LadyChatts

I love that Liz is getting feisty that Tevin and Venus are stealing her move. And now she decides to wants to play and is targeting Tevin. If Q can't go, I'd be okay with Tevin going.

I was hoping he'd jump down and give everyone a good scare. Bonus points if he misjudged his jump and crashed into the shelter. Hey, I need something exciting to happen!

If he seriously wanted to take a shot at Hunter, how would he frame it to everyone-"I couldn't find him in hide 'n seek so he's a threat and needs to go?"

I think if Q explained his rules of hide 'n seek better maybe Hunter wouldn't have gone so far up a tree. I would assume we were playing old-school rules, of which the purpose is not to be found or tagged it (because we used to have a home base we'd run to). I mean did Q ever have a secret strategy when playing Clue or Monopoly?

So Q is basically just using this as a way to determine how good people are at playing Survivor based on their hiding skills. Not sure I get the logic, but whatever.

Okay, so the scene of Hunter hiding in the trees was just them playing hide 'n seek? The way it was portrayed I thought he was taking a page out of Tony's playbook and making his own spy shack. I'm definitely prepared to be disappointed tonight.

It's probably the old format but we used to get so much packed into just 60 minutes and I felt like I not only knew who everyone was by the end of episode 1, but we got to see so much happening at camp and at the challenges, and TC were also long enough. I hate this new era game play where everything goes 100 miles an hour and everyone's about resume building. This group especially all seem to think they are God's gift to Survivor gameplay.

And now Q's asking Charlie if he's ready to play the game with people. Because Charlie hasn't been doing that without Q? I'm actually disappointed we didn't get the other tribe's reaction to Tim being gone. But guess his absence isn't missed because they are bringing Charlie in. And he's got a better read on the six than Maria.

If they are all in the final 3 together this might be interesting. Every argument might be "my big move was getting Soda out".

And now Liz is saying it was really her idea to take out Soda and she's annoyed that Venus and Tevin are trying to take the credit?

Jem was definitely a blindside. So there's been at least one before Soda. I love Venus, and the way that she rubs everyone the wrong way just makes me love her even more.

And you can tell Tevin is livid.

Q's already frustrated because no one is doing what he wants.

I really love that Venus got the credit from Soda when it was Tevin who was behind the blindside.

It seriously better be more than just a big get up of their seats and start whispering. Some of the cast are hyping this episode up so it better be big, but I'm prepared to be disappointed.

Post-show discussion thread

Live chat thread

Venus posted this to her Twitter. Some are wondering if she spoiled that she’s the boot tonight and maybe it’s really ugly. Could be she’s worried things won’t get shown like it happened.

I do think the show, like a lot of reality TV, is between a rock and hard place. SM goes off the rails the first time they don't like what someone said, did, or who they voted off (forgetting it's a game and that the point is to vote someone off regardless of their gender, age, or race). It's worse on Big Brother because the show is live and it's like every other day people want someone kicked out. I can't imagine what it would have been like if SM existed when these shows first started. But Soda had deleted her Twitter account because she was getting fat-shamed from people who didn't like how she was treating Venus. Maria shared DMs she got on IG from people sending her horrible messages for voting Jem off. And while I'm sure Kenzie has gotten her share of hate, she also said that people who are fans are just showing up at her job and it's disrupting her workplace (she's a salon owner). But on the flip side, I think Jeff is forgetting his own words he used so many times in the early years. Survivor is, or at least was, a social experiment. It had its ups and downs but it was about putting people from all different walks of life together in a competition for a million dollars and having them have to work together and build a society for 39 days, or until they got their torch snuffed. There were all different types of personalities, and the heroes, villains, and then the people we forgot were even there until they showed up at the reunion show. And there weren't these sob stories. Everyone's got one, and frankly, I think it's why some shows had a downfall. I feel sorry for the new era fans who get cast, because this game they are playing isn't Survivor.

I think Q's exit is the best set up. But I could also see Tevin. If it's true they bring Charlie in to be Maria's +1, Charlie might tell Ben. And since Ben got close to Kenzie last ep, maybe he tells her, and she gets the misfit non-sixers together to vote one of them off. I think Tiffany might be closer to Kenzie and from the edit at least she's getting tired of Q. So she might secretly rebel and leave the 6 with only 5, and I'm not sure if I 100% see Charlie onboard with that group, even if Maria is included, so he might bail too. But if it's portrayed as Kenzie's plan, that might be a big move that supports her winner's arc if she wins. In the promos I've seen, Q says something about "just before tribal" and then something along the lines of plans aren't going to change. The "just before tribal" could have referenced last week when there was hesitation in voting Tim off by some other members of that group, and Q didn't like it. I'm mostly curious what Jeff's 'this has never happened before' means. This guy has seen everything, and it seems like something that went down before the vote. And he doesn't have the wide eyed, s**t eating grin on his face like it's the most amazing thing he's ever saw. I do hope if it's a blindside it stays a blindside.

Promos this week have called this a can’t-miss TC. I think whatever Jeff’s reaction was happens before the vote, and Soda’s reaction is after the vote (so she seemed surprised or sad by whoever went). I’m still going for Q, maybe Tevin. I guess Venus could be an option depending on what Robot means by mid-jury. I’ll also throw out maybe Tiffany getting blindsided (though I think she’s more of a long shot).

Didn't Q say this past episode that Hunter wasn't a physical threat? So how is one a challenge beast but also not a threat?

Yeah I figured if Kenzie is going to win she’s going to need a turning point here soon. It’s not like an Erica situation where she’s been invisible the whole time. It’s possible that’s how she makes the final 5, her and Ben may now have this bond and start working together, especially if she loses (or votes off herself) Tiffany and Q. But she did look good tonight. I’m wondering if next week it’ll be Q or Tevin. Tevin may be sorry for voting off Soda over Venus, who has no loyalty to him. With 3 Siga members, plus the Yanus, and then Liz (who I also don’t think is crazy about Tevin), his boot might be getting set up. He also may have made himself look like a threat tonight because of how he tried to orchestrate Soda’s blindside. As for Q, I think his arc is coming to an end and he’s being set up to get blindsided.

I noticed that. I would say it was a look of surprise but not in a good way. Maybe whoever is voted out goes out in a blaze of glory and goes overboard calling people out, or maybe some people get into it at TC. From some of the stuff that's gone down on this show, if Jeff and Soda look that surprised I have to say I'm intrigued (although Soda's look of surprise may be aimed at whoever is voted off). I really can't think of what it is. We've had people quit at TC, we've had people quit so someone else could stay in the game (and honestly no one left strikes me as anyone that would quit), we've had idol and advantage plays that were for the record books, people have given up immunity and been voted off as a result...like I wonder if the vote literally flips at TC but in a way Jeff has never seen.

In what was a long, drawn out episode, there were a couple of highlights. The first was at the IC. Nobody understanding the rules of Q's alphabet game (not sure if there's different variations to it but I've always played it like he was explaining it) and him giving up. And then Q saying he purposely jumped off at the IC to test his alliance. Which is fair, and he'd certainly not be the first one to do that (though he's lucky he didn't get blindsided) but actually saying he's a bigger physical threat than Hunter? Hunter carried Nami through pretty much every pre-merge IC. Not saying Q couldn't be a physical threat, but I think Hunter already has him beat. I liked that Venus got the credit for Soda's blindside by Soda herself, especially since she was about 5 steps behind everyone today. Maria dropped in my rankings but I give her credit for winning the IC. I do think that challenge favors women, but whatever, I love seeing the older women get some wins. But I don't know, something about her was kind of off-putting tonight. Tim's boot wasn't that surprising but I'm curious what will happen when the two groups see who the others voted off. Since Maria referenced the six alliance so much tonight (an alliance I didn't think she cared that much about) I feel like she might turn on Q for Tim's ouster. Tim was absolutely right that Hunter was a bigger threat, but being wishy-washy and non-committal can also make someone a threat.