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I was disappointed in what could well be called a full meltdown on Mike's part. Good lord, He's sitting pretty in the majority alliance with a strong cross-tribal sub-alliance that he can figure out what to do with later. If he decided it was too risky to drop Angelina as a number, then he should have targeted a David not in his sub-alliance. I feel like that was a very Ned Schneebly move.

I think this is plausible (and it's my one point of disagreement with you, @Nashville; everything else in your posts has been on point). It doesn't really matter, though, because I think everyone involved is cool with the fact that everyone else is playing a game too.

Davie could have pulled this off on his own if he sold different stories to Carl and Nick about which advantage was being played, but that seems unnecessarily risky. Instead, I think Davie told one or both of Carl and Nick about the idol, and that person went along with the cover story that involved using their advantage. Gabby and Christian didn't even have to know all the details. If Nick assured Christian that he's got him covered, what's Christian gonna do, say FU? I think Davie and Carl and Nick have a threesome, possibly with Christian as their fourth (I agree that no one has him in their end game except maybe Gabby). Within that threesome there are possible twosomes.

NAILED IT! If he hadn't won immunity, I bet it would have been. The previews showing Kara wanting to distance from Dan strike me as misleading, so I'm betting on another David exit next week. Unfortunately I think it's most likely to be Davie or Carl, who have been visible but not stars. Davie in particular has been underedited compared to the move he dropped this week, so if I were a bettor, I'd put my money on Davie to go next week.

All right, God dammit, I'mma say it: I'm a FANGELINA. EXACTLY. She was exactly right last week about targeting Christian and about being concerned when other Goliaths wanted to save Christian. She was exactly right tonight when she said that Christian's connections were exactly why he needed to be voted out. For her game, sure, but that's all she should care about. She's definitely getting a goat edit, but I'm going to stand behind my Latina sister all the way to the final three if she makes it. And if not, I'm going to enjoy her saying "I TOLD YOU CHRISTIAN WAS THE BIGGEST THREAT" from the Jury. Dan's playing the idol was a classic blunder along the lines of "I clearly cannot chose the wine in front of me." He failed to anticipate that they were both poisoned and that the Davids had developed an immunity to Iocane. Otherwise, in general, I'm with the sentiment that I'm super sad to see John go, but it was a great episode and John's a shoe-in to return. I began this reply by commenting that the Goliaths didn't know that John was the alternative, which is true, but in running through the possible scenarios in my head, the only thing I can think is that Dan thought that if all the votes were nullified, then they'd revote on whatever secondary target they'd already picked. YES. Basically Nick told Christian to trust him, and Christian did (because of Mason-Dixon? Who knows?). We don't know whether Christian was in on the whole plan or whether he just trusted Nick and voted the way Nick told him to vote. I can see it either way. If Christian wasn't in on the idol (which I truly don't think he was), it speaks well for his ability to sit back and trust rather than blowing his top when he becomes a target. I'm still a fan. I do think Nick was in on Davie's idol, however. All of this puts Nick in an excellent position. You gotta be kidding me. It's 2018 and we're still making women with hairy pits jokes? C'mon. Do better.

OMG YOU GUYS THIS IS GOING TO BE THE MOST DELIGHTFUL PONDEROSA EVER!!!! I MIGHT WATCH THE ACTUAL VIDEOS!

It did raise suspicions of a secret alliance! Angelina's! It wasn't just a hissy fit that upset her at the switch back to Elizabeth, it was a legitimate concern that others in her alliance had side deals that didn't include her and did include Christian, while the closest thing she had to such a deal was her friendship with sitting duck Elizabeth. In retrospect I think it was the wrong move to tell Elizabeth about her targeting, but I understand that she thought, oh shit, I gotta start building some cross-tribal alliances. What have I got to work with?

Elizabeth explicitly said that she she didn't take the game personally, and that seems to be the case. I've never actually watched a Ponderosa video, but I read about it here, and I think she'll be an ideal Ponderosa hostess. If Angelina goes soon (no spoilers, just hypotheticals), I think they'll be fun together.

Gabby, I get you. I too am a crier, and when I cry I know people are judging me for crying and that frustrates me, which just makes me cry more. I know other badasses who are the same way. You are in good company. A+ to the editors. Watch the part again where Carl takes the beer bottle from Alec at the merge feast. Alec is goofily partying and Carl matter-of-factly grabs the bottle from him in a way that's hilariously Carl. Christian and the piece of wood. Dan and Angelina self-motivating out loud. I love this season and I love these people. THIS. What's more, Angelina was exactly right to be concerned when the target changed from Christian back to Elizabeth. From Angelina's perspective, it shouldn't matter which David gets voted off, and the fact that her supposed alliance-mates prefer one to another suggests that their preference is a threat to her game. Which it actually is. I don't hate Angelina. She's abrasive af, bless her. But her only real option was "Goliath strong." Even if she really had a connection with Elizabeth, Elizabeth didn't have a connection to anyone else, so it was all but useless. Still, in trying, however pathetically, to keep her only option open, she was only doing what the other Goliaths were doing by saying no to Christian: trying to protect her asset. This edit, though. She won't last long. Here's the thing about Elizabeth: she explicitly said that she's not taking anything personally because it's a game. I absolutely believe her that it was hard for her to throw Angelina under the bus, but it was her only game option. And it was good for all the other Davids to encourage her to sow dissent among the Goliaths to create reasons to target other Goliaths before them. There are a lot of long games going on and it absolutely delights me. You may have misheard her name as "Yanni." I'll show myself out.

This made me laugh because of a scene in School of Rock (which is like a religion to me). Mike's character weakly apologizes, and when he's told to stop apologizing, he apologizes for apologizing. After the IC, he says "sorry" to the tribe in a way that I swear could have been edited in from the scene I just described.

Re: the difference in Gabby's and Christian's reactions to their new situation: In addition to what has already been said, I'll add that Gabby is 25 and Christian is 32. Those years were crucial in my evolution toward being comfortable in my own skin.

It just so happens that I own an off the beaten path motel that looks like a relic from a 70s horror movie: It was actually built in the 40s. We could have a forum pseudo-Survivor experience there! We have to act quickly though. We're hoping to demolish by the end of the year. Who's in? NO QUITTERS. Errrr topic... Yeah - go if you're going, and if you're gonna go, freaking GO. That said, The show was still pretty young when Jenna did AS. She may have even made a deal in the first place that she'd participate if and only if she was released at any time due to her mother's health. It's more forgivable for her under those circumstances than it would be now. Totally understand about Kelly Goldsmith not being able to go to AS because of it, but I never liked her anyway. Now if it had been T-Bird in that spot...

I can't believe NaOnka and Purple Kelly haven't shown up in this conversation yet. It's obvious what category they go in. John Rocker's wife was another weak quit. Penner's medevac is one of the saddest to me, because infection risk is a thing that just doesn't feel like a big deal until it's too late. He didn't quit, but I bet he feels like he did.

I vote for discussing the winner in the episode thread rather than the reunion thread, if it matters. @violet and green, I've been driving myself batshit crazy running through all the possibilities, and I'm delighted to stoke your Donathan fire. As I've explained here and elsewhere, Donathan's E1 edit leads me to believe that he makes F3. I do think that Donathan will be the consensus F6 target and be out unless he wins immunity. I feel certain he makes F3, so I expect him to win F6 immunity. If Dom/Wendell bounces the other before F4 and then loses F4 firemaking, we could see an F3 with neither Dom nor Wendell. If we see Dom/Wendell face off in a fire making challenge, I think the winner of it wins F3. I think winning the fire-making challenge elevates a person in the eyes of the jury. I suggested last season that Chrissy should have picked Ben to at least rob him of the opportunity to win one more thing in front of the jury. You tell the jury you didn't want to shy away from your toughest competition and hope for the best. But that same principle of being elevated by fire making applies to Donathan: if Donathan gets into F3 by winning fire making, it gives him a nice, recent, feel-good resume point in front of the jury. I still see a chance for Laurel to win with a loyalty story or Sea Bass to win with a Fabio story (including immunities), but I find these so unlikely as to not be worth discussing.

He certainly is more appealing with an island look. The facial hair makes him look more mature and I think naturally shaggy hair is a good look for him. I hope he doesn't look like a 12-year-old again at the reunion.