LadyChatts

I think some people are just bitter. I get that vibe from some of Kelly's post show interviews. And I'm questioning if this "closest cast ever" is really a bunch of crap. It seems there are core groups that are close, which is like any season. But as a whole, I'm not buying they are one big happy.

That would make sense. If BB hadn't done that, wouldn't we have pretty much had season 6 all over again? I see there's people from earlier seasons that I would think the producers would really want on there, as I've seen their names come up before on Probst and Burnett's wish list. I never thought of them switching seasons around. Though that must suck for the season 31 crowd. Miss out on the fan voted season, and yours gets pushed back. It will be somewhat interesting to see how desperate some people might get in trying to get people to vote for them. I remember way back to the first AS season, before social media was even a factor, that some contestants were begging fans to write CBS on their behalf or tell them they wanted a fan vote for that season. I wouldn't be surprised if they selected people they figure have no shot, because that would entice people to vote for someone else that they really want to see on.

I feel like I can take a guess as to who might be considered from this season. If they aren't going to include winners, I can see why he doesn't want to reveal who is being considered from this season. Looking at the list of potentials, assuming it is accurate, I might get behind another season of recycled cast offs after all. There are several names that are either surprising or who I hope are not cast in the end. And a few I've been dying to see again. I do worry that, with a fan vote, some of the ones who appeared later will get more of the votes. I still prefer a season of all new faces, but I am glad we are not getting the same faces for the 3rd/4th/5th time. If this is for S32, wouldn't they be really pressed for time to orchestrate a fan vote and then have them filming this summer?

From interviews I've read, it seemed Carolyn/Kelly were close back at the Nagarote camp and (according to Kelly) neither of them liked the girls. I can see the logic in getting rid of Kelly. It might have been personal, but I don't know that I'd say it was the wrong call. I do believe that Mike or Rodney would have been a better choice, but I think it may have come down to Kelly's bond with Carolyn. Without Kelly, can they woo Carolyn over to their side? Tyler was with the guys and Sierra over at BC, so it may ultimately come down to him and what he thinks is in their best interest. Without Kelly, Carolyn/Tyler may realize their odds are better off going with the old Nagarote and Shirin. The trio of Jenn/Hali/Joe may be tight, but I think will ultimately be easier to break than the blue bond. Of course I'm all sorts of confused if that group is really that tight or if Sierra and Rodney are doing a good job of playing Mike/Dan into thinking they are with them no matter what, and then plan to turn on them. Mike might have been more of a challenge threat, and he has Dan wrapped around his finger, but Kelly seemed to have more bonds out there from reading her post show interviews. I believe that is what Jenn meant when she said Kelly was the glue holding them together. I guess we will see if it was the right decision. Either way it might have been a lose/lose no matter how they voted.

I don't know that Jenn has voted for anyone strictly because they were annoying. She didn't like Vince, but he wasn't the one who was supposed to go-it was supposed to be Nina in a re-vote. Will flubbed that plan up. Vince was targeting her and her alliance, so I can't blame her there. Nina was annoying, but also a weak link. And she was no doubt going to gun for Jenn/Hali/Joe. As for Max, I'm sure he was annoying, though it seems to depend who you talk to as to who was worse, him or Shirin. Joaquin seemed to be okay with Max, but couldn't stand Shirin. Max was targeting their trio, so of course they had to target one of them. Max was probably (maybe) a bigger threat, game wise, down the road than Shirin. Even though she and Hali find Shirin somewhat annoying, they are still willing to include her in their alliance. They need her vote. I don't know that there's really been any bad voting decisions. The former NC should have tried to keep Vince, but he pretty much booted himself off. And maybe Mike would have been smarter to keep Joaquin over Joe, but I'm glad he didn't. Otherwise no one vote seems to have been anything but strategic, or common sense, and no tribe really suffered that much as a result. As for Survivor as a whole: I've stuck with this show since day 1. Even in the worst seasons when I was paying more attention to a picture hanging on the wall than I was the show, I still watched faithfully every week, hoping something exciting would happen. Or at the very least, the people I despised most would finally get packing, and my pick to win would wind up victorious. Wasn't always lucky with that. The show really started to lose me after HvsV. That time frame from S21-29 was one of my least favorites with the show, minus S27 & S28. I think it was the contestant recycling of contestants, stunt casting, the fact they had to essentially hand Rob a win that he should have gotten during AS, and the period where having anyone on your show named Hantz was considered a good idea. And I say that as someone who actually liked Russell his first two outings (by RI, I was over him). But between Brandon, and was it Russell's brother on Big Brother, I was hoping we'd never see anymore from that family. I used to think that I preferred even seasons to the odd numbered ones, but looking at Survivor as a whole, it seems to be to opposite for me now. I'm enjoying this season more than others, though I don't like some of the people left. I worry my favorites are going to get picked off, and hopefully the very people responsible get outnumbered and get picked off themselves. The episodes this season seem really rushed and thrown together. Last night seemed to drag, but at the same time, I couldn't believe when it was over. It felt like nothing happened.

I also thought Sierra seemed surprised, and I can't believe they would have left that out. Maybe she's enjoying it now, after the fact. Pure speculation, but maybe she winds up getting close to Jenn/Hali in the game and she's happy that they were still there to align with. I was disappointed, though not too surprised, that Sierra stuck with her blues. I still wonder if she planned on going all the way to the final 5 with them, or was going to wait until the first couple of votes got out of the way and then turn on them.

What's funny about the balance beam/puzzle challenge is that in one of the vids online, Dan said he would totally excel at those types of challenges. He was commenting on being the first one out of the IC, but conceded he wasn't going to stand a chance in the physical type challenges. He said he would need the swimming/puzzle challenges to have a shot to win. That's the only challenge show so far, so I had wondered if they were just doing one challenge instead of two. I hadn't thought about the compass on the necklace, but unless its a one-time thing, I would think Jeff might have said something about it starting last night. Though with a mystery twist coming up at some point, maybe. I think it's an ugly necklace myself, though they had an ugly idol this year.

http://www.survivorfever.net/s30_press_images_ep8.html Images for episode 8. We do see a shot of Joe/Shirin talking to Tyler, so maybe they're trying to bring him over. Looks like it's a puzzle challenge.

This season still has a lot of potential to be good. I know Jeff's ringing endorsement isn't always something to go on, but if it's picking off Jenn/Joe/Hali/Shirin as the next 4 boots and making it a predictable merge, I can't believe he would have hyped this season so much. I have to think that a lot is going to happen, and some good blindsides are coming. The BC guys may be the characters Probst loves, but this show always loves the Jenn, Joe, and Shirin types. I wouldn't be surprised if Tyler/Carolyn get broken up next week, or in the very near future. Either that or Rodney gets sent packing, but even if Rodney is gunning for him, I think Mike will want to keep him around. Rodney will eventually have no one but his former blues to work with. No one else wants to work with him. If Mike believes his former BC will stay loyal to him, and if they believe Will will remain on their side, he may decide to target people that can end up taking him down. ETA: I was curious what Jeff was going to say about the upcoming episode. I also agree that the last time he said it was "the best episode", it wasn't. Except Max getting booted, but we had to get to the end of a 2 hour ep for that. I'm a little nervous in regards to the idol. There seemed to be quite a bit of focus on Mike in the preview spying on everyone, so I hope that's not an indicator he found it. I'm not really sure what he means by best idol hides and finds, because this show doesn't exactly make it complicated to find an idol anymore. Might as well just hang them from a tree branch.

I think the blues will implode, especially if Sierra and Rodney were only going to stick with them for the first couple of votes. Since they are down to their original 4 members, those two might actually make a move if that was their intent. Sierra could very well bring Tyler into some grand scheme of hers, and as a result get Carolyn. She did vote for Joaquin, so Tyler may not trust her, but he may trust her more than Mike. The preview wasn't very telling, so it could be a whole lot of nothing next week. Rodney has such a desperate need for control, that I think he just aligned with Will/Tyler/Carolyn because he was out of options. He wants an alliance and wants to be calling the shots, pulling the strings. Those three might look like easy marks for him to go along with his plans. He'd be right about Will, but I wouldn't underestimate Carolyn. It's hard to know if Rodney's plan next week to oust Mike will lead to his own demise or go like the previous two plans have, with Rodney being left with a befuddled look on his face at tribal. The one thing about Joe is, as long as he's around, no one is going to have a bigger target on their back than him. I remember in Jeff's pre-season cast assessment that Joe would be quite the force if they let him get deep into the game.

I know it's a YMMV, but I adore Jenn and don't want her to change. I see nothing "mean girl" about her. She's the real deal, genuine, speaks her mind, and I appreciate that breath of fresh air. I just keep thinking back to the second episode, and the fact that she was so close to getting voted off, how many funny moments I would have missed. From winning the RC for her tribe last week and cursing to celebrate her victory, to finding the idol while her tribe was back scarfing on chicken and didn't even miss her, to her funny confessionals and this week getting stung in her lady parts but pushing through, she's my kind of contestant in this game. And she's playing the game. She's got a good head on her shoulders. I much prefer her and her tight quartet to the others in the game. Thinking of a final 7 of Mike/Dan/Rodney/Will/Tyler/Carolyn/Sierra is enough to make me pack it in for the season. I'll be glad when next week is over, because that will really be telling as to what direction the season is headed. I know it probably wasn't the best idea to gloat about the idol, but frankly the girl deserved it. She may very well get sent packing next week, so I say let her have this. Especially seeing your name come up over and over again. Jeff wouldn't have had to get very far into the votes before he said 'that's enough, no need to read more' to her. I'm sure the others next week might have something to say about it, but they no doubt would have done the same thing. At least there's an idol that's been used and used successfully. Not a wasted idol or someone getting sent packing with it still in their pocket. Which I keep thinking might be the case with Carolyn...

Nina would have flipped before the merge. She would have gone after her formers at the swap. I know her argument was that she'd be more loyal than Will, but that was all she had going for her. She would have totally turned on Joe/Jenn/Hali, and likely done it with a huge smirk on her face. After the Vince vote, Joe said he didn't know if he could entirely trust Will since Will went off script and didn't force a tie vote like he was supposed to. However, in watching extra vids and confessionals since, it seemed as if they were going to stay a tight group. I can see Mike/Rodney doing damage control and telling Will that they only told him they were voting Hali to see if they could trust him. So, congrats! You screwed your old tribe over, but we can trust you and screw you over when we don't need you anymore. Whether Will buys into their BS is another story, especially if Tyler/Carolyn plan to flip over to the NC group next week.

I had to LOL at the Wile E Coyote comparison. That is perfect. Even when he knows the anvil is coming, he still thinks it'll work out.

Shirin hasn't looked this happy since Max was still back on the show. Her and Nina are two reasons why I hated this collar concept, because those two were put with the wrong people. I'm glad she's on the side of Hali/Jenn/Joe, and that she made no secret at TC that she was staying loyal to her alliance. She looked equally disappointed when Hali's name was the first one read, and then as excited as the girls when Jenn's idol use actually worked. And bonus points for saying what I was thinking about the new tribe name. And getting a Sarah Palin dig in there as well. Here's hoping that these 4 can drag some people over to their side. I am so hoping that a former blue collar goes home again next week. If it wasn't for the remaining BC, minus Sierra, I'd be calling this a great season.

There's just something about his attitude and arrogance that remind me of Lex. I think at this stage he would probably be a better loser, but I can see the Lex-side of him where if he was on a streak of calling the shots and getting his own way, and suddenly a mystery vote pops up with his name, he'd get overly paranoid. But it's his arrogance and need for control that I can't stand. No one has really double crossed Mike yet. Two votes went his way, and Jenn got saved by an idol. He hasn't gone into TC yet knowing what it feels like to be completely blindsided by the vote, and not because of an idol save. So I would be curious to see how he'd react to that. Besides Rodney's ill fated decisions, who else has really called the shots over at his tribe but him? I can't believe I'm actually saying I'd rather see Mike go over Rodney, but Rodney's an idiot and he can at least be amusing to watch as he bumbles his way through the game. He's no threat. Mike is just there with his arrogant self. It's funny that both he and Rodney are alike in one way, and that is both wanting to play the leader. Too bad Rodney is so bad at it.

I realized in re-watching that there was the sound effect of a cymbal when Joe made that face. Made it all the more better. With each passing week, I'm thinking fewer people really know what they're doing out there. I didn't think Will was going to be a rocket scientist out there, but I thought he had a better grasp of what was at least happening around him. Kelly said in a confessional that Carolyn didn't like the NC, which kind of surprises me. It seemed like that tribe was getting along well together, minus maybe Kelly. Now I wish they had thrown the challenge last week faster than Mike and gotten Kelly out then. When Carolyn made her 'line is drawn' remark, she also said sometimes its harder to go back to the other side. I do wonder if her and Tyler will attempt to join the NC next week since they lost their link in Kelly. I hope so, because I really don't want to think of Jenn/Hali/Joe going home. And I worry if Joe wins immunity again, they will target the girls. I guess I'll see how much Jeff over or underhypes the episode to see if something will actually happen. I like Carolyn, and am neutral to Tyler, but it would be the icing on the cake if Carolyn 'line drawn, hope you made the right decision' comment comes back to bite her. BC may wind up targeting her or Tyler next week, just to get their votes out of there.

I think I figured out what it is about Mike that I don't like-he reminds me of Lex. Who is perhaps one of my all time least favorite people, of the 450 or so people, that have ever played this game. He just expects bygones to be bygones, it's a game, he's going to run the show and expects it to be handed to him on a silver platter. He's right about it being the game part, and I hate sore losers in this. But I feel like he'd totally hulk out if he saw his name come out and would go on a massive hunt to find the rat who dared to vote for him. He's so pompous and arrogant, and I wish he had been sent packing instead of Kelly. I'm guessing Kelly got it over him because of her Carolyn connection. Maybe the NC figure Carolyn will come over to their side since she hasn't had time to bond with Mike, and Tyler may not trust him. I couldn't believe when he got back to the camp and he told everyone to go off and talk since they were going to do it anyway. I mean, relax buddy. Seriously.

It would strategically almost be in Carolyn/Tyler/Will's best interest to join the alliance of Jenn/Hali/Joe/Shirin. Obviously it appears that the two girls and Joe are the power trio, but there's always Shirin to swing back over to your side when it gets down to the seven of you. And who knows, if the girls wanted to get rid of Joe, or Joe felt like the girls might try and oust them, they could get in with them and move up. With the blues, I don't see that group being as easily broken. That may be Rodney and Sierra's intentions (at least I think with Sierra), but who knows that they wouldn't change their minds when it got down to their original 5 and then the leftovers of Tyler/Carolyn/Will.

I remember her saying that. I feel like these contestants got a completely different side of Kelly than we're seeing. She looked like a clueless little follower of Mike's, but maybe she was actually active in the game and making decisions. At any rate, I'm glad she got the boot. Would have rather it been Mike or Rodney, and I'm wondering if those names even came up. But for Carolyn to trust her, and Jenn to say that, she must have put on a convincing case. Maybe it would have worked better for her if she played it up that she wasn't swinging right back to her old tribe. With all the talk about numbers and power couples coming from Mike, you think he'd be the one to get a clue, pretend to separate from his tribe, and extend an olive branch.

I must say I was really disappointed that Rodney didn't go off on his former tribe for blindsiding him-and he was still staying loyal! Or at least he claimed he wanted to stick with his blues. I can't stand Rodney, but I was hoping for some fireworks. He really does not get this game at all. I don't know who the bigger idiot is out there: Rodney or the very people who decide to align with him. Mike's apparently better at doing so-called damage control than I would expect, though I noticed tonight when he was talking to Kelly about all of the blues still being tight, Rodney's name wasn't brought up (that I heard). So does Mike think it will just be a cake walk to the end, or is Rodney the bigger fool? Two weeks in a row, his plan has failed. He may have unintentionally succeeded in outing Will as being an untrustworthy snake to his former tribe, but that likely won't help his game at all. Considering Mike is his target next week, I think we all know that Mike will unfortunately be spared. If it's Rodney's plan, the opposite will happen. And Rodney will no doubt look dumbfounded at tribal again. I really can't wait for his ouster to come. Since I expect it to be a blindside, I really can't wait for the look on his face with that one.

I think Hali has the potential to go further than Jenn, even though I'm hoping for a final 3 including those 2 and Joe. But Jenn tonight proved why I see her putting a much bigger target on herself: 1) by hanging in there in the challenge so long (bee sting and all), and 2) even though I believe Hali has an equal part in the decision process of their alliance, Jenn will probably be seen as more of the leader of their twosome. She seems more outspoken, whereas Hali's in the background. I said it last week, Hali's more the mediator in bringing people in. Others might look to Jenn as being the one running the show. I did like getting more Hali confessionals this week than we've seem to had in the last couple. Shirin seemed really excited to be voting with them at tribal tonight.

I don't believe he does. In past seasons, he used to say he was leaving the un-read vote(s) a mystery. Jeff goes through them and puts them in an order for suspense purposes, but usually the last votes are typically for whoever got booted off.

Joaquin didn't realize just how unlikeable Rodney was until watching the show. He said had he realized that he wouldn't have aligned with him, or would have at least made Joe and Sierra more options. I'm wondering if that's the case with Will. In one of Max's post show interviews, he mentioned Will being happy to have new members at their tribe and that he was tired of the youngin's that he was stuck with. So I wondered if Will wasn't as content with his NC as they were letting on (considering he was originally in the other 3 person alliance in his group at the start of the season). If he didn't realize what a hot headed loose cannon Rodney is, that might be why he decided to go with him. And maybe he wasn't thinking that he would wind up at the bottom of the blue collar group. Rodney gave the whole 'final 4' speech to him.

Hey, we've got a guy named Tyler on the show! I said in the ep thread, but Tyler had more face time in the first 5 minutes than I remember seeing of him all season. Maybe he needed to have Carolyn around to get on camera. I wonder is this is the start of some sort of story arc for him, or if he just got a lot of screen time due to being a swing vote. Between him and Kelly joining the fray, I almost wondered if maybe Tyler wound up getting booted over her. I did think it was somewhat amusing that he said something along the lines to Mike about getting to know him and value him as a player, which Mike hadn't bothered to do. I feel like we're all just getting to know him. He doesn't bug me, but I can't say I'm rooting for him, either. He's aligned with Carolyn, who I like, but was also aligned with Joaquin, who I didn't. And he/they picked the blues over the reds, so there's that.

I don't think Rodney can play dumb that well, He looked pretty confused/ticked. But he apparently thought Kelly was more his ally than Mike, so maybe he did leak it but didn't know she was the target. I did think maybe Will knew what was going down so he knew he could safely vote for Hali, act like Rodney's new bro, but still be loyal to his old tribe. We saw Jenn/Hali talking about finding out who was going between them so Jenn knew who to use her idol on. Sierra looked surprised when she played it, but pretty pleased when it was all said and done. So maybe. I just can't believe they'd leave that out, but it seems like they left out a lot of strategizing.