jaigurudeva

Glad Yanu finally won a challenge (not just for them, but because we finally got to see more gameplay from other tribes). They're really playing with a handicap, since the other tribes have been resting their players on rotation for each challenge, while Yanu's been going through it giving their all with each one. I'm sure those muffins tasted amazing even with all the fly-nibbles (can production maybe put a net over the food? even if they swap out the display food from the challenge for what they give the contestants, it kind of turns my stomach watching insects crawling all over it). Not sure how fire is going to help with their food situation, it's not like they have fishing gear or they're given rice to cook. I guess now they can each have a COOKED coconut a day? It's interesting that there's different challenges for each beware advantage to crack, since Tiff had to decipher some code instead of measuring lengths with the machete. I wonder what Hunter's beware advantage will be (especially since there's the "clause" about how to do it if their individual tribe never loses before merge). Can't believe she's still salty 9 months later, nor any more self-aware. She has nobody to blame but herself, playing games with the whole tribe is what sent her packing. Tim was the only one we saw confront her about it, but she is a TERRIBLE liar, if she thought the best response to "You planted the beware advantage, didn't you?" was "What beware advantage?" (you know, the beware advantage that literally the WHOLE TRIBE knew about and was making such a big deal about). Which meant she was either OBVIOUSLY lying, or had another advantage/idol of her own. Tim probably brought that back to Ben, who spread it back around, and it became clear that Jem (who was suddenly acting like the big fish in the pond strutting around with a machete and interrogating people) obviously had the idol. If she had a rock-solid alliance, then she should have trusted those machinations rather than going on the over-playing warpath (plus antagonizing Ben and Tim). And the whole idol scheme also needlessly created drama, she played even her own alliance, so if she wants to talk about trust and loyalty, that's not how you win it. Of course "Charlie's Angels" they wouldn't want to keep her in their fold going forward. I have a feeling Maria burned her extra vote for threat management, because she knows a merge is coming up, many people knew she had the extra vote, so that could paint a target on her back. I also have a feeling (even though we don't see this) that, with Charlie and her being close, and Charlie and Ben being close, there was an idea to hide the fact that Ben didn't have a vote by playing her extra vote and making it look like two different people (she used two different handwritings and name spellings). This would solidify her alliance with Charlie, and Ben is so charismatic and socially-forward that he becomes a "meat shield" for them (without actually saying it to his face like Venus did to Hunter, lmao)

Another week, another Yanu loss. Still don't know half of the other players on the other tribes, because I think a solid 30 minutes of the show's run-time was on Bhanu's despairing: "This is it! This is the end for me!" Does he think that Jeff takes the castaways 'round back behind the voting hut and shoots them? It's Survivor, not Squid Game. Goodbye Randan, we hardly knew you. Too bad he didn't give Venus his beware advantage, but it was also kind of a millstone around the neck unless the conditions could be met (which may be never? is it null and void if the tribe never loses before merge?). Kind of gross of Yanu to be celebrating the debilitating medical issue of another contestant. Probst sneaking out of the Fijian forest like a cryptid to ambush Tiff and Bhanu in the middle of some actual turns in the gameplay just so they can rejoice, "One man's loss (of nerve function) is another's gain (in a gameshow)!" 100% two tribes are more balanced than three, physically and socially, plus there's more opportunities for complicated alliance-making, splitting the votes, early scheming, actual blindsides. Instead, each group of 6 breaks down into a core 4 with 2 on the bottom, and each vote is basically a steam-roll. Then the inevitable team of losers gets to the merge down on the numbers, and again it's another dogpile of votes. Yawn.

RIP Jess. RIP my affection for several early favorites (Soda, Tevin, Bhanu). RIP my eardrums listening to Liz's "cheerleading." Warming up to Venus, even though she really is putting her own foot it in at times, she doesn't deserve getting so cold shouldered by the whole tribe (except Randan? who I learned existed today apparently?) I agree with commenters up thread, the three-tribe set-up tends to just set one tribe up for early, punishing failure, and not only is that not very fun to watch, but we get so little of the other tribes that aren't constantly losing and going to tribal. What little we got from Ben and Charlie's little music-off was cute. We should get more moments like that from the other tribes so we can actually start to recognize half of these people before the merge. Are we not talking about Bhanu anointing himself with his blood? Dude's wildin and it's not even been a week.

The last thing I want to be is the devil's advocate for Jelinsky (who also folded immediately in the cards challenge and seems physically incapable of owning up to his decisions), and I know that Survivor allegedly (maybe is even legally obligated to?) tested these challenges to ensure they're doable, but it just didn't seem possible within the timeframe of the challenge. Even without the holes in the buckets, they looked like one gallon buckets, to fill about 40 gallon barrels. At around 10 minutes per trip back-and-forth (unless it was a shorter distance than that, but it looked a bit of a walk), that's 400 minutes or 6 hours (so, close to several seven!). And that's with no breaks and without losing any water due to the holes in the bucket! I wonder if there wasn't some kind of "trick" they missed to the challenge, like if they dug around there'd be a bag of corks or something? I think Jeff only spoke up because they were more likely to break an element of the challenge (either tear the gecko straps or crush the structure) trying to just pull the head down over it. I think he mentioned the lizard was 500 lbs, and adding another 200+ lbs. with multiple contestants yanking/dangling on the head with all their bodyweight definitely wasn't going to get it anywhere! I can forgive it if they were two weeks into being starved and sleep deprived, but it seems too early in the game for them to be failing this hard at critical thinking. I can't even remember all their names right now (it takes me at least 5 episodes and a thinner herd), but I do have favorites in Soda, Q, Maria, and Charlie, and there's a soft spot for Jess and friendless glasses girl. They might being struggling socially right now (being neurodivergent and/or just awkward), but I hope they can still turn it around and go far like Emily did last season. It looks like an overall interesting cast of characters without too many awful or over-the-top people.

Wow looks like Bhanu loses his nana. It's one thing to get frustrated but that scream at her while throwing the block aside just looked crazy harsh. Maybe it's out of context, Bhanu was an early favorite of mine this episode, but that's no way to communicate or react in a challenge.

This would've been the better show. The confrontation/show-down between Maya and Joe would've been the emotional climax, killing him in self-defense would've made Maya less unlikeable (why were her family/friends and the random policeman still so dedicated to her at the end even after revealing she's a serial murderer?), plus it would've cut down on some inconsistences in the plot and characters, which others have already pointed out but I still need to get off my chest: first and foremost, why would Maya use the same gun to kill Joe, connecting their murders and further implicating her? And why do it in a public park where of course there'd be witnesses? Maya only had other suspects (the bike kids) to spin some of the suspicion off her by pure coincidence, too. And how could it be that there's "no way to prove" Joe killed Claire, when Joe is literally the only person who could have had access to the murder weapon in the safe at the time? That's pretty open-and-shut if you ask me, especially if the cops did even a little more digging into Joe. How could the granny and nanny rig up the deep fake within a day after Maya put it up? I'll chock the cop going rogue at the end up to his crazy pills, but it was still dumb for his partner to enable him and it still made me roll my eyes.

Whelp, this could've been a movie. Darby's "happy ending" is that she has a more successful book, and it's definitely not weird and gross for Darby to air her new BFF and son's dirty laundry to the world and risk their safety and security while they're in hiding. And why did Lee have to risk her and her son's lives crossing the tundra to the little dingy (as if the police literally at the doorstep wouldn't notice two figures crossing the white landscape) and go into hiding for the rest of their lives anyway? If Lee divorces Andy and Andy sues for paternity, DNA would prove he's not the father anyway, plus Lee could make public his abusive nature and tarnish his reputation further. It really just felt like a hackneyed attempt to squeeze out some unnecessary drama for the climax (the same with burning down "Ray"). And all the other billionaires are at the reading clapping and smiling like they're also happy to have Darby publish about their personal lives, as if Andy and the rest surely wouldn't have buried her book under a thousand lawsuits for libel. Are we going to just hand-wave away the lady running authoritarian "smart cities"? Was the robot hive just like a little moment to make the setting more futuristic and say "the future is mole people!"

The problem is in that position your legs will get quickly start to feel Not Great from the compression in your nerves and blood vessels. It's like intensive kneeling, all of your bodyweight squishing your thighs and your calves together with a ton of leverage pressing on your knees, that's just as tough to bear for an extended length of time as using only your upper body, which is why all the contestants were constantly wriggling trying to balance between the two positions in the first rungs. Not only did that completely go out the window anyway in the last rung of the challenge, but all the platforms seemed identical, yet the men have longer arms, so they had not only the advantage in upper body strength, but in reach and leverage in their arms as well. I don't know how Survivor seeks out these personal letters, but even if it wasn't an intentional ploy for drama and just an honest mistake from Survivor production, I sincerely hope that moving forward Survivor production specifically ASKS contestants who they'd want a letter from, or at least who they are and aren't in contact with. Going no-contact with close family is incredibly difficult and often a last-resort just for your own mental/emotional survival. Of course that would shake anyone to the core to get a letter like that, it's a violation of your privacy and the safety you created away from that person, on top of that in a stressful situation and broadcast on national television. It's completely understandable that she'd be emotionally fraught going into the challenge. I'm pretty disappointed in this season overall, between the quitters, the terrible play (or lack thereof) of idols, the overall lack of really any alliance working or strategy as the Reba 4 (and their coattail-riders) coasts through each vote while the rest of the players just sat and spun on their thumbs. I'm not holding my breath that there will be any significant shakeup, no matter what they promise us for every "next week" vignette. Even Caleb saw the completely predictable vote outcome this week, as Kendra and Kellie were first "shocked" (why?) by the Jake votes and he was like "Lol wait, it's never the first votes that get the boot."

The math isn't mathing because it was way more embarrassing than trying to stay in the game and at least playing his shot in the dark, which Jeff pulled out of his ass just for situations like these so the odd person out still has a fighting chance. But quitting is quitting, it's lame even if you try to wax poetic about your loved ones being your "real adventure." Bro, this isn't "Up," it's a game show you applied to be on, so play the game. I think Jeff is partly to blame, though, he has to stop trying to push the conversation at TC towards, "Who is definitely on the outs here?" and "What do you have to say if this is your last time here?" Like he's trying to get soundbites of how ~transformative~ the Survivor experience is, but it basically puts the bottom contestants in that "loser" mindset, and they just start looking for a way to bow out instead of scrambling to stick around. The worst part is I don't think it was even a sure thing that Sean was going home walking into TC. D and J still seemed to be leaning towards Sifu until Sean started begging to be voted out. He should've leveraged being that extra vote, the same way Emily did when she swapped over in order to get into a new alliance. I wonder if the producers can put some kind of stipulation that if you quit (including soft quitting/asking people to vote you out) it's considered breaking the contract and you gotta pay x amount in damages or something. At least then if you want out without having to pay for your own ticket outta there, you have to start pissing people off and put a target on your own back, which would be much more entertaining than just listening to one more contestant whine at TC, "This isn't fun anymore, can I go home now?"

I liked Brandon's enthusiasm, and he seemed like a kind-hearted and genuine person, but it's kind of hard to feel bad for coming so short on his "lifelong dream" when it seems he'd done absolutely nothing to prepare. I feel like production took on Brandon expecting another Carson who will do a ton of puzzle study and hit the gym, and come onto Survivor as another superfan success story. And pressure and adrenaline is one thing, I can see how easy it would be mixing up the close match pairs in the first puzzle on such a time crunch, but bruh. Brandon was also trying to fit coral pieces on upside down like he'd never touched a jigsaw puzzle in his life, and has all the bodily function of a minute old foal. If Survivor is your number one bucket list item, wouldn't you do everything you could to improve your chances in the game? The Lulus better keep one eye on Emily if she lasts to the merge. She's definitely trying to be more pleasant (strange that she seemed aware she was coming in aggressive and is now showing she can control it...why didn't she do that in the first place before immediately alienating her tribe? did she think it was big girlboss behavior that would win her kudos?) but she seems like the sort to hold a grudge and jump ship to the majority tribe come merge. I kind of hope Lulu turns it around and they all make it to merge just to see the other tribes' reactions to her unfiltered persecution complex. I love both Sabiyah and Katurah both calling out the dipsticks on their respective tribes. Does the rest of the tribe really think Bruce is that hilarious, or are they all just trying to humor him and keep the peace? Feels like his "crazy uncle" antics would be cringe for anyone over the age of 8. Drew describes himself as "slimy Napoleon Dynamite" and...yeah. At least he's self-aware of his vibe, even if he's deluded to think he's "the smartest person to ever play Survivor." He fluffs up his Ivy League status but he's an undergrad at UPenn, majoring in English and Philosophy, so he's not exactly "A Beautiful Mind" cracking mathematics and quantum physics here. I feel like if they both make it to the merge, Drew and Emily will either gravitate to one another or become mortal nemeses over-playing against one another in their imaginary 4D-chess.

I'm so glad Maryanne won! She and Lyndsey were my favorites to win in the final 5, though it makes sense for Maryanne to get Lyndsey out when she did to secure her win. She played it perfectly, a great mix of social game and strategy to make it to the end and win over the jury. This is the second time Jonathan has used tone policing to shut down women in a conversation when they are rightfully agitated. He's never faulted any of his bros for being too "aggressive," that's just being a macho alpha. Like tracyscott76 said, men have been putting women down for being "too emotional" and "hysterical" for centuries.

I would so love this! Just imagine the paranoia of the players searching for idols and unable to find any, and believing that someone else must have found one and isn't saying. Or taking them on field trips or exile islands but the prisoner's dilemma is just getting food instead of an idol/amulet/extra vote, I imagine the tribe also wouldn't believe it when they come back.

Maxpro: Good product, but $900 seems too expensive for basically adjustable resistance bands. It doesn't really solve the problems causing obesity like he started the pitch with (lack of time, motivation, accessibility, etc.) and the whole kit and kaboodle looked like it would take up half your suitcase if you traveled with it, which he said was the inspiration to his idea. Seems like he's trying to blow up the brand too hard, too fast, and he's basically burning down the company to keep the pilot light on. Banana Loca: Oh, great, more useless plastic garbage to throw into our landfills. I spread peanut butter on bananas all the time, somehow I haven't killed myself or anyone else in the process so it's not quite the disaster they think they're solving. Pure novelty, and Daymond said it best: you're going to use this thing once or twice to be cute, and then it'll sit around collecting dust until you toss it. Liberate: Loved Kevin's grim delivery of "That's not a lot, Liv." I don't remember if she even said she had any education or credentials for this line of work, it sounds like it would just be vague suggestions about mindfulness you could get from any bargain bin self-help book. Tentikle: I like this product, actually. They looked well-designed, fun and multi-functional. I would probably buy one if they were $29.99 instead of $45, I think he said. Hope the price-point comes down, it should probably help with his sales. Does Mark Cuban have any self-awareness, actually? "It's easy to go viral, my videos get 20 million views!"

Well, my theory that Theo would kill Joe pettered out. I was also briefly subscribed to the idea that Love would prevail (ha) over Joe because the show was giving her similar voice over narration for a few episodes there and she could've easily taken over completely. Except her murders are generally so impulsive she probably wouldn't get away with it for long without someone there to clean it up and keep her on track with the cover up. That was her fatal flaw in the end: she wasn't good at the long-con murder, since Joe (a meticulous murderer himself) saw it coming a mile away. I thought for a minute that Marienne was going to kill Love in self-defense. Then Joe would help clean it up (so she doesn't risk custody of Juliette), and Marienne would be kind of forced to stick with Joe because he can hang that over her head. Then the next season would be a corruption arc of Marianne, resulting in her killing Joe to be free. Maybe that's still possible for next season, if Joe doesn't get distracted by some new victim. So, season 1 dealt with Joe's daddy issues (the little neighbor kid with the abusive dad that he saw himself in) and this season uncovered his mommy issues. Did anyone else expect Joe to push his mother into traffic after she gave him the "fresh start" speech? I really thought that would be Joe's first murder right then and there. We definitely haven't seen the last of his brother, my money is on little bro eventually killing Joe and taking over, or Joe having to kill him after he's horrified to discover that his little bro ended up just like him despite having a more stable and loving upbringing, so he can't blame his parents or circumstances for turning out the way he is. I really liked this season, I loved the supporting cast (especially Sherry, Cary, Dante, and Lansing) and the critique of the upper middle class and all it's privileged, wacky antics. The crumbling relationship between Love and Joe was fascinating to watch, too. But the finale felt a little anticlimactic. Season one was like a subversion of the "final girl" trope and it was surprising when Beck was killed. Season two had the twist of Love also being a serial killer. This season by comparison just ended fairly predictably and with a few too many deus ex machinae in Joe's pocket to wrap it all up in a nice little bow. Even when Joe was wrapping up all the side characters' "happily ever afters" at the end it felt a little weird. For one, I barely remembered half of the more minor characters and I feel like Joe himself wouldn't care about who most were and what happened to them in the end, much less that they were all happy (he's mostly just concerned with Henry I think). Here's hoping season 4 gives us more twists and shockers.

"Ryan seems like the kind of nut-job who thinks taking the stairs will make you live longer. ... wait, taking the elevator?? You lazy fuck." I lol'd so hard, this is Joe's personality in a nutshell, no matter what anyone does Joe's always ready with his hypocritical, holier-than-thou judgement. It's a little hard to believe that tech-mogul Matthew, after pouring over the footage for how many days/weeks, and the face-recognition AI doesn't notice the blatantly obvious and clear image of Joe getting into Natalie's car. Then again, it's also a stretch that the CEO of a major technological company would live in a upper-middle class suburb instead of in a mega-mansion compound, but this show wouldn't survive without suspending the disbelief somewhere around cruising altitude. Up until getting conked on the head, I thought Theo was going to kill Joe and become the next possessive stalker, since he seemed to be veering into obsessive and deluded territory towards Love. Turns out he's just love-blinded and dumb to not take the footage to the police or even his dad (despite the fact that they were recently fighting) instead of taking it to the woman who you believe is at best aiding and abetting a her murderer husband.