RescueMom

Honestly, I've been feeling the same way but didn't realize it until I read what your wrote. I hate to lose my favorite show this way but the silence from Jeff and TPTB is deafening and they way they have handled this is appalling. I don't know that I can - or should - get over that.

I, on the other hand, strongly agree. Kellee made it clear in her interview with Dalton that she had no say in how this was handled by production, how it was shown in the episode, etc. She has repeatedly had her power taken away from the very first time Dan disregarded her saying no. She absolutely has the right to decide how much of this deeply unsettling experience she wants to talk about. She signed up to play a game, not to be harassed. She was happy to talk about the game. She respectfully set boundaries when talking about the rest. I have zero problem with that.

Kass was a guest on Rob C's podcast a week or two ago (before last week's episode aired), and she argued strongly that Survivor needs more women in production roles. I keep wondering how that interview with Kellee might have differed if the producer she was talking to was female (or if a large percent of the people in power who later discussed what to do about it were female). Maybe nothing would have changed, but I think it is just as likely that a woman would have perceived the effects Dan's behavior could have differently than a man would. As to if this constitutes harassment or assault, I believe sexual harassment and assault at their root are acts of power, domination, and control. In varying degrees certainly, but the root is the same. If someone touches you and you clearly say "no," the next touch is more than just a touch - it is saying "I will do whatever I want to you, and you can't stop me." In some ways it is a harder decision to say something if he contact is not overtly sexual, because then we get the whole "he was only brushing aside her hair" discussion, when the true issue is violation. It's an awful place to have to decide between rocking the boat (which has its own unpleasant consequences) or allowing someone to continue to assert power over you in a situation like this.

I keep thinking about that clip of Dan throwing his entire leg over (Missy? Elizabeth?) in the shelter, and I am 100% confident he would never have done that to Aaron, Tommy, or any of the other men. I also just tried to imagine anyone other than my husband stroking my leg like we saw Dan do and there is zero chance I would find that kind of touching OK. That type of touch is absolutely intimate and NOT OK without consent. Period. Grabbing Noura to demonstrate. Tickling toes. Defensively trying to gaslight Kellee about touching her hair (implying there is something wrong with her for seeing it as anything other than innocent) and continuing to try to do it while she is literally running away. Just wrong, all of it. And those were things we saw. I forget who posted this in a different thread, but it is perfect: either TPTB knew Dan was being highly inappropriate at best and left him in the game, or they did not think he was and chose to destroy his reputation. Neither are OK. I firmly believe it was the first, just saying the second would be appalling as well. Dan started it but they allowed this shitshow to happen.

Yes, that was super disturbing. And you can see the uncomfortable look on her face as she leans away from him.

These episodes were really triggering for me, and it has been helpful to read through all of the insightful discussion and commentary on this forum. I don't post often anymore but I read every week, and I thank all of you who have taken the time to post so thoughtfully. My heart breaks for Kellee and Janet to be put in such bad situations. I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said, except for this: in all of the pre-season hype, Jeff was constantly talking about the amazing group of strong women playing this season, and how much we were going to love them. And it seemed to be true until this week, and I was so excited to watch a kick-ass season of kick-ass women. And then this happened. And we got to watch the truly strong and kick-ass women got smacked down over and over again, while a few vile ones behaved reprehensibly and that is what people are almost certainly going to remember about the women this season. (NOTE: I know Dan is the root of the problem here and I am not giving him a pass one bit, only commenting on the women's behavior because it contrasts with what I was led to expect from the women this season.) I don't know if I will watch next week. I hope that Janet and Noura and Karishma are able to turn things around and make it all the way to the end. But I am sick to my stomach imagining a final 3 of Dan, Missy, and Elizabeth, because that would mean that Kellee and Janet would actually have to vote to give one of them a million dollars. Which would be just the icing on the cake.

I have! She also got Rodger Bingham from season 2, who is one of my favorite players!! And I just got a notice that an interview with Frank from Africa is available, which I am super excited to listen to. Sounds like they are focusing on Survivors from the first 15 seasons. I listen to them during my commute and I hope they keep doing them!!

I'm with you - I never read them and only came here now because I figured it was still safe. Just wanted to see what others were thinking about the cast. And soon I'll stay out of this thread until after the finale when I'll come back and read it all!

Denise is my favorite winner and one of my all-time favorite players. I am beyond thrilled that she will be playing again, and I hope she ties Queen Sandra's record as a two-time winner!! Overall I am really excited for this cast and this season!

Watching this season for the first time, and in episode 3 they did something I haven't seen before that I found interesting (I haven't seen all seasons so maybe they did something similar in another season). Both tribes went to tribal; the first part of the challenge was for reward, and the winning team got to compete for individual immunity in the second part. Then the immunity winner (John) spent the day with the other tribe and was required to pass the immunity necklace on to one of the women after his tribal was done. With so many idols in play these days, doing something like that maybe wouldn't be as interesting, but he was really smart both in getting a lot of information on the dynamics of the women's' tribe *and* how he decided who to give immunity to (picking Ami because he knew she was safe, which should have pissed off nobody, we'll see next episode.)

Yeah, I should have noted that I left the text as he had written it, clearly missing a comma! I'm pedantic enough that I couldn't bring myself to fix it since I was putting it in quotes :)

Not really sure where to put this since it really encompasses the whole season, but since David said a prayer during final council voting I think it works here. I thought it was really nice to see a couple of religious people portrayed in such a positive way on the show this season. Both Davie and Nick were shown quietly saying prayers of gratitude during the season, and back in episode 1 Nick clearly was familiar with the story of David vs. Goliath from the Bible (I would guess many people don't realize that David from this story is the same person as King David.) I'm not religious myself (raised in a Christian church though, so I know my Bible), but I have religious friends that I respect, and most of them are in the vein of how these two were shown - quiet, grateful, humble faith.

My thought exactly when i read it, but I thought I should post it the way that he wrote it!!

Alec posted an IG story with Kara and the caption, “Yes, we are dating everyone.”

Alec posted an IG story with Kara and the caption, “Yes, we are dating everyone.”

Yep, and it is a way to get girls interested in governing at a young age, which both gives them confidence and teaches them new skills in the short term, and will also likely contribute to more women running for office in the long term. Lots of charities sprung up after the 2016 election to encourage women to run for office and help them learn how to do so effectively. I don’t see anything negative about charities that help girls develop these interests and learn these skills at a younger age.

Yep, it did happen! I did read a post (in her thread, I think) that mentioned something about her admitting she’d change up a few things if she came back. I remember when she made that comment it was pretty clear to me she meant “more than a few” by her tone of voice and facial expression.

She talks about it in her Ponderosa - one thing she said was she was using the wrong side of the knife a good part of the time. But getting the cursed orange seat couldn’t have helped...

Great season and great winner! This season’s creative editing pulled through all the way to the end - in prior seasons I think they would have shown 3 votes as they were made for both Nick and Mike, so when they showed only 1 each I figured Nick got the rest. So my heart stopped for a minute when the second Mike vote came up. Got me, editors! That is the first time I can remember the jury applauding the finalists at the end of final tribal council, but I haven’t seen every season. This cast was so great. Last thought: they took a real risk with this theme - I think it could have been a tough narrative to sell had the Goliaths dominated everything and a Goliath won. Glad they took the chance because it made for a great season!!!

Thanks, I hadn’t heard that! I thought it might be due to how salty he was in his exit press...

It looks like Jeremy isn’t at the reunion either. I’m not surprised, but I had not heard he wouldn’t be there. I knew Alex wouldn’t.

Support in a situation that is extremely difficult? Strategy to get him to care for you within the context of the game so that he has your back? Actual friendship? One of my best friends is a married man and I am a married woman. We care deeply for each other and have zero romantic interest. Men and women can be friends and care for each other without it being romantic.

For me it is funny to see the kitten grow up into a cat - I have always used/heard kittywumpus :)

Josh Wigler talked about them on Rob Has a Podcast. Sounds like it is something he has wanted to do for a while and the show agreed to try it this season. He is calling them his Active Player interviews. I like them as well - it is fun to get some context and feedback from the different players right as things are happening in the show, rather than waiting until it is over.

Happy birthday!! Mine is Wednesday. That scene with his wife was wonderful!! I am loving Pondersoa this season!!