they’re in Zach’s corner. When you think about it, we’ve all got a little bit of Zach in us. While you might not hear him talked about much in public rest assured, he’s a fan favourite. It’s too early to declare him my favourite, but he ranks up with Ali as a definite favourite, at least for me.

As you can see from the tags, other popular students include Marvia Jones, Panya Bishara and Sidney Rice. It’d rather obvious as to why; Marvia’s sex scene has easily been the most overplayed clip this season. Panya Bishara is another hottie, and Sidney has spent her game thus far bouncing around in a bunny costume. Ahhh fan service.

Little note on Marvia and Sidney here. While Panya has remained mostly neutral at this point (Debate is still raging on whether she is playing or not). Marvia has clearly shown she’s got a villainous streak going, beating on Nate Chauncey, stealing her things and then allying with the clearly insane Harold Smythe. (Who might win the record for fastest mental breakdown in SotF: TV, ever!) Sidney likewise, is clearly playing from her actions on the cruise ship. Often times on SotF we find girls who try to strike that ever so desired “Femme Fatale” status, utilizing looks and violence in equal measure to win the game. It’s never been truly achieved, although many have gotten close. Could this be their strategy?

Looks like we’ll have to stay tuned to find out!

I thank you once more for your continued reading! Feel free to voice your opinion down in the comments! This is Comrade_Snowball, signing off!

Contestant Spotlight: Anthony Rollins by RNN

Contestant Spot-Light: Anthony Rollins

Hello snarky readers and SOTF-TV Fans! It's us again, RNN: Rebecca and my lovah-boy Nery. Well not really, just me (Rebecca) today. Sorry for not getting into the blogging party earlier, but better late than never right? I finally had a chance to watch the entirety of SOTF-TV so far and I must say: I'm Loving it!

So what I'm gonna be doing, is this thing called "The Contestant Spot-Light." Where we examine each SOTF-TV teenager in-depth of the current season, and what better way than to start with our first dead contestant!? That's right today's spot light is on Anthony Rollins!


Anthony Rollins (Pink Team)
*The black dude who dies first.*

Episode Segments he was in:
Started: Open Plains "Establishing Shot"
Died: The Forest "Friendly Fire"

Being the first eliminated, Anthony's journey was a very short one, but the kid was pretty fun to watch. If there's something I always enjoy seeing as a viewer, that contestants do, it's when they talk to the cameras. Anthony being a camera guy himself, according to his website profile, typically did this in spades. He even gave us a small close up of his not so small claymore sword. Would have been pretty neat to see the thing in action.

Speaking of small, for an African American, Anthony was pretty short, especially when with those two tall jock looking boys Sterling and Bobby. I feel pretty sorry for Anthony. You could legitimately see the timidness and minor jealousy in his face as eye candy Amber, went to the two eye candy boys and gave them hugs and kisses. Oh the things I've read about rabid fan girls wanting Anthony gone, so the three "pretty people" could have some sort of weird three-way.

I'm glad I'm not like that! I don't just watch for "the hot guys" because well, aside from being practically married to Nery; most of these typical, clean cut jock type "hot guys" just don't do it for me, nor do I watch the show actively looking for them. In fact I said this before, but I'm the type of chick who enjoys when the hot guys die, just so the annoying fan girls STFU, already. If I wanted to see hot guys I'd "read" a playgirl magazine or something. (Erhem.. back to Anthony.)

Poor Anthony. I wanted to just give him a hug of my own, after he both figuratively and literally got overshadowed by the taller, stronger and more conventionally attractive guys. Poor boy gets no love, and I was outwardly rooting on him there. Lovable underdog that he was in many ways. And they gave him a gnome hat too. Which he actually wore! It was quite adorable.

Game Analysis: Anthony's game plan was sound. Find people he knew and stay with them, to hopefully keep himself safe. He teamed up with teenagers he was friendly with at school, in barbie girl, Amber Lyons, and Generic Eye Candy guy, Sterling Odair, and Bobby Goldman, who I think is a Jew. He was smart enough to keep his weapon for himself, when Bobby offered a trade with his crappy metal stick - thing. The two larger guys were good for support/strength to defend him. Also they could've made great meat shields due to their sizes compared to Anthony, for him to hide behind, so it was a good choice to stick with them. Amber his friend would have done her best to keep him alive as well. His one mistake however, adorable as it was, was to wear that gnome hat. He should have taken it off as soon as he could, when Karen started shooting, but he didn't, and we all know what happened there!

Death Look!
I didn't see it live, as I was at work, but the scene was very exciting even watching the replay. Karen Ruiz (one of my favs and pretty much the only likable baddie, so far - don't get me started on Harold and Marvia) saw the group of four and started shooting at them. They all hid in various spots. Anthony being small, hid easily behind one of the trees. Being the crafty sort, Karen threw a rock and caught Anthony's attention. His gnome hat, still on his head came into Karen's view, where it fell on the ground in front of him. Then Anthony followed his hat after moving slightly.

I love both Karen and Anthony, too bad one of them had to die. I really loved Anthony's last words. Even as he chokes on his own blood he still manages to talk to the camera! Of course he falls to the ground and dies, making him the first contestant eliminated, and proving once again, that the majority of the time, in any group: The black guy dies first.

Aftermath predictions: Anthony's death marked the first kill. Karen's rep is now high on the island - it's always that way for the first killers. Amber and her pretty boy will no doubt be affected by this in a big way, and we have yet to see what will happen with the Jew, Bobby... stupid to be continued captions. Anthony had relationships with many of the Detroit Students, so it would have a tremendous impact on them all. The announcements will take a hit on the Detroit students morale, undoubtly, leaving the Silver Dragon Academy students stronger in the beginning, unless someone else dies soon. Anthony's death might have a particularly strong effect on his best friend, partner, and co-sidekick, Anna Higgins. Watching Anna so far, her friend's death might send her over the edge. How will she take it? I can't wait to see.

*

That's all for now. Next time's Contestant spot-light will be in honor of the internet blogger shout outs from two "sucky" kids and another one featuring an awesome Latino. Can you guess who those three are? (comment!)

Also coming up will be RNN's individual review of scenes and episodes by location... I was gonna do the Awesome Cruise Ship scene, but I think one of my fellow blogger's have already covered it. So what better to start the Episode Segment Analysis than at the location that had the most air time so far? That's right it's the rain forest!

P.S. Follow Nery and me at our twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RebeccaNery. We always have some fun things to say. Nery particularly. Till next time!

Pink Team Analysis by Comrade_Snowball

Hey, it’s Snowball here! We’re keeping busy leaking more info on the teams. As you can see, Ajax-Kun and MadMax are assisting me, but expect even more well known SotF Bloggers coming in soon, as well as some new blood!
Now I’ve decided to review one of the more eccentric and unpredictable teams this Season, the Pink Team. A lot of controversy when they were first announced, it’s an all male squad and some say they’ve been overpowered in the weapons department. You be the judge. Let’s take a look!

TEAM PINK PHOTO

Mentor: Mike Patterson
Now, right of the bat it looks like Pink Team is in trouble. Mentors this year have run the gamut from SotF Experts to Military Instructors, even a past winner (Much love to Jared!). Some of the mentors however have been on the weaker end, and Patterson seems to be one of, if not the, weakest mentor. From what limited info the Producers have given us, Patterson seems to be a completely average fan, winning his place in that contest the SotF Team were running last summer. With MARwin crunching stats and Jared with first hand knowledge of the game, Patterson is at a huge disadvantage. He’s got the tools to make a decent run, but Pink could easily turn into this seasons joke team.
- Anyone heard of the term “Deer in the Headlights?” Exactly what we’re looking at here.
- Patterson isn’t the smartest guy out there, but then again, he’s not totally stupid judging from the promo material. Still, he’s fighting an uphill battle.

Team Member 1: Anthony Rollins
Traits: Friendly, Naturally Observant, Smaller Kid
Weapon: Claymore
Anthony seems like a weak member for Team Pink. If he can keep his head straight he could make a good lookout or scout for the rest of the guys, but I’m betting he’ll be an early out. Why? Anna Higgins, Member of Team Blue. Promo material suggests these two were either in a direct relationship, or film making buddies. Producers, the sadistically amazing bastards they are, have split the buddies up. If Anthony is going to get out of here, it’s going to be without Anna, or in a body bag. My instincts tell me Anthony is going to take his huge ass weapon (That he can barely hold, by the looks of things) and go looking for his friend, only to be untimely gunned down. Patterson and the rest of Team Pink better find out where his allegiances lay quick. Even if he abandons his buddy-buddy, I’m just not feeling it here.

Team Member 2: Jonas Jeffries
Traits: Twitchy, Smoker, Clumsy, Cowardly, Whiny, Unprincipled, Small and Nervous
Weapon: MAC-10
Ohhhh man, this is an interesting one. Jonas is as good as doomed, mark my words. Interesting to note, like Anthony he also seems to have close ties with a fellow student, Panya Bishara, on Team Black. But I’m thinking Jonas will go in a bit of a different direction, judging from his cowardly nature. Jeffries seems like someone who wouldn’t think twice about abandoning his friend, if it means his continued existence. Not that he’ll last long. Anyone remember “Hoot” Hawkely, Season 3? Clumsy bastard fell on his own grenade. Jonas is going in the same direction, and the more competent members of his team better realize it fast. I expect quite a few classic moments coming from Jonas’ prior to his untimely demise. Only question I have, will it be from friendly fire?

Team Member 3: Glen Bole
Traits: Bully, Track star, Juvie Hall Delinquent, Cowardly Jerkass
Weapon: SPAS-12
Here we go! Glen is in my opinion, the natural leader of Pink Team. While Anthony is off looking for his friend and Jonas is busy blowing off his feet, Glen is going to take the fight to the enemy. Cowardly, yes, but he’s also strong and doesn’t seem to be afraid to pull any punches. Mark my words; he’ll be a player from the beginning. And with a Shotgun backing him up, how cowardly can he really be? If Patterson gets the group together, Glen is going to be his voice on the ground. Pink Team could end up winning the whole thing if Glen takes control and ups the brutality. Hell, if Rollins or Jeffries end up sticking close to Bole, they could last until the end after all! Top Five written all over him.

Team Member 4: Benjamin Grayson
Traits: Medic, Artist, Loner, Bookworm
Weapon: Full Set of Team Bandannas
A lot of variables with Benji here. He could serve his purpose, an ideal team medic giving his knowledge of first aid. But then again, the kid doesn’t have that much social skills, limiting his weapon usage. I can see him getting along with Anthony easy, but Glen? I’m not sure on this one... For their sake, let’s hope Benji takes orders well. He doesn’t have a weapon, but he could easily grab one from Jonas as soon as he snuffs it. If he can get those bandannas to his team, I can picture an early game massacre of epic proportions, perpetrated by Glen.

Team Member 5: Isaac King
Traits: Gun Training, Small Kid, Weak, Cautious
Weapon: IMI Desert Eagle
Isaac makes an ideal second in command, if Glen gets his ass in gear. He’s one of those few kids with gun training, rifles in this case. I expect him to be a top tier killer if Pink Team forms together. Not much else to say, but I can picture him making it to the end if he can hook up with his team.

OVERALL
Well, well, well. Pink Team certainly has a lot of options. Weak links are most definitely Jonas and Anthony, and I predict a messy demise for the entire team unless those two are dealt with or fall into line. Benji could hack it if he sticks close to Glen and Isaac. Personality wise, I can see Anthony clashing with Glen, with Glen coming out on top. Worth following Isaac, Glen and Jonas, entertainment wise. Isaac and Glen could go all the way if Patterson proves decent, and Jonas is bound to ruin /something/ before he dies. Benji looks to be a support character, and I predict Anthony will die before half.