skybolt

I get her game play with buying the rice back at camp, but the way she delivered it at the jury was super confusing. Like I mentioned above, Adam was asking whether or not she's bluffing, while Sophie said I don't know and Parvati and Kim looked confused. I get that they were trying to fool Nick, but they already had the 4-2 vote advantage against him and Michelle. It was just an unnecessary weak move to the jury in general. Maybe she was trying to prove a point to Tony and Sarah that she's willing to fall on her own sword in front of jury. However, back at camp she was still talking strategy to Ben and Sarah about voting out Tony.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I still want to understand how the fire tokens were spent by people at EoE. Does anyone have a screen shot of the updated food menu on EoE? I know that the challenge advantage and immunity idol doubled in price from 1 to 2 fire tokens and 3 to 6, respectively, so did the peanut butter jar also go up from 1 to 2 tokens? If this was the case, then it makes sense that Natalie spent 6 fire tokens on 3 challenge advantages, 6 on the idol for Tyson and 2 for the peanut butter jar (otherwise, it doesn't add up to 14). However, if the peanut butter jar only cost 2 fire tokens, that means 5 total jars were purchased since Tyson returned to the game (6 in total). I assume Parvati bought 2 jars with the 4 tokens she got from the 50/50 advantage. Natalie bought 2 jars (one she shared with Tyson, and likely another one earlier on, since she should've had a total of 16 fire tokens). Tyson was shown to have 0 fire tokens entering the final challenge, even though he received 2 at the coconut challenge. I assume he spent his to buy another peanut butter jar. Speaking of Parvati, if she had kept her 4 original tokens, she could've bought 3 advantages like Natalie or an immunity idol. I'm also disappointed in her game play that she couldn't even get 1 or 2 tokens from Natalie, even though she helped her strategize and obtain the extortion advantage from camp. All season long I feel like she's tried to play fair and be nice to everyone. I wonder if she knew she had zero chance of winning and wanted to leave Survivor with a better reputation. That's another thing I hate about EoE. In the real game players are asking for 1 token bribes for their help, while on EoE everyone is fine with Natalie getting a gazillion fire tokens and actually helping her strategize to maximize her count.

Assuming that Ben, Tony and Sarah make the final 4, which I'm guessing won't happen (Michelle and/or the returning player will likely take 1 or 2 of those spots), what would Ben do if he wins the immunity challenge? Will he give up the necklace to either Sarah or Tony and face the fire making challenge himself? If not, whom from Sarah or Tony would he pick to go up against the other individual, or would he just have them face each other?

The problem with Denise is that her reactions come off as being very confusing to viewers and probably to some of the jury. It's hard to tell if she's joking, being sarcastic, playing the role of a defeatist, angry, motivated, etc. For instance, I noticed that she got up and whispered to a couple of people before shushing Jeremy. If I was part of jury I would be confused as to whether it was a power move, was she just fed up, is she just done playing the game in general, does she hate Jeremy, etc.? I had the same feeling when Nick did that wild call after being voted out. The rest of the group either laughed or smiled, but I had no clue what her facial expression / shaking of the head was supposed to mean. It was like she was amused, confused, dismissive and embarrassed all at the same time. Even her closest ally in the game Adam was confused as to whether she was bluffing or not. Sophie said I don't know when he asked her and Parvati and Kim seemed confused. I bet if she makes final tribal and was asked by the jury if she was bluffing, she would reply "yes, yes, of course I was bluffing, but after 39 days of a game filled with deceit and scrambling at the last minute, there are times where you just want to lay down and quit and just be done with it. You're tired, hungry and feeling miserable all the time, which plays with your mind. So to answer your question, no, I was not ready to quit and was just being sarcastic with a part of my response ;)" I also didn't like Sarah's response from a couple of weeks ago where she said she's not enjoying sitting in her seat. If I was part of jury I would want to see someone strategizing like Tony or enjoying the whole experience like Michelle. Michelle seems energized like she just landed on the island and is cracking jokes and showing life. For an all winners season you want to vote for someone still playing the game.

If the fire tokens are here to stay, something has to change if EoE ever returns. What I dislike about EoE the most is how much of an advantage someone voted out early has over someone making it far into the game before getting voted out. Is it really fair for someone like Kim to make it this far into the game, but have to give up her 3 tokens before going to EoE? On the flip side, not only did Natalie have all the time in the world to collect fire tokens, but was also able help or mess up people's games by sending advantages, and socialize with a majority of the players in this game. If EoE does come back, I really hope that after the first challenge, whomever doesn't get back in the game is sent to Ponderosa. There has to be some disadvantage for getting voted out early.

Who has the best chance to win based on the edits. 6.) Ben - If he had even an inkling of a chance to win the whole thing, his edit would've been somewhat positive last week. Sarah making him believe that he came up with the idea to blindside Nick, and the whole 50/50 advantage exchange with Jeremy and Michelle, cemented the fact that he's not winning. 5.) Denise - On the surface she has a chance to win the whole thing, just based on her Sandra blindside and the jury generally liking her (she received fire tokens from Danni, Kim and Adam). However, her edits over the past 5 or 6 episodes have been non existent / dull. I would be shocked if she even made the final 3. At least Ben has been set-up to be the zero vote getter at final tribal. 4.) Returning EoE Player - This could be higher or lower on the list based on who returns. Due to the fact that only Tony has received a strong edit thus far, it does open the door for someone like Natalie to win the whole thing if Tony is eliminated early in the finale. 3.) Sarah - Sarah's edit hasn't been that bad, but I just feel like we've most seen her story through Tony's edit. If she takes out Tony before the final 3, then their whole story could come full circle. 2.) Michelle - For better or worse, we've seen her entire story play out since episode 1, even the whole pointless Wendell drama. At this point I think she's a lock for final 3, and has a decent chance to win based on the edits. 1.) Tony - Same as Michelle we've seen his whole story play out since episode 1. What puts him on top of this list is that his game play has been stronger than Michelle's. The interesting thing is that I'm not as 100% sure that he'll make the final 3 as Michelle. His accomplishment could be used to progress Sarah's story or perhaps the returning player from EoE, if they take him out. If I had to rank who's making final 3, I would say 1.) Michelle 2.) Ben 3.) Tony 4.) Sarah 5.) EoE player 6.) Denise The reason why I think Ben is a lock for final 3 is that since Tony and Sarah won't turn on him at this point, the other players won't target him (especially with Jeremy gone). The returning EoE player will either target Tony or Sarah, or suck up to Tony and get out Denise or Michelle. They may even try to get Ben on board. He also has an immunity idol and will likely win the fire making challenge if it comes to that at final 4. Heck, I could even see him volunteering for that to prove himself to the jury.

Just finished re-watching the episode and had a couple of thoughts: I didn't notice it the first time, but loved Sophie's reaction to Adam asking if Denise's move was a bluff. She mouthed "I don't know", but did it in a way where someone is trying to shush another person behind them in a movie theater. I'm still not 100% sure about the token count, but now I actually think Natalie's move to buy Tyson an idol is genius. At first I assumed (as others did) that they miscalculated and she had 16 tokens in her possession (6 for 3 advantages, 6 for the immunity idol for Tyson and 4 for peanut butter from the new menu). However, she clearly says that she had 14 tokens, which means she had already spent 2 of her tokens a while back (maybe for a slice of pizza or something). I then noticed that Tyson's token count was actually zero (even though he earned 2 at the coconut challenge when he finished 4th with Parvati). What this tells me is that he likely pooled his 2 tokens with Natalie's remaining 4 to buy the immunity idol. The reason why this a genius move by Natalie is that her 4 remaining tokens and the idol purchased for Tyson mean nothing to her game. However, keeping the challenge beast from purchasing 1 advantage with his 2 fire tokens would give her a better shot to win the return challenge. It also makes sense for Tyson to get the idol, since even if he wins the challenge, they'll likely vote him out first. If this is truly what she planned (in addition to getting Tyson's vote if she makes final tribal), it was definitely genius.

So with Denise buying the rice for 5 tokens, did that basically solidify the votes towards Nick? What I mean is that although it was mentioned that someone from EoE may have sent the disadvantage directly to Ben, wouldn't he have been asked to pay up like Tony did? No matter how you slice it, I'm confident that Tony/Ben/Sarah put 2 and 2 together and figured out that a remaining player made the conscious decision to pay for that disadvantage, even if the EoE player had picked Ben as the target (which was not the case). With Tony having 0 tokens and Sarah being a strong ally, when Denise used her tokens to buy the rice, it likely signaled to everyone that either Nick or Michelle had pulled the trigger. Since Michelle was safe, Nick was next on the chopping blocks.

Rudy lost over 30 pounds at the age of 72 while playing 39 days, and drinking non boiled dirty water. Let's give him the million dollars over Richard Hatch.

This is a key point. If they wanted us to care about EoE and fall in love with how a certain player is operating, then extend the show to 1:30 and give us 15-20 minutes of edge each week. Heck, throw in reward challenges and give some food to the winner. Add some dynamics to it vs. everyone starving and feeling miserable all the time. I can get that watching a show where they just throw 10 people in the woods and let scavenge for food.

I completely agree. Add to that someone like Nick makes it to Day 35 and now has to go to EoE without any tokens or advantages. In contrast, Natalie has been there since Day 1 and gotten really familiar with her surroundings to figure out the clues. Not only that, I hate the fact that everyone gets together on EoE and helps each other out. Parvati helped Natalie startegize to figure out who to target for the extortion, as well as lead everyone away from camp, and that apparently from the goodness of her heart. Then this time around everyone gets together, sings kumbaya, and helps Natalie target someone for the challenge disadvantage. This is not Survivor folks. I absolutely hate EoE. I guarantee that most people who want Natalie back to win the game either A.) dislike the remaining players or B.) really like Natalie. If Boston Rob makes it back, the same people will be saying how stupid EoE is and that producers are rigging it for him.

Even though Ben will get zero votes, it may make more sense for Tony to bring Denise or Michelle to the end with him and Sarah to split the women's jury vote. I think Denise is the better option because I can see Amber and Danni voting for her, while Kim and Sophie may go for Sarah.

I think this is exactly why Tony took out Sophie. He wanted to eliminate her numbers so she's forced to stay loyal to him. I don't believe anyone knows anything about Natalie having an idol. I highly doubt her and Rob told Tyson anything last time around before he came back. I don't think idols can be shared after the challenge ends. I don't agree with this "triumvirate of evil" statement being tossed around to describe Tony and Sarah. Just because they're playing the game doesn't make them evil. It's not like they're burning people's socks or berating them. They are playing survivor to win just like everyone else.

It would've been a good strategy for Sarah to pretend she needed to go to the restroom so Tony can listen to what Ben and Denise were saying in private.

I definitely agree, and this is coming from someone who loves Natalie. She has clearly been the best player on EoE, but I honestly believe it's because most of the other players have already checked out mentally. I give her credit for being mentally tough and doing everything possible to get back in the game, but it's a lot easier to do that when you don't have Sandra, Parvati or Rob trying to back stab you at every turn. Back in the real game you have people like Kim and Tony laying low early on to keep the target off their backs. Ben was not searching for idols. Michelle is scrambling to stay alive. You have all these mind games going on. At EoE everyone is starving, low on energy, bored to death and ready to get this over with. It reminds me when we had our soccer league. When our team got eliminated in the quarterfinals, we decided to play a pick-up game with another losing team. That pick-up game had absolutely zero tension since the best players on both sides were giving 20% effort. Players like myself looked like all stars just because I was trying and they weren't.

I would add Tyson to that mix. He has gotten a somewhat winner's edit as well. Sarah is not far behind if she takes out Tony.

I would say no since as a cop Sarah knows that Tony could be up there at anytime. He already told her about it before. In all honesty, I think the spy nest is more of a fun thing for Tony to do than strategic play. In a secret scene from last week, all the players are saying their energy is at 1 or 2 out of 10, and Tony says he's at 15. He wants to do something to burn off that energy. In the pre winners at war interview (or maybe it was Cagayan) he mentioned eating 5 avocados a day (in a addition to his regular meals) to build up healthy fat to burn off on the island.

I understand your point and felt like Nick made a really bad choice not siding with Jeremy and Michelle to vote Ben out. However, if you're Tony or Sarah, why in the world would you want to vote out Ben now? He has proven over and over again that he's loyal to you and you need to maintain that 3 person strong alliance with 2 idols in hand, especially with someone coming back from EoE. Can you imagine them voting out Ben now and Wendell returns to join forces with Nick and Michelle? As far as jury votes are concerned, you could also make a case for players like Denise, Michelle and the returning EoE person getting their share of votes. Now as far as the fire making challenge is concerned, here's my take. If Tony or Sarah win final immunity, I bet they have the other person go up against Ben in a fire making challenge. This is a strategic move for them to get rid of the other person. If Ben wins I guarantee that Sarah or Ben convince him to give up his necklace and beat the other person to prove himself to the jury like Chris did. If that other player is Denise or Michelle, it's not a big deal. However, if it's Rob, then Tony would be telling Ben he's the king of the jungle if he can pull off that move. Yes, i someone like Michelle wins final immunity then Tony risks getting pitted against Ben, but you take your chances 1 vs. 4.

In all honesty, I feel like Tony showboated a lot in Cagayan, but has been more subdued at tribal this time around. Him asking Sarah and then wanting to play the idol for her was a strategic move to potentially save an ally. It's not like he taunted other players with it or did the Ben bomb thing. Even when Kim was sent home, he subtlety put his head down and his hand on Ben's knee. No showboating whatsoever. I completely understand Denise's move at tribal, but she could've presented it better to the jury. I bet half those players walked out thinking she was about to give up. Her attempt at humor or sarcasm can be head scratching at times. For instance, when she told Jeremy she slept like a log, but then said she couldn't sleep at all, was very confusing. I was like is she using reverse psychology on herself? It just fell very flat.

I think Tony can also counter that by saying at times he played like a hyena himself. Perching himself on a tree spying on others is not exactly what a lion would do. 🙂

It's definitely an interesting point. My feeling is that in a season of all winners, each player has their own impression of what the ultimate survivor should encompass. For instance, I think someone like Rob totally appreciates Tony's hustle and puppet master type approach. On the flip side, another legend in Yul may believe that Tony's style of switching alliances is too erratic and not very loyal. Kim may like someone who played a more social game (at least with her) like Sarah. Parvati may like the social, flirt approach that Michelle possesses. I think Adam is similar to Spencer and likely appreciates Tony's game. Jeremy may take someone backstabbing him personally. There's so much at play here that jury votes could be all over the map.

Michelle did a great job trying to convince Sarah that she cannot beat Tony. Although she did the best job she could, it would make zero sense for Sarah to turn on Tony until at least the final 4. If Tony was eliminated at 6, she would certainly be next, especially without an idol in her pocket. Instead of being in the top 3 with Tony and Ben, now she would likely be at the bottom, unless the returning survivor was Sophie. That being said, if she does win immunity at final 4, I would easily put Tony up against Ben in a fire making challenge (if all 3 players are still there). Going back to Natalie's move of giving Tyson the idol. I was thinking about it more and realized that Natalie is likely factoring in that Tyson is a super influential player. If he selflessly expresses his feelings to others that Natalie should win (if she makes final tribal), I guarantee that a few of the survivors would listen to him. You could say that giving the idol to Parvati would accomplish the same thing, but I just feel like Tyson can appear more genuine than players like Rob or Parvati when expressing his feelings. You don't get the sense that he's trying to manipulate you, especially if stumping for someone else.

Denise is an interesting player. Although she's great at misdirection, she also is not 100% comfortable in this environment. I don't believe for a minute she wants to get voted out, but she's definitely not enjoying some of the dynamics related to the game. This also goes back to her initial season where Malcolm has recently shared that during a really bad storm he had to talk Denise into staying in the game, which helped them bond on the island.

Thanks for the additional information. Does it makes sense that she did have 16 fire tokens? 6 for advantages, 4 for peanut, and if idols also doubled in priced, I assume they cost 6 tokens now. Also, a former player noted that Tyson actually shared a bit of his peanut butter with Parvati before reentering the game last time. Perhaps this started the whole peanut butter obsession with Parvati and others.

I'm one of those people who was pissed that the old school players were voted out first and couldn't wait for a couple of them to re-enter the game. However, that ship has sailed, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm fully invested in the remaining players (for better or worse). I'm one of those people who was pissed that the old school players were voted out first and couldn't wait for a couple of them to re-enter the game. However, that ship has sailed, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm fully invested in the remaining players (for better or worse).