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In case anyone is curious how s37 winner Nick Wilson's first term in the KY house is going, he's the sponsor of this bill, which proposes to increase penalties for incest... while also removing first cousins from the "familial relationships" within the definition thereof: We're doing great here in KY. He ran unopposed for his seat, btw.

I'm dying here. I've been on these forums for ages, following Survivor, and I had no idea this thread exists. Jonathan from CU here. Delighted by this entire thread. Seriously. Love to see that the project is resonating and that folks are reading. We've always been a write-when-the-spirit-moves-you-and-you-have-the-bandwidth outfit, but I will say that Kevin, Zack, and I all wish that the women we are lucky to count among our crew had more bandwidth to contribute. We do pride ourselves on the diversity of our writers' bench-- especially in the country music space-- but always respect when those writers are game to join in or sit out. Which is to say I'm the hold up on the Sirius list, and we'll be back at it soon.

Read this tidbit in one of the "Inside Baseball" type Survivor blogs and found it interesting: After the first episode of "Winners At War," Brian Heidik is now the only winner never to have received a vote against them.

Kim, all the way. I think I screwed up on the survey by entering a second pick on the assumption that there'll be two EoE returns. But Kim. Always Kim.

Yes, that's correct. All intel is that Earl was asked but wasn't able to commit because he just had a baby born prematurely. I haven't read any updates on his family since those initial casting spoilers, though, so I hope everyone is healthy and thriving. I also hope he'll still get another shot someday. It's absurd that Vee wasn't even asked. I get why, say, Brian Heidik wasn't-- but part of me would love love love to see that raging sociopath play again-- but Vee has never seriously been in the running time return. Neither has Chris Daugherty, who had one of the all-time best end-games and FTC performances. It's a shame that the producers short-shrift so many early players who weren't necessarily flashy in their gameplay.

I loved it. Yes, there are always going to be countless nit-picks-- Edge of Extinction, obviously, some of the editing choices based on what we know now was cut from the episode, a few casting decisions-- but I felt that the episode delivered. The tone was celebratory-- which, at least for the first episode, was the right tone to strike-- without being self-congratulatory, and the series, at its best, has earned this as a victory lap. Thrilled to see the Sophie - Yul - Wendell - Nick alliance come together; as others have said, it isn't anything I knew I wanted to see, but I'm in. It allowed Yul to find a way to get his footing in the game, which was one of my main concerns, and it got me invested in three other players I was otherwise indifferent toward. Loved seeing Danni's pragmatic social game on display so quickly; she knew exactly how to handle the situation with Rob in a way that defused his volatility and potentially turned it to her own advantage. Such an underrated winner, and I hope she's able to correct that this season. I appreciated that, unlike on previous returnee seasons, the editing leaned into the significance of pre-existing relationships. That was unavoidable with the casting of both Rob and Amber-- and it's sad that we didn't really get a chance to see her play without him, but surely they both knew that was a risk coming in-- but the "poker alliance" figured prominently in the decision-making, and of course Yul had done his homework on that front. It was jarring to see Kim completely out-of-position and struggling, but I also think she's fully capable of changing that. It was also wonderful to see how enthusiastically Ethan embraced the modern game; it remains to be seen if he's good at it, but he sure seemed eager to give it a go. Ben was the only one who seemed completely out of their depth; he's a bottom-tier winner and not someone I would have cast, but maybe he'll realize his early mistakes and get it together. Even Adam, who I also would never have cast for this, was able to course-correct and move the target off of himself and Denise and onto Jeremy and Natalie, neither of whom had a good read on the social dynamics in their tribe.

Jenna has had struggles with substance abuse in recent years; as was the case with Todd, the consensus is that the producers did not want to put anyone in recovery at risk of relapse.

I'm in! I picked Tyson, Kim, Denise, and Yul!

I'm a s1ep1 veteran of the PlanetSucks and TWoP and Realiiity games and forums, and I've never seen the level of belligerence surrounding spoilers and spoiler sources as has been on display for this season. I know fans feel passionately about this season, but the vitriol about spoilers is bizarre. I've always been pro-spoiler, but wading through Sucks and Reddit to try to find them this year is a chore.

Ha! I said arguably, not that it was the argument I would necessarily make! Bob would be my personal choice and Adam's a bottom-tier winner for me, too, but Jud does come up in that discussion pretty regularly.

Chase Rice, who parlayed his stint as the runner-up to arguably the worst winner in Survivor history into a career as the most overtly sleazy of the "Bro-country" Bros, has apparently taken his sleaze to another reality franchise: https://people.com/tv/bachelor-star-victoria-fuller-faces-ex-chase-rice-on-peter-weber-date/

Was nice to see that she reached out to Brian Corridan from her season for some insight. He's always been at the top of my list of players from Guatemala who deserve a second chance.

Last I checked, the episodes from both of seasons that were pulled had rewards from companies that no longer sponsor the show; since Cindy's ouster hinged so much on her winning the infamous car reward, pulling the episode would be a lot easier than trying to edit around it! Re: Hatch. I try to avoid hyperbole on the internet, but what he did to Sue in All-Stars was assault. And the way that other players-- especially Kathy, who spent All-Stars squandering every bit of goodwill she earned in Marquesas-- was especially gross. All-Stars didn't have any real precedents in reality TV, and seeing that group struggle to navigate the in-game v IRL dynamics really wasn't fun to watch, though there was some interesting gameplay. It's a bottom-tier season for me.

Wow. Just wow. https://jeffvarner.blogspot.com/

A bit more information here regarding Dan's ejection from the game: https://people.com/tv/why-survivor-contestant-dan-spilo-removed-from-game/ Also of note: The reunion is being pre-taped, rather than aired live.

If there are still rumblings of a medevac, I wonder if the lingering close-up on Janet's bloody foot after the last immunity challenge might have been purposeful foreshadowing.

I had also felt like I was watching the last several seasons out of loyalty, and I thought s14 was one of the most consistently funny and on-brand seasons in years. I agree that episodes 9 and 10 ended it with its two weakest episodes, but it's a huge improvement over 10-13.

Oh, Mrs. O told me about Instagram: I don't use it or FB, either, for the same reason! But yes: Elizabeth deleted all of the negative replies to the apology on that platform, leaving just 30 positive ones. I do get the impulse to turn off the comments after a point; it's more that deleting negative replies to the apology shows, at least to me, an unwillingness to engage further with her behavior and hold herself accountable for her actions. We all create our own realities, and it's just interesting to see someone engaging in that so overtly thanks to the side-by-side comparisons of the two different social media platforms. all of which is to say that I didn't make my point clearly in my first post!

Of note: There are over 1100 replies to her "apology" on her Twitter. There are now just 30-- every single one of them positive-- comments, and the ability to comment has been disabled, in the replies on her Instagram. So clearly she wants to curate a particular reality.

Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I 100% regret how genuinely excited I was, as a season 1 episode 1 viewer, that Varner even made the ballot for the Second Chances season. He seems incapable of stopping himself from digging ever-deeper holes of revisionist history that frame him as a victim. What he wrote about this is based on an even more limited set of facts than what season-long viewers have and contradicts itself, and his responses to people who called him on that are passive-aggressive. Gross.

Best thing I've read about all of this yet, though I haven't yet gotten to Zeke. The statement that standing up to racial slurs and sexual harassment get framed as bad gameplay is spot on, and I don't think Probst is in any way capable of seeing that.

I can't decide if it's making me rationally or irrationally angry that effing Aubry "My one Survivor skill is centering myself in literally every narrative" Bracco is replying to people on Twitter who aren't on board with this apology, trying to shout them down about not having all of the information because they don't understand the Survivor experience, as though she were also actually there and in possession of a complete set of facts. Either way, STFU forever, Aubry. You're not helping.

And this is why I will always have Greg Buis at the top of my list of players who should return.

This is a perfectly-phrased summary of why Rudy had such an impact and, honestly, how his arc in season one was critical in the show's success. Rudy's self-awareness and willingness to grow were incredibly admirable.

Here's where I think I checked out of this show for good: Riding in their cab/Uber/whatever, Benny makes a wistful observation about how Bull and the defendant both feel so passionately about outcomes that they cannot be persuaded otherwise, and how that's one of the things he loves about Bull. Except that it's actually one of the multitude of reasons he punched Bull and quit his job. It's somethings specifically asked Bull to correct in last week's episode as a sign of respect to him, to consider returning to work. Not that the supporting cast has ever been super well-developed, but come on. That's the kind of week-by-week WTF characterization of a supporting player typically seen on late-season Law & Order: SVU. Elizabeth Alderfer, who played the defendant, was terrific on season two of A.P. Bio. Was pleased to see her pop up on another series, even for what's presumably a one-off.