S40.E09: War is Not Pretty

[whiporee]

14 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I think the general consensus by the previous Survivors is that they hated EoE and that Chris Underwood won. I get the feeling the jury won’t award someone who won their way back in the game.

I'd normally agree, but EoE players aren't usually part of the jury, are they? It seems like this season is unique that everyone who sticks around is still a part of the game until the end. I could easily see EoE people who have been through that comparative nightmare wanting to reward one of their own over someone who had it cushier at the regular camp. 

[rasalas]

19 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I was thinking the same thing about Probst.  You could literally see the light bulb go off over his head.  Adam likely gave them the idea to hide something there.  For that Probst should have lied and played along.  

Probst in an interview with EW: "To be very clear, we have never hidden an idol or any advantage at Tribal because we don’t want players destroying the set. I don’t see that changing. If there was ever anything to be found at Tribal, it would be very obvious to the players." 

[skybolt]

19 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

Where can you find the secret scene with Parvati and the PB??

Type in the following in Youtube:

Survivor Winners at War: Secret Scene - Peanut Butter and Yoga

[LadyChatts]

26 minutes ago, rasalas said:

Probst in an interview with EW: "To be very clear, we have never hidden an idol or any advantage at Tribal because we don’t want players destroying the set. I don’t see that changing. If there was ever anything to be found at Tribal, it would be very obvious to the players." 

I did read that, but I still wouldn't be surprised if they hide one at TC.  They will probably place it somewhere where they won't ransack the set looking for it (and Probst may have also made that comment so future players aren't tearing the set apart.  I'm sure he'd rather see drama and the game of telephone than players looking around for idols.

It might even be like the times they hid them in challenges, and give someone a clue. 

[willco]

I knew that I had heard the term 'Fleur-de-lis' somewhere before and I was sure it was in a movie, so I did some checking & it was in LA Confidential ! It should have come to me sooner because I've watched that movie several times. But perhaps it's before Adam's time, since it came out in the late 90's. It wasn't a huge plot point, but it is mentioned several times ( with the correct pronunciation !)

[Jextella]

19 hours ago, Lamima said:

I am alone on my island of 1 who likes Adam and was sad to see him go and in such a way.

Island of 2!

I like Adam. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, whiporee said:

I'd normally agree, but EoE players aren't usually part of the jury, are they? It seems like this season is unique that everyone who sticks around is still a part of the game until the end. I could easily see EoE people who have been through that comparative nightmare wanting to reward one of their own over someone who had it cushier at the regular camp. 

On the only other EoE season (38), the EoE players were part of the jury, starting with Reem, the very first person voted off. The only people who weren't on the jury (besides the final 3) were Keith and Wendy, who raised the flag and left after the first Return Challenge.

And most of the people who spent a significant amount of time on EoE voted for fellow EoEer Chris to win.

That doesn't mean that these folks will do the same thing, but there is a precedent. 

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, Maggie Mae said:

Where can you find the secret scene with Parvati and the PB??

1 hour ago, whiporee said:

I'd normally agree, but EoE players aren't usually part of the jury, are they? It seems like this season is unique that everyone who sticks around is still a part of the game until the end. 

In the original EoE, everyone that remained on EoE (which was everyone) was on the jury. 

[Angeltoes]

Poor Denise not getting picked for the challenge,  I wonder if that feels as crummy when you're an adult as it does when you're a kid.

[blackwing]

1 hour ago, whiporee said:

I'd normally agree, but EoE players aren't usually part of the jury, are they? It seems like this season is unique that everyone who sticks around is still a part of the game until the end. I could easily see EoE people who have been through that comparative nightmare wanting to reward one of their own over someone who had it cushier at the regular camp. 

Well, we’ve only seen EoE once before this season, and yes, everyone on the eponymous season of EoE was on the jury unless they chose to go home.  That’s why there were so many people saying it was unfair that Chris Underwood won.  That not only did he get to sit in on the tribal councils and listen to everything going on in the game, but that he formed strong bonds with other Edgers.

Also, with the addition of each new person to the Edge, the new people would share all the information with the existing ones.  So when he got back in the game, he knew things about each contestant, like who had an idol and who was allies with who and at least in Lauren’s case, the fact that she really felt like she needed to make a big move.  
 

As far as this season... I dunno.  The existing Edgers all seem to really dislike Tyson.  Plus this season is different in that they all mostly know each other already and many have pre-existing friendships or relationships.  Will be interesting to see what happens.  For example, if Rob or Ambuh is the second returnee and makes it to the end, obviously their spouse will put on a huge rallying cry amongst the remaining jury when they are sitting around with nothing to do.

[violet and green]

Well, realistically, this bunch of dodos should have thought about the implications of sending every single one of the power players early on to the Edge. It was foolish in the extreme, from the point of view of final tribal, given they must have surely watched Reem's Season - and has made for a dull season, in my view.

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

I especially liked the way they rhymed "winners at war" with "winners at war." They must have worked on those lyrics for hours!

It was better than their original choice ...  "winners at war .... a colossal bore "   

[30 Helens]

8 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I don't understand why they're all excluding Yul and Wendell.

Natalie said they didn’t deserve anything because they had just arrived, while the rest had been starving there longer.

A potential HII at tribal has been mentioned before, if only by Dalton Ross.  So it’s not surprising that Adam would consider it a possibility. If it had been real, we’d all be considering him a genius right now!

6 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I especially liked the way they rhymed "winners at war" with "winners at war." They must have worked on those lyrics for hours!

🤣

[Cotypubby]

2 hours ago, willco said:

I knew that I had heard the term 'Fleur-de-lis' somewhere before and I was sure it was in a movie, so I did some checking & it was in LA Confidential ! It should have come to me sooner because I've watched that movie several times. But perhaps it's before Adam's time, since it came out in the late 90's. It wasn't a huge plot point, but it is mentioned several times ( with the correct pronunciation !)

🤣 That is exactly what comes to mind everytime I hear fleur-de-lis and is the only reason I know how it’s pronounced! “Fleur-de-lis, whatever you desire.”

[Hera]

14 hours ago, Haleth said:

I don't think Jeff was mocking him as much as thinking, gee, why didn't we think of this?  It was actually kind of brilliant and if Adam felt silly for trying it, he would have kicked himself had he learned later that it really was an idol.

Exactly this. Adam knew it was him because after watching everyone get up and talk to each other (while he and Ben had their heated spat), everyone very pointedly stayed in their seats when he invited people to come over and talk to him. In that position, you may as well try anything you can think of, since you have nothing to lose.

I was not remotely surprised that Parvati was the first to bring up Adam's tribal performance when he arrived at the Edge of Extinction. I hope we're spared having to watch any condescending lectures from Rob to Adam about his gameplay. It was nauseating enough having to see him do that with Sandra.

8 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

Speaking of Nick, good on him quickly turning his sinking ship around. All he had to do was lie to Tyson that his name was being thrown out there.

I was amazed that he pulled that off. Not only that, but everyone seemed to forget that Nick started it and Adam got all the blame. If that's something Nick and do deliberately—as opposed to lucking into it—then it's no wonder he won his season and I would see him as a major threat on this one.

My husband and I couldn't stop laughing at the "Winners at War" song. Do you think the little speech Probst gave right before the song played was inspired by the song, or was the song inspired by the speech?

ETA: I think Michele overpaid for that advantage. It's only good for four more votes and doesn't even guarantee her safety. I don't think that's worth four fire tokens. At most, I think it's worth two.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Hera
Added something about Michele's advantage.

[Al Herkimer]

Probst literally had the lyrics just "come to him," called production and recited them over the phone, and they produced the song.  I saw this in an interview before the season, hopefully someone can confirm because I don't know where to find it.

[simplyme]

9 hours ago, kassandra8286 said:

No, they showed the initial EOE menu and peanut butter cost one token. Tyson only had one at the time, the one he found and then pretended he was peeing so Rob wouldn't suspect anything, lol. The second token he found he spent on the return challenge advantage.

So I guess they gave either gave them a new menu with higher prices, or Parvati still has three tokens left??  Not sure. 

The merged, still-in-the-game tribe got a new menu right after the merge and return from EoE, and all the prices had gone up. It shows the new red tribe walking back, then looking at the menu while Tony narrates that they got a new menu and he can't afford anything now.

So while I can't say for certain that the EoE folks also had a menu change with raised prices at the same time, that would seem to be logical imo.

ETA There's no peanut butter on the red tribe's menu. The two food options are small bag of beans for 4 tokens and regular bag of rice for 5 tokens. 

Edited April 10, 2020 by simplyme
no peanut butter

[srhall79]

I just finished watching Tony's first season, where I really disliked him. But I loved him a little tonight as he explained how tribal council works.

Side effect of watching old seasons is I'll see something like tonight's immunity challenge and think "They just did that!... oh, 6 years ago."

I was thinking back to "It's just a stick!" when Adam made his move.

I'm feeling a bit annoyed with Michelle and Nick- Michelle "Hey, I wanted to vote out Wendell, even though I hadn't yet." Nick "I wish people would play the game and stop writing my name down."

[loki567]

I love Adam. Guy was such a mess both times, it was amazing. And idol on the podium actually makes so much sense that I'm surprised they haven't tried it before. Apparently it happened on a foreign season and Adam might be exactly the type of superfan to have watched that. 

I really don't know where this season is going. In a lot of respects I think it's breaking down exactly like Jeff was worried about an All-Winners season would, where you have a bunch of good players with no personalities gang up on the entertaining winners and we're left with nothing particularly compelling moving forward.  

IMO, Ben and Tony are still entertaining characters but beyond that, it's all a big mush. 

[skybolt]

So Jeff Probst initially said that Natalie and Rob's immunity idols are now obsolete. However, since then he has retracted that statement and noted that the idols are still valid. If one of those 2 was able to win their way back into the game, you would assume that Jeff would not forget they had an immunity idol (unless he did this on purpose to throw everyone off..............who knows).

[ProfCrash]

hmmm I am watching but I feel no need to post or really keep up with what is going on. I just don't care at this point. Not sure why. I like Denise, Jeremy, and Kim so it is not like I don't have players I enjoy watching.

I just wish they had gone back to the first season for this one. No idols, no advantages, no tribe swaps, no gimmicks. Play the game as it was first conceived and see what happens. That would have been far more interesting to me. 

[marys1000]

On 4/9/2020 at 9:07 AM, skybolt said:

Ok, so after watching the secret scene, I'm a bit confused. It appears that Parvati spent all the tokens on a jar of peanut butter. Why has the price quadrupled all of a sudden? Did the EoE menu change after the merge? Is she buying 4 jars?

I can't help but wonder.  If you were like Yul and running the numbers, what are your chances of getting off EoE and what are your chances of winning if you do?  Sandra figured, pretty low and so left.  Now Pavarti might be feeling the same so why starve.  But why not leave?  I wonder if Sandra brokered her leaving beforehand.  In a comment I got the impression that Probst not only knew she would leave but that she would never be back, she is done.  Perhaps everyone else is "strongly encouraged" to stay.  
Of course having bought the peanut butter, that doesn't mean she couldn't sell it to someone for a token if she really needs one for something. 

[skybolt]

10 minutes ago, marys1000 said:

I can't help but wonder.  If you were like Yul and running the numbers, what are your chances of getting off EoE and what are your chances of winning if you do?  Sandra figured, pretty low and so left.  Now Pavarti might be feeling the same so why starve.  But why not leave?  I wonder if Sandra brokered her leaving beforehand.  In a comment I got the impression that Probst not only knew she would leave but that she would never be back, she is done.  Perhaps everyone else is "strongly encouraged" to stay.  
Of course having bought the peanut butter, that doesn't mean she couldn't sell it to someone for a token if she really needs one for something. 

You bring up some good points. As you noted, perhaps Sandra also negotiated leaving the EoE as part of her fee to play again, where others have to stick it out. There are also rumors that certain players held out for a bigger payday to join the cast. I'm assuming part of the stipulation would be to stay until the end.

Going back to the EoE menu, assuming that the jar of peanut butter now costs 4 tokens, it would likely mean that everything else on the menu costs at least that much now. If that's the case and Wendell didn't bequeath his fire token to Michelle last week, you basically couldn't buy anything with the 50/50 advantage trade. I really hope that if prices did go up, the jar of peanut butter only cost 2 fire tokens this time around.

[CletusMusashi]

I love how in that peanut butter and yoga video, right after Rob says that the food situation has never been this bad before, the scene changes immediately to include a profile of his beer belly.

[laurakaye]

On 4/8/2020 at 9:10 PM, Rachel RSL said:

I can’t believe they actually wrote a song about winners at war. 😂 Are we going to have to listen to that crap at every challenge?

I feel like with each passing episode, we're getting a bigger reveal of the Grammy-worthy lyrics..."Winners at War......they're coming for youuuuu.....winners at warrrrrrr.....whatcha gonna doooooo...."  Hopefully during the final tribal council we'll get the entire song dump, and then I never want to hear it ever again.

 

On 4/8/2020 at 9:52 PM, SoWindsor said:

Did all that whispering change the vote? 

What cracks me up during those whisper-sessions is how the players basically drape themselves over each other, breathing their stank moist breath into each other's ears.  Eww.

 

On 4/8/2020 at 10:53 PM, Alice Mudgarden said:

Jeremy was, by far, the best part of that crazy camp scene before tribal. His confusion, his amused resignation at another vote change, his old man "WAT" at suddenly hearing Tyson's name thrown out... just wonderful.

Regarding Jeremy, his fake disbelief is starting to grate on me.  That was his MO in previous seasons - the startled face, the "whatever, just tell me who to vote for!"  If I'm noticing it, I feel like the other players had to have been noticing it too.  

 

On 4/8/2020 at 11:52 PM, TVFan1 said:

Looks like I'm in the minority that is rooting for Michele.

*raises hand*  Me too. 🙂

 

3 hours ago, skybolt said:

So Jeff Probst initially said that Natalie and Rob's immunity idols are now obsolete. However, since then he has retracted that statement and noted that the idols are still valid.

As if this season wasn't confusing enough already, what with 576 fire tokens and 27 idols, now Probst isn't even sure if some of the idols are valid, or - more likely - he changed his mind.  Count me in on desperately wishing for a season that goes back to basic Survivor with far less advantages and idols.  It becomes impossible to track.

[meep.meep]

19 hours ago, willco said:

I knew that I had heard the term 'Fleur-de-lis' somewhere before and I was sure it was in a movie, so I did some checking & it was in LA Confidential ! It should have come to me sooner because I've watched that movie several times. But perhaps it's before Adam's time, since it came out in the late 90's. It wasn't a huge plot point, but it is mentioned several times ( with the correct pronunciation !)

Adam is from the San Francisco Bay Area.  Hubert Keller had a famous restaurant in San Francisco called Fleur de Lys.  He pronounced it the same way Adam does.  He may have gotten that from Keller.

Someone upthread already mentioned Keller's pronounciation of the word.

[skybolt]

So I'm trying to figure out what alliances are still in play. Here's a tentative list. Am I missing some?

Meat Shield (aka Lion or big threat) Alliance: Tony, Tyson, Jeremy, Ben.

Old Dakal: Sophie, Tony, Sarah, Kim

New Dakal: Denise, Jeremy, Kim (Tony was on the outs)

Old Sele: Jeremy & Michelle (the ship has sailed on Ben and Denise, but I could be wrong)

New Sele: Nick & Michelle

Yara: Sarah, Ben, Sophie 

Cops R Us: Tony & Sarah

Poker Club: Jeremy, Kim, Tyson

Goofy Pals: Tyson & Sarah

Going down the list:

Michelle has 2 connections; Nick has 1 connection, but could have a secret idol alliance with Tyson; Sophie has 4 connections; Tony with 6; Sarah with 5; Kim with 6; Denise with 2 (seems low); Jeremy with 6; Tyson with 5; Ben with 5.

Looks like Tony, Jeremy and Kim have a leg up at this point. I'm also not sure how close Ben and Sophie are at this point. Jeremy and Michelle is also a tentative relationship.

 

[ByaNose]

21 minutes ago, skybolt said:

So I'm trying to figure out what alliances are still in play. Here's a tentative list. Am I missing some?

Meat Shield (aka Lion or big threat) Alliance: Tony, Tyson, Jeremy, Ben.

Old Dakal: Sophie, Tony, Sarah, Kim

New Dakal: Denise, Jeremy, Kim (Tony was on the outs)

Old Sele: Jeremy & Michelle (the ship has sailed on Ben and Denise, but I could be wrong)

New Sele: Nick & Michelle

Yara: Sarah, Ben, Sophie 

Cops R Us: Tony & Sarah

Poker Club: Jeremy, Kim, Tyson

Goofy Pals: Tyson & Sarah

Going down the list:

Michelle has 2 connections; Nick has 1 connection, but could have a secret idol alliance with Tyson; Sophie has 4 connections; Tony with 6; Sarah with 5; Kim with 6; Denise with 2 (seems low); Jeremy with 6; Tyson with 5; Ben with 5.

Looks like Tony, Jeremy and Kim have a leg up at this point. I'm also not sure how close Ben and Sophie are at this point. Jeremy and Michelle is also a tentative relationship.

 

The editing on the alliances have been horrible this season. I don't know if it's because they are really trying to hide the winner (or, Final 3) or because they had a lot of outside relationships which they never usually deal with. Your list is good but even RHAP said they are a little confused as to who everyone's #1 is. Like, I don't know if Sarah's is really Sophie's #1 or if it's someone else. It's way too confusing for me this season. It's a great season but still confusing. LOL!!!

Edited April 10, 2020 by ByaNose

[skybolt]

2 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

The editing on the alliances have been horrible this season. I don't know if it's because they are really trying to hide the winner (or, Final 3) or because they had a lot of outside relationships which they never usually deal with. Your list is good but even RHAP said they are a little confused as to who everyone's #1 is. Like, I don't know if Sarah's is really Sophie's #1 or if it's someone else. It's way too confusing for me this season. It's a great season but still confusing. LOL!!!

Spot on. The only reason I created this list is because I'm confused as well. It's like Sarah said, everyone is now playing a solo game.

[Dirker]

4 things:

1. PB price did go up to 4 tokens.

2. If Probst changed his mind on Immunity idols held by Rob & Natalie, it's just more evidence that the producers are trying their best to help Rob win if he makes it back in. They can give them another challenge that he's good at, but at least they can't guarantee he'll win. I bet producers were bummed when Tyson pulled out the win on the last one.

3. I feel bad for Adam. He screwed up early on and was unreliable. He only did it the one time, but Rob lied about him acting shady again and everyone ate it up, and everyone still believes he's totally untrustworthy. I don't understand why anyone believes anyone who talks about someone behind their back. "She threw your name out...  He's gunning for you...  They're acting shady." I guess you have to believe some people sometimes, but anyone who believes Rob, Sandra, or Parvati deserves to get voted out. Anyhow, maybe it's just me, but I'd rather have people know bad stuff about that's true rather than believe bad stuff that's a lie. That drives me up the wall, and I have a feeling that situation is part of why Adam just kept unraveling. It's funny that pretty much every player says they're changing up their own game this time, but they all assume that everyone else is playing the exact same game they played before.

4. I think all the old-schoolers got voted out because they played a game that works with newbies, and somehow assumed it would work with new-school winners. With absolute newbies, old-schoolers have had great results aligning with some new people early on, 'cause the newbies look up to them, are flattered to be asked to align with them, and generally let the old-schoolers call the shots. But while new-school winners look up to the old-schoolers, they also see them as competition and big threats, not potential allies. Old schoolers should have stuck together instead of thinking they'd be seen by new schoolers as a way to advance in the game. 

[peachmangosteen]

4 hours ago, laurakaye said:

Regarding Jeremy, his fake disbelief is starting to grate on me.  That was his MO in previous seasons - the startled face, the "whatever, just tell me who to vote for!"  If I'm noticing it, I feel like the other players had to have been noticing it too. 

This is part of why I never could like Jeremy any of the times he played. I have to say though, I enjoyed his reactions a lot in this ep. Some of them felt real to me, particularly when Nick said the target changed to Tyson and Jeremy was laughing and then dead faced with 'What?'

[Eolivet]

27 minutes ago, Dirker said:

He only did it the one time, but Rob lied about him acting shady again and everyone ate it up, and everyone still believes he's totally untrustworthy.

Adam could've easily proved his trustworthiness by keeping. his. mouth. shut. He was in a decent position at the merge in that every ally Rob had talked to about him (Michele, Jeremy, Denise) still seemed open to working with Adam. He also still had Ben as an uneasy ally. Adam could've easily filled the role of "I'm a number, use me," and laid low.

But by opening his mouth and trying to change the target from Sophie to Sarah, he assumed he had power he didn't have. And the fact he tried to switch the target to the ally of his ally (Ben) again! After doing the same thing earlier in the season with Rob and Parvati! After doing the same thing at the mvgx merge with Taylor and Will! It's like a compulsion. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, then I can see why many thought Adam a little off this season. What did he expect?

He needed to go write on the blackboard, a la Bart Simpson: "I will not target the allies of my allies" a hundred times, and maybe it would sink in. Come on, man!

[HeShallBMySquishy]

Yes, Michele, everyone else is a fumbling bumbling dingbat. Who is she trying to convince that she was totally on board with getting Wendell out? Yeah, she is totally trying to quit him. One of these days, just you wait!  

Good on Natalie for sending Yul and Wendell off on that goose chase, and she had perfectly valid reasons to do so. I really wish she had gotten back into the game over Tyson. Also, damn, show! Could you be any lazier? Hiding an advantage in exactly the same bloody place! I know I shouldn't be surprised, but, geez.

Yes, Sarah, you definitely did that out of the goodness of your heart. Keep telling yourself that. It was funny that the whole tribe laughed it off as the blatant game-play it was. "I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. And I can't throw very far." Wonder what Sarah thinks watching this, with Nick saying, "I will pay you back, I promise!" before immediately turning and plotting against her. Good times.

On 4/8/2020 at 8:52 PM, TVFan1 said:

Adam was hilarious tonight. Thinking the idol was a part of Jeff's podium was funny, but I wouldn't put it past the show to put that in place. He had to try. Not really bummed he was voted out.

The scramble before tribal council was exciting, but I'm with others that the whispering at tribal council needs to stop. The viewers and the jury should hear what is being discussed.

 

On 4/8/2020 at 9:05 PM, IndyMischa said:

Missed almost all of this, due to the above. Harrumph. But I'm pro whispering at Tribal Council. What's the point of asking them questions, if the vote can't be shifted last minute? Generally speaking, I'm Team Chaos, especially once all my faves are on EoE..

I would not be so against the whispering if we had any idea what was being said; at least on Big Brother, there are subtitles. But all the whispering is rendered useless if we as an audience are not let in on why and how things change, and all we're left with is the word of players after the fact.

On 4/8/2020 at 10:19 PM, ethankoo said:

I don't mind Adam.  I didn't watch his season so I'm not sure if this is his style but he was too much of a loose cannon to keep around.  He talks way too much and sometimes less is more in Survivor.  Michele seems to have some storyline every week so I am thinking she will definitely go far.  The only one I am really pulling for is Sophie (who noticeably has no confession this week).

Yep, Adam just talked himself right out of the game, but I agree with others about getting him out now. Why him? Why now? He was a threat to no one, and had no real allies, aside from Denise really, and even she was willing to vote him out. I figured the Lectern Idol would turn out to be nothing, but could you have imagined if it had been one?

I'm still annoyed that the Wendell/Michele drama ate up so much airtime, like it was being edited to be a major storyline, and it was ultimately for nothing. Even more so after tonight when my BF asked me how many were left in the game, and I realized we were still at 19. So, even before Sandra quit, there were still 19 other players whose storylines we could have followed... yet we were saddled with Michele and Wendell's irritating relationship issues.

On 4/8/2020 at 10:55 PM, PhoneCop said:

Add me to the tally of people who hate, hate, hate the original music. "Winners at war, winners at waaaaar." It's self-parodic.

I think it's hysterical! "Come before the storm...get ready for the thunder..." What's up with all the baby-making music this season? Somehow, a sensual Fifty Shades of Grey R&B slow-jam just doesn't fit with Survivor.

On 4/8/2020 at 7:53 PM, Alice Mudgarden said:

Jeremy was, by far, the best part of that crazy camp scene before tribal. His confusion, his amused resignation at another vote change, his old man "WAT" at suddenly hearing Tyson's name thrown out... just wonderful.

That was hilarious. I was laughing alongside him at the ever-changing target. And his squawking dismount during the challenge was funny.

Quote

Adam finally got voted out in humiliating fashion, which provides a nicely warming brimstone to my cold black heart.  I would like to encourage everyone to bully him on social media since I am not on any social media and cannot do it myself.  Although the list of winners that I dislike is long (and includes everyone in this cast) there is only one that I truly despise and it is Adam.

Seriously? Christ, now I remember why I always skipped over your posts.

If anyone is curious, Adam and another poker player hosted a "shady" YouTube web-series, The Coin Flip Trip, where they travelled the world and flipped a coin to decide if they get $25 or $500 to spend per day in each city. It's pretty fun, and it's nice to see Adam not in Survivor superfan-mode, bumbling and scrambling and alienating and near tears just thinking he could possibly be voted out. He just seems like a fun goof, none of this trying to be the smartest player on the island. And he's not wearing the same clothes for 39 days!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC209yTKiPZI2Rg7AC2x-oxg/videos

[kstar821]

On 4/9/2020 at 6:15 PM, Angeltoes said:

Poor Denise not getting picked for the challenge,  I wonder if that feels as crummy when you're an adult as it does when you're a kid.

which is interesting to me because, even though she's around 50, she's built like a boss.  I would gladly have her strength on my team over a Michele.

[srhall79]

3 hours ago, Dirker said:

4 things:

1. PB price did go up to 4 tokens.

 

One of my questions about the show was why Parvati would set her price so high. Two, maybe 3 tokens would have been an automatic yes, while Michelle had to really consider 4. But, if that was the price of peanut butter, might as well go for it.

[Birnam Wood]

Whoever is ultimately responsible for that abomination of a song should be forced to watch Jeff Probst’s ill-fated talk show on a loop, Clockwork Orange-style, until they repent.

[CletusMusashi]

I think if Jeff wants any song to play during challenges, he should stop playing sports announcer and just sing.

I want to see him pick up a microphone and go into full-on Bill Murray SNL lounge act mode.

[SVNBob]

On 4/8/2020 at 8:04 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Man, I am disappointed that Adam has gone out, and had to be torn to shreds by Jeff during it. Because you KNOW if Jeff and production had actually put an idol there, they would think it was brilliant. And truly, it was a risky move, but they could have switched things up this season by throwing an idol at Tribal. There's always a first for everything. You know Jeff is mad that he didn't come up with the idea first.

As has been noted, non-American versions have already hidden idols at TC.  Then again, they've also done a lot of other things that everntually got imported into the mothership:  Redemption Island, the Vote Blocker, Extra Votes.  I'm still waiting for the Black Votes to become a thing.

 

On 4/8/2020 at 8:09 PM, jsm1125 said:

Australian Survivor has had immunity idols hidden at tribal council (season 3 and 5 come to mind), so I can understand Adam's thought process in that regard.

Adam has tweeted that he was actually inspired by the South African version of Survivor.  And this one idol claim in particular:  (You can stop the video after 30 seconds.)

 

16 hours ago, skybolt said:

Going back to the EoE menu, assuming that the jar of peanut butter now costs 4 tokens, it would likely mean that everything else on the menu costs at least that much now. If that's the case and Wendell didn't bequeath his fire token to Michelle last week, you basically couldn't buy anything with the 50/50 advantage trade. I really hope that if prices did go up, the jar of peanut butter only cost 2 fire tokens this time around.

Do we know for sure that the price had changed?  Or did Parv just buy 4 Tyson-jars worth since she was planning to share the peanut butter with 5 other  people?

[blackwing]

4 hours ago, SVNBob said:

As has been noted, non-American versions have already hidden idols at TC.  Then again, they've also done a lot of other things that everntually got imported into the mothership:  Redemption Island, the Vote Blocker, Extra Votes.  I'm still waiting for the Black Votes to become a thing.

 

Adam has tweeted that he was actually inspired by the South African version of Survivor.  And this one idol claim in particular:  (You can stop the video after 30 seconds.)

 

I’m trying to figure out if he’s just trying to save face or if at the time he really was indeed “inspired” by that particular scene.  I don’t know what the idols in that series look like, but that thing actually looks like an idol.  Looks like a gold disk and that it was in plain view.   If the idols from the rest of the season looked just like that, then of course it seems likely.

Adam tried to remove a wooden carving that was the size of his head and tried to claim it was an idol.  I suppose maybe one could have been hidden behind it, or maybe there was a hinge and it opened up.   But he made it clear that he thought the enormous carving itself was the idol.  Even after Jeff pointed out how ridiculous it was that he couldn’t even remove it, he tried to “play” it even though it wasn’t even in his hand.  

[Guest]

The carving wasn't enormous, and it wasn't even close to the size of his head. It was barely the size of his hand. If you watch the video, he can easily get the fingers of one hand around the edges of it. So it was about the size of your average hidden immunity idol.

It was definitely a long shot and perhaps silly in retrospect, but not the worst idea if you're desperate. And I still think people are taking his attempt to play it after he couldn't remove it too seriously. He's clearly aware of the ridiculousness of it all as he says he still wants to play it. And on rewatch, neither Jeff nor Adam actually says anything about playing the whole stand. Jeff still refers to "this thing, that you can't remove" and asks Adam if he wants to play it, and Adam says yes.

 

Edited April 11, 2020 by tracyscott76

[ByaNose]

Adam tried a Hail Mary & it didn’t work. By the time a Tribal Council came he pretty much knew it was gonna be be him being voted out. I don’t fault him for trying especially since Denise’s HII was a fleur de lis. Which is something I didn’t even remember seeing. Adams main problem was he wanted to play too much & didn't keep his mouth shut. A lot of the winners like Jeremy & Sophie are playing like Adam but behind the scenes. 

[skybolt]

22 hours ago, Dirker said:

4 things:

1. PB price did go up to 4 tokens.

2. If Probst changed his mind on Immunity idols held by Rob & Natalie, it's just more evidence that the producers are trying their best to help Rob win if he makes it back in. They can give them another challenge that he's good at, but at least they can't guarantee he'll win. I bet producers were bummed when Tyson pulled out the win on the last one.

 

1.) Has this been confirmed anywhere, or is this just an opinion? All the recaps I've watched say something different.

2.) With respect to my original post, what I meant is that both contradictory statements made by Jeff occurred 10 months after filming was completed. You'd think that if Rob or Natalie had made it back to the game and used their idols, he would've remembered something like that. In any case, it's not like Jeff changed his mind in the middle of the game. This was all after the fact.

[SVNBob]

17 hours ago, blackwing said:

I don’t know what the idols in that series look like, but that thing actually looks like an idol.  Looks like a gold disk and that it was in plain view.   If the idols from the rest of the season looked just like that, then of course it seems likely.

According to recaps of the season, she found a clue in the buff she got at the tribe shuffle that led her to that idol.  And other idols were apparently hidden in the challenges, like we saw last in IotI as part of Elaine's test from BRob and Sandra.

But, per this clip from a later episode, when she finally played that idol, so did two other people...and all 3 idols looked different.

 

[Josh371982]

On 4/9/2020 at 4:23 PM, whiporee said:

I'd normally agree, but EoE players aren't usually part of the jury, are they? It seems like this season is unique that everyone who sticks around is still a part of the game until the end. I could easily see EoE people who have been through that comparative nightmare wanting to reward one of their own over someone who had it cushier at the regular camp. 

Every castaway except 2 of the F3 and and 2 others that quit was the Jury at the end of the season. 

[AncientNewbie]

On 4/10/2020 at 9:14 AM, ProfCrash said:

Play the game as it was first conceived and see what happens. That would have been far more interesting to me. 

I'm enjoying this mess, just because I like so many returning players, but I'd love to see that season too--both with veterans (Old School suddenly relevant) and newbies that expect buckets of rice and genteel conditions.

[Nashville]

On 4/8/2020 at 9:03 PM, driver18 said:

I like the whispering. I thought it was awesome when it first happened and I've thought it was either entertaining, hilarious, or awesome again depending on the TC. Tonight I found it super entertaining. I'll gladly sit here on edge of extinction alone on this topic.

I find the TC whisperfests entertaining, if only because they always remind me of this:

https://youtu.be/x2Y7_1dILlQ