Cornhusker12

I was curious if anybody would bring this up, I was super turned off by that and really the entire presentation of the war made me confused and a little queasy. I know a lot of what we're told in the US about the Cold War era is the product of some propaganda and there is a lot more relativity and gray area in what happened in those days than what we were told in school, and I know this show is obviously showing a lot of harsh truths about America's past, but this seemed to paint all US soldiers and US involvement as basically Nazi-adjacent trash while sympathizing with the few characters who were communists. I am definitely no Korean War scholar, but wasn't North Korea already a murderous totalitarian government at that time, who then invaded the South to initiate the war? Am I totally offbase? Again, I appreciate that one of the points of the show is that America has done "monstrous" things, and I know forces on the South Korean side committed atrocities during that time as well, but I don't think I needed to see something slanted in a pro-North Korea direction to make that point haha. I'm not sure revealing our protagonist was a murdering torturing war criminal was a great idea, regardless of whether he was "just following orders." Overall I really enjoyed Ji-Ah and Tic's story, and the fox tails were truly horrific (that's a compliment) but this is the first episode that didn't really land for me. I also hope they start to pull everything together more soon. The "Tales From Lovecraft Country/Every Episode Is Its Own Thing" approach has been cool and interesting but I'm still not sure how much I should be trying to make sense of all the deep mythology and stuff yet haha.

Completely agree, I can't stand it. I don't like the gimmicks in the first place, but if you're going to do the gimmicks why keep the newer/convoluted parts of the game so unexplained for the entire season? Fire tokens and Edge of Extinction both feel completely tacked onto the already-existing game of Survivor and have barely added any excitement or intrigue. I just listened to Chuck Klosterman talk about this season on a podcast and he had a lot of interesting things to say about the state of the show in general, and particularly this bit about the fire tokens: "If people crashed on a desert island and had to survive, I don't think they would be like 'one of the first things we need to do is fabricate an economy!' It's just a weird thing to add, it's moving it back toward actual life... As a viewer, I don't want to see people this comfortable. Being able to purchase a 24 ounce tub of peanut butter? That doesn't really seem like a 'survival' world."

Am I the only one who would have appreciated some extra voiceover explanations from Jeff throughout this season regarding the rules/point of Edge of Extinction and Fire Tokens? I keep getting confused about who has tokens, what they are using them for, why any of it matters, whether Edge Of Extinction has an end date, whether someone from Edge is still going to go back into the game, how the advantages from Edge being thrown into the real game helps anyone still on the Edge, why someone who was voted out first and therefore barely played the actual game should be able to vote for the winner, all of it just seems borderline pointless.

Absolutely! I get why people are annoyed by Tony's constant frantic energy but I happen to love it and think he's hilarious to watch. He's never mean spirited, he's become pretty self aware, he's always laughing about his own craziness, and more than anything he's providing life to this season in a much-needed way! I'm a huge fan of his constantly spinning wheels haha.

I'm curious if Tony was simply able to hold his arm in place at an angle without letting it fall far enough down to pull the water, while other non-musclebound people weren't able to keep their arms up as high when they risked letting their elbow bend. So he could have a little bend while others needed to stay extended to prop their arm up all the way. No need for weird Kass conspiracies in my opinion haha.

Yes I'm absolutely in agreement there. Well said! I'm with everybody else who hopes that Jeff institutes some new rules that apparently used to be unspoken rules, mainly that every player needs to stay in their seat once they're at Tribal. That would eliminate most of the annoying new trends.

As for the whispering at tribal, it's absurd at this point. If everything that happens at camp is allowed to start over from scratch, only this time in secret whispers with Jeff and the jury watching but having no idea what's happening, what's the point of the game anymore? Why would anyone bother with the basic tenet of Survivor of juggling relationships while stranded on the island, or making secret pitches while you're at the water well, or hiding 30 feet up in a tree to spy?? Haha. It just takes so much fun out of the actual game itself in my opinion. And allowing even MORE discussion AFTER the vote, on whether to use an idol/advantage? Completely bonkers. Tribal should be a separate "sacred" place where we and the jury see the result of gameplay, not just some new location where gameplay resets and plays out in a less strategic and less entertaining way.

I think another aspect of this is the fact that the remaining players don't really have very "dynamic" or outgoing personalities in comparison. I'm guessing if people like Rob, Parvati, Natalie, Adam and Yul, etc were still in the game these last couple episodes in place of Kim, Sophie, Denise, Nick and Michelle, for example, there would be some more entertaining and dynamic footage to feature. As it turns out, we have a group of comparatively low-key people along with the whirlwind of Tony haha. I absolutely agree!

The amount of relief he gets from their words of affirmation is sad and worrying. And he CLEARLY correlates drama with 'passion,' as if you have to have drama to have a deep love for some one. I can't help but agree with the people who have thrown the theory that it's a reflection of his relationship with his mom haha. I mean, he still lives at home with his parents. His mom has been loving the spotlight during his time on the show. She seems to have a BIG dramatic personality and has been shown sobbing multiple times. I can't even remember ONE other parent being shown over the years, let alone being in on the hysterics. Doesn't take a psychologist to connect the dots and think he's got some serious arrested development going on and he could use some time to move out, grow up, and be independent if he actually wants to find real love any time soon.

Oh yeah I remember her! I liked her in that season, didn't she get screwed out of being the Bachelorette at the time as well? I wonder if she'd still be interested now, considering the zero options I can possibly imagine from this season.....

The big difference was that Luke was an asshole all season and Hannah gave him chance after chance and disregarded warnings from other guys multiple times. He may have been "walking the walk" in terms of his born again virginity, but not in being a pious virtuous person. When he got all sanctimonious at the end it made Hannah realize how phony he was and how duped she had been. That's why it was different. Madison might be saying the same things, but she didn't have an entire season's worth of acting like a jerk leading up to that moment.

With Madison, I can't help but see it from both sides. I don't blame her in the slightest for making that moral choice and wanting to stick with it. She has gone her whole life with the plan to wait for marriage, and to find a husband who will share her morals and be the "religious leader of the family" and she doesn't want to throw that life-long plan aside. HOWEVER, she has 100% control over her involvement in this show and in this situation. If she wants to choose her morals over the setup of the show, she absolutely should! If she thinks Peter can be molded into the type of man she has been holding out for, she can make decisions based on that as well. But it's not like she's some naive Pollyanna they recruited off the street, she knows what the show is and who Peter is and what she was deciding to be a part of from the beginning. He clearly has never thought of sex as a sacred moral part of the equation. I totally understand that she does, and I don't begrudge her that at all. But vaguely trying to tell him it would be a dealbreaker for him to sleep with the other contestants and expecting him to take on her morals is in itself a sign that they aren't compatible. So I guess my grand point is that there is no way Peter fits the parameters she has set out in her mind all these years, and it would be in her best interest to bow out. If she truly believes in her religious morals and wants to live by them strictly, and I have no reason NOT to believe she's sincere, then she should be able to see that it will never work and she should be trying to find someone who shares her morals instead of someone who she will have to bend to her morals.

I think Hannah Ann and Peter actually seem like a decent match in the grand scheme of things. Clearly none of them are going to have a lasting relationship, let alone get married, but Peter and Hannah Ann both just seem kind of on the same wavelength and maturity level. My sister nailed it last night when she said they seem like high school seniors who are trying to decide whether to try to stay together when they go off to college. Neither of them seem particularly deep, and they both have a LOT more growing to do and experiences to have before they're ready to actually settle down and get married, but that's the level both of them are at and I actually think they could be relatively happy together for awhile! And as for her comments that "whatever happens this week I will still be here for you," I actually think she was just being clear-eyed about the situation and the show they are on. In the real world of course NOBODY would be ok with their potential fiance sleeping with someone else a week before proposing. But this is The Bachelor, none of it operates the way the real world operates, and I actually thought she was smart and realistic to just cut the BS in that moment.

Yul:

Haha this is hilarious. I want to see a Yul/Tony buddy cop movie.

I agree and I think sometimes people get the wrong idea from him because he has Resting Intense Face haha

I threw this in at the end of a previous post but I'm genuinely curious, who do you all think might have a shot at being the Bachelorette? I'm hoping they bring someone back from a different season but I can't really remember many great options.

good god Tony is hilarious

Haha that part I can absolutely agree with!

I feel like that's become a social media cliche the last few years. People like to claim they can't tell "all the white guys" apart on SNL as well, it makes me fear for their wellbeing if they have no facial recognition abilities.

I was impressed by Madison's basketball skills! However in my opinion that's about the only thing interesting about her and I can't help but think she would make for a very bland Bachelorette. She seems nice and all, but not charismatic to me. But even if it's not her, I have NO idea who they can possibly choose from this season. Are there any decent contestants from the past 5 years or so that they could reach back for? The well seems to be running pretty dry for lead candidates these past few seasons.

Yeah he clearly was just goofing around, and Ethan didn't come up to talk to them he was doing an interview next to them and he and Rob kept accidentally bumping into each other before Rob started ribbing him: That being said, fashion does not seem to be Rob's strong suit so he probably could've chosen something else to razz him for hahah

Amazing. I feel like a ton of Survivor fans would be fascinated by a behind the scenes special full of archival/raw footage. I know I would devour something like that haha. Seems like season 40 would be a great time to do it...?

Whoa! This is fascinating! Is footage like this common at all? I've never seen anything like that before. I've always thought a true behind the scenes documentary or something about the making of the show would be incredible, does anything like that exist?

No no, he's not older and out of shape! He's just evolving closer and closer to Full Mob Boss Status!