S40.E10: The Full Circle

[DEL901]

7 minutes ago, AncientNewbie said:

 

Tyson, according to preseason stuff, is a a stay at home dad. I'm not sure what his wife does. But he came on his first season a a pro cyclist and I'm not sure he's ever held a straightforward 9-5.

As for the others, it's a mix. $600,000ish isn't really enough to retire on at standard winner age, so most people are either working their old job or spun the money into an education/opportunity for a new job. (Sophie paid for her med school, Tony invested in some real estate, Wendell into his business, Ben some magic beans, etc)

He said he also did Survivor events and talked about grateful he was that Survivor had made it possible for him to be a stay at home dad.  

Edited April 16, 2020 by DEL901

[anniebird]

Is Denise a lot older than her husband or does she just look a lot older?

[skybolt]

3 minutes ago, anniebird said:

Is Denise a lot older than her husband or does she just look a lot older?

Don't forget that she aged a couple of years at last tribal. 🙂

[FreddieAnnie]

Here’s video of the vote results 

https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/video/28D20F87-32B7-ABC2-31BA-7F11E8ADD780/survivor-winners-at-war-tribal-council-voting-ep-10-/?cbsclick=wS114QUlw1T1SrdRp2XVU0ixUkix%3AaRjk3seRA0&vndid=10078&clickid=10078&sharedid=ew.com&ftag=AAM98bbc2a

[eel21788]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

 I had no idea when they broke up but it just made me feel really really old to think that I still clearly remember her and Heidi saying "Jeff I will take my clothes off for peanut butter."

It was chocolate and peanut butter. Nobody strips down for just peanut butter (sarcasm).

[eel21788]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

Did Tyson really say to his daughter something like "this is what Daddy does for a living". 

He said something to the effect of: This is where daddy goes to work. These are my work clothes. I run around on the beach in my underwear all day. I shower in the ocean. I go to the bathroom in the ocean, too. Do I smell stinky?

[iMonrey]

Quote

Or Jeremy having an additional kid after the "SOB my wife is pregnant I should win" kid. 

Thanks for reminding me why I can never root for Jeremy. I don't have any particular objection to him except that memory of him sobbing in front of the jury about his family, and they in turn crying in sympathy and then all voting for him. He won by crying. I'll never get past that.

[eel21788]

4 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Thanks for reminding me why I can never root for Jeremy. I don't have any particular objection to him except that memory of him sobbing in front of the jury about his family, and they in turn crying in sympathy and then all voting for him. He won by crying. I'll never get past that.

Then again, so did Adam.

[blackwing]

10 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Thanks for reminding me why I can never root for Jeremy. I don't have any particular objection to him except that memory of him sobbing in front of the jury about his family, and they in turn crying in sympathy and then all voting for him. He won by crying. I'll never get past that.

 

5 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

Then again, so did Adam.

Yes.  I think they both would have won anyways, but Jeremy sobbed about his pregnant wife and Adam snot cried about his dying mom, and thus, they both won unanimously.  I feel like their unanimous wins should be asterisked for that reason.  "Crying unnecessarily to get more votes".

[seacliffsal]

I was really glad that Tyson was voted out.  I did not find him entertaining telling his daughter that this is what his job is, and it made me resent the producers for allowing it to become a "job" for some of the survivors.  I guess I want them participating for the challenge, joy, etc., but as soon as they describe it as a job it takes some of my delight of watching the show away.

But then, in his final scene, Tyson flipped off the camera as he headed to EOE.  If he was mad at the other survivors, flip them off.  However, flipping off the camera with nobody else around is basically flipping off the viewers.  If you hate the viewers-or the game-then, oh I don't know, get a different JOB!

I guess this says a lot about me, but I was really looking forward to the survivors having to choose who else to take on a reward with them after winning the family visit challenge.  I was so disappointed as I thought it would blow the game up.  I understand why they didn't do that as they involved young children in the family visit, but, nevertheless, I thought it was going to be a wildly entertaining explosion of alliances.

Loved the family reunions at EOC.  

[AncientNewbie]

12 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

But then, in his final scene, Tyson flipped off the camera as he headed to EOE

Pretty sure the bird was shown to the fire token boxes, being the other players.

[Growsonwalls]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

Hate to say it, but I think Johnny Fairplay's family visit was probably one of the only interesting and different interactions in all these seasons.  Maybe Lauren's Bachelor Hug on her dad counts.  If it were me, I would just bring everyone out all at once, air maybe 15 seconds of hugging whatever, then get to the contest.  Jeff can introduce everyone to the TV audience when the challenge starts.  I just am not here to listen to Jeffy trying to relive his talk show host days and elicit more weeping.  As others have said, the Edge family visit was better only because we didn't have to be subjected to Jeffy.  But all that time saved by not having blustery Jeffy gabbing, and we still didn't get a view of Mrs. Yul.  No idea what she looks like other than she appears Asian.

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.

Some Survivors who still have 9-5 jobs:

Yul works at Google after working for years in the "Privacy Development" department of Facebook. Nick is a defense lawyer. Wendell is a furniture designer. Isn't Sophie in med school?

[Harleycat]

I don't think I've ever been so disappointed at Jeff as I was at that tribal counsel. As soon as the players even suggested getting up in the middle of tribal counsel he should have told them to sit their asses down and act like adults.

All of the whispering and everyone sitting there not actually saying anything has gotten out of control. Jeff needs to set some ground rules for tribal counsel. It is supposed to be a forum for them to talk about the week, instead we are getting a bunch of grown adults acting like 3rd graders at recess. I am embarrassed for this entire cast for choosing to represent themselves like that on national television. 

[lasu]

12 hours ago, grandmabegum said:

I don't think the babies did though, but babies also can't walk so they sure as hell can't tread water so they go over it's sadness.

OK, I know this isn't SUPPOSED to be funny, but I cackled.  I just imagined a baby going over, and people just looking over sadly, doing nothing, and being like, "Damn, baby overboard.  That's a bummer."

[AncientNewbie]

16 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

Yul works at Google after working for years in the "Privacy Development" department of Facebook. Nick is a defense lawyer. Wendell is a furniture designer. Isn't Sophie in med school?

 

Tyson and the Marianos are about the only people who don't have a regular job of some sort, as I think Rob's construction is either a hobby or an attempt at HGTV. I think the average winner is more like Adam, who went full time as a speaker and a web tv personality, Ben, who became a real estate agent after the show or Kim who switched into design from (albeit higher end) retail.  (FYI Nick switched the prosecution, Sophie graduated but works in consulting, not practicing, and...I really need to get off social media.)

As for this particular ep, I have to say I don't care for that immunity challenge. I've seen it a few times, and I'm sure it's just me being dense, but I don't understand the mechanics of it enough to conceptualize how to do it or who is at risk so it's just too passive for me to watch.

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, AncientNewbie said:

 

Tyson and the Marianos are about the only people who don't have a regular job of some sort, as I think Rob's construction is either a hobby or an attempt at HGTV. I think the average winner is more like Adam, who went full time as a speaker and a web tv personality, Ben, who became a real estate agent after the show or Kim who switched into design from (albeit higher end) retail.  (FYI Nick switched the prosecution, Sophie graduated but works in consulting, not practicing, and...I really need to get off social media.)

As for this particular ep, I have to say I don't care for that immunity challenge. I've seen it a few times, and I'm sure it's just me being dense, but I don't understand the mechanics of it enough to conceptualize how to do it or who is at risk so it's just too passive for me to watch.

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.

Edited April 16, 2020 by LadyChatts

[SoWindsor]

4 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

Jenna Morasca had a very rough couple of years although she seems to be on the mend after this incident:

https://www.eonline.com/news/914113/survivor-s-jenna-morasca-arrested-for-dui-after-allegedly-biting-cop

She's a vet now. Here's her IG:

https://www.instagram.com/jennamorasca/?hl=en

I’m still bummed that Jenna was not a part of this season. I loved her! It must have been hard for her that Ethan moved on so quickly after their relationship ended.

2 hours ago, FreddieAnnie said:

Here’s video of the vote results 

https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/video/28D20F87-32B7-ABC2-31BA-7F11E8ADD780/survivor-winners-at-war-tribal-council-voting-ep-10-/?cbsclick=wS114QUlw1T1SrdRp2XVU0ixUkix%3AaRjk3seRA0&vndid=10078&clickid=10078&sharedid=ew.com&ftag=AAM98bbc2a

Why did Michelle vote for Tyson? Wasn’t she in the alliance with Kim?

[LadyChatts]

16 minutes ago, SoWindsor said:

I’m still bummed that Jenna was not a part of this season. I loved her! It must have been hard for her that Ethan moved on so quickly after their relationship ended.

Why did Michelle vote for Tyson? Wasn’t she in the alliance with Kim?

I think she was never really with them.  Michele and Nick had a pre game alliance going in, and were seen as outsiders as much as last week.  Luckily for them Adam was more of an outside than they were.  I thought it was strange that suddenly they were on opposite sides of the vote.  Maybe this was a way for them to play sides and get in with the group that had no numbers, in case they end up flipping.  That’s the only thing I can think of, is that she never really was with Kim’s side. 
 

I’m glad to see that Jenna is doing good.  I also wish she had been included in this season, although maybe she turned them down.  But I really wish that more old school winners were cast.  I’m bored with the group we have now.

Edited April 16, 2020 by LadyChatts

[eel21788]

23 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I’m glad to see that Jenna is doing good.  I also wish she had been included in this season, although maybe she turned them down. 

The rules are if you pull yourself out of the game, then you are never eligible to come back again. I don't know if they would have made an exception of Jenna. 

[peachmangosteen]

6 hours ago, fishcakes said:

Ethan and his wife were very sweet; she looks like someone famous, but I think it might be an actress in some '80s movie that only I remember.

I totally thought she looked like an actress or something, too! I could not for the life of me figure out who it was though.

3 hours ago, anniebird said:

Is Denise a lot older than her husband or does she just look a lot older?

Denise is only 49. I guess maybe she's had a rough life or been out in the sun a bunch though because she looks 60 at best lol. Anyway, I figure he husband looked about 49-ish.

2 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I guess this says a lot about me, but I was really looking forward to the survivors having to choose who else to take on a reward with them after winning the family visit challenge.  I was so disappointed as I thought it would blow the game up.  I understand why they didn't do that as they involved young children in the family visit, but, nevertheless, I thought it was going to be a wildly entertaining explosion of alliances.

All I was thinking before Jeff announced there was no challenge is that any of the players that didn't have kids better be throwing that comp!

[meep.meep]

As all the families kept showing up, I wondered if the folks at EoE could see it happening.

2 hours ago, Harleycat said:

I don't think I've ever been so disappointed at Jeff as I was at that tribal counsel. As soon as the players even suggested getting up in the middle of tribal counsel he should have told them to sit their asses down and act like adults.

I think that once Jeremy played his advantage, that the discussion period had ended.  OK for people to play other advantages or idols, but not Sophie standing up and telling her alliance that they had to have a discussion to decide who to vote for.  Don't see why the others didn't try to join them though....

[Kerri Okie]

21 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Well that episode is why I always watch this show time delayed on the DVR! Fast forwarding through the 30 mins of family crap is the only way that episode was watchable. 

The kids were cute. I watched each family's initial greeting and then hit the fast forward 30 second button on the remote as soon as Jeff started talking. Worked like a charm.

[Growsonwalls]

36 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

The rules are if you pull yourself out of the game, then you are never eligible to come back again. I don't know if they would have made an exception of Jenna. 

I think there's exceptions for Jenna. Also medivacuations. But I think people like Todd or Jenna who have struggled so much with substance abuse are probably not invited. 

[ByaNose]

Apparently, Michelle was never with Kim & Co. She was pretending up until Tribal Council or she decided to switch her vote at the last second. We’ll have to wait and see. Of course, the Live Tribal might have been so heavily edited because somehow she was able to know they were switching their vote to Tyson or she knew about a Plan B beforehand. Michele has been all over the map with her alliances that I don’t have any real idea who she’s loyal too.  Like I have said before, the editing for this season has been horrible. I really don’t know what’s what. I’ve been watching Survivor since Day 1 and the editing for W@W has been the worst.  I have no idea who’s gonna win so I’m just going to say Sophie because of her edit & screen time.  

Edited April 16, 2020 by ByaNose

[violet and green]

3 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Then again, so did Adam.

Then again, so did Michelle.

[peachmangosteen]

6 minutes ago, violet and green said:

Then again, so did Michelle.

Michele didn't win because she sobbed over a personal story. She won because people really hated Aubry lol.

[violet and green]

Just now, peachmangosteen said:

Michele didn't win because she sobbed over a personal story. She won because people really hated Aubry lol.

Well, how I remember it was boring boring boring boring getting slayed as a boring donothing in final tribal feeling like a fool and boohooohoooohoo, you win!

[eel21788]

8 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

I think there's exceptions for Jenna. Also medivacuations. But I think people like Todd or Jenna who have struggled so much with substance abuse are probably not invited. 

Medivacs aren't considered to have taken themselves out of the game, so they are eligible to come back. That's why Jeff always has a big discussion with the doctor, "Are you saying he has to be pulled from the game?" Then the doctor explains why he can't let the contestant continue playing. That isn't the same as the contestants saying, "I'm done," even if it is for some medical issue.

[Eolivet]

4 hours ago, blackwing said:

Yes.  I think they both would have won anyways, but Jeremy sobbed about his pregnant wife and Adam snot cried about his dying mom, and thus, they both won unanimously.  I feel like their unanimous wins should be asterisked for that reason.  "Crying unnecessarily to get more votes"

Jeremy is a slightly more legitimate unanimous winner to me, because he owned that season. Just dominated in every way. I could fully believe his sob story had nothing to do with voting.

Adam is the real unanimous asterisk. I feel like Michelle was leaning towards Hannah, because of the right side of the vote thing and it felt like she wanted to vote for a woman. I also waver about David sometimes, he and Ken were awfully close. So, Adam's closer to an 8-1-1 winner in my mind than 10-0. Jeremy's more like "10-0, but we'll never know."

Who's the winner with the narrowest margin of victory still left in the active game? Michele maybe? Was she 6-3? Probably doesn't impact how they play, but the statistics are fun.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Eolivet

[eskimo]

21 hours ago, Steph Sometimes said:

 So I then described the tragic situation of one Cirie Fields.

That was the biggest BS thing to ever happen on this show, IMO.

 

[grandmabegum]

13 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I think Tony's little girl is probably traumatized for life.

Imagine being a child on a a 14 hour fight.  Then imagine being a grown-up, regular person on the flight that brought all those Survivor families.  The show should at least pay for their tickets.

Re: tickets. You spelled therapy wrong.

[Hera]

As best as I can guess, Michele didn't really want to move forward in the game with Tyson and figured that she may have been able to save herself (and Kim and/or Denise, if she wants to work with them) by throwing him under the bus. She and Kim were whispering a lot at tribal council, so Michele may have known that Kim was going to play the idol for Denise, so the people at risk were her, Kim, and Tyson. Since her side only had one idol, the other side was definitely going to vote someone in her group out, so there was no point in forcing a 3-3-3 tie.

Given that Tyson had been voted out before and is athletic (so could go on an immunity run at an inopportune time for her game), it's not unreasonable to think that he'd be one of the targets of a split vote. By throwing her vote his way, she changes a 3-3-3 split to a 4-3-2 one and Tyson goes home, regardless of whether he was the primary target of the split vote, or the back-up. This saves her and Kim, in case one of them was the true target of the vote.

This is not a foolproof plan and could definitely have backfired on her. If the vote had been between her and Tyson and Kim played the idol for Tyson, Michele would have effectively voted herself out of the game, the way Tyson did in Heroes vs. Villains. If the other side don't vote for Tyson at all, then it's a wasted vote, but it doesn't get her into any more trouble than she's already in.

Speaking of which, the other side didn't go all in on the split vote—only Sophie and Sarah voted for Denise (Sarah put in one vote for Tyson and one for Denise). I don't really know what that was about. Did someone on their side misunderstand and vote for the wrong person?

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?

I knew from his pre-game interview (I've linked to the relevant bit) that Tyson was the one who pushed for his four year old daughter to be allowed to come, and the producers initially resisted bringing her out on the grounds she was a minor. Once Tyson wore them down, they extended the invitation to everyone to let their kids come, so I was expecting the large family reunions this season.

As for Tyson's younger daughter, I assume her parents decided she was too young for such a long trip. I'm a younger daughter myself, so I feel for her. It's unlikely she'd remember either way, but I imagine she'll be pretty hurt once she's old enough to find out that her dad fought hard for her sister to be able to visit, but that she was left behind.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Hera
Editing to try to make my thoughts clearer.

[EllenB]

Sarah gets so much hate here, and I can't figure it out.  She's calm, confident,  and smart.  Any man with those traits would have people swooning over them.  I think she looks just fine too, maybe because I'm not in junior high.  But she also looks like a great-aunt of mine, so I smile a little when Sarah's on-screen.

[cooksdelight]

*whisper* *shhhhhh* I was watching Law & Order reruns and forget it was Wednesday. Sounds like I didn’t miss much. *whisper* *shhhhh*

[SVNBob]

On 4/15/2020 at 8:50 PM, riprock said:

there's still Sophie's immunity idol to play. 

 

I think the last remaining advantage is Michele's 50-50 coin.

Those are the only two advantages currently in the main game.  However, if either Natalie or Rob get back into the game, the idols they bought before the first Return challenge would become active.

 

On 4/15/2020 at 8:55 PM, North of Eden said:

And then Tyson is married to a Rachel who played the game? I've seen every episode and I have no memory whatsoever of this person...perhaps a first boot?

Fourth boot, actually.  Or second, depending on how you want to count it. 

BvW was an RI season.  Rupert's wife and Candace were voted out Day 1, but Rupert swapped himself for his wife and went to RI instead.  Gervase's niece was the first regular boot, and she and Candace beat out Rupert on RI to eliminate him.  Rachel was the next voted out, and she lost to the previous two as well.  So she was voted out 4th, and eliminated 2nd.

But KKKolton quit right after that duel happened, so his spotlight stealing might be why you don't remember her.

On 4/15/2020 at 9:44 PM, Lantern7 said:

Hi, Nadiya! Sorry you didn’t get enough time on camera! I still think she could swap places with twin sister Natalie, and nobody in Production would tell the difference.

Natalie has a 25-day tan and visible abs.   Nadiya is pale and still has some baby fat.  They could tell.

On 4/15/2020 at 10:48 PM, Jextella said:

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

Per speculation at Reddit, the other daughter simply didn't have her passport yet.  US law requires both parents' signatures on the paperwork for a minor to get their passport.  (It's a measure intended to help prevent parental abduction.)  Tyson either didn't sign the paperwork before he left for the season, or the paperwork hadn't come back before the loved ones' flight out.

 

On 4/15/2020 at 10:49 PM, TVFan1 said:

The whispering at tribal council is really getting on my nerves. How did Denise become a target?  This tribal council left me confused as to who was the actual target, and who was safe. It would be great to know this stuff, show. I feel nervous for Kim and company now.

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.

 

On 4/16/2020 at 1:58 AM, grandmabegum said:

Seems like there's a lot of chatter about a revote. I agree that there's a very good possibility that this would happen based on my thinking that they wanted to flush an idol out. But if they did revote, that would mean that no one played the idol the first vote. So I was just curious if there was a rule that you could play it after any vote.

Incorrect.  Had Kim played the idol for Tyson instead, there would have been a 2-2 tie between Denise and Sophie.  Then there would be the revote.  And Denise would have been voted out 5 or 6-2 (depending on if Sarah got to vote twice again on the revote).

 

Per the idol rules, they do have to be played before the first vote.  They can't be played in the event of a revote. 

 

 

19 hours ago, Haleth said:

I wonder if the episode was re-edited to include more family stuff in light of the pandemic.  So many of us haven't seen loved ones in weeks but we at least get to talk, text, Zoom, whatever.  Perhaps some of us are sick or have loved ones who are sick.  Maybe we have financial worries or job insecurity.  Maybe we still can't find toilet paper.  Whatever is going on it seems the producers thought a big dose of the feels was what we need.  Yeah, I had a cathartic cry, not only when the participating players saw their kids, but the folks on EoE island did too.  That was a nice gesture.  

Poor Sandra.  Lol.

No need to lament for the Queen.  She and her family were having a private party in Ponderosa.

 

16 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

He played with Rachel the season that he won. He was voted out before the merge in HvV. I am not sure if he made the family visit in his first season. I can't remember who his visit was from for the Blood vs Water season but it could have been a friend.

There were no loved one visits on either BvW season.  Because everyone had a loved one with them at the start of the game.

 

13 hours ago, AncientNewbie said:

I think that's just a function of the casting. The winners, even now that the show isn't a cultural touchstone, still do a lot of press and work the con/appearance world. There are a lot of established relationships that are going to impact this season that aren't easy to sum up on tv in the shorthand way they need to cover things. The "poker alliance" touches on it because that's an easy summation but it's more than that. And I also think it's more nebulous for the younger (or newer) cast. I've mentioned before how Nick is everpresent on former castmember IG accounts, but I see others there too--there's an ease of interacting through social media.

Took a while for someone to bring this up.  Irony of ironies, the Poker Alliance actually became real in this episode!  It shattered almost immediately, but it still became an actual thing for a while.

[amazingracefan]

Half of the episode was trash.

The other half was about whether Kim played her idol right or not.

There's just too many advantages anyway, that just dilutes the game. You get immunity and you get 'fire tokens', to reward those who may be thought bigger targets. And the vote steal thing is a like a double advantage, you take a vote away and can use it yourself?

People will never go to rocks if they can help it anyway.

[amazingracefan]

21 hours ago, himela said:

25 minutes of crying and saying that family is everything was too much for me. Do you have a competing game or a reality show?

There are competitive reality shows obviously.  But for me a set up situation where everyone is supposed to be in tears because of some outside producer designed influence isn't true reality show drama.  There actually isn't any drama, it's all expected because it happens every season anyway.  And yes normally most don't get family for the reward, but they all get to see them and hug them and talk to them before the challenges anyway.

And the phony idea that 'extinction' is so tough crumbles that bit more.  Calling it extinction is already one of the bigger jokes in Survivor history anyway.

This was like an admittance that it isn't really part of the game much and that they just put it in for some tears, so why not just give everyone it anyway.

Edited April 17, 2020 by amazingracefan

[skybolt]

13 minutes ago, amazingracefan said:

 

I just feel like Kim's group waited way too long to go after the top dogs. After the last 2 tribal councils Nick was ripe for the picking, but everyone assumed he was on the outs, so they let Sophie's group snatch him up first. I have no clue what Jeremy is doing. At first he wanted to vote out Nick to break up his alliance with Wendell. The next episode he mentioned something about targeting Nick as an ally, but was too busy sitting on his bench to actually follow through with that plan. Kim also wanted Nick out before even concentrating on Sophie. It was definitely an opportunity missed because they could've been in the majority at tribal.

[skybolt]

9 hours ago, Hera said:

As best as I can guess, Michele didn't really want to move forward in the game with Tyson and figured that she may have been able to save herself (and Kim and/or Denise, if she wants to work with them) by throwing him under the bus. She and Kim were whispering a lot at tribal council, so Michele may have known that Kim was going to play the idol for Denise, so the people at risk were her, Kim, and Tyson. Since her side only had one idol, the other side was definitely going to vote someone in her group out, so there was no point in forcing a 3-3-3 tie.

Given that Tyson had been voted out before and is athletic (so could go on an immunity run at an inopportune time for her game), it's not unreasonable to think that he'd be one of the targets of a split vote. By throwing her vote his way, she changes a 3-3-3 split to a 4-3-2 one and Tyson goes home, regardless of whether he was the primary target of the split vote, or the back-up. This saves her and Kim, in case one of them was the true target of the vote.

This is not a foolproof plan and could definitely have backfired on her. If the vote had been between her and Tyson and Kim played the idol for Tyson, Michele would have effectively voted herself out of the game, the way Tyson did in Heroes vs. Villains. If the other side don't vote for Tyson at all, then it's a wasted vote, but it doesn't get her into any more trouble than she's already in.

Speaking of which, the other side didn't go all in on the split vote—only Sophie and Sarah voted for Denise (Sarah put in one vote for Tyson and one for Denise). I don't really know what that was about. Did someone on their side misunderstand and vote for the wrong person?

 

You bring up some good strategic points, but based on Michelle's reaction (throwing her hands up in the air) as she cast her vote, she either A.) received a last minute signal from Nick or B.) knew they were screwed after Jeremy left and didn't want to be the next target. I doubt she cares at all what happens to Kim next.

[ProfCrash]

They were screwed even if Jeremy had stayed. Sarah was going to play Denise's vote so that block had 6 votes to 4 if Jeremy stayed.

[skybolt]

1 minute ago, ProfCrash said:

They were screwed even if Jeremy had stayed. Sarah was going to play Denise's vote so that block had 6 votes to 4 if Jeremy stayed.

True, but since Michelle was likely in that group of 5 because of her previous alliance with Jeremy, him getting up and walking out, gave her that get out of jail card. She'd rather work with Nick and Jeremy moving forward than against them. There's no reason for her to stay loyal to people on a sinking ship, whom she really hadn't had any alliance with prior to this episode.

[ProfCrash]

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. 

[skybolt]

I have another question. Did Sarah's Chinese food stunt from last week actually work on Nick? If anything, it likely made Nick more approachable to join their alliance, even if Sarah's move was seen as completely strategic. Let's put it this way, if I was on the bottom like Nick, and someone from the power group gave me their reward, I would welcome it with open arms, even if it was 100% strategic. Someone is throwing me a bone, why not take it.

[skybolt]

5 minutes 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 agree, but Kim wants to make a splash move in front of the jury. Her whole getting her bag before Jeff comes back with the urn, and then raising her hand with a peace sign before Jeff completed his sentence, was definitely showmanship.

[JudyObscure]

6 hours ago, EllenB said:

Sarah gets so much hate here, and I can't figure it out.  She's calm, confident,  and smart.  Any man with those traits would have people swooning over them.  I think she looks just fine too, maybe because I'm not in junior high.  But she also looks like a great-aunt of mine, so I smile a little when Sarah's on-screen.

Your aunt not only looks like Sarah, she's exactly how I picture Anne of Green Gables.

I like her, too. Sarah is only following in the footsteps of Sandra and many others when she goes after anyone who has brought up her name,  it doesn't seem entitled to me. Her voice can be a little whiny, but compared to Michelle's voice it's music to my ears.  I would like to see Sarah and Wendell lose the toothpicks, though.

[skybolt]

When Sarah was telling Tony that they need to get rid of Kim, was she aware that Kim has an idol, or did Sophie keep that secret at the time? If she knew about the idol, I'm not sure why she wouldn't tell Tony to convince him that she's a force to be reckoned with. It's interesting that during the last couple of talks with Tony, he is portrayed as the more rational player, while she's shown as being combative and a bit snarky.

[jsm1125]

13 hours ago, Eolivet said:

Jeremy is a slightly more legitimate unanimous winner to me, because he owned that season. Just dominated in every way. I could fully believe his sob story had nothing to do with voting.

Adam is the real unanimous asterisk. I feel like Michelle was leaning towards Hannah, because of the right side of the vote thing and it felt like she wanted to vote for a woman. I also waver about David sometimes, he and Ken were awfully close. So, Adam's closer to an 8-1-1 winner in my mind than 10-0. Jeremy's more like "10-0, but we'll never know."

Who's the winner with the narrowest margin of victory still left in the active game? Michele maybe? Was she 6-3? Probably doesn't impact how they play, but the statistics are fun.

I think Sophie also won 6-3 against Coach and Albert. I think the only votes she didn’t get were from Rick, Edna and Cochran.

[skybolt]

I realize that the new school players get a lot of flack for playing a more ruthless solo game, but what else can they do with all these advantages and fire tokens in play? It creates a situation where as soon as the jury sees you're in a power alliance, they'll just keep feeding advantages to the underdogs because A.) they would spend their whole lot of fire tokens to buy them and B.) to make it harder for the power alliance to breeze through. Heck, if I was in Nick's position last week I would get up and make a plea to the jury that I have 3 fire tokens and am willing to spend all of them for an advantage. Same with Denise this week. I realize this will put a bigger target on your back, but maybe they can do subtly............."yeah Jeff, I have 3 fire tokens to spend and am looking for a good opportunity to spend them"...wink, wink.

Edited April 17, 2020 by skybolt

[Lady Calypso]

6 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Per speculation at Reddit, the other daughter simply didn't have her passport yet.  US law requires both parents' signatures on the paperwork for a minor to get their passport.  (It's a measure intended to help prevent parental abduction.)  Tyson either didn't sign the paperwork before he left for the season, or the paperwork hadn't come back before the loved ones' flight out.

I think Tyson has confirmed this in a tweet. 

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 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.

[ProfCrash]

6 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.

That is the problem, Kim needed to let Jeremy know that he was safe. Either telling him that she was playing the idol for him or giving it to him before hand. While they didn't know about the steal a vote or the 50/50 nullifier, Jeremy was right to be jumpy. He needed some type of reassurance. We know he told Tyson about his advantage, so I can only assume that Kim knew about the advantage as well. Even it it was "I will play it on you but I am not giving it to you beforehand." because she was worried about giving him the idol and have him leave tribal with the idol.