S40.E10: The Full Circle

[skybolt]

8 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

I think Tyson has confirmed this in a tweet. 

I think that would have been the best bet, for sure. However, the wild card would still be Michele. Yes, there's a better chance of Michele sticking with Kim and Jeremy, but I don't know if the others knew that Michele/Nick was a voting block. So I can kind of see why Kim didn't. But, at the same time, I think, had Jeremy stayed, Kim would have played the idol for him. She just didn't let him in, which caused him to use his advantage anyway.

It's interesting that during Sophie's confessional this week, she wasn't sure if a tied vote would result in a re-vote or go to rocks. This was probably why they didn't just split the votes evenly. I'm surprised the players haven't been told these rules heading into the game.

[MrsR]

Tyson owns a bike shop and has a news podcast with Cesternino.

He was just being funny about his job.

When the five excused themselves to strategize, the other four should have crowded them. Screw this whispering shit.

Edited April 17, 2020 by MrsR

[peachmangosteen]

3 minutes ago, MrsR said:

When the five excused themselves to strategize, the other four should have crowded them. Screw this whispering shit.

Exactly! I am so annoyed with Kim, Tyson, Michele, and Denise for just letting that happen. So stupid. At the very least, you keep them from really being able to discuss what to do and can then hope they all vote differently and you might have a chance of having enough votes as a block to be safe. The fact that they let them all just have time to discuss it probably cost them all any chance to get to the end. Fools.

[Daisy]

23 hours ago, blackwing said:

 

Call me cold hearted, but I was really irritated with his extended segment.  I'm sure he still feels that his game and his win was honouring his mom's memory and wishes.  But I will never NOT view him as having exploited his dying mom to win a game.  He missed about 40 out of the last 41 days of her life.  He's never going to be able to get those days back.  Instead of being with her, he got a million dollars.  Wonder if he thinks it was worth it.  And then with his dad here, once again, more snot crying.  The snot crying about it, all over again, was nauseating to me.

 

I agree. 
I remember people bringing up Jenna at the time but Jenna booked it out of there because she had a feeling her mom needed her and that it was more important than being on a beach.  Adam stayed and then used his Mom's illness to win. (which always feels scuzzy to me. like Jacqui and her infertility and all of that jazz). Honestly If I were on the Jury i'd flat out not give them my vote. because we all of a "story" what I care about is how you played the game. i don't care why you're doing it. i wanna know if you Outplayed, Outwitted and Outlasted, and give me examples. 

 

I think for me - the Loved One Visit went from simply 
having a letter/homemade video (Queue Jenna's heartbreak for not getting the letter)
to having a little interactive old school facetime, to this massive drama event. 

and again to me. i think it really hurts a lot of the "game play" in the game.  I remember vividly Brian Hedjick being pissed the hell off because Cece was showing off how rich they were, like the grand piano, and the new cars and he was like "eff... now i have to do damage control about this." or even the Terry vs Aras fight "seeing my wife is treeeeessss more important than seeing YOUR MOM"  and how votes were casted because so and so didn't get to see so and so. 

now it's a big kumbayah moment and ehh. blegh. 
(also i think it also just cuts out other fun stuff that we don't get to see very often). 

 

 

[skybolt]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Kim should have just given the immunity idol to Jeremy to play on himself. He was the obvious target and everyone knew it. If Jeremy has the idol, he stays at tribal and they have a better chance of pulling off the upset. 

I think Kim already saw what would happen if you give your idol to another experienced player prior to tribal council, when Denise voted out Sandra. Like you noted above, if Jeremy was already wiling to walk out on his alliance, why not still do that with an idol in your pocket?

[peachmangosteen]

Oh man, it would have been amazing if Jeremy would have let Kim give him her idol and then still walked out of TC. I would have rolled lol.

[fishcakes]

7 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Pretty sure that the original plan was Jeremy as the primary, and Tyson as the back-up vote.  But when Jeremy peaced out, Tyson advanced to the primary and Denise became the back-up.  As for why Kim wasn't in the equation, Sophie knew about Kim's idol (as Kim gave Sophie half in order to activate the thing), so that kept her name out of the loop.

I agree and this is why I think Jeremy will be fine next week. Even though he left his alliance to twist in the wind, he thought he was the primary target and he was correct. Kim either never planned to use her idol for him or did but neglected to tell him. He did what he had to do (or thought he had to do) to stay in the game. Also, the alliances seem to change from week to week anyway. People go from target to not a target and vice versa for the thinnest of reasons, and Jeremy is a good example. He's sitting there with his Threat + Ben alliance but two seconds after he walks off with Kim, they decide he has to go. I love how unpredictable everything is.

[skybolt]

22 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

I agree and this is why I think Jeremy will be fine next week. Even though he left his alliance to twist in the wind, he thought he was the primary target and he was correct. Kim either never planned to use her idol for him or did but neglected to tell him. He did what he had to do (or thought he had to do) to stay in the game. Also, the alliances seem to change from week to week anyway. People go from target to not a target and vice versa for the thinnest of reasons, and Jeremy is a good example. He's sitting there with his Threat + Ben alliance but two seconds after he walks off with Kim, they decide he has to go. I love how unpredictable everything is.

Jury management could be tough though. Wendell already feels betrayed by Jeremy and is pointing it out to everyone how Jeremy is walking out on his group. If Denise gets voted out she will likely not vote for Jeremy since she used an idol for him, but he left her hanging. Tyson is definitely pissed at Jeremy. That being said, I don't think he's a target next week either.

Edited April 17, 2020 by skybolt

[Bouffe]

On 4/15/2020 at 9:03 PM, tracyscott76 said:

I was never anti-Tony, but he continues to grow on me this season. Funny, level-headed, self-deprecating. He moves up on the list of acceptable outcomes.

On 4/15/2020 at 10:11 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Tony winning immunity was surprisingly nice to watch. I started off the season less than interested in Tony. Having just watched his season for the first time back in December, I haven't been a huge fan of his win. But now, tonight's episode showed me that, if he won, I actually would be ok with it. A few weeks ago, I was still not thrilled with the idea of him winning. So he made my short list of who I wouldn't mind see winning (Sophie, Nick, and Denise are the only other two currently on the list).

I was never anti Tony either, but I also didn't really enjoy his manic ways of playing. It was not entertaining to me as a long term thing. But seeing him with his family, then him winning the challenge and joking about how he won a patience challenge... And the way he handled Sarah clearly not listening to him during their private chat... I don't know, I liked all of that from him. I don't mind a bit of manic Tony mixed in with this more level headed Tony. I could very well like a player like that.

On 4/15/2020 at 9:14 PM, Vgmastr said:

Can we please be done with the whispering at Tribal?  That needs to be a new rule, it's ruining the game.  Can you imagine how fun that Tribal could have been if everyone had been forced to immediately vote after Jeremy left without being able to talk and decide on a new plan?

On 4/15/2020 at 11:49 PM, TVFan1 said:

The whispering at tribal council is really getting on my nerves. How did Denise become a target?  

On 4/16/2020 at 4:12 AM, HeShallBMySquishy said:

Damn, I wanted to smack Jeff when he gave Sarah and Jeremy not one, but two chances to play out their ridiculous "You go first, no YOU go first, no YOU go first" display. If both had something to say, give them 5 seconds to spit it out, then cut them off after 3 seconds, tell them they had their chance, too bad so sad, it is time to vote.

I have not minded the whispering at tribal council. But last night, it really bothered me. The worst was the whispering after Jeremy left (which I think was a tough decision on his part, but ultimately I think he would have gone if he had not played his advantage). 

I wonder if Jeff/production could give the contestants a time limit to whisper at TC? After that, no more, and if they do, they get some kind of penalty (whatever that may be).

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think Denise became a huge target after her move to vote out Sandra. 

On 4/15/2020 at 9:40 PM, Paws said:

My God yes. It was 22 minutes in and the family visit was still going on, my kids were asking me why they were all acting like everyone was going off to their death. It was cute and sweet for 5 minutes but Jeff interviewing everyone about their relationship is useless and a time suck.

On 4/15/2020 at 11:48 PM, Jextella said:

Seems I'm in the minority, but I LOVE the family visits.

I love the family visits. And seeing the kids really made me bawl like a baby, especially given the fact I have not seen my own family (son, parents, inlaws) in over a month due to this pandemic. So perhaps it hit me more than usual given the circumstances... But I loved it all the same. Could do with less Jeff questions tho (and I love Jeff).

On 4/15/2020 at 11:46 PM, SuburbanHangSuite said:

I still love Rob above all others but I will be rooting for Tyson to get back in again from The Edge.  He was pissed.

 

Tyson was definitely pissed. He'll use that to get back in the game. I was annoyed he was voted out again because he's the biggest competitor that could prevent Rob from coming back into the game!

On 4/16/2020 at 8:45 AM, skybolt said:

With only 9 players left I do think that they need to come out of their shell and make moves in front of the jury. You see Kim using her idol for Denise. Denise obviously using 2 idols to take out Sandra (although it was not directly in front of the jury). Sophie boldly telling her group to go to the side and make a move to give the impression that she's the ring leader. Tony is also planning a big move for the next episode. Sarah playing chicken with Jeremy. Heck, even Nick made that big speech last week about fighting to stay. If Michelle, Ben or even Jeremy think they can just stay out of the limelight and get the jury vote, that is just not happening with this group. 

That's a very interesting point. I had not seen the "grand gestures"  at TC that way. But I guess that makes a lot of sense. This jury won't reward someone who's under the radar. Unless I really read this jury wrong.

1 hour ago, MrsR said:

When the five excused themselves to strategize, the other four should have crowded them. Screw this whispering shit.

Right? I don't understand how the other four just let it happened and didn't try to interfer. 

[HurricaneVal]

22 hours ago, skybolt said:

Wouldn't that be an advantage if you think you're in trouble? Adam would've been like "hey Jeff, my butt is fully off the stump, can I go back to camp now?" 🙂

Hmmmm.....  Excellent point.  In my frustration, I did not think this through.  OK.  You lose your vote and have to leave the Tribal Council area immediately, but you are still in contention to be voted out.  Maybe even get a penalty vote.... Yeah, that's it.  Your vote is taken away and put on yourself!

[Whimsy]

This is the topic for the Survivor episode. NOT The Challenge. However, alluding to how the finale ended in terms that makes it clear what happened would be considered a spoiler. Further discussion of The Challenge will be immediately removed. 

[lasu]

I wish that game of chicken had gone a little differently.  I wish Sarah would have spoken up first, because I would have loved to know what would have happened if she stole Jeremy's vote!  I feel like one of their advantages would have cancelled out the other.  Either way, it would have been great.  If Sarah stole his vote, would he then not have a vote to give up, meaning he couldn't use his advantage and leave camp?  Or if she stole his vote, and then he used his advantage, does she still get his vote or does it go back to camp with him?  No matter what, I think it would have been really interesting to see how it played out.

[Lady Calypso]

14 minutes ago, lasu said:

I wish that game of chicken had gone a little differently.  I wish Sarah would have spoken up first, because I would have loved to know what would have happened if she stole Jeremy's vote!  I feel like one of their advantages would have cancelled out the other.  Either way, it would have been great.  If Sarah stole his vote, would he then not have a vote to give up, meaning he couldn't use his advantage and leave camp?  Or if she stole his vote, and then he used his advantage, does she still get his vote or does it go back to camp with him?  No matter what, I think it would have been really interesting to see how it played out.

I think what would have happened is that Sarah would have stolen his vote, and he would have just played his advantage, basically making Sarah's advantage completely useless. Essentially, I do think that Sarah would have gotten an extra vote, but the other four would have still had their votes, meaning it would be 6-4. 

[blackwing]

11 minutes ago, lasu said:

I wish that game of chicken had gone a little differently.  I wish Sarah would have spoken up first, because I would have loved to know what would have happened if she stole Jeremy's vote!  I feel like one of their advantages would have cancelled out the other.  Either way, it would have been great.  If Sarah stole his vote, would he then not have a vote to give up, meaning he couldn't use his advantage and leave camp?  Or if she stole his vote, and then he used his advantage, does she still get his vote or does it go back to camp with him?  No matter what, I think it would have been really interesting to see how it played out.

Yes, I am curious too.  And I am in agreement with others who have said that once the two of them spoke up but then backed down and said they were good, and Jeff asked if it was time to vote and they remained silent, that the time for playing of any advantages had passed.  Then if they spoke up again, Jeff should have said "too bad, it's time to vote".  Kim may have played the idol for Jeremy.  Then perhaps Sophie goes home.  I guess we will never know.

The best part is that people would have been overly paranoid knowing that both Jeremy and Sarah have some kind of advantage that no one knew about.  And then people would target them next round.

Jeff needs to get better control over this game.  It doesn't matter if these are former winners.  The inmates are running the asylum and he's just sitting there wondering in his head "this will make GREAT tv".

[lasu]

Hypothetically, speaking up first may have cost Jeremy the game. Short term, I don't think it will really hurt him.  Things move too fast.  That said, I think if he gets in front of the jury, it's going to make a difference.  I'm not saying he can't win, just that he has decision as a hurdle, should he make in front of the jury.  Now, if Sarah had gone first, and stolen his vote, his play could have been epic.  She steals his vote, everyone thinks all hope is on a 1 in 4 chance of Kim playing the idol correctly.  But, Jeremy dramatically stands up and leaves and takes that vote back to camp with him.  Sarah no longer has the extra vote and just burned her advantage.  Now there is a 1 in 3 chance of Kim using the idol correctly, and perhaps in that chaos, Kim gets a better read on how to play the idol.  Both Jeremy and Kim come out looking great - in that situation, Jeremy using his advantage good for his alliance and himself, no way to look at it and see it as selfish.

[iMonrey]

I'm waiting for the day when there are so many damn idols and advantages at play that every single person at tribal council plays one, and there is literally nobody left to vote for.

I think that day is fast approaching, in fact.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I'm waiting for the day when there are so many damn idols and advantages at play that every single person at tribal council plays one, and there is literally nobody left to vote for.

I think that day is fast approaching, in fact.

I wonder if the seemingly arbitrary "this is only good through the final 7, final 5, etc" rules are designed to avoid that. Like, they're timed out so that the number of valid idols/advantages would never be equal to or greater than the number of people left in the game.

[AncientNewbie]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm waiting for the day when there are so many damn idols and advantages at play that every single person at tribal council plays one, and there is literally nobody left to vote for.

I think that day is fast approaching, in fact.

Cirie sees your posts and raises. 

[skybolt]

Watching Sophie is like watching someone playing high stakes blackjack. It's almost like she's calculating what percentage chance there is of her going home, and if it's worth risking playing her idol or not. For instance, if in her mind if she believes there's an 80% chance of Ben and Adam turning on Rob, then she's willing to take that risk. Same thing with this week's vote. She likely factored in Kim potentially playing the idol for 4 different people in order to be correct, as well as perhaps knowing that Michelle could flip as well. I guarantee that if she thinks there's a 50-50 chance of her going home, she will play that idol. 

[TAG42481]

I think seeing the jury/Edge of Extinction players swarm Jeff in the ending credits might have been my favorite moment in the history of Survivor.  I've probably only watched half the seasons, and haven't watched in several years.  But it just seemed like a really genuine moment, even if the players had probably planned it ahead of time and it wasn't purely spontaneous.  The appreciation for everybody to spend a long duration with their families was great, ESPECIALLY considering how cutthroat of a season this is with all returning winners.

[Fallacy]

On 4/16/2020 at 5:13 PM, LadyChatts said:

I sometimes wonder how they pay bills.  I mean, I get in Rob and Amber’s case they’ve probably gotten some pretty good money over the years, between their Survivor and other reality show appearances, and I know Rob does Cameo (for $109.99 you can get a shout out from him!). So if they were smart with their money in the beginning I guess they could make it work, even with 4 kids.  But as I sit her at 36 years old, going back to school so I can get out of minimum wage hell and not have to live paycheck to paycheck for the rest of my life, I sometimes look at people on reality shows who don’t work and haven’t for years, and wonder what the hell I’m doing wrong.

Rob owns a construction company that does home renovations. On Twitter, he posts videos about the one he’s working on every few days. I have no reason to doubt that this is his regular job. 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Fallacy
Spelling

[FirstBootFodder]

On 4/15/2020 at 11:48 PM, Jextella said:

Anyone know why Tyson's other daughter wasn't there? He has two kids, right?

Per Rachel on her Instagram, the youngest daughter, wasn't there because she didn't have a passport.  Apparently, she/they were not told that it would be a "whole family" visit until after Tyson left.  By then, it was too late to get the passport for Marlowe because Tyson had left for Fiji already, and Rachel and Tyson both had to sign the passport application.  Also, Marlowe was just 10 months old, and Rachel wasn't sure how traveling with a 10 month old and a 3 year old would go.

[Jobiska]

1 hour ago, FirstBootFodder said:

Also, Marlowe was just 10 months old, and Rachel wasn't sure how traveling with a 10 month old and a 3 year old would go.

And even if that were the only reason, I would definitely admire Rachel for making that choice (assuming she has good care at home, which I have no reason to believe is a false assumption).  For all Tyson's dry humor and (pretend) self-aggrandizing, I really see his dedication to his daughters as genuine, so I bet if Marlowe ever says "hey I didn't get to go to Fiji" he would come up with something special for her.

I didn't even realize all four Mariano-ettes were there.  Too much going on.

I have a lot of unpopular opinions combined--I don't mind the family visits (don't really like to see close up kissing, especially slobbery, but not even chick-flick-esque romantic closeups like they had on EoE); I don't mind the tribal whispering; I don't mind Ben and Adam!  

I try not to judge on looks but I am scratching my head at saying Sarah has a "frog mouth"--she has one of the smallest mouths ever, not wide like a frog!  

Almost all the interchangeable blond crewcut little boys seemed to be rubbing their eyes--jet lag?  coming out into the bright sun after hiding in the shrubbery?  

I wonder what the survivors thought when they came out and there was a gargantuan sit-out bench.  

During challenge intros over the past few years Jeff seems to have gotten this weird, sort of...I don't know what word to call it...fulsome tone in his voice and it was extremely evident when he said the kids were going to "dig in the sand."  I don't know why, but that tone in particular really bugs me (a lot more than Ben, Adam, whispering, and family visits do!).  I didn't notice Jeremy's son's stinkeye, but his oldest daughter seemed to be staring daggers at Jeff when he said the teens would be swimming!

I also don't mind, this time around, that there was no family visit challenge--because of the kids.  How mean it would have been to drag half of them away after only a few minutes!

Hopefully they all get some relaxation time in Fiji before turning around and flying home.  If you think the flight out was probably awful--imagine a flight home 2 days later!  (and my family used to live in Fiji and it was a pain even when I was a young adult!)

 

[Jextella]

On 4/16/2020 at 1:07 AM, LadyChatts said:

Here is the TC voting.  I know there were some comments about who voted for who, since it looked like Tyson/Michele/Kim/Denise were all voting together, yet Sophie only got 2 votes.  Michele definitely voted for Tyson, along with Sarah (one of her votes), Ben, Tony, and Nick.  Sarah used her other vote to vote for Denise, as did Sophie.  Also, Sophie looks like she's in a hostage video when holding up Denise's name.  Michele kind of threw her arms up at that vote, so I'm thinking she probably went along with voting off Tyson reluctantly.

https://youtu.be/z9ueHJQ4wr4

 

 

On 4/16/2020 at 8:05 AM, LanceM said:

In case anyone needs more family time, here you go.

https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/video/72E2E7AE-1892-958E-ACB1-7F11E8ACC741/survivor-winners-at-war-secret-sc-more-fun-with-loved-ones/

 

9 hours ago, FirstBootFodder said:

Per Rachel on her Instagram, the youngest daughter, wasn't there because she didn't have a passport.  Apparently, she/they were not told that it would be a "whole family" visit until after Tyson left.  By then, it was too late to get the passport for Marlowe because Tyson had left for Fiji already, and Rachel and Tyson both had to sign the passport application.  Also, Marlowe was just 10 months old, and Rachel wasn't sure how traveling with a 10 month old and a 3 year old would go.

Thanks to all for sharing these links and the update about Tyson's daugher (I feel happier knowing there wasn't something super wierd going on).

As to the family visits, looking at the video above, it struck me that the Family Visit is probably a really important quality checker in the game.  It's pretty gruelling and players probably burn out by that time and the families reenergize them and remind them why they are playing so they can finish strong.  

Another question about family visits....I thought Danni had two boys.  We were only shown one, correct?  And, the caretaker looked like her mother - not her husband.  I'm wondering if there is something going on there.

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Jextella

[Daisy]

On 4/17/2020 at 10:41 PM, AncientNewbie said:

Cirie sees your posts and raises. 

 

I'm still not over this. 

 

[LadyChatts]

56 minutes ago, Jextella said:

 

 

Thanks to all for sharing these links and the update about Tyson's daugher (I feel happier knowing there wasn't something super wierd going on).

As to the family visits, looking at the video above, it struck me that the Family Visit is probably a really important quality checker in the game.  It's pretty gruelling and players probably burn out by that that time and the families reenergize them and remind them why they are playing so they can finish strong.  

Another question about family visits....I thought Danni had two boys.  We were only shown one, correct?  And, the caretaker looked like her mother - not her husband.  I'm wondering if there is something going on there.

 

I don’t know how old Danni’s kids are, but maybe it was a similar situation to Tyson-one kid had a passport, the other didn’t.  Could have been the kid was sick or didn’t want to fly, either.  She actually seemed the most emotional out of everyone at EOE to be reunited with her child.  And as much as I dislike the family visits, seeing the kids out there did kind of tug at my heart strings, even if the little ones acted like they had better things to do.  I wonder if the original EOE group was annoyed that they didn’t get their loved ones out there, even though it made more sense to do it in a season like this.  

In terms of the morale it provides, I’m reminded of when Joe was voted out of World’s Apart before the family visit, and him saying that was his goal to get that far because he wanted his dad to get out there, since his family were Survivor super fans.  That was sort of his story arc for Second Chance the following season.  I’m sure for a lot of them It is a big deal to have their loved ones see them in the game, and to have made it that far.  Heck, my chosen loved one would probably pass out in shock to know I made it more than 3 days!

[SVNBob]

8 hours ago, Jobiska said:

Hopefully they all get some relaxation time in Fiji before turning around and flying home.  If you think the flight out was probably awful--imagine a flight home 2 days later!  (and my family used to live in Fiji and it was a pain even when I was a young adult!)

They probably all got to hang out with Sandra and her family at Ponderosa for a little while.

[30 Helens]

On 4/16/2020 at 12:44 PM, JudyObscure said:

Yes, I assumed that the Survivor families flew for free.  It was the other non-Survivor  passengers on the flight that I felt sorry for.  Fourteen hours is a long time to spend with that many bored little ones and crying babies.

There were a LOT of Loved Ones on those two beaches. I assume they had their own dedicated plane.

On 4/16/2020 at 4:13 PM, LadyChatts said:

I sometimes look at people on reality shows who don’t work and haven’t for years, and wonder what the hell I’m doing wrong.

Maybe you should take up poker? 😏

[JudyObscure]

4 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

 I’m sure for a lot of them It is a big deal to have their loved ones see them in the game, and to have made it that far.  Heck, my chosen loved one would probably pass out in shock to know I made it more than 3 days!

My husband said if the show called to fly him out to see me on Survivor he would be saying, 'Is that where she is?  I thought she was at Walmart."  Which wouldn't be that unlikely, we never know where the hell the other one is.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I don’t know how old Danni’s kids are, but maybe it was a similar situation to Tyson-one kid had a passport, the other didn’t.  Could have been the kid was sick or didn’t want to fly, either.  She actually seemed the most emotional out of everyone at EOE to be reunited with her child.  

I noticed that, too, and also noticed that Danni was the only one on EoE not to get a confessional about it. Maybe she didn't say anything significantly different from anyone else, or maybe she asked not to have her family on camera too much, but either way I thought it was a bit of a bummer not to hear from her.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I also don't mind, this time around, that there was no family visit challenge--because of the kids.  How mean it would have been to drag half of them away after only a few minutes!

Think how bad the optics would be with children crying because they didn't get picked to go along on the reward and had to say goodbye to their parents already.

[blackwing]

12 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

In terms of the morale it provides, I’m reminded of when Joe was voted out of World’s Apart before the family visit, and him saying that was his goal to get that far because he wanted his dad to get out there, since his family were Survivor super fans.  That was sort of his story arc for Second Chance the following season.  I’m sure for a lot of them It is a big deal to have their loved ones see them in the game, and to have made it that far.  Heck, my chosen loved one would probably pass out in shock to know I made it more than 3 days!

I agree, obviously everyone wants to win the game but I would think you have to take it step by step.  And once you make it to the merge (and achieve "dateable" status!) then I suppose the next thing to shoot for is to make it to the family visit and get to see someone.  I still think these visits eat up too much airtime on the show though.

All the comments about Tyson's other daughter, I guess I would care more about her if I found Tyson remotely likeable.  The fact that he was so proud of telling his daughter "this is where daddy goes to work" just annoys me.   Yes, it's part of American society that people love to watch no talent do-nothings like the Kardashians and make them into huge stars.  And I guess Survivor is no different.  Without people tuning in to the show and clamoring for a chance to see their favorite contestants in person at events and whatnot, then Tyson can't afford to be a stay at home dad.  Most people work a lot harder for a lot less, and for him to call it "work" like it's his full time job to sit around on a beach and play games and poop in the ocean... whatever.  Suck it, Tyson.  I would rather have anyone, even Adam and Wendell, come back from the Edge as the second returnee besides him.

[princelina]

On 4/16/2020 at 1:20 PM, Growsonwalls said:

ETA: in fairness to Ciera, Laura later said that she and Ciera discussed the vote. So it's not like she blindsided her mom. 

Ugh - they discussed it before, during, after, and now for the many years since it happened.  I was watching the link for the "Laura vs. Shambo" feud that someone put up, which led to "Best confessionals" which were mostly snarky and hilarious, but one wasted a good 5 minutes showing Laura and Ciera chatting on the beach whilst Laura opined in her TH about how now their roles were reversed and Ciera had a mind of her own and could even Vote Her Mother Out!  🙄

 

On 4/16/2020 at 4:12 PM, Growsonwalls said:

I think nowadays the family visits have become a Survivor version of a Very Special Episode so players coach their families to behave for the cameras. We're never going to have a "she died, dude" occurrence again.

 

Hahaha more fools them - now that was some great TV and they didn't even have to try!  Also I loved the reward challenge with the loved ones - that's what this show needs! I'd forgotten they ever did that - they need to go through old episodes and pick out some good old challenges.

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by princelina

[Harleycat]

On 4/17/2020 at 5:41 AM, ProfCrash said:

Kim should have just given the immunity idol to Jeremy to play on himself. He was the obvious target and everyone knew it. If Jeremy has the idol, he stays at tribal and they have a better chance of pulling off the upset. 

Then Kim would have had to say that she sees that they are targeting minorities, which is usually what happens after the merge. 

[Harleycat]

On 4/17/2020 at 9:37 AM, Bouffe said:

I have not minded the whispering at tribal council. But last night, it really bothered me. The worst was the whispering after Jeremy left (which I think was a tough decision on his part, but ultimately I think he would have gone if he had not played his advantage). 

I wonder if Jeff/production could give the contestants a time limit to whisper at TC? After that, no more, and if they do, they get some kind of penalty (whatever that may be).

It's always bugged me, but this episode was just ridiculous. They need to write into the rules that it won't be tolerated anymore. TC is for discussion, not to play little mean girl games.

[endure]

On 4/15/2020 at 7:32 PM, enoughcats said:

Simple, easy to remember rule:

Leave your seat, lose your vote.

 

Yes and only speak when spoken to 🤐 and no whispering!

[jabRI]

On 4/15/2020 at 9:30 PM, Haleth said:

Was Jeremy in danger?  Did he waste his advantage and blow up his alliance?  

I would have done the same as him, no one was talking to him, at least that we saw. Would have made me paranoid.  And after he left 'the 5' broke off and re-did their strategy. So yeah.

[skybolt]

I think we can all agree that someone coming back from EoE should not win the $2M prize. If that's the case, I would rather keep the people on EoE well fed (to a certain extent) and in somewhat good spirits, so they don't automatically gravitate towards someone who's gone through the same harsh conditions for 30+ days. At that point the criteria basically changes from who played the best game to who suffered with me for the past month. It's almost like me entering a 64 person single elimination chess tournament, losing in the first round, and then being placed in isolation and without food for 2 days. Then I'm brought back and given the title by other contestants in isolation because I suffered more than anyone else, even though that has nothing to do with playing chess.

I think the show runners are trying to keep the game fair by starving the EoE vote outs so that it feels like they deserved to be in contention for the $2M prize. However, the only thing that the lack of food is doing is making the vote outs act more irrationally. For instance, when Rob is sitting at jury, is he listening to game play or thinking about food?

[Nashville]

On 4/16/2020 at 10:29 AM, blackwing said:

 

Call me cold hearted, but I was really irritated with his extended segment.  I'm sure he still feels that his game and his win was honouring his mom's memory and wishes.  But I will never NOT view him as having exploited his dying mom to win a game.  He missed about 40 out of the last 41 days of her life.  He's never going to be able to get those days back.  Instead of being with her, he got a million dollars.  Wonder if he thinks it was worth it.  And then with his dad here, once again, more snot crying.  The snot crying about it, all over again, was nauseating to me.

In truth, this is one of the primary reasons I can’t quite stand Adam; his constant OTT behavior makes me more cynical than I already am.  Case in point: when Jiffy announced the LOV, Adam’s !!!SHOCKED!!!  !!!INCREDULOUS!!! face was one of the first the camera panned to - and almost without realizing it, the first words out of my mouth were, “Aw, shit.  Time for Adam to trot out Dead Mom again.”

Yeah, I’m an asshole - but three minutes later, guess what...?  🙄

 

On 4/18/2020 at 10:34 PM, Daisy said:

I'm still not over this. 

Cirie either, I’ll wager.  😄

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Nashville said:

In truth, this is one of the primary reasons I can’t quite stand Adam; his constant OTT behavior makes me more cynical than I already am.  Case in point: when Jiffy announced the LOV, Adam’s !!!SHOCKED!!!  !!!INCREDULOUS!!! face was one of the first the camera panned to - and almost without realizing it, the first words out of my mouth were, “Aw, shit.  Time for Adam to trot out Dead Mom again.”

I'm confused by this. Are you referring to when Jeff announced the loved ones' visit in this episode? Because Adam wasn't there for the camera to pan to. He was on EoE, not at the "challenge".

[Prower]

On 4/16/2020 at 3:03 AM, tracyscott76 said:

except to say that for a moment I thought Nick and his lady might end up in the sand right there in front of everyone.

Interesting. I was wondering what the over under was on how long it would take for him to leave her for a man...

[Nashville]

6 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

I'm confused by this. Are you referring to when Jeff announced the loved ones' visit in this episode? Because Adam wasn't there for the camera to pan to. He was on EoE, not at the "challenge".

You’re correct, and I misspoke; Peachy didn’t announce the LOV at EoE.

[azshadowwalker]

On 4/17/2020 at 8:10 AM, MrsR said:

Tyson owns a bike shop and has a news podcast with Cesternino.

He was just being funny about his job.

It's a line/concept Sandra used in her second season. 

[skybolt]

With only a few episodes left, what is everyone's impression regarding player moves to make final tribal and actually win this game? Is it better to just go with the flow and the majority alliance and just lay low, or build your resume by making big moves for the jury? Here are my thoughts with respect to each remaining player:

Nick - Other than his speech about turning this into a real war, what else does he have on his resume, other than noting than he was allied with Yul and Wendell (never mind that he blindsided Yul). At this point he seems content with keeping a low profile and joining the majority alliance.

Ben - Ben has had a great social game and is on the right side of every vote, but appears to lack respect from the jury. The players still in the game seem to like him, but once they're voted out I don't think they have a good lasting impression of him.

Michelle - Has been blindsided by a vote a couple of times and seems content with voting with the majority. I think the old school players would choose her over Nick or Ben, but who knows.

Kim - Whether she likes it or not, she is going to have to play really hard to make it to the end. If she does get to final tribal, she has a great chance to win.

Jeremy - He'll need to start playing hard as well, but still needs more than Kim to convince the jury.

Tony - Based on the previews, it appears that Tony wants to build his resume and make big moves. He'll either sink or swim. In his case it may be a better idea to play a more controlled game than to irritate everyone by swinging for the fences.

Sarah - Seems to have a good social game. I think playing a controlled game would benefit her as well. Her game of chicken with Jeremy was a good jury move.

Denise - Already has a huge move under her belt. She just needs to make sure that she doesn't play it too safe moving forward and only rely on that one big move to win the jury vote. She will likely need to do something because she'll be targeted soon.

Sophie - I think Sophie has done a good job showing the jury that she's in charge of the majority alliance, and can take credit if they make it to the end. She's made some subtle moves like telling her group to go and make a decision and also noting that you need to trust in your alliance, which again showed that she's the ring leader and controls her group.

With all that being said, perhaps Ben, Nick and Michelle are hoping to go up against each other at the end. Their other hope is that someone making big moves will attempt to take 2 of them to the end as goats, but then that person loses out to a returning player from EoE, who has low odds to win as well.

 

[AncientNewbie]

Interesting thoughts, @skybolt, and frankly I'm at a loss. Your view all makes sense, but I also have this random thought in the back of my head about Last Comic Standing. No, I never make sense.

The problem I had on that show was the sort of comedy that the judges (I'm thinking the Russell Peters/Roseanne version) preferred was always a little more meta or inside baseball than my subjective tastes, because they lived this business and had seen a lot.

So in my head, I just keep thinking that these contestants, who have played at least 1.75 games at this point, and most more, are going to be looking for different things than I am. I feel, completely without any real evidence, for example, that they respect Michelle's game and win more than the lay person, because they've been stuck with strangers for up to 39 days and know what it's like to make it to the end without being killing or being killed by others. Same with Sophie, where in a Coach interview, he said she mainly went out and did her own thing by herself in her winning season--some fans might say that's not playing, but former players might say "if only I'd avoided his laugh" or "her open mouthed chewing" or whatever and respect the idea more.

I'm not saying that the winner won't be some guy that goes off on a challenge streak and talks Big Moves, because that's what the history of the show of late seems to like, but I guess my thought is that the jury is probably looking at things differently than me, who only knows the game through a lot of hours in front of the tv.

[skybolt]

3 minutes ago, AncientNewbie said:

Interesting thoughts, @skybolt, and frankly I'm at a loss. Your view all makes sense, but I also have this random thought in the back of my head about Last Comic Standing. No, I never make sense.

The problem I had on that show was the sort of comedy that the judges (I'm thinking the Russell Peters/Roseanne version) preferred was always a little more meta or inside baseball than my subjective tastes, because they lived this business and had seen a lot.

So in my head, I just keep thinking that these contestants, who have played at least 1.75 games at this point, and most more, are going to be looking for different things than I am. I feel, completely without any real evidence, for example, that they respect Michelle's game and win more than the lay person, because they've been stuck with strangers for up to 39 days and know what it's like to make it to the end without being killing or being killed by others. Same with Sophie, where in a Coach interview, he said she mainly went out and did her own thing by herself in her winning season--some fans might say that's not playing, but former players might say "if only I'd avoided his laugh" or "her open mouthed chewing" or whatever and respect the idea more.

I'm not saying that the winner won't be some guy that goes off on a challenge streak and talks Big Moves, because that's what the history of the show of late seems to like, but I guess my thought is that the jury is probably looking at things differently than me, who only knows the game through a lot of hours in front of the tv.

Excellent points. In another post I also mentioned that starvation and crappy living at EoE may also factor into how a jury member votes. Let's put it this way, if you voted me out and I went to Ponderosa and ate great, vacationed and just plain relaxed, I could be more forgiving come final tribal. However, if you were solely responsible for my 30 days of misery at EoE, I'd probably take it more personally. Lots of dynamics involved as you stated. That's why I mentioned that someone like Tony may not need to be so flashy with the jury. They may just respect the fact he played a more controlled game and escaped being targeted as a big threat. 

I also think that the old school players believe that the new school players tarnished their game / legacy by not giving them a chance to play, so in their minds they may feel justified giving the remaining players the middle finger and voting based on likability or for the most undeserving player, to show that this season is flawed. Let's put it this way, maybe Rob, Parvati, etc, are not willing to let someone like Tony or Kim win because they'll be regarded as the new king or queen of Survivor. Voting for Ben or Michelle (if they do not make any significant moves) will expose the format of the season more than propelling these players into the best that ever played. As a fan I hope everyone still respects the game and votes for who played the best, but that likely won't happen.

[BrooklynRat]

Hated every minute of the protracted family visit and I agree with the poster who said this was the most-boring/least-satisfying épisode in twenty years of Survivor!

Usually, the only value of the family visit is the drama that takes place back at camp because someone is inevitably butt hurt they weren’t chosen to go on the reward—every now and then that results in alliance discord and in unexpected vote. But this was just a half episode of UGH. At least make it a 90-minute episode if you’re going to add 30 minutes of time-wasting. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by BrooklynRat
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