Talk:North of the Arctic Circle/@comment-9949103-20200112205410

Things are finally starting to make sense now!

I will say that, if Bryce had not put forth his theory about two separate seasons so early before the season actually started, this probably would've been a HELL of a lot more confusing to decipher and follow along with. But luckily, this format is what I expected going into the season so it's actually made it a lot easier to get into and keep up with, so I don't know if that's a kudos for you, Wafflez, but it's definitely a kudos for the season!

Also, can I just bask in my own glory for a second and say that I TOTALLY called that we were switching over to the other cast this episode (Even though I probably would've kept guessing that every episode until it finally happened xD). Either way, I'm actually super happy we've finally been introduced to the whole cast and am now SUPER excited to see how this big "Double Trouble" twist plays out.

Starting with the eliminated players of this episode:

Eulogy to Jin: Well, this is awkward.....just gonna gloss over this one and save it for next episode, especially since my joy at Mercedes getting booted two episodes ago has also not aged well xD

Eulogy to Jaunita: Being honest here, Jaunita was a casting misfire. One hundred percent. I really thought, based on her bio, that she would have some awesome Holly Hoffman-esque redemption arc from being a quitter to an underdog in the game, but she just ended up being really pathetic. Knowing that, I'm glad that she was the one to go here because she's probably the only one of this group who I actively disliked this episode, so anyone else going over her would have been an utter travesty!

Eulogy to Preston: Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! Ugh, my pre-season winner pick vanquished just as soon as he finally got to pop up on screen. I'll admit, you really had me fooled here, since I thought Preston was a shoo-in to make it far from his bio. However, he went from super awesome winner potential to pseudo-premiere trainwreck real fast. Even though I'm upset that he's gone so early, I do adore his one episode arc of him just constantly fucking everything up, from saying he's too smart, to losing the Right to Stay, to leading his tribe in the wrong direction away from their camp, to then breaking their tent, but also then feeling confident enough come Tribal Council so that he can be tragically hit with his biggest fuck-up of all: not seeing the blindside coming. It's ironic, given that he came off as such a "perfect" player in the pre-season, and then literally the least perfect player in the actual game. Just sucks because I think I would've enjoyed him stumbling his way through the game if he had made it farther.

This side of the cast is VERY different from the other one. Though I think that the first side has the more likable people and the better gameplayers, this cast BY FAR has the more entertaining/trainwrecky characters.

The entire Caribou tribe as a whole is just such a glorious mess so far. They all hate each other, they can't do anything right to save their lives, and they're getting our favorite stick-thin skinned skank Mercedes as their "compensation" for being so bad at the game, which I think says all that needs to be said about their status as a "tribe". From the three that are left, I can't decide who I'm more in love with. Nancie and her overly posh, shameless, and weirdly good at breaking things self, Stuart for his inspiring devotion to the game despite his disability (along with being the only ray of positivity left on Caribou), or Clark for sternly spending the entire episode calling the rest of his tribe morons before moronically falling for Nancie's lies at the end of the episode and ousting his only close ally in the game. I really hope that they don't go to Tribal Council next episode, unless it's to give Mercedes more bad news, because I REALLY don't want any of them to leave!

Netsilik, however, is also really enjoyable to me as well. Osamah definitely has an ego to him, and I love his constant clashes with the big-mouthed Karen...I mean Brandi. We love a good villain, and I think that Osamah could easily provide that with his sweeping manipulations of bachelorette Savana and mild-mannered Aminah. He's a lot more complex than I thought he would be, so I'm excited to see where he's going in the game, especially since he has his tribe's idol.

Karen (Brandi), however, is someone whose winner edit I can see from a MILE away and I'm mainly saying this because I'll be really annoyed if she actually ends up going deep and winning. Don't get me wrong, she's hilarious with her constant hacking and wheezing and whatnot, but she also kind of rubs me the wrong way. She's really good at talking, and talking, and then coughing, and then talking some more, I don't know. She's interesting so far, and not a bad character by any stretch of the imagination, but she just didn't click with me this episode. Not a huge fan of her or her whale-sized mouth, but I'm hoping that could be changed later on.

You're really keeping on top of these episodes, Wafflez! They've all been really great so far, this one, in particular, was really great to see all the similarities between this premiere and the one for the first cast. There's plenty of interesting dynamics going on within each of these tribes and I am super pumped to see how they play out in the future, especially when they meet up with the other cast! :D

Rooting for Fancie Nancie, Stuart, Clark the Genius, Osamah, Aminah, Nando, and Savana!<3