kikaha

Whoever comes back from EoE will likely be great at challenges. The players in the game now don't look much like challenge beasts to me. Two wins for the returnee, at 6 and 5 (against players arguably worse at challenges) and he/she are probably odds on to make FTC. There they argue their case in front of a jury they've bonded with, in some cases for over a month. Hope it doesn't take place, but I could easily see the next returnee winning the season.

That's because he's one of them: the castouts who were tossed from the game (unfairly in many of their minds). Very much an "us vs them" mentality, where so many bootees identify with Rick. If he makes it to FTC, that alone pretty much guarantees him the win.

Here's a bizarre outcome that would perfectly fit this idiotic season: Rick gets booted after the next TC or so... returns to EoE... wins the second (and last) EoE challenge... goes back in the game and ends up winning the title of Sole Survivor.

He just backstabbed his closest ally. Why would anyone trust a single thing he says from here on?

I think Wardog is playing a good 5th or 6th place game. His problem IMO is that he is too visible. Everyone knows he's behind these big moves. Can't see them taking him to the end: they feel his 'resume' is too strong. And unless he's been faking it all season, he has no chance of winning challenges when it counts. Excellent strategic move to take out Kelley. Bet Wardog goes pretty soon afterward though. btw, the challenge beast of this season outside Joe is Aurora. Strong, great balance, iron control and focus. Several episodes ago during a team RC, she looked like a fish clipping through the water.

The Gallup Poll from May 25, 2018 found 3.9% of all American men identify as gay. How is casting 20% of all men players 'token?' Its over five times as much as their proportion of the population.

She's lurking in the background, seemingly never at risk, not posturing (like Julia fatally did this episode), not drawing attention to herself, marching deeper and deeper into the game.

I think it's cool and exciting. It makes TC even more pivotal. e.g. I felt as tribal progressed that Julia was blowing it, giggling at the worst of times, talking down to others, acting imperiously. We often don't know where votes come from. That's part of the game, i.e. the contestants themselves get blindsided. It's also part of editing -- to give us some pieces of info, but keep us in the dark on others. Otherwise, where is the surprise, the drama? Other than EoE, I'm now enjoying the season immensely.

Why?

Cerie got booted with zero votes cast against her.

Lauren is just 21. She's tall, lean, a college athlete. At that age, with that physique and activity level, her metabolism must race at a thousand miles per hour. It's easy for me to believe she suffered more than the others in her tribe, who were older. I know when I was 21 (also lean and a college athlete) if I didn't eat three big meals a day I was a very unhappy camper. This is one big advantage older folks have on Survivor: they can handle the food privation better than the youngsters. As for the ones on EoE, I'm not sure they were getting less food than Lauren's tribe. Actually, with Chris' fishing, the EoE'ers might have eaten more. Also, they didn't have to take part in immunity and reward challenges. It's easy to say other food sources exist out there But getting that food requires a skill set few have. That is why so many people lose so many pounds on Survivor.

Despite this, the rest of your post was so good I gave it a like.

Those people are also his jury, assuming he makes it to the end. So I think he treats them as well as possible. Real good episode IMO. EoE was the only letdown. It still pisses me off that someone can miss most of the season, bond on EoE with the others who got booted and will make up most of the jury, come back near the end and win.

Thanks to Kimberstormer for that video. Talk about fake news. Survivor producers/editors are badly misleading us, misrepresenting in whole what Kelley says and does, to push a false narrative. That's on top of the awful EoE theme, which makes a mockery of strategy and social game. Show is stooping to new lows IMO.

My heart went out to Wendy tonight. She almost won the challenge at the start of the episode, and probably would have but for her health issues.