Is the End in Sight? – Unan1mous, Episode 6 by Carrie
Is it just me, or has this show just become really strange? I mean, I know it was never a blockbuster hit to begin with, but it seems like the past couple of weeks have turned the game from "please vote for me to win the money" to "please vote for anyone but me to be outcast". Is that how it's going to end, do you think? Whoever doesn't get outcast wins by default – how is that Unanimous? Anyway, enough questions for now – on with the show.
Last week on Unan1mous, Steve was outcast but he was given the honour of removing a second person from the game at the same time. Having been fed false information by Adam, Steve chose Vanessa. Jameson and Tarah tried to get Vanessa and Richard to agree to outcast Jonathan next, while Steve, Adam, and Jonathan decided to target Tarah. After another failed vote for a winner, the remaining four contenders for the cash were removed from the Inner Circle, and each of the three outcasts were asked to choose one person to bring back to the table. Steve chose Richard, Adam chose Jonathan, and Vanessa was just about to decide between Jameson and Tarah. One will stay in the game, while the other will become the fourth outcast.
As we rejoin the participants this week, Vanessa is making a short speech, explaining her choice. She says that one person has made her laugh and would be responsible with the money. That person is Jameson, who is now still in contention to win. Tarah must fetch her new outcast uniform, and in voiceover she says that she's disappointed but that the game isn't over until it's over.
It seems that the group has finally had enough of this failed vote/outcast another person stuff, so they get together and try to decide who, out of the three remaining people still in the game, should get the money. Only Jameson, Richard, and Jonathan are still eligible. Adam states that he doesn't want the vote to be unanimous just yet – he wants to buy some more time to see if he can't get himself back in the game.
Steve is unhappy with Adam, saying that he's wasting time and money because he's greedy and selfish. Adam doesn't see it that way, saying that he came here to play a game and he wants to win. Steve says privately that he's tired of Adam trying to cash in all of his chips.
Vanessa steps in and says that Steve and Adam both need to take some quiet time now and let someone else talk. Steve gets up angrily and walks out of the room, which prompts Vanessa to throw something at him. Heehee. Steve returns in a huff saying that he was just going to the washroom. Sure you were, buddy. Adam gets heated again and ends up bickering with Vanessa.
After tensions cool down a bit, it's decided that the three remaining contestants should have a chance to tell everyone else why they deserve to win the money. Ah, right, 'cause they haven't done this one to death already.
Jameson says that he'll be quick – the other two guys have said on occasion that they don't really need the money. Well, he does need the money and that's why he's there and playing the game.
Jonathan says that he wants to buy his childhood home for his brother and himself (um, what about his twin sister?) and that he'd be responsible with the money. He adds that maybe he'd buy something for himself, but he really wants it for unselfish reasons.
Finally it's Richard's turn, and he launches into a lengthy diatribe about the hard luck he's faced for his entire adult life. He's had many jobs, mostly in sales apparently (and this could be where he's going wrong – I'm just sayin' ...), and every time it looks like he's going to actually have some success, something comes up. He's tired of something always coming up. He's tired of being 42 years old and having to ask people to give him rent money and having his mom pay his insurance. Wow. He ends his speech by saying that he needs some time, so he's going to take a shower.
Privately, Tarah says that she doesn't know if she should now vote for Richard, or if she just witnessed an Academy Award winning performance in there.
Jonathan, who, up until now, I was crediting with fairly good game play, tells Jameson that he left a job where he was making $200,000 a year and driving a Mercedes Benz. Jameson, who actually deserves credit for fairly good game play, decides that he needs to get this information out to the rest of the group before the next vote. Indeed you do, Jameson.
At breakfast the next morning, Jameson brings up the subject of driving. Jonathan takes the bait and mentions that he has a Benz without plates on it yet. Jameson looks incredulous and exclaims, "You have a Benz?" Steve picks up on this and starts asking questions about how Jonathan was able to finance the car, how much he put down on it, and how much he's paying monthly. Jonathan says that he's paying $465 a month, no money down, he doesn't know the name of the credit union he deals with, and that the car was used and only cost him $20,000. He says that he got it because people judge him in California for what he drives. As Jonathan is explaining things, he's getting louder and more defensive with every second.
Jonathan gets more and more aggressive, saying that he has to because everyone is getting on his case. The rest of the group seems amused, except for Steve who swears that he won't vote for Jonathan because of the car he drives. Personally I think Steve is still bitter that he wasn't handed the money on a silver platter at the beginning of the game.
This little frenzy is followed by a close-up of the money clock, which goes from $500,000 to $499,999.
Fembot calls the group to the Inner Circle, where Big Cheese announces that Tarah is now the group leader. Tarah doesn't look too thrilled. Big Cheese points out that they've wasted over a million dollars now, so to aid them in choosing a winner, they've come up with something different. Different for this show, maybe, but we've seen it on Survivor a few times. Seven clipboards appear from within the magic table, and each one contains a survey about the other players. The participants are asked to fill them out anonymously (not to be confused with unanimously), and then Tarah will present the results and lead a group discussion.
We get some shots of the players circling their answers, and I see the name "Adam" circled several times. However, when Tarah gets the results, the answers all seem to be one of the remaining three guys who have a chance at winning the cash. Hmm. There looked to be more questions than we got results for, but here they are anyway, along with the majority answers:
Who would you never give the money to? – Jonathan
Who would be the least responsible with the money? – Richard
Who is the biggest liar? – Jameson
Who deserves the money the most? – Jameson
Steve, in a sudden turn of sensibility, says that being the biggest liar could also mean that they played the best game. Richard is upset that he was voted least responsible, and says that none of them know him or how responsible he would be. He adds that he can play the game, he just hasn't had as much opportunity as everyone else.
Privately, Richard is stumped. He doesn't get how anyone would want to give the money to the most dishonest person. Meanwhile, Adam is starting to wonder if winning the game is less important than being a team player and awarding the money to someone who deserves it.
Vanessa, Steve, Adam, and Tarah all huddle together to see if they can figure out who to vote for now. They decide that Jameson fits their criteria – he's played the game well, would be responsible with the money, and is a nice guy.
Tarah goes to Jameson and tells him that the outcasts have decided that it's time to end the game and vote for him to win. Now all he needs to do is convince Richard and Jonathan to vote for him. Oh, right, that should be easy enough. Heh.
Jameson talks with Jonathan and tells him that he doesn't want Richard to be in the final two with them. He says that he doesn't like the way that Richard is playing, basically because he's not playing at all. Richard is busy sleeping while he and Jonathan are trying to strategize. Jonathan suggests that the two of them vote for each other to win, so that Richard will be out. Jameson eagerly agrees, and they swear on their mothers.
Could someone please explain to me why this is a good deal for Jonathan? How does voting for Jameson ensure that Richard will become the next outcast? One of us is missing something here, and I'm not sure if it's me or Jonathan.
Jameson makes a beeline for the sleeping Richard, shaking him awake. He tells Richard that there's no way that Jonathan should be in the final two. Then Jameson gets tough. He says that if Richard doesn't vote for him to win in the next vote, he'll get Tarah to make sure that the outcasts never vote for Richard to win. He adds that he'd better not see Richard talking to Jonathan about this, or the game is over for him. Richard, who is still rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up, agrees to this and Jameson leans in to hug him. Bizarre.
Immediately, Fembot calls the group to the Inner Circle and Big Cheese announces that it's time once again to vote. Jameson says in voiceover that he thinks he's got this one in the bag now, and Tarah is grinning from ear to ear. This is just getting weird. Vanessa says in confessional that all she wants now is to have a winner announced and to see balloons coming down from the ceiling and confetti springing up everywhere.
The voting spheres rise from the middle of the magic table, and everyone dials in their vote, sending the balls hurtling towards Big Cheese. As he picks up the first sphere to read the name, the show is over. The money clock sits at just over $470,000.
The previews for next week were pretty much a recap of the show so far, with FOX voiceover-man asking if the game could be coming to a close. As much as I'd like to see it all end, I just don't think so. The show has lost its edge, and that's disappointing because it really had a lot of potential.
So what do you think? Drop me a line at carrie@realityshack.com and share your thoughts.
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