Survivor

By The Watcher Rocket scientist John calculated the correct answer when he complained about his alliance mates’ lack of “analytical ability” during Thursday’s episode of “Survivor: Samoa.” In other words, they aren’t too bright. And so the ex-Galu alliance lost another member to crafty Russell and...

By The Watcher One loser: The Hidden Immunity Idol is back up for grabs on “Survivor: Samoa.” Want to bet Russell finds it? Someone who doesn’t find it will be voted out of the merged tribe tonight and take the third seat in the jury box. 8 p.m. on CBS.

By PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Erik Cardona grew up in Chino Hills, which made him the closest we had to an O.C. contestant on “Survivor” this fall. Well, that and a special  moment he shared as a lad with one of Pedro’s colleagues here at the Register — more on that later.

By The Watcher But did he make a mistake by playing the Hidden Immunity Idol at Tribal Council? Was it an act of overconfidence or paranoia? The political excitement of Tribal Council was only enhanced by the hilarity of Erik’s bloviating. I can’t recvall a blindside that was ever preceded by such “he has...

By The Watcher The merge: Why does “Survivor” call it “the merge” instead of “the merger”? That’s like when football announcers talk about players “defensing” each other. Either way, the event takes place tonight on “Survivor: Samoa,” with Galu bringing eight players and Foa Foa just four. The F-Fers s...

By The Watcher I must admit, even though CBS already told us that Russell Swan would be the castaway hitting the deck Thursday on “Survivor: Samoa,” the episode managed plenty of drama anyway. Both tribes trudged to tribal council, having been warned that each would be required to vote someone out. Inst...

By The Watcher Maybe CBS figured that the identity of the castaway who falls ill on “Survivor: Samoa” this week was common enough knowledge - or maybe the network doesn’t care about spoiling its reality shows any longer - but the latest promo spot for Thursday’s episode doesn’t just give away the identi...

By The Watcher On the downside, there was little in the way of politics and treachery, and even the spat between Russell H. and Liz had little meaning. Absent a chance to set up a backstabbing incident, the Foa Foa vote at Tribal Council seemed obvious. Ashley almost single-handedly lost both challenges. Sh...

By The Watcher But you may not have heard that his wife, Heidi Hamels, is better known to reality fans by her maiden name, Heidi Strobel. This Heidi was a contestant on “Survivor: Amazon,” where she was the alliance partner of eventual winner Jenna Morasca. Heidi and Jenna made headlines when they agreed t...

By The Watcher Shambo gives away clues to the Hidden Immunity Idol to Erik and Brett, then expects that to buy her good will from them. Galu will need to sweep the rest of the immunity challenges for Shambo to make the merge, but it doesn’t even occur to her to look for the HII herself.

By The Watcher It seems like only a couple of weeks ago that 20 castaways arrived to begin “Survivor: Samoa,” and yet here we are already down to the final six. What’s that you say? The final 16? Where in the heck are the other 10? Once again we were treated to 58 minutes of Russell H. and the Foa Foa [...]

By The Watcher “Survivor: Samoa” will be harder to enjoy tonight as we absorb the news that the death toll has risen to about 150 following the earthquake and tsunami there Tuesday. The episode will continue as scheduled, although I’m certain CBS will add some sort of acknowledgment of the disaster. Mark...

By The Watcher Props to Russell for finding the HII without a clue. The problem for him is, that Idol was intended for the other tribe and may not work at Tribal Council, What a magnificent ending for Russell that would be. Of course, we don’t know the exact HII rules this season, so stay tuned.

By The Watcher The much-improved use of hi-def and some interesting challenges get high marks, but the real reason to love Episode 1 was the lying, scheming Russell Hantz. I’m sure if you were stuck on a tribe with Russell you’d want to stab him in the back with a real knife, but he makes for fascinating TV.

By The Watcher Things will be back to normal around 8:03 p.m., as soon as Jeff Probst intones “39 days, 20 people, one survivor!” and “Survivor: Samoa” gets under way. No Exile. Two Hidden Immunity Idols, one for each tribe, planted in the other tribe’s camp. How does one retrieve it? TBA.

By The Watcher Our concern that Ken might be in trouble this week on ‘Survivor: Gabon’ looks to be unfounded. The CBS promo spot over the weekend strongly indicates that the Family Visit Reward Challenge will happen in the coming episode, not the one after.