Survivor Worlds Apart - Season Preview
No Collar Tribe
By Jim Van Nest, Survivor Analyst
February 25, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The No Collar Tribe is called Nagarote and will wear red buffs to start the season. That's right; it's a primary colors kind of season in S30. Five of the six players on this tribe are from Cali and the sixth is from Arizona, so they're all west coasters. Most seem to gravitate toward the beach and all consider themselves to be free spirits.
Like I did with the other two tribes, I'm going to talk about each member of this tribe in the order I think they'll finish in the game. So let's get to it!
1) Looking at the No Collars, there is really only one prototypical "alpha male" type and believe it or not, I think Joe Anglim will be the best of this tribe and might even walk away as the winner of Survivor: Worlds Apart. First off, he has the longest bio ever put together for a Survivor contestant. This guy makes me look brief. I'll try to condense as much as I can. Joe's a jewelry designer and he's the one from 'Zona. Friends call him MacGyver because it seems like he can do anything. He's another person who's a longtime fan of the game, so getting on the show is a big deal for him. He's typical alpha male in that he's big, strong, in shape, good looking and young. He's comes off as different by not talking so much about how he'll physically dominate. He calls Survivor a numbers game, which is most definitely is, and his plan is to always find himself on the right side of the numbers. He intends to be on top of things enough so that if he's ever the target, he'll be able to turn the tables.
Joe has every intention to lie to win the game, but he's really not a fan of that method of play. The lone hole in his game is that he says he's a combination of...wait for it...Malcolm and Ozzy. If that's really true, he's in trouble, as those two are a combined 0-6 in Survivor. I really like Joe's chances of being the last No Collar standing and possibly even pleading his case to the jury in the final Tribal Council. Girls, make yourselves all pretty, cause MacGyver Joe is supremely datable.
2) The rest of this tribe is a toss-up for me. They all sound like people who could be first boots...but obviously, they can't all be, right? In second place, I'm going with a sleeper, Jenn Brown. Jenn's a sailing instructor in California. She's very young, but she comes off as older than she is. She's another one who's watched every season of the show and something about listening to her talk tells me she'll be able to make alliances and last in the game. Now, she does talk some nonsense, like how she wants the money so she can buy a jet-ski and she really wants a vineyard so she can make her own wine, even though she really doesn't know how to make wine. But she's also very tomboy-ish and feels like she's better off playing with the boys than the girls.
Overall, this seems like a pretty strong male cast and if she's the chick hanging with the guys, she might have staying power. A downfall for her is that she's the female Malcolm. Come on, people...can we either be more creative or just stop asking this question? She feels like she can boost morale and that she's a pretty good fisherman. She feels like she can provide for her tribe, if need be. I really have no solid reason why I like her in the game; it's just my gut telling me that Jenn is definitely datable.
3) This is going to come as a surprise to some people. Especially those that have seen the cast photo. The weird dude with the feathers tied in his hair? His name is Vince Sly and he's my #3 on this tribe. No, really. He is. Looking at this guy's bio and his pics and his video, he strikes me very much as Coach V 2.0. And he may well be. That being said, Coach has been datable every time he's played this game, so a mid-tribe placement isn't as weird as it seems. As a coconut vendor, I'd wager Vince will be able to barter the fruit of the land for votes later in the game and that won't hurt. But seriously, he's also a life coach, which sounds cheesy as hell, but is an actual thing. People come to him with problems and he helps them. What this leads to is learning about people and how to read people. And the ability to read people can take you pretty far in this game, as long as you're not a douche. While he comes off as Coach-y, he also comes off as kinda likable. And that may be all it takes to carry Vince to the jury. I'm gonna go ahead and say datable for Vince Sly, the coconut vendor.
4) Fourth on my list is hearing activist, Nina Poersch. Nina is our second ever deaf contestant on Survivor. But she wears cochlear implants, which makes her not so deaf. Her deafness, however, won't be the big handicap she has to overcome on this show, though. She's 51-years-old and appears to be in amazing shape, but I worry that this young-skewing tribe will see her as the weak link which could limit her game. She identifies most with Tina Wesson, so I give her some hope based on an out-of-the-box choice here.
She's an activist in real life, which means she does spend a lot of time trying to convince and kind of manipulate other people - skills that are very necessary in Survivor. However, because of the Cochlear, she has trouble when more than one person are talking at the same time. That's bad news in an arena where sometimes everyone talks, or yells, at the same time trying to be heard. A concern for her is that she'll expect her tribe to understand and care about this. If she reminds them about it often, she'll piss everyone off. If she tries to play through it, she's likely to miss important strategy talk. So she's on either side of a double-edged sword here, potentially. Also, a couple of her pet peeves are laziness and rudeness - two things that are prevalent in any season of Survivor. I worry for Nina that she'll become bossy and annoy people into voting her out early. She'll make it through a couple of votes, but she won't be able to make it to the merge. As nice as I'm sure she is, in this game, Nina is not datable.
5) In fifth in the No Collars is a guy listed as a "YouTube Sensation," Will Sims. Honestly, I shouldn't have to expound on this. That really should be enough. But since I love you guys, I'll go more in depth. Will Sims and his wife are internet famous for being punked on the Jay Leno show (you'll remember him...he kept Carson's seat warm for Jimmy Fallon). Anyway, he was caught singing Bon Jovi to a gas pump (that's all I'm giving you, look it up if you care that much). Anyway, he's 41-years-old and not in that good of shape. Not that a heavy dude can't do well, they just usually don't. The only thing he seems to be bringing to the table is his social game and if that's really the case, he'll be eaten alive by the more cutthroat players out there.
With this many lifelong fans on the show this season, strategy will rule the day. Friendships will be made and destroyed the same way Sue Hawk destroys the English language. To make it worse, he worries that he is too trusting and could be prone to trusting other players too much. Yeah, everyone say "hello" to this season's patsy. Patsy, everyone. Everyone, Patsy. But say it quick because he ain't long for this game. Good thing he’s married, because after his showing here, he’ll be un-datable.
6) The final person on our list is easily the cutest player on the tribe, Hali Ford. Hali's a 25-year-old law student hoping to one day change the representation received by indigent defendants. A noble goal, no doubt. It also has nothing to do with Survivor. She claims to look like a southern belle on the outside but to be more of a biker dude on the inside. She claims she'll stay in the willpower challenges until she drops into a coma.
What it sounds like is this tiny little girl thinking a little too much of her own skills. She tells us in her video that she's already picked out an alliance-mate in MacGyver Joe. I'm here to tell you, Joe might align with her, but he'll cut her off in a heartbeat, I feel pretty sure of that. Some bad signs: she wishes she could bring a ukulele to the island. That's the same thing that first-ever Survivor boot Sonja brought as her luxury item. Oh yeah, she's exactly like Parvati. If they ever met, they'd probably be besties. THAT'S how much alike they are. And finally, she can't wait to make big moves!! Listen, big moves are great...but only when they're needed. You don't make a big move just to make a big move. Ask Cochran v 1.0 about how the "big move" worked out for him. Save your tweets, I know he got to play again and then won. But it wasn't because of the big move. Trust me. Hali seems like a real sweet girl. She's incredibly cute. She's also incredibly toast. I expect No Collar to lose the first challenge and Hali to exit the game as the first boot of Survivor Worlds Apart. Again, cute - but definitely un-datable.
And there you have it, folks. All three tribes have now been broken down. You are now officially ready for the premiere of S30 - Survivor Worlds Apart: White Collar, Blue Collar, No Collar (longest name ever).
Oh, you want my predictions for the end game? Really? Ok then. I'm predicting a final four of Shirin, Sierra Dawn, Mike and MacGyver Joe. MacGyver Joe will be seen as a huge threat and when he loses the final four immunity, he'll be dumped right before the finale. Sierra will be seen as a coattail rider and Shirin will have annoyed people. That only leaves Mike Holloway as the Sole Survivor of Survivor Worlds Apart. Thanks for reading along with me over the last couple days, and come back tomorrow for the recap of the super duper 90 minute premiere!! Think I'm an idiot? Think my predictions suck? Are you Mike Holloway and you want to spoil me and tell me I'm right? Well, you can reach me on Twitter @vannestjc or via email at vannestjc(at)gmail(dot)com! Love to hear your impressions and thoughts!! 'Til tomorrow, take care!