S40.E01: Greatest of the Greats

[fishcakes]

13 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

I thought Rob looked older and out of shape which just shows how wrong I can be at times as he literally threw people over the roller on that challenge.

He's so gray! It makes me both sad and happy at the same time. The dad bod thing isn't that surprising. He always comes into a season fairly chunky and then gets progressively skinnier. I don't know if he bulks up on purpose beforehand or if that's his usual weight.

One of my favorite moments was when Amber and someone (Sarah?) were talking about making a calendar for their kids to mark off the days while they were gone. Tyson is eavesdropping in the background and while Classic Tyson would have had stepped forward with a sarcastic comment, Stay At Home Dad Tyson says, "I made my kids a daisy chain!"

[truthaboutluv]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

I think all winners deserve credit for their season, because they made it to the end and got people to vote for them. If you can do that, you deserve credit. Amber formed a strong alliance. Not just with Rob, but they had a final four alliance, and then she and Rob had a sub-alliance. She played a role in Rob making her his number 1. Then she used him as a shield so that people were more likely to vote for her at the end. It is a similar tragedy to Natalie White, who beat Russell. 

She also did well in challenges, and I remember she once threw a challenge so that Rob would win and not be on the chopping block. That may sound like she was just protecting him, but she was really in her best interest.

Answering in Amber's thread. 

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

One of my favorite moments was when Amber and someone (Sarah?) were talking about making a calendar for their kids to mark off the days while they were gone. Tyson is eavesdropping in the background and while Classic Tyson would have had stepped forward with a sarcastic comment, Stay At Home Dad Tyson says, "I made my kids a daisy chain!"

Tyson is so hard for me to read sometimes. I'm so used to him being a deadpan, sarcastic wise-ass that I still can't quite believe him when he does nice stuff like this. I think it's his delivery.

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

I'm still processing the votes and strategies, but what I can't get over is WHY WAS THE MUSIC SO LOUD? WAS THE MUSIC ALWAYS THAT LOUD?? I swear, I had to turn on the captions and actually turn off the sound at various points because I just couldn't hear the dialogue anyway. I've seen every show of Survivor and don't ever remember this being a problem for such a long stretch of time and for so many scenes. Maybe it means I'm officially at the HEY YOU KIDS GET OFF MY BEACH level of fandom? No way I can listen to that level of music every week and not be able to follow conversations. Just me?

That happened to me once when I was dog sitting.  I figured out that the Samsung TV sound was set to ACTION MOVIE and I changed it to VOICE FORWARD and it was perfect.  It is the only TV with that option, so I am always happy to see a Samsung TV at my dog sitting house since I can adjust the sound to focus on voices, not the marching band in the background!  

 

 

[KaveDweller]

3 hours ago, amazingracefan said:

She definitely got help in that vital immunity (maybe from more than one player) and it's unlikely she would have won it otherwise.  But individual immunities are really meant to be won by individuals.  The only other example I can think of was the Australian version where I think someone - was it Janine? - got someone to come over and swat a fly off them during some immunity challenge.  The Sophie immunity win needed even more help though.

According to the Survivor Wiki, Sophie lost the challenge where she tried to get others to help her (Jeff didn't let it happen). But she did win the final challenge later on though, beating Ozzy when he struggled with the puzzle. It sounds like she did that one on her own (according to the Wiki, which is probably more accurate than my memory).

There have been times when people have shouted hints about solving puzzles to the person they want to win. It doesn't seem to be against the rules.

2 hours ago, fishcakes said:

One of my favorite moments was when Amber and someone (Sarah?) were talking about making a calendar for their kids to mark off the days while they were gone. Tyson is eavesdropping in the background and while Classic Tyson would have had stepped forward with a sarcastic comment, Stay At Home Dad Tyson says, "I made my kids a daisy chain!"

I thought that was a really sweet moment. It is the kind of natural thing that you don't really see on scripted TV.

[simplyme]

4 hours ago, amazingracefan said:

She definitely got help in that vital immunity (maybe from more than one player) and it's unlikely she would have won it otherwise.  But individual immunities are really meant to be won by individuals.  The only other example I can think of was the Australian version where I think someone - was it Janine? - got someone to come over and swat a fly off them during some immunity challenge.  The Sophie immunity win needed even more help though.

No, she did not. For God's sake, you can look this up on Wikipedia.

With Sophie, Coach, Albert, Rick, and Ozzy left, the immunity challenge was one where each contestant had to hold a rope that steadied a board with one hand. With the other hand they had to build a tower with wooden blocks. First to get the tower to a certain height won. Sophie was ahead, but some of her blocks fell. She yelled for Albert to stop what he was doing and come help her by picking up her dropped bricks. Jeff said no, so it didn't happen. Ozzy ended up winning. Rick was voted out that TC.

The next immunity challenge, which was the last one, was a "race through obstacles, get 5 puzzle bags, open the bags, complete the puzzle" challenge. Ozzy completed the obstacles and got his bags first, but Sophie caught up to him and passed him doing the puzzle and completed it first, thus winning immunity. And no, she had no help from anyone.

ETA: Oops. @KaveDweller beat me to it. Sorry. 

5 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I don't think it's possible to prove when producers made the decision, unless someone hacks into CBS's emails or something. I am not suggesting anyone do that, I'm just saying we'll never know.

I'm not really a conspiracy theorist. I think they decided before the season rather than specifically for Ben. That said, it still sucked specifically for that season because it was a surprise twist. You had ALWAYS been able to vote someone out at Final Four. Now you couldn't. Also, it now means that there is no TC where someone cannot play an HII but they can get voted out. That's gone. Before they had to either win immunity or convince at least one person to vote with them. Now they can skip those if they have faith in their fire-making.

I mean, should Chrissy et al have tried harder to prevent Ben from finding HIIs? Of course. But in every other season from something like 13 (?) up until that one, they would have been able to vote him out at Final Four as long as someone else won immunity. 

I've realized that I don't *necessarily* mind TPTB adding unexpected twists, but I do think the twist needs to either be announced at the beginning or come in the first half of the game so that people can at least try to adapt. This stuff that affects the last few TCs is bull crap, imo.

Edited February 14, 2020 by simplyme
Realized I was beat to the punch

[KaveDweller]

5 minutes ago, simplyme said:

I've realized that I don't *necessarily* mind TPTB adding unexpected twists, but I do think the twist needs to either be announced at the beginning or come in the first half of the game so that people can at least try to adapt. This stuff that affects the last few TCs is bull crap, imo.

I agree it seems unfair. They have done it in other seasons though, they didn't tell anyone when they switched to a final 3. And they didn't tell anyone in Fans vs. Favorites when they randomly decided to switch back to a final 2 for that one season.  I even remember in Africa when they did a tribe swap for the first time. Everyone was shocked and thought it was unfair. It is crazy how much has changed since then.

But the fire challenge seems like the biggest change. It changes the whole idea of a bunch of people voting each other out. The loser of the fire challenge doesn't get any votes. However, that just means anyone who goes on the show without knowing how to make fire is an idiot.

[Hera]

Late to the party (as usual), so most of what I wanted to say has already been said. One thing I wanted to put out there is that there seems to be an assumption that the "old school" players who haven't been involved in Survivor-adjacent events are at a disadvantage and I'm not sure that's true. The people who won earlier seasons had to do so without being able to rely on things like hidden immunity idols or other advantages.

This isn't to say that the people who won using these advantages are bad or undeserving winners, but it seems to me that the ability to convince people to keep you around, work with you, and then vote for you to win involves a set of skills that are more difficult to learn (and harder to forget) than it is to figure out the strategy around Edge of Extinction and hidden immunity idols—and I think that the winners of the earlier seasons are more likely to have those skills simply because the game at the time demanded it. Although to be fair, some of the more recent winners (like Michele), managed to win the game on seasons with these advantages without ever using them or even having access to them.

12 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

I'm an oddball because Tony has never bothered me.  I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a Tony fan but his antics tend to amuse me rather than annoy me.  I mean, that underground spy shack he tried to build last time was hilarious!

I feel the same. Tony is never dull and I appreciate his self-awareness. I think he might struggle because he knows his normal all-out approach will put a target on his back, but I think it ultimately hurts a player's game when they have to suppress their personality like that.

11 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

Also how did half of Sandra's tribe fall for her "I heard so and so throw out your name for the vote" ploy?  Have they never seen her play before?  She is the last one they should be trusting to tell them the truth especially when it's about something that keeps her in the game.

This has always been the strength of Sandra's game. Everyone knows she lies, but for some reason, no one thinks ever thinks she's lying to them.

[Alice Mudgarden]

4 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Tyson is so hard for me to read sometimes. I'm so used to him being a deadpan, sarcastic wise-ass that I still can't quite believe him when he does nice stuff like this. I think it's his delivery.

I just said to a friend tonight "if you would have told me during Tocantins that Tyson would be one of my favorite Survivor contestants basically ever, I would have told you to stfu." In Tocantins I didn't get a good read or the right read or something on Tyson, but after hearing him on RHAP many moons ago, it was like everything clicked and now I love the guy.

I think generally, if the words he's saying sound ridiculous, he's not serious. If they seem genuine, he is. Daisy chain? Sincere. Saying a prayer of thanks for his rice preparation? Total nonsense. You can't go by tone (you're right, he's so deadpan), you have to go by actual sentence content haha. 

Edited February 14, 2020 by Alice Mudgarden

[30 Helens]

 

16 hours ago, dsteele said:

In other news, some 20 seasons later Probst still can't pronounce "Parvati". 😂

Ha! She has always been referred to as “Poverty” at my house as a way to mock Jeff. It’s a head-scratcher for sure.

15 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I was bummed Amber was back. Hell, I was bummed she was on All Stars because she did not do anything in her Australia season. And she didn't do much in All Stars. She won because Rob sacrificed his game for her. He stabbed people in the back in order to protect her position when she was on a different tribe. She did nothing to earn that win other then fall in love with Rob or start falling in love with Rob.

It bugs me when Amber is given no credit for her win. Yes, Rob played a great game. But she played the SAME GAME, right alongside him. There were many scenes of them plotting together, making decisions together, and they have talked about the true teamwork that went into that win. She also had physical (challenge) and social skills of her own. Rob gets all the credit because he has the more forceful personality and was more vocal about his moves. Amber was more low-key and willing to use him as a shield, which was not a bad strategy, as it turned out. She absolutely earned that win.

10 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

The only thing that makes me sad about this season is that Sandra will no longer be the only 2-time winner.  

Unless she wins again, in which case she will be the only 3-time winner!

Lots of Sandra hate here, but I personally love her. For much the same reason that I love Rob and enjoy watching Tony. They’re just so damn entertaining. Sure, she can be abrasive and egotistical, but I get the sense that a lot of that is tongue-in-cheek.  She’s also strategically very smart, and I love watching a master manipulator at work.

That said, I don’t think she has a chance in hell at winning against this crowd. Based on what little we’ve seen, I have my eye on Yul, who seems to have come in with a very thoughtful strategy, and possibly Adam, who may be enough of a crafty/under-the-radar combo to pull off some moves.

But for the moment, I’m mostly loving Ethan, who is so obviously having the time of his life and soaking in the moments that it breaks my heart a little to know that he’ll probably be exiled soon.

5 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

 I thought Rob looked older and out of shape which just shows how wrong I can be at times as he literally threw people over the roller on that challenge.  I used to love watching him during challenges as he was so good at so many different types of challenges, 

Back then, I always suspected that he was part monkey.  Ozzy too.  There was no way full humans could be that quick and nimble!

Edited February 14, 2020 by 30 Helens

[SVNBob]

11 hours ago, Wandering Snark said:

I just keep wondering if they have their 'idol' statues in their backyards now (or maybe in the basement like with the Simpsons giant tiki head).

The heads are still on IotI.  The entire cast was able to see them during the pre-game Ponderosa.  Most of the pre-game interviews were done on another island with a view of the heads.

 

11 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I don't see why they needed EOE for an all winners game.  Everyone is a winner, so everyone has a target on their back.  Plus, most viewers probably have several players to root for. 

If they really needed a gimmick to keep people's favorites alive longer, they could have done a Redemption Island.  At least with that, somebody get eliminated nearly every week.  

I think I'll just tune in for the final EOE challenge to find out who the Sole Survivor will be.

It makes perfect sense to me.  As you said, every winner has a fan base (even Ben).  And while most of us do have several favorites (eg: Yul and Sandra), it'd still be disappointing to see any of them leave the game early and not be on for a good length of time. 

EoE is the ultimate safety net, and ultimate chance for the entire cast to be around the entire season.  Your favorite might have been voted out, but they're still there, and still have a chance (slim though it might be) to win again.

[SVNBob]

11 hours ago, Alice Mudgarden said:

But no one was screwed out of a win with Rob. They were more naiive, for whatever the reason, and he beat them. The show didn't swoop in when it was certain he'd be voted out and create a twist - one they actually called an ADVANTAGE for the winner - to try and help make sure he didn't lose. Redemption Island was obviously there to keep Russell and Rob around longer should they get voted out the way they logically should have been, but Rob didn't even go.

Redemption Island was not created for Rob and the troll.  It wasn't even created by the American Survivor production team.  It was actually invented in the Brazilian version back in 2001, and appeared in many other international versions (Israeli, Filipino, South African, etc.) before getting imported into the mothership in 2010.

Although, looking at some of those descriptions, they sound more like EoE than RI.  And the Filipino version had a dog living on their RI so the residents had a companion!  That would have been nice to have on our version.

[BK1978]

18 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

I disagree that Rob "won" his last try. That season was so packed with sheep it was ridiculous. He also had plenty of time to perfect his manipulative skills.  I will give him kudos for learning  from each of his previous seasons whereas...Russell H. never did.

 

Someone said in an interview (I cannot remember who said it, I think it was Sandra but I am not one hundred percent sure) that it bothers Rob a lot that most people feel his win was handed to him and he feels like he has something to prove.

Which makes sense.  He's played four times twice he dominated and twice he was out early.  That is why I never got the hype for him.  This will probably get me backlash, but I feel that Cirie, even though she never won, is just as good as Rob at controlling the game. 

[loki567]

I dig the hell out of that Yul/Nick/Wendell/Sophie/Sandra/Sarah/Tony alliance. I hope that's the group that ultimately gains control of the game. Mainly because I love Yul, Sandra, and Tony and can tolerate the others. 

I think Rob and Parvati made a huge mistake targeting Natalie for her Jeremy connection. I could easily see Jeremy wanting to have worked long-term with Rob otherwise. 

Edited February 14, 2020 by loki567

[amazingracefan]

5 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

There have been times when people have shouted hints about solving puzzles to the person they want to win. It doesn't seem to be against the rules.

In team challenges it's been allowed, but if people are allocated their specific roles I believe that should be kept to, otherwise what's the point in deciding who does what role anyway?

 

Ok from an article on the finale, she didn't win that immunity and apparently Probst stopped it but the whole thing left a bad taste as she thought she could flout the rules.

https://ew.com/recap/survivor-south-pacific-finale-sophie-coach-ozzy/

Believing that a little teamwork is all it takes to take down Ozzy, she commands Albert to drop his stack of cards and assist her instead by picking up her pieces while she keeps building. “Uhhhh, I’m in a pretty decent spot right now,” says Albert, whose spot could only be classified as “less than decent.” “Drop your damn stack and pick up my pieces!” Sophie yells. “I’m gonna beat you!” This leads to lots of mumbling from Albert who clearly does not want to stop competing, but is also terrified of causing Mount Sophie to erupt. “Albert, just drop your stack!” Sophie orders yet again. Unfortunately, that renowned party pooper Jeff Probst then steps in to explain that this is an individual competition and there can be no teaming up. “If you want Ozzy out of this game — beat him.”

I just hate this kind of attitude she had.  Ok it didn't work for her and I did forget that part but this isn't the behaviour of a Survivor great.  I'd have to say she's way below all the greats and some non-winners like Ozzy.

Edited February 14, 2020 by amazingracefan

[mojoween]

Whether or not one likes a twist depends on whether or not one likes a player.  

Fire-making challenge?  Shitshow because Ben sucked (all game.  Producer interference or not, I was not a fan of his in any way at any time.)

Tribe swap in Africa?  Hahahahaha it was GREAT because Silas got screwed over.

Suoer Idol? Fuck me, Tony isn’t getting voted out.

Since they are bringing back a lot of classic challenges, it would be so awesome if they could bring back the ability to win a car, to see if the curse is still real.

[ProfCrash]

2 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Whether or not one likes a twist depends on whether or not one likes a player.  

Fire-making challenge?  Shitshow because Ben sucked (all game.  Producer interference or not, I was not a fan of his in any way at any time.)

Tribe swap in Africa?  Hahahahaha it was GREAT because Silas got screwed over.

Suoer Idol? Fuck me, Tony isn’t getting voted out.

Since they are bringing back a lot of classic challenges, it would be so awesome if they could bring back the ability to win a car, to see if the curse is still real.

Oh there is some truth to that. Generally, I prefer to have the "twist" announced at the beginning of the season or at least with some time for people to adapt. Announcing that there will be a new way to select the final three during the final four tribal council is still BS. Adjusting the number for final tribal at that point is BS.

Tribe swaps at least have a good chance of mucking with everyone's game and everyone is forced to adjust but has some time to try and compensate.

The amazing thing to me is the number of people who don't practice making fire even though they all know about the fire making challenge. We saw that last season.

I guess I am more OK with things that people have a chance to adjust to and work with. But new vote steals, idol nullifiers, format for choosing the final three, super idols annoy me because there is no opportunity to try and counter or adjust. So someones great play can be washed out by a twist that they knew nothing about. That irks me.

I am interested to see how the fire tokens work out. I hope that people on EoE protest the stupidity of EoE by ordering lots of pizza and beer but I suspect that they will try for advantages and the like.

[Eolivet]

Did anybody else comment on how awesome it is that the tribal council pen is literally a dagger? "Is this a dagger I see before me?" Oh, and the skull for an idol ("Alas, poor Yorick")

I approve of the quasi-Shakespearian theme. It's more fitting of a  blood feud, a fight to the death than any overdone war metaphor they could've come up with (looking at you, Challenge).

Edited February 14, 2020 by Eolivet

[ProfCrash]

Ben was a target before finding the idols. He went out idol hunting because he was a target. There were conversations on the beach and around camp that no one could beat Ben because of his backstory.

Ben was not a player who was playing from the front for most of his game, he was shown struggling more then anything at the beginning. That is when we learned about the PTSD. He didn't fully fit in with the Tribe and was socially not tight with the core alliance. I think he was thrilled to play his role as the secret agent because he was included in the plan and had an important role in it.

But Ben had a target on his back for a while and I think they would have played it a bit differently had they known about the fire challenge because he becomes that much more of a threat since he has the backstory and actually knew how to make fire.

Ben wasn't a savy player in his season and he is not a savy player, so far, this season. He comes from a very different background and mentality. He does not have the social skills to maneuver the way so many of the others do. His conversation with Rob highlights that. Ben had not thought out how that entire conversation would go. Ben didn't seem to think that Rob would ask for the names of the people talking about voting him out. Ben probably did not think about the ramifications of out Dani and the others either. He is probably clueless that he burnt that bridge on day 2.

Yul's approach is more intellectual and less instinctual. You can see him thinking out all the permutations of the game in every conversation. That can bite you in the butt because people can see that in Yul.

Players like Parvarti, Rob, Ethan seem to have a smoothness to their social games. You know that they are playing and thinking and manipulating but the way they do it is almost hidden. I think Nick probably belongs in this group, we will see this season. He was smoother then we gave him credit for in his season.

Dani and Sophie want to be there but are not. Adam and Tyson are probably on par with Dani and Sophie. Tyson wants to think that he is smooth but he is more on a shifter that with the right group looks smooth. Ben has no chance of hell in getting there. Tony and Sandra are known sledgehammers.

I am not sure where Jeremy fits in, I think he is closer to the smooth operators but I am not solid that he is on their level yet. He didn't seem to have a clue that he and Natalie might be in trouble.

I think that is where this season is fun, watching the competing approaches.

[Whimsy]

All posts about the developments of babies have been removed for being off-topic.  Stay to the topic of the episode. 

[marys1000]

Dont know what happened to my multiple quotes collection.  

I also find Tony more entertaining than irritating.  Don't know that I'm a fan or want to see him win but I'm glad he is on. 
 

Found the whole Sandra running around narcing on everyone's idea for votes so...obvious or something.  I mean, would you trust telling her anything?  Would you trust anything she says?  I feel like she did that a bit too much or maybe it was editing.  But she's going to have to watch it because she already has a lot of reasons to send her home. 

 

Not particularly into conspiracy theories either but in the one where Rob/Amber/Sandra have a pre-alliance....could it have been pre-planned for Amber to take one for the team?  "If Rob and Amber are on split tribes Amber will just let herself get voted out".  If Rob wins, they both get the 2 million.  IDK, seems far fetched.  

I think that Rob and Parvati have played their old timers alliance hand too early.  Should have gone with Adam in a less obvious power play.  Now the newbies are gunning for them. 

 

[ProfCrash]

Quote

It bugs me when Amber is given no credit for her win. Yes, Rob played a great game. But she played the SAME GAME, right alongside him. There were many scenes of them plotting together, making decisions together, and they have talked about the true teamwork that went into that win. She also had physical (challenge) and social skills of her own. Rob gets all the credit because he has the more forceful personality and was more vocal about his moves. Amber was more low-key and willing to use him as a shield, which was not a bad strategy, as it turned out. She absolutely earned that win.

Rob gets the credit because Rob convinced Lex to protect Amber and keep her from being voted out. Amber did not save herself.

I also fall into the camp that Stephen should have won and not JT.  JT was more charismatic when Stephen was the one who was far more responsible for the strategy. JT does not make it to the finals without Stephen, as we have seen from JT's awful game play when Stephen is not there moving him on the chess board. Stephen was not able to sell his case and lost because JT was just so smooth.

Amber might have been talking with Rob and working with Rob but I don't think Amber was coming up with any type of game decisions. Amber also played wing woman to Jerry in the Australia season. Amber is a very good second but she is not a leader in the game. And she looked lost in the 6 days we saw her out there. There are other players who have not played in ages who were able to adapt to the new pace of the game, Amber clearly was not able to.

I think Amber would be better off coming on a season without Rob where she has a chance to play her game and not have the married couple target on her back.

[loki567]

This episode actually reminded me that I liked Ben in his season even if he did benefit from ridiculous twists. But he personally is not to blame for that. And even though I don't want to oversell him as a great player, he's a constantly proactive player. 

Yeah, Ben looked like a rube for letting Rob verbally bitch-slap him, but he admitted it immediately in a confessional. Other people would pretend it was the first step in their genius strategy. 

But Ben also seemingly set himself up as a middleman in the vote, saving Adam, and now looks like he might be able to turn the Michele/Adam/Denise/Jeremy group against Parvati and Rob. 

Edited February 14, 2020 by loki567

[laurakaye]

18 hours ago, cleo said:

I don't mind Tony. I've always swung between amused and irritated. So far I've been amused. 

Plus without Tony, we wouldn't have Rob Cesternino's spot-on impersonation of Tony that never fails to make me laugh out loud.

 

17 hours ago, Cornhusker12 said:

Since I don't resent Ben or Rob I thought it was equal parts hilarious/charming/impressive how susceptible Ben was to Rob's Jedi mind tricks. I remember now why so many people think producer shenanigans led to Ben's win but I'm not sure why that makes him hateable as a person, he just seems like he's an admittedly kinda simple guy who was able to laugh at himself for being put under Rob's spell so easily in that moment.

It's not like he had any control over the producers allegedly giving him a path to winning his season (unless I'm totally remembering wrong).

What I remember about Ben's season is that he knew he was on the outs, spent tons of time looking for and finding idols, while his tribemates napped in the shelter and complained that Ben was always out looking for idols.  And if I recall, wasn't Devon supposedly the camp's fire-making guru?  I remember watching Chrissy's face go from smug to crestfallen as Ben's fire broke the rope first.  And I loved that.

 

17 hours ago, SoWindsor said:

how do you know who was asked and who wasn’t and why the decisions were made?

Regarding Vecepia, she was on RHAP and told Rob that she'd never been called to play again, and I believed her.

[Asha124]

I don't understand how someone who has seen all seasons can't remember the winners. I mean there are seasons I hate with a passion and have only seen them once (OW, RI, SP, N, BBB, both FvF) but I still remembet who won...

Amber would have much better chance if she played without Rob. She would be probably seen as no target, kinda like Michelle.

Rob can leave any time soon. I hate his smug face. And I hate Probst shoving him down our throats as the GOAT when he needed 4 tries and tribe of dummies to finally win. Rant over.

I'm rooting for the Yul/Nick/Sophie/Wendell alliance. However they are most likely gonna get split in a tribe swap soon which is a shame.

I hope that Ethan and Danni get their footing soon as I really liked them in their seasons. 

Adam is still a weasel but at least he isn't an idiot. That title belongs to Ben. He acted like Rob was the Godfather. 

Not sorry to see Natalie go but I'm worried about Jeremy. Hopefully he will 'wake up' after being blindsided.

Tyson got humbled. I wonder how long it will last. It's a good look on him.

It's funny, but I absolutely hated Tony in his first season to the point I rage quit after it became apparent that he was gonna win (I forced myself to finish watching the season later). However in his second season I found his antics hilarious. I'm curious how long he can keep himself from acting like a kid with an ADHD on too much sugar.

Sandra and Parvati are hit or miss with me. I don't mind them so far. I think them and Rob are kept as meat shields.

Denise needs to find herself a better Malcolm. I hear Jeremy is available.

Kim is such an overrated player and I'm glad we got to see her scramble.

Sarah was there, I guess? Her edit was kinda invisible which makes me think she won't go far. She was a beast in that first challenge though.

I don't hate the EoE or the fire tokens so far. I'm curious how it will all play out 

[Cornhusker12]

13 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I thought Rob looked older and out of shape which just shows how wrong I can be at times as he literally threw people over the roller on that challenge.

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

[alegtostandon]

On 2/12/2020 at 8:07 PM, tracyscott76 said:

In my opinion, Sandra could stand to grow up herself if she's so bitter that Rob didn't tell her he was playing again.

I'm sure I'm in the minority here but I'm not a Sandra fan.  I liked her a bit better last season as a mento.  Her starting out this season with the Queen Sandra bit was old and very immature for a woman her age.  I felt her 2nd win was handed to her because of the Russell hate. 

I was disappointed Cochran chose not to return.  I read an article where he said he was past this now.  

Sorry to see Amber go.  Was not sorry to see Natalie go.  She really bugged me her season.  

 

[peachmangosteen]

I was really excited for this, against my better judgment lol, but I actually really hated this ep. I hate EoE, I hate fire tokens, and I've realized I think I just hate watching people I've already seen play 500 fucking times play again no matter how much I like them.

It's funny because I ended up liking a few of the players I went into this hating/being indifferent about and hating most of the ones I went into it liking. Like even though I'd rather not see Sandra, Rob, and Parvati again I generally like them but fucking hell I'm over them all already. 

And I wasn't much of a Jeremy fan, indifferent towards Denise, and hated Adam but they ended up being interesting to me in this ep. I wanna see Jeremy take down Rob/Parvati so badly! And I am intrigued by the Adam/Denise partnership. 

I really hope I'm wrong and this season will be interesting or at least fun but I just hate all the twists and feel it's making it so much more complicated than it needs to be and most of the players are annoying as hell and I feel like they'll just get worse. Sigh!

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, alegtostandon said:

I was disappointed Cochran chose not to return.  I read an article where he said he was past this now.  

 

Cochran is also a CBS employee now (writer on one of their shows) so probably cannot participate.

Interesting/sad that Vecepia wasn't asked back... ever.  Wonder if there's something that went down behind the scenes that we aren't privvy to.... especially in a season like this where they needed 10 female former winners... with Jenna and Tina out, there weren't that many others to choose from (assuming they were interested/able to participate).

[Alice Mudgarden]

10 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Redemption Island was not created for Rob and the troll.  It wasn't even created by the American Survivor production team.  It was actually invented in the Brazilian version back in 2001, and appeared in many other international versions (Israeli, Filipino, South African, etc.) before getting imported into the mothership in 2010.

Although, looking at some of those descriptions, they sound more like EoE than RI.  And the Filipino version had a dog living on their RI so the residents had a companion!  That would have been nice to have on our version.

Oh I have (well... had now haha) no idea who created it, but it was clearly used that season for Rob and Russell.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Alice Mudgarden

[Rachel RSL]

20 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

The other factor that made Rob and Amber so strong together during All Stars is that they were both really strong in challenges.  

I'm fairly certain Amber only won 1 challenge during that season.  Rob, on the other hand, is almost always a beast in challenges. (Agree with everyone else - him literally launching people over that roller was amaaaaazing!)

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Amber on a personal level, I just think she is definitely not even close to being one of the best Survivor players.  During the first part of this week's episode, she was talking all sorts of game strategy in her confessionals and I remember thinking that maybe she picked up a lot of tips from Rob over the years and her game was going to be impressive this time.  So it's not like I'm so bitter about her All-Stars win that I was hoping she would fail here, I was hoping to see her play differently and better, I'm just not very surprised that she actually didn't.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Rachel RSL

[slaterain]

19 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

It is pretty amazing that there are only 4 people on this season in their 20s (Adam, Michele, Nick and Sophie) and the youngest of those 4 are 28.

I love this!!! It's actually refreshing to me to have it be a mostly older group and not have all the PYTs that always gave me the popular in high school vibes. There are definitely many beautiful people in the game, but having them be older just helps break away from the instant cliques it seems. I actually enjoyed hearing them bond over babies. 

14 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

That happened to me once when I was dog sitting.  I figured out that the Samsung TV sound was set to ACTION MOVIE and I changed it to VOICE FORWARD and it was perfect.  It is the only TV with that option, so I am always happy to see a Samsung TV at my dog sitting house since I can adjust the sound to focus on voices, not the marching band in the background!  

And now my next tv will be a Samsung!!! I need this feature in my life!!!

 

4 hours ago, marys1000 said:

Not particularly into conspiracy theories either but in the one where Rob/Amber/Sandra have a pre-alliance....could it have been pre-planned for Amber to take one for the team?  "If Rob and Amber are on split tribes Amber will just let herself get voted out".  If Rob wins, they both get the 2 million.  IDK, seems far fetched.  

I think that Rob and Parvati have played their old timers alliance hand too early.  Should have gone with Adam in a less obvious power play.  Now the newbies are gunning for them. 

I kept thinking that Sandra was playing that hurt by Rob bit up a lot and figured it was a smart play for her to not loop her in with him and make her an even bigger target. I do wonder if they are already planning to work together. I also wonder if it was a bit strategic to not fight too hard since I am sure that they thought one of them would be the first to go - and since the original EoE with the winner being there most of the time, it is smart to plan for one of them to get there early and play the game from there. 

I do wish they had gone for Adam. Mainly because I actually loved Natalie's win - I also don't watch TAR so I never got annoyed by her and her sister as it seems many do. 

 

[Rachel RSL]

 

4 hours ago, Asha124 said:

I don't understand how someone who has seen all seasons can't remember the winners. I mean there are seasons I hate with a passion and have only seen them once (OW, RI, SP, N, BBB, both FvF) but I still remembet who won...

I've watched every single season and literally just spent 5 minutes trying to remember who won last season, which just ended a couple months ago.  I finally gave up and had to Google it.  (For the record, I did remember Noura.  Couldn't for the life of me remember the other 2 bozos though.)

7 hours ago, mojoween said:

Whether or not one likes a twist depends on whether or not one likes a player.  

There is definitely some truth to this but I can tell you with 100% certainty that I will be pissed if *anybody* from EoE comes back into the game and wins this season. The only way this would be even remotely palatable to me is if the last person voted out is the person who returns. (So they only would have been out of the actual game for a day or so).

Edited February 14, 2020 by Rachel RSL

[bamlou]

EW's Dalton Ross posted on his Twitter feed a short clip of the second immunity challenge win from his vantage point - it's so interesting (and SO weird!) to watch the challenge play out in real time without the background music amping up the suspense or celebration of the win.

 

[mojoween]

That was a fun view!  Interesting that everyone ran over to hug Jeremy, except for Michelle and Denise, who hugged...each other.  And THEN they ran over to the crowd.

[30 Helens]

12 hours ago, BK1978 said:

This will probably get me backlash, but I feel that Cirie, even though she never won, is just as good as Rob at controlling the game. 

Cirie is the best!! She was so totally robbed in her last outing, when she was voted off by default because everybody else had immunity.  I’m still mad about that one.

[Cornhusker12]

1 hour ago, bamlouie said:

EW's Dalton Ross posted on his Twitter feed a short clip of the second immunity challenge win from his vantage point - it's so interesting (and SO weird!) to watch the challenge play out in real time without the background music amping up the suspense or celebration of the win.

 

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?

[Rachel RSL]

Cirie is a master! It's a tragedy (in terms of reality tv - not actual real life tragedies, of course) that she never actually won. You would think her getting idol'ed out of the game would have been a wake up call to TPTB that this idol shit was getting out of hand but noooooooooo, of course Probst thought the drama was great.  Ugh!  Still so bitter about that.

1 hour ago, bamlouie said:

EW's Dalton Ross posted on his Twitter feed a short clip of the second immunity challenge win from his vantage point - it's so interesting (and SO weird!) to watch the challenge play out in real time without the background music amping up the suspense or celebration of the win.

I think I almost like that better.  I hate how the swelling "hero music" always gives away when someone is about to win.

[bamlou]

11 minutes ago, Cornhusker12 said:

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?

I don't think it's common, but agree that a behind the scenes documentary would be very fascinating! 

This only surfaced because Dalton Ross was there on-site reporting for EW on the first few days of filming (I'm surprised they allowed it!). He also shared some video on Instagram of the crew re-setting the game for the first immunity challenge - it's less exciting to watch, but still neat to see:

 

[Cornhusker12]

5 minutes ago, bamlouie said:

I don't think it's common, but agree that a behind the scenes documentary would be very fascinating! 

This only surfaced because Dalton Ross was there on-site reporting for EW on the first few days of filming (I'm surprised they allowed it!). He also shared some video on Instagram of the crew re-setting the game for the first immunity challenge - it's less exciting to watch, but still neat to see:

 

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...?

Edited February 14, 2020 by Cornhusker12

[Josh371982]

22 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Or Rob?

Oh come on.  Tony is my favourite player in this season's cast.  His personality has got to be in the top 5 of all time on this show for me personally.

UGH hes trash. Arrogant obnixous paranoid ass. Hope he goes quickly. One of my most detested. 

[Josh371982]

Probst jumping the gun saying this seasons winner would be the greatest ever! UMM hardly. If not Sandra the winner has 2 wins like she does. But then with his disrespect to the women at times and slobbering over guys like Rob and Tony Probst probably wanted a guy to win 

[cleo]

@marys1000  your comment about Amber going out early. I keep thinking about this potential with EoE. That two players could plan to somehow use it ie one goes to assist the other. But it seems like a big risk for the one who goes. And they can't share the prize.

I just find the addition of letting eoe players send idols and stuff to be interesting. Bc it adds another dimension to vote considerations. Bc now soneone will have to think of vote considerations beyond just the jury.

 

Eta i know rob and amber could share but others 

 

Edited February 14, 2020 by cleo

[Sweet-tea]

OK, I am so old school I may be no school. I’ve only watched three seasons total: first w/Richard Hatch, then other two winners were a fireman (sigh) and a guy named Colby (I think or something with a C) who won a streak of challenges and then the whole thing. This was maybe 15 years ago? After those two, I lost interest in the show. 

I checked back this time when I heard it was going to be all former winners competing, but the only contestants I recognize are Yul and Parvati. My former crushes (fireman and Colby) aren’t back so I’m disappointed. I like Yul but don’t know if it’s enough to watch the whole season as some of the others annoy me. 

They didn’t do the Edge of Extinction last time I watched, and I don’t really like this component of the show. I think when someone gets voted off, they should be done. 

I don’t like Sandra’s attitude. I’m hoping she doesn’t last long but she’s “the queen” so I guess she thinks she will. Not surprised about Amber getting the boot but it’s too bad. 

Jeff Probst looks about the same to me after all these years!

 

Edited February 14, 2020 by Sweet-tea

[peachmangosteen]

12 minutes ago, Sweet-tea said:

OK, I am so old school I may be no school. I’ve only watched three seasons total: first w/Richard Hatch, then other two winners were a fireman (sigh) and a guy named Colby (I think or something with a C) who won a streak of challenges and then the whole thing. 

Colby actually lost to Tina.

[Fake Jan Brady]

5 hours ago, bamlouie said:

EW's Dalton Ross posted on his Twitter feed a short clip of the second immunity challenge win from his vantage point - it's so interesting (and SO weird!) to watch the challenge play out in real time without the background music amping up the suspense or celebration of the win.

 

Also interesting to remember that there are always people watching them perform [not just press but crew, producers, etc], a factor I never gave much thought to before.

[greeneyedscorpio]

On 2/12/2020 at 9:08 PM, Maggie Mae said:

Also....did anybody else root for the snake when it got attacked by the crab...anyone...anyone?

 

Absolutely NOT!  Crabs are cute and adorable and snakes are horrible, evil creatures that I'm very afraid of.  🙂

[Guest]

50 minutes ago, greeneyedscorpio said:

Absolutely NOT!  Crabs are cute and adorable and snakes are horrible, evil creatures that I'm very afraid of.  🙂

Would this have been Sue's analogy if the Final Two in the first season had been Rudy and Richard instead of Kelly and Richard?

[KaveDweller]

11 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Cochran is also a CBS employee now (writer on one of their shows) so probably cannot participate.

Interesting/sad that Vecepia wasn't asked back... ever.  Wonder if there's something that went down behind the scenes that we aren't privvy to.... especially in a season like this where they needed 10 female former winners... with Jenna and Tina out, there weren't that many others to choose from (assuming they were interested/able to participate).

Another female winner was Natalie White, I would have been curious to see her play again. Does anyone know if she was asked?

[tvgoddess]

11 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

I'm fairly certain Amber only won 1 challenge during that season.  Rob, on the other hand, is almost always a beast in challenges. (Agree with everyone else - him literally launching people over that roller was amaaaaazing!)

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Amber on a personal level, I just think she is definitely not even close to being one of the best Survivor players.  During the first part of this week's episode, she was talking all sorts of game strategy in her confessionals and I remember thinking that maybe she picked up a lot of tips from Rob over the years and her game was going to be impressive this time.  So it's not like I'm so bitter about her All-Stars win that I was hoping she would fail here, I was hoping to see her play differently and better, I'm just not very surprised that she actually didn't.

Thank you, I thought I was going crazy as I've watched All Stars a few times (and it's coming up in my Survivor Project watch/rewatch of every season in order - I'm on Thailand which was the first season I'd never seen). Amber blends into the background a lot. Aside from her confessionals, she isn't very talkative, and here in this first episode she didn't say very much to her tribemates. She doesn't drive conversation, she usually seems like she waits until someone talks to her first.

9 hours ago, bamlouie said:

EW's Dalton Ross posted on his Twitter feed a short clip of the second immunity challenge win from his vantage point - it's so interesting (and SO weird!) to watch the challenge play out in real time without the background music amping up the suspense or celebration of the win.

 

Absolutely fascinating. It almost looks like they're scripted to cheerlead. It looks so slow motion lol. Thanks for this!