My Random Thoughts:
- Previously on…Survivor, 5 minutes and 44 seconds spent recapping the entire season (seriously, I timed it), from pork ripping to Ozzy fishing. We waited half an hour because of football (Damn you, Tim Tebow!), and we still have to sit through this? I propose that in the event that Survivor is delayed because of football or golf in the future, then the excessive recap gets ditched off the top. The only thing I think that was relevant from this segment was Coach saying that swearing “as a Christian man” is an irrevocable promise.
- For our final Night Vision Recap at Redemption (Non) Island, Brandon wakes up Ozzy, laughing about his own demise. Brandon says that it hurts to be stabbed in the back by your closest friend, but that it’s ok because he forgives Albert for “what he did.” Presumably that means that he feels Albert should have given him the necklace back, or does he think that Albert was the deciding vote that eliminated him?
Ozzy scoffed at Brandon’s decision-making, correctly calling his move to give the Immunity necklace away as foolish, and criticized L’il Hantz for apparently thinking that he’s playing the game with God. “He’s playing with human beings who are greedy and want that money”, Ozzy told us.
Benjamin then went on to say “I am not going to sit here and have people bullshit me”, and rant about how he refuses to be made a fool out of, because he’s been made a fool of “too many times” because of this game. I have to say, that’s probably his own fault, because of his ridiculous antics the first two times he played the game, like calling himself the Dragon Slayer, Coach Chi on the beach, and all the fake stories he would tell at Tribal Council. Sorry Benji, you made your own bed on that one.
- The Final Redemption (Non) Island Duel, which I saw a preview for earlier in the week, was to simply hang on to a pole as long as possible…or as I called it, “what challenge can we make the easiest for Ozzy to win?” Remember that this is a guy that I have referred to as Survivor’s Spider Monkey since his first season on the show. Upon hearing Jeff explain what the Duel would be, there was a fantastic camera shot of Brandon gulping as if to say “I’m screwed.”
- Ozzy was insincerely welcomed back at camp, and Coach had a heart-to-heart with him, hinting that if he won Immunity, he would consider giving it to Ozzy since Coach already has the Hidden Immunity Idol. Ozzy wasn’t buying into his vagueness, and flat-out asked him if he would hand one of them over. Coach’s response was that he would if he thinks Ozzy is in jeopardy.
HA! Of course, Coach didn’t give him a straight answer, and if you noticed, he didn’t say the magic words: “as a Christian man!” Ozzy was rightfully skeptical, and said “who in their right mind would want to take me?"
- What the hell?? A close-up shot of a spider?? After a FULL season with no spiders, now my arachnophobic ass has to get blindsided by one in the Finale?? Unbelievable!
- The Immunity Challenge was a twist on the old Survivor standby, building a House of Cards, except that there was an added portion that would see the castaways have to build the tower with only one hand while the other one was balancing a teeter-totter. Jeff gives us one final dirty innuendo: “Everybody grab your handle,” which obviously confused Sophie.
- Speaking of Sophie, she told us that she builds Houses of Cards for fun. She also has a book on how to make them. (Also, don’t forget she knows Russian. Why were we ever even told that since it never came up in the show again?) The only thing I was sure of, was that with Sophie boasting about her skill, there was no way she would win…a notion confirmed with her inability to keep track of how many pieces she had, and coming up about a foot-and-a-half short. On a second try, her stack fell, leading to this amazing exchange:
Sophie: "Hey Albert, drop your stack and come pick up my pieces."
Albert: "I’m in a pretty decent spot right now."
Sophie: "Drop your damn stack and pick up my pieces! I’m going to beat you!"
Albert: "I gotta..."
Sophie: "Albert just drop your stack!"
Jeff: "Let me make it easy for you. There is no helping in this challenge. It was designed as an Individual Immunity. It will be played as an Individual Immunity. If you want Ozzy out of this game, beat him."
Ozzy wins, of course, and punches his tile tower in celebration. Sophie says “I should have won that.” Yes, you probably should have…but only if you could count tiles. Bad tile management.
- Back at camp, Ozzy talked about how he won the challenge, and Sophie sulked some more. Coach and Albert talked about voting out Rick since he’s “got the best shot to win this game right now.” Ozzy wants Sophie gone because “She’s a frickin’ brat.” Coach says he’s not voting for Rick, but that he thinks Sophie has turned on the Silent Cowboy.
- At Tribal Council #1: Savaii excited to see Ozzy, Coach is wearing his (no longer Hidden) Immunity Idol, and Ozzy reminded us that as much as you may like him, he is completely devoid of personality. Seriously, this was the exchange between him and Jeff right at the beginning of Tribal Council:
Jeff: “You knew you had to win, or you were gone tonight.”
Ozzy: “I’m not an idiot. I knew that if I didn’t win, I’d be going home tonight.”
Coach talked about family, Ozzy revealed Coach’s proposed plan, and then Sophie and Ozzy got into a schoolyard argument about who respects who. It was Junior High BS, ending with Sophie saying the only thing that proves you lost an argument: “Whatever.”
- Two quick side notes: First, I had some fun at Rick’s expense earlier this season, joking that he was using the term “Prince Albert” without really knowing the dirty reference. Many of you Googled it, and I’m sorry if you were actually subjected to a photo when you did. I just wanted to point out that earlier today, Edna tweeted out this photo of Rick, saying “Cowboy Rick just has been educated on what a Prince Albert actually is! This is his reaction.”
- Back to the episode, where Ozzy is hoarding coconuts, and Coach is pissed at Ozzy for spilling the beans. Coach says he wants to clear the air, but then tells Ozzy that what he did was disrespectful and that it saddened him. How is that clearing the air?
Ozzy malaproped (if that’s not a word, it damn well should be) that he was putting “all my cards in one basket.” He then talked about how he felt like he can’t trust Coach, because any time he has trusted someone in the past in this game, he got burned. But he still said “I do want to go to the end with you because I still believe that that’s how this game should be.”
- The Final Immunity Challenge (Once again with no Fallen Comrades Walk!) was an obstacle course and puzzle. I was half expecting Sophie to just tell Albert to go and get all of her pieces for her, but she was content just to yell at him as he was crossing the same areas as her. Spider Monkey whizzed through the whole course gathering puzzles pieces, and Coach inexplicably decided to do somersaults through a net tunnel.
Ozzy reached the puzzle phase first, but it was Sophie who ended up winning Immunity by being the first to solve it. Clearly this must have been because she knows Russian. No? We’re seriously not going to hear any more on this Russian thing?
- At Camp, Coach symbolically relinquished the title of Dragon Slayer to Sophie. He then told Sophie and Albert not to talk to Ozzy, because “I don’t want him to cause dissention.” He then idiotically followed it up by essentially saying “But…I’m gonna go talk to him right now.”
Did anyone think it would matter?
- Tribal Coucil #2: In short, Sophie feels amazing, Coach’s heart is breaking again, Ozzy says that Coach should force a tie so they can sit beside each other at the Final Tribal Council with Sophie, and Albert compared Ozzy to Jeff Gordon. In the end, the Upolu alliance was too strong to break, and Ozzy was voted out.
“Third time’s a charm, baby”, Ozzy said before he sprinted down the Blue-Lit Walk of Shame. Wait a minute, wasn’t he runner up the first time? How is the third time a charm? Is it because of all the fish he ate?
I have to say, I was honestly happy to be heading to the Final Tribal Council with three players who, in my mind, all had a legit shot to win the million.
- At the final Tribal Council (where Ozzy appeared to be doing his best impression of Wendy), the three opening arguments went like this: Albert: This is a social experiment, a game about people, and I like you all. Sophie: Outwit, Outlast, Outplay means I played the best. Coach: I can’t believe I’m here, I had an uphill battle, I played with compassion, love, appreciation, and respect.
- The Jury members then had their opportunity to question or comment to the Final Three, and here’s a brief summary of what happened:
- Ozzy: Sophie is a brat, Albert was in the right place at the right time, and Coach, did you play with honour and integrity? Coach answered that he did most of the time, but there were some times when he didn’t. Honest answer.
- Jim: Albert, why should the other two not be here, and don’t start with a compliment. Albert responds by complimenting Jim.
- Dawn: Sophie, what was your strategy behind aligning with Coach and Albert? Sophie answers that she wishes she were a man, and compares Coach to a young girl.
- Floral Print Rick: Coaxes an apology from Coach, then calls Albert a scumbag for taking Brandon’s necklace and “using the God thing” (Albert’s response not permitted).
- Brandon: Coach tries to kiss his ass, tells him he should be up there, and that he wants to make it up to him. Brandon forgives him, but then asks Albert, “Did you know I was going home?” When Albert tries to justify, Brandon demands a Yes or No answer, and after some awkward back and forth, Albert finally responds with ”I didn’t know that you were going home”, and L’Il Hantz said simply “You lie.”
- Whitney: Said to Albert, “You’re sleazy”, and then I stopped listening, because how awesome is it that the married woman who cheated on her husband while she was on Survivor is calling someone else sleazy?
- Keith: Asked Coach if he was going to play the Idol for himself or for the team. Coach gave a BS answer, and Sophie revealed that Coach had the Idol longer than he claimed, and the entire lie to make it look like the prayer was the reason they found it. Brandon was visibly shocked…and don’t we all wish Brandon hadn’t already asked his question?
I think that was a million-dollar answer from Sophie.
- Cochran: Tells Coach that he played an impressive game, but asks him to share his strategy without talking about honour. Coach said “I came in trying to do the right thing, and I ended up doing the wrong things. I came up short, and I’m sorry. I wanted to get to the end and I kept justifying my actions. I’m a terrible strategist.” Again, a very honest answer.
- Coming in to the Final Tribal Council, I thought it was even across the board, and after the questioning, I gave it to Sophie, until Coach’s final answer to Cochran, then I put it as an even shot between Coach and Sophie.
- The only votes we see are Cochran voting for Coach, and Dawn voting for Sophie, while Rick pulled the Eliza Orlins trick of acting like he was still undecided in the voting booth.
And with that, Jeff and his Bluest-of-Blue Shirts exited Tribal Council with the votes in hand, magically appearing in Los Angeles to read the results. The votes went like this: Coach, Sophie, Coach, Sophie, Coach, Sophie, Sophie, Sophie, final vote unseen (but presumably Sophie, or we would have seen it).
- Congratulations to Sophie Clarke on a well-deserved win in Survivor South Pacific.
- Sophie is flustered, is Facebook friends with almost everyone in her town of 1500, and wants to be more like Dawn. I would have liked to hear Jeff ask her if it was by design that she revealed the info about Coach's lie about the Hidden Immunity Idol. I'm wondering if it was something she specifically kept in her back pocket to only come out in front of a Jury at the end.
- Did you notice how Jeff always hears things from “people on the street?” Are you telling me that he just stops on the street and talks Survivor with random people? Does that really happen? I doubt it.
- Coach talked about having a “Prayer-palooza” with Albert and Brandon,,,and 3 people clapped in response. He then learned that that he would have won if he brought Rick instead of Sophie. In short, Coach can now talk to Colby about million-dollar bad decisions on who should go to the Final.
- Cochran wrote a paper at Harvard on the Survivor Jury system, and said “I can’t play an under the radar game, because I’m perpetually over the radar…freaking out all the time.” He also revealed that he was single and invited people (presumably women) to “come at me.”
- New Ink Brandon revealed that nobody is proud of him, and nobody came to the show, except for Uncle Russell, who looked miserable. I was disgusted that we saw that little sock-burning Hobbit only 90 seconds into the Reunion Show, and that we had to talk to him at all.
Probst went out in to the audience to talk to his favourite villain, saying “Stand up, Hantz” when he got to his seat. How awesome would it have been when the vertically-challenged Russell stood up, if Probst would have said “No seriously, stand up”?
What a garbage speech, too. More self-congratulatory bullshit from the best player to never actually win anything. “I made greatness”, he told us. What a load of crap. And please keep in mind that I was one of the biggest Russell fans for his first two seasons, and I still insist that he should have won both of those seasons, but I’m just sick of him.
And when Jeff suggested Russell vs. Brandon for a future season, while there was polite applause from the studio audience, you know that most of the viewing audience at home screamed at their television “NO F**KING WAY!”
- Papa Bear hugged everyone in sight, Edna is pregnant, Angry C had giant earrings, I still couldn’t understand a word Stacey said, and Jeff is disappointed in Jim for not lasting longer. He also pointed out that Whitney was in “another relationship” when she hooked up with Keith, which was a super-polite way of saying she cheated on her husband. No interaction with Papa Bear, Semhar, Elyse, or Mikayla, and Rick remained silent…but Jeff may not have noticed him sitting there in the front row.
- Survivor 24 will be called Survivor One World, and will feature Men vs. Women as two tribes live on one beach . No Returning Players. No Redemption Island. Thank God.
(Sean bends down and Tebows)
Even thought Survivor is now gone until February, I hope you’ll visit this site regularly. With over 600 posts here, I’m sure you can find something you want to read. Please feel free to bookmark the site or add your name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. I’m glad you found me, I hope you’ll stick around.
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Thanks for reading this season. See you in February for Season 24…Survivor: One World!
25 comments:
frankly Edna was not right with them ALL being duped, cause Keith, Whitney, Dawn, Ozzy, and Jim were only duped by Cochran (who is on the jury) so 5 of them did not technically get duped by the three finalists, but the others did, including Edna... just saying
When Brandon was talking with Ozzy at Redemption about being betrayed by his best friend he was talking about Coach not Albert!
When Ozzy said "third time's the charm" he was referencing that this was the third time Jeff had snuffed his torch!
But good catch on the Whitney/sleazy thing, I didn't think of that and it's pretty funny.
DH and I thought Ozzie looked like Pippi Longstocking, but Wendy is definitely a close second!
And Sophie totally won that when she not only threw Coach under the bus about the Immunity Idol but ran over him a couple times just to be sure! Nice time for a reveal.
Just got into survivor a few months ago. Have watched Seasons 1-13 and then the last two Redemptions, but your Random Thoughts make them way better! I have a few of my own:
1) Why was Albert up Sophie's ass during the final immunity challenge? I mean seriously, there were 5 different "petals" and four challengers. They might bump into each other on one leg of it, but he was following her around. Conspiracy! I think he trying to sabotage her in an effort to get a Coach/Ozzie/Albert final three, which would have gotten him even fewer jury votes.
2)I really wish that Whitney would have made it to the dreaded friends and family episode so that her husband could have come to visit her and what's-his-face Compass Tattoo. AWKWARD.
3)Nobody won a car this season? or did I miss it entirely?
4)Why was Russell crying at the reunion? Are these Hantz family traits? I thought it was just a Brandon thing? (I haven't seen much of the Russell seasons yet, just when he got booted out of Redemption. I gather he's a Bad Dude)
I was rooting for Cochran all the way, but otherwise I'm OK with Sophie Sideboob taking home the million. Yawn. Next!
I really wanted Coach to win but Sophie was a good second choice. I thought Edna was fantastic reminding the jury that this is HOW the game is played and you know that coming in....enough with the high and mighty jury!
Great recaps all season, Sean! thanks...
Sophie whining that people were being mean to her behind her back was pretty funny considering that was her favorite pastime. I guess she can dish it out, but she can't take it.
Even Cochran didn't cry when he thought everyone was against him. What a loser.
They didn't address the single thing I wanted them to discuss at the challenge the most: they didn't discuss the Brandon-Mikayla fiasco that dominated the first few episodes of the season. I don't know if they ran out of time to talk to Mikayla because they were too busy talking to Russell, or what, but I was disappointed.
I was asking the same question Stanky Pickles asked while it was airing -- why were Albert and Sophie going after the same pieces? Were they trying to sabotage each other, or was it some terrible strategy? If the three of them really wanted to work together, why didn't Coach and Albert just team up to make Ozzy's life difficult while Sophie retrieved all of her pieces?
The scenario of Coach taking Rick to the final 3 instead of Sophie doesn't exist: If Coach votes out Sophie at 5, Ozzy wins the last immunity, goes to the final 3, and wins the game. When Ozzy won the card-stacking challenge they had to get rid of Rick because he had no chance of winning the last challenge.
That picture makes Albert look naked.
A great end to a decent season. For the first time in a long time, I thought all three finalists were deserving of the million, though I was rooting for Sophie and was thrilled to see her win. Also, Dawn and Edna are awesome.
The preview for next seasons looked good, too!
Our whole family was hoping Ozzy was going to take this one.
When the episode started I was saying that if he did't that I would root for Sophie... but honestly the episode changed that for me.
When she was telling Albert to pick up her pieces for her I said, "You have got to be kidding me." Who says that? Who acts that way.
I think Ozzy was right on in calling her a spoiled brat.
So, in the end I was hoping Coach would win just so she wouldn't.
Oh well... you are right she probably did deserve it the most out of those three because she won so many immunity challenges.
But, Ozzy deserved it. He is, in my opinion, the ultimate survivor. I really don't think many of the people that go on these shows could do half the things he does.
Sean, THANKS for a great season of recaps!!!
I also thought the same thing about Oz at final tribal council. My first thought that he looked like Wendy's deranged older brother.
Like you, I thought that Edna's statement was great. Great to see a contestant who admitted she was duped and was not bitter about it.
Thanks for another great season of recaps. You inspired me to take notes during the finale but, alas, all my witty observations have already been touched on by you! Get outta my head!
I loved Ozzy mixing his metaphors by putting his "cards in one basket."
Coach continued the bullying he did to Brandon last week with Albert when they came back to camp.
I also noted Coach flipping around in the net tunnel. What was that? That challenge ended with Albert continuing his newfound religious angle by thanking God that Sophie won immunity.
It was interesting to hear Ozzy state that he felt he played the best possible social game he could. I wouldn't agree with that for the first half of the game but feel that may be true once he was banished to the isthmus. That environment better suited his strengths but I didn't like his "Que sera sera" comment. More determinism from this cast. Come on, we need more Free Will! Maybe he thought it meant, "get me a Pippi Longstocking hairdresser."
Coach was hilarious with his "it was either Twain or Shakespeare" comment followed by his Chinese Dragon Phoenix explanation.
I laughed at Brandon asking Albert about using God to get to the final three. Isn't that what Brandon was trying to do to?
I touched on Whitney in an earlier post so I'm glad you jumped on her for her "sleazy" comment. The heavily made up cheater needed to think there before she spoke.
Edna rocked with her analysis! Using religion to maniupulate is everywhere. Everyone on Survivor is duped at some time or another.
I also thought Coach's final words were very strong and might have pushed him to the win but it was not to be.
I thought Sophie absolutely deserved to win and was happy to see her do so. On the day Tebow goes down, the one who rolled her eyes at all the bible-thumping throughout the season takes the win. Had to be that way.
My initial reaction to next season's promo was negative but I will put my faith in the producers. I think what we really need is a Survivor retro-show. Back to the original location, original rules, original challenges, old-school style!
Thanks again for your efforts, Sean.
Good job on the recaps, Sean. I was content with Sophie winning, she was the "lesser" of three evils and did the best job at the final tribal. Pulling out the info on how Coach found the original idol and tricked Brandon was a great move and I think it helped her, although Brandon did vote for Coach in the end.
I felt Coach deserved to win, and it was nice to see a couple of people (Cochran, Jim) vote for Coach based on how he played the game, and not based on their own bitterness (how most people vote). But at least he made it to the end, and he seemed happy with that.
Though Ozzy deserved to win, I probably would not have liked it if he had. You shouldn't win after being voted out twice. I hope Redemption Island is canned after this (nothing's said about next season yet), but it really does belittle the voting process. The jury already fulfills the dynamic of "people you voted off coming back to control your fate," we didn't need the addition of Redemption for that. But I understand that it was meant more for returning players than the new ones.
I can see Cochran or Jim getting invited back again. I really hope they don't do a Russell vs. Brandon edition... can we be done with the Hantzes already, though?
Sean - the reason Ozzy said "third times a charm", was because it was the third time that he was voted out of the game this time - the first was when he asked to go to Redemption, the second was when he returned, and got voted out again, and then this was the third time - and this time was for good.
I'm not stupid. I know what "third time's a charm means", and I know this is his third time on the show.
What I'm saying is, "third time's a charm" would usually indicate that one was able to achieve something on the third try, that one wasn't able to achieve on the first two tries. So, the "charm" would be that it worked...or went better than before.
He finished worse than he had in the past, so why is this time a charm. Point is that Ozzy is an idiot and doesn't know how to use phrases properly, like putt all of his "cards" in one basket.
Can I resubmit my caption? How's this, "No, no, no. Your cards go on the table and the EGGS go in the basket. Lastly, I can't remember if it was Buddha or Dostoyevsky but remember, the third times the charm when it comes to sleazy marriages."
Thanks Sean for all of your random thoughts this season, it at least made it bearable. I agree with RP McMurphy, we need a retro Survivor, go back to the way the show was in the beginning. Not sure how next season will be but I hope RI is gone for good. See you in Feb.
Another survivor season is over. Thank you for your random thoughts Sean. It's fun when you point out details I myself haven't noticed, you have a keen observation.
After Ozzy showed off his arrogance so much in some of the earlier episodes, I did not think I would be rooting for him to win this, but I was. He is an amazing challenger, and I just can't help but to root for such players. As opposed to rooting for uncoordinated klutzs, who in my opinion shouldn't be on this show in the first place. Sadly it is all he has to offer. On a sidenote: The editing of the stacking challenge was awesome. They showed Ozzy's fallen pieces on the ground that he did not notice and I thought this would be his downfall, nice.
I liked the final tribal council. If I was in the jury, I would have voted for Coach. As much as I do not like him personally, except for his entertainment value, he build a strong alliance with devoted puppies and made it to the end without even using his idol. An amazing feat, considering the rough start he had on day 1. He also successfully manipulated Cochran to betraying his tribe. Coach may not be smart or strategic, but he can connect to people on an emotional level and use it to his advantage. It suprised me that he answered with at least some honesty and showed us that he is not completely delusional. He is still the biggest hypocrite this season though.
Albert was just some replaceable object. Fake persona, crumbles under pressure, and gives himself all the credit for none of the work. Before the merge he seemed collected and actually made intelligent remarks whenever he had airtime. What happended? O_o
Sophie is a hard one. I do not understand why I do not like her at all. On paper I should like her the most. She was the only one on The Chosen Tribe that rolled her eyes whenever the Chosen People started to hold their mess. She beat Ozzy!!! (To be fair, at a puzzle. Not so hard.) I do find her attractive, not her physique, but she has beautiful lips and amazing eyes. She is intelligent and well spoken. Maybe I don't like her because she too gives herself too much credit. I do not see her being a strategic player. I mean who in their right mind would vote out the religious nut, the silent guy, the guy who betrayed them all or Edna! And instead go with Coach to the final three, COACH, the guy who was the centre-piece of the game, the guy who had the idol and wasn't even forced to use it due to his blind followers. I guess her telling the truth about the idol won that for her. Remember, if you have played a worse game than someone else, play for bitter jury votes. I wonder if it would have worked if Coach was legit and she just made up that story.
Anyways, keep up the good work Sean.
Thanks Sean for the fun commentaries all season!
biscottiii
Ummm... hello? "I'm not stupid. I know what "third time's a charm means", and I know this is his third time on the show." First of all - I never said you were stupid. Second of all - I was not referring to the fact that this was the third time he has been on the show. Did you watch the season - I mean, Ozzy was voted out three times THIS season - when he said "third times a charm" he was referring to this being the only time that the tribe had successfully voted him out - as the previous two times he was sent to Redemption Island, and battled his way back. This third time he was finally out of the game for good, and on the jury, with no chance of coming back.
Furthermore, as a fellow Canadian who has followed your blogs for a long time now, you should have a little more respect and courtesy for those that read your blog. I was simply trying to clarify something for you that you clearly did not understand, and was NOT trying to insult you. Being so reactionary cost yourself to lose a "fan" of your blog. From now on, I will stick to reading and commenting on people's survivor blogs that actually show a level of respect to their readers.
LOL. You're Canadian like Sean so you deserve extra respect? And you got your feelings hurt, so you're going home?
Enjoy the other message boards and blogs that deteriorate into garbage talk. We won't miss you. This is a place for adult conversation on the show.
And you're clearly such a HUGE fan, that you don't even use a name to post, you just post anonymously?
Don't let the door hit ya...
Edna wasn't duped because she knew from the beginning that she had a snow balls chance in he$$ of winning Survivor.She was just as bad as John in challenges,except she was chosen to sit out a lot of them.If Coach wanted to go up against the strongest,why was Christine voted out the first on their tribe?I would love to see Christine,and Dawn come back as returning players.
Just fyi, the Russian scene with Sophie and Coach Ep. 1...that WAS important. It set up her whole relationship with him. If you read the scene, it's where she pegs him as basically talking himself up more than he really is, but also where she identifies that he'll be useful to her anyway.
So really, the whole season was a fruition of that scene. Coach as a fake, but a useful fake. Sophie as the smart one to see through him, but not let that get in the way of using him.
His Russian, as she said, was limited and formal, and that he was clearly trying to show what he had. "That all you got?" she says directly to him. Then her key confessional.
So, imo, it was great editing.
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