simplyme

Kara trying to get rid herself of the giant cement block of doom named Dan that was shackled to her leg is not the same thing as being up Alex's ass. She may align with him temporarily, but getting rid of Dan gives her a LOT more flexibility in the game. You may as well accuse her of dumping Dan for Allison because she talked to Allison more based on what we saw. Basically, jumping ship with two other Goliaths to take out Dan with the Davids was an appealing prospect that opened up a lot more options in her game. ETA: Ooo. @lids did a great job a few posts up of explaining what I've felt about Dan but struggled to put into words.

People seem confused. I read Tribal the same way @cleo and @Mambo Queen did. Alec, Alison, and Kara all intended to vote Christian with the other Goliaths. Then Nick stood up and stole Allison's vote, scaring the bejesus out of her, so she made a speech about how she was sad about not having a vote because it meant she couldn't prove her loyalty. (She's realized the numbers are no longer in her favor with the Goliaths and is now trying to get the Davids to believe she was going to vote the way they had planned and split the vote between Dan and Angelina.) Hence the looks etc between her, Alec, and Kara so that Alec and Kara change their votes to also try to convince the Davids of this. Voting. Dan plays his idol for himself, but Carl had played the idol nullifier on Dan because a) the Davids wanted him gone, and b) they thought he had an idol based on AlAlKara telling them they thought he did in the "Let's split votes" conversation. Dan goes home with 6 votes against him (the 6 David votes--2 are Nicks), though Jeff only shows 5 of them. Christian has 3 votes. Angelina has 2 from Alec and Kara.

Because Dan was completely inflexible, a huge target, and a liability? Add to that that he was a threat to keep winning immunity, and if people want to target him and can't, the person they'll go for is his supposed closest ally... Kara.

The Davids thought Dan had an idol because Kara told Alison and Alec he did. Then when Alison, Alec, and Kara were talking with Gabby and Nick, one of them told Gabby and Nick "We think Dan has another idol." So, yes, it was shown.

Technically, Angelina was a week (well, 3 days) ahead of the curve. She also had absolutely no way of knowing that Mike, Alison, and Alec were in a secret alliance with Christian and would want to keep him. Mike was one of the three people who COULD have killed off that alliance and chosen to go for Christian. Anyone else might have hit the same roadblocks (minus Dan). So to Angelina, who lacked the knowledge viewers had and who has probably faced the same things most women do in having certain guys ignore her input due to different chromosomes, it wasn't exactly illogical to reach that conclusion. It wasn't necessarily accurate, but it wasn't illogical. ETA: Er, I see @KimberStormer addressed this while I was typing and more thoroughly. Oops.

Other than Mark the chicken, Tata the Bushman from Caramoan is my most memorable non-contestant. That guy had charisma. Phillip. Phillip is seared into my brain.

And if Survivor voting really were based on Big Moves, this might be an issue. But it's usually based more on who the juror would least mind losing Survivor to, which is usually based on social relations and only comes down to better strategy when the finalists are equally liked. Which is why you don't want to take Christian or Nick, but should be thinking Angelina and Gabby sound great in a final three with you. (Not that people dislike Gabby, but the crying...)

Maybe it was option C? Alec didn't like the idea of removing Christian yet but didn't see a way out of it. By telling Nick, he preserves his alliance with Nick. Alec mentions that with that knowledge the Davids can screw things up, but he ALSO knows that Dan has an HII. I'd guess he thinks if an idol is played, Dan will simply play his idol. And if anything does go wrong, I think Alec is assuming the Goliath that leaves will be Angelina, which wouldn't exactly break his heart. Even the way it ended up isn't necessarily bad for Alec. He's maintained some capital with Nick and will probably be viewed as a possible swing vote by the Davids, giving him more options and moving him down their target list. The Goliaths still think he's loyal and have a numbers advantage, so their focus will probably be on the Davids, completely removing him from their target list. And Dan, another bug, strong target, just burned an idol. On another topic... Whoever it was who said that no one mentioned Hannah's armpit hair, maybe that was true. I don't recall. But if so, it could have been because people were too busy complaining that she didn't "sit like a lady." (Strangely, none of the guys sat like a lady either and no one complained about that...) So I don't think we progressed and then suddenly regressed or anything just because there are comments on armpit hair or clothing this season.

Except the Davids really aren't in that bad of shape, and they haven't lost either of the immunity challenges because the other team is amazingly fit and they aren't. They lost the first immunity challenge bc they chose Carl to get under the log in the sand. He got stuck, and when he got free he appeared to literally mosey over and cut the rope. They still appeared to almost make up the time difference on the puzzle. So had they either a) chosen someone other than Carl, or b) had Carl, though exhausted, at least shown some urgency, the Davids might have won the first immunity. The second immunity challenge the Davids took significantly more time on the physical portion, but again could have won it on the puzzle had they not bumbled around. Yes, on the physical portion they seemed to be hampered by Bi's lack of height and then their inability to paddle together and control their raft (which again is not a brute strength thing.) But they had over an hour on the puzzle, so none of that mattered. Survivor has done a good job of making sure what matters MOST is your team working together and staying calm. From the bits we saw, they were dumping pieces as they turned to talk to each other instead of focusing, so they lost. So strength is a red herring right now... but if you're a David and that narrative serves your need to move the target where you want it and no one wants to risk rocking the boat by speaking up, then that's what we'll hear.

I just want to know if any of those people was holding the gun the bullet came from and yelling that they couldn't take any more. That would explain a lot.

I did want to point out that this isn't normal weather. Someone asked if this was filmed during the cyclones. Yes, it was. In The Hollywood Reporter's write-up about episode one, when explaining what happened to Pat, there's the following: "Mere minutes into that trip, the David tribe's boat encountered rough waters, due to the turbulent weather conditions brought on by Tropical Cyclone Josie, a storm that claimed at least four lives in Fiji in early April." (source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-david-goliath-season-premiere-explained-1147071) Later in that write-up, it goes on to talk about the fire-making kit and tarp: So they got the fire-making kit because it was a cyclone and without it, the chance of making fire was pitiful. The tarp was a temporary loan to get them through the worst if it. Now... Moving on to the challenge. I thought when watching it that Bi was simply too short to be effective at the ladder portion. On the other hand, I'm not sure who they would have switched her with. There's no guarantee that Nick has the agility to balance and do that. That said, none of that mattered because the puzzle took well over an hour to do, and the Davids clearly could have won had they been organized, worked together, and not gotten flustered. And that puzzle did not involve strength. So all this talk about how big and tall and strong the other team is? Who cares. They lost because they didn't work well together. As for why people were targeted... I imagine Lyrsa was targeted both because the Davids are stuck on the idea of conserving strength (so a woman has to go, according to Christian), she's small and chunky, and she didn't seem to immediately bond with others as quickly (except Elizabeth). As to why Jessica was chosen as the target? Elizabeth needed to get Gabby on her side to save Lyrsa. She also knows that the tribe is on a big strength kick and wants to vote out a woman. That leaves either Bi or Jessica. According to Jessica's exit interview that someone posted earlier in the thread, Jessica seemed to think Bi and Gabby had a good relationship. Even if she was wrong and they didn't, that would indicate to me that Bi and Gabby were closer than Gabby and Jessica. So when asking Gabby to flip, the target should be the one she isn't as close to: Jessica. And as Elizabeth pointed out, Jessica was a lynchpin in her alliance. (We did see Carl say in ep 1 that she reminded him of his daughter so he was going to protect her, and we saw her and Bi bonding during the storm when Jessica talked about her mom's abusive relationship and Bi spoke up to say being there for her mom may have saved her mom's life.) I didn't necessarily get a mean girls vibe from Jessica and Bi, btw. I got an "It's still the same plan, but we don't want to talk things to death" vibe. And after watching Gabby's moment with Christian, part of me wonders if Gabby does have a somewhat needy personality that craves reassurance and they were afraid that if Gabby got started, they'd just have to keep talking and talking and talking... and they just couldn't make themselves do it. Which was a strategic mistake. That said, it was still a very satisfying blindside. Whoever said they can't tell the difference between the two brunettes (Natalya and Angelina) on Goliath? I'm right there with you. There was probably more, but this was already too long. ;)

Parkour might translate to the courses Survivor sets up on water that inevitably have balance beams and chains of floating lily pads or barrels. You know, the courses Ozzy didn't just win but always smoked everyone on.

Whoa, whoa! I think you started worrying and then assumed what you worried was true. Pat (and family, presumably) are doing ok. From https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-david-goliath-season-premiere-explained-1147071 I'd also note that Pat said he grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck, not that he necessarily currently did. (If so, I'd question how one could take the time off for Survivor.) I can't imagine that Survivor contestants wouldn't have to have some sort of insurance coverage (I'm assuming CBS paid for) while they are playing that would cover his medical expenses, too. And finally, waiver or no, I believe Survivor has paid settlements for injuries before (like when the bacteria on the Brains beach in BBB2 ate some flesh and left scars. Oops.) So I think you can sleep at night. It sounds like Pat may have got medevaced, but he still got a nice little vacation before coming home and is now at 125%!

I agree. As @Tasha Brand said, the editing seemed to suggest Nick was being eyed by several people, and according to Josh Wigler, Pat believes Nick would have gone home. (Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-david-goliath-season-premiere-explained-1147071 Quote: "For his part, Pat insists that public defender Nick Wilson would have been voted out at the David tribe's first Tribal Council, if not for the medical emergency; the events as depicted in the season premiere seem to back that claim.") Before they came back from commercial to the medevac scene, I was expecting it to come down to Nick and maybe Carl, but I wasn't really worried about Pat. Of course, that doesn't mean it would have gone that way, but it looked and felt to me like that's the way it was headed unless someone did something really dumb or really brilliant. Instead we got some interference from Tropical Cyclone Josie. What a bitch.

But at least she'll be Unforgettable... That's what you are... Er, Youtube link to 1991's Unforgettable... With Love (Natalie and Nat King Cole): https://youtu.be/fxZ1w3c2hUk for those who wondered what I was smoking. This one is SimplyMom's fault.

*mimes that this is a mute point* Sorry, sorry. And no, I have no idea how someone would mime that. Or that it was a moot point, either.

I do actually kind of like this theme. I could do without the constant inane, forced references to it, and imo I felt the editing was rather unnecessarily furthering the division, but as you pointed out that could just be in the viewer's eyes. I do wear glasses. ;) And it's the first episode, but so far there are some promising cast members. I may dislike most of them by the end (who knows?), but I thought there was a decent range of personalities for once for Survivor.

I think Rob was a good player, but we've seen him 4 times. For God's sake, no more. There are people I want to see back WAY more... like both Jay and Chelsea.

I was going to find out by conducting a Pebble in a Sling test, but then realized that if I was a David I'd get at least manslaughter charges...

To be fair, the editing was done in such a way that we're *supposed* to dislike the Goliaths. The quotes they chose, the expressions they focused on, the music they played when the Goliaths got on board vs when the Davids did-- production did almost everything they could to make the Goliaths out as arrogant favorites and the Davids as the scrappy underdogs. In fact, it was so obvious that even sycophant Dalton Ross mentioned it in his EW recap at https://ew.com/recap/survivor-season-37-premiere/: I do agree with you whole-heartedly about Pat. I've known quite a few Pats in my life. And really, it's extremely rare for the shelter to get built without someone feeling like someone else stepped on toes. I think by the end, the David tribe had worked out that Pat just gave orders and talked a certain way, but it wasn't mean. It was a cultural difference. My favorite thing about Carl is from his cast bio: All his answers are like that. It was awesome after reading Angelina's cast bio. Omg. I was going to mention this. Dan's gotten a LOT of attention for his looks. He literally went viral based on them. That could be another reason he's so focused on them. (At least he wasn't the "hot cop" in that Hurricane Irma pic that they then discovered had anti-Semitic posts. That was a different guy.)

And now I've just realized that there's a Natalie (the older black woman, publishing CEO) and a Natalia (the industrial engineer) on the Goliath tribe. To make things worse, I didn't realize that Natalia and Angelina (financial consultant) were not the same person. I suppose the silver lining is that for once I had no problems differentiating between the blonde women.

Wait. He plays the clarinet? Sigh. The man clearly has no soul.* ------ *My apologies to clarinet-lovers out there. I had a bad experience in high school with some terrible clarinetists. They called it marching band.

I don't know anything about the guy's personality, but he's had an active career as a pro wrestler for 16 years. Generally that takes either some kind of intelligence or a really good manager to pull off. (Wrestling isn't my thing to watch, but I do find it interesting as a business. One of my friends once called it a sort of athletic soap opera for guys. With all the storylines and heroes and heels and switching between them, I could see the similarities.)

Ok. This guy just got WAY more interesting, and it wasn't tge Davy Crockett hat.

Add SimplyMom and me to the list. It was really awkward to discover we'd been mocking the man for lying when he then went on in his confessional to talk about her being dead and we realized that he was apparently (?) sincere.