'Survivor 14: Fiji' - East Coast Update 4/12 - Merge/Immunity/Reward

The merge happened, but all ended up sent to the Moto camp where the campsite had been emptied.

In Immunity/Reward, the tribe was split into two teams. One team would win Immunity and Reward, the other would go to Tribal Council. The teams were picked with colored rocks in two bags - one for women, one for men.

The team of Earl, Yau-Man, Edgardo, Cassandra and Boo won Immunity and Reward (feast).

The team of Dreamz, Stacy, Alex, Mookie and Michelle will be heading immediately to Tribal Council with no time to strategize.

I'll post another update with the boot and a full review/recap later tonight.

"Lost' - "One of Us"

I knew it! I knew it! Once an Other, always an Other! And, most certainly, you definitely can never trust an Other. Not that I'm the sort of person who'd say, "I told you so."

But...

I told you so.

This episode was great for advancing the story. It was Juliet-centric and clued us in on at least some of the "experiments" on the island and why she was there.

In Flashbacks:
Juliet's story began where her last flashbacks ended in a previous episode. Juliet and her sister Rachel, the one whose pregnancy despite her cancer was due to Juliet's efforts, were headed to Mittelos BioScience where Juliet agreed to a six-month work contract. Of course, it was all mysterious and no sane person would go for it, but Juliet did. I find it interesting if you play with "Mittelos" you can get "lost time" or "time lost." A clue? Who knows?

After being told that she would be "there" for six months, Juliet asked where "there" was to no avail. They gave her a glass of orange juice and tranquilizers so she would sleep for the trip and all they'd tell her is that she was going to a special place unlike she's ever imagined.

She awoke in the submarine, bound because "the last leg is a bit rough." She went up the hatch, met Ben who told her that he'd be working with her.

What sort of work? Well, there's a problem on the island. Every woman who becomes pregnant dies. Since Juliet's expertise is in that area, we now know why they recruited her.

But Juliet wanted to give up. She couldn't save the lives of the pregnant women and, after so long (when she had been told six months), she wanted to go home. She was worried about her sister. Ben (remember, he likes mind games) told her that Rachel's cancer had returned. But if she stayed, Jacob could cure her. If she goes home, her sister would surely die.

After three years on the island, she was awakening with her boyfriend Goodwin. (Goodwin was a boyfriend, too? I thought Ben was!) Then she saw the x-ray of Ben's tumor and freaked. She went to Ben with it and he freaked, too. She referred to it as cancer. She confronted Ben with the fact that he said Jacob could cure Rachel's cancer. She accused him of lying to her. If they had the cure for cancer, why would Ben have or worry about cancer? She wanted to go home, but Ben told her Rachel was fine. No, she can't go home.

Then the flashbacks became like deja vu all over again. Juliet was once again playing Petula Clark's "Downtown" with the book club gathered in her living room. The plane crashed. Ethan was dispatched to play a crash survivor, etc.

Ben took Juliet to the Flame Station where Mikhail showed her images on the screen of a very live Rachel with her toddler, Julian. A newspaper was shown to reflect the date of September 22, 2004 -- thus proving it was current. Mikhail was studying the plane crash and Ben was hoping there would be a pregnant woman on the plane to further their experiments. "I'm not a liar," Ben said.

The last part of the flashback sequences was almost current news. Ben and Juliet planned it all. Well, more specifically, they planned that they would leave Juliet behind, the handcuffed to Kate bit, and Juliet would infiltrate the crash survivors. See! I told you! I don't trust them! Although the ending of the flashback won't make sense without what's happening on the island in this episode... she activated the implant in Claire. Evil, I say! Ben also told her he'd see her in a week.

On the Island:
Jack, Kate, Sayid, and Juliet were still heading to the beach camp after they left the Barracks. When they made camp, Kate went with Jack to get wood. He told her he trusts Juliet. He also told her of his deal with Ben. Meanwhile, that left Sayid and Juliet together. Sayid told her he wants to know everything. "Who are you?" Juliet told him that if she told him, he'd kill her. Then Jack interrupted their talk claiming that Juliet was under his protection.

Back at the beach camp, Claire wasn't feeling well. She even slept through Aaron's crying, so Charlie volunteered to take the baby so she could rest. Then, as if by magic, the three (Sayid, Jack, and Kate) arrived at the camp. All was hunky-dory with Kate and Sawyer hugging like there was no tomorrow and folks tickled pink to see Jack again.

Until, that is, Juliet arrived. Sawyer flipped out. Juliet pretty much exiled herself away from the crowd. When Hurley sat to talk to her, he mentioned that she was one of "them" but wasn't on the dock when he and others were accosted. She told him that happened to be her day off.

Sayid, Sawyer, and most of the camp held a meeting because of their concern about Juliet. Unlike gullible (and very annoying) Jack, they don't trust her at all. They don't think it's enough that Jack trusts her. Good thinking, folks! They also talked about Locke going with the Others. They have no idea what he's doing or why.

At the meeting, Claire took a turn for the worse, vomiting blood. Jack tried to help her, but Juliet asked Kate to bring him over to her. When questioned why, she said, "I think I did it to her." She wanted to retrieve some serum placed by Ethan.

As she got it, Sayid and Sawyer snagged her. She told them a convoluted story about Ethan getting blood samples, the pregnancy bit, Claire was a "control case" and more. She also claimed that Ethan kidnapped Claire on his own -- nothing to do with her. But, without the injections of serum, she would die. "I can fix this."

She also told them that she doesn't understand how they became the "moral police." She brought up that Sayid never told the other crash victims the extent of his torture days, nor did James (Sawyer) tell about killing a man before getting on the plane. They looked stunned. She told them to skip the righteousness -- she needed to get the serum to Claire or there would be more blood on their hands. Wow, Juliet. I've gotta say, she is good!

After returning to the camp, Jack told Juliet that if the serum didn't work he couldn't protect her anymore. Oh, but of course it worked. Heck, we know it was a plan and Jack's a doofus to believe Juliet. Jack gave her supplies and pointed out an area for her to set up camp a bit away from the others.

"You want to get off the island as much as we do. You're one of us," Jack told Juliet.

LOST [clunk]

Now, I think the plan to save Claire is definitely a ploy to gain trust for Juliet. But I wonder about Sun's pregnancy. She obviously hasn't died. Juliet had told Ben that she thought whatever was killing the women happened at conception. Does this mean that Sun's baby is her dead lover's from previous to the flight?

And, what is that darn Locke up to?

Oh... and why the hell is Jack so gullible and trusting?

What is going to happen in a week when Ben sees Juliet again?

'American Idol 6' - 4/11 Results Show - East Coast Update

At this point (9:25 PM EDT), there have been performances and lots of stuff, but no results.

Stop on back as I'll be posting the news as it airs here on the East Coast.

Update:
Three with the lowest number of votes:
Phil Stacey
Haley Scarnato
Chris Richardson

Safe:
LaKisha Jones
Jordin Sparks
Melinda Doolittle
Blake Lewis
Sanjaya Malakar

UPDATE:
Chris is now safe. Bottom two, Haley and Phil.

FINAL RESULTS UPDATE:
Over 35 million votes, Haley Scarnato is history and Phil is safe.

'The Bachelor' Blog Discussion Entry Updated

As per the request of blog readers/commenters, I've updated The Bachelor blog discussion meet-up entry to reflect the current season. I'm still not watching the show, but blog readers sure are! If you wish to discuss the current happenings, stop on by the entry -- it's a good group of folks in there.

Yes, I still have it tied in with Nip/Tuck, but now the image and link reflect the latest. And, as readers asked me to do, I've removed about 70 older comments about The Bachelor: Rome so that folks need not wade through them to get to the latest.

Enjoy!

'American Idol 6' - The Final Eight Go Latino... Kind Of, Sort Of

Oh, my gosh. Put a bunch of young non-Latinos singing to a Latin beat and Sanjaya comes up smelling like a rose out of Spanish Harlem?

Yikes.

Coached by Jennifer Lopez, the contestants had the chance to turn the beat around this week. And, for the most part, they reminded me of Billy Crystal doing the "white man's overbite" in When Harry Met Sally.

Melinda Doolittle was first up on the stage. In my opinion, her voice itself is impeccable, even incredible. She sang "Sway" by Pablo Beltran Ruiz. On key, professional, but it just didn't grasp me the way I know she can. The judges seemed to feel the same was as I did to some extent. Technically, it was very well done. Randy said it was a solid performance. Paula called it "smooth, subtle, and sexy." Simon didn't care for it much. He said it was lounge, cabaret, lazy, and wooden.

LaKisha Jones sang Gloria Estefan's "Conga." Again, she did fine. She hit the notes, she even danced to the beat. But, it wasn't a LaKisha bring-down-the-house kind of performance. Randy thought it was hot and she had a good time. Paula thought it was a safe performance. Simon agreed with Paula. I agree with the both of them.

Chris Richardson sang a song I actually own and enjoy -- "Smooth" by Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas. I wasn't impressed at all. I think he was a bit less nasal-sounding this week and it was a good performance for him. But if I heard his version of the song first, I never would have bought it. But the judges disagreed with me. Randy thought he did a good job, very cool. Paula thought it was a hot performance and sexy. Simon preferred it to the first two as it wasn't
"cabaret."

Then it was Haley Scarnato's turn. Yipes. Can her skirt get any shorter? And what's with that little sexy kick she keeps doing? She sang "Turn the Beat Around" by Gloria Estefan. I think she flirted more than sang it, but that may just be me. She's bugging me more each week. If her sex appeal to the guys doesn't rock the vote this week, she's a goner tomorrow night. Randy said the performance was karaoke. Paula said it was a fun song. (Say what?) Simon said her tactic is to wear the least amount of clothes. (Spot on!) Haley gave Simon the evil eye, but I agree with him.

Next up was Phil Stacey, wearing a hat this week. He doesn't creep me out as much when he wears a hat, but I wasn't in love with the performance, either. He sang "Maria, Maria" by Carlos Santana and The Product G&B. I think he, for the most part, sang it okay -- his voice cracked a bit twice. But I also think it's a boring song for a show like this. I personally would rate his performance better than Chris Richardson as he shows he can have a real voice where as Chris seems to be a nasal "package" of a pop singer. Randy said it lacked passion and he didn't quite connect with the song. Paula said it was a good vocal. Simon said it was a good song choice, but lifeless and his voice cracked. I say we'll see Phil in the bottom rankings again this week and he may go home.

Jordin "Can't Go Wrong" Sparks sang Gloria Estefan's "Rhythm is Gonna Get You." Are we sure she's only seventeen? Really? She has such a professional stage presence that belies her years. She also looked very pretty tonight -- I think I prefer the straighter hair look for her. Oh? Did she sing well? Why, yes she did! Although I'd be more likely to actually buy something like a Melinda Doolittle CD of old classics, I'm leaning more towards Jordin winning this each week. Randy said she had the "yo factor." Paula said she was adorable and had a great time. Simon wasn't stunned. He mentioned the lack of progression tonight (and I think he may have meant overall, not just Jordin).

Blake Lewis sang "I Need to Know" by Marc Anthony. That's a song I sort of enjoy, but Blake didn't rock my world with it this week. He did okay and I certainly think he's still the best of the remaining guys. If any of the guys make it in the final four, it should be him. But it wasn't my favorite performance of his this week. Randy said it was a good song choice and hot. Paula said it was an excellent choice. Simon called it the best song choice and best performance of the evening. Okay, they liked it more than I did. He's safe, anyway.

Then there was Sanjaya Malakar, the kid who couldn't get words in English straight actually sang in Spanish. Now, my Spanish isn't good enough to know if he screwed up lyrics. But if he did, he recovered without skipping a beat. He sang "Besame Mucho" by Consuelo Velazquez. I think it was his personal best so far this season and may have been one of the more believable and better performances of the night. Shoot me now. Randy called him the smartest contestant and said it was really good. Paula said it was nice. Simon said it wasn't horrible.

Tomorrow night's results show has been expanded to an hour. As usual, I'll be posting East Coast Spoilers on this blog as the show airs here in the NYC area.

Was it just me not moved tonight? Can I get a witness?